JASR

A brief note to readers before I get into my post for the day.  I do realize that my last post was a bit debbie downer.  I'm not going to apologize for my feelings and being upset with my lack of results.  I know that I have to keep working and that these things don't come easily. I have never actually been someone who has cared about the number on my pants or on my scale.  I've always cared more about being active and fit.  I have always said, and will always say, that I'd rather be a thicker/bigger, fit and active person, then a skinny person with no muscle, strength or athleticism. I've realized that I do need to lose some weight in order to be healthy and to have happy joints, so that's what I'm working on. Anyone who has tried to lose knows how frustrating it can be.  I'm emotional at times and I can't always be positive, but I thought I should let you all know that I'm doing my best to bounce back.  Sometimes, I need to have a pity party.  I need to feel all sorts of sad and pathetic and cry and then I get it out of my system, and move on.  These flubs happen, but it doesn't mean I'm going to stop working hard to get what I want. So onward and upward, fronds. Have patience with me during this journey!


So big things are happening tomorrow.  My longest mileage race yet, 8.1 miles! It's the Just a Short Run in North Park.  Get excited fronds. I can't really lie, I'm a weeeeee bit nervous.  I've only run over 8 miles 3 times during my training so far, and with my IT bands being big jerks, it might be a tough race.  Who really knows, it's hit or miss.


I did 5 miles last night with Polish Josh, and I struggled immensely for the first 3.5.  I just couldn't get into a good groove and I could not seem to control my breathing.  Plus, my IT bands were not enjoying the run.  I'm glad I got the mileage in, and I made sure to use the foam roller last night and stretch as much as possible.  Today will consist of plenty of rolling and stretching and hydrating. 

Shay picked up our race packets yesterday.  I always get a little excited for packets pickups because of the goodies in the bags.  Asics running shorts and socks, and a neon green tech shirt? FANTASTIC. 


Good luck to Shay, Big Al and Polish Josh tomorrow on the 8.1 miler.  I know they are all going to kill it with me!

Good luck to Sarah and her quest to tackle the 30k (18 miles).  You're going to beat the beast frond! YOU CAN DO IT~

Too Soon

Well I went shopping on my lunch hour.  As you know from previous posts, I despise clothes shopping because it does nothing but bring me down. I usually just look in the mirror with disgust.

Today was no different.

I could go on and on ranting plenty of self deprecating thoughts, but right now I just can't even type it. Right now, I'm just disappointed and sad.

A Letter to You

Dear Body,

It's been a while since we've had a chat, but right now you're starting to scare me. You seem to have turned against me, and I'm not exactly sure why.  I think you find it humorous to consistently throw me small kinks in my path to a healthier, happier lifestyle and I'm starting to get frustrated.

I know that I've been working you hard the last few months; taking away so much of the food you love, forcing you to work harder on less calories and consistently pushing you to build muscles you didn't even know you had stored under those layers of flubber.  I get it, you're not happy, but now is NOT the time to lash out at me.

You've done so good so far, only minor aches and pains and tweaked muscles.  For the most part you have been handling this half marathon training plan like a champ.  Please do not crap out on me now.

I know that I've been putting a lot of stress on my IT bands.  I know that I have very tight hips and my legs could use some more strength training.  I know that I have overworked you in the past to the point of being unable to walk without pain behind my knee and I know that you enjoyed the 4-6 weeks of minimal activity and physical therapy, but for the love of God, please don't do this to me now, because there will be consequences.

Sure, you might get those few days of rest, but I will come at you like a spider monkey.  I will foam roll those knots right out of you while screaming in pain.  I will stretch you and I will ice you and I will do whatever it takes to beat you into submission, because I have come too far and I will not let you win this time.  

Read this article on Beating the Band. (Courtesy of Omar). You're going down IT band.  GOING.DOWN. I am armed and ready to fight back!

Love hugs and kisses,

Fishy

The Good, the Bad and the Weird

The Good
I have been doing a good job keeping up with all of my running workouts.  I've done extra workouts and even added more mileage to some of them.  I think having Polish Josh to push me during the week helps a lot. He helps keep me accountable. I put in 28 miles last week!! I've really gotten into a good swing with my running, zumba and volleyball activities.  I feel like I'm getting stronger and I have more energy.  Very, very good things.


