Vicki's Quest to Defeat Inner Demons!

[blkhole24601]

I'm glad your apartment people are being reasonable! Moving can be so stressful at the best of times, and it's just so much worse when people choose to be jerks about things.

 

Also, this may sound weird but I'm really enjoying seeing what you eat. As a much larger person, it's instructive to see what other people are making. Do you have a recipie for the seared scallops with garlic butter? I've never made them before but they sound fantastic and I'd love to give them a try.

 

Me too! It wasn't until I read the lease that I began to worry, and it wasn't until I went online that I began to panic. But at least that's one less thing to worry about now.

 

Not weird at all! Unless it's weird that I'm flattered or something. I think I posted the link to the seared scallops recipe the first evening I made it (Thursday, I think?) but I'll track it down when I get my next breather; the new job is kind of hectic at the moment, but I'll happily give the recipe to you! If all else fails, I do have it saved on my computer somewhere. 

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

Ran 3.5 miles with intervals, and yeah, it’s too dark at 5:30 in the morning to try to get these runs in before leaving for work. Now that I’ve scouted out the gym, I’m going to go ahead and take my runs to the parks around work and do them there, shower, and then work. Much saner. In about a month I can take my runs to lunchtime, which I look forward to.

 

Also, finished season 1 of Zombies, Run! 

My biggest wonder here is: why the hell wouldn’t Runner 5 (aka- me!) take off that damn headset as soon as the New Canton guys started tracking him/her/me down? I mean, seriously. I don’t care if New Canton was the supposed only safe haven, I would have wanted to scout out Abel Township first before making a break for New Canton, ugh. Hopefully with the Major showing up, that means that Runner 5/I went to Abel instead of New Canton, ugh. Is it Thursday yet so I can have the next episode?

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: One hard-boiled egg, toast w/ dark chocolate almond butter

Lunch: Salad w/ cherub tomatoes, feta cheese, and hemp seeds

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Salmon w/ sauteed spinach and mushrooms, baked eggplant, arugula salad w/ cherry tomatoes

 

Other Things to Note:

Took my first walk with coworkers today. It wasn’t anything intense, just a walk between parking lots really, but it was still a good 30 minutes and the view is gorgeous anywhere you look. :3 Looking forward to doing it more often -- and hopefully once the noon heat gets less intense!

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

Took my first fitness class since high school today: circuit training! So while I didn’t do my TMNT workout, the circuit the trainer had us go through was almost basically everything in that workout minus wall planks. Basically, we did two circuits, one minute at each station, on the following:

• Flys
• Transfer crunch
• Medicine ball squat thrust w/ wall rebound (the trainer pulled out the 8-lb medicine ball for my sake, sob)
• Frog jumps
• Burpees
• Box jumps (I can do this! I used the lowest platform, but that was about 8-12 inches off the ground so booyah!)
• 4-way jog
• Kettlebell swinging squat (I used the 10-lb kettlebell)
• Squats w/ overhead press (I used the 18-lb bar)
• Jump rope
• Inverted rows (basically for those of us who can't do pull-ups (yet!); those who can did pull-ups instead)

A great workout, and I think I found my new Wednesday routine!

 

Food Log:

Lunch: Mixed greens w/ cherub tomatoes, feta cheese, and hemp seeds

Snack: Greek yogurt w/ peaches

Dinner: Rosemary grilled chicken topped w/ peach salsa, grilled eggplant

Dessert: Chocolate frozen Greek yogurt

[blkhole24601]

I'm glad your apartment people are being reasonable! Moving can be so stressful at the best of times, and it's just so much worse when people choose to be jerks about things.

 

Also, this may sound weird but I'm really enjoying seeing what you eat. As a much larger person, it's instructive to see what other people are making. Do you have a recipie for the seared scallops with garlic butter? I've never made them before but they sound fantastic and I'd love to give them a try.

 

Okay, finally found a bit of time.

 

Here's the recipe for the seared scallops: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/seared-scallops-recipe.html#!

And here's the recipe for the broccoli w/ garlic butter and cashews: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-with-Garlic-Butter-and-Cashews/

 

Enjoy!

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

Ran 2.5 miles! It was only supposed to be 2 miles but then this episode of Zombies, Run had more story clips than normal. And for the first time ever, I had to drop items to distract the zombies from getting me. WTF? Either today was a harder run than it felt, or they upped the difficulty level on me. I won't find out for sure until Tuesday, though.

