I hate starting on a Monday....

So I think it is time to cut pop & chocolate from my life again. They are connected to a spiral in my eating that is just ridiculous. I haven't recovered since Christmas baking.  I've been eating fast food again almost daily and the amount of diet pepsi I am going through is stupid.  I eat so much more food in general when I am drinking diet pop and when I drink it I also always want sweets with it.  For me diet pop and chocolate go hand in hand, can't have one with out the other. So even though I think it is totally find to indulge in chocolate every now and then, to stop the diet pop habit I need to cut both. I've done this successfully in the past. The longest time was 6 months but I did still drink regular pop instead during those 6 months. This is the same 6 months I was training with a person l trainer and not seeing any results. At the time I had convinced my self it wasn't my fault and that because my diet was the same & my activity improved I should be losing weight. In all honesty my diet probably did get a little worse because of the whole: I can eat that I worked out today, attitude. And you throw in 2 regular pops a day that is 400 extra calories and that is probably all I was burning working out.  I feel like I should start tomorrow but I have a really lame excuse to wait until Monday.  Sunday is the Super Bowl and our boys (the Seahawks) are back for the 2nd year in a row!!!!
If I wait until after Superbowl Sunday I am starting on a Monday. :-/  I don't know why I can't stand starting things on Mondays.  Maybe because Monday already leaves a bad taste in your mouth why add fuel to the fire. The part of me that knows better and that this is just another excuse and I should start tomorrow but I might just be stubborn and not do it because I want to have the junk food.

Today I was telling hubby how when I am nervous about something I avoid it at all cost. Tomorrow we run a 10K for our training and I didn't run this week.  My BFF has the opposite reaction and the what is probably the normal reaction, she prepares.  She has yet to miss a day of training and I am so proud of her for this.  I know the training helps me so much but because I am so nervous about this whole process and my lack of eating healthy I am avoiding it like crazy.  It is not the smart thing to do and I have no one to blame but myself.  I am not saying that in the "poor me, it's all my fault" way I am saying yep I screwed up and I know it way.  I am past the point of making excuses as to why things haven't worked in the past & why I haven't been able to lose weight. It is only because I haven't followed through, pure and simple.  Yeah I've been sick and that took me out of commission for over a week but you know what Oh well, stuff happens. I am finding it very frustrating but not as depressing as it was to me just a few months ago. I need to get my crap together!! Tomorrow will probably suck but I'll get through it and then I need to put it into gear.  I need to get on my treadmill and maybe even repeat some of my C25K training to get myself going again. I feel like I can't run for longer than a couple mins with out a walk break. Walk run has always been my goal but my goal was to run for 10 or 15 mins then walk for 2 or 3 mins or run for a mile then walk for a quarter mile.  But training is key and I know this! I need to stop running away from my training and just start running.

At my Doctor apt today...

Today was my follow up apt to all my issues and I am back to work tomorrow. Our bank account will be very happy about that.  My blood pressure is the lowest it has been in years, thanks to my new meds, and I am still pain free from my ulcer.  But  as I was sitting waiting for my Dr to come in and started thinking maybe I should ask for help losing weight. A little background for you: my Dr is the same Dr that will easily prescribe ephedra to people who need help losing.  My brother, SIL & My Mom all had her prescribe it for them. They told me all they did was tell the Dr that they can't put the fork down.  I starting thinking about pros and cons on that type of product, basically legal speed, Con it would be bad for my anxiety then I stopped myself.   I don't need a drug to lose weight I just need to be deciplined.  I want something to make me stop eating, take the desire away and yes that medication would do that but do I really want to have to rely on something like that? Making a decision like that is basically telling myself that I don't believe I can do this.  When I know I am capable of not just this but so much more.  

