Best run in a long while!

I had such a fantastic tempo run yesterday!

While it was tempting to do it on the treadmill, I decided to give it a try outside and see how it compared to last week's tempo run. The distance was the same (five miles), so I was hoping that I'd be able to run outside at the same pace, or even faster, than last week's tempo.

Once I got outside, though, I couldn't remember what my pace was last week, haha. I decided just to run whatever it ended up being for the first mile, and from there, I'd try to see what I could do. My run/walk intervals were set to 5:00 run and 0:30 walk. Toward the end of the first mile, I could see my pace was right around 10:00, so I decided then to see if I could hit a sub-10:00 mile. And I did!

Then, I decided to see if I could go for two sub-10:00's in a row. And that's how it went for the rest of the run... "Let's see if I can do just one more!" My overall pace, including my walk breaks, ended up being 9:47/mile! That was the best run I've had in a long time. I compared it to last week's tempo on the treadmill, because I love looking at the stats. (The one on the left is today, the one on the right is last week's.)

My heart rate (which isn't shown on here) was MUCH higher outside than on the 'mill. It was hot outside with the sun beating down, which I think is what made it feel harder outside. But I'm glad to know that the treadmill isn't going to set me back in training any, because I actually really like using it sometimes.

I don't know what is wrong with me the past few days, but I have had NO appetite. I never skip meals, but I skipped breakfast yesterday because the thought of food was just so unappealing. I've been hungry, but nothing sounds good at all. It's so odd! I'm sure this won't last long ;)

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday for my annual physical. I have to get one for my insurance company each year. I had my blood work done (a lipid profile and my fasting glucose) the day before, so the results were ready when I got to my appointment. My weight was only up a fraction of a pound from last year, so I guess that's good. I'd prefer it to be 25 pounds less, but at least I haven't put on weight over the last year! All my other numbers were normal, so that's good.

I also wanted to talk to my doctor about my back pain. I've had upper back pain ever since I was a kid, and in 2007 I was diagnosed with mild scoliosis and arthritis. The arthritis has gotten worse over the years, even with my weight loss, and this past year, it's gotten to be the worst it's ever been. It's really starting to affect my day-to-day life. My doctor wants to do some x-rays and an MRI, and she also wants me to go to an orthopedist. Hopefully we can find out what's going on and get it under control. Geez, this past year has made me feel like I'm a hundred years old with all these bone issues! ;)

I just realized that Jerry's and my 12-year anniversary is coming up. It's on August 16th. We don't have any plans, and we don't usually do much to celebrate it, but I'm thinking I want to celebrate this year. We just went to NYC, using up Jerry's vacation time, so we really can't do a trip. I'll have to think about it. Any suggestions?

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A day at the County Fair

Yesterday was a looong day, and when I got home last night, I pretty much just crashed and didn't wake up until this morning.

The kids have been asking to go to the Monroe County Fair this year, and even though fairs are definitely not my thing, I felt like it was important to take them. The Fair is really big around here, but I actually hadn't gone since I was pregnant with Eli. All I remembered was walking around in the heat and seeing farm animals (Noah was too young and I was too pregnant for the rides). Interestingly, Jerry and I had NEVER gone to the Fair together, and we've been a couple since 1999. When I went in 2005, it was with a friend of mine who was pregnant, also.

Anyway, we decided to take the kids to the fair yesterday. Jerry was off work, and it happened to be $1/ride day (all rides were $1 each, where normally, they are $3-4 each!). Kendall met us there, because she's never been to the Fair and was curious to check it out. Nathan was working, unfortunately.

The kids were hungry, and even though my August goal is to not eat out, I figured the Fair was exempt from that--it's only here for a week of the entire year. I hadn't eaten lunch, so I should have been hungry, too, but something about walking around in the sun just made me not have an appetite (which is probably good, because there was SO MUCH JUNK FOOD). Eli got nachos, and Noah got a pulled pork sandwich. Then we headed over to the rides.

We learned at Cedar Point that the kids are kind of scared of rides, so I was glad to see they had a few familiar ones. The Scrambler (Eli's favorite ride) was the first one they went on. I stayed off to hold our stuff and to try and get some pictures. That ride is fast, and hard to get pictures!

