Wednesday Walking (with the family) 40 minutes (about 1 1/2 miles)

Not feeling well today, so the walk was a short one.

Plus- shopping with kids in several stores for about 1 1/2 hours.

Yard Work

For an hour. I'm so exhausted I'm shaking!! Not sick to my stomach though, so something's looking up anyway, lol!
The Almighty Liz

Strength Training

Okay, I did some weights and such, and it made me sick. All types of physical activity, apparently, are making me pukey. Why? I dunno!! But John suspects the concussion. It sure made me car sick on Sunday, oi. I did some research and the hubby was right, it's the concussion. Physical exertion stresses my brain tissue too much, or something with the blood pressure, I dunno, I can't remember it all. And the car sickness is because I can't process moving while sitting still correctly right now. Ugh! (side note: did you know that's why reading in the car makes some people sick? your eyes are registering stillness, while your body is registering movement, and the conflicting signals makes you nauseated.) So now I don't know what to do!! I need to work out for my heart and to balance my muscles back out from the broken leg, but it all makes me ill!! I hate being a sickly accident prone weakling!!!
The Almighty But Feeling Somewhat Puny Liz

Tuesday

Ran the big ole mean hills with the COTB hills after. 7 miles.

Monday Swimming 55 minutes Walking 20 minutes

Breast stroke- 15 minutes, back stroke- 20 minutes, 10 minutes freestyle, 10 minutes kick board. I lost steam somewhere around the freestyle.

Also- Walking in the woods with the kids for 20 minutes.

Saturday Strength Workout/Running in Place 30 minutes

10 minutes running in place (5 at the beginning, 5 at the end of the workout) with 10 lb free weight for my arms and standing abs work.

Plus- about 30 minutes of housework. I wanted to do more today but I forgot to take allergy medicine after raking leaves and I've been paying for it all day!

Saturday

10 mile run with my running gals.

Friday Exercise Bike/Marching in Place 45 minutes

I'm still able to do 30 minutes on the exercise bike. Yay! I was worried about it since I have not had a chance to do it in awhile. But, it was on a low tension. I also did upper body/chest exercise for 5 minutes during the 15 minutes I was marching in place.

Plus- 45 minutes of raking leaves and 1 hour of shopping with two kids. The raking the leaves was mostly to get my "sun high" for the day!

Thursday

Hey, that's FOUR of us in one day isn't it? WHOOT WHOOT!! Are we on a come back? I ran with my two buddies Barb and Debbie. We've become somewhat a threesome in the big group running thing (as I've said before, the big group -probably around 40ish people??- split off into smaller pace groups. Oh the joy of having people who run about the same pace as me!!) Anyway, Barb and Deb are both training for marathons -so is just about everyone else in the group except me because I just plain don't want to right now. ANYWAY! We ran eight miles and it felt really good! I wonder what made yesterday such a good day. We did the same run a week earlier, and it wasn't nearly so good.

Thursday Strength Workout 35 minutes

5 minutes running in places, 30 minutes strength workout.

Also- 30 minutes of house cleaning.

Craftyashley is back, baby!

So I took a little hiatus from becoming svelte by becoming pregnant. Which was followed by five months of throwing up, then four months of massive cookie consumption and couch dwelling. I probably gained about 30 lbs. total. (my goal was no more than 15- BIG HA!)

I'm am now back on the bandwagon lugging around an extra 20 lbs. 8 weeks post c-section. I went jogging twice this week, and have yet to hit the pilates DVD as the baby refuses to give me 20 minutes of cry-free time sans stroller. But soon! I desperately want to get out of maternity/fat pants.

I had just gotten down to a semi-reasonable weight before pregnancy only to ruin it with flab and stretchmarks. But onward, ho! Now I just have to work on purging the sweets from our house.... so that's "to be continued..."

Anyway, glad to be back, Ladies! (and misc. man)

Walking+Liz=Bad

So, the weather was so nice yesterday, and the kids weren't being monsters (for once), so we went for a walk at the nature preserve near our house. (like five minutes away, awesome!) My doc was right about the no impact thing--I can't handle it! My leg/hip is screaming at me today, so I will have to give it a month or more before I try that again. Which totally sucks! That preserve is so gorgeous what with all the spring flowers and the nature and all! Argh!
The Almighty Liz
P.S. I added my forum's weight loss thread over on the sidebar. I dunno if you can see it if you are guest, but joining is free and easy, and it's a GREAT thread so far. Lots of support, good and inspiring stories, and tons of new ideas. Enjoy!

