My Dog Hates the Treadmill

Week of 9/15/08

2008-09-15T19:57:00.003-05:00

Monday

Ran 2.5 miles on treadmill
Ran 2 miles on track
Weight Machines

Tuesday

Ran 3.16 miles on trail

Week of 9/8/08

2008-09-12T17:34:00.003-05:00

Monday
Ran on the treadmill for 3.1 miles

Tuesday
Swam laps

Wednesday
Nope

Thursday
1 mile on the Elliptical
1 mile walking on treadmill
weight machines

Friday
Nope

Saturday

Sunday

Week of 9/01/08

2008-09-02T20:47:00.004-05:00

Monday
Relaxed - it was a holiday afterall

Tuesday
Walk/Run - check (Ran approx. 2.6 miles/Walked dogs approx 1 mile)
Weights - check

Wednesday
Walk/Run - forgot we were going to a fair
Weights - nope

Thursday
Swimming - I ended up not doing anything

Friday
Walk/Run - ran a little over 3 miles
Weights - nope

Saturday
Walk Dogs - the plan is to do a Water Jogging class instead and I still might walk the dogs - I did the Water Jogging class and had a blast! ( I never did walk the dogs though)

New Plan

2008-08-25T20:00:00.006-05:00

Ok, so I'm kind of stuck again. I ended up not doing my Aug. 23 5k due to having to take my dad back home a couple days earlier because of a work schedule change. I am in need of having to mix things up a little. So here is the plan.

Each week, preferebly Sunday/Monday, I am going to blog my workout plan for the week. I will come back and amend the same blog on the days I work out, kind of like I am checking it off. So, here goes:

Week of 8/25

Monday
Running/Walking - check (Ran approx. 1.5 miles/Walked approx 2 miles)

Tuesday
Rollerblading - mowed the backyard instead

Wednesday
Running/Walking - check (Ran/walked 30 minutes on treadmill, Ran approx 2 miles around track)
Weight Machines - check

Thursday
Swimming - approx 20-30 minutes

Friday
Running/Walking - (2.5 miles running and approx. 1/2 mile walking)
Weight Machines - check

Saturday
Long walk with dogs - came no where close to going on a walk

Sunday
Relax - accomplished

Here are the activites I enjoy that I will choose from:

Running
Walking
Biking
Rollerblading
Aerobic Classes
Swimming

This week at the YMCA they are not holding any aerobic or biking classes, but I will probably do some of those next week. I also plan on walking the dogs more often, after working out or after dinner. At the YMCA I also plan on going through the weight machines a couple times a week.

Aug. 5k

2008-07-26T22:50:00.001-05:00

August 23rd marks my next 5k. I ran this morning, but ended up hacking in the end. I must not of had enough in my stomach. However, I was pleased with my time.

Loves Rd.
3.1 miles
36 minutes, 54 seconds
11:54 min/mile

Bastille Day 5k

2008-07-15T17:26:00.003-05:00

I am considering combining blogs and doing away with this one, but I haven't really decided yet.

To see the info and pictures from the Bastille Day 5k, click on "My Other Blog" under the title Other Runners. It is under the date July 11, 2008.

Tonights Run

2008-06-24T19:02:00.002-05:00

Tonight and one day last week I did 20 minutes of running. It was a very slow run, barely called a run. However, I was proud of myself. I will be on vacation starting this Friday until the Tuesday before my next 5k. I will be taking time out on my vacation to do some walk/runs in order to keep up the work I have been working toward.

Prairie Park
2.9 miles
37 minutes, 49 seconds
13:02 min/mile

Official Time

2008-06-17T15:27:00.001-05:00

My official time on Saturday for the Unlimited Performance 5k was 35:34:00.

Unlimited Performance 5k
3.1 miles
35 minutes, 34 seconds
11:28 min/mile

Mile One: 11:20 minutes
Mile Two: 11:22 minutes
Mile Three.one: 13:31 minutes

Place: 105/144
Age Group Place: 9/13
Bib Number: 112

Unlimited Performance

2008-06-14T11:49:00.003-05:00

I finished the 5k and did way better than I ever thought I would. I finished in 35:31 or 35:32 or 35:33. I find out the official time on Monday. I probably ended up walking around 7 minutes of it, which is very awesome!!! A couple years ago, October 2006, I ran a 5k and did hardly any walking. However, I had to take around 3 stopping breaks to toss my bagel. I didn't really know what to eat before my race today, because I didn't want a repeat of the last 5k. I decided on a banana. In the bag I received before the race there were a few candies and stuff. I ate half a Baby Ruth and a half of a Butterfinger crispy bar. I gave the other halves to Aaron. I figured if sugar is what I need to take to all my doctor appts, then it should help with my races too. It must have worked. I only had a small side stitch on my left side and other than that I felt great.

Mile One: 11:20 minutes
Mile Two: 11:22 minutes
Mile Three.one: 13:29 minutes

Total:
Unlimited Performance 5k
3.1 miles
35 minutes, 31 seconds
11:27 min/mile

A Little Over One Day Left

2008-06-12T21:05:00.002-05:00

Saturday is the Unlimited Performance race. I am excited!!! I think I will do pretty good. My goal: Under 40 minutes. Our runs are getting better and better. Our min/mile times since we started are as follows:

May 22 - 13:06 min/mile
May 25 - 13:03 min/mile
May 30 - 12:33 min/mile

June 02 - 13:13 min/mile
June 03 - 12:55 min/mile
June 05 - 12:37 min/mile
June 10 - 12:13 min/mile

Each day has been getting better. Today we didn't do bad, but we didn't do better than before like we had been. I brought Jack with me and I'm getting to where I just really don't like taking him on my walk/runs. He's really getting to be a pain in his older age. I think in the future I'm just taking him on walks and taking Zoey on my walk/runs. I hate to trade him in like that, but he is at a point where he isn't listening to me and he jerks me around. He never use to do that. Anyway, we will see.

Prairie Park
2.9 miles
36 minutes, 31 seconds
12:35 min/mile

Humidity High

2008-06-05T20:25:00.002-05:00

Tonight the humidity was high. It was a whopping 81%. It is 82 degrees at 8:30pm, but feels like 88 degrees according to www.weather.com. We met at 7pm. I was hot, sticky, smelly and all those good running things. I need to start taking a towel if this humidity keeps up to sit on in the car on my way back home.

Tonight we saw a deer, a racoon, a baby and adult rabbit, and quite a few of the normal birds, chipmunks and squirrels.

Castle Bank Nature Trail
3.16 miles
39 minutes, 55 seconds
12:37 min/mile

On a Roll

2008-06-03T21:20:00.002-05:00

Tonight I met with my new friend to go running again. I am so excited to have made a real friend (beyond the casual conversation type friends) and even better that she also wants to run on a regular basis. We have plans to run again on Thursday. It has been a long time since I have had someone to run and talk with about life issues. It has been a blessing!

Prairie Park
2.9 miles
37 minutes, 30 seconds
12:55 min/mile

Running with a Friend

2008-06-02T21:04:00.004-05:00

It was nice running with a friend. I haven't done that since before I was married, over 3 years ago. When I married, I moved out of town by an hour. Therefore, I no longer had my friends closeby to do my walk/runs with me. My husband would walk/run with me when we were just dating, but he has a bad knee and his knee didn't like it. Since then, it has just been me and the dogs. They are good company, but it isn't the same. I didn't even take a dog tonight, but I plan on taking Zoey with me on our run tomorrow. I am excited about my first 5k since I started this training. I have only ran one other 5k and I ended up throwing up half the race. It was not fun. I don't expect to do as well as the other 5k, but I do expect to feel better. It is only 2 weeks away.

Castle Bank Nature Trail
3.16 miles
41 minutes, 47 seconds
13:13 min/mile

Another 5k Registration

2008-05-31T14:07:00.001-05:00

I signed up for another 5k and this time with a friend. Now I am signed up for a 5k both in June and July. My goal for the race in June is to do it under 40 minutes.

Rain

2008-05-30T18:48:00.002-05:00

I have a quote I made up:

"It is ok to wait for the rain to clear up, but don't wait until the rain comes."

This is how I came about this marvelous quote:

I came home from work and thought to myself that I would take a nap and then at 5pm I would take Zoey for a walk/run. At this time the sun was shining. I woke up from my nap and pulled myself into my running clothes. As I got in the my car the weather looked kind of iffy. I had to go to the bank anyway, so I decided at the bank I would decide if I wanted to walk/run despite scattered sprinkles. At the bank it poured down rain and even started thundering and lightning a little bit. After the bank (It took awhile with it being a Friday around 5pm) it looked like the storm was going to pass through. I decided to take Zoey over to Petsmart to see if the storm was going to pass. It passed and then Zoey and I went on our walk/run.

However, what if it had not passed? I would have been stuck either doing it inside at the YMCA, on the treadmill, or talking myself out of doing it at all. However, it was good that I waited until the storm passed because it wasn't really that long at all and it would have been so easy to talk myself out of doing the walk/run.

Castle Bank Nature Trail
3.16 miles
39 minutes, 40 seconds
12:33 min/mile

5k Training and Sign-up

2008-05-25T20:52:00.003-05:00

I found out that the distance I went at Prairie Park is 2.9 miles. The stats for this last Thursday are:

2.9 miles
37 minutes, 58 seconds
13:05 min/mile

Tonight I went to a different trail around town. It was only labeled as "Nature Trail." It was next to a Castle Bank. Therefore, the name I am giving the trail is Castle Bank Nature Trail. The stats are as follows:

3.16 miles
41 minutes, 15 seconds
13:03 min/mile

I also signed up for my first 5k. It is scheduled for June 14th. My friend Heidi will be out of town and will not be able to do it with me. She wanted me to do one with her on July 10th and it looks like I will be out of town. I decided to go ahead and do the 5k on June 14th by myself. It will be good for me.

Good Times, Good Times

2008-05-22T19:57:00.003-05:00

When Aaron and I first moved here to this area we lived in a hotel for approx. 2 months. Prairie Park was within walking distance. Last night and tonight I decided to go back to that park. I miss it. I still wish it were walking distance from our house. I have tried other parks that are closer, but none compare. So, I resort back to Prairie Park and drive the extra 5 miles.

Approx. 3 miles (I plan on looking tomorrow. I mis-calculated.)
37 minutes, 58 seconds
14.17 min/mile

I did not record yesterday. I was walking with my new training friend. It was kind of a walking warm-up for me, since I have not been walk/running for awhile now.

New Thing

2008-05-21T07:09:00.003-05:00

I have a friend who is going to start walk/running with me and we plan on signing up from some 5ks. Our first walk/run together is tonight. I am ready to start getting back on track. I have not been working out at all lately due to work. However, the kitchen job I was in is now over. I was on my feet all day and the last thing I was motivated to do was do any kind of walking or running. The first two I want to sign up for are:

http://www.unlimitedperformance.org/UP%205K%20Race%20Brochure.pdf - On June 14th

and

http://www.chicagoevents.com/event.cfm?eid=100 - On July 10th

We shall see how this goes and I might just keep you updated. :)

Update

2008-05-21T06:54:00.005-05:00

Yeah, so I haven't been blogging on here very often. :( I figured I can at least give an update to whoever might look at this blog randomly.

