Healthy Living – Page 14

Race Recap: Athleta IronGirl 5K

Today was the day I was supposed to run my first half-marathon. It was a race I was not totally prepared for and shouldn’t have signed up for in the first place. After a bout with shingles, I dropped down to the 5K and I must say, it’s probably one of the better decisions I’ve made this year. I felt nothing but relief and happiness with my decision, even while witnessing all the half runners getting ready for their race. Maybe one day I’ll be ready to tackle a half-marathon but not just yet.

So today was the day. Last year, I participated in the IronGirl 5K while my mom did the 15K. I haven’t been running much lately. Right now, I’m focusing on running short distances (like 1 mile short) and I’m going to slowly work my way up from there. I’m no longer putting a time limit on how far I should be running by a certain point. By taking that pressure off, running has become less of a stress inducer and more of a stress reliever.

My goal was just to beat last year’s time of 44:54 and I had a secret goal of PR-ing. The fact that I hadn’t been running much didn’t make me positive this would happen. So, at the very least, I wanted to run as much as I could.

I’m not quite sure of my times, but I do know I finished my first mile in about 11 minutes, give or take a few seconds. I don’t run 11-minute miles. Right now, I’m just shooting to run a mile in 12 minutes, so this is big for me.

I took a few walking breaks during the race. I took a 3-minute break after I ran the first mile, a short 1-minute break during the water station, and then another 3-minute break after I ran the second mile. Around Mile 2, my side began cramping up, right around my ribcage. I have such a problem with side cramps while running and haven’t found anything to help them. Usually, taking big gulps of breath and massaging the area helps a little. Luckily, I hit 2 miles and took a walking break before the pain got too bad, and was just determined to finish this race. I desperately wanted to PR.

When my last mile started, I took it at a super slow pace. I didn’t want to go out too fast and have the cramping flare up again or get too tired to finish the race running. And while I swear that last mile was more like 4 miles than 1.1, I pushed through it and pushed myself to finish strong. This was actually one of the first races where I had to push myself to keep going. My mom left me in the dust about half a mile in and it was all up to me this time.

I crossed the finish line at 41:07, with a pace of 13:17. I took 1 minute, 7 seconds off my previous PR.

Umm…AMAZING! I was so incredibly proud of myself for getting another PR, especially since I haven’t been running much. I think by taking the pressure off me to run a certain distance at a certain pace by a certain time, I’ve grown to like running a little bit more. (I’m still not sure I want to say I love it.) I think I took on too much too soon and it burned me out.

IronGirl is a race you must do if you can. They have them all over the U.S. and it’s just such a fun atmosphere to be a part in. It’s all women of all age groups and fitness levels. The event was well organized and the energy is electric. As soon as I got over my pre-race jitters, I became excited to run this race and push myself, surrounded by women doing the same thing.

And I have to give a special shout-out to Katy whom I met last night! Awesome blogger, awesome girl, and a crazy-fast runner. I think I had just passed the Mile 1 marker when I saw her on the other side, closing in on Mile 2. Yeah. She’s fast. (And she placed 4th in our age group…while I placed 121st, ha.)

Oh, and a shout-out to my mom, who crushed her previous PR by 5 minutes. Incredible.

Categories: Healthy Living

It’s easy until it’s hard

I just ended my 12th week on Weight Watchers. While this isn’t my first time around, it is the longest I’ve stuck around since the summer of 2007. Usually, the program feels too hard and I know that I haven’t totally been ready to commit to this whole weight loss/getting healthy thing. I mentioned before how different this cycle feels. I feel better about how I’m eating and even better about those bad weeks. Because I know it’s not the end of the world if I have a bad week. I know it doesn’t mean I’ll forever be fat. It just means I had a bad week. That’s it! There’s no deeper meaning to connect with this, but the fact that I need to do better the following week.

Two weeks ago, my meeting leader said to us that this program is easy. It’s not hard to follow, nothing is restricted, and there isn’t a certain quota you have to meet every day. Sure, they have the “8 Healthy Guidelines” but it’s something that is more recommended than required. The Weight Watchers program is incredibly easy. Eat right, exercise, and indulge (thanks to those 49 extra weekly points).

