Week 34 - Yuck week!

Well, this post is a little late....I went to my weigh in on Saturday morning.  It was not good my friends, not good at all.  I had a really bad fall off the wagon the day before and I'm going to blame it on the freezer.  But I do know that it was basically me.  So first the ugly, I posted a 6 pound gain.  New number 166.2, but I must add here, (for my own sanity) that the temp was 45 degrees and I had on a pair of jeans and an actual shirt because I was cold.  So let me back track a bit and explain the week.  On Monday when I got up I noticed water on the kitchen floor.  I thought "How odd, where it that coming from."  It was right in the middle of the floor, no where near the sink or freezer or anything that could leak.  I wiped it up and just went about the day.  On Tuesday morning, I started noticing a smell......that somethings rotting smell.  Went in search of the odor and found that the freezer was cold, but not everything was still frozen.  I removed everything and defrosted the freezer thinking that maybe it was just in need of some maintaining.  The freezer is less than a year old, so I thought there can't be anything wrong with it.  Cleaned it out and plugged it back in, replaced all the food and quickly forgot about it again.  Until Tuesday evening when I went to get my dinner.  It wasn't freezing!  Anyone that knows the Jenny program knows the freezer is a must.  About half of your foods weekly are frozen items and our freezer with the fridge is just not big enough.  So long story short, I lost a lot of food this past week.  I had to eat what Ali had cooked and prepared or go hungry.  So on Saturday after my appointment, I went running around all over town and I do mean ALL OVER town to get a new freezer.  This one is bigger and hopefully will last longer than nine months.  I've kept the receipt just in case this time.  I did actually shoot off an email to the company that made my last freezer to see if they will honor the darn thing and fix it without a receipt....I'm not hopeful.   So this week will be just trying to get back to my plateau.  I'm so tired of bouncing around the 160 mark.  I know what has to be done, I'm just struggling so much with trying to stay on track lately.  These last 20 pounds have been harder than I ever thought they would be.  The first 100 pounds were not easy, but came off with just me giving just a little bit now and then, that I never imaged that to reach my goal I would have to dig deeper than I had been or be really strict with my food and exercise.  Any ideas or encouragement would not be turned away at the moment.  I am hope for a better week, I weigh in early this week, on Thursday, because I work the weekend.                                           

Exercise has been lazy also, I did two days of running and two days of abs, but I know this is not going to get me to my goal.  Think I did a total of 14 miles for the week and it may even be less than that.  I guess I'm just having trouble trying to figure out how much and what kind of workouts I need to do when I'm not training for a race.  I've be preparing for a race for over 7 months now that I am totally lost now that I don't have a "goal race" to reach.  I have started a paper tracking book in hopes that this will help me stay on track.  I may not use it for the full 12 weeks, but I am hoping that it will get me back on track and help me through the holidays in the next few months.  So that my post this week three days late. 

 

Till next time, let's keep moving and stay away from all the candy! ~ Darcy

Week 33: Dang! I Forgot My Tutu!!!!!

I can't believe that it's been 33 weeks already.  I did go and weigh in today, my numbers are basically the same as last week.  I was 160.2 this week, which is only 0.2 less than last week.  I think I posted the wrong numbers last week.  But for me this is not a change.  I didn't expect much of a change this week.  If I'm totally honest with myself I haven't been concentrating on my weight loss efforts for about the past three weeks.  Between work and preparing for my first 1/2 marathon, I've been struggling just to "be".  That said, this week we talked about my race this past Sunday and then we turned towards focusing on getting the numbers to move down again.  I think I'm ready to leave this "comfort zone" and now push myself just a little bit harder.  I will concentrate on more strength exercises, weights and core, with at least three days of running.  This is the plan anyway, this and getting back on track and not straying in any way from my program at least until I hit the 150 mark.  So my check in with JC went well, I'm totally happy with a "push" week.  Next week though.....that's a different story!     

