Here we are at the end of week 6 on our Shrinkingjeans Shrinkvivor challenge! Someone is going to win a pretty sweet prize package very soon, but unfortunately, it won't be this shrinkvivor. Tribe Navy Seals managed to be in the bottom 2 for weight loss last week, so we have all been banished to Exile Island. At least the company is nice there :)
Last week I posted a bit of a gain. Let's get to the numbers and see if I've recovered:
Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8
Challenge Starting Weight: 141.6
Last Week's Weight: 139.0
This Week's Weight: 137.4
Change This Week: down 1.6 yeah
Change For Shrinkvivor Challenge: down 4.2
Total Pounds Gone: 28.4
Well, I managed to lose the 1.6 that I gained last week. Yippee. Pure dumb luck mostly. I haven't been watching my food or liquid consumption and I haven't been exercising much since I finished my half. I did manage to log 116 minutes of exercise, but to be honest, it doesn't feel like enough. I'm a little lost now that I don't have a race to train for. Last night, one of my girlfriends hauled my sorry butt to the gym and we did a 45 minute swim class and swam for 15 minutes. Then, I came home and did the tworkout. Totally crazy, but maybe this will be my Tuesday night plan (at least until K's diving meets throw a wrench into it).
So how did everyone else do? Hop on those scales and head over to Shrinkingjeans and let us know!
For those of you who don't live in the Midwest, we are having what are local news portrays as "The Storm of the Century". Not really, but they tend to be all "the sky is falling" and crap. School was cancelled for me today because there were tornado watches early this morning. Apparently in my district, the buses don't run if there is a watch. So, I received a phone call at 6:00 this morning that we didn't have school. Yeah! Back to bed for me and the kids after I went and checked the computer because I seriously thought I was being punk'd. I slept until 9:30, putzed around, and then headed to the basement for a couple hours when the watches were upgraded to warnings. Now, from where I was standing in front of the windows watching for tornadoes taking shelter, there wasn't anything more that a little wind and rain. Total.Storm.Fail. On the plus side, if I was at school, I would have spent those 2 hours on the floor in the boys bathroom with 2 kindergarten classes, so Thank You Mr. Superintendent for cancelling school today.
So what does this have to do with today's confession post? I also have a bit of a "the sky is falling" in me that has now turned to complacency. Kinda like today's weather. All year, I have been training for one race or another (2 10k's and my first 1/2 mary). I've been working very hard to lose weight and keep it off. I've had goals. But now? Nothing.Zip.Zilch.Nada.Nothing. I don't know where to go from here.
My confessions:
I haven't tracked my food in who knows how long. I'm not sure I need to be tracking. I'm not sure if I really need to lose anymore weight. Sure, I'd love to drop a few more pounds, but do I really need to?
I've only worked out twice since my 1/2 (that was 9 days ago). I ran 3 miles on Friday and 2.5 miles on Saturday. My calf still hurts a bit. My ankles feel stiff and sore. Am I really injured or am I using some post race soreness as an excuse to sit on my ass? Jury's still out on that one.
During this morning's "storm" I could have thrown in a workout DVD or fired up exersiseTV, but instead, I sat on the couch in my PJs and watched the weather radar.
I need to learn that workouts can be other activities besides running. I have this mindset that it is all or nothing. Either I pound out 3-4 miles or it isn't worth doing. Not a good place to be.
I have no goals. I need a race or something to be training for. I need a plan. A bunch of girls are thinking about "running" the Disney 1/2 Marathon on Jan 8 in support of our friends who are actually lucky enough to be going to Disney. I haven't committed yet, because the thought of doing 13.1 miles on a treadmill makes me want to vomit. The thought of doing 13.1 miles outside when it is 10 below and through 4 inch drifts makes me want to turn blue, vomit and then pass out. There is a reason why there are no races in the winter in Michigan. IJS.
Good day, beautiful readers! I'm hear to tell you about a fantastic contest the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans has put together. They are giving away 2 tickets to May's Fitbloggin11 conference, plus a $100 gift card for the grand prize winner to help with travel expenses! How incredibly cool is THAT! As a requirement for my entry, I needed to prepare a short vlog discussing why I would like to attend this conference. (Please excuse the poor quality as I created and edited my vlog using my iPhone-it's not bad, but it's not my Flip either. Also excuse the still youtube decided to attach to my video. I swear, I am not stoned.)
