katestine | Entries tagged with weights

Back in May, I decided to start getting my life in order: every month, I would focus on building one good habit. In June, it was bedtime: my goal was to brush my teeth by 9:30pm every night, because once my teeth are brushed, I'm on my way to bed. It's been honored more in the breach, but just setting a goal has gotten me to bed more regularly. Three months later - and after the school year forced me to get up at 6:15 2-3 times a week - it seems to have gotten me into a very regular sleep cycle, as long as I read the right stuff at bedtime.

At the end of June, I started working on diet, which was to be July's goal. I was disgusted by my not-very-successful attempt to climb in mid-June; the baby had been out as long as he'd been in and I was still 20 lbs overweight. Moreover, my weight was starting to creep up, which was absurd. I read Jorge Cruise's The 100 and Mark Sisson's Primal Blueprint Cookbook for ideas on how to cut carbs and eat more in line with how I know my body prefers. ( Read more... ) I lost 5 lbs in the first week - based on prior experiments with low carb, I'm taking that to mean I carry 5 lbs of water when I'm not eating lower carb - and hit 10 lbs down within 2 months, although I hovered in that area all through September thanks to too much time with my parents (who don't support my diet and also have delicious mushu shrimp). The Sisson book was rather less helpful: I believe grassfed beef is better than cornfed, but I can't be arsed to make my own mayo or make the substitutions in the book. oh well.

August was getting my workouts back on track. I'd been working out at home for months at that point and I think those workouts were pretty good: swings, goblet squats, and rows with a 25lb kettlebell, lots of Romanian deadlifts, yoga workshops when I could get Jon to watch the baby. They would have been a lot better though if I'd read Dan John on fat loss or even Fat Loss Happens on Monday, his "collaboration" with Josh Hillis. ( Read more... )

Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Body is a more scientific, less hand-holding book that covers a lot of the same material as Cruise and Hillis. He's got a lot of good stuff in there, but it's a hodgepodge of stuff he tried that worked when he did it instead of a plan. He quotes everyone from NFL combine consultants to Nina Hartley. My favorite statistician hates that book bc n=1, but I'm much more likely to re-read his book than Hillis'.

I ended up rejoining NYSC, bc the one in my neighborhood is $20/month, with a $10/month charge for unlimited babysitting (and $110 in sunk costs). The babysitting alone makes it worthwhile and makes me wish I'd signed up for it 6 months ago, because there were a lot of days when I would've paid $10 to hand my child to someone and take a shower with unlimited hot water, even if I had to bring my own towel.

I ended up following the Starting Strength program, ( which worked )

September was just a mess, between Jon being gone on a father-son vaca for the first week (so I was in Ct), the start of a new school for Lucky, and the high holidays, so I didn't even try for a habit. I bought 2 more Dan John books, Easy Strength and Can You Go? and followed a plan from the first book of his I read. Unfortunately, I'm also injured: my right hip is just unhappy, with inflammation ranging from my groin to the outside to under the butt cheek, depending on the day. It sucks. I stopped lifting or running, then I stopped yoga, and now I just stopped doing anything but taking the baby places (although I briefly thought babywearing might be the problem), although this morning I did some PT-ish exercises.

I had a conversation with Bbro where he talked about the community aspect of his Crossfit and triathlon practices and I confess I wish I had community for my workouts. I mean, I'd like a coach too, but I disbelieve I could find a local coach I trusted.

Just before this injury became a showstopper, I signed up for ClassPass *facepalm* AISOFB, I love love love the spinning-but-with-treadmills class I took (right as the injury was manifesting) and I'm looking forward to taking parkour, bouldering lessons, aerial hoop, pole, and maybe pilates when I'm better. I'm calling it my own personal CrossFit, because I'm basically demanding that my body constantly be up for any modality of exercise. Did I mention that before the injury, I'd worked up to a 3mi run again and was considering wind sprints on one of the piers?

October's habit was supposed to be job-hunting, but a) that's not going very well at all and b) that's a whole nuther post.

Edit: Apparently I worked on this post for a month, which is good because it needed a proofread and because the first version was a lot more angsty and I've worked through some of the problems I had a month ago, although I wasn't injured then so. The original included a bit about how getting 3 things done used to be my floor for a reasonably productive day; now it's an aspiration and an LJ entry is A Thing.

I'm not really sure how the most interesting book I read in 2012 and one of the few related books I read in 2013 never got LJ reviews, considering how many people I've recommended them to. Apparently the only books I really enjoyed from my 2012 reading were Tierney and Baumeister's Willpower and Dan John's Never Let Go, which is doubly interesting because despite being a bro's guide to getting strong for your sport, the latter has a lot of philosophy that boils down to willpower management. Which makes sense because Dan John was a religion major. I highly recommend Never Let Go if you're post-Crossfit or post-Starting Strength and it's a nice easy read. I should get some more of his books.

But seriously, how did I never write up either hearing Tierney and Baumeister speak in person and then reading their book?? It's completely changed how I view things over the past two years. Short version: willpower is a muscle you can build and exhaust. People who "have a lot of willpower" usually have either trained it (by regular practice of mildly difficult skills like good posture) or conserve it (by reducing the amount of decision making in their lives). It's very related to cope, you can temporarily top it off by having enough blood glucose, and somehow completely indulging will top it for a while. Every chapter highlights a different celebrity and how they represent willpower, from Eric Clapton and addiction, Amanda Palmer and practice to Oprah and food, David Livingstone and discipline. The chapter on children and willpower is totally on my reading list for how to raise good children.

So is David Brooks' response to the tiger mom book. Summary: smart kids need social skills so not allowing play dates so they can practice the piano more is counterproductive. Before some trip, Lbro suggested his The Social Animal, which I read, added to the parenting reading list, and recommended. Because it was over a year ago though, I can't remember why. There's a lot in it about childhood development, bonding, willpower, and a lot of broad ideas from pop psych, told in story format. I didn't think it was the greatest book I'd ever read, but I remember it having value and now I can't remember why, which kinda makes me want to go on a Kindle buying rampage and buy every book I've ever taken a note from. Either that, or write more (timely) LJ entries.

