Follow Through Friday - Another PR and still on Track

Another two weeks have flown by! I last left off with my Princess Half Marathon coming up. Well, I finished it and in case you missed my recap, I set another Personal Record! (2:35:24)! Woohoo! I also went on a weekend cruise with G for our anniversary which included a lot of drinking and eating. I’m happy to see that even though when I stepped on the scale Monday I had gained like 5 lbs, by my weigh in this morning, I overall had lost since last week. Getting RIGHT back on track once home, helps. I ran (only 2 miles) the morning we left for the cruise and then didn’t run again until last night. I really struggled last night. It’s amazing how much “fitness” you can lose by taking essentially a week off, especially when 4 days of that week is filled with boozing. I had brought my running shoes on the cruise, but needless to say, I never made it to the gym. I did take the stairs everywhere though. I think I went on the elevator only ONCE and it was to go up like 7 levels. Every other time I took the stairs.  I guess that was better than nothing. It’s been a really long week at work, 10+ hour days each day and that contributed to my laziness (non-running) as well. I feel like after every big race I do (other than celebration!), I don’t run much for a few weeks after. I do have a 10k+2 miler double race next weekend so I’m going to get my runs in this week. I know I’m shifting focus to speed vs. miles but only running/walking 6 miles this week is a JOKE!

I finally got my “reward” facial for hitting 170 lbs and based on two consecutive weeks of being under 165 I think it’s safe to say I earned my 165 lb reward as well! Tomorrow is my Round 5 Transformer weigh in, and as of this morning I hit it (with .2 lbs to spare, so here’s hoping the scale doesn’t move too much – up anyways - over night!) As of this morning, I’ve lost more than 10% in 5 months, which I really should be proud of. It’s just hard to be proud when I don’t FEEL like I lost that much. The majority of my clothes still don’t fit and my stomach still looks huge (IMO). I know some people notice the weight loss, and they’ve told me so, I just wish I could see it on myself. The only thing I’ve really noticed is my face looking thinner. I know you are always your worst critic, and I hate that! I’m just hoping once I lose a little more, I’ll start noticing it on myself more! But happy to report, I'm still on track, slowly but surely, I'll get to where I want to be!

Last Week (week ending 2/27):

Weight: 164 lbs

Runs:

     13.68 miles in 2:35:36 (11:23 pace))

     1.00 mile in 9:45 (9:45 pace)

Walks:

     1.85 miles

Total Miles: 16.53 miles

This week

Weight: 163.3 lbs

Runs:

     2.00 miles in 19:38 (9:49 pace)

     1.45 miles in 15:00 (10:21 pace)

     1.00 miles in 9:53 (9:53 pace)

Walks:

     .81 miles

     .89 miles

Total Miles: 6.15 miles  (wow, I haven’t had a week of miles this low in a LONG time)

I'm heading to Cincinnati on Sunday for work for a few days. I'll be back at the hotel where there is only ONE treadmill, wish me luck to finding it open! 

Follow Through Friday - Training is Over!

Let's just pretend I'm posting this on Friday and not Saturday. This week has been kind of crazy/busy for me. As I mentioned last week, we had some friends over for Valentine’s Day and has planned I did some indulging. I actually didn’t drink that much, maybe 4 or 5 beers total, but I did snack on some cookie cake (we were also celebrating a birthday)! Instead of burgers and hotdogs, I made a better choice and ate my Apple Chicken Sausages without buns, so I bet that helped a little. On Tuesday, I had my DietBet weigh in, and I didn’t make it (by less than a pound). Since they give 48 hours to weigh in, I decided to pack up a scale and give it another shot on Wednesday morning. I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it, with traveling across the country on Tuesday to California, and eating out/at the hotel for all my meals, and drinking very little water due to the circumstances  (probably drank less than 40oz and normally drink closer to 100). Surprisingly, I hit my goal with a little bit of margin.  This is my 2^nd Transformer DietBet and it overlaps with my other one and this was the Round 2 weighin. After missing Round 1, I would have been extremely upset with myself if I missed Round 2 as well. The pay out was $35.92 ($18.42 profit after $17.50 buy in), which was much more than I was expecting considering Round 1, that I missed, was only $21.29 total.