I am not portraying the person I would ever want my kids to grow up to be and that scares me. Even just typing it puts a lump in my throat. I want my children to believe they can do anything that there are no limits on what they can accomplish.  That anything is possible if they just apply themselves.  I can tell them this 24/7/365 but actions speak louder than words.  If I sit and say I can't lose weight, I can't run today when both of these things are important to me why would my boys not eventually think the same way about the things that are important to them?   I grew up in a house where I was told I could do anything but my Mom always struggled with her weight and my Dad at his job. As I got older and ran into failed attempts of things, to support me and make me feel better they would say: thats ok maybe you're just not meant for that, That might just be to hard but at least you tried, you don't want to push your self to far, you are doing so great you don't need that as well. All very encouraging words that always did make me feel better but now it has shaped my thought process. I wrote a poem type thing a bit about this and posted it a while back if you want to read that you can click HERE.  So brining my focus back to where it needs to be. Focus on my takes and celebrate my wins no matter how small I may feel they are it is all the small wins that will get me there. I need that 30 mins on the treadmill to keep my training going so when it comes time for the Half I will not be worried about it and I'll be able to enjoy it.

We leave for our Half Marathon in 99 days. We are in double digits now.  that means my 35th birthday is just around the corner, 4 and 1/2 weeks away. Time is slipping through my fingers and it is time to grab it tight and make good use out of every minute of it.

Somethings running books haven't told you..

I have been contemplating for two weeks wether to write up this post or not. It is a major overshare & TMI. But because I have read several books about running, training and how to start running and none of them talked about this I decided to share. The books I've read were great and covered: how to pick out the right shoes, the right sports bra, running on your period.  However only one book has ever brought up chafing.  The chafing she talked about is bra strap chafing. Bra strap chafing is NOT my problem.  Last chance to stop reading........... I have learned that I suffer from major butt chafing.

And what I don't get is I don't have a butt. Mine is flat as flat can be.    It's not like I have allot back there to be causing friction.

When this happened for the first time it was at the Biggest Loser 5K, I thought well that wasn't fun but attributed it to the time of the month it was.  Then our 10K it happened again and on our 4 mile run again.  And we are talking horrible chafing to the point of bleeding.  I googled running chafing and found an article on active.com called ""Girl Talk: Embarrassing Running Problems"" There it was and even worse problems than I have had! Women have blistered there lady parts with the friction of running. O_O  I am glad I haven't suffered that but it was nice to see that I am not alone and there are ways to prevent these issues.  So now I need to pick one and try it. From what I've found via google runners also call this diaper rash and because of the location of the friction have issues with the normal anti-chaife sticks working. With the research I did I've decided I am going to try Gold Bond's Chafing defense stick.  Apparently it prevents and treats at the same time and I like the idea that it is taking care of both things and the other stuff I guess is greasy and hard to get clean and this stuff isn't greasy. We have 10K we need to get in this weekend and we've decided to go run it on a track so I'll know how it works this weekend.

Another topic hardly ever discussed in running books is underwear.  Because I am an apple shaped person everything is always lose around my butt and hips because my tummy is the largest part of my body.  I quickly discovered that on a run if it weren't for the crotch of my pants I would be running w/ my underwear around my ankles.  It only takes a few seconds for them to fall completely off my butt and it is very awkward to try to fix this problem during an event. This happened during my first 5K and my BFF had to stand behind me while I stuck my hand down my pants to pull up my underwear. Recently I tried the Under Armour's performance moisture wicking underwear. I think they would work great if they fit!! They come in one size fits all and that is a lie from the pit of Hell. However as ill-fitted as they were they did stay up and seemed to help with the other issue but to uncomfortable to wear every run.  When I loose some of my tummy I will probably wear them for running but for now the only way to fix my underwear problem is to not wear any while running.  I thought of this when I was out for a bike ride w/ hubby last year cause when you put on bib shorts you don't wear underwear. I thought well why couldn't I not wear underwear for running too?  As a kid , I remember thinking panty hose were so gross and couldn't believe that people would wear them out in public in place of underwear and now here I am saying yeah my spandex will double for underwear and running gear. I guess you live and learn. :-)

I enjoy running..........when I'm done!

I got my 3 mile training run in today and man it wasn't pretty at all! Loki has been very energetic so I thought hey I am going to try to take him with me for my 3 miles and see how he does. We headed out and Loki is still very unsure of going very far from home. He has walked to the DS1 school and back twice but never anywhere else so when I turned a different corner he didn't like it.  We got to a point where he would go no further. We turned around to head home and he wanted to sprint home. We took off running! He is very fast but then he realizes he can't run anymore and lays down, LOL! Then as much as this little puppy wants to run I made him slow down so he could make it home with out stopping again.  We get home and only .69 of a mile done.  I thought for sure we had gone further than that but my garmin told me otherwise.

