Run the Lights - With me!

Ever since I ran a 5K on the treadmill in 29 and a half minutes, I've been thinking about ways to get my butt outside to run. I'm not very motivated outdoors - there's no TV watch to there!  But seriously, how pathetic am I if I can't run without watching television?  I know "real" runners probably already consider me to be a fraud for running on a treadmill in the first place.  I want to like to run outside, I just need to get the motivation to do it.

Anyway, I'm not really ready to run a "real race" yet, but I do want to try a run outside. 

Would anyone be interested in joining me?

There are a few races left this year, and I learned about one recently that sounded like it was right up my alley.

The Hartwood Acres Run The Lights event.  http://www.alleghenycounty.us/parks/calendar/2010/hw_1117runlights.pdf

The concept is simple - Hartwood Acres opens a day early for this run, and runners (or walkers) can come anytime between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. to complete the race.  You pay $10, which goes to charity, and get to run through the beautiful Hartwood Acres lights. Outside. 

Flickr image from user Epoch

I think it sounds like fun!  No stress or pressure to finish in a certain amount of time, cool temperatures and beautiful lights.  Is anyone interested?  It's on a Wednesday night (November 17th) and if I can convince anyone to join me I'm thinking we would meet between around 7:30 to catch the shuttle for the run. 

I think this would be a great way to introduce myself to outdoor running.  If you've ever been to Hartwood Acres, you know that the whole thing is a ridiculous over-stimulation of bright, pretty lights.  That's sort of like watching television, right???

If you're interested, please let me know!  And if no one is interested, I may even consider doing this one myself!

If I Can Distract My Brain, My Body WILL Keep Moving

On Monday night I got home from my toning class at CCAC North and was feeling energetic.  I decided to get on the treadmill even though I had just exercised for an hour already, and I was amazing.  I ran 2 miles at 6.5 mph, far faster than I normally run on the treadmill.

That night I decided to set a goal for the next day - run a 5K (3.1 miles) in less than 30 minutes.

I have already mastered the skill of running a 5K; in fact, some weeks I've run as many as 4 in one week.  But I was always leisurely about it, usually running at about 5.5 to 5.7 mph, which is quite a comfortable pace for me.

Enough with comfortable already, I decided.

So Tuesday night I double knotted my sneaks and hit the treadmill (after a 10 minute warm-up on the exercise bike.)  I put the mph's at 6.5 right from the start, and away I went.

At four minutes in, I breathlessly announced, "I'm not sure if this is going to happen tonight...." Only four minutes in and I was ALREADY out of breath with a side cramp and tight calves?  No way was this going to happen.

So I turned my mind off, focused on the television in front of my face, and told myself that if I was still hurting after 10 minutes I could stop.   I didn't feel great at 10 minutes, but I wasn't dieing either, so I decided to persevere.  I focused on watching the Grey's Anatomy episode from 3 weeks ago and my legs just kept moving.

A little past the 1 mile mark I decided to bump the speed down to 6.4 mph.  After I completed the second mile I bumped it down to 6.3.  But I kept going, and I refused to think about anything other than Meredith and McDreamy's baby woes, Christina's continued fear of surgeries, and that new guy that was hitting on the blond doctor for surgeries.

At 29 minutes and 26 seconds, I crossed the 3.1 mile line.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed to my husband as I threw my arms in the air.  "Proof!... " *pant, pant, pant*, "That if I can just distract my brain long enough," deep breathe, "...my body WILL keep moving."

It was a huge milestone, and AMAZINGLY huge milestone for me.  My first 5K, under 30 minutes.  One of my long term goals on my "life list" (sort of like a bucket list that I've been keeping, but more geared towards just life in general... I'll have to share it sometime soon!) is to run a 5K in less than 30 minutes, outside.

I'm two-thirds of the way there.

A horribly cheesy running pic from a previous post

 NOTE:  I am fully aware that running a 5k is no big deal for anyone who does any sort of running on a regular basis.  But it IS a big deal for me...  I have incredible admiration for people run 10Ks and half-marathons and - good lord - full marathons.  I can't imagine that I will EVER get to that point.

Here we go again...

(Note: This was actually supposed to post yesterday - 9/29 - but I accidentally forgot to schedule it go go up.  So, please pretend that it's Thursday when you're reading this. Thanks.) 

Dieting.

Seriously, do you really want to hear about this?  I hate it, but it's necessary. 

I joke that summers are my "fattening up" times, but it's actually true.  In the summer, it's too hot to exercise (yes we have air-conditioning but it's not enough) and there's nothing that tempts me quite like a cold beer on the porch on a warm summer evening.  There's also nothing like eating Wendy's on one of our many summer roadtrips, or ordering chicken fingers and fries at Bennigan's in the Dallas airport.

