Tuesday, November 30, 2010

3 Months and Counting


The Disney Princess Half-Marathon is in ~3 months! That means I've gotta get back on that training kick right now. I pretty much took the month of November off because I had so much traveling for work (not done yet!), and I still have one more trip (tomorrow) to Boca Raton for this year. I've also been diagnosed with an ulcer, which is thankfully not as painful as earlier this month. But I know that time for breaks is over!

I'm going to start my training from the beginning, do it right (nice and steady and not rushed), and finish that race at the end of February. Then, I was considering hanging up my running shoes for a while. I mean, I like running for fun. I like running in the warm summer mornings, 3 or 5 miles or so enjoying the scenery. But I don't like feeling pressured to run, running more than my body can handle, and feeling like it's consuming all my exercise time. I do want to get a Disney Coast to Coast medal, for which you need to run one half or full marathon in Florida and one in California within the year. But there's a lot of time between the Princess this February and the Disneyland Half in the fall of 2011, should I even decide to do it.

I know that my "diet" hasn't done much for me, considering I haven't lost and ounce and pretty much stayed the same since the beginning of this blog. I know I don't have a whole lot to lose and that this blog is pointless for a lot of you in dietblogland who do. So I don't really think I (or anyone) should consider this a diet blog any longer. I think that it's false advertising for those seeking advice and tips on how to lose weight. I've gone from 176 to 150 and have stayed about the same, give or take, for the past 4 years. I've maintained a really great level of fitness during this time as well. So if you want to read about someone who would like to lose 10 more pounds or someone who has maintained some modest weightloss for an extended period of time, then I'm your girl. But if you want me weighing myself daily or calorie counting then you probably won't get that here.

Would it be great to lose 10 pounds and get back into a size 6? Absolutely! Will I try? Sure! Will it ever happen? Possibly! Do 10 pounds really matter that much to obsess over? No.

From this point forward, this blog will be about the person I really am and the things I really do and all the cupcakes and fitness in between. Take from it what you will.

Deedah
Continue reading...

Friday, November 19, 2010

One Trip to Go!


Well, it's been a hectic fall to say the least. I've been criss-crossing the country, getting settled into my new freelance routine, and still trying to get some training in. To top it all off, I quite possibly have ulcers. Great. Not surprising, but terrible timing.

Thursday a couple of weeks ago, I went to the gym, ran a few miles, and took a zumba class. I was all gung-ho about getting some variety in my workouts and getting back into some fun group classes. Well that was all dashed when I woke up later that night in excrutiating abdominal pain that progressively got worse throughout the day and weekend. I went to a gastroenterologist who gave me samples of Aciphex to get me through my long conference in San Diego and scheduled me for a endoscopy to confirm the ulcers for next week. Of course, this all happened on the eve of my trip.

If you've ever had ulcers, they can be quite painful and debilitating. You're basically fine until you eat, then all hell breaks loose in your gut until you're done digesting. Eating was impossible at first (until the Aciphex kicked in).

So, I haven't worked out since that Thursday. I'm feeling better these days and hope to get back to working out and training by next week or at least after I get that endoscopy over with.

I'm home for the next week, then it's off to my last conference of the season and some much-needed R&R. The conference happens to be in Boca Raton, FL. So I'm taking some extra days off after to go up to Orlando. I can't believe I haven't been back to Orlando since early July! I'm usually there every couple of months!

Deedah
Continue reading...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Back From Boston (with pics!)


For the past few days, I've been at a work-related conference in Boston. I'd never been there before, so of course there was tons of walking and sight seeing! I had one day off to wander around the city and boy did I wander!

First, from my hotel to the convention center and downtown is approximately 2 miles each way. I walked this every day because I think that walking around is the best way to learn a city (being careful and aware of my surroundings of course). Did I mention that I had to carry a 15-lb backpack? On my day off, I started out at Boston Medical (near my hotel) and walked up Massachusetts Avenue to the Hynes Convention Center via Boylston and the Shops at Prudential. From there, I walked up Boylston to the Public Park and up to Beacon St. to the original Cheers bar to do the tourist thing and snap a photo. Then, I decided I was hungry and walked back to Prudential to try some "chowda" at Boston Chowda, a little place in the food court (I have no qualms about back tracking [more than once or twice even] during my solo sight-seeing adventures, which would probably annoy the heck out of a traveling companion I'm sure).

After lunch, I decided I wanted to walk up to Quincy Market and take a look around that part of the city. So off I went. On the way, I kept my eye out for anything interesting. I found the Corner Mall, which consists of several closed-off city blocks for shops and restaurants. I wandered around there for a while and stumbled upon St. Anthony's Shrine, which was tucked away on a side street, identifiable by a large iron crucifix above the entrance. I stopped in and said few prayers and lit a few candles.

From there, I stumbled upon the Old State House and Meeting House and various other historical buildings. Finally, I arrived at Quincy Market. Since it was Saturday, there were tons of people there, and the atmosphere was festive. After wandering around the marketplace, I decided that I wanted to find Paul Revere's house, which happened to be in Little Italy. On my way there, I happened upon an open-air farmer's market and fish market teeming with people shopping for fresh seafood. Then, I found myself in the historic North End and the harbor. Finally, I found little Italy and Paul Revere's house.

By then I was EXHAUSTED and COLD and pretty much found all the places I wanted to find. So it was time to head ALL THE WAY BACK to Boston Medical, which I'm thinking was about 4 miles away from where I was. Of course, I couldn't just walk straight back. I thought it would be fun to run up and down the Government Center steps as a short cut. It was ok because everything below my waist was pretty much numb at that point anyway, LOL.

Well, I realized that I was hungry but didn't want to be too far out at night so I managed to get back to the hotel and ate a nice, well-deserved burger at the restaurant in my hotel. It was really good and hit the spot!

The next day, I just hung out at the convention center to give my legs a rest. On the last day, my coworker gave me a couple of hours off for lunch, so I walked back to Quincy Market and ended up eating some chicken and rice then headed back to the convention center to close up the exhibit.

Phew! I am tired today!

Well, I'm in town for a week and then I'm headed out to San Diego again next week for a long conference. Then it's Boca Raton for conference after Thanksgiving. At least they're going to be warm!After that, I think I just might be home for a whole month!

Even though I complain about these conferences and traveling too much sometimes, they've really given me the opportunity to go places I've never been, see things I've only read about, and fill my life with some adventure. There's really nothing like setting out on foot in a city I've never been, with a map in my hand and a camera in my bag, with a day full of possibilies ahead of me.

Enjoy some pics!



Continue reading...
 

Deedah's Cupcakes & Fitness 2.0! Copyright © 2009 Designed by Ipietoon Blogger Template In collaboration with fifa
Cake Illustration Copyrighted to Clarice