Where did June come from?

I can't believe it's June already.  We are pretty much halfway through the year.  I know, I know.  July 1 is technically our half-way point, but let's be real.  December flies by. We barely even know it's December and suddenly we're celebrating New Years.  Regardless - I totally slacked the last month (or two?) and didn't break down my goals. So, I'm planning ahead and doing this the night before ;)

My goals for June:


1. Allow myself time to fully heal from my upcoming surgery, and keep my fingers crossed it's my last.  I never allow myself to just rest after surgery.  I need to do that this time.

2. Meet someone new.  Whether it's someone I've talked to but never met through here, or whether it's someone new at the gym.  I'm going to say hello.  I realized that sometimes I just get so wrapped up in what I'm doing that I totally lose focus on everything around me, making me miss out on opportunities that are floating around.

3. Try something new.  I don't really care what, just something different, and out of my element.

4. Acceptance.  Accept wherever I am in life at that current moment.  I may not be able to change some things, but I can change how I look at them.

This is an interesting month for me.  I still plan on doing the basics - exercise, water, etc.  But it's been an interesting few months and I need to remember that those goals only address one area of my life, and I need make sure I'm addressing the other end of the spectrum.

My first 5K (and 100th post!!!)

I am super excited that of all my posts - this is my 100th!!!

Today I had my first 5K. It was the Tallmadge Memorial 5K.

I won't lie - I was not ready for this.  I was wogging once a week because my shin splints were so bad.  And then Wednesday, the week before I did a practice run outside and about 1.5/2 miles in I got so sick I had to stop. I was so dehydrated and got my BP up so high that I was terrified to even try the race after that.  I spent all Friday - Sunday chugging water.  Close to 15 servings a day.  I wasn't risking a repeat of Wednesday, especially when the temps were to peak around 90 today.

After debating, I decided to go through with the race.  I spent some time on YouTube watching videos from last year's run and watching people walk and suddenly wasn't embarrassed that I knew I would have to.  So I headed on Saturday morning to pick up my bib and goodie bag. The shirt is cute, but too short for my liking, not sure I'll ever get to wear it.

My sister happened to be in town from NY, so my parents, husband and sister were able to come to the race, which was great. I needed the support.

I met up with a coworker (the evil one who convinced me to register for this 5k) and we got ready to take off.

By 745, I'm not sure of the temp, but I will say there was ZERO shade.  It was just direct sun beating down on us.  A bit overwhelming.  So we take off and I am fumbling around with my ipod/nike +. ... I thought I had it going, found out about 5 minutes later I never started it..

There was a great crowd there. Everyone from your every day mom and her daughter to a 70-something year old woman who ran her first race (and yes, she finished before me!).  I took off from the line at the back, I didn't want to get run over. Mistake #1 -  I pushed myself a little too hard from the very beginning, ruining my pace and flow.  I couldn't keep up with my run 4, walk 2 almost instantly.

I'm not sure what I was thinking, or what possessed me to 'challenge' myself, but I had the bright idea to jog up the wicked hill, that I watched every non-seasoned runner walk up... That was mistake #2.

Mistake #3 - throwing myself a pity party at one point. Convincing myself I ruined my chances of finishing because I got so far back at one point.  There were probably ... 15 behind me, and at one point, in a loop through a neighborhood - there was no one.  No one I could see in front, and no one behind me (well I didn't look, but no one immediately behind me). There was no one cheering, it was just me.  And I wanted to quit. I wanted to quit so badly.  I convinced myself I would get to the corner and ask a volunteer to borrow their phone, call hubby and say I'm done.  But as I got closer to the corner, and the volunteers were cheering me on, I knew I couldn't.  I wouldn't forgive myself.

So I chugged along.  Shortly after, everyone kept yelling how close I was.  I was convinced they were delusional. There was no end in sight, there was no shade in sight (seriously - this is a quiet neighborhood, why are there are no shady trees on the treelawn folks?!?!).  It was just me, the sun blasting down on my head, and my, finally steady, breathing.  It took me until about 2.5 miles into it to get a good breathing pace down.  Just in time to finish. hah.

I finally saw the end... And my dad was coming over to cheer me on and give me a little pep talk.

With one more deep breath, I knew it was time to give it everything I had left. . .

Smile for the husband and family.

