Let 2014 be gone!!! Bring on the New!!

The good from this year:
I am down 11.2 lbs from December 31st 2013
I succeeded in my goal to wear a racing bib in every month of the year
I ran 20 races
I ran 400 miles
I ran a 10K
I ran a 1/2 Marathon
I PRed my 5K
I did TWO Spartan races

And that is about all that is good, and I wouldn't even call them all good
I am extremely disappointed that I am only down 11.2 - Especially since I am up 7.6 from my lowest in 2014 (which was on September 20), but really up 5.2 from where I was all summer.

While I participated in 20 races, many of them were "fun runs"
I didn't truly race since April (when I PRed 2 races in a row)
While my stamina increased, my time didn't really
I gained weight in the second half of the year

I looked back at my goals for 2014 and realized I didn't really make any. I just commented on my goals from 2013, but I will comment on them as they relate to 2014:

--Live life - play with the toys and games we have; craft crafts with all the stuff we have; make the recipes I've cut out; watch the movies I love; play outside; play inside; go camping; explore the woods; take day trips; take weekend trips - just be!  This is my #1 for this year - This was another fail for 2014 and will continue to be my #1 goal for 2015

--Less time on-line - Big, big fail in this department, but I should be able to do better - Another fail for 2014 and I really need to make an effort this year - I spent so much time on line trying to be inspired by other people that I wasn't living my own life enough and my kids have started to comment on it

--Eat healthy, less, more variety - Seeing that "losing weight" wasn't on my list, I can say I ate healthier because I am 32 lbs less this New Year than I was last, but I also had some pretty huge gains through out the year (including the last 10 days!), so I hope to do better in this category, and making more variety of foods is definitely on my 2014 list as well - Another thing I need to work on this year. No one on my family was interested in eating differently so we ate the same boring things all year and I am sick of it!

--Move my body - inside, outside, for fun - I did C25K and I ran more often and longer (the max being 7 miles) than ever, but I need to do more - strength training, cross training, more races, but also get outside and move my body with my kids - Yes I ran a lot and did a few brief stints of strength training, but I need to do more than run.

--Live on a budget - Another fail - Major medical bills but us far behind where we planned on being on 1/1/2014, so we need to build back savings, save for a long Disney trip, and buy us all bikes. We are going to be pretty drastic this year, which we need to do anyways. - We did successfully save for our trip to Disney and came out of the holidays with a paid-off credit card, but we need to do much better at saving this year.

--Have more patience with my kids and my husband - More failures - Definitely can do better in this area

--Pray we don't lose another parent this year - Thankfully this is one area we did succeed, not that we have any ability to change this, though FIL was ill this year - Unfortunately this did not come true in 2014 as we lost my FIL and with my father ill, we are expecting the worst for 2015.

--Blog a lot more - I barely made 40 posts this year! I want to make at least 250-300! Around 150, so not what I expected. They've blocked blogging sites at work, so it made it harder. - I really didn't do well this year and look how my weight-loss did (didn't do) - I think I need to move my laptop next to my bed so I can check in more frequently.

What else for 2014?
I am excited about getting bikes, and camping, and going to Disney, and doing some other small trips, and cooking all the recipes I've been collecting, and doing all the crafts I've pinned, and read the books I've been buying, and just being, just doing, and as part of that eating healthier and cleaner and eating less, and losing weight (can't say how much) and moving, moving, moving.
Over all, aside from the running, 2014 was far from a stellar year. I need to make 2015 better on all fronts! I am not making running goals because I need to focus on losing weight and getting more fit.
 
 I can't wait for 2015 to happen!!!!!

Will get back to it in a week.....

It has just been such a crazy few weeks and that will continue for another week, but once Christmas is over (and I don't mean January 2nd) I hope to get back on track.

My weight is definitely up - I haven't been weighing in every day which is never a good sign. But a lot of mornings I am just busy to step on, other times I've been getting on but haven't found my way to my computer to log it.

Last weekend was really busy.

Saturday we had an all-day Christmas party at friends house. I started out really well - had eaten  before I left, but as the time progressed my will power died. I didn't drink because I had a race in the morning.

Sunday I had a race at 11:00, so ate quite a bit before the race and celebrated with a large group at a Burger and Beer place. Yummy! And I was beat for the rest of the day so our dinner was just a ton of appetizers from the freezer.

This week has been crazy. My husband has been in the city all week, so leaving before we get up and coming home very late, so I have in essence been a single mom. I've managed to do a lot of baking and crafts with the kids, but my Bites, Licks and Tastes have been overboard.

But on a good note, I have been getting running in, so I am down to just 12 miles needed by the end of the year!

This coming weekend and next week will be fun and full and all my favorite foods, but come Friday I will be back on track!!

Weekly Weigh-in

It has been a long, long time since I have post my weight on a weekly basis. It is high time I start doing it again so I can be accountable to getting back to where I was in September.


Current Weight: 186.2
Last Week Weight: 188.0
Change from last week: -1.8
Highest Weight: 232.2 (12/1/2012)
Total Change: -46.0


I have definitely put in some hard work this week (and TOM came and left the house so that always results in a nice loss), but I still could have done better.


I got some exercise in: I ran the Ugly Sweater Run last Saturday, I ran on the treadmill and rode the bike on Monday, I got up at 4:30 am to run 3 miles with people I had never met. I got a fairly descent number of steps in, though I had a lot of meetings at work so wasn't able to move as much as I would like.


I went out to lunch once during the week - I chose an original size burrito over a small burrito (but the guy was pretty skimpy so it wasn't much bigger than a small!). The rest of the week I ate my normal work foods. I didn't munch while making dinner. But my dinner portions were still slightly too big. We went out to dinner Thursday night after a hectic day of working, parent/teacher conferences and getting our Christmas Tree, so I didn't make the best choices: I had 2 pretzel sticks as an appetizer and I had a Buffalo Chicken wrap with fries - the fries were so not worth it!


Christmas time is in full force and I have a lot of challenges coming up, but I am going to take them one day, one challenge at a time.


Sure I would love to lose 4 pounds in the next 3-4 weeks, but I know that is not realistic. But I would love to be under 185, so I could officially be at 20% loss and no longer Obese.

2 Year Weight Watchers Anniversary

2 years ago, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I walked into Weight Watchers again, weighing in at 232.2 lbs.

Thanksgiving 2012

This was my ah-ha picture from our mini-vacation a few weeks earlier. When we got home the scale was almost 240, 8 lbs more than I was 9 months pregnant with my son.

A year later, down 35 lbs, celebrating another Thanksgiving - 2013

2014 has not brought a lot of weight loss, but a lot of running, the highlight being my first 1/2 Marathon

And our big family trip to Disney. I am trying not to cringe at all the pictures of me

After all, I ran a 5K while on vacation!

And celebrating another Thanksgiving, down 9 pounds from last year.

I am trying not to dwell on the fact that I was down 50 lbs in July (and even 52.2 lbs in September) and am now not even down 45 pounds.

I would love to be back down to 182.2 by the end of the year, but that is just not realistic (I was 188.4 as of this morning). But I am not going to let the next month go to waste. I am going to try to make better choices on a daily basis, but still enjoy a few good holiday events.

Not a great week.....

I did make it to WW last week - the scale was 187.4, so .2 shy of 45 lb loss. But the scale did not stay there at all. I am on a new project at work and I've had internal and external meetings all week which had included breakfast AND lunch. And not enough exercise and not enough water. So as of this morning the scale was back over 190 and I've chosen to go running in the morning instead of going to WW.

Some people love the Great Plate WW meeting where you try to pre-plan your Thanksgiving plate, but I don't love it because I don't love Thanksgiving. I don't mind cooking it, I just don't love eating it. Stuffing is usually the only thing I want seconds off. A couple of years ago I stopped making appetizers so we would have more room for the meal. But oh yeah, I do drink egg nog while I am making the meal.

BUT on a good note, I am wearing a size 14 mini skirt (yep, a mini-skirt!) with my knee-high boots and a size L shirt today and I am looking skinny (though not really feeling it after all the crap I ate).

I am going to TRY to eat well in the next week, so when I celebrate 2 years with WW I can register a 10 lb weight loss for the last year (35 for year 1, 10 lb for year 2) and start the next year (the WW year) strong and hopefully in a year I won't only have recorded a 10 lb loss.

I am still here.....

I was hoping to wait until I could have a "before" and "1/2 way to goal" pic up from Disney before posting, but it has been such a crazy week and who knows when I will have time to deal with pictures.

We got back on Sunday night and I have been struggling to get back on track. At first I wasn't going to weigh-in until tomorrow, but on Monday I decided I just needed to do it. I was prepared for the scale to say 195, but it said 191. But I still hurt to be back in the 190s. But I didn't eat that well at Disney (but not that badly either) - But I definitely had dessert more than I would like.

