Seven Miles Started With One Step

Last Friday morning I went for the longest run on my 10K training plan - 7 miles.   I was able to complete it in my neighborhood by adding lots of jogs in and out of cul de sacs to the route.  :)  Everything went pretty smoothly, but I did have to stop for a two minute walk break around mile 5.  I just had to and I reminded myself that Jeff Galloway (whose plan I'm following) encourages walking to finish strong.  Plus, this was 7 miles...a whole mile more than my race and than I'd ever run before.  

There were a few moments that I noticed I was slowing down to over a  12:00 minute mile pace and I made myself pick things up a bit.  For the most part I settled around an 11:30 pace, which, for this distance, was fine with me.

The weather was warmer, about 65-70 degrees, but there was a nice breeze blowing.  I remember hating the wind in Oklahoma and nowadays I'm loving it because it cools me off nicely.  You would think it was 100 degrees out by how red my face gets.  *grin*

As I was stretching after my run I suddenly starting crying.  It was a light, still catching my breath, I-can't-believe-I-did-it cry.  For a few moments I just let out the emotion, right there on my porch.

I just ran 7 miles.  I only walked 2 minutes of the whole thing.  I wasn't the fastest one, but I was steady and I endured.

Then I gathered myself, finished stretching, messaged my friend with my long-run results and got myself ready in record time for a doctor's visit...where my weight was 4 pounds lower than my scale that morning and my BP was 102/58.  Thank you running.  :)

To sum it up, this is a day I will not forget.

If you're reading this and you think you can't do something, well ...give it a try.  I never would've dreamed I could run for one hour and twenty minutes, but I did.  It all started with a few 30-minute walks a week three years ago.  So, take that first step, because you never know how far it will take you.

Weigh-In ... Poof! & A Funny Story

Today's Weight:  173.5
Loss/Gain:  - 2.5 lbs

"Poof!" Is what I thought when I saw the scale today.  There go the two pounds I gained last week and a little extra for motivation.  :)

So, here's a little Friday funny for you.  It's a moment in my running that made me feel like a real runner.

Warning:  There's a bit of TMI, but I can't help sharing...It was too funny and I was laughing at myself.  

A week ago Saturday I went out for my long run of 6 miles in my neighborhood.  Everything is going well, when I start to feel  a bit of rumbling in my tummy.  I begin to think it's because I ate half a banana right before, and maybe it was not settling well in my stomach.  So, I keep going and hope that the banana will settle soon.

A little later my tummy is still rumbling, but a little lower this time.  I think, oh great...I got up and left within 30 minutes of waking to run and now I have to use the bathroom.  But it's not so bad, so I keep going and just ignore it.

Well, about 4 miles in the rumbling continues and at 4.3 miles precisely I suddenly feel like, "OMGosh!!!"  I'm not sure I can hold #2 any more.  What to do?!?!  I'm 2 miles from my house.  I get to thinking, "Hhmm...there were nice elderly people at that house, maybe I'll stop and ask them if I can use the bathroom?"  No.  But I have to do something, because this is scary.

So, I stop and walk.  And I get control of my bowels, while watching my Garmin to make sure I'm not taking too long.  At one minute of walking I start jogging again.  Things seem to be better now and I pick up the pace to finish out my run.

I finish with some rumbling, but no more close calls, but I do jog right into my house to get to the bathroom a.s.a.p. -  only to see the bathroom is occupied.  argh!  Thankfully, less than a minute or two later it becomes free and I take care of business.  My sister-in-law takes one look at me (prior to my entering the restroom) and asks with alarm, "Are you okay?!"  I reply with kind of an embarrassed giggle, "I have to poop!"

Lesson learned:  Do not eat asparagus, or anything with lots of fiber the night before a long run...or make sure you get up early enough to have time to go before the run.  I'm not sure which.  Thank the Lord most races have port-a-potties along the way...now I know why.  LOL

This was another day where I felt like a real runner. I had a moment I had only before read about in books.  It's not exactly something I want to repeat, but it's sure a great story and always makes me laugh when I think about it.  oh my!