We finished the Mini-Marathon with a worse time than last year. But, I had very good reasons. I will just copy the entry from my other blog:

Friday Night Madness
Last Friday was a day like any other, but Friday evening/night was one unlike any in the history of my life. I should have known the night was going to be a doozy when I was leaving work.

Incident #1
Thought to self, "Someone took the trash out of the trash can and didn't take it to the garbage dumpster." (refering to the one in the break room at work) "I will be nice and take it out when I take my garbage from the kitchen out." I set both garbage bags outside the building to take to the dumpster on my way out to my car. I go back into work to grab my purse and jacket. I come back out and to my dismay only the kitchen trash bag is sitting outside. Surely someone wouldn't have just taken one trash bag and not the other for me. I look to my right and the trash from the trash bag is blown everywhere. After taking the kitchen trash to the garbage can I pick up what I can in the parking lot. Out of curiousity, I drive the direction of where the trash bag would have went to see how far the trash bag had gotten. I see the trash bag 1/4 mile from the daycare and all of its contents in-between. I felt bad for leaving all that litter, but I would have been there all evening.

Incident #2
I went home and let the dogs out for a little while as I packed. I left home and headed to Indy. I had the Mini-Marathon to walk on Saturday morning. I stayed the night at my friend Agatha's house. I drove through wind. I drove through rain. I was on a roll and was beating the rain storm. In Lowell, IN just getting onto I-65 South I needed to get gas and there was a Flying J. I park my car, got out and shut the door. "Oh crap, I locked my keys inside. What do I do?" I called Hubby and then AAA. An hour later AAA shows up. The funny thing about the AAA guy is that he used my window as a mirror, in the process of unlocking my car, to pick his nose. He checked to see if I was watching him, and probably thought I wasn't. It was quite gross. Anyway, he did get my car unlocked and I got back on the road. I had to get ahead of that rain storm again. It had caught up to me.

Incident #3
I was able to get ahead of that rainstorm again. Everything is going great. The lightning was pretty cool to watch in my rearview mirror. It was one of those big black dark storms where the lightning lights up the whole sky. Pretty cool! I take I-65 to the 38th street exit and I hit a bump. "Ah, must just have been a rock or something." I get about a mile from Agatha's when I whole car feels like it is going to fall apart. I called Aaron, which I had already told him bye for the night and wasn't going to call him unless I needed to call him. I told him my car felt like it was going to fall apart at any moment. My car starts leaning more and more toward the front passenger side.

Me: I blew a tire.
Aaron: Stop on the side of the road.
Me: I don't want to. I'm only 1/2 mile from Agatha's.
Aaron: You need to stop.
Me: No, I think I can make it.
Aaron: Ok, try it.
Me: Umm, I'm pulling over. My tires flat and I'm on the rim.

In talking to Aaron, we decided I call AAA again and then Agatha so she could come and sit with me until AAA got there. Besides, it isn't the best side of town and it was 10:30pm. I called Agatha and she rushed to my side. As we were sitting there the rain storm had caught me once again.

Agatha: How long until AAA comes?
Me: About an hour
Agatha: Why don't I just call Mark and I'm sure he'll come and change your tire.
Me: Sounds good.

Mark lives at the church and Agatha lives in a house next to the church. She calls Mark and he says he will be right over. Now mind you, it is pouring down drenching heavy rains. A car pulls up behind us. It isn't Mark. That's weird. They aren't getting out of their car. There are two guys. Wait a minute. I don't see one now. Where did he go? Ok, there he is. Uhhhhh, Mark get here quick before they get to our car. Dear Lord, get Mark here now. Oh, it is a couple of Mark's friends from Agatha's church. They were waiting until the rain let up a little bit before they got out of their cars. Mark arrived. A total of 4 guys. Mark brought another friend with him.For about 15 minutes in the rain we all discuss what is going on. Meanwhile, I call AAA and tell them I am being taken care of by four guys and they can cancel my order. The guys decide to have me drive on my rim the 1/4 mile to the church parking lot at a snail pace. Agatha drove to lead the way, while the three trucks drove behind. I'm sure we were quite the scene. For some odd reason they didn't want to change my tire going uphill with traffic racing on both sides of us. I make it to the church parking lot when the skies open up and downpour everything upon us. In all of the downpour the guys change my tire and put my spare on. Man, do I own them some cookies or what?

Mini-Marathon
We survived. We walked it on four hours of sleep. Our time: 3:49:29 at a 17:35 min/mile. Last year we did better, but all is good. We went to Cheesecake Factory for traditional purposes. We earned it. Other than missing my exit out of Chicago and going 15 minutes out of my way, the trip home Sunday was thankfully uneventful.

The actual events did take place. They are fact and are not made up. The conversations took place by said persons, but may not be 100% word for word.

Mini is so CLOSE!!!

2008-04-13T20:22:00.002-05:00

Ok, so the Half Marathon I have been training for is only three weeks away. I was doing awesome at keeping up with the long miles up until about three weeks ago. Today I did my 9.3 miles and I could tell it had been awhile. The top of my calf muscles, behind my knees, were killing me pretty much the whole time (especially on my right leg). Now, around two hours later my feet are hurting. Why did I take off so much time?

Runners

2008-03-11T19:20:00.003-05:00

I noticed today at the YMCA all the different kinds of runners on the track. There are the:

1. Walk the round bends and run as fast as they can on the straight-of-ways
2. The fast scooters (they run faster than me, but their strides are short and they scuff their feet
3. The slow scooters (they jog at the same pace as my fast walk, their strides are short and they scuff their feet)
4. The fast runners (They run the track as if they were in a race and these are usually tall men)

and then there are runners like me who have longer strides, but don't seem to be in a rush.

A Cold...

2008-03-10T09:26:00.002-05:00

it has overtaken me. I thought I was fine to work out this last Friday, even though I felt a cold coming on. Saturday and Sunday I slept lots of lots of hours. I feel much better today and hope to get back to working out soon. Ugh!

YMCA

2008-03-07T13:26:00.003-06:00

Joining the YMCA has been good for me. Sunday I played basketball with my DH. He probably felt like he was playing basketball with a frog. Oh well. Sports are not my strong suit.

Monday I walk/ran on our treadmill here at the house. Tuesday I pushed myself to a kickboxing class. Wednesday I rested. Thursday I caught another cold, so I didn't work out. My throat was hurting. That is my excuse and I am sticking with it. Today I pushed myself to the YMCA and did my walk/run on the track. Ten laps around a track can get kind of boring. I wish there were more people there, so people-watching would take my mind off of the same-same. The ten laps is just one miles, so total I probably circled the track at least 35 times.

I feel pretty good about this week. It is the most I have worked out in one week in a long while.

Exciting Stuff

2008-03-01T14:01:00.002-06:00

I made it to my goal weight!!! Three more pounds and I will be back to my pre-wedding weight.

I walk/ran 8 miles today. My calves are sore.

It is March and it is still too cold to be outside for a long period of time. I am looking at starting to get Jack back into shape this coming week. I will start him out by walking him a mile a night. That is, if it isn't too cold.

Snow, snow go away!!!

8.001 miles
1 hour, 54 min, 23 sec
14.17 min/mile
145 pounds

Cross-Training

2008-02-27T19:02:00.000-06:00

I decided to try swimming. I haven't swam laps since high school. I never could get the whole breathing thing down, even though I did intermeral swimming. I enjoyed it. Aaron and I joined the YMCA. We might take up raquetball together. I am going to start swimming Tuesdays and Fridays. Today I made it four laps. That is there and back four times. Of course, it wasn't all freestyle. I just did freestyle when I could. It was mostly back swimming. Afterwards, my legs felt like spaghetti and I was so out of breathe. We will see how it goes.

I'm Glad

2008-02-25T21:04:00.003-06:00

I'm glad I got on the treadmill today instead of taking a nap.

What has been occuring lately is that I decide to reschedule my walk/running, but then something always comes up for the time when I have rescheduled it. For instance, today I really thought about taking a nap. This nap would have replaced my planned workout time, and then I would have planned on working out after my nap. I decided to go ahead and put on my sports bra as a reminder to workout after my nap. Once I put that on, I decided to go ahead and work out. After the first 5 minutes I really started getting into the workout and began enjoying it. When I got off the treadmill, my husband called and asked if I could pick him up from work because the repair shop needed to keep his truck overnight. Hence, had I taken a nap I would not have had time to work out before having company over tonight.

I am learning that I should not reschedule my workouts due to laziness. The last three weeks, due to this laziness, I have only been doing my workouts on Mondays and Saturdays. Mondays I have off work. Although I have Fridays off work also, I use the excuse that I have a long run the next day. I then do my long walk/run on Saturday. I will be walk/running 8 miles this coming Saturday, just as a reference as to where I am in my training. I need to come home at least once after work and workout Tuesday thru Thursday.

On my training I am suppose to be walking 3 minutes/running 1 minute. However, due to my previous training I am comfortable with walking 3/running 2 minutes.

We have had the 6th snowiest winter in Northern Illinois. I can't wait for daffodils!!!

Weight: 147
ONLY 2 MORE POUNDS TO GO!!!

Half Marathon Training Update

2008-02-09T11:37:00.000-06:00

I have been keeping up with my Half-Marathon training. Last week I slacked a little and my schedule has been a little screwy with being out of town two weekends ago and having family in town for a funeral this last weekend. I'm hoping to get back on a regular/normal schedule this week. I've still been doing the training, but just not on the days I planned on originally.

In the month of February I have put in 14.7 miles thus far. In January I totaled 22 miles.

I have officially lost 10 pounds!!!

We will see if I do it, but after the Half-Marathon I want to walk 6 miles on Saturdays. The loop I would make is out in the country, only a mile from my house.

I have yet to decide how I am going to walk both dogs when warmer weather finally comes. They walk horrible together, but great apart. I'm thinking about doing every other day switching dogs. I will take Jack on my training for the Mini-Marathon days (Mondays and Thursdays), since he is an awesome heeling dog. I will take Zoey on the off days (Tuesdays and Fridays). My only concern is Saturday for the longer walks. Neither one will be in shape for the training at that point, but depending on when the warmer weather comes it might still be doable.

To the Cheif Musician. A Psalm of David when the prophet Nathan went into him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me." Psalm 51:1-3

Back in the Saddle

2008-01-07T12:46:00.000-06:00

Yippee! I started my Mini-Marathon 2008 training today. I was debating on rather or not I was going to do the walking or the walk/run training. A friend easily convinced me to do the walk/run training series. It starts out easier than the training I was doing, but that is ok. It gives me a positive jump start. After the walk 3 min. /run 1 min. for 36 min. I took Jack on about a mile walk and did some basic training for about a quarter mile with Zoey. I want to train Zoey to be my next running dog for when Jack retires.

Walk 3 min/Run 1 min. (9 times)
2.476 miles
36 min.
14.32 min/mile
152.5

Ephesians 5:2
"Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."

What is down?

2007-12-27T21:41:00.000-06:00

1. I have officially joined www.running2win.com, since Cool Runnings is no longer cool. (Thanks Lesley!)

2. I have also transferred all my old data from Cool Runnings over. It was official today. Yippee!

3. My weight is down. I started The Lord's Table with www.settingcaptivesfree.com a week ago. I have lost 4.5 pounds in one week. This is suppose to last until mid-February. With the Lord's help, I can do it!