 

And for the beginning of season 2, all I have to say is, huh??? What happened? I'm confused. I thought that the race episodes would cover the interim between seasons but nope, it's between mid-season 1 and the filler episode. I just. Hrm. There's just this HUGE leap of exposition between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2 and it's driving me bonkers. I know, I know, most of that exposition wouldn't happen while a runner is out on a mission, I get it, but come on, Runner 5/Me would have been in on some of it.

 

And Sam, seriously, sometimes, you just need to stop. Talking. Or at least think about what you're going to say before you say it. What you said is going not going to pan out well for me/Runner 5 I'm just saying.

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: One hard-boiled egg

Snack: Small handful of peanut M&M's and Hershey's kisses

Dinner: Tapas! Sangrias! Some peach sorbet w/ shortbread dessert!

 

Other Things to Note:

So, thanks to Steve's blog entry today, I got to thinking about the steps I need to take to have the future I want. For the most part, I'm doing all the right things, and tonight I got the ball rolling on a possibility of a Spain trip next October. My friend and her husband are thinking about doing a marathon in northern Spain, and if there's a half component, I told them, I'd go and run with them since by the time I complete the half they'd be finished with the full. If not, I'll still go but for moral support. We'll see! I'm completely serious about this, though, and I hope they actually follow through with it, too!

[blkhole24601]

Today I did the fitness assessment at work. A lot of this is C&P from my challenge log, but I'm putting it here also for prosperity's sake!

 

Fitness Assessment Results!

Weight: 123 lbs

Height: 61 inches

Max VO2: 44.0 ml/kg/min

Resting Heart Rate: 55 bpm

Max. Heart Rate: 192 bpm

Blood Pressure: 108 / 68 mmHg

Body Fat Percent: 21.0%

Fat Weight: 25.83 lbs

Fat Free Weight: 97.17 lbs

BMI: 23.3

 

Partial Curl-Ups: 25

Pushups: 12

Sit and Reach Test: 4.5 in

 

Aerobic Capacity: 90 percentile

Percent Fat: 55 percentile

BMI: 90 percentile

Partial Curl-Ups: 50 percentile

Pushups: 10 percentile

Sit and Reach: 1 percentile

 

I'm to go again after January 22, 2015 -- five months from now. Hopefully my strength and flexibility will improve; now I know how to tailor my next challenge, too!

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

Rest day instead of 3.5 miles because my ankle has not been happy with me today. I’ll try to go out tomorrow. It’ll either be the 3.5 miles or I’ll go for the 5 and use Sunday as a fun run day. We’ll see how things go.

 

Food Log:

Lunch: Panini w/ mozzarella, spinach, and tomatoes, cottage cheese on the side

Snack: Apple fritter donut SHUSH, tortilla chips w/ peach salsa, frozen Greek yogurt

 

I know it doesn’t look like much but it IS at the very least my BMR all together, so, yeah. I’ll stop my IF and eat like a normal human being tomorrow PROMISE.

 

Other Things to Note:

I’ve been puzzling over my fitness assessment results all day, and I’m still staring at them, scratching my head. I knew my cardiovascular was going to be pretty decent considering I can run over 3.0 miles without stopping, and my sprint pace is ~7:30 minute/mile. The fact that my strength and especially flexibility suck is of no surprise to me. It’s just everything else pointing to the fact that I’m actually pretty damn healthy.

 

But I know this doesn’t mean I get to let up. I have a half marathon to train for, and I want to be stronger than I am and I really need to do something about my near complete lack of flexibility. And I can’t stop trying to lose weight, either. I’m 3.0 lbs away from what I’ll be satisfied with, and 8 lbs away from where I feel I should be before I’ll allow myself to gain again via muscle building. So it’s nice to know that I’m doing okay, and I’m on the right track, and I know my two biggest weaknesses, which… I’ve always known, but now the numbers confirm it. Time to level up my strength training and start putting a focus on flexibility!

Because why wait until the next challenge?

[starsapart]

Flexy progression: prod at me and I will build you one~

[blkhole24601]

Flexy progression: prod at me and I will build you one~

 

Yes, please~

 

Assume ground zero for me. I mean, I can touch my toes when I stand and bend at the waist, but I think gravity is coming in for the assist on that one tbh. ;;;

[starsapart]

Yes, please~

 

Assume ground zero for me. I mean, I can touch my toes when I stand and bend at the waist, but I think gravity is coming in for the assist on that one tbh. ;;;

 

Give me 2-3 flexy goals and I'll give you a routine

[blkhole24601]

Give me 2-3 flexy goals and I'll give you a routine

 

What, are you saying "be more flexible" isn't specific or measurable?

