Restart of Zombies, Run 5 k

I'm restarting my plan to redo Zombies, Run 5k. Outside I'll be doing the 1st week and inside I'll be on whatever week I'm on. Right now it's week 4.  I have these great headphones called Yurbuds my husband got me. They let in ambient noise so I can hear the zombies and what is around me. I got the blue ones.
 Today was the first outside walk/run. I strapped on my water pack and headed out into the sunrise. There may have even been a slight spring in my step. :-0

The sun is just getting up.

It started out great. I went to the bike path because it's safe and I know it. On the way there I saw a pair of ladies doing their morning walk. One had a baseball bat and one had a golf club. They were very friendly and we all said hi. That reminded me I didn't have my stick with me, but nothing happened so it was all good.

I love trains!

I was going strong and enjoyed the first few running intervals. I was feeling cocky and smiling at the people I saw. I even pretended to race a train. It was great! A passing bicyclist said I was looking good, that made my day. I wonder if she knew I could hear her.

Pretty little flowers.

Shortly after the flowers my wonderful knee popped and that sucked. It hurt but I kept going, but there was no more running for today. I just tried to walk faster for those intervals.

Little mushroom.

It's sucked, it popped at the best running segment yet. I was feeling good and warm and floaty. Then bing out it goes. The walk home was slow and a bit painful, but I stayed upright. Thursday I'll try to remember my stick. Otherwise it was a great start to the day.

I was outside moving across the Earth under my own power in the coolish morning air. It was great! I can't wait to do it again, minus the pain.

Great Chinese Food Found!

One of my clients had one of their clients deliver for a meeting we had on Tuesday. It was the best Chinese food I've had in a loooong time! I'm going to take my husband on payday!
It's Brother's Noodles and they just opened. They do deliver, but call them to make sure they go to your place. The food is great!

Simple and concise.

I tried some of everything! 

The fried rice was almost as good as home made and those little pork dumpling things were amazing!

I have no idea what it was called, but the one in the middle was my favorite! 

The beef and broccoli was also great, the broccoli wasn't over cooked at all and the beef had flavor. There was also a really tasty dried tofu noodle dish that I didn't shoot. Everything I tried was really good. I think I've finally found a good Chinese restaurant! Thank you Tom for introducing me!

I can't wait to have some more,  and to share it with my husband. If you live in Tucson or are planning a visit you have to try them. Then let me know what you think!

Did too much yesterday.

Yesterday started out great. Husband and I went for a walk/run in the park. We ended up going almost 3 miles total. My knee felt strong so I did all the 30 second sprints for the workout and the knee lifts. I felt so good and springy. The walking parts were fun too and I saw some cool things.

Pretty little butterfly

Giant mushroom I thought was a bagel.

It's missing a wing, but still has attitude.

I have no idea what kind of bird that is, but it was having a great time playing in the pond then fanning its wings dry.

It was great. Fast forward a few hours and my knee is burning and throbbing a bit. I tried stretching it out, but nothing helped. finally before bed I took some Advil to chill it out. I don't know why it hates outside so much, asphalt is softer than concrete covered with linoleum, but stupid knee doesn't hurt when I run back and forth in my house. Maybe it's because I wear shoes outside.

Anyway I've come up with a plan that will hopefully work. I'll keep going on the new missions inside on most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'll start over on week one on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. That way I can still hear more of the story and stay engaged, but I'll be also building up outside strength more slowly. 

I've just been loving going outside and I'm not going to give it up, If I can only do 15 seconds at a stretch for another month I can live with that. I hate having to go slow now that I know I can run, I just have to make sure I don't make my knee worse by trying to go to much to soon.

Fun inside today

I got up excited today, I was going to go for a walk/run outside with my fancy new Camelbak Delaney belt. I was seriously lucky to find it in town and in the lovely purple color. I found it at Summit Hut, the same place I found my walking stick. I really should check them first instead of last.  I've used the bag once outside so far and I loved it, no more having to carry a slippery bottle in my hand!
Then I opened my door and was greeted with this.

My street's a river and the rain is finally here.

It was pouring rain and I'm not that confident in my knee to risk it. So I decided to do it inside. Again. I really wanted to go outside! Oh well, this is what GPS sees when I walk in my house.

I was going back and forth.

So far I'm really interested in the story for Zombies, Run 5k! I want to keep going each day, but I stop because I don't want to hurt myself. I'm also doing each mission at least twice to help me get stronger. I think it's working, now if I could just get outside.

Tomorrow I will hopefully get to play outside. On a happier note, the Hurricane Odile never hit us and we have just had cloudy skies for the past 2 days. I love cloudy skies. Maybe after work I can go play at the park if it's not to hot/humid.

