I am pleased to say that we escaped from the house today! Nick went back to school after a nearly three week holiday break, as did Jack. Nick was really excited to go back to school, but Jack wasn't quite as thrilled with the idea. It was a rainy day here, but the temps were mild enough that the snow is melting rapidly. On Sunday, it is supposed to be about 55 degrees, which is nearly 70 degrees warmer than it was last Sunday. Got to love St. Louis weather!
I will be adding another race to my 2014 calendar! I just received an e-mail today about an upcoming race in February, the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge Run. http://bigriverrunning.com/bridgerun/index.php
About three years ago, ground was broken on a new bridge connecting Missouri and Illinois and it is set to open on February 9th. On February 8th, runners will be given the opportunity to traverse the bridge before it is open, which I think is pretty awesome. The new bridge will be named in honor of Stan "the Man" Musial, former Cardinals player and all around great guy, who passed away last January. He is a pretty big deal to Cardinal Nation and the city of St. Louis in general. Stan's number when he played for the Cardinals was 6, so this race is, of course, a 6K. I was seriously considering running this race for a number of reasons, but what sealed the deal is that my Mama is going to be a race volunteer! I love that she is volunteering for a race and I'm proud of her! I'm looking forward to seeing her at a much needed water station.
If anyone in the STL area wants to join me, I'd love company for the race!
Happy Friday to all!
"Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."
My journey to a healthier life
Friday, January 10, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
A little inspiration
As I mentioned yesterday, I am getting really antsy to start training and running again. I am still a little nervous about the level of commitment involved as most of the training plans I am looking into involve 5-6 days of running per week. However, today, I came across the video below posted on the Run Like A Mother Facebook page and it really inspired me, so I wanted to share it with you.
A woman posted a time lapse video of her visiting the gym for 100 days. I empathized with her completely at the beginning of the video; you could feel her frustration and sadness and I have been there before. As the days progress, she blossoms and you can't help but share in her joy at the end of the video. Her enthusiasm and joy are contagious! I'm going to keep this link handy when I need a little inspiration and I hope a little bit of her dedication and commitment rub off on me in the coming weeks.
http://www.wimp.com/womangym/
At the end of her video, there is a link to https://giveit100.com/, which invites visitors to "practice something for 100 days" and to take a video every day. It looks like there are some other great videos on the site, so I'm looking forward to checking those out.
As of midnight last night, the school district we live in tweeted that they were planning to have school in session today, but I awoke to the sound of our house phone ringing at a little after 5 a.m. this morning with a message that school was closed again, due to additional snowfall overnight (not much, maybe an inch, but enough to make the still somewhat messy roads even messier). I appreciate that they have a phone tree to alert us of closures, because back in my day, you had to get up and watch the news to see if school was closed, but darned if that phone call doesn't scare me every time. We don't get a lot of calls on our land line, so when it rings at 5 a.m., I can't help but think it is an emergency.
I probably should have bundled up the boys and taken them outside to play in the snow since it was actually pretty mild outside, but I'm recovering from the sinus and ear infections and Jack has the sniffles, so I didn't want to risk it. It probably would have done us some good to get outside for a bit, but we enjoyed watching movies and the boys discovered that our recliner in our family room makes a great indoor slide! I love their ingenuity and seeing their imagination come to life!
Feel free to share any additional inspirational stories or videos below (especially your own stories!). I would love to have an abundance of motivational and inspirational stories to keep me going during training!
"The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you."
A woman posted a time lapse video of her visiting the gym for 100 days. I empathized with her completely at the beginning of the video; you could feel her frustration and sadness and I have been there before. As the days progress, she blossoms and you can't help but share in her joy at the end of the video. Her enthusiasm and joy are contagious! I'm going to keep this link handy when I need a little inspiration and I hope a little bit of her dedication and commitment rub off on me in the coming weeks.
http://www.wimp.com/womangym/
At the end of her video, there is a link to https://giveit100.com/, which invites visitors to "practice something for 100 days" and to take a video every day. It looks like there are some other great videos on the site, so I'm looking forward to checking those out.
