Tough Mudder Virginia - Final Installment

If you haven't read any of my posts about the Mudder yet, read the first one here and the second one here . To start with today's blog, I've walked/jogged a couple of miles and done some climbing over and under things. After the last of the long walking/jogging area, we came upon the second and last set of Berlin Walls. The first set was only 8 feet high. These, however, were 12 feet. Upon my first sight of them, I felt rather discouraged. The closer I got, the higher they became. I got in line and slowly inched closer and closer as the people in front of me went up and over. Standing next to me was a blond girl in a pink shirt. She was shorter than me and looked just as terrified as I felt. I struck up conversation with her and we discussed the logistics of getting over the wall and down the straight drop on the other side. It seemed pretty straightforward; just very, very high.

We reached the wall and I offered to help the other girl over, but she opted to watch me do it first. So, pushing aside my trademark indecision, I walked up to the wall and began the ascent. There's a small, useless foothold toward the bottom, but I put one foot on it and the other foot in someone's hands. Chad and another guy hoisted me up to the top where I swung one leg over and then looked down and became instantly terrified. Watching the others go down, I decided it would be simple. Just lower myself to where I could hang on with my hands and jump from there. Well, something went wrong and my hands slipped off before I could catch myself and I hit the ground hard. My feet hit first and then my butt. I got up and turned to face the other wall. I didn't want to do it. Then Chad came over the first wall and asked if I was ready, so up I went. I got down the other side without incident and then sat while I waited for him to follow.

My ankles were hurting pretty bad at this point so when Chad started off at a jog, I fell behind. I wanted to work out the injury before going at a faster pace. Finally, we reached the illusive Mystery Obstacle, which was something called a Smoke Chute. Basically, it's a very large slide. I'm not sure exactly how tall it was, but definitely taller than the Berlin Walls. We had to climb a ladder up to the top while a vicious lady with a fire hose made sure we stayed wet and cold. Everyone hated her. I climbed as fast as I could and then hid myself in the little cubby hole that started the chute. I thought it was going to be a slide. Nothing awful about that. The problem I found at the top, however, was that it started as a vertical drop before ending in a slide.

Now, if there's one thing you need to know about me right now, it's that one of my phobias is a fear of falling. This obstacle gave me no choice but to let myself fall. I dangled my feet over the edge for a few seconds and tried to figure out if there was a better way to start this thing. I realized that the only way to do it was to simply drop. So, I placed my feet on a wall in front of me, edged myself over the side and then let go. It was a terrible, terrible feeling. To me, it was worse than the Chernobyl Jacuzzi. My heart jumped into my throat and I let out a scream that would wake the dead. When I reached the bottom, I was sliding so fast there was no way I could control what I was doing. I simply had to hope that I didn't hit anything hard. I slid to a stop in the mud and everyone who had come out before me looked shaken up and somewhat injured. Chad was doubled over holding his arms, saying he thinks he broke his elbows.  (He didn't.)

On we went, down a very steep slope. A girl came down beside us in emotional turmoil. She was crying and said she didn't even do the Smoke Chute because all she could hear was people cursing and getting hurt. I knew exactly how she felt, even though I was feeling almost invincible. The hill was long and slippery and when we got to the bottom and rounded the curve, there was Everest. This is a quarter pipe which is oiled that you have to run up and grab on to someone at the top before you fall down. There was a very long line for it, as it was incredibly difficult and took most people more than one try. We waited in line for close to an hour, getting colder and stiffer every minute. I got close to the front but knew it would still be a bit of a wait for me to even try it, so I opted out of it. My muscles were so stiff there was no way I was going to get up that wall. I walked around it and waited while Chad came over it, emotionally scarred.

I have problems with my right hip flexor and it had been bothering me on and off the whole day. Now that I was so cold and my muscles were so tight, it was torturing me and I had another hill to climb. At the top of the hill was the Fire Walker. This was a path lined with fire and full of smoke. I started it at a walk but had to end it at a run because the smoke in my lungs was one of the most painful experiences of the day. Last but not least, straight ahead was Electroshock Therapy, and then the finish line. Chad had been talking about this obstacle all day, afraid to go through it. Before you get to it, you have to get hosed down one last time. We stared it down for a few seconds and then Chad took off toward it, so I took off after him. I could hear the live wires snapping on each other all around me. At first I was able to get through without touching any wires, but to get over some strategically placed hay bales I had to touch a few. I lucked out, though, because none of the wires I touched actually shocked me.

Finally, there was the finish line! Chad and I looked at each other and took off toward it at a sprint. I saw a big dip in the ground in front of me, and instead of doing the smart thing at the pace I was going and jumping over it, I stepped into it. My body was too weak to handle the jolt and down I went. I fell right on my belly, my chin hit the ground, and the crowd and announcer all yelled "OOHHHH" in unison. Chad came back for me, helped me up, and we crossed the finish line together. I felt tears in my eyes at this point. I was so happy to be done, and so frustrated that I fell, I was shaking. I grabbed my orange headband and stuck it on my head. Then I grabbed a protein shake which I had to have Chad open for me and got my shirt and my beer.

I was freezing at this point and couldn't stop myself from shaking for a long time. But I drank that beer, got my bag, and made sure to get some pictures before I changed out of my cold, wet, muddy clothes.