Of course though, after my weigh in on Wednesday, like the typical sabotager that I am, I made bad food choices. I ate muffins, cookies, waffles, and some heavy Italian food. There was some good stuff mixed in as well, green beans, grilled fish, and oatmeal but of course all that bad stuff definitely overpowered the good.

The only thing I was good about this week was my running. I did the 10k race on Saturday and then ran a 5k on Tuesday when I got to California. The hotel I stayed in was right next to a nice residential area and I decided to run through that instead of on the hotel treadmill. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. I met up with a friend, I met through my online Mommy group, on Thursday, and we ran 4+ miles along side the pacific ocean. It was such a nice run and we chatted the whole way. The mileage is a little questionable because I accidentally paused my RunKeeper for what I estimate to be .75 miles and she was pausing her Garmin during our walking intervals, so between the two of us, we aren’t 100% sure the total distance. It was definitely a total of 4 miles running though according to her watch, but I think the overall distance was around 4.75 miles. That was my last official training run, and I'll be tackling the Disney Princess Half Marathon on Sunday. We're leaving at 3:10am... shoot me now! I'm proud to say I actually completed my half training. This will be my 6th Half Marathon and only the first one I've ever successfully trained for, so that makes me feel good!

Weight: 166.4

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1: 6.33 miles in 1:07:40 (10:42 pace) 

     Run 2: 3.1 miles in 33:36 (10:51 pace)

     Run 3: 4.75 miles in 50:44 (10:40 pace)

 

Other:

     Walk: Friday – 4.11 miles

     Walk: Sunday – 1.61miles 

 

 Total Weekly Miles Logged:  19.90 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 10.8 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
Half Marathon on Sunday, then my training is officially over! I do plan to keep up with 3 runs a week after that though, so at least another two 30-45 mins are the goal for the week! 

Follow Through Friday - Just Another Week

I hit my Round 4 DietBet weigh in on Saturday morning (yey!), although I struggled a little during my races that morning due to lack of carbs the day before because of it. (I normally carb load the day before races/long runs) The payout for this round was $38.31 so between the 4 rounds, with losing round 3, I’m still up a total of $35.71 (payouts of $85.71 vs buy-ins of $12.50/round).  Since I hit my weigh in, I let myself indulge on Saturday, and indulge I did. Let’s just say I didn’t get home until 3am… it was a good time! I jumped right back on the wagon though on Sunday and have continued all week.

I have my Round 2 DietBet weigh in on Tuesday (or Wednesday if I’m not there by Tuesday) for my other Transformer which is a goal of 164.9 lbs. I’m confident I should be able to hit that with today’s weigh in. But of course, we made plans to have some neighbors over the house tomorrow and I know there will be some good (bad) food and alcohol. Sorry if I sound like an alcoholic, but we like to drink socially. In reality, I should refrain from drinking 100%, but I know myself well enough to know that I will probably have a few, the key will be limiting it to JUST a few.

 

I will also be on business travel from Tuesday – Friday in California. I already have plans to run one of those nights with a friend who lives out there and I made sure to book a hotel that has a decent gym so I hope to be able to get both my runs in while I’m there.

 

My runs this week were lacking. I just wasn’t “feeling” them. Surprisingly, my total miles were up there still because I did a lot of walking (having a TV in front of our treadmill at home really helps because I want to catch up on my TV shows and exercise and this allows me to do both). I’ve kind of been in a blah mood, where I just wish I didn’t have to be “always” on a diet and could eat and drink whatever I want and not have to worry about it. Or at least be able to eat whatever I want, I don’t mind the exercising part. I know it’s supposed to be a lifestyle change, but I don’t think there will ever be a time where I’ll throw my nose up at pizza and beer just because it’s “bad for me”.

