On starting to run, and running faster

Yesterday and today were very hard days for me! I felt like I was constantly fighting a binge, and it was making me crazy. I managed not to binge, but I wanted to figure out what was going on so that I could stop the urge. I thought about the past couple of days, and then it was glaringly obvious: I didn't have any grapes in the house, and I was trying not to buy more because they're SO expensive right now.

I ran out of grapes a couple of days ago, and decided to try having other fruit instead--namely, apples. I missed the grapes very much, but figured I would live without them ;)  But apparently, the grapes are the magical food I need to keep me from bingeing!

After dinner, I went to Kroger and bought three bags of the rare diamonds grapes at $2.49/lb. Jerry told me, "I don't care if they're $20 a pound, they help you stay on track--get them!" Came home, ate a bowl of them, and instantly felt a million times better. Urge to binge? Gone.

As of today, I am 73 days binge-free :)

---

Today I had three miles at an easy pace on the schedule. I brought my new handheld water bottle with me, just to see how it feels in my hand while running. I was tempted to fill it with hot tea to keep me warm out there--it was a cold morning!

I ran at a pace that felt comfortable, and didn't look at my Garmin the entire time. I was impressed with the water bottle--it wasn't annoying to hold at all, and it didn't feel heavy. I think if it held any more water it would feel heavy, but at 10.5 oz., it was perfect. It was easy to open the spout with my teeth (there is a soft cushion on the spout, so you don't break your teeth), and easy to push closed. I'm very happy with the bottle, which is good, because I couldn't find any info about returns on the website (I checked before ordering).

I've been asked quite a bit recently about getting faster, and what kind of plan I'm following to accomplish that. I definitely have some thoughts on it. Everything I'm about to write is completely from my own experience, and we all know that I'm not a professional; so if you're looking for "real" advice on getting faster, I would contact a running coach. But I will share what worked for me, and what I think of it.

When I first started running, I didn't know anything at all about interval training, tempo runs, splits, fartleks, or even the number of meters on a track. Basically, I just wanted to be able to run a 5K race, which I learned was 3.1 miles. So I started by walking, and then throwing in a little running. You can read the whole story on my running page. The Couch to 5K program was too hard for me, so I did my own thing.

By doing my own thing, I was able to reach a 5K distance pretty quickly (within a couple of months). Once I was able to run 5K, I wanted to get faster. And like I said, I knew nothing about speed work, so I (again) did my own thing:

I ran faster.

I learned that to be a faster runner, I had to run faster. Is that clear as mud? Good. Basically, I ran 3.1 miles three times per week; and each time I ran it, I tried to run it a little faster than the time before.

That's it!

I didn't do intervals, I didn't run repeats on the track, I didn't do tempo runs, or any of that. I just tried to run a little faster each time, since I was running the same distance each time.

Fast forward a year, after I'd been studying up on running and reading everything I could get my hands on, I decided to try to PR at 10K by following a real running plan, and doing all the speed work on the plan. I followed it to the tee, and was sure I was going to PR that race. Then I ran the race, and missed a PR by about 11 seconds. I couldn't understand it, because I actually trained for a PR.

The race I busted my ass for, but didn't PR :(

This whole past year was spent marathon training, and speed work went right out the window. I was just trying to make it through the uber-long runs, and didn't have the energy to try and get faster. After the marathon, I put together Hal Higdon's running plan with recommended training paces, and decided to follow it to hopefully get faster.

However, I was so excited to be running shorter distances, that I decided to push the envelope, and just run fast--not paying attention to what the "recommended" paces were. And I went back to the basics of when I was a beginner, just running to try and get faster. I started running every run faster, in order to be faster. I've been running faster than my recommended paces, but it's working really well! I've seen HUGE improvements on my pace in just a month's time.

My sub-26 goal for 5K after 2 1/2 years of trying!

