It’s here! 2010 has arrived! I’m so glad – 2010 is going to be a HUGE year for me. And, I mean this both literally and figuratively. Literally, because I am looking to gain about 30 pounds, wear bigger clothes, eat (almost) whatever I want during the next six months. What the heck are you talking about, Iron Mom? Well… I’m having a baby!! Very happily and after much trying, my husband and I are pregnant with our second child. I, however, am the one carrying the brunt of this status! But after starting to think that it wasn’t going to happen for us again, we’re really just so excited to have this baby coming to us in July!

As you might recall, I’ve dedicated myself recently to testing out different workout programs around the city, then reviewing them here in my blog. Week two of my testing brought… BOOT CAMP!!

My guinea pig days have begun! In the coming months, I’m going to be testing out workout options at different places around the city and reviewing them for my blog. (Awesome gig, right?) The first thing I wanted to try has become all the rage at the Earlywine YMCA. It’s a class called ZUMBA! From my initial observations, it looked pretty much like a dance party held in the aerobics room. “No worries,” I thought, “I can dance!” And, they offer two different Zumba classes – the original and a class called Zumba Gold for those who might want to take it a bit slower.

What is it that they say? The only thing certain in life is its uncertainty? Something like that. That’s been the story of my life lately. I wrote last time about how I’ve had to really start to hold myself to a schedule to get all the things done that need getting done in my life right now. Well, these last two weeks were one huge wrench in all my planning.

I’ve never been a true fan of the vegetable. I grew up eating a lot of potatoes, (not a true vegetable) and corn and green beans. If it was (and mostly, still is) green, I don’t really care about it. It’s wrong, I know! And, I’m teaching my kid better – she LOVES broccoli. (Insert gag.) But, I didn’t tell Mari this when she invited me to the opening of a new OKC restaurant called 105degrees. She did tell me that it was a raw foods restaurant, so I should have figured that the menu would consist mostly of things that won’t poison you if you eat them raw. I gotta say, I just didn’t put that much thought into it. I just thought it sounded cool to be invited to an opening of anything! And, it seriously was cool! Also, being invited to a raw foods restaurant reminded me of the Sex and the City episode where Samantha meets the hot (HOT) waiter who later becomes her boyfriend. But, I digress….

To say that I’m juggling things in my life right now would be an understatement. And, although it’s happy juggling, I’m finding the need to take some time to really figure it out. Finding a place for fitness in all of the new things I’m doing is important to me, as I know it is for a lot of moms out there. How am I going to do it?

I started back to the BFL workouts this week. I think the last one I did was about six weeks ago. I just got back from visiting my family for a few weeks in Minnesota. (I know. By now you must be thinking that all I do is travel around the country avoiding workouts. Not so.) I went on a few really good runs while I was there. The weather was perfect for running! I woke up to temperatures in the 60’s most days. (I know it was triple digits here in OKC. Sorry to rub it in.) Aside from good weather, my hometown is a great place to run. A town of about 5000 people, Luverne, MN is kind of like someplace that’s jumped off a Norman Rockwell painting. It’s safe and beautiful. Wide open spaces and corn fields, to boot!

No kidding! On Friday morning I ran five miles. Those five miles brought me to 1000 miles on my Nike+ running monitor. Can you believe it? I’ve been anticipating this goal since about mile 900. A little more than two years ago my husband bought me the Nike+ monitor when I started running after I had my daughter. I don’t think he realized at the time what kind of motivation he was handing me.

Saturday was race day – The Downtown Dash 5K. I wrote before that my goal was 27 minutes. HA! What was I thinking? First of all, it was hot. Damn hot. And humid. Which, in and of itself, is a pretty good excuse for missing my goal. So, I’ll go with that one. I finished in 28:33. Not a bad time by any means. As a matter of fact, I came in 4th place in my age division. So, out of 29 women between the ages of 35-39, I came in 4th. I’ll take it! Right away after the race I was kind of beating myself up about not achieving my goal. But, then I started thinking about just how long is 90 seconds. That’s what I missed my goal by – 90 seconds. That’s nothing! Pity party OVER! Bring on the next race, please!

