Now, to decide on the next challenge.  I’m considering trying the couch to 5K thing again.

Walking – I’m just 1/10 of a mile shy of being exactly halfway done with this.  I’ve got 13 miles done, with 13.2 left to go.

Biking – I’ve completed 62 miles, with 50 left to go – 55% done!

Swimming – This is where I’m proudest.  I did 12 laps last Friday, 10 on Monday, and another 12 today.  I’m at 64 laps, with just 21 to go!  That’s 75% done!  I can probably finish up on Monday at this pace.  If I do, I’m going to keep going.  The three-day-a-week schedule is working well for me, and I realize just how much I love swimming.  I’m even thinking about looking into a Masters team.  I think there’s one around here, and it would be fun to compete again, if I can get my speed up to snuff. 

So, all told, I’m 60% complete!  Not too bad, since we’re only halfway through the month.

I’m definitely starting to notice the results, too, which is really amazing.  My clothes are fitting better, and there are fewer lumps and bumps around my middle.  I feel stronger, and healthier, and I LOVE that.  I’m still tracking calories on SparkPeople, and I think it’s helping me retrain my habits a bit.  I’m not trying to be crazy picky about what I eat, but I’m definitely just trying to eat smarter.  As of last Friday, I was down about 8-1/2 pounds since February.  Just over 40 pounds left to go to reach my goal, and I’m giving myself until February to make that.  I think I might actually make it this time!

So, the LazyMan.  Today was Day 9.  So far, I have walked 7 miles, biked 35.5, and swum 30 laps.  I am sticking with 1 mile walking and 4 miles biking each day (although those of you who are quick with the maths may notice I skipped a day or two…), and I’m swimming three times a week.  I was able to up my speed on the treadmill, so I’m now doing a mile in 20 minutes instead of 30.  And I started out doing 7 laps per day last week, and was able to do 8 this week.  I’ve still got to swim tomorrow yet, and then I’ll decide whether I’m going to try to bump it up to 9 laps next week.  I’m definitely feeling stronger than I did to start with, so I may give it a try.  I forgot how much I really loved to swim.  I think once this month is out, I’m going to buy a 4-month pass and keep up with the swimming.  It feels SO good to be back in the water after all these years.

I may be a bit scarce the next couple of weeks (like that’s any different lately…).  I got a message from my friend Jo today.  She’s directing “Alice in Wonderland” at PGLT, and has had some attrition in the cast.  So, I told her I would help out, and I’m going to be stepping in as one of the soldiers for the second weekend of performances (the first weekend is MDS&W, and the last is the wedding I’m wearing that blue dress to, so I couldn’t do any more than that).  I’m looking forward to it, but it does mean missing trivia for a couple of weeks and running pretty much straight from yoga to rehearsals.  Hopefully, I’ll have some time to knit during rehearsals so that I can get that shrug done.

Oh!  Speaking of, thank you all for the suggestions of patterns.  I decided on the ever-so-creatively-named Lacy Shrug by Cheryl Beckerich, and I’m waiting on some BMFA Luscious Silk in “Shadow” (one of the Ravens) to make it.  I think it will work really well with the dress.  Now I just hope the yarn gets here soon so I can get started!

My friend Mary (she of the ill-advised biking attempt) is part of a group of women who do triathlons.  For April, they are doing what is called a LazyMan (as opposed to an IronMan) triathlon.  Instead of completing the whole thing in a day, you have the entire month to log in the distances – 26.2 miles running (or in my case, walking, at least so far), 112 miles biking (for this, a stationary bike is allowed, so that’s what I’m doing), and 2.5 miles swimming (85 laps in a 25-yard pool).

So, I got up this morning, hopped on the treadmill, and walked my first mile.  Even upped my pace from a 30-minute mile to a 20-minute mile.  Then I pulled out the bike again, and rode 4 miles.  I grabbed some breakfast, and as soon as I throw a load of laundry in, I’m going to head over to the pool and see how much I can do.  I haven’t done any real swimming in so long that I don’t have a clue what my stamina will be like – should be interesting.

I’ll be tracking my progress in the sidebar, and checking in from time to time on the blog, too.  Wish me luck!

And no, I swear to you that this is NOT an April Fool’s joke.  I’m really, truly doing this.

It started yesterday while I was working out like a good girl.  My left foot was bothering me.  I figured I had just done something, and it would work itself out.

