Week 9 Weigh-in

I just have time for a quick weigh-in/recap of the week. As I mentioned yesterday, I saw a very nice surprise on the scale:

Hello 130's!! It has been WAY too long since I've seen the 130's (I think it was right around the time Mark was sick, so, going on two years). I was 139.5 this morning, so I am down 2 pounds this week. That surprised me, considering I just lost one pound last week; I really thought it was going to slow down, now that I'm so close to goal. But whatever happened, I'll take it! ;)

My body fat was 25.0%, so that was down by 0.7% from last week. And my waist was 26.25 inches, so that was down by 1/4-inch from last week.

I didn't do anything different this week--just the same calorie counting routine I've done for the last nine weeks. One thing I noticed is that I didn't feel the need to "drop a quick few pounds" before my boudoir shoot. I ate the same as always the day before and the day of my shoot, and it was relaxing not to have to stress over it. If I hadn't dropped weight over the past couple of months, I'm sure I would have had much more anxiety going into the photo shoot.

I tried on all of my "too small" jeans again yesterday, and was able to fit into a couple more. Now, I think I just have about five pairs that I need to be at goal to wear. I also tried on several pairs that I'd been avoiding wearing because they'd gotten too big. That's such a great feeling! I was able to get rid of eight pairs that were too big to wear. I really need to go through all the shirts in my closet, too, but I'll save that for another day!

Anyway, like I mentioned yesterday, I'm not sure how much I'll be writing between now and Monday. Is anyone going to the Detroit Marathon/Half-Marathon on Sunday? Jerry and I will be there, walking the International Half. Good luck if you're racing this weekend!

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Running improvements

A few weeks ago, I felt SO sure I was getting sick. My throat was sore, I had a headache, and just felt kind of "off". I never did get sick, which is awesome. But yesterday, I started feeling those symptoms again. I really don't want to be sick this weekend! I hope it's just another false alarm.

For a while yesterday, I kept thinking I was feeling bad because of my run. I ran three miles in the morning, and I pushed the pace a bit for the last mile. I ran the first mile in 9:36, and my throat was a little dry and sore--I just assumed it was from the running. I was hoping to do negative splits, so I tried to hold that pace, and finished the second mile in 9:35. Then, the last mile, I was aiming for 9:20 or faster. With about 0.15 mile left, I saw that my pace was 9:10/mi, so I decided to push it and try to hit a sub-9:00.

When the Garmin beeped, I looked down, feeling hopeful--it said 9:02.5. So close! I'm sure if I went out with the intention of running a sub-9:00, I could do it right now. I never would have said that three months ago!

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At yesterday's cross country practice, I wanted to try a new game. It's been hard to keep thinking up new ways to keep the kids interested in running! I ended up dividing them into relay teams of 5 or 6. Then I ran about 100 meters away from the teams, and held a deck of memory cards. (I bought the cards at the dollar store--they each have an animal on them, and there is a match for each card.)

The idea was for the kids to run (relay style) to me, and take a card, then run the card back to their team. Then the next runner would run and grab a card, and bring it back to the team. And so on, until all the cards were gone. The object was to see which team could get the most matches (and obviously, the faster you run, the more cards your team can collect). Some of it was luck (not knowing which card they were going to get), but the kids really loved playing!

I still have a couple of puzzles that I was planning to do something similar with. Maybe have them run up the hill to get a puzzle piece, then run it back down to their team, relay style. Whichever team gets their puzzle together first, wins. It's been really windy, though, so that may not work well ;)

Today at practice, we did a time trial identical to the one we did on the first day of practice. On that first day, I told them to run one loop of the park (0.38 miles) as fast as they could; and then I marked down their times. Today, they did the same thing. I marked their times again, and calculated the improvement. All but two kids improved their time! Our fastest runner (Renee's son, Ben) shaved off four seconds, which doesn't sound like much, but considering he's so fast, that is a great improvement for just four weeks. One of the girls shaved off over two whole minutes!

