WOOPWOOP!!!

It's actually Friday.

Well, Hood to Coast Relay 2017 is in the Books. One week ago today we ran off the top of a volcano 199 miles to the coast of Orgon. May I just say, "WOW!" What an amazing experience. I met 6 new friends, the other half of our team from Oregon. What a great bunch of people.

Me and my team! Southeast by Northwest

I can't begin to describe what a life experiencing event this was. It took us 32+ hours to run from Mt Hood to Seaside, Oregon and in doing so learned so much about myself and my team mates. I learned what my strengths are and weaknesses and areas I could improve on.

 I saw so many funny things like the other teams' vans and how clever they were in decorating. Learned about funny and cute traditions that go on through the race.

The other runners were so nice. Even the elite runners were thoughtful enough to get in a quick "Good job"" or "You're doing great" as they flew by on fleet feet.

Mt. Hood from my plane window

I got to see breathtaking parts of Oregon that would have gone completely unnoticed if I had been in a car just whizzing by. I got to experience adventure, exhaustion, exhilaration, frustration and accomplishment! It was, in a word, AMAZING!

My first leg. Mt Hood.

I had so much fun. The weather was absolutely perfect for running in. It started at 48F for my first leg from the 4000 foot level on Mt. Hood. My friend kept me warm till the first runner reached me with the bracelet.


But once I got running the temperatures felt amazing. I think I didn't even sweat, lol.

Leg 2, through Portland

I think it was in the upper 70s to 80F (but dry) for my second leg through Portland. This was the hardest of the three for me. I think it is because I had only gotten about 5 hours sleep in the previous 42 hours due to travel and other frustrating circumstances before the race....part of the test! But I truly had fun, nonetheless!







It was in the 50s for my third night leg.

The night was so peaceful. I ran through rolling hills and past farms. Through the valleys of the road the fog was so dense I could barely make out the white paint on the edge of the road to guide me. There were parts of the road where the edge just dropped off into nothingness. It was a little unnerving with the dense fog.

Every breath out turned into a dense cloud of foggy condensation blocking my view as my head lamp lit it up. It was so quiet that only the rhythm of my foot steps and whisper of my breathing were heard to keep me company.

After my third leg! About 5am.

Oh, and what about my stick figure you ask? That was pretty cool. I didn't have enough reflective tape to do my thighs but it looked pretty good otherwise :-) .

The reflection was so bright it reflected internally in my camera lens, lol. Next time I will have the skirt and head element, too!













Would I do it again-oh heck yeah! We are all planning for next year, already, lol.

Woop Woop!!!!

TTFN!

9 DAYS!

Third Monday of the week.

Ok so, my running is getting back on track! Yay! My pace has been pretty good but my endurance seems to have taken a little hit. But today I went out for another 5 miler and while it felt like I was running in a sauna my strength and endurance feel like they are cooperating again. Talk about the 11th hour, jeez!

Went to physical therapy last week. My PT has given me very targeted strengthening  and stretching exercises to do. I really feel that between the rest and PT my hip is doing really well. My PT says he has seen this particular hip aggravation in many runners. Turns out my right hip is sooooo much weaker than my left. Its super weird. I thought I had strengthened it up but apparently NOT. So, this is my next goal...to make both hips do the same amount of work.

9 DAYS! 9DAYS TO HOOD TO COAST!

I am so excited. I'm so nervous, too. This is definitely a bucket list race for me. I am runner 2 of the 12. I get to start near the top of Mt Hood.

                                                                        I designed our team logo.

 Half our team comes from the southeast and half from the northwest so we cleverly call ourselves Southeast by Northwest. A play off the movie North by Northwest.

I get a night leg too, well actually the wee hours of the morning. Why am I happy about that? Because I am goofy. I ordered sew on reflective tape. I'm going to safety pin segments of the tape to my legs and arms in addition to the reflective vest we have to wear. I'm going to be a reflective running stick figure! LOL. Gotta figure out how to do the head....

 I know, I'm weird. But this is going to be so fun ;-)

TTFN

CURSES!

It actually Friday.

