lola's adventure:from couch to 1/2 marathon!!!

[lolakat]

Hi everyone,

I've been very inispired by reading the posts and journals of other DIS'ers on the WISH board. I've decided to start my own journal to keep me honest about my progress and hopefully to get some support from this wonderful community.

First, a little bit about myself. I'm in my early 30s, I have a wonderful husband and a 3 year old daughter. I grew up in the suburbs of NYC but spent the last 10 years in Philadelphia finishing by training. In July we moved to North Carolina for my new job and I'm very much feeling like a fish out of water. It doesn't help that my job is crazy busy and it's not uncommon for me to spend 90-100 hrs/week at work. We don't know a soul in the area so getting settled is a bit of a lonley process

From a fitness standpoint I've never been an athelete. I've always been a little overweight and too sedentary for my own good. I've had spurts where I've been in better health but they were long ago and fairly short lived. 6 years ago, before my wedding, I was running 3-4 miles a day. I still remember how good that felt. Since then the pressures and time constraints of work, family etc have led me to neglect my own health. I've slowly gained about 50lbs (I'm 5' 10"). And while I wasn't looking my BMI silently crossed the threshold into "obese".

Earlier this spring a group of co-workers were getting ready to run a 10 mile race in Philly. I remember thinking that this was completely out of my reach; something that I could never do. One of them started talking about the couch to 5 K program and I checked it out on line. I didn't act on it then but I did think to myself...hmmmm... maybe I could do that. I started to change my diet a little here an there and I was down 15 lbs between May and July. In June I had some vacation time and decided to start the C25K program. It felt amazing and I though to myself, Wow, I really can do this. I had heard of the Disney 5K race in January (I didn't know about the October one) and decided to register. I'm a huge Disney fan and I knew this would motivate me. Unfortunately, after vacation I got distracted with selling the house and packing up for the move. I fell off the C25K wagon after doing only the first week and my eatiting habits took a turn for the worse. I gained back about 5 lbs.

In July we got to NC and I felt so alone. I was really overwhelmed by the move and missing my friends and life back home. I was feeling down but I remembered what a high running used to give me years ago. I though to myself, that even though I couldn't control anything else about our move or the new area I could control my own body. I started doing some walking on the tredmill and it felt good. I also re-joined Weight Watchers. A program that had worked for me in the past.

Last week I finally got back on the C25K program and officially re-started it. I started coming to the DIS boards to see what people were saying about the marathon weekend 5K. I was shocked to find such a supportive group of people on WISH. I was so encouraged to read all the stories of people who had gone from a seditary lifestyle to running endurance races. I started to think, if they can do it so can I! It was such an extrodiary idea for me I became super excited about it. After a little waffeling I commited and registerd for the Disney January 1/2 marathon today:woohoo:.

I'm not talking about it with any of my friends becuase they would think I am nuts. My husband is very supportive but I can tell he's not sure what to make of my new plan. I'm so happy to be able to talk about it here with all of you!

I figure I will use this journal to track my progress and maybe make some W.I.S.H buddies. So here are the starting stats.

Start weight: 244
Current weight: 220
Goal weight: :confused: Not sure yet. I spent most of my life in the 190s and was happy there. WW thinks I should be 175. I was 165 at my wedding and looked down right skinny. Guess I have some time to think about it.

C25K status:
Today: Week 2 Day 2
8/23: 1.7 miles in 25 min (14.7 min/mile pace)

If you made it this far thank you so much for reading !!

[lolakat]

I finished the W2D2 run last night. It actually felt a little harder than the W2D1 run. I think maybe becuase I was tired and doing it on a pretty empty stomach.

The only time I have to run is at around 8:30 pm. I usually get home from work about 7 and spend an hour with my daughter before putting her to bed at 8. My husband would usually cook dinner then (bless his heart) and we would eat about 830-9. Since I can't take away from my limited time with my daughter I can really only run once she's in bed. Then we eat dinner when I am done. The problem with that is that I am usually totally beat by that time (I go into work around 6am). Since we don't eat dinner until after my run I'm thinking I should grab a quick snack before I run but I'm not really sure what to have that won'd sabatoge my WW plan too much.

Anyway, I seem to be getting by with this schedule for now but I'm not sure how I will make it work as I move on to longer runs. I am running on a tredmill for now but I know eventually I will have to move outside. It is just too dark and isolated in my area to run at night. Maybe I will do my weekend long runs outside and keep my midweek runs inside on the tredmill. I'm trying not to think too far in advance and just keep it one run at at time. It's hard to believe that I will be able to go from barely running 90 second intervals to getting through 13.1 miles. I'm trying to just trust the program

I also think I might be getting shin splints. Not too surprising considering I've gone from no running in 6 years to this training program. THey are not too bad yet but I'm worried they might get in the way of my progress. Hopefully they will improve with a little ice/rest. There is no run tonight so I will just be putting my feet up.

I missed my official WW weigh in this Tuesday. There is only one mtg late enough that I can usually make it after work. Unfortunately I had a work dinner I had to go to this week. Usually missing a weigh in will throw me way off track with my eatting but this time it has been OK. I'm still on plan and loosing according to my scale at home. I'm focusing on the potential of a bigger number from my 2-week drop at my next weigh in. I was 224.6 by there scale last time (week 2) and my scale at home is reading 219.5 today :yay:

W2D2: 1.7 miles in 25 min (14.7 min/mile pace)

[lolakat]

Last night was a rest night from running. I've never followed a formal training plan before so the idea of scheduled rest is new to me. In the past I would just throw myself into working as hard as I could. Of course, this would usually lead to injury or burn out and I would quit before making any real progress. I still can't quite shake the feeling that I am goofing off on the rest days but, intellectually, I understand that it is a necessary part of the program.

My shin splints are feeling a lot better after some rest/ice/stretching. The ache isn't quite all gone but it's nothing that will hold me up from my run tonight. I'm thinking I may need to slow down my pace during the jogging intervals to avoid more problems with the shin splints. I already run slowly. I've been using a 5mph pace for the jogging and 3.3-3.5 for the walk section. I think tonight I will try 4.5-4.7 mph for the jogging section and see if that helps. I used to feel embarassed to run so slowly but after reading a lot of success stories on the WISH boards I realize that a lot of people start off very slowly. For some speed comes later, but if it never comes for me who cares? My goal is to finish the 1/2 marathon not to set a new speed record. Right?

Some other exciting news for today. My pants are too big! :yay: After shleping around for the last week in baggy looking work pants I decided to dig through my smaller pants that I had in storage and THEY FIT! This is a big deal for me because it takes me out of the woman's department and back in to the (very very largest) regular misses sizes. The selection in the woman's department around my new home is laughable so this means I can shop in regular stores again. (Well, at least on line where they carry the size 18 misses.) I'm sure many of you other gals can share my fustration with the limited selection in women's size clothing. It's just ridiculous given the average sized American these days..... I could go on about this forever but I digress. I'm going to wait another month or so before I buy any fall clothes to see if I can drop another size. Then I will have tons of choices just by going to the regular mall.

I've been good about sticking to the WW plan. I will weigh in again next Tuesday. The scale at home still says 219 but that is first thing in the morning without clothes so I imagine the WW scale would be 1.5-2lbs higher than that. My first mini-goal is to loose 5% (12lbs) from my WW starting weight (230.5) which will be at when my official WW weigh in weight is 218.5 lbs. I'm hoping with a little luck and hard work that might happen in the next 2weeks!

That's about it for today. Here's to having a happy and healthy day!

[therriau4]

Hooray for you having to dig through your smaller pants to find some that fit!! You go, girl!!:yay:

When I read your journals I'm knocked out by your busy schedule! I remember when my kids were little, like your daughter, and at the time I worked like you do...unbelievable hours. I don't know you, but I'm very proud of you for taking the time to do your running and the WW. You've got to take good care of yourself and you seem to know that! :hug:

I also think you're smart to allow your muscles to rest between workouts...I think alot of people think they have to work out too hard & then they eventually burn out...keep up the pace thats comfortable for YOU...its obviously working!! Keep it up!!

[toystoryduo]

Great job on needing smaller pants already!!! :cheer2: Your hard work is already paying off!:thumbsup2

How are the shin splints today?

I hope you have a nice weekend!:goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thank you both for stopping by my journal. It is great to know others will be following along with me. :) Your support means a lot to me.

My schedule is a little nuts right now. I know I'm certainly not the first working mom to feel a little over extended. The ironic thing is we made this move because it was supposed to increase our quality of life and give me more time with the family. Unfortunately I was a victim of the old bait and switch. Oh well, if something doesn't give in the next year I will just move back to Philadelphia and seek a new job there. The experience I'll gain at this job will still be very valuable to me professionaly. I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Anyway, I sucessfully completed W2D3 last night. I slowed my pace to 4.7mph for the jogging intervals and it felt much better. I still have some aching in front of both shins but it is a lot less than with my last run. I noticed that at this slower pace it wasn't my breathing or heart rate that limited me but deffinitly the aches in my legs and my right knee and ankle. I've read that this is often the case for new runners so I will just push through it.

Tomorrow I'll start week 3. I'm debating whether to follow the program for time or distance. I feel like distance makes more sense as my goal is to build up endurance for a distance based race. However, I'm so slow that I'm not sure I can handle the jump in time for each jogging interval. I guess I will start by trying to do intervals for distance and see where that gets me. If it is too much I can always do it for time the first day and try to extend to the distances over the course of the week.

My hubby is away for the weekend. It is my first day off in 3 weeks so I'm just enjoying the time with my daughter. We will go to the park when she gets up from her nap and tomorrow we may check out a local children's museum. Since DH is also the family cook I will be on my own for meals until Tuesday. I bought some bagged salad and chicken breasts so I wouldn't be tempted to stop and pick up junk to eat. Even a kitchen rookie like me should be able to figure that out.

I'm off to get some rest while DD is napping. Have a great day!!

W2D3: 1.61 miles in 25 min (15.53 min/mile pace)

[lolakat]

yesterday was a rest day so not to much to report on the C25K situation. The shins are deffinitly feeling better than then did last time around so I think slowing my pace really helped.

Food yesterday was on target for the WW plan

B: Banana
L: Omlete with mushroom and peppers
D: Chicken and brocolli stir fry with wild rice
S: Skinney Cow mint/chocolate ice cream sandwich (if you've never tried these you should. Yummy and only 2 WW points)

No formal excersice but I did chase DD around at the park for a while. :love: DH is away for the weekend visiting our friends back "home" in Philadelphia. I'm glad he's able to go and have a good time but it is very lonley here and I am home sick. :sad1: I know everyone says it will get better with time but for now it is still hard. We are giving it a year to see how we feel and then we'll make a decision about if we will stay or look to move back.

Until then I will just enjoy cuddling with my little girl and watching Dora the Explorer until it's time for my run. W3D1 tonight!!

[lolakat]

W3D1 went better than I expected. I was able to complete all the intervals and even added in an extra jog at the end. I decided to do the intervals for distance so the long interval (1/4 mile) took me a about 3 and half minutes. I did the first round of intervals at 4.7 mph and walked at 3.5 mph. I felt pretty good so I did the second 1/8 mile interval at 5 mph and added on 1/4 mile of jogging at 5.0 at the end of the run. I was previously counting my warm up/cool down in my time and pace but I'm going to stop doing that now and only report out the time for the trainng part of the run.

My shins are still a problem and they really bothered me in the last 5 min or so of this work out. I'm not sure what to do about it since they seem to feel ok when I start. More rest may be the best answer but I know if I get off my training schedule it is a slippery slope to giving up all together. I guess I just try to keep my pace slow and steady and hope those muscles get stronger with time.

W3D1: 1.63 miles in 23:33 (14.31 mph pace)

Eatting wise I really wanted to go out for a treat today. The whole point of WW is that one is supposed to be able to do this with the proper planning. I decided to take DD out to the cheesecake factory. My favoirite meal there is the chicken piccata (sp?). Like almost everything else on their menu, it is deadly from a fat/calorie stand point. I looked up the nutritional info on line and the whole meal comes to about 33 WW points. I decided to split the meal in half and plan the day to accomidate the 16.5 points for dinner.

B: Cantalope, scrambled egg whites with peppers/mushrooms
L: sliced green pepper/cucumber/tomato salad (just viniger dressing)
D: 1/2 CF Chicken Piccata
S: Skinney cow ice cream sandwich

Overall I felt pretty good about the day. DH will be getting home late tonight from his trip to Philly. I have "back to school" night at DD's pre-school to attend. The nanny will be working late but I'm going to try to duck out of work a little early so I can peak in and see her before I go. I have a big presentation to get ready for work so this week will be a little stressful. On that note, I guess I better go get some work done!

Hope everyone has a happy healthy day!!:thumbsup2

[lolakat]

Yesterday was a rest day from the C25K. The legs are feeling pretty good. Not 100% but about 90% normal. I plan to do my run tonight (W3D2) as scheduled. The marathons for mortals and Galloway book that I ordered came in last night along with my new Forerunner 305. I spent a little time skimming the books but I haven't played with the Forerunner yet. It will be a few weeks before I have a "long run" to justify it's use anyway. After looking through the books I'm a little nervous about the time I have before the 1/2 marathon. If I completely finish the C25k before starting the Galloway 1/2 marathon program I won't have enough time. I'm thinking once I finish W4 on C25K I will start integrating a long run from the Galloway program on the weekend. That way I should be building enough endurance before the 1/2. We'll see how it goes. All of this is contingent upon my lower leg muscles hanging in there. I feel like the rest of me is ready to go so I'm really concerned that these stupid shin splints are going to hold me up. I guess worse comes to worse I have to defer to the 5K at marathon weekend. Maybe I could pick up the Princess 1/2 marathon at the end of Feb. I've found a better running shoe store in my area and I plan to try to get there in the next week to make sure I'm running in the right shoes.

While I was looking for a place to get checked out for shoes I saw that one running store has a clinic for new runners starting up at the end of September. I would love to be able to do that not only so I could learn some better technique but also so I might meet some people in my new town. Unfortuanately there is no way I can make it to the meetings with my work schedule. I'm pretty bummed out about this. I feel so trapped between work and my family obligations. I just don't see how I'll ever make any sort of social connections in our new area.

Eatting wise things are going fine. I'll weigh in at WW tonight. It's been 2 weeks since my last weigh in so I'm hoping for a good number. I'm hoping I might make my 5% goal today. Food yesterday:

B: Banana and 2 plums
L: Lean Cuisine BBQ chicken pizza, bag of cherries
S: Starbucks fat free cappacino
D: The other half of the CF Chicken Piccate from yesterday
S: Skinney cow mint ice cream sandwich.

I was a little over in my points but I still have all of my flex and activity points for the week so I wasn't really "over".

Ok...back to work :surfweb:

[eyor44]

Looks like you are doing good with your training. I hope your shin splints ease up soon.
I did the 1/2 this past January and will be there again next January. I'm a walker. Would love to run, but just can't get the hang of it.

Keep up the great work. :thumbsup2 I am really impressed that you are taking this on given your work schedule.

[toystoryduo]

You're doing a great job with your training! Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

I'm sorry to hear that you are still having problems with the shin splints. :( I used to get those all the time in gymnastics when I was in high school. Our trainer told me to ice them like crazy and to make sure I stretch my calves and ankles really well before doing warm ups. I hope your shins feel better soon!:wizard:

Have a great day today!:goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thanks for the support eyor44. Walking the half is a pretty impressive thing to me. Walking a 16 min/mile pace is almost as fast as I can "run" or "slog" or whatever you want to call it. :)

I successfully completed W3D2 last night. It didn't feel easy but I got through it. My lower legs are still bothering me a lot while I run but not so much in between runs. For some reason the right is worse than the left. They just feel a little achey this morning. I hope that means they are getting better. We'll see. I had a hard time motivating myself to get going and I kept my pace slow and didn't do any more distance than the program called for. I did the walks at 3.3-3.5 mph and the jogging at 4.7 mph. I should fee proud for finishing all the intervals but instead I feel a little let down that I can't do more or faster. I really am a head case. :confused3

Anyway the stats are:

1.5 miles in 22.30 min (14.87 min/mile pace)

I also weighted in at WW last night.
New weight: 217.6 :banana:
Last weight (2 weeks ago) 224.6
net loss 7 lbs :woohoo:

WW start weight: 230.6 (-13lbs)
Real start weight: 244 (-26.4lbs)


I also made my mini-goal of loosing 5% of my starting WW weight.
My next mini-goal is to loose 20lbs from my WW start weight!

I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. Food from yesterday was:

B: Banana
S: 2 plums
L: Lean Cuisine chiken carbonara (first time I tried this one, not bad) and a bag of cherries
S: Fat free cappacino
D: Pre made bag of ceaser salad with chicken
S: Diet ice cream sandwich (TPTB *** out the name above so maybe I'm not allow to say it, sorry, I didn't know that)

Tonight is a rest night from C25K. I'm planning to buy the add on's to the Wii soon so I can use it to do some Cross training. My DH got me the main part of the Wii last year for Christmas but it is still in the box. I don't really have time for video games (which kind of makes me wonder who he realy bought it for :lmao:) but I would love to use it for some Yoga or Pilates that I could do at home.

Ok, that is enough procrastination. I'm supposed to interview some poor character who doesn't know what he'll be getting himself into in a couple of minutes. I can't exactly have dancing smiley faces on my computer can I. :dance3:

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on your weigh-in!!!:cheer2:

Enjoy your rest night from C25K tonight. :goodvibes

[mickeygirl14]

First - CONGRATS on your first WW goal! It's a great feeling - and the way you are working, it's only the first of many met goals. :cheer2:
Second - thanks for the inspiration! I just started walking about 2 weeks ago - and the shin splints and aches I can totally relate to. I can't even think about adding running intervals in! But knowing there's someone else out there that's succeeding is encouraging. :yay:
Also, I can totally relate to moving to a new city and not knowing anyone. Been there too many times. DH has moved us 4 times since we got married 10 years ago. It's hard and it just takes some time. Sounds like you're already really busy, but church is a great place for getting some support and meeting people.
Keep the updates coming!

[lolakat]

Thank you toystoryduo and mickeygirl 14 for the encouragement!

Mickeygirl14, it makes me feel great that my story inspires you. I got going by reading so many motivating and inspiring stories on WISH. It makes me happy to think I can give back a little bit of that too.

Yesterday was a rest day for C25K. I did go out and buy the Wii Fit Plus attachment for the Wii yesterday. I'd like to start working in some cross training at least a couple of times per week. It will have to wait until we get the TV/Wii set up in the guest room but hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks. (have I mentioned that moving is a PITA).

Tonight will be W3D3. The shins and lower legs are feeling OK today. I will take it nice and easy with the run. I tried to get over to the running store last night after work but didn't quite make it before they closed. I have some time off this weekend so I hope I can get there.

Food was on plan yesterday.

B: Banana
L: Lean cuisine cranberry chicken "spa cuisine" thingy (another first for me and not too bad)
S: bag of cherries
D: chicken and brocolli stir fry with wild rice
S: SC ice cream sandwich

For some reason the numbers on my scale at home were up a little this AM even though I haven't indulged or anything. :confused3 I guess it is normal to fluctuate a little up and down but it sure is more motivating to see the numbers go down when I'm being "good."

Have a great day!!

[toystoryduo]

How did your run go last night? That's great that you are on week 3 day 3 already!!!:cheer2: Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

Thanks for stopping by Toystoryduo. I am totally excited to be finishing week 3!!

I completed W3D3 yesterday.:yay: It will be on to week 4 on Saturday night. It looks intimidating but then again so did week 3 before I started doing it. Although I still have some aches in my lower legs I think it is getting better overall and I no longer have frank PAIN in my shins after I stop running. Hopefully those muscles are beefing up and I've seen the end of shin splints for now... I hope. I did all the walking at 3.5 mph and most of the runs at 4.7. I did kick it up to 5.0 for the last bit of each 1/4 mile stretch. In part because I felt like I could do it and it part b/c I wanted to hurry up and get to my walk break!


W3D3: 1.5 miles in 22.14min (14.76 min/mile pace)

Eatting yesterday was:

B: 2 plumbs
L: Lean Cuisine BBQ Chicken pizza (this is my goog ole' standby lunch it is very good for frozen "diet" food)
S: Fat Free Cappiccino
D: Chicken and Brocolii stir fry (the other half from yesterday)
S: SC mint ice cream sandwich

My Dad is visiting us this weekend. It is so good to see a familiar face. I know his visit will likely present some food challenges b/c we may be eatting out. I will just have to make healthy choices. Also he is staying in the room where my tredmill is. Hopefully I can still get my Saturday night run in.

I hope everybody who has long weekend this week enjoys it. The beaches of NC were spared the brunt of hurricane Earl. I've so happy for everyone who can keep their beach plans!

[therriau4]

You are doing so well!! I love those Lean Cuisines, don't you? They make things so easy & really get us acclimated to the smaller portion sizes. Try not to worry about making good eating choices while dining out...I actually find that easier once I get past the temptation effect. Try to avoid the saucy, pasta and casserole type things...go fish! go steak!

You are doing AWESOME! :yay:

[lolakat]

Thanks therriau4. I do like the Lean Cuisines and eat them almost daily for lunch when I'm at work. Some are good, most are OK but all of them keep me from going to the cafeteria and grabing some tempting high calorie meal.

Yesterday was a rest day on C25K so no run. My dad is here and I'm soooo happy!!! I've really been missing my family.

Food yesterday

B: Bag of strawberries
L: a lean cuisine (can't remember which one)
S: SC ice cream sandwich
D: pork loin, corn on the cob and a little bit of apple sauce
S: SC ice cream sandwich

The scale has been steady this week in spite of me staying completely on plan and getting in my runs. Oh well, I know it is normal to hit plateaus so I will just have to keep at it. Soooo fustrating though.

Tonight is W4D1. The intervals go up to 0.5 miles and we go 2 miles total with 1.5 being jogging intervals. It seems like a lot to me and is deffinetly more than I would dream of trying before I started the program. I'll just be tickled pink if I can get through it.

