81000

I must give a great shout out to my baby hitting 81k miles the other day! I remember when I got her, and she had just 100... which I was slightly annoyed about seeing as if you buy a new car, one would think she's have ZERO miles, but I see how that is not possible.

She is as beautiful today as the day I got her back in September of 2004, almost 6 years ago! Each ding and scratch to her exterior is just another battle wound of our adventures together! From trips to work and back, to Oregon and Arizona, and countless camping trips throughout the years.

She has been packed to the gils.

Ventured into Death Valley in July.

Had Grand adventures at the Grand Canyon

Slept next to Giant Redwoods

Crossed into Oregon state to Crater Lake while hauling a pop up camper

Each lost insect life was sacrificed in honor of our travels.

I could not do what I've been doing all these years without her help.

I love you! May you always be treated with the love and care that you give to me :)

Multitasker

So, my Gorillapod is a multitask-er! She's a tripod AND an Apple Holder!

We will be having a naming ceremony as soon as we figure it out.

Day 50

Holy Radio Silence Batman!

I'm not exactly sure when the universe open its mouth and swallowed me up, but I think it was sometime around Saturday after my 1 on 1 with Erika. It was a butt/hamstring/abs day. I worked hard, and its really hard for me NOT to complain during a working cause, well, I hate to work out. I did some convoluted sprinting/jogging/walking routine for the cardio portion, but worked with bars and balls and cones OH MY! Seriously, I think I did about 968 1/2 lunges.

When I staggered through the door at home, I took off my socks, shoes and pants and passed out on the couch for a nap...

a 2 hour nap!

All of the energy I ever found after that was to watch HGTV all afternoon, but it was probably because I had like, zero protein all day after. Crazy, I know. I need to be more conscientious. In the past when i'd "work out" I'd do some cardio and when it hurt, stop. The same went for the weights. But that's not an option with Erika and I'm really truly working out. So I need to make sure I'm fueling up! (note to self, Doritos are not proper "fuel")

My obsessive brain picked up a new toy yesterday...

Its called a Gorillapod.

Its not meant to replace a more traditional tripod, just act as a different type of tripod. I'm going to the beach for a week with just my thoughts, a book and my camera, so I'm hoping to get a lot of play time and inspiration in with my camera. Got to practice practice practice shooting so after I climb 8 miles, I'm don't waste my time taking crap photos!

Here is a search link for many ways in which people used their Gorillapod.

Gorillapod Demos

Day 45 Lions and Tigers and BEARS, OH MY!

I've had bears on the brain lately. It probably doesn't help that my boss keeps giving me "bear clips" to license.

I remember the first time I went camping in "bear country." We went to Sequoia National Park. We arrived very late to the campground and set up our tent as quickly as we could so that we could get a decent amount of sleep before the sun came up. That was the first time my campsite had a "bear proof container"

I slept, on edge that whole night, just knowing that there were bears looming around. Every sound I heard, whether it was someone walking to the bathroom, or a bug flying into the tent walls, I was aware of it all. Thank goodness, its Black Bear country, and not Grizzly Bear country, cause I could never do it then.

I've never seen a bear in the wild. They have all been behind glass or bars.

And I'd be lying to say that I want to... but at the same time, I kinda don't want to. Once when I was at Yosemite sleeping in housekeeping camp, our next tent neighbor said she saw a little guy crossing the Merced River just feet away from our site. YAY! I said with fright and disappointment.

I'm told I'm sure to see bears on the half dome Hike. Especially around "Little Yosemite Valley" at night. There is even a blog about the rangers who chase the black bears out of the campsites at Yosemite Village.

http://jeffreytrust.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/a-sneaky-bear/

I'll be sure to be armed with a bear bell when I start hiking. Perhaps I'll make a HUMUNGOUS bear bell to alert all the bears in all the acres of Yosemite NP (all 747,956 acres or 1,169 square miles) to stay away!

