Week 31 Weigh-in

I was fully expecting to see a gain on the scale this week, because my appetite has been pretty high, but I actually dropped a little weight:

Last week, I was at 123.8, and I was 123.0 today, so I was down 0.8 today. I'm not kidding when I say my appetite was high--my average calories per day this week was 2,213. I must have been making up for the week before, when my appetite was kind of nil. But, I've been trying to listen to my body, and if I'm hungry, I'll eat more; if not, I'll eat less. It's working out well this way.

I originally planned my high-calorie day for Thursday, and I ate 2,891 calories that day. Then, I ate normally on Friday all day until the evening. I went to a birthday party for Jessica at a Mexican restaurant, and I hadn't planned to eat there. But once I got there, and everyone was having margaritas and chips and all that good stuff, I ended up indulging. I had two margaritas, chips with guacamole, and a piece of birthday cake--which brought my calorie total to 3,599 for the day! And honestly, I don't feel one bit guilty about it. I didn't binge, and birthday cake is going to happen in life (as are margaritas). I reeled in my calories the following day, and no harm was done.

My runs were good this week, too. I was SUPER excited about the 10K on the treadmill Monday. Tomorrow, I'll write more about the training I've been doing, and update how it's going. I started to write it here, but it was just too complicated, so it needs a whole post of its own.

As far as my long-term goals:

7,000+ steps per day, 6+ days per week: I got them all in except for Saturday.

Staying binge-free: Today is Day 225, and I'm going strong. It feels amazing! Some days, a binge doesn't even cross my mind. Even this week, when I was clearly eating much more than usual, I just trusted my body to go with it. Maybe I was hungrier for a reason. I didn't try to hold back just because the number of calories seemed really high; I felt like I needed to eat more, and I did. And somehow, I still lost a little weight. But I love that I never let that turn into a binge. In the past, I most certainly would have let Jessica's party give me that "Screw it!" attitude, and I would have just continued to eat everything in sight all week.

One new recipe weekly: I almost let this week slip by. With Jerry being in NYC, I didn't cook much for myself and the kids (we had sandwiches, pizza, and leftovers). Yesterday, Jerry had to bring in something for a potluck at work; and on Pinterest, I found a beer and cheese dip for pretzels. It was super simple--I threw it together quickly and it ended up being delicious! I tasted a couple bites before he took it to work. It's not the prettiest looking dip:

But with pretzels, it's actually really good! There are only four ingredients: cream cheese, beer, ranch dressing mix, and cheddar cheese. I let the kids try it, too, and they really liked it. This would be a good snack to make when we have friends over.

Another good week in the books! :)

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A treadmill PR

It's been nice not having a strict running schedule, but yesterday I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for my speed work. I ultimately decided to try to do 4 miles at race pace (I did 3.5 last week). It was super foggy outside in the morning, and we got a phone call from the kids' school saying that there was a two-hour fog delay.

Once I got them off to school, I really didn't want to run on the roads with it being so foggy out (good chance of getting hit by a car), so I decided to go to the Metropark. It's a 20-minute drive, but anything that I can do to make speed work more pleasant is worth it! When I got there, I drove to the back of the park and parked the car, and then headed out onto the bike path. Not even 40 seconds into my run, I saw that the bike path was flooded in several areas (we got a lot of rain over the weekend).

I did not want to run at race pace with wet shoes, so I just turned around, walked back to the car, and drove home. I was feeling kind of bummed, and I knew I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning and have to do speed work because I didn't get it done yesterday, so I started thinking of alternatives. Lately, I've been asking myself what I can do to give myself the confidence I need going into my goal 10K--and today, I decided to utilize the treadmill.

Since treadmill running feels easier to me than outdoor running, I figured I would give it my all and see if I couldn't run my goal 10K pace for an entire 10K distance on the treadmill! I set up some random movie on Netflix to watch while I ran, and I set the speed at 7.6 mph (a 7:53/mile pace). I've done what Garmin has said to calibrate the 620 to my foot pod, but it always shows me as going faster than the treadmill says--I don't know which is correct, so for today, I decided I'd be safe and use the treadmill pace of 7:53/mile. (It turns out that the Garmin reads that speed as 7:30/mile--kind of a big difference! But without having my treadmill calibrated, I'll never know which is correct.)

Running at 7.6 mph actually didn't feel too bad! I tried to focus on the movie, but it was terrible and I wished I'd picked something else. But, I didn't want to stop to change it, and I was running too fast to change it mid-run, so I just dealt with the boredom.

I knew without a doubt that I could do 4 miles, because I have done 3.5 outside; so I just kept focusing on getting to that point. I even bargained with myself that I could quit at the 4-mile mark if I wanted. Physically, I felt really good--I knew that if I quit at mile 4, it would only be because I couldn't handle the mental challenge. The book that I've been reading about running by feel explains how to make yourself tougher for workouts, and that we are capable of much more than we think.

