I consider March 23 my half birthday. I believe it to be so, because it is 6 months after I was born. Makes sense, right? I call my half birthday my Unbirthday. For my unbirthday gift, I wanted to be 50 lbs away from 248. Unfortunately I'm only 43. I fell short 7 lbs. I am disappointed, but a few days ago when I realized there was just no way I was going to make it, that this is a journey. My mentality has changed from that of the Hare's to that of the Tortoise's. Slow & steady wins the race. The lazy hare burnt himself out half way through the race, while the Tortoise just stayed focus on the finish line and assuredly chanted "Slow and steady wins the race." All the while laughing to the bank as he passes the sleeping hare.
So here I am, folks. 43 pounds lighter, 70 lbs away from my goal weight, 14 away from being half way there, and disappointed... but absolutely shameless. Happy Unbirthday to me! :)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
The Incredibles
At what point does someone become a runner? Is it when the fat chick runs 10 minutes straight, or when the skinny chick who used to weigh 250 lbs finishes her first marathon?
The other night I had a dream that I ran a half marathon in an hour and thirty-three minutes. I was the winner. I couldn't believe it. I stopped for a moment to cry... then I looked up and saw the real finish line another couple hundred yards in front of me. I had been beaten and come in second. I was devastated.
I spent the day pondering this dream. Given the last few runs I've had, I think it was my soul telling me that I was quitting my intervals too soon. That I can do so much more. That I am tougher than I give myself credit for.
Today I ran 10 minutes straight. Towards the end of the interval, I almost started crying. Not because I was in pain, but that I was in amazement. I couldn't cry though. There was a cute guy running next to me. He was huffing and puffing too. One of us had to be strong for the other. After my 10 minute run (when I was only aiming for 5), I did a 5 min walk. Just as I started running again, said cute guy left. I know I shouldn't be concerned, me being married to the best guy in the universe (who happened to stay up last night till 4 in the morning stripping our bathroom floor by hand), I was kind of disappointed in cute young guy who seemed to be quitting awfully soon after starting. He came after I started, and left before I finished. I only ran 25 mins.
Between my iPod, Steve (who was really there for me today every step of the way with amazing, inspirational tunes), and The Incredibles on the plasma TV in front of me, I had an amazing run today. Remember: if the fat chick can run 10 mins straight, you can do INCREDIBLE things too! God gave us free agency for a reason. CHOOSE TO BE INCREDIBLE TODAY!
The other night I had a dream that I ran a half marathon in an hour and thirty-three minutes. I was the winner. I couldn't believe it. I stopped for a moment to cry... then I looked up and saw the real finish line another couple hundred yards in front of me. I had been beaten and come in second. I was devastated.
I spent the day pondering this dream. Given the last few runs I've had, I think it was my soul telling me that I was quitting my intervals too soon. That I can do so much more. That I am tougher than I give myself credit for.
Today I ran 10 minutes straight. Towards the end of the interval, I almost started crying. Not because I was in pain, but that I was in amazement. I couldn't cry though. There was a cute guy running next to me. He was huffing and puffing too. One of us had to be strong for the other. After my 10 minute run (when I was only aiming for 5), I did a 5 min walk. Just as I started running again, said cute guy left. I know I shouldn't be concerned, me being married to the best guy in the universe (who happened to stay up last night till 4 in the morning stripping our bathroom floor by hand), I was kind of disappointed in cute young guy who seemed to be quitting awfully soon after starting. He came after I started, and left before I finished. I only ran 25 mins.
Between my iPod, Steve (who was really there for me today every step of the way with amazing, inspirational tunes), and The Incredibles on the plasma TV in front of me, I had an amazing run today. Remember: if the fat chick can run 10 mins straight, you can do INCREDIBLE things too! God gave us free agency for a reason. CHOOSE TO BE INCREDIBLE TODAY!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Say Hello to My Little Friend
Say Hello to My Little Friend, Post #100!! Hello little Post 100.
So I was looking at the C25K training plan on the cool running website. I pretty much skipped week 4 when I decided to do my own thing. Was looking at week 5, and it says 5 min warmup, then run 5, walk 3, rinse and repeat. I have been running 5, walking 3, then running three, walking 3... Erm, yeah. So, as intimidating as this is to me, my goal for this week is to run 5, walk 3, run 5, rinse and repeat. It's going to be a push, but I won't progress otherwise. Just as long as I don't have to listen to PodRunner which was vaporizing my brain with its droning beats. I much prefer music with inspiring lyrics to help me push, or watching a good movie on the TV in front of the TM at the gym when I can.
