challenged

They (bob, jillian, oprah) always say you have to figure out what is behind the weight. Emotionally. But I never could quite figure it out. I like food. I eat when I'm bored, stressed, blah blah blah. But I had a great upbringing. I'm not filling empty emotional holes with food.  So why do I eat junk I know is not good for me?

Then I finally had a breakthrough on one of my recent runs (where I always do my best thinking).

I have never been challenged.  

My childhood was fun. My parents spoiled me.  I didn't have chores. Schoolwork came easily to me. I never had to struggle much to keep my good grades. I don't like competition much, and I will usually be the first one to back down if something is too difficult or if I might fail.

But guess what?  I was chubby, shy and insecure. I wanted to be on the cheerleading team, the volleyball team, the basketball team.  But tennis and band were all I could do well enough.  I wanted to date the cute class VP, but an awkward boyfriend from a neighboring town would have to do.

I have never challenged myself to be better. Do better. Well I challenge myself NOW. I will lose the last 25 lbs. I will be a hot wife and a healthy mama for my kids. And I will run a 10k in June!

I managed to not sabotage myself this weekend and got in a total of SIX miles (3 Sat/3 Sun) plus two yesterday. Trying to take full advantage of this wonderful February weather!

I'll admit, I have mom guilt some days.  However Saturday when I came back from my run and found the kids marching up and down the hallway timing themselves to see how long they could go, I was reminded of the good example I was setting for them. So I went back out on Sunday for another run and didn't feel a tinge of guilt.

I am super happy with my weigh-in this morning. Down THREE pounds! I feel like I'm back on track and I'm ready to keep making those numbers go down!

   2013 wednesday weigh-ins

   Feb 6 [week 3]  172.2 (-3)

   Jan 30 [week 2] 175.2  (+1.2)

   Jan 23 [week 1] 174.0  (+3)

   Dec 2011 starting weight: 196

   Goal weight:  149

   Pounds lost:  23.8

   Pounds to go:  23.2

Riverfront Park. As close as I can get to running on the beach.

#GoRed

Today I Go Red in honor of my best friend Molly.

Molly was a beautiful person, inside and out. We were friends since grade school and did everything together, including rooming together in college and studying abroad together in France.

She loved to run, but found out she had a heart condition. Under her cardiologist's supervision, she was cleared to walk a half marathon for which she had trained. In Dec 2009, Molly finished the St Jude Half Marathon in Memphis.

And then she suddenly collapsed from heart failure. She was 32 years old.

I love and miss my friend very much. She continues to inspire me to run, to take chances, and to visit the beach whenever possible.

Molly after she finished a 1/2 marathon in 2008.

Me and Molly overlooking Florence, Italy in 1998.

Rainy Monday Run

After consuming more food than one person should this weekend, I was determined to run a bit of it off this morning.  I woke up to drizzling rain and decided to go for it. It was the maiden voyage for my new Petzl Tikkina 2 Headlamp.  Surprisingly I felt less like a freight train than I thought I would with that light on my forehead.  It helped me dodge potholes and puddles, but the best part was knowing that cars could actually see me (always a good thing).  I didn't get as soaked as I thought I would, and as an added bonus: you run faster in the rain!  Two 10-minute miles in the books!

Freight train comin'!

My weight has been all over the place lately.  We're talking 4 pound fluctuation up, down, and back up.  This week my goal is to get it back down for good. I read a doc about not eating back your workout calories, so I am going to try that.  It makes sense really, and it abandons the notion that "I worked out, now I can eat what I want".  I am also going to lay off the wine this week and see if it helps (duh).

lame

You realize how much you take your feet for granted when one of them is suddenly not functioning properly. Friday I started getting a feeling of numbness on one of my toes. It was off and on so I didn't think much of it. Over the weekend it slowly became more constant, and now today at work I don't feel like I can walk on the ball of my foot.  It's not painful really, just alarming that my toe is numb.  I've self-diagnosed it as Morton's neuroma.  Wikipedia has amusingly pointed out that I am in good company with fellow sufferers Steven Tyler and Patrick Duffy, as well as a Golden Girls episode where Dorothy had surgery for her Morton's neuroma.  I guess AARP was right when they sent me that membership card last week.

I'm not amused either, Dorothy.

I'm signed up for a 5k this weekend, but I guess they'll just get my donation. I made an appointment with a podiatrist for next Wednesday, and I feel like I should take it easy until then.  Sad.  What kind of exercises can you do without using your feet?  Water aerobics? Tried that once and I was the youngest person by about 30 years. Awkward and barely a workout. Swimming? I only float around and crave frozen fruity drinks when I'm in the pool. Plus, it's fall.  Rowing machine? Stationary bike?  Maybe, but I'll have to go the gym, and I only belong to a kickboxing gym.  I guess I'll just use my little hand weights for now while I figure out something. Maybe I'll try squats and crunches too. I miss running already. :(

new running shoes!



I've been wanting to get professionally fitted for running shoes for a while now, and thanks to a coupon I picked up at Race for the Cure, I discovered there is a Gary Gribble's in Independence!  I finally made it in last weekend and after some fittings, discovered my right foot is a half size larger than my left!  Who knew? I also have issues with getting blisters on my pinky toes, so I took the sales person's advice and got a half size larger than I usually do.  And ta-da! Here are my new running buddies!



 

Aren't they lovely? So lightweight and so much room for my tootsies! The sales guy showed me a fancy way of lacing up the shoe on my smaller foot so I don't have any slippage issues on my heel. I've been on two runs so far in my new shoes - 2 miles and 3 miles - and haven't had any issues with my pinky toes like before.  It feels a little strange having so much room up front, but I love them!  I'm starting to feel like a real runner now!  

 

Who doesn't want to run with a morning view like this?  Good morning, neighbor horses.