September 2012
2 posts
“When you’ve worked hard and done well, and walked through that doorway of...”
– Michelle Obama
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“Q: Do you have any advice on how to have productive political conversations with...”
– Frank Rich via Reddit
July 2012
2 posts
blua:
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Running away.
I’m trying to decide how many times I’ve run away.
Does it count when you ask for help?
Does it matter if you’ve been kicked out — but only a little — but you take the opportunity to flee?
Is it real if you have somewhere to run to?
Depending on your response, I’ve either run away three times — or not at all.
I’m only just now thinking of this,...
April 2012
21 posts
2 tags
Day 49
Walk: 31 mins
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Bad Brigitte!
How did I let 4 days go by without an update? Bad, bad Brigitte!
Day 44
Walk: 33:10
Day 45
Run: 28:22
2.25 mi
This needs a bit of explanation. Thursday was the first really warm day this Spring. It was in the upper 70s and sunny. Contrary to everything I know about myself, I thought this would make a GREAT time to go for a run.
But here’s the thing. The sun is my kryptonite. I...
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Day 43
I have no concrete data today. I went to Chico for the first time, and it was awesome. I love it there. The entire town is a cool attitude. I walked around for hours, in my new shoes. Now my feet hurt. :)
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Day 42
So. About these new shoes. OMG I WALK LIKE A GIANT.
Please allow me to elaborate.
For my entire life, I’ve been teased for walking on my toes. I spent years trying — and failing — to “walk like a normal person.” Heel - toe.
Never before tonight have I actually felt my heel hit the ground.
But these shoes! And my long stride! OWWW. My heels hurt SO HARD.
...
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Day 41
This has been an absolutely perfect day. First, Lucus and I hit up the farmers’ market. Wow. This thing must’ve been larger than the Green City market in Chicago, and it was CHEAP!
I saw on Yelp that some people complain about the prices. It’s one of the many things I’ve noticed people around here take for granted. Good prices on local — and quite often organic...
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Day 40
Stats
Walk: 21:48
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Day 39
I went to Oakland today, so I actually planned ahead and did yoga in the morning. Winner!
The only downside was that Lucus texted me that he’d be home (I needed to get the car from him) earlier than planned, so I had to cut my practice short by 20 minutes. Glad I got a short practice in, though, because I’m home now (it’s 11:30 pm), and I’m pooped!
Stats
Yoga: 28:07
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Day 38
I went for a walk, and it promptly started raining! Luckily, this happened the instant I stepped out the door, so I was able to change into my rain coat and forge ahead.
I LOVE being out in the rain.
Stats
Walk: 37 minutes
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Day 37
After not doing much of anything, my body needed to be loosened up considerably. I did a nice, slow yoga practice with lots of standing poses.
Stats
Yoga: 34 minutes
It would’ve been longer, but Lucus called right as I started savasana. He was traveling, so I figured I should pick up. This was a very rare occurance. I typically ignore the phone when I practice, and I almost never skip...
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Day 36: Fail
I wish I had a good excuse for not getting my 20 in, but there is none. I took Lucus to the airport, then ran tons of errands. We share a car, which means I only have access to it when he’s not working, so I was determined to squeeze in as much as possible.
After being out and about for nearly 7 hours (counting a lovely breakfast with the husband before we went to the airport), I got home...
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Day 35
After yesterday’s ride, I was too excited to wait to take my new love out again. But I took it easy. Even though I bought a famously comfy Brooks’ saddle, a girl has to adjust!
My legs were a little tired at the beginning, but after a few minutes, I felt amazing. It helps my confidence to know that 5-10 miles is no big deal, because I have 5 months to train for the triathlon’s...
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Day 34
Today I test rode more bicycles. And I bought one! More on that to come. For now, I’m logging the time I spent test riding, which barely scratched 20.
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Day 33
Last night, I went to bed much earlier than usual (sometime around 10). I’ve found that whenever this happens, I wake up in the middle of the night. It’s like my body thinks it’s nap time, not sleep time.
I woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. So I grabbed my book and started reading. I didn’t go back to sleep until 7. Then, I slept soundly until about...
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Day 32
I’ve decided to count running errands on my bike. Why? I broke a sweat! I’ve also decided I need to chill on the requirement a bit. If the idea is to get up and moving, why don’t I count errands on my bike, even if I ride 10 minutes here/15 there? The point isn’t hardcore workouts, it’s being active every day.