4. I am still memorizing verses on the treadmill:

Psalm 138:8 "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of Your hands."
Matthew 6:25 "Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"
Philippians 3:8 "Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ."
Philippians 4:19 "My God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

5. In January I am hoping to be moving to the next level of my working toward running 30 minutes. I was kind of struggling today the last 5 min. or so of the running portion.

Weight: 154.5

So, What's Been Up?

2007-12-21T08:51:00.000-06:00

Well, alot of things have been up:

1. My weight

2. Cool Runnings is no longer cool, but hoping Active has a training log soon.

3. I began memorizing Bible verses on the treadmill again.

4. I joined Setting Captive's Free online Bible Study and weight loss/eating program as of last night.

5. We have a new dog, making our total 2. Jack is 10 and before we know it too old to run very far. We have another mutt now. She is Australian Shepherd mixed and around 3 years old. She will need some training as far as how to heel and the such, but I'm hoping she turns out to be a good running dog for when Jack retires.

6. I am still on the same running schedule, but haven't been keeping up so diligently. This time of year kills the whole weight loss thing and exercise regiment. My hours will be changing in January, so this might help. I will only be working until 3:30 - 4pm, instead of 5:30, which will hopefully give me a chance to work out before fixing dinner and the hubby getting home from work. I will still only be working 3 days a week, but the days I have off is no problem for working out.

Philippians 3:8
"Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ."

Weight: 159

2008 Mini-Marathon

2007-11-21T15:35:00.001-06:00

I have officially signed up for the 2008 Mini-Marathon (HM) in Indy taking place next May. My goal is to make it under last years time, which was 3 hours and 34 minutes. I want to make it in under 3 hours and 20 minutes officially. I plan to add more running to it than I did last year. We shall see. I am excited!!!

Not Keeping it Up!

2007-11-20T19:21:00.000-06:00

So much for keeping it up! I go on vacation and catch a cold, meaning I haven't been working out in over a week. It always happens when I go to my in-laws, not the cold but the not working out and overeating. I even got to where I wasn't eating chocolate, which I started back on today. I haven't given up. I figured I better get back with the groove, because next week I am suppose to start running 7 min. straight.

2.235 miles
30 min.
13:27 min/mile
Walk 2.5 min./Run 5 min.

Keeping it Up!

2007-11-08T19:04:00.000-06:00

I have been doing good with keeping on track. I'm hoping I can keep up with it. Today and yesterday I really had to motivate myself. I am currently running 5 minutes at a speed of 4.8 on the treadmill and walking 2.5 minutes at a speed of 3.8 for 30 minutes. I am averaging a speed of 13.27 min./mile. I would have ran this last Tuesday night, but I have been having sinus issues and I know it hurt to jump earlier in the day when I was trying to entertain the kids at the daycare. I just didn't feel like banging my head against a brick wall. I have taken chocolate out of my diet, so I should see some weight loss coming up. :) Here's hoping!

2.235 miles
30 min.
13:27 min/mile
Walk 2.5 min./Run 5 min.
Weight: 154

100 Posts

2007-10-26T09:21:00.000-05:00

Today I ran 4 minutes/walked 2 minutes up until around the 25:48 time frame. My stomach started feeling it & I started feeling sick. I do so much better with runs later in the day. I know if I eat breakfast before my run, it will all come back up and I'm worse off. However, if I don't eat then I have an empty stomach and I feel sick. Oh well! I walked the rest out except maybe a minute of it where I ran slowly. Month Three calls for 5 minutes run/2.5 minute walk. I'm not sure I'm ready for that, so I did the 4 minutes. I might try the 5 min/2.5 min next time to see how it goes. Two minutes didn't seem to be a long of enough break, so maybe the 2.5 minutes makes up for the 5 minutes of running time.

2.16 miles
30 min.
13:53 min/mile
Walk 2 min./Run 4 min.

Goals

2007-10-24T14:43:00.001-05:00

I don't think I have ever set any long-term goals when it comes to running. I have short term goals, such as running 30 min. with no stopping. Running 30 minutes is sort of a long term goal since I am on a program that takes me into next year, but in the long haul it is a short-term goal. Anyway, I found a website that had Goals 1-3 listed for the average woman runner. I liked them, so here they are:

Goal #1
Running for 30 minutes non-stop

Goal #2
Running a 5k

Goal #3
Running a 10k

Now mind you, I did run a 5k back in 2006. I would like to get back to that point though. I'm tired of just aiming for a race/goal & then getting back out of shape again because the race is over or the goal has been met. I have been pretty consistant with getting to Goal #1 and I am hopeful of meeting it.

I also talked to my husband about entering a race every to every other month to keep motivated and he sounded positive about it. I told him around $20 for each race. I can save up the $20 if there is a more expensive race I would like to do. This is excellent motivation. My only issue is going alone to these races. I don't like doing things alone if it is in public, even going grocery shopping. Call me weird!

If I keep on track with the current program, then I should definitely be able to run a 5k this time next year. That seems so far away & it kind of makes me impatient. This is for long term though. So, I guess I can plan on entering the following races next year:

Early July 2008
North Aurora Days 5k Race

Late September 2008
Race for the Cure - http://www.chicagoraceforthecure.org/race.asp

Mid November 2008
Jingle Bell Run - http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=234224

We will see if I even do the November race due to the cold. I tend to be allergic to cold weather. Aurora is close to me by about 20 minutes & I've never actually ran in the Race for the Cure. I have walked in The Race for the Cure about 3-4 times, but only in Indy.

Confusion

2007-10-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, so today and yesterdays run make no sense. Yesterday morning I went on my walk/run, but didn't have time to drive around the neighborhood to check the distance. Tonight I went on my walk/run and just when I was around 26 min. or so of my 30 min. a dog comes running up to my dog Jack. When I stopped my watch I must of hit a wrong button because it switched gears and when I was trying to figure it all out, somehow the watch reset itself. I decided to just run the rest of the way home. I drove my car around for tonights run trying to figure out the distance and it ended up being 2.3 miles. I took my car around for what I thought to be yesterday's walk/run and it only ended up being like 1.5 miles. I know that is wrong, because I always hit over the 2 mile mark. My memory must be going bad. I know I ran a little faster tonight than yesterday, so I figure yesterday was probably around 2.2. miles.

Last week I got on the treadmill once, but had no umph and ended up walking around 1.5 hours instead of running anything at all. I think my body was trying to fight off a cold, because all I wanted to do was sleep all week. However, I was kind of depressed about having to be on the treadmill instead of outside. The cold weather was here last week though, but gone again this week. Ugggg! I am not looking forward to winter.

Well, it is shower time. Uck, I stinky!

Obsession

2007-10-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

2.30 miles
30 min.
13:02 min/mile
Run 3 min./Walk 3 min.

I feel as if I am obsessed with looking at my watch when I go running. The timer on my watch does not beep when my 3 min. is up, so I look at my watch continually to see when the 3 min. is up. I'm ok with it though, but it just seems I am constantly doing it.

I went on the same neighborhood route tonight I have been using. It is kind of my later night running route, since it is the closest one to the house. Jack, my dog, seemed to be either more worn out or more "at heel" than normal. It was weird. I think we only stopped like 2-3 times, when usually it is like 10 times. Luckily, he doesn't normally stop on the running part of my training, just the walking parts. It is kind of like it is my run, but his walk.

I also found out that the new route I took yesterday goes through a subdivision named The Neighborhood. Now, what kind of name is that for a sub-division? I couldn't bring myself to call that route by that name. When I run in my neighborhood, such as tonight, I have it labeled at Neighborhood. Therefore, I came up with the creative name of South Side RR Tracks. We live on the north side of the RR Tracks. I now have three routes selected for a little variety. The third one is called Neucort Lakes, since that is the name of the subdivision I do my walk/running in. There are other neighborhoods on the south side of the tracks, so hopefully the subdivision has more creative names if I ever decide to run over there. Of course there isn't much more area to run on that side of the tracks before getting out on a major highway, so if I ever come up with another one it could be called Downtown. I am in a small town, so would it still be considered downtown? This is a girl raised in Indpls. talking who is in love with downtown Indpls., but no longer lives there. This is my first year living in a town. :)

Trail Running

2007-10-03T21:37:00.000-05:00

I was so excited on Friday. We went camping this last weekend and I took my running gear along. My plan was to just go road running, like usual, but I re-found the trail I found this summer. This is only the second time camping there. I remembered it being a wide trail. Of course, when we went in the summer time it was fly infested and it wasn't fun at all and I turned back after only a short distance. This time, it was wonderful. I even saw the tail end of a deer running away from me. The deer was only about a 1/2 mile from hunting grounds, which hunting season started soon or is to start soon after our camping weekend. Anyway, I don't know how far I ran, but I did start the 3 min. run/3 min. walk. I'm doing pretty good with it. I did it again today. I wanted to get one other run in before today, but it seems I am living from one weekend to the next lately with all we have going on. I have to unpack only to pack again. This weekend we are going back to Bloomington, IN, where we just moved from a little over a year ago, to visit friends. I'm hoping to run a trail there I use to walk/run on all the time at least once.

New Shoes

2007-09-26T20:12:00.000-05:00

On my way back home from Indy I stopped at the Nike Outlet Mall and picked up a new pair of running shoes. I love them thus far. We will see if they are better to my ankles and heels than my older pair that I have recently been wearing on an everyday basis. It was time for the old ones to retire into everyday shoes, instead of just as running shoes. My everyday shoes retired into mowing the grass shoes. I did go for my first run in them today. My stats are:

2.30 miles
30 min.
13:02 min/mile
Walk 4 min./Run 2 min. (sorta)

Round One -ran 4 min.
Round Two - ran 3 min.
Round Three - ran 2 min.
Round Four - ran 2 min.
Round Five - ran 3 min.

I'm going to move up to the next level, since my body is telling me I can run longer than 2 minutes at a time now. Starting with my next run, I will be Running 3 min/Walking 3 min for 30 minutes.

Here is a picture of shoes that look like mine:

Doody before an Audience

2007-09-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

2.00 miles
30 min.
15:00 min/mile
Walk 4 min./Run 2 min. (sorta)

I ran .2 miles shorter than I have been this morning. I know my walk was slower than normal. I ran longer times though. Instead of just two minutes, I ran 3 minutes or a little more a few times. My running pace was slower though, so it seems about right. I also hit the wrong button on my running watch a couple of times, but oh well. It all worked out.

The doody part:

I am a responsible owner of a big 80 pound mutt. When my dog does his doody, I use a plastic bag and pick up his doody. I mostly wish I could plan though when his doody is done, but that is not the case. His body chooses for him or maybe it is he who chose to do his doody in front of a school bus stop this morning with 15 kids and a few adults. As a responsible owner I knelt down, with my back to the people of course, and dealt with the doody before me. I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! Ok, now that I have that out of my system.

I ate too much junk food yesterday. I had three Rice Krispy treats at the daycare. For dinner we had friends over and had brownies and ice cream. I felt like throwing up afterward, but I decided I wasn't bulimic. The brownie would have been fine had it not been for the Rice Krispy treats. I'm also not doing as well with drinking water as I was, but it is always something to work on. I guess that is it for today. I hope to get at least one more walk/run in before I leave for vacation Saturday to Gatlinburg. I am so excited!!!

It's been awhile...

2007-09-16T20:14:00.000-05:00

since I have posted. I have been keeping up with the workout and it has felt good.