As of midnight last night, the school district we live in tweeted that they were planning to have school in session today, but I awoke to the sound of our house phone ringing at a little after 5 a.m. this morning with a message that school was closed again, due to additional snowfall overnight (not much, maybe an inch, but enough to make the still somewhat messy roads even messier). I appreciate that they have a phone tree to alert us of closures, because back in my day, you had to get up and watch the news to see if school was closed, but darned if that phone call doesn't scare me every time. We don't get a lot of calls on our land line, so when it rings at 5 a.m., I can't help but think it is an emergency.
I probably should have bundled up the boys and taken them outside to play in the snow since it was actually pretty mild outside, but I'm recovering from the sinus and ear infections and Jack has the sniffles, so I didn't want to risk it. It probably would have done us some good to get outside for a bit, but we enjoyed watching movies and the boys discovered that our recliner in our family room makes a great indoor slide! I love their ingenuity and seeing their imagination come to life!
Feel free to share any additional inspirational stories or videos below (especially your own stories!). I would love to have an abundance of motivational and inspirational stories to keep me going during training!
"The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you."
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Cabin fever and Race Calendar
On Sunday night before the temperature really plummeted, I went outside and played in the snow like a kid. I had to practically twist Nick's arm to come outside with me and he looked at me like I was crazy as I made snow angels in the huge snow drifts in our backyard. We don't get that much measurable snow, or at least it hasn't seemed like it the past few winters, so I wanted to enjoy it for a little bit.
I am now ready for the snow to go away, thank you very much. Nick's school was called off again today, but I think that was the right call. I saw so many posts on Facebook yesterday about the horrible condition of the roads and Matt told me when he got home that he was glad the boys and I were at home yesterday. It normally takes him between 7-10 minutes to get from his office to the highway and last night it took him 45 minutes to go the same distance. However, after 4 days being home bound, Mama Roeseler and her two boys have a bit of cabin fever.
The boys and I are usually out and about, so it's rare for us to be home so long. I would much rather us be safe, don't get me wrong, but we've pretty much run the gamut of fun snow day activities. Jack and I have been playing a game for a few days involving me trying to keep him away from his Daddy's computer. It pretty much looked like Fort Knox today; the third time was a charm and kept him out of the area where Matt's computer is, but he sat next to it for a few minutes and I could see the wheels spinning in his head trying to figure out how to get to it. He's so curious and adventurous! We've watched a lot of movies, snuggled, cleaned, read, played, and made another batch of chocolate chip cookies. Nick made the cookies all by himself and very sweetly told me while reading the recipe that there was an ingredient missing; love. He is such a sweetheart!
In any case, yesterday our cabin fever reached its peak and it was a bit of a rough Mommy day for me. So, after Jack fell asleep last night, I made a cup of tea and curled up with my Run Like a Mother book. It has been months since I've read a book and it was really nice to lose myself a bit in the book and enjoy some quiet "me" time.
I was thinking tonight about how restless I am and how anxious I am to start training for the half. I think my gnarly ear infection and this crazy weather was fortuitous in the sense that I was very apprehensive just over a week ago to get back to running and preparing for this race. Now that I am not able to train, I am yearning to hit the pavement. I need to follow up with my doctor to make sure my ear is healing properly before I begin my training, but I'm hoping that perhaps I don't have to wait until the 20th and I can get started at some point next week.
I've also been giving some thought to my race calendar for the year and this is what I have so far:
- St. Patrick's Day Run (5 miles), Saturday, March 15th: I walked most of this race last year, although I did a few running spurts. I was so terribly sore afterwards, too. I am looking forward to running this bad boy this year!
- GO! St. Louis Half Marathon, Sunday, April 6th: !!!!!
- Make Tracks for the Zoo 5K, mid-May (Date TBD): I've done this race for the past few years, with the exception of the year I had Jack. Last year, Nick joined me and participated in the Kids Run. It's a great event!