 

Weight: 165.6

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1a: 3.14 miles in 33:21 (10:38 pace) 

     Run 1b: 6.02 miles in 1:07:09 (11:09 pace)

     Run 2: 1 mile in 11:28 (11:28 pace)

     Run 3: 2 miles in 21:40 (10:50 pace)

 

Other:

     Walk: Sunday – 1.64 miles

     Walk: Monday – 1.84 miles 

     Walk: Tuesday– 2.33 miles

 

 Total Weekly Miles Logged:  17.97 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 11.0 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
For Friday through Monday it will include a 10k race (will be a nice taper for the half the following weekend) was supposed to be a long run, but I know I can do a half again since I just did one, so I’m not too worried, one 30-minute run and a 45-minute run.

Follow Through Friday - Hosting My Own DietBet

My latest 4% in 4 week DietBet (hosted by Heidi and Chris Powell) ended on Monday, and I made that goal (although had been  a higher starting weigh in due to holiday bloat, so I wasn’t really worried about not making it – although had I fallen off the wagon much more, it’s possible I may have missed it) and the payout was $41.24 (so only $11.24 profit after the $30 buy in). This particular DietBet had a higher % of winners (and the most participants EVER apparently) than previous DietBets I’ve participated in, which I can assume has to do with the fact it was at the start of the New Year and majority of people usually stick to their resolutions the first few weeks of the year. Regardless though, I’m always happy to win a few extra bucks for the weight I’m trying to lose anyways!

Hoping to hit my 6 Month Transformer DietBet weigh in goal tomorrow of 165.6 (for Month/Round 4) but a little nervous considering today’s weigh in was still higher than that. They give 2 days to weigh in, so if I don’t hit it tomorrow, I can always try again Sunday, but I have a Ladies Night planned for tomorrow night with some friends, so I told myself I would allow myself to have a few drinks IF I hit my goal. So here’s hoping, otherwise it’ll be torture to go and not indulge in some yummy food and drinks (especially since it’s at a neighbor’s house and I can walk home!).But that’ll be my “punishment” if I don’t make it. I missed last month/Round 3 and I do NOT want to miss this month too! Especially since the payout each month keeps getting higher since less people are making their goals (and since this one went THROUGH the holidays, some people probably fell off the wagons too which I’m hoping means an ever bigger pay out, but it’s also possible that they got back on the wagon with New Year Resolutions, so who really knows what the payout will be, I’m just hoping I get a piece of it!) – Overall I’m still “up” with my winnings from this bet, even with missing last month.

And because I'm clearly OBSESSED with DietBets, I decided to host my own! It starts on 2/15 (the day after Valentine's day) and is only a $20 buy in. As of this morning, the pot is only $80, but I'm hoping to get up to $200 before the start of the bet. If you'd like to join, go to http://www.dietbetter.com/games/61629  to check it out and join! Remember you only have to lose 4% in 4 weeks to win your split of the pot!

I let myself do a little bit of food indulging on Saturday and Sunday (did say NO to alcohol and Mickey Ice Cream bars though) and it pretty much took the rest of the week to lose the gain I saw on Monday and I ended up staying even with last week. 

As for my running, I only had a short race instead of a long run on Saturday. I’m definitely improving on my speed, which makes me happy since I use to be able to consistently run about a 10-11:00 pace (at least for up to 5-6 miles) and I hope to get back down to that (and faster) after I’m done half training.

Weight: 166.4

Half Marathon training:

     Run 1: 3.16 miles in 38:45 (12:15 pace) 

     Run 2: 4.06 miles in 46:32 (11:28 pace)

     Run 3: 3.10 miles in 33:50 (10:55 pace)

Other:

     Walk: Tuesday – 1.93 miles

     Walk: Wednesday – 2.48 miles 

     Walk: Thursday – 2.66 miles

+ Walked around Disney for hours on Saturday – had over 28k steps, but wasn’t a designated “walk” where I formally tracked my miles

     

 Total Weekly Miles Logged:  17.39 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 10.2 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
For Friday through Monday it will include a 5k AND 10k on Saturday (doing a distance dare race event, was supposed to be a 12 mile training run but I think a 9.3 mile RACE will do me good), one 30-minute run and a 45-minute run.

