Good morning

Still need to work on making some of these post titles a little more creative...

Anywho, just wanted to say that my first dose of magnesium, on Monday night, did little to help me sleep or poop, but I was still really upset from the boy issues (I might or might not write more on that later, haven't decided yet), so that contributed a lot to the shitty sleep.

I was able to calm myself down yesterday during the day, and I'm not as upset about the boy stuff as I was the day before.  I took another shot at the magnesium last night, and slept the whole night!  It was glorious.  When my alarm went off, I wasn't struggling to get out of bed.  I snoozed an extra hour, but not because I desperately kept wanting five extra minutes of sleep--simply because I wanted to keep lying in bed.  I'm still a bit sleepy, but that's probably due to only sleeping two hours the night before.  Despite this, I feel more well rested than I have in a long time.

I still haven't been pooping better, as I'd hoped.  In fact, I think it's been a couple of days.  Because you were dying to know.  But hopefully the magnesium will kick in there as well.

I don't usually have breakfast, but today I'm having some kung pao tofu with veggies and white rice.  And some white chip chocolate cookies for dessert.  I tend to feel better during the day if I have something in my stomach before I head to work, so it's definitely a habit I want to focus on more.

I didn't run this morning because I wanted to catch up on sleep.  Tomorrow it's on!

Run #2

Did my second run this morning!  About 1.93 miles in roughly 30 minutes.  I did 10 minutes of walking, followed by 8 minutes of alternating 1 minute walking with 1 minute running.  Today was only four minutes of running in total, but one more minute than last time...no one can say I didn't do better!  I felt great afterwards, but right now I'm really tired.  I think I'm still getting used to the waking up early part of this endeavor.

I usually set my alarm for 6:30 AM, but I hit snooze multiple times until about 7:30, when my brain is finally forced to start functioning out of necessity.  I'm new at my job so I'm not quite to the point where I can stumble in late looking like a hungover hobo.  Even though my alarm goes off at the same time as usual, I'm now getting out of bed around 6:45ish on run days, which I think is contributing to the tiredness.  Who knew that extra 45 minutes of snoozing could make such a difference?

I've also had some trouble sleeping lately, due to some boy-related issues, so today I bought a magnesium citrate supplement.  I bought the Natural Vitality Natural Calm brand from Whole Foods.  Supposedly it helps you sleep better and has the added benefit of improving things in the, uh, bowel movement department.  Still not sure exactly what aspect is improved by taking the supplement, but anyone reading this should have no doubt that I will provide a full and thorough update on this very blog once I figure it out.  Took my first dose about half an hour ago.  It's a bit pricey so if it works, I'm thinking I'll only take it on the nights before runs so I can get some good sleep in order to wake up early.

Somewhat off topic, but I'd like to take a moment to share this "inspirational" fortune cookie I created online using a website called recitethis.com:

I saw the quote somewhere else but I decided to make a fortune cookie picture out of it.  I love it because it reminds me of all the strong, beautiful women in my life who inspire and encourage me.  And it provides a little encouragement for myself as well: I strive to always be awesome.

I'm super tired tonight and have to wake up early tomorrow for a work event, so I'm off to relax and then hit the sack.  Tomorrow is not a run day but I plan on doing a run either Wednesday or Thursday.  I've only done 4 miles so far since starting this blog, but hey...gotta start somewhere!

Day 1

Today was my first day officially running using a program I found online (here).  Not surprisingly, it was fairly easy.

The run was: 10 minutes of walking, 6 minutes of alternating 1 minute walking and 1 minute jogging, then 4 minutes of walking, for a total of 20 minutes.  Since it's Saturday and I don't have to work, I was able to sleep in a little instead of waking up at 6:30 to run in the dark.  The weather was sunny but cool -- perfect fall weather.  I ran on the streets in my neighborhood, but I guess I miscalculated the route.  By the time the four-minute cool-down was over, I wasn't as close to my house as I thought I'd be, so it ended up being more of a 30-minute workout once I finally got to my front door.  Nothing wrong with that.

