A goose attack

I was kind of dreading my run today, but when I thought about the fact that it was "only" six miles on the schedule, I couldn't complain--or procrastinate. Tapering means I have more time free during the day to do things other than run!

I met Jessica at the State Park after the kids went to school. We started running, and I realized that it wasn't the greatest time to run at the State Park--it rained yesterday, so there were parts of the path that were completely covered with water. We had to run in the grass a few times to avoid going right through the deep puddles.

It's also Mayfly season. Remember those nasty bugs I wrote about last year? They are just starting to hatch, and they're disgusting. They are all over the State Park! The whole time we were running, I was swatting them out of my face. I probably swallowed one or two of them also.

Mayflies on the street

As if that wasn't enough, we were running next to the water at one point and we saw two "families" of geese. Four adults and like 20 little goslings. The goslings were adorable, but as soon as the adult geese spotted us, they shooed the goslings toward the water and then started hissing at us and coming closer like they were going to attack us. Jessica and I were both scared enough to stop running. We just stood there, completely frozen, waiting for them to go away. Finally, we did a 3-2-1-SPRINT! deal, and we started running for our lives. Why are geese so evil?!

Today's run felt hard. I think that was because I ran kind of hard on the dreadmill yesterday. But I was happy to see 528 calories burned!

The marathon is in 12 days... can you believe it?! I'm praying for a cold and overcast day.

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My mom went to Eastern Market in Detroit on Saturday, and she bought me a couple of things. One was butterscotch extract--I'm going to have to come up with a way to use that. Maybe in my oatmeal? The other thing she brought me was SkinnyPop Popcorn...

I had seen this before at Whole Foods, but it's expensive! Popcorn isn't very hard to make, so I couldn't justify the cost. It would be a good thing to buy if you're on the road, though, and don't have access to a stove or microwave. I wonder if it comes in single serve bags? I would like that to bring to the movies! Anyway, this popcorn is "special" because it's made with just three ingredients: popcorn, oil, and salt. Last night, I decided to have it with my usual "carb bowl" snack of mixed dry cereal...

Popcorn, PB Cap'n Crunch, Cinnabon cereal, and Cocoa Puffs... yum!

Adding the popcorn in there bulked up the bowl of cereal to HUGE size (about 4 cups total). And I really did like the popcorn.

As I predicted, the water weight I packed on over the weekend is dropping quickly. Today I was 143, which is down 4 pounds from yesterday. I drank a ton of green tea and water yesterday, and counted my calories. Hopefully it will continue to go down until I'm back to Friday morning's weight of 138.

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I'm still a little nervous for my colposcopy tomorrow, but I feel much better after reading all of your comments about it yesterday. I don't know why I'm so nervous--I had dealt with a broken jaw and with voluntary skin removal surgery! The cervical biopsy is nothing compared to those things. It's just the anticipation.

After my appointment, I'm going to go to Dick's Sporting Goods to maybe find an outfit for the marathon. Since it's my first (and ONLY) marathon, I want to at least wear a cute outfit ;)

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Fun news! (Best Weight Loss Blog)

I've had a secret I've been sitting on for a couple of weeks, and I'm finally able to share it. Remember when Fitness magazine was doing the Fitterati blog contest, and I was nominated for best weight loss blog? Well, I've never been good at popularity contests, so I did not win the most number of votes ;) However, I was notified that I was selected for "Editor's Pick" for the Best Weight Loss Blog category!

I feel honored and humbled that Runs for Cookies was selected. This opens a great opportunity for me--this summer, I will be able to contribute to FitnessMagazine.com, have "exclusive fitness and health opportunities" (not sure what this means yet!), and I will appear in an upcoming Fitness magazine. That is the reason I had Stephanie take some good "after" photos of me (she wrote a very detailed blog about the photo shoot here, if you're interested). Thank you so much for your votes and support.

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Today I had four miles on the schedule, and I woke up to thunder and rain outside. I debated whether I wanted to run outside or on the dreadmill. I actually really enjoy running in the rain--once I get out the door. It's just hard to get motivated to go outside!

