Running in Boston

I have so many great things to post about from this vacation so I'm just going to have to break it up...so bear with me over a few posts. But of course, the most important thing to update on first- my running.

So...rewinding back to Wednesday when I went in search of a good spot to run around Torrington, CT where we were visiting George and Kyle.  I thought I knew what tons of hills looked like...until I got to Torrington.  I started running in Gettysburg so I know what hills look and feel like- but this town is crazy hilly but yet not in the mountains either!  To make it more challenging the roads were also horrendous (as in riddled with pot holes)- so there wasn't even good footing with all the hills.  So, I drove around and hunted and decided a good run through main street and this little mini park would work perfectly with some hills but better footing.  So I did my normal warmup of walking for about a quarter of a mile and a light stretch and felt good.....until I ran like 3 steps and my left hamstring went HECK NO! 

my legs said no!

It cramped like it was going out of style and would not quit.  I stretched and tried walking it out, but every time I started running again it was not having it.  So I decided instead of pushing through it and risking further pain (and not being able to do my long run later in the week), I headed back to their house and did what I know- stretched, foam rolled, and massage sticked the crap out of my legs.

I think George and Kyle might think I am crazy, between asking the waitress how many ounces my fish was and coming back from my run with my massage stick and foam roller in my arms.  Good thing I had good reasons for doing both those things ;)

So the big kahuna of runs this week was a solid 8.15 mile run along the Esplanade in Boston.  I took the 6:35am commuter train into the city.  Yeah, I know, crazy right? I got up at 6:00 am while on vacation, after going to bed at midnight after the Red Sox game (more to come about that game and food choices at the ball park later).

On the way into Boston on the train

 I got into the city at 7:10 and after a much needed bathroom pit stop (thank goodness for nice public restrooms) found my way to my running destination: the Esplanade.  The big challenge of this run which would come back to haunt me and make me quite nervous was the time restraint.  To return back to the hotel I had three train choices: 8:30 am (not enough time for sure), 10:10 am (way too late to get anything else done that day), or 9:10 am (juuust right).

Boston Esplanade

Although, I didn't take the above picture, it is a great view of my favorite part of my run, with the Charles River just out of site to the right of the trees.  There was a path in between this small water way and the Charles River that you could get to over cute stone foot bridges and I really enjoyed running there.  The weather was ok (upper 70s and humid) and I loved running by the Charles river around lots of other runners and cyclists!  I really wish the whole esplanade looked like the above picture, but unfortunately it just didn't. After the first 1.5-2 miles or so you were still running next to the water, but on your other side was not just traffic but a BUSY HIGHWAY.  There was only a simple, low railing that separated you and speeding traffic.  I had purposefully kept my music quite low because I wanted to experience the run more naturally and regretted it during this section- which ended up being about 5-6 miles of my overall run. 

I know, you are saying- why didn't you just turn up your music?  Honestly...I don't know, there were a couple times I almost did.  I guess the above reason still held true- I wanted to experience what it really was like running the Esplanade.   I wish I could have ran the Cambridge area of the Esplanade instead or as well because I think it would have been much quieter and more scenic- but it would have meant having to catch the 10:10am train which just wouldn't have worked at all for the rest of our day.  As much as I would have loved to just say "screw it" to the earlier train and run longer- my husband was a part of this vacation experience as well and we didn't come on it just so I could run. hehehe

I approve!

Tried out gu chomps strawberry flavor and they were tasty and easy on my tummy.  I like the consistency of gummys (think thick chewy gummy bear!) and every one I have tried sits well in my stomach.  Took at 2.5 miles, 4.5 miles, and 6.5 miles (ish). Also carried water, which was good when I choked on my chomp at mile 4.5 and had to use it to swish and spit big time. 

 Splits: mile 1: 11:33 min/mile. 2: 12:02 . 3: 11:51 . 4: 11: 56. 5: 12:06. 6: 12:03. 7: 11:57. 8: 12:17. last 0.16: 13:10 min/mile- lots of stop and go, crossing traffic, and some walking while trying to figure out how to get back to the train station.

