Week 33: Day 5

Good morning!!!  I cannot sleep.  That is the strangest thing to me...because this girl loves her sleep!!  I woke up a little before 5, and I have just been lying in bed with my eyes wide open.  Sigh.

I usually try to figure out what is keeping me awake and pray about it, but I really can't pinpoint anything!  Maybe I'm just done sleeping for the night?

Shrinkvivor posted a "mini-challenge", that I guess is just done on the honor system, but it is to eat NO fast food this week.  Easy-peasy!  When I read this and subsequently thought "I can so do that", I began thinking about our upcoming move and having to pack food and snacks to keep us happy and, hopefully, away from any drive-"thru"'s.  (side note: I hate, hate, hate when people spell "through" t-h-r-u.  It is ridiculous.  It is incorrect.  However, when I tried typing drive-through, I felt stupid.  Because it looks dumb.  HA!)

So, fitness minutes are going well...except one of the girls on my team said something about doing an hour a day and hopefully two hours each day over the weekend!  What the what?!?  I don't have that kind of time!  I did 30 minutes on Wednesday (5 minute warm up/5 minute cool down and a nice 2.3 mile run!), then 32 minutes yesterday (same warm up/cool down, but I ran almost 2.5 miles), and 10 minutes last night of push ups and sit ups.  I was going to take a rest day today, but now I'm feeling like I should do something!  I do have Jillian Michael's 30 day shred DVD....been hearing good things about it.....

We are having a yard sale today.  Maybe this is why I can't sleep?  That seems like a reeee-diculous thing to be stressed about, but who knows what the inner workings of my brain focus on!?  This morning I am going to help Shaun set up and then my "job" is taking the kids somewhere fun so he can be the awesome salesman he truly is...hahaha.  I'm being completely serious, actually.  Shaun is gooooood at sales.  I have asked him before if he would like to switch careers and be a car dealer!  He says no. 

After our yard sale, we will begin boxing up and getting ready to move.  We were thinking the 17th, but now I kind of would like to go sooner.  We really have nothing else tying us here...and after this whole week of full-time togetherness, I think we are ALL ready for Shaun to get back to work!  We found a website called U-Ship...anyone have experience with this?  It is a division of eBay.  Basically, you post what you are looking to have "shipped" - it can be one item or lots of items or, in our case, a whole house.  Then, movers bid on your shipment and you can accept or decline the various bids!  We put an ad up just to see what happened (our budget is VERY low), and we actually got a really decent offer.  SO, now we just need to accept the offer and get to packing.  (we were looking at about $470 to rent a truck, then you include gas which was estimated at about $256, and Shaun was really not wanting to drive the truck - but would have!; this offer is $859 and all we do is load the truck!)

What else can I bore you with this morning?  hahahaha.

I went back to Slim Fast.  My 15K training has about 4-6 weeks of "easy" stuff before the long miles get in there, so I decided I should cut back on calories and get back to some weight loss!!!  Yesterday with the Slim Fast went well.  For good measure, because I could NOT stop eating dinner last night, I sprinkled my "Bacon Cheddar Quiche" piece with Splenda.  It definitely made me full.  I felt stuffed and even a little uncomfortable.  It was the yummiest quiche I have ever had.  Mmmmm.  Super easy to make, too!  Just a pie crust with 1/2 package of bacon cooked and chopped, 1 cup of cheese on top of that, Shaun blended (yep, made him help with dinner last night) 5 eggs and 1 cup of heavy whipping cream (side note: I didn't specify and he went with the "heavy" before I noticed), poured that on top and baked at 350 for 50 minutes!  We also had salad.

Okay, I guess I will go see what's on tv and start getting yard sale goodies ready...everyone cross your fingers and pray we have a good turn-out!  It's always more fun when you get rid of the things you have set aside and become willing to part with.  :)

Have a great day!
xoxo

Shrinkvivor Week 1!!

Gooood morning!

