'twas inspiring

Inspiration.  Me?  Really?    I’m humbled.  I’m near tears.  I’m honored.  I’m just trying to be me, in the healthiest and fittest fashion that is possible.  Yet numerous times recently, I’ve been humbled by someone’s words citing me as their inspiration.   I have had a gal at zumba who is larger tell me that she watches me because if I can do it, she can too.  I have had my 18 year old coworker (more on him later in this post) express his interest to run again after watching me.  Seriously?  I’ve sparked you to start running again?  I just got an email from a gal that I used to talk to quite regularly.  We were in a weight loss challenge years ago.  She and I have been friends on face book for years.  (in fact I think she is the one that got me to sign up about 7 or so years ago…even though I barely used facebook for the first year or two I was a member), so we have never really lost touch, we just don’t really communicate.  Anyway, I got an email from her today.  Basically just saying “You running is amazing and inspiring.  How did you start.”   I didn’t set out to be an inspiration.  I’m just a gal that is out there pressing myself to be better each and every day (or maybe ‘most days’….I have a few bobbles). As I said, I’m humbled. Will it change how I act and what I do everyday?  No.  I am in competition with myself and each day I will strive to win that competition, regardless of anything else!

 

This morning I had the pleasure (pain sometimes takes on the form of pleasure as discussed yesterday) to run with a co-worker.  I was tickled to have someone to run with.  WEEE

 

We met up at 8AM and set off.  Immediately my heart rate jack rabbited up, way up.  I didn't feel as if I was going any faster, but my HR was at least 10 beats per minute higher. Since it felt the same to me, I looked to the only difference that I could readily see.  Music.  Normally I run with music in my ears.  Easy enough fix, I turned on my cell phone to Pandora radio and we had some tunes rolling mere moments later.  The music helped me take my mind off of the higher heart rate. We talked a bit as we ran.   I struggled because my HR was just so high.  It was so high that I have to admit, that when I hit the hill that I've run up the last 2 days, I made it halfway and then slowed to a walk.  Ok ok ok, I admit it. that wasn't the first time I walked.  I walked twice during the run this morning.     When we were done, I looked at the stats.  I have been running right about a 12.30 minute mile, average.  Today we ran 11.55 minute average miles.  Thirty seconds doesn't seem like a lot, but let me tell you......it's a BIG difference! (and that 11.55 average includes those two walk breaks!)

 

The person I ran with is young.  He's 18 years old. I've known him about 5 months through work.  He struggles with his weight. He was overweight growing up and a year or two ago his friend was preparing to join the military and wanted to be in shape and thus started running.  My friend lost 40-50 pounds by training with his friend.  When the running stopped, he regained some.  He talked this morning about how he kicks himself for letting his fitness level drop and allowing some of the weight to creep back on.   This young boy this morning was quiet for a bit after sharing how he kicks himself.   Suddenly he said something that made me smile from ear to ear.  He said, "MaryFran, I don't want to sound creepy, but since I've met you, you have totally changed."   I had a feeling I knew what he was talking about.  But I wanted to be sure so I asked what he meant.  Stammering and shyly (remember, I'm old enough to be this boy's mother...in fact his parents ARE my age) he says.  "Your shape and your body have changed, for the better too."    I just looked over and him and grinned and said "Thanks!  It's good to know that my hard work is paying off."     No more was said, but my heart was singing. 

 

That was actually the second compliment that I had received....and it was barely past 8AM.  The first was a message on face book by a person that had apparently driven by while I was returning a book to the library yesterday.  (I guess the third was the email about me being the inspiration).  (Cue the Chicago song, “You’re the inspiration” right about now!)

 

And now that that song is in my head….adios

Pain

“I don’t like to go to class with this new instructor.  I am in pain.  I won’t ever come back to that class!”   I heard this refrain time and time again.  Sometimes it is about running.  Sometimes it was about biking.  Occasionally it was about walking.  People would try something new and when it hurt they would whine about the pain and run away. 

  I sit back and watch people when they talk about exercise and fitness.  It's very interesting, even more so because I've been on both sides of the spectrum.  I've been in the camp that "I can't exercise because it hurts me."   So many people start an exercise regime and then back off because of how they hurt.  They wake up the next morning stiff and it's difficult to move.  They stretch and it aches a bit.  They are sore and yes, tired.  So they run away screaming and crying that exercise is not for them.  Some just run away from that particular exercise.  "I can't run because it hurts."  Or "I can't go to zumba because my knees ache."  They run away.  Yes, they are excuses (which I've talked about extensively;  here and here just to name two more recent posts!) And yes, they are valid excuses, these people REALLY do hurt.  I'm not disputing that.  Exercise hurts, plain and simple.  If you are doing it right and really pushing yourself to improve, it will hurt.  The problem is that we as Americans run from pain like it's the plague.  (I'm not talking like pain from a broken foot, or pain from cancer.  Yes, THAT is pain and that is pain that we SHOULD be afraid of.) 

