Time keeps on slippin'

We are t-minus three weeks until the big 1/2 marathon...and how much have I done to prepare...not nearly enough!!

I have been going on short (3-4 mile) runs here and there, but I have not run 10-miles once! I'm getting a little nervous and yet, still have zero motivation to get out there and train. On one hand, I am uber-excited for the 1/2 and am hoping that adrenaline and excitment will give me a push but I am so ill-prepared, I'm terrified to see and feel what happens to my body when I am finished!

Costumes are right up my alley

Since I have been busy with other things this week and not working out, I thought I would let you know about our "outfits" for the 1/2 marathon. Most runners wear their super expensive and name brand gear to look and feel cool while they run....oh, and that comfort thing too! However, we are not most runners and this is not most races! This is the endurance weekend at Disney. If you haven't heard about it, check it out because any racer who is anyone has heard of or run this race at least once!! Any anyone who knows about Disney races knows that costumes are encouraged and Jo and I were pretty amazed at what we saw at the Tower of Terror 13K. With that said, we are taking the plunge into the outfit race crowd. I am in the process of making kelly green tutu's with Tinkerbell green ribbons and, of course, they will covered in fairy dust. Jo has ordered white shorts to wear underneath and we are in the process of figuring out the "hair" situation. I think we are going to do hairbows with, what else, fairy dust. We are hoping the fairy dust will help us fly through the race!! Out t-shirts, yep, we are pretty excited about those too! The front says "I run like a girl" and the back says "Strong, sexy, unstoppable." Even the kids are supporting us with t-shirts that say "Go, Mommy, Go"

We are going to, at the very least, look cute running this race!

41419

That number- 41419- that is my bib number for the half marathon. (PS- my sister's is 48something!) That means there are more than 50,000 people joining us this endurance marathon weekend in January! 50,000 people....stop and think about that for just a minute and how many people it really is! A super exciting yet daunting number.

Another daunting number- the 1/2 is one month away!! That is a terrifying number but at the same time, because I am so focused on Ben coming home, I can't even think about an event so far away. This is not good! I need motivation and I need it quick!

I'm here....I swear it

Alright, after two months of falling off the face of the Earth, I have decided to rejoin the blogging world and continue to share my journey towards the 1/2 marathon...which, by the way, is in 1 month!!!

So, to give a brief overview of the last two months:

Jo and I ran the Disney Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K in October. Jo had a minor misstep of clumsiness early on and I finished the race by myself...but it wasn't without her! I could have never crossed the finish line if she hadn't her texting me motivational messages and good luck's the entire race! My official time was 1:50, but we figured that I actually ran it in 1:30.

Jo and I also ran the largest Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in the world with 17,000 of our closest friends. The two bridges over and back across the Ohio River took their toll but we finished this 10K in 1:20.

This past Saturday was the Enmark Savannah Bridge Run 5K. That bridge is a bridge worth being proud of to say you ran over it....holy crow!! I kept telling myself that if I could just get to the top, I would be fine. I did alright and finished in 33:00, give or take. Not really sure of my official race time....but regardless, we looked pretty hot in our RGR Wife t-shirts!!

Now, all my focus should be on training for the 1/2...however, we have the holidays, getting the house ready for the hubs to come home, among the million other things going on! I need to find the time to get my butt in gear, but time is the one thing I am running short on at the end of every day. I guess one way to look at it is that the race will come and I will have to run it, regardless of how prepared I am. At the finish line, do I want to look back and say, I could have done better if I would put forth a little more effort or I gave it everything I had and I am so proud because that was the best that I could have done? Discipline weigh an ounce; regret weigh a ton.

Hmm...something is amiss

It's called my weigh-in this morning! Didn't budge one ounce! After what I ate and the lousy and lack of workout's I had though, I really thought I was going to be going up on the scale this week.

It's honestly been no good!! Connor has been sick and while my mom has been in town to help me out, I have been under the weather now as well. I went to the gym on Tuesday for a strength training workout and it was fantastic...felt good and added weight to my usual routine. I was really proud of my workout Tuesday. Wednesday I was sloted to do 7 miles but after I got there, I could only manage 3.5 and I was done! I was having a big problem with my left contact and couldn't see a thing out of my left eye...it was making me incredibly dizzy and out of control. So, I left after I got in what I was moderately satisfied with.

Today was weigh in day and you read how my lack of progress has me a little discouraged. I was supposed to go to the gym for a weight training session but Connor had a rough night and I am not feeling well so I decided it was a no-go. The diet isn't going to be any better today as I am treating my mom to mezzaluna for dinner and a cookie pizza for dessert...yummy!!

Tomorrow after I drop my mom off at the airport, I am really hoping to get the gym for an intervals session on the treadmill and hopefully, if I am feeling up to it, a little modified strength training workout. Saturday is an off day and depending on whether or not I go to church on Sunday morning will dictate if I log my 2 miles or not. Next week is a new week....hopefully a Saturday morning trip to the doctor and some med's will put me on the mend and with Connor on the upswing, maybe we can get back to some sense of normalcy.

I still have the same goal for next Thursday that I had for this one...I really want to be at 120 even. That is almost my mid-way point and just that nice, round number would be beautiful on the scale and in my head to push me through the next 10-12 pounds!

Icy Hot is not for me!

So, I am extremely allergic to Icy Hot! I put some on my ankle and it was fine for awhile, but eventually it started burning. I tried to wash it off, but it had already absorbed into the skin and it burned all night long. Thankfully, the burning has stopped and now it's on to good 'ol ice packs. PS- if you use the method I put on my blog PLEASE make sure you use a towel between your skin and the ice pack- it will cause frost bite!!!

Today was weigh in day for the Biggest Loser challenge. I am down to 122.8 and felt awesome!!! This puts me down 8 pounds total and 3 pounds down from the start of the challenge.

There is no workout for me today because of other obligations I have. Tomorrow morning I am running outside and then in the evening (crossing my fingers that I have the motivation to go), I am going to the gym to get a strength training workout in.

I am trying really hard to lose 2.5 more pounds before the weigh in next week and that will put me at a 10 pound weight loss since Ben has deployed. I would be 1/2 way to my total goal weight!! Not only am I pumped about the weight loss, but 3 miles is now coming easier and easier and feeling more natural!

Close but, I have an excuse (as always)

I ran today at the gym and felt great. Training calendar had me running 6. I wanted to hit 6, possibly 6.5 but I stopped at 5. I really do have a good excuse, not that it matters. My hip was starting to get sore and my ankle hurt and since Connor was in childcare, I stopped after 5 and ran to Target to get what I needed to make a few ice packs...mostly ace bandages and alcohol.

PS- Dad John has an excellent "recipe" for ice packs that they use in the rehab clinic at Fort Hamilton Hospital. In a gallon freezer bag put 1c. rubbing alcohol and 2 c. water. Seal and stick inside another gallon freezer bag the opposite way (so the zipper tabs are on opposite sides- prevents leaking). Freeze those and then they will make an amazing ice pack that stays cold for 30 minutes.

I feel really good today...too bad the Icy Hot I bought to hold me off until the bags freeze is burning my skin!!!

I'm a slacker....

I would love to say I am only a slacker when it comes to updating my blog...but after this non-productive, poor eating weekend, I guess I'm a slacker on the workout front too.

Let's recap: Wednesday I rocked out 7 miles.
Thursday was Bible Study, so no workout there. But it was weigh in day.
Starting weight: 125.5
Weigh-in: 125
Percentage of weight loss: .99% OUCH!!!! I didn't even lose 1% of my body weight this week!

Friday, I went to the gym for a long workout. Running didn't go so well and I only put up a little more than 2 miles. But I got my ab and leg workout in, so it wasn't a complete loss.

Saturday, forget it!
Sunday, forget it!

So here we are, Monday. After I saw the numbers I put up this week, I knew I needed to get my act in gear. While I know I am in a competition with Jo, I really feel like I am going to happy whoever wins as long as we both keep on this and continue to lose weight. I really like this journey with my sister. I need to keep workking hard because I want Ben to come home and be completely jaw-dropped at how I look. I am blessed to have a husband who doesn't care what I look like and is over-the-top supportive of my efforts, but knowing that he won't see me once on this weight loss journey and I get the excitement of a "big reveal" is cool. It is really funny to see the wives come out in full-force the second the guys leave. Everyone wants to look A-MAZING when these guys come home!!

So I ran 4 miles this morning. I didn't feel like I had to convince myself of going further either. I felt sooooo good. I was cruisin' along, sweating my tail off and rocking it out. It took less than 1 hour too, so that was positive for me.

Meals for this week are pretty standard:
Running mornings on M and F is yogurt with granola and a banana sushi wrap before I run
Running morning on W is yogurt with granola and a scrambled egg white and a banana sushi
T and R mornings is Special K cereal and a Special K protein water for a mid-morning snack
Lunches are grilled chicken salads (I prepped EVERYTHING on Friday, so it take 4 seconds to put it all together now)
Dinner on M: fish and sweet potato
Dinner on T: chicken nuggets with veggie
Dinner on W: spaghetti with veggie
Dinner on R: frozen meal
Dinner on F: fish and a veggie
Afternoon snacks are either apple with a string cheese or yogurt w/granola.

The Bumblebee

The quote of the day is "Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it flies anyway."

Love it and it really struck a cord with me. We are the bumblebee's. When our brains are shut off and not telling us what we can and can't do, we are pretty impressive people, able to accomplish a ton. I have had non-bumblebee moments, and a lot of them lately. Actually, pretty much my entire running career (that exists for all of 9 months). My non-bumblee moments are those times when looking back, you probably could have kept going but your brain psyched you out into believing you HAD to stop, for whatever reason. If my goal is 6 miles, I would stop at 5 or 5.5, if my goal was 3, I felt like I was spent at 2 miles. I feel like over the past few months, I psych myself out. The knowledge that you are more than 1/2 to your daily goal mileage is amazing and then when you see the end in sight, your brain shuts down and puts you into survival mode, as if you can't physically move one more foot or you're going to fall over. I proved my brain wrong this morning. I was supposed to run 6 miles at a 14:15 mpm pace. I knew the treadmill would shut off after an hour so I was going to stop and reset after 3 miles. I got to 3 and felt great, had the extra time on the treadmill so I ran on for another mile. I stopped after 4 miles, reset and started again immediately, knowing I only had 2 miles to go. I ran the next 1.5, walked to catch my breath for a 1/10 of a mile and then finished my 6 total. The last .5 miles, I got to thinking, I wonder if I can keep going....can I? I know I can finish my 6 so anything extra is a bonus and I can realistically stop whenever I want. Now, the 7th mile was tough. I ended up walking .2 of it...but I did run the other .8 and was pretty darn proud of myself for doing an extra mile AND channeling my inner bumblebee to do more than what was expected of my today.

