Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Back to basic...again

My head is in the zone to get back to basics. I abandoned tracking on Tuesday of last week as my head was full of race thinking. Today I re-introduced myself to my tracker and tracked all of today.

I did walk to the mall and back as I needed a few groceries and this way I don't need to pick up as much on Friday. I'm still a wee sore and didn't walk as fast as I normally would but it was good to get moving. Tomorrow I plan to hit the treadmill at camp. I'm planning an interval workout for no less then 30min.

Today I downloaded two Jeff Galloway books. He's the run coach that Disney promotes. I've heard good things so I thought I'd check it out. I got his introduction to running and half marathon training book. The training plan I used pre Tinkerbell never had you do the full 13.1 miles/ 21 km and I think that might not have the right move for me. I also switched my Garmin back to metric.

It's funny, when I did the HSBC Half Marathon in 2007 and finished with an almost identical chip time I felt awful and at that moment pretty much decided long distance races where not my thing.

Come back to today and having done the Tinkerbell Half Marathon I'm not gutted. In fact I'm inspired to improve and do another one. The scenarios are almost identical in 2007 half hearted training due to pure laziness. This year half hearted training trying to factor in camp life and winter and procrastination. Maybe it's the Disney run itself and how well organized it was or something has switched in my brain. For the first 6 miles I did feel strong and the running parts didn't suck - which was a first.

I put together a new workout plan for myself which goes like this:
Monday - Yoga
Tuesday - Pilates
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Rest (fly home day)
Friday - Run
Saturday - Zumba and Iron Reps at the gym
Sunday - Run

Like I've said before weight loss is now the primary goal and building a strong foundation before I attempt another race. When I say building a strong foundation that's working on running like proper form and building stamina. I also want to focus on flexibility and the muscles. Back to basics also means tracking, drinking water and eating as clean as possible.

Today I ordered the medal plaque for the Tinkerbell race and they actually had an action shot of me. This is incredibly rare for me as I tend to avoid photos and I've never positioned myself on purpose to be captured during any race. I have never purchased the plaque before. Mind you Disney puts out bling that deserves a plaque not the like the Honolulu Marathon that gave you essentially a key chain and a 99c shell necklace.

I realized I also wanted a before shot.

I even got my time inscribed on the thing, because I want to know where I started. I would be hard pressed to find a before photo of me at 204lbs but with 40lbs to go to goal there will definitely be an after photo. I even ordered a copy of the final photo that was taken smack after the race on my way to getting a banana. Smiling and sassy I must say. This is to remind me that I am stronger then I give myself credit for.



Something has definitely switched and now I need to keep it switched.

Hugs!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap–Race Day!!!!

Here is the 3rd post on my half marathon weekend.

I was in bed by 8pm. At about 10pm I sneezed and had the beginning of a runny nose. I went to the bathroom and filled the sink with hot water. I then stuck a towel over my head and breathed in the steam. The last thing I needed was a runny nose on race day. Went back to sleep with Kleenex near my pillow.

At 1am they tested the race PA system and I could hear trucks dropping off gates. The draw back to have the start line right in front of my hotel and being on the 3rd floor.


A very early breakfast at 3:30 am consisting of frosted flakes ( thanks to the hotel convenience store the day before) and coffee from the hotel room coffee maker. I got dressed and headed to the start area at 4:45am.

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11300 women and 800 men racing today. I was in Corral D so a bit of a wait till we were herded into the corral.

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Fireworks went off at the start - nice touch Disney. Each corral was sent off by an image of Tinkerbell flicking a wand.

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I can't run and take pictures. It amazed me how many people stopped dead to take photos in the middle of the road not mention how many we're running in the shirt they gave us or cotton - a typical no no.
Loads of fairy wings and got smacked with a few when people passed close by. That wasn't a big deal it was nice to see so many in the spirit of the race.


The lower sea level gave me energy at the start. Anaheim is 100 feet above sea level where Calgary is a few thousand. That extra air is kind of awesome plus no wind chill. There was much zigging and zagging due to the high volume of runners and some pretty narrow parts especially through California Adventure and Disneyland so that took a bit of energy.


I did something pretty stupid as due to my feelings of increased energy I was doing 2 min run, 1 min walk not how I trained. That lasted till mile 6 as I then started to run out of energy. I tried 3 min walk and 2 min run for mile 7 and 8 but then i started just walking.


Here's the breakdown. Garmin said 3:15, I did pause it when I had to hit the bathrooms at mile 4, 13.42 miles (I forgot to turn it off and didn't realize till I was waiting to take the finish photo). Pace 14:34/mi, 831 calories burned. I found my pace per mile interesting.
Mile 1 13:21


Mile 2 13:23
Mile 3 13:54
Mile 4 13:15 - due to the bathroom stop I did run for a longer period to gain back time
Mile 5 13:37
Mile 6 14:06
Mile 7 14:19
Mile 8 14:06
Mile 9 15:16 - here is where I started to hurt a bit and switched to walking
Mile 10 15:14
Mile 11 14:33 - a wee 2nd wind still walking
Mile 12 15:43 - really started to hurt - kept telling myself all I had left to do was the same distance I walk to weigh in on Saturdays
Mile 13 15:26

Official results:

3:13:45 and finished 6911 out of 120000 runners, 9386 people finished the race. So it is my 2nd best time in long distance career.

The runny nose disappeared during the race but returned when I got back to the room. I swear there's some sort of scent in the room. I think that's the culprit. I’m back in Calgary now and yup runny nose is gone.

Here's my after shot. Oh boy was I hurting especially feet and knees. I was wearing compression tights and I do think I would of hurt more without them. Note the sparkle skirt survived.

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The best parts of the race:

Guy with the sign that said: Worst. Parade. Ever

The 100 Red Hat ladies lining one pare of the route cheering people on

The abundance of cheerleaders in California cheering us on

The group of little girls doing a luau on the route

The 4 military personnel in desert fatigues dancing away and cheering us on.

I went straight back to my hotel room after collecting a banana and an orange. The bonus of the hotel as this was a short distance. I downed a bottle of chocolate milk. My fingers were swollen as it was getting pretty warm for the last half of the race I should have had more water and the powerade. I had one GU gel at the 1 hour mark. I breezed past the first 5 water stations as I was also carrying water, I should have used every water station.

I didn't move from my bed for an hour and a half then popped two Tylenol, took a bath and the dragged myself to California Adventure and Downtown Disney to pick up a few souvenirs. So happy I brought my Nike flip flops with me as they felt like pillows. Here I am lying in bed trying to take a picture of the medal.

