One Mile for Time

As I've mentioned before, I'm a member over at Everyday Paleo Lifestyle & Fitness:



That's where I lift heavy things and put them down. Oh, and sometimes I run a little. Sometimes my warm up includes a whole 400 m run, and once in a while the metcon portion will feature sprints of either 200m or 400m. But the other day the metcon consisted of running one mile for time. I honestly can't remember the last time I ran a mile or more. The half-marathon maybe? Anyway, I was excited to do this workout for several reasons.


1. I still sorta like to run.
2. Since I haven't run for so long I was interested to see how I did on it, you know see how fit I feel from "just" doing weights and metcons.
3. Running is much more enjoyable than burpees or pushups.


So, I did my warmup and heavy lift portion (Bench press that day, 90# of 1RM 3x5) and then I popped in my earbuds for the first time in a long time, cranked the volume on my mp3 and hit the 'mill and ran my mile. I bumped up the speed a few times because I figured it's only 1 mile and I was doing it for time, I wanted my time to be good. It was definitely a workout and when I was done I had to catch my breath for a few moments. I also decided I need some new music on my mp3. But, overall, I was thrilled with the whole thing. My time, you wonder?


8.54 minutes


Just for comparison, my pace for the last couple of races I did (a 5k and the Half) were right around 11 min/mile. And, my "typical" pace for training runs would've been around 10 min/mile. That's a significant difference in time, at least for me, and I love it! I can hardly wait til the next "one mile for time" workout to see how I improve even more, because I have confidence I will. :)

I use to run. Now I do Yoga.

I know that you know that I like to run. I've posted about it in one way or another more times than I can count. You could probably click on the "running" label down there in the bottom right hand corner of this blog and count them if you really want to know. I'll just say I've mentioned it a lot. So I suppose you'll be surprised to hear that I am not running right now, in fact, I haven't gone on a run since somewhere around late-summer. And, no, I'm not injured. I just don't want to.

Yes, you heard me right. I've fallen out of love with running. Why? Well, for several reasons. In every book regarding the paleo/primal lifestyle that I've read over the past 6 months, they all presented the idea that cardio workouts may not be as great as we have all thought. I didn't really think much about it then. I figured I wasn't running everyday, and I wasn't running that fast, plus I was still doing weights and stretching. I figured I was okay. But then the Half-Marathon happened. And you know how horribly that went for me. If you don't, go read that post and then you'll be all caught up. Go ahead, I'll wait.

All caught up? Okay, so, I admit that experience really burned me out on running. So, here I am all grumpy at running and my body's lack of cooperation, and then I go and do some more reading about health, fitness and working out on various blogs. It seemed like I kept running (running, hee hee) into it. And the more I read, the more it started to make sense to me.

If you'd like to read some of what I read, check out these posts:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/health-benefits-moderate-exercise/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/chronic-cardio/
http://healthyurbankitchen.com/blog/the-cardio-conundrum/
There is a ton more info out there, but these were just a few that I really liked.

Okay, so back to me. All these things combined brought me to the conclusion that I would be putting away my running shoes for a while. I'm still working out, that's for sure, but my methods and goals are different. I'm still tweaking it a bit, but for the most part, my typical workouts involve: hikes, long (fast) walks around my neighborhood, yoga, a couple days of heavy lifting and sprints. 

Oh, I sorta lied. I'm still using my running shoes for the walking and the sprints, but I'm not doing any runs. Sprints don't count, it's a total of 4 minutes; 20 seconds fast, 10 sec recovery, repeated 8 times. And I usually sandwich that between a couple rounds of full-body movements like push ups, squats, pull ups and planks. The full-body movements is where the tweaking is coming in--I need to ramp those up to include heavy lifting instead of just body-weight, but I've been working on just mastering the basic moves first. So, even though I'm not actually lifting heavy, that's what I'm counting as that. (Does that even make sense?)

And you know what? I love it all. It's so great to get out and hike again, I'd really missed it. It's been years since I did that regularly. I enjoy it so much more than running. I also like my neighborhood walks, it gives me great time to think and pray. The "heavy-lifting" makes me feel like I'm making progress--I'm getting closer and closer to being able to do a pull-up and that fires me up. The yoga helps me focus on the here-and-now and makes me sweat buckets. Yoga can be a really great workout--it's one of my favorite ways to spend an hour recently. It's not just all "om's" and sitting cross-legged on the floor. It's strength, balance, flexibility and core. My favorite yoga workout right now is Bob Harper: Yoga for the Warrior. If you think Yoga is easy, you should try this one. It'll kick your butt. And it's got GREAT background music. Doing this workout makes me want this t-shirt.

So, there you have it. I use to run, but I don't anymore. I haven't seen any drastic changes in my body as a result of this change, but I'm giving it time. I'm enjoying myself and not stressing about it, because that's part of it too. One of these days I'm sure I'll be able to show you a difference, until then, I'll be perfecting my bird of paradise position.

Missoula Half-Marathon

I ran, or should I say, I hobbled the Missoula Half-Marathon this morning. It was awful. Seriously awful.

