Stuff and things

I made an executive decision last night and I slept in. Until 6! And I still didn't want to get up! And I did not run. I really needed to get my plants in their containers, so I did that. And it was a really fun way to start the morning!

I did run hills at lunch. Just beautiful out.

87!

I'm glad I did it but, man, am I glad I'm done! It is 87 outside - in the sun. Of course, in San Diego it is ALL in the sun! I had about .5 of a mile to go and I thought "Shoot. I really should not be running anymore it is soooo freaking hot and I'm so thirsty!" But then I realized that I would have to WALK back and heaven forbid I do something so time consuming as walk!

I was at my garden for about two hours today. About 45 minutes of that was our meeting where I just sat and wished I was elsewhere! I think a lot of the people take it as an opportunity to visit. And there is some political drama of course. Well, it is necessary. And it is done for another month! I think that the guidelines say I only have to attend 3 out of every 6 meetings. I'm going to check on that!

So far I have only accomplished one statistics problem since I've been home from my run. That's OK - I will get it done today, I'm positive. 100% positive.

Woo Hoo!

My run clocked in at 31:58! I was stunned and excited to see that "1" on my watch!

I did squats, lunges, dips, and The Plank after my run.

THEN...yes, there is more! I ran my hill five times at lunch. Work was really angstful today, so I needed to get out.

After work, my mind would not settle down so I walked to my garden. Not an exercise walk, just a getting out in the evening walk. And it was beautiful. Perfect night and so many flowers are blooming that it just smells delicious.

I'm tired!

Hello March!

I just cannot believe it is already March. Yikes.

I had another day of non-traditional exercise. My friend Brian and I went to the beach on Coronado and spend a couple of hours waking around there. Not hard core speed walking, just moseying around. But walking on the sand is difficult!

I'm feeling really tired tonight so I hope I sleep well. The last couple of weeks I have been a bad sleeper. I am not sure why - and I have really cut down my caffeine intake. In fact, I have quit having anything with caffeine after 11 AM Monday through Friday.

I did a good job this weekend of not letting my boredom get the best of me and eating my way through it. Maybe it is not boredom, because I am not actually bored on the weekend. But lack of structure I think. Anyway, it was a healthy weekend with healthy eating and fun activity stuff.

Oh, and I'm sunburned!

Tard....

As in, I am saying I'm tired but in the Southern way.

Well, you may have noticed I have not mentioned my garden in about 7 years. That's because I have been ignoring it. I think I just got so overwhelmed by the quantity of work. Obviously, ignoring a problem does not actually solve the problem. So funny how that works.

Point being, I gardened today. A lot. Actually, I weeded today. A lot. I did actually physical down in the dirt weeding and I also tilled. Here is my plan: I am going to till once a week until spring planting begins here in a month or so. My thought is that if I keep tilling, the weeds will die in the sun and will not have an opportunity to take root.

I am open to suggestions. Other then napalm. Apparently that falls outside of our organic garden guidelines. I checked.

I'm not going to kick myself too much about getting overwhelmed. It was a huge mess left to me to clean up.

That was my exercise today. Non-formal, but hard work! I wish you were here, Master Gardener. It was a beautiful day. Perfect for working outside. I really got some sun!

Ah, weeds!

Well, I did it! I ran to my garden this morning. And it was really fun! It is an easy run - only a little over two miles. Man, do I have weeds. I have Thursday off, so I guess I know what I'll be doing!

I did some lunges and push ups today, too. I cannot believe we forgot to work on lunges and squats when I was home! Guess we will have to do that when you visit in February. It will make your behind sad if we remember to actually do it!

I'm Tired!

I have had such a busy week! I did something or other every single night after work. Today I have a garden meeting this AM and then garden work that I need to accomplish. Tomorrow I have a morning coffee date with a pal.

My exercise for today will be gardening. Yesterday I ran in the morning and then I did do some hill running at lunch. That works well (when I feel like doing it!) because it is good exercise but only takes about 30 minutes. Boy, I sure could tell it had been a while since I had done the hills! I am going to try and make sure I do it 3 times a work week.

I really want to make some root vegetable beef stew but I have not found the recipe I want yet. I did find one that is 1000 calories per serving! Crazy!

Exercising

Well, this morning I exercised my right to vote! And it was really, really exciting. I have butterflies in my stomach even now!

That said, I did not get up and run this morning. I did get up at the "usual" time, but I did the necessary things to become a functional human being and then I walked over to my polling station. So I did get a mile of walking in this morning.

I took Friday and Sunday off. Saturday I did so much work in my garden, it was just crazy. I was so sore Sunday! Monday morning I got up and ran.

I hope to be back at it tomorrow AM but I just got home from an election (YAY!!!!!) party, so we shall see what the morning brings!

Soreness of the Garden Variety

I did so much garden work on Sunday but I am really surprised at how sore I feel! New muscles!

I did get up and run on Monday and Tuesday. I just want to make sure I get back on the morning run. It sets the tone for my day.