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I got two new Star Wars Mr Potato Heads. Mashter Yoda and Chipbacca. I really wanted the Darth Maul one but that was no where to be found. I was tempted by the boba fett one. I need them in pairs to balance out the office window. I don't really like the C3-PO one Got another mug that says "I'm wicked awesome" with some Disney villains on it plus a Tinkerbell necklace with my birthstone, Mickey earrings with my birthstone and a Mickey tea infuser - I need to start drinking more loose tea. It's so cute.
tea infuser 001
I came back to the hotel for lunch and then started to organize my packing. Need to be on the airport shuttle by 9:50am tomorrow. So I think I'll have a Mickey waffle once again for breakfast.

I've been reading Run your butt off and I've put together a new workout plan to focus on when I got home. Now the priority is goal weight. I want to work on the running starting from basics to build. I would like to come back next year and do this race again or the Disneyland Half and maybe the Princess Half in Florida so I can get the coast to coast medal :). I’m actually thinking about the Disney Wine and Dine run in November this year but that’s just a glimmer of a thought at this point. I have so many trips to the US planned already and the Disney World runs would be pricey. RunDisney puts on a good show and the bling is so worth it.

Today it’s just hard if I’m sitting for awhile and then try to move as the muscles are still pretty sore. The 3 hour plane ride home had me hobbling to customs. Sitting here and posting these is pretty interesting as well. So happy I decided to take tomorrow off and not go back to work till Wednesday.

All in all I am pleased with how I did as I have to admit I didn’t stick to the training plan 100% and winter threw in a few curves as well.

I do hope all of you had a great last few days and thank you so much for your support!!!!!

Hugs

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap–Day before race day

This is the 2nd of 3 posts of my race recap

Being in bed by 8pm also meant I was awake early. I stayed in bed for as long as I could and got up at 6am.


My plan today is to check out the race expo again and buy stuff. Yesterday was mostly looking. I also want to check out California Adventure. Staying at a Disney hotel had some perks like a guest only gate to California Adventure and guest only monorail into to Disneyland from downtown Disney.


Went down to the hotel casual dining area for breakfast. I opted to not go with the character breakfast at the PCH grill and spend $30 for a buffet.
How cute is this?
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The waffle, a bottle of OJ and a basic cafe mocha ( chocolate milk with espresso) cost me $16 with tax.
Now the expo doesn't open till 10am nor does California Adventure. Disneyland opens at 8am but I need to make sure I don't over extend myself today. So I thought it would be a relaxed exploration of California Adventure.


Right now I'm back in my hotel room writing blog drafts, painting nails and I'll head out closer to 10. I'm hoping blue is a finish line color.
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It's now 2pm and I'm back in my room to relax before dinner. Learned a lesson today that if you go to a race expo and see something you like buy it. Yesterday I saw a Champion jacket that had the Tinker Bell race logo on the front and on the sleeve said Inaugural Tinker Bell Half 2012. I tried on a large and the arms felt really roomy but the chest fit well. It was $65 so I wanted to think about it. There were loads of these jackets. Today only small sizes left. I snoozed I lost. Instead I got a baseball cap, pin and a shot glass.

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I did get a new fuel belt made by Ifitness. It's got a waterproof and sweat proof ouch to hold the phone plus a smaller part to hold ID and credit card/cash. This one has 2 6oz bottles plus two pouches for gel or Chapstick. Plus note the reflective bits and bib toggles. It promises to be no bounce, no ridding up and no chafing. I'm going to wear it tomorrow as when I tried it on I liked the feel way better then the fuel belt I brought with me. The girl at the booth was wearing one and was jumping - the thing didn't move. The trick wear low on the hips.
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I dropped off my bags at the hotel and went to California Adventure. I found this park a little meh. Apparently big things in store for it this summer. I then moved on to Disneyland as it was early. I was hungry so I went to the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square. I wanted a sit down restaurant. I had the Monte Cristo sandwich. Forgot to take a picture. It was huge and super good so I ate half. It came with one of the best salads I've ever had. I may need to duplicate the salad at home. It wasn't complicated - lettuce, red onion, yellow pepper, walnuts, craisins, some sort of cheese (goat?) and a beautiful sherry vinaigrette. All in it was $30, expensive but worth it.


I then headed for Tomorrowland and almost got a build it yourself light saber. I did leave with a mug and personalized key chain. It's so rare for me to find Sylvia. I then decided to get off my feet and took the monorail to downtown Disney which is closer to the hotel. Got around far more efficiently today no walking in circles.

I didn't ride any rides today maybe tomorrow. Tonight it's off to dinner with the race entourage my boss's boss, another co-worker and a former co- worker plus 9 other people I don't know.

All my race stuff is organized and all electronics charged, it will be an early night as it's an early wake up call.

Tinkerbell Half 035


Tomorrow is race day.

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap– Hello California

This is the first of 3 posts recapping my trip to the Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

Kind of started off wrong when I got to the airport and used the automatic check in machines on the wrong part. I went to Westjet international instead of US area... Couldn't print my baggage tag so had to go stand in a different line. Totally my own fault. At least I'm prepared for my Vegas trip in June.

Then I tried to go to my gate but the corridor was locked, some sort of security procedure that I think is new. They unlocked the door about 20min before we had to board. My frequent flying totally pays off I even napped with screaming children on the plane.

It was a breathtaking view of the pacific ocean after seeing nothing but snow when we took off from Calgary. Caught the shuttle and got to Paradise Pier at about 2pm.
Tinkerbell Half 007
Cute room, love the beach ball pillows and of course there's a little note telling you if you go home with one it's $65.
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I immediately went to the race expo and grabbed my race pack. The Disney properties are massive so it took me awhile to figure out where I was going. I left my BodyMedia at home and wish I had brought it. I did so much walking. This was the view walking into package pick up area.

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The race expo is massive.

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Thankfully GU was there. I didn't bring Gatorade with me as I thought that might not be wise even in checked baggage going to the US. Thought I could buy it once I was passed security at the airport. Nope there wasn't any. I did see some when I was zooming through LAX on my way to baggage pick up. Of course there isn't a bottle to be found in the hotel convenience store. So I picked up a couple of packs of lemon GU. I might go back for a different flavor. I also bought a sparkle skirt. Might wear it over the compression pants on race day.

Tinkerbell Half 010

I decided against wings so I have to do something.
I also explored downtown Disney (which is open to the public - no ticket required) it's essentially an outdoor mall. There's a huge Disney store which I might revisit before I go home on Monday.
Tinkerbell Half 023
I went to Sephora as I needed nail polish remover and nail polish. I didn't have time to do my toes before I left. I figure I'll be in flip flops at some point.


