Weight Loss Success: How Cat Lost 90 Pounds!

With less than four weeks until I leave for San Diego, I'd like to introduce another member of my Ragnar SoCal team--Cat. Cat first came onto the Ragnar radar when we were forming the From Fat to Finish Line team. We'd had an open spot, and several people "applied" to fill it, including Cat. It was ultimately filled by Meredith, but I could never get Cat out of my mind. Her story is definitely an inspiring one!

So when John and I started forming our Strangers to Sole Mates team, I asked Cat if she was still interested, and she was excited about it. I later learned that Cat was also going to be running the Chicago Marathon, so we made plans to meet up while I was there. Caitlin, Cat, and I all met the day before the marathon and had dinner together. Cat is absolutely fantastic! She's funny, and full of life, and I'm so happy to call her my teammate :)

Here are Cat's words...

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Where do I begin?  I have had been overweight my whole life.  I am still learning to live and accept that I am no longer considered obese, or even overweight, anymore.  Even as a child, I was always the biggest one in my age group.  I think I was aware of this from a very young age and started my first diet before I even turned 12.

I have lost and gained so much weight over the last 20+ years that I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve lost 20, 30, 40 or so pounds just to put them back on and more.  I was active when I was a child but in my 20's, things went downhill.  Fitness, diet, and health all went on the back burner and I lost my way.  Fast forward many diets (I tried them all: from Atkins, to the Grapefruit Diet, to diet pills, etc…you name it, I tried it), and many years, to June 23, 2011, when I finally had had enough.

I consider that day my “rebirthday”.  It is the day I finally decided that I needed to change how I was living, or else I would end up with either a chronic medical problem like diabetes or high blood pressure, or I would die young.  I was 33 years old at the time and weighed 245 pounds (I’m 5'6"); I was a smoker; and when I wasn’t working (I’m a nurse, by the way, so I should’ve known better, having seen patients living with complications of obesity), I was out partying with friends.  I was lost.

So one day I was driving home and my scrubs were so tight on my legs I remember looking down at them in my car as I drove home, thinking I couldn’t wait to get into some more comfortable clothes.  Wearing scrubs is like wearing pajamas, so the fact that my 2XL scrubs were tight was an issue.

I decided that if I was going to lose weight and get healthy, I couldn’t set limitations that I couldn’t sustain for the rest of my life.  I needed to make lifestyle changes, not “go on a diet”.  So I slowly changed my diet, and after a couple of months of walking, I decided I wanted to be a runner.

What made me decide at 220 pounds that I wanted to be a runner is beyond me… but I decided that that’s what I wanted to become.  I did my first Couch to 5K workout and thought I was going to die after running for 30 seconds! I was ashamed I had let myself get so out of shape and so unhealthy.

But I kept at it, day after day, week after week, and on October 29, 2011 I completed my first 5K. That was the only running goal that I really had at the time. I still weighed 200 pounds but I ran the whole distance (probably more of a shuffle by mile 3).

When I crossed that finish line, something inside me changed. I decided my next race would be a half marathon. WHY, to this day, I can’t explain… but on February 5, 2012, I completed my first half marathon. I knew nothing about proper nutrition, running form, hydration and I picked the worst weather in which to do it (raining, extreme winds and cold), but again--I crossed that finish line! I think it was from sheer will power. I then heard of a local running group, here in Galveston, run by Fit TRI Run, and I joined their spring program.  There, I learned everything I needed to learn about running; and more importantly, I made some amazing friends.

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Double digits... outside!

When I had lunch with Jessica the other day at Panera, she mentioned that she and Courtney were going to be running eight miles on Friday morning, if I wanted to join them. I hadn't run outside more than a couple of times this horrible winter, and I can't even remember the last time I did a long run outside! It sounded perfect. 

So this morning, I got the kids off to school, and then I drove over to Jessica's, where we were planning to meet. Jessica said we were going to do "at least eight miles". I was only scheduled for four miles today, but I'll take outdoors and company over a short, lonely treadmill run any day!

I wasn't really sure of the route, which was actually kind of nice. I just followed Jessica's direction. There was still quite a bit of ice on the path, which was a bummer--a couple of times, we were practically tip-toeing across a patch of ice, so our pace was anything-but consistent. But none of us was concerned about pace today, anyway--we just wanted to enjoy the beautiful 20-something degree weather and sunshine!

I was surprised at how tough the run felt, even though we were going pretty slow. My legs have gotten used to the treadmill, and I felt kind of clumsy and awkward on the street. I thought we were only going to do eight miles, but then Jessica said it would be closer to nine by the time we got back to her house.

When we were close to being done, we saw that it would actually be 9.3, so we decided to just run around the block a couple of times, and hit 10. That was my first double digit long run in a long time! My legs felt really heavy for the last mile, I think I'll probably be sore tomorrow, because my body just isn't used to being outside lately.

Did I say it was 20-something? I guess it was colder than I thought!

