Week 8 Day 2... and freaking out.

My training days were off because I was trying to rest at the beginning of the week and get rid of my cold, so I had to get creative with my run yesterday.  I had to bring my two year old daughter along. I decided that I was going to jog to the gym for my yoga class with the stroller, and then jog home.  Omg!  Trying to run while pushing the stroller was a lot harder than I expected.  My arms were still sore from my workout with VK Sista' on Wednesday, and I had no momentum because I couldn't move my arms back and forth.  It's kind of amazing how much my arms help to propel me forward, and how weird it feels when I'm not able to use them.  Not to mention the stroller with a kid in it is heavy, especially up a hill!  

My daughter was having a blast though!  She liked that I was going fast.  She kept saying, "Wee!!!  This fun mommy!" and dancing back and forth to my music. (Which made pushing the stroller feel even weirder!)  Here's a pic:

I jogged through downtown and kept seeing myself in the reflection of the storefront windows.  And once again, my brain with my fat girl syndrome thinks I look fat and ridiculous.  I even snapped a photo as I jogged by:

Can you see me?  It's okay if you can't... It's not flattering.

Anyway, my stroller pace was 13 something.  I went to my amazing yoga class, and jogged back towards home.  Kind of defeated the whole purpose of a relaxing, stretching yoga class but oh well.  Gotta do what I gotta do.

Last night husband and I went out for Valentine's Day and I wore my cute boots.  I did way too much walking in them and now my plantarfacitis is acting up today.  I am FREAKING OUT about my 8 mile run tomorrow.  It's the furthest I've ever ran.  Furthest right now is 7.5, and that run destroyed my hip for months.  I keep trying to tell myself that that run was out of nowhere and this run I've trained for.  I have done every single mile the training schedule said to do.  I'm prepared for this.  But I'm freaking out.  Did I mention I'm freaking out?  Besides my foot, I swear my back hurts, my hip hurts, the insides of my ankles hurt.  I'm phyching myself out.  I know it's mostly in my head.  I'm fine, I can do this.

I invited a bunch of friends to the track with us tomorrow.  I thought it would be more fun and less tedious with lots of people to high-five.  Hopefully that was a good decision.  Wish me luck!

Week 8 Day 1… plus a Vanderkitten meet-up!

Well, I'm done with my cleanse and I'm down 5 lbs.  Still 5 lbs more than I want to be but it's something.   Actually, I want to be 20 lbs less, but I guess my body likes me where I am.  I wish my brain would like me where I am!  I went out for drinks with some Vanderkitten girls yesterday (one girl came to town from Colorado) and I was really nervous about it.  "What do I wear?  I feel so fat!  These girls are going to think I'm a big non-athletic fraud!"  But actually, it turned out just fine.  They were super nice and what I chose to wear worked just fine.  Here's a pic of our VK meet-up:

That brings me to today.  I decided to run Wednesday/Friday/Sunday this week to give myself a few days to get over this cold that never ends.  That was a darn good idea because I ran really well this morning.  30 minutes running non-stop at a 11:20 pace.  My dog did great, which was really nice.  It was super foggy out!  Here's a pic when I finished:

Yes, some of that is sweat, but most of it was fog!  I was soaking wet!  It was a nice morning anyway though.  :)

This afternoon I went to the gym with VK Sista' and since we had drinks yesterday, and she has a meeting on Thursday, today was our only gym day this week so we made sure we did a full-body bootcamp kinda workout.  It was pretty fun!  Although now my throat hurts.  I swear… this cold will never, ever end.  Taking it easy tomorrow.  Onward!

The crazy accidental athletic weekend

Remember when I said I was going to do my easy 3 mile treadmill jog, and then chill out and rest for the remainder of the weekend to try to kick this cold for good?  Yeah... that didn't happen.  After my run on Saturday we dropped the kids off with my mom.  I planned to use the opportunity to go to REI kid-free and pick up some compression socks, and then maybe take a nap and fold some laundry.  Sounded wonderful.  Well, turns out it was garage sale day REI downtown and we spent 3 1/2 hours there.  My garmin says we walked almost 3 miles through the store.  And then my mother-in-law came to town, met us for dinner, and then my husband and I went out to a friend's birthday party to see a cover band at a dive bar.  A couple of beers and we were home late.  So much for my nap, and my going to bed early to rest. 