I've been thinking about how much I love coaching, and I decided I want to continue to coach some of the kids through the winter. I think I'll invite about ten of the kids (the ones who take it a little more seriously and actually enjoy the running part, haha) to continue to meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to practice. Renee said she'd definitely be interested in continuing as well. I think it would be a good way for me to get out and be active during the winter, too--I can do my runs at the same time as the kids.

Anyway, I've got a super busy week ahead of me. Tomorrow, I'll definitely post my weigh-in, but I'm not sure how much I'll be posting between Thursday and Monday. I'm excited about my weigh-in tomorrow, because I had a nice surprise on the scale today ;)

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Motivational Monday #124

Happy Motivational Monday! It has been a fantastic (although very busy) week for me. I had an amazing boudoir photo shoot, and rode the Bike the Bridge in Detroit. I'm still doing well with calorie counting, but the weight loss is definitely slowing as I get so close to goal. This week is going to be tough for me, because Thomas will be in town, so we want to take him to some of our favorite restaurants. I'm just going to have to pick and choose what to splurge on and what I'm okay without. I'll be happy if I can just maintain my weight all next weekend.

Anyway, here are some inspiring stories for Motivational Monday!

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In 2012, at age 27, Hannah was told by her doctors that she had just SIX WEEKS to live. She was diagnosed with esophageal cancer, and felt like the entire world just stopped spinning. She went through intensive chemotherapy, and endured nine weeks of it before her surgeon performed a major operation--removing most of her stomach and her esophagus. She then went through another nine weeks of chemotherapy. She started working out again when her doctors gave her the okay, and even started training with a local triathlon club. Three years later, she has done things that she thought were impossible: she's completed a duathlon, a triathlon, turned 30 years old, and last weekend, she completed her first half-marathon! She finished in 2:31, well under her goal of 2:45, and raised money for the cancer hospital she went to for chemo, The Beatson in Glasgow, U.K.

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In January of this year, Taryn sustained a life-altering injury when she dislocated her knee, tearing the main artery supplying blood to her lower leg. It took almost 12 hours to get the blood flowing back to her leg--she had lost half her blood volume, her kidneys shut down, she nearly lost her leg, and even worse, was close to dying. She spent over two months in the hospital (four days in the ICU, four weeks of complete bed rest, and six weeks total with the metal rod (in photo) in place. She took her first post-injury steps on March 3, which happened to be her birthday. This week, she is proud to say that she has returned to the gym, and is now working with a trainer to get her strength back up. She's counting calories, and the weight is starting to go down. Her doctors predicted she'd be out of work for a minimum of a year, but she's going back at the end of this month, less than 10 months after her accident. She's worked very hard to get to the place she's at now, and she is proud that she hasn't given up on herself!

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Phyllis is a runner, and in 2006, completed a half-marathon (which would be her last for several years). She was side-lined from running due to sciatica, but she took a couple of years to get well. In November 2014, she ran another half-marathon, which sparked a new goal. She decided that she wanted to run a half-marathon each month for a year. Yesterday, Phyllis completed her 12th half-marathon in 12 months! Most of the races were in Florida, but she even traveled to Chicago and Atlanta to race. She turned 50 in May, so she is proudly celebrating these accomplishments!

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Andréa just completed her first 5K race! She is on a journey to lose over 100 pounds, and has already lost 58. She started walking four months ago, and could barely finish a mile in 30 minutes. On Saturday, she finished her 5K in 51 minutes, including a speedy 16:03 mile (a personal best for her)! That sort of improvement is impressive alone, but she was also pushing her three-year old in a stroller during the race. (Andréa blogs at The Girl Behind the Mask)

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As always, I am super inspired by your stories, ladies! Congratulations on your accomplishments!

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Bike the Bridge ride report

Last month, after I wasn't able to finish the Tour de Troit due to flat tires, I really wanted to find another group bike ride. I loved the Tour de Troit until I got the flat tires. I saw that the Tour de Troit was actually hosting another ride called Bike the Bridge, where you get to ride over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada, then back across to the States, and then go for a 20-mile bike ride in Detroit. Jerry and I signed up for it, and then I taught myself how to change out bike tire tubes so I would be prepared in case I got a flat.

