Lies, Damn Lies, No 4

Well Carla has done it again.  I read her post this morning on how she endeavors to instill confidence in her daughter and she asked for comments, saying "what do you believe is one thing adults can do to help preserve girls’ self-esteem?"

I've been meaning to write a blog post.  My last post isn't what I really want on my home page.  This new post was going to be about some small changes I've implemented in my routine recently.  I've also been noodling on a post about 2016 goals (what with the new year looming, who isn't?)

So clearly it was time for a new post.  My attempt at a short comment in response to Carla's question, turned into THIS:

I once tried out for little league baseball.  My brothers were both super athletic and loved it, and one summer I thought maybe I'd give it a shot.  At tryouts (I didn't know then but I do now... there's no being "cut" from the team, you just get put in different leagues or on different teams based on your ability.)(As an adult, I have the language for this - it wasn't "tryouts"; it was a "skills assessment".)

But anyway, at tryouts, the first exercise was fielding the ball.  Kids lined up and one at a time, you went onto the field and some adult (a "coach"? was this The Coach?) hit 10 balls in your general direction for you to catch.  I was terrified of being hit in the face and didn't catch anything that came at me in the air.  Not the pop-ups, sure as hell not the line drive.  I think I actually just squeezed my eyes shut and held out my glove.  Balls 10; CPAGrrrl zero.

Next, he hit 10 ground balls in my general direction.  This I thought I had a chance at.
But I missed all of them.
Every.  Single.  One.
All.  TEN.

• They went around me, 
• They came at me faster than I expected, 
• They went straight between my legs while I flailed with that glove in one hand and reached with my other, bare, hand in desperation.  

I failed.  

Like, really, REALLY failed.  

And in front of our entire neighborhood.

In front of my father and both my brothers. 

The whole process probably took less than 5 minutes but it seemed to go on for hours.  I don't think I'd ever been THAT bad at ANYthing before. I was beyond embarrassed.  More than that - I had a great vocabulary - I could list TEN different words for how I felt.

I was mortified.

I was crushed.

I was humiliated.

I was ashamed.

I tried to hold my head up as I got back in line for the next round, our turn to hit.  The kid in front of me - I can't recall his name but I knew him from the neighborhood (and we were not friends) - he said something, berating me for not even being able to pick up a ground ball.

That was it.  I burst into tears as my father walked up.  I imagine he was saying something cheerful and encouraging.  I also imagine he had no idea what to do with a crying potential-ballplayer.  I imagine how confounded he must have felt.  (Basing this primarily on my own utter confusion any time someone begins crying in a situation where it's the last thing I'd expect.)  I don't know if he asked me if I wanted to leave, or if I said I wanted to or what.  But that's what happened next; I went home.  Baseball tryouts:  OVER.

I've learned to enjoy watching baseball.  But I've never been part of a team sport.  I was on a youth football cheer squad.  But my mom was the coach.  I'm not sure I ever really gave myself credit for that.  (Perhaps I should have.  Perhaps I should still. Perhaps I should.)  In high school, I started tryouts for the volleyball team, but quit before the first cut.  I have never joined in a company softball game.  The physical activities I participate in now are all individual - running, walking, biking, swimming.  I rarely even join a class at my gym.  This stuff isn't "my dad's fault."  Hell, I wouldn't say any of this stuff is even a negative outcome.  But I believe this stuff was influenced by the outcome of that day.  I wish my future choices had been influenced by a moment where I stayed in that line, even though I didn't want to.  I might have found out I was better at hitting the ball.

CPAGrrrl Cheerleader

Maybe I wouldn't have learned to be better at going after a literal ground ball.  Maybe I am simply Not Good At That.  But maybe I would have learned sooner how to go after a metaphorical one.  My father accidentally taught me that day, that it was OK to quit when something was a physical challenge.  And I believe NOW, that was a lesson I would have been better off without.  

I learned at an early age that my brain was a powerful tool muscle, that there are very few academic challenges I can't overcome with some effort.  And those lessons have stuck with me and gotten me through countless struggles.