I was also inspired to create a "motivation board" with memorabilia from all my races. What do you think? I think I'm going to need another board!
Can you believe we are already to the end of week 5 on our Shrinkingjeans Shrinkvivor challenge? Time sure flies when you are trying to Outfit-Outlose-Outlast.
Let's get to the nitty-gritty:
Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8
Challenge Starting Weight: 141.6
Last Week's Weight: 137.4
This Week's Weight: 139.0
Change This Week: up 1.6 boo
Change For Shrinkvivor Challenge: down 2.6
Total Pounds Gone: 26.8
As I suspected, I had a bit of a gain post 1/2 marathon. I'm not too upset about it, but it is disappointing nonetheless. I'm more concerned about next week since I'm on a doctor-imposed break from major amounts of cardio this week (ie-no running until at least this weekend) and I'm still sore in a few spots from my run, especially my left calf. I actually have a weird lump in my calf muscle and it is tender to the touch. If it isn't better in a couple more days, I'll have it checked out, but I suspect it is just a result of almost 2 1/2 hours of pounding on Sunday.
Speaking of 2 1/2 hours, that was the immunity challenge we had this week. Keeping track of exercise minutes. Since the only things I've done is my half marathon, which I completed in 2 hours, 27 minutes, plus about 30 minutes of slow walking afterwards, my minutes for this challenge are 177.
As for the non-fitness challenges, I did participate in the "Exposed Movement". However, I did not do very well on tracking my food (in all honesty, I haven't tracked at all, but I'm starting again today). I had at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, so 5 of 6 days for the challenge is pretty good. Water continues to be great. I'm drinking water almost exclusively now, but I still allow myself one Diet Coke per day.
So how did everyone else do? I feel bad that I couldn't post a loss for Tribe Navy Seals this week. I'm hoping this doesn't send me or my team to Exile, but if it does, I've heard there are a lot of awesome people hanging out over there *waves to my peeps on Exile Island*. So, strip down to your naughty bits, hop on those scales, and head over to Shrinkingjeans and let us know how you did this week. While you're there, show the rest of your shrinking sisters and brothers some bloggy love. Peace Out!
I did some serious carb-loading before-hand, and since I didn't really eat much at all after the race to combat the 2000+ calories I burned, my body thinks it is starving and I'm having to force myself not to eat everything in sight. It's been a couple days. I think the starvation-factor should have worn off by now.
The Good:
I put in 2 hrs, 27 min, 52 seconds towards our Shrinkvivor challenge.
The Bad:
I can barely move today and will probably have to miss the Tworkout. Seriously, I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had muscles. I also haven't tracked food or gotten in enough fruits or veggies. I'm most likely going to be up this week and headed to join my friends on Exile Island.
The Good:
The Fat-Goggles came off for a few seconds while looking at some pictures of myself while working on my race recap. I also joined the Exposed movement (although the fat goggles have a hard time looking at my own post).
The Bad:
I'm fighting the belief that the skinny pictures are all smoke and mirrors and good angles. (I'm a work in progress. Yesterday I wore pants that were WAY too big and no less than 4 people commented on how much weight I had lost and that I needed to go buy some more pants. Today I feel puffed up and huge. I don't get it either.)
So, in 10 minutes or less, those are my confessions.
PS: Did you see that adorable little boy over there on my blog, just a bit to the left? He is the most amazing little guy EVER and wants to save the world, one glass of drinking water at a time. Please click his button and show him some love.
PSS: Shrinkingjeans has an awesome giveaway going on right now with Girlz N Gear. You can try and enter, but I'm going to win, so it might just be a waste of your time. IJS. I REALLY need a 13.1 shirt now.
According to my dear friend Kirsten, I now have a story. The story of my first half-marathon. Until she mentioned that on twitter last night, I hadn't even thought of it that way. I was just glad I had so many running "sisters" to share the day with. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to back up a couple days (actually, to several months ago when I started training, but that would just take too long).
