Silly Groundhog

I think this is one of the first years ever that that darn groundhog didn't see his shadow, which is supposed to mean that we will have nicer weather up until spring gets here. So much for that! I think the weather turned worse right around Groundhog's Day and has gone downhill since. Two snow days off of school last week and more blizzard-like weather headed our way tomorrow (and likely another snow day). I know it's just an excuse, but this weather has sure made it hard to get my miles in and to train for the half marathon without access to a gym or treadmill. I didn't get ANY miles in this past week (after last Sunday) which is rather depressing. Finally, this Sunday, February 24 I got in a measly 1.6 miles with only 1 of those jogged and that was while pushing Laci in the jogging stroller through the muddy/slushy gravel road. Couldn't even wear my new shoes.

So here is this weeks goal update:
62.3 total miles
44 total jogged
54 books read (by me) to Hunter (making some good progress here lately and loving the bonding time)
5 hours of toning (see note below about this)
7th week of Master's class- only 2 assignments left!!! YAY!!!!

Well I finally got back to getting a little toning time in (two 15 minute sessions). I go on a video kick and then I get out of the video kick. For awhile I'm all gung-ho on doing exercise videos, and then for awhile I get in the mode of thinking it's too complicated to first find my tiny living room floor back to clear a small area to be able to exercise in for the 30-40 minutes of each video. I realize these are just excuses as well and I need to just get past them. I've found a small way to "cope". I've begun doing 15 minute miscellaneous exercise periods. I do arm work, leg work, and ab work all just in my own random, hodge-podge order. 15 minutes seems bearable and "easier" to fit in although I realize that again, I'm making more excuses. Who can't possibly spare 30 minutes a day? (Apparently me.) I was going to scrap my goal of toning for the year and just say that my Master's and "Life" took over and I got too busy, but I don't believe in giving up on a goal that really is do-able. It's not an unreachable goal. I wouldn't allow myself to set one that I didn't think I could accomplish. So I'll find a way to catch back up and work my way through it. Perhaps starting on snow day #3 tomorrow if that comes about, I'll find time while the kids are napping.
This quote is my motivation to ME this week!

Today's Motivational Photo

Too bad the picture is not of my tummy. Oh well. Still good motivation. :) 

First, make up your mind. 

Second, do what your mind decided. 

Update and Random Thoughts

Goal update:
60.7- Miles completed thus far this year.
43- Total miles jogged/ran
40- Books read (by me) to Hunter so far this year (not counting nightly prayers we read).
4.5- Hours Toning
6th week of Master's class. Doing good with my assignments so far. Getting them done early and making great grades.

Records to date:
8- Most miles completed at once (ever in my life). This was at the end of last year when I was trying to reach my goal of 366 miles.
5.5- Most miles ran straight through.
6- Most miles ran in one trip (not straight through).

I've been making great progress for the year so far. Feeling great about myself, too. The only thing I've been slacking at lately is the toning/videos. I need to just make time for that, but I've been spending my extra time being a mom or doing schoolwork. If only I would make myself get up at 5 when my alarm actually goes off, instead of hitting snooze and getting up at 5:30. Soooo not a morning person.

I shared a couple of photos on my Facebook page today, so I'll share them here as well.
This is me 9 months ago on May 14, 2013 about an hour before my c-section to meet my lovely little daughter. Photo courtesy of the hubby.

 This is me today, February 17, 2013. 35 lbs down from 9 months ago. The outfit is new from this weekend. Finally did some ME shopping and bought a lot of workout clothes and some new running shoes. Great buys at Kohl's this weekend! Felt great that I believe this is one of my first shopping trips in years that I bought ALL medium size clothes and NO larges! Even tried on a couple of smalls. :)

 A few pounds to go, but feeling great so far! 

