Blah!

So Christmas was awesome. My grandma fed us tons of bad food and it was really yummy. I ate more than the typical normal day but I also didn't blow it but now I'm feeling unmotivated. I had mac n cheese today. MAC N CHEESE! That's a terrible choice!!! So yeah, tomorrow it's time to re-focus and get my butt in gear.

Today I ran 4 miles with Jeana and she did really well. I also have been thinking and I think after this spring is over, it's time for a new challenge. Can we say Olympic Triathlon? YES!

I'll post tomorrow when I actually have something interesting to say besides, "I'm a bum that eats mac n cheese". Until then...

Weigh-In: Week 1

I weighed in this morning for my first week back on the nutrition that I should be on while running and .....I lost 4.3 lbs! GO. ME! I was pretty happy about that but I gotta be honest, the last few days have been rough. Yesterday and the day before, I had some motivational issues. I wasn't going to cave, but Monday I really wanted pizza and was very grumpy that I coudln't have it. I ended up eating more calories than I should have and then I just felt like crap about everything. Because I felt like crap, I didn't go to the gym. Yep, it's a vicious cycle isn't it? Kind of the same thing happened yesterday ....I was hungry all day but didn't go over my calories, but I didn't work out either. I only ran 3 times this first week and that is super-lame. I'm kind of dissapointed in myself but hey, I had a good loss so I must have done something right.

Today was much better. I wasn't hungry at all, in fact I'm under my calories...and I had a great 3 mile run at the gym. My pace is getting faster and I'm starting to feel much more comfortable at faster speeds. This is a great way to start the spring training season.

I talked my friend Jeana into doing a 15K with me. This will be her first long distance race so I'm totally pumped about getting started with her. Too bad she isn't, in fact I think she's dreading it. I made a customized training plan specifically for her in her favorite colors so hopefully that will help pep her up! We're starting our first long run on Dec. 27th!

I'm really enjoying my time off of work. I actually got EVERYTHING I possibly needed to get done today and am now able to just relax and enjoy the holidays. I'm a little worried about nutrition this week because of the visit to my grandma's house. I've planned to eat a little of what I want, but not go nuts under any circumstance. Unfortunately, my awesome Memama does not believe in low-fat food, so we might need to make a pit stop on the way for some healthier choices so I'll at least have something to go along with those "little bit" of goodies. I'm so excited to see my family...my family rocks!

Here's my nutrition for today:

BREAKFAST
Fiber One Poptart (YUM)
Banana

LUNCH
Healthy Choice Meatloaf Meal
Corn
Baked Apples

SNACK
Mini Breakfast Burrito

DINNER
Which Wich-Turkey and ham on wheat w/veggies

SNACK
Baked Cheetos

Losin' weight and feelin' great! Can't wait for those races!!!

Tempo Run!

"If you feel bad at 10 miles, you're in trouble. If you feel bad at 20 miles, you're normal. If you don't feel bad at 26 miles, you're abnormal." ~Rob De Castella

Today was good...awesome nutrition but I felt a little hungry. Oh well, some days are just like that. I didn't cave and stayed consistent so I feel good about it. I feel even better about my awesome run tonight! 2 miles @ 10:59min pace! THAT'S RIGHT, 10:59!! I was so flippin' happy with that! Why can't I do that outside?! I'm tempted to do that exact run tomorrow and see if it's any easier. It WAS a tempo run so I was pushing myself, but every time I'm outside I feel like I just can't get there. Sigh...oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough...

I'm so excited about having the next 2 weeks off. I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit this year. Last year I was so busy I think I felt it maybe once? This year, it's every day and I'm so happy about it. Every time I hear Frank Sinatra's CHRISTMAS WALTZ, the world is at peace. It's wonderful.

Here's my nutrition for today:

BREAKFAST
Fiber one muffin
Banana

LUNCH
Cup of ckn and veggie soup
Salad
Wheat thins (mmmm)

SNACK
100 cal popcorn
100 cheezits

DINNER
Cheese and bacon sandwich (yes I'm weird)
Baked doritos
Banana

SNACK
Lowfat chocolate ice cream

Day 4

Still holdin' strong! In fact, I'm feeling pretty motivated today. I got a 6 mile hill course in today and my pace was 14:19 which wasn't bad considering it was a hard course and I haven't had a long run since early December. I'm honestly pretty happy to be starting a new running season at that pace! So much better than when I started at 17:00 minute miles! Anyway...I went to the store and bought tons of healthy food and I feel GREAT about what is in my apartment. I do not have one thing that's full of sugar or that is bad for you. I'm so glad I'll be at home for two weeks and able to prepare food the easy way, not at work!

I'm considering doing another full marathon in April to prove to myself that I can do better, but I haven't officially decided if I want to put those kind of hours in just yet. I'm going to give myself a month to think on it before I make a decision to register.

Here's my nutrition for today:

BREAKFAST:
Fiber One Cereal

LUNCH:
2 ckn fajitas
charro beans

SNACK:
extra charro beans (I liked them)

DINNER:
Subway turkey and ham on wheat
1/2 bag of baked lays

SNACK:
Lowfat sugar free chocolate ice cream

I feel so great! I got my perfect calories in for today and I have to be honest: I'm shocked at how much a difference a week can make. Last Saturday, I was eating tons of crap and was feeling really sad, sluggish and unattractive! Today, a week later...I feel hopeful, happy, strong, and that I still got it! It's so not worth throwing your life away because you want to be able to have those cookies. I'm so glad I caught myself early...and that I'm willing to undo the weight gain. I really feel good about where I am, mentally.

Day 2 and 3

So yes, it's getting harder because yesterday temptation creeped in, and today it slapped me in the face!

I was feeling really good yesterday, but when my friends got McDonalds for lunch and I had my stupid Weight Watcher dinner, those fries SURE looked good! But I resisted, and then I felt better once I was done. I knew it would only take a couple days for the bad food to be calling my name again. Yesterday I followed my calories to the tee and had a successful day overall minus a workout because I didn't get home till almost 9:00.

Today...terrible temptation day. See, it was party day at school as well as the last day before Christmas break so everyone and their mom was giving out goodies to all the teachers. Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly sweet and thoughtful but my diet does not allow for those sweets. I did really well all day and then at the end of the day, I allowed myself one piece of fudge. I ate 70 calories less for dinner and ended up with a day of perfect calories. I was pretty happy with myself. I did not run today nor did I plan to because I had plans tonight. The running will resume tomorrow and I'm very happy to report that I will have 2 weeks OFF to remain consistent. Holla!

Nutrition:

Thursday
BREAKFAST
Oatmeal

SNACK
60 calorie string cheese
60 calorie pudding

LUNCH
Weight Watchers Ziti (my fav...love it)
fruit

SNACK
100 cal popcorn

DINNER
fruit
1/2 sandwich
Cup of tortila soup

SNACK
Lean Pocket

Friday

BREAKFAST
Mini Breakfast Burrito-140 calories

SNACK
Yogurt

LUNCH
Cup of chicken and veggie soup
Soft ckn taco

SNACK
100 cal popcorn
1 piece of fudge

DINNER
Salad
1/2 portion of roast beef
Corn
Green Beans

SNACK
low-fat ice cream 160 cal

Doing well so far. I'd be lying if I said it's getting easier. It's definitely getting harder but I know it'll pass once I get into a groove! I'm so excited about having 2 weeks off to get my life and health together. Feels good!!!

