Seeing a sloth...and other updates

Sorry that it has taken me so long to post. My mind has been preoccupied with a bunch of other things going on. I took my boys to the Flint Children's Museum on Saturday. I have been wanting to take them for about two years! David had to work up north at another of his work's locations so my Mother-in-law offered to watch Isabel for me. We had a lot of fun. They were having a special summer party day so they were having a lot of extra activities going on. One of which was an animal show by Animal Magic. Jacob (my 5 year old) was able to sit through the whole show, although he told me he was tired, but Nathan (3...almost 4 year old) whined and whined that he wanted to go play the games (which we had already done)...but I wanted to see the animals...the sloth especially...its not very often that people get to see a sloth in person! Nathan was able to hold out and we got to see the whole show and I bought the boys stuffed animal snakes which they were happy about.

Saturday night I started week 6 of C25K training...yes I realize that if I followed the program the way it is "suppose" to be done I would be finished by now, but with my Crim training going on as well and needing to take two days off in between most runs it is taking me quite a bit longer...I'm coming up on the 10th week since I started C25K training. The week 6 day 1 workout had me running 5 minutes (after a 5 minute walk for warm up); walking 3 minutes; running 8 minutes; walking 3 minutes; and running 5 minutes. I also walked another 8 minutes as a cool down...and to get back home.

This workout SUCKED!!! I was ok during the first 5 minute run, but I felt like I slowed WAY down for the 8 minute run and didn't think it would EVER end. The last 5 minute run was TORTURE and I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to run for the entire 5 minutes, but I REFUSED to quit...especially after I ran 20 minutes straight the other day and felt AWESOME! Leigh (Poonapalooza) is SO right when she says that she thinks running intervals is harder than just running nonstop!

Here's my splits...yucky!

Sunday we had some friends over for a BBQ. We hadn't really been able to hang out with them lately because they are now in the process of buying a house and have been really busy. David and I cleaned up the house and I was grateful for all his help because I needed it cleaned up for book club the following night.

Yesterday Jacob had to go have his hearing and vision tested for school so my mother-in-law took Nathan with her and some of his cousins to the local rec center to swim and I dropped Jacob off there after his testing. Then Isabel and I went party supply shopping for Nathan's 4th birthday party this Friday! He wants a pirate themed party so I wanted a treasure chest pinata which I plan to hide somewhere in our yard and will have made a treasure chest for the kids to follow to find it. Should be a fun time...I just hope I can have everything together in time.

After all the running around I had our monthly book club meeting at my house...just about everybody cancelled so there was just three of us here to discuss the book...which we normally only discuss for the first 5-10 minutes or so and then chit chat about whatever else. Last nights discussions included liking/disliking kids (both ladies in attendance have no children), our views on the reactions to people who do not condone homosexuality/gay marriage, and Kristin Stewart cheating on Robert Pattinson. lol Quite the mix of topics...among others. I had a lot of fun, I always enjoy book club! : )

Well, that gets you all caught up to today. Tonight my Crim training group will be walking NINE MILES!!! Its going to take a long...long...long...long time, but it will hopefully be fun. I can't believe that the Crim is only three weeks away!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! I'm in a pretty good mood today and feel like I could get a lot accomplished...so I'm off to do more laundry. : )

How could I almost forget to tell you that I finally broke out of the 230's and into the 220's this week!!!! I weighed in at 229 lbs. yesterday for the Lose a Marathon Challenge. Which puts me at a total of 9 lbs. lost since the challenge started. : )

I surprised myself!

I have so much to say today that I don't know where to begin...so I'm just going to start and I apologize now if it seems all over the place.

First of all I need to give a HUGE thank you to three fellow bloggers that each, within the last week, have nominated me to receive a blogging award for being inspirational!!! I never thought that anybody would find me inspirational! I started this whole blogging thing looking for inspiration myself! I am very flattered that those who inspire me find me inspirational! So, again, thank you Karen, Tonya, and Mary for the recognition!

