This Weekend: Wine-Tasting, Oversleeping, and a new C25Ker

Busy weekend over in Cincinnati for this girl! Overall it was great seeing my family and friends, since I won't be able to go back to Cincy until I get back from Paris in August.

Friday: Jesse and I did a fair bit of shopping, hitting big at the semi-annual sale at VS and buying a lot of sale items at the Gap (a sweater and a polo), Forever 21 (tank tops, tee shirts, and a cute "going out" skirt), and a dress at J.Crew. We also just enjoyed hanging out together and browsing all the favorite stores. The best part of the J.Crew dress? Well, my dress from graduation is already getting a bit big... and when we were at J.Crew, I saw the same dress in cream and ended up getting it a size smaller! I was bummed that it was on sale for a lot less than I'd paid for it, but happy to be down a size! My friend Megan might take my grey dress, so I feel a bit better about spending the extra money.

The game was great--the Reds stomped the Indians 10-2. We had great seats...up top, right behind home plate:


Jon also found a new girlfriend at the game in the form of Jennifer's 2-year-old daughter Isabella:

See? Here he is, wooing her with his iphone and its lightsaber app
Saturday: Saturday started with a WW meeting and a weigh-in. I love my WW leader Lori in Cincinnati, so I always make sure to go to a meeting while I'm home. Plus, I had the bonus of being down 1.4 lbs!!! After spending time working on the car (while I was napping...), Jon and I met my mom and a couple of her friends up at the Dilly Deli for lunch and their weekly wine tasting (and to watch the sad US v. Ghana game). In honor of the game, the deli featured all US-produced wines. After the wine tasting, Jon and I treated ourselves to gourmet cupcakes from the Sweeterie, which is located above the Dilly Deli. I opted for my habitual favorite (Red Velvet) and Jon went for a chocolate marshmallow fluff creation.

Jon thought I was weird since I wanted to take photos of them...


We ended up eating the fabulous cupcakes in the car since Jon and I went to Best Buy to buy him a digital camera so that we can send mine off to be repaired. This way, if for some reason mine's not back in time, I'll have a camera I can borrow to take to Paris with me. Plus, we now have the added bonus of having a camera to take to Auburn with us! Jon maintains that this new camera is pink (he didn't have a choice since it was a return/refurb that was uber-marked down), but I'm sure it's really red. Silly man. :-P

Other than that, we just spent a chill evening at my mom's... I mowed the lawn and then we went out for dinner for some Cincinnati-style chili at Skyline. I was semi-blown away though when I came home and found out that a small 4-way and a coney totalled to 16 points!!! We'll see how the rest of the weekend's eating will influence the weigh in tonight!

Sunday: While lounging around the pool, Jon decided to play with his new toy and the dog at the same time, so we caught these fun photos of her in the backyard:


She leads a really tough life.

Aside from lounging around my mom's and completing my invigorating 6-miler, Jon and I joined some of my family for dinner at Montgomery Inn. I caved and ordered ribs and chicken with a baked sweet potato. We both overate, but we left the leftovers with my mom and proceeded to drink lots of water to make up for it. Thankfully, when I stepped on the scale this morning I was at the exact same place I was when I left Nelsonville on Wednesday. Still, we'll see what the scale says tonight.

Also, my former roomie (and one of my best friends) Katy decided to start doing C25K AND blog about it! I'm so glad she's started the program. Hopefully she and I will be able to run a 5k together before I leave for France again in October. She's planning on running in the Hocking Hills Indian Run, which is the same day as the Dayton Half... We'll see, especially since the Dayton Half has bumped up to being so expensive! Perhaps Jon and I will run a different half and then join Katy in Hocking Hills for a trail run.

Speaking of leaving for France in October... A lot of the other assistants in my académie have been getting their placements and contracts in the mail. I'm getting really frustrated with all this waiting! The anticipation is killing me! Hopefully my "arrête" will arrive tomorrow and I'll let you all know where I've been placed!

Also, kudos if you made it through this whole post... I'm so longwinded today! How was YOUR weekend?!

Picking up at the end of C25K

Whew. After another 2 weeks of failure, we've finally made it happen--we went for something I'd actually call a "run" (as opposed to the last "run" I posted about that I didn't feel good about at all).

This time, not only did Jon run with me (this is the first time he's run since the half a few weeks ago), but we also decided to bring ze doggie too. I don't have any photos of her with her summer trim, but to give you an idea, this is her pre-summer style:

Yes, best dog ever, I know, I know.
She was a real trooper (the shorter hair and the harness probably helped) and I think we'll be trying to bring her along more often.

Anyway, we ended up being out there for a little under an hour with a half hour jog in the middle (we decided to walk with Sahara to the bike path before running). It was rough, but I made it and I'm glad that after essentially 3 weeks I can pick up at where I was at the end of C25K (even if I'm not at the 60+ minute runs I was doing a month ago). So, yeah, I'm feeling good. :)

Here are my splits and my map for tonight--no heartrate info since I'm so out of practice that I forgot to wear my chest strap. Oops!



I'm pretty pleased with how I did and I could have probably pushed a little longer, but our brown bear was getting tired and I didn't want to overdo it, BUT I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow too. I did miss running, it makes my evening feel so much nicer.

Columbus Commit to Be Fit 5k

So, today was the 5k that I started C25K to train for back in January. After a carbo-loading pasta meal at our friend Andrew's last night, we drove up to Columbus to spend the night on my friend Jess's couch, since she was running in the 5k too. The day started out entirely too early for a Saturday, overcast, and ended up with a pretty hard rain by the end of Jon's half marathon. Parking and everything was painless since we pre-paid/reserved parking and had already picked up our registration packets last weekend. We were also able to exchange our tech shirts for smaller sizes without any fuss as well.

