Tired!

I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open! It just hit me all of a sudden. It was a pretty stressful day at work – lots of “panic-emergencies”, as I like to call them. Luckily it was nothing that prevented me from my lunch-time run. It was another perfect day outside. I decided to stay in the back lower parking lot today. Going down the road to DC2 can be stressful because, even though there is a fairly wide shoulder, I find that people do not care if I am there and often do not move over so I have to move to the grass. This is fine expect the grassy ground is often uneven and I can just imagine twisting my ankle or falling. That would NOT be a pretty sight… what would I do? My co-workers would be driving by and see me laying there. Hopefully they would stop, but then they would know.

However, down in the back parking lot of DC1 I often wonder what I would do if I saw a dead body laying out in the field in the back.  It is said that before we came to this property that it used to be a big drug selling area. When we first moved in there was a actually a dead body found down the road a bit.

WOW – I have some pretty random thoughts while I am running! Despite my odd imagination I am safe in the parking lot. Everyday I see the little security guards driving around the lots in their fancy golf carts patrolling the area. Certainly they could save me if needed, right?

Seriously, the worst part is when I have to run in front of the “smoking hut”. There is a picnic table under a shelter where the smokers hang out. Sometimes I forget to take a wide berth around it and am temporarily suffocated and I run by gasping for air. They are nice though – I like the smokers. I just wish they would stop smoking.

The other part of my run that I always have to be concerned with is when I run past the windows in the offices. I feel so odd like everyone is looking at me. They probably have better things to do, but I still feel it. I always try to make sure I do not look like I am dying when I run past the windows.

I realized today that I do not have a relaxed face when I run. I never really realized it until I saw the race pictures of myself from Saturday. Clearly the race day photographers did NOT work for glamour shots. The pictures of me were all HORRIBLE. Completely unflattering, but my face… geeze – I could not have looked any worse. After seeing those, which I may decide to post here but I haven’t decided yet, I have been trying to work on relaxing my face. I will keep you posted on how that goes!

Beautiful day!

Today it actually felt like fall today. The air was cool and the sky was clear. It was perfect running weather. I was looking forward to my lunch time run. I had to get 3 miles in and I did. I felt pretty good the entire time despite my aching legs. I am still pretty sore from this weekend, but a good kind of sore, nothing in pain.

I have to say was was thirsty during the run. I need to find a way to run and drink at the same time. On my run Sunday I carried a water bottle and tried to take a few sips but I either choked myself or I swallowed air. I breath so hard that it is really hard to swallow. After a couple of sips I really felt a lot of air in my stomach and was nauseous. I do not think it helped by having a mix of water and coconut water. Coconut water is supposed to be the natural “Gatorade”. I have to admit that it does not taste really good. Maybe if it were ice cold it would have been better, but after being in the water bottle in my hand it was luke warm. Not very appetizing.

I am going to have to practice or I will dehydrate on these long runs that are coming up.

Food wise it was another hungry day. I stuck to the plan and met my calories. My homemade protein bars have turned out to be pretty tasty – I just wish they were bigger! I have to eat them really slowly to make them last.

I had much success tonight getting my new iPod Nano to work! I bought it last week because my current Nano (probably 5 years old) is on it’s last leg. It holds a charge for less than an hour and the screen is all blurry. I bought a new 8G Nano at Costco last week but I have had trouble with iTunes and my Windows Vista syncing up. I Googled my problem and found that everyone is having this problem. I was all set to return it and find something else. I took one last chance and posted my problem on a message board on runnersworld.com and got a few responses. Someone told me that there is a special iTunes for Vista 64 bit OS.  With all the reading I did you would have thought that I had found that, but I didn’t. Luckily this very helpful person sent me the link. It worked like a charm! I am so happy. I am loading up my new iPod now and cannot wait to use it tomorrow.

It’s cute, too!

Stretch those legs!

Boy were my legs ready for some stretching tonight. I brought out the yoga strap and stretched for about 30 minutes, following the Aaron Mattes technique of Active Isolated Stretching. This type of stretching is supposed to help “achieve maximum circulation, oxygenation, relaxation, lymphatic circulation, nutritional deliverance and tissue elongation” (Specific Stretching for Everyone, 6). I will just have to take his word for it. Right now it just feels good.

