Runner's World Half & Festival, Days 1-2

Yesterday morning, I had a flight from Detroit to Boston, and then from Boston to Philadelphia. The weather was bad yesterday, and my nerves were pretty shot on the planes with all the turbulence! It was so nice to finally arrive at the Philly airport. I met up with Dani, Matt, and Charlene (my roommate for the weekend), and a driver took us to our hotel in Bethlehem.

As soon as we got to the hotel, the other bloggers were waiting on us, so we all hopped in a shuttle bus to take us to the Runner's World Headquarters. I was SO excited to see the offices where they make the magazine! Right when we got there, we had dinner, and then Bart Yasso took us on a tour of the building. My favorite room was actually Bart Yasso's office--he had a ton of memorabilia in there!

Race bibs on the door

Another spot that I thought was pretty cool was a wall that was lined with the entire December issue of the magazine. I immediately looked to see if I could sneak a peak at who won the RW cover contest, but they had page holders there instead of the story.

The top three rows are past covers, the bottom rows are the December issue

After we toured the office, we went outside to make s'mores! How fun, right?

I didn't end up eating any s'mores, though, because I knew I'd be spending a lot of Weight Watchers Points this weekend on other stuff, so I was trying to use them wisely. We chatted for a while, and then boarded the shuttle to go back to the hotel. This is a really great group of bloggers, and it was so nice meeting everyone. The bloggers racing this weekend:

Dani from Weight Off My Shoulders
Ali from Ali on the Run
Doug from Rock Creek Runner
Jamie from From Couch To Ironwoman
Beth from Shut Up And Run
Lauren from The Foodie Runner
Katie from Ms Fit Runner
Presley from Run Pretty
Charlene from FAB Running
Kristen from Fit Bottomed Girls
Matt from No Meat Athlete
Sarah from Picky Runner
Dick from Better Cheaper Slower
Aliah from The Get Fit Diva

The only ones that I knew from the Heartbreak Hill Half were Dani, Presley, Charlene, Matt, and Sarah. Most everyone ended up hanging out at the hotel bar for a few hours, getting to know each other, which was fun. I really enjoyed talking to Beth from Shut Up And Run--she is genuinely a very sweet person.

I went to bed late, and got up super early at 5:30. We all met in the lobby of the hotel at 7:00 to start the day. First, we were doing a surprise activity, which ended up being an "amazing race" sort of clue hunt. It was all done on foot, and ended up being a 3-4 mile run altogether. The scenery was breathtaking! I love seeing all the old buildings.

We ended at the venue for the race expo, which was going to start at 3:00. When we got there, we had breakfast and sat down to listen to a presentation by Altra about their running shoes. I wore the shoes they sent me and liked them, but after listening to the presentation today, I think I really want to try to make the switch over to using them exclusively. I really liked the story of how the brand came to be. After the presentation, Golden (from Altra) took us outside to give us a quick lesson on proper running form. It was really interesting as well, and I'll save that for another post.

We also listened to a presentation by Budd Coates of Runner's World. I found his presentation fascinating--it was all about breathing while running. Sounds boring, I know, but it's a topic that I never even thought to research. He explained how we can use synchronized breathing (inhaling/exhaling in rhythm with steps) to reduce injury and train our best. Runner's World gave us his book, Running On Air, and I'm excited to read it and apply it. Budd is super fast--a 2:13 marathoner--and a four-time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.

We saw a presentation by iFit, and it basically made me want to buy a fancy new treadmill ;)  I'm not going to, because mine works just fine, but it's so cool to see the new technology on treadmills (they can mimic any course you create from Google maps, and automatically adjust the incline settings for it).

After those presentations, we went across the street to do yoga for an hour. I've never done yoga in my life (I tried to once or twice, but I didn't even last five minutes). iFit was so generous and gave each of us a yoga bag with a foam roller, foam block (I had no clue what that was for until the class today), a mat, gloves, and a resistance band.

I wish I could say that I love yoga, but alas, I still do not. My favorite pose was the "corpse pose" at the end, where you basically just lie flat on the floor and relax ;) I'm going to try it again at home, though!

We had lunch after the yoga session, and it was all food made from the Runner's World Cookbook. I had a mushroom taco, which was AMAZING. I can't wait to make them at home! The white chili was also really good, as was the cornbread.

After lunch was a session that I was really excited for--a talk by Sean MacMillen, an Army veteran who used running to save his life, basically. He spent three years in Afghanistan, and became an alcoholic. When he returned to the states, he had such a hard time adjusting to "civilian" life, and he just drank even more. He had PTSD, and he suppressed his feelings with alcohol. He wound up in jail from five DUI's, and he even attempted suicide by overdosing on Tylenol, which put him in the hospital for a month.

Eventually, it was running that saved his life. He stopped drinking, and started running. You can read more about his story here. After his talk, I went up to thank him for sharing his story, and ask him a couple of questions. I was curious about what family members of veterans can do to help them adjust to civilian life, but he didn't really have a definitive answer. He said that the family can do everything right, but the veteran really just has to want to change and live a positive life. He said that the best thing he could do for his recovery was to talk about his feelings and thoughts--instead of being a "badass" who didn't have any feelings, he started to open up and that was therapeutic for him.

Because his story hit so close to home for me, I loved hearing what he had to say! He's going to be sharing his story tomorrow, also, to anyone who wants to come. So if you're doing the race, I highly recommend going to his seminar at noon tomorrow.

