I want to run!

Sometimes your legs don't want to cooperate with the rest of your body.  And it SUCKS. 

Yesterday's run ended in pain after a little over a mile.  Darn left shin pain started barely mild and developed into full fledged pain.  Today I chose to do spin instead of running after asking Emily for advice last night.  So I iced like a good girl, took a spin class, and wore compression sleeves to increase circulation.  So, what do I get?  Relief you might think. Nope, hamstring soreness.

REALLY?! 

So, in light of the realization that I might have increased my weekly miles too much last week, I need to take it EASY this week.  Which means maybe just cross training or very low mileage.  I can't afford to get a full blown leg injury.  No, sir.  I need to chill out and remember I still have time before my first half-marathon.  I can take my time working my mileage up after this blip.   It's just frustrating because I WANT to run!  I am missing it and know that the longer away from it the more ground I'm going to lose.  O well, such is the roller coaster of life.

There is a good reminder I saw this week, posted on the Insanity facebook page that I really need to remember as I have to take a step back in my exercise.

The reason I bring this up, is because I have made the conscious decision that I can and will get to my goal of 160lbs.  I think this is realistic, attainable, and maintainable.  My doctor doesn't 100% agree with me which scares me a little bit, but I am darn well going to try to get close to it.  After my 1.6 lbs loss this week, that means I am only 25.2 lbs from goal!!  As much as it would be nice to accept my doctor's goal of 180 and be only 5 lbs from goal I know that isn't right for my body, particularly for my fitness goals. My body will appreciate having to carry less when I'm running, that's for sure.

So, I need to buckle down and tighten up my food these next couple weeks even more so the decrease in exercise doesn't hurt me too much on the weight loss side.  No dieting here, just a reminder of the importance of eating very clean.

Missing my running shoes

Stolen from one my favorite blogs, runner12!  He is not just a funny, amusing blogger but very inspiring and part of the "From Fat to Finish line- the documentary" about a group of 12 runners who have all lost a significant amount of weight and are now going to run a ragnar relay! 




I LOVE that!! I was really wanting to run today but I was still feeling shin pain in my left leg.  It started yesterday early afternoon at the beach and the more we walked, even in sneakers, the more it bothered me.  Mostly it was dull on the front of my shin, but at times it felt sharp.  My fear of not being able to run the next day was actually causing me some distress and near the end of the night, even though I was having an awesome time, I felt like I couldn't get my compression socks on fast enough to get relief.

As I re-read that last sentence I can't believe those thoughts came out of my brain. I was worried about not being able to run the next day?!?!  I was more concerned about potentially having to take another rest day than I was about the delicious Kohr's I was enjoying...?!?!  I have officially lost my mind. 

And it feels darn good to be crazy! :)  Luckily the compression socks, stretching, and elevating my feet in the car did actually help (thank goodness).  But, even so, I had some lingering pain in my shins this morning and I made the smart, although reluctant decision, to forgo a run and spin instead.  That is...until my work schedule interfered with a call that went really late, so I checked out the new (for me) combo ellipticals at the gym.  Awesome!  Much harder and more variety/options than a typical elliptical, and I had fun doing the "training 3" setting for 50 minutes.  And then a nice long foam roll and stretch afterwards.  My IT Band is finally making some progress- it doesn't hurt nearly as much to roll as it used to.

ooooo pretty....

Note to self- remember that cross training is good for many reasons.  That being said, I want at least 4 miles tomorrow after work- it is going to be a super stressful day and I am going to need the release.  I will even tolerate a treadmill run.  I am going to wear compression sleeves all day and hopefully my legs will still want to run after a long day of presenting aka standing in heels.

THAT is a great experience!

Today Adrian and I went to Rehobeth Beach for the day.  It brought back lots of memories of past trips to the beach....some good and some bad.  My weight has held me back a lot in the past and the beach is no exception.  Can you say heat rash? That stuff HURTS.  Even though that hasn't gone away completely with weight loss, being able to shop in a "normal" size store is a major change from a couple summers ago, and it means more than most people realize.

