6396 Km

My life in running...To date, from May 2007 to March 2014, I have run 6396 kilometres, give or take... 

My revised marathon plan

Did nothing last week, from March 9th to March 16th.  So I rewrote my plan. 

I'm already off to a good start.  I ran yesterday, so it's there in purple!

I think the copy of this plan I print off for myself will maybe have one more space for my strength & stretching workouts!

Weigh in

Surprisingly, it's not as bad as I feared.  160.7 lbs - I went up, but not by some huge amount.  1.3 lbs up isn't unbearable, and I can work hard to make it go away.

Day 22 - Damn you cookies! And chips!

Food
All foods - calories
sour cream & onion chips - 4 small bowls
peach 5Alive with a bit of water - 2.5 glasses
banana
mom's homemade chocolate chip pecan cookies - maybe 8?
greener selection salad
baby spinach
Extra Virgin Olive Oil Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette salad dressing
my homemade macaroni & cheese casserole* - 3.5 medium sized bowls

Water
2 cups during the day
2 cups before bed

Sleep
-approx. 7.5 hours -estimate 5:15am to 11:45am

Activity
-woke late -lazy

Emotions & Mental State
-still meh

Health
-fine

Summary
-started off eating shitty & ended the same with a brief interlude in the middle

*mac & cheese ingredients = 1 box of whole wheat macaroni, 1 pkg kraft double cheddar, milk, a tbsp butter, a shake of cayenne pepper, a shake of black pepper & salt to taste

 

Sabotage!

My mom is a saboteur.  I wonder if she knows it.

How come my mom tends to bake a lot more things I like when I'm trying to reduce my consumption of sweet things?  Yesterday, we received a large tin of chocolate chip pecan cookies & some mint chocolate chip cupcakes.  Admittedly, I did say, "If you have a few chocolate chip cookies to spare..." when I talked to her on the phone & learned she was baking.  She didn't have to listen to me - if I really want something, usually she doesn't listen...

I'm a saboteur too.  I'm so weak.  I'm guessing I ate at least 8 cookies today.  That wouldn't be so much of a problem if I hadn't also consumed sour cream & onion potato chips and a few fuzzy peach candies today too.

At least I had a large salad, and inadvertently made double portions.  It was a combo of the "Greener Selection" bagged salad & some baby spinach with Aged Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinagrette dressing.  Shane didn't eat his salad, so mine is already for tomorrow.

I have to break these sweet & salty & crunchy & savoury tooth habits I've built up & relied upon for so long.  It's not good for me, and it's not good for Jeremy either.  Thank goodness he at least loves some vegetables...

Crunch Time Challenge

Today our final (?) challenge was handed down.  Here is the post about it...

It's CRUNCH time

and this isn't a ab workout

We have three full weeks left before final weigh in.

If you answer yes to any of these questions I want you to reflect on why and try and change it:

*are you still snacking on sugar treats and salty processed stuff?
*did you start with full force and drop back down to almost nothing with exercise & activity?
*are you weighing yourself obsessively and can't figure out why you fluctuate?
*have your portions sizes gone back up again?
*did you promise to give up or severely moderate a vice (chocolate/wine/chips) and now are eating them regularly again?
*is your workout schedule lighter than a senior's walking club and you haven't injured yourself or have a valid medical reason for it?
*did the negative self-talk that you were supposed to let go in January and replace with positive self-talk come back in full force?
*is your vegetable consumption gone from awesome at the beginning of the challenge to your plate is completely colourless?

Let's talk.  I think we could all lose 2 lbs per weigh in - 6 lbs each minimum before the final.  We need to focus, commit, and be honest and happy with the journey.

Mr. T challenge helped Jul become the biggest loser - I suggest you do this.  Even if you just add the exercises to your schedule 3-4 times a week.

Plank challenge - lets plank some more the next three weeks - at least 3 days per week.  30 sec planks x3 each work out, and each side plank for as long as you can hold x3 each workout. - less than 5 minutes.  No excuses.

GIVE UP YOUR VICE 90-100% OF THE TIME BETWEEN NOW AND END OF CHALLENGE.  So one glass of wine or a piece of chocolate or a small portion of chips the day of weigh in (obviously after you step on the scale).  Continue with your 'cheat' meal if that is working for you.

Make you plate colourful!!  I want to see colourful food pictures in this section from everyone - let's all be accountable!

Add your suggestions too with what has worked for you in this challenge - push out the bad and bring in the good!

Here is the Mr. T challenge post...

I pity the beautiful fool who won't try this amazing challenge...

Complete the following this week (start whenever and do for 7 days straight) for an amazing prize - it's a surprise and all you have to do is complete it to get a prize!

*EACH DAY, COMPLETE 30 SQUATS
*EACH DAY, COMPLETE 20 LUNGES EACH SIDE
*EACH DAY, COMPLETE 20 SIDE OBLIQUE CRUNCHES
*EACH DAY, COMPLETE 10 WALL PUSHUPS
*EAT 75% QUALITY FOOD - THAT MEANS FOR EVERY 10 THINGS THAT GO INTO YOUR MOUTH, 8 NEED TO BE QUALITY PROTEINS, VEGGIES, NUTS/WATER

I want you to post in here a log.  Quote this post and complete below.  Mark each day complete.  If you need modifications on any of the exercises - ask - I will give them to you.  There are many variations on these so there will be one that you can do!

Day 1 -
Day 2 -
Day 3 -
Day 4 -
Day 5 -
Day 6 -
Day 7 -

I actually did do the Mr. T challenge once so far, last week.  Maybe on Tuesday?

