Last double digit run before the marathon

Today I had 12 miles on the schedule--the last double digit run before the marathon! I am so glad to be tapering, but I feel like it's going by too fast. So far, tapering is my favorite part of training, lol. Anyway, I made plans to meet up with Jessica this morning to do our 12 at the Metropark.

When the kids woke up, Noah was complaining of a sore throat and headache. I took his temperature, and he had a fever. Surely, the same virus Eli had. So I had to keep him home from school--which meant I was going to have to come up with a different plan for my run.

Since Jerry and I are planning on spending the weekend together, I wanted to get it out of the way today. I sent Jessica a text and told her that I was going to have to do it on the dreadmill. I really didn't want to! I haven't used the dreadmill in a long time, and I would have liked to keep it that way.

I probably spent half an hour setting everything up for a long run. I knew I would need a fan, so I brought a fan out and set it up in front of the window, which I opened. Since the window was opened, I didn't want to blare the TV and bust my neighbor's eardrums (I have to turn it up loud to hear it over the treadmill). After some thought and creativity, I came up with this:

Cat tree=computer stand

Free Lifetime movies online

The cat tree was at the perfect height to prop my computer on so that it was directly in my line of vision. Estelle was a little pissed that I moved her throne perch, so she pouted and moved to the bedroom. I discovered that you can watch Lifetime movies for free online, so I chose a movie. I got some water, a packet of Gu, and I hooked up the computer to the treadmill speakers, so I didn't have to wear earphones.

It worked out really well! I started running and realized my foot pod wasn't registering on my Garmin. This was the first time I tried using it with the Forerunner 910xt. I stopped running and fiddled around with it, and realized I had to change a setting on it. Once I did that, I was good to go (again).

Since I was so bored, I was going at a faster pace than normal, and I waited 4 miles before doing a walk break. I would have just skipped the walk breaks altogether, but my knee started hurting; so I figured I'd better do what was working.

I don't know exactly how accurate the pace is, simply because I'm not sure how much I trust the foot pod, but based on my breathing and heart rate, I think it was pretty accurate. My heart rate seems to be getting lower and lower on each run that I do. I know that's probably because it's getting more conditioned, but it means I have to work longer or harder to burn the same amount of calories as before.

Two hours of running, and I only burned 844 calories?? Good grief!

I'm so glad to have that out of the way so my weekend is all free and clear to enjoy. Yesterday, I remembered that I have a bunch of gift cards from way back when I broke my jaw. So Jerry and I are going to work on using them up this weekend. That's a pretty fun task!

We have 2 free movie passes, and a $25 movie gift card; 8 free passes for the comedy club; a gift card to Chili's; a gift card to Buca di Beppo (was supposed to use that in Indy tomorrow night, but we found another one in Michigan that we'll go to). I also have a gift card to Kohl's and Home Depot, and a Victoria's Secret coupon for free panties. So we can do quite a bit this weekend and STILL save money. We will go to the Titanic exhibit, which is $27/person; but when all is said and done, this weekend won't cost much at all compared to Indy.

I got an e-mail this morning that made me *almost* glad I'm not running the half on Saturday...

 If there is one thing that makes me even more miserable than running on the treadmill, it is running in the heat. So for those of you running or walking in Indy on Saturday, make sure you be careful and listen to your body! I am praying that we have a nice cold day for the marathon. It's only 17 days away!

Considering how much I hate running in the heat, I have no idea what possessed me to sign up for a run called the Solstice Run, and I registered for the 10-Mile. It's June 23rd--which means it's going to be HOT. But I knew if I didn't have a race to train for after the marathon, I would probably slack off and not run much. I still plan on taking some time off--probably a week of no running at all--but since this 10-Mile race is a month after the full, it won't be hard to get ready for it. Oh well, hopefully it will be fun!

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Ragnar photo collage

Wow--first, I just have to say thank you so much for your kind thoughts and generous offers on my last blog post. I was feeling really down about the whole thing yesterday, and I even ate my feelings away through a partial jar of peanut butter--a bad habit that I would love to get rid of one day! I really do appreciate the offers to help me make it to Indy for the race, but I just wouldn't feel right accepting them.

As much as I love the race, and will miss not going this year, it will still be there next year. My heart just really isn't in it right now. It wasn't the race itself that I loved so much, but the whole atmosphere and spending time with my friends and family. It's one of the few times each year that I get to see my older brother and sister. But enough about that.

I was looking up other things for Jerry and I to do this weekend, but I haven't had much luck. Going to Traverse City, MI for wine tasting--sounds super fun, but the hotels that were offering deal for the wine tasting were booked. There is a Titanic exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn that I really want to go to, so I think we'll do that. Definitely not as fun as a weekend getaway, but it's something to do.

