Running: A year in review

On Sunday I ran in my 6th road race. When I think about that, it makes me so proud of how far I have come. All 6 of the races have been in the last year. Before that I wasn't a runner. I started using the Couch to 5k program in June of 2011. I wasn't exactly at "couch" level when I started, but I couldn't run 3 consecutive miles at that point either. I did my first 5k last October, the PRMH 5k Women's classic. I am on the community outreach committee at my work and one of the charities we support is the Providence Ronald McDonald House. I lead the quarterly themed dinners we prepare for the guests of the house so this run and raising money for this cause is near to my heart.

The first race I ran, I went all out. I actually hurt my neck while I was running it because I was so tense. I managed to run really fast (for me), but I paid for it later. Over the past year I have worked to increase my distance and managed 2 half marathons, but now I want to start to work on my speed! I want to keep a record of the races I run each year. i was going to do calendar years, but since I started with this race last year I will do October to October and see how I improve over time.

10/2/11          PRMH 5k Women's Classic      28:44       9:17 pace
10/30/11        Monster Mini Dash 5k               30:10      9:44 pace
4/15/12          MS Rhode Race                         31:26     10:08 pace
5/20/12          Pawtucket Cherry Tree 1/2      2:12:08    10:06 pace
9/16/12          Surftown 1/2 marathon            2:16:17    10:24 pace
10/7/12          PRMH 5k Women's Classic      27:00       8:43 pace

I am so excited to have a new 5k personal record. I didn't think it was going to happen considering my kids were both sick and keeping me up all night since Thursday! The coolest thing about doing half marathons and having to do the long runs to train for them is that 3 miles starts to seem like a drop in the bucket. I told myself, when I started, to go all out (without injuring myself again) because it was "just" 3 miles. I never thought 3 miles would seem like a "just" in my mind. Getting healthy hasn't been easy, but it has been rewarding.

And now for a little laugh, here is my race pic from Sunday. Apparently he snapped the pic just as my foot hit the ground and I appear to be power walking rather than running. Rest assured, I was running. Fast. Ok, well, fast for me. :)

Good choices pay off

It seems logical that we should all eat right and exercise. We all know this is the way to be healthy. You'd think given this simple knowledge we would all be fit and happy, right? It is simple, but not easy. Food is delicious. Exercise is hard. It seem that the better something tastes the worse it is for you. I find this irony of life to be pretty evil. I have said in the past that my dependence on food for reward, solace, etc. has led to my life-long struggle with my weight. In the past year I have been re-learning how to eat and figuring out how I can fit exercise into my insanely busy daily routine. I have had to decide what is more important to me, that mini high I get from eating something sinfully bad for me or the emotional well being I get from knowing I was strong enough to make the right choice.

I was honestly doing things half-assed for the better part of the past year. I started running, completed 3, 5K races and a half marathon with 12 weeks of training leading up to the half, and was only able to lose 1 pound!!! Why? I was still not paying attention to what I was putting into my body. You don't realize how much you eat until you start tracking it. It also puts it into perspective when you realize how much physical effort you have to put in to burn the calories you just consumed. I used to get a coffee roll from Dunkin Donuts all the time. They are 400 calories. I have to run almost 4 miles to burn those calories. That is close to 40 minutes! Is it worth it?? I don't think so any more. I am making better choices and it is showing in my physical appearance as well as my mental well being.

We embarked on Project 10  8 weeks ago. I weighed myself this morning and have now lost a total of 6.5 pounds. I am below 150 for the first time in 6 years! I did a little Lucky Charms leprechaun dance when i got off of the scale this morning. It was only partly because of the number I saw. The true happiness came from the fact that my hard work and restraint are paying off. I don't deprive myself. I eat ice cream and pasta and other delicious things. I just no longer let the want or perceived need of these things to consume me. I imagine, much like an alcoholic, food will always be my drug of choice. I will fight my internal battle, but I will keep getting back on the horse if I happen to fall. It can be done. You just have to want it. I want it, bad.

