Adios 2012!

This year flew by!  

I started off the year by giving up pop for the month of January.  It was successful and I really don't drink pop anymore. I only have Sprite occasionally.  And the only time I have Coke is with Jack Daniels, and then again, it isn't that often! (mmmm...jack&coke!)

That sort of kick started on this whole getting healthier thing.

I had lost weight in 2009/2010, gained all but 10 back after the death of my mother, and then 2012 showed up. 

I was tired of sitting on the sidelines.  Passing up opportunities to have fun adventures because couldn't do/didn't feel comfortable doing xyz.

One of my biggest fears can be summed up by Carrie Underwood (btw, my "The Band Perry" Pandora station is ROCKING MY FACE OFF today.  LOVE!)

Cause' I don't wanna' spend my life jaded

Waiting to wake up one day and find

That I've let all these years go by

Wasted

Oh I don't wanna' keep on wishing, missing

The still of the morning, the color of the night

I ain't spending no more time

Wasted

I don't want to waste my life away!  And 2012 turned out to be quite an  experience.

I started swimming again in January. 
I joined the Y in March. 
I ran for the first time in March.
I ran/walked my first 5K in June.
I did my first Pilates class in June.
I ran my first mile non-stop in October.
I graduated (self-promotion!) to Pilates 1 in November.
I started Yoga in November.
I tried Hot Yoga for the first time in December.
I completed my second 5K on Thanksgiving and had a 2 min, 37 sec PR.
I rocked the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge too.

I definitely could NOT have done those things physically or mentally in the beginning of the year.  What I have accomplished this year makes me so proud!

Things definitely aren't perfect.  My confidence is not always at 100 or even 99 :)  Just last Saturday I had to switch out Bosu balls in Pilates class because I could hear the air leaking out of one when I tried doing a plank on it.  And of course the next thing was to stand on the Bosu ball.  I nearly asked if there was a weight limit.  Once again, holding myself back, argh!  I mean, I did put my weight on it later, but not standing.  Oy!

But then again, HEY I'm doing planks!  And Pilates with classmates who TEACH fitness classes.  As my instructor says "Do what you can".  That means "don't give up" "don't compare yourself to others" "do your best". 


So I have done so much this year, I can't wait for next year.  And if you are curious, here is my journey as told by the scale (I apologize for the face I am making):

January 2012 Weight:  280
December 31, 2012 Weight:  246


Some recent pics...

Side view - a little less forgiving!

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!!!

My Thursday Eats

Well I did gain over Christmas, but it wasn't as bad as I imagine past years were.  Luckily, I was only at my dad's house for about 26 hours.  Let me just say to that relative that brought 3 desserts (for 13 people - really? and SwimSis brought one too)...the double decker cookie cake with loads of icing was NOT necessary.   I could have resisted the other crap.  Oy.  :)

But it was a good holiday indeed.  I am back in my townhouse by myself for the rest of week...so peaceful!  My family is a loud bunch.  Wednesday we had a "blizzard".  I say "blizzard" because I think we got 7.5 inches of snow.   You could have knocked me over w/a feather when I went to college in this same city and there was some substantial snow and the roads were terrible!  I come from a town that gets Lake Effect Snow and we're used to having an adequate snow removal fleet :)  But a paid day off from work, I'll take it!

I picked up some stuff from Walgreens then night before the "blizzard", as they were the only place open on Christmas.  If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now.  I love, Love, LOVE Walgreens for their fresh foods section.  I bought bottled water, some OJ (for this cold of mine!), 1 lb of mango (sliced & everything!), and an asian salad. 

For breakfast I had my usual sausage/egg/cheese on buscuit breakfast sandwich (Jimmy Dean brand, I think)  Sorry no picture!

Then I munched on my mango spears throughout the morning.  And then it came time for lunch....

That Asian Salad was SO FREAKING GOOD.   The veggies were good and crunch along with the little pack of crunchy things and the dressing was sweet with a zing.  Nom nom nom!  I had a few mango spears too. 

Sometimes I get a sweet craving really badly at work and rather than go to the vending machine for an entire candy bar/box of whatever, one of these Nips really does the trick.  And for 30 calories...can't beat that.

A few hours later I had a Cashew Cookie Larabar (contains only cashews and dates).  Not my favorite, but it did the trick. 


On Wednesday, I had Ramen Noodles - chicken flavor for dinner and it was delicious and in my mind, the chicken flavor was helping my cold, so I grabbed another pack on Thursday night.  I had stopped at the store and found a couple packages of broccoli, zuchinni, and yellow squash (fresh) for $.99 each.  It came with a creamy lemon dill sauce, but I thought I would save that because it sounds better suited for salmon than veggies. 

Of course I got some OJ too.  I was going to have the apples and grapes too, but I was so freaking full.



So that was my day and let me tell you, it was so freaking delicious.  I love days like that when food, especially healthy food, was absolutely delicious!

Life, lately.

Holy smokes!  Time is flying and December is busy!  A Merry Christmas Eve to you all!

So, here is what I have been up to lately:

HBBC week - 3? 4?  (whichever was 2 weeks ago)
Monday: Yoga @ Yoga Place 2
Tuesday:  Yoga @ Yoga Place 1
Wednesday:  Yoga @Yoga Plac 2
Thursday:  Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday:  Pilates, Yoga @ Yoga Place 1, Yoga @ Yoga Place 2.
Sunday:  Rest

HBBC week 5 (I think that's right...last week)
Monday:  Yoga @ Yoga Place 2 (last time I was able to go before my intro package expired)
Tuesday:  Yoga @ Yoga Place 1
Wednesday:  Rest
Thursday:  2200 yd swim in 51 mins  (this workout, modified some)
Friday:  Rest
Saturday:  Pilates, Yoga @ Yoga Place 1, 22 min run/walk outside...1.5 miles
Sunday:  3300 yd swim in 1hr 15 mins (this workout, minus the butterfly set), 1 mile walk with friends

With that swim yesterday, I noticed that one of my suits split (it is very old!) but I took a note from my high school swim days and just tied the loose pieces together so it can hang on until I can order a new one in a couple of weeks. 

So as you can see I've been busy, but pretty good.  Yesterday, I left to work at the church a little before 9:30am, I stopped back by my house to drop off/pick up some stuff after my swim, and went to see a friend who was in town and got back at 10:30 that night...definitely past my bedtime! 

I've even seen some new #s on the scale, despite my wanting to eat all of the treats I see around the office!

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.  I've very excited for 2013, 2012 itself hasn't been so bad either.