Ok, so...I've been whining on this blog for a couple weeks about how the C25K program was having me jump from running 8 minutes straight to running 20 minutes straight. I even wrote about the different ways I was planning to avoid it. Then yesterday I read a blog post by Leigh over at Poonapalooza where she discusses how she got running and talks about the differences between a LTR (Learn To Run) training program and the C25K program. She wrote about how, in her experience, many people doing the C25K program end up quitting at the 5 week mark because of jump from 8 to 20 minutes of straight running. I was not surprised and totally agree with her that most quit at this point...but seeing it written there I thought to myself..."I don't want that to be me...I want to prove this statement wrong (for me)!" I even commented and told Leigh that her post had motivated me to go out and try to run the 20 minutes straight! *I think I had gone crazy!

I was feeling like crap yesterday and did NOT want to run AT ALL...but I got my butt out the door with my Garmin and my mp3 player. I decided to just go for it and run until I just couldn't anymore...which I guessed would be about 10 minutes worth. Once I started running I vowed not to look at my Garmin until I had listened to 5 songs (figuring 3 min. or so per song that would put me at 15 minutes and some songs are longer). The third song that came on was Courageous by Casting Crowns, a Christian song. It gave me such motivation, certain lyrics could be used to describe my decision to start this journey to a healthier, more active person. Especially a part of the song where it says "In the war of the mind, I will make my stand!" How I interpreted that for me was in how much exercising, running in my case, is largely a mental battle and I was going to win that war in my head and run that 20 minutes without stopping!!!

After the fifth song started I was getting antsy to look at my Garmin so I did and I only had 3:30 left!!! I was SO happy...I was smiling for that entire 3:30. If my neighbors saw me they were probably thinking "Look at that crazy, fat girl smiling while she's running...what is wrong with her?" For the first time ever I experienced what people refer to as a "runner's high"!!! I felt AMAZING when I stopped running and the song that started playing just as I had stopped running was an upbeat heavy rock song by Nickelback called Burn It To The Ground...and let me tell you...I really did feel like I was "ALL IN, BALLS OUT" on that run! : ) *I know, I have very differing tastes in music don't I? I was singing (in my head, but mouthing the words) and dancing a little all the way back home. : D

There I am, in all my sweaty glory! I had David take my picture after I got back...he called me a dork.

 

I was pretty slow...but not as slow as I thought.

Now for a little update on how things are going being on the Phentermine. Yesterday I woke up extremely dizzy and remained dizzy off and on through out the whole day. Dizziness is a possible side effect of Phentermine, but I have had dizzy spells before starting this medication which are most likely a side effect of my MS. This morning the scale read 230.7 lbs. I'm hoping to break into the 220's before my next official weigh in for the Lose a Marathon Challenge on Monday.

I am also noticing that when I get super stressed out...I still immediately start thinking about eating something...but I've been able to keep those urges in check so far. I'm thinking my monthly visitor is going to be here soon because I always have stronger cravings just prior to starting, as well as being extra irritable. Sorry if that's too much information.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I don't have any plans yet (or any that I can remember) so I'm hoping to relax.

HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY!

I had my Crim group training walk tonight. I ended up walking 5.69 miles in two hours and fifteen minutes, a pretty slow pace, but I enjoy the people I walk with. Next week we are scheduled to walk NINE MILES!!! At our pace it'll be past dark by the time we're done.

I realized that I never wrote about how my new shoes are working for me! I LOVE THEM!!! After the first time I wore them (for a 7.34 mile group training walk) and my feet hurt afterwards I made sure to take my arch supports out of my old shoes and put them in my new shoes. MAJOR DIFFERENCE!!! Now my feet are good until near the end which I just attribute to being tired.

I've been weighing myself every morning since I started the Phentermine. This morning, after three full days on the medication...I have lost FIVE POUNDS!!! I cannot even tell you how finally seeing results on the scale motivated me to keep better track of my calorie intake and discourages me from over indulging!!! I did have a little trouble falling asleep last night but I still woke up rested. I am still having the side effect of feeling very alert, but I didn't really notice the sweating today.

This latest drop in weight brings me to a total of 17 pounds lost since January! I had thought I would be much farther along in my weight loss journey by now (about 60-70 pounds down), but I'm just happy to finally see the scale moving down significantly!