I didn’t time the biking, but based on past rides,...
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Day 31
Ran 20:05. I’ve been taking vitamins, and it’s not going well. I was so nauseous during the run, I had to stop and walk a few blocks. After cooling down, I was able to continue.
The 20:05 doesn’t count the walk period.
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Month 1 Check-In
I decided to do a monthly check-in to reflect on the successes — and setbacks — along the way.
Here’s the breakdown of my movement for the first 30 days.
Yoga: 8
Walk: 7
Run: 5
Housework: 4
Dance: 2 (one duplicated with yoga)
Missed Days: 5
I don’t know how to feel about this. One the one hand, this is a lot more movement than I would have accomplished without the...
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Day 28: Oh, Ikea
I am pooped! The husband and I spent 4 hours assembling Ikea furniture today. It’s one piece, comprised of 14 parts (as in individual purchases).
I feel bad, because I’m this tired, and he ran a 10 mile race this morning!
Another feeling I’m experiencing? Pride. Because we spent that long putting together a storage piece for my office, and we still like one another. :)
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Day 27: Sava-what-sana?
Tonight’s yoga practice was practically perfect. Until savasana.
I lay there. All settled in. When my cat comes by squawking and purring. Licking my index finger. It’d take a heart of stone to ignore that!
But I tried. I gave him maybe 30 seconds of attention and turned my heart like a boulder.
Seven minutes later, my timer went off. On my cell. I forgot to turn the volume down,...
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Day 26
Ack! I forgot to post again yesterday. Better to miss a post than a 20. :)
Stats
Walk: 25:04
March 2012
29 posts
1 tag
Smart Marketing
A colleague of Lucus’s gave us free passes to a gym, so I can try out the pool. On the passes, it clearly states that the user must have an in-state ID. Well-played 24 Hour Fitness. It’s about time I took a trip to the DMV anyway.
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Day 25: Exercise Boosts Brain Power
I struggled with the decision to be honest about today’s log. It’s not that I didn’t move. I did, although it was a close call. It was nearly midnight when I realized I forgot my yoga practice. (strangely, the thing that kept me from the movement was researching the effects of dairy and grains on the human body. related but certainly not movement.)
When I remembered, I was still...
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Day 24
sigh. I failed to do anything yesterday. Instead, I went to bed. Tonight, I went for a run. It felt terrible. I feel run-down.
Stats
Run: 15:03
Walk: 11:16
The only reason I walked so long is I had to get back home. I punked out just past the midpoint of my run.
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When it's just not working →
I’m posting this link, because I wrote about loosening up on my vegetarian diet on my main blog. This seemed simpler than repeating the post.
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Missing Days
I wish I could say that although I did not post, I kept up the daily movement. But that’s not entirely true.
Here’s what happened. I went out of town. It’s that simple. Something I fail to learn about myself is that I’m incapable of maintaining normalcy when I travel. Even so, I didn’t entirely abandon the project. I simply found I couldn’t keep up with it on...
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Day 22
The husband and I went for a walk after dinner tonight. I am going to write in just a moment about the missing 5 days, but I wanted to put this quick log in first.
Stats
Walk: 24:25
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Day 16
oops! I forgot to log yesterday’s 20.
Unpacking again. It’s the last time I can resort to this, because…..I’m finished!!
Then maybe 5 minutes of stretching.
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You May Have Your Food Dogma Back →
Yes! The more I read about food, nutrition and our bodies, the more I realize that “the science” isn’t clear. We know very little about how our bodies are actually nourished by the food we eat.
I’m learning this the hard way. Since becoming a vegetarian last July, I am constantly hungry. My diet is high in protein (eggs, avocados, quinoa, etc), and yet I never seem to fill...
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Day 15
I forgot to stop the timer. But I think it was just over 20. It was freezing out (ha! how quickly I became accustomed to California winter), and I wanted to be quick about it. On the plus side, this meant I walked fast, too.
Also…2 weeks!
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Days 13 & 14
This weekend, Lucus and I had plans. Namely to finish decorating our new house and to spend some time in Davis looking at used bikes. On Friday night, those plans went out the window, in the very best fashion.
Here’s how it went down.
Me: Why don’t we drive in to San Francisco tomorrow instead of going to Davis?
