It's time to get back in the swing of things. Summer is now over and time to think about fall and winter. That means signing up for some running events... at least my usual 5K Jingle Bell run in December and maybe I'll be back in shape enough to run that 5 Mile race around Thanksgiving. First I need to lose about 10 pounds to get back to a fit level that works for me... I also want to try and do some lateral box jumps in my routine so I can strengthen up for downhill ski season!

poo! I didn't see this message til AFTER i fiddled with my picture. lol. guess we will both be blank pics. :)
Hope all is well on your side of the states. :)

Thanks Ash. Yeah I dropped a note to the traineo admins... some kind of software problem going on with traineo and pictures. There's a few others on the site now with blank pictures. If you try to change your photo, it won't take the new pic and you can't revert back to your old one!

your picture has been disabled. just thought i'd let you know. :)

Nice job on the biking! I remember being a kid and those dang chains falling off all the time! lol. It's alwasys when you want to be going nice and fast...but the fact that you were trying to "push it" anyway is pretty cool. You've got some stamina in there!!! and you're weight today seems to be mirroring your hard work. Good job!!

Hockey ended this Tuesday so now my Tuesday nights are free. The weather has been cooperating the last couple days... for the first time I biked into work 2 consecutive days in a row. Today I took it more easy coming into the office and still did it in only 40 minutes across 7.5 miles. Yesterday going home I was pushing it hard and of course about 1/2 way home I broke the chain! That took 10-15 min to repair, luckily I had the repair tool with me.

I have some good news from the ice hockey front... I've been playing on a "D league" which is recreational for 8 weeks now. I've been ice skating for years but never joined a team. This has been a great form of FUN exercise and also has improved my skills (in my opinion) in hockey.

Up to this point I've been playing right wing (offense) and while I've had a couple shot attempts I didn't score any goals. Last night was a big night for me because I had 2 of our teams 3 goals! One was a rebound shot and another was from a nice pass from behind the net.

Unfortunately our season is ending in the next couple weeks. I'll be thinking about maybe joining a fall league or do this again next spring. It's great aerobic exercise and a lot of sprinting and interval type training. I know it's working b/c I've got sore legs today!

My rib got better a few days after my last post. Must have just been a bruise. I played hockey again last night and we had a good win, 4-1. I got to take a few shots on goal so it was pretty fun compared to losing most times! I felt pretty good on my super-sports day: bike into work and home (7.5 miles each way) then play hockey. I have to maybe get on the bike again to get to work this week. Today it's raining so I drove, plus my legs are sore!

I think I broke a rib playing hockey. It's been hurting me every day since it happened on 4/22. Hurts to breathe deep, walk, lay on my right side, etc. It happened when I skated into a guy's stick who was trying to get a puck off the boards. His stick jammed and I more or less speared myself. It hurt pretty good at first but I was hoping it was just a bruise. From what I've read though the doctors don't do much other than to say let it heal and take aspirin if it hurts too much. It's tolerable pain in my case I just wish it would go away. Most people indicate it'll be another 6-8 weeks before it heals up. In the meantime I'm still gonna play hockey my once per week and keep exercising!

That's awesome that you're being very proactive with things like RIDING your BIKE to work! That's so great. Nice new picture by the way, you guys look so nice!

Today I rode my bike into work for the first time ever! It was a little cool outside (45 degrees) but I dressed for it, the way home should be a nice 68-70. The ride was 7.5 miles one way and took me 42 minutes. I'm lucky we have showers here at work, so I just got out of bed and went right to the bike.

I felt pretty good, especially considering I had just played hockey less than 12 hours before my ride in.

HI HI! Happy April right back at you! How are things are your end going? How's being engaged treating you? :)

i know i spelled wednesday wrong. oops...lol

thanks for the water bottle. Oh, and i had a fun thought. if you're planning in 09', i know it's weird and wacky to do a wedding on a wenesday (although back in the day it was the norm, i learned in school that's how it got it's name) getting married on 07/08/09 would be a really cool anniversary! the 9th of sept (09/09/09) also lands on a wednesday. what the heck? i'm sure whatever you choose will be awesome. I just think the cool dates are fun because looking back i wish i'd have had a cool date. when people hear my anniversary 9/22/01, i just get sept. 11 questions. Anyway, let me know as you make plans! as a girl, i'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. :)

you've been kicking it like usual! I'm not surprised. Have you guys set a date yet?

how did Christmas treat you? How's life going? I see you been doing a lot of skiing!! That's so great. I need to try that... Never done it before.
Let me know how things are.

wow. All I'm gonna say is that's definately impressive...