The Himalaya was similar to a ride at Cedar Point, only it went forward and then backward as well. Eli was nervous because of it going backward, but we got in line for that next. Jerry and Kendall went on a different ride while I was waiting in line with the kids, and they weren't back in time for us to get on, so I ended up riding solo while Noah and Eli rode together. Since Eli was really nervous, I was a little worried about how it was going to go.

Jerry and Kendall got back just as the ride was starting, so Jerry managed to take pictures. The pictures are hilarious! Eli hated the ride, and the progression of the pictures make me laugh. First, everyone was all smiles, going forward:

Then it progressed to the Eli getting a little nervous while going backward:

And then when it was at top speed going backward, it was just sheer terror ;)

Even I was ready for it to be over when it was going backward really fast. I didn't realize how dizzy it would make me, and I'm just too old for that! After that, we chose a ride that looked nice and gentle, so the kids would (hopefully) enjoy it. You basically lay flat on your belly, while it takes you up and and around in circles, while gently going up and down. I rode with Eli, and Noah rode with Kendall, while Jerry held our stuff and took some pictures.

I loved this ride! It went pretty high, and both the kids didn't like it for that reason, but it ended up being my favorite ride of the day. I had promised Eli if he went on it with me, he could go play the pitching game afterward. It was $5 to throw three pitches!! A total ripoff, but I was proud of Eli for doing the rides, so I let him play it once.

We went on a few more rides, and ran into several people we knew, so we chatted with them. We were dying of thirst by that point, so we got some frozen Cokes to sip and walk around to look at the animals.

We walked through the barn with the goats, which are pretty much my favorite farm animal. They were so funny to watch, and the little ones were adorable.

I was getting completely fried in the sun, so it felt good to walk in the shade for a little bit. We were ready to head home by that point, so we decided to go on one final ride together as a group, and we chose the Scrambler. All of us love that ride, so Jerry rode with the boys, and Kendall and I rode together. I had no idea Jerry took this photo, but clearly I was having a blast ;) (I think this was actually before the ride started... our seatbelt wouldn't unbuckle, so the only way to get the seatbelt on was to step into it. Two adult women stepping into a seatbelt on a cozy ride was pretty funny!)

The whole day at the Fair totally changed my attitude about it! We had so much fun, and I will definitely look forward to going to next year's fair.

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Getting back outside!

I've been having a hard time sleeping lately for some reason, but I was sound asleep this morning when the phone rang at 6:17. I couldn't imagine who would be calling that early, but I fumbled around for the phone. I was furious when I saw the number on the caller ID:

I don't bank with Chase, and knew there would be absolutely no reason for them to call me. I have a very old credit card with them, but there is no balance on it and I haven't used it in forever. I answered the phone on the third ring, and there was that long, automated pause and then the line was disconnected.

I immediately called the number back, to insist they remove me from their calling list. After going through all the automated stuff, and being transferred twice, I finally explained what happened. The customer service rep looked at my account and said nobody had called me, and nobody had called me from there in months/years. That makes no sense, because 1) it was on my caller ID, and 2) I called the number back that showed up on the ID and it was, in fact, Chase!

After all that, there was no way I was going to be able to fall back asleep, so I decided to get up and do my run early... and outside. It was only 55 degrees outside, which is awesome for August running! I pushed aside my bird fear, and just hoped the birds would leave me alone today. I had speed work on the schedule: 6 x 800 meters (0.5 mile) at 5K pace. Hansons calls for a 0.25-mile recovery between intervals, but I just shortened it to 90 seconds. I feel like a quarter-mile walk is too much for a recovery. (Someone commented that I'm risking injury by changing the recovery part of the program; Hansons discusses the recovery on page 57, and it's totally acceptable to change it depending on the circumstances.)

For last week's speed work, I did 6.5 mph on the treadmill for three-minute intervals (that's about a 9:13/mile pace). Since I was running outside this morning, I knew my intervals wouldn't be as consistent in pace, but I was really curious about where my pace is at when running outside.

I stuck close to my house, avoiding the routes where the birds are usually the worst, and pushed myself to what felt like a decent pace on my intervals. After a 90-second warm-up walk, I pressed the "lap" button on my watch to start my first interval. I ran for about a quarter mile, and then glanced down--I realized I'd actually paused my Garmin instead of starting the interval! I was super bummed, because I had just run pretty hard. But I started the new interval right away, and just started from there. So my first interval was actually 0.75 miles, but my Garmin only shows 0.5.

