Monday, June 28, 2010

>Back to reality.

>And facing reality.
I weighed in this morning realizing I gained 3 pounds while on vacation. I excpected a gain, as I had said before. AF arrived and I didn't exactly eat only healthy foods while on vacation. I had cake (it was my baby girl's 7th birthday!!!). I had a cookie or two. And there were calorie filled beverages.
I did however eat veggies and fruit and turkey burgers, turkey tacos and turkey spaghetti. I tried my hardest to drink my water like I normally do but there were days I failed at that.
I worked out twice on vacation running a total of 6 miles.

So, here I am on Monday with 2 days left in the month of June and I didn't and more than likely will not meet my June weight loss goal. Rather than gripe and complain over that fact I am going to let the past be the past and move forward with reaching my final weight loss goal. There is absolutely no use giving excuses about my eating or lack of working out on vacation. Instead, I will tell you what I plan to do to reach my goals over the next several months...

the goal
My goal is to lose another 20-30 pounds which would put me between 152-162 pounds. I hope to do this before February 28, 2011. My 32nd birthday. I have never really set a weight loss goal that I feel is obtainable but for the first time in my life I actually feel like I can reach my goal weight by the date I have set. I also don't feel like 20-30 pounds is going to be that hard. In the past I have looked at the big picture and gotten so overwhelmed with the numbers and a time frame that I think that is the reason I have given up.

Not this time. This time I feel something is different. I think part of it is that I have acually become more aware of the changes I have made in my overall lifestyle. I never thought I would be able to run let alone running races on a semi-regular basis, but that has become a big part of my life.  My ultimate goal is to run a half marathon and I would love to also do that before my 32nd birthday but I am not focusing so much on that goal right now as I am just focusing on becoming a stronger runner with each run.

the game plan
I will go about reaching my goals much the same as I have in the past. I will follow WW (on my own) and use any and all resources I have for healthy eating to reach my weight loss goal.
I will continue my current running plan of 3 days running (broken up in 3 different types of runs) and 2 days of cross training. I plan to kick up the stregnth training a bit after my race this coming weekend. I have many problem areas that I think I can work on if I will just make myself work a little harder in the gym.

the reward
I plan to reward myself. My first reward will be this fall. I hope to lose another 10 or so pounds before fall. If this happens I plan to reward myself with a couple of new outfits to start out the fall season in. :)

So that's it. Back to reality. Moving forward and reaching the goal....

Saturday, June 26, 2010

>I'm back.

>I had a great vacation (pictures to come) and am so happy to be back in my own home, my own bed, and soon to be running in my own gym. Vacations are nice and all but there is just no place quite like home!
We left for home on June 18th and arrived back home today. When I left for vacation I weighed in at 178. I had hoped to have only about a 2 lb gain (if any). I will tell you I didn't exactly eat healthy the entire week, some meals were in the car and we had one good (tasty!!!) meal out for Annabelle's 7th birthday. I didn't work out every day but managed to get about 6 miles ran all week( I know not much!) but I guess 6 miles is better than no miles, right. So, when I got home today I ran right to the bathroom and the scale. 183, which is NOT bad considering A. My monthly friend arrived yesterday and B. I drank very little water on the ride home. So, my plan is to do well and get back on track tomorrow and weigh in Monday morning for a final post vacation weigh in.
From there I will move forward and leave my vacation behind. I still want to lose another 20-30 pounds. I have set a mini goal of at least 15 before Christmas which is 6 months away. Surely, I can meet that goal!

Ok, I came home with a sore throat and should get in bed to get as much rest as I can in hopes to stay well. I have a race coming up next Saturday night!!! Stay tuned for vaca pics and talk! :)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

>vacation

>Have you left me? Or forgotten about me?
Ha! I sure hope not!
As you know I am on vacation with my little family. We are at the beach and it is beatiful! I refuse to pay $10 a day for wi-fi so this short little post is being done via the hubby's Blackberry as I sit poolside with one kid still in the water and the other asleep under a cool, wet towel between my legs!
Food wise vacation has been well (if I am being honest) a slight vacation. We have been cooking, there have been cookies and one trip to McDs for a burger! However, there have been healthy choices too. I've had fruit and veggies and lots of water.
Monday I ran 2.5 miles in about 25 minutes on a treadmill that I am sure is as old as me! Today I ran 2.8 miles in a little over 26 mins on the same treadmill. Not the best but I'm happy to even report having ran while on vacation.
I have a race on July 3rd that will take place at 9pm. I'd love to hear tips on running in the heat! I'm so nervous!
And before I go, I promise to be back at reading and commenting on your blogs soon!! :)

