Kona 10-Miler race report

First, I want to say thank you for the nice comments both on the pictures Stephanie took of me and my family, and also on Jerry's post from yesterday. I'm super proud of Jerry for all the work he's done to lose the weight, so I was very excited to show him off ;)  I think his head swelled from reading all the nice things you all said about him!

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I was registered for the Kona 10K race today, and last week, I e-mailed the race director to see if it's too late to switch my registration to the 10-Mile if I should decide to. When he e-mailed me back, he said it wasn't too late, and that he switched it for me. So I guess that decision was made for me :)

But today couldn't have been better weather for a June race! Mid-60's, low humidity, overcast, and a gentle breeze. Unfortunately, my body didn't care how perfect the weather was; I woke up just as congested and snotty as I was yesterday. I also had a bad stomachache this morning. It just wasn't looking like a great race for me, so I figured I would just treat it like a training run. My long run pace is supposed to be 8:57-10:18/mi, so I figured I would start at the fast end of that and see how I felt.

I drove by myself to the race, but I knew Jessica and Renee were going to be there, so I figured I'd meet up with them. Stephanie was there also, but she was running with her son (he's 11, and did the 10K!). The Kona Run (called the Solstice Run last year) is a tropical-themed race. Last year, Jessica and I wore grass skirts, seashell bras, and leis. Today, I just wore a green sparkle skirt and a hot pink tank.

I picked up my packet, then waited in line for the bathrooms, where I saw Jessica, Renee, Courtney, and Jessica's friend Gail, who I hadn't yet met. We sat in Jessica's van for a little bit since we were early, and then headed to the starting line.

The 10K was scheduled to start at 7:15, and the 10-Mile at 7:30. Stephanie was running the 10K, so we watched for her at the 1/2 mile mark to cheer for her and her son. While I was there, someone asked me if I was Katie, and I discovered she was a reader of my blog, so I chatted with her for a minute (Hi, Crystal!). We saw Steph go by, and then someone else recognized me--she pointed and said, "Runs for Cookies!" I wish I'd gotten to meet her. Then it was time to line up at the start.

I still had no idea what pace I was actually going to be running, so I just wedged myself in where I could. When the race started, I ran next to Renee for a couple of minutes, but soon, she left me in her dust ;) I was having a really hard time breathing, because my nose was so stuffed up. Ty was there spectating (she's dealing with a knee injury, so she couldn't run), and she took a pic as I ran by.

The race is extremely hilly, and the peak of the biggest hill is at mile marker one. That hill was a monster, but my legs still felt strong, and (from what I remembered) the rest of the race wasn't too bad (I remembered wrong). I was kind of surprised that my pace was 9:08 for the first mile--I felt like I was running faster than that.

At around mile two, I started paying attention to my heart rate, and it was sky high. No wonder I was feeling so crappy. Every time I would get it into Zone 3, another hill would come up, and it would shoot up near Zone 5. I decided to just run by my heart rate rather than a particular pace, because my body was just NOT feeling well.

I knew Jessica would be running close to the pace I was running (she's gotten a lot faster since our marathon, too), so I was thinking I might slow down so she could catch up. But then I thought she may have already passed me. I really wanted someone to chat with, but everyone was wearing headphones, so I didn't try to start a conversation with anyone.

Despite the fact that I was feeling so crappy, the race actually went by pretty quickly. The last couple of miles, I managed to pick up the pace a bit, just because I knew I'd be done soon. I was relieved to finally cross the finish line. I grabbed a bagel and a banana, and then watched for Jessica for a few minutes. When I didn't see her, I figured she probably finished ahead of me.

After walking around a bit, I spotted the rest of the group. We took a picture with our finisher's medals:

Jessica had ended up finishing just a few minutes behind me. She said she could see me ahead of her almost the entire race! If I had known she was right there, I probably would have ran with her. My results:

Even though this was certainly not my best race, I still beat last year's time by a LOT. Last year, I finished in 1:49:09 (10:54/mi pace). 


I'm kind of relieved that I don't have any other races planned between now and the Chicago Marathon. There are a couple of smaller ones I may do last-minute, but a break will be nice. I really loved this race last year, but I don't think I'll do it again next year. Regardless, I'm glad I ended up doing the 10-Miler instead of the 10K, so that it could just be my long run this week. I'm going to spend my activity PointsPlus on extra wine tonight, because my friend Sarah (from Arizona) is in town. I bought two bottles ;)

Congrats to Melinda Ott, the winner of the Quantum Scale! (I've sent you an e-mail, Melinda). Hope you like the scale :)

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Jerry's Weight Loss Tell-All

Jerry went through all of your comments and questions from the post I wrote about his reaching Lifetime, and answered them the best he could. It's kind of long, but he wanted to make sure he answered everything. Enjoy!

Q: Have you given up any of your favorite foods or have you just learned to eat less?

A: I eat less. Way less. Katie and I would typically, when we were heavier, go through as much beer and pizza with cheese bread as our guts could handle. Now, we limit ourselves to just a couple pieces during a weekly family pizza night and enjoy a drink later on while enjoying our shows together.

Q: Do you have trigger foods?

