Tanji the Wonder Dog

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I think the drugs are taking effect. No, not on me. The rimadyl that Tanji's been taking is allowing her to take longer walks with less pain. Yesterday morning, she suggested (quite strongly) that we take a walk. And then she actually led me four whole blocks to the park and back! (10 years ago, I used to walk her four miles a day merely to take the edge off of her energy level. These days, four blocks and back is an amazing trip.)

Not only that, she was up for a walk around the block in the evening as well. Two whole walks in one day! Thank God for drugs.

Exercise du jour: 90 minutes bicycling. And absolutely no damn gardening, I mean it!
(I'd felt sorry for myself, being the only person around gardening on a 3-day weekend. Took a walk around the block with Her Ladyship, and found that everyone's yard waste bin was overflowing with greenery. Ha! It wasn't just me.)

Me and Nancy Reagan

Does that look like several hours' worth of gardening to you?
Look, just say 'yes,' okay?

Exercise du jour:

Week 4 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 1
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 18
Set 2 - 22
Set 3 - 16
Set 4 - 16
Set 5 - 25

Week 4 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 1
Set 1 - 27
Set 2 - 33
Set 3 - 24
Set 4 - 24
Set 5 - 38

Done! Day 1 of week 4, revisited

Sore Gainer

Huh.

So, it's like this. I spent about 8 hours gardening yesterday. Wielding the (damn heavy) weed whacker over grass too long to mow, trimming lawns, pruning stuff, planting stuff, killing weeds by hand and by roundup and by digging the stubborn little bastids up by the root. I'd thought there were 'just a few' blackberry shoots, but they apparently multiplied when I wasn't looking. (That sound you just heard was the bitter laughter of many a Northwestern gardener.)

Long story short:

• Several hours physical labor.
• Not a lot of food.
• Very sore leg muscles.
• Unhappy arm muscles.
  
• Got up this morning to find that I've gained five pounds in two days.

People say "oh, it's just water." Somehow that doesn't leave me encouraged. They say "oh, you're building muscle." Since that doesn't translate to lost pounds or smaller pant sizes, it doesn't seem like a fair trade.

Then again, that co-worker last week could see a change.
Maybe this is Just A Phase. Or whatever.
But I'm depressed now.

Update du 8:40 pm
On the plus side, the sunburn was applied evenly, from the top of my forehead to the base of my throat. No awkward white patches.
On the downside, I've taken to wearing a wide-brimmed hat, even though these have been referred to as "Old-lady hats" by a friend and even though this is not the day to wear something "old-lady" ish.
On the plus side again, I was serenaded by three generations of family tonight. (Picky people might insist that my great-nephew was too young to sing, but his vocalizations sounded extremely tuneful to me.)

Okay, two plus, one minus, looks like I've come out ahead. Another day and another year older, but I'm ending the day on a positive note.

You're a very mean human and I'll never forget this

Or so I surmise were the thoughts behind those hurt brown eyes. In vain did I try to explain that I had finally broken down and spent money on evil nasty weed killing stuff and she couldn't get near it until the poison had evaporated.

She didn't believe that one for a moment.

Finally I headed out the front door, and danged if she didn't try to squeeze past me, apparently in the belief that I couldn't possibly have meant any of those foolish words I'd just spoken. Irritated, I told her off, using her full name. (Anytime she hears Tangerine vom haus Tyson, she knows I'm really irked.) And I made it a Command that she not follow me out the door.

Oh the hurt look I got for betraying her thus. The angst at my perfidy.

Sigh. I know it's good for me to do the gardening, fiscally frugal and a good way to stay healthy. Nobody warned me about the guilt-inducing side effects. Time for a little doggie cleanup in the backyard, mano a guano, so to speak though thankfully not in the literal sense.

P.S. In case you ever wondered -- when blackberry bushes have a turf fight with English ivy, the blackberry bushes win.

Now that's what I call motivation

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Hey, if it's Friday then there should be a Hugh Jackman pic.

Motivation du jour: I think that increasing exercise while radically modifying the diet (i.e. no cheeseburgers, 90% vegetables) has been one reason why I've been so tired/grumpy/dispirited/unhappy/insert-crappy-adjective-here. (And yeah, the severe lack of sleep might have been a factor as well.)

But the other day this woman, just back from maternity leave, looks at me and says 'whoa! you've lost, what, 20 pounds?'

I'm still tired, but in a much better frame of mind about it all.