My chin is a little bloody and my lips are a lovely bluish-purple.

Mud from head to toe.

My favorite shot of the day. We look pretty badass.

I then changed clothes, got a burger and Gatorade, bought another shirt and then we left for our 3 hour drive home. So, if you're thinking of doing a Tough Mudder, I say go for it! Just make sure you train hard and no matter how tired you get, stay positive and finish strong!

Here is my final tally of injuries: Small cut and bruise on my chin; Right elbow was scraped and swollen; Right knee was bruised, scraped and swollen; Large bruise on the inside of my right thigh and also one on my butt; and various bruising all along my arms and legs. My ribcage was very tender and every single one of my muscles has been very sore and stiff.

Tough Mudder Virginia - Part II

Alright, if you haven't read yesterday's blog, read it before continuing. After the first couple of miles in the Mudder, I was feeling tired but also very invigorated. I was ready to tackle this thing.

Here's where the fun stuff really starts. It's the obstacle everyone fears and always remembers how they felt going through it. You've seen the awful pictures and heard the terrible stories. Yes...the Chernobyl jacuzzi. Basically, this is a dumpster full of gross colored water full of ice. You have no choice but to simply plunge in. With Chad on my right and another mudder on my left, the three of us stood there staring at it for several moments. Chad and the guy on my left finally lowered themselves in slowly and started toward the middle, where you're forced to plunge your head under to get on the other side of a plank with barbed wire on top. I debated jumping in after hearing some people talk about jumping in as close to the middle as possible. But, I ended up following the lead of the other two and lowering in on the edge. I think at this point my adrenaline reached an all-time high because I don't remember being as cold as everyone else. I was very cold, though. Once I reached the middle I couldn't allow myself any time to gear up for going under. I just plunged under, came up the other side, and swam to the other edge. However, upon reaching the edge I realized that it was very high and I had no way to get myself out. Chad had already taken off in fear of hypothermia, so I thought I was on my own. Luckily, some other mudders were behind me, saw me struggling, and pushed me out. I yelled my thanks and took off screaming like a banshee.

In that moment, emerging from that dumpster, I felt incredible. Yes, I was cold. Yes, my limbs were numb. But, if I'm going to be honest, I've never felt so alive in my whole life. My screams were half from fear and shock of being the coldest I've ever been but also from sheer joy of being alive and running through the mud in a beautiful place with a bunch of other fun, motivated people. It was simply fabulous. I felt like laughing and crying and screaming all at once.

After the jacuzzi was the next obstacle of climbing up and over a cargo net. People on the other side were taking turns anchoring the bottom. When I reached the other side of it, the girl who had been beneath me looked like she was going to pass out, so I took her place and the next guy after me took mine. It was a good system. Then there was climbing over and under logs, scrambling over rocks, and then reaching Twinkle Toes. This involved planks about 3 inches wide suspended over freezing cold water. Walking across those planks was very challenging, especially when I got to the middle because they were swaying terribly. But, I've always prided myself on my balance and I managed to get to the other side without going into the water.

The hardest times in the race were simply all the mountains/ski slopes we had to go up and down. In Hold Your Wood, we had to pick up a log and carry it up and then back down some tubing hills. I chose a log that would be heavy enough to be challenging but not so heavy that I wouldn't be able to carry it the whole time. I knew that was the right choice when I was half way up the hill and a group of guys was off to the side sitting on their logs. After trudging up another ridiculously steep hill (suffice it to say you almost had to bear crawl to get up it, people were sitting/lying off to the side every 20 feet, and it was probably a whole mile long), we had to crawl under barbed wire placed 8 inches off the ground. I didn't foresee this as being as hard as it was. The ground underneath was hard and rocky and putting my elbows and knees into it was quite painful. Luckily, after that obstacle was an aid station with bananas! A banana has never tasted so good or felt so fulfilling.

Then there were miles of simply walking/jogging through and around a golf course. This was the best part because it allowed some recuperation and it was simply beautiful. Then there was climbing over/under more logs, jumping up hay bales (very tall ones, which most of us mudders needed assistance with), and the mystery obstacle. I'm going to save the mystery obstacle and the finish of the Mudder for tomorrow.

Tough Mudder Virginia - Part I

Well, the Tough Mudder has come and gone and I'm still standing (sort of). It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I used to say that about Insanity, but no longer! I'm still surprised I actually did it. I learned a lot about myself yesterday. I'm going to do this Mudder blog in a series so that it doesn't become a novel.

Our start time was at 9:40am and it's about a three hour drive. So, at 4am we were getting out of bed, eating a protein-filled breakfast and heading out the door. I made sure I had a 2-part breakfast so I could eat closer to start time as well. The night before I packed all my extra clothes and what-not so I wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning.

We arrived about two hours before our start time and parking took forever, so that was ok.

Here we are right after parking. Still intact.

We took a shuttle up to the resort and went through registration. We signed our Death Waiver (yes, that's what they call it), got our number written on our head and arm, and put on our bib.

