I Ran A 5K!

14 weeks after starting C25K, 2 months after signing up for my first 5K, it was finally here and it went awesome! I ran the whole way, which was a first for me, in 39:27. I can't believe I got under 40 minutes! It was my first time running with someone else which was different - I had never talked at all while running which made it a little harder, but it was easier to push myself with someone else and other people around. The 5K was very laid back which was nice (but there also wasn't any medals :( ) The timing wasn't by chip so I am not exactly sure of my exact time - I don't know how they would have known when we went over the starting line - though there weren't a ton of people there so it's not like it was a minute later. I sware I hit stop on my phone as I was crossing the finish line, but later I looked down and it was still moving. But I am good with under 40 minutes!

I truely do not like Thanksgiving. I like the traditions, I love the Macy's Day Parade, I love the beginning of Christmas, but I don't like the food and I don't like all the work for one meal. I was particularly cranky this year because TOM showed up (thanks to being very regular, she usually is around over Thanksgiving, and this year, for Christmas as well - great...), but I was also cranky because I am 15 lbs heavier than last year and because I couldn't fully enjoy myself because of the race.

We had an appetizer lunch which ended up being more work than the meal! No way we are doing that again. Next year we will also eat earlier - we only eat late because my son still naps, but he won't be next year.

I didn't feel like I ate a ton but I still felt so bloated at the end of the day. Not really from TOM, but when I get stressed I seem to get all bloated. Kind of weird. I went to bed with that uncomfortable full feeling and it sucked!

So what now? I do want to do more 5Ks - lots of them. I have zero intention at this point of every doing longer races. I may try to run more distance, but I don't want to train for a 10K - no thank you! Even in high school I talked about wanting to do track and do short distances. I want to work on my timing, I want to get in better (much better shape!) so that means doing a lot more than running. And I want to work on losing weight since it's been 9 months since I've even tried to lose weight (and hence gained 22 lbs). But what I will do in the next 5 weeks remains to  be seen. I don't want to gain more weight, but I want to enjoy the holiday. And yes, I know enjoying doesn't mean there has to be a lot of food. And I can work out to help with the stress. My kids will only be in the young-I-believe-in-Santa phase for so long, so I want to enjoy every minute of it.

Another run...

I got up on Sunday and ran 5K again. This time the weather was more cooperative so no disrobing needed (though I may have been more comfortable with shorts instead of running pants)

I ran for 30 minutes, 2.3 miles straight. Then walked 2:30. Then ran/hobbled along for the next mile. I always have such a hard time getting going again after walking. My time was 42:07, worse than Friday, but part of it was the GPS - I stopped in the same location that Friday's GPS has said was 3.11 miles but now it only said 2.96, but since I had gunned it at the end, and I was going uphill, I just walked the last bit, thus the longer time.

I think I will just run 2 miles on the treadmill tomorrow. It is too dark to run in the morning.

We went to a party yesterday afternoon - it was supposed to be 2-5. We had eaten lunch before and thought we would eat dinner on the way home (it was 1:30 hours away). but at 4:00 they brought out huge platters of appetizer and then started grilling around 5:30. I ate like crazy, I will admit it. Tons of cheese and pepperoni and crackers. I felt a little, okay, maybe a lot, out of control. This hostess loves to put all the food in front of where all the women typically gather. I was drinking water all day, as I was driving, but I still ate so much. I woke up this morning feeling awful from all the sodium. I felt awful going to bed.

So I need to make sure I keep track of my sodium this week so I don't feel that way going to bed on Thursday night or when I wake up on Friday for the race. So I think I may need to rethink some of my choices for the appetizer-only lunch I had planned for Thursday (we eat around 5:00 pm).

Friday run

I "ran" 3.11 miles in 41:30 this morning. Not bad since I didn't run for 3 1/'2 weeks and this was my first time outside since not being sick.

The first 1.6 miles were fairly easy - though the beginning of my route is downhill. I did it in 17:30.

After 1.6 miles I was so hot (it was 35 degrees when I started), so I walked and took off my hat, gloves, and pullover. Then I tried to run hold the stuff - all stuff that beginners have to figure out. Finally I realized I could stuff my hat and gloves in my pullover nad tie it around my waist. I then walked until 25 min/1.9 miles and did a very slow jog the last 1.2 miles. There was tons of traffic, I stepped in a puddle, and there were headwinds. But I limped along.

