running

Sunday Goals

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Last week I made, what I felt, was a pretty intense laundry list of working out. Added to my work week, I was pretty uncertain about whether or not I’d be able to do it. Well, I managed to make my goals- better yet- I surpassed my goals!
Goal: 2 hours on elliptical
Accomplished: 2 hours 10 minutes
Goal: 2 weights workouts
Accomplished: 4 workouts totaling 80 minutes of weights/floor work
Goal: run 2-4 miles
Accomplished: Ran 3.7 miles in 40 minutes
Goal: Bonus walks
Accomplished: 2 walks totaling about 60 minutes of walking & spent the afternoon at a public pool
The grand total is 310 minutes, or 5 hours, 10 minutes of intentional working out this week! I feel pretty proud- and sore.
*
This week’s goals:
2 hours elliptical
3 weight/floor sessions
1 run of any length
Bonus walks
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Yesterday we ran about 2.4 miles on our regular route and I wanted to work some altitude into the day so we went a different route than usual for the last 1.3. The route takes us down a super steep hill and then loops us up a similarly steep hill. We ran down the first steep hill, which was pretty intense. There was a huge amount of joint impact, and I was a little worried about my hips/knees/ankles, but I didn’t really have a tough time or pain and really just enjoyed allowing gravity to carry me down the hill while I worked my legs as fast as I could for the anaerobic power! On the way up the hill, we did a few running intervals, but my heart-rate stayed pretty high the whole time and I didn’t feel a real need to push too hard. It was a great workout that I need to repeat. My thighs and behind are SORE today!
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It just occurred to me that I get worried about working out in my anaerobic zone too much. Remember one of my New Years goals? Yeah. It’s to build muscle. When do you build muscle? Oh, yeah. In the anaerobic zone. What will happen if I build muscle? Oh, yeah. I’ll burn more calories just by having the muscle because muscle burns more calories than fat!
Duh.
I can lose fat through diet and exercise while also building muscle through exercise.
Double duh.
Just exercise. Do it, right? Good things will happen.
Sometimes I’m so silly.

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Benefit number 99 of diet bet:
I don’t know about anyone else, but it takes a real fitness accomplishment for me to post a workout on Facebook without feeling like a complete tool. One of the nicest things about diet bet is that you are all there for the same reason- to lose weight! We are also all there for accountability- why else would you risk money by betting against yourself to lose weight? So the community is incredibly supportive and friendly! I posted this, yesterday (obviously before I finished everything) just to see what kind of response I would get. Tickle me pink, look what happened!
A friend I have made through diet bet (who is one pound away from a grand total of 100 pounds lost – YAHOO, Michael!) hosts a bet every month and he invited me to join the February bet. I’m totally onboard for that, so if anyone wants in on that bet, keep an eye out and I’ll post the details as it gets closer and I learn more.

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I just wanted to post this link to a website that does a really nice job with a calorie burn calculator. Whenever I’m curious, I head over there to double check my burn. I read somewhere that this is a really good one, so I thought I would share it.
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Tamara Shazam is undergoing a makeover… Sneaker peek:

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Coming soon!

Moments Away…

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Ignore my cankles and desperate need of a pedicure, and instead focus on that number. That, my friends, is 1.6 pounds away from losing a clean hundred.
***
Bradley and I tore it up to the tune of 3 miles in 34 minutes today. It was sunny and beautiful, and the weather is supposed to continue to be gorgeous. Today it was warm but by Monday it’s supposed to be in the 80’s- mwa ha ha!! Anyhow, I always have wanted to be a part of a couple that runs together but really, never thought I would ever pony up the sweat enough to do it. Now we are and I love running down the road with him. There’s this strange sense of pride that I have that we are doing this together, unified, supporting one another. That he runs with me.
He is so kind. The man can fly. At his peak he was running 6+ and 7 minute miles. So for him to chug along with me at 11’s is terribly sweet. He could chide me and bully me along, but he lets me be at my own pace on the street routes I insist on running, even though I know he much prefers the track. He lets me run on the road instead of the sidewalk because I hate going up and down the driveways and he even picks up the dog’s ‘do’ and carries it (sometimes for a long time) until we get to a trash can. The best? He lets me sing Selena Gomez* and Queen songs to him while I run. He just smiles. I feel lucky that I have a partner at all, but him? Bees knees.
I love him like a love song baby, and I keep hitting repeat!
***
I’m 3 miles away from making my goal of 12 miles this week! 🙂
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*I know. First Katy Perry, now Selena. There’s something about that power pop that makes me cruise! What can I say?

