Getting pumped!

I'd say life has gotten in the way of my blogging this week--but it's been accounting homework! It's something you get used to as an accounting major since homework and study for exams seem never ending. It's for sure a good thing that I love accounting. 

 

At the moment, I only have one run between now and the race--tomorrow morning! It was so warm and beautiful outside at the beginning of the week that I just had to take advantage of running outside! So, yesterday morning I went outside and did a big figure 8 around main campus and south campus. It was so windy yesterday and the second mile of the run was almost entirely uphill and I basically died during the last big hill. Despite all of the obstacles, I still managed to beat my time goal for Saturday. I wish I would of taken a screen shot of it when I got to the 2 mile mark so that I could remember better, but I did it in about 20:30 so maybe I'll beat that tomorrow! I did walk/jog the last 0.16 of the mile as a sort-of cool down. Hopefully it will be nice enough out tomorrow to do this again!

Elevation vs. Pace; I clearly slowed down a lot going uphill!

I'm not going to post yesterday's weigh in. Not because it was especially awful, but because it was around the exact same as it was last week so I don't want to bore you. I wasn't too surprised, I ate like crap at the end of the weekend and the beginning of this week so I'm pretty happy I stayed about the same! I've gotten back on track though, so maybe there will be a change next week? I would love to get to my goal weight soon but I'm not gonna stress it. I know I'm eating right and I do notice a difference (even when the scale doesn't move) so there's no need to add that stress to my life!

For some reason, the dining locations on campus have felt it entirely acceptable to serve bananas so green they are practically neon. And I don't want to wait like 5 days to eat it, so annoying! All that to say that I discovered freeze-dried banana slices at Target today. It sounds disgusting but they are so yummy and very low-cal since they aren't super processed/preserved. I'm going to try them in my oatmeal after my run tomorrow so here's hoping they do the trick!

Tomorrow is packet pick up for the race and I'm super excited! It's going to be hard not to spend any money since it's at a running store in town, but I'm gonna try! I'm starting to get kinda nervous for Saturday but I know I'll have a good time.

I hope you all have had a good week and are staying safe in this crazy weather!

An assortment of news

It's CRAZY to think about how blessed I've been this past week. Let me fill you in on some highlights (some you may already know, while some things most of you definitely don't).

1. I got a JOB! It took me a while but I found one that was the perfect fit for me because it is on campus and fills up those annoying breaks between classes that I got stuck with this semester. I am (almost officially) an office assistant at the Career Center here at school! They were all so helpful during the mess of switching majors last year which makes me even more excited to work with them!

2. I ran 3.1 miles straight! And felt like I could keep running, hellooooo runner's high.

3. I have now lost 30 pounds and am 2.3 from goal (as of last Wednesday, I haven't weighed myself since)

4. I got a size 4 dress over the weekend and it fits quite nicely. And I've never been a size 4. Hollaaa!

The dress I bought one in the picture. It's my new favorite thing in the world to wear. Also: my room has been obnoxiously clean lately so I'm not even cringing at the background when I look at this picture. Progress everyone, progress.





4. And last but certainly not least, I signed up for my first race ever last night....and it's this weekend. I'm insane! But it's "just" a two-miler (Whooo says that?! I hate when people say "Oh I just ran 5 miles today, it was an easy day." So rude.) I'm super nervous for a zillion reasons but also really excited. It's for scholarships and such for the Boys and Girl's Club in Downtown Lynchburg, which is a pretty awesome thing to be contributing to. So I'm doing it, no backing out. That and I'm too cheap to back out ;)



Off course the downfall of signing up last night for a race that will be held this weekend: only 4 days of training! Eek! I did Day 1 this afternoon and ran 2 miles in under 21 minutes so I might shoot for that. Honestly, my goal is to have fun and enjoy myself while also attempting to push my limits. Training for the rest of the week includes 1 interval run, 1 run outdoors (weather permitting), a rest day, and another 2-3 mile run.  I'm starting to get really excited!




