Motivational Monday #101

Happy Motivational Monday, Friends! I'm so happy that it is March and that spring is right around the corner. I thought last winter was rough, but we had more record-cold days this winter. Today the temp got up to 40, and the snow started melting--I will be so happy when the snow and ice are gone!

I've been back to running for two weeks now, and my ankle is doing great. I still worry about it constantly, because I don't want to injure it again, but it hasn't caused me any problems at all. Anyway, I'm glad to be earning some serious activity points again :)

Sadly, I can't really think of anything that I'm proud of this week... my eating was so-so, I did manage to get in all my training runs, but I chickened out of the yoga class I was signed up for. This week probably won't be much better, because I'll be in Portland ;) I'll try and make some healthy choices, though!

Here are a few MM stories for you... enjoy!

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Jessica is very proud that she reached the Australian version of "Onederland"! This week, she reached 99.6 kg (220 lbs), after losing 33 kg (73 lbs) over the last two years. She is working on reaching her goal of 75 kg (165 lbs) before her wedding in April of 2016.

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Sarah, and her husband Brad, just completed their first half-marathon together... in Paris! She is proud to have finished, and her husband was cheering by her side the entire way.

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After three weeks of fighting bronchitis, Katie went ahead and did a 5K that she had signed up for with her cousin. She had to walk most of the last kilometer, but she finished "upright and smiling" in under an hour! She is training for her first half marathon, which is less than two months away, and was worried about the bronchitis throwing off her training plan. Being able to run most of the race Saturday helped her feel like she's ready to tackle her half-marathon training.

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Tina's weight had been a roller coaster ride for her entire life--going up and down. In her 20's, she even lost 115 pounds! However, she regained it all, and five years ago, she decided to take it off once again. Over the next two years, she lost more than 90 pounds! But the best part, and what she is most proud of now, is that she just reached the three-year anniversary of keeping off 110 pounds. She says,

"Of all my milestones, this three-year maintenance anniversary is probably my most significant, because it not only means that I've kept the weight off for a good deal of time, but it also means that I've developed the skills and mental toughness to keep on putting in the work I need to keep up my lifestyle no matter what life throws my way--and that I can finally do it all in a way that is healthy, balanced and sustainable."

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A huge congrats to everyone on your accomplishments! Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more stories (and to share your own).

I will not be doing a Motivational Monday next week, because I'll be in Portland, but if you have a submission, please send it anyway; I'll post it in the next MM that I do.

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In An Instant

When I woke up this morning (after sleeping all through the night!) I was shocked to see that it was a few minutes after 7:00. I never sleep that late! I even sent Jerry a text at work to say, "Look how late I slept in!" and then I remembered the time change. So it was really 6:00, not 7:00 ;) But either way, I got a solid seven hours of sleep last night. So I hope this insomnia is done for a while.

I had a few hours to myself this morning, while the kids were at church with my parents and Jerry was at work. I'd recorded a show last night called "In An Instant", so Joey and I curled up on the couch this morning to watch it. My mom told me she thought I'd like the show, because we used to love watching Rescue 911 back in the day (remember that show?), and it looked similar.

These pajamas are hideous, but I had to share this pic of
Joey on my lap!

This episode (the debut) was a reenactment and interviews with survivors of the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. My older brother lives in St. Paul, and I remember very well the day that bridge collapsed (thankfully, he was nowhere near it at the time). Seeing the interviews and reenactment really put into perspective just how scary that situation would have been to experience firsthand!

It was super nice outside today (39 degrees) so I figured I'd practice Joey's loose leash walking. I took the 30-ft lead (using only half of it) and went for a walk. He's gotten REALLY good at walking with a loose leash when we use the long lead like that; with his 6-ft leash, it's more difficult. When we got home, I took him out in the backyard and let him use all 30-ft of the lead to play in the snow while I shoveled off the back deck.

He played for a few minutes, but he likes being right by my side, so he was basically at my heels while I was trying to shovel, which didn't work out very well. I think he'd probably do really well off-leash, and I'd like to find a place to practice when there isn't snow and ice all over the ground.

We had a bit of a scare at my parents' house on Friday... I brought Joey over there to play fetch, and when we got there, I put him in the side yard while I went inside to chat with my mom for a few minutes before going out to play with Joey. After about five minutes, I went outside, and Joey was gone--nowhere in the yard. I saw that the back gate was open.

