I tried a new recipe yesterday and I cooked today. I even have the ingredients for 2 other meals. I'm really together this week with food. I was tired of never having leftovers. And eating out too much. I was starting to feel nasty. And I knew if it was effecting me it was effecting everyone else. I also bought a watermelon and cut it up and tomorrow I'm buying a ton of grapes (they're on sale for about 1/2 price).
The new recipe I made last night was an instant favorite. Which is funny because no one was really happy about me putting cheese tortellini in. No one likes just the cheese ones. But I knew with everything else that was in it, cheese tortellini would be perfect. And it was. Next time I will need to double it though. Everyone had at least 2 helpings (even me darn it) so it went fast. It was SO easy! I love easy recipes. Not that many ingredients and easy. My favorite things.
The recipe I made tonight was one I'd made before. No one seemed to remember it but they all liked it the same. I liked it too. It was another one of those that are easy to through together. This time I added a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis. I'd put in more noodles so I needed more liquid anyway and green chilis are always a hit in my house. It's a joke when I try out a new recipe that Kim will always say "That was great but there's one thing that would have made that better." And he'll mean green chilis. He says it for everything now; even when it would be terrible!
The rest of the recipes I have are Italian Bake (aka Spaghetti casserole), is a crock pot pork roast recipe and the other is an easy stroganoff recipe in the crock pot too. I love crock pot recipes!
*****
Today was my long run with Brenna. Eight miles mapped out. Five miles down Suncrest hill-which is pretty much all downhill (a few really steep parts too). Then we were supposed to catch this canal trail that I've heard everyone in North Utah County talking about and run that for 3 miles.
I was prepared but then again I wasn't. I didn't bring water; which I knew I was going to need because we weren't even starting to run until 9:30am and I"m use to starting at 6:30am. I also didn't eat anything carb wise last night. I did that last Sunday and I swear it helped. Some people swear by it but others say it doesn't do anything. I wish I would have eaten a bunch last night-I would have known for sure today.
The main thing that really kicked my butt today was Brenna. She runs so much faster than me! I had my Garmin on and noticed we were running between a 9:00 - 9:30 mile all the way down. That's so much faster than I usually am. I'm usually 9:30 - 10:00. We ended up running the first 5 miles in 46 minutes where as it would have taken me probably 50 at the least. So I was dying by the time we hit 5 miles and waited at the light to cross the street.
The last 3 miles were terrible. I couldn't get any energy. I was hot and tired. I was thirsty and I was beat. I walked and ran and felt bad the whole time because I was holding Brenna back. I kept apologizing and she reminded me that she's run a lot longer than I have and that she hardly ever runs the whole time. But I still felt bad. I told her when we do the run she isn't to stay back with me; just go at her own pace and I'll go at mine.
The last 3 miles ended up taking 34 minutes; which was way better than I thought it would be. It was really a terrible run though. But it felt good to get it done. Plus 8 miles is quite a feet...even if I didn't run the whole thing.
I also need to remember that Brenna is 9 years younger than me. 9 years. That's quite a bit. That does make a difference I'm sure. But still I hated that I had to stop.
I'm looking forward to Saturday morning. It's my next long run. It's 9 miles and I'm doing it around here. I'll also be starting at 6:30am so I won't have to worry about it being too hot. That was such a killer! And the blacktop of the canal trail just made it worse. But that's just me whining again and giving excuses.
I couldn't do it. As much as I'd like to say it was age, or heat, or no water, or running faster than normal, the end result was I couldn't run the whole thing.
But then I look back at last year when I was training and remember how many miles I would go before I had to stop and I know I'm doing better this year. I know I am. I just need to remember that. And remember...I really do like to run. Just some days/runs are worse than others.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
Gummy bears
Once again my long run had to be changed from Saturday to Monday. On Saturday I ended up chaperoning Dallin's choir group up to the University of Utah for a choir competition. They were so amazing! I was blown away by how great they sounded. I've listened to their programs before but this time they just sang with so much feeling. I was really glad I was able to go. I've had to say no to helping out all year so I felt like I really needed to make this work. It ended up being a fun and relaxing. I almost read a whole book in one day! That hasn't happened in years!
It was Mother's Day yesterday. All of my kid's told me how much they loved me. It was a nice relaxing day. Even for family dinner at my mom's I only had to bring rolls...how easy is that?! Kim helped Leah find something for me for Mother's Day. It's funny...I don't think he likes how much I talk about running and how much time I spend at the gym or running but for my Mother's Day gift he got me this running shirt. It was one he saw at the fashion show I did last month. It has these titanium dots that help let in air...I'm not quiet sure what it does but he was fascinated and wanted to see if it really worked. So he got me a shirt. He figured I could wear it for my half and be nice and cool. It should come before my next long run on Saturday, so I'll try it out then.
