How I display my race bibs!

I have been very busy with racing season, family, work and other assorted details since I last blogged! I will update later but I wanted to share a project with you! I don't know about you but I had a drawer of race bibs that I didn't quite know what to do with. It seemed a shame to have them hanging out in a drawer where I can't see them and be reminded of how far I have come. On a trip to Ikea we spotted curtain wire and came up with this idea!

So first - you go to your local Ikea (unfortunately these items are not sold online) and pick up this..

DIGNITET Curtain Wire
And a few of these....
DIGNITET Corner Piece
And some of these....
DIGNITET Curtain Ring with Clip
(I only used the clip part for this project - not the hooks)
So you install the curtain wire according to the instructions - ours are installed in our computer/treadmill room and then place a clip on the corner of each bib and hang from the wire! We have ours hanging from the corner of the bib, but you could also hang them with one clip on each corner they would just take up a little more space and not allow for overlap.

Being a little (or maybe a lot) OCD - they are in chronological order with the race name, date, distance and the chip time written on the back. Right now we have wire hung around 1/3 of our room and we need to hang another section because we have 2008 - 2010 on there and we still have all of 2011 bibs to hang.

I know how she feels...

I have been busy racing, working, training, parenting and just living life so my apologies for not posting regularly - but this morning I woke up to this post from Ewa and had to write.

I have not met Ewa (even though we are fairly close to each other in distance) but I have followed her blog for some time and have followed her adventures for the trip of a lifetime as she prepared to hike the John Muir Trail! What an amazing person doing amazing things!!

After reading her post - I was angry for her as well. What a senseless loss of someone in denial about their medical condition(s). How helpless does one feel when someone you love doesn't see what they are doing to themselves and the ones around them.

Then the anger turns to sadness.

I know what it is like trying to "help" someone - but it is much like nailing Jello to a tree if the person doesn't want to help themselves and they are not ready to commit to what they need to do. You only come away from the situation frustrated and angry that your effort is in vain.

One of my favorite quotes ever is this.

"If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." - Jim Rohn.

Hit The Trail With Faith 10K!

When I registered for this race it was mainly because a few friends were doing it, it was a trail race and I did like the fact that it benefited the hospital in the town that I grew up in!

Two days before the race I get this note from the race organizers...

"Thank you for registering for the Hit the Trail with Faith 5K and 10K. The race starts at 8:30, please pick up your bib, shirts and timing chip (if applicable)between 7:30 & 8:00 on race day. Both distances are out and backs. There is one water station for the 5K at the turn around point. There is a water station at the 10K turn around in addition to passing the 5K water station twice. The 10K goes down the canyon to the river, there is close to 800 feet in elevation change, this will be a tough a 10K! Please let us know if you want to change your distance, you may change your distance during the race as well, please tell us when you finish so the results are accurate.

See you Saturday!"

So Um yeah - the 10K I signed up for is difficult - after talking to my husband and him explaning to me what 800 feet was equivalent, I got even more nervous - and race morning I was pretty sure I didn't want to the race anymore. I went and got my bib number and found they had made a paperwork error and I was only signed up for the 5K - it took all I had in me to correct the error and tell them i was doing the 10K! It turned out that the race was about 50% asphalt road and 50% gravel road - so not the "Trail" I had in mind but I was committed (or is that I should be committed..)

The first mile my legs would not warm up and again I had visions of turning around at the 5K turnaround. I was also missing my running buddy - my Garmin (It is cracked and I need a new one) but it is so weird not knowing what pace I'm running or where I am mileage wise. I did say goodbye to my two friends that were doing the 5K and settled into a pace that felt pretty good because that is about where the downhill started. I knew I was going to have to walk most of the way back up so I took advantage of running as much of the downhill as I could. I was rewarded with the most amazing views of the American river!

This is just about where the aid station/10K turnaround point was - notice the start of the hill turning out of sight - trust me when I say that was just the beginning of the hill...

Amazing view of the American River! - I power walked the hill(s) - I wanted to have something left at the end of the race - plus it was HOT! There was very minimal shade out there and I found myself crossing the road several times to take advantage of what little shade there was.


