Happy Anniversary To Me!

Today, March 1, marks the one-year anniversary of the day I started running.

[pause for applause]

Well, that could be a lie. Please don't throw anything at me. I actually don't know the exact date I started running. What I do know is that my gym membership expired at the end of February last year and I started running because of that expired gym membership. I know that there wasn't much time between the two either. So, for the sake of having a date, I will, from this point forward, recognize March 1 as my running anniversary date.

Happy anniversary to me!

Did I ever think I'd be here? Nope.

Am I still a little shocked that I am here? Yep.

Am I happy I did it? You betchya!

So, to commemorate this occasion, I'm going to spend the next few blog entries comparing and contrasting where I am now versus where I was a year ago. I thought that reviewing the year would be a little redundant, but I think this little exercise could be fun.

I'll start with something I did today and actually just started doing about two weeks ago ...

One year ago, I was petrified of what I looked like and sounded like after a run. I'd finish my workouts (Week 1 of Couch to 5k: run 30 seconds, walk 90 seconds, repeat), and would be tomato red and dripping sweat from every skin cell, hair follicle, and thread of my clothing. My mother was the only person fortunate enough to get to see me like that.

Also, many of you have been with me from the beginning and know about my over-awareness of my heavy breathing. The freight train. A year ago, that heavy breathing would last a lot longer than it does now and would be a lot more intense. There was a lot more choking involved too. Yum! And like now, I suffered from post-run sneezes (hasn't changed a bit, though it goes away in during the hot months).

After runs a year ago, I was lucky to make it home to the couch. I didn't dream of being any more active than putting on my pajamas and refilling my bottle of water before heading to bed.

Finally, I didn't want to be seen in my drenched workout clothes, a dilapidated collection of yoga-pants-turned-pajama-pants-turned-running-gear and old t-shirts. Sweaty? Yes. But they also showed some very unattractive jiggly parts on my 30-pounds-heavier-than-today frame.

Today, after my 2.2-mile run/walk (10 minutes run, 1 minute walk, repeat 2.5 times because I cut it short), I went to Michael's in search of a bottle of the seemingly non-existent strawberry extract that Ms. Paula Deen calls for in her strawberry cake recipe, which I plan on making quite soon. Thanks Paula. (If anyone spots this stuff anywhere, please let me know ASAP

Anyway, I got to Michael's (a short drive from Juilfs), wiped my forehead on my sleeve, put my zip-up hoodie on, and checked for major hair fly-aways in my rear-view mirror before heading on in. No sweat.

Well, yes sweat, but not much and I know how to "hide" it now. Practice makes perfect.

Activity after running? Sure, why not? Actually, these days I feel rip-roarin' and ready to go after running. Not right after running, but give me a 5-minute cool down walk and my legs are good as new. (That probably speaks to the fact that I need to up intensity and/or distance of my runs a bit, but you get the point.) In fact, I'll often have more energy than before I started.

So yes, quite a contrast between today and a year ago.

This is fun! Check back over the next few posts and I'll see what else I can dig up. I'll try to post more frequently for the next few entries, I promise.

PS, I purchased tickets for something today that requires me to meet a maximum weight that I'm currently 25 pounds above. And I have to do it before September.

This is not a goal. This is a financial commitment (a whopping $35) that I have to adhere to. No big deal.

NOT A GOAL. Do you hear me?

[stops shaking finger at no one, calmly sits back down on couch]

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Anyway, that is why I've reserved Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred on Netflix. I should have it by later this week so I can figure out if it's worth the purchase.

Not a goal.

Beans And Yoga And Netflix

"No beans!"

Up until the last two-ish years, you could find me at a Chipotle on the east side of Cincy, feverishly exclaiming this to the burrito assembler behind the counter. "No beans!" (I'm so over Chipotle, by the way.)

I never liked beans. I may have when I was little-little, but it's probably one of the few foods that I became picky about as I got older. I have no idea why. I don't remember a particular bad bean incident and I don't remember experiencing a bad taste when eating them. Maybe it became a texture thing for me. I'm not sure.

So, I lived a no-beans lifestyle until just recently. Sometime within the past few years I decided I could eat them, but only as an ingredient in something. Early last year when I decided to be a vegetarian (read a little about that adventure in my first blog entry and in another entry where I gave it up for good), I started eating them a bit more. Again, only IN foods, not by themselves. And get this: even more recently I enjoyed a 4-way with beans at Skyline. Big step, people.