My long run today was amazing! I felt great the whole way. I woke up at 5:50 am to get ready to go. By the time I'd gotten ready and walked up to the starting point it was 6:25 am. I was running into town to my car (that I had left at the gym the night before). The first mile was hard-like it usually is. I try not to gauge anything by the 1st mile. Halfway through the 2nd mile there were a couple hills I wasn't looking forward to. I just put my head down, looked at the ground and plugged on. Before I knew it I was up both hills and headed down. It felt great to be able to make it up those hills without stopping. It kind of gave me this "I can do it" feeling for the rest of my run. I ended up running the whole. All 7 miles! I know I wasn't going very fast up those hills and my first mile felt very slow so I wasn't surprised when my time was an average of 10:25 per mile. I was hoping for better but I was happier about running the whole thing. No stopping at all. Not once during all 7 miles. :-) It was a great feeling.
I tried a new snack while I was running. I really want to stay away from the Gu stuff. It makes my stomach hurt and it costs a lot. I tried taking a small thing of applesauce with me last week. While I loved the taste it didn't give me any pick me up and it was a pain to carry with me. It kept coming out of my pocket the whole time. I finally ate it just to be done. This time I decided to try gummy bears. I've been reading up on alternatives to Gu and that was one (but so was the applesauce). So I put about 20 in a baggie and stuffed them in my pocket with my phone. I brought WAY too many. Ten would have been more than enough. But I have to say they were great! I loved the taste, they did give me a little bit of energy, I didn't feel sick after eating them and they actually helped me take the dry, icky feeling I usually have in my mouth. I can drink water to make it go away but hate carrying water with me (or drinking it constantly).
So gummy bears are my new long run friends. I figured 2-3 every mile after mile 4 is what works. I'm excited to try them again on Saturday for my 8 mile run. Between today's run, the 4 miler I have to do on Thursday for my training plan and the 8 miles I have scheduled for Saturday I'm going to be running quite a bit this week! I'm feeling a lot better about my half this week. I know not to be too happy...next week's run could be terrible. You just never know.
It was Mother's Day yesterday. All of my kid's told me how much they loved me. It was a nice relaxing day. Even for family dinner at my mom's I only had to bring rolls...how easy is that?! Kim helped Leah find something for me for Mother's Day. It's funny...I don't think he likes how much I talk about running and how much time I spend at the gym or running but for my Mother's Day gift he got me this running shirt. It was one he saw at the fashion show I did last month. It has these titanium dots that help let in air...I'm not quiet sure what it does but he was fascinated and wanted to see if it really worked. So he got me a shirt. He figured I could wear it for my half and be nice and cool. It should come before my next long run on Saturday, so I'll try it out then.
My long run today was amazing! I felt great the whole way. I woke up at 5:50 am to get ready to go. By the time I'd gotten ready and walked up to the starting point it was 6:25 am. I was running into town to my car (that I had left at the gym the night before). The first mile was hard-like it usually is. I try not to gauge anything by the 1st mile. Halfway through the 2nd mile there were a couple hills I wasn't looking forward to. I just put my head down, looked at the ground and plugged on. Before I knew it I was up both hills and headed down. It felt great to be able to make it up those hills without stopping. It kind of gave me this "I can do it" feeling for the rest of my run. I ended up running the whole. All 7 miles! I know I wasn't going very fast up those hills and my first mile felt very slow so I wasn't surprised when my time was an average of 10:25 per mile. I was hoping for better but I was happier about running the whole thing. No stopping at all. Not once during all 7 miles. :-) It was a great feeling.
I tried a new snack while I was running. I really want to stay away from the Gu stuff. It makes my stomach hurt and it costs a lot. I tried taking a small thing of applesauce with me last week. While I loved the taste it didn't give me any pick me up and it was a pain to carry with me. It kept coming out of my pocket the whole time. I finally ate it just to be done. This time I decided to try gummy bears. I've been reading up on alternatives to Gu and that was one (but so was the applesauce). So I put about 20 in a baggie and stuffed them in my pocket with my phone. I brought WAY too many. Ten would have been more than enough. But I have to say they were great! I loved the taste, they did give me a little bit of energy, I didn't feel sick after eating them and they actually helped me take the dry, icky feeling I usually have in my mouth. I can drink water to make it go away but hate carrying water with me (or drinking it constantly).
So gummy bears are my new long run friends. I figured 2-3 every mile after mile 4 is what works. I'm excited to try them again on Saturday for my 8 mile run. Between today's run, the 4 miler I have to do on Thursday for my training plan and the 8 miles I have scheduled for Saturday I'm going to be running quite a bit this week! I'm feeling a lot better about my half this week. I know not to be too happy...next week's run could be terrible. You just never know.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Stuck in a runt
I didn't post last week because I didn't have anything nice to say. I've really been struggling with my eating lately. I feel like I did when I first started loosing weight. I know I'm still making better choices than I did then but I'm still not being as good as I should. I'm taking second helpings more often now and we've eaten out a lot more too lately. I really need to get myself back on track but I'm having such a hard time getting out of this rut.