*warning-photo heavy LONG post!
Back in July, I ran my 2nd 10k of the year. It really kicked my butt (90 degree weather will do that to you) and I wondered if I would ever be able to run farther than 6.2 miles. A couple weeks later, I started researching fall races. I wanted to push myself and see how far my body could take me. I wanted a challenge. I wanted to continue to lose weight. I found a 1/2 marathon race in my hometown and a great training plan. Fast-forward to this weekend. 12 weeks of training would come down to this.
My best IRL friend Angie and I headed to the marathon expo at our downtown YMCA Saturday afternoon.
We signed the board, picked up our race packets, and started carb-loading with the most yummiest of smoothies.
(PS-who the heck is that skinny girl signing the board? OMG, it's me! This running stuff really works, yo!)
I set all my gear out so when the alarm went off Sunday morning at 5:30, I wouldn't have to think.
Angie and her hubby Joe came over for a carb and protein filled Chicken Parm dinner. Then they headed home and I headed to bed. 5:30 am shouldn't really exist IMO.
*classic rock blares* It is now race day! I was up at 5:30 am (I was up pretty much every hour all night but who's counting) and started getting ready. I wrote the names of all my running "sisters" who also ran 1/2 marathons this weekend on my arm. I wanted to keep them with me to motivate me since they all did such a great job keeping me going during my training. (On Sunday, Kirsten, Renee and Lauren ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Fransisco, while Jen also ran her FIRST 1/2, the Atlantic City Half Marathon. Becca got her FIRST Half out the the way by running the Middle Half in Tennessee on Saturday.) The family headed downtown with me (without attitude, which I soooo appreciated). Since the race started at the YMCA, we were able to wait inside where it was warm and I had a nice bathroom to use (5 times-I know, TMI, but seriously?). I found a quiet corner and stretched and rolled my muscles. The kids jammed to their iPods and Mike headed outside to watch the Velocity Challenged runners start at 7:00 (if you think you'll be longer than a 6 hr marathon pace, you get to start an hour ahead of everyone else - and yes, they call these runners Velocity Challenged - I ♥ that).
I don't have pictures of any running other than the start and finish. Professional pictures are coming, but probably won't be available for a week or so. Anyhoo, here's my recap of the race itself.
We headed outside a few minutes before 8am and the sun was just starting to come up. I lined up with the "Al Gore" pace group (the pace groups were all labeled with famous people's marathon times and his was a 4:58 full finish). I did this so I would not start too fast and burn myself out. It worked. I stayed with the group for the first 3 or 4 miles (doing my usual running with a 1 min walk at the top of every mile). By the 3rd or 4th mile, they weren't catching up to me anymore on my walk breaks and I just kept doing my thing. Miles 4 to 8 were a pretty steady uphill (not a "Holy Hill" 300+ footer! like the SF girls were doing-only about 60 ft total) with some rolling hills that really started to hit my glutes (literally-my @$$ was on fire!). On this back section were pockets of fans. I made sure to take in as much of the scenery as I could as it is fall in Michigan and the trees were beautiful. I high-fived an entire busload of high school Cross Country runners. I tried to high-five as many kids on the course as I could. I said "thank you" to all the TNT groups because they reminded me of my ShrinkingJeans sisters who raised a boat load of money this year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I loved the fans with loud music - one group was playing Guitar Hero! - and some had hilarious signs. My favorite sign: "Run like you STOLE it." LMAO around mile 6. At about 8.5 miles, we cross a little grassy area (where I walked because I was afraid of going arse over applecart) and we turned back around and headed back into downtown. There were a couple more rolling hills and I hit mile 10 and checked my watch. Holy cow! I was at about 1:50 something and realized I only had a 5k to go and it was all downhill. I was tired but knew I was going to finish pretty close to my goal time. I hit the "1 mile to go" sign and Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" came on my playlist. I yelled out "Lisa!" (we've totally channelled each other while running to this song) and I think I scared the crap out of the runner next to me. LOL. Next up on the playlist as the finish line came into sight was Holler Back by The Lost Trailers - AWESOME! (The video was filmed in GR-they are local boys. Watch the video and you can see some of the places I ran by!) Coming through the finish chute with my family and friends cheering was the best feeling EVER. I heard the announcer say my name (correctly, even!) and hit that finish. Got a hug from the race director and my medal from a sweet volunteer. I bawled and held onto her for quite a while. Throughout the race, I had my iPhone tweeting my progress at 3 mile intervals. After each tweet, I received a bunch of "binks" back, knowing all of my friends were cheering me on. This meant the world to me, although it did royally kill my battery! (Probably won't use that feature on the next long race.) Later, I cried again reading everyone's tweets. I seriously have the best friends in the world! This race would not have been what it was without the love, support, and @$$ kicking motivation of my ShrinkingJeans sisters!
