So I've been stuck a bit. Up and down about 5 pounds for a while now, with the exception of that crazy HCG diet week.
Honestly - I've been lazier. Not as crazy about getting my miles in, getting to classes, calculating every single calorie, allowing myself to have an alcoholic drink. Lazy I suppose equals living life.
Strangeness though - my self confidence is increasing, most of the time. I'm allowing myself to actually socialize with other people and not be so insecure about how I look or my weight not being where it should be. I think for a long time, I was waiting on living life until I achieved this goal, and so I wouldn't allow myself to do anything fun in the meantime.
I've discovered I love yoga. Power Yoga with Keri at Gold's is so hard, but it's so good or my mind, my body, my soul. I started taking yoga at Inner Peace when I can, and even though physically, it's not as hard, it's still great for the rest of me.
I did the Full Moon 5K run last Saturday and ended up taking off almost a full SIX MINUTES off last year's time. 27:30 is the fastest I've ever done a 5K, so I'm SUPER proud of that. I actually saw one of my guy friends beforehand and told him that my goal was for getting below 29. He told me "I've seen your training runs, I know you can run faster than that. You can get like 27." So we 'bartered' back and forth, and he helped me set my watch to make sure that I could check on it while I was running.
Last night I went to the TU Track speed interval workouts. I told the man in charge how fast I did the Full Moon Run, so he put me in the group he thought best, "5" I think. We ran a 1200, 1000, 800, 600, and 400. Each time we ran the different distances, we sped up, with a 200 meter recovery in between each distance. In the 400, I pushed myself up to where I had on Saturday night the last .2 of the mile, heartrate was at 94%. Ridiculous! I looked down and the fastest my Garmin said was 6:53/mile - that's REALLY awesome, especially for me!
So...I'm enjoying running a bit faster and not longer. I do have a few requests to be a pacer for that crazy 50 mile run, which I said I didn't want to do. 2 different people, so that would be 20.6 miles for me. *rolls eyes* I thought I was going to get out of training for long distances this summer.....
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Another Marathon Down & Dieting Disaster
OKC's marathon - 4:55:14 I believe is my time. 3rd marathon in 4 months. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, and a bit TOO EARLY in my opinion to start. I say that of course, because I was cold when I started, but by 11:30 when I was finishing, I was plenty warm. Plenty!
This one...actually wasn't too bad. I ran with Tad, my roommate for the first 6 miles. He headed off to the bathroom though, so I ended up losing him between 6 and 20. He found another couple girls to run with, so they ended up passing me later on with her.
I'm not really sure WHAT was going through my head this whole race - I was just kind of in my own little world, watching people, not really thinking about anything in particular. I met one nice man that said that me dancing along to my music was keeping him motivated. :-) That made me feel pretty special, I love the idea that I have helped someone else accomplish something.
I feel like I had a great race, there was A LOT of water stations, and I usually walk through them because it's easier to drink out of those cups, but this time, I started skipping some of them, just because I didn't want to go over 5 hours in time. I was really proud though, that at the end, I could still run all out the final .2 of the mile to the finish line, under a 9:00/mile at one point when I glanced down at my Garmin. :-) Super stoked about that.
So I tried that diet....yeah, no. Didn't happen. I lasted for about 5 days, on a 500 calorie diet. I lost 9 pounds, which is awesome, but I had 0% energy level too. I was sleeping at least 8 hours every single night, usually 10. I tried to run, 3 times. The first time was the day after the marathon, which I've never tried before (just to see if I could do it and I COULD!) and I did about 5.5. The next run was 3 miles, and I was pretty exhausted afterwards. I did a "light" Power Yoga class, and some lifting on my own and went through those workouts by myself. Then I tried again to run another 3 mile run, and 3 miles to me is a warm-up. By the end of mile 2, I HAD to stop to just get my heart rate back down, and I felt like I was going to pass out by the time I got home. So I decided after the girls out south told me that I looked really sad, never laughing, that I was going to discontinue that craziness.
Later, I talked with one of my clients that had done it, and she said that it sounded like I wasn't using a good form of HCG (the hormone for energy)....so she said if I decided to try it again, to call her and she would get me the one she uses and loves.
This one...actually wasn't too bad. I ran with Tad, my roommate for the first 6 miles. He headed off to the bathroom though, so I ended up losing him between 6 and 20. He found another couple girls to run with, so they ended up passing me later on with her.
