9 miles 10 pounds

Only 5 and a half weeks until my big half marathon day!! (those exclamation marks are more fear enduced than excitement).  I'm in shock that I only have one month left to train and that I'm not out there every day pushing myself harder.  I'm doing a few short runs a week and a little cross training here and there, then on the weekends Greg and I go out for a long run together.  Last Saturday we were out for 1 hour and 52 minutes and did 9.2 miles.  We were averaging a pretty good pace of about 9 minute miles until a big dog started following us and would not go away.  We were in the middle of a big 4 mile loop and the dog kept right up with us.  Finally we stopped to check the collar and call the owner, and when nobody answered we decided to google map their house and run the dog home.  So needless to say that slowed us down but at least pup was returned safe and sound.  The owner was shocked the dog was even missing and thanked us for running him all the ways home.

But anyhow, we're plugging away.  I never in my wildest dreams imagined I would exercise for 1 hour and 52 minutes, it's actually pretty rediculous.  Through all this training I think I've realized that a 10K or a 1 hour run is a good respectable distance that is managable and comfortable.  Anything beyond that is a little nuts and only doable for me because I can't wait to get my hands on that big giant medal, and had I known how much time was really involved in the training I might have thought harder about signing up for this, especially with a new baby at home.  Although the increase in distance and time has coincided well with Elliot's growth.  He's eating plenty of solids now and able to be apart from me for the necessary 2 hours at a time.  So this weekend we will gear up, stretch, cry a little and head out for a double digit mile run.  Insane.

I never thought I was in it for the medal but it turns out...I AM!  I'm glad for the exercise and the weight loss and the increase in my general health and fitness level, but man am I glad there's something to show for it that I can treasure and hang on my wall (yes I'm that conceited).  I anticipated the sweat, the shin splints and the sore muscles but it's the mind games that have really been an unexpected challenge.  I woke up on Saturday with major cramps, a headache, fatigue and low motivation.  Everything in my mind told me to stay home and forget 9 miles.  I knew deep deep down that I could do it and I would feel good if I just got out there, but I also knew I had good excuses to stay home.  So I dragged my butt so slowly to the shower and got dressed for the run, and while we were running I told Greg that I realize I gained weight and never committed to exercise because there are ALWAYS excuses in my mind and I ALWAYS used them.  My head was constantly telling me "this hurts, stop running, just sit down" but I needed to defeat those thoughts and learn to say "get moving, keep moving, this will feel good later".  It maybe sounds strange but I have learned a great deal about myself and how to be strong when I feel weak.

Besides running for hours, I've been busy soaking up some summer.  We're chillin in the back yard, at the Library, making cookies, painting, watching movies and just loving some time off.  I've met with lots of friends for coffee and had girls over for girly nights and I'm loving every minute of it.  I haven't been tracking my every calorie but I'm still hard at work applying all I've learned and am down to 165 lbs. this week!  I'm lighter than I have been in about 5 years or more and starting to feel like a chubby-skinny person instead of a not-too-fat fat person.  I'm so glad to be rid of those 24 pounds and I'm finally down to my LAST 10 POUNDS! I know people always say those are the hardest, but I feel empowered to push through and get this over with.  I'm swimming in some of my clothes and a little frumpy in others, but I'm not going shopping until I make it to goal weight.  The loss has been slow and steady, but best of all, maintainable.  These last 10 could take me a while but I'm so excited to look back and see a girl who decided to do something....and did it. 

I'm Bored

Lately Greg and I have been renting movies from the Library as a cheap free way to stay entertained.  Having a baby in the house means you are usually home by 8pm at the latest, and you're forced to sit around the house, which is fine for the most part, but once in a while I crave some evening social life outside my Nike comfy shorts and an old T-shirt. The movies we've picked are ok, but just ok.  They mostly have decent stories or exciting plots, but nothing too epic.  I'm finding 2 hours goes by and I've done nothing but wonder how much longer this movie is going to be.  Why is it that all the comedies are dirty, and all the action movies have filthy language and all the romances are about infidelity?  I'm kind of getting sick of watching such garbage.  Yesterday when I was returning some books I was tempted to go look for Anne of Green Gables to balance out the garbage we've been watching. 