- GO! St. Louis Halloween Half Marathon, Sunday, October 12th: Last year, I participated in the 10K and loved every minute of it. Costumes are encouraged and it was just a great race overall. Provided all goes well in April, I'm looking forward to making this my second half marathon.
I'd also really like to do the Color Run and Hot Chocolate 5K's again this year and I may sprinkle some other races in, as well. What is on your race calendar for 2014?
"Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running."
I am now ready for the snow to go away, thank you very much. Nick's school was called off again today, but I think that was the right call. I saw so many posts on Facebook yesterday about the horrible condition of the roads and Matt told me when he got home that he was glad the boys and I were at home yesterday. It normally takes him between 7-10 minutes to get from his office to the highway and last night it took him 45 minutes to go the same distance. However, after 4 days being home bound, Mama Roeseler and her two boys have a bit of cabin fever.
The boys and I are usually out and about, so it's rare for us to be home so long. I would much rather us be safe, don't get me wrong, but we've pretty much run the gamut of fun snow day activities. Jack and I have been playing a game for a few days involving me trying to keep him away from his Daddy's computer. It pretty much looked like Fort Knox today; the third time was a charm and kept him out of the area where Matt's computer is, but he sat next to it for a few minutes and I could see the wheels spinning in his head trying to figure out how to get to it. He's so curious and adventurous! We've watched a lot of movies, snuggled, cleaned, read, played, and made another batch of chocolate chip cookies. Nick made the cookies all by himself and very sweetly told me while reading the recipe that there was an ingredient missing; love. He is such a sweetheart!
In any case, yesterday our cabin fever reached its peak and it was a bit of a rough Mommy day for me. So, after Jack fell asleep last night, I made a cup of tea and curled up with my Run Like a Mother book. It has been months since I've read a book and it was really nice to lose myself a bit in the book and enjoy some quiet "me" time.
I was thinking tonight about how restless I am and how anxious I am to start training for the half. I think my gnarly ear infection and this crazy weather was fortuitous in the sense that I was very apprehensive just over a week ago to get back to running and preparing for this race. Now that I am not able to train, I am yearning to hit the pavement. I need to follow up with my doctor to make sure my ear is healing properly before I begin my training, but I'm hoping that perhaps I don't have to wait until the 20th and I can get started at some point next week.
I've also been giving some thought to my race calendar for the year and this is what I have so far:
- St. Patrick's Day Run (5 miles), Saturday, March 15th: I walked most of this race last year, although I did a few running spurts. I was so terribly sore afterwards, too. I am looking forward to running this bad boy this year!
- GO! St. Louis Half Marathon, Sunday, April 6th: !!!!!
- Make Tracks for the Zoo 5K, mid-May (Date TBD): I've done this race for the past few years, with the exception of the year I had Jack. Last year, Nick joined me and participated in the Kids Run. It's a great event!
- GO! St. Louis Halloween Half Marathon, Sunday, October 12th: Last year, I participated in the 10K and loved every minute of it. Costumes are encouraged and it was just a great race overall. Provided all goes well in April, I'm looking forward to making this my second half marathon.
I'd also really like to do the Color Run and Hot Chocolate 5K's again this year and I may sprinkle some other races in, as well. What is on your race calendar for 2014?
"Running has given me the courage to start, the determination to keep trying, and the childlike spirit to have fun along the way. Run often and run long, but never outrun your joy of running."
Monday, January 6, 2014
Snow Day
The entire Roeseler family was home today due to Snowmageddon 2014, but unfortunately it was too cold to actually do any fun snow day activities. Unless you count shoveling snow as a fun snow day activity, and I don't. Although, I guess I got a workout in today. Shoveling for 90 minutes has to burn a couple hundred calories, right?? Matt and I tackled the driveway and front stairs and we are now able to get both of our cars out if we need to. I love our driveway for about 10 months out of the year, because we have ample parking for shenanigans at our house. It is a bear, though, when it snows and needs to be shoveled. Our typical m.o. is to shovel two tire tracks down the length of the driveway so we can get out, but the amount of snow we got over the weekend necessitated a larger area of removal. Some of the driveway had virtually no snow, which was great, because it meant we had less to shovel. Other areas had drifts that were easily 2 - 2 1/2 feet deep. While I was shoveling a path up our front stairs for the mail carrier, the snow came up to my thighs in places. The wind was crazy last night, which I'm sure explains all the horrendous snow drifts. We tackled the driveway in spurts, though, because it was so freaking cold. We waited until it warmed up to a balmy 2 degrees before we headed out, but the windchill was still well below zero. It was nice to see the temps above zero, albeit briefly, because the high was only supposed to be -1 today. It was nice to warm up with some delicious hot tea and a warm shower after shoveling. I am incredibly grateful for our roof over our heads, heat, and warm, cozy blankets!
