Insanity

The weather definitely feels like mid to late September this weekend. This morning I ran some errands and came back to eat lunch. I've been looking around for a used elliptical on Craigslist, as mine has recently broken. It has been a great machine, and I originally bought it from someone that I found on Craigslist, too. I like using my elliptical sporadically throughout the day, or just on days when I need to do some cardio. I feel better when I've used it. :) 

This afternoon I snoozed a little with the windows open, which felt amazing. Then I went and got groceries and picked up a couple things for school clothes at Kohls. I love the clearance racks at Kohls. If you are patient, you can get some great clothes - dresses, skirts, jackets, shirts - for 70 or 80% off. I love getting great deals!

When I got back from getting groceries, I started going insane...

                       

       

Just kidding! I tried out my new Insanity program. The first day you just do a baseline "Fit Test" to measure your progress throughout the program. It was a good workout, and I'm anxious to see how the next few workouts go. :)

I was in the mood to take my bike out for a spin after that, so I ran down and got it out - and then had to bring it back to the garage. My tires were flat! So I drove to the gas station and put air in the tires, then finally got back and went out for a short ride. I'd definitely like to get out every day now if I can. :) I love riding my bike!

Tonight was a great night for tv - Kardashians, Real Housewives, Big Brother - many episodes to get in in one night! The clouds looked cool tonight when I took Burkie out for the last time. 

                         

Trail Run and Amish Auction

This morning I did my first trail run! I went to a Kettle Moraine state park trail for a five mile run and loved it! It felt like I was back home in the woods at my parents' house, which I liked. It was a beautiful morning to run, as it was about 60 degrees! It felt like fall today for sure. I would like to try to do my long runs somewhere other than my regular routes from my house each week if possible. I really liked the atmosphere of the trail and not having to worry about traffic. 

                         

  

After my run today, I went to meet my sister at an Amish auction. They have an annual auction near her house and there is an entire field that it takes up. There are multiple event tents set up for separate auctions. One tent was entirely for quilts and other bedding. They also sold things like furniture, plants, yard ornaments, horse equipment, etc. She got to the sale around 10 and we left around 3:30, so she sat for quite a while! 

After the auction we went to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, La Casa Grande. One of her coworkers lives in that city and was out at another restaurant, so she and her husband stopped by to visit with us when we were finished eating. We had a great conversation about movies and books. :) Now I have a few more books to add to my "to read" list!

Rainy Morning

After a late night at the race, I slept in this morning and woke up to a calming summer rain. 

I need to finish two grad classes this summer, and today was a perfect day to work on them...however, that didn't happen. I had one of those days where you know you have a list of things that should get done, but all you want to do is nap! So, Burkie and I took a couple naps today, along with watching some Big Brother live feeds. I did get a good amount of laundry done today, though, which always makes me feel better. :)

I ordered a running belt today, and it's called a Flip Belt. I'm supposed to be able to keep multiple things along the entire waistline, and then flip it so the openings are worn on the inside as to keep anything from sneaking out. I'm excited to try it out when it gets here! I realized last night that I need something for when I need to keep my car keys, phone, or ID with me during a run - particularly during a race. It would have saved a lot of confusion last night.

Today was a rest day on my training program, which was probably why I felt so groggy and tired. I feel really lazy on these days lately, but that makes me want to run more on running days. Tomorrow I'm going to try a new running trail for my "long" run. It's only 5 miles, so it shouldn't be bad. :) I'm also supposed to meet my sister tomorrow to go to an auction, so hopefully the weather cooperates. 

Germanfest 5K

Another beautiful morning! :) I started my day off with the quick yoga vodcast again; I hope that I'm able to continue with that, as it's a great way to wake up. I so love my mornings during this weather. I can sit out on my deck with my dog, laptop and coffee and enjoy the peacefulness.

With my new training program, I have one day a week that is dedicated to "cross training." On my last program I used the machines in my house for cardio work - a treadmill, elliptical, and upright stationary bike. I do love using those because they're set up in front of a tv and I get caught up on my dvr recordings. :) However, I know I need to work on strength exercises, too, so my legs are strong enough to make it through my long runs. I'd been doing a Jillian Michaels beginners video once a week and enjoyed that. I'm starting to feel like it's a little too easy, though, at times. So I thought I'd bite the bullet and... order Insanity. It's so expensive for the package, so I ordered a used one on Amazon at half the price, and am (not so) patiently awaiting its arrival this week. :) I'm a little nervous about trying it because of all the hype about it being so hard, but I figure I'll just do what I can. A friend of mine also does a boot camp at a nearby fitness studio that is known for its difficulty, and she invited me to join her. I might give that a try sometime in the next few weeks.

