Early morning workouts

I'm back after quite the hiatus.  I just haven't had much time, energy or motivation for blogging and let's face it I wasn't all that good at it to begin with!   But I'm here and trying again.  The last few months have been up and down. 

I'm recommitted to working out.  Again.  What is that old proverb...fall down 7 times, stand up 8.  That's me.  I'm trying to commit to starting each morning with my workout.  One to get it out of the way for the day and two to hopefully build energy for the day from it.  I've been feeling very run down lately and I need to do something to perk back up so I can be the wife and mother I need to be.  I saw this quote on pinterest and it struck me.  Words to live by for sure..."It's easier to wake up early and work out than it is to look in the mirror each day and not like what you see." - Jayne Cox.  I think that's going to be my new morning mantra cause right now I definitely don't like what I see in the mirror.

Cement Legs

So I'd taken a hiatus from running and working out and eating right and all that goes into being healthy after my disappointing 5K.  Then we went on a family vacation...to the beach.  Nothing like strapping on a bathing suit to make you wish you'd been trying harder at the whole weight loss, get fit thing!  I will say my suit was looser this year than last which was great but I'm not where I want or need to be.  So now that we're home I'm back on the wagon again. 

Last night I went out for my first post-vacation run (2nd post 5K run).  I'm trying to ease back into things so I did a walk/run alternating plan.  My legs were like cement, so tight and miserable.  But I did about 1.5 miles and then headed home to start dinner.  Despite it being a not so great run it did remind me how much I love the post-run feeling.  So here's to starting over...AGAIN! 

Race Recap

Well Saturday was my 5K. The one I was completely and utterly unprepared for. And boy did it show!!! I have never felt so awful during a race. The first mile my mom and I both struggled. We reached the water station and I have never wanted water more during a race, it was pathetic. But...but...they had RUN OUT! It was like that moment my whole body and mind just went "ah to heck with it." I kept telling myself to run but the majority of me said "WALK...WALK." And I did. I told my mom to go on without me. She always struggles at the beginning but picks up her momentum after that. I usually start strong and need help at the end so we do well pacing each other. But not today. I never got going. I ended up walking/running the entire thing. I would set goals to run at the light pole or sign then I'd run until the first second my mind said to stop. I just seemed to have no drive. I never got that burst of adrenaline I usually get in races. And I've never felt so ill prepared. I definitely won't be slacking so badly on my training again! Last year, running at a conversational pace, my mom and I finished at 44 minutes. This year my mom finished in 37 minutes and I did it in 42. How I managed to shave 2 minutes off is a mystery to me. I must have gained speed even in my walking pace since last year. It wasn't nearly as much fun as it was last year. Oh well, we all have bad races now and then. I'll pick myself up, dust myself off and try try again.

Fear

I have my 5K tomorrow. I haven't run since my last 5K a month ago. I haven't done ANYTHING in that month. For some reason every time I even thought about working out or running I came up with an excuse not to. I'm wondering now if it was fear of hurting my foot and having 3-4 days of a swollen foot again. I can't believe I've wasted a month but hopefully tomorrow I can run a decent race and get back into the swing of things. I plan on taking it EASY the rest of the day to hopefully temper any possible swelling. Taking it easy will include a 2.5 hour stent in the movie theater to see The Hunger Games! woohoo! So wish me luck that I don't completely flop tomorrow. On the upside my mom hasn't run or worked out since our last 5K so at least I'm in good company!

Disappointment - Excitement - Health

Disappointment:
My podiatry appointment was cancelled. Turns out they don't take my type of insurance. They do take my carrier but not our specific type. So back to square one on that.

Excitement:
My mom and I are registered for another 5k. It is March 24 called Loop the Lake and raises money for a children's home. It is the first race we ever did together one year ago so we're doing it again! Hopefully we can beat our time from last year. It was quite humorous last year as we got to the site and looked at the lake. We both said "no way that is 3 miles, that has to be at least 6 miles around. I guess we go part way and then turn around." So as we're running we keep waiting for the turn around but it never comes. Turns out the lake IS 3 miles around. So this year we'll know better. Last year we thought there was NO WAY in all the world we'd be able to run the entire lake but we did it!

