Fitness Fridays = Physical Fridays (Apolo Ohno still rocks)

My brother and I are all smiles at the end of my first 5K. Riley was a big motivator at the end. Can I get back to that place?

I’ve got to start somewhere and right now that’s just doing some kind of physical activity each day.  With my surgeries, my dad’s emergency and long recovery, I never got on track with my fitness goals. So instead of making these grand plans to run/walk 5 times a week, etc., I’m going to just try to do something active every day.

This week I did laundry: loading, unloading and folding and putting away. Ryan usually does the laundry, but with the change in my schedule, I’m able to do more around the house. Last night, I danced (in high heels) as Harry Connick Jr. (more on that later) sang at the VBC Concert Hall. Tomorrow I’ll be at Riley’s softball practice, likely helping out by chasing down foul balls. Every little bit helps.

I’ve edited my big goals:

Do 10 real pushups
Wear my GAP boyfriend jeans (in my closet since 2007) smallest size Lane Bryant jeans
Do the Ribbon Run 5K in October Cotton Row 5K in May
Wear my cute workout tanks/shorts again
Get my calves back into my tall boots without spillage
Carry Riley to bed without giving myself a hernia
Fit into my Bama T-shirts this football by the end of softball season
Outrun 8- and 9-year-olds at softball practice next spring by the end of summer

So those are my big goals … today. They might change tomorrow or next week as I have more time to think about where I’m headed. I will also have to decide what steps I’ll take to meet these goals. Next week’s post will cover that.

The Olympics are winding down, and tonight we saw why Apolo Anton Ohno is one of the best short-track speedskaters in the world. He had to jump over one of two skaters who went down in the quarterfinals, and he avoided another spinout in the semifinals.

He won his eighth medal as he anchored the U.S. to a bronze in the team relay. He should’ve had nine, but a ticky-tack call by a Canadian judge disqualified him (he had the silver) in the 500-meter because he touched one of the Canadian skaters. However, a different Canadian skater put his hand on a Korean skater. Then the Korean skater touched that Canadian. But who was disqualified? Ohno, the skater who was in fourth place at the time. Judging is far too subjective in speedskating.

After that disappointing ruling, Ohno came back to skate an incredible race in the relay to pull the USA to the bronze after being fourth for most of the race. His heart and drive are incredible. There’s no quit in him. A good reminder as I start my fitness journey: If an obstacle slows you down, don’t quit. Make the leap and keep skating.

Today’s plan …

Today will be weird. Because of the primary elections, I work from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. then from 9 p.m.-midnight. Normally I work 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Tuesdays and head to the gym after work. Today I will jump rope or throw in a cardio DVD on my break. Unfortunately, Riley doesn’t like the jog stroller anymore, so I can’t run.

Menu: (* means not yet eaten)
1. 1/2 protein shake–8:00
2. Egg sandwich/Propel water–10:30
(reduced-fat 100-calorie popcorn, 1/2 Diet Pepsi–11:30–cause I was still hungry)
3. Protein bar/Diet Coke–1:50
4. Salad/water/two dark chocolate Hershey’s kisses–4:30
5. Chicken sandwich, Baked Doritos/Diet Mt. Dew–6:30
6. Protein bar/water–9:30
Also took multivitamin, calcium & CLA.

Got up at 7:38–I’m getting closer to my wakeup goal–and got several things done in the house. I cleaned out two old jewelry boxes and transferred jewelry to the armoire I got for Mother’s Day. (Yes, it’s taken me that long to get it done.) I cleaned out some more space in the closet. I found some Gap shorts that I will use to measure my progress. They’re 14s and we all know Gap sizes run small. 😉

I took down two pairs of blinds for cleaning outside later. I probably won’t put the ones from the kitchen back up. The windows face the backyard and I don’t really care if our dog or the neighbor’s cows see in. No one else can, unless they use binoculars and if they’re that desperate, more power to ’em.

I threw in a load of laundry and made some eggs and toast, stripped our bed and put fresh sheets on.

Worked for 5 hours, then took Riley outside to play. Filled her pool, washed the blinds, folded the laundry. Back inside, I gave Riley chicken noodle soup, while I ate a chicken sandwich. The turkey didn’t get thawed today. We also painted some pictures, and read “Going on a Bear Hunt.”

Now it’s time for the second round of work. All in all a good day!

‘Night,
Tiff