Thursday, June 17, 2010

>Thursday Thoughts

>I always do a Random Thoughts Tuesday on my other blog but haven't done one here. Well, maybe I have been random without having the acutal intent of being random from the beginning. Anyway, today will be completely random. :)

-Journaling:
Do you journal? I have half heartedly journaled my food and workout routines since beginning but have yet to keep up with hit and make it a daily thing. Typicall it is something I do while at work on a yellow post it note just so I can keep track with my points for the day. Great system, huh!? lol Well, yesterday my Awesome Friend, B sent a package in the mail. My heart fluttered when my hubby called to tell me I got a package. I made him open it right away because it was going to be a good hour and half before I was home. I am impatient and cannot wait for surprises! ;) In the package was a pack of pens and a notebook/journal. Hello! Just what I needed. Thanks, B! So, today was the first day of at least 80 (number of pages in the book) that I will journal. I will do this on a daily basis. And YES, I am going on vacation next week. Doesn't matter. I plan to take my pretty pink book and pens with me. Since I won't have the scale with me on vacation to help keep me accountable I will instead use my new journal. 

-Kettlebells:
Have you ever worked out with kettlebells?
It not, you should try them at least once. I suggest NOT attempting to use them on your own at first though but have someone experienced in using them show you the correct way to do the exercises. They are an awesome workout. I have used them off and on for a few years. I have about the same kind of love/hate relationship with them as I do interval running. lol They are a killer workout. They really get my adrenaline flowing. Seriously. My husband has been using them for several years and they have done wonderful things for his body. While he hasn't lost weight (as in pounds on the scale) he has toned up so much so that people constantly ask him how much weight he has lost. Anyway, last night after my interval running I did a few kettlebell exercises. My body feels every single rep today. All of them! And really that is a good thing. I did plie squats with upright rows using a kettlebell last night rather than using the rowing machine. Hello! When I first used the rowing machine my hubby asked me the next morning how I felt. Not really any different than the morning after most normal workouts. But this morning?? I feel it all over from those kettlebell exercises. I also did woodchopper (not with kettlebell), used the glute machine, and some ab work with a kettlebell. And basically I said all of the above to say... go learn how to use kettlebells! 

 -Half Marathon:
I have started and stopped training for a half this year. I started and then who knows what happened. I need to start again because I have a goal of running a half marathon before my 32nd birthday. I have been reading Run Less, Run Faster. It is a great book. It has a great program in it. I try to follow the program as much a possible. I do my 5k run, I do an interval run day.. each week. It's that blasted tempo run that gets me. Sometimes I do a long run but have yet to make it past a 10k. I need to step it up. A lot. Any advice with how to just DO IT would be appreciated. I know some of you are seasoned marathoners.. so you must have something to say about training for a half, right? ;)

-Vacation:
I leave tomorrow for my vacation. We will be away from home for 10 days and I could not be anymore excited!  I have big vacation plans. I plan to plop my rear in a beach chair by the pool and in the sand and soak up some sun! haha But I have plans to exercise and continue eating healthy as well. The resort has a fitness center and there are roads and beaches that can be ran on. The only problem is that my hubby said all alarm clocks are banned on vacation. What!? Gees. I have never been one to sleep late BUT my hope was to get up and out the door to run before the heat and humidity settled in for the day. Perhaps I can still do that and my body will just wake up by 7 at the latest? Send good vibes for that! haha I'd hate to be stuck running  a treadmill all week but if I have to, fine. We are taking our Wii and I plan to pack our EA Sports Active Trainer game so maybe I can do that while breakfast is cooking a few mornings? It's much better than nothing. My goal is to stay within 2 lbs of my weight now. I had hoped to be 175 before leaving for vacation but I don't believe I will drop 3 lbs overnight. So, here I sit at 178. >sigh< It could be worse, I know. I could be 220 like last year when I left for vacation. I'm 42 pounds lighter than last year! There's a silver lining. :)

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

>Some days I dread the gym.