Health:
I am feeling MUCH better today. A few days of antibiotics and my status has returned to human. I still feel pretty worn down, my energy hasn't caught back up but my head no longer pounds at every movement and I don't feel like someone to a pick ax to my face. Yay!

Goal Met

Despite my awful, sick start to March I've managed to lose 1.5 pounds this week. That meant I met a Weight Watchers goal of 10% lost! I started my WW journey at 184 lbs and today I weighed in at 165.5. I still have a long road ahead but seeing each milestone met is so incredibly motivating! Now I just can't wait to feel healthy again.

I definitely have a sinus infection and started on an antibiotic last night so hopefully it won't be much longer.

Blah

March is not off to a good start. I have been sick since day 1. Started as just a sore throat, I can handle that but in the last few days has become what I think is a sinus infection. So needless to say I have not done well in my March goals thus far. I can barely move without sinus pain and dizziness, working out is nowhere on my radar!

I begged my husband to come home early today and I'm going to try to drop into Urgent Care to see if I can get something to take. Over the counter stuff isn't even making a dent! I feel miserable and my kids have been watching TV like its their job lately. I really need to get back to normal!

March Goals

March 1st. Time for a fresh start. February was a struggle for me and I gained weight instead of losing. So I'm trying something new for March and I'm going to set out monthly goals from here on out. I've never done it before, or at least not written out in specifics. I think it will be good to see the small successes I have so I can focus on those instead of the failures. I have a busy month of activities with the kids so I really need to stay accountable for my food and exercise.

I also plan to take some time off of running until I see the podiatrist and get a better feel for where we are with that injury. My appointment with her is on the 8th!

So my March goals...

- Get back on track with my WW point counting.
- Complete 3 weeks of Six Weeks to Six Pack (5 days = 1 week)
- Do at least 5 other work outs (Wii Fit or Active, walks, The Firm, etc)

Race Recap (Part 2)

After we finished the Tangled Family 5K run we headed back to the timeshare for a bite to eat and to relax for a little before the boys had their runs. They were slated to start at 11am. My mom and I wanted to check out the race expo so we decided to head over early for that. It was a lot of fun, I won 2 boxes of brown rice. We didn't buy anything but enjoyed checking out all the race gear and the 1/2 marathon shirts. It definitely got us excited about being able to buy some 1/2 stuff next year!

The Wide World of Sports was insanely busy between packet pick ups for the 1/2, other events, the Expo and the kid races so we called my husband to let him know they would need to leave earlier than planned to get a parking spot. We had parked so far back we joked that the walk up would be a 1/2 marathon! I'm ever so thankful I did because had they waited any longer to head over the boys would have missed their races!

My mom and I were anxiously waiting for them to arrive as we listened to them lining the kids up. Once we saw them walking up we raced back to grab the boys to line up. Nicholas (4) ran the 200 m and Bennett (2) ran the 100 m.

I lined up with Bennett and we watched as 3 or 4 waves went out ahead of us. I was getting worried he wouldn't be into it as he didn't seem to have any idea what we were doing. I kept showing him the finish line and telling him "you run there as fast as you can." Finally our wave came, they dropped the rope and we were off. I held his hand the first few feet but then dropped it fully expecting him to take it back. Nope he was off! I could see him smiling so big and running with all his might! It was ADORABLE! He knew to stop at the finish line and got his medal. He was beaming!

I'm the nutty looking one in teal and Bennett is the little man pumping his heart out in front of me!

Showing off his medal!

We found the family at the sidelines and waited for the rest of the 100 m and start of the 200 m kids to run. My mom and Nicholas were a few waves back but we spotted them easily once they got started. Nicholas started to stop a little before the finish line but my mom gave him a little tap on the back and he finished strong. When Nicholas' race ended Bennett asked if it was his turn again. He was very upset when I told him he was done running. Maybe I've got a budding running partner!

Nicholas with his medal.

