Ramblings.....

I did Day 1, Week 7 of the C25K last night and it went well. I did another 2 miles in 25 minutes. I really want to up the speed in my next run so that's my goal for day 2.

This weekend is going to be another busy one but will be lots of fun. I'll weigh-in in the morning and as of today (I'm a daily weigher...I know, I know...save the lectures), I expect to lose 2 pounds which will put me around 64.4 pounds lost. I love that the scale reflects a good week, but I don't love that, if the trend continues, I can expect a 1.2 or 1.4 gain this coming week for NO APPARENT REASON! Sorry about the yelling, but I'm ready to get off this little roller coaster that I've been on since the beginning of the month. Can you tell TOM is around the corner? lol...

Tomorrow night is the start of Husker football and I can't wait! Hopefully this year goes better than the previous few. We have a new head coach who is full of fire and energy so Husker Nation is pumped to see what he's done with the lackluster team of the past 5 years of the BC era. We're going to a sports bar to watch it since it's on pay-per-view. I haven't been there since last season but I'm pretty sure I know what I'm ordering for dinner....their deep-fried chicken breast sandwich! I think this will be my first fried, battered chicken breast in 9+ months. So yes, I'll be saying good-bye to some weekly points but it'll be worth it! lol...

Sunday is the MUD RUN! I still need to find a cheap pair of shorts that I don't mind getting extremely dirty and possibly ruined. You see, I workout in capri-style yoga pants ....which would collect lots of mud and I don't really want them ruined. I figure shorts would collect the least amount of mud...but then again, that's more mud to clean off of my body in the "make-shift" showers they provide. Hmmm....now I'm not sure which would be best! I found an old sports bra, which actually fits "the girls" again thanks to the extreme shrinkage I've experienced! lol... My husband would back me on that statement. ; ) And I'm wearing a freebie t-shirt that I will just toss afterwards. I also found a very tired pair of Nikes that I will do the same with after the run. I plan to take my camera and will definitely post some pics here next week.

We're both off on Monday for Labor Day, so we're bottling our Nut Brown Ale and will be brewing another batch of our Vanilla Porter since the first one turned out so well. We'll have lots of nice brews for the fall and winter months.

Hey, check out my new avatar in the right-hand menu. Cute, huh? I spent lots of time playing around with it yesterday. You can dress them all sorts of ways with different backgrounds and animation. I'm kind of a dork with things like this! I'll probably change it up every now and then. I got it free here.

I hope you all have a nice long weekend and I'll check back in next week!

Week 6 Complete

That's right....I finished week 6 tonight which meant a 25-minute non-stop run! In that time, I ran exactly 2 miles. =) I obviously don't run really fast, but hey....I'm running and that's what matters. Speed can come later.

I decided not to listen to the podcast guy tonight since I didn't need him to tell me when to walk and when to run, so I listened to the music on my nano's playlist. I have a lot of rock "hair bands" from the 80s, as well as quite a bit of AC/DC, ZZ Top, Van Halen and Linkin Park to name a few. The songs that played tonight as I ran were all nice and fast and kept me pumped up. I don't plan on listening to the podcasts any more since from here on out, it's strictly running.

Right now I'm having a post-workout snack....a smoothie made with:

• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 6 oz lite banana cream yogurt
• 1/2 small banana
• chocolate flavored mix-in packet
• ice

I blended it all together and YUMMO! It tastes like a chocolate-dipped banana. =) It reminds me of a banana split...you know how towards the end some of the ice cream is melted and the syrups all blend together? Ya, it tastes like that. Mmmmmm....

Focusing on the Positive

After weigh-in this morning, I am again focusing on the positive aspects of this journey I've been on for 9+ months now. I won't let yet another gain (1.4) get me down. I'm more active than I've been in at least 5 years (and that health-kick was short lived) and I look better than I have in a lonnnngggg time. Hopefully this down-up-down-up cycle doesn't last long, but if it does...I will handle it!

After my meeting this morning, my husband and I went down to the Haymarket, grabbed some coffee and walked through the Farmer's Market / Craft Fair. We sampled quite a few things and bought some fresh gouda & stout bread for a beer tasting party tonight. I also bought some cute red & black bead earrings to go with the outfit I'm wearing.