I woke up this morning, and it was ok.  By the time I was done with lunch at East Moon with Kris and our friends Irene and Jaime, it was bothering me again.  Kris and I ran by the grocery store, and it was KILLING me.  So, we decided I needed to get it looked at.  I was worried we were looking at a stress fracture or something.

After we dropped off the groceries, we went over to the local ER (We don’t really have an urgent care around here that I’ve found, or I’d have gone there).  After waiting for a ridiculously long time, I got called back .  The doctor examined my foot, which only hurts if I put weight on it toward the inside.  They took some x-rays, but didn’t see anything.  So, they think it is plantar fasciitis.  I’m not 100% convinced, because the description of where the pain appears is not right at all – my heel is fine.  It hurts the side of my foot.  Also, they say PF hurts more in the morning and less as the day goes on.  For me, it just hurts when I step on it.  Doesn’t really matter, since they didn’t do anything but write me a prescription for Motrin anyway.   Whether that’s what it is or not, I’m guessing the pain is being caused my my tennis shoes not having enough support for my obnoxiously high arches.  So, now the walking and workouts are on hold until I can get a better pair of shoes, and possibly some additional arch supports if needed.  And I was doing REALLY well, too, dammit.  I have to let my yoga teacher know when I go tomorrow, too, just so she can warn me if I’m going to be doing anything painful.  (And yes, if the shoes don’t seem to help, I’ll make an appointment with my regular doctor, who will hopefully pay a little more attention when I specifically say WHERE and WHEN it hurts.)

The really annoying thing?  The information they gave me on PF suggests losing weight if you are heavy.  Dammit, that’s how this HAPPENED!

Oh, and while I was in the exam room waiting for them to come back with the xray results, I decided to be all Penny Karma and took this:

Nice work, guys.

And I took this the other day from the car.

Is it just me, or does the “and you” in smaller print underneath seem a little… begrudging? Like “Yeah, well, ok, you too. I suppose. If it HAS to be that way.”

And yes, I know I’m going to hell. 

So, remember the Fitness-a-Long thing I was doing last spring? Yeah… neither do any of us who were in on it.  We all kind of let it fall by the wayside.

However, something changed for me recently.  I’ve been staying involved with the theatre Kris and I worked with on “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” last winter and volunteered to be a part of the play selection committee for next season.  In doing so, I realized something.  If I don’t do something about this weight, I am really limiting myself in the kind of roles I can realistically audition for.  I don’t want to always play the fat funny friend.  I’d like to still be able to audition for a leading role without having people laugh at me, you know?

So, after a whiny status post on Facebook (which got some interesting responses…), I’m getting off my ass.  I’ve started using SparkPeople to track my caloric intake and exercise.  In the (almost) two weeks since I started, I’ve lost about 3 pounds!  I’m also hanging with the LSG Anti-Lard Alliance on Rav, which is fun.  They’ve got a March Madness challenge going – trying to be down 8 pounds by the end of the month.  So, we’ll see how that goes.  At least I’ve got three down so far!

In addition to my weekly yoga class, which I still love and which completely kicked my ASS last night, Kris and I set up a little something:

That’s right.  I’ve got a treadmill desk.  I’m walking three days a week, trying to do at least a mile each day while reading the knittyboard, Ravelry, and blogs, and checking in on Facebook.  It’s actually pretty easy to get used to.  We do need to adjust the keyboard shelf a little, though – I need to angle it so that my wrists aren’t bothered by it.  Shouldn’t be hard to do, though.

Otherwise, I’m playing with the WiiFit again (trying to do at least a little bit of that every day), and I picked up a copy of “My Fitness Coach“.  I’ve done that every day this week (M-F, anyway.  I’m taking weekends off from workouts), and it’s kicking my butt in the best way.  It’s like a variable workout video – the workout changes every time, and you can tell it how a section felt so that it will adjust the difficulty level.  Plus, it gives you a focus for each day (cardio, flexibility, strength, etc.), which is cool.

Anyway, that’s where I am.

So, after the weekend of debauchery that was Maryland Sheep and Wool, I was not looking forward to stepping on the scale or breaking out the tape measure this morning. So, imagine my surprise:

Weight: 223.4 (Down .8 pounds from last week)

Bust: 45 (Down an inch. Damn. )

Waist: 37 (Down an inch)

Hips: 46 (Down an inch)

Holy crap! Down almost a pound AND I lost three inches since last week. I guess all that walking did me some good after all. Who knew?