Follow Through Friday - Half Marathon #1 and Two Pins Moved

Well I did it! I completed my first of the two post-baby half marathons marathons I signed up! And even better, I got myself a PERSONAL RECORD! You can read my race recap of the Celebration Half Marathon here. Overall it was a great run and I'm so happy that I got a PR with my first half after having a baby only 4 months ago! Other than that, I've been REALLY good all week. Even at a 3 year old's birthday party with a ton of cupcakes/cookies/candy. I even logged a cupcake in My Fitness Pal and hubby talked me out of eating it, although I did still end up with a cookie since EM didn't finish it and I couldn't let it go to waste LOL. I did allow myself to eat over my calories on Saturday night since I was out for a friends birthday and knew I would be running the next morning so figured a nice pasta dish would be good to to "carb up" for the race. I also ate the post-race refreshments, which were a handful of different samples from the local restaurants but it really wasn't too much and I was good the rest of the day. The rest of the week I've been spot on with my calories. I usually do well on weekdays, it's the weekends that I usually struggle since we are always out and about doing things. And I got to move two pins on the motivation board because of it!

I got my other runs in as well although Thursday night I wasn't feeling it, so I stopped at 2 miles (was supposed to be 45 mins). I then walked for 15 minutes and started feeling more into it and then knocked out another mile running, which I pushed myself at and probably ran my fastest mile in a really long time.

Weight: 166.4

Half Marathon training (even though I ran one half, I'm still considering it training until I get to the Disney Princess):     

     Run 1: 13.33 miles in 2:37:35 (11:49 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.72 miles in 30:00 (11:01 pace)

     Run 3: 2.00 miles in 22:47 (11:23 pace)

     Run 4: 1.00 mile in 10:15 (10:15 pace)

Other:

     Walk: Friday – 0.50 miles

     Walk: Tuesday – 0.85 mile

     Walk: Thursday – 0.83 miles 

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  21.23 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 10.2 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
For Friday through Monday it will include a 5k on Saturday (was supposed to be a 10k but all I could find was a 5k, figured it would be nice "cool down" from the half and I plan to run it with a friend so not trying for any special time), one 30-minute run and a 45-minute run (at race pace).

Follow through Friday - Fully Committed to get #fitin15

YES! I did it! I’m back to where I was in Early December. I did a 10k (virtual) race hosted by the awesome Moms Run This Town group over the weekend and saw a picture that completely disgusted me. I mean, I was wearing a shirt that was too small (it was cold out and my long sleeve running shirts are all too small still) but still, I looked like the Michelin man and it was enough for me to say, I need to cut the crap (junk food) and get serious. Ironically, back in 2009 when I lost a bunch of weight, it was picture that did it for me too. I finally feel fully committed! I went grocery shopping and stocked the fridge and even cooked a real dinner twice this week – Tilapia. I usually eat prepared salads, frozen veggie burgers or something else in frozen form, so this was a nice change up!

Since my first of 2 half marathons is this weekend and the other at the end of February, I didn’t want to lose the momentum of having races on the horizon, so I signed up for a few more races this week as well. All of them are medal races too (I’m a sucker for Race Bling)! The first one is a 5k on January31st, the next is on February 7^th and is a 5k and 10k  Distance Dare (9.3 miles) and the other is on March 14^th and is a 2 miler and 10k Distance Dare (8.2 miles) which I did last year. I’m sure I’ll sign up for a few more in the spring before it gets too hot, just trying to work them into a busy schedule! Ahh I’m loving running again and it feels so good!

With my commitment, I should be able to hit all my dietbet weigh-ins in February (I have 3!), be down about 10 lbs for my cruise at the end of February, and fit into some more of the clothes in my closet and feel a little better about myself!

Weight: 168.8 <--- totally scheduling that facial now!

Half Marathon training:     Run 1: 6.16 miles in 1:14:58 (12:10 pace) 

     Run 2: 2.68 miles in 30:00 (11:11 pace)

     Run 3: 4.03 miles in 45:00 (11:10 pace)

Other:

     Walk: Friday – 1.23 miles

     Walk: Sunday – 2.96 mile

     Walk: Monday – 0.79 miles (plus walked around SeaWorld all day)
     Walk: Tuesday – 0.83 miles

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  18.68 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 7.8 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
For Friday through Monday it will include Celebration Half Marathon, one 30-minute run and a 45-minute run. 