I felt SO good about being outside running! The temp actually got up to 40 later in the day, so some more snow melted. At this rate, we should have clear roads by late June. ;)

Jessica's birthday was yesterday, and her husband got her a carrot cake from Monica's, my favorite bakery. She sent me a text yesterday asking me if I want her to save me a piece. When I learned it was from Monica's, I just couldn't say no! I burned 1,035 calories on the run, so I was really looking forward to enjoying it after lunch.

I made a really good sandwich for lunch--French bread, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. 

And after lunch, I thoroughly enjoyed the piece of carrot cake that Jessica gave me--enough that I didn't even think to take a picture of it. But honestly, it was the BEST carrot cake I've ever had. Jessica knows me well enough to only give me a small slice, and I weighed it to see how many PointsPlus it had. It was 3 ounces, which ended up being 8 PP. Not bad at all!

This afternoon, I went to visit Mark. I wanted to bring him a copy of Runner's World, to show him my picture in there, but I couldn't find it anywhere! I stopped at seven different spots on the way to the nursing home, and didn't find it. Finally, I used my phone to search for Barnes & Noble to see if one was nearby, and I went about 15 minutes out of the way to go there. Thankfully, they had about 15 copies of the April issue. I bought six copies to give away. 

Mark had asked me for chips and cheese popcorn the last time I saw him, so I brought him a few big bags of those. He was really happy to see me, and I just can't get over how much better he looks now than he did in December. He seems completely back to his old self, with the exception of not being able to walk without assistance.

I showed him the Runner's World pictures, and I said, "Do you recognize her? Do you know who that is?" And he said, "Yeah, that's YOU!" When I pointed to my "before" photo and asked the same thing, he said no. He seemed pretty shocked when I said it was also me, from four years ago. He said he doesn't remember me looking like that. He wanted to keep the magazine there, so I marked the page for him.

I wasn't feeling very well, so I only stayed for about an hour, and then I headed home. The whole day went by so fast! I didn't sleep very well last night, so I'm going to have a glass of wine with Jerry and then go to bed early. Typical Friday night ;)

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Runner's World!!!

It came today!! I've been waiting oh-so-impatiently for the April issue of Runner's World. Last June, my From Fat to Finish Line Ragnar Relay team was informed that we would be gracing the pages of RW, which was SO exciting. The story has been in the works ever since--I had no idea it takes so much work to put together an article like that!

None of us had seen the the layout, or read anything that was going to be in print, so we have all been anxiously waiting to get our hands on a copy. In January, we were told that only six of us would be featured. I felt a little guilty about that, because all 12 members of the team have worked REALLY hard to get where we are, but it was understandable that the magazine didn't have enough room for everyone. I'm not sure how they chose who was going to be featured, but it ended up being Rik, Ada, John, Jennifer, Allison, and me.

I couldn't believe it when Runner's World sent me a large box of running clothes to try on and choose some outfits for a photo shoot. Yes, a photo shoot. Of me. For my favorite magazine! They sent a photographer, Peter Hoffman, here all the way from Chicago to take several hundred photos of me. The whole thing was mind-blowing! All that work, all those photos, for ONE PICTURE in a magazine?

I had so much fun during the photo shoot, and Peter was great--but I hadn't seen the pictures. I was nervous about seeing the magazine, because what if they chose terrible pictures of me? They wanted to get some "serious" photos, where I wasn't smiling, and I am not good at that. I like to smile, and I look much better when I'm smiling! So Peter took a ridiculous amount of photos, smiling/not smiling, in motion/still, etc.

I did a couple of phone interviews with the writer, Lisa Marshall. She was really nice, and I felt very comfortable talking to her. I had no idea what the angle was going to be as far as my story goes, which was a little nerve-wracking as well!

We were told this was going to be a feature story in the April issue, which is their weight loss issue. All of February, I was nervous and excited about the story. This week, I've been checking my mailbox daily to see if my issue was in there. Today, I opened the box and there it was!

I was really stunned by the fact that not only did my picture take up the entire PAGE, they also used my before and after photos for the intro pages! Again, I'm not sure how they picked, but I was very excited to see it :)

I read through all the pages of my team once really quickly, and then I went back and read them all more slowly. I was SO happy with the entire feature. I love the photos they chose to use, I love the angle they chose for each of our stories, and I learned a few things from reading my teammates' tips!

This whole thing has been a dream come true for me. Four years ago, I couldn't even run down the length of my street; and now, I'm in the pages of Runner's World magazine?!

I've written several times about my love/hate relationship with running, but today I want to focus on the love. So here is what keeps me running, nearly four years after my first run:

*Running burns a lot of calories in a short amount of time, so I get to eat more--and I love to eat ;)
*Running helps get rid of my anxiety.
*Running helps me sleep better.
*Running makes me feel like I "belong".
*Running challenges me. No matter how fast or long I run, I can always try to go faster/longer.
*Running gives me something to set goals toward. After losing the weight, it gave me something else to focus on.
*Running keeps me in great cardiovascular shape.
*Running gives me a purpose, something to work hard at.
*Running has helped me keep over 100 pounds off for over three years.
*Running gets me outside. I'm not an "outdoorsy" person, but the fresh air is good for me.
*Running gives me a topic to talk about with my friends who also run.
*Running sets a good example for my kids to exercise.
*Running gives me time to think over a problem.
*Running makes me feel special.
*Running has helped me to make a lot of new friends.
*Running gives me something to be proud of.

