Running for My Life: Warning: Jumbled Mess Ahead

Necessary warning: this entry is a disjointed mess, I promise to try harder next time.

Sunday was hubby's birthday, so this whole last week has been a bit of a celebration. Lots of food that I shouldn't be eating and I have put on a few pounds again. Just lovely. Every time I get back on track, life happens and I fall off the band wagon again. The only good thing I can say about this is that its giving me the proof that no matter how many times you slip up you can get back on track.

I've come to a pretty obvious realization. Its going to be a hell of a lot harder to keep the weight off than it was to lose it. I know what you are thinking... well, DUH. I always knew that it would be, but I didn't realize just HOW hard. I mean, I think I am safe to say I won't ever get back to where I started, but it is really easy to slip up and gain back 5-15 pounds. I guess, even at that point I am far better off than I was before... but I so badly want to get to that final goal weight. Looking in the mirror and being repulsed is no way to keep yourself motivated and on track with weight loss and fitness. One day at a time... I will be stronger than my self doubt.

I took Friday and Saturday off from running, so to make up for it I had 8 miles planned for Sunday. Friday night we got somewhere between 3-5 inches of snow. I was annoyed to find out that loop I typically run around our Y had not been plowed at all by Sunday, and my other "fall back" is running through my neighborhood and most of the sidewalks hadn't been shoveled. I considered running on the streets in my neighborhood but they weren't plowed well either and I don't have my Yak Trax yet. I was so tempted to not run, but after psyching myself up I headed to the Y to run on the treadmill. I figured 3-5 miles was better than nothing. To date, my longest mileage on the treadmill had been 5 miles and that was back in May. But, I was determined to at least try.

The Y was PACKED, every treadmill was full. It took everything I had to not walk back out, but I waited and within a few minutes a treadmill opened up. I hopped on and got everything set for my run. Two bottles of water, my ipod, two "sweat towels," and a chocolate #9. Typically when the treadmills are full you are supposed to give them up at 30 minutes, so my plan was that I would probably get 3 miles, maybe 6 if I could get a treadmill quickly the second time. I started running and decided that the other treadmills were "turning over" enough that I was just going to stick with it as long as I could. I made it to about 6.25 miles before needing to take a bathroom break. I left my towel on the treadmill in the hopes that it would still be there when I got back - it worked! So, I hopped on and did another 1.81 miles. I ended up doing 8.07 miles in about 1:11. I was SO proud of myself for sticking it out... I actually ran a much faster pace than most of my recent long run paces. Needless to say I was sore on Monday and had to take an unplanned rest day.

I did get out there today and get 2 laps done for a total of 3.43 miles in 28:19. I had hoped to do 5 miles but things just hurt and I couldn't manage it. I did spend 20 minutes doing strength training, which always makes me feel better.

This week's challenge is AWESOME. The challenge is to read a book per child per day. That means, two books a day... this works out PERFECTLY for me because with Tommy being gone I am in charge of his usual bedtime ritual. Its always been his thing to put the kids to bed, so this is something I have been missing out on - so this is perfect. It almost feels like I am cheating on this weeks challenges, but honestly if I didn't have the challenge I would probably put them to bed without story time.

Last weeks challenge recap: sorry this is lengthy, but I wanted to share pictures of what I got accomplished
- Monday: deep clean bathrooms (pics in previous post)

- Tuesday: clean fridge/pantry (pics in previous post)

- Wednesday: change bed sheets on all beds (the washing was easy, I hated remaking them!)