I went back to my room to drop off my race stuff and then never left. I had an odd food day. Eggo waffles for breakfast at home, got trail mix and a coffee crisp bar as a snack at the airport. I was landing at noon (1pm my time) and no idea how long it would take to get to Disneyland. At the race expo i also tried some danone greek yogurt. I wasn't hungry for dinner so finished off my trail mix. My feet hurt and I was tired and I was asleep by 8pm.

Coming up next day 2.....
Hugs

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Snapped out of it

Thank you for all your wonderful comments and your right... I'm back to thinking positive and my mantra now is give it all you got and have fun.

I'm now 90% packed and the rest goes in tomorrow. It's ridiculous how much you need for 3.5 days.

I promise to take lots of pictures and tell you all about it.

Be back on Monday.

OK Tinker Bell Half Marathon here I come.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

4 sleeps soon to be 3

Alright it was an odd day today.

First of all I got from my camp room down 3 big hallways to the camp kitchen when I realized I forgot my winter jacket in my room. So of course I turned around went back down those 3 long hallways to get it and then went all the way back again.

Yesterday I knocked over a glass angel ornament and a wing broke off. This morning I couldn't find my coffee cup.

I thought the universe was sending me some sort of sign. Well I found the mug and the angel is going home to have the wing repaired.

My mind is going to Sundays race more and more. Today our GM asked me how long I've been training. Now I was crouched in front of the water cooler at the time. So I think he's questioning why I don't look any different or skinnier. No, he was just asking how I trained in camp.

My head is thinking you could have trained better and I hope I finish...

Oy vey, I need to snap out of it. There is no point second guessing myself. In 2 days I get on a plane to LA and it's game on. There's no reason I won't finish and I'm just going to do what I need to do. I'm going to soak up the experience and focus on fun.

I hope you've had a great week so far

Hugs!!!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Whoops

A dusting of snow today which caused me to be a bit concerned. There was just enough to hide the ice on sidewalks I saw yesterday. My plan was to head out at 1pm for today's run. As it would be about 0c.

Well I laid down on the couch after lunch and promptly fell asleep. Woke up at 4pm...what!!! That kind of blew the 10 mile plan today. So my next long run day will the actual half marathon. Hopefully pixie dust will be plenty.

Now my eye must be on the prize...7 sleeps

In other news booked my trip to Vegas in June... I will be a hottie for this trip. Operation Vegas begins when I return from Disneyland.


Saturday, January 21, 2012

A blip and SCC week 3 review

After a fairly emotional week I figured I'd see a gain today but it wasn't so bad up .6 so 176 on the noes. I did kind of abandon tracking as of Wednesday but today I went back and filled out my journal and updated my spreadsheet. Workouts were iffy, didn't drink enough water and had some fairly high sodium foods on Wed and Thurs. The data doesn't lie but it helps to know where I went wrong so I can learn from it.

It's ridiculous to bury my head in the sand and better to face facts. I am an emotional eater that's for sure so I think to brush off "Shrink Yourself" and take notes this time as opposed to just reading it. Life is full of blip, one needs to focus on the future.

I walked into my meeting today and everything was moved. The weigh in scales where now angled as opposed to in a line and they also moved the seats. The rows were awfully close together then normal. What I found interesting is we had a sub today. My regular leader Deb is off to Palm Springs for 3 weeks. This leader is young and I have to admit we might come off as a tough crowd. The meeting was packed today even more then last week.

So we talked about coping strategies like when is your danger hour in the day where you're more likely to snack and do you have any things coming up that you need to plan for.

I have to miss next week due to being in Anaheim so my next weigh in will be on Feb 4. Apart from the half marathon there will be lots of walking as I really want to explore the parks. Plus my plan is to hit the gym when I'm home next Wednesday. It's been a long time since I went to Zumba.

The weather never hit the -6c they promised it was closer to -10 today but that's still about a 30 degree increase in temperature from last week. I know these temperatures sound extreme but in Calgary it's a dry cold with very little humidity so along as your bundled and wind proofed you're good to go. Really one week of extreme winter is not so bad as next week should be single digits. We also get +30c in the summer so I like to say every Calgarian owns 10 jackets for every possible weather condition. Tomorrow by noon it should be Zero with maybe -5 with windchill so actually pretty good conditions for the 10 miles I need to do.

My Spring Chick Challenge goals this week (4):
Water - so important with the winter dryness - 2L a day
Track it before I eat it.
Activity - gentle as I'll be in tapering zone after tomorrow so the focus will not be on collecting a bit amount of activity points more focus on yoga and mediation. Get my head focused on the race ahead.

I will weigh in at home when I get back on Tuesday and post my week 4 review and goals for week 5 then.

Well my friends I hope you have a great Saturday, talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!

Friday, January 20, 2012

One week from today

I'll be in Disneyland and a mere 48 hours from my first half marathon in 5 years....

Today I did pop down to the Disney store and got these

Ok they're designed for age 3 years and up so I'll need to do some reconfiguration to get them to work. Oddly enough I can get them on but I don't think they'd last 13.1 miles as is.

I also popped into Lululemon which was next door but nothing appealed to me. I think my run wear will be what I already own and maybe I'll find a running skirt at the expo. My plan is to wear compression bottoms anyway so the skirt would be for over them.

I haven't been to Southcentre Mall since I was probably 16 or so. It's a bit of hike from my neighbourhood but I think I'll go again maybe when it warms up. I had a very single focus so didn't really check it all out.

I'm not so sure I'll find tulle at Walmart to make a running tutu and I'm seriously out of time for that project. If I enjoy this race I get the feeling I might do more Disney Runs.

I downloaded some new tunes for the running playlist. I've really been enjoying some 80 and 90 classics..ah my youth. If you have any suggestions for good running tunes let me know.

Weigh in tomorrow and not sure how that will go. My eating got a little derailed as of Wednesday with the team dinner and then yesterday's entire corporate team social.

Today has been a fair bit of walking and keeping the points on the low end. Tomorrow will be my last weigh in for two weeks as I'll miss next week due to Disneyland. I looked for meetings in Anaheim but they all seem too far. I am happy that I have secondary motivation of going to Fitbloggin after the half marathon. So the focus needs to keep going because really I can be and plan to be at goal before September.

Tomorrow I'll write up my pack list and start collecting what I'll need so my landing on Thursday and then turning around and getting on another plane the next day.

Had to share one more pic of me from yesterday. It's been super cold lately so yesterday I had to pull out my sleeping bag jacket. Now it does sort of look like a sleeping bag. My winter dressing is function not fashion but when I wear this thing and am in a moving vehicle (car, train, plane) I can fall asleep in minutes. I did see a photo of Madonna arriving at LAX recently and it seems we have the same toque.