Wednesday Walking 1 Hour (about 2 1/2 miles)

First mile with just QQ in the double stroller- about 20 minutes. Then we picked up Vance and went to a store, so that took 40 minutes for the next 1 1/2 miles. Both kids getting in and out of the stroller as usual.

Also- getting winter stuff into the basement, some organizing, and laundry- about 45 minutes.

Biking

I did twenty minutes at 13.5-14 mph for a total of 4.4 miles covered. Feeling a little sick after this one, so I'll probably skip tomorrow.
The Almighty Liz

Tuesday

I did the hills today, but no one else from the "JV" team showed up today. Therefore, I had to do the hills with the fast group. That added a whole new level of pain and humility! 7 miles of MEAN hills including Challenge of the Bluff hills.

Monday Walking 90 minutes (3 miles or so)

The first mile was 20 minutes with just QQ in the double stroller, and then we meandered all over getting stuff with kids getting in and out of the stroller.

Also- laundry for about an hour, shopping at Wal-mart for 1/2 hour, and some small clean ups around the house for 1/2 hour.

Trying Again

I'm not sick this week, like I was last week! Bonus! I did strength training, but not abs. I still don't have the oomph for all of it in one day. I'll try to work them in tomorrowish.
Hamstrings-24.4 lbs for 3 sets at 12 reps each.
Shins-3 sets at 12 reps each.
Biceps-7ish lbs for 3 sets at 12 reps each.
Shoulders-2.5 lbs for 3 sets at 12 reps each.
The Almighty Liz

Saturday

I ran 13 miles.

Saturday Pregnancy Yoga 35 minutes

Crunch Yoga Mama DVD again. It is definitely getting harder to basically hang upside down with my gigantor preggo belly.

Plus- 1 1/2 hours of cleaning out my closet. I'm getting less stuff done because I get worn out so fast now. Arrrghh!

Friday Piano

I practiced various things for about an hour and a half, however only about the first half of that was very productive. I'm having a groggy, can't seem to get started kind of day, and my brain was half asleep during the second half. I need a bucket of cold water to stick my head into or something today.

Thrusday Walking 45 minutes (2 miles)

With 1-2 kids in the double stroller. I'm not sure if the second mile took 25 or 30 minutes. The first mile (with just QQ in the stroller) was 20 minutes.

Plus- shopping with two kids for half an hour and laundry.

Thursday

Our running group has morphed into the insane group of marathon nut balls. We ran eight today. And apparently our 6.5 mile loop for Saturdays is no longer good enough. Now it's a 10 mile loop that pretty much everybody is doing twice. Not I. I am NOT training for a marathon (I'm practically the only one who isn't), and I see absolutely no reason to run 20 miles in one day. I liked doing the two 6.5 loop challenge, and a lot of people did 3 of those loops. Oh well, I guess I'll just do one 10 mile loop and then just do a quick 3 after that on my own. Nothing like training with that group to induce humility.

Wednesday Strength Workout 45 minutes

Strength workout- 25 minutes, 5 minutes running in place, 15 minutes vigorous housecleaning mixed with marching in place.

Plus- 2 hours of non-vigorous house cleaning/laundry and 45 minutes caulking the bath tub.

Wednesday Piano

I'm glad to say that I'm getting my stride back. I could play for hours on end, but I just don't have the time. I spent a half an hour on just ONE phrase of the Debussy that I'm pulling out from 15 years ago and dusting off. Back when Lydia was little, and I NEVER had time to practice anymore, after being used to being expected to practice 4 hours a day and getting sick of it, then having no one breathing down my neck making me practice, and having a new baby or two or three, and feeling completely overwhelmed with that part of my life, anyway I let the piano go for a while, and I had a CD of this song which I worked had spent countless hours and hours mastering. Anyway after that huge long run on sentence, I used to cry when I heard that CD because I'd miss my piano and I felt like I was letting an important part of myself go. I did obviously start to play again eventually, but I've never had the strength of mind to pull out the Debussy, because I couldn't bare listening to myself butchering it to death. Anyway, today was the first time in nearly 15 years that I seriously tried to brush it up. My fingers still remember the basic gist of it, but there were old fingering mistakes that I used to make, that I've decided this time to correct. You don't know how devastating it is to have practiced something wrong a million times over and then try to do it right. It basically means you have to do it 28 million times right to undo the bad fingering. Yes, I was playing all the right notes, but with the wrong fingering, the phrases don't turn out as nicely. Anyway, I'm waxing long.

