Week 8 of Half-Marathon Training

Week 8 of half-marathon training done! YEAH!! 8 miles today, and they felt pretty great. My first 3 miles were at a 9:30 pace, then the next 3 miles at a 10 minute pace, mile 7 was surprisingly at a 9:30ish pace, and mile 8 was at 10 again. The weather man was calling for rain and snow, so I really was not looking forward to my run this morning. Thankfully, he was wrong and it was just cloudy with the sun popping out every now and then (I wore only one pair of pants and had to remove layers from the top as I went along). Last night (or rather early this morning) my daughter (she's 4) also decided that she wanted to sleep walk. I found her at 4am downstairs calling for me asking why I left without her. I put her back in bed and she just rolled over and kept right on sleeping. Of course I couldn't get myself back to sleep - I just kept having visions of her running down the street. At 6am I gave up and just got out of bed. Made some coffee and Chris made breakfast sandwiches - note to self NO BACON on long run days. YUCK! My running partner was not having such a good day either and forgot to take her Advil for her ankle, so she cut out a little early (she still knocked out almost 6 miles with me before breaking off for home).
Regardless of every thing that seemed to be going wrong this morning my run was actually really good. Once I got home and showered I had a ton of energy too. Now what to do with all this energy?!
I can't believe there are only 4 more weeks until my first half! I certainly hope all these training runs are going to pay off and make it somewhat easier on race day. Either way I'm super stoked for March 16th and the Rock 'n Roll half!!!!

February Challenge Update:
I'm still doing really well with my February challenges too. I took one rest day so far (last Sunday) and I've only missed two days of planks (I got all the other exercises those days, but put off the plank until later and then never got to it, no more putting it off until later!). I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and knocking them out each and every day. They are starting to get harder as the month goes by, but I'll keep on keeping on.

Sprints

Part of my half-marathon training is speed work (or as I like to say sprints...just sounds cooler). Every Thursday I head over to the track on post and I warm-up with one mile (around 8:30-9 minute pace). Then I'll do a mile of sprints (I believe they call it 100's) - I sprint the straight section and then walk the curves. I repeat this for an entire mile or 8 times. I follow it up with a slow jog for another mile.
I came across an article on bodybuilding.com about sprint training. This is what they recommend:

For beginners, it is advisable to start sprinting at 50% speed until you feel comfortable and gradually increase your speed after every sprint. A typical sprinting workout that any average person should be able to do is 6-10 100-meter dashes. Each 100-meter dash can be done at any speed.
After each 100-meter dash, you should walk back to the line slowly; your rest between each sprint is your walk back to the starting line. When you get to the line if you are still fatigued then rest a minute or two before starting again.

Looks like I'm right on track with doing 8 sprints. I might increase it to 10 soon. It certainly couldn't hurt any. The biggest reason I do sprints is because it makes me faster. It also doesn't hurt that it slims my quads, butts, hips, and abs! I'll do any exercise that's going to help get rid of my saddlebags.

Yesterday when I was at the track I had the coolest encounter! It's exactly why I love running and runners. The past three weeks when I go the same two guys have been there chasing each other around the track. They are there when I get there and still going strong when I leave. Usually the guy with shaggy hair and beard is chasing the black haired guy and I always imagine one day he'll catch and beat him. As I was walking the last curve and getting ready to start sprint #8 the black hair guy sprinted past me followed by shaggy guy. I was a little tired but since it was my last one I needed to give it all I had, so I was happy to have someone to chase. I hit the starting line and took off. I surprised myself because I actually caught up to the shaggy guy and we 'raced' to the finish. He gave me a big grin as we finished (I was barely half a step behind him) and then thanked me for pushing him. Of course I thanked him too! He totally pushed me on that last sprint and it was awesome!

