Unlucky Number Seven

Today's Running Goal: Seven miles
Accomplished: About four, before I gave up and started walking.
I have a million excuses: lack of sleep, busy day, work stress, the fact that it was eight in the morning, the fact that I took NyQuil last night so I would sleep and was probably still waking up from that, the lack of nutrients that I have been eating lately, the mental aspect involved in running seven miles. None of them matter. My hope for today was to go out and run seven, so next Saturday during the actual race I could look back and say: Six is nothing, I just accomplished seven. But it wasn't working like that this morning. My legs felt like lead. I literally could not lift them. By mile three and a half, I was running a 13:30 mile, so I let myself walk a little bit. At four I ran some more. Walked. Ran. Walked. I could never get my rhythm back and ended up walking the whole last two miles. I am going to attempt one more three miler this week and then it's race day. I am planning on attending my normal Kickboxing/BodyPower combos on both Monday and Wednesday, combined with the running on Thursday, and then take the rest of the week off. I have a big day coming up and I have trained too hard to ruin it now.

Long Rough Weekend

I have had two days off and I feel like I have worked harder than an entire week at work. I am absolutely exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well at all. Last night I got a total of 3 hours. The night before I might have got 5 if I was lucky. And on top of no sleep I have been doing tons of stuff. I had a garage sale, a BBQ, got my hair cut, grandma/dog-sat, donated blood, ran three miles with Hannah, took a BodyPower class, went to a work party, and cleaned my house. Still I have managed to keep my weight low. I haven't got a lot of workout time logged this week, but my weight has stayed below challenge level. In fact this morning I was 2 pounds below according to the gym-scale. After a relatively healthy day tomorrow and a normal Monday routine, I am sure I will weigh-in perfectly!

Tomorrow I have another busy day: The Summer Reading Kick-Off Party, the busiest day of the library year. But before all that I am going to attempt the seven mile run I have been wanting to get in. You might ask yourself why I would schedule these things back to back. And the answer is: I'm crazy. But really I thrive on a jam-packed schedule. If I had all the time in the world, I wouldn't get anything done. Which is why I am pumped for my race which is one week from today, in which I will work the next six days, and be so busy at work that I never sit down. Gotta love the summer!

Could it Be?

This morning my scale was still showing 11 pounds to lose (or about 1.5 left for the challenge) but when I got to the gym this evening and did an official weigh-in with the official scale in the official clothes, I was .25 pounds lower than I need to be next Monday. Could it be? Have I actually reached my challenge goal? And will I be able to keep it there until next Monday?

I had an extremely exhausting day, although I am not entirely sure why. I only worked seven hours, but I got so much done, including training a bunch of rowdy middle-schoolers. By the time it was over and I dragged myself to the gym (because I was meeting Erin) I absolutely did not want to go to kickboxing. Still, I made myself power-through by telling myself that I could leave in the middle if my legs did indeed collapse as I thought they might. But alas, Mary's class is not nearly as difficult as Marika's and I made it through the whole thing. Then a little weight-lifting got me right back on track. My grandma made me a nice fattening dinner tonight, which I tried to make healthy by eating a big salad and lots of fruits. Tomorrow is another busy day at work, in which I am working 10 hours and have yet to decide it I will make myself get to the gym after that. When will this week be over?

One Week Away

As of last Thursday I was at my challenge finale weight! Then I had a crazy weekend, out of my routine, filled with cookies and brownies and chips. I tried to eat healthy and I kept working out, but my scale wasn't happy with me this morning. First, it showed me at 11.5 pounds (2 pounds away). Then it jumped up to 12 pounds. I went about my morning and went and checked later to find it reading 13 pounds! I'm going to go with the best reading and say I weighed in at 11.5. Sure that's a 1.5 pound loss from last Monday. But it isn't what I need. Now I have six days to get it down two pounds. I think I can do it though. I am a tough competitor!

