Accountability Monday: 9/11/2017

Hi, friends! I hope Monday is being kind to you!

Please excuse my absence for the last two weeks; our semester started on August 28th and since then I've worked over 60 hours of overtime. Yikes. Because work is so busy, it's hard to me to find the time to blog. But, things should start to calm down here soon so there will hopefully be more posts in the near future.

Training
Sunday- Harrisburg Half Marathon, 2:35:53 (unofficial time)

Whoops, I probably should be doing more running if I'm actually supposed to be training for fall races! This week was nuts with crazy overtime hours and other commitments and I just didn't make the time for any running or strength training. But, I did run my third-fastest half marathon and didn't feel too awful afterward. I've got five weeks until Runner's World Half & Festival and I intend on making them count. The older I get, the less my training goals revolve around time and the more they revolve around how I feel during/after the race.

Best Run
Well, that would have to be yesterday's half... since I didn't run any other times last week. Ha! The half marathon was awesome- great weather, new scenic course, and a great spread of food after the race. Matthew did awesome and got a great qualifying time for Dopey in January. After the race, we went to one of our favorite breweries to get a little food (basically a giant soft pretzel) and some celebratory beers. Nothing makes a run better than a cold beer at the end. :-)

Because running. 🍻

A post shared by Sarah (@sparklyrunner) on Sep 10, 2017 at 9:20am PDT

Bravo Moment of the Week
As you know, I've been struggling with my weight and lack of training pretty much since last spring. One of the techniques we use in Weight Watchers is to look back at a time when you were being successful with weight loss and try to recreate that helpful environment.

I was in the best shape of my life in May 2015, when I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon. I had been training consistently, fueling appropriately, and was at my lowest weight while also feeling super strong. One of the things that I did differently was keeping a written journal of all my training. Back in 2015, my sweet friend Stephanie sent me the Believe Journal after my stress fracture as a way to track my comeback. And man, did it work like a charm!

However, once it was filled (it holds about a year), I never bought another one. So this week, I ordered a brand new journal and will make my first entry today. My hope is that by manually writing and tracking my training, I'll be motivated to stay on plan and reach the goals I have set for myself. And, fingers crossed, lose the weight that I've gained.

a fresh start.

Quote of the Week

Persist in the pursuit of your goals this week, friends! Have a great week!

AM: 1/26/15

Well hellooooooo, Monday! It feels like forever since I've done an AM post. The last few weeks were pretty hectic but now that my life is back to its normally scheduled routine, let's talk about this past week's accountability.

Training:
Monday- This core workout from Runner's World. AMAZING. Best part- no crunches!
Tuesday- 4 miles with a running group, 12:42 pace
Wednesday- Runner's World core workout
Thursday- Rest day
Friday- 6.1 miles with Matthew, 12:12 pace
Saturday- 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, strength workout (biceps, squats, quads, chest), 2 mile walk with "Walk Away the Pounds"
Sunday- Short recovery run with Matthew. Tried 30:30 intervals and felt pretty awesome. 13:43 pace

12.94 total miles.

This week's training is brought to you courtesy of my awesome new Oiselle training journal that Steph sent to me! I absolutely love the idea of keeping a handwritten journal- it's something I haven't done in such a long time.

Isn't it beautiful?

Also- here's a little update on my stress fracture foot: it still freaking hurts. Not as much as before, but still, I had hoped to be better by now. Even worse, last weekend I stepped on my left foot (the good foot) kind of weird and now I have what feels like stress fracture pain somewhere between my third and fourth metatarsal at the base of my toes. It would be my luck to fracture the OTHER foot now wouldn't it? I have an appointment with my orthopedic doctor on Wednesday to see what's going on with these wonky feet I have. Hopefully all is good and I can keep training.

Nutrition:
One of my and Matthew's resolutions was to eat at home more often in 2015. So I have been cooking up a storm lately- and even meal prepping on Sundays! Who the heck am I?! But really, it's saving us money and saving me Weight Watchers points. Here's my new favorite grab and go breakfast:

Cook ahead of time: 1/2 pound of ground turkey (I use 85% lean) and egg whites (I use the small container, approximately 10 egg whites)

- Reheat 1/4 of the turkey/egg mix
- Toast a Thomas's Bagel Thin
- Spread two wedges of Laughing Cow cheese on the bagel.
- Use the turkey/egg mix as sandwich filling between the two halves of the bagel.
- Enjoy!

It's 8 PPV for the entire sandwich and keeps me full until lunch. And it's super yummy. And really easy to throw together before work.

Weight-loss:
142.4 as of 1/21/15
-3.4 from previous week
-48 since January 2013
-59.6 since HW

Woohoo!! The plateau has officially been broken! For the last eight weeks I have been losing and gaining the same two pounds. It was awesome to see a significant loss this week.

I did two things differently: 1. I ate less fruit. 2. I didn't use my 49 weekly "extra" points. I think these two changes helped significantly in finally seeing a loss on the scale. It's getting tough to lose weight the closer I get to goal- I have to change some things up and not keep relying on what helped me lose the first 48 pounds. That's still insane to think about- I've lost 48 freaking pounds! Crazy. Here's to another week closer to goal :-)


How is your 2015 shaping up so far?