Diet has been really good as well. I had a bowl of Special K cereal and a banana for breakfast and after my run had a Special protein water. Lunch was a Lean Cuisine meal and then for an afternoon snack I had fat-free yogurt with a couple Tbsp. of homemade granola. Pretty good and still feeling pretty satisfied at 4:30pm. Dinner is going to be another frozen meal because I have to take Connor to the doctor in a few minutes and I know we won't be home in time for me to make anything. It may be a resort to a drive-through...we'll see.

This sucks

I feel soooo defeated. This weekend wasn't the weekend I was hoping to have after the kick-off to Biggest Loser. I went to the gym today and only did 2 miles. I can use a bazillion excuses, but I only did 2 miles and I wanted to be closer to the 3-3.5 mile mark. I did all my ab's...but none of my upper body strength training. How am I going to run 6 miles on Wednesday (let alone a 13K in October), if I bail out after 2??

The diet was better but not great today. I had a wrap this morning with a little yogurt. Note to self: I have to find something other than the wrap. The tortilla makes me gag! Am over it! I may switch to an egg white omelet with veggies instead, but we'll see. As soon as I got home from working out, I had a special K protein water. Lunch was a grilled chicken salad....topped off with a handful of mini-Reese cups (thank goodness those are gone now!!). Had a cheese stick as a snack and a leftover hamburger and veggies for dinner. Followed off with waffles just now and Tostidos. Oink, I know...but I was starving all of a sudden!!

Derailed...for sure

Yep, that's kind of how the entire weekend ended up. I had some high points, but it was a pretty low-point eating and working out weekend. John and Ashley were down and while I may not have done a lot personally, I did a ton to help my mental well-being by getting a ton done around the house. Between all the housework and craziness with Ben, Connor has been out of control as well. Waking up at midnight to cry the rest of the night....awesome! I need nothing else on my plate...totally set with a full-course for the time being, thanks for the overwhelm!

I am really looking forward to my run and workout tomorrow. I am going to go knock it out and come home and see off John and Ashley. The day should be a good start to a new week and I should be able to rock out all my workouts this week. Goodness knows I'm going to need it with all the junk I ate this weekend!!

Every time....

Every time I am amped to get going and am feeling really good to start- derailed! Maybe that is my test though....can I break though whatever gets thrown in my way to continue take care of myself? Yesterday, I wasn't planning on working out yesterday anyway, so I didn't feel guilty for for making it to the gym. I lost a full pound in an incredibly unhealthy way through all the stress of yesterday and by not eating. I have, NO DOUBT, put it all back on today and then some!

I was still an emotional mess this morning. After my 4:00am. shower (because I had nothing else to do to pass the time), I decided that it wasn't in my best interest to go to the gym. It really sucks too because I was doing my regular cardio, adding in my lower body strength training and abs. To top it all off, I only ate a granola bar this morning, waited until well after 3:00pm. to eat a philly cheesesteak for lunch and then scarfed down 6 mini-Reese cups at 10:00 (as I'm typing this) for dinner. Awesome!

For meals this week, I am keeping the same plan I had before, with a little tweaking. For breakfast on running days it's the egg white, spinach and cheese wrap with a little yogurt. On non-running days, it's Special K cereal with fresh fruit. Lunches are almost always grilled chicken salad with tons and tons of veggies. If I don't have time to put that together or haven't grilled the chicken, it's a frozen Lean Cuisine or Smart One. Dinners this week are a little of this, little of that. We are having spaghetti with veggies, grilled fish a couple nights, chicken parm, taco salad, hamburgers with sweet potato chips. Everything I do is loaded with veggies and is as healthy as it can possibly be. Jo, I promise I will pass on the recipe for the nuggets soon as well as sweet potato chips. If I can ever get my act in gear, I will also pass on my tricks for quick, easy dinner (for those nights when we forget to pull something out for dinner) that are super super healthy.

The Biggest Loser

Alright, here we go.....we are embarking on our own Biggest Loser. Tomorrow is the weigh in and between the menu planning and sharing recipes, commitment to the workouts and friendly competition...I know Jo and I are going to rock this!

But, I'm not going to jump ahead of myself. First things first- this morning I ran 5 miles and felt great. I wonder if I could have gone longer but I had a huge problem with Connor in daycare, so I bailed on the last 2 miles and went to pick him up. This means my ab workout also got the boot so I could get out of there and get home. I ended up doing abs tonight right before dinner. A total of 101 sit-up's! WOWZA!

Alright, the biggest loser starts tomorrow.....

Apologizes Jo :)

Okay, sorry it's been so long since I have updated but here we go. I am running, the energy is up and the weight is dropping. Positive on all accounts.

So here is the update. Last week was great. I hit every workout (except Thursday) and have added in a walk in the afternoon/evening with Connor for good measure. Our walks are only 1-2 miles...but it's a good way to end the day. The ab workout is kicking my butt! I was in so much pain on Friday, I could barely lift myself up off the ball to do 1 crunch....let alone 5 sets of 12+.

This week is a tough week for my schedule, but I am doing everything I can to get it all in. Tuesday and Thursday, my normal strength training days, are booked with a meeting and a Bible study group. So, today, I ran 3 miles, did my Tuesday strength training and my normal Monday ab workout. I was dripping with sweat! It literally looked like I had peed my pants from all the sweat on my legs! Pretty embarrassing, but I guess it's the sign of a good, hard workout. So, tomorrow will technically be a day off, Wednesday I am running 7 miles at a 14:15 mpm pace and ab workout, Thursday I have a Bible Study and then on Friday is 4 miles, my Thursday strength training and an ab workout. Long gym days, but it will all get done.

Onto the shedding pounds part....am I am going to be so honest it's painful. I stepped on the scale two weeks ago and I was tettering on 130!!! I couldn't believe it. I knew my pants were tight and things weren't fitting well, but 130.....I weighed that at 6 months pregnant!!! I have horrified, but it was that shocking moment that reminded me why I embarked on this running journey to begin with. I wanted to get myself into shape for a ton of reasons and I was not on the right path to do so. Now, I have always been a person who will stick to anything, as long as I have 2 solid weeks to get into the habit and then it like riding a bike, completely natural. My goal is to weigh 110 when Ben comes home. Not entirely unrealistic. I have not been dieting or depriving myself...I am too old for that foolishness. Mornings when I am running consist of an egg white, spinach and very little cheese wrap with a 1/4 c. of fat-free vanilla yogurt (I have to have a little sugar before I run). Non-running mornings are 1/2 c. yogurt with homemade granola and fresh fruit. Saturday is my off-day from training and my off-day from healthy eating.....however, I felt so much better this weekend that I didn't gravitate towards crap food all day anyway!! Lunch is almost always a frozen Lean Cuisine meal or more typically, a grilled chicken salad with VERY little fat-free dressing and a ton of fresh veggies. Dinners are anything from the Sneaky Chef (loaded with veggies) or Biggest Loser. IF I am craving something sweet for a snack, I will have a sugar-free jello cup and fill it to the top with cool whip. It totally controls my portion size and it fantastic. Some of my snacks are a apple with a string cheese, Special K water, 100 Cal. snacks. On run days, I also treat myself to a frozen snack size Reese Cup! YUM!! I don't feel starved, I don't feel deprived and I dropped 3 pounds last week. Not a perfect system...but I have to feel better about myself. I feel completely dehabilitated when I hate the way I look.

fa-la-la-la fabulous

Sooooooo how I feel today!! Yesterday, I did 3-miles, or thereabouts, outside. I forgot how difficult it is to push my jogger and my arms got a crazy workout. I think that was what bothered me more than running did! After I got home, I immediately did the first day of my 200 sit-up program. I was doing fine until Connor started to sit on my belly and bounce up and down. He thought it was funny so I was laughing along and had a difficult time keeping up the pace! Because of my crazy high from working out, it completely changed my attitude about food. I ate so well all day long!!

Today, I went to the gym and did my strength training workout. Felt great and rocked it out! After, I went to the elliptical machine and was going to do 20 minutes there, until I realized that the ladies locker room was closed for cleaning....so I stayed on until the locker room was open again and I could go to the showers. Ate well all day again today, even though I treated myself to a couple mini-reese cups.

I have to keep up these lifestyle changes for at least another week. I have found that if I don't stick to something for 2 weeks, that it takes the wind to blow for me to bail. But if I hold tight for 2+ weeks, it is so easy for me to deny the sweets and crap and always turn to the better stuff for me....to make better, healthier choices.

Tomorrow, I have a 6-miler...wish me luck!

New Week- New Attitude

Gone is the pessimism. I am ready to attack and with a new plan, I am motivated to stay with it. One week at a time....heck, one day at a time anymore. I am committed to doing this, especially since I just looked at the pictures my sister posted when she was at my house with the kids and I LOOK like I definitely need to be committed to this. The pic's were disheartening. You know you put on weight, you can feel it in your clothes, but to see pictures look so bad- real eye-opener!! But again, there is nothing I can do about that but move forward and stay on course to a better, healthier me.

So, since today is an off-day, I am only using the blog to report on my upcoming week.
Sunday: 2 mile easy run
Monday: 3 miles intervals and an ab workout
Tuesday: strength training (focusing on upper body) and, if time, elliptical
Wednesday: 6 miles and an ab workout
Thursday: strength training (focusing on lower body) and bike or elliptical
Friday: running (not sure how long) and an ab workout
Saturday: off day

Runner in need of Motivation

I feel like it is a help wanted ad. I ran twice while I was in Ohio and it felt really good. I felt amazing both times. I did more than I had on my schedule on Monday. On Wednesday, I did 2 miles less than what I was supposed to, but, without trying to make excuses, I ran outside and it was the first time I have ever really run with hills. That being said, I felt great!!! The weather lent to being outdoors and soaking up the sun as much as possible.

