Hanging up my running shoes-Update on ZellyB

[ZellyB]

Totally agree, can't beat almost free college. What's he going to study?

He's not completely sure although they have a good program for dental hygienist training that he's expressed an interest in. For now he's going to focus on general ed requirements and trying to figure out for sure what he wants to be when he grows up.

 

[ZellyB]

How's that Ketogenic Diet thing working out?
​

My non-training updates have been a bit thin lately, haven't they? So, thought I'd give a quick update on how my Ketogenic eating is going.

It's actually continuing to go pretty well. I started around the first part of April and I'm down 10 pounds now which is great. I'm definitely starting to tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting and I've even had a couple of people notice and comment which always is a plus!!! I'm still finding that I'm doing pretty well managing hunger and I am still counting calories as well, but still finding that even with fewer calories I don't have these massive moments of hunger like I have in other restricted calorie diets. I certainly miss some of my carbs (sugar in my coffee being the biggest), but I'm adjusting better than I thought I might. Still allowing myself the occasional treat - like at some graduation parties this weekend I had small amounts of some sweets - and that seems to help me with staying on track.

We do need to start working our way through that cookbook again though to get some variety in our meal planning going again. We're both really sick of eating eggs for breakfast. Chris has lost like 15-20 pounds though, so he's really doing fantastic. MEN! Why do they get to lose weight so much faster?!?!?

So, yeah, short and sweet update, but thought I'd share that I'm still pretty happy with the way things are working out. Hoping to drop another 10-12 pounds to hit my goal weight, but I feel like I'm off to a good start on it.

Let's finish up with an RDP, shall we...

Just hanging out with Zurg. And this photo is now even more valuable (no it's not) because they've added more bars to Zurg's cage apparently now to prevent precisely this photo-op. WDW - eliminating your magic moments one day at a time. *

*I'm really not a Disney-hater, swear...

 

[DopeyBadger]

How's that Ketogenic Diet thing working out?
​

My non-training updates have been a bit thin lately, haven't they? So, thought I'd give a quick update on how my Ketogenic eating is going.

It's actually continuing to go pretty well. I started around the first part of April and I'm down 10 pounds now which is great. I'm definitely starting to tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting and I've even had a couple of people notice and comment which always is a plus!!! I'm still finding that I'm doing pretty well managing hunger and I am still counting calories as well, but still finding that even with fewer calories I don't have these massive moments of hunger like I have in other restricted calorie diets. I certainly miss some of my carbs (sugar in my coffee being the biggest), but I'm adjusting better than I thought I might. Still allowing myself the occasional treat - like at some graduation parties this weekend I had small amounts of some sweets - and that seems to help me with staying on track.

We do need to start working our way through that cookbook again though to get some variety in our meal planning going again. We're both really sick of eating eggs for breakfast. Chris has lost like 15-20 pounds though, so he's really doing fantastic. MEN! Why do they get to lose weight so much faster?!?!?

So, yeah, short and sweet update, but thought I'd share that I'm still pretty happy with the way things are working out. Hoping to drop another 10-12 pounds to hit my goal weight, but I feel like I'm off to a good start on it.

Let's finish up with an RDP, shall we...

Just hanging out with Zurg. And this photo is now even more valuable (no it's not) because they've added more bars to Zurg's cage apparently now to prevent precisely this photo-op. WDW - eliminating your magic moments one day at a time. *

*I'm really not a Disney-hater, swear...

Wow, that's awesome on the weight loss. Sounds like you're flourishing with this new diet regimen.

 

[Ariel484]

Awesome job to both of you on the weight loss!! I'm so impressed that you guys have stuck with it!

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

I'm finally caught up! I found your training log the other day and have been reading it intermittently during down time at work. Yay on Goofy! That's awesome AND awesome that your husband runs with you. I'm a little jealous on that one. I'll be curious to follow your interval training. When I run intervals I do 2:1 minutes and I think it's not really working for me, even though that's what I did for Dopey this year. How are those shorter intervals? Do you get annoyed by the greater frequency (that's why I haven't tried the shorter ones, TBH)?