[eyor44]

Still doing great with your training. :thumbsup2 I have the WII Fit and really like it. I do some yoga, the dance steps and the regular stepping (not quite sure of the name). I also do a few others, but not much. I think the stepping exercises have really helped my shins and calves. Overall the program has helped a lot with my balance. I have balance issues.

Remember the more you run you will be building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat which might account for the no changing scale. Holding steady is way better than gaining. :goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thanks for stopping bye eyore44, I can't wait to get the Wii set up and give it a try. I agree that some cross training can only help my strengh and will likely improve my running.

I successfully completed W4D1 yesterday. It wasn't easy but it felt so good when I was done. It's great to do something that I didn't think I could a week ago. I walked at 3.5 mph and mostly ran at 4.7 mph. I finished all the intervals for distance (although the last 1/2 mile felt really ugly). There are still some aches in my legs but much better than it was.

W4D1: 2 miles in 28:28 (14.14 min/mile pace)

My dad is visiting so we ate out twice yesterday. Overall I think I did pretty well.

B/L: egg white omlette with veggies and half slice of wheat bread with strawberry jelly
S: 1 slice of turkey (lunch meat)
D: Half a Cheesecake Factory Chicken Piccate.

My dad and husband both had delicious looking desserts. (The strawberry shortcake and the resses peanut butter cheesecake). I managed to resist completely which was very hard. But I know one bite for me is never enough and then it's a slippery slope to disaster. When it comes to sweets for me 1 is too many and 100 isn't enough.

I'm sad this weekend is almost over. My dad is leaving tonight. Tomorrow it is back to work and it will be another 2 weeks until my next day off. Plus I have to travel to San Francisco for the second week. I will miss my little girl a lot. Hopefully the hotel will have a good health club where I can get my runs in.

Ok, time to get ready to go to breakfast. Have a great day everyone!

[lolakat]

Yesterday was a rest day for C25K so no run. Tonight will be W4D2.

Food:
B: strawberries
L: Greek salad with chicken
D: Grilled Salmon and sauteed spinich from Magiano's
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

We had dinner out at Maggiano's. I love their baked pasta dishes there. Especially the eggplant parm with a side of spagetti or any of the raviolli dishes. I was trying to make excusses to order one the whole time I had the menu. But when the waiter came I bucked up and ordered the grilled salmon. I was proud of myself but this weekend was the first time on my "diet" that I really felt deprived. I know I can have anything in moderation but I just had pasta at Cheesecake factory last night so I felt it wasn't really "moderation to get it again." Anyway I look at is as a minor success.

I am back on longer hours starting today after 2 weeks of relative relaxation (only 9 hour days). The next 6 weeks are going to be super ugly from a work stand point. I really don't get to come up for air again until the middle of October. It sucks and I just can't seem to muster any kind of positive attitude about it. :sad2:

[eyor44]

Wonderful self control when eating out. :thumbsup2 You did great! How wonderful your Dad was able to visit. I hope you all had a great time.

Hopefully your long hours at work will go quickly. Try taking a break every once in a while and go for a brisk walk if possible. I work in a large building and make a point of walking to the restroom that is the furthest away from my office. Especially if I am reaching for a snack. Helps most of the time. If your hotel doesn't have a gym look for a shopping mall near by that you could walk in.

[momof2minnies]

Great job on the salmon over pasta that is some control! Good luck on the job front -it will be the middle of Oct. before we know it!

Linda

[lolakat]

Hi Linda and eyor44, thanks for the encouragement!

I completed W4D2 last night :yay:. I managed to finish all the intervals but had a really hard time with the last set. I seriously felt like taking extra walk breaks but then I tought about having to come on here today and tell everyone I didn't make it through. So, I guess this journal is giving my the accoutablility I need because I kept pushing and finished the runs. :thumbsup2 I walked mostly at 3.5 although I did slow down to 3.3 for a few seconds here and there. On the runs I just couldn't get a good rythum. I was running most of it a 4.7 mph but then I would feel like I just wanted to hurry and get the lap done so I'd do 5.0 for a few minutes then I would feel too winded and go down to 4.5. I thought I was running slower overall than W4D1 but I actually had a better overall time. Anyway, it was ugly and painful and I'm very glad I did it but I'm also very glad it's over. Hopefully W4D3 will go more smoothly.

W4D2: 2 miles in 27min57sec --> just about a 14 min/mile pace.

Food:
Breakfast: Banana
S: bag of grape tomatos
Lunch: Lean Cuisine chicken carbonara
S: peach and sugar free, fat free cappacino
D: half of cheesecake factory Chicken Piccate
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Tonight will be weigh in night at WW if I can get out of here early enough to make it. The scale at home is only down a little bit since my last weigh in so I am not expecting a big change and maybe none at all. We'll see.

[toystoryduo]

Way to go on those workouts!!!:cheer2: You are doing a great job with the C25K program! Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

You did a great job resisting the dessert and ordering the salmon!:thumbsup2

I'm sorry to hear that things are going to be super busy for you at work. I hope this busy time goes by quickly for you. :wizard:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!:hug:

[lolakat]

Thank you for the encouragement Toystoryduo

Yesterday was rest day for running. Tonight will be W4D3. I'm having a hard time looking forward to my run tonight. I think it is because my last run was a tough one. I've read about how you are supposed to run slowly enough to be comfortable and talk without huffing and puffing. I'm not sure if there is a running pace that will allow me to do that but I guess 4.7mph is apparently too fast for me. I tried running at 4.5 mph but it feels akward b/c it is really slow enough to walk it. Anyway, I will get through it. Who knows, maybe it won't seem as tough tonight. I can't imagine how I will face W5 next week. It ends with a 20min run without walk breaks. :scared1: I'll get there sooner or later.

I didn't get out of work in time to make the 7:00 WW meeting yesterday. I was pissed but what can you do. :confused3 There is a 6:30 meeting tonight and I will try to get there. I really want to weigh in since I'll have to miss next week's meeting at a meeting in San Fancisco. At least I'm doing pretty well staying motivated without my formal weigh in. I think the C25K and this journal have a lot to do with that!

Food yesterday:
B: Banana
S: Fat free, sugar free cappacino
L: Lean Cuisine apple chicken and rice
S: bag of grape tomatos and a peach.
D: green beans and chicken
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

[therriau4]

Lolakat! Big, big hugs for you! You're doing so well...I love that you ordered the salmon on your 2nd dinner out w/ your dad...and that you skipped dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. Understand that your body is really going to take time to adjust to the new changes in your exercise & eating habits...so if the scale is slow to go down, don't fret. I'm wondering if your Dad, because he doesn't see you every day, noticed a change in you. Usually, the body will change before the scale does...

It is so weird that you all are talking Wii Fit...My mom just bought me one last week! We're all on the same wavelength here, ladies!!

[eyor44]

Lola
You are doing great. I hope you have a great run tonight. One thing I decided to do with WI is always wear the same outfit. Sounds weird, but then you get a real accurate reading week to week.

[lolakat]

Thanks for stopping by ladies! And thank you for being my cheerleaders!!

Therriau4: My dad did notice the change. I guess I'm down about 17lbs since he last saw me. I also know clothes are fitting me differently so change is happening. I guess I'm just inpatient. I want the same instant gratification I get from stuffing my face with junk food. :rolleyes1

Eyor44: That's so funny. I used to have a WI outfit too! Now that I go straight from work it's not always possible.


Last night was W4D3. I made it through all the intervals and it less pain than W4D2. I slowed my pace even more. I "ran" at 4.3 mph and walked at 3.3-3.5. It feels like running in slow motion but I'm trying to head all the advice I"m getting to SLOW down and work on endurance not speed. I had a hard time getting my head in the game last night and really had to talk myself into sticking with in through the 1/2 mile intervals. I kept saying... "you can do this" over and over again out loud. Must have sounded pretty silly to my husband if he was listening. :rotfl2: I need to get better at having positive thinking. I should be happy with myself for finishing the intervals not disappointed at doing them slowly.

W4D3: 2 miles in 30.34 min: 15.17 min/mile pace (SLOW REALLY SLOW)

I did make it to WW weigh in last night basicly by just dropping some work stuff in someone else's lap and leaving. I lost 1 lb. My first reaction to that was ugghhh.... 1 lb..... all this for 1 lousey LB!! But really I am happy that I'm trending down and I know my body is doing the right thing. If I keep at this the weight will come off. I just need to be patient and consistant!!:thumbsup2.

Weight in weight 216.6
Last weight: 217.6
Starting weight (WW) 230.6
Net loss: 14 lbs

Real start weight: 244
Net loss: 27.4 lbs :cool1:

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: fat + sugar free cappaccino
L: Lean cuisine swedish meatballs (this is a good one) and bag of tomatos
S: Berries
D: shrimp ceaser salad with fat free dressing
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[toystoryduo]

Way to go on W4D3!!!:cheer2: You are doing a great job!!!:cheer2:

Congrats on losing a pound!:cheer2: You're almost at the 30 pound mark!!!:cheer2:

Hope you have a nice evening ahead!:hug:

[eyor44]

:cheer2: you are doing great! :cheer2: that is one more pound GONE!!!:thumbsup2 The fact that your clothes are fitting differently is a huge indicator that you are going in the right direction.

and remember, you are building muscle. Muscle weighs more. and you are under the required time limit for the 1/2. :cool1:

[momof2minnies]

I hate when my clothes feel like I have a tourniquet on so congrats on them fitting better.

Keep up the great work

Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you for the encouragement ladies! I do hope I am building some muscle too. That would be great!

Yesterday was a rest night from C25K. Tonight will be W5D1. The 1/2 mile is still the longest interval but I do 3 instead of 2. I'm pretty sure I can do this one. I'm scared of W5D3 b/c they raise the longest interval to 3/4 mile. Hopefully I am ready for it!

Food yesterday:
B: Banana
S: fat free sugar free cappaccino
L: Lean Cuisine honey chicken and rice (not bad but not a favorite)
S: green pepper and hummus
D: Pecan crusted chicken and asparagus.
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Today is crazy at work and I am feeling tired already. I'm going to have to dig deep to come up with the energy for my run tonight. 8 more days until my next day off which is also my daughter's birthday. I ordered her a power wheels barbie jeep last night. I think she'll love it. Can't wait to see her face when she gets to drive it. :love:

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on week 5!!!!:cheer2: You are doing a wonderful job!:thumbsup2

Happy Birthday to your DD! :bday: I bet she will love her Barbie Jeep!:drive:

Hope you have a nice weekend!:hug:

[momof2minnies]

Lola you are doing a great job!

We have the Barbie car from back in the 90s when my kids were little- OMG they loved it!

Have a good weekend

Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you ladies! We can't wait to give DD the car. Her whole birthday should be a ton of fun. She picked out a winnie the pooh theme and talks about it all the time. My in-laws will be in town too so it will be a "real party" for her!

I finished W5D1 last night. I really wanted to skip it but I mustered the energy to get on the tredmil and once i got started it wasn't so bad. The last of the 1/2 mile intervals felt tough but the first two I felt like I could have run a little bit farther. I hope I really can b/c W5D2 calls for two 3/4 mile intervals. :scared1: I kept it very slow. Slow and steady is my new moto. I plan to do run/walk intervals of 3:1 once I finish with the C25K and I think (hope) I can go faster with more frequent walk breaks. For now I'm just concentrating on building some endurance. I "ran" at 4.3 mph and walked at 3.3-3.5.

W5D1: 2 miles in 29.44 min: 14.72 min/mile pace

My hubby ended up stopping for take out from Cheesecake factory last night instead of cooking. I wasn't really planning on a "treat" but once it was there I just "had to" eat it. At least the 1/2 portion kept me within my point limit for the day

Food yesterday:
B: fat free sugar free cappacino
L: peppers and hummus
D: 1/2 portion cheesecake factory chicken piccata
S: SC Ice cream sandwich

It is a beautiful day here today and I'm not too thrilled to be stuck at work. I hope DH is taking DD to the park. He has a tendancy to keep her inside too much. I have to make time tonight or tomorrow to pack for my San Fancisco trip. I think I'm going to have to buy a new suit as my old ones are too big and look unprofessional. It's awsome to wear a smaller size but not so awsome to have to make time to run out and buy a suit under pressure.

[lolakat]

Last night was a rest night and tonight will be W5D2. The run intervals go up to 3/4. Not sure how that will go since I've been sucking wind on the 1/2 mile but I'm going to give it a go!

Food yesterday:
B: Pear
S: fat free, sugar free, cappaccino
L: peppers and hummus
D: grilled chicken sandwich and spinich
S: SC Ice cream sandwich

Today is another fun day at work. Not too much to say about that. Tonight I have to get my stuff for the trip together and pack. I'm nervous because I don't know what fits me right now. I may have to run out tomorrow after work and buy a new suit. I'm going to be under a lot of pressure while I'm away and eatting out every meal will be tough on the diet. I'll just be hoping to get my runs in and not gain anything.

[lolakat]

I'm very pleased to report that I made it through both 3/4 mile intervals for W5D2 last night. The second one was touch and go but I did it. :yay: W5D3 and the 2 mile straight run is looming in front of me. I'm pretty sure I could run for the 20 minute time interval but it will take me more like 30 minutes to do the full 2 miles. I know I will be no where near a 10 minute mile anytime soon. If I make it the 20 minutes I will consider it a sucess but I will try to push for the full 2 miles with no walk breaks. To make things more interesting I will have to do this run at the hotel in San Fran after a full day of traveling in from the East Cost. We'll see how it goes.

W5D2: 2 miles in 29:44: 14.72 min/mile

Food yesterday:

B: Blueberries
S: fat-free sugar free cappaccino
L: Lean Cuisine chicken mediteranian (not bad for 4 pts)
D: 1/2 CCF Chicken piccata that was left over from Friday
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

I have a CRAZY day of prepping for my trip today. Luckily I was able to dig a couple of suits in my new size out of the attic last night. I had to drive for 30 min this AM to get to a same day dry cleaner. It made me feel like I live on the moon. These things were just not an issue living in Philly. I have to put the final touches on my presentation and make sure everything else in is order. I tried to clean up around the house a bit last night b/c my in-laws are coming to stay with us and they arrive two days before I get back. I just know the place will be a wreck but :confused3 what can ya do.

[AlohaPolynesian]

Just joining in. Never heard of the C25k plan but it looks interesting. I've never been a runner myself, even when I was in shape! Congrats on the weight you've lost and being able to make good choices while dining out. That's my weakness! Look forward to reading more :)

[lolakat]

Didn't get a chance to update yesterday since I spent most of the day in an airplane. Monday was uneventful. It was a rest day for C25K. Eatting was on plan. I'll just skip to Tuesday (yesterday).

This was a big day for the C25K. The first full 2 mile run with no walk breaks. and I did it!!!! We got into the hotel around 9pm East Coast time. Luckily my roomie is also a runner so we decided to head straight to the gym. I can't belive how easily the run went. There must be somthing wrong with my tredmill at home because it felt som much better running on the nice new tredmills at the hotel gym. It was also really nice to be able to watch TV there. I may have to think about buying a new tredmil for home. I ran the full 2 miles at 4.5 mph and felt like I could have gone a little longer at the end.
W5D3: 2 miles in 27.10, 13.35 min/mile

Food yesterday was a challange. There is something about going to an airport that makes me want to eat about 6,000 calories of candy. In anticipation of this, I packed myself some food from home. I only bought a bag of cashews in the airport and otherwise ate the food I packed. I also went out to dinner after my run with some old friends. We went to a tappas place and I was able to order a veggie flat bread that seemed pretty healthy altough I'm not sure how many points it was.

Food:
B: Banana
S: 2 plumbs
L: bag of almonds, 2 slice a wheat bread and 3 slices of turkey.
D: eggplant flatbread with garlic and tomato

I was pretty proud of myself. Hope today goes as well.

[eyor44]

You are doing awesome!!!! :banana:

Woohoo on the clothes getting too big! :woohoo: I know it's bad timing with the trip and all, but still...:woohoo: for you.

Interesting about the treadmills. Maybe your's at home needs to be oiled or something?

Happy early Birthday to your DD :goodvibes and I bet she'll love the Barbie car. My oldest DS had a jeep and second DS had a Power Wheels 4 wheeler. Poor DD never got one. :sad2: which she always reminded us about. :lmao:

Way to go on thinking ahead of time about food for your trip. While it is a challenge, I have confidence that you will make some great choices.

Here is a bit of :wizard: that your presentation goes very smoothly and is well received. :goodvibes

[lolakat]

yesterday was a rest day for the C25K. I felt so psyched after my 2 mile run I almost went back to do more but I was so busy. I didn't get the chance anyway.

Food was a bit of a challenge as I'm mostly stuck with what they are feeding us at the meeting and I went out with a group for dinner. When we went out for dinner everyone was getting a bread bowl of chowder. I really wanted that but figured a big bowel of bread and creamed based soup wasn't the best way to go . I tried to be good by ordering grilled salmon with lemon and capers but when it came out it was sitting in a big pool of liquid.. not sure if it was butter or oil or what. Plus the veggies that were supposed to come with it were mixed with rice. I might have been better off just getting the soup. Oh well, I tried. I've also been avoiding a lot of calories by not drinking (which is the main pass time at theses meetings) I did have one glass of sparkling wine last night which was a nice treat.

B: Fruit plate and fat free sugar free cappacino
L: chicken salad sandwich on a crossant with some fruit salad and a pickle (should have only eatten half...oh well)
D: Grilled salmon with some veggies and rice (and the oil/butter?? discribed above)
S: glass of sparkling wine

[eyor44]

Hopefully the liquid was at least olive oil. :thumbsup2 Good show on attempting to order the right thing and not caving for the chowder. We have a restaurant here that serves that dish and I avoid the restaurant to avoid the temptation.

Totally understand about the good run making you want to do more. But very smart to keep with your rest day. Hope the trip is going well. :goodvibes

[lolakat]

Well I made it through the meeting and I'm back at home after a very long travel day complete with 4 hours delay of my red eye flight home. Yesterday was pretty much a complete loss. Luckily I did w6d2 in the morning before I left for the airport or I wouldn't have got it done at all. My internal clock is all messed up and I'm feeling pretty tired today. It's my daughter's birthday so we were up early getting set up. She seems to be having a great day so far. I'm looking forward to her nap so I can sneek in a little rest too. I don't remember my exact time for my run on w6d2 but I finished it without much problem. Tonight i should do w6d3 if I can get into the guest room where my tredmill is, which is also where my in laws are staying.

Food at the conference was a little tough. There were mostly sandwiches at lunch then eatting out for dinner. I had a few glasses of wine. I think overall I gained about a pound while I was away.

Food yesterday was a bit of a blur. I was either on the plane or asleep most of the day then we went out for dinner a t cheese cake factory.

B: a bag of salted cashews on the plane
L: Nada
D: 1/2 a CCF chicken piccata

I'm going to try to be "good" most of today in anticipation of a slice of birthday cake tonight.

[lolakat]

I was able to get to the tredmill and do W6D3 last night. It was deffinetly harder than the 2 miles I did on the hotel tredmil last week. But I was able to get through it. I kept my speed at 4.3 mph. My legs really weren't painful at all. I was just really out of breath. I'm interested to try running outside to try to get a sense of how I feel out there. I wonder if it will be more like my home tredmill or more like the easier run I had on the hotel tredmill last week.

W6D3 2.25 miles in 31:10: 13.82 min/mile

Food yesterday:

B: 2 eggs and 2 slices of rye toast
L:
D: small piece of steak (really didn't like it), asparagus, grilled onions and tomatos
S: Slice of Birthday cake

Today it is back to the regular grind at work. At least I won't have to think as hard about food since I always bring/eat the same thing.

[eyor44]

Way to go on surviving the trip and keeping up with your training. DD had a good birthday? What was her reaction to the car?

[momof2minnies]

Lola
Unfortunately or not I guess- treadmill running and outside are two different worlds.The belt is moving you and you have no elements to deal with.

I can say for weight loss and sprinting so you have numbers right in front of you to challenge yourself it is great but training for anything not so much.

Glad your trip went well

Linda

[toystoryduo]

You're doing a great job!!!:cheer2: Keep up the good work!!!:cheer2:

How did your DD's birthday go? Did she love her Jeep? :goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thanks for stopping by

DD did like her "jeep" and was very excited to drive it. Unfortunatly the first thing she did was hit a little bush. She wasn't hurt or anything but she scared herself a little and didn't want to drive anymore. She did love her new doll house but her most favorite thing was the balloons. We had rented a helium tank and blown up about 2 dozen ballons. She spent the better part of the day running around the house holding every one of them. It was very cute

momof 2minnies: I'm sure it is very different to train outside. I'd love to be able to do that but for now it's just not an option so I'll have to make due with the tredmill. I'm hoping to start doing a long run outside every other weekend next month if I can sneak away from my daughter long enough on my days off.

I didn't get to update yesterday b/c work was crazy. Monday was an uneventful day. I was off from c25K. Yesterday I wanted to do W7D1 but it was impossible. My in-laws are still at our house and MIL had cooked a big dinner. By the time I got home from work and put DD to bed it was 8:30. Usually I would run then but I had to join everyone for dinner. By the time that was over it was near 10pm and I was beat. It's not a big deal. Technically most people take 2 days off at the end of each week in C25K. I've only been doing 1 up until now. I'll do the run tonight as my in-laws will be driving home today. It's been very nice to have the company. DD will be very sad to see them go and I'm going to miss them too.

Monday food:

B: banana
S: fat free sugar free cappacino
L: LC chicken carbonara
S: 2 plums
D: pork chop and roasted potatos


Tuesday food:
B: banana
L: LC apple chicken
S: 2 plums
D: (very small helping) of my MIL spagetti and meatballs
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I weighed in at WW last night. I hadn't been in 2 weeks because of my trip to San Fran. I lost 5lbs for the 2 weeks :banana: which is awsome b/c it was a little hard to stay on plan while I was away. I almost feel like there is something wrong with their scale but I guess I'll take it!!