There's been a few other little things going on but those are the highlights.

Also: I tried a Clif bar this morning. I have been reading a lot of good reviews on it lately so I bought one the other day. I definitely thought it would be dense but not nearly as dense as it turned out but that's okay because it filled me up so well. And at only 240 calories, it was kind of a steal.

Of course I didn't think to take a picture of it until after I had chomped on the bar for a while, so this is a picture of the wrapper and my computer screen.

That's about all of the fun and excitement I've got for today, off to knock out just a little bit more homework before calling it a night!

Three Point One!

I did it! This afternoon I ran 3.1 miles at a steady pace (with zero walk breaks) on the treadmill and I seriously had such a runner's high! Like I didn't even feel like I had to stop running when I was done because I felt so good!

Not including warm up and cool down walks!

And just to think of all I have overcome to get to this point. Not only was I overweight and totally out of shape a few months ago but I had to deal with this dumb asthma on top of it all. Today I ran without my inhaler and I am dreaming of the day I can throw it out for god! (Although that probably will never happen, haha) Wishful thinking, I'm aware, but the old Alicia would have laughed at the thought of me running more than 1 mile straight so this is exciting in its own merit. 

The last half mile got kind of emotional for me, I kept thinking of how defeated I felt at the beginning of this all and how dang strong I feel now! Obviously I'm looking at race websites to sign up for my first real 5K! Details to follow of course :)

It was truly one of the best moments of my life so far. 

30!

Well, yesterday morning was weigh-in and I was sooo nervous. Last Wednesday I weighed and I was up 1 pound and while that's not a huge deal, it was slightly devastating in my meladramatic mind. I do think I was holding on to a lot of water weight and that gain was probably because I hadn't run in a week or so and muscle stores water when you start a new workout routine (or something like that).

So, I decided to not weigh myself again until yesterday (even though my normal weigh-in day was Saturday morning). It was awful to resist, but I did it. I was nervous though because I ate like crap a good 50% of the week. I had cookies, chocolate, lots of Chinese food, and a donut from Dunkin' on Tuesday afternoon. I sucked it up and did it anyways and I lost 3.7 pounds! SAYYY what?! Of course some of it was losing that water weight, but it was still very exciting to see! I'm officially at 30 pounds lost and less than 2.5 from goal! It feels so good.

Tomorrow I am going to attempt to run a 5K distance on the treadmill for the first time ever. I can run 2.75 miles at a steady pace and a 5K is 3.1 so it'll be just a few extra minutes of running. I'm due for an increase in distance anyways. The reason why I picked the last day of my "workout week" to increase distance (usually that's done at the beginning) is because this blogger I follow, Katie at Runs For Cookies, (check out her blog, she's super inspirational) is hosting a "Virtual 5K" for her birthday. It's pretty awesome that it fell right in time with me being near hitting a 5K distance so I decided to do it! 

This will be my "unofficial" first 5K (hopefully my real first one will be soon!), which is awesome because it's still way too cold out for me to participate in an outdoors race and not get super sick again thanks to my sweet lungs. Am I crazy? Probably. Am I excited? You know it!

What's next after I hit the goal I've been set on since October? I'm not sure yet. Originally, I was just running and eating better so I could hit this goal but I'm finding that I like it a lot better than being lazy and the way I feel after I eat a lot of junk. Maybe I'll just modify it to be at more of a "maintenance" level. I am going to attempt to run further/faster (first I'm focused on further though!). Also, I want to try toning a little better. I am terrified of using weights (not for any rational reason, I just don't like going into weight rooms) so I'm going to attempt some non-weight stuff for the time being then maybe buy some small ones or get over my fear. Who knows. 

Those are the goals I want to focus on 2.3 pounds from now. It's good to have short-term realistic goals because they keep you motivated.

What are your goals?

Inspired by Others

When I take time to stop and think about it I realize how crazy it is that as the self-proclaimed "least athletic person" I am now running 5x/week. Honestly, it's pretty insane how I started out just exercising more to accompany eating right and now I'm pretty much addicting to running. It's kind of funny actually.