We got there in plenty of time and managed to find an empty tent to use as cover while stretching as we got ready for the race.

Here's Jess, making sure she's all stretched out for take off.
Jon was very excited about his new Auburn tech shirt he ordered and had overnighted specially for the race. He was also really excited (and kind of nervous) about his first half marathon.
I'm rocking a different color UA tank this week and am apparently really elated to be being photographed. Most importantly here, you'll see that I look like a real runner... How'd that happen?
We lined up with the 10:00 pacers and since there were around 10,000 participants, after the 8am start, it took us around 7 minutes to actually cross the finish line. Sadly, since I wanted to wait to start my Garmin until I'd gotten to the finish line... by the time that happened, I was too caught up in the moment and it took me 3/10 of a mile to realize that I'd failed at that... Oops. You can see that on the map:

We started and ended on Spring St., but I didn't realize it was off until I looked down and saw 0ft. distance as I crossed High St.
Other than that minor slip up, the race went really well and I pushed myself really hard too. In fact, I was really surprised when I saw this HRM chart:


I really must've been pushing at the end, since my heart rate was above Zone 5--almost at 190! Still, it felt great to finish.

Race Stats:
Time: 33:16
Place: 615/1868 overall, 247/1155 women
Official Pace: 10:44
Not too shabby I feel, even if it's not as good as the one last week. Then again, last week's timing wasn't as official/organized and they didn't have chips, so it's possible that I was slower and closer to my own iPod stopwatch's measurements. Regardless, I know I pushed it has hard as I could.

And now, some after race photos.

Me with my other 5k ladies, Jess and Linda and our finishers medals
After seeing my Garmin at work the other day, Linda was so excited about it that she made her final decisions that she definitely wanted one too. Little did she know that her boyfriend had already gotten her one as a 5k/birthday surprise!
Jon finished his first half in 1:52:00 in the pouring rain! I'm so proud of him. I made him a sign and waiting for him on the sidelines as they came in, but, sadly, the sign didn't hold up too well in the rain.
Afterward, we changed and met up with some of our other 5k/Half friends at Plank's Cafe for the very appropriate after-race meal of burgers, fries, and beer. Hey, we deserved it.

Now, onto the next challenge!

Gridiron Gallop 5k!

First 5K = SUCCESS!

After a night of not careful preparation (too much food and beer), Jon and I woke up early(ish) yesterday to go run our first 5k together. Thankfully, it didn't rain during the race like we'd feared, so that's a perk. It was just overcast with a slight drizzle at points. We were running a bit late, but since I'd pre-registered, it didn't take too long to get our numbers on and get situated at the 50 yard line in Peden Stadium for the start of the race:

See? All ready for the start!
Quick photo of me in my official 5k runner get-up. This bib is now on my frige.

At 10am, they started the race and off we went. Here's the path we followed:


We run around here (especially the return part on the bike path) all the time, so it was interesting to see how it went. I was REALLY proud of myself. I'm used to running between 12-13 minute miles (occasionally 11) but, according to my un-official iPod measurements my mile breakdown was really surprising. I had been aiming to complete the 5k in under 36:00, so I'm really pumped. My ipod told me that I ran the 5k in 32:45, so these are probably slightly off since my official 5k time was 31:14!!! but here are my mile break downs:

Mile 1: 10:34
Mile 2: 10:58
Mile 3: 10:41
I'm especially pleased with this breakdown since it shows that I was able to maintain a steady pace the whole time on my own. I didn't walk at all and I actually ended up passing some people who started out too fast and ended up walking. This mile pace also tells me that I can definitely push myself harder in training and hit an 11-minute mile regular pace.

Jon was there to cheer me on at the finish line (he finished in 25:28, I'm so proud!) and we went on together to get our tee-shirts and goodie bags. Here's a quick shot we got someone to take of us while waiting in line:

Look at us, all nice and sweaty. :)

This is the snack we got in the recovery tent:



Then, THIS is what we found buried in just MY goodie bag:

Ick!

I wanted to throw it all out, but Jon's going to pawn it off on people at work. It really is a testament to how much my/our eating habits have changed that when I saw all that food, it disgusted me and I DEFINITELY had no desire to eat it. More oranges and bananas, please!

Anyways, the run was a success. Then, to keep with the running theme of the day, Jon and I drove up to Cbus to get the packets for the half/5k next week. We also used the race discount and picked up 2 free tech tank tops and new running shoes (photos later). I also went and got a second set of running clothes. Exactly the same as what I have, but the top this time is yellow. Woo! I think I earned it. As far as my garmin... still no updates on USPS tracking. I'm getting impatient! Well, that's all for now! C25K = SUCCESS!!!

W10?D1

Now that C25K is over, I guess I need to find a new way to judge levels... Perhaps my goal for Level 10 will be getting below 160. I was 165 this morning when I weighed myself, so this seems to be a reasonable goal. I would LOVE to be in the 150s by graduation... and finally get to wear my "30 pounds" earrings that have been thumb-tacked on my bulletin board for months now.

In other news, I got an email from Amazon that says that my Garmin has finally shipped, even if the estimated date of arrival isn't until the 28th. Boo. I really can't wait to try it out. Hopefully, with its help I can get a steady pace established and then start pushing towards a steady 11-minute mile. I ran with Jonboy for a bit last night and for the first 16 minutes we did a 10:40 mile pace and I felt like I was pushing pretty hard. Hopefully that can change.

