lola's adventure:from couch to 1/2 marathon!!!

[toystoryduo]

Good luck on your 10 miler today, Lola!

 

[lolakat]

Thank you all for the good luck wishes! I think they help a lot.

I got my LR in yesterday but ended up doing it on the tredmill b/c DD is sick and I couldn't get out of the house for long enough. My training plan called for a 10 mile run. My NikePlus and my tredmill never agree on distance and I'm not sure which is the most accurate one so I deceided to do 10miles per the tredmill which was just over 11 miles per my NikePlus. The pace was 11:30 per the NikePlus but would be somewhere in the 13min range if I calculated it per the tredmill. Honestly it doesn't matter much to me so long as I'm getting the distance in. Although my training plan had called for 10 miles as the last and longest LR my plan will be to do 12 miles by the NikePlus next weekend. (Thank you for the advice Linda) before starting a 2 week taper into the 1/2 marathon.

Food this weekend has been pretty good considering I had 2 holiday events to attend:

Friday:
B: Sandwich thin with peanutbutter
S: SF/FF Cappuccino
L: LC Sweedish meatball
S: Apple
D: (A dinner for an applicant) I had 2 pieces of cheese/cracker, 1 glass of wine, some salad with balsamic dressing, a piece of salmon and about 1/2 cup of pasta salad. Had a tiny piece of carrot cake for dessert


Saturday:
B:
L: 8 grilled shrimp and hummus with a piece of pitta bread
D: (DH Office Chrismas Dinner) a couple pieces of brushetta and a garlic knot, half a filet minon with 2 spoon fulls mashed potatos, A cannolli (meant to eat half but... well ate the whole thing), 1 glass of wine and 2 cocktails

 

[lolakat]

No exercise yesterday just hitting the books all day. Big test is tomorrow so I will likely put off my run tonight and do it tomorrow evening after the test. I might try to weigh in at WW tonight since I won't have time to do it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going so I can officially "erase" my thanksgiving gain.

Food yesterday:
B: 2 eggs over easy with 2 slices of wheat toast
L: tried to eat a LC sweedish meatball but I scorched it and ended up throwing most of it out
D: Rotissere chicken breast and green beans
S: SC ice cream sandwich

 

[rubato]

You are doing great on your eating. Good job!!!

It must get frustrating having no real idea how far or fast you are going. That would drive a control freak like me crazy! I agree that you should go for that 12 mile run. I think it's best to be as prepared as you can be.

 

[lolakat]

Did my normal Monday night run last night instead as I was too busy studying on Monday. Did 45 min at a 10:33 pace. I think I've pulled something in my left groin. It botered me for the first time about 3 weeks ago on a long run but wasn't really a big deal. last night it really bothered me and it still feels sore today. I've been stretching it and using ice. I'm thinking about skipping my Thursday run to rest it a little before this weekend's long run. It deffinetly feels worse when I try to push the speed up so from now to the half I'm just going to do very slow (even for me) runs. I don't want an injury to get in my way at this point. My only goal is to finish anyway so who really cares about speed.

I couldn't make it to WW over the last couple of days so hopefully I can weigh in tonight if I can get out of work in time.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
L: 6 inch subway turkey sandwich (no cheese) with veggies
D: tilapia and brocolli
S: SC ice cream sandwich.

 

[lolakat]

No run yesterday. Today is supposed to be a 45 min run. I'm debating skipping it to rest my right groin strain vs. doing a very very slow run/walk. I'm leaning toward doing something but stopping if I feel any kind of pull/strain. I'm still planing to do a 12 mile long run on Saturday and I think it's more important to rest up for that than to do much today.

I weighed in at WW last night and I was down 5 lbs.
Current weight: 187.8
Starting weight: 244
Net loss: 56.2 lbs

So I have 2.8 lbs to go to reach my pre-half marathon goal of 185 lbs. It should be doable but I have so many parties and Christmas between then and now it may be tough. My will power has been touch and go so we will see what happens.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: Apple
L: LC sweedish meatballs
S: SF/FF Capuccino
D: I had to go to a reception and I over did it a little. Had a steak and some mashed potatoes plus ate two bigish cookies for dessert. Oh well.

 

[VernRDH]

Lola you have been doing a great job!! Take some time to rest that groin before trying the 12 mile run. Better to skip a few short ones and heal then try and have to bail on your long run.

I hear ya on the parties/cookies etc. I have to bake a cake for work tonight. Then this weekend I am baking all my cookies-some for cookie exchange at DH's job, some to mail to friends in CA and TX, some for our family and some for Christmas at my brothers. Saturday night is my part time jobs Christmas party. Tuesday is our office lunch at my full time job. Then this week I am making 3 more cakes (2 for my brothers, one for our friends house the day after Christmas). Hopefully I will be sick of cake by then! Once that's done, no more for me. Back to only good, healthy eating.

 

[lolakat]

Thanks Vern!

I did skip my Thrusday run to try and rest the groin pull. Today I did my longest LR before I start my 2 week taper to the race. I was planing on doing 12 miles but I ended up doing the full 13.1. My pace was 11:38. My groin was still a problem but I was able to finish which makes me feel more confident about the real thing. I will just try to take it easy until the 8th.

Food has been hit or miss over the last few days. The holiday junk food is everywhere and I am not doing that great at avoiding it. I'm back on service which means a lot of delayed or skipped meals and noshing on graham crackers. Hopefully the weight will a least hold steady this week but I won't be too suprised if I gain a pound or two.

