MRI experience

Well, the first day of calorie counting went smoothly! Several people suggested using My Fitness Pal, which I am familiar with--I've used that and SparkPeople to count calories in the past. My heart kind of lies with SparkPeople, because it kept me motivated while I was losing the weight in 2009-2010. However, for this whole first week of calorie counting, I'm going to use both apps and decide which I like better.

I am super bummed, though. SparkPeople apparently made another app called Pep, which is kind of like Instagram for fitness/weight loss. I thought it would be fun to try, and I noticed that all of my SparkPeople "friends" were automatically added to my "following" list on the Pep app. I had over 6,000 "friends" on Spark (I always just added everyone who added me), which is way too many people to actually follow (I like to keep my social media lists manageable, so I don't miss things).

I spent FOREVER going through and clicking "unfollow" to all 6,000-something people, leaving just the 40 or so that I know in real life or through my blog. (They don't have a "check all" button, unfortunately). I noticed when I signed into SparkPeople on my computer, all those people were deleted as my friends on Spark as well! I didn't want to do that--I just didn't want to see 6,000 people on my Pep newsfeed.

I didn't care for the Pep app, so now I have to go back and manually re-add all of the people I accidentally deleted. (If someone from SparkPeople is reading this, PLEASE add a "select all" button to the friend feed... thanks).

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I went for my MRI today. On Monday, I had the x-rays done of my back. The results of the x-rays were already uploaded to my chart that same night--again, I love being able to see my chart online! They said exactly what I expected: I have mild scoliosis and degeneration in the middle of the thoracic section of my spine. That's exactly where my pain is (right where my bra strap is on my back).

I was really nervous for the MRI. I wasn't sure if I'd ever had one (the memories of my night in the ER from when I broke my jaw are fuzzy... I think I had a CT scan, but not an MRI). Anyway, I'm a little claustrophobic, but not enough to where I thought I'd need anti-anxiety meds or anything. They had me change out of all of my clothes and into a hospital gown.

When I got in the room, I was relieved to see that they had an "open MRI" machine--instead of being very tubular, the sides are more open so it's not as claustrophobic.

Photo source

When I saw it, I felt much more relaxed. I had to lie flat on the little table, and then they started putting sponges (padding) around me (under my knees, under my arms, around my head, etc.). I was told that I'd be under the machine for about 30 minutes, then they'd pull me out and inject a contrast material into my arm, and then put me back under for another 20 minutes.

When they slid the table under the machine, I was taken aback at how low the ceiling of it was. I was surprised my eyelashes weren't brushing against it, because it was so close to my face. Suddenly, it didn't seem so "open" anymore (everywhere I looked, all I could see was the ceiling of the machine). I decided to just close my eyes through the whole thing, and hopefully I would forget that it was such a tight space.

When I read about MRI's recently, it kind of freaked me out--somehow, the magnets make all the protons in your body line up in the same direction. Then radio waves knock the protons out of alignment. When the protons realign, they send out some sort of radio waves, which eventually produces images of the body. I read that you don't feel anything, but I kept expecting to feel something crazy as the protons did their aligning and realigning. Haha! It sounds kind of crazy, though, right? I kind of wished I hadn't read about it.

Anyway, there was an intercom where the technologist performing the scan could talk to me and hear me if I talked. I was also given a button to press in case I panicked or something. Before each photo scan, the tech told me how long it would take. The first was three minutes, and then they kept getting longer until the last one was six minutes. I didn't feel anything--I just had to lie extremely still, and there was a loud noise that sounded like a jackhammer during each scan (I was given earplugs to wear).

After several scans, the tech pulled me out and then injected the contrast into my arm. Again, I expected to feel something with the contrast, but I didn't feel anything at all. He slid me back under the machine, and did round two. By the end, my head, neck, and back were sore from being in the same position for so long. It felt awesome to sit up after it was over.

I was given a disc with the scans on it... I wish I had a disc drive on my computer so I could see them! (Not that I would know what I was really looking at). The results should be uploaded in a couple of days. I'm really curious to see what's been going on and why my back pain has gotten so bad lately. My next step is to see a orthopedist who specializes in back pain. The earliest I can get in is September 16th. I'm not sure what they can do, because my scoliosis is mild (I don't need surgery for it or anything). But I'm getting ahead of myself... we'll see what my doctor says.