So there. I've said it. Starting Monday we walk 5, run 5, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5, then cool down. I'll let you know how my battle against my mortal enemy goes.
Luckily, I go to war armed. I found a quote from my favorite book in the bible, Isaiah: "You shall run and not be weary, you shall walk and not faint." I will try to remind myself of this when I'm tired.
"Just do your best and let God to the rest" -- Me, today
So I was looking at the C25K training plan on the cool running website. I pretty much skipped week 4 when I decided to do my own thing. Was looking at week 5, and it says 5 min warmup, then run 5, walk 3, rinse and repeat. I have been running 5, walking 3, then running three, walking 3... Erm, yeah. So, as intimidating as this is to me, my goal for this week is to run 5, walk 3, run 5, rinse and repeat. It's going to be a push, but I won't progress otherwise. Just as long as I don't have to listen to PodRunner which was vaporizing my brain with its droning beats. I much prefer music with inspiring lyrics to help me push, or watching a good movie on the TV in front of the TM at the gym when I can.
So there. I've said it. Starting Monday we walk 5, run 5, walk 3, run 5, walk 3, run 5, then cool down. I'll let you know how my battle against my mortal enemy goes.
Luckily, I go to war armed. I found a quote from my favorite book in the bible, Isaiah: "You shall run and not be weary, you shall walk and not faint." I will try to remind myself of this when I'm tired.
"Just do your best and let God to the rest" -- Me, today
Saturday, March 6, 2010
ATTAAAAAACK!
Several days ago we noticed the carpet in our bathroom was... erm... squishy. By the way, whose brilliant idea was it to put CARPET in the BATHROOM?! It was here when we bought house. *Strangles common-senseless previous owners*
It was also WET. We suspected a toilet leak. The leak got progressively worse until it was moving out ahead of the toilet. Andy finally had some time today to get a look at it. Can I tell you what a turn on it is to see my computer geek husband doing MAN JOBS? He's not really the handy man type, but he's smart & figures things out.
So we drain the toilet, get it off, and the wax seal is almost completely gone. It's really gross. We also notice that under the carpet is... TILE! Who the heck puts carpet over tile?! Okay, not tile, but laminate. Still... whose bright idea was that?
I've been wanting to tile the bathroom for ages. Suddenly we have the opportunity! Off to Lowes we whisk for new tile cuz the old stuff was ugly and kinda gross. We found some beautiful marble/stone looking vinyl flooring. Our little leak has turned into a weekend project. Honestly, I can't wait to get to attacking the bathroom... I'm excited! It's gonna be beautiful. We bought paint for it last year, cuz I wanted something fresh & new, but never got around to using it. Now we're gonna knock it out of the park! WOOHOO!
Fresh paint, beautiful HYGIENIC flooring, and a brand new toilet! Come summer we can ACCESSORIZE! Oh and eventually I want to get a new sink, countertop, and hardware for cupboards. I saw some marvelous all-in-one countertop/basins at Lowes that I wouldn't mind putting in. Very pretty stone/marble type set ups.
It was also WET. We suspected a toilet leak. The leak got progressively worse until it was moving out ahead of the toilet. Andy finally had some time today to get a look at it. Can I tell you what a turn on it is to see my computer geek husband doing MAN JOBS? He's not really the handy man type, but he's smart & figures things out.
So we drain the toilet, get it off, and the wax seal is almost completely gone. It's really gross. We also notice that under the carpet is... TILE! Who the heck puts carpet over tile?! Okay, not tile, but laminate. Still... whose bright idea was that?
I've been wanting to tile the bathroom for ages. Suddenly we have the opportunity! Off to Lowes we whisk for new tile cuz the old stuff was ugly and kinda gross. We found some beautiful marble/stone looking vinyl flooring. Our little leak has turned into a weekend project. Honestly, I can't wait to get to attacking the bathroom... I'm excited! It's gonna be beautiful. We bought paint for it last year, cuz I wanted something fresh & new, but never got around to using it. Now we're gonna knock it out of the park! WOOHOO!
