A heart rate training run

I'm really enjoying heart rate training. I started doing it a few months ago, but only loosely following it; I would do some runs based on heart rate, but others, I would do based on pace, so I didn't get the full effect. But I finally decided to trust the process and just dive in completely.

The easy runs have been, well, easy. The only goal has been to keep my heart rate below a certain number (in Zone 1), even if it feels ridiculously slow. Zone 2 is for my long runs and steady state runs (a steady state run is slower than a tempo, but faster than an easy run). Zone 3 is for tempo runs. And Zone 4 is for speed work.

Like I said, Zone 1 was very easy to do. Then on Friday, I had to try out Zone 2 for my long run, and it was great. It made me a little worried about my tempo run, though. I wasn't sure I'd be able to get my heart rate high enough and sustain it long enough for the tempo run.

Anyway, today was a tempo run day, so I was nervous to test out Zone 3. I decided to just run until my heart rate reached Zone 3 (162-175 bpm), then run 3 miles in Zone 3, and then cool down until I reached 4 miles total. (So basically, three miles at tempo pace and one mile warm-up/cool down.)

I headed outside early, at 7:00, before it would get too hot. It was already super humid. When I started running, I tried not to start out too fast. It took a little less than half a mile before my heart rate reached Zone 3. I hit the "lap" button on my Garmin to start my tempo miles and tried to hold my pace to keep my heart rate in the zone.

It was a hard run! I really wanted to stop and walk, but I knew, logically, that I could make it through the whole three miles at tempo pace. Tempo runs are supposed to feel hard enough that you want to stop, but you could sustain that pace for about an hour. When my Garmin beeped after the first tempo mile, I saw that I did that mile in 7:56! I was shocked, but happy to see that I was still able to run a sub-8:00 mile after seeing my pace get slower as the days get hotter.

The second mile was a lot slower, at 8:22. That was kind of disheartening, because I was working just as hard (my heart rate was still up in the middle of the zone). During the third mile, I was tempted to try and pick up the pace to be done sooner, but it's better to have even splits, so I tried to keep the same pace.

When I hit the end of the third tempo mile, I was dying to just stop and walk, but I ran slowly to cool down until I made it home. I was pouring sweat, and I sat outside for a couple of minutes so I didn't drip sweat all over the living room. But you know what? It felt AWESOME.

It was then that I realized that I really like heart rate training. Training by heart rate gives me permission to run slowly on my easy run days (something I have a hard time with). Running slowly makes me really enjoy the runs while I'm running. The tempo run itself wasn't very enjoyable (it's hard!) but I felt absolutely fantastic when I was done.

Because I don't have a goal race right now, and I'm not working on a PR or anything, I think it will be fun to see where the heart rate training takes me. I'm going to trust the whole process and see what happens. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's run, because it's going to be in Zone 1--which is very slow and easy.

So anyway, sorry that I've been writing so much about heart rate lately. It's been kind of experimental for me! (If anyone is interested, here is the website where I calculated my heart rate zones. I've tried other zones, calculated various ways, but I like this one the best so far.)

In other news, my eating has been really crappy this week. As soon as my sister and I stopped texting our food logs to each other, I picked up where I'd left off--eating too much, most of it junk. Grr! So I'm going to take some of the advice I wrote on yesterday's blog, and DO IT. I plan on weighing in at Weight Watchers on Friday, so that's an incentive to keep on track.

Tomorrow, we're getting together with Sarah and Ne one more time before they head back to Arizona. I think we're going to go out for pizza and then come play Euchre at my house. The last time we went out for pizza, I did really well--I ate two slices of a small, which I counted as 16 PP total. I plan to do the same thing tomorrow.

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Sorry if you already saw this on Instagram, but I saw this funny card at the store and had to take a picture of it!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday, so if you did something that you're proud of this week, and want to share on the blog, you can e-mail me a pic and a short description (subject: Motivational Monday). I may include it on tomorrow's post!  My e-mail address is SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com.

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Tips for the slippery binge slope

I was so sore when I woke up this morning! I very rarely get sore after a run anymore, but for some reason, I was pretty achy today (in a good way--meaning, it felt like I had worked out). I was thankful that today was a rest day.

Before bed last night, Noah asked me, "Mama, what can we do in the morning?" I felt bad about that, because ever since their football and basketball camps ended, we haven't done much in the mornings at all. It doesn't help that it's been raining every day.