Speaking of which, last night's run: not stellar. Ended up jogging for a total of 55 minutes + whatever I walked, and at no point did I seem to hit my stride. Oh well, we all have our bad days. I'm taking tonight off (Zumba is cancelled... we'll see how *that* reflects tonight's weigh-in), but then Jon and I are running in a 5k here on campus Saturday morning before next week's "real" 5k (i.e. the 5k I used C25K to train for) in Columbus. Saturday's event was a last minute decision. Since we already run around here all the time, why not do a 5k to support cystic fibrosis? Plus, it'll give me a good idea of where I am for this last week before the Columbus run next week.

Anyways, I'm outta here--I have a huge French test and then weigh in tonight... I'm pretty optimistic about both, we'll see how it goes! :)

W9D3--Successful Completion of C25K!

I suppose that I probably completed C25K a week or two ago since my runs have surpassed the 30 minute C25K training time, but with counting, this does make yesterday's run my last "official" C25K one. Thankfully, it was a great run. Jon has been in Alabama for the weekend (he's still not back) and I woke up Saturday early (without an alarm), saw the beautiful sunshine, and knew I had to go for a run. It was kind of amusing, because shortly after this decision, Jonboy called from 'Bama and said he was on his way to get a powerbar and go for a run as well. I guess it's a little taste for how we'll train together once I go to France.

Anyways, this was what I saw when I checked our local weather:
It was a little chilly, so I got to break out the new North Face long-sleeved running shirt I'd bought on super sale at a trunk show a few weeks ago.

The run started out as usual. I don't usually run in the mornings, but I might have to start. There was no one out on the bike path and I could really appreciate how pretty it was just being out alone on the path. As this was my last official C25K run, I also got to reflect a bit on how far I've come since I started this. At the beginning, I was skeptical of my own abilities and a 5k seemed daunting. I remember reading an article about quitting the program and how essential weeks 5 and 6 were, so I committed to completing them, even though the mere thought of having to run 20-25 minutes was really daunting. BUT, I survived. I can't believe that as I get ready for these two weeks before the originally planned 5k, I'm thinking of running one this week for fun and trying to find a 10k to train for next.

I still haven't seen any significant weight loss since starting C25K, but that's okay. I know I've slimmed down and that the weight is beginning to come down. Furthermore, I just feel good. That's the best part. When I put on my new running gear, I'm really proud and I feel like I actually look and *feel* like a runner/jogger. After 9 weeks, I've proven that I can do this and I'll stick with it and that's the most important.

That said, yesterday after my run (15 minutes walking + a 60-minute jog), I got on Amazon and ordered myself the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch with heartrate monitor. It's an investment, but I've proven to myself that it's worth it. Be on the lookout for more detailed blog updates from then on (I can't wait till it gets here!). I'm also going to get myself a few more running tanktops and leggings (probably 1 each) so I don't have to keep washing this one set. Check out this running wardrobe building. Woo.

Anyways, today's a rest day. I've cleaned the house and I'm hoping to start studying for my May 5th GRE test (Ahh!). Tomorrow starts W10? I'm not sure what to make of it.

W9D2

I'm really satisfied with my run today. Not only did I run for what to me seemed like forever (even if we only did 5 miles @ a 12-minute pace), but it was the first time I successfully ran with a partner as well as the first time I ran without music. Jon and I usually walk together at the beginning, but if we try to run together, it's obvious that I'm pushing myself to keep up with him and, even then, I'm slowing him down. Today, instead, I met my friends Jesse and Meghann at the rec center for a late morning run before my tutorial. Jesse and I ran and Meghann hung around on her rollerblades.

Initially, I was kind of (read: pretty) apprehensive about running with Jesse. Although she's one of my best friends and has always encouraged me to start running with her, I was still nervous, even after reminding her repeatedly of my slow pace (sidenote: Jesse is currently training for her 3rd marathon). All of these fears were unfounded, as we had a great run and if I was slowing her down, she never let it show. I'll take back my "only 5 miles" comment here and mention how happy I am that I finished them since at the end it was getting a bit rough. Regardless, it was really enjoyable since we were able to chat (hello, healthier heart that allows me to talk and run simultaneously for the most part) and catch up after her Study Abroad in Mexico last quarter.

Finally, this run with Jesse solidified my decision to buy a Garmin Forerunner. She has the 205 and it was SO nice to be able to run where ever we wanted and to not have to worry about remembering roads or whatnot in order to try and map it out online later. Furthermore, looking at the pace thing let me know that I was slowing down and helped me to try and push through.

Today's lesson:

It's worth it.

Cooking for the Week AND W9D1

So, last night I didn't run as planned since Jon had to work late (we carpool) and my shoes were at home. This normally wouldn't be a problem if we could run together(ish), but since he's started PT with Chris, Chris has put him on a 3-mile limit, which would be fine if he weren't awesome and capable of running 9-minute miles. In short, I don't like running in the dark at night.

Insteaaaad, we stayed in a cooked up enough food for the week. On the menu: Curried Butternut Squash Soup, Turkey Kielbasa and Cabbage, Impromptu Potato Salad, and roasted veggies. Oh, and some random dill-seasoned red potatoes that we roasted to snack on during this endeavor.

The Curried Butternut Squash Soup is one of my personal favorites and at 2 points per cup, it's almost unbeatable. Here's the scoop, like with most of my recipes, the veggie measurements are approximate... (Also, I have a photo of the mixture before it's blended. Since we didn't eat it that night, I don't have any of it being served as a purée.

