Well Hello World....

It has been a little to long since I rambled on about my mighty running accomplishments...There are a few stories I should tell you after I make some excuses for the 5lbs I've gained and the insane amount of physical ability I have lost.

But, first my excuses-
I fell on the Vegas strip while attempting to get in a 5k and messed up my left leg
I almost fell into the Grand Canyon and died, but instead I severely bruised my right shin
I totally jammed my left big toe nail and popped it off half way...yeah it was gross and gushing blood and hurt super bad for a week

But now that my excuses are out of the way it is time to get accountable!

I went for a run with my formerly cross country running partner, now cross town running partner and lifetime best friend Noelle, yesterday! It was BEAUTIFUL! It was a warm fall day and she showed me her amazing running roads through the woods, serene lake, cute centennial farm...all while taking in the fall colors!

It was freaking inspiring!

So in honor of my new accountability and my re-commitment I will set some new priorities.
1-RUN!-3-5 days a week get outside and do it!
2-Dare I write this...I'll SHRED! I sort of hate shredding...but seriously 20 mins a day...I can do 20 mins a day for sure.
3-Lastly and probably the grossest part...I will track...you might not know what that means...sometimes I pretend not to either...it means write down everything that goes in your mouth...people claim it works, when it works for me I get really excited...when I don't want to do it I pretend like it is the worst possibly punishment...that is when I know I need it the most.

October will be terrible-ly wonderful once it is over!

Sorry! It has been way to long

But never fear!I have been running consistently although my blog update skills could use a lesson.

It finally got hot hear, which is way fun. I have been kicking miles like they are no bodies business. I am so darn good at running on a treadmill, but my pavement pounding could use some help.

Have you ever done something stupid? I did something stupid last week in the name of running and consistence, so I feel like I should tell you about it in order to know it was worth it. I set out some goals for last week. Those goals included doing the dish with a friend after work on Thursday and running 4 miles on Friday.

So I was all jazzed to hit the dish, which is a good way to feel about the dish (the alternative is hateful of the hills). I was jazzed that is until I realized that I forgot socks. NOT COOL! But I was already psyched and committed. So what would it hurt to walk 5 miles of hills in no socks? It shouldn't...but it did! OMG!!

And then Friday I went to to work with the goal in mind of running 4 miles on the treadmill. Again I was jazzed..again no socks..again did it anyway.

Friday night OWWWwwwwww holy mildy blisters. They are slowly healing. But in all seriousness avoid stupidity like that. Wear your socks.!!

Back at it and on the path to 13.2

I went to MI for a week and only got to hit the road once, but it was one great run with my cross country. run partner Noelle! It was raining cats and dogs and the puddles were insane. We were drenched and matched one another pace perfectly to keep pushing one another!

My rainy run reaffirmed my Passion for running and drive to succeed! Nothing is more motivating than like minded friendship!

So I came back and hit the workouts hard and the nutrition too! I'm well into the start of training now, and I even did intervals and strength this week!

I'm so excited for the training to come!

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Weight Loss and Running

I will be completely honest. I turned to running as a means to an ends without a plan. I wanted to lose weight, and since running can help I thought I would give it a go.

That was 2 and a half years ago! Amazing how time flies. I was super motivated back then. I had to wear a white dress in front of 100+ people and look good doing it. I joined Weight Watchers and was pretty successful. I lost about 35 lbs and feel great. But I want to make some more serious fitness health strides and lose about another 30 lbs. Don't worry...I still have that much to lose healthfully, I promise!

In addition to training for a half marathon in October I need to do a serious overhaul of my eating!

Back to the basics I go:

-Continue running! (Duh training for my half marathon!)
-Eating 5-7 fruits and veggies every day!
-Water, water, water, water
-Bite it write it-Everything that goes in my mouth will be written down for review
-Limiting extras: Only eat deserts or drink calories if it's worth it-like when it is REALLY REALLY GOOD--not when I think I should to be social or because I am bored (ie that pan of brownies and 5 beers that I had this past weekend...that was a bad plan)

Umm...probably biggest challenge ever is the fact that I am hosting the 3rd Annual Lax BBQ keg and all this weekend...we will see how this goes.

But I am on Day 2 of my commitment and going strong!

5 miles run!

I ran an easy 5.25 mile run yesterday, which was actually quite an accomplishment even thought it wasn't that long.