So, while a real running coach would tell me to do intervals at x:xx pace for y distance, and a tempo run at a another carefully calculated pace, etc., I've learned that my body does best when I do things my way. To get faster, I've simply been running faster. Pushing myself a little, and sometimes a lot, and then seeing the results.

But what about injury? I've always read that if you push too much, you'll get injured. Well, the only times I've been injured were during marathon training, when I was running slowly, over long distances. Now that I'm doing shorter distances, I think my body can handle the fact that I'm running faster.

So my (unqualified) advice for a beginner would be to pick a distance (even if it's just once a week) to try and run it a little faster than you did before.

---

Since I'm on the subject of how I got into running, I typed out a generalized plan of exactly how I started running. I hated running at first, and I especially hated the C25K program because of the intervals. After running for a minute or two, I would start the walking segment and DREAD hearing the beep of my Garmin telling me to start running again. So I did my own thing, and this plan that I typed out is pretty much what I did:

You can click it to enlarge, or here is a link to the PDF for printing, if that helps. The R is for Run, and the W is for Walk. The numbers are minutes:seconds. So on Day 1, you would run for 30 seconds, then walk for 29 minutes and 30 seconds. Sounds ridiculous, but it worked for me!

I think the reason that this was helpful to me was that I could just run for x amount of time, then walk and be done. I didn't have to run, walk, run, walk, etc. Mentally, I just said, "Okay, you just have to run for two minutes--you can do ANYTHING for just two minutes. After that two minutes, you can walk the rest of the way." That is how I stuck with it.

The first few weeks progressed really slowly (on the first day, I ran about 30 seconds at a 14ish minute mile pace). But then as I was able to run farther, I was able to progress much faster. Going from one minute to two minutes is a much bigger deal than going from 24 minutes to 28 minutes, because you're literally doubling your running time when you jump from 1 to 2 minutes. I hope I'm explaining this well ;)

Anyway, this kind of plan worked for me, so maybe it will help someone else as well. Feel free to use it how you wish. One thing that I can't stress enough is that if it feels too hard, just run even slower. You might be able to walk faster than your running pace, but you can work on speed after you've built up the distance.

I posted this stuff now, because I have some plans in my head to host a virtual 5K at the end of January--my 31st birthday is on January 25th, and I thought for 31, how fun would be to host a 3.1 mile run? ;) I will post details on that later (once I figure them out) but this way, if you'd like to participate, you have time to prepare!

Whew, this was a long post!

Continue Reading...

Handheld water bottle

I was awakened at 5:00 this morning when the kids' school called to inform us that there was a two-hour fog delay. Ugh, I appreciate the call, I just wish it didn't come until at least 6:00. Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up and just read some blogs for a little while.

It wasn't as foggy this morning as it was yesterday, but there was frost all over everything outside. I prepared for an uber-cold run--my UA Cold Gear running tights, a tech shirt, and a fleece jacket over top; headband to cover my ears, and gloves. When I stepped outside, it actually wasn't as cold as it looked. It was 28 degrees, but it felt more like 38. So I ditched the gloves before I even left.

Today was a tempo run--5 minute warm-up and then 30 minutes at tempo pace (comfortably hard). I wanted to keep the same pace or better as my last tempo run a couple of weeks ago--my tempo pace then was 8:32/mi for 25 minutes.

As I ran, I glanced at my Garmin a few times, just to make sure I was on track, but I didn't obsess over it. I'm not going to lie, today's run was HARD. I think I hated every second of it, but when it was over, I felt amazing!! I pushed myself really hard, and I wanted to quit so many times while running, but I just kept reminding myself it would be over soon. And my pace was awesome!

Five minute warm-up at 9:22/mi, then 30 minutes at 8:19/mi. I'm continuing to get faster, and it's so much fun to SEE progress like this! The whole time I was marathon training, I was doing so much work, but wasn't seeing results. Training for speed is so rewarding, because the numbers are right there showing me that it's working.

