Week 1 Results

January 1-8. (Weigh-in on 1/9; all my weigh-ins will be on Tuesdays, hence the extra day)

Week 1: -4.9 pounds

What I Did:
+Tracked all food via My Fitness Pal
+Lots of cooking, largely w/ my Instant Pot
+3 days* at OTF (OrangeTheory Fitness)
+Took a zillion measurements that I will track monthly

*I was scheduled for 5 but cancelled 2 because of a bad cold/sinus infection.

Yes, I need to do a review on OTF.

Thank you, Pacific Grove, California!

This week I was on the central coast of California for a work conference, chillin at Asilomar Conference Center (pronounced uh-SILL-o-marr), a California state park and beach that’s located in this “micro climate” where the temps never got into the 60’s. That’s all LOVE! (Sweet Jesus, I might have to move! -kidding) But you DO know that running in any kind of sun/heat is not my thing…that I love the fall best of all…it was running perfection that made up for the spotty internet connection, the NO TV thing, and the “rustic” room, which is code for “me no like.”

I'm so proud of my running this week. I've given every run EVERYTHING I had. Everything. I pushed myself hard. It's a good feeling to know that you did your absolute very best. You know we always make these parallels to running and real life, but it's true. Why would you not do your best? Shit's always gonna be hard, at least sometime in your life, right? But I SOOO don't wanna go through life and at the end, know that I didn't give it my all. That I chose the "easy" way out, but in the end I shortchanged myself. Life is yours for the taking. I'm taking mine, I'm gonna push myself as hard as I can to get the things that I truly want/need...I don't feel I deserve any less. And I owe it to myself.

In the words of Spike Lee: "Sho Nuff * Ya Digg?"

Here's a breakdown of my runs this week, followed by some pics from my long run:

Sunday Run: 4 miles along the coast (10:05 pace)

Monday Run: 4 miles along the coast (10:14 pace)

Tuesday Run: 4 miles along the coast (9:45 pace)

Thursday Long Run: 16 kickass miles! Here’s the breakdown:

Mile 1 10:04

Mile 2 10:24

Mile 3 10:45

Mile 4 11:02

Mile 5 11:08

Mile 6 11:06

Mile 7 11:06

Mile 8 11.28

Mile 9 10:50

Mile 10 11:50

Mile 11 11:57

Mile 12 11:30

Mile 13 11:11

Mile 14 12:03

Mile 15 11:48

Mile 16 11:35

Total: 2:59:45 (pace 11:14)

Now of course, I realize I did a terrible job at maintaining any remnant of a pace. But an 11:14 pace overall? O. M. G. I have NEVER had a run for that long at that kinda pace. I'll work on a better pace next time and just bask in the glow of my kickassery ways right now. For those of you who consistently run at the back of the pack with the 12:00 pace groups, you gotta know how big this is, right? I'm GEEKED. GEEKED enough to use the word GEEKED without feeling like one.

Anyway, here's some awesome pics to end this post:

Kicking off my 16-mile run in the "micro climate" along Sunset Drive:

Heading into Monterey along Monterey Bay on a bike trail. The sun is out and about 15-20 degrees warmer:

Moving away from the bay, the bike path wound around into a shady wooded area. So pretty, right?

These plants lined the bike path (although I took these during one of my shorter runs):

Sigh. For God so loved the world that he created the Pacific Ocean Coastline:

Farewell, Pacific Grove, goodbye, ocean! I won't forget this week, and especially that kindred soul who was here, but not here...pushing me through every run. Thank you.