I have been really bad at following through on weekend running. Hence the empty blocks on Saturdays and Sundays on the calendar. I have had big ambitions to make Sundays my long run days, but very little follow through.

So I got up earlyish yesterday and got ready...only to realize that my ipod was not charged...BUMMER. So I sat around for about 45 mins wasting time on the internet and watching bad TV while I waited to make sure my ipod would make it through my run, because I knew I would not make it through without some tunes.

And then I hit the road.
View 5 miles Tasmman-Lickmill-river trail-home in a larger map

Man o man did the first 2 miles hurt. Every single step killed both my arches, which is a direct result of needing new shoes. Since I am on the heavier side of running 250 miles on one pair of shoes is to many! (Stopping by SportBasement to replace shoes tonight).

Anyhow it was a beautiful day for a run! I hit an old favorite route.

And it was a great time to enjoy the sunshine and recharge my body! Hooray for an enjoyable Fun Day Sunday run!

And I finished 5.25 miles in 47 mins so I was pretty happy considering the pain my arches were in for the begining! And since I have not hit the actual road for over 4 in a long time it was GREAT!

Wharf to Wharf!

I am running a 10K down in Santa Cruz in July! It is my motivation to continue progressing towards my half marathon!

This is the training program that will be great for me. In the past Hall Higdon's other training plans have been great for both being realistic (as far as time and energy) and challenging! I am really excited to train for this because it will be a perfect segue into Half Marathon training!

I am hoping to train to run my first half marathon in a certain amount of time...say under 2 hours, but I am being cautious about setting my goals. Their are many things to consider when setting running goals.

I will be updating my calendar to reflect my training plan in one color and my actual workouts in another --hopefully.

I have had a lot of fun playing with the html, widgets, h-refs...etc. It is a definite work in progress. Maybe someday it will function and read like my favorite blog. But then again I don't bake as often as her so it might not be as appealing.

Emotional Running?

Could I possibly become and emotional runner a much as I have been an 'emotional eater' in the past. Let's hope so.

I just found out today that two of my very closest friends in the whole world are confronted with the same worst case situation that I have confronted before. Two different families that I hold close to my heart are both facing the devastation and pain that is pancreatic cancer.

Almost seven years ago my grandma 'Granny' was diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer. And I ate my way through the hardest year of my life. One of my closest friends from high school died in December of 2003 and my grandma who was best role model and friend died in January 2004. I cannot even begin to explain the number of calories I consumed.

But, here I am seven years later still trying to recover from the pounds and poor habits I gained during that time.

So, I am confronted with my memories of my own loss while people I love and care for are confronted with pain that can't be described. My heart is broken for them. If I could take away the pain that they will face in the next 6 months I would do anything.

But I can't.

I am going to do everything I can to nurture and care for them. But, I can't let pancreatic cancer get the best of me again.

My first instinct when I found out was to bake a chocolate cake. But that won't help anyone! --They don't ship halfway across the country to Michigan very well. And it will only add a good 5lbs to my hurdles.

I am turning to emotional running instead of emotional eating.

With every step I take I am representing the healthy lifestyle that Granny always wanted for me. The steps that my friend with one leg couldn't run. The strength of those people who represent the greatest generation, but now confront a personal battle that will take every ounce of their perseverance.

And with each step of each run I am going to continue to support and encourage my family and friends to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Confront the pains and sorrows, celebrate the blessings of each moment shared, and work to living a better life with each step and breath.

A major running milestone!!

I was officially selected to run in the Nike Woman's Half Marathon on October 17, 2010! It takes place in San Francisco, which is just north of my home in San Jose and as I think Karly and Jaclyn my friends who walked their asses up and down the street of the city will attest, it is a hilly mess!!

I am so excited to start a dedicated training plan, but since it's not until October I have to be sort of 'careful' not to get over trained and burnt out before go time!

In celebration of the hills that will be coming for me and the beautiful day that is today, I am going to go run the dish which is known as a busy fun hilly run through the foothills near Stanford.

Over the next few months I am totally dedicated to hitting the hills and actually pounding the pavement instead of the dreadmill! My legs totally need to get used to the road rather than my favorite cloud like experience on the 'soft' treadmills at my gym.