This was the right in front of where the aid station/turnaround point was looking back to where I had come from - you got to the bottom of the big hill and had to climb up a small one to the aid station.

And here are the 4 of us at the turnaround point. The two of us that did the 5K had to drive the other two that did the 5K out to where we ran so they could really appreciate our elevation gain!

Oh and that Medal around my neck? First place in my age group for the 10K course! My friend in the blue got third place in her age group for the 10K course! Small races rule!

A Week in Review - The Good - The Bad and The Ugly!

Short and sweet post today!

The good? - I worked out three days this week - two days at the gym 60 minutes on the StairMaster each day and then ended the week with a 25 mile bike ride.

The Bad? - My food intake, stress and hormones - we had goodies at work three days this week and any other week I usually do a good job of eating in moderation and controlling my food intake - not this week - stress and hormones got the best of me and I overate big time. It has been a very long time since I have felt that out of control in this area.

The Ugly? - My weigh in this morning - 173.7 - Up 6.6 pounds.

As the saying goes - it is what it is!

Today starts a new week and I'm going to make the most of it and don't look back!

Recovering, Running and Losing!

Dads surgery went well and he is doing great! He was released from the hospital on Thursday and is at home now doing better than he did after the first surgery! He amazes me and I think of him often during runs when I'm breathing hard and I think - my dad has to go through the rest of his life without two lobes of his lungs. Modern medicine is an amazing thing!

Speaking of runs - I did my first trail race! I signed up for The Dirty Little Secret Trail race sometime ago and I completely forgot about it! I got distracted with my surgery then my dads and it wasn't until I got an email reminder about the race coming up that I remembered! How embarrassing!

My friend Dasie and I both did it (she did the long course 10.2 miles and I did the short course 5.8 miles) She started before me and then I waited for my start time. I was sunny - but windy and cold at the start line but I knew once I got running I would warm up! they made announcements about possible snakes on the trail, the creek crossing and that if "nature called" that we should leave our water bottle on the trail so the sweepers would know we were out on the trail still. Things that road runners don't usually have to worry about!

Dasie and I at the start line! Right after this pic I ran back to the car and grabbed my long sleeve running fleece - it was cold and very gusty!
Dasie took this pic along the trail - I decided before the race that I would run without my phone and Ipod so there was no picture taking for me - On one hand I'm glad I made that decision because if I would have stopped to take pics I wouldn't have made my time goal - but on the other hand I would have loved to have taken a pic of the creek crossing and the hill on the other side of the creek! It was so beautiful out there! I did take in some of the scenery, but I was working so hard on my footing and watching out for the snakes and poison oak they mentioned I don't think I took my eyes of the ground very much. I also really enjoyed running without my Ipod - at most times I felt like I was the only one out there - the nice thing about trail races is they are usually small and with the wave start they had I was running by myself for most of the race.

There was a very significant down hill heading towards the creek crossing and then the "creek" was about 20 steps across and really, really cold and then a really hard uphill that seemed to last forever. We had several water crossings but most of them were only two steps to get across. My feet stayed wet pretty much the entire race - just when I would think to myself that my feet were starting to dry I would approach another water crossing. The last water crossing only one foot got wet so the last mile was with one squishy shoe and one non-squishy shoe. Interesting feeling. I learned to appreciate trail shoes that drain well and the part wool trail socks that were recommended to me - no blisters!

My shoes!
Speaking of last mile - I did a really good job of fueling at the right time and conserving my energy at the race - I passed 6 people in the last mile - including a guy! I kept coming up behind him and he was walking and as I approached he would run ahead but then walk again. He did that four times and the 5th time I approached him he stepped off the single track trail and let me run past him!

Me and Dasie at the finish line! - I took off my blue fleece around the middle of the race, but then had to put it back on after I finished.
This race and a run I had on Wednesday is the first time since my surgery that I have been running any distance again and I feel great! Still just a little puffy but that will go away in time...

Last but not least - weigh in! I lost 1.8 this week!

I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym this week and getting some good workouts in!

