Sooner or Later....

.....I'm going to write a post about how great my workout was, and how awesome I did with logging my food. 

But today isn't going to be that day.

I'm just going to cut to the chase here....I ate crappy.  Monday and Tuesday, I basically ate nothing but crap.  I am struggling with wrapping my mind around the fact that a day off of work doesn't mean a day off of being healthy. 

Monday morning, I had planned on running.  I don't have any other excuses as to why I didn't run, other than the fact that I have missed my husband and didn't want to leave him.  Lame, I know, but he's been working weird hours so we haven't seen each other much. 

So after sleeping in, we spent the day just hanging out.  We went out to dinner with Cody's brother for his birthday, and then went to Target.  After we shopped, we went to the Drive-In to see Brave.  While there, I ate wayyy too much food.  Popcorn, pretzels, chocolate, chips....I don't know what was wrong with me. 

The next day, I had a stomach ache from all the crappy food, so that was my excuse as to why I didn't go run.  I don't know why I didn't take that as a hint, because Tuesday was spent with more junk.  We took Remy to a local dog park/daycare.  In order for them to take her for a day for daycare, or boarding, they need to go through a test, to check and see if the dog is well behaved enough to go.  She, of course, passed with flying colors.  This place is awesome, because not only do they have nature trails, fenced in areas for small and big dogs, 2 ponds for dogs to swim in, but they also have agility courses, daycare, boarding, grooming, and training.  It's kind of expensive ($10 to take your dog through the parks/trails/ponds, and $25 a day for daycare), but totally worth it.  We took Remy through the trails, and she went swimming for the first time.  French Bulldogs aren't always the best swimmers, because they are top heavy, but she loved it! She was pretty scared of the water at first, but she did great, and didn't want to leave!

After we got home, we cleaned up the house a bit, and Cody mowed the lawn, and then we headed out to go see a baseball game.  I love going to the ball park, and mostly because I love beer and food.  And to add to the mix, they had $0.10 hot dogs.  I could get full on 10 hot dogs for $1! Yes, please! I didn't eat 10, but I had a few.  As well as some nachos, and ice cream, and beer.  WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!  It's like I was asking to gain the 13lbs I have lost back in two days. 

I was determined to get up and go this morning....but that determination wasn't awake at 7am when I had planned on going.  Because of all the junk, I had a stomach ache again.  So, instead of going to the gym, I got back in bed.  I just need to find where my motivation went, and get it back.  I wish I could bottle the feeling I have when I'm done running, and just take it every morning when I can't seem to pull myself out of bed. 

I am going to the gym tomorrow morning though.  I promise.

Getting past the bump in the road

I can't put my finger on why, but I've been feeling very unmotivated lately.  When I first started running/going to the gym, I didn't have any issues getting up early and going.  I generally sleep until 9, 9:30, except on Gym days, when I get up at 7.  For some reason, the last week or two, I haven't been able to pull myself out of bed as frequently.  I have managed to go at least twice in the last week, but there were two days where I set my alarm and either slept through it, or turned it off and went right back to sleep. 

I think I'm just finding myself discouraged.  I was able to get up to 8 minutes straight of running before my race, and I took a couple of weeks off of running (I was still walking, through) and now 90 seconds of running is pushing it.  I feel like, I've been running since February, I should be a little bit further!  Maybe I'm just not pushing myself far enough?  I don't know.  It's making me feel like I just am not meant to run.  I'm going to keep at it, but I just wish I'd show SOME progress, ya know?

I found a 10k app on my phone that I decided I'm going to do, it's from the same company as the 5k app I used, so we'll see.  I think I'll try to complete that, and then I'll take on the half marathon program.  I like having the app because I don't have to sit and watch the time, it will beep for me.  And until I get some kind of something like a garmin that I can program, the phone app will have to do. 

I had my weigh-in this morning.  I'm down to 247.4, which is a 2.8lb loss!  Which brings my total to 12.8lbs so far! yay! 

