I got plans

First an update:

I completed my first half-marathon in October. It was a great experience, even though I hadn't trained as well as I'd have liked. I finished in 2:48. Honestly, my goal was to finish, so I'm pleased that I finished in less than 3 hours. I didn't stop running until after mile 10, but then I started feeling a lot of muscle exhaustion. I jog-walked the next 2 miles, but I was able to finish the last mile running. The best part of the event was the camaraderie. Everyone was so supportive - the other participants and those on the sidelines. I absolutely want to do it again next year...but I'll need to tweak my training plan a little to avoid injury :)

Now the plan:

I haven't done much of anything fitness-related since the half, but I think I've had enough time off. I was recently reminiscing back to the days of when I was doing bootcamp. My body went through an amazing transformation, even though I didn't lose much weight. This is what I want back. I don't care about how much I weigh (within reason), but I want to get back to that shape. I think my husband and I are going to do the P90X program. Everything I've seen reminds me of those bootcamp workouts, and I think it's exactly what I need.

I'd like to see some decent progress before 2010. I'd really like to start the new year out right.

October 2009 Update

Cheesy quote for the day:

It is not a miracle I finished, it is a miracle that I had the courage to try.

I'm running my first half-marathon this weekend. My training has not gone as planned (due to a foot injury); however, I'm not nervous yet. I think I'm in denial still. It's all ok. I've decided this year is the year I finish my first half-marathon. Next year is the first year that I'll run one seriously.

This is going to be a great weekend anyways. My friend, Kirsten, will be coming to town for the event. I absolutely can't wait till she gets here.

On another note, I'm back in school now after a nice summer break. I finally transferred over to my business school to finish up my accounting degree, and I love it. I've cut back to 2 courses per semester, since the courses are so much more difficult. I feel like I am doing well so far, so I'll just continue like this until I think I can handle more.

One last thing...my weight is still in the 130s, which I think is great, considering I'm really just in maintenance. I wore a sweater this week that I've had since before I had kids, and I think it fits better now than it did back then.

Everything is good for now.

August Update

Wow, I've become really bad at this blogging thing. There isn't too much to say I guess.

I've been doing well. I've been eating well. I think I'm still in the 130s. I just got back from vacation, so I'm giving myself a few days to detox before weighing in.

My half-marathon training is going. I think I started a little too early, because I seemed to have lost steam right about the last time I blogged (July?). I just had so much going on (found a lot of excuses to get off track). I never stopped completely though, so I haven't lost too much ground. We're about 8 or 9 weeks out now, so I know I have to stay on plan from here on out. It's helping that my bff is coming in from Chicago to run it with me. I so cannot back out of this...not that I'd want to :) I ran 5 miles on Sunday, and I could have gone further. I just ran out of time.

Other than that, we just got back from our family vacation. We ate mostly healthy with a few exceptions. Work is going well. We haven't been going out for lunch, so it's been easy to stay on track there. School will be starting up soon. Hopefully, this will not cause me too much trouble. I'm only taking 2 courses, so it should be a ton better than last semester with 4 courses (I don't know what I was thinking).

What else??? Can't think of anything offhand. I see you guys aren't blogging much either. I hope that's a sign that everyone is doing well-ish. I am really going to try to blog more often. I miss you guys.

Update

It's nice to be able to look back and see that I've lost at least 8 lbs since school ended in mid-May (I didn't weigh myself right away). Additionally, since I received my bodybugg on 5/22, I've lost 5 lbs.

My half-marathon training is going better than ever. I'm just about 2 months into my training, and I feel so much better now. At first, I probably pushed myself a little too hard, but I made it through that, and now I feel like I'm really ready to take it to the next level. I never feel like I'm going to die anymore. The only downside is that my body has gotten much more efficient, so I'm burning less calories in these workouts. That's fine for now. I've found that having fitness goals works way better for me than just having weight loss goals.

I love that I've lost 5 lbs. This is exactly what my bodybugg predicted that I'd lose. It is so helpful to have realistic expectations, instead of trying to lose 5 temporary lbs in a week. On average, I consume about 1400 to 1500 calories per day, and I rarely feel deprived. I'm also trying to find ways to sneak in extra calorie burning...like taking the stairs or morning walks. If I have a heavy workout day, I allow myself to eat a little more. It's just not that bad. Yes, it would be nice to lose 15 lbs in 3 weeks, but that just isn't going to happen for me. Instead, I will lose it in 15 - 20 weeks. This also gives me some room to have some cheats. I need those cheats, because I love to eat.

I had a bad week in June, but knowing that I am on a mission helped me to try to contain it as much as possible. I had fast food a couple of times, but no more than once per day. I grilled out and ate all the sides, but on those days, I tried to keep my other meals lighter. This tactic, along with my workouts, helped me to just maintain rather than lose for that week. Fine. Who cares. This is a lifelong effort here. One week's delay isn't going to hurt - unless I gain. Gaining is unacceptable at this point. It was really nice to just be able to pick myself back up and push forward again to lose another lb.

I've also been reading a lot of articles on weight loss and fitness. One article said that naturally thin people tend to eat mostly the same things every day. I thought about that and realized that this was true during my most successful periods of weight loss. I tried that again this week, and I think it helped so much. I went back to the same breakfast, same snacks, same lunch, etc... and mix it up slightly for dinner. This was my easiest week by far trying to stay within my calories.

Anyways, my goal is to continue this trend and lose another 3 - 4 lbs before my family reunion at the end of July.

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

"Speed" Training

Tonight I ran 5.5 miles, which included the following:

• 20 minute jog @ 4.5 mph
• 3 x 1 mile @ 5.8 mph with 2 minute recovery between each mile @ 4.5 mph
• 10 minute jog @ 4.5 mph

It went quite well, even though the gym was warm.

My diet was great yesterday and today. I decided yesterday that I was going to attempt to shave off 50 - 100 calories per meal, if possible. This seems to help keep me within my desired range.

I plan on doing some form of cross-training tomorrow. Moving right along...

7 mile run

My 7 mile run on Sunday went great. I completed it in 01:21:37, and I know that I could have gone further and/or faster. I think this is the way that I should feel during a long run, so I will probably stick with this plan.

The plan this week calls for:

• 4.5 mile speed training on Tuesday
• 4.5 mile tempo run on Thursday
• 8 mile long run on Sunday

Other than that, I really don't have much to say. Have a great week.

Father's Day 5k

Yesterday morning, me and the fam got up bright and early to head out to the Father's Day 5k. It was sooooo nice to have my husband and kids with me. They were there to send me off and greet me on my return. I finished in 32:45, which was better than I expected. I have only been back to running for 6 weeks now, and this was a couple minutes less than my fastest training run. Plus, my training focus has been on endurance rather than speed anyways. Oh well. I think that it's disappointing to me that I let myself get out of shape, but it's still nice to see where I'm at.

I started out WAY too fast - finished the first mile in 10 minutes, so the next 2 miles were probably a little more rough than they should have been. I'll definitely need to work on pacing myself better. Hopefully I'll figure that out before the 10k in 3 weeks. I signed up for that today, so if anyone in the area is interested...please let me know and I'll send you the details.

Other than that, I had a fantastic weekend. Very full...and satisfying. Unfortunately, I did not eat properly. I doubt I will lose any weight this week. I can handle that though...as long as I don't gain.

Ok. Off to bed...