Nicole's Journey-Marathon Dreams (Comments appreciated)

[npullen]

Had a decent day. Still coughing, and have a runny nose, but otherwise feeling pretty good. DD is getting better, although she did miss ballet today, she was just so tired. She napped for over 3 hours and is still going to bed at the regular time!
I did 30 min XT today, hills on the TM. Felt good, and I did a higher level then I have done in almost a month. It was harder than I remember it being last time, but I did the whole thing without holding on at all. Not doing good on the eating, but not stressing right now either. I am thinking it will come along on its own as I am getting back into the swing of working out regularly.
DH also told me that I looked like I was doing really good running yesterday. He was napping when I first got on the TM, and he came in when I had about a minute left. He was shocked when it went into cooldown, because I looked so relaxed and did not seem to be very tired. He said my stride looked really smooth and even (somthing I usually have trouble with).
Going to run again tomorrow, and at this point is looks like I will be able to run outside Sat or Sun with my sis.

 

[npullen]

Did TM today, legs felt really tired and heavy, not sure why. But I made it thru. I did walk a couple of times, but ran most of it. Doing toning tomorrow, then probably running outside on Sun. Not much else to report right now. Gotta figure out how to get back with the eating part of all this. That would probably make everything feel better.

 

[npullen]

Taking today off, instead of tomorrow, since we have a showing tomorrow morning (we are trying to sell our house) and we have to clean up tonight. So I will take today as a rest day, do toning tomorrow, and do my run, outside if possible on Sunday. Other than that nothing new to report.

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Nicole--Glad to hear you are finally getting rid of the cough. I wish i could say the same for myself, this weekend has been bad, I am just so congested it is awful.

Good for you for getting back into your training. WTG for only doing the prescribed distance in your workouts. I know it is hard sometimes when we feel good to not push ourselves to go farther, but in the end that could be worse if we push ourselves too hard and then get hurt. So you did the right thing by only doing what your trainer scheduled for you.

I hope you were able to get outside to run this weekend!! I probably could have run outside, but I didn't want to with this cough, so I stuck with the TM at the gym..oh well.

Hope you had an awesome weekend!!

 

[npullen]

Feeling much better! Cough is getting better, ears are better, congestion is lots better! I did not manage a workout on Sat, we went to a friends and ended up not getting home til 9:30. But I did run outside on Sun! It was a beautiful day, temp was about 51, so just perfect. I ran in a short sleeved shirt! We did 2.5 miles, our average was just below 5 mph, so very slow, but I ran the whole thing, and I am sore from it today, so I figure I did just about right. It is so much harder running outside than on the TM. I had forgotten that part. It is much more of a workout! But we did good, and I am really hoping we can go again this coming Sun, although it is supposed to snow again tonight and on Friday. But we will see, it finally seems like spring may actually get here some day! I also did a short toning session today and spent over an hour picking up the backyard, again. My arms were shaky after that, so I decided to just do an easy toning.
I have also managed to stay on my diet today! I am trying to eat at the higher end of my calorie range, since I noticed that when I start out after being off for a while, I usually stay really low, and then struggle like crazy for the next few days before quitting, so maybe if I stay at the higher end, rather then below my low end, I will not feel deprived, or anything on Tue and Wed. Don't know if it will work, but it is worth a shot. I am also going to take my friends advice and try weighing everyday, first thing in the morning. She says that is how she lost the last 20 lbs of her baby weight. And since I base so much of my progress on that stupid number, she thought maybe if I tried weighing everyday, I would see a pattern to water retention, or have a faster picture of what going off my diet does, and hopefully start paying more attention to how I look and feel rather than a number I see everyday. Makes sense, so I'm gonna try it for a month and see how it goes.

Laurie- I hope you are feeling better, watch the cough, it can make you miserable! Try to be careful, especially of running in the cold! And as always, thanks for the encouragement!

