Like A Boss...?

Okay, I got home and got some bad news (stupid, stupid Katie...), so...

10k outside in the 20+ m.p.h. wind turned into 6.25 miles inside on the ol' treadmill.

Do what you can.

Like a boss.

(WARNING: SALTY LANGUAGE!!!)



XOXO

When I Get Home Tonight...

This 10k run will happen...like a boss...

XOXO

This Has Nothing to Do With Running

My stomach is in a constant state of knots these days.

Bundles of nerves.

Waiting...waiting...waiting...

It really is the hardest part (oh, Tom...)

*sigh*

I've been so on edge just waiting to hear...receive word about my future for the next couple years.

Feel sick...constantly

It's worse than morning sickness when I was pregnant...

Can't sleep...can't fall back asleep...

Urgh...hurry up...I just want to know either way.

XOXO

Don't Be That Awkward Runner

Pretty sure that I look like all of these guys when I run sometimes...

XOXO

The Long and Hilly Road

Saturday was scheduled to be a 9 mile run.  Well, lately, it seems my long runs are creeping to a day after they are scheduled.  Not such a big deal...they are still getting done!  Chasey's birthday party was on Saturday and the morning was icky, so the long run moved to yesterday afternoon.  It was chilly and breezy, but the sun made an appearance, so it wasn't too bad!  I did get a little sunburned on my nose, though...  :(

My 9 Mile Route with Elevation


The elevation map may not make it look like much, but that portion highlighted in red with green arrows?  That is a giant...long...hill.  I realize it is only about a 60ft change in elevation, but it is long (about .4 miles) and it sucks.  I had to run up it twice.  There were lots of other places with hills, but that one kills me every single time and I run it just about every time I run.

My Run Report from my Nike +

My Nike + always shows that my pace is all over the place...I can't run at a consistent pace, it seems.  I'm working on this and getting better, but I appear to have a ways to go.  It looks like I'm doing some sort of fartlek training.  My splits, however, look a little better!

Overall Pace for the Run was 10'13"/Mi

It looks like I'm getting closer to keeping some sort of even pacing, based on my splits.  They are all withing 30 seconds of 10'00"/mi!  I would say that is pretty good for me.  I am shooting for 10'00" miles for my long runs, so I feel like I'm getting closer to where I need to be.

I just want to note that it is amazing how much a good or bad run can make or break how you feel.  Two weeks ago, with my 7 mile run, I struggled really bad and started worrying that I couldn't do this whole long-distance running thing.  I ran my 8 mile on the treadmill last week, where I had the comfort of controlling my environment.  This week, I knew I had to get back outside in the wind and whatever else to see where I was at.

Let me just say...it is crazy what a good run will do for you, as far as building you up.  I felt great on my run yesterday.  I ran a solid 9 miles and the only thing holding me back was my knee and my leg muscles getting a bit crampy.  Endurance-wise, I felt great and like I could have kept going!  I recovered fairly quickly after each hill and   I was sore afterward (after I rested for a bit), but was still so happy that I was able to do it.  It is a great run like that...where I feel like I won...that makes me tell myself "Hey!  You can totally do this Half Marathon thing!  This is your year for you, Katie!"  Lame?  Maybe, but it works for me.  It is what it is.

After my run (on which I burned over 1,000 calories!), I wanted pizza for dinner (SALT! YUM!).  I ate my piece and a half of chicken and green olive on garlic butter base (Thank you, Mr. Large $5 Pizza...I LOVE YOU even if you know my pizza and think it is weird!) and my slice of cheese bread and loved every bite of it.

Now, as I sit here struggling to get through my Monday morning...knowing that the next few weeks I am going to be SO ON EDGE (worse than I have been the last few weeks)...I can remind myself that at least my run yesterday made me realize that I'm capable of doing what I deem to be great things (even it has to do with nobody, but myself).


XOXO

8 Mile...The Run, Not the Movie

Monday night, I completed my 8 mile run!!!  On the treadmill (scary storms were a-brewin').

See that dip around mile 6?

