Reader Questions & Answers #22

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 did you prepare for the half-marathon that you walked?

A. The first half-marathon that I walked (my first race ever, actually) was the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in 2008. I had no idea what to expect, but my sister had walked one, and told me I could do it if I trained for it. She stressed how important it was to train, because I would be really sore if I didn't.

In retrospect, I should have listened ;)  I was very overweight at the time I registered (probably about 215? This was after losing some weight). I guess I assumed that walking was "just walking", and anyone could walk 13.1 miles. I did about 2-3 training walks of a few miles each in the fall--and nothing else until the race in May. Very bad idea!

Totally miserable! 2008

I was miserable the entire time, my legs and feet were absolutely killing me, and I could barely walk back to the hotel afterward. It didn't get any better, and I went to a podiatrist when I got home. He said I had pretty bad tendonitis, and I wound up in a walking cast for a few weeks. I registered for the following year's race, but made sure to train for it.

So to answer your question, I followed a training schedule by Hal Higdon for walking a half-marathon. I was so worried about screwing up my feet and legs like I had the previous year, that I made sure to follow it to the letter. The first week of his program has a three-mile walk for the long walk day, so you should be able to do that before you start the program. If you can't walk three miles yet, I would build up to that first.

Hal's training plan is 12 weeks, so I would count backwards from your race and pick the date to start the plan. I think throughout the whole schedule, I missed only a couple of walks. I made SURE to get in the long walks once a week, but if I had to miss a shorter walk once in a while, it wasn't the end of the world.

On race day in 2009, I was my heaviest at 253 pounds (my "before" photo, with the blue shirt, was taken at that race). But I felt GREAT when I finished the race! The training had certainly paid off, and I enjoyed myself. I could walk afterward, even though I was sore--it was a "normal" sore, and not the kind that took me to the doctor ;)  

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Q. Am I the only one that keeps slicing her legs while shaving because I'm not used to the bones?

A. This question made me laugh. I'm not sure if it was hypothetical or not, but I wanted to respond. I've not had that problem with my legs (my legs are anything-but bony!), but I remember the day I discovered why armpits are called armpits. 

This is probably way more than you wanted to know about me, but when I was heavy, my armpits weren't really "pits" at all--they were flat and very easy to shave. But when I had lost a good chunk of weight, probably about 80 pounds or so, I noticed that my armpits were concave and much harder to shave! Then it dawned on me, "Ohhhh, that's why they are called armpits. Duh!"

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This isn't a question, but I wasn't sure where else to fit it in. I get a lot of e-mails from companies and websites asking me to mention them in my blog. Normally, I send a polite "thanks-but-no-thanks", but I got an e-mail from a company recently that really "tugged at my heartstrings" (words of the very wise Mattie Stepanek). Here is a quote from the e-mail I received from Jessica, the woman who started Headbands of Hope:

This little girl is Tori

"Last year, I participated in a summer internship with the Make a Wish Foundation. I found that many girls fighting childhood cancer lose their hair during their rigorous chemotherapy treatments. I realized that headbands are the perfect way for these girls to keep their feminine identity and have a constant reminder that they're not alone.

For girls and women everywhere, their hair is a part of their feminine identity. Wigs can be uncomfortable and unappealing, especially to younger girls. Therefore, I started Headbands of Hope. For every headband purchased, one headband will go to a girl with cancer and $1 will be donated to the St. Baldrick's Foundation to fund life-saving childhood cancer research.
Headbands of Hope provides a movement to spread hope in all girls and fight in the battle against childhood cancer, one headband at a time. We have a glitter athletic band line that would be perfect for your readers. I'm a runner and I run in them all the time!"

I think it's amazing what Headbands of Hope is doing! The headbands are really cute, and I just ordered one for myself. It's heartbreaking for ANY child to go through something like cancer, and I love that Headbands of Hope has a mission to make little girls feel pretty, despite the awful cancer treatments. So if you like headbands, or you are looking for a gift for a little girl, I encourage you to check out their website :)

Jessica wrote on her blog about how the idea for the headbands came about--just beware, I sobbed while reading it!