Day 1 of Being Back On The Nutrition Train

Today kind of sucked. I'll be honest. I was grumpy all day because I got very little sleep, had parent issues, and the kids were absolutely crazy. That's the one down side to being a teacher. Trying to teach children during the week before a 2 week holiday is extremely difficult and frustrating!! 2 more days, 2 more days...

I did great on my nutrition today, in fact...I have 210 calories left for the day. I'm still in that "tired of bad food" stage but I know it won't last for long. That's when I'll have to implement some will power.

Went to the gym tonight and did:

100 crunches
Arm weights
Leg weights
2 miles @ 27:50

Pace was very slow today because I was in some pain. It was my first run since my marathon and I had terrible stiffness in the legs and some back pain. I really need to up the stretching.

Nutrition for today:

BREAKFAST
Oatmeal

SNACK
lowfat string cheese
pear

LUNCH
Soup
Salad

SNACK
100 calorie popcorn

DINNER
PB sandwich
apple
whole grain goldfish (love those)

SNACK
Haven't decided yet!

So yeah, I'm out of it today because it's been such a crappy day and I'm still trying to wake up from my 2 hour nap after school. I still should have no problem sleeping tonight. I'm hoping I feel better about things tomorrow. At this point I just want this day to be over.

I'm BACK!

So I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple weeks and I've come to the conclusion that I feel like absolute crap. I have been eating WAAAYYY too much bad food and I'm getting puffy! This taking time off from running sucks. I feel like a lazy bum. The shapely form I used to have, now it looks like marshmallows. It's not pretty! I'm tired of feeling down about it so it's officially time to change it. Now I know what you're thinking...Why now, Lindsey? Well, because I want to give myself a head start before January. Starting in January, I am going to kill it and lose the rest of my weight (Yes, I'm confident) and what a great time for it to happen sooner than planned! I'm just tired of feeling so down and lethargic about weigh gain. It gets old pretty quick. SO...starting tomorrow, it's time to recommit myself to nutrition. I haven't been fully committed since last April so I think it's time to start feeling good again. Honestly, I don't think it will be hard at first...right now the thought of cookies and cake makes me want to puke but I know the cravings for bad stuff will creep in in a few days. Just gotta be strong, I can do this. So yeah, leave it to me to try at the hardest time of year but I don't care. I'm tired of feeling like this. I noticed I've been avoiding mirrors. That is SO not me! I am the sassy girl that flaunts it in heels...THAT'S who I always should be. SO-it's time to get her back. Shouldn't take long...time to utilize my support system and get to work!!

To Hotness!

~L

My First FULL Marathon Experience

The day finally came...and it was a whirlwind, let me tell you! It started when I woke up at 2am and perked up to think, "I'm ready!"...but then I had to make myself try to fall asleep for 3 more hours to get up at 5. Didn't fall asleep until about 4:15 then the alarm finally went off at 5:00. The morning started smooth, got my toes vaselined (helps prevent calluses and blisters), put the body glide all over the body, clipped the toenails, and all the other race preparation as needed. I left with a very smooth start until I got to Fair Park. They suggested we get there at 6:30 to avoid traffic. I was there at 6:15 and sat in traffic without moving for about 45 minutes. It was a little bit stressful but I finally found a parking spot and made my way toward the Cotton Bowl. I was supposed to meet my team at Gate L but I had to go to the bathroom so I thought I'd stop at the port-o-potty before I met them. That was when the first diaster started. I had my phone with me and set it down when I went in. When I came out, I walked 3 steps and noticed that I had left it in there. I waited for the dude to come out and went to go get it after he left. It wasn't in there. I freaked out thinking I went to the wrong one, but I knew that was it! I looked around, couldn't find anyone with my phone and I freaked. All my communication with my mom that day was going to be on that phone, not to mention the fact that it was the iPhone4 that I'd only had a week. So I start crying, and this person lets me use her phone to call it. Some dude answers and says he has my phone. Phew, thank god! So I go and meet this dude to retreive it...really nice guy, but here's the thing...it wasn't the dude that came out of the port-o-potty! So yeah, not sure I'll ever figure that one out but I'm sure glad he was a good person. He even called my mom to tell her he had my phone and was going to turn it in to lost and found. Yay for good peeps!

So I finally had my phone and it was time to meet my peeps. Everyone was great and we got to our places before the start. We were kind of toward the back and there were tons of groups in front of us that we knew would start ahead of us. We were all in good moods and excited to start this amazing race that we've worked so hard to complete. I'm a first timer so it's safe to say I was the most excited, and because I'm extra bubbly, apparently it was funny. Oh well :0) So when the race started, we listened to them release the first group and it was really exciting. They released each group by alphabet letter, A-P. This took FOREVER and kind of made us grumpy. We knew that the course was only open for 6 and a half hours from gun time and they kept wasting more and more time. They FINALLY released us at about 8:48am or so and the race started at 8:00am. Once I saw this, I knew we didn't have a prayer to finish in the time limit. Not the best feeling to start off a long race with.

So we started and if I'm honest, it was super annoying dealing with all the people. You couldn't even set your own pace until about mile 2. I also got really warm at about mile 2 and chunked all the extra clothing. Readjusting the bib also took time. I always think I won't get hot in that cold of weather but I always do. So I readjusted and I was a little bit slower than normal, and I still don't know why. We went through downtown and then uptown and it was really good scenery and then we passed some really peppy bands and that kept our spirits up. At about mile 9, we knew we were approaching the split where halfers go one way and marathoners go another. I was running with my pace group leader, Jamie, and when it was time to split, we went one way and everyone else went the half marathon way. I was like, "Oh crap, what have I gotten myself into." We went on a long time with just us and then I was happy to see more people behind us as we kept going. This part was when it started evening out. It got much more quiet as we approached White Rock Lake. It was actually kind of funny, we've run that lake a lot and usually there are tons of people on it. Not that day, it was almost empty and it was so peacful, very different than I was expecting. We continued to keep going. Met some great people and checked out some new port-o-potties...again, wasting time. But I am NOT going to be one of those crazy serious runners that just goes in their pants because they don't want to lose time. GROSS! Anyway, I held up pretty well, again dissapointed with my pace...slower than normal. I started to notice some pain and fatigue around mile 18. I got even slower and had to start the mental game. Not fun. About this time, all the bands packed up and photographers went home. There were even people missing from the food/water stations and I wasn't happy about that. I started getting upset. When you hit that point where you feel like it's killing you to move forward, that is when you need the support the most. That is when we had it the least. And quite honestly, it's sending a message that slower runners are insignificant. I wanted to cry. And then I did. I was hurting, ready to stop and I still had 8 more miles to go. Jamie was great, trying to distract me and make up convos to keep the focus off the pain. I got slower and slower and once we got to mile 23...it was suckage like I can't explain. Everyone was gone. They were the slowest and longest miles of my life and I just wanted it to be over. I knew I had to keep going but it took 5 times the effort it usually does to move forward. We continued on and FINALLY came up to Fair Park. I remember thinking, "Okay, the finish line is on the other side of this turn." I was worried it would be taken down and all the people giving out our medals would be gone and I wouldn't get a finishers shirt. Jamie ran on ahead and says, "It's still up!" We turn the corner and there it is...the most beautiful word in the world...FINISH! Thank GOD!!! We ran at a faster pace at that last .2 miles and it was AWESOME! We crossed and a lady put the medal over my neck and congratulated me. (I had a blue bib so everyone knew I was a first timer)...she also handed me a finisher shirt. I, of course, was crying, partially because I was so happy to be done, but also because I finished and they stayed for us and allowed us to have the finisher moment we deserved. Carrie, the other pace group leader, waited for us to finish and was so sweet and supportive as usual. My friends Jeana and Christina were there with my awesome mom and it felt great to have that support. I got tons of text messages during the race from all my wonderful friends and it was a good day, despite some dissapointment.

