Race Report - Women's Half Marathon

I am so excited to be writing ANOTHER race report!!!

I knew immediately following my first half marathon that I would do another one and that I would be faster.  I am only a little bit competitive, so I was all over the thought of another challenge.  I had already eyed the Women's Running Magazine Women's Half Marathon

 Even better... It was local and had an amazing looking course... Much better than the more popular local Rock and Roll series Half.  On paper it looked to be mostly downhill.  Reality proved to be a bit different, but I will save that story.

When I made the decision to do this race, I started to talk it up at work, because I knew from being a part of Team Shrinking Jeans, that it was WAY more fun to train with a team!  Well, in the end our TEAM CARDON (Cardon Children's Medical Center) included all four of us nurses from the clinic, our phlebotomist, three nurses from our out-patient treatment center, one nurse & unit clerk from our in-patient unit, one of my friends, the parent of one of our patients and my sister in-law.  

Here are some of us in our Team Cardon shirts:

The runner figure on our shirts is in the shape of a yellow ribbon - the ribbon for Childhood Cancer.

My training went well.  Slow and steady without much drama.  I did a fair amount of my short runs on the treadmill and had to either run my long runs up north in a cooler climate or get up before the sunrise to get finished before it was too hot.  I did have some issues with my right thigh on my longer runs, especially near the end carrying less weight with a body that was ready to go faster and faster.  During the course of training, I released 15 pounds and went from averaging a 14-15 minute/mile to averaging a 12-13 minute/mile.  I continued to do run/walk intervals and couldn't believe how much time started ticking of my totals! I set two goals for the race... One realistic and one a "reach" goal

1.  Finish in under 3 hours

2. Finish in 2:45 or less

It was great to feel prepared not only from a training perspective, but also from a logistics perspective.  I knew what I needed to take and what worked and didn't work for me.  We arrived bright and early with much excitement.  Several of us were running or run/walking and the rest were walking - Most completing their first half marathon!

Still Dark Out!

Lara & I - adrenaline flowing!

7:00 came and it was time to get the show on the road... There were only 5 corrals, and we were in corral 4, so we were under way within a couple of minutes.  The first three miles were a great warm up and moved pretty quickly.  After mile three we spent about a mile on the canal and started our several miles of downhill running.  My right outer thigh and outer knee started to hurt around mile four, but it was manageable and would subside during my walk intervals.  It also held up pretty well on the downhills.  By mile 6.5 I was ahead of pace to finish in 2:45 and felt really, really optimistic that I would meet or beat this goal.  It was amazing to feel myself running at a comfortable pace and look down at my Garmin to see that I was running at an 11 min/mile pace... What a great feeling!  I maintained this pace through mile eight.

THEN came miles 9-12... This was the surprise of the course and the most grueling section of the course.  It was a loop that went past the finish line area, went over and under freeways and looped back around to the finish line.  It was fun to see friends that were ahead of me as I was going into the loop and then great to see the walkers as I was looping back towards the finish line.  This picture was taken as I was coming back towards the finish...

 There was a lot of up and down and right as I was going into the loop, my leg really became very painful and every time I started to run it literally screamed at me!  I fought it for a bit and really got pissed, but then I settled down and realized that I had already accomplished so much and that this setback wasn't because I ran out of energy or because I couldn't DO IT per se, but because my leg was holding me back.  So I walked a lot and ran a little, maintaining a 14 minute/mile pace, enjoyed my music and pushed through.  According to Garmin I finished in 2:53 and my chip time was 2:54.  Pretty darn impressive to take 20 minutes off my time from San Diego!

Here are several pics from the finish line...

 My sister-in-law Tierra and I - she is a running machine - finished in 2:22!

Sam and I - He was so proud and took such good care of me and my sore/aching body!

 Showing off my medal - COOLEST MEDAL!!! In the center there was a charm that came out and went on a necklace.  Very cool!

All of us from the clinic!  ALL Half Marathon finishers - Three, for the first time!


It was an amazing experience personally... It was also an amazing experience to watch a team that I put together ALL cross the finish line.  Ten of the thirteen finished their FIRST Half Marathon!  I was reminded of the BondiBand that says: "Run, walk, crawl... Finish" because our last walker came across the finish line at 4:23.  She was so proud of herself and so amazed that she DID IT!  THAT was incredibly satisfying for me!