Noticeable Changes

My friend Patti put these images together for me. The one in the middle was taken July 2011. The outer photos were taken this January. Down 44 lbs and many, many inches.
I've been starring at these photos a lot over the past 24 hours. When I first saw it I smiled and thought I've come so far, but then I started thinking that really there isn't much of a change. Chris got mad at me. Patti got mad at me. Jenn got mad at me. "YOU LOOK GREAT!", they all said. Okay, okay. Fine. Thanks. Why do I have such a poor self-image of myself?!? I'm sure it has something to do with years and years and years of telling myself that I'm just well proportioned and big-boned. In high school I weighed 155 and wore a size 12. I've never been smaller then that, even when I was in the military. I am actually in the best shape of my life right now, and it's time to step back and appreciate all that hard work.
I took a deep breath and started looking at the photos from bottom up, glancing back and forth from one to the other. First noticeable difference - my calves. I've never measured them, but they look about half the size they were. Then I started thinking that I actually do have the difference in most of my measurements...Chris and I took them in May 2011 when we were going to start P90X. Here is my before photo...so flattering, and taken about 2 months before the one above.

May 2011 / January 2013
Weight: 202 / 158
Chest: 41" / 36"
Waist: 41" / 32.5"
Hips: 45.5" / 38"
Thighs: 32" / 25.5"
Arms: 16" / 12"
Photo from now. Tabitha said I need to show the one with my abs...it does look like I have them. I also have a before photo taken without my tank top, just in my sports bra, but, um, yea, not going there.

There are days when I feel like nothing is working, when I just want to give up and eat, eat, eat. On the days that I do indulge and eat crap I always feel bad and it NEVER tastes as good as I remember. I really have come a long way. I have a lot to be thankful for and proud of. I used to journal all my workouts (still do), so when I was looking up my measurements I came across my old workouts.
There was a ton of walking and Exercise tv workouts, but my favorite was on July 26, 2011 when I started C25K. It really was the start of it all. All I could do was jog for 90 seconds. I walked for 2 minutes. Repeated this 6 times for a total of 21 minutes. I was exhausted when I was done, but determined to keep at it. Fast forward to a year and a half later: I ran 10.4 miles this past Saturday while training for my half marathon. It took me one hour and 55 minutes (averaged out to an 11 minute/mile pace). I did that. Me. The girl who could barely run for 90 seconds a year and a half ago. WOW!
I also came across three goals I made for myself:
1. To wear shorts above the knee.
 - not sure I'll ever be comfortable enough to accomplish this one, it's still on my goal list!
2. Lower cholesterol
 - I need to schedule a physical to find out if it's lowered. September 2009 I had a physical and was told I had borderline high cholesterol (it is in my family). It's when I decided to change things. I met with a nutritionist, learned how to track calories, and measure food. Getting pregnant with my son changed a lot of things, but I refocused again a few months after he was born. I really do need to go and get it checked again.
3. Improve overall fitness.
 - I can say without a doubt that I have done this! I couldn't imagine my life without running or going to the gym. I feel stronger and healthier then I ever have and I don't plan on ever going back to the way things were!

Since it's Valentine's Day I figured I'd end with a special valentine that I found on Facebook this morning - love it! So, to you from me - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY my fellow fitness friends!

February Goals

It's hard to believe we're in February already! January was such a crazy month for me and I really let my emotions take over which made my progress suffer. This month I really want to stay away from daily weigh-ins and anything else that's going to make me crazy; which lead me to this post - it's time to get some goals for the month figured out.
1) Get motivated!
For some extra challenge I went ahead and joined a couple (4 to be exact) challenges on Facebook this month. I figured I could use some extra motivation to get moving so why not. I originally had signed up for more, but once I started putting them all on one calendar I realized how crazy the month was getting, so I dropped out of some; seriously, I wasn't trying to un-motivate myself - LOL. I'm now on day 7 and still going strong. The plank challenge is by far the toughest one! I look like a block of jello while doing them especially since we've hit the 2 minute plus mark. The guy running the challenge (a facebook page called, "Get your ass to the Gym") gave some pretty good advice: hold the plank for as long as you can and then drop down for 5 seconds and then get right back up there. It really does help. My biggest problem though is once I drop down for 5 seconds I have trouble holding it for long periods of time. I try to get to at least 1:30 before I drop. Finishing the month off with a 4:15 plank seems scary, but I know how much stronger my core will be for it.
2) Weekly Weigh-In and Taping
The girls and I are going to do a weekly weigh-in on Wednesday's. I'm hoping this keeps me from going mental by weighing myself daily and freaking out about the numbers. Also, since my biggest goal is not to lose too much more weight (maybe 10 more) I'll be doing my measurements. When I took them this is what I found out:
Beginning January / Beginning February
weight: 159 / 158
chest: 37 / 36
waist: 34 / 32.5
thighs: 26.5 / 25.5
hips: 37 / 38
arms: 12 / 12 (flexed: 13)
Looks like the little bit of LiveFit Trainer I was able to stick with plus my running was working. I was too busy crying about a number on a scale to notice. My pants were fitting tighter because my hips got bigger (probably because my butt was lifting from all the squats/lunges/running). So, my goal for this month is to not focus on the number (it'll just serve as a guide to make sure it's not creeping upwards) but to just keep working hard.
Here I am wearing 2 pair of pants, knee-highs, and 4 shirts getting ready to head out for my 20 degree run this past Saturday.