Day 44

Is everyone sitting? Ok, here we go... I couldn't WAIT to workout last night! I know, crazy, right! ME! (an investigation will begin today as to the whereabouts of the REAL Petunia)

I don't know, I guess maybe because the last time I worked out was LAST Tuesday (have been a bit of a bum) and that plan to take the stairs more and increasing the set each week... hasn't quite happened just yet. But I still think its a great plan. Just need to put it more in motion.

Last night kicked my butt! Instead of running up the steps of the parking garage, no, we jogged up the parking garage! It was pretty intense, but I was happy to say that I made it all the way to the roof without stopping once! Then after a 3-4 minute water break, we jogged down the shorter side of the garage.

I think the most exciting part of yesterday for me, was that Tamara brought a long a really cool looking hula hoop! It was colorful, detachable and made me feel like a kid again. Click on the HULA link for a better idea.

And the best part is, I was able to actually, HULA! For the first time EVER in my life I kept that thing around my waist. And it was more than fat keeping it up, but the centrifugal force of my hips! WOO HOO!!!!

This hula hoop has cool grooves and the pieces are colorful and detach for easy transport. But I would love to walk onto a subway holding this... I bet I would get loads of stares and attention. Tamara said that she'd keep it at work. I think it would be fun to have a couple goes on my lunch break :) Tamara is a pro though. Watching her... you could only imagine her moves on the dance floor. She reminded me of a mixture of Shakira and Beyonce in the music video "Baby Boy."

So, in the meantime, I'll practice practice practice!

Day 42

I know I need to drink more fluids. I’ve heard it time and time again, especially when I was actively doing Weight Watchers to drink 68oz of water/sugar free-non-decaffeinated liquids a day. I even heard to drink 1/2 of your body weight in oz. for me that would me about 75 oz... you do the math.

The other day when I was hurting after our cardio run/warmup, Erika was surprised that both Kazeem and I had not drank sufficient water throughout the day.... in fact, I would venture do say that I was probably REALLY dehydrated!

I’m a water drinker, when i remember to drink it. And that usually is the problem. I forget. And if I drink coffee in the morning (very routinely) I can nurse that coffee til noon.

So I’ve been making more of an effort to drink cold water and teas. I have been making huge batches of mint ice tea, along with a good amount of green tea and taking a few containers with me to work. And I found that making this more fun, is to have interesting containers sitting on my desk reminding me to DRINK DRINK DRINK!

Now, the bladder on the bottom is most commonly used for when I go hiking...

...but sometimes, I make exceptions!

So, my intentions are good. And if you don't find me at my desk... check the nearest ladies room!

I'm also excited to announce that I have received my very first comment!

I swear, its the little things in life that keep ya going!

Day 39

I got a Petzl Tikka Plus 2 LED Headlamp from REI back in June since I'm planning on starting my hike in the middle of the night so that I can get to the top of Half Dome by sunrise.

This headlamp has 2 light brightnesses and a flashing light. It also has a red light along with a red flashy light (sounds good while bike riding). The little light tilts up and down 3 clicks the whole thing is water proof. There is also a indicator light that tells you when the batteries are going dead!

It wasn't CHEAP. It wasn't EXPENSIVE. So it always makes me feel better when I can utilize objects for multiple purposes.

LOOK! I found a cup under my bed! What else is under here?!

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I can't help but get so excited when I get to give shout-outs to new Public Followers!

WELCOME #11, #12, & #13

Day 38

Here they are... my measurements. Broke out the old fabric tape measure and had Erika do the honors.

Arms - 14"

Hips - 43"

Thighs - 24"

Waist - 36"

Pretty much a size 8 (and if there was a lot of salt in my meals the day before, a very TIGHT size 8)

I feel stronger, but don't feel skinnier. But my patience is.... oh who am I kidding, I don't have any patience! I want it all NOW NOW NOW. So I get to work everything little by little.