Then came the hard part...recovery! Once I finished, I could barely walk, it was rough. Walking to the car was a nightmare and then I discovered that I didn't have my car keys or my license. When you finish a long race, you're so out of it that you aren't really focused or thinking clearly. I remember having them near the finish line so I knew they had to be there somewhere. My mom went back to look for them and Jeana, Christina and I went back to the car. Mom found them at the finish and then Jeana finally found my license in my car. YAY! Crisis averted! That makes #3 for the day! We then went to El Fenix for dinner and I was so hungry that I ordered two meals. This was quite comical. I said, "I'd like the two enchilada dinner, and the chicken fried steak meal." He says, "Enchiladas a la carte?" I said, "Nope, the dinner and the other dinner." He looked at me like I was nuts, it was hilarious. My meals took up half the table and we got a good laugh out of that. I ended up not eating much and took it all home to my brother. I got home and assessed the damage. I had two big blisters...one of which was on top of a callus. I had chaffing under the sports bra which I had before on the 23 mile training run. Even with those conditions, I actually was feeling pretty good (except for the couldn't walk part) and then about 8:30pm I started feeling sick. Usually this happens immediately after a long run so I was pretty excited that the nausea came late. By that time, I was on the couch and ready to go to bed anyway. I finally fell asleep around 10 and had to be up for work the next morning at 6.

The next morning, I was really sore and absolutely EXHAUSTED! Even after 8 hours of sleep, I was trying to stay awake all day. I felt good but so tired, it was rough. The soreness was even worse and I was just trying to make it through the day.

On Tuesday, Day 2 after the race....HORRIBLE! Day 2 is always the worst concerning soreness so I forced myself to take an ice bath. Those are intense and really hurt but MAN, does WONDERS every time! Once I took one, most of the soreness went away and by Wednesday I was walking normal.

Looking back, I feel much better about the experience now than I did the day I completed it. I was slow, everyone left, I felt hopeless and insignificant...but I FINISHED A MARATHON! Less than 2% of Americans have done that. I am a marathoner! I should be proud, and I am. My final time was 7:13:18. That is a suck time but ya know what, I'm going to get better. I'm going to train on speed this spring and try again next year and I will beat my time. I know what to expect now and I know that I have plenty of room to grow. My team has been wonderful and so have my friends and family. I might have been near the end but I was not last. It was a good day.

I am going to take 3 weeks off of running then start a 16 week speed training plan that I already have created. I have very high hopes for myself and I'm really excited about getting started.

I finished my first full marathon...it only gets better from here!

Closing out the training season..

Wow, what a ride it has been! I finished my last training run tonight and it was pretty amazing. I finished with a record breaking pace of 10:57. When we started in June, I was averaging 15:50. I've come so far. I will never forget my first training run with the team. I almost died doing 4 miles and didn't know that I could ever do a full marathon. Now, I KNOW I can and I WILL! I'm so proud of my work this season and cannot wait to break even more speed records in the spring.

My friend Carrie and I are going to the expo on Saturday to pick up our race packets and I know it's going to be a runner's dream to see all the booths. I found out that my bib # is going to be 5940. I always keep my bibs but this one is going to be extra special...my first full marathon. Wow.

My mom, Jeana and Christina are coming for sure to watch me finish. I'm pretty excited to have some support. I'm going to spend the next 2 days resting up and mentally preparing for Sunday. I'm so incredibly proud and excited about my work thus far and I'm feeling proud of who I am and what I always strive to accomplish. As previously stated, I'm in the happy place.

The important stuff!

I picked out my outfit for the marathon! I know that doesn't sound important but it SO is! :0) I'm going to wear my white "Conquer the Rock!" shirt...I thought it was appropriate. The forecast is now changed to partly sunny with a high of 53 and a low of 37 for Sunday. This is perfect. Don't think I'll need a sweatshirt. It'll be cold waiting to start but I will get warm very quickly once we begin.

That's all for now! Tomorrow night is my last training run...holla!

Stress!

This is a crazy week. Yesterday I had the 5th grade rehearsal from hell as I forgot all the choreography I wrote, compliments of the week off break. I'm a perfectionist so I was pretty upset about things not going smoothly. Then I put off my huge project for my appraisal class until 2 days before it was due. I know I know, it was stupid and I never do it, I always get things done early, but I'm so sick of school that I put it off and wanted to enjoy my break. I spent all night and part of tonight doing it and I'm happy to report that it's done! I can't believe I got it all done, that's hilarious.

This morning I had a stressful Choir rehearsal because the kids kept missing their split part by half a step. No matter how many times we rehearse it, if I don't do it with them, they miss it. We have a performance on Saturday in front of the whole town of Frisco so I'm hoping we can get it soon. And then I have a 5th grade program Thursday night that I pray goes well. I have class tomorrow until nine and then Sunday's the marathon. I am STRESSED!

The good news...I got the huge project done plus submitted the final assignment for class #2 so that's a chunk off. And even if the kids miss notes, it wont matter, I'll love them and be proud of them no matter what they sound like. They're my little sweetfaces! I'm hoping I will be able to breathe soon. Should be smooth sailing after Sunday...

Tonight's workout was awesome! I pushed the speed and am now averaging 11 minute miles! WOOP!! This is great news for my situation and now I just have to figure out how to make that last 26 miles! :0) My friend Carrie and I are talking about going up to the expo on Saturday, it's supposed to be badass and I think it'll get us good and motivated before the run. I'm getting really excited!!!!!

Time....

I just finished an 8 mile run and I feel good but man, all that Thanksgiving crap I ate sure made things harder today. First of all, it was hot! Not HOT HOT but hot enough to be warm and I REALLY hope that it's cold for the race. 38-48 degrees is my favorite temperature to run in. As of now, the forecast is said to be a low of 45 and a high of 61 with rain. This SUCKS! I hope there is no humidity with that rain because that will slow everyone down. It needs to be crisp and cold. Come on weatherman...be wrong as usual! Another thing I noticed today...I'm dehydrated. I could really tell by how fast I pooped out. Not fun....

So here's my dilemma. Sunday's marathon course is open for 6 and a half hours. Everyone is expected to complete the course in that time. Right now if I were to guess ...if I were to start right on gun time, I'd be about 6 hours 20 min or so. That's just a guess. But here's the problem....the race has 22,000 people registered so they put us in corrals and release us by ability group. It's a good system except for the fact that it robs the slower people of time. We have to finish in 6:30 but we probably won't be able to start until about 20 minutes after everyone else. This is a problem. After 6:30, all the photographers go home, they stop stopping traffic for you, they deflate the finish line, and the medal givers go home. I even read that you might not get a medal ....(I'm not sure I believe that, and if that happened, they would be getting an angry phone call from me). Anyway, it is literally going to be a race against the clock for me.