I was really nervous about posting my starting and current weights yesterday; enough so, that I thought about deleting that information from my post several times. Honestly, though, I knew at some point that I would post the numbers to show how far I've come and I figured yesterday was as good a time as any. I really appreciate a comment that I got from Jessica (http://littlemoreeachday.wordpress.com/) about how sharing my progress might help someone else and I hadn't thought of that. As she mentioned, it can be really frustrating at times trying to find others who have a similar story to yours or who have similar goals. I remember finding great blogs when I first started out, but it seemed to me that no one else was at the same starting weight or had as much weight to lose as I did. It makes you wonder if what you are trying to do is even a possibility.
It wasn't until I found Katie at http://www.runsforcookies.com/ that I thought "There is someone like me. If she can do it, so can I." I, of course, have found other great blogs and I know that what I set out to do is possible, but it helped finding Katie's blog and reading about her success, determination, will power, and even at times, her set backs and frustrations. I started this blog for two main reasons: 1) to hold myself accountable and 2) to help others and if posting my starting weight and current weight, embarrassing as it might have been, reaches out to someone and gives them hope that they can reach their goals, too, then it was absolutely worth it.
It looks like we will be at home again tomorrow as the wind chill advisory isn't set to expire until around noon. Maybe then it will be warm enough for snowmen building and sledding? We will see, I guess!
I love the quote below, since I definitely need to find my determination somewhere and put it to good use!
"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
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| We left a giant mound of snow in the corner of our driveway. We were exhausted and hey, we can at least get our cars out. That snow pile may be there until May though, it's nearly taller than my oldest son. |
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| The snow here near the base of the stairs came up to my thighs. Oy! |
It wasn't until I found Katie at http://www.runsforcookies.com/ that I thought "There is someone like me. If she can do it, so can I." I, of course, have found other great blogs and I know that what I set out to do is possible, but it helped finding Katie's blog and reading about her success, determination, will power, and even at times, her set backs and frustrations. I started this blog for two main reasons: 1) to hold myself accountable and 2) to help others and if posting my starting weight and current weight, embarrassing as it might have been, reaches out to someone and gives them hope that they can reach their goals, too, then it was absolutely worth it.
It looks like we will be at home again tomorrow as the wind chill advisory isn't set to expire until around noon. Maybe then it will be warm enough for snowmen building and sledding? We will see, I guess!
I love the quote below, since I definitely need to find my determination somewhere and put it to good use!
"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
One year ago today
One year ago today (on 1/5), I decided to get serious about my health and my weight. I almost always experience that typical New Year's resolution-fueled drive to lose weight and be healthy, but it never lasts more than a few months. This time, though, I had the added desire to lose weight to avoid diabetes. Having experienced gestational diabetes with Jack, I knew I wanted to do all that I could to avoid diabetes later in life. I also wanted more energy to enjoy life with Matt and the boys. I started tracking my food intake using MyFitnessPal and I began training for a marathon relay that took place in early April 2013. I've certainly had my highs and lows (hello November and December) this year, but in the past 12 months, I've participated in said marathon relay, walked a few 5Ks, become a runner who participated in several 5Ks and a 10K, started a blog about my journey, and I've lost 58 lbs and kept it off.
