New tastes!

I've been hooked on a new breakfast for the past few days, and it's kind of unusual. I've been eating cheese grits for a few months now, and the other day, I bought some Brussels sprouts. So I sauteed the Brussels sprouts and put them on top of my cheese grits for a really good (savory) breakfast!

I use the 5-minute grits, and just cook 1/4 cup of them in 1 cup of chicken broth (in the microwave). Then I add 1 oz. of queso quesadilla cheese and stir it in. For the Brussels sprouts, I just quarter them and saute them in 1 tsp. of coconut oil. The whole thing is only 6 PointsPlus, and it's very filling.

I've also been waiting until a little later to run in the mornings. Yesterday, when I did my 5K time trial, I ran at 1:00 pm! Today, I only planned to run three miles at an easy pace, so I just headed out in the late morning after breakfast.

Three "easy" miles felt SO hard today! I'm starting to get discouraged by how hard running has felt ever since the Chicago Marathon. I don't think my body is still feeling the effects of the race--it's been over three weeks!--but I am not sure what else could be the cause. I'm sure the fact that my weight is up has a lot to do with it, which is even more discouraging.

Anyway, I ran three miles, and was huffing and puffing the whole way.

I haven't had a single run since the marathon that made me feel a big runner's high, and I miss that feeling. Even yesterday, when I ran a hard 5K, I felt like it was way harder than it should have been. I hope that I get my running groove back soon!

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I've been forgetting to do Taste Test Tuesday, so I have a few things to write about today. First, there is this impulse buy from TJ Maxx:

I normally don't drink coffee, and if I do, it's always decaf; but when Jerry spotted this at TJ Maxx, I decided I was going to try a cup, because it looked so good! Well, save your money. It tastes NOTHING like PB Cups. Honestly, I couldn't even taste anything other than coffee, and it wasn't even good coffee. Jerry agreed. It got a thumbs down from both of us.

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After I finished the Chicago Marathon we were given a bunch of snacks in a box, and one of them was belVita breakfast biscuits. I'd never tried them before, and honestly, they didn't look or sound very appealing. But I took a bite, and I was wowed. They are SO good!

They remind me of those Nature Valley crunchy granola bars (you know the ones that make a huge mess when you eat them?), but they don't fall apart and they aren't AS hard. They have the texture of a graham cracker, and the flavor of the Nature Valley bars. There are a bunch of different flavors, but the Golden Oat is what they passed out at the race, and that's what I ended up buying. (They're 6 PointsPlus per package, which contains 4 biscuits)

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Clif Bar recently sent me a sample of each of their seasonal flavors. I love Clif Bars, so I was excited to try these! I really liked the Pecan Pie flavor; the Iced Gingerbread was pretty good; and I didn't care for the Spiced Pumpkin Pie one at all (the spice was VERY strong). None of them really wowed me like their Trail Mix flavor, though!

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I just got these teas in the mail today, so I haven't tried them yet. David's Tea just released their Winter Collection, so even though I wasn't in need of any tea at the moment, I was dying to try these ones! I'll give them a try tomorrow and write my thoughts. The Coffee Cake one smells really good, kind of like the Red Velvet Cake flavor. The Choconut Oolong smells pretty good, too, like chocolate/hazelnut.

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I think I'll take some time in the morning to plan out my meals for a week or so. I always do better with a plan!

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Motivational Monday #39

Happy November and Motivational Monday! I had such a hard time coming up with anything to be proud of this week; I ate way too much Halloween candy. This afternoon, I was honestly trying to think of something to write, and I was feeling kind of down about my lack of progress this week. So, I decided to head out for a hard run!

I was curious what kind of pace I'm capable of after all these months of marathon training, so I thought a mock-5K race would help me see where I stood. My best outdoor 5K time was 24:03 (that was in the spring). Today, I ran hard, and felt like I was going to vomit! I finished in 25:28. Nowhere near my best, but not horrible, either. Hopefully some speedwork this winter will improve that to under 24 minutes.

It was a very tough run, and for that I am proud. I stuck it out, even though I wanted to stop running and puke. It was HARD.

There weren't a whole lot of submissions this week for Motivational Monday, so I hope that's due to everyone being so busy ;)

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Kara:

"I started my weight loss journey at 186 (pretty high since I'm a shrimp -- 5'1"). My highest weight is pictured at Thanksgiving 2012. On January 2 of last year, I decided to get serious about losing weight. The other picture (Easter 2013) shows me at about 150. The space between those two pictures represents way more than the actual pictures--months of making better food choices, sweating with Jillian Michaels, running my first 5K, etc. I am at 149 right now and still have about 25 lbs. to lose." (Kara's blog)

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Tabitha:

"Last weekend, October 27th, I finished my first Half Ironman. It comes a year after the completion of my first half marathon in October 2012. I always knew I wanted to complete a 70.3 distance triathlon, but I never thought it would happen this soon. Over the past year and a half, I have lost 50 pounds, started running, and became a true triathlete." (Tabitha's race report)

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My sister, Jeanie, just completed her goal half-marathon! Way back in May, I wrote up a training plan for her to run a sub-2:15 half-marathon. She actually completed that goal at a practice half-marathon a few weeks ago, so I told her she could go for a sub-2:10 at her goal race.