Follow Through Friday - Can't Out Exercise a Bad Diet

I had a great week, well, exercise-wise anyways. On Saturday, I got my long run in with some of the moms from MRTT. I think 4 of us started together but 2 of girls didn't have to run as far so just myself and one other did the full 11 miles. I'm really enjoying my long runs with the Moms on the weekends, it truly makes the run go by so much faster! I was however annoyed that my 100% charged phone died during our last interval which is just ridiculous! Next time I need to remember to turn off my blue tooth in order to save battery power! I had to manually adjust my RunKeeper from the 10.77 miles it logged to the true 11 miles we did, so my stats below may be a little off. The rest of this week, I was in Cincinnati on business travel. The hotel gym was literally ONE treadmill and ONE bike. That's it. They do offer free passes to Planet Fitness, but I didn't want to deal with that (borrowing the rental car, finding the place, going out in the cold weather etc). Luckily, both times I went to use the treadmill it was free. Well, technically the 2nd time, my one coworker was on it, but he was finishing up so I didn't have to wait for it. (The same can't be said for my coworker who got up at 5:15 to run one morning only to find the treadmill occupied by another one of our coworkers - there was a handful of us traveling together - she was not happy lol). The one girl I traveled with did have a YMCA membership and she convinced me to check out one of the group fitness classes with her while we were up there, so I even got a Boot Camp class in. Which reminded me why I need to do strength training... even the 3 lb dumbbells were heavy for me for the exercises! Both runs were followed by walks as well, so I got in a decent amount of exercise, especially for being on travel.

However, even with all that exercise, you can't out exercise a bad diet. I'm pretty sure I've posted about that before. This week was tough again. Is any week not? I feel like a broken record. I've been getting my exercise in but can't seem to get my eating 100% under control. I was on business travel this week which means every meal is eaten out. I did make SOME better choices - instead of a waffle and muffin for breakfast, I had a yogurt; instead of fries with my entrees at dinner, I had veggies. On the negative side though: I had a 450 calorie cookie (thanks to the catered in Panera for lunch), I drank a decent amount of beer (even though I said I wasn't going to drink all month), I ate the table bread, etc. I also don't drink nearly enough water when I'm not in my normal routine (and don't have my huge 32 oz jug with me).  On top of it all, I'm completely bloated from my period. All of that is reflective in my gain this week. I can only be mad at myself about it, and I am. Especially since my dietbet weigh in is tomorrow and it's very unlikely I'm going to make it, although I will be getting my water in today at least, which will help a little bit!

I have a 10k tomorrow, which is (hopefully) going to feel like a breeze after the long runs I've been doing on the weekends. I'm curious to see how my training has helped me with this as well. I always seem to push myself more in race settings, so hopefully I'll see some improvement in my speed. 

Weight: 174.0

Half Marathon training:
     Run 1: 11.00 miles in 2:15:10 (12:17 pace) 

     Run 2: 3.94 miles in 45:00 (11:25 pace)

     Run 3: 2.66 miles in 30:00 (11:17 pace)

Other:

     Walk: Sunday - 0.5 miles

     Walk: Monday - 0.83 miles
     Walk: Wednesday - 1.56 miles
     Boot Camp Class - 45 minutes

Total Weekly Miles Logged:  20.49 miles

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14: 2.6 lbs

Plan for Next Week: 
Continue the half marathon training plan, for Friday through Monday it will include: a 10k race, one 30-minute run and a 45-minute run (at race pace), 

Follow Through Friday - I'm Back!