The week of September 3rd, I went on my walk/run Tuesday and Wednesday on the treadmill. That was about the time we had flooding and the mosquitoes were outrageous. One of those days I tried going out and walk/running, but I had been bitten like 5 times within the first 3 minutes. I decided on the treadmill.

This week I went on my run/walk Wednesday, yesterday and today (Sunday). I've lost weight, which is awesome. It was good to see 152 again. I found a new route yesterday. We have a corn field next to our neighborhood being turned into a subdivision. It is open now to where I can cross through it into another neighborhood, without walking down a sorta busy street. I still have to cross a sorta busy street, but that is easy and it doesn't make me as nervous.

I have been walk/running around 2.2 miles within the 30 minutes outside. I've been getting a little over 2 miles on the treadmill.

I will be going to Gatlinburg, TN this coming weekend with some girlfriends of mine back home in Indy. I am excited. They are the ones I walked in the HM with back in May, minus one. We will probably doing lots of walking in the Smokies. I'm so excited!!!

I've been doing much better at drinking water. I've been allowing myself one day a week to have a drink outside of water. I do still take a sip of my husband's sodas or have a small cup of fruit juice at the daycare once in awhile, but I figure it is better than having a soda, wine cooler, or cup of coffee of my own so much more often. I'm not sure what I'm going to take out of my diet next, but I still have a couple weeks to decide that. I'm taking one thing out a month. Some things I can have once a week, like a drink outside of water. Others, such as when I take out chocolate it will be once a month. I took out chocolate once for a fasting for the Lord for 30 days. I should have never went back eating chocolate, because I know this next time will be harder. Once I take it out, I might take it out once for all.

Well, I think that is it. I'm feeling good about my progress.

Just Drink Water

2007-08-31T22:11:00.001-05:00

My new goal:

JUST DRINK WATER!!!

Morning Run Update

2007-08-31T21:32:00.001-05:00

I worked a full week this week, as in at the Daycare, which is very unusual. However, last week I only got up at 6am once. This week I went for my walk/run on both Monday and Tuesday. Maybe this next week it will be 3 times, hopefully. I did get on the treadmill tonight. I just don't understand the time differences between outside and the treadmill. They vary greatly and I don't feel any difference when I am walking or running. I felt I was 'working my buns off" tonight. Anyway, here are my stats for Tuesday and tonight:

Tuesday:
2.20 miles
30 min.
13:38 min/mile
Walk 4 min./Run 2 min.

Friday:
2.607 miles
40 min.
15.19 min/mile
Warm up around 10 min.
Walk 4 min./Run 2 min.

Oh yeah! Don't even look at the 2 pound weight gain. I knew I was putting on a little this month, because I have been lacking in motivation for awhile now. I knew it would catch up with me. I'm not discouraged though. As long as I am on a training schedule I do good. When the training schedule is over, I'm horrible. I ended the training for the Mini-Marathon and then my walking program went kaputz. Now, my goal is to be able to run 30 minutes without stopping. Part of the reason I extended the program was to give me motivation over a longer haul. I lost the most weight when I was training for the Mini, but it also took all my time. I will start training again for it in January. I also feel I am becoming more and more of a junk-a-holic. I'm not sure why. I just eat more sweets than ever in my life recently and I can't seem to stop. Ughhh!

Happy 90th Post!

2007-08-27T10:23:00.000-05:00

2.10 miles
30 min.
14:17 min/mile
Walk 4 min./Run 2 min.

I got up this morning & did my walk/run. I was amazed how many people are actually awake and already out the door at 6am. School started back this week, so that is why the children were out of course. There were other walkers. I also know that since we are so close to Chicago, many people commute into the city. Some have to catch the early train or even drive the hour - hour and a half into the city. Craziness.

I keep on running into an issue. I currently run with our dog Jack. He is 9 1/2 years old. Right now he makes a good running dog, but it won't be long before his age catches up with him and he won't be able to go as long. A dog has to be a year old before you start running any distance with it, in order for bone developement. I would kind of like to get another dog to train, but then again I want it trained a whole different way than Jack is and that would be difficult. I guess the solution is to get a dog over a year old after Jack can't run anymore. But then, there are things you have to untrain in a year old dog only to train it in a different way. Oh well, I really don't want two dogs right now and I guess I really don't have to decide for at least another year or so. I just think about it off and on. Oh well!

Day Two

2007-08-22T22:17:00.001-05:00

I walk/ran for 30 minutes tonight. Nope, it wasn't this morning. I was too tired after getting up on Day One. It was humid out. I'm not sure how far I went, and I'm beginning to wonder if distance even matters at this point. I don't like taking the car the different directions I take every time I run to measure the distance. Even worse, I hate doing the same course every time. I don't like the drag of feeling like I have to take the same course every time in order to not have to continually take my car around the neighborhood following a new course. I'm figuring I am going around 2 miles, since I walk around a 16-17 min. mile normally outside. Anyway, I enjoyed it and that is what is important, without all the statistics and stuff. Maybe that will come again later. So once again:

Weight isn't important
Distance isn't important
Having fun and enjoying a healthy lifestyle is what it is all about!!!

When I get caught up in all the other things, it is no longer fun.

Another New Program

2007-08-21T19:48:00.000-05:00

Tracking my food only lasted not even a week. I was at Borders Bookstore and ran across a running program in a book. It looked easy enough, so I decided to try it out. I started it this morning. The biggest obstacle is going to be getting up at 6am to be consistant with the program. When I HAD to get up at 6am to get to work on time, it was no problem. I mean I struggled, but I did it. Now that I don't have to get up until 7am for 3 days a week & I have no set time really for the other 4 days of the week, 6am comes earlier. Instead of following the program week by week, I decided to work on it month by month. This "month" the plan says to run 2 minutes, then walk 4 minutes a total of 5 cycles equaling 30 minutes. Here is the total plan layout:

Month One: September 2007
Run 2 min
Walk 4 min
5 cycles

Month Two: October 2007
Run 3 min
Walk 3 min
5 cycles

Month Three: November 2007
Run 5 min
Walk 2.5 min
4 cycles

Month Four: December 2007
Run 7 min
Walk 3 min
3 cycles

Month Five: January 2008
Run 8 min
Walk 2 min
3 cycles

Month Six: February 2008
Run 9 min
Walk 2 min
2 cycles & then run 8 min

Month Seven: March 2008
Run 9 min
Walk 1 min
3 cycles

Month Eight: April 2008
Run 13 min
Walk 2 min
2 cycles

Month Nine: May 2008
Run 14 min
Walk 1 min
2 cycles

Month Ten: June 2008
Run 30 min.

Somehow, next year if I am doing the Mini-Marathon I need to incorporporate the training into training for the HM. It shouldn't be too hard, since the program for the HM is around the same but just for a longer distance.

I've also realized that I've been focusing on weight as my motivation for getting out there and walking or running. That isn't what exercise should be based on. I just need to figure out what it should be based on. I still want to record my weight though to look back ten months from now and see how it has changed or not changed. I would love to get back down to a size 10, possibly size 8 jeans again. We will see though.

I'm not sure how far I ran this morning, only that it was for 30:11. Well, I think my neighbors are probably tired of hearing my dog bark to be let in the house. I tell ya, he drives me crazy.

Weight: 154

Friday 8/10/07

2007-08-10T11:58:00.000-05:00

Workout:
Walk on Treadmill
2.67 miles
45 minutes
16.51 min./mile
Calories: 231.1
Carbs: 28.8
Incline: 1.5%

Breakfast:
3 Biscuits

Lunch:
Cucumbers and Tomato with Ranch Dressing

Snack:
Biscuit
Little bit of healthy cereal with milk
Little bit of unhealthy cereal without milk

Dinner:
Mac 'n' Cheese
Cottage Cheese

Drinks:
Water

I did end up just drinking water when I was up in the middle of the night. However, I felt starving when I woke up this morning. I don't feel I overate though with 3 biscuits.

Thursday 8/9/07

2007-08-09T12:04:00.000-05:00

Workout:
Walk on Treadmill
2.54 miles
45 minutes
17.42 min./mile
Calories: 219.9
Carbs: 27.4
Incline: 1.5%

Breakfast:
1 Sweet 'n' Salty Kellogg's Bar
Cereal

Lunch:
1 Sweet 'n' Salty Kellogg's Bar
Cucumber
90 Calorie Snack Pack

Snack:
3 Cookies
Blueberries

Dinner:
Chicken and Rice
Green Beans
Roll

Drinks:
Water
Wine Tasting at the Farmer's Market
Lemonade

Here's the story of the 3 cookies. I ate one cookie, thinking one cookie is ok. I had this strong impulse to write down what I ate for dinner, but I was at someone's house and didn't know if it would be rude to ask for a peice of paper to write down what I ate in order not to eat any more cookies. I told Laura about it. She arrived after dinner at this person's house to play Dominoe's with us. I know she writes down what she eats, because for certain health reasons her nutritionist has her write do it. She said she carries a pad of paper with a pen in her purse. So, my thinking is that I could do that and when I feel temptation call I could sneak into the bathroom and write it down to see if that helps. It is kind of a weird thing, but I've got to find a way to stop overeating sugary foods. I know Cookies and Ice Cream are my biggest weakness too. Right now it is 2:36 am. I layed in bed for around 1.5 hours and couldn't sleep, so I decided to get up. I feel as if I am starving. I don't know that I have ever had a middle of the night snack in my whole entire life. I will probably drink water, thinking maybe I am just thirsty.

Wednesday 8/8/07

2007-08-08T21:02:00.000-05:00

Workout:
None, but I pulled lots of weeds

Breakfast:
2 Peices of French Toast Sticks
Pear

Lunch:
Chicken
2 Peices of Bread
Green Beans

Snack:
Trail Mix

Dinner:
Cereal
1 Sweet 'n' Salty Kellogg's Bar

Drinks:
Water

Tuesday 8/7/07

2007-08-07T18:37:00.000-05:00

Workout:
Walked around 1 mile with 17 children (I work at a daycare with 4's) - backward and forward since I had to keep all 4 eyes on them

Mowed the backyard

Breakfast:
1 Peice of Toast
Orange

Lunch:
Beef and Noodles
Carrots
Tropical Fruit
1 Peice of Bread

Snack:
2 Graham Crackers

Dinner:
Cottage Cheese
3 Sweet 'n' Salty Kellogg's Bar

Drinks:
Water
BK Mocha (I needed a pick-me-up for work)

Monday 8/6/07

2007-08-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

Workout:
Walk on Treadmill
2.617 miles
45 minutes
17.10 min./mile
Calories: 202
Carbs: 25.2
Incline: 0%

Breakfast:
Apple
Biscuit

Lunch:
Turkey Sandwich with Cheese and Mayo
Cauliflower
Mixed Fruit

Snack:
1 Chocolate Chip Cookie

Dinner:
Cereal with Milk
1 Piece of Pizza

Drinks:
Water

I have decided to figure my weight loss/gain out a different way. In the past I have been taking the weight from the last day of the month. I have decided to take the average of the month, since my weight will fluctuate anyway throughout the month. What is important is losing weight over time. We will see if this makes much difference. I am also going to start recording my eatings. I'm not going to keep track of calories, but if I write down what I eat than I can't just eat without thinking about what I am putting into my mouth. For instance, knowing I had to write it down I ate just 1 cookie instead of two cookies. I also just had one peice of pizza as opposed to two peices of pizza. Now I'm off to wash off the yicky sweat.

