Week 9

Last week I did a lot of biking and elliptical time.  Actually, the last 2 weeks I have tried to be nice to my heel.  And it started to feel better, really great actually.  So on Sunday, I decided to try jogging again on the treadmill.  I did 6 miles, and my heel didn't feel so great anymore.  I also had an MRI (last Wednesday) and found out today that I have a tear in my plantar fasciitis.  Huh?  See below. :)

So...my orthopedic dr. prescribed physical therapy for 4 weeks and no walking or jogging for 4 weeks as well.  My question to her... If I continued to walk and jog, could I damage it worse?  She said maybe, but that she would prescribe p.t. for that as well.  I told her that I was going to go ahead and do the 1/2 marathon, but maybe I'd just walk it. (maybe)  She said to be prepared for some serious pain afterwards.  Like I didn't know that... It is a total bummer after training for 18 weeks.  But worse things could happen.  So... San Diego, here I come! 

Weeks 7 and 8

Let's start with the positives...(with negatives in parenthesis)

* I completed Bloomsday last weekend in Spokane.  I was not sore at all afterward.  I was hoping for a faster time, but considering everything, I'll take my 1:30. (My time was 2 minutes slower than last year, and I was in tears about 3 times throughout the course because my heel was killing me.) 

* I've worked out 5 times this week.  (I haven't been able to run at all.)

* I have a Dr. appointment on Monday for my foot.  (I'm nervous that she will say I can't run my 1/2 marathon, which is why I've waited a month before going.)

* I am very close to losing 15 pounds since January, and have lost 22 pounds since school started.  (It has been coming off so slow and it is testing my patience.)

* I get to hang out with my friends in San Diego in less that a month!  (A little worried I may just be a spectator after all this training and hard work.)

I think that is all for now.  Peace and Blessings.  Jamie

Week 6 done and 6 Weeks to go...

M - Group Power
Tu - 4 mile jog
W - 45 min. elliptical
Th - 4 mile jog
F - rest
Sa - 30 min walk
Su - 5K jog

Heel still hurting.  Going to head into Runner's Soul and see if they can recommend an insole or something.  Was diagnosed by my coworkers - Plantar Fasciitis...  I've looked it up and I think they may be right.  Although I hate to pretend that the internet is a doctor and I hate it when other people do that. (One of many things that bugs me about people.)   :)  Everything is set for the big race next weekend!  Hotel is booked, friend has been informed of my coming, and excitment is in the air.  Happy Easter everyone!

Week 5

M-Group Power
T - 4 miles
W - 45 min. hill intervals
Th - 4 miles
F - off
Sa - 6 miles
Su - 30 min walk.

Only 7 weeks left until the 13 miles in San Diego!!  During my jog on Saturday, my heel started to hurt and could hardly walk the rest of the day.  I'm a little bit worried about how it will do during the real event.  Or even how it will feel on Tuesday when I jog.  I didn't want to have to worry about an injury, especially this close to the real thing.  On another note, Bloomsday is just 2 weeks away and I have yet to get a hotel room!  Should be interesting.  Will I be seeing any of you at Bloomsday??

Week 4

M - Group Power
Tu - 3.5 miles
W - walk (how many miles did it end up being Sam?)
Th - 3.5 miles
F - Rest
Sa - didn't do my cardio - was at the hospital with my Grandma
Su - 5 miles

8 weeks until San Diego!

Week 3 Stats

M - Group Power
T - 3.5 miles (made it to the gym before work!  yeah me!)
W - 3 mile hill intervals
Th - 3.5 miles
F- rest
Sa - First day of Spring Break... I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!  and it felt good...
Su - 5 miles

9 weeks until 1/2 marathon

Week 2 Stats

M - Pilates (probably won't do this again...my body isn't ready for pilates.)
T - 3 miles
W - 3 miles hill intervals/ Group Power
Th - 3 miles
F - rest
Sa - 30 min cardio (took a walk)
Su - 4 miles

Only 10 weeks left until the 1/2 marathon. 

Back to it...

This week I'm back to my normal workout schedule.  After the sinus infection from (you know where), and taking it easy for a couple weeks, it feels good to be moving again.  Having the sun shine once in a while doesn't hurt either.  :)  Yesterday, my girls and I played a pretty intense game of hopscotch.  If you've never had the intense hopscotch experience, you're missing out.  We would love for you to come and play with us, so we can beat you. When we were done we sat out in the driveway, soaking up all the vitamin D we could, and making as many chalk pictures as we could think of.  It was lovely.  I LOVE the sun. 

I'm starting my training program over with week 1 again.  I was happy to be back to week 1 because I was having problems with blisters on my feet and the shorter jogs are making my feet happy.  I can only imagine what my feet will look like after 13 miles.  Ugh...  I am buying stock in moleskin. :)

So here is what I accomplished this week...

M-Group Power
T- 3 miles
W-3 mile hill intervals, Group Power
Th-off
F-3 miles
S - 30 min. walk
Su- 4 miles

Guess What???

I've jogged over 100 miles!!!