So there you have it--all the "love" parts of running. It's really changed my life dramatically, and for the better!

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A floppy hat

Today was my second Weight Watchers meeting at the new location. I was actually really excited to go today, because I really enjoyed the leader last week. I had plans to meet Jessica for lunch at Panera afterward, and then go to the funeral home on the way home, so I dressed in my funeral clothes this morning. Sarah had specifically requested that everyone wear bright, cheerful clothing to her funeral, so I picked out a bright pink cami with a white shrug over it.

The meeting was great again today! The more I hear from this leader, the more I like her. Today, she talked about how how she's always recommended that her members use up their weekly points, because that is what makes the plan do-able for a lifetime. A lot of new members are nervous to use all their weekly points, but I think it's so important to do so--you can fit in your favorite treat foods and not feel deprived. At the previous WW center I went to, the leaders always used to tell us not to use those points unless it we really had to, or it was a very special occasion. So today, hearing the leader say that she recommends using all the weekly points was great!

I feel comfortable enough in that meeting to participate in the discussion, which is nice, and I like hearing what the other members have to say as well. Today, a man raised his hand and said the sweetest thing--it actually brought tears to my eyes ;)  He wasn't there last week, and when he raised his hand to talk, I discovered why: He said, "My wife has always been asking me to lose weight with her, and when she wanted to join Weight Watchers, I told her that I would go only when she weighs less than I do [meaning, he wanted her to prove that it would work]. And here I am, today, because she lost 115 pounds and now she weighs less than me!" He was SO proud of her, you could see it all over his face.

I remember the day I weighed in less than Jerry, and I was so excited about that! No woman wants to weigh more than her husband. So it was exciting to see that woman's husband follow through and show up to Weight Watchers with her today ;)

When I was at my mom's house a couple of days ago, I saw that she had some Weight Watchers Smoothie mixes--the Salted Caramel favor--and I took one home to try it out. I mixed it with milk and some instant decaf coffee, and it was amazing! I wanted to buy a box today, but when I was at the meeting, they said they discontinued that flavor. Bummer! I bought a different flavor instead, so hopefully I like it just as much:

I like to spend about 4-6 points on an afternoon snack, so if I mix this with milk, it'll be 4 points.

After I left Weight Watchers, I had some time to kill before going to meet up with Jessica. I stopped at Target, and I ended up buying a floppy wide-brim hat to keep the sun out of my face. Sarah's death has made me second guess every little freckle on my body, and I want to be extra-cautious about sun exposure. Besides, the hat is really cute!

I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it in San Diego... just 29 days left! :)

I went to Panera to meet Jessica for lunch, and I ordered off of their "hidden menu" today. Since I didn't run today, I didn't have any activity points to spend, and I wanted to keep lunch on the lighter side. I got the Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Salad. (I forget to take a pic, so this one is from the Panera site)...

It comes with lemon and olive oil to dress it, and after squeezing on the lemon, I decided to try it without the oil and see how it tasted. I was surprised to see that I liked it a lot, so I skipped the oil altogether. When I got home, I discovered that by skipping the oil, the salad was only 4 PointsPlus. If I'd have known that, I'd have ordered a piece of bread on the side! ;)  It was really good, and I would definitely order it again; but it's pretty pricey (I think it was $9).

After lunch, I stopped at the funeral home, which I don't really want to write about. Emotionally, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. But I'm glad I got to talk to Sarah's mom.

Exciting news: Bonnie, from my Ragnar SoCal team, got her April issue of Runner's World in the mail yesterday! I'm still impatiently waiting for my copy, but I saw a sneak peak of the spread--and it's AMAZING. Once I get mine, I'll post a pic. The issue will be on newsstands March 11th, but if you're a subscriber, you should be getting it any day now.

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Hat Trick

The kids' school had a teacher in-service day today, so the boys were off school. Noah asked if his friend could spend the night last night, so I let him do that, which meant I basically got no sleep last night--yay!  ;)

I got an exciting e-mail from Runner's World--they invited me to participate in the Runner's World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival this June in Boston! I had heard of this festival from my friend (and Ragnar SoCal teammate) Caitlin, who is doing it also. There's a 5K and 10K on Saturday, and then a half-marathon on Sunday. RW asked me which I'd like to do--just one race, or I could do the "Five & Dime" (the 5K and 10K), or I could go for the "Hat Trick" (all three races).

It's not every day that I get invited to participate in something like this, so I decided to go for the Hat Trick! Remember how I was having a hard time coming up with something new to do as far as running this year? I think this will be perfect. I've never done back-to-back races before, so it should be fun and challenging. Those are the only details that I know right now, but I'm excited about having something different to train for!

The timing of the e-mail was pretty perfect. I just started that new Ryan Hall training program, but I've realized that I don't like it as much as I thought I would. I like the idea of heart rate training, but I've found the easy runs to be too easy, and the hard runs to be too hard... so it's not very enjoyable. As a running coach, I know that type of training is probably ideal; but as a runner, it's just not fun for me. And 2014 is supposed to be all about fun!