Honestly, though, I was pretty good at the festival. On Saturday, I only indulged in one hot dog for lunch (OK, with chili, cheese, and sauerkraut…), and didn’t even snag any of the ribbon chips off of Jas’s plate while Sharon was holding it for her. That was a struggle, let me tell you. Those were GOOD last year. Sunday, Betsy and I got there late enough that we actually grabbed lunch on the way rather than eating fair food.

The dvd continues to get a little easier each time I do it, which makes me happy. I actually have really been enjoying working out with Dawn twice a week. It’s amazing what a difference it makes when you have a buddy to work out with, particularly when that buddy has a fabulous dry sense of humor and you both spend much of the workout making snotty remarks talking back to Jillian…

Anyway, I’m not sure if you will get an update from me next week. I leave at o-dark-thirty on Thursday morning to fly to Seattle for the SeaSocks cruise, and won’t be back home until the 19th. I have no idea what kind of internet access we will have on the cruise, so I may be incommunicado until I return. I’ll be out there with Stephie and cpurl17, so I’m sure we’ll be keeping one another honest.

Cross-posted to Fitness-A-Long

Bust: 46 (no change)

Waist: 38 (up 1/2″)

Hips: 47 (up 1/2″)

Meh. Gained another 2 pounds this week, and gained back half an inch on both waist and hips. Honestly, I’m not surprised. I’ve been pretty good about working out, but I’ve really been eating for crap. Especially this weekend. Had a bit of a falldown in the junk food aisle at Target.

But! I have been working out, and I can feel a difference when I do the Evil DVD. I even noticed the other day while brushing my teeth that things around the middle are a bit less jiggly than they were. And I’ve been so busy getting ready for MDS&W that I at least haven’t been sitting on my butt.

So – for next week, I’m going to keep working out (probably aiming for a M-T-Th-F schedule, unless I feel particularly energetic tomorrow), and at least attempt to eat a little better. Which means that if any of you see me at Sheep and Wool with one of those giant eclairs, feel free to take it away from me.

And just because my life is what it is, I was walking over to the couch just now to post this, and I managed to kick one of the handweights I use for the Evil DVD. Did I mention I was barefoot? So, yeah, the toes are a little sore at the moment. D’oh.

Cross-posted to Fitness-A-Long.

If you are wondering, Kris and I went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night. I loved it.  I mean, I wanted to see it because of JS and because of Kristen Bell (as in “Veronica Mars“, another FANTASTIC show cut down before its time).  It was funny, and sweet, and raunchy, and I really loved it.  It’s definitely not kid friendly (But, then it’s an R, so it shouldn’t be) and Kris agreed that in spite of his work pals’ insistence to the contrary, it was NOT a chick flick.

You know, there was a point to this, but now I don’t remember it.  Heh.

Fitness-A-Long update: We’ve got 17 people in already!  The button has been created and is on the info page at that link, along with the list of participants.  There’s no deadline to join, so if you were thinking about it but don’t have time right now, don’t worry about it – you can join in whevever!  I’m going to post my first update on Tuesday, so you can see how I’m doing then.

1. You can be in it to lose weight or just to get healthier – your goals are your own call.
2. IF YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH IT, I encourage you to consider posting your numbers. I won’t deny that it’s scary to hit that “Publish” button, but it’s also really damn freeing. And if you aren’t comfortable with it, I totally understand that. There will be no brow-beating or shaming anyone into posting.
3. Post updates weekly – how you are doing, what you have learned, what you need to improve, what you doing well with, etc.
4. Offer encouragement to others who need it.
5. NO JUDGING. Actually, this should be the number one rule. Everyone has their own goals, for their own reasons. I don’t care if you want to lose 5 pounds or 75 pounds, or zero pounds – that’s your call and your goal, and you don’t have to justify or downplay or anything.

So, who’s in? If there is enough interest, I’ll make a button (unless someone is feeling creative) and put a page on here with the rules and links to the participants.

And now, I’m off to tackle that dvd again. As soon as the Aleve kicks in.

ETA:  Wow!  You guys are quick!  Since I’ve already got five takers other than me, I’ve set up the info page here.  Just let me get the button made and posted, and we’ll be good to go!  Yay!