My mom told me about a city wide garage sale about 20 minutes away, so I suggested that to the kids. They were really excited to spend some of their money, and loved the idea. After breakfast, we headed out. Garage sale-ing is always hit-or-miss; sometimes, I find some really great stuff, and other times, it looks like someone just cleaned out his great-grandfather's garage.

Today was definitely a "miss" day. We spent about an hour walking from sale to sale, but there was mostly just junk. There was one sale that brought back some memories, though--a guy was selling tons of vintage games and toys. I saw all kinds of toys that I had as a kid. Noah and Eli each found a something at that sale that they bought, but other than that, we left empty-handed.

After lunch, I was really in the mood to continue my deep cleaning/organizing that I've been doing lately. Today, I pulled out the stove and the refrigerator and cleaned the floor and walls. I was shocked at how much dust can collect back there! Estelle was thrilled that I found three of her cat toys under the stove. I'm sure they'll be back under there in no time, though.

Oh, and speaking of the cats... when I weighed Chandler a couple of days ago, I saw that he had gained a pound since the last time I weighed him. I was bummed, because he had lost four pounds, and I was excited for him to reach the five-pound mark. I was also stumped, because I hadn't changed his diet at all, and he's been more playful than ever.

Well, when he's not sleeping, anyway ;) Yesterday, I discovered the cause of his gain. Remember how I said Chandler was too lazy to use the puzzle feeders? The other three cats use them all day long, but they aren't overweight, so it's no big deal to leave food in there. Well, apparently Chandler is now Estelle's BFF, because Estelle has started doing all the work for him. They sit together at the puzzle feeder, and Estelle uses her paws to get the food out... for Chandler! She eats some herself, too, but it's very clear that she's feeding him. I thought it was hilarious when I saw what she was doing, but now I have no idea how to get Chandler back on his strict diet ;)

I haven't answered a reader question on the blog in a while, and I got one from Michelle that I thought was worth bringing up; I'm hoping that other people can offer some advice, too! She asked: "What helps get you back on track mentally when you are sliding down a slippery slope?" (this is in regards to binge eating).

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Sometimes, I feel like staying on track is EASY; I'm totally motivated, and feeling confident in maintaining a binge-free streak, and other times, I feel like I can't stay binge-free to save my soul. I have no idea what causes the ups and downs.

But here are a few tricks that have worked for me in the past to get back on track:

• I don't try to overcompensate for a binge. Years ago, I used to binge and then try to eat as little as possible the next day to "make up" for it. What happened is that I became so hungry that I would binge again. It became a cycle. Now, if I binge or even just have a bad day of overeating, I go right back to my typical plan the next day. I don't cut way back on my PointsPlus to make up for it. I just wipe the slate clean and start fresh. 
• I remind myself that after four days of being on track, it gets much easier. This will vary by person, of course, but for me, the magic number is four days. After that, I have a good streak going and I start to feel much more confident in staying binge-free. The first four days are super tough, but I just keep reminding myself that it's only four days.
• I talk about it with a friend. Sometimes if I'm having a weak moment, I'll text my sister, or Andrea from my Ragnar team, or my friend Jessica, or someone else who knows what I'm going through and has been through it, too. Sometimes they'll say something that just clicks for me. Jerry is really great, too; if I tell him that I'm thinking of bingeing, he'll offer me a massage instead. I love massages!

Those are things have helped me. I'm definitely interested to hear from others, though! If anyone else has some advice, feel free to share in the comments :)

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CamelBak Review (and a giveaway!)

I had 13 miles on the schedule today, and when I woke up, it was pouring rain. I started to think maybe I should run tomorrow instead, but then I looked at the forecast for the week:

Seriously?! It's been raining at least once a day for about two weeks in a row. So, I decided to just get it done this morning, rain or shine. Besides, I was excited to try out a hydration vest from CamelBak called the Marathoner.

Someone from CamelBak contacted me a couple weeks ago and asked if I would want to review one of their hydration packs. Since I'm just getting into the long marathon training runs, it was perfect timing! When I was training for my first marathon last year, I bought a hydration belt to carry a 20 oz. bottle of water. It worked just fine, but I really dreaded wearing it. After about 10 miles, it always makes my back ache, and sometimes it causes a cramp in my side.

So when I swore off marathons (hahaha!) I bought a handheld water bottle to carry 10 oz. of water. I like the handheld much better, but it has limitations--10 oz. of water doesn't last very long, particularly in the summer months. I would have to plan my running routes around places to refill my water.