When I left my appointment, I was starving. The appointment was at 11:15, and by the time I got out of there, it was 12:45 (I usually eat lunch at 11:00 or 12:00). I should have brought something to eat when I was done, but I didn't think of it when I left the house. Anyway, with a half-hour drive home, I decided to swing through McDonald's and get something quickly (yes, even though I'm trying to avoid eating out this month).

It's interesting how counting calories instead of PointsPlus affects my decisions. I don't eat at McDonald's often, but if I do, my favorite sandwiches are either a Big Mac or a Filet O Fish. The Big Mac is pretty much out of the question, unless I did a long run or something that day, because it's 14 PointsPlus. The Filet O Fish is 10 PointsPlus, which is still generally much more than I would spend on lunch.

While counting calories, though, I saw that the Filet O Fish was 380--that's not too bad for a lunch. (I'm not saying it's a healthy lunch--just saying that spending 380 calories for lunch sounded like a good number). So, I ordered it--and it was delicious! I can't remember the last time I ate one. I counted the calories for it, and it fit nicely into my day.

One of the other things I've already noticed is that a lot of restaurants these days list the calories in their items right on the menu, which makes it so much easier to decide what to order--I always hated having to look up PointsPlus on anything I was interested in before deciding. It was very time consuming. Seeing the calories right there on the menu is nice.

I think the most time-consuming part about counting calories is probably calculating the calories in a recipe. Thankfully, I already have most of my favorite recipes saved in SparkPeople, so I won't have to do that again. I remember spending a lot of time entering them, though! One of the features on My Fitness Pal that I discovered and I think is awesome is that you don't have to type in all the ingredients from a recipe that's online--you can just plug in the webpage of the recipe, and MFP will automatically detect the ingredients. I was amazed! One of the biggest drawbacks to SparkPeople is that you can't log a recipe that you have entered (you can do it on the website, but not on the app). I'm enjoying comparing the two apps, so I'll write my findings once I do it for a week or so.

Anyway, the first day of counting calories was successful, and I'm feeling motivated and excited about doing it--which is exactly what I was looking for! Thanks so much for the kind comments and suggestions on yesterday's post. I love that I can write such personal things on my blog and not feel judged. Good luck to those of you who are going to take on this six-week challenge with me! Make sure you keep me updated on how it's going for you as well :)

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Shifting weight loss gears

It's August, and this month has a special meaning to me. The anniversary of the start of my weight loss journey is coming up--on August 19th, 2009, I saw 253 pounds on the scale, and that is the day I started losing the weight. A week from tomorrow will be SIX YEARS since that day! I cannot believe it was so long ago; but then again, it feels like another lifetime.

253 pounds (size 24) versus 133 pounds (size 4)

Anyway, the anniversary is bittersweet for me. I have successfully kept off most of the weight I lost, and I'm a much healthier person than I was back then. On the other hand, I'm not where I'd like to be. I'm always striving to get back to my official goal weight of 133, but I think my "happy weight" is anything under 143. Once I hit 143, my clothes get uncomfortably tight, and I just don't feel comfortable in my own skin.

Right now, at 156, I am not happy with my body. Yes, I am a thousand times happier with my body than I was six years ago; but I know I will feel much better if I lose 10-20 pounds.

A recent full-body shot: 156 pounds (size 8)

This same thing happened in 2012--on September 10, 2012, I joined Weight Watchers again because my weight had reached 156. I did great with the program, and reached my goal weight of 133 on December 12, 2012. Here is a "before and after" from the 2012 weight loss with Weight Watchers:

August 2012 and November 2012 (those last
10-20 pounds make a big difference)

If you've read my blog, you know the rest of the story: I maintained 130-135 for an entire year. After Mark died in March 2014 is when I really started the emotional eating again, and I gained back the weight I'd taken off in 2012. I've been struggling ever since to stay committed long enough to get back to goal.

[Side note]: I'm not happy to see that I'm back to where I started in 2012; but, I still don't consider myself a "failure". I've kept off a huge chunk of weight for a long time now! Recently, a reader pointed out to me that I am too hard on myself sometimes, and that lots of people would love to have my body as it is now. I never really thought of that, but that comment was eye-opening for me. It's true: when I first started losing weight, my "happy weight" was 185; and I would have KILLED to be under 160! At that time, I had no idea that it was even possible for me to see a number less than that.

Then at 253 versus now at 156

What I'm getting at is that I know I am definitely too hard on myself sometimes, and I'd like to try to stop that attitude. I tend to focus on my flaws, which will make me feel bad about myself no matter what. I want to lose the weight because I know I looked better and felt better at a lower weight; but at the same time, I do look good now. I think I'm pretty, actually (something that's hard to say out loud no matter what my weight is). And according to all the numbers at my recent physical, I am healthy. Dropping the extra weight would just be a nice bonus.

