Weight Watchers homework

Jerry was off work today, so he decided to go to my Weight Watchers meeting with me. He's over his goal weight also, so he was dreading weighing in. Lucky for him, he only gained back about 15 pounds (versus my 27!). My weight was down 1.6 this week, which is about what I expected. I know I could have done better, but I'm happy that it's going the right direction.

Glenda, my WW leader, asked us last week to answer three questions as "homework":

1) What are your strengths?
2) What are your weaknesses?
3) How can you improve the weaknesses?

I wrote that my strengths are: saying "no" to food pushers; drinking lots of water; accurately tracking food; planning ahead.

• Food pushers-When I started losing weight in 2009, I decided that I wasn't going to let ANYONE stop me. I started doing what was best for ME, regardless of what others tried to push on me. The more I stood firm in my decisions, the stronger my willpower became. Saying "no" to food pushers is definitely a strength. 
• Water-I have a quart-sized water bottle, and I make sure to fill and drink it 2-3 times per day. 
• Tracking-I love numbers, and lists, and all of that kind of stuff, so tracking (when I want to) is easy for me. 
• Planning ahead-Planning ahead is sort of fun--I like to (again) write lists, so listing out the week's dinners is interesting to me.

I wrote that my weaknesses are: boredom snacking; social drinking; eating vegetables; and the "all-or-nothing" mindset.

• Boredom snacking- I snack a LOT when I am bored. I know that I'm not hungry, but I still do it!
• Social drinking- Social drinking is tough--alcohol has a lot of Points, so if I'm going to stay on plan, I have to be really careful about what/how much I drink; but that kind of ruins the whole point of drinking! It's so much more appealing to just relax and "live a little". Definitely something to work on.
• Vegetables- I am terrible at getting in vegetables! I don't hate them, but I find them so inconvenient (I don't like raw veggies, so I need to cook them).
• All-or-nothing- I hate that I have an "all-or-nothing" mindset sometimes. When I have a bad meal, it's so easy to say, "Well, I already screwed up, might as well start fresh tomorrow!" and then continue to make bad decisions that day.

How can I improve the weaknesses?

• For the boredom eating, I could keep my hands busy with projects--knitting and crocheting, namely.
• For the social drinking, I could go back to having the low-calorie beers (Beck's Light is my favorite, and it has 74 calories per bottle--even if I drank several, it wouldn't do too much damage calorically).
• For the veggies--I can aim to fit in 1-2 per day, instead of aiming for 5+. Getting in one per day is much more do-able than feeling overwhelmed by thinking I have to aim for five.
• For the "all-or-nothing" mindset--I need to really plan out what to do when I make a bad choice (because there WILL be times when I make bad choices), and get don't let one bad choice turn into a bad day or week.

This was kind of a fun homework assignment! It helped me to really think about my weaknesses, and plan on how to overcome them. And since I thought about my strengths, I can really make sure to use those to my advantage when needed.

I came across this Weight Watchers Photo A Day challenge on Instagram yesterday, and while I'm late to the game, I decided I'd like to play along--if for nothing else, then it's a topic to write about ;) You're supposed to post a picture of each of the following topics (once a day) for the month of May.

Today is the thirteenth, so I'll start with that one. This is an interesting topic for me. Typically, trigger foods are junk foods; but in thinking about it, I've realized that it's actually a bigger binge trigger for me to eat a salad than it is for junk food! 

Occasionally, I get in the mood for a salad; but typically, I don't choose to eat them. I just don't like them very much. The reason that they are a binge trigger for me is because salads are never satisfying to me. It doesn't matter how big it is, or how much stuff is on it, I never feel satisfied (mentally) after I eat one. That usually leads to my going to the pantry to find something to snack on, and possibly binge. I wish I liked salad! It would be an easy way to get in a ton of vegetables.

If we're talking about traditional trigger foods, like food that I just cannot keep in the house without devouring, there are several ;) Ice cream is definitely the biggest problem food of all for me. It's interesting, because I can keep a bag of chips in my house for weeks, and never feel the urge to binge on them; but I can't make a container of ice cream last one single night in my freezer!

Anyone else want to share your trigger foods? (I'll probably post most of the Photo A Day topics here on my blog, but if not, I'll do it on Instagram).

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Habit changes

Still sick here :(

The bronchitis is getting better, though, so I hope I'll be back to normal in a few days. Right now, the most frustrating part about being sick is that I can't hear very well (ears are clogged) and I can't smell or taste anything! Noah wanted to cook dinner last night, so I was helping him make turkey loaf. After adding some herbs and spices, he said, "That smells weird!" I couldn't smell anything at all, and I started wondering if the ground turkey had gone bad or something. I never realized how much I use my sense of smell! I think he just meant the Italian seasoning I'd used smelled weird.

I've been craving ice cream like crazy lately. I bought some popsicles because they were soothing on my throat (they're peach-flavored, but I can't taste them, unfortunately). Because I've been really focused on staying on track with Weight Watchers, I even bought something to try that I've avoided for a few years now:

Arctic Zero "ice cream". I'd heard of it several years ago, but it just didn't sound good. How good could it be, at 3 PointsPlus (150 calories) for an entire pint?! I've read mixed reviews from people who either love it or hate it. It's pretty expensive (I think it was $6 for the pint), so I just never tried it. But considering my cravings for ice cream lately, I figured it was worth a taste.

It's now been in my freezer for three days, because it would be a waste to eat until my cold is gone. I tried a tiny little spoonful, but I couldn't smell or taste it, so I figured I'd better wait until I'm healthy again so I can form an honest opinion. There are several different flavors, but I went with chocolate peanut butter--no surprise there ;) Anyone else have thoughts on the Arctic Zero?