Well, it's my Saturday so I think I'd better get ready to go and do something.  Have a great day!

Slacking.

Our weekend was a pretty fun one.  We always try to do fun things on our days off, just because we are not sit at home type people.  So monday, we went to lunch with Cody's brother.  He had to put his cat to sleep over the weekend, so we got him a nice frame to put a picture of her in it, and her collar.  And his birthday is coming up, and they're hurting for money right now, so we gave him an early birthday present and paid for the urn that they are going to put their cats ashes in.

After lunch, we went home and decided to take Remy to the beach.  There's a beach by us that will allow you to take Dogs, so we took her.  She was a bit afraid of the water, but I think she had a good time playing in the sand. We then took her to get her first ice cream cone, and she loved it!  Then we went to dinner, and came home and relaxed.

Tuesday we went down south about an hour to a small town and Remy spent her first day at a Doggie Daycare.  We spent the day shopping in all the little shops.  We mostly bought food items (Cody bought some mustard, and some spices, and we bought a cookie and a cupcake).












Then we went to a local winery and got to try some yummy wines.  We bought a bottle of my favorite Riesling, and they were having a deal on their new boxes of wine (it's not as un-classy as it used to be! haha) so we got a box of white wine.

After that, we went to a local mansion, the Felt Mansion.  It is said to be haunted, and it's super creepy so it wouldn't surprise me.  The man who built it was the man who invented the cash register. He built it as a summer home for his wife, who died before she had the chance to live in it.  It because a catholic school, and then a correctional facility, before it was abandoned for many years.  They recently (2000, I think) renovated it and it became open to the public for tours, and weddings.





Cody had to work for a little bit on Tuesday night, so I went home and took a short nap while he was working, and then we went and saw Prometheus.  It was a very good movie, so go see it!

Because we had such an early morning and late night on Tuesday, I decided to skip my run on Wednesday, and move it to Thursday morning.  I was scheduled to have Thursday and Friday as rest days, so I figured taking Wednesday and Thursday off instead wouldn't be an issue.  Well, I must have needed sleep because Wednesday night, I could not keep my eyes open.  I went to bed a little early, and ended up sleeping through my alarm Thursday morning. I guess I turned it of without even knowing it.

So I decided to do my run today, and then hopefully do it again tomorrow.  Today's run went alright....nothing to brag about.  It was 2 miles of 90 second run/90 second walk. I must have been really slacking, because 90 seconds is a LONG time it seems.  I'm running faster (5.6, where I used to run at 4.8 or 5) and I'm also running on a 1.0 include, so maybe that's why, but man it just seems like it's harder than it was.  We are doing the Color Run in August, and my goal is to be able to run the entire thing.  It's going to be HOT out, and I have a bunch of friends/family who are doing it with us, so I want to be able to run the entire thing to show that I haven't been slacking! Also, if I can't run a whole 5k by August, I'm going to either have to a)REALLY step up my game or b) rethink doing the Princess Half Marathon.  

I also have been having a hard time getting my eating back to normal.  I have issues with going way over in calories on my days off.  I am the type of person that needs a "cheat" day. Maybe not so much an entire day, but at least one meal.  On our days off, Cody and I generally do a lot of eating out. I know it's possible to stay under your calories when eating out,  but sometimes we go to restaurants where it's basically impossible to both log, and stay under.  And I'm okay with that, as long as I'm able to stay under my calorie goal throughout the week.  But for some reason this week I've had a hard time getting myself to want to count again, and eat like I should.  I tend to do this...after a few weeks of being good and losing some weight, for some reason I just decide I don't want to do it anymore, so I stop.  I am working hard to get over this hump but for some reason I'm just losing the motivation.  I need something to get me excited again. 