5 cups of peeled, cubed butternut squash
1 medium onion, cubed (size isn't a big deal here since the whole mixture gets blended later)
2-3 chopped stalks of celery
5 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tbsp curry powder
5 cups water + 5 bouillon cubes (or 5 cups broth)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, Garlic Salt, & Pepper to taste
*My recipe made around 10 cups of soup

Using your soup pot, first, you sauté the onions and garlic in the oil. Once they're ready, add the celery and the curry seasoning. After a minute or two, once the curry smell is really beginning to come out, start adding the water/bouillon cubes or broth as well as the raw squash. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then let it simmer for 25 minutes (or until the squash is tender). Then, little by little, purée the mixture in a blender. Serve with a dollop of Greek Yogurt (or sour cream).


Turkey Kielbasa and Cabbage, serves 4

1 turkey kielbasa (or regular kielbasa if you aren't as stringent about fat content) cut into circles, then halved
1/2 head of lettuce, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
2 carrots, cut the same as the kielbasa (I forgot these in this rendition and it was still good, but they add a bit of sweetness to the recipe)
2 tbsp olive oil
A dash of red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a big pan, sauté the onions, oil, and garlic. If you're going to add carrots that have to cook, add them towards the beginning. Once that's ready (and the carrots are getting soft), add the meat to heat up and cabbage to cook down. Add your salt/pepper/red pepper flakes to taste. Once the cabbage is cooked down, it's ready to serve. (4 points/serving too!)

We heated them both up for dinner tonight and they were really good. It's so nice to be able to come home after work/a run/both and not have to worry about making something healthy for dinner.

Speaking of which, tonight's run was decent. I waited until Jon got off work and we both changed and headed over to the bike path. After our joint warm-up walk, he sprinted (I exaggerate a little, but if you're me, a 9-minuter is sprinting) off and I kept my steady 11-minute mile pace. I kept waiting for my usual "stride" to set in after 10 minutes, but as of late it hasn't happened. Thus, the run ended up being an internal struggle the whole way. I made it for the whole 40 minutes, which included a measured 3 mile portion that I was able to complete in roughly 33 minutes. I'm glad because that means I'm right on track for my 36 minute 5k goal on May 1st. I hadn't run since last Wednesday (oops... has it really been that long?) and it felt good to get back into it after a lapse in exercise.

I'm seriously considering getting one of the Garmin GPS watches as a "You've completed C25K present to myself" (i.e. allowing myself to spend my birthday money instead of keeping it for groceries and other miscellaneous and frivolous expenses). It's be really nice to know my exact pace as it's happening and to be able to measure exactly how far I've gone. The only bummer is that someone told me that the fun online mapping and whatnot features aren't mac compatible and that's all I own. I guess I'll have to do some research.

Anyways, I'll add photos tomorrow of the food and such. It's bedtime for bonzo. Night!

W8D3, Good News and a Complaint

Well, I'm going to start with my complaint. ALL day long, my right eye has been itching and generally driving me insane like there was something in it. If it were more bloodshot, I'd be convinced that I had pink eye, but since it's not and I've been sneezing all the time (yay Spring!), I'm just trying to get on with it. But, it's really annoying and kind of painful. Ulgh. If this persists, I'll be going to buy non-contact eye drops. This is doubly annoying since it means I have to wear my glasses and thus have no prescription sun glasses to run in.

Okay, aside from that, the run tonight wasn't stellar. Not only did I sweat up a storm and feel like I was plodding along for the entire 35 minutes, but on the walk back home, we almost got run over by some guy. To make it even more fun, when Jonboy blew up at him, the guy actually stopped and turned around. There were words. Random driver actually yelled at us for walking on the side of the road. I stayed uninvolved (I'd be useless in a fight). Now we're home (and random run off the road guy is long gone) and Jon has called the cops who will be arriving shortly to take a statement. Fun!

Sadly, my 35 minute run did not merit all this drama. Jon's been reduced to a 2 mile max while he's seeing Chris (this PT gets a lot of work from us, apparently) and I felt icky from my eye and a general sense of malaise. Instead to keeping up for a longer run, I threw in the towel at 35 minutes and walked home.

Now to end on a good note: I found out yesterday that I've been accepted as a French Teaching Assistant next year to go and teach English in the Aix-Marseille academy (i.e. school district), pictured at the bottom of this post. Here's to spending 7-9 months in the south of France! That'll make for an interesting running blog--plenty of beautiful places to run there! Sadly, boyfriend won't be coming with me, which will be hard, BUT he will come over for a visit/fab vacation while I'm over there. I'm so relieved to finally know I've at least been accepted, since it was already my Plan B (and I don't have a Plan C). Now I just have to wait to find out more specifics (schools, what age I'll be teaching, etc). I know I'm in that district, but as you can see, it's pretty big so I could be anywhere. I do have family down in the Bouches-du-Rhône area, but it's not for certain I'll be near them. Stay tuned!

W8D2

Coming down off my euphoric feelings regarding yesterday's epic W8D1 run, tonight's run was a let down. My knees didn't feel that great from the very beginning, and my usual first ten minutes of struggle lasted the entire 35 minutes I kept plodding along. Instead of that effortless feeling of being able to keep jogging forever, today I wanted to finish with every step I took. Furthermore, I left the house too late and ended up trekking back home in the dark. Not a stellar run, but, as always, I'm glad I did it.

The other upside of this run is that, after adding the appropriate activity points, this is what the top of my points tracker looks like: I know it's only in the "orange" so to speak by .5 points, but it is much more comforting than that angry red from before. Also, I still have Tuesday and Wednesday to keep it going before my next weigh-in.

In other news, tomorrow morning I'm experimenting with a new Green Monster. This time, I'm going to try it with strawberries and kiwi instead of blueberries! Hopefully, this is equally if not more yummy. Stay tuned!