As of Friday I am back down to 189.2, but that is still a 7 lb gain since September. A gain I really would love to see be gone by the end of the year, though I am not sure if a 7 lb loss in 7 weeks during the holidays is realistic. But I will just concentrate on living healthy except for the few select meals between now and January 1st where I will enjoy myself. And I will continue to run - I've got to do run 48 miles by the end of the year, which means I will have to have a weekly date with the treadmill in addition to weekend runs outside.

I'll be back soon with pictures!

Pre-vacation food purge

Last night did not go as well as planned - I was in meetings all afternoon so didn't get a snack, was running late leaving, and thus was hungry when I walked through the door. I snacked (heavily) on veggies, dip, tabbouleh, hummus and pita chips. I didn't finish my dinner, but still felt quite full at the end. I refrained from Oreos, cake and ice cream though.

Today is our last trash day before vacation so I purged a ton of food - our poor refrigerator is bare, just enough to get us through to vacation. I also threw some pantry items out (the Halloween Oreos are still there unopened) and also went through our downstairs fridge and freezer and threw out stuff that is just too old.

So we will be all ready when we get back from vacation for a fresh, healthy start!

I am NOT giving up!

Okay, so I am not stepping on the scale these days ....the number has been dangerously close to 190, when I saw 180.0 on September 20th. In 5 days we are going on vacation and TOM is coming up and I've got so much work to do and so much to do for vacation, that I just don't want to see that number about 190. But I will get on the scale as soon as I get back from vacation. And I am really, really going to try to not buy my lunch this week. I just can't go down there and not get a soda and I need the bloat feeling to subside some. I don't expect to lose a lot of weight in the next 5 days (hence not wanting to get on the scale) - I just want to feel better and avoiding soda and Halloween candy between now and then should really help.

Thankfully soccer practice was cancelled today - this has been my "binge" day when I am home with just my son for 2 hours at the end of the day. I was going to go to soccer myself today, but even better that it is cancelled!

On a good note, I went running 7 miles on Saturday. We did a fairly quick 7 miles as well. I am going to try to get up and get on the treadmill tomorrow and then get a run in on Friday before we leave.

I will get back on track!!!

Running and eating.....

It is hump day and the eating thing is just not going well - The scale said 188.6 this morning!!!! God awful. And I've had soda 2 out of 3 lunches this week. I think I have just resigned myself that I am not going to correct this before vacation. I will try to limit it, but I am just too stressed and anxious to be really good the next TEN days!!!

I had an outright binge Monday night. Monday nights have been hard this fall. I pick up my son at 5:15 and we are home for almost 2 hours before my husband and daughter get home from soccer and we have dinner. I end up snacking like crazy - this day I had at least as many calories as I would have for dinner or more, and then had a normal dinner - My stomach hurt. It sucked!!!

But in GOOD news, I woke up this morning at 5:15 am and ran 3.15 miles on the treadmill!!! I didn't sleep very well - I hope to sleep better tonight (more reason not to drink soda!!!) - I lay in bed for a while contemplating whether I should get up or not - there was NO reason not to, so I did!

I would really like to get up 4x a week and work out - Tuesday/Thursday strength, Wednesday running, Friday biking. But baby steps.

I ran, I ran, I ran!!!!

I was like a kid before Chistmas Saturday night knowing I would get out to run on Sunday morning.


I met a friend at 6:30 am which at this time of year means pitch black!! It was fun to run as the sun came up, though we couldn't see it happen in the wooded trail.


My friend could only run 4 miles. I knew I wanted to go 7, so after we got back to our cars, I took off my long sleeve shirt, put on my music and ran 1.5 miles out and back.


My run on my own wasn't all peaches and cream because I was already tired and had a full day ahead of me so my mind wasn't fully on it.


I was a little nervous about what was going on with my toes - I didn't unwrap them from the bandaids until this evening and the look good.


After the run we spent 3 hours a corn maze- I had worn my fitbit for the run (which I never do) and the maze - I've gone over 29,000 steps today!!


What I did think about  on my run was my potential goals for 2015. I know I don't want to concentrate on miles. I think I want to concentrate on # of runs. If I do all the runs I plan on the rest of the year, which include a mid-week 3 mile treadmill run, then I will hit 90 runs and 400 miles.


I would like to be more consistent with my mid-week runs, especially on the dreadmill. I can't only run during the week from mid-March - mid-July.


I would like to do a race in each of the 6 New England states, but I am not sure if that will be possible. The one I want to do in Maine is a lottery. And Connecticut really isn't convenient.


I also contemplated trying to run 10+ runs greater than a 5K - I had originally thought 10+ 10K races, but they still really are a rarity so harder to come by. But my 3 part race in February/March is a 3, 4 and 5 miles.


But mainly I want concentrate on fitness and do a lot more cross training - biking, swimming, weight training, and yoga. So maybe my goal shouldn't be the # of runs, but the # of workouts.

Will I be able to get back to weight loss??

That is a topic that has been top of mind all week - well really for the past couple of weeks. As my appetite has been increased and I've had very little self control. The 1/2 Marathon is over so I have no excuses - especially since I've done zero exercise since then. I've bought my lunch too many times over the last few weeks and it has always included soda. And all of this is reflected on the scale and in the mirror.

I know I am stressed about work and my dad, and anxious and excited about vacation. But I really need to nip it in the butt. I've been staying up too late (perhaps due to the caffeine from the soda), not sleeping well, not exercising and not eating well. A huge rutt!!

We've got 15 days until vacation. My #1 goal is to have zero soda between now and then. Drink a ton of water. Go to sleep earlier. And not have any Halloween candy. I think that is doable. Beyond that I am not making any promises.

Sunday I am going to running!! My toes are still not healed, but I can't not run. I'll just bandage them up and enjoy the cold morning and the beautiful leaves and running. I can't wait!!!!!

Still among the walking wounded.....

I want to run so badly. So, so badly. It is almost 80 degrees out. I worry that with the rain we are supposed to get later this week will knock all the beautiful leaves off and by Sunday they were all be on the ground.

My toes are still in pain - mainly the right one. The left one is only painful where the cuticle meets the toe and I think that is due to the shoes I wore yesterday. But the same shoes seem to have created a blister on the right toe and the right toe is still raw and gross.

But I am running this weekend - I have to. I am already discouraged by the scale - hello bad eating this weekend (the culprits got thrown in the trash this morning)....okay, the bad eating has trickled into this week as well.

I am already worried about what I am going to wear on vacation in 18 days. But I know if I eat cleanly for those 18 days I can feel better about myself.

But I am so stressed about work and vacation coming up and all the stuff the kids have going on. That is why I need to run!!!!

One week later....

It has definitely been a rough week!


My toes are still shredded - I probably should  have gone to Urgent Care, but I haven't. I tried putting on shoes and socks yesterday for the first time in 6 days and it sucked! I wore Crocs or flip flops to work every day. My quads feel fine now, but my calves and other leg muscles are aching because I can't walk normally.


I had to bag out of the 10K tomorrow, which sucks! So many people I know are doing various races this weekend and I want to be doing some sort of running - even just for fun. I am really hoping I can next weekend. I am jonesing for a run. The weather is beautiful, the trees are beautiful. It is weather that is meant to be run in!


My eating was completely out of control this week - not only on Sunday, but Monday as well. And some other low points during the week (TOM came this week as well, so that didn't help). But towards the end of the week I turned it around and ended up going to my WW meeting yesterday.


I wasn't going to get on the scale (earlier in the week, no way I would have because the scale was up 9 lbs - yep, 9 lbs!!!) But in all it ended up being 4 lbs at WW (3.6 on my scale at home, but I have changed from my summer weigh in outfit back to my cooler weather weigh in outfit, so additional clothing weight).


Yesterday wasn't perfect - me and the Halloween Oreos have been too close and me and the kids went out to dinner and we all ordered dessert.


But today is a new day. I am the only one in the family going to work/school tomorrow (might as well work since I am not racing) so I am going to organize and clean and get ready for a new successful week!

My First Half Marathon is Done!

Friday night I had mac and cheese for dinner and was in bed at 8:30 (and was awake at 2:30!) but dozed on and off until 7:30. I ended up skipping Weight Watchers - I wouldn't have weighed in anyways.

My daughter had a 9:00 am soccer game and I had to drive an hour to pick up my bib starting at noon. The weather wasn't conducive to apple picking so we went for Mexican for lunch - probably not my smartest choice, but I drank a ton of water all afternoon. After getting my bib, the rain stopped long enough for us to grab some Mumms and mini-pumpkins for a farm stand, and then I lounged the rest of the afternoon and ate a huge bowl of pasta for dinner.

Wake-up was 4:30 am. The race started at 8:00, but parking was going to be a problem so we need to get there early. I met my friend at 6:00 and she drove to the coast. It was definitely chilly. Thankfully I had brought a throw-away coat (it was too big - yeah!!!) for the start of the race.

