Sunday Not So Funday

So after my 3.2 mile and the ouchy blister I started to realize that I think there was something bigger going on than just the blister. I had noticed on my run that I was STILL limping. I have no clue if this has been going on the whole time I have been running and I just didn't notice or if it just started this week. I decided to be grown up and responsible and I made an appointment with an orthopedic to check it out for tomorrow. He had me get an x-ray Friday and everything looked good in that so that's a plus! Right where I'm having "issues" is where your LCL is so that is still a worry, but we'll see what he says. I promised my mom (the one who paid for the first knee surgery) that I would take it easy on my knee and hear what he has to say before I push it too hard. I took Friday and Saturday off completely, which I probably shouldn't of done. I should of got my butt on the elliptical or the bike or at least have done some strength training, but I used my knee as a cop out. Well I guess Friday I did take the dog for a 1.5 mile walk which has a monster hill, so I guess that's better than nothing.

I was feeling like a pretty big lame-o this morning so I got out of bed and put on my running shoes. I decided I would try a running path by my house that I hadn't done yet because of the MONSTER hill. I decided before I left that I would run 2 miles out and 1 back that way I wouldn't have to feel guilty about walking up the hill. Apparently I am a HORRIBLE judge of distance, no wonder my directions always suck!!! From my house to the end of the trail is only about 1.7 miles womp womp :-( I could of SWORE that, that thing was like 5 miles long when I drove it. But that was only the beginning of the problems. I don't know if it was that I took 2 days off, that my knee was bugging me, that the path is hillier than I am used to, that the wind was blowing hard, or that I am just a total wimp, but I walked TWICE and then I quit at the bottom of the hill which was at only 2.66 miles. The first time I broke down and walked was at 1.25 miles, I walked for probably less than a minute, but I still hate that I had to walk. By the time I hit the end of the running trail and turned around (less than a half mile later) I was ready to just walk the whole way back. I broke down and walked again and from my knee to my ankle was tingling. I walked for a little longer than the first time, but then I kicked myself in the ass and made myself run all the way to the bottom of the hill. I just as I typed that realized it wasn't even a mile I ran :-( It felt like way more than that!

By the time I reached the hill my knee/leg was really feeling funny. My knee doesn't hurt when I run, but it tingles like crazy after running and from compensating for my knee it makes my ankle and bridge/arch of my foot hurt. I'm HOPING that it is something a few exercises can work out because I really want to be able to do my 5k on Saturday. I was really disappointed with my run and myself today though and it's really making me begin to doubt if I am going to be able to do a half marathon. No matter what I don't want to quit running, but maybe I'm way more cut out to be a 5ker than a half marathoner. I'm not ready to give up yet, but I'm definitely feeling discouraged today. Did I mention that I am supposed to be starting my half marathon in A WEEK?!?! That's nut's! And not sounding good considering I couldn't run 3 miles today and the shape my knee is in :-( But I'm going to hit the elliptical tomorrow and try and find a positive attitude and then it will be off to the orthopedics for some hopefully not to bad news. I took my measurements this morning and they added to my not so fun Sunday :-( They weren't all bad, but certainly weren't what I was hoping for. Here they are:

Arms - 10.75 (this is .5 bigger than the last time I measured, but I looked in the mirror while I was doing the measurement and I realized I wasn't measuring at the biggest part. So I don't think my arms are bigger I think I just wasn't measuring at the biggest part. But YUCK seriously who has arms almost as big as their calves?!?! These suckers need some help)
Underbust - 27.5 (same as before which I don't mind I don't think my waist needs to get much smaller I think my stomach just needs some more muscle and that my hips and love handles need to catch up!)
Waist - 24  (same as my sneak peak measurement last week, but down .75 from the last official measurement! I think that the shrink in my stomach has been from watching my calories)
Underwear Waist - 33 (Down a half inch from 2 weeks ago! Definitely a start I would love to of seen a bigger losses, but I'll take what I can get)
Hips - 36 (Down .75 woot woot! Shrinking those suckers in! Seeing the changes is what gets me through the tough days like today)
Thighs - 20.75 (womp womp womp this was the one that had me so down. I was really feeling like my legs were looking better and that all the running was paying off, and then I see that they have actually gotten BIGGER! WTF! Sometimes life just isn't fair, I'm hoping that it's just because I am building muscle and haven't started losing fat YET. I am going to sign up for a couple classes this month and hopefully they will help me blast away the pudge.)
Calves - 13 ( Yep everything in my legs grew it's some serious bullshit! I have got to find something that shrink these puppies because I am tired of these tree trunk legs. I can't afford to add any more bulk to them!)

