Catching up

It's been awhile! Between difficult classes, work, and normal day-to-day stuff, this semester has really gotten away from me. I hit the halfway point a couple of weeks ago and I can't even believe that the year is almost over. But, I do intend to be more intentional about updating this little corner of my world. 

Not too much has changed. I love love love my new job at the Career Center. I get to talk to people all day, which is pretty awesome. This includes talking to students that are just as confused about what direction to go in their life as I was when I changed majors a year and a half ago. Plus I work with some pretty fun people. I also got to work at my job back home during Spring Break. Boy did I miss everyone! 

And of course there's the insane amount of schoolwork I feel like I'm always doing and time set aside for friends. It's been really fun, but I have definitely missed blogging and keeping ya'll in the loop on life.


I have kept up with my running, working more on speed than distance as I prepare for my first 5K (!!!) two weeks from this weekend. I'm really excited about it! I wanted to wait until it was a little warmer out because of how my lungs reacted at the last race. So, April 6 I will be running the Point of Honor 5K. It's all about raising awareness for organ donation and that is something I really believe in because it has affected multiple generations of my family. My friend Deana has been training with the Couch to 5K program and is going to run the race as well! It's all super exciting stuff and I can't wait!

At my dad's surprise party over break

Spring Break was definitely a test on eating balanced at home. Aside from various surprise parties, it was mostly how normal day-to-day life will be this summer so I wanted to try to eat how I would eat then. Of course I ate way more junk than I was planning on (namely, donuts) but that's okay. It's a learning process. I made smoothies for breakfast like I do here, experimented with muffin recipes, put spinach on my pizza (not half bad!) and was intentional about picking a lower calorie meal that tastes good and will fill me up when eating out. When I weighed myself in after break, I was about the same as before so I am feeling more confident in how this summer will play out.  

And that brings me to maintenance mode. I can proudly say I have maintained the same weight (aside from some normal fluctuations here and there) since January 23rd! Almost 2 months! I have a "healthy range" for maintenance but honestly I haven't even had to depend on that because for whatever reason I can eat as much or little as I want and not gain/lose anything. I'm not complaining though! Sure I haven't made it to "goal" but I'm only a couple of pounds off, so I am content. And so incredibly proud. I see some of my friends making changes because of me and at the end of the day, that's what makes me the happiest: helping others realize their goals as well. 

Resolution Run Race Report

Hi all! As I said, this weekend was a little on the crazy side on top of the race! This is the first time I have been able to sit down and relax and it's just long enough to write this post. Gotta love college life though! :)

So, race day recap!
I decided to run a few errands in the early afternoon so I could get a good idea of what the weather was like since it's been so wacky lately. It was cold but not freezing so I laid out a tshirt and running capris for the race with a zip-up hoodie for the drive over. Well that was not the best of ideas because it dropped a good ten degrees between then and when I left for the race! It even started snowing on the drive downtown, ugh.

Car photo shoot!

My brother and roomie came to support me which was awesome! My mom told me the other day that her and my sister were planning on coming down to surprise me but it ended up not working out since it was an afternoon race. But oh well, I'll be seeing them in just over a month (how crazy is that?!) for Spring Break so it's all good. :)

My face just screams "What am I about to do?!"

I definitely got to the race WAY too early but I wanted to be on the safe side. It was 2:15 when we pulled in and the race didn't start til 3 so we just kind of hung around the Boys and Girl's Club until people started going outside at around 2:45. Of course there was a lot more families there than college students but I was there to have fun, even if I stuck out like a sore thumb a little bit! :) 

I go outside and do some "stretching" for the camera and they start lining people up! By this point I was extremely nervous and it was freezing, snowing, and I had to take my jacket off because the metal zipper doesn't work well with the race chip. Sweet life. I tried to pick towards the middle of the pack since I'm not a super fast runner but I didn't plan on walking either. I should of been further forward though because I dodged little kids and some people who got exhausted early for the first half mile or so. I tried. But I was talking to people in line and of course I got asked about my shoes. My running shoes are those toe-separated shoes. They are so comfortable (and I don't have to wear socks!) but they aren't quite like the 5-finger shoes where you can feel every little thing you step on, just some things. So I am used to all of the questions by now haha.

Again, I am terrible at hiding how nervous I am

"OMG I'm cold!"

Waiting for the gun to go off was the most nerve-wracking thing ever and once it did I just did what I normally do, I didn't even feel the pressure of it being a race because I was just there to have fun--and I did! When I registered, I looked at where the race course was and since I know the area, I knew how crazy it was going to be. Lynchburg it known as "Hill City" and I was very thankful for running outdoors around campus and running with an incline on the treadmill. 

The first half of the race was entirely downhill. Not even kidding. I hate how my face jiggles when I run downhill too, it's just so weird! So you go down a few streets and end up alongside the James River on a trail and do about a quarter mile on the trail before turning around. There was a clock at the turn around point that gives you an idea of your pace. Mine was 8:45! I was not joking about those hills for sure! Since it was  a turnaround route though, the entire second half was uphill. Steep hills, really low temperatures, and snow (moisture) is the opposite of what my lungs like. So I died and fought back tears during every single hill. No doubt did I feel defeated before I rounded the last corner. My vision was going blurry and my lungs felt so tight. Then I saw Joshua and Kelsey, slapped on a smile and waved to the camera. I knew
I had to finish strong and it gave me just the right push to finish. I may of been a wreck after I crossed the line but it was SO worth it! 

After my lungs had a moment to calm down...