Part of my plan for tonight (as soon as Connor goes to bed) is to rev up my workouts. Time is running short for the 13K and I am hoping to run a 10K at the end of September to support our military. I think my running, provided I can keep on track, is fine and is not asking too much of my body. I do, however, need to work on my strength training and diet. I have been researching some great workouts and hope to incorporate them into my existing routine.

Gotta get and keep motivation....I feel like I am running on fumes.

Here we go again on my own

This week is a great week to "start fresh." I was so pumped every time I "started over" because I was ready, mentally and emotionally, but something got in the way every time!! After our trip 'o family, I was ready, but a week later, we were traveling again. As soon as we got home from that and I was ready to start again, we were trying to spend as much family time together as we could and when Ben wasn't at home with us, I was trying to run errands to pick up things he needed or get things done around the house.

Like I said, this week is going to be a great starting over week. I will have someone at the house all week to watch Connor so he doesn't have to go to childcare, I will need a good excuse to concentrate on things other than my life, the weather is great this week, I am throwing out most of the junk in the house with the trash tomorrow....it's going to be good.

I have learned recently that as I run, I am just trying to finish my run. I haven't had the feeling of getting close to being finished but running that extra .25-.5 miles, just because, in a really long time. Until today! I was going to the gym, while Ben had Connor, for a 3-mile interval training. I had decided to start easy with 4x1's. Felt great!! Best I have felt running in so long! I ended up, the last mile, running 1/4 mile, walking 1/4, etc.

This week is going to be great! I just need the confidence again that I really can do this!

High as a Kite

Okay, I am not REALLY high as a kite...at least not what you're thinking. My reference is in part a little nod to my new favorite show, Weeds....thank you Netflix for offering the best Showtime shows on instant play through my XBox!! However, high as a kite is literally how I felt when I left the gym. I was on an adrenaline high from how fabulous I felt today. I have a love/hate relationship with cardio, but I ADORE strength training. If I could get amazing results by only lifting weights...it's all I would ever do. But you can't so there you go.

I did a 30 minute double circuit on the machines, focusing mainly on my upper body and then finished up with 20 minutes on the elliptical. I felt really good after 20 minutes and could have continued, but it was a time thing with my childcare hours, so I left.

Diet is getting there....slowly but surely. I am horrible about thinking that if I worked out today I can afford to eat some crap food here and there....NOT TRUE. But oh so good :) Other than that, this heat has been killer. I have been fine in the morning but by late afternoon am dealing with a headache daily. I am trying to keep hydrated but I think this heat is more than I can handle. I will be more than ready for it to break and give myself and my air conditioner a little reprieve.

Blazing fire

That title means nothing but my core body temperature right now. Holy moly.....it is too hot to do anything!! The day started out GREAT!! Actually better than expected. I went to the gym this morning for my additional day of running. Mondays are now intervals. I plan on doing 3 miles, however, if my running starts to improve, I am hoping to make it 4 miles of intervals. but we will get cross that bridge when we get there.

Back to this morning....3 miles of intervals. I struggle with intervals. I have a hard time knowing if I should pace my intervals on distance or time and then how much to do of each. This morning, I did timed intervals and I went back to my standard 5x1. At least that was my starting point. I decided to do round robins of 10 minutes. I did 5 minutes of a light jog, 1 minute of a power walk, 2 minutes of a sprint and then 2 minutes of a brisk walk, repeat, repeat, repeat. I'm not going to lie...after 2 of the sprints, I was whipped, had a hard time catching my breath and continuing on...I was whipped. BUT- because of a very good friend who jumped on the treadmill next to me and her phenomenal motivation, I finished all 3 miles. This was the first time I have finished the entire workout I was supposed to do in a really long time.

The problems started after that....between the unbearable heat and the amount of sweating I did, I got so dehydrated. I forgot to drink A GLASS of water from the time I left the gym until 2:00pm. this afternoon but couldn't figure out why I had a headache and I was so tired....hmmmmmmm. Earth to Tiffany.....DRINK YOUR WATER!!! Anyway, it messed me up the remainder of the day because I felt like rundown poop. Huge lesson learned.

Welcome Home

I am back for good and praise the Lord. No travelling for a few months and I couldn't be more excited to be a "home body" for some time. Needless to say, I did ZERO at Ft. Benning. For one, it was (I swear) hotter in Columbus than it is in Savannah....if that is possible. It is so unbelievably hot there that going outside was miserable, sleeping was miserable, taking a shower was miserable because you were sweating before you actually got dressed. For two, there was not an easy access to any gym or any time where I could have gone and someone could have watched Connor.

However, I am back and ready to go. I hate saying "I started a new diet this week...." I did NOT start a NEW diet, but when I went grocery shopping and menu planning I followed (fairly strictly) Weight Watchers and have promised myself to take it one week at a time. That goes for diet and for exercise....I need to do this week and give it 100% of my efforts. I only need to make it through the week....7 days; and then I will focus on the next 7 days and then the next 7 and so on. My workouts this week are the same way. I know this is a crazy busy week for me because we are trying to get back online and the house in order from our travelling and I have some meetings and other obligations I need to see to....but this is a priority to me and with the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror only WEEKS away.....I need to get on this! Wish me luck...I just need it for 7 days :)

"It's a New Day, It's a New World...and I'm Feeling Good"

Thanks to Michael Buble...I have the best title for my blog this week. I feel good!! I have dropped 2.5 of the 6 or 7 pounds I put on while in Ohio and I worked out every day except one.

To catch you up, I couldn't work out on Thursday because of really bad timing and a lot of stuff going on. But, it's nothing that a drink and some ice cream couldn't fix :)

On Friday, I ran 3 miles in 36 minutes and felt so good it was crazy. Now, I almost fell off the treadmill backwards from passing out....but I did it.

This coming week is discouraging because we are going to be out of town until Thursday and on Friday we are crazy busy...again. I am going to try really hard to make it to the gym while we are at Ft. Benning...but with everything going on while we are there, there are no promises.

On a really good up note, I am signing up for a 10K in September. This means, I have a race in September, October, November, December and the Big Daddy in January! Really looking forward to buckling down in my training and kicking some treadmill ass!

Feeling good

I worked out last night....my first weight training session in, well....let's just say a really really long time. Paulette, as always, is genius and wonderful and created a fabulous strength training plan for me. On Tuesdays I focus on legs with a few arms and on Thursdays I focus on arms with a few legs. Both days incorporate abs. I went last night and started working through the routine. Let me tell you how intimidated I was! I don't particularly like working out in the evening, I never have. I much prefer to work out in the morning when I have the energy to get me through a full workout....but the cards dealt me an evening baby-sitter and that's what I took to get a workout in. Back to intimidating....the entire weight room was crawling with big, huge, buff army dudes. I felt like such an idiot searching the room for the machines I needed and then pushing my measly 20 or 30 lb. weights while they are grunting and throwing around 100's. No worries though....no one paid any attention and I did my thing. Some of the things Paulette had me doing weren't available in the room I was in. (There are two weight rooms in our gym- a machine room and a free weight room). I will need to check the other room to see what is available there and how to work it into the routine so I am not spending all my time walking between the two rooms on opposite sides of this monstrous gym. After I was done with the weights I got on the bike and rode about 1o minutes. Whew...that was a smoker! I thought I was in better shape than the bike let me believe, but I also know it is amazing cross training. Thursday, I will do the other half of the routine and the elliptical. Wednesday...cross your fingers...trying my legs at 6 miles!

Feels good to be home

I guess that really has a dual meaning. I am happy to be in my home and back to my routine and schedule and way of life....but I thrilled to be home in the sense of feet hitting the pavement (or treadmill, in my case). Even though I made the promise to myself to start fresh on Monday, I actually was itching to get out and do something. On Sunday afternoon, I tried my feet and breathing at a 2 mile run outdoors. I ran 1 full mile. I was whipped though! A month of laziness took over and the 90+ heat and crazy humidity left me breathless and exhausted. I walked/ran mile 2 back to the house and even Ben took notice of the shade of red my face had turned. I was under the impression than running, or any kind of physical exercise, was supposed to give you an energy boost and adrenaline high....not this girl! I went straight to bed and slept for the next hour.

Monday, I had my diet reversal and ate so well all day long. Drank a ton of water, had healthy snacks and fought the urges for in-between junk snacking. I ran, almost, 3 miles on Monday morning. I did 5x1 minute intervals and was almost at my 2 mile mark when Sasha from childcare came in because there was an issue with Connor's wipes. Apparently there weren't enough for a dirty diaper change and they can't use anything on a child except wipes....so I had to go in there to wipe Connor's behind with wet paper towels....poor baby. Mommy totally dropped the ball on that one!! Anyway, I went back to the treadmill but felt like I was completely thrown off so I did another .5 miles and called it a day. For being out of the loop for so long, I was going to take what I could get.

I am so thankful that I still have the motivation and determination to stick to this. It can be so hard to go back to that lifestyle when you have "given" up on it for such a long period of time. Tonight, as long as it works with Ben's schedule, I am going to the gym for a short stint on the bike and a strength training workout. I am looking forward to working some different muscles and have the ben-gay out and ready to be used.

On another note, since this is ultimately a healthy living blog, I went to the dermatologist this morning for my annual skin check and left with an A+!

Here it is

Well, like I said yesterday, I have changed my workouts (slightly) and start again on Monday technically. With any luck, I will have the motivation to run an easy 2 miles on Sunday, just to shake off the thick layer of rust on the legs.

So here it is: Sundays are an easy run day
Mondays are 3-4 miles of intervals. I want to start with walk/run intervals and depending on how I do with that I will change it up to sprint/jog intervals
Tuesdays are a bike workout for 15-20 minutes and then weight training
Wednesdays are my long run days
Thursdays are an elliptical workout for 15-20 minutes and then weight training
Fridays are either tempo or speedwork
Saturdays are the much needed off day!

I am actually excited to start running again. I am crossing my fingers that this motivation continues because I am so ready to get out there and go again!

And so starts Day 1

After what feels like a lifetime of running and eating healthy and after a long trip up north that has sent us home with tons more toys, clothes and almost 10 pounds body weight heavier.....my time is now. I feel so gross, which only leads me to believe that my love/hate relationship with working out leans more towards the love side.

