Feeling that runner's high!

Eight hours later, and I am still floating on my runner's high from this morning. I had a fantastic long run today! I can't even describe how badly I was in need of a good run after feeling so crappy last week. And honestly, I wasn't expecting today to be any better, but I was hopeful.

I ended up eating breakfast when I woke up, because I knew I wouldn't be able to head outside to run until my dad picked up the kids to go to church; so I ate breakfast, and had my tea while I waited to go out. It was 8:45 when I left the house, and as soon as I stepped outside, I was in awe of how cool it was outside. It was 59 degrees--I couldn't ask for better July temps for a long run!

Again, I decided to stay close to home in case of cramps or other issues I've been having lately. I did a five-mile out-and-back first, and then a five-mile loop around the neighborhoods. The first couple of miles were a little tough. My heart rate was in Zone 1 (long runs are supposed to be in Zone 2), but I felt like I was struggling. I was breathing kind of hard, and couldn't understand why it felt so difficult when I wasn't even pushing myself very hard.

When I hit mile two, it was like a switch flipped on in my body, and I started feeling really good. When I made the turn-around on the out-and-back route, I had a tail wind, and my pace picked up a bit. I assumed it was from the wind being in my favor, but even when I changed directions again, it was like I just kept feeling better and better.

I was afraid for a while to go too fast, because I didn't want to burn out. But my heart rate was right in the middle of Zone 2, so I was nowhere near pushing too hard. The last five miles flew by--my feet were feeling like they were just springing off the ground, and a sub-9:00/mi pace was pretty effortless. It's been a long time since I maintained that pace for a long run. (Actually, I just looked, and the last double digit run that I averaged a sub-9:00 pace was in early May!)

I felt like I could have just kept running forever. With the exception of the first 2 miles, I felt really strong and amazing through the whole 10 miler. I had mapped out my route before I left the house, and it was exactly 10 miles; but I must have screwed something up, because when I reached mile 10, I was still a quarter mile from home. The extra quarter mile didn't hurt, though ;)

When I got back to my house, I just sat on the porch with my water bottle and enjoyed how gorgeous the day was! (Definitely feeling the runner's high).

I was feeling SO good after that. After last week's runs, with the stomach issues and muscle cramps, and just feeling crappy in general, I was really starting to doubt myself and doubt the new training I'm doing. But today really showed me that bad days (and bad weeks) don't mean that all of my runs are going to be like that. I know I've said this a thousand times this summer, but the heat really does make a huge difference in my pace and effort level. Having such a cool morning today was just what I needed to boost my running confidence a little.

I had been planning to get a cookie with my Activity PointsPlus today, but after my run, I was in the mood for ice cream. So I bought some cookie dough ice cream (15 PP) and ate that this afternoon. My favorite part of my long runs, for sure ;)

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Just a reminder, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you have a picture of a health/fitness accomplishment you'd like to share, you can e-mail it to me at SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com with a short description, and I may include it on tomorrow's post :)

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Change of plans

Well, we didn't end up going to Cedar Point today. Jerry and I were both thinking that today was the 28th, and the tickets his employer gave us are good from July 28-Aug. 3. We made our plans to go on Saturday, the 28th--and then last night, we realized that the 28th was Sunday!

It probably worked out for the best, though, because it was storming on and off today. We decided to go on Thursday instead. My mom has a bunch of hotel points saved up, so she is going to let us use them to stay the night down there on Thursday night. I think the kids are more excited about staying at a hotel than they are about Cedar Point ;)

I had six miles on the schedule today, and after the issues with my stomach during the past few runs, I wasn't feeling very optimistic. I decided to head out right when I woke up, before I ate breakfast, so that maybe my stomach would feel better. I always used to prefer running on an empty stomach, but when I was marathon training last year, I made a habit of eating first. My body has always felt best when I run before breakfast, though.

It was a great morning for a run--completely overcast, on the verge of raining, and just 68 degrees. Instead of doing an out-and-back run, I decided to just run around the neighborhoods around my house. I was afraid of going too far from home, in case my stomach gave me trouble again.

Running on Saturday mornings is actually really nice! I didn't come across a single soul outside this morning; it was almost eery, the way it was so overcast and the streets were empty. It made for nice running, though.

At first, I was planning to keep my heart rate in Zone 1, for an easy run, but I was getting irritated from looking at my Garmin to see that my heart rate was constantly in Zone 2. After a couple of miles, I just decided to screw what the heart rate monitor said, and just run however my legs felt like running. It was definitely more enjoyable after that.