I do hope you all had a great Friday.

Hugs!!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What a week

Hello my friends,

I hope your well, I can't believe it's been 4 days since I've blogged but it's been quite the week.

It was a rough week at work and by week I mean 3 days. I have never had a week like I just had and quite frankly never want to experience that again. I don't want to dwell on the negative so that's all I'm going to say about that.

Flew home early yesterday for a team dinner and then today worked in Calgary and had a "goal translation meeting" with a social get together afterwards. I can't say I'm a fan of 3 hour meetings but today went really well.

I have not run once all week not so great. I pretty much went to bed every night beyond exhausted brought on by stress. However now that is behind me and I can focus on my weekend.

The fabulous news the deep cold (-35 with wind) is warming up and it should be +1C on Sunday which is perfect for my last long run of 10 miles. It will probably feel a bit closer to -7 but after a week of below -30 it will feel like spring.

Tomorrow I need to get sorted for the trip so I'm heading to a mall on the opposite side of the city from where I live so I can get to a Disney store. I need to make my pack list and sort out whatever can be sorted out as next weekend I'll be off to Disneyland and the Tinkerbell Half Marathon. 10 sleeps!!!!!

I did do something today that has me excited. I registered for Fitbloggin 12 . This will be my first ever blog conference and I've never been to Baltimore - heck I've never been to that end of the US. I've only been to the west side i.e California and Nevada. The other thing I'm super exited about is meeting bloggers I follow and in my head sort of think of as friends...which may sound strange but we do tend to put our heart and souls on our blogs. This also serves as an added motivation when the half marathon ends. I did choose the button that says "Getting Fit for Fitbloggin" after all.

I foresee a fair bit of yoga this weekend as well as I need to center myself and strengthen the positive.

I do hope you all have had a fantastic week so far.

Hugs!!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

And Winter is back

After weeks of mild temperatures winter has not quite given up.

Those cold temperatures did in fact arrive today. Right now it's -18c and with windchill it's -28c. The more fun part is when I get to work tomorrow (2hrs north of Fort McMurray) it should be -29c and with windchill -40c. Thank goodness I have a desk job but I sure feel for all the outside workers. The most I'll have to be outside is walking from the plane to the airport trailer.

Brrrr....

Well, it was sort of delusional to think Winter wasn't going to make an appearance.

Today the only time I went outside was to take out the garbage. I'll really need to have a plan for my last long run next weekend as the weather is sticking around for awhile. It might be -6 by Saturday but goodness knows a lot can happen between now and Saturday. It might just mean finding an indoor track and doing a heck of a lot of laps as I need to do 10 miles.

Heard super bad news today. My boss's boss, who was the brain child behind going to the Tinkerbell Half Marathon and a got a group of us together to go, has a 2nd degree ankle sprain. She is gutted ,to borrow a British term that seems more apropos then sad. I think she's found wings for this race. She's also a physical trainer and super fit.

Here I've been worried that I'll be to slow and plucked off the course at some point. Yeesh, I feel so bad for her. She's what I would call a serious runner. Not that I don't consider myself to be a runner even with walk breaks but she's done multiple long distance races and embraces all things fitness. She even teaches a boot camp. She doesn't need crutches which is a blessing. The other good thing is she knows how to take care of herself.

I've already done laundry and made a very traditional German lunch of rouladen, red cabbage and a dumpling and I made my lunch for work tomorrow with the left overs. Work bag is mostly packed. Dishes are washed and at about this time I try to start winding down as my alarm will be going off at 3:45am tomorrow.

I used a whack of WP yesterday so I need to be very careful for the rest of the week.

It can be a little difficult to lose weight while training for long distances. I remember training for my first half and I didn't drop a lot of pounds but my body changed. It's not a time to restrict calories as fuel is super important. Which is also why I'm looking forward to being done with this race so I can focus on losing. I am looking forward to the race don't get me wrong, I think it will most likely be the most fun race I've ever taken part in after all it's Disney. I know I'll come home with lots of stuff that says "Tinkerbell Half Marathon". I do love Disney.

I do hope you all had a great Sunday.

Hugs!!!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Spring Chick Challenge WK3 and weigh in results

I stayed exactly the same this week, which is preferable to a gain of course but a tiny bit disappointing.

This week I had 248 points (+17) and earned 25 Activity Points so I had 8 Activity Points that were left.

A few things happened this week that's not part of usual routine. On Monday with my all day meeting in Calgary I did use the majority of weekly points. I do think they should be eaten but I usually use them on Saturday which is my weigh in day.

Yesterday I earned a whopping 13 APs and I typically don't do that the day before weigh in either, usually that happens on Sunday.

A major win is I've now tracked every single day since Dec. 31st, so that's two weeks today. That's my longest stretch in some time.

My water intake wasn't fantastic this week. I think I need to add a sticker to the calendar for that. I've been adding a sticker to a calendar for every day I track (a little smiley face) and for every day I get activity (a heart). I usually get at least a litre to a litre and a half but not hitting my 2L goal.

So next week the goal is to keep tracking and get water.

It was a good meeting today. We talked about planning which is so key. Also discovered my leader will be on vacation for 3 weeks. I hope we get a good sub. I will be missing one weigh in when I leave for the race. I had debated on attending a meeting in Anaheim but I need to look into where they are in relation to where I'm staying.

Tomorrow the deep freeze is supposed to hit which complicates my life. I might not run tomorrow and do yoga instead as if it does snow and it's that cold it might be a better day to just stay home. It's been so long since it's been cold.

Next week my schedule is a little off as well. I fly home on Wednesday to attend a team event and then work all day in Calgary on Thursday.

So I should run on Monday as I won't be running on Wednesday then somewhere between Friday and Sunday get the last long training run in of 10 miles.

I had thought I'd zip up to a mall across town that has a Disney store to try to figure out how I can "Tinkerbell" my running ensemble. I did think I might make a running tutu, however not sure if that will be more of an issue and left a little too late. If it does get super cold tomorrow that will probably go out the window but then I'll have to do it next weekend. I do wonder if this cold spell is coming as all the weather reports said it start this afternoon and so far nothing but never take winter storms for granted. They can swoop in fast.

Everything for this trip needs to be completed no later then next weekend which is still a week before I leave but as I fly home on Thursday the 26th, get home around 7:15pm ish and then turn around and fly to LA the Friday on a 10am flight. I'll have to plan next weekend very carefully.