Eat More Protein from Runner's World.com

Eat More Protein from Runner's World.com

Eating more protein is something I need to do better at. I don't love protein. I love carbs and I love fat, but for some reason not so much on the protein side of things.

But alas I should try!

Inspiration-you are mine!

To all those people in my life that know I like to pretend to run, and think I am a crazy person, but decided to give it a try and are loving it...you inspire me!

When you run and tell me about it, it reminds me of the impetus of my own running life. It feels great to think back over the milestones that are my running life.

Some of the good memories that make me want more:

Running for conditioning in high school laps through the school. Each full lap including to sets of stairs was 1/3 of a mile. It used to kill me to keep up with the team or finish 4 laps and some very special team captains and coaches would finish my last lap with me and encourage me to finish hard. Those memories have stuck with me through every single last 1/4 of a mile when I just want to give up. I think of Kelly Chapman and Coach Conlan encouraging me to push hard, dig deep, and finish stronger. (This was when I was a lowly freshmen and sophomore.

Then their was Eric Gillman who ran my first loop with me! The four mile run around the block of my high school in the hills. I was PATHETIC. I think he waited for an hour at his car while I finished. But I appreciated it!!

And then their was the entire varsity girls soccer team...they waited a lot of hours for me I think. I was almost the last person to finish every time. At the time I was fine with it, but now I hope I could at least beat a few people. I am not so sure I could, but at least I would try!

Their are so many many more!

But now I really appreciate those people who I have gotten to celebrate their first mile with! Or I have gotten to celebrate other milestones as either they run for the first time ever or return to the fun for fitness!

Their aches and pains are more inspiring than my own. (Is that mean?) I don't mean it to be mean, I mean it reminds me how far I have come, and that maybe in another few months I will go that far again!

And I guarantee you, in the next few months I will have many many many aches and pains. I owe it to myself to hit the pavement and prepare for some outdoor miles, but it won't be without a lot of whining. You better get ready for me to whine about my sore shins, ankles, hips...basically the whole deal.

Distractions? Yes...Running...sometimes

I have been so very distracted lately! I should have finished my second 100 miles (meaning 200 miles for the year) at least 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately I wont be finished until the end of this week. I am at 180 miles right now. I ran all of 13 miles last week. I was on a roll running 3 miles Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then life got in the way.

I feel so sluggish when running is not my top priority.

I did run a few miles outdoors! And even though it was painful, it was good. My stabilizing muscles feel so different hitting the pavement then they do on my favorite treadmills. Those treadmills I call my clouds because they are like running on clouds. I feel like I am at least 50 lbs lighter and can go about twice as far because of it. So needless to say running outside is challenging.

I got a new Nike+ chip to help keep track of my outdoor distance and pace. I am newly committed to running 7 miles outside a week. I know that isn't even half of what I should be running per week, actually not even a third, but it is a start at getting back outside and hitting the pavement.

My Running Goals for this week: Monday April 12-Sunday April 18:
Run at least 21 miles
7 miles outside
One run will be at least 5 miles long

Other healthy lifestyle thoughts for this week:
Take my vitamins
Drink 80+ ounces of water a day
Eat 7-10 fruits and veggies a day

My 1st Fries of 2010

My fries were delicious! It has been a long time since I had them! Almost another 100 miles actually ;)!

Dave and I went out on a Tuesday evening to Applebees! I had been planning it for a 100 miles, so it was a holy event. I ordered my favorite applebees meal-Oriental Chicken Wrap with fries and a diet coke! I was so excited!

After the waiter took our order and went to get my diet coke I noticed the little calorie information menu on the table. Obviously, I know that french fries are not really nutritious, and obviously applebees isn't a health food stores.

But when I saw that my dinner was 1,460 calories I almost flipped out! What the heck!!

I took a deep breath and decided that I was going to enjoy it! I ran a hundred miles for that meal!

It just made me think about the choices I make everyday.

Oriental Chix wrap and fries would be a pretty normal choice for me. It would be a sort of bigger lunch, but definitely not out of the question. I might ask for the dressing on the side, but then eat all the dressing anyways or something like that.

After reading the calorie content of that sandwich I just don't think it is a sensible choice unless I am going to go run 100 miles to break even. 1460 is all the calories I should have for an entire day.

Good think I enjoyed the fries!

Once I find my camera cord I will upload the pictures...yes I took pictures of my french fries :).