I don't quite remember what made me giggle.  I was not in a giggling mood, so it must have been hilarious to me at the time.

My friend Beth (who finished with an awesome time, wayyyy before me) and her mom were there on the sideline cheering me on.  Sadly - I didn't even see or hear them - all I could see was that black box finish line.


I don't know my official time.  Unfortunately with my ipod fiasco, I will have to wait until they post it.  However, I *believe* it was in the 49 minute range (and NOT last for the women!), which isn't too far off of my initial goal, which was to do it 45 min. Gives me a starting point, that's for sure!

There was a woman in front of me, and her shirt said something along the lines (I forget now) "I may not be first to the finish, but at least I have the courage to come to the starting line" and I thought about that most of the run.  I could have bailed and made excuses. But I didn't.  I showed up and I gave it what I could.  It wasn't what I hoped for, but it was all I could do at this point - and that's more than some people will ever be able to say.  So I'm OK with that.

After downing some gatorade and water - I was able to smile again ;)

I refused to go home, because I knew I'd spend the entire day sleeping, so I went with husband and family to Aurora Farms Outlets.  It was good. Now with these last few pounds lost, I had zero pants for summer, so I managed to get a few.  Good deals, but really just enjoyed spending time with my family. 

Husband asked if I'd run another one... I think I'd be willing to do another, sans that wicked hill and preferably one with some shade ;)  We'll see.. 

April Goals

I like to start every month with fresh goals.  I need solid goals to aim to.

I felt short on my March goals.

Just a little. I did not workout 5x a week.  I started off on a good track and somewhere in the middle fell short. So now I'm going to do a weekly schedule of when I can get in at least a mile (bare minimum), 30 minute (good enough) or 60 minutes (ideal).

And I did join WW so I got food under control. I have a bit of a delay because I did horrid Wednesday and Thursday, so between that and not working out - we all know what the scale tells us.

And finally - my goal to workout with hubs on Sunday has changed to just 1-2x a week, regardless of WHEN it is.  I talked before about how we have totally different workout personalities, so this will be a challenge, for sure!

So April goals in full (Old and New included)

1. Workout 5x a week with three options: A mile (minimum), 30 minutes (good enough) or 60 minutes (ideal)
2. Stay on plan, all month
3. Include a workout with hubs 1-2x a week
4. Practice wogging (walk/jog) outside more once the weather breaks, need to adjust to outside versus treadmill
5. Water, Water, Water.  This month I am focusing on getting in at least 6-8 glasses of water a day, no less! 
6. I am continuing along with my 100 mile goal, I have 66 left to go. It looks like I won't meet that 100 by the end of April, I'd at least like to see about getting in 30 more towards it. :) 

What are your goals for April? 

5k Progress

If you recall, just under a month ago I talked about my first 5K attempt on the treadmill to get a baseline.  And here I am, a month later, still going at it.  And day after day, mile after mile, I don't notice the changes and the success (though yesterday, with my longest 'running' time, I did notice that) but sometimes  I need to stop and look at the hard facts.

Just under a month ago, I walked 3.10 miles in 61:18.  That's not bad, but I knew I could do better, and if my goal is to do it in 45 minutes or less in September, I have a lot of work ahead of me.  So I did just that. I worked really hard once March started to try and make sure every day I do at least a mile worth of work, whether it's my bike or my treadmill.

So this is a reminder of last time:

Feb 22, 2011

And today:

March 21, 2011

And, because I wanted to see how far I've come, I continued my walk, until I hit 61:18 (though I will admit, I slowed down by that point):

Best "Run" Yet

I like to use Sunday as a day to gauge my progress in my weight loss efforts. I usually weigh in on Sundays  and Thursdays, and I usually do a workout on Sunday that is either the longest, or fastest to see my progress.  Yesterday, I got on the treadmill, and figured I'd just jog it out and see how far I could go. I was encouraged after reading Cupcake Dream's experience.  She was talking about how she just went out and kept saying they were only at a mile, and kept pushing to do a little more, and by the time they finished - they had done like 4+ miles...