After that, Charlene and I walked back to the hotel to shower and then go to the expo. The expo was nice, and I ended up buying more than I probably should have:

Another of Bart's books, My Life on the Run (this one is for my brother), Running & Being by Dr. George Sheehan, RUN! by Dean Karnazes, and a Runner's World t-shirt. I'm excited to read the books--I really loved Karnazes' book, Ultramarathon Man.

After the expo, Charlene and I stayed to watch the kids' races. There were three--1/4 mile, 1/2 mile, and 1 mile. Seeing the little kids do the quarter mile race was SO adorable!! Bart Yasso himself keeps them on course by leading with a bike.

I have to say, Runner's World really does put on an AMAZING race weekend--and not just for the bloggers. The announcer (I believe his name is Will, and I wish I could find his last name) was absolutely fantastic with those kids! He did everything he could to make them feel special--each and every one who crossed the finish line. I didn't have any kids running the races, but I still cried watching, haha.

Isn't that an awesome backdrop for a race?!

After the races, Charlene and I headed back to the hotel. We stopped for dinner at a little Italian place, where I had a piece of bruschetta pizza--it was delicious. Now it's time to hit the hay because I have two races to run tomorrow!

(In full disclosure, Runner's World sponsored my participation in this event by paying for my travel and race fees, but I was not paid for any posts or required to write about it. Everything is, as always, my honest opinion.)

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Purina's Better with Pets Summit

I started to write this last night (Wednesday), but I had so much to get ready for this weekend that I just couldn't finish it. Instead, I got to the airport a couple of hours early so I can write while I wait. I don't want to forget anything! I'll be in Bethlehem this weekend for the Runner's World Half & Festival, so I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to post, but I'll try!

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I got home late Tuesday night from Purina's Better With Pets Summit in New York, and it was AMAZING. Cats and running are my two favorite topics, so to be surrounded by fellow cat lovers (and, yes, dog lovers!) was so much fun. I've done two events with Purina now, and I really enjoy them because they aren't a big sales pitch. I can tell that the people who work there truly love their jobs, and of course they love pets, so the summit really was just a celebration of pets in our lives. (In full disclosure, Purina covered my travel expenses to attend the summit, but I was not paid for this post, or even required to post about it at all.)

There were SO many things discussed during the day that it's hard to write a post about it--I don't want to leave anything out! Here is what the schedule was for the day:

I'll just go through those in order, and write anything notable that comes to mind.

The emcee, John Hockenberry: This guy was phenomenal at his job! He was very entertaining, quick with the one-liners, and excellent at interviewing the speakers.

Brooke Martin: At 12-years old, Brooke invented a way to stay connected with our pets even while we're away from home. It's called the ICPooch, and it's basically a way to video "chat" with your pet, and even deliver a treat (remotely) with the push of a button. Brooke was extremely well-spoken, especially considering she's only 14 years old now, and her invention is so smart!

Scott Stulen & Will Braden: Scott is the curator and producer of the Internet Cat Video Festival (a competition that celebrates cat videos on the internet). Will submitted his cat video to the first festival, and was selected a winner of the Golden Kitty Award. You may have seen his videos on YouTube (they are HILARIOUS)--just search "Henri the cat". Now the two men work together on creating the video festival.

Ed Creagan: Ed is a doctor who spoke of how important pets are to people who are dying. He works with patients who are dying, and has had over 30,000 encounters with them in his career. He said that having a pet gives people hope, and helps them to fight their diseases. It has even helped family members reconnect.

B.E.A.T. NYC: A group that was very entertaining to listen to! Hard to describe, but they are a rap group. I took a video, but had trouble uploading the video at the airport. Grr! I'll try and add it here later.

Dogs of Instagram and Cats of Instagram: If you're on Instagram, and you like photos of dogs or cats, you've got to follow them!

Stan Marks: Stan told us the story of Bean, a dog that was nearly euthanized because she was constantly getting pneumonia from aspirating her food (a side effect of her muscular dystrophy). After testing and scanning, they learned that when she tried to swallow, the food wouldn't go into her stomach, so it would come back up her esophagus and then she would aspirate it into her lungs. Bean became the first canine to receive a total laryngectomy. Her life was saved with the surgery and a feeding tube (her owner now "feeds" her through a tube directly into her stomach). She gotten a lot stronger, gained weight, and is now happy and healthy.

Janet Jackson: Janet is a researcher at Purina research and development, and she spoke of a topic that was of particular interest to me--keeping your mature pet's brain sharp. I had never given this topic any thought until it was very clear that Paolo had dementia. It slowly progressed, and the last year or so, Paolo had all the classic signs and symptoms. Janet showed a video of a dog that had the "signs of old age", like confusion, difficulty walking and understanding commands, and constant pacing through the house. Purina's research and development team discovered that by adding MCT's (medium chain triglycerides) to the dog's diet, they could reverse those symptoms. Seeing the "after" video of the dog was very interesting to me! The symptoms that were in the first video had been reversed, and the dog was doing much better. Purina put the MCT's into a new food line, which will be available in January.

Victoria Stilwell: Victoria is a dog trainer that uses positivity to train dogs. Everything she said was completely the opposite of what I'd read/heard/watched before, mainly from Cesar Milan. She explained that dogs don't see us as dogs, but as people--we are an entirely different species, obviously--so therefore, they don't think of us as a "pack leader". She explained how positive reinforcement (particularly with food) is the best way to train a dog, and she backed it up with scientific proof. I don't have a dog, so I can't really give an opinion, but I thought her argument was very convincing.