Sorry--these thoughts are all over the place, and I almost can't type them fast enough! Thinking about how well I did in 2012 has been really motivating me to do it again--giving it 100% effort, like I did before. The problem is, I'm getting burned out on Weight Watchers. In 2012, I started the new WW program, and it was refreshing to me! But now that I've been doing it on and off for three years, I really feel like I want a change.

Last year, I experimented with intuitive eating. It worked well for maintaining my weight, but I wasn't able to lose weight doing it. I think I do much better with structure...which leads me to calorie counting. I've done it in the past with SparkPeople, and it works just as well as Weight Watchers did. And it's really the same concept (eating less food); it would just be a new, refreshing way for me to hopefully lose this weight.

SparkPeople recommends that I eat 1200-1550 calories per day. I know from past experiences that I have to eat on the higher end of that--more like 1500-1800--to be happy and not feel deprived. On the days that I exercise, I'll add some extra calories, too.

Since I like to set goals and challenges for myself, I'd like to challenge myself to give the calorie counting 100% effort for six weeks. After that, I can reevaluate and see how I like it and how it's working. But for now, I'll focus on the next six weeks. I'd really love to drop 10 pounds before the marathon in October, which is about 9 weeks away. And I'd be over the moon to be back at my goal weight in 2015. The weight doesn't come off as quickly as it used to, but all I can do is my best effort and see what happens!

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Motivational Monday #117 (Jared's story)

Happy Motivational Monday, Friends! I am now exhausted after a super busy and fun weekend. Last night, I took the red eye flight from Portland back to Detroit--I left Portland at 11:00 PM and arrived in Detroit at 6:00 AM. It felt like I just completely missed an entire night. I was in the very back of the plane in a middle seat, and it was impossible to sleep. It feels so odd to me that I got home this morning and not last night. My internal clock is so messed up right now! The weekend was totally worth it, though ;)

Anyway, I have a very special story to share for Motivational Monday today. I was going to include this on the typical MM post, but there is just so much to tell, I felt it deserved a post of its own. Do you remember Jared, the young blind man that my parents hosted while he visited from Tennessee? He was a pleasure to chat with when I met him, and he said he was inspired by my weight loss. I was delighted to get some email updates from him telling me that he's been working hard on his healthy lifestyle. I'm so impressed with all he has done! Here is his story, in his words (with his permission), from his emails...

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"Hey Katie,

     It's Jared Jackson! You know, that chunky blind redneck from Tennessee? How's it going? I was just writing to tell you about my progress thus far with my weight loss. On February 22, I started walking for exercise. I'd not done so previously, due to getting horrible pains in my lower back after a hundred yards or so. I thought it might have been due to my wearing shoes that are at least four years old.

I asked my parents (with whom I currently live) for months, now if they'd consider taking me out to Subway at least once a day to start the Jared Fogle Subway diet, but they really didn't want to do that due to it being a hassle. So, I used some of the knowledge I'd picked up from having had a personal trainer friend give me some pointers, and from watching the Biggest Loser. "If you can't walk very far, then do what you can, but try to go farther each time."

     I also knew that if this plan had any hope of getting up off the ground, and not crashing shortly afterward, I wouldn't be doing this walking outside in my neighborhood because I'd find every excuse to not get out to do it--the weather, traffic, the hills, etc..  Well, for some time, my mother (who's also a very indoorsy sort of person) started walking in our house.

We have a condo with a connected kitchen, dining room, living room, and two hallways. It's flat, climate controlled, I can stop to get a drink or use the bathroom if I need to do so, etc..  So, as dumb as that looked to do, and seemingly unlike exercise, I tried it. I walked it in my house shoes to start, due to my tennis shoes hurting too much, and I only got in thirty laps before my back started hurting. After measuring, I found out that one lap was approximately 48 feet, and it would take 110 laps to do one mile. I couldn't walk much more than a quarter of a mile.

 But I've stuck to it, and continually increased my sets of laps, and then my number of laps per set (as my trainer friend says, "frequency before intensity"). In less than two months, I've gone from that tiny 30 laps a day to walking two sets of 220 laps (2 miles). So, I'm walking 4 miles a day, and ready to increase that soon. Oh, I'm also back into walking in my tennis shoes which weren't the problem; it was my being too overweight.  It took destroying a brand new pair of house shoes to get to here, but it's been worth it.

