Better than I feared

Today I finally went for another run. Yes, its been a week. I was very sore after skiing, then I ended up with a bad cold. Then on Thursday and Friday, I just used excuses. But today I finally got off my butt and went for a run.

I had been told that today was going to be "gorgeous" and "warm". This was not the case. Granted, it was over 40 degrees, but my ears still got painfully cold, it was rather windy and I even felt some cold raindrops fall. Despite the shockingly winter-ish weather, I had a surprisingly good run!

I had expected to have a lot of trouble getting going and to feel winded and tired after the first few steps. Instead, I was able to run the vast majority of my 30-minute run! Even when I took walk breaks, it wasn't because I had to, but more because I felt like I needed to reserve some energy for the end of my run. According to RunKeeper, I ran 2.27 miles in 30 minutes at a pace of 13:18 per mile. Now, this is still very slow in the running world, but I'm just happy I went at all. And I hope to SOMEDAY improve these numbers.

As a note, the reason I ran 30 minutes is because I've started a new fad. Its called Gym Pact http://www.gym-pact.com/. I heard about it on NPR news. Its an app where you commit to doing however many workouts you want within a week. You then set a price for each workout and if you miss a workout, you have to pay that price. I set mine at $10 per workout. The idea is that you may be more motivated to workout when your money is on the line. And a bonus, if you workout when you're supposed to, you get paid! You get a portion of the payments that other people had to made when they missed workouts. Kinda cool, eh? I figured it was worth a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope to get out for another run tomorrow. I need it after all of the Nutella I've been eating lately. Ugh. So much for Slim Fast. That was put on hold when I got sick. And then my hormones went haywire, so ALL bets were off.

Skiing is a WORKOUT!

Well, here it is Tuesday and I did NOT go to my Team Playmakers group run. But I have a decent excuse...

As I mentioned, my husband and I went skiing on Sunday. I have only been skiing two other times in my life and I have a new respect for anyone who spends a whole day on the slopes.

First of all, getting ready to ski is a HUGE ordeal! I'm sure the more you do it, the less time it takes, but it probably took us about an hour from time we arrived at Mt. Brighton until we actually got to the top of the first hill.

The next challenge was getting from point A to point B once all of the equipment was on. Those boots are horrible! Who knew having the use of your ankles was so important? Walking around without the skis was so uncomfortable. Moving around in the snow with the skis wasn't much easier, so I just shuffled my feet and tried to use my poles to drag myself around as much as possible. Needless to say, it took a long time to get around.

My terrified face before I went down
my first hill of the day.

Then there are the rope pulls. Seriously, those are the absolute worst part of skiing in my opinion. The few memories I have of previous experiences include me wearing cute knit mittens that were utterly useless on the rope pulls and were ruined by the ropes burning through them. This time I bought ski gloves prior to our trip so they worked ok, but I still couldn't avoid the YANK of the rope (and my shoulders) every time I gripped onto it. And the longer the rope pull, the more my legs were shaky and burning by the time I got to the top. It takes a lot of muscle to stay upright and balanced.

Finally, you get to the top of the hill. Going down is the EASY part. Luckily I made it down without falling for the majority of the day. But the one fall I did have was a rough one that involved me hitting my chin on the ground. I also couldn't figure out how to get up from my fall with my skis on, so I had to have my husband help me down the hill.

Monday morning, I awoke to the pain. My calves hurt. My shins hurt. My shoulders hurt. The insides of my elbows hurt. My neck hurt (I think from the fall). I moaned every time I moved. And here it is, Tuesday, and my calves actually feel tighter than they did yesterday.

So, I've decided to wait one more day before attempting to run. Hopefully by tomorrow I won't feel 80 years old anymore. And hopefully I can also try to get over this cold I caught which is completely secondary to all of the muscle pain I have.

Again, you skiers have my respect. Now I'm gonna go take some Advil, some Afrin and go lay down.

Does NOT apply to everyone, but DOES apply to me

Here I go again

I'm baaaaack. And I still have some weight to lose. And I haven't been running. But I guess I'm not HEAVIER than when I started last year, so it isn't all bad. And failing before can't be an excuse not to start back up again. So, I figured I'd restart my blog to hopefully keep myself a little bit accountable.

As of today, my weight is wavering between 165 & 167 (24.7 BMI). I still have a goal of getting down to around 145, if possible. I'm trying out Slim Fast for my dieting, although today...I pigged out. Lots of chips and snacks. That's the problem with weekends and sitting around at home.

I was almost done, hence, the smile.

I have recently joined Team Playmakers, a local running group through a local running store. I attended my first group training this morning. It was about 22 F degrees and MAN was it cold when the wind was blowing. I almost quit after only a quarter of a mile, but luckily the wind was blocked by trees and I somehow warmed up. I wasn't familiar with the trail, so I only went 2 miles today.

I had forgotten how bad that first mile feels. YUCK! My lungs were BURNING and I was so done. I took walk breaks, but tried to run as much as I could. I kept going and by the end I probably could have continued and kept the "f*ck"s to a minimum.

Tomorrow, my husband and I are going skiing, so that will serve as my "cross training" day. I think I will try going to another Team Playmakers run on Tuesday evening.

I'll check in here as often as I can remember to do so. I'll try to be somewhat entertaining so if you stumble upon this blog you won't want to stab your eyes out in boredom while reading it.

Oh, and be prepared for many motivational quotes posted here. I've pinned so many on Pinterest, I feel like I need to use them somewhere! And following the advice wouldn't hurt either.