Paul Tough's How Children Succeed was the next most related book I read. Oddly enough, Petite Fromage recommended it as an alternative to Lean In, which it's only barely related to. Tough adds grit to Tierney & Baumeister's willpower. Like The Social Animal - or Outliers ~~or the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series~~ for that matter - it highlights the differences between how upper middle class parents raise and teach their children vs. how poor people do. Modeling good willpower strategies is part of it, but some of it is also putting in the work, every day, and rising up again when you have a setback. It's mostly from the perspective of school systems, but there's a lot for individual parents to think about. I had the opportunity to discuss it with a smart-as-she-is-beautiful statistician who evaluated educational programs at the time, who took issue with the book, partly bc she argues that a lot of those schools that are failing are doing so bc of phys plant issues like no air conditioning in Florida (fair) and partly bc she said it has no application to my family. Considering I bemoan my own personal lack of grit almost as often as I worry about Lucky's, I emphatically disagree with the latter.

And now I've run out of space to write about the books I read this year that continue this theme, so you'll have to wait until next week for the thrilling continuation. Brevity is a skill I still haven't learned.

I wish I knew why I feel so much better today than I did 2 weeks ago: is it crossing into the third trimester, less yoga, the PT exercises, or something else? Obviously, it would be quite helpful to know if anything I did made it better (or worse). *sighs*

And it's quite a big difference: 2 weeks ago I was desperately trying to make it 2.5 weeks without a massage, which is a silver bullet against the lower back pain with bonus numbness, but makes me feel horribly indulgent. Today, I'm wondering if I can make it to November (probably not). I woke up this morning with numbness and tingling, but no charley horses. My tricksy husband bought me 2 massages at my prenatal place, as a Columbus Day present, and pointed out they are paid for, so I =have= to go for them, to do anything else would be a waste. He is so tricksy.

I'm still pregnant though: there's still lower back discomfort and sometimes I have to ask my husband to put his fist between my thighs (so I can pop my sacro-illiac joint back into place). My endurance is down, the strength in my legs rather than my "wind". Last week I had days when I walked 2-2.6 mi (it's at least 0.7mi each way to get to the subway), but I was kaput the next day. I really have to budget my energy: yesterday I did half my 5# dumbbell workout and had to cut some of my errands in order to make it to the subway, although after dinner, I had another spurt of energy and walked from Restaurant Row to Grand Central. I've concluded I shouldn't work out on days when I =must= leave the apt.

I don't like acid reflux or piles and I never could've imagined the things my skin is doing. I miss non-sobriety (although I am enjoying the excuse not to drink when I don't want to). I occasionally lie on my stomach (with a knee out as a tripod) for a minute or two because I miss it so.

I know that the extra weight (20-24 lbs so far) makes my physical condition worse and the refined carbs are destroying my son's (or possibly his child's) insulin sensitivity, but I do like the chocolate or ice cream every day. I can't seem to eat as much meat any more. I still eat any steamed vegetables Jon leaves in the house and should encourage him to make more. (Food tastes better when he makes it.) My new kick is Tasty Bite bags o' food, because they have a lot of fiber and iron and can be heated in 1 min, if I have cooked rice in the house.

I experimented with cutting back my caffeine - for the first two trimesters, I was drinking 2 5oz cups + an afternoon caffeine booster of tea or soda - and found I could sleep until morning. I briefly cut back to just green tea in the morning, but the past few days have been stressful. Maybe I can go to bed earlier tonight and try again tomorrow.

The problem with this post is it keeps growing and changing the longer I don't write it. I almost didn't write it this morning, bc I'm getting more data later today (well, if I make it to the gym on time) so it might be invalid by this afternoon. Rinse and repeat.

I found a really awesome prenatal yoga class. You have to understand, I hate yoga. I once walked out of a class bc I thought, "I have so much stuff to do. I don't have time for this nonsense." I showed up for this yoga class and while it wasn't really what I'd consider exercise, it was great therapy. I started tearing up every time the instructor said, "Put one hand on your heart and one on your baby." All this talk of my baby made him seem more real. (My obstetrician tells me the baby will seem real when he starts kicking.) I liked it so much, I signed up for a 10-class card that expires in 6 weeks when I went to yoga 2 days later. That class wasn't quite as good - part of what made the other class so great is the instructor is a doula, so she'd give specific instructions about what to do (or not) based on the baby's age - but it still helped open my hips etc. (I don't know if my hips are tight all the time because of the chair I'm using in the new apartment or because my loose ligaments are getting floppier due to pregnancy, but I assume it's a little of both, like everything in life.) This class is one of the only things I have found that is better or cheaper in Brooklyn than Manhattan.

Unfortunately, it's crowded out weightlifting. I was trying to fit at least my 15min, at-home kettlebell workout, but there was a week where I went to yoga Tues and Thurs, kettlebells on Weds, and Fri I completely failed to start my workout. I was at the gym, dressed, lying on the mat, and I could barely do the (essentially) hip thrusts I've been doing for multiple years on the advice of my physical therapist. Even without weight, it took massive willpower to get them done. Apparently in my condition, yoga counts as exercise, even though it's mostly organized stretching. This seems like a total rip-off to me.

Now that I'm in my second trimester, I decided to try running again. Prior attempts at running left me with horrible cramps afterward, but I thought maybe now that I was in the second trimester, it would be different. It was an unusually cool night, so I headed along the greenway to the Brooklyn Bridge, figuring I'd run until I couldn't, then come back. I ran a mile, not particularly fast but not horrific, and found myself thinking, "I should stop," so I did. I turned around and started walking home -- when I suddenly got sharp pains in my left hip (i.e. the one connected to my bad ankle). I limped home, periodically stopping to double over from the pain. I came home and announced to my husband and Twitter that I'd run for the last time in 2014. It felt like the same kind of IT band pain I had when I overtrained for my first trip to Rainier, which my PT told me was too much weight on a frame that couldn't support it, that it's an injury that pregnant women get as their body increases in weight and decreases in stability in a short period of time. I had occasional pain/inflammation near my tailbone several times after the run, including one night where I was miserable and could do nothing but go to bed. Ok, no more running.

Yesterday, Jon and I went to the Great Swamp with my ex-boss and his wife for what was originally billed as a hike and turned out to be a walk along the trail to wildlife viewing locations and then a little walk in the woods near a historic site. Jon tells me the longest distance we walked was 0.8mi -- and it was plenty for me. I was a little stiff when we got home and this morning. Ai yah.

On the plus side, I didn't immediately require ice cream afterward, even though it was hot. I've been finding that when it's hot, walking around to do errands is debilitating and I have to go find air conditioning immediately. We live 15-20mins walk from the subway, so I get some activity that way and that walk is usually okay (although a couple of weeks ago it wasn't).

Anyhow, I'm going to try doing my PT exercises at the hour-away gym where I can do almost all of them and hope that works, and finish reading what Exercising Through Pregnancy has to say about you know, in case they have suggestions besides "be fit when you conceive", bc the alternative seems to be just yoga and hope that's enough. ugh.