>Today is SO one of those days.
I run 3 days a week and cross train 2. I do this because the guys that wrote "Run Less, Run Faster" told me to. Lol Not really, well they did say that, but that's not really why I do it. I do it for my health and well being and because it makes me feel good. BUT today (and at least one day a week) I dread going to the gym.

My runs are usually like this..
- 5k run
-interval run
-tempo and/or longer run

Cross training consists of the elliptical, bike or rowing machine (sometimes more than one).

Why do I dread today??
Interval day. Ugh. I have a love/hate relationship with intevals. I've said that before, huh.
I always dread them but am pleased with my progress after I get a good interval run in. I can tell in the short time that I have been running that they have helped me increase my speed. But they are hard. Andeven though I dread them and think they are hard I go and still do them. I will do the same today.

Is there something at the gym you dread doing?? If so, what is it? And how do you cope?

Monday, June 14, 2010

>It finally happened!

>We had a lovely weekend here in East TN.
Friday night was spent climbing rock walls and riding virtual roller coasters with the Girl Scout troop. I felt every bit of that rock climbing wall later that evening when I got home. All of us GS moms made a deal to put up all the cameras before any of us climbed the wall. No one wanted their butts on film! HAHA So, there are no photos which is fine with me because I wasn't exactly fearless. The first issue was the fact that I wore flip flops. I had no clue I'd be attempting to climb a rock wall. Anyway, about half way up I decided to look down and my flip flops suddenly filled with sweat. This was not good. Granted the top of the wall was only 3 stories high but looking down just made my heart race. With sweaty feet I just couldn't go any further and nevermind the fact that I was afraid of breaking a nail. HAHA I am pitiful, huh!? Oh well, it was lots of fun!! And next time I will be wearing tennis shoes and make it all the way to the top!!

Saturday the kids had another track meet but it was cut short (for us, by us) because it began raining and I just wasn't willing to listen to the kids whine about being wet for another hour or so. But they both did really well in the events they participated in! 

Sunday after church was spent in the pool! It was relaxing.

Food wise I did pretty well this weekend. Small meals and snack and very sensible eating. My week was much the same and it paid off on the scale! I finally am pleased with the number I saw!
178

This week I plan to work HARD to get at least another 1-2 pounds off (what I really would like is 3, but I'm not going to kill myself either way). I am going to be running and working out everday from now until Thursday and if time permits before we leave for vacation on Friday the hubby and I will hit the gym then too. Eating should go very well this week since we have made a menu and plan to stick to it! I am so excited that my body has decided to cooperate and get over that hurdle that has been so difficult for me to jump!

Friday, June 11, 2010

>Check out Tall Mom's Giveaway

>Head over to Tall Mom on the Run and check out the awesome giveaway she is hosting. You could win a cute little Nathan handheld! Being a fairly new runner myself, I would love one of these. I think it would be an awesome motivator for me to take more of my runs outdoors. I should really start a running gear wishlist! ha Ok, go check out the giveaway HERE!!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

>Apparently I had a lot to say....

>It's been several days since I have popped over here and blogged anything. I have sat down several times to do it but just can't seem to get the words out. And of course here I sit again trying to decide what to bore you with today. haha

Today I am slightly frustrated. BUT before I go into that and have you assuming that this is going to be a completely negative post..it is not!

Running Progress
 Today I am also happy and very pleased with my latest progress. Two years ago when I started running it was all I could do to keep a steady pace on the treadmill and jogging at 4.8 was pure torture. Yesterday I had that bad boy at 6.7 and even as high as 7 as I ran my intervals. I've said it before how I just hate intervals. I dread them all day on the days I will be running them, but usually by the time I have made it halfway through an interval run I am totally fine with them and even after when I see my time I am happy. I have a love/hate relationship with intervals. But over the last few months I have realized what an important part of my running they play and how they do help with my speed. Last night when I jumped on the treadmill and set it to 5.5 I felt sooooo slow. Ha! And a good steady pace for me last night was 6. When I got off and told my hubby that I had completed 3.25 miles in 29 something minutes he told me to slow down so I don't catch up to him. Double HA!! ;)

Anyway, I guess I typed all that to say that I am proud of where I have come with my running. My goal is to hit 30 minutes or less in a 5k before the end of this year. We have another race coming up on July 3rd but as with any race I don't expect to do anything but cross the finish line. So many factors come into play with a race... new course, weather.. and that is why I never expect anything other than to finish but it would be awesome to hit that goal!

