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! :)