There are several things to consider when observing this time situation. First of all, adrenaline will get me through a lot of it at a decent speed. Music will get me through some too. I've upped my speed in my latest workouts and I know that will help too. I'm always impressed with my stamina on race days, and I'm praying it will be the case for this one as well. In my running pace right now, I'm averaging 10:45-13:30. If you mix in walking it slows me down of course, but I'll start most of the course just running probably. I need to mentally prepare for the final half though and I need to be smart. I don't want to start off fast and then crash before it's halfway through. On my last half-marathon, I started slowing down at mile 11 and that's not even halfway through a full-marathon distance. I'm thinking I'll start strong with maybe 20 min running segments and 1 min walk....and then once the half way comes, depending on how my legs are holding up, I might switch to 10:1's and then for the final 6 miles, maybe 5:1's. I don't want to tire myself out too much, I know what happens when you push too hard, you crash. And another thing to keep in mind is that everything changes at mile 20. It's a completely different game. I need to be brain training as well. I heard that when you get to the point of the wall, that it's best to think of creative things...create a story in your mind, etc because it allows you to use the right side of the brain which gets you through. Apparently, the left side of the brain is the side telling you to stop and allows you to feel the most pain.

So here's my plan for marathon week. I'm concerned about the speed issue so I'm going to do several things to give myself the best shot:

Monday: 5AM gym: 3 miles at a bumped up speed of 6.0
6PM gym: 3 miles at a bumped up speed of 6.0

Tuesday: 4:30AM gym: 3 miles at a bumped up speed of 6.5
6:30PM gym: 3 miles at a bumped up speed of 6.5

Wednesday: 5AM gym: Taper run of 3 miles at 6.0 speed.

Thursday: 5AM gym: Taper run of 2 miles at 5.8 speed.

Rest until Sunday.

I think with pumping up the speed, it'll help. I also am going to pump the water hardcore...that ALWAYS helps and my nurition is going to be perfect this week. No going out to eat, no fast food. Only protein, fruits and veggies and brown carbs. No boys, no distractions! It's showtime!!

In one year's time...

Thanksgiving was awesome. Had a fabulous time with my family and of course ate waaaaay too much food! I'm feeling sick and am seriously craving a salad. Starting tomorrow, it's awesome nutrition and crazy hard work at the gym until next weekend. Tomorrow morning I'm going to get up and run 7-8 miles as my final semi-long run which is now considered a short run of the marathon season. I'm pretty excited!

Looking back on what I've accomplished this year, I'm just amazed. I ran for the very first time on Dec. 8th, 2009. In less than one year, I'm going to run a marathon. I went back and read my earlier posts on my older blog and when I read that I almost passed out after attempting 60 second intervals every 3 min for 20 min total...it just broke my heart. I cannot believe what I couldn't do and I cannot believe what I now CAN! My grandma's house has these stairs and every single time I have walked up them in the past, I've been out of breath and my heart race increased...every time. Today without even thinking, I walked up to help my mom with something and noticed ABSOLUTELY NO CHANGE IN HEARTBEAT! It's something so simple, yet so huge!!!! I am so freakin' happy. I am CONDITIONED!!! Ya know, I was watching Biggest Loser tonight and was excited to see that the contestants are now "in the zone"...they are focused and nothing is going to stop them. As it gets harder, they keep going and that's where I am now. Nothing can stop me at this point. I am trained, conditioned and even though I've sadly gained weight...I'm STRONG! I am going to finish this bitch of a marathon and nothing is going to stop me! And I know I'm gonna cry like a baby as I finish. One year's work...one moment...

Thankful....

I got my run in tonight so I should be good for Saturday. The gym was completely dead, it was awesome. I held strong and am very surprised by my stamina as of late. Go me!
I have several friends running the Turkey Trot tomorrow morning and I have to admit that I'm sad that I am missing it. I never miss a race!! It's supposed to be 8 miles with cool weather...perfect!! I'm curious to see if the t-shirt has a turkey on it. That would be seriously groovy. I can try for next year but we always go out of town so not sure if it's ever going to happen...

Today was a really good day. I woke up and cleaned and got my tree up, compliments of my awesome brother. I baked pumpkin pie and chocolate peanut butter cookies and am happy to report that I think I'm turning out to be a pretty decent cook. YAY! :0)

I had a touching experience today that made me really thankful for what I have in my life. When I went to Target to pick up my ingredients, I noticed the check-out lady didn't respond when I said hello to her. I said it louder and she still never responded. I was confused at first but then she looked up at me and smiled and that's when I realized she couldn't hear. I felt so bad for her, wondering what her life must be like and as if she knew what I was thinking, she handed me a legal pad that said...

"Hi, my name is LP and I am deaf. I am happy to serve you today. Have a great day and keep shining! :)" She was so incredibly vibrant and you could tell she was extremely happy with life. From that three minutes of contact with her, she made an impact. If that woman can live life to the fullest with her circumstance, I certainly can make the most of my life. I have so many things to be thankful for. I have an amazing mother, who I absolutely adore (even if she doesn't read my blog..grr) and the rest of my family is awesome too. My friends are the best and always lift me up when things get tough. I have the best dog in the world and a kick-ass apartment that I wouldn't trade for anything. I am running a freakin' marathon next weekend and I'm about to graduate with my Masters. I'm a kind and loving person and I know how to have a blast. I am truly blessed.

A friend of the family lost her husband yesterday to cancer. We knew it was coming but it's really hard to know that she has to get through it without him. My mom and I are going to take turns spending the night over there to help her through. It's so sad. Again, I am so very thankful.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

The Christmas Tree Workout!

I am DONE with this stupid tree. It is in 3 heavy pieces in my apt. I can barely lift the parts...oh yes, Lindsey had to get the BIG tree...and the stupid thing won't go in the stupid hole and its stupid self keeps falling over on me!! Me trying to hold it up for so long produced an extensive sweat so I will call that weight training for the day! Me running after the tree as it falls will be my run for the day. I know it's a stretch, but at this point I don't give a flying flip! On to happier subjects...

I ALMOST convinced my friend Jeana to do the TOO COLD TO HOLD 15K with me in January. She seems a little nervous about my highly ambitious goals. (I tend to aim high. I did a half-marathon way before I did my first 5 or 15K)but I know she can do it. Besides, it's so much more fun to run those races with peeps. I'm going to create a training plan for her and she should be good to go! I'm excited...I'm gonna make angry face pictures and inspirational sayings like "Keep going til you puke!" to make sure she's super-comfortable. HAHA!!!

On a serious note, I had a really rough day today. I woke up feeling very sad and it took me almost all day to shake it off. I finally did. Once my Christmas tree fell over for the 4th time, I finally just had to laugh and say, "Merry Ghetto Christmas!" I'm finally feeling a little bit better and I'm ready to see my family on Thursday for Thanksgiving. My grandma seems to make everything better.

Tomorrow will be my last run until Saturday. I'm tryin to decide what kind of mileage I should do on Sat. I'm thinking 7 miles would be a good taper run.

