Dirty, Little Secret

My dirty, little secret is that I punked out on my 11-12 mile training jog this weekend. I didn't do it on Sat. because I had plans for St. Patty's Day. And I had every intention of doing it on Sun., but I didn't. I got up, put on my jogging gear, got all my stuff together and went over to my parents' house for breakfast and to throw in some laundry. Yea, I ended up staying there all day and falling asleep on the couch for 3 hours. Real nice.... I'm a lazy bum. It was a really good day to jog too. A little on the chilly side, but sunny, and not a whole lot of wind. Oh well. Better luck this week.

11-12 Miles... Yikes

Well, this weekend is my 11-12 mile training jog. I'm really nervous about it. Last weekend I completed my 10 mile training, but it wasn't pretty...at all. First, although I finished, I had to walk the last 1.5 miles because I just couldn't jog anymore. Second, after I finished the jog, I was sick for about an hour and puked. Not good. Not good at all. I hope that doesn't happen this time around. It wasn't an enjoyable experience. Part of it can be explained, I think, by the fact that it was the first time I had attempted a training jog outside. I wasn't very good at pacing myself. Sometimes I would be jogging at a 13 min./mile pace and other times at an 11 min./mile pace. I wasn't consistent. Other than that, I can't explain why I felt so bad afterwards.

The upside of my jog last weekend was I got to use my brand new Garmin Forerunner for the first time and it was fantastic. I love it, love it, love it. I don't know why I've waited so long to use it. Oh wait, I know why, because it's been winter and it's been gross and I haven't wanted to jog outside.

On a slightly different note, my weight loss efforts haven't been going so great. I had a 0.6 lb. loss over the past 2 weeks, but it was pure luck. I ate a large, doublecheeseburger extra value meal from McDonald's yesterday for lunch. Not my finest moment. The rest of the past 2 weeks haven't been much better. I don't know why I can't get back on track...it's very frustrating. Hopefully, better luck this week.

9 Down, 4.1 to Go

I jog/walked 9 miles yesterday. Yay for me! It went pretty well. I was doing great for the first 6.25 miles. I felt great; my legs weren't overtired and my lungs didn't feel like they were going to explode. But then I got a really bad cramp across my ribs, so I had to walk for 7 mins. (about .5 mile) until the cramp went away. After the cramp, I had to slow down a little bit and switch from a 3 min. jog/1 min. walk split to a 3 min. jog/2 min. walk split, but I made it in about 2 hrs., 10 mins. I'm not going to be breaking any records (except for maybe the slowest 26 year old ever), but at least I'm going to finish the race.

I have approximately 8 weeks of training left before my race. My goals for the next 8 weeks are (1) do ALL of my scheduled training (code for stop skipping the cross-training days) and (2) get back on track with my weight loss efforts, so I don't have to carry as much weight 13.1 miles on race day.

I'm Back

Sorry, I have been MIA lately. It's been a combo of things - busy with my job, computer issues, laziness. But I'm back. Things have been up and down the past couple of weeks. One thing that has definitely been up is my weight...boo. I've gained about 3 lbs. this month despite my 1/2 marathon training. I think the weight gain is, in part, due to my new office mates at work. They have atrocious eating habits, i.e. most of their meals come from the vending machine and consist of chips and/or candy and soda. Due to my lack of conviction and almost non-existent will power, they have led me down this path as well for the past couple of weeks. Lucky for them, they don't have to worry about their weight, but for me, it all ends today.

Training has been going okay. Last week was a bad week. I only made it to the gym once for my workouts and on Sat. I didn't complete my 8-mile training jog. I did 4 miles and then did almost 7 miles on the bike. I copped out; I just didn't feel like jogging anymore and I told myself that it was too busy at the gym to continue for another 4 miles. I had been kicked off my treadmill because people were waiting, but I could've waited about 5 mins. and gotten another one. This week has been much better. I felt good during my shorter jogs and cross-training this week and tomorrow I WILL complete my 9-mile training jog. It might take me forever and a day, but I will do it.

My final observation for this post is: Britney Spears foreshadowed her own demise. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics of her song "Lucky"? I pondered this on the treadmill a couple days ago when the song played on my iPod.

"She's so lucky, she's a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there's nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night

Lost in an image, in a dream
But there's no one there to wake her up
And the world is spinning, and she keeps on winning
But tell me what happens when it stops?"

Apparently, when it stops you marry K-Fed, pop out 2 kids in short succession, have a mental breakdown and shave your head. This should be a lesson to everyone ;-).