I decided to finish my miles on the treadmill and I sucked today. I was about to get a mile in on the treadmill keeping a pretty good time and then I started to hurt. My left shin splint and my hips. What the crap? So I slowed it way down. I tried to do some running intervals but each one was met with pain.  I wondered if I had pushed to hard when I first got on the treadmill?  Or Maybe it has to do w/ my new blood pressure meds and the fact that they are a diuretic and I am dehydrated???  Regardless of why, it was a day where I couldn't run so I walked.  I got my miles in but I felt like I am back to square one and it is C25K all over again.  I am out of practice and my muscles are just not there. About a half hour to an hour after any run I start feeling motivated like I can do this whole running thing.  Like I said I enjoy running, when I am done!

My new running partner...

I hinted a couple post ago that I would be introducing you to my new running partner. I am still going to run with BFF but I have a new partner in training, introducing Loki!!

He is just over 9 weeks old now. I did tons of research on dogs to try to find the perfect running buddy. I grew up in a house with only English Bulldogs and the first and only dog I've owned before Loki was also an English Bulldog.  Exercise for an english bulldog is walk half way around the block. I love my sweet bulldog and would own another one in a heart beat however I really wanted a dog that could jog with me.  So I researched and researched and decided on a labrador retriever. We are pretty proud geeks in this house and so we decided we liked the name Thor for the dog. The small problem was that if we didn't get a yellow lab Thor wouldn't fit (you know Thor is blonde) Thor's brother Loki has black hair and that would work. And when the doggie is being really bad we can always quote Thor from The Avengers "He's Adopted".  Ok geek moment over. :-)  Labs have the ability to keep a slow and steady pace with you and that is what I need. I don't need a dog that can sprint or run super fast I just need one w/ stamina that can keep trucking along.  He has allot of training to go through before he will start going on runs with me but I am working on getting him used to his leash.  As you can see in the pic below, the first day he wasn't very fond of it. LOL!

The top pic was today and the 2nd time we tried out his leash and he is already doing WAY better. I will be putting him in puppy classes very soon.  So as he grows you will see more and more pics of him and I eventually want to participate in a 5K for owners & dogs like the Furry5K. 

4 small blog posts in 1....

Yesterday my training schedule said 5.5 miles on it and I've been out of commission for almost 2 weeks. My official diagnosis is a peptic ulcer and critically high blood pressure.  On medications for both of them since Friday but I thought I should at least try and get some mileage in.  I took my blood pressure to make sure it was ok and got on the treadmill. I thought ok just do what you can. After several interruptions by my children realizing I was feeling the lack of ability to do this. Walking felt to slow, jogging made me worry about my blood pressure and as that stress was kicking in so did the tightening of my throat.  I got 30 mins in on the treadmill wasn't even 2 miles but I had to get moving again. It was at a very slow pace. I am still not feeling normal. I don't know if I am still adjusting to my new meds or if it is in my head. I am frustrated to the point of tears almost everyday that something has come up again to keep me down.  I wanted to try to catch up on my training but I am not sure how that will be possible. I would need to do my 5.5 miles like on Wed and then my 3 miles on Sat or Sun so I can be back on track for my milage. However I am not sure my body is going to be up for that yet.  The medication I am taking for my blood pressure is a diuretic so I kind of have am also going to have to learn how to hydrate while on it.  I will be placing an Advocare order this week for some vitamins, rehydrate and I think we are going to try the post-workout recovery shakes too.

During my down time I did manage to read a new book called "Finished being fat"by Betsy Scnow. It is like this woman is in my head.  With in the first few pages of this book I was laughing.  I saw this line and had to highlight it and run and tell my hubby about it.  "This was the simple truth that I has missed at the time.  I was addicted to starting, but once the initial high faded and things got hard or boring, I would quite and start something else to get my next fix."  I love starting, planning & preparing for things but I am not the best finisher. It hit me upside of the head.  It is so where I am am mentally and have been there for years.  The book goes through her deciding to be a finisher and not just a starter and her and her hubby train for a marathon.  I really enjoyed this book and it gave me a new ah-ha moment.

