I feel great!

Snow - yuck! It is the one thing that I dislike about living in New England. I blew off my run on Turkey day... some how a run through 4 inches of snow just didn't seem "safe", yah that's what I told my self... Oh, me and my excuses... To make up for my bad excuse habit, I made myself go to the 90 minute advanced "p0st-turkey day binge" spin class. I can't say that it was fun, but I did finish in pretty good standing. This morning I met the team to run hills in preparation for the notorious "heartbreak hill" on marathon day. I can honestly say that I was apprehensive. I always feel self concious about being last - though I haven't been yet (2nd to last today). I did the 9 - 1 method and I really think that its making a difference for me.

I feel great!! I do love this team!! and I didn't really even mind the fact that it was 19 degrees out!

An Awesome Spin!

I did not run yesterday. It was cold and pouring and, well, I just didn't get to it... The dog needed to go to the vet. I needed to do laundry - in that scarey empty underwear drawer sort of way! I guess I could have gone to the gym last night to run, but ... OK - Excuses, excuses.... The good thing is that I got to the gym this morning for an awesome cross training spin class. One long heavy hill with 10 - 20 second spurts of accelleration. The only break for the 60 min class was third position for a minute or so after the sprint... If I am not sore tomorrow I will be pleasantly surprised. I really pushed myself.

Tomorrow I have to put in a short 3 miles before I head to my sisters for Turkey. It is supposed to be snowing... I have got to get over my disdain for the cold if I am ever going to make it through this training. Baptism by fire. Nice.

Happy Thanksgiving...

We have a dog...

We've been waiting for a dog for a while. Our shepherd died of Lymes disease in 2000 and we decided to wait until we were out of diapers before we took on another responsibility. This spring when my little girl potty trained, I registered with rescue leagues though most would not consider adoption to a family with small children. My kids are great with big dogs, and I was getting frustrated because noone would give us a chance (mostly poodle mixes since grandma is allergic and babysits alot). Last week I was on craigslist and found a great dog. It seemed so sudden, but by Saturday afternoon we were the new proud owners of Daisy, a 9 month old Goldendoodle. She is an awesome dog! No accidents, so good with the kids and surprisingly with our cats - an animal she's never seen before. She's still a puppy so I won't be able to run with her for a while, but eventually I will have a buddy!

Training is right on schedule and I am doing much better with the diet. This past week we were supposed to focus on form - running "light" and for the newbies like me, we ran with 1 minute walk breaks for every 9 minutes of running (Galloway method). I know my fitness level is good, but I also think the breaks have made a difference, since my finish times are the same as they were without the walk breaks. Interesting...

Thanksgiving is not such a big deal this year. I am not under any pressure to host, my sister has bought the meal and ordered pies... All I am on the hook for is a veggie plate... I do feel like it is the calm before the storm... The next 4 weeks are jam packed with commitments. I don't want my training or diet to suffer so I will have to be even more diligent than I have been and FOCUS on me.

Training by the book...

I have officially completed my 12th day of Marathon training. I am following my schedule religiously, and for the most part I feel good. Of course we're only running 3-4 miles right now. By the new year I'll be running 9. I am still in disbelief... me - me running 26.2 miles!

I went to a party last Saturday night. I saw a girl there that I haven't seen since high school. I am a good 40lbs heavier. Ugh. My good friend Chris let it slip to her that I was training for Boston. It was interesting to see her reaction (I saw all this going on and pretended not to hear). Out of the corner of my eye I saw her staring at my body as she continued her conversation... She said nothing to me about the marathon... Weird I thought, and then I couldn't let it go... I kept thinking things like... "She thinks I am fat, she thinks I can't do it... " Gosh, I am so insecure... Do I really care? I guess I wanted her comments to fuel my motivation to diet... Oh yeah, just wait til you see me on April 17th!

I have been 100% on training and about 75% on diet. I am eating the right things, just not watching the portions as well as I should. I didn't have my usual night time snack last night and it made me feel like I climbed my mental mountain for the week. This is my habit to break... My official ww weigh in is tomorrow. So far, my scale shows a loss of ZERO. I know I am pms-ing, but for the scale not to move at least a smidge is frustrating... I am hoping something happens overnight to give me some sort of boost. I will perservere. I know how much better I will be when I am 20-30lbs smaller...