Exercise du jour: Another easy walking day. However, I refuse to listen to easy listening music while doing easy walking. I have standards. Sorta.
Done! Snuck in an hour's walk at lunchtime as well. My co-worker has been at the company for at least 10 years, and had never before taken a lunchtime walk. Wow.

Weak 4 of the push up challenge (no, not a typo)

Week four of the push up challenge... the week that separates the women from the girls, the wheat from the chaff, the fit from the flab (or so I hope).

In other words, the push ups are starting to take a bit longer to do than previously. Since Monday was a wash, I pushed the p/s challenges to a day all week.

Exercise du jour:

90 minutes bicycling



- and -

Week 4 of the (full) 100 push up challenge --not done
Day 2
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 20
Set 2 - 25
Set 3 - 20
Set 4 - 20
Set 5 - 28

Over 100 push ups!

Week 4 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 2
Set 1 - 30
Set 2 - 38
Set 3 - 30
Set 4 - 30
Set 5 - 42

Note to self: combining the cycling and the challenges = bad idea. There's not enough time in the day for both and all the things I have to get done. I'm okay with repeating this week. It's a challenge, not a race. I'll get through it eventually.

Like a Chinese curse, only not as interesting

May you live in Interesting Times

- Chinese curse

Not so much interesting as overscheduled. My life can be reduced to:

Work > Time > Money > Sleep

Exercise du jour: Since I combined the p/s challenges and bike riding yesterday, today I'll do an hour's worth of walking. (Might as well, since I can't use the car until I get the tires fixed.)
Done!

Scary menu item courtesy of Augapfel.

Mustn't grumble... much...

Yeah, I know, I know. Be grateful. Look on the bright side. All that stuff.

Okay, no, I didn't get anything done exercise-wise yesterday. Like the day before. No push ups, sit ups, nada. (Some day, I will have to try the 200 Squat challenge, merely for the opportunity to announce on my blog that "I didn't do squat today.")

On the bright side, I must remind myself:

• The tire went flat at a red light, not when I was doing 70 down the freeway


• It was daylight, not night time


• It wasn't raining


• I was in a quite nice part of town


• Turns out my insurance does include roadside assistance


• I had the perfect opportunity to clean my car while waiting for the nice man in the tow truck


• The spare tire wasn't completely flat.


• Several other very nice men stopped by to ask if they could help


And, of course, the clincher:


• Now I really will have to ride my bicycle to work today

I know all this should make me feel better. Probably it will, very soon.

Exercise du jour: A couple hours bicycling slowly, but surely.
Done! 90 minutes cycling.


P.S. Check out this video, that I stole leveraged from Trying Fitness. Especially, fast forward to 8-1/2 minutes and check out what he does. The man is insane, not that I'm going to argue with anybody who's in that good shape.

Ice cubes and Eskimos

It's too early to be thinking of how hot it is outside. I want heat waves to occur only when one of the following conditions apply:

1. I'm at the beach
2. I've installed air conditioning in the house
3. I've hooked up a hammock in my lovely shady back yard and have inveigled several lithe, nubile pool boys into fanning me with palm leaves and feeding me hand-peeled grapes and... sorry, where was I? Oh yes. I'm supposed to exercise. Right. Need to drag my mind back to the matter at hand.


Exercise du jour:

Week 4 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 1
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 18
Set 2 - 22
Set 3 - 16
Set 4 - 16
Set 5 - 25

Week 4 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 1
Set 1 - 27
Set 2 - 33
Set 3 - 24
Set 4 - 24
Set 5 - 38

Done! A day late, but done.

Yes, I've started talking to myself

Merry's Foot: Ha! You're going to try pounding me into the pavement three times a week? I think not. Pain time!

Merry: Ha! You think you're going to derail my exercise just when I was getting into the routine? Not. I'm going to sit down on a bicycle and get that cardio done anyway!

Merry's Foot: Curses! I can't prevent that.

Merry: Bicycle time!

Merry's Bum: Ahem... um, Merry? You're going to try putting me on a nasty bicycle seat for hours at a time? Pain time!

Merry: @#$! I don't care. I'm going to ride anyway. Vitamin I time!


Exercise du jour: I'm doing a 5k walk with my sister-in-law for one of SIL's charities. Probably won't get the heart rate up, but it's good to do family stuff, especially when you can combine it with exercise. Schedule permitting, I'll try 40 minutes running trudging after.

Photo courtesy of the Eleventh Earl of Mar.

Stealth workouts?

Definitely time to trim those nails, Hugh...

