OBX Half Marathon

I already told you guys I am basically starting over from scratch with my running.  Starting with the Couch 2 5K plan then bridge to 10K plan and finally I will be adding on a 12 week half marathon plan now.

Earlier this week a few girls from my sorority started a conversation around doing the Outer Banks Half Marathon together.  My old roommate Anne cracked me up with this comment yesterday:

After I finished my first half marathon I said I would never torture myself like that again.  But the next day I kind of wanted to try again.  The two I have always been interested in have been the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon because it is at night and the OBX Half Marathon because it would be beautiful and most importantly flat!  And it would be so fun to have a get a way with all my sisters.  Think of the cute t-shirts we could create for this!

It isn't until November so I have plenty of time.  I can't believe I am going to do this again.  But here goes nothing!

Speaking of sororities, did you guys hear about this scathing letter a sorority president wrote to her sisters?  The other night my friend did a dramatic reading of the letter that was hilarious.  Today I saw this which was also hilarious!  (Be warned: VERY strong language and HIGHLY offensive)

Friday Night Lights

I have a new obsession:

Back on Black Friday I noticed Target had the DVDs of each season for just $7/ea.  I had heard this was a great show so I bought the entire series!  I planned on watching them while I ran on my treadmill during these cold winter months.  I don't have cable or anything in my spare room but do have a DVD player and old TV.  So I figured this series would entertain me and make the time go by quicker and maybe motivate me too.

It worked!  I am about 7 episodes in now and I WANT to run on the treadmill everyday just so I can see the next episode!

And there are so many familiar faces from some of my current favorite shows!

The star quarterback is now one of my favorites on Heart of Dixie!

The coach's wife is now one of my favorites on Nashville!

There was even a guest appearance in one episode from this guy...

He is one of my favorites now on the show Suits on USA.

And I totally have a huge crush on this guy...

For some reason I just love coach Taylor!  He is the kind of man I would love to be married to.  I love his character so much!  And I see that he is going to be in Zero Dark Thirty!  Which I wanted to see anyway, but now I have made it a priority and will probably be going to see tonight!

I cannot express how much I love this show!  I was a cheerleader in high school in a small southern town.  It wasn't quite as big of a deal as it is in the show, but that certainly was what my fall season's revolved around.

And I have always loved guys that played sports.  My junior/senior year I dated the captain of the soccer team.  The fall of my senior year he was killed in a car wreck (read more about that here) and watching what the star of this show goes though after his accident (he ends up being paralyzed) has really brought back a lot of emotions around that.  I think about how much it would have hurt him if he had survived but was paralyzed or something and how that could have torn us apart.  It kind of gives me a little peace about it now and makes me realize how selfish of me it was to want him to have survived that crash at any cost so he could be with me now.  God's grace in that situation was probably him taking him so he wouldn't have to endure that.

Anyway I know I am really behind on this, but I love it and had to share!

Any other amazing old TV series that I should look into getting next once I finish this one?

New Year, Same Goals?

Here are the resolutions I made a year ago:

1. Finish my 30 Before 30 list before my birthday in August. (2 years late but hey at least I will finish)  In order to complete it here's what is left:

• Get in the best shape of my life (working on it)
• kayak 
• catch a fish
• kiss in the rain
• read the Bible all the way through (almost finished with the OT)

2. Run a half marathon (hopefully in April)

3. Pay off my car early.  (I am supposed to be done with payments April 2013, but I would like to pay it off early if possible!)

So I did make some progress. 1.5 out of 3?  In my defense, I thought my car payments would be done in April 2013, but it is actually April of 2014.  Saving up 4 months worth or extra payments is a lot different from saving up 16 months of extra payments!  So that will stay on the list.

Here are my goals for 2013:

1. Finish my 30 Before 30 list.
Only 3 things left!  The hardest is #1- get in the best shape of my life, so I think I will concentrate on that.

2. Pay off my car early.

3. Make some upgrades to my house.
I want to re-paint the downstairs, switch out some light fixtures, re-do the counter tops in the kitchen, get a new kitchen sink and faucet, and possibly replace some appliances.

4. Be a better blogger.
This year I have sucked at blogging.  I haven't replied to comments.  I haven't even commented much on other blogs (although I have been reading!).  I haven't been consistent with my posts and most of them have lacked substance.  I want to get back to being a better blogger because it is something I really enjoy.

The past few years I have also committed to start, stop, and keep certain things in my life.

Here are mine from last year...

I would like to start eating healthy on a more consistent basis.  FAIL!

I would like to stop complaining so much.  FAIL!

I would like to keep running.  FAIL!

I did pretty good with those for the first half of the year, but the second half of the year they all fell by the wayside.  I would like to try to improve on those again in 2013 but also...

Start getting up earlier and going to bed earlier.

Stop eating so many sweets and processed foods.

Keep  volunteering with Summit Kids.

So it sounds like 2013 is going to be a year to concentrate on my health and finances.  I wouldn't LOVE to have some LOVE show up in 2013 for me, but I have all but given up on that.  I am not good at the whole love thing and am totally leaving that in God's hands where it belongs.  If 2013 is the year for it yippee, if not I will wait.

Sorry for being MIA

Hi remember me?  I feel like it has been so long!  I have been so busy.  What have I been up to?

I read some books (full reviews coming soon on the Bookshelf blog):

Fishbowl- 3.5 out of 5 stars

Love Lies- 2 out of 5 stars

Fifty Shades of Grey- 4 out of 5 stars

I have been busy trying to figure out what to do with all the veggies I have been getting in my CSA box each week.  It's only been two weeks but so far all the veggies have been things I would never buy at the grocery store.

Week one was kale, lettuce, turnips, and mizuna.  I made kale chips (will post about that tomorrow) and ate the turnips raw with some hummus or on a salad with the lettuce.  They were both yummy.  I ended up throwing away the mizuna.  It was supposed to be like arugula but it looked very wilted after about a week.