I decided to mess around with the calibration of my Garmin foot pod. Since I got the Forerunner 910xt, I haven't calibrated the foot pod. I went to the high school track to calibrate it. The inner edge of the inner lane of the track measures exactly 400 meters, so to calibrate the foot pod by distance, you just run 800 meters. The Forerunner 910 allows you to calibrate by satellites OR by measured distance (like a track). The manual said that the MOST accurate way to calibrate is by using an outdoor track.

This is where I talk about numbers for a while... if you don't like to read nerdy stuff, you can skip it ;)

Since I love numbers, I chose to do both, and see what the difference was. First, I ran 800 meters--I ran fast, I ran slow, I sprinted, and I walked during that 800 meters. I wanted to simulate actual running conditions, and I rarely run at one particular pace the entire time. After the 800 meters, the calibration factor was 974--which was really surprising to me! The factory setting is 1000. So this means that the foot pod was telling me I was going much faster than I actually was (before I calibrated it).

Next, I decided to try calibrating by satellites (not as accurate, because the satellites can't be 100% accurate all the time). This time, the Garmin told me to just run until it beeped (I don't know what the set distance was supposed to be in meters). Turned out to be 3/4 of a mile. I ran the whole thing at one pace, since it was being calibrated by satellite--steps and strides had nothing to do with it. The calibration factor when I did it by satellite was 996.

After that, I decided to go home and see how the calibration compared to the dreadmill. Since the calibration from the 800 meters on the track was supposed to be the most accurate, I chose to use 974 for the calibration factor. I started running, and it was MUCH closer to what the treadmill read than last time I ran on the treadmill. I changed up the speed a lot during the 3 miles on the dreadmill this time--everything from 4.4 mph (walking) to 8.0 mph (running faaaast).

The Garmin still showed I was a little faster than what the dreadmill read, but I believe it was very accurate this time. So I will leave the calibration at 974 from now on. Here are the differences in a 3-mile run:

I am finally confident that I have the right calibration factor. I realize this probably sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo!

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So Jerry and I had a great weekend! We went to the museum and the Titanic exhibit; to lunch at Pizza Papalis; Whole Foods for a brownie; to the movies to see "Five Year Engagement"; to home depot for a new faucet that we desperately needed; to another movie, "The Lucky One"; to the mall for my free Victoria's Secret panties and for ice cream; to Chili's for dinner; and then yesterday, we went to my parents' house for dinner.

Because we had gift cards, we spent much less than we would have in Indy. And we had a lot of fun! The movies we saw were pretty good. "Five Year Engagement" was funny (especially because they crack a lot of Michigan jokes, and I totally "got" them!) but it felt like a five hour movie. "The Lucky One" was okay in the typical romance kind of way. I enjoyed both movies.

I somehow managed to gain 9 pounds over the weekend--hahaha! (I'm only laughing because I know it's temporary--if it was "real" weight, I would be crying). We ate out a few times, and we had popcorn at the movies, and we had a few too many desserts. I know the weight is mostly a lot of water--this happens to me EVERY TIME I eat like I did this weekend. In Indy last year, I gained 11 pounds! My weight will probably be back to 138 by Friday or so. The only reason I'm writing about it is so that you can see that eating like I did this weekend definitely affects my weight; but as long as I get right back on track, I'll drop the weight very quickly.

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I also got some not-so-fun news today. My gynecologist called about my test results from my recent appointment. My thyroid tests were normal (thank goodness) but my pap smear came back abnormal (despite the negative HPV test). I have to go in on Wednesday for a colposcopy (where they will take tissue from my cervix for biopsy). I'm terrified--I know it's a common procedure, but I imagine it will hurt like hell. And because of some other symptoms I'm having, my doctor is recommending a D&C. That won't be on Wednesday--I will have to schedule that after the colposcopy. Someone please tell me the colposcopy isn't so bad...?

