This is it!

Today is my first Trail Marathon! I've been looking forward to this race for a long time and I'm really excited that it is finally here. I will post a write-up as soon as I can.

Preparation for the marathon

I've done my last run before the race and I'm now trying to increase my carbs. I have to say that it isn't doing much for my weight loss goals. The good thing is that I know a lot of it is carbs and the water that goes along with it.

I want to make a public declaration: When this race is over, I WILL concentrate on my weight loss goals and I will lower my weight and my body composition. I will determine the specifics in the next couple of days.

Off to school!

Confession Time!

I have had a couple of days of: "I JUST DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" - speaking of weight loss and healthy living of course. There have been many factors contributing to this attitude and as a result I haven't been checking in here and I haven't been following a good program either. The only constant has been my running. I'm in my taper week so I ran 5 miles on Monday, 4 miles today and 4 more are on tap for tomorrow. After tomorrow, running will cease until the marathon on Saturday. I will admit that I have started each day with the best intentions but have given in to that inner brat each and every day. I'm writing about it now so that I can get the ship going in the right direction today!

Today has been going well. Here are my meals (actual and planned):
1. Fritatta
2. Smoothie
3. Crab & pasta salad with veggies
4. Veggies & cc dip (planned)
5. Buffalo steak, baked fries & salad (planned)
6. LL cheesecake (planned)

I will write again tonight to update today's results and plan for tomorrow.

Friday 4/18/08

Not much time but I did want to check in. Today wasn't a great day - started first thing when something wonky happened with my alarm and I overslept by an hour. Eating was only so-so and I never got my lifting in.

Tomorrow is my last long run before the marathon. I want to go at least 10 miles but that is going to depend on the people I'm running with. I won't run the trails alone so if they need to leave I will finish with whatever I have.

Gotta go - better planning tomorrow!

Review of Thursday & Plan for Friday 4/18/08

Had a few too many snacks today. I found myself eating some bite-size turnovers at work today. They are one of those things that if around....I eat. I tried to modify the rest of my meals but they were still calories that I didn't need to have.

Tomorrow is a room day at work. That means that the kids are off and all the teachers get a chance to do "whatever" needs to get done. We have an open house coming up and I'll probably be working on some of those crafts. I'm really looking forward to being on my own schedule and just doing what needs to be done.

I got my new running shoes today. Lori told me about Holabird and they do have good deals. Shipping is free if you order is over $50ish and I got the shoes in a day and a half. Lori has been using them for a while and has had nothing but good interactions. I may find myself as a regular customer as well.

Goals:
1. Monthly goal: I will weigh 146# by 5/1/08.
2. Weekly goal: I will lift 2x & run 5x by 4/20/08.

Nutrition:
1. Fritatta
2. Smoothie
3. Tuna and baby carrots
4. Veggies & cc dip
5. I have this planned but I don't' have the menu in front of me - it will be healthy
6. LL cheesecake

Workout:
Tomorrow is a rest day from running but I am going to do an UB workout.

Friday Goals:
1. I will lift in the am.
2. I will follow my nutrition plan - taking my snack and lunch to work.
3. I will drink 72 oz of H2O - did well today (over 72).

Review of Wednesday & Plan for Thursday 4/17/08

Today was an excellent day! It started with a small drop on the scale. Then I met my friends for a run and we decided to do an "easy" 5 miler. Well, that didn't last long! The group started out with a pretty quick pace - after about a mile I told everybody that I didn't want to go as fast as they were running and was slowing down. Now, that usually has at least one person drop back with that person but not today (at least for a bit). I decided to just hang onto the back of the group and not push the pace but they were pulling away. Just about that time, Lori decided to drop back with me - it was nice to have a partner again! However, at about the 3 mile mark she started to pick it up again and I knew I was fighting a losing battle so I decided to just go with it. Shortly thereafter, Lori made the comment that she would love to pace the other 3 runners (they always seem to push the pace). I told her that I had given up on trying to have an easy run and that if she wanted to go we were going. As we passed the other 3, they made a comment to the affect: there go our speedy down hill runners. My comment back was, "I've given up on an easy pace so now it's time to go". At this point I was pissed and ran like it. We ended up running the 5 miles in 45 minutes flat. A 9 minute per mile pace may not sound super fast but we usually go at about 10 to 10:30 per mile so the increase was substantial. I will not be running that fast again tomorrow - I've had 2 hard days in a row and I need to start a bit of a taper for the marathon.

My eating has also been good today as was my lifting routine. I followed my plan - I ate according to plan AND lifted after work. It really feels good to be back in a groove!

