A week long vacation!

Just kidding. Unless a vacation is getting up every day at 6:30 to go into work for 10-12 hours.

This past week has been a vacation from running, though. I seem to need these breaks every couple months when I'm being serious about working out. This time around, I started to see the results I wanted - I was definitely getting stronger (bench pressing 15 lb dumbbells!) and could see the muscle curves (not nasty ape muscles, but cute girl muscles). But then I woke up on Monday morning and still had a dull headache, probably caused by drinking a little over the weekend, and just couldn't get myself to go. Tuesday was a recovery day from headache, and by Wednesday, I thought maybe I'd just take the week off.

Things do turn around, though. By yesterday, I really wanted to run, but decided to sleep in after a 12 hour day at work. I packed a gym bag with full intentions of going to the gym because work was supposed to be back to normal. Unfortunately, it was another long day, but while driving home, I started to think of how nice it would be to wake up extra early (5am!) to go for a run and also get into work early to finish things up for the week. I didn't get up early, BUT I considered it a small success and a sign that I wasn't totally dropping my workouts - I just needed to take a break.

So, tonight I'm going to fully enjoy going out for dinner and maybe even get a snack at the movie theater. And on Monday, I'll be back at the gym, rested and ready to go.

A little self-control

I work really well on rewards. I've written before about how I used to make a regular bag of M&M's last for days because I'd reward myself with one M&M for every accounting problem that I did. And now, I've found my reward for running each week.

My credit card gives me points. Usually I redeem them for a giftcard to Target since I seem to go there multiple times a week and walk out with way more than I meant to buy. Last week, though, I decided to redeem some of my points for an iTunes gift card. I figure I'll let myself buy one song for every week that I keep to my running schedule. There is nothing like a new song to motivate me and I've been making note of songs on the radio that have made me sing along and dance in my car. A few of them are:

• "I Like It", Enrique and Pitbull
• "Firework", Katy Perry
• "Higher", Taio Cruz
• "What's My Name?", Rihanna

Also, I'd really love to have an Australian or Irish accent.

Hopefully these songs will keep me moving this week. Just two more runs--and I've already planned an interval set for my two mile run tomorrow. Since it's the first time that I've run this far (and it's not even that far...), an interval run with some recovery will probably be the best way to go.

This gluten thing...

As I mentioned in my catch-up entry, I found out last summer that my body has some sort of issue with gluten. I haven't actually seen a doctor yet, so I don't know for sure what it is.

I first noticed that there was a problem when I went for a normal three mile run. I was almost near the end of the run when my palms and feet started getting really itchy. Then I started feeling nauseous and the itchiness spread. I made it home just in time--there was some major rumbling going on--to make it to the bathroom. And then I called my mom to find out what was going on. The itchiness so bad that I almost wanted to cry, there was nothing I could do to make it stop. She told me that I might have what my dad and aunt (his sister) have--an exercise-induced wheat allergy. I had had two sandwiches that day for lunch, so I decided that from now on, I'd make sure to avoid eating wheat for a few hours before a run.

Unfortunately, the symptoms accelerated and I started having problems earlier in my runs and even when I wasn't running. I started doing some research and found that the symptoms of celiac sounded familiar. While it's comforting to think that a lot of "issues" that I have could go away by avoiding certain foods, I'm trying hard to not self-diagnose. I went completely gluten-free from Thanksgiving to Christmas, mainly so that I'd actually feel good for the holidays.

After Christmas, I decided to go back to gluten. It wasn't that I was having these crazy cravings for it...by then, those cravings had gone. But I want to go to a doctor and get tested for celiac. And to do that, I need to be eating gluten. It certainly doesn't make me feel good, but I have reasons for wanting to get tested--1) I want to know whether having a beer every now and then will just upset my stomach, or damage my body, and 2) I want my family to know their true family history. My family isn't very good about talking about health issues, which has made it difficult in the past to talk to doctors about my digestive problems. If anyone in my family starts having these same symptoms, I want them to be able to say, "well, someone in my family has been diagnosed with this". I plan on seeing a doctor sometime next month and going from there...

2011 Resolutions

For 2011, I made a few resolutions. I feel like I've done pretty well on them so far, but I'm going to try to check in once a month and report on the status.

1. Read at least 3 classic books. I chose Wuthering Heights, Atlas Shrugged and Anna Karenina. I've started reading Wuthering Heights and I have all three downloaded on my nook.
2. Take a picture every day. They could be random, or taken on my phone, but I'll take a picture. Today was Day 2 - I took a picture of my dinner.
3. Make budgeting (and following that budget) more of a priority. I'm an accountant, so this should be easy, right?
4. Run a half-marathon. I've already signed up for it and made a plan, now I just have to run!

Where has the time gone?!

Haha...it's been almost nine months since I last posted. Wow. So, since then, I...

• GOT ENGAGED!!
• Ran the Madison half-marathon that I had been training for. It was okay.
• Realized I have either a gluten allergy/intolerance or celiac. Major bummer.
• Injured my thumb two weeks before the Madison Mini and didn't run.
• Completely fell off the running wagon.
• Moved. Not major, I can almost see my old place from my new apartment.
• Started getting serious about running again and signed up for the 2011 Madison Half-Marathon

Okay, all caught up now. That was easy. I had actually come on here to close this blog, but when I started reading my old posts, it kind of motivated me. I've been running consistently again for about a month and a half, and I've even gotten serious about strength training with the help of a trainer at my new gym. So, I think I'll keep this blog going.