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Reader Questions & Answers #12

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. How do you battle temptations at the grocery store? I love that you don't keep binge food in the house, but I can't seem to stop buying the junk!

A. I wouldn't say that I don't keep binge foods in the house, because sometimes I will buy them with good intentions--and I try to refrain from binge eating. But for the most part, I do know what foods are nearly impossible for me to eat just one portion at a time, and I very rarely buy them. A short list of those foods: graham crackers, ice cream, regular sized chocolate chips (mini ones are okay), Reese's PB Puff's cereal, candy or cookies of almost any kind... there are more, but these are big ones that come to mind right away.

Reese's PB Puffs are like crack to me!

I know that some people have no problem eating junk food in moderation. I can do it with SOME foods, but the foods I listed above are the ones I really have a hard time with. So how do I battle the temptation of buying them at the grocery store? I actually don't have a very hard time with this. Once the food is home, it's VERY hard not to eat it. But at the grocery store, I just completely avoid the foods that I know will be a temptation to me. 

A lot of the foods actually have bad memories attached to them--which probably sounds ridiculous, I know. But I can remember eating entire packages of Oreos in the past, and the thought of buying a package of Oreos now fills me with dread--it makes me feel depressed because it reminds me of when I was fat. There are certain flavors and brands of ice cream I can't eat for the same reason. Fast food does the same thing--I can't eat at McDonald's or Wendy's, regardless of what I order, because it gives me a bad feeling inside. I wish I could somehow create that bad feeling for all of my problem foods! ;)

If you have a hard time with buying binge foods, maybe you could send your spouse or friend to the store with a list? When I wasn't able to drive after my surgery, I ate like an angel, because I had to rely on other people to do the shopping for me ;) Of course, that only works if your spouse doesn't buy the junk as well!

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Q. Did you have difficulty getting pregnant when you were overweight?

A. Not at all! I know that this is actually a really common issue for obese women to have, but fortunately, I didn't have any trouble getting pregnant. I got pregnant on the first try with both of my boys!

Funny story: When I was working at Curves and Noah was about 9 months old, I told my boss (and friend) Del that I was thinking about getting pregnant again when Noah was about a year old. She told me that I should start trying right away, because it would probably take a few months. She had three kids and said that it took a little longer to get pregnant between each of them. So, because she was older and wiser, I decided to listen to her ;) Three weeks later, she got an earful on the phone when I had a positive pregnancy test!

Two days before I delivered Noah
(who was 8 lbs, 8 oz)

While I had no trouble getting pregnant, I had VERY difficult pregnancies. With Noah, I had a condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP). ICP is a condition during pregnancy that affects your liver; and the main symptom is severe itching. It basically makes your BLOOD itch, so everywhere that your blood flows itches like crazy.

I would spend hours in a bathtub filled with cold water to try and numb my skin and lessen the severity of the itching. I was extremely sleep deprived because I was itching so badly, and I remember hallucinating one night--I kept begging Jerry to cut off my feet, and I was completely serious! It was awful. My doctor induced labor 14 days early because of the condition, and the symptoms went away within two days.

I was terrified of getting pregnant again, for fear of having the ICP. Thankfully, I didn't have ICP with Eli; but early in the pregnancy, my pubic bone became dislocated. I had such severe pain (right where you can feel your pubic bone in front) that I had a hard time walking. Again, my labor was induced early--10 days early this time, because Eli was huge.

Even being 10 days early, he was 9 lbs. 10 oz. After Eli's birth, it became much worse. I was so uncomfortable at the hospital that I checked out at 1:00 in the morning to go home. I had to use a walker for a few weeks in order to move around. The only way I could sleep or lie down was with my legs completely straight and closed tightly together. I couldn't lift my legs to even put my pants on. I needed help to do everything. The pain eventually went away, but it took a long time. 