I had thought about giving a hydration vest/backpack a try, but honestly, I had a hard time believing that it would be comfortable and not bounce around while I was running. However, I saw that the hydration vests/packs have a lot of great reviews; the people that use them seem to love them. I was excited that CamelBak gave me the opportunity to try one out.

They sent me a vest called the Marathoner, which holds 70 ounces of water. (ETA 8/2/19: The Marathon is no longer being sold, but the link above is for a very similar model). I have to admit, when I first opened the box and tried it on, I was very skeptical about whether I'd like it. My main concerns were chafing, the weight of it, and bouncing. But that's what a review is for, so I was open-minded and excited to give it a try.

I geared up in my typical clothes that I would wear for a long run. Then I filled up the "bladder" of the vest, which was very easy to do. There is a cap that you give a quarter turn, and it comes right off. It's really wide-mouthed, so you could easily throw in ice cubes (I really wish I'd thought of adding ice before I went out!). The wide mouth also makes it easy to clean.

Once I put the bladder back in the vest, the vest felt really heavy in my hands, which concerned me. But I put the vest on and tightened the straps, and it didn't feel too heavy at all! The weight was distributed very evenly, and it was pretty comfortable. Noah was nice enough to come out in the rain and take some pictures.

I would be lying if I said I didn't feel like a total dork wearing it. But comfort and convenience wins over pride any day when it comes to running ;)  Besides, I was thrilled that I was able to carry along a bunch of stuff with me--plenty of water, of course; ShotBloks; pepper spray; and my iPhone (in a Ziplock bag because of the rain). There was still a ton of room to bring more stuff, but I don't know that I needed anything else (although in retrospect, I should have brought a dry pair of socks in a baggie!).

There are two large pockets in front, as well as two small, flat pockets (the perfect size for my iPhone--it held the phone flat against my chest, so it didn't bounce). There is also a good sized pocket in the back, to tuck a light jacket or something.

The blue tube is where you suck the water out. It's held down with a little clip, easy to pull it up to your mouth.

This is the little pocket for my phone. The red thing is a safety whistle!

Anyway, I finally headed out for my run. The first thing I noticed was that the vest didn't bounce around at all, like I expected it too. The adjustable straps all held it right to my chest and back, so that it moved with me, rather than bouncing.

Also, I noticed that my arms didn't brush against the vest at all. Because the sides are so open, it didn't get in the way of my arm swing (a good thing, to avoid chafing). I was actually really surprised at how comfortable it was. I'm not going to say I forgot I was wearing it--I was always aware that it was there--but nothing about it bothered me at all.

By the end of my run, I was in love with this vest! Out of all the reviews I've done, this one surprised me the most. The vest is much more comfortable than the waist pack I wore last year, and I absolutely love how much storage it has. I didn't have a single chafe mark, my back didn't hurt, and I didn't have to stop running for even a second; it was very easy to drink while running.

My favorite long run route doesn't have a single spot to refill my handheld water bottle, so I was planning to have to find somewhere else to train; but with the vest, I can run my favorite route because I can carry everything I need. For my shorter long runs (less than 10 miles or so), I'll still use my handheld water bottle. But I'm definitely going to start using this vest for my long runs.

Overall, my favorite things about the vest:

• Tons of storage for random "stuff"
• Holds enough water for my longest training runs
• Very comfortable, and it doesn't bounce
• Easy to adjust the straps so it fits the way it is most comfortable for my body. The straps are pretty long, so the vest could probably fit many shapes and sizes.

The only drawbacks I can think of:

• I'm not sure how well it would fit someone with actual boobs; mine are so small that it wasn't an issue for me, but I imagine it may cause a problem for someone with a big chest
• I can't dump any of the water over my head, which is something I do during the summer when it's super hot

CamelBak very generously offered to give away not one, but FIVE of their handheld bottles called the Arc Quick Grip to five different winners! The handhelds hold 10 oz. of water, so they are perfect for short summer runs. To enter to win, just fill out the form below. I will use Random.org to select all five winners on Monday at 8:00 a.m. EST.  Contest has now ended. (Open for U.S. residents only; sorry, international friends!)

(Disclosure: CamelBak provided the vest for me to review in exchange for my honest opinion about it).

If you found this review helpful, and you plan to buy a CamelBak anyway, I'd appreciate your using my link to the Camelbak Marathoner Hydration Vest on Amazon. I get a small commission if you buy it through the link. I never recommend any product with the hope of getting commission, however. My review is 100% honest.