A Sunday update really Early on a Monday

Just a quick update on things in this neck of the woods -

Dad ended up not having surgery last Monday - he got bumped for emergencies and then was finally told that it would be rescheduled - so that is why I'm up at 4AM on a Monday morning and blogging - I'm picking him up at 5AM and he will have surgery today.

I earned exactly 1 activity point last week - I didn't get any workouts in because it was my first full week back to work after my surgery and I was wiped out! I have also been puffy, swollen and have had pain off and on - I called my doctor and he said it was normal and could last up to three months! I'm just going to do my best to go with the flow and do what I can when I can.

Now for the good news - I tracked everything and stayed within my points. I didn't use a whole lot of weekly points since I wasn't very active and I lost 2.4 pounds for the week!

Stay tuned to see what this week will bring!

Walking Half-Marathons and Yo-Yoing!

Yesterday I walked the American River Parkway Half-Marathon! The good news? I finished! Two and a half weeks after surgery I walked a half marathon and finished! It took me 4 hours (that was my chip time - I stopped at several aid stations and made use of a chair a couple of times and once stopped to have a blister patched up) had I not stopped I'm not sure what my time would have been but probably in the 3:30 range. My surgery site didn't hurt at all - I kept expecting pain and never had any! I did have puffiness but not pain. I took it slow and kept evaluating everything to make sure I wasn't overdoing it but I felt pretty good. The one issue I did have was a blister on the bottom of my left foot. I don't get blisters so I'm not sure what caused this one, same shoes, same socks etc... go figure... I stopped at the 10 mile aid station and the medical guys there patched it up so I could keep on going and that helped.

Now to the Yo-Yo part of my post - I finally stepped on the scale this morning to evaluate the damage I did while recovering and it is 7.5 pounds. I need to lose 7.5 pounds to be able to weigh in within goal again. I know what I need to do - get back to basics and goal setting once again. Since Sunday is the first day of the week for me I have tracked everything and I have a plan in place for the rest of the week that involves staying within my points and tracking everything 100%. Workouts might have to wait because my Dad is having surgery so I will be visiting him after I get off from work and once he comes home he will need some assistance - but I'm going to try and get in whatever I can. I have to stop the Yo-Yo that is my maintenance right now.

Goals for this week

100% tracking
Don't go over my points
Workout 2 days this week (I'm sure I can get at least that in)

The road to recovery is paved with cupcakes!

I knew I was having surgery, I knew what they were doing and I still didn't expect to be so "down" to recover. Surgeons are a funny sort. They sound very optimistic and tell you that you will be "Up and around in no time." Well my "no-time" and his "no-time" is very different - as well as my "up and around" and his "up and around". In two weeks I have done very little physically and I'm still not 100% - I walked on Saturday but then paid the price and ended up puffy, swollen, exhausted and in bed the rest of the day.

My food was completely thrown off - I did OK most days, but when I over did it, I really over did it! I ate for comfort a lot!

I will do a weigh in on Sunday to asses the damage - that will give me time to get back to work tomorrow and get back into my routine. It will also give me time to work off a little bit of what I have already gained.

I really missed my routine and I even missed my healthy lunches and I'm looking forward to starting them back up tomorrow. I will not be hitting the gym again until next week (I hope!) to let my body get used to working again and see how that goes.

I asked my doctor when I was scheduled for surgery if I was going to be able to do the half marathon that I have already registered for on April 30th and he told me I should be able to, I might have to walk it instead of run it, so I am planning on walking it depending on how the rest of this week goes. One good thing is the race is on a Saturday and I will have the rest of the weekend to recover before the week starts over again!

Blog updating and accountability.

There is a direct link from the number of times I update my blog and the number on the scale - when I'm posting frequently and staying accountable the scale goes down and when I don't - well you know...