Besides, we have Key West to look forward to in January! Jerry and I never went on a honeymoon (or even a real vacation together), so we are both super excited for Key West. After I'm done with the Ragnar, we're going to stay three nights in Key West before coming home.

Speaking of the Ragnar, check out this collage of our team... isn't it amazing?!

I've already introduced Meredith, Mary, Jennifer, and Linda... and I will continue to share the stories of the rest of the team. The numbers on the collage represent the runner positions we hold. As Runner #1, I will start at the actual starting line in Miami; and I will share a van with the first six runners. Runners 7-12 will share Van #2. We each run three legs of the 200ish miles. I will start, and then pass off to Meredith, who will run her first leg and then pass off to Lealah, and so on.

Once we go through all 12 runners, we start over again with me. The start times in Miami are staggered, so the slowest teams start first, and the fastest teams start later in the day (this is to have all the teams finishing within a certain time period at the end). Our team pace will probably give us an early start, maybe 7:00 AM? So we are able to estimate the times that our legs will fall--my first one would be at 7:00 AM, my second leg would be at about 4:36 PM, and my third and final leg would be at about 6:35 AM. The accuracy of this is based on how well everyone estimated their pace. But I liked the first position because none of my legs will fall mid-day, when it's scorching hot outside ;)

My leg distances are: 5.7 miles, 8.8 miles, and 3.0 miles. When I did the Ragnar in 2010, I remember not being very happy when I did my second leg, because I was tired and it was the middle of the night. So I think that by getting my first two legs in before Friday evening has its advantages. I was in Van #2 last time, which gives you a much later start, and that means more tired for the later legs.

I'm just so excited and I wish January would get here sooner!

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Some of my teammates were urging me to start using Twitter. I've avoided Twitter like the plague, because it seems so intimidating; and I don't have a smart phone, so I can't do updates unless I'm sitting with my laptop. But I've set it up so that when I publish a new post on my blog, it will "tweet" that on Twitter (I have no idea if I'm using that terminology correctly, so just humor me and go along with it). If you use Twitter and would prefer to be notified of updates that way, you can find me at: www.twitter.com/runsforcookies. I have no idea how often I will "tweet", but I'm trying to get the hang of it. It's so confusing!

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Major disappointment

A couple of hours after I wrote my blog post yesterday, I got a phone call from my sister. She said that she wasn't going to be going to Indy this weekend, and her friend Jen wasn't going either (I don't want to get into the reasons why). I'm not upset with her at all, but I am SO SO SO disappointed.

I'm not going to Indy this weekend. I'm not going to be able to do my favorite race. This would have been my fifth year in a row doing this race, and I was really excited to do it for the enjoyment of it. There were only six of us that were planning on going this year, and my brother was called to do a flight this weekend, so he said he couldn't go. Then there were only five, including Jerry and me.

Anyway, the whole point is that Jerry and I can't afford (financially) to go without the group; and it just wouldn't be the same going without my sister. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know how much this annual trip means to me. I look forward to it all year long! This race is what started my weight loss journey, and each year that I go, I set new goals for the following year.

And then after yesterday's blog post, I saw that quite a few of you are going to be doing the race this year as well, and I was really excited to meet up at the finish line. Jerry was really bummed out too, because we use Indy weekend as a time to just be adults, and have fun without worrying about the kids (the kids stay with my parents for the weekend).

I was thinking of coming up with something to do as an alternative plan, but I can't think of anything that wouldn't cost much. So I think we'll just try and plan a fun night on Saturday with friends or something--maybe a comedy club?

The only positive to all this is that we are saving quite a bit of money by not going; and since Eli's doctor/ER visits last week are going to cost a small fortune, we can just put the money we were going to use for Indy toward the medical bills.

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So anyway, enough self-pity.

Jessica and I got together for our scheduled eight-mile run today. It was lightly drizzling outside, which actually felt pretty good. It was very overcast, too. Perfect running weather.

We decided to do the 9:1 ratio again. Right away, I knew it was going to be a bad run. I felt really weak and exhausted. I have no idea why--maybe my faster run yesterday? I also had less calories yesterday than normal, because I'm trying to keep my weight under control (139 today). Maybe it was just a combination of the two.

By mile two, I was really feeling tired. I didn't know how I was going to last another six miles. I didn't bring water or Gu or anything with me, since it was "only" eight miles today, and I wished I had brought a Gu for a little pick-me-up. Jessica's knee was really bothering her badly today; mine was hurting, but not horribly. I don't understand it--sometimes my knee feels just fine and other times it's unbearable. I hope that it heals up during our tapering.

