"working out sucks"

So there's this book out that I've been reading after reading about it on jack sh*ts blog called "working out sucks" by Brian zehetner. It has been ok for the first few chapters, typical reasons why you should exercise more, yada yada yada. Then I got to a really good part where the author made 3 suggestions to help people make and meet their goals: 1. Imagination- the author suggests we make a list of things we imagine for ourselves, what we want to do with our lives, where and how we want to live, what we want to do in our jobs and with our family, and what makes us happiest. 2. Create your vision statement based on what you imagine for yourself. And 3. Set your goals to get you there.

So that's what I'm going to do. Make a list of all the things I want out of life and figure out how to get there. The author suggests you work on step 1 for 2 weeks by journaling every night. This will give me an excuse to use the many half-empty journals lying around my bed. Can't wait!

Ps. If you use escarole in your ww soup instead of cabbage and Swiss chard like the recipe says,your fridge will stink. That is all.

Need to get it together!!!

After the race, I ate a lot. So I skipped my weigh-ins here and there. So now I am 2 weeks out and I finally went to ww last wednesday....and gained 2.8! Sheesh! So I of course did what any sensible loser would do and ate whatever I wanted during Thanksgiving and the days after, drank a lot of alcohol, and didn't really exercise! Woo! Way to go, me! :)

One thing I did do well was a Turkey Trot on the morning of Thanksgiving, though! Todd and I ran the Lansdowne Turkey Trot 5K and I beat 30 minutes. I was excited - 29:12 is the fastest I've ever run a 5K. Yay, me!

So now it's time to refocus and not get sucked into the "I'll start over after the new year" trap of the holidays. I CAN lose weight over the holidays! It's GO TIME.

And here's a cute picture of Charlotte reading a book to one of her new babies from Mamere. :)

Race pictures

You can go here to check out race pictures of me.

You can go here to check out race pictures of Todd.

My first half marathon story!

Me, afterwards.

It was a great race! :) Overall very friendly cheerleaders and volunteers, police officers cheering us on, funny signs and lots of nice scenery. The trees were gorgeous and the race course was lovely.

I met my friend A at the library steps at 7:20 to get down to the starting line. We were standing in our corral wondering how on earth we would ever find our friend K when we turned around and there she was! Yay! The three of us ran together for the whole race and I couldn't be happier that we ran together. We were a great team. :)

The first few miles were chilly but when the sun hit us it was nice and warm. I "donated" a shirt, hat, and gloves to the street (the race was picking up all the discarded clothing and donating it to a homeless shelter). The first hill was a doozie, but we did it just fine. People were already looking exhausted at mile 2 but we just passed 'em on by.

The middle of the race was fine - we went through a nice park. There weren't any cheerleaders through the park, which made it more just like a regular jog (with a lot of people), and that was pretty cool. I imagine if I had been running by myself it would have been a nice respite and time to think and reflect on LIFE and training that got me there. Lucky for my therapist, I had 2 lovely ladies to chat with the whole time and we took full advantage of this time by gossiping about co-workers, lamenting our public education system, and chatting about relationships. It was awesome.

When we got to mile 10 we were super excited because we knew we only had a 5K left. We told each other that we had done a 5K before and it was no big deal. :) The last 3.1 were great - lots of support on the roads, and we just booked it in with no problems. (Well, one minor problem....I thought my toe was falling off....) (It didn't fall off). There were beer stations along the way, some junk food stations, a station that was giving away shots of some liquor, and some great signs near the finish. My favorites were "Worst Parade Ever" and "You will feel so great after you get drunk on one beer tonight!"

The finish was a steep downhill and I felt like my legs were going on their own! We crossed the finish line with our hands held high! Here is my official time, which I am excited about - I wanted to beat 2:30! Yay, us! We should be getting a few pictures from friends soon and I will post them. :)

15176 JANE WALDROP 32 F  2:25:07

How I blog if I am sitting at my desk with no blogger access...

Alcohol and Running? Not so much.

Friday night we had a little mini-Overtones reunion. The Overtones is an a cappella group that Todd and I were in at JMU. We have some great friends from the group and while we don't get together as often as we'd like, when we do get together we have a blast. Friday night was a great get-together. Kerry (aka Sparkles) made some sangria (aka 2 bottles of red wine with some tequila-soaked fruit) and we ate BBQ food. We actually had dessert first because Craig brought a huge cake that wouldn't fit in the fridge. I wish I had a picture of that. It wasn't until dinner was over that I thought to  bring out the camera.



