Archive for November, 2009

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Ways to Get From Here to There

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Car? Check.

Bus? Check.

Running? What are you crazy? Check.

Yesterday I had to pick up my car from the shop, which is less than a mile from my house. My husband was away on business, so I planned on walking down to get it.

My purse is a bit cumbersome, so I didn’t bring it; just my credit card and keys which I stuffed in the pocket of my jacket and a granola bar because it was snack time.

I left the house, took two steps out the door, and didn’t feel like walking. I wanted to run! So I ran the .8 miles to the car place in my jean jacket, without myiPod, eating a granola bar.

For the first time – ever, I think – I ran somewhere not for exercise, but to get there. This has never even occurred to me before. Running just never seemed like a mode of transportation. Walking sure. But running? Nah. In fact, all of my routes are big circles, so the place I’m getting to is always the place I just left.

I really enjoyed traveling via running. And when I got there, I wasn’t even gasping for air or super sweaty. I felt mostly normal!

Granted, it wasn’t even a mile, but it still feels like a huge breakthrough.

Posted in Personal Stories | 4 Comments »

Fifty Nifty – Hot 100 Update

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Do you believe there are only 50 days left of 2009?! We’re halfway through the Hot 100, but if you haven’t joined in yet – or you’ve fallen off the wagon – there’s no better time than today to dive in!

The last 10 days have been very good to me. I’ve been very good to me. Well, mostly, at least.

Keep running! I’ve totally nailed the running thing for this period. Ten miles last week and 8.25 miles already this week, with a 3-mile run scheduled for tomorrow. Making a schedule and planning out what I’m going to run in advance is the best way I’ve found so far to meet this goal. If it’s on my calendar, I’m doing it. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

My long run on Sunday is supposed to be 4.5 miles, the longest yet. I’m considering bumping that up to a full 5 miles, the exact distance between my parent’s house (where I’ll be this weekend) and my sister’s house. I’ll just make my sister drive me back to my parent’s afterward :) Buffalo is MUCH flatter than Pittsburgh, so I think I could do it, and this would be excellent practice for the Turkey Trot. Think I can do it?! Shout out, folks!

Lose some more weight. Last weigh day I was at 173.5, my lowest ever. Huge success! I’m hoping that Friday will be even lower, but I had a few hiccups with my food over the last few days (read on for details) so I’m not 100% confident. Perhaps my exercise has been enough to counteract some extra calories. Perhaps not. Only time will tell!

Eat out less – cook more. I’ve been doing pretty well here overall, but there have been some missteps a bit during this 10-day period.

Saturday we went to the beautiful wedding of a friend, where we had a lot of fun, met some great people, and ate a lot of delicious food. Hors d’oeuvres. Cake. Cookies. Half a pretzel at the mall in the dead space between ceremony and reception.

Sunday I went on a nice long run of 4.18 and was easily talked into going to Primanti Bros. for lunch. If you’re not from Pittsburgh and are unfamiliar with this local franchise, let me explain: Big ol’ sandwich (I had ham & cheese) with a handful of fries and a handful of coleslaw. Yes, all ingredients are smushed between slices of italian bread and served on waxed paper. It may sound odd to you, as it did to me when I first moved here, but there’s a reason that it’s so popular… it’s delicious.

Yesterday was some ill-advised (but tasty) Mexican food for dinner.

Other than that, my eating has been pretty normal and generally good. I’m just afraid that those meals are enough to keep me from a pleasant weigh day on Friday.

I’ve been more consistent on the training this 10 days, so now I just need to get back on track with the food and I’ll be golden.

Just like the spaghetti squash I’m about to eat for dinner.

Posted in Diet, Personal Stories, Road Races, The Hot 100, Training, Trials and Tribulations, Weight Loss, Workouts | 4 Comments »

I Did WHAT When I Was Fat?

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Today is November 8. We’re well into Fall, heading quickly toward Winter. And yet, it’s nearly 70º in my neck of the woods. Seventy degrees! That’s insane.