There has been some stress eating in my life right now - I have to have surgery on Tuesday morning and the thought of having stuff done to my body kinda worries me. Once I get through that though it will be at least two weeks of no or very little activity. I had to give up my 11 miler on Saturday so I went out to the pond and cheered everyone out and then met everyone at the aid station and encouraged them from there as well! It was great still being out there. On Sunday I got in a bike ride (which was followed by a very large and high point meal) but I needed to be out with friends and get my mind off things for a bit. I have only had surgery once before and this is a more involved procedure so I'm nervous, but it will also be interesting to see how my body heals and responds to anesthesia now that I'm not Obese.

The one thing I am debating on is when should I step on the scale and asses the damage. I was thinking of doing it Tuesday morning before surgery since my wonderful hubby is going to be basically controlling my meals and will keep me on track (there is really nothing bad to eat in our house, I'm not going to be able to run out myself to get stuff and the youngin' isn't old enough to drive!) - but then again the hubster will also get me pretty much whatever I ask for since he does know I eat for comfort. I also probably don't need another thing hanging over my head on Tuesday morning.

On another note - on the first of January there was a 100 day challenge set up by John Bingham and it got HUGE! There was a calendar and a website and I was thinking - I wanna do that!! Well for me it lasted less than 3 weeks, but for my - Daughter in law Jess - she rocked it!! She completed the 100 day challenge and I'm sure she learned a lot in the process!

Getting outside my comfort zone and a Tweet Up!

Part of the deal with my stair climb was, I joined a team of 9 others that I didn't know in real life. I knew two of them on Twitter (and then on Facebook) but we hadn't met in real life until the morning of the climb!This is our lovely team right before heading to the concourse level and then to the stairwell! Hazel (Our team captain) is in the little miss T-shirt in front and Susan is right behind and to the right in the black shirt! Hazel has a ton of energy and her and her husband John (the lone guy in the picture) joined us for breakfast after the climb - they are both so great! Susan is a fellow Weight Watcher, cupcake lover and all around great person! It was so nice to get to meet them both in person! Susan and I did two events on Saturday together - the stair climb and the Oakland Running Festival's twilight 5K. We parted ways and then I rode BART (outside my comfort zone #1 for the day) into Oakland to meet up for the 5k. (Race re-cap to come later).

We had plans to meet a large group for dinner at one place, it fell through, then it was just going to be me and Susan at a different place and then some others wanted us to meet with them and I said sure - so we met up at a place called Souley Vegan. (Outside my comfort zone #2 for the day) The menu was a little intimidating to me since I had never had vegan or soul food before and the table decided to do large platters of everything on the menu and we would just share. At this point I was thinking I could just grab a burger or something on the way to the hotel and I would just pretend to eat some and like it. I LOVED IT! They had both a deep fried tofu and a BBQ tofu that were wonderful! The fried Okra was delish! They had wonderful red beans and rice and a cornbread that would have been the death of me, but I had to be polite and not eat it all! I also tried greens! Yes greens! They were spicy and flavorful. The best part was a vegan Mac and Cheese - so yummy!! Not the type I place I would have chosen to eat at - but will go back to if I ever get the chance!

Fight For Air Stair Climb Re-cap!