 

[npullen]

Today went well, I was able to run outside. It was a pretty nice day, although I waited a little to late, and it was getting pretty windy when I got my run in. I did pretty good with it, 1.3 miles in 15 mins, average speed of 5.2 so faster than the run on Sun, but still tougher than I remember it being. I just keep reminding myself that it has been a very long time since I was able to run outside, and if I just keep going it will get easier again. At this point I can't imagine how I ran 6 miles, let alone how I will ever be able to run 26, but I know that if I hang in there, over the next 11 months, I will be shocked at how much my conditioning improves! I just can't talk myself out of this!
The diet is also going pretty good. This is day 2, and so far it has been much easier than previous attempts, the true test will be to see if I can actually make it thru into next week. I think I will be able to do it this time! I still have plenty of time to get the weight off before the race, I just don't want it to get down to the end of my training and still be weighing in over 200, and angry at myself for not taking advantage of all the time I had!

 

[npullen]

Not a great diet day. But I do feel guilty about it, and that has not been happening lately, so hopefully that is a good sign. I will do better tomorrow!
I did manage to do 30 mins of hills on my tm, for my crosstraining day. I am pretty sore from running outside. I was kinda suprised by that, since my tm runs had been going fairly well, with not a whole lot of soreness. But I guess outside is much different. Hopefully I can get outside again tomorrow, because our weather is supposed to change for Fri night -Sun, so not sure if my LR will be outside this week or not. I want spring! No more snow!!!

 

[npullen]

Much better diet day today. I have stayed on my calories with some to spare! I will be at 1560. I also ended up doing a long toning session instead of running outside. My dd is sick, and I just couldn't see taking her to my mom's so I could run. I will try to go tomorrow after work, or if she is up to it, later in the afternoon so she can visit her grandma. The toning went really well. I am trying to work back up to the level I was at before I got sick. I was taking it easy, or just plain skipping workouts for so long that it is hard to make myself really work again. I think I did pretty good today though, my body feels tired.

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Nicole--sounds like you are having a great week of workouts!! Glad to hear you are feeling better and back on track. I think I am finally starting to get over this cough, yesterday was the first day I felt like I wasn't sick in about three weeks, so that was good.

That is awesome that you were able to get a few runs in outside while the weather permits. It is so different that running on the TM....just think, before we know it the weather will warm and we will be outside all the time, and probably saying it is too hot! HAHA!!

Ok, just trying to catch up after being away for a few days! Glad to hear that things are going well. I will catch up more this weekend!

 

[npullen]

Not a great day today, my mom had to go to the hospital due to a migraine that had lasted for about 2 wks. She has been to the drs 3 times, and had an MRI done on Thu, thankfully everything was fine with that, but they told her she needed to get to the hospital, for some other tests and then some sort of rebound headache treatment if everything turned out ok. At this point all of the tests came back fine, and she is on a bunch of different IV meds, steriods, pain meds and Benedryl. There was some explanation for the Benedryl, but I didn't get it. Hopefully she will be released either late tonight or early tomorrow, and she should be feeling pretty good. But between that and my DD being sick, I just haven't had a good day. Went way off on the diet, and I didn't even manage to workout, although if I can get up the energy, I may try to hop on the tm tonight. I was going to run outside, but we were having wind gusts that literally knocked me off balance, so I figured it was not a good idea to try outside. Anyway, tomorrow is a new day and DH is home, after being out of town all week on a business trip, hopefully things will settle down and I can get steadily back on track!

Laurie- I'm glad you are doing better! That congestion and cough just hangs on forever! I am still coughing junk up! But I am definitely better! It is so funny, I am already starting to figure out how and when I'm going to be running, when it is 90+ outside! Dreading the heat! Never happy!!

 

[npullen]

My mom is doing pretty good. She is home, and it was confirmed through blood tests and scans, that this wasn't anything really serious. I don't want to say "just" a migraine, but when you spend a week worrying and wondering if it is a tumor or a stroke or something like that, to find out it is "just" a migraine is a great relief. She is feeling very hungover from all the meds, and she says she can still feel the headache, but isn't sure if it is really there, or just a ghost pain or something like that. If she continues to have these headaches, her dr wants her to go see a neurologist, but hopefully this will do it. I am just glad she finally has a dr who takes this seriously and is willing to refer her to different specialists to try to get it solved. My mom has suffered from migraines all her life, and unfortunately they have been getting worse as she is getting older.
I have had a pretty decent day, not diet wise, all I can say is Girl Scout Cookies! But I did an interval session on my TM, at a level higher than I have ever done before, and I completed it with ease! I was doubting that I would be able to finish it, but figured the worse I would have to do was lower the speed, or just stop early. I was supposed to do a 15 min run, and I was going to try to get outside for it, but the weather is crummy, and dd is still sick, so I decided to just do the tm, and I had a great workout. I feel really happy with it.
Of course it probably helped that we got confirmation today from the man we are renting points from that he was able to make our reservation at OKW. We should be receiving all the info from him, along with a contract next week! We are really going! Now I absolutely must lose the weight, and I have to get ready for the marathon, because no marathon=no trip!! That is what I keep telling myself!

