MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #46

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1. Are you a different person than you were five years ago? I don't think I'm a different person at the core (i.e. values, beliefs, personality), but I've definitely done a LOT of growing up in the past five years. Five years ago I was still in college, dating my (future) husband and my biggest concern was how I scored on my Finance test. In the time since then I graduated college, found my first post-college job, got married (almost four years ago...crazy!!), Alex commissioned into the Army, we moved FOUR times (into our first apartment in Houston, then to Fort Huachuca for a short stint, then to Fort Hood for 3 years, then to Fort Huachuca again for 8 months, and we're gearing up to move again next month!), Alex deployed for a year (probably the time that I grew up and changed the most), and my dad was diagnosed with cancer last September. That's A LOT of things that have happened in five years so how could you not change/develop when all that's going on in your life?

Spring Break '07 in Destin...definitely done some growing up since this trip!! :)

2. If you could go on "Amazing Race" who would you take with you and why? We were just discussing this last night because we were watching ABC's new knock-off version of the Amazing Race called Expedition Impossible. I told Alex that I think if we were to go on a show like that it would probably be the end of our marriage. I know that sounds bad but I just know how I work and I can be a VERY difficult person to live with when I'm under major stress/exhaustion/fear/etc. I am afraid I would reach my breaking point, quit the show, and possibly let Alex down. Alex's response was "Don't worry...I wouldn't pick you as my partner on a show like that anyway." LOL....at least we're on the same page!

3. Does Facebook or Twitter actually bring more stress or good into your life? I'm a big lover of Facebook and Twitter. I like being "in the know" and social networking allows you to do that. I'm also a TERRIBLE phone person...talking on the phone just never has been one of my favorite things and therefore social networking is a great alternative way to keep in touch with those you love. The only major downside for me is that Facebook/Twitter does sometimes bring on jealousy/envy for me personally. For example, when Alex was deployed many people on Facebook would post complaints about how their husband/significant other was leaving for a week long business trip or something of the sorts. Those kind of comments really stung and made me angry because I wanted to scream "DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT?!?" Obviously I had to realize that they weren't writing those things to purposely make me jealous, but it was still pretty hard.

4. June is National Soul Food Month. What is your soul food? Hmm...I love food so I'd say ALL food is my soul food. I really love chicken fried steak with lots of gravy and mashed potatoes but I rarely order it (for obvious reasons) so maybe that would be my #1 soul food.

5. If you could live in any other era other than the current, which would it be and why? The 1940's and 50's!! I've always loved the fashion of that era. It was so glamorous!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #45

1. Underwear Parties: How old is too old? I didn't even know what an "underwear party" was but I just Googled it and it said it's "a party where everybody strips down to there underwear. the party goes on as a usual party ,but can turn into a sex party if the people are willing." Umm....I'm gonna say anyone with any self-respect is DEFINITELY too old for this type of party. I wouldn't have even been comfortable with this kind of party when I was in college, but maybe that makes me a prude....?

2. What was your favorite class in high school? Spanish! I LOVED Spanish class and I was actually good at it so that made me love it even more. :) (Plus, my mom is a high school Spanish teacher so maybe I had a leg up?)

3. Have you ever convinced packers/movers to pack something they aren't supposed to for a PCS? I've never "convinced" them persay, but we always try to kill our packers/movers with kindness in the hopes that they'll go easy on us. It worked the last time because they packed a few things they weren't technically supposed to (i.e. candles) AND nothing that they packed broke in transit! Woohoo!

4. Blogging plays a growing roll in the media. If you were asked to embed as a blogger with a deployed military unit, would you go? What do you think your blog would be like? No, I probably wouldn't go. I leave the dangerous work to my husband. :)

5. Do you think kids should attend year-round school? I've only ever been in schools with summer breaks, so I'm gonna go with no. I think kids (and teachers!) really look forward to their summers as a nice, long break so I would hate to see that go.

This Week in Fitness

Monday 6/6: Rest Day

Tuesday 6/7: 3 hour hike in the Sedona Red Rocks (AMAZING!! See photos below)

Wednesday 6/8: Rest/Travel Day (end of vacation...sad face)

Thursday 6/9: Jackie's X-Treme Timesaver Training + 5-4-3-2-1 Treadmill Workout (5 minute warmup walk--5 min jog/run--2 min walk--4 min jog/run--2 min walk--3 min jog/run--2 min walk--2 min jog/run--2 min walk--1 min jog/run--3 min cooldown walk)

Friday 6/10: 1 mile jog + 4 mile walk

Saturday 6/11: 20 Minute Sweat + Jackie's 1-on-1 Core (both from Exercise OnDemand)

Sunday 6/12: Treadmill Workout that went like this: 5 minute warm-up walk, 8 minute jog, 4 minute walk, 6 minute jog, 3 minute walk, 4 minute jog, 2 minute walk, 2 minute jog, 5 minute cool-down walk

I'm feeling a bit down about my fitness this week because it appears as though my running endurance has suffered a LOT from my 2 week hiatus. Between the sickness and the vacation, I just kind of let things slide for a while and it is totally coming back to bite me.