"I met my goal of a sub 2:10 half. Finished in 2:08, with a 9:47 pace! I was thrilled! Here is a picture of myself and my 3 friends at the Haunted Hustle race in Middleton, WI"

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Jennifer reached 100 pounds lost!!

"100 lbs down, 37 to go! Thank you so much for sharing your life & story with us. Your motivation/determination blog post keeps me going. When I want to give up I read it & it pushes me on. You've also inspired me to venture into the running world. Week 6 of the C25K program, so far so good."

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Rebecca:

"Completed my first half marathon! I never would have imagined completing 13.1 miles 2 years ago! 70 lbs lost later I started with a goal of a 5K and then decided along with my wonderful husband and my mom that we would complete our first 1/2 marathon together and WE DID IT!!"

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Stephanie:

"Ran my 1st 5k this weekend and finished 35:45! My goal was under 36 and I did it!!"

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Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more inspiring stories!

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November plans

I'm still having a hard time getting adjusted to NOT marathon training. My running schedule was so regular up until the marathon, and it became such a habit. Sundays were my long run day, but I did my long run on Friday, so I wasn't sure what I was going to do today.

Yesterday, I wrote up my winter/spring training schedule to prepare to PR my 5K and 10K times. The schedule is 21 weeks long, and it starts on November 25th. I wanted to give myself a few weeks of easy running before the tough stuff starts! So until the schedule starts, I'm going to run 5-6 days per week, for 3-12 miles each day. Unless I feel like running fast, I'll probably do all easy paced runs. I actually really enjoy the easy paced runs.

Today, I decided to run four miles as close to a 9:55/mi pace as I could get. That's what I'll be running when I pace Stephanie to a 2:10 half-marathon next Sunday, so I want to get a feel for it. The time change last night threw me off quite a bit today! I woke up (and was wide awake) at 4:30, but managed to fall asleep on and off until 6:30. At around 8:30, I finally headed out for my run. It was sunny, but still in the low 40's, so it was nice outside.

I felt really good, but my heart rate was really high again. My average heart rate has gone up by 15 bpm just since the marathon, which is a huge jump. I'm starting to wonder if it's just my heart rate strap causing problems. My new Garmin is supposed to be shipped in a couple of weeks, so I'm not going to bother trying to figure out if the strap of this one is the issue.

My goal was to stay as close to a 9:55 pace as possible, without going slower, and without going more than a couple of seconds faster. I did pretty well!

Looking at my heart rate chart, it's obvious something was going on with the monitor:

For the next few weeks, until I start my winter/spring training, I really want to focus on getting my weight back down. My best races were when I was about 131 pounds, and my pace is definitely affected when my weight goes up (even just a couple of pounds). So I'd love to get my weight back down, at least to my goal of 133, to make training a little easier!

To do this, I'm going to make it a focus to get in the Good Health Guidelines of Weight Watchers this month. The GHG are:

1) Eat 5 servings of fruits/vegetables per day.
2) Eat 1-2 servings of lean proteins per day.
3) Eat/drink 2 servings of non-fat or low-fat dairy.
4) Choose whole grains over refined grains.
5) Aim for 6+ glasses of water a day.
6) Have 2 tsp. of healthy oils per day.
7) Take a multivitamin daily.
8) Watch intake of sodium, added sugar, and alcohol.

Usually, I just eat what I want and count the PointsPlus for it. My diet isn't horrible, but it definitely could be better. So for this month, I'd really like to try and focus on these guidelines to hopefully help me get my weight back down. I'll still be counting my PointsPlus, obviously (26 per day, plus my activity PP, plus my weekly PP).

I also plan to go weigh in once a week at Weight Watchers. I've been weighing in only once a month all year, but I think the weekly weigh-ins will help me stay accountable. I'm not sure yet what day I'll be weighing in; probably Thursday mornings.

I like having a real plan--both for my eating and my running. Focusing on my running goals makes me excited to work on eating better, which will hopefully lead to some PR's in the spring. Even if I don't end up reaching my PR goals, I'll at least know I did what I could to make it happen!

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Damn candy!