Starting weight: 244 (WW starting weight 230.6)
Current weight: 211.6
Total loss: 32.4 lbs (WW total loss 19)

My current mini-goal is a total of 20 lbs lost since joining WW. Hopefully I will hit that next week.

[eyor44]

Awesome weigh in! :banana::banana::banana: especially with the travel involved. Glad the visit with the inlaws went so well and that DD had a great Bday.

[momof2minnies]

Sorry Lola I wasn't getting that is was your only choice then ya do what you have to do.Good job for getting it done with a little one.

Linda

[toystoryduo]

Way to go on weigh-in!!!:cheer2:

I'm glad to hear that your DD had a nice birthday. :goodvibes Has she been back in the Jeep yet?

I hope you have a great day ahead!:hug:

[lolakat]

Thank you for the support ladies!
DD hasn't been back in the Jeep yet. She hasn't asked and I've put it on hold for now. Maybe she's still a little too young got get the idea of steering.

I ran 2.5 miles straight for W7D1 of C25K last night. I was so beat after work yesterday I honestly can't believe I made it though. Form the moment I started jogging I felt like I was going to have to stop. I kept telling myself, "just one more lap, just one more minute, just one more song, and then I'll take a walk break." Little by little I tricked myself to getting all the way to the end. I'm proud of myself for finishing but fustrated that it seems so hard. Looking back through my journal at how hard I used to think it was to run just 1/4 mile gives me a little prospective. My legs are a little sore this AM but not painful like they were when I first started running. I ran the whole thing at the 4.3 mph pace except the last 1/8 mile which I did at 5.0 mph.

W7D1: 2.5 miles in 34.49 minutes: 13.79 min/mile pace

Food yesterday.
B: banana/ fat free sugar free cappacino
S: grape tomaots
L: LC sweedish meetballs
S: SC ice cream sandwich
D: The left over 1/2 of the Cheesecake factory chicken piccata

I find I'm actually not that hungery after my runs. I really could have gone without dinner all together and just gone to bed. Of course it tasted good once I started so I ate the whole thing :)

[momof2minnies]

Way to go Lola- the mind is pretty powerful but also easy to trick by setting new goals each time you thought you would quit.

Keep it up!

Linda

[eyor44]

Excellant running! That is awesome. I'll bet it wouldn't have been as hard if you weren't so tired. Yes, I know, easy to say. Believe me, I've been there. But you are doing awesome. Keep up the great work.

[lolakat]

Thanks for the encouragement! Hopefully as I keep plugging away at this it will come more easily.

Yesterday was a C25K rest day. Tonight I do another 2.5 miles. I'm kind of dreading it after the miserable run I had last time. Hopefully it will go more smoothly. Next week I don't have to get into work until 9 instead of the usual 6. I'm thinking about getting up at my regular time and running before my daughter gets up at 7. Maybe I won't be soo pooped then as I am when I usally run at 8:30pm.

Food yesterday:
B: banana and blueberries
S: Fat free, sugar free cappacino
L: LC BBQ chicken pizza
D: Ceaser salad
S: SC ice cream sandwich

The friend who was originally going to trave to WDW with me during the marathon had to back out but I may have convinced someone else to join me. She is a much more experienced runner than I so we couldn't run together but it would still be so great to share the experience with someone.

I spoke the the origional friend who was going to come with me last week and she was asking me about my training. It the end she decided to try the C25K too and is now finishing up week 1. It is pretty funny that I sort of inspired someone else to run considering I can still barely believe that I am doing it myself. I think maybe seeing that someone like me (out of shape, not particularly athletic, straped for time) can do this made her feel like she could do it too. I told her if she sticks with we could think about doing the princess together at the end of Feb! We'll see maybe I'll get another disney weekend!!

[lolakat]

Ran the 2.5 miles to complete W7D2 last night. It was not quite as hard as W7D1 but I still had to beg myself to keep going after the first 1.5 miles. Did the whole thing at 4.3 mph except the last 1/8 mile which I did at 5.0 mph.

2.5 miles in 34.40 min: 13.76 min/mile

Food yesterday:

B: strawberries
L: hummus and pepper strips
S: fat free sugar free cappacino
D: Grilled chicken and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Last night I registered to run an 8K back home in Philly in November. It fits it well with my training schedule and I'm psyched to get back there and run on Kelly drive. I wish I had taken more advantage of that while I lived there.

[momof2minnies]

Too bad about the friend but I am glad you found someone to go.Of course you can inspire someone else, you are doing a great job.

That sounds like a good plan to keep your same schedule even tho you don't have to go until 9:00.

I hear running in Philly is great- that's about 9 hrs from here I think.

Linda

[lolakat]

Thanks Linda. I think Philly is a great place to run. There is a beautiful trail along the river which can be extended to loop around the art museum. It's also fairly flat. I've hear the Broad Street Run in Philly is one of the fastest 10 milers out there. I hope to be able to go back for that one some day but I don't think I will be off that weekend this year.

I didn't get to update yesterday because work was INSANE!! I was at it for about 16 hours and didn't sit or eat or even pee the entire time. It was nuts and a sort of a high emotion day too. Luckily, I'm off service this week so I basically have regular office hours and will have next weekend off. My mom and grandma are coming to visit! I can't wait to see them.

Saturday was a C25K rest day. I was supposed to run W7D3 Sunday night but I didn't get home until after 9pm and I was just beat. I got up early this AM and ran it before coming to work. That worked out pretty well and I think maybe running in the morning when I'm not on service may be the way to go. I kept the 4.3 mph pace for the whole run. I did have to take a brief break about half way though because "natured called" so technically I can't say I ran the full 2.5 miles without resting. Oh well, I think it still counts and I'll move on to week 8 tomorrow. I don't feel like there is much gas left in the tank at the end of 2.5 miles but hopefully I can find the reserve to get to 2.75 miles for week 8. I can't wait to finish C25K and move on to the galloway program. I think I will like the run/walk training a lot more than the continuous running. I've been noticing some pain in my right shin again on my last 2 runs. I've been doing some extra stretches. Hopefully it is just some muscle soarness and will go away on it's own soon.

W7D3: 2.5 miles in 34:51 minutes: 13.8 min/mile

Food Saturday:
B: FF/SF cappicino
L: hummus and pepper strips
S: strawberries
D: shrimp ceaser salad
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Food Sunday
B: strawberries
L:
D: hummus and pepper strips
S: SC ice cream sandwich

In other news, we are starting to try to potty train my DD again this week. This is our third attmept. She is three and should really be ready to go but she's been very resistant to it. Frankly, it has a me a little stressed out. I think it would have been easier if she was in day care but our nanny is not very proactive and has pretty much left it in my hands. Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. Very few people make it to high school with a pull up on.... or so I hear.

[toystoryduo]

Philly sounds like a great place to run!:goodvibes

Great job getting your run in this morning!:cheer2:

I'm sorry work was tough yesterday. :( I hope today is a much better day for you! :hug:

Sending some :wizard::wizard: your way for potty training. I hope it works out for you and your DD soon.:wizard:

Have a great Monday!:goodvibes

[lolakat]

I ran yesterday morning for C25k but I already spoke about that in my update yesterday. I'm not sure if I will do W8D1 tonight or early tomorrow AM.

Food yesterday:
B: banana
L: LC sweedish meatball
S: ff sf capaccino
D: I had to go to a (very boring) reception for work. I ate some shrimp cocktail and raw veggies from the buffett and called it dinner.
S: SC Ice cream sandwich

I weighed in at WW this AM before work b/c I have a conflict with the meeting tonight. It was a big day. I lost 4.8 lbs this week :yay: I met a few "mini" goals. First I am no longer "obese" by my BMI "just" overweight. Second I reached by 10% WW goal and third I have lost > 20lbs on WW so far. :dance3:

New weight: 206.8 lbs
Starting weight 244 (WW 230.6)
Week 7 loss: 4.8 lbs
Total loss: 37.2 (WW 23.8)

My new mini-goal will be to get into "Onederland." Hopefully I can acheive this by the end of October.

The friend who will be going to Disney with me for the half accidently "outted" me on facebook yesterday. She didn't really know I was trying to keep my training quiet and she posted something about it. It's not a big deal but I don't like the pressure of other people knowing I'm doing this. I feel like I have more to loose if I fail. Guess I can look at it as more "accoutability" to keep going!

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on your weigh-in!!!:cheer2: Your hard work and effort is paying off!:thumbsup2 Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

Thanks Tracy, It is motivating to see the numbers on the scale coming down. :thumbsup2

I did the W8D1 run last night after DD went to bed. 2.75 miles at 4.3 mph no walk breaks. I felt great up until 1.5 miles then still felt pretty good until 2.25 miles. After that it was a teeth gritting push to the end. It is deffinetly a mind over matter thing. Running on a tredmill is so boring. I think I would have a much easier time if I could get my mind to drift away a little. Maybe I need to figure out a way to rig a TV up in that room. After I finished the 2.75 miles I continued my "cool down" until I got to 3.1 miles. I just wanted to actually say I gone the whole distance. Now I just need to run it!

W8D1, 2.75 miles in 38:18, 13.88 min/mile

Food yesterday:
B: banana
S: ff sf cappacino
L: LC bbq chicken pizza
D: chicken brocollii stir fry with brown rice
S: SC ice cream sandwich

My mom and grandma will be coming to visit tomorrow. I wish my house was in better order but their just isn't any time. I've managed to clean up the guest rooms and guest bath room so that will have to do.

Potty training for my DD is going very slowly. She is just very resistant to it but she is 3 now and clearly physically ready so I just have to stick with it this time. Eventually she will get the hang of it.

[fall08CP]

Just found this thread and read it all in one sitting.. I admire your perseverance and self-control. Putting everything you eat and all your exercise out here for the world to see is gutsy, but very motivating.

I was once in your place, and am a graduate of C25K. I started the program in March, moved on to freeway to 10k, and now I'm doing Hal Higeon's half marathon training. It was very challenging and took my two trial and errors before I finished the 5k program, but it's only gotten easier from there. On my long run this morning I do 5 miles in 60 minutes, which I never could have imagined at this time last year. I went from running 15 minute miles (which felt fast to me at the time!) to now 11 minute miles, and hoping to drop to 10 minute miles by January, though possibly doing Galloway 4:1 run/walk. Anyways, keep up the hard work and I promise it will get easier! It took me several months to get that elusive runner's high, and I certainly still struggle through some runs, especially as they're getting more time consuming. But the race in January will piece it all together and be very worth it!

A running quote that keeps me motivated: "You rarely regret the runs you do; you almost always regret the runs you skip."

[VernRDH]

lolakat-

Love your journal! You sound a lot like me some time ago when I was starting out running and doing WW. Now I'm still doing WW, but running much longer and better (but still have progress to make).

You are doing super, what with your hectic job and a little one! My DD is almost 11, and I didn't start running until 3 yrs ago, so she was older. I do all my running at 5:30 am or so, on weekends no later than 7am. I am not a morning person, its just the only time I have.

I get ya on the treadmill-I can't run on it, but I have no trouble walking on it. But when I started, I was strictly a treadmill girl. Things will work out and you will be able to get outside and kick asphalt!

Thanks again for stopping by my journal, feel free to ask any questions or offer advice. Thats what WISH is all about!

[momof2minnies]

Lola,
Have a great day with your Mom and Grandma today- boy I sure do miss my Gram.

Your DD will get the potty training, it will just click all of a sudden.

Your wt loss is coming along great- good job!

Linda

[lolakat]

Vern, Linda and fall08CP, Thank you for stopping by! It has been great to see so many people who have started off in my situation and have gone so far. You're stories keep me plugging away when I feel like this is impossible.:goodvibes

Last night was a rest night from C25K. Tonight will be 2.75 miles for W8D2

Food yesterday:
B: banana
L: LC sweedish meetballs
S: SF/FF cappacino
D: left overs chicken/brocolii stirfry with brown rice
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Got bad news from my mom the morning. She and Grandma aren't coming down today and may not come at all this weekend. She recently sold her house and hasn't really settled in after the move plus she just found out last night that her sister is sick in the hospital. The trip may just be too much for them right now. She will let me know for sure tomorrow. I'm pretty bummed but I understand. Unfortunately I don't have another weekend off until 10/23. DH, DD and I were going to go to the beach but we may have to rethink that and go see mom and g-ma instead.

[momof2minnies]

Sorry to hear your plans have changed.

This is not impossible, look how far you have come already.Keep plugging away, you may surprise yourself.

Linda

[toystoryduo]

I'm sorry your plans have changed for the weekend. I hope you can re-schedule the visit with your mom and grandma real soon. :wizard:

Congrats on starting week 8!!!:cheer2: Just think- you're 2 months into the C25K program and you've lost over 30 pounds. :cheer2: You are doing an amazing job!!!:cheer2:

Hope you have a nice evening!:hug:

[lolakat]

Linda, Tracy thank you for the encouragement! I am starting to feel like I've come a long way. Still a long way to go though so have to keep pushing!!

Ran 2.75 miles for W8D2 last night. The last 1/2 mile was tough but I ran the last 1/4 at 4.6-5.5 mph. I finished out the 3.1 miles at a walk 3.75mph. It doesn't feel easy but psychologically once I 've done the distance once I psychologically know that I CAN do it so I am less likely to listen to that little voice in my head begging me to walk. I'm hoping to get to do W8D3 as outside on Saturday. I'm off this weekend and DH is home so it should be possible to sneak away during DD's nap.

W8D2: 2.75 miles in 38:08, 13.84 min/mile

Food yesterday:
B: Banana
S: FF/SF cappacino
L: hummus and pepper strips
S: Strawberries
D: pecan crusted chicken and brocolli
S: WW ice cream bar (I don't really like these that much but they are also 2 points and we are are out of skinney cow's)

Mom and G-ma are definietley not coming this weekend. I'm sad about it but I understand they have a lot going on too. When I first took this job I had anticipated seeing them about once a month between me going there and them coming here. That just hasn't worked out and it will be almost 3 months by the time I see them in late October. I miss my family a lot and it is adding to my sense that this move was a mistake. Professionally and financially it is a great oppourtunity for me but the social impications just aren't worth it. I'm thinking seriously of just down shifting my career and moving back to the Northeast to a less ideal but less intense job. I don't know, :confused3 I really can't do anything until next summer anyway so I guess I have time to think about it.

In other news, we are haveing some potty training success with DD. :cool1: I've been holding her out of school this week to work on it. I'm not too happy with her preschool so I spent some time yesterday calling around to other options. I found a well reviewed Montissori (sp?) school that will take her this year if she is potty trained. I'm going to go look at it in two weeks so keep your fingers crossed that it looks good.

Ok, that was a long post.... better get back to work Thanks for reading if you made it this far.

[toystoryduo]

:hug: Lola,

I'm sorry to hear that your mom and grandma can't come for a visit this weekend. I hope you get to see them soon!:wizard:

I'll be sending some good thoughts and prayers your way as you decide what to do about staying or moving back home. :hug:

Glad to hear that your DD is having some potty training success!:thumbsup2 I hope it continues to go well for both of you. :wizard:

Have a great weekend!:hug:

[VernRDH]

Hi lola-

Sorry you can't visit with your mom and grandma this weekend. Hopefully you can get together soon!

You are doing awesome with your C25k program and WW!! You are helping keep me motivated, especially with the WW.

Good luck with the potty training, I remember thinking my DD would go to school wearing pull ups, but alas, she finally did it. And good luck with the preschool, I know what that is like too. It is hard to find a place where everyone is happy and you aren't taking out a second mortgage to pay for it.

Keep up the good work girl!

[lolakat]

Thank you gus for coming by. I appreciate all your kind thoughts!

Last night was a rest night for C25k. Today I will do W8D2. Looks like I may not get to go outside as DH has too much to do today to watch DD. Oh well. Worse comes to worse I will get it done on the tredmill again. Maybe I can sneak out tomorrow.

Food yesterday:
B: Banana
L: hummus and pepper strips and grape tomatoes
S: SF/FF capaccino
D: I ended up falling asleep before dinner. Pathetic isn't it.

We took DD to the pumpkin patch this morning. It was a lot of fun. She loved the hay ride and was very excited to pick her very own pumpkin right off the vine. We took her to lunch at a local resturant and now she is sitting on the potty. Overall a very good day so far.

[lolakat]

Didn't get to update yesterday but Saturday was an exciting day for the C25K. I dragged my self onto the tredmill b/c I was feeling wiped out. I was supposed to do 2.75 miles but I felt really good so I pushed it and did the full 3.1 miles!! I felt pretty excited about it. Overall it felt great except my right shin is still bothering me a little bit. Sunday was a rest day but I was able to sneak out to a local park for 30 minutes at the end of DD's nap. I wan't to scout out running trails. Unfrotunately there really wasn't as much there as I thought there would be. Maybe 2 miles of trails total if I did a lot of looping around. Plus it is very hilly. I ran for about 15 min but gave it a rest b/c my shin was acting up. I am still in search of places to do long runs outside when I get to that point in the training. Still also need to get the Forerunner out of the box so I can track the outside runs.

W8D3: 3.1 miles in 43.08min: 13.89min/mile

Tonight I will do 3 miles for w9d1


Food Saturday:
B: none
L: grilled chicken sandwich with honey mustard
D: grilled salmon, asparagus
S: WW ice cream bar

Food Sunday:
B: none
L: grilled chicken sandwich
D: 1/2 CF chicken piccate
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

Weigh in for WW will be tomorrow after work (hopefully).

I had a very nice weekend at home with my family. We took DD to the pumpikin patch, decorated pumpkins and took her to the store to pick out her "big girl bed." Her potty training is going very well now. It was nice to spend the whole weekend at home I try to relax and really enjoy it since it happens so infrequently. There are "only" 19 days until my next day off. :sad2:

The other thing I did this weekend was order some real running clothes. I figure if I'm going to run outside and in races I can't do it in a beat up old sports bra and sweat pants. I ordered some nifty looking stuff and tried to follow the recs in the Galloway book. Hope I won't look too ridiculous in all that spandex.

[lolakat]

Did W9D1 last night and finished it! :banana: I ran the first 2.5 miles at 4.3 mph then 0.25 miles at 4.5mph and the final "lap" at 5.0 mph. I did the last 0.1 mile at 5.5 mph. I acutally then went back to 4.3mph and finished out the full 3.25 miles. The end was a little rough (as always) but overall I felt good.

W9D1, 3.1 miles in 42:28: 13.64 min/mile

Food
B: Banana
S: FF/SF Capaccino
L: LC buternut squash ravaoli
D: grilled chicken, asparagus
S: Skinney cow ice cream sandwich

Hopefully I will get to weigh in at WW tonight but not too sure as it looks like I may have to stay and cover until 7pm.... grrrrr.

[momof2minnies]

Great job Lola keep it up! Did you have to stay until 7pm? Not fair you had important business to tend to!

Linda

[lolakat]

Yesterday was a C25K rest day so no run to report.

Food:
B: Banana
S: FF SF Capaccino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
D: left over 1/2 of CCF Chicken Piccata
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Unfortunately, I did have to stay until 7 so no weigh in for me :sad2: Work got even crazier for the rest of the night and into the wee hours of the morning but I'll but that in tomorrow's post. Right now I'm exhausted and headed to bed. Good night all.

[lolakat]

ugh, so yesterday was really very ugly. Tuesday night was crazy and after trying to field some issues from home I ended up having to go back in at around 3am. It made for a very very long day and I swear I didn't sit down for a minute for the next 15 hours.

Once I got home the last thing I wanted to do was run but I knew I wouldn't be able to do it today either since i have a work dinner tonight. So I sucked it up and got myself on the tredmill by saying..."well, if it feels that bad I'll stop after 15min." This is a mental trick Hall Higdon writes about in the marathons for mortals book. Once I got going it was an OK run. I deffinetly felt tired but I was still able to do the full 3.1 miles and completed W9D2. I'm really glad I did it instead of putting it off. I'm so excited to "graduate" on Friday!! :cool1:

I ran the first 0.25 miles at 4.3 mph then ran at 4.5 unitil 2.75miles. Then I did 0.25 miles at 5mph and the last 0.1 miles at 5.5 mph.

W9D2: 3.1 miles in 41:37 minutes, 13.36 min/mile.

Food yesterday

B:
S: Coffee with skilm milk
L: salad with grilled chicken, apple
D: 2% string cheeses x 2 (after my run I was so beat I just grabbed these and went to bed.... a least they have a little protein in them)

I got out of work early enough to weight in at the Wednesday night WW meeting. I lost 1.8 lbs last week. :thumbsup2

Current weight: 205 lbs
Starting weight: 244 (230.6 WW starting weight)
Total weight loss: 39 lbs (25.6 WW total loss)

Hopefully next week I will hit the BIG 4-0!! and only 5 more lbs to meet my "onderland" mini-goal.

[lolakat]

Rest day for C25K yesterday. Tonight I do W9D2 and then I'm a graduate!

Food yesterday:
B: apple
L: LC apple cranberry chicken
S: bag of grape tomatoes
D: salad with shrimp and scallops
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Had to go to an awful work dinner last night. As if being away from my family wasn't bad enough the resturant and food wasn't even good. There wasn't a single healthy option. I ordered a starter salad with O+V and a pasta with shellfish dish. It literally came with about a pound of overcooked pasta and maybe a half dozen shrimp/scallops which I picked out and ate. Left the pasta behind, at least it was so mushy and tasteless it wasn't even tempting.

[momof2minnies]

WOW Lola good job for pushing through your workout!

Congrats- on almost being at your goal

Linda

[lolakat]

It's official! :cool1: I'm a C25K graduate!!:cool1:


Did 3.1 miles last night mostly at 4.4 mph with a little bit of 5.0-5.5 in the last half mile. It's feels really great to finish it. When I started I really coudn't imagine running 3 miles... or even really 1 mile. Just tack on another 10 miles and I'm for the Disney half. :thumbsup2 My plan is to start with the end of week 1 of the Hal Higdon Novice schedule tomorrow and do 4 miles of run/walk.