I don't really have anything to talk about, I just feel chatty.

1) How much does my husband love me? He made me a lamb belly sandwich on potato bread bun with Carolina pepper sauce (to which I added ~~all the~~ relish) even though he didn't want any. aww.

2) My fibroids periodically hurt and lying on my back makes it clear they are getting bigger. ugh. I read a few articles, admittedly by paleo advocates, suggesting carbs are the problem. I really really don't like fibroids, but I'm not sure about giving up ice cream this summer.

3) I worked out at the nearest NYSC for the first time since we moved in. (Usually I go to the ones in Manhattan.) There was a redhead with Pre-Raphaelite hair wearing the exact same Vibrams. Also, 2 different people offered to help me with the 45# plates when I was setting up/pulling apart the bar for deadlifts. I'm getting visibly pregnant, even in baggy t-shirts, but also I'm having more trouble flinging weight around. I was very optimistic when I thought I could get to a 1.5x bodyweight deadlift by my due date: at this point, my revised goal is to maintain a 1x bodyweight deadlift throughout my pregnancy. ugh.

4) I found a waxing place in the neighborhood that is probably worth its high price. I'm trying a new hair salon, bc I wasn't in the mood to take the subway an hour each way to visit my old one. Wish me luck. This is probably not a good idea since I'll be at a wedding, a 60th birthday party, and a hot date this weekend. Also, most of the salons in the neighborhood cost as much as Bumble & Bumble WTF.

5) I was complaining about the nail salon I went to and commenting to Jon I should've gone to the other one on the block when we saw his ex-wife in the other one. That was a close call: I've been avoiding her for the past few weeks so he can break the news to her gently, after her birthday next week. I'd say I live in small village, but actually, Lucky recommended the salon (no, really) and it was the night before she left for a long weekend at the beach, so it's not that surprising.

Have a good Fourth, y'all!

I made an appt with an obstretician mostly based on one post I saw on some baby message board, instead of ( getting blind referrals ) My sister commented after I'd chosen the doctor/hospital, "Oh yeah, Roosevelt is very alternative." You couldn't've told me this before??

My obstretician rocks. He took a really complete history, asking about how expected the baby was (and teasing me that it only takes one time). When I told him about my gynecological history, he said, "That's it?" I think that's quite enough, but his attitude was, if I got knocked up that fast, everything's working right. He explained that pregnancy tests more frequently have false negatives, not false positives, and how the two lines work. When comparing my online calculator due date with the baby length (2.47cm FTW!) due date, he explained that bc my period is 31-32 days (instead of 28), the online calculator doesn't take into account that I was likely ovulating 3 days later, so the baby is actually due on New Year's Day. *bangs head on desk* ( inappropriate )

( doctor's advice )

I'd post pictures of the sonogram, except it looks like every picture you've seen on Facebook or in the movies, with a wedge shape containing a kidney bean, containing another kidney bean. The weird part for me was realizing, "Whoa, that's inside me!" and having the doctor point out the kid's beating heart. There's an entity with an independent heartbeat (170bpm!) living inside me. Makes me feel superguilty about eating buttered popcorn last night. I'm willing to swear up and down that zie waved at me, even if it was probably an involuntary twitch of the umbilical cord.

There's an umbilical cord INSIDE me. whoa.

Jon and the doctor geeked out about the blood test the doc wants to do, that will check for Down syndrome AND GENDER. They can see the baby's X and Y chromosomes in my blood!!! AIEEEEEE!!! Science is so cool. The doc said this test has been available commercially only 1.5 years -- in other words, it's younger than my niece. So much whoa.

I ran into one of my sorority sisters in the waiting room, confirming my impression that the doc is a good one for nerds. Then we went to Brooklyn Diner to celebrate with the best frickin' reuben I've ever had and delish noodle kugel. Then I hit the gym for a workout that felt amazing. The numbers were roughly the same as my last workout, but somehow I feel like a Fit-American again.

I'm still boggling at how the little alien has taken over my brain. Most alcoholic beverages don't even look like food any more, I'm eating paleo better than I ever did to fit in a dress, and there's no trainer that could keep a closer eye on my workouts, keeping them at just a high enough intensity. It's really nice having a medical professional tell me everything is going to be okay.

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: (Lego Movie) "Everything is AWESOME"

Good, quality time with my father's family over the weekend. It's been >5 years since I saw all of them in one room and I'm glad we had a big party for my cousin-who-is-in-terrible-health's 70th birthday. I found new depths in several of them and I WILL see more of some of them.
A great workout with my sister, where I heard about what's up with her and shared some of my thinking. She also said I look better than I did two weeks ago, which is something.
Going in the bouncy castle with my niece and watching her get comfortable with it.
Going on a nature walk with my stepson, convincing his dad into vaulting over a log, and crabs afterwards. I wonder if knowing how to eat boiled crab is more common for Philadelphians vs eating lobster for Connecticut Yankees.
My first visit to Red Hook Fairway, which is SO AWESOME. They sell corn nuts and low-sugar papaya in the bulk section, $10 lobster rolls, cold brew coffee concentrate, and house brand fig & saba ice cream.
Going to bed basically on time. The baby likes it when mommy (zomgthat'sme!) goes to bed on time, so I do almost every night. It kinda messed with me last night though that I didn't immediately fall asleep: I'd forgotten that it's supposed to take a while, if you're not sleep deprived.
The baby also like salads and salted-but-otherwise-plain avocado. Yum!
Finding the right article and two books about pregnancy (Emily Oster's book and Exercising Through Your Pregnancy) that helps me understand the process and appreciate it. The big revelation for me was that pregnancy isn't linear: things that suck now probably aren't going to continue getting worse for the next 8 months and some of them may even get much better.
Well, except fitting in my clothes. Which isn't even really true: the pants I bought pre-cruise (i.e. after I'd conceived but before I knew I was pregnant) are more loose today than they were the day I bought them. Oh, and while I was buying them, I discovered Old Navy has really cute maternity clothes, which I'd been admiring and wishing I could buy. AHAHAHA!
People contacting me about jobs that actually sound fun, because I networked months ago. It's been hard to have faith that lightning might strike, after all the false starts.
My handsome husband making me the delicious breakfast sandwich I've been craving all weekend. (He'd've done it anyhow, but food "for the baby" works even better than "for the bride".)
My handsome husband noticing the fridge wasn't working and getting it fixed, while I was busy flirting with a hot chick online. um.
My handsome husband taking responsibility for getting my dining table fixed.