Stepping up my fitness game

Week 7 of Project 10! The fact that I am sticking with the tracking is honestly my biggest accomplishment. I have been remembering to put all of my food into My Fitness Pal and, even though one day I ate 2000 calories instead of my allotted 1410, I ran 7 miles and burned 800. It all evens out in the wash.
I am stepping things up though. I am a baby steps kind of girl. I need to focus on one aspect of my health at a time so I can form a positive habit and then add to my repertoire. Here are my steps so far.

• I have been running. I am in week 5 of my half marathon training. That has been going well. I saw the Dr. for a pain in my knee and it runs out I have a lateral hamstring strain from doing an exercise incorrectly. Luckily the doctor is a runner so he understands that I don't want to halt my training. He suggested I do some physical therapy, more stretching and avoid hills and interval training until it heals. I can deal with that.
• Food tracking. I have been logging my food for 15 days so far. I think this is the longest I have kept up with a food diary ever! It really helps to see what I am eating all written down. Sometimes I make better choices and other times I know I am going to run so I let myself have that treat or, ahem, pizza. But it's ok! I don't have to deprive myself to make this work! As long as I keep exercising, I can treat myself to the things I love to eat...occasionally.
• I'm tracking my weight weekly and my measurements bi-weekly. I have never been an obsessive daily weigher. That never seemed like a good idea to me, so the weekly frequency is working. I like that I am taking my measurements. As I watch things shrink, even by fractions of inches, it gives me the motivation to stick with it!
• My newest love is kickboxing. I got a Groupon for ILoveKickboxing.com Do not let the website scare you. Ha! It looks like a giant infomercial for weight loss, but I tried a class on Monday night for the first time and I am hooked! It is an awesome mix of kickboxing, core workout, strength training and circuit training since he mixes up the activities. The groupon I got included 10 classes and a pair of gloves for $50, but they have a special on their website for 3 classes and gloves for $19.99. Honestly, it is an amazing workout and I plan to stick with it even after my groupon classes are up. Plus I got super cute pink gloves so that was a fabulous bonus!

Slow and Steady fitness

Here we are at week 6 of Project 10! I have to say, I am feeling much like the tortoise in the fable at the moment. It seems that slow and steady is helping me win my race. I usually have a terrible time sticking to a diet and fitness routine but have found a few things that are working for me. I really think that is the key. I always wondered how so many different diets and exercise programs could all exist and compete in the market, but now I get it. You need to find the one thing that clicks for you and run with it.

For me running with it is quite literal. I am training for another half marathon in mid September. It is going pretty well, minus the knee problem I have been experiencing. I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow to get that checked out, but hopefully it is something that can be remedied with stretching and not a lot of down time. Running helps me stay on track because I follow a specific program. I have been trying to incorporate more strength training into my workouts so hopefully that will help me with a major goal to get toned again.

I have also been tracking all of my food on My Fitness Pal. I have the app on my phone and the best part about it is the bar code scanner! It is such a pain to have to enter everything, but if you can scan your yogurt, bread for your sandwich and breakfast cereal it makes it so much more doable! It also helps that many of the women doing Project 10 with me are also using it. We are sharing our food diaries so I am less likely to eat something bad for me if I know other people can see it. It looks so much worse written down!  I have logged my food for the last 8 days and only 1 day I went over my calorie goal!

Vacation week got me off track with the biweekly measurements so I took them today to put me back on schedule. I also weighed myself and am down another pound this week! So far I have lost 3.5 pounds and 5.25 inches in the last 6 weeks!

Slow and steady is helping me win my race, what about you?

Learning to run...again

You would think that after running 4 5k races and a half marathon I would have this running thing down. To train for the half I did a 12 week training program to get ready. I ran the 11 mile training run with ease. In fact, I did it with a 9:45 pace, which was good for me for that distance. The day of the half marathon came and my goal was, first and foremost, to finish without walking. In the back of my mind I really had a goal of coming in under a 10 minute mile. My race pace ended up being 10:06/mile. I was a little disappointed, but to be honest, I was so happy to be done. The last 3 miles were hellish. It was hot, the sun was beating down on my face, my legs felt like jello and I took my 2nd energy gel too late and had hit the wall with my stamina. I had completed 13.1 miles but I wanted to do it again...better.

