March Is Gone...Moving On Into April

March is over. We're now in April. I am happy to announce that I actually COMPLETED my March challenge. I logged every speck of food into MyFitnessPal. I was over on some days, under on some others, but I made a conscious effort to log in every day and keep track of it. It did make me more aware of what I was eating. Of course, not holding myself accountable to a certain number did not stop me from eating a ton of crap.

This month, my goal is to stay under 1600 calories every day. The good thing is, we don't have a lot of money to eat out or anything this month, so hopefully, I can keep this in check. It seems like this past month, no matter what I have eaten or how much I have run or moved around, I just can't seem to get the scale to budge. In fact, I feel enormous!

Oh, I almost forgot. I wanted to update everyone on the running. Jenni and I have been running every single Saturday...yay! Also, we have signed up for the Noteworthy 5K and Area 13.1. This means that I am in half marathon training mode...again. This time, I am in it to seriously PR. I want to do this half in under 3 hours. It's going to happen. I am following a training plan and with Jenni to keep me accountable on Saturdays for my long runs, there should be no issues. I don't forsee us going on vacation or anything like that this year and the Peachtree is right before. I'm excited!!!

Looking Forward

There hasn't been much of interest to post lately. I have done a few Zumba workouts, but mostly none at all. It's kinda funny, but not. When I am doing Zumba, I wish I was running and when I am running, I wish I was doing Zumba. I'm about ready to throw in the towel and try to alternate the two. I suppose it would work out for the best, since I am running a race in a few weeks and heaven knows I need to train.  I certainly have not gotten any smaller in nearly two months!

I thought that my next challenge/goal was to do the Yourself! Fit workouts, but I am pleased to see that March is for logging all of the food I eat. I'm glad that I did it that way. I know at the time I was trying to establish a workout routine and scoot back into the frequency, but I think I was also inadvertently saving myself from exercise burnout. (I know, how can you have burn out over something that you aren't even really doing?) I guess what I'm thinking is that it took me a long time to break my healthy habits, just like it takes a long time to build up weight gain and, like weight loss, it will take a while to build those habits up again. When I did this before, I was in the right frame of mind, I wasn't busy dealing with school and activities for two children, and I was determined to look good decent in a bridesmaid's dress. Unfortunately, almost all of my close friends are married now, so that isn't a possibility for a motivator. Hopefully, once I establish a routine with my new work schedule, things will start to get easier.

Until then, I will continue to let Zumba kick my butt for the rest of the month. I do think that I will alternate it with running on the treadmill so that I am prepared for this race. I would like to beat my last time on this course and that isn't going to happen if I don't train. So, look forward to me not completing the February goal, but know that I am OK with it. I shouldn't be OK with failure, but I know that if I get too hung up on the terminology of it all, I will get discouraged and that would be worse.

Source

I FORGOT My Shoes!

We have been as busy as ever here getting ready for school to start back. We went to Target and bought all of G's school needs. I still need to get shoes and dance supplies for E.

On Thursday, we went to Stone Mountain again to catch the laser show before the end of summer break.      I am happy to report that it did not rain and we also rode the train! We met up with one of my co-workers and her family there and made an evening of it. I think the kids had a great time! Unfortunately, my camera battery is still dead from vacation (shame on me), so there are no pictures. In fact, that's why there have been no pictures in my posts lately. I'll get back to it, I promise!!

Today, after work, we went for our usually Saturday walk/jog. We cut our time so close last time with the time that Shane had to be at work that today, I wasn't concerned with going a certain distance, just going for X amount of time. Well, that would be a whole lot easier if I hadn't left my running shoes at home (an hour away)!!! My life has been so scattered these past couple of weeks that I just left my shoes at home. I wasn't going to let it stop me, though. I was actually willing to go in my work Mary-Janes. Lucky for me, my running buddies had just gone to buy new shoes and there were some old shoes in the car that fit me!!! (LOVE MY FRIENDS) So, despite the fact that they were old and worn out, it beat trying to go 6 and a half miles in MJs! I can tell you that my feet DO hurt, but I'm grateful to get the training time in since training hasn't been going as steady as it should be.

Source

I have actually started and finished an entire book since my last post. The name of the book is Beastly by Alex Finn. It is (yet another) YA book. I really liked it! It's a modern re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, but not the Disney version! I thought it was well-written and not too angsty. It has several sequels, so I imagine they will be my future reads for a little while.