This has become such a journey for me. While at the Expo on Saturday, I decided to buy a shirt that I had seen in San Diego and passed on, but that now held infinitely deeper meaning for me now.  On the back it reads this:

Whether you are 16 or 67,

the desire to hit the road

is not easily explained to those who

do not run.

We understand the pull of the road.

The joy of losing yourself in the solitude

of a good long distance run, 

or the sisterhood you experience

when you find that great running partner ~

Running is more than a feat of athleticism,

it is therapeutic. There is an unexpected

exhilaration that we experience

having challenged our personal limitations...

Finally proving to ourselves

that we can indeed make it to the finish line!

Whether you are here to win,

or here to experience a little more of who you are...

We salute you!

What a race!  I can't wait for the next one!

Putting It All Out There - Exposed

I had never heard of The Exposed Movement until this week.

Everyone has been much a twitter about the one year anniversary of the beginning of this amazing movement.  It has given incredible individuals, like Roni & Mrs. Fatass the permission and freedom to "let it all hang out" and embrace the bodies they have been gifted with and that have supported and carried them through their life's journeys.

Some of my greatest mentors and friends from The Sisterhood have joined in and exposed themselves as well.  At first, I thought "oh, yeah, I can do this... especially if all of these women whom I respect so much are doing it too.  Then, as the day went on and I thought more and more about it, the reality of "putting it all out there" became much more real and I thought seriously about whether or not to go forward.  The conclusion I came to was that it was a logical next step in my amazing journey to accept, love and honor myself and the body that God gave me.

So, here I go...

I have had a love/hate relationship with my body for almost as far back as I can remember.  The first seven years of my life were carefree with little thought about my body other than the fact that I insisted on always wearing dresses (even in the 20 degree winter days of Colorado).  During second grade, my parents separated and my body became my battlefield and the recipient of much self-imposed abuse in the form of eating.  Rather than expressing my fear, sadness, sorrow and anger in their natural forms, I ate to numb the pain and to give myself the strength to be the caretaker and mother to my own mother who was crumbling before my eyes.  Fortunately, my parents reconciled and remain married to this day.  Unfortunately, damage was done and negative patterns emerged.

In the beginning, I just became the "chubby girl".  I went to fat camp, participated in sports and tried my best to live up to the skinny expectations that I knew my father had for me.  I decided in my mind that his love was conditional and depended on my being a certain weight - a weight that always seemed to be an enigma.  (We have done much work throughout my adulthood to repair much of this, and currently are closer than ever...).  I yo-yo'd up and down through high school and college.  I read books and I did counseling, but the pattern of eating my emotions still exists and I think will always be present in my life, but hopefully not in control of my life.

Ironically, my greatest challenge in learning to love my body has come in my marriage.  I always had the fairytale dreams of being completely vulnerable and comfortable before my husband and dreamed of being unabashedly open with my body.  Funny thing, once married, the REAL work began.  I married a man who love, love, loves every inch of my body and every fiber of my being - AMAZING, right?  Right... Well, it is amazing if you are willing to embrace and accept it.  I have officially spent ten years learning to do just that because nothing about it has come natural to me.  I am learning from him about unconditional love and appreciation for my body and my soul in EVERY SINGLE FORM they take and at every stage in life.  Another curious observation... I have come the farthest in acceptance of my body over the past couple of years - a period of time that I have weighed more than ever.

Going through and living to tell about my dark winter has given me new appreciation for the here and now.  Being dependent upon medication that has made it very difficult for me to release weight has forced me to come to an acceptance of what I look like HERE and NOW.  Being in touch with the fragility of life on a daily basis through my work, has caused me to stop wallowing in my own self-pity and self-loathing and appreciate who I am and what I have.

Finding the Sisterhood has pushed me to new levels in terms of what my body is capable of.  After finishing a half marathon at 200 pounds, my belief in myself and in the beauty of my body soared to new heights.  And so here I am, embracing my body and another funny thing... finding my way through releasing and letting go of the pounds.

This is the beautiful body, given to me by God and NOW it is the body that I am daily choosing to honor, respect and embrace...

This is the same bikini I bought and wore on my honeymoon (but was too embarrassed to share pictures of me wearing - at a weight that I would today be giddy to weigh!).  The same bikini that I will put on again when I reach my goal weight to see how far I have come.