I don't have much to say today, so this will be a super short post. I almost didn't write at all, but when I've done that before, my e-mail was flooded with questions if I was okay, because I didn't write my daily post, haha ;)

I did SO well avoiding the Halloween candy yesterday, and I really hoped I could keep it up. But I caved today. Shortly after breakfast, I started thinking about the kids' candy, and I couldn't get it out of my mind. I read a book for a little while to take my mind off of it, but I couldn't even focus on that. It's crazy how my mind was so focused on that one little thing.

Even though today was a rest day, I finally decided to go out for a short, easy three-mile run. Running almost always makes me feel better and helps me to stay on track. It was raining outside, but I headed out anyway. I ran around the neighborhood for three miles, and felt a lot better when I got back.

I'm not sure why, but my heart rate has been up higher ever since the marathon. I've been burning almost 100 calories per mile rather than my typical 80. Interesting!

Anyway, I showered and dressed in some comfy sweats... and then started thinking of the stupid candy again. And finally, I caved, and bummed some candy from the kids. My reasoning (which, when I'm thinking rationally, I realize how dumb it is) was that I could eat it, get sick of it or realize that it's really no big deal, and then be done with it and stop obsessing over it.

So I ate too much candy today, and I definitely don't feel like I want any more tomorrow. I'm going to get right back on track like it never even happened.

I spent the rest of the afternoon writing up a training schedule for this winter, to work on my running goals for the spring.

I made a pretty tough schedule (lots of speed work). It's going to be fun training hard for a shorter-distance race, like a 5K and 10K. I'm so used to marathon and half-marathon training! This time the focus will be more on speed for shorter distances, so it'll be a nice change. I used the Jack Daniels' formula as a base for my schedule, so I'm interested to see how it goes. I like that I can base my training by heart rate, so I am going to start focusing on that again, too.

Well, Jerry and I are going to watch Sons of Anarchy (we're midway through Season 5, which was just released on Netflix). Have a good night!

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Nutella in moderation?!

The ridiculous wind actually woke me up this morning. It was really loud, and for a moment, I thought, "Oh, thank goodness it's a rest day today. I don't want to run in that!" But then I remembered it's Friday--my long run day.

I'd told Jessica I'd run 12 miles with her this morning, but I'd forgotten my kids had today off of school (a teacher in-service day, which is smart to do the day after Halloween!). Jerry was working this morning, so I couldn't get out for my run. That meant either switching my long run to Sunday, or running on the treadmill. I chose the treadmill, because I am trying to get my running back into a regular routine.

When I started running, I was aiming for 12 miles, but I figured that if I was miserable, I could stop any time after 8. I haven't used the treadmill in a long time, and it actually felt kind of strange at first. The treadmill always feels easier to me than running outside, even with the incline set to 1%, so I felt good! I set the pace at 8:57/mi and turned "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" on my computer to watch.

A couple of miles in, my parents came over. My mom needed a picture of her and my dad for the church directory, so she asked Noah to take the picture while I continued running. Then I somehow got into explaining/showing her how to edit and crop pictures on her iPhone (while I continued to run). I'm surprised I didn't fall flat on my face! After my parents left, I continued running, but I thought about the half-marathon and that I should probably run at the pace I'll be running at the race.

I'll be pacing Stephanie at a 9:55 pace, so I lowered the speed, and the run actually felt much more enjoyable after that. I rarely need water for anything less than a 10 mile run, but for some reason, I was dying of thirst about 7.5 miles in, so I stopped the treadmill and filled my water bottle. It was such a relief to drink the water!

I was feeling pretty good at mile 8, and then my computer gave a low-battery warning. At mile 8.5, the battery died. I certainly could have kept running, but I decided that 8.5 was plenty for today, especially since it was on the treadmill. I'm sure the half-marathon won't be a problem next weekend.

I actually made it through today without eating a single piece of my kids' Halloween candy! It was extremely difficult not to, but I knew that if I had even one piece, it would make it so much easier to just keep eating it, and soon, I'd be in a Halloween candy coma.

Speaking of not eating junk in the house, my Kitchen Safe has been a life savor! I just wish it were bigger; I may end up getting a second one. I put my problem foods in there: chocolate chips, Nutella (well, the Kroger brand), Clif Bars (they recently turned into a "problem food" when the Trail Mix flavor was introduced), and little packages of belVita breakfast biscuits.

I set the safe to open in the mornings when I wake up. I may use Nutella on an English muffin, or chocolate chips in my oatmeal. Then I take out just the portion of what I plan to eat for a snack later--1/2 a Clif Bar, or 1/2 the package of belVita. Before I even eat a bite of anything, I lock the safe, setting the timer for the following morning.