Yesterday, I was replying to some emails, and I was looking for a post in my blog. I got caught up in reading a bunch of old posts, and it made me feel so nostalgic! Over the last year or two, I sort of got away from talking about my diet and weight, because I was getting quite a bit of unsolicited advice. My blog is really just a daily journal of my life, so it was off-putting to read opinions about my diet and weight. But looking back on those posts yesterday made me want to write more about it again. When I first started this blog, that was my full intention--to document my day to day life in maintenance after a large weight loss.

I made a goal to lose weight each week for the full eight weeks of Glenda's challenge (Glenda is my Weight Watchers Leader), so if I stick with it and see some progress, I may start doing my Wednesday Weigh-ins again. I got away from doing those because I was tired of not seeing any change in the scale (or seeing a gain) and then hearing what I was doing wrong. I already know what I need to change--I just have to stay consistent to do it! ;) Writing everything was one of the things that helped me to stick with it while I was losing weight, so maybe it will help to write more about it again.

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on getting back to the habits I formed when I was losing weight--things like drinking a quart of water first thing in the morning, and using brown rice instead of white rice, etc. I promised a blog post about it, listing all the habits/tips I formed, and I've been working on that. Hopefully I'll have that up this week. I never consciously made all those changes at once, but as I list them out, I realize that I really did make lots of small changes that added up in a big way. Eventually, it was just a lifestyle--I did it all without thinking. Over the past year, though, I got away from most of the habits that helped me to lose the weight, which is why I gained nearly 30 pounds back. Jerry mentioned a couple of days ago that he likes that we're getting back to all the old healthier habits again, because it makes him feel good, like we did when we were at goal.

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Joey was supposed to go to his doggy daycare today, but we had some bad storms last night, and the weather wasn't great today. I decided to reschedule for Thursday this week, when the weather will be better. While he's there, it wouldn't be worth my time to drive all the way home, and then all the way back to pick him up, so I have to think of something to do while he spends four hours there. I was thinking I could go for a long walk at a park that's about 20 minutes away, but that still leaves a lot of time to kill.

I was feeling bad for not being very active with Joey all week, since I've been sick, so yesterday, I took him to my parents' house to play in the lake. He's been doing really well off-leash, so I took him down by the water and let him go. He had a blast exploring--he kept dunking his head totally underwater, like he was looking for something under there. He loves chasing rocks, too, so he was begging for me to constantly keep throwing rocks. I'm excited for him to play at doggy daycare on Thursday!

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Motivational Monday #108

Happy Motivational Monday! This week has been really tough for me, because I'm fighting bronchitis. I haven't had ANY energy, so my activity has been pretty much nil. I've been doing the strength exercises from the physical therapist, though! And I've been doing well with counting my PointsPlus, so I am happy with that.

These stories should have been posted last week, but I didn't have time to do a MM post then, so they're a little late. Inspiring, none the less! ;)

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Alice just ran her first half-marathon! After running several 5K's, 8K's, and 10K's, she stepped it up in a big way at the Biggest Loser race series last weekend in Crown Point, Indiana. It was an extremely challenging course, with lots of large hills, but she toughed it out and finished in 3:56!

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Three years ago, Emerald never would have predicted she'd be running the Broad Street Run 10-Miler last weekend--and 65 pounds lighter to boot--but that's exactly what she did! At 5'2", and 200 pounds, she was miserable. One day, just decided to change--no dramatics, just changing her diet and exercising. Two and a half years and 65 pounds later, she ran this Broad Street Run and finished under her goal of two hours, crossing the finish line in 1:54:39!

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Corryn just ran two half marathons in back-to-back weekends! She even PR'ed at BOTH--first at the Country Music Half in Nashville with a time of 2:51:20, and then the following weekend at the Frederick Running Festival with 2:40:23. She is super proud of herself!

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Kori just completed a half-marathon, and her words describe it much better than mine can. Her description sounds much like when I walked my first half-marathon! ;)

"My husband and I walked the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, TN on April 25th with a group of people who actually ran in honor of their friend Kara who has breast cancer.  It was a last minute decision to walk it (I had planned on running it 6 months ago but ended up slacking on training) and I didn't think I was going to make it.  By mile 3, I could already feel blisters forming on the bottom of my feet.  By mile 6, I was struggling to even jog downhill.  I had to stop and stretch several times and honestly, I was miserable!  My hands were so swollen, I couldn't even bend them.  I was trying to walk different ways to keep from making the blisters on my feet worse. My husband kept encouraging me to keep going so I gave it all I had.  At mile 12, we literally walked right by our hotel and I wanted to quit then.  I was so close to the finish line so my husband MADE me keep going.  I crossed in 3 hours and 50 minutes.  I couldn't move for 3 days afterward, but am so proud that I didn't give up after wanting to several times!  Next year, I plan on running for sure!"

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Last Sunday, Amanda completed a local mini triathlon! The tri included a quarter-mile swim, a five-mile bike ride, and a 5K run. Her goal was to finish under an hour, and she managed to cross the finish line in 59:22!

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Last year, Nancy was on Motivational Monday #61, when she walked a 10K with her son just days before she turned 50 years old. Since then, she is down 24 pounds and has started running! This year, she did a run/walk for the 5K (again, just a few days before her birthday), and happily finished in 47:38! She is registered for some more 5K's over the summer, and her next goal is to be able to run a full mile without walking.