I learned a lot from that first half marathon. I am trying to incorporate everything I learned into my training so I am ready come September 16th when I run my 2nd one. Some of the things I am working on are:

•  My running buddy and I did almost all of our long runs on a very flat course. I mean zero change in elevation. When I hit the hills in the half I tried to power through them and wasted a lot of energy. This time around I am making sure every run has some hills to get my body and mind ready.
• The weather is a huge factor. We did most of our training over NE winter and early spring. It was in the 40s and 50s for a majority of our runs. Race day was 75 degrees in full sun! I didn't realize what an impact the weather can have on you. This time around we are training for a late summer/early fall race so all of our training runs are taking place in the dog days of summer. Heat and humidity are tough to run through, but I am hoping it will all make a positive difference when we run in cooler temperatures.
• I need a hat. This sounds stupid, but it makes a world of difference when the sun isn't shining directly on your face! I hate hats and feel like my head would get too hot so I just ordered a running visor. Hopefully it will work for me!
• Cross and strength training is equally as important as the run training! I think that the other workouts I am doing this time around will contribute to my overall strength and fitness and help me run better.

That being said, let me give an update of where I am at in this 10 week fitness challenge. Overall I am down a total of 4 inches and 2.5 pounds. I am happy with the slow and steady progress. I know as you get closer to your goal weight it is harder to lose, so I am going to step up my cross and strength training in the next 5 weeks and see if that gets me over the hump!

Follow all of our progress at Stephanie's Mommy Brain and link up!

Small changes can equate to big wins in fitness

We just finished week 2 of the Project 10 challenge and I am happy to say that things are going well! I am sticking to my plan and working on the small goals I set for myself. I survived the past week without sweets. I accidentally cheated once, and remembered that I was abstaining AFTER I shared a banana pudding pop with the girl child. Not bad for an entire week! I like the idea so I am going to do it again this week. We are going to a wedding so I will allow myself one cheat and eat some wedding cake.

I have also been trying to eat only until I am not hungry instead of eating until I am full. This is hard for me because I eat fast. And by fast, I mean lightning speed. I am trying to slow down and not clear my plate. Old habits die hard so this one is a big goal for me.

I managed to meal plan for the week and we have had fruit and yogurt for me to bring to work for snacks. I realized that by cheating and buying a container of cut fruit, I am eating more fruit. My hubbs was a little ticked that I spent $20 on cut fruit, but it is worth it to me! I have only bought lunch at work one day in the past week and even then, I bought a "wellness approved" sandwich and still brought snacks from home.

So where am I at overall? Down 2.5 pounds from the start! I lost inches everywhere except my thigh (which went up 1/2 in for some reason, I hope it is muscle gain from the squats and lunges) and my chest. Small improvements, but I am starting to see that sticking to my plan is giving me results. The weight loss is right on target to where it should be to be sustainable.

Link up with us or check out my fellow fitness friends working toward a healthier lifestyle!

An honest look at my unhealthy habits

As part of project 10, I have decided to take an honest look at my most unhealthy habits and see what I can do to make changes. I made a list of some of the things I do and what I will do to work on them:

Sweets and Treats: I am not a snack food girl. Chips and pretzels are not my thing. Candy, cookies, ice cream etc...THOSE things are my weakness. I was watching Extreme Makeover, weight loss edition and they have tips at each commercial break. One of the tips said that the more sweets you eat, the more you actually crave. I don't know if I really "crave" anything in particular. I just think I pretend I have no will power and I just tend to gravitate to something sweet. If it is not in my house it is a lot easier to avoid, but I have come to terms with the fact that temptation will be around me all the time, so instead of avoiding it, I want to be strong enough to just not eat it. GOAL:No sweets for 1 whole week. I am hoping that this will help me not want to eat treats all of the time. And when I reintroduce them I will do so in moderation. There is nothing wrong with having ice cream, but get a scoop out of the container...don't eat half of a Ben and Jerry's in a sitting!