While I was super excited to see the change in the hip area I am really really disappointed with my legs. I am going to add in some more strength training and body weight exercises and hopefully the next time I measure I will see some better results. Since I ran outside and not at the gym I haven't taken any pictures yet, but I will tonight when I go to do some strength training :-) What kind of fitness apps do you like? I have been browsing trying to find one with good exercises, but I'm not sold on any of them yet. I am going to do a nike training workout today, so I'll give you my verdict with the progress pictures tomorrow. Sorry for the downing attitude and the rant and rave, but it's just been that kind of day! PS Happy Easter!

3.2 miles baby!

We FINALLY got another nice day yesterday so I FINALLY got to run outside again. I am definitely liking the outside runs more than the treadmill now. The only issue with the outside run is that for some reason I got a very ouchy blister on the bottom of my foot yesterday :-( I'm not sure if it's because I run different outside, or if I had bad socks or what, but it really freaking hurts! I'm kind of worried  that I was still limping/running funny because of my knee and that that is causing me to turn my foot funny, which is causing the blister :-( I noticed yesterday when I stopped running that my ankle was kind of hurting too in that leg so I am definitely starting to get a little worried about it! I'm not sure what is going on or why I started limping it's only been these last two runs, but it better sort itself out because I start training for the half-mararthon in 10 days!!! Which is totally nuts and I can't believe I'm even freaking saying that. My first 5k will be next weekend :-) and the weather looks like it is supposed to be pretty nice which means that it is actually going to happen! I wasn't going to make myself do it if it was raining/snowing/super windy, I'm a fair weather runner haha.

 Yesterday I went .06 miles further than I have ever gone and hit the 3.2 mile marker! Actually it was 3.21 thank you very much! I still have a lot of miles to build up, but I am feeling pretty good about myself. I never in a million years thought I would be out running 3 miles several times a week and I'm doing it! As I was leaving the park I ran at yesterday I thought to myself I'm really a runner! I still feel like I'm dying 95% of the time and that I'm not going to make it, but I'm doing it and that's all that counts. I ran in the same park I did last time and I started out the same way going around the lake, but instead of wandering off the same way this time I took another route down one of our running/biking paths. I was feeling kinda nervous because Cheyenne's version of these paths is just a big sidewalk next to the road, and in this case it was a pretty major road! I felt like all these people were going to see me and think I looked like an idiot, but I just kept on trucking and to be honest I don't think anyone really even noticed. I ran a little over a half mile on the path next to the road, but there was a HUGE hill and I knew if I went down it I would have to come UP it and let's be honest THAT WASN'T HAPPENING! I barely make it around on flat ground, a hill would of killed me haha. Luckily there happened to be an open gate to the golf course right at the top of the hill so I took a little detour and ran on the golf course instead :-) I'm not sure that this is technically "allowed", but there were no signs that said no trespassing, or golfers only or anything and the gate was open! I ran around the golf course for a little while, but turned around because the path I was on was going towards the club house and that didn't seem like a good idea. As I headed back towards the park at the 2 mile marker I was feeling pretty good I was like I can do this, this isn't so bad I'll just run back and It should be about 3 miles when I get to the park. WRONG! I crossed the tunnel back into the park and looked at my running ap fully expecting to be at 3 miles and to my sorry surprise it was only at 2.6! I thought I was going to die right then, and I really wanted to just quit then. But I made my happy ass make a detour next to ANOTHER big road and took the longest way around the park and back to my car and I hit that 3.2 mark and it was worth it for the pride I got to feel :-) Yesterday was slower than my first outside run my average speed was 5.8 but I'll take it. My mile times broke down to:

Mile 1 - 9:50
Mile 2 - 10:51 (not sure what happened here, but this always seems to be the worst part of my run where my legs aren't quite warmed up yet, but they are already starting to get tired)
Mile 3 - 10:36
and the last .21 -  1:59

My slowest mile I averaged 5.5mph and the last .21 was my fastest and I averaged 6.3mph so not terrible, but not great but I have a lot of miles to work on it! Happy Friday All!!!!!