A. Who doesn't?! Doughnuts. I could seriously eat them until I pass out. I work with 12 other guys. One day we decided to all pitch in $5 and get some doughnuts in the morning. That's $60 for doughnuts, and we ended up with 7 dozen. I ate at least 2 1/2 dozen on my own. True story.

Q: What does it mean to you that you were able to follow in Katie's footsteps on this journey?

A: Katie has lead me through all of this. There is no way that I could've ever done any of this without her. I always say that she has done all the work for me and I truly mean that. She makes that food and I eat it. That was about it. The last 20 pounds though, I feel like I have earned through diligent tracking and INSANITY workouts.

Q: Now that you and Katie have achieved your weight loss goals, what lessons/messages do you hope to teach your children about healthy living?

A: We want our kids to be as active as possible. When I was a kid, weight was never an issue. It didn't seem like this huge epidemic among us kids. Reason? We were active. We were outside. I want to go retro-childhood with the boys and do more active things outside and just field whatever questions come our way.

(Katie here): In regards to food, we don't label foods "good" or "bad", because I really don't want the kids to think it's bad to eat certain foods. Instead, we try to be as fact-based as we can, so they learn to make their own healthy decisions. For example, I might say, "Do you guys know why your body likes these black beans? They make it easier to go poop." (They love when we talk about poop). We also don't eat out much, and we tell them that it's because our bodies feel better when we eat home-cooked food.

When they ask why I write down my food or measure my food, I tell them that I used to eat too much all the time, and my body stopped telling me that it was full, which made me very unhealthy. So I have to measure my food because my body doesn't let me know when I've had enough. Then I tell them that they are lucky, because their bodies work just fine, so they don't have to measure food, they can just stop when their bellies feel like they've had enough.

Q: As you lost weight and got closer to your goal, did your guy friends say much about it?

A: Interestingly enough, they made me feel like shit sometimes. That's as blunt as I can be about it. I would get the 'you're starving yourself' and 'you're getting too skinny' comments all the time. But I have learned that the people who typically say that have issues themselves so I ignore it.

Q: What is the biggest benefit you've seen or felt from getting healthier?

A: I just look better. Ask Katie. She can't keep her hands off me.

Q: What was your biggest challenge?

A: Willpower. I've done WW before but I have never stuck to it. I have commitment issues. So, I was determined to work my way through it.

Q: When and why did you start losing weight?

A: I started losing weight in January of 2010 because I was one of those chuckleheads that has to start a diet on New Years Day. This was probably the 6th year in a row that I started on New Years Day and typically lasted 3 days. It stuck. I didn't really "track" until March of this year.

Q: What exercise do you do?

A: Insanity DVD's. This just started recently so wish me luck.

Q: What treats do you allow yourself?

A: BEER. As much of it as my points will allow. None of that Budweiser crap though... I'm a craft guy. Something new every day.

Q: Seriously how was your weight loss journey different from your wife - is male weight loss more mental, physical?

A: I guess I'm not a "typical" guy. Most men are stuck in their ways. I was wide open to trying new things. So, as a man, I would think it's more mental, getting out of your comfort zone.

Q: When Katie started losing weight and eating healthier were you upset, resistant, or sneaking food?

A: Good question... I never had a problem eating healthy. However, when I started restricting myself from the foods that I wanted I found myself starting to binge eat and sneaking food. It was easy for me because this would normally take place late at night when everyone else was sleeping. Katie totally busted me one day and I felt like a teenage boy who just got caught jerkin' it by his mom. It was so humiliating that I joined WW the next day and finished my journey.

Q: What is your lunch like? Do you pack lunch? If so, what is typical for you to take?

A: Leftovers from dinner. If it's not leftovers I typically take a sandwich, pretzels, Fiber One Bar (for my sugar fix), and fruit.

Q: My question is do you have a binge eating problem like Katie?

A: I never thought I had an eating disorder until I met Katie. Wait, that sounds horrible. What I mean by that is I thought I was normal. I never considered my eating habits as a disorder or unhealthy. I would be considered more of an "overeater" than a "binge eater", though.

Q: I was wondering if you had any measurements or sizing you could share with us from before/after?

A: Well... I was a 2XL in my shirts and a 42 in my pants...get it? In my pants. Now, I wear a 31/32 pants and M/L shirts.

Q. Do you have a history of being overweight?

A. I never really had a weight issue until I hit middle school. When I was kid I was very active outside. Growing up as a military brat there was always something to do on post. I was very active with sports, I was always outside. When my dad got out of active duty we moved and I didn't have a whole lot of friends. I found myself hanging out alone and playing video games. I never really got any friends until high school. By that time I started packing on the pounds, probably around 200 pounds for the 4 years of high school. I never really noticed my weight until I got married. Katie was always trying all the fad diets and I got sucked right into it with her.

Q. How do I get my husband to lose weight?

A. First off, they have to want to lose weight. If they don't want to then there is no point in trying. It was really easy for me because Katie did the cooking and calculating. I did the eating. I made it a point to make room in my day for the things I wanted. Beer was the #1 thing I wanted. So I made it so. But, I think the biggest thing is, they have to want to do it. Katie had never once hassled me to lose weight. Oddly enough, I started my journey to support her. I knew that having me do it would improve her chances of being successful. Look at me now.