A few days ago, Jerry found out that he had to work today--mandatory overtime, unless someone would pick up his shift. He asked everyone, and nobody wanted to pick it up. Yesterday, I wasn't even sure that I was going to go to the ride today--I really didn't want to go alone. I would have had to drive all the way up to Detroit at 6:30 a.m. by myself, and then ride the 25-ish miles alone, and that just didn't sound fun to me.

Last night, in the eleventh hour, Jerry's friend Steve told him he'd pick up Jerry's shift. I was so glad! I really wanted to do this ride, and I just kept debating whether I should go alone or not. The email we got from the ride organizers said to be there at 7:00 a.m. sharp for packet pick-up, so we left at 6:20 just to be safe. We dropped the kids off at my parents' house, and then made it to packet pick-up at 7:00 sharp.

Packet pick-up was in the parking lot of a restaurant in Mexicantown, and even at 7:00 in the morning, the air smelled like delicious Mexican food. We picked up our packets (a t-shirt and bib), and then we had TWO HOURS to kill before the ride would start. I have no idea why they said to be there at "7:00 sharp". We went back to the car to hang out for a while, because it was cold outside. The t-shirts we got are really simple, but I love them!

At around 7:45, we walked to a little coffee shop to sit and wait. They are normally closed on Sundays, but they were open today because of the ride, and there were a lot of cyclists in there. At 8:30, we unloaded the bikes from the back of the Jeep, and then made our way to the starting line. The ride started at 9:00, and a police car escorted the pack of cyclists to the bridge, which wasn't very far away (maybe a mile).

I climbed the bridge on foot in 2012 when I ran the Detroit Marathon, but I was actually pretty nervous to do it on a bike. I've never practiced hills on a bike before, because we just don't have any around here. Thankfully, it wasn't that hard!

I was huffing and puffing a little by the time we got to the top, but I didn't have to stop, or walk my bike, or anything like that. We stopped for a quick picture on the bridge (we picked a bad spot to stop, because there was a big pole in the way of the view):

Once we got onto the Canadian side, we had to stop and wait for everyone to cross the bridge. We stood there for about 15 minutes, waiting for everyone to get across, and then the police escorted us back across the bridge to the United States side. Riding the bridge ended up being my favorite part of the ride. It was an awesome view from the top and coasting on the way down was nice! I didn't even pedal at all on the downhill, and my bike hit 24 mph on the way back into the U.S.

After we were back into the U.S., we had to stop and wait again for everyone to catch up. This is where things got a little odd. During the Tour de Troit, everyone could go at whatever pace they wanted; for Bike the Bridge, though, the police escort was driving really slowly to try to keep the entire group together (all 750 cyclists). That caused a LOT of stop and go movement on the bikes, which was irritating.

There were a few times along the ride where we had to stop completely for 10 minutes or so and let the entire group get packed together like sardines again. Because of all the stop-and-go movement on the bikes, the ride was taking much longer than anticipated, so they decided to shorten the route. It was supposed to be 20 miles (in addition to the bridge loop, which added a little over 5 miles); in the end, the entire ride, including the bridge, only ended up being 16.2 miles. A lot of people were disappointed.

When we got back to the starting area, Jerry and I went and put our bikes in the Jeep, and then went to pick up our lunch. The registration fee we paid included a catered boxed lunch. Mine had a chicken caesar salad sandwich, a bag of chips, and a cookie. I ate the sandwich, which was delicious, but I skipped the chips and cookie, because I'd been smelling something delicious from the Mexicantown Bakery all morning. My plan was to get churros, but once we went inside, I saw slices of carrot cake, and it was all over. I bought a piece of carrot cake and it was heavenly!

I ate about 3/4 of it before I realized that I just didn't want any more, because it was so rich. That NEVER happens! I wish I could say that I'd burned all those calories on the ride, but I only burned 405 calories during the entire ride. I estimate the cake to be 600. Oh, well, good enough! ;) And the cake was worth it.

Overall, we're glad we did the ride, but we both agreed we wouldn't do it again. Riding over the bridge was awesome, but the constant stop-and-go of the bikes took away a lot of the enjoyment of the experience. It was nice to do something different together, though!

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Don't forget, tomorrow is Motivational Monday! Please send me your submissions tonight, so that I can get the post together tomorrow morning.