One Month Away

The Are 13.1 Half Marathon is officially one month away. It is also SOLD OUT, meaning that I'll be running among 2000 other people. Honestly, I couldn't BE more ready for it to be here. It seems to be in the back of my mind constantly, and I'm either really confident about it or really worried about it. I mean, I'm 95% certain that it will go just fine, especially after last Saturday's training, but what if it doesn't go well? What if I eat the wrong thing the day of or I get blisters on my feet halfway through?
Probably me just being paranoid.
I still want it to get here and get it behind me!

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10-Plus Miles and Cheesecake Brownies

My boss's birthday was this past Thursday and I usually bake whatever the people I work with want for their birthday. She picked cheesecake brownies. I have never made them before, but I looked up a recipe and (finally) whipped up a batch to take today, since I knew I would be going by work when she was there.

I think the next time I make them, I will make the brownies more fudgy and less cake-like. They were quite tasty, though.

So, I dropped the brownies off at work and waited for the shift to end so my co-worker(s) could join me for a 9 or 10 mile walk/jog in preparation for the half. We went in the right direction starting out this time!! I also brought along some Gatorade in a bottle because I only drank water last week and I was concerned when I started to sweat actual salt on the way home in the car. Therefore, I wanted to make certain that my electrolytes were balanced. 

I bought a hydration camel pack, but I've never used it and I was considering returning it to the store because I just don't think I can run with 2 liters of liquid on my back. I decided today that I just can't run with a bottle in my hand. It's awkward and irritating and it gets hot really quickly! By mile 5, I had the drink finished just because I wanted to throw the bottle away in the trash can as we passed it. What does that mean? Yep, no drink for the 5 miles back!! I was amazed that we held out as well as we did at that distance (which was new to all of us) and I think we would have been even more OK if we had had a beverage to hydrate with on the way back. I'm considering a hydration belt. I won't really worry about it for the half, because there will be ample drink/aid stands to satisfy my needs.

I think that today proved that finishing the half is going to be completely do-able. In fact, we should finish it with a (fairly) decent time! **fingers crossed**

Well, I'm about to go crawl into a warm bath and try to read a little more of The Graveyard Book before I go to bed for the evening. I'll leave you with a picture of my friend, Paula at one of the bridges we crossed this evening.

Last Day of Vacay

Today marked our last day of vacation. I feel bloated and yucky and like I have been nothing short of a lazy bum. Don't get me wrong, I really needed the get-away and we have had a wonderful time, but it's time to get back to reality, schedules and accountability.

Yesterday, we went to the beach. We spent a good portion of time there and I, of course, got sunburned despite my application of SPF 50 sunscreen (more than 1 application). We were on the Gulf and there was some really gross, slimy gunk on the bottom of the ocean that concerned me a little. It looks like whatever they dumped into the ocean to clean up the oil formed these slimy pockets of goop. It was VERY disturbing. You would think they would clean up the stuff that cleans up. I mean, what is that doing to the ecosystem on the ocean floor?? The kids had a great time and it made them sufficiently tired to go to bed. (Yay!!!!)

Isn't it disgusting??

This was only a little bit that Shane pulled up from the water

Since the kids were in bed, we had an opportunity to be some of the last people in the world to see the movie, The Avengers. Shane has been wanting to go SO bad and we never have anyone to watch the kids for us long enough to have a "date night." It was an AWESOME movie!!! I really don't care much for the Incredible Hulk, but he really stole the show. Thor, as always, was a hunk of yummy to look at and Captain America finally quit being such a "follow orders" douche. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel!

Today, I went to the movies (again) with Shane's aunt to see The Hunger Games. (I know, I'm one of the last people in the world to see that one as well. See aforementioned lack of sitter.) I read the books before the movies came out and I really enjoyed them. The movie, for the most part, remained true to the books. There were a couple of important plot points that they failed to put into the movie, but it was forgivable.

I know that next week is going to be really hard for me. I have eaten whatever I have wanted to and I have not run AT ALL. I know, I know. I feel terrible about it. I could whine and say that it's really hot down here. (The temp the second day we were here was 105) I really think it's because a) I'm on vacation b) I'm bloated and crampy and c) I have had a serious lack of sleep each night because of "adult time", plus the kids having crazy sleep/wake schedules. I will go back to my runs when I get home. I know this was not optimal in the middle of half training, but I have faith that I can muscle through and pick it right back up.

