Month: May 2010

I saw you walking the other day! You look great!

Facebook message from one of my students.

Yes I’m losing weight for ME, but it’s nice that others are noticing the changes in my body

Morning Jaunt

I really am trying to run 5x a week and in order for me to be sure to get 5 runs in I had to run this morning before work. I am NOT a morning person, however AM workouts are delicious. Back in grad school when I didn’t have to be in the office until Noon I worked out at 9:30am which was perfect. Well this morning I got up at 6:30am – no fun.

I laid all my stuff out the night before and even charged up an old ipod since my current one was acting up (I think it’s alive, but I won’t know for sure until I go home at lunch). When my alarm went off my dog, Freddie, started jumping around so out of bed and dressed I was. I grabbed the dog (my 7 pound 2 year old Pomeranian who currently looks like a shaved lion due to his summer haircut) and we went for our run.

Last week when I wanted a run I ran to a random street and then headed back home, well when I map quested it I saw it was just over 1 mile to that street, there for it was 2 miles roundtrip which was EXACTLY what I was going for. So Freddie and I were off, he’s become a much better running companion…we still have aways to go, but at least he’s not always under my feet or tangling me up in his leash. I don’t run as fast when I’m with him, but I like letting release some of his bottled energy.

The hardest part of the run is the middle leg on the first half mile – all up hill…I usually have to jog/walk it because it’s steep. It was a decent run, but the best part of it was how awake and alive I feel at work. Will I wake up early and run all the time now…no. However I am going to try and run before work more often. The next few weeks are crazy, so I may actually be running before work a lot we’ll see.

Running with an Audience?

So today I geared up for a normal run of 3 miles unlike my beastmode 5 miles I did yesterday. 

My favorite treadmill was open (I always feel like I have a better workout on my favorite treadmill) I did some stretching and go to turn on my ipod…and it’s tweaked out. What pisses me off more is that my ipod was dying yesterday and I put it in my gym bag to charge at home. I forgot to charge it overnight and I freaking go back UP the stairs to charge it this morning and get it at lunch all charged up – I even look at the damn screen. So it wasn’t dead, it was tweaked. My ipod does that every once in a while.

I was worried about my run, but begrudgingly ran/jogged 3.5 miles. After my run I did legs which apparently EVERYONE in the gym was doing. 

While I’m switching machines a lady stops me and asks me how long I ran and a few cardio questions. She’s like I can only do about 2.5 miles etc. She said she’s been watching me and thinks I’m doing a great job. A gym groupie I love it!

jjenniac:

I was just quoting the Auburn Creed today to a friend in terms of getting healthy when I saw a friend upload these ads to facebook. The stanza reads:

I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities.

This is from my other tumblr, but I thought it was fitting to add to this one! 

Tumblr Fun

Not gonna lie I have enjoyed customizing my tumblr despite ALL the time it took. I think I still prefer the custom options of blogger, but I do really like a lot of the tumblr features. I like all my blogs to visually reflect me as best as possible.

I think I have everything updated and moved over – so this is now officially your go to stop for following me measure my year!

Cha-Cha-Cha Changes

I decided I want to join the “FITBLR” world so I’m transitioning my blog here!

It’s a crazy week of work, but I hope to move all my posts there.

In other news, I did pay for 10 more training sessions with my trainer Issac – I paid in FULL to avoid a messy contract…I minded my money for 2 months and was able to throw down. Summer is going to be hard since my schedule is wack-a-doo thanks for orientation and I want him to help keep myself accountable. 

Since I was a bum this weekend, but still want to try and run 4-5 days this week I decided I am going to wake up early on Thursday and run outside BEFORE work since my friend Natalie aka NATTY LITE is coming to town Thursday. 

Also my tattoo IS happening FINALLY. This Saturday 5pm. I’m pee my pants excited.

An Inspiration?

I got to see a bunch of friends over the past 10 days since I finally was able to get out of the south for a few days. Now also mind you I haven’t seen any of my friends from home since Christmas aka free running/measuring/life changing. 

I had been a tad frustrated that dropping 22 pounds yielded little feedback from people here, but at the same time it’s been a gradual loss and harder to notice I suppose. It was great to see people who haven’t seen me in 4 months and hear them tell me see TOTALLY notice. A few people even called me svelte – that is such a great word I love it. 

What was really awesome was seeing my friend Star and her telling me today that seeing me and following my journey “inspired her to get focused on getting in shape.” Seriously that’s the best compliment someone could give me. 

The past 10 days have been HECTIC and my running has suffered a bit, but I plan on hitting it hard this week. I even am planning a PRE-WORK run on Thursday. Last Thursday I actually ran before I had to head out of town and it was great to start my day with a little 2 mile run. 

The next few weeks of working are going to crazy, please keep my in your thoughts and give me strength to run as much as I can and to resist the temptation of bad eating choices.

Finish Lines

True Life: I have a new addiction…crossing finish lines.

The Race for Hope was may things, including inspiring, satisfying, magical, and challenging to name a few.

I had the power of David Cook on my side.

In terms of the race itself it made me think back to a quote that got me through grad school: 
No one said it would be easy, 
but no one it would be this hard either. 
They just promised it would be worth it.

Despite training for 4 months, it was a HOT MUGGY morning in DC. I also didn’t sleep as much as I would have liked or hydrated enough or ate enough before the race. 

I didn’t realize running with 11,000 people would be quite as insane as it was. Also running without knowing the course or exactly my progress was a challenge too.

I started off at a great pace, but prob 2/3 into the race I need to slow my pace a but due to the heat. My legs and endurance weren’t the problem. It was sweating and breathing in humidity that was slowing me down. 

The last straight away towards the finish was my favorite part, seeing the finish line and crossing it was a beautiful thing. 

I knew I ran it in about 34 minutes based on my phone, I wouldn’t get my official data until the next day. I was satisfied with my time, I think I could have shaved a minute or two off if I started the race at the front of the pack and also if I was slept/hydrated/ate properly. Scheduling a race in the MIDST of a vacation was the ideal situation, but I didn’t want to sacrifice having fun either.

After the race ended my friend Kelly and I cooled down and enjoyed all the free water/bananas/snacks etc. I really don’t think I’ve been that sweaty in my entire life. My eyeballs were sweating. Kelly and I continued to sweat for a good 30 minutes after the race. 

It was crazy that at 9:35am in the morning that the race was over. The biggest part of my day was done and it was only 9:35am – that felt weird.

My official race time ended up being 33:29 minutes at a 10:47 pace. Honestly I am proud. I know I can run a mile in under 10 minutes, but right now they are in 1 mile spurts. The fact that I ran 3.2 miles consecutively at that average pace is gratifying. I wish I could track how fast I was going at my fastest speed.

I swear I’m hooked on running. I want proper running attire and watches and all kinds of things that will track my runs. 

Running isn’t a bad addiction to have. My friend Josh who we stayed with in DC is a runner. He ran track in HS and college, currently on average he runs 70 miles a week. Crazy, but I loved picking his brain about running.

I haven’t slacked either I walked on Monday and ran a little 5K on the treadmill yesterday. I plan on running today as well.

I think the fact that my brain is obsessed with running and my next run and my time has taken up brain space that used to think about food and when I was going to eat all the time.

I wish I could bottle up how I felt post race and in these days following. 

Half Marathon training is in it’s planning phases. I know the second half of May is going to be crazy, so I am going to “officially” start training June 1 with the hope to run a half marathon in October. And who knows maybe I’ll do another 5K or 10K in the meantime to feed my finish line obsession!