As for the other challenge, let's see what the answers are...

If you answer yes to any of these questions I want you to reflect on why and try and change it:

*are you still snacking on sugar treats and salty processed stuff?  Yes.  Why?  Because I have a problem - 1/3 addiction, 1/3 coping with stress & 1/3 reward.
*did you start with full force and drop back down to almost nothing with exercise & activity? No.  I didn't start off full force, nor have I changed my activity level much.
*are you weighing yourself obsessively and can't figure out why you fluctuate? No.  I only check a couple of times on weigh in day, if I happen to go to the bathroom a lot, or go for a run.
*have your portions sizes gone back up again? No, they are mostly going down I think.
*did you promise to give up or severely moderate a vice (chocolate/wine/chips) and now are eating them regularly again? No I did not.  I thought about it, but didn't want to set myself up for failure.
*is your workout schedule lighter than a senior's walking club and you haven't injured yourself or have a valid medical reason for it?
No, it is not. 
*did the negative self-talk that you were supposed to let go in January and replace with positive self-talk come back in full force? Don't engage in that nonsense, (not much), so no change there.
*is your vegetable consumption gone from awesome at the beginning of the challenge to your plate is completely colourless? No.

Weigh & measure

I weighed myself on Friday - 160.3 lbs.  Ugh!

I took my measurements today.

Neck = 12 (-0.5 inches from February 7th)
Chest = 40 (same)
Waist = 37.5 (same)
Hips = 42 (-2 inches)
Thigh = 26 (-0.5 inches)
Arm = 13 (+0.5 inches)

I also had trouble sleeping last night, so I slept in late, so missed my chance for an am run.  I'll make it up tomorrow. 

Gotta go. We were due at the inlaws house 35 minutes ago I think...

Day 21 - inconsistent has been my middle name

Food
Midnight Snack -  calories
whole grain goldfish crackers
banana
two fig newtons

Late Breakfast/Lunch -  calories
1 "square" of orange creme dark chocolate bar
french fries
4 chicken nuggets

Snack - >  calories
Lays Wavy Chips
green & purple grapes
strawberries
pineapple chunks
coke - 1 glass

Dinner -  calories
Swiss Chalet 1/4 chicken leg, some skin (dark meat)
fries - 3/4 to 1 box?
carrots
corn
whole grain bun, buttered
coke - 1/2 glass

Dessert - calories
birthday cake - small slice
1 scoop of neapolitain ice cream

Snack - calories
strawberries
pineapple

Bedtime snack - calories (so bleeping hungry!)
? potato chips

Water
-1 cup in the car
-4 cups before bed

Sleep
-approx. 7.5 hours -estimate 5:15am to 11:45am

Activity
-skipped everything -to bed very late -woke very late -so lazy

Emotions & Mental State
-meh

Health
-slight headache in the morning

Summary
-had a feast of fruit in the afternoon, and some veggies too with dinner

My marathon plan - part 2 (cross-post from Ready to Run)

Here's my plan.

Long run distances = differ from Ottawa plan to a maximum of 26K*
Mid-week steady run = 8K to 10K
Hills/Speed Work = one week behind marathon clinic
Extra run one = tempo or fartlek (something that works toward me being faster in there)
Extra run two = whatever the hell I feel like (or see chart below for suggestions...)

My marathon plan (Cross-post from Ready to Run)

Since last Sunday's Chilly half sucked donkey balls, I need to protect myself...

I will follow along with the marathon clinic until it ends.  My end goal will be different from theirs.  Some of my clinic are working towards the full in Mississauga or Toronto.  Some are aiming for Ottawa.  I have been keeping up with the Ottawa group until now.  They are working up to 32k before race day, with an extra 10 kilometres of surprise in Ottawa.  I'm working towards 26K, until this marathon clinic ends.

I'm somewhat flexible in that, if my training is going well, I may jump up a bit.  Ultimately, I want to train above 32K, maybe as high as 37K.  10K is not nothing, as I saw in Burlington.  10K extra, when you are mentally (and/or) physically DONE is a nightmare.  True, you can survive nightmares.  After a time, you can even feel proud you survived a nightmare.  If you can avoid having nightmares though, sign me UP!

I'm not a fan of surprises.  I like knowing what lies ahead as much as possible.  Some damn hard work - I know this.  Keeping myself away from nightmare territory allows me to do what I can do.  Sunshine & lollipops, as much as possible please.  When I'm happy, I feel strong.  When I feel strong, I challenge myself.  I know it's not possible every run, every time to feel grrreat!  (not a typo).  On those slog-of-a-bitch run days, feeling it can be better, it will get better sustains me.

I came to this realization, that fast-tracking my marathon training to be ready for the Goofy wasn't just a little crazy, even though I did it - it sort of killed my love of running.  My love affair with the road had been dying, as the distance from my first marathon clinic grew.  There was a resurgence of sorts, as I realized I could run alone.  I grew confident.  I did the work.  But I don't think I loved it as much as I had.  I liked it fine.  I needed it.  You know that whole "fake it til you make it" thing?  I professed my love of running to various clinics I taught.  Maybe I was really telling myself that for a while, hoping I believed it.

Anyhow, I want to fall in love with running all over again.  I want the marathon to do that for me the same way the half first did.

Here's my plan.

Long run distances = differ from Ottawa plan to a maximum of 26K*
Mid-week steady run = 8K to 10K
Hills/Speed Work = one week behind marathon clinic
Extra run one = tempo or fartlek (something that works toward me being faster in there)
Extra run two = whatever the hell I feel like

(to be continued after my run!)