 What's awesome though is the number of friends of mine that have started becoming more active and even starting the Couch to 5K program because of little old me! Four of my friends have told me in past weeks that they have started as a result of my efforts and that just blows me away. Two of them will be running this intense race with me over the summer. :) And of course my family got gym memberships while I was home and I went to the gym with my parents a few times a week! The hard work of others is definitely motivating me to keep moving as well.

Yes, my cereal bowl does include a drinking straw

Anyways, I've become a big supporter of breakfast. I've always known breakfast was important but I'd just kind of eat it because it's bad to have coffee on an empty stomach (duh). But it's SO important to have breakfast or else your body goes into this crazy fat-storing starvation mode and nobody wants that.

My breakfast is becoming predictable though. 80% of the time I'll have oatmeal mixed with fruit and a very little bit of peanut butter. YUM. And the other 20% of the time I have Greek yogurt (It would be more if it wasn't so darn expensive!) or a fried egg on toast. Or both. All that is just to say that breakfast can be splendid and it really starts your day (and your metabolism!) off on the right foot.

The condition this treadmill was in made me miss the YMCA

Today I continued my interval running and I'm actually starting to notice a difference. When I started running for distance, I cut off all interval runs. That was okay, but it seemed to take a while to improve my distance without feeling like death. I've noticed a difference since adding intervals though and that was just last week! Yesterday's distance run went so much better than even shorter ones that I have done before. Also, I had to push the incline during today's run to get to the right level of nasty gross nobody-dare-look-at-me mess that I just love. All this to say, intervals really do help. Now only for it to get warm enough to do the non-interval runs outside! UGH.

On a completely random note: today I discovered Cold Turkey and I'm thinking it'll help cut my procrastinating back this semester...maybe? Time to go put it to use!

Back Into Routine!

Somehow, I survived the first week of classes for the semester! Only 15 to go, but who's counting? For me, the hardest part of the beginning of the semester is getting into a routine. It gets so frustrating. This is probably where a lot of people begin to struggle with their New Year's Resolutions and such because adjusting back to everyday life is so much more difficult than you expect.

This semester, most of my classes are in the evening. Most semesters, my classes have been in the morning so this has been quite the adjustment for me. The first couple of days it was weird to juggle the gym and lunch but I'm starting to get the hang of it! It's important to make a schedule of your routine so that you can block out time to do different things. I would be so lost without my planner, that's for sure. 

I was supposed to use Saturday and Sunday as my rest days this week, but that didn't last (aka--I ended up having reasons to go to the gym!). So, I had to revamp my routine for this week. I sat down today and wrote down what I wanted to do for exercise each day and which days I will rest. I think I might stick to that for the semester so that I feel obligated to follow through, even with my rest days. 

Today's scheduled run! 30 minutes straight and 5 minute cooldown
Nothing uber exciting but I'm getting there!

Starting a new semester is the perfect opportunity to fall into a routine and to add fun and new things to your schedule! 

On the note of eating healthy: this whole routine thing has not been so good for that. It's the weekends that encourages some not so good eating habits more than anything else. Hopefully next week will change that, but nobody's perfect ;-)

Determined to Succeed

I have been back at school since Saturday afternoon and I didn't realize how much I missed it here until I was back. But I'm going to be completely honest, I pushed off this blog post because I was ashamed in myself. And it's silly. I know most people won't get the way that I think but those who know me well for the most part understand. I am my worst critic and that is something I have been struggling with as far as I can remember. I automatically stress when I don't go above and beyond, it can be such a roadblock in my life. 

Anyways, that brings me to this week. I get back to school and I have met most of my goals. SO awesome. The only goal that I didn't meet was going to the gym 3 times/week because I was sick the last week I was home and it got to the point it was affecting my asthma. When I started running I made the commitment that I was not going to put my health on the line, so I rested until I could sit on the couch without wheezing and feeling like there was no air in my lungs. Real sweet feeling. 