Stars of Track and Field

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Today has been so strange. And I have been crabby.
First, I got my scale back this morning. I hopped on it, all excited and the scale read two pounds lighter than the last time I weighed in, which was an afternoon weight, which means my first in the morning weight did not change even a fraction of a pound. On the upside, though, I can see that I am losing. My skin is hanging on me differently yesterday and today in a good way! I’ll weigh again tomorrow to see if there is a change, then I’ll ask my true love to hide it away again until next week. It really did loosen the scale’s power over me to have it gone.
Our kids are gone tonight so this morning I really wanted to get my workout out of the way so I wouldn’t have to worry about it this evening. My whole family decided to come along so it took a little longer than we expected to get going.
When we finally arrived at the high school track, we noticed a group of teenagers talking near the center. They glowered at us as we walked through the fog and made one lap. When we came out of the fog upon them a second time, their numbers had increased and we inquired- track practice was commencing. I took off jogging anyhow, determined to get my run/walk in. As we rounded the next turn there were even more of them and they were glowering at us still. Not seeming to find it charming or inspiring in the least that this nearly forty year old woman with two kids in tow was running her jiggly butt around the high school track with her husband. I looked at Bradley and we agreed to let them have their space.
We scooted off to the centennial trail to walk there, but by the time we made it down there I realized I wouldn’t have time to work out AND get ready for a lunch date I had made with some friends from work. So we headed home. I was super grumpy because now I knew I would have to plan for a workout this evening. I don’t know why I thought it would be so inconvenient. Bradley and I like taking walks together. My head was in a strange place I suppose.
I went out to Mexican food with my friends. It was interesting to have the chips and salsa all there, but I counted chips as I ate them and was careful about the portions I chose to eat. It went well. Better yet was when we went to a consignment store that my friend, Tracy, patronizes and I was able to try on clothes there AND find things that fit. It was wonderful to be able to shop in a ‘normal’ store. I’ve never been able to buy used clothes before because my size is hard to find. It was embarrassingly fun to be in this cute little shop among the rest of the ladies.
When I got home we went for a walk then Bradley crashed out, dead asleep. I didn’t want to eat a real dinner by myself. I was reading on runs for cookies and Katie was talking about oatmeal and nut butters. Suddenly, nothing sounded tastier than raw oatmeal (1/3 c), peanut butter(1T), chocolate chips(15) and toasted coconut greek yogurt (I cup). So I decided to make it for my dinner! Bradley was crashed out, so I thought why not?! By the time all was said and done, it was 401 calories of yummy tastiness! I was stuffed when I finished and it wasn’t even a terrible food choice. Happy!
(Way better than crabby.)

My Scale

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It’s gone. I asked Bradley to hide it somewhere since I seemed scale obsessed and I was allowing it to control my determination blah blah blah… I came home Monday afternoon to find it still exposed, out in a useful area. I looked furtively around, tried to walk by, but instead, like a junkie, took one final look around, quickly shed my clothes and hopped on to take measurement. Of course it was up from the morning and of course I was a giant grimace. I went to put away my clothes and get sweats on to find my scale gone. In my absence, she was hidden away for real. So, I’m off the scale. And this is significant enough to note in writing it’s effect on me. Just sayin…

The hard part is realizing what a motivator stepping on that silly thing was! Seeing that number dipping and rising is enough to propel me forward sometimes. Other times, not so much. I guess it’s finding the balance. The balance, I’m sure, is not getting on the scale in the morning, after a shower, after work, before bed, the middle of the night – basically anytime I’m in my bathroom.

I haven’t lost weight in ages. I’m trying to just trust that a clean diet and lots of exercise will take me in the right direction. I don’t know how how true it is, but my mom always says ‘muscle weighs more than fat.’ I hope it’s water retention and a little muscle mass. But I know it takes a long time to build muscle so… It’s fat or water mostly. Sigh.