Today I was thinking about how BFF & I are on the same journey but two totally different paths.  My path is to finish the half marathon & hers is to do it fast.  Today she texted me about how we need to each take our own journey and we will start together at be there for each other at the finish. I had told hubby a few weeks ago that I was expecting to have to run my half marathon alone just because of how BFF gets with her want to be done feeling.  Now I think we are on the same brainwave.  We are going to be supporting, accountability partners who train together but we have the understanding that we will probably not be matching each others pace.  And you never know, we could be at the half and do just fine and stick together but at least we have the understanding that if we don't stick together that is fine too. I really want to shoot for a 3 hr half because I know that gives me that extra half hour for pics and bathroom breaks if need be. We need to run our own race and be proud of our accomplishments with out wishing we had been faster. I want to have fun and enjoy my half when the time comes for it. there are tons of photo opportunities with Disney Characters and I'll be running in the parks while they are still closed. I want to soak it all in.

My 35th birthday is only 6 weeks away. My once dreams of losing a ton of weight by then are gone and I need to let them go and press forward.  I wanted to start my 35th year in a place that I've been trying to be fore the last 6 years. When I turned 29 I was certain that I was going to own 30 and reach my goals and now it is almost 6 years later and when you look at numbers I am not any closer than I was 6 years ago.  I am not good at letting go of my past failures.  I beat myself up allot for everything I could have accomplished and didn't.  But I have a hard time keeping on track for my goals. Like I said I realized I am addicted to starting things but I am not a good finisher.  I need to become a finisher. The biggest goal I've ever finished was probably my 10K and when I lost 30 lbs back in 2006. But even the 30 lbs wasn't a "goal" it was more of an accomplishment. My 10K was a goal and I completed it. The feeling of pride that no one can take from me is very foreign to me. I don't have many things that I can say that about and I think that it is time for that to change.

Ulcer, Infection & blood pressure, oh my.....

Well another Dr apt in the books today. I have been pain free for almost 2 days and since the coincides with the days they put me on the prescription antacids they are thinking it is an ulcer that was the cause of my pain, They still have a lab they are waiting on to see if I have a bacterial infection in my intestines.  And it was time to address my blood pressure.  It was still high all last night and this morning at the Dr apt. Today I started a new med tool lower my blood pressure.  I asked them what could this be connected to since it started out of no where?  They said that in the medical industry they don't really can what caused it they just want to make it go down.  I asked if the lab comes back and says I have an infection could that have started it? He said not likely. He said they have always seen slightly elevated blood pressure from me but since July all my apps have reported high blood pressure.  I was kind of surprised but he showed me and sure enough, my top number has been in the 130's and the bottom in the upper 90's.  120/90 is the highest you want to have 120/80 is better.  I asked about training and he said once I make sure the meds work, I can continue my training.

He said the key to training with high blood pressure is not pushing it.  So if I can't talk during my jog I am going to fast.  :-/  Which means I am just going to be so slow.  I can't jog very fast before I can do to keep going it concentrate on breathing and talking is out of the question.  Where do I go from here?  Right now pushing myself is a 14 min mile and that is not able to talk while I do it.  BFF is working on her 11 min miles and feels slow. *sigh*  

Well it's not the flu training on total pause

So last week I thought I had caught the flu from hubby but come the wee small hours of Saturday morning I am in so much pain I don't know what to do. The pain started Thursday morning and kept on getting worse but I thought it was body aches from the flu that I was getting.  Saturday we go to the walk in clinic at our Dr. office and there is a 1:15 min wait.  I am crying in line waiting w/ hubby and then I am having to breath through these things like they are freaking labor pains.  Only about 10 mins later my name is called, they apparently when you are complaining of sever abdominal and back pain they get you in asap.  2 nurses and 1 doctor later I've been asked 5 times if I could be pregnant, the even did a pregnancy test, a blood draw and urine test, everything looks good. They start speculating gall stones since it runs in my family and once upon a time someone told me they saw I had one, during a baby ultrasound.  They can't get me in for an ultrasound right then because I had eaten in the last 10 hrs, they scheduled me for one the next morning. That night was the best I had felt in days but in the morning I woke up w/ sever hunger pains and the gurgling and pain radiating from my under my ribcage around my right side to my back. Ultrasound results unfortunately didn't shed any light on the situation. No stones or abnormalities in my kidneys or my gall bladder. I was praying and praying there wasn't something wrong with my gall bladder and I am so thankful there wasn't but now I am like well WTHeck is wrong with me?  Followed up with my Dr Monday and they can't get me in for an official apt for 2 weeks. O_O  I told them that the pain is there when I have an empty stomach and that I originally thought it was just really bad heartburn combined with reinsuring of my trampoline injury, the flu from my hubby and maybe even some gas.  I had told them all this on Saturday too but I was in so much pain and it had lasted for so many days we wanted to get everything checked out.