I downloaded two helpful (and free!) apps to my Android phone to help me out with my running:

• MapMyRun, which helps me track my route.  It tells me how many miles I've gone, how many minutes, average speed, current speed, etc.  At the end of the run, I click "Save" and it uploads the information to my page online so I can keep track of total miles run over time.  Also it'll help me see my progress as I (hopefully!) get faster.  Today's distance: 1.95 miles.
• A HIIT Interval Timer lets me pre-program the workouts as "intervals".  When I click start on the timer, I don't even have to check the time to see when I need to start running or walking; the app buzzes and beeps when it's time to switch.  For example, today I programmed three parts.  First was the 10-minute warm-up walk.  Second was the intervals: three rounds of 1 minute jogging and 1 minute walking. Then the last part was the 4-minute cool-down walk.  Easy to use and makes it super convenient to just plug in my earphones and go!

In the past I've had some pains due to running.  I had shin splints during my freshman year of college (about 9 years ago) that made it extremely painful to walk.  Thankfully, a helpful running store employee examined my feet and told me I had flat feet.  I started buying the right type of shoe for my foot, and knock on wood, the problem hasn't returned since then.  And last time I tried running, several months ago, I got weird hip pains that only went away when I bought new shoes. I think part of the hip pain had to do with sitting in a chair all day (accounting is not a very healthy profession) and not stretching out my hip flexors enough.  This time around, I'm going to make sure I stretch regularly, not just before and after runs.  Anytime I'm sitting for long periods of time, I plan on taking breaks every 45 minutes to an hour, to do a nice stretch of my limbs.

I also like the fact that this running program starts very easy and works up gradually.  Today, for example, I only really ran for about three minutes total.  This does not seem like a lot at all, but I'd rather start extremely slow and build up at a slower pace than jump in too quickly and end up hurting myself or burning out.

I think that's all for now.  They say the first step is the hardest -- here's to Day 1!

Intro

Every Friday is Casual Friday at the client's office, which means we on the audit team get to wear jeans as well.  I've been sitting in a chair for 12-14 hours a day due to the crazy hours this particular audit demands, and I guess some of my clothes no longer fit as well as they used to.  I was pulling them over my hips after relieving myself in the ladies' room when I heard a snapping noise -- the zipper had broken, rendering it completely useless.  Fortunately I was wearing a long sweater and a jacket, which covered the gaping hole right about the crotch of my jeans, so I didn't have to go home and change.

But still...it's part of a bigger problem. I don't want to buy new clothes to fit my, er, curvier body.  I also know that if I don't try to squeeze a few workouts per week into my crammed schedule, I'm going to go insane.  I've always been the kind of person who gets depressed or anxious if I don't move my body enough, and being stressed out from work and depressed isn't a good combination.  With that in mind, I've decided to take up running.

I should mention that I normally hate doing cardio.  I'd rather pump iron all day long or take a kickboxing class than spend even five minutes jogging, but the fact is, I only have about 30 minutes in the morning before I go to work, three to four times a week, to get any sort of exercise in.  Just driving to the gym and back to lift weights would severely cut into that precious time.  Instead, I'm going to throw on a jog bra, lace up my running shoes, and head out onto the streets of my neighborhood before the sun comes up.

I'm using this beginner running program from Women's Health because it looks fairly simple to follow.  I also like the fact that it starts super gradual and builds up, instead of trying to jump in too quickly.  My goal is to run a minimum of three times per week, with the idea of building it up to four once I get used to running in the morning (I'm not a morning person at all so it's going to be a bit of an adjustment).  The schedule from the website shows runs four times a week, but instead of following it weekly, I'm just going to go through the workouts in order as I have the time.  It'll take me longer to build up to running 30 minutes without stopping (my overall goal for now), but I'm going to give myself a break on that due to all the hours I'm working and trying to study for the CPA exam.

I mainly wanted to start this blog as a way to keep track of my runs so I can see progress over time if I ever feel down.  But I'm also going through some personal problems right now so I'm hoping this will be a place where I can sort out my feelings and emotions when things come up.