Healthy Living – Page 16

Half-Marathon Training Plan

First and foremost, bloggers participating in the Blogger Book Swap: please make sure to get your books in the mail by this Sunday! And send me a tweet, e-mail, or comment when you do. Currently, I only know of two who have sent them so just keep me in the loop!

I’ll be running the IronGirl Half-Marathon on April 10th. I’m super nervous about it, especially since running is still a big struggle for me. But I’ve already registered so there’s no turning back now. Must. Do. This!

I’ve made a very tentative training plan, using Hal Higdon’s Novice Half-Marathon plan. I’m really not looking to do anything but complete 13.1 miles in a reasonable amount of time.

	MON	TUES	WED	THURS	FRI	SAT	SUN
1/17	REST	3 (5:2)	XT	3 (5:2)	1	STRENGTH	4 (5:2)
1/24	REST	3 (5:2)	XT	3 (5:2)	1.5	STRENGTH	4 (5:2)
1/31	REST	3.5 (6:2)	XT	3.5 (6:2)	2	STRENGTH	5 (6:2)
2/7	REST	3.5 (6:2)	XT	3.5 (6:2)	2.5	STRENGTH	5 (6:2)
2/14	REST	4 (7:2)	XT	4 (7:2)	3	STRENGTH	6 (7:2)
2/21	REST	4 (7:2)	XT	4 (7:2)	3.5	STRENGTH	5 (RACE)
2/28	REST	4.5 (8:2)	XT	4.5 (8:2)	4	STRENGTH	7 (8:2)
3/7	REST	4.5 (8:2)	XT	4.5 (8:2)	4.5	STRENGTH	8 (8:2)
3/14	REST	5 (9:2)	XT	5 (9:2)	5	STRENGTH	6 (9:2)
3/21	REST	5 (9:2)	XT	5 (9:2)	5.5	STRENGTH	9 (9:2)
3/28	REST	5 (9:1)	XT	5 (9:1)	6	STRENGTH	10 (9:1)
4/4	REST	4 (9:1)	XT	2 (9:1)	REST	REST	13.1

Now, some notes:

I’ll be using a run/walk interval plan because it’s the only way I’ll get through this training cycle. The numbers in parenthesis on my run days is the interval I’ll be running. I will hopefully be up to doing a 9:1 run/walk interval on race day.
On Fridays, I’m going to try to run these miles the whole way through. This isn’t on Higdon’s training plan, but it’s something I want to try out. I’m not sure if I’ll be up to 6 miles by March 28th, so these are very tentative.
XT = cross-training. Generally, this will entail the bike and the elliptical.

And, some questions:

Do you see any problems with my training plan? I’m eager to do this right, and not injure myself in the process.
Do you think I need the Friday training runs where I’m just running, or should I use them for rest days?
At what mileage should I eat a Gu? Is there anything you would suggest, aside from Gu, to eat during a long run?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway – a $55 gift card to CSN Stores. Giveaway closes at 7pm on Sunday.

Categories: Healthy Living

If It Takes Me 300 Attempts, At Least I Never Quit

I’ve been going back and forth with myself on whether or not to post weekly weight updates here. I’ve never been good at being consistent with these types of posts, but I feel like I need a place to write about the process, the good things and the bad things. I need a place to vent, a place to celebrate, and a place to share.

I’ve written about my history of weight loss in many, many, many posts. I won’t go through it again. Yesterday, I went back to Weight Watchers for what might be my 6th or 7th time. Granted, most of the times I’ve quit have been because of monetary issues but I took a nice, little 4-week hiatus from WW over the holidays because things got rather crazy. I went nuts with my eating and was constantly frustrated and disappointed in myself for not being able to control myself over the holiday season. I would end each day, saying, “I’m going to do better tomorrow,” only to continue the pattern all over again.

Over the past week, I’ve been thinking about all my WW attempts. I usually am very successful if I follow the plan, but eventually get tired of watching everything I eat and having to be so careful. It’s not as if I feel like I’m missing out or depriving myself, but rather that I just want to eat what I want, when I want. There’s a time and a place for indulging – and it’s not every day. I look back on how many times I’ve quit and it frustrates me. Why can’t I just get it done in one fell swoop? Why do I constantly disappoint myself with these failed attempts? Here’s what I came up with:

So what.

So what if it takes me attempt after attempt after attempt? So what if I keep failing but brushing myself off and trying again? So what if it takes me another 5 years to lose just 40 lbs? This is my journey and it’s going to take me a long time to switch over to a healthy lifestyle. It will not happen overnight, over the next few weeks, or even the next few months. I need to remember to take baby steps and stop getting discouraged when I’m still living in the fat mentality three months from now. I need to celebrate the small victories and grow from the failures.

I know I would be tipping the scales at 200+ lbs if I hadn’t joined WW in 2007. It’s kept me at a steady, albeit overweight, weight. And I’ve learned so much in these 3 1/2 years of going to different WW meetings and learning from different leaders.