I gotta be honest with you, it is NOT such a "good" morning around here.  Sigh.  The changing of the seasons has caused everyone in this house to feel a little under the weather and I'm sure you can all guess who is the biggest baby in all of this.  (hint, not me)  Dealing with 4 kids with bad attitudes and sniffly noses is one thing...add in the unemployed 31 year old hubs and I am about ready to run away!

Shrinkvivor starts today!!!  My official weigh-in this morning was 186.  This week's challenge is fitness minutes....awesome.  Truly, truly awesome.  I have found a 15K to run in Washington DC on December 3rd, and my training starts yesterday today!  The timing of this run is perfect...I think...well, I have decided.....um.  Okay, I'm going to run the Charlottesville FULL Marathon!  Maybe.  Probably.  UGH!  I am feeling really good about the half, and I really enjoyed it the whole time.  Is it weird that I feel like the challenge wasn't enough?

I'll think on this a bit longer...I have my eye on the 15K for now.  The biggest reason to do the 15K is it's called "Will Run For Chocolate" (yum) AND instead of a t-shirt you get a running jacket!  Niiiiiiiiice.  The back says "Hot Chocolate 5K/15K"...I thought about doing the 5K, but I really want to do some serious training that involves some long runs.  I really, really enjoy my long run Saturdays!!  Running "away" from all the whining and crying at home....and the kids, too.  Hahaha.

Sorry to be such a "husband-basher" this morning...tooooo much togetherness!!  The moving planning is really falling into place and getting us stressed excited!  We are having a yard sale this weekend and trying to focus on the short goal of getting everything together for that.  I have to manage carefully because Shaun is pretty good at wanting to sell everything.  Nevermind if it's a family heirloom or the kids' favorite toy or clothing I wear daily!  He keeps mentioning moving to Charlottesville with whatever fits in the van.  Really?  No.  He just gets overwhelmed easily.  Good thing I'm around.  Hahaha.

I gotta get on these fitness minutes!!  As soon as I get some coffee, I'll be heading out for a quick 2 mile run!  Hmmm...maybe I should WALK all my runs to get more minutes?  Hahahaha.

Have a great day!!

xoxo

Week 33: Day 1

Hey!!!  Sorry I have been gone...what's hilarious about that is YOU probably didn't notice because it's only been one day of no posting, but I feel like it's been for-eh-ver because the past two days have been SOOOOOO long.  Oh. My. Goodness.

Why have they been so long?  Well, yesterday I was pretty sore, but that did not mean I could be lazy!  I took all the kiddos to church for 1st AND 2nd service (uhm, confession: I read a book during one of those services...it was a Christian book, though!), and then we came home and ate lunch and it was a beautiful day outside and I really felt like I needed to go to the grocery store and we heard back from the realtor about the house we wanted and we got approved (!!!!) and there was just so much to talk about and figure out and blah, blah, blah!  So, by the time I crashed into my bed around 8:30, I was aching pretty darn bad...possibly even close to tears!  Ugh.

This morning, however, I woke up feeling great!  I slept really, really hard...woke up one time and didn't know where I was!  It felt grrrr-eat.  So, today was Shaun's first day of unemployment.  I'm not sure how many people reading this care about my personal life, but basically Shaun tried to do "the right thing" by giving notice at his job as soon as we knew we would be leaving...it bit him in the butt when his boss found a replacement very quickly and then told him she couldn't afford to pay him for October so Friday (last Friday) was his last day.  It was a shocker, but through prayer I have realized it will not break us.  We will be fine.  Unfortunately, getting used to him being around 24/7...well, that is going to take longer than one day.  I would wager a guess that I will not get "used to it" before he returns to work.  Here's hoping, anyway.  Haha!

I will be honest with you...i have not paid one bit of attention to any diet plan.  I have not run since Saturday's marathon.  I have just been living my life.  We got approved for the house, so today was all about splitting up the stuff - yard sale stuff, donation stuff, give back to friend's stuff, keep stuff, pack stuff.  Holy moly.  I didn't even put a dent in it!