Today was the Jingle Bell 5K / 3.1 mile run and I finished it in 24:15. That's about a 7:48 pace so I was very happy with my finish time! In the 30-34 age group I finished 7th place, and in the 35-39 age group (me next year) I would have finished in 3rd place.

Ahhhh.... finally the land of 1000 calorie workouts return! :-) I haven't been at this level since early spring this year when I started getting more outside playing sports and out of the gym. I registered a 1003 calorie elliptical workout today, it felt pretty good. I'm hoping to keep up this level of intensity for the rest of this month as I'm trying to hit 169 lbs by January 1!

I went downhill skiing for the first time this weekend. Well, I have done it one other time many years ago but it felt like I had never done it before. What a good workout that was for the entire body. I'm looking forward to doing more skiing this winter... it's easier to stay motivated in the gym when you have something more immediate to work for like skiing better and feeling good on the hill.

I also have the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis this weekend. This will be a good 5K run and the weather looks "reasonable" with low 20's and no rain or snow in the forecast so far.

i had a great gym day yesterday AND i ate super clean. That felt good! I didn't do this great over the weekend, but not THAT bad either. Christmas is in 3 weeks already, wow! And you and I will be in BETTER shape for it. lol

how are things going on your side? i'm attempting to ween myself off of energy drinks before i go to the gym, and because of that my running has been much harder. I'll work it back up, it's just not as easy as it used to be. lol. looks like you're doing some good training. Sucks here cuz it's in the negative degrees outside, but when I hit the gym today that will be 3 days straight!

wow. i just read all this stuff you've been up to and I'm SOOO excited to be able to FINALLY hit the gym today! Oh....and I noticed that your weight is going down too, so I better get myself going hard!

Tonight I won the 10 mile bike race with 1 other guy with a time of 43:15. There were no prizes so I guess the hardcore guys were not out there. Still... it was a LOT of work to put in that time and the 2nd half of the race was a bitch. The last 5 miles were into a significant head wind and it felt uphill most of the way back. It was rough. I was in the lead for almost all but 1/2 mile around the 3.5 mile mark. So onward and upward! More miles, more races!

Yesterday evening I ran an 8K / 5 mile run "through the lights" at the Wayne County Lightfest. It was a really cool run in the dark, the roads were closed for the run and the Christmas lights were a nice distraction from the run. My finishing time was 43:44 which comes out to a pace of about 8 min 48 seconds per mile. Really good for me! I felt good finishing also and felt I could've gone further. Today I'm not too sore so I might do the 10 mile bike ride that is this evening at the same place.

The run was a significant milestone for me because it is the furthest I've run since my college running days back around 1995. Around that time I would go on 1-hour long weekend runs with my friends, and at one time we ran the Crim route of 10 miles which is the longest distance I have ever run. Since those days I've done an occasional 5K / 3.1 mile race and never pushed myself to go farther. Now I'm thinking about next year and the possibility to gear up for the 10-mile Crim or another 10 mile race. I must be nuts! :-)

I've been a member of traineo for one full year now! This week is my 1 year anniversary. I started this program right around 206 pounds. While I touched as low as 170 pounds at one time (36 pounds lost!), I'm happy to say I'm holding steady around 180 right now. This winter I will keep pushing and spend more time in the gym since the weather is nasty. This summer I wasn't in the gym much but I was enjoying life and exercising by playing softball, kayaking, mountain biking, and all the other outdoor fun stuff I could think of! Winter is more of gym time for me although I want to try to get out and cross country ski and downhill ski this year. Playing sports is a great way to see how the gym pays off, and is lots of fun at the same time!