What I am most excited about is the fact that this weekend I began running for fun, or for exercise rather than beating my time or distance. As of Saturday afternoon I already had eight hours of workout time logged. But Sunday morning I knew that Hannah and I had a long car ride ahead of us, so we went out and ran two miles (just for fun!). I wasn't worried about speed or distance, we just ran around the neighborhood until she was worn out. Then Monday morning we were at my dad's house and I wanted to try running along the Platte River again. So we went out for a 2.5 mile run down through a beautiful park and back. Sure, I had my Ipod telling me how far/fast/long I was going, but I wasn't concerned with that. I was interested in checking out the scenery and wearing out my dog, and eating another brownie! Isn't that what exercise should be about?

It's going to be a long tough week. I have tons of things going on. I am done dog-sitting, but now my grandma is in town dog-sitting, so I have moved on to Grandma-sitting. It will be hard to get seven hours of workouts in, and this is the time I need them more than ever. I will just have to make myself get up early and get more done with my day. When I can't sleep anyway, I might as well be burning calories.

You Take the Good, You Take the Bad

Thursday's Running Goal: 3 miles
Accomplished: 3 miles in 33:18 (11:06 miles)
Six months ago I wouldn't have even dreamt that I would be able to run three-eleven-minute miles ever. When I was training for that 5k in Atlanta, my goal was to accomplish three-twelve-minute-miles and I couldn't even do that. Now, I am a speedster. This knocked more than a minute off my last three-miler (a few weeks ago). I'm pretty proud of this and have begun thinking about running 5ks again, and possibly actually getting better at running 5ks. The worst part of running faster is that my workouts are getting shorter. These three miles used to take 45-50 minutes with a nice warm up and cool down. Now I am down to less than 35 minutes. I guess I am still burning the same amount of calories (since I am running faster now) and really time shouldn't matter as along as I am burning enough calories to lose weight.

Friday morning my weight-loss actually hit single digits. I didn't want to publish it, because I am not certain that it is around to stay. Since my mom is out of two for the next week and a half, I am staying at her house the next few days. Thus I am not getting my morning weigh-ins accomplished. I also am off of my routine and find that I eat poorer when my routine is thrown off. Last night I went out to dinner with Erin and her friends. We went to the Valentino's Buffet and even though I tried to make good choices, buffets just can't be healthy. Luckily, I didn't leave there stuffed, and that's a good thing.

This morning's Running Goal: 10k course
Accomplished: 6 miles in 1:14 (12:20 minute miles)
This morning Brandy and I attempted to run the actual course of our upcoming 10k. I had printed the course out, but it was hard-ish to read and remember. There are lots of turning through the neighborhoods and a park where you run in and turn around, but the map isn't real detailed. So we may not have run the actual course. None the less, it was extremely difficult. It was pretty humid out (I guess) because I was dripping with sweat before the first mile was over. I wanted to quit several times, and most of the race was uphill, without a lot of downhill rewards. Luckily (I think) the first half was more uphill than the second half and I just kept plucking along. Eventually we were done. We only went about six miles, apparently we turned around to soon to get the extra .2 miles. It felt like the run took forever, but 1:14 wasn't too bad. Although my ultimate goal is to just finish the race, I would really like to do it in 12 minute miles, and be done in just a little over 1:12! I am thinking that race day could be just as humid as today so I either need to get a headband to catch my dripping sweat or bring a towel. Pray for good weather! I can't believe that it is just two weeks away.

A Record Low

It's official, I have hit an all time low. And it is so exciting. I finally made it down to the ten pound mark today. I have never been this low, except maybe in like 8th grade! I am so proud of myself. I am down to the last ten pounds. Unfortunately I would like to pick the places that those ten pounds come off of and that's not exactly how it works. Four pounds from my hip/butt area, and three pounds from each leg. My biggest fear is: what if I get down to my goal weight and it's not enough. What if I am still not a size 10? What if I am still not skinny? Thoughts for another day. Today, it's all about celebrating (healthfully), going to the gym for two hours, building major muscles, de-stressing from a crazy work day, and being proud of myself. I would love to lose one more pound by Monday's weigh in. That would ensure my victory in the Challenge. But I would be happy with maintaining this low weight, and worrying about the one pound next week!