I weighed myself the other day...I weigh 161.5 lbs. So not cool! I've been over 160 for a couple months now. I know if I was better about what I ate I'd get below 160 pretty quick but that's the problem. I haven't been able to make myself be better about what I eat. I just eat and don't think about it. That's not good. Or I'll start the day out great, get all the way through doing great and then eat a ton right before dinner. All bad habits from before that I never got in check I guess. I need to do something, figure something out soon. It's really depressing me that I can't get my eating under control. It means I'm not in control of me...which I hate!!
I've been using My Fitness Pal lately to write down what I eat instead of Weight Watchers. I just didn't want to pay for WW anymore and wanted to try something different. I like this site and think if I was really good about following it and staying under what they say I could lose weight. I'm not good about sticking to it though; I go over my allotted calories almost every day. I'm getting use to counting calories too instead of figuring out points. It is easier to just count calories but I'm also getting use to counting them for veggies and fruits too. That's something new. I've also been watching my sodium intake (which it also tracks). I go over by a lot every single day. That's something I should probably get better at and then I wouldn't feel so bloated all the time.
******
Today was my LR. Well it was supposed to be Saturday but Friday night Kim said he'd like to go running with me Saturday morning. He said he'd like to try running at the high school track and we could take Leah with her new bicycle. I was so excited to have them both come with me so I said sure. I knew I couldn't do 6 miles (what my LR was supposed to be) on a track (that would be 24 laps) so I decided to switch Monday and Saturday. Saturday I did 3.5 miles and today I did 6.
Leah ended up doing really great at the track. She road her bike around probably a mile or more. She was so red faced and tired when she finished! She had to go to the bathroom about half way through. Kim had walk/run 1.5 miles and was about done so he took Leah around the outside of the school to find an open door. There were cars in the parking lot so he knew he'd be able to get her inside somewhere. I kept running while they went around. When they came back I only had 2 more laps so Kim took Leah up the stairs of the stands to give her something to do while I finished. The last half of my last lap I ran as fast as I could (without falling). It felt amazing while I was doing it but I could only do it for that short time and I wanted to fall on the ground when I was done! But it felt good while I was doing it
Today I set out to do my 6 miles and knew it was going to be bad. Leah was at the gym daycare so I could run around Salem. I figured there wouldn't be as many hills. I mapped something out on my Nook and then started running. The main problem was it was really windy today. And on top of that it was 65 degrees by 9am. So when the wind wasn't in my face pushing against me then the sun was beating down on my face. I had to walk 3 separate times which really ticked me off. But I tried to make them as short as possible. I ended up doing 5.85 miles in 62 minutes-about a 10:30 mile. Last year I would have been happy with my run but this year I was pretty down about it.
As I was running I was thinking about how bad this run was and how great my 5 miler last week felt. And last week's LR was in the rain! And a lot of uphills! But for some reason it was an amazing run. I did the whole thing without stopping with a time of about 9:40 a mile. I felt crazy running in the rain but was so glad I'd done it when I finished. Today when I was running I just wanted to be done. I hated it. I had no energy. Everything bothered me. I felt like I couldn't go another step and I wanted to walk the whole thing. I tried to remind myself that I have bad runs and good runs. Today was a bad one, last time was a good one. Next week may be great or it could be awful. I don't know. But I try to remind myself I'll have a good one again one of these days.
I just keep trying to remind myself where I was last year at this time with running. Or even were I was 2 years ago at this time with running. I know I've made progress; I just need to remember that when I'm struggling to finish 1 straight mile!
I weighed myself the other day...I weigh 161.5 lbs. So not cool! I've been over 160 for a couple months now. I know if I was better about what I ate I'd get below 160 pretty quick but that's the problem. I haven't been able to make myself be better about what I eat. I just eat and don't think about it. That's not good. Or I'll start the day out great, get all the way through doing great and then eat a ton right before dinner. All bad habits from before that I never got in check I guess. I need to do something, figure something out soon. It's really depressing me that I can't get my eating under control. It means I'm not in control of me...which I hate!!
I've been using My Fitness Pal lately to write down what I eat instead of Weight Watchers. I just didn't want to pay for WW anymore and wanted to try something different. I like this site and think if I was really good about following it and staying under what they say I could lose weight. I'm not good about sticking to it though; I go over my allotted calories almost every day. I'm getting use to counting calories too instead of figuring out points. It is easier to just count calories but I'm also getting use to counting them for veggies and fruits too. That's something new. I've also been watching my sodium intake (which it also tracks). I go over by a lot every single day. That's something I should probably get better at and then I wouldn't feel so bloated all the time.
******
Today was my LR. Well it was supposed to be Saturday but Friday night Kim said he'd like to go running with me Saturday morning. He said he'd like to try running at the high school track and we could take Leah with her new bicycle. I was so excited to have them both come with me so I said sure. I knew I couldn't do 6 miles (what my LR was supposed to be) on a track (that would be 24 laps) so I decided to switch Monday and Saturday. Saturday I did 3.5 miles and today I did 6.