Just that morning, when I was walking Joey, the tag on his collar got caught on the leash, and tore it off, so his collar didn't have an ID on it. He has a microchip, but I still had that moment of panic when I saw he was gone. Joey is usually really good at coming when I call him, though, so I called out for him a couple of times, and within about 20 seconds, he was jumping at the front gate, trying to get back IN the yard. Haha!

With his long lead today (30 ft), every time he'd start running, I'd whistle just a second before he'd hit the end of the leash, so that he'd learn to turn around when he heard me whistle (something we learned from Oliver's owner). After a few whistles, it was like he'd learned how far he could run without hitting the end of the leash. I was impressed!

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Anyway, I'm getting super excited for Portland! I don't usually start packing for trips until literally the morning I leave, but I did start getting together my St. Patty's Day stuff:

I found this shirt at Goodwill--perfect!

The weather is looking awesome for the weekend (high 60's!) and I can't wait! Are any of you doing the Shamrock Run?

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! Please don't be intimidated by last week's post--that was a special one for the 100th MM. When I started MM, it was to showcase the SMALL accomplishments that we achieve on a weekly basis--hitting your step goal or calorie goal every day, running a new distance, quitting smoking, etc. The big accomplishments (like losing 100 pounds or running a marathon) are awesome, and should certainly be celebrated--but it's the little accomplishments that get us there!

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Indy Virtual Training Series: The 6-Miler

I had a terrible night's sleep on Thursday night, and I was really glad that I didn't have to do my long run yesterday. My anxiety has been pretty bad lately, and on Thursday night, my mind just wouldn't shut off so I could sleep. I ended up taking pictures of the alarm clock to show Jerry just how bad it was--usually, he thinks I'm exaggerating when I tell him I've been up literally all night long.

A Xanax usually does the trick for my nighttime anxiety, but I don't like to take it very often (it makes me feel lethargic in the morning).

Anyway, I had a pretty lazy day yesterday, because I was so tired all day. We had Joey's obedience class at 7:00, and Jerry met us there after work. It's kind of funny--I usually tell Jerry how exhausted I am after that class, because it's a lot of physical and mental work to do the obedience exercises with all those dogs in there making Joey excited; but yesterday, with Jerry there, Joey was this perfect angel-dog. He didn't bark or lunge even once, and he was SO obedient. He made me look like the biggest liar ever.

Licking his chops after he got a treat ;)

Thankfully, Jerry was the one who was put on the spot to do the exercises with Joey, and he made all the same rookie mistakes I did at first ;) I'm a little bummed that I won't be there for the class next week, because I've been learning so much... but I'll be having fun in Portland!

Last night, I slept much better--straight through from 11:30 to 4:00. I had a 6-mile run on the schedule today; and not just any 6 miler, but the Indy Virtual Training Series 6-Miler. There are three runs in the training series--a 3-miler, 6-miler, and 10-miler--an I had to walk the 3-miler last month because of the stress fracture. I was really hoping that I'd be able to run the 6-miler, which was scheduled for today.

I hadn't run six miles since December, so I just hoped that my ankle would do okay. Even though I'm sure the stress fracture is healed, I'm constantly worried it's going to happen again, or that one wrong step will snap it in half (well, that's a mild exaggeration). Eli had a basketball tournament at 8:45 this morning, so I was debating whether to do the run before or after basketball. Since I was up early, I decided to just get it over with early.

I got on the treadmill (which I haven't run much on lately--most of my runs have been on the indoor track), and set it to 6.0 mph. I wasn't sure how that pace was going to feel, because last week's long run outside was a 10:50 pace, but I hoped that I could manage it. I started the series Criminal Minds on Netflix, and I'm only a few episodes in, so I watched that while I ran. It's a good show! Sometimes it's a little slow, but when the action picks up, it's exciting.

The first three miles just CRAWLED by. I was even thinking, "Do I really even want to run the Indy Mini? I could just walk it..." (of course I want to run it). It's kind of interesting, but I've found that the hardest part about getting back to running after taking two months off is the mental part. Physically, I feel just fine; but mentally, it's really hard to get excited about running for an hour (or even half an hour).

After I got past the halfway mark, and the show started getting more exciting, the time went by faster. I even bumped up the speed for the last quarter mile, and my ankle felt great. So I managed a sub-10:00 pace for 6 miles; which, considering I took two months off to heal a stress fracture, I'm very happy with!

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Thanks for all the suggestions and helpful words regarding the yoga class that didn't happen. I was really worried about even posting about it, because I realize it makes me sound ridiculous to get so worked up over something that is very simple to most people; but it was really nice to see that I'm not the only one that gets nervous over things like that.

