Killed It

Tonight was one of those nights that I almost didn't do my planned workout. I hadn't walked since Sunday which I now know is too long for me to go between walks. Yesterday I was itching to get out and walk and tonight I was making excuses not to go.

I've really enjoyed the last two nights coming home, making dinner, doing homework, a little housework, shower and then cuddling up with a good book. On the way home from work tonight while I was figuring out what to pick up at the store for dinner is when the internal dialog started. I was talking myself into staying home tonight and making up my walk on Friday when I'm off work. I even went so far as to put on my pjs while I was making dinner.

The one thing that was going for me was that I was really hungry and starting to get grumpy. I told Jim when I got home that I might not go for my walk but then said that I'd decide after I ate. I was hoping after I wasn't hungry anymore my mood would improve and I'd want to go for my walk.

While I was helping Jacob with his homework after dinner I decided I would walk. I knew I'd feel better after my workout and I was right.

I started off my walk in my neighborhood. I was pretty slow going when I started out because I was full from dinner. I remembered my earbuds this time and I think that really helped pick up my speed. It wasn't long before I picked up the pace and started to feel really good. In between songs I could hear my feet crunching on the ground and my heavy breathing. I was in the zone.

The Map My Run lady came over my speakers after 20 minutes and said I was walking at a 16 and something pace. 30 minutes in I was walking under a 16 minute pace and that just pumped me up. At 40 I was still under 16 minutes and I couldn't wait to see what my final average speed would be.

My final stats were:

3 miles
47:24 minutes
15:44 pace

Killed It!

Running vs. Walking

Back in January I tried the C25k program and failed miserably. It just wasn't for me and I was ok with that. The longest run I made it to was 90 seconds and I hated every 90 seconds of it. I never made it past Week 2 and finally announced on my blog in March that I quit the program.

I still love the idea of running though. I love reading running blogs, I love hearing about the marathons my brother runs and I'm so extremely proud of my mom and sister-in-law who have stuck with the 5k training that I gave up on. All three of those family members will be running races at Disney in October.

My brother, Erick, crossing the finish line of his first full marathon.

My mom running her first 5k.

The dream of crossing the finish line and having that medal wrapped around my neck felt like a lost cause to me.

Then one fabulous day I was sitting on my friend Julie Ann's deck intently listening to her talk about her upcoming training. I was so excited for her and asking her questions and she said I should run with her. When I said I don't run she said that's ok, you can walk it.

And then the game changed.

I thought about it for awhile. Could I really do it? Could I walk 13.1 miles? Would I want to walk 13.1 miles? Yes, I thought I did.

I talked to more friends about it, I researched training schedules, solicited my brother's advice on which training to follow and then I told you all I was going to do it.

The first two weeks were just a trial run in my mind. Of course I was afraid I would fail miserably again like I did with the C25k. Things didn't start well with shin splints but I didn't give up. I rested, bought new shoes and slowed my pace and I was back in the game.

Now that I'm entering my fifth week of training I can confidently say that I love it. I love having a goal. I love highlighting my spreadsheet after walks. I love that I get up at 7 a.m. on Sunday to do a long walk. I feel like a bad@ss because I'm doing this.

I'm excited about my potential to improve my time. I'm excited about the fact that I might end up really loving this and it will become part of me - the marathon walker. I'm excited that my friend Stacey is doing this with me and I get to spend so much time with her. There aren't many people you could spend two hours walking with on a Sunday morning and never have a lag in conversation.

My training makes me happy. I feel good after my walks. I'm SO THRILLED that walking is more flexible on my schedule - I can go after the kids are in bed without feeling guilty about choosing exercise over family time.

I didn't feel ANY of these things those few weeks that I did C25k. It just goes to show you that we're not one size fits all.

More Fun With Numbers

I wouldn't call myself a numbers person and I certainly don't know my way around Excel, but I love a good spreadsheet.

So my walks have been going really well and I'm really enjoying them. My longest walk so far was nearly 7 miles yesterday and the most common distance my training has me going at this point is 3 miles.

Here are a couple of spreadsheets I've put together with my progress to date.