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Kim (on the left in photo) just reached a huge milestone... she reached a full year of walk a minimum of 10 miles per week! Last May, she set a goal to walk 10 miles per week, and started using the Map My Walk app to stay motivated. After seeing how close she was to 50 miles that first month, she added a secondary goal to hit 50 miles per month--and she has reached both of those goals for a full year now! She's walked over 700 miles, and her longest walk was 14K in September. All the walking has helped her to lose 25 pounds without much change to her diet, too! (The photo below is from one of the walks she did as part of a race)

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Mia ran her first half-marathon! She has lost 90 pounds in the last 2-1/2 years, and after after doing several 5K's and 10K's, she made the leap to the half-marathon. She finds inspiration from the From Fat to Finish Line community Facebook page, and has made lots of friends there; she's even done some destination races to meet up with the friends she's made! Her finish time for her first half was 3:18, and she'll be doing another in 5 weeks--the race has a 3-hour cut-off time, so her goal is to finish under that mark.

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This picture of Lise was actually taken by ME at the finish line in Indy! As a complete beginner, Lise used birthday money to sign up in January for a YMCA training program to walk the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon. Foot pain and plantar fasciitis threatened to derail those plans, and she was very close to giving up, but her coaches encouraged her to switch to the 5K at the Mini Marathon. The night before the 5K, she read that she had to keep up an 18:00/mile pace. Her best was only 19:00/mile. The excitement of the race and many prayers worked, and Lise finished the 5K in 54:18--a 17:30/mile pace! Lise found me at the finish line, and explained she was there by herself--I was so glad to be there to give her a much-deserved congratulatory hug and snap a photo. 

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Congratulations everyone! Have a great week :)

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Bronchitis and TV show predictions

This is going to be pretty whiny, so I apologize for that in advance.

I'm really sick. This sucks! I've had a non-stop headache, sore throat, cough, and very stuffy nose for a few days, and this morning, my cough has definitely gotten much worse. I've had bronchitis a few times (always the last week of April or first week of May, weirdly), and I'm sure that it's bronchitis again.

I didn't do anything yesterday. I had zero energy, and just doing a few tasks around the house wore me out. But even though I was drained, I was really restless. I got sick of sitting around watching movies, but I just didn't have the energy to do anything else. I've spent most of the time cuddled up under my race shirt quilt watching Lifetime movies ;)

My throat was so sore yesterday that I ended up eating ice cream for dinner. Honestly, nothing else sounded remotely appealing. The ice cream used up every last one of my weekly points (which don't start over until Wednesday), and even worse, I couldn't taste it! The creaminess and cold felt great, but I haven't been able to taste anything because I'm so congested. So I feel like I totally wasted all those points.

This morning, I woke up coughing like crazy. Then the kids were complaining that we didn't have anything to eat, so I ended up going grocery shopping at 7:30 this morning. I forgot to bring tissues with me, so I grabbed a box of Kleenex from the shelf, opened it, and took a few to the bathroom to blow my nose (don't worry, I paid for the box later). Had to go to the bathroom to blow my nose twice more while grocery shopping.

I spent the whole afternoon getting caught up on bills. I really need to get in the habit of paying them right when I get them. Usually, I'll stick the bill in a folder to pay later, and then I end up getting a second notice before I realize, "Oh crap! I forgot to pay that...".

Jerry texted me to tell me that yet another of my TV show predictions is coming true. *SPOILERS* ahead--if you're behind on Grey's, skip to below the line. I don't know why I watch Grey's Anatomy, other than the fact that I started watching it from the very first episode. I don't really like any of the characters except for April and Jackson, but for the sake of just watching it through to the end, I continue to watch.

Anyway, about six weeks ago, I predicted that Derek was going to die in an upcoming episode. I even said it would be due to something with his brain, because he's a neurosurgeon, and what could be more dramatic than that? I told Jerry about my predictions, because I noticed that the writers were working to make the audience really like him, particularly in the last few episodes before he died. Jerry always believes me when I make guesses, because they are pretty accurate most of the time!

*MORE SPOILERS* I've learned that TV shows usually play up a character that is going to die soon, because they want the death to be heartbreaking and emotional for the audience. I even predicted George's death, but that was still heartbreaking for me! (That's also how you can tell who will get "voted off" of a reality show like The Bachelor or The Biggest Loser--the show will focus on that person more than anyone else during that episode.) So anyway, I predicted Derek's death. And then on that episode, I predicted that Meredith was pregnant--because drama. On TV, pretty much any time a woman vomits, it means she's pregnant. My next prediction is that Meredith and Alex hook up. Mark those words! ;) I take back what I said before--I do like Alex, too.

Jerry and I have really liked watching Chicago Fire and Chicago PD. Last season, I predicted that soon, there would be a Chicago Med-type show to round it all out. So when Jerry sent me the text today confirming my prediction, I was kind of exited about it! They've been doing crossover shows pretty often with the Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Law & Order: SVU.

I love crossover shows, and during Sons of Anarchy, I was hoping more than ANYTHING that FX would make Vic Mackey, (actor Michael Chiklis) from The Shield, an undercover cop on SoA. Michael Chiklis was, in fact, written into a couple of episodes, but not as Vic Mackey (bummer).

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Jerry and I are supposed to have a date night tonight. I wish I wasn't sick! We'll probably end up just watching a movie at home. I hope everyone has a great weekend--Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

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Doggy daycare

Well, I managed to avoid getting sick the week before Indy (I *always* get sick the last week of April!), but yesterday I had a horrible sore throat. Then last night, I couldn't sleep for anything because every time I inhaled, it felt like there were razor blades in my throat. Jerry's alarm was set for 4:00 this morning, but I ended up turning it off a couple of minutes early and waking him up myself. I knew I'd never fall asleep, so I just got out of bed and went into the living room.

I tried catching up on email, but barely made a dent in it. Eli came into the living room at 5:00, complaining that his throat was hurting really badly. He sounded horrible, and I figured he had the same thing as me (which made me feel really sorry for him!). I told him he could stay home from school. I made him some chicken broth, hoping it would soothe his throat, and then gave him a breathing treatment because he was coughing. He was feeling much better after that, but I kept him home anyway.

