Wednesday, January 24, 2007

What a doofus I am

Thanks so much for all the comments you left yesterday. I loved reading them and then forgot to approve them for publishing!

Duh.

I turned off comment moderation a few days ago, but then some autospammer from Korea started commenting – in Korean! – on an old post. I hate when I can't understand comment spam. Not! It's more annoying than anything else, but after the third one I decided to start moderating again. That nice Blogger Dashboard kindly reminded me that I needed to take care of some business. Heh.

So here I am, thanking you for your thoughtfulness and replying.

Jonathan, I wouldn't feel nearly as bad about only losing an eighth of a pound a week for the past eight weeks if I hadn't gained eight pounds from September through November, due to the plantar fasciitis. Also, I haven't been able to run outside for several days now, and I know that's ... ahem ... weighing on my emotional state.

The reason it's called a secret project, Vickie, is because, um, it's a secret. I'll reveal it, eventually. It's really pretty, so far, and it's not a sleeping bag. Good guess, though!

Lori, you sound like a photo pro with all that talk about reflected light. Do you give lessons? Actually I've found a couple websites here and here that do have some pretty good D-SLR lesson plans.

If I'd planned my race for a year from now, as M@rla has, I would put off the training until the last month, probably. She is far more disciplined with her workouts than I am! Can we say "procrastinator?" I've often read – we all have, probably – that you should make appointments for exercise just like you do for haircuts and oil changes. But without that race date looming at the end of April, I'd be rescheduling at least a few of these appointments! Why do today what I can put off until tomorrow? Of course, that exercise philosophy is a large part of the reason my ass is as large as it is. Heh.

I knew someone would challenge me on the sleep-inducing qualities of Harry Potter. I don't really use reading Order of the Phoenix as a sleep aid, PICAdrienne, but I knew that if I started reading I would get caught up in the story and be able to quit thinking of the things that keep me awake when most everyone else is sleeping. I've had some satellite television "issues" which are not good for my serenity and peace of mind.

Kit wants suggestions for handling hunger pangs at night. I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help, but if any of you have ideas, please jump in. You see, I've probably not been hungry since I was in junior high school. I rarely eat because I'm hungry; I'm more of a clock-eater, consuming meals at set times throughout the day in order to prevent hunger. And I've bought into the idea that you shouldn't be hungry only a couple hours following a reasonably satisfying meal. My recently acquired – and abandoned! – evening snack habit was more of a boredom issue than a hunger issue.

And that's something you might want to take a look at, Kit. If you're really hungry, eat more protein for dinner. If you're tired or bored or anything other than hungry, but just want to snack, find something else to do. You know all the suggestions … take a bath, write a letter, make a phone call, blahblahblah. They all work, once in a while. I tend to discount these ideas, thinking I should be above tricking myself into not eating.

Who the hell do I think I am?

Finally, to Grumpy Chair: You go, girl! That little bit of incline on the treadmill is actually more comfortable for my calves than walking on the flat surface which, on my model, is about 1.5 degrees. I'm all for doing anything that will make me hurt less after an hour on the treadmill!

Yesterday's five-mile tempo run seemed harder than the seven miles I did last Saturday. The pace was about the same, actually, so maybe I was just having an off day. The business-card-sized quote I posted in December is taped on the book-reader thingamabob on the treadmill, and I have to say it's actually helpful. Am I tough enough?

So far I am.

Ninety-four days until race day.

4 comments:

Lori G. said...

Oh, no, I'm not a pro at all. I'm so flattered. I'd gladly give up my lessons at the gym or charge a big hunk of money for a really good digital photography class. I mean, I take pictures with my dopey little camera on the steering wheel, click, click, click. I'm going to click on those sites (I don't have a D-SLR but it probably will give me some good tips).

Kit, I bought a swimsuit last December (2005) from Lands End and I got what I thought would be a suit that would fit. I gambled that their suits fitted small. That one didn't. They have online representatives who can give you the heads up on an outfit. Also, if you're cheap, ahem, I mean frugal, you can go to ebay. There's also an online Speedo store that Jen referred me to that has discounts. I got a bunch of Speedos for $14 each at Gabriel Brothers (usually found in Penn., WV, VA, and the northeast). (And there's a sentence I never thought I'd write..)

I think your pace was just an off day or maybe it was windy out there. (Does that affect your speed?)

denise said...

On the night time eating thing, I saw an Oprah show a year or so ago where she hypothesized that when you feel those hunger pangs at night it was your body's way of saying "If you don't feed me, I'm going to go to your @ss and take what I need." Of course, that's exactly what we're all hoping our body will do, so if you can remember that not feeding your body will force it to your fat stores for energy, then it makes it easier not to eat...or so goes the theory.

As Debbi mentioned, sometimes it's hard to "trick" yourself with all these little methods. It's like people who set their watches and clocks 5-10 min ahead so they're not late - I mean how can they not remember that the clock isn't right! That would never work for me.

If my mind is set on snacking, sometimes...and lately all of the time...I just can't stop myself from giving in! ...SIGH :-(

But I have to say on the days I remember the "go to my @ss and get what you need" thing, it can be quite effective! :-)

mehitabel said...

I loved the ice picture! Didn't think it was bad at all. On the nighttime hunger, I've been "cured" of that by a couple of really bad acid-reflux attacks (hiatal hernia). I don't recommend the method! But I can't eat for a couple of hours before bedtime. And, I read too--Harry Potter is always good, I'm now reading the first book in French to get me back in practice.
Kudos on keeping up the training! I know it's a lot of work, but you will be so happy you did it when it's time to run that race! Sure wish I could come out and cheer you on... it's just a bit too long a drive!

Jennette Fulda said...

I HATE spammers. I checked my blog stats recently and for every 1 legitimate comment I get I get 4 spam comments. The recent ones are really drepressing too because they're from someone talking about how glum they are how they haven't been doing anything lately. I want to tell them "The reason you are depressed is because you are a bottom-feeding spammer. Get a new job and you'll feel better."

Never gotten any in Korean though, so you've got me beat there.