April 15-21st Fitness Recap

Sun: 2 hour swim session
Mon: 70 weight training
Tues: 45 min swim practice
Wed: 65 min weight training
Thurs: 60 min swim session (am)
Thurs: 40 mins swim session (pm)
Fri:     70 mins weight & cross fit training
Sat:    75 min bike assessment & 1.8 mile walk

*And after all of that, I intentionally omitted running and I'm glad I did; there was no room for it (really lol). The upcoming week will have biking and running added to the above madness.

Your money & potential interest

We all know our interest rates our bank accounts aren't what they use to be; however, we still need to shop around.

We all received our 2011interest statements from our respective bank's to file our taxes recently and many of us simply shook our heads as how low it was, right?

Well, if you're fed up and would like a more reputable place to stash your pennies, consider your local credit union. By far their overall business practices and interest are better than those of the mainstream banks.

With that being said, I pleased so far with 2012's interest. I have earned roughly $60 off of my savings accounts with the CU as of early April.

My goal is to research ways to have my money grow faster without drastic risk.

How much interest have your earned in 2012 thus far?Do you know your interest rate and/or shopped around for better places to put your funds. If so, do share with everyone.

April is Financial Fitness Month at my job so there will be many articles available. And yes, I will make the time to read, apply and invest in my financial future. Do not worry, I'll be sure to share some information with you. I know my AP will love to read it ALL (LOL).

Me, Taxes & Big brother

Taxes~

No one likes paying them, right? Well perhaps only the 1% who gets taxed a third of what the rest 99% of the working people do. Now, I'm still baffled who came up with that theory and more importantly, why hasn't it been changed YET since there are more of us than them. But in our society it all boils down to who holds the most power and that of course is tied to the big dollars.

Well, as a working citizen without any children, paying taxes became the norm for several years to the point where my taxes were always done at the last minute or with an extension. Part of it may be that I do not have enough taxes taken out tthroughout the year but who said tax refunds were guaranteed or that I'll be alive each spring to get what shouldn't have be deducted in the first place (my analogy and I'm sticking to it...lol). 

At any rate, I've been having to pay back less and less in the past three years and FINALLY this time around; I'm getting back a refund from both the State and Federal (whoooo). Last year I got back for one but owed on the other which was still better than the year before of paying roughly one thousand dollars (and with that being the least ever owed, I sped to the credit union just before closing to get a cashier's check). That's correct, I was that excited. 

So, the question toiling in my head is what should be done with my refund coming to me.....let's face it my small refund is nothing in comparison to what the average American gets but it's almost doubled what I received last year.

I do plan on making good use of "some" of it in a way that will be visible to me. The options are endless (well not really but you get my point). Can you tell I'm excited? 

I'll have an update by May 20th to outline how it was used if not sooner.  

Swimming-I must learn this sport!!!

The sport of swimming and I have collided and we must end up best friends ASAP!!!!

What is the urgency and why now may be questions swirling around in your head right now?? Well, I've decided to train and complete my first Triathlon on July 15, 2012; Ramblin Rose, Rock Hill, SC. It includes swimming, running and biking and currently I'm in the bubble blower category (below the beginners). This is a huge task to achieve since I nearly drowned at Atlanta's Six Flags theme park with a lifeguard standing right there (he tried to tell me to swim as I'm trying but could not tell him I cannot...bad memories). So, I do have pool fears and phobias to overcome as I work on learning how to swim and eventually becoming a great swimmer.

Tri It For Life is a 12 week program that can help you get ready for your Triathlon so with this knowledge and in expensive way of learning how to swim, I signed up for a Triathlon. At first I turned down the dozens of invitations due to my private concerns and circumstances above but reality finally kicked in when I looked at it rationally (12 weeks of training session (16 weeks for bubble blowers) once a week for a nominal cost of $50 along with a mock triathlon; and numerous sessions on running, biking, adequate gear safety and the priceless opportunity to meet other women overcoming their own fears). There are a lot of vital mechanics to learn and it will take plenty of patience and practice to become successful. Naturally, I am grateful not to be a novice runner or bike rider as well (that would be a bit too much even though many ladies are novice in all three categories). I missed my third swimming session while in Charleston, SC for Cooper but I did make it up. It was possible due to finally getting a YMCA membership at an affordable rate thanks to a family plan. 

I picked up my membership card on Thursday and did a solo swim session on Saturday for seventy minutes. I put it on my mental calendar and made myself go even though I really did not want to especially after a hilly 6.2 mile run. The water felt great and I practiced a few of my techniques and successfully back floated from one end of the pool to the next and turned right back around without having to stop. I'm so proud of myself since three weeks ago at the assessment my instructor could not successfully help me float. The next Sunday a different instructor worked with me and I improved a lot. However, I do know it's imperative that I get in the pool weekly to practice. My AP is a runner like myself and since she's working on improving her running skills, she decided to borrow books from the library and suggested I pick up some on swimming. I did; and I'm learning a lot so far (reading the information, seeing it on video and putting it to practice will help me). Three swimming books were read through over the weekend as I worked on my To Do List. 

