Just Run

In my last post on Tuesday I wrote about hoping to squeeze in my run before the day was over.  I ended up with a 50 minute window and I ended up wasting 5 of them debating with myself about the run.

"I'm a little tired."
So what?  You're always a little tired after work, you can rest tomorrow.  Just run.

"My legs are sore."
They'll feel fine once you're warmed up.  Just run.

"I don't have enough time to do my full mileage."
Something is better than nothing.  Just run.

"It's hot."
For crying out loud, Michelle, just get on with it!

And so I ran.  And because I was pressed for time I ran pretty fast.  I checked my Garmin and saw I was running a sub-10 minute pace.  I tried to not check my Garmin a lot after that because it just messes with my head.  But I still looked at it a bunch and I maintained that pace.  In the end I ran 4.16 miles and maintained a 9:40 pace!  That's a world record speed right there. Feeling pretty spiffy about that.

But within 10 minutes of the run I noticed I was wheezing.  I took a few puffs of the albuterol and within minutes I wasn't wheezing anymore.  Guess that about ends the uncertainty I had about having asthma.  I've got my follow-up appointment in a week.  A reader commented on my blog that she has mild asthma and has to take albuterol 30 minutes before she exercises.  Maybe something like that can work for me. 

No matter, despite all that I had an amazing run.  And everything I said to talk myself into running was true.  I wasn't too tired, my legs were fine, I even got close to my goal (4.5 miles) because I was so speedy!  SO glad I went for that run.  So glad.

I had a busy week, after dinner on Tuesday I went out for a mom's night.  I had 2 glasses of wine and almost got out of there without eating but ended up munching on a bunch of crap in the last hour or so.  Wednesday was a day off from exercise.  I ate healthy all day but as I was heating up leftover Chinese food for Miguel I decided to just have that myself too instead of making my own dinner.  I had book club after dinner and had a desert there (ice cream and a fried tortilla with caramel sauce - yum!) and then a trip to Target resulted in a Snickers bar.  Oh dear.  The good news is I'd eaten pretty good prior to these less than stellar choices.   And I got right back on the bandwagon today.  Cereal, light lunch, healthy dinner.  Balance, balance, balance.

And I went to the gym today.  I was really looking forward to it, I just had this feeling of pent up energy and knew that probably meant I was in store for a good workout.  I decided to do my run on the treadmill, for some reason outside just didn't sound like a good time.  I ran my 3 miles in 28:50 on a 1% incline.  That's around a 9:40 pace too.  I ran mostly at 6mph but threw in 2 minute intervals at 7mph for a challenge.  It was tough but I enjoyed it.  After the treadmill I did chest/triceps/core for strength training.  Whew!  I'm only strength training 3 days a week now and with my Yosemite trip, I haven't done chest/triceps in weeks.  It was hard, but I managed.

On Tuesday I'd had a small skinny vanilla latte after work, but I only drank half because I didn't want to be up all night.  After my workout I drank the second half.  I have been strongly against afternoon caffeine for years, but now I'm thinking maybe it's a good thing.  I slept fine the other night and I think I'll sleep fine tonight.  And since the Singulair didn't turn out to be my magic fix, maybe caffeine will.  I'll only need it for the next two or three years I think.  Hmph.

I'll close with a picture of the kids.  I've been trying to take them on a post-nap walk whenever I can.  They love it, it burns off some toddler energy and I hope they're learning to get outdoors, even if it's just for a walk around the neighborhood.

My little buddies.

I'm Motivated!

Mostly.  This current bout of motivation started late last week and despite having a very challenging run on Saturday, I'm still feeling fired up to lose.  I think being within 5 pounds of my goal weight has me feeling extra motivated to get there, finally.  So after many years of resistance I have finally started taking a multi-vitamin.  I'm just not that good at taking a pill on a daily basis and I haven't been convinced that I really need one.  I've always thought that if I eat a balanced, healthy diet I probably don't really need to add vitamins to the mix.  But, I'm getting to be, ahem, well, not as young as I used to be and SO many women have told me that it makes them feel better so I'm in.  I went to Costco and got a huge bottle of (cue booming male voice)...Premium Performance Multiiiiii.  Of course I was sold on the name.  I'm also taking a Glucosamine/Chondroitin pill and a Super B Complex (I think that's what it's called).  The Super B might be overkill as there's plenty of B vitamins in the multi.  Anyway, today is the second day in a row I've taken them, which is probably already a record for me.  I'm hoping to feel a difference in my energy levels from taking all these horse pills.  Dammit vitamins are big!