When I finished, I was dripping sweat (the fleece was too much--I should have just worn a long sleeved shirt). The sweat soaked through the fleece and froze--leaving white frost on my jacket :)

When I was weighing out my oatmeal on my kitchen scale this morning, the batteries went dead. I absolutely hate that scale, and instead of buying new batteries, I just decided to get a new scale. This is what my old one looked like--don't ever buy it, because it was awful.

Taylor is a great brand for scales, but that particular model is awful. It would frequently shut off in the middle of measuring something, and it drove me crazy. Anyway, I went to three stores looking for a new scale (I wanted digital, and I could only find the scales with the dials on them). Finally found a whole bunch of them at Meijer, and bought one similar to one I'd had many years ago, and loved.

Taylor makes some scales with The Biggest Loser brand on them, and those ones looked good too--although you pay more, because of the brand I'm sure. This one was $25 (not labeled with Biggest Loser). It's everything that I loved about my old scale from years ago! I'll try this one out for a while and then write about whether I'd recommend it.

I also got a package in the mail today. I had ordered a handheld water bottle for running. Now that I'm done with marathons, I don't need a hydration belt. But on runs longer than 10 miles or so, it's nice to have water, so I wanted a handheld.

Lots of people seem to like the Nathan Quickdraw Plus, but a few months ago, I bought one, and had to return it because the water leaked out of the bottle even when the tip was pushed down tight. The hydration belt I have is from Amphipod, and I really like it. No complaints with it whatsoever. My only complaint with Amphipod is their customer service. I e-mailed them before, and they never responded. So I never really rave about my belt for that reason.

But I like the belt and bottle so much that I decided to check out their handhelds. And I ended up buying the Hydraform Handheld Ergo-Lite. As soon as I opened it, I absolutely loved it! It's the perfect size, the fit is adjustable, so that was perfect as well. And it even has a thumb hole!

It holds 10.5 oz, which is just right for the amount I will need for when I use it. I'm so excited to try it out, that I may just take it out on my "easy three-miler" tomorrow ;)

---

I've been really into peppermint lately--it started with the Peppermint Stick flavored CLIF Bars (which I've been eating almost daily without bloating, so I don't think those were the culprit, thank goodness). I've been seeking out other peppermint things, and today I made a Peppermint Pattie protein shake--it was SO good, and definitely gave me the peppermint fix I was looking for.

I did add a little Reddi-whip on top after I took the pic ;) I posted the recipe to my recipe blog, and you can find it here: Peppermint Pattie Protein Shake. I bet the perfect addition to sprinkle on top would be those broken up Andes mints that you can find with the chocolate chips in the grocery store. I'm going to have to pick some up, just for that purpose!

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Peppermint Pattie Protein Shake

Chocolate and peppermint go so well together... and this protein shake is no exception! Definitely gave me the peppermint fix I was looking for. A good garnish for this would be whipped cream and chopped Andes mints. (This would probably also be good if you add 1-2 tsp. instant coffee, for a peppermint mocha latte type shake).

Peppermint Pattie Protein Shake

3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or whatever milk you'd like)
1 serving chocolate protein powder (or vanilla powder + 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder, which is what I use)
1 Tbsp. instant chocolate pudding mix
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
10 ice cubes
optional--1/4 tsp. xanthan gum and 1/4 tsp guar gum, for thick and creamy texture

Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. I eat it with a spoon, because it reminds me of ice cream :)  Makes 1 serving (about 20 oz).

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Crock Pot Italian Chicken Penne

This creamy comfort food pasta dish is perfect for a cold day!

Crock Pot Italian Chicken Penne

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine were still frozen, no need to thaw)
1 can of condensed cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese
1 packet dry Italian dressing mix
1 (15 oz) can of petite diced tomatoes
12 oz. uncooked penne (or other pasta)

Stir together the soup, cream cheese, tomatoes, and dressing mix in the crock pot. Add the chicken. Cook on low about 6 hours, until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Cook the pasta according to package directions, and drain. Add the pasta to the crock pot mixture and stir to combine. Makes 6 servings (approximately 1 1/4 cups each).