If you know me, you know that I get distracted...

Sorry to those of you who have commented to me in person that my blog is funny or ridiculous, or just that you have visited once in your life and I have now not posted in way way way to long!

I am trying to get organized and maybe even start training for something real.

Since I last posted I have achieved some new great things! For instance I ate french fries at applebees! (A dedicated post to follow soon, with the pictures of my 1,600 calorie dinner in all of it's glory).

I have run 165ish miles! See I know I have been distracted from posting, but at least I have kept pounding the pavement/dreadmill!

I went to Michigan! And amazing I lost a pound while there! This is truly one of the most major accomplishments of all of my life! If you live in Michigan or have visited Michigan you know that it is pretty mid-western. Ranch dressing is a big deal, fresh tasty produce is hard to come by in the dead of winter, and most importantly their is a lot of really delicious bad for you food! And I still lost a pound!! --I will do a dedicated post to this also, because I have a lot to say about food in Michigan and how I am sad I did not get to eat Balls Ice Cream.

And the most recent exciting thing I did was on Friday. That would be Friday March 26 in case you want to mark your calendar as a day of amazing things! I ran 5 miles in 45 mins and 43 seconds on the treadmill. That is really exciting and I will dedicate a post to how I got there.

Wow I have a lot of posts to write.

For now you will just have to think about how I will be posting a lot, and hopefully eating french fries again soon-PS I picked out my next french fries meal! And it will be...Marie Calendar!! Tuna Melt (MOST AMAZING TUNA MELT EVER) and french fries. Funny thing is...I don't even know if their fries are any good, but I will be fining out in about a week and a half or so!!

I will be writing to you often! Love Always-Pudgy Runner

73 miles and couting!

Clearly it has been to long since I last posted. I am almost 3/4 of my way to my first delicious french fries of 2010! Their have been a couple moments when I was really sad I was not eating french fries, such as when my husband replaced the chips that came with his chix sandwich with seasoned fries. I mean really...he had to do that to me??

Well I walked out of Sonoma Chicken Coupe a better person or at least that is what I am telling myself to feel a little better about not indulging in seasoned fries.

I am excited to report that running is really feeling good. I feel like I am back in my own body again! I had some serious pain early last week from some poor form during boot camp. My lower back hurt so bad every time I moved. But I took the rest of the week off from boot camp and took one middle of the week day off from running (my rest days are usually at the end of the week) and I was able to get back to the running on Wednesday! It felt good to overcome that easily.

I am feeling stronger and more fit every day! Now the trick will be to stay consistent and not push the limits to a stupid injury.

French fries ins about a week and a half I would guess!!

33!!

I have made it 1/3 of my way to a serving of french fries. I didn't expect that it would feel this heavy on my quads to be quite honest. But I am 33 miles into my first round of french fries for the year and I don't feel all that deprived!!

My quads and lower back are a bit more sore than I would like them to be, but that is a reflection of upping my weekly miles without patience. A new runner should not increase their mileage more than 10% per week. And since January is suppose to be a come back tour I should have done the same thing.

Instead I went
January 4-8 1.5 miles
January 11-15 12.5 miles
January 15-22 12 miles
January 22-29 15 miles

So I think my sore lower back and sore achy quads are a directly result of that jump from January 4-8 week and January 11-15 week.

I should be fine as long as I remain consistent for the next month somewhere between 13 and 20 miles per week is my goal for a while. Eventually I want to be up to 25 miles per week and then I will allow myself to start training for something great!

Until then I will keep pounding away the pavement (and my poor arches) to burn the calories and feel the elusive runners high!!

My comback tour!

Haha...Yes, I am considering the month of January a 'comeback tour' of sorts. I think I was getting pretty lazy about running. The stress of work, (not the actual work, but work politics), the holiday rush of visitors and baking, oh yes and reckless food choices. This was making me slow, lazy, and essentially back to my old fat self.

It is a place where I cannot allow my mind to go!

Instead January is truly a comeback tour of my fit self!

Balanced food choices are eeking back into my everyday life. (I made the most amazing chopped salad for dinner Friday night!)

Hitting the road again! I went out for a 5K run yesterday. I set out knowing it wouldn't be as easy as the old glory days. But amazingly I didn't hurt that bad. My quads ached from the outset, mostly in retaliation against boot camp. But I definitely know I will hit the road more often this month than last!