Had a lovely coffee with a friend today and picked up some GU for the race and 10 mile. Still debating on what to do as I just had Gatorade with me on Friday and felt fine.

I have having a bit of a treat day today - still tracking of course.

I hope you all enjoy your Saturday, talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!!

Friday, January 13, 2012

The Plan

So on Wednesday I was perplexed on what to do for the 9 miles I had to do this week as per the half marathon training plan. Normally I do Sundays but the temperatures are supposed to drop dramatically.

Today my outside thermometer said it was 0c so I decided to do the 9 miles today. After a breakfast of Multigrain Cheerios, a glass of milk and cup of coffee and a one hour wait I headed out.  I can do 5 miles on a treadmill without getting super bored.

Last week when I was in Walmart I saw the Gatorade G series. I picked up a pouch of 01 Prime and bottle of 03 Recover. I have Gatorade powder at home so I figured I was good for the "Perform" part. Today I decided to try the 01 Prime. I also wore my CW-X tights.

The exposure on this picture is terrible thank to the window in my front door.

I wasn't as self conscious in these as I thought I would be so over this ensemble I just had my Running Room jacket on. I actually felt kind of fast.

On the run itself I definitely felt more support and for lack of a better word less jiggly.

The deets on the run:

1hr57/ 9 miles (15km roughly)/ Avg Pace 13:06min/mi/ 598 calories burned/ Avg HR 167.

I did feel a foot cramp coming on at mile 7 so I actually walked the last 2 miles. I did 1 min run and 2 min walk intervals for the first 7 miles.

I'm definitely faster outside then on the treadmill.


This is how the miles broke down.
Mile 1 13:05 min
Mile 2 12:39 min
Mile 3 12:26 min
Mile 4 12:36 min
Mile 5 12:43 min
Mile 6 12:52 min
Mile 7 13:00 min
Mile 8 13:39 min
Mile 9 15:00 min

The last mile was a bit of a gong show as I adjusted my route to finish as close to my front door so there was a lot of looking at my Garmin which always slows me down and the wind picked up a lot. I can't say I enjoy walking or running into strong winds. It was windy the whole time but got worse towards the end. I'm really hoping Anaheim is wind free on Jan 29th. I actually never looked at the Garmin it until towards the end of mile 8 and I tied my fastest pace of the 5 miles I did last Friday. I'm happy with that.

Next Sunday (or Friday) I need to do 10 miles and right now the forecast says +2 but there will be snow for the bulk of the week. I was kind of impressed with all my neighbours today as there were only a couple of houses who didn't shovel their sidewalk.

I probably won't bring the tights to Disneyland as the average temperatures in Anaheim in January can be high of 22 and low of +9. However the CW-X shorts arrived in the mail yesterday and there's also the crops. I'll definitely back both. It will probably be the crops as 5:45am is unlikely to be +22.

I earned 13 APs today. I'm only eating a few like 4 of them today as I do weigh in tomorrow so not sure how this will effect weigh in.

Last night when I got home I was snacky again. I definitely need a plan for when I land on Thursdays and get home after 7pm. Even if I have a frozen dinner is better then randomly going through the kitchen looking for dinner. I also need to have a better afternoon snack. I don't think fruit cuts it when I eat dinner so late (well late for me).

My high point day on Monday definitely caused a different week. I noticed my weight stayed steady Tue -Thurs, this morning it got lower but the same as weigh in on Saturday. Note to self keep higher point days as far from weigh in as possible which has always worked for me in the past.

I am looking forward to being done with this half marathon so I can focus on form and building up the running as opposed to what I have to do now and focus on distances.

Alright that's all I got for today, hope you had a great Friday.

Hugs!!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Should of stuck to the plan

Hello my friends
The week is flying by.
Monday - all day meeting went well though I did have a little too much fun with the catering but that's why I was saving my WP points. I did not go for dinner with the group at The Keg as I figured that was just dangerous point wise.

Tuesday - woke up on my own at 3:30am, it started to snow the moment I put one foot out of the cab when I got to the airport. Of course Tuesday is later meeting day so by the time I got back to camp I was running on fumes.

Today - run day and I had a plan. After work I was going to go straight to my room and grab a PB&J sandwich from the kitchen on the way. I was going to change and go do 5 miles on the treadmill then come back to my room and have the sandwich for dinner. Well that didn't happen. I got back to camp tonight and wound up eating with a friend. My dinner was half a grilled cheese sandwich and sweet potato fries. I did go to my room, change and headed to the gym. Running on a full stomach - not a good idea. I felt off and lasted a measly 1.7 miles.

Fly home tomorrow and I need to sort out this weekend. The temperature is dropping and on Sunday it's supposed to be -17C. So I need to do 5 miles on Friday and weather is still ok. Saturday is still ok and I'm meeting a friend for coffee and a jaunt to the running room so I can get some gels. I think I felt icky after last Sunday's because I ignored fuel rules. I really should know better.

I'm wondering if I should find an inside track for the 9 miles on Sunday or run that on Saturday or just dress right and embrace -17. Have I mentioned I'm a planner....

I'll sort it out. Hope your week is going well.

Hugs!!!

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Believe

We're all seeing that word a lot lately especially if you're a Weight Watcher like me. Yes the ads on tv are on heavy rotation as they are for every other weight loss business- it's January. It does drive me a little batty when I see all these people trashing the ads on Twitter. Ah I see the Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem ones just as much - like I said it's January.  The people trying to knock Weight Watchers while trying to sell their program also drives me a little bananas.

I've never responded well to that kind of advertising. I used to not drink anything made by Pepsi because all they ever did was trash Coca Cola, perhaps it's because I consider myself an under dog and have an extreme dislike and disdain for bullies.

I for one love Weight Watchers and does that mean you will - no idea. People need to try things to determine if they work for them. The WW program has never failed me, I have failed it in the past and that is solely my fault especially when I don't track. When I follow the program it works. I've now tracked for 9 days in a row in 2012 and I plan to keep that going.

Well personally I find every single one of the Weight Watcher ads inspiring especially the one with all the people along with Jennifer Hudson. Suzy Storm is in that one and I follow her blog and follow her on twitter. To me that's real life inspiration as is the receptionist at my WW meeting who lost 125lbs.  The WW ads are all inspiring in one way or another the pre-Jennifer and post Jennifer one shows how far she's come. The one with just her in black saying "You're stronger then you think you are" is inspiring as well.

In my meeting on Saturday we talked a lot about how weight loss is 90% mental and it's the mind games we play on ourselves that can defeat us. Heck I know how that feels like when I got my 25lb charm to put on my key chain and then I started to steadily gain. I wasn't convinced I could do this that I could get to goal so that marker caused me to freak out a little. I realize that was ridiculous as I've achieved everything else I put my mind to and believed. That's why I will reach goal this year because I believe.