Leah ended up doing really great at the track. She road her bike around probably a mile or more. She was so red faced and tired when she finished! She had to go to the bathroom about half way through. Kim had walk/run 1.5 miles and was about done so he took Leah around the outside of the school to find an open door. There were cars in the parking lot so he knew he'd be able to get her inside somewhere. I kept running while they went around. When they came back I only had 2 more laps so Kim took Leah up the stairs of the stands to give her something to do while I finished. The last half of my last lap I ran as fast as I could (without falling). It felt amazing while I was doing it but I could only do it for that short time and I wanted to fall on the ground when I was done! But it felt good while I was doing it
Today I set out to do my 6 miles and knew it was going to be bad. Leah was at the gym daycare so I could run around Salem. I figured there wouldn't be as many hills. I mapped something out on my Nook and then started running. The main problem was it was really windy today. And on top of that it was 65 degrees by 9am. So when the wind wasn't in my face pushing against me then the sun was beating down on my face. I had to walk 3 separate times which really ticked me off. But I tried to make them as short as possible. I ended up doing 5.85 miles in 62 minutes-about a 10:30 mile. Last year I would have been happy with my run but this year I was pretty down about it.
As I was running I was thinking about how bad this run was and how great my 5 miler last week felt. And last week's LR was in the rain! And a lot of uphills! But for some reason it was an amazing run. I did the whole thing without stopping with a time of about 9:40 a mile. I felt crazy running in the rain but was so glad I'd done it when I finished. Today when I was running I just wanted to be done. I hated it. I had no energy. Everything bothered me. I felt like I couldn't go another step and I wanted to walk the whole thing. I tried to remind myself that I have bad runs and good runs. Today was a bad one, last time was a good one. Next week may be great or it could be awful. I don't know. But I try to remind myself I'll have a good one again one of these days.
I just keep trying to remind myself where I was last year at this time with running. Or even were I was 2 years ago at this time with running. I know I've made progress; I just need to remember that when I'm struggling to finish 1 straight mile!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
So close...so very close
I tried a new recipe for brownies this weekend. It was a flourless recipe which really sounded interesting. Plus it used PB2. I had some of that for a year now and haven't used it once. So I thought why not. Well they really weren't that great. They were almost spongy and didn't have that cake like taste of regular brownies. The PB2 didn't make it very peanut buttery either like I thought it would. I mean I've eaten 3 so it's not like they were so bad I didn't want to eat them but they weren't the greatest. Actually Stephan and Dallin hated them. I wouldn't say they were that bad (like I said I ate 3 in one day) but I probably won't be making them again. It's interesting...I think that was the first recipe I made from that website that I didn't love. Everything else has been amazing!
I started my half marathon training last Monday (the 14th). I do Crossfit on Tuesdays and Fridays, short runs on Mondays and Thursdays and my long run on Saturday's. My short runs are 3 miles last week and this week. 3 miles is nice. Easy enough to get in early in the mornings; even if it means running on the treadmill one of those days. My long run was 4 miles. Each week it will go up until I hit 12 miles the week before the race. For my long run this week I decided I wanted to try to get better at running up hill. The one way to do that around here is to master Elk Ridge Drive. That's the long 2 mile road from the State Road to Elk Ridge City. The main problem with it is it's steep. It's a gentle hill at first but then the last mile is harder; with the last half a mile being the worst. Most of the elevation is gained in the last half mile. In the winter it's where the snow line hits...that's how much of an elevation change there is!
Anyway I parked at the school which is at the half way mark up the road. I was going to run up to the top (1 mile), run down (2 miles) and then run back up to the school (1 mile). I figured I'd run the worst part first instead of last. One of these days, if I start doing out and back runs it may be last but to start with I just wanted to be able to finish it. So I took on the hardest part first and believe me it felt hard. Right away. I made it to about 3/4 of the mile up. I could see the top of the road, the top of the hill but I just couldn't go any further. I was so mad but at the same time happy with as far as I made it. So I walked the rest of the 1/4 mile to the top. I turned around and ran the 2 miles down. I haven't run that road in a while and forgot about how steep it can be at times. I also forgot about how busy it is, even at 7am on a Saturday. There's no sidewalk or even side of the road so when cars come you have to run in the dirt. I hate that, worry all the time I'm going to step in a hole or something but what are going to do. Anyway, I made it down the hill and felt spent. I wondered if there was any way I could turn around and run that last mile up the hill to my car. I really was worried but I turned around at the bottom and started running back up.