The Bad
My eating has NOT been exemplary.  I seem to do relatively well all week (I've even been packing my lunch every day) and then the weekend comes and it all goes to the pooper.  I've gained a pound, grr.  I know, it's one pound, but the problem is that the scale is moving in the wrong direction. So, I'm going to have to work harder to plan healthier portion controlled meals.  As always, majority of the time, my issue is how much I'm eating.  I know what I need to do, I just need to do it. Time to buck up!


The Weird
I've started to notice some weird/interesting things about weight loss and running that I'd like to share because I feel like anyone who loses weight or starts taking running seriously experiences these things... things that I never really thought about before....

• My underwear does not fit. I never really thought about this happening, but obviously if clothing is getting too big, then unders are getting too big.  And wearing underwear that is too big is SO ANNOYING.  Talk about constant wedgie picking.  It's the worst when you're exercising and your underwear will NOT stay out of your butt! TMI?  Maybe (sorry?), but seriously, it's frustrating.  I'm trying to shake these hips in zumba and all I can think about is how my butt cheek is hanging out of my underwear, under my shorts, and jiggling around.  It ain't pretty.  I SERIOUSLY need to go underwear shopping.  
• My feet are shrinking. All of my dress shoes are just a little bit too big now and my feet are sliding all over the place in them.  It's quite embarrassing when you basically trip while walking down the hallway at work because your foot slipped right out of your once normal fitting high heel.
• Wearing over sized clothing is just as bad as wearing clothing that is too small for your frame. My dress pants are just big enough now that they hang on me in places that they should be complimenting and I look ridiculous in certain outfits I once thought I looked okay in. I really need to go shopping for new work clothes. Which leads me to my next point.
• I still dread clothes shopping.  You would think I would enjoy it more now that clothing should fit better, but I'm soooo not looking forward to my first trip to the mall/store to buy new outfits.  I'm dreading the fact that I'll probably go in and try on things in new sizes and will leave depressed and disappointed because things still won't look right on my body. If I was rich, I'd hire someone to go do my shopping for me, find me cute things to compliment my frame and then return them if they don't fit me.  Besides, I seriously lack any type of fashion style.  I can get by, but barely.  Any takers?
• I've become more judgmental of strangers (bad fishy :( ) I see people now, who are drastically overweight and unhealthy, eating junk like fast food, and I have a hard time not shaking my head at them for not having more respect for themselves.  Those people eating that junk are probably the same people bitching to their family and friends about how overweight they are. You can't have your cake and eat it too, people.  To lose weight you must move more, and eat less. Simple math, calories ingested must be less than calories burned. That's the healthy way to do it, there is no magic pill and there most definitely is no quick fix. It takes time and it takes a lot of patience.  Is it as easy as eating junk and not exercising and complaining constantly? No, if it was easy, everyone would do it.  So man up, starting watching your portions and get moving.  Start small and slowly work your way up.  You can do it, put your back into it! I really have no room to judge people and I actually hate that my mind goes there, because it makes me sound like a bitch, so my apologies #icequeen.  I'm still considered overweight, but I am seriously trying to lose it and make myself the happiest/healthiest version that I can.  I would never judge someone who was overweight but was attempting to change their life and get healthy again. I know that I still have a long way to go with my weight loss and my fitness level, so please don't think I'm on a high horse here, just sort of ranting frustrations...everything in moderation people! {end rant}
• I no longer judge a runner by their speed.  I used to look at someone running and think, psshhh I can run faster than them. Now I look at them and wonder what mile they are on and how many more miles they have to go. Are they training for a race, or just doing this to keep in shape?  How long have they been running? I commend anyone who is out running, biking, rollerblading, walking etc. regardless of pace, distance or physique.  If you're moving, you're doing something healthy and good for yourself, and you're doing more than the person sitting at home on the couch. The parks are full of people now that the weather is getting nicer, and each time I see the parks crowded I have to smile.
• Blisters.  Gross, gross blisters on my feet. Enough said.