Yay on the weight loss! Fantastic! And between you and @Ariel484 I am going to end up with some InB once I figure out the sizing...those mermaid capris are to die for.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

Congratulations on your weight loss! That is super impressive. Also that's great that your hunger level hasn't been too bad. That's the hardest part of sticking with something to me-- the hunger!!

 

[ZellyB]

Wow, that's awesome on the weight loss. Sounds like you're flourishing with this new diet regimen.

Thank you! I'm very surprised at how well we really are doing with it. It has its ups and downs obviously, but overall it's working out well.

Awesome job to both of you on the weight loss!! I'm so impressed that you guys have stuck with it!

Thank you!! Won't lie and say that there are moments I want to sit down with a big bag of Tostitos and salsa and go to town, but I've resisted temptation so far.

I'm finally caught up! I found your training log the other day and have been reading it intermittently during down time at work. Yay on Goofy! That's awesome AND awesome that your husband runs with you. I'm a little jealous on that one. I'll be curious to follow your interval training. When I run intervals I do 2:1 minutes and I think it's not really working for me, even though that's what I did for Dopey this year. How are those shorter intervals? Do you get annoyed by the greater frequency (that's why I haven't tried the shorter ones, TBH)?

Yay on the weight loss! Fantastic! And between you and @Ariel484 I am going to end up with some InB once I figure out the sizing...those mermaid capris are to die for.

Yay, glad you are all caught up!! I'm so lucky to have a husband who runs with me. He could run so much faster and better without me, but we love running together, so he sucks it up for me. True love right there.

I really like the shorter intervals although the adjustment to them took a long time. Honestly, it probably took a full training cycle before it felt good. Now, if I do a 1 minute walk interval it feels crazy long. The more frequent changes are tricky to adapt to, but once we really stuck to it, it feels very normal now. And, as I mentioned, we say a dramatic improvement in pace with the change.

InB is the best. I'd seen stuff about them previously and was somewhat interested in it, but not until @Ariel484 started really posting about it did I give them a shot. Either the best or worst decision I ever made.

Congratulations on your weight loss! That is super impressive. Also that's great that your hunger level hasn't been too bad. That's the hardest part of sticking with something to me-- the hunger!!

Thank you!!! That really has been one of the best things about this. I'm usually REALLY hungry on most diets but this has rarely left me hungry. Now cravings for Tostitos and salsa is another thing....

 

[ZellyB]

TRAINING WEEK 5/15 - 5/21
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Sunday 5/15 - 5 mile run. Sunday is normally a rest day for me, but Chris is training for his 50K in about a month and he needed to get some more miles in so I decided to run with him. We had a pretty good run and I felt good during it, but my knee acted up a bit after. Clearly, I'm not 100% where I need to be with it. Although it remains much better, I still obviously need to be cautious about how much I push it.

Monday 5/16 - Circuit training again. Nothing too exciting. I did back of weights on some of the leg machines that put pressure on my knee. Otherwise a pretty decent day. I walked about a mile or so on the treadmill waiting on Chris. While I was walking, the ROTC kids came in and filled up the place doing their PT exercises. I had to step around a bunch of them doing sit ups when it was time to go.

Tuesday 5/17 - RAIN...Boo. Although we really do need the rain. It's been crazy dry around here this spring. Still no run for me today.

Wednesday 5/18 - We bailed out on circuit training today. We ended up with another late night on Tuesday and there's just been some mental stress lately at home. I know that working out probably would have helped me, but frankly, I just felt like I needed sleep more. Chris agreed, so we slept in.

Thursday 5/19 - 4 mile run. Nothing spectacular here although I felt pretty good. Chris and the other lady we run with accused me of running faster, but really it was right on our normal paces.

Friday 5/20 - Planned rest day. Ahhhhhhh......