Lucus: Okay.
And so we did.
Our first stop was A Happy Planet, where...
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Day 12
This is the first time I’ve felt truly conflicted about my log.
I put on a sports bra (that means it’s fitness, right?), with the intent of running. But it’s 50º and raining. Thanks, but no thanks. The husband and I are still living amidst boxes after our move from Chicago, so I opted to tackle those instead. Bend, lift, walk to another room…repeat. That’s...
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Day 11
First, I had to decide what counts as focused movement. Now, it’s: what is a day?
This one is easy. A day starts when I get up and continues until I go to bed for the night. So, although tonight was a late one, my 11:45 - 12:45 yoga practice is all accounted for on day 11.
Stats
Yoga: 52:23
Conditions
Surya Namaskar A, standing poses, a little balance work and a delicious savasana.
I...
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Day 10
So it’s raining this week. Thankfully, it stopped tonight.
Stats
Walk: 28:59
(and then 5:20 home. we stopped at the bar.)
Conditions
Night-time. Rainy. Gray skies that remind us of Chicago. Is home-sick a condition?
Death by Bacon? Study Finds Eating Meat Is Risky →
Bacon as a gateway meat. haha!
I’ve only been vegetarian for 9 months, but if a meat were to lure me back, it’d be pulled pork. Maybe even a burger. Not bacon. I loved it as much as the next carnivore, but I don’t get the cult of bacon.
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Day 9
Today, I finally left the house. :) In Chicago, I was in the habit of spending at least one day a week working in a local coffee shop. For a variety of reasons, I spent a month in California before resuming this practice.
There’s a coffee shop just a few blocks away, but I chose instead to ride a mile and a half to a different cafe. My motivation? The one I went to has delicious sandwiches....
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Free Yourself From Your Ego in 3 Easy Steps →
the future does not exist anywhere but in your mind
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Day 8
A week in, and I’m worn out! In a good way. After a weekend of test riding bikes and hard-core housework, my body still craved movement, but my aches and pains called for something easy.
When I realized I needed a few ingredients to make the soup I wanted to try out, I decided to extend the walk to our neighborhood Co-Op. It’s a 10 minute walk one-way, but I really want my 20 minutes...
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Day 7
What counts as focused movement?
I got up at 8:40 this morning, and I’m sitting down now at 10:15 to write this entry. It was a busy day. If I total the time I spent sitting — and taking a nap! — it comes to 3 hours. That’s 8 hours of movement. But did I meet the challenge?
Simply being on my feet isn’t good enough — and I won’t count shopping as...
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Day 6
Today was all-around awesome. The husband and I test-rode a variety of bikes, including:
Surly Cross-Check - I was convinced I wanted this bike until I test-rode it.
Bianchi Volpe - We both LOVED this bike. It has a steel frame (after today I don’t understand why anyone would ever want an aluminum frame) and is responsive. It’s 99% that the hubs will be getting this bike.
Surly...
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Day 5
I cannot believe I went from 0 to 3 days running this week. It’s a big jump, relatively speaking.
Also, how slow am I? I’m no speed demon, but this is ridiculous. Still, it’s better to be slow and consistent than speedy(ish) and barely get out the door.
Stats
Distance: 1.88 mi
Time: 21:42
Avg pace: 11:34 min/mi
Mile 1: 11:35
Mile 2: 11:32
Conditions
We went out around 6...
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Weight loss ≠ fitness
I wanted to hold off on making this statement, because I’m afraid I can’t do it justice. But then I posted the article, “What’s really making us fat.” And it’s eating away at me.
To me, the weight issue is the least interesting aspect of the article. Rather, I’m a junkie for scientific research on the unintended side effects of eating artificial foods....
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What's really making us fat? →
It may not be as simple as calories in, calories out. New research reveals a far more complex equation for weight gain that places at least some of the blame on organic pollutants.
h/t Tyler Tervooren
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Day 4
The husband and I took a walk tonight. He was a smarty pants and started the stopwatch on his iPhone, so I’d know how long we walked. 36:44.
Nights like these are exactly why I’m doing this challenge. I worked on Unfettered Ink projects (including posting a video!), unpacked and made dinner. Frankly, I just didn’t feel like doing anything else. And (sorry, boys), this is one of...
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The incredible unaging triathlete →
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