This is the body that allows me to compete with athletes half my size, simply because I push it and ask it to do so.

This is the body that allows me to work on my feet every day, being at the bedside of families in their worst nightmare, lifting them up and carrying them through the journey.

This is the body that created, carried, gave birth to and nourished the two pieces of my heart named Sam and Noah.

This is the body that allows me to laugh until I snort and to cry and grieve with others in pain.

 This is the body that carried me 13.1 miles across the finish line of my first Half Marathon. 

This is the body that will allow me to complete 3 Half Marathon's in a year.


This is the body that continues to carry and support me even though I abuse it.

This is the body that allows me to dance for hours.

This is the body that hugs others and accepts love in return.

This is the body that God Gave me

and

THIS IS THE BODY I CHOOSE TO LOVE & EMBRACE

Dark Winter

I have been a bit absent lately...

I have officially entered what I UNaffectionately call my Dark Winter.

I have entered my Dark Winter every summer for the past four years.  The heat of summer comes and I survive for the first month or so and then it catches up with me.  Each year I spend the spring gearing up and doing new things with hopes that the Darkness will be a bit lighter.  This year I began running and began to exercise more frequently and with greater intensity.  I also released nearly 20 pounds.  Unfortunately, it has been the most stressful winter and spring I have ever had at work.

So here I am... In the depths of my fourth Dark Winter...

Why four?

Four years ago, my life changed forever.  I went from being a busy, working mom of two boys and wife to an amazing husband one day, to being riddled with panic, anxiety and depression the next.  Literally overnight, my world fell apart and I entered a personal hell so fierce and so scary that there were moments that I wondered if I would make it to the other side.  I went 72 hours without more than an hour of continuous sleep and landed in the Emergency Room, believing they would help me.  I was wrong, the ER doctor ruled out a heart attack and pulmonary embolism, looked at me and said "Why are you so anxious?!?!", gave me something to help me sleep and a few days worth of Ativan.  That was it.  Two days later I made David take me to the psych unit at the hospital so that I could check myself in.  They wouldn't help me either because I wasn't suicidal or homicidal... Great... the reward for not wanting to hurt myself or anyone else was a list of psychiatrists that all had a minimum 2-3 week wait.  As almost an afterthought and really our last hope, we went to my family doctor (the one I had listed on my insurance but had never met). 

We walked into the clinic and both kept looking at each other wondering why we were there because no one had helped me yet, but at the same time we both desperately hoped that we soon would receive some answers.  THANK GOD, we went.  After spending almost 45 minutes going through what was happening and thoroughly through my medical history, the doctor (a resident, mind you...) looked at both of us and said the words that I hadn't anticipated hearing...

"I have no doubt you are dealing with Delayed Severe Post-Partum Anxiety"

What?!?!  My baby was eight months old... I had almost no baby blues after he was born... I thought that only happened in the early months... My hormones can cause THIS?!?!?!

He went on to explain that PP Anxiety/Depression can happen anytime in the first year after having a baby.  I am a nurse and this was news to me.  He said that before anything else, I needed to start medication.  The first medication I tried gave me horrible hot flashes, so a week later I started another medication and within another week they added a second medication to offset some of the "dopamine release" side effects I was having.  It was another two-three weeks before the "cloud lifted" and I started to feel some "flashes of me".

During this four weeks of medication adjustments and waiting for it to take effect, we moved in with my parents & I alternated my days between laying on the couch in David's office while he worked, unable to sleep because I was so jittery yet really unable to do much else because I was so tired, and going with the kids to their sitter, who took care of me along with the boys.  I became utterly dependent on others to make nearly every decision.  When I wasn't laying on the couch, I had loved ones making me walk... Walking really helped when the jitteryness increased.  I barely ate, and when I did, food really didn't have any taste.  I lost 15 pounds in the first two weeks.  I could barely interact with my children. 

To this day, I have very little recollection of anything having to do with the boys during that month, and because I am the family photographer, I have no pictures.

That was July 2006.... My first Dark Winter.

Things did get better.  Medication, exercise, prayer, counseling and loving/committed family & friends literally saved my life.  I gained a sense of appreciation of life and physical functioning that I had never known.  I learned to rest, to pace myself and to take care of myself in ways that I had never known.  I eased back into the work I love. Within six months I was able to take only one of the three medications I needed initially.