Death Waiver

 Then we went into the starting area and watched the group before us go out with gusto. It was quite emotional. Once that wave went, we went into the starting corral. After some awesome music, a motivational speech and the National Anthem, we went out into the Braveheart Charge. You just run and scream and get hosed down with freezing cold water. The charge then turns up a hill and starts going up a very steep slope. I attempted to keep my pace up but ended up walking rather quickly, as did everyone else. 

At the top of the hill was the first set of Berlin Walls. Two 8-foot tall walls that you must scale. They weren't too bad. Chad helped me over and someone else helped him over and we were on our way. That's the awesome thing about Tough Mudder. It's not a race; it's a challenge. You're required to help people along the way. Many obstacles are impossible to do without help. Especially for those of us with little upper body strength. 

The Gauntlet was where we simply climbed over large hay bales while being doused with frigid water. Climbing the bales was pretty simple, but it's hard when the bales are soaked and it's pouring water on you that's so cold all you can think about is getting to the end.

After that we hiked another steep hill and almost at the top had to crawl under a low cargo net. We all decided to bear crawl it so we could hold the net up with our butts. Quite genius. Now, I don't remember exactly what order all the obstacles were in, but I'll try my best to keep them somewhat correct. I do remember that the Funky Monkey (monkey bars on an A-frame) was where I first got really wet. Chad went first and made it almost all the way across before falling. I knew I wasn't going to make it far, but I gave it my best. The bars weren't secure so when you grabbed them they rotated. I think I got 3 or 4 bars in before I fell. Then I trudged through the water to the other side where Chad and some other guy helped me up. 

I think after that was the Boa Constrictor. You have to crawl down a pipe into a pool of cold water and then up another one. I was worried about this because I thought the water was going to come up really high into the pipe, but it didn't. The worst thing about it was the rocks under your knees.

I'll end this blog here. Watch for another one tomorrow.

Our Mudder clothes in the washing machine.

Out of Shape

Chad and I went to the gym yesterday to get out of the cold weather. We did some upper body exercises, ran on the treadmill, stair machines and elliptical. I have to admit, my running skill is not up to par. I still have trouble breathing and I know my legs are not as strong as they could be. I think I'll be going to the gym more often to use the stair machines and get my legs back where they should be.

Since my mother-in-law passed away last month, I've let depression take it's toll on me. I've been moving less and eating more. I'm still in decent shape compared to most people, but compared to how I used to be I'm very much out of shape. I've gained around 15 pounds. If I'm going to complete the Tough Mudder on the 23rd of this month I'm really going to have to kick my butt.

I know this Mudder is going to be very difficult for me, but I'm still determined to finish it. Even if I end up having to walk most of it, I don't care as long as I finish it. Once the Mudder is over I think I'm going to go for the Insanity/Asylum hybrid. I need to keep myself in shape this winter. I always get seasonal depression, so I'm going to have to work extra hard to get myself to the gym and stay positive.

Any tips for my Mudder training? Also, how do you stay positive when the weather gets nasty?

Stress

I meant to update my blog much sooner than this. As many of you know by now, my mother-in-law passed away two weeks ago. All of last week was spent with the family and mostly away from home. We did a lot of driving, eating and being depressed. Chad's latest blog summed it up pretty well. This week we've both been back to work, but it's been a battle to resume any semblance of normalcy.

I've been dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety. Regular, mundane chores become insurmountable hurtles. I had a panic attack the other day just thinking about doing the dishes and picking up the living room. I had to reschedule my book club because I couldn't handle the thought of cleaning up. My first day back at work last Friday was almost torture. I felt like just being normal was too much to handle.

This week has been slightly better. We've still been eating out a little too much, and sitting on the couch watching TV too much. But, it's still better than it was last week. I got my hair cut today which improved my mood quite a bit. Also, another plus is that I bought a shirt and a pair of leggings that were made in America. They're really nice.

I know this is a really short blog for not having updated in over two weeks but it's about the best I can do right now. I thank everyone for showing so much love and support to my husband and I during this very difficult time. I love you all!

Feeling Icky

I said I would blog today, so I'm following through. Unfortunately, I've ended up sick today and I'm not feeling like I have much interesting to say. My morning was a little eventful. I went with a couple of coworkers to a health fair for teachers to advertise our massage therapy business. We took massage chairs and offered free 5 minute chair massage. We spent about three hours doing that and then came home.

As soon as I got back I took a turn for the worse. I've been feeling a little off for the last couple of days but today I got really queasy and light-headed. I took a bath and then took a nap for a couple of hours. When Chad got home, he brought me all kinds of goodies to make me feel better. I think I'm just going to take it easy for the rest of the day and probably won't do my work out. I think if I just allow my body to rest today I'll be better for tomorrow. I definitely need to be able to work tomorrow.

For an update on my Made in America series, I still haven't gone looking for a hair dryer. I purchased a coin purse made locally by someone in Fayetteville. Besides that, I haven't really needed to buy anything. I'll keep you posted. Have you bought anything made in America lately?  

Made in America?

I recently received an e-mail about a clothing factory in Jordan where young girls have been subjected to sexual abuse by their superiors. This factory makes the Classic brand which is sold in stores like Target and Macy's. I've also seen documentaries about conditions in factories where our "made in China" things are made (especially for Walmart). It's terrible.

