love and be loved

Feel good to get exercising again! Did a warm up for 15 minutes on the treadmill at 6.0mph and 2% incline. Then got a good stretch and continued to 4.3 miles at 5.9mph. Got some water and did another 1.95 miles of cool down at 5.0-4.5mph and 2% incline. Stretched again and jumped in the shower! SOOO humid and hot today.

Feeling very tired and devoid of all energy or motivation during the day times. I am beginning to think that something is just not right. I eat healthfully and I do force myself to exercise. I am diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder, but I have been dealing with it for almost 2.5 years. Hmmm.. I hope something changes soon.

In the meantime, I started off today by doing a 3.3 mile interval training (all at 2% incline)--

warm up: minutes 0-5 at 4.5-5.5mph

brisk pace: minutes 5-8 at 5.5-6.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 8-10 at 6.0-6.2mph

fast pace: minutes 10-12 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 12-14 at 6.0-6.2mph

fast pace: minutes 14-16 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 16-18 at 6.0-6.2mph

fast pace: minutes 18-20 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 20-22 at 6.0-6.2mph

fast pace: minutes 22-25at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 25-32ish? at 6.0mph

Next, I ran another 2 miles at 6.0 mph and 2% incline. Then finished up with a 1 mile cool down at 6.0-5.0 mph. Stretched and got a call from my Benn :-)

Could not sleep more than 3 hours last night. I finally dosed off around 12:30am and woke up at 3:30am. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I am basically lethargic during the daytime and restless at night. My mom suggested that I begin taking iron supplements for energy. Her doctor recommended it to her because she also has depression and has insomnia. I have been taking the iron pills for about 3 days and already feel a bit more energy during the day. (Although, I don't know if this is just a placebo effect). Other than that, I haven't had a real problem sleeping until now. It has always taken me quite a while to fall asleep, so that is nothing new. During and since college, I began having bouts of a few days where I have nightmares, but not the gruesome or really scary kind. Instead, they are the sort of dreams that instill uneasiness, discomfort, confusion, emotional turmoil, or embarrassment. I don't feel like I am too much more stressed than usual. The responsibilities of my new job starting at the end of the month frighten me because I have so much to do and learn before then, but it is kind of like the stresses of being a high-achieving college student..

So, anyway, I ran today to try to tucker myself out more so that hopefully I can get to sleep tonight. Did 4.3 miles at 6.2mph and 2% incline. Did the remaining 1.82 mile cool down at 6.0 to 4.7mph and 2% incline. Then did some good stretching and made some salad and soup for dinner. MMm..

After dinner, did free weight lifting, lunges, and 3 types of squats.

Spent the ENTIRE day working and only did 80 lower ab crunches for the night! Oyee.

Woke up this morning to the cat meowing incessantly at the door. Let her in and played with her with a rubber band I had on my wrist. She loved it. Then jumped out of bed and changed to run on the treadmill to do some by interval training (all at 2% incline)--

warm up: minutes 0-5 at 5.5mph

brisk pace: minutes 5-8 at 6.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 8-10 at 6.2mph

fast pace: minutes 10-12 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 12-14 at 6.0mph

fast pace: minutes 14-16 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 16-18 at 6.0mph

fast pace: minutes 18-20 at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 20-22 at 6.0mph

fast pace: minutes 22-24at 7.0mph

moderate pace: minutes 24-26 at 6.3mph

brisk pace: minutes 26-28 at 6.0mph

cool down: minutes 28-30 at 5.5mph

Interval training totaled 3.1 miles. Then continued the cool down for another 1.01 miles at 5.5 to 4.0mph. SO humid I had to towel off multiple times during the run. Uck! Stretched and went upstairs for water and breakfast!

Woke up and Benn had made me tea this morning to sit and drink with him ( - I love it!) Then we got changes and headed out to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail for a run. Stretched and did 5 miles and saw ducks and a bunny along side the trail. I love running with Benn because even when I feel like procrastinating a run or don't want to go, I go because he is going and I want to be with him. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't get half the runs in that I do. He is a fantastic motivation. After the run, we stopped to do some quick stretching and go to the bathroom. Then we headed back out for a half mile cool down. My legs were a little tired but it felt really good out. It was overcast from a stormy night and had just the right amount of breeze. After getting back to the car and stretching, we drove to local diner to have a breakfast date. What a perfect start to a day!