Somehow it clicked with me a few months back.  I realized that I WILL hurt.   It's not really pain as much as it is discomfort (Although when I've really pushed myself it surely feels like pain...but realistically speaking it is more discomfort.)  It clicked that this discomfort was good.  And for some reason I embraced the pain. I embraced the fact that trying something new was going to hurt.  I embraced the fact that running would hurt some days.  I embraced the fact that I would hurt and on a daily basis.  

Somewhere, somehow in the last 100 years or so we as Americans have been brainwashed retaught the belief that pain is a bad thing.   If it hurts, don't do it.  What kind of mentality is that?   How will you EVER succeed if you don't push yourself past a little discomfort.      Our ancestors were not afraid of pain.  Our forefathers sacrificed a lot to settle and survive in harsh territories.  Our ancestors faced unmanageable pain when they  fought for freedom.  History shows that pain was a very real and very present fact of life.  They didn’t run at the first sign of pain.  If they had, we would not be free.   Their families wouldn’t have food.  Our world would not have evolved into what it is today.  

So where did we go wrong?  I have no clue and it’s not really important.   The important thing is to recognize this tendency to flee from pain.   Real and true pain is something that we should be on the guard for.  However, we need to recognize that what we perceive as pain is really progress.

Like I said, I’ve begun to embrace pain.  The beauty of pain is this……by ignoring the aches and pains that pushing my body brings, I have been able to see myself progress further than I EVER thought was possible.   

So how HAVE I learned to push myself past this pain.  The best example is a bike ride I had the other week.  I wanted to quit.  Ohhh, I wanted to quit so bad.  I had a mental conversation with myself.  “Was I dying?”   The answer was no.  “Were my legs in danger of falling off of my body?”   The answer was no.  “So what’s the issue?”   And the answer?  I guess there is no issue!  I pushed through it.  I admit that I was sore and achy.  But that ride gave me a sense of accomplishment that filled me with confidence and self satisfaction.  That ride ALSO helped me gain progress in my long term bike riding goals.  It was a win win.  If I had quit I may not have LOST, but I certainly wouldn’t have won!   I want to WIN!

Amazed!

 This morning I did something that I've been saying that I was going to do.  I actually went out onto our screened in porch and scrubbed down our weight machine.  I didn't stop there.  I went out and actually lifted a bit...working on my upper body today.    My plan is three times a week to put at least 20 minutes of upper body strength training into the books.  Ohh I also did sit ups on my stability ball!   Not that I want to add anything more to my exercise routine, but I NEED to!

I lost weight this week. Another 1.5 pounds bites the dust!  Yay!!!  218.8 is the figure.  It's dropping...that number too will soon be history!

I continue to push myself....I like the unexpected amazement at what my body can REALLY do when asked!  It truly is amazing.  I may ache.  I may be tired....but I'm happy with the level of fitness that my creaky old body has been able to achieve.  Who knows what the future holds (I still haven't thrown out that half marathon idea).

Meanwhile, my plan is to run tomorrow morning and zumba in the evening.  Wednesday morning I will be running.  I was planning on riding, but my coworker wants to run with me.  YIPPEE  someone to run with!  That sounds better than awesome! So I am running.  I will also be doing my weights that morning.  The current plan (in my mind at least) is to ride on Wednesday evening (versus zumba).   Thursday will be my day of rest this week as I will be doing a long day trip to the NYC area with a friend that has a doctors appointment and needs company in the car.  I may get some walking in (maybe while she's at her appointment) but overall it's going to be my rest day.  Friday I'm walking with Sherry.  Saturday I've already talked to my mom and dad and I will still be able to run on Saturday even though I'll be in Hagerstown.  Sunday I'll walk with Sherry and ride!  I've got my plan and I'm good!

This is poor (not so pretty and a bit overweight with a tiny pin head) Winnifred (Winny). She is trying to read the book Born to Run.  I think she would benefit from a little running, poor little fat cat!

Facing my Nemesis

I'm baaaaaack!   This past week has been terrible.  I didn't eat totally out of control.  I didn't go totally offline in my exercise  However, it wasn't a stellar week.  I scraped by.  I'm not saying that my just barely scraping week was a good thing, but maybe I needed it. 