Vegan Pea Soup

I was never a fan of Pea Soup until I was a nanny for a family with 2 small children, the father being overseas for a couple of months at the beginning of my stint w/them.  The mom ("M") is a vegetarian and an amazing cook!  I seriously went from being unemployed and eating as entertainment (Lord, how much weight did I gain during that time???) to running after 2 lovely kiddos every day and eating mostly vegetarian (When I first realized that I could lose weight).  She introduced me to this soup (as well as a very similar soup w/lentils, but I'm not such a fan of those!) and now I'm a big fan.  This soup is great because it requires little fuss from beginning to end, it is a great way to get your veggies in, and it is pretty cheap to make.  It is my staple lunch/dinner for when I have $10 in my bank account an it's a week from payday. 

I don't usually post recipes on my blog because:
1. I don't really cook that much.
2. When I cook, I rarely follow a recipe to the "T".

But let's give it a whirl!

Vegan Pea Soup

You need:
1-2 Quarts of Vegetable Stock*
2-4 Quarts of Water*
32 Ounces of Dried Peas
2 Large Carrots
1 Large Onion
1 Bunch Fresh Dill
Salt and Pepper to Taste


I start by warming up my vegetable stock on low heat in a large pot while I rinse and sort the dried peas....there are some funky looking ones!  Once I have rinsed and sorted the peas, they go in with the vegetable stock.  I then add water to the pot to make sure all the peas are covered in liquid.  I diced up the carrots and onion and added them to the pot.  After a big stir, I put the lid on, set the heat a smidge above low.  Then I went about my business cleaning my pilates/yoga mat, doing my laundry, trying (and failing) at some Pinterest crafts, etc.  Because it is on low, it only needed a stir every 15 minutes or so and is not very likely to stick to the bottom.  I added more water as needed because I like my soups at a mushy, not runny consistency.  When the peas start to become a mush instead of individual peas, I put the dill in.  I'm not sure how you are actually supposed to get dill off of the stem, but I just used kitchen scissors and snipped away over the pot of soup.  From start to finish it was about 2 hours until it was done (aka all the individual peas were mush).  Salt and pepper can be added at this time too.  I felt so accomplished that I cooked, cleaned, and did laundry!

*Don't quote me on this.  I think the peas say to use a 1 oz peas/8 oz water ratio.  You can mix vegetable stock/water or all of one or the other, your preference!

Reason #3:  I apparently am not good at writing recipes! haha It was my best shot though!

I think this is what I paid for these items:

1-2 Quarts of Organic Vegetable Stock (I found 1 quart on clearance for $1.29)
2-4 Quarts of Water (Free!)
32 Ounces of Dried Peas (2 16oz bags for $2.74)
2 Large Carrots ($.50?)
1 Large Onion ($.50?)
1 Bunch Fresh Dill ($1.99...splurge!  I love dill and I don't care who knows!)
Salt and Pepper to Taste (Free?  Such a minuscule amount!)

Total:  $7.50 including tax. 
Servings: 8-10 depending on how much you want.

I think it is great because it is so filling and delicious and cheap.  I usually use a 16oz coffee mug for lunch, as I'm sure you can tell. :)

*Disclaimer:  Eating this for every meal might make your pee neon green for a while due to the excess of whatever vitamin that peas have a lot of.  True story.  It happened to me this summer.  You have been warned :)

HBBC - Week 3 - Trust Your Instructor!

Let me apologize for not posting in a week...sorry!  Now on to the good stuff:

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge - Week 3!

Monday:  I took the SwimTot to the pool again.  She is getting to be such a good little swimmer!  She swam at least 10 yards by herself.  I went to beginner Pilates and felt a nice little burn - 45 mins.  I had some babysitting scheduled for Thursday evening and I wanted to get a workout in everyday, so I doubled up and swam an additional workout after Pilates.

Please note that putting on a wet swimsuit is one of the worst things ever.  Could be considered a form of punishment in some countries! haha  I swam:

400yd warm up

400 freestyle
4 x 100 choice (backstroke)
300 freestyle
4 x 75 choice (freestyle)
200 freestyle
4 x 50 choice (breastroke)
100 freestyle
4 x 25 choice (butterfly)

300 warm down
(based off of this workout)

I completed it in 1:00 and 17 seconds :)

And then I face planted into bed.

I got 2.25 points for Pilates and 6 points for the swim.  I got all my "freggie" servings in and posted on fb.  10.25 point total for Monday!

Tuesday:
I went to Yoga again.  Like I've said this is very basic yoga and I really like it because I want to know the right way to do an exercise in order for it to be the most effective.  That being said, this was also the 3rd week of class and it was the first day I have really felt challenged.  My wrist ended up being really sore that night and the next day and I was VERY worried for some reason. Like it was going to keep hurting or wouldn't healing.  I just kept praying and praying about it.  I really don't know why.  But I'm glad it hurt because it made me realize that (after it was better) my body is resilient and that I can improve.  1 hr 15 min class was 3.75 points.  I had forgotten what day my produce delivery came, thinking it was Tuesday, but it was Wednesday.  Therefore I shorted myself on fruits and vegetables :(  1 FB posting.  4.75 points for the day.

Wednesday:
I had a crazy day at work and forgot to study for my sign language class during lunch, crap!  I scraped my workout plans for after work and went home to study and have a quick dinner.  Class went great, I really like my instructor and the 2 other students.  We have fun!  I did 100 chest lifts/crunches while watch Mad Men episodes later in the evening :)  I gave myself 1 point for that.  1 point for freggies, 1 point for FB.

Thursday:
My babysitting got cancelled due to a sick little kiddo, so SwimSis literally begged me to go to hot yoga with her.  My normal yoga (Yoga Place 1 for further reference...) is so simple and beginner and in an area of town where there is a lot of variety of people.  This other place (Yoga Place 2) is in a suburb and I pictured it with very fit white women.  So I asked her all of the questions any fat girl would:

-Would I pass out because it was too hot?
-Was everyone there stick thin?
-Would I not know any moves?
-Would the yoga be too advanced?
-Will people make fun of me?

Obviously I may  have gone a bit overboard there!  I got a new member rate of $29 for 2 weeks unlimited ($17 is the normal drop in price).  They let me borrow a fancy towel mat to put on top of a regular yoga mat.  The room felt warm, but like a hot summer day, not a sauna like I was expecting.  The instructor had a good mix of flexibility poses and strength moves (which I am more prone to liking, I blame Pilates!).  Also, she played 2 Mat Kearney songs during the class, so that's an A+ class to me.  Near the end I was dripping sweat and felt kind of gross.  I remember that I used to be the girl who said she hated exercise other than swimming because she didn't like sweating!  Who is that girl anyway?  Where did she go? :)  I kept looking at other people to figure out what pose we were doing, but some people were getting it wrong, some were doing advanced poses, in the end I just learned to trust the instructors words and go along as she says.  It was okay if I took more than a couple of seconds to get in a pose rather than immediately try to do what someone else is doing and have it be wrong.  The instructors know what they're doing!