I wanted to get some thoughts out before I lost them all! We got up bright and early on Saturday morning to make the drive to SF - it was rainy and icky and I wanted to leave in plenty of time to make sure we got there early so I wouldn't be rushed or stressed. Good thing to, because once we got down there the building parking entrance was on the other side of where the GPS told us to go and then we ended up on a road where we couldn't turn left and took the scenic route back to the building. We parked, got stuff gathered up and then headed into the building and I picked up my bib number and timing chip and I had plenty of time to get ready and take pics.
I found the rest of our team and we took a couple of group pics and then we headed to the stairwell - lining the entrance was paper and pens so you could write why you were climbing - I wrote "My Dad" and "Velda" on the wall - moved down a little more where the rest of my team was and at least one team member had written "Sabrina Hill's Dad" on the wall as well. Being in there and reading the names made me really emotional. Then we had another group photo taken right at the entrance to the stairwell - and then there I was in the stairwell and told to start! It all happened really quick - I remember passing a couple of people right away and then I settled into a good stride and my legs felt great - but my lungs were a different story - after about 15 floors my lungs hurt and they didn't stop hurting until I stopped at the finish and caught my breath! There were signs every couple of floors - this is one I snagged from a friends pics...Only 40 floors to go! Ha! Another one said "Are we there yet?" I was passed by some firefighters from Menlo park around floors 35-40 and one of them was casually chatting away on his cell phone! The water stations (and volunteers cheering!!) were every 8 floors and you had to actually exit the stairwell to get water (which I did at least 3 times..) and the last 15 flights of stairs were the hardest where I had lots of thoughts running through my mind all at once... Lung Cancer, Asthma, 9/11, how brave firefighters are, the party at the top, the view once I get there and the rest of our weekend. It is amazing what you think of when you are digging deep to finish something like this. It was way harder then I though it was going to be. I get to the top and cross the finish line and a cute little teen volunteer at the finish line looks at me all seriously and asks "Are you going to climb again?" I truly didn't understand what she was asking me at the time - I said huh? and she repeated the question and then I realized she was serious.. Um no sweetie, I'm not going to climb again.. she took my timing chip off my ankle and I went on my way... (turns out if you want to do it again you can - and people did - a lot of them firefighters who did their second climb in full gear..) - I head to a window to enjoy the view and I can't... I even asked someone if we are supposed to be able to see out the windows since they looked frosted over and they had to inform me that is was fog. (I'm such a tourist - or maybe I can blame it on the fact that I was still delirious from lack of oxygen...) - But a little after we finished the fog lifted and we got to admire the view!My official time was 20:10 - 1197 Stairs - 52 Floors Done! I always ask myself - will I do it again? Heck yes I will do it again, I have a time to beat! I can't wait!!

Back at Goal!!!

It's been a long time coming but I finally got my head in the game and got back at goal this morning! I had a great week! One that I started out the week with a high point day but then I met all my goals 100% and was rewarded with an awesome weight loss this morning that put me within my goal weight! I was down an amazing 4.6 pounds this week! I have a regular pattern of having big losses every so often and I could feel my body changing and more people were commenting that they could see that I was losing weight I knew it was just a matter of time and sticking with the program that I know works. I think changing up the exercise was a good thing for me - a little running, a little walking and a little stair climbing keeps me from getting bored with my routine and I plan on doing more bike soon and working some sort of upper body routine in there somewhere.

Saturday was SacFit and I decided not to do the 8 1/2 mile workout with the group (too much mileage last weekend and too many things going on next weekend - I needed a break) - I was going to take the boy out on the trail and do an easy 2 miles with him, but the weather was horrible and instead of making him miserable, we choose to go to the gym. I did 50 minutes of stairs and he played with some other kids in the child care and then we went back out to see the groups come in. Of course after the workout we headed to the cupcakery to get our after workout treat!

Next weekend will be a flurry of activity for me and the family - I'm taking part in the Fight For Air Climb in San Francisco - and that evening I will take BART into Oakland for the Oakland Running Festival's Twilight 5K - I'm meeting up with a couple of twitter buddies and after the 5K we will be having dinner at Miss Pearl's Jam House I don't know what I'm more excited about - doing the 5K and meeting new people or having dinner at the type of place I don't normally go to because it isn't exactly family friendly!! The Hubster and the boy will stay behind in SF and see a movie and get their own dinner.

The next morning is a Hike back in SF - the Barbary Coast Trail - it is an easy hike through some of the neatest areas of SF and I'm excited to show my little guy more of the city that he just loves! I'm hoping for good weather for the weekend and that the trip is enjoyable for my little guy - got to build on the excitement that he has right now!

So - goals for next week?

Workout 4 days this week! - This one stands because I need to workout - it makes me happy and offsets high point days :)
No eating out or splurging unless I have the points available. - This one I will do until Saturday ;)
100% tracking - Again, I will do this one until Saturday ;)

Saturday and Sunday will not be eat like a crazy woman days - but I will be pretty much taking those two days off. BUT - ONLY those two days off - in the past we have had a bad habit of saying "Well Saturday and Sunday are going to be bad so Friday doesn't matter and Monday won't matter either... I will not do that with this trip!