As I wrote the title, I realized I never discussed my Living Social-fueled classes at NYPD. ( pole dancing ) They have all sorts of class options that tickle my inner pricing dork and watching the instructors is often worth the price of admission, but Julian thinks I don't have a month or two to obsess about learning how to wiggle my butt sexily so.

I'm in the middle of a month's membership (via Living Social as well) to Crunch. It's almost as fun as I expected. I described it the other day as David Barton Gym for women. ( I go there for the classes )

Last weekend, I went to Julian's on Friday night for meatball subs and rum. Sat morning, he filled out the unemployment paperwork that was stressing me out and took me to Short Hills mall to hunt for an interview suit. The gals at Corporette lurv Nordstrom, but nothing they had was stylish -- or fit. I tried on Ted Baker, Tom Ford, and Giorgio Armani at Neiman Marcus, with only somewhat better results. I think my shoulders are now past the normal range. I'm particularly bummed about Ted Baker not fitting, as the price and style were perfect. I have no idea where I'm going to find an appropriate suit.

Sat night, I got a call from GMac saying he was too sick to run the race he'd talked me into running in the boonies of NJ, aka the point of the weekend. I've flaked on him enough in the past that I can't really get mad, but still. Ultimately, Julian and I decided to get up at DST-adjusted 6am to drive to Highland Park for the race. I thought I was well-trained - I've only been running twice a week, but one of those was always a long-run, the last of which was 10mi - and I was tapered, so I thought I should be able to break 2hrs, considering I'm trying to break 2hrs on a half marathon this year. I'm not sure if I went out too fast - my first (gun time) 5K was 29:11 - or if I wasn't well-rested (sleep-wise), but my third and fourth 5K were just under 33min a piece. *sighs* Fortunately I eked out just enough of a win over Julian's 5K time to not eat dinner from a bowl on the floor (although now I'm dying to know what he was going to make me). The best part of the day was our adorable, new, lavender hats and playing Clue and eating pizza with his kid.

Bbro got into Crossfit, thanks to the 4-hr body, and is nagging me to join him. I will, but I'm worried that I'll just annoyed one day that someone is making me do unpleasant things. I feel like I've lost fitness over the past few months, even when I was doing my "things I hate" workouts. I have no idea where to go from here, although I bet Julian would tell me it's okay to not work out if I'm job hunting. I just wish I was getting enough traction to make getting fat worth it.

I wasted a lot of time in the preceding two weeks trying to get out of town for MLK weekend: it's been 5 years since I =didn't= go to NH for ice climbing and Mt. Washington that weekend. In the end, I probably got enough social-time, if not enough adventures.

Friday morning, I finished up my networking profile for its debut at Restaurant Week lunch with OperaBoss. The lunch was good: Esca remains one of my fave picks for RW because the price is lower than their usual and they include signature dishes in the RW menu. ( what I ate ) OperaBoss wanted to see Silver Linings Playbook and I'd blocked off the afternoon for being drunk, so we went. (I was not drunk.) The movie was tough at times and I desperately wanted to check my watch, but in the end, I agree with every good thing I've heard about the movie: it really is a love story for our times.

I'd changed into my pjs and was set for a quiet night in when I got a text from a sorority sister asking if I was up for happy hour in my neighborhood. She and I accidentally got back in touch 5-6 years ago and I'd randomly invited her to my party: we talked about her post b-school adventures and it should be interesting to see where life takes each of us.

Saturday was supposed to be a glorious full day of tidying so the cleaning lady could clean; while I did spend some time distracted by an Amazon sale, I have no fargin' clue where the rest of the day went. oops. By Sunday morning, I managed to open a pile of mail and get enough of the surfaces cleared for things to be thoroughly cleaned post-party. There was more than one task that I told the nice lady, "Don't worry about that, I'll take care of it" where she ignored me, asked how I wanted it done, and did it. I don't pay her enough.

My parents were in town for some G&S, so I had brunch with Bbro and his gf. We mostly talked about CrossFit (he tried it for the first time that morning) and Disney (he's going the same weekend as DOWF and can't understand why I won't cancel a trip to DC to go with him).

By the time I got dressed and tried to go for a run that night, Jon arrived, and wanted to go running too, which is good bc it was full dark by the time I got home and we were accosted by a EDP. *sighs*

Monday we had dim sum with Buzz Lightyear in Chinatown. Jon headed home. I'd planned to go home to prep for Tuesday's interview, but couldn't turn down a chance to see the Intrepid with a former Navy guy. Definitely more interesting than if I'd gone with OperaBoss. In the end, Tuesday's interview was a walkover, but that's whole 'nuther story.

In a recent conversation with Julian, I realized that most of my hobbies end with a bang. I stopped diving after completing a gainer in competition, one that my teammates knew I planned to punt bc I was freaked out from hitting the board the last time I'd done one. I stopped riding after galloping an Andalucian on a beach and spending a week riding Andalucians trained by a disciple of the school at Jerez. I stopped aerial after posting a bunch of kickass videos to Facebook -- and reaching a level where I'd have to start performing to get better. I've stopped mountaineering after bagging a Himalayan peak; I've stopped rock climbing after leading 5.5-5.6; and I've stopped ice climbing after my last two, internationally-accredited guides got hurt setting climbs for me. Not to mention the fact that I can't think of anything I could do that would increase how kickass I sound about ice climbing without dramatically increasing my danger level. Julian has been trying to convince me for months that it is okay to pluck the low-hanging fruit from each of my hobbies and move on, and I'm sort of okay with it now.

I'm really tired of running. I started my taper last week and I had some phenomenal runs in training for this marathon. I'm also horribly disappointed with what I read -- 4 out of the last 5 audiobooks I finished kinda sucked and flipping through what I've bought on Audible and The Teaching Company, I've realized they don't really fit my current research interests. I don't really care about daily life in ancient Egypt or why Confucius and the Buddha appeared at roughly the same time. Whether I finish the Marine Corps Marathon or not, I don't see myself giving it a retry, leaving the Disney marathon the only one on my bucket list. I'd still like to do the Las Vegas half-marathon, and maybe the Philly and Brooklyn ones, if I end up moving to the latter. Originally I thought 2013 would be the year I run more half-marathons, possibly even trying for all 5 of the NYC boro halfs, but then I remembered the Manhattan half is crowded and sucks.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself after I've recovered from the marathon either. I've completed most of the quests on Fitocracy and I've hit intermediate/advanced on all the powerlifts. My motivation for weightlifting was primarily to get better for climbing. After 8 months of being unemployed - and realizing how awful winter sports are for my partners - I'm pretty sure I won't be ice climbing, mountaineering, or skiing this season. Unless it's unseasonably warm, I dunno how I'm going to get fresh air this winter.