1. I want my sit and reach to be less pathetic in five months. I barely nudged the marker this time. So instead of 4.5 inches, I don't know, five months is a long time, so let's say that I want my sit and reach to be 10 inches by the end of 5 months. (Is that too ambitious?) I know, this is more practical and less fun, but that's why my next two goals are...

    

2. I know that dancers need to be way more flexible than I am, so... hm. This isn't really specific or measurable, but anything that will help me be a more graceful dancer when I finally start taking classes/lessons? Ugh, this one is a horrible one as far as SMART goes. Maybe being able to reach my legs above my head???

    

3. Let's get wild and crazy here: I want to be able to do the splits. I don't know if this is realistic or not, and I'm not fussed at how long it'll take (the sooner the better but if the soonest is, say, a year, then I'm okay with that), but there it is! ... this is possibly too similar to Goal #2...

[starsapart]

Sooooooooooooooo what you're saying is you want me to make your hips cry

 

We'll talk about it this afternoon!  I know it's possible to learn the splits as an adult, though far more difficult than learning them as a child, when your bones are softer.  So I don't see why not.

 

I think I may modify that second goal for you - leg up over your head is a bit advanced for someone starting dance, but I know a progression that will help tremendously, I think.  And I still need to talk to you about some dance fundamentals that you can get to practicing now.  

 

I am looking forward to torturing you kekekekekekekekekekeke~

[blkhole24601]

Sooooooooooooooo what you're saying is you want me to make your hips cry

 

We'll talk about it this afternoon!  I know it's possible to learn the splits as an adult, though far more difficult than learning them as a child, when your bones are softer.  So I don't see why not.

 

I think I may modify that second goal for you - leg up over your head is a bit advanced for someone starting dance, but I know a progression that will help tremendously, I think.  And I still need to talk to you about some dance fundamentals that you can get to practicing now.  

 

I am looking forward to torturing you kekekekekekekekekekeke~

 

I guess so? Ahahahahaha we'll see! I... have never really thought much about flexibility because it was never something on my radar. I stretched mostly just to give my muscles a break after a workout and that was really about it. Sooooooo. Yeah. ;;;;;;; But yes, let's talk more later today!

 

and oh dear ;;;;;; (but I asked for this so it's okay)

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

5.0 miles completed yesterday, and it was much, much easier than last week to boot, too! My ankle felt not all the way better before going out, but better enough to give it a shot, and I’m glad I did. The weather was perfect running weather, too.

 

Now, Zombies, Run spoilers time:

Okay, so who all exactly died? Because I sort of shipped Jack/Eugene a lot and now I hear that the rocket launcher zombies killed Jack? WHO ELSE IS DEAD? Ed better not be, gdi. I a lot a bit love him even if he’s only been in 2-3 episodes. I know, shipping Runner 5 with a recent widower is probably not the best thing, and I find myself shipping Runner 5 with Sam now ever since I equated Sam to Alistair from Dragon Age but but still. That’s not why I want Ed alive. Ed and his daughter just needs to be alive because it’s too sad otherwise.

 

At least Sam and Maxine are still alive. I’d be so upset if they weren’t, I’m just saying.

 

Also, I love New Canton Runner 20. That means she’s going to die, isn’t she?

 

Today I decided to do the 5K race mode, which clued me in on some more of the main plot that the main storyline didn’t really touch upon too much yet. Mostly, I wanted to check up on how fast I could run a 5K under Not Race conditions since I always run faster during a race. The app crashed, and I’d forgotten to get RunKeeper going until about a mile into it, but based on the times that I could piece together, it looks like I ran the 5K in about 33-35 minutes? That’s actually… superb. It means I’m right back to where I’d left off when I stopped running three years ago. I didn’t think I’d get here this quickly.

 

More Zombies, Run spoilers:

And man, I didn’t think I’d miss Runner 8, but since the race missions essentially go back in time a bit to mid-season 1, she was there, and… yeah. I miss her. Damn it.

 

Food Log:

Breakfast (Sat): Two fried eggs, toast w/ dark chocolate almond butter

Breakfast (Sun): Toast w/ dark chocolate almond butter

Lunch (Sat): Artichoke and feta pizza, red velvet mini cupcake, carrots, broccoli

Snack (Sun): Two black sesame mochi ice cream balls

Dinner (Sat): Lasagna spinach rolls

Dinner (Sun): Tuscan herb cod w/ sauce, sauteed spinach and mushrooms w/ pine nuts, cottage cheese

Dessert (Sat): Sopapilla w/ honey, margaritas

Dessert (Sun): Black raspberry chocolate ice cream bar

 

Other Things to Note:

I’m getting a lot better at eating at least my maintenance, which is due in large part, I think, to my increased mileage. Also, I noticed that I have a much easier time running when the day before I eat more -- if I eat close to my maintenance, my runs are pretty easy. If I eat closer to my BMR, my runs are far less easy. Good things to know!