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Double digit walk

After reading the comments on my post yesterday, I'm feeling like I really should get the root canal soon. The thought of it makes me cringe so badly! But so many people said it was no big deal and painless, so I hope I can make it through. It's not so much the pain that I'm worried about (I've been through some very painful things), but the anticipation of pain that terrifies me. I'm going to be on edge the whole time, just waiting for the pain to shoot through my nerve. It's strange, I am SO much more nervous about this than I was about my skin removal surgery!

Today, I had plans to meet up with Jessica for a long walk--10 miles. The lazy person in me was kind of hoping she'd cancel, so I could just forget about it, but one thing I love about Jessica is that she only cancels out of absolute necessity. She never lets me back out of something unless it's absolutely necessary, either! So I knew I wasn't getting out of this walk today ;)

First thing this morning, I walked into the kitchen and saw Joey sniffing at something on the kitchen floor. I turned on the light and inspected what it was--it was a decapitated mouse. I have no idea how it got into the house, but my cats (probably Phoebe) had a good time with it during the night, apparently. :/

After getting the kids off to school, I went to meet Jessica. We drove to a park that connects a couple of the Metroparks, and started our walk there. When we were nearly there, I realized I forgot my Garmin. I was SO bummed! It was a 30 minute drive, so I couldn't go back home and get it. Jessica didn't bring hers, either, assuming that I would have brought mine.

I had just done this 10-mile route in the summer, so I knew the turn-around point. Remember that day I ran while the kids rode their bikes alongside me? I had a miserable run, but that was a 10-miler, so Jessica and I did that exact same route. I noted the time that we started walking, and then again at the halfway point and the finish.

It was such an odd feeling not knowing if we were two miles or four miles or eight miles into our walk! I had no idea what our pace was, either. The first half seemed like it went by really fast. I was surprised at how quickly it flew by. Once we turned around, my legs were starting to feel tired, and I was getting a couple of hot spots on my feet. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, though! Not a cloud in the sky, about 60 degrees, and lots of fall colors.

The last mile or so, my feet were really hurting from the hot spots (thankfully, none of them developed into blisters), so I was relieved to get back to the car. We were both pretty impressed with ourselves for walking so far!

We finished the walk in 2:37, so that worked out to a 15:42/mile pace. Not too bad! For the half-marathon, Jerry and I have to maintain an 18:18/mile pace (or faster), so as long as Jerry can do that, I think we're good to go.

Tomorrow is my boudoir photo shoot! I'm about 95% excited and 5% nervous. I met the photographer a couple of days ago, and she is super friendly. I feel very comfortable with her, and she assured me that it will be a lot of fun. Can't wait!

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Week 8 Weigh-in

This week was not as smooth of a ride as far as weight loss goes, as the past seven weeks were. I started running again, and for me, running after some time off always makes my weight loss stall or slow down. I run for reasons other than weight loss, though, so I am okay with that. My weigh in today:

I was 141.5, which means I am down one pound this week. While it's not the two pounds I've been losing, I'm very happy with the loss! My body fat was 25.7%, which is down 0.6% (that's good!), and my waist was at 26.5, which is the same as last week.

I didn't change anything this week, other than the fact that I'm back to running again. I'm only 8.5 pounds from goal now, so I figured the weight loss would slow down sooner or later anyway ;) I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing, and hope that I continue to lose. I would love to see the 130's soon, though!

I had a dentist appointment this morning (just a cleaning). My bottom molar has been bothering me a bit more than usual over the past six months, so I mentioned that to the hygienist. When I broke my jaw in 2010, I apparently cracked my molar (just the tiniest amount) and I've had little issues with it now and then. The hygienist did an x-ray to compare it to last time, and she called the dentist in to check it out.

I absolutely HATE going to the dentist, because anything having to do with teeth gives me the heebie jeebies (for lack of a better word, haha!). There is something about teeth that just completely weirds me out.