After taking Noah to the bus, I took Eli over to my mom's house (he asked her if he could be sick at her house instead of at home). I really wanted to get my strength exercises from the physical therapist done today, so I turned on a movie and periodically, I got up to do a set of the exercises. It took a lot more out of me than I expected it to! I was actually breathing hard during the step ups. I did the maximum he recommended (hopefully it will help me recover faster).

This afternoon, Joey had another appointment at the doggy daycare. A couple of days after he'd failed his temperament test, Brenda, the woman who runs the daycare, called me to say that Joey had been weighing on her heart and she wanted to give him another chance. He had done so well up to the point where he bared his teeth, and even though she doesn't normally do second chances, Joey was on her mind.

I picked up Noah from school, and took the kids with me to the doggy daycare. It's a far drive into the middle of nowhere--there is truly nothing around for miles. Eli was excited to see Joey play with the other dogs, so we stood on the outside of the fence while Brenda and another employee slowly added dogs to the area, watching to see how Joey did. I'm no expert, but he seemed to do great! He didn't seem annoyed or put off by any of the dogs. They let in the dog that he'd bared his teeth to before, and there was no issue.

Brenda told us we could leave for a while, and she was going to watch him play in the really large area with the whole pack. I was a little nervous, but the kids and I went to Cabela's (nearly 30 minutes away, but the only way to kill time around there). We didn't stay long--just browsed around for about 20 minutes. Cabela's sells fudge, and I was SO tempted when I saw the Red Velvet fudge; but I am super determined to get back to goal, so I didn't get any. I even took the kids through the Burger King drive thru so they could have something to eat before their baseball practice, and I didn't eat anything from there, either.

Anyway, we headed back to the daycare. When we got there, Joey was still in the yard with the other dogs, so I assumed that meant he was doing well. Brenda brought him out to me, and said he was fantastic. He had a blast playing with the other dogs, and didn't show any signs of aggression or anything to worry about. He passed his test! Joey was totally exhausted. He laid on the floor by my feet while I chatted with Brenda. I signed him up to go there for a half-day every Tuesday, just to let him interact with other dogs (sort of like a doggy playdate). Joey loves water, and they even have an in-ground pool for the dogs, so he's going to love that.

The kids and I had to go straight from there to their baseball practice, so it was a long afternoon. I'm so glad that we don't have anything going on tomorrow! I just want to rest and nurse this cold. My nose is very congested, and I've been coughing. I just hope today was the worst of it. Eli was SO much better by the afternoon, and even did his baseball practice--so, hopefully this cold is a short one.

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You may have seen this via Runner's World, but they are doing another cover contest for the magazine. SO MANY of you have such great running stories (I read them every week for Motivational Monday), and I want to encourage you to submit your story. I'm not going to enter (I had my 15 minutes of fame already, haha), but I'd love to vote for any of my readers that do. So if you enter, let me know! Here is the link to the contest. Remember, you'll never know unless you try. Your story could inspire thousands of people!

The winners (there will be one male and one female) will not only be featured on the cover of my personal favorite magazine, but also attend the NYC marathon as a VIP guest of Runner's World and receive some great prizes. (I'm not getting anything for promoting the contest--I just think it'd be awesome to see one of my readers on the cover!) #RWCoverSearch

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Gait Analysis

A busy weekend turned into a busy week. I don't usually have so much stuff going on, but this whole week has gotten filled. The boys started baseball today, and they will have practices four days a week. I had Weight Watchers and my gait analysis today. Tomorrow is another temperament test for Joey (did I mention that they want him to go back to try again? I don't have my hopes up, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it another try).

This morning, I went to Weight Watchers to weigh in and stay for the meeting. I gained 4.4 pounds, but considering I'd lost 6.8 pounds last week, I'm happy with that. I didn't count points all week, because I was in Indy, and then when Thomas was here, we ate some higher-point things. But I went back to counting points yesterday, so hopefully next week will show a good loss.

Glenda, my leader, had told us to bring a notebook this week for an eight-week challenge she is doing. She said that several people in her meetings have been struggling lately, and she wanted to think of a way to get them focused and excited again, so she came up with a little contest. There are prizes (I'm not sure what), but the only rules are to attend every week for the full 8 weeks, and to lose 5-8 pounds (minimum of 5, maximum of 8). I certainly hope I'll lose more than 8 pounds over 8 weeks, so I'll just forfeit the hope of any prizes, but I like the idea of the challenge. She said we'll be taking lots of notes, which is what the notebook is for.

Today, our meeting was pretty full--there were probably about 25 people in there. Glenda wanted us to think about what was the final straw that made us join Weight Watchers, and what we're doing to reach our goals. She asked for volunteers to go up to the front of room and share. After a couple of moments without volunteers, I raised my hand. Definitely way out of my comfort zone to speak in front of everyone, but I hate awkward silences. Also, I was hoping that maybe by sharing my story, I might open up a conversation with some other members, because I'd really like to make friends in the meeting.

I talked about my final straw moment--when I was trying to teach Noah to ride a two-wheeled bicycle--and then how I lost 125 pounds over the next 16 months. I shared that I did pretty well maintaining my weight until December 2013, when I had that moment with Mark at the hospital, where he offered me chocolate. I'd felt foolish for counting points while Mark was dying of lung cancer, so I thought I could handle eating "intuitively". And here I am, 30 pounds heavier, which is what made me go back to Weight Watchers.

It felt good to talk about, and I wasn't sure if anyone had noticed my weight gain since the last time I was there or not, but now I don't feel like I'm hiding anything. A couple of people thanked me after the meeting for sharing, which made me feel good.