W9D2: 3.1miles in 41.52: 13.39 min/mile

Food yesterday:
B: Apple
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC Sweedish Meatballs
S: SF/FF Cappacino, 100 calorie bag of pretzels
D: None.. (I got home to darn late and just went to bed after I ran)

[toystoryduo]

Congratulations on graduating, Lola!!!!:cool1::banana::yay::woohoo::cheer2: :dance3: I am so proud of you for finishing C25K!:cheer2: Congrats on approaching the 40 pounds lost mark as well!!! You are an inspiration!:hug:

[VernRDH]

:cheer2::cheer2: YAY Lola:cheer2::cheer2:

You know that a half is just a 5k with a 10 mile warmup right?:lmao: (say that on a shirt somewhere). You will do just fine. The Higdon plan is a good one, it will suit you well. And if you find it doesn't, there are plenty of others to try.

Keep up the good work-proud of you girl!:hug:

[eyor44]

Hey Lola
You are doing awesome girl! Congrats on the weight loss and finishing the C25K. You have had a lot going on lately. Sorry work has been such a pain. Feel for you there. You will do fine at the 1/2, you are right on track. :thumbsup2

[momof2minnies]

See you at the half!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! You rock!

Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you ladies. Your encouragement means a lot to me!!!

No run yesterday. Planning for 4 miles tonight. I think I'm going to try a 3:1 run/walk interval and see how that goes. Will try to run a little faster during the intervals than I've been doing the 3 mile runs. We'll see, I guess it will be a trial and error thing. Would like to keep my overall pace no more than 14 min/mile. I'm thinking I may start with 4.7 mph for the "run" and 3.5 mph for the walk with the goal of moving toward 5.0mph for the "run" before it's time for the half.

Food yesterday.
B: Apple
L: LC butternust squash ravioli
S: FF/SF Capaccino
D: hummus and pepper strips (another late night at work and too beat to cook)
S: Skinney cow ice cream sandwich

[eyor44]

Lola, I think you will reach your 5.0mph just fine. It's a process and you are figuring it out. :thumbsup2

How was the butternut squash raviloi?

[lolakat]

Lisa, the Lean Cuisine butternut squash ravioli is pretty good. It is deffinetly on my top 10 LC meal list. It has a lot of veggies in it and I dont' really love all the snap peas that tend to get soggy in the microwave. Otherwise it's a good one as far as frozen food goes.


I did my 4 miles last night with a 3:1 run/walk ratio. I ran anywhere from 4.5-5.5 mph and walked at 3.5. I managed to finish in just under 54 minutes which kept pretty much the same pace as my 3 mile runs without walk breaks last week. I deffinetly still felt winded particuarly on the faster runs and as I neared the end. However, I think psychologically the walk breaks make it easier by breaking down the 4 miles into managemable segments. It didnt' feel like the easy-does-it long runs I've read about but hopefully it will feel easier as time goes on.

4miles in 53:56min: 13.5 min/mile

Food Yesterday:
B: Grapes
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: SF/FF cappacino
D: Grilled chicken sandwich on kaiser roll with sautaeed onions and honey mustard dressing
S: SC ice cream sandwich

After looking through all my options for the 1/2 marathon training plans I'm rethinking my options and I may do the Marathon for Mortals Run/Walk plan instead of the Hal Higgdon Novice plan. They really are pretty similar but the MfM plan does the midweek training by time and only the long run by milage where as the HH plan does the whole thing by mileage. I think it will be easier for me to fit in the midweek trianing if I know about how long it will take. Plus the MfM dials back the milage right before the race which I've heard is a good thing where as HH just takes you to a 10 mile long run the weekend before the race. I think either will really serve the purpose for me.

[lolakat]

Rested last night. After thinking about it I've decided to start with the Marathon for Mortals (MfM) Run/Walk plan. I'll begin with week 3 since the end of C25k looks a lot like week 1 and 2. Tonight I will do a 40 minute run. The plan calls for a 3:2 run/walk ration. I was able to do the 3:1 last run but I think I'll try the 3:2 and aim to do all my running at 5 mph. It will sort of like be like doing speed intervals if you call 5 mph "speed."

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: 180 calories of grahm crackers
L: LC butternut squash
S: Strawberries
D: pork chop, grilled asparagus and baked apple
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Tonight is my WW weekly weigh in if I can get there in time after work.

[lolakat]

Ran for 40 minutes last night for W3D1 of the MfM program. Did 3:2 Run:Walk ratio. I walked at 3.6 mph. I tried to really push myself during the runs. I did 1 minute at 5.2 mph, 1 min at 5.4, 30 sec at 5.6 then ran at 6 mph for the last 60 sec. That probably doesn't sound very fast to most people but to me it felt like I would just about die. Anyway, I felt like I worked hard and that's a good thing! I made my fastest min/mile pace ever even though I was walking a good part of the time. Psychologically I really like the intervals b/c I feel like I can push a lot harder knowing that I have a walk break to look forward to.

W3D1: 3.07miles in 40 min: 13:03min/mile

Food Yesterday:
B: Apple
S: 3 graham crackers
L: LC sweedish meetballs
D: caeser salad with shrimp
S: SC ice cream sandwich

WW weigh in was last night. I lost 2.2 lbs :banana:

Current weight: 202.8
Starting weight: 244 (WW starting 230)
Net loss: 41.2 (WW net loss 27.8)

[eyor44]

Awesome! You are doing just awesome! Great work on the treadmill and congrats on the time and weight. :cheer2:

[lolakat]

Thanks Lisa. I feel like I'm really making some progress now.

Last night was supposed to be 30 minutes of cross training. For now I walked some hills on the tredmill. Ended up doing about 2 miles at the 7/10 incline. I need to get some other cross training options set up while being trapped in my house like my Wii or an exercise video or something. I think I will be board to tears of the treadmill otherwise.

I'm trying to deceide between doing a 40min run or a rest night tonight. usually I would have a rest night but I am one night behind this week b/c I did my long run on the wrong night. I think I will try to do the 40 min run if I can manage it so I will be back on schedule.

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: SF/CF capaccino
L: hummus and pepper strips
D: chicken and roasted acorn squash with pine nuts
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

[momof2minnies]

Lola you continue to do so well.The weight is just melting off you- great job

Linda

[lolakat]

Thanks Linda :)

I did the 40 minute run last night with 3:2 run/walk intervals. I walked at 3.7 mph and ramped up the run from 5.2-6mph. I jogged the last 2 min walk interval at 4.3 mph b/c I wanted to beat my best pace from last time.

3.18 miles in 40 minutes: 12.58 min/mile.... I broke 13 min/mile for the first time :banana:

Tonight is supposed to be 30 minutes of cross training. I guess it will be walking hills again. I really have to get the Wii set up!

Food Yesterday:
B: Apple
S: Graham crackers
L: hummus and peppers
S: SF/FF Cappino
D: Ham steak and broccolli
S: SC Skinney cow ice cream sandwich

I trying to find time to completely turn over my closet. I've packed up most of my size 18W clothes already and I'm ready to get rid of all the 18 misses too. I'm a good size 16 now which is great b/c I can shop in regular stores again. I'm a little bummed b/c I got rid of so much great size 12 and 14 clothes right before I moved. I figured I hadn't been in them in 5 years and would never get there again. Now it looks like I may have a lot of shopping in my future if I can stay on track.... it's a good and bad thing I guess.

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on breaking the 13 minute mile and on the smaller clothes as well!!!:cheer2: Lots to celebrate!!!:banana:

Hope you have a nice weekend!:hug:

[eyor44]

:woohoo: on being under 13 minutes! :woohoo: That is really awesome. :goodvibes You are really sticking with it and doing great. Keep up the good work. Definitly take the time to get the WII set up. I love using it for cross training.

[lolakat]

Thanks guys! It feels good to be moving a little bit faster.

I did a little over 30 minutes of walking hills last night on the tredmill. I did about 2 miles at a 3.7 mph pace and varied the hills between the 5-10 setting. Tonight is my 4 mile long run. I wish I didn't have to work so I could run outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Oh well, I'm getting pretty used to staring at the wall in front of my tredmill.

Food yesterday:
B: apple
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC Chicken carbonara
S: 3 graham crackers
D: pecan crusted chicken and asparagus

[momof2minnies]

Lola,
Don't worry too much about tossing the clothes just tell yourself the styles have changed anyway and it is time for new ones.A great reward too for all the hard work.

Linda

[lolakat]

That's true Linda. I do love to shop!!

I ran 4 miles last night in 3:2 run walk intervals. Not too shabby. I walked at 3.7 mph and ran mostly at 5.0-5.3 mph. I deffinetly felt like I was working by the end of each interval but not quite as intense as my mid week runs. Tonight is a rest night and I feel like I need it because my right leg is a little sore.

Week 3: 4 miles in 52.04min: 13.01 min/mile pace.

Food yesterday:
B: Pear
S: Graham crackers
L: LC BBQ chicken pizza
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: Tilapia and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[VernRDH]

Great job lola -keep up the great work!:thumbsup2

[toystoryduo]

Keep up the good work, Lola!:cheer2:

Enjoy your rest night from running!:goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern and Tracy!

Rested last night and went to bed early. Tonight I will start week 4 of the MfM program which is a 40 minute run/walk with 3:2 intervals. I'd like to hit this one hard and maybe break the 13min/mile again... we'll see how I feel tonight.

Food yesterday:
B: Apple
S: Bunch of saltine crackers b/c I was starving and didn't get to eat lunch until 3pm. so not worth the calories
L: hummus and pepper strips
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: ceaser salad with shrimp
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

My mom and grandma are coming to visit this weekend and I can't wait to see them. We are going to the state fair. Should be interesting. I've never been to a state fair and certainly not a Southern state fair. I hear they have fried twinkies and a burger with two krispy kreme donuts as a bun. :scared:

[eyor44]

You are doing so great Lola! :cheer2: If you feel really bad about getting rid of the clothes, can you box them and put them in the attic or basement? or how about donate them to a resale shop that benefits homeless or a church program.

YAY for mom and grandma coming to visit. Y'all are going to have a great time. Enjoy the State Fair, but watch out for the fried foods. Southerns will fry anything. We just had a picnic at work and a Hawaiian Master Chef competition. Somehow fried spam dogs (think corn dog) were included. We have done twinkies, oreos, moon pies, pretty much anything that we think will hold together in the fry pot has been tried at least once. Not saying it's good, just saying it's been tried. :lmao:

[lolakat]

Lisa, I'm going to kepe the bigger sizes in the attic for now. I had kept the 12s and 14s for a long time but finally decided to donate them when we moved. It is harder to find nice stuff in bigger sizes so I will hold on to what I have. Unfortuanately, I've been up and down on this weight loss journey a few times before and as much as I want to say I'm never going back I know it is always a possibility.

I will deffinetly try to stay away from the deep fryers at the State Fair!! I don't want my daughter to even know that stuff exists! Maybe just some old fashioned popcorn or cotton candy for her.

I ran for 40 minutes last night. I really kicked my butt and did my fastest pace ever by A LOT!! :cool1:3.28 miles in 40 min: 12.19 min/mile pace:cool1: I was working hard and felt about ready to vomit after a few of the running intervals. I think I will continue to push as hard as I can with the mid week runs and take it easy on the Saturday long runs. My goal is really just to finish the 1/2 marathon but if I could have some extra time to take pictures along the way without fear of being swept that would be a bonus!

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC swedish meatballs
S: apple
D: peacan crusted chicken and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

Tonight is WW weigh in. Hopefully I am moving toward "Onederland." Still hoping to make it there by the end of the month.

[eyor44]

:banana: awesome pace! :banana: You Go Girl!!!! :cheer2:

I think you are going to be just fine at the 1/2 and not have to worry about being swept. I didn't stop for pics this year as I wasn't sure and each one I got to had a line and I walk, not run, so I wouldn't be able to make up the time as easy. But lots of runners do stop.

On being sick while running. Do you drink water while running? Take sips instead of mouthfuls and not a lot at one time. That might make a difference. I know they say hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. but too much is not good.

Keep up the great work and you will be in Onederland before you know it. :goodvibes

[lolakat]

Thank you for the advice. I do need to think about the way I hydrate while I run. I only recently started drinking at all during the runs and I do think it makes me feel a little sick. I will try to take smaller sips more regularly and see if that helps.

I did 30 minutes of cross training yesterday morning before work. Did the hills on the tredmill again for about 2 miles. It was relaxing compared to my Monday night run. Today is a rest day.

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: FF/SF Cappacino
L: LC butternut squash (I think I'm done with this one for a while once I finish the ones in my freezer. Can't take those limp pea pods)
S: Apple
D: ham steak and baked apples

Did my WW weigh in last night. Lost 2.2 lbs :)

Currently weight: 200.6 lbs (sooooo close to "onederland")
Starting weight: 244 (WW starting weight 230.6)
Total loss: 43.4 lbs (WW total loss 30 lbs) :banana:

My daugher weighs about 42lbs (she is tall and her BMI is totally normal). I keep thinking, "how did I manage to walk around all day as if I was carrying my 3 year old everywhere I went!" I can't believe I ever ran that first mile!!

[eyor44]

With regards to water, you might want to start training for the water stops during the marathon. The first one will be at about 1.5 miles and then about every mile after that. Some people carry stuff with them, but I just rely on the water stops. When I am training, I have a water bottle and find a place to leave it beside the track. My tracks are 1/4 miles. Beginning at mile 2 I will carry the bottle around one time and take a few small sips. Then I use it every mile are so around. That is what works for me.

Also when you get into the higher mileage you will need to think about food. I can't eat when I am walking (makes me sick) so I use the Clif Bloks. I have a couple blocks at miles 4, 8 & 12. 2 blocks each time works for me which equals one bar. They are a gummy like substance kind of like gummy bears. I don't care for gummy bears, but love the clif bloks. You must drink water with them. So I eat them on one turn and then water on the next. Just something to think about.

:woohoo: for WW! :woohoo:
Just think for the next week, you can picture yourself walking into "onederland". That is so awesome!:banana::banana::banana:

Did you ever think you would comment that two miles of hills was relaxing? :thumbsup2

[toystoryduo]

Way to go, Lola!!!:cheer2: You're almost in Onederland!!! Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

Great news that your mom and grandma are coming for a visit!!! :banana: Hope you all have a wonderful time!:wizard:

[lolakat]

Thanks again for the helpful advice Lisa. I haven't figured out if I will carry water with me or not yet. Since I'm on a tredmill most of th etime it is easly to forget about those types of details. I think I will try out a belt to carry water first but if I hate it maybe I will train to just use the water stops like you do. I need to do some testing on the various gels, goos, blockes (all sounds so appitizing doesn't it :lmao:) out there too.

Yesterday was a rest day from running. Today is a 40min run. I'm going to try to do my long run outside this weekend. I finally have 2 days off 19 days so I'm hoping to sneak it in. I think I'm way too dependant on my treadmill. I bought a new ipod nano to run with. The thing is super cool and soooo tiny. I also got one of those nike + gizmos. I'll have to see if I like that better or the Garmin. So far I haven't tried either since I've only been on the tredmill.

Food Yesterday:
B: Banana
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC apple cranberry chicken
S: Apple
D: pork chop and asparagus
S: WW ice cream bar

We had planned to take my DD to the state fair last night but around 1pm I got a call from our nanny that she had a fever and was not a happy little girl. I left work early and we just cuddled on the couch last night. It was so sad she was all punky and listless but she looked up at me and said, "I'm better mommy, I can go to the fair and get strawberry ice cream." Poor little thing. I took her to the Dr. this AM and she's fine, just a little virus. Hopefully she will perk up by tomorrow. My mom and grandma will be getting in tonight and I'm hoping we can all go to the fair together.

[lolakat]

Got up and did 40 min run yesterday AM before work. Did 3.25 miles in 40min for a 12.37 min/mile pace. I ran mostly at 5.5 for 3 min then walked at 3.7 mph for 2 min. I ran the last 2 min walk break.

Food yesterday:
B: banana
L: salmon/spinich/fingerling potatoes (work lunch)
D: pecan crusted chicken and brocolii
S: WW ice cream sandwich.

Tonight is supposed to be 30 min of cross training but I may end up skipping it. There is a lot going on with my mom visiting etc etc.

[eyor44]

Your DD sounds so sweet. :goodvibes Hope you have a wonderful visit with your mother and grandmother. and I hope that DD is better and she can get some ice cream at the fair. :thumbsup2

[lolakat]

Ended up skipping cross training on Friday. There was just too much going on and I felt like I was getting a cold. Still didn't feel great on Saturday but I did go out for my 5 mile long run. Made my way up to the Tobacco trail. It was awsome. I used my new Nike plus with was great. If it is acurate I was able to run a lot faster outside than it seems I can on the tredmill. I was able to keep up a 10 min/mile pace most of the time during my runs. I found I tended to walk a little slower though. All in all I went 5 miles in 58 min 20 sec which is an 11.66 min/mile pace :banana: I had been anxious about moving my run outside but it went much better than I could have hoped for.

I really think there must be something wrong with my tredmill. It seems to be so much harder for me to run on there compared to other tredmills or outside. Oh well, at least I am training harder than I think not easier. I'm looking forward to another outside run next Saturday. Then I will be trapped inside for the next 2 weeks.

Food has been a little rough b/c of my family's visit. We went to the state fair Friday afternoon. I took picutres of all the crazy fried foods but didn't eat any. DD did get over her cold and finally got her strawberry ice cream. :thumbsup2

Food Friday:
Breakfast: Egg white omlete with veggies
L: sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
D: BBQ chicken breast, 1/2 corn on the cobb (healthest food I could find a the fair)
S: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich


Food Saturday:
B: Omlete with chedder cheese and veggies
L: none
D: 1/2 a cheesecake factory chicken piccata, I also had a few bites of my DH's cheesecake
S: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich

I've slipped up on my food a little this weekend (more on that in tomorrow's entry). Not a huge deal but not what I should have been doing. But I was very proud of my 5 mile run so I guess it balances out.

[VernRDH]

lola-:banana::cool1: GREAT job on the 5 mile run!!! You did awesome!
I will tell you that I think treadmills are not quite calibrated right, mine does the same thing. I think I am going so slow on it, then when I get outside I am flying in comparison. But it is good training, and if its all you can do, then thats what you do. I really cannot run on my treadmill anymore, it just screws up my gait too much. I don't mind walking, but not running.

Keep up the good work, don't worry about the food. You will get back on track. Glad you had a good time with your family.

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern.


Yesterday was a rest day. I'm back on the tredmill tonight. The mid week runs go up to 45 minutes this week. I'm not looking forward to runni9ng on the tredmill again after my awsome experience outside on Saturday. Oh well. I guess it gives me a little more structure for these training runs and will make my long runs more "special."

Food Yesterday (not so great)
B: 2 fried eggs , 2 pieces of wheat toast and half a biscuit with butter
S: A few handfulls of sourdough pretzels
L: none
D: Maggiano's eggplant parmasean with half of the spaghetti that comes with it and several bites of DH's pumpking cheesecake (which wasn't even that good I just couldn't stop eatting it!)

I fell off the wagon a bit yesterday especially with dinner. The worst part is they give you a second helping of your order to bring home! I'm going to try to eat it half at a time. But I still have a half of my cheese cake factory dinner to eat too this week. So dinner three nights this week will be so so in the calories department. I know I could just toss it but I'm just too cheap for that :lmao:

We had a great weekend with my mom and grandma here. I miss them so much. I got a ton done too. I hired someone to clean the house so when I get home today it will be sparkling!!! We bought the matress and bedding for my daughter's "big girl bed" and the painter will be here tomorrow to paint her room. We painted four big strips of sample colors on the wall yesterday so we could pick one (so hard!). Hopefully by the end of the week she will be all moved into her "big girl room." We bought a new TV for the living room and set up the geek squad to come install it. It is a truly ginormous 55 inch monstrosity. My DH is in heaven. We finally hung up all the art around the house that his been leaning against the walls since we moved in. I changed my daughter's clothes over from summer to winter and packed all her old stuff up in the attic. Plus I got my beautiful long run in outside, went to the state fair and spent loads of time with my little girl! With only 4 days off a month I try to pack them as full as possible and I felt good about this one!

[lolakat]

Did the 45 minute run last night. I am still fighting off this little virus so it didn't feel great but I'm glad I got it done. I did 3.83 miles in 45 min for a 11:44 min/mile pace. I used my nike plus while on the tredmill and found out that even the clock on my tredmill is off by over a minute. I know I can't be sure that the nike plus is 100% accurate but I trust it over my ancient tredmill so I will use it for now to track my pace and time. Tonight is 30min of cross training.

Food yesterday.
B: Banana
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: Apple
D: 1/2 a cheesecake factory chicken carbonara
S: SC icecream sandwich

Tonight will be WW weigh in. Hopefully this is the day for "onderland"!!

Our new cleaning lady did a fantastic job yesterday. It felt great to come home to a squeaky clean house. Today we have the painter coming to do my daughter's room. I can't wait to get her big girl bed set up. She is so excited!

[momof2minnies]

Lola great job on fitting all that in and the long run too.The treadmill is the pits but I am glad someone invented it for these miserable New England winters.


What do you do you that you only get 4 days off a month? Ugh it must be tough.

Congrats to your little big girl! That is exciting.

Linda

[eyor44]

Here is some :wizard::wizard::wizard: that you have passed through the gates of "Onederland". :goodvibes

Sounds like a great weekend. I'm glad your outside run went so well for you. And you had your mom and grandma for a visit. Truly wonderful weekend. Your food looks okay. You didn't over do and that is a tough one.

