A New Running Plan and Feeling Good

I know it's only Tuesday, but I'm feeling REALLY good about this week!

At the end of last week/this weekend, I wasn't feeling very positive about my body or how I was doing. I was stressed with apartment hunting and food and in a really negative mind-space. Then, after talking to a few friends who read the blog, getting some good comments, and reading a good motivational blog post (Thanks, Jenny!), I'm feeling worlds better. Everyone is right: We're SO much harder on ourselves than we'd EVER be on anyone else and, also, my feeling inferior due to everyone's positive blog posts is probably skewed for the same reason I tend to disappear when I'm doing poorly on my journey. Need to keep that in mind before judging myself based on everyone's apparent progress on Twitter, etc. :)

That said, I've been doing SO well this week! Last Friday I had an hour to kill waiting for the bus after giving my CM2 (5th graders) their English oral exam for the Education nationale and so I sat down and plotted out my mileage goals for now until July. Since I have TONS of time until the half in October, my current goals are: 1) to safely work myself up to a weekly 10-mile LSD and 2) to try and keep myself from walking at all during my runs.

In order to accomplish Goal 1, I plotted out the recommended 10% weekly mileage starting with a base mileage of 12. This week my goal is 13 miles and so on and so forth until I'm scheduled to hit my 10-mile LDR at the week of July 4th. I'm planning on focusing on my running until then and trying to mold my calorie intake into building some more muscle and fueling properly for my runs.

For Goal 2, I'm just trying to keep a steady pace and instead of walking trying to replace that "rest time" with a slower jog before picking up my pace. So far, I have had two consecutive runs (4mi and 3mi) where I've done that and it's been great! (NB: I do stop running to avoid getting hit by cars. FYI.) Not stopping to walk really makes me feel empowered and much more proud after the run is over. All good things.

A few photos from last week's 4-miler

Pretty sunset over the Rhône

In order to keep myself running, I'm also having to brush up on my positive self talk. I'm not one of those runners who "enjoy the pain" or any of that. For me, probably 50-75% of the time I'm running I'm thinking about how hard it is and how much my body would rather be walking. I don't do discomfort well. That said, I'm trying to positively "coach" myself like Monica @ Run, Eat, Repeat mentioned in a recent bl0g post. So far, so good. I just keep reminding myself that I'm stronger than I think I am and to remember how far I've come to get here.

Speaking of running, I gotta run now to go pick my very good friend Taylor at the train station! We've been friends since high school and she's getting here today to visit for a week! I'm so excited to see her AND get some runs in with a friend! Tay was a ballerina and a cross-country runner in high school and if you'd have asked be back then if I'd ever go on a run with her, let alone be EXCITED about it, I would have thought you were crazy! Oh, how times change! :)

See? Here's us (Tay's in pink) Junior year of HS at the cast dinner for Oklahoma! :

Yep, I was the old lady.

Keeping My Word: 7 day chip disappointment... again.

I have problems pushing myself. I also have problems sticking with what I say I'm going to do. But, now I'm so in a rut with this I don't know how to find the motivation to change it. Every let down just proves the rule and I'm getting discouraged.

Case in point: this week's sugar-free/baguette-free 7 day chip goal. Did good for a few days, then got myself in a situation where I was too hungry and couldn't bring myself to be the only one out of the three of us not to get "the best ice cream ever" (Jean-Michel's assessment) that he wanted so bad we drove 60km from the beach we WERE (Salin-de-Giraud) to the town of Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer to get a cone. The ice cream was amazing, but I knew that I was ashamed of myself when I didn't take a picture of the pretty colors to share with my blog readers. I didn't admit to anyone in the #7daychip group that I'd fallen on Day 3 either. I just quit tweeting so I wouldn't have to mention it. I was embarrassed.

At the gorgeous Salin-de-Giraud beach pre-sugar

From there, it became "Well, at least no baguette." Then, what happened? Rosie and I made cookies and I was going to eat dinner at hers so I was going to bring along a baguette for everyone... But, I ended up not going and was thus left alone with a baguette in my apartment. Complete and utter 7 day chip fail.

I am going to run tonight to at least make my weekly mileage goal, but I still feel like I've let myself down. More importantly, I've let the other tweeps down too. I'm so encouraged by everyone's successes on Twitter and via blogs that when I'm doing poorly, instead of getting on here and talking about how I'm feeling and feeding into that motivation and support, I just shut down and disappear for awhile.

I only have 5 weeks left here in France, so I'm going to try and make the most of it. Get my runs in, eat the food I want in moderation, and try and stick to some kind of plan. I'm going to try from here on out to be more honest with my blog and with my twittering. I'm really struggling for motivation right now and I hope reaching out to you guys will help me get it back.