On the fitness front things are moving along well.  I had a nice day off from exercise on Sunday.  We took the kids to a local community picnic and had fun watching and joining in their fun.  Miguel had his soccer game in the afternoon so I took the time to submit my final documents for the George Foreman challenge.  It's been 12 weeks already!  I lost a little less than 6 pounds during the 12 weeks but the biggest thing was that I moved into the normal category on the BMI scale.  I'm still getting used to officially not being overweight.  I heard a news snippet on the radio this morning about how more Americans than ever are falling into the Obese category and I thought, not me, not anymore.  It feels good.  I took my final pictures in a bikini but I don't have the guts to post them here.  On the sly I posted them in the during section of my blog so if you want to see them you can go there.  I also shared them on my Facebook page and was overwhelmed by the positive response.  I look at those pictures and tend to see flab and fat that I want to lose.  But all the positive comments helped me to see that my view remains really skewed and that I must look pretty good.  I still feel like they are "before" pictures from a P90x commercial.

Ok, back to fitness.  Yesterday (Monday) I took myself to the gym and did 25 minutes on the upright bike, level 8, random.  Whew, it was hard.  I was sweating and probably grunting at some points too.  I hate it when someone is sitting next to me without headphones, I get self conscious about how much noise I might be making during my suffer-fest on the bike.  Anyway, I did it, and felt good about it.  Then I did legs/shoulders/core for strength training.  I haven't done a legs routine in weeks and was a bit nervous about how it would go.  But I did fine.  It was mostly not too hard, but not easy either, and only a few exercises really had me struggling.  I was happy with that.  And it felt really good to be settling back into my routine.  Today is Tuesday and I was supposed to do a morning run.  Didn't happen.  Now I have to try and squeeze it in after work.  4.5 miles is tough to "squeeze in" since it's nearly an hour of running.  But we'll see, I can get creative hopefully.

My eating has been good. I have been tracking 100% and staying within my points.  I was feeling munchy last night and ate a large portion of pseudo-healthy multi-grain chips last night, followed by hot cocoa made with milk.  But I had the points for it so I just logged it and moved on.  It's a good thing I didn't have any chocolate in the house or I would have gone overboard. 

10 Question Game

A quick post.  I was tagged by Running While Mommy to do the Another Mother Runner 10 Question Game.

So here goes!

Best Run Ever:  My memory isn't that great so I'm going to the not-so-distant past and choosing my run starting at Blackie's Pasture in Tiburon.  In the weeks since the run I've found myself reflecting on how great I felt that day, running along the water, perfect weather, feeling strong.  As an aside, my most emotional run so far was my first Triathlon run as I was crying when I crossed the finish line. 

Three words to describe my running:  Me-time, adventure, gratitude

My go to run outfit:  Running shorts (unless it's too cold), Moving Comfort Melbourne sports bra (which they've stopped making, darnit!), technical t-shirt (usually Under Armor). 

Quirky habit while I am running:  I like to imagine all the people that see me from their cars are thinking what an amazing runner I am :)

Morning, midday or evening runner?  Midday is the best!  Evening would be my second choice and morning is downright painful, though I do morning runs when there's no other time because even a hard running time is better than no running at all.

I won't run outside when:  Hmm, I don't know if I have an answer for this.  Maybe freezing cold and rain would keep me from running.  One or the other I could manage but both would probably be too much.  And by freezing cold I'm talking California standards here ;) 

Worst injury and how I got over it:  In the beginning of my running career I suffered from terrible shin splints. The key for me was to slowly build up strength and endurance.

I felt most like a badass mother runner when?  I ran the 4th of July 4-miler in less than 40 minutes.  I felt like such a rock star!

My next race is:  The Livermore Grape Stomp half-marathon.  I'm

Potential running goals for 2013?   Well, since you're saying potential goals let's just go for the gold and say maybe I'll shoot for a full marathon!

And I will tag...

On the Edge

Wild Child Gone Good

The Athena Diaries