Week 2 I got beets, red leaf lettuce, scallions, and swiss chard.  I already threw away the red leaf lettuce because it wilted after just 3 days.  I have a recipe for the beets and scallions.  Look for that on an upcoming Pinterest Wednesday post.



So far I am not loving the CSA.  The way it works is you pay for the whole year (mid May-Oct).  It comes out to be about $11.75/week and you get a grocery bag full of random fruits/veggies delivered to my work each week.  It has forced me to eat more veggies and try things I would never buy, but can I get some regular old green beans or peas or something?  And a girl can only eat (and store) a certain amount of lettuce each week.  Enough with the greens!

I took a fitness test at work.  It was for National Employee Fitness week.  We had to run 1.5 miles, bike 1 mile, do as many sit-ups as you could in 1 minute, as many push-ups as you could do in 1 min, and a wall-sit for as long as you could stand it.  We were supposed to try to beat the president of our North America Group's times/numbers, but considering he is a super in-shape guy who did the 1.5 mile run in like 9 minutes and I still can't even run a mile in 9 minutes I didn't come close.  I did the 1.5 miles in about 15:20, the 1 mile bike in less than 4 min., the wall sit for 90 seconds, and about 25-30 of the sit-ups and push ups. 

I have made progress on The List.  It looks like I will hopefully be going on a kayak trip June 9, I only have 77 chapters left to read it the Bible, and I am on my way to the healthy weight range and beginning treadmill training to run a 9 minute mile so I can declare myself in the best shape of my life.  Now I just need to find a cute boy to take me fishing and kiss me in the rain.

I finished my sewing class and made a pair of PJ pants.

I still need to hem them because we ran out of time.  But due to a mix up and them only having 1 sewing machine for the whole class, we get to take another month long class in September for free!

I also went to see this for the second time and it was great even though they didn't do justice to my favorite song "I'm not the girl".

I've also been super busy at work.  I just got to create a Pinterest account for Lenovo US!  I love Pinterest and don't think twice about pinning things or setting up new boards on my personal account but for some reason I was so nervous setting one up for Lenovo!  Would people follow us?  What should I pin?  Please do me a HUGE favor and FOLLOW US!  I promise I will try to pin good stuff and not be annoying or overwhelming.  PLUS we will be having an awesome contest on there in a few weeks for Back to School and you could win a new computer with accessories or an Android tablet!!

I'm going to try to get back to a regular posting schedule.  Thanks so much for still following despite my silence lately.

My first half marathon

Oh my goodness I was dreading this race!  I had been sick for the past 2 weeks.  I had missed 2 of my long training runs.  I was barely able to run at all last week.  I felt so unprepared.  I had hated every run I had ever done over 8 miles.  And the furthest I had run/walked was 10 miles.  I was scared and hating myself for signing up for this race.

Saturday I ran a lot of errands (one of which was picking up the t-shirt and bib for the race).  After church I was planning on going to sleep immediately.  But time got away from me and I ended up going to the grocery store to get some pasta around 8:30 pm because I felt like I needed some carbs in my system for the next day.  I had pasta with some spray butter, shredded cheese, sliced red pepper and some baby spinach around 9:30 and got in bed around 11.

I set my alarm for 4:45, but ended up waking up around 4:30 am and ate two eggo waffles with peanut butter and had some G2 to wash it down with. My nerves ALWAYS get to me and I have to use the bathroom before the race, plus I run best on an empty stomach, so I wanted to have plenty of time for my food to digest.  I took a shower and was ready to go at 6 am so we could be in line for the 7 am start. 

My friend Steph was running the race too and our friend Kristin came with us to cheer us on.  We stopped at a grocery store near the race to use the bathroom one last time.  There was a line.  We were told we could not park there for the race and had to move our car across the street to a bank parking lot.  We made it down to the race start line and I was hating life.  I did not want to do this at all.  We didn't have to wait too long and then we were off.

(I took no pictures, but saw this picture on a blog post I read.  I'm in the blue closest to the camera.  This was right at the beginning and I can not believe it looks like I am actually smiling.)

I will spare you all the details because most of the time I was just trying not to think too much.  Running is just as much (if not more) of a mental challenge for me as it is physical.  I kept a steady pace that felt comfortable for me.  My friend Steph was going to run the first half with me until I turned into the devil around mile 7 or 8 (as evidenced from our previous runs), but she was going a little too fast for me and I did not want to push myself when I had 11-12 more miles to go, so I just let her go around mile 2. 

The course was flat for the most part until we got to the first hill around mile 4.  I hate stopping to walk because it messes with my head, but I walked up that hill.  And then I told myself it was ok to walk up hills.  Well there were about 2-3 hills after that so I did way more walking than I probably should have.  Around mile 7 I finally decided to walk through a water station.  I was carrying a small water bottle but I had been coughing and hacking up stuff (which I'm sure was disgusting for the people around me) so I felt like I needed a little break.

Then I did a walking/jogging combination for the next 3 miles.  At about mile 10 I was walking a lot.  I would tell myself just jog to that no parking sign 100 ft. away or to the next intersection.  And sometimes I would make it and sometimes not.

I was really struggling the last 2 miles and could barely bring myself to jog at all.  But when I started seeing people with medals walking back to their cars as I got closer to the finish line I started jogging because I knew I was close.  As soon as I saw the time on the finish line clock was 2:44, I kicked it in to high gear just to try to get in under 2 hours and 45 min.  And I did!  My official time was 2:44:59. That put my pace at about 12:35 minute miles, which wasn't horrible for me.

At the end of the race I could barely walk and I can still barely walk today.  Yesterday I said that this race was the stupidest decision I have ever made and I would never do another one again.  Today I am thinking "what could I do if I wouldn't have gotten sick and gotten all my training in?"  I kind of want to do another one at some point, but not anytime soon.