In the meeting today we talked about looking back to move forward - using a vehicle windshield as an example - you look in the rear view mirror - but only briefly and you mainly look through the windshield at where you are going, but it is still good to look back at where you came from so you can learn from it, but don't get so focused on the rear view mirror that you forget to look ahead.

A weekend update on a Monday...

This weekend was super busy and so I didn't have a chance to update on Sunday - it was full of wonderful activities!

Saturday morning was Sacfit and I did 7 miles which I ended up doing almost 100% walking - I walked with one person and we talked for a while and then she turned around early and I walked mostly by myself the rest of the way - it was nice to be with my thoughts and the 100% walking turned out to be a good thing in the end!

After Sacfit the Hubster and I visited a new cupcake shop that has opened up right down the street from where our running group meets. They were delish and I think it is going to be an after workout tradition! The place is called Payton's Cupcake Place and I highly recommend it!

After that we headed to the mall - I got three pairs of jeans that were badly needed because I only had one pair (yes I should really invest in some clothes now..) and I got two shirts from "Life is good" - I love their stuff, it is so soft and comfy! We also bought tea at Teavana (our new obsession) and we enjoyed a lunch out without a child since he was at a birthday party for the afternoon.

On Sunday morning I woke up and weighed - I'm down 1.6 for the week (only half the gain that I had - but that could be the fact that I ate out again on Saturday even though it was within points - salt content will throw my body off) and then the family headed downtown so I could run the Shamrockin' half marathon! I started out with two very fast walker buddies and my goal was to keep up with them and I did for the first 8 miles or so and then they kept getting ahead of me, then my goal was to keep them in sight, but that slipped away as well - they wanted to finish under 3 hours and I just wanted to finish since I didn't even know I was going to be running it until the day before! I had enough energy to run the last two miles straight and I came in 3:04:46 and it turns out my walking buddies faded a bit at the end and they only came in 30 second ahead of me! I'm very happy with my time especially since the first 8 miles was all walking - I sometimes can't believe what a quick walker I have become!

We had an awesome cheering squad all along the route and it was a great day - the rains held off until later on that afternoon and it was almost perfect weather to run a half marathon!

We also bought my little man his first pair of running shoes! We took him to Fleet Feet after the race and had him fitted - we have several events coming up that he will join us for and I'm super excited about him joining us on some of our adventures! He is finally showing interest in doing stuff with us and I'm going to take it while it lasts because I'm sure once he becomes a teenager it will be a different story!

Quick goal racap

Workout 4 days this week. - only got two days in because we bought a car in the middle of the week
No eating out or splurging unless I have the points available. - Accomplished!
100% tracking - Accomplished!

Going to stick with the same goals this week - I am going to have to be careful with my ankle - we went out to eat after the half-marathon and coming down the stairs at the restaurant I turned my ankle. Yes - Ironic... 7 miles on Saturday - 13.1 on Sunday and I turn the ankle coming out of the restaurant after our post-race meal... I iced it and it is wrapped and I'm going to baby it as much as I can - I see some bike workouts in my future this week....

I told you it was a busy weekend! I'm pooped!

A Sunday Goal Update!

So again to recap my Goals for the week were...

Workout 4 days this week.
No eating out or splurging unless I have the points available.
100% tracking

I worked out 4 days! It was hard to get the workouts in this week due to an abnormal schedule for me and the Hubster was out of town most of the week so that brought challenges at home as well, but I did it! I hit the gym 3 days and then had our normal Sacfit Saturday workout to make it 4!

The second goal got a little messed up on Day 7 - I actually thought I had messed up on day 6 but when I came home and tracked what I had at the Mexican restaurant that we went to unexpectedly I was still within my points (thanks to the workouts!) Day 7 came along and I had a plan, but too much alcohol on a wine tasting/brewery tour and I lost track of lots of stuff. I am happy to say that I did track everything that day later on that evening, but, I ended the week over my points by quite a bit.

The result was this mornings weigh in I was up 3.1 pounds. I know part of that will come back off quickly but the question is how much? A high point day and alcohol the day before weighing in isn't good - I'm willing to bet I will be down some of that tomorrow, but I want to be consistent with my weigh in days so there it is...