On that note, my goals for this week are simple: be honest about what I'm doing, avoid food binges (if I'm going to have some baguette, I will have a SERVING of baguette and not half of one like I did this weekend), and get my weekly mileage in (more on that soon).

Thanks for sticking with me (and with the blog). Your comments, advice, and support, really mean a lot, especially since I know that my blog isn't as inspiring as others since I'm currently not seeing amazing losses or fabulous results. I know it's going to get better, I'm going to make it.

Whew! Time flies!

Ever since Jon left (or got here, really), life has been so crazy! Our relationship is better than it's ever been, and we're actually taking things to the next step when I come home... We're moving in together! I know that I lived with him in Athens before I moved here, but now we're actually choosing a place together in another city. A place that will be ours together, not me moving in with him or vice versa. It's a really awesome feeling, actually. Definitely a big step to be spending money together, but I couldn't be happier. That said, it's been taking up every minute of my free time.

The Monday and Tuesday after his return, I spent all day compiling lists of my first round of apartments and didn't give him much rest time before sending him up to Columbus the following Saturday to check them out. We're looking for a reasonably priced place that will allow us to bring the furry babies, so it's kind of difficult.

So far, we've just finished Round 3 and I think we've settled between two places. Both are in great parts of town: one is in German Village and another is in Victorian Village. Can't go wrong either way, in my book! Just looking and comparing all these houses/apartments/condos has me SO excited to move to Columbus and get back into the swing of my "normal" life while incorporating some ideas and habits from France, namely my new love of being able to walk or bike almost anywhere. With one of these apartments I would be a 15 minute bike ride (20-minute bus) from campus and really close to Columbus's 13.75 mile bike path called the Olentangy Trail. Furthermore, with both locations, we'll be close enough to bike/walk to get to the grocery and the pharmacy... I'm so excited!!!

I'm also looking forward to living in a city with a strong running community (and with a few dedicated running stores)! In Athens, Jon and I would have to drive to Cincy or Cbus to get new running shoes or equipment and to participate in most races. Now, we'll be close enough to get in on the action. I've already set up a profile on the Columbus Pacers running group and am looking forward to trying out their Saturday morning group runs (with pace leaders from 7:30 to 12:30 minute miles). It'd be great because it'll allow Jon and I to a) make new friends and b) run "together" while still running at our own paces. I'm also considering (depending on how the Pacers thing goes) signing up for the MiT (Marathoner in Training) program if I can get my mileage up and complete the half in October. I'm just so excited to take advantage of EVERYTHING this city will have to offer and the more I look at these neighborhoods, the more excited I get! PLUS, we might even be able to walk to the FOOTBALL STADIUM! AHHHH!

Anyway, this is what I've been doing with all my blogging time lately... Trying to contact landlords from France (thank goodness we have free international calling), trying to set up appointments for Jon to visit, and trying to keep our insane spreadsheet updated. PLUS, I managed to book a 3.5 day trip to Barcelona with Rosie. We leave in 16 days!

Time to crank it up for the beach body? Next post is on my running and fitness goal update... I've been okay lately, but stay tuned for more info... Now, off to catch up on your blogs!

Weigh-In Day and a Make-Up Run!

I actually did what I told you all I would last night and got up this morning at 7am, donned my running apparel and hit the road for my 4 mile run that I was supposed to do yesterday (but got sidetracked by the sun):

Not only am I proud because this was actually longer than 4 miles (I forgot to turn Mr. Garmin back on when I stopped to take off my jacket), but I'm really proud because it's the first time I've successfully managed to drag myself out of bed to workout in I can't even remember how long!

Also, this is Saturday morning, so it's weigh-in day! I stepped on the scales before heading out for the run and this is what awaited me:

Weigh-In:

Starting weight: 193.8

Last week: 71.5kg (157.6 lbs)

Today: 70.5kg (155.4 lbs)

Weekly workouts:

Runs: 3x

Crosstraining: 0x

I'm so excited! This week was really hard for me both personally and, as a result, food-wise and I'm really happy to see that my eating intuitively and trying to make up for my epic splurges on Monday paid off on the scale. I know I only ended up meeting 1 of my weekly goals (since I didn't crosstrain at all and I didn't do well at the party last saturday), but I still think this week was a stunning success. :)

Anyway, instead of posting my weekly goals here now, I'm going to include them in another post later today along with my new involvement in #7daychip! For now, I'm off to finish getting ready because I'm spending the day visiting the Bambouserie (a bamboo forest) with one of the teachers I work with and her family! Don't worry, I'll take plenty of photos!

Have a great day!!! :)

Mid-Week Update

Whew! What a big week here in Nicky-land!