Mornings are very easy for me to stay on track, so it's not hard for me to resist eating everything before I lock it up. Then, in the afternoon, when I'm feeling snacky and want to eat a handful of chocolate chips, or a spoonful of Nutella, I can't--because it's locked up. I can only have what I took out of the safe that morning. It involves a little planning ahead, but this has worked out SO WELL. It has completely eliminated my "Oh, it's just a handful" or "Oh, it's just a spoonful" extra calories. I've been able to eat Nutella in moderation! That is a huge deal for me ;) It's probably rather pathetic that I have to rely on a safe like this, but hey, whatever works!

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Halloween

What a crappy day for the poor trick-or-treaters!

It rained all.day.long. I really didn't feel like running today, not only because of the rain, but because Jerry was off work and I wanted to hang out all morning with him. But I had to weigh in at Weight Watchers today (I have to weigh in at least once a month, and I hadn't weighed in for October yet), so I couldn't have had a lazy morning either way.

I ate breakfast, and then got dressed for a five-mile easy run. The rain was just a sprinkle at that point. The first mile felt hard! I feel like I'm putting in the effort for a pace of about 8:45/mile, but my actual pace is about 9:15-9:45/mi. I doubt my legs are still tired from the marathon, and my heart rate has been up pretty high, so it's not my legs that are making the effort feel hard. Maybe it's the fact that my weight went up seven pounds in a week and half!

The second mile felt even harder, and I realized that was because I'd increased my speed a little, so I consciously tried to slow down for the last three miles in order to feel more comfortable.

I was thinking about my plan for the Monroe Half-Marathon, and since I'm not prepared to run it hard right now, I figured I would just go at an easy pace. I would have liked to pace Jessica to a sub-2:00 time, but she said she doesn't want to worry about her pace (which is probably a good thing, because I honestly don't know if I could DO a sub-2:00 right now!).

Instead, I sent Stephanie a text asking if she wanted her own personal 2:10 pacer (a 9:55 pace). She said she'd like having me run with her, so that is my plan for the race. I'm glad to have a goal for the race, but not where it's going to kill me to reach it; pacing someone else is fun! I'm not so sure it'll be quite as fun for Steph, though ;)  I'm excited to see her hit her goal!

After my run this morning, Jerry and I went to Weight Watchers. For the first time since reaching Lifetime status, I was worried I was going to be more than two pounds over my WW goal. My WW goal is 143, and this morning (at home, naked), I was 139.5. Considering I drank a quart of water, two cups of tea, ate breakfast, and was fully dressed for the meeting, I thought I may end up having to pay this month. If you weigh in more than two pounds over your goal weight, you have to pay for the meeting.

I dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt, so my clothing was lightweight. And usually, I weigh in with my shoes on, but today I took them off. Turns out, I ended up being 141.8 on their scale, so I wasn't even close to being two pounds over goal. I really want to start weighing in there once a week, just to keep myself accountable.

Jerry and I stayed for the meeting. Today they were talking about Lifetime members, and their tools for success. The leader listed the top 10 tools for success in Weight Watchers:

10. Planning meals/snacks
9. Good Health Guidelines (getting in required fruits/veggies, water, etc.)
8. Exercise
7. Using the weekly PointsPlus
6. Finding friends to support you
5. Measuring portions
4. Tracking food
3. Attending meetings
2. Setting a goal
1. Envisioning your goal

With the exception of attending meetings and getting in all the Good Health Guidelines (I try, and I know I should, but my diet definitely isn't perfect), I used all of those to lose the weight. I thought it was a pretty solid list, and I can't think of anything I would add to it.

This afternoon, we went to my parents' house for Mark's birthday and handing out candy. My mom picked up fried chicken for dinner, but was nice enough to get a roasted chicken for Jerry and me. I skipped the birthday cake, because I wanted to save my PointsPlus for Halloween candy.

My dad made a fire in the driveway, so we sat around that and stayed warm. Jerry took the boys out trick-or-treating in his parents' neighborhood, while I stayed at my parents' house. I brought some tea to sip outside, and it was a nice evening, despite the weather. When we got home, the kids dumped out their candy, and had fun sorting it all out. I bummed 5 fun-size candy bars for 10 PointsPlus. They were totally worth it!

We weighed their candy... 18 pounds combined!!

I've managed to stay on track for three days in a row now. It's been hard, but now that I set some running goals, I am more focused on those than my weight. I know that I race best when my weight is at about 131, so I'm hoping that I'll be back there by spring when I work on my PR's!

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Vegetables in November

I don't know what started it, but last night, Jerry, the kids, and I were all on the floor doing Army-style push-ups and sit-ups before bed. The kids were showing us how many they could do, and then Jerry and I wanted to see how many we could do, too. I managed 5 push-ups and 31 sit-ups. I honestly didn't even think I'd do that many!