I had a bit of a binge last night.  I wasn't going to write about it, but I think that writing about it to you guys will help keep me accountable for it.  I had a TERRIBLE night at work.  Cody and I went to lunch at a local pizza place for their pizza and salad buffet. I made sure to eat a big, yummy salad, so I wouldn't eat so much pizza.  I made sure to log it all, and made sure to have a salad at work for Dinner (I love Salad, so it's okay).  We were suuuuuper busy at work, and I had a new girl closing with me so I basically had to do everything, people were rude, it was just an all around bad night.  And generally what I do is I eat part of my dinner at work about 4 or 5, and then the other part of my dinner when I get home from work.  Well, because we were so busy I wasn't able to make the other part of my dinner, so I was starving on my way home.  Because I was stressed, and hungry, all I wanted was McDonalds.  So, against my better judgement, I stopped and got a Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries, and chicken nuggets.  The whole time I did it, I felt guilty about it, but at the same time, I didn't care.  I need to figure out how to make my better judgement kick the crap out of my old eating habits so that I don't do that again!

One good thing that happened so far this week though...remember that job interview I had a while back, and I was trying to decide if the 45 minute commute would be worth it?  Well, I had another interview with the same restaurant, and it turns out that the GM of the restaurant I want to work at quit, and the GM of the restaurant I would be working at is going to the one that is closer to me, and if I'm hired, would want me at that restaurant...so I'd be working at the one that is closer to me!  I hope so badly that I get the job! Unfortunately, it would mean I would have less time off with Cody, but it would mean more money, better insurance, and a great opportunity!  YAY!

Attempt #2

I went out for a run this morning, just like I said I would, and I did all 3.1 miles, just like I said I would.  :)  Here are my stats:

Distance: 3.12

Time: 51:43

Pace: 16:35

Speed: 3.62

Yes, I know I'm slow.  But I'm super sad/angry that I added 2 minutes to my time! :(  I'm gonna use the excuse that the lack of music is what slowed me down, but I know it's just because I've been slacking.  It sucks, but it's my own fault. Hopefully Saturday, I'll have enough adrenaline to push me to go a little faster.  

I'm torn about what to do tomorrow.  My original plan was to do 3.1 Miles again tomorrow, take Friday off, and then have the race on Saturday, but I'm worried about running too much, and not having enough rest time before Saturday. I want to do my absolute best on Saturday, so what would you suggest?  I'm for sure gonna run tomorrow, I'm just trying to decide if I should run a little, or run a lot....and if I should run outside, or do the treadmill.  Ideas?

I love days when I run, because that usually means I can eat more!  But I'm not going to eat back my exercise calories if I can help it today.  I went WAY over my calories yesterday (by 900!), which I had expected to, but I'm planning on not eating them back in order to make up for yesterday.  I'm hoping that I can eat really well until Memorial Day, so that I can have another "cheat" day, because I know that there will be so much food at our picnic!

EDIT: I forgot to update about my interview!  It went really well! I got interviewed by the GM, and the Kitchen Manager.  Both of them seemed to really like me (the KM said "Well, I really like you, and I'll make sure to push for you!").  The GM said I should be getting a call from the District Manager soon, because I'd have to interview with him first, too.  Luckily, I already know him, so hopefully I get a call soon, and I can interview with him, and I get the job!

3.13

I decided last night that I was going to go to my moms house and run around her neighborhood instead of running up and down my road.  We had to drop off Cody's car at the mechanic, and then I dropped him off at work and I went to my moms house.  I was stalling, because I did NOT want to do this run today.  I didn't sleep well, I got up at 6am instead of 8, and only got about 5 hours of sleep.  I decided today was the day that I'd start tracking my food again (I'll go into why I stopped logging in another post later tonight).  New Month, New Beginning. 