The only reason I am giving myself the weekend is because I want to savor the last few days of leave I have with Ben and Connor, together as a family. We went shopping for groceries and have picked up everything to have every meal at the house, which means no eating out, no temptation for garbage. Tons of fruits and veggies means I will fill up on delicious, nutricious food instead of ice cream, chocolate and chips. I am tracked an entirely new running program to train for the 13K in October and have am planning on going to the gym on my "off-running" days to start lifting weights and cross train.

I hope my motivation continues. Right now, honestly, my only motivation is the feeling of looking like an oversized whale and how much I truly hate it. I have to start again and get my butt in gear. It's going to be a long 13.1 miles if I don't!

Oh my oh my oh my

Well.....it has been a personally eventful, exercise neglectful couple of weeks. I am disgusted and disappointed with myself and am feeling pretty lousy right now. I have been diagnosed with asthma, officially now. I took the Methocoline Challenge last Wednesday. Basically you breath into a tube for a few minutes and they measure your breathing. After that, they have you breath in the tube but continue give you higher and higher doses of methocoline to determine how you react when they are throwing you into bronchial spasms. I failed miserably. I was diagnosed with asthma. That test kicked my rear-end. I felt like I had been hit my a Mack truck by the time I had returned home. Basically, no long run on Wednesday. Thursday I was still recovering and had planned on running in the morning to catch up, but I felt like crud still, so I let it go. Friday, Ben was off work and we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Saturday is technically an off day but after a run-in with the emergency room and a sick baby, I said HELL NO to running Saturday AND Sunday.

Now, I have decided to run 4 days a week. I have added in a run day on Mondays because I am a slacker, but unfortunately, can't run on Wednesday because we are busy all day long with pre-vacation errands.

I am seriously hoping I can do something while I am on vacation because I am feeling pretty darn rotten anymore.

I am here, I swear

Sorry about my lack of posting but honestly, I haven't done a blessed thing. Unfortunately, life gets in the way. But I guess that has been the point all along. When life gets in the way and push comes to shove, what is the first thing to go? The one thing that gives me peace of mind, a clear head and a strong heart and body. Ironic isn't it? But I think it is also a case of "mommy-hood." We, as moms, as notorious for putting all of life first before ourselves and when time is cutting short and we have to eliminate something to fit it all in, the things that are the best for us are the things that get left behind. I have only really missed one day of running. Monday was supposed to be a yoga and/or pilates day and, realistically, I NEVER follow through with this one. I should add in a running day JUST to do something productive. Today was supposed to be a strength training day....didn't happen....was dealing with WAY to much to sit on a ball and to push up's and crunches! Tomorrow is supposed to be a long 8 mile run. Again, life gets in the way but I can't put Connor in daycare for the time it would take me to run the 8 miles because I have to have him in daycare in the afternoon so I can have some more tests run. I am not giving up my run tomorrow though. I am definitely going for 4 miles and then we will see where that takes me. Maybe more, depending on time and how I feel. Thursday I am back to strength training, a run on Friday and if I feel like it, a 5K on Saturday morning. That will be a last minute decision though and we will see how it goes. So, I have no fallen off the face of the planet....but again....I have fallen off the wagon and am feeling mighty guilty about my lack of motivation and desire to keep going.

Wahoo!

Wahoo is totally how I feel right now! This week I have run 12 miles and feel great! It should have been 15....however, sometimes life gets in the way. Wednesday, I ran 6 miles and was on top of my little running world. I felt amazing. Yesterday, because of my "amazing" run, my hips were sore so I took a day off from my strength training but it was okay because I spent an hour in the pool running after Connor as he jumped in and out from the big pool to the baby pool.

Today, I wanted nothing to do with the gym. I woke up, the whole house was dark because there was so much cloud coverage and it was raining. Really?!? This is supposed to be my motivation to get out there, to kick butt and take names?!? You have got to be kidding me! But, at 8:00 I was on my way to the gym. I started out a little slow, thinking I was going to try to do exactly what I was supposed to do, 1 mile warm up, 4 miles at a 12:17 pace and 1 mile cool down. I got .2 miles "warming up" and I said f*** this and I was off. I did exactly 4 miles and was sweating my butt off as I stepped off but I finished in less than 1 hour.

Back to Square One

Well, here is the situation. Today was a yoga and/or pilates day. Virtually a "free day" in terms of my workouts. I went to Winn Army Hospital this morning, a good hour from my house for an internal medicine referral. At the pulmonary clinic, I was put inside a breathing chamber and had to bring in and out this this crazy machine a few times, then was hooked up to the sticky circles on my chest and rode the stationary bike and then back to the chamber for another 20 minutes. All this fuss only to find out that I do not have exercise-induced asthma. Better yet, it doesn't appear that I have ANY symptoms of ANY kind of asthma. Cool! Two thumbs up to fabulousness!!

So anyway, as the situation stands right now, I am waiting for a call from my "mister." My best case scenario is that I can have a phone consultation with him when he calls and an even better case scenario is that I will get a referral to an ENT to get this situation figured out.

On a plus note, I did take a walk tonight with Connor and Dakota. It was crazy hot and I thought Kota was going to sit down on the ground and just bail on me, but we drug ourselves into the driveway and I feel a little better about doing something active today.

This is not going to be good

So....I was so optimistic at the beginning of the week. I was ready to tackle the entire week's worth of training. I went out this morning (honestly, a little later than I would have liked), but I went out and was ready to do my 4 miles. I got out and holy crap it was hot. I made it to mile 1.5 and started to get really winded. At mile 2, I needed to stop to take a sip of water and catch me breath. After that, I couldn't run .5 miles without feeling like I was going to pass out. My lungs felt like they were 1/10 their normal size, my throat felt like it was going to explode and the back of my nasal passages were so blocked that I couldn't breath through my nose. This sucks! I just want to breath!!!

Pretty much the worst week...EVER

In terms of my training anyway. I was out of town on a waste of a "vacation" and never once made it to the gym to run. I walked my butt off and sweated every piece of food I put in mouth out of my pores...but I didn't do one blessed thing. Luckily for my training, I was only supposed to do 3 miles on Wednesday and Friday this week, so I didn't miss much. But I still feel so blah.

This week is going to be rough though. I am in it knees deep and my breathing isn't getting any better. This 100+ degree weather with over 95% humidity has kicked my butt. I get tight chested just walking to the car and running errands. Even though I am running inside a gym I feel like I am at a complete loss before I even start. Wednesday I am back to 7 miles. I WILL finish it this time...come hell or high water! Even if it means I have to slow down a bit, I will complete my 7 miles on Wednesday. Friday, I am doing 4 miles of tempo work and tomorrow I am going 4 easy miles. I am hoping to get that done bright and early tomorrow morning before it gets too hot, but we will see how it goes.

My goal this week is to finish every training goal for the week. Usually I skip out on one or two (or more) days of training and I want to finish one full week of training. It's just 7 days, one of which I don't do one blessed thing.

This sucks

This morning my DH suggested that we run together. We will go early and pace out the 3-mile tempo work run around the neighborhood. Great bonding time, I say...saves me a drive to the gym, I say. We do our .5 mile warm-up and we are tense already. I am frustrated that the dog is running in my way and then pulling left and right trying to figure out where she is in relationship to me and to the stroller. I am frustrated that Ben has the Garmin so I have no idea how fast or how far I am going to accurately pace myself...hence, I have to keep asking. I am at mile 1.5 and feel like my chest is going to explode. I keep getting more and more frustrated with my inability to run well (95% humidity and 85 degrees when we ran at 7:30AM.) so I keep getting a tone with Ben. I stop to catch my breath, Ben encourages me on. I stop again, Ben encourages me on. I stop again and Ben keeps going...I get irritated. I push on...I have to stop AGAIN to catch my breath, Ben calls me a quitter....run over.

I am not a quitter....but I did quit today. I gave up this morning but we did have words about his not so kind words. His idea of tough love is sometimes different than mine and while I was incredibly hurt that he said it, I understand that he thought he could push me through with that kind of tough love, I just don't respond to it like his soldiers do.

It is hard to feel like a failure though. I failed today. I couldn't finish....COULD NOT finish 3 miles. It was so tough this morning. Thank goodness tomorrow is an off day and this is a fairly easy week for me. I run no more than 3 miles on my run days, I will more than accomplish my walking on my off days and hopefully, I can find some time to do a little strength training, but if not, I am not terribly concerned. I am not a quitter....if I was, I would have quit this a long time ago.

The road to hell....

Is paved with good intentions. That is the theme since Sunday. My mom and dad came into town on Monday morning. Okay, no big deal. I did almost 40 minutes of yoga in the morning and felt so refreshed before the arrived. On Tuesday, while they were playing with Connor, I took the opportunity to get a strength trianing workout in and was doing great. Also got a little swim in in the mid-morning and felt very proud of myself and well-rounded.

Onto to today....I was amped to get to my 7-mile run!!! My morning was thrown off because I had to take the car to the shop and ate my breakfast on the way. Dropped the car off, went back home, took care of Connor. Because my mom and dad were leaving town, I was trying to wrestle with Ben to get him out of bed, Dakota was throwing up and I was trying to pack Connor and I to go to the gym...we were a little frazzled. No worries, got to the gym, no big deal. Dropped Connor off and I was on my towards 7 miles. I was really sucking on mile 3 and was begging for it to be over. I had already decided that I was going to stop the treadmill after 3.5 miles to reset because it turns off on you after 1 hour. I, instead, finished an hour at exactly 4 miles, stopped the treadmill, took a breath and was about to restart when I noticed Ben had been texting me. I got back on the treadmill and was cooking,..I got to about .5 miles and my curiosity and nervousness got the better of me as to why Ben was texting, so I got off the treadmill to go give him a call. Good thing too.....I was seeing stars when I stepped off. I called Ben to find out that the person he thought could give him a ride to work was already at work so I had to rush pick up Connor from daycare, rush home and take Ben to work. 7 miles...foiled.

I guess 4.5 miles is better than nothing at all, but I learned something VERY valuable this morning. I HAVE TO eat breakfast no more than 1 hour before I run. If I wait much longer than that, I get lightheaded and weak through my run. I am learning and growing each time I run and maybe, hopefully, I will get to a week where I run the entire distance of my run I am supposed to run.