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NatureBox Giveaway!

Noah is home, safe and sound. My sister, Jeanie, and brother-in-law, Shawn, drove him here yesterday. They are staying for a few days to visit, and they brought their two basset hounds with them. Jeanie and Shawn don't have kids, and they treat their bassets like children. Jeanie was very worried about leaving Remy (short for Remington) tonight, when they go to Shawn's high school reunion.

Since she certainly did her share of spoiling Noah rotten while he was staying at her house, I decided to take Remy for a walk this evening. I am definitely not a "dog person", but it was the least I could do. We walked about 3 miles, and on the way back to the car, we stopped at a frozen custard stand so I could buy him an ice cream cone...

I wasn't really in the mood for ice cream. I KNOW--what the heck, right?! I must be coming down with something.

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Anyway, on to the giveaway...

A company called NatureBox contacted me recently and asked if I would like to try their July box. I checked out their website, and was intrigued. When I was a kid, I used to LOVE buying grab bags from the dollar store--the whole mystery of not knowing what you were buying always sucked me in ;)

Which is one of the reasons I think this company is pretty fun--you pay a monthly subscription, and they send you a box filled with 4-6 different bags of snacks. Each month has different products, so you never know what you're going to get. A lot of the snacks look like varieties of nuts and dried fruits, which you know I LOVE. All of their products contain:

When I got the box, there were 5 different bags of snacks. I won't go into a lot of detail about the snacks themselves, because you would be getting different ones than I got. But they were really good! I pretty much inhaled the trail mix, and Eli claimed the BBQ sunflower seeds as his. Jerry and I both agreed the tomato almonds were our favorite (which is strange, because neither of us like tomatoes). Between me, Jerry, and Eli, all 5 bags were nearly polished off within two days.

NatureBox has very generously offered to give a box away to one lucky Runs for Cookies reader! (I'm sorry international friends, but you must live in the U.S. for this one). FYI, the box you get will not be the same as the box I got--it will be a future month's box. Also, they cannot customize the box for dietary needs (i.e. gluten free, nut allergies, etc) at this time--although it's a possibility for the future.

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment here telling me what you look for when choosing a snack. I will select a winner Monday (7/23) at 8:00 a.m. EST. CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED.

NatureBox is also offering 25% off your first month of subscription if you use the promo code ZESTY (the 25% discount is only applicable to the month-to-month subscription. 6 month subscriptions receive 1 month free and 12 month subscriptions receive 3 months free).

(In full disclosure, I was given a NatureBox for free to review, but I was not paid for the post and all opinions are truthful).

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Double workout

I have no idea why I was anxious about my long run this morning, but I didn't get much sleep last night because of it. I think I was just worried about being so sore and trying to run 12 miles. My calves were still very tight and sore when I got out of bed, but I was determined not to skip my run. Eli spent the night at my parents' house last night, so I was able to take advantage of that and run outside.

It was also very nice running weather this morning, considering the weather we've had lately. It was 67 degrees and overcast. I did my favorite trail through the Metropark, but had to add in a little extra to hit 12 miles.

As soon as I started running, I thought, "Oh wow, this is going to be a long run!" because my calves were hurting from the Wii Active. I hoped they would loosen up after a couple of miles, and they did--thank goodness. I ran 5 miles, going to the far point of the Metropark, then turned around.

As soon as I turned around, I was running directly into a strong wind. I had no idea how windy it was, because it was at my back the whole way out. As soon as I wasn't so close to the lake, the wind wasn't too bad anymore. Instead of following my route back to the car, I did a 2-mile detour to add some mileage.

I ran a dirt trail that loops through the woods and right along the lake. I love to run that spot!

This picture was from April. Now everything is full and green, so it's a lot thicker. But still, you get the idea.

I refilled my water at about mile 8. That was actually the only time I stopped throughout the entire run. My knee held up perfectly, so I didn't have to do any walk breaks. I kept a pretty even pace the whole time, which is my main goal on my long runs--to stay consistent.

