The Day I Wanted to Quit

Today was the day.

After a hard day yesterday, and waking up in pain due to the mystery shoulder injury, I was done.

I was done...but I wasn't.  I wanted to quit, I wanted to be done.

But that's not what I'm supposed to do.

Today, after a bad start and many tears, I brushed myself off and squared my shoulders.  I went to my networking meeting, and felt better afterwards.  I filled my calendar for the following week. I left, and then I discover this:

Lynne's article was in Drudge.

This is HUGE to a small news source; it's IMPOSSIBLE to feel bad with such fantastic news.  Shortly thereafter, I received another call, from one of my clients.  A television producer had read their articles in Prescott eNews, and wanted to do a television show about them.

Of course, they may have to close unless they figure out stage one fire restrictions...

I could not help but feel better about my job (I wasn't planning on quitting that, but the boost there did help me refocus my exercise energy) and I rethought the Fitness Quest.  I need more than one week at a facility; my CrossFit Prescott experience was the best thus far due to the fact I did two weeks.  I decided to discuss it with Lucille during Pilates.

Pilates.  This wonderful, intriguing new-to-me exercise.

Much more complex than it appears!

Just when I can't do one more, we switch.

Lucille readily agreed, and some stress was removed by knowing I had the time to truly explore "getting cooked."

Then more good news; Ered has a lilac bush.

My favorite flower.

He filled my arms with the scented blooms, and my soul was restored as I buried my face in their scent.

Then I picked up my painting, and hung it  in the place I picked out weeks ago.

Ian's painting of Prescott.  Love it!

The King of the Central Highlands arrived, and surprised me with a sweet change of plans.  It's our 17th wedding anniversary this weekend, and he's taking me away.

Exercise will be a part of my life, hopefully for the rest of my life.  This morning (and yesterday) were just moments.  Hard moments, but just moments.  My quest continues, and it's going to be ok.

THIS WEEKEND we have a GUEST BLOGGER!!  Troy is on his own Fitness Quest, which he will be sharing with you over the next few days.  The funny thing is we've met only once, when he was 16 and I was 15, out at Lori Lane (do you remember this, Troy?  It's in my journal from that trip!) We were introduced by my BFF Rochelle, who delighted in both of our quests, and thought we could encourage one another.  THANK YOU, Troy, for taking it on!

Happy 17th Anniversary, King of Athletics! 

22: The Nutrition Quest

Well, it's time to address the dreaded issue of food.

I love great food.  I'm a foodie spoiled by farm to table restaurants.  I adore deep sea fish and Hawaiian fusion cuisine.  Unfortunately, none of those things exist in Prescott, Arizona.

Thank God for Chef Stephen & Chef Paul at Nastee Dogs, however.  They have a HUGE Kickstarter party tmrw at 5pm, St. Paddy's Day!

With the exception of outstanding hot dogs, there's not much here (oh, there are some good places, but if they aren't a client of mine I'm not mentioning them) and I'm not a big fan of cooking.

Because no one likes to do dishes in our house, and I refuse to buy a new dishwasher when the teenagers are perfectly capable.

So, I eat when I'm hungry.  Like at 3pm.  For the first time of the day (sans my morning cup of joe.)

Which means I'm like this quite often.

Which apparently means my body is in:

I'm not certain that's real...yet.

So today, I met with my health coach, Jim Turner.

Hmmm.  My face is kinda fat.  This was three weeks ago.

He's teaching me to unthink all my bad, not eating food habits and to think of food as fuel.

I'm partial to rocket fuel, myself.

It was only our first meeting, so he gave me a reading assignment and an invitation to do get my BMI done (body mass index.). I agreed, but went for a hike first.

I was still mad about stuff (I'm not good at letting stuff go, you may have noticed my obsessive hatred of exercise, for example.)  I was so mad I decided to hike the hike I hate the most:  the steep side of Thumb Butte on #33.

Becky chose the path to the left.

I hate this hike.

This is totally faked, but pretty telling of my loathing.

Air monster lives here.

We started up, I stopped to stretch my calves.  That didn't count as a stop.  Air monster announced his presence, I stopped and waited until he left.  Darth Vader starts demanding to know where are the plans he sent me.

That's what my text tone is.  Sometime I tell him I've received no transmissions.