I am so proud that NONE of my weight loss can be attributed to any dieting supplements. I tell ya, sometimes having a free market economy makes it hard on a lady. There are so many temptations to dieting programs of many sorts out there. It seems like everywhere I look for motivation for continued weight loss, I find someone trying to advertise some program or pill. To me dieting supplements (or whatever they may be called) are so risky, not to mention EXPENSIVE! So many of them women (or men) can become dependent upon and they must keep using them or the weight loss subsides and everything that was lost comes back on. Their body is trained to only do what the medicine tells them to do and then when they try to stop, the body gets confused. All you really have to do is convince your mind that anything is possible that you work for. SERIOUSLY! I believe weight loss is 100% mental with the exception of those who are physically handicapped and their body truly won't let them do things, however I have read of many stories of physically handicapped people taking their life back and getting in shape as well. Had someone told me years ago that I would run over 5 miles straight by the time I was 28 I would have thought they were losing their mind. I have put my mind to it, though and have done it! And I'm going to put my mind into doing many more miles as well. I am not one of those people who weight loss comes easy to. I have struggled with being overweight and sometimes on the obese scale all of my life, although I never wanted to admit it. Even now my childhood babysitter says one thing she remembers about me is that I had some of the biggest baby/child thighs she ever saw. :) Thanks. :) Anytime I would find my height and weight on a chart, I was and actually still am in the overweight category for BMI. Sometimes I was even considered obese. That hurts to know, but I'm glad I've gotten past that and am on my way down.

One thing that I can attribute to helping with some of my weight loss is that I primarily ONLY drink water these days. Drinking anything else is a rare occasion. Yesterday I went to Taco Bell with my SIL Kelly and had a Pink Lemonade with my meal. Although it didn't have any caffeine, it did have calories. I was happy, though, normally I would have re-filled my drink before I left. I decided that having a large Pink Lemonade was already enough calories that I didn't need to have anymore. I ended up not even drinking the whole large cup I had.  Something else helping me lose weight is of course my walking/jogging. I've seldom done much of anything else. 4.5 hours of toning/videos for the year is nothing to brag on. If you want to lose weight as well, get up and move! Sitting there thinking about it or just reading about other people losing weight sure isn't helping your waistline. That was me for so long. I would pin motivational pins and exercise ideas on Pinterest, but that was the extent of it. Now I'm the one who makes sure I go do something physical before I get to the Pinning (most of the time). It feels great to know I'm making myself a better person to hopefully be around for many more years to have that time with my hubby and kids. Speaking of kids I want to add that most of my exercise time is done when the kids are napping, so I'm not even compromising much of my family time for exercise. I have a great hubby who stays home with the kids during naptime while I go for my runs. He gets "his time" to do what he pleases either in the mornings or after I get back from my runs. Have I mentioned lately that I love my hubby? :) I do! Anyway... to recap.... You can find a way to get everything in the day if you make a way. Think of when you waste the most time and use that time to do something good for yourself instead. Don't wait another day! You are worth it!

One more update.... I've been doing perfect with not eating chocolate, which I gave up for lent. I haven't had ANY so far! However, I've replaced my m & m snacking with Jellybean snacking. Probably not quite as unhealthy, but still maybe not the best thing to replace chocolate with. Oh well. Small steps. :)

New Kickers

I finally got my new running shoes that I earned for my 366 miles last year. I love them! They are Nike Alvord Trail Running shoes. Ready to go for a long run today to try them and my new running clothes out. Thank you Kohls for having a lot of sales yesterday! And thanks to my sil Kelly for helping me decide what to choose.

What a Beautiful Day

Years ago I would have imagined a birthday to be made better by going somewhere fancy, being at a large gathering of people, or getting lots of nice gifts. It's amazing how we change over the years. Today was my birthday. The day consisted of baking cookies, cleaning up around the house, playing with the kids, helping cook with the hubby, going for a jog (more info on that further down), doing laundry, and checking many messages from loved ones although not directly talking with many of them. We didn't go anywhere at all, no gifts were exchanged, and no one else even came over and I have to say it was a great day! There weren't really even any melt-downs by any of us. :) 