And then I separated out my three mile walks so I could see the progress I've made:

Now, I don't really count the Aug. 4 stats because I was nursing shin splits for that walk, but look at the numbers after that. In one week I shaved a minute off my time. I have to admit that Aug. 24 session I was hauling butt on that treadmill. I really wanted to push myself and see how fast I could go. You'll also notice that my average pace outside was a bit higher than the walks before and after that one. I can already tell it's hard to keep a faster pace when you're walking outside. It's so easy just to type a speed into a treadmill, but when you have the distractions of walking outside it's harder to keep pace.

One tool that's helped me is Map My Run. I have the app on my Droid and it records my walk while I'm doing it. I have it set to give me updates every 10 minutes on my distance, speed, average pace, etc. I also set it up so it automatically posts my walking stats on Twitter and Facebook after my walks which is kinda fun.

I have been a bit worried about keeping the 15 minute mile pace the first seven miles of the marathon, but after looking at these numbers and seeing the progression I'm making has me feeling pretty good. Plus I still have 10 weeks of training left to keep improving.

Wonderful Weekend

We are having a great weekend and I wanted to check in really quickly before Gracie and I watch Gnomeo and Juliet. Jim and I had a date night last night while the kids spent the night at Grammie and Grandpa's house. Jim and I went on one of our favorite dates - shopping Goodwills and dinner. I found two really cute purses, an adorable pair of shoes and a green tank.

For dinner we went to On the Border and had too many chips and salsa and split a pitcher of Dos Equis while we watched the Colts game in the bar. We rented a pretty disappointing movie with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Jim fell asleep during it and I tried to make it to the end but got fed up and just turned it off. I don't even remember the name of it.

This morning Jim and I went to garage sales before picking up the kids. Jim went for a run when we got home and I read for awhile. We went to Mass and now we are hunkering down for the night. Jacob and I are playing a little Smurf Dance Party.

Do you like my jammies? Don't mind the double chin - bad photo of me.

 
Jim promised the kids that if they cleaned up the basement they could sleep in their single serving tents tonight.

The tents were a garage sale find earlier this summer

I have my 7 mile long walk in the morning. Talk to you all tomorrow.

Pinterest Obsession

I mentioned Pinterest the other day and said if you hadn't heard of it you'd be using it in six months. This coming from the girl who joined Facebook in March 2008* at the age of 32 while my friends and family were all laughing at me for being on it. Who's laughing now!

So I first found out about Pinterest after reading about it on Cassie's blog Back to Her Roots at the end of May. I checked out the web page, couldn't find out how to get my own account and then left the web site without much thought. I went back to her blog post later to comment on another web page Cassie recommended (Teudeux) that I wanted to thank her for recommending and that's where I read the comments from her readers about being addicted to Pinterest and I felt like I was missing out on something. So I went back to the web page and clicked on the Request an Invite button.

 I entered my e-mail and clicked the Request Invitation button.

Well, I never heard anything from them and I forgot about it again until Cassie blogged about the web site again and again and again. That's when I went digging around my spam filter and found my invite.

I haven't been the same since.

Actually, that's not entirely true. It did take me awhile to get comfortable with their site layout and concept. I also didn't realize the potential benefits right away so it was a fondness that grew into a love affair. Here, let me explain to you why I'm on the Pinterest bandwagon.

Let's start with the boards. Once you join Pinterest you want to add the Pin It button to your toolbar by following these instructions. Then you're ready to get started creating boards. Here are a few of my favorite boards.

This is just part of my Kitchen Board. 

Our next home renovation will be our kitchen and installing hardwood floors. At first I thought I wanted light wood, but once I started pinning light and dark wood floors to my kitchen board I realized I really, really like dark wood floors with wide panels.


Here's My Style Board.

I talked about this board in my post on Wednesday.

Next is my Recipe Board that I pin recipes that I find on my favorite blogs.

Here's one for Halloween Costume Ideas.

And here's one I named "Wish List" that I can send to my friends and family during the holidays so they know the perfect gift to buy me ;)

I currently have 24 boards and I can add, delete and rearrange them. I can move pins between boards.

What's a pin you ask? Well each of the photos on my board is a "Pin." I can pin something by clicking on the Pin It button I installed to my tool bar.

When you are on a web site and you see something you want to pin, you click on that button, choose which photo from that web page that you want to pin, decide which board you want to add it to and click save. It's as easy as that. You can also write a detailed description, add the price (which shows up on the pin), tag a friend that might want to "repin" the pin, and on and on.