Since I wasn't watching the movie anyway, I just closed my iPad and focused on a spot on the wall (super exciting, I know!). I had my phone in the cup holder on the treadmill, so I turned on some Eminem for motivation. I imagined my body as a machine, just doing the same motion over and over, legs and arms pumping. I minimized any extra movement in order to save my energy (I noticed that when I closed my iPad, my heart rate went up because I was doing more than just running; same when I turned on the music--just fiddling with my phone caused me to use up extra energy).

Once I hit mile five, I knew I was going to finish. My Garmin was reading a 7:30 pace, which meant I would hit the 10K mark on my Garmin before the treadmill got there, so it was a bummer that I'd have to keep running even after I stopped my Garmin; but I wanted to make sure I got in all 10K at a sub-7:55 pace.

My Garmin beeped to signal mile 6, and then that last 0.22 seemed to take forever! Finally, I hit the 10K mark, and I stopped my Garmin. I had to keep running until the treadmill read 6.22, though, so it took a couple extra minutes. As soon as it read 10K, I stopped the treadmill and spent the next few minutes catching my breath. I gulped down a bottle of water, and it hit me then that I did it--I actually ran a 10K PR (even though it was on the treadmill). I don't "count" my treadmill runs as PR's, so to make it official, I have to do it in a race; but still, running it on the treadmill was just what I needed to boost my confidence some more.

Check out that vein in my forehead! Yikes.

The calorie burn on my Garmin is completely depressing--389 calories for that amount of effort?! I plugged in numbers to several different calculators online, and got everything from 400-750 (the most common being around 500). The burn on the Garmin is the lowest, but I'm assuming it's accurate because it uses my heart rate, weight, time exercised, etc. My heart rate was very steady throughout the run, and didn't have any big dips or rises that could throw off the data. I don't know--I just feel like I burned way more than that! ;)

My big race is in less than four weeks now--so I have three weeks to get as fit and confident as possible, and then one week of tapering before the big day. No pressure or anything ;)

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Jerry's adventure in NYC

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Things around here were different, because Jerry was in New York City for four days visiting a friend. I missed him! Since I'm going to visit friends in Portland and Seattle next month, I wanted Jerry to take a trip of his own as well, and he decided to go to the city. He had a blast, and I'm so glad that he went.

I suggested to him that he try out a November Project workout on Friday morning. The November Project is a free, open-to-the-public exercise group that is now in several cities around the U.S. I did one of the workouts in Boston with bloggers who were invited to the Runner's World Heartbreak Hill Half in 2014. It was a super challenging workout, but the people were very quirky and I knew Jerry would fit right in to something like that. So, despite being out at the bar on Thursday night, he actually set his alarm for 5:30 to go to the workout on Friday morning. And he LOVED it. He said it was one of his favorite parts of the trip!

The November Project always does a group photo at the workouts

Playing "power walking" freeze tag

I knew that Ali, from Ali on the Run, does a lot of the November Project workouts, so I told Jerry to keep an eye out for her. I met Ali at a Runner's World blogger event in 2014, and she is super sweet. I've met a lot of well-known bloggers over the past several years at various events, and I was discouraged to find out that many of them are not how they appear on their blogs; but Ali is just as kind and funny and genuine in real life as she is on her blog. After the workout, Jerry texted me this picture:

He'd actually met her! Very fun. He was super sore after the workout, but he was determined to see the city, so he and Mike rented bikes to ride around for several hours.

He also did a ton of walking, and he managed to get 35,000-40,000 steps PER DAY for each day that he was there! The most I've EVER gotten was 35,000 (I didn't have a Fitbit yet when I did my marathons).

Anyway, even though Jerry was only gone for three nights, I missed him a lot (especially with all the pictures he was sending me) and it was nice to have him back home yesterday. I'm happy he had a great time, though! He deserved it.

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Yesterday, I did a treadmill run at an easy pace for the first time in a while, and I was very surprised to see how much this heart rate training is working! Since I started heart rate training, and keeping my easy runs at a heart rate of 146 or less bpm, the pace I'm able to run has gotten quite a bit faster.

On December 27, 2015, I did an easy run on the treadmill. My average heart rate was 141, and my pace was 10:04. Yesterday, I did another easy run on the treadmill--my average heart rate was 140 bpm, and my average pace was 8:55! The treadmill feels much easier to me than running outside, so I know that I wouldn't be able to run 8:55 outdoors with that low of a heart rate, but in comparing the two treadmill runs, I was surprised to see over a full minute per mile improvement at the same heart rate!

I was looking through the data from 2013, when I was running my fastest, and I'm almost back to the fitness level I was at back then. In February 2013, I ran an 8:27 pace on the treadmill with a heart rate of 140 bpm. Even after my goal 10K, I'm going to continue training like this, because it's working so well (and I'm enjoying it!). Some days, it feels painfully slow to keep my heart rate low, but clearly, my fitness is improving. Someday, I hope to be able to run at about an 8:00 pace with a heart rate of 145 bpm.

