WIW

First order of business:

BOOM!

Finally, I am out of the 80's!  I hope to NEVER see them again!

I didn't do an official WIW post last week because I forgot to weigh-in on Wednesday.  I did step on the scale Thursday though, and I came in at 180.5.  

This 1.9lb loss comes as a little bit of a surprise (didn't eat the greatest over the weekend, but wasn't too terrible either, and I used the snow as an excuse to skip my 4 mile long run on Sunday...), but it is definitely a welcome one!

I had an amazing 3 mile run last night!  I was very tempted to skip it, but once I skip one run (e.g. Sunday), I just want to keep skipping them (e.g. last night's temptation).  

The original plan was to run on my lunch break at work, but I ended up being too busy and didn't get around to it.  I "accidentally" (I was going to use this as my excuse to not run after work) left my running bag at the office. 

Once I got home though, the thought of skipping another run made me feel ashamed.  I don't like blogging that I am not following through with my goals.  I want to inspire others, not admit defeat time and time again...

Anywho...

Leaving my bag at work meant I didn't have my running shoes, my Garmin, or my iPod.  How could I possibly run with out these essentials!

Well, I kicked it old school.

I busted out an old pair of shoes (Asic Gel Tri Noosa 7s) that got me through my 2nd, and fastest half marathon in 2013, and my trusty stop watch.  

The watch doesn't doesn't have GPS so I just relied on time to track my miles.  I've been running just over 10:00 miles so I figured if I ran for 30 minutes, I would be close to 3 miles.  Then when I got back home, I would just have to map the run using RunningAhead. 

I also hit the pavement without music, gasp!

As soon as I started running, I knew it was going to be a good one.  Everything just felt right.  I felt light and fast.  It actually felt good to not have my iPod cord bouncing around on my neck and chest.

I didn't have much of a route in mind, I just made it up on the fly, and I ended up hitting 30 minutes just a block away from home.  As I said, I felt fast, but was surprised to see the 9:28 pace once I mapped it out!  

Even though I didn't miss having music as much as I thought I would, I did miss my Garmin.  I really wish I could see my mile splits!

Even though this run felt so great, it was by no means easy.  I was really pushing myself and breathing hard about half way through.  It was only 30 some degrees, but as you can see, I still got SUPER sweaty :)

Today, I have 4 miles on the schedule.  My pace last night was hard, and I don't think I could eek out another mile going that fast.  I'll have to dial it back for sure.  

In non-health news, I found the necklace and shoes that I will be wearing on my wedding day!

I have my first dress alteration fitting next weekend, and I am beyond exciting to get that started and to get the whole look pulled together.  Only 73 days until I say "I do"!

And one last completely unrelated note...

My job has a very relaxed dress code, and I usually take full advantage.  

Most days, I wear jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt or sweatshirt from the college, with my hair pulled back in a pony.  To me, this is the epitome of comfort, but c'mon, I'm 27 years old...it's time to start dressing like an adult.

So, for the first time in weeks, I actually put effort into my outfit and hair today.

If I may say so, I sure do clean up nicely! :)

Happy Wednesday!!

Running Plan

According to the title of my little ol' blog, it is supposed to be about running, but running has been lacking from my life this year.  

Since the snow FINALLY melted in my area just a few weeks ago, I was using that as my excuse to skip runs.  Even though the snow has been gone for a bit over a month now, I have still been avoiding my runs.  I was supposed to run a half marathon on May 25th, but from my lack of post about it, I'm sure you have guessed by now that I skipped it...and I still feel awful about it, but I was absolutely not prepared for it.  I could barely run two miles consistently.  It also didn't help that I burnt myself to a crisp the day before at a family cookout...really smart.

Slowly, I am getting my fitness & nutrition back on track.  As of bedtime last night, I had completed my first full week of 21 Day Fix.  After only 7 days, I have had great results, which I will share more on tomorrow, and my nutrition has been fully transformed.

Now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, I am going to get back into running also.  Last night, I went on my first run in almost a month.