Now for my post race blog.  I still will catch myself smiling at times, when I hear a song from my play list or when I go to sit down and my thighs remind me that I'm not quite 100% yet.  I expected to be a little sore, but not for days and not yet this sore.  I don't believe that I actually ran 13.1 miles at times and I'm so proud of myself for not giving up.  I will sit here and confess there were times when I didn't think I was training hard enough and I wasn't serious enough about my nutrition.  The last two weeks when I was working the crazy hours, I really thought I had blown my chance to finish, because I really didn't get any good miles in those two weeks.  But I dressed and laced up my shoes on Sunday morning thinking, "If I'm going down, I'm going down at least trying the best I can."  The first three miles were without a doubt the worst.  I had a constant cramp in my diaphragm area that made running so difficult.  I kept wanting to quit and walk off the course.  (I never told my cheering squad this, so if one of them reads this, I hope they smile.)  The only reason I didn't step off the course was because I knew that there were three people that waiting to see me pass and I didn't want to let them down or explain why I was being such a baby.  About mile 5 everything evened out and it felt good.  I settled in to the run and enjoyed it for the few miles.  At about mile 8 things got difficult again, at that point I hadn't seen my cheering squad in a few miles, I hadn't seen any mile markers posted for the 1/2 marathon in a while, so I wasn't sure how far I'd gone and my feet started to hurt.  At one point the crowds had thinned out both with the racers and the spectators and I felt alone.  Yes, I could see a racer a head of me in the distance and I didn't look back, (you never look back) so I felt like I'd been left.  I now know how much the spectators cheering you on do for you.  I always felt a little selfish when I wanted Ahtesham to be there to watch my races, I now know that knowing someones there watching and waiting, gets you through those tough spots.  I also got a "Gu" around mile 8 or 9 from a volunteer that told me I looked like I needed something.  I'd never tried "Gu's", but I did on Sunday.  It was icky sweet and after I finished it I really wanted a drink of water, but I think in the long run it did help. Thank you to the volunteers for being there.  I just might carry one with me on my next race.  Seeing my cheering squad again around mile 10 and 12 was so great.  Then when Chris showed up and told me all I had to do was cross the bridge, I knew I was home.  It was without a doubt one of the greatest experiences I've had.  I'm glad I pushed myself and yes Chris......I'm looking for my next race.  I'm hooked!  Where's my next bling coming from????  We will have to wait and see, first I need to get past the sore thighs!  My husband is talking about maybe running a race with me sometime soon.  Sorry about the long post, but I like to spill my thoughts and feelings here.  So with that I want to send a great big THANK YOU out to my cheering squad!  I couldn't have done it without you.  Really I couldn't have!  Till next time, keep moving everyone ~ Darcy

 

My Heros!

Thank You for being there!

Week 32: Quick Notes

I went in this morning for a weigh in,  numbers still 160.2, I didn't think much would change because of it being a taper week.  This Sunday I will run my first 1/2 Marathon.  I'm excited and nervous.  This morning I was busted by my cousin 10 minutes after I started running on the treadmill.  I just felt so lazy and really wanted to get some kind of exercise in.  So I got on and then she sent a text......so I did do 2.5 miles this morning.  I was off the grid because my Garmin and Nano were packed.  But it felt so good to move.  I'm ready as I can be for my race.  That's it till after Sunday.  I will post pics and a blog next week when I've joined the ranks of the Marathoners......  till then, keep moving! ~ Darcy

Week 31: Count Down

In one week from now I should be done with my first 1/2 marathon and enjoying some delicious food!  Well, I can dream about the food right?  So the count down to my first 1/2 begins, six days!  I really don't want to fail in this area too.  This morning's run felt good, in fact I probably did more miles than I should have, but I was really enjoying the music and the pace today.  I did increase the time I spent running just a little this morning and I hope to keep it there for next week as well.  I did get in a few runs this week, but not as much as I wanted.  Work was complete craziness again this past week and I really struggled just to get out of bed on time to make it to work this week.  I think I'm ready for my race, I still don't care how long it takes to finish, just as long as I finish!  This week is a taper/rest week.  I still plan on trying to walk in the mornings before work.  I just seem to feel better when I do.  I have been craving peanut butter and french fries lately....can't tell you why, but I have.  The week has been slow because of tapering for the race, and this week will be slow also, resting up for the race.  No excitement in the exercise front at all.  I don't really plan on trying anything new. 

On the food front I did well on staying on the program, but the scale was not my favorite place this week.  I went in on Friday morning before a class for work to weigh in.  My number this week is 159.2, which is actually a three pound gain from last week.  I am really tired of going up and down on the scale, I am happy that at least I'm still under 160, but so tired of being stuck here in the 50's.  So we have decided to not worry so much about the numbers right now and just focus on the race, then after the race I can push just a little harder to get under the 150 mark.  So this is my brief check in this week.  Till next time keep moving everyone! ~ Darcy