Saturday 5/21 - Galloway group run. This week Chris needed to lead the Blue group (the fastest pace in our group) and I was going to lead Fuchsia at our normal pace, but there was nobody but me to run that pace. I didn't feel like running alone, so I dropped back and ran with the Pink group (they do a :60/:30 interval although their overall pace is only about 30 seconds slower). That was fun and we had a good group run. About 5 miles total. We also did our first Magic Mile - Jeff Galloway's method of determining training and race pace potential. I didn't run it since I was timing other group members, but Chris did. I think he finished with like a 6:55 mile. I think that's pretty great. I know I can't do a mile that fast.

So, yeah, still some missed workouts. One of these weeks I'll actually manage to stick to my schedule as planned. More rain predicted this week, so hoping it won't cause us any problems again.

I also got a notice this week of a new yoga class starting up.


Yoga for Athletes class

Yoga helps increase flexibility, strength and balance. By working on these three components, we look to improve performance and prevent injury. Yoga for Athletes, a six-week course for all levels of athletes. No previous yoga experience is required. Ages 10 and older are welcome. Classes are once a week, Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., or Thursdays at 8 a.m.

So, we could probably make that Wednesday at 5:30 work for us and we've been saying for ages that we need to start doing yoga, so maybe this is the right choice for us. So, for those of you who do yoga, what do we need to start? Just a yoga mat???

Sorry for the lack of photos. I'll throw in a Random Universal Picture this time to shake things up again.

Our last park day on our Goofy 2015 trip. Truer words were never thought. We were exhausted. Happy, but exhausted.

 

[Ariel484]

I hear you on the mental stress...I've been having some of that as well. I hope it gets better for you guys.

Sounds like things are getting better-ish? Look at Chris! Speedy!

Yoga - definitely take a mat if you have one. A small towel may be good to take as well in case you get sweaty. When I first started yoga I used a cheap mat from Target (sort of like this one) but then my hands would get sweaty and I'd slip on it. Eventually I got a mat towel, which I liked - and it did help - but I didn't love it. Finally I invested in a Lululemon mat - it was pricey but I don't slip on it.

So I guess I'd suggest taking a cheap mat and small towel with you, and if you decide to stick with it and want to invest in a better mat, go from there. Namaste!!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

That yoga class sounds great! Hopefully it will be worth your while. I agree that all you need to start would be a small towel and yoga mat.

Smart to still be careful with your knee!

And wow a 6:55 mile?? I could never! You have one fast husband there!

 

[FFigawi]

Having a yoga mat on which you won't slip is very important. Not only does it make yoga more enjoyable for you, it helps keep you in the pose and reduces your chances of getting hurt. I sweat a lot, and like @Ariel484 invested in a quality mat. I opted for a slightly thicker one too.

http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Sol-Dry-Grip-Yoga-Mat/dp/B00OIB75KK

 

[Ariel484]

Having a yoga mat on which you won't slip is very important. Not only does it make yoga more enjoyable for you, it helps keep you in the pose and reduces your chances of getting hurt. I sweat a lot, and like @Ariel484 invested in a quality mat. I opted for a slightly thicker one too.

http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Sol-Dry-Grip-Yoga-Mat/dp/B00OIB75KK

So agree. It was like a light bulb went off when I got the no-slip mat. Suddenly I could focus more on the class/poses and less on whether I was going to slip and face plant (which I never actually did...but it was annoying).

 

[ZellyB]

A BREAK FROM BUYING InB
​

To purchase a new Sparkleskirt.

I've been stalking their website for a while waiting for this one since I'd read on Facebook that they were coming out with it. Introducing Simply Denim in a vented slim cut.

It's a nice dark denim color that will go with a lot of different shirts, so I'm pretty happy with it. I'm not always a fan of the little SparkleSkirt symbol that they put on some of the skirts, but in this case, I kinda like the little red pop on the skirt. I think I'll take it out for the first run this Saturday on our group run. YAY!!

 

[Ariel484]

@ZellyB guess who ordered an individual custom of that way back in January...? ARG!!

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

cute skirt!

 

[roxymama]

Catching up on your goings-on (is that a word?) Hopefully all these little comments I wrote down make sense. I'm still bad at putting in all the quote boxes in my responses.