Staying at my oldest sister's apartment just outside of Boston for the weekend with my best friend, Missy. EXTREMELY hot and humid today but stuck around the apartment while Missy went to do some job training this morning. I used my sister's Everlast boxing gloves and bag to do kickboxing. OYE... I had to break in the beginning to hook up a fan that helped a tiny bit. But after all the kicking and punching, my the inside of the gloves was pure sweat. Then I did yoga ball side and front crunches, squats, lunges, and leg lifts. Finished up with nice stretching - my left quad is tight for some reason.

Plan to walk around Boston the rest of the weekend with some friends. I hope we do not melt or burn out there! It's torture!

.... We ended up heading to the Boston Common and walked a lot around the Common & up and down Newbury Street. Missy and I actually ran into comedian Colin Quinn, who was walking out of a shop as we were entering and held the door for us. But me, being the televisionarily oblivious person that I am, didn't have the faintest idea who is was at the time. It was after we walked through the door and said our "thank you"s did Missy turn around to me with her face of excitement and told me who we just encountered. Anywho, had a lot of fun walking and taking in the sights. Prices are ridiculous, of course, so I didn't buy anything but trying things on was fun before I looked at the pice tags! Got back to the apartment almost around 10pm, hopped into our pajamas and had a bowl of cereal for dinner. Slept like a rock!

Missy and I met up with our friends Kara and Todd at the Watertown apartment around 10:30 or 11:00am. Kara learned a new card game that can be played with multiple players called "Eqyptian Rat Screw." I heard her wrong and thought the game was "Egyptian Rat Squirrel," which I like the sound of better anyway. Usually I am just turned-off to having to get instructed in learning new games, but it was actually really fun! We all got into it and it is very fast and competitive! Afterward, we all went out to lunch (Indian, of course) at Punjab Palace in Allston, MA. The food there was phenominal and, unknown to us until we saw our meals, you get at least 2 times the amount of food than other places for the same price. I have been a big fan of House of India in Pittsfield, but I have to say that this place tops the cake. Not only was the food delicious and inexpensive, but the wait staff and host were so kind and funny! And an Indian soap opera was playing in the background which also set a fun and friendly mood. It was Todd's (23rd) birthday today, so we all chipped in to cover his meal and had a great time!

Woke up and went kayaking with my olderst sister, Lindsay, on Onota Lake in Pittsfield. She has spotted bald eagles (2 adults and 2 young) there on many occasions so we thought we would scope it out. The lake's surface was as smooth as glass today.We set off and paddled down and out of the cove and were kayaking down the middle length of the lake. Suddenly, we saw an adult bald eagle soaring in circles nearer and nearer to the lake's surface. With our front row seats, we watched it scoop the water to catch a fish. It was so amazing to be in that spot at that exact moment. That's when I started thinking about my day and how if we had left a minute earlier or a minute later, we would have missed this. The adult eagle flew behind us to what my sister called its favorite tree, because she always sees it perched there. Next, one of the baby eagles mimmicked the adult by circling the lake's surface but did not scoop and flew over with its parent in the tree. We think it was teaching the young how to catch fish. We turned and paddled over to the tree and were able to get extremely close. We stayed there for quite a while watching and taking pictures of the two eagles. The baby was very talkative and  and did a lot of calling, to which we could hear an eagle calling back from the opposite width of the lake. We decided to kayak over to the other side of the lake to check it out, because that is where the nest is known to be. The nest was giant and actually sits high in a tree in yard of a lakefront house. It must be so cool to be those homeowners - I'm sure they have fabulous pictures! There, we sighted the 2nd baby, who was still calling across the lake to its sibling. It was getting extremely hot out on the lake, so after all the sightseeing, we paddled around and under tree limbs for fun and shade. We kayaked for an hour (not including the stopping and picture taking)!

Today, Benn came over around 5pm and we went to a performance at Jacob's Pillow in Becket, MA (about 40 minutes from my house). Jacob's Pillow puts on a series of dance performances at 6:30pm on their Inside/Out Stage. The stage is outdoors and is just lovely to look at alone, as its backdrop is the breathtaking Berkshire Hills. The audience can sit on wooden benches, a hammock, picnic tables, folding chairs, or several large rocks that skirt the perimeter of the seating area. There was quite a big audience when we arrived, so we sat on one of the tall rocks. The temperature was perfect- not too hot because of a rain storm that had just gone through and yielded a beautiful, calm sky with not too much worry of mosquitoes. 

We saw three dances which, together, lasted around 45 minutes in total with a Q&A segment afterward. The type of dances, called Bharatanatyam, were performed by Dr. Janaki Rangarajan. She had begun studying the dance style, which used to be exclusively performed by female Indian temple dancers, since she was 4 years old. She has trained during several apprenticeships and has also been an instructor herself. Now, the dance form has opened up to include male dancers as well. Pupils of this discipline train very hard and typically also have to train in voice work/singing (I forget the name of it, though).