Adam Wade: Adam is a comedian, and 18-time winner of The Moth Story SLAM. He told us the story of how he obtained proof that his cat was the smartest cat in his extended family. His uncle would always brag that he had the smartest cat, and one day, Adam witnessed his own cat peeing in the toilet--he said it was like seeing a unicorn. So he did what any 12-year old boy would do, and camped out in the closet with a video camera for weeks on end to hopefully catch the cat doing it again. (Spoiler: he did, and the uncle was dumbfounded when he saw the video). Adam played the video for us, and his cat certainly did pee in the toilet ;)

Dan Smith: Dan works in research and development for Purina, where he and his team imagine up best case scenarios for pets, and try to figure out how to make them happen. "Imagine if your dog or cat could live a longer, quality life with a healthy body?" So they spent 14 years researching how to make this happen, and they discovered that by eating less food, the pets lives (and quality of lives) were extended--and they changed the recommended feeding schedule on all their formulas. Another scenario was, "Imagine if you could go to work all day and not have to worry about letting your dog out to go to the bathroom?" This one wasn't so successful--they developed a dog litter, so dogs could use it like cats. But they discovered that people enjoy taking their dogs for walks, and it just wasn't a very popular item ;)

Rita Garza: Rita is with Urban Resource Institute (URI) of NYC. URI provides vital services to victims of domestic violence, and after a ton of hard work, they finally created a shelter for people to stay WITH their animals. She said that there were so many women who would stay in abusive relationships out of fear for their pets, because pets weren't allowed in the shelters with them. A woman named Pamela, who is a domestic violence survivor, shared her story and how she was extremely grateful to be able to keep her "fur family" with her when she left her abusive husband.

Lisa Spector and Joshua Leads: Lisa and Joshua came together to create music for pets after Lisa (an amazing pianist) discovered that her dog was calmed when she played the piano. Joshua is a sound researcher and music producer who studies the effect of music on the nervous system, both in people and animals. Lisa and Joshua came together to create "Through a Dog's Ear" and "Through a Cat's Ear" CD's to play for your pets. I was extremely skeptical about this until I saw the video of the music being played in an animal shelter. The dogs were all sleeping calmly, and not barking and jumping all over the place like they usually do in a shelter. I got a cat CD while I was there, so I'm curious to see if it has an effect on my kitties!

Mayhem Poets: I really wish I had gotten this on video, because it was amazing! Three poets--Kyle, Scott, and Mason--gave a poetry reading (MUCH more entertaining than it sounds!) about pets.

Mark Deadrick: Mark is literally a rocket scientist, and when he saw pictures of a chihuahua, TurboRoo, who was missing his front legs circulating online, he decided to use a 3D printer at work to create a mini prosthesis for the dog. After a couple of failed attempts (he had no idea just how tiny TurboRoo was, so they were too big), he created one that fit really well, and now TurboRoo can run around like the other dogs ;) He was absolutely adorable!

Pia Salk: Pia is a psychologist who has always had a special bond with animals. When she assisted with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, she spent her time rescuing pets. She explains that it's normal, and not at all shameful, to love your animals just as much as you would people, and that the bonds formed with our pets are just as special.

Kurt Venator: Kurt is a veterinarian for Purina, and he talked about how the roles of pets are changing in our lives. He gave the example of his grandfather, who owned a dog. The dog was only allowed to sleep in the dog house outside, and when Kurt tried finding a photo, there weren't any photos of the dog. In the next generation, dogs were brought into houses, and taught tricks. And now, pets are treated like members of the family.

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So, that was the summit in a nutshell. I left with not only a longing to see my cats, but also a new appreciation for dogs. I don't think I'll ever be a "dog person" in the way that I'm a "cat person" (usually, it's one or the other), but I learned quite a bit about them. I'm grateful to Purina for inviting me to the summit--it was not only interesting, but very fun, too!

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Motivational Monday #82

When this post goes live, I will be in NYC (!), so I'm obviously preparing it ahead of time. So if you emailed a Motivational Monday submission after Sunday evening, I will get to it next week.

This week, I am most proud of the fact that I stayed 100% on track with Weight Watchers. I've been eating really well, and while it's been hard to get back to counting, I am SO determined to be back at my goal weight by the time I go to Portland in March. This week of traveling is going to be difficult, but I am hoping that I have good things to report when I get back :)

Anyway, here are some motivating moments this week:

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I have to start by apologizing to Kim--last week, I posted this photo and forgot to include the story! In May 2004 at 285 pounds, Kim had gastric bypass surgery and lost 120 pounds. Unfortunately, the weight crept back on, and she found herself back up to 239 pounds this past February. She signed up for a 5K in April, and finished in 42:53. That motivated her to set a goal to finish under 40 minutes. She had a couple of teasers, where she finished in 40:08 and 40:04--so close to her goal. Finally, on September 27, she crushed her goal, finishing her 5K race in 36:33! Kim is continually inspired by her friend's baby who passed away last year. They wear their Team Liam shirts to promote the 5K held in his honor (and raise funds for families in similar situations as that of Liam's).