Swimming highlight to date:

Finally, I met a gentleman in the pool (4/7/2012) who took one lesson and is now teaching himself how to swim. I was able to pass along a few tips to him and look forward to seeing him in the pool and thriving on his exceptional level of motivation and tenacity to learn how to swim (even if I never see him again).

Last year I picked up running and it came somewhat natural to me and this year it is swimming and "boy" is it a challenge. Nonetheless, I live for a good challenge and this surely is one~swimming. 

My next goal is to explore swimming videos and incorporate swimming into my weekly physical activities ASAP. 

Look out for an update really soon :)! 

My 1st 10K~Cooper River Bridge~

Who would have thought I would be running??? Not me this time last year...boy can things quickly change and or evolve in one's life.

I really wanted to get my legs toned so my gym buddy from the YMCA finally begged me enough to come out and walk the massive hills with them at 5 am during the week. I felt as though no further progress was happening so I decided to give it a try and everything slowly progressed from there. At this point, my AP was training via C25k to gear up for her 5K run (3.1 miles) and clueless me didn't have a clue about the program or the distance associated with the various races (5K, 10K, 13.1K etc). Like I said, running was not on the radar. Eventually, I invited a friend to join us in the mornings and walking the hills finally turned into sprinting them. A month later, I found out about Black Girls RUN! and joined my local group which allowed me to meet/run with various newbie runners and a few veterans also. I call it a huge fitness party with TONS of support, accountability and encouragement.

During the fall months, I ran one to three times per week, weight trained in the mornings and continued to sprint the hills (before going to the gym) weekly until the weather got too cold for me. In late October and early November, I ran my first two 5K's and never thought twice about running a 10K (6.2 miles) race. Well, the Cooper River Bridge Race scared and excited me tremendously due to the popularity and size but I finally took a leap of faith and signed on up for it (I always wanted to visit Charleston, SC and many of my running buddies were doing it for the first time) in January.  Here's my results:

Distance	10K
Clock Time	1:19:41
Chip Time	1:01:44
Overall Place	10871 / 36751
Gender Place	4158 / 21821
Division Place	752 / 3183
Age Grade	49.3%
5K	0:31:20
Pace	9:57

My goal was a 10 minute pace; so I'm especially happy with the final results since my knees were bothering me since early February due to intense cross fit and weight training. Furthermore, once the race started, my left knee along with my right and left sides began paining me but stopping was not an option so I prayed and laid hands on those areas while running. My mind said keep it moving up and over that darn bridge. Naturally, I plan on beating my time at the second go round.

With 44,000 runners, it was quite an experience despite the race starting over an hour late and being lied to as we stood in our corrals anxiously waiting to begin. Besides the mentioned hiccups above, I had a challenging yet pleasant race.

See you next year COOPER!!!

Milestones~milestones!!!

I cannot believe so many years have passed by since these decisions were made....no cheating went down either on my quest....I'm enjoying this journey even with all the craziness that comes with being ME:)!

So, it was 19 years ago as a middle school-er that I decided to stop eating meat; and 10 years ago as a senior in college (on the Tuesday before Easter) that I decided the piece of chicken in my hand would be my last eaten. And more recently, 3 years ago this past March, I decided to stop eating fish along with the few by-products consumed and become a vegan and natural (chemical free) lady. I was thinking about it for years and saw it as one of my life long goals so I made it a reality right after my 29th birthday (sooner than later). The goal was to become vegan by birthday but fish was consumed while celebrating in Florida so it became official March 2009. As it relates to partaking in social and work related gatherings, it has been very challenging but I've stuck to my values and got through it. Many have not and will not be accommodating but it's become a more known and/or respected lifestyle; hence many reputable restaurants' customer driven are trying to appeal to every potential patron. With that being said, vegans will always have home cooked food within arms reach even when they have called ahead. I find it refreshing to know we all have that same thing in common (LOL). The journey thus far has made me a stronger person, more accepting of others overall and it has forced me to connect more intimately with the world and all of God's creations. What intrigued me? I really wanted to see if living off of God's green earth was truly possible and went for it after doing some research. And for the past thirty-six months, that has been my mission and my recent nutritional analysis panel concluded I'm in great health and NOT deficient which is usually the sermon preached by non vegans about vegans (sounds crazy, huh?).  I've always loved a challenge and this is surely a keeper for many reasons. As I live to find myself, I also seek to be a greener being with little carbon print on our planet for the generations behind of me. Ironically, green has always been my favorite color and now, it's awesome to color my life "greener".

Cheers to staying true to thy self (regardless of what the naysayers yell from the mountain top).

LIVE*GROW*LAUGH