I don't want to give up on the idea of yoga completely, because I know how many people swear by it. The irony is kind of funny: yoga is supposed to be great for de-stressing, and just the thought of it causes me so much anxiety that I can't even sleep at night, haha. I'm sure that if I just do it once, I'll realize it's no big deal and I was worried about nothing! So maybe I'll go on Thursday, even though I missed the first class.

Six days until Portland! :)  (By the way, I'm meeting up with a reader on Saturday morning at Starbucks; if anyone else in the area wants to join us, just send me an email and I'll give you the details. Otherwise, maybe I'll see you at the race!)

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More numbers

I was feeling a little nervous about my circuit training class this morning at the rec, but I was actually looking forward to starting it as well. I was also scheduled for a 3.5 mile run today, so I decided to go to the rec early and run on the track before the class started at 8:30. Jerry was home this morning, so he was able to get Eli on the bus, allowing me to leave early.

There was only one other person on the track this morning--it was quiet! I forgot to bring headphones, so I couldn't listen to a podcast, unfortunately. I planned to just run a nice, easy pace to save my energy for the class.

Even though I'd planned to run easy, I was still surprised that my Garmin was showing a pace of 11:10 per mile. I felt more like I was running about 10:00-10:15/mile. I had that same feeling last week whenever I ran at the rec center, and I assumed it was just because I hadn't run in 7 weeks. Not running for so long would naturally make a slow pace feel much harder.

The indoor track has 12 laps per mile, so I started counting laps to see how accurate the Garmin was. I was getting more like 13.25 laps per mile on the Garmin! That's a huge difference. I ran 12 laps in just under 10:00. I remembered that my Garmin foot pod is calibrated to my treadmill, which is a different calibration factor than the one I got on the outdoor track. I only calibrated it to the treadmill because I like the Garmin to read the same as what the treadmill reads.

Anyway, I didn't have time to sit and plug numbers into the calibration formula to figure out what the calibration factor should be, so I just stopped my run after two miles, and then set the calibration setting to the factory setting of 100.0% (it had been on 92-something%). I started running the track with the new calibration setting, and it was much closer to the 12 laps/mile rule.

When I reached lap 12, it read 0.95. After 18 laps (what should have been 1.5 miles, according to the rules of the track), it read 1.43 miles. I'm not sure which lane on the track measures 12 laps per mile, but the "runner's lane" is the innermost lane, so that's what I ran.

I'm sure a tenth of a mile here and there isn't going to make much difference in the grand scheme of my training, but because I'm such a numbers person, I wish I knew for sure! I asked for the specs of the track, but the woman at the front desk had no idea what I was talking about.

Anyway, I ran about 3.5 miles, and was done with about 5 minutes to spare before the circuit training class. I took a quick bathroom break, then went to the front desk to ask where the class meets. The woman working there said that it was changed to Friday, and the instructor said she'd gotten a hold of everyone in the class to let them know. This was news to me! I hadn't gotten any calls or messages about the class being changed.

I was bummed. I had psyched myself up for the class, and was actually looking forward to it. The woman told me that this was the first time this particular instructor had rescheduled a class, but I was a little put off by the fact that I hadn't been notified. So, I decided to withdraw from the circuit training and switch over to the yoga class instead. It meets on Thursday evenings, which isn't ideal, but I can make it work. The first class is tonight!

When I left the rec, I started thinking that maybe it was meant for me to try yoga instead of doing the circuit training. The circuit training seems "comfortable" to me, probably because I worked at Curves for two years (which is circuit training). Yoga is extremely out of my comfort zone, and something I wouldn't ordinarily choose to do, so maybe it'll be good for me to try.

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I wrote this whole post (up to this point) in the afternoon, before the class. A couple of hours before I was supposed to leave, I started searching Google for "what to expect at your first yoga class" and things like that, and it scared me to death.

Long story short, I chickened out and didn't go :(  It only took me about three years to work up the nerve to finally sign up for a class, and I let my nerves get the better of me. I know it sounds silly to get worked up over something like this, but I have really bad anxiety over certain things, and this is one of them. Maybe I should have convinced a friend to sign up with me--that probably would have helped!

