Quick Check-in!

Things have been crazy busy around here so I haven't had a chance to write. I wanted to thank everyone for  the supportive, kind, wonderful comments on my bathing suit post! We didn't end up going swimming, but I did wear the bikini top to take Lucy for her walk ;) With a tank top over it though!

Sunday I ran 8.25 miles, broken into 2 parts because after 3 miles outside, it was way WAY too hot so I went to the gym for the other 5 (.25) miles.

Monday was 40 minutes on the Arc Trainer
Tuesday was a 3.25 mile run
Wednesday was a 3.4 mile run
Thursday (today) was 40 minutes on the Arc Trainer
Friday (tomorrow) is a 3 mile run
Saturday is a rest day
Sunday will be a 10 mile run

This morning's weigh-in was 118.0

And here's the Thursday version of Wordless Wednesday:

Marathon training started today, and some other rambling...

Well actually, I should say half-marathon training started today because I added to/adjusted my marathon training plan for the half I'm doing on my birthday (June 22nd). The marathon isn't until November. And I actually ran outside today! I took Lucy with me so I wasn't expecting to get a whole lot accomplished, but she actually did really well :) I set my app (iSmoothRun) for a 5 minute warm-up and then 1:30/:30 intervals and off we went.

The subdivision I live in has a main road that goes around in a circle, and it's exactly 1 mile if I stay on the inner sidewalk. Usually I add onto that by using the outer sidewalk/road and go around another street. Here, let me show you what I'm talking about...

My house is at the "pause" mark. If I take the outer road/sidewalk and add on Revere Drive (where the 5 mile marker is) it makes each lap 1.25 miles. If I just do the inner circle of Independence Drive it's exactly 1 mile. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyways, Lucy had enough after twice around so I dropped her back at home, took off my jacket, and back out I went for 3 more laps. On the 5th lap I added the extra street to make sure I hit 5 miles. It went really well, other than some tummy issues (as usual, ugh!), so I will probably keep with the 1:30/:30 intervals for my "long" runs.

After that I watched a couple episodes of Mystery Diners (I love those kind of shows on Food Network!) while making the grocery list, took Lucy for another lap, and then off to the grocery store. I really need to develop a better grocery system because it seems like I'm going every 4 or 5 days, and at about $150 each trip, this is super expensive! The problem is that my husband and I eat completely different types of foods. Of course you all know that I'm vegetarian/plant-strong, but hubby definitely is NOT.

Well well, aren't I just yappy today?! While I'm on a roll, here's today's menu:

• Breakfast: vitamin, coffee
• Pre-run: roasted cauliflower and a black-bean burger (this probably explains the tummy issues)
• Post-run: romaine salad w/tomatoes, onions, celery, radishes, sesame sticks and tahini lime dressing
• Snack: Lime tortilla Popchips w/garlic and artichoke hummus
• Dinner: haven't decided yet

For the past few days I've been hovering at 120 pounds, so this week's plan is get back to around 118. Then June's goal is 116 pounds.

Okay, I think that's about it. Hope everyone is having a happy Memorial Day weekend!

FPC Days 12 and 13

I never got around to posting last night, sorry. It also dawned on me that I don't need to post those summary photos every day since you can see them by clicking on the Food/Fitness Tracker page, and then follow the link there.



Today's workout was a 3.5 mile run, doing 1:30/:30 intervals of 6.5mph/4mph (plus warm-up and cool-down). I didn't take my Acidopholus over the weekend or this morning, and I could definitely tell as soon as I got about a half-mile into my run. I'll spare you the TMI details, but oh my, does my tummy hurt :(

I came home from work, had my monster salad, and took Lucy for her walk. Now I'm going to jump in the shower and then hit the hay.  Have a good night!

FPC Day 10

Yay, it's Friday! Today's workout was a 3.5 mile run :)

Tonight I really didn't feel like making anything and the fridge is almost empty (going grocery shopping tomorrow) so we ordered Chinese food. I think the nutrition information I have logged is way off and probably at least twice the calories/fat listed. It was good, but I'm sure I'll be regretting it sometime in the next couple hours.

FPC Day 7

I've made it through one entire week of photographing every single thing I eat! It really hasn't been difficult at all, and I'm proud of myself for passing up some unhealthy stuff. I was excited to see 118.2 on the scale today, but I'm really hoping to be under 118 tomorrow morning, which will be the official 1 week weigh-in.  Here's today's food summary:

Today's workout was RUNNING again, Yay! Another 3.5 pain-free miles :)

How did everyone's else first week go? Are we gonna keep this up a bit longer? I'm game if everyone else is!