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Tiina completed her first half Ironman distance triathlon--70.3 miles of swimming, biking, and running! The temperature of the open water swim dropped over 20 degrees overnight (it was 73 degrees at packet pick-up, and the morning of the race, it was 52). There were several people that dropped out of the race due to the swim, but Tiina tried to focus on getting through it, and she did. Her hands and feet were completely numb going into the biking, and she admits she was very close to calling it quits, but she pushed through the mental barrier and finished the race strong in 7:25:37!

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Kathryn just completed the Twin Cities Ultra Looney Challenge--which consisted of the Twin Cities 5K and 10K last Saturday, followed by the full marathon on Sunday (a total of 35.5 miles)! She said it was a great experience from start to finish, between the perfect weather and fantastic spectators. Even more impressive is that Kathryn lost 100 pounds and started running just 4 years ago, and now she's a three-time marathoner!

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Gigi completed her first full marathon at the Glass City Marathon last weekend! She trained for months, but was still terrified at the thought of run/walking 26.2 miles. She expected to finish in 7 hours, but secretly hoped to finish in 6:30. She stuck to her 1:1 ratio of running and walking, and crossed the finish line in 6 hours with a big smile on her face! She felt great--walking up and down stairs afterward, and even able to sit on and get off of the toilet without help (haha! I remember how hard that was to do after my first marathon). (Gigi's race report)

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Congratulations, everyone! You have every reason to be proud :)

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Preparing for a busy (and fun) week

Today I wanted to finish getting everything ready for this week, because I'm going to be gone all week (NYC tomorrow for Purina, and Pennsylvania on Thursday for Runner's World). I've gotten a bit ridiculous about preparing for Nathan's first marathon--I want to show it all here, but it will have to wait until afterward, so I don't spoil the surprises.

I went to Party City this afternoon to get a couple of things for Nathan's race. Before I left the house, Jerry not-so-subtly hinted that he saw an ad that Victoria's Secret had a sale--7 panties for $26.50--so I may want to pick some up while I was out that way ;)  I do like VS panties, so I ended up going there to take advantage of the sale.

It's kind of funny--I had exactly two things that I needed to get while I was out today (I went out specifically for them) and when I got home, I'd forgotten both! It will have to wait until Wednesday.

The kids went to my parents' house for a little while this evening, and Jerry and I were on our own for dinner. I didn't really want to cook for just the two of us, and when I learned that today was the last day that our local ice cream shop would be open for the season, I thought a flurry sounded good for dinner ;)  So we each got a small flurry (16 PointsPlus), and that was actually really filling. (I know that eating a flurry for dinner is not exactly healthy, but I only do that once or twice a year!)

Today was a rest day, so I didn't have to run. After "dinner", though, I was really cold and had only gotten in 3,000 steps for the whole day, so I decided to go for a short three-miler. I'm supposed to run three tomorrow, but I'm not sure I'll be able to, so it didn't hurt to get it done today. I was feeling pretty energetic, and it felt good to get out and run.

I very rarely run in the evenings, but every time that I do, I tell myself that I should do it more often. It's SO nice to run as the sun is going down. I think my problem is that if I didn't do it in the morning, it would haunt me all day that I need to get in a run. I felt really good, and even had negative splits.

In photos, I never look as sweaty as I actually am!

I sat on the porch until the mosquitos started getting to me, then headed in to get my laundry done. My flight is at 10:00 tomorrow morning, and I haven't even started packing yet! It's a super short trip (I'll be home Tuesday night), but I want to pack some running clothes. I'll have a few hours tomorrow afternoon to do whatever I'd like, and I'll just be a couple of miles from Central Park, so I think I may get brave enough to venture over there and go for a run. I'm so bad with directions that it makes me nervous to even think about, but I'll bring my clothes just in case.

I wrote the Motivational Monday post today, and it's set to go live tomorrow night. If you have something to share, and I didn't get to it, then I will save it for next week. I probably won't be writing a post on Tuesday, because I won't get home until late, but I will on Wednesday. Well, I'd better get packing. I'm excited to go to NY tomorrow!

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A new best

Sarah and Ne ended up not coming over on Thursday after all, but we rescheduled for yesterday. In the morning, I had to do a three-mile run (I switched Thursday and Friday's runs around). My legs were SO tired from the 10-miler on Thursday that it actually felt really difficult. I didn't even think about pace at all, and just let myself day dream while I was running so that I could get through it. I was really surprised to see how even my splits were:

All three splits were 10:08:x. I couldn't do that again if I tried!

At around noon, my brother's girlfriend, Kendall, came over. She brought Panera for lunch (yum!) and we chatted for a while. We made plans for Nathan's race, which is a week from tomorrow. She's going to meet us in Detroit and go to the cheering stations with me, Jerry, and my sister. She left at around 4:30, and then at 6:30, Sarah and Ne came over for the evening. Her students had fall break all week, so she came home to Michigan for a visit.

This morning, Noah had a cross country invitational. It was at a park that I'm very familiar with, because I run there sometimes. Jerry was off work today, so he got to go watch Noah for the first time. It was a really big meet, and there were a lot of kids there. Noah mentioned that there would be medals for the top 100 kids to finish, and he was hopeful that he would get a medal. I told him not to worry about it--that getting a medal is tough. I said that I've only "won" a medal twice (in my age group), and I've done 30+ races!