It all began well, unless you consider the extreme levels of anxiety I was feeling all day Saturday and then this morning. I just felt ill-prepared for this race. I'd missed a whole month of running due to that heel thing, then I was sick and missed another few runs. The longest run I logged in training was barely 8 miles, and yet, I knew I could do it. I've done it before and I thought it would be fun to run with my friends. I had no time goal, only to finish and to have fun.

I was okay until about mile marker 4. Then my right knee started to hurt and feel, at times, like it wanted to give out. When I stopped to walk, it felt better, and would for a bit after resuming running. But I was discouraged, I didn't want to run/walk this thing I wanted to run it. And my knee hurt, I contemplated quitting. It was around mile 5/6 when I tried to convince my friend Sonja (She's the one on the far left in the picture) to go ahead because I certainly wasn't going to help her reach her time goal. She did, running off ahead of me, and I felt the tears start. I knew I couldn't do this and I looked at my watch to see what the real time was so I could call Erik to come pick me up on the side of the road.

But then, I looked up, and there was Sonja running back to me. And she stayed with me, through every walk break that continued to get longer and more frequent as my knee hurt worse and worse. I wondered if I should stop, but by the time I hobbled to mile 11 I knew I wouldn't. She kept encouraging me and smiling and being positive, I knew I couldn't quit on her. I was going to finish it, even it it hurt every step. And it did. By the end my only goal was to run across the finish line--I wasn't walking no Half-Marathon finish line! I did even though by then my whole right leg hurt like heck.

I am grateful I finished it, I can at least say that. But this race was so horrid, I'm seriously thinking I might be done with half's. Who knows what I'll think in 6-9 months when its time to start training, but for now some nice easy hikes and lifting some heavy stuff sounds pretty good!

I know I wouldn't have finished without my dear friend Sonja and I'm extremely grateful for her perseverance and selflessness to stick with me. Thanks girl, I love ya!

edited to add: my official time...

2:34:50 pace 11:50

Runner Girl

 Lindsay after finishing her Kid's Marathon.

She did great!

Tomorrow will be my turn, yikes!

Six Miles and Ice Baths

I did my "long" run of the week today since Erik was gone over the weekend and I refuse to run more than 5 miles on the treadmill. Even 5 on the 'mill is hard. Today I needed/wanted to run 6 miles. So, after the girls got on the school bus, I walked home, gathered my stuff and drove down to one of my favorite places to run: Fort Missoula.

It's a 2 mile loop that starts at a recreational area/park and goes through an area of buildings that use to be an actual army fort and internment area. Now there are businesses there and also some museums and other cool stuff. It's got tons of trees, so theres quite a bit of shade, it's a flat mostly paved course and not a ton of traffic, which all make for a great place to run.

I had to run all by my lonesome, which is different. Usually I do the longer runs with my running girlfriend's and we talk the whole way, today I had to entertain myself. I brought my mp3 player, which I used part of the time, and the rest of the time I prayed and just enjoyed the outdoors. It was a beautiful morning--I was already running in my tank and shorts at 9 a.m. and I was sweating.

Near the four mile mark, I noticed a pickup stopped in pretty much the middle of the road up ahead and the guy was standing at the back of his truck looking out into the field. When I got closer, he motioned me to be quiet and pointed out the fox kits that were playing around  in the field next to the road. Their little den was right there too. He said he'd seen the mom on the other side of the road aways when he was walking his dogs. There were three cute little foxes just playing and enjoying the sun. I wished I had my phone then so I could've taken a picture of them, but I don't carry it when I'm running for several reasons. The first being that when I run, it's my time. I take that time for me and I don't need anything pulling for my attention. It's not like I'm usually urgently needed anyways, and if I am, my runs aren't too long, I'll return the call when I'm done. Another reason is my running shorts/pants don't usually have a ton of pockets, today I had room for my mp3 and that's about it. But, in the hopes of seeing the foxes again on my final loop, I did grab my phone and carry it in my hand for the final 2 miles. That's when I snapped these pictures, but unfortunately the foxes must've gone back inside their little den because there was no sign of them that last loop. Oh well!

This run was only six miles, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the 13.1 of a half-marathon, but it was my longest run of this year and of my training, and so I wasn't sure how it would go. My heel has been iffy and I was afraid it would hurt midway through. Thankfully, it didn't and I wasn't as exhausted at the end as I thought I would be. I definitely ran the whole thing slow--68 minutes for 6 miles which is about 11 minute miles--so that probably helped. 

Completing the six miles today gave me hope that I can actually do the half in five weeks. It'll be slow, but I think I can do it, which is a huge encouragement.

To help with recovery, I came home and grabbed a cup of coffee, my phone and plopped myself into an "ice" bath. There is seriously no easy way lower yourself into a bathtub filled with ice cold water. It's a shock no matter how you do it, so just get it over with. Get in, drink some hot coffee and do something to fill your time for 15 minutes or so while your legs and feet chill out.

