My first......and certainly not my last.

First things first, I wanted to apologize to anyone who may have been looking at my blog and wondering why the heck I hadn't posted a SINGLE blog during my training for the half marathon. Well, there's really no good excuse besides the fact that I've just been busy with this thing or that thing, and, well, I WAS training for a half marathon.

I am going to do my best to sum up how my training went and how the half marathon went for me.

I would say that the first month of training was actually the most difficult for me, I ran 4 days a week, the first two weeks, I was running 2-3 mile runs, 1-2 mile run and 1-4 mile run on Saturday, the second two weeks, I was running 3.5 miles twice a week, 2 miles one day and a 5 mile run on Saturday. I found these runs were really no fun at all and I have to admit I was struggling to drag myself out the door for them, but I did and they were fine. I ran the shorter runs around our neighborhood and went down to the Schuykill river trail for the longer runs, I found it to be more motivating to run where there were others doing similar activities. For the first month, I was enjoying the longer runs and pretty much dreading the shorter ones, weird right?! There really isn't anything that sticks out in my head about that first month, it wasn't very exciting at all.

The next month I cut out the shortest run, so I was running 3 times per week, 4 to 4.5 miles twice a week with a long run starting at 6 miles and increasing 1 mile every other week. The 4/4.5 mile runs were pretty anticlimactic, but I was really enjoying the long runs. I found that when I ran a distance that I had never run before, it was doable, when I went out to run that distance for the second time, it was much more enjoyable. When I went out to run my second 6 mile run, my phone's GPS was lagging so that I was the 3.5 mile mark rather than the 3 mile mark to turn around, so I ended up running an extra mile...even though I wasn't really prepared for it, I found that I was enjoying the fact that I was running an extra mile which was a distance that I had never run before which fueled me with the extra motivated needed. By the end of the second month of training, my long run was 8 miles!! I remember asking myself, during the time that my long runs were 4 miles, how the heck am I going to run 4 miles twice a week, plus a MUCH longer long run, but the funny thing is, I found out that the first 3 miles are the least enjoyable, after that, I'm ready to go =)

I found the last month to be the most time consuming and enjoyable of them all, crazy, right?! During the last month, I was running 3 times per week, 2-5 mile runs with my long run starting with 8 miles and increasing every week until 10 miles (the following week was the half marathon). Starting with the first 8 mile run, I decided to try out the Jelly Belly Sports beans with caffeine and I have to say they are AWESOME!! The first time I ate only 3 jelly beans at the 4 mile mark and I felt like I "woke up" and was ready to go! They're awesome, after that, I think I'm hooked! It was nice that just eating a few of them would give me the extra energy that I didn't even know I needed to finish the long, long runs. I have to say, though, when I accomplish any mileage over my longest run ever, it is an AWESOME feeling! The feeling that I get after those runs is what makes me want to get out and run another...and enjoy it!

Ok, so, here comes the 4th of July 2011...I flew out the Utah to run the Freedom Half Marathon which runs from the top of Emigration Canyon to the state Capitol Building. I was well hydrated and ready to go. The first 8 miles of the run were awesome, then, it all went downhill....well, more literally uphillsssss, I have to say, I had a rough 5 miles of running and walking a lot more than I would have liked....I feel like I should also mention that the LOWEST elevation level of this run was 4,000 feet and I have been running at an elevation level of 200 feet. We finished with a time of 2 hours and 45 minutes...I was estimating 2 hours and 30 minutes, so I don't feel like our time was too terrible, but I have to admit that I am beating myself up over the amount of walking I ended up doing, although, if I was running, I probably would have gone slower.

Our finishing picture:

After we recieved our medals:

I'll end by saying this was definitely an experience of a lifetime, I am so glad that I did it. I am looking forward to running another half marathon, hopefully in the fall (I'm working the details out in my head =), and hoping to not only beat my time, but also to run the ENTIRE race.

Happy Birthday to me!

It's kind of exciting that today I weighed in at my initial goal weight!! I am very excited since this has been something I've been working toward for 15 months!! I would still like to lose 10 to 15 more lbs, but this is an exciting milestone!

The past few weeks have been off and on; I've been logging 3 days per week on "off" weeks and 5 days per week on my "on" weeks. I'd say the weeks when I was working out more correlated with the better weather.

Last week Nate, the kids and I went down to the Schuylkill River trail, I went for a run along the river while he took the kids for a walk, it was a nice change in scenery and was definitely good for some motivation.

I totally missed the 10K that I was planning to run this past weekend, I never did register. Ah, well, I'm looking forward to start my training plan for the half marathon that I am planning to run on the 4th of July.  The training plan includes running a 5K and a 10K; I am going to start looking up some local races so I can get registered and be prepared for them =)

On a completely different note, I realized something this week that makes me very happy.

