Santa Hustle 5k - December 2011

I had been looking forward to this run for a year. A coworker ran it last year and it seemed like such a cool idea. They gave you a Santa hat, beard and running shirt with a Santa jacket on it to wear while you ran. I thought it was a cool concept so I signed up as soon as I could for this year's run. Well, I was disappointed.

Let me just say that my wife made a good point when she thought the point of the run was more fun and family oriented than for people to try and PR on the course ... I think she hit it right now.

I personally look towards my 5ks competitively. I take my runs during the week as my training runs for my Half or Full Marathons and my weekend 5k or 10ks as my competitive runs. So, I took this race seriously.

We got to Montrose Harbor, where basically all the 5ks I do in Chicago are and it was just a sea of Santas. The last e-mail we got from the race organizers said there were 4000 people signed up out of the 5000 spots they allowed. Let me just tell you that is A LOT of people for these courses. Too many people in my opinion.

When the Ho Ho Ho finally went off to start the race, there was just a sea of red in front of me. It took me 2 minutes to get to the Start Line. I could tell from that point that I was going to be annoyed with this run.

I spent the entire first mile bobbing and weaving through the crowd to get to a good pace for me. It didn't help that my knee was hurting (I stupidly forgot my new knee brace at home).

I got to Mile Two where I could thankfully run along the grass and was able to get past some of the big masses and hit some open pathway. I could also tell that my pace was speeding up as I went along, which I was happy about.

Before hitting Mile Three, I was back under 9 min/mile pace so I was just hoping to finish in under 27 minutes. There was no way I would beat my PR of 25:34 at this rate.

During Mile Three, there weren't water stations - there were snack stations ... M&Ms and cookies. At this point, I really should've figured out that this run was more of a fun run than a regular race.

I ended up posting a 26:50, which is 8:39 min/mile pace. I finished 508 out of 3,645 overall and 45 out of 655 in my division (female 25-29). While those results are decent, I wanted better.

There were so many people on the course that I was elbowed, bumped in to, pushed and almost tripped more times than I can count. I only heard "Sorry" a few times ... that is runner etiquette 101.

I guess I just needed to realize before the run of the circumstances, but I really wasn't prepared. I think the race could still be fun and family oriented, while still giving other people that want to take the run seriously a chance (besides the wicked fast people at the front). The Hot Chocolate 5k does a great corralling system that helps out immensely.

To be honest, I don't think I will do this run again, but I think it is a great run for someone just getting started or wanting to go out and have a fun run with friends!!

Jeans

I am not a jeans person nor will I ever consider myself a jeans person. Having been someone that has been overweight most of my life, I just never felt comfortable in them. I don't see how wearing jeans makes someone feel more relaxed.

I owned one pair in high school and that was only because someone forced me to buy them - I don't remember why. I went to Catholic High School so we wore a uniform everyday, which made what to wear in the morning pretty easy. But when I did "dress down," it was always running pants or sweat pants.

I just felt more comfortable with the elastic band. I think because it allowed me kind of ignore the gradual weight gain - both in high school and later in college.

Additionally, when I think comfort, I just don't think jeans.

But, as I walked to work today in jeans, I realized ... I can tolerate them now. My company started "jeans Fridays" a couple months back and originally didn't think I would participate, but then I seemed to be the only person not doing it.

Now, that I am more comfortable with my body, I have become more comfortable with wearing clothes outside of my comfort zone - which include jeans. I think someone may have clicked when I went from wearing size 18 to a size 10.

Still, if someone told me I could wear my yoga pants on a daily basis, then I would . (I really never thought I would say that. I mean me comfortable enough to wear yoga pants out and about in the world. Crazy!)

I still only own one pair of jeans. Yes yes technically , I only wear one pair of multiple kinds of pants. Such is the life of someone in the thick of the weight loss journey. ;)

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Is there one piece of clothing that you never thought you would into your regular rotation prior to losing weight?

Dynamic December

I am jumping on board with many of my fellow bloggers and coming up with some goals for December. For me, it isn't about doing something before 2011 is over - it is about how I totally rocked September (thanks in part to my personal challenge), but completely fell apart in October and November (the scale didn't show it, but I felt it). But, now I am looking forward to a Dynamic December (I like alliteration so sue me :P). Originally, I was going to just redo my September challenge, but once I caught up on twitter last night the twitterverse created it for me. ;) So here are a few of the challenges/hashtags you will see me using in the upcoming month ... and beyond (some end before Christmas, at the New Year or February).

