Nicole's Journey-Marathon Dreams (Comments appreciated)

[plgrn]

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

Tell me about it! I had two tagalongs and a thin mint tonight. Did you get a workout in today?

 

[npullen]

I will not be around to post much over the next few days. Our computer died completely, so unless I can borrow someone elses, this will be it til probably next week.
I had a good day yesterday. Stayed on calories, it was tough since I had a sinus headache all day. I also did a good toning session, although I did opt for the shorter one due to my head. It felt good to move around, and I can really tell that some of my strength is coming back! I am going to run on the tm this evening, the weather has been awful. Cold and sooo windy. We have been having ground blizzards! Definitely not good for running. But I am going to try the speed interval on the top level. I am not sure if I can finish it, but I am going to try, the worst that happens is I have to slow down. I am also going to stay on my calories today!
Tomorrow is an off day, and Sun is a 3 mile run, which will be outside, since it is supposed to be in the high 50's! I will try to post whenever I can, but I may not make it back until sometime next week, whenever we get our new computer.
Laurie and Jenn-Thanks for your support, I will make sure to catch up on your journals as soon as I can! Keep up the good work! And no Girl Scout Cookies!!!

 

[hockeygirl]

Nicole--sorry to hear about the computer! I hope you are having a great weekend, and your workouts are going well. Glad to hear you are going to get some warmer weather this weekend. We had beautiful weather today, after our monsoon rainstorm yesterday! Only good thing about that is that it washed all the snow away!!!

BTW--you and Jenn have me craving girl scout cookies!!! I can't wait for my students to come around school selling them, I will have to buy a few boxes!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

 

[plgrn]

Ugh. Sorry about your computer!

Sounds like you are doing good! I certainly wouldn't be out if it were that chilly in Alabama. Although it is REALLY windy here. I was out for a run with the dog yesterday and the wind would blow his floppy ears straight up in the air when he didn't keep his head down!

 

[npullen]

Well, we probably won't have a computer until the 12th! UUGGHH! But, I will try to post whenever I can get to my moms or my sisters. We just gave up and are getting a whole new computer.
I have been doing pretty good. I managed to do level 9 of the speed interval workout on the tm on Fri! I never would have believed I could actually finish it, but I figured I could at least make it through the first section, it is 4 5 min sets, between 4.6-6 mph. I ran the entire thing, and it felt great! Then today we did 3 miles outside. It was a decent day, although still windy. It was sunny and clear, temps in the low 50's. It was a decent run, slower than I had hoped, but we ran the whole thing. I am finding that my biggest problem is my lung capacity. I get so short of breath. I know it just takes time to build, but it is so hard to be patient, my legs want to go faster, my heart rate isn't even terribly high, I just can't breath. I know it will get better, and my trainer says I may want to talk to my dr about exertional asthma, that could be caused or at least worsened by allergies. I am going to see how things go, and if it doesn't start to feel better soon, I will have to do that, beacuse I do not remember having this trouble last time, where my body wanted to go faster but my breathing wouldn't let me. My eating has also been pretty good was great on Fri, Sat and Sun were off days. I have been trying to watch portions, but not count calories. I will be back to calorie counting and 1650 calories tomorrow. It was a pretty messed up weekend, we took DD to see the Wiggles, which was lots of fun, I think I enjoyed it more than she did!
My mom is not doing so great. She is having much better days, which is nice, but she has trouble enjoying it because she is just waiting for the pain to come back, and unfortunately, it always does. She goes back to the dr on Tue. I did find out she actually has her dr's cell number, and instructions to use it whenever she needs too! I thought that was pretty nice. I think this dr may actually help her!

Laurie- Sorry about the GS cookie cravings! Thankfully ours are gone, and DH is under strict orders not to buy any!!!

Jenn- I hate running in strong wind! Especially a head wind, you can be running full out, pretty much in place when the wind is strong enough, it is such a weird feeling, of course a tail wind is great, especially when you are running down a small hill! I wish my dogs could run with me! They are just to old now. If we get a new one, it will have to be one that can run!