I'll try and come up with some comparison data to write about soon. It's fun to see that this training method is working so well!

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Long run with speed play

Yesterday was supposed to be a rest day. I planned on resting, but I started to get antsy to go for a run, which is kind of odd--I LOVE my rest days! ;) Since I've been trying to listen to my intuition as far as my running schedule goes, I decided to go ahead and run. At first, I thought I'd just do three easy miles, but it was super nice outside (chilly but sunny, and no wind), and the thought of doing a long run was actually appealing.

I asked the kids if they wanted to go with me (they could ride their bikes while I ran), and Noah wanted to. So we headed to Huroc Park, to take the path into the Metroparks. The last time we did this, it turned out to be a disaster--I planned to run 10 miles, but I just totally crashed at around mile 5.5. That was one of the worst runs I've ever had! I thought it would be kind of fun to run the exact same route, and see how I feel compared to last time (last time, it was crazy hot and humid, so it wasn't exactly a good comparison).

There were a TON of people fishing at the park when we got there. It was nice and sunny outside, so I'm sure they were taking advantage of the good weather as well. I decided to try something new for my long run, which was a workout I got from the 80/20 Running book. It's called "Long run with speed play", and you do 10 x 0.75 miles easy and 0.25 miles hard (a 10-mile run, with the last quarter of each mile run at a hard pace). I've never tried adding speed to a long run before, so it sounded interesting.

I started running at the park, Noah alongside me, and I could have sworn I was running a 10:30 or so pace, but when I glanced at my Garmin, I saw that it was much slower (even with my heart rate in the low 140's). I didn't want to push myself at all during the easy parts, because I wanted to save my energy for the hard parts, so I didn't really pay any attention to my easy pace after that.

Once I hit the 0.75 mark, my Garmin beeped to start running hard. I assumed my hard interval would be slower than usual as well, but I glanced down halfway through and saw my pace was in the 6:00's, so I slowed it down. But I basically ran comfortably hard for the whole thing, and I was happy to see that my times for quarter-mile intervals are still improving.

I wasn't really sure what to expect out of this workout, because I'd never done it before; but surprisingly, it wasn't nearly as hard as I imagined. Three quarters of a mile is a lot of time to recover from a hard quarter, and I ran at a very easy pace to recover.

We did an out-and-back route, so I ran out five miles and then turned around. I'd brought the pickle juice with me today, and the second I started feeling my ab muscles tightening up at around mile 5.5, I drank 2 ounces of the pickle juice. It may have just been a coincidence, but it worked--I didn't get the spasm.

I was surprised at just how good I felt during the entire run. The only parts that felt tough were the first minute or two after each hard interval, but I felt really good otherwise. The miles went by quickly due to the intervals. I finished up the last interval in Huroc Park, and had just completed 10 miles! I was very happy with how it went. I hit a great pace on my hard intervals, and other than a quick stop to down the pickle juice, never had to stop or walk. Woot! MUCH different than the last 10-miler I did on that path.

The average pace of my hard sections was 7:25, which is probably my best pace for 400-meter intervals so far this training period--and they were in the midst of a long run. Not what I expected! I don't think I'd want to do every long run with speed play, but it was a fun change up from the norm, and I would do it again. There are a lot of great workout ideas in the 80/20 Running book, so I'm going to continue to try some out now and then.

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Losing weight while traveling

Lately, I've been getting up at around 4:00 every morning. I don't set an alarm to get up that early, but apparently, my body is ready to start the day at that ungodly hour. I don't even feel tired, though--I wake up and I'm ready to jump out of bed!

It's been kind of nice to relax under the electric blanket, have a cup of tea, and reply to emails or something when the house is so quiet. This morning, I updated my SparkPeople page, and I started reading some of my old blogs on SparkPeople (there aren't many). I came across one that kind of impressed me--I had totally forgotten that I used to do this before a trip!

The title of the post is "Losing Weight on Vacation". When I was losing weight in 2009-2010, I actually went on four trips and lost weight on each of them.  This post was written in July 2010, and my views have changed a bit since then, but I still thought this might be worth reposting.

Currently, I think that vacation is a great time to enjoy local food and splurge a little (key word being "little")--but there is a way to stay balanced without going totally overboard. 

I've gone on a couple of trips since I started calorie counting, and I handled it well! I usually choose one meal to spend most of my calories on for the day, and I eat lightly for the other two meals (maybe something I've packed ahead of time, or just something small that I buy while I'm there). Choosing one meal to splurge on each day is a nice way to get to try local food, and enjoy vacation, but not stuff myself like it's my last day on earth ;)

I also ask myself, "Is this something I could eat at home?"; and if it is, then I usually pass. Why spend my splurge calories on a regular old pizza, when I could try amazing seafood in Key West, delectable New England Clam "Chowda" in Boston, or rich cheesecake in NYC? If the food is worth the splurge, and something I couldn't otherwise experience at home, then I will happily spend my calories on it.

