The List: Crossed of #20

I added No Drinking for 30 Consecutive Days under my Be Healthy section of my 101 in 1001 list. I put it on there with good intentions, but didn't think I would actually accomplish this one.

2012 started with me saying I was going to get to my goal weight this year for once and all. Part of my effort to getting there was setting small (hopefully attainable) monthly goals so I wouldn't get discouraged and give up. I decided I wouldn't drink each month until I met each of those goals in an effort to get there sooner. Drinking is just murder to any diet or healthy choices I aim for. When I'm out drinking, I'm likely to be in a bar or at someone's house. There is likely to be abundant food and it is unlikely that it is healthy. So I end up drinking and then also snacking on things I wouldn't normally choose. Weekday drinking is usually at happy hour, happy hour is right after work. Since I'm not a morning person, right after work, I have not been to the gym yet. This means weekday drinking results in no workout. Another double whammy. Extra food, no burn.

So in January I started with no drinking thinking I would partake once I hit my monthly poundage goal. Once I hit that goal I was so close to the end of the month (and making my 30 days to cross it off), that I just decided to keep going. This resulted in coming in a SOLID two pounds past my goal and starting off February ahead. #WINNING

As posted before, February is presenting itself with several events where I will be consuming alcohol, but I do plan to tone down. When I used to try and keep up with the boys beer for beer, I think I'll make the cut off after a couple, I don't need to be drinking that much and my lower tolerance shouldn't allow for very much anyways. I'm sticking to the same weight goal for February as before even though I'm starting out ahead, so that means two fewer pounds to worry about, hopefully I can still achieve a loss and be able to have a couple cocktails. If not, back to sobriety until we learn how to lose and drink at the same time. It's a delicate balance.

Do you cut out alcohol when you're trying to lose weight? Is that the first to go or do you try to lose while you're still drinking?

1 Down, 11 to go

The first month of the year has passed us by. I stuck to my plan the whole month and started of the year on a great note.

I ended January with a 4 mile run on a gorgeous afternoon. Seriously, 65 degrees in January? Last year we had a foot of snow on the ground at this time in the year. I made it the first two miles without a walk break and minimal walking on the way back, so much progress from where I was a year or even just 6 months ago.

So onto the next month, just taking it one at a time. February brings challenges that I was able to avoid in January. We have a wedding this weekend, birthday parties, and a weekend away to visit friends. There will be unavoidable meals out and cocktails galore. However, we are also stepping up our workouts. Hubs and I added 30 minutes a week in with our trainer. I was literally curled up in a ball 45 minutes into our first hour long workout with him. I am actually looking forward to our 30 minutes with him on Thursdays, it'll be a break from what he did to us on Monday. 

Towards the end of February I will be beginning my training schedule for the Broad Street 10 miler. I'm using the same schedule I used for my 15k and have just added a week to the end so that my longest run will be 9 miles instead of capping it at 8. I will have another post this month with my goals for this race. 

My first weigh in of the month has me about 2 pounds ahead of schedule. I'll take it. I'm going to need all the help I can get to make this month's goals.

If January was my kick off month, February will be my first really challenging month. The first of many challenges, learning to stick to goals and plans even when life gets in the way.

How do you handle the challenges and hurdles life throws at you to derail your diet or healthy choices you've been so good about?

Resolution Plateau?

So just over three weeks in, is everyone else tired of trying to keep up with resolutions yet?

I'm holding strong, still counting points, still abstaining from alcohol, still working out.

And guess what? It's working. WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!

I know. Who'd have thunk it? I took a couple days off from the gym last week due to the inability to breathe. Thanks to Hubs, I was out of commission for about 4 days with a cold. BUT I showed up yesterday ready to get back on track. And jump on the track I did. Our trainer has been building us up with our running and surprisingly (not so surprising, this guy is GOOD) it's working. Yes, I ran 15k 6 weeks ago, but I didn't run for more than 2 minutes straight and I plodded along at about 14 minute miles. Yesterday, 16 quick laps around the mini track and I had hit one mile in 10:01. Even in high school my quickest mile was about 12:30. I don't know how long I could maintain that, but it felt good to knock it out at least once.

So on top of running a 10 minute mile, the scale keeps creeping lower and lower. Also great news. So although I'm tired of being good, seeing results is definitely motivating. In the past I would have thought that I deserved a week off from the gym or a weekend off from dieting, I would then hit a downward spiral and undo all of the hard work I had put in. Not this time, I think I'll stick with for a while longer and keep going on this positive trend.

How are your resolutions going? Holding strong? Do the positive results motivate you to keep chugging along?

25 Days of Christmas

One of the projects I did over the holidays was 25 Days of Christmas for hubs. I got the idea from my December issue of Martha Stewart Living and her advent calendar of gifts. On Black Friday when I had the day off but hubs had to work, I hopped out of bed to get this project completed from start to finish.