[toystoryduo]

Sounds like you had a great weekend, Lola!:goodvibes

Your pace on your mileage looks really good!:cheer2: Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

I'm sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. I've been battling some kind of "bug" for the past week or so myself. I hope you start feeling better soon!:wizard:

Have a wonderful Wednesday!:hug:

[lolakat]

Hi ladies. Thanks for stopping by!! I really appreciate the encouragement.

Linda: Without getting too much into job stuff... I'm in healthcare and I'm working in a situation where me and one other person are trying to cover something 24/7 that should be covered by 3-4 people. There are just not a lot of people out there that do what we do and we are stuck until we can recruit more. I love my job but hate my hours if that makes any sense. I plan to stick with it for another year or two but won't be able to hang on much longer than that if we don't find another person.

I did my 30 min of cross training (hills on the tredmill) yesterday. Tonight is a rest night.

Food yesterday: (not so great again... had to finish the Maggiano's left overs. :rolleyes1)

B: sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC cranberry/apple chicken
S: Apple
D: magginano's eggplant parm and about 1/2 the spagettii that comes with it. (I really ate WAAAAY to much of this but it is so darn good!!)
S: SC ice cream sandwich (should have skipped this too after that big dinner)

I weighed in at WW yesterday and lost 4.2 lbs. :banana:
:dance3: I made it to "onderland" :dance3:

Current weight: :cool1: 196.4 :cool1:
Starting weight: 244 (WW starting weight 230.6)
Total loss: 47.6 lbs (WW total loss 34.2 lbs)

I had a hard time choosing a new mini-goal but I decieded to choose getting to 193.5 lbs even though it is only a few pounds away. It is a significant weight to me b/c that is the weight I got down to and spent about a year at after I had my DD. I was happy there and to me that is an acceptable weight for my body. It seems by body "wants to" live in the 190s and I've spent most of my adult life in the 195-215 range. It still puts me in the "overweight" BMI but with my height I feel it looks OK on me. The top of my WW range is 175 and that is also my top "normal" BMI. I think I will see if I can get there as a long term goal but getting to 193.5 will be a good start. :thumbsup2 I'm hoping to make it there before my 8K race November 20th.

[eyor44]

:cool1::banana::woohoo::yay::dance3:

Hello Onderland!!!!!

:cool1::banana::woohoo::yay::dance3:

We are dancing with you!!! How absolutely wonderful!!!

Keep up the great work and you will be to your goal in no time. :thumbsup2

[lolakat]

Thanks Lisa. I am still doing a little dance myself. :banana:

Yesterday was a rest day from running. This chest cold is finally starting to break up a bit so hopefully tonight's 45 min run won't be quite as snotty and miserable as my Monday run.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and reduced fat peanut butter
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: apple and SF/FF Cappacino
D: shrimp and cucumber/onion salad
S: WW mint chocolate "drumstick"

I've switched my breakfast over from a piece of fruit to the sandwich thin with just a little peanut butter. I think the whole grain/protein combo is holding me over better until lunch time then the straight sugar load I was getting from the banana or apple.

[toystoryduo]

Way to go, Lola!!!!:cheer2: Congrats on being in Onederland!!!:cheer2: You are doing a wonderful job!:thumbsup2 Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

Thanks Tracy.

Did the 45 min run with 3:2 run/walk intervals yesterday. I tried to focus on speeding up during the run segments. I droped my walk speed to 3.5 mph and ran about 2/3 of the runs at 6 mph and the rest at 5.5 mph. did 3.73 miles in 45min for a pace of 12.06 min/mile. A little bit slower overall than my Monday run but I feel good about being able to run for 3 min at the faster pace.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and reduced fat peanut butter
L: LC swedish meatball
S: apple and SF/FF capacino
D: sandwich thin and peanut butter (DH and I got so tied up putting together my DD's room we ran out of time to make dinner.
S: WW mint chocolate "drum stick"

I ducked out of work this AM to take my DD to her Halloween party at preschool. She was so excited. It was very cute. This evening we will be going to a local family Halloween carnival. I love this time of year I just wish is wasn't making me feel so homesick.

[lolakat]

I ended up skipping my 30 min cross train on Friday. I had a lot of fun with my DD at the Halloween carnival and by the time we got home I was pooped. I saved my energy for my long run yesterday. I was supposed to do 5 miles but i did 6 and it felt great. I was outside on the American Tobacco Trail again and it was just beautiful. I did it in just over 1hr 10 min and my pace was 11:50 min/mile. I flet like I could have gone another mile or so at the end. I'm back on service tomorrow so it will be back inside on the 0tredmill for 2 weeks... next day off 11/20....ugh.

Food Friday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
L: grilled chicken sandwich on a roll. 1/2 a side of cole slaw.
S: Apple
D: 1/2 a ham steak and some cucumber salad
S: a few handfulls of popcorn at the fair

Food Saturday:
B: none
L: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: (post run) little bit of hummus on pepper strips.
D: 1/2 a CCF chicken piccata and a few forkfulls of DH cheesecake.

[lolakat]

Yesterday was a running rest day. Tonight is a 45 min run.

Food Yesterday:
B: 2 sunny side up eggs, 2 pieces of wheat toast with jelly
L: sandwich thin and peanut butter
D: One slice of pest pizza
S: SC ice cream sandwich

We had a great time trick or treating. My daughter was so cute it was just priceless. So far I've managed to avoid indulging in any "treats" myselft which is not easy as they seem to be everywhere today! :scared:

[toystoryduo]

I'm glad that you had a great time trick or treating. :goodvibes What did your DD dress up as?

I hear you on the Halloween candy and treats that seem to be everywhere right now. Not only did I have several pieces of candy yesterday, I also had a donut and apple cider too. :blush:

Hope you have a nice evening!:hug:

[lolakat]

Hi Tracy, DD was little red riding hood, DH was the wolf and I was grandma. We had a really great time and took lots of fun pictures. Cider and a donut sounds yummy!! I may have to indulge in some of that before the season is over.

I did my 45 min run last night and made it my fastest one yet. I did just over 4 miles with a pace of 10.54 min/mile :yay: I can't believe I broke the 11 min/mile mark. I felt like I would die but didn't :thumbsup2 Tonight is 30 min of cross training.

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC Chicken carbonara
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: 1/2 CCF Chicken Piccata
S: skinney cow ice cream

Tonight should be WW weigh in if I can make it over there in time. I not expecting a big number this week since I had a good drop last week. I'd be glad to stay even.

[momof2minnies]

Awesome time there Lola! You are kicking some serious butt!

You guys sound like you had fun on Halloween- stay away from the candy, I should take my own advice

Linda

[VernRDH]

lola, if I didn't say it before, CONGRATS on being in ONE-derland!!

Awesome job on the run! Keep up the great work!!

[lolakat]

Thank you ladies!

No weigh in and no cross training yesterday as I was stuck at work until after 9pm...ugh. Another long day today as I have to take an applicant out to dinner. It would sure lighten our load if we can recruit another set of hands.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut putter
S: Apple
L: LC sweedish meatballs
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: "home made" veggie pizza with low fat cheese
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

[eyor44]

Hey Lola, you are doing great! Love that your outside run was so good. Your training is really paying off and you broke 11:00mm. :cool1:

I'll bet you all were a cute family trick or treating. I am proud to say that I have only had a few pieces of candy. Usually a couple bite pieces right after lunch. All the guys are bringing their left over candy to my desk to share. :upsidedow

[lolakat]

Another late night yesterday so I wasn't able to make up the cross trianing I missed on Tuesday. Tonight will be my 45 min run and there is no way I will miss that.

I had been doing really well avoiding the Halloween candy until yesterday. A huge bag showed up in our work room and I was starving so I had one piece. Before i knew it that 1 piece had turned into 4 pieces... ugh. I also had to go out for a work dinner. Anyway today is another day.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: 4 pieces of Halloween candy
D: butternut squash soup, tuna steak, cappacino

[toystoryduo]

I hear you on the Halloween candy....A couple of days ago, I had one piece and that one piece turned into three. :blush: I probably would have eaten more than that, but by that time, all of the good candy was gone. LOL!:laughing: Your food for yesterday looks really good so don't worry too much about a few treats. :goodvibes

I hope work eases up for you soon. :wizard: Are they looking to hire someone else to help you guys out?

I hope you have a nice weekend!:hug:

[lolakat]

Hi Tracy, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has given in to temptation. :)

We are working to hire another person but it isn't easy. Only about 20 people graduate per year in our specialty. We are hoping to snag one but unfortunately they wouldn't be available until July or Aug 2011. Until then work will be a little nuts. We'll see what happens. If we can't get a 3rd person I may start seriously looking to move back home.

I did my 45 min run yesterday. I was feeling pretty tired but I made it through I ran just over 4 miles and my average pace was 11.05 min/mile. Tonight is cross training. I've been missing a lot of my cross training sessions lately so hopefully I will get this one in.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: Apple
L: No time for lunch :sad2:
D: Pecan crusted chicken and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[momof2minnies]

Lola,
Great pace! Keep up the great work.

What type of work do you do? Just curious

Linda

[lolakat]

Thanks Linda. As far as work, I'm a doctor who works in a subspecialized ICU. It's a job I love in most ways but I'm struggling with being a little overextended at the moment.

Ugh... so I had a total break this weekend. I've actually been putting off my update today b/c I didn't want to fess up. :sad2: I was stuck at work very late on Friday and I just totally lost my self control. I must have eatten about two dozen pieces of candy plus a bunch of graham crackers (which I don't really even like!) I was just completely binging. I was just as bad yesterday and only a little better today. I'm not sure what's up with me. I just think I'm exhausted and feeling deprived so I gave in. I'm going to do my best to put it behind me and move on. In the past I've found that when I do this I feel so guilty about it that I spiral in to a really bad pattern. I'm going to will myself to avoid that this time.

I did my long run yesterday... 7 miles with a 11:45 min/mile pace. :yay: I had some down time at work so I was able to get out and run around the campus. (Just had to drag a pager and 2 cell phones along for the ride) It was a lot more hills than where I usually run so I felt pretty good about it even though my pace was a bit slower than it has been. I didn't get my cross training in on Friday b/c I was at work until after 9pm... ugh. Tonight is a rest night.

Food Friday
B: Sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: Oh about 25 pieces of halloween candy and a bunch of graham crackers:sad2:
D: none

Food Saturday:
B: Sandwich thin with peanut butter
S/L: Another 20 or so pieces of candy
D: Tilapia and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

Ok, so now that I've confessed I WILL let it go and move on. I will make better choices tomorrow and force myself out of this "food funk"

[VernRDH]

:hug: oh sweetie, have I been where you are. And still go there sometimes. But you have to let the bad day go, you are human and sometimes you just need that splurge to feed another part of you. Let it go, its in the past, move forward. It won't be the last time it happens, more than likely, but don't let it turn around all the progress you have made.

Awesome job on the run!!! Nice work doing 7 miles. Keep on keeping on, you are an inspiration!:hug::flower3:

[momof2minnies]

WOW Lola give yourself credit for getting out there at all- I think you are an inspiration.With a work schedule like that the couch would be my best friend, great job on the 7 miles.

As for the food like Veronica said move on, focus on whats ahead, new day, new achievements.

Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you Linda and Vern for the support. It really helps. :grouphug:

Today was indeed a better day. No candy but I did munch on some graham crackers. Maybe not totally back on the wagon but most of the way. I'm hoping I have time to weigh in tomorrow so I can take any gain I've "earned" and put it behind me. Not sure if I will though b/c I have a dinner for work I have to go to.

No run last night b/c it was a rest night. Tonight will be a 44 min run. The intervals change from 3run/2 walk to 3run/1walk. We will see how it goes.

Food yesterday (still a little more confession left from the weekend)
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/Cappacino
S: about 12 pieces of candy....
L: Just the candy.....
D: pork and green beans
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[lolakat]

Did my 45 min run last night with 3min run/1min walk intervals. Went 4.09 miles with a 11.00 min/mile pace. It felt pretty good. I took the runs a little slower since I had less recovery time and I deffinetly felt that. That's why my overall pace was about the same. The plan still has our long run at a 3/2 ratio for a while so I will play with this a little and see what feels good on race day. I'm signed up for my first race ever, an 8k, on Nov 20th. Should be very interesting.

Food Monday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: A whole bunch of crackers (WHY??????)
L: LC medeteranian chicken
S: Apple
D: roasted chicken and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich

(Today had been good so far... no candy, no crackers )

There won't be time for a weigh in tonight. The dinner I have to go to got moved up by 30min so I'll have to go straight from work. I'm going to try to get to WW tomorrow after work. They have a 6:30 mtg on Wednesdays that I can sometimes get make it to in time. The numbers on the scale at home are still down a little from the last weigh in so hopefully it won't really be a gain.

[lolakat]

Made it home late from dinner last night so no cross training. Maybe I will try to do something light tonight before my 45 min run tomorrow.

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC sweedish meatballs
D: mushroom/cabbage steamed dumplings and Steamed Cod
S: I had a few bites of chocolate cake wich came as dessert (wel... at least I didn't eat and crackers or candy)

Hoping to make it to a WW weight in tonight. It is a little earlier than my regular meeting but I'm hoping I can make it out. Folks at work have started to notice and comment about my weight loss. (It took about 40lbs becuase scrubs can hide a multitude of sins). It makes me feel a little uncomfortable because I don't really know any of them on a personal level. I keep thinking to myself, "ugh... this just means they'll notice when I gain it back." :sad2: I must learn to have a more positive internal dialouge!! Talking about my running doesn't make me feel as self consious as talking about the acutal weight loss so I try to focus on that.

[lolakat]

Did 2 miles of pretty relaxed walking last night since I missed my scheduled cross training on Tuesday. I didn't want to do to much since i have to do my 45 min run tonight (plus i have an annoying head cold)

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin iwth beanut butter
L: Apple and graham crackers (I know I know.. the stupid crackers again)
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: grilled chicken and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I did get over to WW to weigh in last night. I lost 3.2 lbs (that was over a 2 week period since my last weigh in) I was very happy with any kind of loss given all the candy I ate this week.

Curent weight: 193.2
Starting weight: 244
Total Loss: 50.8 lbs :banana:

I made it to the goal of breaking though the 193.5 lb plateau that I stayed at for a bout a year after having my daughter. Plus the big 5-0 too which just seems like such a BIG number to me. I guess my new goal is to make it to 185 lbs. That was the goal I had set when loosing weight after my DD was born but I never made it there. I'm hoping to get there before I run the half marathon in January.

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on your weigh-in, Lola!!!:cheer2: You are doing a WONDERFUL job!!! Keep up the good work!!!:cheer2:

I hope you start feeling better soon. :wizard:

Have a wonderful weekend!:hug:

[VernRDH]

Lola, great job on the weight loss!!! You are doing great, keep up the good work.

Hope you feel better soon.

[lolakat]

Thanks guys. I am feeling a bit better today.

I ran my 45min run last night with 3run/1walk ratio. My overall pace was 10:42 min/mile. I'm still not used to the shorter walking intervals and I'm looking forward to my long run this weekend which will be 8 miles at a 3/2 ratio. I hope I can sneak out of work again for a couple of hours so I can run outside again. If not it will be a LONG date with the tredmill when I get home.

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappacino
L: LC chicken carbonara
S: A few of those darn mini-candy bars again (but not too crazy this time)
D: cucumber and hummus (ate light to make up for the stupid candy)

[lolakat]

It's been another weekend of long days at work and not so great eatting. :sad2:

No work out on Friday night... I just crashed when I got home. Saturday there was no way I could get out for a run during the day so I had to face my tredmill after my daughter went to bed. After 13.5 hours on my feet at work I had less than no desire to run 8 miles but I farces myself to start and I did manage to finish the 8 miles with a 11:45 min/mile pace. It was soooo boring running for that long on the tredmill but I was so pleased to get it done. After that I went straight to bed. My legs are a little sore today.

Food Friday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
L: LC sweedish meatball
S: Candy... too much candy
D: Tilapia and brocolli

Food Saturday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
L: Candy and other junk... never got to actually sit and eat
D: Chicken and green beans
S: SC icecream sandwich

Today is my 14th consecutive (and thankfully last for a little while) day on service. Tomorrow I go back to office hours for 2 weeks and I will be off next weekend. I really can't wait for some down time. I'm feeling exhausted and I think that is why I'm craving so much junk food and carbs. Over all the weight is still drifting down so I really can't be too hard on myself.

[lolakat]

Yesterday was an off day from running. Today will be a 45 min run. I'm hoping to be able to leave the office early and run outside since I couldn't do my long run outside on Saturday.

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: Still struggling with these chocolate bars all over the unit. Also had some DD munckins. Overall a bad eatting day.
L: The above was worse b/c there was no time to stop for lunch.
D: Got home late and snacked on some hummus with cucumber

The eatting should be easier this week since I won't be around the temptations in the unit and I can control my enviornment in the office much more easily. Should also get to weigh in on time tomorrow which always helps.

[momof2minnies]

Lola
Good luck on the weigh in this morning.You must be beyond exhausted but you still manage to exercise- that is awesome.

Keep it up

Linda

[lolakat]

Thanks Linda, I am really trying to get those runs in no matter what and so far it seems to be working.

I was able to leave the office a bit early yesterday and made it to the park a little before dusk. I deceided not to run the trails in the dark but used a 0.5 mile loop that goes around the soccer fields. The run felt really good and I did 4.35 miles at a 10.25 min/mile pace. That's my fastest one so far. :cool1: I used a 4min run/1 min walk ratio. It all feels so much easier running outside than when I do it on my tredmill. I'm not sure if it's in my head or if running outside is really easier but either way it sure is nice when I can sneak in some time to get outside. I'm supposed to cross train tonight. I've been really bad about getting that in so I will try to do it tonight. I need to find something fun to do. I'll have to nag my DH some more about getting our Wii set up. I think I would really like that.

I FINALLY had a full day of "on plan" eatting yesterday. From a cravings and temptation standpoint, being in the office for a regular 8ish hour day is way easier than being in the unit for 13 hours.

Food Monday
B: Sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC cranberry apple chicken
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: chicken and brocolli stir fry with wild rice
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

After 2 weeks of wearing only scrubs I'm back in "real clothes" and I'm now forced to deal with the reality that my pants just don't fit a all and they are starting to look silly. I'm still annoyed that I got rid of all my smaller clothes but I'm just going to have bite the bullet and buy a few things. I haven't been a size 14 since about 2005 so a lot of the old stuff might have been out of style anyway. I'm not sure if I will go down another size after this or not. I'm usually a size 12 at my "goal weight" of around 175 but I haven't been there since early 2004 so who knows. For now I will just buy a couple of things and see where I settle out.

[toystoryduo]

Sounds like you had a great day yesterday!:cheer2:

Congrats on having to buy some new clothes! :banana:You may want to check Kohls and JC Penneys. They have had some great sales lately and I think both companies have coupons floating around for dollars off a purchase.

I hope you have a nice evening!:hug:

[lolakat]

Thanks for the advice Tracy. I do love a good coupon.

I did 2 miles of walking on the tredmill last night for my cross training. Not very intense but at least I did something. Tonight is a rest night.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC chicken carbonara
D: other half of the brocolli and chicken stirfry with wild rice
S: SC icecream sanwich.

Weigh in yesterday went great. I lost 3.2 lbs for the week. :banana: I think the loss is a little inflated b/c I got weighed in the AM before work when I almost always go at night.

Current weight: 190 lbs
Starting weight: 244 (230.6 WW starting weight)
Total loss: 54 lbs (40.6 WW total loss)


I had such cravings last night after dinner. I totally would have eatten a bag of candy or gallon of ice cream. Luckily I don't keep any "treats" in the house anymore so I had to be staisfied with my skinney cow ice cream and head to bead. Two days back on plan now and I'm feeling less out of control.

I took some time this morning to go through my closet. I tried on all my pants and packed away the ones I just cant wear anymore. I found that I have about 8 pairs that still fit reasonably well (baggy but not falling off) plus a new pair of jeans I bought a coupleof weaks ago. I think these should see me through until after the holidays. By then I should have a better idea if the weight is staying off and if I'm still loosing. Maybe I can use a shopping spree as a reward after I finish the half. :thumbsup2

[eyor44]

Lola I am very happy to see that you are being consistent and doing AMAZING!!!!! :woohoo::woohoo: Congrats on the losses and needing new clothes. Splurge on a couple of new things now, it will reinforce how well you are doing and help remind you to stay away from the candy jar. :thumbsup2

You are going to do great at the half.

[momof2minnies]

Lola 54 lbs woohoo! Great job on keeping snacks out of the house.

You are doing awesome.

Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you ladies! :grouphug:

Last night was a rest night from running. I had to take an applicant out to dinner so I didn't get home until late anyway.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: 1/2 of a lean cuisine chicken marsala... really gross threw most of the pasta away which says a lot coming from a carbaholic like me
S: SF/FF Cappaccino
D: crab soup, grilled salmon, a dinner roll and 1/2 an apple crisp with carmal ice cream (I should have skipped the desert and the soup but oh, well I don't get out to good resturants much anymore so I splurged)

The weight on the scale at home went up a bit the last 2 mornings. Kind of weird since I've been within my points this week. Maybe I'm seeing the delayed effect of the candy from last week. Or maybe the dessert from last night but the salty stir fly from the nights before. Who knows... the body is such a mysterious thing. I'm going to try to be extra good today. Tomorrow I head home to Philly for the first time since I moved. I know there will be a lot of eatting out and I intend to splurg a bit. I'll be running my first race on Saturday, an 8k. So at least I know I'll get some exercise.

[toystoryduo]

Way to go on weigh in, Lola!!!:cheer2:

Good luck at your race on Saturday! I know you are going to do a great job!!!:cheer2:

Have a wonderful weekend in Philly!:hug:

[lolakat]

I had an AMAZING week in Philly. It felt so good to be home and see all my friends. I really felt alive for the first time in months.

