So HEY, it's MAY!

Clearly, I'm a very goal-oriented person when it comes to the whole running thing.  Lately I've been really easily distracted from my routine, and not running as much as I wish I would... clearly no one's fault but mine.  Time management isn't easy, if it was easy we'd all be fabulously organized and on perfect schedules, right?

I can feel my body slipping back into the land o' flab when I don't exercise but sometimes life and task-accomplishment can be overwhelming, I mean who hasn't experienced that before?  I think we all go through phases of falling off the proverbial wagons and getting down on ourselves.  That's been me for the past couple of months.  I know that when I don't exercise the moody, annoying, overwhelmed Chesty Pear rears her head... which is good for no one and all.  So hey, I should fix that, huh?

We recently went on a vacation to West Texas, and on our way back home stopped in Kerville for the evening.  In our hotel lobby were lots of Hill Country brochures, on in particular for Gruene, Texas-- a place I've never officially been, but always wanted to stop in.  I'd also been riding on the back of a motorcycle for 6 days, and was itching to stretch my legs... and inside the Gruene brochure I noticed that they have a 10K in September.  I checked my schedule, and sure enough had the weekend free.

You can probably guess what happened next, I decided to sign up for this run, and get back on the exercise wagon.  I made that decision in mid-April, and it only took me a month (ooh, that's hard to admit) to get my shoes on and get my butt outside and run to start kind of training to be able to go the distance.  I've never run a 10K before, and I'd really like to.

So that's my goal : )

Since I have my big fancy running watch with GPS that's all programmable and whatnot, I decided to take the c25k program and double up on it.  I programmed in each of the first four workouts, but instead of the normal number of intervals, I doubled them.  I didn't start at the beginning, but at week 3 (intervals of 1:30 and 3:00, alternating) because I know my body and knew it'd be manageable.

It took me just under an hour to do 4.119 miles and I topped out at a phenomenally tortoise-like speed of 7.4 mph : )

BUT... I didn't give up, I kept going even when I was convinced my Timex Global Trainer was stuck in some sort of interval-rep warp and not acting right.

Today, I didn't want to be someone who makes an excuse about why they can't do something, I wanted to be someone who could finish something and post that flippin' sucker up on facebook...lol.  I know it's totally goofy and kind of attention-whorey, but when I'm getting tired and feeling like stopping before the end it's totally a motivating factor.  I really appreciate the friends on FB who cheer me on!

It was probably helpful that the weather was absolutely perfect.  Thanks God!

This week I'll try and repeat that workout on Wednesday and Friday as well... then move forward to the next workout.

I have to tell you, I really feel like after logging 4 miles I should be magically skinny by evening.  Holy crap, that's kind of far!!!

So I think I'm gonna start a little garden this year.

I've been reading and hounding my gardener friends for details lately, and I think I'm going to start a few little gardens this spring, hopefully turn out some herbs, peppers, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and pumpkins this year.  I've generally had a pretty green thumb, but haven't really ever successfully tried food plants.

So far, I've started some seeds in a little flat (indoors, because for some reason it's decided to be snowy in Houston this year).  We've bought some seeds and are planning to start some pumpkin seeds in time to harvest for jack-o-lanterns, too.

Since we're having wacky snow possibilities and hard freezing right now, the seeds are indoors on their starter flat, with a heating pad below the water reservoir.  Because I'm a goofball.

Surprisingly enough, the cats have completely not even bothered to check it out, other than snuggling next to the heating pad now and again.  It's in their favorite warm window spot... and unbeknownst to them, there are catnip seeds in there!!!

I'm also encouraging the family to help save stuff that we can repurpose for gardening use.  Tonight we had little ice creams (the single-serving containers-- not the pint ones), and I rinsed them and set them aside for seed starting.  The little tiny containers are a good way for me to handle portion control when it comes to eating ice cream!

Over the winter holidays I built a worktable and hutch for use outside, because in the past I think it's annoyed my lovely husband when I bring the good old potting soil into the kitchen and go to work with my flowers.  He's a little cleaner than I am, but I'm no complainer.  It's kind of fantastic to have a guy around who really cleans up!  Now I can be as messy and dirty as I like in my very own little backyard : )  Please note the fancy worklight I installed for after the sun goes down.