This morning I woke up at 6 and drug myself out of bed.  I got a nice run in.  It wasn't overly fast and it wasn't overly long but I faced down my nemesis!   You see, when I run on the battlefield I usually plan my run so that I am not running up too many hills.  I will run down them but I have avoided them like the plague.  Today I purposely searched out those hills and hit them full steam ahead going UP.   On the one hill I have to admit that my breathing went all catawompus and crazy...but I got to the top and I did not stop and I didn't not walk.  I kept going and decided to see if my breathing would regulate on it's own.  Guess what?  It did and pretty quickly!  :-)

I got back to my car and I pulled out my breakfast  I enjoyed my picnic lunch while I waited for Sherry to arrive.  I had just barely finished eating and she rolled up.  We walked and actually pushed our walk a mile longer and boy, I think we covered every possible conversation!  :-)

Lo and behold, always be prepared....you never know who you may run into whilst out exercising!!!!!!!!

So after my exercise, I showered and Todd and I headed down to Harper's Ferry.  We walked around for a bit, ate some lunch and had fun.  We headed home and did some work around here, mowing, picking strawberries and peas (of which I had to shell, blanch and freeze) and all sorts of stuff.   I prepared 5 lunches for my work week and did a bunch of other stuff around here.  It was a busy active day!

Part Deux

Well, if this post isn't a repeat of a few days ago when I wrote the post titled derailment then I don't know what is. In that post I wrote about the two days in a row that I had plans to be active in the evening and both times my plans got shot into the water when my partner in crime backed off with various excuses (valid or invalid).   I wrote about it and hoped that my post would give me strength to hold strong the next time it happened.  Ohhh how I wish that writing a post fixed problems and kept them from happening again.  But oh, that is not the case.  I had plans to walk on Thursday night.  I knew it was calling for rain, but we had talked about that and it was a go (there are such things as umbrellas, rain jackets and towels for when we go back inside).  I was set.  I was good with that plan.  But round about 5 or so, the plans got cancelled....because of the rain.  Disappointment flowed through me.  I'm OK with my friend's decision, she has every right to change her mind about walking in the rain.   Just like Todd had every right to not play tennis with me.  The problem is that when I'm geared up for one thing and the plans get blown out of the water, I'm thrown into a tailspin.   The tailspin results in me just skipping the workout.  In one case it was a second workout for the day so it was OK. But, in two of the situations the workout that was cancelled  was my only planned workout for the day.  That is bad.    I have to figure out how to guard against this and figure out how I can push myself to workout even if the original plans get blown into bits.  

So I was at home and in the kitchen getting dinner ready last night.  I was minutes away from dishing up the food when Todd walked into the kitchen.  He grabbed the bag of chips (actually Potato Straws).   He ate one or two and then pushed one into my mouth.  OK OK OK, he didn't hog tie me and shove it down my gullet.  I willingly opened my mouth and took it in....I willingly took the second one also.    His words when I looked at him questioningly after that second bite of snack?    "I have to fatten you up."  I didn't even know what to say to that one but it stopped me dead in my tracks.  I didn't eat another bite!


 This repeated situation that I have faced this week has made me look at myself.  I exercise by myself most of the time.  I don't mind it.  It gives me time to think. It gives me time to pray.  It gives me time to reflect.  But seriously, I don't need so many stinkin' hours by myself.  So I get so excited when I can do something (IE tennis the other night that was ultimately cancelled) with someone.  Furthermore, I get so excited to ride my bike with Todd.  I've come to the conclusion.  It's NOT because I'm doing it with him.  It's because he and I usually travel and go to a different path (places we don't get every week..and sometimes totally new for us).  It's not because my craving to be with someone is satisfied.  He listens to his ipod the whole time, so I'm still alone.  BOOOOORING!  OH well, I'll still ride with him because it gets me someplace new and out of the mundane.

So I woke up this morning just feeling down.  The crazy part?  I think that if I were to exercise I would feel better.  Sadly, that's not in the cards for me today....I work early today and then have to skedaddle to a wedding....won't be home until late I pondered the gym on my way home from the wedding, but while they are open 24 hours Monday through Friday, they close on Friday nights...grrr)

Crisis averted

I read a post this morning by Tim. (sorry, I haven't figured out how to put in links on the blogger app on my cell phone....so timothology.blogspot.com) In this post he wrote about binges.  I agreed with him whole heartedly when I said that my binges are much more rare and that when I have them they are not as 'bad' as they used to be, relatively speaking at least. (I binge on less caloric rich foods and usually not as much).   So imagine my surprise when just a few short hours later I found myself in the kitchen BINGING.