I got 3 points for a 1 hr class, 1 point for freggies, 1 point for FB = 5 point day!

Friday:
Work was crazy again.  People always told me that Dec would be so quiet and you would get a lot done because people went on vacation.  Well...this is the week or two BEFORE people go on vacation, meaning it is crazy!  I got home and didn't want to fix anything. I also didn't want to exercise. I made my butt walk the 0.5 miles round trip to Jimmy John's to get a sandwich.  haha 0.5 points!  I ate that and as soon as I started writing a blog post, I was really tired!  I was asleep by 8:30!  1 point for Freggies, 1 point for FB.  2.5 point day!

Saturday:
I slept until 7am!  Must have been really exhausted!  I was dreading going to Pilates class, but I really, really like going.  It is tough, but worth it.  I work really hard every class and am proud to say I have seen improvements in my stamina.  We often to 2 sets of 15 reps of certain exercises and depending on the move that we are doing, I can complete all 30 reps in some!  Whereas the first class I was just trying to keep my head above water and do as many reps as I could before taking a break.  We used aerobics types steps in this class and we were doing balancing exercises, strength exercises, planks, etc off of them.  Very challenging!  We were doing an exercise where we had our toes on the step (w/two things underneath to jack up the height) and were in a straight arms plank and were going down into an elbow plank and back up again (left forearm down, right forearm down, right forearm up, left forearm up, if that makes any sense).  The instructor suggested I modify and not do the step, but my philosophy is to at least try the hard stuff first (how will I know I can't do it if I don't try? haha!).  Well I ALMOST completed one.  I couldn't get my second arm back up and collapsed a bit :)  I promptly resumed with my toes on the floor and completed them. 

The instructor then led us in more planks (argh!).  I am more partial to a straight arm plank than an elbow plank, so I try to do those more.  She helped me find the right position for a straight arm plank and I held it the entire time (lol like 30 secs max) my arms started to get pretty wobbly toward the end, but the proper alignment of my feet to help me not fall over made all the difference!  That's what I love in an instructor, push me but help me do it right!   She came over and told me she could tell I was working so hard (and she did comment on me dripping sweat while I"m sure others were barely breaking one - most are either super fit or instructors of other classes themselves) and said she was really proud of me (awe!!!!).  I'm glad she said it and I do my best every time, but did she have to say it in front of everyone else? LOL I'm shy like that. 3.5 points for Pilates (I upped this one again, hardcore!)

I went to Yoga at Yoga Place 1 for a midmorning session.  I bought some all natural yoga mat cleaner.  I figure it is better than putting my face in chemicals!  We had the same curriculum as the Tuesday class, but a different instructor.  Good times!  3.75 for 1 hr 15 min class.

I bought some Christmas bags (this girl CANNOT wrap presents for her life!) and met SwimSis, Coach and SwimTot for Coach's bday lunch.  We went to one of those places where you pick out your own uncooked meats and veggies and add a sauce of your choice and they cook it in the middle on a big stove.  It was weird because, well, I was one of the smallest people in there.  Yikes.  250lbs never looked so skinny.  It made me sad for some of those people, but I'm glad to know that I can make the choice of how much to eat/take home and I don't go there every weekend or anything!  Nothing good happens at buffets! 

We went home for cake and a rest to let the food digest.  I headed out for a late afternoon hot yoga class at Yoga Place 2.  The instructor was pretty challenging and I worked up a sweat pretty quickly.  It felt good even after 2 classes in the AM.  I was proud that I went on my own.  Things like that can be hard for me/my anxiety sometimes.  3 points for 1 hr heated slow flow yoga!  9.75 points for the day, 1 fb point, 1 freggies point = 11.75 points.

Sunday
I was fairly sore that morning, but felt pretty good, actually.  I spent 4 hrs at the church w/the kiddos, which I counted as my workout (but no actual points).  I went a Mat Kearney concert that night.  Love love love!  It was the 5th or 6th concert my friend and I had been to of his.  The first one was in 2004!  I ate a breakfast before going to the church, I ate after church at 2pm and then again at 4!  The old me would have definitely had fast food at some point, if not multiple points during the day/evening if I was going to be out late.  I packed a granola bar and a couple of Mandarin oranges in my purse in case I got hungry.  I feel old at 27 going out on a Sunday night, but my friend's boyfriend got us tickets, what a great guy (and where can I find a guy like that).  It was so hot in there and everyone was crammed in.  I'm not sure what time we got there, but I'm thinking before 7:30, and he didn't go on until 9:20.  Ugh!  It might have been better if the opening act hadn't been terrible.  He looked like he was right out of pampers, very fresh faced.  And he kept saying things that were perfect for "that's what she said" jokes because he was nervous ("this is my very first time", "I can't find the hole").   But the concert was great in this cozy little venue.  He runs through the crowd at least once a concert and I FINALLY got to touch him.  hehehhee.  And I mean, singing Feliz Navidad with your favorite artist, you just can't top that!!!
We were quite giddy upon leaving and I had a Mandarin orange on the way home.  I was impressed with myself!  I got 1 point for freggies, 1 point for FB, 2 point day! 

Weekly total:  39.25!  Fabulous!

Weekly goal:  Move my butt EVERY DAY!

Goal:  Accomplished.  But tired :)

It was a great week and made me motivated for this week!  

How did everyone do last week?

What is your motivating factor this week?

HBBC Week 2 - Oof!

It's time to recap Week 2 of the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge!  Here's how my week went from a fitness point of view:

Monday:  I swam with SwimTot at the Y, she was swimming about 8-10 yards on her own without stopping.  I know this kid can/will be a good swimmer fast, she just needs me to push her and make her trust her abilities.  (Okay I know that sounded cheesy because she's 4 but my niece isjust that awesome).  I put in 45 mins at Pilates class (intro) for 2.25 points.  I got 1 pt for all my "freggies" (fruit and veggies) servings, and 1 for FB posting.

Tuesday:  Yoga after work.  I really like it so far!  A mother/daughter duo came in late and sat very close to me, which I could have moved over right away to give them more room, but I did not want to interrupt the instructor while he was talking.  It was kind of awkward!  Next time, I'm definitely getting there early and choosing a spot where I cannot be intruded upon :) haha 1 hr 15 min class 3.75 pts, 1 freggies pt, 1 FB point.  And I got new shoes that are pretty gorgeous...just waiting to wear this current pair out first before I step into these!

