With less than 3 hours left of 2007, it is time to set goals for 2008. My ultimate goal for 2008 is to reacquaint myself with the concept of enough. We have become a society that is obsessed with bigger, better, faster, cheaper and more. I read recently that the average American is exposed to more than one million advertisements per year. We work more hours to earn more money to buy more things that we don’t really need, and we still aren’t satisfied. My job is not going to allow me to cut back on the hours, but I can still simplify other aspects of my life.
Running - I went overboard with distance in 2007. In 2008 I’m going to run enough to maintain my fitness level, and with any luck, increase my speed.
Rowing - I got a rowing machine for Christmas. In 2008, I’m going to use the rowing machine to cross train. When the weather gets nice, I might walk instead. Rowing is an excellent cardio workout, and it also helps build core strength. By alternating between rowing and running I hope to get through 2008 injury-free.
Sleep - I rarely get enough sleep. Sleep is vital to the recovery and weight loss process. It is also important for managing stress. I have more than enough stress right now, but perhaps if I get enough exercise and enough sleep, my stress level will become manageable.
Media - I spend most evenings glancing back and forth between the television and the laptop, without really paying attention to either. I pretend that I’m relaxing, but it takes me hours to unwind enough to fall asleep. My goal for 2008 is to reduce my Internet/television time to 2 hours/day. This is probably the toughest of my goals, so I may have to work up… I mean work down to it.
Stuff - I have way too much stuff. My goal for 2008 is to get rid of things I don’t need or use, and to stop shopping. I don’t really like to shop, so this won’t be that difficult.
Food - I lost 60 pounds in 2002/2003. The most effective thing I did to lose the weight was to stop eating when I got full. I eliminated a few foods from my diet, and increased my intake of fruits & vegetables. I certainly didn’t starve, and I ate foods that I liked. I was fine until I started running. After that I was hungry all of the time, and no matter how much I ate, I still felt hungry. Eventually I got to the point where I felt full, but I still wanted to eat. Since I started running, I’ve actually gained weight. There have been times when increased mileage resulted in weight loss, but eventually, the weight came back. I need to get back to where I eat enough, but not more. This will be extremely tough, but it is worth doing.
If I get enough exercise, and enough sleep, and I eat enough instead of too much, I should lose some of the extra fat I’m carrying on my stomach and thighs. I’m not going to set a goal weight. If I eat enough, sleep enough and exercise enough, the amount of weight I lose should also be enough.
Whether you are searching for more, less or just enough, I hope you find it in 2008. Happy New Year!
Not everything about 2007 was wonderful. The pressure at work remained high, with calls coming in at all hours. Things have been like this since 2005, but this year it really started to get to me. Running became my salvation, but it also became another source of stress. I could go days without leaving the house. I spent my day in front of a computer for work, ran on the treadmill, and then split the evening between the work computer and surfing the Internet. Since the treadmill is next to my desk, I could watch my monitor while running. Eventually I started dragging myself outside to run, which helped me break away from work. Running in our very hilly neighborhood contributed to my overuse injuries. In short, I ran too much, worked to much, spent way too much time on the Internet in the evenings, and stayed up way too late. According to my Nike+ I burned nearly 50 pounds worth of calories while running, but Ididn’t lose any weight, so we can safely say that I also ate too much. It started innocently enough, because all of the running made me hungry. Later it was just a matter of not practicing self-control. Even when I’m full, I’m not satisfied, so I keep eating. I couldn’t quite get it together for the Holiday Weight Loss Challenge, but I’m going to give it another try starting on January 2!
Sorry Amy & Tom, I’m another member of the “A Christmas Story” fan club. I’ve loved it since I first rented it in 1984. We rented it several times before buying it on VHS, Laser Disc and DVD. And I still watch it for 24 hours on TBS. I guess you could say this entire post is a “crummy commercial”. In addition to “A Christmas Story”, our must see Christmas movies are “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”, “Lethal Weapon” and “Die Hard”. Speaking of “Die Hard”, my new Power Song is “Die Hard” by Guyz Nite. It is so very R-rated, and they don’t say “fudge”. Neither do I, unless I’m in the candy store
The UPS man delivered a big box to the Diva house today. It wasn’t a leg lamp, it was a rowing machine! Mr. Diva assembled it for me tonight. I gave it a brief test, but I have to tell you that “skinny jeans” are not the attire of choice for rowing — especially if you aren’t skinny! I plan to give it a good test drive tomorrow.
Last year the part of the Christmas tree was played by Captain Jack Sparrow. Alas, Captain Jack has since take up residence behind our son’s tiki bar. I’m not sure what will play the part of the Christmas tree, but I’ve still got a few days to think of something. We came up with the Captain Jack idea while at dinner with friends on 12/23 last year. We rushed to the mall at 10:30 to buy him, then rushed to another mall to pick up a copy of “A Twisted Christmas” just as they were closing. If you aren’t familiar with it, please, let this be my holiday gift to you.