I almost couldn’t wait to get out of bed this morning and get outside to enjoy the weather with a run. It was gorgeous – perfect light breeze, sun shining, blue skies – gorgeous.

As I was running (4.18 miles!) I couldn’t help but think about all the years I missed out on days like this. Days with unseasonably warm weather that I didn’t take advantage of in the least. I often didn’t even know how nice it was because I spent the entire day inside on the couch, without even taking the short walk to my car to drive somewhere and be lazy.

It astounds me that in just a few short years, I’ve been able to change my life so drastically. I can’t imagine sitting inside doing nothing on such a beautiful day, yet that was the norm when I was fat.

There are other things I can’t believe I did when I was fat – things like eating an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies… before they even made it into the oven, and eating meals meant for 4 by myself – but sitting on my duff when the weather urges you otherwise is something I just can’t fathom these days.

I still like raw cookie dough :)

If you haven’t taken advantage of the unseasonably warm weather, I encourage you to get out there and do something. Go for a walk in the park. Rake the leaves. Go for a bike ride. Just do something. You’ll be glad you did when it snows next week!

Posted in Personal Stories | 3 Comments »

Athlete For A Day

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Yesterday was a great day. I felt like an athlete! Not a great athlete, but an athlete nonetheless.

I woke up early and knew that if I didn’t go for a run before starting my day, I wouldn’t get a chance to. It was on my schedule, so I knew I had to do it. I went out, even though it was so nice and warm in my bed. It was a shorter run than most at only 2.75 miles, but that was by design. And even though it was shorter, I’m still not to the point where 2.75 miles feels short. But it was a good run, and like always, I was glad I got myself out there and did it.

I then showered, had breakfast, and did about an hour or so of work before heading out for a morning kung fu class. I don’t usually go to kung fu in the morning – they only offer one AM class on weekdays, and work has kept me busy during that time for a while. In the past I went to this class regularly, and yesterday reminded me why: The morning class is generally pretty small, so you get a lot of individualized attention. Yesterday, there were only two of us, and as my classmate said, “If your ego can take the bruising, small classes like that are really helpful.”

I have a lot to work on between now and my test for my Second Level Black Belt, which has been moved up a week to December 5 (the day before my 10k – annoying!). Since I have so much work to do, I decided to go to the evening class last night as well.

But not before heading to the ball field for my final game of softball this season! It was a good game – very exciting, what with the torrential downpour and muddy infield. We ended up losing, but we did it with style!

By the end of the day, I had run 2.75 miles, done an hour and a half of kung fu, and played softball in the mud for an hour and a half.

And you know what? I wasn’t even all that tired. Or hungry. I know I just said the same thing the other day, but it always surprises me: The more I move, the more energy I have. It seems counterintuitive, but there you have it folks!

I thought you might also be interested to know that my weigh-in today was very good. I knew it would be: For the first time in a while, I was excited to step on the scale. I knew that I had worked hard and that my hard work would pay off.

And it did.

In the form of a 2 pound loss for the week.

My new low: 173.5.

Posted in Kung Fu, Personal Stories, Softball, Trials and Tribulations, Weight Loss, Workouts | 6 Comments »

Like Sugar and Spice

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Do I know myself or what? All I needed was to create an actual schedule and I knew I’d be able to stick to it. I guess I shouldn’t toot my own horn too much just yet, since it’s only been 2 days, but it’s been a great two days!

Yesterday I was up early and did a good 3.5 mile run before work. Work was absolutely insane, jumping from one thing to the next all day. It was amazing, though, because even though I got up earlier than usual and expended a lot of energy during my workout, I had more energy all day long than usual.

Strange, but true.

I’ve had many conversations trying to get various people to understand that. Yes, it’s difficult to push yourself to work out: In the morning, you’d rather keep sleeping; after work you’re too tired from your day to exercise. I get that. I get that you don’t feel like you have enough energy to work out.