On the Weight Watcher's stuff you see the word Believe made up of a bunch of other words. I don't know if you've ever taken time to read those words but I'm going to share a few of them with you right now.

Believe, Hope, Smile, Dream, Confidence, Progress, Laugh, Happy, Smile, Love You, Strength, Live, Achieve, Change, Run, Healthier, Successful (that's just the B), Energy, Hope, Healthy, Lighter, Hope, Smile, Energy, Succeeding, Healthy, Love, Smile, Energy, Succeeding, Healthy, Love, Happy, Dream...Determination.

Yes there are repeated words but sometimes we need to be reminded and that takes hearing the message multiple times. Even if you don't follow Weight Watchers these words apply to anyone who wants to achieve a goal especially health related.

Determination was my word of the day today. I had 6.2 miles/10K to do on the training schedule. My neighbourhood was mega windy this morning with gusts around 60km. So I went to the gym to do it on the treadmill. After 3 run intervals I just wasn't feeling the running mojo so I walked it. The treadmill resets at one hour so I had to keep an eye on that so I could reset and continue on.

1hr25min/ 6.2 miles/ Pace 13:48min/mile/ 517 calories burned/ Avg HR 158. Really my walking pace isn't a whole lot slower then my run/walk pace.

I wore compression socks today, the compression tights will wait for the next outside run. I thought I'd be too warm in the gym. When the shorts get here I'll try those on the gym and in super nice weather. I'm not sure if the socks made me feel different I think it's hard to tell on the treadmill as it's a more cushioned terrain then going outside.

It's funny I used to only run on the treadmill but now that I've been doing it outside I prefer outside. I was hot in the gym and felt a little like a hamster with the only thing to look at was the newly renovated group exercise studio in front of me that the treadmills face. My mind started a little negotiation like O.K if you stay on here for 5miles then you can walk home for the extra 1.2. I stopped that thinking and continued on.

I just had to put one foot in front of the other and that's how I'm approaching this goal that as alluded me for so long. I will get to goal by just putting one foot in front of the other.

As I've said tomorrow is my most challenging day of the week with an all day meeting in a nice hotel and group dinner. This is my strategy: breakfast at home, I can have coffee, fruit and 0% fat yogurt (if available) at the catered breakfast as an am snack. For lunch keep in my mind the plate rule - half veggies/salad, one quarter protein and one quarter starch. Of course I don't know what's available so I'll have to eye it there. For dinner I was actually thinking of not going. I now have to fly out on Tuesday at 6am so I'll need an early night. However every restaurant has salad and I can ask them to modify it however I want.

I hope you had a great Sunday.

Hugs

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Spring Chick Challenge WK2 and weigh in results

It's time for a check in on the Spring Chick Challenge, if you would like to know more about it check here.

Goal wise I'm plugging along with 1/2 marathon training though this week I got 2 runs in instead of 3. My plan got a little off by having to race all over site at the end of the day on Wednesday and while not a run day it was completely exhausting and still counted as an activity. Next week I'm focused on getting 3 in, especially the midweek one which I missed last week.

Points wise I should have added a little extra info to my goal of 26pts per day and using my 49pts per week. I also have a rule of eating half my activity points if I earn more than 4 in a day.

I keep a spreadsheet to track all this so it goes something like this - in a week I get 231 PPoints (7x26+49). I like to look at this way so I know if I have a higher day it needs to be made up. This week I ate 247 PPoints and earned 31 APS. So I had 15 APS uneaten. To me that's an on plan week and it did show on the scale today as I lost 2.8lbs at weigh in. I had a couple of high days this past week like New Year's Eve and when I flew home on Thursday. My cousin sent me all this lovely chocolate covered marzipan from Germany and well let's just say it's all gone now. Thursdays are tough for me as I don't get home till around 7pm so it's a long wait to dinner. I need to focus on a better afternoon snack or a healthy plane snack. This past Thursday I had no afternoon snack and had grapes when we were waiting for the plane.

As I have 3 weeks to the 1/2 marathon I'm paying more attention to running and stretching. As my long run days are on Sunday I opted to not hit the gym today but instead I'll do yoga this afternoon. I think Iron Reps and Zumba will wait for after I'm finished with the half marathon.

When I stepped on the scale at WI at first the weigh in lady said I gained .2 and I quickly corrected her. Of course the meeting was busier then usual with an influx of new people and that's OK as we're all in this together. My leader talked about believing and achieving today. I like one part where she said the mission is not to lose weight as lost things can be found. The mission is to remove it.

After weigh in I had to pick of a few groceries and am happy to say I left with no treats. I'm not likely to go snackapalooza if there are no snacks in my house. Of course I walked to weigh in an back. BodyMedia is telling me I did 1hr15 of moderate exercise as I do go to Starbucks first and then all the walking around Walmart and Safeway. I'm basing my AP earnings on solely on the walk to wi and back as that's a fast pace not a shopping pace. So today so far I've earned 3.

On Thursday I discovered one of co-workers is also on WW. He's an engineer and goes with his sister. I guess he used to it and so did the sister and they're both rejoining this weekend.  I can say this is the first time I had a WW chat with a man. What's super cool is we're often at the same meetings which have food provided so we decided we'd be WW buddies at work. On Monday is the first challenge as we'll be at an offsite in Calgary at a nice hotel where breakfast and lunch will be provided. Then later we're all meeting another group who is also having an offsite in Calgary for dinner. Last I heard it was the Saltlik, which is an awesome steak place and not exactly WW friendly. I'm saving my WP for Monday and will focus on smart choices.

Tomorrow I'll get myself updated on the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jean's "Shrink Yo'self in 2012" plus you'll hear about my compression tight adventure. Tomorrow I need to do 6.2 miles/10K.

Hope you're having a fantastic Saturday.

Hugs!!!

Friday, January 06, 2012

Run Day and tried something different

Hello my friends,
No blogging yesterday as I was zonked when I got home. Plane was delayed by 30min due to "flow control" which means Calgary airport said don't take off until we tell you to. That morning we had mega fog and all flights that came in had to be diverted to Fort McMurray and then bused to work. Luckily fog was not an issue though we did need to de-ice.

I got home and picked up my mail from the neighbour plus cuddled with their dog (who I adore) and then tried to watch Biggest Loser but I was yawning my head off so I went to bed.