Had to pause my workout for a quick three-minute potty break...

Yeah...running clears ya out...

TMI...I know.

XOXO

2012 Get Lucky 7k

Saturday, was the Team Ortho Get Lucky 7k!

The morning was a bit hectic (especially since we had had a very stressful Friday night) with me trying to get everything ready and be out the door in time to meet my brother in Minneapolis.  As I was leaving, I realized I had forgotten my bib and chip (that would have been good!) and it took me a while to locate them, despite the fact that they were right where I had stored them months ago.  I was out the door much later than planned, but had a nice 30 minute drive to chillax and calm down.

After parking, I kicked back and forth with what to wear.  There was a light breeze, but I knew I'd warm up once I started running, so I elected to stick with my green sleeveless shirt rather than the pink short-sleeved shirt (St. Patrick's Day race and wearing green...how festive!).  I got my chip on my shoe, pinned on my bib, fixed my iPod, grabbed my beverages and Clif Bar and we headed across the river to the potties starting line.

Game Faces ON!

This was my first race that had time corral's!  Jason and I popped into the 9:30 corral and bopped around until it was time to go.  This was also the first race where I wasn't all nervous and jittery...it was pretty exciting.  We gave bumps, wished eachother luck, and we were off!  We kept together for quite a while, despite having to weave through people walking within the first 500 feet of starting.  After crossing the Stone Arch Bridge and hitting 2k, I checked and realized I was running 8:29 miles.  Way to fast for me!  I slowed down a bit and kept going.  I realized that I lost Jason somewhere after that, but realized I was sweating so much that I could barely see.  Just kept pushing...pushing...WATER TABLE around 4k!  Ugh...big, stupid Plymouth Avenue bridge/hill at 5k or so.  Gotta pee...gotta pee...keep going...have to be almost done...gotta pee...don't pee your pants...where the $*&# is the finish line?!?...don't pee and embarass yourself...finish line just ahead!...SPRINT!!!...DONE!...don't pee...weave through finishers over potties...don't pee...don't pee...

FYI: I made it to the Jimmy Johnny just in time!  What is it about running races in this area that makes me want to pee myself?!?

The 7k Course...Very Similar to the Dave Ryan 5k Course

I finished with an official time of 40:38.  Better than I thought I would do, but I would have loved to break 40:00.  Oh well!  For the course being so packed and it being so warm, I'm happy with how I did.  My 9:21 pace was right on with my fastest 5k race, so I'm good with it.  The race was fun.  I finished my second race of the year and got my second medal of the series.

Jason and I with our newest medals!  Ignore my weird sweat/water spots...

While Jason was resting, Lee showed up to surpise me!  Mom and Dad kidnapped Bean and took her to see her cousins and so Lee and I had the afternoon to chill.  He took me to a post-race lunch at Granite City (and bottomless mimosas, thank-you-very-much!).  It was a good day :)

Now, I want to vent a bit:

I have to say that the more races I run, the more I find things that irritate me.  Example: people that jump in a pace corral that is CLEARLY not what they intend to run.  IE: If you run a 12 minute mile, please please PLEASE do not jump in the 8 minute mile corral.  If I am running in my proper corral (or even one behind), I do not want to have to weave around you in the first mile.  And, my goodness, if you intend to walk the entire race, please don't start in the front of the pack...go to the back and wait for those running the race to get out of the way.  It is just courtesy.  It takes so much out of you when you spend all of your energy bobbing and weaving around groups of people in front of you walking three people wide.  I'm not the fastest runner and have never (and will never) claim to be, but COME ON PEOPLE!

That is all.  Until next time...

2 Races Down...10 To Go

XOXO

Outlook Good!

62°F with 10 mph winds at race time?  I’m down!

Sure it will be a little more windy by the river, but that’s okay.

Bring it.  J

XOXO

Haha...Hunger Games...LOVE!