3) LiveFit Trainer Restart and Personal Trainers
I skipped the last week of phase 1 for LiveFit trainer and started phase 2 this week. The biggest reason is because phase 2 has cardio and I need to work on my running (especially since I've got lots of big races this year). I'll be doing the LiveFit Trainer until my hubby leaves again, then I'll be taking over his personal training sessions. I'm not really sure what the trainer will want to do, so for now I'm focusing on LiveFit and running and then I'll think about the trainer when the time comes.
4) Weight Loss Challenges
I dropped out of the one on post. I think that's part of the reason for the big freak out last month. It was silly to enter when I really don't want to lose that much more weight, my goal is to tone up and just get stronger. The challenge on post is all about the numbers and their scale showed me going up every week for 3 weeks so I decided to drop out and not focus on numbers. I also reminded myself that I joined the Gold's Gym one and I need to get my head in the game if I want to be successful with it.
5) Eating Clean
Today is day 2 of Phase 2 LiveFit Trainer and so far so good with following her plan. Saturday I'm meeting my best friend to celebrate her 30th birthday so I'm going to focus on eating clean until then so I can splurge a little with her (nothing crazy - just Starbucks and maybe dessert!). Yesterday's breakfast: 5 egg whites, 1/2 an Ezekiel english muffin, hot tea.

 Yesterday's lunch: 6 oz chicken breast, 4 oz sweet potato, huge salad, lots of water.

Yesterday for snack 1 I had pumpkin protein bars. Snack 2 (which is more like dinner) was 4 Tilapia tacos with broccoli slaw. My after workout drink: 8 oz almond milk, 1 scoop protein, 1/4 cup pumpkin, and lots of ice.
Today for breakfast - 5 egg whites, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 8 oz almond milk, 1/2 cup blueberries (lovely color isn't it?!?!), and hot tea.

I'm really proud of myself for no junk yesterday! I'm hoping to keep it up for a few more days. I'm very excited for February and positive thinking. Here's to many optimistic thoughts and a month full of great, inspiring blogs!!

