Five Things Friday

1. I am absolutely in love with Sudocrem. My sister first introduced me to it about a year ago as a possible treatment for my cystic acne, for which I've pretty much tried everything. I briefly gave it a shot (so I'm a little impatient) before finally going to a dermatologist and getting put on Spironolactone (miracle acne drug for me). My little jar of Sudocrem was then vanquished to the back of my bathroom cabinet until recently, when AB asked if he could try it for some chaffing. While it didn't make a huge difference for my acne, apparently it is a miracle cure for chaffing! Since then both AB and I have tried using it for various things and this is what it works wonderfully for (so far):

• Chaffing (for the third time0
• Razor burn
• Rashes of unknown origin
• Blisters
• Hot spots on my dog*
• Calluses on my dog's bony joints*
• My dog's ever-inflamed butt*
• Self-contained staph infections...on my dog*

*My vet was questionable about using Sudocrem on Stetson at first, but once she looked it up and read more about it, she jumped on the train with us- surprisingly Stetson doesn't lick it off; if it feels as good to him as it does to me on my post-running flabby underarm chaffing then I'm not surprised!

2. I'm giving Stitch Fix a try. I read a lot of blogs, and since it kept popping up over and over again I figured, why not? The worst that could happen is that I'd be out $20. Stitch Fix is like an online personal shopper; you fill out a [very] detailed profile, pay $20, and you are sent 5 pieces of clothing/accessories to try. You can choose to buy any, all, or none and mail back the rest within 3 days in a postage paid box. Whatever you do decide to buy you can apply the $20 towards, and if you keep all 5 items you get 25% off the entire box. You can do monthly "fixes" or just order one when you feel like something new. If you're a Pinner, you can give the company the link to your pinned clothing so they can get an idea of what you like. When you mail something back you have the option to let them know what you didn't like about it. I may end up not liking any of it at all, but I'll update once I receive my first box the week of August 30th. If anyone decides to try it, please use this link so that I can get a referral credit!

3. Canned pumpkin is the insanely cheap and easy solution to my dog's whacky bowel habits. Stetson has always had issues with his digestive tract, and since the cancer and chemo it's been even more off-kilter. We're constantly battling diarrhea and colitis so I finally took my vet's advice and started mixing a tablespoon of pumpkin into Stetson's wet food two times a day. Problem solved; the poor dog has regular bowel movements and no diarrhea! Amazing.

4. I have finally made it to Week 12 of the Couch to 10K. Running 30 minutes straight sucks; running for 54 minutes straight is miserable...but I can do it! Shockingly, my eating habits haven't changed a bit and yet I haven't even managed to drop another pound. Maybe it's the beer...

5. I haven't had a cupcake in 6 weeks. That's right, the self-diagnosed cupcake addict has managed to avoid those little handheld servings of yummy, sugary, calorie-packed, waist-widening, addictive goodness. Until tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be having one of each from my beloved Gigi's:

Italian Cream

Kentucky Bourbon Pie

Candles and Fitness

The other day my youngest sister informed me that she had sent me something from Bath & Body Works. Since I rarely ever shop there I was definitely curious as to what it would be, and I admit, I was guessing some kind of bath soap. I was then pleasantly surprised yesterday by a semi-heavy B&B box waiting for me on my front porch. Always the typically impatient person, I ripped into the box and was treated to 2 very nice candles, both ironically named "Lakeside" and "Boathouse Row" (she knows me so well!). I immediately lit the Lakeside one, partially out of curiosity and partially because one of the dogs had horrible gas and the scent was becoming overwhelming. Needless to say, both candles have a crisp refreshing scent, and based on their sizes, will hopefully last for several burns.

I've also been spending the past week exercising way more than I usually do. While AB claims he loves the way I look, I feel like the only muffin in my life should be the one I eat. In addition to continuing the Couch to 10K program, I started doing Jillian Michaels' Ripped in 30 DVD. I've had several of her DVD's for months now (okay, maybe even years) but aside from a brief attempt at her 30 Day Shred back in nursing school, they haven't been touched...actually, I think several are still in their wrappers. I digress. The "Ripped in 30" program is 4 weeks worth of workouts, designed to be completed for 5-6 days/week. As of today I will have completed Week 1 (with my super heavy 3 lb weights) and am secretly dreading Week 2 (she doesn't mess around). Between the DVD, running 3 days/week, and doing the elliptical 2 days/week, I've managed to lose 2 lbs without changing my eating habits. I know I should, but I love my beer and baked goods, so if I need to work out more to compensate then I guess that's what I will do! I will update again in another week; I don't want to jinx anything and I seem to do better sticking to things when I keep them to myself.