I totally agree with you on guys' weight loss...MEN! My hubs is just shedding pounds like nobody's business but I am so happy for him. But I still reiterate...MEN!

I understand what you mean about a walk interval of a minute feeling like forever. Which is so funny to me now, because when I started running, it was the run intervals that felt like forever because I was dying through them. And then the walks felt like they lasted only two seconds because I did not want them to end. Now that I like running...it's completely flip-flopped for me!

Has it gotten hotter by you? I only ask because your run-mates said they thought you all were going too fast even though you were on your normal pace. Once summer weather hits for me I always go through the "this feels too fast" because I think my body reacts poorly to the heat at first. It was 92! this week and I am kind of miffed that we basically missed any 60 degree weather. We jumped from 50's to 80+'s too quickly!

I would 100% join your fuschia group if I was there. Even if you just had to drag me around

That skirt looks like you could totally just wear it out and about, not even just for running. I bet a lot of people wouldn't even notice it isn't actually denim. Dark denim can get so heavy and hot in the summer so this is a fun alternative

For yoga, I also reccommend not wearing a top that is loose in any way (either at the bottom or at the top) because whenever I bend over, I always get mad at my shirt coming up over my head or scrunching weird or getting in the way. Tight clothes are less annoying. And if they don't offer free foam blocks, bring a towel to roll up so if you do feel any weird knee pain you can slide a rolled towel under your knee, etc for extra support. Your teacher should be able to help with that.

Ok, that's all my notes I scribbled.

Oh, one more... Good job on your will-power and sticking to your new diet!

 

[ZellyB]

@ZellyB guess who ordered an individual custom of that way back in January...? ARG!!

Yeah, I originally joined that group, but then saw them saying that it was going to be offered on the site as a vented slim, so I dropped out. I really probably would have preferred a regular slim, but was hoping this would get to me sooner. You should really like it though. The color and fabric are nice! I'm probably going to take it for its first run tomorrow. What style did you order?

cute skirt!

Thank you!

 

[ZellyB]

Catching up on your goings-on (is that a word?) Hopefully all these little comments I wrote down make sense. I'm still bad at putting in all the quote boxes in my responses.

I totally agree with you on guys' weight loss...MEN! My hubs is just shedding pounds like nobody's business but I am so happy for him. But I still reiterate...MEN!

YES! It's so not fair. I'm mean, like you, I'm really happy for Chris, but incredibly envious for me.

I understand what you mean about a walk interval of a minute feeling like forever. Which is so funny to me now, because when I started running, it was the run intervals that felt like forever because I was dying through them. And then the walks felt like they lasted only two seconds because I did not want them to end. Now that I like running...it's completely flip-flopped for me!

It's funny how your body adapts right? Of course, there are still days that I really don't want that walk interval to end.

Has it gotten hotter by you? I only ask because your run-mates said they thought you all were going too fast even though you were on your normal pace. Once summer weather hits for me I always go through the "this feels too fast" because I think my body reacts poorly to the heat at first. It was 92! this week and I am kind of miffed that we basically missed any 60 degree weather. We jumped from 50's to 80+'s too quickly!

Just this week it has started to warm up and we've had a lot of intermittent storms so the humidity is through the roof. Our run yesterday was miserable even though it was just in the mid-70s. I also do horribly in the heat. Somewhere around mile 3 yesterday my brain was thinking, "how in the world are you going to manage long miles in the dog days of summer?" Blech!!

I would 100% join your fuschia group if I was there. Even if you just had to drag me around

I wish you could join us! Our group leader keeps pushing on Chris to lead the Blue group (she wants him to do it again this weekend - because the old leader is moving away), but Chris and I really want to run together so it's putting Chris in a bad position. I'm not happy about that.

That skirt looks like you could totally just wear it out and about, not even just for running. I bet a lot of people wouldn't even notice it isn't actually denim. Dark denim can get so heavy and hot in the summer so this is a fun alternative

Thanks! I'm not sure I'd ever wear it for anything but working out although I know lots of people do wear them for running around, but I agree this one could pass for just a normal mini skirt pretty easily.