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Nicole---wow the 12th!! As crazy as it sounds, I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my computer for that long! It is so bad how addicted I am to being on the computer!

WTG on your TM workout! That is awesome...you are doing so great. Hang in there with the breathing, as you workout more, it will get easier, but you should definetly check with your doctor if it doesn't get any better. I use an inhaler about 15 minutes before I do my workouts and it seems to do wonders for me!

Sorry to hear your mom is not doing much better. That must be an awful feeling to feel no pain, but not be able to enjoy it because you know it is going to come back. Glad to hear her doctor sounds like he may be able to help!!

It is so funny that I had that craving for GIrl Scout cookies, because today I one of my co-workers was selling them for her daughter and I couldn't resist so I broke down and ordered 3 boxes...now I just can't wait to get them!!!!

 

[npullen]

Well, it has been a while! We actually got the computer yesterday, but dh has been "woking" on it, has to load a whole bunch of stuff, so I am stuck computerless for another day or so, but at least we got it early, and I will still have it before the 12th! I have really missed posting and can't wait to get back to it completely.
I have been doing pretty good. I have kept up with all my workouts, and the runs are getting a little better. I am thinking my trainer may be right and I need to go get checked for the exertional asthma. But it only seems to really get me on my outside runs. So I am not sure if that would even qualify. Of course DH says that is why I need to go get checked out. But either way, the runs have been getting a little better and everything is feeling stronger and stronger. I have lost another pound, down to 216, not a lot, but I gotta start somewhere, and weight loss has always been hard and very slow for me. I have been doing very well with my calories, but not so great with my food choices. Still way to much sugar, but I figure if I can just get used to eating less overall, it should be easier to slowly phase out the sugar. Trying the baby steps, since the big jumps were definitely not working.
I should be able to post tomorrow on my new computer! So I will stop by after my 3.5 miles!

Laurie- GS Cookies are now banned from this house!!! I just can't turn them down!

 

[hockeygirl]

Hey Nicole--Glad to hear you got a new computer. I was thinking about you, and thinking about how I would be able to survive without my computer for that long.

I am so glad to hear that you have been keeping up with your workouts. That is awesome. You should definetely get checked out by the Dr. to see if there is any exertional asthma going on. I have asthma and I use my inhaler before I run and I have no problems.

Good job on losing another pound...I think you are right in taking small steps, that is the best approach. You will get there!!

How is the weather there? It has been pretty nice here..today we are in the 50's and the forecast has some 60's this week!!!! I can't wait!

 

[npullen]

Had a great run, in near 60 degree weather! It was great. We did 3.5 miles averaging almost 5.2 mph. Not terribly fast, but definetly getting better. The best part was it felt good. For the first time I am really feeling certain that I will get thru this training and be able to complete the marathon. I can actually feel the improvements! I had been wondering, since nothing seemed to feel right. I am still thinking I will go to the dr. The cough when I am done with my workouts, is really bad. And I still feel like I just can't get a full breath when I am running.

Laurie- The weather here has been great! It is supposed to stay that way for a while too. Spring is coming!!! Finally! I don't know a whole lot about asthma, but from what I have been reading, I have almost all of the symptoms of exertional asthma, so I think it is worth a trip to the dr, even if they just put me on a new allergy med, it would be worth it to get rid of the cough. It gets so bad after my outdoor runs!

 

[npullen]

Not much to report, a decent day, stayed on caloried, barely, way to much sugar. I also did a good toning workout. Didn't push to hard since I am stiff from the run yesterday. My big goal for tomorrow is to not eat so much sugar. Today was a very bad junk day, although somehow I managed to track it and stay on my calorie goal

 

[plgrn]

Today was a very bad junk day.

We all have those! Glad to hear you are hanging in there, and keep up the good work!