 

[hmbbears]

Hi Nicole,
I started reading your journal after you posted on mine. It is very inspiring!Running a marathon is not even in my realm of thinking but who knows, maybe as I get healthier I will be able to imagine it!

You sure have made a lot of progress since you began this journal. I am truely impressed! I hope your Mom gets better soon and that your daughter gets well also!

Keep up the good work!

 

[npullen]

Well, I have already done my run for today! I did 2.5 miles outside, through my neighborhood. It was a pretty good run, took 30 min and 9 sec. I was trying for under 30 mins, for an ave speed of 5 mph, so pretty close, and better then last weeks run, plus it had more hills! I did walk for about .03 miles, the turn around point is just over the top of a short steep hill, and I just couldn't run anymore, so I walked to the start of the downhill, and decided that I, at least, needed to run the downhill part, and I made it the rest of the way home, running. It felt great to be outside, and while the 1/2 mile before the turn around point was really rough, the rest of the run was great!
I have also decided that I am going to try something new to keep myself on my calorie plan. I am going to continue journaling throughout the day, regardless of whether I will be over my calories or not, and if I go over, I have to get on the tm and burn that many calories in the evening. My tm has a calorie coach, where you set the number of calories you want to burn, it goes as low as 60, so anytime I go more than 60 cal over I have to burn them on the tm, plus I have to stick with my regular workouts. I am hoping that the added workout will help me lose weight faster, and I am hoping that with the threat of an added workout I will be less likely to go over on my calories. I think I just have to be careful that I don't turn the tm into a punishment, and start to hate it even more then I already do! And I have to be careful not to go to far over my limit, or I might end up on the tm for a very very long time!

hmb- My dd is much better today! My mom is not doing so great. She is still hurting, although not nearly as bad. She is going to have to take a leave from her work, and she is going back to the dr on Mon. The hardest thing for her right now is that she is getting so down about all this.
It's funny you mention not being able to even imagine a marathon! I was in the same place just a year ago, I hired my trainer to help me train for a 10k, and figured that would be the end of it. But then my sister started talking about the WDW marathon (she has already done one marathon in Vegas last year) saying that she didn't know they had one and talking about how fun she thought it would be. So I looked it up, and thought maybe I could do the half, since I was already pretty much halfway there with the 10k. Then I started looking at the course and trip reports and decided if I was gonna do it, I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't go for the big one, so here I am, trying for it. Most people can't believe it, I tell them I am marathon training and they look at me like I'm nuts, how can a 31 yr old mom who weighs over 200 lbs run a marathon?!?! But I'm gonna do it! I don't get to go the Disneyworld without it! It's not going to be easy, but I will do it, and I am sure if that is what you set your mind to, you could do it as well!!

 

[hockeygirl]

Oh my--I hope all is well with your mom. I am glad to hear that she is out of the hospital and on the mend. It must be a big relief to know that they didn't find anything serious. I hope she is feeling better really soon!

Looks like you have had a couple of good training days. WTG for getting outdoors for your workouts, I love that feeling of getting outside in the fresh air.

Keep up the good work!

 

[npullen]

Well, my mom goes back to the dr tomorrow morning. She is pretty much a mess, partly due to side effects from all the meds, partly from depression, but mostly from pretty much unending pain/discomfort. Thankfully the pain is not as intense, but there are times when it hits, and you can see her pale, and she ends up just holding her head for a few minutes, then it eases back to the dull ache. I just pray they can figure out what is going on, her headaches have never done this before. Thankfully they have ruled out alot of the really bad stuff, but that doesn't leave a whole lot of options, and she is feeling pretty hopeless right now.
My day has gone ok. To much sugar, but I will be right around 1600 cal for the day. Knowing there was a consequence for going over made me think twice a couple of times about what I was going to eat. I also did my toning, 2 sets of one of the long workouts. Took about 70 mins, and I definitely think I did a good workout, I know my arms are going to be sore in the morning, they are already getting sore! I am going to try to run outside tomorrow. We are supposed to get snow tomorrow night into Wed, and depending on which channel you listen to, it may be a pretty good storm! But they never really know!