I've created a VERY intense spring training schedule that focuses primarily on speed. Since my slow self could use some improvement in speed, I thought the 5 half-marathon challenge seemed appropriate. I'm also returning back to hardcore nutrition like before. I'm pretty excited about getting the rest of the weight off. Come on January 3rd!

I registered for the Texas Half Marathon in January and will register for Cowntown in Feb. with my next paycheck. They have a great medal series but if I'm not mistaken, I think I will start in the second medal of the series. That means that if I do it for 3 more years...theee will be a huge gap in the ginormo medal that all 4 medals in the series makes! GRRRRR

Ok, I just had the most ghetto experience of all to end this "fabulous" day....my dog just barfed on the Christmas tree. SERIOUSLY?! Wow, I am DONE with this day. Goodnight.

A little anxious...

I am making a promise to myself right now that I will post every day until my race. The biggest course of my LIFE is coming up next weekend and I need to hold myself accountable.

Tonight I ran 2 miles. Lame I know but I'm easing back into the mileage...haha obviously. Tomorrow I am going to do 3 and my plan is to do an easy 7 mile run on Saturday and then taper the next week.

I am feeling so many emotions right now. First of all, I'm bummed that I've gained about 13 lbs since April. It's really been bothering me. I'm at that "I'm still pretty, right?" place and it's not a happy place. But the more I think about it, the more I need to just get over it and realize that I always gain weight in the winter and I always lose it in the spring. GET OVER IT LINDSEY!

I'm also in a "I hate men" phase. It seems like every guy I go for turns out to be a douchebag! I have GOT to start picking better men. The one really good thing about being in the "I hate men" phase is that I usually kick ass in my running during that time. Oh and then I always send them hot pics of me thinner. Oh yeah :p

ANYWAY...huge race coming up next weekend. 26.2 mile full marathon. YIKES! I've trained, I know I could do 23 miles, so I can do 26 but man, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna be long and I'm going to be dying by the end. I hope I don't barf when I cross the finish line or almost pass out like last time. Oh and keeping my hearing this go around would be good. I've been staring at the course...take a look:

http://www.runtherock.com/Whiterock/media/Documents/Maps/DWRM-Master-Course-Map-11-16.pdf

See that little lake on the right? That lake is HUGE!! And it's such a small little part of the course. Puts things into perspective on just how long it is. I've also been coming up with some ideas on how to keep from getting bored for that long. I think I'm going to download a motivational talk to listen to about mile 20 when I get really tired and I'm going to create a kick-ass playlist. That really kept me going on my last half. I'm not worried about the first half, I'm worried about the last 6 miles or so. Your legs hurt so bad and you're so exhausted and you can just feel everyone's pain around you. But one thing I've learned from all these races is that the longer you go, the better the high when you're done. And honestly, I cannot IMAGINE the sense of pride and accomplishment I am going to feel as I cross the finish line. It's going to be incredible.

Another thing I've been thinking about...how the hell am I supposed to fit so many Gu's in my running belt? It's only so big and you are supposed to take one Gu every 3 miles...well that's 8 Gu's. Holy crap! There's no way I can fit that many. I'm going to have to get really creative!

I hear they are going to have a band at every mile. This should be interesting. I wonder if they are gonna be suck bands or good ones. I hope they are smart and keep the peppiest ones at the end when we need the boost.

Ok I think that's all the rambling I have for tonight. Look forward to posting tomorrow about my 3 miles! WOOP!!!

DRC Half Marathon

I completed half-marathon #2 on Sunday, November 7th. It was AWESOME! I woke up with a throbbing sore throat and that part sucked, but once I got out in the cold air, I felt a lot better. My goal was to complete the race at any time faster than my half-marathon #1 time which was 3:32:31. I knew I'd been training hard but I didn't know how realistic it was for me to be faster since I've been training run/walk. Well, I did much better than I was expecting. Once I got into a groove, I didn't stop for walk breaks and would run in 30 min increments with about 2 min walking breaks at the end of each long segment. That worked really well for me. I kept expecting to poop out and I never really did until about mile 11, I started getting kina tired then. But it's interesting to watch how other people train. A lot of people get all confident and fast at the beginning and then once they hit mile 6 or so, they poop out and walk the rest. I start slow and keep it steady. It was such a great moment for me to still hold strong at the end, and to pass every person that was walking. Goooo meeee!!! Not only did I beat my time, but I beat it by over 20 minutes. I was VERY proud of myself. My final time was 3:11:56. It's still not fast but I'm making progress. My next Half Marathon will be in January, as I'm taking on the 5 half-marathons challenge in the spring. Hopefully I will keep getting faster.

23 miles SUCKED!

Let me tell you about the worst run of my life, 23 miles! It all started by eating mexican food the night before. Yep, I'm smart. Then it continued by being woken up several times by airhorns of drunken Ranger fans screaming, "YEAAAHHHH, GO RANGERS!!! WE ROCK! TAKE THAAAAT!!!" ...and as much as I love the Rangers, a good night's rest took priority on something as big as 23 miles. So, I woke up tired and grumpy. To add insult to injury, it was muggy and humid outside, the suckiest weather to run in. We started sweating on mile 1 and once we hit mile 2, my shoulder became incredibly inflammed and that pain consumed me for a long time. Later on in the run, when I was really hurting and looked down to see that I had 16 more miles to go, I about cried. To add to the already established annoyance, I kept dropping the water bottles on my new running belt and random pads kept falling out of it. About 2 miles later, I slammed my finger in a trashcan, dropped 2 more water bottles and then got this crazy sensation of having to go to the bathroom when you don't really have to go. I was so uncomfortable that the tears finally came. I was miserable. I was able to get some ice mid-run to numb the firey pain from the shoulder and that gave me some relief. I got in a little better of a mood when we hit half way, anything to get us closer to done. My shoulder pain became bearable and we finally got closer to done. My legs held up okay though I could tell all of us were hurting. We finally finished at in 6 hours and 41 minutes. I know that seems forever long, but keep in mind we took several long breaks. I'm glad I finished, but I didn't feel accomplishment...I just felt relief that it was over.

Recovery

This recovery was different than any other I've had for several reasons. First of all, I had chaffing on the whole back of my body. Never have had that before. Second, I had red marks that were close to bloody in the shape of a sports bra, never had that either. I felt nauseous and really hungry but that's pretty normal for long runs. I slept for 3 hours when I got home and was pretty out of it the rest of the day. I can honestly say that out of all my runs, this was my worst, and I have a feeling that anything I do after this will not suck as much as this 23 mile training run.

I have a half-marathon this Sunday and I'm pretty excited about it. I am fully prepared to push myself hard this week. Next weekend, we have a 26 mile training run scheduled but I have not decided whether I'm doing it with the group, or doing it on my own if I choose to go to Six Flags instead. Decisions, Decisions! Then we have 2 more weeks of 10 miles and then it's the RACE! I'm so excited about becoming a marathoner! That's going to be an awesome day!

Today

I had great nutrition today and ran 2 miles @ 26:56 time. It feels good to be back in the game!!!!

Pain...

As much as I love running, my body is really starting to hurt. Surprisingly, it is my upper body that is killing me...mostly my right shoulder/neck area. This always inflames about 2 days after a long run. It's not fun and it continues to remain a dull soreness/inflammation issue throughout the weeks. It was suggested for me to start physical therapy but I'm unable to afford weekly co-pays. Ice has been helping, but I'm really starting to get annoyed with this constant pain.