As I was dicing and chopping up our food for dinner I realized how much I am loving home-cooked meals (and I don't mean from frozen or boxed), over the past year, I've slowly been incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables, I can't believe what a difference it makes in flavor! I am finally at a point where I feel comfortable making some meals without following a recipe, it's pretty awesome. I used to love baking cakes, cookies, and/or brownies, (and I still do) but now I can also make meals that I feel good about feeding to my family. I feel great when we are able to eat a meal that not only tastes great, but that is also mostly healthy.

I've found a lot of recipes from another blog called For the Love of Cooking, I love that she has so many Mexican food recipes, I do LOVE Mexican food! I get excited each week when it's time to find new recipes and am looking forward to finding many more!  

Life gets in the way

...or maybe this just is life and you have to do your best with the time you have =)

Anyway, I haven't posted in a while because I didn't want to come on here and write another post about how I haven't been sticking to my diet or exercise plan. We were sick with a stomach bug for about two weeks during which time I didn't workout and ate everything I wanted to; the result: I gained about 5 lbs.

I had to take a step back and look at myself, why was I making those decision regarding my eating and exercising? I didn't feel well, I was stressed, but the truth is, I probably would have benefited by eating better and getting some kind of exercise, even when I wasn't feeling well....it probably would have made me get better sooner. That's a difficult thing to do, but I'm hoping the next time I am not feeling well, I can push through it and stick to eating healthier and getting some exercise.

In more exciting news, I am back on track now, I've lost the 5 lbs plus 1 which means I have one more pound to my goal weight set by the nutritionist. I, however, would like to lose 10 more pounds in order to reach a healthy weight for my height.

When I think about losing 10 more pounds, it sounds tough and a bit daunting, but then I remember 40 lbs is a LOT more than 10 and I've lost it, on my own, no gimmicks or pills, just eating healthier and exercising.

I'm back on track and ready to tackle it!

Happy running my friends =)

Oh sweet roads, how I have missed you

I got to run outside yesterday and it was filled with awesomeness! 

We had a nice, brief, break in the below freezing temperatures so I took full advantage of it and went outside for a 4 mile run. Once I was warmed up, things went much better than I thought they would. You see, I was anticipating a much harder run, I keep the treadmill completely flat, in our neighborhood, I don't think there is a single road that is even close to flat. I ended up running 4.29 miles (You don't get those extra, unintentional, .29 miles on the treadmill =) in about 49 mins, according to the sports tracker on my phone, I burned 563 calories! Woohoo!

I do have to say, though, after I got home and took a shower, I felt like I was going to throw up....but who cares about that when you burn 563 calories ;-)....I'm just kidding. I'm not sure if it was from that run or maybe my diet? I'll have to read up on that and see what others experience.

As much as I say I don't like the treadmill, the truth is I am so thankful to be able to use it. If my only option was to run outside during the winter, it would not happen, at all. I'd have to start from scratch each spring; I'm pretty sure that would make achieving any running goals nearly impossible. This winter, I've been using the treadmill to my advantage and working on my speed a bit. When I first started running on the treadmill this winter, my comfortable pace was somewhere around 5 mph, for the last few weeks I've been holding steady at 5.2 mph; but, today I was able to kick it up to 5.5 mph. I would like to have my comfortable pace be closer to 6.0 mph (which would put me running a 10 min mile).

Over the last two weeks, I have missed only 1 workout, I wasn't feeling well, so I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I have found, though, that not missing workouts actually helps to keep my motivation level higher, it's kind of amazing how that happens, maybe it's the endorphins I've heard something about? 

In other news, I'm planning to meet with an awesome registered dietitian in hopes of figuring out how the heck to eat healthier/ properly fuel these workouts and lose weight.

Speaking of losing weight, I only have 2 more lbs to go until I reach the previous dietitian's recommended weight goal; I'm hoping I'll be able to post next week that I've reached it =)

The first week.

I would love to write a post about how wonderful things were this week with my diet and exercise plan, but I'd be lying.

I skipped a workout and ate whatever I felt like. I realized a couple of things, though,

• Using the treadmill as my main source of working out sucks. I miss running outside terribly; however, I'm going to stick with it until the temperature is above freezing.
• I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to dieting and eating healthy; it's easy to look at a simple plan that includes a certain amount of foods from each food group, but how the heck do you implement that? 

Making plans for the new year.

At 5:20 this morning when my alarm went off, I was thinking about how much I really wanted to go back to sleep; but, alas, I got out of bed and drug my butt to the gym. I had managed to work out most days for over a year without having to get out of bed THAT early. With the shorter days and the chaos that ensues nearly every night around dinner, baths and bedtime I've decided that it's necessary in order to be consistent with my workout schedule.

One of the excuses I've made about not going to the gym first thing in the morning is that "it's just too crowded," I mean all the serious "worker-outer's" are there THAT early in the morning. I was completely wrong! The gym is far less crowded at 5:30 in the morning than it is at 5 or 6 in the evening (even on the 1st weekday after the new year).

