Sweet 16

Today is a very significant day for me.

Three years ago, I weighed 253 pounds. I was disgusted with the way I was living my life, and I felt like I wasn't being a very good mom to my boys because of it. I woke up on this day three years ago, and began what was the start of a 16 month journey to lose 125 pounds.

Today, I woke up with a task that was challenging as well--running 16 miles as a training run for my marathon. I've run 16 miles before, so it wasn't "new" to me, but that was with Jessica, and today was my longest solo run yet. On this anniversary today, since I had to run 16 miles, and it took me 16 months to lose the weight, I figured it couldn't be a coincidence--and I decided to use those miles to reflect on my weight loss journey.

Before starting (both the weight loss and the run today), I thought about how daunting the task seemed. I felt very overwhelmed with what was in front of me. However, I knew that I had what it took to get 'er done, so I started--with a single step in the right direction.

Mile 1/Month 1: At the very beginning of my weight loss, I felt like it was going to take FOREVER to get to my goal. Each small loss that I had on the scale seemed like nothing in the grand scheme of things. Just like on my run today, each step was so small when I was looking at 16 miles in front of me.

Mile 2/Month 2: I found my rhythm, although I was still overwhelmed with the huge task in front of me.

Mile 3/Month 3: Starting to see some progress, but still tempted to take short cuts to "finish early" and worry about the consequences of the short cuts later.

Mile 4/Month 4: Feeling strong and confident that I can keep going.

Mile 5/Month 5: Starting to think of excuses to stop now, but knowing that they will be poor excuses and I'll kick myself later if I stop.

Mile 6/Month 6: Feeling like I'm doing something "special", something most people don't do (both in the weight loss and running 16 miles).

Mile 7/Month 7: Definitely in the groove, and feeling strong--moving faster (this is when I started running during my weight loss journey).

Mile 8/Month 8: Halfway done. Feeling like I've come SO far, but still seeing how far I have to go.

Mile 9/Month 9: Getting tired of this, and just wishing I could see the finish line already.

Mile 10/Month 10: Double digits in the run today, and my first double digit miles walk in 2010.

Mile 11/Month 11: Starting to have the confidence that I might actually do this!!

Mile 12/Month 12: Feeling like my body is starting to slow down (fatigue during the run, and the weight loss slowed on my journey).

Mile 13/Month 13: Having a very hard time keeping on. Tired of it, and just wanting it to be over already!

Mile 14/Month 14: The last little bit ahead seems like it's taking forever, but knowing that if I stop now, I will be very disappointed in myself for quitting when I'm so close to the end.

Mile 15/Month 15: The hardest on my body--during the run, I was starting to feel very achy and fatigued; during the weight loss, I fell and broke my jaw.

Mile 16/Month 16: The home stretch. Pushing my limits, and feeling on top of the world. SO happy to have accomplished the task that seemed so impossible in the beginning.

Today I realized that the whole weight loss journey is a lot like running (a long run, in particular). I started off feeling so overwhelmed with what lay ahead of me, and trying to come up with every excuse in the book not to start. Even as the miles/months passed, I felt strong in the beginning, then I got tired of it and just wanted it to be over. There were times I wanted to quit early, for various reasons, or look for shortcuts, but I persevered. And toward the end, I felt amazing and realized that all those tough moments made the end result that much sweeter.

And even now, having run the 16 miles, I know it's not over--I have to run 18 next week, and in October, I'll be running 26.2. It will never be over! Just like the weight loss--sometimes I do really well at maintenance, and sometimes I struggle through every single day (or step, in a run). But I am ALWAYS happy that I'm working so hard at it, and my body thanks me for that.

I realize that this whole post is a little corny, but the comparison between running and weight loss was so evident that I had to write about it. So whether you're just starting, or midway through your own journey, just keep in mind that there are good days and bad days, but it is WORTH IT!

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Softball tournament

What a long day in the sun!

Today was Jerry's annual softball tournament. It's in Novi, which is almost an hour from us. I had a blast last year, so I was actually excited to go again. The kids stayed with my parents, so it was just Jerry and I.

This year, Jerry was on the team called the 'Misfits', who I hung out with last year. They are hilarious, and I was happy when Jerry chose to play on that team this year.