You'll thank me for it. It sure helps me with the long-run-soreness.

Next week my goal is 8 miles. Hopefully I can join my running friends for that one! :-)

Running

I didn't actually see this pretty view on my run today, although my run had some pretty cool sights too. I just don't haul my camera or my cell phone with me on runs, so this will have to suffice. It was pretty cool this morning, though, as I ran past a couple deer (like the ones in my backyard ) and they hardly budged. I think I ended up being 10 ft away from a young buck w/ fuzzy antlers at one point. I thought it was interesting. They are obviously use to humans!

But, yes, I did get to go for a run this morning. It was a beautiful morning of sunshine and everything green, birds chirping and little animals here and there. I am grateful to be running after my short hiatus due to my weird heel pain and then my 2 week long cold/illness. I ended up missing about a month and a half of training, so I'm pretty far behind where I could/should be according to my initial half-marathon training plan. I wasn't sure if I should even continue through with the training and do the marathon with this lack of training. But I wanted to. And so I plugged my new stats into the wonderful Smart Coach feature over at Runner's World , (which I love) and was pleased to see they gave me an actual plan. In the past I've plugged info in and only received a warning of not enough time to train. This new plan had me starting really slowly and with minimal miles working up to only 6 miles as the longest run. I thought, I can do this, six miles!? That's nothing! And it really is, that's like less than 1/2 of the full 13.1 miles, so I will probably tweak my actual running to increase the long run to be longer than that. But the point is, after seeing that, I decided I would commit to doing the half-marathon. I've been running all winter and am in pretty good shape, so I'm sure I can do it. I've done it before and I can do it again. It might not be my best race ever, and I don't even care if I have to walk at all the water stops! All I know is that I want to do this and so I'm going to. I actually went so far as to register for the half-marathon this past weekend to put my "money where my mouth is", so to speak. 

I'm quite excited about it, too! :-) 

Hopefully I can remember to share my training progress as I go.

Weird Heel "Pain" Follow-Up

Last summer I developed a stress fracture in my left lower leg/shin and had to stop running smack dab in the middle of half-marathon training. While all my runner friends went on to run 10-milers and run in the race, I was stuck on the sidelines with my fancy icer-cup. It sucked, big time. I never did go see a medial professional to be officially diagnosed for that, I just talked to a family friend physical therapist. I didn't see the point in paying for someone to tell me what he told me, "Stop running for 8-10 weeks". So, I did and it got better and I've been running consistently ever since.

 So, when I started to notice a weird numbness/tenderness in the bottom of my right heel, I started to get nervous. I'm only three weeks into training for this years half-marathon and everything was going great--to get injured again this year would be a huge disappointment. So, I kept an eye on it. I called my mom, because I always call her for medical advice first. She told me it didn't sound like plantar fasciitis, which she had, and to just keep an eye on it, noting anything that made it worse. I wasn't too concerned after talking to her, because it didn't specifically hurt, it just felt weird. So, I tried to make sure I wore supportive shoes around the house and I made a point to get my new running shoes before running anymore. I was due for them any mile and I figured it wouldn't hurt.

It was all fine and dandy until I ran five miles on Sunday. It still felt numbish, until I hit the 4.5 mile mark and then it began to hurt. I finished the run (yeah, I know) and iced it when I got home. As the day progressed I noticed that it hurt more than was numb and I got these weird pulling sensations if I shifted my body weight too much if that leg was supporting me. I mentioned it to my runner friend Coleen, who mentioned her runners group had been talked to by a representative of a local urgent care section of the local bone and joint care practice. She gave me their number. I wondered if I should call or just wait out the weirdness, but when I noticed yesterday that the pain was becoming more constant and my heel even ached when I was at rest, I called. I decided that a)if I take care of it now as opposed to later, there would be still hope for the half, b) it might be nothing and I'd rather be safe than sorry, and  c)I just needed to know what the heck was wrong with it.

I had my appointment today. The PA I saw is pretty sure it's not plantar fasciitis and took x-rays which shows my bones are all where they are suppose to be, so no stress-fracture or heel spurs or anything weird like that (hallelujah!). So she thinks its a inflammation of the nerves of my foot, specifically the Baxter's nerve, which runs right through/to the area that feels weird. I guess my symptoms are pretty right on for that.

The treatment? Well, I get to wear this plastic heel cup in my shoe for 2 weeks, ice my foot with that fancy icer-cup every night for 10 minutes and take 2 weeks off from running. The pain should go away and I should be able to ease back into running after 2 weeks. I feel a sense of relief. Two weeks is nothing! I can do two weeks, it's a drop in the bucket compared to 2 months. :-) So, I'm wearing my heel cup and hoping this does the trick. I'm sure I'll let you know.

Paleo, Week 5 and other Randomness

Made some tasty recipes this past week....

Marvelous Meatballs (in the crock pot, woohoo). 

Were so tasty and was pretty large batch so we ended up with lunch for the next couple of days. These were super tasty with those pureed cauliflower that I posted a week or so back. 