Another great morning for a walk today! :) With the weather in the 70's and the sun out, I wish I could just walk all day. Burk loves the walks, too, and it's funny to see people in cars or in their yards who notice him in the stroller and smile at him. They don't expect to see a puppy pop his head up! More picture practice today, as well.

My friend, Emily invited me to run with her at a 5K race in Milwaukee for Germanfest. I've never been to Germanfest before, but I know it's one of Milwaukee's bigger festivals over the summer. I figured I may as well join her, and I'm glad I did. We had such a great time catching up and it was a perfect evening to run along Lake Michigan. :) Emily wanted to PR under 21 minutes, and I was just happy to be going. She asked me what my time goal was, and I said that I guessed somewhere around 32 or 33 minutes, and I came in at 29:03! I felt so great by the last half mile that all of a sudden it occurred to me - I can kick it in and finish fast! I was kind of shocked by that feeling! A few months ago I was just excited to not be dead by mile 3. Emily made her PR, won our age group and came in 9th overall! We were so happy with the event, and then even saw some local people we knew playing in a band at one of the stages at the festival, so we listened to a few of their songs. At the end of the night we went out for dinner at The Wicked Hop in the Third Ward. I'm so glad that she invited me and am happy to keep working on my running program. :)

A Walk, a Run and a Hairdo

What a beautiful morning! I started my morning again with some Tara Stiles' yoga from iTunes. I love that it's free, quick, and easy to do. The vodcast that I did today was "Morning Yoga Fix," which was only 7 minutes 41 seconds long. I think it's going to help with my stretching that I need to be doing more of to prevent injury... :)

I took a long walk this morning with my dog, Burk. He has a bone deformity in his front leg, so he can't walk far before his legs get sore. However, I found a way to include him in the walks...

He loves his "buggy" as my dad calls it. I found it on eBay, as a jogger dog stroller. It's pretty fun to take out, because it's very light, yet durable. It also has cup holders and a tray to hold my morning coffee and phone, plus a basket underneath where I stow rain gear (I got caught out two miles from home in a storm this spring and don't want that to happen again!).

A coworker of mine started posting some amazing pictures on Facebook this summer, and I've been picking her brain about how to get the pictures to look the way she does. Turns out I just need to keep playing around with the filters (I didn't know that's what the different settings were called), both on my phone and on Instagram. You can really do some cool things with color. She also gave me some tips about how to hold the camera and crop the images. I'm practicing a lot lately with things around the house, and I thought this morning would be a great time to try some outdoor shots.

I like using the blur/focus option on Instagram, and adjusting the color exposure on my phone's camera. Those two things are pretty cool and manageable for me so far. :)

I got my hair done today! I am kind of trying to grow my hair out right now, so I haven't gotten it trimmed in a while. I always go back and forth between medium-length and short hair, but eventually run out of patience with long hair. I'm finding that it's easier with running to have longer hair so I don't have to pin as much of the hair out of my face. I'm also planning to not have to shower in the morning when school starts, which I can do when my hair is long. If my hair is short, I have bed head in the morning and have to shower to style it. Now I'll get to sleep a little later.

My hair turned out well, she tried a new coloring technique on me, called "ombre," which should be better to manage than plain coloring, as it looks like hair that was lightened that has grown out -  to start with. :) Loving it so far!

I had a four mile run today. As usual, did an out and back route. Tomorrow I'm running in a 5K race at Germanfest with a friend. I can tell that I'm running slightly less slow when I'm doing shorter distances. I'm actually under the 11 minute mile mark, which is astounding for me! :) 

Holy crap I'm going to run a marathon!

Hello!

This is the first day of writing a blog... and coincidentally the first day of my first marathon training! I'm stoked! I've been reading a lot of fitness and health blogs for the past seven months, so I figured I might as well give it a shot.