Thankfully, my stomach didn't act up today! I think my anxiety level was lower, because Jerry was off work. I wasn't feeling the "This is the greatest run ever!" attitude, but I felt much better than I have the past few runs. If tomorrow's weather is anything like today's, I'm actually looking forward to my 10-miler in the morning.

When I finished the run, I sat on the porch with a huge bottle of ice water and Jerry sat with his coffee. It was so nice outside that I didn't even want to go in the house. Eli brought his blanket out there and sat with us :)

I was definitely ready to eat breakfast after that, but Jerry and I realized we had to weigh in at Weight Watchers today. It was 9:00 already, and Weight Watchers was only open until 10. I quickly showered and got dressed, then we all went to WW. My weight was exactly the same as last month. I'm still under my WW goal, so I'm good to go for another month.

When I got home, I finally got to eat breakfast (an English muffin with Nutella--yum!). Since we'd been planning on being at Cedar Point today, we didn't have any plans all day. I organized some boxes in my bedroom closet, and Jerry mowed the grass. We just had a really relaxing afternoon, which was nice, but boring.

For dinner, I made sloppy joes, but instead of using buns, I made a quick dough out of Bisquick, and made the sloppy joes into "pockets". (For the crust, I just mixed 2 cups of Bisquick + 1/2 cup boiling water, which made enough dough for four pockets). They turned out really good!

After dinner, I was dying for something sweet. I had been planning to save my activity PointsPlus for a treat tomorrow after my 10-miler, but I just wanted something today. So we ended up getting ice cream at McDonald's, and I got a dipped cone. They are SO good, and well-worth the 7 PP!

I didn't even save enough PointsPlus for a glass of wine tonight, and I always have wine! But I was ravenous today, probably because I ran right when I woke up. I've noticed that when I run first thing in the morning, I feel like I can eat everything in sight all day; but when I run late-morning or early afternoon, my appetite is pretty in-control all day. Interesting!

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The mystery smell

For the past couple of days, I was making myself crazy trying to figure out what the heck is making my kitchen stink. Usually, if I smell something, it's the garbage, so that's an easy fix. But a couple of days ago, I smelled something funky, and I cleaned out the fridge, to make sure it wasn't bad food or something. It wasn't the garbage.

Yesterday, I thought I pinpointed it to the garbage disposal. A few times yesterday, I ran the disposal for a couple of minutes with hot soapy water. No change. Today, the smell was even worse, so I googled "stinky garbage disposal" and a bunch of home remedies came up. I used baking soda and vinegar, I used coarse salt, and a bunch of ice cubes, and I was sure that I took care of it.

After that mess, I went for my easy four-mile run. Goal heart rate was Zone 1, which meant I could go nice and easy, and not worry about pace. I was kind of looking forward to running, because I was desperate to have a good run after the past couple of crappy ones I've had. I did laps around the block again, rather than the treadmill. The temp was a little hotter than yesterday, but not horrible.

I wish I could say that the run was fantastic, but my stomach is still not feeling good. I'm almost positive it's a result of my anxiety. Since Jerry started his new job, we've been way off of our routine, and it's throwing me off a bit. Right now he's in training, and he's been working long hours. Once he starts his regular schedule (next week), things should get better, because we'll form a new routine. But for now, I've just been feeling anxious all the time, which is giving me an upset stomach--especially when I run. (Jerry really likes his new job, and the people he works with, which is a relief to me!)

I struggled through four miles. The last mile, it was nearly impossible to keep my heart rate in Zone 1, so I decided just to go with it and throw in some strides. Strides are shorts bursts of speed, roughly 100 meters or so, at around 5K-pace. I just picked a sign or a tree or something, ran hard to it, then returned to easy run pace. Doing that helped keep my mind off of my stomach.

After I finished my run, I walked in the house... and smelled something funky! I seriously thought I was losing my mind. I started opening and closing cupboards in the kitchen, sniffing the whole time, trying to find the source. It still seemed to be coming from the sink area. I opened the cupboard under the sink, and the smell was a little worse. I pulled everything out, and there was nothing that could be causing the odor.

I pulled the drawers out to check under and behind them, but it was too dark to see anything, so I got a flashlight and shined that through the space where the drawer would go, and behind the sink.

And I found the source of the smell!