My goal for the race was to finish in under 21 minutes and I finished in 19:32! Also, I came in 2nd place in my age/gender category! Not a huge deal since that only contained about 20 people, but I still am so proud of all that I have accomplished these past few months. If I can do it, I'm certain that anyone can. It was such a great experience and I'm already looking forward to the next race, a 5K (when it's a little warmer and not so wet out hopefully...)!

Some more pictures to enjoy... 

So there's my exciting first race, one last shout out to Joshua for being a champ and coming, Kelsey for listening to me go on and on and on about how nervous I was and for taking pictures and of course to my wonderful family and friends for being so supportive on this journey. I love you all. 

And I'll just leave you with this wonderful video of me crossing the finish line that Kelsey took...again I'm terrible at hiding my emotions but I did want to share my moment on here. 

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!

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!

Christmas Time is Here

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I'm spending time with family these next few days- so much fun!

I have been super busy the past week and a half which is why it's been really hard for me to take time to blog. I pretty much worked full time last week which was necessary for my bank account but also enjoyable because I work with such fun people!

Anyways, I have also been stalling because I didn't want to jinx some of my goals, but here we go ;)

So far (*knock on wood*) I have gone to the gym three times/week. Actually, a little more. My family got a membership to the Y in town and it is right on my way home from work. It's perfect because I leave work at 3, go to the gym for a while, then go pick everyone else up from work, school, etc... 

I have yet to step on a scale, I'm waiting until after New Year's so that I don't freak myself out. I've been eating well but also treating myself since I did just survive a stressful semester after all. 

Running outside--- hoping to tackle that goal within the next few days! There was one day this week that would of been perfect but I chickened out. I just need to grow up and do it already. Ugh. 

And finally, the one I have been putting off announcing: I ran for two miles straight! Actually, I have done it like 3 or 4 times now. I'm so dang happy about this! The first time at the Y I ran for a mile/walk for half mile/half mile then ran for a mile/walk for 5 mins/ran until I hit 30 minutes (when the treadmill turns off). After this, I decided to be determined to do the whole two miles and I did. It's the furthest I think I have ever run, as sad as that is. Officially, Week 5 of the Couch to 5K has been tackled and it's time to up the ante. I will start Week 6 later this week to work on the distance as well as adding in some shorter interval runs to work on my speed.
Hopefully all goes well and I'll keep you posted!

Time to go do some prep work for tomorrow's dinner. Enjoy the time with family, Merry Christmas!

Setting Goals

As a direct result of Sunday's fiasco, I decided to take this week a little slower and I repeated Day One yesterday. Today (Tuesday) I was feeling much more confident so I moved onto Day Two and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting! I still felt like a gooey mess after, but it's progress. Day 3 is supposed to be running 2 miles straight. I don't know if I will do that or do 1.5 miles for a couple of days, then 2. I'm just not a fan of it suddenly going from 2 different 3/4 mile intervals to nearly doubling. We'll see though because I'm definitely going to repeat Day Two another time or two first.

Tomorrow I leave for Christmas Break! Woohoo! I'm a little excited that the semester is over. I really think being as active as I have been helped me endure finals week. Sitting still for hours on end builds up so much energy that I use to get distracted on the computer. Taking a break to run relieved some of that. Fantastic. 

My advice for getting through break without falling off the horse is to set some goals. Write them down and put them where you can see them every day, like your mirror. And tell others about the goals you are setting too, that way you are less likely to avoid them. It's just another way of keeping yourself accountable. :)

If you don't like running outdoors then researching a gym back home might be a good idea as well. I found some back home that I'm interested in that have student discounts and memberships that you only need to get for a month. It's perfect for my situation and I plan on becoming a member by Friday. Boom, goal.

So here are my goals between now and January 13:

1. Go to the gym at least 3 times/week
Since I will be paying for a gym membership (something I'm not used to) I don't think it will be difficult to at least guilt myself  into going, I'm pretty frugal. It will be nice to stick to a routine though, which is the whole purpose of this goal, keeping to a form of routine. 

2. Be within 5 pounds of goal weight
Right now, I'm about 8 or so pounds from goal weight. I originally had to lose 5 pounds over break. That would be awesome but I'm just not so sure about that happening. Being within five pounds would make me very happy though because then I could (hopefully) hit goal next semester! It would be a great way to start 2013.  

3. Run OUTSIDE
I'm terrified of running outside, especially if it is cold out. I just think I look so dumb which is why I don't want to be running around others as much as possible. But it's something I need to get over and my neighborhood is quiet and has a nice loop to run around. So, I want to pick a nice day to run around the neighborhood. If I do get comfortable with that then I can save some money this summer on another gym membership! (fingers crossed!)

4. Run for 2 miles straight
I am so close to accomplishing this goal! Being able to run for 2 miles would not only be the furthest that I have run (as far as I'm aware at least) but it would mean that I'm towards the end of this Couch to 5K business and can start working on speed! I'm a little excited because having to slow down during my workouts (as a result of adding distance) has really bummed me out because I feel so S-L-O-W compared to how I was running with intervals. 

5. Indulge in some treats, but have a plan of attack
All this basically means is that I am going to be a-okay with enjoying myself at parties and get-togethers with some yummy food. But, I want to keep it under control and not just eat because there is food in front of me. If I go into a social situation while keeping in mind that I am trying not to be excessive, then I will enjoy the party more and not go home with regrets later on. This really might be my hardest goal because I love sweets so much which is why I'm going to indulge a little.

6. Enjoy time with family and friends
That's what the whole point of being home is for! I am so excited to see everyone for a whole month and I am going to really treasure this time and relax. 

So those are my goals! I will definitely share about them as I keep going. I will definitely post as much as I can over break. Safe travels everyone.