Back in the saddle

I went on my first run since the Huckleberry Hustle last night. I wasn't sure how it was going to go since its been over a week since I last ran. My sister and niece were coming over to visit for the night but I told her that I absolutely HAD to go for a run so they both came along with me. I told my sister that I run really slow so she may even be able to walk along with me...but she was pushing my niece in a stroller and she was wearing sandals. She started running with me but had to stop after the first minute. I REALLY wanted to stop too but I kept going. I felt like I was going SO slow and my lungs were burning with every breath. I decided to repeat the C25K week 5 day 2 workout which is what I had last done before the race...8 min. run/5 min. walk/8 min. run. The second 8 minute run was HORRIBLE I wanted to stop as soon as I started and that feeling never went away, but I finished and I knew I had gone even slower than the first time. I was expecting to see horrible numbers when I checked my splits...but once again I was pleasantly surprised instead! : )

This was my workout the first time I did it on July 8th.

 

This is last nights splits. : )

I think I may continue doing this workout a few more times or I'll just skip the next workout (20 minutes of straight running) and move onto week 6's workouts which would have me doing the following intervals...

DAY 1: 5 min. run; 3 min. walk; 8 min. run; 3 min. walk; 5 min. run
DAY 2: 10 min. run; 3 min. walk; 10 min. run
DAY 3: 22 min. run *This is where I may then do the 20 minutes instead of the 22.

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I decided to try the Phentermine for my weight loss. I took the first pill yesterday morning. I realize that there are people out there that are completely against taking any kind of weight loss drug and I hope that I do not lose any followers because of my decision. I am not just taking the Phentermine and hoping I will lose weight. I know that I still need to work hard for that weight to come off. I am not going to change what I am already doing to lose the weight. I will continue to exercise and work on my eating habits.

I am hoping that the Phentermine is going to help me with the struggle that I have been having with my diet. Yesterday I was able to only eat when I needed to and didn't feel the need to hunt through the fridge and pantry in between meals!

So I've decided that I am going to include my experience being on the Phentermine in this blog as well so that those who may be thinking about taking it or another appetite suppressant can see what someone else experienced.

Yesterday was my first day on the Phentermine. I took it 30 minutes before I had my breakfast and the first side effect I noticed was that I felt kind of wired or just WIDE AWAKE, which hasn't happened for about 5 years and 9 months! I did not feel restless or agitated, just ALERT! I usually get hungry before lunch time but I felt no urge to eat and actually MADE myself have lunch four hours after I had eaten breakfast. I did notice that my taste buds were being affected. My lunch tasted very bland...still the right flavors, just very muted. They were back to normal when I had dinner though, so hopefully it is just something that will come and go. The only side effect that had been bothering me is that I'm slightly sweating all the time now, even in my air conditioned house. I'm hoping this side effect will subside as my body adjusts to being on the medication.

I'm having the same side effects today...a little wired and slightly sweaty. I haven't experienced any bland food taste yet, but I really didn't even want to eat my breakfast which is very weird because I'm usually starving in the morning.

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday! I'm going grocery shopping and stopping at my parents house with just my baby girl in tow. David took the boys swimming...so it should be a relatively relaxing day for me! : )

A Couple Things

I had to go in to see my family doctor today for the three month weight check that he wanted me to do. I talked about that visit in a previous post. According to their scale, which they OBVIOUSLY bought from SATAN I weigh 240 lbs.!!!!!!! My scale at home says I weigh 234 lbs. as of this morning! I didn't even remember what I weighted back on April 17th so I asked the nurse and she told me that I was 245 lbs. by their DEMONIC scale. So I've only lost 5 lbs. in three stinkin' months! How depressing. I let the doctor know that I had been doing really well with the exercise aspect of things and was slowly getting on a better diet. He asked if I wanted to take something to help with the weight loss. I asked if it would be ok to take something when I'm suppose to start taking Copaxone for my MS in the next couple weeks. He said that I could check with my neurologist if I wanted but it is fine to take. He wants be to come back in next month for another weight check to see where I'm at. I did take the prescription to be filled, but I'm not going to decide if I'm going to take it until after I read through all of the information on it. Have any of you ever taken Phentermine? I'm not sure about it. : /

After the doctor's office I swung by the library to pick up my book club's next book pick, Girls In White Dresses by Jennifer Close. I haven't been able to finish the last couple books, which I feel really guilty about so I need to make sure that I finish this one! I was looking at my 30 x 30 list and I can't believe that I've only read 6 books so far! It seems like a lot more...but that's because I've started quite a few but never finished them.