Erin Hit a Mile

Tonight I talked Erin into running at the Northeast Highschool Track. She worked until 8:00, so we met there after that. Our plan was something along the lines of me running the whole time, and her taking turns between running with me and walking. But after she started and ran at my pace she found she could keep going. I am sure this is a combination of running outside vs. inside and running slower. I have read in so many running books and magazines that the number one mistake new runners make is running too fast. Running too fast tires you out and then you have to stop. Unfortunately I didn't last the entire three miles I had wanted to run. I did two miles (broken into two segments) with an average pace of 11:48. On top of that we walked around the track. We got a good workout in: almost an hour and probably about 4 miles total. I am proud of Erin for meeting me and pushing herself. Even though "Meredith thought she was crazy". Plus we got to complain about work. And that really gets us going!

My weight was down two pounds this morning; back to my pre-weekend weight. I had another good eating day and am hoping that it will creep down to the 10 pound mark tomorrow or Thursday morning. Please let me see it. I need the motivation!

Two Weeks Away

I did so well this week. I made such good choices. I celebrate wisely. I spent most of the weekend alone, eating fruits and vegetables. I worked out seven hours. Yet, this morning I was still at 13 pounds. STUCK. There are only two weeks left of my challenge and I am probably 3-4 pounds away from being where I said I would be. I forget what happens if none of us make our goal. The thing is, it was completely do-able. And now I have come down to the wire. The next two weeks aren't going to be easy either (it never is, is it?). I am dog sitting for five days this week (Thursday - Monday). I am going to my dad's house two days next weekend. I am having a BBQ a week from Friday to celebrate summer. I have a work party next weekend as well. I need to make this week excellent, so that the final week isn't so intense.

Not Fast Enough

Today's Running Goal: One mile fast
Accomplished: One mile in 10:08
Damn that eight seconds. I was able to run outside this time, but I was running into a pretty strong wind half the time. I always have an excuse don't I? There was some uphills and some downhill sand a three second break at a stop light (I hit pause). I guess I have room for improvement, but I really thought that I would be able to run a mile in ten minutes. Knowing that I don't have to run any more than that should get me there a lot faster, but it turns out my legs and lungs just won't let me go that fast.

I'm worried that I ruined a perfect eating weekend tonight. Jennifer called at the last minute and invited me over for dinner. Well I had already eaten quite a few calories for the day and was planning my short run and then a light snack. But I wanted to spend some time with her on her birthday. So I made sure to get my run in and then headed over to her house to join them for dinner. I didn't do too horribly; I ate a light salad and just a few bites of steak. But I had three glasses of wine, some bread and four mini-peanut butter cups. Oh, I didn't mention that I had to go to a pancake feed for breakfast (at my mom's church). I ate three pancakes but had light syrup. Hopefully I can be down a few pounds tomorrow morning. I did so well the rest of the week!

Six More Miles

Today's Running Goal: 6 miles
Accomplished: 6 miles in 1:08 (or maybe 1:12)
I had IPod failure. I met Brandy at the trail at 8:00 this morning. I made sure to get up at 7:15 so that I was wide awake when I started running. But as soon as I tried to turn on my IPod, it was dead, or broken. So all we had to measure our time was her phone. We seemed to be keeping a 12-minute-mile pace most of the way through. We did increase the pace on the last mile or so and were running pretty quickly (for me) on the last lap or so. Her phone said we were only gone 1:08 minutes which seems wrong to me since we were on pace most of the run. So I am a little worried that I had us turn around too soon. Last time I ran that same trail, I ran MORE than three miles out, so that I would finish before the trail was over, at the beginning. So honestly, I am not 100% sure where the three mile turn-around should have been. Close enough though. And I am thankful for Brandy and the fact that she was willing to slow down and help me out on my run this morning. My legs were getting really sore at the 4 mile mark, but I just kept going. They're still a little sore as well.

After a little bit of a break, I got to attend Ann's new Saturday morning BodyPower class. It is so exciting to be able to take three classes in a week. I feel like I will finally be able to get my arms in perfect shape. This also ensures me being able to get to the gym for seven hours a week. It was a little odd since it was so late in the morning, but it worked out perfectly with running in the morning.