 

My 65 year old mother-in-law signed up to do the Seattle to Portland with us this summer.  She brought her bike and wanted to go for a ride with us.  The rain finally stopped after a week and the sun came out.  How could we say no?  And it was only her second ride since she got her bike so I knew it would be a pretty easy ride.

 

 

 

Pre-ride selfie

Mother and son riding

It was definitely a nice easy ride.  We only went 12.5 miles along the Green River Trail, but I'm super proud of her for starting her training.  She's been getting her ass kicked at the gym by a personal trainer twice a week too.  She's determined.  I love that we inspired her.  :)


So after our ride, I was supposed to meet some friends for a walk along the Soos Creek Trail.  But after our ride and a quick lunch, I had to go all the way home to change, pick up my dog, and drive all the way out there.  I was about 35 minutes late and they already started on their walk.  I had my friend text me a dropped pin on the map where she was, and it said they were 1.1 miles ahead of me.  I figured I'd just take off running and catch up.  I estimated it would take me 30 minutes to find them while they continued walking and I ran.  I was thinking about how I wished I didn't already run yesterday, I didn't plan on running today.  I didn't even bring water, but I was determined to catch up.  So, off I went.  At a mile in, right about where the pin said she was earlier, the trail turned into a pond....

 

I called my friend just to make sure she actually wadded her way through calf-high water and she said she did.  She said that if she didn't, I probably would have thought she was a wuss because of how athletic I am, and how much cycling and running I do in the rain.  LOL.  Really?  That's flattering but I would have given up at this pond and turned around.  But she didn't... and she thinks I kick ass so I took my shoes and socks off, rolled up my pants, and waded through with my dog's leash in one hand, and my shoes in the other.  Some cyclists were going through coming from the direction I was heading and a guy said, "It's worse further up!  I'd leave your shoes off for a while."  So I walked along barefoot through 3 puddles this size.  Oh man it was crazy.  And COLD.  After putting my shoes back on, I ran another 2 miles to catch up with them.  Thankfully she had a bottle of water waiting for me and we walked the 3 miles back to the car with our dogs having a blast.  (Shoes off again to get back through the flood.)   

 

I was freaking exhausted last night.  My lungs hurt and my body just felt heavy, like it was a lot of extra work to move.  My chest hurt when I breathed so I put a humidifier in our room last night.  That seemed to help quite a bit.  I can breathe better today.  VK Sista' wanted to go to the gym this afternoon because we're supposed to meet some other Vanderkitten VIP's for drinks on Tuesday.  But I said no way.  I'm doing nothing today but sitting at my desk at work... and getting my hair done during lunch.  Then I'm going home and sitting on my butt.  The end.

Week 7 Day 3 ~Through the desert

It's still downpouring here in good ol' Seattle so I decided to do my 3 miles on the treadmill.  I didn't want to listen to music today, I wanted something different.  So I put the iPad on my treadmill and watched the last half of a documentary on Netflix we started watching at BFF's house last weekend called Desert Runners.  These crazy people run 4 deserts a year.  And each one is like running 6 marathons in 5 days...IN THE DESERT!  So I figured that would be good motivation as I took it easy (still have a cold) and jogged along on my treadmill.  I tried to keep their pace and pretended I was jogging along in the desert with them.

Well that plan worked pretty well until half of them started quitting and complaining of heart problems after one guy died out there.  I was like, "No!  Keep going!  If you quit, I'll quit!"  Well, I finished  (Slowly, with my nose running, and feeling exhausted and shaky) and timed it perfectly as the people who finished crossed the finish line of the last desert. 

Ugh.  I'm going to rest now.  I don't have to run again until Tuesday and I'm done, done, done!  Slowest pace in a long time.    13:52

Week 7 Day 2 ~Sick and tired

I have had a lingering cold for what feels like forever.  I think my body hates me.   I'm just go go go... work, kids, gym, run, cycle, clean, cook, sleep a little.... I'm exhausted.  I skipped the gym yesterday with VK Sista and I did an easy jog on my treadmill yesterday morning.  12:40ish something pace I think.  It was downpouring outside.  I'm pretty hard core, but not that hard core.  This pic does not really show how much rain was truely coming down, but it's there, I promise!