So there you go, the good, the bad and the weird.  Happy First Day of Spring!

Foam Rollers, GU's and Water Bottles, Oh My!

So much to blog about today, so this post might be a little lengthy and full of fun stuffs.  

First off, let's start with something pretty.  This weather has been unbelievable lately. This has been one of the best winters to train for a half marathon because it's been so mild.  Spring is in the air and flowers are starting to poke their pretty little heads up.  These are the first flowers showing up at my house.  

I didn't plant them, obviously.  I think I might get serious about gardening next year, when I have time to plan what I want to do with the yard.  This year will mainly be fixing up the inside of the house, next year will be the outside! One of the biggest things I need to learn is to space out my projects.  I'm the type of person that wants everything done, right now.  Immediate gratification, please.  Obviously with the house, I'm going to have to space things out and save my money to buy what I want.

Second, I purchased some new fun tools/items yesterday for my half marathon training.

I loaded up on these bad boys so that I can get some more practice with using them, making sure they are what I need to help me get to the finish line without bothering my stomach. 

A lovely hand held water bottle.  This makes me look like a real runner! Haha.  I'm nervous about using this, just because I don't like the thought of having to carry something when I do my long training runs, but after Sunday I realized just how important it is to hydrate, especially when the weather is warmer and I'm sweating more. I won't be using this on my shorter runs unless it's very hot.  This will mostly be a long run tool.

Foam Roller, take 1. Rolo was curious about this new thing and kept walking in front of my pictures. What a jerk!

Foam Roller, take 4.  Rolo botched takes 2 and 3. 

So, I've been reading about foam rollers and the benefits of using them, and honestly what could it hurt?  It's only going to make my performance better and help with my IT band issues.  It's win, win.  

It's also pain, pain.  MY GOD WAS IT PAINFUL!  I, fortunately for you, did not attempt to take any pictures of myself while rolling.  Although, a video of me wincing in pain would have probably been pretty amusing for you to watch.

So here's the article I read and tried to emulate while rolling.

Foam Rolling for Runners

I also read this blog entry

One Twenty-Five

And watched her foam rolling video here. Watch this and you'll see just how painful it is.

Foam-roller-it-band-issues-i-am-not-a-doctor

I didn't really experience much pain while rolling my glutes and my hamstrings.  I felt a good bit of pain while rolling my calf muscles and excruciating amounts of pain while rolling my hips, my quads and ESPECIALLY my IT band. "Knights of Columbus that hurt!" I do realize that this is partially my fault, for not doing a good enough job of stretching my muscles, and I promise you I will be working on that!  You don't realize just how tight and knotty your muscles are until you roll them.

So rolling will now be a part of my running routine.  I will RUN<ROLL<STRETCH! And on days I'm feeling particularly sore, I will roll even if I don't run.  The key for me is to increase my flexibility and prevent injury.  I need all the help I can get in those departments. 

I expected to be bruised today, like E was in her blog entry, but surprisingly I was not. I find this really odd, because as stated previously in other blogs, I bruise like a peach.  And apparently I burn like toast, according to my brother Ron haha.  PROOF- my March sunburn from Sunday

My legs are very tender to the touch today, but otherwise they are feeling pretty good.  I have had a busy schedule and my legs have definitely been fatigued lately.  Running 4.76 Saturday, 8 miles Sunday, vball Sunday night, zumba Monday, and 5.1 miles Monday with Polish Josh meant my legs were T-I-R-E-D and needed a break Wednesday. I am not looking forward to rolling tonight, but no pain, no gain, right fronds?

Next on the agenda is the awesome snack I stumbled across (on pinterest) and decided to make yesterday. Okay, bare with me here... I know they sound gross... but I made Baked Parmesan Kale Chips yesterday.

photo and recipe from Gina at skinnytaste.com

I cut the recipe in half and used a little less parmesan cheese.  This were light, crispy and surprisingly flavorful.  I was shocked by how good they tasted!  Just go light on the cheese and olive oil and you'll have a crunchy, delicious, low cal snack. YUM!  EDIT: These are a good make then eat right away sort of snack.  Leftovers, not as good...