Today I had to 5 miles on the training calendar. So I headed out with a different plan then usual. I decided today to not look at my pace the entire time. I would just look at Garmin to track distance. I wanted to see if I could feel my pace and tell when I was slowing down. I have to admit this pace minimum in the Tinkerbell Half Marathon is freaking me out a little so normally I check my pace quite often.

Today's walk run:
1hr5min/ 5 miles/ pace 13:05/mi/ 447 calories burned/ Avg HR 172

So that's my fastest pace to date. I tried to focus on arm swings as your feet move as fast as your arms. The running parts are still hard but it's progress.

When I got home the CW-X progression bottoms I ordered were here. I found a store in Ontario called Running Free Canada that ships for free (for a minimum purchase). The tights were also on sale. It totally beat the Running Room which is where I was going to go. Not to mention they have way more variety.  Of course with online sizing is a bit of a guess. I researched and found that amazon.com is a wicked source for info. Lots of people really like CW-X that's for sure. I also found CW-X Stabilizer shorts for super cheap on Amazon.

These are the full tights in Raspberry color. I think my Tinkerbell running outfit will be leaning towards pink. After all it is the kind of race you dress up for.

I also got a pair of 3/4 tights in black. 

Now I have to admit when I took them out of the shipping package they totally made me think of regular tights like pantyhose type things. I put them on and I think they feel right not having tried any sort of compression gear before. It was exactly like putting on regular tights. The CW-X sizing chart goes by height and weigh just like pantyhose. I did go with medium based on height I should technically be a little lighter for them to fit but all my research said you absolutely don't want them too long. That makes sense for compression purposes I think.
I also am bound and determined to be losing so I didn't want to get ones too big.  I'll test them out on long run Sunday. This Sunday is 6.2 miles next Sunday is 10 miles.


Yesterday I got the SPIbelt I ordered. I realized I'll need to have stuff on me during the race and I'm debating not running with a fuel belt as the water/fuel stations seem pretty extensive on this race.
Plus lately I'm finding my fuel belt feeling bulky. I've heard absolutely wonderful things about this.


As you can see it looks little above but that pouch stores some stuff. I have a thing for plaid which worked well for me as this one was on sale as I think it's discontinued.

Now I haven't completely sorted out my hydration plan so I also got the SPIbelt hand held water bottle.




I have never used a hand held bottle before but this got super good reviews too...like it's very comfortable to hold and easy to drink out of plus it also has a pouch so if I do go gels this is a good place to store one. I'll road test this on Sunday as well.

Then when I got home I finally watched Biggest Loser. Interesting splitting up the couples and I like it. No favourites yet but there's a whole season to go.

Tomorrow is weigh in and I will do my first Spring Chick Challenge full update on my week activity and food wise.

Hope you are having a fantastic Friday.

Hugs!!

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Challenge craziness

So not only have I signed up for two blogger challenges I'm coordinating a Biggest Loser challenge at work. Aren't I gung ho?

Late this afternoon I ran all over site putting up posters. It started in the building I work in. First I hit the second floor that I work on. I did one lap of the floor putting the posters on bathroom doors (hey everybody goes in there). The next few passes were water coolers and kitchens including fridges. Then I collected a buddy and hit the rest of site. I was in and out of 8 other building/ trailers. I checked my BodyMedis and I had 90min of moderate activity. Yeesh, I was tired. I think I earned about 5 activity points.

I got back to camp and was starving but chose healthy options and another on track WW day.

Now I'm in my pjs and going to finish watching Revenge.

Tomorrow I fly home.

Hope you all had a great Wednesday!!!

Hugs!!!

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Adjustments

I stayed on point today for my 26 points but it was a wee bit of  a challenge.

Spending 4 days a week in camp can sometimes be a challenge. The camp kitchen is not a short order cook so sometimes you run into times (especially dinner) where you need to think on your feet. 

I found myself running out of points towards the end of day and I had exactly 5 left for dinner (damn the 2pts I wasted on Hershey Kisses today). Tonight in the kitchen there's steak, fried pork chops and pasta- all well above what I had left. Tuesday is not really a WW friendly night. Last night not an issue. 
 
I blew all my weekly points on the weekend.  I made a salad for myself at lunch so that eliminated that as an option for dinner. I could grab a pre-made sandwich from the lunch kitchen but those would be over 5pts and they would have packed the bread away by dinner time so I couldn't grab toast and peanut butter. In the morning when you go in to pack your lunch you have the option to make toast. 

For dinner I wound up with bowl of cereal at 5pm as we have access to cereal and milk in the office building and I had a meeting till 7pm it worked. My other plan is not to eat 2hrs before bed. By the time I get to camp it would be 7:30ish.

I slept super terrible last night I was getting re accustomed to camp noises. Like the bar fridge in my room, the trucks rolling by outside (the wing I live in is right next to a road), the sound of the card keys of other people entering their rooms. I don't hear people in other rooms but you do hear them walking down the hallway. 

Tonight my plan is to be in bed by 9pm hopefully hence why didn't want to eat at 7:30pm, which means the new season of Biggest Loser will have to wait till I get home on Thursday and can watch it on the pvr. If I didn't have a meeting that ended at 7pm I could probably catch the EST time showing but alas that's not in the cards.

Even at lunch you need to get a little creative. I grabbed some lettuce, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumber, 2 hard boiled eggs (in the shell), some hot peppers and on stick of cheese. When I had lunch today I tore the lettuce into smaller pieces as they were monster size.I sliced one egg and took the yolk out of the 2nd egg; and chopped the egg white. I chopped the tomato, cucumber, peppers and cheese. I then added some light ranch dressing in the little pouch as I forgot to bring up my Fig Balsamic dressing this week. My other option would be one of those pre made sandwiches. You can doctor those to a certain extent but I'm sort of picky about luncheon meat. The PB & J have an awful lot of PB&J on them so then you get into really guesstimating the points. 

Of course now I'm a wee hungry but I'm going to bed soon so I'm brewing a cup of decaf vanilla herbal tea in the mini coffee maker in my camp room. I can't keep snacks in my camp room as I find that far too dangerous and will lead to mindless snacking. There has been a prior incident with a little jar of peanut butter. 

That's one thing I love about WW is that you can make adjustments to make things work. 

I slept super terrible last night I was getting re accustomed to camp noises. Like the bar fridge in my room, the trucks rolling by outside (the wing I live in is right next to a road), the sound of the card keys of other people entering their rooms. I don't hear people in other rooms but you do hear them walking down the hallway. 

Tonight my plan is to be in bed by 9pm hopefully, which means the new season of Biggest Loser will have to wait till I get home on Thursday and can watch it on the pvr. If I didn't have a meeting that ended at 7pm I could probably catch the EST time showing but alas that's not in the cards. 