The kids thought it was so fun to try and beat Jerry and me. Then I challenged them to mountain climbers and holding plank, and some other stuff. It was actually really fun, and certainly beats watching TV before bed. The kids asked if we could do it again tonight ;)

I took a rest day yesterday because my sacrum still isn't feeling back to normal. It feels okay until I start running. After a few miles, though, it feels about 90% better. I have no idea what the deal is! Anyway, today I decided to go to the State Park and do an easy three-mile run.

I used to run at the State Park all the time when I first started running. There is a loop around a lake that ends up being a nearly-perfect 5K distance, so I used that to improve my 5K time. I would always try to run it faster than the previous time. This morning, I had to go grocery shopping, so I decided to go to the park to run and then hit up the grocery store on the way home.

The weather was PERFECT for a fall run! The temp was 48, so I just wore running tights and a long sleeved top. About a mile in, I had to stop and take a couple of pictures, because the trail was just so nice to run on today!

When I got back to the car, I was surprised to see how even my splits were:

 

On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store. They've been rearranging everything in the store, so I had no idea where anything was, but I love the changes so far (as a kid, and even as an adult, I've always loved rearranging furniture, haha). I don't know if it was because of all the rearranging, but there were TONS of things on manager's special. I bought a bunch of veggies--peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, and some other things.

It gave me an idea for a goal for November. I'm going to try and make it a point to get in all my veggie servings every day in November. I don't eat a lot of vegetables; not because I don't like them, but because they're not very convenient. I usually have to have a recipe in mind when I buy fresh vegetables, otherwise they end up going bad. So today, I went through some recipe books and picked out recipes to try and actually use up all these vegetables.

I managed to stay on track all day yesterday, and I think it was partly due to the fact that I put dinner in the crock pot yesterday morning. I hate that rushed feeling of dinnertime, when everybody is hungry, and I'm trying to figure out what to make. So using the crock pot helps eliminate the stress.

Today, I posted my favorite crock pot recipe on Facebook, and asked everyone to share their favorites as well. There are TONS of ideas there, and I can't wait to try them!  Here is a link to the Facebook post, so you can check it out and/or add your own favorite recipe.

I'm hoping that I can manage to stay on track tomorrow. My kids always offer to share their candy with me, so I'm going to let them know (today) that I appreciate it, but please don't give me any candy! I think I'll choose ONE thing that I really want, and count the PointsPlus for it before eating it.
We're going to my parents' house in the afternoon for Mark's birthday. (Mark is a special needs man in his mid-50's who lives in a group home near the house I grew up in. My dad takes him fishing sometimes, and every Halloween, brings him to my parents' house. Mark's birthday is on Halloween, so we have a little "party" for him before the trick-or-treaters come.) I'm not going to have cake or ice cream (I'm not even sure if my mom is making cake). My plan is to just have dinner and a piece of Halloween candy; I'll bring some tea over there to drink while we hand out candy. Hopefully, I'll stick to the plan!

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2014 Running Goals

As I mentioned yesterday, my eating has been way off track since I got home from Illinois. I've been feeling pretty stressed for a few reasons; we've had a couple of big changes around here. A few weeks ago, Jerry made the decision to go back to his previous employer, after three months at a new job.

He wasn't happy at his new job, and even though the money there was fantastic, I encouraged him to go back to the job he really enjoyed. He's much happier now, and for that, I'm grateful; but he lost his position on the pay scale (so not only did he take a large pay cut going back to his previous employer, he's also not earning the amount he was when he left). He also won't get health insurance for 90 days.

The insurance thing scares me, because I know just how devastating an accident can be (when I fainted and broke my jaw, I realized just how important health insurance is!). I've been researching options to figure out what's best for us to do. Thankfully, we were able to get ahead financially while Jerry was at his new job, so I think we'll be okay until his pay bumps back up in 90 days, but it's going to be hard to adjust to that!

Anyway, things are getting settled down now (he's been back at his previous employer for about a week), and I'm not feeling so stressed about that anymore. But I weighed in at 135 on the 18th of this month, and today, just 11 days later, I was 142. I've been eating everything in sight, so the gain is not exactly a mystery. It's just scary feeling so out of control. I start each day with good intentions, tracking my food, but in the afternoon, I just get the urge to start eating (and not because I'm hungry).

Yesterday, I had a bit of an "aha!" moment. This is the first time since I started running three and a half years ago that I don't have any running goals. And I feel lost without goals! I think this could be what's causing the overeating. I already reached my distance goals (a marathon is the farthest distance I had any interest in; no ultras for me!). I set, and reached, all of my time goals for each distance. There aren't any particular races that I'm dying to do, and I don't have interest in doing a race in each state, or anything like that. I just feel kind of lost!