I learned early to value what my MIND was capable of.

• Sometimes you need more time, 
• Sometimes you need to ask the right person for help, 
• but sooner or later, 
• ALL problems have an appropriate solution.  (correct? maybe, sometimes there are more than one of those) (and sometimes there are none.)

This GRRRL ENJOYED using her brain for fun and learning.

At the same time, I have walked away from countless physical challenges, saying:

• "I'd never be able to do that." (says fucking who?) 
• "I have no upper-body strength." (True, but why was that viewed as a permanent condition?) 
• "I am not very coordinated." (I imagine that can be remedied or at least improved upon with some practice.) 
• "I fall down a lot." (OK frankly that's just truth.  I fell down LAST Friday and was limping for 2 days.)

This GRRRL knew the value of long hours practicing, working to learn a new skill.

I think the concept I'm after here is "GRIT."[Thank you, Wikipedia.]  GRIT [thank you, amazing Ted Talk.] can be taught, and I eventually found it in my own way.  I just didn't have it yet, not when it came to "sports-y" things.  I believe GRIT to be the most important thing I can teach my child, the most important thing I learned from my parents, from my upbringing.

It took GRIT to keep going back to school after every obstacle that interrupted forward progress.  I was never ashamed that it took 12 years to finish that degree.  I worked my ass off EVERY MINUTE of those 12 years.

There are moments as a parent when you blow it.  Sometimes you KNOW you blew it - that time you snapped at your son for something small but really it was because your boss made you feel like shit at work that day and you hadn't had a chance to decompress before picking up the kids from school - you know you blew it that minute.  You do what you do - maybe apologize, maybe not, maybe you try to make up for it some way, definitely you try not to DO that again... (Parental GRIT in action.)

But sometimes - and as a parent these are the things that scare the crap out of me - sometimes you don't know you blew it.  My father blew it that day.  I'm sure he didn't realize it.  Certainly at the time, I had no idea anyone besides me was blowing it.  And it's not that he did anything wrong.  But looking back with the clarity of a 40-year-old woman who wishes she'd had more appreciation for what her BODY was capable of, as well as her MIND, I sure wish he'd found a way to make sure I stayed to the end of tryouts.

LIES I TELL MYSELF

(and proof they're not real)

No. 4

"I CAN'T DO [this thing]"

LIE.

Here's the truth:

I don't know how to do [that thing]. 

Tomorrow is the Day

I'm about as ready as I'm going to get for tomorrow's half marathon.  I don't feel ready at all.  My feet hurt after 4 miles every time I run, and I haven't trained on any real Long Runs leading up to this, but ... My stuff is packed for before / after the race, I have my bib, I've rested (no running since Wednesday), and hydrated, and I'm heading to bed EARLY out of respect for my 4:20am alarm.

We had some excitement today:  my husband fell at work and hurt his back - he's FINE but it required a trip to prompt care and some serious pain meds.  He'll be home from work for at least a few days. Tonight as I was packing for the race, he looked at me and said, "I think you'll do it.  I think you'll finish the whole thing.  You're pretty badass, and you'll walk when you need to and take care of yourself, but I believe in you."  Is he not the greatest???  I love him so much.  He was so supportive through all the training runs last summer, and at my first half.  He's been my biggest fan in everything I do, ever since we met.

I don't know what will transpire tomorrow.  I'll be careful not to injure myself.  But I will give it ALL I'VE GOT.  I will leave it all on the road.  This is going to be a far different run from the Inaugural Ventura Marathon, that's for sure!!

Whatever happens, shit-show or no... I'll keep you posted.

Wish me luck.

OMG but it's SO Cold!

Okay, this will be quick because I have to head out very shortly.  This is another Accountability Post.  I am set to participate in tonight's group run with the RTW clan.  It's freezing outside.  Like FREEZING, you're-definitely-going-to-get-frostbite-if-you-go-running-tonight FREEZING outside.

Wind chills are below zero!  This is worse than last night!