Like I said, it's a gradual uphill at the bottom so it didn't seem so bad at first. After awhile I started getting tired. I could feel my legs hurting already. Just about then a song came on; one I like, one that has a great beat and I just started focusing on the song. I focused on the song so much that it almost seemed like my legs got into the rhythm. Like they weren't a part of me anymore they were doing their own thing. And they were carrying me up the road to the school. I made it to the school with no problem. When I finished I was so happy!! Even with walking 1/4 mile at the beginning I still felt good about the rest of the run. I'm getting so much better at running hills! My total time was 41 minutes for 4 miles. Not the best time but good when you realize the first mile took me 13 minutes. :-)
I was really happy. And I wondered when I was going to get a chance to take a stab at that road again. I'm going to beat it one of these days. I'm going to win. It may be slow going up, but one day I will run the whole way up Elk Ridge Drive. And you know what? I know I will because I've come this far already.
2 1/2 years ago I was over 220 lbs and could barely walk a mile without getting winded. I've come a long way.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Fashion Show
Well Friday was the fashion show. I was so worried about it! The night before I didn't sleep well at all. I just kept thinking about how my arms and legs were going to look to everyone. Friday morning I went to the gym and worked my butt off. It was like a last ditch effort to tone my arms and legs. I'd been working out those areas the last couple weeks but thought maybe I could do a little more that morning. When I got home I made the mistake of getting on the scale. 161.5 lbs! I was so upset. I know I haven't been that great with counting my calories (I've been going over a little every day) but I didn't think I'd been doing that bad! And I'd been running and working out every day. I felt deflated. I felt like "why even try". And it showed in my food choices the rest of the day. I wasn't the best eater that day at all.
Come 5:30 it was time to go to the running shop for the show. My stomach hurt. I kept trying to tell myself it would be fine and I wish I'd listened because it really was. I went there, they took me in the back, showed me what I'd be wearing (capri's and a short sleeve shirt-perfect), found me some shoes and then I sat in this room with the other "models". They were all really nice. Very down to earth people. No one was totally thin and trim and "the perfect body". It was so nice! Just normal every day runners. A few of them were talking about runs they'd done the last weekend and ones that were coming up the next day. It was fun to listen to. A whole room of runners! I just sat and listened. Then when the time came all we had to do was walk do the isle, get up on this stool, show our clothes, then get down and walk out. It was easy and there were only about 20 people there which made it even easier.
Afterwards Kim and I went out to dinner (Leah was staying the night with Karen). I was on cloud nine! I was so happy I'd put myself out there and said yes to that. It really a lot of fun and I enjoyed being out of my comfort zone for just a big. Plus the free stuff we got for doing it was a really nice long sleeve running shirt and running socks. I was really excited for the running socks. I'd wanted some but never could spend $12 on one pair of socks. I couldn't wait to try them out. I wasn't planning on running Saturday but with the new shirt and socks I really wanted to!
That night after dinner we stopped at got some frozen yogurt. I decided this was going to be my last day for going overboard with my food. Starting tomorrow I would really give counting calories a chance. I would see if I stayed on track could I loose weight this way. And it meant counting fruits and veggies too. So I ate my Chinese food and my frozen yogurt with a little more appreciation of what I was eating-knowing the next day I would be back on track.
Saturday morning Kim and I slept in until 8am. He got up to do some things and I put my new running stuff on. I decided to do a 4 mile run with some hills in it. Bad hills at the end too but that was the challenge of it! I drove to the spot, walked the 1/4 mile to the where I wanted to start and took off. Well about 2 miles into it I thought I was going to die! My body felt so heavy! All the terrible food choices I'd made the day before felt like they were all in a backpack on my back weighing me down. I decided again I needed to get back on track and eat better. I could have bad foods (aka fast food) but I needed to cut it back (we were going out a lot lately) and watch what else I ate before and after the fast food.
I ended up walking around 2.50 miles. I walked a couple blocks and then took off again. I hated how heavy I felt. And also my long sleeves were going to be the death of me! It was warm already at 8:30 am...a lot warmer than I thought. When I rounded the last corner I was coming up on the last 3/4 mile and the hardest part. I made it up probably 80% of the hill on that road. I stopped twice-once for 1 minute and once for 1.5 minutes. I was determined to run up the hill as much as I could and I did.
I was really happy about my run. And I was feeling really good about counting calories; about being able to stay on track. And I have. Saturday I was under, yesterday I was only off by about 50 and today I've kept on track too. I have a meeting today and they usually feed us dinner so I've already figured out my points for that meal (they feed us pretty much the same thing each time). I even left some wiggle room.
My run this morning was great too. I slept in and then took Leah to the gym daycare around 10am and ran around Salem. It felt so good to run in the morning, after I'd had some time to walk around and get stretched out. My time was good even with some hills and some uphill roads. I'm down to a 10 minute mile-less than that if it's mostly downhill. I want so bad to beat my last half marathon time but really I'm just excited about training again and maybe getting back into shape. Today was day 1 of my 10 week training. Day 1 down...many more to go. :-)
Come 5:30 it was time to go to the running shop for the show. My stomach hurt. I kept trying to tell myself it would be fine and I wish I'd listened because it really was. I went there, they took me in the back, showed me what I'd be wearing (capri's and a short sleeve shirt-perfect), found me some shoes and then I sat in this room with the other "models". They were all really nice. Very down to earth people. No one was totally thin and trim and "the perfect body". It was so nice! Just normal every day runners. A few of them were talking about runs they'd done the last weekend and ones that were coming up the next day. It was fun to listen to. A whole room of runners! I just sat and listened. Then when the time came all we had to do was walk do the isle, get up on this stool, show our clothes, then get down and walk out. It was easy and there were only about 20 people there which made it even easier.