For yoga, I also reccommend not wearing a top that is loose in any way (either at the bottom or at the top) because whenever I bend over, I always get mad at my shirt coming up over my head or scrunching weird or getting in the way. Tight clothes are less annoying. And if they don't offer free foam blocks, bring a towel to roll up so if you do feel any weird knee pain you can slide a rolled towel under your knee, etc for extra support. Your teacher should be able to help with that.

Ok, that's all my notes I scribbled.

Oh, one more... Good job on your will-power and sticking to your new diet!

Oh, good tips! I wouldn't have thought about the shirt thing. Also, we didn't go this week. Life remains a pain in the neck... We'll keep trying though.

Thanks about the will-power. Some days a cookie sounds really good though.

 

[roxymama]

You wrote: I'm really happy for Chris

Psssst....I have a Chris too

 

[ZellyB]

TRAINING WEEK 5/22 - 5/28​

Sunday 5/22 – Planned rest day.
Monday 5/23 - Circuit training. Nothing exciting to offer here. Just a normal round on the circuit. I was originally doing one set at a time and doing the circuit twice. Now I’m doing three sets at each machine in a row and working my way around once. I’m not sure if one way is better than the other, but it’s a little bit of variety I suppose
Tuesday 5/24 – 4 mile run. This was a pretty good run today. I felt pretty strong starting out. The first couple of miles I was running around a 10:24, but I slowed down quite a bit at the end. Finished up with a 10:42 pace.
Wednesday 5/25 – Circuit training. Repeat of Monday basically.
Thursday 5/26 - 4 mile run. UGGGGGGG…humidity is here with a vengeance. We’ve been getting a fair amount of rain over the last few days and the air was just insanely heavy. I felt reasonably okay, but we definitely slowed down a bit. Overall pace of 11:02.
Friday 5/27 - Planned rest day.
Saturday 5/28 - Galloway group run. This was set for a 6 mile run for our group. The humidity was high again and temps are starting to warm up some. We headed out for the run and I was feeling really good at the beginning. Pace was right around 10:35 or so for the first few miles. On the way back to our starting point though, the sun was well and truly up and the heat and humidity really was kicking my butt. I started dropping back a bit as Chris was maintaining pace. I finished okay with a pace of 10:50 which is still within our expected range, but I was a little disappointed in my stamina.


SUNDAY 5/29 - Since I was disappointed with the Saturday run and Chris had another 22 miler he was doing, I decided to meet up with him to plan and run about 5 with him. I met him at 7:30 along with another guy from our running group that had joined him and started out. I got about 1 mile in and realized my knee was bothering me. It was obviously not feeling right and, for once, I listened to myself and told Chris I was going to stop running and just walk. Chris ran ahead and then caught me on the way back to my car. I ended up walking 4 miles, but the knee was definitely not right again. I was really upset about it and told Chris that I feel like I had some improvement but that now I just keep re-aggravating the injury. We both agreed I needed to give it a legitimate rest again to try and get it fully healed. We don’t have another group run for two weeks, so I’m taking two weeks off from running. That makes me so sad, but at least it is early in training and if I can actually get the stupid thing healed then maybe I can start back up in two weeks with a healthy knee.

So, rehab plan for my knee. I’ve got a massager thing that I’ve borrowed from my sis before that I’m going to use to try and keep the knee loose. I did some research on some stretching exercises for back of knee pain and will be doing some of those as well. Lastly, we were able to spend some time in the pool this weekend and I swam some laps, so I’m going to try and hit the pool some in the evenings and swim laps to work on some aerobic activity to maintain some conditioning I hope. We had big plans to manage yoga this week as well, but as usual, life got in the way.

So, there we have it. The struggle continues but at least this time I’ll be taking a break with my knee in better shape than before and keeping my fingers crossed that this time I get it all the way better.


So, after that bummer of an ending, how about a shot of the best little pool dog in the world hanging out on Memorial Day weekend…