It was a dead mouse. Remember, back in February 2012, when we found evidence of a mouse under the sink cupboard? I had set some mouse traps, but we never trapped one, and had no other evidence that a mouse was there. I just left the traps sitting under there, just in case.

Well, apparently the little bugger came back or told his friends, because the trap had a dead mouse in it today. It probably died a few days ago, based on the smell. As gross as it was, I was glad that I wasn't going crazy, and very happy to get rid of it!

Before Jerry left his job, his employer gave us four tickets to Cedar Point (a huge amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio). I haven't been there since 2003, before I got pregnant with Noah. We're going to take the kids there for the day tomorrow. Jerry's been wanting to go for the last few years, but I'm actually scared to. I used to like the roller coasters, but after fainting in 2010, and breaking my jaw (not at all related to roller coasters, haha), I am worried that the motion of the rides will cause me to faint again.

I know the chances are slim that it would happen, considering I haven't fainted at all since that one day, but I've been afraid to do anything that might make my dizzy. I think going with the kids will be good for me, because they can't go on any of the really big rides. Noah is very scared of roller coasters, so I'll probably be sitting out with him while Jerry takes Eli on them. I may try them (starting small) if I can get Noah to try it!

Anyway, I have no idea what time we'll be home tomorrow, so I may not write a post tomorrow night. But I can't imagine the boys staying there very late, so who knows?

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Laps

It was another gorgeous day today--a high of 75. Unfortunately, I didn't take advantage of it as much as I could have, because I was SO into the book I was reading. I opened up all the windows to get a nice breeze through the house, and then I sat and read my book until I finished it. I was reading Lisa Gardner's "The Neighbor", and I think that was my favorite of hers so far. It was one of those "just one more chapter!" books.

At around 11, I forced myself to put it down and go for my run. I had five miles on the schedule, at marathon pace. Since I don't have a marathon goal pace, I decided to try and keep my heart rate in Zone 3 (like I would for a tempo run). Eli was out fishing with my dad, and Noah was home with me, so I was thinking I'd just do the treadmill. Noah said he'd be fine with me running outside, but I would be too nervous leaving him alone (he's only nine).

Instead, I decided to run laps around the block--my house is visible from all parts of the block, and if Noah needed me, I'd be in yelling distance. Our block is only 0.4 miles around, so it certainly wouldn't be a scenic run, but the weather was so nice, that I wanted to take advantage of it.

I headed out, and took my time getting my heart rate up to Zone 3. Five miles is a long way to run in that zone, so I didn't want to burn out too early. Every time I lapped by the house, I yelled "Marco!" and from inside the house, Noah would yell, "Polo!" ;)  That way I knew that all was okay.

At one point, I actually saw some guy (probably about my age) out running, which was very surprising; I never come across another runner in my neighborhood! Even more interesting, he was wearing a Kona Run shirt, which is the 10-mile race I did last month. I just said "hi" as we passed each other in opposite directions. Then I saw him again a couple of miles later. I asked him if he was training for a race, but he said no, he was "training just to train". It would have been a little embarrassing if I'd seen him a third time, because he certainly would know that I was running circles around my block!

At mile three, things went south very quickly. I got a really sharp muscle cramp in my abdomen, which caused me to slump over and my breaths to be really shallow. Normally, I can run through muscle cramps, but this was awful. My pace slowed way down, and at mile 3.5, I just couldn't take it anymore. I stopped running, and just walked home (it wasn't very far, thanks to the laps!). When I got home, I sat down and drank some ice water.

I sat for about 10 minutes, until the cramp went away, and then decided to head out and finish the run. I only had a mile and a half left at that point, so it went by pretty quickly.

My heart rate was in the right zone for at least three of the miles, so I'd consider it a success. But I really need to have a GOOD run tomorrow.

When Eli got home, he wanted to play catch with a baseball outside, and Noah didn't want to, so I told him I would. I haven't played catch in a very long time! He had a mitt in his baseball bag that fit me, so I went out to play. When Noah learned I was playing, he changed his mind and decided he wanted to play, too ;)

It ended up being really fun, and a good chance to chat with the boys while they're not bickering. Maybe I'll ask for a baseball mitt for Christmas. I'm sure the boys would love to pick one out for me! I love that I'm able to do active stuff with the kids. Four years ago, you would never find me playing ball (or any sort of sport) outside.

I think the weather had me thinking about fall today, because I was really in the mood for soup for dinner. I hadn't made Loaded Baked Potato soup in a very long time (probably a couple of years), so I made that. It was SO good! I'm going to put this back in the rotation.

