Day 335 = Running + The Runner's High

Austin has seen some crazy rain in the last few days, but tonight I knew I must set out and run in the rain. So I got dressed with my green gloves and green weather-proof parka, but when I went outside at around 7:22 pm, the rain had stopped. I was looking forward to running in the rain, actually. Even though I'd already washed my hair today, I was willing to get it wet again from running in the rain.

I ran 3.22 miles. It's a new route that I made up, which I think is a little safer to run when it's dark outside. Then it happened.

For the first time in probably 6 years, I got a runner's high. I was almost to the halfway mark of my run when I started to feel it. At first it just felt like my feet were gliding. I even questioned, "Did I take some drugs today?" No. I had not. When I headed home, I still felt like I was floating. It felt so good. My feet felt different in my shoes, and I could feel a breeze on my toes. I stopped to remember what kind of socks I'd put on, and yes, they are the same socks that I always wear when I run. The endorphins were really showing up this time and not just phoning it in.

That's the thing about runner's highs - for me, anyway - is I never know when they're going to show up.

Day 334 = Gym + hCG

Have you heard of the hCG diet? It was also mentioned on Livestrong.com and you can read more about it here.

My friend Trey went on the hCG diet under his doctor's supervision and lost more than 50 pounds. He had 50 pounds to lose. I don't have that much. But what is so attractive to me is that the hCG diet targets fat and makes your body live off your fat stores during the 23-day course of injections of hCG. So I'm considering it. If I lose a pound a day, then 23 days should be just about right.

The rub is that I hate needles. So not sure if I'd be able to inject myself.

Tonight, I stuck to the old-fashioned way of fitness with good, ol' exercise at the gym. I have no doubt that I am able to maintain any weight loss. Because I've been working out for 334 days in a row, this is the first year that I started out without the resolution of losing weight. Sure I want to lose a few pounds in some targeted spots, but it's not like it's a hovering goal that I feel like I have to set in order to accomplish it. I work out everyday, so it's not a daunting thought to me.

At the gym tonight it was clear that there are people who are still going strong to follow through on their new year's resolutions. It's good to see so much enthusiasm for being fit because that's what it's about.

Day 333 = Running + LOST

I can't believe the day is finally here. I just don't think I've written about LOST enough in this blog. No blog is complete without it (that is, if you're me and you're writing my blog). I realize there are haters out there and just plain ol' people in denial about the lure that is LOST, but I am uh-dickted. It's so bittersweet that this is the end of the series. Note to anyone listening who cares: I want all those seasons on DVD. And while I hope to never stay home with strep throat again, believe me, I will find a reason to stay home in bed for days to watch LOST.

I remember last spring when LOST announced they wouldn't be back until Feb. 2. I was like, "Wha? No way! You can't do this to me, JJ Abrams." I felt hurt and sad and, well, lost. So many questions. And being a Pisces, I'm easily confused, so LOST is like a perpetual puzzle to me each time. A puzzle that I love to get lost in. OK. That last sentence was dumb. But oh so true.

So here are my questions:

1. Who was Jin buying that panda for? Maybe it's part of the parallel universe that the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815 are living while their counterparts are still back on the island.
2. Who has taken over John Locke's body?
3. Why's it gotta be a smoke monster? That's ridonculous sometimes, but it is what it is.
4. I'm totally convinced that Juliet is not dead. How'd she know that "it worked?"

Now that I've watched tonight's episode, I think the point that Abrams, et al, are trying to make is that the survivors had a better life on the island and they just didn't know it. Am I right?

So, after being "lost" in a 7+ hour meeting today about building a database with people in India, I rushed home to get in a 40-minute run and then showered and baked some mahi mahi and settled in to watch lost. Without interruption. OK, Deacon can call but THAT'S IT! And only during commercials (which I allowed).

Day 332 = Resistance Bands/Home Workout + My Doppelganger

I should probably write an ode to cortisone shots for this blog entry because I cannot say enough about that painful, yet, gorgeous and most wonderful shot. I knew that I should have had one weeks ago instead of going on antibiotics. But I'm not the one who went to medical school. Not even one online in India.

Anyway, after WEEKS of nonstop suffering from allergies, strep throat, sinus infections and general crappiness, I went back to the doctor who at first wanted to test me for mono, but then he changed his mind and decided to just give me a cortisone shot to see if that helps. Fuck yeah, it helped. I did this last January 2009 when I had cedar fever. If you ever have allergies, I highly recommend a cortisone shot. I had no idea this existed until a fellow allergy-sufferer told me about it. Thank God for you!

I'm such a baby when it comes to needles, and the cortisone medicine is actually kind of painful. I have a fair threshold for pain, but I white-knuckled it for the shot and kept thinking how wonderful I was going to feel in a matter of hours and maybe even minutes. I was right.

I came home and decided to just chill out and stay calm and let the medicine work. I was updating my blog (I'm so behind!) and fiddling around on Facebook and learned that this week is the week that you should post a picture of your doppelganger. (In case you are paying attention on Facebook because you've been spending a lot of time at home being sick like me.) A doppelganger is the celebrity who everyone says you look like. I used to get Britney Spears all the time back before she went crayzay. I guess it's the brown eyes and blonde hair. But more recently, people are telling me I look like Anna Faris. Well, I'll jump all over that bandwagon.

I felt really good tonight and would have liked to have gone to the gym or to run, and I almost did, but I am really hell-bent on getting better. I hate being sick and I'm tired of being sick and not feeling like my old go-getter self. So I stuck to resistance bands and little home workout that I made up for core work.

Day 311 = Gym + Popcorn

Tonight after a 10-hour day at the old Dell campus, where Mistelle and I were quietly and diligently processing our leads, I went to the gym. My first day back at work after my second round of strep throat began with finding out that while I was out in December, the media agency I'm forced to use decided to spend all my money on paid search, totally ignoring the contract and admitting in writing to making an "erroneous assumption." I wrote in boldface and underlined in an email that this was absolutely unacceptable. Monday at 9 am and I'm already debating on the approach I may or may not take to tear a new asshole into someone. So I tried to sit on that email until after my next four meetings.

At the gym, lots of people seemed to be sticking to their New Year's resolution of getting in shape. It was 8pm when I got there, and most of the cardio machines were still full! Since I started this challenge in March, this is the first year since I can remember that I didn't make the resolution to "get back in shape" because I am already. Well, I'd like to lose a few more pounds, but I'm working on it. I was tired but pushed through a workout on my own. It went something like this:

• 11 min on the elliptical trainer listening to my iPod
• 3 sets of leg lift crunches in the Roman chair (all my sets are at least 15 reps)
• 2 sets of dips
• A little circuit of 2 sets each of chest press with 15 lb. weights (too light for me now), the "lawnmower" back exercise and a series of crunches, reverse crunches, seated leg crunches
• Then another little circuit with the lat pull down and the trapezoid push down (that's what I call it anyway)
• Then another little circuit of bicep curls with the long 30 lb. dumbbell and some kind of dumbbell lift and squat that Regan taught me, which I have no idea what it's called, paired with this oblique twist with the Freemotion machine.

I have to tell you that you need to run out right now and buy Orville Redenbacher's Natural Buttery Salt and Cracked Pepper popcorn. One bag is 160 calories, and it's perfect for dinner tonight.

I also want to tell iPhone users about this app I use to keep up with my favorite blogs. It's called RSS Runner by Francois Goldgewicht and it's free. The web site is here: /www.golden-apps.com/.