I have always been overweight; I've fluctuated between slightly overweight and forty to fifty pounds overweight. I consider myself "athletic," which juxtaposes the fact that I'm overweight. I coach three sports at the middle school that I teach at, but have felt like a hypocrite when I haven't been consistently healthy myself.

This past January I was home for my holiday break, and feeling pretty crappy. I'd been feeling extremely tired, cranky, and just plain fat. The awful cycle of overeating, not fitting into clothes, being tired, and sitting on the couch was getting to be too much to handle, both physically and emotionally. I've done many weight loss plans before, which have helped when I did them - the kicker was that I couldn't consistently DO them.

I decided to rejoin Weight Watchers, and to try the online program. My sister was going to try it with me, and I figured that since I love everything technology, I would be able to find the support using the online tools. I just needed some motivation to MOVE!

I went to lunch with some college friends, and we got talking about food and diets. One friend told me that I should check out a blog that she was enjoying recently, Runs for Cookies. I decided to take a glance at it when I got home, and immediately knew that I would connect with Katie's (the blogger's) posts - she was honest about her struggles with food and exercise, and wasn't arrogant about her accomplishments. She truly cared about her readers and was very relate-able. From reading a few hour's worth of posts, I was inspired to try running!

I started with the Couch to 5K program by using an app on my phone. I liked the program because there was a lot of walking in the first couple weeks, that was alternated with jogging. I also liked that I didn't have to keep track of the time on my own - I just listened to the trainer for the signal to walk or jog. I could also play my music through the app, as well, which helped as a distraction from the freezing cold weather. :)

When I finished my first 5K race, I was even more motivated and thought I could handle three more miles, so I tried the 5K to 10K program, which was just an extension of the previous program. It had all of the perks of the program that I had liked before, and I knew I was getting better every week. :) It focused on time spent running, not distance, so it didn't matter how slow I was.

I finished the training for the 10K before my race, so I wanted to continue to challenge myself by starting a training program for a half marathon. I took the advice of some coworkers and the blogs that I'd been reading and used one of Hal Higdon's training programs. I had plans to run in a half marathon in Chicago in July. I joked about doing a full marathon, but didn't really think that it would be something I'd try.

One day when I was joking about doing a full marathon, one of my friends said, "You'll do it. You're joking about it, but you'll do it." For some reason, something went off in my head when she said that, and I thought to myself, "If she thinks I can do it, I will."

During this time I have been continuing my Weight Watchers program and have lost 47 pounds to date. I haven't been tracking my food consistently since about May, and haven't lost much in the last two months. At this time my weight goal is to get down 13 more pounds. With my marathon training starting today, I told myself that I'm going to get back to tracking my food again. I know that it will be easier to lose the last 13 pounds if I'm tracking my points.

On Sunday I ran my half marathon on my treadmill, as some scheduling issues changed my plan for the Chicago race. I enjoyed the 13.1 miles on the 'mill, surprisingly. :) I plugged my earbuds into my iPad and watched Big Brother Live Feeds (my obsession with Big Brother is a huge bonus for eating time) and took off! I was so happy and proud when I finished! I sent in a "Motivational Monday" email to Runs for Cookies, and she needed a picture to go with my entry, so I took a picture on Monday morning (as opposed to immediately after running the half). I did not look this sweat-free after finishing the run!

Last night I chose a marathon - for some reason I was super excited about registering for it, even though I haven't ran it! The registration let me put a post on Facebook that I had registered for the marathon, so I figured that way I HAVE to finish the training and do the race. It's in writing! The race that I chose is the Madison Marathon on November 10th. It's a week before my birthday, so I figured it's a great present to give myself. :) I'm again using a Hal Higdon program, the Novice 1 program, and due to the date of the race I'm starting on the third week of the program. I think it's okay (it's still 16 weeks of training), and I trust the program to get me where I need to be.

Today I had an easy 3 miles to run, so I did an out and back route from my house. It was an easy run, and I did a short iTunes yoga podcast to stretch afterwards. I also used one of the podcaster's morning yoga podcasts this morning. It's called "Yoga and Other Useful Stuff with Tara Stiles." They're very short (5-10 minutes each), and I think I'll like using them for stretching. I'd like to try some new running routes with my new program, also... I'll have to do some investigating. :)