Competition starts NOW.
Oh, it's ON. hehe

Enjoy the rest of this week and the bad eating!!! Enjoy your upcoming football game and all the yummy food and beer...have SO much that you won't want it again for awhile. lol :)

have a good weekend!!!

My softball season has been over for about two weeks now, I went from three nights playing now to none. I haven't been exercising much since my vacation in late July and I can feel it mentally, physically, and in the fact that my scale shows me gaining an average of maybe 6 pounds since exercise stopped.

So I'm getting back in the gym now and going to get back on the horse aka elliptical machine :-) I'm also going to register for a 5K race so I can have some motivation to be back in the gym training... besides the other benefits that go along with exercise. Send me a water bottle, I'll need it!

i'm like you now! we've both lost 30 lbs since Traineo! :)

i've been to Juarez, back when I lived in NM! Yeah...that place wasn't what I'd call a "vacation". lol. AND, my cousin lives in WVa, so I'd been there and out on the river all my growing up childhoood. Hope you have fun! I'm off to make my daughters b-day cake. Well, attempt. :)

I'm actually in El Paso now for work (we have a plant in Juarez, Mexico which is just right next door to El Paso). This is not much of a fun trip but later this month I have a big trip planned to West Virginia for white water rafting and to Camp Jeep in Virginia for some off road fun!

It seems like you go places all the time and you're always having so much fun...I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous!! When and where is your next trip off to?

that was a LOT of golfing!!! lol. bet you had SO much fun!

wow, 2 comments from me today. wait...including this? guess that's 3! :P

sucks about your knee, hope you feel tip-top shape again soon. I'll try to run extra hard today just for you! lol. today is actually my running day. I noticed that if i run EVERY day it gets kind of painful on the inside of my knee (if that makes sense) and too tight in my calves, so i'm going to try to run every other day. (plus it cuts down on the amount of red bull i rely on, since i only feel the need to down it on days i run) lol
Good luck! Now I hope I don't get an injury~ :)

thanks! i hit a number today that i haven't hit since back in like February!!! i was really excited! FINALLY my SUPER hard work is paying off and I feel like this time I won't be derailed...so woo-hoo!! :)

thanks for the thought! I probably would, but alot of them just started, and I don't think the timing would work right now because then I would have to get a sitter just to go to practices and stuff like that. but who knows what'll happen in the future... ?

im the lightest (and most toned!) since March. YEA!

first off, i love that your page says GOAL MET....uh, can I say "jealous!!!" lol. Second, I just wanted to say I loved your comment on my blog tonight. Okay, so I usually love all your comments, (hell, i think sometimes you are the only one that even reads that thing) But, it made me feel good. And you're right...May is my last chance before summer and I want to get all out of it that I can. And I LOVE not weighing in for a week (though it was hard...kind of) because since my "official" competition blows, this is like a mini-competition with myself. How much can I lose in a week if I do PERFECT I wonder?? And that keeps me curious as hell. Okay, this was a REALLY long comment. See, I write alot....often. lol. Have a great humpday tomorrow! lol

haven't heard from you in awhile. hope all is well. :)

good luck, and i notice your weight is creeping up a little...you're not pulling an "ashley" in the diet area, are you?? :P

We have had 2 softball practices so far. The first one I did really good and ran around like crazy, I had unbelievable amounts of energy and was going after balls I never would have before. The second practice was slower and I ended up pulling or straining one of my glute muscles. So I could run without pain but anytime I tried to bend over while running to grab a ball, it would hurt real bad and I came up limping. The muscles I pulled I don't normally use in my workouts as much as I do in softball with these sudden lateral movements.

I had a deep tissue massage yesterday and it feels a little better. I also learned some new glute stretches... here is link to some stretches Crossing your leg as if you were sitting in a chair also is a good stretch and it hurts me a little to do that on the injured side of my behind!

Our first game is a week from today, and we practice one last time tonight. I'll see how I make it through this injury. Wish me luck!

sounds like you have quite a good system. how are you guys doing at your softball?

I keep my weight training pretty simple. I have not been doing legs at all during the weight loss but am starting to do a little bit. But in general... I do my cardio first, and then I always do after each cardio a set of pull-ups (as many as I can do, I can do 10 now), and then I do dips for one set (as many as I can do, I can do 30).