My last little comment.  Today I have on a belt AND I tucked in my button-up dress shirt AND I don't feel like a fat lard.  WOAH (said in my Joey Lawrence from Blossom voice).  I also had 2 people at work tell me I look skinny today. Skinny... me?  Skinny?  WHAT?  haha.  I wouldn't say I'm skinny just yet, but I definitely find the words of others encouraging to keep pushing myself.  I REALLY need to go clothes shopping though.  Everything is starting to hang on me and my clothes are not complimenting my frame. I guess that's sort of defeating the whole purpose of weight loss.  I just hate shopping and I hate spending money on clothes when I know I need to spend so much to get my house in shape (furniture, carpeting, air conditioning installation, paint etc).

So, this was probably my longest post, ever.  Have a great day fronds!

Sun Kissed

Yep, I straight up got sunburned yesterday.  It was GORGEOUS outside and I'm whiter than Casper.  I didn't even think about sunscreen application before my 8 mile run in South Park with Polish Josh.  I mean, it's March and it's Pittsburgh, I shouldn't be burning.  There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun was beating down on us for the hour and 20 minutes while we were running.  Obviously it's not a terrible burn, just a touch of pink, but it made me laugh when I got changed into my comfy clothes last night after volleyball.

I really had a wonderful weekend and got two excellent runs in as well. Friday I worked on the house.  Well I didn't really do too much work...4 loads of laundry, scrubbed the first floor bathroom from head to toe and organized the bathroom closest with all of my toiletry and towels stuff.  I also swiffered and vacuumed the rest of the house as well. I'm starting to adjust to this whole home ownership thing, but it's definitely going to keep me busy.  I also need to stop being so indecisive regarding color schemes for the master bedroom and the family room.  I need to get painting! Perhaps I will decide something this week and roll with it.  The weather will be nice enough to have the windows open to get some air circulating so that I don't die from paint fume inhalation.  

Saturday the boyfrond and I went for a run.  We set out to run around the neighborhood, maybe do 3-4 miles.  His knee and hip were feeling good so we ended up doing 4.76.  We did a lot of hills and it really felt great.  I was happy to see him not experience pain during the run, or after. We went out to a nice Mexican lunch at Mexicasa to use up a LivingSocial Deal before it expired Sunday.  Also watched the Pirates and then went out to dinner with his some of his co-workers.  After Red Robin, we went to see The Lorax.  It was cute, but nothing to really write home about.

Sunday Polish Josh and I set out for an 8 miler.  We could have cheated and done an easy relatively flat course, but we went off the main drag and ran some hills.  One hill was particularly terrible.  I'm pretty sure PJ was cursing me under his breath, but we both killed the hill and continued on the run.  Around mile 5 I used my first GU energy just to try it out to see what it was like.  Gosh that stuff is thick!  I really need to purchase a hand held water bottle to carry with me on long runs, especially sunny ones.  I hit mile 6 and was just dying.  I don't know why I ran out of fuel (I blame the oddly warm temperatures and the excess sweat) but I did and I was hurting, big time.  Thankfully, PJ was there to push me faster when I wanted to slow down.  I'm pretty sure I slowed him down a little but he kept yelling things behind him to keep me moving along.  I was happy to finish the 8 miles and walk for a while to cool down my muscles and my body.  Definitely my fastest long run yet.  8 miles in 1:22 with an average pace of about 10:15. Not too shabby at all! Only 8 more weeks until the big day!  How exciting!
I probably overworked my legs a little this weekend because Sunday night at volleyball I definitely tweaked my left quad.  Nothing major, but I really don't want an injury right now.  I'm going to take it easy at zumba tonight and try to have a more relaxing cross-training session, rather than kill myself.  I just can't risk a nagging injury now when I've put in all this time and hard working getting to this point.

I really had a stellar weekend and I definitely had plenty of smiles to share on this rainy Monday. 

Holy DOMS

Holy.Delayed.Onset.of Muscle.Soreness.

Let's backtrack a bit, because I guess I should update about how the speed workout went at the track on Wednesday. 

1 mile run at about a 9:45 pace. 