With some help from my Mom, I also diagnosed what it took to make the Subway diet sandwiches at home, and have done so with pretty good accuracy. My weight loss diet consists of a multigrain cereal, a small cup of 100 calorie yogurt, and some orange juice for breakfast; a low sodium turkey breast sandwich on flatbread for lunch; and a veggie flatbread sandwich with cheese for supper.  I sometimes have a stevia drink mix with water, or even the OCCASIONAL cookie.

On weekends, I keep my breakfasts and lunches the same, but will somewhat splurge for suppers. This does NOT mean that I'm "pigging out". I'll eat some of what I'd normally eat, but in smaller portions, and that's only if it's something I really want. This convinces my little, sick mind that I'm not being deprived.

With all of this being put to use, I've lost 70 POUNDS in 23 weeks. I have walked over 650 miles, and all of the walking has been in my house. I just thought you'd like to hear about this, and know that you helped inspire me to do so. Thanks, again for that. Please, pray for me that I'll be able to continue this diet and exercise. I've already had to exercise through a blood blister and a foot injury to follow. I'm working my way up to going to the gym. Have a good 'n'!"

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Jared sent me another update this week to say that he just recently has been able to see a little more than the "black and white blobs" that he was able to make out after his second surgery (the doctors told him he'd never see more than those blobs):

"Last week, I was able to see the freckly pattern of my wonderful (he said facetiously), mottled, Scotch/Irish/English/German skin on my legs. Though this might sound like kind of a bizarre and ridiculous thing to get excited over, to me, it's yet another example of God's wonderful mercy, grace, blessings, and providence in my life." 

I find Jared's story incredibly inspiring, and as proof that there truly are NO EXCUSES. He has found his way past so many obstacles, and he is now well on his way to a very healthy body and life. I will update on Jared's story again as he continues all of his hard work!

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Last-minute weekend trip!

A few weeks ago, my younger brother, Nathan, told me that he was going to Washington for work. He doesn't usually travel for his job, but this was an awesome opportunity. He'd never been to the Pacific Northwest, so when I heard he was going to be out that way, I told him he should try to drive down to Portland on his weekend off (August 7-9). When I was in Portland in March, I absolutely fell in love with it!

Later, my older brother, Brian, was talking about a big work trip he had coming up. He's a Delta pilot, and his trip was going to be 14 days flying back and forth from Japan to Hawaii (with layovers in each). I knew his Japan trips usually originate in Portland, so when I asked, he said yes--he would be going to Portland first to start the trip. He would be flying to Portland August 7th.

I couldn't believe the coincidence that BOTH of my brothers were going to be in my very favorite city at the same time! Brian knows I adore Portland, so he said that he'd give me a buddy pass if I wanted to try and fly out there at the last minute to meet up with him and Nathan. It wasn't an ideal weekend for me to go, because Jerry had to work all weekend (otherwise, it would have been awesome for him to come with me), but my mom said she'd take care of the kids.

The last time I tried to use a buddy pass (to go to Phoenix to visit my friend Sarah), the plane was too full and I wasn't able to get on the flight. I was really skeptical about making it to Portland, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to hang out with both my brothers there. Brian listed me on a flight that connected through Minneapolis, and then he and his wife, Becky, would join me on the flight to Portland. It would be so fun if it worked out!

So, Friday morning, I actually made the 7:25 am flight to Minneapolis. The flight was wide open--there were actually about 30 empty seats on the plane, even after all the stand-by people got on. I get nervous about stand-by because you don't get to choose your seat, and I hate sitting in the back of the plane. I always prefer a window seat as close to the front as possible. Anyway, I wound up in a window seat of an exit row, which meant I had a ton of legroom. And the seat next to me was empty. Score!

Once in Minneapolis, I had a long walk to the gate for the connection to Portland. Brian had told me there were 12 open seats, and I was #11 on the list... so I was nervous I wouldn't make the connection! I saw Becky and Brian waiting at the gate, and we stood around waiting to see if Becky and I were cleared on the stand-by list. Finally, we got seat assignments, and then it became a reality--I was going to Portland for the weekend!

They assigned me the very last seat on the plane (and this particular plane had the engines in the back, so it was an extremely loud place to sit). Becky was assigned a few rows ahead of me, so she offered to switch me. After we sat, the flight attendant asked if I'd like to sit with my friend (Becky), so she asked the woman next to Becky in the back if she'd like to switch. We did. I was terrified to be sitting in the back, but a little more comforting to have Becky with me.