White House, Black Market is one of those stores that I have always liked but have never shopped in for many reasons but mainly: 1. I couldn’t fit into their clothes. They only go up to size 14 I think. 2. They are PRICEY.    But I remember passing by their beautiful shop every time we went to rehobeth in HS.   Jen H and I would stop there frequently, particularly to look at their sale rack outside.  Each time we looked through I would feel so miserable because I loved their clothes but didn’t have a shot in hell of fitting into them.  I remember thinking one time when Jen H. and I were browsing that there would never be a day I would be skinny enough to shop in their store and fit in with their beautiful, stylish image.

 

I was wrong.  That day was TODAY.

After lots of sun and surf, Adrian and I changed and we both wanted to do a little shopping to get out of the sun and into some air conditioning.  We stopped in a few different places then started heading over to funland for bumper cars, when we passed the familiar store front and their rows of sale racks.  I made a little noise and said how much I liked that store and Adrian was like- let’s go then!  After browsing through some sale stuff I found a handful of stuff to try on.  We were greeted immediately by a sweet woman named Megan who asked me what my name was.  Wow, great start!  She then asked if she could take my clothes and start a fitting room for me.  Bonus point number 2!  I love when sales people do this in clothing stores.   Call it what you will, but I like being taken care of sometimes.  Then Adrian and I went looking, picking out several more things for me to try and show to him- with very little hope of them really looking that great on me.  At least that was what the evil little gremlin in the back of my head was saying.

Well Megan did not just hook me up with one of their gorgeous dressing rooms but asked me what size shoe I wore and proceeded to bring me several different pairs of heels that I could wear while trying on different dresses.  Then she asked me if I had any jeans to try on to go with my tops and when I told her no- immediately asked me my size and brought me the size 12s I told her I was.  I hesistantly tried on the jeans and beautiful size M shirt she brought me and opened the curtain- to a stunned “wow” from both Meghan and Adrian.   After wowing over the shirt, she immediately told me the pants were too big for me and with the smaller size on proceeded to tell me how great my ass looked in them.  I gotta admit, it did look good, but I didn't want to buy cropped jeans.  And the shirt she picked out…..wowsers.  On the price but also on the look- Adrian was very insistent on the purchase of that top especially.   



in LOVE with this top!



 At this point Adrian informed her of my weight loss progression and she got all giddy excited and kept bringing up how I needed to dress my new body to show off all the hard work I’ve done.  She brought me somewhere between 2-3 dozen dresses and outfits to try on by the end of the visit.  She has an amazing sense of style and what would look good on me, because every single one looked gorgeous and made me feel beautiful.   Every time I opened the curtain, it was to great reactions from them both.  I felt like I was shopping with a close girl friend instead of getting help from a sales woman.

I finally narrowed it down to two of the most beautiful dresses I have ever owned- a maxi and a cocktail, THE shirt that Adrian was in love with, and the shoes I was wearing the whole time. They were FANTASTIC, sexy, and quite comfortable.  The shoes were also 30% off, making them the easiest decision of the day. 



duh, these are awesome



In the end, I feel guilty for how much money I spent but no amount of money could ever re-create the amazing experience I had.  I’ve heard work friends talk about shopping trips to Neiman Marcus where the sales woman just asks your size and brings you endless fabulousness.  This felt even better than that because it was a personal connection and I felt SPECIAL the whole time. 

Adrian said as we were leaving that it was one of those milestone moments for me.  Totally on the ball, as always :)

A running machine!

This week I feel like I have been eating, breathing, living for running. I'm sure that this honeymoon period is short lived, but I'm going to live this as long as humanly possible!

So to catch up where I left off- I had a GREAT run on Wednesday!!  The night before the weather report informed me that Independence day was no day to run outside.  6am forecast: 84 deg, 90% humidity. NO WAY!  I wanted to tough it out but that irking voice in my head (namely Emily) that keeps reminding me there's a reason I have a gym membership, that includes many state of the art treadmills.....

So I slept in Wednesday morning and dragged my feet for what was basically forever but finally drug my butt into my new gym for a workout.  I was going to warm up on their indoor jogging track then hit the treadmill for the bulk of my miles.  Then I started running on the track....