So that kind of stuck around in my head.  I hopped on the treadmill and figured I'd see how far I could go just jogging (4.0 mph).  The most I had previously done was 3 minutes, without feeling like I wanted to die.  So I was jogging along and actually hit my 3 minute mark OK.  Then a new song came on and I told myself I'd just do one more song on my iPod.  Then that ended, and I figured, I could do one more.  Towards the end of this song I started wondering how much further I could go. I peeked at the distance and saw that I was at around the .7 mile mark and I just wanted to make it to .75, then when I hit .77 I knew I could make it to .8 and I did.  .8 however though was where I had to crank it down and walk the rest of the .2.

So now, next week - the goal will be to jog the entire mile! 

Related articles

• Weight Loss Journey Begins (missnicolette.wordpress.com)
• My First 5k (200by40.com)

Ready for my next 12 weeks..

I'm a member of the local YMCA and the location I go to is a brand new location. So things have been a little slow there, but I really like it (and the price is really affordable!).  So I saw a sign yesterday to sign up for a free 12 week wellness program that you can get as a member.  One of my previous students works there and wanted to be my coach, and I was hesitant at first, but he's a good guy.  So I went with it.  I have my first meeting on Thursday and then we will meet about every 3 weeks after that to monitor my progress and make a plan.

My two main goals:

Run (well OK, walk/jog) a 5K in under 45 minutes and to work on incorporating more strength training. I get intimidated when I head over to the weight section in the gym  because I don't really know what I'm doing - so I usually avoid it.

I also started using weight watchers on my cell phone - I'm giving it a shot for a month to decide if I like the new plan. So changes are coming - just hope they're good changes :)

March Goals -

In January, I set a few goals. I adjusted them from my original because I was on the way to exceeding those regularly.  Well January took a shift and February was a crapshoot of issues, so I semi-met the goals...

My January goals:

• I'd like to regularly hit 7,000 steps, but I'd like to have a few days (maybe one a week) where I hit 10,000, 12,000.  (This will be possible when I meet March goal #1!!!)
• My goal is regularly hit 2,900 calories a day - again with a few days where hitting 3,200 ,3,500would be nice. 
• My goal is to have a day where I do 5 8 miles, and I'd like to have to an active score in the 900's.,1,000's. (This might be a bit more tricky ... will work on it this month as well! ) 

March goals: 

1. Walk 5x a week working on the pace I can do a mile in.  Ideally, by the end of the month I want to shave off 1:30, so I'd like to do it in about 15 minutes. (I'm figuring I can try to shave off 5 seconds each time I do it)
2. Calories, Calories, Calories.  We don't eat poorly when we're eating at home.  But this past month we were constantly going out to eat.  So back to our one time during the work week plan. Not only will this help save us $$ but it will be saving us calories big time!  This is going to be especially tricky because we're going to the gym on Tuesday/Thursday so I'll have to have something easy to prepare for right after work those days (or do it Monday/Wed night for the next night). 
3. Sunday - work out together.  Whether it's a bike ride (if this snow every goes away!) or even just a walk through the neighborhood or mall. 

And I am not buying one drop of new workout clothes (I'm addicted to buying them and rarely use them, I always wear the same things!) 

Related articles

• Calories Burned By Walking (brighthub.com)
• How to cut calories without slowing your metabolism (self.com)
• The Best Way to Burn Calories (brighthub.com)

iPod + Walk = amazing

Yesterday I talked about wanting to run.  But I also said I wanted to focus on really just getting distance and time in. I was strolling along in the basement today on the treadmill (that I'm still bitter I can't get iFit on), but me and my ipod were bopping along, and before I knew it, here I was.  Walked just over an hour already and time flew by.  I snapped this pic as proof (I ended up walking 3.12 to finish).

Here's my proof (and motivation)

I varied my speed the entire time, but pretty much floated between 3 and 3.3. It's amazing how much a good playlist can make you forget what you're doing and keep you going.

Here's the one I created this morning. It's completely different than any of my others, but after looking around online I figured I would try it.  It's in no specific order - I use shuffle so that I don't get into a routine with the music.

1. Party Animal - Gucci Mane
2. Down on Me - Jeremih & 50 Cent
3. Woohoo - Christina Aguilera
4. Put it in a Love Song - Alicia Keys
5. No Bullshit - Chris Brown
6. Get it All - Sean Garrett
7. Untouched - The Veronicas
8. Lotta Money - Diamond
9. S&M - Rihanna
10. Bottoms Up  - Trey Songz
11. Patron Tequila - Paradiso Girls
12. Start it Up - Lloyd Banks
13. Already Taken - Trey Songz
14. Shawty Got Moves - Get Cool
15. Peacock - Katy Perry
16. Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1) - Flo Rida
17. Move that Body - Nelly, Akon and T-Pain
18. 6 Foot 7 Foot - Lil Wayne
19. Teach me How to Dougie (Remix) - Cali Swag District 

It's just over 80 minutes which is perfect because I usually skip a song or two, so I pretty much get through the whole thing. 