So, I got to my moms and went outside.  I played with my phone a bit and finally figured out what I had to disconnect to make the GPS on my phone work so that I could use the mapmyrun app.  I didn't have a set path, I was just gonna run up and down the streets until I had gone the length of a 5k.  I hadn't ever gone that far, and I just wanted to see how long it felt, how I'd feel after, etc.  I knew I couldn't run the whole thing, but I did the best I could.  49 minutes later, I had gone 3.13 Miles!!!!    I am SUPER proud of myself!!  Turns out, my stupid piece of crap junky HRM is super inaccurate, because it said I only went 2.3 miles.  It had also said that it took me 20 minutes to do a mile, and turns out that's not quite right either.  Until I learn how to post a screen shot of my phone, here is my workout today:

Distance: 3.13 Miles

Time: 49:16

Average Pace: 15:45

Average Speed: 3.81

I know I went pretty slow, but I still finished much faster than I had thought.  I told my husband this morning that my goal was to do the 5k distance in less than an hour, so I'm proud of what I did.  This also means that I am under a 16 minute mile (just barely, but still!), which is the requirement for the Princess Half!!!  I still have months to train, so there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to do it!!! YAY ME!!!!!

Good Intentions don't get you anywhere in life.

I woke up this morning, and once again, didn't wanna go run.  But I knew that if I didn't, I'd regret it...so I got my shoes on and left.  I was about to get on the highway to go to the gym, and I decided that I wanted to try the 20 minute run, and that the best way to do that would to be running outside.  I was afraid that the track at the gym would get me way too bored and I wouldn't have anything to focus on other than the fact that I was running for 20 minutes, and I wanted to stop.  The problem is, I didn't know where to go.

So, I drove down the street.  I want to figure out what my pace is, so I was excited that I'd be outside and my GPS would work on my phone, and I could use the mapmyrun app to figure all that out.  I drove down one of the side roads that is a few miles from my house, off of the busy road, and drove.  I was hoping to find somewhere that I could park, but there really wasn't any. So I parked my car along side of the road, next to a field.  I was worried that I'd get yelled at for parking there, but I don't think anyone really cared.

So, I got all my stuff out, and got out of the car.  I decided I'd stick kind of close to my car, just in case someone wanted me to move it, I could do so pretty easily.  I started my c25k app, and the mapmyrun app, and pandora, which is generally what I do when I go to the track.  I did my warm up, and started running (and I still can't figure out why the countdown only had me running for 8 minutes, before it started a cool down?). I was doing the run/walk intervals, where I'd run for 90 seconds, walk for 30, hoping that would help me get through the entire 20 minutes.  Well, I did 8 minutes, it had me starting my cool down for some reason.  And basically, it was hell.  I know that I'm having trouble with the 2 8-minute intervals, but at least I can generally run one of the two intervals!  I had such a hard time running.  I don't know if it was the cool air, or the wind, or the uneven ground, or a mixture of all of that, but my lungs were burning so bad.  I was coughing like I've been a smoker for the last 25 years.  I still am coughing like crazy and my chest hurts.  And, I got stopped by 2 different cars, asking me if I needed a ride.  They saw my car and thought that my car had broken down and that I needed a ride.  And then, somehow I hit a button on my phone, and it closed down the c25k app!  I was so frustrated by this time that I walked to my car, and started to cry, and went home.

I just feel so defeated.  I want to be as proud of myself as I was when I did the 5 minute run.  I dont know if I'm doing so badly because I am slacking, or if changing up my running environment is messing with me, or what the deal is.  I decided I'm going to get back to a regular schedule.  Every other day, doing my run.  I have been slacking a bit, when it comes to my schedule.  Instead of running every other day, I've been running every 2-3 days.  I'm sure that's part of the problem.  I need a way to make myself feel motivated again.

Sorry if my blog is becoming more depressing than inspiring.  I love having you all read this, and give me advice. I am listening to your advice and it is helping me so much! If it weren't for you guys, I'd probably stop by now!! So THANK YOU!