Summer is characterized as carefree! Fun! Lazy! Dog days of summer!

For me, it's characterized with eating! Drinking! No exercising! Sunbathing! Reading! Lounging! Traveling! All-you-can-eat-and-drink-Mexican-vacations!

And we all know where that path leads.

So now it's fall and there are no more "it's too hot" excuses.

Of course, last week I had the "I hurt my knee" excuse, but that seems to be over now, so I will take it easy (on my knee) without doing anything that might hurt it again (or more.)

So starting today! (because to be completely honest, I ate two donuts yesterday - yesterday was shot) I will start dieting again.  This isn't about massive weight loss or anything - 5 to 10 pounds is all I'm asking for - but it is about at the very least maintaining what I have going on right now, and a little toning and firming on the side wouldn't hurt either.

Here are my goals:

1. Track my calories, every day, starting on 9/29/10
2. Light weight training on Mondays and Wednesdays with some cardio if possible
3. Minimum of 45 minutes of cardio three other days - Tuesday and Thursday for sure, and hopefully one day on the weekend

It sounds so easy written out like that, but I know it will be much, much more challenging that it sounds.

Running Outdoors - WAY harder than you think

I've been a little cocky lately.  Ok, maybe a lot cocky.  I've been strutting around all "I can run a 5k any night of the week, cuz I'm cool like that."  Or perhaps, "Look at me! I'm running at 6 mph and I can have a full conversation with you!"  I'm pretty proud of that accomplishment, so I can be a little cocky, right?

Look at that smile on my face.  Cocky, right?

But the other night, I was SHUT DOWN.  By my own self...

It was an incredibly cool night out and I wanted to take a stab at running outdoors.  After all, I used to run cross country and I was in great shape then!  My major complaint with running outdoors is that I hate getting my clothes all sweaty, so in general, when I'm home I only wear shorts and a sports bra to exercise.  I know that some people think that it would perfectly fine for me to wear that same thing while running outdoors, but I do not have the body to go running around outside in a sports bra, no matter how good I feel about myself.  Trust me.  Plus, my ritzy neighbors would probably call the police, or something.

Just kidding.

Anyway, it was a nice cool night, I wanted to try to run outside.  I wasn't feeling great - my one meatball sub for dinner was so good that I doubled it to two and my belly was not happy about the addition - but I decided to persevere.

After a brief warm-up walk with DH and the Murph dog, I put my earphones in and headed off!

......

Only to stop immediately because the sound on my iPod was so loud that I temporarily went blind from the blast. 

Once I got that figured out, I started running again.  It was hard.  It sucked.  My knee starting hurting almost right away and in less than 60 seconds I encountered my first hill.  (If you saw this "hill" you'd probably laugh at me and tell me that it was basically totally flat, but trust me, it was definitely a hill.)  That hill was HARD, with a capital H A R D.  But I pushed through it and continued on.  I probably went half a mile - if that - when I encountered the massive hill at the end of the development.  I stopped briefly, panting like I was dying, and paced around, trying to get up the nerve to try that hill.  Then I saw some ladies who were walking coming up behind me, and in an effort to not look like a total wuss, I took off up the hill.

Oh. My. God.  It was sooo hard.

My lungs hurt, my heart was pounding.  I couldn't feel my legs and it felt like I couldn't take in enough air to sustain my existence. About three quarters of the way up I said "Screw this," turned around and headed back down the hill.  I avoided making eye contact with the ladies.

Second later, DH and Murph rounded the corner.  Wow.  Seriously? I'm so bad that walkers basically caught up with me?  Hmm...

So, the moral of this story is that running outside is WAAY harder than running on a treadmill.  Way harder. WAY HARDER.  Did I mention that it was harder?

Now I know why real runners hate us treadmill runners, and call treadmills things like "dreadmills."  I'm going to start calling it the "lovemill."  Because at least on the lovemill/treadmill I can pretend that I am healthy and in shape and strong and beautiful, which I love.  Outside I am sweaty and hurting and suffocating and hating it.   

And of course Murphy was being a royal jerk.  He's usually a jerk when we're walking - he hates other dogs and does everything that he can to kill them - but tonight was even worse than normal.  I think he was pissed that I went jogging without him.

And I think I'm going to try to it again tonight. I know... I'm a glutton for punishment.  But I can't let outdoor running get the best of me.  I'm much happier when I'm confident and cocky.  This dejected/defeated feeling is definitely not for me....

My favorite shows

There were a lot of shows that I LOVED to watch this past season.  My two favorites, by far, were LOST and Flash Forward.

 

 Oh, TV, what would I do without you?  Source

Flash Forward
As we all know, Lost is over (and it wasn't really the satisfying ending that I was hoping for...)  Flash Forward, on the other hand, was CANCELED!!! WHAT!!??!  How in the world could they cancel that show??? It was going to be my new Lost and I know that a lot of other people liked it as well.