We turned around at mile four and headed back. We were both pretty quiet during the whole run, probably because we both just felt really "off" today. I'm going to rest tomorrow, and then do 12 on Thursday (since I won't be running the half on Saturday). And finish the week with four on Friday.

I was really bummed when I saw the summary of our run, and that I had only burned 580 calories in 8 miles!! My average heart rate was only 138 bpm, which is super low for a run. At a comfortable pace, my heart rate is usually 145. I was surprised what a huge difference is made in my calorie burn.

Gosh, I sound like such a Debbie Downer today! I'm super tired, so that might explain it. But I had a really exhausting week, which I'm not used to.

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Photoshoot with 'that loud redhead'

What a weekend! Normally, my weekends are totally uneventful. Friday night was really fun--I went out with a bunch of runner friends for dinner to celebrate Jessica's and my 20-mile run that morning. (Yes, it was worth celebrating--we were THRILLED to get it done with!)

We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Dolce Vita. I ordered an "Almond Joy martini". It sounds much better than it tasted, however ;)  I ordered gnocchi for dinner and ate almost all of it. I really wanted dessert, too, even though nobody else did--so I ordered a "peanut butter cheesecake". Sounds amazing, right? Well, when I got it, I took one small bite and it was gross--it tasted like pure whipped butter--not even a hint of peanut butter.

I was really disappointed, so I politely told the server that I didn't like it. I assumed she would take it off the bill, since I only had one small bite and I sent it back. But she said the manager told her that she couldn't take it off, because it was a matter of "personal preference". I was really blown away by that! I don't send food back very often in restaurants, but when I don't like something, I will send it back and the manager never has a problem taking it off the bill.

So I asked to talk to the manager, and the manager told me that other people ordered it and didn't complain; and since there was nothing wrong with it, she couldn't take it off the bill. I was so shocked I didn't even know what to say! I could completely understand that if I had eaten the whole dessert, but I literally had one bite. So I told her that I wouldn't be going back there, and it was a shame to lose a customer over a $5 dessert, especially when my friends and I all ordered drinks and dinner and spent quite a bit of money there. She finally agreed to take it off the bill. But I still won't go back there. Am I out-of-line on this? Is this typical at a restaurant? Just curious. When I worked at Lonestar steakhouse, I had customers would eat their entire steak and then complain, and we STILL took it off the bill--because "the customer is always right".

But despite that little scenario, I loved going out with everyone and I hope we do it again soon. Maybe after the actual marathon?

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Yesterday, I had a date with my friend Stephanie to take some "after photos" for a project I will share soon. Stephanie is a photographer by hobby, and her photos from our Winers meetings always look great, so I asked her to take some pictures for me. I paid her with a bottle of Chardonnay ;)

We went to the Metropark where Jessica and I run, because it's gorgeous there. I needed a good head shot, and I'm really impressed with how they turned out--I actually look pretty good! Here are a few of my favorites:

A couple of running photos:

And a couple of photos with my old jeans:

I actually look like I have nice biceps in those last two pics... not sure where that came from! It's so strange to wear a tank top, let alone allow someone to take pictures of me in one. My very first time wearing a tank top was exactly two years ago, and I was SO self-conscious.

Stephanie was awesome and I didn't feel self-conscious around her at all. She actually just celebrated hitting her goal weight at Weight Watchers! She writes a blog called That Loud Redhead, so be sure to check it out if you'd like :)

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I had five easy miles on the schedule today. It was raining this morning, so Jessica and I agreed to do it on our own sometime during the day. Knowing that I didn't have to meet her for a run just made me procrastinate all day long, until I finally decided at about 1:30 that procrastinating wasn't going to make it go away.

I forgot to set my Garmin up for the 9:1 intervals we've been doing, and I realized it right after I started running. Instead of stopping and setting the interval workout, I decided to just run the whole five miles straight through and see how my knee was doing. I was running at a slightly-faster-than-easy pace, and I guessed it was about a 10:00/mi pace.

After a mile, I saw that I actually ran it in 9:35, so I decided to just go with it as long as it was comfortable. My knee felt 100% normal until about mile 4, and even then I barely felt a couple of twinges. No pain though. So I finished out the run in 47:34, a 9:30/mi pace. I felt good knowing that I haven't somehow lost the ability to run straight through rather than do the 9:1 run/walk.

My splits:

I felt really good after that run. It was overcast and on the verge of raining, which is my favorite running weather. Tomorrow I have eight miles scheduled, then Wednesday I'll do four. Rest Thursday. I leave for Indy on Friday, and the half-marathon is on Saturday.