I did the Rothaman 8k on Saturday which was my first race ever. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed every second of it. One of my friends ran the race as well (although much faster than me) and we spent time at the start and finish together. I used the run 4 min/ walk 1 min ratio and it worked out well. I stayed to the edge of the course and didn't seem to be getting in anyone's way when I stoped to walk. After a while I was hanging with the same general group of runners. I passed them when I ran and then they would pass be when I walked. I bet they thought I was pretty annoying. :lmao: In the end I did finish ahead of some of them who tired out. My over all pace was 11.02 min/mile and I certainly wasn't last. :) I crossed that finish line with a huge smile on my face and I'm looking forward to doing more races in the future.

Food for the weekend:

Friday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
L: Apple (on the plane)
D: I went to the Continental with some friends and we shared a bunch of plates. I had some hummus with cucumber sclices, a small piece of mushroom flat bread pizza, some lobster mashed potatoes (sinful but delish) And some thai peanut lettuce wraps. We also split a dessert which was basically a chocolate peanut butter cake. Only had one chapagne cocktail b/c I didn't to over do it before the race.
S: minature carmael apple and mini lemon cake sent to my hotel room by a friend. (didn't need to eat that but it seemed wrong to just leave it there :))

Saturday:
B: A soft Philly style pretzel from the race goody bag then oatmeal with stewed strawberries.
L: Fresh mozzerella and red peppers on a bagette
S: 90 calorie quaker oats bar from the race goodie bag
D: Went to Cuba Libre. Split some appetizers including guacamole, and empenadas. My entree was a type of slow cooked brisket. I'm sure it's deadly but I only ate a little of it. Also had a couple of plantains. Had 4 mojitos made with splenda.
S: Went out dancing, had a couple of gin and tonics.

Sunday:
B/L/D: Went out for a decadent brunch at Beau Monde. I had a crepe with mushrooms, sauage a creme sauce and a sunny side up egg. Deadly, and I ate every bite but I did pull out about half the sauage. I split a banana/caramel desert crepe with a friend. Plus I had 2 mimosas.
S: 3 chocolate covered pretzels at the airport and I had a skinney cow ice cream sandwich when I got home

So overall I clearly spluged but didn't go too crazy. I walked and walked all weekend and danced for hours on Saturday night. My scale at home says I'm down 1 lb from when I left. We will see what the weight watchers scale has to say tomorrow.

[lolakat]

Did a 45 min run last night with 4:1 run:walk ratio. Felt a little rough for some reason but did manage to finish with an average 10:44min/mile pace. I am starting to take my Nike + paces with a grain of salt. At the Rothman 8k the Nike + said I ran 5.5 miles and gave me a pace of 9:50 min/mile but the course was 8k which is 4.97 miles and my official pace per the race timer was 11:02 min/mile. Anyway, at least it gives me something to go by even if it is not 100% accurate.

Food Yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC Chicken carbonara
S: Banana
D: Grilled chicken sandwich
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I weighed in at WW this AM since I won't have time after work. I'm down 1.4 lbs this week. Which I'm pretty darn pleased with considering my weekend splurging.

Current weight: 188.6 lbs
Starting weight: 244 lbs (230.6 WW starting weight)
Total loss: 55.4 lbs (42 lbs WW total loss)

We leave tonight for my Mom's house. It is about a 7 hour drive so we will get there in the middle of the night. It will be a crazy weekend of running around from my mom's to my dad's to my in-law's. I don't really look forward to it. Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday and, of course, there will be food temptation everywhere. Somehow I have to find time to squeeze in my Thursday night 45 min run and a 9 mile long run.

[lolakat]

Had a really wonderful Holiday weekend visiting home and seeing all my friends and family. The eatting was less than ideal but not as bad as it could have been ;-)

I did my regular 45 min training run on Thursday morning did a bit over 4 miles at a 10:45 min/mile pace. Saturday I did my 9 mile long run. It was a very windy day and I was visiting my in laws who live on very flat open area in DE. It was a tough run and I deffinetly felt it when I got home. I did a 10:34 min/mile pace with 3 min run/ 2 min/walk intervals. I was proud of myself for getting it done.

It's really hard to remember all the eatting since I've been gone. It's enough to say it was not "on plan." I tried to make some healthy choices but I indulged a little too and had some of my holiday favorites. My scale at home says I'm up about 1.5 lbs since Tuesday AM and I'm okay with that. If I can just keep my head around all the left overs my Mom sent home with us then that should come off quickly..... I hope.

[lolakat]

Did 50 min training run last night at 10:33 min/mile pace. My stomach was bothering me so the run was interupted a few times for that. Guess it's my body's way of telling me I should stay away from all those rich Thanksgiving foods.

Food yesterday:
B: SF/FF Cappacino
L: Mashed sweet potatoes and 6 marshmellows
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: (TG Leftovers) Turkey/little bit of stuffing/spinich/mushrooms

We have so many left overs in our house we will be eatting them all week. I'm trying to avoid the pies and so far so good. The stuffing is also deadly so I'm trying to do that in moderation.

My weight on my scale at home is back down to the pre-Thanksgiving weekend number. I should be going for my formal WW weigh in tonight but I have to go to a dinner for work so I'm not sure if I will make it or not.

[lolakat]

No run last night. Was supposed to cross train but was at a dinner for work until late. Tonight would normally be a rest night but I'm going to try to do my 45 min "Thursday" run b/c I have another obligation for work tomorrow night.

Food yesterday:
B: SF/FF Cappacino
L: Sweet potatoe with 6 marshmellows
S: 3 mini-M&M packs
D: Grilled trout with salad

[rubato]

You are doing a great job with your weight loss. :thumbsup2 I'm quite impressed! And, great job staying on track of your diet during the holidays. I wish I had the willpower to just eat a little of that holiday food and not eat it all. ;)

[toystoryduo]

You're doing a great job, Lola!:cheer2:

How did weigh-in at WW go?

Hope you have a great Thursday!:hug:

[lolakat]

Thanks for stopping by Tracy and rubato. I haven't made it to WW weigh in this week. Had work dinner Tuesday and last night DD was sick so I had to run home after work. Have another reception for work tonight then tomorrow there isn't a PM meeting so it looks like I won't get to weigh in until Tuesday next week. My scale at home is holding steady at my pre-thanksgiving number. I don't really expect to loose until the left overs are out of my house and I'm back to my "regular" diet food. I hope you both had a great holiday too.

I did my 45 min run that I typically do on Thursday last night since I knew I would be out tonight. I struggled through it for some reason but managed to finish. Pace was only 11:30 min/mile but at least I did something... right?

Food yesterday:
B: bagel (not sure why I ate this. :confused3 I was in a dull meeting and it was there so I ate it. I wasn't even hungry and it wasn't good)
S: 3 packs of graham crackers
L: mashed sweet potato with marshmellows
S: 3 graham crackers
D: lasagna (also left over from the holidays) with spinich

My poor stomach has been on the fritz with all this wacky food. In a way, I can't wait till it is gone and I can go back to my old "diet." Unfortunately, I just can't seem to resist it while it is in my fridge. We still have 3 pies in there:scared1: Luckily I have not dug into those... at least not yet. I'm hoping my DH will eat them or they will grow mold and I can toss them before my will power gives out.

[toystoryduo]

Sending some :wizard::wizard: your way. Leftovers can be tricky sometimes. ;) (especially pie!:love: ) You're doing a wonderful job maintaining your pre-Thanksgiving weight! Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

Any special plans for the weekend?

Have a wonderful weekend!:hug:

[lolakat]

Thanks Tracy, I can use all the pixie dust I can get. :) I'm working this weekend so no big plans.

No run last night. I was running around to 2 receptions for work. one was sort of fun the other a real bore. I should do some cross training tonight and then I have a 6 mile run for Saturday. It will likely have to be on the tredmil because of work.

Food yesterday... still not great.
B: SF/FF Cappuccino
L: Didn't have time for lunch so, unfortunately, I ate a number of graham cracker packets... maybe 10 total. Such a terrible gross habit.
D: Had several hors d'oeuvres at the receptions but not too terrible
S: Then had a big ole slice of apple pie when I got home ( I knew it would get me eventually, should have just thrown it out)

I have to get to the grocery store stat so I can stock up on my go to foods and end this week long Thanksgiving binge. I will get back to Lean cuisines for lunch and protein/veggies for dinner with a skinney cow snack at night.

[rubato]

Good luck on your runs. And, one piece of pie is really not bad at all. I ate an entire pumpkin pie Thanksgiving day. So, you could have done much worse! ;)

[momof2minnies]

Lola,
I hear you on Thanksgiving.We had way more desserts here than we were supposed to.I told DH I am done, they need to go.He finished them, that's not good either. I also run he doesn't.


You will get back into the swing, no worries.

Have a good weekend!

Linda

[toystoryduo]

Hope you have a great Saturday!:hug:

[lolakat]

Walked 2 miles for cross training last night. Took it easy but at least I was moving. Today is a 6 mile run which will have to be on the tredmill tonight since I'm stuck at the hospital today.

Food is still off track. Hopefully DH will get to the grocery store today and I'll have some regular food in the house again. My weight is up about 2 lbs right now from my last WW weigh in. I'm dreading going back for my formal weigh in this week but by then all these left overs will be gone, I'll have my regular food back and I can get back on track. I'm still hoping to take off about 5 more lbs before the half... we'll see.

Food yesterday:
B: Gragham crackers and a SF/FF Capuccino
L: LC spagetti and meatballs
B: More Graham crackers... (I know... why???)
D: Got home really late from work and had apple pie... (I know... I know...terrible)

[momof2minnies]

6 miles on the treadmill- just watch a good show and maybe time will pass quickly!

Linda

[rubato]

At least those leftovers are gone! You seem to have a graham cracker weakness that I can completely identify with.;) But, having an 11 year old, I have to have them in the house.

[lolakat]

It was a rough weekend at work. Didn't get home until Late on Saturday and just couldn't bear the thought of six miles on the treadmill. Luckily I had a little down time Sunday afternoon so I did the six miles running around campus. It's very hilly route but it worked out well and I got it done. My pace was 10:50 min/mile which I thought was OK given all the hills.

Eatting this weekend has been HORRIBLE!! :scared1:
The left overs are now officially all gone and DH finally went to the grocery store yesterday so I am back to my regular "on plan' foods. I will weigh in tomorrow at WW and I'm expecting a 3-4 lb gain. It's OK so long as I get back on track now. I think it will come off fairly quickly and I might still be able to hit 185 before the race... maybe.

[lolakat]

Yesterday was a rest day since I did my long run on Sunday instead of Saturday. I'll do my regular 45 min run today.
I went back to WW this AM with my head hung in shame after about 2 weeks of being off program. :sad2: I gained 4.2 lbs which is about what I thought it would be. Total weight at is 192.8 Still down 51.2 lbs from where I started. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself.
Anyway I am completely back on track now so it should take about 2 weeks to get back to where I was. I had been hoping to get down to 185 by the half marathon but that would be 7.8 lbs in just over a month and with Christmas standing in my way I'm not sure it is realistic. We'll see how it goes.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanutbutter
S: Apple
L: LC sweedish meatballs
S: SF/FF Capuccino
D: Pork Chop and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[lolakat]

Did my 45 min run last night with a 10:50 pace. It feels hard to run on the tredmill at night right now. It's funny when I think about how scared I used to be to run outside and now I actually think that is easier.

Eatting is still on track. My scale at home is down 2 lbs already so hopefully a lot of last week's gain was water weight. If I have a big loss this week I may still be able to goal 185 before the half on 1/8. I have not switched over to the new WW plan although they did give me the new materials on Tuesday. Partly b/c I'm annoyed that they didn't give me the points calculator and I only realized when I got home that I have to buy the darn thing and partly b/c I just can't be bothered to learn a whole new points system. The one I'm using now works fine for me and I pretty much know it by heart so I think I will stick with it for now.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC chicken carbonara
S: Apple
D: rotisserie Chicken and steamed broccolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[toystoryduo]

Great job on your run!:cheer2: Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

Have you noticed a lot of changes between the points on the old WW program and the new one? I'm thinking of getting back on WW in January and wondered what the differences are.

Hope you have a great day!:hug:

[lolakat]

Hi Tracy, From the brief skim I gave the new program materials it does look like the point structure has changed significantly. Fruit and veggies (except the starchy ones) are now all 0 points. You get more points but the "cost" of many foods have gone up. In general there is a higher price for any type of carbs and the price of protein is about the same. I don't hae a points calulator yet as you apparently hav to buy one seperately now for $10. I've read that the new calculators incorperate protein as well as the calorie/fat/fiber that is on the old calculator. If I switch over to using it eentually I will let you know what I think but for now I can't be bothered.

No exercise yesterday. I am cramming for a big certification exam I have to take next week so I spent most of the day sitting on my tush. Tonight will be a 45 min run on the tredmill again. Bleck.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC BBQ chicken pizza
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: chicken and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

My scale at home is back to my prethanksgiving weight again so, although my home scale doesn't correlate exactly with the WW scale, it looks like I may have rapidly been able to get rid of last weeks 4 lb gain.

[lolakat]

Did a 50 min run on the tredmill last night with 5:1 run/walk intervals. Felt a lot better than the last. Pace was 10:30. Tomorrow I will attmept a 10-11 mile long run. It is supposed to warm up a little by tomorrow which would be nice since I plan to do it outside and I think it will take me about 2 hours.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Apple, SF/FF Cappuccino
L: LC chicken carbonara
S: SF/FF Cappuccino
D: Tilapia and roasted potatoes.

Spent most yesterday interveiwing applicants. I did manage to skip out on the very unhealthy lunch they were serving (hot dogs/hamburgers and pie). I've really been trying to stay completely on plan this week. It helps that I am off service so I'm not forced to skip meals and grab crap (graham crackers etc) to keep me going.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

[rubato]

Good luck on that run today. I think you're doing great on that pace. Keep up the good work. :thumbsup2

[momof2minnies]

Lola
Good luck on your run today- thank goodness it is going to warm up a little here too- we had a dusting of snow last night too- glad it stopped.


Linda

[toystoryduo]

Good luck on your 10 miler today, Lola!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

Thank you all for the good luck wishes! I think they help a lot. :grouphug:

I got my LR in yesterday but ended up doing it on the tredmill b/c DD is sick and I couldn't get out of the house for long enough. My training plan called for a 10 mile run. My NikePlus and my tredmill never agree on distance and I'm not sure which is the most accurate one so I deceided to do 10miles per the tredmill which was just over 11 miles per my NikePlus. The pace was 11:30 per the NikePlus but would be somewhere in the 13min range if I calculated it per the tredmill. Honestly it doesn't matter much to me so long as I'm getting the distance in. Although my training plan had called for 10 miles as the last and longest LR my plan will be to do 12 miles by the NikePlus next weekend. (Thank you for the advice Linda) before starting a 2 week taper into the 1/2 marathon.

Food this weekend has been pretty good considering I had 2 holiday events to attend:

Friday:
B: Sandwich thin with peanutbutter
S: SF/FF Cappuccino
L: LC Sweedish meatball
S: Apple
D: (A dinner for an applicant) I had 2 pieces of cheese/cracker, 1 glass of wine, some salad with balsamic dressing, a piece of salmon and about 1/2 cup of pasta salad. Had a tiny piece of carrot cake for dessert


Saturday:
B:
L: 8 grilled shrimp and hummus with a piece of pitta bread
D: (DH Office Chrismas Dinner) a couple pieces of brushetta and a garlic knot, half a filet minon with 2 spoon fulls mashed potatos, A cannolli (meant to eat half but... well ate the whole thing), 1 glass of wine and 2 cocktails

[lolakat]

No exercise yesterday just hitting the books all day. Big test is tomorrow so I will likely put off my run tonight and do it tomorrow evening after the test. I might try to weigh in at WW tonight since I won't have time to do it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going so I can officially "erase" my thanksgiving gain.

Food yesterday:
B: 2 eggs over easy with 2 slices of wheat toast
L: tried to eat a LC sweedish meatball but I scorched it and ended up throwing most of it out :(
D: Rotissere chicken breast and green beans
S: SC ice cream sandwich

[rubato]

You are doing great on your eating. Good job!!!

It must get frustrating having no real idea how far or fast you are going. That would drive a control freak like me crazy! I agree that you should go for that 12 mile run. I think it's best to be as prepared as you can be.

[lolakat]

Did my normal Monday night run last night instead as I was too busy studying on Monday. Did 45 min at a 10:33 pace. I think I've pulled something in my left groin. It botered me for the first time about 3 weeks ago on a long run but wasn't really a big deal. last night it really bothered me and it still feels sore today. I've been stretching it and using ice. I'm thinking about skipping my Thursday run to rest it a little before this weekend's long run. It deffinetly feels worse when I try to push the speed up so from now to the half I'm just going to do very slow (even for me) runs. I don't want an injury to get in my way at this point. My only goal is to finish anyway so who really cares about speed.

I couldn't make it to WW over the last couple of days so hopefully I can weigh in tonight if I can get out of work in time.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
L: 6 inch subway turkey sandwich (no cheese) with veggies
D: tilapia and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

[lolakat]

No run yesterday. Today is supposed to be a 45 min run. I'm debating skipping it to rest my right groin strain vs. doing a very very slow run/walk. I'm leaning toward doing something but stopping if I feel any kind of pull/strain. I'm still planing to do a 12 mile long run on Saturday and I think it's more important to rest up for that than to do much today.

I weighed in at WW last night and I was down 5 lbs. :cool1:
Current weight: 187.8
Starting weight: 244
Net loss: 56.2 lbs

So I have 2.8 lbs to go to reach my pre-half marathon goal of 185 lbs. It should be doable but I have so many parties and Christmas between then and now it may be tough. My will power has been touch and go so we will see what happens.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC sweedish meatballs
S: SF/FF Capuccino
D: I had to go to a reception and I over did it a little. Had a steak and some mashed potatoes plus ate two bigish cookies for dessert. :confused3 Oh well.

[VernRDH]

Lola you have been doing a great job!! Take some time to rest that groin before trying the 12 mile run. Better to skip a few short ones and heal then try and have to bail on your long run.

I hear ya on the parties/cookies etc. I have to bake a cake for work tonight. Then this weekend I am baking all my cookies-some for cookie exchange at DH's job, some to mail to friends in CA and TX, some for our family and some for Christmas at my brothers. Saturday night is my part time jobs Christmas party. Tuesday is our office lunch at my full time job. Then this week I am making 3 more cakes (2 for my brothers, one for our friends house the day after Christmas). Hopefully I will be sick of cake by then! Once that's done, no more for me. Back to only good, healthy eating.

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern!

I did skip my Thrusday run to try and rest the groin pull. Today I did my longest LR before I start my 2 week taper to the race. I was planing on doing 12 miles but I ended up doing the full 13.1. My pace was 11:38. My groin was still a problem but I was able to finish which makes me feel more confident about the real thing. I will just try to take it easy until the 8th.

Food has been hit or miss over the last few days. The holiday junk food is everywhere and I am not doing that great at avoiding it. I'm back on service which means a lot of delayed or skipped meals and noshing on graham crackers. Hopefully the weight will a least hold steady this week but I won't be too suprised if I gain a pound or two.

Food Thursday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Capuccino and a bunch of graham crackers
L: Chicken salad with some type of creamy looking dressing on it and 1/2 a slice of cheese cake
D: pork chop and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Food Friday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappuciino a bunch of graham crackers
L: LC Chicken carbonara
D: a bunch of puff pastry appitizers at our dept. Christmas party, some chocolate moose and 1/2 a slice of key lime pie

My resolution for next week is NO MORE GRAHAM CRACKERS!!

[lolakat]

Boy am I sore from yesterday's long run. My groin is a little sore but my MTP joints on both feet are very sore. Tonight will be ice and NSAIDs. We will see how I feel by tomorrow night before I do my regular mid-week run.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: SF/FF Capucino
L: Apple
S: SF/FF Capucino
D: grilled shrimp and ceaser salad

Food today just ok I got stuck in the unit so no lunch which led to more stupid graham cracker eatting. I expect I will stay the same this week at weigh in or maybe even up a pound. This month has been tough on the diet but hopefully January will bring less tempting treats.

[momof2minnies]

Lola great job on the run- I hope the groin continues to improve.I hear you about the graham crackers.I am a nurse and used to work 12 hr shifts and if it wasn't for graham crackers and pudding we would have starved.Shoving them down on a fly by the unit kitchen on the floor in the hospital- crazy!

A little more than 2 weeks to go!


Linda

[rubato]

Good job with that long run! I wish I had done 12 or 13 before my half. I had only done 10, and when I hit mile 11 or so, I hit the wall hard. It's always good to know you've already run the distance. Great job!!!:thumbsup2

[toystoryduo]

Great job on your long run!:cheer2: Hope you're feeling better today!:wizard:

[toystoryduo]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Lola!:santa:

[lolakat]

Thank you all for stopping by and for your encouragement !!

It has been a crazy week here. Running has been complicated because I broke my tredmill during Monday night's run. The acutal frame broke which is nuts. I guess my elephant feet were finally too much for it. It is bad timing since I'm working for the next couple of weeks and that makes it hard to get out to run outside during the day or get to the store to check out new tredmills. Plus it is a tough time of year to lay out 1k or more for a new one. At least I made it 36 min into my Monday run before it broke. I couldn't get out to do my Thursday run yesterday but I did make it out this afternoon and did about 4.5 miles in 46 min. I'm supposed to do a 8 mile long run (it's the start of my taper) this weekend which will be a little tricky since I'm working and won't be able to go home and run at night. I'm sure I'll get it in some how.

Eatting has been just horrible. Cookies Cookies every where. I did weigh in on Tuesday and lost 1.2 lbs. I'm not sure how I managed to lose with all the junk I've been eatting. I guess the running around at work helps. I'm pretty sure this week will be a gain.

Current weight (as of Tuesday) 186.6
Starting weight: 244
Net loss: 57.4 lbs

I will hopefully be heading home soon. Hopefully the pagers will be quiet tonight. Merry Christmas Everybody!!