Sunrise over Hampton Beach, NH

My goal really was to just finish the race. I would have liked to get under 2:30 but I hadn't trained for it. My hopes were to run 12:00 minute miles for 0-7, 11:30 for 7-10 and 11:00 for 10-13.1. The race was 4,700 people - Me and my friend lined up in the last corral - though she could have lined up in the one prior as she was hoping for 2:19.

I started out too quickly running about 11:30 and I really ended up doing that for the majority of the race. There were only small inclines, the max getting to 60 feet above sea level. There was a strong headwind the last 2 miles by the beach, which were hard. By that time my feel were hurting and I wasn't sure if mentally I could keep going on. I was tempted to call my husband, but I talked out loud to myself and got through. I was able to gun it the last .3 miles (at a 8:45 pace) and finished in 2:33.

I was thankful to have my camelbak as I didn't have to stop for the water stops, except once to douse my bandana. I had on sunglasses but hadn't worn my hat - I kind of wish I had. We really lucked out with the weather - I am not sure how I would have done if it had been hot!

My toes are not good. I thought I was getting a blister on my little toe but it didn't blister but I am wondering if I may end up losing it :( One of the big toes was so so, but the other was a bloody mess when I took off my shoes :( I didn't do much to it last night - I just changed the wrappng, but I've got to let it breath and drain it and keep it clean.

I am scheduled to do a 10K on Monday but even if my legs are feeling okay, I may have to skip it to let my toes heal. We have a date with Mickey Mouse in a month and I need to be healed by then!

So what is next?
Enjoying long runs of 6-8 miles - but I need to make myself do them! Not every single weekend, but more often than not. Last year when I wasn't training, I only got out once a month if that because I used every excuse not to - it was raining, I was tired, I want to sleep - all the things I haven't used as excuses for the last 3+ months.

I will do another 1/2 - I am just not sure when and where. We really lucked out with the weather but I can't always be guaranteed such good luck. And getting in all those long runs in August and September is hard with the schedule - but when would be a good time? I need to find a perfect end-of-April race :) But I also love all the spring 5ks.

It is what it is.....

My first 1/2 is in 2 days, I am not sure how my toes will fair, I've been eating myself out of house and home and I've gained 5 lbs in 2 weeks. It is what it is.

Sunday I ran/walked our town's 5k with my 8 year old. It was very hard for me not to be racing, or even running the whole thing, but it wasn't about me. I am so glad I didn't sign up for the 1/2 Marathon - It was hot and it didn't start until 10:00 - There were only 222 people who finished and looking at the results, I would have been one of the last ones. Much better to do a race with a much bigger field!

My toes have continued to bother me - not only were they raw and sensitive, because of the pain I have not been walking much, but when I do, I've been walking on the outside of my feet, screwing up my muscles and joints. Fun times.....

They have made vast improvements in the last 2 days, though I haven't put on shoes and socks yet. But I am hoping by Sunday they will be tolerable.

I am not even worrying about the scale right now.  Yes, it has said some pretty frightening things this week - like 8 lbs up! But I will deal with that after the race. Yes, I plan on having a lot of pasta the next couple of days and I will be having some celebratory food on Sunday, but then it will  be right back on track, even with TOM coming next week.

My poor toes!!!

I can't do this 1/2 marathon or have a DNF because of my toes, I am going to be pissed!!


After much googling, I decided I needed to drain the 2 large blisters I got last weekend. I did it Tuesday night, but by Thursday night they were filled again, so I drained them again. Yesterday I had the day off so I left the blister bandaids off of them to let them dry out, but then my rest toe cracked and bled. And when I put the blister bandaid back on, the top layer ripped off when I took it off.


I wanted to test my feet out, so I decided to do 7 miles this morning. Then I would run/walk the 5K tomorrow with my daughter.


I wrapped my toes and headed out. I felt really good running and my toes felt good for 5 miles. Then they both started to hurt. I hadn't brought shoes to change into since I haven't been doing that unless I run 10+ miles. When I got out of the car at home (after a 25 minute drive) I could barely walk my toes hurt so much.


I decided to forego my daughter's soccer game so I could shower and do errands and tend to my toes. I think I need to at least order new socks for next weekend (it makes me nervous to try something new on such a big run) and I will be tending to my toes all week long - I may even wear Crocs to work all week - how sexy!!!


I am also concerned amount the pain in my toes altering my walking gait and that I will screw up my muscles just by walking.

Mid-week check in

Today has been a horrible day foodwise (and isn't over yet!) We had a lunch presentation which I was a presenter - they brought in pizza and soda. Probably because I was nervous, I had 2 pieces and a soda before.....and then 2 pieces and a soda after. And now we are all going out for a going away party for a co-worker - drinks and appetizers. I probably won't have drinks, but appetizers - yes!

I wasn't very successful with my holding out for a 7:15 dinner on Monday - I held out for a while, but got hungry and munchy.

Yesterday I was trying to clean out some stuff in the pantry so had a "no cook" Thanksgiving dinner - canned cranberry sauce, Stove Top stuffing, pre-made mashed potatoes, cooked turkey, green beans with Funions, and then apple pie and ice cream. All this on a Tuesday night. Not good.

BUT I got up and worked out this morning. I woke up without an alarm around 5:10 and was wide awake because I had fallen asleep at 9:30 (probably from the turkey!). I knew I had NO excuse to not get up. I fumbled around for clothes. I walked on the treadmill for 5 minutes and then ran for 5 minutes - my legs really weren't feeling good yet, so I got on the bike for 10 minutes and then did a little bit of lifting and core wore. Just enough to dip back into it.

The weather report for Sunday is still in the 80s, but low humidity so I think I am back to thinking I will run my race....even though the thought of doing 7 miles in the shade of the bike path sounds really nice.

13.14 mile run

I do feel like I want to crawl into bed and wake up when my legs don't ache, but I did complete my first ever 1/2 Marathon distance.


And along with that came completing the goal I set for myself in February, to double my 2013 distance of 150 miles.

It wasn't a pretty run, but before the re-cap, let's go to Saturday.

I had a successful day on Friday, eating normally and woke up on Saturday to 180.0. I was so tempted to not drink or eat anything at my WW meeting and see if I had to go to the bathroom again when I got home, but I was too hungry and I figured that was just a little bit too neurotic.

It was 35 degrees when I woke up - I was very jealous of my running friend who got to do her long run on Saturday. I had thought my daughter's soccer game was at 10:15 on Saturday, but it was at 2:15 - I was tempted to run on Saturday, but I hadn't carbo loaded at all and I really wanted to go to WW, plus I couldn't lie down all day like I intended to do on Sunday. So I spent all Saturday getting stuff done for the week to come so I could truly do nothing on Sunday, except for run. We went to soccer and then out to dinner (Italian  - ie pasta :) )

The forecast for Sunday had been humid and 80 all week. When I woke up at 5:30, it was pouring! I looked at the radar and knew I had to wait it out - though the hourly forecast showed potential for thunderstorms, which made me nervous. I stayed in bed a while longer and heading out at 7:00. The sun was starting to come out when I left my house, but by the time I got to the bike path it was raining again.

When I got out of my car, my passenger seat was wet and a wet camelback proved that I had not secured my bladder correctly. In trying to fix it in the rain, I lost quite a bit of water. I didn't think about replacing it with water I had in the car because last week I had had so much water left.

The rain ended pretty quickly and didn't rain for the rest of my run.

I had a Salted Caramel Gu before I started, and at around 3,6 and 9 miles. Because it was 100% humidity, I took some water at each mile. The drawback of a camelback is not knowing how much water is left :(

I ran the 5 miles to the end of the path, turned around and ran 1.5 miles, then turned around again and went to the end again and then onward for the final 5 miles.

Negative splits were not meant to be. The humidity was starting to get to me. I knew my water was getting low and I needed it for my final Gu. Once I hit 11.7 miles, I knew I had completed my 2014 goal of 300 miles. I was very tempted to quit and walk the last 1.5 miles, but I knew I could run and be done faster. The last couple of miles were torture. I felt a twinge in my hip, my ankle, my knees were aching, and then I felt like my toes were rubbing together on my left foot and it hurt.

But I did it. I hit 13.14 miles (I did a little extra because I want to do a full 5K + 10 miles). I was so relieved. I walked the remaining .25 miles and walked around the parking lot for a while. I took a good 30 minutes to stretch, walk and decompress before I left like it was safe enough for me to get in the car and drive 25 minutes home.

Before I drove off, I took off my shoes and socks to put on my calf compression sleeves. I found HUGE blisters on both my big toes - on the side next to my 2nd toe.

I skipped my normal routine of getting gas on the way home. Even though I was thinking of getting 2 bags of ice and doing my first ice bath. But I just wanted to get home.

I took a long warm bath and then lay on the couch all afternoon. I ate like crazy (and did drink a lot of water) - this is why I gained so much weight in 2002 when I was training for Mt Rainier - every Saturday for 4 months I hiked 3-5 hours and then ate like crazy the remainder of the day and all the next day.