W8D1

Well, I didn't get out and run early in the morning like I'd wanted to, but instead I made sure to run before Jon and I got in the car to come back to Cincy. I knew that if I waited to run until we got back to Athens that I wouldn't run at all. So, I left a napping Jon post-Easter dinner and went for my 30-minute jog.

I love jogging in Anderson in the spring. It's a suburb of Cincinnati and everything in green and alive and you can see families out and about enjoying the pretty weather. As always, the first 10 minutes of the jog were really rough. I was afraid that the whole jog was going to be like that after my half-week of terrible eating. Thankfully, the icky feeling passed and I settled into a rhythm. I don't have a heart rate monitor (I really want to get the Garmin 305, I think), but I felt like my breathing was more even and less ragged than at the beginning.

For the first half of my run, I ran from my mom's house to the local park down the street, and from there I veered off the path and jogged over to the middle school track, the site of my only organized track experience. I remember "running" track there in the 8th grade and being so proud the day I ran a whole mile without stopping. Look at me now. I did 2 miles on the track and thought about how I'm in better shape (and am almost smaller) than I was in middle school. Amazing.

After hitting the 30 minute mark, I kept pushing myself another 5 minutes. I'd hit my stride and it didn't seem too difficult to keep pushing on and I ended up eeking out a 60-minute non-stop run. It felt amazing. I can't believe I've gotten to a point where I actually can say that.

Anyways, I managed to get my big, angry red number down to -5.5, so hopefully I'll run again tonight (the weather here is GORGEOUS) and get it down some more. I've already written off this week as a no-loss week, but I'll be happy if I maintain after all this food shenanigans. Lesson to self: Waffle House + Beer + Big Family Holiday = bad idea.

Week 7, All Days

Okay, I'm now back from Spring Break and pumped to finish out my college career and my 5k training at a run, so to speak. The new inserts have kept my knees from hurting during all of my runs and at PT on Monday, Chris gave me a few more exercises and told me that it seems that our time together is at an end.

Run summaries:

W7D1: This was my first run with my neat-o new running gear (since it rained the day after I went shopping). I went with my mom (who'd taken the day off work to spend it with me) to a local park that has a new trail around it and was pleasantly surprised at how well the run went for my first 25 minutes. I've found that it's always rocky until minute 10, when I seem to finally settle into the run with my pace and my breathing. Up until then, I always want to just call it a day and go home. Sadly, after the 25 minutes, it was too cold to keep walking/jogging, so go home we did. Still, new gear and inserts = SUCCESS!

W7D2: This run amused me. I had PT that afternoon and had no car, so instead, I left my apartment and ran on the bikepath (2.7 miles) to Jon's work to use his. This run felt great (again, only after I had hit the first 10 minute mark) and it let Chris see my knees right after the run. Despite the fact that my patella is still not tracking 100% properly, we're done for now, unless something starts hurting again. Funny anecdote: I jogged behind a woman pushing her baby in one of the really cool BOB strollers. As such, I ended up being on mitten patrol since baby kept flinging things out onto the path. I really have to give a kudos to parents who run with their kids and push the stroller--I don't know about you, but some days it takes all my energy just to get myself up and out of the house. I bet it's exponentially more difficult to not only get yourself motivated and ready, but to get the baby and stroller as well.

W7D3: This was last night's run. Jon wanted to push himself to do 8 miles for his half training, so I decided to push myself as well. Well, actually, the 25 minute run was really difficult for me this time. It wasn't until I hit the 25-minute mark that I felt that I could keep pushing on with my steady jog. All told, I ended up jogging at about an 11-minute mile pace for 45 minutes, completing the 4-mile circuit that I was on. During my run, I felt like I was really in a stride and doing really well. Unfortunately, after my run, I ate dinner and went to bed a few hours later, only to keep waking up feeling gassy and bloated. Has this ever happened to anyone? I ate a normal dinner (salad and a serving of my turkey meatloaf) and had had a power bar before running, but still. It wasn't until 2:30am when I finally ate a fiber One bar that I was able to go to (and stay) asleep for the remaining 3 hours. Now, today, I'm a little sore--I'm thinking of staying home and going for a walk or doing some Pilates tonight instead of another heavy workout. Then, it's on to Week 8!

Next up, recipe for fun Turkey Meatloaf Muffins and a few NSVs!

WW Weigh-in

After 3 weeks of delinquency, I mustered my forces and dragged my poor-eating self back to WW.

Here are the current stats:

Weekly weigh-in: 171.2
Loss: +.2
Total loss: 22.4
Emotion: Mildly surprised, but hopeful

All in all, I managed the end of the quarter this time much better than the last one. I'm now back in Cincinnati and am trying to keep myself within my 24 points a day limit, while still enjoying being here. Part of me is really nervous about going to the WW mtg Saturday (I always go with my mom when I'm back here since I love our meeting/leader here) and seeing if the poor eating choices in Alabama have caught up to me yet.

I've also not run since Saturday and I've got some decent excuses and more lame ones, so I've got no one to blame but myself. Though, I was really hoping to run outside today (it rained) since yesterday I finally leveled significantly up in my running gear as an early birthday present from my grandparents: tights, tank, shorts, and a running jacket from Under Armour. I can't wait to try them out. Just checked weather.com and tomorrow it'll be cold (hopefully the "HeatGear" will still be enough), but sunny so I'll have a chance to run W7D1.

Megan (a friend who's doing WW with me in Athens) and I have also set a Zumba date for every Thursday before our WW meeting next quarter--Hopefully the both of us can "sprint" to the finish and stay on plan and lose some more weight in time for graduation in June.