[eyor44]

Merry Christmas to you Lola! I am going to have to come back later to catch with you. I just wanted to pop in and tell that I have been thinking of you and praying that your training is going well. :goodvibes

[eyor44]

Lola, you have been doing awesome. You are going to rock at the 1/2.
Even if you can only get in short walks/runs between now and then, you are going with the knowledge that you can do the distance. :thumbsup2

Last year, I ignored the advice of only doing 10 miles leading up to it. I had to know that I could do the entire thing so I set my schedule to do 14 miles two weeks before. So the Thursday 10 days before the 1/2 I did 14 miles. and then 4-6 miles three times the week in between. I made the entire 1/2 without stopping and was ready to go back out that evening with no ill effects from the race.

When do you arrive and where are you staying? Do you know about the WISH meet at Pop on Friday?

[toystoryduo]

Sorry to hear about the treadmill. I hope the weather and your work schedule cooperate so you can get the miles in that you want to before the 1/2. :wizard: You are going to do such a great job!!!!:cheer2:

Hope you have a nice day!:hug:

[eyor44]

Just checking in with you. How's it going?
New tread mill yet? Bummer that it broke so close to the race. BUT...don't let it get to you. You have done so great with your training that you are ready. You will do fabulous.

[rubato]

Lola: I have elephant feet too, size 10 & 1/2 in my new running shoes. I also broke my treadmill, but it wasn't entirely my fault. It's about 10 years old and I run a lot. I actually folded my running belt in half, then, the motor died, and, finally, the control panel. I was without a treadmill all last winter and it sucked. I did learn how to love running in the cold though, so that's good.

Great job on the loss even with all the cookies! It's really hard to lose during the holiday season. :thumbsup2

[lolakat]

Hi everyone. Thank you for the encouragement!

It has been a crazy two weeks. We had a "big" snow storm here in NC on Christmas day and since no one here knows how to clear snow or drive in snow I was stuck at the hospital for 62 hours straight. Spending all day/night there on Christmas was fairly depressing. I sent my DH and DD up to his family's early in the morning when it became clear the snow was coming and I would be trapped at work anyway. I was finally able to join them on the 29th. Once I finally got there it was a lovely holiday. We drove home yesterday and I'm back to work today.

Between being stuck at work, visiting family and the broken tredmill, diet and exercise have not been at their best. I did get my 8 mile LR in last weekend and one mid week run outside this week. I'll do 5 miles today and then 3 on Wednesday. I leave for Disney on Thursday. :banana: I can't believe the race is so close. I am super excited. :yay:

The diet has been pretty horrific since I've been home. I'm sure I've gained a bit.(maybe 3-5 lbs). I'll go weigh in tonight or tomorrow. I likely won't make my goal of 185 lbs for the race but I'm trying not to be too hung up on that. Right now I'm focused on getting back to healthy eatting and a regular routine. I will splurge a bit while at Disney but not too crazy.

[VernRDH]

Lola-sorry I haven't checked in for a while, I have had a bit to deal with here. But I am proud of you, you are going to so totally rock the Half!!!

Enjoy your trip, enjoy the race, it is a wonderful experience. And since this is your first one (right?), you automatically set a PR!!

Can't wait to hear all about it.

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern, I hope thinks are going smoother for you soon.

Did my 5 mile run outside yesterday. I am really missing my treadmill and plan ot buy one ASAP. I'm just really not sure which one to get. I don't want to spend more than necessary but I also want one that will stand up to regular running and it seems the less expensive ones are really built for walking which is likely why my current treadmill broke in the first place.

Food was back on track yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and LF peanutbutter
S: FF/SF Capucino
L: roasted red pepper soup
D: Chicken breast and corn
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I weighed in last night and I was up 2 lbs. While a gain is never good I felt this wasn't too bad considering I've really been completely off plan for the last 2 weeks. My total weight is currently 188.6. I doubt I could loose 3.6 lbs before Saturday to make the 185 lb goal (and I won't be weighing in again to find out). It's ok, I'm still down > 55 lbs and I'm about to run a half marathon :banana:. Those accomplishments are more than enough for now.

[lolakat]

Well, it's here! This will be my last check in before taking off for the half marathon. What ever happens with the race I am so proud of myself. (sorry to be so self-congratulatory... but this is a journal after all). A year ago I never would have dreamed I could even consider running 13 miles and now here I am.

I'm a little bit afraid of losing motivation once the race is over so I want to take some time to outline what my new goals will be.

Let's see...what am I going to focus on next week when the Disney race is over? I plan to run a 10 mile race the first weekend of May. Until then I think I'm going to focus on trying to improve my speed a little bit. I will plan on doing more frequent short runs during the week and adding in some more aggressive interval training. I want to start doing all my shorter runs without the run/walk breaks and save those for distances > 5 miles. I think I will plan on keeping a weekend long run of 7-10 miles at least every other week.

Food wise, I really have to get back in the game. Basically the weight has been static since Thanksgiving. I am happy not to have had a significant gain over the holidays but now I want to start losing again. After Disney I'm going to try to be stricter with myself and get completely back on plan. I have a girls trip to Vegas planned for the end of February which gives me 7 weeks. I'd like to loose another 10 lbs by then so if I don't gain too much at Disney that will make my Vegas goal weight 179.

Goals for Dec-Feb:
1. Train to run a 10:30 average min/mile for the Broad Street run
2. Loose 10 lbs in the 7 weeks between Disney and Vegas
3. Run at least 3 days per week
4. Hook up the Wii fit and start using it for cross training 2 days per week
5. NO GRAHAM CRACKER snacking while I'm at work.

It really helps me to write all this out on here. Sorry for the long post for anyone who took the time to muddle through it :)

[eyor44]

Guess I'm a little late to tell you good luck. But Good Luck! You'll do awesome. You have some real accomplishments and lots to be proud of. Most everyone has trouble during the holidays. The key is to get right back on the wagon. I don't think you will have any problems. :goodvibes

Bummer about being stuck at the hospital. Wow! I'm glad you finally go to join your family for the end of the holiday.

You are smart to have more plans. I totally let me walking go a couple weeks after I got back last year. Huge mistake on my part. I really hope not to do that this time. I love the walking. I was just so cold....:cold:

Have a great time and if we don't meet there, we'll chat and compare notes after we are both back.

[toystoryduo]

Hope you have a wonderful time in Disney, Lola!!!:cloud9: We'll be cheering you on from Ohio!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

I did it!!! I finished my first half marathon!!! :yay:

My official time was just over 3 hours but I spent 21 minutes meeting charecters (I timed it by pausing the NikePlus) so my acutal running time was a little less. Either way I am just tickled pink to have finished. It was so much fun and I feel great. :thumbsup2

I will try to write a complete report soon but work is crazy today. Thanks to the ice storm I've been stuck here for the last 36 hours. Hoping to get home for some rest tonight.

[toystoryduo]

Congratulations, Lola!!! :cheer2: Way to go!!!! :thumbsup2 I am so proud of you!:hug:

I hope you're able to get home this evening.:wizard: Please be sure and get plenty of rest! :hug:

[momof2minnies]

Lola congratulations!!!! That is quite a feeling isn't it? Hope you guys dig out from this great storm- we just made it home the day before-phewww!

Linda

[rubato]

Congratulations! I bet you just had the best time!!! Can't wait to hear the report.

[lolakat]

So I have taken a full week off of everything, running, eatting right and journaling here on WISH. Frankly, I feel like a slug and I can't wait to get back on track.
I ran 5 miles today which felt great. I did it with only a brief 2 minute walk break after the first mile. Tomorrow I have to get my eatting back on track. It has really just been terrible. I will go to WW to weigh in. I suspect I've gained around 5 lbs or so since my last weigh in. I have found that the post race duldrums are a little worse than I anticipated and I feel kind of blah. I registered for a 10 mile race on May 1st so hopefully that will help give me a new goal. I want to get faster and maybe run the whole thing without walk breaks.

I will still try to get to some more detailed feelings about the race in the next day or so but I just can't seem to muster the energy to do it at work today.

[VernRDH]

Lola-I know exactly what you mean about the doldrums. But you can get right back to it, even if you take it slowly, you will get there. I too have been slacking off for the last two weeks, and am finally getting back on track.

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern, I'm back to running the last couple of days and I'm feeling a bit better.

Ok, so here is my mini TR and race report. No pics so a little dull but at least it will help me remember :)

I was out of the house bright and early for a 7:30 AM direct flight to Orlando. I had never flown Southwest before so I wasn't prepared for the longer lines at their check in and security at RDU. Luckily I had left lots of time so it was no big deal. I'm not a big fan of the SW no assigned seat board by number thingy but when traveling alon it is not a problem. I was able to snag an aisle seat toward the back of the plane and had an on time, comfy uneventful ride. I arrived to the shuttle just as one was pulling in. I had a little time before my friend's flight was due to arrive so I used the rest room and looked around at the airport Disney store. Soon I started to make my way to the Magical Express where I planed to meet my buddy. Unfortunately I headed the wrong way and ended up in the A section of the terminal when I should have been in B. Oops... after some backtracking I finaly found the right spot and buddy was there waiting for me. We quickly went through the line and in about 10 min we were on a bus headed for the Boardwalk Inn. This was my first using ME and I really liked it.

This was my first time staying at the boardwalk and I'd really wanted to check it out for a long time. I was happy to see they still had the Christmas decorations up in the lobby when we got there. They were very pretty. There was a bit of a line to check in but our room was ready right away. We were on the first floor and the room was nice. It was comparable to other deluxe properties I've stayed at before and I have no complaints about the room or the service at the Boardwalk.

Once we got settled we headed out to catch a bus to the expo. The marathon buses were picking up by the convention center and were not well marked so it took us a bit to figure this out. A bus came quickly and we were on our way. The expo was packed so we didn't shop around too much. We both picked up our half marathon packets and I got my 5K one too. I wanted to switch out my XL shirt for a L but this was a big deal that would reuire a lot of backtracking so I deceided to just keep what I had. The bus to go back to the boardwalk took FOREVER to get there. We waited at least 40min but this was the only problem we had with transportation the whole trip.

We quickly stopped at the room to put our things away then walked over the DHS. I haven't been there in years since we usually skip this park when I come with my DD. I had a reservation at Mama Melrose for 2:30 and we just made it. The Expo business took a lot longer than I thought it would. We each had a flat bread which was very tasty the meal was pretty reasonable. We just sat there a soaked up how thrilled we were to be in Disney! After lunch we floudered for a bit. The only thing I really wanted to see was Fantasmic. We saw the Little Mermaid show first then hit Tower of Terror. We wanted to do Rockin Roller Coaster but we saw the Fantasmic Line was already getting long. It was more than 2 hours from the show but I was worried we would miss it. We got in line and each got a Mickey Ice cream while we waited. They let us in about 90 min before the show and we waited. It was pretty cold. It turns out we were suckers and easily could have done the Rockin roller coster b/c there was still seating available until about 10 min before the show. I enjoyed Fantasmic but I'm glad I haven't brought my DD since I think it would be too intense for her. I'm not in a rush to see it again.

We headed out of DHS and walked to Epcot. We had dinner reservations at the new resturant in Mexico. I'm blanking on the name right now. We each had a margarita and I had the tilapia which was really good. Buddy just had a salad. We had a good view of Illuminations from our table which worked out very well. After dinner we were beat so we headed back to the room. I had thought we might check out Jelly Rolls or the Dance Hall but we were way too tired. Besides, I was signed up to do the 5K in the AM.

My alarm went off at 520 and I was out the door by 530 on the way to the 5K. This was only my second race ever so I was nervouse and excited. About 5,000 people ran the 5K. I thought it was crowded but of course it was nothing like I would see the next day at the half marathon. They had buzz and woody out for pictures and there was a very long line. Since I had more than an hour until the start I jumped right in line. I heard a lot of other people say they wouldn't wait for that but I was thinkin, Uh, you are going to wait one way or the other so you might as well get a picture with Buzz out of it. I struck up a conversation with a nice woman in front of me and time passed quickly. I got my picture and it was time to get in the corral. It was a bit chilly at about 40 degrees or so.

They had some festivities at the start including the nation anthem. Before we knew it we were off. The race started through the parking lot and then looped around the world show case. There were a few character stops including Mulan in China and Remi in France. I really whish I had stoped for Remi but for soem reason I didn't. They also had some charecters out waving from balconies including Mini in a kimono in Japan and Pinochio in Germany. The 5K is a bit of a blurr to me. I ran the whole thing with no walk breaks so I was pround of my self. My overall time was 35:18.

OK, have to take a break. I'll try to report the rest tomorrow :)

[toystoryduo]

Congrats on running the 5K with no walk breaks!!!:cheer2: How did you like the Boardwalk Inn?

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report, Lola!:goodvibes Have a great day!:hug:

[eyor44]

Congratulations on finishing both the 5K and 1/2 Lola! :banana: I probably passed you several times during the weekend also. Do you think you will go back next year? I am just waiting for the registration to be open. We will definitly be back.
I am interested in how you enjoyed Boardwalk also.

[lolakat]

Ok I'm back :)

I was very happy with our stay at the boardwalk. I enjoyed the themeing of the area inside and out. Our room was large and well kept. Were were on the 1st floor with no view but I bet he views fromt eh upgraded rooms would be excellent. I loved being able to walk to Epcot and DHS. We were able to make a few visits to the World Showcase in the evenings. If I had more time there I think I would have enjoyed the easy access to the night life on the boardwalk but we just didn't get to squeeze that in on the is trip. I would absolutely stay there again although I do prefer the monorail resorts when traveling with DD b/c of the easy of getting around with the stroller and all her gear.

Back to the report :)

So after the 5K I took the bus back to the boardwalk. There was a bus waiting when I got to the stop. While on the bus I got talking to a man who had run the 5k with his 3 kids. That seems like such a great experience to share as a family. I'm hoping I can get DD to run with me when she is a bit older. I was back in the room by about 9:30. Buddy was out shopping while I took a quick shower. We then caught a bus for Animal Kingdom. We were lucky that one was pulling up just as we walked to the bus stop.

We had 10:20 reservations at Tusker house but wanted to get EE fast passes and try to ride Kilamanjaro safari first. We got our fast pass and the like for KS said 10 min so we thought we had time. Unfortunately it was really more like a 30 wait. I've been on the KS about a half dozen times but this was the most active I've every seen the animals. We got very good views of many of the "big ticket" residents like hippo/rhino/elephant and giraffes. Once we got off it was already 10:45 We ran over to Tusker house and they were still able to take us for the very end of the lunch seating. TH was one of my favorite charecter meal on my last visit. This time it wasn't quite as good. Maybe b/c DD wasn't with me or maybe because we were at the tail end of breakfast and the food was looking a little picked over. It was good enough and we did get to see Mickey and friends so we enjoyed it.

After breakfast we were excited to use our EE fast pass so we made a bee line for Asia. When we got there we saw the stand-by line was only 20 min. So we grabbed a second set of FP and jumped in the stand-by line. This was my first time on EE and I LOVED it. What a fun ride. When we got off we jumped in the FP ride and rode it again. From Asia we headed to Camp Minie Mickey to see the Lion King show. We just made it in before the show started which was perfect timing! I've seen this show a bunch but it was Buddy's first time and she was impressed. Next we headed to Dino land and got FP for Dinoasaur. While we wated for teh FP time we road the Triceratop Spin. I've never been on this one before but it had looked appealing to me. In the end it was a longish wait for a so-so ride. We went and used our Dino FP the doubled back to Asia to use our last EE fast pass. By now it was 3pm which was out goal time ot leave AK and head to Epcot. We were able to get a bus straight from AK to Epcot. I had forgotten this was available but it was a lot faster than going back to the hotel first.

Once in Epcot we headed for the World Showcase. We started making our way around from Canada. Buddy had never seen it before. Unfortunately since we had the half marathon the next AM we didn't want to partake in any of the usual "Drinking around the world" activities. We stopped and had Pastries in "France." By 6:00 we were exhausted and I was a little worried since my feet were killing me and I figured this wasn't a great way to feel the day before my first half marathon. We had 6:30 reservations at Bistro de France. I've wanted to try that place for a long time but it always seemed to "fancy" for DD. We opted to skip out on this in favor of pizza in our room and an early bed time. I think I was asleep before 8pm.

My alarm got me up promptly at 2:45 the next AM. I fumbled to put on my gear that I had laid out the night before and Buddy and I made our way to the bus stop. At 3:10 there was already a line. The first bus that pulled up was mostly full and they only let on about 5 people from our stop. About 5 min later an empty bus pulled up and we filled it. There were still about 20 people left waiting when we pulled away. By then it was about 3:30.

We made it to the staging area and found our way to the race retreat tent.
I had struggled with the decision of wether to pay for race retreat or not but in the end I deceided it was worth it to me to have a guaranteed warm dry place to be before and after the race. We had plenty of time to check our bag, take a picture with the Woody/Buzz/Jesse/horse crew and use the porta potty twice before it was time to head out to the starting corals. The race retreat did have a seperate area of about 20 porta pottys. I don't know if the line was much shorter than the larger area outside but we didn't have any problem getting in to use them.

I really didn't know what to expect as we headed out to the corals. I'm not sure exactly what time we started walking, maybe about 4:45. The crowds were unbelievable. It was just a huge moving mob of 27,000 people making their way down the service roads/parking lots of epcot. It seemed to take forever. I was in corral E and Buddy was in B. She barely made it to her coral when they started singing the national anthem and there were still plenty of people coming in behind us.

They stared the race in several (7?) waves. I was in the 5th wave (aka corral E) I had plenty of time to sit down and stretch before the race started. There was a lot of energy in the air. I was just soaking in all the excitement. It might have been nice to have had someone there to share it with but maybe there is something to be said for having an acomplishment that you can only share with yourself. Before I knew it we were moving forward to the start line and the fireworks went off for the start of the 5th wave. I was on my way!!

My plan for the race was to do 3min run/1 min walk intervals from the start and maybe switch to 3:2 later in the race. It was very hard to stick to the walk intervals early on. I think it helped that there were a lot of run/walkers in corral E so many people were doing the same thing I was. After the first 2 miles it was clear that I had dressed too warmly. I had debated a short sleeve shirt with a throw away sweater vs. my usually short sleeve shirt with my running zip up on top. I had deceided to wear the zip up and had pined my number to the front of that. I spent the fist 20-30 min dealing with reorganizing myself during the walk breaks. By mile 4 I was pretty much set with the zip up tied around my waist and the bib pined to the short sleeve shirt. I also was trying to juggle my camera which I had planned to keep in the pocket of the zip up. I must have been quite the sight. I guess it did keep my mind off the running for a little bit and I was pleased that I was able to keep moving at my usual pace while I got set up.

The first set of charecters I saw was Pooh/Eeorye. I didn't stop as there was a long line. Around mile 4 or 5 I deceided to stop for a potty break. I didn't really desperately half to go but I was worried about finding a place later. Turns out I shouldn't have worried about it. The lines for the bathroom got a lot shorter as we got farther in to the race. Next time I will know that I should wait unless I really have to go. Eventually we passed under the sign for the MK. It was still dark out at that point. I knew it would still be another couple of miles before we were actually in the MK but I had that "wow, I'm really doing this" feeing.

Running through the MK was amazing. The crowds really picked up as we got closer to the park. The cheering was so motivating I stopped an had a volunteer take my picture with the castle in the backgroud. I just love that shot :) As we looped passed teh Teacup ride I stopped for a pic with Alice and the Mad hatter. Farther along there was Snow White and Dopey but I didn' stop. As we came aroudn the back of the castle I stopped for a pic with the fairy god mother. I skipped the photo stop in front of the castle with ASI. There were also photo-ops with the cast of The Princess and the Frog but I skipped it due to a long line. I was just on cloud 9 as we ran though the park. As we came out the back they had the steam engine parked to the side tooting it's horn for us. Then they had a whole pirate ship set up with Capt. Jack and a whole group of pirates.

As we headed down the road by the grand floridian I started to feel nervous about by time and was thinking a maybe I had stopped for too many photos. I had the thought that maybe I was toward the back of the pack and that if I couldn't keep my pace I would get swept. I must have had oxyegen deprivation to my brain b/c it was obvious that I was well ahead of the 16min/mile pace. Anyway, I skipped pics with the penguin from Mary Poppins and Goofy/Donald on the golf course b/c I was nervous about this. I did stop for Chip and Dale b/c their line was very short.

I found mile 7-9 to be the toughest mentally for me. I was starting to feel a little tired and it was still in my mind that not finishing was a possibility. I dont' remember exactly when but some time around mile 10 we ran up the clover leaf and onto an over pass. Looking down from there I could see the THOUSANDS of runners stretching back miles behind me and I realized that even if I walked to the end I would finish!! From there on I had a lot more fun. It felt euphoric even though I was tired and my right foot was hurting. I stopped for pics with Tiger and Eeorye and some fairy whose name I don't even know :). Entering Epcot was great but not quite the same as the MK. The excitement at that point was more about getting to the finish line. Once I came around the corner and saw the gospel choir I knew I was almost there.

Coming across the finish line was a tremendous feeling. I just kept thinking that I DID IT.... I got my butt up off the couch and moved it until I could run 13 miles! A year ago if anywone had asked me if this was possible I would have said no way. It is such a liberating feeling to do something "impossible". My official time was just over 3 hours but I stopped for pics/potty for a total of 28 min. All in all I was very happy with my finish.

After the race I picked up my medal and headed to back to the race retreat to meet up with Buddy. She had finished about an hour before me. We had some breakfast, collected our things and headed back to the hotel. After a quick shower we were on our way to the MK.


Have to do some work today. I'll try to finish up later. :)

[eyor44]

Wonderful race report.
This is too funny. We went to AK after the 5K and had a 10:15 ressie. We probably were eating in the same room. :goodvibes

A good stopping point during the 1/2 is the restrooms that are in the covered area that leads from Adventure Land to Frontier Land. Very large, no wait and CLEAN. I didn't stop last year, but this year I knew our fluid intake was more and it was a good idea.