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| Christmas 2012 |
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| Christmas 2013 |
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| The hubs and I. Both "losers" in 2013. He's down almost 30 lbs and I'm down 58! |
I've been really reluctant (embarrassed, terrified, shy, you name it) to post my before and after numbers, so I've been referring to everything in pounds lost and how much more I want to lose. However, today, I'm going to suck it up and share the results. What better time than on the one year anniversary of my journey, right? Right. This is also a huge kick in my ass to remind myself that I never want to go back to where I was, so I'm going to put it out there on the Internet. So here goes nothing.
When I weighed in last year on January 5th, I weighed 286.2 lbs. Yep. Gross. Ridiculous. How did I let myself get there? (A whole other blog post, really.) Let's move on to lovelier things, shall we, because while that was terrifying and I'm not proud of where I was, I am damn proud of where I am today.
When I weighed in last year on January 5th, I weighed 286.2 lbs. Yep. Gross. Ridiculous. How did I let myself get there? (A whole other blog post, really.) Let's move on to lovelier things, shall we, because while that was terrifying and I'm not proud of where I was, I am damn proud of where I am today.
When I weighed in this morning, I was 227.9 lbs for a total weight loss in 12 months of 58.3 lbs. Yahoo! I would really love to get down to a goal weight of 180, but if I can get under 200 that would just be delightful.
2013 was a really great year and not just weight/health wise and I can't wait for what 2014 has in store. I'm trying to keep my "resolutions" short, sweet, and realistic this year:
- Enjoy life and live in the moment
- This includes spending more quality time with Matt and the boys and trying not to take on too much. It has been spectacular taking a break from the daily grind the past two weeks. A little break from work, PTO, Cub Scouts, homework, etc... was really good for my mental health. Every now and then I have this thought that maybe I spend far too much time trying to create memories for the boys instead of enjoying the moments we are in now. These are the deep thoughts I have at night. I came across a great article about this subject a few days ago and it's worth a read if you feel the same way sometimes: http://www.modernmom.com/53a7b8b4-3b45-11e3-8407-bc764e04a41e.html)
- Finish my first half marathon in April
- Get down to my goal weight of 180, so just shy of losing another 50 lbs. Since I lost that much and then some this year, I think that is fairly realistic, although I realize that as I get closer to my goal weight it will be harder to lose weight and I will undoubtedly experience plateaus.
Here's to a great 2014!
Thank you also for the words of encouragement about my setback and ear infections! I am slowly feeling better, although you definitely still need to talk into my good (right) ear! Honestly, even if I felt up to starting my training tomorrow, it wouldn't happen. Nearly the entire city is shutdown tomorrow after we experienced Snowmageddon 2014 today and are expecting bitterly cold temperatures with wind chills in the -15 to -30 range tomorrow. Our "high" tomorrow is -1. I haven't seen the official snowfall totals yet, but there are drifts in my backyard that come up to the top of my calves, nearly to my knees. I think the pictures below speak for themselves.
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| I can barely see the top of my front tire. Fun times. |
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| I don't think I've seen this much snow in the nearly 20 years I've lived here. |
Stay safe and warm to those of you who are in the midst of this arctic cold Snowmageddon!
I couldn't agree more with the quote below. I might add that in addition to finding what works for you (everyone is different and what works for someone else, may not work for you), you have to find something that is sustainable. It's not a quick fix; it's a lifestyle change and you have to be able to stick with it day after day.
"The only successful way to reach and maintain a healthy weight is to find what works for you."
Friday, January 3, 2014
Frustrated...a setback
Well, sadly, I am not going to be able to start my half marathon training on Monday as I planned. While I was slightly nervous to start training, I was looking forward to that start date and to getting back in my groove. Alas, my body had other ideas for me.