The course was 1.25 miles today, and definitely tougher than the previous courses, because it had a big hill. I'm familiar with the park, because I run there sometimes; but I don't run the hill because I stay on the dirt/gravel trail. I told Noah that his pace would probably be slower this time, because of the tougher course. I let him wear my old Garmin for his race, which he thought was really cool. It made him feel special ;)  I told him not to look at it at all the entire time he was running, because I didn't want it to distract him; he should just push the button when the race started, and push it again at the finish line.

The starting line

The kids lined up to start, and there were at least 200 kids there in his race division. They had the boys and girls run together this time, so it was a large race. As soon as the gun sounded, I was looking for Noah in the back of the pack, where he usually is, but didn't see him. My mom, Jerry, Eli, and I hurried to the top of the hill to watch the race from there, and to see the kids as they ran over the hill.

When Noah came by, he looked like he was doing great!

At the top of the hill

After he passed by on the hill, we went back down to the finish line to wait. While we were there, I saw my friend Renee. It's been forever since I've seen her, so it was awesome to chat with her, even though it was just for a minute. She's training for the NYC Marathon, which has been her dream race for years (she was supposed to do it in 2012, but couldn't because of Hurricane Sandy).

Anyway, Noah came through and crossed the finish line in 11:35!

He (again) ran his fastest mile today--9:29! His previous fastest mile was just last week, at 9:34. I'm completely dumbfounded at how much he's improved since he started cross country. Several weeks ago, I told him that if he worked hard, he could probably get a mile in the 10:00's by the last week of cross country... and today he hit 9:29. Even though he didn't get a medal (he placed 148th out of 225), he was really proud of his time. He asked me if I would take a picture of the Garmin and post it on my blog ;)

He also asked me if I could write down my blog address on a piece of paper so he could give it to his cross country coach. I thought it was cute that he was proud enough of me to share it, so I gave him my business card, and he ran over to give it to his coach. I was a little embarrassed, because I didn't want her to think I was self-promoting! But Noah said he wanted her to know how far I've run, hahaha.

This afternoon, I went to the thrift store to get an outfit to wear at the Purina event Tuesday. I didn't want to wear jeans and a sweatshirt, but I don't have many dressy clothes. After probably an hour and a half of sorting through clothes and trying things on, I finally found a good outfit to buy. Not too dressy, but not too casual. The pants I bought last month are too big, so I was hoping to fit into 8's this time. All the 8's I tried on ended up fitting, so I think being back on Weight Watchers is doing the trick.

When I left there, I went to Dunham's to buy a shirt for my brother. When I've done races, I know that when you have your name on the front of your shirt, a lot of spectators cheer for you by name. Since it's his first marathon, I really want him to experience that. I looked at a photo of the shirt he was wearing during his 20-miler, so that I could buy something very similar. I ended up getting an blue Under Armour shirt, and then I took it to another sports store to get his name on it. I just hoped that he would like it, because I obviously couldn't return the shirt once I got his name on it!

The blue is brighter than it looks in this photo (it's more like a royal blue), and I like how it turned out.

I wanted to make sure his name was up high enough so that his bib could fit underneath (the Detroit bibs are pretty big). When I got home, he returned my call (I had tried to call to ask him if he'd wear it before I got his name put on it). He said it sounds great, and that he'll definitely wear it. So if you happen to be at the race (running or spectating) and you see him, make sure you cheer him on :)

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I ain't afraid of no ghosts

Last night, as Jerry and I were getting ready for bed, we noticed something extremely creepy. A few days ago, Jerry wrote me a note on the bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker, and I hadn't erased it yet. Jerry has neat handwriting, and the note was written nice and straight.

And then before bed last night, I was shocked to see that it looked all jumbled and messed up. It's hard to explain, so here is a photo:

I asked Jerry why the heck he did that, and he had no clue what I was talking about. The kids were in bed, and we knew it wasn't them who did it. We were completely stumped. I don't believe in ghosts, or spirits, or any sort of paranormal activity, but seeing this happen on the mirror was freaky! I took the photo and called a few friends to ask their thoughts, but nobody had a clue. I had thought maybe it was from condensation, but that wouldn't have made the letters rotate the way they did. Besides, Jerry and I have been writing these notes to each other for 11 years, and this had never happened before!

I couldn't sleep at all last night, because I was racking my brain trying to come up with other explanations. I couldn't think of anything at all that would have caused it. This afternoon, I called Thomas, and he was thoroughly convinced it was from condensation. I could understand condensation causing streaks and smudges, but not rotating the letters! Jerry had written, "WHO ARE YOU?" on the mirror last night, only half-jokingly, in case it was a ghost--and my brother drew some symbols on the mirror to just see if they shifted over time. So I decided to prove Thomas wrong by turning the shower on as hot as it would go, and see what happened (or didn't happen) to the things Jerry and my brother wrote.

Well, Thomas got lucky, because he was right! Here is a before and after of the symbols my brother wrote:

When I turned off the shower, I actually took a time-lapse video (a feature on the iPhone 6 that I never knew would actually come in handy!). In the video, you can see the letters move. I filmed for about three minutes, but the video is only a few seconds long. Watch the letter 'A' in particular. 