:)

I'm Still Here...

Sick kids, sick grown-ups, weekend away with my husband, basketball, gymnastics, work, work-outs, and resting... That is what has been happening around here.  I have missed a few workouts in the past 2 weeks due to either a kiddo being sick and needing to be with them, or being sick myself.  More than a few actually.  I got back to it this week, but am not feeling as strong as I was before.  Today I jogged 6 miles in the wind.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the wind?  HATE IT!  Will post more when I have time.  I have been keeping up on logging my miles on the right.  I have also been keeping up logging my pounds, which hasn't moved in weeks!!  Does anyone have any fabulous diet tips for me?  Any good tricks regarding keeping your portion size in check or keeping the snacking healthy?  Still a work in progress.  Blessings, Jamie

Today's Long Run

7 Miles in 82 minutes!!!

Lead Feet

This past Sunday, while I was doing my longer jog, I had a hard time.  I felt wiped of energy before I even began, and because of some health issues that I've been having, I really didn't want to go.  Basically my attitude sucked.  I walked a couple of times and the jogging felt very slow.  Everything felt like it was uphill and my feet felt heavy, like lead.  But I got through it.  When I got home to put my route into WalkJogRun (google - Awesome), I saw that I had gone 6.5 miles and I was happy with that.  One more mile and I would have completed a Bloomsday, without the Doomsday Hill of course!  (For those of you who have never done Bloomsday in Spokane, here is a picture of Doomsday.  Really, the picture doesn't do it justice, you need to experience it in person.)

Some highlights of my week...

• Jaicee's first basketball game.  It was so cute.  She was so cute.  Family, if you are reading this, you really must come watch.  It is a hoot!
• Watching my girls dance to the Black Eyed Peas during the Superbowl half time show.  That was the best part of the entire game for me.  I'm not a football fan. 
• My Group Power instructor is Deb and she makes the class so much fun.  For a person who hates to lift weights (like me!) it is nice to actually look forward to it.
• It makes me laugh to hear my Grannie talk about her new dog.  I got to hear a lot about the dog on Sunday.  It can do no wrong and it makes my Grannie happy.
• Quality time with my family.  I love spending time with them.

Weekly Stats

Workouts - 5

Miles - 14.5

Pounds Lost - 0.4

P.S. For those of you who jog/run, what do you do when your energy is zapped?  Plow through and continue training, or take the day off?

Quote I Love...

All about Birthdays...

Last week was all about birthdays.  My mom's was on Tuesday, Jaicee's was on Thursday, and the family party was on Saturday.  That is a lot of cake. :)  Despite all of that, I was able to lose the 0.8 I gained last week, but that was all I lost.  I'm okay with that.  It is better than gaining.  The past week, I also added two miles to my total weekly mileage.  I will do that again this week.  My short jogs will be 4 miles this week (that used to be my long run!) and my long run will be 6 miles.  I'm still only jogging an 11 to 12 minute mile, but I'm no longer stopping to walk.  It is coming along, slowly...  Sometimes I wish I had a partner to jog with, but other times, I just love doing it alone.  It's not like I could actually hold a conversation while I'm jogging anyway.  So all in all, it was a pretty good week. 

Total Miles Jogged - 12 miles
Total Workouts - 6
Total Pounds Lost - 0.8 pounds

Praying that God gives me the strength to eat only when I am hungry.  Still struggling with that.  Blessings, Jamie

Food...

I've been eating too much food in the evenings.  It seems like as soon as I get home from work, all I want to do is eat.  I really don't think I'm hungry.  It has become a habit.  A habit that I need to break.  So this week, I gained 0.8 pounds.  I know that is not that much, but when you want to see the scale go down, it is disheartening.  But let's be honest.  The way I ate this week didn't lead to weight loss and only I decide what I put in my mouth.  So I'm going to work on it this week.  In the Eden Diet, it says to use a smaller plate when you eat dinner, so I think I might try that.  I also want to work on slowing down when I eat and paying attention to when I'm actually hungry.  I'm a work in progress, but I'm going to get there eventually...
Some positives:

• My long jog this week was 5 miles.  I included some hills this time and I only walked for 3 minutes of the total hour.  That is a 12 minute mile pace.
• I'm enjoying using WalkJogRun on Google to map out my routes.  I learned about it from a fellow blogger.  If you've never used it, check it out.  It will compute your calories burned, your pace, mileage, etc...  Love it!
• Got to visit with 2 friends this past weekend that I haven't talked to in a while.  One of them will be doing the 1/2 marathon with me.  Makes me realize that I miss my friends and I wish they didn't live so far away.
• Enjoyed chocolate!  (That is a positive right??)

Total Miles: 12
Pounds Lost:  None, I'm up 0.8 pounds
Number of Workouts: 4 - I missed 2 workouts...

Blessings, Jamie

A Few More Hours Needed...