Wednesday:  Nothing!  I went to sign language class in the evening and that was good enough for me!  1 pt freggies, 1 point FB.

Thursday:  I knew my car was going downhill fast!  I had to walk to the auto parts store (just on the corner) and get power steering fluid in order to be able to get my car to Walgreens to pick up a salad :)  After work I was all "uhhhh, this day sucks, I'm going to have to take my car in tomorrow and spend a zillion dollars".  All I wanted to do was hide under the covers and wish that my car would fix itself!

I knew that was stupid and I needed to get a workout in, but I wasn't going to go anywhere w/my leaky car.  I turned on the Coach's PS3 to get onto netflix to get a workout vid, but I couldn't find any on there!  Very frustrating.  Then, I knew there was only 1 workout DVD I owned....30 Day Shred!  Miraculously, I knew what box it was in.  I was VERY hesitant because I had never completed the first set of the workout, let alone all 20 mins!

I hated it at first and truly remembered why I was swearing at the TV while nearly 300 lbs and giving up while only a few minutes in.  Jumping jacks suck.  Yes Jillian, 400 lb people can do jumping jacks but I'm sure they hate it too.  Combine that was the faux jumping rope, I was nearly ready to quit in my current state!  I told myself just to make it through that first set in the workout.  I did and realized I had never gotten any farther because I had just assumed that the 3 sets in the workout were the same thing (faux jump roping and jumping jacks, etc).  Nope!  The second set was much easier for me and the third was a combination of the first two. 

I don't think I had done a lunge in a loooong time, so I was SO freaking sore!!!  I knew my legs were not happy with me.  When I went upstairs to go to bed, I made sure that I was not going down the stairs till the AM.   Note to self:  Add more lunges!  2 pts for 30 day shred, 1 pt for freggies, 1 point for FB participation.

Friday:  I dropped my car off at the shop after work and walked the 0.25 miles home :)  Any extra points for dashing across the roundabout by my house?  Seriously, that thing needs to have better lighting.  I felt like the frogger video game.  I was set on having a healthy evening, but I walked in my house and SwimSis and Coach had gotten pizza.  And there went my healthy eating out the window!  It wasn't even that good! Ugh.   I gave myself 0.25 points for the walk home, 0 for freggies (boo!), and 1 pt for FB.

Saturday:  I was up and at 'em for 8am Pilates class.  It was the usual torture/hardcore.  I was sweating profusely as were a couple of other people in class and even the teacher!  She was not taking it easy on us.  Now because this is the only level 1 Pilates class I have taken, and it is DRASTICALLY different in terms of intensity when compared to Intro to Pilates, I would go as far to classify this as a low level cardio class. 

Now my legs were still aching from 30 day shred from Thursday, but I thought it was cool because we never do lunges in Pilates class.  Uh...of course we did on Saturday!!! For some reason, they didn't hurt as bad, but we still did more than I thought I could have.  I am seeing improvement in my stamina and am actually completing a few sets of certain moves.  Also, mountain climbers with your feet on these little circles that glide across the floor...no bueno!  My legs were seriously out of control.  So much/too much? instability!  I then went to Yoga at 10:30 and placed myself far away from the mother/daughter duo and had a great class.  I really love 2 classes a week with the different instructors.  I gave 4 points for Pilates (as a low impact cardio) and 3.75 points for Yoga.  0 points for Freggies, 1 point FB participation.

In the end, my car ended up being 60.3% of my bi-weekly paycheck.  It was terrible.  I may  have cried.  It runs very smoothly now but as they say around these parts "eff that mess!" or "eff that noise!". 

Sunday:  I worked at the church, but then felt gross afterwards, so I nixed going to the YMCA and went home and took a big nap instead.  I got 0 freggies points :( and 1 point for FB participation. 

Week totals:  16 workout points, 4 freggies points, 7 FB participation = 27 points.  Ideally I would like to be over 30 points each week.  This week felt good going in, but as I got to the weekend I just felt like it socked me in the stomach, making the "oof" sound :)

Weekly goal:  This week I wanted to get freggies in at least 4 days this week. 
Mission:  Accomplished.  Thank goodness for the work week.  The weekend nearly derailed me!

How did everyone else do this week? 

Any parts of your week that made you go "oof"? :)

My Second 5K!

Yay for my second 5K!  You can read about my first 5K here. 

I had been running more in the past month (than normal) but my runs were never longer than 2 miles or so.  This made me nervous.  During the first 5k, which was soley in a neighborhood, SwimSis and I were able to run it in the evenings a couple of times before the race.  This time, part of the race was on a major road, so that was pretty much a no go.  And in June, we started one of our practice runs at 9pm.  Now it is almost pitch black around 6:30ish.  Again, another hinderance.  But I have stepped up my game in the fitness department since then, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best!

The best part about this Thanksgiving morning race was that it started/ended at the YMCA meaning NO PORT A POTTIES!  Oh indoor plumbing how I take you for granted!  It is only the second year for the race, so there were still a few kinks.  There were "corrals" as in "runner, walker, stroller".  But they weren't well marked and people who got into place later were stuck with slower people.  It was also difficult for the participants to line up toward the back as the road wrapped around the back of the YMCA.  The start was sort of lopsided with people properly lined up at the road and some coming in from the side of the YMCA.  Overall, it ended up being a rather smooth start.  At the beginning, I felt like a lot of people were passing me, but I passed a lot (for me) in that first mile.  Most depressingly during that first mile (and really she did it throughout), there was a girl/woman (18ish?) who was SKIPPING.  The whole 5K.  I passed her again around the water stop at Mile 2, but wow I don't know if it was awesome or stupid. 

My major goal was to run the portion of the race that was on the main road (as opposed to winding through a subdivision).  When it turned into the subdivision, I was free to walk! Also, I could not, for the life of me, find my watch.  IDK where I put it!  (*Update:  Found it!  Was in my suitcase from the week before*) So I was stuck with keeping my cell phone in my bra.  Super classy.  So I just looked at my cell after I crossed the start and it said 8:06.  The main road was rolling hills which some dislike, but I enjoy the change. Because of the rolling hills, I could not see where the road turned into the subdivision till I got closer.  But I got there and the "Mile 1" sign was on the corner.  Score!  I looked at my watch and it said 8:19 - 13 min/mile, awesome!  Very proud of myself.  TeenSwimSis had said she wanted to keep up with SwimSis (being the fastest), then she said she wanted to keep up with me, then she said she would just keep up with our dad.  Well, I passed her about a half mile in where she was walking with her shoe untied.  LORD.  I told her to go to the side and tie it and then catch up to me, but I wouldn't wait on her (because my goal was the run the first mile).  She never caught up.  I was gaining on my dad and kept sight of his bald head during that first mile and I finally caught up with him and told him to go wait for her.  hahaha 

I walked for that second mile more than I should of and then I realized we were running in the same subdivision as my first 5K, just a different route.  I decided I would be really disappointed if I walked as much in the last 1.1 miles as I did the second. During this time, I had kept the shot blocks from my first 5K (June) in a plastic baggie...5 months later, those puppies were not soft and chewy.  I put one in my mouth and it was like a now and later!  I spit it out after the race was over.  lol!  When I finished I knew I was faster than my last time by a few, but I didn't know how much.  Final time:  44:02!  That is 2:37 faster than my last 5K!  14:11 pace.  Very happy about that! 