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1) #hlgFitGift - This challenge was designed by Jan (@HealthyLoserGal) and one of my favorite people in the world. :) She started this back in September, but it is set to end around Christmas. For this challenge, I have been trying to get in at least 30 min of exercise every day. I haven't succeeded up to this point, but I have been trying my hardest. Now, that December has rolled around and I don't really have any plans/travel, I am going to make sure to get some sort of moving in every day.

Jan is one of the best motivators, and people, around!!

2) #plankaday - This has been lifechanging for me. I am not one for crunches, especially with my back injury, so this is a great way to get some core work in without sitting and doing a bunch of crunches - I don't want to do - on the floor.

This program was started by Dr. Sherry Pagoto (@drsherrypagoto) and is open to interpretation. For me, I started with doing a 60 second forearm plank every day for a week. The next week I upped it by 5 seconds and did 65 second forearms planks every day for a week. I did 5 second increments until I could hold a forearm plank for 120 seconds - yes! I can hold a plank for 2 minutes. Ahhh, I never thought that was possible.

Once, I hit that goal I switched up my planks. Last week, I did one 60 second forearm plank and a 30 second side plank on both sides every day. So this week, I increased it to 2 60 second forearm plank and 2 30 second side planks on both sides every day. I am going to keep increasing this until I hit at least 5 of each.

I am going to continue to do my #plankaday every day. I am enjoying the versatility and loving the #plankaday community.

3) #30for60 - The #30for60 challenge was created by Samantha (@runcupcake) and Jim (@runbikesurf) and I found out about it yesterday. The jist is to keep people moving for a mininum 30 minutes every day for the next 60 days (so December 1-February 1). This will helpfully be an easier task for me since I will be using the same activity for both #hlgFitGift & #30for60. But, I will take as much motivation as I can.

This challenge does have a possible prize attached to it, but I don't usually get caught up in those since I don't usually win contests. :P (Don't you just want to send me a present? ;))

4) #back2basics - I think this is a great challenge and timely for me as I am trying to get back into the swing after taking 10 days off Weight Watchers, while on vacation with my wife. I also like this challenge (started by Colleen - @tryn2bfit) because it again leaves the choice of what you focus on up to the individual. I think that is a great way to keep people's attention and driven when they are working on something extremely personal.

For me, I will be focusing on hitting all 6 of the Weight Watchers Healthy Guidelines. Every day of the month I will be sure to have my required amounts of liquids (water), fruits/veggies, vitamins, dairy, healthy oils & exercise. I am pumped. I have been working on this for four days already so I think that will help me keep the train on the track - so to speak. :)

5) #FT100- This is an amazing challenge set up by a couple of my fellow #FFCheer peeps. For me, it was a no-brainer to join. The deal: run 100 miles by January 31, 2012 - roughly 62 days). This works out to about 1.6 miles a day or a little over 11 miles a week. Well, since I am training for the F^3 Lake Half Marathon on January 28, I think it is safe to say I will be running at least 11 miles a week.

It is kind of frustrating that I need to log the miles on Daily Mile since I use Runkeeper, which logs my runs automatically. But, I think this is worth the extra step. ;)

I kicked off the challenge today with a nice 6 mile run along the Lakefront. Woo! 6 down ... 94 to go!

6) #30daychip - I owe a lot of success to the man that created the #7daychip/#30daychip program: Brad Gansberg (@bradgansberg). He has been a great motivator and has gotten me back on track more times than I can count.

This is yet another great challenge that you set for yourself. I have done a few different #7daychip topics, which you can see here.

The basic premise is to do something healthy for seven consecutive days ... or if you are feeling like you want a real challenge you can go for 30 or 100 days.

For this, #30daychip (which would be my second) I am looking to track my food every day. That means: log it into Weight Watchers eTools, write it up as a food log post on my blog and Facebook/Tweet it out.

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Now, this may seem like I am shooting for the moon and overextending myself, but really alot of these challenges overlap and create sort of a domino effect. As long as I workout, I will hit my healthy guideline, which will help my #30daychip, etc.

I set these goals for myself because this is the person I want to be. The person I want to strive to be. The person I will work to be ... one day at a time.