Saying I am "Too Busy" to exercise: We all have time in our day. Even if you say you have no time, if you actually think of how much time you waste on putzing around, we can all fit in fitness. It doesn't need to be insanely intense or a 5 mile run, but 20-30 minutes a day is definitely doable. GOAL: To work out a minimum of 5 days a week. I would like to say 6 as my goal, but I would rather be realistic and overshoot my goal than to fall short every week and get down on myself.

Slacking on Meal Planning: When I plan my week's meals and go shopping I eat right. When I am too busy lazy on the weekend,  and don't take the time to plan and shop, we end up getting takeout. It takes me about 30 minutes to plan the meals and an hour to shop. My health and fitness is worth 90 minutes of my time. I need to make it a priority. GOAL: Be vigilant on meal planning, making sure that we are eating a balance of healthy foods and that I have leftovers to take for lunch.


All of that being said I managed to lose 1.5 pounds last week! I will be doing my measurements next Wednesday again and updating that. I am going less by the weight and more by my overall fitness. I know as I gain muscle for working out, I will fluctuate on the scale, but I will record it anyway.
Start:156
Week 1:154.5

If you want to join us on the Project 10 quest then head on over to Stephanie's Mommy Brain and link up!

Project 10! Real Women, Real Fitness

As you all know, in my quest to get fit, I have been running. You'd think after running a half marathon, I'd be in better shape than I am. No really, I seriously thought I would be in better shape than this! We trained for 12 weeks and, while my cardiovascular endurance is great now, I am still squishy in all the wrong places. I have come to the conclusion that running just isn't enough. In order to get fit and healthy I need to do more. I need to add strength training and more varied cross training into my workout plan.

I am a member of a local blogging group and one of our members, Stephanie of Stephanie's Mommy Brain, came up with the concept of Project 10. It is 10 weeks of support and motivation in the form of  other women in the same boat, all working toward better health and fitness! We each have different plans to get to our fitness goal, but we are all in it together.

I won't be posting the before pictures I took until the end when my after pictures can over-shadow the yuck with their awesomeness (I have lofty goals here people). I will, however, post my stats. I took measurements and will be taking them at 2 week intervals. All measurements are in inches and are not making me happy. At. All. So here it is. All out on the table. I will be journaling my progress weekly. Any struggles and setbacks will be included so feel free to offer up support to keep me going!

There are many lovely ladies joining me in this quest so drop by their blogs and see how we are all progressing!



Stephanie at Stephanie's Mommy Brain
Sarah at Sweet Lil You
Liz at Learning to Juggle
Sarah at Soxy's Diamond
Megan at A Baby Makes Four
Kristin at Mama Luvs Books
Candace at The New Modern Momma
Melissa at Filling Our Bucket
Jodi at Blush Mamas
Carla at All of Me Now

Another awesome member of our group is a personal trainer and will be helping us along! A big thanks in advance to Samantha at Running and Cupcakes for her guidance as we get fit!

I AM a runner

Just a few short weeks ago, I was still not convinced that I was a "runner". I ran, but I couldn't be classified as a true runner. I ran my 11 mile training run along side marathoners running the Cox marathon and I saw the ones in the lead. They ran with no water bottles, no music and they all bounced like gazelles down the bike bath. I am not graceful, I need my hydration and I definitely need motivation in the form of "I'm sexy and I know it" blaring through my headphones, but damn it, I am a runner....and so is Liz.

We ran the Blackstone Valley half marathon on the 20th! We trained for 12 weeks and we got through that 13.1 miles. Does that make us runners? Heck yes it does. Well, that and the fact that we are crazy enough to sign up for another half marathon in September!

Inspired by a fellow blogger Elaine, I asked people to pick a mile. I wanted to have even more inspiration to get through that run. I wrote down every one's name and I carried the paper in my race pack. I took it out every 4 miles to remind myself who i was running for next. It really helped come mile 11 when I thought I was too tired to keep up my pace!