But I don't plan on having this feeling much - I am completely nervous about my toes. I am scared that whatever caused them to blister will happen early in the race in 2 weeks and I will be in pain, or I won't be able to continue. I am nervous for humidity.

Right now I am just eager to run 3.14 miles on Sunday for the 1/2 Marathon race to be over so I can go back to running 7 miles. I still can't believe I am looking forward to 7 miles because that would be easy.

Getting through the week....

This is one of those Friday's that I just want the day to be over and wake up on Saturday. Though I shouldn't expect a huge miracle or anything in the morning. But I am excited to see my weight and got to my meeting.

The week continues to be a success.

Wednesday night I made pasta for dinner - had a second small helping and a chocolate chip cookie my husband brought home from a work function, but no eating while making dinner.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with my co-worker and ate what I planned - a small burrito and water. My family was away for dinner so I had a PB&J sandwich and a piece of fruit. That is part of why I am not expecting a big miracle tomorrow morning.

This morning the scale said 181.8. But I usually see a big drop after having a tiny dinner. I will have another tiny dinner tonight as I usually do on Friday nights, so I don't expect the miraculous drop tomorrow as well.

I so badly want the scale to say 179.8 so I am going to be working hard!!

Today I am working at home, so I am trying so hard to eat like normal - that is one great reason of having my meeting on Saturday mornings, to keep me in line if I am home on Friday.

Last night I started flipping my closet to fall. I knew I needed to try on the size 14s I bought in August. Everything fit well! These are the other things I did:
--Moved upstairs the majority of my summer clothes except what I anticipate I may need  for Disney
--Had a few remaining 16W bottoms which went upstairs
--in my Fall closet are my new 14 bottoms and a couple size 16 (not 16W), as well as size L shirts - the size 16s are a tad big, but still doable
--I left my XL shirts from last winter in the back of the closet, mainly because I ran out of space in the attic and there are a couple of pieces I may need because I don't have an L equivalent and I don't want to buy it again. I am also a little nervous about some of my existing L shirts - some are a little short and with the post-kid chest, they are even shorter. I did buy quite a few size L tops which appear to be longer, so I am hoping I don't need to dip into any of my XL shirts.

Today I am rocking a pair of size 14 jeans which are total "Mom Jeans" because they are not low rise, but I am okay with that!!

Mid-week check-in: Doing Good

Even though TOM has been kind of a bitch this month, I am feeling really good this week. Maybe still on a high from my run this past weekend. But really my TOM issues are before, not during. I can feel myself getting thinner and less bloated, so I am usually in a good mood. And knowing that the 2 weeks after, pre-ovulation is when I feel my best out of the month, it is something to look forward to.

While our dinners have been a little chaotic, 2 nights of not eating when I got home is good!

Yesterday at lunch, I went down to the cafeteria with my co-worker and brought my lunch - didn't buy anything or have any soda

Today I went to the Weight Watcher's meeting at work. I chose to wear jeans at work. We started the meetings around Memorial Day and every week I went I wore a light piece of clothing from my honeymoon wardrobe. While it wasn't overly chilly during the day (a high around 70), it was around 50 this morning. I chose to wear jeans (and a belt!) because I figure that is what I am going to be wearing until the spring. And as long as I am consistent with what I wear, my weight loss should be reflected.

The plan for the rest of the week:
--My family most likely won't be home when I get home, but I will not use that as an excuse to eat while I am making dinner. We are having pasta with homemade meat sauce. I will eat a normal amount. I did get a carrot cake over the weekend and we ate 1/2 of it. I anticipate that we will eat the rest tonight.

--Tomorrow me and my co-worker are going out for shopping and lunch. I am getting the small burrito and a water, what I had been having earlier in the summer, not the large burrito and the Nutella milkshake that I have gotten the last 2 times.

--Thursday I am going to Parent's Night at school, which means I have some time to myself while my husband and the kids are at soccer. Maybe I will fit in a run - depends on whether I get up in the morning and get on the treadmill (I laid out my clothes last night, but didn't get up :( )

--Friday I plan on working from home but will eat my normal food - not get anything extra at the grocery store and have my planned PB&J for dinner.

--Saturday I will go to my WW meeting at 7 am and then have a busy day. We are going out for pasta for dinner of which I will eat a lot. Because.....

--Sunday I am going for my last Long Run. I am not committing to how long. Right now it is supposed to be in the 80s during the day, so who knows what the morning will look like. I want it to be 10-13.1 miles, the later being preferable :)

Long Sunday

Friday night and Saturday were pretty productive, since I knew we had a busy Sunday ahead of us and I knew I would be tired.

Friday evening I went grocery shopping, put it away, threw together dinner for the kids, drove my daughter to a birthday party, went to BJs, went home and put everything away, went to pick her up, headed home and fell asleep. Tired!

I didn't go to Weight Watchers on Saturday - After my ridiculously bad week of eating and knowing we needed to get an early start, I wanted to sleep in just a tiny bit!  We need to leave by 9:15 to go my daughter's soccer game. The game was followed by errands, a late lunch, and tons of running around the house in the afternoon to get ready for the week - stuff I normally do on Sunday but I knew I wouldn't have the time or desire. After a big pasta dinner, I was off to bed.

The original plan was to do 11 miles. I ended up with 11.6. The run was one of the most fantastic of my life!!!!  It was 48 degrees when I started out - beautiful and crisp, low humidity. And I ran...and ran...and ran. Definitely not fast but I actually was running, not the slogging along like my 2 10-mile runs in 97% humidity.

 I worked on my nutrition a little bit. I had a bag of caffeine sport beans 15 minutes before (I had had a whole wheat waffle PB&J sandwich at home).  I wore capris and a short sleeve shirt because that is most likely what my outfit will be in 3 weeks for race day. I wore my camelbak. I had 3 salted caramel GU along the route - around 3, 6 and 9 miles. I didn't necessarily need the one at 9 miles for this run, but I wanted to mimic race day. 

I ran an easy 7 miles, picked up the pace for 7-10, and ran a little faster the last 1.6 miles, but not as fast as I would have liked. Over all I finished in 2:19. I have definitely resigned myself that I will not finish in under 2:30.

I am not sure what I will do next week. I know in my heart I should stick to 12 miles, but if the weather is like yesterday, I know I may try to go for 13.1. I think I am going to wear my sunglasses and a visor next week as practice. The race is next to the ocean, so no shade and even though the race starts at 8 am, I am not used to running in sun at all, so I think I will wear a visor to minimize the sun on my face.

I definitely did not drink enough water during the run. I was a little shocked by how much water was still in the Camel Bak when I got home. Within an hour of being home, we had to leave to go to my kid's first obstacle race.

It was a long walk from the car to the venue (on a farm) and then being out in the sun for 2 hours (during which I didn't drink anything) and walking on uneven terrain, I was wiped out. I came home and lay on the couch for the rest of the afternoon. Next Sunday I am doing NOTHING all day after my run. I may even try an ice bath too!

TOM arrived this morning - 25 days. Last month was 28. The 3-4 months before were 24.  At least I will be out of the woods for the race. Whatever the next 2 cycles bring, I am pretty much guaranteed to have it in Disney. I'll take it during Disney over a race any day!

I am really going to try to do better with my eating this week. I have bananas for the mornings, we aren't eating anything out of the ordinary, so hopefully I can turn it around.

NSV of sorts

This is one of my Before pictures - It was after our whirl-wind trip to Florida and my MIL passed away that I knew I had to make a change. Stepping on the scale it said 236 lbs, 5 lbs more than when I was 9 months pregnant with my son.

I originally wanted to wear the same shirt when we get our picture taken in front of the Castle in a couple of months, but in reality the shirt is way too big. It is an XL and I am definitely firmly in a L.

I went to the Disney Store (remember where there was one in every mall....now we only have 2 in the eastern part of our state, one of which is 10 minutes from work) to check out new shirts for all of us for the trip. My kids have shirts they could wear (and still probably will) and even my husband can easily fit into that shirt he is wearing, but I wanted us to all have something new.

When looking at the ladies size L shirts, I felt they looked really big. I looked at the Ms and decided that was what I was going to buy for myself.

I finally tried on the 3 I bought. I am keeping them though I don't think I will  be washing/drying them before the trip :)  They are perfectly acceptable and I do feel like the Ls would have been too big.

I called this post an "NSV of sorts" because honestly, I think the Disney Store shirts run pretty big so it's not like I think I am an M in anything else! The joy of the sizing game. But for now, I will take it. And if the shirts are too small after I wash them after the trip, at least I know I'll have some Disney shirts to wear when I hit goal!

Out of control and hating it

I jumped into the week with 2 feet thinking this was going to be a great week. Yeah, that was the case until Monday evening.