I'm really excited about the half-marathon this year. The first two years, I was really worried I wasn't going to finish in time (they have a 4-hr time limit); the third year, I wanted to finish faster than 3:30; and last year, it was my first half-marathon that I actually RAN. I always thought it would be really cool to do it without a time goal and bring my camera along, taking pics along the way to show off what a fun course it is. So that is my plan for Saturday. Run, walk, stop for pictures, chat with people, totally ENJOY the race without a care in the world what my time is. (So if you're there and you see me with my sparkle skirt--I think I'm wearing the blue one--make sure you say hi!)

After I finish, I am going to stand at the finish line and cheer until the very last person crosses--my Ragnar teammate John inspired me to do this. Then I'll have my finish line beer and enjoy the rest of the afternoon with more beer. Can't wait!

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Reader Questions & Answers #11

On Sundays, I will answer some readers' questions in a post. If you have a question that you would like me to answer here on the blog, just send me an e-mail with the subject "Q&A", and I may include them in a future Q&A post. They don't have to be about weight loss or running--anything is game!  (Remember, I'm not a doctor or dietician, or any sort of medical professional--I can only answer questions from my own experience).

Q. I would love to do more races each season but at $65/$75 and more for the "bigger/better" races, the $$ adds up to quite a bit.  And so I find myself only doing the super local races that I can drive to that morning and only if I manage to register to get an early-bird discount.  You refer to your "debt" quite a lot on your blog, you talk about how you don't eat out and that you mostly shop at resale stores.  How, then, do you justify spending so much $ on all the races that you do throughout the year especially when quite a few of them require travel and overnight stay?

A. This is why I always feel a little uncomfortable talking about my debt on my blog--if someone doesn't know the whole story, they will think I am spending outside my means. I think that everybody has his/her own "thing" that they splurge on--some people may get manicures every couple of weeks, some people go out to lunch every day, etc.

My "thing" is running. I don't spend money on myself in any other instance--I cut my own hair (haven't paid for a haircut in probably four years, and I also cut Jerry's and my kids' hair); I use 88 cent shampoo and conditioner; I don't buy make-up--I wear it so rarely that one bottle of foundation will last me three years; I buy all of my clothes (except underwear and some running gear) at resale shops and garage sales; I only eat out VERY occasionally; I drink tap water rather than bottled water or soda; I don't buy books or movies (I use the library); and the list goes on and on. 

I've only traveled to a couple of races--I go to Indy each year for the half-marathon in May; and in 2010, I went to Minnesota for the Ragnar Relay, and Illinois for the Warrior Dash. When I go to Indy, the total for the entire Fri-Sun weekend is about $250. We share hotel rooms, eat the free breakfast at the hotel, and have dinner out. With hotel, gas, food, race fee, etc, the total is about $250. Not bad at all!

On my way to MN for Ragnar Great River 2010

I'm lucky to have a brother who is a pilot, also. When I went to Minnesota for the Ragnar, I used a buddy pass, which was $100 round-trip. The race costs were about $150. So for a three-night stay with airfare and food, that trip cost me about $300. This August, I'll be going to MN for another race; and again, using a buddy pass. I'll stay at my brother's house, so the trip will cost me about $200 total.

Our Indy group from last year--2 hotel rooms, 8 people (Jerry is unpictured)

Until recently, I didn't do many local races because of the costs. But I discovered that Jerry's work will pay for local races, so that is the only reason I've been doing them lately. They've only cost me a couple of bucks in gas money to drive there. So as you can see, racing really doesn't cost me much--pennies compared to eating lunch out every day ($10/day=$3650 per year), or buying a Starbucks coffee every morning ($4/day=$1460 per year). And besides, before I lost the weight, I was spending $20+ on a single binge! The money is much more useful going to a race fee.

(ETA: I don't think the person who wrote me this question was trying to be rude.. just curious. And I'm happy to answer!)

Q. I am wanting to get started running and I have been down this road before.  My question is about Sports Bras! As a larger-breasted gal, it is SO hard to find a bra that is supportive when I want to run. I can't find anything that holds the girls in place during that kind of exercise.  Do you have any suggestions?  Recommendations?

A. I've been asked this question a few times, and unfortunately, I haven't been much help. My "girls" are teeny tiny since losing the weight, and I do just fine with cheap sports bras from Target. But I decided to go to the "expert" on this one, and ask my sister. She has some *lovely* girls--everything I am lacking in that department, she more than makes up for.