Continue Reading...

Candy!

Eli is 100% back to his normal self today. I worried about him all night long, but he seems totally fine. I'm glad, obviously!

This morning was really foggy outside.

Near zero visibility in dense fog... sounded like my easy four miler was going to be a fun one ;) I decided not to go on the busier roads, so I wouldn't get smoked by a car, and just ran through the neighborhoods. It was really eerie--there weren't any cars out, and I could barely see anything through the fog. Anytime I heard a noise, my heart raced, because I was imagining dogs running at me through the fog (it made for an interesting mind game, anyway).

My legs and lungs felt awesome throughout the whole run. I didn't look at my Garmin at all, just ran how I felt comfortable. I actually thought about running farther than my training plan said, that's how good I felt! But I called it quits at four miles.

After I showered, I sat under my electric blanket for breakfast and e-mail. My cats are as obsessed with my blanket as I am, and they actually kind of fight over who gets to sit with me. But surely, that's because they love me so much, and has nothing to do with the blanket, right? ;)

Phoebe and Estelle--my legs were numb when I got up

Jerry and I made plans to take the kids to see Wreck It Ralph today, because they brought home good report cards. There was a 12:10 show at the mall, so we decided to take them to Taco Bell at the "food court" there (I put that in quotes, because the only choices are Taco Bell and some Chinese place). We got to the mall at about 11:30, plenty of time to eat and then see the movie; but we saw that the mall was closed until 12.

That was irritating. I knew I'd be starving if we waited until after the movie to eat lunch. The next show was at 2:30, so we ultimately decided to go to Applebee's for lunch, then kill some time at the mall, and then see the show.

I ordered the jalapeno-lime shrimp (a Weight Watchers item on the menu, for 8 PointsPlus). I was skeptical, but it ended up being really good! Much better than the parmesan chicken I got last time (also a WW item).

I don't like tomatoes, but I tasted one, and they ended up being my favorite part of the dish. It was perfectly spicy, and a satisfying portion. I would definitely order this again. Jerry got the lemon-parmesan shrimp, for 12 PointsPlus, and I tasted it--it was pretty good, but I liked mine much better.

After we finished lunch, we went back to the mall to browse around for a while. We went into Target because the kids needed new sheets for their beds, and while we were there, I found my FAVORITE holiday candy!

I tried one probably about five years ago, at my friend Stacie's house. I was obsessed with finding them in the store, because they were SO good. Stacie couldn't remember where she'd gotten them, so it became a mission to find them. And I never did, until two years later--at Target. Target is the ONLY place I have ever seen them. If you like peppermint candy canes, and you like chocolate, you will like these.

They are basically just a candy cane sucker with a tootsie roll in the center. They only have 60 calories, and they last a while, which is another reason why I love them.

Looking at all the candy and junk food at Target made Jerry and I say to each other simultaneously, "Don't you wish we were still fat sometimes?" BAHAHA, that is the only thing I miss about being 253 pounds. Buying lots of junk and eating it with abandon, without worrying about gaining a few pounds. They had candy cane OREOS--Jerry and I were both drooling over those, but knew that if we bought them, we'd have no control. I did buy a bag two bags of the Candy Cane Tootsie Pops, because those aren't a binge food.

By the time we were done at Target, we still had 40 minutes until the movie started. The kids said they didn't even want to go see it anymore, so we just came home. I feel like I disappointed them again--since we missed out on the race yesterday morning, and then the movies today. But maybe we'll try and go next weekend.

---

Jerry and I spent some time in the evening going through tweets on Twitter about The Walking Dead. There are some really funny pictures on there! I love reading what people's thoughts are about the show, and it had me cracking up. Jerry had an idea for one that he asked me to make in Photoshop... a prediction of who would be on the phone that Rick answered at the end of the last episode...

