Back to Reality

Yesterday afternoon Matt and I got back from our 2 week adventure on the East Coast! We had such a great time and I will post pics soon. We spent a week in Pennsylvania in a mountain resort and then drove to Washington DC where we spent 4 days exploring the city. It was so hot and humid in DC! I am thankful to have come home to "dry heat" here in Sac! I still have about another month off before I start back teaching at my new school. I was involuntarily transferred from Woodcreek and will now be teaching at Roseville High. I was very upset about the change, but I have accepted it now and am just thankful for a job!

I had my usual weigh-in this morning and I am 171.4lbs. I have back-slid quite a bit since the wedding for all of the obvious reasons; good food and lack of exercise. I don't think I have exercised on purpose in almost 3 weeks! Ahhhh! Not to mention that tomorrow is my 1st Saturday workout of the season with SacFit (I missed the last 3 weeks) and we are doing 6 miles! I am going from zero to 6 in 2.5 seconds! I am so anxious about the run tomorrow! I am a coach and I am supposed to be confident and be a leader, but it might be tough tomorrow. I will do my best and hopefully not die!

Since I am back and have no more excuses, I need to get back to my weight loss journey. I have a few friends on facebook that I am joining forces with to be my weight loss buddies. We are going to weigh-in every Friday and share our goals and report back to each other weekly. I think this will help me keep more accountable. I am going to try something called "intuitive eating" for a few weeks and see how it goes. Basically you eat when you're hungry and stop when you are full. Sounds easy, but I know it will be rough. I am just tired of counting points. It makes me crazy! Of course if this IE thing doesn't seem to be working I can always go back to it because I know it works. I will watch what I eat and exercise regularly.

Here are my goals for this week:

1. Drink water! Lots of it! Everyday! (at least 3 Camelback bottles a day)
2. Keep a daily food journal. Record food eaten and hungry/full feelings.
3. Exercise 5 days out of the 7.

I will report every Friday with a weigh-in and a goal update. Wish me luck!

My first half marathon!

Saturday was the day. My first ever half marathon! It was the American River Parkway half that ran along the beautiful American River bike trail from William Pond park, down past Sac State and back. The weather was better than I could have even hoped for considering the forecast the week before had predicted rain that day! It was even a little warm near the end, so much so that a few people passed out due to heat exhaustion. Luckily I came prepared with water and fuel so the aid stations that ran out near the end didn't even effect me. SacFit taught me well!

For the first half of the race I stayed with some great magentas and we had a great time, but at about mile 7ish I decided to pick up the pace and ended up getting pretty far ahead of them. I had pain in my leg around mile 9, but I made it to the end and that's what matters! I saw that finish line and I sprinted to the end and finished strong! Adrenaline really does wonders at making pain disappear! Sabrina was there at the end waiting for me and ran me in some of the way before I sprinted ahead. I was so ready to be done and so glad I made it to the end! My garmin time was 3:12 and my official time was 3:15. I am pretty happy with that time considering my only goal was to finish. Matt was waiting for me at the finish too with some beautiful flowers!

All in all it was a great race and I can now say I am a half marathoner! My next race is a 5k on June 6th and I am possibly doing the Urban Cow 1/2 in October as well. We shall see if this leg pain can get better with some new shoes and foam rolling. The next SacFit season starts June 12th and I plan on being out there for sure! Possibly as a pace coach, depending on if Ken lets me considering I will miss 3 weeks because of my wedding and honeymoon!

Here are some pics of the race.

SacFit Saturday-tapering edition

Next Saturday at this time I will be getting near the end (hopefully) of my 1st ever half marathon! I am excited, but also really nervous! I have been keeping up with my training and last week I did 12.5 miles so I know I can do the miles, I am just not sure about my pain level. My IT band is the bane of my existence at this point and sometimes even just walking is uncomfortable. My only goal for next week is to finish, so as long as I cross that finish line I will be a happy girl! Running/walking are definitely mental sports when you get past the first few miles! It is all about telling yourself that you can do it and then doing it!

Today we did a taper workout of 5 miles, which felt so short compared to last week's 12.5 miler! I had a great time and even found someone to start the race with so I am not alone at the beginning of the race! :D I mentioned on facebook the other day the phenomenon of me saying that 5 miles is a "short run" and how in January those words would have never passed my lips! I have come a long way! I feel great, I look great and I am going to be a 1/2 marathon finisher!!