Afterwards Kim and I went out to dinner (Leah was staying the night with Karen). I was on cloud nine! I was so happy I'd put myself out there and said yes to that. It really a lot of fun and I enjoyed being out of my comfort zone for just a big. Plus the free stuff we got for doing it was a really nice long sleeve running shirt and running socks. I was really excited for the running socks. I'd wanted some but never could spend $12 on one pair of socks. I couldn't wait to try them out. I wasn't planning on running Saturday but with the new shirt and socks I really wanted to!
That night after dinner we stopped at got some frozen yogurt. I decided this was going to be my last day for going overboard with my food. Starting tomorrow I would really give counting calories a chance. I would see if I stayed on track could I loose weight this way. And it meant counting fruits and veggies too. So I ate my Chinese food and my frozen yogurt with a little more appreciation of what I was eating-knowing the next day I would be back on track.
Saturday morning Kim and I slept in until 8am. He got up to do some things and I put my new running stuff on. I decided to do a 4 mile run with some hills in it. Bad hills at the end too but that was the challenge of it! I drove to the spot, walked the 1/4 mile to the where I wanted to start and took off. Well about 2 miles into it I thought I was going to die! My body felt so heavy! All the terrible food choices I'd made the day before felt like they were all in a backpack on my back weighing me down. I decided again I needed to get back on track and eat better. I could have bad foods (aka fast food) but I needed to cut it back (we were going out a lot lately) and watch what else I ate before and after the fast food.
I ended up walking around 2.50 miles. I walked a couple blocks and then took off again. I hated how heavy I felt. And also my long sleeves were going to be the death of me! It was warm already at 8:30 am...a lot warmer than I thought. When I rounded the last corner I was coming up on the last 3/4 mile and the hardest part. I made it up probably 80% of the hill on that road. I stopped twice-once for 1 minute and once for 1.5 minutes. I was determined to run up the hill as much as I could and I did.
I was really happy about my run. And I was feeling really good about counting calories; about being able to stay on track. And I have. Saturday I was under, yesterday I was only off by about 50 and today I've kept on track too. I have a meeting today and they usually feed us dinner so I've already figured out my points for that meal (they feed us pretty much the same thing each time). I even left some wiggle room.
My run this morning was great too. I slept in and then took Leah to the gym daycare around 10am and ran around Salem. It felt so good to run in the morning, after I'd had some time to walk around and get stretched out. My time was good even with some hills and some uphill roads. I'm down to a 10 minute mile-less than that if it's mostly downhill. I want so bad to beat my last half marathon time but really I'm just excited about training again and maybe getting back into shape. Today was day 1 of my 10 week training. Day 1 down...many more to go. :-)
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Hiking the Y & making memories
I think if I could I would run outside every day instead of doing any other kind of exercise. I really like running outside. Unfortunately it's usually dark when I exercise in the morning. I can run on Saturday mornings but usually that's the only morning I can. This week I've taken a few days off for Spring Break and Kim decided to take today off too. So this morning I didn't wake up until 7am to exercise...and it felt great! I walked to the top of Elk Ridge and then ran down and around town some. I tried to do as much downhill but I tried to be careful so I wouldn't have massive amounts of uphill when I was done. I ran uphill a few times and was happy with myself for making it as much as I did. I really hate running uphill but I need to get better at it.
I felt good pretty much the whole run (was a little over 3 miles of running and just under 1 mile of walking total). It was nice. And the sun was up so I could see the valley while I ran...It was just really nice. I was thinking how nice it would be to be able to get up at 7am every morning and run. :-) I think I could get use to it. But unfortunately I have to work Wednesday and Friday and even though I've taken Thursday off too I won't be able to run because Kim will be at work. Since schools out I'm thinking of sleeping in again (woot woot) and then going over to the school track with Leah around 9 or 10 am. Then I can run around the track and up and down the bleachers. I can bring Leah's ball and tricycle so she has something to do. We'll have to see.
Yesterday was the only day that Stephan, Dallin and I could do something without Leah. I'd been wanting to do something with them for awhile but it never seems to work out. Yesterday it finally did. So we dropped Leah off at Kim's work and then the boys and I went to hike the Y trail. The Y trail is on the mountain to the east of BYU. It's only 2.4 miles total (up and back) but it's hard! It's really steep and there's about 11 switchbacks. We all wanted to see if exercising helped make the hike not so hard. Well after only 1 switchback I wanted to die! My legs were killing me and I was breathing hard. We stopped here and there (about ever other switchback), caught our breath, let our legs stop burning and then continued to the top. It was a hard hike! Way harder than I remembered...but it's been about 7 years since I've done that hike. Maybe longer. The view from the top was amazing. The boys kept saying how beautiful the view was as we were hiking.