Anyway, the dentist wanted to 1) tap on the tooth to see if it was painful, and 2) apply freezing cold to my tooth to see if that was painful. I kind of panicked, and told her I'd rather just deal with the occasional twinges of pain that I get from my tooth. She said I would have to see a root canal specialist (!!!), who would probably do it anyway. So, I allowed her to do the tapping and the freezing cold, which surprisingly didn't bother my tooth (although my heart was racing and I was practically hyperventilating).

From the look of the x-ray, she said my tooth is dying (hearing that made me panic even more) and I would need a root canal in the future for sure. To me, there is pretty much nothing more terrifying than a root canal. I've never had one, but the thought of it is worse than anything I've endured (including my jaw surgeries and giving birth twice).

I'm terrified of having it done. The dentist said that as of right now, my tooth is okay if I don't mind dealing with the twinges I get once in a while. Eventually, if it gets to be more painful or more frequent, I should go see the endodontist about having a root canal :( Someone please tell me it's not as bad as I'm imagining...?!

After the dentist, I went to The Salvation Army. While I was there, Andrea texted me to see if I wanted to go to lunch at Panera this week, and I asked if she was available today--so it was totally last minute, but we met at Panera for lunch. I had the Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich (which is amazing!) and chicken noodle soup.

Normally at restaurants, I tend to order the same thing each time I go; but Panera is one place that I love pretty much everything, so I order different food every time. It never disappoints! I thought that the drink I grabbed was orange flavored sparkling water, but after I poured it into a glass, I realized it was something like sparkling orange juice--with 140 calories! So I didn't end up drinking it.

Tomorrow, Jessica and I have plans to walk 10 miles in the morning. I'm a little nervous--that's a long walk! I think the worst case scenario is that I'll get blisters, because my feet are soft from not running for so long. The Detroit Half is a week from Sunday, though, so I have to get ready to walk it!

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Riding ALL the streets

Yesterday, I decided to go for a bike ride in the morning. I wasn't really in the mood to try to ride far or with a ton of effort, so I wanted to choose a route that would be nice and leisurely. I don't know what gave me this idea, but I decided to see if I could ride all four neighborhoods on the peninsula--riding the length of every single road of those four neighborhoods.

The neighborhoods here aren't perfect rectangular grids, so I knew it would be kind of difficult to remember which roads I already rode and in what order I should ride them. When I ride just the perimeter of all four neighborhoods, the total is exactly five miles. I was curious to see what the mileage would be if I rode every single road!

It ended up being pretty fun. Even though it wasn't very challenging physically, because I was riding slowly, it was a mental challenge to try and figure the whole route out while I was riding. When I uploaded the ride, the route from my Garmin looked kind of cool!

From that, I could see that I missed about three roads. It was so confusing when I was riding, because I had to ride several of the roads more than once. I was very surprised by the distance... I ended up riding over 13 miles!

My favorite number is 11, so I love that I finished in 1:11 and my speed was 11.0.

Speaking of numbers, Thomas ran his fourth full marathon on Sunday, and before his race, I made a prediction of his finish time. I guessed 3:39:33. And you know what time he finished in? Yep--3:39:33! He didn't know my prediction, but I posted it to my other "Sole Mates" on Facebook that morning. I was watching the live tracker as he ran, and when I saw how close his finish was actually going to be to my prediction, I was pretty impressed--then to see that my prediction was spot-on, I got way too excited ;) (Of course, it was a lucky guesstimate).

The weather has warmed up a bit, thankfully. I wasn't ready for winter! On Saturday, the kids had baseball games, and it was ridiculously cold for October. It was 44 degrees with 17 mph winds, and to top it off, it started RAINING. The kids were miserable, and I felt really bad for them. I was wearing two layers of Cold Gear, and huddled up with two blankets, and I was still freezing.

They were supposed to play a double header, but all the kids were so wet and cold by the end of the first game that they decided to call off the second game. None of the parents complained about that ;)

Yesterday and today, it was back to "normal" October weather, which is really nice. I went for a three mile run this morning, and felt good.

I noticed today that it feels really nice to get back into a rhythm when I run. Inhale for three steps, exhale for two; let my mind wander, and my body just run at whatever pace it naturally falls into. I haven't felt that in a long time, because when I was doing the run/walk method, I wasn't running long enough to get into that rhythm. I never really realized that I even had a rhythm while running, but I definitely noticed it yesterday, and it felt familiar (in a good way).