I really tried to run at a pace that I felt I could maintain for a 5K, but not much more than a 5K. Basically, it was hard, but not puke-when-I'm-finished hard. I was thrilled when I was done and saw my splits! I had been a little worried that the treadmill was playing tricks on me, but my pace is definitely improving.

My half mile splits were: 4:52, 4:42, 4:33, 4:35, 4:26, 4:23 (pace of 9:44, 9:25, 9:07, 9:10, 8:53, 8:46). Having a couple of splits in the sub-9:00 pace was really motivating to me. I remember thinking that last week's speed work on the treadmill felt hard (running at a 9:13 pace), so I feel like I've made some progress. Making progress is fun! ;)

After showering and all that good stuff, the kids and I took Joey over to my brother's house to visit with his dogs. He was working, but Kendall (his girlfriend) was there. I can't remember if I mentioned this, but she moved in with him recently! Nathan had Bailey (a black lab) and Kendall had Tyke and Neela (two pit bulls), so they now have three dogs. Kendall is also dog-sitting her parents' poodle right now. And with Joey, that made FIVE dogs there to play! They all get along really well, and Nathan's yard is really big and fenced in, so the dogs had a blast wearing themselves out.

When we were getting ready to leave, Eli kept telling me to there was a bee's nest on the porch. I assumed it was like any other I've seen, so I didn't pay much attention. But when we were walking out, I finally noticed it... and holy cow, it was HUGE.

We had opened the door a few times, getting ready to go, and the bees (I think they were bees... they looked different from any I'd seen before) were all swarming all over the place. Once we got everyone back from the porch, and the bees calmed down, I took a quick picture. I've never seen a bee's nest that big before!

Noah has baseball tryouts tonight. I'm so nervous for him! It's a two-day tryout for a travel team that plays year-round. Yesterday was the first day, and he did really well. There are a LOT of good kids there though, so I'm not sure what his chances are of making the team. They are only going to take about 1/3 of the kids that try out. Of course, I don't mind if he doesn't make it--I'll just be sad for HIM. I don't want him to think that means he's not good! I think I'm more nervous than he is ;)

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Motivational Monday #116

Happy Motivational Monday! I hope your August has started out well. I made the goal to avoid eating out all month, because we spent way too much money on restaurants last month, and so far it's going well. Of course, we're only three days into the month ;)

I feel like this summer is just flying by. It's already time to start getting the kids' back to school supplies, and I feel like summer hasn't even "officially" begun yet. Even though my family hasn't had any major plans this summer, I feel like we've had a fun, active couple of months.

Anyway, here are a few motivating stories to start off your week! Enjoy :)

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Dana has officially hit her one year "fitiversary"! It was exactly a year ago that she started to make some healthy changes in her life, and she has made some amazing progress. Here are some of her stats that she is proud of:

Lost 69 pounds (nearly 25% of her body weight)!
Down four pants sizes!
Logged every single meal on MyFitnessPal for 365 days!
Went from running 2 minutes at a time to 22 minutes at a time... just since April!

Dana is feeling motivated and excited to take on the next 365 days as well.

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On Saturday, Rhonda ran the Crawfish Crawl in Tualatin, Oregon. The run is part of the city's crawfish festival, and they have a 5K, 10K, and Half-Marathon. It was a hot day, and about 80 degrees when she finished her race, but she finished! She actually wanted to write to say how proud she is of her husband, Jim--he completed his first 10K! The course is hilly, and the hills plus heat made for a tough race, but he did great. He finished with a smile on his face and placed second in his age division!

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Rachel had been running for a while now, but always either alone or with her husband. Recently, some new neighbors moved in, and the woman must have seen Rachel running, because she asked if she'd like a running partner once the kids were in school. Rachel agreed, but as it got closer, was a little nervous about it. They finally went for a run together, and it went great! They ran and chatted, and while Rachel was worried about being "slow", her neighbor was very friendly and assured her that she was fine with the way things were. They went again today, and completed three miles before breakfast! She says running with a buddy is pretty awesome, and she's proud that she tried it.

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Congratulations on some amazing accomplishments!!

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Double digits on the 'mill

Well, I did not end up doing my long run outside today like I'd hoped.