Although I haven’t been following the Body for Life plan to the letter, I’m finding that what I like to do really kind of falls in line with it. I’ve been keeping up pretty well with the BFL weight training. It’s an easy plan to follow, and I think I’m even starting to see some results. My arms are more toned and I can see some definition across my shoulders and chest. Also, I feel pretty good that I can see my collar bone. That sounds kind of weird, right? But, seeing my collar bone always makes me feel pretty.

The wagon... Where is that stupid wagon? Because surely I’ve done much more than fall off of it. I can’t even see the wagon. I wish I could say that the Body for Life fitness plan has been easy to stick to. But, for me, it has not. And, it’s no fault of BFL. It’s completely my fault. I’ve let the completion of a race, a few trips away from home, and my basic disregard for all things vegetable, along with my complete regard for all things fried and margarita, to come between me and completion of this program.

So I was able to convince the girls that we should re-do week four of our Body for Life (BFL) plan. Which, I only half did. After running the half marathon last weekend, I sort of felt entitled to a little break. So, I really didn’t do any cardio in Week Four Revisited. I like to think of it as spreading out the 13 miles I ran on Sunday to cover three, four-mile runs. That counts, right?

Now I’m here on Tuesday of what is supposed to be my BFL week five. My family is traveling again this week. We’re in San Antonio - a city I absolutely LOVE! I lived here for five years in the late 90’s. I spent my single, mid-20’s eating and drinking my way through this city. It’s like coming home for me. I am certain that one taco place in particular is responsible for at least ten of the pounds I carry around! I took my husband to my favorite margarita place last night. It was as amazing as I remembered. Needless to say, the BFL meal plan ain’t happenin’ this week! But, I’m kind of on vacation. (Nice try at an excuse, I know!)

It’s done. I ran my third half marathon yesterday. I say “third” rather than “last” because I know that I can never say “last,” or my husband might try to hold me to it. And, what would be worse is if I felt like I had to hold myself to it. After my first half, I did say that I’d never do it again. But, as soon as “training season” started around the first part of the next year and everyone started running, I almost couldn’t not do it. It’s addictive. The part that’s addictive, for me anyway, is the goal. I love having something that I’m working towards. Certainly, maintaining good health and my figure are goals, but not in the same way as having a date set that you’re holding yourself to something. I think I need the goal.

Easter! AAAGGGHHH! You know what that means… Cadbury Mini Eggs are in supply right now. And, so are Peeps and so are those sinful Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs! And, JELLY BEANS!! Follow that up with a meal of ham and potatoes and pie and…. The Easter Bunny brought it ALL to my house. All efforts to stick to this meal plan were in vain, right? I kinda just gave into it last weekend. But, as I finish week three, aside from last weekend, I’ve done pretty well this week in terms of sticking to the meal plan. I’ve tried some new recipes and discovered a new salad dressing that made a couple of really great meals.

Our first week of workouts is behind us. Whew! I feel really good about it. As we move through this second week, my girlfriends are finding that they’re not as sore as they were in the first week. And, I don’t think that they quite believe me that it’s okay not to be that sore this week. My friend Christy is the most adamant about this. She’s the one who will push it to the limit EVERY SINGLE TIME we work out. She’s my running partner also and I see her do this all the time.

Yesterday we did our first lower body workout per the Body for Life (BFL) plan. Oh. My. Gawd. It was really just a series of squats and lunges with increasing weights, decreasing repetitions—just like the upper body workouts. Oh, and some leg presses and calf raises. But, today I really felt it. One of my workout buddies wouldn’t do the final set of lunges with the weights because she was afraid it would make her too sore. I’ll just go ahead and say right now that she’s the smartest of the three of us.

The decision has been made. Two of my girlfriends and I started the Body for Life program today. Why Body for Life? It’s because they have great “before” and “after” photos. Each cover of the book is lined with photos of seemingly average people who have made amazing physical changes to their bodies in a mere 12 weeks. Allegedly. So, I’ve got 12 weeks to transform myself from pretty-much average to amazing. That’s the goal, anyway. However, that also means, I also need to take a “before” picture.