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This afternoon, I had to drive up to Novi (about 50 minutes away) for my gait analysis. It was in the physical therapy wing, and I instantly liked my therapist. He didn't seem super rushed, he was easy to talk to, and asked lots of questions. He did a physical exam first, bending my joints and pressing here and there to see whatever it is he was looking for. (Interesting fact he shared: 30-40% of stress fractures actually recur, which is what happened with mine.)

I changed into shorts, and he had me walk and then run up and down the length of the hallway while he filmed it. Then he took me to a treadmill, where he filmed me at several angles for a couple of minutes while I ran. He's going to analyze the films over the weekend, but he said that he could clearly see that I am asymmetrical, particularly when I run. He tested the strength of different muscles, and my left side is quite a bit weaker than my right. He also said that I don't pronate enough (I supinate), which can cause stress on the fibula.

When he said that, something clicked for me. When I first started feeling the pain, it was after a 12-mile run on a newly paved road that had a sharp slope on the shoulder. Considering I run facing traffic, that would have made the supination even worse. After that run, my leg was really bothering me. The same thing happened when I ran the half-marathon in December--the slope was terrible, and the pain kicked in when I hit that part of the road.

Anyway, the PT gave me several strength exercises to do 4-6 times per week. I'm going to work on both sides, but on some of the exercises, he wants me to do more reps on the left side. He also said to focus on walking lightly on my feet--try not to impact hard on the ground. After the strength issue is solved, and I'm more symmetrical, he'll work on getting me running again.

I love the diagram ;)

I left feeling good with the choice of PT, but frustrated at the thought of several more weeks before I can even start running again. At this rate, I don't even know if I'll be able to run the Detroit Marathon in October. I'm going to be the most compliant patient he's ever had, and follow everything he said to the letter... and hopefully, I'll be able to start training for Detroit on time.

I'm glad to have some answers as to what caused my stress fracture, and hopefully the plan he outlined will get me back to running sooner rather than later!

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2015 Indy Mini weekend

I'm home! What an amazing weekend. I brought my computer with me, thinking I may blog once or twice, but I never even took it out of my bag. I had way too much fun with my Sole Mates!

Sorry that I didn't get to do a Motivational Monday post yesterday. I'll save the submissions for next week!

I'm not going to get into all the details of the weekend, because it would take several posts, but here is a quick rundown and some pictures...

Thursday
Jerry and I got the kids off to school and then headed to Indianapolis. It's a four-hour drive, and I was super excited to get there. We stayed at the same hotel we always have for the race, the Embassy Suites Downtown. We stopped at the airport to pick up Paige and Martha. Bonnie and her friend, Nancy, were already at the hotel. We went to the expo for a little while. Our hotel had free happy hour from 5:30-7:30 every day, so we took advantage of that.

At 8:00, Jerry and I went to the airport to pick up Thomas and Cat... and a surprise Sole Mate, Hilary! I had been keeping it a secret for so long, and was super excited to bring her to the hotel. Nobody knew she was coming. When we got to the hotel, we went into the room where everyone was hanging out, and I said I picked up a surprise at the airport. Then I opened the door, and in walked Hilary. There gasps and tears and smiles all around, which was perfect! We went for a late dinner at Chipotle,  had a couple of drinks at the hotel, and then went to bed.

Friday
On Friday, we had breakfast at the hotel, and went to the expo again (with everyone this time). Rik, the captain of my From Fat to Finish Line team, and his wife, Cynthia, drove in from Wisconsin that afternoon. We had dinner at Buca di Beppo. With my sister and her friends, there were 20 of us, and the restaurant did a fantastic job with such a large party. After dinner, we hit up happy hour at the hotel again. It was so great to have time to chat with everyone!

Dinner at Buca di Beppo

Saturday
Everyone was up bright and early for the race on Saturday. Saturday morning was bittersweet for me. I felt like a loser for being the only runner in the group NOT running the Indy Mini (half-marathon), but I knew I'd made the right decision. I'm just so tired of this stupid stress fracture! Anyway, we had a quick breakfast and then everyone made their way to the corrals. I walked with Jerry and Rik to their corral. Rik was planning to pace Jerry for his first half-marathon, so I knew Jerry would probably have a great race. I gave him a quick hug and kiss, and started making my way to the finish line to wait. Cynthia isn't a runner, so thankfully I had some company.

Cynthia and me at the finish line

The 5K was finishing up when we got over to the finish line. We found a good spot to stand and cheer on the runners. Watching the back of the pack of the 5K was awesome! There were so many inspiring people--very young kids walking with a parent, people in wheelchairs being pushed by a loved one, very overweight people who looked like it was a huge struggle, but were so proud to cross that finish line--all sorts of inspiration!

After the 5K finished, we only had to wait about 10 minutes before the hand-cyclists and wheelchairs of the half-marathon started coming through. I'm always in awe when I see them finishing a half-marathon with their upper body strength alone! While we were standing there, Lise, a reader of my blog, stopped by to say hello! I'll save her story for Motivational Monday, but it was her first 5K, and she did awesome.

Shortly after the wheelchairs came through, the elite men started making their way across the finish line. I got a great photo of Elisha Barno, the first male to finish:

Elisha Barno (I like to imagine I look like that when I run! haha)

After the elites finished, I started getting some text updates from everyone else in the race. I'd signed up for notifications, and it was exciting to see each one come through. I knew Thomas would be the next one to finish, and he finished right when he predicted--1:42:26. I managed to have some good photography skills with my iPhone this time, and got a great pic as he ran by!

Jerry was due to finish in around 2:10 (actually, I'd told him to try and beat MY first Indy Mini run time, which was 2:10:40). Right as I was explaining to Thomas that we'd know from far away when they were coming through because Jerry would be acting very goofy and easy to spot. I pointed to a couple of people and started to say, "Just like those guys", when I realized that it WAS Rik and Jerry! And sure enough, they were showing their excitement ;) I hurriedly grabbed my phone and started snapping pictures.