Q. I am a lifetime member of WW and just recently had a baby girl so I am working on my pregnancy weight. My husband also gained some weight during the pregnancy and wants to get healthy/in shape (he needs to lose about 30 pounds) but he doesn't want to do it at WW as he thinks it's for women. What encouraging words would you have for a man looking to get healthy?

A. Easy question. What worked for me is just having an open mind about retrying food I thought I didn't like. I was always told that if you try something enough times you will grow to like it. Example for me, hummus. I hated hummus. Despised it. Thought it was the grossest thing ever. What the hell are chick peas anyways?! But, I've acquired a taste for them after having it enough times. Lentils. Beans. Veggies. All on my 'never gonna eat that' list. Now, I love all of them with the exception of cauliflower.

It was easy for me because Katie would make new recipes and set them in front of me. That's what I ate. Eventually I said screw it and just joined WW. The thing with WW is that men have this preconceived notion that it's only for women because that seems to be who the commercials are geared towards. At first I didn't tell anyone I was on WW because of that. I was afraid of the backlash and losing my man card.

But when people started taking notice of my weight loss and were asking how I did it, I had no problem telling them it was through WW. I was proud of myself and finally happy that I was going in the direction I needed to go. The Jerry Train was leaving Fattsville Station and if they weren't on board with me, then they could suck it, because I was doing this for me, not them.

Q. Of course we all want to be healthy, but a lot of times I find myself motivated by superficial reasons.  Do men stress over looking good in the mirror and in clothes, or a certain size clothing like women?  Do men compare themselves to other men?  A lot of times, I just want to be "normal".  I am not going for "supermodel".

A. Yes, I currently stress. I want to put on a gun show and make everyone notice my accomplishment. This only started recently though. I have been doing Insanity and have yielded very positive results. My body is more defined and toned and I have built some muscle on top of that. I try to not compare myself to others, simply because some guys think that they are a lot skinnier than they really are... skinny jeans are made for these individuals.

Q. Do you track your calories daily and keep a food journal?  I wouldn't think men would find that "manly".

A. I do track my food with both the paper tracker and the WW etools. I never carry my tracker with me and usually log my food before I leave for work so I never have to worry about people looking over my shoulder and questioning my manliness.

Q. Do you have a favorite healthy, low calorie food/dinner?

A. Lentils. Anything lentils. Mexican lentils and rice will make any meat loving guy a lentils fan.

Q. Do you exercise regularly?  My husband works swing shift and is finding the time for exercise difficult/overwhelming.  (I run according to his schedule too, since I do not have a treadmill or babysitter.)

A. I didn't exercise until recently. I started doing Insanity and have made the commitment to do it every day that I'm supposed to. With that said, my swing shift can also wreak havok on getting this done. In the mornings when I work day shift, I wake up at 3:45 to get it done. On midnight shift, I wake up in the afternoon and do it then. I find the time. People who say they don't have the time to take care of themselves need to reevaluate what's really important to them and what's not.

Q. When people acknowledge your significant weight loss, does it make you uncomfortable?  It does me sometimes.

A. People acknowledge it in one of two ways. They either ask what I've been doing and say that its awesome or they say that I'm losing too much weight and I look sick. The latter seems to sound almost jealous of the success, so I shrug it off and go about my day. No one is going to ruin this for me. The only opinions that matter to me are mine and Katie's.

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Jerry gives me a lot of credit for his weight loss, but I give him a lot of credit for mine! I know I couldn't have done this without his support. It really helps that we have done this together. We both look and feel a million times better!

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Goal photos

I'm still battling this cold, and I woke up this morning with a crusty nose and eyes. That's always fun. I woke up at 4:00, and just couldn't go back to sleep, so I ended up going out into the living room to watch TV until it was time to get the kids up for school.

I watched Tuesday's episode of Extreme Weight Loss yesterday, and WOW--I never cried so much during a TV show in my life! (If you're not familiar with the show, trainer Chris Powell chooses an obese person to work with for a year to help them lose weight. It's not competitive at all, like The Biggest Loser--the sole focus is on one individual. It's very inspiring!) I loved that the girl ran a marathon at the end of Tuesday's episode.

Chris Powell has my dream job--wouldn't it be amazing to help someone completely transform his/her life and reach his/her weight loss goals? I first saw Chris Powell on a documentary on TLC, called "The 650-lb. Virgin", and I really liked him. He seems very genuine in his desire to help people. On that show, he helped David Smith lose 400 pounds. I really liked Smith, and I just googled him to see how he's doing today. I am so sad to see that he gained back almost all of his weight. He's on a second weight loss journey now, so I hope that he's successful.

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Remember the photo shoot that I did with Stephanie last month? Well, she gave me a disk of the photos, so I can finally share a few! :)  She asked if she could drop the disk off, and I told her I wouldn't be home, but she could leave it inside the storm door. I wanted to pay her for the shoot, but she insisted that she did it for her own experience as much as mine, and didn't want money; so I ended up buying her a bottle of her favorite wine as a thank you.

When I left the house, I put a bow on the bottle of wine and put it just inside the storm door, so when she opened the door to put the disk inside, she'd see the wine. Well, I later got this text from her: "I opened the door and my first thought was, "Oh, it must be a popular day to drop stuff off at Katie's house... someone left her a bottle of wine!" Then she put two and two together and realized it was for her ;)  Hahaha!