And because of you - my family, friends, Facebook crew and twitterverse - that will hold me accountable, will support me and will keep me going.

The hashtags help to build a community. It opens the doors to new relationships, tips and most importantly more support.

So for me, this is what I will be striving for in December.

What will you be doing for you?

Truth Tuesday - 5 lb Gain (2 weeks)

Okay well I knew that this would be a gain. I mean hello I was traveling and out of town in Hawaii on my honeymoon for about 8 days total. I knew there would also be some bloating due to all the salt/beer/wine from the previous week as well. I was expecting a 7 lb gain since that is what my home scale was telling me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a ... 5 lb gain. I will take it, accept it and move on.

Today: Gained 5.0 (first weigh-in in two weeks)

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 168.2

Total Lost: 49.2

Pounds From Original Goal: 4.2

Pounds From New Goal: 13.2

Since I am trying to be more positive, I will list good things that came out of today's Weight Watchers meeting: I am still in the 160s, I was asked to be a success story at another WW center opening, my size 10 pants still fit and the most important ... I faced the scale and lived! :P

Overall, I am really am feeling positive. I am on Day 3 of my latest attempt at a #7daychip. This is four-fold:

1) Do a #plankaday everyday

2) I need to hit all 5 of the food-related WW healthy checks (liquid, healthy oils, vitamin, fruits/veggies and dairy)

3) Track EVERYTHING

4) Get in at least 30 minutes of moving/exercise everyday

This has been great. I am feeling empowered and overall healthier. Despite trying to keep moving/running/exercising while in Hawaii, I was eating crappy since we had to eat out EVERY meal and feeling gross. I am happy to be back in my comfort zone and back to my workout routine. Next time I go on vacation (should be sometime in the next decade :P) I want to go stay somewhere where I can cook/make my own breakfast/lunch.

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As we talked in today's meeting about the impending Holiday season, I realized that I am pretty off the hook for the rest of the year. I only have one holiday party to attend for work and that is it. I am not traveling home for Christmas. I don't have cookie exchanges to attend. I don't have visitors coming in to town. The remainder of 2011 will be pretty status quo for me. I am hoping this gives me time to really buckle down and get closest to my newly set goal weight as possible. Only time will tell.

I am going to start a new December challenge for myself. I think I am going to look back at my successful Stupendous September challenge and take a couple notes from that.

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Did you face the scale today despite the holiday?

Hawaiian Honeymoon

I still can't believe we actually, ok finally, were able to take our honeymoon ... a mere year in the making. ;) We headed to Hawaii - the island of Oahu and more specifically the Honolulu/Waikiki area. As I had mentioned before it had been a looong time since I last had an entire week off from work so I was more nervous about getting this whole "taking a vacation" and "relaxing" thing down. I can tell you honestly it took me until Day Four to finally feel relaxed. :P The wife fell so in love with Hawaii that I thought I would be returning to Chicago alone on Friday. ;) I enjoyed the area as well, but a lack of Dunkin Donuts, missing the pups and being frustrated with having to eat out every meal - I was ready to come back!!

The travel was brutal. We left on November 18 at 9am. Well, we were supposed to leave at 9am, but finally let about an hour after that - thank you delays. As a result we ended up having about 30 min between flights in Los Angeles. Overall, we survived and arrived in Hawaii just before 6pm. That is right. It took us in total about 12 hours to travel from Chicago to Honolulu. Whoa! My back was not a big fan of having a 4.5 hour flight then right into another 5 hour flight. Thankfully, a couple glasses of wine and a snack on the second flight and I was feeling better. :)

We picked up our bags (ours were actually the first two off the flight), headed to pick up our rental car and proceeded to sit in horrendous bumper to bumper traffic en route to our hotel. Gotta love Friday afternoon rush hour, right? Anyway, we finally made it to the hotel, went up to our room and realized they gave us 2 double beds. Let me tell you, NOTHING says romantic honeymoon like double beds. The front desk person was sweet and was able to move us the next morning to a room with a king size bed. It was late, I needed a drink so we took it. We had a snack and a couple drinks before crashing since I was still on Chicago time (four hours later than Honolulu time).

Saturday morning I proceeded to wake up at 2am. Yay time differences! (I can tell you this crash early/wake up early lasted the entire trip for me - I never got used to the change). We decided to take this day in stride: got breakfast, took a walk around Honolulu, window shopped, stopped by the beach and was out by about 8pm. :P Aren't I a wonderful travel companion?