In my personal life, Sunday–Tuesday were really intense. Learned some new information and made some important life decisions:

1. J and I are 100% officially back together again and he's purchased a plane ticket to come to France and see me in April (3 weeks from today!!! Eep!!). I really couldn't be happier about this, even if it has been a hard road getting back to this point.
2. After MONTHS of deliberation, mixed responses, and lots of debate and list-making, I've finally settled on a grad school for starting my M.A. in French this fall. I've chosen (drum roll, please...) THE Ohio State University in my lovely homestate.
3. My little sister got engaged! To be fair, this didn't happen between Sunday-Tuesday, but there has been a lot of wedding planning progress this week, namely date and venue choosing! Since her fiancé will only have a month of leave once he gets back from Iraq, they're going to get married on July 9th... A little more than three months away! I'm going to try and come home from France early to make sure my dress fits and everything. Whew!

On the weight loss side of things, Sunday-Tuesday wasn't my best work, Monday especially. Monday definitely called for large portions of happiness wine. In case you were ever wondering, an entire bottle of white wine is 603 calories. I took the fact that I felt completely fine on Tuesday as a sign that I needed Monday night to get over some things and have felt SO much better about everything since.

I haven't done any P90X yet this week, but I HAVE had two very successful runs today and Sunday:

Sunday's long run! Discovered a new place to run... Will take my camera this weekend and document! In the meantime, here's a screengrab to give you an idea:

Cute path next to a mini-river? Yes please.

Today's 3-miler. Aimed for an 11:30 pace. Stopped to breathe a few times, but feel really good about this overall.

I plan on getting in a 4-miler on Friday, bringing my weekly mileage to 12 miles... Not too shabby considering it'll be the first time I've run 3x in a week in a really long time.

Lastly, Spring is here in Avignon and it's getting really warm. As such, I decided to pop into H&M today since a Spring jacket I'd been eye-ing was 50% off and ended up with the jacket AND a cute, navy skirt... perfect for spring AND Auburn football:

I love that there's a little drawstring inside that ties and gives you a nice outline :)

As Amy put it, 'Nicky, this skirt is just so... you.'

Obligatory elevator photo. First thing I'm buying for my new apartment (well, as a luxury item) is going to be a nice full-length mirror. Had a really awkward moment right after snapping this photo when the doors opened and a random guy got into the elevator with me... Caught in the act!

Crazy thing is... The jackets a European 36 (US 6) and the skirt is a Small! I liked the skirt up around my waist and the medium was just too loose up there. Crazy! That said, sizes over here are really weird. I wear relatively tiny sizes in shirts and dresses and can't find pants here to save my life. Do French women just not have derrières? Oh well. Even after two weeks, I already am noticing a little difference in my stomach. Loooove it!

Anyway, that's the mid-week update! Despite a few alcoholic set-backs, I feel like I'm in a REALLY good place right now. :)

Running in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont

On the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower

Playing in traffic on the Champs-Elysées

View from the Pompidou Center

The Pompidou at night

Paris was lovely, as you can see from the photos above. After being there for a month this summer, it was fun to be back and see some familiar places and to see some new things as well. I'm pretty impressed with us really as we saw/did all but one thing we'd wanted to do. We ended up nixing the visit to the catacombs under the city for reasons of cold, but we did see the Tour Eiffel (and went up as high as we could... the summit was closed), the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, the Musée de l'Orangerie (quite possibly my favorite in Paris), the Louvre, Notre Dame, Shakespeare and Co, Berthillon's Ice Cream, Montmartre, and the Pompidou Center. We were busy little bees!

On Friday night, we went to a crazy restaurant called Nos Ancêtres les Gaulois on Ile Saint-Louis. The whole theme is to have a meal like in Gaulish times, so it was really entertaining, if not quite the "healthiest" night. Just to give you a taste, here's the "salad" they bring you:

Despite my hangover Saturday morning, I did leave Chris at the hostel and make it out for a nice 4-mile run. When I was living in Paris in the 6th arrondissement, I always wanted to go run in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, a park in the 19th that I'd heard of and googled and fell in love with. Sadly, I never worked up sufficient motivation to take the metro out to run in a park then run back, so I ended up sticking more to the Seine and those monuments for my runs. This time, however, we actually STAYED in the 19th, so I knew this run was meant to be. If I lived in Paris, I might try to live in the 19th just to be able to run in this park all the time. It's hilly AND flat and has gorgeous scenery. There were tons of runners and, as you can see in these photos, it's no surprise as to why! I averaged at an 11:40/pace, which is good considering I kept stopping to take pictures of everything! Check it out:

I also went ahead and ran by the Quai de la Seine near our hostel at the end of the run because I didn't think I'd make it out again before leaving and I wanted to check it out:

At the end of a successful run. :)

Back to the hostel (isn't it a cool building?)

