Purling Sprite

Before & After

A few days ago we had a fun theme over at DailyMile where we got to post pictures of Before n After. At first, I really didn't seem that eager to post a picture of the before then I started looking at pictures and seeing how much I have changed over the past two years (almost three now) and I got the courage to post them.

Things weren't easy and a lot of work has gone into the little bit of transformation. Unlike many people out there, I was cursed with a body that keeps all its fat around its middle. I have skinny, wimpy, spaghetti like arms and legs and a huge midsection. Losing weight affects me in a peculiar way: I lose all the chubs off my arms and legs, then I am left with a flabby, squishy middle, which is a great on the Pillsbury Boy but not so great on a humanoid like myself.

The 2007 picture was right at the beginning of the year, if not at the very end of 2006. At this point, I had been running for about 3 months, I was running a steady 2 miles, killing myself doing it too, going an all 11 minute miles. Speedy Gonzales was my name!

Fast forward 2 years and we have the picture on the left, during the Ogden Half Marathon. At this point, I had been working out consistently for 2 years. Running, cycling and swimming. I barely had started integrating some weight lifting in my life. During that half marathon, my average per mile was 8:10, a huge improvement from two years prior.

As I look at these pictures and others that I have taken over the past two years, I can see a lot of change physically, but what you can't see is the mental change that I have undergone.

I always thought that I could never run more than 2 miles and in that picture of 2007, I thought that I was at my max. I thought that I had a body that couldn't change and a heart that couldn't handle very long workouts. What I've learned is that the body is one of the most amazing machines in the world, it adapts, it grows, and as you push it and push it, its endurance grows to match it. I have learned that I have the heart to complete anything that I really dream and yearn for as long as I put the work forward. I have read in many places that running is 90% mental and 10% talent, it is true. I have about .0001% of talent but what I lack in that area, my heart screams to my mind at each step, it is your dream, we can do it, a dream is becoming reality.

My midsection is still chubby compared to a lot of women who exercise as much as I do, but it is not about having a thin waist or a super ripped body. I'll take my body as is as long as it can take me wherever my mind and heart wants to go, 26.2 miles today, 70.3 miles tomorrow, 140.6 in the near future.

Fried Dumplin'

I have to attest that this post has nothing to do with fried dumplins other than I like to eat them and at this very moment they sound like a fantastic idea. SQUIRREL!

Gosh, I do have the attention span of an ant!

Back to the thought, this weekend was a kicked bootie typed weekend, as in my butt is sore and I can't sit anywhere without having to tilt my self from side to side. I ditched hubby for a two day, back to back, 9-hour spinning training. Spinning as in the exercise not the fiber kind. A few months ago my friend Carol from Gold's Gym planted the idea that I should become certified and start teaching some classes. The opportunity came in the form of Les Mills RPM certification a two day course where you basically get a good butt kicking on the bike and are taught everything from bike set up to the magic of coaching. At the end of day one, my butt was sore from wearing the cycling shorts all day, idiot me forgot to put chamois butter, and of course the Bootie Gods couldn't let it slide, my butt that night was sore. Let's just say that A+D Diaper ointment works overnight miracles baby! The second day, I wasn't so forgetful and I brought the butter, a bit late for some of the sore spots but still helped a ton.

I got my RPM certification and now I need to practice, practice, practice, practice and memorize loads of choreography, then record a class video and send it in to get my assessment, which will give me my seal of approval to begin teaching on my own the RPM classes. The training is rigorous but it ensures that all their Les Mills trainers know their stuff by heart and can present the program in a super way! I am so stoked! A goal that I wanted to achieve is almost complete :).

Oh look, the Cycling Magazine arrived....SQUIRREL!

btw: my new PC will be arriving around March 20th...no pictures capabilities til then, my mini laptop has a memory the size of my pinky and it can't hold my Photoshop software, let alone my thousands of pictures...

My dinosaur computer went Boom!!! No computer for 2-3 days...we could see it coming but we were hoping it would last a year more

Drilling it!

I am no Michael Phelps for sure, but I think I am getting the hang of the entire "gliding" thing, now if I can just get the idea of the catch, I think I can be a bit faster. My body is getting used to the rotation and breathing while rotating, rather than sticking my head to the side while my body is facing down. It is not easy for sure and it is going to be something that I am going to have to work on for a long time but it is something that I can fix.

I have to say that the first day that I went to the Master's Swim class, I came home deflated and ready to give up on the entire swimming thing but I think I am getting my mojo for swimming back. I just need to train my head to love drills. Drills are a good thing, it helps our body remember the proper technique and with proper technique I can become efficient.

The mail brought in something that cheered me up too, the last catalog from KnitPicks where one of my latest sample test knits appears on page 10. I knitted the gorgeous knee-high Sayonara Socks. The pattern is quite simple and once you work one repeat of the stitch pattern it is really easy to remember the rest. I had a bit of a problem with the decreases but after contacting the designer, we found out that the book has an errata, but if you have knitted at all, you will find the error easy to fix. I have to admit that these socks were very difficult to mail out as I wanted to keep them for myself. 

Tired or Sick?

I think I am getting sick or over training or both. I have had headaches for about a week now and they don't go away. I am tired all the time and get upset quite easily...I have been sleeping in a lot just to catch up on some rest and see if that improves my mood but to no avail. I have been chugging the water too just in case my headaches are hydration related.

My training has been shady this week, I have gone but not really been there all the time. Today for example I was scheduled for a 4 mile run, 1hr bike ride, and some weight training. All I got done was the 1hr bike ride! It was 6pm and I was starving and I knew that if I went to run I wouldn't eat til about 1hr later. It was my fault for being unprepared and for skipping lunch too. But, I guess tomorrow is a new day and I will try again, unfortunately, tomorrow brings another Masters Swim session....ugh!

Despite my terrible mood, I did sit down on Monday to knit a little something. I have had a skein of Tilli Tomas Rock Star yarn for the longest time and I didn't know what to do with it. One skein doesn't stretch very far and I just couldn't bear to do anything silly with it. At the end, I sat down and opened one of my favorite stitch pattern books and created a little something. The one skein of Tilli Tomas wasn't enough but I found a gorgeous Blue Sky Alpaca cotton to go nicely along with the no-pattern scarflette. The little scarflette is super soft and the scarf curls around just perfectly. It is not a big ticket item but it brings some color to the wardrobe without being too bulky. 

Out of my head pattern:

Materials (Just eyeballing the yarn, I don't have exact amounts)

• Size 8 needles.
• 1 Skein of Rock Star Tilli Tomas Yarn
• About 80 yards of some contrasting yarn in same yarn weight. 

Directions

Cast on 360sts with Tilli Tomas yarn

Row 1: (right side) Knit

Row 2: Purl

Row 3: *(k2tog) 3 times, (yo, k1) 6 times, (k2tog) 3 times; rep from * to the end.

Row 4: Knit

Repeat Row 1 with Tillit Tomas yarn. Join the new yarn and Repeat Row 2-4 with this new yarn.

Next row:*k2tog; rep from * to the end of row.

Next row: *k2tog; rep from * to the end of row. Cut the yarn and work the Bind Off with the Tilli Tomas yarn. 

Tip: I find placing stitch markers every 18 stitches helpful to work the pattern on Row 3. 

I wanted to share another pretty something that graced our home for a little bit. Hubby made this firetruck  for his school when he finished the firefighting program. Isn't it cool! I love it. It took him a lot of hours to put it together but I think it was well worth it. Definitely, a one of a kind gift.