To combat what I knew would be a powerful urge to bail on tonight's run, I hit up Target and TJ Maxx during lunch today and picked up some new cold-weather pants and tops.  I've got at least three layers available for wearing.  Guess I'll let you know how it goes.  This is gonna be brutal!  They group leaders are saying "we're only running 3 miles" - but man, I'm S   L   O   W   !  3 miles takes about 40 minutes for me on a regular (non-race) night, and that's without any breaks.

Strategy:  Ok, calm down, Chris.  You need a plan.

I'll plan to run a slow pace, slow enough that I don't have to walk.  That's the key.  Keep moving, so I get the benefit of warm muscles, but slow enough that I don't burn out and have to stop.

OK there's the plan.  I'll check back with you later.  In homage to my previous post about making decisions and taking control of the process:

"I am doing this.  I CAN do it, I WILL do it.  And I will enjoy it in appreciation of what my body can do now, that it couldn't do before."

If You're Looking for Inspiration, You've Found the Wrong Blog Today

Did you ever have one of those days where you get up, shower, get dressed, put on your makeup, start blow-drying your hair, and then realize you hadn't rinsed your hair after putting in the conditioner?  Then you go to work, telling yourself, "I'm DEEP-CONDITIONING today," and forget your phone?

Yeah, that's how my whole month is going.

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, but I'm having a rough go of it recently.  I'm tired, all I do is work, and I haven't been able to go for a run in two weeks because I'm working 12-hour days.  I just keep telling myself to hang in there, these things will work themselves out eventually, all I need to do is keep at it.

Maybe by tonight I'll find that elusive "second wind" and feel more hopeful, but today I am In The Bell Jar, Man.

So yes, if you're looking for inspiration, you've come to the WRONG place today.  Sorry.  I've got no inspiration today, for myself or anyone else, but I'm trying to stay strong, focus, and just keep moving forward.  Treating Life and Work like a Really Long Training Run today.

These pictures make me feel a little better, and remind me who I am.  I'm off to work now.  

Have a great day?

How did you learn you love running?

Lately I find myself in a constant state of amazement at what my body is capable of. 

When I first started running, after every 5k race I participated in, even if I did a significant amount of walking in order to finish, I was barely able to walk the next day, let alone go out and get some more exercise.  Now, I think of 5k's like "another training run" - one I will really push myself on.  I can even go for another 3-mile run/walk the afternoon of a race, without experiencing any muscle soreness the next day.  The day after a race, I'm ready for another run, (preferably this time with my dog).

I'm reminded of this today because my Wednesday night Ride the Wave group had our first "Hill Workout" last night.  (I did take the dog - she was ecstatic - it was her second walk of the day!)  I was expecting we would pick a big hill and then run up and down it a bunch of times, but I was mistaken.  We ran as a group, 4 1/2 miles in a figure-eight loop on the streets of a hilly neighborhood.  It wasn't as grueling as what I expected, but it was certainly a really tough workout.  We earned it last night.  (What did we earn?  Well, I guess that's up to each of us.)  And this morning, I marvel at how my legs aren't even sore. 

I was talking with someone during the run last night (and last week too, I think... hmmm, I must talk about this a lot.) about how slow my weight loss has been over the past 18 months.  Running helps me stay focused and committed despite the slow progress.  I focus on the running because that's where I can always see improvement. It's not always on the scale. It's not always on my ass or in the way my clothes fit. But it's right there on the clock.  If I work hard and stay consistent, it'll be there every damn week.

Shoot I think I just found myself a motto. Or at least an answer to that age-old question:

"Why do you run?"

Visit Life in the Day of a Runner and "Like" their page!

Jedi Mind Trick

After the MPZ race, I headed home knowing I still needed to walk the dog.  (Saddest dog EVER watching me leave in the morning in my running gear!)  With all the weather we've been getting lately, she's gotten a lot of "quickie" walks and I wanted to do right by my little running buddy, so I decided she deserved a good 3-mile excursion.  So basically, I went and did another 5k.  This one was MUCH slower, took it really easy, about 45 minutes and plenty of walking.  We both had a grand ole time.