I then went to Elite Feet to pick up my second NEW pair of running shoes. The Brooks Dyad 7's...they are pretty sharp looking. : )

Blue is my favorite color! : )

 Since I went to the concert on Tuesday I was going to miss my Crim training group walk but they had to cancel it due to the heat index. I still needed to walk that 7-8 miles and wasn't really looking forward to doing it on my own. Luckily, my group leaders decided to offer another group walk session. So tonight after David got home I went and met up with my group. Only 6 out of about 20 or so group members showed up and we still had a good time even if it took us nearly three hours to walk 7.34 miles!!!

I hope everyone enjoys their Friday. I'm thinking I'm going to have to start making shorter posts and sometimes having more than one a day. Its taken me several hours to get this post finished with everything I wanted to say and I'm pretty sure I still left some stuff out, but I can't get more than a couple semi uninterrupted minutes to write.

On Hiadus

Sorry for the 6 days of blog silence, but whatever I did to my ankle/knee during my 8 min./5 min. interval C25K training workout has continued to bother me while just walking around my house so I haven't been running since my 5k race last Thursday. I WILL go out tonight and repeat that 8/5 workout and see how my knee and ankle do...but if it starts hurting I am NOT going to "push" through it because I don't want to get injured to the point of not being able to do my other races that I'm signed up for. I told David (my husband) that I will probably just go up to the gym, where I have a membership that I NEVER use, and ride the recumbent bike until I heal.

Now...I am going to veer off topic because I had the most AMAZING concert experience of my LIFE last night!!! *Yes, but knee and ankle bothered me somewhat so I couldn't dance/jump around as much as I wanted...not to mention that it was at an outdoor venue and was still in the 90's after dusk!!!

I know I mentioned this occasion was coming up on my blog before and I know that I already bothered you with some of the details from my last concert in April...but I have never experienced a rock concert (or any concert) like I got to last night. I saved up some money and was able to purchase a VIP ticket package to see Bush and Nickelback when then returned to Michigan July 17th. We got early entry (not as cool as it may sound because we did a lot of standing around before we could go to our seats), and a goody bag tote with t-shirt, bottle opener, poster, and guitar picks...because we purchased (we is my friend Kristin...whom I had to BEG to spend the obscene amount of money to go with me...and myself) the VIP tickets we did not know exactly where our seats would be until we picked them up at the venue. We knew we would be within the first 15 rows but nothing else.

When we picked up our tickets the lady said we were FOURTH row!!!! HOLY COW!!! However, when we went down to our seats they showed us to the THIRD ROW!!!!! I asked if they were sure about that...and YEP THIRD FREAKING ROW!!!! Better still...as soon as we sat down Kristin started jabbing me with her elbow saying "Look...Look...Look who it is???" Up on stage, showing his little boy around was none other than Gavin Rossdale, the lead singer of BUSH!!!!!! We were both freaking out (quietly...we had to appear cool) and wanted to take a picture but we both thought it seemed inappropriate to take a photo of him with his son, even though others were doing it. We were at the end of the third row and when he walked back around the front of the stage and sent his son backstage and saw us and stopped and turned and said "Hi, how are you?" I should mention that they were playing music over the speakers so we could barely hear him, it was mostly reading lips. Of course I immediately say (probably yelled, louder than needed) 'Good! How are you!?' Then he pointed at my friend and said "I like your shirt" and smiled. *She was wearing a BUSH t-shirt she bought at the concert with me in April. Kristin was speechless and I dorkily (is that a even a word? Spell check says no) just pointed at Kristin's shirt too, gave a goofy grin and nodded. (What a DORK I am!) They he said bye or enjoy the show or something and was gone and THEN Kristin and I freaked out like young teenagers!

Our seats are circled in red...so even being on the end of the row was still almost center stage.

  We figured that would be the highlight of the evening...but Gavin Rossdale went down into the crowd and sang two songs while wandering through the crowd.  While both Kristin and I love Bush and have since they first came out, Kristin loves them even more than me so I switched seats with her so she could be on the very end of the row when Gavin came by to return to the stage. When he went by us Kristin got a hug from him!!!! I made sure to touch his arm though at least. ; ) It was AWESOME!!!

I love that lady's face! lol Its what any woman's face would look like if they could cop a feel of Gavin! : )

We had an AWESOME time and I will never forget it!!!