Incase it is maybe an ulcer also on Monday I started taking some OTC heartburn meds to see if that helps and if so then I probably have an ulcer on my hands.  Monday I took a pill and it is still there but I've read it can take a while for this stuff to give you full reliefe. The googling I've don't on ulcers sounds like I could totally have one.  It is caused by over using anti-infmalitories and I know I've been taking to many lately.  I keep on telling hubby that I need to go off them cold turkey because for a while I was taking them multiple times day.  Onto Tuesday my pain was back in full force I went back to the walk in and my blood pressure was through the roof. They are doing more labs and I am waiting for the results on that and they said they may have to do a CT scan if we can't figure out what is going on.  GREAT!!!  I borrowed my parents at home blood pressure machine thing and it has been so high I went back into today to have the nurse retake it and yep still CRAZY, 174/107, I have no idea what is going one with me.  On Saturday my blood pressure was fine but by Monday I am off the charts.  So I was racking my brain trying to figure out what changed between now and then and the only thing is the fact that I added the Zantac 150's like the Dr said to. So I started googling if they have any effect on blood pressure and found people claiming that they do. So I stopped taking them today in hopes that my blood pressure will return to normal. Tonight I am feeling pretty good and according to my parents BP machine I am in the mid 130's over upper 90's. Better but still to high to be normal.

My anxiety has been in full swing because I can't find out what is wrong with me.  I keep on toying with the idea that I need to go to the ER if we don't figure this out because at least at the ER they will give me an answer before I leave. Where the regular Dr is working on process of elimination and I keep on having to go back. I have another follow up tomorrow morning and I told hubby if all of a sudden pain stays away & my blood pressure goes back to normal I am going to have mixed feelings. I'll be happy I'm better but I'll be like well then WHAT THE HECK was happening?? I almost expect them to redo blood test tomorrow.

Thanks to all these fun times I have not been able to do any training. And with my blood pressure being so high I don't even know if I can train.  I will ask the Dr tomorrow about it and see what they say. It has been a very frustrating week full of pain, anxiety & panic attacks. I would love to just get back into the groove. Feeling very frustrated and worried about training.  Hopefully tomorrow will come with answers. :-/

"Horizontal running"

Today is another 30 min running days and I am SICK!!!  Last Sunday we got a bug that started working it's way through our house starting with my husband, then my boys and finally me.  As I lied in bed thinking about how to get a run in and this scene from Pitch Perfect came to mind and I thought maybe I should just put my running gear on and lay in bed maybe that will help me feel better. LOL!!  No training run today. :-(

I drowned my sorrows in water and took cold/flu medicine and slept the day away,   Since today's running isn't going to happen today, I'll go over my last 30 min training run on Tue.  My house was full of sick people and I'd been taking care of them for the last couple days, I wasn't even sure I would be able to get away for a whole 30 mins but hubby was feeling well enough, finally, to assure me a uninterrupted 30 mins.  So I put my earbuds in and started.  Running on the treadmill always has some strange side effects. Having to select a speed makes me always very aware of my pace and I always slower per mile pace on my treadmill than I ever do on an outside run.  Noticing that I was coming up to the 25 min mark of my 30 mins and had gone a mile & a half.  I know I can average 15 min miles.  WTHeck?  The more I run the more I realize I suck for more than just my first mile. It takes me almost two to get warmed up.  It may start feeling a little better after the first mile but I don't think I find a groove until mile two.  