A couple of weeks

2007-07-16T08:58:00.000-05:00

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted. Here are the updates, starting since July 3rd.

Week of July 2nd - July 8th

July 3, 2007
Walk/Run - North Street Route
4 miles
57 minutes, 31 seconds
14.22 min./mile
Weight: 154

July 8, 2007
Walk - Treadmill
4.8 miles
1 hour, 29 min., 45 seconds
18.41 min./mile
Weight: 153

This equals approximately 5 days of workout if you break it out by 40 min. segments. My last blog entry was a part of this same week & that is added in.

Week of July 9th - 15th

July 12, 2007
Walk - Treadmill
5.17 miles
1 hour, 29 min., 4 seconds
17.13 min./mile

July 14, 2007
Walk - Neighborhood
Not sure of distance
20 minutes
Rode bicycle for other 20 minutes

This equals approximately 3 days of exercise. I had all intentions of getting the 4th day in yesterday when Aaron went out to a movie with the guys, but instead the girls and guys ended up getting together for a cookout. I'm not sure if I can just steal the 5th day from last week or not.

Anyway, these are the updates. I worked out this morning, but I have the distance calculated wrong and I need to recalculate it for my records. I will write about it in my next blog entry.

Listening to Music

2007-07-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

Walk/Run - North Street Route
4 miles
59 minutes, 51 seconds
14.57 min./mile
Weight: 152

My husband bought me a MP3 player last year for my birthday and I haven't used it all that much. This morning I decided to take it with me on my walk/run. I very much enjoyed having it and it took my mind off the monotony of running, mostly. I think I will start taking it from now on in the future. I walked during the slow songs & tried to run as much as I could during the faster songs. It felt good to get out this morning. It is the first time I have ran this much in a long time.

Last weeks stats:

Monday
We went to Chicago & got a lot of walking in, but of course we got a lot of eating in also. :)

Tuesday
Neighborhood Walk
3.75 miles
1 hour, 2 minutes, 48 seconds
16.44 min./mile

Wednesday
I got on the treadmill for over 80 minutes, but it looks like I did not record it. I watched two episodes though of Stargate SG-1, which is around 85 minutes of walking time. It was probably around 4 miles. I also mowed the front yard.

Thursday
I mowed the backyard.

Back to Salads - not so much

2007-06-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Walk - Treadmill
4.736 miles
1 hour, 27 minutes, 10 seconds
18.23 min./mile
Weight: 153.5
Waist Size: 36"
Rear Size: 41"
Body Mass Index: 25.6

Only one salad, but that is ok. It was a good idea. I guess my salad kick was short-lived and gone for now. The funny thing is that before my salad kick I thought of salad as rabbit food. It wasn't that I didn't like it, but I wanted to move on to the real food. I have done a wonderful job of working out this week. I worked out three days thus far, but have done enough to cover five days. Hopefully, my body starts getting back into shape.

Ok, so I just read this article: http://www.pennhealth.com/health_info/weightloss/weight_step2.html

My question is: Can it really be trusted? I mean, I've always thought I had a pear-shaped body, but my waist size is bigger than 35 inches. Then, I see I need to strive for a waist size of less than 31.5 inches. Hmm, something to ponder, but not to think about too hard or it could bring depression. I will measure my waist size for awhile & see how it changes & I will do my rear size for kicks. At my sister's wedding last year in April I had a friend tell me that I was actually getting a butt. I actually took it as a compliment, since my rear has been flat most of my life. However, this was also when I weighed the most in my life & that can not be good.

Back to Salads

2007-06-19T09:47:00.000-05:00

Walk - Treadmill
4.842 miles
1 hour, 26 minutes, 57 seconds
17.57 min./mile
Weight: 155

Last month I got on a salad kick. It was a good kick. Salad every night for dinner & I put anything from Cranberries to raisins on them. I was not working out too much last month and was down to 150 pounds. Maybe it was a loss of muscle weight & now the fat is returning. Or maybe it was the salads. Either way, I am going to pick up salad for tonight.

Sometimes I really get discouraged. Why is it that I can not get below the 150 mark and stay there? I use to not eat like this. I use to hardly eat in the summer time. It wouldn't happen on purpose, but because of the heat. I use to never empty my plate. Once again, not on purpose. I knew I was finished and was no longer hungry. Maybe because I use to jokingly get teased about it or maybe because of other reasons, but I now hardly ever leave food on my plate. I know there is some kind of psychology involved here.

Now I know there are others out there who think, "She only weighs 155. What is the big deal." Well, I am very much aware that those who weigh over 300 didn't start out that way. Psychology is involved in the way we eat. Many obsess and use food as an outlet. Many obsess and use not eating as an outlet. Weight is something we all want to control, but just can't seem to get our grips around. I want to be under 150 & that is all there is to it. Working for it is the hard part.

New Exercise Program

2007-06-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I think my treadmill lies. The reason I say this is because looking at my two different times I timed my walks last week they differ greatly. Mondays was outside with no running at a 16.17 min/mile, while Thursdays was on the treadmill with running at a 19.14 min./mile. The treadmill should have definantly given me a better time than outside. It makes no sense. Plus, looking at the times from when I did the Mini-marathon in Indy I averaged a 16.22 min/mile. I'm not sure what I am going to do about the discrepencies, but I hope to think of something.

Ok, so for last week I walked Monday, rode bike Tuesday, took Wednesday off due to not feeling good that morning, walked on the treadmill on Thursday night, took Friday off due to traveling to go camping this last weekend, and Saturday I probably walked over 3 miles, at least. I took like a 2 mile walk (was planning on walking further, but dumb flies) and walking to and from the bathroom was like 1/4 mile each way on Saturday.

So, I get an A+ for Week One. Now, onto Week Two. Today, nothing. I just ate about a pound of M&M's though. I'm thinking for more motivation I need to enter into another walk to train for. I am going to search the internet to what is going on.

Starting Fresh

2007-06-11T08:05:00.001-05:00

Yes, my last entry was on May 8th, but I have been exercising off and on since then. There just hasn't been much to blog about.

This week I am starting a new program. I am going to try and work something out with my mom to keep us both accountable. I am also trying to involve my husband by bike riding. Anyway, the program is to exercise for at least 40 minutes 4 days a week at around 6am. I want to try and do it every day, but I don't think it will be possible on Thursdays and Fridays. Although Aaron and I could go on bike rides on those evenings. Anyway, my goal is at least 4 days a week.

Today:
Walk with dog & no husband
2.75 miles
44.49 min. (16.17 min/mile)
Sunny & 70 degrees
7mph winds
Humidity 53%
Dewpoint 52 degrees

I decided to start recording weather conditions, I think. I want to at least record wind conditions being near Chicago and all. I want to see if it makes any difference in my walking. Well, off to VBS. :)

The Humble Dog

2007-05-08T10:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to take a long walk this morning. I ended up walking around 6.5 miles. I just walked comfortably though, taking around 2-2.5 hours. I did not time it, but very much enjoyed it. I have been walking down North St. a few times, but have always wanted to walk until I could cross over at a street and come back a different way. I did it this morning. It is a country road, so the road goes on forever. Jack went with me and at about the halfway point he found some water. I let him quinch his thirst & even swim a little. Then it hit me, "It would take me being very, very, very, very (Did I say very?) thirsty before I drank water off the ground from a drainage pipe." However, Jack has no shame & drank with no second thoughts. He was just thirsty & as a dog, water from anywhere is all that mattered.

Weight: 152

We did it!

2007-05-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

We finished the Mini-Marathon. I had the help of my good friends Katrina, Julia, & Dianna.

Here are the results:

Mile 1 = 16:19 min/mile

Mile 2 = 15:48 min/mile

Mile 3 = 15:45 min/mile

Mile 4 = 15:10 min/mile

Mile 5 = 16:24 min/mile

Mile 6 = 16:49 min/mile

Mile 7 = 16:47 min/mile

Mile 8 = 16:24 min/mile

Mile 9 = 16:36 min/mile

Mile 10 = 16:17 min/mile

Mile 11 = 15:29 min/mile

Mile 12 = 17:28 min/mile

Mile 13 = 17:12 min/mile

Total Time: 3 Hours, 34 minutes, 13 seconds

Average Pace: 16:22 min/mile

Afterward, we went to Jimmy John's for lunch, picked up cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, and went over to Starbucks to enjoy nice comfy chairs with a drink & the cheesecake.

Before the Race

Jimmy John's

Starbuck's

Just Treking

2007-04-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

Wednesday - April 4, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Treadmill
4 miles
1 hour, 8 min. (17.08 min./mile)
152.5

Thursday April 5th - Monday April 9th we were in Minnesota visiting family for Easter. I did take about a mile walk one of the days I was there with Jack, and also my in-laws dog Missy.

Tuesday April 10th - yesterday I have been playing catchup from being gone, getting my Creative Memories business started, being sick, & yesterday I started painting our gazebo. I'm tired of a sore throat, but yet it isn't bad enough to go to the doctor. Yick! I have taken a couple walks though outside, not recorded.

Today
Tuesday - April 17, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Treadmill
2.50 miles
45:09 min. (18.03 min./mile)
154

I started to go on a walk with the dog, but then he got to close to another dog & the dog bit his nose. I walked him home after only getting a half block. The other dog took off the top layer on two areas of his nose. He should be fine. I think his feelings were hurt more than his nose at the time. I decided to get on the treadmill though. It was chilly outside anyway, due to the wind.

Updates

2007-04-03T08:06:00.000-05:00

Monday - March 26, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Treadmill
2.62 miles
44 min. (16.47 min./mile)
153.5 pounds

Thursday - March 29, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Treadmill
2.63 miles
45 min. (17.06 min./mile)
151.5

Saturday - March 31, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Treadmill
2.06 miles
34:47 min. (16.53 min./mile)
150

Monday - April 2, 2007
Mini-Marathon Training
Walk - Outside
3.8 miles
1 hour, 3 min. (16.34 min./mile)
151.5

I was going to do a longer walk on Saturday, but we had an electrical storm come through and our electricity kept flickering. Therefore, the treadmill kept stalling. We didn't want it to get hurt either so off it went.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I just had to get out there. It looks as though the weather is going to be back down in the 30's again by this weekend and a possibility of SNOW!!! Daffodils and snow. It just doesn't mix.

Decided to Walk

2007-03-24T19:31:00.000-05:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk (Walk 6 miles)
1 hour, 42 min., 26 seconds (17.04 min./mile)
153 pounds

I decided to walk it today. I might stick with walking, since my friends have decided to walk the mini-marathon. On Tuesday I walked around 2 miles with the dog, but haven't walked since then until today. I worked an 8.5 hours Wedesday & 10 hours Thursday & had plans from 6:30 - 9PM both nights. However, starting in April I have regular hours. I will have 17.5 hours a week Mon. - Thurs. I am hoping my week is more plannable after that point.

Back at it AGAIN!

2007-03-19T10:26:00.000-05:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 2 min. - 9 times)
2.764 miles
45 min. (16.18 min./mile)
150 pounds

I guess my body just needed a break for a couple weeks. I have been walking on the treadmill the last two weeks. Last week I walked Tuesday and Friday for a total of 8.13 miles & the week before that I walked a total of 4.2 miles & one day of my walk/run program for 2.75 miles. It wasn't quite up to par, but not totally off track.