One of the great things about pinning is that you can reference the original web site. For example, when I want to go back and buy that green t-shirt above with a dog riding a bicycle I just click on my pin and it takes me to the web site that I originally found it, in this case an Etsy shop.

Now the Pinterest feature that gets me in trouble is this one:

If you click on that link it will take you to a page of all members pins and you can just scroll down for days and days and "repin" all these amazing ideas that other Pinterest members are pinning. That's where I find most of my pins.

Ok, I'm realizing I could continue to go on and on about Pinterest because I've just scratched the surface, but I'm not getting paid for this walking advertisement so I figure my job is done. If you have questions ask me in the comments or if you want me to send you an invite to join (which is faster than requesting an invite directly from Pinterest) send me your e-mail.

*Wanna know how I figured out when I joined Facebook? I remembered who my first Facebook friend was so I went to his page, clicked on "See Friendship" link on the right and then at the top of that page it told me that we had been "Facebook friends since March 2008."

Spreadsheets

I wanted to post my half marathon walk training spreadsheets. I revised them from before because it was getting confusing with the walks and cross training on one spreadsheet so I divided them into two. The walks are a priority of course and I haven't missed any since I began my training.

I've decided that I will do at least one day of cross-training a week which right now includes Zumba and/or weights.

Cross-training is a little bit harder to plan. I have to do my short walks in the evenings during the week and I don't want to be away from home too much in the evenings so I prefer to do weights with my friend Stacey during our lunch hour. So this spreadsheet above has squares marked in black for days I already know are no good, the blue squares are week day evenings that don't work for me (Cub Scouts) and the green squares are appointments that either Stacey or I have during lunch. So that gives me a good idea of what days I have open to get my cross training in.

So as you can see I've been pretty flexible with moving walks and cross training around to fit my schedule. If we have back to school night on Tuesday when I the spreadsheets says I should be walking three miles, I just find a different square to move it to that will work for me. 

Now if you'll excuse me, it's 9 p.m. and I don't have anything else that has to get done tonight so I'm going to head to bed and curl up with a book and hopefully drift off to sleep before 10:30 p.m. which sounds like complete heaven to me.

This Was Fun

I've always been a bit of a fashion misfit. I'm so thankful that I was in college during the grunge period because flannel shirts were so non-threatening and comfortable. Once I gained weight I just wore what fit. But now that I'm down 50 pounds I want to look nice.

So in most cases when I go shopping I buy what's on the rack and match it with a pair of black shoes. I just don't have that natural fashion gene.

Enter Pinterest. If you haven't heard of Pinterest I bet you will be using it within the next six months. It's a-ma-zing. Seriously. (future post coming soon). Some of the pins I've been repinning lately are outfits that people put together using the web site Polyvore.

So yesterday I had the brilliant idea of printing off a couple of my favorite outfit pins, heading to the nearest Goodwill and trying to replicate the outfit.

It was so fun.

Here's the first outfit I tried to recreate.

And here's what I came up with.

I know what some of you are saying, "it's just a white shirt and a gray sweater." But what I liked about this is that I walked in Goodwill, spent 10 seconds looking at the gray sweaters, 10 seconds looking at the white tank tops, and 30 seconds looking at the jeans and I was ready to head to the dressing room. Normally when I go to Goodwill I spend sooo much time looking at all the racks just trying to find things in my size to try on. This was much more fun.

Plus, shopping at Goodwill is a good way to try on brands and sizes that I haven't tried before. Here's the breakdown of this outfit.

Sweater - Joseph A. Size M

Ribbed tank - Mossimo Size Large

Jeans - Merona Size 18

 I also wanted to try and recreate this cute outfit I saw on the blog Sunday Crossbow.

I've seen a lot of belts lately and I really want to try them out on dresses and skirts. Unfortunately the Goodwill I was at didn't have many belts and I only found one wide one which was way too small and not very stylish, but I tried it anyway. I didn't find any pieces that came close to the shirt or skirt, so I just tried my best.

So obviously some things looked better on than others, but it was fun and it gave me an idea of sizing for some of these labels that I've never tried on before.

I ended up buying the Merona jeans and white ribbed tank for $9. I think I can find a gray sweater that I'll like better so I put this one back since it was $5.