The Misfits have always been considered the "underdogs" because they don't take it too seriously. They weren't even given new uniforms this year, even though all the other teams got them. They got a hotel last night and were out drinking until the middle of the night, and then they showed up for their first game at 9:00 this morning. (Jerry and I didn't go last night, we left this morning)

Yes, that would be my husband with his pants hiked up

The whole team makes fun of each other mercilessly, and I couldn't stop laughing all day. I cannot imagine girls acting like that with each other! But the whole group of guys were seriously a blast.

During the tournament, once a team loses two games, they're out. Last year, the Misfits lost the first two games and then hung out in the parking lot. Jerry and I were kind of expecting the same thing today, and sure enough, they lost the first game (pretty badly) to Texas.

We had an hour before the next game, so we went to the parking lot for beer. I volunteered to drive, so I didn't drink anything (that always helped me when I was losing weight--being designated driver!) I have to run 16 miles tomorrow, so I had a big incentive to keep it healthy today.

The beer must have helped, because they had a great second game and won! We had lunch after that. I didn't want to have burgers and hot dogs that were provided (because I had to eat healthy for my long run tomorrow) so I brought a lunch--tuna and Triscuits, oranges, and pretzels.

The Misfits just kept getting better, and they won their third game. Jerry was being his usual goofy self, and tried distracting the pitcher by pulling his pants up reeeeally high, so they became "nut huggers". I don't think anyone but our team thought it was funny. ;-)

Their fourth game was against Texas again, and The Misfits actually mercied them!!

I think the whole team was exhausted after that, because they finally lost game #5, against Indiana. But that gave them third place overall, which was totally unexpected by everybody. I was so excited to see them do so well.

It was such a fun day. I haven't laughed that much in a long time!

I was starving for dinner on the way home. I ended up throwing together some stir-fried veggies, fettuccine, and spaghetti sauce. It wasn't as good as it sounded in my head, but it did the job. I'm nervous as heck about my 16-miler tomorrow. I have no idea why I'm so nervous about it! I'm going to try and go early, to get done before it gets hot outside. It's going to take me almost three hours--yikes!

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A lion cut

Thanks for the anniversary wishes yesterday! While our anniversary wasn't exactly exciting, it was definitely interesting.

I was bummed that I had scheduled my doctor's appointment at 3:00 yesterday, so I ended up going in at 10:00 just for my lab work (typical annual physical stuff), and I rescheduled my appointment for next week. Our insurance makes us get an annual physical by August 31st, and I always wait until the last minute. I promised my doctor I would at least try and get in a little earlier this year!

Jerry and the boys went with me, and from there, we went school clothes shopping for the boys. This is the first year we've actually gone shopping for school clothes--normally, I get their stuff at garage sales the summer before. But I didn't do much any garage saleing this summer. Jerry and I withdrew $200 from our savings account for the clothes, and we ended up spending $199.86! The boys got all the stuff they'll need though.

After we went shopping, we went out to lunch to celebrate our anniversary--yes, even with the kids. The kids were begging to go to Amigos, our favorite Mexican restaurant. As soon as our food got to the table, BOTH of the boys said they had to go poop--so Jerry had to take them to the bathroom. It took forever, and I ended up eating lunch alone on our anniversary--bahaha!

When we came home, the kids went outside to play, and Jerry and I did the most random thing every on our anniversary--we shaved Paolo (our Himalayan cat). I was so sick of his hairballs and finding his hair everywhere, that I decided we should just shave him. We called a groomer, and she said she "needs time to get to know the cats, so she's not taking on any new clients"... VERY strange. But Paolo absolutely LOVES getting brushed, so I figured it wouldn't be hard to do it myself with the clippers.

Sadly, we didn't get any pictures while we were doing it, but I took some of him afterward. Just like I thought, he loved getting his hair cut. He was rubbing all over me, and lying perfectly still in my lap, and just enjoying it all around. If I had tried this on any of the other cats, I would wind up getting another cat bite! ;) Here is what Paolo looked like before his hair cut:

And then here are a few from afterward:

I didn't say it was a "pretty" hair cut. Believe it or not, that was with a #2 blade shield--I thought he would look nearly bald, but his hair was SO thick it was hard to shave. His fur is very, very soft now--it was soft before, but now it's a whole new level of soft.

After that, the kids went to my parents' house and Jerry and I ended up going through tons of old pictures, choosing which ones to put on yesterday's blog post. We had a couple of beers and chatted about our years together. Then we went to Staples, because I needed a few things for a project I'm working on (for my mom's birthday, so I can't reveal it yet!)