Oh, and lastly, I put the new inserts in my shoes and they feel good, albeit different. Tomorrow will be my first run with them, so I'll let you know how that goes!

Week 6, Day 1

Whew. What a busy (and productive) day. I went and installed myself at the best coffee shop on campus (the Donkey) at 7 o'clock this morning in order to crank out all ten pages of my English final (due tmw at 4) and the last page of my 10-page French final (due tmw at noon). Getting there while it was still dark outside was an interesting experience, since Donkey stays open 24/7 (literally) during finals week, there were some interesting characters this at 7am. My favorites were the two people crashed on the couches upstairs 100% sleeping. Not "I dozed off" sleeping, but really sleeping. One guy even had an alarm set that went off at 8am. He promptly turned it off and went back to sleep. Long story short, today was a long and tedious day, but I finished the work and spent all day looking forward to tonight's run after sitting on my bum for 12 hours. See? On the left is a picture of my little study nook @ the coffee shop. It looks like I moved in. On the right, you have a little close up of all the essentials to get through the morning: the adorable feet lamp on my table (It has on blue nailpolish), a WW 1-pt bar, and my coffee.

Anyways, by the time Jon picked me up and we got changed (I substituted a zip up hoodie for the evil jacket), it was after 8 by the time we got running and I have to say the first 5 minute jog was actually pretty rough. My knees were hurting and I was feeling pretty bad about feeling so bad since I'd done so well yesterday. At one point during the run, the back of my right shoulder started to hurt, perhaps I was keeping my arms too tight? But, thankfully that too went away. After doing some blog catch up today, I paid closer attention to my stride tonight. I noticed that if I run on the balls (ish) of my feet or at least focus on hitting up front, my knees seem to hurt a bit less, but I find that stride kind of difficult to maintain, especially as I get tired.

Thankfully, I managed to make it through the podcast, and, as always, spent the rest of my time listening to my own music. One of the biggest benefits with running with Jon (well, at the same time as Jon anyways) is that he always runs for at least an hour, so I push myself to keep going/doing stuff as long as he's working out as well. Tonight, since we were forced to go up and back a few times since only 1.5 miles of the bikepath is lit up at night, we kept passing each other, which was fun. More importantly, I decided to try for another 20-minute jog. At about 18 minutes, Jon said he was going to stop when he got back to the bridge, so I turned around. So as to not keep him waiting too long, I thought I'd try to run at least until 25 minutes... then 30... and then the end. By the time I reached him, I'd jogged for 32 minutes (slowly) and finished a little under 6 miles total. I'm feeling really good about it and I stretched out a lot, but now, I'm off to finish my edits and massage my so-tight-they're-painful calves and go to bed. Night!

Week 5, Day 3

So this morning was the big run I'd been semi-dreading: 20 minutes non-stop. I had to run early so that I could go to see Chris (my PT for my knee) at 10am. We both hoped that I'd run and my knee would hurt and then he could get a better idea.

Today I started out in Athens at my apartment. Broke out the nifty jacked I lifted from my sister and got my play list ready. Since there were no intervals, I opted to use my iPod's stopwatch instead of the podcast—good life choice.

After my warm up, I ended up on the bikepath, feeling really good about the run after my first mile yesterday. To my surprise, the 20 minutes went by really fast and at the end of the run, I felt like I could have probably kept going. Instead, I stopped and walked for 5 minutes, trying to decide how I wanted to get home. In the end, I decided to pass by Jon's work and take a tour through campus instead, since I could easily use MMR to figure out distances since I'm good with my campus geography.

Originally, I was going to try and push myself to run 10 more minutes, but after 10 passed, it felt short and I had good music, so I kept myself going for another 20, then 25 before walking my final 5 minutes home. I've been keeping a steady (i.e. feels kind of slow) pace, but it's seems manageable. In the end, I ran 4.71 miles and if I put the 15m of walking with the 45m jog, that translates to a 4.71mph pace (duh, I know). So, not too bad, I think that puts me on track for my goal of a 40 minute 5k at least.

On a bad note, a) the "nifty" jacket chafed my neck really bad so I look like I'm wounded (or have a hicky?), so that stinks and b) when I got to Chris's for my appointment, my knee didn't feel as sore, so I think he thinks I'm making it up, even if it did steadily hurt throughout my run. Regardless, he used ultrasound on it and taped my feet again (that seemed to help last week) and next week if nothing changes, we're going to look into some $20 inserts that he recommends.

All in all though, epic win in the running department. I think this is beginning to grow on me. AND today means that I'm finished with Week 5, which is supposedly a scary week that induces many drop-outs. I've survived, though with a hurt neck. I think I might have to go ahead and invest in some real running gear.

Week 5, Day 2

Look at me all pumped up for today's run!
I need to figure out a better way to deal with my earbud cord
when I'm wearing this jacket though...
that was a bit irritating.
As promised, here are a few photos from today's excursion on the bikepath. Before starting W5D2, I wasn't feeling too nervous, but the first 8m run kind of had me wondering how the 2nd would go. Jon's finally out and running again and he kept pace with me for the beginning 8m run, but then he continued on jogging when I moved to the 5m walk. The 2nd 8m run wasn't bad either and, like I usually do, I kept running after the 5m cooldown at the end. I've found so far that this is where I really get to push myself. I guess during the podcast I end up being afraid of pushing too hard and not making it the whole time, but then afterward, I put on my own running mix (no offense, techno, but you get kind of repetitive) and keep on trucking, usually making for a 60 minute-ish workout.

Today I was particularly pleased. Sadly, there were no cross-streets today on the bike path, so it's hard to use MMR to see exactly how far I ran, but I know it was at least 4-4.5 miles, since it's a 1/2 mile from the house to even get onto the bikepath and then the first mile-marker I saw was 15.5 and I turned around at the 14. Good enough for me.