I spent a little bit of time on the Schubert that I'm learning, and just for the heck of it, I turned the metronome up to the slowest of the accepted normal speed for that piece, and to my GREAT delight, I could actually play some of it up to speed!!! WHOOT! WHOOT!

Anyway, I didn't do any scales or any sight reading, or any arranging/composing (which is another thing I want to work on). You see how much time this thing could consume... Oh well, I'll just do the best that I can.

If you are still reading this, and you care, here are some people playing the songs that I'm trying to learn, or relearn:







Just for fun, here's the Chopin that I guess I'm setting aside for a while? Maybe, but I don't want to. ACH! What to do? I don't want to give it up, but I just can't do it all! However, it will take me FOREVER to get this one down. Really any one of them will take me forever. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I can actually play pretty much this whole song, just not any where near up to speed. ARGH, the agony of decisions!


Alright, now I REALLY need to get some work done, and spend some time with my kids!

Tuesday Piano

I played for about 40 minutes today. That's all the time I had, but I'm glad I did it. That's 2 days in a row. Only 26 more to go before I ask for more piano lessons. I think I've decided to only work on one really hard piece at a time. Funnily enough, I've been practicing the Schubert, when I think I like the Chopin better, but the Schubert feels more accomplishable. I'm also pulling out an OLD Debussy that I think I'd like to brush up. Also spending time everyday doing scales and some sight reading, because if you can't sight read, you are pretty much worthless. I wonder if I will EVER be any good? Oh the agony of mediocrity! It kills me! I seriously envy all musically talented people! Someday I hope to be more than a hack. That's why I'm still plugging away.

Tuesday Walking 45 minutes (2 miles)

20 minutes first mile, 25 minutes second mile (with one kid there, and then 1-2 kids, and sometimes no kids in the stroller for the 2nd mile).

Also- I cleaned the old caulk off the bathtub Friday- 1 1/2 hours. Friday- also cleaned for a few hours. Satruday- cleaned for a few more hours and made a birthday cake.

Easy Biking

Took it super gentle today. 21.5 minutes at 11.5-12mph for a total of around 4.1 miles covered. I'll hit it a little harder tomorrow maybe.
The Almighty Liz

Saturday & Tuesday

I did the St. Patrick's day run. It was five miles, but with our groups zig-zags and loop-de-loops, the garmin read nearly six, but it was slow.

Today was hill day with the running group. We did 7 miles of HILLS, including the Challenge of the Bluffs hills. Plus I had to sprint the first half to three quarters mile to catch up to everyone else, because I got there a little late. Then, just for the heck of it, I finished the run off with a shorter sprint. ROAR!!

I also did about an hour on the piano yesterday. I'm going to try again to get back into the piano habit, which means less time on this computer, so peace out homies! I'll still be around, but AFTER I do my piano.

Getting Back in the Saddle

Ugh. I did strength training, but no Pilate's, even though it's Monday. I was ready to puke by the time I got done with the weights.
Hamstrings-24lbs for three sets of 12 reps each
Shoulders-2.5lbs for each arm for 3 sets of 12 reps each
Shins-tension band for 3 sets of 12 reps each
Biceps-7ish lbs for 3 sets of 12 reps each
Still having some concussion related difficulties. Memory problems mainly. The doc said I could start working out again today, though.
The Almighty Liz

Thursday

Getting back into the groove. I did an 8 mile run this morning with the group. Maybe that extra 2 miles will help make up for my early week laying around.

Wednesday Walking 1 hour (2 1/2 miles)

First mile (with just QQ in the double stroller)- 20 minutes, and then we went to a couple more stores, so not as good time. The last 3/4 mile was with both kids in the double stroller.

Also- cleaned house and did laundry about 1 hour.