So, now that I've grossed you out....hey, thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Random Thoughts on the Week

Before I go into my post I want to get off my chest that I am not liking the new Blogger setup.  *sigh*  I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it seems so formal now...all business.  oh well...

Another week is flying by and I've been all sorts of busy.  Busy is good, but I see that it affects my blogging.  Again I keep thinking of things to write about and don't sit and get it done.  So, I'm taking a few minutes today to do just that and here's a few random thoughts...

• The running is going well.  I track my workouts on Daily Mile and am continuing to stay strong with the 10K training plan I'm following and cross training on various machines at the gym. 
• When I go out in the neighborhood for a 3-mile run I consider it a "short" workout.  Then I'm amazed, because two years ago when I ran my first 5K (3.1 miles) it might as well have been a marathon because it felt so far.  
• In the last week I've received two compliments at the gym along the lines of "I can see it's [working out] making a difference!"  That was motivating, especially when the scale hasn't moved too far down this month.
• I'm reminded that tracking my food is pretty imperative for me to stay on track.  I'm a little more conscience of what I'm putting in my mouth when I know I'm going to write it down.  
• For some reason I have been wanting to drink anything but water...argh...it's been rough to make myself get even 64 oz. in daily lately.  Not sure why, because I'm usually only like that during PMS.  hhmm...  I am finding that I get so thirsty and then I drink well again.  more hhhmmm..
• Do you know I've been battling major allergies for over a month (congestion, productive cough, thick mucus, but all clear..) and yet I feel great when I'm running or working out?  I know I've read something about that before; something about exertion clearing up sinuses or helping to heal...don't remember now.  It's just weird, because I can wake up not feeling that great, but when I start to workout I am doing good and there no sneezing or runny nose.  
• I have been following The Biggest Loser for about three years now and this season has been the worst one ever.  I don't like to be too negative, but the drama that has been laced into every episode has been vexing.  Loser inspired me when I decided to attempt losing weight again when they would have these deep conversations with the contestants and help them figure out why they kept failing at weight loss or why they put the weight on, etc.  If it turns into a drama reality show I'm afraid I'll have to let it go.   In the meantime...I'm hoping Jeremy wins (though I have a feeling Kim will), and I can not believe Conda made it to the finale.  I'll stop, but I'm just sayin'... 

That's about it for now.  I have a couple major projects I'm involved with at my church, like a Mother's Day Lunch I'm heading up that is in two weeks, so those added projects are keeping me busy.  Those along with multiple visits from family and friends over the last month have kept my days busy. 

 I don't mind it, but just so you know that I'm not slacking here on the blog because I'm not caring about my weight loss journey.

I am still still attempting to work at it and am aware of the fact that it continues to need to be higher up on my priority list than I put it some days (like when I was eating cheesecake at Bible Study the other night...what was I thinking?!?!)  My one glory, or make it two glories are my fitness continues to get better and I am still down on the scale.  Little by little I will make it to the end. 

Be back tomorrow with my weigh-in.

Weigh-In ... The Damage

Today's Weight: 176.0

Loss/Gain:  +2.0 lbs

Well, there is the damage from this emotional week.  I must say it is down, oh about two pounds, from earlier this week, so I'm good with that.  We have company coming into town today for the weekend and then my plan is to get back to my new normal after that.  

Thank you so much to those who wrote encouraging comments on yesterday's post.  I wasn't really expecting any feedback and was pleasantly surprised and encouraged this morning to read such nice thoughts.  Another reason I love being a part of the health neighborhood in blogland.  

Thanks for checking in and have a nice weekend!

Emotional Eating

Note: This is a pretty blunt, honest post about my week. I didn't take time to clean it up too much as I have had a busy day, but I needed to get it out. It's not an excuse, but rather a confession that I still have work to do ....

I've never thought of myself as an emotional eater, but as I was thinking today about why I seem to have fallen off of the weight loss wagon this week I looked back on what has been going on in my life.

My mom was here visiting, but that wasn't a problem as she's very supportive of my healthier lifestyle and made it a point to not try and steer me astray.