I always get a little teary eyed watching the kids' races. I love the ones who lead the pack and look like they're running for Olympic gold! And the ones who cling to mommy or daddy. I love the ones who fall down and get carried across the finish line. But most of all I love the ones who finish despite overwhelming odds. Last year there was a little boy pushed across the finish line in a wheelchair by his brother. This year was a little girl with Rett Syndrome, held up by her family, who finished. She was last but she got the biggest cheers of anyone. You could tell every step was a struggle but she did it.

Afterwards we quickly headed to lunch. My mom and I were starving!! That's when the pain in my foot started to really act up. I was limping and my entire right foot swelled up. My Achilles' heals started to hurt as well, probably from over compensation. I guess it was just too much for my foot to take in one day. I have a call in to see a podiatrist because I really need to get this fixed permanently soon if I want to run that 1/2 next year!

Race Recap (Part 1)

This weekend was my 5K - The Tangled Family Fun 5K at Disney! It was a BLAST!!!

Thankfully my in-laws just happened to be down for the week and staying at their timeshare on Disney property. We were able to head over Friday, pick up our race packets and then spend the night at the timeshare. My parents were going to drive up early Saturday morning (which meant waking at 3am for them!) and pick me up at 5:30 am so my mom and I could run the 5K.

I set my alarm for 5am and attempted to get to bed around 9pm. Unfortunately my 4 year old had other plans for my sleep that night. My boys both normally sleep great all night but not that night. The 4 year old was awake coughing, moaning, complaining, rustling from about 10 pm until 2 am. He refused Motrin and just whined for hours. We finally all fell asleep at 2am, but I woke at 3 and 4 and 4:45. So at 4:45 I turned off the alarms and got up to jump in the shower, dress and eat breakfast. My parents arrived at 5:15 am so I met them, traded places with my dad and my mom and headed to Epcot.

A cold front decided to blow through that day so we were pretty chilly standing outside so early. We both brought light jackets to wear pre-race. The crowd was quickly filling up and we walked around checking out the awesome costumes people were wearing. We saw plenty of fairies, princesses, evil queens and even a few of the 101 Dalmatians! We vowed to come dressed fun for the 1/2 marathon next year! Disney had a DJ blasting music and the crowd was dancing and having fun.

The crowd in front of us. You can kind of see the start line.

Before we knew it we were making our way into the corrals. My mom and I lined up in the 11-13 min mile since we both run about a 12 min mile. In the end it didn't matter. It appears for the 5K nobody follows the rules. There were walkers and strollers in our corral even though there was a specific stroller and walker corral further back. It made for a frustrating start as we got stuck behind a number of slow walkers out the gate. The beginning of the race was basically a HUGE crowd of people herding like cattle down a tiny back road.

Mile 1 was a back street and took us about 14 minutes to finish since we were constantly weaving in and out of the walkers. The end of mile 1 brings you into the Epcot World Showcase. This was the fun part to run! Past the countries and the characters. We chose not to stop for the character photos but enjoyed seeing them all as we ran past. Before we knew it we were at mile 2! Disney employees were along the sidelines inside Epcot cheering us on. Next up was a spin around the famous Epcot globe and then out the park towards the finish line. I was in shock at how fast this race went by. It seemed like every time we looked up we were at a mile marker.

Once out of the park we headed towards the finish line. Here families were out cheering and we easily spotted our family cheering us on! It was great to see them out supporting us and holding signs. We felt great and both started to pick up the pace to the finish line. I couldn't believe how good we both felt and we agreed we could have easily run another 2 miles! We completed the race at about 44 minutes. Not a fast race but a fun one!

After crossing the finish line they funnel you out to get your "medal" and then a picture booth. It was a great race and I'm so glad we did it! We are both looking forward to doing the 1/2 marathon next year!!!

I'll post my Part 2 tomorrow. That will include my post race injury and the kid's races!

Progress

My last post was a vent about progress. About not making enough progress to satisfy myself. But I was basing that on other people's progress. What other people can accomplish in a year. Well I'm not other people. I have to compare to myself and only myself.