Walking again

15 minute walk to the store, 10ish back carrying 28 lbs. of cat litter

And Out of Comission for a Bit

I fell on Sunday and gave myself a nasty concussion. I'm at my mom's right now because I'm supposed to be watched round the clock. I won't be working out for a bit, but I did work out on Saturday, 30 minutes on the bike for 14.5-15 mph for a total of 7 miles covered, so I had TWO perfect weeks! There's goes that score, now. Argh!
The Almighty Liz

Monday Walking 90 minutes (about 3 miles)

20 minutes for the first mile, and then I was wandering around going into stores in between the other 2 miles or so. I'm trying to cure my head cold with fresh air and sunshine ;)

Saturday Pregnancy Yoga 35 minutes

Crunch Yoga Mama DVD again.

Friday- 2 hours of cleaning the basement (again).

Saturday- Also stock up shopped for 2 hours with kids (but husband to help as well), and pre-cooked meat for one hour.

Saturday

I ran 13 miles today without bonking, my hip is only a little sore. Also hiked up up up in Pere Marquette for about 45 minutes with the kids.

Friday-Strenth Training

Did some adjustments this Friday, since last Friday seemed to easy, and I was only a little sore the next day. Oh, boy, I felt the burn this week! In a good way though. I didn't over-do it and injure myself. But tomorrow is NOT going to be fun! It all took about 10-15 minutes.
Stairs push-ups--I went down a stair, and did 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Triceps push-ups--no adjustment, 3 sets of 12 reps each. Better form though.
Calf lifts--no adjustment, 3 sets of twelve reps each. Better form on this one, too.
Quads--upped my weight from 24 something or whatever it was to 33.1. And that one was finally hard! 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Ouches all around!
The Almighty Liz

Friday

40 minutes on the bike today. I'm feeling squashy. I was too lazy to get up on Thursday. I didn't feel like having a repeat of Tuesday, so I told myself that I'd do something later on in the day, but I never got around to it. I think I'll take the kids for a long walk in the stroller today. It will in part make up for me missing yesterday's workout, and the sunshine will do us all some good.

Thursday Walking 45 minutes (2 1/2 miles)

Walking- 2 1/2 miles while pushing one and then two kids in a double stroller.

Also-baking and cooking all day for freezer meals. 1/2 hour of shopping with QQ.

Thursday

More biking! I'm really tired today, so I'm glad tomorrow is weight lifting. I could use the break from cardio. 33 minutes at 14-14.5 mph for a total of 7.6 miles covered.
The Almighty Liz

Wednesday Exercise Bike/ Standing Abs/Swatting Flies (upper body chest exercise) 45 minutes

Exercise Bike- 30 minutes (with 10 minutes at increased tension, ouch!), 5 minutes swatting flies, 5 minutes standing abs, 5 minutes marching in place.

Wednesday

More biking today, and I did really well! 32 minutes at 14-14.5 mph for a total of 7.2 miles covered. Next week, I think I'm going to up my tension. *bites nails*
The Almighty Liz

Tuesday Strength Workout/ Running in place 45 minutes

30 minutes strength, 15 minutes running in place.

Also- shopping with kids for 1 1/2 hours.

Tuesday

I did my work out late today, and I think I like it better in the morning. Anyway, 30 minutes on the bike at 13-14 mph for a total of 6.6 miles covered.
The Almighty Liz

Friday & Tuesday

I did 40 minutes of stair running on Friday.

I did 6 miles of the mega hill route today.

Monday Swimming 1 Hour

Swimming- breast stroke 15 min., back stroke 20 min., freestyle 15 min., 10 min. kick board.

Also- I was up and down the stairs all day today getting large bags of cans out to take to the recycling place (for money) and also doing laundry all day. I am poo-ooped. Stairs are becoming much more challenging.

Monday--UGH!

Just a typical Monday. I'm tired, hosting Auntie Flow, and have a million things to do, none of which are fun. However, I don't want to ruin my Perfect Score, so I worked out today. Strength training again;
Hamstrings-on the weight bench, 3 sets of 12 reps at 23.8 lbs.
Biceps-3 sets of 12 reps at 7ish lbs.
Shins-3 sets of 12 reps with my resistance band.
10 minutes of Pilate's abs. Oi! Kill me now!
The Almighty Liz
P.S. It all took around 20-30 minutes.