I love the look on Joey's face, like he's bored to death

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The kids had their third cross country meet today. This one was a one-mile race. It's kind of crazy that we drove 40 minutes, got there an hour early (Renee and I got there early to get our team together and their numbers pinned on, warm up, and all that), and then the race was over within 15 minutes. The kids on my team have improved quite a bit this season! We're already halfway done, which is hard to believe.

Noah is very proud of himself because he has improved so much from last year. Today, he ran his one mile race in 8:55! He's come a long way since his 13:30 pace just over a year ago. Eli is doing his best, and his times are similar to what Noah's were last year. Eli has been doing really well at practices, too--he wants to get in as much running as he can, and he sets some pretty lofty goals. Today, his goal was to run the entire race without stopping; so, I told him to do it at a nice, easy pace rather than a "race pace". And he did it! He ran the entire thing.

At the end of this month, we're driving to my sister's house, where she'll be running a half-marathon (she was signed up for the full, but her leg has really been bothering her, so she's going to do the half instead). There is a 5K event too, so Jerry and I are going to sign up for that with the kids. It's a Halloween race in the evening, and they have a bonfire afterward, so it should be fun. Eli has been asking to do a race with me, and now that I can run, I'm excited to do it with him!

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Motivational Monday #123

Happy Motivational Monday! This week has been an exciting one for me, because I've been able to get back to running. I've done a few short runs (2-3 miles) and I feel really good. It's nice to run without an agenda right now--just to get some exercise, rather than "train for" an event.

I've also stuck with my calorie counting all week, and I'm still doing really well with it. I'm now 62 days binge-free, which feels amazing. It's been a very long time since I've had a streak that long.

I have some inspiring stories to share this week... enjoy!

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In January, Judy chose to sign up for a half-marathon to celebrate turning 70 in July... and on September 20, she walked the World Alzheimer's Day Run for Heroes Half-Marathon! She and her daughter walked the race in under four hours. (I have to say, this is one of the best finish line photos I've seen! Love it!)

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Like many of us, Ashley has struggled with her weight most of her life, and had yo-yo'ed a bit through the years. Over the last year, she made some serious lifestyle changes that she could stick with for the long haul, and she's lost 75 pounds! A couple of weeks ago, she reached a big milestone in her journey, when she completed a half-marathon. She even took over two minutes off of her mile time! She said it's an amazing feeling to be an active person these days--in the spring, she hiked the Grand Canyon (18 miles) in a day. She's gone from run/walking her first 5K (photo on left) to running a half-marathon at a 10:30 pace (photo on right)! She said the small changes she made really added up, and that people shouldn't get discouraged if it takes a while to see results.

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Marine ran her first official 10K race! She did the 10K Paris Centre race--the weather was gorgeous, and the route was scenic. Her sister's boyfriend, who runs 10K in 36 minutes(!), offered to run with her and pace her to finish under an hour, which was her goal. She ended up finishing in 56:38! She is proud for staying mentally focused throughout the entire race.

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Lianne recently completed Canada's Army Run in Ottawa, Ontario. It was her fourth half-marathon! She had been planning to run with a running buddy, but her friend was injured over the summer, so Lianne ended up doing the race alone. She started out in front of the 2:00 pacer, and hoped not to see the 2:00 pacer for the rest of the race ;) She had lots of support on the course from her husband, her kids, her boss, and her boss's kids. She ended up crossing the finish line in 1:58:37, a new PR!

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About eight years ago, Suzanne was driving behind a car that had a 13.1 sticker on it, and she was inspired to start running. She started the Couch to 5K program, and ran her first 5K with a friend. She then decided to earn a 13.1 sticker as a "bucket list" item, something she thought was nearly impossible. She was having problems with getting injured over and over, so she decided to try the Jeff Galloway run-walk-run method. She was finally able to break the three-mile barrier she kept hitting, and through training, she's even lost about 40 pounds! On September 26, she finally earned that 13.1 sticker that had inspired her so many years before--she ran her first half-marathon. She says the sticker is more to her than a symbol of running a half-marathon; it's a reminder that nothing is impossible if you want it badly enough.