When you're made aware of such things, how do you reconcile your conscience with the things you buy for every day living? Is it even possible to not buy anything that isn't made in America? Try looking around your home at things you frequently use. How many say "made in China"? Probably a large percentage. I haven't shopped at Walmart in quite some time, but that's only a very small step in the right direction.


I mentioned the idea of buying only American-made on my facebook where an interesting thread began. My brother-in-law suggested that someone go all American for a year and write a book about it. Then it was questioned whether or not it could even be done. My husband brought up the fact that you wouldn't be able to drive a car because, where are you supposed to get all-American gasoline?

I would love to try the experiment but I would only be able to take it so far. Someone should film a documentary in which they build a house from the ground up using only materials that were made in America, then furnish the house with things only made in America, then live in it never buying anything that wasn't made in America. One of the things that I'm concerned about is clothing. I've been to places where they sell only made in America clothing and it's incredibly expensive. I'm talking $100 shirts, $200 skirts, etc. I have seen some affordable things, but you really have to go out of your way to find them.

So my question to the population is this: How do we change the way things are now? We can't stop the abuse in other countries without supporting American industry. We also can't support American industry if we can't afford things that are made in America. So, where do we go from here? I received an e-mail asking people to buy only American-made for the month of August. It makes sense. If everyone buys only American-made for even a little while, it would put a hurting on imports. But you know that everyone won't do it.


I'm going to attempt it. One month of not buying anything not made in America. I can't promise I'll really be able to do it, but I'll try. What really stinks is that my hair dryer broke yesterday and I'm not sure I'll have much luck finding one not made in China. Any suggestions?


Would anyone else be willing to try the experiment? Have you ever tried it before, or is it something you're already doing? Do you think it's even possible?

Ridiculous Workouts

I have Shaun T to thank for realizing that I am neither fast nor agile. I completed the first four days of The Asylum, with yesterday being the first rest day. Today I had to go back into Speed and Agility. I feel confident that when this month is over, I'll be fairly well prepared for the obstacles of the Tough Mudder. Hopefully I'll be more prepared to start running too. These workouts are ridiculous.

Sorry I don't have pretty pictures or interesting things to say today. :-/

Training

Ok, I'm here. Mostly. I'm trying to get back into a routine, but it hasn't happened quite yet. I just sort of go with the flow of each day. It will probably get better when Chad goes back to work.

I'm getting prepared for the Tough Mudder coming up in October. Chad and I have started Insanity: The Asylum. It's pretty hard core. It's harder than Insanity. I would say it's the hardest workout I've ever done. Each workout is 45 minutes to an hour and when it's done I'm ready to keel over. We've gotten pretty strict about our diets. We pretty much eat what the program suggests for each meal and make sure we get enough calories and protein.

Once these 30 days of The Asylum are over, we'll start running pretty hard core. I have a friend who wants to do the mudder with us and I'll need to help her train too, because she doesn't have any training experience. I'm getting really excited though. It's going to be such a great experience and such a challenge!

Well, I don't want to bore you and I don't have much more to say. Keep checking in for adventures in Tough Mudder training!

Normalizing

Hello friends. I apologize for my prolonged absence from the blogging world. We went on vacation to visit my family in California and I was too busy catching up with them to do much blogging. If you want to catch some highlights, visit Chad's blog here. He blogged pretty consistently while we were there.

Being there made me realize how much I missed it. It was pretty hard to come back to West Virginia. I still feel like I haven't settled back into life here. It also doesn't help that work has been very slow and I've only been working a few hours a day, if at all. I'm getting over the jet lag and I feel very lethargic most of the time.

I've been staying up late and waking up late. It's certainly not helping me get back on track. My blogging might be a little sporadic for a while. Please bear with me as I try to get back to normal.

Preparing for Vacation

I don't think I'll have much time to blog later today, so I need to bust out a quick one before I go to work (for the last time for two weeks, huzzah!). I've been slacking on my blog all week because it's been SO INSANE at work. I've had a minimum of 6 appointments in a day all this week. I've been totally fried after that every day.

Today I need to get packed and ready to go to California for TWO WEEKS! I also need to finish up some cleaning around the apartment. Then, tomorrow, we head out to Columbus, OH. Chad has a friend who lives there with his wife and we'll be spending the day and night with them. They're going to take us to the airport Monday morning and let us leave our car at their place. That will be a big money saver for us. It's nice to have cool friends.

Monday (July 4th), we'll get to CA around 10am and go straight from there to my grandparents' house, where all my mom's side of the family will have a big get-together. I can't wait to see my family and spend the day swimming, lounging, and eating. I can't promise that everything I eat that day will be healthy since I'll have no control over it but, hey, sometimes that happens. I can't wait for the day when we can go back there for good. If only I had infinite money. :-P

So, between tomorrow and Monday be expecting plenty of tweets and twitpics. I probably won't get to blog again until Tuesday. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and happy Fourth of July!

Fireflies and Last Minute Lunch

My favorite part of summer in West Virginia is fireflies. For real. We don't have fireflies in California. I was driving home from my friend's house tonight and the sides of the road were completely lit up with fireflies. It's like they're putting on a show. I can't even explain how much I love them. I gives me this deep down happy feeling and I feel like my heart is going to burst. I know, that's kind of lame, but I really can't help it. I just love fireflies.