Sparkles.

 

David and Craig.



Me and Danny. This picture is here because my face looks SO THIN!!!

Anyway, what is the point of this blog post? Well, it's to share that drinking a lot is not conducive to running. I skipped my run on saturday because of a mild dehydration/headache/hangover and vowed to do my 5 miles on Sunday with extra power! Ummmm...nope. Even 2 days later, I still couldn't get moving enough to have a good run. I felt slow, tired, and seriously dehydrated.

The verdict? No more than 1 drink a night until marathon is over. Phew, that's a big challenge.

A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!! Books!!!!!

I am super excited to host my first giveaway!!!!

I thought it would be a fun way to 1. get rid of donate some great books to someone that wants to read them 2. create a little mystery about my next weigh-in and 3. demonstrate how going "off-plan" can affect your weight. :)

So, I have two books for the winner of this giveaway. The first one is Vince Flynn's latest "American Assassin". This is a Todd book and he recommends it highly. "4 stars. 5 if you have read the rest of the series." He describes it as CIA super secret commando Jack Bauer-esque. The second one is a Jane book - the latest by Jennifer Weiner. Her stories are about women, relationships, friendships, and love! This one is about donating your eggs, friendships and family dynamics. Click the books to read their descriptions at Amazon.

So, what do you have to do to win these awesome books!???

You have to be the closest guesser to what my weight gain (or loss) will be on Wednesday!!!

Here are the rules:

1. You must comment on this blog, listing what you think my weight gain/loss will be on Wednesday night. (For example, you could write "I think you will be +4.6" or "I think you'll be -0.4". If you are anonymous, don't forget to write your name.)

2. You have to have your comment in by Wednesday at 5:00 PM EST.

3. Whoever is closest without going over wins the books!  (In the event of a tie, we'll have to have a run-off. I'll think of something interesting. Or, I'll just give the books to the person I like more. That's fair, right?)

Here is what I have eaten this week along with the points breakdown for ww. Each day I am alotted 29 points. I am also alotted 49 "extra" points to use however I want.

Thursday - yogurt/granola/banana, coffee, turkey wrap, hummus/carrots/pretzels, goldfish, a lot of food at a tastefully simply party. I gave myself 40 points for the whole day. (11 points over)

Friday - yogurt/granola/banana, coffee, cheetos, turkey wrap, hummus/carrots/pretzels, snacky stuff, pizza and beer for dinner. I gave myself 45 points for Friday. (16 points over)

Saturday - yogurt/granola, coffee, turkey wrap, carrots, cookies, pretzels, taco bell crunch wrap supreme (no meat), some taco bell chips, dr. pepper, beer. 47 points. (18 points over)

Sunday - usual breakfast, frozen pizza for lunch, salad for dinner, some bites of pita, ice cream for dessert. 42 points (13 points over)

Monday - usual breakfast, hummus and pretzels/carrots, cheez-its, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, salad, strawberries, 1/2 a light beer, 1 ff fudge pop. 29 points

Activity points earned so far: 18

Total weekly extra points left: -12 (that means I used all 49 points PLUS 18 activity points.

I still have Tuesday and Wednesday to "fix" myself. I plan on not going over my 29 points the next 2 days, and I plan on earning back the 12 points I am over for the week. So I will hopefully end up even (points-wise).

Now you know EVERYTHING. Go forth, and guess!

Wednesday No-weigh-In

I've only skipped a handful of weigh-ins since last August. Usually because I was galavanting around Paris or had other random plans! But last night I didn't go because I felt like I might have gained! For the last 3 weeks I have lost at weigh-in and last week I went below 170 for the first time in FOREVER and I was too scared to go back to 170 last night! I didn't have a good week food-wise, the first week of summer threw me off of my routine. I vowed that I would get my act together THIS week and go back next week and hopefully lose or maintain.

This morning I attempted a 4 mile run, made it 3 miles and then walked the last 3/4 of a mile home. It was just what I needed to jump start this week! I am starting my pre-pre-pre training for the Richmond Half Marathon. This consists of running and other exercise to build my mileage before the REAL training starts in August. This is the plan for this week:

Thursday - 4 m
Friday - off (Jillian's level 3 shred, though)
Saturday - 5M
Sunday - Spin Class
Monday - off
Tuesday - 3M run
Wednesday - stairmaster and weights at the gym

On a completely unrelated note, here is a picture of the boys that Todd found on his computer. So teeny!