For the first time my daughter has practice on Monday night. My husband took her and I knew they wouldn't be home until 7ish like we were on Thursday. I picked up my son  and was home by 5:15. I had forgotten my 2nd cheesestick and was ravenous. And had 2 hours before dinner....so I ate myself out of house and home. Not complete junk - a small tub of tabbouleh and some pita chips and hummus, little bit of homemade salsa and chips....and a homemade muffin and a spoonful of Nutella. I think that was it. But I felt gross for doing it....and then 2 hours later I had a full dinner as well. Ouch my stomach hurt.

Why did I do this? Not 100% sure. I am so used to wanting to get dinner over with as soon as i get home - I had a hard time concentrating on anything else. My son wanted to play a video game so I let him. He didn't have any homework that needed to be done and I didn't have any quick house chores to be done because I do them all on the weekend. I didn't want to dive into an intense project because I would need to make dinner. So was it boredom? True hunger?

Tuesday started out well....I actually made my lunch - egg salad with 2 eggs and celery, in 2 flaxseed pitas. I thought I was going to have lunch with a co-worker. She usually IMs me around noon, but at that point she had been away from her desk for 10 minutes. She can be pretty inconsiderate sometimes and doesn't tell people when her plans have changed. So I figured she was out to lunch and I was starving so I ate my lunch. Then at 12:20 she asked to go to lunch. I could have gone downstairs and just chatted. But no - I had a second lunch, along with a 12 oz coke. Why the heck did I do that???!!!

My eating definitely has been thrown off by a lack of bananas for the morning, so I have been more ravenous than normal. I've been having a fruit cup when I normally have a banana, but that isn't helping at all.

But in good news, I got up this morning and worked out. I planned on doing 3 miles on the treadmill. I now know it is going to take some mental training to keep me on the dreadmill for 3-4 miles. I only last 1.5 miles before mentally I had to get off. My body could have kept going. I jumped on my bike trainer for 15 minutes. Baby steps......

10 miles, just not all at once

Saturday morning me and my friend did Shape's Diva Dash for a second year in a row. I am thinking this will be the last year. A lot of the obstacles they made even easier. And for a second year I had to miss my daughter's first soccer game of the season. It is just a hard weekend to be busy on a Saturday and not really worth it.

Diva Dash tries to claim it is a 5K, but in reality it is only 2.8 miles. We ran most of the way except a few uphill sections. I was supposed to do 10 miles on Sunday. I carbo-loaded on Saturday expecting to do 10. But as I was going to bed, I was trying to figure out the logistics of the day. I needed to be home by 9:30 and out the door for our town's Soccer Field Day by 10:15. I set my alarm for 5:30, figuring I could run from 6:30 - 8:30, but I had errands I needed to do on the way home from running and the day was already so packed and really didn't allow for me to actually be tired from running 10 miles. So I decided I would run 7.2 miles. So a total of 10 miles between the 2 days and then the 7.2 miles would bring to 275 miles for the year. A nice round number.

Sunrise before my run.

At the beginning of February, once I started running again after taking January off (way too much snow!), I decided to come up with a goal for the year. Thinking I would most likely do a Half Marathon, but not knowing what that meant in terms of mileage, I decided I would like to double my miles in 2014 from 2013 (150 miles). I will hit that goal in the next couple of weeks. Obviously my mileage has not been what I expected for half marathon training since I haven't been running during the week. So I also don't know what to expect for mileage after the 1/2 is over, so who knows what I will get to by the end of 2014. I expect to hit 400 (I better!) but not 500, so it won't be a nice round number like last year.

My run was awesome!!! I love 7 miles. I have been thinking about how much miles I want to maintain after the 1/2 and I am thinking 7 miles is it. 5 miles is not enough because I would love to be 10K ready. Once you get over 8 miles, you might as well go for 10 and I don't want to maintain that number.

I was able to run at a pace I hadn't run in weeks. It wasn't my fasted 7 miles, but I really felt like I was running. Not slogging along.  It was cooler weather, but the humidity was still a little high so my the end of the run I was feeling it.

I think it is finally time to get on the dreaded treadmill. We'll see how I do when I try later this week. I am not looking forward to it, but I need to get used to it again, even if just for 3 miles at a time.

Searching for the new normal....

It has been a different week - My son started Kindergarten this week, so a change to our drop off routine. We are having work done on our driveway so we can't park there - how I miss our garage! It has been so humid that the windows are fogged each morning. Now it looks like we are going to be changing the bus my daughter takes (and she only started taking the bus this year - she used to do Before School care) which will be good because it will get me to work earlier.

I was in pain most of the week from my 10 mile run. I must not have stretched out my quads enough because stairs and sitting down were hard!

Running during the week continues to allude me which makes me nervous for my 1/2 in a little over 4 weeks! I know that doing just 1 long run on the weekends is not good! But then again, my only goal is to finish....  But I have got to do something!

Tomorrow I have the Diva Dash - I am not particularly looking forward to it, but I am going to make the most of it and relish in how much better I feel physically than last year. I saw I won't do it again next year, because it really does interrupt things - both 1/2 training and I am missing the 1st soccer game of the year for the 2nd year in a row.

I tell myself I am going to do 10 miles on Sunday - thankfully it will be much cooler and not humid. I am not sure how I will feel, but I will try my best.

I feel like a true runner now that I got a box of 24 Salted Caramel GU delivered :)

Yesterday I brought my lunch to work, i.e I made something versus just throwing in a Lean Cuisine pizza. But I didn't make it the night before thus didn't measure anything so i know it was more than 10 points. So if I am going to make, I HAVE to do it the night before so I can track the points.

I really want to get back into losing weight. It has been 2 months since I first saw 182.2 and I haven't gone below that since then (okay, 1 or 2 random days I did see 181.8). The scale this morning was 182.8. I need to lose 3 pounds! I so badly want to see 179, but I haven't been trying. I need to try! I don't want to wait another 4 weeks until the 1/2 is over to try.

Another 10 miles

I was very hesitant about this run knowing that it would be 70 degrees with a dew point of 70 - yep, 100% humidity. But I really wanted to get 10 miles done. Next weekend I have the Diva Dash on Saturday, which is only 3 miles, but I am not sure how I will be feeling for a long run.


Running was pretty lonely because most of the normal people probably had done their long runs over the weekend and were enjoying their Labor Day relaxing :)  I was having a hard time - the humidity wasn't that bad, but just the mental part of it. Plus I hadn't slept well - I really just wanted to be home in bed. I told myself I would turn around at 4 miles. It came and I kept going. But then I said I would turn around at 4.5 miles (at which point I have to cross a potentially fairly busy street), but I decided to just keep going to the end of the path (5 miles).


I decided to change up my music on the way back, but was having technical difficulties - it kept trying to shuffle all my music (and of course was trying to play classical Christmas music). And then tried to repeat the same song over and over. That is one of the reasons I like my vest so much better - easier access to my phone that an arm band.


I was trying to be conservative with my water, so only drank a little at each mile. At 45 minutes and 90 minutes I had a Salted Caramel Gu (I also had one before I ran, first time I did that).


After the second Gu I felt a little stronger, so I have a much better pace around mile 7, but slowed back down as the heat and sun were starting to increase. But I trucked along. Very slowly. No way I will finish a 1/2 in under 2:30 but I can live with that. I will be happy with just finishing. Though I did keep saying to myself that if the weather on October 5 is like today, I don't think I will attempt it. I run in a place that is 95% shaded. I don't think the course will be very shaded and I am very concerned about running that long in the sun. If it is warm, I will strongly consider not running. I would even consider running 13.1 on the bike path that morning!

Lunch plans

Over the summer I've been having lunch with a co-worker quite often, which is one of the reasons that the scale has not moved down (but has moved up and down) from 182.2 since July 5. When we eat lunch I've been buying in the cafeteria and usually buying a 12 oz can of regular coke as well. Well this needs to end! I don't want the lunches to end because otherwise I don't get much chit-chat in at work - I am only in the office 8 hours a day so I don't feel like I am entitled to a lot of watercooler breaks, much less lunch because I haven't want to work after hours this summer.

Since dinner time has always been such a problem time for me, I've made sure I was in control during the day and know what my points were. But I've known for a while that I wanted to mix up my lunches - a Lean Cuisine pizza and carrot sticks has been getting pretty boring. Plus the pizza is a lot of PPV and so many carbs. But it is so easy because I don't have to make lunch and with making kids lunches now, shaving off any amount of time helps.

My friend, who is looking to cut costs and cut calories, proposed that we bring our lunches Tuesday and Thursday (she will be working from home on Monday and Fridays) and Wednesdays we could go out (I am still up in the air about what to do with WW at Work - I am more inclined to start going to my regular Saturday one each week again now that summer is over). So I would still bring my regular lunch on Monday and Fridays (for the time being) so I won't get overwhelmed with actually making my lunch. Maybe I'll just start with 1 day a week, then 2, and so on.