Catching the train really made me very nervous near the end of my run.   Even though I was running a solid average that I always do for my long runs, the early bathroom pit stop and finding the Esplanade took up more time that I thought.  I had originally wanted to run 9 miles and at first I thought I still could, but I didn't calculate the times right and had to cut little spots as much as possible near the end to make the train on time.  Luckily I got there with just enough time to hit the bathroom before boarding- THANK GOD because there is nothing worse than having to go to the bathroom but being stuck on a train for 40 minutes.

Post run on the train!

I got some seriously funny looks on the train because I was positively dripping sweat and stretching in the isle- but they can hate all they want, because I was feeling GOOD.

More to come from our great trip to NYC/ CT/ Boston.....

You can lose while on vacation!

The title is pretty self explanatory, the bottom line is you can acheive your goals while on vacation- whether it is to lose, maintain, or simply minimize your gain.

My goal....it's always to lose (at least until I hit my goal weight).  Vacation is awesome, because I am NOT on a diet.  I have changed my entire life style which means I eat as clean and healthy as possible all the time because I my body feels so much better when I do.  I allow myself to enjoy the things that I love- in moderation.   While on vacation I am going to naturally indulge a little more than normal, but I make sure to get extra activity in to counter balance it.

I have gotten 2 runs in so far- both in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  First I ran with Jen H on Sunday morning, which was great! I love running with friends and the run felt effortless and fun with great weather and a ton of other runners, walkers, and bikers out.  There is something about working out around lots of other people that just pushes you on.

Speaking of which....I returned to Prospect Park on Monday morning by myself and had a blast! I was planning on an easy 3 mile run because it took me forever to leave.... and then I got there and the combination of beautiful weather and tons of fitness enthusiasts out enjoying it spurred me on.   I ended up running a solid fartlek because I was feeling DARN good!



Minus #2

 For those that are saying- what's a fartlek?! here is a good definition, from cool running: "Fartlek is a form of road running or cross country running in which the runner, usually solo, varies the pace significantly during the run. It is usually regarded as an advanced training technique, for the experienced runner who has been using interval training to develop speed and to raise the anaerobic threshold. However, the 'average' runner can also benefit from a simplified form of Fartlek training, to develop self-awareness and to introduce variety into the training program.  There is no predetermined schedule to follow, but instead the athlete will set her/his own interval lengths and pace in response to their own feeling of the workload. An advantage of Fartlek is that the athlete can concentrate on feeling the pace and their physical response to it, thereby developing self awareness and pace judgement skills. Also the athlete is free to experiment with pace and endurance, and to experience changes of pace."

Here are my splits: (total 3.34 miles)
mile 1: 10:59 min/mile - good warm up mile
mile 2: 9:06 min/mile ----> Fastest mile EVER!!! The speed work is finally paying off! I felt so good throughout and was shocked every time I looked at my garmin because it didn't feel as impossibly fast as that number is to me on a typical day- so I just kept going.
mile 3: 10:53 min/mile - good solid mile, almost entirely up hill
last .34 mile: 11:58 min/mile ---> cooldown, purposefully slower and all up hill

And of course we walked a TON while in NYC and even rented bikes on Governor's Island and had a blast with some of Jen's friends.  One of my favorite things we did was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge- very cool and obviously good exercise. ;)  We walked ourselves into complete exhaustion by the time we got to the Yankees game and were all grateful for some seated time.  We also did some walking (duh) while with George and Kyle at Six Flags, New England. 

So, tonight I went to a weight watchers meeting right by our hotel and I lost 0.8 lbs!!  The leader found out my weight loss by pressuring me after I answered a question....and it became a Colleen show where I answered a ton of questions, people cried (including me) and it was pretty amazing and inspirational.   I had members approach me afterwards, even as I was pulling out of the parking lot, just to thank me for coming and sharing my story.  I got hugs and congratulations and tears all over the place over my weight loss.  The thing that everyone kept coming to was that I was there on vacation- that blew them away.  The leader said that she would be telling my story for months to come and felt honored that I came to her meeting.....wow.

