Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Mid-Week Check-In and Countdown to Philly!

Hi friends!

Happy hump day!

In just two days, Matthew and I are headed east to run the Philadelphia Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Back in 2012, this was the second half marathon I'd ever ran and my first non-Disney distance race. I love this flat and fast course- the first few miles are in historic downtown Philadelphia and then the course follows the Schuylkill River along Kelly Drive and back to finish in front of the art museum- and the Rocky Steps! I can't wait to run this one again this weekend :-)

Running Philly RnR in 2012. Thanks to Matthew for the action shot!

Also, last week, Matthew and I got our engagement photos back and I am in love with this one of our whole little family-

Matthew, Me, and our very spoiled pup.

Ok, because I wasn't able to publish an "Accountability Monday" post earlier this week, here's an abridged version of my last week.

Training:
Wednesday- Stability Ball Workout
Saturday- 3.28 miles on the trail, 11:08 pace + Runner's World Core Workout
Tuesday- 3.1 miles, 10:51 pace.

Ummmm, yup. The slacker bus has arrived in the station and I'm driving! I really don't have any excuse- work has been insanely busy and I haven't made working out a priority. But, I'm looking forward to following along with the official run Disney training plan, put together by Jeff Galloway. Look for a post specifically detailing my training plan for this race.

Food Find:
Instead of a food find, here's a recipe I created for an awesome no-bean chili. I cook a pot of this probably once a week and then portion it out for lunches. The beautiful thing about chili is that you can really do tons of different stuff with it (add a can of pumpkin, or jalapenos, or beans) and each time it's still pretty delicious!

What you'll need:

A crock pot
1 pound 93% lean ground turkey (cook on the stove top and drain off the grease)
2 green peppers, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1/2 bag of shredded carrots
2 squash, chopped (I prefer yellow)
1-2 packs of chili seasoning (I prefer McCormick Mild Reduced Sodium)

After cooking the turkey, put it in the crock pot with all the chopped veggies, canned tomatoes, and chili seasoning and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. That's it!

I like to add a dollop of fat-free greek yogurt and some shredded cheese on top for an extra little bit of flavor.

Weight:
147.0 as of 10/27/2015
+.4 from last week

Non-Scale Victory:
Ok, so this is actually a scale-related victory but it's a really good one: for the last year (52 whole weeks), my weight has remained under 150 pounds!

Never in my life have I maintained my weight for an entire year! I've always done the roller coaster thing- lose a bunch of weight, gain it back, lose it again, etc. The fact that I've kept my weight within a 5-7 pound range over the last year is simply unbelievable to me. I am so proud of my progress and how far I've come on this journey of being healthier. Now, if I could just get my training back on track... :-)



That's it for last week! Hope you have a fantastic week and weekend!


Who will be in Philadelphia this weekend? Anyone running RnR?


Monday, October 19, 2015

Accountability Monday: 10/19/15

Good evening, friends!

I hope your Monday was amazing and your week is off to a fabulous start.

I apologize for the late post- time just got away from me yesterday and I didn't get a chance to write. But, here's a late dose of accountability, from me to you :-)

Training:
Thursday- Stability Ball Workout
Saturday- 1 mile run, 11:35 pace
Sunday- 2.63 mile run, 11:28 pace
Monday- 3.28 mile run, 11:08 pace

6.91 total miles.

Since getting the "all-clear" from my orthopedic doctor last Wednesday, I have slowly been incorporating workouts and running back into my routine. So far, so good. My foot hasn't been hurting much and I've been taking it easy. Maybe my foot just needed a break!

Food Find:
This week, I made Skinnytaste's Buffalo Chicken Strips and her homemade Blue Cheese Dressing. Oh, it was amazing! While the dressing didn't taste exactly like actual blue cheese dressing, it was the perfect balance to the spiciness of the chicken strips. This one is definitely worth a try in your kitchen!

So delish.

Weight:
146.6 as of 10/14/15
-.2 from last week

Non-Scale Victory:
On Saturday morning, I drove to Bethlehem, PA for the Runner's World 5k and 10k races. There were a few people that I knew I wanted to see while they were in town (Dani from Weight Off My Shoulders, Linzie from Sharp Endurance, and Kristin from BamaGirlRUNS) but I ended up running into Jenna (This Princess Runs for Sparkle), Hollie (Fueled by LOLZ), Roxanne, and David- all people I follow on instagram but hadn't met yet in real life. In a word, it was AWESOME! And probably somewhat awkward as I ran up to various people addressing them by their instagram handles :-)


Clockwise from left, Dani, Jenna, and Kristin. Such wonderful and inspirational ladies!

