I've taken a turn for the....

...BETTER! Woo-hoo! A few weeks ago as marathon training was officially kicking off, I was seriously struggling. My first "long run" at 6 miles with my CARA training group was disastrous, and even with me opting for the 12:00 pace run/WALK group. For realz? UGH.

The following week I had a craptacular night run for the Glo Run 6K, not even 4 miles. To my defense it was humid as hell out, but still. 4 miles?!

And then I took an honest look at my diet. I've been on weight loss mode all year, dropping as much weight as possible for running season, and it's been successful. As I write this now, I've been waivering anywhere between 157.9 (uh, to be exact) to 163ish, depending on a load of factors I'll save for another post. I'm still tracking as if I'm aiming to lose. And yes, I'm eating the extra calories I earn from exercise for what seems like ONCE IN MY LIFE! But I digress....

I was barely eating enough carbs, or quite frankly, or enough calories in general to sustain running regularly. I thought about re-joining Weight Watchers solely for their awesome online tools. I've tested the LoseIt app (hate it), Livestrong both online and the app, and a few others, but none compared to the awesomeness of WW. I mentioned to my WWer-ing co-worked that I was thinking about doing just the online WW version and why, and she suggested I try MyFitnessPal app. (They're online too.) Three words: IT. IS. AWESOME. And I can really get a good feel for my nutritional intake/balance of calories from carbs, protein, fat, etc...

Since then (admittedly just two weeks), I've been eating much more appropriately for running. trying to get between 50-60% carbs, and then protein/fat. I noticed a difference immediately. Like IMMEDIATELY. No more need for run/walk. The week I missed a 7-mile run to run that race? Ran it last weekend. And at an 11:55 pace. I can't scoff at that, because while I've been a 12:00 pace for ages, this was a solid run, no b.s.ing around. My shorter runs have ranged from about 11:30ish to 11:45ish.

So I'm pretty happy with what started out awful, seeming to get back on track. I'm still on the fence about CARA...ya know, I really don't like running late (yes, 6am is late, especially when it's going to be hot out.) And ya know what? I'm not sure I like running in a group and feeling like I should be conversational. I mean...no group will ever compare to my first group. There just will be no Lou or Meg, or pace leader Celia. I don't know how to explain it. And I actually LIKE running by myself. So we'll see. I think this week CARA is doing 8 miles, then 10 next week, then a cutback before the RockNRoll Half, which was ill-placed on the calendar. WTF? July, when it's always been in August? Booo... Anyway, I'm aiming to do 9 on my own this week, then 11 next week.

It's hot like the dickens. Reached 100 today in the Chi. We'll see what happens for Saturday!!!

So that's what's new with me! I'll try to be a better blogger!! p.s. I didn't pay for CARA, so it's not like I'm wasting a ton of money. It was "free" with my charity group. Feeling charitable? Please visit my fundraising page and consider making a donation for an awesome group. Even $1 helps. Really! Donate it anonymously if you want! :)

wash - rinse - repeat

So every 10 months or so I come back to this blog, proclaiming that THIS IS IT. I'm really gonna do it this time. Blah blah blah. Here's what I've been up to:

1) going up and down the scale
2) signing up for and not running races (or walking them)
3) went vegan (like...really. not a 30-day challenge, a year or so challenge. since september 1st.)
4) gave up my 3-4 bottle a day diet pepsi addiction. cold turkey. out of the clear blue sky, my last one was on august 19.
5) um, i got myself back on a running scheme of sorts. Here's my "non" plan:

60 minutes, 2 days on, 1 day off.
-I started with 10 minutes walk/10 run for two weeks
-Last week was 9/11
-Up next, 8/12

I refuse to beat myself up if my 1 day off turns into 2 because of work...I'm just GOING.

anyhoo...that's what's up with me.

World's Worst Blogger

How dare I start Thursday 13 and miss on just the 2nd week! That's really pathetic.

How dare I have a GAIN for the first time, and not even share it. I had my whole post planned out, too. So I gained .6 last week. And I followed my points to the "t". I'm sure it was the multiple all-nighters for work again. (All-nighter at Age 35+ is defined as taking a short nap, to arise at some ungodly hour like 1 or 2am and staying up until the normal time you would go to bed the next night.) It's not an all-nighter in the traditional sense of the collegiate "I went to three classes all semester, I'd better pull an all-nighter to get this research paper done," but hey. So anyway, I figure my weight gain had to do with a combination of:

--multiple all nighters for work
--not drinking enough water
--two last minute treadmill jaunts.

Normally I'm good about drinkning my water. But as I struggled with wrapping up multiple projects at work, I found myself glued to my desk. The whole day would go by, and I wouldn't have even gotten halfway through my 32 ounce water bottle. WTH? I did this just about every day at work last week.

So when I woke up on Saturday morning and saw my puffy fingers, I knew it probably wasn't going to be much of a loss. Alas...a gain.