Even though I was practically in their faces, Jerry never spotted me. Rik saw me, though. They crossed the finish line in 2:09:03!

I knew that we had about 20 minutes before anyone else would finish, so I started making my way to the post race party to congratulate Jerry. I'm SUPER proud of him! He really worked hard to train for this, fitting in his runs even after working 12-hour shifts.

I headed back to the finish line to watch the rest of the group finish. I had told everyone to finish on the right-hand side of the street, where I knew I'd be standing; still, I managed to miss Cat, Becky (my sister-in-law), and almost missed Hilary and Paige, who were running together. I caught them at the last second, so I didn't get good pics. But I got a fantastic picture of Bonnie!

And of my sister...

Once everyone had finished the race, we went back to the finish line party where everyone could talk about the race. Again, I felt totally left out because I had no stories about the course or even a medal to wear, but I really did have a great time at the finish line. We took some fun pictures.

Martha, Jerry, Rik, Thomas; Cat, Paige, me, Hilary

Jerry faces all around

I love this picture of Paige and me!

After the race, we went back to the hotel so everyone could shower. Then Jerry, Thomas, Rik, and Cynthia went to see The Avengers movie, while the rest of us went to get frozen yogurt for lunch. I didn't "earn" it like the rest of them, but I certainly wanted some, too! Paige showed us how to make what she calls "yogurt lasagna"--where you start with a layer of toppings, and then add a layer of fro-yo. You bang it on the table to get the air pockets out, and then repeat. We each made a huge cup of frozen yogurt, and it was worth every mile that I didn't run that day!

Mine is on the bottom right

That evening, we stayed at the hotel and ordered pizza. I had one more big surprise for the group, so after we ate, I headed down to the lobby to wait for the surprise to show up ;) I had a drink with Jeanie, Becky, and Jen at the hotel bar, and explained to them what was going on--Dean was driving in on his motorcycle after work! Dean had a very important event going on at work all weekend, so he wasn't able to make it to the race. A couple of weeks ago, he decided to make the 2-1/2 hour drive to Indy after work on Saturday, and then drive home early on Sunday morning.

Jeanie, Becky, and Jen came up with a story to help me carry out the surprise for the Sole Mates. When Dean arrived, I went up to the room first. A few minutes later, Jeanie, Becky, and Jen came in, and Jeanie said they'd met some guy at the bar and he came with them. Everyone looked slightly uncomfortable, like, "You picked up some guy?!" and then in walked Dean.

It was AWESOME--everybody was very surprised and excited to see him! There were screams and tears and hugs once again, which was so fun. Everyone kept exclaiming about how thin Dean is now, and I forgot that they hadn't seen him since Ragnar last year. I've seen him a few times, so I'm used to him getting smaller and smaller each time!

We went down to the hotel bar and played Cards Against Humanity for a while. Then we got a group picture of all the Sole Mates--and I loved this "outtake" photo! We were laughing so hard as we tried to figure out how to fit us all into the picture.

Sunday
The next morning was sad all around, because everyone started heading home. Saying good-bye is hard, because you never know when you're going to get together again. Jerry and I left at around 11, and Thomas rode to Michigan with us for a short visit before heading home to Portland yesterday. We played Keno on Sunday night. Bonnie had PR'ed her half-marathon with a 2:22:22, so I played my usual numbers plus "22"--and I did pretty well!

Monday
Yesterday, while the kids were in school, Thomas, Jerry and I went to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Even though I've been there several times, I still like it--I always notice things I hadn't seen before. Then we went to La Pita for lunch, since Thomas has heard so much about it on my blog--thankfully, he loved it as much as I do!

After the kids got out of school, we all went miniature golfing and took a ride on the go-carts. It was so much fun! The last time I had been there was when I was probably 17 years old and on a date with Jerry, so it was nostalgic in a way. I took Thomas to the airport at around 8:30, and then headed home.

The whole long weekend was AMAZING, and I had so much fun with my Sole Mates! I want to do Indy next year, because seeing the finish line really made me want to run the race again. And I'm going to try and start planning another Sole Mates reunion for next year (not at Indy, but another fun place).

Now, it's back to the norm!

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Headed to Indy!

I am SO very excited to head to Indianapolis tomorrow! Jerry is going with me, which makes it even better. It's about a four-hour drive, so we're planning to get there in time to pick up a couple of my Sole Mates from the airport. I wish my entire team was going, but it didn't work out that way. Still, I'll see Thomas, Paige, Bonnie, Cat, and Martha. Also going are Jeanie (my sister), Becky (my sister-in-law), several of Jeanie's friends, and Bonnie's friend Nancy, who I met briefly in SoCal. Except for Thomas, I haven't seen the other Sole Mates since a year ago when we ran SoCal. None of them have met Jerry, either, and he's looking forward to meeting the friends I talk about so much.

I've been really up-in-the-air about what to do as far as counting Points while I'm there. I had an awesome weigh in at Weight Watchers today--down 6.8 pounds!--so I should stay on track and continue to lose. However, the last thing I want to do while I'm there is nitpick everything I eat and drink, estimate portion sizes, and journal my food. I did that in 2010, and looking back, I kind of regret it. I missed out on some good food and drinks, and I spent more time worrying about staying on track than I did enjoying myself.

I'm not saying that I have to pig out to enjoy myself, because I know that's not the case. But I'm thinking of going to Indy with the same attitude and plan I did in Portland--eat and drink what I want, just don't pig out. When I came home from Portland, I weighed the exact same as I did when I left; so, I'm hoping for the same outcome in Indy.

When I get home, I'll go right back to counting everything again, just like I did this past week. If my weight is up, I can handle that. I'm prepaid through July at Weight Watchers, so I will be weighing in next week no matter what happens in Indy. I just really want to go and have a great time with my Sole Mates.