Glad to have that mystery solved! ;)

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This morning, I was super tired from the lack of sleep, but I still wanted to try and get my long run done today. I knew Sarah was coming over tonight, and Kendall is coming over tomorrow, so I wanted to have some extra activity points. I had 10 miles on the schedule, and this was my last long run before the Runner's World Half & Festival next weekend. 
I decided to do a slightly different route today--basically run straight out for 5 miles, and then back. I was debating whether to run slowly and try to enjoy my last long run before the race, or to try and hit a certain goal. I decided to aim for sub-10:00 miles. 
As soon as I started running, I felt like I was going at a pretty good pace, but a quarter mile in, I saw my pace was in the high 10's. I picked up some speed, and tried to stay close to 10:00 without going over. I was really cold for the first couple of miles, and wished I'd brought a long-sleeved shirt, but after mile two, I felt much better. The temp was a perfect 41 degrees. 
I was hitting sub-10 on all my splits, and I was thrilled when it was time to turn around and head home. The last two miles were really tough because the sun came out, and I wanted to walk so badly; but I kept going, thinking how good I'd feel for hitting my goal of all sub-10's. Finally made it back to my house!

This afternoon, Noah didn't have cross country practice, so I picked him up from school and we went on a run at the state park. We did the same route that we did a couple of weeks ago. It's 1.56 miles around, and last time, his pace was 12:42/mile. Today, he wanted to try to beat his time, and his pace ended up being 10:46/mile! That's a very drastic improvement, especially considering it's only been a couple of weeks. His next meet is on Saturday, so I hope he has a great race.
Well, I've got to get my house clean, because Sarah and Ne are going to be here soon!

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Busy week ahead

My first full week of being back on Weight Watchers went really well! I haven't felt this kind of determination in about two years. It all started when I was looking through my old pictures and blog posts from early 2013 (when I was running my fastest, and was at my goal weight) which gave me motivation to get started. But I've written several times that motivation is only temporary--it's determination that will get me to my goal. I haven't felt true determination in a long time. It feels good!

Having done intuitive eating for the past couple of months really helped me out this week in getting back to counting points. I ate what I really wanted, and I wasn't afraid to spend extra points here and there for things I used to avoid on Weight Watchers (real butter, for example--I've been loving sourdough toast with real butter for breakfast, and before intuitive eating, I would never have wanted to spend 3 PointsPlus on butter!).

I also didn't hoard my points for a big dessert after my long run because I realized, through intuitive eating, that I really don't enjoy them as much as I thought I did. If I'm really craving a big dessert, I'll have one, but I'm not going to plan for it each week like I used to. I've been having a Weight Watchers peanut butter brownie for dessert every day (2 PointsPlus). I'm not crazy about most of the WW foods, but those peanut butter brownies are AMAZING. I dare say I like them even better than the Mrs. Fields Dream Bars, which are 18 PP each.

I'm still paying attention to whether I'm hungry or not, and I stop eating when I'm satisfied, even if it means leaving some food on the plate. Intuitive eating taught me that it really doesn't take a big meal to satisfy me, so I make sure to pay attention to that while counting points. Just because I count the points for something doesn't mean I have to eat the whole thing.

I'm not planning to weigh myself until November 1st. I can tell I've lost weight, but I'm afraid if the number isn't what I'm imagining, then it'll feel discouraging. In 2012, when I started WW, I didn't weigh myself for a few weeks, and I liked it that way. Anyway, the jeans I just bought last month are too big, and I was able to tighten my belt a notch, so I know it's working.

Next week is going to be tough, but I'm determined enough to I know that I'll get through it. The week is all about my two favorite topics: cats and running. Purina invited me to their Better With Pets summit in NYC on Tuesday! I'm going there on Monday, the event is all day on Tuesday, and I'll come home Tuesday night. I absolutely loved visiting Purina's headquarters last year in St. Louis--spending time with other cat lovers, learning TONS of info about cats, and talking about cats for two days was right up my alley ;)

And then on Thursday, I leave for Pennsylvania for the Runner's World Half & Festival. I've been looking forward to this for months! Thursday and Friday will be spent doing blogger stuff (I'm not sure exactly what that will be yet), and then I'll run the 5K & 10K on Saturday morning. After a couple of seminars on Saturday, I'll head back to the airport and get home Saturday night.

Sunday is the Detroit Free Press Marathon, which my brother is running and I'll be spectating. I've been getting prepared for that for weeks now (I take cheerleading very seriously at races!) and I'm really excited to go do that. After the race, we are going out for pizza and then for drinks, at Nathan's request.

Tomorrow, my friend Sarah and her husband Ne are coming over to visit. And on Friday, my brother's girlfriend, Kendall, is coming over for lunch and to make some signs for the race. So with all of these things coming up, I'm going to have to do some careful planning as far as spreading out my points. I think I may try and do my long run tomorrow (10 miles), because that will give me a lot of extra points to work with.

Today was a rest day, so I mostly spent it just getting things done for when I'm gone next week. I was going to try and do a "What I Ate Wednesday" post, but my food was not at all pretty today. Maybe next Wednesday I'll choose some photogenic foods ;)

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Zero Energy (Maybe time to bump up the Weight Watchers Points)

It was raining on and off all day today, so I had a lazy morning with Estelle on my shins. I used to knit all the time, and haven't done it in a while, so I started a new project (a hat with sock yarn). As I was sitting there knitting, sipping tea, with Estelle on my lap, I realized that I had turned into one big stereotype ;)

Yesterday, Jerry and I had a fun day together while the kids were at school. I had a three-mile run on the schedule (with a five-miler today), but I asked Jerry if he'd want to run with me, and he said yes. So I switched my runs around in order to do the five-miler with Jerry, and just three solo today.