After that experience with the pubic bone, I decided that I just couldn't go through that again--and Jerry and I decided that he would get a vasectomy, just in case I ever forgot about the pain and decided I wanted another baby! ;)

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This e-mail wasn't a question, but I thought it was something I should post:

I have been reading about your breakfast of oatmeal for a while and that you use milk when cooking your oats. I tried it today for the first time. (The thought of hot milk just didn't sound great to me). Needless to say I have REALLY  been missing out. Keep telling everyone about oats and milk because it really made all the difference. Yum!!!

I absolutely agree! Oatmeal is completely different when you cook it in milk rather than water. The flavor and texture are great! I like cow's milk best, but almond milk works too.

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And now a question for all of you...

Do you have any foods that you associate with bad memories, for some reason or another? I know my dad won't eat onion soup because he had the flu one time when he ate it (and subsequently threw it up). I can't eat Turkey Hill Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream, because that is what I ate before I fainted and broke my jaw.

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"How I Lost 130 Pounds" (A guest post by Lealah)

I would like to introduce you to another teammate from my Ragnar Relay team. Lealah (pronounced LAY-luh) was very close to having lap band surgery, but discovered she could lose the weight on her own--and she did. Check out her super inspiring story!

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Hi! My name is Lealah. I've been privileged to be included in an amazing group of people with which to run the Florida Keys Ragnar Relay in 2013, and here is my story:

I've spent my entire life overweight, if not obese.  In 2010, I realized I was incredibly unhappy with the way my life was and with how I felt.  I tried anti-depressants from my doctor and that actually made things worse for me.  I was in a spiral of being depressed and angry, and many times I would direct my anger at the people around me.

I reached a high of 260 lbs, and I felt miserable with nothing to look forward to. I saw a picture of myself and realized exactly how much weight I had gained and why it was so tedious climbing up and down stairs. Everything felt overwhelming.  I felt like there was no escape and the more I thought about trying to change, the more difficult it became to even conceive the idea of a better life with better health.  I felt trapped.

In January of 2010, I had a friend whom was planning getting lap band surgery and I thought "Hey that sounds like something that could work for me!" So I went to several seminars, got really excited, pumped myself up, dreamed of not being fat anymore. Then I got to the financing.

This part made me nervous, but I had found a weight loss surgeon whom I particularly liked that reassured me we'd find a way to make my insurance cover part of it. He said that with a recommendation, his documentation, and reports of prior weight loss attempts, we could make a case for it.  The first step was to lose 10% of my body weight.

On February 15, 2010 I started eating better and I started walking. One month later, I had lost 20 pounds.  I kept going until suddenly I'd lost more than the 10% required to begin the process of weight loss surgery.  I had somewhat forgotten the lap band surgery and every time I thought of it, I remembered the repercussions that came with the surgery.  I LOVE to eat. I knew I did not want to give up so many of my favorite foods and I started thinking to myself, "If I can lose this much with diet and exercise, then maybe I can go all the way."

I found an awesome website called Sparkpeople.com where I tracked my food and exercise.  I got a membership at the YMCA for myself and the kids, and started trying new exercises.  I started using the elliptical, and the first time I got on one, I only lasted about 8 minutes. The next time, I made it 55 minutes.  I tried Yoga, even started trying the Couch to 5k program.

By May, I had started going to Zumba and loved it! The amount of courage it took me to enter that first Zumba class is immeasurable. Being overweight came a huge sense of insecurity and fear of crowds, but I overcame it. I was on a roll, and all the paperwork I had from the different weight loss surgery seminars had been shoved into a drawer somewhere. I no longer even considered that an option.

The summer of 2010, I entered a Subway Weight Loss Challenge to which the winners would be announced at the Midnight Streak 5k. Since I was attempting (struggling horribly through) the Couch to 5k program, I considered signing up for this as my first 5k.  Regrettably, I chickened out, because the running was not going as well I would have liked. I started doubting whether I wanted to pursue running at all or not.  I did, however, win third place for body fat percentage loss.

I continued on my journey and the weight loss started slowing down.  At the beginning of June 2011, I decided to try running again.  This time all the hard work on the elliptical paid off and I started running short distances immediately.  It was tough, but I knew I could do it.  I decided to sign up for my first 5k, and what better way to mark an anniversary than to sign up for the Midnight Streak?