True Story

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Currently reading Catching Fire

XOXO

On Losing 50 Pounds

I've known for about a month or so that this post was (hopefully) coming, but now that I finally get to write it, I'm not entirely sure what to say.  I'm not even sure I want to post this...but it is a blog about my weight loss/exercise journey, right?  So, I guess here it goes.

I've lost 50 pounds...well...51.2, I guess, is more accurate.  And that is based on my weight six week postpartum...  If you want to go based on my highest weight, three days before Lilly was born, I've lost 82.2 pounds.  If you want to go based on what I was before Lilly, I've lost 36.2 pounds.  Post-baby is supposedly one of the toughest times to lose weight, so we will stick with that.

51.2 pounds of fat and gunk and crap.  Gone.  Forever (if I try!)

Has it been easy?  Hell no.

Has it taken a looooooooong time?  Heck yes.

Would I do it all over again?  You betcha.

Am I still going?  Mmhmm

Currently, I am at the lowest weight I can EVER remember myself being at.  Not just in my adult life.  I do mean ever.  I can only remember myself as overweight and heavy.

Last week, I had dinner with my best friend, Kim (like...we've been best friends since Elementary school).  {Random story: In middle school, my sister taught us the word phat = cool. Unfortunately, she didn't tell us that it was spelled with a ph- and so we would write back and forth to each other in our notebook (yep...we had one...) things like "Hey fatty!" or "To the fattest girl I know..."  Man...we were cruel without knowing it, but so honest, it seems...}  Anyway, just about all of our lives, we have kind of (in my eyes, anyway) mirrored what each other looked like.  We seemed to gain and lose weight at the same time.  We were both awkward and chunky through middle school...lost some before starting high school...gained some once we settled into our HS patterns...lost some weight for our choir trip to Hawaii when we were Seniors (can you say tan hotties on the beach!?!?!)...and gained some in college...lost some after college...and gained some as we got older...  To be 100% honest, she has always had so much going for her, in terms of looks (she has a killer smile and perfect hair) AND personality (can make me laugh like nobody can), among so many other things.  In the last year or whatever, we have both worked pretty hard and have both lost, what I would consider, a significant amount of weight.

After we ate (and as we sat talking about showing up to our 10 year reunion {which I have agreed to help plan} drunk or something to make a HUGE splash), we had a conversation about comments and remarks and how we deal.  We both agreed that it is down-right HARD to take a compliment about weight loss.  I've talked about this before and thought I would grow out of it, but it still feels the same.  It is hard to just say "thanks" to a "You look some amazing and tiny!" compliment when all you can hear is "Wow!  I can't believe you aren't such a giant manatee anymore and the world doesn't shake as much when you walk by!  Way to go!" (side note: don't manatee's look like giant lumps of dough smushed together?!?)  Why can't we just take comments at face value rather than questioning everything that person thought of us when we were bigger.  I was the same person that I am now, except I ate more coooooookies/nummies/delicious foods, moved less, and wore bigger clothes.  I realized that we truly are so similar, but in some things that I KNOW a lot of "former fatties" deal with.  We basically decided that it was a really hard thing to deal with, but you just have to do it.  That is the price you pay for weight loss, I guess.

And then we talked about people asking, "Wow!  How did you do it?!?!"  People ask like they want your big secret.  As Kim put it, "They look at you, waiting for you to say "Yeah...I ate nothing, but grapefruit and twigs for six months" or something" (this is where I looked at her and asked if she seriously ate nothing, but grapefruit...  She didn't.)  I agreed.  Everyone wants to know what magic pill you are taking or diet you are following.  After years of struggling with weight, I am so glad that I have found it and can honestly FINALLY share the secret to weight loss:

Eat Less.  Move More.

It works.  It really does.  I'm living, breathing, shrinking proof!

Now is where I do the whole "before" and "after" photo thing, right?

Before...6 and 10 weeks after Bean was born...

Now.  It is possible to get where you want to be.

Why did I do it?  Honestly?

The super cute kid...not the Spud...

Find your motivation, whatever it is, and use it.  Make it mean something to you or it won't work.

But seriously...the secret...

Grapefruit and twigs.  Kim said so.