At about mile 9, this guy came up behind me riding a very strange looking little bike thing (I just did a Google search, and it is apparently called a Trikke). It looks like this:

source

I told him it looks like fun, and he said he calls it his "Butt Master" because it really works the backside of his legs. He said when he first got it, he couldn't even go a whole city block, because it's such hard exercise. And from the looks of it, I believe him! I tried to get a picture after he passed, but you can't see much:

As soon as I hit mile 11, just a mile from the car, a girl turned a corner and was running about a block ahead of me. She was dressed in the tiniest shorts I've ever seen and a sports bra. She didn't have a single jiggle of skin or fat anywhere. And she was fast. I tried keeping pace with her, but that lasted all of 15 seconds. Finally made it back to the car, feeling really good about my run...

As I drove home, I remembered that I also was supposed to do the Wii Active 30-Day Challenge today. I really didn't want to! My legs were extremely sore from the last two workouts, and I had just run 12 miles. But like I said, I am determined to finish the challenge this time. So I didn't even eat breakfast before jumping into the Wii Active workout. Thankfully, there was a lot of focus on arms today. I did have to do the inline skating once, which was killer; and I had to do side-to-side jumps, but those went by fast.

This time my heart rate monitor said I burned more calories than the game. The heart rate monitor showed a burn of 150 calories, compared to 145 on the game. My heart was probably working a little harder since I was already exhausted from the run.

I quickly showered and all I could think of was breakfast. I am rarely in the mood for eggs, but I really wanted scrambled eggs with potatoes and cheese. So I peeled and shredded a potato, and cooked it with some diced green pepper, and then added 3 eggs and a wedge of chipotle Laughing Cow cheese. It was SO good, and just what I needed after all the exercise.

I read my book until Jerry woke up, and then we (along with Eli) went to Cracker Barrel for lunch so I could get my beloved pecan pancakes. They were fantastic, as always, but the service was terrible and it kind of ruined my runner's high. I told Jerry maybe I'll think of a different treat to refuel my long runs with. The last two times we've gone there, the service was bad.

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I actually finished The Glass Castle today! Much sooner than I expected to, which means it held my interest enough to make me want to keep reading. It reminded me SO MUCH of the TV show on Showtime called "Shameless". (I absolutely love that show!) But anyway, the book was great and I'm glad I read it. Thanks to all of you who suggested it! Next I'm going to start on Racing Weight.

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Lots and lots of lunges

Another dentist appointment this morning... this time for Eli. I'd always taken the boys to a pediatric dentist (40 minutes away!) but it was so hard to get an appointment, and then when they called to cancel my last appointment, I decided I'd had it. So I'm switching the kids over to the same dentist and hygienist that I see.

Eli is a total pro at going to the dentist--when he was three, he had to have braces. Yes, like the kind you get as a teenager. He had a cross bite that made him unable to bring his molars together, and consequently, he would choke on his food a LOT because he couldn't chew it well. So the dentist put braces on for four months in order to correct his bite--and it worked perfectly! He was seriously the cutest kid EVER with those braces though...

He used to call them his "bracelets".

So anyway, I looked like a weirdo walking into the dentist because I was walking so strangely--I was SUPER sore when I woke up today. I thought my calves were sore yesterday? Ha! Today I could just barely move around for the first half of the day.

I so badly wanted to put off the next Wii Active workout, but I'm determined to finish this 30-day challenge, so I waited until evening. Thankfully, the workout didn't include the inline skating, because I don't think I could have done that. Instead, I had to do at least 30,000 lunges--I hate lunges! The side lunges aren't TOO bad, but I really despise the forward/backward lunges. I was seriously cursing at the TV. But I finished workout 2 of 20.

Of course this is the day before my long run, so I can only hope my legs aren't feeling like Jello tomorrow morning! I totally underestimated how well the Wii Active actually works my body. I wore my Garmin heart rate monitor during the workout today to see how accurate the calorie burn was...

The Wii said 157 calories and my Garmin said 133, so it's not too far off.