I'm really excited to watch Dexter tonight. It's been on the DVR since Sunday, when it aired, but with Jerry's work schedule, we haven't been able to watch it yet!

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42 years

After last week's disaster of a weigh-in, I was 100% on track all week. I logged my food every day, and finished the week without having my PointsPlus be in the negative. I was very happy to see that my weight is going back down...

I think what has been the most helpful in staying on track this week was that I divided up my 49 weekly PP at the beginning of the week, so instead of aiming for 26 PP per day, I just added 7 per day, and aimed for 33. Before, I would end up using all 49 PP in the first half of the week, and then I would struggle to stay on track for the last few days. By dividing them up evenly, I stay satisfied all week long. Then I use my activity PP as a "bonus" for something I really want (like the cookie I had on Sunday).

I also finished a whole week of the Hansons' method of marathon training. I've never trained for six days a week before, so I was worried about how well I would adjust. The extra day didn't bother me at all, but I was definitely ready for a rest day today!

I think the nausea and stomach issues I've had the past few days have been from anxiety. For some reason, my anxiety has been really bad lately, and this morning, I felt on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. I haven't had a panic attack in a long time. Usually, when I have anxiety for no reason, it goes away pretty quickly. Hopefully, I'll be feeling back to normal in a couple of days.

It was absolutely gorgeous outside today--in the high 60's/low 70's and sunny. I turned off the air conditioner, and opened up all the windows in the house. It felt so good, and that helped with my mood a bit. It's supposed to be another nice day tomorrow.

Today was my parents' 42nd wedding anniversary...

July 24, 1971

I thought it was funny, because my mom said that rather than just she and my dad doing something together, they wanted to take us out to dinner! Nathan, my younger brother, had to work at 5, so we ended up going to an early dinner at Red Lobster before he went to work.

I looked up the menu before we left, so I could plan out what to order. Seafood is usually a safe bet, unless it's fried. On their seasonal menu, they had Mango Rum Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa. The lunch portion was only 7 PointsPlus, and it sounded really good, so that's what I decided to order. I got a double side of broccoli instead of mashed potatoes or fries.

 

It also came with a salad. The tilapia was really good, but I didn't care for the pineapple salsa at all. I adore pineapple, so I thought I would love it, but it didn't go with the fish very well. Regardless, it was a yummy dinner, and only 8 PP for the fish, broccoli, and salad.

My older brother, Brian, and his girlfriend Becky, came in from Minnesota yesterday for just a couple of hours. They were going to stay for Noah and Eli's baseball game last night, and when we got to the field, it was pouring rain. The umpire called the game off when we got there, so they didn't get to play. Then as soon as we got home, the sun was out and the rain was totally gone. Bummer. Tonight is their last game, and thankfully, it's gorgeous outside!

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Loose skin issues

This whole post is full of TMI (too much information), so I am sorry in advance for that... ;)

Yesterday morning, I had one of the worst runs ever. I wore my new shorts (which isn't the reason for the bad run), and was excited to try them out on an easy four-miler outside. It was hot and humid, but not ridiculously so.

When I first started running, I almost immediately turned around to change out of the shorts. I hated how uncomfortable the jiggling of my loose skin was. Chafing wasn't an issue at all, thanks to the Aquaphor I put on my thighs, but loose skin moves a lot. The best way I can describe it would be like running without a sports bra. Normally, I wear compression-fit capris, which hold everything really tight, so jiggling isn't an issue.

Since someone always comments that I don't look like I have loose skin on my thighs, I'm going to post a graphic picture for the first time, showing that I'm not making it up. Loose skin is a sensitive subject for me. I worked extremely hard to lose the weight I did, but this is the result of the weight loss, and evidence that I used to be morbidly obese. Here is a picture of when I was lying in bed last night. It's not a flattering angle, but it shows just how loose the skin really is (that's my inner thigh):

As much of an inconvenience that the loose skin is, I would choose my loose skin over my obese legs any day. When I was obese, my legs rubbed together constantly, so I was chafed all the time. It was hard to walk because they felt so heavy. I had to stuff them into my clothes, which was extremely uncomfortable. The loose skin isn't pretty, but it's much more comfortable and easier to deal with than the issues I had when I was obese.

Anyway, I wanted to give the shorts a fair chance, so I decided to just run the whole four miles before deciding whether I liked them.