I headed out to Target to do the shopping. I was worried that I would have to deal with the Black Friday shoppers, but since Target opened at midnight, they were all long gone by 8 am. I picked up a cartful of small gifts that he would open each day. I got him gift cards for breakfasts and lunches when he's at work. I picked up some snacks and treats to open throughout the month and a couple odds and ends gifts that he'd love. To fill in the gaps of days I also included "coupons" for things like date nights at his favorite restaurants and chores like a week of his favorite meals and a weekend without any dog walking responsibilities. 

I headed home to start wrapping the gifts. I pulled out my brown craft paper, ribbons, and my Cricut to make the numbers for each day. Most importantly this was my inaugural day of marathon Christmas carols. I couldn't have imagined it turning out any better. I was literally squealing and clapping as it all came together. 

Hubs had no idea that I was even planning this surprise and I couldn't wait for the first day of December for him to start unwrapping the gifts. I think I was just as excited as he was each day for him to wake up and see what was in store for him. I kept a list of each day's gifts so I'd know what was coming up.

I think he was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed each day of prizes. I look forward to making this a tradition in our house and getting to enjoy the gift giving and Christmas spirit all month long.

Did you start any new traditions this year?? 

Happy Holidays!!!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I have a couple of projects I can't wait to share with you, but I just wanted to check in to see how your first week of 2012 is going. 

I'm trying to figure out how to blog on our new iPad (yay!). I downloaded The Blogsy app, but I have no idea how to use it. We'll start with trial and error.

So I set a couple goals for this year, probably the same goals I set every year. Lose weight, save money, buy a house. 

The weight loss is always the hardest. Last year I ended up with a grand total loss of 4 pounds. I felt like I had dieted the entire year and only had four measly pounds to show for it. 

I do feel better about this year, I feel like I'm going into it this time with a brand new set of tools. The diet part is always the easiest in theory, hardest to maintain. I'm starting out with tried and true Weight Watchers. I've had success in the past with counting points, as long as I count my points. I've even gone as far as pledging no drinks until I meet my monthly mini goals. No wasted points or calories for me.

My new secret weapon this year is.....the gym. Hahahaha big secret. But for reals, I started running last year and loved training for a race. I've already signed up for a 10k with my mom in June and have a half marathon in mind for next December (who else wants to go to Vegas???). Hubs and I have the personal trainer that tortures us twice a week and gives us homework for the other days. I would have seen more progress with him already if we hadn't started in the fall before I decided to eat my way through football season and the holidays.

So let's recap the weight loss plan of action: stick to diet, workout, motivate with races. 

Onto saving money, this year is looking a lot better comp wise at work, so that extra cash should be easy to sock away into out downpayment fund and our 5th Anniversary Europe Fund. Plus the diet means less eating out = money saved. Fingers crossed for a good tax return as well....

Then buy a house. Dumb iPad has an amazing RedFin app. We are constantly browsing houses and marking ones we like. This is gonna be realz if we can get goal number two in line. 

Did you make resolutions this year? Are they the same ones you make every year, but this will actually be your year??? Can I make it past the one week mark on any of mine??? Only one more day to find out the answer to that one......

I'll be back once I figure out how to upload pics on this thing. 

Happy New Year!

Hot Chocolate 15k

So I know you've been dying to hear how my race was, right?

Last Saturday I headed out to the National Harbor to run 9.3 miles with 19,999 other people. I was SUPER anxious about the crowds, getting there, getting chocolate, pretty much everything but the actual run.

The run itself was HARD. We started going down hill and I hit the first mile marker at 12 mins. Whoa, way too fast for me (I'm usually at about 13:30 - 13:45 miles). It was 5 miles out and back on a highway. It was boring and awful with all of the exhaust from the trucks and cars just one lane over. It was defeating to see the PACKS of people over a mile ahead of me when I was only two miles in. When I turned around however, it was encouraging to see all of the people I was ahead of. I kept my eye on a few people and just made it my goal to keep up with them.

The first five miles ended going uphill the way we came then back down hill for the next 3/4 miles. We ran past the finish line and went along the 5k course that had already happened that morning. Unfortunately, the downhill wouldn't last, at about 6.5 miles (right after I passed hubs cheering me along) we hit another hill, straight up.

Until this point I had stuck to my run 2 minutes walk 1 intervals. This hill was defeating. My attempt at running up it was counter productive. I just walked to the top, totally off of my intervals for the rest of the race. The final two miles were just run as far as I could, walk until I caught my breath. The final 1/4 mile was again, UPHILL. This was the steepest of the three hills too. Once I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I sprinted by hubs and friends cheering me on to finish.