And, what would a race report from me be without a little video :)
I had finished my first half-marathon! I saw my family through the fence and finally found them at the end of the finisher chute. I got a rose from my hubby and hugs from my friends and family. Angie took good care of me and walked me around, feeding me potato chips and pickles when my legs cramped up and making sure I drank enough water and gatorade. I got my complimentary massage (HEAVEN!). There was beer poured by Elvis and later on, an afterparty at HopCat with more beer (New Holland's The Poet oatmeal stout) and a delicious pulled pork sandwich and crack fries!
I am now a Half-Marathoner and always will be.
Noone can take that accomplishment away from me and I am absolutely THRILLED with my finish.
Placed 1355 / 1686 Total
778 / 1039 Women
112 / 154 in my age group
2 hours, 27 minutes, 52 seconds
Memories - priceless
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010 marked the one year anniversary of a little post called Exposed over at Eating Journey. At the time, I was relatively new to blogging and the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and really didn't give the post much thought. In fact, I don't even know if I was really aware of it. However, my twitter community was abuzz with talk of the anniversary of this post. Tweets flew back and forth between myself, Brooke, Kirsten, Karena, Beki, Thea, Melissa, Lisa, Jen, ... I don't even know who all was tweeting at this point. All I knew was, I was seriously contemplating putting my bits and pieces out there for the world to see. OMG, could I actually do that? I've posted before/after pictures before, but with slightly more clothing! Now, I never had any intention of nekkid pictures - I'm not THAT brave - but a bra and panties? The whole point of Exposed and the reason SO MANY women and men have joined the Exposed Movement was to stop hating our bodies and start celebrating them!
Nobody or no BODY is perfect. Not even the Victoria's Secret cover models have perfect bodies. They have airbrushing and photoshop. Our bodies tell a story. Maybe you have a few scars. Maybe your dog bit you and you've always seen the scar that no one else ever notices. Maybe you've given birth to a baby or two. Maybe you have freckles that you say you hate but you secretly love because they really are cute. Maybe you've lost almost 30 pounds and you have 5 or 10 pounds of extra skin hanging around and your girls have completely deflated. Maybe you've slacked on the strength training and even though you are lighter you aren't as toned as you were a couple months ago. No matter what "maybe" is you, that "maybe" makes you a beautiful person designed by God.
God doesn't make mistakes. YOU are not a mistake. You are beautiful in HIS eyes and it's time you recognize your beauty for what it is. Real.
It is now the end of week 4 in our Shrinkvivor challenge. I am loving how dedicated and supportive my Tribe Navy Seals sisters have been. I ♥ these girls! This week, our physical challenge was to log as many miles on our feet as we could. This wasn't exactly the best week for this challenge as I am now in "taper" mode for my 1/2 Marathon which is coming up on Sunday ohmygod I think I'm going to barf. Even so, I did manage to log 13.1 miles this week. When I reported that to my tribe yesterday, I realized how ironic it was that I logged EXACTLY the number of miles I will be running in holycrap 4 days.
Our non-physical challenge was to continue to drink our water (doing great there-seriously keeping up on hydration), get in 5 fruits and veggies every day (yup), and log all of our intake...oops, I only did that for 2 days. (That was a conscious decision. I need to make sure to fuel my body and I did not want to get caught up in cutting calories this week.)
