Noah's birthday party

I was pretty excited to pick up the kids from camp today, but we had to leave at 7:45 in the morning. I knew I wouldn't have time to run later, so I got out of bed at 5:15, even though I was sleeping pretty well last night. I put on my running clothes, and as soon as I stepped outside, I knew that heading out for a run at 5:45 AM was totally worth it... it was only 57 degrees outside!

It felt amazing. The humidity was pretty high when I checked the weather, but it didn't feel like it at all. I ran my favorite out-and-back route, and the whole time, I was thinking how much better I feel when I run in cooler weather. My spirit was high, and when I hit mile two (my turn-around point), I decided to keep going a little further.

I turned it into a lollipop route, and then headed back home. My goal was to stay in heart rate Zone 1 today (135-148 bpm), and that was pretty easy to do. However, check out this huge spike about three miles in:

THAT would be when a black bird attacked my head! It kept diving down, and just brushing against me, which was terrifying, to say the least. I started waving my arms around above my head while running, and I'm sure I looked like a crazy person ;)

 I ended up running five miles instead of the planned four--purely because I was actually enjoying running outside in this weather. I love when I have runs like that!

With the exception of the first mile, my splits were almost dead even...

I'm still amazed when my splits are that even. It never happens that way when I TRY to run even splits; only when I'm not paying attention in the slightest!

After my run, I took a quick shower and got ready for my mom to pick me up. We made the two-hour drive to the camp where my kids were. The kids had a BLAST, and were already asking if they could go to the week-long session next year. They absolutely loved it; I just wish I'd known that earlier, so I could have stopped worrying about them the whole time they were gone.

When we got home, I focused on getting the house cleaned before Noah's friends came over for his birthday party. Noah was really excited about his cake--he loved it, as I knew he would. We got pizza for them for dinner, and as tempted as I was to have some, I need to be careful this week (which I will explain later...). Instead, Jerry and I made sandwiches that turned out to be amazing. We split open whole wheat sandwich rolls, topped them with ham, turkey pepperoni, pizza sauce, and pepper jack cheese, then toasted them in the oven. They were fantastic sandwiches (much better than a piece of pizza), and only 8 PP.


As I write this, Jerry is outside playing baseball with Noah and his friends. I've been overhearing some of their conversation, and it's kind of hilarious. The things that nine year old boys talk about! (Eli isn't here; my dad took him fishing so Noah could have his party without his little brother here). My mom sent me this adorable picture of Eli and my dad cleaning their fish.

So I have a confession to make, and it's a pretty funny story. Yesterday, I bought a container of cookie dough ice cream for Noah's party. It was 1.5 quart-size. It sat in the freezer all day, and last night, it was totally calling to me. Jerry was at work, the kids were at camp, and I kept thinking about that stupid ice cream! I thought, "Well, I'll just have one spoonful." So I ate a spoonful, and it was delicious, of course.

Then I would grab a spoon every time I walked by the freezer. I would just shave a little off the top of the container. Eventually, the whole top inch of the ice cream was gone, and it was really obvious I had been skimming it! So I finally just measured some out into a bowl, ate it, and then had to throw away the rest of the container. (My stomach is bottomless when it comes to ice cream--I could eat a gallon of it and not feel full!)

I can't be the only person that has done that, right?! Thankfully, yesterday was my long run day, so I used up those PointsPlus (plus some of my weekly PP) to cover the ice cream. But that left me without much for the party today, so I didn't have any of Noah's cake. Instead, Jerry and I had a 4 PP Smart Ones peanut butter cup sundae. It was pretty good, but I don't think I would buy it again.

Tomorrow is Noah's actual birthday, and he decided he wants to go to Chili's for dinner instead of Golden Corral, which he mentioned a few days ago--whew! ;)

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Heads or Tails

It was such a gorgeous day outside today! I was so thankful to have some nice weather after all the rain we've had lately. It made the decision to do my long run today much easier. Tomorrow is going to be super busy, and I really don't think I could squeeze eight miles in, so I decided to run eight today (my long run) and then four tomorrow.