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I got a package from Amazon today. I love getting packages, because it feels like Christmas--even though I already knew what it was, since I ordered it ;) I have this habit of putting things in my Amazon cart and leaving them there for a really long time until I either remove them or buy them. It's actually a good thing, because then I don't make very impulsive purchases. I had two items in my cart for the longest time: a Teavana Perfectea Maker and the book Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.

Then last week, I made a totally impulsive purchase, and while I was at it, I finally ordered the tea maker and book as well. My totally impulsive purchase? A 96-count package of single-serve Nutella! hahaha

I LOVE Nutella, but I can never keep a jar of it in the house, because I will eat it all--in one or two sittings. So these little things are perfect for me. I can even eat it right out of each container (because of course that's the best way) and not have to worry about eating too much. Eli was very excited about getting the Nutella as well ;)

Also in the package were my Teavana Perfectea Maker and book:

I never buy books--ever since I discovered what a gem the public library is, I don't like to waste money on books. But Racing Weight isn't available at my library, or even in my library system. So I finally decided to just order it on Amazon. I'm super excited to read it, but I refuse to start it until I've finished my current book, The Glass Castle. (Now that I think about it, that's probably why I never finished The Glass Castle the first time I attempted it--I have a bad habit of starting a book, then getting a new one, and reading the new one instead of finishing the previous book). I'll write a review on Racing Weight once I'm done reading it, since it's pretty relevant to my blog.

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Noah comes home from my sister's house tomorrow. I'm actually really surprised how fast the week without him went by! It sounds like he had a totally miserable time on his little vacation... ;)

My sister's Facebook status today

Hahaha, he's going to be SO sad to leave tomorrow, I'm sure! My sister and her husband are driving back here with him, and then they are going to stay for a few days to visit. Should be a fun weekend!

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Special delivery

As soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I thought, "Wow, my calves are so sore!" I was hoping that my thighs would be sore from yesterday's workout, but I mostly just felt it in my calves and triceps.

Today's scheduled run was the same as last week--15 minutes easy, then two repeats of (10 minutes tempo pace, then 3 minutes easy), finishing with 10 minutes easy. A total of 51 minutes. I chose to do the treadmill again. The treadmill makes doing tempo runs much simpler. When I run outside, I tend to daydream and totally forget that I'm supposed to be holding a particular pace. On the treadmill, you just set the pace and forget about it.

I did the "easy" pace at 6.0 mph and the tempo pace at a comfortably-hard 7.0.

I watched Season 9 Episode 3 of The Biggest Loser while I ran, and it wasn't very interesting today--which made the treadmill very boring at times. I need to find a show that I can get really interested in so that I don't even mind that I'm on a treadmill. Especially when I have to do some of my long runs on the treadmill, which is bound to happen sooner or later.

I had set the calibration to 900 on my Garmin foot pod, and found that that was pretty close to what the treadmill was reading, so I will leave it at that. But I really don't believe my treadmill is properly calibrated, as I've mentioned before. Even the timer on it is off--I started the Garmin's timer just 5 seconds after the treadmill timer, and by the end of the run, the treadmill timer was off by 12 seconds instead of 5!

It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it makes me wonder how off the speed is, too. I'm glad I chose the marathon training program I did this time around, because the runs are based on time rather than distance (except for the long runs). So it really doesn't matter how fast or slow I go, because I'm going to be running for a specific time regardless.

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For breakfast this morning, I decided to make the same thing as yesterday--but cold oatmeal, this time. When I ate the Banana Cranberry Oat Bars, I always ate them right out of the fridge because they tasted the best that way. So yesterday, when I recreated the bars with hot oatmeal, it was lacking that one little element. Today I combined 1/2 cup quick oats, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk, and 1/2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup in a bowl, and then let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes while I showered and dressed. When I took it out, I topped it with 1/2 a sliced banana, and a sprinkle of coconut and dried cranberries. It was heavenly! The cold oats made it perfect:

I didn't put almond butter on it this time, but I didn't miss it at all. I think I actually preferred it without the almond butter.