For most people with depression and anxiety, the cold, snow, less sunshine/daylight and endless time indoors triggers symptoms.  For me, the stifling heat, artificial air (air conditioning), lack of time outdoors triggers my symptoms.  Its like the opposite of seasonal affective disorder.  I have always struggled with heat and spending any extended period of time in a hot climate, but it has been immeasurably worse since 2006 and every summer I have to tweak my medication or take extra steps to keep from completely going crazy.

This is why I call the summer, My Dark Winter.

I am right in the middle of it. I started to have symptoms about a month ago, getting jittery before having to leave and go home from the cooler mountains where I spend my weekends... anticipating my return to the heat.  I have also been abnormally irritable and hormonal. Almost two weeks ago my doctor increased my medicine, so I hope to start feeling a bit more like my best me soon. I also cut my work week (same number of hours) to four days, so I could have an additional day up north.  In the meantime, I am exhausted, short fused and really want to eat all of my comfort foods.  I have continued to exercise, though my runs in the last week have been grueling.  My kids have been making me crazy and the littlest things set me off.  I feel like a failure at motherhood and marriage.

My husband told me two weeks ago that we may need to move.  I know it is agonizing for him to ride this roller coaster every summer and that he would do anything for me.  My first reaction was sorrow because I feel different enough as it is and to make a change that big, causing him to leave all that he has built with his ministry because of my health was too much for me to handle the thought of.  We have continued to discuss it and he challenged me to change my thinking to think in terms of the fact that he loves me so much that he would be willing to make any change necessary for me to be as healthy as possible.  Wow.  That is pretty amazing.  So I am thinking more and more about it.  For so long, I didn't want to think about living in a different city from may parents, but honestly, now that the boys are getting older, we depend less and less on them and the thought isn't nearly as scary.

So, here I am, trudging through the days... As the clouds lift and life returns to normal, I am committed to continue the discussion of a move, to return to the eating habits I know make me feel the healthiest and to continue my efforts as a competitive runner (can't believe I just typed that...).  For now, bear with me as I survive.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my girlfriends at The Sisterhood... All of you in your own special way are making the days bearable and your endless words of encouragement, humor, banter and love mean more than you will ever know.

Breaking Through Walls... The Race Re-Cap

Many of you know that I had my "little race" this past weekend.  I packed up my family and we drove to San Diego for race/vacation.  It was amazing to have David and the boys with me - they have each made sacrifices so that I could take this journey and have been my biggest coaches, encouragers and fans!

We promptly arrived and hit the beach... The boys first time, and they had a blast!

We also hit the race expo....

and met my fabulous Team Shrinking Jeans - well, met in real life that is... We already know each other and likely know more about each other than many friend do, so it was like a reunion of sorts...

Here we are together at the Inspiration Dinner, along with our amazing Coach Joe.

We had many moments to be reminded of the TRUE reasons we chose to participate with Team in Training.  We reflected on the fact that we each raised over $2900 individually and more than $43,000 as a TEAM to fight blood cancers.  This took my work as an oncology nurse to new heights and gave me another tangible way to affect my precious patients and their courageous families.  It was especially exciting to hear that Team in Training raised over

12 million dollars 

for LLS for this event alone!  

AAAAMMMAAAZZZING!

Race day came VERY early - 4:15am in the lobby of the Hilton early!  Here are a couple of pics from the lobby abuzz with excitement and LOTS of coffee. 

Top - Having a little breakfast; Second - Team Shrinking Jeans + Husbands; Third - Melissa and I: Fourth - Jessica and I; Bottom - The whole Virtual TnT Team

We shuttled to the start line, took the chance to experience the joy of the porta-potty, checked our bags and anxiously waited for our corral to start - being that I was in corral 36, I waited awhile.

Lisa and I getting ready to check our bags at the UPS trucks...

Christie in her beautiful tutu, Heather and Christy - just off the bus ready to start...

   Here is what the start looked like...