Since I'm doing the Hat Trick in June, I'll need to prepare to run through fatigue, and what better plan to do that than Hansons? I am still waiting for the Hansons Half-Marathon Method book (I pre-ordered it from Amazon, and I think it'll be released in a couple of weeks); but I can just follow the half-marathon plan online until I get the book. I started their plan on the first week of speed work, which is actually the sixth week of the training. I've already built a good base, and this will have me finish the plan just in time for the Heartbreak Hill Half.

It's funny that I started the plan today, on my very least favorite training run of their plan: 12 x 400 with 400 jogs (plus warm-up and cool down).

-1 mile warm-up
-Repeat the following 12 times:
     -Run 1/4 mile at 5K pace
     -Jog 1/4 mile
-0.5 mile cool down

That's a 7.5 mile run--for speed work! That's longer than the "long run" of this week in training. But I was determined to get it done and complete the whole workout. I prefer to do speed work on the treadmill (not that I have a choice right now with all the snow on the roads), so I watched a couple of episodes of Private Practice while I ran the intervals. I did the warm-up at 6.0 mph, the fast intervals at 8.0 mph, and the recovery jogs at 5.5 mph.

I kept thinking to myself, "I really don't HAVE to do 12 repeats... I could get away with just 8. Or maybe 6..." Each time, I just decided I'd do ONE more. And ONE more after that. Until I made it through all 12!

One of the things I like about the Hansons Method is that the intervals aren't oh-my-god-I'm-going-to-die-any-second kind of hard. They're done at 5K pace, which is a pace that you can sustain for 3.11 miles; so 1/4 mile is tough, but they certainly could be much worse. I also like that the long runs are done at a faster pace than typical plans suggest. Most of the running on the Hansons plan is done at a middle-ground pace for me, so it doesn't feel too easy or too hard, if that makes sense.

Because I'm going to be running the Hat Trick, I obviously am not going to be running my hardest racing pace that weekend. I'm going to run the races at an easy pace, so that I can actually get through all three without killing myself ;)  I think the Hansons plan is the best way to train to work through fatigue, and I'm excited to do it again (on a smaller scale, considering I'm doing a half and not a full, of course). So my pace isn't really important, but I'm going to try and follow the recommended paces if I can.

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Anyway, after I ran today, I wanted to do something fun with the kids so they weren't playing video games or watching TV all day while home from school. The rec center was closed from 10-5, so that wasn't an option. I remembered that I had coupons for the kids for free bowling, so I took all three (Noah, Eli, and Noah's friend) to the bowling alley. They wanted pizza from the bowling alley for lunch, so they ate that, and I saved a couple of pieces to take to Mark.

The pizza looked so good, but it was loaded with cheese and grease, and I estimated approximately 14,000 calories per slice, so I just decided to get my lunch from Panera on the way to visit Mark. We dropped off Noah's friend on the way, and then Noah, Eli, and I went to see Mark. He was really happy to see us, of course.

Mark got great news from his doctor, but with Sarah's death on Monday, I didn't want to share such good news and bad news on the same day. Mark's good news: he got a discharge date! He's going to be discharged on the 18th of this month. The whole thing was a little scary at first--he left a message for my dad saying that he was getting discharged the following day. I panicked and went up to see him, so I could figure out what was going on, and I learned his discharge date wasn't actually the following day, but on the 18th.

Mark said he was going back to the group home, but I got the impression from the care givers that he wasn't going to be able to go back there. He's still not completely able to do everything on his own, so I don't think the home will take him. But I talked to the social workers at the nursing home, and they were SO very helpful. I explained to Mark that even if he's not able to go back to the home, we'll find him a place that's very close to where my parents and I live; that way, we'll be able to visit much more often, and take him out for a few hours a few times a week.

So now, I want to try and find a good home for him as a back-up plan, if his group home doesn't work out. Mark is excited either way, because he just wants to get out of a hospital environment and have some more freedom. Today, all he could talk about was how excited he was get out of there. The nursing staff absolutely loves him, and he's treated really well, but he hates the hospital bed.

When I asked him what he was looking forward to most when he goes home, he said, "Doing my chores, helping around the house." Not exactly what you would expect him to say! All of the residents at his home were assigned different chores, and Mark always liked doing them. I told him that his chores would probably be different now, because his muscles are weaker and he can't do things like chopping wood; he said he was glad that I told him that, so he knows what to expect.

When I gave him his milkshake, he told me that he was so lucky to have so many people that care about him. And he told me to make sure I thank all of my friends (you!) for sending him cards. It brightens his day each time I bring some!

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Motivational Monday #54

Happy Motivational Monday!

This week, I am proud of myself for tracking my food every single day. When I heard the news about Sarah, I had a bit of a slip-up, and there was a moment of "What's the point? Why bother with eating healthy when this kind of crap happens anyway?" (Of course I know better, but I was angry that Sarah died way too young--it just seems so unfair). So I ate ice cream. And Cadbury Mini Eggs. 