Saturday night was the usual... drinks with friends and a burger basket at our local watering hole.  Woke up entirely too early on Sunday for no good reason.  Jason was awake too, so after my weigh-in...  Ah, yes, the Weigh-In!  Down 1.8 lbs this week!  This puts me at a BMI of 29.0 and less than 1 lb from my next "mini-goal."  The current goal was just 6 lbs, set on September 22 - Man, this one has been SLOW coming.  But slow loss beats steady gain EVERY damn time, right??

Anyway, after the weigh-in we decided to go out to breakfast and do some shopping.  I broke my cardinal rule & took off without doing anything with my hair or makeup... so of course we ran into my new boss at TJ Maxx!  Never, never, ever leave the house on Sunday without makeup!

Once we decided we'd had enough running around, it was time for my workout.  I drove Coty to the park & hopped on the Trail for another 3-4 miler.  My legs felt really heavy.  I really left it all on the course Saturday and my shit was t-i-r-e-d!!  But instead of calling it a tough day and walking it, I used a little trick I learned in Catch The Wave... Walk 5 minutes to warm up, then run 2 minutes.  Walk 1, run 3.  Walk 1, run 4... etc.  Just keep upping the running minutes in each round, and by the time you're up to an 8-minute running interval, you've gone 3.5 miles!  It's the old "shut up, you can run for another 4 minutes... it's only 4 more minutes!" trick!!

Yes, it's my own personal Jedi Mind Trick.

Becoming Calloused

Well with the new job I'm struggling a little with making some time for blogging but I'm still doing my thing over here.  It was a great week at work - I'm totally loving the new job.  SO glad I decided to make this change!  So... workout rundown for the week:

Monday:  pouring down rain.  Of course, it was clear but cold all day, right up until I got off work and headed home for a 3-mile run!  It started pouring down while I was getting changed into running clothes.  I actually had to talk Coty into going for a walk.  That's how bad it was.  Completely insane.  Do you have any idea what it takes to make that dog LAY DOWN when you suggest going for a walk???  So we did get in one mile... one very fast mile and got completely soaked through in under 15 minutes.  :-D

Tuesday was a long day - I had to go out of town for work, so up at 5am, on the road at 6:15am, worked 8am - 5pm at a client, then the 1 1/2-hour drive home.  No workout for me.  I call that a "rest day."

Wednesday was the first night for Ride the Wave!  I've been so excited for this, and made sure to eat "clean" all day - a really healthy lunch (one i was so pleased with, I took a picture!) and hefty afternoon snack to fuel up, and left work early so I could change clothes and be there right on time, at 5:15pm.  There was some socializing and introductions, some discussion of what the program is about, etc. and then a 2-mile assessment run. We had an opportunity to warm up with about a 1-mile jaunt to the "starting line" so I did an easy 2-minute walk / 2-minute jog to warm up on that distance.   I was hoping to run the entire 2 miles and average about a 11:30-min pace.  It was dark, so although I had my Garmin on, I didn't have much opportunity to monitor my pace, and the point is to run at a "comfortable" speed, and as I said, a speed I can maintain for the full 2-mile run.  As expected, I was one of the last to complete the assessment (compared to the 50-odd other participants, I'm definitely one of the slowest!) but I'm happy to report I came in at 22:54 - RIGHT ON PACE with my goal.  Awesome.

Full Garmin details here

Thursday was a gym day and I started with 20 minutes of interval training on the stationary bike on Level 5.  That one is still pretty tough but it may be time to consider trying Level 6.  Got in 5 miles before the timer went off. Then I did a "full-body" strength training workout - three sets each of 11 different exercises, hitting all muscle groups.  Highlights:  I bumped up my barbell curls from 20 lbs / 10 reps to 30 lbs / 6 reps.  That was tougher than I expected.  Will have to work on that.  Another new Bosu Ball Exercise:  squats on that wobbly thing!  Pretty self-explanatory, but I found a video for you anyway.   That was challenging - think I worked on balance more than glutes with those squats - but MUCH easier than the side-to-side lunges from two weeks ago!  Another new exercise:  "Fireflies" - this is awkward and I don't like to think what it looks like if you're a fellow gym-goer and have to watch me do this, but it feels good, works practically the whole body, and it's difficult!  Check out the video below.  Oh and this will be relevant later on... we had a snowstorm Thursday night.  Started around 4pm and it was fun looking out the gym windows and seeing all that snow dumping out of the sky!  (Didn't hurt that the weather kept the gym attendance low that night!!)