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I had a dentist appointment this morning, just for a cleaning. I despise going to the dentist, but I really do like my hygenist and my dentist. My dentist is a runner, so we usually chat about that--today I told him about the Ragnar Relay Florida Keys team. I get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about the race! Of course I'm way more excited to meet my team than I am about running the race, but I'm just nervous and giddy about the whole experience. Nervous in a good way, of course!

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So I started reading The Glass Castle yesterday, and I was right--I knew I had read it (or at least started it) before. But I have no idea why I didn't finish it, because this book is so good!! I had planned on making myself read 20 pages per day, but I found I didn't want to stop reading, and I'm already halfway through it (meaning I've been reading ALL day). I really do love a good memoir.

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I got a very special delivery from Fitness magazine today. I was super excited when I opened it:

Some awesome fitness gear and my "official" Fitterati award!

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Wii Active

I don't know what possessed my mind this morning to think about a long-ago goal I had given up on--but I'm glad it did! When I was obese, Jerry got a gift card from work that was the exact amount of a Wii--so we bought one. And in one of my many attempts to lose weight, I purchased Wii Active. The Wii Active is a type of circuit workout, with strength training and a little cardio.

It was the 30-day challenge that attracted me to it. It guides you through 20 workouts in 30 days. There is a low-impact, medium-impact, and high impact option. The first time I attempted the challenge, I chose medium. After a couple of days, I just found it was too hard, and I quit. The next time around, I chose low-impact, hoping I could do it. Again, it was hard, and I made excuses not to do it.

This morning, I happened to look at the Wii and think, "I'm going to finish that fucking challenge if it's the last thing I do."

I mean, I've run a MARATHON, so how could I possibly be intimidated by a <30 minute video game workout?! I think I just associate the game with a feeling of failure.

I want to keep up with the strength training I've been doing, because I'm sure it's helping my knee, but I don't want to get bored with what I'm doing--so I figure the Wii is a good change-up. I popped in the disc and set up a brand new profile--this time setting it to "high-impact"--go big or go home, right? ;)

I have to say, I really enjoyed it! It wasn't "too hard" this time, but I definitely broke a good sweat (the inline skating is killer on my legs).

Workout 1 of 20 is complete. I wish I had worn my Garmin as a heart rate monitor, because I'm curious how accurate that calorie burn is. Based on how I was feeling and sweating, I would guess it's pretty accurate.

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I was really craving Banana Cranberry Oat Bars for breakfast, but it never fails that I will make a batch with good intentions, only to binge on them later. I decided to make a bowl of oatmeal with the same main ingredients and hopefully get the same taste without having a whole batch to deal with. It was really good, and definitely killed that craving!

Oatmeal with maple syrup stirred in, then topped with 1/2 a sliced banana, a sprinkle of coconut and dried cranberries, and (as an afterthought) a dollop of almond butter. Normally, I'm not a banana-person. I like bananas, but I don't LOVE them. Which is why it surprises me so much that I love those bars! But it's the combination of the bananas + coconut + cranberries that keeps me coming back for more.

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One of the many books I requested at the library became available and I picked it up today. It's The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls. I could swear that I've read this book before! It looks so familiar and even the first chapter is very familiar. What I think probably happened is I started it once before, then lost interest and never finished it. I am setting a goal to read 20 pages per day, so I should finish it in two weeks.

I know, 20 pages is not very ambitious, but I am a super slow reader... and I don't spend much time reading at all. I'm behind on blog reading, on e-mail, and I have a few TV shows that I enjoy as well ;)

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I am the "Featured Fitterati" this week on Fitness.com. You can read the short bio here on the Featured Fitterati: Weight Loss Blog if you'd like!

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Discovery Kids' Cruise

I was awakened at around 6:00 this morning by the phone ringing--it was Noah. In Illinois, that would have been 5:00! I couldn't believe he was calling so early. And all he wanted was to ask if he could buy a game on his iPod. He's having a blast with his Aunt Jeanie--he hadn't even been in Illinois for 5 hours when I got a text saying, "Mama, this is Noah. Aunt Jeanie bought me a phone. I love it!" Hahaha, he is sooo spoiled by her.