Anyway, overall I had a pretty decent long run today, minus the pouring rain. It was down pouring for a few miles, and after that, my feet were soaked. At around mile 10, my feet were really sore from running in wet socks and shoes. I was dying to get home and take my shoes off! But I kept my heart rate in the right zone the entire time, and my pace was better than last week.

Notice my bare feet--I didn't even take the time to snap a picture before taking my socks off!

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Independence Day

Happy July 4th! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Today was just a typical day for us. After I ate breakfast, I started my day with a four-mile easy run. Again, my only goal was to keep my heart rate under 148 beats per minute, regardless of what pace that ended up being.

It was very humid this morning, and I almost turned around and went right back in the house to use the treadmill. But after the awesome run I had on Monday, I was actually looking forward to a repeat of that today. I set my Garmin to just show me my heart rate and heart rate zone while I was running, so that I wouldn't see my pace and let that influence me to go faster.

I had absolutely no idea what pace I was running, but I was doing really well at keeping my heart rate where it should be. A couple of times, my watch beeped to tell me my heart rate was too high, so I just focused on slowing down a little. I always tend to speed up my last mile of any run, because I know I'm getting close to home. But today, I was really focused on keeping a steady heart rate. When I got home, I checked out my stats.

My average heart rate was 143, which was great. My pace was 10:22/mi, which kind of surprised me, because I felt like I was going much slower than that. A good run!

Tomorrow is my long run, and the goal is to keep my heart rate between 149 and 162. During last week's long run, my heart rate was 154, but it was a struggle to keep it from climbing higher. So I'm guessing tomorrow's pace will be close to last week, or a little faster. I'm also going to be trying out a product from Camelbak during my run to write a review (and giveaway!) tomorrow :)

This afternoon, I found some old home videos (on actual video tapes, not digital), so Jerry, the kids, and I ended up watching them for a couple of hours. There was one of Chandler when he was a kitten, and when Chandler saw what was on the TV today, he was fascinated by watching himself. It was kind of funny!

Jerry and I were in a lot of the videos of the kids, and I was in total shock at how we used to look. It was really sobering to see just how big we were! On the video, I could actually hear myself breathing heavily, and a couple of times, when I got up from the couch, I made a groaning noise because it was difficult for me to do. The kids were really surprised to see us like that on the video, too; they don't remember what we were like before we lost the weight (which I'm happy about).

Jerry went through the closet today and pulled out all of his work shirts. He had something like 25 of them (just t-shirts with his work logo on them). He was going to bring them to work to give to his co-workers, since he's not going to be working there anymore. I was so glad to see them go! I used to live in those shirts...

When I got too heavy for my regular clothes, instead of buying bigger ones, I just started wearing Jerry's 2XL work shirts. I kept telling myself, "When I lose the weight, I'll buy cute clothes," but I went for years without losing the weight. When I finally did, I swore I'd never wear another of his work shirts again--and I haven't. It's exciting to see our half-empty closet!

I used one of the pictures Stephanie took of me recently to create another before/after photo. It feels like a lifetime ago, but next month will mark four years since I started losing weight.

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Stitches

My days are so screwed up! Since I started my Wednesday Weigh-ins in 2009, there have only been a couple of times where I either forgot to weigh in or I was out of town or something and wasn't able to. Today, I had a busy morning, and was sure it was Thursday for whatever reason. Anyway, I was 133 yesterday, so I'll just count that as my weight this week.

I didn't run yesterday, because my knee was feeling funny, so I think that may have thrown me off. Usually my rest day is on Wednesday, so today felt like Thursday. But whatever, it doesn't matter!

This morning, Eli had a dermatologist appointment at 8:00, so I got up early and showered to get ready to take him. Eli totally cracks me up! Last week, he asked me if I could make an appointment for him to "get his mole cut off". I had taken him to the dermatologist several months ago to get it checked out, and the doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about.

But the mole is on his back, just above his butt, where the waistband of his pants sits. His pants rub against it sometimes, which is a little irritating to him, so I mentioned (a long time ago) that we could get it removed if he wanted. Fast forward to last week, when he asked about getting it cut off.

I asked him why, and he was very interested in the part about getting stitches. I guess his friend at school had stitches, and Eli thought it was cool, and he wanted stitches, too. I explained to him that stitches kind of hurt, but he still wanted them. I told him all about how the doctor would remove the mole, and he'd have to get a shot to numb it, and all the details--still, he asked if he could get it removed.

I figured he'd forget about it over the weekend, but he reminded me every day for four days to make the appointment. They fit him in this morning at 8:00, and he was so excited. Last night, he kept asking me, "How many more hours?" like we were going to Disney World or something!