Friday I was a bit sore (the good kind) from the gym workout but feeling fantastic.  As always, Friday is a rest day so after work, just chilled out till Jason got home and we headed out for an evening together.  Burger baskets, beer, and oh yeah, something in the basement of the bar CAUGHT FIRE.  That pretty much cleared the joint out, but of course, we finished our beer and made sure to settle our tab before we headed home.  In all honesty, it was really more of a smolder than a fire but it's more fun to say the place was in flames, don'tcha think??  The fire department never even showed up but they located the source of the smoke and took care of it inside of maybe 20 minutes or so.  All's well that ends well - Jason had to work today anyway so we had planned to make an early night of it.

So today I planned a 3-4 mile group run.  The roads were relatively clear of all that snow but there are still patches of ice and packed snow here & there.  Well, wouldn't you know it, I found the ice!  About 4 minutes into our run, my left foot hit a bit of (what appeared to be) wet pavement (but which was in fact, wet ice) and went sliding at freaky-fast speed directly to my right.  I went sprawling.  UGH when will I learn not to fall down all the damn time?!?!?!  I landed HARD on the outside of  my left knee and the outside of my thigh, tweaked my ankle just a bit, and my face hit the curb.  (I had a nightmarish flash-forward of how I was about to lose my teeth.  Thank goodness I just hit my chin on the curb.  My teeth remain intact.)  I'm SO GLAD Meg was running with me, she encouraged me to stay still, evaluate my condition and then we walked for several minutes, tried some more running, and finished the run.  We just took care, took our time, ran some, walked some, and chatted.  Got about 3 miles in after all, just slowly - about 54 minutes (including my time on the ground).  There was a stretching demo set for after the run so I stuck around for that and gave my very unhappy leg/knee/thigh muscle some solid stretching.  Once my body began to cool off, it REALLY started to tighten up.  I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day, RICE (Meg taught me this great acronym) Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate.

So now I'm limping.  I took a bunch of Advil & I'm RICEing it.  We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  I don't think I have a serious injury.  Just some bruising and, apparently, some balance issues!

Tonight is our friend John's Big Fortieth Birthday so I'm planning to wear Extremely Un-Sensible Shoes, have dinner out, and party like a 40-year-old rock star later.  Hope my leg holds up to the abuse!  And as always, tomorrow will be another weigh-in day.  Have fun out there!

Last thought for the day:  found this on Facebook this week and I loved it.  I love the thought that "Your mind becomes calloused to effort."  We can train our minds the same way we train our bodies, and at the same time.
BTW, here is where I found it:  Not sure the source, it was on my friend's wall.

January 2013 Goals & Challenge Update

It's time for my first monthly Miles Update for 2013!
Reminder in case you weren't paying attention at the first of the year:
My official goal for 2013 is to run, walk and / or bike 500 miles as quickly as possible.
The other Challenge items for this year are:

1. Ultimate mileage goal is to run/ walk 500 miles (excluding bike miles).
2. Complete my first half marathon race.
3. 5K race time under 35 minutes.
4. 10K race time under 1 hour 10 minutes.
5. Test Mile time under 10 minutes.

"Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about." 
-PattiSue Plumer, U.S. Olympian 

I ran this month's miles for:

Ellen Bruno	4.0
Cari Landreth	5.0

Ben Willis

3.0

Joe Wolford

3.1

Peg Stark

13.1

Maryann Thomas

1.0

Cheryl Kagemann Williams

10.0

LRC Kelly McBride

15.0

LoseIt! Ashley Grace

16.0

Terry Patterson - SUB 11-min miles

3.0

ME!