So how did I do this week? Let's take a look at the numbers:
Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8
Challenge Starting Weight: 141.6
Last Week's Weight: 138.4
This Week's Weight: 137.4
Change This Week: down 1.0
Change For Shrinkvivor Challenge: down 4.2
Total Pounds Gone: 28.4
Yea, I dropped another pound this week! Good thing, too, because I fully intend to partake in ALL the post-race festivities on Sunday. Immediately after there will be New Holland beer and Wendy's chili, along with the usual assorted fruits and Gatorade. Later in the day, one of the local bars, Hop Cat, is having a Grand Rapids Marathon after-party, with drink and food specials for anyone wearing their finisher medals. How cool is that?!? After a nice shower, you'll be able to find me there having some more New Holland beer and an order of Crack Fries.
Pretty uneventful day. M and I did a charity bike ride with my girlfriend's tri group. Our 10 mile ride ended up being 12.5. Next time, I borrow a pair of her bike shorts. LOL. The rest of the day, we just hung out around the house. Not very exciting. Enjoy the pictures though!
Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.
It is now the end of week 3 in our Shrinkvivor challenge and Tribe Navy Seals continue to RAWK. Seriously, these ladies are A.MAZ.ING. Our physical challenge for the week was to clock a mile as fast as we could. Each and every one of us wound up with PRs for the mile. Mine? 9:12! Now, I have no aspirations of maintaining that pace for more than a mile any time soon, but it was cool knowing I could get there. We also worked hard to keep up on our water intake (check!) and lay off the fast food/take-out (double check!). Way to go Navy Seals!
So how did this tribe member do this week? Let's take a look at the numbers:
Weight on June 23, 2009: 165.8
Challenge Starting Weight: 141.6
Last Week's Weight: 139.4
This Week's Weight: 138.4
Change This Week: down 1.0
Change For Shrinkvivor Challenge: down 3.2
Total Pounds Gone: 27.4
Wow! I guess all this running, fruits and veggies, and water are paying off. So how did the rest of you do? Head on over to Shrinkingjeans and let us know. While you are there, share some bloggy love with the rest of your sisters (and brothers!).
Instead of boring you all with how awesome I've been this week (I ran 12 miles ya'll and ran a 9:12 mile for the #shrinkvivor challenge and was awarded the "Super Mom" award from Average Moms Wear Capes!), I've decided to use today's post to address the Monthly Project over at Shrinkingjeans. In the month of October (and really, until the end of time-LOL) we have been asked to "Take the Pledge" and declare our love for ourselves. I've actually been quite happy with myself lately. My running is kicking asphalt (my 1/2 marathon is less than 2 weeks away-SQUEEE) and the pounds continue to come off. I've done amazingly well with getting in my water and fruits and veggies (I do these things anyway, so those challenges weren't that tough). However, it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves how awesome we truely are. Here is my pledge:
The Pledge to Love Myself.
I pledge allegiance, TO MYSELF.
Today I will proclaim it
out loud,
TALL AND PROUD
I LOVE MYSELF.
From this day forward,
I promise to be nice.
TO myself and ABOUT myself.
I will accept my quirks and I will love my faults.
I will love my shape, whatever it is
My bones, my muscles, my hair and my face.
My body, all of it, inside and out.
Because that is what makes me, ME.
And there is only one of me.
I will finally allow myself
to see what others see.
My kindness, my spirit, my love.
And starting today, I will share some of it,
with ME.
Because I deserve it.
I will fight for myself, because I’m important.
And I deserve to be everything I am capable of in my life.
I deserve to find my greatness and live my life fully and completely.
With no regrets.
There is so much I want to do in my life,
but first, it begins with “me.”
I LOVE MYSELF.
Today, tomorrow, and every day after that.
I LOVE MYSELF, DAMMIT!
And no one can stop me.
My attempts to take pictures this Saturday bordered on Epic Fail. LOL. I only took a few, and the ones I did take didn't turn out very well. The day consistent mostly of my longest run EVA, plus more art and dinner with friends. Enjoy this very small glimpse into my Saturday.
Click on the image to scroll through the pictures.