I lose weight so slowly, regardless of how much I exercise... I feel like Andrea from the Biggest Loser, although it's been a while since I ate 9 brownies....

And... we're off!

Day one of official Marathon Training with my team. Everyone was really nice and the best part was that I was not last... Of course I made sure to get out the door and on the course as soon as finished up our "shoe clinic", so that I could get as much of a head start as possible...

Tomorrow is my official day of rest, though I will raking a heck of a lot of leaves...

Tonight I am off to a pre-holiday, holiday party.... I knew it would all start sooner rather than later and I as usual, I can't wait for the feasting to be over... I am vowing to maintain through the holidays.

My Toe...Too much information...

For Flatman - I "had" an ingrown toenail that kept coming back, so this time I had it removed and cauterized. I wrongly assumed that this procedure would involve a flamming hot poker. Instead, the doctor applied carbolic acid to the root, which is the same stuff they used during the civil war to cauterize the stumps of amputees... The probem is that the wound now had to heal from the inside out - so this past Tuesday ( a week after the procedure) I had to have the wound "de-brayed". This is guess at the spelling... Anyway, the dr. basically scraped out the wound - whatever had healed over. This was more painful than the procedure itself. I nearly jumped out of the exam chair! It was even more painful afterward as I spent nearly all of Wednesday with my shoe off and cancelled my workout. I had been able to run a little on Monday and I was fine spinning last week and Tuesday before the dreaded appointment.... TOO MUCH INFORMATION, huh?

Running is more than just using your feet

I had to take yesterday off. I could barely put my shoe on; and the way I had to walk has left my back feeling sore too. Enough of the aches...

Today I will run. Am I 100% ? No, but I definately feel 80% better than I did so I'll at least test things out so I can get an idea of how or if I'll be able to run with the group Saturday.

That Nancy Toby is just a wealth of information. In 2003, I ran my first and only half marathon. I trained with my sister. We followed the program. Problem was the program we followed was for people a whole lot faster than we were. Finishing in an hour+ versus finishing in 2:37 are two different animals. We never read anything about propper nutrition, electrolytes. It's always been pounded into our heads that only REAL athletes need to think about sodium or drink Gatorade. We made sure we ate our carbs before the race - a bagel, then we drank our water at all the water stops and by mile 11, I was so sick - dry heaves, not pretty. My sister had to run in the woods at mile 12 with even more unpleasantness. We felt awful by the time we finished, vowing never to run so far again... and NEVER a marathon... Now, what am I doing???

My goal is to finish the marathon happy, walking and ready to celebrate. My realization is that there is a whole lot more to running a marathon than just moving your feet for 26.2 miles... Careful planning, education, and testing things out during training. I am so psyched to be doing this the right way.

OK - I am REALLY in this time!

I went to my Marathon kick off meeting this past saturday. It was very motivating - the excitement of meeting the team (all 150 of them) and the survivors speeches (inspirational) and the coaches (very professional) --- I am psyched! Icing on the cake is that I am no longer "wait listed" and I have a REAL NUMBER!!! The coveted Boston Marathon is mine for the training!

I got my new sneakers - went and actually got fitted for them - and they are Brooks !?--- Not at all snazzy, but man are they comfortable. I have my training schedule and fundraising underway... Now, about that diet thing... I am doing Core for all you ww people.... That means I eat whole foods, nothing processed - unless I want to count points and - the killer for me - Fat free dairy (yuk). Skim milk is great, but ff cheeses (of all varieties) not a winner with me... Hopefully, I will be back on track with my weigh in this Thursday.

My toe - ouch... So much more painful than last time... (this time it was cauterized). It has been a challenge to get my workouts in - in fact I've pretty much slacked the last few weeks. I ran yesterday for the first time in a bit and it was sore, ergo the new shoes... New sneakers usually make everything better! I have an appointment this afternoon for a follow up and I am hoping that I am on track to be better before my first team run this Saturday.

And now I am off to spin. I desperately need to get out of the house this morning and DESTRESS. My kids are killer today! Boy, do I love them!! No... Really.