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Congratulations to all of you! You have every reason to be proud. Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more stories (and to share your own accomplishments!).

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September recap and October goals

I don't have much to write about, but I keep forgetting to recap my September goal and set a goal for October! So here goes...

In September, I had a goal to ride 100 miles on my bike. Since I was doing the Tour de Troit ride, which is 30 miles, I figured I'd have to do 70 on my own. Well, we all know what happened during the Tour de Troit ride (I had to drop out due to flat tires), so those 30 miles weren't a "given" after all. Here is what I did, though:

9/3- 30 miles
9/7- 12 miles
9/8- 24.5 miles
9/14- 11 miles
9/17- 12.5 miles
9/19- 10 miles

TOTAL: 100

Holy smokes! I hit 100 miles on the nose, and I didn't even realize that until just now when I added it up. I did start a ride last week when my sister was home, because I was going to bike while she ran; but her hip was really bothering her, so we ended up calling it quits just after we started.

I'm really happy that I got in so many miles! Looking back, I wish I had been more consistent and rode a few times in the late part of September; but regardless, this is (by far) the most I've ever ridden my bike in a month. I probably didn't even ride 100 miles in all of 2014, haha.

Something else that I am very happy about is that I learned to change my bike tire tube. That was something that always weighed on my mind when I would ride my bike. I knew it was inevitable that I would get a flat one day, and it kept me from going too far from home. Now that I know how to change it, I'm not worried about it at all. I feel more freedom to ride much farther! I'd like to go for a long ride on Monday, so I'm hoping the weather will be good.

Other exciting things that happened in September:
*I dropped 8.5 pounds!
*I didn't binge at all (today is day 60 of a binge-free streak)
*I was able to wear my first goal outfit
*I went for my first run in 6 weeks, and managed a sub-10 pace!
*I started coaching cross country, and I love love love it
*I really reconnected with my friend Andrea, and I've been spending more time with her
*Nathan ran his first ultra marathon
*I took Joey to the wave pool
*I booked a boudoir photo session for next Friday!

For the past couple of months, I've felt like I'm in a MUCH better place mentally than I've been for a very long time. I went through a very tough bout of depression for about 18 months. I didn't write much about it at all on my blog, because the last time I opened up about it, I received some hurtful comments.

I've had depression since I was very young, and it goes through different "waves"--sometimes I feel very normal and happy, and other times I feel sad and hopeless for no reason at all. It's hard not to feel ashamed of it, because I have such a great life and no reason to feel depressed; but it really is something that I have no control over. Sometimes it lasts for a couple of days, and sometimes it lasts months. This particular bad bout lasted longer than ever before, though, and I was starting to think it would never end.

Anyway, I didn't intend to get too detailed with all of that; I just wanted to say that I feel like I'm in a very good place right now--I've been spending more time with friends, and being social; I've been taking care of myself physically; I've been working on bettering myself and my relationships with others; and I finally feel like the bad feelings are behind me. It's a great feeling!

Now, for my October goals...

I want to continue with the calorie counting, because it's working so well and I actually enjoy it.
I want to stay on track with the calorie counting while Thomas is visiting, which will be difficult.
I want to run three days per week (just 2-3 miles each time).
I want to ride my bike 50 miles.
I want to complete a 10-mile walk before I walk the Detroit International Half Marathon (I have plans to do the 10-miler with Jessica next week).
Now that I'm running again, I want to continue to focus on exercising for fitness, and not get too focused on numbers or "training" for things. Only goal is to enjoy being active!

Over all, September was a great month. I almost didn't write a post today, but I'm glad I did--I like doing the recap, because it makes me feel like I really accomplished some things last month. Hopefully, October will be even better!

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Almost forgot... here are the winners of the Purina Waggin' Train treats giveaway. Congratulations to all five winners! Purina will be sending you (well, your pups!) three bags of their new Waggin' Treats. I've emailed all of you, so please respond with your shipping address if you haven't already. Thanks!
The winners are: Brandi, Kelly Knaak, Genny, June, and Laura Jacobson. Thanks for entering!