Just over 2 miles, and I was a huffing and a puffing the entire time.  In that long 23 minutes, I wanted to stop and walk multiple times, but I didn't.  I was full of determination, and persevered.  My legs were tired and my chest burned, but I kept on going.  I fought through the pain and fatigue.  

There are many running goals I want to accomplish, one of them quite obvious if you just read my blog title.  I'm never going to get there if I give into silly weaknesses.  It is going to be a long road before I reach 26.2, but I am ready for it.  I am going to tough it out.

Currently, I am not signed up for any other races this year.  My plan at the moment is to continue running this same 2ish mile loop around my neighborhood until I can complete it in a more desirable time, 20:00 or less.  Once I accomplish that goal, I will add mileage.  When I able to comfortably run 5 miles, I will look into signing up for races.

That's my plan, and I am sticking to it! 

Linking up for the first time with the hilarious Kay!

12 Miles

Saturday Workout:

11.92 mile run – 1:57:33

Alllllllright!  I definitely have the confidence to rock my half marathon in 2 weeks.  I’ve been a little nervous about the half these last few weeks since my training has been a little sporadic.  I have been worried that I won’t be able to run all 13.1 miles.  Most of my run was on a flat surface yesterday though, but I did get in a couple inclines.  I just know that my pace will be a little slower for the half since there are more hills in Madison.  At least I know I have the endurance to finish all of those miles without walking!  I’m pumped to get a BALLER PR this year!!

It’s a good thing I ran so many miles yesterday and earned a ton of calories.  Nick and I had a combined birthday party yesterday for his niece, dad, and grandma.  We ate sloppy joes, pasta salad, and cupcakes.  After the birthday party, we had a Mother’s Day get together with Nick’s mom and her family where we ate grilled burgers, brats, and ribs, potato salad, chips, and brownies.  I ate A LOT of heavy food, but I didn’t feel too guilty since I kicked ass with my run. 

Today, we’ll be heading to my mom’s house for a Mother’s Day cookout with my brothers.  There should be a better selection of fruits and veggies at my mom’s cookout, so hopefully I’ll end up eating better today.  I still have to get in at least 6 miles sometime today so I can achieve my weekly goal of running at least 25 miles.  I slacked, hard, on this goal, and now I’m scrambling a bit to make it up.  My legs are extremely sore and tight so I have to do a lot of stretching before I can head out and hit the pavement today.

I hope everyone has a great day with their momma, or their own babies, whether they’re human or furbabies!

Pretending Monday Didn't Happen

Workout:

5.19 Mile Run – 50:01

35 Minute Walk with Dogs – 1.89 miles

This post is titled as is because I am seriously pretending Monday didn’t happen.  Every time I think about yesterday, I feel guilty and disappointed.  I set some super awesome goals yesterday, and then proceeded to fail each one of them before I went to sleep last night.  Instead of staying at 1500 or less calories, I binged and eventually stopped tracking what I ate so I really have no idea how much I ate yesterday.  I’m guessing in the 2500-3000 range though.  I also only drank 6 glasses of water.  And, I skipped my workout, which means I didn’t do strength training.  All I had to do yesterday was stretch a lot and strength train, but I did neither. 

The only excuse I can come up with for my erratic behavior yesterday is that my period is here a week early…sorry if that’s TMI for some…  I’m on the Pill and have NEVER had an irregular period before.  Seriously, never.  Suddenly, I have it an entire week early even though I’m on birth control, the same birth control I have been on consistently since I was 18.  I’m assuming my cycle is just messed up because I’ve been working out harder than I ever have before.  If it’s goofy again next month, I’ll check in with my doc. 

  

Since Aunt Flow is here so are all her annoying side effects.  I’m crazy moody, just want to eat and eat and eat, and I’m exhausted.  After binging, being lazy, and not drinking enough water, I slept on the couch from 6:30-9:30, woke up to brush my teeth and take out my contacts, and was in bed for real by 10, and then didn’t wake up until 6:15.  I’m usually up at 5:15 so I slept in extra long this morning.  That’s right, I slept over 11 hours yesterday.