Despite the torture it was really cool to get a medal and I  do feel somewhat accomplished having made it to the finish line!  When I first made my 30 Before 30 list I just wanted to run one 5K so it is pretty amazing that I have actually completed a half marathon!!

Bronchitis- Ain't nobody got time for that!

I just got back from a run...er...slow jog/walk.  It was terrible.  It's cold out and I'm still coughing and hacking up stuff.  Well about a 1.5 miles away from my house this huge golden retriever comes out of no where.  Cam and I stop and I see a lady in her pajamas on her phone coming out of the garage across the street to get the dog.  We wait because both dogs are kind of amped up like "what's going on...should I attack you??"  I think the lady has the dog so Cam and I start running again.  Well the dog gets lose and chases us.  I keep jogging as calmly as I can to keep Cam calm but do a u-turn to go back up the street to the lady so she can get her dog who is anxiously all over my dog.  We stop and wait until she has him secure on the leash.  I jogged out of that loop, made it about a block further and then gave up.  I just walked most of the way back to my house while hacking up my lungs and spitting up all kinds of nastiness.

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook tonight and I've watched it about 10 times.  Cracks. me. up.  Preach girlfriend!  I got bronchitis too and ain't nobody got time for that!  Especially when you are supposed to be running a half marathon in 3 days!

Sick

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  I've been sick.  I started feeling off last Sunday.  Then woke up with a sore throat on Monday.  Progressively got worse during the week.  I worked from home Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I thought it was just a cold and so I didn't go to the doctor. 

Over the weekend I got worse.  So I went to the doctor this morning.  The doctor didn't say exactly what I had.  She said my tonsils were swollen but I didn't have strep.  She said my body was definitely fighting something though so she gave me some drugs to hopefully knock this bad boy out!  Almost $50 at Walgreens, I came home with all this...

The worst part about this sickness is my throat.  I sound like crap.  I can barely talk and have these horrible coughing fits.  The doctor gave me these prescription cough suppressant pills.  I've never seen anything like them...

They look like little marbles.  And so far they work pretty well.

I HAVE to get better!  My first half marathon is on Sunday!!  I haven't ran since last Monday.  I was planning on doing 11 miles on Sunday but I just couldn't because I could barely breathe from this cold!  I am going to try to do 4 miles tonight and then 8 on Wednesday and maybe 3-4 on Thursday.  This freaking sucks!  I feel so unprepared and this dang cold better get better ASAP or else I definitely won't make it to the finish line!

Ok rant over :(

I hope you guys had a great Easter weekend!  I was at church Friday for a choir concert, Saturday to help out in Kid's Life (probably should NOT have done that) and attend service, and then back on Sunday to help with First Impressions and baptisms.  It was such a good weekend reflecting on the blood that was shed for me and the victory and power of the resurrection!  And the weather over the last few days has been just beautiful and I got to enjoy some time outside just relaxing. Despite the sickness it really was a great weekend. Hallelujah He has risen indeed!

My First 10K

I was feeling a little better about running this week.  Last Monday I ran 8 miles in 1 hour 38 minutes.  That's about a 12 min/mi pace but the best part was I ran almost all of it.  I walked for about 30 seconds at the beginning of the last mile on a killer hill in my neighborhood.  But other than that it was a pretty good run.

I took the rest of the week off to save up energy of the race on Saturday.  I was going to do a short run on Wednesday, but was so exhausted from work I decided against it.  I did ride my bike to the grocery store twice during the week, so I did get a little bit of physical activity in.

Thursday night I stayed up until 3 am watching The Hunger Games and Friday I spent most of the day exhausted while working.  But on Friday night I could not fall asleep!  I had to be up by 6:30 am so we could leave for the race at 7 but for some reason I couldn't fall asleep until after 1 am!

I got up shortly after my alarm went off at 6:30 and got dressed, ate a granola bar and chugged a full glass of water.  I also drank a Diet Mountain Dew on the way to the race but amazingly I wasn't as tired as I thought I'd be despite the lack of sleep.

I rode with my friend Mary Beth to the race.  I think it was still dark out when we left.  I am NOT a morning person! AND it was RAINING!  I knew they wouldn't cancel because so much goes in to one of these races.  So it looked like we would be running in the rain.

I just wore my regular running capris and a short-sleeve dri-fit Nike shirt.  The only thing I would have done different was to maybe wear a hat.  The rain does get in your face while you are running and that might have helped.

We didn't pick up our packets early and only had about 30 minutes until the race started at 8am.  So we hurried to pick up our stuff.  For some reason I always get really nervous and have to use the bathroom before a race.  So while I stood in line for the port-a-potty MB took our stuff back to the car.  There was a long line for the bathroom so I was kind of freaking out.  They kept making announcements for runners to make their way to the starting line.  I finally got to use the bathroom and we made it to the start line with 5 minutes to spare.  Which was nice because we didn't have to spend a lot of time waiting around for the start.  I always get claustrophobic at the start or races

This race was a 5K and 10K and everyone lined up and started together.  The 5K runners were instructed to turn around at the water station. I had been expecting a small race because one of the girls in my bible study organized this race and said we had a good chance of winning something because there were only 85 people signed up for the 10K.  But there were a lot of people!  It was not a small race.

The start was crowded but I just tried to keep a steady pace until things thinned out.  About a mile in there was a big hill.  We were going down it, but I knew that meant we'd have to come back up it at the end.  Great.  Wonderful  Gotta love hills.

When we got to the water station I so wished I was turning around with everyone else.  There were so few people that kept on going!  I felt really alone.  I could see about four or five people ahead of me.  At one point when we turned a corner I tried to see if there was anyone behind me.  I couldn't see anyone so from that point on I told myself I was not allowed to look back.  One rule for the 10K was that you had to run at least a 16 min/mile pace.  Seeing no one behind me for that brief second made me think I was the last person and in danger of not keeping that pace!