In the 80's comedies were funny and definetely not as dirty as they are today.  'Adventures in Babysitting' is an awesome movie about a night of kid watching gone awry, but today's version, 'The Sitter' is nasty, low budget and predictable.  I'm usually not too stuffy about movies but it's getting really lame that there is nothing good out anymore.  'This Means War' is a comedy about two guys who like the same girl and compete for her love, it could be a fun story but by the end when she can't decide, her friend advises her that she should sleep with both men to find out which one is really her true love (rolling eyes).  Seriously. considering. Anne of Green Gables.  Don't get me entirely wrong, I do like movie nights with Greggy, but only if we're going to do a Indiana Jones marathon, or a Star Wars night.  Something well made that a person could care about. These library picks are just no good. 

So I'm considering some alternate evening-time-passers.  Maybe some that will be productive, or uplifting and not just a complete waste of my time? The question is...what to do?  I did get a crochet hook and some yarn, but what if I became a person who sat around doing crochet while watching Anne of GG?  I might die.  Maybe I need to look at this Pinterest everyone loves to find some craft ideas? Or some good book picks?  I need help. 

today in a nutshell

Weight lost this week: 0
Runs gone on: 1
Distance run: 8 miles
Calories consumed: 1 000 000
Stuff happening: painting nails, going to the library, constantly cleaning my house
Overall feeling: meh
Devotions currently: Acts
Grateful for: VBS where Liam can get out and do something fun in the mornings
Sad about:  people who are easily offended and give up on friends because of said offense
Excited for: girls night this Friday! Nails, hair, facials, friends.
Stressed about: running 9 miles on Saturday
Sure of: impending headache today
Wishing for: kids who would nap, so I can nap 
 Deciding to: remain positive and let Him be strong when I am weak. 

201 Miles

This is my running app on my phone.  It logs all our miles, pace, calories burned...etc.  I downloaded it the day I decided to train for this half marathon, which was January 30th where I walked 2.13 miles and ran 10 seconds of each 5 minutes.  I had a baby only 8 weeks prior, and had just finished eating the rest of Liam's birthday cake so it was no easy task.  It was cold and windy out and I had horrible shoes that were not even for running.  I looked rediculous all bundeled up in my Superstore workout pants and big ugly shoes, but I plugged away. 

In February I walk/ran 15.33 miles with my longest run being 2.91 miles.  So I basically only added 1 mile that entire month but going from 2 to 3 miles felt like going SO much further. 

March's tally was 25.31 miles with my longest distance being 3.27 miles.  Still slow and plugging along.  Still cold and embarrassing. 

April was 27.47 miles in total with my longest distance being 4.07 miles.  After training 2 or 3 times a week for 3 months I had worked up to 4 miles and I felt like that was faarrrr.  I was not improving too much, distance wise, but I know I was running about 50% of the time and had learned a lot.  I knew that you need actual running shoes, and that the proper gear will make all the difference in the world.

May's total is 36.36 miles and I made it up to 5.5 miles at one time.  My confidence was building, the weather was perfect and I knew how to max my time out there and prevent my nasty shin splints and stiff legs.  It was not until about this month that I began to feel like I could maybe call myself a 'runner'.  In my opinion, running 5 miles was nothing to sneeze at.

June.  I'm surprised that I did cram in 35 miles since I was on vacation in Vancouver for 2 weeks of that month.  But Greg and I did our whopping 7.07 miles before we left on holidays and I was killin' it.  I also did a 10K race in June for Pro-life and was comforatable doing it. 

July.  SO HOT.  I can't believe I've only logged 12.85 mils this month, and it's already the 11th, but it is just so hot and I have not been able to muster up the energy to go for an early run yet.  But I see it in my near near future as this weather is not getting any cooler.  Today I did 5 miles at 10am and by the end I was dripping everywhere.  It's also crunch time so Greg and I are doing 8 miles this weekend and adding a mile to that every weekend from now until our big 13 mile practice half marathon before we leave. 

So thanks to my app, I've been able to tally everything I've done and keep track of all my sweaty painful miles.  Today I checked and I just passed the 200 mark!  That means I've run from Lethbridge to Red Deer (for those who know what that even means).  I know my progress has been a lot slower than most people's.  Most half marathon training programs are 16 weeks max, and I've been 'training' for 24 weeks already, but I really did start from ground ZERO.  I had no base.  I couldn't run a block.  I had 25 extra pounds on.  So even though it's been long, I'm still proud to be where I am today.  I can't wait to get that medal and finish well. 

Friends Who Bless

 These are our pots and pans...

 They were purchased in 1975 as a wedding gift...FOR MY PARENTS.  As newly weds, Greg and I were happy to inherit many hand-me-downs.  There was nothing wrong with these pots and pans and we did not have the money to get a new set, so we took them from my parents and have been using them ever since. 