You can't go to Key West without experiencing a Key Lime mojito! This pic is of Ada, Andrea, and me after Ragnar Florida Keys.

In 2009-2010, I was super-focused on my weight loss goals, so I was extremely prepared for trips (as you'll see below). While I don't think it needs to be quite so extreme, I thought some of these tips might come in handy for anyone who has to bring food along somewhere.

(The most surprising thing about this post I wrote is that I actually ate YOGURT, my least favorite food on the planet--wtf?! I don't remember that--it must have been a short phase, haha).

Anyway, without further ado, here is the post I wrote in July 2010 about losing weight on vacation...

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July 24, 2010

Throughout my 11 months of weight loss, I've gone on 4 trips--and each trip, I went home a couple of pounds lighter than when I left. Staying on track while on vacation can be very difficult, especially if you're not prepared. But if you plan everything in advance, you never have to stray off of your weight loss plan.

I don't treat vacation as a time to "cheat" or "relax my eating" or a "free-for-all". I count calories (or WW points) just the same as I do at home. At home, I don't eat out very often--so I make it a point not to eat out much while on vacation. The best way of doing this is to BE PREPARED.  

First, I know that we will be eating out once or twice... so before we leave, I research local restaurants to where we are going and I print off the nutrition info for that restaurant. I highlight a few things that fit into my plan, and I bring it to the restaurants with me, KNOWING what I'm going to order before I even walk in the door.

If we are staying in a hotel, I call the hotel beforehand to ask if our room has a refrigerator and/or microwave, so that I know what I have to work with as far as food goes.

For the meals we eat at the hotel (or wherever we are staying), I prepare my own "convenience" foods. You know I'm a HUGE fan of oats, and I eat oats every single day in one form or another. Lately, I've been eating them uncooked, mixed with plain, fat free yogurt, and some yummy mix-ins like chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts, muesli, etc).

To prep these, I weigh out 40 grams of oats, and weigh out any dry ingredients I want--throw it all in a baggie, and it's ready to go. All I have to do is add 4 oz. of yogurt and it's a meal. I write on the baggie how many WW points or calories are in that baggie, so I don't have to look it up later.
"Instant" oats--Just add yogurt (or milk)

I bought a bunch of little plastic cups with lids (2 Tbsp. size, and 2 oz size) from Gordon's Food Service. In those, I weigh out portions of peanut butter, Nutella, almond butter, PB2, etc. I write the number of Weight Watchers points or calories on the lid and it's a single serving ready to go.

I can make PB&J sandwiches with the PB already measured out, or I can use the PB as a dip for baby carrots (a favorite snack of mine). I can eat the Nutella on a banana, or a english muffin.

PB2, Nutella, and Peanut Butter

I also made some convenient lunch bags--Taco Style Lentils & Rice. In a quart-size ziploc bag, I measure out: 3/4 cup lentils, 3/4 cup Uncle Ben's brown rice, 1 Tbsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, and a couple of beef bouillon cubes. All I have to do with that is add 4 cups of water, bring it to a boil, and let it simmer for 35-40 minutes, and I have lunch for four people.

Taco Style Lentils & Rice

When we get to our destination, I like to go to a grocery store and buy the perishables that we'll need--fruit like bananas and apples, almond milk, baby carrots, bread or english muffins, etc.

Before we leave for vacation, I'll sometimes make sloppy joe meat or taco meat and freeze it. Then when it's time to leave, I put it in a cooler and we can use the microwave at the hotel to reheat and that's dinner.

As far as drinks... I know that vacation is time for relaxing, so if that includes alcohol, you can prepare yourself in advance for that as well. I used to love margaritas--and I'd always order those huge fish-bowl size ones.

Little did I know that a margarita is one of the highest-calorie cocktails you can order! You can drink light beer all day long for the same number of calories in one of those margaritas. I prepare for this by picking a "go-to" drink--in my case, I choose a very light beer like Beck's Light or Bud Select 55, or a 5 oz glass of wine--and I stick with that, counting the calories. 

If you reeeally want a cocktail, just do your research before you go. Look up the calories in a few favorite cocktails and just make sure you keep track of how many you have! ;) 

This counts as ONE beer, right? ;) In Portland, it does!

So, the whole point is, if you really prepare, you CAN stay on plan on vacation. You just have to do some research about where you're going, and get a little creative. But think how happy you'll be to come home LIGHTER than when you left!

In combining those past ideas with current thoughts, I think staying on track while traveling all comes down to preparing and planning ahead, but allowing yourself the freedom of enjoying some things you wouldn't otherwise get to experience!

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Week 30 Weigh-in

Wow, it's been 30 weeks since I started counting calories? It seems like it was just a month ago! I've now been on maintenance for 15 weeks, and I'm kind of stunned at how well I'm doing. I never expected to struggle as little as I have, let alone get under my goal weight. I'm not saying that it's been easy, but it definitely feels much easier than the last time I hit my goal weight.