I took Eli to Vacation Bible School at 9, and then came home to run on the treadmill. I actually could have run outside if I wanted, but I have actually been enjoying my treadmill runs lately--crazy, right?! I'm watching Season 9 of The Biggest Loser while I run now, and today was the second episode.

On my running schedule was 20 minutes easy, followed by six repeats of (2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy), then 10 minutes easy for a cool-down. It looked like this:

I set my "easy" pace at 6.0 mph, and then did the first two hard repeats at 8.0 mph. That was HARD--8.0 felt pretty easy for a 30-second sprint, but doing 2 minutes at a time today was so much harder. So I dropped it to 7.0 for the next interval, then up to 7.5, then back down to 7.0 for the last two.

My Garmin foot pod was STILL off calibration today! I overcorrected it last time, I guess, because today it showed that I was going slower than the treadmill showed. I'm just glad that my schedule has me train by TIME instead of distance.

After that second 8.0 interval, I wanted SO badly to stop running for a minute, and just rest. I couldn't believe how exhausted it made me. I went back to 6.0 after the interval, but it was all I could do not to hop off and catch my breath. I was surprised just how fast the whole 54 minutes went by.

After my run, I showered and stopped at the grocery store before picking up Eli. I picked up the stuff to cook burgers on the grill (a veggie burger for me) tonight, because we invited my friend Adam over for dinner tonight.

Eli looking at plankton

We had just enough time to eat lunch at home before we had to leave again. I had registered us for a Kids Discovery Cruise at the Metropark--where we would go out on their boat and the kids would learn about the lake. Jerry ended up being off work today, so I registered him at the last minute as well.

The cruise was okay--I think Noah would have loved it--but definitely not Eli's thing. Eli LOVES to fish and be very active, so sitting on a boat and learning things was just not very exciting for him. They did some hands-on stuff, but he lost interest quickly. It was supposed to be 2 hours, but we didn't get back to the park until a half-hour later than scheduled.

My dad was there with his boat, waiting for us, so that he could take Eli out fishing. It was cute, because you could tell Eli was so proud that his grandpa was there in a boat waiting to take him fishing ;)  Jerry and I went home and tried to clean the house a little before Adam came over.

Adam is one of those friends that couldn't give a shit if the house is messy (thank God!) so there wasn't too much pressure ;) 

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One of the other Fitterati, The Wannabe Athlete, wrote a great post for Fitness that I wanted to share with you. She writes about being a slower runner (10+ minutes per mile) and I could relate to this so much! I thought a lot of you would enjoy it as well, if for no other reason than to know that we're not alone ;)  You can read her post called "On Behalf Of All the 10+ Minute Mile Runners" if you're interested.

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Reader Questions & Answers #21

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 was wondering how you have found out about all the races you've run. Is there a website somewhere where I could look them up?

A. Most of the races I've done, I heard about from friends. But there is a website called Active.com that lists tons of races, and you can search by your zip code or city. I like looking on Active.com because you can get an idea of how big the race is. The site links to the race websites, so you can check it out and look at photos from last year's races.

Whenever I go to buy new running shoes from the running store near me, I check out their "wall of races"--they have dozens of fliers for local races. Some of those interest me, so I'll grab a few fliers and look them up online when I get home.

Q. When you were losing weight did the compliments ever embarrass you? Maybe its because I still have such a long way to go, or embarrassment that I let myself get so overweight, or even that, yes I've lost weight...but I could have tried harder or skipped a dessert and lost more? But the compliments don't motivate me, they just embarrass me.

A. Definitely! I was still very overweight when people started complimenting me, and I was embarrassed about accepting a compliment. I realize now that it's because I had very low self-esteem, and I thought that as an obese person, I didn't deserve to be told that I was "pretty". Jerry even started calling me "Sticks" after I had lost 10 pounds--I was horribly embarrassed about that! hahaha

But when people give you compliments, it's not because they are forced to--accept the compliments graciously, because they really do mean what they say! You're worthy of compliments, even if you feel like you "could have lost more" or "tried harder". You're obviously making strides to improve your life, so that is definitely compliment-worthy!