It's kind of strange, actually. Lately, I've had really bad anxiety about running outside. Ever since I was attacked by those two swallows, my stomach feels like it's in knots throughout my whole run. Even if the birds are past their defensive-attack stage, I'm constantly on edge.

My friend Hilary shared this video of a girl on a bike ride who gets dive-bombed by a bird (several times), and while the video is funny to watch, it's EXACTLY what I've been dealing with this year with the birds! (video source) I'm sure people are cracking up inside their homes when they see me freaking out during a run like this, haha.

I love when she screams, "Is it gone? Is it gone? IT'S NOT GONE!" That's pretty much exactly how I sound when birds do that to me, except I don't have a helmet on, and I am flailing my arms above my head while I run, haha. (The long version of this video shows that she drew fake eyes on her helmet to hopefully keep the birds away, which is why she's yelling, "The eyes don't work!").

Anyway, I watched this in bed this morning when I woke up, and I started feeling anxious about my run again. It seems like all of my routes have angry birds on them (except in the Metroparks or State Park, where I'm assuming the birds are used to having people around). So, the birds, plus the fact that it was really hot out today, made me decide that the treadmill was more appealing... even for 10 miles.

I increased my run portion once again--going from 4:00-run/0:30-walk to 5:00-run/0:30 walk. And since I felt so good during my run on Thursday, with the pace of 6.0 mph for my run, I figured I'd give that a try for my long run as well. If it felt too hard, I could always drop the pace a little.

At first, it actually did feel a little harder than I expected; but I decided to keep going, and hopefully I'd feel good enough to get through the whole thing at that pace. The miles seemed much longer today than they did last weekend, but somehow, I managed to finish. I stuck with the 6.0 mph for running and 4.0 mph for the walk breaks the entire run--that's a big improvement! I felt so happy when I was done.

I was messing around with my heart rate monitor strap toward the end of my run (I felt like it was chafing me) and I think that's what caused the big increase in heart rate during mile eight. The heart rate graph looked fine until that particular spot, when it increased a lot.

Anyway, I was very happy with how today's long run went!

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This afternoon, the kids asked if we could go to the parade downtown. The Monroe County Fair opened today, and there was a parade to celebrate. I'd never been to it, but the kids love parades (they hoped to get free candy), so we drove down there just before the parade started. I was thinking we'd have to stand in the sun, which I don't like to do, but one side of the street was totally shaded, thanks to the buildings, so we sat on a curb to watch.

I got teary eyed and choked up when I saw this go by:

They were World War II veterans, from the ages of 88 to 103 years old. I don't know why it made me emotional to see, but it was really fun to see them. I liked the float just behind it, too, where there were several people dressed up from the WWII era.

I liked seeing the Animal Control Shelter float, too, because they had pictures of lots of adoptable dogs. That's where we adopted Joey from, actually.

The parade went on much longer than I thought--about an hour--but the kids and I really enjoyed it. They got some candy, which thrilled them. It's such a small town that there wasn't anything too crazy to see, but it was a fun afternoon with the kids!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! If you have a photo you'd like to send in, here is the info for that. If I don't get many submissions, I may just hold off for a week or two. We'll see what happens!

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Running, new recipe, and August goal

Well, I didn't intend not to write for a couple of days, but it just turned out that way. On Thursday, I had a FANTASTIC run. I was scheduled for a Hansons tempo (different from any other tempo, in that it's supposed to be done just 10 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace--so it's a rather slow pace compared to a traditional tempo run). I don't have a goal race pace, however, so I wasn't sure what pace to run it; I just figured I'd push the pace a little faster than what my easy pace has been lately.

I also changed the run/walk ratio to 4:00-run and 0:30-walk. I'd like to keep increasing the running portion until I'm not doing walk breaks anymore. As much as I enjoy it, and I know it's good for avoiding injury, it's hard to plan social runs (unless someone is running the same run/walk ratio as me)--and I miss running with people! Anyway, I increased the running portions by a minute for Thursday's run to see how it felt.

I've really been enjoying the treadmill lately (thanks to One Tree Hill on Netflix!), so I chose the treadmill again. For the running portions, I started out with 5.9 mph, but at around mile 1.75, I decided to switch to 6.0 mph because I was feeling so good. I did the walk breaks at 4.0 mph. I felt amazing through the entire five miles!