Here are a few more photos from the night. I am still kicking myself for deciding that I didn't need to bring extra batteries for my camera...it died shortly after Nickelback got on stage. : (

My Darkest Days opened...they 'sound' good...singers have good voices and the music itself it good...just don't like some of their songs lyrics.

I don't know how he could even wear that jacket through one whole song it was so hot!

That light on him is not a spot light, but sun light. The poor guy was literally dripping sweat!

Love me some Nickelback!!!

Talking to the crowd.

I was standing right in front of the bass player all night. : ) He's cool.

I hope everyone had a good weekend and is having a good week so far. I will now be back to normal posting topics. ; )

Fellow Blogger Giveaway

Just wanted to make a quick post to tell you that Carrie over at What Have I Got to Lose? is having a Bondi Band giveaway! You can enter up to FOUR times! So get on over to her blog and ENTER!

My Very First 5k Race Report "Huckleberry Hustle"

OY! That was SO much harder than I thought it was going to be!

I guess in my convoluted mind I envisioned running the whole 3.1 miles easily! HA I didn't even run the intervals that I had been doing with the C25K training!

Let's back up a little...I made sure I had all my workout clothes clean so I could decide what I wanted to wear and I also got the boys dressed in some comfy shorts and shirts for their "Berry Dash". I even dressed Isabel in some little running shorts and her tennis shoes. I had David take a picture of her and I before we left because we decided that it would be best for my baby to go stay with Grammy while the rest of us went to the race because she would've had to sit in the stroller for about two hours and the race start time (7:00pm) is her bedtime and she was already cranky.

I told David to make sure he got her shorts and shoes in the picture! ugh! He does that all the time...one day I'll post some of his pictures where he didn't follow instructions! lol

The kids did the "Little Berry Dash" at 6:30pm. I thought it was going to be a short little run down a straightaway but they ran around the block of the old fashioned town. I should probably mention that the race was at a place called Crossroads Village. Its a early 1900's town that you can tour and learn about how things were done at the turn of the 20th century. They stopped at each corner to get a prize and finished back where they started. The boys seemed to enjoy it but Jacob fell once and his braced leg was really turning in while running. Jacob was born with an underdeveloped nerve in his left leg so he has to wear a brace to support his foot because he cannot move it or hold it up.

Jacob (my 5 year old) after the second "goody" stop.

They're shirts were WAY too big! The lady called to ask what size I wanted for them and when I told her how old they were she recommended mediums...she was WRONG! lol Oh well, they'll be able to wear them for a LONG time! :)

Then it was MY turn! Oh shit! I was so nervous standing there waiting for what seemed like FOREVER! I chatted a little bit with a lady that is also doing the Crim Training Program, but as a runner. There was no gun that went off and no announcer yelling "GO" over a loud speaker or anything...everybody ahead of me just started moving...OH SHIT...here we go! *Pardon my language but I'm giving you my honest thoughts. : )* It was at this point that I made my first mistake! I started off running WAY TOO FAST! I was caught up in the crowd and trying to move with them, but I was also not wanting to look like a snail when I passed David and the boys because David has never watched me run and I didn't want to disappoint my long distance running husband.

Another photo showing off my husband's awesome centering skills...or maybe he was intentionally trying to get a picture of the cute skinny lady in pink...hmmm?

When I got around the VERY FIRST corner I was gasping for air and already wanted to stop running. I slowed my pace WAY down and started chugging along...but my throat and lungs were burning with every breath. It was like all of the training I've been doing for the last 5 weeks never happened and of course David ran over to the next block to see me again and I was thinking oh crap, well David, this is how I REALLY run. The boys were so cute though yelling "GO MAMA, GO MAMA!" I had set my Garmin up to beep at 8 minute/5 minute intervals. I figured if that was what I had last done with my C25K training that's what I'd be able to do for the race...WRONG!!! I did make it the first full 8 minutes running...but after that my intervals were shot.

I didn't think David would bring the boys out this far to watch me...they caught me walking so I had to pick up the pace.