Sunday was our day of relaxation ... I got up and did a nice 10k (6.2 miles) run along the beach at 5:30 (why not, I was up :)). The wife and I decided to pamper ourselves. We went to the fancy Spa at a hotel nearby, got a pedicure and an 80 min lomi-lomi couples massage. Wow! It was awesome!! I felt completely relaxed. It was also great to just play the rest of the day by ear ... enjoy some lunch, some drinks and some sun before hitting the "tourist" ground running.

We kicked off our tourist spots with Pearl Harbor. It was a truly overwhelming experience and I am so happy we took the time to go there. We saw the USS Arizona Memorial and went aboard the Battleship Missouri. While on the USS Arizona Memorial, it was just crazy to wrap my head around that 1,177 people were trapped/died inside the boat below where I was standing. Powerful.

Thankfully once we got back from the bus tour, the wife let me watch the Patriots play Monday Night Football. BUT, it was even better since MNF started at 3:30 in Hawaii so it was over before dinner. Amazing. Nothing like multi-tasking between a Patriots win and an amazing sunset. Rough day, I know. ;)

We finally put the rental car to good use on Tuesday. We headed to to the North Shore of the Island (we stayed in the South Shore) to take in Turtle Bay. I heard so many people talk about it that i needed to see it for myself. It is a stretch of beach where all the turtles congregate. My friend in February saw 8-9 turtles on the beach itself, but we didn't have that luck. We saw maybe 3 turtles in the water, including a little baby. But, hey seeing three is better than none. Especially after driving around searching for the "off the beaten patch" entrance to the beach.

On the way back, we hit up a bakery that a friend recommend - Liliha Bakery. People, it was lifechanging. ;) They are known for their coco puffs and they did not disappoint. Yummy!

We continued back towards our hotel to get ready to attend an actual luau. We hit up Germaine's Luau, which is one of the best in the area. It was amazing. Man, can those girls move their hips. I respectfully declined getting up on stage to take a hula lesson and instead took advantage of my 3 free drinks included in the price of my ticket. :)

Of course we put our late night right before our earliest morning. On Wednesday, we had to meet our bus tour at 6am to head to a dolphin tour/snorkeling. By far, this was the coolest thing we did. We actually got to swim through the schools of fish - all which reminded me of fish from Finding Nemo. Yes, the entire time we snorkeled (about an hour) I quoted Finding Nemo in my head. Especially, when we saw three giant sea turtles. They were sooo cool. I totally geeked out during this part. I was the last girl to get out of the water and third to last person overall. I didn't want to leave.

We even saw about 20 or so dolphins. At one point, they even surrounded our boat. It was just an out of this world experience for me to be so close to these amazing creatures. The boat also served on delicious spread: pulled pork, rice, terriyaki chicken, strawberries and some adult beverages of course. ;)

I think this was the first time on the trip that I was in my bathing suit (only second time I had put it on) and didn't feel so self-conscious in it. I was really just enjoying the experience.

After realizing that I had missed the Honolulu Half Marathon on Sunday, I decided to sign up for the Turkey Trot 10-Miler on Thanksgiving. It was a great experience. The views, colors and atmosphere were great. I even shaved seven minutes off my time and ran into an old friend. :)

Following the run, the wife and I had decided to climb Diamond Head Crater. That turned out to be a little tougher for me since I hurt my knee during the morning's run, but I pushed through the pain. And I am sure glad I did, I cannot put into words how awesome the views were from up there. There aren't any active volcanos on the island of Oahu so this old Volcano crater was the closest we could do. We had planned to hike a waterfall after that, but my knee was not having it!

We decided to take Thursday evening easy since we knew Friday would be a loooong day of traveling (left at 2pm Hawaii time on Friday and got to Chicago at 5am on Saturday). But, we did manage to finally catch a full sunset from the beach. All week other things had come up: clouds, being on a tour, etc so it was great to see just one in full before we left.

I was proud of myself for being as active as I was, but I know I should've done more/eaten better. But, I enjoyed my time and am back in healthly life mode now.

