Thursday is Close to Friday

So I know that the weekend has not started just yet, but I feel like it is Friday. For one this has been an abnormally long week. It seems to be dragging on forever. For another thing Gary is gone hunting this weekend. Now don't get me wrong I will miss him, but at the same time I love having the house to myself to do whatever I want whenever I want. Well I guess not completely because both the boys are home, but still. I have seniority so what I say goes. I love being the MOM!
Kris and I area headed to my parents house Friday night and I am more than a little looking forward to it. They are having a Marti Gras parade that I think Kris will really like. It isn't like New Orleans, it is kid/family friendly. Then Grandma and Grandpa are going to watch Kris while I meet up with some friends for a night on the town. I am secretly hoping for an early end to the night, because I have so much I want to get in this weekend I don't want to waste my time sleeping in. I never in my life thought I would feel that way, I guess I am getting old.
My Dad also wants to take us out to breakfast on Saturday and he is not one to wait around. My Dad is a breakfast conisour! He loves breakfast, which is so funny because my Dad isn't a big eater. He is one those people that need to be reminded to eat. Why could I have not gotten that gene from him?!?
Saturday Kris and I are going shopping before heading home and then Sunday we are getting ready to start the week all over again. Oh and I have runs scheduled through out the weekend. I am working on my fastest mile for the Shrinkvivor Challenge. My average in my 5K was 13:17 and I am hoping to knock some time off of that!
What are you doing fun this weekend?

Wednesday Check-in Shrinkvivor

Well it has been another successful week of the Shrinkvivor challenge. Lets get right to the numbers, shall we.
Starting Weight: 213.8
Week 1: 213
Week 2: 210.2
Change: 2.8 lbs
Total Lost: 3.6 lbs
So far so good. Every pound counts and I am feeling good about it. I haven't deprived myself or starved myself I have just been trying to be more careful about what I eat. Some days are easier than others. I also got 5 hours of workouts in this week which is 300 minutes, and lots of water everyday. Between 60-100oz a day, I only drink water after my morning coffee, so I am not always good about counting the ounces. I even stayed far away from the drive thru, which was easier than I thought it would be. I just had to plan ahead and pack my lunch, I did forget it one day and had to have Subway, but I didn't tempt myself with a footlong even though it is more cost effective I only get a 6 inch. I think my family is benefiting to, we aren't snacking like before and becasue I am eating better, so are they. All good things!
I am excited to see what next weeks challenges are it keeps things exciting.

True Confession Tuesday

Its Tuesday again which means it is time to confess, and this week I actually did really well and my confessions are almost all good.
Lets start with the not so good.
* I did not train hard enough for my 5k on Sunday. I should have gotten in at least 1 more run before the event, but on the plus side, I ran the 5k anyway and completed it.
* Gosh, that's it for the not so good.
So the good confessions.
* I have gotten in some sort of workout minutes everyday for the Shrinkvivor challenge.
* I have gotten in lots of water everyday.
* I have NOT had fast food this week.
* I have packed my lunch everyday, I did forget to bring it with me one day, but it was packed!
* So far I have lost some weight this week, the official weigh in being tomorrow, I will not mention how much. A lot can happen overnight!
I feel really good this week. I feel powerful and successful and that is a great feeling to help spur you on to bigger and better accomplishments. I am planning another nice run for this weekend. I am going to visit my parents and they live in a nice neighborhood with sidewalks and lots of hills so I am planning to run there over the weekend. My Dad said he would plan a route for me and he would tell me when I got back how long it was. I think it will be a lot of fun. It will be a nice change of pace to run in the city than the long country roads I currently have to run on.
I did go out for a mile and a half run last night, it would have been longer but K came along on his bike and he was complaining so much about his bike not working right that I had to give into the complaints and head home to take a look at it. It drains my energy to have to deal with other things on my runs. On the bright side though I ran almost the entire time, only stopping to talk to K, and even then I was jogging in place. Lets hope I can keep this positive momentum going!