What surprised me here was that I burst into tears. I was NOT expecting that at all. I wasn't dead (thank you training) and I had actually passed a LOT of people in the last mile (again, thank you training). I felt defeated though, that was the hardest run I had ever done. I had purposefully trained on what was one of the hillier parts of the trail I like, but I didn't feel prepared AT ALL for the giant hills in the race. I felt better once two ladies finished behind me saying that this was so much harder than the 10 Miler courses for the big races in DC.

When I signed up for the race, I had set a goal to finish under the slowest allowed pace time, 15 minute miles. As I had completed my longer training runs, I was coming in at closer to 13:45 - 14:00 minute miles. So before the race I had hoped to finish under a 14 minute mile pace. My official time was 2:11:50 which was a 14:09 pace. I was disappointed that just two minutes faster would have gotten me under the 14 minute goal.

This was my first big race and first race over 5k. My personal run was hard but good, the event as a whole? An absolute disaster.

The 15k was supposed to corral up at 7:45 and be off at 8 or shortly after. Our parking pass said to arrive at the National Harbor by 6:30. We were about 1/4 mile from the exit at 6:10 and then hit dead stopped traffic. At 7:35 we still weren't parked, had barely made it off the exit, so my friend and I jumped out of the car to walk to the start line. We had to walk about a mile to get to the start line and saw that the 5k was no where near starting. They were supposed to be off at 7:30.

At about 8:30 the 5k finally started. The 15kers jumped right into the corrals to get going ASAP. 15 mins later, the leaders of the 5k were finishing. At about 45 mins almost the entire 5k had finished and we still hadn't started our race. At this point, it was 9:15 and I had been expecting to be over half way done already. I had eaten breakfast four hours earlier and hadn't brought water with me. I was starving, thirsty, and numb from the cold. We had no information about when we would start and were just standing there hoping it'd be soon. Without any warning, the crowd started moving forward to the start line. The first mile and a half, I couldn't feel my feet because they were so frozen.

At the 5 1/2 mile when we were crossing back by the start and then finish line, the course was crowded with people who had finished the 5k and were now walking back to their cars. I couldn't tell at several points if I was even on the course because I couldn't see any other runners, just people with their families walking to their cars.

The water stations were poorly manned, often having to wait for water to get poured or do it yourself. (Let's blame this for my 2 minute hold up that cost me my goal pace). Once I finished running uphill to complete the race, the post race party was even further up the hill. At this point, I could choose, walk uphill some more to get rationed hot chocolate and fondue, or walk downhill a mile and half to get back to our car. I chose downhill. Prior to the race, I was really looking forward to celebrating my finish with other runners over delicious Ghiradelli hot chocolate, by the time I was finished, I just wanted to go home.

My experience and frustration with the poorly run race was not unique. I checked the Facebook page of the race and there were hundreds of unhappy folks. RAM Racing did not issue a statement until Sunday and it was just full of excuses.

They claimed traffic was bad because of an accident, WTOP and the Washingtonian have both said there was no accident reported. They said the National Harbor had promised parking would be no problem for 5,000 cars, but they never checked passes (Which had cost an additional $10 and required carpooling), so everyone parked there. They said the 15k was so delayed because the 5k went the wrong direction on the course, which is why we had to wait for them to finish. Shouldn't the lead bike have known which way to take the runners?

The whole thing was so poorly run and from what I can tell, it was mostly from them registering at least twice as many racers as the event should have held. Runners who were at a bit of a quicker pace said the course was too narrow and they were elbow to elbow the entire time and bumping and tripping into each other. The jackets provided were too small for everyone, leading to everyone sizing up and them running out of jackets.

I left the race with an awful distaste for RAM racing and am doubtful I would do another race with them. From what I can tell, most of their events have major mishaps.

All in all, I signed up for a 15k, I trained my butt off to prepare, and finished the race pretty much as expected. If it weren't for the poorly run event, I'd be so much more positive about the whole experience. I am looking forward to my next big race. I'm looking for a 10 miler or maybe perhaps even a 1/2 marathon in late April or May...any ideas? I need something to train for and something to work towards. I wanted to do the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, but we come home from vacation the night before, so I don't want to stress myself out doing a race the next day.

I am looking forward to working on speeding up a bit and knowing what I'm getting into with the big races now.

How was your first race experience? Positive or an absolute disaster?

I just walked 500 miles, and I will walk 500 more...

So I just got this gem in my inbox this afternoon. 500 Miles since I've had my fitbit. heck yeah. I've had this little guy for 115 days, so I'm averaging about 4 1/3 miles per day. Let's step that up a bit.

I am pledging to get to 1,000 miles by February 22, 2012. This is 100 days from now and puts me at a 5 mile a day average. Very doable seeing as how I still have 19 more days before my race, which means at least 5 more days with runs over 5 miles. Then I just have to keep it up...

I also hit the 1,000,000 step mark yesterday. AMAZING.

Also, down 6 lbs since my post on 11/1.

otherwise known as #kickingassandtakingnames