Goals:
1. Monthly: I will weigh 146# by 5/1/08
2. Weekly: I will weigh 148#, lift 2 times & run 5 times by 4/20/08

Nutrition:
1. Fritatta
2. Smoothie
3. Turkey sandwich
4. Veggies & cc dip
5. Steak Fajitas
6. LL cheesecake

Workout:
4-5 mile run with group

Thursday Goals:
1. I will run first thing in am.
2. I will drink 72 oz of water (freeze jug and then take to work)
3. I will follow my nutrition plan (take my snack & lunch to work)

Review of Tuesday and Plan for Wednesday 4/16/08

Today was a good day! I had a few snacks but overall I stuck with my plan and am pleased with my effort.

I'm going to go get some new running shoes tomorrow. While running today, I started to get some pain in the top of my left foot and last week I had some pain on the bottom of my foot. Pain on the top + pain on the bottom = New Shoes (in my book anyway). Speaking of today's run, it was a great one! We set out to run our 5.5 mile hill course and for some reason we started pushing the pace pretty early on. We ended up running 7 miles and had an average pace of 9:28m/m. I'm very pleased with that because the hill is steep and long and Danielle and I pushed it hard the whole way.

Goals:
1. Monthly: I will weigh 146# by 5/1/08
2. Weekly: I will weigh 148#, lift 2 times & run 5 times by 4/20/08

Nutrition:
1. Fritatta
2. Smoothie
3. Tuna & grapes
4. Veggies and cc dip
5. Chicken fried rice (Precision Nutrition)
6. LL cheesecake

Workout:
4-5 mile run (pretty flat course) & UB lifting session

Wednesday Goals:
1. Run first thing in am.
2. Lift when I get home from work.
3. Follow nutrion plan (bring snack and lunch to work).
4. Drink 72 oz of H2O.
5. Buy new running shoes.

Plan for Tuesday 4/15/08

Today is finishing well!

Goals:
1. Monthly: I will weigh 146# by 5/1/08
2. Weekly: I will weigh 148#, lift 2 times & run 5 times by 4/20/08

Nutrition:
1. EW omelet & 1/2 banana
2. Protein/fruit smoothie
3. Tuna & apple
4. Veggies & cc dip
5. Turkey, cranberry sauce & mixed veggies
6. LL cheesecake

Workout:
Run - 6 mile hill climb

Tuesday Goals:
1. Run first thing in am.
2. Follow nutrition plan - make sure I have everything made and ready to go tonight.
3. Drink 72 oz of H2O - freeze jug tonight and take to work.

I am hopeful that I will see a bit of a budge on the scale tomorrow morning. I will also start posting that info to keep myself accountable.

BTW - if you want a really inspirational read, try reading Julie's blog! She is an amazing person and a great runner to boot!

Monday 4/14/08 Review

Today was both good and bad in terms of my plan. I woke up first thing this morning, to do my lifting, and just couldn't get moving. I felt exhausted! So right off the bat things were going south - but that didn't stop me! I made sure I had breakfast according to plan and made my protein shake for meal 2. Off to work I go and then I realize that in all the morning preparation, I forgot to make my own lunch. After school was over and in between errands I grabbed a burger which again was not to plan - but that didn't stop me! I made sure I did my lifting when I got home and my next meal was according to plan. So far I have had 5 of my 6 meals and feeling confident that the last one will be just how I planned. I have also consumed 72 oz of water.

So, even though my day didn't go exactly how I had planned it, I am quite pleased with how I stopped myself from allowing the day to spiral out of control. Tonight, I plan on making all of tomorrow's lunches so that I don't feel as rushed in the morning.

Tomorrow's plan to follow later!

Plan for Monday 4/14/08

I'm going to try journaling here. I am usually most successful when I'm consistently journaling and it just hasn't been done lately and as a result my weight loss has stalled. I haven't had a plan most days and it has resulted in poor choices. My hope is that I will be able to write each night as my plan for the next day, so here we go.....

Goals:
1. Monthly goal - 146# by 5/1/08
2. Weekly goal - lift 2 times, run 5 days and weigh 148 by 4/20


Nutrition:
1. Fritatta
2. Protein shake with banana
3. Tuna salad with veggies
4. Veggies and cc dip
5. Baked chix strips & mashed cauliflower
6. Protein packed pumpkin pie

Exercise:
Lifting - UB

Monday Goals:
1. Exercise first thing in am
2. Drink at least 64 oz or H2O
3. Follow my nutrition plan

Hopefully by posting this and coming back and documenting how I've done will keep my mind a bit more focused on what I need to do to achieve my goals. Speaking of goals, my trail marathon is coming up in 2 weekends and I'm really starting to get excited about it! I've done 1 previous marathon but this is going to be completely different and I think that is why I want to do it so much. Lori was talking about possibly downgrading the other day and I told her that I DID NOT want to downgrade. Fact is, I know I can walk the distance so finishing the miles is not the issue. In fact, I'm planning on walking part of the race - I just want to run the best race I can and hopefully finish in less than 6 hours. LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!!