My First 5k Race

Yesterday I ran the Capital City River Run 5k. It was an adventure to say the very least. I have spent the last week debating on whether or not I was ready for this, had a trained enough, was I prepared? The answer was a resounding no. Every day leading up to the race I wavered on whether or not I was actually going to drive to Lansing and participate. One day I definitely was, the next definitely not. Until Sunday morning when I actually rolled out of bed I still knew in the back of my mind I did not have to do this. I could roll over in bed and sleep til 9 if I wanted to. But by then I had made up my mind. I was going to do this. I wanted to do this. So at 5:30am Sunday morning my alarm went off and I got out of bed. I had already laid out my clothes the night before. Black shorts, my favorite pink t-shirt (it says Princess on it) and a long sleeve t-shirt over top. I knew I needed to leave the house around 6:15 to give myself enough time to make the drive and get there in time to pick up my packet and shirt. I got in the truck ready to go and realized that my lovely husband had left my truck on under a ¼ of a tank of gas. Crap, I knew now I needed to stop for gas and that the closest gas station was 7 miles out of my way, crap again. I drove to the station to fill up and see the signs on all the pumps that there debit/credit machines are down! Ahhhh, luckily I had cash on me. So I fill up but now it is closer to 6:45 and I know I am seriously running late.

I drive down to Lansing as fast as I feel safe going since neither an accident nor a speeding ticket are worth it. I arrive at about 7:45, and quickly realize I am not where I need to be. I throw a new address into the GPS and start seeing runners as I drive; I know I am getting closer. I park the truck, grab my music and start following the crowd. I quickly ask some guy I see walking if he knows where I need to go and he walks me to the start of the race, I never did get his name, but I was so thankful to him. We wished each other luck and I ran inside to get my race number. I got my bib and my shirt and headed back outside. I had 13 minutes to spare before the race was to start. I stood in line next to another first timer and we chatted a little. I kept thinking to myself, oh God here we go, I am never doing this again. Before I knew it they were signaling the start of the race and off we went. She had the same pace to begin as I did so we stuck together for the beginning. Eventually she got ahead of me and I needed to walk a minute to catch my breath. That is how the rest of the race went, I would run for a few minutes (I didn’t have a watch so I have no idea how long) then I would walk a minute. I ended up following a mother and daughter team that were pacing themselves the same way and seemed to have a watch on them so when they ran I ran. I barely remember the race, I was focusing on my breathing and my running and not tripping on anything or running into anyone. Before I knew it we were rounding the corner to the finish. I put on a last burst of speed to get to the finish line. I remember smiling as I crossed the line and thinking, that was awesome, I can’t wait to do it again. I didn’t run a fast race, but I finished, my official time being 41:14 for a 13:17 mile pace. I finished 70 out of 83 runners in my age bracket and 669 out of 843 runners overall. The numbers don’t matter to me, what matters is that I did it. I was really proud of myself and I want to do it again.

I thought that once I was done with this race I would cross this off my bucket list and never sign up for another race again. Now I can’t wait for the next one. Now I feel more like I know what to expect and like I belong. I don’t want to quit running I want to improve my time. My goal for next year is to run the whole race without having to walk at all. Who knows maybe by this time next year I will be up to running the half marathon? No matter what I sign up to run though, the 5k or the half marathon, I will definitely return to this race. The capital was a beautiful place to run and I had a great time. I’m hooked.

Only next year, I will plan a lot better. I will find out where I need to be beforehand. After the race ended and the adrenaline rush was over I realized I had no idea where I had parked. I spent 45 minutes walking around downtown looking for my truck. Next year I will make my husband drive me! He had to work and couldn’t be there. (bummer) My sister and her family did come down to watch me finish but they got lost and couldn’t find the end of the race. (That is a huge long saga there I will have to tell another time.) So I ended the race with no one there for me but really I was ok with that. I understood the reasons my family couldn’t make it and I know they were there in spirit and I would probably be more upset if it was the one and only race I was ever going to run, but I know now that it was only beginning and they will be there for some of the rest of them. Gary even said he might like to join me! Time will tell!

A day late and a dollar short?!?