Day 1 without FB: No desire what-so-ever to look at it. I think it helps that AB gave his up too.

Personal Non-Race Record

Since January I've been doing the Couch-to-10K program on my iPhone. Needless to say, once I made it through week 8 (a 5K distance) my participation in said program has slowed down considerably. The first run in week 9 was a BIG jump up from the 30 minutes I had been running and honestly, I've pretty much stuck with running only 3-3.5 miles since then and working on speed rather than distance. The way I see it, the faster I run the less time I spend doing something I don't really enjoy.

Okay, something I don't enjoy at all.

I feel I've given running an honest shot at being something I would like to do and it doesn't work. I cannot figure out what is so pleasurable about running; is it the inability to form sentences due to breathlessness even after cross-training for months (my cardiologist found nothing wrong other than I'm prone to a crazy high HR)? The aching knees the next day despite fitted shoes and stretching? The sheer boredom of doing the same freaking thing for 30-40 minutes straight? All of the above?

Regardless, I'm sticking with the 3 miles because it's a nice number and I can still function afterwards (I bow to marathoners- no way in hell). With that being said, I've managed to decrease my pace from ~12:45 to, and this is super-impressive for me, 10:37/mile as of last night. I know, I know- that's still not very fast considering there are women out there who can run a mile in 6-8 minutes, but for a lazy, unmotivated person such as myself, it is AWESOME. I have redeveloped hope that I can one day run a 5K in under 25 minutes...hauling ass but ending the torture that much quicker. Plus, from what I've read, the faster you run the more calories you burn. Eat a cupcake, haul ass for 30 minutes, minimal weight gain; sounds perfect to me (and I'm totally being ignorant of the rest of that sentence which includes a risk of clogged arteries, diabetes, and strokes to name a few).

Happy running!

Couch to 10K

For the past 8 weights I've been fairly committed to keeping on schedule with my Couch to 10K program. In the past I've always just started running, gone as far as I could while still being able to breathe, and then on consecutive runs pushed myself a little further. As those who read my blog know, this never works out well because I always quit running at some point, and then I'm back to the beginning the next time around. This time (and because I'm captain for a 5K in April) I decided I would give the C210K app a try; it's free and I know several people who were able to get into running using it without having any issues. The company offers a Couch to 5K program also, but I figured if I'm going to try running [again] why not go semi-all out and try a 10K final distance? I have no desire to compete in a 10K but I'd love to be able to run for 60 minutes 3-4 days a week; it would help allow me to maintain my cupcake addiction.

With all of that being said, today I started on Week 9 Day 1. The program sets me up to run 3 days a week, using run/walk intervals, with a final goal of being able to run 60 minutes straight (or a 10K if our pace is a 10min/mile) after 14 weeks. At week 8, which is how long the Couch to 5K program takes, I was running a straight 30 minutes with no walking intervals (yay!). Today, however, jumped to the 10K part of the training and I had to run 10min/walk 1 min x 4 for a total of 40 minutes of running. It sucked. I made it, but I'm pretty sure I started going into respiratory distress, as my husband can attest to after having me call him from the treadmill gasping and asking for his inhaler. Regardless of the misery, I survived and will be treating myself to a homemade mini "Flight of Beers" (see future post) this evening.

I've also been using the MyFitnessPal application for the past 2 weeks to track calories and exercise. So far I've only lost 2 lbs but I'm holding out hope that my body is just being stubborn and will suddenly dump 5 lbs of fat overnight (let's ignore the medical issues with that dream). For now I'll just keep counting calories (boo) and trucking away on the treadmill.

Today I...

• Took Stetson for chemo treatment #3/4. His labs were all looking good- the oncologist's only concern was this skin infection he's had on and off for years, but has become more constant during chemotherapy. There's a chance it has developed into an antibiotic-resistant one. Fabulous. As long as the cancer is [mostly] gone then I'll tackle the skin. Sigh. Poor dog never catches a break. Luckily the limping is going away with the NSAID's and he came right home, went on a walk, and gobbled down a LOT of food.
• Ate lunch with my mom at Panera; we both had the salmon salad and new fruit smoothie. Between the two we got lots of protein although the smoothie did have Greek yogurt (probably bad for my face); it all tasted yummy though!
• Did AB and I's weekly shopping at WalMart. I boycott that place at least once a month. Today I was reminded why.
• Completed Day 3 of the Couch-2-10K. The program has you do 3 days/week but because I need the exercise I'm just aiming for 4 days (and repeating the 3rd day). It's a fairly easy intro into running though. I'm not sore and I'm not miserable...yet. That's a start.
• Tried coconut sugar. That's right, coconut sugar. It's still a mystery to me since coconuts aren't sweet but it made my coffee taste good.