3.12

Total mileage for January

76.32

For anyone who's a freak for stats & data analysis like I am, here's how it breaks down:

Any stats I forgot?? 

How about these random notes:  four runs in the snow, three trips to the lake, five group runs, one run cut short by an incredible thunderstorm, and seven gym workouts.

"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." 
-Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

So here's the thing:  I've ALREADY MET ONE OF MY 2013 GOALS.  

See that stat above that says Best Test Mile time:  9:50?  Yup, that's the one.  That's better than the 10-minute pace goal I set!  I'm pretty excited about this, but a little disappointed in my goal-setting skills.  I have seriously underestimated my ability to work on speed.  This means I need to revise my 2013 1-mile pace goal, and I need to get aggressive about it.  Or at least it should feel like I'm being aggressive about it.  I'm thinking 9:00 but open to suggestions.

And as long as I'm looking back at progress for the month, here's a graph of my weekly weigh-ins from January 1 to January 31.

The chart helps me, with the slow progress I've been seeing weight-wise over the past few months, it's nice to see that, yes, over time, the weight is coming off.  It's just s...l...o...w.

Thanks, January:  despite the RIDICULOUS weather you keep throwing at me, that was a pretty awesome start!

Just do it - really!

I found this quote earlier this week and kept reminding myself of it as the days went on:

Lowell Thomas:

"Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can."

Yeah, I did a lot of that this week.

It was an eventful week and I think I have enough material to make a couple of blog posts, so I think that's my plan for today:  write and think and hope that this process helps me to stay on track (and follow the guidance of that quote) for another week.  It's a good indicator that I should have taken some time earlier in the week to write, but what's done is done.  I have both the time and the inclination today, so here we go!

You'll recall from my last post that I really ran hard last Saturday, then had a hard run on Sunday that I just wasn't able to finish.  Monday I was still very sore and feeling worn out, plus it was absolutely FREEZING outside, so while I did walk the dog, I did it in jeans and three shirts and a parka and hiking boots.  It was just a walk, not a workout, but I made sure we did more than the standard minimum 1-mile - I got in about 2 miles and called it good.  Jason made his "famous" Chicken Fried Rice - a healthy-ish version of Chinese fare  - and I had a bit more of it than I should have.  We watched the second part of the Biggest Loser premiere and I got my 20 sit-ups and 20 push-ups done while Jillian Michaels kicked the crap out of the contestants.  I ended up about 130 calories over my daily goal of 1220.  Actually I got half of my sit-ups and push-ups done before work that morning (feeling ambitious!) and nearly forgot to do the rest, but on the show they had a guest - a really great NFL football player whose name I can't remember (boy would my husband be appalled at that, he was really impressed that they had this particular guy on, apparently he's amazing.) Anyway the football player said to the group "Get Moving!" and something just "clicked."  I got right up off the couch and got them done right then!  Thank you, Biggest Loser!

Tuesday I had my weekly running group, which meets at Meg's house at 5:30pm.  I've gotten to know Meg a little since becoming involved in the Lake Run Club in the past year, and they live near our neighborhood - about a half-mile from my house.   I was REALLY glad to have the group run to motivate me.  My body was still recovering, apparently, from Saturday's and Sunday's exercise, and if not for the planned outing, I may have just taken Coty on a short walk and spent the rest of the night on the couch.  I knew in my mind that this was exactly the right time for another run - to recondition my legs and lungs and help them get over the "hump" of this soreness - but it's hard to remember that and get it done when you're still stiff and sore.