Since then, I have run a total of three 5K's, one Warrior Dash, a 25k, and a half-marathon. I plan on doing the Midnight Streak again and hopefully another mud run this year. Maybe, just maybe, I will run a full marathon in November.  It's hard to believe that only a little over two years ago I was twice my size and could hardly manage getting up the stairs.

Now running is just a part of who I am. But don't misunderstand me; many days I still have to force myself out the door before I realize that yes, I did really want to go for a run.  I just have to remind myself of why I run and why I enjoy it so much. I run for freedom, peace of mind, size 2 jeans, cheat days, and to control my depression and anxiety issues.  I run to breathe.  I truly run for life.  I can't imagine not being a runner now.

I still receive mail from the different weight loss surgery offices I had visited.  It always makes me smile to see because I am instantly reminded of how far I have come. It's been two years and two months since I started this journey and I have traveled a great distance.  I have lost more than half my body weight.  I have become an athlete.  I instruct Zumba twice a week.  I have deemed myself worthy.  I've regained my pride.

Now I'm focusing on bettering myself in all aspects of my life.  Now when I see something in my life that I'm not happy with, instead of wallowing in despair, I look at how to fix it.  How am I going to make my life better?  It takes work and dedication, but it is by no means impossible.  In fact, it's quite possible:

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Henry Ford Museum

For the first day of our little "staycation" break, we were gone ALL day. And I only have a few moments to write this post before we head out again (to a movie). We woke up and got the kids ready for school. I actually would have liked to keep Noah home today (he still wasn't feeling great), but he begged to go to school because he had a field trip at the recycling center today.

After the boys got on the bus, Jerry and I ate a quick breakfast and then headed out for the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. We looked around the museum a little before checking out the Titanic exhibit. There were some fun things to look at!

This was just begging for a photo

This was a cool kitchen from the 1950's

TV's have come a long way!

This is an old-fashioned baby swing/jumper. Pretty cool!

Stuff from MY generation... or maybe slightly later ;)

Remember Simon??

A school desk from the 1950's

Remember: Duck and cover.

  

Because "duck and cover" will protect you from a nuclear blast...

These were some old car seats. They looked more dangerous than the seat of the car!

The museum was really fun. Then we "boarded" the Titanic. I was given a ticket with the name of a woman, and her story. Then at the end, I could see whether I survived the sinking of the ship.

My ticket

Jerry's ticket

 My person was named Elizabeth, and she was 29-years old. She was a widow, traveling alone. We walked through the Titanic exhibit, and it was REALLY neat to see all the artifacts that were collected from the ship. But I liked reading the personal stories on the wall the best. It was so sad to read about the real stories of real people that were traveling on the Titanic.

The exhibit had a huge block of ice that we could touch to see how the temperature of the water felt to the people that were exposed to it that day. I had tears in my eyes more than a few times as we walked through. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there, otherwise I would have. They had a replica of the famous staircase (seen in the movie) and it was AMAZING.

At the end, there was a wall listing the "saved" and the "lost" of the Titanic. Elizabeth's name was with the saved. Benjamin Hart (Jerry's man) was lost. Seeing the numbers of people under the "lost" sections was heartbreaking--and it was even sadder that as the class went up, so did the number of survivors. The crew lost the most, then the third class, then the second class, and the first class lost the fewest people.

We looked around the museum a bit more before heading to lunch.

We went to a pizza place called Pizza Papalis in Dearborn. We ordered a deep dish Chicago-style pizza with green peppers and feta cheese. It was AMAZING. And of course I had a beer with it...

I had two pieces, but I wish I'd only had one--because after we left Pizza Papalis, we went to Whole Foods for dessert. I got a turtle brownie, of course! But I brought it home with me to eat at the movies. I think I might just call that dinner, because I'm really not that hungry after such a filling lunch.

Sorry this is so hastily written, but we have to head out to the movie now! Not sure what we're seeing yet.

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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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