I wish I could say that I did awesome and felt awesome, but that just wasn't the case. I started to get a headache almost immediately and I just felt completely drained of energy. I walked most of the way after that first 8 minutes of running, only running for a minute or so at a time. I know that I probably could of run for longer intervals but I just couldn't get my mind to focus on my breathing. The whole time I was thinking...Why in the hell did I think I could do this!!!??? I came close to tears a couple of times, but I pushed through, partially with the help of this lady I ended up walking/jogging near for most of the race. She was attempting to run but hadn't run in over a month and just found out she had a bladder infection the day before! We chatted and took turns running ahead of each other. She ultimately finished ahead of me. It was nice to have people along the way cheering me on...especially close to the end. They would see how I was struggling and say "You're almost there!" *Is it just me though, or do you have the same thoughts I do when someone tells you "You're almost there!"? I would simultaneously be thinking 'Thanks...that's awesome that you care!' and 'Almost there huh? Well, it feels like a million miles away to me!' lol

Bookin' it to the finish. You can just tell by looking at me that I'm going at the fastest turtle pace!

As soon as I came around the last corner and I got a glimpse of the finish line I started running....slow at first, but then I heard some little voices yelling...over and over again "GO MAMA, GO MAMA, GO MAMA..." I started smiling and giggling to myself. I saw my boys and my husband cheering me I and I went into roadrunner mode (for me...probably looked like scooter going full throttle to anyone else)! I crossed the finish line going as fast as I could muster for an official finish time of 48:26:15!

A nice older couple who got medals gave them to my boys...how sweet! : )

I'm glad I did it but it was so much harder than I thought and I wish I would've waited until I had been training a little longer. Although I do think that a lot of factors made it more difficult besides my lack of training and the obvious fact that it was much farther than my normal workout. It was a trail run and VERY uneven. Each step was on a different level...not to mention the dessert of SAND they had I go through at one point...I was seriously pissed when I saw all the sand. lol Lastly, the temperature. It was HOT!!! I'm use to running at dusk which means no sun beating down on me and usually significantly cooler temperatures. I felt like complete crap for the rest of the night. I had a major headache and felt sick to my stomach. I ended up going to bed early but tossed and turned until I finally got up at 1am and took an Imitrex for the migraine I had.

Needless to say...I'm SUPER nervous now for my next 5k which will be August 9th. I plan to get right back on my C25K training, but I think I'm going to repeat Week 5's second workout (8 min. run/5 min. walk) a few times. Can any experienced runners out there explain to me why they would have you go from 8 minutes running with 5 minutes of walking recovery in between to a workout of 20 minutes of straight running??? I may just skip that workout all together for now and move onto Week 6 which has 10 minute running intervals.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! I know I'm going to be taking it easy...until tomorrow night that is when I'll get back on my C25K training.

*Sorry this post is coming so late today. My kids were very needy today so I had to write it in little spurts and still couldn't finish it up until they were in bed.

Here's my splits...but like I said I was walking and running whenever so its not very accurate.

My First Guest Post!

My first guest post is up over at EatTeachBlog...be sure to go check it out!

I'd like to thank Divya for giving me the opportunity to do a post for her blog! I love reading about her determination to live her life to the fullest and gives credit to those people that make her life wonderful!

If the shoe DOESN'T fit!

I walked 6.24 miles last night with my Crim training group! : )

It was a horrible walk! Not because of the company...they are all awesome...but my feet KILLED just a mile in!!! I wore my new Brooks Ghost 5's because I figured I should try them out one more time before I decided to take them back. Obviously these are not the shoes for me. Not only did my feet ache after just one mile, but by the end of the walk the bottoms of my feet felt like I had been scraping them over sand paper all day!

So, tonight I went to Elite Feet to see what shoes they would put me in. *They came very highly recommended by my Crim group leader (and my new neighbor too). They had me run on the treadmill and they videotaped my running. Thankfully they only videotaped my feet. lol She told me that she would've brought out the Brooks Ghost 5's for me to try as well so the other store didn't fit me 'wrong' but its just that those shoes aren't working for me.

She brought out a few different shoes after measuring my feet length AND width (the other store didn't do the width) and they were all too small!!! God, why did you give me canoes for feet??? So she told me that she really thinks that I would do well with the Brooks Dyad 7's but that she would have to order my HOBBIT size 12. So I should have another new pair of running shoes in about a week and a half. Now I just have to take the Brooks Ghost 5's back to The Complete Runner before Saturday. Which is going to suck because the employee's were really nice, so I'm going to feel horrible saying that I just want to return the shoes without being fitted for something else.