Anyway, she wrote all about the photo shoot from her point of view, which you can read about on her blog, That Loud Redhead. She posted a lot more photos from the shoot there, too. But here are a few of my personal favorites:

The whole reason I really wanted to do the photos was because I wanted some "goal pictures" to remind me of why I did all the hard work to lose the weight. Seeing these makes me want to stay on track and maintain my weight, because I think I look pretty darn good in them ;)  When Stephanie suggested I bring Jerry and the boys for some pictures, I was really excited; I don't have a lot of photos of Jerry and me with the kids.

Anyway, I am thrilled with how the pictures turned out. I'm going to get a few enlarged prints to hang up in my house--I really love the one of Jerry and me above, and there are a few family pics that I like. It's going to be hard to choose!

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Quantum Scale review and giveaway

A few weeks ago, my sister told me an idea she had about a bathroom scale for people who are trying to maintain their weight. Basically, you could program your goal range into the scale, and then when you stand on the scale, it would read "High", "Low", or "In range". That's it. No numbers at all! I love this idea, and I started searching online to see if it actually exists (from what I found, it does not).

In my searching, however, I found a scale called Quantum. It was as close to what Jeanie described as I could find, and I was intrigued with it. Usually, when I do reviews on my blog, it's the result of the company reaching out to me, not vice versa. But this time, I e-mailed them to ask if I might be able to review the scale (and host a giveaway, of course). They were happy to!

The Quantum scale doesn't give you a weight reading. When you first get the scale, you program it by stepping on and pushing a button. You have no idea what your weight is, because the scale doesn't tell you that. But whenever you get on the scale after that, it will give you a reading of + or - the number of pounds from your original weight.

I wanted to test out the accuracy of it, so I used both scales for a week. I got my actual weight from my trusty old scale, and then stepped on the Quantum scale to see how the reading varied from the previous day. On Day 1, my weight was 136 (the Quantum scale didn't give me a reading on Day 1). The next day, my weight was 135, and the Quantum scale read 1.0-. So if the Quantum scale is the only scale you use, you would never know your weight; you would just know how your weight is in relation to your starting weight.

You can reprogram it however often you wish, but you can't choose your starting weight. A few days ago, my weight was 134, so I programmed that on the Quantum scale (just by stepping on and pushing the button to save that weight). Now, when I step on the Quantum scale, it will tell me how far up or down my weight is from 134. If I can get my weight back to my goal of 133, I plan to program that weight into the Quantum scale, so that it always reads how close I am to my goal weight.

I think this is a great idea for maintainers, because you can just see where your weight is at relative to your goal weight instead of focusing on the actual weight itself.  I also think this is an awesome idea for people who are just starting to lose weight, and maybe they are afraid to see their weight on a scale. The Quantum scale will only tell you how many pounds up or down you are from your original weight. When compared to my trusty scale, I found the reading to be very accurate.

Unfortunately, it doesn't lie when you've had a bad week. Case in point:

My weight is up four pounds. Gah! I was way over my PointsPlus this week, so today was a fresh new start for me. I'm not going to allow my PointsPlus to go into the negative this week!

Next week, say I only lose 1 pound from where I was this morning, when I took this picture. Then it would read 3.0+, meaning I'm 3 pounds over my starting weight. It doesn't say how much you've gained or lost since the last reading; it tells you how much you've gained or lost since you last programmed it. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I really like the idea of using this for maintenance, so I plan to post this instead of my weight each week. Yes, it's easy to do the math and figure out, but it's nice not to get so focused on the actual weight.

There are six different colors to choose from on their website:

It sells for $39 (plus $6.99 shipping), which I think is reasonable. (It's on Amazon also, but it's much more expensive there than on the Quantum website for some reason). The biggest downside to the scale is that it's only meant for ONE person to use. If Jerry gets on it, it will read something like 30.0+, because it will use MY starting weight.

Quantum was generous enough to allow me to host a giveaway for a scale as well! If you think it sounds like something you'd like, you can enter by filling out your name and e-mail address in the form below. I'll use Random.org to choose a winner on Saturday, 6/8/13 at 8:00 a.m. EST. Good luck!

(Disclosure: I was given a Quantum Scale for free to review, but was not required to give a favorable review. My opinions, as always, are honest.)

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Rewards

We've had a few gorgeous spring days in a row here! Yesterday, I met up with Jessica for coffee in the late morning, and we chatted for a while. I deliberately wore my running clothes there, so that on the way home, I could find a spot to park and get in my four-mile easy run.

By the time I left, it was about 12:15, and I was starving. Normally, I eat lunch at around 11. But I wanted to get in my run before going home, so I stopped and parked along the same route I did for my long run on Thursday. My goal pace for an easy run is 8:55-9:53/mi, so that's what I was aiming for.

Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day in June, it wasn't miserably hot. It felt pretty good, actually! I did a lollipop route that I guessed was about four miles (I was off by a half mile in the end). Once I reached four miles, I just stopped my Garmin and enjoyed a nice walk back to the car.