And ran 7 miles.  It just felt sooo awesome to be inside but still be able to have complete control of your run without having to push buttons or run on the treadmill.  The only sucky thing- you have to count laps.  1 mile= 13 laps (I later learned 1 mile= 13.25 laps but close enough).  It's kind of a pain to count but I would keep each lap I was in at the forefront of my brain until I crossed my imaginary "start/finish line."

After the first mile, I look down at my watch and see a magic number: 11 minutes even.  I've run sub 11 min miles before but I typically don't go that "fast" naturally, even on flat for multiple miles.  And I was feeling GOOD.  Like this pace feels very natural.  It wasn't until about mile 5 that the pace started to feel too hard to keep up so I slowed down to whatever felt good.  Gotta listen to your body.  According to my garmin (I had it running but no splits because it had no satellite reception inside) I finished the 7 miles in 1:17:34.  That works out to an 11:04 pace.  Speaking of Garmin, I think not seeing it helped me because I just let my body run what it felt natural running.

So...reality sunk in later.  I probably miscounted or had in issue with my time keeping because that really doesn't seem like a real time- for me at least.  I was probably running 11 min/miles pretty steady until about mile 5- they were ticking off easily and felt awesome, but I KNOW I slowed down to at least a 12 for mile 6, maybe 12:30 min/mile for the last mile.  Also there is the little quarter lap thing I learned today, so technically, if I counted correctly, I only ran 6.86 miles or something like that.

But....

That's right!! I am so proud of my run.  Yeah, I shouldn't do long runs on this track because I can't switch directions which could cause injuries.  I'm glad Emily reaffirmed that in my head, because I was thinking it, too afterwards.  But....I kicked this run's BUTT and it felt good to run that long straight.  My previous longest distance had been 6 miles but I had several walking breaks in there, some pretty long- so this is by far my longest consecutive run. :)

I took Thursday off completely from exercise- it felt like my body needed it after that run especially with how exhausted I was Wednesday afternoon.  I checked out a new WW meeting in White Marsh, and it was really nice with some very friendly and nice people! I love WW!! :D

Friday I bit the bullet and got my already hot from the heat body on the treadmill and ran a very solid 3 miles at 12 min/mile pace.  I've struggled in the past keeping this pace up on the treadmill for some reason- it just feels easier to keep up on the road, but it felt great that day.  Also was able to read on my kindle which was sweet.

Friday was an awesome day for many reasons but the most important- Adrian got the job he wanted!!! So proud of my husband!!  So rightfully so, we celebrated at Macaroni Grill.  Although my entree was a great choice, we split a delicious appetizer of shrimp and avocado on crostini....it was almost as many points as my entree!! Luckily, it was delicious so I have no regrets.  I tracked it and moved on. We joined some friends in Trolly Square for drinks and dancing so I just had one beer given I had to drive all the way back to Middle River afterwards.  :)

So feeling like I needed to beat myself a bit today, I was in the gym for 2 hours which included a treadmill speed workout and strength training.....will share that workout with y'all later because I need to meet up with some friends to see...



I can hardly wait!! :)

Recovery and new gym- complete with crazy lady!

Even in the heat and with crazy stress (well that's normal) I have still been enjoying my running. Crazy, right?

Rewinding a couple days....Sunday we literally just laid around most of the day, unpacked some stuff, went shopping to stock up the kitchen, and explored the surrounding area.  After a packed 2 days of moving, cleaning, then the reunion I felt like I couldn't get my body moving in any type of forward and productive motion.  I felt so exhausted and drained that eating seemed like it wasn't even worth it.  Eventually had a decent sized meal at dinner but I was going to be way under points for the day....so we splurged and got ice cream (I got a tiny little kids size, calm down).  It was awesome and literally felt like a lift to my spirits.  Maybe it was just the sugar and peanut butter/chocolate...whatever it was, I felt like a human again instead of a slug.  The fact that I drank my dinner in the form of 2 glasses of wine and a shot the night before might have had something to do with that..... O yeah and this:

My killer sexy shoes were killer on my left side heel

Adrian, being the wonderful husband he is, gave me an amazing foot massage when we got home from the reunion.  Really, he is unbelievable- sometimes I can't believe he is mine!  ::squee::

By Sunday night, post ice cream deliciousness, I felt ready to return to normal life and set my alarm for 6:30am so I could get a 3 mile run in before all my conference calls started at 8:30 am.  And so that I didn't melt in the heat.  Somehow both were accomplished- although I was sweating through every layer of clothes when I returned home from a nice 3.5 mile run around the neighborhoods around us.  But the important part- I did complete what I wanted to run and more.