There's a shelf along the bottom to add stability and store stuff.

I've even started collecting organic trashy stuff for composting!  We'll see how all this goes.  I figure if the composting fails miserably, hey, I'll just throw it away in the actual trash.  If it works, then WHEE!  Fantastic free fertilizer for my little planties.

If you'd like to research some easy gardening, please check into Square Foot Gardening.  It can be done in a backyard or on an apartment balcony, you just need containers, sunlight, and water.

There are a zillion websites that will help you decide what and when to plant, but the cutest by far is Sprout Robot.  It'll even e-mail you when it's time to start planting new stuff!

Here are some books I bought/inherited that I've found helpful.  You can also find them at the library-- ours has a whole section on local gardening.  The Square Foot Gardening book is grrrrreat!

Here goes nothin'.  I'm looking forward to trying all of this out!  While I'm not sure it'll actually "save" money as opposed to buying veggies at the grocery store, I do think it'll be pretty satisfying, and give me some reason to spend more time outdoors kind of communing with nature... plus I'm one of those nurturers, and we definitely don't need anymore animals.  We'll see how good of a seed mommy I can be...lol.

The Holidays: Tough to stay focused!

So, once the holiday season (and coincidentally my insanely busy season at work) hit, I didn't run nearly as much and probably fell back into some less-than-desirable habits.  This happens to a lot of people, and I really try not to let "food choices" determine whether I've had a great day or not.  Moving toward a healthier lifestyle is about a lifetime of making better choices.  I try to keep the attitude that every day is new, and even when I slack on the super-healthy choices... I've still come a long way from where I started, when I weighed about 260 pounds and was feeding my family lots of bad-fatty/sugary foods on a regular basis.

Even though I feel that I've "slacked" over the past few months, I can look at the way our lifestyle has changed and say that we're still moving forward.  The way we cook is different, the things in our pantry and fridge are still, for the most part, the things that should be there.

We went out of town for the week of Thanksgiving, and I ran while we were in Missouri.  I ran a little bit once we got back, but then the cold weather arrived and it was just... brrrr.  I allowed myself a little break, thinking I'd hit the gym more regularly.  That didn't happen.  My daughter no longer had crack-o-dawn volleyball practice, so I did a lot more sleeping in!

The good news is, my clothes all still fit : )

I headed back to the gym today, walked as fast as I could on the treadmill for 3 miles with a little incline (about 40 minutes), then did a weight circuit.  It felt reallllly great to get my body moving again!!!  It was also great to exercise and watch some mindless tv ("Fashion Police", which my husband hates).  It had been so long since I'd been to the gym (although I had been running) that the trainer had to re-activate my FitLinxx account!  God bless the YMCA.  I love those people.  No questions asked, no making me feel guilty.  Just a welcome back and a smile!

If you've lapsed in your workout routines, or indulged a little more than you feel you should have over the holiday season... Please keep a positive attitude!  Remember that every day is new.  Every single day is a day that you can begin making better choices.  Improvement doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing, it simply needs to be BETTER.  If small steps are what you need, then take small steps.


Sometimes when we decide we're going to overhaul our lives, it's a huge step and it's really difficult... which leads to feeling badly about yourself when you don't "make it".  Revise your plan, and change one small thing each day.  Be in this for life, not just until you hit a goal : )

Viva Las Vegas! Running the strip!

My husband and I celebrated our sixth anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas : )  I packed all my running gear and was looking forward to running on the Vegas strip!

It was really nice weather for running in the mornings.  On Monday I ran (mixed in walking because I knew it was a long way) about 5 miles, on Wednesday Jack joined me for a 5-ish mile walk, and then on Friday before we left I ran the strip again.  It was sooooo much fun, there was so much to see, and I wish I could run there all the time.  If you ever do this, be sure to go before people start waking up.  You don't want to try and run the strip when it's full of people, it will just frustrate you like rush-hour traffic.  I woke up at 7 most days and was out there by about 7:30.  I don't think there's a night-time that would work, since people are out and about all night long.

I went for another run on Monday morning after we got back home (I worked reallly late on Saturday, so Sunday morning wasn't happening), trying out a new park in my area of town.  I went about 2.5 miles, and was feeling very tired and heavy-- yet again, I should have left earlier.  WHEN WILL I LEARN?!?!  It gets hot when the sun comes up, even in October.  Argh.  I didn't run today because I had to be up at 5 to accompany a family member to surgery, so if I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight, I'm planning to get up and go tomorrow morning.