Last night, my thighs were nice and firm probably from the DOS and I kept having my friend Jessi punch them so she could see how firm they were in that moment. It made me laugh. I think I asked her like 4 times. Good Times.

I figure we could wait until August 31 to see where we are at then.

Awesomeness

Leaping Lizards!!!!

10 public followers of my blog!

Thanks #9 & #10 for making me feel special enough to follow publicly!

Day 37

Well, today we had an extra friend working out with us! Kinda like when your neighbor's niece spends a week during the summer and there is a new kid on the block to play with! Bryan's own trainer is away this week so he joined our little "play" group.

As we were dragging our feet to the stairs, we attracted the attention of our Russian producer Sebastian who thought we were the funniest things, getting ready to run up and down 5 flights of stairs 7 times.

Now, Sebastian, is... the tallest man in the world. I'm convinced of it! He towers over me, and would make my 6'2 husband Brian look like a munchkin who belongs in Oz. Sebastian wanted to play too! So he put down the bag of bananas he was holding (which I could only imagine was his little afterwork snack, cause when you're THAT tall, I'm thinking just one banana won't do!) and started running up and down the stairs with us having fun as boys do when they compete.

His legs are so long that he would put a daddy long leg spider to shame. He was taking the steps 3-4 at a time. He eventually passed Byran and Kazeem.

When we were done with the steps he shouts "That was a fun warm up. Now, we run?" HA! someone should have kicked him in the shins.

I couldn't help but stand next to him to measure just how tall he is. His waist comes up right under my boobs. Below is a sketch of the highlights of the "warm up."

Sebastian went on home, and we continued on to our upper body circuit training. I HATE upper body exercises... pretty much cause I have ZERO upper body strength! But little by slowly, I'm seeing the tiniest of changes!

It was fun to have 3 people working out, but the perfectionist in me struggles to keep up with "the boys" who can lift more, run more, and withstand more. I kinda felt like the inside of an Oreo cookie.

Erika told me "Petunia, you can't compare yourself and your progress to other people. You can only compare it to yourself..." She doesn't know how true this rings and far beyond just exercising! I have a tendency of being hard on myself, but Erika always re-assures me that I'm doing great.

Day 36

Well, when I said that Erika was probably gonna "break me," and I wasn't kidding. (She must have read the blog before she planned the workout).

First, we started off at 6:30 am... on a Saturday... if THAT doesn't show dedication to train for this monster, I don't know what is!

1st exercise up? Yup, Suicides. Like I said, BREAK ME. If you have the pleasure of not knowing what 'Suicides' are, please reference back to day 17 for an outstanding diagram and description.

Erika is funny, and I'm stupid. She's like, "Petunia, there are more cones, but they are not as far apart as last time." "OKAY," I say, thinking this is easier. Of course I'm actually do MUCH more running than the last time.

Since I was the only one there, she ran with me. Which at first, I thought was nice, but then I became fully self conscious of how heavy I was breathing. I had visions of me looking like Professor Klump running on a treadmill. And of course, I was probably breathing a lot louder and harder in my head.

Check out my new outfit below in the sketch.



** please note that this sketch is NOT to scale. My arms are not that toned, my stomach is not that flat, and chest not that wide! **

This will be my new gym outfit. What is that over my face, you ask? Well, a sweatshirt, a plastic bag, a potato sac. ANYTHING, really, as long as my face is covered. I had the pleasure of eating 1 bug, (not that my 1/2 English Muffin with spray fake butter wasn't enough). Then 2 bugs flew into my right eye at separate times, and 2 flew up my nose. I mean, REALLY, can't they see its hard enough to work out! So with the new face protection method, I feel confident that I'll have some security from the little bastards. I haven't quite figured out how well I'll be able to breathe through the plastic/shirt/canvas, but we'll come to that when we come to that.

And please welcome and give a shoutout to Public Follower #8 !!! YAY. Welcome to the trail!