We are looking forward to time at the county fair this weekend (ie, not diet friendly!) but next week brings the true Back to School when both kids are in school and both parents are back at work. I can't wait!

New school year, new routines

We are kind of in this limbo here. Tuesday was my daughter's first day of 3rd grade and my son had Kindergarten Orientation. But then he doesn't have real school until next Tuesday. She has school 3 days this week - my husband is home with him. So we are getting a glimpse of the new routine, but not really. That will have to wait until Tuesday. I just want Tuesday to come!

Once change I've decided to make is to throw in an extra cheese stick to eat as I am walking out the door at work. And then chug a ton of water on the way home so I am not ravenous when I get home - my absolutely hardest time of the day. I did it yesterday, but I still found myself overeating slightly at dinner because we had tacos, one of my favorites - Extra cheese always ends up in me on taco night if I am not careful :)

Another week of blown off running mornings :( Tuesday I decided I was just still too tired from my 10 miler. This morning I was up at 3 am for 90 minutes. Excuses, excuses!

Some of my new gym equipment came yesterday, so I am excited to try it out....sometime! I just need a descent night sleep. I feel like it has been 10 days since I got a really good night's rest.

I had my last Skinny Cow ice cream cone on Monday night and I don't have any sweet treats for me in the house, which is good! Not having extra sugar really helps me because I am not bloated and feel good about myself.

Scale this morning was 183.2. At first I was going to blow off WW, but then decided to go. No reason not too!

10 Miles and Back on Track

Vacation has come and gone - well, at least for me. My husband is home with the kids this week as Kindergarten doesn't start until after Labor Day. My daughter has school Tuesday - Thursday of this week.


Last week was pretty refreshing. I didn't check work emails until a couple of minutes ago.


Me and the kids went to New Hampshire Sunday - Wednesday. I ran 7 miles on vacation! 4.4 of which were hilly and on my 44th birthday!


My favorite part was seeing all the people who hadn't seen me in a year and commented on my weight loss!


But literally as soon as I walked through the door Wednesday afternoon I felt sick and had a sore throat.
Thursday was spent at home - the kids in their pjs and me unpacking and organizing.
Friday was spent back-to-school shopping.
I had to cancel on my friend for running on Saturday morning - I still felt sick, TOM was so heavy so I was worried about a 9 mile run, and I knew we had to get the house cleaned.
And that we did - all day Saturday.


Sunday I knew I needed to do 9 miles on my own. I wasn't into it. I hadn't slept well in over a week. But I forced myself to get up....and once I was out there, I decided to try to 10 miles and I did it. Albeit, incredibly, incredibly slowly, but I did it!


I originally had wanted to try it next Monday - but I have so much going on this week and I didn't want to take my focus away from those things worrying, anticipating 10 miles, so I did it Sunday.


I am feeling pretty good today. I don't know if it is because of how slow I ran, because I put on compression calf sleeves on before I got in the car, or what. The 1/2 is 6 weeks away. I don't have confidence I will finish until 2:30, but right  now I just care about finishing!


I definitely need to get back on track with the healthy eating. The scale said 184.2 this morning - could be worse! But my eating was less than stellar on vacation, so I need to clean it up. I really want to make an effort to have less/no sugar - no soda, no ice cream, etc. It all goes to my belly and I hate it! And I know I run better without it.


Speaking of which, I tried my first Gu yesterday. Salted Caramel = heavenly!

8 Miles

Originally I was going to try for 6-7 miles as that is what my running buddy had said she was going to do, but then on Thursday she said her 1/2 training plan called for repeating 8 miles. I thought maybe we'd do 6-7 together and then she'd had to turn around and finish off the last 1-2 miles. We chose to run on Saturday, which is always nice to get it over with. The thought of being able to sleep in on Sunday sounded appealing!


Friday was the end of camp and the beginning of vacation. I was so excited! I hit BJ's because we were in need of everything and had a pasta dinner to carbo load for the run.


On the way out of BJ's my daughter rammed into my heel with her cart - I almost cried and was convinced I wouldn't be able to run. But thankfully the pain didn't last.


I woke up to 183.6 - Yeah, up 2 lbs since last Saturday but I had had a large dinner....and eaten horribly for the whole week, so I will take it!


It was a crisp morning- high 50's. Didn't feel like mid-August! I wore shorts, my new sneakers (I love new sneakers!), a short sleeve shirt and my hydration vest.


I had some sports beans at 3 miles and kept going until the turn around.....at 4 miles! The 8 took us 1:45 - not great, but good for not having done a long run in 3 weeks.


But now in the evening my legs are definitely feeling it (we shopped all day long!) - Can't wait to get compression calf sleeves for my birthday!


Shopping was mainly for the kids, but I did get a bunch of size 14 pants and size L tops - felt so good! I brought size 14 and 16 to the dressing room - I didn't even try the 16s on - I knew they would be way too big!

Absolute, complete lack of motivation

It is Friday and my lower back is still sore when I've been sitting in a chair (hello, work) or driving. But sleep is back to normal.

Eating. Not normal at all. Completely out of control! Like, haven't been weighing myself out of control. But I will get it back. Not sure when, but soon. I've just been limping (literally and figuratively) to the end of camp - which is today! Lack of motivation to do anything - make lunches (the kids had lunchables 3, yes, 3 times this week), making dinner (we've been out too much) and today their lunch was scraps from the fridge and pantry so I can make a clean start when we get back from vacation.

I love camp, I really do, but 8 weeks is long. I don't want to break it up with vacation in the middle - I like going full steam ahead for the full 8 weeks and then have celebration week off after it is all done.

We did have a home day on Wednesday - I worked, they watched tv. All day. It was pouring, torrential pouring. I didn't feel like leaving the house to bring them to camp. So I didn't :) I did get my daughter's clothes organized.

Tomorrow is a all-day family shopping day. We'd planned this weekend for weeks and then it happens to fall on Tax-Free weekend - good I guess, but it will be crazier than normal.

I tried on my fall clothes - I put all the Size XL and Size L shirts in the closet - XL are too big, but some of the L are older so aren't as long, so may show too much tummy :(  I don't need too many fall clothes - Weekend casual tops and a pair of jeans and a pair of dress black pants. Hard to think about shopping when I have not been eating well.

But I will turn it around! I have to! I am going to attempt to run this weekend - hopefully 6-7 miles. We'll see how it goes!

Spartan Race = Sore

I am on the mend from my cold, but not 100%. But right no my whole body feels like hell. But more on that later.

After a day of eating poorly on Thursday (I went out to lunch with a friend and ate a bigger burrito than normal, and had a shake in addition to water; then that night was my daughter's 8th birthday celebration - pasta (and seconds), garlic bread, salad, cake and ice cream), I turned it around on Friday.

We were going to the beach on Saturday and I still wasn't sure if I was going to wear my bikini, so I didn't want to be bloated. Plus I thought maybe I would go to WW on Saturday. So I had my typical Friday meals - normal food during the day, PB&J and a piece of fruit for dinner.

Scale on Saturday said 181.8 so off to WW I went (I had already decided that a run on Saturday morning as not a good idea - I wanted to be my best for Sunday). It felt great to be back under 50 lbs lost.

We had a fun day at the beach - in the end I chose not to wear my bikini. Mainly for the burn factor. My stomach hasn't seen sun in years - I didn't want to risk being burned for Sunday. We only stayed for 3.5 hours because we had tickets for AAA baseball at 5:00. The kids got to dress up as superheroes and parade around the field.

Sunday would be a pretty big unknown. Me and my friend were signed up for the 'Biggest Loser Off Road Challenge', which means that you are running a Spartan Race but didn't have to do 30 burpees for each failed obstacle, and they shaved off 1.3 miles (but no obstacles). The only downside was that we had to wear the Biggest Loser shirts to prove we didn't have to do burpees. The shirts were way too big which don't help when covered in mud.

The experience was wonderful, but I am hurting big time today. But a good hurt - a hurt I haven't felt in a long time. I tried all obstacles, albeit a lot with help, didn't succeed at a ton of them, conquered a lot of fears, and had a lot of fun...until the last 30 minutes when we had to crawl/roll under barbwire for 100 yards - it made me feel so nauseous and I continued to feel so until I went to bed. And I fell right near the end, so now have some nasty, painful scrapes on my palms, knees and elbows. And a blister on my heel which will feel me out of sneakers for a while.

After the race reminded me of why I gained weight while training for Mt Rainier. To try to get rid of the nausea and dizziness, I ate a ton and ate crap food for the rest of the day. I did this after my day-long training hikes....but I also ate like crap the whole next day as well, which I am trying not to do today!

Happy 8-years-of-being-a-mom to me!

Yes, it is my daughter's 8th birthday. But since she is at camp and I am at work, I sit and celebrate what I did 8 years ago and everything I have accomplished since then.