The run with Jerry didn't go very well, unfortunately. After the kids went to school, we chatted over breakfast for a few minutes, and then got ready to head out. When we started running, I felt like I was running about a 9:30 pace, but when I looked at my Garmin, it said 10:45-ish.

I had no energy at all, and it felt so hard to run. I'm pretty sure the lack of energy is from starting Weight Watchers again (eating less calories). I've been eating all of my allotted points per day (plus weekly and activity points), so I think if I still feel like I'm lacking energy next week, I might bump up my daily points target to 30 or 32 instead of 26. It could just be that my body is getting adjusted to it right now, though, so I'll see how the next few runs go.

Aside from not feeling well, the weather was nice and it was good to run with Jerry. I've noticed before that he's a heel-striker when he runs, and I've tried helping him to adjust that so he would land mid-foot, but he just couldn't get his feet to do it. He's had some knee troubles here and there, which I guessed was from the heel strike.

Anyway, as we were running, and I was getting slower and slower, I had a thought--I wondered if he had the same problem I did when I was doing the low heart rate training (MAF training). When I was running so slowly, I started to have pain in my knee, and it went away when I ran a comfortable (faster) pace again. 

I suggested that Jerry try running faster, and I'd watch his feet. It was so simple! As soon as he picked up the pace to about 9:00/mi, he stopped the heel striking, and his stride improved a lot. We were three miles in, so I told him to go ahead of me and run that pace the rest of the way, and I'd meet up with him at home. He felt guilty, but I pushed him to go, so he finally did. I picked up the pace to try and keep him in sight, but there was no way I'd have been able to keep up with him with the way I was feeling.

When I got back to the house, he was waiting on the porch with ice water for me--haha, that's how far ahead he got. He ended up with an 8:40-ish pace for the last two miles, and his knee felt just fine. I'm glad we got that figured out! Now I just have to get faster to keep up with him ;)

After the run, I decided to try and eat at least 40 PointsPlus yesterday, to see if I felt better during my three-miler today. We showered and had just enough time to make it to the first showing of Gone Girl at the movies. Jerry didn't read the book, but I told him about it, and he wanted to see the movie too.

I was surprised at how well the movie followed the book--that was a tough book to make a movie out of! I absolutely hate the ending (and if you've seen in or read it, then you know what I'm talking about). I almost wish I had just left the theater before the movie ended, so I could imagine it ended the way everyone was hoping it would! ;)

I ended up eating 43 PointsPlus yesterday, and when I got up this morning, I did my run first thing. I couldn't sleep, and was up by 5:00, so I figured I'd just get up and run on the treadmill. I set the treadmill at 6.5 mph, and left it there for the whole run. My energy level was much better than it was during yesterday's run, so I think eating a little more yesterday may have helped. 

Tomorrow will start week two of Weight Watchers. I can't believe I've been counting points for a week already!

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Motivational Monday #81

Happy Motivational Monday! I'm so glad that it's October--all week long it has really felt like fall. The leaves are so pretty here in Michigan at this time of year! And the running weather has been ideal (minus some rain).

On Wednesday, I made the decision to go back to doing Weight Watchers instead of the intuitive eating. I've had a really great week, and I definitely feel it was the best decision for now. My trip to Portland in March has made me really want to focus on getting back to goal and in my best running shape!

I think my proudest moment this week was on Friday, when I had to do my long run in two separate segments due to thunderstorms. It would have been really easy to just quit after the first (4-mile) segment, but later that afternoon, I went back out and ran another 5 miles for a total of 9 miles. I enjoy running in the rain, but not when it's pouring so hard that my feet are completely soaked.

There were a couple of big marathons this weekend--the Twin Cities Marathon (my brother was there as a spectator and had a lot of fun cheering on the runners), the Wineglass Marathon, and the Portland Marathon are a few that I know of. October and November are big marathon/half-marathon months. It's always fun to see the PR's :)

Anyway, here are some Motivational Monday stories to kick off the week:

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I "met" Pam several years ago on SparkPeople.com, and she's always been an inspiration to me. She lost 178 pounds, and has kept most of it off for the past 3 years (going up and down a little just as I have). Last year, she was hit with the devastating news that her husband has Stage IV prostate cancer. She slipped a little with her eating habits, and gained 32 pounds back. Since June, however, she's lost 28 of those pounds and is now happily below her goal weight again. But the real reason for her Motivational Monday is that her whole family just completed the Zero Prostate Cancer 5K Run/Walk. Her two sons ran the race, while she and her husband walked. They were the very last participants to finish the course, but Pam said that five years ago, at over 300 pounds, there was no way she could have walked from the parking lot. And there she was, in her 60's, walking a 5K with her husband (who is battling Stage IV prostate cancer that has spread to his hip bones)--that's a pretty proud moment!!

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Kelly just ran her first 5K at the Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi! She was using the Couch to 5K app to train, but her training was derailed when she got sick--so despite being on Week 6 of the 8-week program, she crushed her goals. Her first goal was to run the entire race, and the second was to finish under 45 minutes. Her finish time was just over 36 minutes! Her husband, an Air Force reservist, stayed with her the entire time, cheering her on when she needed it most.