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Today is Friday, which normally means it's my long run day. I even asked Renee if she could watch my boys this morning while I ran 16 miles, and everything was all good to go. But yesterday, I just knew I was going to have a hard time with it today--because of the crappy Mexican food I had for lunch, because of the beer I drank, and did I mention we ate ice cream for dinner? Yeah, I didn't think I'd have a very good run today.

So I postponed my 16-miler until Sunday. Tomorrow, I'm going to Jerry's baseball tournament all day, and he's off Sunday, so it will work out. I've been eating really well today, and will do the same tomorrow, to be very prepared come Sunday morning.

Since my last run was on Wednesday, I didn't want to go that long between runs, so I decided to run a short three-miler today. Instead of the treadmill, I took the kids to the rec center where they could play basketball while I ran on the indoor track. I haven't done the indoor track in a while.

I know that my foot pod calibration was way off, because I was running HARD and it was giving me a 10:00/mi pace. I even made a game out of making it stay under a 10:00/mi pace, but I was struggling. But, we'll never know.

Three miles FLIES by when you're used to doing 6+ miles at a time. I can't remember my last run that was less than 5 miles! Before marathon training for sure.

You can see where I sprinted at the end of each mile in order to get it under
a 10:00/mi average pace ;)

Hopefully my 16-miler on Sunday will be a good one.

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Nine years in pictures

Today is Jerry's and my nine-year anniversary, so instead of writing a post, I just thought I'd share some pics of us through the years. Unfortunately, we didn't think to take a picture of ourselves on each anniversary, and it was actually pretty hard to find any pictures of us at all! But here is what I found... we've changed quite a bit over the years!!

2003--Our wedding day (August 16)

2004--Waiting to have Noah

2005--Noah's first birthday

2006--At a Tigers game

2007--At another Tigers game

2008--At a water park with the kids

2009--Pin the tail on the donkey at Noah's 5th birthday

2010--At a friend's birthday party

2011--A walk in the woods

2012--Walking a nature trail at the Metropark

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Rethinking things

Lately, I feel like I'm always starting with, "I was so tired this morning, I really didn't want to run, but I did anyways"... it's getting old. Today, I actually woke up feeling pretty energetic, which was nice! I wasn't even dreading my run.

Today's scheduled run was a tempo run--20 minutes easy running, then 20 minutes at a "comfortably hard" pace, then 10 minutes easy. I put The Biggest Loser on my computer so I could watch it while I ran. I did the easy run at 6.0, then when it was time to pick a tempo speed, I decided to go with 7.0.

On Monday, I was feeling so crappy that my 3-minute sprints were at 6.5, and that felt tough! So I wasn't sure if I could hold 7.0 for 20 minutes, but I figured I could always reduce speed if it felt too hard. It ended up being the perfect tempo speed--hard enough that I wanted to reduce the speed, but not so hard that I couldn't physically keep going.

After about 7 minutes, I told myself that I couldn't look at the treadmill until after the last person on The Biggest Loser weighed in (4 people had weighed in already, and I needed an incentive to not look at treadmill every 30 seconds). If you watch the show, you know how long they drag out the weigh-in!

Finally, after the last person weighed in, I had less than 2 minutes remaining until the 10-minute cool-down. When I finished, I felt really good--like I had pushed myself today.

After the treadmill, it was time for my FINAL day of the Wii Active 30-Day Challenge!! I was a little nervous that yesterday's workout hadn't saved again, and I wouldn't be able to complete the challenge, but thankfully, it was good to go.

The workout was a variety of all kinds of the exercises I had done over the past 30 days. When I was done, I don't know what I was expecting--balloons, and streamers, and a party? But it just said:

I'm very excited to have finally finished it, though. For those of you that asked, the game didn't make an impact at all on my weight or body fat percentage. But the main reason I was doing it was to strengthen my leg muscles so that I don't get injured while marathon training (as well as to finally finish the challenge, something I'd started dozens of times before).

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For the past few days, I've been rethinking giving up meat from my diet. I haven't had meat in over two months, and it was going great for a while, but lately it has just made me stressed out. It takes a lot of planning to get a healthy vegetarian meal on the table, and I am just not willing to put that much time into it right now. I really should have thought ahead and planned to try it when the kids are in school.