Monday I walked at lunch. Not a heart pumping walk, but it was good to get out of the office and away from my desk.

Today I did not walk at lunch. Rather I went to the post office to pick up a package from Miss Amy! Super fun and filled with awesome Pampered Chef stuff!

As an aside, this is my second attempt to publish this post. I know you have gotten an error before so I wanted to share with you what I did to reclaim my post! Cause I'm lazy and did not want to retype. Anyway, I just hit my browser back arrow. And here was my entry! What can I say but w00t!

Catching Up!

Friday I had a really good lunch time hill run. Five up (obviously five down!)! Saturday I slacked. I just had a lot of house work stuff to accomplish. Today I spent three hours gardening! I know it is not going for a run, but it's work! A lot of weeding, hoeing, shoveling and such.

Last week I really struggled. After the groin incident on Monday, I really did not even try to run in the morning. I'm going to really make an effort this week.

Well, WCPE is playing Beethoven's 9th in its entirety right now. Pretty exciting so I am off to listen to that!

Gardening

Today my exercise was gardening. I have an astounding amount of work to do over there. Anyway, I walked to the garden and I think that is about 2.5 miles round trip. Then I spend a couple of hours working. I'm tired!

Ouch!

I'm sore! Gardening is hard work! Well, I just have a lot of work to do to get it ready. So, let me tell you that I am sore!

Yesterday I did some hill running. There is a small hill near work that I ran up (and down) five times.

Wow, was I crabby today. And that is just so unusual for me - especially since I quit drinking. But I was just crabby and upset and anxious feeling. I saw an image today from 1993 - it won the pultizer in 1994. Of a tiny little African girl struggling to get to a food station. And a vulture right behind her. And I thought, wow, Julie. GET OVER IT!!! Quite the attitude adjustment. It is amazing to contemplate that my neighbors in the world are starving like that, but I live in a country with such abundant food that I have to exercise to be in shape.

I am thinking of starting a garden blog. I'll bring my camera over with me tomorrow when I go to work. That way you can see what I'm working with here!

The three sleeps

I feel like I have three ways of sleeping. The first is to just pass out and sleep like a rock. The second is to feel like I did not sleep at all - even though I know I did. The third is to feel like I did not sleep at all - and to know that I really did not sleep at all!

Well, Monday night was the first kind - I slept long and slept hard. Last night I for real did not sleep at all. Based on that, I turned my coffee pot timer off at 4 AM and let myself sleep in this morning. So I did not jog in the AM.

Then, at lunch, I was half way down the stairs and I realized it was so hot that it was actually foolish to exercise. It was just that hot.

But after work I did get some good exercise! I officially took over my garden plot today, and it is a mess! Weeds like I can't believe. So I worked on that for a while. I suppose it will take some time to get the plot ready. But it is fun!

When we last saw Julie.....

You have to think the title in Cooter's sort of whispery voice from The Dukes of Hazard introduction.

I did get some running (well, jogging) in this weekend. Today I decided that I am still in tumble recovery. My right Biceps Femoris Muscle feels like someone smacked it just once with an ice pick. It has been stiff and tender for days but during my jog today there was just ONE spot that was agony! Thankfully it started to object at the end of my jog.

What is the Biceps Femoris Muscle, you ask? Well, thanks to the magic of the intertubes you can find out by clicking here. Funny, I always thought it was the hamstring. Learn something new every day.

OK, here is my big announcement. I am getting up at 6 AM tomorrow. There. I said it. Now I must follow though. In an effort to ensure that I will get up at 6, I programmed my coffee maker to brew at 5:51 AM. My plan is to get up, drink some coffee, read some funnies, and then go for a jog. I want to kind of switch up my schedule so I can do garden things after work and not worry about exercising vs. gardening.

Speaking of which, there is a whole lot of work to be done in my plot. It is full of weeds. But that will be some good work for me and some of my plot cohorts have offered to help me. That said, I am not officially taking possession until 10/1. The garden leader (I imagine she has a title of some kind) initially said I could start right away but there are things that need to be removed from the plot and I really do not have any desire to relocate stuff for other gardeners. Cause I am kind a caring like that. So I told her that I did not want to take ownership till the beginning of the month at which time I assume anything in the plot has been abandoned. And I will either keep it or kill it!

I made pretty good (and physically unhealthy/mentally healthy) burgers over here this weekend. I made my patties (just an egg/salt/pepper) and wrapped them in prosciutto and grilled them on my Forman grill. Then I put them on a brichoe bun with a slice of blue cheese brie and sautéed shallot. Pretty delicious! I ended up getting nine little burgers out of my pound of meat, so I have scads of them in the freezer now. You should come over! I will let you pick out your own cheese - and I will sauté some mushrooms, too! I just did not think about it while I was at the store. Oh well. Next time!

Edited to add: How does setting my coffee maker ensure I will get up? Since I've turned poor I have also noticed I've turned cheap. It will kill me to think of that coffee cooked and burning. I hate to waste!