Also, it would probably help if I slept at all before heading to Chamonix in the morning.

Current Location: Switzerland, Biel

The emergent themes of the weekend were navigation failure and decision fatigue. Bc my roofdeck is closed and boats on the river were overpriced, our sole July Fourth activity was a barbecue at Lbro's place, hosted by Bbro for his friends, what with Lbro being in Switzerland and all. I'm glad we went bc not only does my brother not know how to work our brother's stereo, he's never grilled in his life. So basically my boyfriend spent Independence Day chained to a grill, cooking for people he'd just met, most of whom turned out to be baby lawyers. Then we went home and did laundry together and he was still cracking jokes. Most. Long-suffering. Boyfriend. Evuh!

Thurs we spent so much time discussing what we might do, we only managed to go to the gym. We were going to go kayaking in the evening, but I discovered I was too tired and felt light-headed, so we punted and had dinner with my parents and sister instead. When my mum first told me we were having dinner at Lincoln, I assumed it was some mediocre American restaurant. Well, it's an American restaurant - an extraordinarily elegant one in Lincoln Center. oops. I loved the drinks and our appetizer, but mostly I loved our bartender and server.

We came home too sleepy & drunk to pack, so Fri morning was rough and we turned up 1.5hrs late for our free day of guided climbing. When guides need (re)certification, they need practice clients and NRod is such a good customer of this guiding company, they invited her and us for a day of top-roping at the Gunks. It started slow, but Pongo got to follow a guide up Bunny (**) including a 5.6 roof, and NRod and I worked on the 5.10a roof, Shit or Go Blind. Eventually one of the guides put in some directionals so we could figure out the 5.8 roof instead.

It was nice not having to rush back to the city: we shared beers with NRod at her bucolic house before some shopping and then dinner at the Gilded Otter. Note to self: their black & blue, a combination of cream stout and blueberry lager, tastes delish. I =have= to get back there before it rotates off the menu.

( musings on adventures )

The drive back to NYC was pretty countryside and we got Boston Market on the way home. We dashed out some push-ups, mostly for entertainment purposes. I was mucking about on Fitocracy when Pongo got dressed to go to his gym and threatened dire things if I was on the couch when he got back. What could I do but go to the Park? I had 4.5mi left to run this week, so I ran up to the Great Hill Oval, ran 2 sprints (in 7 and 8mins booyah!), and got lost trying to get home again. oops. When I walked in the door, Pongo said, "I don't want to exercise any more." We showered and collapsed in bed, not emerging until 10 the next morning.

The city might've been empty, but my sister couldn't get brunch reservations for my mum's birthday, so we went for dim sum. Pongo won big points for trying every weird thing we put in front of him and I learned that disliking cauliflower is an old Jewish guy thing. Bbro jokingly invited us back to his apt and was alarmed when we went. Turns out my mother considers mani-pedis quality time, even when we don't talk to each other. w00h00! We hit Shake Shack for a quick snack before heading to kayaking.

Kayaking Week got off to a slow start: while I'm not convinced the sit on top kayaks were that much less maneuverable than the decked ones, my arms got sore quickly and paddling against the current was hard. The guide didn't seem interested in improving our form, even though it was just Evil English, Pongo, and myself. I did like bouncing the front of my kayak on the waves though and I can't wait for whitewater. Afterward, the three of us headed off to a most agreeable meal at Tia Pol. The waitress accidentally brought us a bottle of rioja that's older than I am, which almost makes this morning's hangover worthwhile.

I went to the gyno on Thurs for my post-procedure follow-up. Good: She said she's pretty sure she got all the rebellious cells; I don't have to see her again until December; and she LOL'd when I said my boyfriend is very interested in the timelne. Bad: It's going to be a full 3 weeks before I can resume *ahem* as I am not actually Wolverine. Ah well.

To celebrate, Julian took me for birthday lunch at the Palm. The most exciting part of my senior prom was the table-side shelled lobster at The Water Club and the Palm does it too. Not only that, but he picked delicious accompaniments and wine. I totally need to be on his good side whenever he has a birthday.

Then I went to the gym and alternated box jumps with pushups. I've gotten much better at the former than the latter *pout* I was so cranky pants, I did the deadlift quest on Fitocracy and racked up another achievement, the 1.4x bw deadlift. w00t. While doing some of my back exercises, an old dude chatted me up argh.

Pongo was already at Marie's Crisis when I got there, but he wasn't making out with guys or ANYTHING. It was kind of a weird night: Jim, who flirted with Pongo last time we were there, was playing. He generally plays more obscure stuff. The bar was empty though and stayed fairly empty and the energy was so low, he asked Pongo and I if we were on a first date. Still, a night with show tunes is better than a quiet night so.

...well, it would also have been nice if I hadn't had to get up at 5:30. Or if there hadn't been thunder and lightning just before that. I was so sure we'd be rained out of climbing, but the cliffs were completely dry. ( Andrew, Airy Aria, Carbs & Caffeine, and Casa Emilio w/GMac )

When we'd been unloading the car in the morning, I made the mistake of commenting, "Wow, my bag feels empty." I'd been worrying I forgot something, but GMac decided to hand me an extra 50' static line, bringing my day pack to roughly 25lbs. As we walked down the "stair master" to the parking lot, I was telling GMac that my goal for the next 4 months is not to twist my ankle. A minute later, BAM! I fell to my knees. I bounced up, saying it was just some scrapes and bruises, but I spent the rest of the weekend babying my ankle and fretting.

I was wrecked by the time I got home at 11:30 that night and I don't think Pongo ever expected to hear me ask if we could turn up the a/c. Sat became a very restful day: Pongo made his magnificent French toast and I had an unexpected siesta after sex. Which meant the tidying I needed to do before the cleaning lady arrived got pushed into Sunday. Fortunately, Pongo has a 7yo so he knows how to cajole the unwilling into doing things, as well as knowing how to cook meals for the helpless. He also has a Sirius XM Radio subscription, so we listened to showtuns all day YAAY! After the cleaning lady arrived, we ran to Tavern on the Green and rented bikes for a loop around the Park, thereby earning Fitocracy quests. We were even almost on time for dinner with J&J at the new Ethiopian place in Pongo's old nabe. Babeland summer sex trivia turned out to be more summer than sex, alas, so my team of ringers came in "honorable mention". Worse, the whole time, I had to restrain myself from checking my iPhone every time I was stumped, bc in the years since my last trivia experience, I've learned this is the appropriate response to not knowing a fact. The four of us hung out at the bar after and then Pongo and I walked back to his place, glad to be together.