She said that the best ones to get are from Essential Bodywear. Apparently they were one of Oprah's recommendations. You can actually host or attend a "bra party" where a consult will come fit you for a good bra. My sister swears by these bras. So hopefully that will help you out! ;)

Q. When just starting out with jogging/walking, what is more important...the distance or the amount of time you walk/jog for? For instance, should my goal be to walk/run 3 miles every time, whether it takes me 30 OR 45 minutes (right now its 45...but eventually I'd like it to be 30).....or is it better to just make sure I'm getting a 30-minute workout in and worry about distance later.

A. I think this is just a matter of what you prefer and what your goals are. When I first started, I looked at time. I would run as far as I could, and then walk until I reached 30 minutes. Once I was able to run for 30 minutes straight (I was running slowly, so I hadn't yet reached 3 miles), I started running for distance. I would keep building up distance of non-stop running until I was running for 5K (3.1 miles) without any walking. At that time, it took me about 40+ minutes to run 5K. After that, I continued to run 5K three times per week, trying to get a little faster each time. And since then, I focus only on distance rather than time.

Running for time rather than distance has its advantages, though. If you are an experienced runner and you find yourself having a hard time slowing down on your easy runs (which can lead to injury), you can set a time goal rather than distance--which means you'll be running for 30 minutes (or whatever you choose) whether you run fast or run slow. Sometimes when I know I'm running 3 miles, for example, I will want to get it over with as quickly as possible so I run too fast. But if I knew I was going to run for 30 minutes regardless, I would be more inclined to run slowly.

But really, it's totally up to you how you want to handle it. The most important thing is being consistent! 

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Linda's story

I would like to introduce you to another member of the Ragnar Relay team. Some of you may recognize her as "Frickin' Fabulous at 40"--she has been a long-time reader of my blog and she always takes time to comment. I really felt like she was my friend before I even asked her to join our team. She truly is "frickin' fabulous" ;)  Here is her story...

My name is Linda and I have been overweight/fat/obese, whatever you want to call it, ALL my life. I think the only time I was considered a "normal" weight was at birth! I have lost weight, only to stop working out (for some reason or other) and therefore stop caring about my nutrition, which led me to gain it all back and then some. (For me, exercise keeps my diet on track.) This time was different.

I went to the doctor for my annual physical and there were a couple issues. One concern was my blood pressure. That can't come as a surprise to anyone. I was 37 going on 38 years old, weighing 229 pounds at 5' tall. My mother had a quadruple bypass in at the age of 61. It was only a matter of time for me. The thought of leaving my children too soon terrified me. I was tired of feeling exhausted and looking terrible. I was disappointed in missing all of the things I kept myself from participating in because of my size, like parasailing in FL back in July 2009. I no longer wanted to be an observer in life.

On August 17, 2009, I put my mind to it and just did it. I ate less and I moved more. I didn't cut out complete food groups, (read: JUNK!), I just ate less of it. I tried not to eat anything after dinner. I did a lot of exercising at home to my Leslie Sansone DVDs and walking outside with the kids I babysit in  the double stroller.

Well, considering I hadn't even been thinking about losing weight at THAT time, I was no where near running a marathon, but the IDEA of running a marathon always sounded intriguing, an awesome item to cross off the bucket list. My husband said if I ever did it, he would do it with me.

When I started taking care of myself, that conversation kept playing over and over in my mind. So, after losing about 40 pounds, I started going to the track in March 2010. My husband would come with me to encourage me to keep going, even when I couldn't run 1/2 a lap. (I'll never forget when I finally ran an entire mile, I turned to my husband and asked him if he was proud of me and he said he was proud of me just for starting.)

I would just keep trying to add distance every time I went out there. On June 5, 2010, I ran/walked my 1st 5k in 42:42. After that I picked up the Couch to 5k program midway and continued to train at the track. On September 10, 2010, I ran an entire 5k with a time of 34:39. I was in love with running!

My weight loss had stalled a bit, so I signed up with My Fitness Pal on April 1, 2011. I have since lost 35 more pounds, for a total weight-loss of 75 pounds. I have run five 5ks, including the Damon Runyon 5k at Yankee Stadium, (a dream come true to run on the warning track at Yankee Stadium!!), a 10k in September, and now I am training for my first half-marathon, the Diva Half-marathon on 10/7/12!

Then it's on to the Ragnar Relay in Key West in January with 11 other runners who have amazing, inspiring weight-loss success stories. While in Key West, I plan to finally parasail without my weight getting in my way. My husband's and my dream of running a marathon together is starting to look like it will become a reality, if I can get my husband to train for it! If I'm going to dream, I'm going to dream big--I have my sights set on the NYC Marathon!

Wearing her "skinny husband's" jeans ;)

You can read Linda's blog at Frickin' Fabulous at 40.