What I like most about it is that most of the leg work is done laying on your back and using the yoga strap to pull your leg in different directions.

There are about are about 20 different directions to move the legs and hips. It really does help – I just need to be consistent with it.

Tomorrow it is back to running. I have a big week of miles ahead. If I increase 10% I need to run 20.30 miles.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – 3 miles
Saturday – 5 miles
Sunday – 7 miles

That actually puts me at 21, but I think that will be ok. I will see how I feel on Thursday and if I am tired I will only run 2 miles.

My eating today went as planned – I had 1300 calories. I was thinking about food a lot today, but there is nothing odd about that.  I had some hunger pains before all my meals but I tried to eat slower than normal and that seemed to help. I had to keep telling myself that it is ok to be hungry! I think I have gotten used to eating more calories lately so it will take some time to adapt to eating a few less.

I am going to go to bead early tonight. I have been tired all day and ready to lay down.

More hills!

Despite my whining about the little hills yesterday I decided I needed more. The Ache Around the Lake race will be here before I know it and clearly I need more practice. I met up with Scarlette and Leslie and we set off at a good pace – about what I did a couple of weeks ago. After about the first mile (of 5!) I started to fade. My legs felt like bricks. I took a few walking breaks up some of the longer hills, no more than 30 seconds or so at a time.  The breaks helped but ultimately I just had to slow my pace. Last time I ran it at a 10:30 minute per mile pace, this time would be about 12:00 minutes per mile….

Here is the view – too bad I do not look around while I run!

Lake Lanier

The road to the start - the only flat place for 5 miles! I really need to get some pictures of the hills!

The pace didn’t really concern me though. Sundays are supposed to be my “long slow run” which means 2 minutes slower than race pace. So, since my goal is a 10 min mile, then 12 min mile is fine for Sundays. (That worked out nicely).

My distance goal for today was supposed to be 7 miles. There was no way I was going around that lake for another two miles. Orginally I thought I would run another mile out and then turn around and come back to total 7, but I was done with those hills! I jumped in the car and took a 5 minute drive to Harmon Field and did two more flat miles.  I was happy I got all my miles in, even if there was a brief break.

Food this week:

So the plan for the week is to eat as clean as possible – lots of greens. Part of my still wants to try the vegan diet, but instead of trying to add too many things at one time. My stomach didn’t hold up to all the fiber last week so I am going to take it slow.

Here is the menu I planned:
B: green shake
S: homemade protein bar
L: big salad and apple
S: Greek yogurt and mandarin oranges
D: different healthy meals throughout the week

I have made some homemade protein bars out of my Thrive book. I had all the stuff so I thought I would give it a shot. I haven’t tasted them yet – tomorrow will be the test. They are only 110 calories a piece, but they are pretty small.

The whole batch

One serving - looks yummy, doesn't it!

So, we will see how this week goes! I haven’t lost any weight in a couple of weeks experimenting with this food. Everything I read tells me that the weight will start coming off, it just takes awhile for the body to adjust. If nothing this week I am just going to have to start counting calories again. I really really do not want to, but I really want to get these last pounds off!

Race for the Cure – Upstate

Today was a fun and inspiring day.  The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is a huge event that raises money and awareness for breast cancer. This event in Greenville, SC was a pretty big event – over 5,000 runners and walkers participated. The event was excellent – VERY organized and festive. Lots of good stuff from vendors and plenty of food and water for everyone. There was live music and lots of excitement.

The day started under dreary skies. It was damp and misty as we arrived at the event around 7:00am. The race didn’t start until 9:20, but they asked for all participants to get there early due the crowd they were expecting. A few of us walked around and gathered freebies from various booths – bags, water bottles and pens were the standard things.  Every booth was decorated in PINK, of course. Many teams went out of their way to decorate and dress up. Lots of bras hanging about! It was cute.

There were 800 “competitive” runners.  We had to sign up as a competitive runner to get the timing chip. The rest just ran and walked without getting an official time.  The competitive runners started first, thankfully! I would have hated to fight all the thousands of walkers.