Hahaha, if you don't watch The Walking Dead, then please ignore that ;)  

---

I want to give a huge congrats to my Ragnar teammate Lealah--she finished her very first full marathon today!! And Rik, our Ragnar captain, actually went down to Oklahoma to run it alongside her, just like he did with me in Detroit three weeks ago (seriously, could we have a more awesome captain?). I'm super proud of Lealah! Their unofficial finish time is 5:27:40. Congrats Lealah!

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I used to make muffins with these two ingredients, but I was really in the mood for cookies a few nights ago, so I decided to turn them into cookies instead. They are SO good, and SO simple--and only 64 calories each!

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

1 box Duncan Hines Spice cake mix
1 (15 oz) can of pure pumpkin

Combine the cake mix and pumpkin (nothing else) in a bowl. It takes a while to stir it together, and it's tempting to add water, but just keep working those two ingredients and eventually they will form a thick, sticky dough. Use a spring-loaded scoop to drop by tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet (I got 36 cookies from one batch of dough). Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, and then let the cookies cool.

Continue Reading...

Eli's scare

The kids and I didn't get to do the fun run this morning.

Eli has been sick this week. He's had a bit of a cough, and it was bad enough that I kept him home from school on Wednesday. He seemed to be doing much better Thursday and Friday, so I figured everything was fine.

But he gave me the biggest scare of my life this morning (it probably wasn't even related to the cough, though).

He was in the bathroom, and said he needed some help wiping. So I went in there and helped, then when I was washing my hands, he said, "My brain feels weird. I feel really dizzy." I didn't think much of it, because I get dizzy quite often, especially right when I stand up, and it goes away in a second or two. Then I was helping him get his pants back on, and he said, "My brain feels really really weird" and he seemed to be off-balance.

Then I started getting concerned. I tried to get him to walk into the hallway, and he was able to move, but he was really limp. I asked him if he was okay, and his face went completely white--his lips and everything were paler than I've ever seen them. He wouldn't answer me, and he was just staring off into space, like he wasn't hearing me or anything. (All of this happened within a couple of seconds).

As he stood, he seemed really unsteady, and I thought for sure he was going to faint. I panicked, and picked him up, ran into the living room, and sat him on the chair; then I yelled, "Jerry, get out here now!" (he was sleeping), and he must have sensed the panic in my voice, because he was up in a flash. I grabbed the phone to call 911, but then Eli started talking again.

Within a couple of minutes, he was 100% back to normal. And for the rest of the day, he's been fine. Since the immediate threat was over, I didn't see any use taking him to the ER. Jerry thinks that maybe he just sat on the toilet too long, and when he stood up, he got a head-rush. I was worried that it was an "absence seizure", which isn't very uncommon, especially in kids. I know a couple of people whose kids have had them before.

I am going to take him in to see his pediatrician on Monday, just in case, but he seems like he's totally fine now. It was the strangest thing. (Like mother, like son, I guess! He seemed to be feeling the same as I did before I fainted, and it was just a one-time freak accident). But of course, I still worry.

So we obviously didn't go to the fun run, because we were actually getting ready to leave when the whole thing happened. I told the kids we would find another one soon and they can do it another day. Eli asked if he could still have his medal, so I gave it to him ;)

---

This afternoon, I got a phone call from my Weight Watchers leader. I had e-mailed her about my goal weight situation, and she gave me a call, which was nice of her. I explained everything to her--my weight loss, that I joined WW Online for the last 20 pounds, and that I want to become a Lifetime Member by losing the last 5 pounds.

She was super nice and didn't make me feel judged at all. She's the leader of the At-Work meeting where Jerry works, but she also does meetings at a WW center on Thursdays and Fridays. I decided to go to her meeting on Thursday mornings--it fits in great with my schedule (the boys will be at school), and since she knows my story, I won't feel quite so awkward being there in order to drop 5 pounds.