Last week, I had an incredible week. I stayed within my points range. I got in 4 days of quality exercise, usually over an hour each time. And I went from drinking 44+ points of soda, to just 18 points. I cut my soda intake by more than half. I even had 14 extra weekly points remaining, when I usually have 0. (I use up those points, and use them up well!) Weighed in. Gained .2.

I almost cried on the scale.

I mean, I really tried hard. I ate better, drank so much more water, and really tried to cut down on my soda intake. It bummed me out, a lot. But I remained positive, telling myself that it would be OK. Next week, I would have a huge loss.

Um. Yeah. About this week. It wasn’t pretty. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’ve been waiting to feel like this program is too hard, and takes too much out of me. This week, it happened. I was just overcounting everything that I ate, being too diligent in tracking and exercising and decreasing the bad foods. I didn’t open my tracking journal once. The only thing right I did was on my soda. While I drank more of it than last week, I didn’t keep it in the house and would only have about one a day. A vast improvement from two weeks ago.

It wasn’t my best week. But it was just a week. A week where I didn’t follow the plan like I should have, but not a week that totally defeated me. I’m ready to get back to it, tracking my little heart out, exercising consistently, and reducing the amount of soda and junk food I’m taking in. Sometimes, you just need a week off the program to realize how much you need the program.

Stats
Starting Weight: 159.2 lbs
Current Weight: 151.2 lbs
Net Difference: -8 lbs (+.4 over a two-week period)
BMI: 27.7 (+.1 this week)

Categories: Healthy Living

Drastic

This week, I decided I had to do something drastic. My water consumption is pitiful and I will admit to days when I don’t drink one ounce of water at all. And it’s because of soda. I love soda and I drink way too much of it. Since joining Weight Watchers, I’ve been doing better on drinking less but it’s still a huge issue. It means I’m wasting 4+ points a day on soda and not getting in the correct amount of water.

I have to drastically cut it out of my life, because what I’m doing isn’t working. And no, I’m not excited about this at all.

At first, I thought about giving myself a specific amount of water to drink, starting at 24oz. I would shoot for drinking 24oz of water a day and gradually bump the amount up until I was drinking 70-80 ounces a day. …And that barely ever happened. Even though I have two pretty nifty water bottles that measure out to 24oz, water is not my favorite thing to drink. And if I have the option to choose water or soda, I will choose soda 98% of the time. This way wasn’t working.

So then I started setting aside days of the week where I wouldn’t have any soda, calling them “No Coke Days.” Since starting back at Weight Watchers in January, I’ve only done this a few times and it’s only been for one day. It was going well and I was hoping to add more days without Coke, but then shingles happened and all healthy eating flew out the window for a week. I’ve been able to get back in the swing of things with my eating, but not with my soda intake.

Soda is my biggest problem when it comes to getting healthy. I do fine with exercise, sticking within my points range, and eating only when I’m hungry. But soda? Forget it. It’s an addiction. And since I only drink regular Coke, it means I have to count at least 4 points for each serving. My mom drinks Diet Coke, but I’ve tried to stay away from diet soda because I know it would only cause me to drink it even more. At least with regular soda, I have to account for it and it makes me stay somewhat in control. (Or at least that’s what I tell myself.)

But the time has come to gain control over this area. I want to stop wishing I could cut down on how much soda I drink and just do it. And I am. I am giving myself a limit of 3 sodas a week. As of right now, I’m not going to count Wednesday night into this equation, although I might as the weeks go by. I am no longer going to buy it, because it only causes me to reach for the syrupy stuff more than water. I can choose to have it three times and once I’ve had it those three times, that’s it. No more. I think cutting it out this way is better in the long run because I’m leaving room for cravings, but it’s also going to be a big cut in how much soda I drink on a weekly basis. For example, last week, I had around 11 servings of Coke (12oz/serving.) This doesn’t count what I had on Wednesday night, heh. Going from 11 to 3 is going to be a drastic shift.

My main reason for quitting the Coke is to have more energy. I know the amount of sugar I have in each Coke isn’t helping anything. It will also free up a lot of my points! 11 servings of Coke = 44 points. Sickening, really. And hopefully, this will lead to another great week of weight loss. 🙂

Stats
Starting Weight: 159.2 lbs
Current Weight: 150.8 lbs
Net Difference: 8.4 lbs (-.8 lbs this week)
BMI: 27.6 (-.1 this week)

Categories: Healthy Living

Sometimes, I…

…buy a bag of Robin Eggs and finish the entire thing in a 24-hour time period. And try to feel guilty about it but can’t, because they are just that good.