So I am a day late for the Wednesday check-in. Yesterday was crazy for me, so I guess you get the Thursday Check-in this week. I did officially check in with the Sisterhood for my Tribe, the Groovy Gray Chicks, and that is the check-in that mattered the most.
So officially here are my Wednesday results.......on Thursday
Starting Weight: 213.8
Week 1: 213
Change: -.8
Goal for the Challenge: As much as I can and keep it off.
I have not, as you can see, set a number to get to or an amount to lose for this challenge. I just want to work at getting it off and keeping it off. I am happy with any loss that stays gone. I don't want to yo-yo from week to week, so if that means I only lose a little bit each week so be it, although I hope it is a little bit more than this week! lol
So as I mentioned before yesterday was crazy and here is why. For the past year and a half or so I have been battling with a few little health problems, mostly fatigue which is directly related to low levels of Iron and vitamin B-12. I was doing better a few months ago but I can physically feel my levels are low again. I am in bed and sound asleep by 9:00am, that is totally crazy for me. So yesterday I had a doctors appointment, 2.5 hours from home. My doctor recommended I try a new supplement kinda drink of his own invention. It is packed with protein, Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin D, he said the protein in it is like eating a hamburger, but it only has 48 calories per serving. I was sold. He also said it gives you energy like a 5 hour energy shot, but without the caffeine or the crash. I tried a 1 oz shot yesterday and felt pretty good afterward, I was still in bed by 8:45, but hey you can't expect miracles. I took another shot this morning and felt better than I have in awhile. It doesn't curb my appetite as much as he described it would, but it helped. I am hoping more so that the B-12 in it helps me get my energy back than anything, but I feel pumped and revitalized. Weight loss is just as much mental as it is physical and I was feeling so tired and warn out that getting the physical part in was killing me. Lets hope this helps for next week. That is if I survive and haven't been exiled! Fingers crossed.

Confession Time

Time to confess. I have always heard that confession is good for the soul, I am hoping that is true.
*I have a 5k run on Sunday that I do not feel at all prepared for. I have slacked off at the worst possible time. I do have this week to get on track, but I wish I had another week. I contemplated skipping the whole thing, but I have definitely decided against that. I figure even if I walk the whole thing I am going to do it.
*I feel like I am living my life in avoidance mode lately. I am trying to keep myself busy with everything else than to dwell on the things that are out of my control. I am working on this one. Taking control of my life, my family, my eating.
*I am a slacker lately. Once school started it killed my schedule and it shouldn't have. I feel like I am using school as an excuse to not do things I should do, like, I don't know, RUN!
*I did not eat very well over the weekend. We were at our Cabin in the U.P. and it is really hard to eat good when everything you are cooking is over a fire. In my defense I did make squash in the fire and ate that, but I added butter. I also didn't workout very much this weekend either. Again in my defense there is no shower up there and if I get stinky and gross from a run, I am stinky and gross til I get home.
Ahhh, that did make me feel better. I feel bad about my eating and workouts because of the Shrinkvivor challenge and I feel like I am letting the Groovy Gray Chicks down. I have gotten back on track since I have been home, getting a 2.2 mile run in yesterday, but I know that my totals for the week are pathetic. I will get back on track, I will get my life in order and I will succeed in this journey to lose weight. I feel better when I get my workouts in and eat right and I know this, so I just need remember it. I feel better now, time to get a move on. I can still get a walk in on my lunch and I have a run scheduled for after dinner. Lets see what I can do in a last push for the miles.
How did you do this week? Have you confessed?

It Starts Now

Shrinkvivor starts today. It is the official first weigh in. It is not a pretty number, but on the bright side I have no where to go but down. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks, the teams and the dreaded Exile island. My plan is to stay far far away from Exile island.
I have 10 days left until my first ever 5k run and I am hoping that training for that and this new challenge keeps me on track and accountable.
Are you ready to shrink?
Starting weight: 213.8 I am hoping that is the last time I ever see that number. It is up from my previous challenge, but I think part of that is that I needed new batteries in my scale. Let see how low that number can go. I am pretty confident that by the end of the challenge I can kiss the 200's good bye for good! I can't wait to see what our first physical challenge is for this week.

Just Checking In

Its check in Wednesday at the sisterhood and since the challenge is over I almost forgot. I did just randomly jump on the scale this morning and I am holding my own. I think I was up .4 lbs, but after a weekend of hot dogs and smore's I didn't think that was too bad. I also haven't gotten in much exercise in the last week. The last hurrah of summer and school starting has really thrown me for a loop. I am ready to get back to my usual schedule of workouts and get our eating back on track too. Summer is hard to get a routine going, but for some reason cooler temperatures signal that things need to get organized. I think having to get kids up for school and ready to tackle the day pushes me to be super-mom. Showers and teeth brushing and lunch packing and homework and lunch money and gas money and permission slips signed and well I think you get the idea. If I wasn't organized things would get missed and forgotten and a long day would be all that much longer when all your free time is spent trying to catch up.
I am actaully missing my workouts so I think that is a very good thing. I need to make sure not to miss too many more since my race is in 18 days and I need to train. My nephew has decided he wants to run with me so I am pretty excited about that too, of course he will leave me in the dust but it will be nice having him there. So on to bigger and better for next week when the Shrinkvivor Challenge starts. Are you signed up? I can't wait, it sounds like it is going to be alot of work and alot of fun!
So how did you do this week? Are you reved up and ready to go for next week?