SwimSis squeaked in under 38 mins.  We watched my dad come in at about 52 mins.  That dude was seriously whistling while he was strolling to the finish.  hahahaha!  He said he had gone back for TeenSwimSis a couple of times, but she had just been too slow.  Finally we saw TeenSwimSis strolling in.  I went back onto the course and ran it in with her.  She finished in 55 minutes.  I think that was 3.2+1 point for getting my fam out to exercise.

I'm Squinty McGee on the left.

I then attemped to recreate my grandma's sweet potatoes (not bad!) and was the last one to shower before we hurried out the door.  Thanksgiving was nice.  I shouldn't have gone back for a second plate of food, but I did get some more.  I was so stuffed, I went and lounged for an hour!  I had a headache forming, but ignored it and I went back for some pie.  Pumpkin looked yucky and all the apple pie was gone, so I was stuck with pecan pie.  I ate too much of that and soon it was pretty near a migraine.  So I went to lay down in the study (lol so sounding like the 1950s here).  We went home and everyone went black friday shopping except for myself and SwimTot.  I stuck SwimTot in the bed next to me with the iPad and I tried to sleep!  She needed a snack and wanted a piece of cheese.  I knew she would want another snack later, so I just gave her the cheese, a bag of marshmallows and she went in her room to watch whatever was on TV.  haha!  I fell fast asleep!  When I get headaches like that (once every month or two, I don't even bother with medicine, I just want sleep! I mean, medicine might work, I just never give it a try because sleeping always makes it go away). I felt terrible and I contributed it to majorly overeatting whether that was the cause or not.

I am always terrible about holidays (and my birthday) in the sense that I don't think about them in the weeks leading up to them and then they pass and I'm sad that they are gone already.  I like to be sentimental about things and when I don't give myself the time to do that, I end up posting things like a list of things I am thankful for a full week late :)  So here we go on a few (mostly fitness) related things:

-I am thankful for my body not giving up on me.    I was headed down a bad path.  I'm glad to be (literally) running/swimming/pilaties-ing/yoga-ing the other direction. 

-I am thankful I can be brave and try new things even when I have some anxiety. 

-I am thankful my family is supportive, but not overbearing.  Having someone tell me what to do is the last thing I need!

-I am thankful I have a job.  I didn't have one last year and the security of a job makes an emotional change.  Also, I'm thankful my job pays me well enough to replace the box of frozen breakfast sandwiches (I'm addicted) that someone stole out of the freezer here at work.  Jerks. 

-I am thankful for being on the swim team growing up.  Even though I am slow and out of shape at other things, I feel like I kick ass at swimming (most days).  It is like riding a bike when you get back into it.  Same motions, just improve your strength/cardio capacity.

  -I'm thankful for Pilates.  Not only does it make my muscles feel like mush every Saturday (and sometimes Mondays), slowing movements down and focusing on precise movements rather than relying on momentum to carry me through has helped my self-esteem.  When you're obsese, you often feel like a big blob of person.  Pilates has helped me find and use each little part of my body that I was not able to acknowledge before. 

-I'm thankful for Swagbucks and Amazon's lightning sales.  I got a new pair of Asics for $30 when all was said and done.

-I'm thankful for this blog.  I'm like to be sentimental, but am terrible at writing in a journal.  I was reading some early posts and it feels like a lifetime ago although it was only 9 months.  The support of the blog community is so awesome, sweet, and most definitely funny!

HBBC - Week 1 - Complete!

I've never done a "challenge" type thing before, but this one seemed good and I could get in and go on my own pace.  Here is what my week shaped up to be:

Monday:  A little swim instruction for my sweet niece (no HBBC points, just love to be w/that kid!) and then 45 Pilates class with a sub instructor who TOTALLY kicked our booties. (see what I did there?) Definitely a lot of Level 1 stuff, not a lot of beginner moves (it was the beginner class!) 45 mins of Pilates was 2.25 points.

Tuesday:  I bought a Living Social deal for Yoga.  The place is a couple miles from my work and promised that Beginner 1 would be super basic, which is what I wanted.  I paid $45 for 6 weeks of umlimited classes.  There are 4 options for classes I could go to each week, but I think I will stick with 2.  Class was great and I'm glad I've added Yoga to the mix now! Class was 1 hr 15 mins so that was 3.75 points.

Wenesday:
I had to grocery shop for sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving dinner and I went to CVS to do some of their Black Friday week deals (OMG love!).  After an epic dinner fail and the arrival of my dad and TeenSwimSis, we went to get our packets for the 5K that was on Thanksgiving morning.  TeenSwimSis was being such a B about not wanting to do it - flat out refusing.  I took a call and stepped out of the packet pick up area for a minute and I came back in where my father had bought TeenSwimSis a cupcake.  She stated that she would do the 5K for this cupcake.  Ugh, you mean all of that yelling could have been avoided for a cupcake?  :) 

Thursday:
Race day!  My second 5K and I had trained some,  but not necessarily well enough I just wanted to finish! I will do a separate post on the race, but my time was 44:02, which is 2 mins 37 seconds faster than this summer!  I got 3.1 points for that and 2 bonus points for getting my fam active!

Friday:  Black Friday.  I had zero obligations. No work.  No planned workouts.  Just me, my jammies, netflix, and some games/books on my Kindle Fire.  This is when I wrote down my week 1 goal for HBBC - To only overeat once!  We didn't have any leftovers from Thanksgiving, so I thought I was safe, but then SwimSis decided we needed Thanksgiving 2.0.  That got me up and cooking (but still in my jammies!).  We made green bean casserole (fresh green beans), sweet potatoes, ham, a pie, and I made deviled eggs.  I am getting pretty good at timing how long they need to cook!  They looked perfect this time. I made us all eat on salad plates as to not overdo it too much.  Plus I had 8am Pilates on Saturday, so I know I defiintely did not want to overdo it.  No exercise on Friday, but I loooooved not doing ANYTHING. 