Once we were done there, we walked to the Running Company which was nearby. The guy had me walk and determined I'm flat-footed, which I never really realized before. Then he went back to grab me some shoes to try. He came out with 3 different pairs for me to choose from; New Balance, Asics, and Mizuno. I went with the Asics since they had more cushion in the ball of the foot than the others. When I was at the store, I told my husband, "I think these are the same ones Kiki ended up with." I looked at her blog and yep, same ones! Here they are...cute huh? They also match my nano and headphones. ; )

I'm set to do Week 6 Day 2 of the C25K tomorrow so we'll see if the shoes help with the knee discomfort I've experienced at the end of my last two runs. I'm looking forward to trying them out.

As I mentioned earlier, we're off to a beer tasting party tonight. My husband and I are home brewers, as are two of his friends. We'll be sampling home brews and other microbrews. We get together like this every couple of months and there's always lots of good beer and food to try. I'm taking a little 4 oz glass to drink out of so I can still try stuff without having too much. The food is always tempting but I usually do pretty good. Normally I take something that I know the points of, but not tonight. I knew I wouldn't have time today to make something to take (we had to go to a birthday party earlier this afternoon), so that's why we bought the bread this morning. And tomorrow brings another challenge...I have to go to a baby shower which means MORE cake to pass up. lol....

By the way, thanks for all of the great comments to my "I DID IT!" post. You are all the best! Have a great week!

Light the Night Walk

My husband and I have registered for the Light the Night walk to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on September 11. The leaders of the team we are walking with have a young daughter who was diagnosed with Acute Promylecytic Leukemia in October of 2005. After a month in the hospital, 2 more rounds of chemotherapy and a year of maintenance medications, she is doing very well and is in remission. Her family attributes her positive prognosis to research organizations such as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

We will also walk in honor of my husband's mother, who has been in remission from Multiple Myeloma since 2002, after a successful autologous stem cell transplant. She is the only person still alive from her Mayo Clinic study group, so we are very blessed to have her with us.

Participating in this walk will aid the Society in fulfilling its mission as the world’s largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services.

If you would like to help me raise funds, please visit my donation page.

I DID IT! I DID IT!

Yes indeedy, I did it! I completed Week 5 tonight with a 20-minute non-stop run! That's right...NON-STOP! I did all 20 minutes without stopping OR dying! lol... (As you know, I had planned to do the run last Sunday but due to a few Tijuana Speedball martinis, I didn't feel up to the gym. Oops.)

Back to the run...it went really well and I am uber proud of myself. I think you all know that I was having doubts that I could actually make it through it so that's why it feels so great. I had told myself to at least go 8 minutes and I could decide whether I felt like I could go on. After 8 minutes I was fine and shortly after that the podcast guy said I was half done. Then pretty soon I was at 13 minutes then 16 minutes...at which point I said "I can make it 4 more minutes." And before I knew it, he was coming on saying I was done. =) My breathing stayed nice and even, no side aches at all. That's always an accomplishment for me.

My left knee was hurting just a bit at the end though, which could be attributed to the shoes I wear, which are cross-trainers. So, as a reward to myself for sticking with this whole running thing, I'm going to buy myself a pair of actual running shoes from the Lincoln Running Company, probably after work Friday. The owner there watches how you walk and tells you which shoes would be best for you. I've heard great things about the place so I'm looking forward to going.

Thanks for all of the encouragement and positive thinking. I think it definitely helped me tonight. =)

Heading Back Down

I weighed in this morning and I lost what I gained last week and then some which was nice. I lost 2 pounds bringing my total to 63.8 pounds. I've now lost 29% of my starting weight so I'm almost a third smaller than I was last November when I began this little journey. Who'd have thought?

As for the C25K, I made it through Week 5 Day 2 the other night. It was two 8-minute runs with 5 minutes walking in between. The first run was, dare I say, almost easy! The time went by quickly and felt good. The second run seemed to kind of drag but I made it through. I was pooped by the time I was done and too tired to do the eliptical, so I came home and showered and got ready for bed. Tomorrow is a 20-minute run. It seems like a huge jump and I'm not sure that I'll make it through. I know...I need to have a positive attitude, blah-blah-blah, but seriously....20 minutes of NON-STOP running? sigh. I will definitely try my hardest but I may need to walk just a bit here and there. I'll let you know how it goes.

My husband and I went to a Saltdogs baseball game the other night and we each won 2 free games of bowling, so I think we're going to use them tonight. I suck big time...my ball generally spends quite a bit of time in the gutter! Again, I lack an athletic gene! lol....But, I still like to go every now and then. We've only bowled once together and that was about a year ago at a get-together with my office mates. Our team of 4 people came in dead last (out of 5 or so teams) and we ended up with the "best effort" trophy. If I get over 70 points tonight I'll be happy!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. =)

Awwww, Gee....You Shouldn't Have!

