Scale Victory and Second Race Excitement

"Running has taught me to be patient, to trust the process, that anything worth doing is worth training for and doing well. It has made me a better wife, co-worker, friend, nurse, sister, daughter, and person in general."  ~Andi Ball, Runner's World Challenger of the Week 

Thought you'd get away without a quote? NEVER! 

I'm beyond excited for the race on Sunday! I have just about everything set aside so now all I have to do is pack. Tomorrow we'll be clambering in a car for a short drive and enjoying the day with one of my awesome friends I haven't seen in so long. We go way back to grade school. I can't wait!!

Source

I had a great scale victory today! I lost 2 pounds in a week. TWO! I'm down to 176.8 now. I am beyond shocked. I haven't been really strict and I've been eating chocolate (skinny cow cookies and cream bars...SO GOOD). Only 1.8 pounds to go until I have lost 30 pounds! It has been A LOT of hard work, but it was 100% worth it!

According to some of the Insanity reviews I've been reading, you really start losing during the second month so it's right on time. I just finished off recovery week (hah! It was still hard.) and will start month 2 on Monday. It'll be rough and I might still be sore from the race, but I got to do what I got to do. Tuesday is the second dentist appointment for the rest of the fillings I need. I'm ready to get it over with, but I know I'll be doing nothing but laying around and putting a warm compress on my sore jaw. It'll also be a small mileage week due to recovering, but the following week I'll be back to 10K training. 

Source

Today I did a short run of a little more than a mile and a half, but I ran at a 12 minute mile during the whole thing. At first it was a bit tough, but my body really started getting into the groove about halfway through. I've been working on the treadmill to work on my running form so I can stay away from calf injuries. I've been trying to change my foot to a mid foot strike instead of a forefoot strike. Running with the mid foot strike seems to work best with my legs and knees. 

Overall, I'm just amazed that I'll be running my second 5K this Sunday. I've always stood on the sidelines of my dad's races thinking to myself, "Okay, this year I'll get in shape and do this." But the year came and went with no progress. It wasn't until I hit absolute rock bottom that I found the courage and determination to actually commit to running. I won't really feel like a true runner until I run a half marathon. My mother thinks that I'm absolutely insane for wanting to be a distance runner like my dad. I've done the research and I know that even though it may be stressful for my body, in the long run it is better for my body than not. And with a family history of bad knees and heart disease, I need all the help I can get to stay healthy for as long as possible.

I want to wish my father a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! He is my hero and the reason I race. On Sunday I'll be running this race for him. I hope that one day in the future he'll be on the sidelines cheering for me as I cross the finish line of my first marathon. I know that would make him so happy (and a bit concerned since he knows how hard marathons are). I love you dad!

Like father, like daughter...

"The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank." -George Sheehan

I found the best article for novice runners: If You Run Slow, Who Cares?

Something I struggle with is feeling like I'm too slow and not a "real" runner. I'm not fast. I'm constantly doubting myself and feeling ashamed of my pace. Honestly, it doesn't matter how fast you are in the beginning. I'm not looking to qualify for the Boston marathon any time soon. I'm trying to build my strength and endurance. I want to train consistently and avoid injuries. I think these are some good goals to have in the beginning.

One of my favorites. 

On my run today I surprised the heck out of myself. I decided for S&G's to set the treadmill at a 12 mile pace (5.0). I figured I'd do that and then hit it down to 4.5-4.6 where I usually jog. The awesome cleaning lady (she's so friendly!) came in to clean the gym and I spent all 20 minutes during my run talking to her. I was TALKING and RUNNING at 5.0!! Now it was a lot harder than I'm used to but I did it! I love having someone to talk with during my workout. I'm so glad that I'm running my next race with a whole group of people. I'm a rather social runner. Go figure. I'm hoping that some of my girly friends that are learning how to run stick with it so we can do the Disney Princess Half Marathon! I won't be ready for the 2014 one but I'm hoping to run my first half in 2015. Or the end of 2014 if my body is ready.

WANT!
Found this on tumbr on rock-the-trails.
She has some gorgeous trail pics!

I think I may have over done the speed with today's run though. During Insanity (Cardio Power and Resistance today!) I had a shooting pain down the outside of my knee. It took it easy, focused on my form (jumping squat things are hard to keep good form), and half way through the workout the pain went away. I'm terrified of injuring myself AGAIN and I am taking every precaution to avoid it. Of course I would screw up and go against my own advice of "going slow" when increasing speed. I'm going to run at 4.7-4.8 from now on with spurts of 5.0 until my legs get accustomed to the new speed. Slow and steady.