It seemed as if as soon as the vacation started, it was over. It was an amazing week and actually the first time the wife and I had spent that much time together straight without work or the pups. Maybe we should do it more often... ;)

I will leave you with some final pictures of Paradise:

Honolulu Turkey Trot 10-Miler - November 2011

I can now say I have officially run a road race of some sort in four different states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Illinois and now Hawaii. :) Not gonna lie, it was extra motivation to get up and sign up for the Honolulu Turkey Trot on November 24. The website I found said the run was just $5 so I was not sure what it would actually include, but I definitely got more than I bargained for.

I had no idea how registration would go (since it was only day of) so I was up at 5:30 even though the run started 5-7 minutes from the hotel. I had my clothes, iPhone holder, headphones and sneakers laid out the night before like usual. :)

I jumped out of bed and headed to register. I had my normal pre-race butterflies, especially since I was out of my comfort zone, but I was ready!

As I approached the sign-up area, I heard my name being called. It was my old coworker Hiro! RAN-DOM! I had no idea he was in Hawaii let alone running in the same race as me. Yay! I had someone to hang with before the run. He had two friends with him to so it was nice to meet new people.

While we waited around for registration to open at 6:30am sharp, I found out that the race was put on my the Honolulu Marathon Clinic group. It is a group that helps people train for the Honolulu Marathon - open to all levels of runners.

On Thanksgiving, the 10-mile run is part of their training and used to work on pacing. As a result, people aren't allowed any technology on the run - no iPhones, Garmins, Runkeepers, watches, etc. It is geared to help you work on your pace for the full marathon - listen to your body.

Wow! I was not prepared for that. Thankfully Hiro drove to the race so I was able to stash my iPhone in his car.

The other kicker of the run - since it was designed to work on pace - had no chip times or numbers, but a tongue depresser. On the depresser, you wrote your predicted finishing time for the race. I wrote 1:38.35 since that is what I ran 10 miles in in Chicago on November 15.

When you crossed the finished line, there would be someone there to write your "actual" time next to your predicted time.

How did they determine the winners? Whoever's actual time was closest to their predicted time won. Well, I figured I had to be spot on since I had just done the same run about a week earlier. I liked my chances.

At 7am, they finally had us head over to the start line. I felt so naked without my iPhone - I do EVER run with it. But, I was up for this challenge.

I started out in the back and quickly did my bob and weaving, ending up next to Hiro's two friends for the first part of the run.

I felt great. Without music or my Runkeeper updates, I really just took in the surroundings, I was able to listen to my body and could feel my feet hitting the pavement.

The views were breathtaking. The only reason I wanted my iPhone was to snap photos. I was wicked jealous of the people who brought disposable cameras. Had I known I wouldn't have my phone - I would've bought one.

I also didn't know there would be two HUGE hills on this run. Wow! I really had to thank Spinning for giving me the muscles and concentration to power up the hills with ease.

It was oddly refreshing to have no idea how long or how far I had been running. But, I was still curious. I finally found a couple guys who decided to "cheat" and had GPS watches on. They let me know we were halfway through. Okay I thought, feeling good.

Then I realized how hot it was getting. Man that sun/heat really snuck up on me ;)

The houses in the neighborhood we ran through were gorgeous. I can't imagine how much they cost ... but definitely out of my price range. :P

I overheard someone saying that the last mile or so was completely downhill. As I ran up the second hill, I figured we had to be getting close. As I started the downward portion, I caught up to another gentleman who looked like he had done this before. :)

He told me we were about 9 miles in and getting close to the finish. He asked me what my estimated time was, I said 1:38 and he let me know his pace was 1:30 so I was ahead of schedule and could take it easy if I wanted. Yeah, not my MO. ;) I knew I wanted to push myself since I was not working on my pace time for the marathon.

I kept up with the gentleman for the remainder of the run. He was originally from Chicago so we had a lot to chat about.

Not going to lie - the final mile felt like it would NEVER end. I wanted to stop. I wanted to walk. But, I couldn't.

I crossed the line at 1:31.04. A 9:06 minute/mile pace. Whhaaa?? Despite the heat and being out of my element, I cut about seven minutes off my time. I was PSYCHED. (Note: the time is as official as they could do since it probably took me at least 30 seconds to get to the start line)

I hate running with things in my hand so thankfully I kept the depresser in my Sweaty Band, while I ran. :)

Overall, it was a wicked cool experience. I am so happy I did it. I proved to myself that I could power through a run with two hills, no music and an unfamiliar route.