I don't miss eating meat at all (except maybe tuna fish, which is weird!), but I miss having endless meal plans that I know my family likes. Trying to please my family AND not take up so much time planning meals, AND eating vegetarian myself is just too stressful for me. So I think I'll go back to doing what has worked for my family the past couple of years as we became healthier. We've never been huge meat eaters, so we'll probably still eat vegetarian meals half the time, and include meat the other half.

I'm glad I tried out eating meatless the past couple of months, though, because I discovered some great new foods! My favorite being tofu. I'm really surprised how much I enjoyed it when I baked it and added it to a stir-fry. And Eli absolutely loves it, which is a shocker to me.

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Tomorrow is Jerry's and my nine-year wedding anniversary. As of right now, we have no plans. I don't think we'll have a baby-sitter, and I have a doctor's appointment for a physical in the afternoon. But who knows, plans could change tomorrow ;)

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Auction

I actually woke up excited to workout this morning... because it was my last day of the Wii Active 30-Day Challenge! I was super excited to finish it, just for that sense of accomplishment.

The rest of the family was sleeping, so I quietly turned on the Wii Active, and was greeted with this:

It said I had only completed 18/20 workouts. It took me a second to realize what had happened. The stupid game didn't save yesterday's workout! It was as if I had never done #19. I was pissed, and there was no way to override it. The only way for it to register that workout was for me to do it again.

I was so looking forward to finishing the challenge today, so I made up my mind to do BOTH workouts today and get it done. So I re-did #19, and then it wouldn't let me do #20. Luckily, today is day 29 of the 30-Day Challenge, so I can still finish it tomorrow (assuming that today's workout was saved). Anyway, here is my proof that I'm done with #19 (again):

I think once I'm done with the challenge, I'll do a full-body strength training workout two times a week. I may end up buying the Active 2 and do that challenge as well.

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In 2003, just before Jerry and I got married, we bought an empty lot in our neighborhood and put up our house. There were actually two lots for sale, right next to each other, and we only could afford to buy one of them (the asking price was $30,000 on each lot, and we offered $25,000, which they accepted). The next door neighbors ended up buying the lot that was between ours and theirs.

For years, we begged our neighbor to consider selling it to us. We don't have a garage, and Jerry wants a garage really badly. But our lot isn't big enough as it is, so we really wanted to buy the extra property. Our neighbor refused, saying that it added value to his property when he was going to sell it.

Well, the neighbor ended up dying, and his sister let the house (and the lot) go into foreclosure. The house was purchased, and Jerry and I assumed that the empty lot went along with the house. Then a couple of months ago, we got a notice in the mail saying that the lot was going up for auction. We were shocked.

We called to find out how much was owed in taxes, and discovered that the taxes owed on it were $2,500--which was also the opening bid on the property! So the property we would have bought for $25,000 from our neighbor was going up for auction for a tenth of that price.

We tried really hard not to get our hopes up about buying it, but we've been talking about it ever since we got the notice about the auction. The auction was today.

Jerry took the day off of work so that we could both go. We were nervous as hell, because we'd never done anything like this before. But we wanted that property sooo badly! It was at a hotel, and we had to take the kids with us, which didn't make it easy. I had to sit in the hallway with the kids, because there was no way they would hold still and be quiet during the whole thing.

Our property was #30, so it took a while to get to it. I was listening to the other auctions, and I kept getting more nervous. Some of them were starting out at $1,200 and then it would end up selling for $40,000! Finally, I heard our property being called out with the opening bid of $2,500, and Jerry bid on it. I was praying nobody else would bid, but some random guy in the back bid on it. (I have no idea why anyone other than US or our next door neighbors would want this lot).

Anyway, the guy bid up to $3,400, and we ended up winning with a $3,500 bid. Not the $2,500 we were hoping, but still one hell of a deal! We would have paid our neighbor $25,000 back in the day for that same lot, and he said no. We had to borrow the money to be able to buy this lot, which definitely doesn't help with paying off our debt, but this is one debt that I don't feel bad about--it's a good investment in the long run.