I asked my Ragnar SoCal team for some ideas, and there are a few things that interest me: 1) Trail running. But there aren't any local trails near me, so this one wouldn't work; 2) Back-to-back races. Doing two half-marathons in a weekend, or a 5K+10K+Half-Marathon, or something like that; and 3) Setting new time goals for each distance.

Whenever I'm running fast (a race or tempo run), I always think, "After my goal race, I'm going to stop trying to get faster, and just run for fun!" But honestly, it's fun to try and get faster. I'll never be "the fastest", so there is always room to improve; a never-ending goal, really. And since I love numbers, of course I like setting number-oriented goals. 

So for now, I am going to set some new time goals for 2014. Here are my current PR's (personal records):

5K- 25:44 (8:16/mi pace)
10K- 49:23 (7:57/mi pace)
10 Miles- 1:31:16 (9:08/mi pace)
Half-Marathon- 1:52:07 (8:34/mi pace)
Marathon- 4:16:38 (9:48/mi pace)

My 5K is obviously outdated--my 10K PR pace is faster than my 5K pace ;) My 5K goal (for a LONG time) was sub-26:00, and once I reached that, I had no interest in doing better. My fastest 5K distance in training is 24:03, so I'm thinking a sub-24:00 goal for 2014 would be good.

My 10K finish of 49:23 was a total fluke--I had NO intentions of running it that fast, and I was BEYOND thrilled when finished with a sub-8:00 pace!! But now I feel like it will be impossible to ever beat that time. I'm willing to try, though! My 2014 goal for the 10K? 49:22 ;)

I've only done two 10-Mile races (the same race two years in a row), and I wasn't really "racing" either time. It's a super hilly course, and it's in June, so it's hot. I think I'll aim for sub-1:30 in 2014.

My big half-marathon goal was sub-2:00, and I crushed that in the spring. This PR is another one that feels like it will be nearly impossible to beat, but I'll try. I think I'll aim for sub-1:50, which is a big leap. This will probably be a fall goal, because it'll take some hard training to do it!

My marathon PR is going to remain 4:16:38, because I don't have any desire to run another marathon (in 2014, anyway).

I didn't think I would get excited to work on speed, but writing these out makes me look forward to it!

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Speaking of races, I'm getting really excited for the Monroe Half Marathon on November 10th. It starts at the State Park that I run in often, and a lot of the roads of the race are on my regular running routes. My friend Stacie is the race director; she is in charge of the Special Olympics in Monroe County, and the proceeds from the race will benefit the Special Olympics.

I asked Stacie if I could post a discount code for registration, and she was happy to give me one. So if you're local, I would love to see you at the race! Stacie gave me a code for both the Half and the 5K, which will give  you a $10 discount:

5K discount code- mm5k4563
Half-Marathon discount code- mmhm4563
(The site says that the promo codes ARE case sensitive, just FYI).

I was looking at the site, and they have a Friendship Relay option, which I think is an awesome idea. The "friendship relay" is to allow special needs people to participate in the race. Here is how the website describes it:

"The Friendship Relay is designed to encourage and accommodate anyone with special needs who wishes to participate in a road racing relay. A team can be compromised of 2 to 4 members. At least one member of the team must have a special need. The relay consists of two (2) legs, approximately 1.55 miles each. The special needs team member must do the second leg of the course. They may be assisted/escorted as needed by one or two team members. The rules will be flexible to accommodate all needs and no one will be turned away. Please feel free to contact us with questions or to request special assistance."

If you are planning to do the race, let me know (via e-mail) and maybe we can meet up!

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Motivational Monday #38

Happy Motivational Monday! It's been a SUPER tough week for me as far as my eating (I'll write about that tomorrow). Thank goodness for Motivational Monday, because reading through all of these e-mails renewed my motivation to get back on track. Thanks for that! :) 

I thought I'd try something different today and quote the MM e-mails, instead of summarizing. I like how you can almost feel each person's excitement!

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Amanda:

"I'm so proud of myself. Back in June, on a whim, I agreed to lead a running team with a friend for women living at a home for abused, recovering drug addicts, or homeless women that just need help getting back on their feet and learn life skills. A few months in, we told them we were signing them up for a half marathon. I was in charger of the walkers of our group. We only ended up having three girls do the race with us but it was the greatest experience! These girls set goals for themselves and accomplished something. I can't post photos of the girls since they're in a special treatment program; however, here are some pictures I took during the race yesterday. Absolutely beautiful! Could not have asked for a better race. Although I'm super sore today, it couldn't have been for a greater cause! Side note: walking 13.1 miles is VERY different than running 13.1 miles. Very different muscles used especially with all the hills we had on the course."