I had planned out my food for the day.  I was ok with what I had planned, all was right in my world.  It came time for lunch and I went to the kitchen to eat.  I ate part of what I had planned and then saw the bread.  I WANTED bread.  I mentally calculated and figured that I could 'afford' a single slice of butter bread.  I made it and ate it.  I opened the fridge to get out the stuff for the rest of my lunch.  And then I saw the jelly.  Now I have jelly in my fridge pretty much all the time.  Usually it is raspberry jam but every once in a while I open a jar of strawberry jam.  Strawberry jelly is a treat.  I usually only make one or two batches of strawberry but make batch after batch of raspberry.   Strawberry jelly/jam.  YUM.  I couldn't get it out of my mind (granted I really didn't try to much).  I made another slice of butter bread and added some strawberry jelly.  Ohhh it was SCRUMPTIOUS!   I was eating and I KNEW I was going to have more.  I wanted it.  I literally thought about it in my head.  I was ready to throw in the towel for the day over some more jelly bread!   I wanted it that bad.  Ohhh I tried to justify it by saying that I did burn 3500 calories yesterday (yeah yeah yeah, that was yesterday and thus doesn't count for today....but in the midst of a binge, any justification works!)   Something propelled me to wash the dishes before I made my next jelly sandwich.  I stood at the sink washing dishes and I litearlly said "I don't care....I'll take a gain this week because by golly I want that jelly sandwich!"   But then something happened.  I thought about all the hard work I've put in.  I thought about all the sweat.  I thought about all the mornings when I wake up so stiff that I just want to goan and moan (ha ha ha, oh wait, I DO moan and groan).  I thought about how far I've come and I knew that I didn't want to do it.  Furthermore, I realized that the reason that I was ready to throw up my hands with a binge was that I just really did not want to eat what I had planned.  I knew that if I was going to stop the binge that the only thing that would help me was to find something that would satisfy me, inside and out.  I opened the fridge and just happened to notice that I had a bit of lettuce and salad fixings left.  Peace settled over me and I was fine.  I made my salad.  I ate my salad and I'm sufficiently full and satisfied.   
  Crisis averted.

So I was honest.  I immediately went onto my food journal and deleted the offending foods and put in the salad and the bread, butter and jelly that I ate (thank heavens I only had two slices of bread).  I'm only 100 calories over for my day (including dinner).  I caught the binge in time.  I reigned it in.  I binged, but I won in the long run!

And yes...that moaning and groaning....yeah, it happened this morning.   4 plus hours of exercise threw my body into an achy mess!  I'm good now and I'm set to walk (in the rain...neither rain sleet snow or whatever will keep us from our walks.  ha ha ha....ok, so sometimes it does) after work with Sherry.   

My other big project.  I have been saying for quite some time that I need to work on  my upper body strength.  Todd and I have a weight machine on our screened in porch (we got it free a year or so ago....a guy that lives near my work was cleaning out his garage to be able to bring another corvette to his house...yeah, he's got three here now...but owns something like 5 of them....OLD ones and new ones....I drool over the 57!...anyway...he was getting rid of it....for free.  We took it!).  SOOOOO I'm going to go out and clean it up (it's dusty and dirty from disuse) and start using it!  Hold me to it!

LOVED IT!

It was a busy day.  I was so excited for it to hit.  This was my four hour work day, so i was free by noon.  I made plans.  I was excited!

I woke up early and laid out the different outfits I would need throughout the day all in a row on the bed.  I knew that there was a very good chance that time could be tight and that by the time I got home at the end of the day that I wouldn't want to have to dig around looking for clothes.  What outfits were laid out?

Work........bicycling......zumba......clothes to sleep in.

I got off work and headed home.  Todd had picked up lunch and we ate that.  I caught up on the dishes and we headed out.  We decided to ride on the Western Maryland Rail Trail today.  It was fun.  I took my road bike again.  I figure to strip down the pain levels...so nice and flat, another great chance to get used to the differences of my road bike.  My arms still took a beating but it's getting better.

On the bike ride I wiped out.  I saw something I wanted to stop and see (I wanted to read a wayside...a bit about the history of that particular spot). I slammed on the breaks.  I got my one foot out of the clip but the rush stop had thrown my balance off and I hopped across the path in a desperate attempt to remain upright.  Duh, I was still clipped in on the left foot.  In that moment I KNEW what was happening, but I just couldn't get my foot free!  Down I went.  My brother had told me to wear gloves all the time, for the padding, for the grip on the bike and to protect my hands.   I have to say.....I was thankful that I had the gloves on.  My hands landed on the pavement and there was no ill effect.  I was fine.  No injuries whatsoever.   I picked myself back up and grinned back at Todd who was standing there with a dumbstruck look on his face.  He quickly realized that I was ok and then proceeded to tell me that he wished he'd have caught that on video.....I have to say...too bad, it would have been a great addition to this blog!

We got to the car and headed home. We had to make  quick stop at a store, but I was home in plenty of time.  I quickly changed my clothes and with only a few moments of rest I headed back out.  Why?  Tonight was a zumbathon to raise money for a breast cancer organization.  2.5 hours of zumba!  What fun! 

