Mission Possible?

Okay, aside from being the title of a friend's blog, it just seems so fitting.

I'm the kinda girl that has to have a goal. It's always been that way & always will be. I don't know why but it is what it is (Mom used to say that.) So I've been missing running & came across an ad in Kevin's Men's Health magazine. My FB friends already know where this is going but I'll keep the suspense building.

I've done a triathlon as a team with my BFF & her sister. I did the running leg since that's my best "thing." I just am not a good swimmer but I love a challenge. Figured it out yet? Not a tri but sorta like that ;)

It's the Men's Health Urbanathlon. No I've not lost my mind but check it out. Really..click the link ;) It's a 9 mile run with obstacle courses every 3 miles. Not normal ones though. Nope..here you'll be running Soldier Field bleachers (the home of our Chicago Bears), climbing over cabs & busses (yes, really!), crossing monkey bars, crawling under marine shelters, over traffic barricades & under foot traffic barricades. Sound fun? I thought so too. Now I just have to get hubby on board though I think he'll do it too. He's the guy after all that will up his elliptical to 11 if I'm on 10, the treadie to 6.7 if I'm on 6.6...you feel me? He'll be in :)

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! We are off to the lake. I'm looking forward to sporting my new swimsuit, on a raft with a beverage in hand (of the adult variety) under the sun!!!!! With family of course ;)

Stay safe!!!!

ps..thanks SO much for the thoughts on the whole food rules thing. For the record, I'm not following too many but trying to keep enough protein in for satiety & keep more junk out that in!!!! Nothing wrong with that!

When handed lemons.....

....make lemonhead martinis? :) Yes, please! Well, things lately have not gone perfectly according to plan. I had to make the decision to step away from the weight room & focus on cardio as my routine for a few weeks. My finger is still swollen & I cannot fully make a clinched fist without pain yet. Why? The mass was attached to a tendon so it's taking time to heal that all properly. The incision itself is healing though & I'm waiting for the final scabbing to fall off. Just takes time & alot of hand exercises to keep it working.

So as mentioned, I'm doing a lot of cardio lately & trying to break through some barriers again. Like doing the stairmill on a puke worthy level, running a little more & this Sunday we spend 2.5 hours hiking at the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore. Here's the view from the bird observatory in the bog...
It's really beautiful there! The trail led us into the woods, through some valleys & finally onto the lake shore where we continued to walk. From there, we hiked another trail back to the shelter. It was pretty brutal...straight up some dunes & straight down a couple others. Something over 9 miles in total & we'd totally do it again!!!

Do you ever get caught up in food rules? For example, don't eat bananas (or any fruit for that matter) because they are too many carbs? No fat with starches? Protein at every meal no matter what? No this or that? Do you ever wish you could completely remove all knowledge of any such nonsense from your brain? Just curious. Sometimes we burden ourselves with so much useless knowledge & it truly clouds living.

Off to have a banana ;)

That didn't go as planned....

So yes, this week turned out to be not what I wanted. I thought I would be able to hit the gym full steam ahead & get all the workouts in. Well....my body had some other intentions!

First off, let me share what I've been making this morning!!!

They are called OMG bars. It's a recipe shared by a fellow Savage sister who apparently whips these up for post-show! They are definitely rich sounding & a treat item! They are filled with a cookie bar base along with mini-marshmallows, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips & dark chocolate chips. I've not cut them yet but will have a taste when I do. I baked them for a cookout today & will make another batch for another one we have tomorrow.

I had good intentions of getting to the gym today but I have a headache so opted to not go. Have any of you had issues with birth control? I seem to get a VERY bad headache 1-2 days before I'm due to start my next pill pack. They are awful & I cannot seem to rid myself of them no matter how much Aleve I take. I'm guessing the only way to completely get rid of them is to stop the pills.. We are not quite ready to start trying for baby yet but Kevin's agreed to let me stop them. So I'll see my doctor next month to discuss.

So for the week I did get in most of my training (will do the last tomorrow) & most of my cardio. I'm still recovering from this cold or whatever I have & finger/hand still not at 100% so I think what I did get finished is better than nothing!

Hope your weekend is off to a FABULOUS start!!!!

Day 1

Do you remember that feeling when you first started lifting again? Well, today is that day!

It's only been a full week since I've not done any weights but my schedule has been so off for the last few weeks. Traveling one week for Hannah's funeral, surgery the following, totally off last week for recovery & now today am back at it again. My stint as a cardio bunny has officially ENDED!!!!!! (Sorry Tony Little...he actually amazes me!)


I saw my surgeon on Friday & he removed the stitches telling me to just be careful because the incision is obviously not healed & I have steri-strips to keep over it until it's closed. I only have to see him PRN which I'm hoping won't be necessary though yesterday my finger was very achy. I'm hoping that's just because it's getting used more daily & not a sign of a problem. I'm staying optimistic. Oh & the mass was 100% benign. Yay!

We had a nice weekend with friends & family. Saturday we celebrated my best friend's son's 4th birthday with a party. So fun. I just love that little man. His Mom was the only attendant at our wedding. She's been a close friend since 2003 when I moved home from Vegas & we've been through A LOT together. Saying she's my rock would be quite the understatement.

That night we took Kevin's Mom out for Mother's Day & spent Sunday evening with his parents at the boat as well. We had fun & aside from a lot of tears in church (and one other meltdown this week), I was okay.

On tap for this week is the usual & a hog roast on Saturday where I'll get to reconnect with some old high school friends. Super excited about that. Our 20th reunion is this fall & I'm glad to have Kevin meet some of them now so he's more comfortable at that event.

Happy Monday!

Healing.

Hey all! I thought I'd check in & update for a second. My surgery went well & I spent 2 days in a codeine stupor. I take virtually no meds other than my birth control pill so something like that really hits me hard! I actually found out from my BFF's Dad yesterday that my own loving father (hahaha) was making fun of my speaking abilities during the aforementioned stupor! Nice. lol I apparently looked & sounded drugged. Well, duh.

Onto the "tumor," it was pea-sized & hard. I got to see it but really don't remember. It was sent to pathology & I'll see doc on Friday for follow up but he felt that it looked "normal." I did find out that my little friend was attached to a tendon so thankfully it was removed without any damage.

I'm currently morphing into a temporary cardio bunny. Stitches won't come out until next week then I have to still be careful to not pull the incision (which is across the top of my finger width wise.) I'm also unable to make a clinched fist so will be limited until I can do that but I'm doing my exercises like a good little girl!

Hope you all are well & I appreciate the well-wishes/prayers!!!!

Have a FABULOUS day!