I'm not really sure WHAT was going through my head this whole race - I was just kind of in my own little world, watching people, not really thinking about anything in particular. I met one nice man that said that me dancing along to my music was keeping him motivated. :-) That made me feel pretty special, I love the idea that I have helped someone else accomplish something.
I feel like I had a great race, there was A LOT of water stations, and I usually walk through them because it's easier to drink out of those cups, but this time, I started skipping some of them, just because I didn't want to go over 5 hours in time. I was really proud though, that at the end, I could still run all out the final .2 of the mile to the finish line, under a 9:00/mile at one point when I glanced down at my Garmin. :-) Super stoked about that.
So I tried that diet....yeah, no. Didn't happen. I lasted for about 5 days, on a 500 calorie diet. I lost 9 pounds, which is awesome, but I had 0% energy level too. I was sleeping at least 8 hours every single night, usually 10. I tried to run, 3 times. The first time was the day after the marathon, which I've never tried before (just to see if I could do it and I COULD!) and I did about 5.5. The next run was 3 miles, and I was pretty exhausted afterwards. I did a "light" Power Yoga class, and some lifting on my own and went through those workouts by myself. Then I tried again to run another 3 mile run, and 3 miles to me is a warm-up. By the end of mile 2, I HAD to stop to just get my heart rate back down, and I felt like I was going to pass out by the time I got home. So I decided after the girls out south told me that I looked really sad, never laughing, that I was going to discontinue that craziness.
Later, I talked with one of my clients that had done it, and she said that it sounded like I wasn't using a good form of HCG (the hormone for energy)....so she said if I decided to try it again, to call her and she would get me the one she uses and loves.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Soon - It Shall Be Over
Sunday is OKC's marathon. My 3rd marathon in 4 months. I am over it. I am tired. I want my LIFE back!
My roommate, Tad and I went out and ran 19 miles last Thursday. So far I've done a 16 and 19 mile run between Little Rock's and OKC's. Hopefully that's enough. If not, I suppose it's all mental anyways right? :-( I will probably be hating myself Sunday about 11AM, but oh well.
I wonder what I'm going to do after this....actually, I am excited because I'm going to try a new 'diet'. Something that's supposed to 'reset' my metabolism; we'll see if it works. I would love to see that high school figure one more time. I've come to the conclusion that I look pretty good now, but as a woman we always strive to look like the models in the fashion magazines. Although, it's funny, that's not what men want anyways, so why do we push for that? How silly we are.
Life is going to happen - soon!
My roommate, Tad and I went out and ran 19 miles last Thursday. So far I've done a 16 and 19 mile run between Little Rock's and OKC's. Hopefully that's enough. If not, I suppose it's all mental anyways right? :-( I will probably be hating myself Sunday about 11AM, but oh well.
I wonder what I'm going to do after this....actually, I am excited because I'm going to try a new 'diet'. Something that's supposed to 'reset' my metabolism; we'll see if it works. I would love to see that high school figure one more time. I've come to the conclusion that I look pretty good now, but as a woman we always strive to look like the models in the fashion magazines. Although, it's funny, that's not what men want anyways, so why do we push for that? How silly we are.
Life is going to happen - soon!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
First Long Run Since Little Rock's Marathon
I'm Back!
After Easter dinner and eating WAY too many calories, AND taking a 2.5 hour nap....I decided that it was time for some 'Me" time.
I have been very tired since Little Rock's marathon. I have just been 'over' running and have seriously considered NOT doing OKC's marathon. I've still been going to the gym a lot and have even joined a yoga studio to do yoga an extra 2 times a week, after work on the weekends. I have really been wanting to do Yoga at least twice, Pump class at least once, and spin class more. So I've still been very active, but up until yesterday, I hadn't run farther than a little over 7 miles.
I had been having a few knee problems again, and I went and bought new shoes (the same kind I had 2 pairs ago). I decided to not buy the inserts that I had for them the first time around, but I ended up returning after 2 runs to spend the extra $40 to relieve the strange way my foot was feeling.
So I became proud of myself again after accomplishing a 16 mile run at a 10:52 pace. My first 'really long run' for the last month. I want to do a 10-12 mile run this Thursday and then I have an 18-19 mile scheduled for next week. I am back on track!!!
After Easter dinner and eating WAY too many calories, AND taking a 2.5 hour nap....I decided that it was time for some 'Me" time.