Shopping in Nashville!

There is one big aspect of my weight loss journey that is both thrilling and intimidating to me: shopping.

Really, it’s more thrilling than anything else.  Once I got out of the dreaded and much hated plus sizes, I felt like my wardrobe exploded into endless possibilities. At my heaviest, weighing in over 400 lbs I had pretty much zero options. If I found something that fit I wore that.  I didn’t wear anything fitted- everything was baggy and flowing, with elastic or drawstring waistbands pretty much always.  The nice thing about those pants- they expand with you as you grow and you don’t even realize it.  I was all about denial. I bought most of my clothes from Walmart then.  Not because I chose to, but because I didn’t have a choice.  After all, you could get sizes up to 5x at Walmart.

Today I didn’t shop in Walmart or Lane Bryant.  I haven’t had to shop in either of those stores for months now.   Lane Bryant gave me a lot more options once I was in the “normal” plus size range that they covered but I was totally pigeon holed into their style.  I didn’t have my own style when I shopped there- I had theirs.  I realize that I could have gone to other plus size stores but for some reason I didn’t.  Lane Bryant was comfortable for me because I knew things would fit there, I knew my size, and their style worked for me at work.  LB was good for me, but I am so glad that I never have to shop there again because it truly isn’t my style. 

 

Today I lost myself in Saks 5^th Avenue- Off 5^th, aka their outlet store.  I also LOVE the Nordstrom’s Rack.   While playing I tried on so many different pairs of designer shoes that looked incredible I lost count.  My favorite- a pair of Minolo Blaniks strappy stilettos that were sexy as anything and made my legs and butt look BAM.  I died a little bit because I couldn’t convince myself to purchase them- they were only about $450 which is good for Minolos, but WAY over my budget, DUHH.  I am still dreaming about those shoes and this pair of Michael Kohrs nude peep toe pumps with a cheetah accent on the sole. Killer!

And then after almost choosing a new Coach AND Michael Kohrs bag (talked myself out of both, don’t worry)…. I got to the clothes…..angels were singing.  I tried on so many different designers, including a pair of originally priced $250 jeans.  FYI, $250 jeans are that expensive for a reason.  I have never seen my butt and legs look that good in jeans, and I probably never will again.  But even on sale they were $150, people!  So alas, no phenomenal jeans, but…I did get a killer blue Calvin Klein dress. 





Yeah, I know...the compression socks are super sexy, I know you are super jeaulous.  I took a picture to send to hubby and Jen because sometimes a girl needs a second opinion before thunking down some dough.   I picked it out because I thought it would be an appropriate work dress at a meeting.  Certainly not a hospital visit as it hits above the knee and there’s no way I could restrain a big dog in it without flashing half the hospital both pairs of girly bits.  With the Ft. Lauderdale, FL meeting coming up in a month I hope I can shed another few pounds and it will look that much better.   It’s going to be hot as anything in FL because it will be late August and I really should wear as many skirts and dresses as possible to keep cool.  Or knock some socks off and look professional hot, however you want to look at it, lol.  

PS- the dress…it’s a size 10. What what?!  That’s right, designer size 10.  Loving it!  I am still a while from a size 8 but I hope I will eventually get there.  If not, I am THRILLED to be a size 10 and could stay there happily. :)

O Nashville...

This week I've been in Nashville for work.  It's been exhausting, enlightening, rewarding, and full of good food.

Waaaay too much good food.  Went over my daily WW points plus values each day, but you know what...when in Rome, right?  I made good choices and chose healthy whole foods and enjoyed each bite, even if they might have been a little higher in calories, I knew they were nutritionally good choices.  Sometimes just a salad just isn't enough to sustain you for a day full of traveling and being on your feet.  I even tried my hand at a vegan burger that was a black bean, sweet potatoe, and cashew patty with hummus and more veggies on focaica bread.  This was a leap for me because I have never liked sweet potatoes (unless they were sweet potatoe fries) and only mildly into black beans- but so glad I tried!  The combination was amazing! I had no fried, smothered, or any other sinfully delicious southern foods.  Only splurged once with 2 delicious peanut butter cookies.  Super soft, delicous pb heaven.  Worth every sinful calorie. 