Laurie- It has been great getting outside for my runs. It has been much tougher than I remembered, but so much more energizing, and I have a much greater sense of accomplishment.

 

[npullen]

Pretty good day. Got my run done outside, did 1.69 miles in 20 mins, so just over 5 mph, at least I am keeping a steady pace, and improving some. The first part of the run was really tough, the end felt really good. I am hoping that it will start to feel better soon. I don't remember running outside feeling this tough. I think I lost alot of endurance while I was sick, and it doesn't help that I still have that blasted cough!
I have done good on the diet again today. I will be right around 1600 cals again. Tomorrow will be the real test, I am going to my mom's for lunch, and our schedule for the day will be kinda weird. I am hoping that giving myself a real consequence will help me to stay on the diet.
My mom is not doing so well. She is still hurting. They have her on a steriod injection for 6 days, and an anti-seizure drug, that has been shown to help with migraines. She has also been told to completely stop taking all pain meds, so we are all worried about how she is going to handle the pain, if she has no medication. We are all praying that this medicine will work and she will finally be pain free!

 

[plgrn]

Hi Nicole! Just subbing to a fellow running buddy's journal. I'll be praying for your mom!

....and watch out for those Girl Scouts. I think it's a conspiracy!

Jenn

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Nicole-I am sorry to hear that your mom is not feeling better. I really hope the new meds help her get better real soon. I will keep her in my thoughts.

Glad to hear you were able to get outside for another run...isn't it great! Don't worry about running outside feeling harder. It is so much different that running on the TM, as you run outside more and more it will be easier. I was just the opposite, I was so used to running outside and when I went to run on the TM i thought I was going to DIE!!! But it has become easier over time, even though I still hate the TM. Keep up the good work, you are doing AWESOME!

I hope you didn't get hit with any snow!!! Think Spring!!

 

[npullen]

I did a good tm workout today, XT, so I did hills. It went pretty good. I did a higher level, so it was a tough workout. I will also stay on track with my calories. Day 3, and I have made it! It was a tough day, since I had lunch at my moms, but I just kept in mind that I would have to do an extra tm workout if I didn't stay on track, and that worked again to really make me think twice about cheating. It also helped that I talked to my trainer about my upcoming workouts, and she warned me that I will be doing significantly more running, and she told me I really needed to try to not skip any workouts, and really push it, so I could be ready. I guess the first 6 wks, starting in April will be really tough. So I really have to work hard on these workouts to build up my base, and I need to try to lose as much weight as possible, I know that will be one of the biggest things I can do to help my running improve! Getting these 50-60 lbs off will definitely make my running easier!
My mom seems to be doing a bit better. She is still hurting, but even without pain meds, it has been tolerable. She is just so tired, and getting so depressed. It is hard to tell sometimes if she is suffering more from the pain, or depression. I think most of the time it is both. She said today that the pain lessens a lot sometimes, but then comes back really bad. She has an appt with a neurologist on Apr 10, they have her on the top of the list to call if they get a cancellation though, so hopefully it won't take nearly that long. I appreciate everyones thoughts and prayers. That seems to be about the only thing I can do for her right now.

Laurie- We are getting more snow as I type! We could get up to 5 inches. But it is supposed to warm up tomorrow, so the snow will all melt. I am moving my workouts around, so I will do toning tomorrow, and run outside on Fri! I NEED SPRING!!!

Jenn- Those Girl Scouts are just plain evil! It is part of there plot to keep us all addicted!

 

[hockeygirl]

Nicole--Sounds like you had another great workout today...you are doing a great job...Keep up the good work! WTG on keeping on track today with your eating!

Sorry to hear you mom is still hurting. I will keep her in my thoughts. I think it is a shame that she has to wait till April 10 to get an appt., especially when she is in that much pain. I hope that there is a cancellation and she can get a appt. sooner.