Here's the concept: there was an "event" which caused the entire world to blackout for 2 minutes. During those 2 minutes, most people saw visions of their future.  Those who didn't see visions assumed that they were going to die over the course of the next few months.  Some characters were so excited about their flash forwards that they pursued them and made life-altering decisions that they probably would never have made if the flash forward hadn't happened (i.e. going to China to find a girl.)  Others tried desperately to change or avoid their futures - one man committed suicide so that another woman and her children could survive.

Anyway, the last episode was great, and ended with another flash forward happening.  The whole episode had us asking, "Is it going to happen? Or will it not happen??"  Well, it happened.  The writers - who I'm sure by this point knew that the show was going to be canceled - decided to end the series with the original cliffhanger of a finale that showed flash forwards from years in advance (instead of months, like the first one) and we're all left wondering "What's going to happen!???!"

Well, I guess we'll never know.  ABC officials, if you're out there and reading this (Ha! Who am I kidding?)  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE reconsider canceling this show!  We NEED it!

V
And what really ticks me off is that they decided to renew V for another season.  V is ok - I mean, we watch it and all that - but it's not great.  It seems super low budget and it really pisses me off a lot.  Like in the episode where the hybrid human/alien baby was born, they kept showing everything peeking under the blanket and making wide-eyed faces, but we never got to see it.  All we got to see was a tiny, slimy tail poking out from the back of the blanket.  Lost would have showed that alien.  But V just teases us.  It has the makings of a good show, but the execution is poor.

My Other Favorite Shows From This Past Season?

• Community
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• Biggest Loser
• Survivor
• Amazing Race
• Grey's Anatomy
• Private Practice

Shows That I Watched But Didn't Necessarily Love?

• 24
• Parks and Recreation
• Glee (I "sort of" love it, but not like most people love it, so I'm not putting it under my "loves" list)
• Modern Family

We all know that the summer TV series sucks.  Right now, the only thing that I really plan on watching So You Think You Can Dance, which is sort of annoying because it's 2 hours and there's really only about 30 minutes of actual content, but with DVR I can blow through an entire 2 hour episode in about an hour.

But what else is worth watching in the summer? If I don't have something to watch, I won't work out.  What do YOU watch?  And if you agree that there's nothing to watch on live TV over the summer, do you have any favorite past series that we could get on Netflix and start watching?  I've heard some good things about True Blood?

Any and all comments are greatly appreciated!

My Little Victory

Monday marks 8 weeks from the day that I announced my goal of trying to lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks.

I will come right out and say it - I did not succeed in losing 10 pounds.

HOWEVER.  I did successfully lose 6 pounds.  I know that 6 does not equal 10, and so technically I did not succeed at my goal.  However, there's no way that I can call 6 pounds lost a "fail," so I'm going to chalk it up as a "little victory."

Tonight we have our first of 3 (maybe 4) weddings of this 2010 wedding season.  It's an Oakland wedding, and we're really excited for it.  Having been through my own wedding has made me enjoy other people's weddings even more.  I'm no longer sitting there wondering when it's going to be "my turn," I don't have to participate in the bouquet toss, and I get to eat, drink, and relax the entire time.  I'm excited.

I haven't yet decided what I'm going to wear tonight.  Originally I was planning on wear the black and white dress that I bought last fall with a little black shrug.  But on Thursday night when I was getting out some of my summer clothes, I tried on a couple of dresses that I thought would definitely be too tight, and they fit!!! I couldn't believe it, and was so excited! But of course now that just means that I have even more options to decide between. 

A good problem to have, right? All thanks to my "little victory."

My first 5K

***(Note: This post was supposed to go up yesterday.  So "last night" was actually Wednesday night, and "this morning" was actually Thursday morning.)***

Last night I completed my first 5k distance run on the treadmill!  Are you as amazed as I am????

I started with a 400m warm up, then did the 5k, and followed it up with an 800m cool down. (Don't I sound so smart speaking in metric?)  I don't know if I have ever been so sweaty in my life.  It also took me nearly 45 minutes, including the warm up and cook down - very slow, I know.  But I intentionally only set my pace at 5.5 mph because that's a pace that I know I can handle for a while. 

But this morning, both of my knees are really sore.  I already have one bad knee, and due to my tendency to favor it, the other one ends up suffering as well.  I need to do some research to see if there is anything that I can do after a run to alleviate the pain (I'm SURE there is, I just don't know what it is.)  And also perhaps to see if there is anything that could help prevent it in the first place.