The Garmin showed my pace as a little faster than what the treadmill reads (the foot pod needed recalibrating, which I did today).

My heart rate is still fairly low on the treadmill compared to outside. I always set the incline at 1%, but I may have to change it to 2% to get my heart rate up higher, but for right now, I'll just leave it until I get my endurance back.

I saw a post on Facebook yesterday advertising an 18-mile training run on August 30th for the Detroit Marathon. I have a 16-miler scheduled that day, but I decided to sign up for the training run anyway. I've never done a formal training run like that, and I think it'll be fun. It's on the marathon course (the U.S. side only), and I really love the Detroit Marathon course, so it'll be a nice change of scenery for my long run that day. I had to specify an approximate pace that I'd be running, and I said 11:00/mile. That's another reason I'd like to get back to running without walk breaks; during that training run, it would be nice to stay with a group (hopefully there are other people in that group! haha).

Yesterday was really nice outside, so Jerry, the kids, and I sat outside all afternoon. We opened up the big garage door that faces our backyard, and sat just inside the garage out of the sun, but still "outside", if that makes sense. Jerry brought the radio out to the garage, so we listened to music and had drinks (margaritas for Jerry and me, Shirley Temples for the kids). It was SO relaxing. Those are my favorite kinds of days during the summer!

I couldn't sleep for anything last night, and had a hard time getting myself to run this morning. But I have back-to-back longish runs on Saturdays and Sundays, which are the most important part of my training. Last week's runs were 8 and 8, but this week they are 6 and 10 miles. The weather would have been great for a run outside this morning, but considering I was so tired, I decided to do the treadmill again. I didn't want to fall apart three miles from home, so I watched Netflix and did a nice, easy pace. I used the same 4:00-run and 0:30-walk ratio as Thursday. I did the running portions at 5.7 mph and the walking portions at 4.0 mph.

If the weather is nice tomorrow (not too hot or humid) then I'll do my 10-miler outside. I've been on the treadmill all week, so I'm curious to see what my pace is outside.

For lunch today, I tried a new recipe from Forks Over Knives, called Green Chile Rice with Black Beans. I'd never actually bought a poblano chile before, so I was kind of excited (as nerdy as that sounds) to use a new-to-me ingredient.

It was pretty good! I was hoping it would be a little spicier, but it was very mild. I added some diced avocado on top, which made it even better. It's only 6 PointsPlus per serving (the bowl above was only about 3/4 of a serving, which was plenty).

I always used to come up with a goal for each month--just something small that had to do with food or exercise--and I'd like to start doing that again. Since today is August 1st, Jerry and I decided that we want to make a combined goal of no eating out all month. We ate out several times last month, and I was a little shocked when I saw how much money we spent on restaurant food! So, the goal is to eliminate restaurants from our budget this month. Anyone else want to set a goal for August?

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Active dates with friends

This morning, I woke up absolutely ravenous. It was one of those hungers that just made me want to eat an enormous, filling breakfast. I ended up making a bowl of oatmeal with a new combination of toppings: brown sugar, lots of blueberries, and some chopped almonds.

I don't know if it's just because I was so hungry, but it was one of the best bowls of oatmeal I'd ever had. And it was only 5 PointsPlus. I'm going to make this more often for sure.

Kendall, Nathan's girlfriend, asked me if I wanted to go for a bike ride today. She's doing the Tour de Troit with me in September, so we want to get some rides in together before that. Jerry had to work today, so I had to take the kids with us. The most the kids have ridden is 10 miles, so I hoped to go about 12 miles today (at a leisurely pace), depending on how they felt during the ride.

Kendall picked us up in Nathan's truck, so that we could put all four bikes in the back and drive to the Metropark. I was a little shocked when I stepped outside and felt how hot and humid it was! The windows of my house were actually foggy and dripping from the moisture in the air. We loaded up on sunscreen, and packed a lot of water to carry. We parked at the far south end of the Metropark, and then decided to do an out and back from there.

We let the kids set the pace, so it was pretty slow moving, but it felt nice to go for a leisurely ride. We were able to chat while we rode, and we stopped a few times for the kids to take a drink or check out the scenery. I meant to take a ton of pictures, and I just forgot! The first stop in the park, I snapped one pic--and that ended up being the only photo I took the entire ride. And it wasn't even a good picture. (You can actually kind of see the haze in the air...)