Tomorrow I will begin a new training plan!  This one promises to have me running a sub-25:00 5K in 12 weeks.  Yeehaw!!  This will be my first training plan with actual "work" involved...some "tempo" runs and some speedwork, some hill training.  I am very excited.  VERY.  I have a 5 mile Long Run on the schedule for tomorrow.  I will be taking the twins in for their first dentist appointment at 8 am (is it weird i am totally excited??), then dropping them and Zoe off at school at 9, and I will go run then.  I have signed up to do some "secret shopping" tomorrow for a little (very little) extra cash, and I will finally get to the grocery store.  My poor family might be over the random meals I have been making.

I have one last thing to mention.  A very good friend and LOYAL reader/follower has given me this to post for her...

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I actually did call for myself even though I told her I have been with GEICO for years and I have looked around and never found cheaper.  Guess what?  They totally got me a cheaper rate...saved me $100 off my six month rate!  Nuts.  SO...as it says "no obligations and no annoying phone calls"...totally true.  I didn't purchase the plan right away and the guy let me get off the phone very easily.  It was not a lengthy conversation and I felt comfortable right away.  I will be honest and tell you I normally HATE getting "free quotes" because they get so pushy afterwards!! 

So, if you are curious, give them a call.  Don't forget to write down the Solution Number and last name! 

One very final thing - the Shrinkvivor tribes were announced and I am on Team Pink!  We renamed ourselves the Pink-bury Dough Girls.  Hahahaha.  (The "captain" spelled it pinkberry, but I wanted you to understand the reference)  Fun!!  Weigh-ins for that challenge will be Wednesday, so I'll just start reporting my weight on Wednesdays here, too. 

Have a great night!!  xoxo

HALF MARATHON!

I am so tired.  Why am I writing this now??

Well, ta-da, I completed my very first half marathon!!!  It was actually super awesome.  I won't do a mile by mile, play by play - only because I don't remember much!  I can tell you the first mile was a cluster-beep!  It was nuts.  I was in corral #6...out of 6.  Apparently I put down a very slow anticipated finish time!  Haha.  So, my tag number was 6148, the first number telling everyone out there what corral I began in.  You were allowed to move back, but not forward.  This will be "important" later in the story.

So, mile 1 I was all about getting out of the madness that is thousands of women who were doing variations of running or walking or jogging...MADNESS, I tell you!!  I started off with two friends, but I just couldn't hang back and pace myself.  I'm not a fan of the huge crowd.  Especially when I was really hoping to catch up to the 2:15 pace group and I couldn't even see the sign!

At some point I passed another friend who was in the 2:30 pace group, we chatted for a second during a walk break of mine.  She is a great motivator, so she helped me to keep my head together and push on.  Seriously, we were only at, like, mile 2, so I didn't need TOO much motivation at the time, but it was kind of fun knowing she was behind me.  That way, if I did have to slow down seriously at some point, she would be there to "scoop me up"! 

The fans were awesome.  The photographers were at every mile and a half or so...maybe more often than that, but I was really trying to smile big for them and do silly "jazz hands" each time.  There were people out with fun signs and it was super cool to be running through "my town" with the streets blocked off!!  There was one turn around point, just before mile 7...the best part about this was the major distraction offered while watching all the other runners.  If I had a Garmin list of my mile splits, I would guess these were my fastest times.  I was looking for my friends and just completely ignoring the fact that I was running!  After I passed the turnaround and was going back, I heard some girls exclaim "Oh my gosh, there goes a 6!"  Yay!  That's right...I busted my booty to get up there with some 3's!!  As the mile numbers started getting higher, it was so fun knowing we were almost done!! 

And then....the hill.  AKA "I Will Hill".  Wow.  I had run it once before.  Holy moly.  It was tough!!  I will admit, I started avoiding my timed music at this point and just walked when I felt I needed it.  I knew I had long since passed the 2:15 pace group, and I just wanted to make sure I had enough energy to run the final 1/2 mile to the finish!  Thing is, you (I) really can't walk much more than a minute without the legs cramping a bit, so when I got to the top of the hill, I took a deep breath and took off.  Down the hill, around the corner, and TO THE FINISH!!!  I saw the time ticker at the finish line showing 2:14 as I crossed the line and heard my name.  It was awesome!!!!