FPC Day 6

I finally got to run today! I took it nice and easy, and am ecstatic to report that my toe didn't bother me at all! Woohoo!

On the food front, I really haven't been hungry at all today. I didn't have my breakfast until around 11am, only ended up eating half of my lunch, and where I would normally be "starving" about now, I'm still full from dinner. I ended up under on both calories and protein for today, but I'm not going to force anything else in.

Tomorrow will be one week since starting this challenge, and I'm hoping to be under 118!

26.2 miles completed! (#runforBoston)

As I was heading back out to finish up the last couple miles tonight, Lucy just wasn't going for it. So I ended up running 23.8 miles, and walking the last of it, with Lucy. Either way, I completed 26.2 miles this week! Just think, before too much longer, I'll have completed 26.2 miles in ONE DAY! Eeek!

Earlier today I went grocery shopping. Then I came home and sauteed some Brussels sprouts and onions with some Asian spices and packed it up for the week. I also made my weekly vat of salsa, and prepped salads for the week. I mashed up some black beans with black olives, cumin, hot Mexican chili powder, threw in some salsa and packaged that up also. I like that on a wrap with some guacamole. I chopped up a bunch of baby Bella mushrooms and put them in a gallon-size baggie with some garlic and ginger, and threw it in the fridge to make something in the next day or two. Then I still have a head of cauliflower and a head of green cabbage that I need to do something with. Oh, and I have a bunch of kale that I'm going to make one of Mama Pea's recipes with.

I spent a couple hours looking at marathon training plans, and am leaning towards this one (from MarathonRookie.com):

Alrighty, must get back into the kitchen before it gets too late. Lord knows I need my beauty sleep ;)

Fitness Friday (and a new shirt ;))

I mentioned the other day that I've committed to run 26.2 miles this week, for Boston. Here's how this week has been going (so far):

• Monday 3.5 miles
• Tuesday 3.5 miles
• Wednesday 3.5 miles
• Thursday 7 miles
• Friday 3.3 miles

So after today's run I'm at just under 21 miles. Just a little over 5 to go! 

Oh, and speaking of fitness I came across this shirt today and HAD to order it! Yes, it's quite rude and may be found offensive by some, but I think after maintaining a 100+ pound weight loss (by RUNNING MY ASS OFF, almost every day) for more than 4 years now, I've more than earned it ;)

You can order it HERE.  You know you want it, Norma ;)

Runners United to Remember

In light of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon, a virtual event has been created on Facebook by RunJunkies.com.

Runners United to Remember.

I've committed to run for at least 26.2 minutes each day this week, for a total of 26.2 miles by Sunday.

I have no words to describe how devastated I was when I heard the news (and still am), so let me point you to No Meat Athlete, who wrote the perfect post "for Boston."

Weekly Wrap Up

I ran just over 20 miles (so far) this week:

• Monday: 3 miles
• Tuesday: 3.5 miles
• Wednesday: 3.75 miles
• Thursday: 6.5 miles
• Friday: 3.5 miles

As far as food goes, it's been a pretty boring week. I mostly ate the same things every day: Cereal w/fruit for breakfasts, leftover Taco Bake w/salsa and guacamole for lunches, and salads for dinner. Pretzel Shells with hummus for snacks, and the occasional bit of chocolate :)

I did make Stuffed Shells (vegan) earlier in the week, and while they ended up tasting really good, they left me hungry again too soon afterwards. They were also higher in calories/carbs (413/60) than I like for a meal to be. 

Vegan Stuffed Shells (with tofu ricotta)

I also made up a new Protein Ball recipe (pistachio nuts, oat flour, maple syrup, dark chocolate, and almond extract) that came out TOO good, and I've popped way too many of them over the last 2 days!

This morning I had another fainting episode so I'm taking it easy today. I do need to go out and pick up more produce, and I really wanted to make a few new recipes tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow if any of it happened, hehe :)

Family Reunion Weekend

I ran 6 days last week! No long runs but I did 3.25 miles on Sunday, 3.55 miles on Monday, 3.4 miles on Tuesday, 3.25 miles on Wednesday, 2 miles on Thursday, and 3.5 miles on Friday.

Saturday we got up early, dropped Lucy off at doggie daycare and headed to Virginia to see my dad. It was 4 hours to get there, we stayed 4 hours, and then 4 hours to get back home. My brother's family also went, and we had a really nice day!