We won't be able to put up a garage for at least a few years, but at least it's something to look forward to. Jerry is thrilled. Our ninth wedding anniversary is on Thursday, so I guess this is how we're celebrating ;)

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From Fat to Finish Line Documentary

Last night, before bed, I told Jerry I wasn't feeling "right". I wasn't feeling really sick, but just kind of "off". I don't really know how to describe it. And then when I woke up this morning, it was even worse. I really didn't want to run (do I ever?!) so I was lazy making my way to the treadmill this morning.

I had a bunch of ice water (I was feeling hot) and read my e-mail before finally getting on the treadmill. I was bummed when I saw that today's run was supposed to be 20 minutes easy running, then 6 repeats of (3 minutes hard, 3 minutes easy), and finishing with a 10-minute easy run... 68 minutes total. I'm not used to running over an hour on my weekday runs.

I knew I wasn't going to be pushing it very hard today. I did the 20 minutes easy at my usual 6.0, and then my plan was to do the hard intervals at 8.0--but I changed my mind once it was time to do it! I ended up starting with a 7.5 interval, and it felt pretty tough. The next one, I lowered it to 7.0, and I still felt crappy. The third and fourth were 6.5.

I drank a few sips of water while I was running, and immediately felt really nauseous. I was really tempted to call it quits early, but I remember how mad I was at myself when I stopped my 14-miler a couple of weeks ago after 10 miles. I felt like a quitter. So I just decided to keep at it, unless I actually vomited or something.

I did the last two intervals at 7.0 and then 7.5. I was actually pissed after the last interval, because I knew I still had 13 minutes to go (which felt like forever!). Finally, I hit 68 minutes. I was so grateful it was over.

I still don't really know what was wrong with me and why I was feeling so crappy. After my run, I actually started feeling a little better. But not much, because I still had to do my Wii Active workout. Today's workout was #19 of 20!! That means tomorrow is going to be the last day of my 30-Day Challenge--woo hoo!

Today's was mostly upper body strengthening and a ton of running on the track. The track part is always super boring (running in place while looking at a track on the TV... yup, as exciting as it sounds), so I continued to watch The Biggest Loser on my computer during that part.

I can't wait to finish the challenge tomorrow. I think after that, I'll continue to do the workouts, but only 2-3 days per week.

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You may have already seen this on Facebook, but the documentary I'm taking part in finally has a website! You can check it out at www.fattofinish.com. I've already introduced you to all of our team, but on the site, you can read shortened versions of our stories, see more pictures, see a sneak preview of what the film is going to be about, and all that good stuff. I can't watch the video without crying, and I've seen it dozens of times ;)

We also have a Kickstarter page. If you're not familiar with Kickstarter (I had no clue what it was until recently), it's a site where people with ideas can set up a page to try and get the funds to make their ideas become a reality. So if you'd like, you could go to our Kickstarter, and pledge a certain amount of money (that goes to the film company to hopefully make this documentary happen!). There are prizes for the different amounts you can pledge--for example, if you pledge $25, you can get a DVD of the film (with special features!) when it's released.

Media Meld Studios has to raise $50,000 in pledges in the next 31 days. If they don't get enough pledges, then your credit card is never charged. So, for example, I pledged $25. If there are $50,000 worth of pledges by Sept. 13th, then my credit card is charged the $25 and I get a copy of the DVD when it's released. If the pledges don't reach $50,000, then I don't pay anything (but the film won't get funded). I'm explaining it the best I can, but it's still hard to describe, sorry!

Anyway, if you'd like to help support the film, the Kickstarter page can be found here: From Fat to Finish Line Kickstarter. I'm praying that we get enough pledges to make the film!

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Well, I have to clean my house (at least a little...) Renee is coming over for wine tonight :)

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Reader Questions & Answers #23

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. What is your favorite kind/brand of peanut butter? I am surprised that you have natural and Jif. I used to eat Jif, but now that I get natural (or make my own), I find that Jif is WAY too sweet, plus I don't want the added oil. Have you tried all the other kind of nut and seed butters? I LOVE sunflower seed butter, but I can't keep out of it, so I try to avoid it!

A. I don't think I've ever come across a peanut butter brand that I didn't like! I do have favorites, though. My absolute favorite is the Smucker's Natural Creamy peanut butter. I use this on toast, on oatmeal, and by itself. I buy the Jif (or, more likely, the store brand) peanut butter to always have on hand for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or for baking. There is a natural brand called Krema that is also really good (my second favorite)--this kind has the same texture as Jif, so if you're new to natural peanut butter, it may be the way to go. (If cost was no issue, I would buy the Krema over the Jif).