Noticing my low mileage I picked it up a bit. I then started thinking I've never pressed the 6mph button on my treadmill, I could do that for 1 min, thats a 10 min mile pace, It's only a min.  So at one min left to run I hit the 6. As the treadmill started to pick up when it got to pace I said WHOA really loud, it was faster than I expected it to be but I did the whole min.  I plan on getting an extra run in next week to make up for this missed run today.  I have a 3 mile run on Saturday and I plan on taking it a little slower since I've been sick and because I have a new running buddy. I will include pics and give an official introduction in my next post. :-)

"Come on, thats not running, let's GO!"

My title is quoting Phoebe in this famous Friends seen where Phoebe runs like she did when she was a kid. I think we all have an instinct to run.  My boys love to run.  All kids love to run, always running as fast as they can only resting after they have reached their destination.  About a year ago I was someone who said I DO NOT RUN, I WILL NEVER RUN. People talk about how they aren't made to run or how they've never enjoyed running and never will do it.  I think we were all made to run. I think it is a God given ability and we should not just be thankful for our ability to run but also take advantage of it. There are people out there who can't even walk or are to sick and they would give anything to just be able to run down the street. BFF's sister's sister in law (get that one?)  who is younger than I am has battled cancer most of her life and she commented on BFF's Facebook once about how she would give anything to be able to run.  There are people who have lost limbs or have been in accidents and told well you'll never run again. Some of them were not runners before but the fact that they "can't"  cause them to find a way to run anyways.  Out of nowhere something they took for grated is gone and they all of a sudden want nothing more than to do just that thing.

Found this on Pinterest today and love it

I shared with you all in my last blog post that I used to be a very fast runner. It was in 5th grade that I realized I was fast. This was the first time I remember people complimenting my on my speed.  In 5th grade PE I could outrun almost everyone. PE games that involved running meant winning for me.   I LOVED playing sports. In 6h grade PE, indoor/field hockey, soccer and volleyball were my favorites.  I was pretty good at all of them and knew if running was involved I'd have an advantage.   The next time my speed and running was pointed out to me was in the 7th grade during some kind of fitness test and we had to run a 100 yard dash as fast as we can.  The rankings included all of 7th & 8th grade boys and girls and I was the 2nd fastest out of everyone.  PE teachers and coaches asked me to do track and cross country but I didn't want to.  Freshman Year of High School I started at a new school and again my speed was revealed during sports practice and PE.  Again I was told I should really run in track, but none of my close friends did so I wasn't interested.  I would respond: "Oh I don't really run. I can only sprint here and there." From about there on out my responses to anything running was a Yeah Right, I don't run.  I've said that for so many years it became a truth in my mind.  It was just a couple weeks ago that I remembered about how my running speed used to make me proud.

The athletic me was always extremely competitive and pushed myself all the time to go further.  I can still feel this while weight lifting and when I had be consistently doing my C25K I was getting to the point where I was starting to push myself. Hubby has said he is sure if I got time on my bike I would be able to beat him and his buddy in a sprint because he knows how much strength my legs can get and I am smaller than them.  The idea of being truly athletic again gives me butterflies. Not nervous butterflies but like the kind you get when you are around someone you love. I do truly miss the athletic me.  Today is cross training day, that will be including free weights, body weight exercises and treadmill time.  I plan on posting my training schedule with details in a later blog.  :-)

Half Marathon Training Begins...

Here is the post I know you've been waiting for!  I've been talking about starting my training for weeks.  I was going to start training on 12/28 but then the holidays happen and yeah it isn't a valid excuse but it is why I put it off. Today was our first "long run" day a 4 mile run.  The last time I ran was my 10K......in October.  To say I was a little nervous to go out on this run with BFF is an understatement. I could feel my throat tightening as we drove to the trail, the anxiety induced asthma trying to kick in.  BFF was a good girl and started her training when she was suppose to and I didn't. We've been panning on doing our long run weekends together but I am a little worried I'll drive her nuts. She claims to be ok with the whole idea of run/walking our half but she gets this gotta get it done attitude that takes over when we are running.  She gets antsy and just wants to be done running. Granted it worked out really great for our 10K. She went ahead and was able to keep the pace she wanted and I was able to not feel guilty for holder her back. Here is a little comic I drew to show the difference between my BFF & I when it comes to running.  (disclaimer slight exaggerations may have been included in this comic and the misspelling of the word Ow)

(again sorry for the misspelling of the word Ow)

As you can see she enjoys the act of running much more than I do. I keep on telling DH I really don't know why I run.  I truly do NOT like the act of running. I do like the way I feel after the run but during I am just trying to make sure I don't fall flat on my face and die. LOL!! Maybe once I get to the point where I can think about other things besides breathing I will enjoy running.