I've been fighting what I thought was a cold since last weekend, but recently I began to suspect that I actually had a sinus infection. Not a big deal, but yesterday at work I fainted. That is a big deal. It freaked me out a bit and I, of course, starting googling everything I could on the subject. I thought that maybe I had fallen asleep because the night before I stayed up entirely too late, but I think I definitely fainted. I waited a few minutes and then drove home with the intention of going straight to bed. As I was getting ready to fall asleep, I noticed what felt like fluid in my ear. I figured some water had made its way into my ear from my shower, but then the pain started. It gradually got worse and I couldn't find any position to be comfortable in. Matt came upstairs to find me sitting in bed, rocking myself while holding my ear and crying. I'm sure it wasn't pretty. I couldn't believe how painful it was, but I chalked up my reaction to being sleep deprived. Matt looked up some remedies online and suggested a warm compress and olive oil in the ear. I was very skeptical about the olive oil, but I was desperate for relief and sleep so we gave it a try. I must say, the olive oil was miraculous! I'm still not exactly sure what it did, but a few tiny drops of olive oil combined with a warm compress alleviated the ear pain enough that I could finally sleep.
This morning my ear pain was gone, but my ear was still tender to the touch and I could tell there was still a lot of fluid in the ear. It feels like I have my head in a fish tank; every sound I hear is muffled by the fluid in my ear. I decided I had better go to the doctor to see if I could get some medicine for my sinus infection and probable ear infection. I had two nurse practitioners look at my ear and their responses were as follows:
Practitioner 1: Oh, wow. Your ear is pissed. (it made me laugh, but is that the clinical definition? My ear is pissed?) No wonder you couldn't sleep last night. If you could see your ear, you'd understand. (I'll take your word for it.)
Practitioner 2 looking at my ear at the request of Practitioner 1: Oh. Yikes.
That did not sound good. Practitioner 1 did not think my eardrum had ruptured because she could not find the perforation but she wanted Practitioner 2 to take a look for a second opinion. Practitioner 2 suggested that we treat it as a rupture. Fun. I asked if it would heal and I was assured it would, although I may have some scarring. It appears that I have both an inner and outer ear infection and I guess possibly a rupture. Luckily I have good medicine and should be on the mend soon.
I asked Practitioner 1 at the end of our visit if I could start my half training on Monday, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer (I should note that I have no desire to run at the moment, but I figured I might feel up to it on Monday). She recommended I hold off on training until my ear heals, as the infections could affect my equilibrium and were likely the cause of my fainting spell yesterday.
It was all very strange, especially given that my ear was completely fine until about 8 last night. I'm a bit disappointed about not being able to start training on Monday, although with the amount of snow we are expecting and temperatures expected in the negative degrees, maybe I am not that disappointed. Honestly, though, the best thing I can do is rest and make sure my body heals so I can tackle training head on when I do start. I did have a minor panic attack when I thought about knocking two weeks off of my training. I looked at the calendar, though, and even if I can't start training until the 20th of this month, I will still have just shy of 11 weeks to train, which is completely doable.
How have you dealt with circumstances that hinder your training? Any words of advice?
I hope that if you are in the paths of these gnarly winter storms that you are staying safe and warm!
"Running is an art and the runner the artist."
I've been fighting what I thought was a cold since last weekend, but recently I began to suspect that I actually had a sinus infection. Not a big deal, but yesterday at work I fainted. That is a big deal. It freaked me out a bit and I, of course, starting googling everything I could on the subject. I thought that maybe I had fallen asleep because the night before I stayed up entirely too late, but I think I definitely fainted. I waited a few minutes and then drove home with the intention of going straight to bed. As I was getting ready to fall asleep, I noticed what felt like fluid in my ear. I figured some water had made its way into my ear from my shower, but then the pain started. It gradually got worse and I couldn't find any position to be comfortable in. Matt came upstairs to find me sitting in bed, rocking myself while holding my ear and crying. I'm sure it wasn't pretty. I couldn't believe how painful it was, but I chalked up my reaction to being sleep deprived. Matt looked up some remedies online and suggested a warm compress and olive oil in the ear. I was very skeptical about the olive oil, but I was desperate for relief and sleep so we gave it a try. I must say, the olive oil was miraculous! I'm still not exactly sure what it did, but a few tiny drops of olive oil combined with a warm compress alleviated the ear pain enough that I could finally sleep.