When I stepped outside, I was expecting the really humid, sticky air we've had for the past couple of weeks, but it was really nice. My goal was to keep my heart rate in Zone 2, which is 149-162. I fell into a comfortable pace of about 9:15-9:20/mi.

I saw a whole bunch of dead turtles on my run today. It was odd, because they were all along a two-mile stretch of road (not together), and they had been run over by cars. Most of them were teeny tiny turtles (smaller than my palm), but there was one huge one.

I've noticed that I see different dead animals on my runs, depending on the season. At the very beginning of spring, I see toads all over the place. Then after that, I see birds (and even a couple of ducklings or goslings). Now, it seems to be reptiles, because I saw lots of snakes last week and now turtles today. Poor little things!

I ran out four miles, then turned around and came back. I started to feel really good at around mile five. The last mile, I picked up the pace as much as I could while still keeping my heart rate in Zone 2, and finished the run feeling fantastic!

My splits were all pretty even, with the exception of mile four. I'm not sure what happened there.

After my run, I took a quick shower and got ready to go to the state park for a walk with Jessica. I'm glad we decided to get together for a walk instead of coffee or something, because it was SUCH a great day outside. We parked near the entrance and planned to walk a three-mile loop, but while we were walking, we took a little detour, which added another mile or so.

On the way home, I stopped at the store to get the stuff for Noah's birthday party tomorrow. We're going to have a campfire outside with the kids here, so I bought the stuff for s'mores. Noah wants to order pizza for dinner, which is super easy, and I bought a cake mix to make his cake. I'm terrible at baking, so I rarely make homemade cakes; but the kids wouldn't know the difference whether it was homemade or from a box, so a box it was.

I wanted something to decorate it with, so I was looking at candies, but then I ended up buying some Oreos to put on it. Noah loves Oreos, but I never buy them, so I think he'll like it. I just made a two layer cake, slapped some white frosting on the sides, and chocolate frosting on top, then used the Heads or Tails Oreos to decorate. Not the prettiest cake I've ever seen, but I think Noah will like it.

When I was done frosting it, there was half of a can of chocolate frosting left. Before I could even think about it, I squirted some dish soap in the can and threw it in the garbage. I'm glad I did that, because later, I was thinking about how I want to eat all that leftover frosting!

Today was Jerry's last day at the job he's had for nearly 11 years. He said leaving was going to be bittersweet; he is excited about his new job, but he's really going to miss the people he works with. We know the new job is a good thing, but I'm going to be a nervous wreck until he's comfortable there! I just hope that he likes the job and the people he works with.

I'm really excited to see the kids tomorrow, and hear all about camp. I've thought about them all day today, wondering what they're doing, and hoping they're having fun. In the morning, I'm going to try and squeeze in my four-mile run before leaving at 8:00 for the 2-hour drive to get the kids. I should be home by around 1:00, and the birthday party starts at 4:00. Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking when I planned the party for the day the kids get home from camp! ;) 

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Shrimp

Today was a very long day! I almost decided not to even write a post tonight, but I just can't seem to NOT write my blog. It's a daily part of my life just like anything else! But I'm definitely going to keep it short. I want to curl up with a big mug of tea and watch Pretty Little Liars ;)

My weigh in this morning was a bust, but that was no surprise. At least I dropped a little of the water weight I'd gained the day before! But I still feel really puffy, so I know the gain is (at least mostly) water.

My diet was off track a lot this week, too, so some of that is legit. But my sister and I are going to start texting our food logs to each other every night again, which helps me to stay accountable. I'm going to have a couple of difficult days this week, because Noah's birthday is on Saturday. He's having a sleepover party on Friday, so I'll make a cake for that. I asked him what he would like for his birthday dinner on Saturday, and he said Golden Corral--blech! I've never even been to a GC, but I hate buffets. I just picture people touching the food, sneezing, and coughing around it. I'm hoping I can talk him into something--anything--else.