I've realized recently that I really like running in the late morning/early afternoon, because it curbs my appetite for the rest of the day. For some reason, I find it much easier to stay on track with my eating when I exercise later (versus exercising first thing in the morning).

Today, I worked on a project all morning, and at noon, my stomach started growling. I knew I was doing speed work today, so I definitely didn't want to do that on a full stomach. I was really dreading it, because, well, speed work is HARD.

I decided to do 400-meter repeats instead of 800's today. (If you're not a numbers nerd like me, you can just skip the down the page a little ;)). When training for a marathon, 400's are pretty useless, but since I'm not trying to improve my marathon time, I figured I would just do 400's because I like them better. The goal was to do eight repeats, completing each one in 1:43-1:49 (6:52-7:16/mi pace).

I set my Garmin to do intervals--0.25 miles active and then 0.13 miles recovery. Instead of watching Netflix (it's too hard to watch TV while doing a tough speed workout), I just cranked up the radio really loud. I set the treadmill at 8.7 mph (a 6:53 pace) for my active intervals. After the first interval, I set the treadmill at 3.0 mph in order to walk; but changed my mind after a minute and set it to 5.5 mph for a slow jog between the active intervals.

After doing 800's for months, running the 400's was so refreshing! It was still a tough workout, but it goes by so much faster. Regardless, I was glad to be done!

Looks like I ran a lot further than 3 miles, doesn't it? ;) The only problem with doing intervals on the treadmill is the time it takes to adjust from one speed to another. I changed the speed as soon as I saw that I was getting close to the next interval, and that way I wouldn't waste half of the time waiting for the speed to pick up. But I like the intervals on the treadmill better than outside, because I don't have to constantly check to see if I'm on pace.  My heart rate graph looked pretty cool:

Because the weather has been so nice this week, I'm thinking I may change my 10K race this week to the 10-Miler instead. I have a 10-mile run on the schedule this weekend anyway, so I could just call it my long run. I wasn't planning to try to PR or anything, no matter what distance I do, so it looks like I may just change it.

Last year, I wore a hula skirt, lei, and seashell bra over my running clothes for this race. I don't think I'm going to dress up again this year, though. It was kind of a pain to run in that stuff! This race is SO much fun, though; one of the funnest races I've been to.

I feel like I'm saying this every Tuesday now, but this week has been a mess for me, and I want to get and stay focused when my PointsPlus reset tomorrow. I'm finishing this week 120 PointsPlus over my maximum. I do good for a couple of days, and then have a day where I just use the "But it's summer!" excuse.

I have my annual gynecologist appointment next week, so that is helping to keep me on track right now. I think at this time last year, I was up to about 150 pounds. It would be nice to go in there and be in my goal range (under 135). I'm trying to think of a reward of some sort to give myself if I don't go over my PointsPlus next week. Not food, though.

I was thinking I might put $20 in a jar for every week I don't go over my PointsPlus and use it to travel somewhere for a race when I have enough money. I feel like I'm finally over my fear of flying enough to want to go places. Maybe if I put the money jar on the kitchen counter, along with a picture of where I want to go, it will keep me from using the "But it's summer!" excuse? :)

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Motivational Monday #18

Motivational Monday always comes around at just the right time when I need some motivation most! I'm getting really frustrated with myself and the way I've been eating. I keep having this "but it's summer!" attitude, which turns into eating way too much. I'm already over my weekly PointsPlus by 98 this week. My weight was scary-high this morning, so I wrote out my food plan for the next few days, and I'm determined to stick with it.

June 21st is the first day of summer, and I REALLY want to start and end the summer at my goal weight--breaking the cycle of gaining all summer only to lose it again in the fall, which is the pattern I tend to follow. So that means I have 18 days to be at 133, which won't be hard at all if I just stop going over my PointsPlus!

But anyway, after reading all of your inspiring stories today, I'm feeling super motivated. I hope you all find this motivating as well...

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Allyson just ran her first marathon! Her story is a little hard to condense down, so I'll just copy and paste this from her e-mail:
"When I graduated college 2 years ago a few friends and I went to Disney world as a graduation present to ourselves. When I got back I was amazed and saddened to see how I looked in the photos. I guess I was willfully blind to how much weight I'd gained in college. I'd always been on the bigger side but looking at the pictures from our vacation it was very clear to me how significant my weight gain was. Even so, it took me another 6 months to do something about it. For my new years resolution in 2012, I decided to try an run a 5K. My first foray into running was very similar to yours. I would go out and run as far as I could, usually to the nearest mailbox, and then walk. I trained for 2 months and on an utterly freezing, subzero Valentines day, I ran my first 5K.

I ran with two friends who were big runners and managed to convince me to join them in running a half-marathon in just 4 short months. I trained my butt off and managed to, very miserably, complete my first half just 6 months after I took my first runner's step out the door. It didn't take me long to decided I wanted to try for a full. I decided to do the Minneapolis Marathon in June 2013 and a year and a half after beginning my running career with a simple New Year's Resolution I finished my first marathon. This morning I ran the Minneapolis Marathon in 4:37:49, blowing away my sub-5 goal. In the process I've lost 50lbs and gained a love of being active in any way possible. I'm not sure what's next for me on the horizon but I'm excited for whatever's to come!"

