Hog wild over beans and barbecue

2004-07-02 - 9:43 p.m.

This week I've been getting up at six every morning and going for a jog. So ok, I've done it four times so far. I have every intention of doing it again tomorrow, but after that who knows. But you know that will power thing I was talking about not having any of before? Well, this week it seems to be back. I have will power once again! Ok, so last night I had a bit of a slip up in the munchies department, but I was able to compensate for it today and the slip up while still avoidable by me was definitely helped by my folks. Let me tell you about it.

For starters yesterday my parents and I went down to old town Folsom to see the cattle drive. It happens every year, but we've never been, so this year we finally went. It was actually mostly a parade. And the whole "cattle drive" bit was an exaggeration, I'd say. There were maybe 50 steers in this cattle drive. But they still trotted right down the middle of Sutter Street and ate the flowers, so it wasn't a complete wash. At any rate, the cattle drive was a prelude to the Folsom Rodeo, and since we were there and since I'd never been to a rodeo we decided to buy tickets to last night's rodeo.

As we left Folsom that afternoon, everyone else was leaving too, and there was quite a bit of traffic. Since we were nearby, my dad suggested that we go to WinCo to get some trail mix to take with us to the rodeo that evening. I have a soft spot for WinCo trail mix and I'm really trying to stick to the diet so I suggested that we not buy any. I was voted down though, so we bought some.

After doing that bit of shopping my mom suggested that we go to Subway for lunch. I only had two Weight Watcher's points left for the day, though, and no matter what Jared may tell you, there's nothing you can get at Subway that will fill you up in two points. So I suggested we eat lunch at home instead. Again I was overruled. I was beginning to get pretty annoyed by the lack of cooperation I was receiving from my parents, but I managed to negotiate a compromise and we went to Taco Bell instead where you can get a fresco style soft taco for 3.5 points.

That evening when we went to the rodeo, my mom packed us each a zip-lock baggy full of that trail mix. While we were watching the show, she took one out and handed it to me. At first I tried to resist. Then I decided I would "just have a little." Famous last words, eh? Yeah, I ate the whole bag. So there it was last night and I had already eaten all my points that were supposed to last me through 4pm today. But guess what, I made it all day and only ate 1 point. I skipped breakfast and then had a salad for lunch. I have to admit I was hungry, but I totally rocked with the will power thing.

I have a feeling that this week I will lose some weight. I put on five pounds while I was in Houston. Why is it so dang easy to put weight on and so dang hard to get it off? Unfortunately, this weekend is the Fourth of July so it's not going to be easy to stick to the diet. The main trouble is that it's expected that I eat everything and if I don't then it's an issue everyone takes notice of.

But anyway, the rodeo last night was fun. It was my first rodeo and I'd have to say it was worth the money. Didn't meet me any good-looking cowboys, though. Oh well. The only part I didn't like was the fireworks. They were too close and too bright. Apparently not everyone else agrees with me on that, but they really hurt my eyes. I was watching them through slitted lids and still the tears were rolling down my cheeks. Oh, and there was one in-between-events show I really didn't like either. It featured a guy riding a 1700-pound Brahma bull that was totally tame. He rode it around the arena, had it lay down and roll over, zig-zag through flaming torches, and walk on it's front knees. I thought it was horribly degrading for the bull. Maybe I shouldn't care, after all there were lots of animals in all the other shows and events and I didn't mind how they were being treated much, but watching that huge bull with that little man on his back just made me sick and sad. Ah well, here's a quick rodeo picture for you:

And just for my own records, I'll share my jogging news too. Yesterday I ran 5.3 miles in 57:47 which is a pace of 10:54. Today I ran 2.7 miles in 25:56 which is a pace of 9:36.

Oh, do you remember I told you I got a blister on my foot from running on Wednesday? Well, on Thursday I put a band-aid on it before I went running, but the band-aid didn't stay put and I ended up tripling the size of the blister. The blister is now roughly the size and shape of my whole thumb. So this morning before I ran I put a giant-sized band-aid on it and then taped the band-aid on by wrapping sports tape around my foot. It still hurt a bit to run (which is why I only ran 2.7 today), but I think I didn't make it worse. At least not much worse.

Oh, and one more quick story. When I come to the end of my jogs I always try to sprint the last bit. I use the term "sprint" loosely--I just go as fast as I can and sometimes that's not very fast. I start the sprint at the stop sign at the mouth of my cul-de-sac and sprint all the way to my house which is just about at the end of the cul-de-sac. Once I get home, I walk around in circles in my driveway to cool down until I've caught my breath. While I was circling this morning I heard my neighbor from across the street and down one having a conversation with his girlfriend. His house is east of mine and the sun was just coming up so I couldn't see him or her at all through the glare of the sun. And in fact, I couldn't understand what he said either. I could hear that he said something and then I heard his girlfriend say, "She doesn't jog, she runs! I wouldn't be able to keep up!" Then I heard him say something again but I couldn't understand what. I'm not sure why, but I was really embarrassed to know they were talking about me. And looking at me. Especially since I couldn't see them. And since I know that what she said wasn't true. A few moments later when my circling brought me near my front door, I slipped inside. "And I'm incredibly unfriendly, too," I wanted to add.