Tuesday morning I got distracted before my run and was only able to get in 2.5 miles before having to turn in so I could shower and get my butt on a 2 hour conference call. yeah. seriously long call.  Had to go right to a hospital after that so you know I couldn't hold that shower off.  Plus who wants to be sitting in their own nasty sweaty-ness for 2 hours? ewwww. Not me!

That night Adrian and I went to check out gyms.  We had narrowed our choices to two that we were going to trial membership each...but then we walked into LA Fitness. And ended up walking out with two memberships....

 First off, I knew the closest YMCA (our other option aside from Planet Fitness) was at least 15 minutes away- with no traffic.  That really does NOT work for us.  We knew this but were still considering it- even though it didn't have a pool.  I was not thrilled about the no pool fact, but I realized it was a deal breaker once I saw their lap pool at LA.  Recently I have been reminded of the joys of swimming and my long term goal of completing an olympic level triathlon....then maybe half-ironman (if I lose my mind).....you get the idea- I'm an addict after all as Jen C tells me.  ;)

By the time we finished our tour of LA Fitness with David, the totally awesome guy helping us, my only personal concern was price.  The facility was great with separate areas for stationary legs/arms/abs/benching on the main level, a stretching space, special personal training space, a huge aerobic room, a gorgeous and brand new spin room that literally made me salivate, so of course I just HAD to try out their brand new bikes.  On the lower level were the locker rooms (with access to the pool on the main level), 2 racquetball courts and the free lifting room with so many squat racks, Smith racks, and free weights I wanted to jump up and down and squee!!  And then we went upstairs to the cardio area......amazing again.  Tons of treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, stair steppers, AND the combo ellipticals I have been dying to get my feet on.  So, of course I tested them out as well. SOLD.  Also- they had a jogging track surrounding the cardio area.  13 laps=1 mile.  Tediously boring, but another option for a shorter run.  I have been to bigger gyms- like the Gold's gym in King of Prussia (I think it was Golds, if not some other chain) which is basically like the mecca for gym lovers with 50 treadmills!! I would like my ashes scattered there, thank you very much.  Just kidding.......

Turns out, they were running a 4th of July special (convenient, eh?) which knocked our price down a bit.   He gave us some privacy so we could talk about it and realized that A- I was already in love (if you couldn't tell), B- why wouldn't I be?! , and C- there is no way the YMCA that was close could match this since there was no pool, similar prices, and it was much farther away.  Being a quick 5 minute drive from our house really helped the decision.  And my giddiness of playing on all the equipment!

We had a great experience with Dave and since we had talked about potentially using personal training down the line, he sent us to meet with the training coordinator.  FAIL.  Will never train with her. EVER.  She was like a bitchier, nasty, close minded version of Jillian Micheals.  Obsessed with herself and with a nasty attitude and zero respect.   And she would not shut up- especially about how much she hated running.  Really? This is clearly not the way to my heart after I tell you I have recently found a love of running and am training for a half-marathon.  You should be trying to win me over, I am a brand new member that is also a fitness lover!  Also, please don't diss weight watchers after I tell you that's how I lost my nearly 250lbs- that you were hardly fazed by.  Dave freaked out and high fived me, which made me feel awesome.  Let's face it- fitness people love to hear that stuff and that I've done it with healthy eating and exercise.    O yeah, get this, too- if I had lifted all throughout my weight loss I would have no loose skin....