Right now I'm blogging from yoga class, waiting for it to start.  I really didn't want to come, but I'm here.  Hopefully it will be worth it.

Update:  it was worth it.  I've said this before, but I really like this teacher.  She's teaches just the right combination of stretching, strength, balance, and relaxation.  I feel a lot better.  Off I go to pick up my friend to babysit my daughter for me while I go help with my son's after school drama club.  Gotta use my Masters degree somehow I guess.  Here I go go go...

Week 7 Day 1... and a cleanse

I have been running and cycling like crazy, and going to the gym twice a week for over a month now.  I don't eat fast or fried food.  You'd think I'd be a size 2 by now.  Nope, still a 10.  In fact, I've gained 10 lbs!  ?!@#*!!  My jeans seem to fit a little looser but the scale is up.  I hate that damn scale!  I really doubt I've gained 10 lbs of muscle so I have no idea what's going on.  I decided that it was time to do AdvoCare's 10 Day Herbal Cleanse again.  However, I kind of pieced together a cleanse out of two unfinished cleanses at BFF's house so technically I'm doing an 8 day cleanse.  I started day 1 and 2, also drinking the 48 Hour Hollywood Miracle Diet juice and only eating lean protein and green veggies.  Made it through those days ok.  I'm on to day 3 today. 

I don't know why I care about the scale so much.  As long as my husband and I think I look good, who cares what the scale says?  ...Or anyone else for that matter.  Some friends and family tell me how skinny I look and what a tiny waist I have...  And then there's others that can't believe when I tell them I run, and they think I wear an XL and ask how much weight I still have to go.  Is it because I'm just average size now?  I'm going to get both sides?  Why do I feel the need to be just a little bit smaller?  Anyway... we'll see what the stupid scale says at the end of my cleanse. 

Week 7 Day 1 was just an easy jog on the treadmill at the gym.  I have a cold so I just couldn't drag myself out of bed in the morning.  I figured the afternoon, after some Dayquil would be easier.  Eh.  I think I had like a 12:30 pace.  After my jog, VK Sista' kicked my ass as usual.  Here she is going all Jillian Michaels on my ass and adding her weight to my leg press:

 

 

My husband and I signed up for the STP again last night.  And I also signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15K on March 1st.  Eek!  So... wish me luck!  Onward with the training... and the cleanse... and we'll see what happens!

Week 6 Day 3 ~ 10K

10K day!  BFF and I decided to run our 6.2 miles on a track near her house.  That way we could run at our own pace but still do it together, and wave to each other from the other side of the track.  We both really, really didn't want to do it.  It was cold and yucky out, and we were lazy:

Sad face "before" selfie

I ran the entire 6-point-freaking-2 miles!  1 hour and 20 minutes at a 13 minute pace.  This was my last run of the month and I was really excited to check it off.  My workout calendar looks nice and symmetrical.  :)  I am just super proud of myself that I did every single mile that the training schedule said to do.  I've come so far!  41 miles total in January!  (Plus 104 miles of cycling too!)

                                      

My finished January calendar!

BFF however, barely trained at all.  I lapped her quite a bit and gave her an encouraging high-five each time I passed.  She finished about a half hour after me so I spent that time walking more laps around the track to keep warm in the fog.  

                          

BFF is in that fog on the other side of the track somewhere!

                           

My "Yay I did it!" selfie :)

Honestly, at the beginning of the month I was annoyed that BFF wasn't training.  She talked me into this whole Disney Half Marathon thing.  I told her running was not my thing and I'd do as many 5K's as she wanted but I really didn't have the ambition to go any further than that.   BUT I told her that if she promised to put the time and effort into it, that I would do this half with her because I know it's important to her.  She wanted to be a better runner, and lose weight, and I wanted to support her.  Well, during this training process, I've learned that I can hold her hand, but I can't carry her...she can choose to carry herself.  This has turned into MY journey now.  Me.  With or without her.  I'm going to do the best I can, finish the half marathon… and hopefully go on to do the Honolulu Marathon in December.  However, I really hope she begins her journey soon because it would be much more fun with my "sole sister" there with me.  I know she could catch up if she wanted to.  I'm more than willing to run with her at her pace, IF she puts in the miles.                                      

Here's a little collage I put together for Facebook.  Hopefully this feeling sticks with her.