It's been a good week!

Progress is progress!  And I can definitely feel progress being made....Started running with some friends twice a week. 
Monday we met at 9am and I ran 2 miles!  First time on a serious run without the stroller and the boys and I felt great.  It got me all stoked to run the half!  We jogged 5 minutes and then walked 1 minute.  It was just about right because after the 2nd and 3rd 5 minute increment I was feeling pretty tired.

Tonight was my 2nd Sunset through the Trees race (this season) and it was a tough one.  I ran with the boys in the stroller....oyvey.  HEAVY.  And the final 1/2 mile (or so) of the run is pretty much all up hill.  But we did it in just about 31 minutes.  Even though there were some points I could barely WALK up the hill with the stroller I still felt really good!

Progress is progress....

A walk with hills

Okay short and sweet, here it goes!  2 posts 2 days in a row, woohoo!

So here's how the week has looked so far:

Monday: Nada
Tuesday: Walk in the morning, 2.6 mile trail run in the evening
Wednesday: Nada
Thursday: Jog in the evening at the river trail.  ugggg this as HARD.  It was my first time running alone with the Double stroller and it felt like a thousand pounds.  But i made it a mile before R started crying hard and then I returned to the car.  Nothing spectacular, but it's a start. 
Friday (today): We went on an evening walk and went up (and down) 2 large hills.  It felt a lot better then it has in the past and i pushed the stroller up the 2nd hill.  So....maybe we're making progress?

In other news....eating.  Uggggg.  So EVERY day I start out really well and make healthy choices until about....3pm?  Then things go downhill.  Also I crave something sweet every evening.  Tonight I was all prepared to get up and get a yogurt or something healthy but hubs decided to finish off Jude's birthday cake.  So i joined him...naturally.  Well it's gone now so maybe that will help. 

Goal: Healthy snack around 2 or 3pm (to avoid making bad choices like it did today...yup....had licorice for  snack).  And also PRE-plan what I'll have as a snack in the evening so it's healthy. Then eventually I'd like to phase this out and not eat after dinner (much healthier, I know, but baby steps, ya know?)

Also, I haven't lost any weight.  Weighed in at 221.  But honestly, I think I gained like 2 pounds after my first post (between having family visit and Jude birthday party) so I'm actually back down to where I was when I started training. 

I SUCK at blogging!

Okay soooooooo....I'm horrible at keeping up with this blog!!  BUT better late than never!  Here's my progress with my training.  Got off to a veeeery rocky start but I'm blaming that on having family in town and planning a very "seuss-err-ific" 2nd birthday party for my little guy!   During that week I did get out and "jog" (it was a sad attempt) once and I walked once.  Also during time with visitors we went to the Shasta Caverns and I'll tell you, just climbing the stairs in the caves was a work out!  (sad.)

So this week started out with a walk on Tuesday morning and then the Sunset Through the Trees run on Tuesday evening.  http://www.midniteracing.net/Sunset.html

Man did that feel horrible!  The run was 2.6mi on trails that are pretty rough.  I definitely struggled.  But I'm happy to say I ran the first half without stopping (veeeery slow, probably 12-13 min mile pace).  The second half included about 3 "walking" stretches, but I finished running!  (haha of course I did, I could never walk across a finish line!) My legs felt like lead, my body hurt, my eyes were dry....but I did it.  That's what matters.

Also I've started keeping track of my food.  I went grocery shopping and bought healthy protein rich snacks so I will stop eating empty calories because we have no food in the house!!  So today I've eaten:

B: (Around 7:30am) 2 eggs and 1 piece of toast
L: (Around 11:30pm) Turkey and Chz sandwich on wheat bread (dry of course, if you know me you know I abhor mayonnaise....)
S: (Around 2pm) Cottage Cheese and a peach.  So I normally do NOT like cottage cheese but I bought it because it's healthy and because I want Jude to try it.  I found that if I eat it with a FRESH peach (not canned ones blech) it is soooo much better! yay! 

That's all for now!  In other news I'm going to start walk/jog/running with some local mommy friends so that should help motivate me! 

Half Marathon Training Day 1

So I've decided to run another half marathon and am going to blog my way through my training.  I feel like this will help me process the difficulty, celebrate and track my progress and hopefully help me run a great half!  My first half marathon was May of 2011 10 months after Jude was born in Eugene.  I had an AMAZING experience and was so proud of my 2:35 time.  This time I'd like to go for 2:21.  I've decided to run the Mermaid Half Marathon in San Diego.  It looks pretty flat, runs along the ocean (BIG plus), is in San Diego (great excuse to visit family there) and gives me enough time to train.  February 9th......that's 6 full months and a few extra days of training.  Perfect!   So training started today.....