I will continue those goals this week and see what happens!

Continuing to make progress!

It's amazing what sticking to goals regularly can do! (Oh and working out 6 days last week doesn't hurt either!)

I did great on The Hubsters birthday - tracked everything and even though we unexpectedly ended eating out two meals instead of just one, I had done so well with the choices I made at lunch time that I felt I could splurge a little at dinner and I tracked and it was within my points (Of course I used flex points as well..) and I didn't go into the negative. We also made it a very active day by parking the car downtown and walking all over the place (6 miles total for the day!)

Saturday was Sacfit and I went with the Rowdy Reds again (they do 3 running and 1 walking interval) - I really miss running so much. I do appreciate a nice brisk walk, but sometimes, you just need a good therapeutic run to kick some things to the curb! that is just what I needed on Saturday.

I stepped on the scale this morning and I went from 169.1 to 166.9! Down 2.2 pounds for the week and only 2.4 pounds from being able to weigh in within 2 pounds of my goal weight! I'm so close now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

So as the saying goes if it isn't broke don't fix it - so my 3 goals will remain the same.

Workout 4 days this week.
No eating out or splurging unless I have the points available.
100% tracking

I achieved all three last week and actually exceeded my workout goal and did 6 days!

A Sunday Goal update!

So this week went well - I achieved my goals and the scale had me down .9 this week!

Saturday we went to the gym and I worked out on the elliptical. I'm not a fan and in the past I have never made it more than 20 minutes or so. I did 36 minutes and I probably could have done more, but the Hubster was bugging me to quit and the episode of Law and Order I was watching had ended so I stopped there. I figured out my problem on it was I wouldn't relax and I was always too tense. When I loosen up and let my body do what it wants to do then I'm fine!

I'm going to continue with the same goals again this week without adding anything new.

Workout 4 days this week.
No eating out or splurging unless I have the points available.
100% tracking

Again we have a meal out planned (Tomorrow is the Hubsters birthday) and I have already looked at the menu, decided what to eat and it is in my tracker for tomorrow. I will go over points, but since Sunday is the first day of my week I have flex points for it.

The following week will be challenging for me because the Hubster has a business trip which will leave me on my own for dinners. I have already made a trip to Trader Joes and gotten some things for me to eat but those days will be very long and I'm worried about balancing everything myself.

Randomness from my mind today...

So this week was a very good week - I got back on track - I journaled 100% (even the two really bad meals we had in San Francisco to start the week off and the cupcake!), I worked out 4 times this week, I felt in control and in charge, and I was rewarded on the scale - I went from 176.8 to 170.0! I have to put this loss into perspective so I don't expect those same results every week. I went from doing very poorly to doing really awesome pretty much overnight. I worked very hard at all 4 of my workouts and made it through a Zumba class just for something different to shake things up. I made sure not to undereat - which is where I usually get into trouble - I used all of my flex points and almost all of the activity points that I earned this week.

I'm going out to breakfast with my mom on Monday and I have already planned out my meal that I'm having. I'm not having the worst thing on the menu - it is middle of the road and I'm going to use flex points and I feel comfortable doing that because I already have the rest of the week planned out.

I have set 3 goals for the rest of the month.

1 - 100% tracking - the good the bad and the ugly - everything goes into my tracker!
2 - Workout 4 days a week - I would like to do more, but I know that 4 days is fair and anything else is icing on the cupcake!
3 - No eating out or splurging unless I already have the points for it! - This is a big one, too many times I will eat something and end up trying to work harder towards the end of the week to work it off. I need to work it off first - no exceptions!

The hubster and I sat down and planned our meals for the week and I feel confident that this will be another awesome week! With every good decision I make I get that much closer to being back at my goal weight!

I have learned a lot, but still have a ways to go...

Weight Watchers has taught me so much - I always say if my weight loss hadn't taken me 2 1/2 years I would not have learned many of the lessons I needed to keep my weight off. There is one important lesson that I have yet to learn though - eating out.