I cannot wait for Saturday. I'm going to drag my husband to the lake path to have a nice easy run. I started a 10K training plan and Saturdays are my 25-30 minute EZ runs. Saturday are now known as LAKE DAYS! You wouldn't want to swim in the lake, but the view is beautiful and will make the 2 mile loop go fast. Also, I'm not just training for a 10K, I actually signed up for one! I'll be doing the local turkey chase 10K on November 17th. I love running in the cold so this will be a fun race. The course is mostly flat and I'm hoping to finish in under 1 hr and 30 minutes. My dad wants to run it with me so I'll have someone to chat with again! I love that my dad is so supportive with my training and races. He's the best and I hope he can come to Disney with me to cheer me on (since the Princess Half Marathon is for girls only). That goal is far away, but  it is great motivation through all the training that will go on the next 2 years!

I love this facebook cover. Very true!

Here's to training and hopefully the scale will move! Argh plateaus!

1800 Minute May Challenge: 844/1800
(I won't make it, but I'm going to get as close as I can!)

Iron Girl 5K: Recap

So...I ran a 5K. I did it. I was slow but I never stopped running. That is BEYOND amazing to me. What a great weekend!

On Saturday my dad came into town and we ran around most of the day since I was nervous and didn't want to sit still. When it came time to sleep, I kind of had a mini breakdown. All of the emotions from months of good and bad training days hit me at once and I was just overwhelmed. I couldn't believe I was going to do this. This mythical 5K that was a far off dream during Christmas was now becoming a reality. THE FEELS! 

Accurate.

After a night of very little sleep, I woke up at 5 am ate some rice krispies and suited up. We had fancy time chips that we were fiddling with the best way to put on our sneakers. Weird things but I never even knew it was there until they harvested it from our shoes at the end. Seriously, people were at the finish line with scissors in their hands watching feet and then would stop you to harvest the chip.

o0o0o fancy

It was a tiny bit chilly but the sun was rising as we were stretching and getting ready. The half marathon started first so we cheered them on and then had 20 minutes to jog around a bit and get ready. I was nervous but the whole thing felt surreal. At one point I looked down and was confused why I had a tag on my shirt. I'm not a runner. I'm a fat girl. I walk. I don't run. Yet the tag stayed and I continued to be in a drowsy haze.

Random runners in the parking lot/holding tank

The reality hit me hard when we were all packed in at the starting line. I stayed near the back since I knew better to get in the way of the "real" runners. They were crazy fast. Five minute mile fast. Dang. The countdown happened and we were off. 

It was light jogging on the flat and then up a hill out of the parking lot and onto the main street. The course was gentle rolling hills. There would be a flat area, a nice incline, a flat, a nice incline and repeat a few times. At one point I asked my dad if we hit a mile yet and he said we were right by the half way/turn around point. Sure enough a few minutes later we grabbed some water, tossed it back and set off down hill. Oh how wondrous the downhill part felt after, more or less, an uphill climb. There were some light hills again but it was nice and we really picked up the pace from mile 2 to the end. People were walking a lot and we kept passing loads of them, making me feel great that I was able to keep going. Around mile 3 I told my dad I was getting a beer at lunch and I didn't care. I earned it. He just chuckled. 

I remember seeing the end point of the race. My lungs were starting to burn since I was pushing it. I saw the other runners ahead of us turning to the right and I knew we were steps from the finish! I continued to bugger on and was soon greeting by the flags and fancy finish line colors. They announced my name as I finished and all I kept telling myself was "get to the blue mats, get to the blue mats, get to the blue mats." I touched down on those lovely blue mats and started to walk. My head felt like it was floating and I assumed it was from minor oxygen deprivation there at the end. 

I'm in the black going under the arch.
My dad hung back so I could have my time alone with the blue mats, haha.
I have never been so happy to see blue mats in my life.

The official race clock was set for the half marathon finishers so I had no clue what time I came in at until I got home and looked at the results. I was just happy to have finished. I got my fancy "finisher" medal, some water and got my shoe tag harvested and then grabbed some free food. An unripe banana never tasted so good. When we got back to the car I had a rice krispie treat I promised myself if I didn't walk during the race. Such sweet, sugary success!

At home I looked up my final time and was pleasantly surprised to have finished in 41 minutes and 36 seconds. My goal was to do it in 45 minutes and I smashed that. My next goal will be to do 5K under 40 minutes. In my head I keep beating myself up. "I should have trained harder...I should have run faster..." At 182 pounds I did a very respectable time. The more weight that comes off my body the more minutes will come off my 5K time. I started this on December 29th wheezing and hacking after running 1 minute. I ran 41 minutes today without stopping. Now that is progress. I'm happier that I can run the distance rather than speed. Speed will come. It will take time but speed will come.

