3 Weeks to Make a Habit

Rumor is that it takes 3 weeks to establish a habit. Not sure what the magic of 3 weeks is, but that's the rumor. If it's true I'm 2.5 weeks away from making exercise a habit. Today was day 2 and I can't say I bounded out of bed with enthusiasm, but I did get up and get my act together enough to get in an exercise event before flying out of town. Yay me.

I did my 2 song walk warm up and then jogged along for 3 songs (a little over 10 minutes) straight and then walked until I had reached my goal of 30 minutes. I discovered that my mp3 player has a stopwatch feature which was cool and handy since most training schedules don't use songs as the measure of how long to work out.

I'm a bit inspired. I was talking to someone I know tonight over dinner who took up running in recent years and has become a bit fanatical. His wife decided to join him in running in the last couple of years. She ran her first marathon (NYC) last month and -- get this -- qualified for Boston. How cool is that? I remember walking a 5K with her in San Fran a little over 2 years ago and at that time she had not yet started running. So she picked it up post-40 and is rocking. I don't have my sights set on qualifying for jack diddly, but I do feel inspired to tackle the next 17 weeks and beyond!

T Minus 17 Weeks

Okay so I let a week get by without any exercise events in preparation for the half marathon I signed up for. But this is another week and we're off and running - literally. Tonight was 45 minutes of torture... err exercise. It actually it wasn't bad at all. Following the methods of the amazing FG (sorry Sarah, but he is!) I started out walking (2 songs worth), then did the FG shuffle (1 song), walked (1 song), then did the extended FG shuffle (3.5 songs - WOOT!). Cooled down with 1.5 songs of walking and another song of the shuffle (hard pressed to call it a run yet) and one last song of walking. That's a total of 11 songs... I wonder how many songs long a half marathon is? We'll know in March!

Somebody Call the ASPCA

Our dogs have perfected looking pitiful when they are outside and we're inside. Never mind that it's 70 degrees and gorgeous outside. Cassius is curled up on a flattened lounge chair like he's starring in Eight Below, the movie about sled dogs in Anartica. Zoe looks like she collapsed walking up the little hill toward the pool in exhaustion. She's sleeping with her little nose propped on the ground. Satch is the only one who has abandoned pitiful for crafty. He's napping with his nose and eyes firmly on the door looking for an opening to dash inside.

It's 70 degrees, you're dogs, you should WANT to be outside.

Year of Wonders

I love books that stay with you after you've turned the last page. I'm not sure what compelled me to pick up a book about the Plague in 17th Century England (not a laugh riot), but I can't stop thinking about it. While it could have been totally depressing, it's actually about feeling empowered and hopeful and the main character's transformation is what stayed with me. It also had a wonderful twist that exposed the "perfect" relationship as not really perfect at all.

Things to think about on so many levels. I used to be in a book club and this book makes me really wish that I still were. I want to talk about it!

H2O at 50 - 55 Degrees

That's the temp range they keep water in for polar bear habitats in zoos. Coincidentally, that was also the temp of our pool on Sunday when 3 hardy souls jumped in -- It really was a polar bear swim!

Preparing to Prepare

I'm totally into preparing to exercise. I got the threads, I got the shoes, I got all different kinds of socks, I got the ergonomically-friendly-to-small-hands water bottle. Now I've also got tunes on both the iPod and the more suited to running Rio Cali mp3 player. All that's left is to actually go outside and log a few miles this afternoon...

Thanks to Paulie I have the 12 week prep for a 1/2 marathon handy. That means I have 6 more weeks to prepare to prepare for running. That damn Oprah was rushing things! According to the superior-to-Oprah's schedule, I should be comfortably running 3 miles when I start the 12 week countdown. So that's 6 weeks to get to running 3 miles, thanks to FG, that seems doable, sorta.

I think I'm totally over thinking this...

Now I'm the One on Crack

Peer pressure is a bitch... so is being tired of being out of shape and over weight. All that to say that I DID sign up for that freakin' half marathon. Yeah, the one where I should have run 5 miles today. Nope didn't do that, but I did sign up. At least I won't be alone in misery on March 25, apparently 80% of the people I know are running that dang 1/2 marathon. Thus the peer pressure -- can't miss out on a shared experience with a bunch of my favorite people, the other motivations are self evident.

So the pressure's on my buddy Ray (aka the Genius/Fucking Genius/Running Buddy), to both help me train and plan the, err, creative route on the 25th. The pressure is on me to get off my ass every day for the next 18 weeks and prepare my creaky self. This should be interesting.

I haven't completely lost my mind though... I didn't jump in the wicked cold pool this morning.