But then I managed to pass two GUYS!  So I knew there were at least some people behind me.  I also got passed by a grandpa at one point, so yeah, not that impressive.  I kept having to remind myself that this is my race and to stop comparing myself to others because that would just ruin it.

I didn't stop at the water station because at this point I knew if I stopped or walked it would just mess with me mentally.  Then I saw THE HILL.  We had done about 4-5 other hills during this race, but for some reason this one was the worst.  I told myself not to walk.  Just get up that hill.  And I did.  But then I had to walk.  I walked for about a minute ("just to that road sign") and started running again.  I ran until I could see the turn for the last stretch.  I was kind of dying so I decided to walk for just 30 seconds or so in order to really push myself to the finish.  (See I told you I shouldn't have walked because it only led to me walking again!  Keep in mind all this happened in the last 3/4 of a mile.)

When I rounded the last corner and saw that the clock was not to 1:10 yet I was happy.  I ran as hard as I could and made it across the finish line in just over 1 hour 9 minutes!  It was an 11 min/mi. pace which I was happy with!  It was the first race that I actually felt happy and satisfied with!

This race was part of the Chic-fil-a Race Series so they had free Chic-fil-a at the end of the race!  That was a bonus!  And we got a nice tech shirt.  I definitely will do another one of these if they have one in Raleigh again.

My high from the race was short lived though when I thought about the fact that what I ran on Saturday isn't even half of a half marathon.  Oh goodness.  What did I get myself in to?  I loved the 10K, but I am still not feeling good about this half marathon.  Just 3 weeks to go! AHHHHH!

9 miler and Franklin 5K

Soooo...on Friday I made my attempt at 9 miles.  I did 9 miles, but I most certainly did not run 9 miles and the only reason I didn't do less than 9 miles was because it was an out and back run, so I had to get back to my car somehow.

It was soooo freaking hot.  We ran at a little after 4 pm and the sun was blazing.  And I was not in a good place mentally as you guys know.  I was complaining by mile 3.  I had to walk for a bit before we even hit mile 4 (which is not normal). And I walked the last mile and a half almost entirely.  It was the worst run of my life.

I was freaking out because I had a 5K the next day and my legs were so sore I could barely walk before I even finished the run.  So I took an ice bath when I got home.  Yes, I actually dumped ice in my tub and sat in freezing cold water for 20 minutes.  It sucked.  But it worked!  I was a tad sore the next day, but I was expecting to not even be able to walk!

I ran the 5K Saturday morning.  I was slower than I'd like to be, but only a few seconds off my fastest 5K time.  I finished in 34:30.  I'm slow ya'll.  I don't think I will ever be a fast runner.  I've decided after this half, the only thing I want to train for is getting in under 30 minutes for a 5K.

The race was the ZTA Franklin 5K.  I was a ZTA in college at ECU and I was seriously impressed with the event the UNC Zeta's pulled off.  It was really organized, well attended, and the philanthropy (Susan G Komen breast cancer) was evident everywhere.

I even got to see one of my ECU Zeta sisters finish her very first 5K at this race!  I haven't seen her in years, but follow her blog so I feel like I know her better than some people I see on a daily basis.  She rocked it!  She was just ahead of me  for the whole last half of the race and I was so proud of her!  She is seriously superwoman.  She has 3 young kids and a  career and managed to train for this 5K and finish strong!  It was great to see her and meet her adorable kids at the race and see her accomplish a goal I know she's been working towards for a while.  She'll be rocking out a half marathon in no time I just know it!

One of my best friends and fellow Zeta Kristin ran the race with me too.  Being on a college campus and around all those Zeta's made us want to go back to our Zeta days.  We had never seen the ZTA house at UNC so we drove around to find it.  It was huge, but no where near as cute as our house at ECU.  We did love the Pi Beta Phi houses.  That's right we saw two super cute houses that said Pi Beta Phi!  As a former house manager and treasurer, I can't imagine having two houses!  They were both adorable though!  And the Tri-Sigma house had a sailboat etched on their front door which we thought was awesome.  Oh college days, how I miss you.

It was a fun race and cheaper than other 5Ks I've done.  And I didn't know this before we got there, but you can bring your dog!  I so want Cam to run a race with me!  I think I might do this one again next year.

I still can not let go of missing my 8 mile run.  I was going to try to do it on Sunday but I was too dang tired so I am going to try to do it tonight.  Plus, mentally I need a good long distance run after that disaster on Friday.  I was seriously going to try to get a refund on the half.  I was almost in tears at a couple points.  It was sooo discouraging.  But they don't do re-funds, so I have 4 weeks to get there.  I HAVE to do this.

This weekend I have my very first 10K.  I think the main motivating factor for this race is that there will be Chic-fil-a food at the end of it! I really don't want to think about time because I know I will just disappoint myself.  So maybe my goal will just be to do my best and feel good at the end of the race.

I was going to then try to fit in our 10 mile run next Sunday, but we shall see how I'm feeling after the race on Saturday.  I don't want to over-do it!

Oh why oh why did I get myself into this??

My first half marathon training

I'm trying not to let myself get stressed out about this.  I have to just not think about it too much.  I started off strong and had a plan, but now that it is down to crunch time I realize I am a little behind in my half marathon training and these next three weeks are basically going to be hell.

Here is what I have done so far and my plan for the remaining time left before the race:

I didn't stick to the plan I had and things got kind of all over the place.  And please note that when I say "run" it's more like slow jog.  Like 12-11 min/mile pace.  And there might be some walking in some of those "runs".

Now I am kind of freaking out.  Today I am going to try to run 9 miles with a friend.  I say "try" because I have never ran more than 7 miles.  The week after we did that 7 mile run is when it all started falling apart.  The next week we did 6 instead of 8 and then the next weekend we just skipped it all together and when I tried to go out to do 8 by myself I could only force myself to do a little over 4 miles.  