Saturday:  I went to my 8am Pilates class at the Y and it, again, kicked my butt.  Teasers on the bosu ball never fail to leave me sore for days!  I went into work for a little while and then hit up the 10:30am Yoga class that is near my work.  It was the same moves/cirriculum as the Tuesday class, but a different instructor, which I appreciated the double perspective on Yoga.  I'm not sure I did anything else on Saturday besides some laundry.  I did finish a book on my Kindle.  I only "buy" free books.  This one was 95% anticipation and then the resolve was 5%.  Love story. sheesh.  Will she, won't she? Well, she does and they live happily ever after was basically the ending.  I got 3pts for Pilates and 3.25 for Yoga and zero points for whining about my free book.

Sunday:  I had to deliver TeenSwimSis at the half way point between my dad's house and ours. Before working at the church.  My car is having power steering issues, ugh! So I was in a hurry to get back with SwimSis' car.  When I got there, my dad was 15 mins away, so I left her at Panera and booked it back!  I ate a Cinnamon Crunch bagel and half an individual serving of cream cheese.   I made it to the church and was there for 4 hours in my new (to me) classroom.  I had a kid's size Starbucks coffee and a dixie cup of animal crackers while I was there.  I know 5 hours at the church leaves me exhausted, but 4 was feeling doable.  A different YMCA is about a mile from the church, so I stopped in for a swim!  I only planned to do the 2400 yard workout, but I was feeling good and finished the 3200 yard workout.  It was this workout.  That 1250 ladder was SO hard!  It was 1 length easy, 1 length hard, 2 lengths easy, 2 lengths hard, up to 5 and then back down again.  Near the end I was so tired I was seriously seeing things.  Like images of Disney villans popped in my head.  It was so strange.  I was so glad to be done with that portion!  1250 continuous swimming, 24 mins 30 seconds.  About on the nose.  I feel like the next 700 yards I did of kicking/pulling took the same amount of time!  I'm glad to have got it in though!  I went to the grocery afterwards and didn't have lunch/dinner till 5pm!  I was so ready for bed by 7pm! I got 8 points for swimming an hour and twenty minutes. 

I took a pic after my swim, can't really tell how exhausted I was!

I think I ended the week with 38.25 points if you count my bonus points.

I'm VERY happy that this challenge is encouraging me into doing more activity!

Did anyone see their activity level move either way last week?  Holiday weeks are so tricky!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

I hope everyone has a truly great Thanksgiving.  No official 5k results yet but I think I beat my time from this summer by 2 mins!

now i'm off to try my hand at making some sweet potatoes!  My grandma usually makes them but she handed that duty off this year.  i asked her for a recipe and she could not give me exact measurements...eek!

Proud Swim Aunt

Soooo I made this happen today:

Ugh so freakin' cute!  We (SwimSis, SwimTot & me) went to TeenSwimSis' swim meet this weekend.  During the last warm up time of the weekend, SwimTot told me she wanted to swim like those big kids, but she didn't know how.  Well twist my arm!  I told her that she had to wear her goggles and I would give her a swim cap, any color she wanted (as I have a rainbow's selection of swim caps!).  She chose purple and we were in a time crunch, so we only got about 20 minutes of actual instruction.  She did really well.  She is probably better at backstroke because her freestyle is a mess.  I was trying to teach her to swim a little, take a breath, keep swimming, take a breath, etc.  She would swim as far as she could holding her breath and then come up gasping.  Every time!  Booger!

I also got this at TeenSwimSis' meet:

Sooooo excited!!!!  My only question is why I haven't seen this sooner!

drooling over all those lanes!

I am also doing the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! that started today yesterday.

 I'm excited to rack up some points and a loss or at least no gain!  I'm still slightly confused about the whole thing, but hopefully I can figure it out!

Speaking of not gaining, I also joined a program at the Y called the "Zero Gain Campaign".  I paid $10 and weighed in last Monday and if I stay the same or lose weight by the second week of the new year, I get a $25 program credit (which is just a few bucks shy of a Pilates class!).  Totes worth it.  I was having such a bad weight day Monday (I had salty foods over the weekend).  I honestly saw my weight go up by 2 pounds Sunday and Monday!  I thought I might as well weigh in with the additional water weight!  haha Luckily I backed off the salt, inhaled the water, and saw this number on Friday morning:

249.6

WHAT WHAT!  FINALLY got past the last couple of pounds to make it -30 lbs offical!  I bought myself a "prize" about a month and a half ago and it has been staring at me from my closet...

New sheets!  And I made TeenSwimSis bring me my comforter/duvet that I had in college that is also green/blue.  Now just to find the energy to put them on the bed! :)  

So life is pretty good over here!  3 day work week, can't beat that!  oh, and I am doing my first yoga class tomorrow...nervous!

PS got asked if I lost weight yesterday!!!!!!   This lady I worked with asked me because she said my pants looked baggy in the bum area.  I was calm when I was talking to her (she has lost a lot of weight herself) but when I left her office I may have squealed and clapped my hands like an idiot :)

In Which I Step on the World’s Cutest Dog…

On Sunday I didn’t have to be at the church until 9:30 (as opposed to my normal 8:30) and I knew it would be the last nice weather day for  possibly an entire 4 or 5 months, so I thought I would head out for a run before going to watch the kiddos at church. 

I dressed in some old navy running capris, a tank top, and a tshirt.  It was a little chilly for that, but I saw plenty of people with shirts/sweatshirts wrapped around their waists already.  So I wanted to run in the woods, but also around the picturesque ponds next to the community center so I knew I would have to make it quick!  Around the community center trails/meadows, the paths are paved with a yellow line down the middle.  The space is probably 3-4 feet on each side of the line.  So I’m doing my warm up walk on the far side of the meadows and the trail has access to a subdivision.  Out of this subdivision path comes this woman, in a winter coat (my point here is that she was not going out for a run) and the world’s cutest dog.  A puppy.  One of those that are on those AWFUL Disney movies like this:



LIke the one on the right, but smaller and with a white coat.