I think Sunday I will drive to the bottom of the hill and start going uphill since that is what my race is like.

I am not sure what I should do next Tuesday/Wednesday (race is Friday). I would like to get outside Tuesday even though it will be pitch black and maybe do a nice walk on Wednesday with maybe a couple of sprints?

I really wish I had had more time to train and then I am not sure what I will do in terms of runing outside after the race. The headwinds made me realize that no way I am doing the Jan 1 race that is along a river!

I did make it to WW...

I went to our meeting at work and felt really good about it. I didn't even look at what the scale said - I don't really care because it is what it is. It's like I did anything to make it go down! But I feel good knowing that I will go back every Thursday for the next 6-9 weeks and hope that the scale goes down.

I am also contemplating asking my husband to pick up the kids on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I can go home and make dinner. Him making dinner the last 8-9 months has really been my downfall. Not only does he not cook as healthy, he serves my portions, and I feel like i am in a restaurant every day (even though I do the menu planning and the grocery shopping). So if I make dinner every day except Monday (and Thursday is pizza night), hopefully it will help me. Plus get me used to making dinner again because I assume once he goes back to work that I will be making dinner again (this time with 2 kids under foot).

Weekly Weigh In

I came home from work last night to a little card from my WW leader asking me to come to the meeting on Thursday to make sure I have a successful Thanksgiving. I can't remember the last time I have been to a meeting. But I put on my WW dress this morning and will go. The scale said 207.2 - ugh. I have 6 weeks left in the year. Could I possibly lose 7.4 lbs by then?! Doubtful.

Originally I was going to WFH on Thursday December 1st, but I am going to come into work just so I can go to the meeting and then leave early for my first elementary school parent-teacher conference.

And I have no plans to be home any other Thursdays, so I should be able to make all the meetings for the rest of the year.

Tomorrow morning I will run outside again. It is supposed to be freezing :( But I got to do it.

I decided against the Jingle Bell run on December 18 -I've just got too much going on that weekend. And then I am not sure about the Jan 1 run - it is along a river and could be really, really cold. After the bronchitis I am pretty nervous about running in the cold.

Back on Track?

Today was my first exercise in 23 days and boy was it hard!

I woke up at 5:30 and got on the treadmill, not really sure what I was going to do. It was the first time of running on the treadmill without following a plan - ie no one talking in my ear and it was hard. And like expected my neck is killing my now because of all the looking down at the screen.

I ran for 1 mile at 4.7 at 1.5% incline
Then walked 2:30 minutes.
Then ran 6 minutes.
Walked 2:30
Ran 6 minutes

I originally had wanted to run a full mile in the second segment but I gave up :(

So the total was 2:25 miles in 29:40 miles. I realize I was putting everywhere that I only went 2 miles, but I am pretty sure it was 2.25.

My ankle was killing me. I turned it in a pothole last time I ran outside. I wonder what damage I did to it. But I am going to just run through it for the next 10 days.

I want to look to see if there is a 5K I can do in December.

Oh yeah, and the eating? It's been horrible, horrible, horrible. I am going to try to eat no sweets/desserts until Thanksgiving. I need, need, NEED to feel better about myself in that department.

Bronchitis or Pneumonia

It has been more than 10 days since I have been able to exercise at all. I need to call the doctor to be seen because my cough is not clearing up and my breathing is very labored. But other than that I feel fantastic!

We had a freak snowstorm Saturday night and lost power for 18 hours. There are people who still don't have any power. My schedule has been off for well over a week - I hate it when I am not settled, or organized.

Of course, being sick, loss of power, not being organized has really thrown off the healthy living as well. And I will admit, I can eat candy like the rest of them. I ended up buying candy I like this year and Halloween was canceled due to the storm, so I made up a "haunted house" for the kids and they TOT with our candy. But who has been eating it? Yep, me.

The scale said 207.8 this morning. Not going to hide that. My true goal is to get to 198.8 by December 31. I need to get cracking if I am going to do that!