Look at Life Through the Windshield

One thing I've been struggling with lately is comparing where I'm at right now to where I was a year ago and why I can't seem to get back to the mentality I was back when I was on program 100%.

I've finally come to the realization that I don't have to be the person I was a year ago to be successful.

There's a quote we use a work a lot (thanks Stacey).

"Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror." 

The windshield gives you a clear vision of what lies ahead while the rear view mirror is only what’s behind you … and it’s a dangerous way to drive.

I've also learned I personally need to blog every day. I miss it. It helps me. I need to do it.

So my promise to you dear reader, if you're still there, are daily posts. Even if it's like this one.

And because I like to have images in my blog posts ... here's an image that will give you a sneak peak at a blog post I'll be writing soon on my half marathon training. Which I am SO excited about.

Wednesday Humor

Source

I CARE!

I find I struggle the most when I stop caring. That's how I got to be 245 pounds. By not caring about any of it. Not caring about what I ate, not caring that I never exercised, not caring that I didn't own any cute clothes.

But that's not entirely true. Yes, I didn't care about those things, but it was only when I was justifying that sixth cookie I was shoving in my mouth. Yes, that's when I didn't care. When I was shoving down emotions or loneliness with food. Trying to comfort myself with delicious tasting treats.

But it was not worth it. And when I lost the weight I realized that feeling healthy was so much better that "not caring."

I still have those times when I think  I don't care. And this summer it's seems like I have had more of those times than I'm comfortable with. I think I don't care when I go to my favorite restaurant and eat too much bread. I think I don't care when I suggest we go out for ice cream. I think I don't care when I don't track my weight watcher points. And I think I don't care when I only go to Zumba ONE time the whole month of July.

But I do care. In the long run I care and I wish that I would have made different choices. Then I get scared and wonder what happened to my drive. What happened to the person that was 100% on the program. Then I try again and do ok for a few days or weeks and then I go back to that not caring enough attitude. And then I get really scared that I'm going to end up back to where I was before.

I won't let that happen.

I read Suzi Storm's blog post today on what it's like after reaching goal and it's no surprise that she said still struggles. I know that. I know that I will have to try every day for the rest of my life. As long as I never give up I'll be ok.

Suzi said,

"Why is it that I’ve lost 101 lbs, but gained a couple back and all of a sudden I feel like a huge blob, yet I’m under goal weight & when I was at this weight eight months ago I felt like Hedi Klum (please tell me I’m not crazy)?? Every weight loss, big or small, comes with it’s own set of “new struggles”. But of course, these new struggles mean new learning’s which mean new self growth!"

It's these little ah-ha moments that are more powerful than the "not caring" moments. No, she's not crazy - I totally get her comment about feeling like a blob at a weight she felt skinny at 8 months before.

That's what I miss. I miss that feeling of feeling more fit every day, the feeling of my pants getting too big and seeing new muscles being formed. That's what I need to care about. That's what I need to think about when I start to think it's not worth it. That the taste of chocolate is NOT better than the feeling of losing weight.

I am actually in a good mental place right now. It's taken me several weeks to get there, but I'm exercising consistently again. I'm struggling with my hunger right now. It might be the medications I'm on now for my cluster headaches (which are finally gone after nearly a year of trying different medications) but I think I can work it out.

I don't know if other people are like me, but my weight loss has a pattern - it happened in two waves. I lost 25 pounds in the first six months, then I maintained that loss for about nine months. Then last July I was 100% on my game and lost 25 in six months, then I maintained that loss for about nine months.

There is definitely a pattern there. Last June I had reached a point that I wasn't caring any more. That's when I started my blog and found some accountability with that. I also was motivated by my sister-in-law Kim's determination to get healthy and then Jim joined Weight Watchers and we became a team.

But now I find myself in a sort of limbo. I feel like I'm waiting for the next motivational thing to come along and kick me in the butt. Well, others can help motivate me, but I'm the one that has to do all the work.

I have to decide that I care. And you know what? I do care.

Thanks for reading my head trash - I feel better now.

________________________

Yesterday Stacey and I went to the Jordon Y on our lunch hour intending to do 3 miles on the treadmill. Well, we were disappointed to find that we were only able to fit in 1.71 miles before we needed to hit the showers and head back to the office.