Exactly

That was after telling her that I had been strength training for 2 years and working out throughout my weight loss.  Either she is a terrible listener or just nasty. Maybe both.  I have never claimed to be an expert but I do know that I have tried my best to manage my extra skin.  I also know for a FACT there is NO way you loose 250+ lbs and don't have extra skin, so don't you DARE try to make me feel like I could have done more. YOU SUCK.

Last tidbit I learned from her during her constant contradictions of herself...  My weight goal (according to her) IS 150, and I don't have a choice. This was AFTER I explained where my doctor wanted me to be and our plan to find my body's happy place somewhere between 160-180.  My dander was UP.  Especially because my doctor has basically been trying to prepare me that I will struggle to maintain 160 with my extra skin and muscular body type.  Later on she proceeded to say that BMI isn't important, but % of body fat is how they measure your fitness.  I agree, that is a better fitness indication....so how can you possibly KNOW that I should be 150lbs at goal except for with BMI- which you said was good 30 minutes before hand?!?! 

grrrrrrr indeed

Deep breaths.....so after all this BS, we finally learn their prices/packages and walked out without signing up for any. DUHHH.   I voiced my sticker shock a bit and she dumped salt into my gaping wounds by then telling me how crappy Y's are and how there were probably no good trainers in such a small town.  I nearly came across the desk I was SO pissed.  I was ready to take off her 4 in stilleto boots and beat her with them.  In the head.  Instead, I gave her the patented O'Neil glare (Nicole is another master of this).  It is deadly and I actually saw her squirm (success!!).  She then quickly started saying how she's been kidding the whole time after I explained how absolutely awesome my trainer and old gym was and how I was missing her like crazy, especially at that moment.  And reminded her I would train with her at least once a week, sometimes twice- as I had already told her several times since she kept mocking me after I said I was pretty self sufficient.  Apparently that simply isn't possible that I work out 6 days a week without somebody looking at my log every week and watching over my shoulder.  Because, you know, you can't possibly keep yourself motivated without a personal trainer to tell you ever single step to take and then monitor that you did it correctly.  O and heaven FORBID you lift without said personal trainer- you WILL over lift and hurt yourself.  According to her, who is the expert of the universe.  AGGGHHHHH


I feel like I need to do some sun salutations now to get her bad juju out of my brain.  Emily helped me calm down afterwards by reminding me that she was crazy and I was right.  That's what good friends are for! :)

So since this post warped into this huge rant about crazy gym lady, I'll talk about my 7 MILE run tomorrow.  That's right- 7 MILES!!! So proud of myself :)

NHS 10 year reunion

Saturday night was my 10 year high school reunion.

It was awesome!! The organization committee did a great job and there was a great mix of people there.  I obviously wish there was more of my old group from high school there, but it was mainly people I barely knew.  Although, 2 of the very most important people from high school were there- the Jens (Huang and Sprout).  We had a full blown JCJ (Jen Colleen Jen) reunion and it was awesome!!  I got so many compliments on my weight loss (especially from those that saw me near the end of college) and my dress.  I actually had a random girl come up and compliment my dress and ask me where I got it.  So cool.  So MAJOR props to Jen Cohen who went shopping with me and helped put together my whole fabulous look!  I will take credit for pulling the dress because I saw it first and I fell in love but she helped me decide and I'm SO glad I went with this dress and the sexy shoes.....even if I still have the scars on my feet to prove the pain.



JCJ reunion!

Adrian and I met first at Jen H's place to see her family and take some classic, hs inspired pictures.  Classic, I know!  It was nice to see her dad again- after all I've known Jen and her family since 4th grade!! Bayard for life!



Jen H and I :)



We had to get Adrian in on the action!



So just bear with me through lots of pictures....it's what you do at reunions.  I just wish I had gotten a shot of myself solo (especially the back of the dress because it was KILER and a good one of Adrian and I together with nobody else.  Such is life when you are having too much fun for your own good! 



from left: Jen Sprout (now Forster), me, Jen Huang, and Andy Hazzard.

 

me with Amanda L- our moms used to work together



me with Keith Mod- better friends in college than hs oddly enough



so great to reconnect with Jen S (now F!)



