Running For The Riesling

I got my official time for the 5K race I ran on Sunday - 27:30. This is a minute slower than the last 5K I ran, BUT the course was long. My gps rang it in at 3.24 and I was just starting to come down with a flu bug unbeknownst to me. So, I’ll take it!

Devil on the other.

What I should do? Go to kettlebells class.

What I want to do? Sit on a patio with a cold beer.

I’m going to kettles simply because I slipped on my jeans and could tell I’ve lost weight. I LOVE when freshly laundered jeans slip right on without feeling snug. And that’s why I need to go.

Today’s the day. Run to the Pub half marathon. Up getting dressed and noshing some Clif bars. I’m absolutely terrified. Why did I do this again?!?

Off to meet a new running group. Why the heck do I still get so nervous?!?

My trainer wanted to measure this week.  I knew it was coming; I was a week overdue from our monthly schedule.  The last two months I was chomping at the bit to measure.  This month I was not.  I knew how it would go.  And it went how I expected.  I ended up gaining an inch.  I’ve used the half marathon training as an excuse to eat and DRINK anything and everything I want.  I’m hungry all the time, so I’ve been eating all the time.  

She then texted me and told me to print off my last week’s worth of food journals to bring in tomorrow.  I winced when I went back through them.  Lots of wine.  Lots of beer.  Lots of junk.  I own it.  I KNOW how to lose weight.  I’ve been doing it for a long damn time.  But I definitely needed the wake-up-call & slap in the face.  

So, starting yesterday I’ve cut the crap: no more daily chocolate fix, no more nightly glass of wine, more of a focus on my macros.  I’ve added back in veggies, I’m not even sure when we broke up.  As this is the week before my first half marathon I’m going to continue to eat when I’m physically hungry, but I’m going to do it in a more conscious and healthy way.

Falling off the wagon is inevitable.  It’s heaving yourself back on that’s important.  Tomorrow she and I will discuss my menu and training plans for after the half on Saturday.  I’m so ready for the change, and so ready to refocus.

PS: meeting a great new guy is ruffffff on the calorie intake and waist line!

That I actually like broccoli AND asparagus. Turns out when you roast them with olive oil and garlic they don’t taste like garbage! Glad to have figured this out after 28 years.

I’m running my last long run with a new “group” tomorrow. I’ve never run with a group before, so naturally I’m terrified. Also, it’s 60 with NO wind today. In March. In Montana. I hope this holds out for tomorrow and for the half. I’m irrationally upset that I didn’t run in this gorgeous weather.

BUT, the new guy and I are going biking. He’s an avid biker. He bikes to work every day, rain or shine. He even has a “snow bike”. Whatever the hell that is.

I really love that he’s fit and active and that I am also fit and active! I hope it’s a good sign!

It’s a gorgeous spring day here in Montana. The kind that makes me instantly itch for a patio and a vodka lemonade.

On my way back from lunch I saw a group of men out running and I was instantly jealous, wishing I could be out enjoying the day by running too.

Wait. When did THAT start? I mean I still want the vodka. Maybe just after I run.

It’s going to be in the 60s. In Montana. In March.

I just wish I got to see daylight in order to run outside in it today.

Tomorrows last long run before the half will be amazing though! I only fear it will be 12 and blizzarding for the actual half. That’s how MT weather works.

A: Most certainly.

Reading all the NOLA recaps makes me want to be a part of “the Internet”.

Even though I’m still a newbie.

And even though I know none of you.

It’s so inspiring to see a group of people all joined together to push, cheer, and lift each other up in their healthy endeavors. Totally rad y’all.

There’s a guy at my gym I like to call Bill.  Bill is, I’m guessing, between 70 and 80 years old.  He comes in nearly every morning around 6, in a matching blue sweatsuit, carrying an olive green Jansport backpack.  He typically walks on the treadmill - the third treadmill from the left.  He hangs his backpack off the treadmill arm and retrieves his headphones - headphones which make him look like he belongs on a tarmack directing planes, not on a treadmill taking a stroll.  Bill typically walks for a half hour or so then packs up his headphones and heads out.  I like to think that his wife Eleanor has breakfast waiting on the table for him when he gets home.  Probably, oatmeal.

I know nothing about Bill.  Heck I don’t even know that his name IS Bill.  

But I admire Bill.  I want to BE Bill.

I do this now because when I’m 80 years old I want to be rockin it at the gym, in a matching pink sweatsuit, at six every morning.   I don’t know for a fact that Bill was active in his younger days, but I’m guessing he was.  

I’m not at my goal weight.  Far from it actually.  I’m not at the pant size I want to be.  Far from it.  I’m likely never going to win a race that I enter.  I still drink.  I still eat ice cream.  But I am HEALTHY.  My resting heart rate is that of an ATHLETE!  An ath-a-lete.  Say it with me!  I am getting stronger and faster.  I am getting smaller, even if it’s slowly.  I AM CHANGED.  I am not the same person I was 100 pounds ago.  No matter if I never weigh 145 pounds or wear a size 6.   

I told my trainer that after my half marathon I want to get serious with gaining muscle and cutting fat.  I took up running to lose weight.  And I love it.  But I’m not losing weight any more.  Time to do something different.  So she wants to seriously up my lifting and change my running focus to HIIT>

I’m excited for the change and hopeful for the results.  

Because in 50 years I want to be somebody’s Bill.

A few updates, bullet style.

• I am still deliriously excited over my 5K time.  The last 5K I ran on Thanksgiving was just over 30 minutes, that’s almost 3.5 minutes off my time!
• Being stricter with my consumption is not going well.  At all.
• I cut a person out of my life who I don’t believe was intentionally being a giant jerk and treating me like trash, but he was nonetheless.  I let him and his actions drag me down for far too long.  Since cutting the cord a few weeks ago I feel SO much better.  I don’t know why it took so long.
• As soon as I cut off the afforementioned jerk, I met someone new - the lunch date from Thursday.  He’s not at all my type, which might be a very good thing.
• After hiding the scale for two weeks I stepped back on this week and was down a few pounds.  However, I just keep lingering in this same 5 pound range and it’s time to bust out of this rut.  See the consumption bullet above.
• Even while typing about my consumption issues I’m thinking of the pasta dinner I’m going to eat tonight - FAIL
• I’m running 12 miles tomorrow.  The day after a race.  A race where I put it all out there.  I’m nervous.
• I’m also going to a bar tonight for a comedy show.
• Pretty much, I’m guaranteeing a terrible long run tomorrow.
• The half is 2 weeks from today.  I’m terrified.  And excited.  And mostly just want it to be done.
• Oh the pasta dinner and comedy show?  Date 2 with new guy

Good luck to all those in NOLA running tomorrow, including my local friend Ryan.  Kill it guys!

3.15 miles in 26:38. Average of 8:27 miles. I am over the moon with this time. I can’t quit smiling!

I knew this run was a fundraiser for a high school running club, but so far it appears to ALL be highschoolers and die hard runners. I’m fearing some public embarrassment coming on and fighting the urge not to leave…

My trainer talked (read: forced) me into a small 5K race today. I’ve never set a time goal for myself but I’d really like to run this with an average of 9 minute miles. I do this on the treadmill easily, but have yet to test myself outdoors as those are always my long runs.

So now I’ve put it out there. And now I’ll do everything in my power not to have to come back and say I didn’t hit my goal.