But if you push yourself to do it, you’ll actually have more energy, not less.

Give me two weeks. Two weeks of regular exercise, 3 – 5 times a week, and see what it does to your energy level.

I bet you’ll feel nice.

Posted in Personal Stories, Trials and Tribulations, Workouts | 5 Comments »

Run This Town

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

After biting my nails about it for weeks, I’ve finally officially registered for the Trot for Tots 10k on December 6! That’s just 5 weeks away, and the furthest I’ve run to date is just over four miles (4.18 to be precise).

It’s a little scary, but if it was easy, it wouldn’t mean as much when I do it!

In order to make it to 6.2 miles – and to keep up with my 10 miles/week goal – I’ve gone back to what I know works best for me: I’ve laid out a specific workout plan for the next five weeks, outlining how many miles I am to run each day between now and then.

That’s not to say that I intend to run every day, because that’s crazy. I also think it’s good to have a rest day, and I like to cross-train and strength-train some days. But I find that if I’m following a plan, rather than just playing it by ear, I’m far more likely to be successful.

The tough part is going to be the long runs on Sundays, particularly since I’ll be out of town for at least 2 Sundays this month, possibly three, depending on what day we return from our Thanksgiving jaunt to Buffalo. It’s going to come down to me sticking to my guns and following through, even when out of town. Luckily, since on all three trips I’m visiting family, I think I’ll be able to get my workouts in without too much difficulty.

I’ll just get up before them without giving them the opportunity to lure me away with their cute babies, delicious pancakes, and super-fun board games!

Posted in Personal Stories, Road Races, Training | 4 Comments »

Forty Percent – Hot 100 Update!

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

Forty percent.

That’s how far into The Hot 100 we are.

And also the grade I give myself for this 10-day period.

This will be a shorter update than usual, with good reason: It wasn’t a very successful ten days and I’m done being a downer. I’m back on track these days, with a better outlook and attitude!

In the interest of full disclosure, however, I will do a brief update:

Keep running! Fail. Well, “fail” at my more specific goal of 10 miles per week. I did a total of 3.85 miles in the last week, and that was all in one run. On the plus side, that was the run that marked the turning point in this rough patch for me. I made a good choice :)

I am still on track for being able to run the full 5 miles of the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I think I’m going to take a page from my own book and follow the last 25 days of an 8k training program. That way I’ll know for sure that I’ll be ready. I’ll have to look into that… it might be a better idea to do the end of a 10k program since I’m planning on doing a 10k on December 6!

Lose some more weight. Also fail. Strangely, I didn’t particularly care that when I weighed myself this past Friday I was up 1.5 pounds (175.5). It was that weird nonchalant attitude I’ve had the last few weeks. It bothers me now though!

I’m really looking forward to getting down to 172. That will be my 90-pounds lost mark. I’m going to shoot for that by Thanksgiving. Totally doable!

Eat out less – cook more. Good on this. In fact, this evening I made a reasonable approximation of my favorite (albeit very unhealthy) restaurant meal: Chicken fettuccine with sun dried tomatoes (from The Cheesecake Factory). What I made wasn’t necessarily healthy, but I used whole wheat pasta, had a reasonable portion size, and controlled how much sauce I used and how everything was cooked. I also didn’t have half a basket of bread and a piece of cheesecake with it. Again, still not healthy, but I feel a lot better about what I ate tonight than what I get from the restaurant. It’s good for a very rare treat.

Again, overall not the best 10-day period, but I’m looking forward to a much better next ten days. One thing I’m going to shoot for between now and then is more frequent posting. Writing here helps keep me on track. So it stands to reason that if I write more, I’ll do better.

How’s everyone else doing? Sixty days left until everyone else makes their resolutions… Why not get a jump on them and start today?

Posted in Personal Stories, The Hot 100, Trials and Tribulations | 5 Comments »

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