I also threw together some sweet potato fries to go with it, seasoned with oregano, basil and some garlic powder. They were a hit with the kids who didn't like the spicier ones I made before.

Also, made my version of Garbage Soup.

Which is just a tasty way of using up veggies, and it was tasty. Even Kera ate it, which is saying a lot!

I was slacking majorly on the picture taking this week. Sorry! We had some other tasty dinners too, including:

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Bake served w/ Brussels Sprouts. I loved the whole dish, the girls didn't enjoy the brussels sprouts or the sun dried tomatoes, and Erik liked it all too. I decided I really like brussel sprouts, though!

Last night I threw together some Caribbean Seafood Stew using shrimp and calamari steaks cut up.It tasted great, although next time I'll use all shrimp as my family wasn't a huge fan of the calamari's consistency. Oh well!

I also tried my hand at making some homemade beef jerky with marginal results. It tastes pretty gamey so I'm the only one eating it, which defeats the purpose. I'll try again another time, probably.

I also had a few nights where I ate pretty non-paleo due to various reasons. It was kind of interesting, we had homemade pizza one night and it just didn't taste as wonderful as I remember. And I didn't feel too great afterwards or the next day. Another interesting thing is that Erik even said he's looking forward to getting "back to the caveman diet" after our weekend of indulgence. That's super encouraging to hear! :-) So, we're back on the bandwagon now. We're headed to visit his family for spring break on Friday, so I hope I can make do while there--being at the mercies of someone else's cooking is always tricky! I loaded up on some healthy fillers like nuts, dried fruit and larabars, so I know I won't starve! I'll probably also offer to do some cooking and grocery getting to ensure our meals stay as close to paleo as possible. 

I'm going to the Bone&Joint clinic today because I have had this weird random pain in my heel and I'm really hoping it's nothing serious and that I can continue half-marathon training as normal! *Crossing my fingers*

Thankful Thursday & Bootie Buster

Today, as the wind blows hard and loud, whipping little particles of rain/snow around and dropping the temperature, I am grateful for my workout area downstairs, specifically my treadmill. I hate running against the wind, so a run outside would've been brutal. I'll run in the snow, rain, cold and whatever weather a Montana winter will bring, but I really hate wind. And since our winter lasts quite a while, I am so grateful that I can continue running through it on my trusty treadmill.

Speaking of winter and running.....I found a little activity that might help me stay active through the holidays:



I think it is going to be fun, you should check it out if you're looking for an extra helping of motivation to keep your head above waters with all the sweets and goodies headed our way! :-)

A few thoughts...

It's a new month. Well, as of yesterday it's a new month. And I am grateful. Looking back on October, it felt very....blah. I can't really pinpoint a main reason or even a main thing, the whole thing just kind of weighed me down. Which is weird, usually its my favorite one, for several reasons. Not this year, however, and so I am extra grateful for November. There is just something about a fresh, clean start that really encourages me. Not that I don't have that option everyday, (Thanks to Jesus), but for some reason, when the calendar coincides with my renewed motivation, it just seems right.

And so I'm back on track, mostly. I finally feel healthy after that cold/flu thing I had, so I'm jumping right back into working out and let me just say, Jillian kicks my butt in a workout video pretty hard. I was sweating buckets yesterday after her Blast that Metabolism (or something like that) workout video. I can't even fathom what it would be like to workout with her in real life! Kind of makes me a little sympathetic to those Biggest Loser folks. (Which, by the way, I'm excited to watch tonight. that and Castle, which was on last night, are the only shows I'm really into this year.) Oh, sorry I digressed there, back to the subject at hand: Working out. And I went for a run outside today, which was awesome in the 50 degree air and light rain. It felt so good, too, for the first time no gimpiness anywhere, so I was thrilled. I love my runs outside because they help me think, too. I love that I live not quite in town and so I get to see more than just houses, it is refreshing to spend time in God's creation and helps remind me why we are all here, anyway.

I'm back on the eating wagon too. Actually, I've never left that wagon, in fact I've been really good at eating lately. What I mean is that I'm back to tracking all my calories. I've got a little over two months before Erik and I go to Mexico, and I want to make as much of a dent in my weight loss battle as possible before we go. I know I can't reach my goal, but any progress I make will be encouraging, so I'm trying to plan meals with more intention towards healthiness and log every single bite.

In other parts of my life, like my "job"  and my relationships, I'm trying get back into it as well. I've figured out a little better use of my calendar and time and planning and all that to try and make sure I'm doing more productive things before the lesser productive things. I tend to go all or nothing (ha ha, see a trend?!) as in I spend all day at home doing absolutely nothing, being by myself, or I'm out and about all day hanging out with friends and letting my laundry and dirty house pile up or, I'm so focused on cleaning and all those things that I don't do anything fun or hang out with anyone. Right now I'm working on balancing those things so that I get a little of each every day, but making sure to prioritize correctly. (i.e. my quiet times and workouts come before blogging, facebook or even scrapbooking.)