I honestly don't have much to talk about today. I will tell you that my lunch consisted of a Think Thin bar, Pop Chips, and Amy's mac and cheese. When we're out of town, we avoid fast food by hitting the grocery store and grabbing any array of things we like. I'm a little bit addicted to Pop Chips, so those are pretty much always on the last minute menu.

What is your favorite part about summer where you live? What is on your last minute menu?

Winning

So sorry I've been neglecting you, dear readers. I have been insanely busy at work. Then, when I'm home I just feel too drained to do anything else. Mainly I've been watching movies and desperately trying to finish The Girl Who Played With Fire in time for the book club. The book club was yesterday and, luckily, I managed to finish the book on Thursday. It was very good. I highly recommend the trilogy, even though I haven't read the third one yet.

Today was a lot of fun, and exactly what I needed. I was on a quest to find a new swim suit to take to California. I've been looking for a while with not much luck. I happened to mention to Chad, "If we had a Target, this wouldn't happen." So he said "It's Saturday; let's just go to Charleston." In case you don't know, Charleston is an hour away from where we live and there is no closer Target. So, off we went. At Target, I found exactly what I was looking for. As I knew I would. We also found a very affordable espresso machine and purchased it since we've been wanting one.

Then we did a bunch of window shopping at Pier 1 and then headed downtown to eat at Capital Cafe. We love that place. When we got there we found out that there had been a jazz and wine festival going on and we just barely missed it. Fail. But, we still got our good coffee and light food from Capital Cafe and walked around downtown. As we were walking, we saw a restaurant called Ichi Ban, a Japanese place. There was a sign that said "appropriate dress required". We thought we wouldn't qualify, but could see people in the window who weren't dressed any fancier than we were. So we walked in and Chad asked, "Are we dressed appropriately?" to which they replied in the affirmative. So we took at a seat at the sushi bar (you all know we're obsessed with sushi) and ordered three rolls. Chad also ordered sea urchin. It did not look appetizing, but he ate it. His response did not give me any hope and I didn't try it.

After consuming three rolls of amazing sushi (the best I've had so far) and, of course, some sake we walked down to the mall. We continued our window shopping here and Chad spent a lot of time picking up clothing and saying "this would look good on you". Yes, my husband shops for me. And he's pretty much always right about what would look good on me. I ended up buying an amazing dress from Charlotte Russe. He didn't tell me to try it, but I did anyways. I still make my own clothing decisions (sometimes). We had taken so much time shopping, by the time I bought the dress the mall was closing. So we left and came home and made lots of espresso.

Here are some highlights from today's adventure:

Some bohemian people playing instruments.

 

AMAZING SHUSHI!!!

Sea urchins. You know that looks appalling.

Yep. That's a T Rex made out of balloons.

WINNING

 

 

So there you have it. I'm sorry I sound a little crazy right now. It is 12:30am. I don't do well after 10pm.

Did you do anything fun today? Are you winning?

Feeling Scatterbrained

Well, I'm on the second to last week of TurboFire. I haven't been posting any progress pics but I will when I'm done. I've really enjoyed this program and I've become a bit of a Chalene Johnson fan in the process. I've also decided to try for the new TurboFire DVD auditions. It's going to be interesting. While we're in California, I'm going to go to Irvine to work out with Chalene at 24 Hour Fitness. Maybe I'll sneakily slip it in that I'm trying out for the new DVDs if I get a chance to talk to her. ;-)

Speaking of California, I'm getting so anxious to go! I can't get it off my mind. It's pretty much all I think about now and probably will be until we get there. I think it's also making me a little scatter-brained. For instance, it's taken me about 15 minutes to write these two short paragraphs. I just have too much on my mind. I'm thinking about California, work, reading, training for the Tough Mudder and everything I'm not getting done at home. I haven't done any housework for a while. Luckily, my dear husband is home for the summer (being a teacher and all) so he's kept up with it pretty well. I'm blessed that he's home while I'm so busy at work for these few weeks. If he wasn't, this place would be a pig stye.

I have a confession to make. It's 9pm and I haven't worked out today. Yes, that's right, I haven't even done my Turbo. And I was really hoping to get to bed earlier than I have been. I might just use today as my rest day and work out tomorrow (which is supposed to be the rest day). I also have another confession to make. I ate two tiny cinnamon rolls that my boss brought in today. So, I've officially had way too much sugar. Guess I'll be working out extra hard tomorrow. :-P

I apologize for being boring today. Just wanted to give you a quick update.

How is your week going? Any confessions you'd like to make?

Wine Snobs

Yesterday was the wine festival at Daniel Vineyards. Chad and I have always enjoyed their wine but have never been able to make it to the festival. Luckily, we were able to go this year. For only $10 they gave everyone a wine glass with the Daniel Vineyards logo on it and all the wine you can drink!

Getting ready to start the fun!

There were representatives from several other wineries there also.

Lots of vendors.

What? Wine?

Awesome guy from Forks of Cheat. They make one of our favs, CocoVino.

Of course the Daniel Vineyards booth. I love love love their port!

The no-kill shelter was there. I wanted this puppy so bad!

Such a beautiful pond!

Being a goof. That's what a few glasses of wine does to me. ;-)

The beautiful main building!