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Lacey is very proud to announce that she is now a half-marathoner! She completed the Wineglass Half Marathon in New York. She started the Couch to 5K program in March, and wasn't even able to run a quarter mile without walking and gasping for air. She learned to slow her pace and keep adding distance little by little, and by May, she ran an 8K. She has now checked the half-marathon off her list, and has even lost 15 pounds in the process! (By the way, she said that she used to read the Motivational Monday posts and think, "I could never do that!"... so don't ever doubt your abilities!)

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Jen (far right) accompanied her friends, Christina, Lindsey, and Rachel, as they ran their first half marathon! They did the Go Girl Run in Kansas City, and had a goal to finish under 3 hours. They finished in 2:53, and are already fired up for their next half, which is in three weeks!

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Stephanie just ran her first 10K! After years of yo-yo dieting, she decided to start Weight Watchers and start to run consistently. She and a friend signed up for the Twin Cities 10K (as well as a half-marathon, which is later this month). It was a little chilly at the start, but she had a great race and really enjoyed it!

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Nathan's first half-marathon

This morning was a whirlwind of activity. We had to get up at 6:00, because Noah had a cross country meet today, and we were supposed to meet there at 7:15. The temperature dropped a LOT overnight, and it was in the 30's early this morning. By the time we left, it was 42 degrees with a windchill of 32. So I had to dig out the coats, hats, and gloves.

Noah was nervous about his race, but I kept reminding him that it doesn't matter what place he comes in, as long as he does his best. His official mile time from the last meet was 10:34, so I told him just to aim to finish under that time, and not worry about how the other kids did. My parents went to the meet as well, so we went to the starting line to watch. Noah looked very ready, and when they sounded the horn to go, he looked like he was pushing it harder than at the last invitational. I was actually a little worried he started out too fast.

We headed over to the finish line to wait, and the kids started coming in at the 6:00 mark. I was guessing Noah would be around 10:00-11:00. We saw him make his way around the last quarter mile or so, and he looked like he was doing really good. I was just hoping he'd come in under 10:34, so he could see that he'd improved over his last mile time. He really picked up the pace when he was in sight of the finish line, and he crossed in 9:34! A full minute faster than his time on Tuesday.

I was super proud of him for giving it his all, and he was very proud of himself as well.

As soon as he was done, we booked it to the car. My younger brother, Nathan, was running his first half-marathon today, and his race was about 45 minutes away from where Noah's invitational was. Today was Nathan's scheduled 20-miler for his marathon training, so he ran 7 miles before the race, and timed it so that he'd have just enough time to hit the porta-potty and then run the half-marathon. He didn't know we were going to go to the finish line, and we thought it would be a nice surprise.

We got within 15 minutes of the race when the traffic on the expressway stopped moving. All three lanes were merging into one due to construction, and traffic was barely creeping along. We'd had a little cushion as far as how much time we had to get to the finish line, but as the minutes ticked by, I was worried we wouldn't make it at all. Finally, my dad took an exit that was way too soon, but we didn't really have a choice. One of the main roads was barricaded due to the race, so we tried to get as close as we could. There was pretty much no hope of getting there on time.

As we pulled over to turn around, I noticed that there were some runners going by at the bottom of the hill we were on. I asked the guy who was directing traffic if he knew what mile that was, and he said he didn't have a clue. My dad pulled over onto a side street, and I decided to run down to ask the volunteers what mile it was before having the whole family go. I ran down the hill as fast as I could, and the volunteer told me it was mile 12.75-ish. I was tracking Nathan with my phone via his Garmin, and he was at about mile 12, running an 8:55-ish pace.

So I ran UP the hill to tell my parents to come down there, and then ran back down to wait. I realized I forgot the cowbells in the car, so I ran as fast as I could UP the hill again, grabbed my bag from the car, and then ran back down the hill. I was chatting with the volunteer, who was a runner herself, when Noah said, "Mama" pretty calmly, and pointed ahead. I looked, and at first didn't notice, but Nathan was right there. He usually wears really bright shirts, so that's what I'd been looking for. We started cheering for him and ringing the cowbells. He was surprised to see us, and I told him we'd see him at the finish line.

I wish I could've seen him finish, but it was just ahead of where we were standing, so we all walked to the finish area and found him. He did AWESOME on his run--he ran the whole 20 miles at an 8:53/mile pace! His time for his first half-marathon was 1:55, and it was part of a training run. It took me 3 years to get a sub-2:00! ;)

Even though we only saw him for a few minutes, I was so glad that we made the drive up there. Running 20 miles, including your first half-marathon, is a big deal. Now he starts tapering, and two weeks from tomorrow, he'll run his first marathon!

Today was a rest day, but I got in almost 8,000 steps by 10:30 this morning, just from all the running around for the races. It's kind of strange though, I feel like I worked out this morning from running up and down that hill so many times. I've had that "runner's lungs" feeling all day today, and my face feels flushed like it does when I have a hard workout. So weird! I guess I just need more hill training, haha.

I keep thinking that today is Sunday (it really feels like a Sunday!), but I get so happy every time I realize that it's actually Saturday. This weather has me wanting to put on some warm pajamas, curl up on the couch with some tea, and watch a movie or read a good book (with Estelle hogging my lap, of course). As I type this, she's sitting in her very favorite spot:

I don't know why she likes my shins rather than my thighs, but I can't sit down for more than 30 seconds before she makes herself at home on my legs.

Now, I'm going to go make some hot soup for dinner!

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