Up Up and AWAY!

Vacation starts at 4:31 today! I am very much looking forward to the much needed break. Going to a concert tonight then heading to Vancouver/Whistler on Sunday to go snowboarding for a couple days. Afterwards, I am meeting up with my childhood friend who lives in Victoria and staying with her for a couple days. I can't wait to see her, it has been 2 years since the last time I say her.

Still training, however I have been doing a deload program this month to give my knees a bit of a break. I did manage to get in with a massage therapist and have another appointment tomorrow. It helped a bit, but I know I need to do more work on my end.

I also signed up for the Sport Chek Mother's Day 10KM Run. I am also thinking of signing up for a half marathon. I think I can do it. After the Mother's Day run, I will have done 1 8km and 2 10km races, I think I could probably tackle the challenge or a half marathon.

Rock Hard Pistols

New year, new decade; Bring it on!!

I made it to the gym January 1st, it was pretty quiet with the exception of a few die hards. Had a great workout, although my knees let me know it was time for a break. Good timing since I hate going to the gym for the first three weeks of the year. All the resolutioners just take up space and get in my way. You know damn well that by the end of the month half of them will have given up, by the end of February you are lucky to find a handful that actually stuck with it. Sometimes I just want to yell at them to get out of my gym now and not even bother. But instead I just keep my iPod on and impatiently wait for them to finish so that I can get my workout done.

My knees have really been bothering me ever since my last workout, so I finally got my butt in gear and made an appointment for a massage. I used my foam roller a bit over the weekend and it hurt like a mo' fo, so I didn't do it for long. A few months back, I ordered the DVD Yoga Conditioning for Athletes. I am by no means an athlete, but I am hoping it will help me with the issues I have with my knees. Otherwise, I fear that all this training will cause me to be a complete cripple by the time I am 50! However, I suppose a good start would be to take the plastic wrap off the DVD.

Here is a list of things I am planning on working on this year:

• Start running again
• Read more - I never seem to find the time to read, even though I love it
• Paint/draw more - again, never seem to find the time
• I guess I should add that I need to organize my time better too!
• Try at least one new "clean" recipe a month
• Eat more protein
• Drink more water
• Pick up the guitar again

Geesh, just thinking of what to put in this list gets me a little overwhelmed....

Waiting for the end, to be able to start again

Not doing so well with this blogging thing this time around, but I will make an effort to get back on it. The gym has been going well and I can feel my strength coming back, albeit verrrrry slowly. It would likely help if I actually ATE something, however my appetite seems to have taken a hiatus. I was at the gym last week and was wearing something I haven't worn in a while, as I walked past a mirror I was shocked at my reflection. I knew I had lost weight, I mean none of my pants fit and a dress I bought at the end of the summer literally hangs off of me like a potato sack, but I guess I never really realized just how much I lost until I saw myself. I wish I could say that my weight loss is a result of hard work, but I can't. Constant stress has my heart racing 24/7 and my complete lack of appetite are more likely the cause. I am afraid that once things settle down in my life, the weight will start creeping back on. In fact, I know it will. I suppose the best plan of attack is to play defense and clean things up now. Ok, well after the holidays maybe, that in itself brings a lot of stress to the best of people.

At the beginning of this year, I felt that this was going to be a year of change. Well, turns out I was right, unfortunately the change was not what I expected. In fact so much has changed in my life one could say it is the beginning of a new life. 2009 has been a year of crap and turmoil and I am anxious for it to be over. I have been lucky in that I still have my health and those I love still have theirs. My life is only as good as I make it to be, so my plan for 2010 is to start focusing on me, doing things that make me happy and making my life the best it can be. I believe that nothing but good can come from this. It is so easy to float through life and let others influence your happiness, but ultimately true happiness comes from within. Pretty deep thoughts for this early in the morning!

With that in mind, I am looking forward to the new year and have high hopes for what it will bring. I do not believe in New Years Resolutions, I prefer to set goals and I plan on spending these last few weeks of this year deciding which goals I should work towards and how I plan on achieving them. For one, I want to start running again. It has always been a dream of mine to be able to run a marathon, not sure I will be able to reach this goal this year, but maybe I could aim for a half marathon. I also want to get back into drawing and painting. I have done a little in the last few months, but I would like to do more. And damnit! I want to be able to bench at least 100lbs! So close, yet so far still...

Picking Myself Up and Dusting Off

It has been a fairly long hiatus from blogging, I even contemplated scrapping the whole thing. However, I enjoy it so, we will give it a go once again. Life has done a total somersault and has landed me on my head, it has taken a while but I am slowly getting back on my feet. Not, of course, without a few trips and stumbles along the way. Training has been sporadic for the past few months, between moving, illness and life in general I have been slow to get back on track. However, it seems like I am getting there once again. Diet.... well, suffice it to say it needs work. On the bright side, I have lost about 15lbs, sadly I think a lot of that is muscle. I have been slow to bring my weights back up, jumped in too quickly and crippled myself for nearly a week! Lesson learned.