Tomorrow I am running a 5K in Chapel Hill and next Saturday I am running my first ever 10K in Raleigh.  I've already signed up for the half so no matter what I will be attempting to run 13.1 miles on April 15th.

I'm trying not to freak out about it.

And as a bonus, here is a really cool marathon infographic I came across a few weeks ago (click to go to the original source where it is much easier to read):

Have you ever done a half marathon?  Were you freaking out your first time?

#10poundchallenge update

Back in January I signed up for The 10 lb. Challenge.  The challenge is to lose 10 pounds in 12 weeks.  We are nearing the end of week 5 and we were supposed to do an update on our first four weeks sometime this week.

I almost didn't do this post.

You see I weighed myself on Monday after coming home from the ski trip and having my friendly monthly visitor show up the night before and I was SO disappointed with the number on the scale.  I had gained back almost everything I had lost since starting the challenge.  I was only down 3.5 lbs. before I left for the ski trip but to gain almost all that back (minus a measly 1/2 lb) was devastating.

I thought maybe the scale had made a mistake so I weighed myself again the next morning.  Same. exact. number.  BOO!

I was so mad I didn't weigh myself for the rest of the week and stuck to my counting calories and half marathon training plan.

This morning, after going back and forth about it for a few minutes, I reluctantly stepped on the scale.  As the digital display churned I was so nervous to see what would pop up.  But I am happy to say that as of this morning I am 4.5 lbs. down in this challenge!

It just goes to show you how finicky the scale can be.  I know I have lost weight because my clothes are looser and other people have even commented on it.  So why do I let that stupid little number devastate me like that?!


So far this year I have done a pretty good job of with sticking to my diet/training plan.  I have kept up with all of the runs in my half marathon training plan for almost 6 weeks now.  I have ran over 80 miles since Jan. 1 and will reach 100+ miles by the end of the month.  I have tracked my calories every day since January 1st except for the 5 days I was on the ski trip.  (I tried to do it then, but it was impossible to keep up with.)

I'm not going to lie and say it is easy.  It's not.  But it feels good.  I still hate running sometimes.  Especially when I first start my run, and even more thinking about the run I have to do.  But sometimes it feels really good to run!  In fact last night I was actually dancing while I was running.  I mean how can you not dance to this song?  It's freaking fabulous!



Hope you guys have a great weekend!  Mine just got kicked off with a fantastic start :)

List update- almost there!

Here is what is left on my list:
#1- get in the best shape of my life
#9- kayak
#10- catch a fish
#18- upgrade one room in my house (DONE post coming soon)
#26- kiss in the rain
#27- read the Bible all the way through (I finished the Old Testament and a lot of the New! Only 16 books left!)

Last year I had said in this post that order to mark #1 off my list I needed to run two laps around Lake Lynn without walking (aprox. 4.5 miles) and run a 9 minute mile.  Well I accomplished one of those this week!  I ran around Lake Lynn two times without walking.  I was so happy.  I am actually seeing progress with my running.  It is SLOW.  SLOW progress.  But it is progress.  And the feeling of doing something I had never done before was fantastic!!

I haven't tried the nine minute mile yet.  I am scared.  I'm still slow so I don't want to try yet and get disappointed if I'm not even close.  But I ran an easy mile as part of a fitness challenge at work and my time for that was 10:16, so maybe it isn't impossible.  I'm just not mentally ready to to try yet.

As I was running around the lake I decided I am adding something else to the criteria for crossing this one off my list.  I must be at a healthy weight according to this chart:

Source: tiptoebutterfly.blogspot.com via ncsuz on Pinterest

I tried not to make it about weight because I HATE how we girls become a slave to that number on the scale.  But I just can't declare myself "best shape of my life" if I am overweight.  So yeah.  All my life I have found it can be hard for me to fit what charts say is healthy because I am so short.  At my lowest, skinniest size 4 self in high school I was still at the upper-end of "healthy" according to the charts.  But this chart has a wider range than I have seen in the past and is totally do-able I think. 

What do you guys think?  I know I have asked this a million times, but how would you define "the best shape of your life?"

I love my bodybugg

I know some of you had wanted me to do a review of my bodybugg.  This isn't a full review, but I will tell you I love it.  I don't even notice I am wearing it anymore and I have learned SO much from it!

I do not use their "program" online.  I have the one that syncs to my iphone and I find it easier just to keep track of my calories in with my "lose it" app and only use the bodybugg to track my calories burned.  I had already set up a spreadsheet that I track all of my workouts in.  (I am obsessed with spreadsheets.  I even made one when I tried online dating to keep track of all the different guys I was talking to.)  So I just added a tab to that spreadsheet where I put in my calories burned (from the bodybugg), my calories consumed (from the Lose it app), and then have formulas to tell me my deficit and keeps a running total and also how much weight I should have lost if 3500 calories really does equal 1 lb and all my tracking is correct.  Here is what it looks like:

As you can see I came out strong on Jan. 1 and burned over 3,000 calories!  That has still been my best day yet.  I ran 6 miles and did tons of housework that day.  Since then I have ran 6 miles again but didn't combine it with all the housework and only burned about 2600 calories.  I have yet to break the 3,000 calorie mark again.  Here is what the online tool said about that best day:

As you can see the online tool doesn't match exactly what my iphone had told me which happens a lot.  I try to stick with what the iphone says.  I think it doesn't include the estimate for the time I am not wearing it (when showering). But I'd rather underestimate than overestimate.

You can also see I had stayed up late that Sat. night and burned some calories around the 1-2 am time frame which contributed to that 3,000+ calorie day.

I've also learned that just adding little activities to your day adds up a lot.  On the days I work from home I burn way less calories than days I go in to the office.