I was also really undecided about whether I should run the half-marathon on Saturday. I'd talked to my doctor about it, and he gave me the go-ahead if I take it slow and easy; but considering I had so much trouble getting through just six miles on Sunday, I figured I should probably sit out the half this weekend.

I REALLY want to do it, and I probably could; but my stress fracture isn't totally healed yet (I feel twinges here and there ever since the run on Sunday). I'm registered for the Detroit Marathon in October, and I want to let my leg completely heal before I start training in June. I have been so undecided about what to do, but I finally made the decision yesterday that I am going to sit this one out. Healing in the long term is more important than hobbling through this race, so that's what I'll do.

This will be Jerry's first half-marathon, so I'll be able to be at the finish line to see him cross! I'm really excited about that. Also, I've always wanted to see the winners of that race cross the finish line. When I was there in 2008 (or maybe it was 2009?), there were actually TWO first place winners! They crossed the line so closely, that they had to look at photos to determine a winner; and even then, it was declared a tie.

The Indy Mini was actually my first race ever--in 2008, I walked the whole 13.1 miles with zero training. I knew nothing about what to expect, and I was in so much pain afterward! But I did it again the next year, and the next. In 2011, I ran the race, making it the first half-marathon I ever ran. It's a really fun race (they have over 80 bands along the course!) and I always thought it would be fun to watch the finish line as a spectator. So, even though I'm bummed to not be running it, I'm super excited to watch the finish!

I most likely will not be posting while I'm gone, but if I have some down time at the hotel, I might write. I'm really far behind on email, because I've been spring cleaning non-stop for three days, but I will get to that when I get home, also. Have a great weekend, everyone!

I don't have a picture for this post, so I'll just share this one... Estelle sat on my lap for the first time since we got Joey! She's been ignoring me for a few months now, and I was beginning to think she'd be that way for ever. But I'm glad that she just hopped on my lap for a nap :)

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Motivational Monday #107

Indy week has arrived! I'm so very excited to go to Indianapolis on Thursday to reunite with (most of) my Sole Mates. I've been crazy busy today trying to get all the last minute details sorted out. I've also been trying to get my house clean, because Thomas is driving back to Michigan with Jerry and I on Sunday, and flying out of Detroit on Monday.

You know how you start one small project (cleaning the spare bedroom) and you find something that belongs somewhere else (say, the hall closet), and then you notice the hall closet needs organizing, and you find something there that belongs in the bathroom, and you notice that the bathroom is a mess...and so on? Yeah, that's what happened today. At least I'm getting my spring cleaning done!

Anyway, there is no doubt about what my Motivational Monday accomplishment is this week. I handled this weekend SO WELL when it comes to how I ate! Even though I was on a relay team called "Here for the Beer", I didn't even have a sip of beer all weekend (I knew one would lead to another, and another...).

I feel like I did when I was losing the weight in 2009-2010. I was completely confident in what I was doing, and I felt entirely in control. I love that feeling! Anyway, I'm very proud for handling the whole weekend the way I did.

Here are some MM stories for you today... enjoy!

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Lisa lives near Boston, and this past Monday was Marathon Monday there. She always has that day off work, so she likes to use that day to challenge herself with something physical--running her first 10K, doing her longest run outside, etc. This year, she was 7 1/2 months pregnant, and she had slowed her pace and decreased her distance, but continued to run throughout her pregnancy. She lost 75 pounds several years ago, and works hard to keep it off, so she was worried about gaining it all back when she got pregnant (it would be easy to use the pregnancy as an excuse to stop exercising at eat much more than she should). She has been eating healthy and exercising while pregnant, and she has gained only the healthy amount of weight for a pregnancy, which she is very happy with. On Marathon Monday, she decided to challenge herself by running 5K without stopping--and she did it!

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Renee ran a half-marathon last weekend! She did the Rock the Parkway Half in Kansas City, and even though it was her third half, it was her slowest time. It was a very tough race for her, because she's been fighting allergies and bronchitis, and she wanted to quit the race very badly--but she kept going! She's thankful to her family and friends to helped push her along. And this weekend, she had a great four-mile race! She even PR'ed by 3:30. (Renee's blog)

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Last weekend, Dana and her husband ran their second 5K race! They did the Pittsburgh Pirates 5K Home Run, which finishes at home plate at PNC Park. Since walking her first Turkey Trot in November, Dana has spent a lot of time preparing to run this 5K. She is proud to have run about 60% of the distance in intervals, and she even shaved about five minutes off of her average practice time. She's also down an impressive 60 pounds out of her 100-pound weight loss goal!

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Yvonne started running a little over two years ago, and has since lost 35 pounds and completed a dozen 5Ks, several 10Ks, and three half marathons! When she started running, she would have family and friends say, "Hey, let me know when you go running again so I can join you!" but she was never really sure how to make that work with her running schedule. She decided to start a monthly run, and create an event on her Facebook page, inviting anyone and everyone who might like to get some exercise. At the first run, she only had one person show up; but she kept doing it, and this month, she had 12 people show up! She is feeling proud to have inspired others to start running. (Yvonne's Facebook page)

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Congrats on some awesome accomplishments, ladies! Thanks for sharing :)

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2015 Glass City Marathon Relay race report

Wow, what a day! I'll start by saying I'm totally exhausted. Yesterday, Jerry and I went down to Toledo to meet up with our relay teams and go to the expo. We picked up our packets, and then went to dinner at an Italian restaurant called Biaggi's (the same place we've gone for the past two years when doing this race). I had invited Dean and his wife, Mandy, to meet us there, so it was fun to get to see him!