So now I need a new plan for cross training, and I've been thinking about signing up for the Tour de Troit ride--a 30-mile bicycle ride through Detroit. It's in September, so it's something that I could work toward with an end goal (completing the ride). It's not a race, and not at all competitive, but I know I'll have to get in at least a few long rides during the summer to be able to do it. I've heard really great things about the Tour de Troit (and I love how clever the name is!), so if I have that on the calendar, I'll be motivated to ride my bike as soon as spring arrives! :)

The Tour de Troit (Photo source)

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Bambi

We had some weird weather yesterday! It snowed over the weekend, and then yesterday, it was hailing all day (or maybe freezing rain... I'm not sure of the difference). There were teeny tiny little balls of ice falling all day, which formed a layer of ice over the snow.

The temp was right around 30 degrees, so instead of the snow freezing solid, there was a layer of ice and then a layer of very soft snow. I'd never seen anything like it! I wish I'd taken pictures, because it's very hard to describe. The kids and I walked to the corner store last night (bringing Joey along) and we were all completely weirded out by the ice/snow.

Joey loved it, and I could tell he was a little freaked out by it, too. When he first started walking on it, he was watching his feet like he was in awe, and maybe a little confused. Then once he got over the initial weirdness, he started leaping around, crashing through the layer of ice and sinking up to his ribs in the soft snow, having a good old time.

Unfortunately, the roads were terrible yesterday, so I couldn't drive anywhere. The kids didn't have school, due to a teacher in-service day, but I'm sure it would have been canceled regardless. It was really important that I go to the animal control shelter to take care of some paperwork, though. When we adopted Joey, we signed a contract saying that we'd have him neutered within 30 days. We did get him neutered a few weeks ago, but I still had to turn in the paper that was signed by the vet. The shelter is pretty far from our house, and we have no reason to go in that direction, so I was putting off turning it in.

On Monday, I finally made the drive out there... only to find out they were closed on Mondays! Yesterday, the roads were too bad to drive, so that left me with today. Today was the last day to turn in the paper. It was a rest day for me, so after I got the kids off to school and ate breakfast, I headed out to the animal shelter. I turned in the paper, and got Joey licensed while I was there (also required within 30 days). The woman asked how Joey was doing, and I told her that he's fantastic! I never expected to enjoy having a dog as much as I do Joey.

He thinks he's the size of a cat

There was a dog that had just been dropped off there, and he was wandering around behind the counter with the animal control officers. He was a cute dog (a boxer), but what really stood out to me was that the officers all really seemed to like him (as opposed to just tolerate him). I guess I always thought they just thought of animals as part of their job, and didn't really interact much with them emotionally, but that wasn't the case at all. They were giving him toys, and playing with him. That would be a hard job, I think--to see all those animals get dropped off, and then wait for homes. There's a bulletin board on the wall that shows a picture of the "longest resident"--the dog that has been there the longest. How sad! I could hear all the dogs barking in the back, and it made me feel bad.

Anyway, I was so glad to have that stuff taken care of. Now everything with Joey is done--all the paperwork, all the vaccines, flea and heart worm prevention, his neuter surgery, microchip, and license. I never really realized just how much there is to do when adopting a dog!

When I got home, we went on a walk--a pretty slow one, because the ice was REALLY slippery. Remember that scene in Bambi, when Bambi walks out on the ice, and all of his legs spread out as he slides down onto his belly? Yeah, that was Joey today ;)

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Tomorrow is the first day of my circuit training class! I'm a little nervous, but mostly I'm excited. I haven't done any cross training since I started running again over a week ago, even though I swore I would; so I think signing up for the class is perfect, because it will force me to cross train. I'm happy that I chose the circuit training class, because it's cardio and strength training.

Strength training is another thing I know I should be doing, but I just don't make the effort. So I'll be cross training and strength training at least once a week for the next eight weeks--that's a start! ;) I'm going to try to get in a deep water run each weekend, too. The kids will hold me accountable to that, because they love going to the rec to swim!

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10 more days!

I'm so glad that you've all enjoyed the 100th Motivational Monday post! I think I'll do that once a year, because it was fun to work on and definitely very inspiring. Even though I've lost over 100 pounds myself, I am still in awe of people who do it--and seeing the before and after pictures always gives me a boost of motivation :)

The weekend ended up not being quite as fun as I'd hoped. On Friday night, we went to Joey's obedience class. I felt much more comfortable during his second class than the first, and I really feel like I'm learning a lot from the trainer. I think he can tell I'm genuinely interested in learning how to train Joey, and that I'm more than willing to put in the work necessary to do it. When he asked about practicing walking the dogs on a loose leash, everyone else said that it was too cold, so they haven't been walking. I've walked Joey every single day since we got him, and February was a record-breaking cold month! I can definitely tell when he needs exercise--getting really antsy and pacing around the house--so I try to stay on top of it.