On Friday, as you can see, I attempted a jog but was seriously suffering after 1 mile. ONE MILE! Are you kidding me?! So I stopped and walked it out the rest of the way, getting angrier with every step.

Needless to say, 10K training has been put on the back burner until I can get my endurance up to 5K standards again. I'm hoping it'll come back quickly, because I feel like I worked way too hard to get to this point for it to all disappear after only 2 weeks.

On a totally different note, my favorite part of this week was definitely the amazing hike we took in Sedona, AZ. Sedona is known for having beautiful red rock formations and mild weather. It is seriously God's Country and there are breathtaking views everywhere you look. We had the BEST time and would definitely recommend Sedona as a vacation spot to anyone. It will be well worth it!

Here are some photos of our hike for your viewing pleasure!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #44

1. When you vacation, what type of vacation do you like to take (beach, historic, adventurous, food oriented, etc.)? I like to seriously relax when I'm on vacation, so for that reason I love beach vacations. I don't really enjoy sightseeing or museums all that much, unfortunately. The funny thing is that although I love beaches, I shy away from the sun a lot due to my extremely fair skin that burns easily. So usually you can find me under an umbrella, slathered up with SPF 85, and reading a book or napping. And ALL of our vacations revolve around food. I'm a total foodie (obviously you know that if you read this blog) so I live for eating and drinking on vacation.

2. What is your best memory associate with a song? I associate a lot of songs with a lot of great memories. Obviously the most prominent one is the song that Alex and I danced to at our wedding: "Feels Like Home" by Chantal Kreviazuk. I love the words in that song and I'm surprised more people don't know it. Beyonce's "Single Ladies" always will bring back memories of deployment since it came out around that time and my girlfriends and I would always dance and sing along to it (even though we were only geographically single at the time).

3. If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with your time? I would probably go live somewhere tropical where they also speak Spanish like Costa Rica or Dominican Republic. I would live in some amazing vacation rental for 6 months, explore, eat and most important of all, practice my Spanish.

4. What is one thing that people do NOT typically notice about you that you wish they would? Uhhh this is a weird question. I have no idea what people normally notice about me, aside from my staggering beauty of course. ;-)

5. It's a summer of sequels, and if you had to live in one of each of the following worlds (3 total) which would it be and why?
- X-Men: Be a mutant, what would your power be? Invisibility.
- Harry Potter: Be a witch or a muggle? Witch, I guess. I don't really get into HP so I don't even really know what a muggle is exactly.
- Twilight: Be a vampire or a werewolf? Werewolf, because they are still alive and warm instead of dead and cold. Also because they don't have to kill people to survive.

This Week in Fitness

Sorry this is so late this week! We spent the past week in Tucson and Sedona vacationing with family and friends. It was so so so much fun, but I definitely didn't keep up with working out and eating right as much as I normally do. I was really ready to get back home so I could finally get back on my healthy eating and working out routine!

Monday 5/30: Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

Tuesday 5/31: Walked 2.4 miles (attempted to run but was still too sick/congested, so I just walked)

Wednesday 6/1: Rest Day

Thursday 6/2: Rest Day (beginning of vacation)

Friday 6/3: Interval Treadmill Workout in the hotel gym that went like this: 5 minute warm-up walk--jog 10 minutes--walk 5 minutes--jog 8 minutes--walk 4 minutes--jog 6 minutes--walk 3 minutes--jog 4 minutes--walk 2 minutes--jog 2 minutes--walk 5 minutes (cool down)

Saturday 6/4: Bootcamp Class at the hotel -- I loved that our hotel offered this class! It was an outdoor class that involved lots of pushups, lunges, squats, and jogging from place to place. It was a great change of pace from my normal routine and the next day my arms were SO SORE.

Sunday 6/5: Rest Day (unless you consider laying by the pool to be a workout)

This Week in Fitness

First, let me say that this week was a little weird because A) I am still recovering from my injury, B) I came down with a cold halfway through the week, and C) Alex's parents and sister came in town on Thursday to visit us for the long weekend. All things considered, I'm happy with my overall accomplishments this week though! It could have been a lot worse. :)

Monday 5/23: 4-Week Fat Blaster Workout (Weeks 1 & 2, Monday) including the cardio interval workout

Tuesday 5/24: Jackie Warner X-treme Timesaver Training (see review below)

Wednesday 5/25: 5.6 mile run/walk. (It went something like this: run 1.5 miles, walk .5 mile, run 1 mile, walk .5 mile, run 1 mile, walk the rest of the way home (about a mile). I really tried to take it easy and stop running as soon as I felt my ankle/foot start hurting. I was also dealing with feeling like I was coming down with a cold, so that was another reason not to push it too hard.)