But I’m back. I went last night to my first meeting since the beginning of December. I was prepared to gain and prepared to gain a lot. And I did. But I’m ready to get back on the horse, take this one day at a time, and finally change my life. I’m ready to work hard and really delve deeply into what my body needs for fuel and what foods are just junk in my body.

Stats
Starting/Current Weight: 159.2 lbs
BMI: 29.1 (.9 away from obese! Holy crap.)
Net difference: +8 from my last weigh-in
Goal Weight: 120 lbs

Goal For This Week
I’ll only be giving myself one goal to achieve this week, building on the previous week’s goal (if I achieve it). For this week, my only real goal is to follow the plan and stick with my points. I want to get back on track and start feeling more in control of my body and eating habits again.

How was your eating like during the holidays? Did you overindulge, or keep it on track? How did you feel about it?

Categories: Healthy Living

A Running Conundrum

So, I’ve been trying to run for a long time. Or maybe a short time, but it seems long to me. The latter part of 2010 has been spent with me trying to become a runner, first with half-marathon training and then with Couch to 5K. I’ve been frustrated with my progress thus far. I’m frustrated with how slow I am, how low my endurance is, and how I still can’t freaking run 3 miles without stopping.

The truth is, running isn’t fun for me. I worry about it all day until the time rolls around for my run. (I have to be at work at 6:30am so morning runs are not an option Monday – Friday.) I dread it. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve been excited about a run. (And half of those would be race days.) And running is hard. Really, really hard. And not just hard in the way it’s supposed to be. My ankles kill me almost the entire time. I get side stitches that feel like someone is stabbing me with multiple knives from inside my stomach. I spend the majority of my runs hating my life and wondering why I subject myself to this torture.

And I never, ever think these thoughts with any other form of exercise.

I follow 82 blogs currently. A good quarter of those bloggers are runners. And I would estimate 5-10 of those bloggers are hardcore runners. People who run 8-minute miles and think they had a bad run. People who are striving to become ultra marathoners, a feat I cringe at. And while I don’t exactly compare myself to them, the fact the majority of the healthy-living bloggers that I follow are runners, makes me believe I need to be a runner, too. Running is cool! It’s popular! If they can do it, I can do it! But what if I don’t like running? What about the dread I feel leading up to a run and the only part that brings me happiness is being finished?

It’s a debate I come back to again and again. Why am I running? Am I doing it because I love it? My mom loves it. She looks forward to her runs (not every run, but most of them) and absolutely enjoys herself while running. I don’t love it. Am I doing it because that’s what’s popular? All the bloggers are doing it!

I have an intense love for races, though. I love the atmosphere, the swag, the feeling of crossing the finish line. I feel like the only time I enjoy running is during a race.

Basically, I just don’t know what to do. Running has seemed to overtake my life, but it’s still coming incredibly hard for me. And I don’t really enjoy it. On the other hand, I have never felt the kind of accomplishment and happiness that I get when I complete a run. It feels awesome. But I also dread it. I don’t look forward to it and it just plain hurts. And not a good, I’m-getting-a-great-workout hurt. I also miss doing other forms of exercise because I’m trying so hard to run often and build up my endurance. I want to take Spinning classes and yoga. I want to bike more and strength-train.

What say you, blog readers? If you’re a runner, do you love it? How do you deal with these feelings, if you ever have them? Should I give up this “dream” to be a runner (I’m not even sure if it’s a dream I have, or just a way to fit in with healthy-living bloggers)? Should I scale back? WHAT DO I DO?

Categories: Healthy Living

Race Recap: U.S. AmeriBank Brandon 5K

Good news! This will be my last race recap until late January! 🙂

I was pretty worried about how I would do during this race. Since the Turkey Trot, I had one run once and while it was a good run, I knew I wanted to better my time and wouldn’t be happy unless that happened.

The race was in Brandon, which meant a 30-minute drive for us. It was a little chilly in the morning, but not too bad. I would say it was in the low 50s around 6am, but headed into the high 50s/low 60s at race time. (My weather app told me it was 55 degrees at race time, but it felt much hotter. And I’m a wimp when it comes to cold weather so 55 degrees would have frozen me solid.)

My mom was running the half-marathon, as a training run for her full next month, so she headed off first at 7am. I was so nervous for her, knowing she wanted a good run after her awful trail run.

My race started at 7:30am and it was a pretty small crowd of people. I was worried that I would get behind quickly, as I did in the trail run, and not see anyone for miles. (Luckily, this didn’t happen. Although I was in the latter part of the group.) Before the race, I met Melanie! I hooked up with her through DailyMile when I saw she was running this race and it was cool to meet, although I didn’t see her afterward to keep chatting.
Boo!

The race was simple and flat. It wound through a shopping center, down a busy street, and through a subdivision, before looping back. I tried not to get too discouraged when I saw the leaders already heading back before I even finished my first mile. (The winner did it in 16:16. Crazy!)