One thing I did notice during the hike was that even though I had to stop for breaks and even though I was breathing heavy while we were hiking, when we stopped I recovered really quick. My legs weren't sore at all today either, even with my run this morning. I think exercising really helped with that. I really did think it would be easier after exercising 5-6 days a week but it still kicked my butt. I liked how quickly I recovered though. That make it really nice.
I loved getting out with my boys. Just being able to hang out with them. When Leah's around it's hard to have a conversation. She interrupts and wants to be a part of everything. I miss just being able to hang out and talk with them. It doesn't happen much at all. So yesterday was a treat. I appreciated my time with them and loved every minute of it. Next year Dallin will be graduating and going on a mission. Stephan could find a friend and move out any time. So I really, really appreciate memories like yesterday.
Afterwards we ate at El Azteca; hands down my favorite Mexican restaurant. I had a Fajita Scramble: potato, scrambled egg, chicken, onions, red/green peppers, cotija cheese and green sauce. It was AMAZING! I'm trying to pick something new and different every time I go there and I haven't been upset with any of my picks yet. This one came with 3 homemade corn tortillas. I ate WAY more than I should of but I was hungry from the hike and it was so good. The flavors in their food...just amazing! Dallin had carne asada nachos and Stephan had a carne asada burrito. Both liked their food a ton and almost finished all of their food-which says a lot because both of their orders were huge!
All in all it was a nice time. I really love my boys. They have grown into great young men that I'm proud of. Good friends, dependable, happy and for everything they've been through-really well adjusted! Not sure how much of it had to do with me or if it's just them coming of age. Either way I had a great time.
I felt good pretty much the whole run (was a little over 3 miles of running and just under 1 mile of walking total). It was nice. And the sun was up so I could see the valley while I ran...It was just really nice. I was thinking how nice it would be to be able to get up at 7am every morning and run. :-) I think I could get use to it. But unfortunately I have to work Wednesday and Friday and even though I've taken Thursday off too I won't be able to run because Kim will be at work. Since schools out I'm thinking of sleeping in again (woot woot) and then going over to the school track with Leah around 9 or 10 am. Then I can run around the track and up and down the bleachers. I can bring Leah's ball and tricycle so she has something to do. We'll have to see.
Yesterday was the only day that Stephan, Dallin and I could do something without Leah. I'd been wanting to do something with them for awhile but it never seems to work out. Yesterday it finally did. So we dropped Leah off at Kim's work and then the boys and I went to hike the Y trail. The Y trail is on the mountain to the east of BYU. It's only 2.4 miles total (up and back) but it's hard! It's really steep and there's about 11 switchbacks. We all wanted to see if exercising helped make the hike not so hard. Well after only 1 switchback I wanted to die! My legs were killing me and I was breathing hard. We stopped here and there (about ever other switchback), caught our breath, let our legs stop burning and then continued to the top. It was a hard hike! Way harder than I remembered...but it's been about 7 years since I've done that hike. Maybe longer. The view from the top was amazing. The boys kept saying how beautiful the view was as we were hiking.
One thing I did notice during the hike was that even though I had to stop for breaks and even though I was breathing heavy while we were hiking, when we stopped I recovered really quick. My legs weren't sore at all today either, even with my run this morning. I think exercising really helped with that. I really did think it would be easier after exercising 5-6 days a week but it still kicked my butt. I liked how quickly I recovered though. That make it really nice.
I loved getting out with my boys. Just being able to hang out with them. When Leah's around it's hard to have a conversation. She interrupts and wants to be a part of everything. I miss just being able to hang out and talk with them. It doesn't happen much at all. So yesterday was a treat. I appreciated my time with them and loved every minute of it. Next year Dallin will be graduating and going on a mission. Stephan could find a friend and move out any time. So I really, really appreciate memories like yesterday.
Afterwards we ate at El Azteca; hands down my favorite Mexican restaurant. I had a Fajita Scramble: potato, scrambled egg, chicken, onions, red/green peppers, cotija cheese and green sauce. It was AMAZING! I'm trying to pick something new and different every time I go there and I haven't been upset with any of my picks yet. This one came with 3 homemade corn tortillas. I ate WAY more than I should of but I was hungry from the hike and it was so good. The flavors in their food...just amazing! Dallin had carne asada nachos and Stephan had a carne asada burrito. Both liked their food a ton and almost finished all of their food-which says a lot because both of their orders were huge!