My brother, my dad, and me :)

Needless to say, I was so exhausted that I spent the entire day Sunday in bed, just vegging out and watching TV. I never even turned on the computer. Lucy was wiped out from playing with the other dogs all day Saturday, so her and Bogey stayed in bed with me :)

Today was right back to work. I went to the gym at lunch and got in a much needed run. I had to take it easy though, since I had another one of those weird weak/dizzy episodes in the shower this morning, and my equilibrium has been "off" all day. One more week until I get the blood work done and find out what the hell is going on. Ugh.

Wordless (Weigh In) Wednesday

Part of today's workout - Loved this!

Weight - 118.8

Food Tracking and Treadmill Tales

I was super busy at work today so no bloggy time. I wasn't even going to post but I wanted to give a shout-out to Jen over at Perfect in our Imperfections for telling me how to take pictures of stuff on my phone (yes, I'm a little technologically challenged these days)!

For the past few months I've been using the iPhone notepad to keep track of everything, which has been working just fine. However, my doctor thinks I might be anemic, or at least lacking in certain nutrients, so I'm heading back over to the food tracker at SparkPeople.com. I added a link to it on the Food/Fitness Tracker page above if you might be interested in seeing what I eat to maintain my weight loss.

If you don't know about SparkPeople.com, first off it's FREE. It's a community of people trying to live healthy. They have food and fitness trackers, teams you can join based on your interests, lots of articles and health news, and so much more. Really, you should check it out! And if you do, my name over there is HALFFAST. 

Last night I was actually going to run outside, but as soon as I put on my gear and headed out it started pouring. So I went in the treadmill room, plugged it in and turned it on, and POOF! All the power in the house went out! Except for the treadmill! Yes, I made my husband sit in the dark for a half hour so I could get a few miles in ;)

And that's about it for my exciting life!

Gotta run, Laura

Happy Easter! Vegan Deviled "Eggs" and April Goals

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! We ended up staying home so I can finish recuperating and also because hubby had a terrible headache this morning. I caught up on the Food Network shows I missed during the week, and then went to the grocery store (Acme was open today!) for a few things to make lunches for the week.

Last night I made Vegan deviled "eggs" from Happy Herbivore.  They came out really yummy! Red potatoes, hummus, Dijon mustard, a dash of Sriracha and a few spices. That was it!

Forgot to add paprika before taking the pic, oops!

Right now I'm waiting for my headache to subside enough that I can get a quick run in, but other than that, we're just taking it easy today.

I'm excited to announce I met my March goal of getting back under 120 (barely!), but failed (miserably) on total mileage. I did run the 10-miler for St. Paddy's Day, but was not happy with my time. I'm cutting myself a break though, since I was sick ;)

For April I just have 3 goals:

1. Stay under 120
2. Run 4 days per week
3. Run at least one half marathon

What are your goals for April?

What Type of Runner Are You?

Happy Friday! As I mentioned yesterday, I took a quiz over at Runner's World called What type of runner are you? After carefully considering the questions there was really only one that I was on the fence about. So here are my answers:

• Do you often vary your routes?

b) Yes, I know the town better than the postman. Exploring is half the fun.

• How important are the health benefits of running to you?

b) I'm glad there are long-term benefits, but I'm more focused on how good running makes me feel today. 

• You're a minute slower for a 5k than you were last year. What do you do about it?

c) Figure it's time to resume speedwork at my running club. I slack off when I'm on my own.

• You usually run after work, but your new boss asks if you want to go out for a drink. Do you go?

b) No. When I go to bed that night, I'd much rather have gone for my run than met a -social obligation. 

• A pain that started a few weeks ago has become worse and now you can hardly run. What do you do?

b) Hobble through a few miles at whatever pace I can manage, and ice it later.

• What's your take on diet?

b) I don't really think about my diet in terms of running, other than I know which foods interfere with my running and I avoid them.

• What's important in a race?

b) Good organisation. I want to be able to concentrate on my running and not have to worry about whether the course is accurate. 

d) I don't race much, but when I do a nice T-shirt and a good charitable cause. (And a medal of course!)

• You just don't feel like running. What do you do?

b) Head out - I'll feel better once I get going. Feeling bored or tired isn't a reason not to run.

• Long runs are...

b) A weekly ritual that I enjoy.

• What do you think about lifting weights?

b) I don't like lifting weights, but I know it helps me to avoid injury, so I do it in order to keep on running. 

I scored mostly B's which makes me:

The Purist
You run for running's sake - you like how it feels and how it makes you feel afterwards. You might race, you might not. Running is part of your routine; it makes you feel complete. How far and how fast you run is based on how you feel that day, how nice a day it is and your surroundings.

How about you? Go take the quiz and let me know!