I have been very tired since Little Rock's marathon. I have just been 'over' running and have seriously considered NOT doing OKC's marathon. I've still been going to the gym a lot and have even joined a yoga studio to do yoga an extra 2 times a week, after work on the weekends. I have really been wanting to do Yoga at least twice, Pump class at least once, and spin class more. So I've still been very active, but up until yesterday, I hadn't run farther than a little over 7 miles.
I had been having a few knee problems again, and I went and bought new shoes (the same kind I had 2 pairs ago). I decided to not buy the inserts that I had for them the first time around, but I ended up returning after 2 runs to spend the extra $40 to relieve the strange way my foot was feeling.
So I became proud of myself again after accomplishing a 16 mile run at a 10:52 pace. My first 'really long run' for the last month. I want to do a 10-12 mile run this Thursday and then I have an 18-19 mile scheduled for next week. I am back on track!!!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
How to Calculate Your Calorie Intake
I found this at http://www.healthandfitnessadvice.com/fitness-tips/calculate-your-basal-metabolic-rate.html
I don’t believe in counting calories in order to restrict caloric intake. Rather I promote caloric awareness in the effort to get people to realize that they usually don’t eat enough food, not that they eat too much.
Calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is quite simple. Here’s the formula.
Convert weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Convert height in inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54.
Plug in kilograms and centimeters where appropriate in the following formulas. The numbers that result the calculations are the calories that you need in a day to maintain current body weight with little or no exercise.
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Males
66 + (13.7 X kilograms) + (5.0 X centimeters) – (6.8 X years)
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Females
665 + (9.6 X kilograms) + (1.85 X centimeters) – (4.7 X years)
Let’s use the example of a 38-year old woman who stands 5’ 3” and weighs 125-pounds. Here are the calculations.
665 + 559 + 296 =1520
1520 – 179 = 1341 needed per day just to maintain without any additional energy expenditure.
Note the emphasis that 1341 calories are need just to maintain the status quo if this woman were just to sit around doing nothing during her waking hours. To approximate the true daily caloric requirement taking into account activity level we can use the Harris-Benedict Formula, which applies a factor to the BMR. Here are the factors according to activity level.
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Using the above example, apply the Moderately Active factor to the BMR of this working mother of three children who trains at least as hard as specified in this category.
1341 x 1.55 = 2078
I can guarantee that 99% of the women who fit the description of the example do not get anywhere near 2100 calories per day. I’ll also wager that of these women, most are engaged in a regular struggle to lose 5-10-pounds, and do so by restricting rather than adding calories. And keep in mind that these calculations under estimate the requirements for people are either very fit or very fat.
So calculate your BMR and gain an appreciation for how many calories are needed in a day to fuel your body.
I don’t believe in counting calories in order to restrict caloric intake. Rather I promote caloric awareness in the effort to get people to realize that they usually don’t eat enough food, not that they eat too much.
Calculating your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is quite simple. Here’s the formula.
Convert weight in pounds to kilograms by dividing by 2.2.
Convert height in inches to centimeters by multiplying by 2.54.
Plug in kilograms and centimeters where appropriate in the following formulas. The numbers that result the calculations are the calories that you need in a day to maintain current body weight with little or no exercise.
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Males
66 + (13.7 X kilograms) + (5.0 X centimeters) – (6.8 X years)
Daily Resting Energy Expenditure Formula for Females
665 + (9.6 X kilograms) + (1.85 X centimeters) – (4.7 X years)
Let’s use the example of a 38-year old woman who stands 5’ 3” and weighs 125-pounds. Here are the calculations.
665 + 559 + 296 =1520
1520 – 179 = 1341 needed per day just to maintain without any additional energy expenditure.
Note the emphasis that 1341 calories are need just to maintain the status quo if this woman were just to sit around doing nothing during her waking hours. To approximate the true daily caloric requirement taking into account activity level we can use the Harris-Benedict Formula, which applies a factor to the BMR. Here are the factors according to activity level.
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Moderately active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extra active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)
Using the above example, apply the Moderately Active factor to the BMR of this working mother of three children who trains at least as hard as specified in this category.
1341 x 1.55 = 2078
I can guarantee that 99% of the women who fit the description of the example do not get anywhere near 2100 calories per day. I’ll also wager that of these women, most are engaged in a regular struggle to lose 5-10-pounds, and do so by restricting rather than adding calories. And keep in mind that these calculations under estimate the requirements for people are either very fit or very fat.