Q. I saw that you wrote in an entry that you first decided you wanted to run a 5k when you were around 220 lbs, but you didn't start training until you were at 190 lbs. Is that because you were worried about the impact on your joints? I'm holding off on running until I hit around 195 for that reason, and I'm wondering if your rationale was the same.

A. Honestly, I didn't give a single thought to my joints before I started running. The reason I didn't start exercising sooner was because exercise always--and I mean always--made my weight loss slow way down. It was frustrating, so I held off as long as I could. I knew I was going to walk the half-marathon in Indy, so I had to start training for that. After that was over, I just kept going and instead of walking, I added running. You can read my whole running story here on my running page.

That said, I didn't have joint problems when I was overweight, so that's why it wasn't a factor for me. But if you have issues with your joints, I would definitely get your doctor's advice regardless. If your doctor gives you the okay, then it should be just fine to start now. Make sure you check out Carly's story--she started running at 350 pounds! She has now lost over 100 pounds and has run a half-marathon. Amazing, right?!

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Bowling party

First thing's first--the winner of the Sinless Margarita Mix is:

Nicole, please contact me with your shipping info (name, address, phone number) at SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com within 24 hours, or I will pick a new winner. Congrats, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

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As I wrote yesterday, I was really nervous that nobody was going to show up for Noah's party. We were having it at a bowling alley, and I originally planned on about 8 kids--we invited at least 12, and I only got two "yes" RSVP's. I just didn't want Noah to feel bad!

Thankfully, he had a decent turnout! Three of his friends, plus Noah and Eli, of course... and one boy showed up long enough to give Noah a gift, but he couldn't stay (it was so nice of them to show up, even for only a minute). Most importantly, Noah had a blast and said it was the best birthday party he's ever had--success!

Noah had requested a cookie cake--and not just any cookie cake, but one that was decorated like a blue/yellow marbled bowling ball. I was thinking I would just order it from Mrs. Fields, but I knew I would pay an arm and a leg for it, so I decided to try and make it myself.

If you remember the last time I made a birthday cake, you'll know why I wasn't too confident in making Noah's cake! I didn't make the dough, because I always tend to screw something up while baking (see link above), so I just bought a large tube of dough at the store. Baked it in a tart pan, and then colored some store-bought frosting. It turned out to be pretty hideous, but Noah loved it, so that is all that is important ;)

That would be my attempt at a blue/yellow marbled bowling ball. One kid commented, "I don't want the piece with the nose."  LOL, yes, this bowling ball has a nose, apparently.

The cake tasted delicious, despite how ugly it was. I gave the last piece to the guy who was working at the bowling alley, so that I wouldn't be tempted to eat it myself (I did have a piece of it, but I knew I would eat another if I brought it home). 

When we got home, I had to quickly pack Noah enough clothes for the next 7 days--because he's going to be visiting my sister in Illinois! He's super excited about it. When I broke my jaw, my sister came to Michigan right away and took Eli to her house for a week while I was in the hospital (and Noah stayed with my parents). Since Eli had his week with Aunt Jeanie, Noah wanted his turn. I know he's going to have a blast, so I am happy for him. It's going to be a tough week with just Eli--I am going to have to try and keep him entertained.

It really feels like a Sunday to me, for some reason. I'm so glad that it's not, because I feel like I need more weekend. I'm kind of dreading Eli's "I'm bored!" that I'm sure to hear 1,000 times tomorrow when he realizes that he misses his brother ;) It's going to be hard this week not to use food as entertainment! I can imagine taking him out for lunch, for ice cream, etc... but I have to be VERY careful. I'm not doing great at losing weight, but I AM maintaining right now, so I am happy just for that!

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Noah's birthday

I had another very humid long run today, but thankfully I learned some lessons from last time that were helpful.

Surprisingly, I didn't wake up at ALL during the night--which is so strange! I almost always wake up about every hour or two, because I'm such a light sleeper. But at 5:55, I looked at the clock and thought, "Shit! I better get ready to go!" I wanted to beat the heat and get out early for my 11-miler.