Positive Vibes

So I MEANT to write this last Friday when I was all on-top-of-the-world and stuff. :( I mean, I'm fine now, but feeling a little less than 100%. Sore throat, tired, et al. Anyhoo, so all last week I was jam-packed with lots to do, especially mid-week, where Tuesday going into Wednesday's to-do list looked like this:

-Finish presentation for big meeting on Wednesday
-Figure out what clothes the girls will wear for their school pictures
-Finish draft plan and email to client (40 pages)
-Exercise on Tuesday and stay on points
-Argue with girls about what clothes to wear for their school pictures
-Get girls up extra early to comb their long curly tresses
-DO presentation on Wednesday, but not before RACING there in fear of being late
-Continue finishing draft plan and email to client
-Stay on points even though I'd much rather be at my desk eating a box of crackers and sweets while working.
-Somehow fit in exercise Wednesday night, though exhausted. (which I did. from 11pm til just after midnight on the treadmill. File that under 1001 Reasons to Have a Treadmill.)
-Worry about this weekend. Should I weigh-in BEFORE I head off to NYC or while I'm there? Early weigh-in means only 6 days...Weighing in there is a hassle and time consuming, given I'm only there 48 hours.

BLAH BLAH BLAH, cut to the chase, RESULTS:
-Got all my work done
-Stayed on points even while stressing out at work
-Exercised each day that I aimed to at the beginning of the week
-LOST 2.8 pounds!!!

VERDICT STILL OUT:
-Whether the girls will have great school pics this year.

But wait! There's more!
So by weighing in Friday morning before my flight, I had to go to a different location. I opted for one on the north side. As I'm walking into the building, I almost got run over by some chick leaving the parking garage. (ok, not really, but we'll write it this way in the script for the movie version.) Then I see the Michigan State plates and it's MEG!!!! My running buddy Meg. I texted her as I was hurrying into the building and we chatted via text. Of course she texted only at stoplights.

So I'm in line, scoping out the unfamiliar new location (I liked it) and just as I'm about to meet my maker at the scale, someone's a-calling me. It's LOU!!!! My other running buddy (and running buddy of Meg, too.) Um...it just occurred to me. We're all friends now. Maybe I should drop the "running buddy" moniker. Anyway...so I weigh in, hooray, 2.8 down. And then I wait for Lou who is looking all fabulous and drawing stares of people who are wondering "what is SHE doing here?" So she weighs in. And. Ok, I can tell, she's had enough time to tell people so that I'm not all like taking away her celebratory moment...but she didn't make goal this week. She made goal for 6 WEEKS STRAIGHT, meaning she made "lifetime." In other words, she met her weight loss goal and has show she's hot shit and can keep it off. HOOOOOOOORAY! And it was incredibly inspiring to see her achieve that! So I was super glad to have made the decision to go to that particular location instead of my usual one. And strange that it happened without any planning amongst us. I don't think either of them normally go to WW at that time, either.

Anyway...until next time, friends.

Week in Review: 4/13 - 4/19/09

Running: 3 miles' 3 miles; 11 miles (more on the long run in my next post)
Strength Training: 2 lower body; 1 lower body
Cross Training: 1 time on the elliptical

Another "roll with the punches" kind of week. Tuesday night I had a meeting for work that kept me out until about 10:30, and I still managed to make it up at 4:40 the next morning to go to the gym. Had to, b/c hubby was heading out of town Wednesday and wouldn't be back til late Thursday night, so no gym opportunity Thursday morning.

I skipped Friday morning, hit the snooze and slept in another hour and 45 minutes. But it wasn't as simple as that. Hubby didn't get home until real late Thursday. The girls and I did as we usually do when he's out of town, and slept on the pull-out in the living room. Well the thought of one of them waking up and me being gone, them not knowing he came home, it was just too much. They wouldn't even know to check upstairs, and I really just didn't want them to have to deal with that...so I just didn't go. And you know what? The extra sleep and extra rest for my calf did my body good.

The next two weeks approaching the Indy Mini (Half) Marathon are going to be very busy at work, so I'm not sure how my workouts might change. Here's what I'm aiming for this coming week:

Runs: 3 miles; 3 miles, 2 miles; 8 miles
Strength: 2 upper; 2 lower
Cross Training: 1 elliptical

And the following week, the week before the race (and two major project deadlines at work):

Runs: 3 miles; 3 miles; 13.1 Miles (race!)
Strength: 2 lower, 2 upper (with only 2 sets instead of 3 sets)
Cross Training: 0

So that's what's up with me!