Now I'm home and I will be the first to admit...I'm TIRED!    But you know what...I SHOULD be tired.  4 hours of exercise is quite a bit of activity!  That's not including the normal stuff like walking through a store, house work, etc etc etc!

I will stay away from the scales tomorrow.  It was such a crazy day with excess exercise, excess water, etc etc etc.  I don't want to see it.  I will wait until it regulates! 

What a FUN FUN FUN day!

Derailment

I had grand plans.  I ran yesterday morning and since Todd had an unexpected cancelation combined with no Zumba I had plans to either go for a bike ride or play tennis.  I talked to Todd and he wasn't jumping up and down with joy, but he seemed on board.   The day progressed and just from his responses I got 'the feeling'.  What is the feeling?  The feeling that it wasn't going to happen.  Round about 5PM I got the text.  He was feeling sick and wasn't going to be able to participate and by the way can we do dinner at 8 so I can finish my stiff at the studio.  

I'm going to break this down into two parts. Him and me.

Him.   I'm not saying that he didn't feel horrible...who am I to judge something like that.  It certsinly sedmed as if ge was not feeling great.  I am just saying that I had a feeling beforehand.  Probably his texts informing me of every sprinkle that fell from the sky and his updates on the possibility of rain forewarned me. Whatever, I had a feeling. Anyway,  His sicknesses come on when it's my plans...he can still do his stuff (working at the studio from 7Am to 8pm yesterday while 'sick' and he had no clients yesterday)and is usually not sick on days and events of his choosing.  It just gets old....real or conjured up, it gets old.

The real problem was with me.  I could have gone out on my bike.  I could have gone to the gym.  (No way dinner would have been at 8..but i could have gone!) I could have pulled out an exercise DVD.  I could have even pulled out the Xbox kinnect.  I could have done something!   I could have said that 8 was not going to work for dinner, that 8 didn't give me the time I needed to complete my tasks.  I could have changed the dinner plans to try to accommodate the requested dinner time.  I could have done so much differently.  However I let his 'sickness' derail my plans.  Is it the end of the world?  No.  I still exercised yesterday. Even if I hadn't, it's not the end of the world.  But I need to learn to stand up and take control of MY life and not allow ruined plans to affect the decisions I need to make in my healthy lifestyle.

When did that happen!

It's the beginning of the month...so a few things happened.......

1.  I took my measurements.  Once again for this month I saw a reduction of one inch in every measurement on my torso.  My arm and leg measurements stayed the same.  I'm great with that!  :-)

2.  Well, this isn't the beginning of the month specific but it goes in with this information.  I weighed myself for my official weigh in and I'm down 1.4 from last week.  That means that I recouped my one pound vacation weight gain and had an extra point four to spare!  This brings my numbers to....  Overall loss 95.9  from my highest and that is 32.4 pounds since January! 

3.  Picture time! Progress report at it's finest.  And that sparked a conversation with my husband...but I'll get there after I share the progress...and give you a reminder of where I've been and what I'm doing.

So this morning I was in the bathroom getting ready for my run.  I don't normally wear form fitting clothes.  It is a kick back of being so overweight that you are trying to hide your excess pounds (yeah, futile effort, but we all try it when we are overweight).  I do have a couple workout outfits that are a bit more form fitting and I wear them on occasion, but I typically end up in a simple tee shirt for my workouts.  I have scaled down...I'm not still wearing the HUGE tee shirts to work out, but they are still not form fitting.  So anyway.  This morning I put on my typical picture outfit for my run....kill two birds with one stone ya know.  My typically self absorbed husband looks over at me and says, "Holy Crap, when did that happen, your getting really curvy???  And How?"  I just looked at him incredulously.  Seriously?   I've been focused on pretty much one thing the last 5-6 months.  Anyone that has talked to me knows this!   Furthermore, I leave the house at least once mostly twice a day to workout...I return home covered in sweat...he hears me groaning when my muscles are tight and stiff from a good workout.  But yet he's asking me how??   ha ha ha  Finally I answered.  "Bike riding, running, zumba....amongst other things.  That's why I'm always begging you to go biking with me or to go play tennis!  When....lots of hours the last few months!"     Even as I shake my head at his delayed notice of the progression, I am smiling because it was finally obvious enough that even my self absorbed husband saw it!  My hard work is paying off, it IS becoming evident in my shape!