It's been a really long time since I saw a drop in my weight, but I have to say, I'm feeling fantastic.  I don't feel as super-flabby as I used to, and my body is happy when I give it a workout.

Here's a quick little happy from Vegas.  Man, I love that guy!

Just what I needed to hear...

I picked up the November issue of Runner's World magazine today and was thumbing through it while eating lunch. Today was a really long day, and after my run last night (which was one of those "am I made of lead?" kind of things) I was having one of those "am I doing this right?" brainstorms in my head. It was good to see Runner's World looking at me from the news stand in the grocery store... I haven't read it in a while, and I always find some great stories in it. I remember the first time I ever read it, sitting in a spa in Las Vegas reading about Matt Long, a NYC firefighter who ran a marathon after having been run over and shattered to pieces by a bus... in this issue I saw an ad for his book, The Long Run. I'll definitely be picking that one up!

At any rate, I've mentined before that I'm a slow gal. I'm generally happy just to be putting one foot in front of the other and completing my distance goals without walking most of the time. I've thought that at some point I'll look into improving time, but for now my goals are more completion and distance-oriented. Last night at the park I saw my friend Jan-- a total sweetheart and avid runner. She was there with a friend of hers doing speedwork, I passed her a few times as I was plugging along on my first Bridge-to-10K workout. As I was running, I wondered if I was doing this right. Am I supposed to be working on speed? Should I work on speed for my body? How on earth do I go about working on speed? Will the world end if I just keep up the slow and steady?

In Runner's World on page 36, there it was. "Tips for beginners from an easygoing coach" (Jeff Galloway's "The Starting Line" column).

Fact or Fiction? Whatever your pace, there's no such thing as running too slow.


FACT. Running is a free-form activity; we alone determine how fast, how far, and how long we run. The empowerment of running is open to anyone, at any speed. Your definition of "slow" may change as you grow more fit, and will change again as you grow older.

Thanks Jeff : ) That's just the information my heart was looking for today.
There are some interesting articles this month... one about shoes, one about bras (kudos to RW for not neglecting the chesty runners!), one about gluten, and a pretty compelling story about Bart Yasso... who among other things was an alcoholic who turned into a running legend with the help of a dog. There's also a story about a girl whose brother suffered a heart attack while running a marathon, so she's picking up where he left off and training to run one in his honor.  It's a good read!

...and for my next trick, I will start the Bridge to 10K program.

I'm setting out this evening to do the first of the Bridge-to-10k program runs!  I think it's something like jog 10 minutes, walk 1 minute, then repeat 3 or 4 times.  I'm looking forward to being able to finish this : )

So last week, I ran FOUR miles : )

Last Thursday I decided I was going to finish a 3.5 mile run.  I finished 3, why not 3.5?  Well as usual, mile 1 was the hardest, mile 2 was also a push (I had super lead feet and was feeling soooooo sluggggish).  You know, 3 wasn't all that bad... and when I rounded the curve after that third mile, I was feeling very much on top of the world like Wonder Woman.

So when I got to the 3.5 mark, I felt very "oh why not?" and finished 4 miles... and felt QUITE ACCOMPLISHED!  I had finished, this was definitely a personal distance record, and I hadn't walked any of it.

Runkeeper posts to my facebook page, so of course I had congratulations and stuff.  I also had a couple of remarks from my runner friends that I needed to not add so much distance so quickly-- especially since I am a "clydesdale", "athena", or whatever cutesy name you'd like to give to a big-boned, heavy runner with several pounds to spare.  Evidently upping your distance too quickly increases the chances of stress fracture.  After freaking out a little bit because I was afraid I was breaking some important bone by being awesome, I decided to calm it down and just be smarter from here on out.

Whee!  That being said, I went out this morning and did 2.5 miles.  We've been having some of the most incredible weather EVER-- that's right EVER-- around here, and it felt wonderful to be outdoors this morning.  Even after running 4 miles last week, the first part of my run is "uggghhhhhh".  If yours is this way too, don't worry because you've totally got someone who feels your pain.