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After losing nearly 100 pounds, Amy just ran her first half-marathon! She's been running for about two years, and says this was the greatest race experience she's had. (Here is Amy's blog).

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Jen went to her niece's birthday party, and did something she never imagined she could do 90 pounds ago--she put on a pair of rollerblades and skated! She says she hadn't skated since middle school.

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After running her first 5K race a couple of weeks ago, Jen signed up for another, hoping to PR with a time under 43 minutes. When she came around the final corner of the race, she saw the finishing clock hadn't yet turned over to 40 minutes--so she sprinted down the finisher's chute and cross the finish line in 39:12!

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One year ago, Jessica started the Couch to 5K program in order to run a 5K race in the fall. After completing a few 5K's, she upped the ante and registered for a 20K, and ran the race this weekend! (20K is about 12.43 miles--I just Googled it out of curiosity). She finished in 2:07:46, and her husband and boys were there to cheer her on. She says it was one of the most amazing experiences of her life, ranking up there with the birth of her children.

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Kali (on left in photo) just ran her first 5K! And she did it with Kim, her best friend of 21 years, by her side. Kali's training runs have been at about a 14:30 pace, so she was ecstatic when she finished the race in 41:08 (a 13:01 average pace)!

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Sherry and her daughter, Danielle, just joined Weight Watchers together, each with a goal of losing 100 pounds! To kick off their healthy new lifestyle, the pair went for a two-mile walk. (I love that her cat joined in on the picture!)

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Deana is a proud mama to Henry, and wanted to share his accomplishment. Henry recently participated in a Recess Running Club, and logged miles for a total of seven weeks. He ran a total for 46 miles, and was in the top 10 of the entire elementary school for most miles run. Oh, and did I mention Henry is only in the first grade?!  He even joined Deana and some of her friends for a 5K training walk, and he paced them through it. ;)  (Here is Deana's blog)

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My friend Stephanie ran her first half-marathon! She was originally going to run the Martian Half-Marathon in April (the one that I PR'd). I had actually chosen to run that race because it would be Steph's first half, and I wanted to see her finish! But a couple of weeks out from the race, she injured her knee, and had to make the tough decision to do what was best for her body--sit the race out. But she'd put in so much training, and decided (once her knee healed) to try again. Yesterday, she did it! She finished in 2:16:16 :)

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Jill has had a very exciting week! She hit the halfway point in her weight loss journey, going from 330 to 240 at her most recent weigh in. She also won the grand prize in a DietBet that she participated in with some friends, hosted by Hannah and Olivia from The Biggest Loser. She won a week at The Biggest Loser Resort in Chicago, for herself and a friend! Jill is very excited to reach the 200-lb mark, and has a strong binge-free streak going :)

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Don't forget to read more on the Motivational Monday Facebook post!

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Tough tempo

I have another small cold. A few days ago, Jerry woke up extremely congested out of nowhere; last night, the same thing happened to me. I woke up all congested and snotty this morning. Awesome. This time it's a real cold, and not just a minor symptom.

I took two days off after my long run on Thursday, so I didn't want to skip today's run, even though I really wanted to. On the schedule today was a three-mile tempo run at 8:02-8:18/mi pace. The weather was pretty decent this morning--about 65 degrees and overcast. Much better than Thursday's run!

It's been a while since I've done a proper tempo run outside, so I wasn't sure how it was going to feel. But 8:02-8:18/mi is a pretty fast pace for me, so I knew it would be a tough run. Normally, I would have tacked on a warm-up, but because I wasn't feeling good, I just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Just about a quarter mile into the run, I was already wondering if I'd be able to do it. I was breathing pretty hard. Why is it that a three mile run feels like forever even though it's the shortest distance I run?! During the second mile, my breathing was really loud. I'm pretty sure I sounded like I was dying. I kept coming up with reasons to stop and walk instead of finishing it out, but I knew my body was capable of finishing. Tempo runs are tough!

Instead of going right home, I ran past my street until I reached three miles, and then I walked a half-mile until I was home. The weather was SO nice, and it felt good to cool down with a slow walk. I did really well with keeping my pace where it needed to be for a tempo run:

I was really excited that I managed to do so well at keeping a pretty consistent pace. And running hard like that always makes me feel good for the rest of the day. I forgot to put my heart rate monitor on before running, and I was disappointed that I couldn't see the data from that.

After I showered, I made some breakfast. I very rarely crave eggs for breakfast, but today I wanted them in the worst way. I made scrambled eggs with shredded potatoes and pepper jack cheese folded in. It was so good! I've eaten a lot of junk this week, so I was in the mood for something less processed.

But speaking of processed food, check out the deal I got on my favorite flavor of Clif Bar yesterday!

A box of 7 bars for $3.50; I bought all 7 boxes that they had. See how the box is a little bent in the corners? That's why they were marked down. The expiration date is December 2013, which is good, because I now have 49 bars to eat ;)

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Fish Fry

Thanks so much for the comments about Jerry reaching Lifetime--he loved reading them ;)  He's going to work on answering the questions many of you had, and I'll post those when he's done.

Last night, we went to my parents' house for dinner, even though Jerry and I didn't plan on eating (still full from La Pita and the frozen yogurt we'd had that afternoon). My parents are hosting a young man that they met through their church--he lives in Tennessee, but is here for a week or so visiting.