This morning I kept the incline at 2% with a 3.5 walking speed & a 4.0 running speed. I'm glad I didn't push it up to a running speed of 4.5 where I left off, because after the 45 min. I walked upstairs for something before doing my cool down & I almost gagged. I finished my cool down & ate a couple peices of bread with butter.

Do you know how happy I am to see 150 pounds again? I know I was putting on muscle weight, but for some reason I still like to see less pounds. I almost wonder if with running I will ever get back to my pre-marriage weight of around 145. I was doing some running back then, but mostly walking the canal with friends back in Indy. After this half-marathon, I might just start walking with no running. However, I always say that to no avail.

My husband has been doing awesome. I think total now, he has lost around 15 pounds. He is done with the initial first 2 weeks of hardly any carbs, but is still watching the carbs. I am so excited for him.

Walking

2007-03-10T21:04:00.000-06:00

I haven't been doing the walk/run program since I returned from our trip on Monday, but I have been getting on the treadmill and walking. I've also been getting outside and walking. This last Sunday in Missouri we took about a mile walk down to the river & climbed back up. I hurt my shin on Sunday night. My husband dropped the dog and I off at the end of the drive & we ran in front of his truck for about a 1/4 mile. My shin has been hurting ever since. I'm going to continue walking & I am highly thinking about just sticking to the walking. Every time I move to running, I get an ache or pain. Surely that can not be good. I feel like keeping my body for awhile in good working condition.

My husband started the low carb diet on Tuesday & has been doing an awesome job. He has lost at least 4 pounds since he is no longer working on his MBA. He has been faithful at walking on the treadmill & even taking walks with me outside. He wants to start weight lifting again. I am very encouraged by him. It was him who encouraged me to get on the treadmill tonight.

I am trying to eat more fruit & veggies. Last night for a snack and tonight for dinner I had pineapple. At Aldi today I picked up canned peaches & pears. I also picked up some grapes. I use to not like peaches, but I had them at daycare Wednesday because I was starving & I like them now (at least canned).

I am determined to walk at least 7 miles one day this week at one time, if not 8. I am suppose to be able to walk 8 miles by this coming Saturday. However, I have not walked for long periods of time either today or last Saturday. I wouldn't think it would be too hard. We will see.

Weight: 154

65 days until the Mini-Marathon

2007-02-28T10:28:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 2 min. - 8 times)
2.602 miles
40 min. (15.23 min./mile)
153.5 pounds

I don't know what to write on here. I should come up with some kind of theme or something. We'll see if anything comes to mind.

It looks like I gained a pound in February. I don't understand it, since I ran more miles in February than I did in January. I don't think I ever recovered from Superbowl Sunday to be honest. I more than overate, which means my stomach stretched & it is just now getting back to normal. That is my excuse anyway, and I am sticking to it. I need to take chocolate out of my diet, but I just don't think I'm ready to give that up yet. Chocolate is my biggest weakness. You could put as much cake, candy, etc around me and I could choose not to touch it. Chocolate though is another story.

Oh well, let's march in March. :)

Vacation Excitement

2007-02-27T11:23:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 11 times)
2.754 miles
44 min. (15.59 min./mile)
154 pounds

Regarding SG-1, I must have only seen the first disc of season 1. I do not recall the first two episodes of the second disc. I am glad I got them.

As for my verse memorization I memorized the first half of Isaiah 61:4.

"They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated,"

I plan on memorizing the rest between tomorrow and Thursday. I'm trying to decide how I am going to get all my workouts in this week before I leave for Missouri on Friday morning. We won't be back until probably Monday night. I do plan on walking or walk/running on Saturday morning, depending on the weather. It is suppose to be around 58, which would be awesome. We will also be in the woods, so it would be cool to take a walk or walk/run in the woods. I would take the dog, of course. Maybe my husband will go on a walk with me. However, I will not be measuring distance or time. It would be for the pure enjoyment.

Oh, I also felt really good on the walk/run this morning, so I upped the speed to 3.5 walking and 4.5 running. I also ended up staying on an extra 40 minutes to watch another episode of SG-1. However, I just walked at a comfortable pace during the second episode. Alright, well that is it. I hope all my readers are having a good day.

Getting Into A Routine

2007-02-24T17:49:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 7 miles)
7 miles
1 hour & 55.08 min. (16.26 min./mile)
153 pounds

Well, this running on Saturday thing is getting to be routine. This means not so much as a drag as it was in the beginning. I wanted to do it much earlier today, but my stomach is still having issues from something eaten last night. It is doing better, but not so good. I'll spare the details.

I finished the first disc of Season 1 SG-1. Other than that not much to report. The remote for the DVD player did get dropped and rolled to the back of the treadmill. Just thought you might like to know that it is ok & survived. :)

Day After Beautiful Walk Outside

2007-02-22T12:08:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 2 min. - 8 times)
2.535 miles
40 min. (15.44 min./mile)
153 pounds

Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I took a walk outside with the dog. It was so beautiful out. The snow is clearing up & the sun is shining ever more brighter. I walked for around 40 minutes, dog pace. We probably walked around 2 miles. It was nice to get out again & enjoy the sunshine.

On my walk/run this morning I started watching the first season of SG-1 (Stargate 1). I have seen it before, but thought I would watch it again and continue with the other seasons. I bought it off of E-bay. I will sell this one back on E-bay and then buy season 2 and so forth.

My speeds have been 3.4 for walking and 4.4 for running. It is going good. This morning my training program upped it to 2 min. of running. It is hard to believe I use to run for 30 min. I struggled a little, but it felt good.

My husband was bragging last night because he could burn more calories than me in less time. It felt good to hear him brag though. He is done with schoolwork, but his official last day is Monday. He started his workout program Tuesday of this week. He says he will be working out 5 days a week, taking Sunday and Monday off. I think it sounds great. I am praying for him. I love him so much.

Scripture Memorization

2007-02-20T12:57:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 11 times)
2.681 miles
44 min. (16.25 min./mile)
153 pounds

Isaiah 64:4
"Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any god besides You who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him."

In the beginning of February our church began another Woman's Bible Study doing the book "Breaking Free" by Beth Moore. Unlike the last study, this one has scriptures to memorize weekly. I failed to memorize the first week's scripture. Last week I decided to start memorizing them on the treadmill. I use to memorize on my runs outside over last summer, but it didn't last long. I am trying again. It worked last week & I memorized this one this morning. I hope to continue it after the study is over in April.

6 miles & Dumb Treadmill

2007-02-16T11:22:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 6 miles)
6 miles
Somewhere around 102 min. (17.00 min./mile)
153.5 pounds

I had no idea that treadmills only go up to 100 minutes & then they time out on you. I should have taken down the time & distance when everything completely shut down on me. I was confused as to what was going on. I just started pushing buttons & ended up starting it all over & erasing the memory of what I had already done. O well. I know I was at around 5.6 miles or so & that I would be done by the time 102 minutes had passed. I just went off of my pace last week, since I was at the same speeds. Sometimes I run a little over a minute by a few seconds due to the time lapse of not hitting the 4.3 buttons at the right time when I am switching from a walk to a run, so I figure it may be a little more or a little less, but it would be pretty accurate.

I have already corrected most of them, but I am on a roll with run-on sentences this morning. That is usually not me. Hmmm! Maybe it is because my mind is going 100 different directions. I have so much to do today!!!

New Title - Again

2007-02-13T14:21:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 10 times)
2.378 miles
40 min. (16.48 min./mile)
155.5 pounds

I told my husband about my problem with coming up with a proper name for this blog. He thought I should name it, "My Dog Hates the Treadmill." So, I did. I brought up the fact that I will be walk/running outside again when this stinking cold and snow goes away. He said I should then rename it, "My Dog Loves the Weather." I'm unsure, but it sounds as good as anything else right now. One day I will find the perfect name.

I'm about ready to up the speed again, at least on the walking. I figured I would do that this next week. I have been keeping the level at 2, but since it had the issue as mentioned before, this has become quite easy. So, next week I will be walking at speed 3.4. Yeah me!!!

Weather here: Really cold with snow drifts up to my dogs neck. My dog stands with his head at my thigh. It is funny to watch him crawl through them to get to the backyard where the snow is only about an inch.

Firefly Almost Done

2007-02-10T19:41:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run(Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 5 miles)
5 miles
84.20 min. (16.52 min./mile)
153.5 pounds

I have one DVD left before I am finished with the first season of "Firefly." I'm talking to my husband about getting the first season of "Stargate SG1" next. We will see.

Yesterday when I was doing my cool down, I put the treadmill down to Level 0. I then upped it back to Level 1 where I've been keeping it. However, it didn't go up nearly as far up as it had been at for awhile now. I'm thinking it got stuck in like Level 4 and never came down even though the treadmill digitals were reading Level 1. Anyway, since I've been doing it at some higher level, I upped the level to 2. I figured if I was somewhere around 4, then 2 would be fine. I did good. I guess it ended up being good in the long run. No wonder I was struggling so much though with speeds 3.3 & 4.3 walk/running. When my husband was getting on the treadmill, he had it constantly switching levels. He finishes school in just 2 weeks. You have no idea how excited I am!!! He started his MBA program the January before we got married, two years ago. I won't know what to do with him, once he finishes. Anyway, I'm really hoping he gets on a consistant workout schedule. He has lost the weight before, before his school program. Hopefully, he finds the motivation again.

You wanna know something scary? I am suppose to do 6 miles this next Saturday. Depending though, I might do it on Friday. I might have friends coming into town Friday night. It all depends on my schedule. Right now I am only scheduled for Monday & Wednesday.

84 Days Until Race Day!

2007-02-09T09:22:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 10 times)
2.371 miles
40 min. (16.52 min./mile)
153 pounds (January loss = 3.5 pounds) (156 to 152.5)

I haven't worked out since this last Saturday, so I thought it would be hard to do the workout this morning. It wasn't too bad. I struggled a little during rounds 9 & 10, but otherwise it was a breeze. I am still trying to adjust to my new job & I don't have regular hours. I planned on sleeping in a little bit on Monday & then working out, but I ended up getting called in early. Tuesday I was learning to quilt & we had friends over for dinner. They left around 8pm, but I was too full from dinner to get on the treadmill. After work on Wednesday, working 9 hours, I was exhausted. Anyway, these are all my excuses. Hopefully as I get use to a wacky schedule, things won't be so wacky. I go in to work today from 2-5:30pm to work in the infant room. Anyway, it was a good workout & it felt good to be back on it.

Looking More Toned

2007-02-03T18:33:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run
(Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 5 miles)
5 miles
87.03 min. (17.01 min./mile)
151.5 pounds

My husband said I was looking more toned. That felt good for him to say that & notice. I can tell a difference in the mirror. I don't feel like I am losing weight as fast as I should be, but I know I have in no way been dieting. I think the fat is turning to muscle though & since I'm not dieting then it makes sense.

Jack, the dog, came up to the treadmill when I was walking on it. He placed one foot on it, but of course it was moving & he looked at me questioning what was going on taking the foot away. Later I sat on the treadmill & he came over, put his front two feet on the treadmill & started licking me. My husband talked about putting borders on the side & having him get on it, but I'm not really for it. If Jack is to treadmill, I want him to want to & not feel forced. I think it would take the fun out of it.