Gotta keep the focus

I must keep my focus and energy. I failed miserably this last week and next week is going to be my first big test of the training cycle because I will be in Disney World with way too many distractions and I MUST find the time to get my workouts in...because goodness knows I won't be eating the way I should. I am noticing a lot about my body in terms of food. I feel so yucky when I don't eat right. I feel more sluggish, slow and heavy when I run and certainly less motivated to workout.

However, I did motivate myself enough, through the rain clouds and downpours, to run my easy run for the week. Two miles at a 13:55 pace. I know in my head how slow the pace was so I was taking it easy....I got so distracted in my own thoughts. I was thinking about what I needed to get done today, this week, was praying and meditating...before I knew it I was taking too easy! Snap to, Tiffany!! Pick it up and get this done.

I finished a little ahead of schedule, but with a clear mind and ready to take on the challenges...all the challenges of the week!

Speed work rocks my world

I went to the gym this morning to do my first speedwork session. A little nervous, to be honest, I knew it was going to be fast but trying to keep optimism on my side, I also knew it was only 1.5 miles speedwork with 1.25 miles jogging in between.

I did it...it flew by. Breathing was great, stride was awesome. I had such a great workout and added an extra .75 miles jogging....for posterity :) Or, at least, to make up for the laziness of the rest of the week.

Tomorrow is an off day so I will have nothing new to report but am ready to start a new week on Sunday!

Playing catch up

Monday, didn't do anything. Tuesday I was supposed to go to the gym for water aerobics, follow up with a min-strength training at the house and 3-mile walk or bike ride. Absolutely nothing happened! In the morning, Connor was having a fit and nothing was appeasing him. I also thought he may have been running a slight fever so I decided it wasn't in his best interest to go to go to daycare, which means I didn't make it to the gym for water aerobics. No big deal, I can do a strength training routine here at the house. Instead, I decided to color my hair. I don't think I could get any more productive than that!!

Anyway, I am back on track today and needed to catch up by hitting this one out of the park. I was supposed to run 6 miles in 13:55. Ben had to go in work late so I took advantage of the ability to go to the gym without Connor and headed out pretty early. I was doing really well, hitting my times. I got to the 3 mile mark and was starting to get tight in the chest but feeling really well. I stepped off the treadmill at 3.5 miles to catch me breath and take a sip of water. Jumped right back on and stepped off for a few seconds at 4 miles. I stayed on for almost another full mile and then all of a sudden, the treadmill stopped. Apparently, the treadmill, as a safety feature, shuts off after 1 hour. Damn it! All of my flow was gone. I got off, went to the bathroom and decided I needed to try and finish. I went back to the treadmill, hopped on and run for another .35 miles. I was about .7 miles from finishing my 6 mile goal, but honestly, I was soaked from head to toe from sweating so much. I literally had beads of sweat rolling down my arms and legs and was so tired! But really proud of myself for completing so many miles! That was really far for me and I know I can do so much better next time.

It was kind of funny though because when I got home, Ben and I took Connor to the pool to swim so we walked over to the community pool and then got in the water to swim for about 40 minutes. I made the joke that I completed my own little mini-triathalon today and am I feeling it....I am whipped!

A great bummer

Today was a great bummer! My training guide says I should be doing rest or strength training on Mondays. Well, since I already do strength training on Mondays and feel too lazy to "rest" twice a week, I have opted to slide a pilates/yoga session in there for something different to spice up my week. Ben was off today so, of course, pilates and/or yoga did not happen. But it's okay. We had such an amazing day, I am willing to let a workout slide in favor of fabulous family time.

In terms of any kind of physical activity- we took Connor to the pool for almost an hour. It's not strenuous...but then again, neither is pilates or yoga. I am still tweaking my workout routine and trying to find time and days to fit everything in that I feel like I need to fit in for a well-rounded workout week. Oh, and the diet....it's going.....great! As I dream about the king size Reese Cups that are in the freezer waiting for me and as I digest the mint chocolate chip ice cream we had as a treat since we were on that side of town.....yep, the diet is going swimmingly :)

Reflections

Sounds like a spiritual book...and I guess, in my mind, it is, so to speak. This morning I went on an "easy run" per my runnersworld training guide. It says run 2 miles at a 13:55 minute per mile pace. Only 2 miles....easy peasy morning. Got it done nice and early and I have the exact to the hundreth of a mile 2-mile route. As I was coming upon my 1-mile marker to turn around, I realized that I hit it in 12:56. A little more than a full minute LESS THAN what I was supposed to do. So, I slowed it down the second mile and felt like my feet were dragging. Literally, I was sometimes scuffing the toes on the pavement. I was, in one sense, really proud of myself (hence the Reflections title). As I reflected upon the journey, even since April 18, and choosing to train for a 1/2 marathon...I realized how far I have come. I would have never thought that running any kind of pace could be considered slow!

But speaking of proud, I have to say that I am so so so proud of my sister, Joanna. She ran her first 5K (since beginning training for the 1/2) on Saturday and I couldn't have been more proud of her accomplishment. I was more impressed that she went at it all by herself. She CHOSE to run a 5K with no support running with her and she kicked running booty! She had written on her blog about being competitive with me about this running thing and at first, I was a little hurt. But after further "reflection :)" I was also very flattered. We are, in one way, using each other to be the best motivation for each other and I guess I feel the same way- especially since I know that driving each other to be the best we can be and pushing each other that little extra step is ultimately driving us to each the exact same goal- to run a 1/2 marathon together!

Hallelujah!

I am singing at the top of my lungs....well, in my head anyway. I was a little nervous to start my new training schedule today, but ready for a challenge again. So, I look at my schedule last night to mentally prepare myself for what Friday's workout was going to entail. Oh no....optimism gone....it was a speedwork day!!! I have notrun 3 miles consecutively since April 18 (the day of the 5K). I have been doing so much interval training that not only am I now supposed to run 3 miles with ny breaks, but I am also supposed to do it in a faster mile per minute time than my goal time is! Holy crow.....this is disheartening.

However....I told myself to do one mile. I got to 1 mile in 12:06, exactly what I was supposed to do. Whew...this is getting hard. I keep telling myself, just make it to mile 2. Mile 2 done and am shaving some time off my "training guide" time. Run to 2.5, oh man, this is getting really hard. Downhill slope now....just have to make it another 1/2 mile. I finished!!! With about 25 seconds to spare! I did it! My body did it!! My body did everything I asked of it and while I was drenched with sweat, having a difficult time catching my breath, and inhaling water by the gallons- I did it! I ran like a girl :)

Pushing it to the limits

Today I did my longest run to date. I ran for 52 minutes! How crazy is that? However, I was pretty much dragging my legs on the last 5 minutes or so and thought I was going to fall off the back of the treadmill.

Changes are in the works though as I try to decide how I am going to change up the next however many weeks until I start serious training for the marathon. I need to increase endurance. I am still struggling to finish 3-3.5 miles and that is not good enough if I want to start reaching towards the places I want to be when marathon training get underway.

Besides my workouts, I am also going to start a running log. I want to see how far I am coming, making sure I am making progress and improving. It'll also be really great to look back every few weeks as motivation.

Here we go again

I know it's been awhile since I updated the running blog. We have been so busy with company that I haven't had the time to update, not to mention that I feel soooooo defeated right now. I am having so many breathing problems. I get into my run and can't breath in through my nose. I get myself worked up and am truly struggling my the time I round into the driveway.

I did run on Friday. Saturday, our 1-mile race was cancelled due to the terrible weather. Sunday, I took a day off because of terrible weather. Monday, Ben and I went for a 30 minute run. It's not distance I am ever concerned about, it is always 30 minutes and recently, I have been trying to push myself really hard and and 30 minutes as fast as I can. I thought I was going to die, literally, with as hard as I was moving out trying to keep pace with Ben. We were running at 6.5-7 miles an hour.

Tomorrow, my plan is to run for 1 hour at the gym. Hopefully, with no humidity, I will be able to maintain a better pace and I can finish feeling confident.

Running in the rain

I have found that the best therapy is to run in the rain. It feels like such a cleansing and it really reinvigorated my training.

Thursday, I went to water aerobics and it went well. I felt good but once Ben got home I felt like my soul needed a cleansing and I went for a run. I was just curious to see how I did. I took longer than I intended but in all fairness, it was raining and I ran through so many puddles my shoes were soaking wet and weighed about 5 pounds each. I ran 2.38 miles in 28:50. Not too bad and I felt awesome when I got home.

Today, I went for my normal Friday run. It's typically a 5X1, followed by as much time as I can possibly do and then finished with two 5x1's. I did 2.92 miles in 38:35. I ran 32 minutes of it. Pretty proud of myself, but unfortunately, my thighs are feeling every minute of these last two runs. Tomorrow we are running the Savannah Miler. Even though it is only a mile, all the proceeds benefit the dependents of fallen firefighters, a cause I am certainly going to support. I wish I could say I had a goal for finish time, but honestly I want to shoot for less than a 10-minute mile.

Been awhile, old friend

I pretty much feel like I was on a workout vacation the last few days. It hasn't been good either and it feels awesome to get back out there again.

Saturday was my off day, as always. Off day in terms of exercise and off day in terms of dieting too. Holy moly....it feels like I ate in one weekend what I took off in one week. Sunday, I knew I really needed to get out there and do a timed distance run because I always slack on my Sunday runs and I know I have to figure out where I'm at and how I'm doing. Unfortunately, my husband had alternate ideas and we had gotten into a horrific fight that day. I thought a run would do me good and help clear my head, but 2 miles in and I was fuming and steaming. I couldn't concentrate on what was going on, I lost my focus and had to just stop. I felt lousy. It felt lousy walking home. (On a side note, we are going to be fine....we have a lot to work on, but it's going to be okay.)

I thought to myself, no worries, Monday is a new day, a new week and I can pick back up again and I'll be fine. Someone forgot to tell the weather. I woke up and it was raining and cold, and it didn't let up. It rained all day long, there goes my excitment for starting over with new motivation.

Tuesday I went to water aerobics and it felt good to stretch my muscles, but again, because of the weather, we were home bound in terms of our 3-mile walk. Today I ran, and again, the weather cut it short. I ran for 42 minutes and in the 6th set of my 5x1, it started raining. I was afraid of the skies opening up and pouring on Connor, so we turned around and high tailed it out of there.

