Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Just A Little Farther

ahhhh I'm so exhausted.

I set a goal of running 70 miles for the month of January. As usual I'm a procrastinator and am trying to get them all in these last couple days. I did 5 tonight. 11 more to go!! Not sure if I can squeak those out in the next two days. I might have to break them up into a few shorter runs  if my legs will allow it.  I decided that instead of going to the gym today I'd try to get closer to my goal.

Trevor wanted to come with me. I know whenever he tags along that I'm not going to be breaking any PR's. I had him ride his bike and we chatted a bit while I was running. I did quite a bit of walking too. It's just too hard for me to really focus on running while chatting. But it's ok! I think he had fun hanging out.



The sun started to set while we were out, look how beautiful it is on the lake. 


There is a pasture area next to our club property and some cows were right up next to the fence. Trevor thought that was pretty cool.


You'd think that after 5 miles of him riding his bike and doing some running too (he dropped his bike off at home before we did the last mile) that he'd be exhausted too but he's just jabbering away. I, on the other hand will drop straight off as soon as my head hits the pillow. 



Monday, January 28, 2013

See Sarah Run!!

My dear friend Sarah ran her first 5k last Saturday. 
I just wish I would have been able to be there to run it with her! 


I'm so excited that she has caught the running bug!! 
Sarah and I have been friends for years. 
She is the one that got me my job where I work. 

We actually met through a Scrapbooking Yahoo Group way back in the day. 
Who knew that posting on Yahoo Group would get me one of my best friends I've ever had?? 


Sarah sold Creative Memories and I was interested in becoming a consultant, so I signed up under her. 
We did that together for a few years and continued scrapbooking and hanging even after I quit being a consultant. 


I had been kind of looking for a job outside of the house (I was a stay at home mom for 7 years) and Sarah helped me to get a job where I work now. 

We worked together for a couple years. 
There is nothing better than going to work with your best friend. It was like going to play every day. 

Sadly her family decided to move to Texas and that put an end to that. 
Whew that was a long drive but it was great getting to spend more time with her.



I went out to visit once and she's been back to visit here too. 


Usually we have a margarita at our favorite Mexican restaurant. 


We drink margaritas well together. 


Last time she came to visit she had a bit of a fall and really messed up her leg. 
I was really worried about her! 

But then all of a sudden, she decided that she was going to start running. 


She started doing the couch to 5k program and finished it! 
Just in time for her 5k on Saturday.

She was disappointed with her time but I say she's lapping that old Sarah on the couch!

All you new runners out there, don't ever be disappointed that you didn't do a faster time. 
Think of how far you have come!! 
You will get faster the more you run and the more you train. 

Anyone that is competitive, which I am, and I know most of my friends are too (imagine that) is going to constantly be challenging themselves to go farther and faster. 

If we just keep lacing up our shoes and going outside we are WINNING every single time!

Sarah has already signed up for her next 5k.
Have you signed up for a race lately? 
I'm about to register for my next one!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

First Run of 2013!

Last night after eating some pasta for dinner I was sitting at the table and my friend sent me this:

We hardly ever get to hang out anymore so I was happy that she wanted to. Kind of appropriate that I saw this on the fit camp right before going in the bar (I was waiting for her in the car). 


So that one drink turned into like 4 or maybe 5?  Not quite sure on how many times that wine glass got refilled.


I'm also not quite sure who is the bad influence. I'm thinking it's her, she says it's me...

On a side note, see those lines on my face by my mouth? NEW WRINKLES. What.The.Hell. One good thing about being fat (nothing really) but the fat pushes out the wrinkles. I have noticed my face is thinning out more but I could go without those that's for sure. 

So after I got home I just laid down on my bed with all my clothes on. I woke up at 2:30 with a headache and half naked from stripping my clothes off in the middle of the night. I got up and took some Advil and drank a bottle of water and told myself how stupid I was.

Then I went back to bed for about two more hours and got up and hung out with Lucy while I tried to fill myself up with as much water and coffee as I could handle.



This is about how I felt haha

After I got myself re-hydrated I felt a lot better. Note to self, don't drink the night before a race. Or, you know, just stick to that one glass!