My fancy medal.

Now to wait for Game of Thrones!!

Mileage: 3.1
Average Pace per Mile: 13:26 (thank you run keeper! I did the math wrong and thought I did around 13:59...yay for an extra few second off!)

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston Churchill

I'm still here, still training!

I came down with some kind of tummy bug thing yesterday and got a mile into my run and had to be done. I languished around and then slept for 12 hours and now I'm feeling MUCH better. Glad it was just a 24 hour thing because that race is right around the corner!

As soon as my dad arrives on Saturday we have to go pick up our packets. The race isn't until Sunday but number/packet pickup occurs Friday and Saturday ONLY. No race day pick up. This is really weird to me since every race I've went to watch my dad always had a race day pick up. This race is different since it is a half marathon AND 5K so they want to start ASAP so the roads can be opened up again before the mall opens. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow I'm just going to do a quick mile, do my last day of Ripped in 30 and use Saturday to rest. I'm actually as excited as I am nervous so the two are cancelling each other out for the time being. I'm really just happy to have made it this far after a plethora of pulled muscles, hurt feet, and weak ankles. I'm definitely going to walk during it, and maybe one day I won't walk a 5K but I'm not there yet. I'm just hoping the rain hold off. Happily it is going to be overcast and chilly! I LOVE running in the cold since I get really hot when I run. My body with the extra blubber keeps me plenty warm during a run, and I feel powerful moving through the cold air with my own body heat radiating around me. That was my experience running in the snow at my in-laws' house and I LOVED it! My pants were falling down and my tummy was peaking out and by the end I couldn't feel it but it was a great experience and one I look forward to having again. I still haven't gotten smaller pants so my tummy will probably be peaking out during the whole race but at 23 pounds smaller than when I started, I'm proud of my slightly smaller, slightly less jiggly tummy. Oh well.

Today the scale FINALLY moved. After 5 weeks of stagnation, I lost 1.5 pounds in a week. Damn. I don't know how that happened. I've been so hungry and eating a lot. I don't understand my body nor do I care. If the scale is moving down, I'm a happy girl.

So my Ripped in 30 program is over tomorrow and I've been pondering what to do next. I'm going to do Insanity. My husband looked at me with a semi-horrified expression of disbelief. He watched me try to do it when I was this size 2 year ago. After doing 30 Day Shred and Ripped in 30, I feel comfortable attempting Insanity because I know when to push and when to just kneel down in child's pose and take a breather. Do I think it's going to be easy? Oh heck no, but I believe I can do it. I've pushed through Jillian's workouts and cried and groaned but it made me strong. She broke my body, muscles, spirit and in the end made me stronger.

I'm the strongest 182 pounds I've ever been. I'm not just losing weight to be skinny. I started off with that as a goal. Who doesn't want to strut around in a string bikini with very little body fat and a flat stomach while the men drool and women glare at you all jealous and stuff? I'm still human and suffer from vanity. Honestly, after building my upper body strength enough to be able to do a few man style push-ups, I want to do MORE. I want to have a strong body, not just a skinny body. I want to have strong thigh muscles, not a thigh gap. Seriously what is the obsession with the thigh gap? I don't have a model body and never will, but I CAN have muscles. The goal I want to achieve more than ANYTHING is to go to the doctor next year and have perfect blood pressure, blood work and a healthy weight, and to be told I'm healthy and to keep up the good work. I'd like for my GERD to go away completely. I want to be healthy. I'll wear a whole piece the rest of my life as long as sickness and disease stays away from my body. I'd like to reach 100 if I can. The only thing I can do is try to take care of myself from here on out.

Many people talk about weight loss as a journey, but the thing is it really isn't a journey. Sure the weight loss will stop eventually, but you will spend the rest of your life maintaining it. So many people, including myself, think that they will lose the weight and it will be over. Then you go back to eating as you did before and find yourself gaining weight and back at the start all over again. That's why it is taking me so long to lose weight. The fun part of my "diet" is that I get to eat. A lot. I've been eating 1700-2000+ calories. I have to redo my calorie calculations now for the Insanity diet, but as of 185 I got to eat 2300 calories per day while doing Insanity. It'll probably be more like 2200 now. Yes that's 2200 a day to LOSE weight! That's how hard Insanity is. I can't wait. I LOVE IT!!

“The best way out is always through.” ― Robert Frost

So I keep on keepin' on.