Confession du jour: I've been feeling like a fraud when it comes to doing the sit ups. I read you're supposed to achieve a 35 degree angle, but since I'm not a math person I have no idea if I meet this criterion or not. Probably not. I barely lift my shoulder blades off the floor.

Still, these past weeks as the sit up challenges got longer and longer, I really began to feel the stomach muscles working. Deep muscles that don't usually have to work very much. I can't do these sit ups after dinner. Also, I'm finding that I need to stretch my arms after I finish the push ups. The muscles are all tensed up. So something's going on inside, even if I don't see any ripped muscles on the outside.

Exercise du jour:

Week 3 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 3
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 16
Set 2 - 21
Set 3 - 15
Set 4 - 15
Set 5 - 21

Week 3 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 3
Set 1 - 24
Set 2 - 32
Set 3 - 23
Set 4 - 23
Set 5 - 32

Done! Well... sorta. I mean, I did work out today, but I didn't do the sit ups and push ups. I was so mad at my foot for letting me down yesterday that I decided to show it who's boss. Went for a nine-mile bike ride today. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my legs are actually a bit sore. That's embarrassing. Two years ago I was able to do a 36 mile bike ride without having cycled for months beforehand. Sigh. Tomorrow, the challenges.
Done! (On Saturday. With longer pauses between the sets.)

Ah, so this is supposed to be some kind of therapy?

Quote du jour: Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring. -Jimmy Carter

Exercise du jour: 50 minutes running, but in a therapeutic fashion.

Done. Sort of. I quit after 35 minutes, because my foot was hurting too damn bad. I'm mad at my foot. (You think you've got me beat, foot? Is that what you think, huh? I don't THINK so. Just you wait.)

Photo credit: eschipul

I just flew in...

And boy are my arms tired.

What? Why are you looking at me like that? I'm supposed to be original? It's true. Yesterday my arms were sore even when I did something as simple as lifting a coffee cup. Note to self: invest in straws.

All this exercise must be doing some good. I've lost four pounds in the last two days. Now, if I can only lose two more, I'll be back to where I was before the unfortunate Chinese Food Incident.

Exercise du jour:
Week 3 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 2
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 14
Set 2 - 19
Set 3 - 14
Set 4 - 14
Set 5 - 19

Week 3 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 2
Set 1 - 21
Set 2 - 28
Set 3 - 21
Set 4 - 21
Set 5 - 28

Done! Okay, so I rested a bit between sets 3 and 4. About 11 hours. But all the same, it got done.

Istanbul's Blue Mosque, with morning seagulls, courtesy of Oberazzi.

Playful? Maybe...

Quote du jour: There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be. - George Sheehan

Exercise du jour: 40 minutes running. Maybe I'll do better if I think of running as play.

Done! Again, for the last ten minutes my foot hurt. How does it know? (Note to self: take ibuprofen before running next time. See if that makes a difference.)

Also, big thank you to Theresa, for writing a post about how hilly and strenuous her run was today. I was sitting here thinking of all the reasons I didn't want to run, like a complete wimp. It was good to have a reality check. (No hills, no wind, what's my problem?) That helped me get going tonight. And now to bed, perchance to sleep.

Photo courtesy of RadioFlyer007.

The first set is the hardest (Or, Why Rod Stewart Got It Wrong)

Quote du jour: "The first cut is the deepest" - bah, forget Rod Stewart. He's all wrong.

It's weird. The first set of the push ups is always in the Nearly Impossible category. It's always a struggle. And then afterward, the rest of the sets don't seem quite as bad. I don't understand that. It's like my muscles have to get the hang of it all over again each time I start. Oh yeah, I remember now. We've done this before.

Whine du jour: Damn. Passed the third week test in the second column for both the push ups and sit ups, which means more work re the push ups, though less work re the sit ups. Yes, I am lazy, even when I'm trying to build up my strength. Can't I get fit without having to work at it?

Evidently not. A couple of brief indiscretions with Chinese food a few weeks ago left me with four extra pounds that I can't shake off. Two measly glasses of wine last night added another two pounds. Doesn't matter how good I am the rest of the time, any teensy little slip off the straight and narrow path detours me onto the straight and wide path instead. Sigh.

Exercise du jour:
Week 3 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 1
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 12
Set 2 - 17
Set 3 - 13
Set 4 - 13
Set 5 - 17

Week 3 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 1
Set 1 - 18
Set 2 - 25
Set 3 - 19
Set 4 - 19
Set 5 - 25

Finally. Almost 10 p.m., but I'm done. Now I'm going to take a bath, go to bed, and be glad I'm done for the day.