A couple of minutes later, the flight attendant came back to us and said there were a couple of open seats together about 10 rows up, and asked if we wanted to move out of the super loud seats. That was a relief! Finally, we took off for Portland. Brian was sitting in the Delta Comfort+ section, and there were a couple of empty seats next to him. Apparently, he asked the flight attendant if Becky and I could move up there, so after take-off, that's what we did. Delta Comfort+ has more legroom, free drinks, premium snacks, etc. So I ended up going from the back of the plane to the Comfort+ section, which was awesome.

Anyway, we made it to Portland, and it's been a gorgeous weekend!! There is way too much to write about, but here are some of the highlights:

While we waited for Nathan to drive in, Brian, Becky, and I went to a Beer/Food/Wine Festival on next to the river. It was a gorgeous day for it.

Once Nathan arrived, we stopped and had a drink while we waited to go to dinner.

We headed to Killer Burger for dinner, where we met up with Thomas and Libby. There was a Timbers game that night, so after dinner, we went there to watch the game. The Timbers won, so that was exciting.

I wanted to stick with my running schedule while I was here, so I did a long run on Saturday morning. I would have loved for Nathan to run with me, but he wanted to do trail running, so he drove to Forest Park for his 26-miler(!) and I just started my 10-miler in downtown Portland next to the river. I planned an out-and-back route that went across the river and along a path that led to a park, then went a couple of miles into the park before turning around to head back.

I'd forgotten to bring my handheld water bottle, but I had a small bottle of water from the plane that I brought with me. I hoped there would be water fountains along the way that I could just refill as needed. My stomach was not feeling good (no doubt because of the beer I drank the day before), but I just tried to enjoy the scenery and be happy I was running in Portland.

My mind was just blown at how many people were out running or bike riding or walking. There were HUNDREDS of people along my route! It was honestly like running in a race, because there were that many people around. I've never seen anything like that before. I got a little confused at one point as to which direction to take, and before I could even pull up Google Maps on my phone, a man on a bike stopped to ask if I needed help. I learned he was from Michigan, too, so we chatted for a few minutes and he explained where I needed to go.

I passed one water fountain at around mile two, but I hadn't even started drinking my water yet. By mile five, I was really thirsty, but I hadn't passed any other fountains, so I started trying to ration my water. I was dying of thirst by mile six, and I just kept hoping to make it to the fire station, where I remembered the water fountain.

My run wasn't going well at all. My pace was slipping more and more. During mile six, I even switched my running intervals around (they were 5:00-run and 0:30-walk). I switched them to 3:00-run and 1:00-walk, but I was still struggling. When I finally made it to the water fountain (mile eight), I nearly cried with relief. I chugged down three bottles of water, and then just sat down for about 20 minutes.

I had been hoping to do 10 miles, but I thought I'd better just take a shortcut back to the hotel, which was a mile away. I started running up a bridge to take me across the river, and got really nauseous. I knew chugging all the water at once was a bad idea, but I was so thirsty I couldn't help it. I stopped on the bridge to hopefully let my stomach settle, and I took a couple of pictures.

Then when I tried running again, the nausea came back. Ugh. I decided just to walk the rest of the way to the hotel. Brian and Becky had to leave for Japan that afternoon, so I wanted to hang out with them a bit anyway before they left.

So, my run wasn't a success, but it wasn't a total failure. I was technically only scheduled for 6 miles Saturday and 10 on Sunday (I was just going to flip them around). Since I wasn't going to leave until Sunday evening, I decided to go ahead and try again on Sunday morning. I asked Thomas if he knew of a route I could do around here for 10 miles, and he actually offered to come with me on his bike. That sounded great, because then he could carry water for me ;)

The run went MUCH better than Saturday's! I got in all 10 miles (at a relatively slow pace, but I wasn't worried about that). The scenery was beautiful, and I had my BFF's company (and drill sergeant attitude when I wanted to quit early, haha), and it was all-around a good run. It was SUPER hot outside, but I'm glad I toughed it out. Nathan had to run 10 miles today, too, but he wanted to do trail running, so I'll meet back up with him in a little while. Then, sadly, it's time to head back to Michigan.

It's been a super fun weekend, and I'm so glad that it all worked out the way it did! Other than the beer on Friday, I did pretty well with my eating. Even though I ate some not-so-healthy stuff, I didn't eat too much and felt good about my choices. Last time I was here, I used the same strategy and I didn't gain anything, so I hope that's the case this time, too. We'll see ;)

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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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