I was running late after work, so instead of walking to Meg's, I jumped in the car with Coty and drove over.  It does seem silly to drive such a short distance, but I didn't want to miss the start-time because I don't know the route well enough to run it on my own in the dark. We ended up getting there about 10 minutes early and got to warm up and socialize a bit as the other runners arrived.  The weather had improved - temps in the low 40's which is relatively warm for January in this area, and I was excited to be running without my 4-layers on top, and in my capri bottoms rather than the bulkier options I have to wear when the temps are in the 20's.  Meg ran with me, so I definitely wasn't getting lost.  It was great having someone to chat with during the run. We got in 3.2 miles in about 41 minutes.  Not a great pace because I had to take a couple of walking breaks.  As I said, I was NOT feeling it on Tuesday!  But I was really glad to have gotten it done.  There's something to be said for sticking with your plan even when you don't feel like it.

Like the guy said, I did a little more than I thought I could.

Photo credit: SweetOnVeg via photopin cc

Decisions, decisions... and a nice surprise

I've gotten a few good runs in this week and feeling really good about that.  One great part of getting out there for a longer run is I get a big chunk of time to think (and talk to myself) (and talk to my dog).  My thoughts this week were running (no pun intended) along the lines of, "where am i with this whole dieting / weight loss thing?" and "what's next right now?" and "goal? what goal? better get on that."

I made a couple of decisions along the road.  First, gotta get through December.  Christmas cookies and holiday pies to bake, New Year's celebrations, a week of stress at work to close out the books for the year... recipe for disaster, right?  Better get used to the idea that I'll be up 3 or 4 pounds by the end of the month, right?  That way I won't feel the need to beat myself up about it.  Doesn't have to be that way.  The plan for the rest of the month is to stay right where I am:  maintain current weight for the next three weeks, then kick it into high gear in the first week of January.  Maybe not an aggressive decision, but I think it's a reasonable & attainable goal.

After setting my strategy for this month, I started wondering... what, exactly, has been happening recently.  It occurred to me I haven't been paying terribly close attention.  Mid-August through the end of October is the busiest time at work for me, lots of travelling, lots of late nights, 8pm-pizzas at the office, working till 10 or 11pm in a hotel room, very stressful.  It's a great excuse to eat way too much fast food, McDonald's for breakfast, second helpings at dinner, an extra cookie here & there... well, you get the idea.  With the travelling especially, it's difficult to get any exercise in, and so hard to eat right.

No need to wonder, of course!  I log all weigh-ins, food and exercise on my LoseIt app, and took a look at a chart of my weigh-ins over the past few months.  It turns out, I've pretty much been in Maintenance Mode since early September.  Up and down the same few pounds through all that mess at work, even through our (much-deserved) Mexico vacation and Thanksgiving, but I haven't gained or lost really over all.

[I have this great chart I exported from LoseIt, but I can't find a way to paste it in here...]

Today's weigh-in brought a welcome surprise   down 0.8 lbs... the first "real" loss since September!  Lost a "new" pound, so great news!

I said I've made a couple of decisions... well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration.  I've been thinking more and more about when I'll be ready to take on the challenge of a half-marathon.  I feel like I need to get a couple more 10k's under my belt, but the training runs for a half wouldn't be all that much longer than the training runs I did for my last 10k.  It's starting to feel... well, not "possible" yet, not "do-able", but... "not outrageous".  I'm also thinking hard about participating in a Marathon Relay - 1/4 of a marathon is right up my alley, I just need 3 people to join in the fun and train with.

So that's where I'm at right now... ready for another week of work, and hitting the road for a few more miles this week with my trusty companion.

0.2 LB this week

I was travelling and working till 11 pm-midnight each night last week. Not logging my food... Completely mentally & physically exhausted by the time I came home Friday... then worked a full 8-hour day Saturday and I'm headed in today

Suffice to say it's been a rough week. But despite not always making the very best choices - good (ish) foods but portion control was totally out the window, and FORGET about exercise, there was just no time - I managed to STAY STEADY with my weight this week!!!

That 0.2 LB loss is a BIG WIN today, I'm very happy with it.

I'm going to try to take that win and turn it into a productive day at work, and use that positive energy as leverage to make it through next week without eating a box of donuts or a gallon of ice cream!  (Just say "NO" to stress-eating.)

This post is necessarily short and sweet.