As I stand here in my sparkly evening gown accepting my first Blog Award, I must first say thank you to my dear blogger friend Kiki who nominated me. (applause for Kiki, please...). I love this new award....isn't it beautiful? =)
This actually means a lot to me because when I first started my blog, I really honestly didn't expect anyone to read it. You can imagine how surprised I was when I had my first comment from a complete stranger! My first thought was, "How the heck did she find me?" But I'm glad she did because soon there were more commenters and now I love checking my blog to see what all of you, my "fans," have to say! =)

Now on to my own nominations! (That's part of the deal when you win an award...you must pass along the love!)

1. I must start with Karen, since she was my first commenter and could be how some of you 'found' me. Her posts lighten my day and often make me laugh. I love the stories she tells of how different things are in her native homeland. She's my own personal web comedian.


2. Next, the blogger I relate to most would have to be C. It's like she gets in my head and writes about my own thoughts! Our stories of how we got to where we were and why we decided to do something about our weight are similar. I figure she's about 12 years younger than me, but I think of her as my blog twin. =)


3. Moving along...next I nominate ptg. Her posts are funny and I like how she puts her "little voice" comments down on 'paper.' She regularly makes me chuckle and I'm proud of her dedication to all aspects of her life. And, the pictures of Pnut aren't bad either. ; )
   
4. In line next is roobabs. The more I get into running, the more I like reading her posts since she is striving to be one, too. (And way further ahead of me!)
   
5. Last but not least, I have to give props to kk, my half-marathon girl. I admire anyone who willingly runs 13 miles! Her posts are on a variety of subjects and often has links to other great articles and blog posts.

There you have it! I read all of your blogs faithfully and love when you post a comment. It's great encouragement and it means a lot to me that you take time out of your day to read about a little glimpse of my life. I may not comment on every single post of yours, but trust that I read them all!

For those of you nominated, here's what you need to do...put the logo on your blog and link to the person you received your award from. Nominate at least 7 other blogs (no, I didn't follow that rule...), and put links to those blogs on your site. Be sure to leave messages on the blogs you’ve nominated so they know about the award.

(By the way, some of you have already been nominated...so I don't expect you to go through this all again!)

Gonna Get Dirty!

Yes indeed, this HMB is going to get down and dirty! My husband and I have entered a Mud Run on August 31st (click here for an explanation). We're just doing the 1-mile since I'm not up to running 3 miles just yet, plus we're not sure what the obstacles will be. I've informed him if there are walls to scale or ropes to climb, he will have to help me. He said "that's why we're doing this together, so we can help eachother." Awwww, isn't he sweet?! I'm looking forward to it even though we have NO idea what we're getting ourselves into, other than a lot of sticky mud! =)

The run is at a winery near here and afterwards we get 5 free tastings of wine....so there you go...I'm going to earn activity points to spend on booze! LOL.... Great fun!

By the way, I did Day 1 of Week 5 last night. It was just three 5-minute runs with a 3-minute walk in between. My "I am an olympian" mantra paid off once again! Tomorrow night will be two 8-minute runs with a 5-minute walk in between. I really think it will be fine because last night was great! Sunday's run might be a different story; it's 20 minutes of straight running with no walking. It could be the death of me, so if I don't post again after that day, you'll know why! ; )

As Promised

Finally, here is the complete look in the dress and with my glasses on. You can't really tell what the glasses look like though since it's not a close up. Also, the frame is just on the top of the lens and not all the way around, which could have to do with it. The earrings don't show up well either. They're red dangles. I'm also in need of a hair cut so I think I look a bit shaggy! If you click on the picture, it will open it full-size, which may help a bit.

Anyway, here it is.

On a side note, I completed Week 4 yesterday and it was my best run yet! I had no pains and kept my breathing in check. At our meeting this week, we talked about how we are like the olympian athletes because we share many of the same traits....determination, perseverance, dedication, goal setting...to name a few. (Granted, I lack the whole athletic aspect but that's okay! lol....) So while running, I was repeating a little mantra to myself. As I breathed in, I said "I am" and while breathing out I said "an olympian." I said that over and over while focusing on a crack in the curb outside in front of me and before I knew it, the run was complete! You need to try it! Yes, it sounds corny, but it worked. =)

I do plan on doing Week 4 again, at least once or twice, before moving on to Week 5. I'll let you know when I venture on.