Scott drove us to the race, which was in Modesto.  There was fog hanging just over the fields but not too bad. 



My friend Eric signed up for the race for his first 5k. He ended up rocking it and getting 1st place for his age group with the men. Nice way to start off your running!


check out me and Eric (and another friend) back in June. We've come a long way!!


I used to give him shit about bringing his "bag o'crap" for breakfast every morning. Then he started doing Lose It with me and look at him now!

Eric was already turned around and heading back before I got to the turn around point. Fun to see him on this way back! 


The race went along Dry Creek Trail, which I have heard about but never actually been on. It's really nice! It was open to the public during the race though and I thought I was going to get killed by a bike whizzing past me at one point. 

I didn't bring any water, expecting there to be water stations but there wasn't. That is until more than half way back where someone was handing out full water bottles. I took a sip put the lid on and tossed it at the next volunteer. Didn't really want to carry that around.

I didn't take any pictures along the trail, I'll go back there some time and take some, it was really pretty. 

I think I'm going to invest in some of those arm warmer things. I'm always cold when we start but get really hot. I am getting good at stripping my shirt off while running though. I had to pause for a sec to repin my bib though. 

Scott got this one of me headed back in at almost the same spot. 


I had quite a few people say nice encouraging things to me as they passed me on the trail.

"10k's not for the weak" was my favorite. People are so awesome when they say nice things like that. Although judging from this picture I did look like death so maybe they thought I needed it haha. 


I told Scott I need to work on that limp wrist thing there. I get caught doing that in pictures a lot. 

The race finish wasn't too fancy but it was at the high school track. I couldn't help but think of all those times running in school where I felt like such a loser being in the back of the pack (and I wasn't fat back then) on the track. I actually went out for track in high school. I wanted to do sprints but ended up doing shot put and discus. That sucked and looking back I think that was kind of shitty. 

Anyhow, Scott got a pic of me coming in with the clock, cool! 


Running so fast I'm just a blur (or not lol) And the actual race was 1/2 a mile longer than a 10k



Scott and I went to Denny's on the way home (shhh don't tell the kids). I got a Sausage Slam. I asked if they could sub bacon for the sausage but the waitress told me no. WTH? I think they need to come up with a Bacon Slam. 

The eggs are buried in between the pancakes. It was heaven but I only ate about half before I was stuffed. 


I was glad when I could finally take my shoes off. I have some pretty blisters. I need to invest in some better socks I'm thinking!


Now to sign up for the next race!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Chinese Food & It's Hold On Me

Today was the first time I can remember having a really hard time emotionally with food in a really really long time. The last time I think it was this bad was way back when I first started and realized that I was an emotional eater. 

What's funny (or not) this time is that it wasn't really that I wanted to eat. 
Today is Scott's parent's 65th Wedding Anniversary (how crazy is that?). 


(Let's pause to get an "aaahhhh" they looked so cute today in their matching flannel shirts!!)

We always offer to bring them dinner and usually cake and whatever on holidays and important dates so I told Scott to call them up and ask them what they would like for dinner and we would take it to them. 


And with that, my day totally got stressed out. I knew I wasn't going to eat it. I was ok with that. But yet for some reason inside it was messing with me. 

I did this little picture on instagram to remind myself of how far I've come. 


That girl on the left? She ate Chinese food at least once a week. Feeling sad? Have some Chinese! Feeling happy? Chinese food to celebrate!! 


I just can't go there. 

I had been thinking of having it on my birthday and now I don't think I'll even do that. I don't need it. I don't miss it. I don't have to have it. 

After work I went home and went to the gym and beat up the fat girl inside. I did my weight lifting and instead of doing the elliptical like I usually do when I go to the gym I looked outside and it was still light out. So I went out the door and I ran. 

I ran down the long street and back. And it felt awesome.  I ran the fastest mile pace I have ever ran (well probably since Jr. High!). 



Take that fat girl!!


When I got in the car one of my favorite songs right now came on. 



I cannot hear that song without belting out "THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE!!!"

F'yeah!!

 Followed by what I call my theme song. Not going to lie, I cried when it came on.