And then? I tracked my food. I ate much more than my allotted Weight Watchers points for the week, but I still wrote down what I ate. And then I didn't let one bad moment turn into a bad day, and a bad week. I had a great day yesterday and today! I think that's the hardest part about having a slip-up--getting back to it right away, instead of saying, "Well, just one more day won't hurt..." 

I made a goal for March, and that was to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. So far, so good! Yesterday, I made sautéed zucchini and summer squash to have with dinner, and I made my kids try it. Eli had already tried it last week, so he knew he'd like it, and he even asked for seconds. But Noah really didn't want to try it, and I told him he had to eat at least one bite. One bite wasn't going to kill him!

So he took a bite, and as he was chewing, he started gagging. I was about to scold him for being way too dramatic, when suddenly, he vomited his entire dinner onto his plate. Hahaha, the squash was a no-go for Noah! I had no idea that someone could be so grossed out by a food that it could literally make him or her puke.

I am eagerly waiting for my April issue of Runner's World to appear in my mailbox--it'll be any day now! If you missed the big news, my Ragnar Relay team, From Fat to Finish Line, is the main story in the April issue. I'm really excited to see it and read the story!

Anyway, here are a few Motivational Monday submissions to give a motivational start to your week:

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Kim has lost 66 pounds, and just completed her second half-marathon! She started eating healthier, logging her food on My Fitness Pal, and running last May. She's now at her goal weight, and is working on finding a good balance in maintenance (sounds familiar!). (Kim's blog)

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Amy has struggled with her weight her entire life, losing and gaining, and she finally just decided to give up; she felt like there was no point in trying anymore. Last week, she said something sparked, and she woke up with a strong feeling of determination. She tracked her calories and was at her goal each day. She exercised three times throughout the week. And then when she got on the scale, she was discouraged to see she hadn't lost a single pound. In the past, she would have given up, but this time she didn't! She is more committed than ever. She says that because she is making this change for life, she knows it's not all about the weight loss--what she's doing is healthy for her body. Amy says she's not ready to share her picture just yet, but she included a photo of her dog, Odin--who loves her at any size ;)

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Rachel just completed her first 10K! She and her husband did the 10K race at the Little Rock Marathon. When they were in their corral, waiting for the race to begin, it started raining--in the freezing cold. She briefly thought about going back to the car, and calling it quits, but she had paid for her registration, and wanted to complete her goal. She had a secret goal of 1:30 for the race. The race ended up being a great experience, and she was so glad she stuck it out. As she crossed the finish line, she was delighted to see that she finished in 1:26:56, beating her goal by over 3 minutes! She now hopes to, one day, complete the half-marathon; and, eventually, the full!

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

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Sarah's struggle

Last night, I learned that my friend Sarah passed away after a long battle with melanoma.

It didn't really hit me at first. I think I was just in shock, because the last I heard, she was still fighting a good fight. She was diagnosed with stage 3C melanoma three years ago, and it was a long, grueling battle for her.

I first met Sarah when I moved to Newport the summer before 10th grade. My next door neighbor, Allison, who was also in the 10th grade at the time, had a group of friends over and invited me to meet everyone. That group ended up becoming my close-knit group of friends throughout high school.

From the moment I met her, I really admired Sarah. She was gorgeous, very funny, outgoing, popular with everyone, and could make anyone laugh or smile in any situation. I had switched schools when I moved, and at my previous school, I was a nobody. When I first met Sarah, I never dreamed she'd be friends with me, but we started hanging out during and after school, and we became very close friends.

Sarah is the one who introduced me to the locally-famous casserole-style mostaccioli at Detroit Beach Pizzeria--I attribute at least 10 pounds of high school weight gain to that dish! Sarah is the one with whom I had my first experience with alcohol (I still can't look at a bottle of Sour Apple Pucker without gagging!). Despite being teenagers, Sarah and I shared a love for Elmo from Sesame Street--we each had a collection of Elmo stuffed animals. Sarah was the first friend I told when I had my first kiss, at 16.

In high school, I was embarrassed of my weight, as always, and when Sarah wanted to lay out in the sun in bikinis, I lied and said I didn't have a suit; she gave me one, and I said it would be too small. She assured me it was too big on her, so I tried it on. After she saw that it fit, she said, "I lied! It's not too big on me. You're the same size as me. You look hot!"

Sarah is the one who introduced me to thrift store shopping. We loved to go on half-off day and find some very... erm, interesting... outfits. Sarah taught me to be bold, and not care about what anyone else thought of my clothes or my hair--just to have fun and be silly sometimes.

I have NO idea what we were thinking with those baggy clothes!

I remember Sarah and I going to visit one of our (male) friends in the hospital after he'd had a minor surgery, and he was sleeping. Sarah had the funny idea to whisper sexy things in his ear to see if we could get his heart rate up on the monitor!

Sarah introduced me to tanning beds, and we used to go tanning together in the evenings sometimes. That was before we knew just how bad it was for you. Now, it's a bittersweet memory--we had fun tanning, but knowing that it contributed to her cancer and death makes me feel awful.