 So they get on the trail about 50 yards from me, coming towards me.  At this point, I am in this state of mind that is sort of “OMG this morning is so beautiful, this place is gorgeous, I’m getting in my exercise first thing, etc”.  When they are 20-30 yards away from me, the woman starts running as does the dog.  But this is a little puppy.  On a regular leash, not a retractable one.  So about 10 yards from me, this puppy is almost off the path on my side.  As they come towards me, I stop because she is making NO attempt to get the puppy to her side/not trip me with the leash.  As is obvious already, I AM NOT an animal person.  But I try to be nice I say to the puppy “Oh, you’re just so excited!” and as I try to step over the leash to keep on going, it follows and has it’s paw underneath my heel before I could realize it.  So the poor thing yelps because this 250lb lady just stepped on its paw a bit.  So I turn around to see what the lady’s reaction is (and give my "Oh no, I"m so sorry"/horrified face) and she just smiles, shrugs her shoulders, does a half wave and goes on in the direction she was going. 

WTF.

It was absolutely one of those moments in life where you go “Did that REALLY happen?”  “Is this real life?” because it was so absurd.  And then I spent the remainder of the run feeling guilty that I stepped on the world’s cutest puppy.  Running in the woods helped a bit, but I am a person who holds on to a guilty feeling far longer than I should (and I’m not even Catholic!  Haha most of my fam is so please don’t take that personally!).  I still feel bad.  Stupid lady…do you not know that trail is the MOST travelled in the area?  Geez I wonder if it happened to anyone else she encountered. 

Today I am sore from that run and from Pilates where not only did we do our regular torture exercises, we did most of them on a Bosu ball. 

haha I am NEVER this graceful!

Meaning it was harder to stabilize myself while doing these.  Last time I did the Pilates roll up

with a weight that the instructor gave me, but this time I got my own.  And it was too heavy.  So while I was accomplishing them, my shoulders/arms were angry about the 10 lbs that I was lifting.  I think I pushed myself a lot, but not as much as I did in the first class.  I want my muscles to be shaking before I rest, not just tired.  Except in the case of the roll up, because having the weight overhead...I would just like to keep steady arms for that one!  She killed us with inner/outer thigh work in the end.  The good thing was that I did not worry about there being a weight limit! Haha I thought about it once or twice, but I figured if I could sit on there Indian style, then I was fine.  There was a very fit lady next to me this time, but she had very little Pilates experience so it was nice to see someone struggle as much as me!

So that was my weekend in a workout nutshell. 

Anyone else have any “OMG did that really happen?” running moments?

In a groove, not a rut

I am in a pretty good groove with food and exercise (aaand here's to hoping I don't jinx myself with that statement!!!).  That 'lazy food week' last week included a lot of good stuff so I'm glad that happened and hoping to make fruits and veg a bigger part of my diet ('diet' as in what I eat, not what I limit myself to). Here's what has been happening on the exercise front:

-Several runs.  Running for a mile at a time.  Tried to time a mile.  Watch said 17:05.  I don't know if I was slower than my first 5K or if the timing was off.  All I had to go off of was the park map and trust that what it said was a mile was a mile and my $5 CVS sports watch.  Most runs are including over 20 mins of running nowadays.  Bad news:  Daylight savings meant I was still running and it was almost pitch black out on Monday.  I tried not to think bad things but I've seen too many episodes of Dexter (specifically remembering when John Lithgow (sp?) was walking a dog and asked a woman a question, then let the dog loose bc it wasn't his!).

-Pilates.  REAL  Pilates.  Level 1, which the guide describes as Intermediate.  Uh, I knew I was in for something much harder than intro, but I got my butt whooped!  I was the only new person in the class.  Most everyone else was doing advanced moves.  I did several modifications, but sometimes when she offered a modification, I knew I could do the real move and did.  And planks OMG planks.  Effing planks!  The most we did in intro was 1 30 second plank.  Oh in this class we did 1 1 min plank, 2 1 min planks, moving feet in and out, and 2 side planks.  Later we did elbow planks with pikes.  I for real have mat burns on my elbows!  I was VERY sore for days and my back is still angry and tight up around the shoulder blades and above, most likely from inchworms and tricep push ups.  I'm very proud that I was not a wuss and did not quit on anything, but if I needed to, I would take a break for a couple counts and join back in for as long as I could.  Also, I dripped sweat which takes a lot in a 63 degree room.

-Swimming.  I swam on Friday night which, in retrospect, might have been a bad idea when I had Pilates the next morning.  I did a lot of freestyle because my arms were getting weak compared to my legs from running.  It killed my triceps and my shoulders!  I swam 3300 yds in an hour and 13 mins.  I had Tuesday off.  Probably something about being a public employee.  I would explain it if I could, buttttt, if someone tells me I have the day off, I don't argue!  I swam 2300 yards in 54 mins.  I would have made Tuesday a rest day, but I can't have a whole day off midweek and not get a swim in.  That would be criminal!  I went to bed with wet hair on Friday night, so my pillow still smells like chlorine and i love it!!!  Also, sweated out so much chlorine on Saturday morning at Pilates!

On the food scene, this week is slower on the fruit and veg front as I keep forgetting to bring them with me to work!  I did make vegetable soup (w/ground beef) yesterday.  A family favorite my great-grandma used to make when I was little.  So freaking good.  Working on not putting a mountain of crackers in it every time I eat it.  This morning I felt on the edge of a candy binge.  Good thing my office doesn't have candy very much.  Glad to say I haven't had any Halloween candy at all!  Well, I did have a dum dum sucker at church on Sunday, but they always have those.  For real during that third service when 2/3 of the kids in my class have been there as long as I have, I had to bribe them to be good!

So far so good.  Wish I could report a weight loss.  Heck, there might be one, but the scale needs new batteries.  :)  I like not knowing my weight, does anyone else feel that way?  I might check in once in a while, but it's a heck of a lot better than every day! On the NSV side of things, I am back in size 20 jeans (with a bit o'muffin top but I can totes handle that).  I kept wondering why my size 22 kept feeling odd...too big!  And I have to make  a return to Lane Bryant because I got a shirt that was TOO BIG.  NSV for sure!

I'll leave you all with my friend for the night...dark choc w/blueberries!  Love this one!  Had 6 squares (out of 15).

A Lazy Food Week

I wanted to cook last weekend.  I really did.  But Saturday I was tired for no reason and Sunday after watching kiddos at church for 5 hours left me with a bad headache.  Therefore that meant zero motivation.  I don’t even like to cook meat anyway.   I went to the grocery and was on a mission to buy 2 fruits and 2 vegetables.  I got 2 honeycrisp apples and a big bag of grapes.  I also got carrots and celery.  I grabbed a jar of peanut butter to go along w/the celery too.  I grabbed 2 cheapo frozen meals for some lunches during the week.  Here’s what my week looked like from a food point of view:

Monday: 
Breakfast:  Starbucks’s Sausage, Egg and Cheese on English Muffin, 1/3 of “The Usual” (grande Pike Place w/2 pumps carmel, 2 raw sugars, non-fat milk)
Snacks/Lunch:  1.5 cups of grapes, 0.5 cup of carrots, several celery stalks, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 honeycrisp apple, 1 chocolate cherry torte Larabar, 1 frozen meal..I think 4 cheese manicotti
Dinner:  1 scoop of cottage cheese, 1 chicken breast, 1 scoop shells and cheese, the rest of the peas (aka unmeasured and all stirred up together!)