I have to say, that I am mildly disappointed in myself. I am getting discouraged that I may not be able to do this. I haven't run a timed 3-mile in so long....and the marathon is 4 times longer than that!!! I really need to put my focus and motivation in the right places and really take this seriously. I won't be able to do it if I don't let myself believe that I can do it. I will be defeated before I even give it an honest attempt.

Extra work=Extra dessert

I have lost 2 pounds so far this week between my new runner's diet and the hard work I have been putting in with my workouts. I am hoping this means when I FINALLY have a date night with my husband tomorrow, I can have a fabulous dessert!!

I went to water aerobics this morning and had a fairly good workout. It felt good because it we focused on legs, which doesn't happen very often. I didn't get a 3-mile walk in this afternoon, but it was pretty hot out!! I did almost two miles and was sweating to death, mostly because of the humidity. It's going to be a hot summer!

Post-Birthday Workout

Yesterday was my birthday and it was another day. I went to the gym and did water aerobics in the morning. I was actually really proud of myself because when I got home, I did an additional leg workout as well as a 2 mile walk with the kids.

Today, I was going to forego my run because stress levels have been so high lately that I didn't feel like I was able to function enough to make a run. I did force myself out there and did really well. I was happy with myself! I also felt so much better. I needed the run to clear my head and think clearly. Bonus, I did more than my 3-mile goal and maintained a 5.5 mile/hour pace. Not too bad for not even wanting to go!

Try and Try again

This morning I went out for my morning run. I had a pre-run snack (from the Runner's Diet that I started today) and it, surprisingly, held me over for the entire run. I didn't feel hungry at all, but energized! Unfortunately, I felt so energized that I was cookin' on my 5 min. interval runs and was running an average of 5.5 miles per hour! I guess what I get for pushing so hard is being unable to finish the entire run. I finished 4 of my 5 min. intervals and walked the remainder of my workout. Also, unfortunately I came no where near my 3-mile daily goal. I am going to have to find one solid 3-mile route to run on Mondays. Wednesdays are going to be at the gym now, so I don't need to worry about that and I can't figure out what I am going to do about Friday's yet. Those may be at the gym as well.

Awesome frustration leads to awesome workout

The frustration from all the work situation going on with Ben has pushed me to work hard. I went on a run this morning and did things a little differently from our normal running morning schedule. I waited until Connor had his breakfast before we left. We went and as I started I knew I was feeling good but I didn't know how good and motivated I was feeling until I picked up for my long stretch. I did my first 5X1 then planned on running for a straight 15. As I got near the 13.5 mark, I decided I would keep going until 20 and see how I felt then. I got to 20 and still felt awesome but decided to switch back to 5x1's because I knew I had a few more of those and needed to have enough energy to finish. I did my first 5x1 after the 20 and was getting tired but knew I wanted to finish strong. I walked 2 minutes and then ran the rest of the way home...more than 5 minutes!!! Total time out was 46:24 but the exciting news was that I ran 38:11 of it!!!! I was more than happy with that and feel awesome about my acheivement today!

A Walking Fool

The day did not go as planned today. Typical day in our home, really. I wanted to go to water aerobics this morning, but Connor had other plans. He was such a wreck....acting sleepy , not wanting a nap. Walking, weebling and falling down, screaming and still not wanting to go to bed. We finally had some breakfast and then he went down for nap...only 20 minutes before we were going to have to leave to get to the pool on time. So much for water aerobics. I didn't have enough motivation to do a strength training routine here at the house either, but I did walk for almost 50 minutes, which is better than nothing. It was REALLY hot out though. I am going to need to remember to take a water bottle with me on walks from now on!

Are you kidding me?

This morning I will be more than willing to admit that I had no desire to run. I woke up with Connor at 6:00am. and was so tired I went right back to sleep. I got up with him at 7:00am. and we were out the door by 7:10am. Today was going to be long....7 5X1's. I got through my first 3 and needed to get back home for a pit-stop. That must have been my downfall because I headed out for the last 4 and was dying through each 5 minutes section.

It really could have been any number of things. I was getting incredibly hungry, my pit-stop at home broke my rhythm, Dakota had to go to the bathroom and then sniff every blade of grass at every telephone pole so I was pulling at her leash. Regardless, when I got home, I made the decision that there will be no more long runs outdoors with Connor and Dakota. The jogger is getting too heavy for that type of longer run and Connor is getting irritated because he doesn't want to sit there for that long when he is starting to get hungry as well. And I'm not even going to start with my dog issues and running!

Needless to say, I didn't complete. I did 5.5 of my 7 5X1's. I can't dwell on it though, only put away and remember that tomorrow is another day.

Just another manic...tuesday?!?

This morning I didn't get to go to water aerobics like I normally do. Connor had his 1-yr. doctor's appointment, so went there instead but I was determined to still get a strength training session in. It worked out perfectly because I waited for Connor to wake up, let him play in the playroom and I used my ball to do my workout in the playroom with him. The storm is moving in so I don't know if I am going to get a walk in before the rains come.

I have come to realize there is a lot I need to work on. I am just gliding my right now, but to really reach my goals, I need to get better at pushing myself and being diligent on "non-run" days to follow through with the plan I have set for myself. The other thing I am desperately working on is diet.

I have mentioned this time and time again in my blogging about my need to control and monitor caloric intake. I am in the process of researching dieting (even though I don't believe in the word) for runners. I have begun to read The Runner's Diet from Runner's World. I am finding it so interesting how delusional I have been about food. What I need and certainly DO NOT need as I run. Because I am organizational central and being organized through lists is how I function, tonight, I will be making lists of foods that I can eat as well as a strict menu for the next two weeks. I want to see if I can follow a regime for two weeks. I really need to change my overall eating habits anyway, this is a great springboard. Another one of my problems is being a bored eater and I need to have a little more self control and not shove something in my mouth because I have nothing better to do.

Like everything else, I am learning to never make tons of drastic changes but a few I can live with and start there.

Another week begins

A new week starts. This weekend we celebrated Connor's first birthday....all weekend long. Family was visitng from out of town and while we love having company and spending time with family it, inevitably, screws with my diet, workouts, etc. I always want to spend more time with family than watching what I am eating or making time for a run or workout.

Despite all that, I was looking at the pictures from the birthday party and while my shirt was billowy, I was VERY unhappy with what I saw. I knew then I needed to change my eating habits dramatically. Running is NOT enough. I got a book in the mail on Saturday, "The Runner's Diet." I haven't been able to get through much of it, but what I have has reminded me that I am completely ignorant of what and how much I should be eating for the type and level of activity I am doing. I guess this is a process.....

Anyway, I ran this morning and was pretty proud of myself. I ran 3.16 miles in 38:42. It seems like a lot but I know I was cooking while I was running because my average moving time was 5.1 miles per hour. If I could keep up that pace, I would make my goal of running the half marathon in 2.5 hours. Now, granted, its going to take a lot of work and time to get there...but it's a start and a motivational boost that I really needed.

Emotional Days

This morning we went on a run.....however, let me backtrack and fill you in on yesterday. I love running, but I always look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays because it is water aerobics days. Connor and I were up, out the door and to the pool, only to find out that it was temporarily closed. GREAT! That is the perfect start to the day. I pretended to tell myself that it was fine, I could use the time out productively by running a few errands in the morning and then get a strength training workout in later in the day. Let me tell you how that plan went....two thumbs way down! I did get the errands run but started getting a migrane and didn't want to deal with that, so I basically just tried to take care of myself the rest of the day.

Today, I woke up feeling incredibly refreshed and ready to take on my new challenging run. I guess my head was ready but my body was still waking up. My legs were sooo heavy, but in all fairness I haven't pushed myself like that in quite some time. I did a brief warm-up, did one 5X1, ran for 15 minutes straight, walked for 2min. and then ran the rest of the way to the house for a total of 7:30 minutes. After looking at the Garmin, I had to remind myself that I can't be concerned with my miles/minute right now, but that I am focusing on completing the workout and building endurance.

I finished 2.58 miles in 34:32.

No Excuses

This morning when I woke up to a crying baby, I knew it was going to be a long day. After my grocery shopping trip yesterday afternoon which included lots of healthy snacks and all the crude junk food gone, today was a new day. Instead of going back to bed like I normally do after I feed Connor his early morning bottle, I woke up, had some breakfast and water and got myself ready for a run. I knew Connor would be up for good at 7:00am. and if I was 100% ready to go when he woke up, I had NO EXCUSES! It was the longest run I would have ever done today, I would cut close to Connor's breakfast, I would start getting hungry myself.....I wanted to eliminate every possiblity so I had no excuses to quit.

At 7:00am. on the dot, we were off for my longest run in 4 months. Maybe this was going to be the edge of the plateau I was on and I was about to head up yet another mountain of accomplishment. I did 6 sets of 5X1's with a 4 minute warm-up and whatever was left over from the 6 sets to walk home for my cool down. I finished in 41:06. Not so much the time or distance, but I was really proud! I totally pushed through and still felt great.

I am going to switch it up a little from now on to give myself that extra little push. Mondays are my easy day, itwill stay my easy day. Wednesday is always my challenge day, it will stay my challenge day. Friday was a medium day. It builds to 36 minutes and then maintains there for the remainder of my training weeks. Instead of doing 5X1's on the Friday run, I think I am going to do one 5X1, run continually for 15, then finish with two 5X1's. I will try this little extra challenge for a few weeks and see how it goes. If I feel like I need to be pushed a little harder, I will keep taking out the 5x1's and then start adding 5's.

In terms of diet.......that's my downfall. I am under the poor assumption that exercise alone will bring me to my final goals, but it won't. I need to keep my diet under control as well. By managing food and calorie intake, I am helping to reinforce the exercise work I am doing and promoting healthy living and quite honestly, that is my end goal here.....to live healthifully.

Back to the grind

Yep, that's right. After our "mini-vacation" I am officially back to the grind today. This includes both exercise AND diet. I realized how lousy I felt after eating all the food this weekend. Well, let me rephrase. I felt AWESOME eating it, felt lousy digesting it. It's amazing how much your diet and water intake affect your ability to produce results. I was slower, more lethargic, cranky and noticed the more junk I ate, the more junk I craved. I was going to try to cut cold turkey today with all the junk, but that didn't work. Tomorrow is grocery day, so with more healthful options and less junk available, I hope to start losing pounds again. Recently, I have plateaued in my weight loss. HOWEVER.....