Runner's High!

We had a wonderful run this morning! The temperature was about 58 degrees at 4:30 am. I was able to run in shorts and a T-shirt for the first time this year. I've been in shorts this year but not shorts with a T-shirt. We felt great the whole run. It is so much easier when you don't have all the extra clothes on! We ran for about 2:30 hours without stopping. This may not sound all that amazing but we were running on some very hilly and some very challenging trails. 2:30 hours on the trails is NOT equal to 2:30 hours on the roads.

OK, we didn't run it at Bionic speed but it still felt great! We were able to cover about 14 miles and went for a total of 3:03 hours. During the last couple of miles we hit some pretty steep hills that were absolutely covered with crazy roots and rocks so we walked a bit more than we would have wanted but we just didn't feel safe on the hill.

I think I'm actually starting to feel better about the marathon. It is in 2 weekends and I'm still nervous about crossing the water but I'm not nearly as nervous about being able to cover the distance. I want to get another hilly trail run in tomorrow but I'm not sure if the timing is going to work out.

I'm also trying to make sure I get in at least 2 lifting sessions each week. I'm not necessarily going for heavy weights but I would like to make sure I get in at least those 2 sessions each week. I'm hoping that it will help me to drop some more of this weight.

Speaking of weight loss....my eating hasn't been great over the past week or so but it hasn't been horrendous either. I feel like I'm making some forward progress but I still have a way to go!

Thursday 4/10/08

I thought these were great quotes:

"If you want to win a race you have to go a little berserk. "

Bill Rodgers

“Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us daily. ”
—Sally Koch, author

This week has been much better!

I've actually run 3 days in a row and tomorrow will be 4! I've covered 17.77 miles so far this week and I'm scheduled for another 4 tomorrow. Friday will be a rest day and then we'll be running for about 4 hours on Saturday (assuming the weather isn't crappy!).

The trail marathon is in a couple weekends and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried. I know I've been down this road before but I just don't feel like I've gotten enough consistent training in. In the back of my mind I know I will be able to finish because I will be combining walking and running. I think it is just the fact that I was sick that one week, then I didn't get to run the following week because my husband was out of town and most importantly, the weekends have been horrible in terms of weather. It seems like every weekend it rains and our runs either get cut short or cancelled.

But, the race is in the future and my runs are here and now. I'm just going to enjoy each day and each run as they happen!

I'm Quite Proud of Myself!

Today I went out and ran 10 miles by myself! I can't tell you the last time I went out for a run alone - unfortunately it will probably be the only run this week because of my husband being away on a business trip.

I took a page out of my friend Lori's book and connected my Ipod up to a small speaker and put it in my pocket. What a difference it made!!! I've never been able to run with headphones on because I tended to run to the beat of the music and would get all out of sync because the music would get too fast and I would cramp etc. However, having the music just out there and not right in my ears really helps - you get the benefit of the distraction but not to the point where you have no idea about your surroundings. Much safer!!

My pace was also quite good (about 9:45m/m) and I completed 10.01 miles. I could start to feel it at the end - legs were getting a bit tired and my lungs were struggling but the good part was that I didn't feel like I was going to cough up my lungs at the end. This makes me feel a touch more comfortable in my ability to finish the trail marathon. The good part about this race is that there aren't any other goals other than to finish it. I fully intend on walking parts and my finish time is not something I'm concerned about. It is a tough course and I just want to say that I completed it!

Off to take my wonderful hubby to the airport - I'm going to miss him!!

Saturday 3/29/08

This is going to be a tough week for me for a number of reasons. My husband will be away until Thursday afternoon so for the next week I'll be a single parent. In addition, because he will be gone, I won't be able to do any running (although I am hoping to work something out with a friend of mine so that we can get some miles in during the evening hours) - no one to watch the kids.

It is going to be really strange not being able to run but I'm going to try and do some combo workouts. I find it very boring to just sit on the bike for an hour but I thought I could combine some jumping rope and the bike as well as some lifting and the bike. I'm hoping that the changing up of the type of exercise will really give my body a boost because I really am getting nervous about the trail marathon. I put a countdown timer down at the bottom of the page (although I may try and move it around) and there really isn't a lot of time to get ready for this race and with my cold etc it is just really freaking me out!

My nutrition plan has been going really well. I made a weight loss goal on LL and I've been doing a good job at not only following my plan but also logging everything. I'm also being rewarded on the scale - I've dropped 3 pounds over the past few days (yes I realize that a lot is water weight). The way I've been feeling the past few days (minus the cold) just really hits home just how much of an affect a good nutrition plan can have - I just feel better!!