 

[npullen]

Good day today. I will be under on my calories, and I made better food choices, although I need to work on getting in more fruits and veggies! I hate veggies!
I also did 2.53 miles, in 30 mins. Average of about 5.1 mph, with my first mile in 11.03. That is my fastest mile so far! It was a pretty good run, but I walked alot more than I had hoped, because it was hot! It was 79 here today, what a change from just a few weeks ago when it was 34 and I was happy it was warm enough to run outside! But the good thing is I was able to run, and complete my workout. Last year I had a really hard time when it started getting warmer, it was actually worse then the cold, I would get dizzy and nauseous, and get killer headaches. Now I know 79 isn't all that hot, but last year I never managed a workout I was happy with when it was more then about 75. Hopefully this is a good thing! We are supposed to have great weather for the rest of the week, although not so hot. I am looking forward to my run on Thu when it is only supposed to be 60. Well, I guess we're never happy, a few weeks ago I was complaining about the snow and now it's the heat! Never satisfied!

Jen- Thanks for the support! I appreciate it.

 

[npullen]

Weird day today. I managed to stay on my calories, but not because I really wanted to, it just ended up that way, never had a chance to snack! I also did my XT, 30 mins of hills on the tm. I did the higher level, so it was a good workout.
My dh has to get a tooth extracted and set up for an implant on Fri. So he had his consultation today, and we had to pay $1500, basically half of the total cost, then it will be reimbursed after insurance pays. I am just so glad we decided to go with the better dental insurance when we had to re-enroll this year!

 

[plgrn]

30 mins of hills on the tm.

Prayers to your husband. Will you be babying him this weekend?

 

[npullen]

What a day! I don't know how many calories I have eaten, but I think I am fairly close to my goal. I was craving sweets like crazy today so I had 3 of the "fun" size candy bars that they had at work. Thought that would do it. Then my MIL was given half a b-day cake from our elderly neighbors, and who can ever turn down b-day cake?!?!? So I had a smallish piece, but of course it was a corner, and it had lots and lots of frosting, which I love!!! However, I did manage to do super good the rest of the day, and I only ate a total of 1105 cal not including the cake, which I have no idea how to count. I also did an extra lap, walking at the end of my workout, which according to the calorie counter on my tm burned 104 calories. So I figure the cake could have been as high as 635 calories, and I still stayed on plan. Geez I hope it wasn't any worse than that!!! Either way, this is the first time I have gone off plan so badly, and still managed to even try to recover the day. So, I am pretty proud of that!
I also did my run outside, it was about 42 degrees and really cloudy, and humid. But it was a good run. It started off really bad, I felt really achy, and even though my Garmin said I was moving at 5.3-6 mph, I still felt like I was barely moving. I couldn't find my stride, it was just awful. I was about to quit when I convinced myself to go at least 1 lap, which is .8 miles, and about 1/4 mile in, things finally loosened up, and I managed to run the full workout, and do 2.55 miles in 30 mins. I was pretty happy with that, especially with the way the run started off!

Jen- I will definitely be babying DH. He is sure to be completely helpless at least thru Sat! But I think he is more than ready to get this over with. It is really hurting him today. Thanks for the prayers!

 

[npullen]