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I may not write a post tomorrow, so just in case I don't, please send in your Motivational Monday submissions by tomorrow night if possible! I'll be working on the MM post early Monday morning. Here is how to send it in. Have a great Sunday!

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Kindred reunion

We have had a drastic change in temperatures the past few days. Last week, it was hitting 80 degrees, and today, it's barely 50. It makes really great running weather! And thankfully, I can take advantage of it again :)

Yesterday, my legs were still feeling sore, but I decided to run anyway. I decided to see if I could do three miles. It was really cold (in the 40's), so I dressed in running tights and a long sleeved shirt. I wore the Eddie Bauer tights and top that I reviewed last year, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the top is actually quite large on me now. It's really comfy, though, and one of my favorite long sleeved running shirts. I wore the Brooks Ghost shoes again, because I felt so good on Monday's run.

When I started running, my legs definitely felt a little stiffer from being sore. I ran at what felt to be a sustainable pace for three miles, guessing that it was around 10:00-10:30/mile (I didn't want to see my pace, so I switched my Garmin to just show distance). After seeing such a great pace on Monday, I didn't want that feeling to be short-lived, so I just didn't worry about my pace.

I made it all three miles without any issues, which made me feel so good! And I was very surprised to see my pace when I got home:

I managed a 9:36 pace for three miles, and I really didn't feel like I was pushing it that hard. It feels so nice to really enjoy running again. When training for a longer distance race, like a half marathon or marathon, I was dreading each run. Now, my only real plan for the moment is to run for fitness (2-3 miles, 3-4 days a week), and I find that I actually look forward to it. I don't have any long runs to worry about, and I like that!

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Last night, Jerry and I went to McGeady's, a local bar, to see Kindred's reunion performance. The summer before my tenth grade year in school, my family moved about 20 minutes away, which meant I had to switch schools. I started tenth grade at my new school, and became friends with a super fun group who referred to themselves as the "Kindred Klan". I learned that Kindred was the name of a band that five of them had formed several years prior.

When I first saw Kindred play a gig, I was very impressed with how good they were! They made an album during our junior year, which I listened to all the time; and I went to their gigs, of course. Everyone thought that one day, they'd be a super famous band ;)

This was Kindred in probably 1998 or 1999

The last time they played together was about 15 years ago, so quite a bit has changed. A couple of the guys live out of state, and we've (obviously) all aged quite a bit since then. It's interesting, because Kindred is actually the reason that Jerry and I are together... Mike, the keyboardist, went to Jerry's school, and they were friends. I was friends with Mike because I hung out with the band a lot. Anyway, one day, Mike had a party at his house, and Jerry and I were both there. We went on a date the very next day, and we've been together ever since! (Mike is the friend that we recently spent some time with in NYC).

Paul (on guitar), is getting married tomorrow, so he's in Michigan for his wedding (he now lives in Denver). Since the guys were all going to be in town for the wedding, someone brought up possibly getting together to play some old Kindred songs. Eric (drummer) asked McGeady's if Kindred could use their upstairs area to play, and promised to bring in a bunch of customers. And the whole idea of a Kindred reunion was formed.

It was SO much fun! I saw a few people that I hadn't seen since high school 15 years ago, so it was fun getting to chat. I actually hadn't even seen Paul in probably 12 years, so it was really good to see him and meet his fiance. Everyone has changed quite a bit, but at the same time, they are the same old friends that I remember.

Adam, who I see pretty often; and Matt, who I haven't seen since 2000!

Once Kindred started playing, it was like they had never had a 15 year break. It all sounded just like I remembered, and I even remembered all the song lyrics.

They played all of their original songs from their album, plus a couple of others. Here is a song that I'm sure you may recognize:

Normally, I feel pretty awkward at social things like this, but with this particular group of friends, I always feel so comfortable--love them! Jerry and I both had a blast, and I certainly hope that it's not the last time we see Kindred play.

Tonight, I have wine club at Renee's house. She does a bonfire for Winers each October, and normally it's great weather. Today, however, is FREEZING and really windy. I hope that the wind dies down before I go over there. I'm going to have to bundle up for this one!

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