Then I alternate between workouts a series of push or pull exercises. So say on Monday I will do push exercises: three sets of tricept extensions, three sets of chest presses, and three sets of shoulder presses.

The next day, say Tuesday, I will do pull exercises. So on that day I will do three sets of bicept curls, three sets of lat pull downs, and three sets of seated rows. That way I give the alternate muscle groups at least a full day to recover.

Now that I'm adding some weight training to the legs, on push days I will do leg extensions and on pull days I will do leg curls (three sets each).

By the way, most of the time I try to do 12 repetitions per set. I'm looking for muscle tone instead of adding mass... although I'm sure my muscles are a lot leaner now that I use them a lot more!

if you don't mind me asking, what kind of weight training do you do?

just wanted to say hi, and see how this week is going for you...

Today I woke up at weighed in at 175. So I shout out "bulls@T!!!" at the scale. Within the next 15 minutes I'm fully dressed to go out and run in the 40 degree weather which I never do (run in the cold and do any exercise first thing in the morning). So while I'm only about 3% above my recent low of 170 lbs, I can't let the weight creep up at all!

I am feeling sore 2 days after my first softball practice but that's OK. Moving some new muscles from throwing and batting. I feel like my abs are tightening up so that's pretty decent! Hopefully we have practice again today but it is still a bit on the cold and rainy side, we're still waiting for spring to come back here in Michigan.

wow. the site has a different feel to it on the main page....interesting...

ok, so we both had a gain....although yours was less than mine....lol
but i lose it OR gain it fast, so here's to LOSING it fast!
lol

i'm sure the cross training did it! And that's great!
You're doing so well!
I'm just SO happy, I'm finally back in it. lol

Is this a potential effect of cross training or multiple plus-1000 calorie workout days??? We started having nice weather, since last Saturday I had ridden my mountain bike 3 consecutive days in a row, for minimum 15 miles per ride, between 1 hour 15 and 1 hour 45 minutes. I did not do any weight lifting during these days. Now it's day four and I'm back in the gym. My weight was down to 171, which is a new low for me and only 2 pounds from my latest goal. I'm sure some weight will come back, it does go up/down, but hitting this new mark feels great! 7 straight days of 1000 calories burned might have something to do with it but I think the cross-training really helped and kicked my body up a notch!

do you have another email address?? i KEEP trying to respond to your email but everytime i hit 'send' it says "error". Then I look in my "sent" items and it's not there.
This only happens with you, I can email other people just fine... I don't get it, but I just tried to send an email 5 times. If you didn't receive any of them, please let me know another way to email you. I'm sick of traineo not letting me send this stuff...its' annoying!

Goodness John, Are you ever NOT there for me?! lol
I appreciate your encouragement...
And here I go...

you look GREAT...
you are CRAZY motivation for me. I just need to STICK with what I know I'm good at it.
Boo....starting over.... LOL

Today I ran a 4 mile race with my sister Amy. We both did pretty well, it's been many years since I've even been able to run 4 miles. Today we both finished inside 38 minutes, so we averaged just under 9.5 minutes per mile. It's an OK pace considering the wind was pretty strong through 1/2 of the course and gusting hard. The temp was about 32 degrees and it was sunny.

I went on a second business trip for a week in as many weeks. I was proud of myself for maintaining my exercise routine while away from home for those two trips. So I'm sticking well to the exercise and not giving myself any excuses to stop... but really, I don't want to and I feel great!

How are you doing lately? You look really great! (Younger, too!! I know you didn't want to hear that!)

I am currently pissed off that I have gained weight in four consecutive days!!! I have been working out but I let my diet fall off a bit. Both diet and exercise are the keys and Johnny here needs to focus again!

You look awesome!! Who's the chick in the picture w/you???

you lost some weight today? wow. i'm jealous!! :)

yea, we both have new goals...
HERE'S to us both getting there....!!!!!

You are doing awesome!!! Way to go!! Losing weight is no easy task-- but you sure make it look simple :) I'm so proud of you!!