I'm eager to ~~gain Fitocracy points~~ be active: I stayed up until 2am last night calculating running training plans (the marathon is barely do-able after 2 months off, but I'm going to give it my best) and looking at river trips and climbing companies.

I'm so wiped out from yesterday's weights session, I think I'm going to have to bag today's workout. I'd planned to run stairs as cross-training - and I have a 5.6mi run planned - but I don't think my body can take either right now :(:(:( Getting off my couch is so hard. On the plus side, I've forgotten I have ribs. Moreover, at my new weight, I'm at the "intermediate" level in the weight standards for squats and deadlifs. (Too bad untrained people are supposed to be able to bench and press what I can. d'oh!)

I was just looking at my last guiding company's blog in preparation for my call this afternoon and I felt physically ill looking at the perfectly nice tents in the snow. I wonder if I could sort my photos from the trip at this point. Julian says I'm full up on adventures after going to the freakin' Himalayas and he's right. I can't understand why I have such a strong reaction: my worst experience with snow was that my feet got wet when we were at base camp and it snowed.

It's going to be hard to earn Fitocracy points when I can't move though.

Current Mood: crappy

I'm having a slightly tough morning bc (a) I didn't get home from dinner with the siblings until 11; (b) I woke up at 5 and didn't go back to bed bc I wanted to run before it got too hot, but then didn't run; (c) I have no coffee bc my coffee pot is scarily dirty and I haven't accumulated enough dishes to run the dishwasher; (d) my split pea soup didn't do well in the freezer; and (e) I just went through a third of the accumulated mail from while I was gone and I'm going to be on the phone with Verizon, my main bank, the insurance company, the COBRA administrators, and a few doctors in the next few days. ugh.

Good things: I made myself a really nice cup of the tea my uncle bought me in HK after we ate in the restaurant. I had a salad topped with duck, foie gras, and sausage, chased by a tea-infused macaroon. Just thinking about that meal makes me hate life less. I have a fridge full of food, including ingredients for two different Madhur Jaffrey recipes that are relatively healthy and full of spices. Also, I'm very excited to get dressed up this evening and have drinks and maybe use my brain. I might get to wear one of my new dresses. Further, I weighed myself this morning and I was under 112lbs; I don't think I've weighed that little since hs. It takes a little of the sting out of yesterday's disastrous weights session. Bad: I'm lifting what was my warmup weight 3 months ago. Worse: I can't take advantage of my abnormally low weight to rack up achievements on Fitocracy. Uh...

But that's not the point of this post. Today I'm going to cheer myself up by talking about all the stuff I watched while I was gone. My mother was confused when I said I was looking forward to the 16hr flight: yes, Cathay Pacific has come up with innovative ways to torture passengers, but they also provide a fully loaded tv so. I'm glad I caught The Muppets on the way over: it was cute and I'd've been sad if I missed it, but it wasn't worth a movie ticket. I was particularly happy to see Amy Adams in another adorable singing role.

More importantly, they had the first 8 episodes of Once Upon A Time, which is basically the tv version of the Fables comics, with Jennifer Morrison (aka the hottie from the first 3 seasons of House). I caught part of one episode once on tv and thought it was stupid, which was disappointing. The show started slow, but I kept watching and now I'm kicking myself I didn't get the box set while I was in China, bc it's not on Netflix and grr, I want to see what happens next.

The women on the trip brought an iPad stocked with prior seasons of How I Met Your Mother and we watched 8 episodes in two days while waiting for the rest of the team to come down from the high camps of Ama Dablam. I still don't get the frame tale: how do they not know their mother's name?? It's basically Friends for this generation, right? But I would totally look up the Wiki article when the show concludes to find out what happened/who their mother is.

However, I was most looking forward to watching Game of Shadows while on the plane: it was playing both ways! and I missed both gay ninja Sherlock Holmes movies while they were in theaters. Then I watched the first 20 mins and had to turn it off before I vomited. It's basically "Robert Downey Jr wants to play an action hero rather than a mecha", isn't it. And horrifyingly awful, even if one ignores that Sherlock Holmes would never act like that.

Instead, inspired by my visit to HK's equivalent to the Walk of Fame, I watched Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. I'd say you know it's going to be an excellent movie when there's a good fight scene in the first 10mins, but see above. There were some slow moments and there was an 11 o'clock Heel-Face-Turn that made absolutely no sense, but still way better than the Holmes reboot.

My aunt and uncle lent me the first two seasons of Downton Abbey and I picked up a copy of Kings, bc the NYPL lost its copy. I find it interesting that both my aunt and her houseguest from America said, "Oh yeah, I saw that, I wanted to watch more/I wondered what happened to that show" about the latter, but it was cancelled in its first season. oh well.

I read more books in the past 7 weeks than in the prior 14, but that's a whole 'nuther (series of) post(s).

Current Mood: tired

I feel a little bad about spamming y'all's LJ friends page with the minutiae of what I did each week, but it's my journal and it's really the only way I'll know where my unemployed time went. Like, flipping through my notes, I have no idea what I did last Monday: I was so horribly tired from hiking 10mi, I couldn't eat, and I know I was trying to find a way to see John Ringo at LunaCon, but I have no idea what I did otherwise. Mid-afternoon, I had coffee w/CaseusUrsine's laid-off minion: that one conversation was more talking than we'd done in the entire time we worked together cumulatively. In comparison, Petite Fromage's lieutenant go running together, so yeah. It wasn't quite as dismal as I expected and it was interesting to hear his/their perspective of common events.

All I know about Tues is my lunch date cancelled, I didn't write my cover letters (even though on the subway to work, Pongo offered to beat me for every day it took me from that day on), but I did read the paperwork for my Himalayan trip. Oh, and I got all sorts of achievements and quests on Fitocracy for trying the Rippetoe B workout with modifications. It's terribly annoying that the limiting factor on my overhead squat is my ability to press the weight :( Especially since it took all my will (and several tries) to press 0.18x my bodyweight in dumbbells. *le sighs*

I know I saw my therapist, had lunch with puppydog, and heard back from my new gyno on Weds, but I don't know what else I did. Doggy is doing very well and seems energized by volunteering in a soup kitchen. My new gyno wants another (hopefully not a) pound of flesh: I know Jane and TWH cheered me up about her and TWH did a lot to make me feel better about my trip. Afterward, I had a bout of reading bulimia and read Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars in one sitting: my brother called during it and after quickly telling him yes, I was available the next day, I told him I was unavailable for dinner bc I was too busy reading. Teehee.