Oh I should also mention....this is a journey to train for a half marathon but it's also a journey of weight loss.  I'm READY to reach my weight loss goals!  I'm going to be tracking my weight, hopefully my food intake (though I'll be tracking that at home on paper as well) and how I'm feeling.  The thought of typing my ACTUAL weight (not rounded down 20lbs....haha....) is a bit daunting but I have to face reality and do this.  Since I'm not quite 8 weeks post-partum I can at least blame some of the extra on my sweet little bundle of baby joy. :)  But I've got to do this.....so.....more about that late but here's what I did today.

August 2nd 2012-Day 1 of Half Marathon Training
Goal: To run for 15 minutes
-Since I'm JUST starting my training and haven't run for about a year (10 months of pregnancy and 2 months post-baby) I decided to ONLY focus of time spent running.  I'd like to get to 30 minutes of very comfortable running and then I'll track my pace and start to increase my pace and add mileage.  For now though....just tracking how much time I spend running.

What I did: I woke up 6:30 to feed Rowan and decided...."today I'm going to start my training" (been stalling for awhile now....).
7:00am-Out the door and onto the road, decided to just run around my neighborhood, in the future I'd like to get to the trails.
I ran for 5 minutes and walked 1 minute.  I did this 3 times fo r total of 15 minutes of jogging and 3 minutes of walking.  Felt like maybe....12 or 13 minute mile pace?

How I felt: It felt slow and sluggish for sure, but it was just exciting to be able to run that much without it hurting or without peeing my pants (TMI...sorry but if you've had a baby you know what I'm talking about....).  One major setback was i couldn't find my beloved Anita sports bra this morning (got me through my last half marathon) and so instead I squished into 2 old crappy sports' bras and a sports bra top....all of which were too tight....OUCH.  Oh well it kept things in place. :P

Weight: .....before I start this leg of my journey I feel like I should explain.  I've always struggled with my weight.  Up and down, Up and down...I've mainly controlled my weight through exercise and I've NEVER really reached my weightloss goals.  Oddly enough though I HAVE reached my fitness goals.  I've completed 3 triathlons and ran the Eugen half marathon in 2011 and reached my goal of 2:30.  I did this at a weight (195lb) that is probably considered about 50lbs overweight for my height (!!).  I've just always been able to do things I've tried to do even if I'm WAY far from the weight I'd like to be (or should be).  So I started thinking about how much I'd be able to do if I actually lost the weight I'd like to lose.  The lowest I can remember being on a scale was 165lb.  That was my junior year of college and I felt AMAZING.  So my goal weight is 160lb.  That's my LONG term goal weight.  Right now I'm taking it 5lb at a time.....

Before I got pregnant with Jude I was 199lb.  I gained 31lb during that pregnancy for a total of 230lb right before I delivered him.  I lost the weight fairly quickly (about 4-5 months) but never dropped below 195.  I felt pretty good at this weight (ran the half marathon) but obviously not fantastic.  I got pregnant again RIGHT after the half marathon but we lost that pregnancy.  I was pregnant for about 12 wks (tho baby never developed past 6 wks).  Between hormones, pregnancy gain, feeling depressed ect. I gained about 10lbs and never lost it.  I got pregnant again 4 months later and this time I was 5lbs heavier than my pre-preg weight with Jude.

I gained almost EXACTLY the same amount of weight with Rowan, weight in at 235lb the day he was born (before delivery).  I came home and weight 226lb (you'd think you'd lost more right away with an 8lb baby but....nope.)  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooo......all that to say.....that's how I got where I am right now...there are MULTIPLE factors to why I went from 165lb in college to 195lb pre-baby but I'll blog about those things later.  Back to the weight-in.....
Weight: 220.4   this is my weight as of today, Day 1 of training.  I can't wait to see that # drop!
LT Goal Weight: 160lb
ST Goal Weight: 215ob

Thanks for tuning in!  I'm planning on blogging every day to keep myself honest, but I'm sure there will be days I can't get to it.  I'm NOT going to quit though.  Even if I fall off the wagon for a week I WILL return.  I have to do this!