So now I'm going to drink my tea and hopefully have a good night's sleep. Tomorrow it's 5 miles on a treadmill. 

Hope you had a great Tuesday.

Hugs!!!!

Monday, January 02, 2012

Spring Chick Challenge

Alright apparently I've been kidnapped by aliens because I signed up for yet another challenge. Yes, traditionally I'm a challenge phobe as I put a wicked amount of pressure on myself and give up. Yet I like the idea of this one as it will keep we focused through winter. I shamefully borrowed the formatting from Enz as I'm on my secondary lap top and suck at formatting on this thing. There's no buttons on the touch pad and drives me bonkers. I'll add a button for this challenge when I get home this weekend and can use my regular laptop.

Spring Chick Challenge: Starts today Jan 2 and ends March 19th. 


Commit to a NSV (non scale victory) to be assessed at the start and the conclusion of the challenge.  
  • Goal: Continue half marathon training until race day of Jan 29, then continue to run/walk 3 times a week minimum.
  • Current: Half marathon training that will be over at then end of this month.
Commit to a set of nutrition parameters and track via MyFitnessPal or Sparkpeople or WW.
  • Goal: Track and stay within WWP+ every day/week (26 per day + 49 per week)
  • Current: Tracking for part of the week and sort of staying within points.
Commit to a set of exercise parameters. These can be as loose or as flexible as you feel work for your personality, schedule, etc.
  • Goal: Run 3x a week either inside or treadmill. Do two other workouts per week that could consist of group class at the gym or yoga.
  • Current: Rare as my half marathon training has been rather sporadic 
Commit to blogging at least twice weekly and 1 of those times must be you check in with a complete up date on your progress. All other blogs could include new insights, results of weekly challenges, or just letting others know how you are doing.
  • Goal: My check in day will be Saturdays as that’s my WW Weigh-In day. I’ll blog at least 4 times a week or more about what I'm doing activity and food wise and my general thoughts on life. 
  • Current: Blogging but not so much on what I'm doing weight loss wise.
Commit to support... both giving and receiving. Check others blogs and comment as you feel motivated to do.
  • Goal: Following a whole bunch people doing the challenge!
Introduction
Name: Sylvia aka Cowgirlwarrior
Blog URL: www.wwforlife.blogspot.com
Email: cowgirlwarrior@gmail.com
Age: 39
Location: Calgary, AB
I've battled with my weight my entire life. I often say the last time I was at goal weight is when I was 5. I turn 40 in 6 months and I'm determined to go into my forties fit. 
Weekly Goal
This week I’m focused on tracking and of course training for that half marathon. I work in a remote camp 4 days a week so my menu is based on what's offered in the camp kitchen. Tracking is key as temptation is everywhere.

Weight Info
  • Start: 178.2 lbs
  • Goal for Challenge: 163 lbs
In other news woke up on my own today about 20min before my alarm went off - shocking. OMG the landing today was nerve wrenching. There was a tremendous amount of turbulence and the plane actually bounced when we landed. It was so windy the first guy off the plane got knocked over. 

Food wise today I was completely on track. Right now I'm doing my camp laundry so after I stick it in the dryer I'll roll out the yoga mat. 

Hope you all had a great Monday.

Hugs!!!

Sunday, January 01, 2012

Well hello 2012

Being the total party-er I am... I was in bed by 9pm last night. I saw no point in staying up till midnight especially as I was committed to an 8 mile run the next day.

I never had the pizza as I over did it in spinach dip so I had my Dr. Oetker 5 calorie Strawberry Mousse, two glasses of Bellini in a bottle and I was done.

This morning I was up by 8am and planned to go for my run/walk at 11am in the hope it would warm up a bit before hand. We've had gorgeous weather and pretty warm for December, heck Monday is supposed to be +9c. Today not so much.

Before heading out I took down the Christmas decorations, did laundry and took my measurements. I also joined the Sisterhood of the Skinny Jeans as I liked the sound of their challenge "Shrink Yourself in 2012" as that goes very well with Operation Butterfly. Apparently there will be fitness challenges to be honest I'm not 100% sure I'll be talking part in those especially as my focus is half marathon training until the race on Jan 31. After that sure.

The run itself went o.k. After mile 6 I had pain in my left foot that I thought was a cramp but every time I started to run it didn't feel right so I walked the rest of the way but my energy seriously started to sag after mile 7. It probably doesn't help having a rather high point evening.

7.75 miles/ 1:47:13/ Pace Avg 13.50 mi/hr/ 645 calories burned/ Max HR 165. I'm still happy with my pace though mile 6 was 14:02 and mile 7 was 14:52. Still above the course minimum of 16min/mi, so I'm happy with that. The goal for this race is to finish and run 2:1 intervals. I did that today for the first 6 miles at least. I love the Gym Boss, that thing is awesome as I don't need to stare at my watch. It just beeps and vibrates. The best thing exercise wise that I've bought well that and the Garmin.

I really need to pay attention to the food on run days as that can certainly impact performance.

Yes I was .25 of a mile short but I was freezing and wet with sweat. It was still -11 with windchill today which I normally wouldn't call cold but after you've about there for almost 2hrs you feel it. I did earn 12 AP and am going to eat half of those today as that's a pretty high number for one day.

The next run is Wednesday and it's 5 miles and that will be on a treadmill at camp. I plan all other runs on Fridays and Sundays to be outside from now on.

I plan to do yoga tomorrow and Tuesday.

I'm trying to get my head around going back to work tomorrow and getting up at 3:45am to catch the plane. So I've collected all the things I need to take with me, haven't packed it yet but that will happen before I go to bed.

Right now the only I need to do is take out the garbage and that will happen shortly as I want to do that before it gets dark.

As I was going around the neighbourhood on my walk/run my mind did turn to goals for 2012. Goal weight is the number one goal for 2012 as I've said before but I'd also like to learn to run...properly. Not like recently where I sign up for half marathon and then plan to learn to run. This time after the half marathon I want to do it properly work on it and then when I'm ready run a 5K, then a 10k, then maybe run a half marathon and maybe just maybe I'll shoot for a marathon. Right now I'm eyeing a 5K on May 27, that coincides with the Calgary Marathon. It's 6 days before my birthday and just sort of spoke to me.

I want to learn to love running like so many people do, right now I don't enjoy it but I think that has a lot to do with carrying an extra 42lbs.

I did order compression pants that should be hear next week I'm wondering if that will make a difference. I've heard it does for many so I'll see.

Alright my friends that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed yourselves last night no matter what you did.

Hugs!!!