My coworker who I was working with this week and I did go into downtown Nashville one night for dinner and had some great food at this microbrewery, including probably the best quacamole I've ever had. Delicious, and you could taste how fresh the avacodo was.  We then strolled the streets of music city and certainly heard a lot of music....most pretty good but it is a little unnerving to literally pass beggar after beggar for blocks- even if it is in the form of musicians. 

The best night hands down though was at this awesome restaurant called Ellendale's that specializes in all farm fresh, organic, eco friendly and incredibly delicious food.  They have a huge and beautiful vegetable and herb garden surrounding the restaurant that you can stroll through after dinner.  They also have live music every night.  We went there Wednesday and tonight because we liked it so much, although the atmosphere was the best on Wednesday with a husband/wife duet that were super talented, both with beautiful voices and hauntingly romantic original songs.  I bought their cd they were so good. :)

In workout news, I did get my butt down to the gym every morning like a good girl.




Did you have doubts? I really hope not people.  If you thought I was going to be away from home so therefore wouldn't work out you are nuts. lol. 

Tuesday I did a solid 4 miles. Wednesday I just couldnt get into it because I wasn't running and there was nothing to use for strength training (big pouty face).  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and got a decent sweat on but I never really got the normal buzz out of it.

This morning was really my shabam workout- 8.25 miles on the treadmill!  I started out with half a mile of walking and then HAD to go to the bathroom (annoying!!!) so after dealing with that, my run was solid but meant that I didn't have time to get the full 9 miles in that I wanted to do.  In the end, it is still my longest run to date so I am thrilled!  My coworker gave me a great comment (she was running next to me for a while) afterwards.  She said I looked very relaxed and was moving like it was effortless with great form.  Also that it looked like I was really enjoying the run.  I had no idea she was even paying attention to me! lol.  She is a long time runner so it made me all giddy inside when she said this. :)  And I really did enjoy the run, even though I was flinging sweat all over the place and was hot. O wait, that's normal. lol.

Tomorrow I get to head back home...where I will then be promply leaving for our NYC and Boston trip early Saturday morning with Adrian.  I can't wait but I am kinda nervous about how/when I'm going to be able to get workouts in.  Jen H and I will be running together Sunday morning and once we get to Boston I will have the hotel gym, but I'm not sure about when we are chilling with George and Kyle.  I'm sure I'll figure something out! :)

Party time!

I don't have any great (or perhaps incriminating) pictures from our party last night, but we of course had a fantastic time.

But let me start with this- having a party at your house just 2 weeks after moving is STRESSFUL.  Especially because work has been sucking all week, and we have just been so darn busy each weekend, our first opportunity to unpack was Saturday.  Yeah.  We got through it with our marriage still intact even though I was probably about as fun to unpack with as a wildebeest.  Thank goodness my husband is patient when it comes to me - especially when I get stressed.

The grill itself gave us some issues initially until we realized- with Dan's help- that the propane connection wasn't secure, so once that was fixed...

FIRE!!

Yeah, once the propane connection was fixed there was a bit of a scary fireball that happened when they tried the relighting procedure.  Everyone was ok- except for a little hair on Adrian's hand and arm that got singed.  After making sure he was ok, we did a full blow FIRE dance we were so happy, very circa Castaway.  We had WAY too much grilling food, and it would have sucked to not have a working grill.

So lots of grilling later....everyone was fed and happy- and I tried a Morning Star spicy black bean and corn veggie burger. It was INCREDIBLE.  Like, holy cow, best thing since peanut butter and chocolate made babies good.