Dynamic stretching.

8 - 100m "sprints" Basically, it's sprinting the straights and walking the curves of the track.

A little less than a mile cool down.

Polish Josh definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone on this workout.  I felt pretty good during the workout.  I pushed hard, but not too hard.  I didn't want to get injured, but I gave as much as possible.  After, my legs were a little shaky but I felt pretty darn good.

Soreness on Thursday wasn't as bad as I expected, but I also know from experience that the second day is ALWAYS worse.  By about 8pm last night I was feeling it.  This morning, I was struggling.  My hammies are SO FREAKING TIGHT!  That's the main soreness that I'm experience, but I was surprised to also find that my abs were a little sore and so were my biceps.  I must have really been pumping my arms...This couldn't be more true and is EXACTLY what I think:

I'm actually a little excited to be this sore because it means I did get a good workout.  Even though it's a little depressing that I'm this sore, it's good to know that I pushed myself out of my comfort zone (with the help of PJ of course).  I have a long way to come in respect to my speed and my "sprints" but  I'm up to the challenge.  I know these workouts are only going to make me a better, stronger, faster runner, which is the ultimate goal.  Now I must go hobble around and clean this house!

How to Become a Running Beast...or Die Trying

It's very easy to become a running beast, all you have to do is find someone who is going to kick your ass during every workout.  Enter Polish Josh.  Polish Josh was sick of being the token funny bigger guy, so he decided to change his life. He has gone from 257 lbs to 197 lbs in 6ish months. He often works out twice a day and has completely changed his diet and lifestyle so that he can be a healthy, fit guy.  In summation, he is a beast. 
I have known Polish Josh for many, many years.  We worked together at Giant Eagle years ago and he has lived in a close by neighborhood most of his life. I hadn't talked to him in awhile, other than the occasional cheering on about races and weight loss via Facebook.  I had noticed that Polish Josh was posting all of these pictures and status updates about working out at Crossfit and getting in shape so I checked out his page and stumbled across his blog CLICK HERE. I became incredibly motivated by how much he had accomplished in such a short time.  I left PJ a message on his blog letting him know I'd read the whole thing and was inspired and that we should run together since we live so close.  We ended up texting for a bit after that and decided to start running together when possible during the week.  PJ is also training for the Pittsburgh Half and has a variety of goals he wants to reach in regards to fitness in 2012, the year of Polish Josh.
Monday was our first run.  I was only supposed to do 4.5, but we pushed it to 5.3. A variety of hills, a bit of flat, and a fast paced run for the last 300ish meters, and 53 minutes later, my ass was kicked.  It felt great. 
Tonight I adventure into the world of speed workouts.  I've never done one.  Polish Josh is going to kick my ass (I feel as though this statement is going to surface numerous times on future blogs).  I can already tell tonight is going to be a tough workout for me, I'm didn't get much sleep last night.  I think The Kooks show was worth it (they killed it!), but I am definitely getting older.  I can't stay up until 12:30 on a work night, when I'm getting up at 5:30 the next morning.  #I'mturningintoagrandmaat27


Wish me luck fronds and welcome Polish Josh :)

Motivation for the Week

Are you a wimp or are you strong?

 It takes discipline to be the best you can be

 Something I need to learn and practice daily

The Exciting Part of Training for My First 1/2

Other than the fact that training for the 1/2 marathon allows me to be a little more flexible with my food consumption (AKA I can enjoy that piece of pizza and not feel AS guilty), one of the most exciting parts of training for my very first half marathon is the mileage increase.
Each weekend "long run" increase brings a new mileage that I've never run before.  Each "long run":

• is a new challenge
• is a new distance to defeat
• is a new accomplishment to add to the books
• Helps to build more confidence in myself and my abilities as a runner
• Helps me realize my strengths and weaknesses and what I need to work on during my weekday workouts (it's hills, it's always, always hills)
• and most importantly...

MAKES ME EVEN MORE EXCITED FOR THE HALF MARATHON TO GET HERE SO THAT I CAN CRUSH IT!  

8 miles with the fronds and boyfrond this Saturday... bring it!