Sarah became pregnant during our senior year of high school, and after graduation, we went our separate ways. I went to a university, while she got a job and had a baby boy. She ended up marrying the father of her baby, and just before I became pregnant with Noah, she had another baby--a girl. She was a fantastic mom; one of those "cool" moms that her kids would never be embarrassed to be seen with ;)

When my kids were a little older, we got together for playdates a few times, and it was always nice to catch up and see what was happening in each other's lives at the time. She divorced her husband, and was a single mom for the last several years, not getting much help from him. Her cancer diagnosis was tough--after her initial surgery, she wasn't able to work anymore.

I went to visit her in the hospital about a year after her first surgery, and she was the same old Sarah that I remembered. SO positive and upbeat, and I was really happy to see her. Even as her cancer progressed, and continued to get worse, she stayed positive and hopeful.

So yesterday, when I heard that she'd lost the very long battle with cancer, I was definitely shocked; but it didn't really hit me until I was running this morning. I had an awful pit in my stomach, and I couldn't even make it through my run. Sarah was way too young to die, and her kids are too young to be without a mom.

For the last few years, Sarah was on a mission to get the word out about just how bad tanning is for your body. Sarah had no family history of melanoma, and her doctors told her the cancer was most likely from tanning. Her cancer started as what looked like an innocent mole on her calf. No matter how good you may think you look with a tan, it is not worth the risk of getting skin cancer! It's an ugly and extremely deadly disease.

When Sarah was diagnosed, it really hit home for me--since we used to tan together, it very well could have been me who'd gotten cancer. I'm pasty-white now, and I honestly don't care how much thinner or better I'd look with a tan. I started using sunscreen religiously when I learned of Sarah's diagnosis. I even took my kids and myself to the dermatologist for a skin cancer screening, so that if something pops up, we can catch it early. I urge anyone reading this to do the same. If there is any good to come from Sarah's struggle, I hope that it will be to have saved someone else from going through it, too.

But for now, I am happy that Sarah is finally at peace after fighting so hard for so long. It goes without saying that she will be dearly missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

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Meet Colleen

Just five weeks from today, I'll have crossed the finish line of Ragnar SoCal with my Strangers to Sole Mates team--I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by! Over the past several weeks, I've been slowly introducing my teammates, and sharing their stories of how they became runners. You can read about Caitlin, John, Thomas, Paige, and Dean on their posts. Today, I'd like to introduce Colleen.

Colleen is going to be bringing up the rear of the 200-mile race, as she is Runner #12. It's kind of funny... when I asked Colleen to join our team, I knew absolutely nothing about her, except that I absolutely loved the photo she sent in for Motivational Monday:

That picture made me laugh out loud every time I looked at it. How can anyone NOT want to be a runner when looking at the joy on Colleen's face in that photo?! When I was going through emails to find potential team members, I sent John a text that pretty much said, "Based on her photo alone, I think we should ask her! She looks like she'd be tons of fun in a Ragnar!" And now, having gotten to know her online as we get ready for the race, I can see that I was correct. Colleen is very funny and witty, and my only regret is that she's not in Van #1 with me! ;)

Here, Colleen shares a little about herself and how she got started running...

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Hello! My name is Colleen, and I am a lawyer in Denver, CO (originally from Omaha, NE). You may remember me from a Motivational Monday in May of 2013. I ran the Colfax Half Marathon in honor of my boss, who is living with brain cancer. He ran the full while in between chemo treatments. While he has been diagnosed with stage 4 since the race, he recently had an MRI that showed no new growth, which is great news!

I was a chubby kid, and started working out in the summer between 8th and 9th grade after I made Freshman Cheerleading. I was deathly afraid of being a "fat cheerleader," so I worked out a lot and lost a good amount of weight. Since then, I've maintained a 3-4 day a week gym schedule at minimum. Currently, I'm on a 6-7 days a week schedule. I find physical activity allows me to eat "normally" despite a metabolism that doesn't support a love of food. More importantly, physical activity keeps me off anti-depressants and off the therapist's couch. (That being said, I'm a strong advocate for both. Be happy. This is your life, you get one shot). 

In September of 2005, I ran my first 5k. Despite my dedication to the elliptical and group fitness classes, running was hard. The feeling I got from crossing that finish line turned a light on in my brain. I kept running. I had also started my first year of law school, and despite my best efforts and hard work, I was doing average at best. Running was this amazing outlet that gave me the opportunity to see progress quickly and remember that even if I bombed a corporate tax final, I can still run more than I've ever been able to run. All I had to do was show up and put in the miles. In October of 2006, I ran the Chicago Marathon. Crossing that finish line is still the proudest moment of my life. 

In May of 2008, I moved to Denver, and tried to continue running, but struggled with the altitude. I could never get control of my breath and really hated every second of every mile. I would run here and there, but it always felt like punishment. I discovered Turbo Kick, and became obsessed; I found body pump classes as well, so my fitness primarily included high-intensity cardio and strength training. Plus, I live in Colorado--so lots of hiking and skiing. 

I got back into running into September of 2012. I had moved in with my boyfriend (now husband) and found I was just eating a lot and drinking more than was necessary. I started using the Lose It! App just to keep track. I'm obsessed with sweets and thought I was eating healthy more often then not, but the tracking showed differently. Lots of "oh I never have cookies!" cookies. 