…forget to charge my iPod and a scheduled run turns into an unscheduled walk.

…stop tracking my food deliberately and feel completely out of control.

…realize how much tracking helps me stay accountable and, most of all, more in control of my body.

…experience anxiety on weeks when I’m not working as hard as I need to be at this weight loss thing, worrying I will never be able to control myself and always be labeled as fat.

…get annoyed by the perfectionists in my Weight Watchers meetings.

…think the best part of my week is after weigh-in, when I get to eat whatever I want and not worry about points values.

…experience major exercise guilt, either from not working out or not working out as hard as I wanted to.

…think about quitting soda cold turkey, but I know I would be miserable.

…get really jealous of others’ weight loss successes.

…make a really good, healthy choice over a really bad, unhealthy choice and feel completely satisfied and proud of me.

…forget how good an early morning workout feels. I wish I could do that every day.

…think I have a really bad week and will never see successful weight loss…and end up losing more weight than I thought I could.

Stats

Starting Weight: 159.2 lbs

Current Weight: 151.6 lbs

Net Difference: 7.6 lbs (-3.2 this week)

BMI: 27.7 (-.6 this week)

Categories: Healthy Living

On Quitting 13.1

I didn’t want to write this post.

I didn’t want to admit that I took on a challenge too big, that I couldn’t do something it seems everyone and their mother has done or will do in the upcoming months. I hate failure more than anything, especially when it comes to myself. Past experiences have led me to an obsession with achievement and winning, never failure.

I’ve been training to run the IronGirl Half-Marathon for a few weeks now. At first, I was incredibly excited. What an amazing accomplishment this will be! I told myself to enjoy the process, not worry about how long a distance of thirteen miles is. This was for the experience, not for any sort of time goal. The important part was to enjoy it.

At first, I was shooting to finish within 3 hours. If I could make it within that time frame, I would be incredibly happy with myself. Then I started to realize how hard it would be to keep up that pace when I’m walking a good portion of it. I’m not a fast runner by any means and neither am I a fast walker. (Darn short legs.) I began to tell myself to forget about finishing within 3 hours. Instead, focus on finishing my miles and preparing my mind for race day. Enjoy the experience.

I wasn’t enjoying anything. My runs were painful and almost every long run made me cry and beat myself up in frustration. Every run made me question why I was doing this. Why did I shoot for such a lofty goal when it’s still hard to run just a mile? Is this something I want to do or am I doing this for other people? Am I doing this to fit into this crazy blogging world where everyone seems to love running and training for marathons? (At least in the healthy-living world. And not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

I stressed myself out to the point of shingles. My body had to physically let me know I was under major stress and needed to make serious changes before things got worse. My low immune system also played a role in this, but so did stress. Stress about training, about the race, about how others would view me as a quitter if I dropped out of the half-marathon.

To be completely honest, I didn’t want to admit on this blog that I was quitting again. I didn’t want to let everyone down. I had so many people rooting for me, telling me I could do this. I hate the connotation of being a quitter, but I guess it’s a label I have to take on. Because I am. I’m quitting. I’m dropping down to the 5K, from 13 miles to 3.

When I made the decision, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt free. I felt as if I could finally breathe again. But it also sucks. I know I’m going to feel awful come race day with all the half-marathon runners and me – still running baby 5K races. But I also know it’s the best decision. My body – physically or mentally – isn’t prepared for 13 miles. As much as I pushed myself, my body finally pushed back and told me enough is enough. This isn’t a decision I made lightly or in the heat of the moment. It’s a decision that feels right.

My plan is to keep running, but keep the distances small. Build up my stamina and endurance so my body will be ready to tackle a half-marathon someday in the future. Start with one-mile runs and gradually increase, as I feel my body getting stronger. I want to give this running thing its fair shot because I so badly want to be a runner. I want to be one of you guys.

April 10th doesn’t feel like Doomsday anymore. It feels like a normal day where I will go out and try to kill my previous PR of 42:32. So maybe it’s not quitting. Maybe it’s just being smart.

Sources: x, x