If I can keep up the running AND start watching my calories like a hawk (I've been good over the past few weeks, but I'm pretty sure that I have the metabolism of a sloth, and thus if I don't exercise it doesn't matter how little I eat... I'll still gain weight) I might be able to reach my goal of 10 pounds in 8 weeks. It's not going as well as it did that first week... but nothing ever does, does it? 

Update on "Goal - 10 pounds in 8 weeks"

On day 4 of the "10 pounds in 8 weeks" goal, and I'm proud to report that I've already lost 2 pounds! 

I'm celebrating, but not too much.  Remember the other day how I mentioned that I think I gained about 3 pounds last week?  Well, those are always the easiest pounds to lose, so I won't be surprised if I lose another pound in the next couple of days.  It's the remaining 7 that's probably going to be the death of me.

The other challenge?  I'm not working tomorrow.  Not being at work means a less structured environment through which I can control my eating.  At work I only have what I brought with me that morning.  I don't keep snacks in my desk (aside from gum, which is zero calories.)  When I'm home, I have access to soooo much food.  The temptation is constant, even if it's food that I don't really like. 

Would it be totally ridiculous if I set aside all of the food that I want to eat tomorrow and put it in little ziploc baggies and tupperware containers and only let myself eat that?

Really, who am I kidding?  Dave's mom is coming out tomorrow night, and we're going to happy hour at my absolute most favorite restaurant in the entire world - Mad Mex.   Even though the cheese-less chicken burrito that I always order is relatively low-calorie (at least as far as restaurant food goes), I'm fairly certain that at least a couple of beers are going to be involved.  But as long as I'm strong earlier in the day, I feel like I can maintain this weight loss.  My problem always is that the weekends ruin all of the hard work that I do during the week.  That's the trend that I need to stop - pronto. 

My new hobby

During a routine check-up last week, my doctor casually told me that I could afford to lose a few pounds, but added that "by Pittsburgh standards, you're practically anorexic."  Wow. Thanks!  That line is more or less irrelevant to this post, but I thought it was a funny thing for a doctor to tell a patient, when in the same sentence he basically told me to lose a few pounds. 

So what's a great way to expedite weight loss?  Exercise.  I want to make exercise my new hobby.  Gardening is my summer hobby, but I don't have a winter hobby.  I'm thinking that exercise could be it.

Now, I know that hobbies are supposed to be fun, and that most people don't consider exercise to be fun.  I don't really either, especially when I'm trying to dig up the motivation to take off my warm clothes on a cold, cold evening to put on workout clothes.  But, once I'm there, it's really not so bad.

There are 2 obvious reasons why this will be a great hobby if I can make it happen.
1. It's good for me - I need to lose weight; exercise can help me achieve that
2. It's cheap - Hobbies can be expensive, but I already own two pieces of expensive exercise equipment that can make it all possible, and even if I didn't, walking or running outside is totally and completely free

And for Christmas I received 2 additional gifts that directly support this new "hobby" mine.

Workout clothes:

Perhaps self-portraits will be my next new hobby.... 

And a heart-rate monitor:

The watch... 

And the chest strap. 

Now, I don't intend to wear the work-out clothes every time I run on the treadmill.  Those are - instead - for workouts that require me to leave the house, such as a Zumba class or going to North Park to jog with Dave (something that we hope to do in the spring.)  During my fall semester Zumba class, I felt so ratty in my baggy t-shirts and over-sized mesh shorts or sweatpants.  Part of feeling good about one-self includes looking the part, and I certainly didn't look good or feel like I looked good.  Hopefully this will help.

The heart rate monitor is something that I've wanted for some time now.  Over the years, I've browsed through many discussion boards on MyFoodDiary and noticed that when people were discussing how many calories they burned during a workout, most people who weren't exercising on machines referred to the calories burned as reported to them by their heart rate monitors.  Even a large majority of those who worked out on machines still referred to their HRM to report calories burned, since the machines usually don't take factors such as height, current weight, age, activity level, resting heart rate and maximum heart rate into consideration when determining the number of calories burned.  HRM's do all of that.

I intend to use the HRM for more of my outside workout sessions in the spring, but I have used it a few times indoors already to get a sense for how it works.  It's programmed specifically to my specifications and beeps softly when I'm in my target heart rate zone to encourage me to stay there.  I believe that the calories-burned count is more accurate than it is on the treadmill, but it's definitely more disheartening that I had ever imagined.  After reportedly burning 360 calories on the treadmill, the HRM was only reported 240.  That's a HUGE difference.  But I know it's more accurate, and so I know that if my goal is to burn 500 calories in a workout, I need to burn more like 750 or more as represented on the treadmill's counter.  Sad, yes.  But, it will hopefully help me to achieve my goals more quickly.

Monday night was the start of my new hobby, and so far, so good.  If I can just get through my birthday without gaining much weight, I should be good!