We rode to the neighborhood where I grew up (where I lived from birth until I was 15 years old). My aunt was outside gardening, so we stopped and chatted with her for a few minutes, and then rode down my old street so I could show Kendall the house where Nathan and I grew up in. We used that as our turn around point, and then headed back to the Metropark where the car was.

My dad was working at the park, so we stopped at the building where he works to say hi to him, and then rode the rest of the way to the car. I had forgotten to start/stop my Garmin a couple of times with our stops, so I don't have totally accurate data from my Garmin, but we probably rode about 13 miles total. Noah would have loved to do more, but Eli just wasn't having it. The heat had gotten even worse during the ride, and by the time we finished, the heat index was 103 degrees. It felt so good to be done! I'd promised the kids we'd go to Subway for lunch after the ride, so we headed there afterward.

Riding a bike in the heat isn't nearly as tough as running in the heat. It's nice because you have the breeze blowing in your face when you ride (I'm not fast enough of a runner to get much of a breeze, haha). The actual ride wasn't too bad; it was the stops when we were just standing in the sun that was tough. Noah really loved it, so I'd like to go for a ride with just the two of us soon, too.

Something Kendall and I talked about today was how we found it interesting that we actually choose to do something active with friends when we hang out (like our bike ride today). Six years ago, I never would have chosen a bike ride in the heat when we could have just gone out to lunch in an air conditioned restaurant. I never could understand why people would choose to do something active--because it just sounded so unappealing to me. Now, it's become so second-nature that I don't even really think twice about it. Go for a walk? Sure. Travel for a race? Count me in. Bike ride in the summer heat? Definitely. I still enjoy coffee/tea dates, or movie dates, and things like that; but active dates are just as appealing to me!

I'll end with this question: What are some of your favorite active ways to spend time with friends or family? I'd love some more ideas!

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First speed work in over eight months!

Yesterday was a cross training day, and I was thinking about taking the kids to the rec center to swim while I did a deep water run. I remembered that Noah had recently asked me to teach him to play tennis, so I figured I could do that instead and count it as my cross training for the day.

We grabbed some rackets and a ball, and then Noah, Eli, and I drove to a nearby park that has tennis courts. I hadn't played tennis since high school, so I had a hard time even remembering how to play! But we had a lot of fun just hitting the ball back and forth, and seeing how long we could keep it in play. It was a great workout--I was a little worried about my stress fracture, because of all the changes in direction, but I didn't have any trouble with it.

It was super humid, so we only stayed for about 40 minutes, but the kids loved it and said they wanted to come back again.

Yesterday evening, the kids and I walked (with Joey) to my parents' house. Joey loves to play in the lake, so we bring him over there sometimes to get his fix. I can't get over what a good dog he is! As soon as we get to their house, I let him off leash, and he's like a rocket straight for the lake. He doesn't have any interest in running away, and he just likes to be wherever we are. He played in the lake for a while, and then Eli was going to clean him off with the hose before we left.

It was SO cute. I thought Joey would run from the spray, but he did just he opposite. He chased after it and tried to eat the water coming out!

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I was nervous about my run this morning, because I haven't done speed work in SO LONG. I think the last time I actually ran my best was at a Thanksgiving 10K last year. On the schedule today was 8 x 600's at roughly-5K pace. I don't have a clue what my current 5K pace is, but if I had to guess, I would think 9:00-9:30 ish. Mentally, this was odd for me--to run speed work (600's) at a 9:15 pace? I'm used to doing speed work in the low 7:00's or even high 6:00's when I was in good shape. But, I'm basically starting all over from scratch, so I decided to try it before I declared it "too easy".

I learned that it definitely wasn't too easy. Instead of doing 600 meters (0.37 miles), I chose to go by time instead--3:00 running, and then walking 1:30 to recover between intervals. I figured it would be roughly the same distance, but it would be easier to keep track of. I walked a couple of minutes to warm up, and then set the treadmill at 6.5 mph (a 9:13/mi pace) and ran for three minutes. It was much tougher than I expected! I think if I was to run my hardest right now, I might be able to pull off a sub-9:00 mile, and just barely finish without dying.