I got a new scale last week, and I actually really love it! I have been SO attached to my Health O Meter for over a decade, because it was just so reliable; even after trying other scales, I would go back to the Health O Meter each time. Now, I think I've found a winner!

Just for this week, for comparison's sake, I'll weigh in on both scales. Today's weight:

I was 122 again, on the Health O Meter, so I didn't gain or lose anything this week--great! As to how that compared to the new scale:

That said 123.8, so it's almost 2 pounds heavier than the Health O Meter. I did some experimenting to see which is correct, and I discovered something odd. When I would put a dumbbell on my Health O Meter, it would always read the correct weight of the dumbbell (my "accuracy" test), so I assumed it was accurate. The new scale gave the same exact reading for the dumbbell, meaning it was ALSO accurate. How could that be?

After a bunch of experimenting, I discovered that the more weight that is on the Health O Meter, the less accurate it gets... and at my weight, it's off about two pounds. I weighed myself before going to the doctor's office yesterday, and the doctor's scale read the same as this new scale. So, while I didn't gain any weight this week, I'm going to consider 123.8 my current (accurate) weight. (Interestingly, it's very likely that my starting weight was actually 255 or 256 and not the 253 my Health O Meter read).

Anyway, about the new scale... I originally saw it on Instagram, and the girl using it had a discount code, so I thought I was getting it for a good deal at $50 ($64 after shipping). Turns out, you can get it much cheaper! It's called the Balance2 Digital Body Scale, and here is a link to the cheapest place I've found it online--it's $39 with FREE shipping (that's not an affiliate link, so I don't get anything for sharing. Just thought I'd save you $25 if you're looking for a new scale and like this one.) I think it's such a pretty scale, and I'm so glad that it's accurate and consistent!

This week, I ate an average of 1938 calories a day, so I think 1900-ish seems to be the number my body likes to maintain my weight.

I had a great week with my running--two 3+ mile runs at a sub-8:00 pace, which definitely helped with my confidence in going forward with my race training.

My 80/20 ratio (easy running to moderate-hard running) was slightly off, at 78/22, so this week, I'm going to try and add a little more easy running to get the ratio at 80/20. I really need to increase my long runs a bit, too--I'd like to get in a couple of 10+ milers before the race.

As far as my long-term goals go:

7,000+ steps 6+ days/week: I actually got in all 7,000 steps every day this week!

Staying binge-free: Today is Day 218, and I'm getting stronger by the day :) I'm now even able to keep Nutella and even ice cream in the house without so much as a thought of bingeing on it.

Trying one new recipe weekly: This week, I tried Crock Pot Sweet & Sour Meatballs. I love the kind of crock pot recipes that you just throw things in and then they are done when you're ready to eat. The only prep for this was to chop a green pepper and combine the sauce ingredients to pour into the pot. I had six meatballs with half a cup of rice, and it was 430 calories. The meatballs (and sauce) were very good! The whole family liked this recipe, and I'd definitely make it again.

Overall, awesome week and I hope to have a repeat of it next Wednesday!

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32 days out!

My goal 10K is sneaking up so quickly! When I set this goal last year, I fully expected it to be a ton of work, but I knew I had enough time to do it if I really set my mind to it. Now, I am just four and a half weeks away, and I'm getting nervous!

Speaking of nerves, I went to the doctor yesterday to discuss my anxiety. My depression is under control right now, but my anxiety has been through the roof lately, and it's been causing me physical symptoms. I also wanted to ask her about the weird abdominal muscle spasms that I get when I run (which started in November).

I asked my plastic surgeon about them, and based on my description, she said it was very unlikely to be caused from the surgery I had five years ago. I also saw another doctor about a month ago, and she was stumped about them as well. They've been frustrating me so much, because there is no way of predicting when they're going to happen. Some runs are totally fine, and I don't get the spasms at all; but when I do get them, they pretty much knock me to my knees and it hurts just to walk.

Anyway, my doctor gave me some suggestions for handling the anxiety. I also made an appointment with a psychologist/therapist for Thursday. I'm really skeptical that it will help, but I'm willing to try anything at this point. About the muscle spasms, my doctor was really unsure about what it could be. She's very interested in sports medicine, and reads a lot about it, so she ended up suggesting that I try drinking pickle juice. I'd heard of this before, but I always assumed that it was just the salt that helped athletes, so I never tried it. My doctor said that it was actually something about the vinegar that helps stop muscle cramps almost immediately.

My issue is more of a spasm than cramps, but I figure that the pickle juice certainly can't hurt, so I might as well give it a try. Luckily, Eli LOVES pickles (as do I), so I bought an enormous jar of them at Sam's Club. I emptied out a couple of 5-Hour Energy bottles (the perfect size and container for a shot of pickle juice), so I'll fill them with the pickle juice and carry one with me on runs. They'll actually fit into my FlipBelt, so I won't even notice they are there--perfect!