Today was the first day that I did 2 running days in a row. It's raining and poopy and I really didn't want to walk my happy ass down to the gym and I almost had myself talked out of if, but then I made myself do it and I'm so happy I did. I started running and had a constant stream of why the hell are you doing this, lets just quit, your legs hurt just stop, blah blah blah blah... when is this going to get easier? For real I feel like I will forever feel like I'm dying when I run I don't know how I am possibly going to go 5 miles yet alone 13! But that's down the road. I noticed today while I was running that I was doing a funny limp thing with my right leg. I think it is just because my right calf was really tight, but it started to make me nervous. I've had knee surgery once already on that puppy and I'm not ready to do it again! As I was plodding along battling with myself about whether or not I should quit and why this is still so freaking hard I had a "magic moment" I realized that I am constantly over and over running the longest I have ever run and trying to push myself further and further. And while that is all fine and dandy and maybe good for me, maybe to give myself a few easier days here and there. So I decided that I would only run 2.5 miles today, do my interval training tomorrow and then Thursday be all ready to run 3.2 miles. I don't know if it was the right choice, but it was the best workout I have had so far! I really wanted to throw in the towel at 2 miles, but I decided 2.5 was a good compromise.

 Lately after my runs I have been feeling dead tired and like all I want to do is take a nap. I haven't been doing a whole lot of strength training because I feel so tired and if I even start it most days I have been quitting part way through. Today I got in an awesome arm workout, a bunch of squats, lunges, and these are leg things I don't know how to describe AND an ab workout. So while I may in all reality just be a quitter I felt like it was a good call and I am feeling pretty good about my workout! I am actually getting to feel some endorphins instead of just feeling like I need to go crawl in bed. I followed up my awesome workout with a nice healthy dinner.

It's the first "green" smoothie I've made that actually turned out green, normally I throw in some darker berries which make it more of a brown color. I was a little nervous, but I sucked that puppy right down with no problem :-) I was feeling pretty skinny the other morning so I decided to cheat and take just one measurement to see how I was doing and my waist is down to 24 inches from 24.25 woot woot! I know it doesn't sound like much, but to me any loss makes me happy :-) My "waist has always stayed pretty small so losing there isn't one of my real concerns, but I'll take what I can get. I don't understand how my body just explodes at my hips it's totally not fair. I'm sure if/when I have children I will appreciate it, but come on can't they just suck in till then? From my true waist to my "undearwear waist" (not a real measurement, but I measure at the top of my underwear where my pants hit and that's what I call it) is a difference of 9 inches!!!! Are you freaking kidding me! They are only like 4 inches apart in my midget self I don't know how the hell I balloon out so much. Just one of the pleasures of being a girl I suppose! And here are all my measurements in all their glory taken on 3/17 womp womp..

Thighs - 20.5 ( eek!!!I had myself totally convinced that I didn't really have tree trunk legs that they just looked huge because I was short.... then I saw other people's measurements on their blogs and realized they are truly tree trunk legs and they need some slimming!)
calves- 12.75 (meh)
arms - 10.25 (biggest part of my upper arm, and are you freaking kidding me people have calves smaller than this!)
waist - 24.75 (not bad but I was pretty upset with this because 11 days before when I took it it had only been 24.25)
hips - 36.75 ( HOLY GIGANTIC!!! How did those suckers get that big! Seriously it can not be normal to have such a HUGE waist to hip ratio!)
"underwear waist" - 33.25
under bust 27.5


My goal measurements:
thighs- 17ish
calves - 11ish
arms - 9ish
waist - 24ish
hips - 31/32 (suck those puppies in!!!! I have no clue if that is even possible but I'm sure going to give it hell!!!)
"underwear waist" - 28/29
under bust - 27ish

I don't even own a scale so when it comes to setting goals it's really about losing inches not pounds for me. I know that working out I will add muscle and all that, but hopefully someday I would like to see myself a lot closer to those numbers than where I am at now. Keep in mind that I am a very short person so this is in proportion to that. I would like some day for people to see me as "petite" as opposed to stocky. Has a much better ring to it I think! I'm just going to keep running till I quit jiggling!

My Fitness Pal

So I decided yesterday that I would follow the trendy kids and start using My Fitness Pal. I IMMEDIATELY regretted that decision and thought my life was over! I spent the next 6 hours or so pouting over the fact that the damn thing told me I should only be eating 1280 calories a day! Most my conversations went something like this FOR REAL! Who the hell lives off 1280 calories, that's 400 a meal! What the hell am I supposed to eat? I'm going to starve! And no wonder I'm still freaking pudgy! Then as I actually started inputting food into it I realized that it is more than doable to live off that and most days I was probably eating fewer calories than I thought I was. It definitely made me hold myself accountable for what I ate and not sneak in little snacks which is a good thing, plus I drank 11 glasses of water yesterday! Go me! I'm not a water drinker and I always struggle with drinking enough, but I have been trying to drink more and this morning I can really see a difference. My tummy looks much slimmer this morning than it has in a few weeks (not over eating probably had something to do with that too!). I ate everything I wanted to eat yesterday (besides sneaking a few hershey kisses here and there, which I normally do) and came in at 1272 calories. So I'm done bitching about how I'm going to starve because I even got in a piece of chocolate cake yesterday. I am going to be meal planning like an SOB this weekend though because I don't want to come home and not have anything made and go out and grab something easy and ruin all my hard work. I honestly was pretty impressed with how much I could eat and stay under 1280 calories, check it out.