I actually cursed, out loud, when I saw email that the skating rink decided to run adult lessons for an extra two weeks. I don't have time for this! But I'm compelled to go bc hey, it's free. Thurs morning, the ice dancing instructor had us work on chasse crossovers, alternating 3 turns, and spirals.

Then I met WINGMAN at the Met for a gallery talk by a totally Italian chick about their Italian Renaissance Portraiture exhibit. It's closed now, but it was awesome: I can't remember the last time I saw an exhibit at the Met with 6 rooms! I liked the contrast between Florence and Venice although I don't believe her that Venice was more mercantile and conservative. [spoiler]When I had coffee w/my (former) boss a week later, he commented it might be a matter of timing and we got into a great riff about why the Italians were so commercial but never industrialized.[/spoiler] I also liked that they had a room devoted to the Medicis and I still maintain that Piero totally looks like Pongo.

Then I stopped off at the library on my way to my brother's place. I conned my mum into ordering lobster rolls to fortify us before his move. He was only moving 6 blocks and he was moving from a furnished apt, but my dad is old&discouraged, my mum dislocated her shoulder, and my brother filled a 14' truck. He teased me about being strong when I was throwing boxes around, but he sent me the nicest thank you text after.

Friday was almost a 5 Thing day: I Oly-lifted for the first time in over a year; I went to work; and I had two separate primping appointments, one of which included a 2.3mi walk. Eep. My numbers for squats/bench/deadlift aren't bad, but I was still too sore to reach things on the ground on Monday. oops. Kristen gave me the same haircut as usual: it looks pretty when she styles it, and I got a lot of compliments from my cow orkers at Saturday's dinner (ok, most of them said, "You got it styled, didn't you?" bc they aren't used to seeing me with soft waves), but we'll see how it fares under my tender ministrations. I'd noted there was a kinky reading downtown and OperaBoss had a concert a mile from my apt, but instead I watched 2 episodes of Glee, wondering why I'd ever stopped watching.

Despite this, in what is starting to look like a trend, I got up in time to go skatng but didn't have enough cope when the time came. I gave myself permission to have a low-key day, but I still had things to do, like open mail and get a pedicure. Being positive, yes, I took a paper bag full of old papers and made enough space to cook an omelette with the pan Julian bought me. I relaxed and watched another episode of Glee. But I was late getting to the nail salons and had two huffy, nose-cutting incidents that left me frantically fumbling with nail polish in my bathroom when the party started *sighs*

Every year, a particular former cow orker throws an elaborate birthday party. This year, he didn't do assigned seats, so Evil English, K, and I had a table for ourselves and our dates. The mingling was fine, but I'm spoiled when it comes to wine pairings, and I didn't need to go to this party for date night. The best part of the night was the excuse to dress up: discussing with Julian how much cleavage is too much and discovering that Pongo gets a little light-headed when I wear high heels. YAAY!

I woke in time for skating Sunday morning, so I went. I'm so glad I did. ( in which my skating frustrations are validated, if not solved ) I did a bee-yew-tee-full two foot and one foot spin for him. Woohoo! And then it was time to go home and snuggle my bunny.

Sunday was a haze of vigorous sex, delicious homecooked breakfast better than any brunch I've had, and falling asleep in bed. At 4, my lover rolled over and declared he had to get some proper exercise. Some (myself included) would argue he got an awful lot of anaerobic cardio that day already, but he wanted to lift. We dressed and packed our bags for climbing -- only to get there and discover the gym was reset for a bouldering comp. Considering I could barely lift my legs, I wanted a rope for when I got tired. We tried to go to a sports bar, but they weren't even making food for pickup, so we found a fusion restaurant on our way home with a tv. I love that, for all his protests, Pongo is a high energy person who =wants= to do things that are, strictly speaking, exercise. I also think it's awesome having someone who makes a living explaining novel concepts to government employees explain his favorite (spectator) sports to me. Too bad I have no framework to tie his clear explanations to. Then we went home and I ranted about everything upsetting me before falling asleep on him for the eleventy-seventh time all weekend. Poor guy.

I need to be kinder to myself about my new schedule sapping my energy, but it was frustrating to watch Friday turn from a 4-thing day into a 2-thing day. I don't understand why a liquor store would open at 8am and close at 7, but I didn't get out the door in time for the former and the latter... well. Hit the gym for a very satisfying leg weights session: testosterone is so yummy. I'm doing 1L leg press negatives with 150lbs and over Thanksgiving, I impressed my college cousin with a pistol, well, until I fell over trying to do the other leg. ah well. Pongo came home not long after, looking dashing and bearing good news, and we fell asleep in each other's arms.

Under the circumstances, it's a miracle I made it to skating in the morning, but I'm so glad I did. Rusty was teaching again, but this time class was terrible. I couldn't seem to do anything right and Rusty never separated the less capable students, even though that's what ended up happening. I was pretty discouraged, but Sloan said something in the course of things about how sometimes you can get your axel and your double salchow, but not your double loop. Which meant she's a real figure skater. See, what I didn't realize before I signed up for these group lessons is that they only cover "movements in the field": if you want to jump or spin, you have to take private lessons. Which is irritating, but whatever. I was able to finagle Sloan for a private immediately after the lesson and we went back out on the ice. ( I learned a new jump! ) I love how encouraging Sloan is and I now have a lot to work on. I also like that I didn't feel pressured to sign up for lots of lessons, bc I'm not sure how I can fit them in, never mind the cost.

When I got home, Pongo was still abed and when I crawled in with him, kept taking my freezing appendages and sticking them on his warm body. How incredibly selfless, especially since he had to hear me continue to complain about the cold. I don't think I really warmed up until I put on my sweats a few hours later. I got so engrossed in downloading and sorting pics from my Galapagos trip, I barely remembered to eat and then it was time for Saturday night's party. The liquor store closed at 5!!! so I ended up bringing a bottle from my cellar and accidentally turned up too early for the party. It's interesting that our hosts have been throwing these parties so long, the crowd has separated into cliques.