I did a wonderful job of eating healthy at Jennifer's birthday party. I found a great new Lazlo's entree that was grilled shrimp on a bed of rice. It was definitely low in calories and delicious. I allowed myself to eat the excellent Lazlo's fries, which is where the majority of my calories came from. I did splurge on a few slices of bread, three bites of Chocolate Decadence, and one drink afterward. But overall, so much better than I could have allowed myself to eat. Along with a boring Saturday filled with two hours of workout time, my scale should be happy tomorrow morning.

Hungry all the Time

Lately I have been starving all of the time. A strange phenomenon has begun happening to me. I eat meals that I am used to eating: special k bars, lean cuisine meals, subway turkey sandwiches, etc, things that used to fill me up for several hours. But now, I am hungry an hour or two later. And not just like I want to have a snack, but I want to eat a whole meal. And not just right after I do a long run but all the time. And not just like I might be wanting to eat something yummy that was left it the break room, but actual hunger: my stomach is growling. Loud enough that I have to apologize for it. I have tried drinking a lot more water, hoping that would fill me up. Maybe I need more protein, or fiber, or something.

I have been pretty happy with the numbers I have been seeing on the scale this week. It has been around the 11 and 12 mark all week. This inspires me and I am hoping if I can keep it up for the weekend it can get to the 10 pound mark for Monday. I have never (ever) been that low and can't wait for it to happen (just once). I am planning my eating well this weekend. I have to (I mean get to) celebrate Jennifer's birthday this evening, so I am eating a light lunch filled with lots of fruits and vegetables. Then I will select a healthy option (chicken) at the restaurant and limit myself to one drink afterward. There won't be a cake (as far as I know, I wasn't supposed to bring it was I?) so I won't be tempted by that. And as Jillian Michaels tells me, I have to indulge once in a while! But not so much if I am on my way to a record breaking weight!

A Fast Little Run

Today's Running Goal: 1 mile as fast as possible
Accomplished: 1 mile in 10:40
This is six seconds better than my all-time fastest mile. Unfortunately I had to do it at the gym. I worked until 8:00 and even though it is light then, I wanted to make sure and get 30 minutes of working out done, and it would have been dark by the time I got done with that. My goal was to see how fast I could run one mile now that I am capable of running so many more. I really thought that it would be faster. So I want to try it again outside. I do feel like recently I have let my shorter runs slide, and this is not the time to let that happen. But it took me so many days to recover from the six mile run, and those classes really get in the way of my running. Luckily, Brandy has agreed to run with me Saturday morning for six miles. My goal is to increase my time by two minutes (1:14). Maybe Sunday I will be able to attempt running another fast mile. But I doubt it.

Goodbye Marika, Goodbye Jillian

It's pretty ironic that tonight was the finale of The Biggest Loser and tomorrow evening is the last day Marika will be teaching classes at Goodyear. They will both be back in the fall. But that means that I have to get through the entire summer by myself. Well, that's not true. Mary and Ann will be taking over the bodypower and kickboxing classes, but it's just not the same. On Monday Marika was talking about this being her last week (she gave us plenty of notice) and I got a little teary. She pushes me so hard. She knows how to get me to work harder, jump higher, lift more. I have grown so attached to her. It's funny because a year ago I would have nothing to do with her. I only attended Ann and Mary's classes (and Ryan's). So I have to remind myself that change is good. New instructors remind us to pay attention to different things. And think how proud she will be of me, when she comes back in August, and I am the hottest one in class!

I was really sore today, and I am not sure from what. I didn't increase any weights. But my hamstrings were so tight and my arms hurt so bad. I took the day off from working out since it appears my body needs some time to recooperate. Today I spent 6 hours at a middle school, giving 6-45 minute presentations, which is exhausting. Tonight, I had Jennifer over for dinner. I have fallen behind on my new-recipe-each-week goal. I made portobella mushroom burgers with a garlic-dill mayonnaise on a toasted bun. It was excellent and well under 200 calories. We had fruit and baked chips for sides. Very good! There was also a bottle of wine. We were celebrating The Biggest Loser Finale! Still, I was down to 11 pounds this morning and I am working on getting lower this week. I never want to be in the tens column again. I owe it to Marika and Jillian... and myself!