His name is Jared, and he's blind. My parents wanted us to meet him, so they invited us over for one of my dad's famous fish fry dinners, along with the pastor and his wife, and a few friends. I was a little nervous to meet Jared, because I don't know anyone who is blind, and I didn't want to be awkward in what I said or how I acted around him.

When I walked in and introduced myself, however, I was immediately comfortable. He is very friendly and funny, and had no problems getting around; I'm not sure what I expected, but I probably wouldn't have known he was blind if my mom hadn't told me ahead of time.

I chatted with him for a little bit, and he told me his story. He had a brain tumor when he was young (I believe he said he was nine years old). The doctors were able to remove the tumor, and it hasn't grown back or anything since; but he has some residual problems as a result of the tumor.

He said his hormones are a little out of whack, and his body can't get the signal that tells it he's not thirsty anymore. He said he feels thirsty all the time, but no matter how much he drinks, his body never recognizes that he's not thirsty anymore. As a result, he drinks upwards of seven or eight gallons of water a day!

He showed me a couple of cool little gadgets that he uses for daily tasks. One of them tells him what color things are. You just put one side of it up against something, and press a button; it will say "dark brown" (for my hair), or "light beige" (for the shorts I was wearing), etc. Another gadget tells him whether it's light or dark in the room; it makes a really high pitched noise if it's light, and a low pitched noise if it's dark, plus a whole range in between.

Jared said he would love to be a writer, and has written a couple of children's books, but they haven't been published (yet). I hope he's able to get them published! I talked to him a little bit about blogging, and that a blog about his daily life would be very interesting (to me, at least). I was pretty inspired by his independence. I think I expected him to be very dependent on others while staying at my parents' house, but he got around very well--he was even in charge of grilling the corn on the cob, and it was great.

Anyway, my dad is famous for his fried fish around here, and by the time dinner was ready, I couldn't help myself--I had a few pieces of perch. He and Jared caught the fish just hours beforehand!

I talked to Pastor Tony for a little bit about melanoma; my mom recently told me that Pastor had melanoma several years ago, and against all odds, beat it. My friend Sarah was diagnosed with stage 3C, which is pretty bad (a 5% survival rate). Pastor Tony said he was given a 1-2% chance of survival. He had a very hellish year of treatment, but he he's been cancer free for over 10 years now. It was good to hear his story, and it gave me some more hope that Sarah will beat her battle with melanoma.

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I finally got around to writing up a training schedule for the Chicago Marathon. I'm going to continue running five days a week, with Wednesdays and Saturdays off. Long runs are still on Fridays. Basically, it looks like this:

Sundays- Tempo run (8:02-8:18/mi pace)
Mondays- Easy run (8:55-9:53/mi pace)
Tuesdays- Intervals (400's and 800's, hills and no hills)
Wednesdays- rest
Thursdays- Easy run (8:55-9:53/mi pace)
Fridays- Long run (8:57-10:16/mi pace)
Saturdays-rest

Because I'm not necessarily focusing on getting faster anymore, the paces aren't that important; but I usually try to run too fast, so I'm going to stick with a recommended easy run pace for most days that I run.

It's kind of crazy to think that in 133 days, I'll be running the Chicago Marathon with Andrea!

I have to admit, I'm WAY more excited to hang out with Andrea and her husband, Andy (and Jerry, of course) in Chicago, but the race should be an okay time, too ;)

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Jerry made Lifetime!

I'm so glad I did my long run yesterday. Since Jerry was off work, we got to spend the day together and it was really nice to relax! We drove the kids to school, and from there we went to Wal-Mart for a few things while we waited for Weight Watchers to open.

While we were at Wal-Mart, I spotted these:

I haven't eaten Pop-Tarts in a really long time, but I used to love them (the S'mores ones, particularly). Quite honestly, I'm surprised that they've never come out with a peanut butter flavored one before! Next up will be peanut butter AND chocolate, just watch.

I couldn't help it--I bought a box. My kids eat Pop-Tarts sometimes, and I'm sure they'll like them. I'm going to have one, just to try it. I usually spend 5-6 PointsPlus on an afternoon snack, so I'll just eat one for a snack tomorrow.

After we left Wal-Mart, it was time for Jerry's big weigh-in at Weight Watchers. He reached goal six weeks ago, and if he was at/under goal today, he would make "Lifetime" status--meaning he wouldn't have to pay for a membership anymore, and he could have free e-tools (the online access to the program).

We already knew he would do it. This morning at home, he weighed in at 168, which is 11 pounds below his Weight Watchers goal. That's a grand total of 85 pounds lost!

I made him pose for a quick picture--I think I am even prouder than he is about it. Anyway, we went in, and he weighed in under goal, and earned his Lifetime membership. Now, he just has to do the same as me--weigh in once a month, no more than two pounds over goal weight, and he will continue to be a free member.

While we were there, he bought an ActiveLink. He's seen how much I like mine, and wants to try it out, also. So now he'll begin the one-week assessment period before he starts earning his Activity PointsPlus.