So, even though I'm working on quite a bit right now, it feels good. I feel refreshed and energized and motivated and I love it when those are the feelings coursing through my head and heart. How about you? Are you working on anything? Today is a new day, its as good a time as any to start something fresh and new. :-)

Diva Day

Aww, gotta love the pre-run group picture. Especially because it is usually the only one I get!

Today was the annual Diva Day, All Women's 5k run here in town, and a small group of us from church all did it together. We didn't quite get our acts in gear early enough to do any kind of costume--there were so many runners dressed up with tiaras, tutu's, wigs, gowns, wings, etc. We looked at all them to get some ideas for next year because we definitely want to dress up then. The weather was BEAUTIFUL unlike last year which was cold. I think it was 50 or 60 and the high today is suppose to be 80 and sunny, so you can imagine how beautiful the morning was. PERFECT for a run!

Three of our group walked the race, which is awesome. I was especially proud of my friend Yvonne, who has a 4 month old baby and has never really voiced an interest in walking/running before. I know she could run this race next year if she really wanted to. :-) The rest of us ran it, and although we started together, that did not last long. Colleen and her daughter, Leilani, were fast--in fact Leilani had never run a 5k without stopping before, but stuck with her mom the whole race and ended up taking 2nd in her age group while Colleen took 5th in hers. Becca was behind them only barely, which is awesome because she's only been really running for the last year. I could tell how much she'd improved. Go Becca! Then Sonja and I were not too far behind Becca. I was afraid that I'd push myself too much on the race, but I felt really good--legs, lungs and all. I ended up finishing just over 30 minutes, which, although it is not my personal best, it is great considering that I missed the whole summer of training due to that lovely injury. Maybe all that P90X is helping!?

It was a ton of fun to run this race with all my girlfriends, and especially to be able to actually run it and feel good. I am extremely grateful!! Can't wait for next year!

Favorites -- My Top 10

The other day I saw this ingenious post on Katie's blog about all her overall top ten favorite things. I love reading those types of lists because sometimes it helps me to figure out a better way to do something or points me in the direction of a product that is a perfect fit for a need I might have. Besides, its always cool to share your favorite things, we all get so excited about things we've found that work or that we love. :-)

So, I thought I'd do something similar, and because my blog is kind of hodge-podge anyways, my list will be too! In no particular order, here are my top ten favorite things right now...

1. Bodybugg  (Sorry for the horrible picture!)

This thing is amazing. I can see how many calories I am actually burning and keep track of what I'm eating. I've only had it since Friday, but I already love it. I think even having it on my arm all the time helps remind me to stay accountable for what I'm eating. I love being able to hook it up and see all the reports about calories, steps and physical activity.

 

2. Our Latte machine

I almost never buy coffee's out anymore. The rare exception is when I meet someone specifically at a coffee place. How can I when what I pay for a latte out is the same I pay for the whole 1/2 gallon of milk to make it myself?! I love making myself a latte in the morning--there is just something yummy about the frothy milk and espresso mixed together. Ahh! We actually put our regular old coffee pot away and now only use our latte machine. And, I confess, if we go on vacation where we drive anywhere, it comes with us!

3. Cooking blogs

No picture here, but are you really surprised? I love browsing wonderful pictures and recipes and descriptions of food that people have prepared and enjoyed. I rarely buy cookbooks anymore as I can find just about any recipe online. I love it!

 

4. MovingComfort Sports Bra

I think I talked about this already, but its seriously the best sports bra I've found so far. Comfy, supportive, cute and chafe-free. Can't get much better than that!

5. The OneYear Chronological Bible

I've read lots of parts of the Bible, but never the whole thing, for some reason I always got stuck in Numbers or Leviticus! But, somehow this one is different. I think being able to read it the stories in the order they actually happened puts it in a totally new perspective. I understand things I never grasped before after seeing them in order. Being the organized planner that I am, I think it also helps to have what I am reading laid out for me each day.

6. My treadmill

I love my treadmill. It allows me to run when its too dark or too cold/icy to run outside. It gives me a place I can do an easy flat (I live in the hills) run when I need to take it easy. It's in the basement so I can use it without waking my family and its in got a tv/dvd combo in the same room so I can watch the news or movies if I'm really bored. It's fairly new to me although I found it used on Craigslist, and I love that it has the ability to incline and a couple programs. It's exactly perfect for me and I also like the fact that we got a steal of a deal on it.

7. Scentsy

Yay for yummy smells in my house. Yay for having them without fire. Yay for the pretty little burning things that look sort of like night lights. Yay for being able to easily change the wax to change the scent. I have a scentsy in my bathroom (pictured) and in my kitchen and they put any of those poop sprays and candles to shame. I can turn them on in the morning (if I'm going to be home most of the day) and just let them go and my kitchen and/or bathroom smells great.

8. Planner

I have no idea why this picture turned itself, but this is my planner, for now. I tend to change them, always in search of the perfect one. I like to be organized and have everything in order, including my schedule. I write down everything, mainly because if I don't write it down, I can pretty much guarantee I will forget. Because I am a stay-at-home mom whose children are in school all day, I have lots of time. And I want to be the best steward of that time that I can be, so I have found that I need to have a plan. I love my planner for this! It also holds key information, so when I find that I need my kiddo's SSN or someone's phone number that isn't in my cell, I just open my planner.