An Unseemly Attachment

I love my iPod! I've now transferred all my cds into my iTunes library and have 639 songs or 1.7 days of listening pleasure. I've also downloaded the episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip that our DVR failed to capture as well as an Inside the Actors' Studio show I want to see. All this plus a game and I've still filled less than 30% of the capacity of this little jewel. The possibilities seem endless, but I do have a limit.

It's okay to love your iPod, but you shouldn't LOVE your iPod. This just cracks me up. I wonder how the NPR Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me podcast would, err, perform? Not so much when Tom Bodette is on I'm thinking. How would you like Carl Castle on your "machine"? Oh my.

Too bad I didn't see this before we talked Christmas wishes last night...

This is Your Brain on Drugs

So I get an email from my husband with a link to the Oprah.com half marathon training schedule along with a little encouragement to consider the March IMG Marathon as a goal. I wonder how much the rehab is going to cost -- the man is clearly on drugs. I dutifully go to the training schedule and see that I should start my preparation with a 5 mile RUN this Sunday... yeah and monkeys might fly out of my butt.

Sure I bought new shoes (3 pair) and a water bottle for running, but I was thinking more like a 5K... in 08. Nice try, sweetie, but it's Betty Ford for you.

The Secret Life of Houses

Instead of heading to DC today, I was home in bed with a migraine. The best dogs evah were keeping vigil by the sick bed and at least 2 visitors dropped by. Which made me think of the secret life of houses. We hardly ever have unexpected visitors when we're home, but apparently this place is grand central on a weekday.

One guy wanted to grind our stump for a $100 and the UPS man left a nifty water bottle with a handle for running (yeah, I'm all geared up now I just need to actually use it). I didn't actually answer the door on either ring of the doorbell, but I wonder if they appreciated the newly planted shrubs (photos pending).

I Dreamt of Monkey Grass

So, my pal calls while I'm in the shower yesterday morning and tells my husband that there is no need for me to come out to her horse show as I won't make it in time for her class. Big mouth. Here I had a nice horsey morning planned -- hanging with other like minded folks, but the best laid plans and all that. So now that I'm "free" we get the bright idea to tackle replanting our shrubs.

We tore the old shrubs out THREE years ago, so it's not like we were in a rush or anything. Off to Homo Depot we go to rent a tiller. In for a penny in for a pound so we go ahead and pick out the shrubs. Four back breaking hours later our shrubs are planted, watered in and looking dandy -- we are both broken, but it looks great. Even better when I got home a couple of hours late and Steve had put in mulch and a border and cleaned up the mess.

But this is about Monkey Grass. Apparently monkey grass thrives on benign neglect because it does really well in our yard. One of the beds that has "rested" for the last 3 years had a thick nice patch of monkey grass. So we decide to replant it as a border in one bed and as filler in one area that looked too poor to put shrubs in. Monkey Grass has a root system like Fort Knox and it's a bitch to pull apart. To say I did not have fun with the monkey grass is a vast understatement. I now loathe monkey grass.

Postscript to the hike from Hell

So, we're looking at the map for the "2.8 mile" trail. How can a 2.8 mile trail have a 3.3 mile marker? I'm not a cartographer, but this seems mutually exclusive. Thank goodness, I thought I totally lost any sense of distance.

2.8 Miles My Ass

I'm my own worst enemy at times. Last Sunday I get the bright idea that hiking straight up a mountain would be fun. Not so much for my chunky out of shape self. This morning I decide that another pre-breakfast hike is in order. Did I mention that my favorite place is in the freakin' mountains?

The South Loop trail sounds innocuous - 2.8 miles thru the woodlands of the Homestead, past the homes on Ski Hill Road (sense a problem here) and the new equestrian center. The first 40 minutes were a pleasure - tough in places, but enjoyable enough. After 40 minutes which is 39 minutes longer than I'm used to exercising, I'm officially over it. Fifty minutes later we stumble back in to the hotel, only to climb 5 flights of stairs because we're in a hurry to change before we miss the breakfast sitting.

I certainly earned my bacon and doughnut this morning. We both agree that the trail has got to be longer than 2.8 miles. Fun times, fun times.

Favorite Places

We're heading to one of mine today -- The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. We'll be there in time for high tea this afternoon - can't wait. The last time I was at the Homestead I was with my friend Katie . We had a great time, but it was a really quick trip - only one night. I'm looking forward to a more leisurely visit.

Hair Woes

So today I got a hair cut. Nothing like spending $65 to walk out feeling badly about yourself. I usually totally love my hair stylist's work. This is the 4th haircut from this new person and I think the honeymoon is definitely over. I've got a mullet vibe going on. Thank God hair grows and mine quickly.