When I got on the main road, I was very self-conscious of the jiggling. Logically, I knew people probably weren't staring at my thighs; but the fat girl inside my head was remembering when people used to yell out their car windows at me--"Fat cow!" "Moo!" "Look at fattie run!" and stuff like that. After about a mile or so into yesterday's run, I stopped caring about what I looked like, and just tried to focus on keeping good form.

Something I wasn't expecting about wearing shorts was that it would throw off my running form. The movement of the loose skin made me swing my legs outward a little on each step, and I could feel it in my knees (a twisting motion). Not a good thing.

It was when I got to mile two and turned around that my run got really bad.

I was extremely nauseous for some reason. I was running at an easy pace, so it wasn't like I was exerting myself too much. All of mile three, I was just trying to focus on breathing normally, and trying not to panic at the nausea that was getting worse. After I reached mile three, the nausea was so bad that I wanted to stop and just vomit on the side of the road. But stopping would mean I wouldn't be at home, and I desperately wanted to get home.

I was trying not to think of throwing up, because it kept causing me to feel more panicky. Instead, I focused on breathing and I finally--FINALLY--made it home. I sat down for a couple of minutes, and the nausea went away, but my stomach was feeling really icky after that. (I had a wave of nausea after breakfast this morning, too. Not sure what's going on. No, I'm not pregnant!)

I'm glad I tried the shorts, because I'd always been curious about them; however, I'm going to stick with my compression-fit capris, because they are much more comfortable.

Today I had speed work on the schedule. I was hoping to go to the track, but it was thunder storming outside, so I ran on the treadmill instead. I did one of the Hansons' speed workouts: 4 x 3/4 mi with 400 jogs. Basically, that was a 1 mile warm-up, then 3/4 mile at 7:30-ish pace, 1/4 mile jog (repeat for a total of 4 times). On paper, it didn't seem that hard; but when I did it, it was a tough workout! I kept thinking I'd never last more than two intervals. Somehow, I managed to get through the entire thing, though.

I felt like I was drowning in sweat when I was done. I just sat in front of the fan for a couple of minutes trying to cool off. But it felt great! I love that feeling of pushing my body to the max (well, when it's over, I love it).

Even after taking a cold shower, my face was still flushed. A good workout!

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Taste Test Tuesday was a big win this week! I bought this new flavor of cream cheese:

As I've mentioned before, I love anything jalapeno, so I was excited to see this at the store. However, I don't eat cream cheese much, so I wasn't sure what to do with it at first. I ended up making a sandwich with an English muffin, a vegetarian chicken patty, and a tablespoon of this cream cheese, and it was insanely good!

It's the perfect amount of spicy, too; not so spicy that you can't taste anything else, but not a "barely there" kind of heat, either. I used just one tablespoon for the sandwich (for 1 PP) and that little bit went a long way. I'm going to experiment with it a little more, too--maybe on eggs, or as a spread for other kinds of sandwiches. Maybe even on some sort of pizza? Jerry gave this two thumbs up as well; we both loved it!

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By the way, I forgot to post this earlier... A few people asked about the bracelet Brandi gave me. Her friend has an Etsy shop, and she custom made it with my own quote: "determination always trumps motivation". I love it!

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Motivational Monday #25

I'm having a great week being back on track! I've managed to stay on plan, even with dinner at La Pita on Wednesday, a wedding shower on Saturday afternoon, and a wedding reception on Saturday night. I even saved up my activity PointsPlus so that I could have a big cookie yesterday, and still stay on plan. I feel so much better mentally and physically when I stay on track, so this has been a great week for me so far.

I hope everyone else is feeling motivated going into this week! It was great to read through these stories...

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Early this spring, Allison was feeling very down and depressed about her weight, and decided to start making some healthy changes. She started by walking around her neighborhood, and eating a healthier diet. As she got more confident, and started to see the weight come off, she got more and more active. Her Zumba teacher encouraged her to start running, which was a goal of Allison's. She said for her first run, she ran about 50 feet before she had to stop--it was much harder than she expected! But she kept training, with an ultimate dream of one day running a sub-30:00 5K. Her first 5K race was completed in 36:00. Two weeks later, she ran one in 31:46. This weekend, she ran another, and hit her goal, finishing in 29:06! She says she was happier in that moment than she's ever been in her life, and she cried as she crossed the finish line. She's now down 45 pounds, too!