Ranting Session

Good grief!! January started off so promising - I dropped down to 154 pounds by cutting out my coffee and sticking with the LiveFit Trainer (both food and workouts), then I hit a little bump in the road...okay, a big bump, and now I'm back up to 159 pounds like nothing happened. What happened?!? I know small details - battery in my food scale died so I haven't been weighing food, stopped logging my food because I didn't want to record the things I was eating, stopped going to the gym regularly and missed a ton of workouts and runs (last week I ran Sat and Sun and then nothing until this past Sat and Sun...then wondered why my legs were so sore all weekend).
My motivation just completely ran away from me (feel free to send it back in this direction if and when you see it). I was thinking that maybe the "pressure" of being in a weight loss competition was part of it. The stress to do well and eat right makes me want to just eat crap. Why?!
I'd really like to know how people stick with a routine and stay so positive the entire time. Lately all those positive posts and posters just make me want to slap someone or eat pizza or go to bed.
I really don't know what's wrong with me. It's affecting every thing. My mood. My weight. My skin. Sex. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G! And it's driving me completely batty.
I went for my 8 mile long run on Saturday and I was SO proud of myself for the last 1.5 miles because I ran up not one, but two, hills (both of which I've had to walk part of before). I was so happy. Then I came home, showered, got dressed, and my jeans were super tight in the thighs. Stepped on the scale, and well, hello there 159. Haven't seen you in 3 weeks and was hoping to never see you again after hanging out with you for, oh, I don't know, 5 months or so.
Chris says, "don't let it bother you, you look great, and you're just building muscle." Fitness friends say, "you look awesome, don't focus on the scale." My mind says, "hey look at you fatty! Welcome back to where you've been struggling...knew you couldn't stay away (insert evil laugh)" Feeling fat and looking fat.
SO, how has my day today been going?! Here is an example of what I've been doing lately:
Wake up: 7am by screaming 2 year old who was not happy that Daddy came into his room instead of Mommy. Screaming child woke up cranky older sister who does not a morning child. Hubby went in late thanks to ice storm coming through the area. Decided that maybe I should eat something. Glanced at left over lemon cake that is sitting on counter from my son's 2nd birthday party then threw said cake out because I had 4 pieces yesterday (yes, yes I did).
Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/4 cup pumpkin, 1 Tbsp sugar-free hazelnut syrup, 1 Tbsp flax, pumpkin pie spice, large coffee with Natural Bliss Vanilla coffee creamer
OH - thank you Sis for bringing coffee creamer to my son's birthday party (not mad at you, mad at me for not being able to control myself) - I've had coffee 3 days in a row now. Proceeded to pour the rest of it out since I've been feeling like crap after drinking it (seriously, I've been feeling nausea and sick in my tummy after drinking it - took it as a sign that my body just doesn't want it...shame it took me 3 days).
Took my son and daughter to my son's 2 year check up. He's doing great - had to get a shot and blood drawn and didn't shed a tear (until they wrapped up his arm with that white sticky tape and he couldn't bend his arm).
Mid-morning Booster: 1 pink donut with sprinkles, small coffee with milk and sugar (Dunkin Donuts)
Special treat for kids for doing so well at the doctors. Decided to go inside and sit down with the kids. Ended up buying a box of 6 donuts because it was cheaper then buying just 3 donuts. Really enjoyed this time with my kiddos and don't regret the donut at all. 3 remaining donuts are for them and one for hubby.
Lunch: 1 wrap, 1 egg, 3 egg whites, 2 pieces turkey bacon, 2 spoonfuls salsa, 4 oz sweet potato with 6grams of honey, hot tea.
That's my morning so far. I've been mentally beating the crap out of myself for the way things have been going the past few weeks. It's all coming to a head which can only mean that I'm seeing the light and things will be turning around soon. I logged all my food in Sparkpeople (even the donut) AND I updated my weight (I haven't bothered up until this point since I figured it was just normal shifting of weight and I'd be back at 154 in a flash....since it's back at 159 AND my pants are fitting tighter might as well be honest with myself and enter the nitty-gritty). Not sure if I'll get to the gym today - kids area is closed until 4 and then Katelynn has dance at 530, so not enough time unless Chris watches the kids and I go to the gym. Guess we'll see.
Which leads me to my other dilemma. I'm not sure if I should be sticking with LiveFit Trainer. I haven't been able to stick with the program like I should. I've been focusing on my running and getting in the lifting when I can (which hasn't been often). Not sure what I'm going to do. I think I'll talk about it with Chris tonight and maybe between the two of us we can work out some type of schedule. Need to keep my runs since I've got a half marathon coming up. Guess we'll see how things go. Alright, end of rant. Carry on.

Week 4 Half-Marathon Training

When I go to Gold's Gym to run, I almost always go into their movie room. This morning I got to run while watching Russell Crowe. It was a Robin Hood movie (I even think that's the name of it). I knocked out 7 miles in 70 minutes. I love it when they are playing movies I've never seen before, it makes the time go by so much faster. I missed running with Jennifer, but I was NOT pushing the double jogger for 7 miles, so the gym it was for me. Hopefully next week we can run together - it's 8 miles of fun on the schedule.
I'm very proud of myself for maintaining the pace I did today. I ran the first 4 miles in 40 minutes with an incline of 2.0 (3 minute warm-up, and then alternating between 6.4 and 6.8 for the rest of the time). Then I took a 2 minute walk break and reset the treadmill (if you run for 60 minutes it shuts off on you, and I didn't want that to happen mid run). I finished off the last 3 miles in 30 minutes still at an incline of 2.0 (mostly maintaining 6.0 speed which is 10 min/mile pace). Then I just walked for half a mile to cool down. Total time: 80 minutes for 7.5 miles. I'll take it!
My biggest problem today was my arms. I run different on the treadmill. I crowd the console (you'd think I was worried of shooting off the back of it or something - LOL), so today my arms started to tighten up. I had to let myself fall back a little so I could dangle my arms and shake them out a few times. Otherwise it was a great run for me. After today I know that I'll be able to run at least half the half-marathon without hardly any walking!!