I was still having a hard time getting Joey to walk on a loose leash, and I was practicing all week, so when I showed the trainer what I was doing, he explained what I was doing wrong. Instead of correcting him (by pulling the leash back) *before* he pulls the leash tight, I was waiting until the leash was already pulled tight. He said that once the leash is pulled taut, then it's too late. He also suggested getting a leash that was about 10-15 feet long for Joey, because Joey is so fast at getting to the end of his leash.

When we did the meet and greet during class (each owner walks his/her dog around the room and feeds treats to the other dogs), Joey (and I!) did much better than the first week. I'm learning when to use a "sit" correction versus the pulling correction, and it finally clicked during Friday's class.

This weekend, I tried using the long leash (I bought a 30-ft. leash, but only used half of it; I'd like to use the full thing to practice off leash training in the summer). The leash itself made a huge difference in Joey's pulling! I put it on his collar (not the no-pull harness, because I'm trying to train him to walk on a loose leash all the time, not just with the harness) and we walked a few miles. I did what the trainer taught me, and it worked great! He walked with a loose leash the entire time. The hardest part is just that I have to be paying constant attention, so I can correct him before he pulls. I just hope it'll get more natural as we practice more often.

Saturday, at around 4:00 in the morning, Eli came into my room and said he felt like he was going to throw up. I took him to the bathroom, where he puked for about five minutes. I hoped that would be it, but he ended up having to throw up four more times in the next couple of hours. I had gone to bed at midnight, so I didn't get much sleep at all.

The last thing I wanted to do on Saturday was a long run, because I was so tired and Eli was sick, but Jerry was home, so I made myself go run. The roads were still about 50% covered with snow and ice, but I decided to just take it nice and easy and run outside, because the temp was great.

I still don't feel like my lungs/cardio system is back to where it was pre-stress-fracture, but I was pretty happy with this pace. And I was THRILLED to be able to run without any ankle problems! :)

I spent the rest of the day comforting Eli, because his stomach was really bothering him, and by Sunday, he was feeling much better. My parents got home late Saturday from South Carolina after spending an entire month on Hilton Head island! We went over to their house for dinner Sunday, and I brought Joey along so that my parents could meet him. I was happy that he was really well-behaved for them!

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I leave for Portland in 10 DAYS. I'm so excited! I ended up selling my bib for the Shamrock 15K, because I really didn't think it would be smart to push my ankle so hard right after the stress fracture. I could have dropped to the 5K or 8K, but I think spectating will be super fun, and if I can't do the 15K, I'd rather spectate. Now that I've been running without any issues, though, I kind of regret selling the bib--but it was probably for the best.

Thomas helped me come up with a plan of where to stand during the race. I'm going to leave Thomas at the starting line, then walk to the corner of SW Taylor and SW Broadway (which is at about mile 2.75 of the 15K). I plan to be there at around 7:40, and then at around 8:15, I'll head over to the finish line area to be there when Thomas finishes, and we'll hang out after the race until about 9:30 or so. Sooo... if any of you Portlanders are interested, you're welcome to spectate with me! Or if you're running the race, you can look for me near SW Taylor and SW Broadway. (If you do want to spectate with me, send me an email, and we can make a plan to meet up).

I realized that my flight is on Friday the 13th. I'm normally not superstitious, but considering I'm such a scaredy-pants flyer, I wish I'd chosen a different date! ;)

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A weekend break

I am SO looking forward to this weekend! I don't have any big plans, but Jerry is off work and I feel like I haven't seen him in forever. He's been working a crazy schedule for a couple of weeks, and we haven't spent more than an hour together at time!

Last night, the boys had their last day of basketball. I dropped them off, and then to kill a couple of hours, I went to Goodwill to hopefully get a couple of pairs of jeans. I bought a few pairs in August, but they are a little too big. They're size 10, because I really didn't think I'd be able to wear an 8, but I have to wear a belt and cinch it tight to keep them from inching down.

I tried on probably about 25 pairs of jeans, everything from 6's to 10's, and wound up buying five pairs of size 8's that fit pretty well (slightly snug, but I prefer that to being too loose). I resisted buying jeans for so long, because I have a closet full of perfectly good size 4's, but I cannot wear those now. It's been probably nine months since I could wear them! I still have hope of getting back into them, though--preferably before summer. But anyway, it felt good to get some jeans that I desperately needed.