As far as dieting, I'm doing better now. I have a 23 mile run coming up on Saturday and I don't mess with long runs. My body needs to be fully nutritioned and conditioned before attempting those. I also have half-marathon #2 coming up in three weeks. I'm VERY excited about THAT! It will be great to know I have more than one of those under my belt.

I've decided to take on a Spring Half-Marathon Challenge of doing one half a month. These are the races I plan to do:

January-The Texas Half Marathon
February-Cowtown Half Marathon
March-Rock and Roll Dallas Half Marathon
April-America's Run Half Marathon
May-Heels and Hills Half Marathon

I'm so super-pumped!!! And it will be fun to train on my own again. I love my team and it's fabulous for full marathon training, but some of my best runs that I can remember are the solo ones.

Ok, I'm off to ice and heat...lates!

20 miles and a 5K!

Long time, no post!

Let's see...what have I been up to? Work has been stressful and crazy-has been a very rough start to the year but it's starting to even out. School is stressful but manageable. Will not be the case in the Spring. Pretty much dreading that courseload.

I'm still on track concerning running. 2 weeks ago we did a 20 mile course which was amazing!! I was really surprised how great it was. I held up strong for the first 11 miles and then miles 12-15 were pretty tiring. Once I hit 15, I got a burst of energy and felt great up to the finish! I was shocked. All the endorphins were released and we were all in the best mood and feeling great! What was interesting...I finally understand why some runners puke after they finish marathons. When we started on mile 19, it started hurting to walk or stop. 1:1's were not ideal after long mileage. It hurt to walk because your legs felt so stiff and it was painful. And when we had to stop for traffic, a huge wave of nausea came up from my feet and all the way up my body, and I felt as though I was gonna barf. THAT'S why they barf at the finish. After long distances, it hurts to stop.

I've been extremely frustrated as of late. First of all, it's the Fall and my motivation is always lacking in the Fall. In fact, I cannot remember ever an October that I've been focused...it's annoying! I'm eating fine, just cheating more than I should and taking in about 200 more calories a day than I should. I'm keeping up the running so it's evening out and I've been the same weight for a month now. Also, my body has gotten used to the good nutrition and long miles and it's gotten comfortable. I'm having a much harder time losing the weight now that I've gotten a big chunk off. And if I cheat at all, my body holds on to that for dear life. GRRR!!! So yeah, I'm going to have to work a lot harder now to get the rest of the weight off. I know what I need to do. I'm not 100% ready to do it just yet, but I'm still working at it.

Tonight I worked on speed. I'm constantly trying to get faster in an attempt to not be the one that crosses the marathon finish line when everyone has packed up and left. When I first started running, 40 lbs ago...I could only run an avg 17-18 minute mile. Right now I'm avging 14 minutes miles...15 and 16 on steep hills and long distances. It's still slow, but it's an improvement. Tonight I thought I'd try sprints to try to jolt my body into sweating. My body is comfortable running so it takes a lot more to get my heart rate up. And when I stop to think about it...this is a really good thing. I'm conditioned!! Anyway-moving on with my awesome story...I decided to do sprints to view my pace at my absolute fastest. This was actually fun! I was shocked at how fast you can go when you can let yourself. My avg sprint pace for my first time...9:30. That's still not lightning fast, but it's waaaaay faster than 14! I was pretty stoked about seeing that number. I have NEVER seen a pace that was a single digit. EVER!! Lindsey is awesome? I'm going to continue these sporadically in my workouts and see if my long distance pace increases.

I finished my first 5K with Jeana and Christina and that was really fun. It was the first race I'd done with friends. They held up very strong and I was very proud of us. I'm excited that I've finally done a 5K. I've done a 15K and Half Marathon, but never a 5K. I do things backwards :p

I have a 10 mile run this Saturday morning. Next week I'm going to have to rake up the miles because we're doing 23 miles next Saturday. OOOOHHHHH YEEEAAAHHHH!!!!!

So yeah, this is a long and frustrating journey...I'm not any thinner than I was a month ago and that upsets me....but when I stop to think about things, I ran a 9:30 pace tonight, and at the end of the day, that's something to be proud of.

Speed push and 16.5 miles!!!

Wow, okay, lots of running action in the past few days.

Thursday: Speed push. I wanted to see how fast I could go so I switched to 2 min running, 1 min walking intervals and then upped my speed to 5.0 running, 4.0 walking for 2 miles. It was HARD!!! But I pushed to 12:32 minute miles (including the walking) which is pretty amazing for me. Yay for 2 min per mile improvement!

16.5 mile run today: It was humid as hell. We were dripping with sweat within an hour. The first 12 miles was easy. I held up very strong and was shocked at how long I could go without getting tired. Then once we started mile 13, I started getting tired and on mile 14, I got serious calluses on 4 of my toes. This was VERY painful so the last 3 miles was pretty much hell. What's funny is that it wasn't because of fatigue-it was because of the pain from my feet. I'm still limpin' pretty good and am trying to stay off my feet. I got a good tip to put vaseline on my toes for next time so I will try that and see if it makes a difference.

My nutrition was really great this week and I got in 25.5 miles total this week...WOW!!!! By far the most I have EVER gotten in in one week. I'm hoping for a great loss. We shall see!

I've made some decisions about my spring training season. I've decided not to push too hard. Every year I will do the White Rock full marathon with Galloway but I'm thinking this spring I'm just going to do 2 half marathons. The training for that isn't too bad and will feel short compared to what I'm doing now. I'm choosing to do:

Cowtown Half Marathon in Ft Worth-February 27th, 2011
http://www.cowtownmarathon.org/

and

Big D Half Marathon in Dallas-April 10th, 2011
http://www.texasmarathon.com/

ANYONE WITH ME????
I'm really excited about these 2 races because I will strictly be working on speed. I really want to beat my previous time and I'm excited about just having only 13 miles to train for. Will be nice...

That's all I have for now! I will update on the weigh-in on Monday! :0)

Oh yeah!!

Tonight was awesomeness. Yes, I said that. I got to have a much deserved dinner with Christina and then we hit the gym! Today was a time breaker for me! Remember when I said that my focus was going to be speed? Well I bumped my speed up tremendously and figured I wouldn't make it or at least it would kill me...NOPE! I did AWESOME!!! I was really surprised at what I could do. Even at my most in shape before, I would take 47-48 min to run 3 miles. TODAY-39:59!!!!! OMG I could not believe that I did that. I was running 12:00 miles!!!!! (The walks were 15:00 pace and that's how I ended up with that final number...remember I'm walk/run training) And the best part...it wasn't that hard. I am hitting a new level in my running and I am SO. INCREDIBLY. PUMPED!!!! I still remember when running 4.0 speed killed me. Now I'm running 5.0 and am fine. I love it!!! Looks like my training and awesome nutrition is really paying off.

And I HAVE to say...Christina kicked ASS tonight! I was pretty shocked at how strong she held up...WAY more than me when I started. I have a feeling we have a finish line in our future :0)

Jeana is also doing well. We are e-mailing eachother our daily food intake and it's really helping. It's fun doing it with peeps...Jeana, my mom and Christina are pretty much my support system in this process.

