It's Raining, It's Pouring

This morning's run was challenging to say the least. About 10 minutes from home the sky opened up and it just poured down. Lots of thunder and some lightening and I really had nowhere to get away from it so I just kept going. I was running through Kiwanis Park to Trafalgar St. and the only other living things I saw were a couple of families of mallards. They were lovin' it! Not the least bit afraid of me either. So I did the 5k and felt great when I finished. It's becoming easier every day. I did a BodyAttack class this morning too and I can't say it's ever going to be a favourite, but it IS building my endurance. I don't huff and puff nearly as much as I did when I started. Oddly - it got rid of the 'pinched' feeling I had in my arm - and we don't do that much with our arms. No complaints here - I'm glad it's gone - it was aggravating.

The kittens are venturing further and further into the yard each day. When we first got them they wouldn't leave the patio, but now they're all over the lot - especially the woodpile! Whoever coined the phrase 'curiousity killed the cat' knew what they were talking about because these little kits are into everything! We hesitate to leave them outside alone just yet, but I think the day is coming when they'll be out most of the time.

Running is going well, and I seem to have a handle on what works well for food now too. I had a major binge last weekend, but I think I can attribute that to too much exercise, not enough food, and definitely not enough water. I will be more vigilant on the water thing because once I start a binge I seem to be almost powerless to stop. The odd thing is that I didn't gain a boatload of weight so I must have needed the extra calories.

The rebounder continues to be fun and I'm using it a bit every day. It's supposed to do good things for the lymphatic system - not sure how one would know if that's true or not.

We still haven't been to the lake this year. We're heading for the middle of July and we don't have the place open yet. I wanted to go today, but we have to spend time trying to get more staff hired. We've had a bad run lately with hirees who don't stick more than a day or two. Summer used to be easy for getting students but doesn't seem so this year.

Breakthrough

Yesterday I met my goal to run 5k by August. Made it by June 30, and it really wasn't that difficult. The total distance was 5.15k (per mapmyrun.com) but .15 was used for warmup and cooldown - so I actually ran (jogged) the entire 5k. My next goal will be to run in an organized 5k race, but that won't happen until at least the fall when I can take a weekend day to do it. Unless I find a weekday run, but I imagine those are few and far between. I wish somebody would organize an 'Aid for Fat Women who want to be Fit' event. The proceeds could go toward gym memberships for women who can't afford it - or can't afford daycare while they work out. Maybe I'll send a note to David Patchell-Evans - he might be up for something like that. Listen to me - I run ONE decent distance and I'm ready to organize events...LOL Maybe I should just wait and see if I can keep this up first. The truth is - I'm really starting to feel good about myself. I haven't felt this way ever, and I'm at a point where I believe I can do whatever I set out to do. I've always been such a quitter. I think I fired the voices in my head once and for all.

My stress level has been off the scale this whole week because my van hasn't been running properly and we were having trouble getting the problem diagnosed. Turned out to be a bad water pump and Rashid the Mechanic finally got everything put back together about 8 last night - after much swearing and bolt twisting and jerry-rigging and tool borrowing and rubber-necking neighbours. Murray is so desperate for me to work over the holiday that he told me to rent a van for the weekend if I need to and he'll pay for it - AND to send him the bill for the repairs. Whatta guy! That beats a box of Toblerone chocolate all to hell. Oh yeah - if anybody wants chocolate bars we have a few cases in our fridge for some scheme Reg and Murray cooked up that fell through.

I'm still not getting on the scale until the Fitness Challenge is over - but I did measure this morning and I've lost 3 inches overall and probably added some lovely muscle to my legs. I hope that translates to a few pounds but the big deal for me is smaller clothes.