9. My local library

This is a fairly new discovery for me. I mean, I knew it was there, I just hadn't gone through the effort to get down there and sign up for a card. I have no idea why I hadn't done it until now, but I love being able to check out all the books I want to read, take them home, read them (renew if needed) and then return them, with the only cost having been the gas to get there. I stopped keeping all the books I read long ago, and so this is the perfect way to read, at least for me!

10. Picasa

I have been having fun tweaking pictures and making collages using the Picasa program, from Google. I haven't printed any out yet to use in my scrapbooking, but I intend to. I'm still figuring it out, but love it already. The price tag is great, too, its free! :-)

How about you? What are some of your favorite things?

Donuts & Sports Bra's

I bought donut holes for the first time in a very long time yesterday. They just called my name as I walked by, and Lindsay was having a friend spend the night, so I thought it would be cool to have something fun for breakfast. I also knew I'd be leaving "early" for a run and wouldn't be around to actually fix breakfast. So, I bought one wonderful box of sugared donut holes.

I love donuts. I seriously have wonderful memories associated with donuts as well. Like in high school when we had early morning meetings on Tuesdays for YFC and my friend Jess and I would always get one at Tidyman's on our way there. Or when I moved back to Missoula after college and was studying the Bible with a great group of gals--it seems we always had donut holes for those studies. And somehow there'd almost always be a box of donut holes at the single women quiet time's we would have in my other friend Misti's duplex.  (Hmm, I'm finding a spiritual connection here, maybe eating donuts is sorta spiritual!? hee hee) And then as an adult with kids, sometimes the "be good at the grocery store and I'll get you a treat" treat was a donut or cookie.  Unfortunately, ever since I figured out how seriously unhealthy they are, I stopped buying them. They seriously are unhealthy! But even health food rules are made to be broken once in a while, and so I have enjoyed every single bite of donut hole that I've taken today. They are sooo good.

They are especially good when paired with a warm americano and eaten after running four miles, I've found. I got to run with my running gals this morning for the first time since my injury, and it was great. Once again, we were blessed with perfect weather, and my legs were happy, so it was all good. Oh, and what made it even better? The fact that I finally found a sports bra that is not only comfortable but also supports in all the right ways. I've been looking for quite some time for a sports bra. Actually I've been searching for both a sports bra and an everyday bra that I love. I may have found the everyday one, but the jury is still out. I have definitely found the sports one. Hallelujah! I don't know what it is, but I have a love/hate relationship with bras. Scratch that, I totally hate them. Hate that I have to wear one. Hate that they are always uncomfortable. Hate how much I have to spend to get a good one. Love when its time to put my pj's on and take the horrid thing off!

Anyway, I think I've found a good sports one. It's made by Moving Comfort. It's got no cotton in it, which helps reduce chafing. It's got adjustable straps that don't itch. It's got the hook/eye closure on the back so you avoid the "I'm stuck in my sports bra" entanglement of trying to pull some of them over your head. It's even kind of pink. I've worn it twice now for longish runs and its felt great and supported well. I'm so glad to have found a bra that works for running!!

Trail Running

One of my goals for this year was to take up trail running. It's always fascinated me. I love hiking and I love running, so it made perfect sense to put the two together. I have no idea why I hadn't really tried it until now. Sure, I've ran on "trails" around here, but always on flat ones that I knew the distance. I've never just drove to a trail head and started to run. I think I was intimidated about knowing where to go or how far I was going or even going alone. Well, I finally got out there and went for my first "trail run" today.

A friend and neighbor trail runs, in fact that's all she does, and so I've though it would be fun to go with her sometime. I mentioned it yesterday morning at the bus stop and she was up for it and we planned to go today.

She picked me up and we drove over to the Blue Mountain trail head, which isn't more than a couple miles from our houses. The weather was perfect, cool but still the sun peeked out once in a while from the clouds. I was a little intimidated, knowing that she can out run me, but we ended up running the same pace most of the time--it probably helps that we're both nursing healing stress fractures! And the trails she took me on were a perfect mix of uphill, downhill and level. It was great. I felt pretty winded on the hills, but it was good--my legs felt strong and it was nice to just chat while we ran. I really enjoyed getting for a run out in the hills away from houses and the traffic. I will definitely go again. In fact, I liked it so much that I think I may have to eventually invest in some trail shoes! :-)

The road welcomed me

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go for a run, outside. Actually, let me take that back. Over the weekend, while at my in-law's house, I was able to go for my first run outside in 'I don't know how many months'. It was pretty good. It was sunny and windy, so I got hot and had to run against the wind for part of it, but I ran without pain in my legs so I was happy. It felt really hard and although I had wanted to run for 40 minutes, it turned into only about 32 or so. It just wasn't ideal running conditions.