Three Weeks Away

Just an average week, not great, not bad. I lost a pound which puts me back down to 13 pounds. My lofty goal was to be at 11 this week. So I am revamping my goal for this next week. I want to be at 10 pounds by next Monday. It is so difficult when I have a week without routine events. Last week I did three school visits, which generally means that I am up earlier, tired all day, giving presentations for at least three hours a day, working 12 hour days or split shifts. And recently I have been hungry all the time. Twice this week I ate my normal breakfast bar, that usually keeps me full for three to four hours. But after I ate it I was hungry again in two hours, it was as if I hadn't eaten breakfast. On Saturday I ate a frozen lunch that I eat often. Usually that meal is all I have to have to fill me up until dinner, but this time I had to eat yogurt along with the meal and then was hungry for more when my break came around. Why am I hungry all the time right now? I haven't been working out more this week. Anyway, I am going to the store today so I can get some healthy fruit and veggies for when I am in need of a snack. Summer is just three weeks away. I need to get serious about this!

I only worked out six hours this week. Somehow I was busier on Mother's day than I thought I would be, and ended up not getting home until 8:00 at night.. By that time the gym was closed and it was getting dark outside. Good thing I got my six mile run done on Saturday. I suppose my body needed a day off. It was so sore yesterday from that long run. I had to take some Tylenol just to get up and ready for the day. As I moved around more it wasn't too bad. But my calves and knees reminded me of my great accomplishment with every step.

This week I have to get past Jennifer's birthday party, but besides that things should be pretty normal. I also get to take three BodyPower classes for the first time in a long time. We'll see how I am feeling after that. I need to find someone who will run six miles with me next weekend. I'm going to see if Brandy would be willing to waste an hour of her time to run at my speed. If anyone else is interested, let me know!

Holy Cow

Today's Running Goal: 6 miles
Accomplished: 6 miles in 1:16:20 (12:45 miles)
Holy Cow. I did it and I am so proud of myself. My legs were really tired and kind of cramping up but my lungs could have carried me several more miles. I have definitely gotten over the mental anguish. Now I need to work on building up my leg muscles I guess. Also need to work on my time. I suppose if I was running faster my lunges wouldn't be absolutely fine at the end of six miles. But that wasn't the goal today. Today I just wanted to do it. And I still have four weeks until the race. That will give me time to do it again next week, maybe add on the .2 mile that I will have to run on race day. Then I want to try something a little farther than six miles, probably seven. At some point I want to run the actual race course. But there is plenty of time for all of that. I am so proud of myself today.

Take Two

Today's Second Running Goal: 2 more miles
Accomplished: 2 miles in 23:30 (11:45 miles)
Well after a little rest this afternoon I got back out there. I felt a lot better the second time around and mentally it was a lot easier to go for just two miles than the three I had to do earlier. I also used the trail instead of the sidewalk and I listen to my normal running playlist instead of mixing it up which I had tried to do this morning. I told myself that for every mile I ran this afternoon I could have a margarita. So I stopped at two that means I will only be allowed to have two margaritas. That's okay though because I probably couldn't drive with three. Oh also, I told myself that I could wear my new running shoes tonight if I went out for the second trip. I understand that running three miles broken up doesn't work on my stamina, but it still equals the same calorie burn, which is what my true goal of the day was.

One Step Back

Today's Running Goal: 3 miles or no Margaritas tonight
Accomplished: 1 mile in 12:03
I think that my body was trying to tell me something. From the very first step my legs felt like lead, my stomach was upset and my breathing was off. I had to stop twice in that first mile just to recompose, so by the time I got to the mile mark, I wasn't about to put myself through another two of those. To top it all off, I didn't even do that mile very fast. Now I am deciding if after a light lunch and a nap if I should go out and try to do the other two. Or maybe I should be happy with the 30 minutes I put forth today (running one mile plus walking back) and let my body repair itself. However, I organized a Margarita gathering for Cinco de Mayo tonight and promised myself that it would be okay because I would burn enough calories before hand. Now it looks like I burned enough for five chips and a sip of a drink. I probably don't give myself enough days off though. I just ran five miles on Sunday and followed that with two hours of gym classes on Monday, plus 40 minutes of digging in my garden. But I can't just let myself eat the enchiladas and drink the yumminess when I made a deal with myself. Maybe I'll go try it on the trail instead of the hot Lincoln sidewalks. First, I will take a little nap...