Anyway we had a great time. I got my run in and got to spend some quality time with one of my very best friends. I didn't know it until I was there, but I really needed this weekend and it was everything I needed it to be. Now, time to get back on plan... I've been too off plan for too long and though I haven't really gained, I don't want to keep going in this direction!!!

PS: As a sidenote, I ALSO found out this weekend that I got accepted (and tentatively offered a TA position at one of my top grad school choices)! Whew!

Run 2 and a Roast Dinner: Successful Sunday!

It's true when they say that the hardest thing about getting back into something is doing it again for the first time. Helen and I met up "early" (for a Sunday) for our "long" run for the week. Since we're just getting into it and our official training isn't going to start until Tuesday, we figured 4 was fine. Today was also in the 50s and I started out with a jacket but ended up tying it around my waist.

We tried to go a lot slower to keep a more even pace since this was our long (and thus slow) run and stopped for water every mile. Next time, we're going to aim for every 2. It's really hard to build back up, knowing that 2 months ago I ran 10 miles with maybe 2-3 water breaks. Just goes to show how fast it goes. If you don't use it, you lose it, is definitely true!

Here are the stats for our run:




As you can see, the HR was up really high (for me)--I'm looking forward to my body getting used to running again so it'll go back down. So uncomfortable. We also ended up going for an extra half mile since mile 4 felt so good.

After such a successful run, Amy and I hit up Les Halles (the market) to do the shopping for our Sunday Roast Dinner. We stopped by our favorite produce stall and then went back and visited the butcher from whom we'd bought our Thanksgiving Turkeys in order to get the chicken. He was very pleased when I informed him that his turkeys had been such a hit. Our dinner was lovely and full of fresh roasted vegetables. Aside from the oil (and actual duck fat Amy used for the potatoes) it was REALLY healthy too. Well, aside from the king cake.

Amy and I even learned how to truss a chicken!
Massaging poultry is apparently a specialty of mine after Turkey day
Success!
My lovely British girlfriends (I'm going to go stay at their houses in the UK in February! We booked the trains today! Woo!
A finished photo of Wayne the chicken
Look at all those veggies: braised leeks and zucchini, roast potatoes, steamed carrots, honey parsnips
Galette des rois (King Cake) we got a "frangipan" one
Rosie got the "feve" or the little figure. I didn't know that they did this for the New Year in France. I wonder if they do it for Mardi Gras too like we do at home?
Lovely day with lovely people AND with a good run in the morning. What more could you want? Oh wait, to not have to walk home in this downpour:


Oh well! Great day nonetheless and BONUS one of my very best friends (Chris) gets here tomorrow to visit! Yay! She's never been to France (or Europe) so I can't wait to show her around!

Bye Bye 2010!

So, here it is, the end of 2010. It's been a really interesting and important year. Instead of going into detail, here's a list of 20 note-worthy things that happened:

1. Had what I suppose should count as my first really serious relationship


2. Started and completed Couch to 5k and thus began running


3. Ran my first real 5k


4. Finished and turned in my undergrad thesis that was years in the making


5. Graduated from college


6. Spent a month in Paris


7. Went to an Auburn football game (and realized I like football!)


8. Learned how to shoot a gun (and realized I like that too!)


9. Lost... 4 pounds? and feel really good


10. Ran my first trail run and regular 10k


11. Learned how to build a fence and other house-related things thanks to Jon


12. Applied to graduate school


13. Moved to France


14. Started teaching elementary school in a foreign country


15. Ended aforementioned relationship
16. Cooked my first Thanksgiving Turkey


17. Started the new WW plan (even though I haven't been good about it yet)


18. Bought size 8 jeans. I've had a pair of ON's Sweetheart jeans at every size I've been along this journey.


19. Went on a date and had fun :)


20. Stayed positive and made it through December with fabulous friends, a stateside Christmas visit, and delicious red wine


I know I had my ups and downs, especially this past month, but looking at this list, I really think that 2010 did hold more good than bad. My family is all in good health, my friends are all doing fabulous things and the future is bright. This year also means that in 12 months I didn't GAIN any of the weight back (don't they say that the longer you keep it off, the more likely you are to do so long term?).

All things considered, I think I got a lot out of 2010 and am really looking forward to 2011, a lot of exciting things are in the works and it should be a great year! More on that tomorrow though! For now, I'm off to order a bridemaid dress (for 2011) and then up to Columbus to ring in the New Year the right way: with good friends and good wine. :)

See you next year!