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Amanda completed her first mini triathlon this weekend! She lost a whopping 50 pounds a couple of years ago, and was struggling with maintenance. She decided to find other ways of staying motivated, and training for races was a big help to her. She set a goal of one hour to complete the 200 meter swim, 4 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run; she ended up crushing her goal and finished in 42:14! She's already planning to do the full triathlon next year.

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Brenda and her husband have motivated each other this week to get active. They started with a 2 1/2 mile walk one day, and the next day decided to try for 3 1/2. They ended up walking 5 miles! They are leaving for vacation, and these walks helped motivated them to use the gym where they are going to be staying. Brenda says that having his company helps motivate her, so it's a win-win.

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Jennifer started running just seven months ago, and she ran her first half-marathon yesterday! She completed the distance on her treadmill, which takes some serious self-motivation. She's excited to train for 26.2 next!

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Justine has always wanted to get into running and races, and she just ran her first race! She and her best friend had a blast while doing a color run, and is excited to do another.

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Kelly just completed her first half-Ironman triathlon this weekend! She said she feels fantastic, and is very excited to do it again. You can read her full race recap on her blog. 

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After losing 50 pounds, with a little more than 100 to go, Wynter ran a Tough Mudder this weekend! She struggled with training, and for a long time, worried that she may not even be able to complete the race. She says she had a fantastic team that helped and encouraged her enough for her to finish the entire 10-mile race, and 12 of the 18 obstacles! She's already planning to do the Tough Mudder MN in 2014 (with a goal of being down another 75 pounds). She said, "If I can do it, anyone can!"

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Don't forget to check out all the motivating stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post, too!

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Anyone have a goal for next week? Feel free to share in the comments! I've found that when I make my goals public on my blog, I tend to work a little harder to complete them ;)

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Photo booth

Yesterday ended up being just as busy as I thought it would be, but thanks to my dad, it was pretty stress-free. When I woke up, I ran eight miles on the treadmill. I'd planned to do it outside, but when I got out there, it was SO humid, and the air felt really thick. I just wimped out and ran it on the 'mill, while watching The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

I showered and got ready to go to Jerry's sister's wedding shower. Her fiance, Chris, asked Jerry to go to hang out with him, so we were able to go to the shower together. My dad volunteered to watch the boys AND take Eli to the birthday parties he was invited to. Eli had two parties back-to-back, and my dad took him to both, which was awesome.

I didn't eat anything at the wedding shower, because it started at 1:00, and I would have been starving by then. I like to eat lunch at around 11:00, so I just ate before I left. When we left the shower at 4:00, though, I was really hungry for dinner. Jerry and I had a wedding to go to at 6:00, so I went home and ate a sandwich and some soup quickly before getting ready for the wedding.

The wedding was a lot of fun! I was stunned by the cupcake display:

They had a ton of different flavors, but I'd been saving my PointsPlus all week for a cookie from Mrs. Fields today, so I chose not to eat any cupcakes. I was glad I'd eaten dinner before we left, because they didn't end up serving the food until close to 8:00, which is nearly my bedtime, hahaha. I did have a couple of glasses of wine, though, and I chatted with my friend Amber for most of the evening. She had more than a few glasses of wine, which led to us getting silly in the photo booth:

Jerry and I went in the photo booth too, and I think it was the first time in our entire relationship using a photo booth. Photo booths should be mandatory at weddings--it was so fun! Then the bride and groom got a copy of all the photos placed into a memory book. I wish we'd done that at our wedding--very fun keepsake!

At around 10:00, I was ready to go home (I don't dance, unfortunately, and all of my friends love to dance). Jerry drove me home, and then he went back to the wedding; luckily, we were only a couple of miles from the reception.

This morning, I had my long run to do, which today, was just eight miles. I was expecting it to feel like an easy, peasy eight miles, because it's not that long of a distance while marathon training. However, since I switched to the Hansons' Marathon Method, I'd run eight miles yesterday, followed by running eight today. So my legs weren't exactly "fresh".

Holy cow, it was so much harder than I thought it would be! I decided to run outside, because the humidity was a little lower today. As soon as I started running, my legs felt very heavy. Normally, that would have bothered me, but I know that the whole point of this type of training is to run on tired legs. It was great to know that it was working!

It was a pretty decent run. I kept my heart rate in Zone 2, which is where I want it for my long runs. That translated to splits in the mid-to-high-9:00's. A blackbird dive-bombed my head again, which was mildly terrifying, so instead of an out-and-back route, I ended up looping around to avoid the bird on the way back. Then, about a quarter-mile from my house, I got stung by some sort of bug on my ankle! The pain was really bad for a minute, and I actually had to stop to make sure the bug wasn't stuck in my sock or something. I could see the spot where I was stung, but the bug was long gone.