The course was fun because there were many times where the runners had to make u-turns and you were running the other way down the same street you just ran. That means I got to see many of my teammates going the opposite direction as me.  During the first mile was was going strong and heard lots of cheers from my friends. It was really neat. I passed the first mile marker in 9:09. It was a little fast for me, but I was unable to keep up with my pace. The weather was so bad that my handy Garmin did not pick up the satellite. For some reason I am completely unable to tell how fast I am going. I really needed to stick to a 9:30 pace to be able to go the distance and finish in under 30 minutes.

The second mile was almost completely uphill. I held pretty strong, but my pace decreased considerable. I passed the mile 2 marker at 19:00.  I was going to have to run the last 1.1 mile fast. After a brief downhill I gained some momentum. Then it hit – the biggest hill yet. It wasn’t necessarily very steep just steep enough and LONG. It was virtually the whole third mile. It didn’t start going downhill again until the finish line was in sight.

My pace was so slow at the peak I was barely running. I just couldn’t get my breath. My legs felt strong, but that doesn’t do much good if you can’t breathe! Finally I topped the hill and saw the finish. I kicked it in gear and ran as fast as I could to the finish. I saw the clock and was crushed to see it at 30 minutes with the seconds rapidly working their way to 31. I HAD to finsih in less than 31 minutes. I gave it all I had and finished in 30:57 – I barely made it!

The official time was 30:57, I placed 16th out of 41 in my age group and 177th out of 367 in my gender.

After I finished I hung around the finish line to cheer on my team. Sue came in next at 35:26. This was her second race and she shed a few minutes off of her first race time I think. She was thrilled and I am so happy for her!

The rest started coming in a couple at a time after 40 minutes. Everyone did great – just getting out there and doing something like this is awesome. Hopefully everyone will see how exciting and motivating racing can be and will sign up for more.

All that being said, the real reason we were there today was to raise money for the Cure. Our team did great and raised over $2500.00 in a few short weeks. Many cancer survivors were honored, including one of my teammates, Cindy Thompson. She is incredibly strong and has beat breast cancer. She was one of the hundreds of survivors here today running and walking.

Me in our official adidas team shirt! Impossible is Nothing!

Just a few of us on the team. We couldn't see to get everyone together.

Now I have to get busy and start training on some hills and doing speed training!

Tomorrow is race day

Tomorrow is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Upstate in Greenville, SC. Our team got in the game a bit late – only 5 weeks before the race. In that time we were able to raise over $2500.00! I think that is pretty good.

Tomorrow the race goal is to get in the 29 minute range. I do not care if it is 29:59 – I just want to see 29!!!  I have done everything right this week to prepare – food has been good, hydration and my running. I just need the crowd and the weather to cooperate!!!

Tune in tomorrow!

What has changed?

It is a funny thing that happened over this past year… I became committed, dedicated and focused about my fitness. To top it off, I am enjoying it. I have tried in the past to exercise and to want to be a runner or whatever, but I would get bored or side tracked. I really cannot figure out where I made the mental shift. It is no longer an effort. I get tired, but it is no longer an option not to exercise.

I found a good quote, although I do not know where it came from:

“It is easier for me to decide once to to run every day, than to decide every day to run once”.

I think this is so true – I know what I have to do and I do it. There are no decisions to make. Just like brushing your teeth – you know you have to brush your teeth every day – there are no decisions about when to do it, how to do it, or questioning if  you feel like it or not. You just do it. That is how exercise is now.

I have to say that it is quite relaxing to know that I have a plan every week. I know what I am going to run, I know what I am going to eat (aside from the issues I have had this week), and I know what my schedule is. I do worry sometimes that I am too locked in to my routine and probably should shake things up a bit, but I like it.

5:30 – wake up, start coffee, iron clothes, drink coffee and watch news
6:20 -  turn on curling iron, pack lunch
6:30 – do hair and make-up
6:50 – start breakfast, eat
7:10 – get dressed
7:20 – leave
7:50 – get to work, log into computer, get water, go to bathroom, start working
10:00 – snack
11:30 – exercise
12:30 – eat lunch
3:00 -  snack
5:00 – go home
5:30 – get home, start dinner
6:00 – eat, read, clean, watch sitcoms, do whatever
7:30 – more exercise if needed – core, stretch, etc
8:30 – shower
9:00 – blog and surf while kind of watching TV
10:00 – go to bed

Like clockwork Monday – Friday. Kind of pitiful I guess, but I really do not like my schedule being disrupted!!