Ok, maybe not but pretty darn close.  You just can't beat a Reece's peanut butter cup, let's be honest.  But, I was very impressed to say the least.  Especially given how much of a healthier and lighter choice it was than a burger.    I also made a full blown, no holds barred fruit salad (with some help from Rob at the end) which was popular and delicious, along with some tasty Sangria courtesy of a recipe from Chadd's Fords vineyard.

I had very little snacky food till late in the night after many a rounds of drinking games and laughing till it hurts.  We had lots of tasty dips to chose from- 1 that Bill brought that was a huge hit, 1 that I made from tastefully simply, 1 that Jen brought that was nice and light, ranch for the veggies, and salsa (always a winner).  Needless to say, lots of options and lots of chips also to go with them all.  What is it about drinking that always makes you want more food?  Totally bonker

This morning when I woke up I had a decently bad headache and a very annoyed tummy from all the salty food and alcohol from last night.  So after dragging my feet for over an hour, I drug my butt into the gym and onto the treadmill.  Once walking outside I realized it was cool and regretted my decision of treadmill running, but my stomach was really not thrilled with the thought of being anywhere but within very close distance to a bathroom.  Let's face it- when you have to GO, you have to GO AND NOW!!  That feeling is the worst feeling in the world when you are running and 3 miles from home.  Trust me, I know.  It SUCKS.  My headache wasn't really helping either....

Well, I enjoyed my reading material (evil grin) and got through 8 MILES!!!  I warmed up and cooled off with half a mile on each end so I ended up on the 'mill for 9 MILES! 

YAY!

 Although I didn't complete a race today, I did run on exhausted, slightly hungover legs and powered through some soreness throughout and bad stomach pain at about 6.5 miles (what I was scared about).  I gritted through it all and I felt DARN good afterwards.  I used "Cliff Shot Bloks" today too, to help my low energy.  I had one before hand, one at about mile 3, and one at about mile 5.5 or so.  And my digestive system is still with me in one piece, lol.  I feel so proud of getting through it- and I know my body is grateful to get all the toxins sweated out from last night.  And sweat I did!

I do need to seriously get more frequent runs outside though, especially my long runs.  I hope the weather is nice in Nashville next week so I can get some runs in there outside....

I'm not done yet!

Sorry I have been MIA this week....it's been a really terrible week to the point that I knew if I blogged about it, I would regret it- because I don't keep this private.  That's all I'm going to say about that...

So now that I just finished a great 5 miles on the 'mill, I can handle writing something positive on here and not be the depressed, miserable version of Colleen that I have been all week.  I'm really trying to break out of this funk and my weigh in last night should have done that....but it only did momentarily until I got a good runners high today.   Whoever said endorphins aren't fantastic obviously know diddly crap.

DUH!

Speaking of my weigh in....the nice thing about losing as much weight as I have is that no matter where you go people freak out and are inspired.  It's humbling, embarrassing, and exciting all at the same time.  I'm so grateful for weight watchers, I can't even fully express how much it has changed my life.  O wait....before and after pictures, take a look and you'll have an idea.  But it's so much more than just how I look, it's how I feel physically and emotionally.  This week I hit another MAJOR milestone- I have now lost 250 LBS TOTAL!  To be precise, 251.6 lbs!!!  To hit my ideal goal weight, I only have 23.4 lbs left.  HOLY CRAP!!  Very exciting indeedy!  My doctor goal is only 3.4 lbs away, but as my doctor and I discussed, I'm going to let my body decide where it feels happy, and it's telling me closer to 160, not 180.   Also met a potential new running friend at the meeting, and we run the same pace (by some miracle)!  I'm hoping we can run together sometime, it would be so nice having a running partner, especially for long runs. 

I've also been really trying to cross train more after my week of high mileage that was immediately followed by shin pain.  That's meant more time on the combo-elliptical and strength training which is great and would make Emily happy, lol.  O how I miss Gettysburg and the Y....I guess I really miss my routine there and my safe zones.  Sometimes it's good to get outside your comfort zone and test your limits.