I thought about bringing my laptop so I could sort more photos in the morning, but there was barely enough time to eat Jane & Julian's scrumptious brunch before the women headed off to our makeovers at Short Hills Saks. ( Read more... )

I got home and immediately got to work organizing photos for a calendar I'm making for my mum for ~~Christmas~~ Chanukah. While we were in the Galapagos, she commented that she liked my pictures than the postcards we could buy, bc she likes really large animal heads. I didn't have time to crop the photos as much as I'd've liked, but I'm very pleased with the result. A few things: Julian's remark about "you just need 12 photos" was a perfect example of how he cuts through whatever I'm making myself crazy about with a short statement that non-judgementally helps me getitdone. He's awesome.

Y'know what else is awesome? Lightroom. Thank y'all so much for suggesting it. I wish Lochai had suggested it all those years ago, when he was showing me tone curves, instead of saying, "This is for photo management. You don't need this, just buy Elements." ARGH NO. Reading the Scott Kelby book, I learned how Lightroom is just like iTunes when it comes to organization, so it took me <10 hours to sort almost a thousand pictures down to the 184 most interesting/best. On the one hand, I'm disappointed by how many photos came out so soft - my Lumix takes very fuzzy pictures and let's not even discuss the underwater shots - but Lightroom let me sort out the pictures that were interesting bc of the subject or were technically well done, directly send them to Shutterfly, and proceed from there. This project alone made it worth the $$ and maybe someday I'll learn how to develop photos well enough to make the time worthwhile. I stayed up past midnight but still caught the coupon; better, the calendar should arrive early Christmas week. I'm so amused by the little visual jokes I embedded - May is all baby birds; July is Sally Lightfoot crabs (for Cancer); my Harvard brother's birth month is covered in great and magnificent frigate birds (in scarlet) - that I printed one for myself. I was awfully yawny at work today, but it was worth it.

I will never catch up on sleep if my body sabotages me every time I do get sleep. Sun night I slept a long time, even if it required medication to get me down. Last night, I kept saying "I'm tired" to people with whom I spoke on the phone, so I went to bed when I finished my last call at 9:22. Lay in bed, tired, trying every trick I know, but couldn't fall asleep for a while. Finally I fell asleep - only to wake at 4am. *sighs*

At least I got a box completely emptied and waiting at the front door? Anyone want photo paper or business cards for an inkjet printer?

...only to get a message from my running buddy that she'd gone to bed too late and wasn't sure if she'd be up for morning running. *sighs*

Which is just about the only exercise I'm good for this morning. Is there something about deadlifts? Chad's transcription of Mark Rippetoe says only 1x5 in so-called Rippetoe Beginner A: I always assumed that was a typo, although by that point in the workout, I usually feel so tired and I'm already running so late, I'm willing to warm up the deadlift, do a good set of 5 reps, and get outta there.

Yesterday, I did Outdoor Athlete's D1 workout. ( numbers ) At the time, it didn't feel particularly hard at all and I felt bad that I was deadlifting less than I had 2 weeks ago and zomg I'll never make it up the mountain yada yada. I felt really tired by the time I got to work, like I didn't want to move for a while, which is sort of okay for a day of office work, except then I started feeling too tired to think, which is not so good. I don't get this: I wasn't sore! I ate fruit immediately after and piles of protein throughout the day! Except now I am sore and definitely don't want to think. *sighs* My mum suggested I'm not getting enough rest. *throws crockery*

Current Mood: tired

I just wanted to go to bed Fri night, but instead went to the gym for a PT God workout. I'm still weaker than I expect, but it was fun watching three of the trainers fooling around: they were betting on the old one's ability to press x and the other one is apparently a cardio king and there's something about if the Yankees won this wknd. Fun times. I need to get back in shape enough to bet on it.

I finished a quarter of what I wanted on Sat, which is extra-depressing since half the list was holdovers from last weekend. *sighs* By staying up until 1 (and getting up at 5), I was able to do all my shredding, after going to Staples to buy a new one, along with other filing supplies.

Going through all my health-related records of the past 10 years, I discovered that August after I graduated, I went for a body-composition test at a spa - and they told me to lose 12-20lbs. At the time, I weighed 1-3lbs less than I currently do. (I haven't weighed myself in months, and don't plan to start now.) what the fucking fuck? Granted, at the time I had 34% body fat, but still.

In other wtf news, I also found out I've apparently been seeing my primary care physician once a year, mostly to get diamox and pt prescriptions. And every time he tests my cholesterol and every year it's the same, so consistently that I wonder if his thingee is broken. And yet... there was a year when he told me it was too high and he wanted me to come back for tests. I think not.

In a very last minute sort of way, I ended up seeing RED with a friend. I'm so glad I took StMac's advice to see it. It's very well made, with romance and comedy and guns, car chases, and explosions. I think it'd be a perfect date movie. And afterward, we had caramel milkshakes from Shake Shack and I was gratified that my companion agreed that they are so good, it's better not to remember they exist.

While climbing Sun, I thought of what my therapist (among others) has been trying to tell me, about not getting so hung up on details and just let things happen. We top-roped 7 different climbs near the beginning of the carriage road and every time I finished one, I couldn't remember how I'd done it to guide the next climber. ( I climbed very hard and fell a lot, but made it to the top ) The best part of the day though was when JBeau dropped us off at the bus station and said to me, "You're climbing strong: I'd like to put you on the sharp end on some 5.4s and 5.5s, just to see how you handle something on which you might fall." Sweet!

If you're partnered/monogamous, use your imagination...

[Poll #1625358]

Q2 is NOT literally bad as this :)

I'm pretty sure this poll was written around Memorial Day, bc the week after was the last time I worked out <3/week until pizza month started 2 weeks ago.

Since I know someone will ask, Q4's choices correspond to once a month, twice a month, once a week, and twice a week. Also, there should be a star on sex on that question: it counts as one round of sex if you stopped for <3 hours and had mostly the same people involved after the break. So, for example, if you had 10 orgasms in 72 hours with the same person, stopping mostly for food, that counts as once. And props to the long-suffering top in that scene.

Current Mood: more cheerful than this sounds

Else what's a heaven for?

Default Diet and My Own Personal CrossFit

Children and startups have an awful lot in common, pt 1

Physical update

Injured just enough

Estrogen, good things, and coincidences

First Doctor's Visit and Baby Picture

13 Things That Rock

More Gym Memberships = Less (Effective) Working Out

A weekend at home

When I'm done, I'm done

Unemployed, Not Sedentary

Once More With Feeling

Contradictions

Media Consumed and to be Consumed

This is what I use Twitter for

I should have stayed in bed all weekend

Toe loops, smooch-proof, and photographic remixing

Notes of morning ramblyness

Everything worked out this weekend

Humpday poll - Things I Worry About

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January 2026

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