Holiday Inn and White Christmas are very nice movies, and the song White Christmas is quite lovely. I do appreciate their finer points, but they just don’t take me to “the happy place”. I guess I’m a “Twisted Sister”, too. I’ve only seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” once, and it was OK, but I don’t need to see it again. On the other hand, I’ve seen the Pacific Northwest Ballet perform the Nutcracker at least a dozen times. We don’t go every year, but when we do, it is an amazing experience. I love the ballet and I love classical music. Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer. If “Twisted Sister” doesn’t do it for you, let this be my Christmas gift.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, no matter which movie you watch or how you celebrate! But please don’t shoot your eye out
Runners are very goal driven people. We follow our plans, run the miles on our schedules and check things off our lists. A few months ago I realized I could still reach 2,000 Nike+ miles by the end of the year if I logged an average of 150 miles/month. That isn’t exactly out of my normal range, but in November I started suffering from intense heel pain. At first it was just in the morning, but eventually it was all day. Recently I’ve been experiencing sharp pain in my shins. I used The Stick, iced my feet, took ibuprofen and stretched, but I also kept running. By last week I was down to my last 80 miles, but when I woke up Saturday I was just so darn tired, I could barely drag myself out of bed. Then I got a call from work. That afternoon I decided to run errands instead of run. I figured I could make up the distance. Sunday I woke up feeling just as tired as Saturday. I did a few odd jobs around the house and then put on my running clothes. Just as I was getting ready to go out the door, the phone rang. My ex-husband (my son’s father) had a heart attack that morning and was in the hospital. We had been planning to attend a family reunion with my son & daughter-in-law that afternoon, but now they were rushing to see his dad. I stayed home near the phone, waiting to hear how he was doing. I’m happy to report that he is going to be OK, but things were pretty tense for a while. I thought about running on the treadmill to relieve my stress and anxiety, but opted out. I have been so focused on the goal of 2,000 miles, I have not taken into account the toll it is taking on my body. If I was smart enough to opt out of the the SOS race when I had a gaping hole in my knee, why not be smart enough to opt out of 2,000 miles before I do some serious damage? So, I didn’t run yesterday, and I didn’t run today. I’m not even feeling stressed. I’m just feeling tired and achy. Oddly enough, I think my shins hurt more today than they did while I was running, but my heels feel a little better. So I might run again this year, but I might not. It just depends on how I feel. When I do start running again, I’m going to take it easy. I had already planned to cut back on the mileage in 2008, in favor of Furman F.I.R.S.T plan, with 3 quality work outs per week, and 3 days of cross-training. I’ve never been good at staying with a cross-training program, but I also never ran over 1,600 miles in a year before 2007, so I think it is possible.
Ever since I bought my iPod last October, I’ve been on a quest to find the best headphones for running. It took exactly one run to figure out that the headphones that came with the iPod were not it.
I went shopping immediately after and bought a pair of cheap Sony sport headphones at Target. I paid $14.99 for them, and have used them just about every day since then. The linked pair isn’t exactly the same, but it is pretty close. They are fairly comfortable and have decent sound quality. My biggest complaint is that they tend to bounce out of my ears, so when I want to turn up the volume I usually start by pushing them back into my ears. I’m starting to suspect that I’m not suppose to shove them into my ears and turn up the volume. Oh well, hearing loss was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Too much loud rock music in my youth!
I forgot my headphones while on a trip to California, so I went back to Target. This time I bought a $99.99 pair of Shure headphones. They were the kind that go into your ears, with different sized covers. They did not have ear clips. The instructions were to wrap the wire around your ear. They sounded really good for a few minutes, but they didn’t stay put and pretty soon they were completely out. I ended up giving them to my non-running daughter-in-law and headed back to Target.
Next I bought a pair of Nike Vapor earphones thinking that Nike might have a better idea of what runners were looking for. These are without a doubt the most comfortable pair of headphones I have tried. The over-the-ear piece has a hinge, making it adjustable. They sounded pretty good at first, but during the run, the hinge slowly readjusted itself and once again I was straining to hear, and trying to adjust them on the run. While there is some merit to being distracted during a run, I don’t need any additional reasons to trip and fall! I used them a couple of times and switched back to the Sony pair.
My son and daughter-in-law gave me a pair of Sennheiser PMX70 headphones for my birthday. I’ve been running with them for a week, and they are definitely my favorite. The neckband keeps them in place so I don’t spend any time adjusting headphones during my run. The speakers sit just outside the ear rather than inside, so they don’t give the same “intensity of sound” that I get from shoving the Sony headphones into my ears, but that may not be a bad thing.
What type of headphones do you use? Are you happy with them? I have done Google searches on “best running headphones”, and not had a lot of good results. I did follow a few links from the Apple & Nike web sites, which is where I learned about the Sennheiser earphones. A lot of people have expressed interest in this subject, so share your thoughts.