I bet that doctor had never seen such a cooperative seven-year old patient ;)  He laid very still, didn't make a single peep when she gave him the numbing shot, and was very happy to get three stitches out of the deal.

Eli has always been a pretty unique kid, but this whole thing was pretty funny, even for him. On the way home, I asked if the shot hurt, and he said "Yes, I kind of felt like I was crying inside my eyes, but I wanted to be brave."

When I got home, the mail carrier dropped off a package at my house, and I remembered that my sister had sent me one of those peanut butter cookies! After we had talked about it before, she bought one for herself, and said it was definitely worth the PointsPlus. I told her to go ahead and mail me one. I hoped it would hold up in the mail, and it was still perfect when it got here.

It was well-worth the PointsPlus! The cookies were really moist, and the peanut butter frosting was awesome. I'm actually glad those cookies are safely up in the Upper Peninsula, so I don't have access to them ;)

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Jerry put in his two-week notice at work. I've been wanting to write about this for over a month now, but I didn't want to say anything until after he put in his notice. There was nothing wrong with his current job (he's been there for almost 11 years, and it's been great), but he had a really good opportunity come up, and decided to go for it. He did a couple of interviews, took a bunch of tests, and was finally offered the job.

It's super scary to be making a big change like this at this point in our lives, but it should be a good thing. He'll still be working a swing shift, and the job is pretty similar to what he does now. He'll be making more money at the new job, though, and that's why he ended up going for it. The only real downside is that it's a farther drive to and from work. Anyway, I'm really happy for him--he's excited and nervous to start, but mostly excited.

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We were supposed to go out in the boat tonight to watch the fireworks, as we've done several years in a row, but the weather has been so crappy lately that we decided to just stay home. I was fine with that decision, because I don't really love going out on the boat. We did manage to see a little bit of the sun today, which was nice!

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A glorious four-miler

Sure enough, we had storms yesterday. That made (I think) nine days in a row! But luckily, I managed to sneak in my four-mile easy run before the storms started. It was PERFECT running weather yesterday morning. It was 65 degrees, but it felt even cooler than that because I was used to it feeling so much hotter; it was also overcast, and on the brink of raining.

A lot of people have been asking me about heart rate training lately. We didn't go into a lot of detail in my RRCA class about it, so I've been reading as much as I can get my hands on about it. I'll try and write a detailed post about it soon, but for right now, I'm just learning what I can. Anyway, I wanted to experiment a little with the training zones, so yesterday, I decided to try keeping my heart rate below 148 beats per minute.

I got dressed and ready to head out the door when Eli said, "Can I run with you, Mama?" Inside, I groaned, because I was ready to go; but I'd told the boys that I would run with them anytime, anywhere, so I cheerily said, "Sure!" He got some comfy clothes on and we headed outside. We ran slowly around the neighborhood, chatting the whole way, and it was SO GREAT to spend some quality one-on-one time with Eli. While we were running, he even said, "I love running!" That totally made my day, and I was so glad that I let him come with me.

When we got back to the house, which was only 2/3 of a mile, he went inside with Jerry and Noah and I headed out for my "real" run. I had set my Garmin to beep if my heart rate went over 148, so my only goal was to keep it slow and easy. About a half-mile in, I realized I was checking my watch to see my heart rate, which was annoying, so I decided to test out the alarm and make sure it was working; then I wouldn't have to look at the watch at all.

I sped up for a minute or two to get my heart rate up, and as soon as it hit 149, my watch beeped to let me know. After that, I didn't even look at the watch again. I didn't want to look, because I knew my pace was slower than usual, and I didn't want to get discouraged when I saw the pace. Instead, I focused on the scenery, the perfect running weather, and the amazing feeling of running with JOY (as corny as that sounds).

It's kind of amazing how much more enjoyable it was to run with the goal of going slow. I felt like I could run forever! At the turnaround point two miles in, it started to sprinkle, which actually made the run even better. A couple of times, it nagged at me that I could be going faster, but then I thought about it this way: I could run 4 miles in about 32 minutes and be pretty miserable the entire time; or I could run the 4 miles in about 42 minutes and enjoy every step of it. It's a no-brainer when I think of it that way!

