Holy Cow!!!

I DID IT!!!  I completed C25K Week 4 Day 1 the very first time out!  To say I'm shocked is an understatement.  Knowing I would be doing two 3 minute runs and two 5 minute runs in this workout was really daunting.  Then when I got started and realized that my recovery would only be 90 seconds and 2.5 minutes, respectively, I was really worried.  Of course, I looked down and gave my running partner, Peanut, the pep talk he needed!  It wasn't easy but it also wasn't so bad that I thought I was going to collapse either.  I think I might make it through week 4 without a repeater!  Woohoo!!!

Peanut, however, might be reaching the end of his physical abilities and after this week I don't think he will be able to be my running partner anymore.  He struggled with this run and was not keeping up very well.  But...he's cute and adorable so maybe I'll add in some evening pleasure walks for him.

Healthy eating is going well but the scale is not showing it so I'm just hoping that since I've been more consistent with my activity these past few weeks that it's just a little stall while my body puts on some muscle and gets used to what's going on.  Next week is measurements week so we'll see if that shows some changes.  I can't say I feel any difference in my clothes but I don't wear really tight things anyway so small changes won't be really noticeable.

I also think I might take a big huge leap on this blog next week and actually post my measurements - scary!!  I've been reading a bunch of health blogs recently and the ones that really speak to me are the ones that I can relate to personally.  Ones where I can see that the blogger is or was my size and still had a body that was strong and capable.  Those really inspire me and maybe someone will stumble on my blog and need some inspiration too!  I know it sounds so cliche but if I can do this, other women like me can!!  Seriously...before I started losing weight and exercising regularly just going from one floor of my tri-level house to the other would get me winded.

I also need to find some time to update my blog design and put some links to those blogs in a gadget on the sidebar.  Where do all those hours go?!?

Today I am getting a pedicure and going to a dance rehearsal for a flash mob I'm a part of in May (more on that later!) so I better get my fingers off this computer and feed my awesome hubby before he has to go out for the day and then I need to go get cleaned up for my day.

Thanks ever so much for reading this little ole blog and sending up encouraging thoughts for me!  I'm reaching goals and doing things I never thought I'd be able to do and knowing there are people out there cheering me on is so uplifting!!

Updates

I'm doing really well with C25K! I did week 3 day 1 on Saturday and I nearly cried when I heard the voice say that we were going to run 3 minutes without stopping!!  I had my little dog Peanut with me and I just said out loud to him that we WERE going to do this.  I checked my Garmin to see what my elapsed time was so far so I could keep myself motivated.  I waited until I was really tired to look at it again and when I saw I only had a minute left of the run I knew I could do it.  Then when the 2nd 3 minute run came up I knew I could do it because I'd done it already!

On Monday the hubby and I went for a 5k hike on a local trail.  We hiked up 1.6 miles with an elevation gain of 315 feet and then hiked back down again.  I felt like I was incredibly slow on this hike but really my pace wasn't all that much slower than when I'm doing C25K.  My knees get upset when I go uphill.  I'm hoping as I take off more weight that they will not punish me so much.

When I woke up this morning I felt like I had been hit by a truck.  I'm thinking it was the combination of the hike yesterday and the fact that I had two slices of whole wheat bread for lunch before our hike.  I'm really starting to think that gluten attacks my joints in a horrible way.  I wasn't sure I would be able to run today but I pushed through and did it!  It definitely wasn't my fastest run but I made it through the whole program including the two 3 minute runs!!  It was a challenge on the track today because the middle school track team was doing sprints at the same time.  Peanut did pretty good and wasn't too distracted by all the kids which really surprised me.  I put aside my self consciousness and did my workout.  I just kept telling myself that what those kids thought of me did not matter.  I was quite proud of myself for getting out there and I wasn't going to let anything take that away from me!

Eating has been going really well except for the bread thing on Monday.  I tried a new recipe last night that wasn't a home run but it was edible.  It was Garlic Lover's Stew from Kalyn's Kitchen.  Usually her recipes end up as keepers but this one was too salty and too garlicky for our tastes.  I rescued the stew meat from the concoction and threw out all the rest.  I'm going to use the stew meat in a curry of some type later this week.  Here's a link to the recipe if you want to try it - like I said it wasn't bad but it just wasn't suited to our taste preference:  http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/02/crockpot-beef-stew-recipe-with-olives.html

Tomorrow is Curves and dance class and then the last day of week 3 is on Thursday.  Saturday I move to week 4 and I've heard it's a push to get through it.  I'll just keep telling myself I can do it and put forth all the effort I have.  That's the only thing I can do unless Fiona the Fitness Fairy visits by then and magically makes me a world class runner!  I think maybe I'll have better luck keeping up my positive self talk.

Still Running!

Well...I made a plan and I put it in my planner like I said I would!  Lo and behold I'm two days into the week and I've fulfilled both of my plans for these days!!!  I went to Curves yesterday and I ran C25K week 2 day 1 today.  I'm not going to lie and say it was easy - that I was high on the motivation of new goals written in my awesome new planner that my amazing hubby bought me for my birthday (that's over two months away - but who's counting?).  Nope...it was hard but I did it and I feel great inside...deeeeeep inside because right now everything below my neck is screaming.

Tomorrow - Curves and dance class - wish me luck!

Back to Running!

Today I finally got back out there.  I redid week 1 day 3 of C25K and the really hard part was dodging all the snow/ice piles and mud puddles.  I actually was surprised that it wasn't harder to get back into it since I haven't run in a couple weeks.  I need to set up a workout plan and actually stick to it so I don't have to do this back and forth on the training plan.  I would really like to commit to doing Curves on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then C25K on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  I wrote it in my planner so hopefully I will keep up with it.  I know all the experts say to make an appointment with yourself to do these things but gosh, is that a hard thing to follow through on.

On the food front things are going great!  I'm trying new recipes and the majority of them are coming out well.  We've even found a few that we are going to add into our regular rotation.  It makes it so much easier for meal planning when I have a good amount of regular dishes.  I hate making the same things week in and week out so this way I can work up to several weeks where I don't have to repeat anything.  I really need to start posting my menu plans here.  I'll put that in my planner! lol