Gotta run, Laura

Ten Things Thursday (continued)

Alrighty then, I feel much better now :)

4. Went to the gym and ran 3.4 miles in 35 minutes. Took it nice and easy, and now I feel pretty good! I look like a hot mess, but here's my new NMA tshirt!

5. I "met" a new running blogger today who has a nifty little running quiz on her site. I'm going to share it tomorrow, but if you want to have a look, go visit Sarah at Courage2Run. 

6. Uh oh, running out of things to say. My life is quite boring.

7. Here are a couple "truths" from Ecards:

8. I have a question. For those of you who post your trackers on your blogs (i.e., LoseIt, WW, etc) how do you do that? Like, if I have an app on my iPhone that I want to get a picture of here, how would I go about that. Yes, I'm rather blog-illiterate.

9. Lucy is much more photogenic than me, so here are a few recent pics of her. Doesn't she look like a porn star in the first pic?! I love how she sleeps with one arm up in the air! 

And how about this goofy face?!

Love how she pouts :)

10. Are any of you doing anything special this weekend? My husband and his family are catholic (I'm a non-practicing jew), so I got sucked into Easter plans. We are going to hubby's moms and I have to figure out something to make. I volunteered to work tomorrow since I've missed so much time during the past couple weeks, so I'll have to throw something together either tomorrow night or Saturday morning.  I saw a recipe for deviled eggs that look like little chicks, so I might try to make something creative like that, but without eggs. Maybe potatoes. I'll let you know if whatever it is turns out good!

Gotta run, Laura

Still sick, Mud run, & a Shout-out!

After steadily getting worse over the past week or so, I finally went to the doctor on Thursday. I have acute maxillary sinusitis. Yes, a sinus infection. I've been taking antibiotics, Flonase, and Mucinex for 3 days now, and I still feel like crap! I haven't gotten out of bed except to eat and to take the dog out.

Since I can't do much of anything but lay here, watch TV, and surf the internet, I've been trying to make my little blog look a little more festive. I must admit this is not very easy! I used to build computers, design web sites and make my own graphics. Now I can barely remember any html code. Thank goodness for people like Nymfont who do all the hard work and then let us tweak it to our liking :)

Needless to say, I haven't ran since Wednesday and that was hardly a run since I was sniffling and sneezing the entire time. Doc said absolutely no running until at least Monday at the very earliest.

Oh! Speaking of running, looky here:

I have been wanting to do one of these, and this one is on my birthday, and less than an hour away!!

One other thing before I go. I have a friend who received some devastating news the other day and I just wanted to give her a shout-out. Sarah and her adorable son, Cole, have been through hell, but they remain happy, positive, upbeat warriors! Sarah, I love you girl! You are amazing, inspiring, and awesome! I can't even imagine the struggles you go through, yet still manage to be the warrior that you are! The world would be a better place with more people like you in it. 

Gotta run, Laura

St. Patrick's Day 10 mile (virtual) Run

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and runny nose, and spent about 6 hours procrastinating this run. It turned out just about as bad as I expected - heh! But, I did do it! And that's more than I can say about my recent Sunday long runs!

I was a complete mess afterwards, and I really thought the last 3 miles were going to kill me.

Sweaty mess!

Here are my terrible splits :(

This was the 2nd race of the #13in2013 series, hosted over at JillConyers.com. The next one I have lined up for this series is a half marathon, on my birthday, June 22nd. That one is for National Pink Day :) I'll definitely be following a training plan, beginning tomorrow. Today's run reminded me that you can't just go from 3.5 mile runs to a 10 mile run without proper training. At least not without consequences.

On that note, I better get a shower, some dinner, and take Lucy for a walk. Hope you all had a great weekend!

TGIF

Is this not the cutest panda ever?! I stole him from Facebook ;)

Weekly wrap-up: I ran only 3 days this week, mostly because of the fainting/dizzy episodes, but throw in the usual tummy troubles as well :(  I did 3 miles on Monday, 3.5 miles on Wednesday, and 3.75 miles Friday (today). I'm still planning on the 10 mile virtual run Sunday for St. Patrick's Day, but I'm not going to "race" it.

My weight for the week has been between 120 - 122. Still 5 pounds more than I'd like to see, but I've been going a little crazy with cookies, hummus, and cookie dough hummus. Heh.

Talkers talk and Walkers walk (link)

 I read this article on Runner's World this morning and it really spoke to me, so I thought I'd share:

Running My First Half Marathon | Runner's World

As for my running, I haven't been doing much since my fainting episode last Friday morning. I did manage 3 miles yesterday, but today I'm having that weak/dizzy thing going on again. I guess it's time to make a doctor's appointment :(