We pack up and go home tomorrow in the late morning/early afternoon and Shane has to work tomorrow night. I have to work on Sunday, so it will be "life as usual" pretty quickly for us when we get home. Ughhh....it's never long enough!

Can You Feel The Heat?

Today was my first "long run" for the half training. A 4 mile run. Can't be too bad, right? Wrong! The high today was 92 degrees, occurring at 3:45pm. Would you like to know what time I ran today?? Oh, around 3:30pm. No, I have not lost my mind, (well, you know...) I have a couple of reasons why I ran so late. First off, I generally try to get my runs in early in the morning. The earlier, the better. However, Shane and I got to talking last night about the trail and his concerns for my safety and I kinda decided that I didn't want to run at 7am. It is rather lonely and deserted on the trail. I could have run later, but Shane had an interview today at 9:30am and that kinda trumps my run. So, I could have run at 10:15 when he came back, but today was registration at the dance studio and they closed at 11am. Therefore, you see my problem. 

So, while we were already out, I decided that if I am going to have to start having accurate mileage no matter where I run, I needed to break down and buy a GPS watch. It's nothing fancy, it doesn't even have a HRM or anything, but it does the job. Well, it will do the job a little better when I can operate it with complete ease.

It's a Soleus GPS 1.0--I would have gotten the pink one, but Shane protested

We also went grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks. This put us home at around 2:30pm and Shane had to be at work at 5pm. So, after a long lecture on dehydration from Shane, I set out to run my 4 miles and get it over with. I really don't want to do any of the long runs on the treadmill if I can help it. The half isn't going to be on a treadmill and I need to stay conditioned to the outside.

Thank God there wasn't much humidity today or I probably would have keeled over! It was hot as HELL!!!!! I stretched and loaded up my belt and got ready. I had the GPS and the HRM on my wrist (yes, I looked like a douche). I hit the start button on them both and took off. Ok, a few minutes in and I realized that the GPS watch was giving no distance readings. Crap!! Then, I realized that there are 2 different start buttons to hit. I was unwilling at that point to go back and start my mileage over, so I'm actually not too sure of just how far I ran today. I'm pretty sure it wasn't completely 4 miles. From the point I started it to the turn around and stop, it read 3.51miles. It was probably closer to 3.7 and that was fine by me!! I think I would have passed out if I had gone the full 4. I know that the next thing I need to add to my running gear is a water transport system. I won't lie and say that I ran a lot of those 3.7 miles, it was probably closer to a mile or mile and a half run and I walked the rest. Even my fingers were sweating! I was a little concerned because toward the end, my fingers started swelling and turning red. I have no idea what caused it, but I definitely did not like it. I was super happy to get home and into the shower, not to mention down a Gatorade. 

I hope I don't have to run in the heat like that again and I really miss my running buddy. I never thought about how much safer I feel with someone else there.

Finding My Motivation

Before tonight (just a little while ago), I have not run since Saturday. I also have not stopped eating like a starving person. 

I figured out that the half marathon is in 13 weeks. I am planning to do Hal Higdon's 12 week training program, so I really have to kick it into gear by next week! I thought I would start tonight by doing 3 miles on the treadmill. Things started out really great! I actually ran 1.75 miles without stopping to walk a single time and my breathing was perfectly normal. Let me start by saying that I only made it to 2 miles total. Around 1.75 miles, my knee started hurting a little and I was really sweating, so I decided to slow down and walk 1/10th of a mile and then start running again for the remainder of the distance. Bad idea! As soon as I turned the speed down, my legs felt like they were made of jello and that same muscle in my right leg that runs up the back of your thigh up into the glut area started feeling like it was cramping up (almost like a charlie horse in your upper thigh). I decided then that I could only make it to 2 miles and even that was pushing it. I am not completely bummed, however, because I did, at least, work out and burn some calories tonight. We won't mention the bowl of frozen yogurt I had earlier today.

I have been doing some research for my training and I know that I am supposed to eat a diet consisting of 65% complex carbs for the duration of my training. The fun part will be finding recipes and incorporating that into my eating habits. I don't know what I have eaten recently that has caused these sugar cravings, but I have really been snacking on the sweets lately.

This is going to end up being a short blog post because I have a crazy amount of laundry to fold and then take another shower and go to bed early. I have to be at Gabriel's school half an hour early for the year end parent-teacher conference and I have a hard time making it on time on a regular day!! At least tomorrow  is pizza lunch day so I don't have to make his lunch. I will post something longer tomorrow!