Today, I felt that same as yesterday, but I didn’t want to have another day of guilt and disappointment so I actively made today better.  I decided to quit worrying about messing up my goals for a day, and just start fresh, therefore, I’m pretending yesterday just didn’t happen.  Feeling sorry for myself isn’t going to get me anywhere. 

Any time I felt like binging today, I would drink a bunch of water, or find a task at work that would take a lot of focus or movement so I would take my mind off food.  I also wanted to skip my run tonight, but talked myself out of that silly idea, and instead had a fabulous run.  My right calve is super sore again so my pace was a little slower, but I got nice and sweaty and felt like I worked really hard. 

Now that I have had a day of kicking ass in the goal department, I know the rest of the week is going to be stellar!  Nick has his class tonight which means I still have the house to myself for another hour so I’m going to make up my stretching from yesterday, and watch some trashy tv.

I hope everyone else is rocking out and accomplishing their goals boss style!

Speed Demon

Workout Thursday:

60 Minute Walk with Dogs – 3.37 miles

Workout Tonight:

2.35 Mile Run – 19:30

1 Mile walk with dogs – 17:46

Hola amigos!  Yesterday was a much needed rest day from exercise.  My calves have been sore lately, and taking the night off from running to go for a leisurely walk with the dogs was just what I needed. 

Tomorrow, I have my first race of the reason!  Nick and I are running the Crazy Legs 8K in MadTown.  Oh, you didn’t know Nick also runs?  Well, he doesn’t!  He has gone for one run since registering for this race months ago.  ONE run.  Nick currently is not in the greatest shape, but he has really good endurance.  Like, freakish endurance.  If he beats me tomorrow, I might have to quit my running career because I’ll be so ashamed.  I’ve been a little speed demon though, so I don’t think he’ll be able to keep up with me.

 

Our cliche "runner" dinner. Gotta carbo-load!

My intentions during my run tonight were to just run 2 slow, leisurely miles to get my muscles loosened up for tomorrow.  Instead, I decided to fly.  I can’t believe my pace was 8:20!  I am beyond happy and excited that my speed is increasing so much.  Probably not the best idea to do a speed run the night before a race, but it was only 2 miles…

I joined an awesome 10-week challenge via Jess’ blog, and I am so pumped to see what it will all entail.  I’ve met so many motivational, supportive people over the past 2 days.  I can’t wait to see where each of our journeys takes us and how we transform our healthy habits as a group and individually.  Our first challenge is to post a picture of the inside of our refrigerators.

There she is in all her glory!  It’s difficult to get a decent picture because the fridge is only a couple feet from our island.  We do our grocery shopping on the weekend so it much emptier than it usually is.  For those that are wondering, yes, the one crisper is filled with beer.  And there is more beer on the bottom self.  And a 6-pack on the second shelf…we REALLY like beer in this house….  It does drive me absolutely crazy that Nick thinks that’s the best way to utilize the crisper though.  I usually empty it after he does it and put the fruits/veggies back into it, but sometimes it’s just not worth it.        

Easter Binge

Workout:

4.48 mile run – 41:55

45 minutes Wii Just Dance

Confession time.  My diet has been way off track, and I’ve been a lazy ass, and today was my first workout since Friday.  Easter weekend, which started off so great with my 7.5 mile run, derailed quickly.  I continuously binge ate, and could not find any motivation to workout. I would like to blame it on the fact that it’s the week before my period, the WORST week of the month for me, but that’s just making an excuse. 

Since my diet and workout schedule were thrown out the window over the weekend, I carried that attitude into the week.  I figured, “hey, I already messed the beginning of this week up, there is no sense in trying to repair it.”  That is a load of bullshit though.  I was making poor choices, and I should have had more strength to get back into my healthy habits. 

It has taken a few days, but now I’m back into the swing of being healthy.  Not surprising, I gained weight since my last weigh in due to my binging and inactivity.  I weighed myself this morning, and I’m up to 170…yuck.  I have decided to start weighing myself on Wednesdays rather than Mondays.  I tend to be a little more lax on my diet over the weekend, and I like to have a few beers while I’m at it, so I feel that Monday morning weigh ins are always going to be disappointing.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.