I really love the flavored peanut butters, but I have to be really careful about what I have in the house, because I will binge on them. Peanut Butter & Co. makes a White Chocolate Wonderful pb, and it's AMAZING. Hands-down, my favorite flavored pb. I love to top oat bran with it! Their chocolate one is good, and their Cinnamon Raisin one is awesome on Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread.

I love almond butter almost as much as peanut butter. My favorite brand of almond butter is Kettle creamy. Maranatha makes a dark chocolate almond spread that is SO GOOD (too good!). I tried Barney Butter, too--you can read about the difference between Barney Butter and Kettle on a post I wrote.

I've also tried cashew butter (yum, but super expensive); sunflower seed butter; Cookie Butter; coconut butter; some sort of peanut butter spread from the Amish; hazelnut butter; and walnut butter. I don't think I've ever disliked one! :)

These were all in my house at one time ;)

Q. I'm a coffee drinker, mostly because I am a busy mom. I work full-time outside the home on top of being a mom. I need my coffee in the morning because I feel like its the only thing that can give me the jolt I need! I used to drink tea and that was fine, but now I guess I need something stronger? What are your reasons for quitting coffee and how did you do it?

A. I quit drinking coffee at the end of October 2011. I had no intentions of quitting it altogether at the time, however. It was a week before I went to NYC to be a guest on The Dr. Oz Show. I was SO NERVOUS about the show. I realized that drinking coffee made me feel even more anxiety, so I decided to quit drinking it until after the show. I wasn't a huge coffee drinker in the first place--I would drink two cups every morning, but I didn't feel like I "needed" it. It was a habit.

But I had a horrible headache for about three days when I stopped drinking it--I didn't realize it at first, but I'm sure it was the caffeine withdrawal that caused the headache. That headache was so bad that I realized I had been addicted to coffee, and I decided that I wasn't going to resume drinking it after the show. I felt a million times better without the coffee (and once my headache went away). My anxiety (on a daily basis, something I struggle with) was much better. 

Ty (a reader) recently sent me a link to an blog post about coffee that I found really interesting. It basically says that your body adapts to the caffeine--so if I was to drink a cup of coffee right now, I would get tons of energy, because my body isn't used to it. But for you, that coffee wouldn't have the same effect. For people that have coffee on a daily basis, it becomes "the norm" in their bodies. But drinking coffee only very occasionally (when you really need a little pick-me-up), that coffee is going to give you more than "normal" energy. Very hard to explain, but here is the link to the post. 

I also read a very creative way to give up coffee, and it almost made me wish I was still drinking coffee so that I could do it ;)  You can read about that on this blog post. But if you're happy drinking coffee, and it's not negatively impacting your health in any way (like it was with my anxiety) then there probably isn't a reason to quit drinking it, as far as I can see.

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Q. I come from a family of over weight people, and then Atkins came out and they all lost a bunch of weight (and most gained it back). My question is this, do you worry about your carb count on a daily basis or just calorie intake? I have had success with low calorie diets in the past, but I think my family has brainwashed me because I keep counting carbs too! 

One of my favorite "carb" meals:
pasta, peas, olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese.

A. I always say that it totally depends on the person, and you should experiment to see how your body is happiest. But that said, I don't give carbs a second thought! I love carbs, and the majority of my calories come from carbs. I had success (obviously) losing weight while eating a lot of carbs. I counted calories and I tried to eat a variety of foods. I also gradually switched over to whole grain carbs--brown rice, whole grain pasta, etc. I've never been a huge fan of meat, so my protein comes from carb sources as well--beans and lentils.

The reason for this is that from the very beginning, I KNEW I would not be happy eating a low-carb diet. I decided this time around to make changes that I was willing to live with forever--and counting carbs, or worrying about carbs, was not a change I was willing to make. So I focused on calories, and foods that made me happy and my body feel good. I knew if I wasn't happy with what I was eating, I was never going to stick it out long enough to lose the weight.

A lot of people have told me "You eat too many carbs", "You don't eat enough protein", "You don't eat enough vegetables" and all the other things they believe are "wrong" about my diet. I'm not perfect! But I eat in a way that makes me happy, and my body feel good. Some people actually feel better eating a lot of protein and few carbs, but I am not one of them. So I think it's best to experiment to see how you feel best, and what works best for you as an individual.