My schedule said "7 miles easy + 4 miles at marathon pace". I'm choosing a goal for the marathon that should be pretty easy--I really want this to be my last full marathon, and my only real goal is to have a time that starts with a 4 instead of a 5. Yes, that was my goal for the last marathon, but I wasn't factoring in my knee injury + the heat index of 95 degrees that day. So to finish sub-5 hours in the fall, I will need to run an 11:24/mi pace. Very do-able. I'm going to be training faster than that by about a full minute per mile on my long runs to ensure that I will be able to do it.

I drove about 20 minutes and parked at a community center to use the same trail that I always use. This way, I would be running into the sun for the first half of the run, and away from the sun for the second half--the opposite of what I did last time (Lesson #1 that I had learned). I also brought Powerade in my hydration belt (Lesson #2).

I felt much less pressure this time, because I had decided that my pace didn't matter. I wanted to run by feel alone, and forget about what my Garmin said. I had to go pee almost immediately, but I figured I could hold it until the turn-around point at mile 5.3 ish. It was hot running with the sun beating down on me, but I was really glad that it was the beginning of my run instead of later at the end, when I was tired.

I must have seen at least 1,000 rabbits. They were everywhere! A couple of miles into the run, I kept hearing a clicking noise coming from my shoe. I looked down and noticed that my foot pod was still on my shoe. I stopped for a second to mess with it and get it to stop clicking. Ran a few steps and it happened again. Then I realized it wasn't the foot pod, but the plastic part of my shoelace hitting the top of the foot pod--so I tucked the shoe lace under, and was good to go again.

I stopped at the bathrooms at mile 5.3 for a minute, then kept running. At mile 6.5, I stopped at a water fountain to refill my water bottle. Then I didn't stop again until I was back at my car. I didn't have to take a single walk break! It's been a long time since I've been able to do that--either the heat or my knee made me walk a little here and there, but today I did fine with the whole 11 miles. And I was very happy with my consistent splits.

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Today is Noah's 8th birthday! Jerry is off today, and Noah requested to go to Chuck E Cheese's--so the four of us went there before lunchtime. There were only about three kids total in the place, so it was nice and quiet! :) After the kids spent their tokens, we went to a bakery called "Just Baked" for cupcakes. I'd never been there before, so I was excited to go.

However, when I saw the cupcakes were $3 each, I changed my mind about getting one for myself (so did Jerry). It actually wasn't very hard to turn them down, because with the exception of the bumpy cupcake, they didn't have a lot of frosting--and you know that the frosting is my favorite part! Each of the boys picked one out and Noah asked if we could have lunch at Red Robin. I was a little worried about leaving the cupcakes in the car, but Jerry said, "Oh, they'll be fine--they might get a little soft, but we'll stick them in the fridge when we get home."

I was really excited to see that Red Robin will substitute a veggie burger on any of their burgers for no extra charge--so I chose to get a cheeseburger (Gardenburger) with the works. It was delicious!

 After lunch, we headed out to the car, and I discovered (what was left of) Noah's bumpy cupcake:

That is NOT what it looked like when we bought it. All of the ganache had melted away as well as the buttercream frosting inside. Noah was bummed, and because it was his birthday, I said we would go get him a new one. We went back to Just Baked, and I was kind of hoping the girl who was working would take pity on Noah and give him a free one, but no such luck. We paid $3 for another cupcake:

On the way home,the peanut butter frosting on Eli's was starting to fall off, so I pushed it back on--making a mess in the process:

At that point, I held the cupcakes up to the air conditioning, hoping to keep them in one piece until we got home. What a disappointment! I have no idea why these were so melty. I've never had a problem with my cupcakes from Whole Foods melting on the way home.

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Despite the cupcake issues, it was a fun family day and I think Noah was pleased with his birthday :) Tomorrow is his birthday party--and I'm a nervous wreck that nobody will show up. We sent out the invitations and almost everyone said they couldn't make it. I got two "yesses", so I am praying that those two boys actually show up. I didn't hear back from 2-3 more people, so who knows!

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