Since I didn’t know if this race would have mile markers, I decided to employ a 12:2 run/walk ratio. The first 12 minutes were horrible, making me question my decision to want to be a runner, especially as I kept falling behind. But I kept running until I hit 12 minutes. About 30 seconds into my walk, I saw the first mile marker. Dang! At least I knew I was going at a pretty good pace.

Once my two minutes of walking were up, I began to run again, stopped for a few seconds at the water stop, and picked up my pace again. This interval wasn’t too bad, although I know I was going pretty slow. I was just focused on running and not stopping.

I took another two-minute walking break when I hit the second mile marker. I had a terrible side stitch that I had to keep massaging. I kept trying to run but it’s hard when it feels like a billion knives are poking you from the inside. I kept massaging my side until it felt like I could run with it and run I did! I ran all the way to the finish, maintaining a pretty good pace and sprinted to the finish.

Finishing time? 42:17. Another personal record for this girl!

For the past few days, I’ve been toying with the idea of training for a 10K or a half-marathon but I think I’m going to stick to 5K’s for the time being until I feel like 3 miles is easy. Right now, it’s still pretty hard and I want to be able to run the entire thing without walking. There’s nothing wrong with walking breaks, but I need to prove to myself I can run a 5K without them. I might shoot for a 10K this summer and maybe (this is a big maybe) a half-marathon next fall.

This was a great race and I would definitely run it again. I love any race with well-placed mile markers, chip timing, and great spectator support. Even the people taking pictures were giving great support! One of them actually ran over a mile with my mom to the finish and made her keep running! The weather was great and I loved the tech tee I got. I need more long-sleeved ones and this one is perfect! I really can’t think of anything to complain about! They even gave out beer at the finish! 🙂

Answer me this: what’s the coldest you will walk/run in? For me, it would be anything under 45 degrees. That’s just too cold for this thin-skinned Florida girl!

Categories: Healthy Living

Points Plus

I haven’t mentioned it on this blog, but in October, I went back to Weight Watchers. My mom and I made a pact to weigh in every week, even if we had a bad week. And recently, a new Weight Watchers opened up in our area where we can come and weigh in at any time. (Usually, Weight Watcher locations are only open during meeting times so this is very helpful on weeks we can’t make a meeting and can hop over during our lunch to weigh in.)

This week, WW unveiled a brand-new program called Points Plus. It is a completely new program so I thought I would take the time to outline the major changes for people curious about starting WW or long-ago members who want to know what’s changed.

Fruits and vegetables are now 0 points
This is one of the biggest changes and I am so happy to see this! On Momentum, a large apple was 3 points and for me, it just didn’t seem worth it to “waste” 3 points on an apple. So I barely ever ate fresh apples. This plan allows for fresh fruit and veggies to be 0 points, giving members ample ways to fit in their F&V servings! This opens up a whole new world to me and I even bought my first fresh pineapple this week! There are exclusions, mainly for starchy veggies like potatoes and corn. And it has to be fresh fruit so those fruit cups are not free. I’m really excited to see how much more fruits and veggies I will begin to eat now that they have a 0 points value!
So long calories, fat, and fiber! Hello, protein, carbs, fat, and fiber!
There is a completely new Points system in town. No longer will you be calculating the calories, fat, and fiber of a food. WW has taken away calories and added in protein and carbs. I’m really excited about this change because I think it gives a more accurate value to the food. Most food values have changed. My 2-point oatmeal is now 3 points. A SmartOnes meal that used to be 4 points is now 6 points. I had to buy a new Points calculator, although they were on sale for $6. I believe the only way you can calculate your Points now is through eTools, the calculator, and the iPhone app. (I may be wrong, so please correct me if there are more ways!)
With new Points values comes a new Daily Points Target, as well as more Extra Points
Say goodbye to the old way of calculating your Daily Points Target, there is a brand-new scientific way that WW now calculates it. I get 29 Daily Points and that’s the lowest it can be. When I weighed in and got my sticker to put in my book, it showed my DPT on the sticker. And let’s welcome in the 49 Extra Points we now get with open arms! I use those extra points like they’re going out of style so I’m super excited about having 14 more. While it does all even out since Points are now more, it’s still nice to have more Points to work with!
Exercise is different
At your meeting, you’ll receive a big guide to the program, as well as a new Pocket Guide. In the Pocket Guide, there’s a new way to figure out your exercise points. The way to calculate is the same (time, weight, and intensity) but it’s not exactly the same. (Also, it’s more cut and dry than the slider so I can’t tell myself the pointer looks closer to the 3 than the 2. Dang.) Also, you can now earn up to 6 extra points, instead of the usual 4. Awesome!

I’m sure I’m missing something, but these are the biggest changes that are going to affect members. It’s been an adjustment, but I think I’m going to really love the new program! I love how fruits and veggies are now 0 points because it’ll definitely help me to get in the five servings I need, and hopefully more.

Tell me what you think of the new program, new or current WW members. And if you’re not on WW, I’d love to know what you think of the program in general – good and bad. If you have any questions on WW itself, leave them in the comments!