motivation from yesteryear
Last night I went to the gym after indulging in more frozen pizza than I should have allowed myself for dinner. At first I was going to skip my evening workout since Brandon wasn't going to go but then I was inspired to go after seeing pictures of him and I when we were first dating two and a half years ago. I couldn't believe how structured my face was with a magnificent jawline and pointy Cher-like cheekbones in all their glory. Fast forward to today and these fine specimens are hidden under chubbs that I have accumulated over the years from being "too comfortable."
Not to sound vain but christ, I was a doll!
Seeing those pictures made me long for the self-confidence I used to have when it came to my body. So instead of bunking down in front of the telly for the evening with Bret Micheals and his dating reality TV show for entertainment, I put on my gear and drove to the gym.
Since I ran my heart out on Sunday, I figured that Monday's workout would be active recovery. I alloted time on the upright bike, the recumbent, the elliptical, and lastly the treadmill. Oddly enough, I ran into a friend of mine there who knew me from "magnificent jawline and Cher cheekbone" days. I was a little embarrassed to see her so she could see how I've let go. I thought the feeling would go away but it didn't.
Tonight I am running easy. 3 miles if I can. Followed by some weight training for the legs.
Tuesday: Upright bike -- 11 min (avg level: 10)
Recumbent bike -- 10 min (avg level: 10)
Elliptical -- 6 min
Treadmill -- approx. 12 min. (mostly walking at an incline of 5.0-9.0)
Labels: gym, motivation
The Hogan
The Hogan
Originally uploaded by carmen-nazbah I know I promised pictures of the trip I made to the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest and honestly, I haven't uploaded them to my Flickr account yet. I always forget to do this after I come home from work. Instead, I did post a picture of the family hogan (Navajo: "hooghan", pronounced "hoe-WUN"), which is our traditional dwelling for both home and ceremonial use. My wedding will take place in a hogan.
Right now, my cousin-brothers are renovating it as you can see that it's in dire need of a face-lift. The logs are not supposed to be showing but will soon be covered with compacted red dirt. I don't know how they are going to cover up the plywood though. My mom was telling me that her and some family members also cleaned out the inside and put up some Pendleton blankets up against the walls.
I have about a month to go until my wedding. My main concern is getting my measurements to our seamstress to get started on my traditional dress. Hopefully, we can make a weekend trip back up to the reservation this weekend to see her in person so we can also pick out the color.
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As for running, I'm very happy to report that my fitness has increased. When I first started out, I was so out of shape that I was feeling tired ALL the time. Going to the gym was such a chore and my body rebelled against me while I ran. I felt so sluggish and even after the run my body would feel totally drained. It wasn't even energized.
Now I can totally tell the difference. I especially felt great after running 3.1 miles today. It's the longest I've run all summer without having to take a walking break. I believe I was able to do it in about 32:13 or something. I didn't feel any pain in my knee until near the last minute or so. I'm going to work at strengthening my leg with some weight training so the knee pain will subside.
The other day, we went to Chandler Fashion Square so I could get some retail therapy in. I bought some high end Biolage hair products to pamper my hair in preparation for the "big day". Then we headed to Under Armour to get new workout gear. I bought some new capris, two wicking tanks, and a support bra. This was the first time I've ever spent nearly 40 dollars for a bra! And let me say, you definitely get what you pay for! For a moment, I thought I was running as a flat-chested 12 year old! haha
I hope to get in at least 12 miles by the end of the week.
Road Trip!
Two nights ago (Tuesday) Brandon and I went to the gym for our usual 40-45 minutes of cardio workout. It was another late night workout and one that I almost skipped out on because I was too tired to even want to work out. By the time we finished our workouts, it was 12:30 am. Holy crap! We really need to start committing ourselves to working out between 8 and 10 pm. I can't afford to feel groggy and unrefreshed at work the next day.
The other day, I had to take leave without pay from work to travel back to Gallup, NM to deal with a traffic complaint. The summons I received declared that I would have a warrant issued for my arrest if I failed to appear before the judge. Scary sounding! The real pain in the ass is that when I arrived at the court house, I had been told that I had two options: I could pay the damn fine and plead no contest along with admin fees ($55, my ass!) or schedule another appearance within 30 days.
I was so pissed because I sacrificed 8 hours of pay from work, I spent money on gas for a 9 hour roundtrip, and money on food!! The lady sensed my annoyance so she told me that I could have my hearing telephonically. I agreed because I straight out told her that I know for a fact that I was not guilty for the charge.
Ugh!!! I wanted to punch something when I walked outta there but Brandon and I figured that we would at least make something of the trip so we visited some Indian Jewelery stores and made a capricious visit to the
Painted Desert and
Petrified Forest National Park. I have never been to both even though I've passed them several times on the 1-40 to Holbrook and Flagstaff. I'll post pictures later but the petrified wood was amazing!
Tonight I'm due to run again.
I've only been managing to run 2 miles at approximately 10:45 pace. Feels so slow to me but I can't expect to run 9:30's overnight!
Bonafide 24 hour fitness gym member.
Yesterday evening, Brandon and I finally got around to signing up for a family membership at 24 Hour Fitness in Tempe. Thank goodness for the family deal because we saved an extra hundred bones. Unfortunately, the hundred bones was gone by the end of the day anyway because we stopped by Micheals afterwards to browse the silk flowers selection and I ended up buying some calla lily stems and other necessities for our wedding reception centerpieces.
Later that night (around 10:40pm) we drove back to the gym to get in our first workout. I decided to trot on the treadmill with the new shoes that had been giving me knee problems just to see if the knee would act up while running on a even surface. And it didn't! I only ran a mile and a half and then walked at an inline of 5-8 for another three minutes.
I finished out the w/o with 10 minutes on the recumbent bike.
I love that gym. During the time of day we end up going out to get our cardio on, all of the treadmills are practically free and I don't have to wait for nothing. I'm going to start going to some classes next week.
I haven't been doing much lately aside from last minute wedding stuff. I finally selected my wedding cake design but now I'm having trouble finding high quality orange silk tiger lilies in town and online. I thought orange lilies were common but all I'm finding are the white ones or the pink stargazers!
Arrrgh! I need to find some to place on my cake as well as in our centerpiece arrangements which are made up of citrus-colored calla lilies, orange-red zinnias, and some tigerlilies.
We're going to New Mexico this weekend to tie up some loose ends. We need to purchase some generators since the place where my wedding will be taking place (uncle's residence) does not have electricity. I'm also looking for table cloths and whatever else I may have overlooked.
Only 6 weeks to go!
Participated in a planting activity over the weekend with some co-workers. We planted a small community garden in Phoenix. All the seeds are native to central Arizona.