Food Experiment

The last week or so I have been trying a new diet – I was testing it out to see if it is something I wanted to try maybe for a 30 day challenge. After the first week I don’t feel that great…I was going to try to eat a vegan diet for a month and see how I felt. After a week I know I cannot go 30 days.

A vegan diet is no animal products at all. No meat, eggs, chicken, yogurt, etc. I am fine with no meat, but I really do not want to give up eggs, cheese or yogurt. All my protein was supposed to come from plants, grains and nuts.

I tried a few new grains; quinoa, millet and amaranth. The millet and amaranth are ok but I have now officially decided that I do not like quinoa. It has so many good things going for it – it is high in protein and is a complete protein, which is a rare find in one food. It has tons of magnesium and other powerful nutrients.  I have tried it in the past and really couldn’t even stomach it… then I learned you have to rinse it thoroughly before cooking it because it has some sort of coating that needs to be washed away. I did that this time and it was edible.  It looks weird:

I am so happy I made a huge tub of it! Hopefully the birds will like it.

I find the little white worm-like things around each grain very unappealling.

I found it tolerable when mixed with some oatmeal, nuts, and agave nectar, but not enough to want to keep eating it.

For lunch I have had a big spinach salad mixed with some millet and kabocha squash. I have read about this squash on some food blogs and everyone seems to love it. No. Not me. It is dry and pasty.

To top it all off John drank all the apple cider that I bought to mix with my greens powder so I had to choke down my green drinks with water. Seriously not good.

So, tonight we went to the store and I bought more cider and some eggs. I cannot wait to have eggs for breakfast. I am not sure what I will have for lunch yet, but it won’t be kabocha squash!

Dreary does not mean cool

I headed out at lunch to do my 3.1 mile run. I had a busy morning and I was looking forward to getting outside. My morning was so busy that I hardly drank any of my water – maybe a cup… I usually have about 4 cups before lunch. I also missed my morning snack.

I got ready and noticed it was cloudy and dreary as it has been. I didn’t mind because I thought it would be cool….

My first mile was great – 9:30 pace. I felt good. Rounding the second mile I started to slow down, by mile three I had to take a couple of walk breaks. It was so hot and the sun was coming out! I was really thirsty and didn’t have my hat on either! I still ran 3.1 in 31.:50. I wanted to do 30:00 minutes.

Tonight I did about a half hour of stretching. My new routine can be done while watching TV so I do not mind too much. I just want my body to stay pain-free!

From Jillian

Today was a good day of cross training – some weights, elliptical, stretching and core. A nice day of rest for my legs before my legs have three days of running. Hopefully the weather holds out at lunch time so I can get all my miles in.

I logged in to Jillian’s site to find some inspirational words. It is words like these that got me started a year ago this week. Last year I was at the end of my rope and decided to make some changes. I joined Jillian’s website because she knows what she is doing and I knew I would get the information and inspiration I needed. I did and in the process have lost 80 pounds. The weight loss is awesome and the main goal, but so many things came along the way.

I gained a huge amount of confidence that helped me do a high ropes course, run numerous 5K’s, join a running club and train and run a 10K, do P90X and sign up for a half marathon, a 20 mile run and a full marathon next year. I cannot believe how my life turned around. People ask me all the time how I stick with it and stay motivated. I really do not have an answer because it is coming so easily now. I love the way I feel and never want to go back.

Here are some of the words that Jillian says that inspire me:

The only thing standing between the old you and the new you is a choice. Once you make that choice — and start being true to yourself — it has a ripple effect on your entire future. There are so many people out there who are giving up, accepting what they believe to be their fate, and literally lying down to die. Don’t be that person! We only have one life on this earth, so it’s time to take control and live the life you were meant to live! Each step you take, whether it’s dumping the processed junk in your kitchen to taking the time to honor yourself, is a positive change toward a healthy future. Keep it up and you just might inspire the future of those around you!

It’s true – everything is a choice!

Also on her Facebook page she posted a hilarious video from an episode from “Wife Swap”. It really has nothing to do with me, but it made me crack up!