I decided to do my long run tomorrow instead of today so that I could free up most of the day today to work on the Motivational Monday post. Monday will be the 100th MM post, and I'm super excited about it--in honor of #100, I decided to share photos/tips/advice from several people who have each lost 100+ pounds. It has been a HUGE project, and I've spent about eight hours working on that one post, but it's almost done now. I wanted to get it done today so that I could take the entire weekend off of blogging/the internet/social media/etc, and just spend time with Jerry and the kids.

After getting the kids off to school this morning, I worked on the post for about five hours, and then I had to take Joey to the vet to get his final vaccination for at least a year. While I was there, my younger brother, Nathan, called me to see if Joey wanted to play with his dog, Bailey. When I got home, I had just enough time to clean out the car before heading over to my parents' house with Joey.

The dogs played while Nathan and I chatted. I took a couple of good pictures of Joey when I was playing fetch with him yesterday:

He finds any stick, no matter how small, and plays
with it until it's broken into tiny little pieces.

Joey and Bailey played for a while, and then it was already time for the kids to get home from school. The day went by SO fast, mainly from working on the MM post.

Tonight, we have Joey's second obedience training class. I just wish it wasn't such a far drive! The drive is two hours round-trip, and the class was over two hours last week, so it's a minimum four hour commitment. That's a long time. I just hope that Joey is good and worn out from playing with Bailey today, and that he does well in class.

Joey has done SO great with practicing the sit and stay all week; but I have a feeling that as soon as we get to class and he's with the other dogs, he's going to throw out everything he's practiced ;)

Well, I won't be posting at all this weekend, but definitely check back on Monday for the Motivational Monday post!

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Getting my (running) groove back

I started writing this yesterday, but got rather distracted in the evening, and I completely forgot to finish the post! Not that I have a whole lot going on right now anyway ;)

I woke up yesterday morning feeling super sore (in a good way). My legs felt like I was a true beginner runner! I thought that the deep water running would prevent me from feeling sore when I started running on ground again, but that was definitely not the case. It actually felt really good to feel sore, though!

Nathan said he was running late for work, and wouldn't be able to drop Bailey off at my mom's house, so I was a little bummed that Joey wouldn't have a playmate for the day. Hopefully we'll get them together this weekend. It was pretty warm outside (10 degrees! Woo hoo!) so I decided to take Joey to the State Park for a walk.

After I got the kids off to school, I ate breakfast and then we headed out right away. When we got to the park, there wasn't ANYONE in sight. I was kind of surprised, considering it was much warmer than it has been lately. Next to where I parked, there was a garbage can that was overflowing with empty beer cans. We have a 10 cent deposit in Michigan, so after glancing around to make sure there really was nobody watching me, I put all the cans in the back of my car--I counted 40 of them, so $4.00 isn't bad ;)

We started walking the 5K trail, which was totally covered over in snow. It was the good kind of walking snow, if that makes any sense--really crunchy and not slippery. It was super quiet and really pretty through the park today.

We didn't see a single soul during the entire 5K loop. It was a pretty peaceful walk, and I love the noise of the crunchy snow.

When we went past this gazebo that has some binoculars, Joey looked scared to death. He started growling and backing away. I laughed when I saw what he was looking at:

Once I showed him that it wasn't alive, he relaxed. It does kind of look like an animal, though!

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I really wanted to run yesterday, but it was a "rest day", so I didn't. Now that I'm able to run, I want to all the time! It's a strange feeling. Today, I was scheduled for 3.5 miles. I briefly thought of using the treadmill, but I wanted to sign up for an exercise class at the rec, so I decided to run the track there instead. If you sign up for a class before the 27th, you get $5 off. I still wasn't SURE what class I wanted to do--I was debating between yoga and water aerobics.

I went up to the track and saw that there was a class of some sort going on in the corner--a bunch of women with yoga mats and hand weights. I know one of the women in the class (she teaches at the library, and I used to take my kids there when they were in preschool). I asked her what class it was that she was doing, and she said it was circuit training. I had thought about maybe doing the circuit training class, but I wasn't sure how my ankle would do with "high intensity" aerobics. But my ankle seems to be completely healed, so I thought about it while I was running.