However, last weekend and earlier in this week I was reading and looking into how to handle a running knee injury. Yes, my right knee was feeling kind of jelly'ish. Not painful, but different. To sum it up I was worried. I love the running and the strong feeling I get when I'm finished, but I have always said that I will not keep doing it if it causes major injuries. While this wasn't even a painful situation warning signals went up to change what needed to be changed so I didn't end up with pain in that knee.

After lots of reading I saw that I was doing what I was supposed to do to run safely, but the sensation in my knee still scared me and by Tuesday I realized I was really worried about not being able to run anymore. Shoot. I was worried about not being able to work out hard at all anymore.

And that made me sad, and frustrated.

In fact, I had to take a moment and just let it all out with some tears and asking God to help me know what to do. Then I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, or running shoe laces, and decided I would not be ruled by my emotions. I would be careful, learn that athletes endure injuries but they don't quit and I would keep going. I have iced my knees daily and done my workouts pushing myself only as hard as I felt my knee could handle. I have a longer run coming up on Saturday and I still have the 10K to run in May. I think I did push myself a little too much with the running, or should've been icing after the long runs because they are the hardest I've ever done, so I've learned something about all of that throughout the week.

Unfortunately, looking back I was eating a bit out of control all week while dealing with this knee tenderness and it will show up on the scale tomorrow. After this bit of introspection I think I was eating weird because I let my mind get overwhelmed by the emotions that surrounded the tenderness in my knee. Then I hated myself each morning that I stepped on the scale and saw it going up.

I'm bugged, but I've also decided that it's one week in the course of my life and if I learned something this week, then that is good. Now I've blogged about it, so that I can come back and remind myself that I do have emotional eating moments and I still need to work on that and remember that falling off a healthier eating plan when stressing out is never the answer. I think it's also safe to say that stressing out over minor issues instead of just plowing ahead and doing what the professionals say to do is not good either. Be conscious and careful, but not worried sick like I was. *sigh*

Goodnight. :) I'll be back tomorrow to report the damage.

Sticking to Goals

Boy...my week is getting away from me. Daily I think of something to post and then don't get around to it. So, here's a quick thought that I've really been stewing about the past couple of days.

For some reason which is of course lack of discipline, I think I have gone overboard with my eating. sheesh. It's not looking good, but I am getting back to normal after the visit with my mom and the kids being home for Spring Break last week.

One thing that is going well is my exercise. I'm sticking to it, learning how to care for myself while running longer distances and getting excited about my 10K race coming up in May. I've also enjoyed conversations with my friends who are runners and feel so great knowing I can run like them to some extent.

In fact, it's one of them that lead me to think this week...she texted me about how the author of a book and blog I love ran in the Boston Marathon the other day. She commented about how neat it would be to run Boston one day. I was like, "You're crazy." We ended up agreeing that we'll be content with our current 10K's coming up.

It got me to thinking...I do love the running and am learning a lot about how to do it correctly, but I still have another goal I need to keep in focus. My weight. I am a good 40 pounds away from my weight loss goal and I need to concentrate on that.

Yes, I'm feeling better than ever, enjoying smaller sizes clothes and comments on my progress. I'm also glad my husband challenged me to train for this 10K race, as I've been so encouraged to see how am capable of more than I thought, but running longer distances is not should not be my goal right now. I do have some running dreams, but not now. I decided I need to focus on my weight loss and finish up that leg of this journey before venturing too far out on another.

So, I said all that to say this: I am loving the running, but while I'm learning how to run better/safer I need to stay focused on my eating and my weight loss goals. I need to finish what I've started. And I will.

(so much for a short note...LOL ... can you tell I type quickly??)

Have a good Wednesday everyone!

Weigh-In ... C25K Victoriously Completed

Today's Weight: 174.0

Loss/Gain: -1.0

Not only have I lost the pound I gained last week (and during Spring Break with a visitor in the house) I've had a HUGE NSV this week...

I finished the Couch to 5K plan for the 2nd time and met my goal. Woo Hoo!!!

This being my second time following that training plan I decided my goal was to better

my 5K time. I ran all my intervals at 11:00 minute mile pace and this week on Wednesday I realized I finished the program and met the goal with this time:

As you can see I not only ran an average of 11:00 minute mile pace I also ran a little extra. At 3.1 miles I saw 33:33 and that's my 5K PR.