It Was Bound to Happen

Well, it finally happened....I logged my first official gain this week of 1.2 pounds. I'm a bit surprised at how fine I am with it, to be honest with you. I know it was partly because of my splurges last weekend (which I'm still not feeling guilty about) and also due to the fact that my monthly visitor announced her arrival a few hours ago. But whatever the reason, it happened and it is what it is. I have nothing to hang my head about. Who cares if I gained 1.2 pounds in the grand scheme of things? I've still lost 61.8! =)

Over the last few weeks, I've been trying to move my focus to the fitness aspect of my journey rather than just the weight loss itself. I'm running now, which is something I never would have thought I'd be doing. And, I'm doing it at the gym which is huge for me. Actually, just the fact that I'm GOING to the gym is a big step! lol...

Tomorrow I will be doing day 3 of week 4 of the C25K. I will probably be repeating week 4 because I don't feel I'm ready to move on to 8 minutes of straight running. Or maybe I'll try week 5 and then I can decide whether I should go back or not. We'll see in the morning I guess.

I plan on uploading new pics on Monday. I would do them tomorrow, but I have issues getting pics to upload on this site from my home computer. Rather than making myself cranky, I'll wait and do it at work. Shhhh.... So check back in a couple of days and promise not to call me "four eyes" when you see me in my glasses! ; ) Just focus your attention to my jazzy handbag instead!

Finally Checking In...Very Long!

I was pleasantly surprised last Friday morning when I weighed in. I was down 2 pounds so I'm now at 63 pounds total! I realized that I am 14 weeks away from my 1-year anniversary with WW...I'm hopeful that I will be celebrating 75 pounds gone by then! =)

The trip to Iowa went well. My husband's extended family hadn't seen us since our own wedding 20 months ago so they were quite surprised. I think one of his aunts words were "there's so much less of you!" It was great that they noticed and commented. They didn't even see me at my highest weight of 220 since I ballooned up after the wedding. I'm *only* about 30 pounds smaller than the last time they saw me. They would've been really shocked to see my "before WW" photo!

The wedding was nice and at a beautiful house of one of the bride's friends. It was outdoors with a large pond as the backdrop, complete with a spraying fountain, a bridge to an enclosed gazebo and a duck swimming on the water. There was also a separate little koi pond with a waterfall. It was about 88 degrees, no humidity, and just a slight breeze. They couldn't have asked for a better day. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the hotel room so I didn't get ANY pictures. I blame it on the 2 glasses of wine I had before we left! My MIL took a picture of us with her camera, but I didn't see how it turned out. If it's good, she will likely mail us a printed copy of it.

I did have Bill take a pic of me in the hotel room with my dress and glasses on, but I downloaded it today and I don't like how it turned out. I plan on wearing the outfit to church this Sunday, so I will have him take some other shots and hopefully one of them is better. You'll just have to keep waiting. ; )

I wanted to list some of the yummy food I had while on our trip (in no particular order), NONE of which I wrote down or counted! Pasta in a cabernet wine sauce with beef tips, chocolate chocolate cake with raspberry glaze and whipped cream (shared), pork tenderloin, baby potatoes swimming in butter, wedding cake, biscuits & gravy, cheeseburger, 1/2 waffle, wine, beer at a brewpub, 2 rum and cokes, and 1 martini. Mmmmm......

I weighed myself Monday afternoon when we got back, just for fun and I was up 6 whole pounds from Friday! But, I was fully clothed and I had just had lunch an hour before. I knew I hadn't gained 6 pounds of fat so I wasn't really worried. This morning I got on and I'm only up .6 which isn't bad at all. My body fluctuates throughout the week anyway so I'm still not worried about it. It was all delicious and I have no regrets. =)

I started Week 4 of the C25K program last night. It's two intervals of a 3 minute run, 90 second walk, 5 minute run, and a 2.5 minute walk. The first interval was just fine...even my first 5 minute run wasn't horrible! The second interval was tough....towards the end of the 3 minute run I developed a side stitch, which I haven't had since week 1. I was breathing deep, or so I thought, so I'm not sure why it happended. But anyway, I was working on getting my breathing back into a good rhythm during the 90 second "recovery" walk but it hadn't gone away by the time I was to start running. I decided to keep walking for an additional minute and by then it was gone and I was able to run the remaining 4 minutes without any pain at all. It felt good to resolve it and to be able to finish. Afterwards I spent 30 minutes on the eliptical.

I think that's *all* I have!