Just kidding...  Eat Less.  Move More.

XOXO

Dónde Está Weigh-In Wednesday?

So, I totally didn't remember to weigh myself this morning...totally forgot it was Wednesday until I got to work and remembered that Kali and I are having Nelson's today (mmm...Nelson's...).

I'm trying something for the rest of the month.

I'm not going to weigh myself for the blog.

There, I said it.

I will probably periodically to keep myself on track, but I'm hoping that, to spice things up, I'll be able to come back with a weigh-in the first week in April and say that I have lost some weight.

A grand experiment?  A setup for failure to be held accountable?  Here we go!

XOXO

Happy Pi Day!

One of the perks of working in a school on March 14 (3.14)

That's what is left of my slice of pie  :)

 Hehe...clever...and tasty!

XOXO

A Picture From Yesterday's Run

Yep...that is salt...  You can't see it, but it is down the side of my face, too...

So, this has been happening to me a lot with my runs lately.

I thought it was kind of funny.

"I look like a salt lick!  The goats will love me!"

Apprently, this may not be a good thing.

I think I have some more reading to do on this tonight.

XOXO

Booya

Despite a bunch of mistakes on my part...

1. Didn't hydrate well enough earlier in the day
2. Didn't eat enough today
3. Wore a long-sleeve black running top
4. Wore black workout capris
5. Selected a "never before have I run" very hilly route

And a few out of my control...

1. Hello, 13 mph winds in every which direction!
2. Where are you, extreme lack of shade?!?
3. Holy sweat down the back of my neck...ugh...

I just ran 7 miles in 1:13:54.

Booya!

PS Raspberry Hammer Gel...not too shabby!

Weigh-In Wednesday 3.7.12

Last wek wasn't a fluke...so that makes me happy!

Time a new mini goal, eh?

I know it seems easy, but I'm kind of at a stall in my rapid weight loss.

(Notice I did not say plateau...plateau's rarely exist, for real, but that's another post...)

140 pounds by the time I go to Baltimore Columbia with Kali for work.

BUSINESS TRIP!!!  JUMPING ON HOTEL BEDS!!!  BOB EVANS!!!

4.8 pounds to go.  Let's do this!!!

XOXO

No Excuses

This is how a girl looks awesome...

After she has just run 5k...

When the entire left side of her face (from eyeball to chin) is numb from the dentist...

Go girl.

FYI: I'm not wearing pants in this photo ;-)

XOXO

What If I Drool?!?

So, I have to go to the dentis after work today.

I was supposed to have the appointment a while ago, but freaked out and cancelled it.

I have to get a filling replaced...that means Novocaine...

Am I going to feel like running after the dentist?

What if I drool all over the treadmill and slip off and die?!?

Here is hoping I have some motivation...

XOXO

Montly Recap: February

Still plugging along...2 months down with 10 to go!

1. Run 500 Miles in 2012
• February had me running a total of 55.5 miles, therefore bringing my 2012 mileage total to 91/500.  Only 409 miles to go!
2. Run a 10k
• Not yet, but I'm working on it!
3. Run a Half Marathon
• Not yet, but I'm working on it!
4. Complete a Duathlon
• Not yet...August!
5. Complete (at least) 12 Races
• I did no races this month...so my 2012 race total still sits at 1/12!
6. Hit my Goal Weight of 130
• As of this morning, I weigh 145.2 pounds.  That means I have lost 1.2 pounds in February and am 15.2 pounds away from 130.  Keep it going!
7. Be a Better Mom
• Working on it :)
8. Be a Better Wife
• Working on it...could be doing better
9. Be a Better Friend
• Working on it...could be doing better
10. Be a Great Bridesmaid
• Working on it...could be doing more
11. Get Into Nursing School
• "I was sitting, waiting, wishing..."
12.  Get a House
• We got pre-approved again and we've looked at some.  Nothing yet...
13. Pay Off a Student Loan
• This one takes time...
14. Dress Better to Feel Better
• Still doing well
15. Floss More
• Still haven't missed a day!