All in all it was a nice time. I really love my boys. They have grown into great young men that I'm proud of. Good friends, dependable, happy and for everything they've been through-really well adjusted! Not sure how much of it had to do with me or if it's just them coming of age. Either way I had a great time.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Feeling like a newbie
This last week I've started counting calories instead of doing WW. It's been really interesting. While I like it, there are things I really don't like about it at all. My main complaint: You have to count fruit and veggies. When I eat a banana it counts against my calories for the day. An apple too. And asparagus. I don't think that's right. It would have kept me from eating those things when I was first starting to lose weight. So I've been kind of not counting them (only the ones I knew were 0 pts for WW). Other than that it's been really interesting to see how many calories I actually eat a day. And how much total sodium, carbs and sugar I eat daily. Very interesting.
I start training for my half marathon a week from tomorrow. I'm kind of dreading it but looking forward to it at the same time. I know how great I felt when I was training last summer. It was nice to have this plan in place, to know exactly what you're doing everyday and to be exercising so much. But at the same time I know how hard those 10 mile runs are. Or how hard it is at 5am to get a 4 mile run in. Or how much I missed CrossFit. Although right now I'm feeling kind of tired of CrossFit. I don't want to stop because I know how good it is for me to stay in shape but it will be nice to have something else to do.
My run with Brenna reminded me how much I liked the long runs. How nice it was to finish a run and think "Wow that was better than I thought." I'm excited to find new long run routes. To try to challenge myself and see if I can actually beat my last race time. That will be really hard because this route isn't as downhill as my first one so I'm going to have to train more for a regular route with some hills.
My run with Brenna also made me SO SORE! I was amazed. I thought for sure I'd run enough downhill that it wouldn't hurt. But that was 4 miles straight down with 1 mile after. I've been running Goosenest lately which is up and down. Then, to make matters worse, the next morning I did CrossFit. It was April Fool's Day and we thought the workout was a joke but it wasn't.
3 Rounds
Run 800m (2 laps/half mile)
30 kettlebells (2 0lbs)
30 burpees
It took me forever to do this and it hurt before I even finished. To make things EVEN worse I did some extra arm workouts. All that day I kept feeling so sore. By the next morning I could barely walk. So I had to take a day off from working out. I probably should have taken a day off Tuesday morning. Then I wouldn't have been so sore. But it reminded me of when I started working out and how sore I was all the time. To me that's a reminder that I'm using some part of my body that I don't usually use. I'm getting muscles in that area. I'm OK with that. I need all the help I can get.
Friday is my "fashion show." I'm excited but scared. I don't have to wear shorts. They'll have capris for me to wear under my shorts or I have a pair I'm bringing (in case they don't). I think it will be fun but I've been trying to do extra arm workouts so maybe my arms wouldn't be as flabby. I have a lot of extra skin on my arms, legs and stomach. I know that it will never go away but I'd like to get rid of it somewhat.
So Friday will be TOTALLY out of my element but it will be fun too. I'm looking forward to it...at the same time I'm worried about it. :-) Well just have to see how it goes.
I start training for my half marathon a week from tomorrow. I'm kind of dreading it but looking forward to it at the same time. I know how great I felt when I was training last summer. It was nice to have this plan in place, to know exactly what you're doing everyday and to be exercising so much. But at the same time I know how hard those 10 mile runs are. Or how hard it is at 5am to get a 4 mile run in. Or how much I missed CrossFit. Although right now I'm feeling kind of tired of CrossFit. I don't want to stop because I know how good it is for me to stay in shape but it will be nice to have something else to do.
My run with Brenna reminded me how much I liked the long runs. How nice it was to finish a run and think "Wow that was better than I thought." I'm excited to find new long run routes. To try to challenge myself and see if I can actually beat my last race time. That will be really hard because this route isn't as downhill as my first one so I'm going to have to train more for a regular route with some hills.
My run with Brenna also made me SO SORE! I was amazed. I thought for sure I'd run enough downhill that it wouldn't hurt. But that was 4 miles straight down with 1 mile after. I've been running Goosenest lately which is up and down. Then, to make matters worse, the next morning I did CrossFit. It was April Fool's Day and we thought the workout was a joke but it wasn't.
3 Rounds
Run 800m (2 laps/half mile)
30 kettlebells (2 0lbs)
30 burpees
It took me forever to do this and it hurt before I even finished. To make things EVEN worse I did some extra arm workouts. All that day I kept feeling so sore. By the next morning I could barely walk. So I had to take a day off from working out. I probably should have taken a day off Tuesday morning. Then I wouldn't have been so sore. But it reminded me of when I started working out and how sore I was all the time. To me that's a reminder that I'm using some part of my body that I don't usually use. I'm getting muscles in that area. I'm OK with that. I need all the help I can get.
Friday is my "fashion show." I'm excited but scared. I don't have to wear shorts. They'll have capris for me to wear under my shorts or I have a pair I'm bringing (in case they don't). I think it will be fun but I've been trying to do extra arm workouts so maybe my arms wouldn't be as flabby. I have a lot of extra skin on my arms, legs and stomach. I know that it will never go away but I'd like to get rid of it somewhat.
So Friday will be TOTALLY out of my element but it will be fun too. I'm looking forward to it...at the same time I'm worried about it. :-) Well just have to see how it goes.
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