I always say (only half-jokingly) that I only enjoy running after it's over with, but I can honestly say that I truly enjoyed the run itself yesterday. After seeing faster paces all winter and spring, it's hard to run at a slower pace and be totally fine with it (mentally), especially because I worked so hard to improve my pace. But because yesterday's run was so great, I'm going to try and do my easy runs at a truly easy pace (following the heart rate training zones), and then save the faster paces for my tempo runs and speed work. I'm not sure what it will do to my race paces, but I'll be interested to find out.

I was actually thinking that sometime this summer, I might try and go a week without using my Garmin. I know, I know, a Garmin isn't necessary for running! I've only run without it ONCE (during a 5K race) and I couldn't stand not having it. So it might be a fun challenge for myself to go without it for a week. I imagine it would be pretty freeing! Or maybe I'll start with just one day... a whole week might be tough ;)

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Taste Test Tuesday was a bust this week. I saw a new flavor of popcorn seasoning at the store, and Jerry and I were both excited to try it. The kids really like the white cheddar one, but Jerry and I both love jalapeno-flavored anything, so this sounded really good...

We air-popped some popcorn, and sprinkled some on. Jerry ate a few pieces first, and started coughing. He said it got in his nose. I laughed and threw a few pieces in my mouth--and promptly started coughing as well. I didn't taste any sort of flavor at all, but my nose was burning and made me cough uncontrollably. It was SO strange. I've tried the other flavors, and never had this problem. We tasted a couple more kernels, but each time, it went straight to our noses. We dumped the rest of the popcorn, because we couldn't even eat it. Anyone else try this? I'm curious if you had the same experience!

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The boys' baseball game was canceled AGAIN today. That's four games in a row that have gotten rained out! They don't have a game scheduled for Thursday, because of the holiday, so hopefully by next week they'll be back on schedule. Trying to keep two boys occupied all day indoors has been tough on my patience ;)

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Motivational Monday #22

Happy Motivational Monday! I hope everyone has had a great week. I was very excited to see that I am back at my goal weight after being a few pounds over goal for several weeks in a row. I'm so glad that I caught it before it turned into the same 15-20 pounds I tend to gain each spring/summer! Over the past couple of weeks, I've worked hard to get rid of those few pounds, and it was great to see my goal weight on the scale again.

I'll jump right into the motivating e-mails I got from readers this week. Enjoy!

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I'm going to start with my sister, Jeanie. I know I'm always bragging about her, but I can't help it--I'm super proud of her. She's worked really hard to get where she is! In the first picture below, she was 158 pounds (last summer); the current picture was taken today, at 130 pounds (check out those abs!). She did this from following Weight Watchers for her diet, and in December, she started running in order to participate in my Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K on my birthday. She got hooked on running, much like I did. This week, she was really proud to run a 10K at a 10:35/mi pace!

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Brandi sent me this e-mail, and I didn't want to edit anything out; so here is the whole story:

"I wrote you back in February of 2012 telling you how much you had inspired me.  I was an overweight mother of two who felt fat, tired and hopeless.  After reading your blog, I started the couch to 5K program and eating healthy.  I lost 36 pounds by July of 2012 and was feeling great.  I had run several 5K's and a 10K.

 In late July I was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer at age 36.  I had a mastectomy in August, dose dense chemo from September to December, radiation from January to March, and a hysterectomy (to try and slow my estrogen feeding cancer down) in late March.  During chemo I gained back 30 of the pounds I had lost.  A combination of all the steroids they give you and as you can imagine, some emotional eating.  I was unable to run or really workout during chemo because I felt so poorly.

I did start running again during radiation to try and fend off the fatigue.  Then I was unable to exercise once again when I had my hysterectomy in March.  I am finally feeling a bit like my old self and I've lost 13 pounds since I finished chemo.

This past Saturday I reached a major goal I set for myself, I finished my first ever triathlon.  It was a super sprint triathlon, so a 1/4 swim, an 8 mile bike, and a 2 mile run.  I did it!  It was hard, and I had very little time to train, but I did it!  Exercise makes me feel like I'm showing the cancer who is boss.  I just wanted to say thank you for your blog, it encourages me everyday since I share some of your same struggles!"