Tuesday:
Breakfast:  Frozen Sausage, Egg and Cheese on Biscuit.  1/3 of “The Usual”
Snacks/Lunch:  1.5 cups of grapes, 0.75 cups of carrots, several celery stalks, peanut butter chocolate chip larabar, 1 large honeycrips apple
Snacks at home: 1 serving potato chips, 2 servings “vegetable-flavored” crackers.
Food at Apt Halloween Party: ½ piece corn bread, 1 bag Pirate’s Booty smart puffs (60 cals)
Dinner:  1 off the bone rib meat w/bbq sauce
(Victory!  NO Halloween candy at the party, but I did win a $50 Lowes gift card!)

Wednesday:
Breakfast:  Frozen Sausage, Egg and Cheese on Biscuit.  1/3 of “The Usual”
Snacks/Lunch:  1 cup grapes, ½ cup carrots, several celery stalks, 1 tbsp peanut butter, ½ large honeycrisp apple, Peanut Butter Larabar, 1/2 cup of raw almonds (My apple was ½ bad…starving on the way home!)
Dinner: Jimmy John’s #16 Club Lulu (nom nom nom!)
Post run: 1 cup apple cider+ 2 cups water

Thursday:
Breakfast:  Starbucks’s Sausage, Egg and Cheese on English Muffin, 1/3 of…”The Usual” but they had ½ and ½ in their lowfat milk container L
Lunch:  1 cup grapes, ½ cup carrots, several celery stalks, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 large honeycrisp apple,  1 chocolate cherry torte Larabar
Un-proper Dinner:  ½ avocado mixed with unknown amount of fresh, store bought salsa plus unknown amount of tortilla chips.  ¾ cup almonds, 2/5 72% dark chocolate bar w/blueberries

Friday:
Breakfast:  Starbucks’s Sausage, Egg and Cheese on English Muffin, 1/3 of…”The Usual” but they had ½ and ½ in their lowfat milk container L
Lunch:  Food truck specializing in “Sliders”.  I got a gyro slider and a turkey burger slider.  Came w/chips.  Felt soooo gross after that.
Snack:  1 cup grapes, ½ cup carrots, several celery stalks
Pre-swim fuel:  3 gatorade chews
Post-swim:  Leftover carrots, celery and grapes (amount unknown)
Dinner:  Don Pablos' Shrimp Fajitas, some chips and dips.  Too much, too full, but still had leftovers.

Hopefully I will cook this weekend.  I have a lot planned so hopefully I can fit it all in!  First up is some sleep and bright at early tomorrow morning I have my 8am Pilates class!  I mean, I hope so, they couldn't give me a definite answer when I asked if enough people were signed up today!

Did anyone have any good eats this week?

Any good eats that are easy to make?

This was last Saturday.  Ramen + Spinach.

Lunch one day

Mmmm my treat - Larabar!

Ugh, my apple was perfect from the outside, but rotten on the inside!  And no I didn't see it before I bit in!

Almonds. 

Delicious apple cider!

Um, yeah.  They had 1/2 & 1/2 in the non-fat milk container.  Tasted so thick now that's I'm not used to it.

My Slider Lunch.  It was just "Eh"

Energy chews, had 3 pre-workout for 50 cals.

I was feeling cute today.  Sunshine always does that :)

Why Halloween Sucks

2 years ago today I was sleeping peacefully on a friend's couch after a night of heavy drinking and got a call from my sister.  She said my mom had had a stroke (which all we knew at the time), which turned out to be a fatal brain aneurysm. That day and the next few weeks were whirlwinds of pain and disbelief.  I have had an incredibly hard month in regards to missing my mom.  Lots of things, but I heard this song for the first time and I started bawling in my car on the way home from work.

My dad was a country farm boy, my mom lived in town, but they met while working at a grocery store in high school (haha).  Perhaps it would be more personal if it was called "cashiers and bag boys.  No?  Just doesn't have the same ring to it.

SwimSis and her fam are doing family stuff today and tomorrow, but I don't think I am doing any of it.  They are going to church tomorrow.  I don't even know what church because they haven't gone to one.  I don't have to go to church to remember my mom and feel connected with her.  In fact, she would run/walk a ton in her last couple of years.  So that's what I did tonight and I might do tomorrow.  In a moment of silly honesty, my hands are very much like my mother's.  Sometimes I just hold my hand and pretend I'm holding hers :)  I'd do anything to have her back.

And that is why Halloween sucks.  And also the stupid calorie laden candy. 

I ate too little at work today and was starving on the way home.  I almost went to Chipotle, but they always do a Halloween promotion, so it would have been swamped.  I ended up at the Jimmy John's by my house and got a sandwich.  I ate that and then got dressed for a run.  My last run had been good and my longest running stint during that walk/run was 5 mins 30 seconds.  My previous longest was somewhere around 6 min 15 seconds and that was on a hilly trail this summer.

So I just wanted to top all of that and knew I would just run until I felt I couldn't any longer or it got too hard.  After my 5 min warm up of walking (literally!  it is in the 40s here...brrrr!) I started off and found myself breathing hard and having a heart rate higher than I like...so I slowed it down a little :)  Perfect!  I made it to the bridge, but didn't want to stop there because there is a downhill portion right after the bridge.  And then I made my way toward the outdoor aquatic center and there was a creepy vehicle parked behind it so I altered my route to include more people!  I ran in front of the community center (can't let people see me walk!) and then had to figure out how to get back from that side of the building!  And by that time I could see my car again.  I made it to my car and saw I had ran for over 13 minutes!  So I just stretched it a little longer to the next mental checkpoint (a crosswalk) and ran for 16 mins 15 seconds!  What What!  Shut up well that has to be over a mile.  My first 5K I had an average run/walk pace of 15:01, so yes, that was over a mile!  Holy fricken crap that is so exciting!  I'm sure my mom was cheering me on.  Maybe not as loud as she would cheer on Notre Dame football, but cheering loudly nonetheless.

I walked for 2 mins and then ran for 5 mins 10 seconds and walked for probably another 5 back to my car.  And NO Halloween candy today.  It's like I wasn't even tempted.  haha I'm sure I'll be in the mood for chocolate tomorrow!

Happy and...

Excited!  haha I"m a dork