 

And then I went home and called in the order for the food, we went and picked it up and then Scott and I went into Subway (he decided he'd eat it too, bless his heart!) and then when we got to his parents they ate Chinese food and we ate our Subway and  no one made a big deal about it and

I WON!!

And then I ate a brownie. 

Because you all know I'm not perfect but I'm still under calories for the day!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Mini Vacation & Bike Race Weekend

Ahhhh I'm so glad I have one more day off before I have to go back to work. Funny how when you take a little "vacation" you always need a day to recover from it.

We started off Saturday morning with a nice breakfast and then cleaned up the house a bit before taking off on our little adventure.

Heading north this time! We were on an adventure for Scott's first mountain bike race. It was just a bit too far to go to in the morning without having to get up really early so we made it a nice "date night in a hotel" trip.  I booked us a room at the Larkspur Landing in Roseville. There was all good reviews on this place and after staying a couple crap holes lately I figured it was worth spending a tiny bit more money for.

I thought it was going to have a microwave and a little fridge, instead it had almost a full kitchen! Just missing an oven.



and a nice lounge chair and desk


And a nice bed (the tv was on the right above where the bike is)



We relaxed for awhile and watched tv and then went down the hall to check out the gym. There was no one in there so we decided to go do a little work out before we went to dinner.


I was kind of cracking up to myself. Usually every time (in the past) that we would go somewhere on vacation we would never do anything but sit in the room and watch tv and go out to eat. 

Who are these people??

We spent about 45 minutes or so in there and then went back to the room a bit. For dinner we just walked across the parking lot to Tahoe Joe's. We have one close by in Modesto but we've never been there.  It's decorated pretty cute inside with these huge tepee light fixtures, some stuffed "heads" (could do without those) and basic "Tahoe" type decor. (Although I'm pretty sure there are no moose in Tahoe)

We decided to get the meal for 2. For our appetizer we got the nachos. As soon as it came I was thinking that that was definitely a high calorie mistake. Oh well! Too late now.



It was pretty yummy.

Then we had clam chowder, which came in a bowl instead of a cup and with some rolls. I couldn't even finish it I was already stuffed.




And then the main course of prime rib and a huge baked potato. I think I had about 5 bites and I was done.



We got our dessert of a slice of cheesecake "to go" and I spent the rest of the night in a food coma.

We got up early and went down to the hotel lobby and had a continental breakfast. I had hard boiled eggs, string cheese, a banana and an apple. Scott loaded up on the carbs. Then we loaded the truck up and headed out to Folsom Lake where the mountain bike race was being held. 

Scott got checked in, went for a little warm up ride and then we sat around waiting until it was finally time to start.


I'll let you read Scott's story about his ride over here and just give you "my time". 

While Scott was out on his ride I kind of walked back and forth at the start finish line. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take so I didn't want to go "too far". I wanted to be close by so I could get a picture or two of him on the home stretch.

This kind of cracked me up. Do you think she saw the sign?


I've never been to Folsom Lake before but it's always on the news when its' super hot. People flock to the area for boating and swimming. It was a bit to cold for swimming today! The water was pretty low too.


 It would be a nice place to go hang out for the day if it was just a little bit closer or maybe if you camped there. Although I didn't see what the camping area looked like.

I was lucky enough to get a shot of Scott coming in.


It amazes me how many people walk on the bike trail when they can see a bike coming. HELLO walk on the side!!

Scott was pretty tired when he came in but he let me snap a picture of him before we loaded up.


 So proud of him getting out there and being active!! Look at all the adventures we have had in just the past few months. Much more fun than sitting on the couch every weekend feeling sorry for ourselves that we are fat and out of shape. Fixed that didn't we? It's not always easy and sometimes we are really hard on ourselves but in the end we are winning every day we go out the door and take back our lives.

On the way home we stopped for lunch at this Mexican restaurant called "Vallarta" There was one larger table of people, us and 2 other couples there. It took about 1/2 an hour to get our taco salads that we ordered. It felt like forever. They only gave us one basket of chips too. I'm so spoiled by our local places that just keep them coming. Maybe it's a good thing they only filled it once though haha.