I read lots of blogs, today I do believe ill be reading through this one at work.   http://www.dailydoseofdelsignore.com/?m=1

Washington and Old Dominion and a few challenges

Well then.    Today we woke up and threw our bikes on the top of the car and we were off.   The plan was to go to the Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail and ride. The reasoning was two fold.  First and foremost, I wanted to get out and ride.  It was as plain and simple as that.   I wanted a ride to be my main exercise for the day.  The second reason was that the rail trail would give me the perfect chance and path to get out on my Lite Speed.  (If we would have gone on the canal I would have taken my Trek.)  My thoughts were that a rail trail was relatively flat (with gradual grades) and that would eliminate the leg fatigue from the constantly rolling hills of my area while I worked to get used to my road bike.   I would be riding with my husband and we wouldn't be riding like two bats out of hell.  It was the perfect chance to get some miles on my Lite Speed....because I know that the only way to get past the rough patch of switching to a road bike is to add up the miles on the bike.

I kept my itty bitty toes moving.  When the first signs of numbness in my toes AND the first signs of aching in my left foot started I wiggled and moved my toes around.  That seemed to work well.  All I know is that my foot didn't ache so bad that I wanted to cry!

My butt...well it got sore but it's 'hardening up'.  :-)

The biggest issue I had today....the upper body...the continuing saga.  My back was fine (which was surprising because my lower back has been giving me grief the last few days).  My hands weren't too bad.  My arms......It's not the elbows...it's the inch or so right above the elbow. (go figure).   I experimented with different ways to sit the bike.  It was slightly sore while on the bike...but right now a few hours later is when I feel it.  Stretching my arms straight is a bit achy.  Not really painful, just an achy muscle feel.  It's all good it will get better.

One more ride toward mastering this bike!

Sooooooo the Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail.......it was a really nice rail trail.  The trail was very heavily used today.   There were a lot of what appeared to be serious bikers on the trail (or maybe it was just bikers that have a plethora of money to buy nice bikes...ha ha ha).   We realized how spoiled we have become on the Western Maryland Rail Trail.  The WMRT is in the western, less populated portion of Maryland.  On Monday we went up 10 miles on the WMRT before hopping on the canal and riding back to our car.....we did cross roads...but back roads that are more 'lanes' than anything.  I have never seen a car on any of them in fact I barely even slow down for them, you can see that there are no cars and you just barrel onward.    The Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail had a bunch of roads that we had to cross.  BUSY roads.....one road actually had a cross walk light.  One section of the trail was particularly bad with like 5 roads to cross in a 1/2 mile section.  But overall it wasn't that bad.

We will DEFINITELY be going back to do more of the W&ODRT  as soon as possible!

June has rolled around.  In the month of May I burned 31,000 calories.  I exercised 40 hours (and very little during my vacation so it could have been MUCH higher).  I'm setting goals challenges for the month of June!  Some are weight related.  Some are not.....but weight and non-weight related things all go hand in hand.  So without further ado June's challenges!

1.  Burn 40,000 calories 
2.  Write......at least 1k words 5 days a week.  More than 20K words.
3.  Lose weight each week
4.  Continue to track each and every day
5.  60 Plus ounces of water each and every day
6.  Master the road bike
7.   Knock 1 minute off my average pace in running.  (right now I'm at 12:34 minute mile for my average pace)  11.34 is my goal.   

Failure is NOT an option

I talked in my last post that I wasn't going to allow excuses in my life and that I had a plan to make sure that my snafu or not riding in the morning didn't mean that I forwent my planned ride.  I put my plan into motion.  I contacted my walking partner and asked her if we could delay our walk until 7:30.  That gave me a half hour to close up work, get home, change, grab my bike, my shoes for walking and get to the battlefield.  I would ride for an hour and then walk with Sherry after my ride.  It worked like a charm!

I got an hour bike ride in and I walked and got my chit chat session in.  It was all in all a good evening!

Soooooo I'm going to get the white elephant out in the open.  I bought my new bike and was so excited.  I knew it would be an adjustment but didn't expect too much difficulty.  Seriously, I ride my trek quite a bit...I rode it on Monday for 20 miles....it shouldn't be too difficult to ride a road bike.....right?   I however quickly figured out that my new bike threw me into a world of hurt.  Yes.  It's a painful experience.   It HURTS!

Lets start at the bottom. 

*My toes go numb when I ride.  I can't really say that it's anything to do with my new bike.  My toes go numb on my Trek too....so I'm not too concerned about that.

* My left foot HURTS.  I don't know if we attached the clip into the shoe a bit off or something (I'm going to have my brother look at it).  I know that I've had some pain in this foot for more than a year, so it could just be a combination of that issue and a different use of the foot.  I ignore this pain. 

* Hills.  I typically ride the canal on my Trek (or a rail trail).  It's relatively flat.   Hills make the thighs SING and burn!!!!   Not too concerned, this is just a problem that will happen and will ease up as I build up the different muscle set that is conducive to hilly bike ridng.

* Back.  Yeah, I'm more hunched over when I ride my lite speed.  My back feels it.  It gets stiff and achy.  Once again this will ease up as I get used to riding a road bike.