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One more thing (on a related note): Remember how I mentioned that our adventure may turn into a documentary? Well, it looks like that is now more of a reality! Media Meld Studios is going to turn our weight loss stories and our Ragnar adventure into a film to hopefully inspire other people like us "before" to start moving. The website for the film isn't up yet, but you can check out the Facebook page if you'd like. They've already interviewed a few team members, and they will be coming to Michigan soon to interview me. I will post all about it when it happens.

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Update: During the filming of From Fat to Finish Line (the documentary), Linda received a makeover because she was commonly mistaken for her kids' grandmother instead of their mother!

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The one where we ran 20 miles... voluntarily.

I've had the most exhausting day!! That is why this post is late. Normally I write in the afternoon and publish it at 5 pm, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down.

Our 20-miler almost didn't happen today. Thankfully, I have an AMAZING mom who changed her schedule around to help me out. But let me back up...

I got up at 5:30 this morning to eat breakfast and get dressed, and just feel "ready" to go run 20 miles. Jerry (bless his amazing heart!) packed the boys' lunches and laid out their school clothes and all that so I could have an "easy" morning. I got Noah ready for school, and then woke Eli up at 7:15. He tried to get out of bed, and discovered that he couldn't walk. Again. Remember when this happened a few months ago? Turns out he had the flu which did something to the muscles in his legs, and he had to spend 2 weeks home from school recovering.

Jerry was working, and I couldn't send Eli to school when he couldn't even walk! I called my mom, and started crying on the phone--I had been planning this 20-miler for months, and we had plans to celebrate it tonight. Despite the fact that she was going to go into the office (she works as a contingent employee since retiring), she dropped everything to come over and take care of Eli so that I could do my run as planned. She even called the doctor's office when they opened and set up and appointment for 2:45 today.

I was really upset about leaving, but my mom kept reassuring me it was fine. So I met Jessica as usual and we headed to our favorite trail for our run. We took a video before we started (I have a few videos from various runs, and I'm hoping to put them all together after the marathon). And then we were off. We started with a loop around the park where we had parked the car. I forgot to put on sunscreen, so we didn't get very far before I looped back to the car to put on the sunscreen.

We headed out for 4.25 miles and then turned around to go back to the car. I ate a chocolate Gu at 5 miles, and felt pretty good until mile 7 when my knee started bothering me. We went over the overpass, which I always think is fun to see all the cars go by underneath us...

We even saw some cows right after that...

We got back to the car to refill our water at mile 8, and then we circled the park again (which we weren't supposed to do, according to our route!) and we headed out for the next out-and-back route through the Metropark.

We went through that dirt path for a mile and a half, which I think is when my knee really started acting up. I think maybe the uneven ground did something. Running on these wooden bridges actually felt really good underfoot...

With the exception of my knee, I felt AWESOME for the first 13-14 miles or so. I've learned that the 13-14 mile mark is when things get TOUGH while training. I was really nervous for mile 16 because that is where I hit the wall last time. I had a peanut butter Gu at mile 10, and we refilled our water bottles at a water fountain at mile 13 ish.

We turned around a little before we were supposed to because we realized that we had circled the park and added about 1/2 mile to our run. We refilled our water one more time before heading out of the park for the last 4 miles. I didn't want to risk running out of water like last time!

I never did hit the wall this time; I kept well-hydrated and slowed down when I felt I needed to. My heart rate stayed really consistent throughout the run (last time, when I hit the wall, my heart rate got up to 170! Normally, it's about 145 on a long run). Jessica was really feeling the exhaustion this time. It's interesting, when I feel good, she feels bad, and vice versa. We're good running partners! When I saw we just had 2 miles left, I knew we would do it. We didn't have a choice, really, because we had to get back to the car ;)

When we finally hit mile 20, we were a good half mile from the car still.

This is the 20-mile mark. The car wasn't even in sight!

20 miles, run and done

 We were both limping and hobbling that last half mile, and SO relieved to be done. We very slowly sat in the grass and made another video and took a few pictures.

Our pace was actually pretty good. We usually have a pace of about 11:20-11:30/mi for our long runs, and today our pace ended up being 11:01/mi.

And our splits:

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When I got home, it was already 1:30. I jumped (well, limped) into the shower and once I was done and dressed, I had to take Eli to the doctor. I spent about 30 seconds wolfing down a bowl of cereal for lunch, and I drove him to the doctor for his 2:45 appointment. The squeezed us in, so we had to wait a long time--45 minutes! The doctor doesn't think this is at all related to the first time this happened; he thinks it's an injury from playing, like jumping on the trampoline.

I wasn't too sure about that, but since he has no other symptoms, I don't know. The doctor said just to be on the safe side, he was going to order a bunch of tests. Blood work, x-rays, and urinalysis. He said that with all of that, if something is wrong, we will know it.