Thursday 5/26: Sick/Rest Day

Friday 5/27: 4 mile run/walk with my sis-in-law (Hi, Andrea!!) who was visiting (I was sick with a cold and she was adjusting to the high altitude so we just took it easy. We ran the first mile, walked half a mile, ran half a mile, and then walked the rest.)

Saturday 5/28: Sick/Rest Day

Sunday 5/29: Sick/Rest Day

Fitness DVD Review of the Week: Personal Training with Jackie: X-treme Timesaver Training

So I ordered a couple of new workout DVD's from Amazon last week. One of them was the Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD, which I had done via Exercise OnDemand a couple of times and LOVED. Unfortunately, it's no longer available on EOD so I broke down and ordered it because I like it so much. For only $7.99, I figured it was worth it!

I also ended up impulse purchasing another one of Jackie's DVDs, X-treme Timesaver Training. I had never tried this one before, but since I loved Jackie's other DVD so much I was hoping for the best.

X-treme Timesaver Training is only 30 minutes, as opposed to the almost hour-long Power Circuit Training. Jackie has you do compound movements that combine many different muscles for 1 minute each.

It. Was. Tough.

This DVD is definitely not for beginners! I was using 3-pound dumbbells the whole time (for reference, I usually use 5-8 lbs on most DVDs) and still dying. Plus, a lot of the moves are extra challenging since they combine several different things at once. It requires a lot of balance and concentration!

I liked that there were no repeat circuits of moves during this workout. A lot of times I get really discouraged when I'm doing a move that I hate and I know I'm going to have to do another round of it again before I'm done. This workout solves that problem by just having you push your hardest through one solid minute of each move, and then you move on!

That being said, some of the moves do incorporate the same things but in different ways. For example, this workout has a TON of lunges but she incorporates the lunges into different compound movements and combinations. It burrrrrrned! But if it gets me a killer butt, then it's worth it! :)

Overall, I really like this DVD and would recommend to anyone at around an intermediate to advanced fitness level as a great strength training workout!

This Week in Fitness

Monday 5/16: Ran 5 miles

Tuesday 5/17: Walked 3.3 miles (took about an hour) + 21 Day Total Body Makeover Workout (I went through all the exercises only one time)

Wednesday 5/18: Ran 3 miles + Leg Slimmer and Toner (from Exercise OnDemand) + Total Body Pilates (from Exercise OnDemand)

Thursday 5/19: Less is More Cardio (from Exercise OnDemand) + Bikini Body Workout (from Exercise OnDemand)

Friday 5/20: Walked 3.5 miles (in 55 minutes) + 30 Day Shred Level 2

Saturday 5/21: Rest Day

Sunday 5/22: Ran 3 miles

I officially started training for a 10K last week, but forgot to mention it. I created a training plan through Smart Coach. It was super easy to do and very customizable based on your level/goals/etc. You input things like your current race time, goal race distance, race date, and so on and it automatically comes up with a plan for you.

I don't actually have a 10K planned, so I arbitrarily set my training end date for June 26th because I felt like that was enough time. I searched around for 10K's in my area and there are NONE in June/July so it seems I'm out of luck for now. But the self-satisfaction of being able to get out there and run a 10K should be enough for now. :)

Here's a look at my training schedule (sorry it's small print):

Unfortunately, my training plan has already had a bit of a setback due to an injury that flared up this week. After seeing a doctor and doing some research on my own, it appears I'm dealing with Posterior Tibial Tendonitis in my right foot/ankle. It's a tendonitis that flares up whenever I go for runs now and the cause is usually some sort of overpronation (or running on the insides of your feet instead of the middle).

I obviously don't want to stop running completely right now, so I'm trying to treat it as best I can while still staying as close as possible to my training plan. A couple things I'm doing to help treat it are:

-Icing the area a few times a day

-Not pushing myself too hard if it starts to hurt. On the day I ran 5 miles, I actually had to stop and walk for about 3 minutes in the middle because my ankle was flaring up pretty badly.

-Getting professionally fitted for running shoes. I was wearing a minimalist style shoe (Nike Free Runs) and I had a feeling that lack of support could be contributing to my pain. So this weekend I went to Tucson and got fitted for running shoes. The employee suspects I am dealing with several issues that are causing the pain (overpronation, flat feet/fallen arches, one foot a size larger than the other, one leg longer than the other, inverted knees, etc.). It was a little discouraging to to hear all those factors that are working against me, but I'm hoping that by taking the appropriate measures I can still keep up with running. Anyway, I ended up purchasing a pair of Brooks Ravenna 2's and the employee also suggested using orthotic inserts for extra support. I was a little shell-shocked at the price of the shoes + inserts, so I just went with the shoes for now. I may go back and purchase the inserts later if I feel like I need them. I went for my first 3 mile run yesterday with the new shoes, and they felt good BUT the tendonitis still flared up. :(

So that's what I'm up against right now. It's a big bummer for me because I felt like I was finally hitting my running stride, so to speak. We'll see how things unfold over the next couple of weeks.

Have you ever dealt with a fitness-related injury before? I'd love to hear any tips for how you recovered!