I also started getting bored with the elliptical, and broached the dreadmill. I hate running on treadmills, but found intervals made it manageable. I worked it and got better, and then took it to the streets. That same progress high that got me going in 2005 came back in 2012. When my office challenged us to run any length we desired for the 2013 Colfax Marathon, I signed up for the half-marathon and never looked back.

Non-running "things about me" include: I love a good intellectual conversation and will discuss feminism and public consumption of women's bodies until I'm blue in the face, but I'm also obsessed with celebrity gossip and will discuss the Kardashians or any other A,B,C,D,E list celebrity you can think of. I'm watching the Bachelor right now. I am married to a lawyer, which I never wanted; in the "preferred spouse career" category, lawyer would have been dead last. We met in a bar during the last Big 12 Championship Game Nebraska was in. I didn't know he was a lawyer when he asked me about the tater tots I was eating, but it works, and it works well. I like trendy restaurants with farm to table/organic/locally sourced menus, but I also like to make fun of the concept. I like to go out for fancy cocktails that feature gin. I'm a city mouse. I like to walk more than drive and Denver makes that an occasional challenge. I'm a dancer. Whether it's alone in my living room or at da club, I really enjoy to shake my shit. I really like to travel. We went to Peru for our honeymoon, and hiked the Inca Trail. After that we spent a few days on the beach. Every morning, I would get up and run to a pier and back, and spend the rest of the day doing nothing. It was the best. 

I love running. Holy Shit, I love it. And I have bad runs. I have runs that involve me being very familiar with the clerk who works Sunday mornings at a 7-11 on my route. She is so nice to me even though I know she knows I just destroyed her bathroom. I have runs where I walk more than I should, where my body aches, where my knees make their presence known. I have runs where I come out of the gate too fast and hate myself at the end of the race because I could've done better. I have days where I dread pushing the quick start button on the treadmill, but it drives me. There is no greater joy than crossing that finish line, and so I continue to cross it, and come April, I'm crossing it with a whole bunch of strangers from the internet!

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Coconut Almond Butter

Despite the wind chill advisory this morning, the kids still had school. I'm so glad the school isn't being canceled due to the cold temps anymore! Here it is, the last day of February, and it's still ridiculously cold. When I think of March, I think of spring; but we're nowhere near spring right now!

While I was digging through the fridge this morning, trying to figure out what I wanted for breakfast, I found a jar of nut butter that I'd bought a long time and completely forgot about (I know! How could I forget about nut butter?!)

I really wanted to try it, so I made oat bran (35 grams of oat bran cooked in 2/3 cup skim milk), and then topped it with 32 grams of the MaraNatha Coconut Almond Butter. It was absolutely fantastic! I forgot how much I like oat bran, too; it's been a long time since I've had it. The breakfast was 9 PointsPlus, and totally worth it.

I also dug out another oldie but goodie this morning--Ceylon Star tea from David's Tea. The tin was way in the back of the cupboard, and I had completely forgotten about that flavor. I made some after breakfast, and kept thinking, "How did I forget about this tea? It's so good!" I only have enough for 1-2 more cups, so I checked the David's website to see if they still had it. It was on special for 40% off, because they're getting rid of that flavor. It had to be bought in 250 gram increments. To qualify for free shipping, I may have ordered 750 grams... Hopefully I don't get sick of it, because I won't run out until at least 2020!

Today was my long run day, and on this new plan I'm doing, this is what was on the schedule:

-50 minutes at 70-75% maximum heart rate
-8 repeats of the following:
     -1 minute at 5K race pace (90-95% maximum heart rate)
     -1 minute easy jog
-10 minutes at 70-75% maximum heart rate

I was surprised at how much I had to keep slowing down during the first 50 minutes to keep my heart rate under 141. My pace for that part ended up being 10:35/mi. (I had to stop for a minute 15 minutes in, because there was a little pebble inside my shoe). I did the fast intervals at 8.0 mph, and then the jog at 5.0 mph. Next time, I'll have to do the fast intervals even faster, because my heart rate didn't get up high enough.

The whole run was only 7.3 miles, which doesn't really feel like a "long run". But next week, the schedule lists 11, which will be the longest I've done in at least a couple of months.

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Today was the final day of my 10,000+ steps per day challenge! I'm proud to say that I actually did it, getting in 10,000+ steps every single day this month.

Whenever I would read about how it's recommended to get 10,000 steps per day, I never really thought about just how much walking that is. I just assumed that since I'm a runner, I get in plenty of steps; and surely I was getting in at least 10,000 steps a day! But once I started tracking my steps, I couldn't believe how difficult it was to hit that number, even on the days I ran.

The days that I didn't run this month (Wednesdays and Saturdays) were especially hard. A lot of times, I'd end up walking slowly on the treadmill for an hour in addition to the regular movement I got during the day. There were a few days this month that I forgot to check my steps until it was time to sit down and relax before bed, and I was a few thousand short. I walked around my living room and kitchen, and paced up and down the hallway to reach that magic number. I was determined to hit the goal every day!