Work from home day: (total 2343)

Office day: (total 2518)

You can see the big spikes are when I worked out, but look at the spikes I had coming in to the office at 9, lunch at noon, and leaving the office at 7 on the office day.  I can't believe how much those little bursts of activity add up!  I also worked out harder on the work from home day so my activity spikes aren't as noticeable on that graph, but still.  I only ran 3.5 miles on the office day vs. 4 miles on the work from home day and I still ended up burning almost 200 more calories on that office day!

Also on days I don't work out at all I am LUCKY to even get to 2,000 calories burned.  All this time I thought 2,000 calories was my baseline, but that is not the case if you do nothing all day!

So far I have only lost 3 lbs. but that is exactly on track with what the numbers say I should have lost.  I had a bad week this week and actually had my first day where I had a calories surplus!  But at least now I am aware of how on track or off track I am! 

Another thing it tracks is steps per day.  You know how they say you should get 10,000 steps per day?  I never get that except on the days I do my long runs.  Never.  Not even close.

All this new information has made me take the stairs more, park further away, do more housework, and spend less time sitting.  Even the difference in calories burned sitting vs. standing is noticeable.

I'll keep you updated and probably do more posts about the bodybugg, but I wanted to let you guys know what I had learned so far from it!  I love numbers and analyzing things looking for patterns so this is perfect for me!!

Oh and if you are interested in getting a bodybugg, they do have a refer a friend program where you can get a discount if I refer you (and they give me a credit so maybe I can buy some extra armbands?).  Just go HERE and you are supposed to get an extra $20 off your bodybugg!

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!

You know I love a challenge!

One of the blogs I have been reading for-evah (seriously since I started blogging back in '08) Heidi over at Life in Pink blogged today about this 10 lb. challenge she signed up for.  Well, sign me up too!  I had an awesome week with my bodybugg last week and always need more motivation to stay on track!  The goal is to lose 10 lbs. in 12 weeks.  And you can win prizes- Yippee!

If you want to sign up too, just go over HERE! 

Bring it!

New Year's Goals

Here are my goals for 2012:

1. Finish my 30 Before 30 list before my birthday in August. (2 years late but hey at least I will finish)  In order to complete it here's what is left:

• Get in the best shape of my life (working on it)
• kayak
• catch a fish
• kiss in the rain
• read the Bible all the way through (almost finished with the OT)

(I've already completed upgrade one room in my house. I need to write a post about it)

2. Run a half marathon (hopefully in April)

3. Pay off my car early.  (I am supposed to be done with payments April 2013, but I would like to pay it off early if possible!)

I also liked the idea from last year of something to start, something to stop, and something to keep.

I would like to start eating healthy on a more consistent basis.  No more cheat days that turn into cheat weeks that turn into taking the whole month off.

I would like to stop complaining so much.  I am sick of complaining.  Complaining is so unattractive.

I would like to keep running.  I took almost 3 weeks off during December from my 10K training plan and I was so afraid I was going to have to start all over.  But my body stayed in shape better than I thought it would.  I started off doing 2 miles walking/running at the lake last week.  Then I picked it back up yesterday and ran 5 miles and walked 1 for a total of 6 miles!  It wasn't super easy, but I did it.  And according to my bodybugg I burned over 3,000 calories yesterday!  I must keep running in my life to get those kind of numbers!

What are your goals for 2012?

Christmas Presents

I got a lot of great things for Christmas over the last few weeks!  Some of these are from my Black Friday shopping, some from the amazing Christmas sales (I couldn't help picking up a few things for myself since I was already there getting stuff for others!), and some of the gifts I received (or already bought with some Christmas cash I was given!)

New running shoes and some Bondibands!  I have either a huge or odd shaped head because regular headbands just pop off my head.  I am hoping these will work!

A bodybugg!  They wear these on the Biggest Loser.  I also heard Valerie Burtonelli talk about hers in her book Finding It.  And my boss has one and loves it.  All of that and some internet reseach convinced me to get one!  You wear it and it tracks how many calories you burn.  You input what you eat and that way you can see if you are on track calorie-wise for the day.  So far I have just used it to see how many calories I am burning on average, but starting Sunday I will be tracking everything!

Some much needed new nail polish. I haven't bought any in forever (or painted my nails).  But last week I decided to add "painting my nails" to my weekly to-do list.  I went through my nail polish bag and over half of them were no good (too goopy or separated too much).  So I got these to kick off my new collection.

My mom gave me the money to get this sewing machine on Black Friday.  It was only $50!  I already signed up to take beginning sewing classes in a few weeks at our local Art Center.  I am hoping to make a few things for around the house but most importantly I am hoping I will be able to hem my own pants!  Being a shorty this has always been an issue for me and I will be so happy if I can do it myself!

These awesome new shoes!  I REALLY needed new shoes.  I find a pair I love and wear them down to nothing.  I had never heard of this brand before (Levity).  Apparently it is exclusive to DSW.  They are so comfortable and so cute!

This might be my most favorite of all!  This was another Black Friday buy- only $69! It has been forever since I rode a bike, but as a kid it was one of my most favorite things to do.  I got my first bike when I was five (I think) and I barely had the training wheels on for an hour before I was riding every freaking day throughout the neighborhood.  And just like they say "it was just like riding a bike"- it came right back to me!  I have a grocery store right down the street (with a Redbox!) and even a Target about a mile or so up the road if I am feeling really adventurous. I plan on getting a little basket for the front.  I also take Cam out at night when there aren't many cars out.  I ride and he runs beside me.  He LOVES it because he can run so fast!  It makes me a little nervous that he is going to jerk away or stop suddenly and cause me to crash, but so far no accidents!

Oh and I used some of my Christmas cash to buy tickets to see this when it comes back to the DPAC in May!  So excited!

What was your favorite gift this year?