Oh my!! Look at that new pic!!! You look great. I bet you are SOOO proud of yourself!!! :)

Hey John,
Thanks for the support. It's so easy to get discouraged, to date I have lost 35 pounds, but when returning to school I put back on 10 pounds. I have managed to drop 15 again at a steady rate about 2-3 pounds a week. But had a hard time getting through Christmas and New years. Anyway I need to get back on track and lose this weight. thanks heath

that was for you! you said you needed a smile. its not big, but its there.

Hey, 13! Really??! 13!!
That's so awesome!
Doesn't it feel amazing? When I got under 20 lbs left, I just kind of sat there and went 'wow....'
it seems SO close!
You'll be there in no time....

you changed your photo and you look GREAT!!!
I am in a super big hurry cuz I'm off to the gym, i just wanted to say a big giant GOOD LUCK to you on your run. You can do it, you are great, awesome, and a huge source of my motivation.
i'll be thinking of you today!!!!
ash

You haven't ran in a few days (like i'm one to talk...)
but i see that you dropped weight! great job!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!! Eat too much?? I ate normal (which is alot for me!) and I'm JUST NOW starting to undo whatever that did. Hopefully I have a good week, we'll see!

I'm getting stronger every day! My pattern on the treadmill in the last 3 weeks (since I started) has been to warm up by walking 5 min and also cooling down walk 5 min at the end. Three weeks ago I would run 5 min, walk 5 min (15 min run total). Last week I did run 6 min and walk 3 min intervals (18 min run total). This week I am doing run 7 min and walk 2 min intervals (21 min run total). Next week will be run 8 min and walk 1 min and finally no more walking rests the week after that!

While my weight is fluctuating somewhat I am confident I am going to continue to lose weight. I can feel it in my waistline and also when I put on a belt (go in a notch!). Also I rest on Saturdays and Sunday and have noticed now that the Monday runs seem to be the toughest! Oh well, I'm on my way to running that entire 5K in December!

It's neat that we both train really hard and have almost the same left to go. you have 24 lbs as of right now, but If I lost only 24, I'd still be super happy. I only want to lose 32, cuz that would make 100 lbs after my baby (which is neat to say) and because then I could be the same size I was freshman year of high school. That would be really awesome! So, you inspire me too!

hope whatever you gained over the weekend is gone by the next weekend. :)

I wanted to say a quick "thank you" for your constant and unwaivering support.

Especially at times like this, it is remarkable to feel like you have people on your team.

Hope you had a good weekend with food/training. :)

Just wanted to wish you a happy weekend!

Thanks for the comment you left on my last blog.

Little things like that can make a girl's day!

When you said you were gonna hit the gym hard, you weren't lying!!! GREAT RUNNING!!! I'm jealous! I haven't ran that long at once yet! I decided until after the Jingle thing, I'm going to work on my mile times, and after that go for endurance and distance. My friends won't run the thing with me, but I'm trying to make them do AT LEAST a mile. I'm gonna try to run every other day to keep up my stamina and all that. GREAT JOB THOUGH!!
p.s. i think it's funny BOTH of us gained! Now we'll BOTH lose it. hehe

I just read your comment to my blog. Funny we are both alike today! I gained too! hehe. I think mine is because I ate right before bed, my stomach even still feels all full. It's okay though, that was bound to happen with just the more "calorie dense" things I started putting back into my body. What about you?
Did you have a cheat day? Or are you gaining some crazy muscle? Or maybe you had something really salty last night and your body won't let go of the water! I know that I had a couple of microwave "lean cuisine's" yesterday and those have a pretty high sodium content. Hit me back!

HEY! You have no idea, but you are my favorite person today!!! I looked into your jingle run thing, and they have it about in a city an hour and a half away on Dec. 2nd. I'm SO excited. I'm signing up for it, and trying to get a team of my work people set up. Thank you SO much for the advice. I am not only taking it, but super happy to have gotten it!!!!!
p.s. you kicked booty on the treadmill today!

Hi John! Thanks for the kind words! I like your traineo button, it linked me straight here. I have to remember to put on of those on my blog later. I see that you've already lost seven pounds in the last week-and-a-half... That's awesome! Isn't it neat that after 5 more lbs it'll only be in the teens?? That's how I look at everything. :) Have a great day!!