So yeah, I'm pretty much on cloud 9 about my new found strength. I weighed in yesterday for my first hardcore week's weight loss! 4.9 lbs lost!!!! I was so proud of that number. I earned it!

I feel great. Strong, healthy and ready for Saturday's 16 mile course from hell! BRING IT!!!

Gettin' my run on!

I am so pumped about tomorrow's run! I found an amazing new course that I'm dying to try...it's in a nature preserve right by my apartment complex. I've planned to complete 3 miles tomorrow but I think I'm going to make it a free spirit kind of run: just go until I feel like finishing. It will also be my first run with my Garmin, I am oh-so-pumped!!!! It feels so great to be motivated again and I know it's time that I will strive to reach new limits!

I'm currently reading "Chicken Soup for the Soul-Runners" ...AMAZING book! So inspiring. Here are my two favorite quotes from today's reading:

"Find your edge, then take one step beyond it." ~Dean Karnazes

This is so true. I remember when I first decided to train for a half-marathon...I just made up my mind. I knew it would be hard, but I also knew I could do it. Once I completed my first 11 miles, I knew I could do 13. It's truly amazing what you can do when you are determined...

"I've learned that finishing a marathon isn't just an athletic achievement. It's a state of mind; a state of mind that says anything is possible." ~John Hanc

I love this quote. He's right, it's so much more. The hard work along the way means so much more. And when it all comes down to one moment...when you think you cannot go on another second, until you see THE finish line, and all the sudden you can conquer the world...no words for that kind of feeling. The accomplishment, the success...nothing can touch you when you are in that state of mind. The strength developed during this proccess has changed my life.

I still haven't quite wrapped my mind around 26 miles just yet, but I'm slowly getting there. I saw the course for the 26.2 miles for the White Rock Marathon I will be running in December. I freaked. The map is freakin' huge because it covers so much distance. AND...it has allllll this mileage, and then off to the side is a little White Rock Lake, which we run around completely. That lake is HUGE and 9 freakin' miles long and it's a very small part of the course!! That's when it really hit home. This challenge is a beast. But I've learned-the harder you work, the better the high when you finish...and I cannot even imagine how amazing that finish is going to be. 3 more months-let's see what I can do!

5 Mile Breakfast Bash!

This morning, we completed the DRC 5 mile Breakfast Bash. It was greatness! The course was super-short and the weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a sore throat and not feeling great and it's confirmed, I'm getting sick. But, I knew I had to finish the race first. I ended up running with Carrie, our pace group leader and we held strong the entire time with a record pace time of 2 minutes faster than normal. Amazing what the change in weather can do.

I'm pretty excited about this new found focus. I know I am finally on my way to slimming down again and creating new milestones. This next Saturday we are running a 16 mile course. We're definitely getting into the intense part of training...bring it! I am going to do everything right to prepare for this. Today, I bought a running/food journal that I feel fits best for me....this is great for accountability and monitoring progress. In addition to this, I bought a Chicken Soup For The Runner's Soul book that will help me remember how great finishing feels.

And I have officially become part of the cool club. I became a member of the Dallas Running Club and I bought a Garmin! The Garmin watch keeps track of time, distance, heart rate, pace, and intervals. It also saves your runs to upload to a computer to view your progress for analysis. I'm pretty stinkin' excited about my new toy and it's the best gift I could have given myself. With this, I will have a clear focus on setting new goals.

This week, I am going to focus on speed. If I could go a faster pace today, I can go a faster pace always, and I need to start striving for that. I'm going to sit on my couch feeling sicky for a couple days, then hopefully will be good to go by Monday night.

Oh and for those of who you are in need of some inspiration....watch this video.(About an hour in length)...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/52585/ford-ironman-world-championship-2008-ironman-world-championships

It is of the 2008 Ironman World Championships. Just a reminder of the length of an Ironman:
2.4 miles of swimming
112 miles on a bike
26.2 miles running-Full Marathon

That is INSANE!!!! But if anything, it just shows what the body is capable of...even if it's nuts! Can you imagine the feeling of that finish? Oh man, no words...If this doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

Today was good for me. I have all the tools set in place to be successful and I'm ready to push hard and set another milestone on Saturday!

A great week and some changes...

I'm finally having some time to get my blog on. I've had a GREAT week! I made some changes. If I eat a little bit of crap (35 flex pts)... then I end up eating way too much of it and I can't break the cycle. Because of this, I've decided to go back to my original nutrition plan: VERY little white foods..switch to whole grain/wheat carbs, natural sugars, tons of protein and absolutely NO CHEATING!...I've done perfect nutrition this week and the cravings have FINALLY gone away. On Monday I ran 3 miles, Tuesday-2 miles and tonight-2 miles. I wanted to do more but it's been a busy week and I've worked late a lot. However, I do feel that I'm fully prepared for Saturday's race.

Saturday we are running the DRC (Dallas Running Club) 5 mile Breakfast Bash. We run a 5 mile course and then they provide breakfast. I'm pretty excited about such a short course and even more excited about the cooler weather. For breakfast, I've heard they have unhealthy food but good choices too, so I will only eat the good stuff. I'm sure that will be a tough temptation because after races you're so tired and are tempted to think "Well, I just ran 5 miles, what would it hurt?" Nope, it always hurts.

Anyway, I'm feeling MUCH better about things and I feel great to finally have some focus. I'm really excited about Monday's weigh-in. I will be happy with a 2.5lb loss or more. Cross your fingers!!! :0)

End of week 2...

This week was a tough one. Our work schedule was insane with hour and a half lunches and long meetings all day every day. I never really made a bad choice, but I didn't get all the fruits and veggies in that I should have. Also, because things were so crazy and I worked late almost every night, I only got one 3 mile run in during the week. I did complete 14 miles on Saturday though so that gives me a total of 17 miles this week. I'm not expecting a loss this week because I'm about to start (woman stuff) and I didn't make good choices this weekend at my grandma's house. If I gain a little, I'm okay with it, it's been a REALLY exhausting week.

The good news is that starting tomorrow, I will be on a schedule from this point forward. I won't have time to go get food and I will bring my lunch every day at work. I also will get my workouts in this week because I'll have more time for it.

The 14 mile course was awesome! I did much better on this course than I did on the 9 mile one. I think I just had a really bad day on that course. And part of it was probably due to the fact that I missed the previous 2 long runs. I know that hurt me tremendously. So yeah, I'm feeling good about things.

I'll let you know the damage tomorrow.

Bummin' it...

I decided to do absolutely NOTHING tonight except watch TV. I'm so exhausted from work that I deserve it. Tomorrow I will kill it in the gym.

First week results!

After running 18 miles in week one, plus awesome nutrition with one cheat meal, I lost 2.6 lbs my first week. Not amazing, but I said I'd be happy with anything over 2.5. I told myself I'd be okay with losing slower since I'm incorporating the cheat days in, and I have to be.

Great news! I challenged my friend Jeana to a 3 mile run tonight and SHE DID IT!!!! I'm so freaking proud of her. It's so amazing to see people go beyond what they think they can do. She reminds me so much of me when I first started. Go J-Colla! Woop!!

I'm determined to have a great week! I have a very scary 14 mile course coming up on Saturday and I have the utmost respect for the preparation for it. I'm really nervous because I have only completed up to 13.1 miles so far, which was my half-marathon. I am going to have a PERFECT nutrition week and get my runs in so maybe it won't be so bad. Ok who am I kidding, it's gonna suck!