I started out the day with my first weekday morning run in 3 weeks. I slept like a log last night so I was so freaked out when the alarm went off. I am not used to hearing it! And I always wake up before it. Part of the reason it has been 3 weeks is because the days are rapidly getting shorter, so 5 am now looks very different than 5 am in June. And I just couldn't get out of bed - if I had been, I would see that it was pretty light outside, the light just wasn't making it through our heavy shades.

I wasn't sure what to expect for my run since I am still full of phlegm. And I wasn't expecting the cool temperatures - heaven! We have been pretty spoiled this summer in terms of heat and humidity - not even close to a heat wave.

I ran 3.38 miles - I did well for the first 3 miles, but then started coughing and couldn't recover very easily, so cut short my intended 3.5 mile run.

I need to fix my Garmin - it isn't syncing the data :( But my running has been so slow lately, it isn't like I am very interesting in looking at my splits.

I celebrated at lunch in a more sinful way - an "original" size burrito instead of a small, and a small Nutella milkshake (which I had been dieing to try for a while) - I still went with whole wheat wrap and I could have gotten an "original" size shake, but didn't.

I am loving what I have been doing for ME these last 18 months of running - especially the last 6 months. While I still feel like I don't have enough time to do the things I want to do...and not enough time to do everything with the kids as well. Let's not enough mention time with my husband - poor guy does get 3rd place - there just isn't time! I spent so many years, even before we had kids, not putting myself first, so it is definitely time. When I reach my goal, while i will still want to run on my own and such, I will then focus more on incorporating my kids (and hopefully my husband!) into more physical activities.

Case of the sickies.....

I didn't run on Thursday morning - I didn't really have an excuse. The less sunlight at 5 am is definitely being problematic. I was mad because that would mean that I ended July with only 38 miles run. So close to 40!!

Then I hoped to get 2-3 miles in when I got home from work, but I had a call into the vet for results of a biopsy done on one of the cat's noses. I didn't give my cell phone number because I didn't really want to hear mid-run that my cat had cancer. I had to wait 2 hours for her to call me back - by that time I caved and had greek yogurt with fruit and granola. But by 7:30, when we got fairly good news - it is a tumor but not cancer and as long as it doesn't continue to grow, then we are okay. So I decided to get my miles in them and ran 3.14 as part of a Virtual 5K I was doing.

But after I got back I started to feel awful - My allergies had been bothering me all week, but there was just phlegm everywhere!

I had Friday off anyways, as a nice Me day. I did get some stuff done, but no where near what I expected because I wasn't feeling well. I slept like crud on Thursday and Friday night. I also was having weird dreams about my race on Saturday.

I couldn't cancel on my friends - we were doing the R.O.C. Race - (ROC = Ridiculous Obstacle Challenge). It is a lot of inflatables. Our heat was at 8:00, over an hour away from me, so I was up and out of the house at 6:15. It starting sprinkling just as I got to the parking lot, and full on raining once we started - they allowed us to start early because we were ready.

The race was in the parking lots across the street from Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play. We used to have season tickets (in the height of their hay-day - which was great). It was so much fun to run through parking lots where I spent years drinking and gaining weight. I would have have imagined 10 years ago that I would be exercising again. So glad I am!

 A few of the obstacles purposefully knock you down (think the show Wipe Out) and after taking a digger on one, I chose to not do 2 of the other ones because I didn't want to risk getting hurt and having it affect my 1/2 training. With the pouring rain, the risk of getting hurt was higher. I am a little disappointed in myself, but I will get over it! It wasn't like they were obstacles to challenge you being in shape.

The rest of the day was spent in bed - not because the race was hard, because I was sick. Of course I had to cancel on my planned 6.22 mile run on Sunday morning - I was so mad! I was so looking forward to challenging myself since I never run 2 days in a row.

I managed to get some stuff done on Sunday, but no where near what I had hoped for.

We ended the night with our annual trip to The Melting Pot. Wow expensive - my dad couldn't make it, so we ended up paying for my soon-to-be-8-year-old to have an adult meal. We think next year we'll skip the meat course and just do cheese, salad and chocolate.

The scale wasn't too bad yesterday morning, but was atrocious today!

Reluctantly dressed for Weight Watchers

The scale was completely out of control this morning: 186.6. But I still put on one of my honeymoon dresses, because today is Weight Watchers At Work Day. I will get on the scale - I will not take a "pass" on being weighed though I will tell them not to tell me....because I know.

But I do need to nip this in the butt NOW!!!! The scale needs to go down. TOM is over, so this is the "skinniest" part of my month.

Monday we went to the Red Sox game and had a glorious dinner of a hot dog and a pretzel. Could have been worse. I could have had beer, soda or lemonade,  but I had water. I could have had popcorn, cotton candy, or ice cream instead. I could have had leftover ice cream when I got home, but I didn't.

Yesterday I ate my normal food for a second day in a row! Yeah!!! My husband made dinner - ravioli with turkey meatballs, salad, garlic bread, and we had another round of his birthday cake with ice cream and homemade chocolate sauce. But the remainders went in the trash. There was enough cake, ice cream and chocolate sauce for 1 person to have a pretty big helping. Afraid it might have been me that was tempted, I threw it all away.

I will say that we are going to the Melting Pot on Sunday to celebrate my daughter's 8th birthday with my parents. It is becoming an annual event - One I splurge on. But that is 1 meal, 5 days from now. No reason to eat healthy between now and then.

I didn't get up to run yesterday - I was tired from going to bed late, and I was dehydrated from my salty "dinner", and my legs were still tired from my long run. I am hoping to get out tomorrow and I am hoping to get out the next 2 weeks since I won't have as long runs. I think the real long runs are just tuckering me out, and causing me to not want to run and not eating well because I am tired. It is these types of behaviour that make me nervous to be training for this half marathon. I don't want to lose what I have accomplished just for a race.

I did get up and do my strength training this morning. It was hard to get up, but I did it! And I am so glad I did. And I did do the 15 minutes on the bike trainer that I skipped last week.

Still struggling + 9 miles!

I woke up Monday morning to the scale saying 186.0!! Ugh!! But at least I got on it. There were 3 days last week that I didn't weigh myself and that is when I know I am really headed for trouble.

I chose to do my Long Run on Saturday morning and I am glad I did! I did 9 miles in 1:50. I am having issues with my Garmin so it is saying that the data is getting transferred but it is lost. But looking at my splits, I am pretty happy with them. The last 3 miles were faster that the first 6.

Like last weekend I ate at 3 miles and 6 miles - Sports Beans - still my favorite!

But I was tired, tired, tired for the rest of the weekend! I am glad I can't do long runs for the next 2 weekends!

Saturday I had to go grocery shopping at a different, more expensive store because my normal chain is having boycotts (something I support) so no one is shopping there....and there isn't any food there even if I wanted to. It was $75 more expensive and took twice as long, but I made fairly good decisions. Not 100%...Like I bought a big bag of Doritoes, but threw them out last night after having just 2 small handfuls.

We ate out Saturday night for my husband's birthday (celebration #1!) - Italian. Yummy! Salad, pasta with seafood, we ordered 4 desserts (for the 4 of us) and all shared, and 1/2 a bottle of wine. Yummy!

Sunday night was celebration #2 - sausages with peppers and onions, corn on the cob, and ice cream and cake with chocolate sauce. Yummy!

But so far Monday I have eaten well - eaten all my normal foods. We are supposed to go to the Red Sox game tonight, but it could get rained out.

I am hoping to get out for a run in the morning, even though it will be a late night. I need a nice short run!

Disappointing week

I am very disappointed in myself this week, but I am going to chalk to it up to some months PMS is worse than others.


Right after I wrote my last post saying I was going to eat my lunch I brought, my friend IMed me to eat lunch and I agreed. I bought Wednesday and Thursday, which meant I bought 4 times this week and each time I bought a 12 oz can of regular coke!


I didn't get my run in on Thursday as well - this time I really didn't have an excuse. BUT I did get my 2 strength training sessions in on Wednesday and Friday, though I didn't do the bike either time.


I am especially disappointed in the Thursday run blown off, because Wednesday my legs were itching to get out and I was excited about the run. But it didn't happen. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, because I do need to get in my runs in the morning. And I do like doing them once I am out there!


I didn't buy my lunch today - I ate my normal lunch. I had to bring my daughter to the ER to get stitches and I made sure I brought a snack with me because I didn't know how long we would be there (we were in and out in 1:15!!! That has got to be a record!)


Sunday morning is supposed to be pouring, and we are going out to dinner on Saturday night and even though we will be having pasta, I don't want to risk feeling icky like I did a few weeks ago when I had pasta out. So I am going to do a 8.5 mile run in the morning,

Bad week, go away!

Is it Friday yet?! My eating has really been out of control this week and I want to put a break on it.

After Sunday's large lunch at Applebees (hello, 4 pretzels for an appetizer!), I had leftovers for dinner. I did throw the rest of some leftovers out.