Glad to hear you were pleased with Boardwalk. I am looking to schedule a trip for a friend and that is what I am suggesting for her. She will have an ECV and nervous about taking in on the bus. From there she would be able to roll to a couple of the parks without a problem.

[toystoryduo]

You did it!!!:cheer2: I am so proud of you, Lola!:hug: I bet finishing the race was the most amazing feeling!:cloud9: Way to go!!!:cheer2:

I'm glad you liked the Boardwalk. We stayed at the villas there a couple of years ago and we loved it!:love:

Looking forward to the rest of your report!:goodvibes

[momof2minnies]

Lola nice trip report.Not sure what your weather is but it has been the pits since we got back-I have not done a thing but eat.

Have a good day
Linda

[lolakat]

Thank you all for the kind words :)
Linda, the weather her has been so-so since I got back but nothing like the North East has been getting. My eatting has not been great but I am keeping up with my running and working on intervals to see if I can get a bit faster. My weight is about the same and I'm OK with that for the moment.


I'll try to wrap up the trip report quickly.

We got to the MK around 1:30pm and the park was already pretty crowded. We had reservations at Tony's for 2:30 but deceided to skip them in favor of munching on snacks all day. We started off by getting a space moutain FP then hitting Fantasy land ofr Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, and It's a Small World. The line for Peter Pan was crazy long so we skipped it. Then we headed to the hunted mansion. This was one of Buddy's favorie Disney Land rides and she was anxious to see the DW version. I had never realized the exteriors were so different.

After HM we were on a hunt for Churros which we finally found in Fronteir land. I also stopped for an ice cream cone...(hey, don't judge, I just ran 13 miles :)) Initially I picke up a Dole Whip float. I was anxious to try this as the get such rave reviews here on DIS. I'm sorry to report that they are just not for me. A bit too sweet, so I ditched it and got a regular cone.

We got picked up a FP for TMRR and went on Pirates of the Carribean. Eventually it was time to head back and use our SM FP. I hadn't been on SM for years and it was just as much fun as i remembered it to be. We grabbed a prime spot for the Electrical Parade right on Main Street and sat down to wait about an hour for it to stop. We really didn't mind the rest. After the parade We headed over the TMRR and used our FP then rode it again on a short SB line. The CM checking FP was the pickiest I've ever seen. We got came back exactly 2min before our window opened and he asked us to wait to the side. Which was fine but I've just never seen it happen before. By now it was just a little before 9pm. We started making our way out of the park but stopped for the last showing of Country Bear jamboree. We had (:45 reservations at Flying Fish but we were just too worn out. We ended up with another night of Pizza fromt he board walk. Originally we had planned to go out to jelly rolls after dinner but there was NO WAY either of us was moving from our bed. We watched a little TV, packed up and passed out

The next AM we cleared out of the room and checked our bags with the bell hop. I had a 1pm magical express and buddy had a 4pm. We caught a bus to MK and the driver warned us that it might be a long ride b/c of the marathon traffic. Luckily we must have timed it well b/c the ride was not much longer than normal excpet that they dropped us at the transportation center instead of the usual bus stop. We hopped on a monorail (first ride for buddy) and pulled in to the MK just as the opening show was starting.

We husteled to SM to pick up a FP before going to CP for our breakfast. We got a lot of cute pics with pooh and friends. I think Buddy felt a little silly at the charecter breakfasts but not me :) Ager breakfast we headed back to SM to find the stand-by line very short. We got another set of FP and jumped on stand by. We rode 3 times in a row then rode buzz light year. By then it was time for me to start heading back to the hotel. We took a monorail to Epcot and walked through to the back gate. On the way I picked up a fast pass for TT for Buddy and she got herself one for MS. Then we said good bye and she went off to ride Soarin while I caught the ME to the airport. While waiting for the buss I was speaking with a few nice folks who had run the full marathon. They bolstered my feeling that I really just have to run that race next year.

My ride home was uneventful and I made it in just in time to tuck DD into bed. All in all it was a fantastic trip. Running my first half marathon was an experience that is difficult to put into words. Add in a little Disney and, well, it just doesn't get much better than that. :goodvibes

Now I'm home and trying to stay motivated even though I don't have any real events on the horizen. I'm still running 3-4 days a week and I'm trying to keep some sort of longer run on the weekend. Last Saturday I did 7 miles and I think I will do 9 or 10 tomorrow. I'm working on trying to get faster and I'm doing my mid week 3-5 mile runs without walk breaks. My diet/weight loss is stagnent at the moment but I'm not gaining either. I'm pretty happy with my currant size and I'm trying to deceide if I want to push forward for another 10-20 lbs or just maintain.

As for this journal I'm not 100% sure about it's future. I've gone from "couch to half marathon" just like the title says. If I deceide to push on with the weight loss I think it will be helpful to keep posting here. I've been so greatful to all of you who have followed along and given be excouragement along the way. :goodvibes I'm going to see how I feel over the next few weeks and make and effort to get back to posting on a more regular basis.

I plan to start officially training for the full marathon in June per the Galloway program and I think that will call for a whole new journal!

[lolakat]

OK, so now an effort to get back to some regular posting.

I weighed in at WW on Friday just b/c I felt like I needed a "starting over" point. I was up 1.4 lbs for an even 190. Not too bad considering I've really been eatting WAAAAY off plan pretty much since Christmas.

Yesterday I did a long run outside since we were having beautiful 50 degree and sunny weather. I hit the American Tobbacco Trail which was muddy but otherwise beautiful. I went for 10.25 miles according to the NikePlus which I think is about 9.5 real miles. Took me 1hr and 50 minutes. I tried a new interval plan. I ran 1 mile then would walk for 2 minutes. Over all the run did not feel great from the begining. I reallly felt like I was working and my right hamsting and groin was pretty sore at the end. Not sure what was up since my 7 mile run last weekend on the tredmill felt great. I'm thinking of going back to a 5min run/1-2 min walk interval for a bit. At least for the long runs.

Food yesterday:
B: 2 eggs 1 slice rye toast, half a biscuit
L: none
D: (we went out to Caraba's a resturant that I really don't like much) I had a starter salad with house dressing, grilled salmon and half cup of pasta with tomato sauce. Also ate 3 pieces of bread (the only good thing at that resturant IMO)

Not sure when I will weigh in this week. I usually do Mon or Tues day night so maybe I will shoot for Tuesday even though it's unlikely I'll see much change in weight over 4 days. I have a Vegas trip planned for late Feb and I want to try to use that as motivation to get back on plan.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

[lolakat]

No run yesterday, I still had a little tenderness in my right leg so I figured I would take it easy. I plan to run an easy 3 on the tredmill today.

Food yesterday:
B/L: Slice of quiche with a side salad
D: half portion of chicken piccata from CCF and shared a slice of cheese cake with DD and DH.

This has not been a totally on plan weekend but it has been better that I was over the last month or so. Only 3 weeks until Vegas so I'm going to try and be stricter this week. I will try to weigh in tomorrow am at WW to get me back on the regular schedule. I don't think I'll have lost anything since Friday but I can dream. :)

[toystoryduo]

What is this 50 degree/sunny weather of which you speak? ;) LOL! :laughing: We haven't seen 50 degrees in awhile. As a matter of fact, we are under a winter storm warning right now. I can't wait for spring! :sunny: I hope the groundhog cooperates on Wednesday. ;) :wizard:

Great job getting your run in!:cheer2: Hope your leg is feeling better soon!:wizard:

Have a nice evening!:hug:

[lolakat]

Missed my run yesterday :sad2: Things at work were too busy and now that DH is doing C25K we have to share the treadmill at night. By the time he was done I was just too beat. I will have to find a way to get 3 miles in today instead.

I went to WW to weigh in the AM before work. Shockingly I was down 4.2 lbs, Go figure :confused3 I think there might be something wrong with the scale b/c I just weighed in on Friday and my scale at home is only down about 1.5 lbs. Anyway for now I will take it but I'm worried they may "take it back" when I weigh in next week.

Starting weight: 244
Current weight: 185.8
Net loss: 58.2 lbs :banana:

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
D: I was doing so well until I got caught at work and had 3 big chocolate chip cookies instead of a real dinner. :sad2: Oh well, what can you do.

I still feel like I'm just not totally back into a standard routine like I was before the holidays. Little by little I am doing a bit better though. I still have exactly 3 weeks until Vegas so it is possible that I could loose the 6 lbs and make in to my 179 goal before the trip. If I can just keep away from the sweets I think I can do it. :thumbsup2

[lolakat]

Did a 4 mile run on the treadmill last night. Did the first mile at 5.0 then the second 2 at 5.5 mph then the last at 5.0. No walk breaks this time. Overall it felt like a great run.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
S: FF Cappacino
L: bowl of chedder ale soup (so yummy but not the healthiest choice)
D: left over 1/2 of CCF Chicken piccata
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I'd like to get more short runs in during the week so I'm going to try to do a short 2 mile run today. I would really like to use these to work on speed but my right groin/hamstring still just doesn' t feel quite right and going faster seems to really aggravate it. I figure it is better to keep moving slowly than to get injured and not be able to move at all.

I've been seeing a lot of people talk about getting their coast to coast medal and signing up for the DL half. It is soooo tempting but I really just can't justify the expense of a cross country flight and the time away from my family. We are planning a family DW trip for early Oct which would make it hard to get all that time off work too. Maybe I will have to plan to do it next year assuming I make it through the full. We will see....

[toystoryduo]

Great job getting your run in yesterday!:cheer2: Hope your leg feels better soon!:wizard:

[lolakat]

Ran 2 miles yesterday before work in 22:52. I'm loving that I can run these shorter runs with no walk breaks. It makes me feel more like a "real runner" even though I know that is totally bogus. It is hard to judge if my times are better or worse without the walk breaks. I've come to discover that my NikePlus is really completely inaccurate and I had been using that to get the pace for a lot of my previous runs. It makes me look faster than I really am. Right now I'm using my new treadmill which I think is very accurate. I have a Garmin Forerunner that I want to get set up for my outside runs b/c I think it will be much better than my NikePlus. I'd like to move toward getting my 2-3 mile mid week runs up into the 5.5 mph range for the full distance.

Food yesterday was not so great: :sad2:
B: sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
L: Slice of cheese pizza (why? it was at a meeting and free and i was weak and hungry :sad2:)
S: FF Cappucino
D: Spinich ravioli with tomato sauce (ate WAY WAY too much of this)
S: First I had my usual SC ice cream sandwich then DH broke out a bag of chocolate covered nut and I helped him eat the WHOLE THING :scared1: Ugh

Oh well, today is another day :goodvibes I hope to get in 3 miles on the treadmill tonight after work.

[lolakat]

Ran 4 miles on the treadmill last night. Did take 1 two minute long walk break between mile 3 and 4. Ran the rest at 5.0-5.5 mph. Did the 4 miles in 47min. Plan for tonight is to run 3 miles with 3:2 intervals of 6mph run and 3.5 mph walk. Unfortunately DH also wants to run tonight so we will have to both try to find time to share the treamill. I'm happy I've inspired him to get moving but wish we didn't have to compete for the same limited time on the treadmill.

I'm not sure I ever talked about buying the new treadmill but we finally got it just before the half marathon and it is AWSOME! so much better than our old one. For Christmas I asked DH to get a tv on a mount that could swing out in front of the treadmill and he did. It is so great to be able to watch DVD's while running. I just LOVE it. We spent about $1,600 on it but I looked at what it would cost DH and I to join a gym that we would struggle to get to and saw the closest one would be $1,200/year but $250 start up fee. So the treadmill with "pay for itself" in just over a year :thumbsup2 Plus having spent all that money really makes me want to use it regularly!

Food yesterday:
B: Sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter
L: brocolii and cheadar soup with crackers (really shouldn't have)
S: SF/FF Cappacino
D: Grilled chicken and brocolii
S: SC ice cream sandwich and 2 chocolate truffles (I blame DH for the truffles he has all this chocolate in the house and it is so hard to resist :sad2:)

[eyor44]

Hey Lola
Great job on getting right back to your runs when you got home. Love that you got a new treadmill also. What kind did you get?

Saw another coinsidence in your trip report. We also had breakfast at CP on Sunday morning. Our ressie was for 8:00am though.

So you are thinking of doing the Full. My friend wants to do the Full also. She wants the Mickey Medal.

[ZweetiePie]

I'd like to know what kind of treadmill you got as well. I had a used one for years that I bought in 2005 but it just got so raggedy that I sold it a few months ago. I want to get a good one but not one that will break the bank.

[lolakat]

We got a Sole F83. So far I am very happy with it. My only (very minor) complaint is that is takes a bit too long to transition between speeds. While this makes for a smooth transition it is a little cumbersome since I do a lot of intervals for my run/walk training.

This weekend was pretty much a complete loss for diet and exercise. For some reason I was eatting like a pig for 2 days straight. Most of the weekend was rainy but I could have got a long run in on Sunday. I ended up skipping it in favor of a nap. Oh well. I just can't seem to really get my heart into weight loss at the moment. Maybe because I am fairly happy maintaining my current size.

Yesterday was better. I did a 4 mile run mostly at 5.5-6mph. I got interupted by a call from work in the middle of it so I can't say what my actual time was.

Food Yesterday
B: sandwich thin and reduced fat peanut butter
L: roasted red pepper soup with crackers
S: FF cappucino, 2 squares of dark chocolate
D: Was stuck late at work so no dinner. Did have a SC ice cream sandwich when I got home.

I'd like to get to WW to weigh in tonight but I'm not sure if I can get out of work. I expect about a 2 lb gain from last week.

[toystoryduo]

Great job on getting that 4 mile run in yesterday!:cheer2:

Hope you have a nice evening!:hug:

[lolakat]

Ran 3.1 miles yesterday on the treadmill at work. alternated between 5.0 and 6.0 mph ever 0.25 miles. Overall the run felt pretty good.

I did manage to get to WW last night and I was up 1.4 lbs. Not too suprising given my eatting lately. Speaking of which:

Food yesterday:

B: sandwich thin with peanut butter, SF/FF Cappucino
L: Pizza :sad2:
D: left over 1/2 portion of CCF Chicken piccata
S: SC ice cream sandwich and 1/2 a chocolate santa claus (I know... I know:sad2:)

Oh well.... even if they eatting is not great my weight is hanging out about the same and I'm still moving. I'm sure I'll collect my motivation eventually and get back on the diet wagon.

[lolakat]

Ugh, been having a heck of a week. I've caught a nasty cold and just getting through work has felt tough. I have not run the last 2 nights and I kind of doubt I will run today either. I plan to go right to bed after getting DD to bed at 8:00.

Eatting has been just OK but no crazy binging or anything.

Yesterday's food
B: sandwich thin and peanutbutter
S: Capucino
L: chicken salad sandwich (and a cookie :sad2:)
D: Pasta

I was planning a 7 mile long run tomorrow but I will have to see how things are with this chest cold. Ugh....

[lolakat]

Still fighting my head cold and feeling exhausted. Work today is not too crazy so far. I could get a run in if I wanted to but I just feel too beat. If I don't run today I will have to do it tomorrow. We'll see how I feel a little later on. Right now I've been on my feet since 6am and I still have 5 more hours to go...bleck.

Food yesterday was a bit better:
B: sandwich thin with RF peanutbutter
S: SF/FF Cappuccino
L: Sweet potato soup
S: an orange
D: More of the sweet potato soup... too tired to cook

[lolakat]

No run, still sick... ugh. Work has been busy and today has been another long day. I'm hoping to get back on my feet for a run on Monday.

Food yesterday was pretty good
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Cappucino
L: LC Chicken carbonara
S: Orange
D: Veggie burritto

[toystoryduo]

Hope you feel better soon, Lola!:hug:

[eyor44]

Ran 2 miles yesterday before work in 22:52. I'm loving that I can run these shorter runs with no walk breaks. It makes me feel more like a "real runner" even though I know that is totally bogus.

Girl, let's get one thing straight.....(insert stern looking smilie here) YOU ARE A RUNNER! ::yes:: A REAL runner ::yes:: ::yes::

Now that we have that taken care of, how are you? Are you feeling better? Don't push yourself until you are well. No running, maybe just a brisk walk right now. Please take care of yourself. The tread mill will still be there when you are better. :hug:

[lolakat]

Girl, let's get one thing straight.....(insert stern looking smilie here) YOU ARE A RUNNER! ::yes:: A REAL runner ::yes:: ::yes::
:

Thank you for that :hug:

I am feeling a bit better today. Did a slow 3. 1 miles last night and might try to do another 2-3 tonight. Work is still busy but "only" 14 more days until I get a day off so I see a light at the end of the tunnel.... I think I can... I think I can!!!

Food yesterday:
B: Sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: Cappucino
L: didn't really get to it... had a bunch of crackers and half a scone (yuck)
D: a slice of cold pizza... wasn't worth it but I was really hungrey and it was there.

[lolakat]

Did 2 miles last night. Still slow but at least I did them. Tonight I will take a rest.

Food yesterday
B: peanut thin with peanut butter
S: Cappucino
L: Roasted Red pepper soup
D: Got home late and DH and I split a box of valentine candy and watched a movie. Not healthy but kind of fun since work kept us from doing anything else for valentine's day.

[eyor44]

Hey Lola, how's it going? Are you feeling better? Over your cold? I hate you have to work so many days in a row without a break. That has got to be tough. How is the weather in your area? Have you been able to get out and run any?

[eyor44]

Hey Lola, been wondering how you are doing.

[lolakat]

Hi I'm back!

I got side tracked from fitness and diet over the last several weeks. I've still been running but not on any kind of training program and my diet has been the pits. I think I've gained back somewhere btw. 7-10 lbs but I haven't been doing hte WW weigh in so I'm not completely sure. I have a 10 mile race and my first Disney cruise coming up at the begining of next month so it is time to get back with teh program! This journal really helped me before so I'm going to start using it again. I'm back on WW as of today and will start back on a four day per week training program preping for the 10 miler. My last long run was 7 miles 2.5 weeks ago so I'm not too worried about the distance. I just need to be more consistant with the training and getting the regular mid week runs in.

I hope to catch up on everyone else's journals over the course of the week.

[LiloH]

Glad you're back! :)

[lolakat]

Back on track x 1 day... it's a start.

Ran 3.5 miles last night. I've lost some ground with being so lax in my training over the last 2 months. I did 4 min run: 2 min walk intervals with run at 5 mph and walk at 3.5 mph.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with reduced fat PB
S: FF/SF Capuccino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
D: Veal Tortillini (not the best by DH cooked and I only had half a cup full)
S: Skinney Cow ice cream sandwich

After 2 months away I went to a WW meeting with my tail between my legs. I'm up 7.8 lbs from my last weigh in on 2/9. Ugly but not as bad as it could have been with all the terrible eatting I've done lately. :sad2:

Starting Weight: 244
Current Weight: 195
Weekly change: + 7.8 lbs
Net change: -49 lbs

I'm hoping to loose those 7.8 lbs by the end of the month. Here is to day #2 back on track!! :)

[lolakat]

Rest day from running yesterday.

Food.
B: sandwich thin with RF Peanut butter
S: Capuccino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: Orange and almonds
D: chicken breast and string beans
S: SC ice cream sandwich

I'm having a stressful week. I found a lump in my breast a couple of weeks ago. I though it was nothing but had my OB/GYN check it out yesterday and she felt it too. They scheduled me for an ultrasound and initally they couldn't get me in for a week. Even though I know it is likely nothing, my mind is racing about it so I called and they can squeeze me in tomorrow AM. I'm praying it is a lot of worry about nothing but I really want to know one way or the other. I haven't told anyone except my husband but I figure it is ok to talk about it here in the world of cyber anonimity. On top of the **** issue I have a few unpleasant and important meetings at work this week and I'm having a heck of a time keeping my head in the game. Well, I'm grateful for a place to vent a little. Thanks for listening for anyone who happens to read this.

[toystoryduo]

Welcome back, Lola!:hug: Great job getting back on track! I know you CAN do it! ::yes::

I'm so sorry to hear about the lump in your breast. :( Sending lots of good thoughts, pixie dust, and prayers your way. :hug: When will you have the results of the u/s?

I'm sending some :wizard: for your meetings this week as well. I pray that all goes well!

[lolakat]

Thanks for the pixie dust and prayers Tracy. I had the mammo/ultrasound first thing this AM and they told me everything looks OK. I'm not sure what my Dr. and I were feeling but I guess it was just normal breast tissue. What a relief. I had myself all worked up over nothing.

I ran 3 miles yesterday doing 5 min run (5mph)/2min walk (3.5 mph).

Food:
B: Sandwich thin with reduced fat peanut butter and a Capuccino
L: LC Chicken Carbonara
S: Oranges and almonds
D: Grilled ham steak and asparagus.
S: SC Ice cream sandwich

[LiloH]

Fantastic news, Lola! I am glad to hear everything is ok. There's nothing like stress to bring out the bad habits too!

You're doing great so keep it up!

[toystoryduo]

That is wonderful news, Lola!!! :cool1: I am so happy to hear that everything is okay!:hug: I bet that is a HUGE load off your mind!:goodvibes

Great job on your workouts and food! Keep up the good work!:cheer2:

[lolakat]

Ran 2.5 miles last night. 10min run (5mph)/2 min walk (3.5mph) intervals. I've got to do a 8 mile LR this weekend as part of my training for the upcoming 10 mile race. The weather should be nice so if possible I will try to get outside to do it.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with RF peanut butter
S: Capuccino
L: LC chicken club pannini
S: orange and almonds
D: grilled chicken sandwich on bun with small side salad and honey mustard
S: SC ice cream sandwich

The numbers on the scale at home have been coming down nicely. The only good thing about gaining a buch of weight pretty quickly is that a lot of it is water and seeing the numbers come down at first is motivating. I am likely about half way back down from the 7.8 lbs I gained. I won't post any "official" numbers until my next WW weigh in but I feel good about being back on track.