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Deb:

"Just wanted to let you know how YOU motivated ME to run a Ragnar Relay. I completed the Tennessee Ragnar this weekend. It was awesome! My 3 legs totaled 18 miles, and 2 of them were in total darkness and sub-freezing temps! I had zero sleep and inadequate nutrition (even though I thought I was prepared for that). I thought we would all get on each others nerves in the van, but our friendships are even stronger! I learned there's no "I" in "team"! Thank you for sharing your Ragnar experiences, it planted a seed in me that really blossomed this weekend!"

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Haley:

"In August of this year, my mom was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. It is an incurable blood cancer. Unlike many other cancers, there is no such thing as a complete cure; the only hope is remission. Since I live 700 miles away from my mom while I'm at college, I wanted to do something to help out and make a difference. I found a 5K race for research for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. The MMRF has done a lot for this cancer and has raised millions of dollars for new drugs to help treat it. I ran my first race ever on Saturday in Atlanta and my only goal was to finish in under 30 minutes and run the whole thing for my mom. I surpassed my goal and ran in 28:30! I'm so thankful for the running community and for 5Ks that raise awareness and funds!"

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Jen:

"You included me in a Motivational Monday #20 back in June when I ran 3 races in one week. I told you then that I had a half marathon on the schedule, and I had to write you to let you know I completed that today! My time was 2:48:31. I came in under my 3 hour goal for my first one! Because of an injury to my knee (torn meniscus and slight tear of MCL) over the summer, my training schedule was compromised. I didn't know what today would bring. But I still set a goal and worked feverishly toward it! I'm so proud, and am contemplating what my next big goal will be! (I also gained some weight back this summer due to the knee injury, but I am proud to say I am back to 48.8 pounds lost and moving forward with a vengeance!)"

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Jennifer:

"My sister, Crystal, and I walked the Soaring Wings Half Marathon this past Saturday.  It was my second half, but her first =)  I'm so proud of her. We both have a goal to run one of these soon.  Before the race, she was talking about doing the Little Rock Marathon's 10K (running), but after this race, she said she's really considering doing the half-marathon instead with me!"  (Jennifer's race report)

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Lesleigh:

"On Saturday, I ran a local 5k, but was more excited about running the 1 mile kids' fun run with my 3-yr old daughter, Leah, after my race. She always talks about running with me, so I signed her up. It ended up not being as great an idea as I thought! She was having a grumpy morning and didn't want to even walk anymore at certain spots. I ended up helping her along at some points (a.k.a running with her on my shoulders because we were last and the police officer was trying to open the road) but she made it and received a medal for just participating (which she wears everywhere). A few hours later she told me "I want to run with you again mommy. Next time I run more." 

I was just happy that she wanted to do it at all. I see what running has done for me with my weight, health and overall happiness and want to be able to pass that on to my daughter. I don't want her to ever feel like exercising is an awful thing; something she 'has' to do. I want it to be something she 'wants' to do."

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Chastity:

"I have struggled with weight loss for a LOOONNGG time. Started WW last November after seeing my birthday picture last year and feeling very depressed at that weight. I started spinning and running for exercise. My best friend wanted me to run a 5K with her earlier this year and my time was 40:27. This Saturday we ran our 3rd of the year and I PRed with a time of around 33 minutes (it was a color run, so no official time). My starting weight was 212.4 and last WI was 169 lbs."

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Shirlee:

"Yesterday, I ran my first 10K race.  While I knew I could walk that far, I was very nervous about running that far.  I am very happy that I was able to run the entire course.  I kept focusing on running for another half mile at a time and just like it is with losing weight it was easier to focus on the increments instead of the full journey.  I wasn't fast by any means, but one of the coolest things about your first race is that you are guaranteed a PR.  My official time was 1:22:21 and considering that just last year, I was terrified to walk around the block for fear of not making it back home, I'm pretty excited. 

Just after the finish line I had a lady follow me and ask if she could interview me on video for the race because I had the biggest smile on my face of anyone she had seen cross the finish line (she didn't know I'm usually pretty shy and not good at speaking) but I think it means I was pretty excited and shocked to have finished."

(Thanks, Shirlee, for saying hi to me at the race yesterday! It was so nice to meet you. And a HUGE congrats to you, both for your weight loss and your first 10K!)

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Make sure you check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post to read more stories, and/or post your own!

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Wicked Halloween 10K race report

Let me preface this by saying I was really having second thoughts about even going to this race. None of my friends were doing it, and it's been so cold lately, and the thought of standing around in the cold to run a race didn't sound very appealing. I had signed up for this race early this year, as part of a "Triple Crown" series--runners who did the ShamRock 'N' Roll 10K, the Kona 10K/10-Miler, and today's Wicked Halloween 10K would receive a bonus medal after today's race. I had planned on doing the first two anyway, so I thought I might as well go for all three!