But then my friend Anne devoted an entire blog entry to the magical fruit (yes, Anne, I'm 5 years old too. I was horrified when she said she could eat beans straight out of the can. How disgusting! Why? Not in something? Just ... raw? Blech!

Well, I just committed the ultimate no-bean felony. I just ate a kidney bean fresh out of the can (after rinsing, of course), and then I ate another one, and another one! WHAT THE HECK?! They were good and I can't believe I just said that.

I'm still a little shocked.

Good thing I'm in a Zen-like state after doing a lovely yoga workout.

That's right, I found my yoga DVD! (I don't actually remember if I told you I misplaced it, but I did.) I first mentioned the DVD back in August when I canceled my cable service and had high hopes of trying out some exercise videos instead of wasting my brain cells on meaningless broadcast television. Ha! That worked really well. But I'll get to that in a few.

I'm going through a bit of a lull in the running right now. I ran on Friday morning, thanks to a vacation day. It was cold. My leg muscles never warmed up and I felt like I was running with stones under my skin. (That's not real comfy, folks. And if you have pointers on how to get rid of that sensation, please let me know.) And it's just so stinking cold! To top it all off, Snow-mageddon has arrived here in Cincinnati and pretty much everywhere from the Mississippi River east. Therefore, the grass is covered, the pavement is covered, and it it will likely stay covered until the next heat wave and rain storm join forces to wash the sadness--er--snow away. Sigh.

I have somewhat resigned to the fact that I will not be running outside much for a little while, and since I hate the treadmill with every fiber of my being, I will probably not be running much at all. This means I will likely fail the "30 miles in 30 days" challenge, as I anticipated.

NEVER SET GOALS, BECKEY!

So, what's a girl to do? Watch movies of course. Oh, and force myself to explore some fitness video options.

This is actually one of the reasons I signed up for a free trial of Netflix this weekend. (That and since I don't have cable, I have to use rabbit ears, which are disappointing me hugely right now.) I'm already pretty much addicted to Netflix. It's terrible. It's amazing. I'm in love.

Focus.

Last night, in lieu of getting one more outdoor run in before the 3-inch blizzard hit, I sat on my couch and loaded my Netflix queue with fitness videos. So, those combined with my newly re-discovered yoga DVD should help me maintain some of this stamina and leg strength I've worked so hard for over the last 10 months.

This brings me back to yoga. I've done this video before and I imagine on the spectrum of yoga difficulty, it's probably a 2 out of 10. There are levels to chose from. I, being the beginner I am, chose the fully modified version. Yay for having a yoga block and belt (though I need a new yoga mat since mine is a piece of crap from Goodwill). The more difficult levels in the video are probably a 3, 5, and 7 on the difficulty scale, but I'm just guessing.

Despite it's low level of difficulty, I specifically remember my muscles really struggling at certain spots in my previous attempts. Holding your body weight is tough stuff, especially when you weigh as much as I do. I've always had crazy strong legs, but there are certain poses that make me shake (anything with "warrior" in it is pretty much a guaranteed leg workout). Tremors are supposed to be a sign that you're really having to work. So yeah, lots of tremors in the past.

Tonight? Not so much.

Not that I didn't already know this, but it's now pretty obvious that this running business is really strengthening my legs. I was also able to squish down into poses that I struggled with before. Less fat to get in the way? Yeah, about 40 pounds less. (Okay, maybe 35 right now, thanks to the FRIGGIN' SNOW!) But it was kind of cool to feel the difference in my body that way.

I'm looking forward to working on this video a bit more. I wouldn't mind getting some flexibility back. I just have to get over the boring factor of yoga in general. (Ohmigosh it's boring.)

So, this is already an enormously long blog entry, but I'm just making up for my lack of posts lately. Instead of an eloquent wrap-up, allow me to bullet.

1. I like beans now
   
2. I'm going to try this fitness video thing
3. Running = difficult when it's so cold and snowy
   
4. I'm likely going to fail my "30 miles in 30 days" challenge
   
5. My yoga DVD may be a little too easy for me, but I'm going to keep trying it
   
6. This yoga venture has allowed me to feel the difference in my body, not just see it
7. Namaste, y'all