Food Thursday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Capuccino and a bunch of graham crackers
L: Chicken salad with some type of creamy looking dressing on it and 1/2 a slice of cheese cake
D: pork chop and asparagus
S: SC ice cream sandwich

Food Friday:
B: sandwich thin and peanut butter
S: SF/FF Cappuciino a bunch of graham crackers
L: LC Chicken carbonara
D: a bunch of puff pastry appitizers at our dept. Christmas party, some chocolate moose and 1/2 a slice of key lime pie

My resolution for next week is NO MORE GRAHAM CRACKERS!!

 

[lolakat]

Boy am I sore from yesterday's long run. My groin is a little sore but my MTP joints on both feet are very sore. Tonight will be ice and NSAIDs. We will see how I feel by tomorrow night before I do my regular mid-week run.

Food yesterday:
B: sandwich thin with peanut butter
S: SF/FF Capucino
L: Apple
S: SF/FF Capucino
D: grilled shrimp and ceaser salad

Food today just ok I got stuck in the unit so no lunch which led to more stupid graham cracker eatting. I expect I will stay the same this week at weigh in or maybe even up a pound. This month has been tough on the diet but hopefully January will bring less tempting treats.

 

[momof2minnies]

Lola great job on the run- I hope the groin continues to improve.I hear you about the graham crackers.I am a nurse and used to work 12 hr shifts and if it wasn't for graham crackers and pudding we would have starved.Shoving them down on a fly by the unit kitchen on the floor in the hospital- crazy!

A little more than 2 weeks to go!


Linda

 

[rubato]

Good job with that long run! I wish I had done 12 or 13 before my half. I had only done 10, and when I hit mile 11 or so, I hit the wall hard. It's always good to know you've already run the distance. Great job!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Great job on your long run! Hope you're feeling better today!

 

[toystoryduo]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Lola!

 

[lolakat]

Thank you all for stopping by and for your encouragement !!

It has been a crazy week here. Running has been complicated because I broke my tredmill during Monday night's run. The acutal frame broke which is nuts. I guess my elephant feet were finally too much for it. It is bad timing since I'm working for the next couple of weeks and that makes it hard to get out to run outside during the day or get to the store to check out new tredmills. Plus it is a tough time of year to lay out 1k or more for a new one. At least I made it 36 min into my Monday run before it broke. I couldn't get out to do my Thursday run yesterday but I did make it out this afternoon and did about 4.5 miles in 46 min. I'm supposed to do a 8 mile long run (it's the start of my taper) this weekend which will be a little tricky since I'm working and won't be able to go home and run at night. I'm sure I'll get it in some how.

Eatting has been just horrible. Cookies Cookies every where. I did weigh in on Tuesday and lost 1.2 lbs. I'm not sure how I managed to lose with all the junk I've been eatting. I guess the running around at work helps. I'm pretty sure this week will be a gain.

Current weight (as of Tuesday) 186.6
Starting weight: 244
Net loss: 57.4 lbs

I will hopefully be heading home soon. Hopefully the pagers will be quiet tonight. Merry Christmas Everybody!!

 

[eyor44]

Merry Christmas to you Lola! I am going to have to come back later to catch with you. I just wanted to pop in and tell that I have been thinking of you and praying that your training is going well.

 

[eyor44]

Lola, you have been doing awesome. You are going to rock at the 1/2.
Even if you can only get in short walks/runs between now and then, you are going with the knowledge that you can do the distance.

Last year, I ignored the advice of only doing 10 miles leading up to it. I had to know that I could do the entire thing so I set my schedule to do 14 miles two weeks before. So the Thursday 10 days before the 1/2 I did 14 miles. and then 4-6 miles three times the week in between. I made the entire 1/2 without stopping and was ready to go back out that evening with no ill effects from the race.

When do you arrive and where are you staying? Do you know about the WISH meet at Pop on Friday?

 

[toystoryduo]

Sorry to hear about the treadmill. I hope the weather and your work schedule cooperate so you can get the miles in that you want to before the 1/2. You are going to do such a great job!!!!

Hope you have a nice day!

 

[eyor44]

Just checking in with you. How's it going?
New tread mill yet? Bummer that it broke so close to the race. BUT...don't let it get to you. You have done so great with your training that you are ready. You will do fabulous.

 

[rubato]

Lola: I have elephant feet too, size 10 & 1/2 in my new running shoes. I also broke my treadmill, but it wasn't entirely my fault. It's about 10 years old and I run a lot. I actually folded my running belt in half, then, the motor died, and, finally, the control panel. I was without a treadmill all last winter and it sucked. I did learn how to love running in the cold though, so that's good.

Great job on the loss even with all the cookies! It's really hard to lose during the holiday season.

 

[lolakat]

Hi everyone. Thank you for the encouragement!

It has been a crazy two weeks. We had a "big" snow storm here in NC on Christmas day and since no one here knows how to clear snow or drive in snow I was stuck at the hospital for 62 hours straight. Spending all day/night there on Christmas was fairly depressing. I sent my DH and DD up to his family's early in the morning when it became clear the snow was coming and I would be trapped at work anyway. I was finally able to join them on the 29th. Once I finally got there it was a lovely holiday. We drove home yesterday and I'm back to work today.

Between being stuck at work, visiting family and the broken tredmill, diet and exercise have not been at their best. I did get my 8 mile LR in last weekend and one mid week run outside this week. I'll do 5 miles today and then 3 on Wednesday. I leave for Disney on Thursday. I can't believe the race is so close. I am super excited.

The diet has been pretty horrific since I've been home. I'm sure I've gained a bit.(maybe 3-5 lbs). I'll go weigh in tonight or tomorrow. I likely won't make my goal of 185 lbs for the race but I'm trying not to be too hung up on that. Right now I'm focused on getting back to healthy eatting and a regular routine. I will splurge a bit while at Disney but not too crazy.