So I was going to tell you that I would exercise no matter what, that I'd drink at least three of my 32 ounce water bottle fill-ups, and that I'd get more sleep.

So here's what I ACTUALLY did:
--did NOT pull any all nighters for work
--pulled ONE all nighter for my cookies
--drank about 2.5 to 3 water refills each day
--exercised ONCE.
--went to a holiday party Sunday evening and stayed within my points
--in some sort of post-traumatic holiday party disorder, I went crazy Monday night and ate macaroni and cheese, two big bowls of ice cream, and chips & salsa

Double WTH?!?!?!?!

So even though I know this is a silly game of tit for tat, I resolved to eat lower on my points for a few days, opting to eat about 23 points for 3 days. We'll see what happens tomorow at weigh in. Loss or no loss, I'm not repeating the madness of this week, either.

This coming week at work will be busy, but not crazy...and then I'm off the following week. I'm looking forward to getting back on a regular schedule for exercising.

Rambling....

Change of scenery

My blog looks different. Do you like it? I think the birds are a little weird, it makes me want to sound off my duck call and pull out a rifle and shoot them...and I don't even hunt. But I do like the colors. It'll do for now.

The title of my blog bothers me too. First, I've kinda decided that for now I will continue my break from running and just keep walking every morning. As dull as it is, it's easy on the joints. I will pick back up running in early 2011, right now my focus is to continue on with WW and earn at least 20 activity points each week, which is no easy feat when I'm pretty much walking.

But since the origin of this blog revolved around running, the Run title can stay. But the Mommy thing is kinda old too. I mean, really? Ok, I'm a mom. Everyone knows. Who cares. It's not like I'm all bad ass and still nursing while running...which I was when I first started. And Run Lindy Run is super lame too. ACK! Lacking creativity here.

Whatever. ACK. BLAHHHHHHHH. Feeling rather indifferent.

Why hello there

Is anyone there? Maybe I'll start blogging again, and see if anyone's paying attention. What's happened. I haven't been running. i've gained a bunch of weight back-and then some. Hmmm. Not gonna talk about what I'm gonna do, I'll just do it. And maybe I'll blog about it.

So here's where I am: I (re)joined Weight Watchers (WW) on 9/18. I signed up for a 5k/15k race on 11/6. I'm almost sure that I will be running the 5k. Hmm.

See you sooner or later.

What ever happened to....

Jen, the girl who had a double masectomy at the advice of her doctor, due to family history issues, etc... which torpedoed her marathon training in 2007. She made it out of surgery, posted once or twice...then nothing. I wonder about her, how she's doing, etc....

Summer Sando...she and I used to trade training stories on our extrapounds.com blogs, and via blogspot as well. And then the posts and comments became sparse, and then POOF. Gone.

Neonatal doc, whose blog gave me an inside peek at the world of neonatology. The last post was the best. I wonder what happened. Did the boss get wind of this blog and end it? Did the writer just say "enough is enough?" Why the silence?

HarlemRunner, I hardly knew ye. In fact, I came across your blog after you'd already said your goodbyes. But this guy seemed pretty cool, and out of all of them, I wish he'd come back and write some more, while righting some more wrongs. I especially love his take on the Black Marathoners group and celebrity runners, aka Katie Holmes running the NYC marathon. Anyway, RIP, blog o' HarlemRunner.

Blogs. So seemingly personal, yet in reality, it's still just a bunch of words on a screen. Could all be lies, could all be truth...could be a mix of both meant purely for your entertainment. Sigh.

This post is going nowhere fast, so let me end it now! :-P

This blog sucks....and other less obvious things going on...

Hola! I'm still here, barely doing anything other than stuffing my face. But today marked something just short of miraculous. I actually ran TWO DAYS IN A ROW. And today I threw caution to the wind and ran 4 miles even though I probably wasn't quite ready for that. Whatever, I have a half marathon to run in like 6 or 7 weeks, SHEESH! Gotta ramp it up. I've shitted around long enough.

I'm feeling good, watching my intake and actually eating a good amount of protein, which i've never done much of, so hooray for me. ANd in all my cookie backing today (8 dozen to be exact), I managed to eat only 2.

I will try to write more and attempt to be more entertaining, but I make no promises.

Goals this week:
1. Run 3 to 4 times, including a 6 mile long run on the weekend.
2. Get gym membership activated to begin my cross-training two days per week.
3. Continue watching balance between carbs and protein. Protein is my friend! (and milk ain't half bad with a little protein powder in what would otherwise be a dreadful, milkbreathish experience.)

toodles, friends.

um, hi? (if you'll have me)

ok...no explanations or anything...i think i will start blogging again. but i don't think i'm going to blog about every run and every workout, that was getting a bit too much. all is well.

and yes, i'm registered for two races for this year already.

alright, that's enough for today. now i'm off to visit my friends in the blogosphere.

smooches,
lindy