It was hard texting while hiking, so I stopped to answer it.  Then another text. And another.  

Is it a coincidence Ian can drive and text since he was not hiking?  Hmmm.

Tracy was much kinder in her texts.  She sent me this:

I gave her a shout out on Facebook for it.

Our hike was actually rather uneventful, and dare I say, almost pleasant?

I did stop to read history.  It's important.

Becky stopped to show off the green grass.

All in all, we were SHOCKED to find ourselves at the top 21 minutes after we left.

Granite is in the distance -our planned Thursday hike.

We only stopped three times to catch our breath.  The other three times were to answer texts, take photos and stretch.  (Maybe we stopped more than just three times.)

It was a very good hike.

My mood had improved remarkably, and we got done in record time (who knew I could get faster.)  I headed off to sit in a pod in my undies.

No picture of that, folks.  Move along, move along.

Turns out my BMI is a whopping 31%, meaning I have excess fat and should drop 19lbs to have an ideal BMI.

I told Jim that morning I wanted to weigh 140lbs.  He thought that thin for my height.  After the pod, the computer said I should weigh between 139-141lbs.  

That's B I N G O!

19lbs, eh?  Eat six times a day as fuel, NOT a diet? (Nope-no diet for me, just a change in when I eat habits.)

I was right!  Much less fat on the face!  The other photo was three weeks ago.

Bring it on.  I actually left a cheese Danish uneaten today.  What other powers do I possess?

17: The Big Break

After ten days straight of exercise, I took a break.

Well, sorta.  I worked today (did you all know I have a job?) and spent time with my girls.

Because isn't it convenient one of my clients is Nastee Dogs:)

If you haven't been to Nastee Dogs yet, you are missing out.  They make EVERYTHING from scratch-even the mayonnaise, ketchup & mustard.  

This is Chef Paul checking on the links-yes, they make those from scratch, too.

I had a full afternoon of meetings and interviews, and returned home feeling good.

Like really good.

Like, this good:

Maybe it's because I was wearing a princess t-shirt with sparkles.

Snow White.  Not my favorite princess, but they didn't have my size in the Cinderella one.

All I know, is I felt like I actually accomplished something today.

I did not exercise (well, walking six blocks downtown is probably mild exercise) and today was all about business.

I love business.  I love growing businesses.  For twelve years I not only sold things, I trained and built businesses.

I loved the awards ceremonies as you can see:)

I was really pretty good at it; then the company closed.  Days like today remind me that there is something I'm really good at-and it's been too easy to dwell only on what is not working lately. Fitness is an entirely new challenge for me, one I have failed to master my entire life.  Business is something I love; I can feel myself easing into this new cockpit with anticipation, familiarizing myself with the instruments.  This weekend I'll write my flight plan, and by next week I should be pushing the throttles forward.

I'm sorry, but I love this plane.  Can anyone manage to get me a ride as a RIO?

Just as the Fitness Quest has pushed my physical limitations, my new job is pushing back some old barriers I had erected.  While the runway isn't quite cleared, I'm getting ready to taxi out to it.

I know, it's a Piper Warrior & not an F-14.  But when I picture taxiing, this is my real life experience.

I'm 6, Dad is 38.  We flew a lot together; as the oldest daughter of an Air Force vet with no sons, I come by my love of flight righteously.

So it's time to open the little window, yell "all clear!" and start the prop.  My one-day break from exercise has restored my hope in what I do, and what I'm about to do.  It's time to slip the surly bonds of Earth, and dance the skies on laughter silvered wings.

To hell with "exercise."

It's time to fly.

2: My Secret Crush Revealed

The events of Monday morning were still prominent in my mind as I headed into boot camp at 8am the next day.  Surprisingly, I was only mildly sore for being so out of shape; my hiking the weeks prior must have had some impact.  Not that I was engaged; while I enjoyed the camp, I was far from sold that exercise needed to be a part of my daily lifestyle.  Trudging into the gym, imagine my immediate delight to see my friend Kristen, ready to start the camp.

Kristen helpfully posing for me.

Having a friend to greet me was an unexpected bonus.  I immediately noted how much easier the day's activities seemed with her by my side; after all, I am used to hiking with a partner.  This was the dreaded cardio day, which I had already decided would likely kill me.

It didn't.