 Greg sometimes makes pasta in this pot and it sticks to the bottom and burns.  He always blamed the pot, but the truth is, it happened to me sometimes too.  The pot was thin on the bottom and if the heat was too high, you could easily have a big messy problem.

 I can't remember where this pan came from.  It might be from my family too, but it's very scratched and has no "non stick" to it, so you need about a half can of PAM to get your eggs out of it.

This IKEA beauty is from the college years and probably cost $5 10 years ago. It's perfectly clean...those are scratches you're looking at.  It too is paper thin and fairly useless.

I'm not materialistic (in too many ways), so for us, these have done the job well enough and we had not given much thought to replacing any of them any time soon.  But this weekend we had some dear friends over and they aparently thought differently.  We love to have people over and cook for them and serve them.  So we had two pots going with corn on the cob, a pot of mashed potatos, and some gravy simmering.  So needless to say they were all dirty.  My gracious friend was kind enough to do ALL our dishes after the meal while her husband was sharing some stories with us of their life lately.  Before I knew it, she had washed and put all my pots away.

Two days later, before they left town again, I got a text that a gift was sitting on our steps and I opened the door to find this...

 WHAT?!! A beautiful 10 piece cook set BRAND NEW!!!!!  I could not believe their generosity.  The card said that while poking around the kitchen, God had laid it on their hearts to gift us with this set.  After a brief moment of embarrassment from the obviously old state of my cookware, I recovered and was flooded with feelings of gratitude and blessing.  Friends so kind, so observant, and so in tune to the Holy Spirit that God knew my needs better than I did and they were willing to obey him and bless us. 

 I opened them up and was amazed how beautiful they are.  Lids that fit! Handles that won't burn your hand! Glass lids you can SEE what you're cooking!  It was bliss. 

So tonight I made Liam some pasta.  It cooked like a dream. And I was reminded of what it means to be not just a friend, but a friend who listens to the Lord and is quick to obey and bless others.  I know I'm not always great at that.  But I'm sure thankful for this sweet sweet reminder!

Greg is always ahead

The thing about losing weight, is you actually have to pay attention to it.  Greg's be winning with his sneak attack behind my back.  He's already lost, are you ready...6 pounds since the beginning of our challenge.  WHAT? I know, it's ridiculous.  He's killing it and keeping his methods mostly secret.  I've lost 0 and spent most of yesterday evening eating coffee ice cream and chips.  Big fail.

So I'm reminding myself that every morsel of food counts and to continue to succeed I have to be careful what I snack on.  I almost baked some killer sugar cookies today but instead opted for a low fat banana bread from my 1200 Calories a day cook book, not even my mom's killer banana loaf with sour cream.  This one has only 1 cup brown raw sugar, and 1/4 cup butter.  That should tie me over, baking wise, for the next while.

Dinner will be some eggs and veggies  because I'm trying to save some calories for the ladies night I've got planned for tonight.

Profile picky

Testing blog post via mobile phone. Sounds cool but it's hard to type an entire post on your tiny iPhone keyboard. I like the feature that allows you to upload pics from your phone but I'm not sure how often I would post from here. So I'll test the photo upload feature with this dirty mirror shot of my 168 body. Just a little progress pic.

Real Cream Goes Down Smooth

I'm a huge coffee drinker.  I've worked at Second Cup and Starbucks and love everything from a hot dark roast black to a iced flavored latte.  But mostly around the house we drink a medium roast in the morning and use a flavored coffee creamer.  We mostly get vanilla flavors and although we knew they are 'lactose free' and almost never expire we would drink almost a liter a week.  The International Delights creamers are delicious but are essentially a margarine/plastic product so after being inspired by my sister-in-law I sought out some recipes and found a great real dairy alternative to use!  And, it's easy peasy.

Melt 1/2 cup Brown Sugar and 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract...

 Find a glass container with a seal, or an old jar to store it...

Once your sugar and vanilla are melted you can add 3-4 cups of cream (and I added a little cinnamon)...

 When it's all mixed together you can store it in your glass container...

 My glass container is from IKEA and was only a couple bucks, and it seals tight so it's awesome...

 Add to your brew and voila! A healthier, lower fat alternative to liquid plastic!

Besides making kitchen concoctions, I`ve been busy training with Greg, visiting friends and soaking up some delicious sun.  We`re down to only 7 weeks before our California trip and the marathon so Greg and I are also kicking off a 10 pound challenge.  I lost the pound I gained while in BC but I`m still sitting stagnant at 169, and Greg has stopped logging calories and has put a few back on too, so we want to feel good and be ready for Cali, and what better way than to engage in some healthy marital competition.  I`m going to kick his butt!