Since this Thursday is Thanksgiving, I think I will go on Wednesday instead. But she made me feel much better about going (I was a nervous wreck); so hopefully all will go well. I'm sure it will, but stuff like this causes me so much anxiety!

---

For dinner, I made one of my fall/winter favorites: cabbage casserole. Everyone always complains about the smell of cabbage cooking, but I happen to love it! I even loved cabbage when I was a kid--especially cabbage casserole.

---

I did a very short interview on SparkPeople radio recently, if you'd like to listen. You can find SparkPeople radio on iTunes or on their website. The whole segment is about seven minutes. I don't know how to link directly to my segment, but the title starts with Katie... so it shouldn't be hard to find ;)

I had no idea that SparkPeople radio even existed! I'm going to add them all to my iPod so that I can catch up on them. It hasn't been around long. It took me a couple of minutes to figure this out, but there are "full episodes" and then segments--and they are listed separately. So you could listen to the entire thing if you wanted, or you could just listen to short segments at a time (my interview is in episode 4).

Continue Reading...

Playlist

I had a hard time getting motivated for my run this morning--it was 27 degrees outside, and today was my long run day. I had eight miles on the schedule, at a 10:30 pace.

When Jerry got home from work this morning, he brought my Weight Watchers meeting materials. I had to join via the Weight Watchers at Work program; his work paid for 13 weeks for me to do the meetings. Now that I got the materials, I can go to any WW center that I want to.

I haven't done an "official" weigh in yet, and the more time that passes, the worse off I am. To reach Lifetime status in WW, you have to lose at least five pounds from your joining weight. I don't want to weigh in for the first time super close to my goal weight, because then I'd have to lose five more pounds. So I'm just going to have to drink a ton of water or something before I go weigh in.

It's kind of funny, because I've lost well over a hundred pounds, but it doesn't "count" because I didn't go to the WW meetings. Even the weight I've lost as a paying WW Online member doesn't count.

I had thought the first day was last Thursday, but they said no, it was next week (yesterday). But the leader said I don't have to weigh in until next week. I just don't get it. So, I just have to hope that I can be heavy enough when I weigh in to be able to lose five more pounds. I just wished I'd known a long time ago that Jerry's work would pay for the meetings!

Anyway, I got the kids off to school, and then headed out for my run with zero procrastination. Usually, I don't do eight mile runs near my house, because the routes have gotten so boring to me; but I didn't feel like driving anywhere, so I just came up with a lollipop route from my house. A lot of it was on busier roads, so I dressed in my uber-bright race t-shirt on top of a long-sleeved shirt.

People always wonder what I wear to run in cold temps:

Jerry was sleeping, so I had to do my best to take a pic of myself. I'm wearing my Under Armour Cold Gear compression fit tights; a long sleeved spandex shirt with a race shirt over it; Bondiband over my ears; and I did have gloves on, too. I won't break out the fleece jacket until it's in the low-20's.

I actually listened to music instead of podcasts today. My playlist is really lame, and definitely needs updating, but since a few people were curious what music I have on there, here are a few of my favorite songs to run to:

Lose Yourself by Eminem
Move Along by The All-American Rejects
I Like It by Foxy Shazam
Some Nights by Fun.
Tik Tok by Kesha
Into the Wild by L.P.
'Till I Collapse by Eminem
Ride to California by Paper Tongues
I'm Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance
Lay Me Down by The Dirty Heads
Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly
Famous Last Words by My Chemical Romance
Audience of One by Rise Against

The Way I Am by Eminem
...pretty much anything by Eminem

Yes, it's embarrassing. ;) But I'm honestly not a big music person.

Eight miles went by rather uneventfully, which is always good. I wasn't as cold as I expected to be, and I even took off my gloves after about six miles.