I have kick started my running. I had so much energy this morning on my run and I know I am burning seconds off my miles per minute. I know this because I did my 5/1 this morning. It was a total of 5 times and I did 2.7 miles. With a 4 minute warm up and a 4 minute cool down, I still did my run in 36:16. This Sunday (if I can find the time with the crazy weekend schedule), I am curious to try and run a times 3-miler. Just to see where I am at. Again, with this crazy weekend schedule, I may do it just to get out of the house and destress!

A New Week

This morning after being very lazy and putsing around the house, Ben and I went for a run around the Floridian neighborhood. It was a little bit of a workout because there are slight up and downgrades around the 3-mile loop. We were tired because of all the walking we did yesterday, but still managed a 2.5 run.

It felt good to start a week fresh and ready to attack this new week with new determination and work hard.

Happy Place...more like Guilty Place

That's right....feeling a little guilty. On Friday night, I originally thought that maybe I would go for a quick run since my Friday morning run was lousy. I didn't quite so guilty that I didn't get that run in on Friday night, we were exahusted by the time we got to Orlando. The drive was fine, but there was heavy traffic through all of Orlando until we got to our exit, but it had been a long day otherwise and we were soooo whipped.

Saturday, we walked well over 6 miles around the park. It wasn't particularly busy and we had already been on a few rides with Connor so Ben and I enjoyed each other and walking around the Magic Kindgom a ton of times. It was so nice to not rush anywhere but just enjoy the gorgeous day and each other. THAT was the high point.....diet wise was a complete and utter bust. A bagel in the morning, coffee cake at the Main Street bakery, chicken nuggets and fries at Pinocchio's, a strawberry ice cream stick, shared some of Ben's cookies and cream ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor and, of course.....a turkey leg. Oh, and PS, I still had room for dinner when we got home! OINK! OINK! I couldn't believe I had so much to eat. I am hoping all the walking helped when I decide to step on the scale this morning.

With any luck, we will go on our 3-mile run today because we are going out to lunch and I know I am planning on putting it away today as well. This weekend is, almost been, an all and out failure. The best redeming quality is the time together and that's the best gift ever.

Lesson learned....

This morning was, for sure, an odd morning for this house. Connor woke up at his normal time and lately, I have been getting up after I put him back to bed to have little bit to eat, get some water and get ready for my run. Connor will normally wake up for good an hour later and then we go immediately for a run. This morning, I was so tired I fell back asleep after I put Connor back to bed and woke up at 7:00! Holy cow, this can't happen this morning. We have a ton to do today and not enough time to do, I can't believe I slept past my normal run start time.

So, Connor was up and we were out the door in 15 minutes. BIG MISTAKE!! 2.5 cycles into my 5/1's, I had to go to the bathroom....BAD! Oh....this is not going to be good. I finished my 3rd 5/1 and couldn't run any longer for fear of exploding. I did make it home, but I need to make sure I am taking care of myself when I go for a run. This includes water intake, food intake, stretching, warm-up and cool down. I am not doing myself any good if I have to cut runs/workouts short because I am not taking care of myself.

This afternoon we are leaving for Orlando for the weekend. This is the first schedule twist since I started my mini-marathon work. It will be a test to see how I do in terms of meals, keeping up my momentum, my attitude. Since my run was miserable this morning, I am hoping to have the energy to try again, re-energized by being in my happy place.

Warm weather ahead

This morning we went to the gym and did another day of water aerobics. What a good workout today! There are these foam blocks you stand on. They are flat on one side for your feet and rounded on the other for the bottom of the pool, so you are standing in the water on a stability ball!! Core workout to the extreme. My time was running out when they pulled out the bands and started working with those. I am so frustrated that I have to pick up Connor before the class is over....but like I said before...better to do some than none at all.

I didn't go for a walk today. By the time we got home, Connor took a longer than normal nap and slept through lunch and by the time he got up and taken care of, it was sooo hot outside, almost 90! It would have been too warm for us, so I will pick it up tomorrow for my last run of the week.

Enjoying Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! What a beautiful day it is here today and a great day to remember why we celebrate Earth Day at all....running this morning I tried to take it all in. I took off my headphones and listened to the sounds of the birds, the rustling of the leaves, the warmth of the sun as it was coming up...moments of clarity and a clear head are both reasons why I am realizing I love to run.

I did get up early this morning and do a FitTv stretching program. It felt wonderful. At least the 15 mintues I was able to do before Connor was ready to get up for the day. On Friday when I do this particular routine again, I may get up a little earlier to get the stretching done so we can be out the door on our run by 7:00am. That seems to work really well for us. I was thankful for the little bit of stretching I did do before my run because I felt great. I wasn't winded, no stitches in my side and my legs felt so refreshed. We did the same 2.5 mile route with the 5 min run/ 1 min. walk for a total of 5 times. Add that to the walking warm-up and cool down and I finished in 33:10.

I also updated my iPod this morning. I added in a beginning and end song for my warm-up and cool down and rotated a few for variation. It was time to switch it up a little.

Water Baby Once Again

Hooray!!! I finally got back to the pool and did water aerobics as my strength training again! I couldn't be more thrilled to be back in the water. A pool for me is like sanctuary. I have always been so comfortable in the water. I remember when I was a little girl swimming underwater with my feet together pretending I was a mermaid...I think I would have rather been a mermaid than a person somedays :)

Anyway, there is some time discrepency between when the class ends and when daycare shuts down so I end up missing the last 10-15 minutes of class so I can get out and showered, dressed and get Connor from childcare. It's a little frustrating, but I figure 90% of a workout is better than none at all. We worked arms today and man oh man, I got a workout!!! We use dumbbells underwater against the resistance of the current and it burns! But it's such a good thing!

This afternoon, I walked 3 miles in 47 minutes. Not too bad. That is a hair over 15 minute miles. Maybe sometime, Ben and I will walk 12 miles...just to see if I can maintain the 15-minute mile pace. If I can do that, then at least my head knows I can complete the half.

PS: As a side note, I am not adding in the miles I walk on my "off-days." I don't consider it actual training, I am only walking as something to do and to enjoy the weather. I am only counting mileage on my training days.

Day 1

What a great training day this way today- I feel great!!! We went out early, the weather was still on the cool side, sun was coming up and off we went. Today was the beginning of the "endurance/maintaining" portion. I did a 5-min. walk/warm-up and then did 5 sets of 5 min. runs/1 min. walk. I followed up with a 2-min cool-down. I had certainly worked up a sweat by the time we pulled into the driveway. I learned that I need to re-program my iPod to accomodate the warm-up and continue to add songs for the minutes I continue to add to my total time.

Changes are a-coming

Sunday....ahhhhh, the proverbial day of rest. My mind is wide awake...my body, however, feels like it is still asleep, like I am living inside the body of a 50 year old woman (no offense to those over 50....but the aches and pains and slow moving until I get everything actually moving...oi!) Needless to say, I am enjoying the day off and getting mentally prepared for the next 25 weeks of building for endurance.

You probably have also noticed an addition to my blog. I have added my current race and time as well as miles logged and time clocked. That will be my daily miles and how much time it took me. After that is total mileage. I am so curious to see, after all is said and done with the half marathon, how far I have actually gone. Periodically, I am going to calculate, hypothetically, the destination I would have arrived at if I actually would have travelled that many miles. Kind of cool to know that possibly...I could have run to Kentucky and visited my amazing sister and HUGE motivator :)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K

Today, I ran my first race. As I woke up this morning, I had a horrible feeling in my belly. What was this?!? Nerves had sunken in. I was so nervous!! All this training and hard work and I was finally going to see what it all was for...in a matter of hours. We got on the road and met up with the 13 other amazing Ranger Ladies that were running it with me. What an inspiration. "Rangers love Ta-Ta's!"

We got down there and were at the starting corral, waiting to go. By the time we actually passed the start line, it was already 3:30 into the race! We were running the streets of Savannah with 3000 of our closest friends. My original goal was to run the whole race. Actually, as Ben reminded me, my original goal was to finish the race. When I started this mess a few months ago, I don't know if I would have actually finished.....anyway. A secondary goal was to finish in 30:00.

Well, I didn't reach either of the goals, but it was a learning process despite my overwhelming dissapointment. I started off so fast that I was really struggling at the halfway point and ended up having to walk for 1:30. Even with walking and all the other distractions, I still finished the race in 32:00. Not bad!

Even though I didn't run the entire thing and I didn't finish in 30:00, I did learn a lot of valuable lessons throughout. Point of reference is tough....all these people were flying by me and I cuoldn't really tell how fast I was going...I shot gunned it the first mile! I hit the #1 mile marker at 8:30 and it was then I realized how fast I was going and needed to slow down my pace. I learned that I am not racing AGAINST other people. I am running for me and I am racing my personal time.

I also learned to be VERY careful running in large groups. As I tried to pass the people walking or who have a slower pace than me, I would pick up the pace to pass and then slow back down to my normal pace. I was, basically, doing sprints throughout the entire race. What a smoker!

Despite being disappointed that I didn't run the whole thing, I understand why and I know that I can. I learned a ton of lessons and am proud of all my hard work....AND, the best of all, I finished knowing that I wanted to do it again- SOON! We are looking into a 5K at the end of May. I guess after all is said and done, I still run like a girl!

One day to go

This morning I picked up all the team materials for the 5K tomorrow. I was so excited I almost started crying as I stood in line. I am pumped! I hope this energy lasts through to tomorrow morning!!!

New Quote of the Day

"Discipline weighs ounces; regret weighs tons."

I received this quote as a part of my 42 daily emails from FlyLady. Well, it's not really 42 daily emails...but some times it feels like that many. I can't complain. FlyLady is a God send! Between FlyLady and Motivated Moms, my home is always clean and company ready, my laundry is always cleaned and never piles up, the toilets are always spotless, the sink is always shiny (you have to FLY to understand). With the thousand things going on in my life, I have found an amazing method between the two to help keep my life in order. When my house is in order everything in my life, typically, runs a little more smooth.

Anyway, I digress....I received this quote. The idea behind it was to remember that putting things/chores/ etc. off around your home will only lead to regret when you go to spend days on your house because there is too much to do in one day. It got me to thinking about applying this to, well, everything in my life.