Both Monday and Tuesday I ended up buying lunch at work - at the last minute. Both of which included a 12-oz Coke and onion rings.

Monday night dinner was seconds on pasta before rushing out to my daughter's soccer practice.

Tuesday night was steak tips (which we originally were going to have on Sunday). I did make sure to get green beans before my husband put real butter on them. Grrr.....And after dinner I had the TWO remaining Skinny Cow bars (4 PPV each).

Tuesday I didn't get up to run. I hope it isn't this way each week - I was just so tired! I need the extra sleep. My body needed an extra rest day.

TOM is coming up later this week (darn 24 day cycles lately!). But it is HUMP day and I am trying to change it around now!

On a good note, I am wearing a Size 14 pair of white jean capris (bold I know especially since TOM is so close!!). And with the smaller size pants I had to cinch in the belt 1 more hole.

And I did get up this morning and do strength training. I didn't get my 15 minutes on the bike as I blew off a lot of my pre-camp prep last night and had to do it this morning. I woke up at 4:15 and considered blowing it off, but so glad I didn't!

I am hoping this off feeling is just PMS. And I hope to turn it around today - at least the lunch at work part. It is unnecessary and makes me feel so bloated. This is why one shouldn't drink soda!

Another 8 mile run

I got up Saturday morning to 182.4, so a little shy of 50 lbs. But I knew I would be playing the WW game - I wore only a tank top and running shorts - the same outfit as 2 weeks prior when I got my 50 lb disc. They had me as 50.4 lbs - the difference between the 2 scales was only like .6 lbs which it never is.


I won't have my WW meeting at work this week because she is on vacation.


I ate way, way too much for dinner last night. This is why I don't cook foods I love because I over eat! I made a couscous salad, grilled asparagus with dried figs and blue cheese, and hamburgers with carmelized onions. My belly was aching this morning. From now on I am sticking to pasta before my long run.


I had mixed feelings about getting up and running this morning. I knew I had to put in the miles, so I could increase my miles in the future to get to 10 miles in the next month.


The morning was crisp (66 degrees) and low humidity. Perfect! I wore my hydration vest (I love it - I love not having to wear an arm band for my phone) and carried caffeinated Sports Beans, which are quickly becoming my nutrition of choice.


In the past I've only taken nutrition at 4 miles. Today I took 1/2 a package at 3 miles and the other 1/2 at 6 miles. In future long runs I would also take some at 9 miles.


I am going to try Gu at some point and see how it goes down. The beans take a while to get down, so having the hydration vest is perfect for that. But in a case where I didn't want to wear the vest (not sure if I will wear it for the actual race), I can't carry a glass of water that long to get them down.


I felt incredibly sluggish - my stomach didn't feel great from the dinner. But I am pretty sure I have negative splits (my Garmin connected and transferred the data, but it has disappeared to never, never land) I finished 8 miles in 1:39 - 2 minutes slower than when I did it 2 weeks ago.


I was definitely having a lot of moments of self-doubt on this run. "Boredom" kept running through my head - I like training on my own, but I've got to think of other things to think about. Maybe I'll start downloading podcasts.


The family wanted to walk around the reservoir (2 miles) - I didn't want my long run to keep from my family, so I joined in.....Ouch, I am hurting tonight!


I hate the feeling like I can't walk. But no pain, no gain, right? I just always worry about pain and if it is going to become more of a problem.

2 more days, 2 more workouts

I did it! I worked out 4 days this work week!!!! I think this is the first time ever??!!!


Oh wait, I looked and last year, right around the same time, I did it 1 week (though I wasn't running outside), then I got sick and my son got sick and I didn't pick up a weight for almost a year.


But hopefully this time is different. This is my dream week....sort of


Cardio on Tuesday and Thursday ---one it is too dark to run outside during the week, I may change to the bike trainer, Step, kickboxing or the sort - I just hate, hate the treadmill


Strength Training on Wednesday and Friday ---45 minutes, followed up by 15 minutes on the bike trainer.


But then again my eating has been pretty off this week and thus the scale has been up 3-4 lbs!! That is the story of my life - gaining and dropping too quickly. Instead of a nice gradual decline, the graph of my weight loss is jagged with many large peaks and valleys.


The scale has definitely contributed to my crankiness this week. And the crankiness had lead to lots of chips and salsa eating :( Yesterday I worked from home and found myself have an 8 oz coke and lots of dark chocolate morsels. For no reason! Maybe being tired, or work stress. So mad at myself for not controlling that.


But I got up at 5 am 4 days in a row and got up and worked out. I would love, love to do this every week. The days are definitely getting shorter and thus 5 am is not quite as bright (the alarm goes off at 5 and I get up at 5:15 - I give myself 15 minutes for my body to react before trying to go to the bathroom so I don't have to go mid-run.


Thursday I ran 4.5 miles and hit 200 miles for the year! That definitely helped get me out of bed. I went up the street 1.5 miles, then back to where I started, and then the other direction and up and down a small hill twice.


Friday was more strength training and bike trainer. I even tried burpees a couple of times. A long way to go!


I am slated for 8 miles on Sunday. I thought it was 8.5 until I looked at my plan. Originally we were going to be in Vermont but my step-MIL asked us not to come. My running partner is using a different training plan for our 1/2 so doesn't look like we will be running together this season. That is ok - sometimes on your own is just easier!

2 days, 2 workouts!

We won't even dwell on the scale - this morning said 185.0! Ugh! But I got on the scale and I will just move on. I didn't wear a fun summery honeymoon outfit today for WW - I am going to take a Do Not Weigh. I put on jeans and a shirt - It is humid and pouring.

Speaking of humidity.....I got up Tuesday morning and ran 3.5 miles. It was the first time I ran on a weekday in almost 3 weeks. I really didn't want to get up - I had been sleeping terribly the last 2 nights (part due to getting too much sleep over the weekend, and part due to stress). It has been incredibly humid for days and it was darker in the morning - some due to it being cloudy, but with 3 weeks out of the Summer Solstice, the days are getting shorter :(

I put on my hydration vest and wore shorts again! Unfortunately i didn't really adjust the vest well and it didn't sit right and the tube was against my neck. Next time I need to take the time to get it adjusted right.

Since I only did 3.5 on Tuesday, I'll need to do 4.5 on Thursday - thankfully the humidity should be gone by then.

Last night's eating was poor - I had a 5:00 meeting, so my husband had to pick up the kids, and my client didn't call in until 5:30, so I didn't leave work until 6:15. I was starving when I got home - snarfed down 2 chicken tacos (too much food) and later had a small, small bowl of chocolate peanutbutter ice cream. I threw the rest away!

This morning I got up to do strength training. It has been 3 weeks. It felt awesome! I really, really want to get into a routine. 2 runs a week, 2 strength training a week, then a long run on Sundays.

I wore running capris and just my sports bra. When I do planks, I do them in front of a mirror. Gross!! I decided to start the 30 day Plank Challenge, so I only did 1 for 20 seconds. But seeing my gut hanging down, on a day I am feeling bloated and gross, was eye opening! A reason to keep on working at it!

The weekend that wasn't....

I had every intention of going to Weight Watchers on Saturday, but woke up at 6 am to 182.6 (a .4 gain) so decided to screw it and go back to bed - I was tired. I woke up 2.5 hours later to 181.6 :)


The morning and early afternoon were filled with chores and being lazy, not the cleaning that I had intended for Friday or Saturday. One of the chores was bringing all of my clothes from the last 50 lbs to be donated, along with all the kids outgrown clothes. I hadn't my fat clothes - if, for some reason, God forbid I gained weight back, I didn't want those clothes anyways. I know I was keeping ahold of them since I donated all my clothes "last time". But there will be NO MORE GAINING! It felt so liberating!


At 3 we went to Canobie Lake Park - an amusement park not far from us.


First stop, water park. We hadn't been to that part before. Been there, done that now. I was thrilled how un-inhibited I felt walking around in my tankini. Turns out the water park was a bust. The lines were long and you constantly were dumped with water while water - dumped with cold water!!


So after an hour, we headed into the rest of the park. I had every intention of running in the morning. I tried to drink a lot of water. I had pasta for dinner. I did have a pretzel too :) But passed on ice cream and fried dough.


I was in bed at 11, everything laid out for an 8 mile run in the morning.


I woke up at 6 and felt so dizzy and nauseous. So went back to bed. First until 8:30 when the kids woke up, and again until 10:45 when I managed to drag my butt out off bed. After all I had a whole house to clean!


And that I did. Not perfect, but a lot better than it has looked in a while. I wish we could afford a house cleaner again!!


I had wanted to do 2.2 miles on Saturday with my daughter and 8 miles on Sunday to bring me to 200 miles. I am already so far behind this month! At 5:30 I still wanted to get my 2.2 miles in (my daughter refused to go!) so I got dressed and headed out into the heat. I am so glad I did - even though I ate my weight in homemade salsa and chips while waiting for dinner.