 The food was pretty good, just could have used a bit more kick to it (we added some pico de gallo out of the salsa bar to ours). I'd give them a B- on my Mexican Food scale :wink:

Next door to the restaurant was a bike shop so we decided to go in there to see if Scott could get his bicycle spoke fixed. They were able to fix it in 1/2 an hour (wish we would have went in there first before lunch!) which was great. Now he didn't have to worry about his wheels to get to work tomorrow. (Sadly he doesn't have the day off).

After we got home I was sitting around feeling all bloated and gross from lunch. I had worn my running stuff in the morning thinking maybe we would have time to run around Folsom Lake a bit but he was too tired when he was done. I was laying on the couch and finally talked myself into going for my 5 mile run I wanted to get done this week.  I stopped 3 times. 2 times to take off a layer of clothing and the last one to breathe a bit because I got a huge side cramp.

The plus side to stopping for a minute is you can snap a picture.


Hopefully I'll be able to run my 10k next Saturday without stopping.

Here is my run with 5 minutes walking warm up and about 2 minutes cool down walking.




I seem to be pretty consistent with the 10 1/2 minute pace now.

Best part is that I'm 50% to my goal for January now and I still have 11 days left. 


Well hopefully you all have a holiday tomorrow like I do! We are the lucky ones to have a job AND get the day off. Not everyone is so lucky!



Thursday, January 17, 2013

Small Clothes Are Awesome!

This morning I was out taking the dog out and the neighbor's son yelled over "hello!"

I'm not really used to people in the neighborhood talking to me that early in the morning so I was thrown off guard a bit. Once I realized who it was we started the idle chit chat while the dog watered the grass.

He kept telling me how much weight I had lost and that he thought I was one of the kids. Haha, love hearing that. Made my morning!

Melissa and Trevor both stayed home from school today. Pretty sure at least one was faking but since they were BOTH complaining I figured someone might really be sick. No one seems to be dying now that I'm home now.

I ran to Target to get laundry soap and coffee. I came home with a new pair of jeans, a sweater, pads, shampoo, razor blades, a mug for Jessica and some blank CD's for almost $100. Notice what I forgot? I got a bit side tracked by all the clearance racks they had up.


I only ended up getting one sweater off of the clearance rack for $4. SCORE! It's so freaking cold here lately.

I noticed that the jeans were on sale too so I tried on a few pairs. 



SIZE TWO  
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 
SIZE TWO 

OMG!! Freaking nuts. They are a tiny bit tight on the waist but not too bad. I'm sure they will stretch out after I wear them for an hour. It would probably help if I wasn't wearing granny panties. 

I also saw they had some bikini's out and just for fun I thought I'd try on a couple Mama L style.

That was funny! They were cute on the top and the bottom. The large amount of white flesh in the middle needs some help though. I think I might need to start saving some pennies for a tummy tuck. Or just go move into the gym. 

Here's the edited version!


Off to make dinner. Yeah funnnnnn

Then I'm going to the gym even if it's going to be like 8:00 by the time I get there.

PS: I only need 10 more followers to get to 200!! Anyone want to help me out? 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Another Day Food Obsessed

I'm a day behind! It seemed like someone was constantly on our computer yesterday. I finally just gave up and went to read last night.

My day in review.

F'ing C-O-L-D in the morning. Yes I know it's colder on the east coast and in Alaska. But it doesn't get much colder than this here.



 Outfit of the day plus an extra sweater because our office has been 65 most of the day lately.



Nothing too exciting happening at work. 

I love leftovers for lunch, don't you??


When I got home I was sooo sleepy. I decided I'd just lay down on the couch for a bit. and Rusty thought he had to be with me under the blanket. That's his backside lol


I've been so hungry lately. I decided maybe I should up my calories for a bit. Maybe with all this working out  I need to eat more. So I changed my Lose It plan to 1/2 a pound a week which gives me 1746 calories a day. I've probably been eating that much anyways, I go over into my exercise calories a lot.



We had tacos for dinner. I used one of those huge 80 cal La Tortilla Factory tortillas. I also had a small one after that and I was stuffed. Someday I'll learn the happy medium between starving and stuffed.


Then it was onto laundry. Yes, my life is so exciting these days. My helper came with me to help.



I picked up War Brides to start reading again. It was the book club book for November. It finally got interesting right before I dozed off.