For many years I didn't allow myself to eat out and when I did it was a special occasion or a treat so I didn't order low point food, I splurged and never really taught myself to eat out and still stay in control. That method is fine when I only ate out occasionally - but lately our family has been eating out more often and that has led me to my current situation. I'm above goal - by a lot.

I need to learn that just because we got out doesn't mean it is a special occasion - sometimes it is by necessity. That means I need to stay on track and not act like it is a special occasion. Just because we are in a restaurant it doesn't mean I can eat whatever I want and it doesn't count. My body knows what I ate and it will act accordingly.

Yes I could go back to not eating out - but will I learn anything by that? Obviously not - I need to make better choices when I eat out, check the menu before I go there - figure out what to order and stick to that choice. If I choose to splurge on something I need to make sure I have the activity or the points in the bank to justify it. Work it off first - then splurge.

So that is my major goal for this month - plan better when it comes to eating out and earn activity first so I can justify my treats. The weight I have gained will come back off if I stick to this plan.

I have to keep my eyes on the most important rule - this is a lifestyle - not a diet - this is for life and I need to start treating it that way.

The most amazing 10K ever!

Sunday was my first 10K! Well yes I do know that I have done all the other mileages (half-marathon and full marathon) first - I guess I'm just an overachiever like that..

I started out the morning not sure what intervals I was going to do - I have done primarily walking for the last couple of seasons with the exception of the CIM relay which I did 3 run 1 walk and it worked out OK - so right before the race I decided that I would do those intervals again.

We had a big group of Sacfitters out there - most of them doing the 5K - but what a great group!
I felt really awesome the whole race and got lots of comments on my running fairy outfit - it is so much fun running all dressed up!

My official time is 1:21:15 - Average pace 13:05!

Sure I came in 33rd out of 37 in my age group - but that is an awesome time for me and I think it maybe my fastest average pace in a race - I will have to check out my past race times and see.

And after the race a group of us stayed to cheer in the last of the runners - there were lots still out doing the half marathon and we had so much fun!

And then there was this...I climbed a rock wall! - would I have done this 100 pounds ago? Heck no! I only went about halfway up - then I remembered I'm afraid of heights - but I did it! The most amazing part? I want to do it again! I'm thinking about going to an indoor place and I won't be as intimidated by the height part and I can practice the whole letting go and leaning back to come down thing...

After the race excitement was all over I met my wonderful hubster and younger son at the mall where they had stopped by the Apple store and bought me a present! They are so awesome!! I got this...I'm such a lucky girl :)

Goals and such for the new year!

First and foremost - I was not able to weigh in in the month of December within my goal weight - I'm currently about 7 pounds above - but I enjoyed the holidays and I'm not looking back - I'm looking forward. I have some goals to meet this month and the first one is to stay on track with my food and tracking so I can weigh in within my goal weight this month.

Secondly there is a cause that is very important to me and I have wanted to do a fundraiser for a couple of years now, but the climb has always been on the same weekend as me doing a full marathon so it wasn't in the cards. This year I have made it my number one priority and I have signed up for the Fight For Air Climb in San Francisco in March. I have a good friend that was diagnosed with Lung Cancer. By the time she was diagnosed it had spread to her brain and she wasn't given much time - she is beating the odds and has survived longer that the doctors have given her. There is also my dad that got his lung cancer diagnosis this year (and I might say he is doing very well with his treatment) and my older son who has lived with asthma almost all his life. These are my heroes - living with a lung disease everyday of their life.

So this is what I'm going to do - I'm going to train to climb 1,197 stairs up the 52 floors of 555 California Street in San Francisco and I'm going to go there in March and race up those stairs! (look at all the tiny buildings at the foot of the tall one!)


What do I need from you? Not much really - I need to fund raise 100 dollars. A drop in the bucket, I'm thinking just a couple of bucks here and there and I will meet my goal in no time at all! Here is the link to my personal page Bre's Page You can donate any amount you choose simply buy going to my page and clicking "Support Sabrina!"

Thanks in advance for the support and encouragement - I'm very much looking forward to doing an event for a cause that means so much to me!