Jumping hurdles
No I don't mean the actual track kind. I mean the type that are LIFE. Ugh. I think this may be one reason I have avoided blog posting. I typically am not (or maybe I am but I am in denial) an emotional eater but I can be an emotional person. However, I tend to hide it or bottle things up. Recently (the last 2 weeks) I found out that my dad has cancer (colorectoral stage 4, lymph nodes - that's what I heard). He is 2645 miles from me. So, this has been difficult and it seems like every other day is a new phone call with new information.. some good/promising and some not/or confusing. But I have made a promise to myself to not let this get me down and know that he is a fighter and with that I need to push harder with my goals (running and towards my health). Now don't go feeling pity on me because that isn't why I post this, but if you have any words of wisdom on how to gain stregnth from such news or coping with it when he is so far away, ways to help.. or how to not let the stress interfere with my success.. I am all for that. :) 

Trying new things
Hubby and I hadn't been to the gym together much since the kids have been out of school and his schedule with football changed. He's been able to be home so much more with the kids so instead of dragging them out he has been working out after practice in the morning and I have been going right after work. But last night I wanted him to go with me because I tend to do better with the whole stregnth thing and trying new things when he is there to push me. Most of the time when I go alone I run on the treadmill or crosstrain using either the elliptical or bike and then call it a day. That isn't bad, but I need to branch out and do more. So, last night after hubby did his swimming he planned to do some rowing and encouraged me to hop on the rowing machine beside him. And I did. I kept up pretty well for someone who had never done that before! I was pretty proud of myself. I did 3200 meters in 17 minutes. Whether that is good or bad as far as distance and time, I have no clue.. I am just proud that I found something new to do and actually can say I enjoyed it. Now he told me my whole body would hurt today and I was prepared to have him pull me out of bed this morning but I am ok. I feel like my muscles have definitely been used but I don't feel dead. However the more I sit at my desk today the more stiff I feel.

Here is where I talk about frustration
I have had this one particular goal for months now. Months. In the last year I have lost 50 lbs. And while I am happy as I could be with that I had hoped it would be more. I wanted badly to hit 175 before my summer vacation. Yet, here I sit this morning still at 1 flippin 80. Ugh. I know I still have 9 days until we leave but can I honestly lose 5 lbs in 9 days? Probably but it is going to be hard. Why? Because my scale or my body, whichever, likes to taunt me. It has me down a bit one day and two days later up some. No fair!  The frustration with that is how hard I work on making sure I do not fill myself full of crap foods and work my butt off burning calories. I won't let it get me down though. I will keep pushing through and so what if I am not at that goal by this time next week? It isn't a free ticket to go on vacation and act as though this journey is over. Nope, it means that I have to keep working hard if not harder than I have worked before. And I will.

Sorry for the long post! I guess that's what happens when I don't post often. :)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

>Don't try, DO!

>Did you happen to catch Jillian Michael's new show this week? A quote from her has been stuck in my head all week...

"Trying is like planning to fail."

My husband and I both immediately said we loved that.  After watching Losing It on Tuesday night I went to bed and thought more about this quote. I came up with a great blog post and had planned to write a post on Wednesday but life happens and things didn't go as planned. And of course here I sit trying to come up with something as equally good to write! ha.

Well, the quote makes sense to me. Trying is like planning to fail.
Often I find myself not really setting goals but saying, "I am going to TRY to do this or do that this month." And you know what, I often do NOT make it. Why? Because trying to achieve something is just not good enough. DOING is what will get results.

Trying to make it to the gym at least 4 days a week is not good enough. I WILL make it 4 days a week because I won't make excuses. I will just do it.

Trying to eat more veggies and fruit daily is not good enough. I WILL pre-plan my meals and pack my food at night. No excuses, no being too tired, no waiting until bedtime to remember that I said I would try... I will just do it.

Trying to eat better on the weekends is not good enough. I WILL eat better every day of the week. Period.