I asked how he wanted to celebrate, and we decided to go to La Pita for lunch. Remember how I forgot the hummus I'd paid for last time I went there, and the manager said she'd send me a gift card? Well, she sent me a $15 card! I was expecting a $9 card, because that's what I paid for the hummus. It was so nice of her, and we were excited to use it.

I got the chicken tawook sandwich today, and it was amazing! It was a pita with grilled chicken breast chunks, pickles, and garlic sauce--sounds like a strange combo, but it all went so well together. Jerry got the chicken schwarma sandwich, and we shared a small order of hummus. I think I actually like the chicken tawook sandwich better than the lunch plate I used to get.

We saved enough room for some self-serve frozen yogurt afterward, too. We don't have any self-serve fro-yo places near us, and since we were in Dearborn already, it was hard to resist when we were just down the road from one! I got a tiny bit of about five different flavors of fro-yo, and then put way too many toppings on it. I couldn't decide which toppings to choose, so I put all kinds of different ones. I ran out of room, or I'm sure I would have put more.

To give myself a little credit, those were actually the smaller sized cups, so it could have been worse ;)  Needless to say, we were both very full after that, and decided to call that our lunch AND dinner. Our lunch and frozen yogurt came out to 35 PointsPlus! But considering I didn't have a long run treat yesterday, it worked out well.

I asked Jerry if he'd write a guest post about his weight loss, but he said he has no idea what to write. Do any of you have questions for him? I think he'd do better with a Q&A than he would just writing a post. It's been a long journey for him, and I'd love for him to be able to show off his accomplishments a little!

I know I posted his comparison photo before, but I just love his transformation...

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Summer running has begun

I woke up feeling MUCH better than yesterday. It must have just been some weird stomach bug, but thankfully it didn't last a long time. After I got the kids off to school this morning, I ate breakfast and while I was drinking my tea, I thought about doing my long run today instead of tomorrow. Jerry is off work tomorrow, and it's a big day (he'll reach "Lifetime" status at WW!), so I'd like to spend some time with him.

I changed into my running clothes and decided to drive to a spot to run along a road that I rarely like to run on (the sidewalks are uneven, there are traffic lights, etc.). I wanted to keep my pace pretty slow today, and figured running in a different spot may help.

Running at a slower pace is really hard (mentally) for me, but I would really like to work on slowing my pace for my long runs--mainly to enjoy them more. With marathon training starting soon, I don't want to dread my long runs! And now that my big sub-2:00 half-marathon goal is out of the way, I don't feel pressure to run fast. :)

According to the McMillan Calculator, I should keep my long run pace between 8:57 and 10:16/mi. I decided to shoot for around 9:30, and only look at my Garmin once per mile to reassess.

It was hot outside. Like, reallyfuckinghot, and I almost changed my mind altogether about running. I know that those of you from Texas or Florida, or other hot and humid states, probably think that 82 degrees is a nice temp, but for this girl (who likes 30-40 degrees for running), it was HOT. And really humid.

I brought my handheld water bottle with me, because I knew I'd need it in the heat. I headed out for an 8-mile lollipop route, and then I figured I'd just do an out-and-back route after that to get in 12 miles. I started running at a pace that felt comfortably slow; I was aiming for 9:30. When my Garmin beeped at mile 1, I saw 9:29--not bad! Usually I have a hard time with judging my pace by feel. I really started having second thoughts during mile two. If I had been running at home, I probably would have done four miles and called it quits, but because I drove and parked somewhere, I was invested. I kept going.

I finished mile two in 9:30. Mile three is when I felt myself slowing down. Then miles four and five were on a gravel path through a park, in full sun, and I would have happily accepted a ride home if someone had asked ;) At that point, I wasn't sure that I'd even be able to maintain under a 10:16 pace! It's amazing how much the heat and humidity affect my pace.

Just before mile five, I stopped at a water fountain in the park and refilled my water bottle. I was really fighting in my head whether I should just finish the run at mile eight, when I got back to the car, of if I could stick it out another four miles. I debated this the entire way back! I stopped again for another water refill at a fountain about a mile from my car.

At around mile 7.9, I was stopped by a train. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty happy to take a legit break ;)  That was when I decided to do a compromise--I'd run out an extra mile and back, and that way I'd get in 10 miles--not quite the 12 I'd planned on, but not just 8, either. The last two miles felt like they took forever. During mile 10, I couldn't get my heart rate back down into Zone 3; it was in Zone 4, and even though I felt like I was going really slow, the heat was really affecting me.

I saw a billboard advertising $1 soft drinks/sweet tea at McDonald's, and suddenly I wanted a Diet Coke in the worst way (strange, because I am not usually a pop drinker). I thought about that Diet Coke the entire last mile, and planned to get one on the way home.

Finally hit 10 miles, and was SO happy to be done! I was completely drenched in sweat. I was really proud of myself for sticking it out, despite the heat.

My average pace was 9:57/mi. Average heart rate was 151 (goal was141-156 bpm).

On the way home, I drove through McD's and got a large Diet Coke. I drank the whole thing on the way home, and it really hit the spot. I spent a lot of PointsPlus the last couple of days because of my stomach issue, so I probably won't be getting a long run treat today.

I think part of the reason I love hate love running is because I feel SO good when I fulfill some sort of challenge. Today's run in the heat was a big challenge for me, but I felt amazing when I did it!

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