Like when you start getting people that tell you "you're getting so skinny, you aren't going to lose anymore, right?"  When people say this it makes me feel two conflicting thoughts at once: 1. Me?! Skinny?! AWESOME?!  2.  Don't say that, I am SO not skinny and can't handle those thoughts.

Really number 2 is the scary part- it places this little seed in my head that I am good where I am.  But I am NOT.  First off, yes I am much healthier and thinner than I was, but skinny? Who are you kidding?!  Colleen will never be skinny.  Fit, HECK YES!  But skinny? NO!! I am muscular and curvy and very happy with both of those facts.   While I would love it if I could shrink my trunk-like thighs and get rid of my extra skin pretty much everywhere, that's not going to happen, let's face reality.

So friends and family- please help me out and don't tell me to stop losing, it messes with my head.  I am not at my goal weight yet- trust me, you will know when I get there because I will be FREAKING OUT and there WILL be a big party!  <3

Recent Workouts

Jen C and I just got back from an awesome weekend in Williamsburg, VA!  I'm going to do a post about it once pictures go up because everyone knows a story is better with pictures.  Jen has an awesome water proof case for her iphone so we took a bunch of pictures in the water park- hopefully some come out, lol.

So until then.... here's a recent workout since a birdy told me the last workout of the day post was very popular.  This was a strength training circuit I did on Friday at the gym.  I started with 25 minutes on the combo elliptical to get my heart pumping.

2 sets of 15 reps (unless otherwise specified) 

-bosu squats

I try to get my legs this parallel to the ground!

- bosu speed side squats- fun!

I do these fast with a little hop on the bosu to get your heart rate up

- traveling lunges with 5 lb dumbbell arm swing. I swing with the opposite arm as the leg that is lunging forward, you could also do the same arm as the leg leading.

nice form!

- bosu forward leg lunges- one leg with 5lb shoulder press, one leg with 5lb shoulder extension

I need my sneakers, though!

- curtsy lunges with jumps in between- Just found this video of it- definitely going to try adding the step, that looks like an awesome add in! Usually I do them with a little leap in between sides for extra cardio vascular burn.

- 5lb bicep curls on bosu - this time, just standing because I was focusing on my curl form. Usually I do these as a combo with a squat.
- 5lb tricep extensions - focusing on form here.
- passovers with balance ball - this is killer on your lower abs. KILLER.

- bicycle crunches on the floor

another good one!

- crunches on balance ball (25 reps per set)


In other workout related news, I had a nice 3 mile run on the treadmill Thursday which felt pretty good after my shin pain earlier in the week.  Then I busted out 7 miles on the treadmill on Saturday!  After my last 7 miler I feel much more confident that this was definitely 7 miles- and at my normal 12 min/mile pace.  I felt good and even tried out a cliff shot block (just one) to see how my tummy would take it in a controlled environment like the gym where I could hit the bathrooms if needed.  No need, it was great and MAN did I feel that extra energy- I felt like I could have run much longer, but needed to get home for a shower before our Williamsburg trip. I was a sweaty nasty mess when I got home, which of course felt incredible. duhhhh.  I love a really good sweat, people!  An extra perk of the shot block is that I still felt that extra energy long after I finished.  It might also just be a coincidence because I was super excited about the road trip, we will see in future tests, lol.

I also ran 4.5 miles today in beautiful Colonial Williamsburg!  It was hot and humid as all get out, but it was worth braving the heat to get such a unique run under my belt in such a lovely setting.  Ashton gave me a suggested route and it was a great run with good footing for the most part.  Old school cobble stones are not fun to run on, fyi.  But the well kept brick sidewalks are almost the same as pavement I learned (thank goodness). 

I'm going to try to keep to running every other day and not get my mileage for the week up too high like I did 2 weeks ago when I ran 5 days of the week.  While I would love to run 5 days a week, I think it's best for my legs to keep it to 3-4. Sad.  But I do love cross training, I just need to keep that in mind! :)