*My arms and upper body get SOOOO tired and achy as my hands and arms support my upper body on the bike.  I ache.   Once again.....just building up the body, muscles and getting adjusted.   It's all good.

So yeah, I'm in a world of hurt with this.  But I will NOT fail.  I will NOT let the bike beat me!   I know it's just a thing of DOING it on a regular basis.  I just need to remember that it WILL get easier!

SOooo on the bike tonight I was riding along and hurting.  I carried on a two sided conversation in my head. 

MaryFran:  I want to quit!!!!
Voice: Why?
MaryFran:  It hurts!
Voice:  Are you dying?
MaryFran:  No
Voice:  Then keep going.  Suck it up buttercup.

And I did.  I kept going and I didn't die. 

I'm planning on going riding with Todd on Saturday (weather permitting and he doesnt back out).  I've suggested the Washington and Old Dominion Rail Trail.  I've told him that I plan on taking my lite speed and riding that.  I've already informed Todd that I will probably be snivelling and cryng by the time we are done! (ok, maybe not quite that bad)

I will conquer this.  Failure is NOT an option.  I will get to the point that I can ride with my brother and not hold him back (too much at least).  I will conquer this and knock these bucket list bike rides off my list.  I will WIN!

Excuses

Drat but I hate excuses! I'm finding that I have no tolerance for excuses of late.  I hear the excuses why people can't exercise.  Some of the excuses are nuts too. Stuff like,  'My big toe has  a pimple on it so I won't be able to exercise for the next five days.'  and I just want to say 'so?'  Ok maybe the excuses are not as far fetched as that...but it sure feels like it.     Excuses have no place in my vocabulary. 

My spiel about excuses said, I'm struggling.  I ran yesterday morning and had a phenomenal run.  Seriously...I ran faster longer and more consistently than ever before.  I amazed myself.  (And ironically my original thought process for today's blog was to talk about how amazing our bodies are and how our bodies can do things that stun us if we only try....but I digress).  I went to work and my legs tingled throughout the day.  I could feel the muscles.  That's ok.  I'm not stupid enough to think it isn't going to hurt.  But my feet just ACHE.  My bone (a pain I've had since childhood) reared its ugly head.  It was rough.   But excuses are excuses so I went to Zumba last night and powered through.  I actually felt better when it was over.   (And not because it was over...my body felt not as achy)

This morning is when I hit the wall.  I was set to wake up at 5:30...ride my bike from 6 to 7 then have a nice breakfast and run an errand or two and then come to work.  I woke up at 5:30 just fine.  (5:20 actually). And that's where it went sour.  I dozed and fell back asleep.  I moved and realized my back was really hurting (same area that went out a few years back...it sometimes bothers me). My feet hurt and well....I listened to those darn excuses and voila...no bike ride for mf this morning. Grrrr.   It's stinkin' hot out today....and my time is tight tonight.   I swore I was riding today.   I've thought about making today a rest day and riding tomorrow.  I've toyed with lots....but I'm disgusted because I let excuses rule my decision.  

 Don't worry...I've got a tentative plan though!

The jury is out

The jury is out.  Am I certifiably crazy?   

I find myself in a very weird situation.  I don't know if I should be committed for  being mentally crazy or if I'm perfectly sane.    But either way I'm torn in two.

A month back I FINALLY had the money and found a road bike for myself.  I had been saving and looking for a good deal that was in my budget for quite some time. You see, I have long had some bike events on my bucket list.  Events that I really did need a road bike for.  I was super excited. I was going to be riding....I was ready and stoked!   It was roughly at that same time that I kinda started to fall in love like running. 

I was immediately torn when I got my new bike.  I want to ride my bike yet I want to run.  How does one decide what to do?  Ohh add into the mix that I love my Zumba.  Zumba has been a salvation of sorts for me. In a misguided effort to be the perfect wife and thereby single handedly save my marriage I had boxed myself into a corner.  I didn't do anything that might interfere with my marital responsibilities...heaven forbid me not be at the house waiting in case he called needing something while he was at work.  (yeah, really boneheaded maneuver on my part, I know that now...but it seemed like a good idea at the time) Zumba helped bring me back out of that bubble.  My friends that I made at Zumba helped me to realize and rediscover myself!  So dropping Zumba is really not a valid option for me...it keeps me grounded!  :-). So in torn between biking and running.  Not so difficult, I can do both right? 

So I've read a few race reports about people doing half marathons.  I used to read them in awe...then a few weeks ago I read one and felt a tingle of interest that went beyond awe, it was tingle of recognition that maybe, just maybe I had it in me to complete a half.   The tingle grew and I think I want to aim for a half marathon.  Yeah...cue the little man with the straight jacket with my name on it...this is where he is needed!   Me do a half marathon?  ha ha ha.  I'm not committing, I'm just putting the idea out there because I think I could do it.   I must be crazy to even ponder this!!!