Superficially, I looooved the way Janaki looked, with her long dark braided hair, accessories, and complete Indian garb. I liked her bell-clad anklets that she was trained to make chime to the beat of the music. More profoundly, I was fascinated by the information provided in her introduction and answers to audience questions. Dr. Janaki Rangaranjan choreographs many of her own performances and I had a blast watching them! Her movements are almost constant, as nothing- not even her hands- stays in the same position for more than 10 seconds or so. In Bharatanatyam, even the muscles in the face are used extensively - the mouth, the eyes, forehead, etc. These instances were one of my favorites throughout the performances, which Benn and I dubbed "face dancing!" I thought it was interesting when Janaki explained and demonstrated how all of her movements have different meanings or significances-- each dance tells a story.

We both had a bunch of fun and oh yeah! Benn's blog will probably tell about the two kids we encountered- it was so cool and weird!!!

After Jacob's Pillow, Benn and I drove to my new office (which was on the way) so that I could drop stuff off and pick stuff up! I got to show Benn where I will be working so that he knows where to find me. I also got 4 recycling bins for the floor so I can take care of that, because nobody really recycled last semester. On Fridays, I used to sift through the little trash bins with a plastic bag and collect paper and cans/bottles/plastic/glass. I know it sounds gross but it wasn't bad like REAL garbage- it was just office and student trash like papers and drink containers. In the office, we played music while Benn helped me hang my calendar and pictures. That turned out being kind of fun, too :)

Benn asked me to go to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail with him today for a run. It is sunny and hot and humid and I was kind of in an "eh" mood. But I actually had fun, even though we both sweat buckets! (Ok, so I sweat a cup and Benn sweat a bucket! Hehehe) We ran 3 miles with 2 small breaks for stretches. Then ran 3 miles back to the car. During our run, we saw tons of bikers and 1 or 2 runners.

Animals spotted: Just geese & ducks today.

Finally got a reply email this morning from my boss, as I had sent his several questions regarding the new position & scheduling. Unfortunately, he was not able to answer ANY of my questions but did send me 3 powerpoints (around 25 slides each) and told me to read through them and try to get a grasp on the material, as I am to present them and have an open Q & A discussion about then at the Center's Staff Training days. YIKES!!!!!!!! This on top of all the other stuff I have yet to do is really stressing me out! (Might I add that it is really not helping my complexion, either, which is more to fuel the fire!) Oye.....

Decided i needed to get a run in today. Did 4.1 miles of interval training at 6.0/6.2mph & 7.0mph, which warm up and cool down at 5.0-5.5mph. 

Was going to go running but both of my sports bras are in the wash. So, instead,stretched and did 45 minutes of Power90 Cardio 3-4 (power yoga, cardio work, kickboxing, jumping jacks, etc. etc.) I feel like I messed up my right shoulder blade a little while doing right arm hooks, but I stretched really well afterward, so I am hoping that helps it. Also did leg lifts and some crunches, but would like to finish up doing more crunches and free weights tonight. I'm just antsy thinking about all the work I have to do today and just wanted to get it started asap.

Worked and worked and worked all day long! Finally at 8:30pm I couldn't take it anymore and needed to go for a run or get some sort of physical exercise! Did intervals ranging from 5.5-7.0mph and did about a mile cool down at 6.0-4.4mph. Stretched.

Benn went to the track to do his workout while I ran on the treadmill. Ran 4.11 miles at 6.0-6.2mph with intervals at 7.0mph, all at 2% incline. I've been really bummed about the lack of weekly miles I have been getting in lately. Work has been crazy and has messed up any schedule I could have tried to make. I Wanted to run more today but had to sacrifice my time to take a shower, pack lunch for me & Benn, and get everything ready for the James Taylor concert. I was great and I loved spending the day with Benn!!!

Had plans to go for a 5-6 mile run today with Benn on the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. But, i must have been tired because I didn't wake up until around 10am- and Benn had to leave around noon for school. I feel bad because Benn was probably up around 8am but didn't want to wake me up. So he let me sleep but I don't mind waking up early when I get to spend the morning with Benn. I think he is slowly converting me into a morning person :)

So, I packed a little lunch for Benn because he will be at school in Albany all day today. Later, I ran on the treadmill today. Did a 5 minute warm-up at 4.5mph then jumped to 6.0mph for 15 minutes. Next, I did interval training, alternating between 6.0mph and 7.0mph for around 13 minutes. Then I did a cool-down at 5.0mph to 4.5mph for 18 minutes. Total of 6.1 miles all at 2% incline.