Of course I made Hiro (who finished in 1:05, fast I know) take a pic with me after the run to prove to everyone that I really saw him :P

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Next official race is the Santa Hustle 5k in Chicago on December 3! :)

Half Marathon Update - 10k (6.2 miles)

I have finally returned from Paradise - aka Waikiki, Hawaii - it was in a word: amazing! But I will write a whole post on the honeymoon once the pictures are all uploaded for now I will focus on my first run along the beach. Well, before I left I knocked out a 10 mile run on November 15 in probably 40 degree weather. So, I knew that I needed to take advantage of Hawaii's amazing temps and take the new running shoes out a couple times.

I decided on Sunday, November 20, to knock out about 5-6 miles since I was most likely going to sign up for the local Turkey Trot 10-Miler on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is the view I saw as I started my run at about 5:45am

Pretty breathtaking, huh? :)

I had decided on this run that I really wouldn't worry about time. I just wanted to take in the amazing view as I just let my feat his the ground. I ran down along the main drag of Waikiki, passing all the expensive stores (Coach,  Burberry, Ferrari, etc) and finally found a little patch of green area that led me to the beachfront.

By the time I hit the beach I was about to hit Mile Two and felt it okay to slow it down and snap a couple photos to share with you all. So, here they are :)

You can see how it was pretty easy to keep running, right? ;)

I ran along the beach as long as I could before I was thwarted by a beachfront hotel and forced to turn back around. I headed back to the green patch, past the stores and back along the beach near my hotel. I actually hit my hotel at about Mile Four, but I wanted to keep going :) So, I headed to new territory near the Honolulu Zoo. I ended up seeing a bunch of other runners wearing numbers.

Damnit! I didn't even know the Honolulu Half Marathon was that day! Ahhh, I totally would've signed up. Oh well, next time I will do better research :)

I turned around at Mile Five and headed back to my hotel. I approached six miles and figured what was another .2, right? Might as well make it a 10k.

Despite taking it easy and stopping to snap pics, I finished 6.23 miles in 1:01.01 (9:48 min/mile pace). Still decent for me.

It am so thankful to have the opportunity to do this run: the atmosphere, the views, the fellow runners and just taking in the warm air! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

I have seen a lot of bloggers doing something called Wordless Wednesdays where the blog post is mainly comprised of pictures and just some little snippets about each. I thought I would give that a whirl today... so here goes nothing! I went back through my iPhone and picked some of my favorites of 2011 ... especially since there are only 45 days left in the year!

Just a great picture that reminds me of Summer ... needed as it is 39 degrees today in Chicago!

Great moment of the summer: El, Sara and I hit up the NKOTBSB concert! Oh I wish it was still the 90s sometimes...

The first time I fit into a size 10 pants since probably 8th grade. Oh what a happy day!!

Isn't it beautiful? An amazing benefit of getting up at 5:30am over the summer to do my Half Marathon Training runs by the Lakefront.

A great reminder for all of us ...

 

What an awesome day this was! The opening of the Jennifer Hudson Weight Watchers Center in Chicago. It was surreal to see my picture on the wall of Success Stories!

Finding my love of Spinning has been a lifechanger ... it is improving my attitude, my running and my overall love of working out!

Just reminding everyone of my Boston Pride :P

How time flies ... I cannot even believe that November 2 marked my 2-year anniversary with Weight Watchers. I can't thank WW enough for giving me life!

How can you say no to this face???

A screen I never thought I would see :) I really wish it had given off fireworks or something when it popped up though ;)

<3 the wife -- 11-12-10!

Not sure if that is the correct way to take part in Wordless Wednesday, but wow I feel better about myself after looking back at just a few of my blessings from the past year! It makes me more excited for my 2011 recap blog post in just 45 short days...

Truth Tuesday - 0.2 lb Gain

Well, I knew this week would be a toughy. I had lost 2 lbs the week before, hit goal and wasn't sure how my body would react. I also knew that on Saturday of this week I would be celebrating my one-year anniversary. I tried to do as much prep work as I could before Saturday. I used just 7 weekly points and worked out like it was my job! Overall this week I earned 40 activity points - yes you read that correctly. So I was planning on having 42 weekly points and all activity points on hand for Saturday's events! I thought that would cover me. Well I ended up feeling nervous about the weigh-in so I did double workouts on Sunday and Monday as well and started today off with a 10-mile run. I was just hoping to be down at least 0.6 lbs to reach 55 lbs lost. Well, I hit the scale today and ... I was up 0.2 lbs. I think I dropped a big F%^& when I saw that. Today: Gained 0.2