Getting Better

I'm glad to say that although I'm not back to "normal" I am getting better. I've been able to do 3 days of running this week and would love to get out tomorrow but I think the weather will not be cooperating. I had less trouble with the actual running than I thought - the worst part was stopping! Pretty much as soon as I stopped running, the coughing fits started and I thought I was going to be sick a number of times!

It wasn't great but it was a step in the right direction!!!

It's Official....

...I'm sick and I've got it bad!

I've been fighting the chills and the sweats all day and a good portion of yesterday. I knew it was bound to happen - there are just too many people around me that have been sick. That's happen when you work with kids!

Here's to getting well and getting back to running!

I NEED to get my act together!

I've been doing a little bit better with my nutrition but not well enough! I'm up higher than I've been in a long time and I really need to just get my act together. I haven't been writing down my plans or making my food a head of time and those are 2 things that just sabotage my efforts BIG TIME!

So, starting today, I am going to start writing down my plans again. I hope it will enable me to get a handle on this aspect of my life. Other things are coming together and I'm feeling good about that. However, without having my physical/nutritional life in balance the rest just doesn't feel "right"!

I didn't run today because of some heavy rain this morning. I'm hoping to get in about 5.5 miles (on a hilly route) tomorrow and then 20 on the trails on Saturday. Off to write down my plans!

Awesome Run!

We had a great run this morning! We met at the trail entrance, bright and early (4:30 am) and got out head lamps on. Yes, it was still pitch black out! However, the rain had stopped and the temps were great - about 45 degrees or so. There were 4 of us that set out on out planned 4 hour run. It was hard going because of the dark and I was a casualty of that darkness. There was a nasty little tree root that jumped out of the darkness and grabbed my foot - actually I just plain kicked it and went for a tumble. My toes/feet are always a BIG concern for me because of the big bunions I have on both feet so I knew I was in trouble as soon as I hit that root. I managed to roll a bit on the way down but I still hit my left knee pretty hard. So there I am, feeling quite embarrassed, with a sore right toe and a sore left knee. The good part was that I didn't rip my pants (they're my favorite pair)!

After the fall we did pretty well. We were all feeling pretty good and making good time - slower than a normal run but good because of the darkness and the hills (the trail we run is REALLY hilly). Two of us had pretty good lights but the other two were struggling with their lights so we did a bit of rearranging in our running order which helped a lot. However, soon after that, one of our runners starting having a lot of trouble with her cold. She was struggling to breathe any time we pushed up a hill and we started doing a lot of walking. As soon as it was light enough to see, the other 2 runners decided that they could make it back on their own and wanted to go at a slower pace. I think we were at about mile 10 at this point and feeling pretty good so Lori and I kept going at our own pace. As the next couple of miles went by, we could slowly feel the trail taking its toll (and my knee and toe were starting to stiffen up too) but we kept pushing until about mile 14 and then we walked for a bit. Walking NEVER FELT SO GOOD!! I'm not really sure how far/long we walked but the body was definitely starting to give out. I was to the point where ever step was really starting to hurt but I wanted to keep going - our goal was 4 hours and our hope was 18 miles (didn't think we'd make that). We ended up stopping at about 3 hours and 48 minutes and ran 17.5 miles. We probably could have gone the extra 1/2 miles but we were both ready to STOP!

My legs, no make that my body, was pretty sore all day. I made sure to ice my knee and foot many times throughout the day to help get rid of the pain. It has worked a bit but I think tomorrow it is still going to be a bit sore and stiff. I can't meet the group to run tomorrow and I don't know if I'll try to run on my own or ride the bike. That will probably depend on how my knee feels.

Off to do a bit of reading and then to bed - I'm really looking forward to the bed part! Keep on runnin'!

Another new exercise session!

Today I went swimming, for exercise, for the first time in.....well let's just say it's been a really long time! Last summer, we joined an outdoor pool but the kids didn't really have much in the way of swimming skills so I didn't want to leave them alone. I would occasionally sneak in a couple of laps here and there but nothing worthy of note.

It was really GREAT! There weren't huge numbers of people (everyone had their own lane) and I didn't die. That last part, I feel, is really key - LOL! It also just felt great to do something different. I swam for about 40 minutes and was then able to shower and dress there so when I got home, all I had to do was worry about getting the kid's stuff ready. If the finances were there, I would join the gym tomorrow!

Tomorrow I will be back out on the roads - I'm hoping for a 6 mile run. Not sure if I'll get that in because the other people I'm meeting have all been fighting bad colds so they may not want to run those types of miles so soon. I'm hoping to be a bit more consistent this week because I realized today that our trail marathon is about 5 weeks away. That means we also need to get at least one 20 miler in here soon too. Hopefully the weather will cooperate a bit more this weekend!!

Keep on runnin'!