I’ll admit that I’ve been feeling my determination oozing out of every pore this week. My determination is running low, I’m looking for motivation, and like yin and yang, it seems to be very important to allow both to play their role; determination takes over when motivation runs low and vice versa.

Not having a scale has forced me to seek motivation elsewhere.
*In the soreness of my muscles.
*Window shopping my spring and summer wardrobes in smaller sizes.
*Running and training for the Color Me Rad 5k.
*Writing about weightloss.
*In talking about exercise and weightloss. Ad nauseum.
*In the compliments from my friends and coworkers (I hate/love compliments so am awkward as ass receiving them but glow for hours after receiving one- I’m a total praise-junkie)
*When my friend (who runs half marathons y’all) tells me that she’s so proud of me and my training- that she thinks I’m a runner now! (I cried real tears privately after that one. I’m such a cheeze.)
*In the stories all over the Internet.
*And in the stories I know:

That look on my dad’s face when my mom came home with her stack perm in the 1980’s. We all stopped short that night and SAW my beautiful mother and what she done clearly for the first time. She worked for ages on Weight Watchers and was trim and tiny. My dad got the camera out that night and took several photos of my mom. Every time I see those photos in the scrapbook, I see the power and determination on her face. I can also see, quite plainly, that she felt smoking hot that night. It was true. She looked amazing.
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A parent friend of mine from my school with a similar build to me melted away one spring, revealing this tall, striking amazon woman (we share an adoration for Wonder Woman so I know she will hear that as a compliment). She looked amazing. She felt amazing. She wore heels and stood so tall against the sky. I wanted to join her superhero squad so I decided to follow her footsteps. If she could do it then I certainly could too.
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One of my oldest friends dropped ten pounds and another ten and another and kept going for a year before she met her husband. She turned into this powerful motivational speaker of sorts. She modeled this healthy lifestyle as she fought her way down the scale, passing me by and leaving me in the dust. To this day she is still shaking it at Zumba and grooving with water aerobics. She still is heavy, but ever determined, thus incredibly inspiring to me.
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My husband picked up running a few years ago using the Couch to 5k app. He regularly ran miles upon miles for a few years before he built our house. He fell out of the habit but is getting back to it. His willingness to jump into anything physical is pretty amazing to me. And to go from not being an athlete at all, really, to being able to run miles at a go showed me how fitness is accessible to anyone.
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There are more stories. My brother lost weight and ran races. Friends upon friends have lost weight successfully. My mom revisited her lower weight recently and became tiny. The battle still wages for her, but she still fights. Blogs and websites and Facebook and… It all comes together nicely to motivate me. Hopefully as I continue to read and explore, my determination will become stronger again. I’m resolute, just a little thinner on determination. But I’m determined to get my determination back. Ha!

Another Fitness Milestone

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I jogged a little over a mile today. Not consecutively, but I did jog for 12 whole minutes in a row at one point (.7 of a mile if that tells you how slow I ‘jog’). My entire workout was 1.7 miles and I jogged for 1.1 miles of that. I hurt right now, but I feel so good in my soul.
I’m amazed that I’m doing this.
***
I think I’m going to sign up for the Rad Run 5K that will happen in July in Seattle. I have no doubt that this is possible now.

I Got Worried

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I got a little bit nervous yesterday, thinking that the day before was a fluke. That the run I took successfully was some mixture of magic and who knows what…
I’ve been trying to take a day off in between each intense day – meaning in between each day I jog. I guess that just turned into a day of doubt for me this time. I rode my stationary bike for 30 minutes and worried…
Today I arrived home with determination. I decided that I needed to push myself a little bit by just going some distance. I asked Guinevere to join me for the walk/jog and I suddenly had a jogging partner who also enjoys trotting along to Katy Perry.

Ill admit, it was a little strange to run down the street with Katy blasting from my pocket, but it was also pretty fun… Remember when Phoebe from Friends ran through Central Park like a crazy kid? It felt like that. Bopping along to our own music blasting…

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So off we went. I didn’t hesitate. By the time we crossed the main road I asked to start jogging and we were off. We jogged several times as we went about, and again, I never wore out! I got the threat of a stitch in my side, but I never started flipping out and hurting. Again, I am amazed. During the longest stretch I kept waiting for my body to give out, but the only thing that really happened was I got a little bored. It became clear that focus will be important. 🙂

This map is of the walk we took. The black is the blocks, the purple our route and the orange is how much we ran.