Starting Weight: 217.4

Today’s Weight: 163.2

Total Lost: 54.2

Pounds From Original Goal: -0.8

Pounds From New Goal: 8.2

Well, let's just say I didn't handle the gain very well. I was super upset with myself. I left the meeting after weighing-in and immediately ate a pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese. Did I need to eat it? Nope! Had I planned for it? Nope! But I was upset and immediately turned to food. Not good. Really not good since it was 0.2 lbs. If my friend had gained 0.2 lbs, I would've said "C'mon it's a wash. You just didn't pee enough." But it happens to me and I lose it. I just wanted to head into Hawaii on a positive note - a loss.

So I sent out my usual mass text and tweet about the results and was thankfully brought back down from the ledge my my ever supportive support group. Phew! That could've turned into a downward spiral pretty quickly.

I need to remind myself that I am human and that you can't always control how your body handles a given week. I had to be reminded of the positives. I am still under my original goal by 0.8 lbs. I have still lost 54.2 lbs. I did complete a 10-mile run this morning in a kick ass time (for me). I went out of my comfort zone this week and tried a Hip Hop/Funk dance class and braved a new Zumba class. And the best news ...

I was contacted by a newspaper today that wants to interview me and include it in their article "How I Lost It." Wow! I had responded to a tweet about it a couple weeks ago, but never thought I would really be picked. That honor definitely turned my spirits around.

So after talking to a couple people today, I have calmed myself down. I tracked the bagel and reset my food plan for today so that I still hit my 29 Daily Points. I moved back into a positive mindframe. I told myself again that it is just one week in a lifetime journey.

Now, I need to refocus my mind for my next weigh-in (November 29), which will be following a week in Hawaii. I will know that there will be a gain, but I will try to be as active as possible while I am gone to combat being out of my comfort zone foodwise. I am going to indulge in as much fresh fruit as I can, but make sure to really enjoy a place that I have never visited before ... and probably won't again.

Life is about balance. Sometimes I just need to remind myself of that because ...

Half Marathon Update - 10 miles

This training run was slightly different than what has been happening. I switched the run from Thursday to Tuesday because it was going to be 10 degrees warmer this morning and I wanted the extra help before my Weight Watchers weigh-in. I ran solo - El was sick and nursing a hurt ankle so I had to hit the trail all by my lonesome. I also listened to music the entire time - well I had to otherwise I would've been the weird girl running along the Lake talking to herself. ;) Well, I kept my routine pretty standard this morning - hopped outta bed at 5:30am, had all my clothes already laid out, made sure to move around the house as quietly as possible to not wake up the wife or the pups and headed out towards the Lakefront.

It was in the low 40s for the start of the run, which felt like a heatwave after last week. :P

I started out slow since I have been experiencing some back pain the past couple days after going a little too hard during a Hip Hop/Funk class. I kept feeling pains in the right side of my back and in my stomach, but I vowed to push through. I just kept looking at my GoSportID band and saying "Stand Up And Finish What You Started."

I kept a pace just below 10 minutes per mile and remembered to check in with my body every so often. I wanted to give up after Mile Four, but I just kept taking the run 5 minutes at a time ... and it worked. Next thing I know I was at Mile Seven. Now at this point, there really was no looking back. I had a goal in my mind of 8-10 miles, but really a goal of 10 miles. I wanted to head into vacation on a good note.

I would be lying if I didn't say the last two miles were tough, but powerful. I felt my body getting stronger as I came to the final mile. I think all my time on the Stairmaster and in Spin classes is really paying off.

I ended up completing 10.02 miles in 1:38.35 (9:50 min/mile pace). I was thrilled!! That is a full seven minutes faster than my first attempt at 10 miles this year (July 8 - 1:45.56). It also meant my pace was 16 seconds faster per mile than my Half Marathon in August (10:12).

Today gave me the belief that I can knock some decent time off my Half in January. I finished the Rock 'n' Roll Half in August in 2:12.15. It would be great if I could get a time closer to 2 hours. Of course, this is all pending on how the weather is that day!! It will be January ... in Chicago ... by the Lake! :P

But for today, I am proud of myself. I fought through, dug deep and completed my mission!