I met all of my other goals. I should be happy, right? Not the case. I spent the beginning of this week beating myself up over so many things. Looking back I feel foolish but it's just my mentality. I hate my asthma and I was freaking out about how hard it has been for me to add distance. In perspective, many asthmatic people don't even attempt to run, so it should be something to be proud of. But I was just having such a hard time with that. Also, I'm five pounds from goal, which means I lost 3-4 pounds in the month I was home. That's fantastic for the time of year where most people are worried about putting on weight. But I was bummed that I didn't lose more and bummed because I feel like these last five pounds are going to take forever. How dumb is that? I've already lost close to 30 pounds but I'm beating myself up over 5??! In all honesty though, that's just the way my mind works. Putting it into perspective, I feel much better. 

All that to say--today I ran 2.5 miles straight! And to think a month ago I had never ran more than a mile straight! That was definitely the confidence boost I needed and put me right back on track. I've got this. Soon I'll hit 5K length then maybe I'll add more distance. I've also been working on speed again this week by adding in interval workouts, so fingers crossed that those help a little bit. I'm going to be realistic with speed because of my asthma, but it would be nice to be able to do a 5K in under 30 minutes. 

Yesterday's interval run! I didn't get a pic of today's 2.5, ugh!

Hopefully I'll have some exciting news soon! And to those of you that began school this week like me--happy first week back! 

Running in the Snow

Well yesterday I started doing something that I have been terrified to do since Day 1 of this whole working-towards-a-race thing: I ran OUTSIDE! And it felt so dang good!

I've been terrified for multiple reasons:
1. My asthma--this time of year the cold really quirks with my lungs and it's been super cold.
2. Dogs---I've read lots of stories about people being bit by dogs while running so I was a little terrified. 
3. Pavement---Okay I'm not really scared of pavement, but I've read how bad it is on your knees. I have researched some trails but I don't want to venture too far from home right away.

Right now I am planning on running my first race this spring and the weather was supposed to hit the 30's this week (SO warm compared to the negative numbers last week!) so I figured why the heck not.

Of course, yesterday's run was my worst nightmare as far as a first run goes though. I was antsy to go for a run before work but didn't have enough time to drive all the way to the gym and back and shower before I had to leave again for work.

Issue #1: My Nike+iPod app sucks. Seriously. I was planning on running around my neighborhood since it is a quiet loop and figured it was a quarter of a mile. I did a warm up walk once around and the app kept saying to walk around to activate my sensor. After the warm up lap it hadn't activated so I turned it off and put on my music to run with instead. So annoying.

Since I figured out each lap was about a quarter of a mile, I figured 4 laps would be one and I would see how I was feeling after that. I ended up doing 5 or 6 then decided to run on this other quiet road next to my loop to finish off the run. 

Issue #2: Big Dog. I was halfway down the road when this massive dog starts running down the road after me. AWESOME. So I screamed like a thirteen year old and kept going. 

Issue #3: Busy roads. I didn't want my first run to be on a busy road at all. I hit the end of the road and the road next to it is significantly busier. But there was no way around the dog. So I sprinted down that road, turned and sprinted on the next busy-ish road and was back into my development. What a workout!

If my app had been running, I'm almost convinced it would of read 3 miles especially after I learned how long my loop really is today. 

I downloaded this app: MapMyRun and it was perfect! Today was significantly colder but I decided to give the app a try and see how far I could go. I was able to set it to do half mile splits. After each mile a voice would come over my phone telling me I had run a mile, how much time had passed, and what my pace was. Since it was via GPS I trust what the distance was and it told me that each lap around the block was .35 miles! So I definitely had to of run 3 miles yesterday, woohoo!

Today's run was so much better than yesterday's! I ran 2.25 miles despite the cold and definitely could of done 3 if I wanted to push it. But I didn't, not yet at least. 

So yeah, there's a long boring post about running outside. I hope everyone's break is going well! I'm starting to get pumped to leave for school this weekend.