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Wood Duck Dash race report

Today was a first for me. I combined my long run with a race, to make the run a little more interesting!

I woke up early, with the plan of getting to the race location (the metropark that I always run) and to start running by 7:00 (the 10K race was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m.). I had oatmeal with milk, dates, and brown sugar, and a cup of tea before heading out. I brought along a chocolate Gu and Gatorade.

It was raining the whole way there, and I was bummed. The temp was fantastic--59 degrees! But I really didn't want to get soaked before the race even started. When I got to the park, it wasn't pouring rain, but it was a steady drizzle. Better than a downpour, at least!

I decided to do two out-and-back routes from the car (a 3-miler and a 5-miler, in different directions). As soon as I started running, I realized that it was going to be MUCH better than last week's long run! I felt fantastic. Last week, I was so sluggish and tired--due entirely from a week at my sister's of eating restaurant food, lots of junk food and beer. Today, however, I could feel was different.

After my first mile, I looked at my Garmin and saw I was running a 9:54/mi pace--too fast. I knew I couldn't maintain that pace for the whole 14 miles, so I deliberately tried to slow down (but not TOO much). However, after a mile, I stopped feeling so fantastic. I can't really pinpoint what was wrong, but I just wasn't feeling nearly as good as the first mile.

But, I kept going, running in the rain. At about mile 3.5, I saw a doe and her fawn! It was adorable. They just froze and looked at me, and I was terrified to be close to them (my dad and brother were attacked by a buck one time, so deer scare me). I stopped to at least take a picture:

(I didn't say a GOOD picture)

After they crossed, about a half-mile down the trail I came across another doe. I scared her and she took off into the woods. And I saw a fourth deer on my way back from the out-and-back! I'm used to seeing a thousand rabbits when I run, but not many deer.

I planned the last part of 8th mile to end right at the packet pick-up. There were a ton of people there when I showed up. So I went in and picked up my race shirt and bib. I saw Jessica in there (she decided just yesterday to run the race as well). She thought the race shirts were hideously ugly, but I kind of like them. Unfortunately, they are cotton shirts and not tech shirts, so I don't know that I'll ever wear it. Actually, never mind--I'm wearing it right now ;)

I went back to my car to put the shirt in there, take off my hydration belt, and change my shoes. My only regret is that I didn't bring a change of socks--my socks were wet. I only decided to change my shoes because my feet were really sore last week after my long run in my new Brooks Adrenaline's. I'm hoping it wasn't the shoes that made my feet hurt, but I didn't want to risk it happening in the middle of a race.

I saw my friend Stephanie, and said hello to her. Her two boys were running the "Ducking Dash" (and Jessica's boys were all running it as well). I stood around (freezing cold, because I was soaked from head to toe and I had stopped running 20 minutes prior). After the kids' run, we lined up at the starting line. I went to the back, knowing I was going to run a slower pace today. I started the race with Stephanie, and figured I would try and keep about the same pace as her, since she said she was aiming for "under 11:00/mi pace".

When the race started, she was going much faster than 11:00/mi! It was actually more like 10:00/mi, so I didn't try and keep up with her. After a half-mile or so, she ran ahead. I couldn't believe that I was literally one of the last people in the race. My pace wasn't SNAIL-like or anything--I was running just over a 10:00/mi, and there were only about 10 people behind me.

There was a short out-and-back first, and I saw Jessica on the way back while I was going out. She seemed to be running really well. I was keeping pace with a girl for a while, and we were the only two people around. The rest of the crowd was a quarter mile ahead, and the very last people were behind us quite a ways. So I finally decided to pass her, but I was careful not to push my pace too hard.

At around mile 2, I saw Stephanie ahead of me by a quarter mile or so. I really just wanted the race to be over already, and I had a long ways to go. So I decided to see if I could "catch" Stephanie. She was doing REALLY well--she had hopes of beating her last (and only) 10K time, which was 1:10:xx. I had a very hard time catching up to her, because my legs were feeling pretty dead!

We turned into a path lined with wood chips in the woods. Stephanie was less than a tenth of a mile ahead, so I was trying HARD to close the gap. Eventually, I called out to her, and we started running together. I wasn't sure if I should have done that or not, because I didn't want to step in if I wasn't wanted--she had a goal for the race, and I was only doing it as part of a training run. I told her to go at her own pace, regardless of what mine was, but we ended up sticking together.