 



I know you can't probably read what it is that I actually ate, but you can see that there is quite a bit in there. For breakfast I had light and fit vanilla greek yogurt, a cutie, and a cup of coffee with skim milk. For Lunch I had asparagus, wild rice, an apple, a grilled chicken breast, and a piece of chocolate cake womp womp... For a snack I had a handful of almonds, a cutie, and a cup of tea. For dinner I had chicken con creme ( a mexican dish with chicken, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and sour cream), a corn tortilla, and a 100 calorie keebler shortbread cookie snack pack. I was honestly surprised that the chicken con creme wasn't more calories, but that was definitely a good surprise! I went over on the day for sugar which I knew I would because of the fruit, but I think there is a difference between natural and artificial sugars. I will tackle that monster later. I also went over on protein which surprised me because I didn't think I ate that much protein! But apparently 2 chicken breasts will do you in, but that's also not changing right now because there is NO WAY I can just have fruits and veggies for lunch I really will starve. So it's safe to say I'm now addicted to My Fitness Pal, I already logged my coffee for the day (49 freaking calories!). I got in another 3 mile run yesterday in 30:30 holla!!! I think I am going to one more 3 miler and then start doing 3.2 so I'm ready for my 5k :-) Today will be a sprint and strength day. MFP doesn't give me any calories for doing strength training :-( but I feel like I burn at least 100 because I don't take breaks and try and keep my heart rate up so it's not just an easy day. Can't wait to do my measurements and pictures next weekend!

I freaking did it!!!

So I ment to post the last two days and it just didn't happen, but I have exciting news (well to me at least) I DID MY FIRST OUTSIDE RUN!!!!! Woot woot it was supposed to be 55 and sunny today so I decided it would be a good day for my first outside run and instead its cloudy and 47 womp womp :-( I almost didn't go but I got my butt out there and I did it!!! And not only did I do it, but I did better than I thought I would. We have a park with a lake and it's a mile around it so I figured I would run around it three times, WRONG. I went around it once and decided I was going to die if I had to go around this freaking thing 2 more times. So I just went off meandering around the area and decided I would listen to 9 songs and it would be about the 28 minutes I was shooting for. Whoops guess I should mention I was using an app on my phone to track my workout. So after 9 songs I stopped my workout and when I went to look at it I'd gone 3.15 miles in 31:38 minutes!!! I was so freaking excited! 30 more seconds and I would of had my 3.2! So I officially know that I can go the distance of the 5k and that I can run outside and not just on the treadmill :-) I'm pretty damn proud of myself this is a big accomplishment for someone who had never ran more than a mile! I definitely liked running outside better than on the treadmill, I might have to take after SkinnyMeg and start calling it the dreadmill. I still felt like I was dying about 95% of the time, but at least the time went faster. I do have to say about the last mile it started to feel easier so hopefully that is a good sign!

In other news this weekend I decided I was going to go to the natural grocer here and get some coconut oil and see if it's as awesome as everyone says. I am not so sure about it so far, but we will see. Sunday afternoon and Monday morning I made a smoothie and put it 2 pretty large spoonfuls of it. It mixed it in pretty well, but you can definitely taste it and it kinda gives it a weird texture. It's not terrible, but takes a little getting used to.

Unfortunately both days it made me feel sick to my stomach :-( I am going to try taking less and work my way up and see what happens. My research shows that I need to be eating about 3.5 tbsp a day so not sure how I am going to get to that! I don't think I will ever be able to just down it by the spoonful so I am going to have to find some other stuff to add it to. I have heard a lot of people put it in coffee and tea so I might have to give that a shot.  Anyone have any ideas on what to put it in??  The last two mornings I have been running too late to make a smoothie, freaking story of my life! So we will give it a try tomorrow again and see what happens. I also tried putting some on my face yesterday because I hear all these miracle stories about it and I actually think it does work! Unfortunately I was blessed with crap skin that is always breaking out somewhere and currently I have like 3 of them and it made all 3 of them smaller so I am pretty impressed.