Fresh paint, beautiful HYGIENIC flooring, and a brand new toilet! Come summer we can ACCESSORIZE! Oh and eventually I want to get a new sink, countertop, and hardware for cupboards. I saw some marvelous all-in-one countertop/basins at Lowes that I wouldn't mind putting in. Very pretty stone/marble type set ups.
Friday, March 5, 2010
To War, To War, I Go To War!
The TM & I had it out tonight. I WON! The last running interval totally sucked, but I won. I ran 5 mins, 3 mins, 3 mins with walking intervals in between obviously. It was a push, and it showed. I confess that I did stop the belt once because I was getting a cramp in my belly (not my side, but just to the left of my diaphragm). So I paused to try and stretch it out... but that was at 19:23 mins out of a 25 min run. TAKE THAT, TREADMILL!
My only thing is I need to focus more on keeping my breathing controlled. Tonight I had too much fun early on rocking out with Steve. I'm glad I was wearing my "I'm Cuckoo" coco puffs t-shirt so everyone around me would understand the crazy lady on the TM singing Bowling For Soup & Beach Boys under her breath.
I was also really happy to have a 3 lb loss this week. I hope to keep losing at least 3 pounds a week. My goal is to lose another 14 lbs by the 23rd of this month so I can reach my goal of 50 lbs lost by my 1/2 birthday. March 23 is my half birthday. That's 18 days. That's about .7 lbs a day, which I've been losing lately. The good Lord helps those who help themselves. I will be doing my part-- can you help the Lord out with prayers for me?
My only thing is I need to focus more on keeping my breathing controlled. Tonight I had too much fun early on rocking out with Steve. I'm glad I was wearing my "I'm Cuckoo" coco puffs t-shirt so everyone around me would understand the crazy lady on the TM singing Bowling For Soup & Beach Boys under her breath.
I was also really happy to have a 3 lb loss this week. I hope to keep losing at least 3 pounds a week. My goal is to lose another 14 lbs by the 23rd of this month so I can reach my goal of 50 lbs lost by my 1/2 birthday. March 23 is my half birthday. That's 18 days. That's about .7 lbs a day, which I've been losing lately. The good Lord helps those who help themselves. I will be doing my part-- can you help the Lord out with prayers for me?
Monday, March 1, 2010
Pop Quiz
Sooooo...
A month ago I set a goal to run 1 mile on March 1. I had planned to be 1/2 way through my C25K program. So it seemed reasonable that running 1 mile nonstop would be doable. I'm only on week 3, however, since I repeated week 2 a few times. Regardless, I decided to test myself and just run as long as I could. I lasted 5 mins & over 1/4 of a mile against my mortal enemy, the treadmill. After that, I walked for 5, then ran for 2, walked for 2, and ran for 1, and cooled down for 6. My lungs were feeling it, especially after being sick this weekend. I have officially cast PodRunner aside in favor of the plasma TVs at the rec center and tunes on my iPod, Steve. For a long time I've been craving an emotional breakthrough like the contestants on Biggest Loser have, and I think I'm close to having one. There were a couple of songs Steve played for me that had me close to tears.
After going 1.4 miles on the TM, I got on the stationary biked and powered through 10.77 miles in 30 mins. I'd like to eventually get to 13 miles in under 20 miles.
A month ago I set a goal to run 1 mile on March 1. I had planned to be 1/2 way through my C25K program. So it seemed reasonable that running 1 mile nonstop would be doable. I'm only on week 3, however, since I repeated week 2 a few times. Regardless, I decided to test myself and just run as long as I could. I lasted 5 mins & over 1/4 of a mile against my mortal enemy, the treadmill. After that, I walked for 5, then ran for 2, walked for 2, and ran for 1, and cooled down for 6. My lungs were feeling it, especially after being sick this weekend. I have officially cast PodRunner aside in favor of the plasma TVs at the rec center and tunes on my iPod, Steve. For a long time I've been craving an emotional breakthrough like the contestants on Biggest Loser have, and I think I'm close to having one. There were a couple of songs Steve played for me that had me close to tears.
After going 1.4 miles on the TM, I got on the stationary biked and powered through 10.77 miles in 30 mins. I'd like to eventually get to 13 miles in under 20 miles.