Even more awesome?  The official results being printed up and showing my chip time of 2:06:56!!!  Over 6,000 participants, and I placed 610th! 

What an amazing feeling of accomplishment.  Knowing where I have been and seeing where I am now...it is just the best feeling.  I am so happy and proud and I know I owe every second of my run today to my Father and Saviour.  He was with me every step of the way.  He is why I felt good and pushed on.  I prayed all morning on the way downtown for the Holy Spirit to walk (run) with the the entire way and just let my legs do what they are built to do.  He didn't fail me.  Not once.

Whew.

I have had a little hot bath and i am now laying down with a couple of the kids for a little nap. 

Have a great day!!!

xoxo

Week 32: Day 5

O. M. G.  Today is September 23rd (Happy 86th/87th birthday, Grampa!!), and that makes tomorrow September 24th and that means in less than 24 hours I will be RUNNING A HALF MARATHON.

Okay, that out of the way, I actually just wanted to post about this awesome freakin' diet I am so happy with.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - Jackie Warner, you are a genius.  Or something like that.  Ha, ha. 

This morning's weight was 182.  Her "clean eating" plan for the week days just rocks me every single time!  It is easy, I stay full, I lose weight.  What more could I ask for?  It's perfect fuel for my running, too!  I ate kinda crappy for a couple several days and noticed I was getting side stitches when running, which I have never (since I was 10) felt!  I read about it and discovered it can be from running too fast, but it can also be due to a poor diet.  I know I'm not running "too fast" (HA!), so I thought back to those days and what I had chosen to eat.  Damn white bread.  Grrrrr.  I decided to do the "clean eating" for the few days before the half marathon, but I will admit to you I'm allowing myself to eat what I want that day.  A girl has to have something to work for.  :)

I did not run yesterday because I delivered magazines all day and it was sort of like cross training.

Today is rainy (please don't rain tomorrow) and chilly, so we will be hanging at the house and doing some packing.

We're moving, by the way.  I'm not giving any more details just yet.  Sorry!

I don't have much else to share today.  I have read some great accounts by other bloggers about their marathons, like mile by mile...I'm not totally sure I will be able to do all that, but maybe?  Either way, I'll post something tomorrow.  Be praying for me!!!!

xoxo

Week 32: Day 2

Miss me?  :)

Well, this morning's weigh in was niiiiice...183!  (applause, applause)

55.5 pounds lost so far on this journey.  Let's continue this d-o-w-n trend, right?!?

Other than that, not much to discuss.  The half marathon is Saturday morning and I am very, very, very excited.  Woke up at 3:30 this morning because the cat was trying to find a suitable place to sleep, and apparently his choices were either on my face or Zoe's.  Either way, the answer was no.  I put him outside, then Zoe wanted "milk", then I laid in bed and thought I was on my way back to dreamland when the computer randomly shined a bright light in the room!  Weird, right?  I have no idea why, but there is a light on the cover and it just decided to shine.  BRIGHT.  So, I got up to take it in another room and this woke up my husband who came out to find me and ask what I was doing.  I walked back to bed and I heard the sliding glass door open...yep, he let the damn cat back in!  Cat came immediately back to our room to try again to find somewhere to rest his weary self.  Meanwhile, at this point my brain completely turns back on and starts thinking about the race and the scary dream I had this weekend about getting lost during the race!  So, yeah, probably got back to sleep around 5:30...to wake up at 6:15. 

I typed all of this earlier today and I have since lost my train of thought.

Well, 183 is awesome.  I went for a 40 minute run today that felt great...even though I used my "old" shoes.  It was strange at first, but I am going to love, love, love doing the half marathon in my Kinvara's after this week!  :)  My plan is to run for 15 minutes tomorrow morning and then again in the evening, and Thursday I will fit 2 miles in at some point.  Just keeping myself loose and getting some jitters out!!  Friday will be a full rest day and my current plan is to eat a nice, big dinner, then cottage cheese with fruit and nuts for breakfast before heading downtown.  When I went out to do my 10 miles last weekend, I totaly forgot to take anything to drink or drive ahead and plant something halfway!  So, the entire time I was just running on what I had drank and eaten at home beforehand...i felt fine, too!  That's awesome.