Related articles

• The Work It Workout Playlist (misterjt.posterous.com)
• A Reader's Playlist Tested on a Trial Run (fitsugar.com)
• A Pump-You-Up Playlist for Fall (self.com)

Run, Walk, Run? Just RUN

I've been wanting to run for a while now.  I originally just wanted to get out and run, and I've tried various  programs, like the Couch25K, and other various run/walk programs to the point where I could eventually run.  Well no matter what I try, it always seems too much for me at first, therefore giving up. So I've changed my mind and as soon as I'm cleared from the doctor to run again - I'm going to be starting again.  Instead of focusing on intervals and trying this, that and the other, I'm just focusing on speed and time.

I walk a 20 minute mile, sometimes faster, sometimes slower.  So my plan is to just constantly shave time off of that with my own little bursts.  Every time I get on the treadmill, even if it's just a few seconds, I'm going to shave time off of that - until I'm at a 10 minute mile. And yes  - I know, 10 minutes still isn't 'speedy' in many people's opinions, but you know what? A 10 minute mile, 6 minute mi, and even my 20 minute mi is still a mile, and that's a mile further than I'm going sitting here typing this - so I'll take it.  I really want to get down to a 10 minute mile so that when I only have 30-40 minutes, I can get a bit more in to my workout that a mile and a half.

I'll get there... eventually ;)

Related articles

• Healthy Streak - Run Every Day For the Rest of My Life (runkeeper.com)
• Time to break out the running shoes (cggrlogan.wordpress.com)
• Cardio Workout: Treadmill Intervals (fitsugar.com)

More goals, please! (And maybe a glass of ovaltine!)

As delicious as a glass of rich, chocolate ovaltine sounds - it's more like one of those things stuck in my head, that really - I can do without ;)

Apparently I was limiting myself by putting these goals down the other day. I have been zipping around back to bootcamp and have already killed some of them. So it's time to update them a bit for the rest of the month to challenge myself.

• I'd like to regularly hit 7,000 steps, but I'd like to have a few days (maybe one a week) where I hit 10,000, 12,000. 
• My goal is regularly hit 2,900 calories a day - again with a few days where hitting 3,200 , 3,500would be nice. 
• My goal is to have a day where I do 5 8 miles, and I'd like to have to an active score in the 900's., 1,000's.

Oh Fitbit - You Rock! Fitness Goal Time...

Image via Wikipedia

I have had my Fitbit in use since 12/26 (and even that day it was only half of the day).  Since doing it - so far my best stats:

• 7,614 steps on Dec 28, 2010
• 2,931 calories burned on Dec 29, 2010
• 3.35 miles on Dec 28, 2010
• 731 active score on Dec 29, 2010
• 23 very active min on Dec 28, 2010

When I make my post for January - end of month, I'll do another summary. 

• I'd like to regularly hit 7,000 steps, but I'd like to have a few days (maybe one a week) where I hit 10,000. 
• My goal is regularly hit 2,900 calories a day - again with a few days where hitting 3,200 would be nice. 
• My goal is to have a day where I do 5 miles, and I'd like to have to an active score in the 900's. 

I think all that's pretty reasonable, yes?

In order to get back on track starting tomorrow I return to Fit4Life Bootcamp.  This usually kicks my ass. This is how I lost my 35lbs a few months ago - and until I see a positive sign on a pregnancy test, this is what I will continue. 

I also took hubby over to the new YMCA that they just built and signed up. I like working out at home, he doesn't.  He insists he has too many other things to do. So the Y is on his way home and he's going to go there before even coming home. Luckily we have another Y right within the area so if this one gets super busy (it's brand new) we have another option.  I signed up for a membership there because I figured I can go on Tuesdays, Saturday and Sundays (when there is no bootcamp) and once I get pregnant, that's where I'll go to compensate for missing bootcamp. 

I'll check back at the end of January and hope I meet these goals ;)