The below two pictures are classic and were talked about several times during the night.  The old one (on left) was taken at our JCJ graduation party in 2002.  That's right we had a joint graduation party, that's how awesome we were!  The new one was obviously taken at the reunion.  The tall, very nice guy, in the back is Al who was our senior class president. One of the nicest guys I have every known in my life.



then

now

So now that you have been overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) with pictures.....I am off to get a good night's sleep after my yummy hi carb whole wheat penne dinner.  Because tomorrow I am getting up at the butt crack of dawn so I can totally rock out a 6+ mile run in this crazy heat before I melt in my clothes.

edit:

Ummm until I just looked at the weather report and it's going to be 82 DEGREES with 90% humidity at 6am tomorrow morning. WHAT?!  Apparently waking up early is not even going to be worth it.  I am going to enjoy some extra sleep and suffer through those miles on the treadmill with my wonderful new, shiny gym membership.

REALLY WEATHER?! Colleen wants to run, you better take notice!

We are moved!!

It's official, I am making this post from our new place in Middle River, MD!

I feel like I should post pictures....but the place is a mess with some unpacked areas looking great and some completely a disaster. lol.  We were SO blessed to have a lot of help from some great people!  Tommy, Butch and Phil helped in Gettysburg- all guys that Adrian worked with at the Gettysburg Times.  They were awesome and really knew how to pack a truck!  Alex and Jen C helped in Middle River and my parents also brought over the mini-van load of stuff they had at the farm.

Rewind to Thursday....Had major issues getting a UHaul truck.  I blamed them hardcore and bitched and moaned about being put on a waiting list- but really it was mostly my fault because we reserved only 2 weeks ahead of time.  I normally am more of a planner- but we changed the date we were moving, which is why the reservation was so late.  The thing that upset me about the whole process was why are you confirming my reservation if you don't really have a truck for me to use?  Why not tell me that up front they don't guarantee pickup time and location? wtf?!  After a lot of stress and freaking out, we finally were given a truck to use at 9am on Friday after I made some waves with customer service.  We had to drive about 30 miles each way to pick up a new truck through back country roads so it added almost 2 hours (including pickup) to our day. But I was able to get an extra free 80 miles added to our contract so we didn't have to pay for it.  They were going to make us pay for each extra mile and I made the free miles happen. lol.  Please don't think I'm one of those crazy yelling/nasty people with customer service- just the opposite.  That is what gets results. :)

Seriously, they suck.  Never again, U-Haul.

So....once we got the truck,  it went quickly and the guys were awesome and super fast! We headed to our new place where we had to sign all the final paperwork and get our keys. That took longer than we were expecting but eventually we got into the town house and started the unloading with Jen C.  Jen KICKED ASS.  Like holy crap, she was awesome! (as if you could expect anything less from my bff)

We were very nervous about the cable setup apt, especially since they were supposed to show up between 1-3 and we got to the complex about 2:30pm due to the delay in the truck pickup.  But all was good because he arrived a little after 3:00pm, just when we were starting to unload the truck. So everything worked out and we have cable and internet (o yeah, and a useless phone line that I still need to buy a phone for...).

I had just gone to pick up a new bed frame for our bed, because our old one had broken, when Alex arrived.  At the perfect time according to my darling and exhausted husband. My parents arrived about the same time as well with their mini-van full of stuff they had stored for us for a couple weeks to make our move easier.

After some showers all the way around, we got dinner at a great little Chinese/Japanese place we found that surprisingly had several "diet entrees."  Sweeet! 

Saturday Adrian and I went back to Gettysburg to clean the old place.  And holy cow, was it an ordeal!  An exhausting and stressful ordeal, especially trying to fit everything left (how was there still so much?!) into our two cars plus bring back the professional carpet cleaner back to the grocery store. Somehow we did it....and in the process I lost my keys.  Of course I flipped the crap out and we searched the whole place to no avail.  Luckily Adrian had an extra key for my car so we could get back home.  We found the lost keys when we got home and were unpacking the cars.  They had somehow ended up in a bag with random stuff.  Blah.

And then we had to get ready for my 10 year high school reunion....which definitely deserves it's own post. To come later....Thanks again everyone for your help!!