Confession time

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. I'm going to confess here because I doubt that anyone really reads this and maybe if I get it off my chest I can move on.  I feel ashamed that I have let life get in the way of my exercise, my eating well and myself.  I've let excuses creep in and I've accepted them knowing full well that they are not helping me in anyway.  I let a change in my life bother me more than it should and a title or a stereotype knock me off my feet.  And while I'm in the confessional I'll add this also, I've got to admit that even though I am excited to get back into hospital nursing, the job is stressing me out.  I didn't realize how much stress it was causing until Friday when I was forced to stand up and say "I'm struggling here and I need help".
    I still haven't figured out a way to get my runs in and work 12.5 hours a day.  I did run on Monday after my shift, but I paid for it on Tuesday with REALLY tight and sore calves....so I feel like I'm back at square one.  I know I feel better when I run.  But right now the running hasn't as enjoyable as it usually is.  I don't know if it's the little aches and pains with the runs or a mental issue that is making not so enjoyable. 
    I still haven't gotten with Chris to figure out how to post photos and make this blog more my own.   And I didn't keep track of all my foods this past week the way I should have.  So in order to give myself a goal to meet this week and make a small step forward, this week I am challenging myself to post all the foods I eat for one week on "Lose It". 
As for my weigh in  this week was a push as well, I didn't gain, but I didn't lose anything either.  So I've found out how much I need to eat to stay the same.  I guess that's something.  I've also been fighting the "I want junk food" demons this week really bad.  Guess it's a good thing we didn't have any real junk in the house. 
    So that's been the way my life has been going for the past week and a half.  I work and tell myself that on my days off I will run, then I get side tracked with cleaning and working on the quilt for Emma and other small projects that need to get done and worrying about how I'm going to get better at my new job.  So I really didn't get any miles in this week, but according to Daily Mile I did 10.  I have to find a way to motivate myself and juggle all the things in my life.  Any ideas???  Any suggestions????

Okay, so I fell off the planet for a little bit the end of last week, but I'm back.  On Thursday last week I started working again as a floor nurse.  Our days are long and we spend most of it running up and down the hallway on our feet.  My first day on the floor was Sunday and my legs were dead after work!  I'm spending the next couple of weeks trying to work out how to get in my runs and work and not have my legs fall off at the end of the day.  I'm so glad that we (Chris and I) have four months until our run.  I still have plenty of time to find a way to make it work.  So this week was a push on the scale, no gain, no loss.  But eating at work is also another hurdle I will have to jump.  I still can't understand why a hospital would serve food for you that is so unhealthy.  Take this as an example, the main entree the first day I worked was "Chicken Fried Steak" and yesterday it was an "Egg Roll" or "Stuffed Bell Peppers" and Fried Potatoes.....then they wonder why we are all over weight......So on Tuesday I took my Dal and had that.  So I have some issues I need to work out this week.  I'm going to take another look at the training program today and see how I can scale my work days back a little for just a few weeks and then gradually get back to my 10K training plan.  I had wanted to complete the training plan twice before my 10K so I would know that I WAS ready, but maybe one complete training will be good enough.  I also need to get with my cousin to figure out how to post photos and do a few other things in the blog.  And set a goal and schedule for blogging.....but right now I'm feeling the urge to go for a run!

Training Week One Completed

So today when I got up there were no aches and pains.  I was so shocked!  Today was my long run, which in my mind isn't a long run, but I did 4.5 miles and it felt pretty good.  I kept wanting to run faster or add a bit of an incline or run a little bit longer, but I stuck to my plan and did really well.  Didn't feel any pressure on my lower back till I hit the 3.75 mile area.  I also took today to do all my measurements and I am so unhappy with my numbers.  Aggh!  I can't believe that I have already lost 75+ pounds.....what did I look like before I lost the weight....I also had my other half take photos....so here are the oh to horrible numbers.  Neck 13.5 Bicep 15  Forearm 11 Chest 43 Waist 43.5 Hips 49.5 Thigh 26.5 Calf 18.5.    I've also started logging my food again on "Lose It" and am still using my "Fitbit" daily.  So that is the sad tale of the tape....man I hope I can get those numbers in to a more reasonable area......I'm ashamed of myself.  I also thought about my goals and here are my goals for the year of 2012.  I want to lose 66 pounds, which would be about 5.5 pounds a month, I want to run in a 10K and finish, with a yearly mileage of 725 miles, and last I want to finish my Personal Trainer training.  So next time I will post photos and then we will only look forward and never back!  That was week one, what did you do this week?

Day 3 complete!

Okay, so I just completed day 3 of my training...it was supposed to be a tempo day, but I really don't care how long it takes me to complete the next 10K I do....I just want to finish.  So I did a 35 minute run with a 0.5-1% incline and I pushed myself a little at the end.  My back actually felt a little better yesterday evening.  I'm glad I can finally move around better.  This morning I still woke up hunched over like an old lady, but I'm taking that as a lesson learned the hard way.  Be kind to yourself and don't push yourself too hard, too fast. 
I am planning on running a 10K with my cousin in June of this year, I tried a 10K back in July of 2011 and did not complete it.  I got to mile 5 and was pulled from the race with heat exhaustion.  So, I scaled back and did another 5K in October and had planned on doing another 5K in November.  But the 5K in November was scrapped due to a relocation to El Paso.  This area is nothing like Albuquerque, you don't see many runners out here and I can't find near as many races to run in.  I am so totally bummed about the choices of races here, which means if I want to run I will have to travel.  There is  a 5K Cupid Chase and I want to try to do that, but I just accepted a new job offer, so we will have to see what my schedule looks like before I make any decisions on that. 
So getting back on track hasn't been all that bad,  today I did miscalculate my time and pushed myself a little harder than I should have thinking that I was almost done, but I survived.  I've looked at my times and if Chris (my cousin) and I were to race today, she would most likely finish about 30 minutes before I did, but you know what?  I'm fine with that.  I'm off the couch and doing better than last week.  I also tried to figure out how many miles I ran last year total.  Now, I didn't always log my miles on the same program (another lesson learned), so this is a rough guess I did about 637 miles last year.  So I will think about it and on my next blog set a goal for this year....that's it for today.  One step at a time!

Day one ~ ughhh!

So for the past three weeks I have been dealing with back pain.  Some days it's bad, some days it's really bad, and some days I just don't want to move.  Today wasn't a bad day, but lately I feel the pain constantly.  So I scrapped my old training schedule that had increased my miles by almost 50% and restarted again today with the Hal Higdon Intermediate program.  It seems much more doable and I hopefully won't do more damage to my body.  Today I completed 3 miles and walked another mile along with the strength training part of the program.  I feel pretty good right now, we will just have to see how I feel in the morning.  I took a week off to give my back and feet some time to repair, (I ended up with two black toes) and usually when I get back to running I can't wait.  I feel great and always seem to over do it the first time out.  Today was different, I felt every step of those 3 miles and instead of telling myself I was almost done at 2 miles, I was counting the minutes.  I took my walk breaks and enjoyed everyone of them!  But I did get my workout done and we will see how I feel in the morning!  Day one done!