Jerry came with me to my appointment, and we went to the running store to get him some running shoes. He's thinking about doing the Rock 'n' Roll Half in Virginia Beach when we go in September, so he's been getting back into a running routine. It was SO nice outside yesterday, and it really felt like spring. We got our first McD's cone of the year, and it was the perfect way to spend 170 calories!

I've been making my way through Matt Fitzgerald's book RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel, and some parts have really resonated with me. (It's meant for experienced runners to be able to listen to their intuition when it comes to a running plan/schedule. Since my intuition has been doing very well with my weight maintenance and staying binge-free, it sounded good to me!) One of the things that I found really interesting is that the best type of training workout is what will make you feel most confident going into your race--if you truly believe that you're going to hit your goal, then you probably will; but if your training doesn't give you that confidence, you will have a very hard time hitting your goal.

The training plan that I'm following now (the RunBritain plan for a sub-50 10K) is the exact opposite of confidence-building for me. I enjoy the plan a lot, but I've been saying all along that it's against my intuition (namely because there are no real tempo runs, or longer runs at a harder pace), but I kept trusting the plan. Reading Fitzgerald's book makes me realize that maybe I should listen to my intuition and do the runs that build up my confidence the most. This isn't to say the training plan doesn't work--confidence-building runs vary by person--but I want to feel as confident as I can going into the race.

The workouts that make ME feel most confident going into a race are runs that I do at race pace--if I can do it in training, then I know I can do it in the race. That's not typical of most training plans. I also know that I get bored really easily, so I constantly feel a need to change things up. I always thought that was a bad thing, but the book made me realize that I can trust my intuition and change things up as often as I want while still training effectively. I don't have to have a set-in-stone plan; rather, I can have a basic structure and change things up based on how I'm feeling each day or week.

I've discovered recently that I really enjoy the 80/20 Running method, so I'll still stick with that ratio. But as far as the 20% of moderate to hard workouts go, I can change them up and do whatever sounds good to me. It's kind of exciting!

Since I'm down to the final month before my race, I want to build as much confidence as possible that I can hit this goal. The last three days I did easy runs, and today, I decided to do a race pace run. I wanted to aim for 3.5 miles today, since I did 3 miles last week. If I could do it, it would be the farthest I've ever run at a sub-8:00 pace.

As I started running, I started debating whether to do a tempo run (5 miles at 8:10-8:15 pace) or to do the 3.5 at race pace (7:55). After a half mile, my pace was under 8:00, so I decided to just go for the 3.5 at race pace. My first couple of miles were actually really great, and I hit 7:48 for each of them. The third mile was tougher, but I tried my best to keep going. Third mile was 7:51.

My 5K split actually would have been a 5K PR if I had been racing!

When I hit 3.5, I was so ready to be done ;) I stopped my Garmin and started walking. When I caught my breath, I checked out my splits and was very happy!

If I can build this race pace run up to 5.5 miles before the 10K, I will be super confident that I can hit my goal. I'm super excited for my trip, but nervous for the race itself!

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2016 Kona Shamrock 10K race report

Today was the Shamrock Run in Plymouth. The last time I ran this 10K, I finished in 49:23, my current personal record. That day in 2013 was one of my most exciting running moments--I had no intentions of running sub-50, and I never even dreamed that would be possible. I just had a really great race that day!

Today, I wasn't planning to race hard. I had a long run scheduled for today, and Jerry's employer paid for this race, so I figured it would be a fun way to do my long run. Then Kendall (Nathan's girlfriend) said that she would be running it also, and it was her first official 10K--so naturally, I wanted to run with her!

She is training for the Martian Half Marathon next month, and had nine miles on her schedule today; so, she showed up early for the 10K, and ran miles before the start of the race. (In retrospect, she should have signed up for the double--the 10K and 5K, back-to-back.) After picking up my packet, I parked near the starting line and then went into Panera for some hot tea while I waited for the race to start, and Kendall met me there after her "warm-up" mileage.

Her long run pace is about 12:30/mi, so we lined up behind the 70-minute pacer. The race ended up starting 13 minutes late, and my toes were absolutely FREEZING from standing there. I just couldn't get warm! I was so happy when the race finally started.

We ended up running slower than Kendall's planned pace, because we were chatting the whole time. It was actually really enjoyable (it would have been more so if I'd dressed warmer). I hadn't seen Kendall in a while, so it was nice to be able to catch up.

As we were running, Kendall noticed that she would probably have to keep running after the finish line in order to get in nine miles, and she really didn't want to do that. So, we did something I've never actually done in a race before--we took a couple of detours on the course to ADD mileage to our race! We just did a couple of out-and-backs on side streets in a neighborhood, so that Kendall would hit the nine-mile mark before the finish line of the race.

This was her longest run to date (she did eight miles last week), and toward the end, she started struggling a little. Her goal was to run the whole race and not take walk breaks, so she was focused on that. She started talking about how she might get emotional when she crossed the finish line, because it's her first 10K. Nathan wasn't going to be at the finish line because he had work stuff to do, so I offered to run ahead to the finish line so I could get a picture of her at the end. When I thought I had half a mile to go (I forgot that I had added distance, so I actually had just under a mile to go), I sped up to make it to the finish line, get my medal, and then be ready to take a photo when Kendall got there.