[insert happy dance]

Then to top off the week of being able to lose a PMS gain, reign in the Easter candy overeating....I completed my long run this week in victory:

My long runs are part of my training for the 10K race I'm doing in May and look at that - I basically did it today and I still have 5 weeks until the race!

People, if I can do this running and losing weight thing ANYONE can. No excuses.

It may take forever, it make take LOTS of hard lessons, there may be failures, but my journey is proof that if you keep at it and don't quit you will succeed.

I'm amazed....Have a great weekend and thanks for checking in!

(An Early) Happy Easter to You

Today is Good Friday, and a gray wet day here. It kind of reminds me of what the day may have been like back on the first Easter weekend. Our forecast shows this storm blowing through and sunshine coming back for the weekend. Again, just like the first Easter...

Easter is one of my favorite holidays because it represents the hope that is ours through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus gave his life willingly to pay the price for our sins; and his resurrection proved the power of God over hell and the grave.

I gave my life to Jesus as a young girl and it's a decision I never regret making. I pray each of you can experience the joy and peace that comes from accepting the free gift of salvation through acceptance of what He did on the cross.

Happy Easter!

Image Credit

Weigh-In ... Bump in the Plan

Today's Weight: 175.0

Loss/Gain: +1.0 lb

Well, considering TOM arrived a couple of days ago I am not surprised at all by this gain. The combination of bloating and chocolate usually does lead me to a small gain or maintain the week I start. Unfortunately, I don't always take control when it comes to overriding the "I-don't-care" attitude during PMS days.

But..it is what it is. Could be much worse.

On a good note, I did maintain my exercise all week and when I was out shopping with my mom I bought two blouses both in a size large. :) I almost bought some pants in a large, but they were more snug than I care to wear them.

So, it's a good week with a not-so-good edge of a small gain. I'm choosing to be okay with it and go on.

Better

Okay, I'm feeling better this morning. I thought after the negative post yesterday I should tell you that I'm better now. :)

I will say that my run today was so hard and frustrating. I only completed the C25K run today and didn't run the extra 10 minutes for race training. It was the first "mind over matter" type of hard run I've ever had to do I think. Usually I only get like that the last couple of minutes..this time it was most of the run. But...I stuck with it and I finished what I set out to do.

Now we're going to go out for lunch and shopping before getting the kids. Whee! :)

Unwelcomed Visitor

Well, my mom and I are having a great time. but... TOM arrived and that is an unwelcomed visitor this week. *sigh* oh well...life goes on, but you know how the worst day is...Yes, I'll take carbs and diet soda - LOTS!

I just had to get that off my chest. I feel better now. At I least I will choose to feel better, considering my emotions are not cooperating correctly at the moment. :)

A Race

Hello! Happy Monday everyone. Yes, it's happy over here. My mom is visiting for two weeks. Yay!! But, more about that later...today I have some news to share.

If you look over to the right at my Daily Mile widget you'll notice that I've been running a lot lately - including longer runs the past two Saturdays. Well....it's because I am training for my first 10K.

Yes, my husband and I signed up for the Run for the Warriors race here in Jacksonville on Saturday, May 19th.

My husband challenged me to give the 10K a try, even though my original easy plan was to PR the 5K. I was pretty nervous about that because I had never run farther than 3 miles before.

Until now. :)

Thankfully, the progress I have made so far from the Couch to 5K program I started back in February already had me well on my way to preparing for this race. I found a 10K training plan on JeffGalloway.com and counted back from the race day to where I needed to start training. I only "missed" the first 4 weeks of this training program when I started, but since I was over halfway through the C25K I noticed I was running the same amount as the "missed" weeks suggested. Which basically means I'm fine. (sorry for confusion).

I've printed out the 10K training plan, marked where I started and am marking off each day as I finish the suggested training. I'm using the two mid-week runs to finish up my C25K program and then doing the long runs suggested on Saturdays. It's working out quite nicely.

So, I am completing my second ever race and I have a plan. I look forward to good things!