Going around the track is very monotonous. Today, I actually took a time lapse video--this is one time around the track:

I was actually walking during a cool down during the video, so the guy that laps me wasn't going quite as fast as it seems ;)

While I was running, I was paying attention to the exercises that the women in the circuit training class were doing, and the more I watched, the more I liked the idea of trying that class. I know I need the strength training, and it looked more appealing than yoga. And I wouldn't have to get in the pool... I was sold!

On my last lap, a few of the women were walking side by side, so the "runner's lane" was occupied. As I got up closer, I called out, "On your right!" (something that is considered good track etiquette). I had earbuds in, and I think I said it louder than I intended, because the woman on the right jumped about a foot in the air. Oops!

I ran 3.5 miles, and I was really surprised at how much my pace has improved in just a few runs. My first run post-stress fracture was an 11:08 pace. Today's:

A 9:46 average pace, and negative splits to boot! I'm very happy with that. It felt much easier than that first run, too. I was a little worried when I ran on Monday and it felt like I was a beginner again; but it's coming back to me quickly, and without too much effort on my part.

On the way out of the building, I stopped and registered for the circuit training class on Thursday mornings (starting next week). I'm looking forward to it, especially now that I got a glimpse as to what it is.

I headed down to the locker room, and the woman that I had scared on the track with my loud, "On your right!" was in there. I apologized for being so loud, and she laughed and said something about her dog scaring ME one time. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she said that I run past her house sometimes (she lives on the same street as my parents), and one time, her yellow lab was out and charged at me (as you may know, I'm scared to death of loose dogs when I run). She'd pulled her dog back from me, and apologized.

I vaguely remember something about it, but I come across so many loose dogs when running that it's hard to remember. I just hope I handled it well--a couple of times, I've actually cried when dogs have charged me, even if they're friendly! Haha, at least now I know that if I see a yellow lab on that street, it's probably hers. She said she is scared of dogs, too, so she completely understands. Anyway, she seems super nice, so I look forward to getting to chat with her more in the circuit class.

Anyway, when I glanced in the mirror in the locker room, I couldn't believe how red my face was!

I very rarely get red-faced like that after a run. It felt really good, though. Even though it was "only" three and a half miles, and I wasn't pushing myself to extremes, I felt like I'd gotten a good workout. It was nice!

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First post-stress-fracture run

A few days ago, after I'd attempted to run on the treadmill, I started researching how to know you're ready to get back to running after a stress fracture. When I'd attempted the treadmill run, I didn't have any pain, but it felt "weird"--that's the only way I can describe it. A little twinge, basically. I assumed it meant that I wasn't fully healed, but after some more reading, I realized that it's quite normal.

I came across this article on Runners Connect, which described what I was feeling perfectly:

The article also went on to describe "phantom pains", which was very helpful. The little twinges I feel are very sporadic and they don't get worse over time, which is indicative that they're "phantom pains" or just the calcium buildup.

After reading that article, I was pretty confident that I'd be able to run. I went to the rec center to run on the indoor track, because the last thing I want to do is slip on the ice and break my ankle (ha ha) outside. I could use the treadmill, but I wanted to be able to run at whatever pace felt most comfortable, and it's hard to do that on a treadmill (I tend to push myself harder on the treadmill, because all it takes is a push of the button).

My hope was to be able to run a mile, but I didn't want to push myself into that if it felt too hard, so I was just going to see what happened. I turned on a podcast to listen to, and I started running around the track. I felt a few of the odd twinges, but nothing painful. I was a little surprised at how difficult it was cardiovascularly. My lungs were burning, and I wasn't even running fast. My pace was 11:00+ per mile, which is about 1:30 slower than it was two months ago, but I didn't let that bother me.

When I finished the first mile in 11:11, I kept going. My legs felt great, and I thought, "Wow, I wonder if I can do two miles?" And after the second mile, I figured I might as well go for three. Jerry is on week three of half-marathon training, and I thought if I really am okay to run again, maybe I can pick up on week three along with him.

I ended up finishing three miles in 33:42, an 11:09/mi pace. My heart rate was pretty high throughout the entire run, and like I said, my lungs were burning! It was a tough run in that aspect, but my legs felt really good. I burned a crazy 125 calories per mile, because my heart rate was up fairly high. Even though I was doing deep water running for the past six weeks or so, I don't know that it kept my cardio fitness level what it was when I was running on ground. I felt really good for finishing three full miles, though--when I'd hoped to do one!