As for my jog.... When I set out I had decided I was going to set a new jogging distance record for myself. I was going to try for 5.1 miles today. My previous record was set last weekend when I ran 4.1 miles straight through. Along my route I went down a very long, steep hill. Of course when you go down a hill, at some point, you must go back up. I knew that. In order to get my 5.1 miles jogged in, I was going to have to run back up that hill and I wasn't sure if I could manage it. I did! I just kept looking ahead and putting one foot in front of the other. I didn't go very fast, but I sure went! I was actually surprised that I wasn't MORE winded than I was by the top of it. The small hills that used to seem like a big deal to me months ago are nothing to me anymore. I'm trying to be sure I include hills in my training, so that I'm not surprised by them at the half-marathon. After I conquered that large hill today, I had a fairly level 1.5 miles back home. If I ran this whole way I would actually have been able to stop running before getting back to the house and walk about 0.10 of a mile to cool down and still have in my 5.1 miles. On the last mile home I realized I wasn't really out of breath, or hurting, or anything. So as I approached the house, I kept going. I had decided I was going to run more to try to have 1 solid hour of running in. I got to about 5.45 miles and decided to turn back toward the house and a little later at 5.55 miles jogged I just stopped running. In a way I felt like Forest Gump. I wasn't out of breath, wasn't hurting, wasn't dizzy, or anything. Nothing was wrong. I just stopped and walked the rest of the way home to finish out at 5.72 miles. When I started walking I wasn't even winded at all or relieved much to be walking instead of jogging. I am somewhat upset with myself that I decided to stop running today. I know I easily could have went 6.1 miles or more. I'm wishing I would have pushed myself to see what I was truly capable of on my 28th birthday. I know I've got to be proud of what I've accomplished so far, though. If anyone would have told me I would have run over 5 1/2 miles on my 28th birthday months or years ago I would have thought they were losing their mind. Today truly solidified me realizing that I can indeed run the entire half-marathon. As long as I don't have any injuries, side pains, etc. there will be nothing to stop me from completing that race all ran. I may not set any time records by running it all and likely won't take any places for medals, but by darn I'm going to run it!

Luckily it doesn't happen until after my runs, but I've been getting headaches after all of my long trips. I'm not sure what the deal is. I drink water before I go and water after I go, but still seem to get a headache a couple of hours later each day I go for a long run

Speaking of water. I have to share that I believe part of my weight loss can be contributed to ONLY drinking water these days. I am proud of myself.... Trevor and I went fishing yesterday and stopped by McDonald's on the way home. Usually I would have gotten a large sweet tea with my order. However, I still had water left from the fishing trip, so I only ordered a double cheeseburger (I know... enough calories in those things to make a whole meal) and regular fries (would have been a large in the past). It's these small changes in life that I've made that I know will help me continue my weight loss and fitness journey. I encourage anyone else trying to lose weight to cut out the soda, tea, alcohol, or whatever else you're drinking and just drink water. Zero calories and you can have as much as you want. It's really good for your body too and can help flush out the bad things you put into your body.

This week will be a busy one. I've got a paper due for my Master's class, and have to have two presentations ready to go for Friday's Teacher-In'Service in which I'm teaching other teachers. Not to mention a staff meeting Monday, 8th hour duty Tuesday, and church Wednesday evening. Through this all, I'm going to try to log some more miles. I'm looking forward to next Saturday so much, though. My SIL, Kelly, and I are going to sign up for the half-marathon and hopefully do some shopping. I'm hoping to buy some more running clothes (in smaller sizes that actually fit) and also finally buy the running shoes I earned for my miles last year. Can't wait!

One last thing about this week.... So Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which is the kickoff of the lenten season. I understand that lent is not just about giving something up that you should also do something good for yourself and/or others. We'll I've decided that I've already started doing many good things for this year with all of my goals I have (reading to my kids, exercising, Master's classes), so I am going to just focus on giving something up. I'm going to make it a challenge on myself. I'm giving up one of my favorite things.... CHOCOLATE! It will be tough, but I can do it! I'm hoping that will help with some of my weight loss that has recently subsided as well. Need to break through this plateau I've been on for awhile.

Ok... that was a lot for this week. Better get back to writing my paper. :) 

One Foot in Front of the Other

Just got back from putting in 5 miles today after a 4 day break from exercise. Used the cold weather and busy schedule as excuses this week. Today's trip consisted of 4.1 miles jogged straight through, then 0.2 walked, and another 0.5 jogged before finishing it out with walking. I've never jogged that many miles straight through in my life before.... EVER. It feels great to know I can do that all on my own. 
The more I think about this half-marathon, the more I'm proud I've committed to it. Haven't officially signed up for it yet (will be doing that Feb. 16 at a store in Columbia), but I've got it in my mind and on my calendar to do, so therefore I will! Had I not signed up for it, I would only be pushing myself to run 3.1 miles or slightly more because I would only otherwise be doing 5Ks. Don't get me wrong. Running a 5K is a great accomplishment for anyone! But I wouldn't know that I'm capable of much more if I wouldn't try to push myself into much more. This is shaping up to be My Best Year Yet! 
I have also decided that this half-marathon is definitely mind over matter. All it takes is putting one foot in front of the other (again and again and again and again and so on), but that's all you have to do. It's really that easy. You can't focus on how far you have to go, but instead of how far you have come. That's exactly what I'll be doing as I train and run the half. 16 weeks from today is race day!!!