So it looks like I'll be doing my first 5k race in my off the "rack" New Balance...I guess its only fair to them since they've had to endure the training thus far.

Don't forget to head over to EatTeachBlog tomorrow for my guest post. : )

I just want to say thank you to all my loyal blog followers that posted comments of encouragement on my last post. I was just suddenly feeling horrible about how the diet aspect of my journey has been going and it honestly came out as I was typing my post. I didn't start off that post as upset and depressing as I ended it. I was kind of caught by surprise by it myself. So thank you ladies for your kind words. I really do appreciate it! I need to try and make a little more time for reading and commenting on all of your blogs but sometimes I just seem bogged down by all the new posts. lol I guess I follow too many blogs...but every story and every person is just so inspiring I can't help but click 'follow'! : )


**I may possibly be doing my first product sponsored post and giveaway...so stay tuned for details on that. I'm really hoping its able to happen. **

I hope everyone has a great Thursday! I'm very excited for my first 5k!!! I hope I don't suck it up. I should have the race report up on Friday sometime.

OUCHY!!!

Was I able to run the allotted 8 minutes straight...twice? Yes
Was it enjoyable? No
Was I in immense pain that started during my second 8 minute run? YES!!!

The issue now is to figure out why! A few things were different with this workout.

1. I tried out my new shoes for the first time.
2. I increased my running time by three minutes.
3. I only had one rest day in between runs instead of the two I have been doing.

So unfortunately this makes it hard to pinpoint the cause of all the pain. My right leg especially...from ankle to knee and even somewhat up into my hip ached really bad. The walk home after the second 8 minute run was HORRIBLE! Needless to say I don't think I should move onto the next workout just yet, which calls for 20 minutes running straight with no walking breaks. I hope the issue is not my shoes. I don't want to have to deal with going back and exchanging them.

Today was weigh in day for the Lose a Marathon Challenge that is being put on by Jess over at Run with Jess. This was also HORRIBLE!!! I GAINED 2 LBS.!!! Which puts me back at 237 lbs.! I am so disgusted with myself. What is wrong with me??? Why can't I just eat RIGHT!? I did it before and it didn't seem that hard while I was doing it. It seems like I am only able to wholeheartedly concentrate on one thing at a time. When I was sticking to a diet really well before, I wasn't exercising and now that I'm really into my exercising, I can't seem to get my diet regimented.When I started my journey in January I thought I would be so much farther along by now (like 70 lbs. down!) but I'm only down 10 FREAKIN' POUNDS IN 7 MONTHS!!! I have a bunch of weddings to go to this year that I was envisioning being a lot skinnier for as well as a concert NEXT Tuesday that I knew I would be going to since April and thought I would be down 30 pounds by and I'm down NONE since then!!! I am utterly disgusted with and disappointed in myself! I'm so sick of being the FAT one. My five year old little boy asked me last night if I was fat or skinny and before I could figure out how to respond he said "I think that you are fat and I am skinny." It was a matter of fact thing, not an insult obviously...but it hurt so badly because I remember thinking how I needed to lose the weight before I had to hear my child call me fat. I HAVE FAILED!!!

If the shoe fits!

I got my first pair of fitted running shoes today! They are Brooks Ghost 5's...in a SIZE 12!!! I have humongous feet! lol I can't wait to try them out! Maybe tomorrow night, but not sure because I'm hurting pretty bad after last nights workout that I forgot to stretch for! *Bad Ernie!*

I went to The Complete Runner because it was one of the two places that I had a coupon for from my Crim training packet. I was really nervous about going in, for the obvious reason...I don't "look" like a runner! I was hoping that I would get a woman to fit me, but of course not...a younger man asked if I needed any help. I let him know that I was looking to buy my first pair of running shoes. He asked me what training I was doing and I told him about my Crim training as well as my C25K training. He had me take off my shoes (I was wearing HORRIBLE old, yellowish socks...I need new socks badly...OBVIOUSLY) and walk in a straight line for a ways and turn and come back. He then measured my feet (left: size 11; right: size 10.75ish) and said he would go in the back and bring out a few different shoes for me to try. I waited nervously for him to come back. He brought out three boxes...Nike, New Balance, and Mizuno. He asked me if I was ready! Um...I guess?! He opened the Nike box first and what he brought out not only looked like a pair boats...but also like a pair of orthopedic old lady shoes! He asked me to put my foot up on the stool in front of him and to my absolute horror I noticed that I had forgotten to SHAVE MY LEGS...FOR AT LEAST THREE DAYS APPARENTLY!!! I immediately covered what I could with my hands, but I'm pretty sure the damage was done and he's probably still puking from what he saw! He was a gentleman though and didn't mention anything. I of course was mortified, and that mortification was renewed every time I had to put my foot back up on that stool. I tried on five pairs of shoes total and fell in love with the Brooks Ghost 5's. They are SOOOO comfortable! I can't wait to try them out. : )