Again-committing to the lifestyle I want and I know is within the reach of a little effort and conscious choices.

By the numbers...

Today I went to a health assessment related to my work. So I am going to share some of the 'numbers' with you. These are the sort of numbers that only matter when you get old like I became this year. By sharing these numbers my hope is that it will motivate me to make some changes and improve the numbers before the end of March.

I don't even know it it is possible or healthy to change these sort of numbers over 2-3 month period, but I am going to try.

Blood Pressure 127/77--that is high for me! I used to always be like 117/66
HDL cholesterol 44--I think it used to be 63 which is way better I guess
Body Fat 32%--that is 'Over Fat'--totally uncool...I guess women are suppose to be less than 25%

So these give me some good non-weight measure of fitness I know I can control. I am going o go to the dr for a regular physical in April. I have gone the past two years in the first week of April, so I feel like it will be a good chance to see how I compare to 08 and 09. And it might keep me motivated to work a little harder at total body fitness.

Boot Camp--1.5 hours away and dreading

I signed up for a boot camp @ work. We get great deals on exercise classes because they want us to lead healthy lifestyles or something like that. So for $20 I get 8 weeks 16 classes of boot camp.

This is a picture of my instructor in case you can't understand how ripped I might become in 16 weeks...HA ha ha...but this is before started weight lifting so she is even bigger is a ripped way now.

I really didn't know what to expect, but I generally think that I am more active than many. I also recognize that I am larger than your average active person, but I still put myself in the almost fit category.

Until last Monday I thought I was almost fit that is. And then reality hit...I was WAY more fit when I played soccer.

So for the first class I expected that their would be some not familiar with fitness people, and of course their will be those hard bodies but I expected to fall right in the middle.

No.

I am like the second to slowest and second to least coordinated person in the class. And who pays someone (even if it is only $20) to make them run sprints! And do high knees and butt kicks!! WTF!

But it was good. If it were not for boot camp I don't know when the next time I would consider running a sprint or feel completely retarded skipping quickly and efficiently across the grass.

It better pay off!

Today I am totally feeling sore. My thighs and quads ache as if I had never run before. I have been running all be it slow and short I have still be running. You would think I took a year off.

And it all starts over again in an hour and a half. Thank goodness it is only 45 minuets long or we would have a problem.

Sore legs...

So I am not very much closer to french fries. I have 95.5 miles to go until I get to drink some ketchup along with delicious fries.

I just got back from a little on campus restaurant here at Stanford called The Sports Cafe. Everything they serve is delicious...but not like organic, fresh, green, or healthy delicious. More like bad, devil horns, yummy tuna melt, and french fries delicious.

But I stuck to my guns! No fries. I got the salad bar side instead of the fries or onion rings side. It was a much better choice. I mean it was an ok better choice and I didn't cheat myself.

I have been running....s-l-o-w-l-y but surely.

Sunday-1.5 miles outside with my friend Anne
Monday-1.5 miles outside with my friend Melissa at lunch-Dude the gym was packed hard core!
Monday-After work I went to my first boot camp-see my next post to read about the torchure of bootcamp.
Tuesday-1.5 outside with Anne

Today-Wednesday-Bootcamp!

Total miles to date: 4.5
Miles until fries: 95.5

New Year Status Update

I have consumed no french fries and we are 3 days in. That is good.

Unfortunately, we are 3 days in and I have run all of 0 miles.

I have a terrible cold that totally knocked me out starting Thursday as I prepared for our new years festivities. I think it is secretly a cold I have had for a 2 weeks longer then that but I was riding a holiday high and it saw an opportunity to attack just as I would start to enjoy some relaxing post holiday relaxation time with my husband.

I had a similar attack the week of our honeymoon. It is just the kind of cold that wipes ever calorie of energy out of your body like a wave. And then keeps you down no matter what your try.

I slept for 12 hours straight last night and an hour after I got up I was already feeling run down again.

Well tomorrow is my first day back at work. Providing I don't die of drowning in own drool caused by stuffed nose mouth breathing tonight I am going to try to go to work. I am also going to attempt to workout?? Good plan?? I am not sure. But it can't make me feel any worse can it??

And I need to be a couple of miles closer than 100 to my first french fries of the new year!