Blogging Break is over!

I'm back from my blogging break!  It was a good break.  Sometimes you need to stop some of the noise and business in your life to really hear God.  I am feeling much better. I've been able to accept what happened and God's forgiveness.  And just in case you were wondering I saw on Facebook that the couple involved seems to be doing great, so forgiveness all around!  Not to say I'm not nervous for the next time I will see everyone (I've only hung out with my two closest friends from that group since then.)  But I am putting it behind me for now and moving on.

During the month of November I stopped to think about all I have to be thankful for.  Each day I listed a specific thing I was particularly thankful for that day.  Here is my list:

1- Jesus
2- my mom
3- my job
4- my bible study
5- my dog Cam
6- Being able to drive to the beach
7- catchphrase
8- holiday sales
9- the beauty of fall
11- ability to work from home
12- smart phones
13- my church
14- my hardwood floors
15- a short work commute
16- great coworkers
17- good tv
18- my cat bailey being home
19- my me-time and freedom of singleness
20- my friends
21- DVR
22- blogs
23- Facebook
24- sidewalks so I can run safely
25- my black Friday shopping partner Mere
26- warm weather
27- time to catch up with old friends
28- free classes at the gym at work
29- biff coming to bible study with me
30- Christmas lights

Other exciting things that happened last month:

that's not me...it's the professionals :)

- I went indoor skydiving as a team building activity at work.  It was kind of cool...made me want to do the real thing though!  I just think someone would have to blind fold me and push me out of the plane!

- I went to the beach for a retreat with my bible study girls.  It is amazing how far our group has come and I was so thankful for the bonding time!  We have had a lot of new girls in the last few weeks.  When I walked in to study on Tuesday it was overwhelming seeing that many girls!  I can't decide if it is a good thing or not.  I think I'm going to miss the intimacy and safety I felt in a smaller group.  If you are in a bible study- how many people are in your group?  do you prefer big groups or small?

- I found a favorite new running spot and only have two weeks left on my 10K training plan.  It has helped that the weather has been so nice!  but this week it turned cold- boo!  I guess I will have to start training on the treadmill or bundle up.  I think some of my friends and I might go to Charleston and do the Cooper River Bridge Run in March.

- I went Black Friday shopping at Wal-Mart for the first time.  I've gone to Target the past two years on Black Friday and let me tell you it is like night and day.  Target is all welcoming and organized and gives you maps to help you find the doorbusters you have on your list.  Wal-Mart is hostile and disorganized and there were people with entire shopping carts full of waffle makers and such.  Seriously what are you going to do with all those $3 waffle makers?  I will never go back to Wal-Mart for Black Friday just like i will never go back to the outlet malls on Black Friday after last year's shopping experience.  Some things are just not worth it.

ok, I will stop there for now.  But I am going to try to catch up on my Bookshelf Blog tomorrow and my list progress.  I also can't wait to tell you about some of my Black Friday purchases, Christmas decorations and more! 

I've missed you all and it feels good to be back!

Defining Character- Self-Control

Self-Discipline- the act of disciplining or power to discipline one's own feelings, desires, etc., esp with the intention of improving oneself

Self-Control- the ability to exercise restraint or control over one's feelings, emotions, reactions, etc.

Last month I declared the month "Self Control September".  Looking at the definitions above I should have named it Self-Discipline September, but I think they are pretty interchangeable.  Of all the fruits of the Spirit, self-control was definitely my weakest.  In fact I have even blogged about trying to get better with self-control/self-discipline here, here, and here. And I just remember my pastor JD saying in one of his sermons that you are only as strong as your weakest spirit.  So I am continually trying to work on this area of my life.

So what did I do to focus on my self-control in September?

1. I gave up soda (diet and regular) for the month of September.  I didn't drink a lot of soda anyway, but I would usually have a diet Mt. Dew, diet Dr. Pepper, or diet Coke just about every day.  All those chemicals can't be good for you (even if they are calorie free).  I did pretty good.  I had a cherry limeade that I think had Sprite in it, but other than that, no sodas.  Since the month has ended, I have kind of limited myself to just one mini (7.5 oz) soda/day.  I do notice that I get more headaches, but I also feel less bloated when I am not drinking soda.  I hope to keep them to a minimum from now on!

2. I had a virtual fitness partner!  I don't know what I would have done without Amber this month!  Each week we would send each other a summary of how we did the previous week as far as eating and working out.  At first I wasn't tracking my calories, but Amber was and she inspired me to get back on the bandwagon with that.  I thought I was eating pretty well, but it is different when you are tracking everything you eat!  I would often think before eating or skipping a work-out how this would look on my weekly report to her and it kept me from making some bad decisions.  I took this week off from counting calories and my 10K training program because I needed a break, but I hope we can continue our weekly reports because they have really helped me stay on track!  P.S. Go check out her blog!  It is one of my faves!


3. I started a 10K training program similar to the couch 2 5K program.  I'm up to week 6 and it is tough.  I'm up to over 4 miles/run and try to get all 3 runs in each week.  I think this helped me a lot too because I didn't want to get behind on the training program, so I would force myself to run on days even when I didn't want to.  I took this week off, but I had my 5K on Saturday and finally came in under 35 min!  My previous PR was 36:58 and I ran this one in 34:47!  I know it is still so slow, but hey it is an improvement!  Maybe one day I will break that 30 min. mark!

4. I've been using this app called "Home Routines" to stay on top of things around the house.  I have a morning checklist and an evening checklist and then a weekly checklist.  Here they are:

Morning:
- Breakfast
- 15 minute focus/devotional
- Let dog out
- water animals
- get fresh and clean
- make bed

Evening:
- Feed cat and dog
- Collect dirty laundry
- put away clean laundry
- shine sink (put everything in dishwasher and clean out sink)
- wipe down kitchen
- sweep floor
- run
- 100 sit ups
- swish and swipe bathroom
- take out contacts
- brush teeth
- pray

Weekly:
- Vacuum
- Mop
- Clean bathrooms
- Dust
- Brush Cam
- Go through mail basket
- Switch out towels (in bathrooms and kitchen)
- clean make up brushes
- clean out litter box

I didn't always mark off everything everyday/every week, but I aimed to get 90% marked off. 