Waiting for the storm

I'm working from home today due to the storm warnings about Hurricane Odile causing flash floods. I live in Tucson, the desert. Last Monday was a crazy rain day and this one is supposed to be even worse. So far it's just been drizzling steadily, but I'm not driving in it. What scares me is that the flash flood warning is through tomorrow evening. I've never heard of one so long here.
I went outside for a walk/run in the real world again this morning. I had wanted to do it yesterday, but it was raining yesterday morning. I'm on week 2 of Zombies, Run 5K and I'm loving it. If you join look me up; my screen name is Eibhir. Betty was taken.
For week 2 I get to run for 30 seconds in a row. I did fine in my living room yesterday, but that's about 10' one way then turn around. In the real world after the first 20 seconds my knee was twinging so I went back to walking. I also seem to be faster in my living room than in the real world, I would have figured the turning would slow me down. It was great, I started before the sun was out and as I rounded toward home I saw this pretty little flower.

Pretty purple flower.

I love the photos my new phone takes!

The other day the husband and I rescued some beetle larvae and I thought you might like to see them.  His dad had cut down their tree and they needed a new home. They are cool and dry to the touch. Also a bit squishy feeling and their little legs are very pointy. They were released near a palo verde tree. I hope they like it there.

Palo Verde Beetle Larvae

My aquaponics are still going strong. Well the tomatoes are, all the lettuce was crowded out by them. we put a plastic sheet around them to keep the cooler off. They are big, but no fruit yet.

Tomato plants

They roasted pepper seeds are also doing well. For something that was cooked they seem pretty hardy. If you look closely they even have small flower buds forming. I can't wait to see what kind of peppers they are, they bag just said roasted peppers on it.

Roasted peppers thriving.

I hope you all have a great day and try to stay dry. I want the storm to get here already!

Have Fun!

I'm Back!

Sorry I let life get in the way of blogging again. Summer is always so crazy and I don't even have human kids to blame it on. A ton of things have/are happening, a lot are boring, and some are really awesome.

Boring: I've been working super hard on my novel and a short story. The shorty will be self published by the end of next month on Amazon. After my last rejection I've decided to take matters into my own hands and do it myself. It's exciting for me, but boring to anyone outside my head because watching someone sit and type is blah. I have enjoyed scaring strangers at the store when I get a new idea by whipping out my voice recorder and saying scary things into it. a lot of people move away at that point.
I've been working on cleaning my house, it's not done yet. I don't think it will ever be done. I have decided that pine sol is the best cleaner in the whole world, but it will strip your skin off a bit after 45 min with out gloves. That could be why it works so well. It also get out the cat smell like nobodies business.
Got a new phone that takes better pics in low light than my camera, I hate my new phone for it.

Awesome: It's almost cool enough to go for bike rides again! In a month I'll be back to pedaling like crazy.
I'm finally making progress in learning the ukulele. I've been trying for about 2 years, but I wanted to play notes. I just can't beat into my brain where the notes are on the fret board. I've decided to learn chords instead and can now play 3 songs OK. My animals think I'm funny when I rock out on Polly Wolly Doodle and Hush Little Baby. 21 Songs in 6 Days by Rebecca Bogart and Jenny Peters is my secret weapon. I has however taken me a lot longer than 6 days, but I'm still moving forward.

The most awesome thing of all though. The absolute super excitingest thing in my little universe right now happened last night. A little back story first.
A long time ago I was a runner. I loved running and it was one of my favorite things in the world. Then I got hurt, my knee cap was cracked and there was no more running for Betty. Heck, walking was a pain. So I rode my bike and that was great, but I missed running. Then I hurt my knee again. I'm a dork. I got heavier, walking and biking got harder until I couldn't get my leg over the top tube without lots of pain. I was close to 300 lbs.
In January of this year my husband and I got fitbits. It was incentive for my to try and kick some butt. I lost a little weight and in March we got Sylvia. Thanks to her low step through and comfy ride I lost more and felt better, then summer came. I'm crazy, but not crazy enough to ride in that kind of heat so she sits behind the couch until later this year. I can't wait!
In the mean time I've been walking back and forth in my living room to get my steps in. It was boring, but effective. I started gently jogging in place during commercials and my knee didn't collapse! It felt good even. My ankle hurt though.
Then last week on Sept. 9th my darling husband got me the app Zombies, Run 5k training. It is great! I'm on the first week still, but it has given me back my running. The first workout I ran in place for the intervals. The second I ran back and forth in my living room. Nothing popped or snapped. There was no searing pain or soul crushing throbbing during or after the 15 second sprints. It was rocking!

Then yesterday morning we went outside! My husband and I went to the park for our walk and I ran in the real world for the first time in 3 years! It was the best 15 second sprints ever! I did it and there were no tears! I'm can run again!
It's only 15 seconds and I'm really slow, but dude I'm running!
Here's a screen shot off my Zombies, Run page. I'm so excited!