Four Weeks Away

I am pretty angry with myself today. I gained a pound this week, putting back up to 14 pounds. I was worried last week that the loss was due to my sickness, so my only goal was to maintain my 13 pound status. Then as the week went on I lost two more pounds. I was down to 11 (my all time low) on Friday. But I was reckless this weekend. I ate pizza twice (one slice each time). I ate at a salad bar twice, which can never be calorie-counted. I ate M&Ms and two pieces of dessert pizza. Why? On the other hand I worked out a lot since Friday, so maybe I gained some of my muscles back. Here's the thing though, I shouldn't have to run more than five miles in order to eat a slice of pizza and M&Ms. How many would I have to do? Ten? My goal for next week is 11 pounds. I know that will be hard because I am going out for Margaritas on Tuesday for Cinco de Mayo. I just have to make sure and have a good week otherwise!

Other than that, Kickboxing and BodyPower were pretty good tonight. I feel like I burned a lot of calories and worked lots of muscles. Then I came home and ate six pieces of bacon, because it was about to go bad and needed to be cooked and was too expensive to be thrown away. Turns out bacon is only 60 calories a slice, so it wasn't that bad of meal. It has protein to help me refresh my muscles and a whole bunch of fat that will clog my arteries. Tomorrow I will run three miles!

Five Alive

Today's Running Goal: 4.5 miles or 5 miles
Accomplished: 5 miles in 1:02:30 (12:30 miles)
Technically I never did the 4.5 mile run because that was when I was sick last week. So I told myself that I could do that. However, this week should really be my 5 miles week and I figured once you run 4.5 why not just keep going? So after watching Marika, and Brandy, and Susan (my 42 year old co-worker who is in no better shape than me but has runs all the time) run the half-marathon this morning, I headed over to my mom's house to put my own running to the test. Hannah and I did a 2.5 mile lap around my mom's neighborhood and then I dropped her off at home and did another 2.5 mile lap around. The second lap was easier and I am not sure if it was because I was already in the midst of it and knew it was all downhill from there, or if running with Hannah is actually more stressful. She did a lot of stopping and sniffing today, which really gets in the way of my rhythm and at one point she darted across the sidewalk to a fire-hydrant and I almost tripped over her, which really hurt my knee. At about the 3.7 mile mark I was thinking: shoot, I can do all six miles today, because I was in a really good place, and only had a little over a mile to go. But that last mile was tough and when I was done with that, I couldn't go another step. But yay, I did it! Next week I plan to attempt the actual six mile run. Then I will have three weeks to better my time, get more comfortable doing six miles, test the actual race course and perhaps even go seven miles once, so the six seems less!

That leaves me at 6 hours of workout time this week. Not too bad for taking the first two days of the week off because I was still ill. I still can't breathe perfectly, but I guess I am back to good. And I am better than ever because I can now say that I ran five miles. For some reason I am not as proud of the five miles as I am the four. That three miles slump was just so hard to get over for me that four miles was this huge accomplishment. Now five miles just seems like a little more. Besides I watched people run 26.2 today. They are inspiring!

Food and Running

Today's Running Goal: 2 miles
Accomplished: 2 miles in 22:54 (11:27 miles)
I had plans to run in the morning and they got pushed back with the enticing offer of coffee and bagels. I did go to Yoga bright and early with my mom and then had to go to work for an hour or so to get stuff done I can't accomplish in my other forty hours there a week. Then yesterday afternoon I had another work commitment that was very stressful and involved me eating a piece of pizza and two handfuls of M&Ms. So when that was all over, I made myself run those two miles I was procrastinating doing. It was the sunniest part of the day and there seemed to be no wind, even though most people probably thought that the weather was beautiful. It was difficult run, because I ran down to the park and back with is just full of steep hills. So my 11-minute-miles were raised just slightly. But doing it is all that really mattered.

Then I went to bookgroup later in the evening and ate two pieces of dessert pizza, several crackers, some cheese and even some cookies. What am I doing? Eating like crap so that the runs don't even matter!