Well, hello there 2015! I swear I haven’t completely forgotten about my loyal Follow ThroughFriday readers (all two of you haha) I’ve just been extremely busy. I fell off the wagon with my eating and gained some weight the last few weeks but think I’ve got myself back under control. Too much beer and wine and cookies will do that to you! And I swear that’s not WHY I haven’t posted, it’s truly because I’ve been so busy, I’m obviously reporting it now anyways. On the contrary to the eating side of getting fit in 15 (#fitin15), I HAVE been sticking to my half marathon training plan. I did miss ONE long run, which means I’ve only missed two runs TOTAL and I’m on week 9, so that’s pretty dang good (especially considering I’ve never stuck to a plan more than like 3 weeks before!).  I’ve also noticed that I’m feeling pretty good after my long runs. I’m a little sore, but I can move and as long as I keep moving, I’m do ok.  

For 2014, I logged 271.04miles (115 which were in Nov/Dec). I’m sure there were a few walks that were missed as well but considering  I did ZERO  exercise for like 6 months while pregnant, I’m pretty happy with my miles. I hope to do way more than that this year though (especially if I want to hit my 30x30 goal of 1000 miles – which may have been a little bit of an aggressive goal – same with the quantity of half marathons, but we’ll see where I end up)

I did run again with some awesome ladies from MRTT for my 10 mile run last week, and plan to run with them again tomorrow for 11 miles. It’s so nice to have someone to chat with for 2+ hours of running! Sure beats running around the neighborhood that’s for sure!

So let’s see where I left off (since my last post on 12/19):

Week starting 12/19:

               Weigh in: 171.8

Half marathon Training:

Run 1: 2.91 miles in 35:00 (12:01 pace)

Run 2: 2.54 miles in 30:00 (11:48 pace) ß PACE RUN

Run 3: 8.06 miles in 1:40:12 (12:25 pace)

Additional Walks:  2.32 miles

Total Miles for week: 15.83

Week Starting 12/26:

               Weigh in:

Half marathon Training: 175.8

               Run 1: 3.75 miles in 45:00 (12:00 pace)

               Run 2: 2.52 miles in 30:00 (11:54 pace)

               Run 3: missed my long run of 9 miles L

Total Miles Walked: 2.0 miles

               Total Miles for week: 8.27 miles

Week Starting 1/2:

               Weigh in: 177.2 

Half marathon Training:

               Run 1: 10.15 miles in 2:04:37 (12:16 pace)

               Run 2: 3.65 miles in 45:00 (12:19 pace)   ß PACE RUN

Run 3: 2.55 miles in 30:00 (11:45 pace)

Total Miles Walked: 0.81 miles

               Total Miles for week: 17.26

Today’s Weigh in: 171.6  ß  Lost that HOLIDAY BLOAT!! Woohoo!

Overall Weight Lost since "Starting Point" 10/24/14:  5.0 lbs

Plan for this Week:

Continue the half marathon training plan**, for Friday through Monday it will include: an 11 mile run, one 30-minute run and one 45-minute (one at race pace),

**My half marathon training plan got skewed a little since the 10k I signed up for is next weekend vs. this weekend and I added in another half marathon at the end of the month, so there is a little bit of shuffling being done. I had wanted to do a 11:00 pace for the half but I haven’t gotten there yet so I’m aiming for a 12:00 pace (2:37:12 finish) which would be a PR for me. My (p) runs have been close to there, although honestly I haven’t completely expended myself so I’m sure they could have been a little faster. I’m going to attempt to dig deeper on my shorter runs in hopes to improve my speed a little bit. I also did just read an article about “Yasso 800s” which seems to be mostly directed for marathon runners, but in the comments, people state it helps increase speed for shorter races too so I’m going to give it a try during one of my 45 minute runs. They suggested starting at 4 intervals, which would be 2 miles of speed work and then the recovery. It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out.

Oh yea, I signed up for another two DietBets the last few weeks. I signed up for the "Get Lean in 2015 with Chris and Heidi Powell" which is a 4% in 4 week bet and then another 6 month transformer bet. I missed Round 3 of my current Transformer bet (which sucks because it was such a high pay out this time too!) but I'll make it back in the rest of the game. 

Next 3 weigh ins for DietBets need to be at the following to win:

Transformer (Dec 17) Round 1: 170.1 by January 17 

Transformer (Oct 7) Round 4: 165.6 by February 7

Get Lean in 2015: 173.8 by February 2 (already there! - my initial weighin was super high because of my holiday bloat)