WI a day late

I weighed in this morning because of yesterdays unfortunate events and I was up 0.2lbs to 170lbs. I am not too disappointed by this as it could be way worse. Now I am off to do my last run before the 1/2 marathon next Saturday. We are going out 5 miles today so it should be an easy day for me. I am feeling much better than I was yesterday, thank goodness!!!

Zoo Zoom 10K race recap - pics coming soon!

Sunday was my first ever 10K race, the Sacramento Zoo Zoom! I ran the race with Matt and his dad, Jeff. We got there way early (7:15ish) because parking in Land Park can be a mess, especially with this many people. The forecast called for rain and gusty winds, something I was hoping and praying held off until we were done! (They did!) We hung out by the start line and watched the 5kers get going and that is when Sabrina (Matt's mom) notified me that there was a cut-off and that we had to keep a 14:00/mile pace so that we were in front of the people opening the roads up after the race. This made me beyond anxious! I was not mentally prepared to go quite that fast, and I am not sure Matt and Jeff were either. We didn't let it phase us too much though because we started the race at 8:35am with all of the other 10kers.

The start was pretty anti-climactic. We had decided before the race started to do 3 minute walk intervals followed by 2 minute running intervals. The first interval we did backwards though so we could get away from the crowd. The whole race we kept counting the people behind us because we were pretty close to the back of the pack. Right off the bat my IT band started aching. I thought I had rested it enough and foam rolled it enough and iced it enough, but alas. It basically hurt me the whole race. I was very disappointed by this and it sorta made me wonder if I can finish my 1/2 marathon on May 1st, but I guess that's another post. I digress...

We started pretty strong and I could tell Matt wanted to go faster and Jeff was struggling slightly. I was pretty happy with our pace, but could have been happier had my leg not hurt! We did the 3/2's the whole race, which was an awesome accomplishment! We had a great cheering section at the turn-around and then at the finish; Matt's mom and his little brother.

The finish was the part that made this race good instead of great. The race had a string of kid's races attached to it, well, at around the time we were finishing they started a kid's race which ended at the same finish line we were going to. So basically to get to the finish I had to dodge kids and their parents who had stopped inside the finish chute to take pictures and give hugs and all that. I was mad! I am sure my time could have been at least a minute or two faster had I been able to sprint at the end like I always do!

So, I raced and finished my 1st ever 10K! My time was around 1:25 and our average pace was about 13:49/mile. Will I ever do one again? Maybe. I am sure I will be more excited about racing once my IT band pain subsides, or at least improves. After the race we ate at Willie's. I am glad I had run 6.2 miles beforehand so I could eat all those fries and not feel too bad! I will be posting pics from the race sometime today or tomorrow. My next race recap post will be for the 1/2 marathon on May 1st. I am starting to get a little anxious!

Friday WI

Check out the ticker! 170.6lbs! That is the lowest I have ever been that I can remember and a 3.2lb loss from last weeks disappointing weigh-in! I am a pretty happy girl right now! See what happens when I stay on track and count my points and drink enough water! This is a great end to my otherwise not so great week. I am so glad it is Friday, and not only that I am giving tests to my students today, so it will be an easy day, or at least I hope so!

I am doing a hair trial for my wedding tomorrow with my stylist, Kasey. She has been cutting my hair for a few years now and I love her! I will take before and after pics and post them here to see what y'all think. Hopefully I can get Jen, my bridesmaid, to do some make-up trials for me soon too. I am pretty excited about being all pretty and done up for my wedding. I can't wait!

The ZooZoom 10k is on Sunday. I am running/walking it with Matt and his dad. I am still having some slight IT band issues, but when I ran on Tuesday it was bearable, so I think I can survive the 6.2 miles. Plus, I think it will help to have company and not just be by myself. I am hoping that I can finish strong with minimal pain! I am definitely going to be foam rolling everyday between now and Sunday. I took a class last night on foam rolling and learned a lot, now I get to use it and see if the benefits are as great as everyone says they are.