We ended up buying from this vineyard. So good!
 

The guy from this vineyard taught me how to properly hold my glass and drink wine. He said "I'll make you a wine snob in one easy lesson." He said to hold the glass by the stem so the wine doesn't get warm. Then you swirl it around to air it out and then sip it and swirl it around in your mouth. I knew most of that, but it was fun having a lesson on being a wine snob!

All in all, it was a beautiful day! We came home and had a glass of our Fredonia that we purchased. It's sweet and fruity. Just the way I like my wine. Today has been quite a lazy day. We stayed up late watching movies last night, so we ended up sleeping until about 10:30 this morning. We went out long enough to exchange some new clothes and have been watching movies since. I really need this day to do nothing. I've been going non-stop all week and really needed a day to rest.

Did you do anything fun this weekend? Have you been getting enough rest?

The Agony of Running

I'm not really sure if I'm fully conscious right now or not. I just got home from my second day of running. But first, let me tell you about how wonderfully refreshing my day has been (before the running, of course). I didn't have as many appointments on the books today as I have all this week. I was actually very happy about that because I'm running on empty here. So when I had a two-hour break, I took off for some much-needed retail therapy. First, I hit up Healthsmart to pick up a meal bar and some other snackage. Then I went to Delightfully Yours where I ordered a Summer Berry salad to go. I took my salad to Starbucks where I ordered an iced soy latte, then sat down outside and drank my latte and ate my salad. It was delightful.

Then I had about an hour to kill before my next appointment so I went to my old job at LA East where I was bombarded by children. As much as I don't miss the chaos of that job, I do miss my kids. They're sweet little boogers (sometimes). Then, as I was about to leave I got a text that my next appointment cancelled and now I had two extra hours to kill. Since I still had some left over birthday money, I put it to good use at T.J. Maxx. Those few precious hours I spent alone shopping and with my friends and kids I haven't seen in a few weeks was just what I needed. I felt so refreshed and was able to finish my work day with ease. Also, the massage I got helped a lot. I even managed to sneak in some reading of The Girl who Played with Fire.

After I got home, Chad and I left for our run. Now, mind you, I haven't run since Monday and before that I didn't run at all. Chad wanted us to do some high intensity running. Meaning, we sprinted for 30 seconds, walked for 30 seconds, sprinted, walked, etc 10 times. All together it was only a 10 minute workout. However, at the end of it, I almost puked. And I'm pretty sure I cried a little. About half-way through, I started to see fuzzy rainbows in the bottom of my vision. I'm not sure, but I think I might have been about to pass out. Has anyone ever had that happen while running? I also ended up with side stitches in my right side from my hip up to my shoulder. Also, my head still hurts. There really are no words to describe exactly how I felt (and still feel), but it is a very intense feeling that I do not enjoy at all.

Ok, enough whining from me. Tomorrow, Chad and I are going to a wine festival at a local vineyard so expect some pretty pictures!

Do you enjoy running? Did you have a terrible time getting started?

Wearing Thin

"I feel thin...like butter scraped over too much bread." - Bilbo Baggins

Ok so maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but I do feel worn very thin. My days are getting shorter and shorter. I wake up in the morning, do my Turbo, go to work from 9am til 7pm, train for the Tough Mudder, then end up with only an hour or two to wind down before I have to go to bed. I don't feel like I get enough time to rest. Also, I realized that I've been forgetting to take my vitamins and I could possibly be low on iron.

I know I'm a little boring tonight, but I think I need to get some rest. I'll try to have a real blog for you tomorrow.

Tough Mudder? Hell yeah!

Well...I was going to blog about my birthday, but I think Chad has that pretty well covered. Instead, I would like to talk about something different. For instance, the fact that Chad and I have decided to participate in the Tough Mudder in Virginia this October. It's a 10-mile race with obstacles designed by the British Special Forces. Despite the fact that I will have to crawl through tubes full of muddy water, run through fire, and get shocked with 10,000 volts of electricity, the thing I'm dreading the most is running.

You may think I'm crazy for saying that, but it's the truth. I hate running. And when I say I hate it, I mean I despise it with every fiber of my being. It makes me feel terrible. I ran two (non-consecutive) miles with Chad today. When it was over, I couldn't breathe and I felt like I was about to cry and/or puke. Chad says that's normal. I'm sure it is. I do not relish that feeling. While we're running, Chad tries to tell me encouraging things and I end up hating him just because he can run faster than I can and even talk while he does it, while I'm over there wheezing and about to fall over dead. If I could punch him in the face while running, I would.

I have until October to achieve the minimum running requirement for the Tough Mudder. That requirement is to simply be able to run 5 miles in less than an hour. Right now I can't even fathom running five miles in a row without stopping. I'll get there. It'll be a long, hard road but I will get there. I need to get in good running shape by August so that I can do Insanity: The Asylum in conjunction with running. The reason I want to do The Asylum is to build my upper body strength so I can do the climbing obstacles and monkey bars and what-not.

So, the content of my blog is probably going to have a lot to do with my preparation for the Tough Mudder for a while. Sorry if you get sick of hearing it.

What are you training for? What do you want to eventually train for if you aren't right now?