Anyway, time to go take my shower. I stink.

Recovering from The Three Musketeer

2007-02-02T14:49:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 10 times)
2.365 miles
40 min. (16.52 min./mile)
152.5 pounds

Did you know there are 260 calories in a 3 Musketeers candy bar? The way I figure it, I worked it off on the treadmill. I burned 240 calories on my workout & that isn't including my 5 minute warmup or 3 minute cool down. I would have cooled down a little bit longer, but my dog came downstairs. Is it possible to teach your dog to walk on the treadmill? I got some treats, made him walk up the back part to get them. He would put his front two feet up there, but no way on the back feet. When it came to his back feet, he would get down and walk around to the side. I would take the treat away and we would start back from the back part again. I might continue this or maybe not.

I was able to keep walking at 3.3 and running at 4.3 this time. When I was walking I held on to the bars until I caught my breath. Well, gotta go. I'm excited! I may weigh less than 152.5, due to it being the middle of the day & having eaten today. We will see in the morning.

Later Workout than Normal

2007-01-30T21:17:00.000-06:00

Cross-training
Walk on Treadmill (51:12 min, 2.0 miles, Level 2)
Jump-Roping (20 w/ both feet, 50 left, 50 right)
Sit-ups (100)

I got a job today. I am a sub at a daycare. I am lined up to work tomorrow from 3-5:30pm and a week from Friday same hours with school age children. My interview was this morning at 9:30am, so my schedule was a little screwy. Hopefully, this job works out though & I get more hours.

Well, I'm distracted watching tv, so I'm going. It was a good workout.

Walk/Run 40 minutes

2007-01-29T13:12:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 10 times)
2.35 miles
40 min. (17.01 min./mile)
152.5 pounds

I tried keeping my walking pace on speed 3.3 and running pace on speed 4.3, but couldn't do it quite yet. I used 3.2 walking mostly, once in awhile on 3.3. However, I did use 4.3 for running. One day last week I went without my ankle brace & ended up doing it again today. I couldn't find it. My ankle did good. Maybe the treadmill will strengthen it & when I start outside again it won't bother me.

Well, I need to shower & tend to the mutt. Keeping it short today, I guess. :)

It's Really Tough Sometimes

2007-01-27T11:59:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 4 miles)
4 miles
79.52 min. (19.58 min./mile)
152.5 pounds

I didn't even get 20 minutes into the walk/run before I started overheating & then I just never really caught my breath again. I'm not sure what the deal was. I stopped doing the running part except for a little over a minutes worth after the 20 minutes. I just walked the rest of the time. I walked at a speed of around 2.8 (not even 3.0) with a level of 1.5. I'm telling you, I just don't know what my deal was this morning. This was the first day of a real rut I have ran into since beginning this program. I guess it was bound to happen at some point. I watched another episode of Firefly. I also started watching Lord of the Rings last night & watched some more of that after the Firefly episode. Hopefully Monday I am back to normal. Ugh!

Cookie Workoff

2007-01-26T12:01:00.000-06:00

Cross-Training
Walk on Treadmill (45 min, 2.02 miles, Level 2)
Jump-Roping (50 w/ both feet, 20 left, 20 right)
Sit-ups (100)
Weight 152.5

Walk on the Treadmill
I thought I would add it in to my cross-training. I'm not going to add any running into it. I just am simply going to walk. I finished up another episode of Firefly. With just walking I tend not to look at what I am doing so much, but am fully concentrated on the show. I'd glance, but it didn't mean much to me since I was just taking it easy. I left it at level 2 since that is the level my husband walked last night. I'm so excited he is using the treadmill. He seems to really like it. He didn't really want to get on it last night, but I think he and myself both convinced him he would feel better afterward. We will both be so glad when he gets his MBA at the end of February. I think school is wearing him out a lot lately.

Jump-Roping
My heart really gets to pumping with jump-roping. Jump-roping has got to increase my coordination. I started out and probably did around 30 without messing up, but then after that point I could only get about 10 in without messing up. Left leg first is a real challenge. It is automatic to go right leg first. I figured once I can do 50 with my left leg first pretty well, than I can start the alternating thing. Right now I am good just to do one leg at a time simultaneously.

Sit-ups
The video goes so fast. You wouldn't think it was 100 situps because I'm only doing 10 of 10 different variations. I could feel it though and it is important to get the whole stomach. I chose the video for that reason. We also have a 200 situp video, but I'm sticking to 100 for right now.

Sometimes its Cookie Dough

2007-01-25T11:28:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
2.12 miles
36 min. (16.58 min./mile)
153.5 pounds

My husband asked me to fix chocolate chip cookies for him to take to work today. Well, you can't very well fix chocolate chip cookies without eating some of the dough.

My workout was easy as cookie dough this morning too. I love walk/runs like that. I just breezed right through it & finished the first DVD of Firefly. I wish they were all like that. I'm looking forward to my 4 miles walk/run on Saturday. Next week I start walk/running for 40 minutes & my Saturday walk/run is for 5 miles. It wears me out thinking about it, so I will stop.

After my walk/run this morning, I did a freezer walk around a block and a half with the dog. I had shorts on with my winter coat. Brrrr! It is bad, but our dog has officially gained his winter weight and it is all my fault. Only around a month left & we can get outside and start to work it off again. Hopefully, he isn't getting too old yet being 10 and all. Our friends have a 10 year old standard poodle & he is on the kaputts. Our dog is still full of life, but you can see him aging. I love our mutt who drives me so crazy at times. :)

Jump-Roping Begins

2007-01-23T15:53:00.000-06:00

Jump-Roping - 50 jumps (right leg first)
Sit-ups - 15

I found my cross-training, for at least the winter months. Once I get the hang of jump-roping again, I will start to do different variations. Jumping with both legs wears me out at the moment. I need to get my endurance with it and then I will move on. I plan on starting sit-ups with the 100 situp video we have. It is a start. :)

Oh, and my kitchen, dining area, kitchenette area is now completely painted as of last night. That part of my cross-training has come to an end.

Here is a website for jump-roping that I will be referring to, at least to get my endurance where it should be.

http://www.jumpropeinstitute.com/a-z_on_jump_rope.htm#develop%20basic%20jr%20capacity

My Share of Exercise

2007-01-22T11:43:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
2.12 miles
36 min. (16.58 min./mile)
154 pounds

I woke up this morning, put on my long john shirt and pants under my sweats & winter coat. I threw on my hat and gloves. I braved the cold. No, I didn't run out there. I'm not that crazy. I shovelled our sidewalk & played in the backyard with the mutt. It is unbelievable how much that dog loves snow. He is like a little kid, but I can't use the phrase, "either in or out," because he just doesn't understand. He wants out, his feet get cold or he gets upset we did not follow him out, and then he wants back in. If we didn't make him take a nap, he would go through this scenerio all day. He can be such a kid. He needs his naps. Playing with him was good though. We tossed the football around for awhile. Actually, it was more like me throwing the football. He would fetch it, but then I would have to wrestle him to get it back. I'm so glad we have our Jack.

After shovelling and playing, I got on the treadmill. I upped the walking speed from 3.2 to 3.3, but kept the running speed at 4.2. I will up it next week. I didn't feel ready yet. I would like to get to where I am walking 3.5 & running 4.5.

Back to the dog - He got so excited when I put on my shorts. It amazes me how he associates shorts, putting the hair in a ponytail, etc to running outside. I shut him up in the bedroom while I put my shoes on, because he thinks that is a sure sign. I don't think he likes the idea of the treadmill so much. Of course, I do because without it he still wouldn't be getting outside much & I would just be getting bigger.

The End

GO COLTS!

2007-01-21T22:51:00.001-06:00

I actually care about the Superbowl this year! Here I am in Bears territory rooting for my hometown Colts! How exciting is that!

Wow! Four Miles!

2007-01-20T15:42:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 4 miles)
4 miles
69.36 min. (17.54 min./mile)
153 pounds

The walk/run felt great. It is hard to imagine that by May I will be walk/running 13.1 miles. I am on my way. Two of the other three girls are going to start getting together to go mall walking on Saturdays. I am so excited about them doing this. I'm so excited about the whole thing. I am so looking forward to doing this adventure.

I'm getting to a point to where I don't really know what to write in this blog anymore. I still plan on doing it, but just unsure what to write a lot of times. :)

Trying to Keep Up

2007-01-18T10:42:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
2.07 miles
36 min. (17.23 min./mile)
155.5 pounds

I got back on the treadmill today, despite having a cold & just getting back from vacation. It felt good that I actually did it. The whole time though I felt like the treadmill was dragging me to walk. If the belt didn't move, I don't know that I would have. I watched a show on scrapbooking and an episode of "Changing Rooms" while walk/running. I really would like to be spiritually motivated though by memorizing verses or praying during the times I am on the treadmill. We will see if that ever happens. I lack motivation in so many areas, but yet I am amazed things still get completed. This afternoon I am working on the trim in my dining room and hopefully will finish painting that today. Tomorrow I plan on finishing the kitchen. I hardly got any of the kitchen completed last week because my car took longer in the shop than expected. Ugh! Well, I'm trying to think of a new name for my blog, but haven't come up with anything better yet. Maybe soon. :) See ya for now!

Rest Day?

2007-01-10T11:01:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
2.07 miles
36 min. (17.23 min./mile)
154.5 pounds

Yippee!!! Weight Loss! I was down to around 150 before Thanksgiving and then gained 6 out of the 15 pounds I had lost back. It is encouraging to see it leaving again.

Today was suppose to be a rest day, but I'm going out of town tomorrow until next week sometime. I am going to our old place that we are trying to sell to tidy it up some and then I am going to PA to see my new neice or nephew. My sister is in labor as I am writing this. She went into labor at around 3am this morning. I am going to take my running gear just in case there is a warmer day than what we have been having here in the Chicago area. I'm afraid I will have too many rest days these next few days though.

Well, I'm hungry and I need to take a shower. I have a car appointment at 1pm and need to finish the kitchen after that. I doubt I will get it all done, but I at least what to get the kitchen part done. The dining room can wait until after my trip if it has to.

Cross-Training

2007-01-09T22:55:00.000-06:00

I consider painting the kitchen as cross-training, don't you?

Official Training Has Begun

2007-01-08T19:18:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
2.07 miles
36 min. (17.23 min./mile)
156 pounds

The official training for my half-marathon has begun. I'm not working right now, so I got up around 9:30am and jumped on the treadmill. I'm really liking this treadmill. My husband used it Saturday and said he is using it again tonight. I am so proud of him. I haven't lost any weight yet, but over the weekend I ate too much junk food. I did not eat breakfast today. I ate a banana and a bowl of cereal for lunch. For dinner I made mashed potatoes, steak and salad. The steak was so good. It was my first time broiling too & it turned out great. It came out well done, but juicy. My favorite way to eat it, better than the restaurants do. When they do well-done it is always dry and I have to cover it in A1.

Anyway, I'm really excited about the training!

First Endurance Walk-Run on Treadmill

2007-01-06T11:30:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Endurance Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 3 miles)
3 miles
53.39 min. (17.53 min./mile)
156.5 pounds

While I did todays walk/run I watched Daddy Daycare. My husband set the tv up for me. It is currently sitting on boxes, which kind of scares me. I just won't walk by that area and hopefully our dog doesn't either. I'm hoping we can find something sturdier soon.