How many times have I jumped down Ben's throat only to realize afterwards that I overreacted prematurely? How many times have I yelled at Connor only for him to look at me with his HUGE eyes and I understood that he didn't understand me, why I was upset or what he had done to cause it? How many times have I gone out on my run to give up mid-way and walk? How many times have I not gone out at all?

Now granted, I know that there are going to be times when the yelling overtakes, the laziness is stronger than the will to run in the rain, the misunderstanding leads to miscommunication....but the quote puts it into perspective. The guilt of hurting my husband's feelings, my son's feelings, my own feelings....that is heavier than the power of discipline. (Something I, obviously, need a lot of practice on.)

Here's looking up

Okay, so I woke up this morning exhausted. I literally had a mental debate as I heard Connor fuss and groan around in bed as to whether or not I was going to be motivated and do this. I had company coming around 10:00am. and I wasn't sure how long we were going to spend with or what the rest of the day held. I had my breakfast, took a deep breath and said, "Okay, let's do this, get it over with and get one GREAT run in. This is my last one before the 5K...I need to do this." Did this, I did! I started out slow but with a positive attitude and before I knew it I was 15 minutes into my run and picking up speed as I went. I felt so optimistic and happy at the end, I knew I had made the right decision. Not particularly important, I ran 2.5 miles in 29:50. Not great...but the awesome mood that came with it made the time seem insignificant.

Blah Blah Blah

That's the weather, that's the mood.....Every best of intention today was met with an equally fabulous road block. It made for an incredibly long day. Originally, the plan was to go to a Spouses' Club luncheon, pick up Connor from daycare, come home to let him get a nap and then get a good 35-40 min. walk in. Missed the luncheon because I needed to take Connor to the doctor....plan still intact. Leaving doctor, all service lights come on in the car...need to take care to the shop for diagnostic tests....2 hours later am leaving the shop, Connor hasn't had a nap all day and errands need to be run in the evening with the DH (dear husband). There are zero minutes left in my day...plan has failed. I feel completely disappointed but oddly relieved that it isn't one more thing I need to squeeze into an already stressful and overwhelming day. Although, a nice long walk would probably help to clear the mind and provide some stress relief. Maybe after dinner I will take a walk, just my dog and I...meditate a little. Find some therapuetic remedy for high stress.

Loving the cookbook

I did go out for an easy run today. A quick 25 minutes this morning and we were done. I was so unmotivated, but I got out and did it. I have one more run this week and a few walks around the neighborhood and it will be time for my very first 5K!!

The title of my blog....yep that's right. I found a cookbook that I am obsessive over. It's the Biggest Loser cookbook. We eat almost every meal every night from something in there. We have found so many fabulous meals that we love normally for half the calories, less fat, less sugar....more protein and tons of deliciousness!! Tonight, spaghetti and meatballs. It took me 20 minutes to make the entire meal, including homemade meatballs and it was only 400 calories for the whole meal!! So yum!

PS....it even gives you permission and recipes for dessert!! How can you beat that?!?

Maybe it's the weekend

So, I think there is a pattern forming here. Each weekend I seem to be such a slumper. Please keep in mind, I only run one day of the weekend. This shouldn't be that big of a deal and for some reason, I can't seem to get there. Now, I think I have figured it out but still here I sit, with a poor run under my belt. I think that I run poorly on the weekends because if I don't go first thing in the morning, then I don't want to give up my precious and usually limited family time by going on a run. I know it's only 30 minutes and I know that it is something Ben and I both enjoy....but I would honestly much rather sit on the couch for 30 minutes with him watching underwater basket weaving than going on a run. However, if we do it first thing in the morning before our day gets under way, it's a completely different story.

I don't know...maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for a poor run. My fault and my fault alone for lack of motivation.

Day of rest

Quite literally, today was my day of rest and is you take out the grocery shopping trip, rest is exactly what I did. It actually felt great to not do anything! Since I have absolutely nothing to report on, I want to share some parts of my training book with you. I started it last night and found myself to inspired and motivated to do this. I have decided I am not just doing this for myself and for my health but because of my health for Ben and Connor too.

Here is what Jon Ackland, who wrote Beginner's Half Marathon Trainer, said that had me so inspired and reminded me it was much more than running.

"...here is another way to think about the meaning of life: life will only be meaningfull to you if you do (or experience) meaningful things. As we get older, it is easier to let our horizons shrink, our boundaries contract and our limitations multiply. In short, we do less, feel less, experience less. When you decide to do something like a half-marathon , for a lot of you it's going to be way outside your current limits. And to go there, you have to go into the territory of fear and uncertainty. Don't let this worry you- that's what a big challenge is all about."

Two days at a time

Apparently, I can't get my act in gear to update everyday, so I am updating every other day. Yesterday, we went for a 45 minute walk. It was awesome and everyone behaved the whole trip. I drank a ton of water and ate well but didn't do anything other than the walk.

I have decided to hold off on strength training until after the 5K. After my Supersets workout with Kathe on Wednesday, I felt that trying new strength training routines would only hurt me as opposed to help me. My muscles can't recover that quickly yet, but I am anxious to start a new weekly routine after the run next Saturday.

Today, the whole family went for a timed run. I am little over a 10-minute mile pace and holy mackeral, we were cooking to keep that pace. It will be interesting to see how the miles/minute progresses as I add in miles and increase my endurance.

Playlists

This is an update from the last two days since I was down yesterday. I finally did run my 3 miles in 30:and some change. I couldn't believe my eyes when I check my stopwatch at the 2 mile mark and saw I had a little more than 10 minutes to go. I pushed it so hard and was in so much pain, but the joy of the accomplishment was well worth it. The rest of the day was push and pull. Connor had a rough day so it ultimately affects my day. I tried a tivo'ed workout from Fit TV and had my @$$ kicked. Supersets with Kathe was rough. Thankfully, I sold my handweights a few months ago and *shoot* couldn't lift with weights, only some soup cans and it still made me work. I felt awesome yesterday! Between the run and the strength training (kind of), I felt the best I have in weeks.

Today was an "off-day." I walked for 45 minutes in the morning. The weather was beautiful so the walk felt great.

The subject line is in response to something Jo had said about needed music while she runs. I live and die by my playlist. I need my music to push me to the next level when I feel like quitting. My walking playlist is just music that makes me happy. Typically, 70's and 80's music, oh, and a lot Dolly Parton....she is fabulous.

My run playlist is a mix of songs that has taken me months and months of trial and error and finding what worked for me. It had a few requirements: it had to inspire me and it had to be upbeat. It starts out a little slower (when I don't need to boost) and then by the end, I am rocking full out!

Tearin' It Up Garth Brooks
Bring on the Day Charlotte Martin
If I Ever Leave This World Alive Flogging Molly
The Cup of Life Ricky Martin
La La Ashlee Simpson
The Champion in Me 3 Doors Down
Champion Queen Latifah
Smooth Criminal Alien Ant Farm
Don't Stop the Music Rihanna

Better days are here again

I am getting back on track again. I took it fairly easy today. Drinking a lot of water, eating well and re-energizing for another run tomorrow. Connor, Dakota and I went for a 45 minute power walk this afternoon. The sun was out and it was a balmy 55 degrees but the wind was incredible! I bet Connor and I will both have wind burn on our cheeks. Walking that far felt so good. I was really concentrating on body position and a strong engaged core and glutes....well, the glutes is duel purpose. One, to get a better workout and two, hopefully put my butt up back where it belongs.

Also, as a major bonus, I found Fit TV today and was able to tivo a few circuit strength training programs and a stretching yoga program. This afternoon, I really want to try the yoga program and will postone the strength training until tomorrow so I can continue to strength train 3 times a week. I am so happy to have found two very different television programs. I now have three programs (one I was already doing on my own from Paulette) and have the ability to rotate each program. This is the most exciting thing for me because I will 1) not get bored by doing the exact same thing 3 times a week and 2) keep challenging my body and muscles.

Tomorrow, another 30 minute run. I hope my positive attitude and feeling great about physical fitness continues. Maybe the mind will overpower the body and bright and early tomorrow morning I feel light and knock this run out of the ballpark!

Another bummer....

Yep, today was another bummer day. I don't know why I am feeling so heavy lately. There are a couple things I know I can do for myself to make it better, but I am still uncertain as to why my legs feel like they weigh 50 pounds each. One thing I need to get much much better at is my water intake. I should be consuming 3 liters a day and am no where near that, even though water is the main beverage I have....after I drink my 2 cups of coffee in the morning, which could also be a part of the problem.

I did get my training book today and was a little disappointed. I guess that is one of the downfalls to ordering a book online and not being able to peruse it like you would at a bookstore. I really like the information in the book and I know that, overall, it is a good purchase and will provide a lot of help in areas I was unsure about, particuarly reminding me that this is more than just running. There is a lot more I need to do, conditioning wise, than just getting out there a 3-4 times a week and clocking miles. What it didn't have that I was a little bummed about was that there was no week by week sample training schedule to follow. I am going to have to do more research to find something that works for me to start increasing my overall run time to 45 minutes 3 times a week. At least, that's where I think I want to be.

On a very positive note, my food intake was MUCH better today than it was this weekend. High fiber cereal for breakfast and after my run I had a banana sushi (recipe below ladies: high fiber, high protein, high potassium, low calorie....perfect pre- or post-run snack!), lunch was marinated grilled chicken and fresh fruit, had yogurt with whole grain granola and for dinner had ravioli with Connor.

Until the race, I am running M, W and F for 30 minutes. Hopefully, I can keep pushing closer to my 10 minute mile pace but Ben gave me an excellent reminder last night as I was continuing to complain about my run yesterday. He reminded me that my goal for the 5K was only to run the whole thing. It was only AFTER I knew I was able to run the entire 3 miles that I changed my goal to try and complete in 30:00. Running 11 minute miles, having gone from virtually not being able to walk 3 miles without getting winded in less than 3 months is an accomplishment in and of itself. However, I keep pushing. On T and R, I will power walk 45 minutes with Connor and on this Sunday is my last distance run. I stop completely on Wednesday with my last 3 mile run and then I give my body the break and recovery until the 5K on Saturday morning.

Here is the banana sushi: whole-wheat flour tortilla wrap, 1 banana and 1 Tbsp. all natural peanut butter. Spread PB inside the wrap and cut the banana into lengthwise slices. Roll up and enjoy! You'll be surprised how quickly one "sushi" roll will fill you up!