Then, yesterday morning I had another chance. It was cooler out, maybe almost 60, the sun was shining but there was no wind. I had no schedule and nothing really planned so I thought, eh, I'll run for half-an-hour or so. I donned my clothes, shoes, mp3 and sunglasses and headed out the door.

The road welcomed me. I swear. Everything about that run was ideal that I was sure the road had missed me and was welcoming me back. My breathing felt natural, my legs felt strong and once I got over the first hill, I felt my heart soar. (No, not from increased heart rate, either!) I had beat-boppy music in my ears and was surrounded by a beautiful day in the country--deer frolicking in the big ol' field, horses napping in the sun, birds fluttering around the fence poles--and I was so happy. It felt great. I didn't realize how much I had missed running until I could do it again, and I mean really do it again--treadmills do not count.

I had told Erik I'd only be gone 30 minutes, but when my 15 minute half-way mark passed I couldn't stop, I kept going. I seriously felt like I could run forever.

I didn't though, I turned back around 20 minutes, making it home around 42 minutes--I didn't want to worry him by staying out longer than that. But I still felt great at that point, and I do today too. Hardly sore at all (although my yoga workout will feel soo good today). So, I think I can happily and safely say, "I'm back!"

Weigh-in Wednesday

The view out my window not too long ago when I was working out. :-)

Hi there. I didn't do this last week for two good reasons. One, I was thoroughly enjoying my last week of summer vacation. And two, I didn't want to step on the scale. I was pretty sure I had either gained or not lost and I just didn't want to face it.

The good thing about the girls going back to school? Life is more orderly and it's so much easier to have discipline in every area of life, including exercise & eating. So, I am back on the wagon, for reals this time. I am counting each calorie (including you little M&M cookie!) and working out 6 days a week. I even took my vitamins 3 days in a row. I even ran outside yesterday--something I haven't done in months--and it felt so wonderful, even if my legs are super sore now thanks to the hills! I know I am doing what I need to do, so if I stick with it, the results will surely show themselves.

All that to preface the fact that I gained a pound since I last weighed in. I am not surprised at all, like I said I was really enjoying the last week of summer, camping and all that with the family, eating all the junk food that goes along with it and not counting anything. Honestly, it was kind of refreshing to not to be so focused on food for a few days. I think maybe a little of that is good for you, but probably not a whole week of it.

Suffice it to say I failed at my goals from last time, but I have a new one. I have decided to just do one goal at a time to enable me to actually focus on it. This week I want to work on cutting back on my coffee intake. The last few days I've had an extra latte in the afternoon and its pushed my calorie count up and given me a tummy ache and made me want to eat to soothe it. I have my two cups in the morning and those don't bother me, so my goal is to stick to water and tea (or my 1 glass of wine with dinner) after those 2 morning coffee's.

Weigh-in Wednesday

Hohum. I almost thought about skipping this post today. But then I remembered why I am even blogging about my weight loss, or lack of this week. I am writing about it here to keep me accountable, so I will write about it even when I don't have good news. Oh, well, I suppose its good news as long as I am not gaining, right? So being the same as last week would be okay, I guess. I'd definitely rather stay put than gain, but the whole point of this is to see the scale move downward, so I'm not totally happy.

I know why I haven't lost any weight this past week. I wasn't doing a stellar job of tracking my calories, for one. I baked yesterday and it doesn't matter what diet you are on, eating four or five (I lost track!) freshly baked zucchini bread muffins isn't good. Sure I did great at breakfast and even lunch, getting into my salad for lunch habit, but then I went and ruined it all at dinner. I think I need to work on consistency throughout the day.

As for working out, I am still doing it. Last week was sort of a maintenance week on the P90X thingy, so the workouts were less intense and then we went up to the lake on Friday and I didn't workout on the weekend. Well, I held onto the tube behind the boat, but that's doesn't exactly count. I'm still trying to take it really easy on the running so I only did it once last week. I am sort of looking forward to school starting because then I know we'll be around here more and I can stick with my workout plans even through the weekend. Until then I just gotta keep on keeping on though. I'm feeling good and the waistbands on my pants keep getting loser and loser, so I know something is going well.

I think I'm going to start giving myself goals for the week ahead, just little things I want to try and work on. This next week I want to do the following:

1. Take my vitamins everyday. I forget so easily but I want this to become my habit.
2. Count my calories throughout the whole day at least 5 days this next week. I know we're going camping on the weekend which will be my non-count days.

So there's my accountability. How about you, how are you doing?

Weigh-in Wednesday & Other Random Bits

Good news on the weight loss front. I lost 1 pound!!

 I haven't been super strict about counting every calorie, especially with spending the weekend at Erik's folks' place, but I have been more conscious about how much I'm eating and trying to make wise choices overall. Like not having ice cream the other night when the girls did, not taking seconds and trying to eat more fruits & vegetables as snacks.