The energy was crazy!  So very exciting!  Here is a great video of the course -  It was a beautiful course, but very different than I had imagined.  One very large hill, but lots of "up and down" and because we ran on the freeway for awhile, the surface was slanted... How do you train for that?  I started out and had a difficult first couple of miles - my shins were on fire... I think because of all of the waiting at the starting line, but then one of my "theme songs" (Britt Nicole -Walk on the Water) came on and I saw my favorite sign of the whole course that read "Its not sweat, its your fat cells weeping..."and before I knew it, the burning subsided.  I found my groove and just did what I have been training to do... run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes, hydrate, gu pack, rock to the music... AND enjoy the moment, the scenery, the crowds, the sea of purple TnT jerseys, the cheering and the sheer accomplishment of what I was undertaking. 


This was an inspiring moment... Running by the posters of all of our honored teammates and all of the loved ones we were running for...

Going through Balboa Park was the highlight for me - It was beautiful, pretty shaded and after the park came the big hill, which was tough to go up, but going down was the best mile of the race for me - I ran the whole mile and ran the fastest mile I have ever run in just over 12 minutes.  I got to see David, the boys and my parents at mile 8 and mile 10.  Here are a couple of the pics David took...

I think I was wondering just how crazy I was for doing this in the first picture.  This picture above shows my honored teammates - the people I was running for... Clockwise from top... "In memory - Colten - Little Man"; "In honor - Dominie, In Memory - Rowan"; "In honor and memory of all of the cancer warriors at Cardon Childrens"; "In honor - Alex Arndt"  They were all with me, every mile of the journey - inspiring me, motivating me and challenging me!

Miles 9-11 were pretty warm - sun out and inland enough that there wasn't much of a breeze - They were difficult miles that included much more walking than running.  Then came the home stretch and I realized that I was really doing this, I was really about to come to the end of my first HALF MARATHON... I was really about to break through walls in my life that had far deeper implications than just finishing a race.  I felt the ocean breeze hitting my face and reaching into my soul.  I listened to all of the songs that keep me moving.  

I felt every part of my body and every step I took... 

I felt ALIVE... 

I felt HEALTHY... 

I felt POWERFUL... 

I felt STRONG and 

I felt TRIUMPHANT!

 I came over the bridge and around the corner towards mile marker 13 and I picked up my pace to an all out sprint... A strong, confident, graceful, intense and fast sprint... Past David, the boys and my parents and down the home stretch over the finish line with hands held high, I crossed over to the other side - The walls came crumbling down and I was still standing with my hands in the air ON THE OTHER SIDE.  

This was so much more than training for a race.  This was symbolic of so many things for me.  Becoming a runner and challenging my body to new heights has given me the evidence to prove that I am capable of so much more than what I have been settling for in terms of my physical health.  I have released nearly 20 pounds, I have become obsessed with running gear, I have broken my sugar addiction, I have "put it all out there" and allowed myself to be supported by a team and to support them in return and more than anything, I have become a much healthier me.  Many walls have crumbled before me... The sky is officially the limit!

Here are a few pics from the home stretch and the finish line.

Before I bring this post to a close, I have to mention some women and their amazing community... Five of whom were on Team Shrinking Jeans... 

 These are the women who have helped me in ways they will never fully be aware... I found the Sisterhood about a year ago and immediately loved what they had created.  Being as busy as I am, it has given me a way to belong to a community and benefit from accountability, challenges, new information and most importantly friendship without having to attend weekly meetings or put something new into my schedule.  I jumped on the opportunity to train for this race when they announced they would be doing it, because I had come to know, trust and feel bonded to these gals.  For the first time in more than three years, I feel like I have my life back... I feel like I am on a healthy path... I feel like I have finally figured out what will work in my journey to release this weight... I feel alive and strong!  So thank you, from the bottom of my heart... Thank you for helping me get my life back and for welcoming me as a part of the team and for challenging me when I needed a kick in the pants and following it up with powerful words of encouragement that have helped me believe in my own strength, worth and ability.  Love you all!

So, here I sit... incredibly proud of where I am.  A bit sore and weary.  A bit lost, now that it is complete.  Nevertheless, I am ready to take on another race.  So my next goal... The Women's Half Marathon in Scottsdale on November 7th.  I can't wait to compare my pictures and my times...

21 Days...

It is time for a new challenge at the Sisterhood!  I loved the team challenge we just finished, but I always love to find out what the new challenge is!

 

So here it is... Here are our instructions...