This morning my ear pain was gone, but my ear was still tender to the touch and I could tell there was still a lot of fluid in the ear. It feels like I have my head in a fish tank; every sound I hear is muffled by the fluid in my ear. I decided I had better go to the doctor to see if I could get some medicine for my sinus infection and probable ear infection. I had two nurse practitioners look at my ear and their responses were as follows:
Practitioner 1: Oh, wow. Your ear is pissed. (it made me laugh, but is that the clinical definition? My ear is pissed?) No wonder you couldn't sleep last night. If you could see your ear, you'd understand. (I'll take your word for it.)
Practitioner 2 looking at my ear at the request of Practitioner 1: Oh. Yikes.
That did not sound good. Practitioner 1 did not think my eardrum had ruptured because she could not find the perforation but she wanted Practitioner 2 to take a look for a second opinion. Practitioner 2 suggested that we treat it as a rupture. Fun. I asked if it would heal and I was assured it would, although I may have some scarring. It appears that I have both an inner and outer ear infection and I guess possibly a rupture. Luckily I have good medicine and should be on the mend soon.
I asked Practitioner 1 at the end of our visit if I could start my half training on Monday, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer (I should note that I have no desire to run at the moment, but I figured I might feel up to it on Monday). She recommended I hold off on training until my ear heals, as the infections could affect my equilibrium and were likely the cause of my fainting spell yesterday.
It was all very strange, especially given that my ear was completely fine until about 8 last night. I'm a bit disappointed about not being able to start training on Monday, although with the amount of snow we are expecting and temperatures expected in the negative degrees, maybe I am not that disappointed. Honestly, though, the best thing I can do is rest and make sure my body heals so I can tackle training head on when I do start. I did have a minor panic attack when I thought about knocking two weeks off of my training. I looked at the calendar, though, and even if I can't start training until the 20th of this month, I will still have just shy of 11 weeks to train, which is completely doable.
How have you dealt with circumstances that hinder your training? Any words of advice?
I hope that if you are in the paths of these gnarly winter storms that you are staying safe and warm!
"Running is an art and the runner the artist."
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a brilliant farewell to 2013 and that you are having an amazing 2014 so far! We had a wonderful New Year's Eve, which started off with a yummy breakfast with my Mom at Bread Co., followed by some bumming at the mall, and concluded with a fun night with friends! What a great way to ring in the New Year!
Nick also had his very first (non-family) sleepover last night! My little guy is growing up so fast! He had a wonderful time and is already asking me when we can have his friend over to our house to spend the night. He and Jack both stayed awake until midnight last night, but interestingly enough, Nick crashed tonight before Jack. He partied hard, that sweet boy.
I intended to post my recap for The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge yesterday, but time got away from me and I wasn't able to blog. As a reminder, my original goal at the end of August was to lose 24 lbs. by the end of the year, but I decided that my goal was a bit of a stretch. I modified my goal to 18.7 lbs at the end of October. So without further ado, my final number for The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge is 4 lbs lost. No where near the nearly 19 lbs. I had hoped to lose at the start of the challenge and a far cry from the almost 13 lb. weight loss I had attained at the beginning of November. I'm a little pissed at myself for gaining 8 (!) freaking pounds over the past two months, but I suppose to look at it on the bright side, I still lost weight in this challenge. It's a small silver lining and I mean small. I really don't like not meeting a challenge, but as with my first weight loss challenge, this challenge taught me a few things:
Nick also had his very first (non-family) sleepover last night! My little guy is growing up so fast! He had a wonderful time and is already asking me when we can have his friend over to our house to spend the night. He and Jack both stayed awake until midnight last night, but interestingly enough, Nick crashed tonight before Jack. He partied hard, that sweet boy.