Just wanted to let my 27 followers and anonymous readers know that I offered to do a guest post for a woman that is participating in the Lose a Marathon Weight Loss Challenge with me. You can expect to see my guest post on July 12th on her blog, EatTeachBlog.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I had a GREAT night hanging out with my sister and a bottle of wine! : )

Feelin' HOT HOT HOT

I had a crappy day. I just felt like crap all day so I wasn't looking forward to going for a run at all, but I knew I had to do it because its been two days since my last workout. On Tuesday I ended up having to miss my group training session. My cat suddenly became very sick and I had taken him to the vet. I had to pick him back up at 6pm, which is when I'm suppose to be at training. I had planned to just get there late and meet up on the route because we were suppose to walk 6.5 miles. However, the heat index was high enough that we had to cut the mileage in half so it wouldn't have been worth it for me to drive the thirty minutes it would take me to get there. I just decided to do the walk myself started out from my house. One of my group members said they needed proof that I was going to do the walk on my own so I took and sent him these crappy camera phone pictures while on my 3.43 mile walk.

Me....walking. duh

Super crappy picture of the corn field I was walking past.

The temperature here in Michigan tonight when I went out for my first C25K week 5 workout was...

BTW...under that 82 it says "Real Feel 99"!!!

I did not think I would be able to finish...it was so hard to breath and I forgot to stretch beforehand...AGAIN!!! My legs were really sore when I got home...but I did it!!! : ) I didn't walk during any of the running intervals! I continue to surprise myself with my abilities. I hope that continues for the rest of this C25K week 5 because the next workout has been running for 8 minutes straight during one interval and the third workout has me (yes I'm mentioning this again!) running for 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT!!!

I was pleasantly surprised by my splits...it felt like I was going slower than a snail but I did pretty good! I'm not sure I believe that I was walking at a 15:27 pace between my first and second 5 minute running intervals but whatever.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! I'm hoping to get out tomorrow to buy my new running shoes. Which I will be able to post a picture of because I found my camera's SD card!!! : ) YIPPY!!!

Woop Woop!!!

Yeah, that's right, I CRUSHED IT!!! : )

I improved on every interval...except the 7th. I'm most surprised by my LAST running interval...I improved my pace by MORE THAN A MINUTE!!! As you can see I wasn't doing too well on that last 5:00 interval during the first two workouts so I just expected it to be about the same this time and technically it is my highest time (for running) but its so much less than the previous days that I'm just shocked!

I'm VERY nervous to start week 5 of C25K training because I just realized last night, when showing David what I would be doing this week, that the intervals increase with EVERY workout instead of staying the same like they have been. For those of you who aren't familiar with the program week 5 will go like this...

Workout 1: 5 minute warm-up walk; 5 minute run; 3 minute walk; 5 minute run; 3 minute walk; 5 minute run

Workout 2: 5 minute warm-up walk; 8 MINUTE RUN; 5 minute walk; 8 MINUTE RUN *tired just typing that!

Workout 3: 5 minute warm-up walk; 20 MINUTE RUN *WTH?!?!?!?!?!

If you aren't a runner or are new to running like me then you know how insane that looks! Guess we'll see if I can do it...all I can do is try, right?

This week I plan to concentrate on tracking my calories since I'm struggling with seeing any good results on the scale! ugh

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend. I was able to visit with some family that I rarely see and go swimming with my kids a couple times (kinda stressful when you are trying to keep track of two while holding a third...David couldn't get in because of having his vasectomy). I hope everyone tries to enjoy their Monday...not sure I will be...concentrating on getting ALL the laundry done today. : /