Learning About Goal-Setting

I'm trying to set some clear, achievable goals in my life right now. I've learned that writing your goals down on paper and continually revising them and taking steps toward them is the only way to actually attain them. I haven't been very good at doing that lately. I think the reason I don't do it is because the only times I was taught to do it was when I was running direct marketing businesses (yes, I've tried more than one). I never thought to apply them to any area in my life besides business.

I've lately become a bit of a Chalene Johnson fan. In my last post I mentioned that I started her 30 Day Challenge. It's all about setting and achieving goals. I feel like maybe if I follow this I can learn to attain my goals faster than I have been. Most of these goals are financial. We're honestly doing pretty well at paying off our debt. I think we're going it faster than most people do. But I want to put it on a fast track. A student loan is a lot of money, but if I expect it to take a really long time then it's going to take a really long time. If I plan for it to not take a really long time, it might take a little less time than originally planned for. Right?

Chalene says to make a to do list every day and tackle it first thing. I haven't done that yet because I'm only on day 4 of the challenge and she hasn't taught about the to do list yet. I'd rather wait until I know exactly how to do it. I'm very good at learning things. I can do anything if you can just teach me how. I've always prided myself on that. There's virtually nothing I can't learn to do. This is just another thing that I need to be taught.

I'm a big believer in self improvement. I used to think all those self-help books were a sham...until I read one. Then I thought, "hey, I really could be better!". I've changed a lot over the past few years and a lot of it is thanks to the last business I was involved in. They encouraged self improvement and reading every day. Once I started that, I felt like I suddenly blossomed into the person I always wanted to be. Granted, I still have plenty of work left but I'm still better than I used to be. I'm healthy, I'm in good shape, and I'm more confident than I've ever been. Now all I have to do is apply what I learned to all other aspects of my life. Be gone, debt!

How do you set and achieve your goals? Have you read any good self improvement books lately?

Secrets of a Happy Home

Right now it's 12:00 in the afternoon. I've been up since 6:30am. I have no appointments at work until 1:30pm and haven't been called in early. For the past few days I've spent some time catching up on what I call my "Flylday chores". Click on the link there if you want to know more about Flylady. In general, she teaches people like me how to be organized and keep their home in order. So, each day I have less and less to do. So can you guess what I've been doing for the past six hours? If I had the camera at home, I would show you. But I suppose I can illustrate with words.

There weren't very many dishes to do and I finished them off. I ate breakfast, did my housework assigned for the day, ate some more while watching Medium on Netflix, and then I think I just spent the last two or so hours reading The Girl who Played with Fire. I honestly got through about a quarter of it. It's probably safe to say I'll have it done in time for the next book club. Oh yeah, and I also did Day 2 of Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Challenge. It's nice to feel so accomplished at only noon. The only thing I haven't done yet is my 15 minute declutter (another Flylady thing). Obviously, though, that only takes 15 minutes.

I'm beginning to relish these mornings alone. Yes, I admit, it's kind of boring but it's a nice time to get things done and reflect. Plus, my marriage reaps the benefit of all I get done in these mornings. When the apartment is in order, it feels peaceful. Chad can come home and not feel like he needs to clean the kitchen before he can cook, thus hampering his creativity. Then, when I get home from work, we can eat dinner together in our peaceful space and not feel guilty for watching a movie instead of cleaning. From there it becomes somewhat of a beautiful cycle. He feels happy that all this work is done and will do nice things for me (get your minds out of the gutter, readers, I'm talking about dinner, flowers, wine, etc). When I'm showered with affections, I'm more inclined to continue the work I've been doing. And on and on it goes.

As with any cycle, it's occasionally broken, but I always take care to get it going again. It's so worth it and it frustrates me that I ever let it slide. It's such an easy way to feel peace in my home and encourage growth in my marriage. Chad and I have a wonderful marriage anyway, but (as everyone knows) effort is required to keep it that way. You can't let a beautiful flower wither from lack of attention.

I suppose that's enough soul-baring from me today. I hope you found some encouragement here. If someone like me can learn to keep her home in order and her marriage flourishing, anyone can. :-)

A Lovely Walk

I promised you pretty pictures of our walk today. It took us three hours to walk to the end and back, for a total of 6 1/2 miles. I think my legs are going to be pretty sore. Here are some of the highlights:

Stairs to Nowhere

The roof of some building.

Whatever this is.

Yes! Made it to the end! (Or beginning.)

Mile 0

They smell soooo good!

Cool old building.

I have a thing for cool doors.

Well, that about sums up most of my day. We had a lovely dinner with a good friend and watched Megamind. Funny movie. Will Ferrel, love him or hate him, is pretty hilarious.

Did you get out in the sunshine today?

Clothes Hunting and HIIT

Well, remember how I went on a cleaning rampage and cleaned the entire apartment? Chad was so happy to come home to a clean apartment that when we went back out to the store he came home with flowers and champagne and coconut ice cream! He also made a delicious spicy black bean soup! It was so nice!

When I got off of work today, I went to a little consignment store on the search for a new skirt. I didn't find one that I liked but I bought two brand name shirts for a total of $8. Then I went to T.J. Max to continue my search for a skirt and struck out there too. But Chad found a dress that he thought would look good on me so I tried it on and ended up buying it. How do I manage to go to two stores looking for a new skirt and end up with two shirts and a dress? Oh well. The search will continue.