The best part of today's run was after when I turned around at that 14 mile marker. Although I briefly ran track in middle school and had to take PE etc. in HS, I don't think I've run a whole mile (without stopping) since then. But, today, I turned around and started running, telling myself that I'd run for two songs (the turned out to be "Thnks fr the mmrs" by Panic! At the Disco and "Rumors" by Lindsay Lohan...my workout mix isn't always the most thought-inspiring music) and then let myself walk. By the end of "Rumors," I'd already passed the 1/2 mile marker, and decided to push myself to the finish. So, thanks to Lady Gaga's "The Fame," and some fun French techno/club music, I made it to the 15 mile marker in under 12 minutes. That being said, I'm alternately looking forward to/dreading the 20 minute run I'm going to attempt tomorrow morning. I know I should wait a day in between, but I'm going to see the trainer at 10am and he told me to run before so that my knee will be sore (if possible). So, we'll see!

Back on track

Okay, I apologize, I fell off the face of the earth these past two weeks... The end of this quarter is really taking all of my writing time in front of the computer/in general. Due to doctor's appointments/interviews for our Paris program this summer, I haven't made it to WW this week, so no weigh-in stats (but I'm going Tuesday, so we'll have them then). I'm afraid I'll be up a few pounds, but it's okay. I'll live.

That being said, I haven't dropped the ball on my workouts at all (so I might just be okay). Although Jon has taken 2 weeks off of gym going in order to try and let his ankle get back to normal, I've kept up with going 5x/week, which makes me feel good since I no longer have him as a motivator.

This past week we had some beautiful weather in this part of Ohio, so I've taken to doing my runs outside. We're so lucky here in Athens to have the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway right on campus. It's less than half a mile from my apartment in Athens and less than half a mile from Jon's in Nelsonville, so it's easily accessible, safe, and, what's more, gorgeous. Oh, and it has mile markers that help you guestimate how far you've run. I've taken to using Map My Run to either plan my routes or check out what I've done, since I tend to stray from the path a bit and don't have an iPhone to use a GPS app like Run Keeper. If you have an iPhone, I recommend DLing it. Jon and some of his co-workers use it and it seems to work really well. We took an hour and a half walk the other day to enjoy the pretty weather and help him get back into working out and Run Tracker not only maps your route on a google map, but also tells you your pace, calories burned, distance, etc. Also, for you C25Kers, it lets you use it and listen to music (or your C25k Podcast) at the same time. Anyways, I'm done plugging the app, I'm content with the more tedious Map My Run in all my iPhoneless glory.

Anyways, I'm enjoying getting outdoors more after this epic winter. On one of my off days I took a chill 12-mile bike ride on the bikepath just to get a feel for where it goes and the scenery and all that and I can't wait to start seeing it get green and ready for spring. Also, I was so happy to finally get my bike out of storage. This means I can stop taking the bus and start biking to campus again. The only damper on the plan is that I can't figure out a) where I stored by bike lock and b) since I accidentally changed the code to unlock it last quarter, I think I've probably forgotten it... I might just have to buy a new one. Ulgh. Anyways, for now, I had to carry Mr. Bike down 2 flights of stairs from my apt to use him and then back up to store him in my bedroom. I love him, but he does take up quite a bit of space.

Today I'm going to do the Week 5, Day 2 Run and start at Jon's and head towards the bike path, so it'll be all new territory there too. Someday I'd love to leave my car in Athens and ride the whole way from Athens-Nelsonville (14.3 miles from my door to Jon's).

Let's see what haven't I updated about... Oh! I went and saw the PT for my knee last week, but I had taken the weekend off so when I got there it didn't hurt at all, so I kind of felt like the PT thought I was making it up. This week I'm supposed to run before I go see him so that he can see the difference and hopefully get a better idea. We'll see what happens! I just want to make sure this gets worked out so I can do the 5k in May.

Funny anecdote: I've told all the professors/people I work with I'm training for this 5k and yesterday I ran into one of them in Krogers. She looked in my cart and congratulated me on my tons of produce by saying "Gotta keep it healthy for that training!" It'll be fun to finish the 5k and show them photos in the end. :) Also, does anyone else surreptitiously check out the items in other people's carts? I tend to look at them and think "Oh, you could totally replace X with Y and it'd be so much better!" or "Wow, my cart really does look healthy (smile)." It's the little things I guess. Plus, if I don't bring it home, I can't eat it. Win!

Okay, well, sorry this post is so long and ramble-y. I'll try to be better this week about keeping you guys up to date. I really appreciate that you read/comment (this post is for you, Dave), it keeps me motivated. Actually, if the weather stays like it is, I think I'll take my camera with me and get some photos of my run to show you all. This week and next should be interesting for my runs since I'll be in Alabama this weekend and then back in Cincinnati for a few days for Spring Break. Hopefully I can find some fun places to run! More soon! :)

Weigh-in and whatnot

Alright well last night's run wasn't stellar (due to time constraints). I took a 45 minute Pilates class and then went up on the track to run, but I only had a half hour instead of the 36 minutes that the full run requires. I only made it through everything but the last 3 minutes of the final 5m run, in order to have a brief cool down before leaving for my WW meeting. That being said, I think it's going to be more difficult for sure, but definitely do-able. I've found that I run at a markedly slower pace (at least it feels like it) than my 6.0 pace on the treadmill, but it's something I can maintain for the full run time without changing, so I think that's better in the long run.