Eat my dust

Last night, Todd and I were sitting around on the deck after the kids were in bed. I finished the crossword (with help, of course) and thought "Gee, it's a nice night. I should go run." I mentioned that I could either go to bed or go for a run. It was 8:45.

I surprised myself because I went upstairs, put my shoes on, and went for a run. At 9:00 at night. WHO AM I???

Another surprising tidbit is that I have never run under a 10 minute mile. In elementary school, middle school, and high school I was always the last runner during the mile test. I rarely, if ever, broke a 12 minute mile as a child. Then in college, I never ran. (That would have taken away time from drinking, duh.)

Last night as I ran around the lake, my NIke+ said in my ear, "You have completed one mile. Your pace is 9 minutes and 20 seconds." I almost stopped dead in my tracks! I laughed out loud, did a little jump, and continued on. (Mile 2 and mile 3 were drastically different speed-wise, but that's ok). I got home from my run, took a shower, and then could barely sleep.

Today I am freaking exhausted.

Excuses

Last night's weight watchers meeting was all about exercise. It was a good topic, and the meeting was pretty good, but the participants were very lack-luster in their feelings for exercise. I did earn *2* of the 5K charms pictured above, since I ran a 10K on Sunday. :) That was cool.

The meeting got me thinking about exercise and the excuses I give myself to NOT exercise. Some of the excuses our group listed were: too tired, too lazy, too busy, too embarassed, too rainy/hot/humid/cold, too yucky, and too painful. This morning I set my alarm to start Jillian's 30 Day Shred and definitely hit the snooze button two times and had to really motivate myself to get out of bed. I didn't want to, I was making excuses in my mind, I was trying to justify doing the video later, I was trying to say "but it's Charlotte's birthday" and "I need sleep" and even "What if I can't do the moves?"

There were two monumental thoughts that got my fat ass out of bed:

1. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than I want a few extra minutes of sleep. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than I want that extra cookie. I want to be at my goal weight MORE than sitting on my butt not exercising.

2. I am worth it.

It's time to stop making excuses and really buckle down. It's almost summer and it's only 5 months until my birthday. 5 months to lose 24 pounds. Time to get it done. There is a time to eat that special cookie, there is a time to eat that extra cupcake, drink that extra beer (or 2 or 4). But that time is not EVERY time. Balance, exercise, and confidence. I can do this!

30 Day Shred

Level 1 started today. Here are my measurements:
Biceps: 13 1/2 in
Waist: 35 1/2
Hips: 41 1/2
We'll see what happens. I know I'll be sore later today - Jillian is pretty rough! :)

Just keep running.....

I just signed up for the Ashburn Village 10K. I also have the Girls on the Run race this weekend. I am a running fool! Or just a fool. The pollen is killing me, my knees are hurting, and I really need to add strength training back into the mix but feel like there's no time for that nonsense.

Also?

I'll have you notice I hit 100 miles yesterday.

picturesof.net

Official pic!

You can see all the rest of my pictures (and video!) here

Lo Hicimos!

I was thinking of Dora when I wrote the title - "We did it! We did it! Lo Hicimos!" Todd, E, and I ran the Monument Avenue 10K this morning. We did awesome, and I finished under my goal of 75 minutes by 40 seconds or so. :) It was a great run, with bands on every corner, lots of people in costumes, and lots of crowd cheering. I had a great time taking in the sights and sounds, and especially loved running with E. Here is a pic of us at the start, and then a pic of the starting line. Lots of people!!!! Another cool thing was running around the VCU campus with all the black and yellow signs and shirts because of their Final Four game tonight - exciting!

Running....

I have tried to slowly ease back into my running since my knee incident. I ran yesterday from work to daycare (3.5 miles) and it was a gorgeous day! There were so many people out and the sun was gorgeous. Little did I know Sterling Park has so many damn hills, though. Phew! It was tough. My knee is a little weirdish today, but I will just wait a few days to run again and hope it helps. I will do some cardio tomorrow other than running. :)

I had gained at weight watchers this week, depressing, but it makes sense since I had stopped exercising when my knee was injured. So, I am a bit late in my reporting! Busy times at home.....

Loss this week: +2.6
Total loss so far: -32.4
Feeling: Down but not out.