So calculate your BMR and gain an appreciation for how many calories are needed in a day to fuel your body.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Little Rock Marathon Rundown
We left Saturday from work, about 12:30 and made it to the Expo about 5PM. Shelley, Shanan (her hubby) and Lynn (another girl friend) and I got everything taken care of and were going to stay together at Shelley's dad's house.
We all went out to dinner, PASTA night and then came back and got everything laid out for in the morning. I actually TRIED to go to bed about 9:30, 10 o'lclock, but I just laid in bed. Different scenarios of the race playing through my mind, what if I forgot something? What if I crashed? I slept pretty fitfully, waking up at 2AM, thinking that it was time to get up to get ready. I tried to sleep more, waking up with my alarm right before 6AM.
I got up, showered just to wake up, got ready and excited that I actually had a "buddy" to get ready with - Lynn. (She's ran like 9 marathons.) Hot tea, oatmeal, banana in hand and we jump in the vehicle and head down to the race. I think I went to the bathroom about 4 million times before we even got to the race line. We had ordered a "Perks package" and so we were able to get in to get little bagels/bananas/goos/coffee/etc. I probably could have gotten a massage too, but....I didn't want to wait in line.
Tad, Shanan, Lynn, Shelley and I all lined up together in our little group and gave each other Good Luck and hugs. :-) And then we were off!
Tad, Shanan, and Lynn all stayed together for a while, but they run faster than Shelley and I, so we stayed together. We ran through Little Rock with Shelley pointing out different places that she went to school, daycare, friend's houses, and so on. We stop at mile 10, use the restroom and continue on. Shelley and I walk through almost every water station, since trying to drink out of those little paper cups and running is just ridiculously funny. :-)
We run through people singing, saying my name (it's beside my number), and eating the goodies they've put out (the animal crackers were my favorite!). The hills were 13-16 and yes, they were trying, but I knew they were coming. I made it through, bounding down them as usual and then waiting for Shelley to make it back up to me. Then the next step was the 'out and back' - that never seemed to end.
We stopped and got water and then at mile 22 stopped again to use the restroom. Stupid me decided to take some ibProfen to help the cramping in my legs. But on an empty stomach....not a good combination. I immediately felt naseous and knew that I made a mistake.
Shelley and I saw the 4:45 group leaving the water stop and I really wanted to stay with them, so we hung on for about .5 mile. But by this point, they were just going too fast for me to stay with them. Shelley and I stayed together for about another .5 mile and I'm glad that she went on without me. I had to walk a little bit, specifically up the HUGE hills at mile 24 and 25. From mile 22 on, it was definetly NOT as fun -run/walking more than I would have liked. At about mile 25, there was a "lipstick station", where you could 'touch up your makeup' before your photo finish.
Mile 26.2 was accomplished with a time of 4:58:00. I was tired, quads cramping and hungry. I was pretty disappointed with myself, because I really didn't want to take longer than my last one, but....it's okay.
I went over a few things, and I've determined that at certain times of the month, especially if a race is near, my iron intake needs to go up. Although I probably need to look over my multi-vitamin to see if it includes 100% of what I need with the iron.
I need to NOT do as many long runs before my upcoming marathon. Phoenix and Little Rock were only 7 weeks apart and I did a 18, 21, 16, 13, and a couple other longer runs in that period of time. I think this time, I'm going to do just a 18 and 22 mile long runs.
I also think that OKC's marathon will be my last marathon for a while. I'm looking forward to the Full Moon Cafe's 5K in May - one year from the time I began running last year. Let's see how fast I can do it! :-) Then I think that I'll do the Tulsa Run again and Route 66 Half marathon (once again, a full year later, to see how much I can improve my time). Shelley talked about wanting to do Houston's marathon in January; she says it's flat, so I'll probably join in that one as well.
We'll just see what happens.....
We all went out to dinner, PASTA night and then came back and got everything laid out for in the morning. I actually TRIED to go to bed about 9:30, 10 o'lclock, but I just laid in bed. Different scenarios of the race playing through my mind, what if I forgot something? What if I crashed? I slept pretty fitfully, waking up at 2AM, thinking that it was time to get up to get ready. I tried to sleep more, waking up with my alarm right before 6AM.
I got up, showered just to wake up, got ready and excited that I actually had a "buddy" to get ready with - Lynn. (She's ran like 9 marathons.) Hot tea, oatmeal, banana in hand and we jump in the vehicle and head down to the race. I think I went to the bathroom about 4 million times before we even got to the race line. We had ordered a "Perks package" and so we were able to get in to get little bagels/bananas/goos/coffee/etc. I probably could have gotten a massage too, but....I didn't want to wait in line.