Tomorrow is the last day of recovery week for Turbo Fire and then it's back to HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts. I'm sort of excited about it and sort of not. HIIT workouts are great because they're so effective but they wear you out so fast! At least it will be a change of pace and I only have a month left before I'm done with Turbo Fire. This November there will be a Turbo Kick instructor training in Richmond, VA and I intend to go. It's more up my alley than Zumba and it's going to be a ton of fun!

I think we'll go for a nice long walk again tomorrow so I'll have some more pretty pictures for you!

Cleaning Rampage!

Sorry, my blog is going to be a little short tonight. I had a pretty short day at work, but I have a long one coming up tomorrow so I'm going to try to get to bed at a decent time tonight. I didn't have to go to work until 2:30, so I got a lot done around the house. Here is what I ate for breakfast:

mmmm oatmeal

And then the nasty part:

With a side of...vinegar?

Yup. I'm doing an experiment. I've been told that drinking vinegar every day can help burn core fat and balance PH levels. I need to do more research on it, but that's what I've been told. The person who told me this was a 50-year-old man who looked 30. So, I figured I'd take his word on it. Here's the nasty concoction up close:

Also my nasty fingernails.

After filling half a jigger with organic apple cider vinegar, I filled the other half with water to dilute it so I don't end up burning my esophagus or something. It's terrible. It makes my eyes water and I cough for about a minute. But, I'm dedicated to seeing how it works.

After my nasty vinegar and lovely breakfast, my friend came over and we did our Turbo Fire workout. Then I got to cleaning. I didn't document the whole process, but I got some pictures of the kitchen because that was the worst part. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I started, but here are some mid-cleaning and end results:

A shiny sink! Flylady would be so proud!

A somewhat tidy counter.

A clean table, but before sweeping and mopping.

Swept and mopped! So pretty!

After my cleaning rampage, I read a little, watched some Medium, and then went to work. I had a pretty nice day at work; worked on some good people. It's so nice to have a client at the very beginning of their problem and be able to see all the progress you make each session. It's so rewarding! I'm so glad I got back into my chosen field.

Do you love your work? Are you good at keeping your home clean and organized?

Lazy Blogging

Well, my work day was pretty lame today. I only had four appointments and they were so spread out I spent a lot of time being productive doing absolutely nothing. However, I did have some good snackage.

I promise there's yogurt under there!

See? Yogurt.

After work, we decided to visit a local eatery. It's located in an old Jr. High where Chad went to school. It was...ok. I think it's what they call "home style country cooking". It was good, but nothing better than I could make in my own kitchen. However, I did get some pictures anyway. I had lasagna.

It came with a side of mashed potatoes.

Also in the building is a coffee shop/book store called Coffee Beans and Books. It was pretty sweet.

Very cozy.

Yeah, I dunno what I was looking at.

I also found the next book for my book club. We're currently into the Stieg Larsson trilogy. Last month we read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and for June we're reading The Girl who Played with Fire. So excited for it!

I'm kind of lazy blogging right now. Modern Family came on and it's kind of irresistible. And can I just say that I'm really sick of seeing The Bachelorette? I don't watch it and I don't even want to see the commercials. Bah.

What TV show can make you lazy blog? What's your favorite book?

Spotlight on Amy's

Well I just ate a delicious dinner of grilled flounder over couscous and corn on the cob (courtesy of Chad). It was quite delicious. The only thing that can make it better is a glass of wine. I know, I'm a bit of a wino, but can you blame me?

I've decided that perhaps my all-time favorite healthy prepared foods brand is Amy's. I've been stocking the freezer at my work with them. I spend almost all day at work and it's just easy to have something I can pop into the microwave when I get a break. They have a large variety of food (my favorite are the mac n' cheese and the enchiladas...almost hungry again just thinking about them) and they're all good. They're all organic, some are vegetarian or vegan, and all under around 400 calories. That's a win-win in my book.

I'm a little boring today, but I didn't do very much. I was at work from 9am-7pm. So I guess I'll leave you with that little spotlight on Amy's brand.

What did you do today? What's your favorite healthy food brand?

Epic Memorial Day

My Memorial Day was a blast! I slept until 8:30 this morning (that's sleeping in for me)! Chad was already up and had made pancakes! If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE pancakes. He also made a peanut butter syrup to go along with them. They were amazing!

After eating breakfast and catching up on twitter and what-not, I ate my favorite snack in the whole world: Greek yogurt, fruit, and granola topped with a little agave.

Then, Chad and I decided to go for a walk again. This time, I got pictures.

It was so beautiful! It couldn't have been a better day for a walk like this! We went all the way into downtown again. I'm REALLY excited about a new coffee shop that's coming to town. It's going to be an organic coffee shop.

I had to be a little dorky.

  After the long walk, we came home and watched a couple of movies. Then, I went to my friend's house to do my Turbo Fire workout! After this, we went on a little sushi splurge. We love our local Japanese restaurant, Kimono.

Very large piece of sushi!

We had such a fun day! I hope all your weekends were as fun-filled as mine!

What did you do for your weekend? Do you like sushi?