Didn't even come close to eating on plan today. Let the stress get to me, and ate pretty much anything I could find. I had to get up at 5, to get to work super early to get done and get home for DH appt. We got there and I spent the next hour sitting there stressing over money, cost $3000 out of pocket, but should hopefully be reimbursed by insurance, at least partially (hopefully mostly). And worrying about him, having flash backs to having all 4 wisdom teeth removed at the same time, which was hideous! But he made it through, and on the way home, started arguing with me about cancelling my appt to get my car alligned and recalls taken care of. I figured it had been waiting 2 or 3 months as it is, another week wouldn't hurt anything, but he was determined it had to be done today, even said he would drive it there himself! Of course he was so sedated at the time he doesn't even remember the conversation! But he is doing ok now, he has a really bad headache, but he says the tooth doesn't hurt to much. And my car is fixed.
I did end up getting my toning done. I was going to wait until tomorrow, and take today as my rest day, but at 7:30, I was still feeling really stressed and crabby, so I decided to make my own toning workout, based off of the ones my trainer has given me. I think I did a pretty good job, I wanted to focus on my upper back, since I got a pretty bad cramp between my shoulder blades during my last LR. It took about 40 mins, and I did lower weights, higher reps, really focusing on form and on not using momentum to complete my movements. It was definitely tougher that way, even with the lower weight. And now that I am done, I definitely feel better. Maybe if I had worked out this morning, I wouldn't have ended up eating so blasted much!!! I have to remember that working out is a much better stress releiver than eating! (But eating is more fun!! )

 

[npullen]

Today was my rest day, and I definitely needed the break. My body feels tired and stiff today. I am hoping that taking a complete rest day (we did pretty much nothing since DH is still not feeling great) will help me to have a great LR tomorrow. I am going to do 4 miles, and I am kinda nervous about it.
But I did stay on the diet! Quite an accomplishment, since Sat and Sun are usually so tough and I haven't really even been trying. But I stayed OP today, and actually did a pretty good job. I think DH's procedure was stressing me out more than I realized! And after how horrible I felt last night, from eating all that junk all day, I think I needed a good food day today.
Dh is actually better than I had expected. He has not had to take any pain pills today, just Advil. He is still loopy, probably from taking so much yesterday, and he is still sore and swollen, but definitely doing better. He spent most of the day resting, and DD and I did pretty much the same thing. DD's allergies were pretty bad today, so she was coughing and congested all day.

 

[hockeygirl]

Sorry to have been MIA this week, I was away at a conference for work.

Glad to hear that you are still doing a great job! It is so funny about the whole weather thing...i am the same way, I complain all winter that it is too cold and I can wait for warmer weather, and then it gets warm and I complain that it is too hot! LOL we can't ever win!!

An 11:03 mile...that is great. Before you know it all your miles will be that fast, and better yet, even faster!!

I hope your DH is feeling better.

Keep up the good work!!

 

[npullen]

Had a great run today! 4 miles in 45:59! The longest mile was 11:37, and that was mile 3 which starts out with a long hill, that is over 1/4 mile! But it was not nearly as bad as the last time I had to run it! Even my sister commented on how much better I did up that icky hill! The run had an average speed of roughly 5.25 mph. That is great for me! The next 2 weeks are the same workout wise as this past week, so I am going to try to focus more on speed, and hopefully with my LR on 4/1, I can get the 4 miles done in under 44 mins, 42 mins would be awesome! But I don't know if 2 weeks is long enough for that much improvement, but who knows, if I stick to it and work hard anything is possible! It also made it totally worth the struggle to stay on my eating plan yesterday! I did not get nauseous at all! And I didn't have any side stitches or cramping anywhere! I have to remember that next Sat and stay OP!!

Laurie- The weather is driving me crazy! It is not staying warm long enough to get used to running in the higher temps, so it feels sooo hot in the mid 70's, but it is warm enough that the high 30's feel sooo cold now! Oh well, the weather was perfect today, what more can I ask for?!?! Well, I could ask for these temps everyday, but then what could I complain about? Thanks for the support, it seems to be taking so long to see improvements right now, but then when I realize that just 4 weeks ago I was complaining about 2.5 miles being so hard, and here I am already doing 4 miles with 2.5 being my short mid week runs, I guess the improvement really is there! Hope you're doing great at your conference.

 

[goldcupmom]

We're having weird weather in NM, too! I'm at about 6000' and the 80 we had yesterday felt positively BROILING!!!! And then it's supposed to cool off mid week - I heard even more mountain snow. ICK!!!

Hope DH is doing OK. I totally understand your stressing about the bills. Not fun!

Have a good week this week! Your runs are AWESOME!