Tad, Shanan, Lynn, Shelley and I all lined up together in our little group and gave each other Good Luck and hugs. :-) And then we were off!
Tad, Shanan, and Lynn all stayed together for a while, but they run faster than Shelley and I, so we stayed together. We ran through Little Rock with Shelley pointing out different places that she went to school, daycare, friend's houses, and so on. We stop at mile 10, use the restroom and continue on. Shelley and I walk through almost every water station, since trying to drink out of those little paper cups and running is just ridiculously funny. :-)
We run through people singing, saying my name (it's beside my number), and eating the goodies they've put out (the animal crackers were my favorite!). The hills were 13-16 and yes, they were trying, but I knew they were coming. I made it through, bounding down them as usual and then waiting for Shelley to make it back up to me. Then the next step was the 'out and back' - that never seemed to end.
We stopped and got water and then at mile 22 stopped again to use the restroom. Stupid me decided to take some ibProfen to help the cramping in my legs. But on an empty stomach....not a good combination. I immediately felt naseous and knew that I made a mistake.
Shelley and I saw the 4:45 group leaving the water stop and I really wanted to stay with them, so we hung on for about .5 mile. But by this point, they were just going too fast for me to stay with them. Shelley and I stayed together for about another .5 mile and I'm glad that she went on without me. I had to walk a little bit, specifically up the HUGE hills at mile 24 and 25. From mile 22 on, it was definetly NOT as fun -run/walking more than I would have liked. At about mile 25, there was a "lipstick station", where you could 'touch up your makeup' before your photo finish.
Mile 26.2 was accomplished with a time of 4:58:00. I was tired, quads cramping and hungry. I was pretty disappointed with myself, because I really didn't want to take longer than my last one, but....it's okay.
I went over a few things, and I've determined that at certain times of the month, especially if a race is near, my iron intake needs to go up. Although I probably need to look over my multi-vitamin to see if it includes 100% of what I need with the iron.
I need to NOT do as many long runs before my upcoming marathon. Phoenix and Little Rock were only 7 weeks apart and I did a 18, 21, 16, 13, and a couple other longer runs in that period of time. I think this time, I'm going to do just a 18 and 22 mile long runs.
I also think that OKC's marathon will be my last marathon for a while. I'm looking forward to the Full Moon Cafe's 5K in May - one year from the time I began running last year. Let's see how fast I can do it! :-) Then I think that I'll do the Tulsa Run again and Route 66 Half marathon (once again, a full year later, to see how much I can improve my time). Shelley talked about wanting to do Houston's marathon in January; she says it's flat, so I'll probably join in that one as well.
We'll just see what happens.....
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Gearing Up For 2nd Marathon
Little Rock is Sunday - and I'm NERVOUS. I hear it's a very hilly route. Hills aren't my favorite at any time and 26.2 miles of hills does not sound like a good time. :-(
I'm totally doing this for my girl, Shelley. I've trained to 21 miles a few weeks ago, with some hills incorporated, but....I just know how much it hurts now. Last time I was nervous excited. Now it's different. I KNOW what to expect, and I KNOW how much it hurts and I'm kind of dreading it. I sure hope that I feel as accomplished after this one as I did the first one. Before I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it - this time, honestly I just want to be able to keep up with my girl. She says we're in it together though!
Tomorrow I'll run just 2-3 easy miles. I've noticed that on my shorter runs, I'm definetly picking up the speed. I have to be careful though, so I don't hurt my knees. I have noticed that Pump Class is helping to strengthen my quads so my knees haven't been hurting as much.
Wish me luck!
I'm totally doing this for my girl, Shelley. I've trained to 21 miles a few weeks ago, with some hills incorporated, but....I just know how much it hurts now. Last time I was nervous excited. Now it's different. I KNOW what to expect, and I KNOW how much it hurts and I'm kind of dreading it. I sure hope that I feel as accomplished after this one as I did the first one. Before I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it - this time, honestly I just want to be able to keep up with my girl. She says we're in it together though!
Tomorrow I'll run just 2-3 easy miles. I've noticed that on my shorter runs, I'm definetly picking up the speed. I have to be careful though, so I don't hurt my knees. I have noticed that Pump Class is helping to strengthen my quads so my knees haven't been hurting as much.
Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)