Something I'm realizing about myself through this process is that I'm neurotic about my schedule.  I don't remember being like this before I had children, but maybe I was.  It's just that when you have so many things that you have to fit into a day, you MUST stick to a schedule or it gets totally screwed up and then something has to be left out.  Usually, the thing that gets left out is exercise...  When my schedule gets out of whack, it would be nice if I could be flexible, but I can't.  I just get stressed and upset.  So this is something that I need to work on.  I know my husband would greatly appreciate this, since he is the epitome of flexibility and calmness.  I know there must be days when I really annoy him, but he never shows it.  I'm so lucky.  Now, I only have 14 more minutes before I need to get to bed, (see, I told you) so I'm going to write some of the things that happened this past week that I am proud of...
1.  I got in all of my workouts except one.
2.  I got up early the 3 days I'm suppose to!!  (Because it's part of "the schedule")
3.  I'm eating smaller portions, snacking less, and not going back for seconds.
4.  I'm feeling stronger during my jogs.  Not so much of that annoying heavy breathing.  I always feel bad for the person on the treadmill next to me if they don't have headphones in. 
5.  I went out of town this past weekend and got my workouts in.  Although I had to do them both on the same day.  Oh well, they got done.
6.  I'm ready to do it all over again!!

Blessings, Jamie

Stats for this week
Weight Lost - 2.8 pounds
Miles Jogged - 10 miles

Early Morning TV

If your going to workout at 4:30 a.m., make sure you have an i pod and some good tunes to listen to, because the only thing on t.v is infomercials.  Does anyone else want to buy everything they see on infomercial?  Today I wanted to pick up the phone and buy Wen.  I guess it is like a shampoo, but not a shampoo, but not exactly a conditioner.  You should have seen everyone's hair.  Amazing. :) 

Next time I will rememer my i pod. 

My Goal

I've always loved jogging.  Well, let me rephrase that, I've loved jogging since college and I still do.  The thing I love most about jogging is that it is time just for me.  Sounds selfish, I know, but when I jog, all the stress that I may have been feeling melts away, my attitude improves, and I can just be me.  Jogging, or working out in general, helps me fight off depression that sometimes starts to creep into my mind.  I call my workout time, "my prozac," and it really does work that way for me.  When I'm without it for many days in a row I can feel my thoughts turning dark. 

So I've recruited some friends and will be training for the ....

I'm excited for this opportunity.  I'm only doing the half marathon, but the longest race I've completed is Bloomsday, so this will be more of a challenge.  I am following the training plan outlined on Hal Higdon's website, and since I have more than 12 weeks to train (thank God for that!) I will be able to do many of the weeks in the training plan twice.  I'm now in my second week of training and once I figured how to fit all of the workouts into my "working full-time, mother of 2," schedule, I'm feeling very excited about it.  I feel like I owe it to myself to do this, to accomplish this. 

 So don't be surprised if you see me this summer with this around my neck... 

I figure I can make it go with just about any outfit during the summer. :)

If you have ever completed a half marathon or a full marathon and have any advice for me regarding training, I would love to hear it!  Thanks so much.  Blessings, Jamie

I'm Hungry, I'm Hungry Not...

My sister in law, Debbie, bought me a book a few months ago.  The past few weeks I've finally taken the time to read it and I am so thankful that I did.  When I read The Eden Diet, I felt like the author had written it just for me.  I can honestly say that I've never felt a connection with a book (a nonfiction book) like I did with this one.  It is all about listening to the hunger signs that God has given you, paying attention to portion size, and not letting food have control over you.  It was exactly what I needed to read at just the right time.  I'm so thankful for Deb, and thankful that God put the idea in her head to purchase the book for me.  ;)

So today, I started my new life of not letting the food control me.  It has not been easy and it is only day 1.  I'm not sure that I even know what it feels like to experience hunger; so this will be a new concept for me.  Like right now, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking to myself that I am hungry.  But I don't think I really am.  I know that half of my dinner is sitting in the fridge and I think I need to eat it because I didn't eat the whole thing.  But my logical self is telling me that it will still be there tomorrow and it will be just fine.  I think that I eat for many reasons, but usually not for the right ones.  I eat because it is lunch time, I eat because I'm watching t.v., I eat because everyone else is eating, I eat because I'm bored, I eat because no one is watching, I eat because I am sad, emotional, stressed...  You name it, I've made up an excuse to eat.  But today I didn't.  And when I wanted to eat when I wasn't hungry, I prayed to God to give me strength, and guess what, He DID!! 

Today was a blessing and I'm going to bed happy and proud of myself; and I haven't really been happy about myself in a long time.  A good day has passed on this journey.  Here's hoping for another good day tomorrow.  Please continue to pray for me.  Blessings, Jamie

Stats for Last Week
Miles Jogged - 10
Days Exercised - 5
Pounds Lost - 2.2

Here We Go...

I'm planning on making some changes this year.  Big changes.  And reaching some goals.  Big goals. 

This blog is to document everything that I'm doing, thinking, feeling, eating, praying about, etc... as I go through this journey. 

Please feel free to leave a comment, a good diet or exercise tip, give some encouragment, pray for me, ask for prayers, or all of the above.  I can use all the prayers I can get.  :) 

So, here I go...  Wish me luck!