How is this a non-scale victory, you ask? Well, a few years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of walking up to "strangers" and introducing myself. I simply didn't have the confidence or self-esteem- I would have been too worried about what someone would have thought about me or what I looked like. On Saturday, I wasn't even thinking about what I looked like; I just wanted to meet some of my IG inspirations in person. And it was pretty cool.


That's it for this week! How was your week? What are you most looking forward to this Halloween? 


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Race Recap & Review: 2015 Charles Street 12

Last month, I ran the Charles Street 12 for the second time. Matthew and I ran it in its inaugural year, 2013, and decided to try it again this year- mainly because it was included in the B3 Challenge.

The B3 Challenge consisted of three races: Shamrock 5k, Sole of the City 10k, and the Charles Street 12. In addition to entry into the three races- and a cool medal- we also were promised a special premium; a jacket for men, a vest for women. This will be important later in this post.

So, my dad picked up our packets for us at my hometown's Charm City Run, a running store that also organizes this race. We arrived at my parents late Friday night and after checking out our cool premiums (long sleeved Under Armour thermal shirts), we set up our stuff for the race the next morning.

Twinsies!

The morning of the race, we parked in a garage in downtown Baltimore (thank you, Parking Panda!) and then headed towards the buses. Since this race is a point-to-point, the race organizers suggested that we park at the finish (downtown), and catch the bus up to the start (in Towson).

We were one of the first buses to arrive at the shopping center where the start line was. At this point, Matthew and I went to pick up our B3 premiums (they were not in with our packets). Matthew picked up a beautiful, quarter zip Under Armour jacket with the B3 logo. I picked up.... a bag?!




Yup, apparently, the race organizers were not happy with the quality of the vests that came in, so they swapped it out for a bag. A $60 bag. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool bag, but it's not quite equal to what the men got. Also, a heads up would have been nice- there were lots of complaints from the women on race morning. Side note- the finish on the metal Under Armour logo actually lifted off the piece in some places when I pulled the protective tape/cover off. Sad panda :-(

Anyway, we put Matthew's jacket in my bag and checked it. Then we settled in and waited for friends to show up.

I got to see my friend Megan (we used to be co-workers a loooong time ago), Jen (a fellow former J&A ambassador), Kelly (my sweetest friend and former roommate), and Cecilia (a sweet, sweet blog reader). We all stood around chatting and taking selfies until it was time for the race to start. Just like two years ago, there weren't enough port-o-potties and I ended up peeing in the woods before the race. Classy.

Me, Kelly, and Matthew at the start.
I <3 meeting blog readers in real life! Cecilia is the best!


Kelly, Matthew and I decided that we were starting and finishing this race together. We all felt under-trained and thought the best strategy would be to take it easy and walk/run with 2:1 intervals- a little more walking than running.

We crossed the starting mat and I started my Gymboss timer. The three of us trucked along Charles Street, through the hills of Towson, past some of the most beautiful homes in Baltimore, and into the city.

I love this course because you get to see such cool parts of the city. We passed three universities (Towson, Notre Dame, Loyola), trotted through Mt. Vernon, and finished the home stretch through downtown and the Inner Harbor. We also got some awesome pictures along the way!

:-)

For once, a race sign was right!

Mt. Vernon!

Future hubs.

Downtown- only a half mile from the finish!

From this distance, the harbor looks beautiful.

Before we knew it, we were crossing the timing mat at the finish. Our "slow and steady" plan worked: we finished upright and smiling. Honestly, it felt like more of a two and a half hour coffee date (sans the coffee!) rather than a race. It was wonderful to catch up with Kelly and the three of us just had a really good time.


Finishers!

After the race, we headed to the finishers area to get our beer and food and B3 medals. We got a full lunch (wrap, cookies, fruit) and two beers each. I ended up only eating a little bit of the lunch because I wanted to save the points for some donuts later :-)

Overall, we had a great time doing this race again this year. Despite the little snafu with the B3 premiums, this race was well organized and the course was challenging yet enjoyable.

Will we do this one again? Possibly. I'd really like to try it totally healthy and trained to see what I could do. Now that I've done this course twice, I think I could develop a good race day strategy that could result in a PR.

Bling.


Do you run the same race multiple times? Why or why not?




Monday, October 12, 2015

Accountability Monday: 10/12/15

Hello, friends.

This a post that I almost didn't write. Writing it down means acknowledging my failures, recognizing my weaknesses.