No more mojito, Mr. Mosquito

Some day, someone should calculate the caloric expenditure involved in the effort of leaping and swatting around a room in pursuit of an insect that weaves and bobs like a drunken gnat. Just saying.

Exercise du jour: Today, I'll be smart (she said hopefully). 50 minutes of running first. Then attack the weeds. Yesterday I weeded for a couple hours and was wiped out.

Update du 1:40 pm: er... have you seen my motivation anywhere? I could've sworn it was lying around somewhere. I'm sure I saw it last night. I've either got to find my motivation or else find some realllly convincing excuse not to exercise. (Well, I suppose I could run without motivation. Or I could try. Fake it until I break it? Something like that anyway.)

Done! Took awhile to get into it, but what the hell. After 40 minutes, the foot pain came back, so I ran much slower for the last 10.


Photo courtesy of rjg329.

Score one for the fat chick

Quote du jour: A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise. - Winnie the Pooh

Smug du jour: So I'm at work, right?
And the Red Cross is having another blood drive.
And they love me, 'cause I'm a type O, so they really want my blood.
And, of course, they're having trouble finding my veins, since I've got the dainty little blood vessels of a child in the body of a quite full-sized adult.

So I say "It can help if I get the blood pumping in my veins. I'll do a few push ups."

"Sure," agrees the skinny woman donating blood in the next chair. "A few wall push ups might help."

Bah I think to myself. (Or something along those lines.) Then I get on the nicely vacuumed carpet and do 15 full push ups very quickly -- okay not touching my nose to the carpet, vacuumed or not, but close enough to count as full push ups.

"Wow!" The skinny woman's eyes were wide. "I can't do that."

Have to confess it. I felt smug.

Then the phlebotomist missed my veins on both elbows and I ended up not donating blood after all. Still enjoyed the brief moment of smugness.

Week 2 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 3
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 12
Set 2 - 13
Set 3 - 10
Set 4 - 10
Set 5 - 15

Week 2 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 3
Set 1 - 24
Set 2 - 25
Set 3 - 21
Set 4 - 21
Set 5 - 3o

Done!

Winnie the Weight Lifter courtesy of Winnie the Pooh MBBP.

If it's Thursday, I must be running

Quote du jour: Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed. -Charles Schulz

Since it's been such a consistently rotten week running-wise, I was tempted to blow this day's exercise off and start fresh next week. On reflection, bad idea. I don't want to lose whatever slight vestige of conditioning that I've gained with even the feeble amount of trudgery I've done so far.

Exercise du jour: 50 minutes running.

Baxter, dashing off to an important meeting, courtesy of EricNixon.

The exercise routine of J. Arthur Prufrock

Quote du jour: I grow old... I grow old... I shall wear the bottom of my trousers rolled.
- T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Arthur Prufrock"

Yesterday, I made a passing remark to a passing co-worker about the Dot Com era. "Ah yes," he said. "I wasn't in the working environment back then."

Somehow I got the feeling that back then was a looooooooong time ago.

Exercise du jour: I'm going to brush off the cobwebs, and totter my way through the push up and sit up challenges.

Week 2 of the (full) 100 push up challenge
Day 2
(90 seconds rest in between)
Set 1 - 10
Set 2 - 12
Set 3 - 9
Set 4 - 9
Set 5 - 13

Week 2 of the 200 sit ups challenge
(60 seconds rest in between)
Day 2
Set 1 - 21
Set 2 - 24
Set 3 - 18
Set 4 - 18
Set 5 - 26
Done! Stealth exercising on my lunch break. Youch! (That's similar to 'ouch,' only said with a lot of feeling and of course an exclamation point.)

Merry and the big bad wolf

Quote du jour: The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again. - Erma Bombeck

No, that title does not refer to my beautiful German Shedder Dog.
Dog, not wolf... in case you're confused...

I mean that when I run trudge, I huff and I puff and I could probably blow your house down if I'm not careful. Another reason to hide inside my house and pretend that Orlando Manuel isn't lying to me about the pitiful excuse for distance. (I'm sorry, OM, you lyin' treadmill, but it does not take me 40 minutes to jog one single solitary persnickety mile.)

Exercise du jour: 40 minutes running
Oh hell. Need to turn this into an excuse du jour. And a feeble one at that. It doesn't sound very credible to say the Voices in my Head told me not to run tonight. If you think that sounds bad, try saying the cramps told me not to run tonight. See? Doesn't that sound even worse?