So from the office, I headed over to the hospital for all that work-up he needed. We had to register, then go to the lab to have his blood drawn, then go to radiology for x-rays. Basically it took a long time of mostly waiting. Finally left at 4:45, and I just got home and started typing this out. I'm hoping the doctor will call with the results tonight.

Now I have half an hour to get ready to go out for dinner and martinis with friends. Jeesh! I'm going to sleep well tonight ;)

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Annual appointment

Until last night, I had forgotten about the fact that I had an OB/GYN appointment today. It had been about 2 years since my last pap smear. I've always been meticulous about going once a year, but after breaking my jaw in November 2010, I saw a bazillion doctors and had hundreds of tests, and it just totally slipped my mind to go have my annual.

I actually don't mind the gynecologist. I much prefer going there than to the dentist! Also, I was kind of excited to see the receptionists there, because that is where I used to work. I always see the nurse practitioner for my regular annual exams, and I really like her. She'd seen me a couple of times since I lost the weight, but she was still shocked at the change.

I always think it's funny when I'm in the exam room and I lie down for the exam--there is a random panel on one of the lights right above the exam table that has some sort of scenery on it to look at while you're being prodded. Today, this was my view:

It's actually much brighter in the room, but you'll have to use your imagination since it showed up dark because of my awesome photography skills. Like looking at that scene is supposed to make us feel more relaxed while someone is putting instruments where you really don't want them? ;)

She said everything seemed normal, but she felt my thyroid (I have a history of a nodule on my thyroid) and said it felt enlarged. Awesome. So she ordered blood work for that, for which I should get the results on Monday.

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This morning, while I was making breakfast, Jerry whispered to me, "Hey, look at Paolo". I looked around, and spotted Paolo in the hallway--he was sitting there, just staring at the wall. Not even staring like he saw something interesting; just staring like he was bored out of his mind. Jerry grabbed the camera and took a picture:

He must have sat like that for five minutes! We thought it was hilarious. Paolo is a very high-maintenance cat, and he always acts like he's too good for everything and everybody. I don't know why he was staring at the wall, but maybe he that was his way of telling me that he's bored? lol

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By this time tomorrow, I will hopefully be getting ready to go out to a celebratory dinner with friends for completing a 20-mile run. I'm so nervous! I think I'm just as nervous about this as I am about the actual marathon.

I planned out our route; we're going to do our favorite path, the same one that we did for the 18-miler. Only this time, I'm planning ahead for where we can refill our water bottles. When Jerry and I went for a walk yesterday, I discovered a (working) drinking fountain on the path, just yards from where I felt like I was going to die of dehydration last time. So I mapped out our route to include that fountain, and I used Garmin Connect to send the map to my watch. I love that feature! I just started doing that a couple of months ago, but it's helpful to plan out a route and then send it to the watch.

We're going to park the car and then run a 9-mile out-and-back. Refill our water/Powerade at the car. Head out for an 11-mile out and back, with a water stop at mile 16 at the drinking fountain. I think one bottle plus two refills will be good for the 20 miles. I'm going to bring Gu for fuel, and eat one at miles 5, 10, and 15. We're going to do a 9:1 run/walk ratio the entire way, and I'd like to keep our pace slower than we have been for our short runs. I'd like to aim for an 11:00-11:20/mi pace, but if it's slower than that, I won't complain ;) I just really want to make it through this run feeling good and strong! And without knee pain, preferably.

And tomorrow night, I can celebrate the start of 3 weeks of tapering!!

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A walk in the park

I had a rough evening yesterday, and I ended up bingeing. I was doing so well for two weeks, and yesterday was hard for me. I thought Eli was kind of faking being sick, so I wasn't worried about him. But he developed a fever, and then last night at around 8:00, he started hyperventilating. It was weird, because that had never happened before! He was panting and when I asked him to take a deep breath, he couldn't do it--it made him cough.

He was kind of panicky about the breathing, which of course made it even worse, but I almost called 911--that's how scary it was. Jerry ended up driving him to the ER while I stayed home with Noah. I was a nervous wreck, and just started eating--Biscoff cookies, Teddy Grahams, and salt water taffy (all things that I had in the house for a while without issue). I probably ate 1,000 calories, and then I dumped what was left of everything in the trash.

Jerry called from the hospital to say that they tested Eli for the flu, for strep, and took a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia--all were negative. They said it was just a virus. I hate paying a fuckload of money to hear those words: "It's just a virus". But I'm glad everything is fine. Better safe than sorry.