I'd already paid for the race, and this particular race company does a really great job, so I decided to go. I got up at 5:00 this morning to get ready. I dressed in my ColdGear clothes, because it was in the low 30's this morning, and then I wore my old Little Red Riding Hood costume over them. I drove up to Plymouth (about 45 minutes away) and picked up my packet, then I parked in a parking structure and headed across the street to the park where the race's start was.

There weren't very many people there at 7:00! As I was crossing the street, I noticed a Channel 4 news van with a news anchor and camera crew next to it. As soon as I saw them, I just knew they were going to ask to interview me (I was in costume, and there weren't many people there yet). I averted my eyes, and hoped they wouldn't notice me. Even when I heard them say "Excuse me" to get my attention, I pretended not to hear. But then they said, "Red Riding Hood!" so I turned, and sure enough, they asked to interview me.

Surprisingly, I am not shy or nervous in front of a camera, but I do get a little embarrassed. I almost said no, but I figured that being 7:00 on a Sunday morning, not many people would even see it, so I agreed. ;) We chatted for a couple of minutes before they started filming. It was live TV, so I will never see it, which I'm kind of grateful for. Anyway, he just asked me a couple of questions, and then it was done!

I walked around a little bit, and then stood in the "warming tent" until it was time for the race. I was so excited when a few people recognized me from my blog, and came up to say hello! That alone made me happy that I decided to go to the race.

When it was time to head out for the first wave (pace of 10:00/mi and under), I wasn't really sure where to line up. I didn't have a goal for this race. I wanted to push my pace a little, but I knew there was no way I was going to PR (a 49:22 or faster time), so I just chose to line up next to the 55:00 pacer (that's an 8:51 pace). My second best 10K time was 55:05, so I thought I could aim to beat that if I was feeling good.

There were a ton of people in costume, which was fun to look at. I chatted with the woman next to me until the race started. As soon as I started running, I could feel something was wrong. I have arthritis in my back, and it's been bothering me quite a bit lately; when I started running, I felt a pain that felt just like the arthritis, only it was down on each side of my sacrum (bottom part of my spine). It was bilateral, and didn't feel like an injury; just a weird achy feeling. I briefly considered quitting right then, but I hoped that as I ran, it would loosen up and feel better.

The 55:00 pacer quickly passed me, so I just figured I'd aim for a finish time of under an hour. My first mile was 9:08. That pain in my sacrum was still bothering me, but it was getting a little better as I ran. I started focusing on passing people. My second mile was 8:44, and then I made it a mission to catch up to the 55:00 pacer.

The whole time I was running, I had deja vu from my last 10K, the ShamRock 'N' Roll run. It was the exact same course, and I remembered each turn. I remembered catching a glimpse of the 50:00 pacer, and making it a mission to catch up to him. Today was basically the same thing, only five minutes slower.

At around mile 4.75, I passed the 55:00 pacer. I still had about a mile and a half to go, so I decided to try and hit a sub-54:00 time. I pushed myself to finish strong. Just before the finish line, I heard someone yell to me and wave (Lorenda??) and then I crossed the finish line. My Garmin read 53:37, so I was happy with that. I immediately doubled back to try and find the woman who yelled to me, but I couldn't find her (there were thousands of people there!). So I got in line for my Triple Crown medal. There were only a few people ahead of me, but after I got mine, the line was about a hundred people long! I asked a stranger to take my picture.

At the food tent, I was thrilled to see bagels from Panera. I took a Pumpkin Pie bagel and a banana. I ate the banana right away, but saved the bagel for lunch later. By that time, I was freezing, so I just headed back to my car. I watched the start of the 5K on my way back, to check out all the creative costumes.

My fingers weren't working very well when I got back to my car, so I just sat there for a few minutes thawing out. I looked at my splits, and was very happy with how well I did, considering I just ran a marathon two weeks ago, and I was having an issue with my back today.

I love the shirts that we got! They are long-sleeved, quarter-zip pullovers. The medals were pretty nice, too!

I looked up my "official" time when I got home, and it was 53:31 (8:38/mi pace).

Doing this race reminded me of how much I love the 10K distance. The 10K race is, by far, my favorite. It's short enough that it's over with quickly, you don't have to carry fuel, and I can run it without training for it; but it's long enough that it doesn't feel like a hardcore sprint, like a 5K. I wasn't planning to do much racing next year, but maybe I'll focus on 10K's, and MAYBE I'll even try for a PR (which feels impossible at this point, but hey, it could happen!).

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