So for the next 3 weeks, we’ll be asking each of you to choose 1-3 new habits that you would like to form.  You will still weigh-in on Wednesdays but you will also report how you are doing with your new habits, or forming your new habits.
By incorporating one or more new habits into your daily life, it should affect your weight, and we want to know how much. We’re nosy like that. And yes, we are encouraging you to try and form as many new habits as you can. It’s good for you and your body!

There are so many things I could choose to do for 21 days... I have been on such a journey to create the life I love and the person I love. I have created many new habits in the past few months.  A couple of things that seem to be the bane of my existence are tracking my foods and getting enough water every day.  The irony is that when I do keep up with both, I am more successful in releasing weight.  Historically, I keep up with both for a week or so... not enough time to keep it going long-term.

So here it is...


I am committed to two things for the next 21 days...

1. Drinking 96 oz water per day
2. Track my food/drink daily on www.dailyplate.com

We will see how it goes... I look forward to conquering two hurdles that will be so beneficial to my health and overall well-being!

 

Wednesday Weigh-In

This has been a pretty good week... Not quite as profound, with a few slip ups, but good nevertheless!

On the positive front, I walk/ran 8 miles!!!  I was under orders to use a walk 5 minutes / run 2 minutes interval throughout.  I held strictly to it, with an occasional longer walk interval.  I felt really good through 5 miles, stopped to fill up my water and the rest was a VERY long journey.  I thought I was going to die the last mile... BUT at about half a mile to go I looked in front of me and there were my husband and two boys walking down the path to greet me and get me back... How cool is that!  It was much easier to finish with them there...

 

The other amazing thing that happened took place after I got home.  I spent many moments during my run thinking about all of the cancer warriors I am doing this in honor and in memory of.  I thought about Colten and his vibrant smile that always accompanied a blown kiss in my direction.  I thought about Alex and his fight to do absolutely everything we asked of him so that he could get back to playing football.  I thought about Rowan and her obsession with my eyelashes.  I thought about Dominie and her love of the Jonas Brothers and the elation in her eyes when she got to meet them.  I am so blessed to have so many motivations to run this race and to give back to the ones fighting the real battle.  Participating in Team in Training has been so much more than training for a half marathon... It has been life changing.  So, after the grueling eight miles and asking myself several times "How on earth am I going to be able to go thirteen miles?"... I returned home, iced my leg, cooled down and checked my e-mail.  I had a donation notification for a new donation to my fundraising account, but not just any donation.  A donation from the parents of one of my honored teammates... A very large donation that brought be to within a couple hundred dollars of my goal.  

 

All I could do was cry... profound tears of gratitude and tears that caused me to remember exactly WHY I WILL finish 13.1 miles.  There isn't another option... The sacrifice and pain I may experience in 13.1 miles pales in comparison to what each of my patients has endured.  I am humbled to represent them.

So there you have it...

another week down... another week closer to my goals...
another week of reclaiming my health!

Starting Weight

208 lbs

Today's Weight

200 lbs

Change from last week

0 lb

Total Difference

8 lbs

Sooo Close! I thought this might be the week to dip below 200, but I guess I get even one more week to reminisce, being that once I say goodbye, I am NEVER saying hello again!

 

Sheeeee's Baaaaack!

I AM BACK!

I talked a lot about my leg injury in my last post...  I have struggled this week with being discouraged and feeling pretty defeated.  I have been "doing what the doctor ordered", but I haven't been happy about it.  Soooo, I have had absolutely no pain for the last several days and planned to wait until I went back to see Steve tomorrow (Monday) to discuss walking and when to give it a try.

So, TODAY...  I couldn't pull my patootie out of bed early enough to go swim before church and as the day went on, all I wanted was to be outside and I have really been feeling the need for stress release... the stress release I get when I run/walk... OUTSIDE... ON THE CANAL... WITH THE TUNES CRANKED... in the beautiful AZ spring weather!

 So, I thought to myself... "Self, what is it that Nike says?" 

JUST DO IT!

So, I just did it...  I decided to start out slow and see how I felt and I PROMISED myself that I would ONLY WALK.  Even if I was dying to run...

AND it felt GREAT!!!