Last night I created my training plan for the weight loss challenge; I'll be working out 5 days a week for the first month and then follow this 10K training plan for the remainder of the weight loss challenge. On March 20, 2011, I am planning to run this 10K in Philadelphia; my goal is to beat my previous time of 1 hour and 13 minutes which I ran the Phoenixville 10K this last October. If you've ever run for over an hour with the ambulance immediately following you and only occasionally seeing someone ahead of you on the horizon, it's tough to stay in the mental game....and the HILLS, oh, the hills, those were by far the hardest part of that run! This 10K has about 1200 more runners than the Phoenixville 10K, so I'm confident I won't finish "dead last" again. (at least not this time)...lol

Here it is:

Now on to nutrition. In a recent edition of Runner's World magazine, they included an article about how many servings of each food group a runner should eat for optimal performance and weight loss. I am aiming to meet those each day. Here they are:

• 5 to 8 ounces of protein (females); 8 to 12 ounces (males)
• 3 to 4 servings of low-fat or fat free dairy products
• 2 to 4 fruits (1 cup fresh or frozen or 6 Oz juice)
• 3 to 5 vegetables (1/2 cup of vegetables of 1 cup of leafy greens
• 6 servings of grain (for weight loss); 6 to 8 (females); 10 to 12 (males)

Between these two, I am predicting the diet to be more difficult.

When I was in high school, I remember my mom calling me the "healthy one," probably mostly due to an event where the dentist told me that soda was bad for my teeth; I didn't drink any soda for over two years. I'd like to become "the healthy one" again, but not just for cutting out soda, but also for achieving an overall healthier state.

It's time to get on with it...

Once upon a time, I was skinny.

So here's the story,

I am originally from Salt Lake City, Utah. When I was 13, I moved to Texas where I lived for 5 years; at 18 I joined the Marine Corps. I don't think I ran more than one lap around the track before I joined....and so it began.

I started running within a few days of joining, it never came easy, but it did get a bit better as I went. I managed to spend 4 years in the Marine Corps without ever being a great runner. I passed the physical fitness tests, yes, but only barely and I hated it. Looking back, I totally should have done a lot of things different when it came to the running. Now, the 3 mile run, is an "easy" run, ha!

After the Marine Corps I pretty much quit doing anything that involved running; I gained more weight than I would like to admit. I made a few attempts and losing weight, but they were short lived.

In 2008, I was met with another weight challenge: pregnancy....and boy was I sick!! The combination of the two made it quite difficult to exercise or even think about eating healthy. The weight was piling on much quicker than I (or my Dr) would have liked, it wasn't too long before I found out I had gestational diabetes; bummer, I dieted and walked for the remainder of the pregnancy and our baby boy was a perfectly healthy little guy.

According to the nutritionist, if I lost most of the weight by his 1st birthday, I could reduce my chances of type 2 diabetes by 75%.

Then came baby #2. Our baby boy was only 3 months old and I had made 0 attempts at losing weight.

During the second pregnancy, we joined our local YMCA which was only 0.5 miles away. I managed to keep from gaining too much weight the second time around by visiting said YMCA almost every day. Our baby girl was also perfectly healthy when she was born =)

Again, the nutritionist told me the same thing about losing the weight...by her 1st birthday.

So I set out to lose that weight before 12/17/2010.

I started by visiting the gym 6 days a week and working out on the elliptical. It wasn't long before I was bored to tears, I needed a plan, a goal, not just a weight loss goal, but an athletic goal. I stepped on the treadmill and the possibilities just started pouring in....I could run a 5K, yes, I AM going to run a 5K. Maybe a 10K? or a Marathon? The training began.

It wasn't long before I was running every day and feeling great, the pounds were falling off pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure I lost the bulk of my weight during this time frame, 3 miles - 6 days a week for 2 months. I ran the 5K slower than I would have liked, but I was definitely not prepared to run a course that went mostly downhill for the first 1.5 miles and uphill for the remainder....I was even passed by a very old guy in the end who looked like he was practically walking. Lame.

As I began to run more and more during my training for my 5K, I decided I wanted to run a 10K at the end of October (So I would be able to lose the rest of the weight before the holidays). My running excitement didn't stop there, though, I decided I wanted to run a half-marathon. The date is set, July 4, 2011 I will be running a half-marathon in Salt Lake City, Utah.

On December 17, 2010 I weighed 5 lbs more than the nutritionist's recommended weight for me; my total weight loss was 35 lbs this year; 65 lbs less than I weighed when my baby girl was born. It feels great, my goal for next year is to lose 20 more lbs which will put me within a healthy weight for my height.  

The weight loss is not going to come easy. I am going to take part in a weight loss challenge from January to March of 2011 which will be immediately followed by my training for the half marathon.

I have created this blog as a place for me to write about the journey through next year's weight loss and healthier eating.