I have to admit to surprise - I could breathe the entire time.  Yes, it was hard.  Yes, it took me to places my muscles had never been.  But every time I thought I would need a drink due to my throat closing, Sgt. Steve would stop the set. 

I probably shouldn't start sentences with But.

Mrs. Bohs is probably rolling in her grave.

If she is dead.   I couldn't find her obituary.  So, Blair Bohs, if you are still alive out there, I apologize for starting a sentence with But.  I can see your red ink line prominently struck through it, really I can.  I can also remember sitting right behind Tony McCarthy, who wrote the most ghoulish things and was my antagonist until I developed a raging crush on him.  Not that I should mention that, right?  It was 29 years ago....(OH MY WORD WE ARE OLD, PEOPLE!!!)

This is our sophomore yearbook.  Can you find me?

This was during my "Alien Bond" phase of life.  I was determined to write a Star Trek novel.  Rarely was I seen without a pen in hand; rarely has there been such a struggle to write dialogue.  Now I know you just write and keep on writing; back then I just gave up.  I no longer wanted to write (even though I did.  This will make more sense after you read Friday's blog.  Really.)  Right, fitness.  Fitness Quest.  Not, "oh, look at how funny we all looked in high school" quest.

I'm off track because I really don't want to put up the next two pictures.  It was decided after class that I needed "before pictures" for my fitness quest (thank GOD Almighty Himself none existed of me in the skirt that started this all.  Horrifying.)

Yes, I see my left hip is higher than my right.

Yep.

What really sucks about these pictures is I'm trying to stand up straight and watch my posture.  As you can see, my husband has just reason to hate my thighs (but if there was a third picture featuring my backside, you'd see why he doesn't complain too much, and why I was voted "best butt" at my last job.  Seriously.  Precisely the reason I don't go to Company Christmas Parties is to avoid comments like that.)

After class, I headed to Starbucks to do the "working" part of my job as a media specialist.  I was pleased with my progress after a lackluster first week, and was excited to share my results with Becky, my hiking partner for the day.

Becks & I at the start of our hike.

We chose to hike in the Willow Lake Dells; a fantastic area in Prescott filled with "massive boulders of ancient rock have weathered into delicately balanced forms and fanciful shapes."  It cost $2 to park, so we ditched Becky's car at the grocery store across the street, because, let's be real, two dollars is two dollars.

It had been awhile since I had hiked the "Polka Dot Trail," so named as you are following white dots across the rocks, instead of a traditional path.  We quickly decided that a regular feature of our hikes had to be the "OH MY WORD WE LIVE HERE" picture - as we were so astounded by the beauty of the area.

Of course we have to be IN the picture to prove we were there.

We were about a half mile in the Dells when we came across a man in a trench coat with his dog.

I'm not kidding - a trench coat.

Becky, the proud Mama of four pooches, cooed at the sight of the pup.  The Trench Coat man kept his back to us.  We kept walking...at a much quicker pace than before.

"Are you carrying?" we almost asked the question to one another simultaneously.

This is my gun:

Just like James Bond.

No, I was not carrying it at the time, nor did Becky have her's on her.

Dang it.

We are so blessed to live in the United States, where we have the right to bear arms.  I know many women (and men) who say they never feel the need to protect themselves, and go hiking by themselves all the time.

Tell that to Cathy Sposito, who was killed while hiking Thumb Butte.  Other hikers heard her screaming, but could not get to her in time.  I'd like to think that I'm safe every time I hike, but that would be naive to do so.  Becky and I saw no one else during our hike, in a fairly remote area.  Being armed is just being smart; we vowed to carry our next time out.

Boulder Loving.  Hard to believe my before pictures were taken earlier in the day.

To say we loved our hike is an understatement; we made plans to hike again later in the week and to do a rim-to-rim in the Canyon in September.  Because we live in Arizona, and we can do that.

Plus we are going to make this our career!!I ended up doing two sales calls in my hiking clothes, but because this is Prescott, I actually made both sales.

I ran home and showered, made two sales calls while fairly exhausted and then I ate this:

Organic means no calories, right?

This is a Frau Buchler Nastee Dog.  Divine.

By the time I got home, the dogs had made a mess.  I started losing my battle to stay awake.

Oops!  Time to write.

Fitness Quest: Kickstart Boot Camp for Women