I was worried I'd wake up this morning and my ankle would be all swollen and painful (meaning I shouldn't have run), but my ankle hasn't given me one bit of trouble. I decided to try and follow the same schedule that Jerry is following for the Indy half-marathon (Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan). That won't get me any PR's, but I'm hoping that it'll help me to at least be able to run the whole race. There are four runs per week, and I'm going to do 1-2 days of cross training. Today, I ran two miles (at a 10:45 pace) and felt fantastic. It feels so good to be back at it!

To hopefully prevent another stress fracture, in addition to the cross-training, I'm going to make sure to rotate my shoes (between my Altra Paradigm, Altra Torin, and Brooks Adrenaline); when the weather clears up, I'd like to start running on trails or grass once a week to vary the terrain; I'm also going to try to shorten my stride a little and increase my cadence to as close to 180 as I can. Most importantly, I'm only going to concentrate on ONE race at a time... doing races "just because" messes up my training schedule, which causes me to overtrain (and I believe that's why I wound up with the stress fracture). My top priority is to stay injury-free so that I can train for the Detroit Marathon.

I'm hoping that now that I'm back to running, I'll be extra motivated to get back to my goal weight. Over the past 7 weeks of not running, I am happy to say that I haven't gained any weight--but I haven't lost any either. I've been tracking my food, but only sporadically, so I'll lose a few pounds then gain a few, and it ends up being a wash. Jerry is over his goal by about 15 pounds, too, and he really wants to get back to his "happy weight". So maybe now that both of us are training for Indy, we can help to push each other to track our food very consistently and make better choices. I know we'd both like to go to Indy feeling our best!

Now, if this snow and ice would melt, and we could have some nice spring weather, I'd be bouncing off the walls with motivation ;)

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Motivational Monday #99

Happy Motivational Monday! This has been one heck of a week for me. My kids were home on winter break, my parents were in South Carolina and I was taking care of their house, I was still getting adjusted to having a dog, and Jerry was working what felt like non-stop. My parents' water pipes froze (twice), which was stressful--I was going over there several times a day to check on them, for fear of them bursting and getting water everywhere.

Our house has had a couple of issues, too--our clothes dryer stopped working (Jerry fixed it this morning). And today, I woke up to a house that was 52 degrees! The furnace gave out sometime during the night, and it was absolutely freezing in here (the temps were in the double digits BELOW ZERO outside). That's the third time it's happened over the past couple of weeks, so I'm really hoping that we don't need a new furnace.

ANYWAY... I have good news! Today, I successfully ran three miles on the indoor track at the rec center. It had been over 11 weeks since I injured my fibula, and over 7 weeks since my last run. I'll write more about it tomorrow, but I am super excited to be back at it :)

I have a few fun Motivational Monday stories for you this week. Enjoy!

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Rachel just finished her first 15K! She ran the Hot Chocolate 15K in Nashville last weekend. She had some hiccups in her training, due to the flu and a sore foot, but she finished well under her goal of two hours--crossing the finish line in 1:51:55! She was proud to have finished in the top 50% of her age group.

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Meghan has been hard at work to lose over a hundred pounds, using Weight Watchers and running as tools to help with the weight loss. She had a huge non-scale victory yesterday that she is very proud of. She and her husband took their kids, ages 3 and 5, to the park because it was a nice day outside. At the park, she was able to keep up with her children, husband, and dog! They had races, and chased each other by playing tag. She didn't even have to stop for a moment, and her children were thrilled to be able to play with their mom so actively (something they were not used to). This picture below is from the hardest workout she's done to date--yesterday, she ran 5 miles at an 11:00 pace!

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"Princess Katie" and her mom, "Princess Claire", completed the Disney Princess Half Marathon this weekend! It was their first time doing this particular race, but their fifth half-marathon together in the last three years. Because they live in different states, they use the races as a way to train "together" and they look forward to spending time together at the race. They had a great time going through the Magic Kingdom, looking at the signs, t-shirts, and costumes!

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Cheri just completed the Disney 5K with her husband, after overcoming a very tough year of training! She registered for the race last year, and was working with the AACR to raise money for cancer research. Her intention was to follow the Couch to 5K plan and to run the race, but she had to deal with the illness and subsequent death of her beloved dog, which derailed her training plans. Even though she knew she wouldn't be able to run the race as planned, she and her husband decided to walk it together--and they had a blast! They had so much fun that they already booked their hotel room for next year, and plan to do the 10K race.

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Congrats everyone, and thanks for sharing!

Next week, I have a special post planned for the 100th Motivational Monday--some awesome tips and advice from people who have all lost 100+ pounds!

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