My focus for now is to clean up my diet and eat more protein, become more consistent with my training and work on getting more cardio done. I also need to focus on using my foam roller on my legs and stretching more as I am starting to have issues with my knees once again. Hmmm, I think it may be time to visit my massage therapist once again!

She's ALIVE!

Yes, I am alive! Things have been pretty crazy busy lately and I have so much to say. A few weeks ago, the company I work for announced that they are splitting into two separate companies. We were all told that this was an opportunity for growth, a good thing, and we were all guaranteed to keep our jobs. The only change would be that some departments that currently serve both units, will have to be split. So, in the end the only change to our jobs would be; which company we work for and where our desks were located. Because I work in Accounts Payable, I am in one of the departments that will be greatly affected by this split. Our team will be divided into two groups; one group per company. We were told that we would know which company we would be working for within a weeks time. A week passed and then we were told that we would not know until the end of June. I suppose I should also add that this split is to be effect July 2nd. Talk about giving us notice! At this time we were informed that there was a possibility that some positions may be cut. That didn't really sit all too well with me. But so be it, nothing I can do. In the meantime, there was a lot of work to do to get ready for the split, so overtime had been approved. I have been working as much overtime as I can get in and banking all the hours. Once July comes around and if I still have a job, then I will end up with extra days off. If I find myself unemployed, then I will be paid out the banked overtime which would help pay cover some bills. I was also just informed this week that the holidays that I had booked for the beginning of July have been cancelled. I expected it. The timing on my holidays is not exactly ideal considering the split is to happen on July 2nd. In any event, I have been spending more time at work and less time in the gym.

As I mentioned I have not been to the gym much lately, nor have I been training for my 10km run as much as I should be either. I did manage to get a great deal on a used treadmill which arrived this past Tuesday. However, I have yet to try the thing out. I really need to get my act together on this, but with all the overtime I have been working I have been so tired by the time I get home, the thought of going for a run is not as appealing. Speaking of the race, I have almost met my target of raising $500! I am expecting a few more pledges so I am positive I will make it. In case anyone needs a refresher of what this race is for, it is to raise money for cancers below the waist. This is something that I feel fairly strongly about since Wes's mom and her boyfriend have both been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Both have been treated, and so far his mom has been cleared. Unfortunately, we recently found out her boyfriend has not been so lucky. So if anyone would like to donate to a great cause, you can sponsor me here! http://ed09.uncoverthecure.org/goto/Danielle.Chabot

Switching gears here, 'summer' is on its way and that means gardening! I use the term 'summer' loosely as the weather has not been exactly stellar. This is only my second year planting a vegetable garden so I am still learning. I had always heard that you should have everything planted by May long weekend; so this is what I did. Two days later this is what I woke up to....

I covered all my plants with coffee cans in an attempt to prevent them from freezing. However the forecast for the following days was near freezing, so I left them covered. Once the temperatures turned around I removed the cans and was happy to see everything had made it. The plants were a little wilted as they needed watering, so I watered them. Within the following two days, they went downhill. Turns out keeping them covered from the frost and snow was one thing, however plants also need light! My tomatoes ended up looking like dead sticks, the basil was toast and my lettuce looked pretty pathetic. I refused to pull the plants without at least TRYING to get them to come back. The basil is gone, the lettuce has recovered and I see new growth on the tomatoes. Hopefully, they will actually produce something! If all goes well, I should have a nice crop of tomatoes, lettuce, swiss chard, zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, peas, dill, thyme and cilantro. As long as I can keep Mister Diamond from using my garden as his personal litter box, all should go well!

Well, my little darling Taylor has been hounding me to use the computer, so I will sign off for now and I promise not to wait so long for my next post!

MIA

I have been MIA for a bit, not much to say aside from posting my workouts, which can get a little boring. I trained yesterday and it sucked. I felt weak and shaky and just wasn't into it. So, I think I need to take a bit of a break. I may try to go sometime this weekend, but if that doesn't happen I will hold off until next week. In the meantime, I am going to try to get more running in. I did manage to borrow a treadmill, so that will help especially on the nights that Wes works and I cannot get out of the house to go for a run. I used to run in the mornings and I loved it, but I just cannot seem to drag my butt out of bed any earlier then I already do.

Oh, it is the middle of May and it snowed last night. I just love living here.

Head in the Sand

Not much to say. Sometimes it is easier to keep your head in the sand...

Workout for Wednesday

Hip mobility and glute activation

RDL 115/125/135/145/165lbs x 5 (Definitely a personal record here)
Leg Press 270 lbs x 10 x 3
Split Squat 75 lbs x 12 x 2 - need to up my weight next time
Standing Cable Crunches 70/80/80lbs x 10


Cardio has been a complete joke this week, so has the diet end too. I am looking at buying a treadmill because I cannot seem to get the time to get out and run. If I don't pull up my socks I am going to fall flat on my face at the 4 km mark.