 

Also played Dragon Age: Origins today and confirmed that Sam from Zombies, Run and Alistair might as well be the same person, which makes me love Sam all the more. And I've obtained Shale, so progressing forward with my mage Warden shouldn't be so ridiculously difficult anymore. I don't know if I'll have time before my day off on Friday (four day weekeeeeeeeeend) to get to the game again, but that's all right. I'll have Alistair's British-Chinese in a zombie apocalyptic world counterpart to entertain me during my runs otherwise. \o/

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

The theme of today’s bodyweight workout is: SQUATS. So much squatting at Muscle Attack. And then a lot of ab work. But apparently every week the instructor does something different, so hopefully next week he’ll focus more on arms than today? Still, it was a good, hard workout. We cycled through kettlebell swings, slam ball (where you slam a medicine ball into the ground and then squat to pick it up), pushups, TRX curtsies, hip ups, jump squats, and running. We finished up with 15 min core work. So there’s that.

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: Pistachio muffin

Lunch: Mixed greens w/ cherub tomatoes, hemp seeds, and feta cheese

Snack: Greek yogurt w/ strawberries

Dinner: Tuscan herb cod w/ sauce, cottage cheese, and sauteed spinach, mushrooms, and pine nuts

Dessert: Black sesame mochi ice cream

 

Other Things to Note:

I GOT CAST IN A SHOW! Which makes my September/October ridiculously crazy busy, as though it wasn’t already before. But! I have a pretty minor role, so hopefully it won’t be too bad, but we’ll see. Still waiting on the rehearsal schedule. ;;; In the meantime, preparations for moving start TONIGHT!

[Muscle Professor]

Congrats for being casted.

[blkhole24601]

Congrats for being casted.

 

Thank you!!

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

It is officially too dark to go for a run before I head off to work, and by the time I get to the city where my workplace is, I just want to get to my office and start the day. So, I ran my 4.0 miles this evening. It drizzled rain near the end of it, which actually felt kind of nice, and today’s episode of Zombies, Run made sure that I got to my 4 miles. I didn’t hear “Mission Completed†at the end of the fifth story clip, so I had more to run, and it had just started raining; when I checked the app, I was only at 5K. ;;; Two story clips later, boom, 4+ miles, easy.

 

One of the biggest lessons learned today is that the closer I eat to my maintenance, the easier my runs are. I’ll also take a peek at my macros to see if that distribution has helped any, but where I was feeling guilty for eating in the 1400-1500 range, turns out, outrunning the zombie hoard is easier, and my runs feel better, and I’m generally faster even if just a smidgen. The one time the zombies actually caught me was after 2-3 days of intermittent fasting. So, um. I guess as far as IF goes, I’m only going to do it before a strength day. Before a run day, I eat like a normal person.

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: Pistachio muffin

Lunch: BBQ, coleslaw, potato salad, garlic toast, cake

Dinner (post-run): Fried eggs

 

Other Things to Note:

Dear director ma’am, I understand you are a very busy woman and I do not begrudge you for it one bit but not knowing the rehearsal schedule is, well, causing me enough anxiety I can’t focus at my day job. ;;; I’ll ping her tomorrow at some point… or maybe I should try the stage manager? … I’ll email both maybe, sigh. I know I should just relax and not panic because my role is very minor but still. And Tuesday isn’t that far away!

 

... Mood disorders, you suck. I wish I could chalk this up to impatience but nooooooo. Just put up with it, self, you'll get the information when they are good and ready to give it to you.

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

Another Wednesday, another circuit training regime, this time taught by the fitness center’s intern. He promised to be “nice,†which was a lie, and so I am pleased even if my abs are on fire. More arms today, too, which is good because I desperately need them. Again, we did two full circuits of the following, one minute each rep:

• TRX Bench
• TRX Row
• Plank w/ weight transfer (10lb)
• Slam ball (10lb first rep, 15lb second rep because 10lb was too easy)
• Russian twists (3kg first rep, 10lb second rep because 3kg was too easy)
• Kettlebell clean, press, windmill (10lb)
• Box jumps
• Lunge jumps (I hate these things, seriously, ugh, lunges why do you exist)
• Turkish get-ups (10lb)
• Overhead squats (9lb bar the first time, 12lb bar the second time because guess it: 9lb too easy)
• Clock tower (that's what he called it, don't know what it's actually called, but you stand one one leg and move a medicine ball around clockwise) (8lb)
• Wall squat

So on three of these exercises, I graduated myself up in weights which is... awesome. I'm getting stronger, woo!