We were tired, Liz had hurt her knee, but we had medals around our necks!

You can't see our shirts but they say,

We came. We ran. We conquered. 13.1

We ARE runners!

Running down a dream

I am sitting here on a Saturday night reading blogs. It is Cinco de Mayo. This afternoon I had a good laugh with my husband about how, in younger years, we would have been drunk by now.  Oh the days before kids and real responsibility. Now, instead of imbibing margaritas I am drinking water in preparation for my long run tomorrow. By long, I mean l-o-n-g (for me anyway). Tomorrow will be the first time I will run 11 miles. Last week was 9.5 miles and the sense of accomplishment I felt after I finished was amazing. It was quickly followed by another feeling....aching. My 33 year old body wishes that my 20-something body had taken up running years ago. Well, I didn't then but I am proud to say that I have now.

Two weeks from tomorrow I will run 13.1 miles. Yikes! The thought of me running a half marathon is mind-blowing to me. I talked about it a while ago,when I first started training. Ten weeks have gone by and I am sticking with it. That in and of itself is an accomplishment for me. I tend to peter out when it comes to sticking with exercise. The only other time I kept up a routine successfully was when I got in shape for my wedding. I wore a strapless dress. Damn, I need my wedding back back.

I know running isn't the answer to getting myself to where I want to be, but it is a big part of the goal. Sticking to it. Forming a habit. A healthy one. Now if only I could wire my jaw shut or find a way to say no to the treats, I'd be set!

I might be crazy

If you are a good friend of mine or in my family, you would kindly ask me to remove the "might" from that statement. Ok, I kid, mostly. Why am I saying that you ask? It is simple. I plan to run a half marathon.

Wow, I said it. The words are out there and now I must. I love accountability. Without it, I am pretty sure I would be a big lump of lazy...fitness-wise anyway. I have struggled with my weight since 6th grade. That is a long freaking time to feel bad about eating.  I love, love, LOVE food. I think that is the problem. If I am sad, I want a treat to cheer me up. If I am happy, I want a treat to celebrate. Cookies, candy, cakes, pies, ooey gooey meals oozing cheese (oops getting off track here) they all make me happy. I need to have a better relationship with food. I have come to terms with the fact that I may never give up all of the things I find delicious to eat tiny salads and listless broiled chicken breasts every day, but I am trying to make small healthy changes as I go.

This is the reason I must exercise.

This is the reason I am going to run 13.1 miles.

Wow, that's far. I would chicken out, but now you all know, so I can't. I started training on Monday. I am on day 4 and, besides the fact that I am sore, I think it is going pretty well. I will not be getting all crazy and posting my weight on here, but I will be doing updates so I can hold my self publicly accountable. So cheer me on or call me crazy, but it is motivation to me either way!

Zumba!

It's official. I finally found an exercise that I actually like doing! We have a gym at my work (spoiled, I know) and they offer group fitness classes like yoga, spin, boot camp and now Zumba! I have tried a few of the other classes but hadn't found anything that I really enjoyed. I know you're not supposed to "enjoy" exercise (unless you're Sara), but I have the attention span of a gnat so if I don't like something it is hard for me to stick with it. I saw that they were going to offer Zumba and I have heard so much about it that I was excited to try it out. I admit, I was a little hesitant to try a class that is basically dancing. I am W-H to the I-T-E. My rhythm is suspect and I feel like an idiot when I'm dancing...unless there are copious amounts of alcohol involved. Because it is counterproductive to drink before you workout (and I'm also pretty sure I would get fired) I braved this dancing thing stone sober. It was awesome. I quickly realized that no one was watching me as we were all staring at the instructor just to keep up with the moves. The music is so upbeat and fun and it makes you want to shake that booty...even if my booty kept shaking when I wanted it to stop. I think it is a good start to get me motivated again. I have been in a bit of a funk lately and this is just what I needed to get over myself and get my butt in gear!! If you ever have the opportunity to take a Zumba class, I highly recommend it! What other classes or specific exercises do you enjoy?