I continued the 3:00/1:30 intervals, at 6.5 mph and 3.0 mph respectively. After 8 intervals, I felt good. I felt like I had worked hard, but not too hard, which is what the goal was. The Hansons plan has a specific window for speed work, and it's slower than what typical plans call for. If nothing else, running at a faster pace helped me to see where my fitness level is right now.

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Yesterday, Jerry, the kids, and I walked up to the store. When we paid, Jerry used his debit card, and it was declined. That was really odd, because I knew we had money in our account. The cashier ran it through twice, and both times it said declined. I felt a little panicked when we got home, and I looked up our account online. Nothing looked too unusual, other than a few authorization holds that were pending and I had no idea what they were (but again, not that unusual).

Today, Jerry called the bank to find out what was going on, and it turns out that while we were in New York, someone stole Jerry's debit card info, and yesterday, they had a little shopping spree in New York.  There was only ONE spot that we used the debit card while we were gone (we used cash everywhere else), so we know exactly where it was. It infuriates me that someone did that! I know it happens to people fairly often these days, but that's the first time we ever had an issue like that.

The bank flagged the card and froze our account when they saw some charges for hundreds of dollars in NY. We won't be responsible for those charges, but now we need new debit cards because we can't use ours. The cards take 14 days to get here, so we'll just have to start using cash only for a while--that's going to be hard to get used to, because I very rarely carry cash with me.

So, anyway, it's kind of a mess right now, but hopefully the bank will get it all sorted out soon. I found it pretty funny that a couple of the charges on the card were $60 for Burger King and $50 for Wendy's--who spends that much money on fast food in one day?! I also had to laugh at the irony... I was in NY to learn about financial security, and while I was there, my bank account info was hacked ;)

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Motivational Monday #115

Happy Motivational Monday! It's been a few weeks since the last MM post, so I apologize for that. The MM submissions have been getting more and more sporadic, so I may end up doing just one Motivational Monday post per month, instead of each week. I want to make sure you know that Motivational Monday is not just about HUGE accomplishments, like losing 100 pounds or running a marathon. It's meant to be a place where you can shamelessly brag about an accomplishment you've made, no matter how big or small it may seem.

I have not had a very good week on Weight Watchers, unfortunately. My pre-paid WW meetings ended on July 20th, and I actually haven't weighed in for two weeks! I should probably go back and pre-pay for another 12 weeks, just to keep myself from backsliding. I had made good progress, even though it didn't show up on the scale so much--my clothes were fitting much better, and was able to wear some things that I hadn't been able to in a while. I felt really good, so I don't want to lose that.

I just feel like I need to come up with a short-term reward for staying on track. That's how I've always been able to do it in the past: I think of a reward that I really want, but I don't allow myself to have it until I've been on track for two weeks, or a month, or something like that. I'll have to give it some thought today and hopefully come up with something!

Anyways, today is Motivational Monday, and there is nothing motivating about my being off track ;) Here are some motivating readers' stories to start your week!

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Kristina lost a lot of weight several years ago, but like me, she struggles with binge eating. She's been struggling with the same eight pounds, going up and down, and had a "screw it" mentality. Earlier this month, she went to a women's conference, and attended a workshop about healthy eating and living. It was a wake-up call for her, and she made a few changes that have been really helpful to her: 1) Drinking a green smoothie for breakfast; 2) No added/refined sugar; 3) No artificial sweetener; 4) No diet soda; and 5) No processed/boxed foods. She lost over five pounds the first week! Last week, she also went for a kayaking adventure with her mom--for 6 miles! She's feeling really good about the changes she's made.

(At the end of her email, Kristina added, "Thanks always for being an inspiration to keep pushing. I hope that someday, I can do the same for others." I found this so interesting, because it was SHE that inspired ME when I started to lose the weight! We started reading each other's blogs in probably about 2005-ish, and I loved seeing her progress photos as she dropped her weight. I was envious , and hoped I'd be able to do the same thing one day! So, Kristina, trust me when I say that you've already inspired people more than you know.)