Right before the finish line, I heard, "Hey Katie!" and it was Nathan! He'd showed up to surprise her, which was pretty awesome. I didn't notice while I was running through the finish, but Kendall's mom was there, too! She even snapped a picture of me just before I finished.

Always with my eyes closed! 

I didn't even stop to grab food or anything, I just got my medal, and then ran through the chute, looping back around to where Nathan was. I thought I would have more time, but Kendall came through just a couple of minutes later. She was really surprised to see Nathan--she said she noticed his shirt first, and thought, "Oh, Nathan has that shirt--I hope that's him!" and then she realized it was. I love this picture of her--she was so surprised!

Even though Kendall and I ran the first few miles slower than her projected pace because we were talking, she ended up finishing her nine miles with a 12:30-ish pace, so it all worked out well. And we had fun!

I'm super bummed I forgot to get a picture WITH Kendall after the race! We were chatting with Nathan and her mom, and it just slipped my mind. But she did really great, and I'm sure she's going to do well with her half-marathon (I wish I could be there, but it's the same day as my goal 10K). Thanks to running with Kendall, this was the most enjoyable run I've had in a while! The miles went by quickly. Here are my "official" results (for 6.2 miles, rather than 6.6, which is why there is a discrepancy between this and the Garmin):

I wish Nathan had told me he'd be there, because I would have stayed with Kendall through the end; but I wanted to make sure she'd have a picture of her first 10K. Seeing how surprised she was made it worth it, though ;)

Now, I don't have any more races scheduled until my goal 10K on April 10th. I'm thinking I may want to do a tune-up race in a couple of weeks (a 5K), but I'll have to see what races are going on. I get SO nervous in race situations that I'm afraid that's going to ruin my goal race. When I PR'ed the Shamrock in 2013, I felt NO pressure at all, because I was just running it "for fun". I always tend to do best when I don't have goals. I need to work on being less nervous on race day!

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A confidence booster

After the race not going as planned on Monday, I started second-guessing my training. I know that I have improved a LOT over the past few months, but the race set my confidence back a notch. Instead of doing the planned short intervals today, I decided to try and run three miles, each at a sub-8:00 pace, to prove to myself that I can do it (something I've only done once before). My plan for Monday was to hit sub-8:00's, but I fell apart after two miles--my heart rate was higher than I'd EVER seen it (over 200 bpm) and I just wasn't feeling good that day.

While I really love the new training schedule I've been doing, there aren't any tempo runs, which has been on my mind the entire time. I really think tempos are crucial (for me, anyway) in doing well during a race. I've been reading a book by Matt Fitzgerald (author of 80/20 Running, the book I just read) called Run: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel. I realized that "running by feel" is what I was doing in 2013 when I was my fastest. I wasn't following a strict schedule, but I did have structure and I adjusted it as necessary based on how I was feeling.

Today, my intuition was pushing me to do a short, fast run. I needed it for the confidence, if nothing else! So, I dressed in the same clothes I wore to the race Monday (I didn't want to do well and then think, "Maybe it was the clothes!" haha). It was a great morning for a run--not super windy, and 29 degrees.

The first mile was tough, and I started doubting whether I could really do it. But, I knew it was just mental. Physically, I was pretty confident I could run 3-4 sub-8:00 miles; but the mental blow that the race took on me made me doubt myself. I had my iPod with me, which was actually pretty helpful--normally, I don't run with music, but today I wanted it to help me feel pumped up. Eminem always helps me run faster! ;)

I hit the first mile on target, at 7:58. I wanted to stop so badly, but again, I knew my body was capable. I tried to shut of my mind, and just focus on the music and my surroundings. I noticed that when my heart rate gets over 175, I start to feel like it's *too* hard; so I tried to keep my heart rate under 175, but keep the pace under 8:00 as well.

I started thinking, "Maybe I'll just run two miles at this pace--I can go for three next week..." but I kept reminding myself that it was only a head game. I focused on the mechanics of my body, just the rhythm of my legs moving over and over, and my arms pumping. Anything to get my mind off of how difficult it felt. Hit mile two at 7:54.

The third mile was the hardest. I was so tempted to call it off, and I kept bargaining with myself to go just a little farther. I knew this run would either make or break my confidence, and like I said, I really need the confidence right now. My pace slowed to about 8:10-8:15 for the first 3/4 of that third mile, and I told myself it was okay. That's actually my tempo pace, so I knew that I would be doing my body good to run the last mile at that pace, even if it wasn't what I'd hoped.

When I had about 0.2 miles left, I decided to really run my hardest to try and get my last mile under 8:00. I had to go past my house just a little, and when I got to my neighbor's house, I heard my Garmin beep that I'd hit mile three, so I stopped my Garmin and started walking home. Last mile was just barely under 8:00, at 7:59.7 (the app rounds it up to 8:00 even, but I am going to be technical because it *was* under 8:00!)