I spent all morning getting the kids' suitcases packed and ready for church camp. My mom brought up the idea a few months ago, and I was really nervous about letting them go to an overnight camp, but some of the other kids from church are going and my kids really wanted to go. It's only for two nights, and they'll be together the whole time.

My mom wanted to go with me to take them to the camp (it's a two-hour drive), so she picked us up at 2:00. It was a long drive through all these country roads, but we went through a few cities I've never been to, so it was interesting.

When we got to the camp, we confirmed their registration and went with them to their cabin. We talked with their counselor a little, and I wanted to make sure the kids were comfortable before we left. They were both really excited, so that made me feel better about the whole thing. But until I pick them up on Friday morning, I'm going to constantly be thinking about how they're doing!

We left the camp at 5:00, and I finally got home at 7:00--I was starving. We're running low on our basic groceries, but I really didn't want to go to the store. I started going through the freezer when I found a bag of shrimp. I've been craving shrimp like crazy for a couple of weeks now, so I decided to use it to make my favorite go-to dinner.

This bowl has angel hair pasta, olive oil, garlic, shrimp, peas, and parmesan cheese, for a total of 12 PP. It was the perfect dinner for my shrimp craving.

I think I may do my long run tomorrow instead of Friday. Since Friday is Noah's party, I have to get all of that ready AND leave to pick him up from camp by 8:00 AM. Since it's a step-back week on my running schedule, I "only" have to run eight miles.

Anyway, Pretty Little Liars is calling my name!

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Track workout fail

Last night, Jerry and I went out for pizza with Sarah and Ne. All afternoon, I was hungry, and kept snacking on almonds. Then when we went out for dinner, I ate two pieces of pizza, as planned, and half an order of fried pickles. I knew those things were pretty high in sodium, but I was still totally shocked when I got on the scale this morning and saw a six-pound gain! Seriously, six pounds of water weight overnight. I've been downing water all day to try and get rid of it. I felt really puffy this morning.

Anyway, today was a speed work day. I haven't gone to the track in a while, so I thought it might be fun to go there and take the kids so they could throw around a football or baseball on the football field while I ran on the track. As soon as I stepped outside, I was a little taken aback at how humid it was. It was overcast, so from the house, it didn't look hot outside. But then when I walked to the car, I knew my track workout was going to be tough.

Instead of doing typical 400's or 800's, I decided to make it a little more fun. The kids started playing catch with a baseball, and I started a one-mile warm-up. I was sweating before I even made it around the track once! While I warmed up, I was planning what kind of workout to do, and this is what I came up with:

100 meters fast; 100 meter recovery jog (x2)
200 meters fast; 200 meter recovery jog
400 meters fast; 400 meter recovery jog
200 meters fast; 200 meter recovery jog
100 meters fast; 100 meter recovery jog (x2)

On paper, that's not a very hard workout. That's only a total of 1200 meters at a fast pace (3/4 of a mile). But my goal was really just to have fun with it and not drown in my own sweat from the humidity.

The first 100-meter sprint was actually pretty fun. I felt like I was flying (I love the bounce that the track gives). I thought I'd have plenty of time to recover from it, since the recovery was the same distance as the sprint itself, but I was still pretty out of breath starting the next one. And I had absolutely no clue what pace to run these, since I've never done 100- or 200-meter sprints before.

Turns out, it was TOUGH. By the time I got to the 400 meter sprint, I was really feeling tired. And it was during that lap that the kids started fighting horribly (they can't get along to save their souls). I got so frustrated with their fighting (and tattling while I was trying to run a sprint) that I just decided to stop there and call it a day. So I ran a total of 800 meters at a fast pace--hahaha! I didn't even do enough repeats to get my heart rate up into Zone 4.

I think the combination of being bloated and feeling very heavy, plus the heat/humidity, plus the stress from the kids just made it a bad time for me to do a track workout. However, I really did like running the shorter sprints like that, so I think I may do some other track workouts with a variety of distances like that. Not very helpful for marathon training, but the newness makes it fun!