Well, enough rambling.  I'm heading out to Target to try on some new shorts and pray some of them will work!! 

xoxo

Week 31: Day 6

Gooooooood morning!!!

Sorry I haven't been around.  No excuses will be shared.  Trust me, I have lots, though.  I just woke up and don't have my thoughts about me enough to have a great posting, but here are some bullet points I would like to share...

*  I officially signed up and paid my fee for Zombie Buffet 5K!  I signed up as a runner and chose wave 2 as my first choice or wave 3 as my second choice.  Basically, they are going to "release" the runners in 4 different waves and each of those waves will determine how many zombies you are likely to encounter during your run.  It's all very technical.  Hahaha!  I cannot wait.  I have thinking about a costume...not completely sure exactly what just yet, but cheerleader seems like an okay costume to run in, wouldn't you agree?

*  A few of the girls from my Mayor's Challenge 5K team have started training with the various offerings already!!  If you are interested, check out their website here for a list of all the groups that are meeting and when.  After the half marathon, I plan to meet at the McCabe Community Center for their 9 am runs on Saturdays.  Also, the Green Hills YMCA is offering trainings during the week on Tuesday and Thursdays at 11:30 (and Fridays).  You do not have to be a member if you are working towards the Mayor's Run! 

*  I have signed up for Shrinkvivor 2011!!  It is a 7 week Challenge offered up here.  Looks like a lot of fun and a good way for me to get back on track and have someone else tell me what to do!  Plus, you all know this girl likes a little competition.  ;)  I encourage you all to join up!!  There is even a non-weight loss group for those who want to participate in the " weekly physical challenges, check-ins, immunity idols, tribal councils" without losing any weight.  The registration lasts until Wednesday, September 21st, which is when they will randomly place you on a team of 7 and the challenge will begin on the following Wednesday, September 28th.

That's all my points for today, I think.  I am heading out in about an hour for my 10-miler, and then next weekend is the HALF!!  I am very excited.  I got a new shirt last night (yes, I will be wearing it for my run today to "test it out") and I am now looking for a white runner's skirt.  The black one would work fine, but I think a white one would be "prettier" with the socks I have chosen.  I'm such a girl, right?  This week I will only be doing 9 miles total throughout the week and I am definitely using Thursday as a FULL rest day.  Friday will be a "cross training with the kids" day...no plans yet, but I will try to at least be a little bit active with them to get my "jitters" out! 

Diet-wise, I don't know what to say.  I wish I could say I've been all good and on point...but I haven't.  I have been allowing myself bites here and nibbles there and a full slice of pizza last night.  It's just been hard!  For several reasons.  It seems that on days when I don't run (which suppresses my appetite for a good 2-3 hours), I am starving, like, alllllll day long!  I will eat the same breakfast as on any other day, but it will just do nothing but seem to fuel my hunger.  Very frustrating!  I should be using my Sensa, but I keep forgetting to sprinkle it on my foods!  Also, when I have a whey protein shake, or I'm eating a piece of fruit (like an apple or peach), I can't use it.  It's hard to form a habit with this, for some reason.  I have never been a big "seasoner" once my food is ready to be eaten, so that may be one problem.

Know what?  Basically...dieting is HARD.  It has become harder now that I've lost a lot of weight.  Hovering between 50 and 55 pounds lost is awesome, but I keep thinking about a time in my life when I weighed what I weigh now and I wanted to lose weight!  I want to have the stamina for that girl!  I will not, will not, will NOT give up.  I plan to kick ass at the Shrinkvivor Challenge and finish up these 40 weeks with a BANG!  I may be behind schedule, but that is NO reason to think I should stop here.  I can totally do this.

I found these pictures online...look how skinny my leg looks!
And, no, I am not wearing shin guards.  Haha.

Yeeeehaw!!  Have a great day,
xoxo