I've also been working out like crazy. This is officially week #3 of the P90X Lean program and I can sure feel it. I'm always sore but also I am seeing a little more definition in some muscles. I am excited to share with you that I am back to running. I ran on Monday for the first time in 6 weeks, only did an easy 30 minute/2.4 mile run but it felt so good! No soreness in my legs and my lungs weren't totally burning. I never though I would say this but I was so happy to be back on my treadmill! Now that I can run & walk I'm sure that will only help me reach my goals. I plan on sticking with the P90X for as long as I can (i.e. until my mom takes the videos back) and supplement that with the running. I'm not going to train for anything, although I'd like to, I think it would be better for me to just take it easy and run for fun for a while.

I'd like to keep my weight loss entries separate, but I know that I probably won't make it a priority to do another entry today, or even tomorrow as I'll be packing for a camping trip. But I had some other things I wanted to share, so I'll just randomly add them here...

-I own a sewing machine!! My mother-in-law bought one at a garage sale this past weekend, then turned around and gave it to me. I was surprised and encouraged. I've been wanting a sewing machine for a while--every time I have to sew I've always either a) sewn by hand or b)gone over to use my Mom's machine. I'm so tickled to have my own. I hemmed up Kera's curtains yesterday that have been too long forever and I have a pillow to fix. I think I'd like to try my hand at sewing clothes for the girls. Or maybe implementing sewing on my scrapbook pages. I needed another hobby like I needed a hole in my head, but I'm still just tickled pink to be a sewing machine owner!

-I read "Food Rules" by Michael Pollan and have some insights to share, but that won't be today. Stay tuned for that one.

-I have found a new author/book that I've been devouring lately. It's a series about a female bounty hunter who usually gets her guy by pure luck. I love it when the main character is a woman, especially a woman who can get things done, and Stephanie Plum does but usually not without a few laughs. Not exactly literature and there are some steamy parts I could seriously do without, but she totally cracks me up. If you're looking for an easy & entertaining read, check out Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I have been frequenting the local book exchange to read through the entire series, fifteen books in all, and am up to number 12. Some are definitely better than others, but I almost always laugh several times through out. :-)

-We're going camping this weekend, hopefully I will have some beautiful pictures to share with you on Monday!

Weigh-in Wednesday

I actually remembered to weight myself this morning before breakfast! I was making my latte (don't worry its skim milk), which is the first thing I do, when I remembered. So I promptly, and quietly as to let Lindsay keep sleeping, went to weigh myself.

I am disappointed that I didn't lose anything, but at least the scale didn't go up, right? I weigh the same as last week at this time, 170. Although the scale I use isn't digital and has a tendency to read weird--for example I have to take a pound off what it registers because I can't get it set to exactly zero for some strange reason. So, who knows, maybe I lost a half a pound this week. But I am not measuring halves, just wholes, so for this week I guess I stayed put.

I could try to blame it on all the weird cravings and feelings that go with monthly hormones because those were certainly present the past week. But in all honesty, I'm still not keeping very good track of my eating and am taking more "free" days than I really should. I've been keeping track of my calories in a little notebook on my kitchen counter, writing everything by hand, but maybe I need to change it up and make it more interesting or something, I don't know. All I know is that my body is sore and I did every day of my workout last week, so I know I got the exercise stuff down, now I just gotta manage the eating part. Unfortunately this is always my problem. I love the exercise but fail at the eating well, which is exactly why I am where I am. I count my lucky stars that I do love the exercise part, or I would probably have even more weight to lose.

On a happy note, my leg doesn't hurt, even when I do small doses of plyometrics with my workouts, so I'm thinking I'm ready for running again--that and its been almost 6 weeks. So I think Sunday is gonna be the lucky day. I can hardly wait!

Anyone have any tips on the whole eating part of this equation? I'm thinking its just a matter of mind over matter....

Marathon

It is official, I am not running the half-marathon this year. And I'm finally okay with that. I need to let my leg heal completely so I can run for the rest of my life as opposed to running now and possibly not run again ever. A month ago I was down about it, but not so much today. So, instead of running 13.1 miles tomorrow, I watched the girls run 1.2 miles today as part of the Kid's Marathon. I gave them the option of not doing it. Honestly, both Erik and I would've rather gone camping, but I figured since I'd already paid for it, I'd leave it up to the girls. They both wanted to and Lindz even had high hopes of being the first one across the finish line.

Their run didn't start til 11 am on a day that the temp is suppose to climb to the 90's. The sun was shining in force and made the sidewalk/cement feel like the sahara desert. It was awful for a run.

Lindz didn't "win" but she did great, running mostly all of it and coming across the finish line with a totally red face. She was proud of herself, so that was perfect. Erik kept Kera company on her run, since it was her first ever, and I guess she didn't want to run at all and they even turned around early to come back. Despite the fact that she didn't complete the whole thing, she still got all the finishing perks and I told her I was proud. Turns out she didn't like it much, which is okay, at least she tried it to find out, right?

This picture is at the end, you can tell by their expressions how different each of their experience's was!!

I am not sure if I will go cheer on my friends who are running tomorrow, two of which it will be a first. We may have had all we can handle of the crowds and the parking downtown fun today.