So I got to thinking about the very first time I tried to do Couch to 5K. My husband and I got it in our minds we'd start running so we tried it. I remember feeling like I was going to DIE that first day. It was 1 minute runs. I remember I could barely make it down one side stretch of our not-very-big-at-all neighborhood. I remember thinking I would NEVER run a mile without stopping.

I was quite thankful at that time to find out within a week or 2 of starting C25K that I was pregnant. So we stopped running and I enjoyed my pregnancy. First trimester sickness prevented my from doing anything more than laying around and binging on bland food.

That little baby is 2.5 years old now and I can run 2 miles without stopping, without feeling like I'm dying. I've completed two 5K runs and am doing my 3rd in a few weeks. I ran a mile today in 11:12 which was a PR. I know that is not fast to most but to me it was. It was the fastest I've ever gone. Now heading down one stretch of side street in our neighborhood is nothing more than a warm up. So those might not be huge accomplishments to some but they are progress. My progress and I'm proud of it. I hope to look back at this post next year and be in training for my 1/2 marathon but if I'm not that's okay to. As long as I'm pushing myself against myself.

Lessons Learned

After another week of not keeping a tight reign on my point count and very little exercise it finally caught up with me in my weigh in. I dropped .5 lbs. It's a loss but not much, I was really hoping to be down the next 2 lbs. The 2lbs I need to get to 20lbs total weight loss and 10lbs total for 2012. My husband hit his 10 lb goal today, got to color in the bar graph we made to keep us accountable. It was a wake up call for me though. No messing around. If I want this I have to WORK for it. Looking back at the past week I regret a lot of choices because a better choice here or there and I might be where I want right now. Okay, lesson learned. This week will be better. I'll have a great report next week.

As far as running goes I'm feeling slightly discouraged. I've been running since LAST January and still barely pushing 2 mile runs. I thought I'd be so much further along by now. Training for a half instead of barely surviving a 5K. I know that running is different for everyone and I know I've had to contend with multiple injuries but it still hurts to see little to no progress. My 5K is in 2 weeks. Last night I did a 2 mile run, my goal was 2.25 but I stopped at 2 miles because my foot was throbbing. I regretted stopping though as soon as I was done and back home. It was like in that moment I felt like if I didn't stop right then I'd never ever stop and I'd have to run forever........cue dramatic music. But really once I was done I realized it DOES end and now all I have is regret that I didn't push through a little more. No wonder I never get better! So another lesson learned. Push through because it will end and I'd rather be sore than sorry as they say.

Some runs I chant a little mantra of "I don't quit when I'm tired, I quit when I'm done." But for some reason that didn't come to mind yesterday. I just want to have a great 5K. I'm scared of getting sweeped in the race even though at my slowest I'm not even as slow as the sweepers pace. I'm hoping for adrenaline to keep me going through that final mile.

Surprising Results

So this week has been another rough one. My husband has had triple his usual work so he's hardly home. Not sure why but I seem to be incapable of making a regular dinner when he's not home. In the past that would mean I would go out for fast food. But this week I had eggs for dinner one night, leftovers another night and whipped up a pork tenderloin (something I've never made before!). I did forget to make any sides with it. Oops. In my defense I spend all day at home with our boys and then work from home at night so when I'm 100% in charge at night I let things slip. The boys enjoyed spaghetti two nights in a row which is the greatest thing EVER to them.

So between weird eating, going into the negative on my point count and lots of chocolate cravings (for which I satisfied with various things including mocha lattes and chocolate cake) plus a female thing that reared its ugly head this week I still managed to LOSE TWO POUNDS! I didn't work out once this week but I guess being 100% in charge of everything in our house worked it off. Just goes to show me how awful my eating was before I went on WW.

I'm feeling so much more energy lately. I still live in a state of perpetual tiredness (thanks under working thyroid) but before doing mundane tasks like emptying the dryer would take hours of working myself up to doing it. Now I'm like "oh dryer is done. Unload. Reload." I'm loving it! My house is looking better than normal and my kids are still getting plenty of 1 on 1 time.