My biggest deterrent right now is the fact that I want to focus on riding!  I'm totally torn.  To bike......to run.....that is the question.  I could be happy doing either one...but will trying to do both hold me back from achieving my goals???

The only thing I will say about this before I move on.  I have tentatively found a few halves that I could conceivably run.  One in Hershey on October 20th..( There is also a half in Gettysburg on that same day.)to follow the Hal Higdon 12 week training I would need to start really training the end of July.  (and continuing running my 3 miles a few times a week until then).  There is one closer, to benefit Habitat for Humanity.    That one is in Hancock, MD on a Sunday in September (September 15).   (Ironically enough that race was already in my crosshairs as I was pondering doing the 5k race that day).    All of those half marathons are on Sunday so no worries about work (there is a half that goes right through the town where I live...in fact it goes right by my work...but it always falls on the weekend I work...and this year is no exception...so once again this year I will be at work and cheering the runners on when I'm not inside with a customer!).    The Hancock half I would have to start training diligently the end of June.  Hmmmm.......

So anyway.....no commitment to anything...just thinking wild and crazy thoughts!

Meanwhile, this morning I went out for a run. I don't know what struck me but I decided to push myself further.  (it was probably sparked by all this talk about half marathons and such).   I ran 5.33 miles in just over an hour...That is 2 complete miles longer than I have EVER run in my entire life.  I did not stop to walk.  I ran every stinkin' step!!!!  My average pace was 12:34 (my fastest yet) and one of my miles was in 11:58  YIPPEE!   So not only FASTER but longer!  And I didn't die.....and my legs seem to be still attached to my body and working relatively well.  :-)  

Up tomorrow morning.....a bike ride!   But in the meantime...off to work I go...followed by an hour of zumba!  WEEEEEEEE

Vacation Weight Loss/Gain Verdict

Well, I vowed that I would be active and ride my bike and do all sorts of things on this vacation and I would lose or at least maintain my weight.   It was a busy week.......

I ran a 5k and set a new PR for myself!

We went to Lancaster and ended up visiting the National Christmas museum again.  The first time was at Christmas and it was terribly crowded.  This time we were able to fully enjoy the museum.  That  is actually a quilt in this picture.  A quilt made of 1 inch pieces of fabric.  And yes, it makes me want to pull out my quilt and work on a project!

In Lancaster we also were able to enjoy a Chicago concert. (I also enjoyed a LOT of good food).

  

We hit up a variety of flea markets and antique stores through the week. This picture was taken in Strasburg, VA where we visited the Strasburg Museum which is a little gem of a museum.

We joined up with my family and went into DC one day.  We went to the National Building Museum and also to the Natural History Museum.

The strawberries started to ripen!!!

I took some pictures of a friends daughter.

We celebrated Memorial Day at a wreath laying ceremony and a parade (we supplied the sound system so that filled up quite a bit of that day!)

 

I was able to get in one hike on a battlefield trail.

 

I wanted to ride bikes and do all sorts of fun rides, but alas we were so busy that we only got one ride in.  We went to Hancock and rode the Western Maryland Rail trail one direction and then hopped on the C&O Canal for the return trip.  We had a nice picnic lunch after it was over.

We also did a LOT of yard and garden work.....to include hauling 1700 plus pounds of junk out of the woods, planting more of the garden, mowing (twice...once push once riding) clearing brush and weeding.

I found that it was more difficult to push myself to formally exercise while on vacation.  It was also much much more difficult to eat within my 1200 calorie budget.  I did my best.  I splurged a bit on some days. But I held on to most of the healthy habits that I have been working to instill in my life.  I have no regrets.  So without further ado........

The scales say..........221.7.

That is one pound up from last week.  I am gritting my teeth a bit because yesterday morning I was 218.4.  I did indulge in a dessert BUT I also rode my bike for 2 hours and gardened for 2 hours (shoveling).  I worked that dessert off!  I do know that I woke up thirsty which is usually a sign that my weight is up.  (taco salad last night....high sodium in the seasoning and even though I drank close to 100 ounces, I guess it still got me!).   But I'm accepting it and moving onward!

I'm quite ok with that number (frustrating because it was lower..but ok).  I've been on vacation and had horrible weigh in results upon my return.  One year I lost all control during vacation.  Desserts were a common occurrence that year.  I gave up on drinking water and went right to the diet soda.  I didn't do anything overtly active after the first day.  So I will accept my weigh in results from this last vacation with a smile on my face knowing that while I may have slipped a bit, I held it together quite well!