I didn't want to write this. I didn't want to post it. But when I feel like that, I know I MUST write it. Post it publicly. Deal with it out in the open.

I'm frustrated. My foot still hurts and I haven't worked out in two weeks. My doctor's office won't give my MRI results over the phone. Most likely, I'll have to wait until my follow-up appointment on Wednesday to get my results; 10 full days after my MRI. If my foot is fractured, then I will have walked around for 10 days on a broken foot. I am pretty irritated with rural medicine at this point.

But what I'm really upset with is how this frustration has been affecting me.

I feel...

defeated.
exhausted.
lazy.
envious.
angry.
fat.
miserable.
disappointed.

And it feels like shit.

And when I feel like shit, guess what? I treat myself like shit by eating horribly. It's so damn cyclical. It reminds me of how I felt years and years ago when I was binging and hiding food and eating like a food addict.

Last night, I finished dinner and then ate a huge bowl of cereal and then some chocolate chips. Just because I was feeling bad about my foot and myself; not because I was hungry. And then of course, I felt even worse. My response to feed my feeling with food is automatic: I was sitting on the couch staring at an empty bowl before I realized that I'd been eating. 

It sucks.

That's the only way I can describe it. It sucks.

I can't run. I can't work out the way I want to. I can't train for upcoming races and I might have to miss the two half marathons I have scheduled for the fall. I can't stand looking at social media and seeing all my friends running and racing and accomplishing goals.

But what bugs me the most is that I let all this affect how I think about myself and how I treat myself.

There are some days where I feel like I've worked through all these issues and have come so far. Then there are days like today when I feel like I've ruined any progress I've made.





What I'm complaining about is "small stuff;" stuff that really doesn't matter much in the grand scheme of things. Overall, me and my family are healthy, we've got a roof over our heads, and we've got food in the pantry. I'm doing ok. Frustrated and angry, but ok.

One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: "If you're tired of starting over, quit giving up." Well, friends, I'm not giving up. I am a little tired of going through these cycles of being injured/feeling unmotivated, but I'm not giving up.

But maybe this is just how it is for me. Maybe I have a few weeks/months where everything sucks and I don't want to workout/eat healthy, and then I have a few weeks/months of wanting to be the best me possible. I don't really know.

So that's where I'm at these days. Feeling crappy but just trying to "make the next right decision." (That's my favorite quote from AA- no worries, I'm not a problem drinker, I just used to work with them :-) )

Like I promised last week, I will post at least once a week from now until Christmas. I also have a few fun recaps to write that I will hopefully get to this week.

If you're still reading this pity-party, thank you. I appreciate having this platform to share about my life and my struggles- thank you for reading. :-)

Have a great week!


Monday, October 5, 2015

Accountability Monday: 10/5/15

Good morning, friends! It's been a few weeks- I am sorry that my writing has been a bit spaced out lately. I am publicly committing to posting at least once a week until Christmas. I tend to manage my weight and my workouts better when I am publicly sharing the results. So that's what I'm going to do from now until the craziness of the holidays!

Training:
...is on hold for the time being. I had an MRI yesterday and should have the results in a few days. As you may know if you follow me on facebook or instagram, my right foot has been painful lately. It's been kinda like the stress fracture pain from last year but without any swelling, which I'm taking as a good sign.

Cute leggings and crappy medical procedures

The x-rays and physical exam did not indicate any sign of a stress fracture but as you know, you can't diagnose a stress fracture unless you have an MRI. So that's where we're at, waiting for results. I'll post on social media as soon as I know.

Food Find:
I have two for you this week! The first one is Classico Light Alfredo Sauce. It is a light, delicious sauce that you can pour right out of the jar. I have used it with shrimp and whole wheat cooked pasta (and a sprinkle of parsley and Parmesan cheese) and it is pretty dang awesome. And it's just 45 calories, three grams of fat, and one gram of protein for a quarter cup!

Heaven in a jar.

The second is using non-fat greek yogurt in place of mayo for chicken salad. I know lots of people do this but I finally tried it this week and it was pretty good. It was definitely different than mayo, but still tasty. I also add salt, pepper, and a little spicy brown mustard for a kick. I also like to eat it with veggie crisps (or baked chips or pretzels) instead of bread to save some calories.

Weight:
148.8 as of 9/30
+3 from last week

Mother Nature is a jerk sometimes.

Non-Scale Victory:
I was at a work meeting last week for THREE HOURS, sitting in front of a Panera Cinnamon Crumb Cake the entire time, and did not eat a single piece. I stuck to my plan and only ate the food I brought. And I lived to tell the tale :-)



How was your week?