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Louise ran a 10K race on Saturday, followed by a 5K race on Sunday. Her nine-year old daughter, Katie, ran the 5K also, and Louise said "left me in the dust". Louise proudly finished the 10K in 1:15, and the 5K in 38 minutes. She said her daughter finished the 5K in 20 minutes, which just blows my mind! Great race for both of them :)

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Here, Sara describes this picture from her anniversary cruise with her husband:

"My name is Sara and I have been reading your blog for the past two years; I look forward to reading your posts everyday! I wanted to include this picture from my anniversary cruise that my husband I just went on. We booked the cruise shortly after we got married in June of 2011, and around Christmas of 2011 I realized I had put on about ten pounds of 'so happy because I just married my best friend' weight. Well, I got serious with running / walking in January of 2012, and since then I have managed to walk/run 1,303 miles in eighteen months. Considering that I'm a seventh grade teacher (plus just finished my masters in administration and supervision) it hasn't been easy doing the walking and running, but I have been astounded with how much better I feel after a run or walk.

I just hit 459 miles for this year and hope to hit 1,000 miles by New Years Eve. The dress in the picture is actual from my last sorority formal during my undergrad (2010) and I was so pleased when it fit perfectly a weeks ago. With the consistent running / walking, I've also managed to lose 20 pounds since starting in January, 2012. I still want to lose about 10 more, but I wanted to show my progress and thank you for all of the motivation!!"

Sara, I totally understand the "so happy because I just married my best friend weight" ;)  You look fantastic!

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Don't forget to check out some motivating posts on Facebook as well!

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Six months in

Jerry and I went to see World War Z last night, and I thought it was really good! I wasn't expecting much, because it is rated PG-13, which is strange for a movie about zombies. But the movie was scary and jumpy without being super gory, which was actually really refreshing. I don't mind goriness, but it seems like movies are constantly trying to outdo each other by being even more gory than the last, rather than focusing on a good plot.

I used to hate zombie movies, or anything to do with zombies. Then I promised Jerry I'd watch ONE episode of The Walking Dead, just to prove how dumb it was. And by the time he got home from work that day, I'd watched the entire first season ;) Anyway, I never read the World War Z book, so I can't compare the movie to that, but I really liked the movie.

Before the movie, we went to Mrs. Fields so that I could spend my activity PointsPlus on a peanut butter dream bar. Jerry wanted one, too, and as usual, they are buy 2 get 1 free. If someone had been in line behind us, I would have offered it to them, but nobody was there. So as tempting as it was to get it, we declined the free dream bar. I wish I was one of those people that could stick it in the freezer for another day, but I would have eaten it before we even got home!

I was really missing the kids this morning. They spent the night at the campground with my parents last night, and this morning, I watched the Anna Nicole move that was on Lifetime last night. Watching that made me think about the kids (I kept feeling sorry for Anna Nicole's son throughout the movie), and I was excited for them to get home.

Today, I had a four-mile tempo run on the schedule. My last few tempo runs haven't been good at all, so I was getting a little worried about how it would feel. I decided to do the treadmill, because it's easier to maintain a consistent pace. My goal for tempo pace is 8:02-8:18/mi, and the last few tempos I've done, I've really struggled just to finish.

I turned on Pretty Little Liars, and set the treadmill at an 8:06 pace. I'm relieved to say that I had a good tempo run today! It wasn't easy--tempo runs are supposed to make you a little uncomfortable--but I was able to do all four miles at my target pace, and I didn't feel terrible. After the first half-mile or so, my heart rate was in Zone 4 the entire time, which is just where I wanted it to be.

After my long run on Friday, my mileage for June was at 98. So today's run put me over the 100 miles mark. I'm halfway through the year, and still going strong on my goal of 100 miles per month. And the best part is, I've remained injury-free.

Sarah's husband Ne came in from Arizona last night (Jerry went to pick him up from the airport at 2:00 AM!). Tomorrow, they are coming over with their 10-month old, Alex, and we're going to cook out on the grill. I'm hoping for better weather than we've been getting; it's been storming on and off every day for about a week straight!

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A long car ride

I feel like I spent the entire day in the car today. My kids went camping overnight with my parents, and they wanted me and Jerry to go up and see them. They'd been fishing and swimming, and they were excited to show us the campground. My mom said it was about an hour away, so Jerry and I decided to go up there and see them before our date night.

On the way up to the campground, I got a text from my sister. She was in the Upper Peninsula, and she saw these cookies at a bakery: two peanut butter cookies with peanut butter frosting sandwiched in between, drizzled with chocolate.  My eyes bugged out of my head when I saw the pic.

She offered to ship one to me, and while I was totally tempted, I figured it probably wouldn't taste very good by the time it got here.

The drive ended up being an hour and a half--if we hadn't gotten lost. But by the time we finally found it, we had been in the car for two hours. The kids were really excited to show us the campground, though, so it was worth it. Eli is all boy, catching tadpoles, toads, turtles, and fish.