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Along the way, I learned all about my daughter’s day. I’ve always wanted to be the kind of mom who exercised alongside her daughter and son. I’ve always admired those pairs you see on the side of the road, an obvious parent and child cruising along. I’ve always thought that running with Gigi would connect us and bring us together, make our bond stronger and I hoped that someday it might be something we connect over during college breaks and, way in the future, as adult women. Today helped me to see a glimmer of that possibility. Suddenly I have a new dream to chase a little harder.

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Slo-mo

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Today was a day.
The good kind.
I went out to take my walk, as usual. Bradley came along and we hauled tail around the block, carrying on conversation, sharing our day back and forth when suddenly I realized we were just a few blocks from home and I hadn’t done the run part of the workout yet.
I turned to Bradley and asked if I could jog the rest of the way home. I’ll admit that I did that all full of hubris, all cocky and self assured, but on the inside I wondered if I had just said something that was going to leave me dry heaving on the side of the road.

Of course, my bearded beau just grinned and kicked up his feet, and off we went. At first I tried to keep pace with him, then realized I would never endure the run all the way home if I kept pace with him. I dropped back before my lungs started to freak out and so did he, keeping pace with me. I got slow. Like slooooowwwww-mo-Tamaraaaaa. But know what? I didn’t stop. Like, I jogged the ENTIRE WAY HOME. And know what else? I talked the whole time.

I kept waiting for that moment when I HAVE TO stop because my lungs are burning, my legs are jelly and I sweat like mad… It never came.

I have always heard that exercise pace is healthiest when you can carry a conversation. The whole time there I was testing that theory talking and chatting it up with him, just to see if I could. I could. I did. I jogged all the way home and burst into tears when I got there. So proud and so amazed by myself. I am in disbelief about my next sentence:
I can’t wait for my next opportunity to jog.
Huh.
***
I feel ACCOMPLISHED. More determined than ever. I feel like a possibility. I feel worthwhile. I feel good.

Running? No. Intervals for now…

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Today is the day. I spent last night reading up on how other fat gurls like me started running. It all begins with 30 seconds, it seems. Today I’ll run a little, and tomorrow a little more, and after that a little more and more. Double up, run slow, run for distance. Slowly but surely they all say I should quickly build endurance and be on track in no time.

I’m hoping I can be strong enough to run a 5K. I know, I know. A 5K? People who run are always like, “MEH. A 5K. That’s only 3.1 miles.” Yeah, but this is me we’re talking about. ONLY 3.1 miles? I practically cough a lung after a block or two. 3.1 miles IS a feat.

Running is romantic. People who do it are like demigods because who in their right mind likes going out and feeling as though their lungs will burst WHILE their legs turn to rubber and you sweat like a pig? WHO? Bradley does. He’s amazing like that. And really, there are a bajillion other people who also like it, OBVIOUSLY. But I haven’t counted myself among their numbers ever. EVER. And I’ve never wanted to try because of all the sweat, pain and lung bursting, you know? The closest I got was when I was in Europe and I could zip up a hill with my 100 pound backpack on while everyone else panted along behind me asking me to slow down. But even then – I did not run. I speed walked. Or is it sped walked? All I know is that it wasn’t running, that’s for certain.

The 5K seems reasonable to me. Wish me luck as I take that first official training step tonight! I hope to be running around that track in no time at all. I’ll even try not to grimace. I suppose all I need is a little Katy and I’ll be cruising in no time.
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Two links for suggested 5K training pacing guides:
http://www.runsforcookies.com/2012/11/on-starting-to-run-and-running-faster.html
Plan by: Running for cookies

And this one that does not seem novice to me (since when is running a mile and a half novice?!) But some people could use the Hal Higdon version. 🙂
http://halhigdon.com/training/50933/5K-Novice-Training-Program

Sorry about the cut paste. My app for WordPress is being a spaz.
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PS. Wanna know the most exciting part, though? I have been regularly working out enough that I feel invigorated after the work out. That is a change. Exercise is GIVING me energy instead of stealing it. Yum!