After I showered and ate breakfast, I tried to catch up on blog reading for a little while before Jerry got up. We had a hot date to go to Sam's Club today ;)  Remember how I said to remind me never to go on a Saturday again? Well, today was just as bad, if not worse, than a Saturday. There were TONS of people there hovering around the employees who were giving out samples. I never taste samples (not sure why), so it was annoying to have to maneuver around all that.

When I got in the car, and looked at Twitter on the way home (Jerry was driving), I saw why it was so crowded:

We happened to be there right smack in the middle of their holiday tasting. So now I'm revising my reminder... remind me never to go there without at least having a glass or two of wine first.

We also stopped at Victoria's Secret so I could get my free panties :) And at Kroger, so I could get some ice cream to spend my weekly PointsPlus on today.

Tomorrow, I've signed my kids up to do a one-mile fun run. It's free, and they won't get anything for it, but I've been trying to get them to do a run with me for a long time. So I bought them each a medal to give them after the run, to hopefully motivate them to want to do more! I'm going to be their "pacer" so that they don't go too fast and burn out, quit, and then never want to try again ;) I'm actually looking forward to it!

Continue Reading...

'Till I Collapse

'Cause sometimes you just feel tired,
Feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
And not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.
--Eminem, 'Till I Collapse

I love these Eminem lyrics. They basically describe my entire weight loss, and now how I feel when I run hard. Especially running the last 8 miles or so of a marathon ;)


And this morning, I somehow "pulled that shit out" and reached two huge milestones during my run--I ran a sub-26:00 5k, and I ran a sub-8:00 mile!

The sub-26:00 5k has been a goal of mine for over two years. When I first started running, and my speed was improving, I made a goal to run a sub-30:00 5k. I reached that goal while I was training for my first 5k race, so I changed my goal. Renee said that she was "absolutely sure" that I was run a sub-26:00 5k at the race (October 2010). That seemed impossible to me, but I did a practice one in about 26:40 ish--can't remember exactly. So I went into the race with the expectation to run it under 26 minutes.

And I finished in 27:17. The race was super crowded, so I wasn't able to run the same speed I did during my practice race. After doing longer distances, I realized that I despised the 5k distance. But I couldn't get that goal of running it under 26 minutes out of my head. The next 5k race I ran was in March 2012, and it definitely wasn't the right race to try for time. It was (again) really crowded. I finished in 26:57.

Because I don't like 5k races, I just haven't tried again since. But now that I've been working on speed again, I've been thinking that I would register for a 5k in a month or two, and do my best to reach that sub-26 goal.

This morning, I had 3 miles at race pace (9:00/mi) on the schedule. I set up my Virtual Racer on my Garmin at that pace, and just decided to do my best to stay ahead of the VR. After the first mile, I saw that I ran it in 8:31. So I figured I could slow down a little, but was kind of excited to see that pace, so just kept with it. Second mile done in 8:34.

I started thinking about how that was really close to my 5k pace, and it would be fun to finish with my fastest time yet. Then I could hear a little voice telling me, "You can hit your sub-26 goal if you push really hard". I decided to unofficially try for it--run hard, and hope that I could manage to run fast enough to make the average pace go down to 8:23/mi. It was HARD, but I kept telling myself that it would be over in about eight minutes.

That last mile had me reach another running milestone--I ran the entire mile in 7:54!! I've never run a mile that fast. I think my fastest up until today was probably about 8:15-8:25. I kept running to finish out the 0.1 in order to hit 5 kilometers rather than just 3 miles, and I finished in 25:44 :)

That was probably my most exciting running moment since I started running over two and a half years ago. It was extremely difficult, especially that last mile, and I really wanted to fall flat on my face and collapse--but I stuck it out, and I'm so happy I did!


I can't cross this off my goal list just yet, since it wasn't a race; but now I'm extremely confident going into a race and reaching for that goal!

After I showered, I rewarded myself with a super yummy breakfast--English muffin with Nutella :)  I put Nutella alone on one half, and Nutella + peanut butter on the other half. Both halves were so good I can't decide which was better.