Noah wanted to rent a paddle boat, so I made him a deal--if he let me pull his (super loose) tooth, we'd rent the boat. It took some convincing, but finally I pulled his tooth (seeing it dangle there was driving me crazy--it was beyond ready to come out). Then Jerry took the paddle boat out with the kids.

When we headed home, we drove a little over an hour and then stopped at La Pita for dinner. I got the chicken tawook sandwich again, and we shared some hummus. I wanted to save enough of my activity PointsPlus that I earned yesterday for dessert today. We're going to see a movie tonight, so I'm going to get a peanut butter dream bar from Mrs. Fields while we're at the mall. After dinner at La Pita, I have just enough PointsPlus left for the dream bar.

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but we took the kids to see Monsters University last week, and during the movie, the film just shut off. It took a long time for it to come back on, and then when it did, it was way ahead of where it left off. They finally got everything back to normal, but it took about 20 minutes. So while we were leaving after the show, we were given four free tickets to use whenever we'd like. Jerry's been really excited to see World War Z, so that's what we're going to see tonight.

I'm going to keep this short, so we can make it to the movie on time. I wore my hair curly today, for the first time since getting it cut, and I think the shorter cut works well with my curls. I kind of like it!

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A humid long run

Phoebe is driving me INSANE with her wake-up calls every day. Literally, every single day, she wakes me up. First, she was scratching her nails on the carpet. I finally started ignoring that, rather than scold her, hoping she'd just give up. So now she plays around in my window blinds, which is even louder. She tries to climb in between the slats, and then positions herself between the blinds and the window, making a ton of noise in the process. She's been doing this at 5:15 every morning.

Anyway, I was up bright and early, but I had decided to do my run on the treadmill today. I was feeling anxious about running long outside after how I felt last week. So I ate breakfast, and while I was drinking my tea, I was reading through my latest issue of Runner's World magazine, which is a special issue about the Boston bombings.

Reading through that really inspired me to take the run outside, and stop worrying about it. So I decided to drive to the Metropark and do two six-mile out-and-back routes from my car. It wasn't super hot (72 degrees--hotter than ideal for running, but it could have been worse for late June), but it was very humid (78% humidity).

My plan was to just keep my heart rate in Zone 3 (139-155 bpm). I brought my handheld water bottle with me (knowing I'd have to stop at the water fountains to refill a couple of times). I also brought along my point-and-shoot camera, that I really haven't used since I got my iPhone a year ago. I almost always see something that makes me wish I had a camera with me.


Less than a mile in, my heart rate was already in Zone 4, so I kept consciously trying to slow my pace. My legs wanted to go faster, but my cardiovascular system was definitely wanting me to slow down. So the first couple of miles, my pace was going up and down, trying to find a good compromise.

My newly-short hair was driving me insane. I had it in a ponytail, and it kept slapping my left ear with every step. Not my right ear, just my left. In hindsight, I should have just stopped and taken a minute to adjust everything, but I decided to wait until I got back to the car at mile six. I accidentally took a picture while I was tugging at my hair, mid-run.

I reached the end of the park at mile three, then turned around and headed back. I stopped on the bridge to get a quick picture.

When I got back to the car, I ditched the camera--I didn't see a single thing worth taking a picture of, so there was no use taking it out again. I pulled my hair into a knot, and then started on the second half of my run. My hair felt a million times better after that!

I started to feel pretty good around mile 7, and that lasted until about mile 10; probably because of the slower pace. I stopped once more at mile 10.75 to refill my water bottle, and I dumped the entire thing over my head. I was completely sopping wet after that, but it did feel better! Then I just did what I could to make it back to the car. My heart rate was too high, but it's hard for me to slow down when I know the end is getting close ;)

Got back to the car, and dried off with the towel I brought. Overall, it was a tough run, but I'm glad I did it outside instead of on the treadmill. My pace was kind of slow, but I wasn't worried about that. I was actually kind of surprised just how consistent my splits were! The first couple of years that I was running, my splits were all over the place; now, it's not unusual to have several splits within a second or two of each other.

I didn't spend my activity PointsPlus today, because I want to save them for tomorrow. Jerry and I are having a date night, and even though I have no idea what we're going to do, I'd like the option to spend them then. My stomach was actually kind of upset all afternoon after my run today.

Tonight, Sarah is coming over for a little while. I'm looking forward to some adult conversation! I'll have a glass of wine, but I'm stopping with one. Last time she came over for wine, I had four glasses, and felt awful the next day!

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