Diva Dash 5k!

I signed up for the Diva Dash kind of on a whim, just 5 days ago. I'm so glad I did! I was still bummed after missing the Monster Dash 1/2 Marathon after my younger daughter got the stomach flu, and I was itching to do a race. This 5k seemed perfect!

It was a wet, chilly, windy day. I've never run in conditions quite like it - normally I'm a pretty "Fair weather runner". I started out the race having to pee (thanks to all the coffee I drank beforehand, and despite visiting the restroom 20 minutes before start).
I was expecting a hilly course (therefore not the best time) but it was actually fairly flat, though not quite as flat as the course my PR was on. The start was narrow and it was pretty clustered at first, but once I found my way through, I was able to really give it gas. I forgot to turn on my Nike+ GPS, so I had no idea what my pace or time was. I just did what felt right, and I knew I wanted to give it my all. Which I mostly did, although the occasional blobs of slush falling from the sky didn't help.

Towards the end, I saw my time was going to be a potential PR so I really sprinted as hard as I could. I passed a girl about 3 feet from the finish line. (I'm sure she was cursing me!).

My official chip time ended up being 27:25...a PR by 6 seconds! Yaaaay!! AND my place was 56 out of 710. Granted, it's a run/walk with lots of walkers, but still. That's pretty exciting for me :-) Not bad considering I haven't run outside for ages (though I do run on the treadmill a lot), I wasn't planning this race, and it was cold and windy and drizzly.

I LOVE the thrill of trying to beat myself and the satisfaction I get from succeeding.

All in all, a great race, despite the less than desirable weather. I would definitely do it again!

Sweat pink!

I applied, and was accepted, to be a Sweat Pink Ambassador through Fit Approach. Sweat Pink is a national movement to motivate, inspire, and encourage one another to live a positive, healthy lifestyle. As you can see, I immediately and proudly put my Sweat Pink Ambassador badge up on the blog. I am SUPER excited about this! Upon posting the news on my personal Facebook page, somebody said I should become a personal trainer. A second person promptly agreed.

BAHAHAHAHAA!

No...I am very passionate about health and fitness, but I don't think personal training would be for me. However, I do potentially have interest in becoming a certified running coach some day. It all depends on where life and my own journey take me, I guess.

Speaking of fitness - on tap for today's routine is 3-5 miles on the treadmill at the gym, followed by some time on the elliptical. And of course... exercising my right to vote :-) I hope everyone out there will also be voting. I will not share my political  views on this blog, but I DO have some very passionate opinions, particularly about a specific issue on the ballot in my state today.

Oh, and again back to sweating pink - I will be sweating pink this weekend, at the Diva Dash 5k! I signed up yesterday. After missing out on the Monster Dash 1/2 marathon because my daughter got sick, I was feeling pretty bummed and dying to do SOMETHING. A race, any race. The Diva Dash will be a perfect quick little race to satisfy my urge. Because it will likely be the last one I do in 2012, I am going to put in 100% effort. It is mostly uphill the whole time, and then a sharp downhill at the end. I haven't been training outdoors much, so I am not expecting any kind of PR (current 5k PR is 27:31), however I do want to get under 30 minutes. But no matter what, I think it will be a good time.

Stay tuned next week for results and race report :-)

Diet vs. Exercise

So in my last blog (you know, where I announced that I had kicked the 2's for good), I mentioned that it seems like (at least for me) diet is a bigger factor in weight-loss than exercise. I can definitely lose weight even with minimal exercise, as long as I have eaten well. This means good portion sizes (not too big, and also not to0 small), not a lot of excess sugar/bad carbs, and trying to make my day well rounded. It goes the other way too. I can exercise my ass off, and feel so good about it - but if I ate like crap, it won't matter one bit.

It is an ongoing struggle, and I still have not nailed down exactly how I should be "eating right". I am just guessing, to be honest. I struggle with eating too much. I have struggled with eating too little. Too many carbs. Not enough veggies. Not enough protein. It is always something, and I feel like it is a constant juggling act trying to get it balanced right. So far it is going well, obviously, but that sure doesn't mean it is easy or even that I know what I am doing! Plenty of people have said wow, you are losing it so fast...but then, I also have 2 or 3 or 4 times the amount of weight to lose as they do, so yes of course it is coming off faster...for now.

So now that I declared my opinion and struggles with diet...what about exercise?
I still think it is important. I cannot wait to be able to say I ran (okay it will probably be more like slowly jogged) a 5k. And exercise has definitely been an important tool in my weight loss to date. Best of all...I can now jog a whole mile at a time on the treadmill without dying! And I LOVE the feeling of being all sweaty and gross, knowing you just kicked your own ass working out. I like feeling accomplished, and I like knowing that just 3 months ago, I could barely run 20 seconds let alone 12 or 13 minutes straight. Even better is knowing that this is just the beginning. I am still a novice, and I fully intend to keep improving my stamina and speed. Best of all is that I have now come too far to let it all slip away. Even when I was 30 lbs lighter than I am now (when I got married), there was still no way I was able to run a mile. So it makes me happy to see how far I've come, and excited for how far I might be able to go.

I would like to end with a little statistic for you...I started this weight loss blog and my official journey on January 12th, 2011. Today is April 19th, so it has been roughly about 13 weeks. I have lost 28 lbs. That means my weight loss has been averaging 2.15 lbs per week since I started. Not bad....fast enough to keep me happy, yet I think it is a fairly healthy pace?

Now I have my sights set on 30 :-)

I'm on a roll!

It is nice to know that even though I might get stuck sometimes...for long periods of time even (well, it sure seems like forever!)...I can also have some good streaks. I weighed in thismorning, and I lost more!

We all know that I round my numbers so that I don't have to deal with point-this and point-that. So yesterday when I said I lost 2 lbs...well actually I had lost 2.2 lbs, but I rounded down.
Today I lost 1.5 lbs. Typically I might round down for that too, but 2.2 plus 1.5 makes almost 4. And the whole number I am closest to on the scale is what puts me at 24 lbs lost. So that is what I'm going with. In reality, I need another .03 to get to 24 even, but big whoop - that could be a trip to the bathroom.

I have no idea why the sudden jump start, other than I was using the treadmill again for a couple of nights. I didn't last night but I plan on it again tonight. I hope I can keep this going!! If I am going to be honest, I will say that it's only another 4 lbs to hit and pass a really exciting milestone, so I hope I can do it. That's right...to be under 200 lbs. I haven't been under 200 since before I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. You know, they say baby weight is hard to lose. HOLY CRAP. Yes it is. It only took me 4-5 years :-) Granted I did have 2 babies in that time, but still.

And by the way - I did register for the 5k.

*YIKES*