All and all it's been a pretty good few days I am feeling very confident that I am going to make it through the 5k in 3 weeks as long as its not raining, snowing, cold, or windy haha I am a fair weather runner :-) My knee I had knee surgery on is a little sore, but I think that is just the norm of adjusting, so I'm not too worried. Yesterday I ate like freaking CRAP so hopefully the rest of this week I will do better and be able to start seeing some results. Can't wait till my next outside run! Till then I will be hiding inside from this stupid snowstorm coming.

Progress Photos

These are my progress photos so far. The first ones (black shorts) are from 2/8, I think it was about a week or 10 days after starting working out. The Second ones are from 3/2 (light pink) so a little over a month of working out. And the last group are from yesterday (bright pink). My legs are my biggest problem area which is why the photos are mostly of them. My disclaimer is that I haven't been die hard working out, only 2 to 3 times a week so please don't attack me for there not being much change. And on that note please be kind I know my body isn't perfect, that's why I'm on this journey :-)

I can see pretty significant reduction in the cellulite on the back of my legs so I am definitely pretty happy with that. I have also been tracking my measurements so I will share those in another post. I'm glad that I am seeing some progress, but I feel like I definitely still have some work to do before swim suit and short season. I'm going to wait till the beginning of next month, so two weeks from today, till I take my next comparison photos. I don't want to get so obessed with it that I can't see the differences.

The Beginningish...

So I am on a never ending back and forth journey of trying to get in shape/being a couch potato. I've tried blogging to keep my self accountable, but it always seems to fizzle out after 10 or so days.... I know I'm a wimp and a quitter. BUT this time I took a different approach and have been working out for about a month and a half and I am still at it :-) I'm pretty proud of myself for that so I decided to take the next step and start documenting my journey.

I either lost my mind or drank too much coffee on Friday, because I signed up for my first 5k, 10k, and half marathon!!! I swore I would never be a person that would get into half marathon, but what can I say I was feeling motivated... then I hit the treadmill yesterday and realized that I was probably going to die. Eek! My first 5k is going to be in 3 weeks on April 6th, weather pending, I live in Wyoming so as long as it's not snowing, raining, or the wind isn't blowing a thousand miles an hour I'll be there. So basically I'm asking for a miracle. Right now I'm running 2.60-2.65 miles in 25 minutes so I still have some distance to build, but I think (hope) I can do it! I'd be lying if I didn't say I was nervous and worried that I'm not giving myself enough time. Did I mention I haven't ran outside yet? Yep, minor details right? Once again, EEK! I wanted to try and get a run in outside this weekend to see where I was at since running outside and on the treadmill are supposed to be totally different, but mother nature is not cooperating, so I'm hoping on Wednesday I will be able to give it a try. Even if I don't run in the 5k in 3 weeks I'm still pretty dang proud of myself I don't think I have EVER in my ENTIRE life ran for 25 straight minutes or for more than a mile. I know how freaking embarrassing huh? I always played sports growing up, but I never had to run long distances. A mile was always as far as we had to go. So I'm still pretty happy with myself on how far I have come. When I first started I would run a minute walk a minute for 30 minutes, so I really feel like I have come a long ways. I certainly have a LOOOOOOONG way to go (10.45 miles to be exact) but I'm feeling confident I can do it!

 I'm giving myself 23 weeks to make it happen. I have 3 weeks to keep doing my own thing and building a base, I need to be able to consistently run 3 miles (better be able to since the 5k is in 3 weeks!) and be running about 12 miles a week. If I am at that point then I will start my 20 week half marathon program. Right now I am planning on running the heart and sole half marathon in Boulder, CO on August 25th. It's close, it has water stations every mile, porta potties, is mostly flat, and a first aid cart so I figured that is just about everything a beginner needs in a race. The only thing that I don't like is that it is on a Sunday :-( But I figure it will be a good way to end the summer. If I'm not feeling confident in my running in 3 weeks and don't feel like I have a solid enough base there is a half marathon in my home town of Jackson, Wyoming a month later on September 22nd. While it is beautiful and it would be fun to run my first in my home town I am worried it would end up snowing and it would be a miserable experience, or I would not do it and all my hard work would be for nothing. So I'm REALLY hoping that I can be ready to start my training program in 3 weeks. Ideally I would like to run both :-) I'm not sure if it's a bad idea to run 2 halfs within a month of each other, but in my training program I run two 12 mile runs two weeks in a row so it seems like it should be ok. So this is the beginning of my crazy journey that I am crossing my fingers, and mostly just winging it on. I am brand new to all of this and need all the help and advice I can get so please feel free to help a sister out!!!