As for the WW mtg, I was pleasantly surprised:

Weekly weigh-in: 171.0
Loss: +.2
Total loss: 22.6
Emotion: Optimistic

I didn't have a great weekend food-wise, so I was relieved to only be up +.2 this week. I caved in to a craving of chicken tenders and fries Saturday night after dancing with friends, but stayed within my weekly/activity point allowances for the week. Though, I still feel like I've done crummy when I go over like that since I then know why I'll have gained if I do. Oh well, it happens.

Today, I'm hoping to make it to Spinning (barring heavy snow since today I have the car whose windshield wipers are broken). My knee kind of hurts from yesterday's run, so I probably won't re-attempt it again until tomorrow so as to not overdo it. Also, since I'm going to be home all day, I think I'll look into how to make a crock-pot beef stew... Seems like a good day for it!

Well, sorry for the short post, but homework calls. More later!

Week 4, Day 1

I can't believe it's only Tuesday... somehow Monday managed to feel like a whole week in itself. Anyways, the weekend was good, if not very productive in the working out category, but after a 5-day workout week, I needed some time to stay home in pajamas.

Yesterday's workout wasn't stellar due to me forgetting what time Spinning actually started, but today promises to be better. This'll be Day 1 of Week 4 of the C25K podcast, so we'll see how that goes. After the run last week on the real track at the gym, I'm feeling pretty optimistic. I know that I ran a lot slower up there, but it didn't seem to hurt my knees quite so badly or leave me quite so starved for oxygen each time I'd go from the 6.1-6.2 runs to a 4.1 walk break. Today I stumbled upon this article on the C25K site, and it really got my excited for my run today/this week/the next 5 weeks because I KNOW I can do this. It's not pretty and it's not easy, but I know I am capable of doing this.

I remember back in the day when there were certain Pilates moves I couldn't do because my thighs were too big and I was too inflexible... I can do those now, and I remember that the day I realized that, I felt like I'd really made a difference in my daily routine. I also remember the day I decided to try Spinning. Old me would have never tried Spinning regardless of whether or not I would have been able to complete the class because I would have been too embarrassed in a class with that many "in-shape" people. Now, Spinning is still really hard and is always a challenge, but I've been going twice a week and I know that every week I can push myself just a little bit harder and keep up with the rest of the class. I'm sure if I stick to it, running this 5k will be the same, only with a tangible goal at the end.

Speaking of exercise, I had an early morning appt. with the doctor today to go over my blood test results. As anticipated, my cholesterol is higher at 226. Instead of medicine (and because my diet and exercise are already good), she's having me start taking fish oil every day for 6 months and then come back and see her/retest to see if that helped. My good cholesterol is apparently 61, which is good and is what is keeping my heart attack risk at an acceptable 3.7 (where 4.5 is the high number for the acceptable range). She said this is thanks to my exercise habits and to "not stop exercising no matter what" and that I'm "doing really great" and have healthy habits. For someone who's always been overweight and rather out of shape, this kudos for my exercise routine and my diet really felt good. It's good to know that even if I have this hereditary high cholesterol, I'm still on the right track.

She also has me going to physical therapy for my knee next week... it's been kind of bothering me, so I want to check it out before anything bad happens.

Want some motivation for your week? I also stumbled upon this on the C25K site. I know it's especially pertinent for me with finals approaching, my busy schedule, and the crummy weather outside:



Anyways, have a great Tuesday! More later, I'm sure :)

Running on the track, etc.

Hey friends! Happy weekend! I don't know about you, but I definitely needed it. Plenty of work to do. This week was pretty hectic with school and going to the gym and everything. Week 3 of training for the May 1st 5k was successfully completed, so I'm feeling pretty upbeat about that. I moved from the treadmill to the indoor track at the gym yesterday, which was kind of disappointing since instead of hitting a 37m 5k on the treadmill, it took me more like 45-50 minutes, assuming I counted the laps correctly. Oh well, just leaves room for improvement! Though, on the upside, my knee didn't hurt as bad while running this time since I was able to adjust my pace and focus on how my foot was striking the ground.

I'm really enjoying my new shoes:



Jon and I went last weekend to Bob Roncker's Running Spot in Cincinnati last weekend so that I could figure out what kind of shoes I needed. Lo and behold, they were having their huge once-a-year sale on shoes and I found these. I'm still trying to break them in and my right knee is still bothering me a bit, but we'll see. I'm hoping it's not the new shoes, because I'm a fan. There's just something about getting run gear to work out in that helps motivate me to actually work out, is that weird?

Anyways, I'm going to the doctor's at the crack of dawn on Tuesday to go over the blood work she had me do, so I can ask her about the knee/to recommend someone to look at it if necessary. Mostly, I'm concerned about my cholesterol. When I gave blood a few months ago, I called the little number they give you so that you can check you cholesterol and it told me I was a 240... This was kind of a surprise, though I realize that I hadn't fasted or anything in order to get a proper reading, but still. So, I scheduled an appointment with a nice doctor here in Athens, and we ordered the test. We'll see.

In other news, Jon and I are going to check out a gym closer to home this afternoon. While we're enjoying the Athens Rec Center, it would be nice to be able to pop over to the gym in the morning and then come back to our own shower to get ready. Either way, it's gym-joining crunch time, since we're down to our last 2 punches on our freebie try-the-rec-center punch card that Jon got from his work. All of this working out is really keeping me positive. I'm feeling really optimistic about weigh-in on Tuesday, if I can just keep from going too crazy tonight when I go out with the girls. I'm so close to hitting that -25lbs. mark that I can hardly stand it. On that note, I'm going to go be productive for a bit today, gotta get plenty of homework done so I can have a relaxing evening out. Have a great weekend!