Motivation

I dont know why I have been lacking motivation lately.  I almost feel like I'm getting bored with running, even though it's hard.  I'm getting bored of running at the same place.  I know that the way to change this is to run somewhere else, but at this point, I don't know where to go.  My house is right off of a busy road, so running from my house is basically not doable.  Since I'm new to this area, I don't really know of any parks or running trails.  I've tried using MapMyRun, but I haven't been able to find any good, interesting trails.  I'm scheduled for a run tomorrow, and I was hoping to go outside, but I think I'll just do it inside again.  It's supposed to be about 45 degrees tomorrow morning, so it may be a little bit too chilly for me to run outside.  I also think that I wish I had a running buddy.  I don't mind running alone, because it gives me time to think, and I have to stay in my own zone to be able to finish.  But it'd be nice to have someone with me, to help motivate me.

Maybe once I start doing some 5k's in the area, I'll meet some people, and then I'll find a runner who is at the same point in their running journey as I am.  I just wish I lived near some of you that read my blog, and we could all run together! :)

I've been thinking a lot about the Princess Half Marathon, and I am super worried that I'm not gonna be ready for it.  I probably need to start working harder than I am right now, but I am worried about over doing it.  I don't wanna hurt myself. I have a friend who started running, and went from not running, to running every day.  She now has a completely screwed up knee, and she gets shin splints every time she tries to run.  She is giving up running for a while.  I don't wanna do that!  I wanna be able to run without a problem.

Speaking of the Princess Half, I decided I want this once I finish the race:

How adorable is this???

Okay, I'm off to bed.  I'm going to give my Week 5 Day 2 a try tomorrow, hopefully being able to give myself a few walking seconds within my 8 minute intervals so that I can run it without a problem! So I can FINALLY move on to giving the 20 minute run a try!!!  Night ya'll!

Real Update

I promised a real update tonight, so here I am.  :)

Monday morning was very hard.  We brought Remy to the vets office for her surgery.  I had such a hard time leaving her, because I didn't wanna leave her there all night. I knew she'd wake up and be scared and hurt and I just felt bad.  We dropped her off at about 8:45, and around 11 they called and said the surgery had gotten done about an hour ago and that she was already awake, and alert, and sitting up, so she was doing great.  That made me feel better, but I really didn't feel comfortable until we picked her back up on Tuesday.  When we picked her up, you would have had no idea she had surgery the day before.  The vet said we have to try to keep her calm, limit her activity....but that's basically impossible.  I'm glad she's feeling good!

As I said before, we had our first real night in the house on Monday night.  We spent all day Monday moving all of our stuff, which really was not fun.  We didn't wanna spend the money on getting a U-Haul, so we just borrowed Cody's moms truck.  It was supposed to rain, but we really wanted to start moving stuff, so we moved the tv right away when we knew that the weather was gonna be fine.We basically were able to move everything over to the house on Monday.  Tuesday we got a few more loads of stuff over.  We now are about 99% moved.  There's still some smaller stuff at the apartment, luckily we have until the first of May to get out of the apartment, so hopefully on Monday, we'll be able to get the rest of our stuff, and clean it up.

So again, because I suck, I didn't run all week.  I had my bad day on Sunday, and didn't run, and then we've been busy with moving and stuff the rest of the week, and I just haven't done it.  I decided to go today, and I had the same issues I had the other day.  I was able to run the first 8 minute interval, but the second one...I just couldn't.

I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm not progressing as fast as I should be.  I feel like I should be able to run 8 minutes twice. I have been able to get through all the other days okay, but it just keeps getting harder and harder, and I'm finding it harder and harder to get through. I really don't know how I'm going to be able to run the 20 minute run that is scheduled for Sunday.  I think I need to try Week 5 Day 2 again, because until I can run both 8 minute intervals, there is absolutely no way that I can run 20 minutes.

Does anyone else feel this way?  I feel like I'm pushing myself and pushing myself, and I still am not getting any better.  I just feel like I'm joking myself when I say that I'm trying to be a runner. Like, there is no real way that I'm going to be able to run the 5k in 4 weeks, or that I'm going to be able to run the Princess Half Marathon.

I'm sure I'll get motivated again.  I just wish it would happen soon!