Update on Angie

Hello. Sorry about disappearing for awhile. For the most part things have been going well, I've just been busy and had a few days where I was feeling really down on myself; those are probably the days I really need to blog, instead I avoid it. So, anyway, here are some updates:

Weight
I'm at 156. After giving up coffee creamer I managed to drop 4 pounds in two weeks. I've stayed at 156 for the past week which is pretty good for me considering Chris left for the week and I've had pizza, chinese, and even coffee (twice, and I was SO disappointed both times! After not drinking coffee for 12 days I was expecting it to taste wonderful, it was not).
I posed in a bikini for my Gold's Gym Challenge (their scale said 159). I thought I looked good...not great, but good, and so much better then I would've looked last year. The good thing about buying the bikini is by the end of the challenge I'll be rockin' it!!!
Here is a pic of me from Saturday. I think my legs look as big as the bench. My workout buddies said its time for me to stop focusing on the scale and go by measurements. I just want to have a photo taken and feel good about the way I look. Obviously this photo is more about those two precious babies next to me! Aren't they cute?!

LiveFit Trainer
I'm still lifting weights. I'm on Week 3, Day 16 of Jamie Eason's LiveFit Trainer. I missed a few days this week due to poor planning, but I'm hitting it strong now.
I stepped out of my comfort zone at the gym today by doing a bunch of exercises I've never done before and I rocked all of them! One of them was called a t-bar row and I had to go into the "classic" portion of Gold's (which is usually full of men). It was pretty empty today so I didn't have any issues finding a bar to use. After I finished my 3 sets a guy asked me to leave it because he wanted to try it out (I was wondering why he kept walking past and staring at me). I must've looked like I knew what I was doing.
Here's what it looks like:

Day 16 - Back/Biceps

Hammer Strenght Lat Pulldown (new to me) - 35lbs - 12; 40lbs - 12, 12

* I was nervous to do this one, but I figured we all have to start somewhere. I walked up to the machine and pulled on the handles to figure out which poles held the weights. Some jerk left 80lbs on each side. I pulled them all off and started with a 25lb plate - way too light, so I added 10lbs to each side. I actually really liked this exercise - made me realize that my right side is stronger then my left (it's a lot like the next exercise only you get to pull the weights independently).

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown - 40lbs - 12; 45lbs - 12, 12

Seated Narrow Grip Cable Row - 35lbs - 12,12,12

T-bar row (new to me) - 25lbs - 12; 35lbs - 12,12

* I started with a 25lb plate since I wasn't sure where to begin. I'm also not sure if you count the weight of the bar (I think they weigh 45-50lbs); probably not since you're only lifting half of it. I really liked this exercise too!

Back Extension - 10lbs - 10,10,10

Barbell Curl (new to me) - 20lbs - 12; 30lbs - 12,12

* 20lbs was super easy, 30lbs was a lot tougher. I think I could've done 35, but it goes up by 10's, and I would not have gotten all 12 of 40lbs, so I stuck with 30lbs.

Incline Dumbbell Curl (new to me) - 10lbs - 12,12; 12lbs - 11

* another new one. I actually didn't like this one. It felt so weird to have my arms hanging down...just an awkward curl.

Alternating Hammer Curl - 10lbs - 12,12; 12lbs - 12

Running
I'm on week 4 of my half marathon training. I've got 7 miles on schedule for tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'll do it on the treadmill or wait for Chris to come home and run outside on Sunday. Either way, I'll get my long run in this weekend.
The past two weekends I've met with my running friend, Jennifer, on Saturday mornings for the long run. She's been a great motivator. I've pretty much run the entire way too - only two or three short walk breaks (not even a minute) during the runs. I'm looking forward to seeing how my body handles 7 miles this weekend.