Trying to lose 5 lbs before I leave for vacation on June 19th... haha well no promises there but I am going to bust my tail to make sure I don't gain! :)

So, my goals for June:
-gym 4 days a week
-more veggies/fruit
-stay on plan on weekends
-lose 5lbs

There you have it! And you have heard me say no trying. DOING. I will succeed.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

>Every second counts!

>Saturday I had a 5k race.
Hubby and I were to run together but there was a bump in the road and I ended up running solo. I was nervous about that since I had never actually started or finished a race by myself. Yes, there were hundreds of other runners out there with me but what I mean by alone is that I didn't have a running buddy there with me.

Normally for a race I will start with hubby or a friend and of course we might lose each other along the way because my buddies all tend to be faster than me! But I know at the end my buddy has finished and is waiting for me and that keeps me going. So, I was nervous that I wouldn't have someone on the course with me to keep me going.

This was me at the start. See the look on my face?
That's nerves!

Technically I wasn't alone. lol

See, what happened was we got up early (6am) and took our time getting ready. The night before I had laid out all of my racing gear (shoes, Ipod, clothes, etc) so that all I had to do was shower and get dressed. On the way out the door I grabbed my fuel and was out the door. We left the house about 7am for an 8am race start which gave us about 30 minutes of wait time once we got there. Upon pulling in the parking lot we fueled up and hubby got out of the car to go to the back to get his shoes. That was when I heard, 
"Well, crap, I won't be running today."
Panic set in me and all I could say was, "Justin!!!"
To which my sweet hubby thought I was mad and that brought on a whole new prerace event that I could have done without. So, I got out of the car a few minutes later and made the trek alone uphill to the start.
I cannot even describe the emotions I was going through at this point because my head was all a fog. I was fiddling with my Ipod trying to get myself hooked up and of course I was struggling because my hubby usually gets all my wiring in place for me. 

That's when I felt him walk up behind me and start helping me. Tears. And that is why my face is red in the picture. I was still trying to fight back those tears so hard. I was nervous, I was relieved, I was scared, I was bummed and yet I was so happy! 

And then the biggest flag you ever saw was raised from the ladder of KFD and the National Anthem sang.A runners mark was called, the gun fired and we were off. 
I was doing this. Alone, but with hundreds of other fellow runners. 
I was doing this but my wonderful hubby would be at the finish line waiting on me. 
And with that I didn't feel alone. I was off and before I knew it a mile had been ran and I looked down to see only a short 10 minutes had passed.

I don't really know what I was thinking along the way but I just ran. I barely slowed down at the hydration station for water but grabbed a cup going by. I am not sure that any of it actually got in my mouth but I do know I wore some of it on my shirt! I slowed down just before the 2 mile mark because there was an enormous hill and I wanted to give myself plenty of energy to run as much from mile 2 to the end of the course. I hit the 2 mile mark around 21 minutes and felt really strong.

I kept telling myself that I was good on time and all that I wanted to do was PR and a new PR was anything under 36 minutes. So when I came to just before the 3 mile mark and my watch showed me at about 32 minutes I was happy. The end was end sight and downhill. At that point I picked my pace up tremendously and ran like I never ran before. 

At that point I could actually see my husband and the clock and I was stoked.
33 minutes....keep on pushing, hard!

I did. I gave it my absolute all. 
When I crossed the last time I remembered seeing was 33:54. I was under my goal (that I had in my head) of 34 minutes but definitely a new PR (by a long shot, if you ask me). And I can't recall ever being happier!
My husband was there to meet me and I high fived him. I went to get my timing chip removed and was on a mad hunt for water and a place to sit! haha

We hung around for the awards mainly out of curiosity. I competed in the Athena Division for this race which is women over 150 lbs. I figured I didn't really stand much of a chance, but ya never know. The first and second place finishers in that division were done in 31 minutes so at that point I was thinking , well poo I didn't even come close. BUT then I heard them say 33:5...and I had a glimmer of hope in me until I heard 33:57 and the woman's name. Bummer man! She beat me by ONE second. ONE measly second. So, all weekend I have been telling myself, "If I had just kicked up harder a lot sooner." Or "If I had not slowed my pace down on that hill." But I know I did well. I mean I finished 4th in that division out of 15 runners. I finished 266 out of 434 runners overall for the 5k. And had I ran in my age group I would have finished 20 out of 37. Overall, I did not do shabby! And I am still proud even 4 days later. :) 

I'm ready for the next race!