I was happy to be finished...

It was interesting to look at my stats from yesterday's eight miler and compare them to today's. On the treadmill, I ran a 9:24/mi pace, my heart rate was an average of 141, and I burned 634 calories. Running outside, I ran a 9:36/mi pace, my heart rate was an average of 155, and I burned 805 calories. That's a big difference!

Jerry and I took the boys out today to have some fun with them. They'd been wanting to go ride go-carts for a long time, so we took them to do that. Eli drove his really slowly, and I didn't want to make him feel bad by passing him, so it wasn't a very thrilling ride ;)  After that, they did the batting cages, and then had an ice cream. I stopped and got my cookie on the way home. I'd saved up 31 PointsPlus for it so far this week (it's 23 PP). I'm going to enjoy it for dessert tonight :)

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Just a reminder, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you accomplished a fitness/health goal that you are proud of this week, you can send a picture and short description to my e-mail at SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, with the subject Motivational Monday, and I may include it on tomorrow's post.

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Pizza Doh!

It was another super hot and humid day today. It's supposed to cool down next week, and I really hope it does! Today, I had four miles on the schedule, but since I was going to run it on the treadmill anyway, I just waited until about 10:00. I really like running in the late morning, because it seems to help keep my appetite down for the whole day. When I run first thing in the morning, I always feel ravenous all day.

I set the treadmill at an easy pace to keep my heart rate in Zone 1, then started running. I watched The Secret Life of the American Teenager again. I'm really liking that show!

After my four miles were done, I showered and then got ready to go run a bunch of errands. The kids asked if I wanted to play Hedbanz, so we played that for about a half hour before heading out. I thought it was kind of funny that I got "cow" for the first round ;)

I waited to take the picture until after I'd guessed that I was a cow, so I wasn't cheating!

We used to play a version of that game in college, with Post-It notes. We would write a famous person's name down on a Post-It, and then stick it on someone's forehead (after having a few drinks, of course!). Once we all had a name, we took turns asking questions to figure out who we were.

I was always terrible at that game, because I don't know anything about celebrities. One time, I was asking questions FOREVER, and everyone else had already guessed theirs. I was getting mad at Jerry for picking something so hard for me to guess, and finally, I just grabbed the Post-It and looked... Eric Estrada. Then, I shouted some words that my friends still tease me about to this day:

"WHO THE FUCK IS ERIC ESTRADA?!"

Hahaha, I still think Jerry purposely picked someone I wouldn't know. He's wasn't allowed to write my Post-It for the forehead game after that ;)

Anyway, tomorrow is going to be a super busy day--I have to go to a wedding shower at 1:00, Eli has TWO birthday parties (one from 2-5 and the other from 4-7), and then Jerry and I are going to a wedding tomorrow night. So I had to go out and buy birthday gifts and the other half of a shower gift.  Taking the kids with me to buy the stuff was a mistake, and I just couldn't take the bickering, so I decided to go by myself after Jerry got home. The Hedbanz game was fun, so I ended up buying that for both kids' parties tomorrow. Hopefully they don't have it already.

Pizza Friday was a disaster today. We decided to make homemade pizza, so I put all the dough ingredients in the bread machine on the dough cycle. After it spun for a little while, I walked past it and noticed that the oil smelled rancid. I don't use oil very much in cooking, so it tends to go bad before I use it all. So I dumped out all the dough in to the trash, and started over with new oil.

After about 20 minutes, I noticed that I'd accidentally put it on the bread cycle instead of the dough cycle; which meant that I would have a loaf of bread made out of pizza dough when the cycle was over. It hadn't started baking yet, so I just started it over with the dough cycle, and it worked out.

When it came time to make the pizza, I split the dough in two, to make two pizzas. I grabbed a round pizza pan and started working the dough out for Jerry's and my pizza, and when I flipped the dough over, I noticed a gross grayish film all over it from the pan. I have no idea what that was about, but it was too gross to eat, so I had to toss that ball of dough. Fortunately, the kids' dough was still good.

After spreading out the pizza in a square, I had the idea to bake it the same way you would bake cinnamon rolls. I rolled up the whole pizza, with the sauce and cheese on it, and then cut it into slices and baked the slices that way. The kids said it tasted amazing...