Wow, that was longer than I expected. I need to make some breakfast, coffee, lunch and get my booty out the door! Happy Friday!

Bike ride with Matt

Last week Matt and I did a 25 mile ride, this week we decided to amp it up and do 30! We went to Haggan Park, stopped and had some lunch, and then rode back home. The ride there was definitely easier than the ride back! There were a few times that I just wanted to stop and give up, mainly because my rear end hurt so bad, but I kept going and we made it! Our average speed was 12.6mph which is faster than our ride last week! Woo! I am so glad Matt and I found something that we can do together! Though I am not sure if I can do a 30 mile ride on Sundays after a 10 mile run on Saturday with SacFit! We shall see!

I am going to the sports med doctor tomorrow after school, so hopefully I will be back to running after tomorrow and be able to go out on Tuesday with Tracy and Vonner! I have been having major running withdrawals!

Friday WI and other things

I did it again this week, I cheated. I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and it made me excited to get on it again today. Luckily, for the 2nd week in a row, I had a reason to be excited! I am down 1.6lbs to a weight of 171.2lbs! That is so close to having a 6 in it I could jump for joy! I told Matt this morning after I weighed in that I should have recommitted for real a long time ago because this time around it seems to be going fairly smoothly and easily. Of course things can change, but I feel great and I know that all of my food journaling is paying off in a big way! :D

In other news, my IT band is still bothering me. I rested it for almost a week and tried to get back out there yesterday afternoon, but I could only go for 2 intervals before there was pain and I had to stop and walk the rest of the way. I still did my 28 minutes, I just didn't do it running. At least I got the time on my feet though, and I managed to make it about 2 miles, which is better than nothing!

And now some wedding related stuff...I am getting married in 3 months! :D I am pretty excited and I am starting to get a little frazzled by all of the little nit-picky stuff that needs to happen between now and then, but I am trying to be as low key as possible. I just wish everyone else would be too! Why is everyone else more stressed out and worried about my wedding than I am? Who knows? All I know is that I am happy and excited and ready to be married already. Maybe we should have eloped? LOL

Hope everyone has a Happy Friday! I know I will! Girl's night tonight at the Pyramid Brewery!

A beautiful day to walk!

So today was my usual SacFit Saturday, except today instead of going out with the red group I went with the magentas. I saw the doctor yesterday about my IT band and she said no running. I have a PT appointment in 2 weeks, so until then I am a walker. Of course, the magentas are super walkers, so I still did 7.33 miles and I had an average pace of 14:14/mile which is faster than I go with my red group! Craziness! The magentas do 5 minute walking intervals followed by 1 minute running, so technically I ran today, but not as much as I would have with the reds. My IT band is a little sore right now, but nothing like it was Tuesday after my run. Plus I got to spend time with Matt's dad, Jeff, who is a magenta coach. It was fun to hang out with him and chat. I really enjoyed myself, and to top it off the weather was perfect! :D All in all I had a great day! I was disappointed yesterday when I was told I couldn't run, but I made it through today and I had a really great time!

On another note, I plugged my weight into my WW excel chart tracker today and it says my BMI is healthy! I was so happy to see that! I can only hope that next Friday's WI is as awesome as this one was and that next Saturday is as awesome as this one was! I am glad I made it out there and got the mileage in because that's what counts! Only 48 more days until my 1st 1/2 marathon! Woo!

SacFit Saturday

Today I ran....drum roll please....wait for it....7 1/2 miles! OMG! I am so ridiculously proud of myself right now! I did it in a little under 2 hours. The average pace was a 14:51, which is a little slow, but we made it and that's what matters! I am going to go shower now and then eat something. I am hungry!

Friday WI and re-commitment AGAIN!

I vowed to myself last week that today was the day. I would weigh myself in the morning and begin tracking my points again. This time I have the help of a WW 3-month journal (Thanks Sabrina!) in which I can write everything down and keep track throughout the day. I have been running regularly, which is great, but I realized I was using it as an excuse to eat too much. My weigh-in this morning was better than expected (174.8lbs) which was a great start to my re-commitment. I can do this! I am ready to be a healthier me, plus if I shave off a few pounds maybe I will run faster! :D

Speaking of running...tomorrow is a 7 mile run with SacFit. 7 miles! I am a little scared, but after doing 6.2 miles in the pouring rain last week I think I can handle it! I am enjoying SacFit a lot and have met some really great people so far!