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: Pistachio muffin

Lunch: Mixed greens and herbs w/ grape tomatoes, feta cheese, hemp seeds

Snack: Greek yogurt w/ strawberries

Dinner: Breakfast burrito w/ eggs and cheese and beans

Dessert: not eaten yet but if I feel like it, I'll finish off the last of my black sesame mochi ice cream. We'll see!

 

Other Things to Note:

Emailed the stage manager who got back to me right away with all my questions about the rehearsal schedule, so I'm definitely more at ease now. They know of my Sept. 13 conflict, which I recalled I didn't put down on my conflicts list because at the time of the audition, the only Saturday rehearsals were closer to tech week. Phew. Also, Mondays through Thursdays generally, two Sunday rehearsals the last couple of weeks, and maybe a couple of Saturday afternoons but for the most part, because the theatre company is putting on another show at the same time we're rehearsing, we'll have Fridays and Saturdays off until that show closes, it sounds like. I'm still going to have to modify my workout schedule to account for all this, but I think it's mostly going to be on a week-to-week basis if I'm not called in every night. For the most part, my workouts are likely going to be a lunchtime gig for a little while. Which means until it cools down, my weekday running will be on the treadmill. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

 

I'm not really complaining. This is the life I want, and so I have to figure out how to get my workouts to fit in this ideal schedule of mine. No time or room for excuses here!!

[Muscle Professor]

Awesome post! Sounds like you have chosen evolution over excuses.

[blkhole24601]

Awesome post! Sounds like you have chosen evolution over excuses.

 

Thanks!! And excuses is, unfortunately, something I've been constantly making for years, hence my need for this website. No more of that! GO FIGHT WIN!

[Muscle Professor]

Kill them goals!

[blkhole24601]

Kill them goals!

 

Yes!! Will do!

[blkhole24601]

Fitness Log:

2.0 miles on the stupid treadmill. Because it was raining. And I’d rather do the treadmill than the rain. Shut up. Decided to take it at a pace I prefer to be running, which is around the 10:00-11:00 minute/mile zone, and that, I accomplished! 1% incline, and I know for better results to vary the incline more than that but bah, for next time, because unfortunately, there will be a next time, I just know it. Still, it was a good run, and I think I hate the treadmill less than I used to in light of this.

 

I think raging at Nadia in Zombies, Run! the entire time helped, too.

Try to get me killed? I’m so glad Sam turned on the rage at her hard. And I love him again more than ever for it. And Archie remains about the only thing from New Canton I like. She's so going to die, isn't she???

 

Food Log:

Breakfast: Pistachio muffin

Lunch: Mixed herbs and greens w/ feta cheese, grape tomatoes, hemp seeds

Snack: Greek yogurt w/ peaches and chocolate chips

Dinner: Breakfast burrito again because brinner is kind of awesome

Dessert: Black raspberry chocolate ice cream bar

 

Other Things to Note:

Tentatively planned out my workout schedule for next week in lieu of rehearsals starting up. Since I have Monday off from work and Friday off from rehearsal, I decided to make MWF run days with Wednesday being my short run day, which means Tuesday and Thursday lunch hour will be spent at the fitness center doing some bodyweight exercises. There’s a Thursday lunch hour class called Cardio Chisel I’ll take, which… may not be what I need, but I’ll do it anyway. And Tuesday will be a return to TMNT since I’ll have all the things I’ll need there. Wall planks, I’m baaaaack.

 

This may not be a semi-permanent change, but I want to finish out Week 6 of the challenge strong!

In the meantime: FOUR DAY WEEKEND WOO!!!

[ManicSpider]

Congratulations about the show! I'm so excited for you. You'll have to put up a publicity still if you get one

 

And I'm going to buy scallops at the markets tomorrow to try out in that recipe. Should be good, seeing as the only bad review on there is from someone who doesn't like scallops! *lol*

 

Also, I just started playing Dragon Age Origins as well so we'll have to compare notes. Alistair's ending in the run through I did of Dragon Age just killed me.