5. Re-do budget.  I switched jobs this month.  I am still doing the same job, but I am a permanent employee instead of a contractor.  I used to get paid weekly, now I get paid twice/month.  I used to pay for my own health insurance and had no 401K, but now I have benefits through them and a 401K, so I had to re-do my budget.  I got my first paycheck this weekend, and I had to adjust my estimates a little (taxes are freaking outrageous!) but now I have my budget nailed down.  I am still doing envelope budgeting and I love being able to see where all my money is going.  Expect a whole post about budgeting later this week!

So there you have it.  I think self-control September was a success!

Fall fun, TV finds, and frustration

I have so many things I want to blog about and not nearly enough time.  I'm going to try to keep it (somewhat) short and get some of the things swirling around in my head onto one blog without being completely random.  Here goes nothing...

Fall Fun

Last Friday my friend W pinged me and we both had no plans so we decided to check out this haunted farm in Cary. (The fact that we were going to Cary was scary enough.  Nothing good happens in Cary.  I tell ya, that town is just not right.)  Anyway, we should have took it as a sign when we pulled up and the parking attendant asked us if we brought an extra pair of panties (um what?) and then asked if we were in college? (no) high school?  (no)  Ok...moving on...so for $15 we got to go tour the haunted house, take the haunted hay ride, and do the haunted corn maze.  The haunted house was ok.  The haunted hay ride was kind of fun.  But the haunted corn maze was by far the scariest. I think the key was they made us go through in the groups we came with so it was just the 2 of us.  For the longest time no one jumped out and scared us.  Then all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I saw some creepy guy walking behind us silently.  We screamed and ran and continued to be scared at just about every twist and turn.  (including 2 chainsaw chases!)  It was fun!  I tried to snap some pictures, but my iPhone doesn't have a flash so none of them turned out.

This weekend I'm hoping to get to The Sate Fair (fried oreos, roasted corn and maybe even a krispie kreme burger...pig races, people watching and more!) on Saturday and do the Parade of Homes on Sunday.  These are 2 of my favorite fall events!  I'll try to get some good pics to share!

I also have to figure out if my homemade Halloween costume is going to work sometime this weekend because the annual Halloween party is early this year- next weekend!  My costume is a totally awesome idea in theory, but I don't know if the execution is going to work.  I have a back up costume in case.  It is cute, but totally un-original, so I am really hoping Plan A works out.  If I would have thought about it earlier, I would have been a honey badger for Halloween!

What are you going to be for Halloween?

TV finds

I didn't add a lot to my TV rotation this year because I barely have time to watch TV.  But here are two new shows I like:

Ok, so a lot of the story lines in this one are far fetched, but I love Rachael Bilson, I love the South, and I love small town drama.  So I heart Hart of Dixie!

I LOVE this show!!  There have been only 2 episodes so far, but I am so freaking hooked!  The characters are so complex and it it just a great concept- the CIA finds this marine that has been held hostage by terrorists for 8 years.  One of the CIA agents has a theory that he has been turned and is now an undercover terrorist.  It is so freaking good!!!  Seriously if you have Showtime watch this!

Have you seen/do you like these new shows?  What are your favorite new shows?


Frustration

I have been so frustrated the last couple days.  Frustrated with being single.  Frustrated with my never ending to do list at work.  Frustrated with having no time for blogging.  Frustrated with tracking calories and the crazy amount of calories in anything I eat out. Frustrated with running and running and not getting any better or faster.  Frustrated with comparing myself to others.  I even got frustrated at church on Sunday (why must they always park me in the freaking muddy field!?!  and no mr. pastor I didn't comprehend a word of your sermon because there were three kids sitting behind me whispering and rattling their candy wrappers the entire time.)  For some reason I feel like I could just explode with all this built up frustration. 

I tried running.  I tried eating.  I tried sleeping.  I tried vegging out and getting sucked in to cheesy Lifetime movies.  I tried hanging out with friends.  I tried praying.  I tried reading.  I tried shopping at Target (managed to get out only spending $50!)  But nothing seems to be working.  How do you get yourself un-frustrated?

I'm going to try to get some blog posts in this week including- marking off #18 on my list- upgrading a room in my house and Self Control September re-cap.  Stay tuned!

Sunday Snippets on Monday

Life has been busy busy.  This Self-Control September thing has kept me busy (more on that later).

I did go to church yesterday, but honestly I didn't take any notes.  It was on the last spoke of the Gospel centered life "wheel"- Generosity.  JD made a point with a question- "which would put more fear in your heart- hearing that God was not pleased with you or hearing that there was no money in your bank account?"  Both would freak me out.  But he was trying to make a point that people value money and being rich almost more than anything else in their life.  I was talking to a friend later and I said yes, maybe from a guy's perspective money is the ultimate "idol" but I think from a woman's perspective being beautiful or skinny is the ultimate idol.  That consumes my thoughts, time and energy more than the pursuit of money and I know that is true for a lot of my friends too.  What do you think ladies?

After the service they had more baptisms.  I had to take something to the office and on the way back to our cars a girl I volunteer with and I stopped to watch.  We were talking about how we couldn't believe there were 300 baptisms last weekend and even more today.  I said "That's just crazy" and she said "That's God."  That stuck with me throughout the day and still today.  When something amazing happens from now on well, that's God.

Also- here is a re-cap from Church at the Ballpark.  I love this!


Church at the Ballpark from Josh Sliffe on Vimeo.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!