Matt and I are also re-committing to weekly meal planning and grocery shopping. If I am going to do this I need healthy food in the house and a plan for every day. I also need to find some 0-1 point snacks I can have during the day as snacks. Much to my chagrin I am sure this means more vegetables...I guess we all have to grow up sometime!

That's all for now. There will be a wedding update post coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled for it!

10k in the rain!

I did it!!! I did a 6.2 mile run (AKA a 10k) this morning with SacFit! :D I am so proud of myself! I finished in 1 1/2 hours, which was an average pace of 14:30/mile. Did I mention it rained the whole time? It was quite the adventure! Now I can say that I have done a 10k and I will be ready for the one with Vonner in April. Woo!

Cooper Test!

I survived! I did pretty well too! 1.06 miles in 12 minutes which is an average pace of 11:19/mile. To me that seems pretty amazing considering I am in the 14:00/mile group on a regular basis. I pushed myself pretty hard, but I think I could have pushed harder. Oh well, there is always next time!

Yet another Friday WI dissapointment

I could not have gained another pound! No way in H-E double hockey sticks! The scale said 177.4lbs. That is such crap! I guess I need to do something differently...my guess would be my food intake. I am exercising a lot more than I used to and I think I am convincing myself it is okay to eat a lot more than I should be because of the exercise. Argh. I don't want to have to count my points. I hate doing that! I like to eat what I want to eat and when I want to eat it! Moderation is key I guess. Hopefully next week brings better news as far as my WI.

Tomorrow is the Cooper Test for SacFit. I am scared! I have to run 12 minutes straight without stopping! I am going to die!

Valentine Run!

Yvonne and I rocked our run! We did 4 miles in under an hour, which was our goal! Our average pace was a 14/min mile, which is awesome! Once we saw the finish line we pushed through and sprinted to the end. It was a great feeling! I am so glad to have such an awesome running buddy! We are hoping to do the ZooZoom 10K in April together as well! :D I did a mile less than my SacFit group today, but I ran and that's what matters! Now it is time for shower, food, then a little nap!

Friday WI dissapointment

I am so ridiculously confused! Last night at 5pm I weighed myself and I was 174.8lbs! Woo! A 1lb loss! This morning at 6am I weighed in as I usually do and the scale said 176.4lbs! What is going on? I thought you were supposed to be lighter in the morning. I guess the beer and wine I drank last night did me in? I am so confused! I hate my scale! I have been exercising like a mad woman, eating relatively okay and then this happens! I guess this is a lesson to only weigh myself once a week and not before my scheduled weigh-in on Friday mornings. I just wish I could start seeing losses on a more regular basis. I know I need to start controlling my water intake better, so maybe that is the next step for me to try. I can say that I am getting more in shape though, which makes what I see on the scale just a number. I feel great and can do things now I never thought before in a million years I could do. Tomorrow I am running my first ever race that is more than a 5k! It is a 4 mile race, so not much more than a 5k, but I am still proud of my ability and especially my desire to do this race!

I ran 4 miles!

That is all I wanted to say! That, and I am still alive! :D

Run for Justice- February 13th

I am signing up for my 1st race as a real "runner"! It is the Run for Justice here in Sacramento. Me and my friend Yvonne are going to take on the 4 mile race and I know we are going to kill it!!! Here is a link if you want more info for yourself.

February Goals

Last month I made a pretty "safe" activity goal. My goal was to exercise at least 3 times a week in one form or another. Well, with the exception of the week Matt was in the hospital, I managed to meet my goal and then some! You can see my calendar on my previous post and there are a lot of "X's"! I printed an activity calendar for this month as well because I find it fun and rewarding to put an "X" on my calendar and know that I am actively meeting my goals. I am a major visual learner and the calendar has helped me tremendously! This month I looked at last month's calendar and thought about what I have been doing for the last few weeks as far as my running and I decided my goal for February is to run at least 8 miles per week. I think it is a do-able goal and I am already 4 miles in this week with a 4 mile run in my future on Saturday! I have no doubt I can meet my goal this month, just like I did last month! I love setting goals! :D