I can't describe the feeling I get... It is a really new experience for me - It is what has hooked me through my training.  Never in a million years would I have expected to love this!  Never would I have expected what it has done for my body, mind and soul.  Never would I have fathomed that I would want to be a RUNNER and that I would become a RUNNER!

NOW... back to training! 

 

Spring Fling Challenge Weigh-In #6

This has been a NEW week... with new hope, courage and a bit of frustration!

Last Wednesday I made a visit to my dear friend and sports chiropractor Steve to evaluate my leg and establish a plan for recovery and return to training.  Steve is a marathon runner himself and very insightful about training and nutrition.  Steve and I have gone back and forth on the issue of my weight over the years and at my appointment several days prior he had mentioned that I should take the next month and really "attack my diet", now that I was having so much success in training for my race.  It was mentioned in passing and I didn't give it a ton of serious thought until I landed back there with more than a muscle strain, but likely a stress fracture on my right leg.

WOW... That is a big deal... It hit me like a Mack Truck that my weight plays a huge role in my being more suseptible to injury.  200 pounds is a lot to carry around on a 5'4" medium size frame.

So, I asked Steve the question...

You have told me what to do for my leg (ice, ultrasound, rest, non-impact exercise), so what do I need to do for my diet?  (at that point there was no turning back...)

Here was his answer (after discussing what I was currently doing):

Take a supplement to help curb appetite and cravings 

Cut calories down to around 1000-1200/day

No refined sugar - fruit as my sugar source 

No carbs in the evening

Focus on small portions throughout the day - Goal to never feel hungry

Pfew... Pretty drastic huh... The wild thing for me was that I "got it" and because I have had so many successes lately proving to myself that I am strong and able to conquer "little mountains" in my life.  I felt so triumphant when I made it 6 miles and then 7.5!  7.5 miles... REALLY?  Tiffany Zook - 7.5miles!?!?! On foot?  Running for any portion?

YES I DID and WHY WOULDN'T I BE ABLE TO CONQUER THIS TOO!

So here I am, today is day 7 of my new "plan" and I feel great physically.  The supplement has helped me tremendously and I have maintained 1000-1300 calories daily.  CRAZY!

The frustration has come in being injured and the reality hitting me in the last couple of days that it will take some time to heal.... TIME - A bit difficult for those of us that are type-A and impatient.  I have just been so scared of losing major ground and truthfully, I have just really become hooked to training and am MISS it!  Who'd have thunk?

Last week, my amazing TEAM INCREDIBLE over at the Hood

maintained a top 6 finish, however we all felt the effects of Easter - every one of us either maintained or gained...   We will see what this week has brought forth!

Okay, so here are the stats:

Starting Weight

208 lbs

Today's Weight

201.4 lbs

Change from last week

-2.6 lb

Total Difference

6.6 lbs

WOOOOO HOOOO!  It felt so good to write those numbers!

 

Spring Fling Challenge Weigh-In #4

This has been a STRESSFUL week!

Remember that crazy work situation that I have been in?  Well, I made a decision a couple of weeks ago, to stay in my current position - after MUCH thought, conversation with administration and prayer....  Well, lets just say my decision wasn't the popular one - I am the only nurse in our office that has decided to stay and the others are in a heavy resentment phase.  They are not only having a hard time understanding, but they refuse to be respectful and have done much to make my life difficult.  Why does change often get ugly?  My new motto has become, "everyone just needs to get to where they are going!"  Then we can all move forward and be confident in our decisions...

Okay, venting done....

Lets just say there has been some stress, however, that has brought out great things in my exercise and running.

I ran/walked 7.44 miles this weekend!!!!!  

Again, another week that I have gone farther than ever!

and

One of the greatest benefits of all of this running has been that I HAVE DROPPED A PANT SIZE!!!  In the midst of my stress on Friday, instead of going to Dairy Queen I went shopping and was pleasantly surprised to discover A NEW SIZE!  Needless to say, I left with a new top and two new skirts!  The best part was that it was on credit at my friend's consignment shop, so I got to "stress shop" for FREE!

Last week, my amazing TEAM INCREDIBLE over at the Hood

maintained a top 5 finish despite a challenging week!  We went from almost last to almost first!  Can't wait to see what we have created this week!

Okay, so here are the stats:

Starting Weight

208 lbs

Today's Weight

203.2 lbs

Change from last week

1 lb

Total Difference

4.8 lbs