I intended to post my recap for The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge yesterday, but time got away from me and I wasn't able to blog. As a reminder, my original goal at the end of August was to lose 24 lbs. by the end of the year, but I decided that my goal was a bit of a stretch. I modified my goal to 18.7 lbs at the end of October. So without further ado, my final number for The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge is 4 lbs lost. No where near the nearly 19 lbs. I had hoped to lose at the start of the challenge and a far cry from the almost 13 lb. weight loss I had attained at the beginning of November. I'm a little pissed at myself for gaining 8 (!) freaking pounds over the past two months, but I suppose to look at it on the bright side, I still lost weight in this challenge. It's a small silver lining and I mean small. I really don't like not meeting a challenge, but as with my first weight loss challenge, this challenge taught me a few things:
- When I push myself too hard for a short time to reach a goal (a la the Birthday Challenge), I tend to burn out and fall out of my routine very quickly. The key for me in my weight loss journey is slow and steady wins the race (this is also my mantra for running). I have to be able to find a lifestyle that is sustainable for me, even if it means losing weight at a slower rate than I want.
- I also learned that if I decide to continue with weight loss (or other) challenges (and I've not given up on my challenges yet; I still like a good challenge) a shorter time span is better for me. If I break the challenges up into smaller pieces, I can focus more clearly. I think having an almost 4 1/2 month challenge, combined with the issues mentioned above, made me more lackadaisical towards this challenge. I wasn't as motivated because I felt like I had all the time in the world to complete my goal and I'm a pretty good procrastinator (in college I could write a massive paper like a boss...the night before it was due).
- Trying to lose weight during the holidays is difficult. Certainly not impossible if I'd had the right mindset, but definitely difficult. I hope during the holidays this year I will be in maintenance mode (fingers crossed!), which I'm sure will present a new set of challenges, but maybe it will be a bit more manageable (or I'll have better willpower).
- If I give myself a pass, I'm going to take it. My mindset, willpower, call it what you will, is the biggest factor to my successes and failures. I've seen how my mindset can work to my benefit while running as I've described before, but this challenge was a good look at how I work against myself when given the chance. As I hit plateaus with this challenge, it didn't light a fire inside of me as it would normally. Instead, I'd cut myself some slack and tell myself that all would right itself when I started training for the half. While it's true that I hope to get in a better space over the course of the next few weeks while I'm in training, I can't help but think how much better it would have been to start off on a good foot (i.e. not an 8 lb. weight gain from the holidays).
- This challenge was a good lesson in maintenance for me. I worry a lot about maintaining my weight loss once I get to my goal weight. When I first started "falling off the wagon" with this challenge, I was in the same 3-5 lb. weight range, which actually made me feel good about maintenance mode. I wasn't doing much to stay within that range and when I get to my goal weight, I am ok with being in a small range, as I know my weight will fluctuate. When I really "fell off the wagon" and fell hard, it was because I really had let myself go. I was enjoying holiday treats to the max, drinking a lot of soda, eating poorly, and not exercising. So to get to my goal weight, I need to keep working hard (but in a way that is sustainable for me) and when I get to my goal weight, I can continue with my healthy lifestyle and stay within a comfortable weight range.
So with all of that being said, yes I am more than a little disappointed to not have met The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge, but I can take the lessons I learned above and apply them to the next stage of my journey. After all, today is the start of a New Year!
On an exciting note, you might notice a new badge on the side of my blog...I just received an e-mail today indicating that I've been accepted as a Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador (http://www.girlsgonesporty.com/)! I was drawn to their founders and their community of women who work, and play, hard to be their best selves. They "encourage women everywhere to embrace whole health and an attitude of adventure - body, mind, spirit and lifestyle- right where they are now." I love the concept of whole health and I've really taken this to heart this fall. I have to take as much time to take care of my mind and spirit as I do my body and lifestyle. One of my goals for the New Year relates to my whole health and I will be sharing my goals with you soon! In the meantime, I am thrilled to be a part of the Girls Gone Sporty community and I look forward to meeting fellow members of the community!
In light of my post above, I came across another great quote on Cori's (http://olivetorun.com/) Facebook page. I think I would feel a bit better about The Final Nut of 2013 Challenge if I had put my whole heart into it. I know that I wasn't successful because I wasn't in the right mind space, so going forward, I plan to keep the below quote in mind.
"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory."
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