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For Taste Test Tuesday this week, I bought this stuff:

I've tried a lot of the True Citrus products (I even did a review of them), and because I love anything lime, this looked pretty good to me when I saw it at the store. It's just like those Crystal Light packets, only these are sweetened with Stevia instead of artificial sweeteners. (I really like the Raspberry Lemonade flavor!). But anyway, I mixed a packet of it into a glass of ice water (well, okay, as long as I'm being honest, I may have poured a little tequila in there too).

I was disappointed in this flavor. Because it's labeled a "limeade", I expected it to have that sourness of lime, but the black cherry was the dominant flavor (very sweet). I actually didn't taste any lime flavor at all. Jerry tried it, and he liked it better than I did. I didn't think it was bad tasting, but it just wasn't what I was expecting it to taste like. To be fair, I tried it without the tequila as well, and my opinion didn't change.

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The boys' baseball game was just canceled (yet again). That's the fifth game in a row that has been canceled because of this crappy weather!

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Motivational Monday #23

I hope you've all had a better eating/exercising week than I have! It was actually really hard for me to come up with something I did right this week. After the little bet I had going with my sister was over, I started snacking on things here and there without counting them, and then making bad food choices.

But, I felt AMAZING after yesterday's tempo run, and it pushed me to get back on track before I gain five pounds this week. I am proud of myself for choosing to do my tempo run outside in the humidity, rather than on the treadmill. The treadmill feels so much easier for me, so it was very tempting to do that instead of go outside, where I knew it would be a tough run. But I did it, and I was really glad afterward!

Let's see what some readers are proud of this week...

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This is Shawn, my brother-in-law (Jeanie's husband). He didn't submit this, but I was really excited for him, and just had to share his news. Shawn started running in December, the same time as Jeanie, in order to finish the Virtual 5K for my birthday. He didn't realize it at the time, but Shawn is FAST, especially for a beginner. His first half-marathon was the same race that I flew into Chicago to run with Jeanie in May. I told him that he had some serious potential to win age group awards, and I wrote a training plan for him to focus on speed for shorter distances (which he prefers). Well, here he is after winning second place in his age group on the fourth of July! His finish time for a 2.8 mile race was 19:36--a crazy fast 7:00/mile.

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Ashley ran her first 10K on the fourth of July! She's done a handful of 5K's and a 4-miler, but this was her longest race to date. It rained throughout the first half of the race, and she was very tempted to take the 5K turn-around, but she decided to stick it out. She finished in 1:15:45, more than 4 minutes faster than her goal time!  (Here is a link to Ashley's blog, Tales of a Slow Runner)

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Joy just celebrated her 34th birthday, and was excited to see such a big difference in her birthday pictures over the past few years! She's lost a whopping 94 pounds (by doing MyFitnessPal and exercising--everything from Zumba and Body Pump to running 5K's). 

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Quinlyn was never very interested in running, because she thought it was all about running laps around a gym or on a treadmill. But she thought the Color Me Rad 5K looked like fun, so she started training. She just finished the 5K, and said she had a BLAST! She thinks it's a great race for newbies, because it's such a fun atmosphere.

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Thomas WON A RACE--as in, he was the first person to cross the finish line!  He modestly pointed out that it was a small race, but how many people can say they've won a race? When my kids ask me if I won after a race, it always makes me laugh ;)  He also set a 9-second PR in the half-marathon with a time of 1:39:40. (I'm impatiently waiting for his race report; hopefully it will be on his blog by the time this post goes live).

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Cathy ran her first 5K (a color run), and said, "...tears ran down my face as I ran across the finish line." She never imagined this would be possible; in February, she had three surgeries, and during the last one, her lungs collapsed. She said that just trying to talk to her kids took every ounce of air and strength she could manage. When her doctor finally released her to start exercising, she started walking (losing 35 pounds in the process). At first, she was walking 26 minutes per mile; and she just finished her 5K in 54 minutes!

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Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post, too, for more stories :)

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I'd also like to announce the five winners of the CamelBak Arc Quick Grip handheld water bottles! Congrats to the following:

I've sent you an e-mail, so please make sure you respond. I'll get your info to CamelBak. Enjoy the water bottles!

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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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