Jim was able to pick up the kids so I headed straight to the Baxter Y after work and hit the treadmill. I was hoping to get the whole three miles in at that time, but I needed to stop a little short to head downstairs to the gym for Zumba. My two walking sessions combined were 4.46 miles.

There weren't any fans in the gym for some reason and so I over-heated a bit about 40 minutes in and headed for the locker room to put a cold paper towel on my face. I ran into my Zumba friend Emily and we talked True Blood for a few minutes before I headed back to the gym.

I was feeling the effects of walking over four miles already that day so I left class about 10 minutes early, only to be greeted with a dead car battery. Jim came to my rescue though and I made it home.

Time - 77 minutes
Distance - 4.46 miles
Average Pace - 17:28

Teachable Moments

We have a tradition that on the way home from our annual summer vacation in Maryland we stop at the outlet mall in Pennsylvania to buy school shoes. It's always fun and it little nerve racking as four of us pile boxes at the end of the aisle and try on shoes. Last weekend, after we had paid for four new pairs of shoes I told Jim that I was going to take Gracie to the the bathroom while he and Jacob went in another store.

As I looked in the mirror while Gracie and I were washing our hands I realized that my hair was a mess from driving in the car. I took out my rubber band and was pulling my hair back up when I looked at my stomach and saw it was sticking out a little more than normal. I turned to get a side profile view, hands still in my hair and said to Gracie, "oh Gracie, look at my tummy, I need to get back to Zumba."

And I hear this shy, quiet voice say back to me, "I think you look perfect Mommy."

My hands dropped and I looked in my daughter's eyes. So many thoughts went through my head in that split second. I had that little shot of joy that comes from a compliment, I was a little shocked at her response, but most of all I thought about how I really, really have to think about how I talk about self-image in front of my little girl.

I dropped down to my knees and looked at Gracie and thanked her for the compliment and told her it made me feel good. She smiled. Then I told her that she was right and that I am happy with the way I looked. I told her that what I should have said was I missed working out because it makes me feel so good and keeps me healthy.

Gotta love those teachable moments when your kids are the ones doing the teaching!

My smart, beautiful girl.

  ______________________________ 

Marathon training is going well. My first long walk was on Saturday. I did 4 miles. My legs felt great, but I was fighting a little cold and had a few moments where I was trying to talk myself into stopping early since all I wanted to do was go back home and go to sleep. I did get a little bored while I was on the treadmill and decided to hop on a different machine 3/4 of the way through so that I could look out the window. I need to work on some playlists to help with the boredom. I was really proud of myself for doing the 4 miles, especially because my Saturday was packed full of errands I had to run before heading to a party in the afternoon.

Weigh In and Half Marathon Training

Weigh in Day - Aug. 5
Previous weight - 194.4
Current weight - 195.5
Difference - gain 1.1 pounds

Total weight lost - 49.5 pounds

Activity
Monday - 1.5 mile walk
Thursday - 3 mile walk

I've been out of town the last two weeks. I was in West Palm Beach two weeks ago for a conference and to see my favorite person, Liz. We had such a good time catching up.

And last week, I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Maryland for our annual summer trip. It was so great to relax and spend time with my family.

The crazy busy summer of 2011 is coming to a close. And although it's been one of the best summers that I can remember in a long time, I'm actually looking forward to the kids going back to school and all of us getting back into a normal routine.

Speaking of routines, I'm happy to report that I started my walking half marathon training yesterday. I found a 14 week training program online and am so excited to start tackling the workouts on my spreadsheet.

Wednesday we drove home from Maryland and stopped to get new tennis shoes for everyone. I got some running shoes to wear during my training and was anxious to try them out last night. I had done a short 1.5 mile walk on Monday with my old, old Zumba shoes and walked too fast and ended up with shin splints. I was still pretty sore last night walking on the treadmill, but I kept a pretty slow pace of 3.3 or 3.5 and concentrated on walking properly. It hurt a little. I made sure I stretched after and iced my shins with some frozen fried rice for a little while when I got home (until Tanner kept trying to eat the bags). I'm happy to report that my legs feel great today :)

So there you have it. I'm anxious to see how I do with this training. My friend Stacey from my office is going to train with me when our schedules match up so that will be fun too. We're going to try and do some of the 3 and 4 mile walks on our lunch hours.

Have a great weekend everyone. Get out there and move!