We headed out on our 4 miles today and I fell pretty good about how I did for not running since October.

• 4.1mi
  Distance
 
• 57:53
   Moving Time
 
• 14:13/m

14:13 min miles after almost 3 months no running and NO asthma attack!! This is a WIN in my book! We did intervals, walking and running.  Crazy to me to think that until Oct the furthest I'd ever ran was 3.2 miles(5K) and the my 10K(6.4 miles) then today we just jump right past the 5K point.  There were times my BFF kept me running when I would have stopped and walked. She could tell I was on the verge and she would say "ALMOST, we're almost there! Just a little bit further."  At the very end of the run we were on our last running interval & I could see where we had started like maybe a quarter of a mile ahead of us, maybe a little closer, and I took off. I felt like BFF and I wanted this run to be done. Her poor dog Athena didn't like it when I ran ahead of them, it upset her very much. BFF just held her back and told her sorry Athena, she is bookin it right now. According to my Garmin my pace was 10min and under.  On the way home I told BFF about how I was one of the fastest runners in Jr High and how in High school people wanted to know why I didn't run track, cause I was so fast.  She asked why I don't want to be like that again and that is cause I don't feel like the speeds I used to run are sustainable for long distance and now my goal is for longer distance but I wonder if it is possible after I shed some extra weight to get to that 10 min mile as my normal.

After today's 4 mile run with BFF & her dog Athena

This was also the first run I got to use one of my Christmas presents from hubby: My new compression socks.  I think I am in love with them.  Right now it is almost midnight and my thighs, butt & hips are tight and starting to get sore. my calves down where my compression socks were are 100% fine.  I didn't suffer from any shin pain like I was expecting after not running for so long.  They are not cheap but I fully believe they are worth their weight in gold.  Granted this was only my first run with them but there are many more coming.  I plan to blog a minimum of at least every weekend training run, even it if is just a short paragraph.  

Achieving Goals & Dreams in 2015

I am not going to lie to you guys. This new year’s was a tough one for me.  The reflection on the year before is always hard.  DH tried to point out the good things like I started really running this year and all the 5K’s and the 10K I did.  But when I look at the list of things I wanted to achieve last year NOT ONE can be crossed off. After a very big crankfest that lasted most of today & I finally decided to try to come up with a motto for this new year and I decided it is “Achieving Goals & Dreams in 2015”  It has a nice ring to it.   This motto covers everything I would like to see happen this next year. Some of them are BIG dreams and Intimidating goals but they are all doable.  Here are some amazing questions to ask yourself for this New Year: (I got these from someone and can’t take credit for them but I love them)

1.       What would you like your biggest triumph to be in 2015?

2.       What advice would you like to give yourself in 2015?

3.       What major change are you willing to make to improve your financial results in 2015?

4.       What would you be most happy about completing in 2015?

5.       What would you most like to change about yourself in 2015?

6.       What are you looking forward to learning in 2015?

7.       What do you think is the biggest risk you are willing to take in 2015?

8.       What is an undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2015

9.       What brings you the most joy? How are you going to have more of that in 2015?

10.   What one word would you like to have as your theme for 2015?

It is such a good list of questions it gets you thinking more than just what needs to change it addresses how you are going to bring that change about.  Like question 3 for example.  Sure we all want to make better money choices. We can make a resolution to save more, pay off debt etc… But question 3 asks major change are you willing to make to improve your financial results in 2015?  Saying my resolution is to shop less or cook at home more sounds crazy! But those are the changes I need to make in order to improve my financial results in 2015, less shopping & less eating out.

Some people are very anti New Year resolution and I think that the New Year is just a good fresh start.  It brings your mind to the right place you need it to be to make changes. So answer the questions and make some decisions to make those changes. The only person that is standing in your way is you.