Frustrations and Sweet Victories

It was the best of days, it was the worst of days.

Today I woke up and went for a run outside. I needed to go for 3 miles, and only made it 1.46 before I crapped out. And I needed to go 30 minutes and I only lasted 20.

I got to my car and drove home and by the time I got home, I had forgotten why I quit in the first place. I still, even 12 hours later, haven't a clue why I quit. I'm sure I was out of breath. Maybe that's why?

At any rate, I've come to the conclusion that it's a head game issue. I am fully capable of running a 5K, but my head is telling me that I can't, so I quit.

How does one get over that? How do you get over that? I'm willing to take any suggestions at this point!

So, that's my current frustration.

My sweet victory is this: I put on my jeans yesterday and noticed I could slip them off without unbuttoning the button or unzipping the zipper. This, combined with TV ads from Old Navy subliminally suggested to me that I may be in need of smaller jeans.

So I trekked out the mall. I tried to find the next smaller size of jeans, but couldn't. Well, I found the size I was looking for, but the leg length I need didn't seem to exist unless I wanted to buy skinny  or stone-washed jeans (I'm short, so I was looking for the shortest pair possible--which are still too long for me, but that's besides the point). Now, I'm not sure if the 80s trend of stone-washed jeans are coming back into style, but I'm still considered thick, and there's no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that I'm going to wear unflattering stone-washed jeans. And the same goes for skinny jeans, if you ask me. Sure, they hug your butt so that looks good, but who wants to see my humongous thighs in the tightest jeans possible?

At any rate, after asking for some help, the sales ladies were able to find me 2 pairs of jeans in my size that were short. I went to the dressing room and they fit!

And if you're like, "well, big whoppdiedoo..." lemme drop some knowledge on you. This size of jeans that I successfully put on comfortably is a size of jeans I haven't fit into since SIXTH. GRADE.

I remember when I finally got out of wearing kids clothes, I was immediately a size 12. First day of 6th grade, I was wearing a size 12 pair of koolats (yeah, don't ask me what I was thinking--I truly don't know).

So, I may not have been able to run a full 3 miles today, but I've gotta say, I'm pretty dang proud of myself for working hard enough to get into these jeans.

Now it's time for me to boldly go where I have never gone before. =)

Meg

It's been a (long) while...

It's been over 5 months since my last blog post. I should probably get better at this.

So much to say! I don't remember much of March or April, or most of May for that matter--So I'll skip to Memorial Day weekend and catch you up from there.

Memorial Day weekend, I went to Ireland. Long story short, my folks live in Dublin (no, they're not originally from there and no, they do not plan to live overseas for their remaining years), so I went to visit them. We didn't do a ton of walking, but did our fair share, touring Powerscourt and Glendalough.

The one thing that I was most excited about when touring Powerscourt was that I was able to walk circles around my dad. I'm not sure if that's because he's another year older, or because I've become fit enough to the point that I can now not only keep up with him--where once my parents used to have to drag me along to do things--and now have to drag them along to places.

I was in Dublin for 4 days and then my mom and I packed up and headed for Prague, Czech Republic. It was absolutely AMAZING. I cannot wait to go back. If/when I go back, I'd definitely go with a significant other tho. Don't get me wrong, it was nice going with my mom...but it's definitely a city of lovers. Anyway, we walked. And we walked. And we walked. Our hotel was on the outskirts of old town and 3 of the 5 days we walked all the way to the presidential palace and back. Probably 2 miles each way and the palace is on a significantly higher elevation.

We returned to dublin for a couple more days and then I flew back to the states.

I pretty much gorged while I was in Dublin. I'd eat a huge breakfast in Prague, but then mom and I would normally wait to eat again until dinner. So despite having a glass of wine or guinness with nearly every meal, I LOST 10 POUNDS!

I've managed to keep the 10 pounds off. But I haven't lost any more weight since.

In July, my personal trainer was promoted and as part of the promotion was given her own gym to manage....35 miles away. So, I had to find a new trainer. My new trainer is TERRIFIC. Seriously. We did benchmark testing and in the first month, despite not losing any weight, I lost 2.5lbs of fat and gained 1.5lbs of muscle. My resting heart rate went from 160 to 108 after a 3 minute step test. My sit-ups are off the charts. Push ups are still needing work, but I'm working on it.

Oh, and I'm training for a 5k that's in 2 weeks. Yeah. Me. Doing a 5k. Never EVER thought that that could happen. I'd always wanted it to, but never thought it was a possibility. I've gone from barely being able to do a 16 minute mile to doing an 11 minute mile. Today I ran outside for the first time. While it wasn't a PR, and I need to figure out a better pace for myself, I'm completely proud of myself for overcoming the fear of jogging outside and in front of people.

Let's see...what else? Still not drinking soda of any kind. 7 months and still going strong. :)

My next goal is to run the 5k. And to lose 20-40lbs by Christmas. It's totally do-able. I just need to buckle down and do it!

What are ya'lls health goals to finish up by the new year? What are you going to do to get there?

Meg