It amazes me how Americans today have to be so stimulated. I say this because when listening to music my eyes were constantly looking for something to become fixed on. I never thought about it much when I was running outside because I was constantly aware of my surroundings. On the treadmill, the scenery of course doesn't change. The tv was what my eyes needed so I didn't keep watching the numbers tick away on the treadmill.

I need to come up with a good warm up and cool down. I feel awkward doing both, but I know it is necessary in order to not hurt myself. Maybe this is a question for www.coolrunning.com.

First Day on New Treadmill

2007-01-04T13:52:00.000-06:00

Mini-Marathon Training
Walk-Run (Walk 3 min./Run 1 min. - 9 times)
1.94 miles
36 minutes (18.33 min./mile)
156 pounds

Yippee! My first day on the new treadmill. I did pretty good, considering I've been out of the habit of running for around 2 months & before that I was struggling with injury issues. I'm not sure if the injury issues have disappeared or not. We will see since I've taken a long break. My official training for the Mini-Marathon begins on Monday, January 8th.

For the Cross-Training I plan on doing sit-ups on our bench and jump-roping. We bought a jump rope, but we will see how I do with going back to my childhood days. I will probably come up with other things too. I'm thinking about getting back into rollerblading this summer. I miss it. Of course, that would mean I would have to buy new rollerblades. The reason I quit rollerblading was because my rollerblades were getting too old and breaking down. It has been a couple years. My husband has already said I have become expensive lately. Since August we have bought a new couch and then the treadmill. My husband spoils me.

I am thinking about not doing the Shamrock Run in March. I really like the Walk-Run variety for right now. I would do the Shamrock if there were walkers too. However, there aren't. I might find a run with walkers though. That would be cool.

Have a great day!

Treadmill

2007-01-03T22:50:00.000-06:00

I am so, so excited! We got the treadmill tonight at Sears. It is a Nordic Track. We had to pay more than we originally planned. My husband tried one of the 300 lb. ones and it had a delay in it. So, we ended up getting one allowing 325. My husband even put it together tonight with a little help from me. Now I have no excuses!

I also received two more postcards today. Neither had encouraging things about running, but were cool all the same. I put up a map in my office/craft room to mark where the postcards are coming from. The two today both came from New Zealand.

Postcard from Finland

2007-01-02T18:14:00.000-06:00

I received my first postcard. It came from Markus in Finland. It is a picture of Donald Duck flying.

He states:

"Hi Erica! Greetings from Finland. As I read your profile, it was different than the others so I wanted to search a special post card for you and I found this painting from a Finnish artist Kay Stenvall. The painting is called, "Everything is possible." I hope you like it. I also like to run but lately I have been too busy (or maybe just too lazy) to do it. I wish you good luck and success with your mini-marathon training and the mini-marathon itself as well as a peaceful Christmas and a happy new year!

Markus

Tears

2007-01-01T10:56:00.000-06:00

We arrived at the cabin here in Audobon, Minnesota yesterday to visit Aaron's grandma and Aunt Lynette. We were suppose to arrive Saturday around 1pm, but ran into a crazy snow storm and ended up spending the night in a hotel with Aaron's parents. It is so beautiful here on the lake with the white snow. We are leaving today to go back home after our week and a half of visiting for Christmas/New Years. I'm going back home with no job. If you want to read about that incident, click on my other blog. I believe we are picking up a treadmill today on our way home at the Wal-Mart in Minneapolis. I will write at a later time telling when we have it and have it set up to use. I can hardly wait to take off these holiday pounds.

Last night we slept out in the garage. It is heated, of course. I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, as always. I couldn't get back to sleep for awhile, since I was wide awake after walking from the garage to the cabin. So, of course my mind was wandering and thinking. What was it thinking about this time? I worry about my husband and his weight. It isn't just his weight but his size. I know it hurts him when others say small comments about him being a big guy. I know they don't mean any harm and he plays it off well. Deep inside I know he takes it to heart. He is such a teddy bear. I also know he wants to lose weight, but there is a block in his mind. I think it is discouragement because he has always had to watch his weight. His mom told me he was even in the 95 percentile for his age when he was younger for his height. Even back then adults would make comments about him being a big boy, but I'm sure back then it wasn't about weight, but about height.

Anyway, last night I just started thinking about this and everything else around it. I want so much as his wife to help him, but I feel so inadequate. I want so much to be his helper in this area, but feel at a loss. I want to take away his hurts and this issue. I started crying and realized that all I can do is pray for him and do my best. My number one New Year's Resolution for this year is to pray for my husband more. I don't want to pray for just this area of his life, but for all the areas of his life. I want to pray for God's guidance in how to be a better wife for him and how to better be his helpmate.

Lord, thank you for caring enough to be a Healer, Guide, and Father to us. I love you!

Treadmill in January

2006-12-20T14:03:00.000-06:00

Now my husband and I are back on the idea that we are getting a treadmill instead of a gym membership. I'm pretty sure we will since last night my husband went to get one at Wal-Mart. The only problem is at our Wal-Mart they didn't have the one that could handle up to 300 lbs. My husband is a little bit over that, so I want to get one that accomadates him also. After the treadmill we plan on saving up for an elliptical machine for my husband. He likes those better. We are hoping to have our own home gym in the basement. One day there may be carpeting. I already have a painting idea for the cement walls. We already have a weight set given to us with the house & another type of bench that hasn't been unpacked yet from our move. I plan on using the bench for sit-ups.

We leave for Aaron's parents on Thursday night. Although Thursday night, Friday and Saturday morning we will be at his cousins house spending time with them. Aaron said his parents have a treadmill and if that is the case, then I am going to run on the treadmill at least 3 times next week while we are there visiting.

My training for the Half-Marathon begins on January 8th. I want to have a treadmill and have it set up by then. Here's hoping...

Quote for the Day

2006-12-20T07:50:00.000-06:00

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see."

- John Burroughs, essayist and naturalist

New Name and a few other things

2006-12-12T07:42:00.000-06:00

Two out of the four postcards I mailed were received. Both of them were the Finland postcards. I'm surprised anyone already received theirs considering I just sent them Thursday. That is only around 3-4 mailing days.

Last night Aaron and I did one of the workout videos. I told him he was going to have to motivate me to do them. I guess we are doing the videos for the rest of December right after we get off work. He suggested us taking them to ND with us for Christmas at his parents, but I just don't think I want to worry about working out that week. We will see.

The weather has been warmer and if it weren't so drizzly I could get out and run. It has been in the 40's, but drizzling the whole time. It is suppose to do the same thing tomorrow. Maybe Thursday the sun will come out, but then I won't have time, because we are leaving for Indy right after work. I just wish the sun was out today.

I changed the name of this blog. I'm not really sure what to call it, so it might change again. I'm not really fully running anymore. I've changed it to walk/runs since I enjoy that more than running for a straight 3 miles. Tune in next time...

Saturday at the Y

2006-12-11T10:35:00.000-06:00

Date: 12/9/06
1.51 miles
25 minutes
(16.33 min/mile)
We hid the scale until January

My husband I went to the YMCA on Saturday morning. We used our last guest pass. We have decided to hold off until January to become official members. We only have three weeks left of December and one of those weeks we will be out of town. With Christmas and everything going on, we aren't going to have much time anyway. On Saturday I got so excited! When I use to be a member at Ladies Only before I got married, they had this abs workout equipment. Since then I have been a member of two different Y's and neither had this particular peice of equipment. I try not to do situps because my lower back, but this equipment does not hurt my back. Anyway, the YMCA we will be joining has this peice of equipment. I did only 15 ab crunches on it Saturday. My stomach muscles are still feeling it today. When I was at Ladies Only it is hard to believe I could do 40 of these things in two sets of 20. I hope to get to that point again. My stomach is where my weight concerns me the most. It makes my pants tight, even though they would normally fit.

The treadmill made me a little irritated though. I was actually on the treadmill longer than 25 minutes. I was on for about 14 - 15 minutes before I had to push the pause button to adjust my shoe/ankle brace. When I wanted to start back again, I didn't know how to restart the machine. I pushed the pause button thinking maybe it was like a VCR. Nope. I hit the start button, but it started all the way back to 0. Oh well. I need to figure out this feature. My husband found out he likes the elliptical machine. I'm hoping it works out for him & I hope he finds people to play basketball too. That would be awesome!

Back on January 10th on my Xanga Site I wrote out goals for this year. How did I do?

1. Lose 10 - 20 pounds (I lost 15, but gained 5 back since Thankgiving, so I met this goal by losing 10 pounds all together.)

2. Finish painting the bathroom downstairs (I did! and we no longer live there)

3. Have more quiet times throughout the week (I would have to say definitely yes!)

4. Have a family from church over every other week for dinner (Umm, we need to do better at this, the move hasn't helped. We have had people over though since the move)

5. Walking every other day and doing situps on the other days (I picked up running two months after this post, although I can't say I have been consistant as in every other day. I definitely have not been doing those situps.)

6. Getting to bed by 10pm (Some nights. Last night it wan't until 11:30pm)

7. Getting to work by 8am (Well, now I have to. I have to be to work at 7:30pm. I need to work on being on time at 7:30am though. I'm always a couple minutes late.)

8. Teach myself to quilt (I've started, but am needing lessons that I might be taking beginning in January from a friend. I have made a skirt, pillow, & blanket. I just haven't made the quilt yet)

Ok, then..

2006-12-07T10:17:00.000-06:00

Well, somehow in flipping back and forth on the web I ended up with two more addresses. I guess I hit the back button too many times. :( So, I am now sending another postcard to Finland and one to Germany.

Postcrossing

2006-12-07T09:45:00.000-06:00

I have decided to become a member of www.postcrossing.com. I have asked that when others send me postcards to put an encouraging quote regarding running. We will see what happens. I will keep up and journal any postcards I receive on this blog. This should be cool if it all works out. I get to send my first two postcards to Finland and Poland. For those of you who don't know, if money weren't an issue I would travel the world. I guess this is a way to bring the world to me. In our duplex where we lived in Indiana, I had the guest room as the "world" room. I decorated it in a global map, global currency, and had multiple items from places I had been and souvenirs family and friends had gotten for me. I haven't decorated the guest room again. In fact, I haven't decorated the whole house much. Anyway, we will see how this goes.

I'm Running Again

2006-12-07T09:08:00.000-06:00

1.70 miles
25:11 minutes
(14:48 min/mile)
151 pounds

I have no explanation for losing 4 pounds overnight. I weighed myself the morning of 12/4 and weighed 155.5 and I weighed myself this morning and weighed in at 151. Maybe it was the scale or maybe it was due to my IBS attack yesterday that cleaned out my system (sorry, TMI probably). Either way, I feel better now.

I feel better not only because I just gained 2 pounds (which was more likely), and not 6 1/2 pounds. I am almost to the lightest weight time of the month also, which is really the only time when weight measurements count. Females understand what I'm talking about here. :)

My walk/run on the treadmill went good. I started out walking for three minutes, running for two minutes. I would then walk for a few minutes and run whenever I felt the urge. Sometimes I chose to walk due to a body part hurting or my stomach getting to be too much. I really wonder sometimes if I should see a stomach/abdomen specialist.