Overall, though, I'm really glad that I did this challenge. It made me realize that I'm not as active as I thought I was, and now I've gotten used to doing things the long way in order to get in some extra steps. I'd like to continue to aim for 10,000 a day, but I'm not going to do whatever it takes to make it happen, like I did this month! I'm looking forward to my rest day tomorrow, and NOT doing lots of extra walks to get in the steps ;)

Now, for March... I'd like to challenge myself again, to give me something to focus on. My goal for March is to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. I stocked up on veggies today, so now I just have to get creative on how to use them all up!

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My pear tree

I can't believe just how much better I feel after yesterday's Weight Watchers meeting. It's a like a huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders, and it's so nice! Weighing in at WW on Monday has helped me tremendously to stay on track this week. So many times, I thought, "Screw tracking! It's just one snack..." but knowing that I have to weigh in once a week at WW has made me track everything and not go overboard.

Today was another ridiculously cold day. The windchill temp this morning was -15, and I was dreading getting the call from the kids' school saying that school was canceled. But it never came, so they actually had school today. Usually, I walk them to the bus stop in the mornings, but I couldn't bear the thought of going out in the wind like that, so I ended up driving the kids to school.

When I got home, I made breakfast, and I talked to my sister on the phone. She's running her longest-ever run tomorrow! The most she's ever run was a half-marathon, and she's marathon training right now, so she has 15 miles on the schedule tomorrow. I remember my first 15-miler very well, which I ran with Jessica, and it was a fantastic run! Anyway, Jeanie was wondering how she should fuel for the run, so I chatted with her about that for a little while this morning. I'm really curious to see how it goes tomorrow.

Today, on the new running schedule, was a 30-35 minute easy run with strides at the end. Written out, it ended up looking like this:

-Run at 70-75% maximum heart rate for 27 minutes.
-Repeat the following six times:
     -Run 20 seconds at 1-mile race pace
     -Jog 60 seconds recovery

There was no way I was running outside today, so I did it on the treadmill. I wasn't sure what speed I'd need to do to achieve 70-75% max heart rate, so I started with 6.5 mph. My heart rate was too low even after a couple of minutes, so I had to bump it up to 6.7-6.8 mph, and then it was right in the zone. One of the things I like about this heart rate training is that I don't have to maintain a steady pace. If my heart rate gets too high, I lower the speed, and if my heart rate is too low, I increase the speed. It's not as boring that way ;)

Once I reached 27 minutes, I did a 20-second sprint at 9.0 mph, and then recovered at 6.0 (for the first sprint; after that, I recovered at 5.0). I always like seeing the pace and heart rate graphs after a run like today's:

I liked doing the strides at the end; it made the first 27 minutes go by really quickly, because they felt like a prelude to the strides.

A few people have asked me what my heart rate was like when I first started exercising. The earliest heart rate data I can find is from April/May 2011, which was after I'd been running for a year, so it doesn't offer much insight. But my average heart rate then was 160, and currently, it's 145. So as I got in better shape, my heart naturally became more efficient.

I remember my first time using the heart rate monitor with my Garmin, and I was shocked at just how slow I had to go to keep my heart rate in the correct zone. It kept skyrocketing, so I stopped wearing the HR monitor for nearly a year, and then I tried again (which was April 2011). It's hard to get my heart rate to 160 now--I just tried that a couple of days ago, and I had to run a 7:40-8:10 pace to keep my heart rate that high. But I was running a 10:00-11:00/mi pace in 2011 with the same heart rate.

It's kind of frustrating for someone just starting out exercising, when they see really high heart rate numbers. Sometimes a very slow walk will get your heart rate in the right aerobic zone. But as you get in better shape, and your heart gets more conditioned, you'll have to work harder and harder to reach that zone.

I will be so glad to get in my 10,000 steps tomorrow and cross this February goal of my list. Getting in 10,000 steps a day, every day, this month has been really hard! I'd like to come up with another goal for March--something easily defined and measurable, like the 10,000 steps per day goal. I was thinking of making it a point to get in my Good Health Guidelines for Weight Watchers every day, but that would be another really tough goal, and I'm not sure I want to commit to that ;)

Maybe I'll just aim for one of the Good Health Guidelines, like getting five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. I've been getting in a lot more vegetables lately, and I actually used up all that I bought before they went bad. I was really surprised that Eli loved zucchini and summer squash (I just sautéed it in a little olive oil). My kids usually complain about eating vegetables, but Eli really loved the squash.

I "treated" myself to a couple of Asian pears when I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago. They're really expensive, so I don't buy them often, but I absolutely love Asian pears! It's kind of funny that I consider them a treat ;)  Speaking of Asian pears, I forgot to post a picture of the Asian pear tree that my mom bought for me to plant. I've been trying to grow a fruit tree in my yard ever since we moved here 10 years ago, and it's been one problem after another. But I'm hoping this will work out!

I laughed so hard when I saw the "tree", because it looks like it's just a stick pushed into the ground...

I'm not even joking; that's my Asian pear tree. It had roots, so let's hope they held up through this awful winter!

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