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In January 2011, at 215 pounds, Katie was extremely unhappy with her appearance and fitness level. She began tracking her calories on My Fitness Pal, and being smarter with her portions while continuing to enjoy her favorite foods. Late that year, she started the Couch to 5K program, and was very winded after running just a quarter-mile--she didn't think she'd ever improve! She ran her first 5K in Spring 2012, then continued to lose weight and run more 5K's and even a 10K. In April of this year, she decided she was ready to train for a half-marathon. She and her boyfriend, Tarik, signed up for the Shipyard Old Port Half-Marathon in Portland, Maine. As they trained together, they even set a goal to finish the race under two hours. It was extremely hot on race day, and much tougher than she'd imagined it would be, but she ended up finishing in 1:58:50! She celebrated with a much-deserved ice cream cookie sandwich and a cold beer ;)

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Last Monday, Virginia was very proud of herself--she ran for a full 30 minutes straight! She usually does a run/walk method, and had worked her way up to a ratio of 8:00-run and 2:00 walk. That day, she decided to try to run the entire first mile, and she did! Then, instead of going back to the run/walk method, she wanted to go for the whole 30 minutes of running, just to see if she could. It wasn't easy in the New Orleans humidity, but she pushed through, and completed the full run! Virginia is now down 15.5 pounds with a combination of Weight Watchers and running--something else to be very proud of.

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Mara has dropped a total of 60 pounds, and she started run/walking in August 2014. She tries to do at least one race per month, but recently signed up for 7 races over 37 days! The first of those was June 27, when she ran her first 10K. She had a goal of 1:06:00, but the hilly course and stiff legs made that difficult, and she finished in 1:07:00. She was happy that she had managed to run 1.3 miles without a walk break! The following weekend, on July 4th, she ran a half-marathon relay--hers was the first leg, at 6.75 miles. She set a realistic goal of 1:12:00, and ended up finishing in 1:08:28! Even more exciting for her, she ran the first 4.15 miles without a single walk break, which more than doubled her previous best run distance.

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A huge congratulations to all of you that had a great week! I love reading these stories, because they certainly motivate ME :)

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My lucky day! (Grandma's Game)

This morning, I was much more compliant about getting my run done first thing when I woke up. I had plans for lunchtime, so I wanted to make sure to get my long run in this morning. I had eight miles on the schedule, which is the same as yesterday. The Hansons Marathon Method has two back to back longish runs on weekends instead of having one long run per week, which I found much more preparatory for marathon training.

I was a little concerned about how my legs would do, since my training has been minimal lately (per the Galloway training plan). I chose the treadmill again, considering the humidity outside was awful. Today, I bumped the speed up just a touch--for the 3:00-run portions, I did 5.8 mph; and then for the 0:30-walk portions, I did 4.0 mph. My run was pretty much identical to yesterday.

After my run, I took a quick shower and then ate breakfast. While I was on the treadmill, my run ended in the middle of a One Tree Hill episode, and I really wanted to finish it. I turned that on, and while I finished watching that, I decided to play a hand of my favorite solitaire game.

I've mentioned the game in my blog several times, because it really helps me to keep from binge eating sometimes. I like to play it with real cards (not digitally). I've been playing the game for over two decades, and I'd NEVER WON. Not once!

Well, apparently, today was my lucky day. I ACTUALLY WON. My heart was pounding toward the end, because I was doing so well, and I couldn't believe it when I actually won. My mom is the one who taught me the game, and she only won it one time (about 40 years ago). It's a really difficult game to win!

I was dying to tell someone, but nobody really cares(!) so I decided to make a video that I've been planning to do for a long time but just never got around to it. I made a video that explains how to play the game. It's a hard game to describe, and I never even knew what it was called until I wrote about it on my blog a couple of years ago (the closest game I can find to what my mom taught me is called Grandma's Game, or 13 Stacks).

Anyway, if you're into playing solitaire, here is a video that explains how to play. I wish it was a little closer up, but I hope that it's pretty explanatory.

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At 1:00, we had plans to meet up with Rik and his wife Cynthia for lunch. If you don't remember, Rik is my co-captain from my From Fat to Finish Line Ragnar team. They live in Wisconsin, but were passing through the area today to look at a car they were interested in buying. We made plans to meet at Public House, a local restaurant, for lunch. It was fun to get to chat with them!

Jerry and Rik made plans for Jerry to go to Wisconsin to visit soon. I often feel guilty that I get to travel sometimes for blogging, so I encourage Jerry to go on some solo trips to have fun, too. I know he'll have a lot of fun hanging out with Rik!

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Tomorrow is Motivational Monday! It's been a few weeks, but I will definitely have a post tomorrow. If you have a submission, please get it to me by tomorrow morning. Here's how. :)

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