This run was my second fastest outdoor training run ever. The first was in March 2013, where I ran a 7:44/mile pace. Other than that run, TODAY is the only other time I've run three sub-8:00 miles in a row. Even at my 5K last month, my third mile was over 8:00. As you can see, I'm pretty damn happy that I was able to do this today!

My heart rate was much better than on Monday's race, too. The dip in my heart rate today about nine minutes in is when I had to cut across an unpaved section, so it was snow/ice/grass and I had to slow down. I'm not sure what caused the high heart rate on Monday, but it's nice to know that it was just a bad run that day, and my training is still on target.

It's kind of interesting how much progress I've made in such a short amount of time. I spent most of 2015 with a stress fracture, and the only running I did was during run/walk intervals between the reoccurring fracture. My weight was at its highest in about five years in spring of 2015. My running pace had gotten slower than my FIRST year of running. I remember the 6.1-mile leg of the Toldeo Marathon that I ran, and I couldn't believe how hard it felt at an 11:27/mile pace. I wish I'd remembered to bring my heart rate monitor that day, because I bet my heart rate was sky-high as well.

I finally had my breakthrough in August. I remember telling my friend Thomas that he could mark my words: I would get back to my goal weight and PR my 10K in 2016. I said it as a very bold, dramatic statement--not "I'm going to try" or "I'll do my best", but "I WILL get back to 133 pounds and run a 10K under 49:23 next year."

Because I was so cocky about it, I thought I'd better actually do it. However, I knew that if I could pull it off, it would be a true miracle. Lose nearly 30 pounds and improve my 10K pace from 11:27 to 7:55 in about six months? Ha! But I started counting calories, and I quit running altogether for six weeks in order to heal my stress fracture. In October, I started gently running again--not much distance, and no speed work.

On October 1st, I ran the same route that I ran today, and it looked like this:

The weight loss alone made my running much better than the 11:00+ miles I was doing before! But what interests me most is when I compare it to today's run. I ran the exact same route. My heart rate was a little higher today, because I was pushing myself hard, but my pace was 7:56 instead of 9:35. If you're a runner, then you know what a big deal this is to me.

I still have 5-1/2 weeks until my goal 10K race, so I have to work hard to be able to pull it off; but, I no longer feel like it's impossible. And, if I don't hit my goal in April, I'll still have EIGHT MONTHS to work on it. Today's run was a big boost in my confidence that I may actually be able to pull of the PR next month! It feels great :)

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Week 29 Weigh-in

I ordered a new scale about a week ago, and I was hoping it would arrive before my weigh-in today, but it's supposed to get here sometime during the day today. If I like the scale, this may be the last time you see my trusty old Health O Meter ;)

Today's weigh-in:

I was at 122, so down a pound from last week. I didn't have a big appetite this week for some reason, so my calorie intake was lower, which is probably why my weight went down. My average calorie intake was 1,744. I wish I had noticed this before, but you can see a weekly view on My Fitness Pal of your calorie intake, including the average. I always calculated it by hand!

It's interesting, because I reset my goal on My Fitness Pal to maintain my weight instead of lose weight, and they increased my calories to 1,550. Are they serious?! As usual, I ignore their recommendations, and just listen to my body.

A reader recommended a weight tracker app called "Happy Scale", and it's really neat! I spent some time inputing ALL of my old weight records, so now they date back several years. But it's kind of fun to see the trends over time. Here is the month of February for me:

The little blue dots are what my weight was on that day; the green area shows where my weight was 30 days prior; and the blue line just shows the average/balances it out so you can see the trend over time. You can view this by week, month, year, and "all time", which is pretty fun to look at. You can also set up milestones (as many as you wish) if you're losing weight, so that you can focus on one thing at a time, and not get overwhelmed. It's a pretty cool app if you're into weight tracking!

I did good on my long-term goals this week:

7,000+ steps, 6+ days per week: I got them in every day except last Wednesday.

Binge-free: Today is Day 211! It's getting much, much easier now. There are some days that it doesn't even cross my mind, which is saying a lot.

New Recipe this week: I made a couple of new things. The first was Crock Pot Spaghetti, which was not very good at all. There are some things that just do not turn out well in a crock pot, and pasta is one of them. Jerry liked it, but he likes his pasta to be soft; Eli and I are all about al dente pasta.

The second recipe that I made was for 5-Ingredient Corn Casserole, and this was amazing! I LOVE corn, so I was sure to like this; but I was the only one in the family who liked it ;) I drizzled some honey on it, and it was perfect comfort food. Now I have enough leftovers in the fridge to last all week, since my family is crazy and didn't like this.

This calorie count is for 1/6 of the recipe plus honey

Overall, it was a good week! I wish I'd done better at my race, but like I said, I'm not going to hit every goal every time I try. Here's to another week of maintenance :)

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