It was ridiculously hard, but I didn't order any wine--just had water with dinner. I didn't touch the bread basket, and I ordered a half-order of pasta. I got spaghetti marinara, which ended up being about one cup of pasta with a half-cup of sauce. I added a little parmesan cheese, (along with all the basil leaves that nobody seemed to want on their food--blasphemy!) and that was that. It was delicious, but I still managed to stay on track. The desserts at Biaggi's are amazing, but thankfully, not many people ordered dessert, so it wasn't in my face to tempt me.

At the hotel, everyone was drinking beer; but again, I stuck with water. I even bought a little container of grape tomatoes to snack on, which was totally unlike me. Lately, I've really liked those little tomatoes for some reason! I was super tired, and I actually fell asleep while everyone was hanging out in our hotel room.

For breakfast, I brought a Special K oatmeal cup and an orange, which worked out well in a hotel room. We had to leave the hotel at 6:00 for the race, and there were 18 of us (three full relay teams of five people, plus three others who came to spectate). We squeezed into TWO vehicles--I was in my brother-in-law's truck with EIGHT other people. It was crazy, and so hilarious. We had six of us in the back seat, and we were all crammed in there. We tried so hard to get a picture, but you can't see just how cramped we were.

Because we had three relay teams (Here for the Beer: 1, 2, and 3), we all decided to run together. So runner #1 on each team stuck together as a trio. Then they passed the bib off to runners #2, who all stuck together; and so on. So we went to the first exchange to wait for the first three runners to come through.

I was runner #2. I was totally undecided whether I was going to do this race or not until the last minute. I eventually decided to go for it, because my doctor had given me the okay to try the half-marathon next weekend in Indy, so I figured that if I ran today and had a problem, then I certainly have no business running in Indy.

While we were at the first exchange, I saw Jessica and Renee, who were doing the relay as well. Stephanie was running the full, and she put together a relay team to run alongside her, just like my sister did last year. She'd asked me to join, but I had already committed to doing the relay with my family, so I wasn't able to. I saw Stephanie go by the first exchange, so I cheered for her. About 10 minutes later, our first three runners came through. Kendall, Nathan's girlfriend, handed the bib off to me.

I ran with my sister, Jeanie, and her friend, Jen. We had the longest leg, which was 6.1 miles. I hadn't run at all in about three weeks, so I had no idea what to expect. Thankfully, my leg seemed to be doing great. We took the pace very easy, and I was actually pretty discouraged at how difficult it felt to run at such an easy pace! Jeanie and Jen said, "It's so nice to run at such a relaxed pace--so much more enjoyable" and I wanted to kick them. I was barely able to talk at all, because it was such a struggle for me.

I never had any major problems with my leg, but by mile five, I started questioning whether I could finish. I was dying! Right at the perfect moment, I saw an older man with a jacket on that said "Larry" on the back. And I said to Jeanie, "Do you think that's 1000 Marathons Larry?" We met him at the Rockford Half-Marathon in Illinois, where he was running the full.

We asked him if that was him, and sure enough, it was (although now he goes by "Marathon Maniac Larry"). I was really excited to run into him! I asked him what number marathon it was today, and he said 1,486 (I think--I know it was 1,400-something). Crazy, right?! Even crazier, today's was his third marathon THIS WEEK. He ran Boston on Monday, another marathon yesterday (I can't remember which one he said), and then Glass City today. He's 70 years old, and running marathons every weekend!

I chatted with him for a few minutes, and Jen took a couple of pics of us. Larry is the nicest man! If you ever see him at a race, make sure you take a minute to chat with him. At that moment, I was glad that we were at the back of the pack at this race--otherwise, I wouldn't have run into him!

We moved past him, and continued on. That last quarter mile took every ounce of energy I had. When we got to the relay station, I passed off the bib, and then walked away from the exchange station to cry for a minute. I was just so frustrated that I've had to take so much time off of running, and that running right now feels so hard when it used to feel so easy. I figured that there is no way that I can do Indy if I just practically fell apart after six miles.

I only cried for a minute before rejoining the group. Today was supposed to be all about fun, so I didn't want to dwell on how I felt about my run. I was definitely grateful to have finished it, and that my stress fracture didn't give me troubles.

The rest of the race went well, and I had a blast cheering at the relay stations. That's my favorite part about this race! The relay stations are so much fun. Once we left the last relay station, we headed to the finish line. I knew Stephanie was hoping for a sub-5:00 finish time, and it was getting really close. I was watching for her, and looking at the clock. She came through the finisher's chute and finished in 4:58-something! I was really excited for her.

Just about 20 seconds later, our relay runners came through, so most of us joined them in the chute to run across the finish line. It was a fun finish! (Jen got some really great pictures of the finish but I don't have them yet).

Nathan, me, Brian, and Jeanie

I stopped at Subway on the way home for some lunch, because I knew that there was going to be a ton of junk food at the party at my parents' house. I brought some flavored water over there, so I could drink that instead of beer. And I managed to avoid so many temptations: my dad's fried fish, tacos, burgers, a brownie trifle, Better Than Sex cake, and a three layered cake with buttercream frosting. It was really difficult not to just say, "Oh, screw it, I'll just start over tomorrow"... but I've been saying that for a year, and I really am super determined to get back to goal sometime soon. I certainly could have chosen to use my weekly points on some of this stuff, but I want to get back to the point where I feel totally in control and okay saying no. I don't have to eat that crap every time it's in front of me!

Anyway, today was SUPER fun hanging out with my family. This was the first race that all three of my siblings and I were able to participate in together. Even better, our spouses did it, too! (And I'm putting Kendall in the "spouse" category, because she and Nathan are pretty serious). We're already planning to do it again next year!

Siblings & Spouses: Me, Jerry, Kendall, Nathan, Brian, Becky, Shawn, and Jeanie 

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