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Today I had 5 miles on the schedule, but with the knee trouble I had yesterday, I figured it would be best not to run for the next two days so that I'm doing well for the 20-miler on Friday. But I was feeling guilty about my binge yesterday, and I wanted to exercise, so I suggested to Jerry that we go for a walk at the Metropark.

My mom asked Eli if he wanted to go rest at her house for a little while, and of course he did. So while he was over there, Jerry and I went to the park. Even though I planned on walking just for leisure (not a "real" workout), I wore my Garmin just to see how far we went. I didn't wear the heart rate strap, though.

In 2009, Jerry and I went on this same trail and we took a bunch of pictures. Some of them I now use as my "before" pictures, because I was 253 pounds at the time. So while we walked, we recreated the photos, which was kind of fun!

253 pounds vs. 138 pounds

It's so fun to see the difference when you see the same poses side-by-side like that! I remember those 2009 pictures like it was yesterday. I wore the scarf so that I could hide my fat neck and double chin. I didn't have a coat that fit me, so I just wore a sweatshirt, but I was cold. The jeans were a size 24W. And I felt like I looked "cute"--but was SHOCKED when I saw the pictures.

A couple more fun pictures... In May of 1999, Jerry and I went on our first date to the Metropark, and we had our first kiss on a bridge overlooking Lake Erie. So today, we tried to take a picture of us kissing on the bridge. I'll spare you the one that is actually centered, but I'll show you a glimpse of a bad one ;)

Spot where we had our first kiss

We found a tree that looked perfect for climbing, so we took a couple of pics there.

And when I told Jerry to pose in the tree, he told me it was lame and looked like cheesy senior photos. So he did his own take on it, naturally. Bahahaha! I found this pose hilarious:

A couple more "cheesy senior photos" pictures:

The "stare into your future" pose

The token "hold your head up with your fist" pose

Anyway, as you can see it was a GORGEOUS day, and we definitely made the most of it!

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Routine

I'm getting kind of sick of the routine of waking up, getting the kids ready for school, and then heading out the door to go run. I found myself thinking about it on the way to the state park this morning--why do I do this when I dislike it so much? But then I thought about how we all have things to do that we don't really enjoy, but are necessary for one reason or another: work, paying bills, doing household chores, etc.

Over the past couple of years, exercise (specifically running) has become one of those things. And I think that's good! I do it because it's good for my body, it makes me feel proud and accomplished, it gives me goals to work toward, and it helps me maintain my weight loss. It actually makes me feel good that I've gotten to the point where exercise isn't really an option anymore. I do it because I know I have to, just like the other things I mentioned.

So anyway, I had 5 miles on the schedule today. Jessica and I met at the state park, and we decided to do the 9:1 run/walk again. We both are really enjoying the 9:1 runs, and I think it's helping my knee a lot. It's amazing how fast 5 miles flies by when you get used to doing 10+ mile runs! I felt like we just started when the run was already halfway over. Love that!

That's a 10:05/mi pace including our walk breaks. I'm convinced I could even hit my sub-2:00 half-marathon doing the 9:1 thing, if I train for it!

My knee was hurting a little from miles 3-5, but I think that's because of our faster pace. We'll have to slow it down, especially on our 20-mile run Friday. On Friday, my only goal is to make it through 20 miles without dying. I'm nervous about it, especially after our 18-miler last week. But it marks the beginning of three weeks of tapering--which I'm definitely looking forward to!

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I have a new food obsession. Okay, since you're all dying to hear it, I'm sure, I'll tell you ;)  For my nighttime treat, I've been making a carb-bowl (for lack of a better term!)  Basically, I've been combining 15 grams each of all sorts of different things: pretzels, goldfish, Chocolate Rice Chex cereal, Cinnabon cereal, Peanut Butter Puffins cereal, animal crackers, Teddy Grahams, etc.

Fifteen grams equals approximately 50-60 calories of each of these, so if I want to have about 300 calories for a snack, I'll pick 6 things and combine them all in a bowl. I don't use nuts or dried fruit (because the calories from those add up fast, and you don't get much). I love the variety, the sweet and salty combo, the crunch factor, all of it. It's been a perfect snack lately. And yes, I realize it's all simple carbs, but I love my carbs! Usually I choose some sort of dessert for my nighttime treat, but I've really been into this carb bowl lately.

That Cinnabon cereal is actually really good--it reminds me of those cinnamon twist things that you can buy at Taco Bell (if they still have them, I haven't been to Taco Bell in years).

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Well, Eli is being very needy right now, so I'd better go take care of him. The school called right after I finished my run and asked me to go pick him up, because he said he was feeling sick--stomachache and headache. I know he's fine, because he's already whining about being bored!

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