We got some bad news today concerning the health of some people I know. It really puts things into perspective. There are people out there fighting for their lives and have absolutely no choice in the matter, and then there are people who choose to destroy themselves, whether it be with food, alcohol, drugs or whatever. It's just another reminder that I need to respect my body enough to take care of myself. Seems so minimal compared to what other people are going through. I am so blessed.

Tomorrow's the weigh-in!

I ran a total of 18 miles this week, so I'm hoping for a great weight-loss in the morning. Cross your fingers!! :0)

9 mile course...

We ran our 9 mile course this morning. It was pretty tough. I barely got through it and it seriously sucked. I've been feeling kind of off all day. I'm still not feeling well but I did get some shopping done! I was pleasantly surprised at the size of clothes I bought. I don't think I've gained as much as I feel that I have. This is definitely a good thing.

I had my cheat meal today and it was good. I used about 25 of my 35 flex points and I'm not going to use the rest. Tomorrow will be another healthy day and the weigh-in is Monday morning. Crossing my fingers for a good loss!

Blah...

I'm feeling sick. I'm guessing it's because I finished my last final and now that all the summer stress is gone, it all came crashing down on my body. I always got sick after finals in undergrad. Good times. I'm hoping that I'll still be able to run in the morning but I'm just going to have to wait and see how I feel.

The agenda for the rest of the day: Continue to eat healthy and be a huge bum. I cannot believe the craziness starts back up on Monday.

I have planned a cheat for this week. Remember, I get one bad meal a week and this week I choose it to be on Saturday for lunch, mexican food! I'm super-excited!!

Getting it back...

Another great nutrition day today,and tonight I ran 4 miles at the gym. I am very happy to report that it wasn't near as hard as yesterday's 3 miles, and I think I've finally built up my stamina again. YAY!!!

Tomorrow I'm excited to have a rest day. Fridays are always rest days because we have long runs on Saturday mornings. This Saturday we are running a 9 mile course, which I hear is a hard one so I will be pumping tons of water and mentally preparing for that. I'm also going to start hill training soon-which I'm not looking forward to AT. ALL. Hills kill me every time.

Tonight I was drenched with sweat and hideous...and of course I have to ride the elevator up with 2 of what have to be the most gorgeous guys in my apartment complex. Why is it that when you look smokin' hot, no one is around to see it, but if you look like crap and have your hair plastered to your face with sweat, there's a mob? The world may never know...

Back on the healthy train...

I had an excellent nutrition day again today and I just ran 3 miles at the gym. I'm drenched so I must have done something productive. It's hard to be motivated to go sweat when it's already so hot. Come on FALL! I LOVE running in cool weather, it cannot come fast enough!

Feeling a LITTLE better...

Had a great nutrition day! I decided to go ahead and not workout tonight, and it's okay...I'm only supposed to get 3-4 training runs in a week before Saturday runs. It's not an excuse, I promise! :p The plan is to run Wednesday and Thursday and then rest Friday before the big run on Saturday. That will give me 4 runs this week, which is what I'm aiming for.

I'm feeling a little bit more focused. Today I was hungry, but that's to be expected. It feels good to be going in the right direction again.

An update on the pain:

I have a hurt right hip from the running. My doctor gave me a steroid injection in the hip yesterday and that seems to be helping. For now, good old ice and heat and tons and tons of water. I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of the situation.

Until next time...

Facing the Damage

So today was the first day back to being truly focused on my nutrition and training. A little bit of back story: I was doing fabulous last Spring until after I completed my half-marathon in April. Once it was over, I chose to relax a little. With this came a little bit of cheating, and a little less exercise. I only gained about 4 lbs, which to me was somewhat normal considering I was previously in hard-core training mode, any subtle change would make me gain a little. Then this summer came. My first summer semester was easy. I worked half a day and then had the rest of the day to do my homework. The course load was slightly heavy but manageable and I had it made. I lost 5lbs and was feeling hopeful. Then the second semester hit. And that's when it alllll changed.

The second semester classes consisted of an INSANE Data class, a Technology in Eduation class, and the finishing up of my Internship course work. The Tech class isn't bad, but the Data class, I've never had anything like that before. I have NEVER worked so hard in my life in something. Our professor was really tough and always made us feel like we'd never be good enough. I FREAKED out when I discovered that I didn't know how to balance that kind of load. And my reaction to freaking out...eating everything in sight.

Since the beginning of summer, I've gained 8 lbs. I weighed this morning and was incredibly sad and angry about all of it. I can't believe that after all I've learned, I can still let go of the focus. It's time to get it back. I'm still very frustrated that I have to work my butt off for the next month just to get back to where I was-it's not going to be fun.

I've made some decisions regarding this round of determination. Last Spring, I chose to go extreme hardcore. I ran CONSTANTLY, only ate whole grain carbs, natural sugars, protein, fruits and vegetables. The weight fell off. While all that is fine and good, I never ate what I wanted-and I was miserable. This time-I'm going to do all of those same things, but allow myself the 35 flex points per week on Weight Watchers. This plan has always worked for me, and while I understand that the weight will probably come off a little slower this time, I'm okay with it. Life is about balance, and that is one subject I have always struggled with. 35 flex points pretty much equals one good meal a week, and that sounds pretty freakin' awesome to me! I'm not going to weigh every day-it makes one obsessed. I'm also going to seriously up the water intake. I've been having all kinds of issues with dehydration and I'm learning how much your body actually needs when running 10+ miles. It's WAY more than I ever imagined.

I'll be honest-I'm still frustrated and angry but I'll probably feel better in a couple days. This blog is an excellent way for me to sort through it all....

Where I am in my training:

I joined a running team and we run long distances on Saturday mornings at 5:00AM. Yes, 5:00AM. I normally would be complaining since I oh-so-cherish my sleep, but I will do anything to escape the misery of running in summer heat. It's brutal. Anyway, we are up to 11 miles so far. (I think they are up to more, but I was gone last weekend). This upcoming Saturday, we are running 9. We are supposed to run on our own 3-4 times a week ranging from 2-5 miles or so, so I will be upping those as well.

Here is our race schedule for the next 5 months:

Sept 4th: Breakfast Bash 5 mile
Sept 18th: Tour de Fleurs 20K (should probably find out what that means)
Nov. 7th: Dallas Running Club Half Marathon (Woop, will be my 2nd, can't wait)
Dec. 5th: White Rock Full Marathon

I'm so incredibly excited about pursuing a Full Marathon. I dream big so I though what they hell, go for it! I haven't quite wrapped my mind around 26.2 miles JUST yet, but I figure if I continue to take it seriously, I will pull through just fine.

I know I keep mentioning that I'm frustrated, but I just have to accept that I was in survival mode and I did the best I could. I need to just get over it and move on. I did however kick ass at the gym tonight! I ran 2 miles at my fastest speed on a treadmill and finished a record time. I also had perfect nutrition today. This is definitely a good start.

I promise to do my best regarding this blog. I know last time I seriously dropped the ball. My schedule is crazy but I need to make this a priority. I was amazed how much weight I lost before when I was able to process and write about the successes and frustrations. I did it once, I can do it again.

Until next time...

Coming Soon!

Yep, it's coming soon! :)