Today I wanted to see how long it would take me to do 3.1 miles on a walk/jog pace. It took me 48 minutes to reach 3.1 and the total distance I went was 3.18 in 50 minutes. I had a panic attack during the last 5 minutes but I had to keep it together since the gym was not deserted today (boo). Marathon man was there and a new girl I haven't seen before was there. I'll call her marathon girl. Marathon girl was most likely wearing perfume because I could smell it 2 treadmills over. Wearing perfume to the gym is something that makes no sense to me. You can't possibly smell that terrible that you need to be all perfumed up to workout. At first I was annoyed by her fit presence striding along faster than I could ever hope to run. Then I started striding along with her (my strides being MUCH smaller and slower) and it was nice. I was mentally beating myself up the entire time (which is why I prefer a deserted gym, but I seriously need to get over it already), but I need to accept the fact that I am responsible for gaining 50 pounds and getting into the worst shape of my life. Now I need to dig myself out of that hole. And since I had a good 40 pounds on that chick (her legs were the size of my biceps...yeah...) I figure I'm doing good jogging along between a 12-14 minute pace.

I am broken up with running in my mind, but I get on the treadmill and I just won't stop trying. I still jog for 5 minutes at a time with various walk breaks. I think it's just so ingrained, I don't want to stop. I'm terrified about the race at the end of the month, but I'm hoping I come in around 45-48 minutes. If I do better, well then that will be a great surprise. If I do worse, well, I wasn't expecting much anyway. Last year the last person to cross the finish line in that race came in with an 18 minute mile so I'm hopeful I won't be the only slow one. Yay!

Yesterday I made Halupki (Pigs in Blanket) Soup for dinner and it was AMAZING. It tastes exactly like a shredded up halupki (piggies, pigs in a blanket, etc.) in broth. Nomz! I grew up in a Slovak-Irish family so anything with cabbage is comfort food to me. So here's the recipe if you're a lover of halupki like me!

Halupki Soup (Pigs in Blanket Soup)

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz) of beef broth
1 package (1 lb.) of shredded cole slaw (in the bagged salad area)
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2-3/4 cup uncooked rice (I used 3/4 c. because I like more rice in my halupki)

Directions:
Spray pot with Pam (or use a tablespoon or two of olive oil).

Brown meat, add onions and stir for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and heat until fragrant (about 30 sec). Add broth, cole slaw, tomatoes, salt, and lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil.

After bringing the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, add rice, and simmer for 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

And I shall leave you with this:

Happy Fish Fingers and Custard Day!
AND
3 years of being a Whovian!

"I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so. Some things I cannot change but till I try, I'll never know!" - Defying Gravity, Wicked

Gosh today was a great run!

The run was semi effortless, minor pains, and enjoyable. I didn't want to stop, but I didn't want to overdo it and regret it.

These are the days I love.

^ Love this! Except I'm going to keep going even when I don't jiggle anymore (that will be awhile though). ^

It's official, my Dad is signed up for the race with me in April. I got to chat with him for about an hour this morning, which was nice. He seems to think we're going to finish in 30 minute. Uh huh. He said he's going to act as a "rabbit" to motivate me to run faster. Well I have 2 months left so maybe I can shave my mile down to 10 minutes, but I sincerely doubt it. An 11 minute mile would be realistic, but who knows? My body surprises me every time I run with something new, whether it is hunger pains 20 minutes in or a smooth enjoyable run with no major issues.

I really must take advice from my post's title and not accept "limits" and keep on trying. You never know what can happen until you open up your mind to other possibilities. I never thought I would lose weight or run again. I thought I would just be fat and unmotivated the rest of my life. Those are some things I thought I couldn't change, but I tried and I am changing. I'm done giving up on myself. I'm finished quitting. I will see this through. That 15K is waiting for me in November. I can suck it up and kick arse or I can give up and watch my Dad do it for the 20th time. No no, this time I will be crossing that finish line freezing my arse off come snow, rain, or anything else in between.

I can and I will. Watch me.

So while I wait for Doctor Who to return, I've been searching for a show to get into. Last night I finally found a new show to get hooked on. The Newsroom. I only watched one episode, but I really enjoyed the message the show sends. It's about restoring news as it should be: less sensationalism and more facts. I'm excited to see how the first season plays out and the second season starts sometime this year. I'm still a communications nerd inside.

Oh man, I love this so much. ^ This makes me excited for the rest of the episodes, which will be playing tonight when the hubby is home. He's hooked too. I love shows that make me think. I'm not going to put my stamp of recommendation on this series until I get through the first season. I do recommend the first episode.

Good stuff!

"And nobody in all of Oz,
No wizard that there is or was, 
Is ever gonna bring me down!"

Mileage: 3.10