Time Flies

Sniff, sniff, my baby started second grade today. Time is going so fast, it seems like just yesterday he was crying as I left him at preschool for the first time, and then this morning he was up and out the door to catch the bus. Although I much prefer the kid who is excited for school over the crying preschooler, I can't believe how independent he is. I told him I wanted to wait outside for the bus with him and he told me that was ok for today, but tomorrow he could wait by himself. I am guessing it must be embarrassing for your mom to wait for the bus with you. I guess I better stop blinking now because he will be grown before I know it.
Since this was our last weekend before school I wanted to do something special that I knew Kris would love. So I did something I completely dread. We have a cabin in the woods in the Upper Penisula, Gary loves it, I hate it. It is a small cabin with no electricity and an outhouse. Not exactly a woman's paradise, but I know that Kris loves it up there, so I planned a weekend trip. We woke up at 3am Saturday morning and hit the road, we pulled in the driveway at 8am. It was raining and chilly out and I thought "oh what did you get yourself into?" We unloaded the quad and the boys instantly jumped on and left me there in the rain, not wanting to go inside because I was sure it was going to smell funky, I sat in the truck, being a whine-ass. The rain let up and I decided that I was not going to be a whine-ass all weekend, I came all this way and I was going to have a good time. I jumped out of the truck and tried to start a fire. It took me a good half hour since I was working with mostly wet wood and very little paper. But I got the fire started and a grabbed my chair and sat by the fire in complete bliss. A few hours later the boys came back drenched to the bone, I got them all clean, dry clothes (even though Gary made fun of me for packing them) and Kris and I tended to the fire. Later Gary took us out to dinner and when we got back around 9 we were all ready for bed.
The next day was more of the same, the boys went out on the quad looking for good hunting spots and I stayed behind and sat by the fire. It was perfect. I read my book, Kris gathered sticks, we cooked hotdogs and smore's. I could not have asked for a better weekend to end the summer vacation. Later we went fishing and Kris and I teamed up, I would catch the fish and he would take them off the hook. Poor Gary didn't catch anything. Kris had a great time, and even though I was sure I was going to be miserable, I had a great time too. So good in fact that I have planned another trip for a fall color tour in a few weeks.
Sometimes I think that you need to decide to make the best of a situation and go with it. I know that I could have made this weekend miserable for my whole family, or I could make it a great trip. I am so glad that I decided to make the best of things because I realize that the older Kris gets the less time I have before he is grown up and moving on with his life. Maybe I am more nastalgic because Bill started his senior year today, or maybe it is just that I see how fast time flies. Either way I don't want to miss anything.
I think Gary is thinking the same way. His baby is a senior. I know that Gary is excited and scared for him. He tries so hard to help Bill make the best decisions and see further than tomorrow. It is so hard having a teenager that is just as subborn and bull-headed as his Dad. I hope that Bill has a great senior year, and I know that his Dad and I are doing everything we can to make that happen, but I hope too that he works hard and sees where he is headed and is successful. I hope that he doesn't get a too bad of a case of senioritis.
This is a big year at our house, wish us luck!

Wednesday Check-In D&D Wk 5

Well it is over. The Down and Dirty Challenge has reached the end. When it started I had big aspirations for the month, last week I modified them. Now it is time to face the music and see how I did. Are you ready for this? Here we go.
Starting weight: 210
Week 1: 207.1
Week 2:207.1
Week 3:206
Week 4:207.6
Week 5: 204.6
Total Loss: 5.4 lbs
Goal for Challenge: 5 lbs
Pounds to go: 0
I did it! I really stuck to it this week and I made my goal! I am so excited. It was a roller coaster of a weight loss month, but I am thrilled to say I made my goal. It is such a good feeling to see the results of a week when you stayed mostly on track and see the positive outcome, that gives me a lot of momentum for next week. I want to keep going and see more results. I changed my workouts a little this week, working harder but for short time periods, I don't know if that made the difference or not but it shook things up a little. I think I am going to continue on the shorter, harder workouts for awhile since school starts next week and our busy life is about to get ever busier. At least then I can get a workout in no matter what time constraints I have.
I am sad to see the challenge end. I have met some really great ladies and I was so lucky to have such a super supportive team behind me the whole way. No matter what the leader board says at the end I know that the Queens of the D&D were winners and I am proud to be one of them.
There is a new challenge over at the sisterhood that starts in a couple weeks and I can't wait to see what that is all about. How did you do this week?