Tomorrow night is the only night my husband will be home so I plan to get in a run. My 5K is in 4 weeks and I haven't run in the past 2 weeks. I need to get back into it! I am determined to make this my best 5K yet!

shin splints

I'm one of those lucky runners afflicted with reoccurring shin splints. Just when I think they're gone...they come back! I've tried everything I can think of new shoes, different running surface, more time between runs, slower training schedule, slower pace, faster pace, compression sleeves and ice. Lots of ice. Rubbed on directly and just laid on top. I've seen improvement through those things but nothing has completely alleviated the pain for the long run. But I will persevere!

Rough Week

Between injuries, sickness, out of town doctor visits and a host of other life events we have had a rough week* here. Which means my eating wasn't as top notch as it should be and my exercise was nowhere to be seen. So I was expecting a weight gain or maintain on the scale this morning. Much to my surprise I managed to lose half a pound. Nothing earth shattering but movement in the right direction! Hopefully I can get back on my 1-2 lbs weekly loss this week. I haven't fallen off the wagon completely, I held on while it dragged me this past week!

This upcoming week should be a lot more on target. My calf pain is GONE! Thank you compression sleeve! My back pain is minimal now, still lingering but not to the same degree. So tonight I'm planning to get back on the road for a run.

*When I refer to week I mean Wed-Wed as those are my WW weeks, when I start fresh with points and have my weigh ins.

Hang in There

I pulled up a BMI calculator the other day to see where I stand and where I need to be. I was excited to discover that I am extremely close (within a pound or two) to leaving "obese" and entering "overweight." I should achieve that goal by my next weigh in provided I keep my 1.5-2 lbs a week loss momentum.

I'm also eager to hit my first 10 lbs lost goal. I am in DESPERATE need of a solid massage and I plan to use that as my first 10 lb reward. I have 6 lbs to go which should mean about 3 more weeks. I wish I could speed up the process because between my aching back and my sore calf I am in need now. But I know slow and steady wins the race so I'm holding on.

Wednesday Weigh In

My starting weight (this year) was 174 lbs.

Last week I was 172.5 lbs.

This week I am...(cut to commercial)...170.5!

That is mainly with Weight Watchers eating. I skipped my work outs a few days this week because I did something to my back and it has been aching for days.

I made it to 168 lbs last year before falling off the wagon. That is a goal number for me to see and bypass this year. I'm so close! If I keep up my pace I should see it by next Wed. Fingers crossed.

In Training

I love that term "in training." Makes me feel like a real athlete and not just the chubby girl being laughed at as I flail my body in a run-like motion down the street. I'm currently in training for the Disney Princess 5K. Amazing how knowing that date is lingering there on the calendar makes you get out and push it. Two weeks ago I was all "oh I can run a mile kinda sorta but I might die at the end." Two days ago I finished my 2 mile run at 2.5 miles cause I just felt like I could give a little more despite the Nike+ voice in my ear telling me I'd hit my goal. Amazing what being "in training" can do!

Pinterest

Pinterest is awesome, if you aren't on it you should be. I've found so many fun things to do with my boys, great decoration ideas and organization ideas. It also has a lot of inspirational quotes or just plain funny pictures. I saw this one and cracked up.




Seriously I'm still cracking up.

Wed Weigh In

I forgot to post this yesterday! I'm a day off this week since my husband had Monday off.

Anyhow I started the year at 174 lbs. Week 1 weigh in was...drumroll please...172.5. So a loss! I'll take it. Onto week 2 with the same intensity.

52 points

My husband joined Weight Watchers with me which is great. Except he gets 52 points to my measly 26! It is painful to me because I LOVE to eat but I'm fighting the urge to go over my point count. I know if I stick with this I will see a change in my body which is what I want, more than I want that taste of food. I saw a quote once that really stuck with me...



It hit me so hard because I do that all.the.time. Particularly when it comes to food and weight loss. So that is something I remind myself of when I find myself tempted by my cravings of the right now.