Jerry and I just ended up having sandwiches for dinner, because there was no way I was going to make more dough after that.

After dinner, I went out to buy the gifts I needed at Target. While I was there, I saw some running clothes on clearance, so I just checked them out. There were a few pairs of running shorts, which I've never worn. I have a lot of loose skin on my thighs, so I never attempted to wear running shorts. But I see other people run with shorts, and a lot of them look like their thighs have some loose skin, so I decided to buy some and give them a try. 

Now, I know they aren't going to look pretty while I'm running, and my thighs are jiggling, but if I can wear them without chafing, I will be very happy to wear cooler clothing in the summer months. They're very comfy! But of course, I haven't run in them yet.

I have an eight-miler to run tomorrow, but I think I'll wait to give them a try until I have a short run. I'm mostly worried about chafing on my thighs. I'm also very self-conscious of the jiggling, but the longer I am at this weight, the less I really care about my imperfections (it's hard to tell from this photo, but trust me, the loose skin on my thighs is pretty bad!).

Because of my super busy day tomorrow, I may not get a chance to write. Have a good weekend!

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Dinner at La Pita

Dinner at La Pita was great last night! I was a little nervous about meeting Kelly, simply because I'm kind of awkward when meeting people and I'm pretty shy until I really get to know someone. I'm glad Stephanie came with me, because she is about as social as you can get ;)

I picked Stephanie up on the way, and we got there a little early, so we chatted until Kelly got there. Kelly was very easy to talk to, so my nerves went away as soon as she got there. She's just as funny in-person as she is on her blog, and it was a fun dinner.

I've shown my favorite meal from La Pita on my blog a million times, so I figured I'd order something different this time. My usual chicken kabob meal is about 30 PP for everything, so I wanted to find something that wasn't so high. I ended up ordering crushed lentil soup and baba ghannouge. I'd never had baba ghannouge before, but it's lower in calories than hummus, and the description sounded very similar...

Hummus is 1 PP per tablespoon, and the baba ghannouge is 1 PP per 2 tablespoons. So you get twice as much for the same amount of PointsPlus. I thought it was worth a taste!

When our food came, I was totally ready to dig in, but I managed to let Steph take a quick picture.

The soup was fantastic; it tasted nearly identical to my Lemon Lentil Soup recipe. And holy smokes, I was in love at first taste with the baba ghannouge. It was amazing! It reminded me a lot of the hummus, only a stronger garlic flavor, and a little bit of a smokiness. I will definitely get that instead of hummus from now on. I ate all of the soup, half of the baba ghannouge, and three (1-ounce) pitas, for a total of 14 PointsPlus.

After dinner, we managed to snag a hostess to take a quick picture of the three of us outside.

Kelly, me, and Steph

We said good-bye to Kelly, and I took Stephanie home, then went to pick up the kids from my parents' house. I thought Jerry was going to be home at 6:30 to be able to get the kids, but it was almost 9:00 when he got home! He'd left at 5:00 in the morning for work. I felt bad that he was there so long, but he said they had to get some sort of tests done (he's going through orientation/training all this week and next week). He didn't seem to mind the long day, because he said it's been really interesting.

I decided to go ahead and switch over to the Hansons' marathon method. I'm really curious to see how I feel while doing it. I'm going to do the lower mileage (beginner) plan, because it'll start at about the same mileage I'm doing now, 30-ish per week. Someone had asked about what the speed and strength workouts were, and here is a list of some for the plan.

My knee was feeling back to normal today, so I think the two days off was just what I needed. Today was a five-mile run at marathon pace on the schedule. Since I'm not going to be "racing" in Chicago, I just chose my pace based on the McMillan Pace Calculator prediction (the pace that the calculator says I can run a marathon at).

First, I calibrated my foot pod. For some reason, it pretty far off on the last treadmill run I did. It's been a long time since I calibrated it, so I'm glad I got that done. I finished watching Pretty Little Liars a couple of weeks ago, so I needed a new show to watch on Netflix while I run. After watching PLL, I was in the mood for another teen show, and I ended up watching The Secret Life of the American Teenager. It's pretty good! Just another teen drama ;)

So I finished my five miles. Tomorrow would normally be my long run day, but since I'm switching over to the Hansons' plan, I'm going to try and follow that right to the letter; which means I'll be running my long runs on Sundays. Tomorrow is just four miles, then I do eight on both Saturday and Sunday. That sounds so much nicer than 14 miles tomorrow in this horrible heat wave we have going on!

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