And that actually brings me to yet another milestone. I finally feel in-control enough to have a whole jar of Nutella in the house. I've been doing really well with the peanut butter and almond butter, but was scared to press my luck with the Nutella. Since I obviously don't want to avoid it forever, I bought a jar to measure out each portion onto my English muffins in the mornings. I didn't binge. :)

Today has been a very confidence-boosting day. I think days like this make all the really tough days worth it. When I was losing weight, I so badly wanted to quit sometimes, because it was exhausting--but then I would have a day where I saw some awesome progress (wear a smaller size, reach a weight milestone, wrap a bath towel ALL the way around me...) And during running, all the runs that I bitched and moaned about and just really didn't want to do, eventually came to a head and I had an amazing run or race and just felt on top of the world.

Days like this are few and far between, but that's what makes them so exciting!


...Until my legs
Give out from underneath me
I will not fall,
I will stand tall,
Feels like no one could beat me. 
--Eminem, 'Till I Collapse 

Continue Reading...

One year later (lower body lift update)

As predicted, I didn't lose any weight this week. I actually expected to see a gain, but I was 137 on the dot again today (same as last week). My body fat and waist size were the same as well, so I didn't bother to do pictures.

Today is the one year anniversary of my lower body lift surgery. I cannot believe it's been a year!! I am still super happy with the results, and would do it again in a heartbeat. A few people have e-mailed me asking for updated photos of my scar, so I had Jerry take some new pictures today. The first is a comparison--it was taken three weeks post-op.

Scar, three weeks post-op

Scar, one year post-op

My scar has faded quite a bit, and it will continue to fade over time. It really kind of blends in with all my stretch marks, and that's what it looks like--a faded stretch mark.

My belly hasn't changed much, except that my hip bones are a little more prominent now:

Three weeks post-op

One year post-op

My belly button scar is still pretty dark, and I don't know if it will fade much more or not. But I actually really like the shape of my belly button. The actual shape is the same as it was before surgery, but now it doesn't have all the skin hanging around it.

I haven't had any problems arise from the surgery. As expected, my scar is still numb, and an inch or so above and below the scar is also numb. It's getting a little more sensation now, though. Right after my surgery, I couldn't stand to touch my abdomen, because it was a very weird sensation. When Jerry would touch my hips, I would spasm and practically punch him, because the feeling was so WEIRD. But now I can handle being touched again. Once in a while I get an itch, but when I scratch, I can't feel the scratching. It's so strange!

I used to not even allow the cats to sit on my lap, because I couldn't stand the feeling of their little paws walking on my belly. But now it's getting more tolerable, especially if I flex my abdominal muscles. I always have a little numbness, but it should still continue to get better for another year or so.

One thing that I wasn't expecting is that my stomach skin is still saggy. When I stand up straight, it doesn't look like it, but when I lean over (or hold plank) my skin hangs a little. The only way the surgeon could have corrected this would have been to make a vertical incision down my abdomen to tighten the skin from both directions--but obviously I did not want that. I wasn't expecting perfection, and I'm very happy with how it looks.

A lot of people have asked me about running after surgery. I was cleared to run just eight days after surgery, but I didn't have any desire to run at that point ;) I waited until 3 weeks and 5 days after surgery to run--and my first run was TOUGH. I felt out of shape from not having run for nearly a month, but I regained my fitness level very fast.

By January, I was training for my first marathon, which I ran in May. So the surgery didn't hold me back from running at all. I did wear my compression garment while running for a while. It kept my belly from bouncing and jarring, and I liked the compressed feeling. But by March, I was fine to run without it. The first few runs felt weird without the compression garment, but I got used to it right away.

Well, I was going to try and write a huge update with all kinds of details, but the truth is, the last year has been completely uneventful as far as the surgery goes--and that's a good thing! I didn't have any complications, everything went as expected, and I've completely recovered. I'm so happy that I had the surgery!

Continue Reading...