The last two miles were tough. Running on the wood chips was difficult--my legs felt heavy. We also had to run on wooden bridges, which were slippery from the rain; and a gravel path. The last mile, I really felt like I wanted to just lie down and die quit. I was tired, and just wanted to be done!

When my Garmin beeped at 14 miles, I realized I could just walk the rest of the way if I wanted, but since I was so close to the finish, I decided to run it in. I told Steph to go ahead of me for the finish, so I didn't ruin her finish line picture ;)

My race results:
Chip time: 1:05:02 (10:29/mi pace)
Overall place: 84 out of 106
Female 30-34 place: 8 out of 11

My splits for the entire 14 miler:

I'm thrilled to have redeemed my last week's long run! Doing the 8-mile run before the race was a good idea. I'm not sure I could have done it if I waited until after the race.

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Swimming

Today was supposed to be a rest day, but as I was lying in bed this morning, I thought about how that would mean tomorrow I'd have to come home after running 14 miles and do the Wii Active workout. I know I'm not going to want to do that, so I did the Wii workout this morning.

It was mostly arm and upper body work, so I won't be sore for my long run tomorrow. I actually finished before the kids woke up! They've been sleeping in until about 8:00 lately. Figures, they only have three more weeks of summer vacation and now they start sleeping in.

Workout 17 of 20, done.

I had promised Noah that I would take him to the pool to do a swim test. When we were at the pool in Illinois, he was too scared to go down a slide that went into 5-feet deep water. And then when we went to the beach a couple of days ago, he wanted to take off his life jacket--I told him no, that he had to prove to me that he was a strong swimmer first.

He was really mad at me at the beach, and said that he feels like a baby wearing a life jacket. So I told him that I'd take him to the pool and he would have to swim across the deep end to show me that he was a strong swimmer. I could tell he was scared to do it, and he kept asking if he could just swim where it was "a little bit deep". I said no, that he could do the 12-feet deep part.

So anyway, today was the big day. We went to the pool, and even though I hate to swim, I got in with them. I took them to the deep end, and Noah held on to the side until I told him to let go and swim across. I swam along with him, and he did great (as I knew he would). I knew it would give him a lot more confidence in himself, and I was right.

Eli then did the same thing (he's fearless, though, and was excited to try it). Then Eli asked if he could jump in off the side. I explained that he wouldn't be able to push off the bottom to get to the surface, because it was too deep, but he still wanted to do it, so I said sure. He did awesome! And after he did it, Noah was feeling brave enough to do it too. They did that for a while, and then Eli asked if he could jump off the diving board.

I was nervous about that, because I knew jumping off the diving board would mean he'd go down a lot deeper than he was used to. But his swimming teacher was there with a student (they were the only other people in the pool), and I asked her if she thought he was ready. She said absolutely, so I let him go.

Eli jumped off the diving board, swam up to the surface and to the ladder by himself. Noah watched him do it a couple more times, and then decided he wanted to do it, too. He did great! I was so surprised that he went from not wanting to go down a slide into 5 feet of water last week to jumping off a diving board into 12 feet of water this week. I told him that next time we go to the beach, he won't have to wear his life jacket as long as an adult is in the water with him.

The kids spent two hours jumping and swimming. I spent most of the time treading water for exercise (which is pretty tiring!)

The kids are staying the night with my parents tonight. In the morning, I have my 14-miler and Jerry has a softball tournament. After my run is over, I'm going to come home and shower and get the kids, and then we'll go to Jerry's tournament. I think it's supposed to be an all-day thing.

Since Jerry and I don't have the boys tonight, we have a "date night". But we're trying reeeally hard to save some money, so instead of going to the movies like we would have liked to do, we ended up going to the state park for a three-mile walk. (Besides, it would be so hard to go to the mall for the movie and NOT get a cookie from Mrs. Fields!)

I weighed myself this morning, and it was not good at all. I knew I had gained weight while in Illinois (I always gain when I eat out, and we did a lot of eating out). But now, a week later, I'm still 4 pounds up from where I was before we left (148).

I've been doing really well with counting calories, and not binge eating. It's been super hard to get back on track, but I keep reminding myself that I was already over my maintenance weight range before vacation, so I MUST get back down. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing all week, and hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon.

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