Well, it's been a long time since my last post. I've been busy getting ready for Hood to Coast! ....and frustrated because my training was utterly stopped about 4-5 weeks ago due to an aggravated hip. I kept trying to rest it a few days then go for a run and get stopped at about 2.5-3 miles because my hip would start hurting. Ugh!

Went to the Doc and he said it looked like a soft tissue problem and anti-inflammatories and rest were the best thing. I swear, for it to have been bothering me this long it must have been a tiny sprain or something.

I've been off it all together for about 2 weeks now. It's been feeling pretty good for this past week. I did swim laps earlier this week as a completely non impact way to get aerobics. Then a few days ago I tried the elliptical for 30 minutes. Felt pretty good the next day, too. So today I will try a small walk/jog to see what happens.

Did I mention this totally SUCKS???? Curses!

So, of course, I started stress eating and I haven't lost a lb since this hip thing stopped me. At least I haven't gained either but that is just another stress I don't need!

Well, I'll let you know how it goes.

TTFN

PR

Third Monday of the week.

Well, I PRd a 5k this week. I Ran a local 5k called the Melon Run on the 4th of July and finished it in 26:53. I'm pretty happy with that. I was hoping to be around 28:00 since that is about as fast as I could go before losing weight. The funny thing is, is it wasn't that hard. I was stunned to see the first mile marker when I did as I was guessing we had only run about a half mile. That was so weird.

I have been underestimating 3 things, I think. 1) the effects of weight loss, 2) the strength training I've been doing and 3) the training I've done by intentionally running on tired muscles, running in the heat and targeting hills.

Had another great weigh in last week, too. I lost 1.6lbs so I'm down 23.6lbs, now. Inching closer and closer to goal.

BUT, there's always a but...I have eaten poorly this week because of the holiday. I feel so bloated. I am considering not weighing in this week...I just don't want to see an uptick but I need to face the music, lol.

Well, today is stadium day. Oh how I hate stadium day. But this will also help me to atone for my bad eating. It is currently sunny, hot and feels hotter. It is 94 degrees but "feels like" 99! The humidity is gross. It's amazing how the humidity just makes it feel like you're wearing a sweater when you're working outside. It's not like dry heat where you can evaporate and cool. Nope, the sweat and water just stay on you and drip, drip, drip! No cooling. In fact, you have to wipe off your arms and face every so often to thin out the moisture on your skin so you can cool a little.

But, like I've said, it can only make me a better runner in the cool, dry weather.

Well, I'm gonna change into my run stuff, now, and get ready to melt.

TTFN

PLEASANT SURPRISE

Second Monday of the week.

Well, I had a pleasant surprise at weigh-in this week. I thought I was going to have another flat week but I actually lost 1.2lbs! So I am officially down 22lbs even! 

I cleared out my drawers the other day. I was tired of not having any room to put away the clothes I always wear in favor of storing ancient clothes I never where. So, I cleared them all out. To my surprise, I collected 2, 13 gallon bags of clothes that were all too big for me! I did buy some new shorts and pants about a month ago since my usual clothes had gotten to big but I had no idea I had so many more big clothes. It was very liberating.

The cool part is even some of my shirts are starting to get too big. Wow. I can't wait till my body shape starts to change. As it is, I am smaller but I am still the same shape. Honestly, I feel like I

look like a sack of potatoes.

I want my lumps and bumps to go away so I look good in a bathing suit. A sack of potatoes, no matter the size, just doesn't look good in a bathing suit, lol.

I want my stupid boobs to shrink a cup size so I don't feel like a massive linebacker. Y'all that aren't overly endowed let me tell you something. Boobs that are too big can actually make you feel unfeminine. I feel like when I walk through a doorway my boobs are the first thing to enter followed by the rest of me at some point. BUT, I *think* my boobs may be starting to shrink. My bra is feeling a little looser. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. The day I get to buy a new bra will be a great day!

Sigh...but that is still quite a ways away. But, chin-up, it is on the way.

On the running side, running is definitely easier. It is regularly easier to move my body. This is exhilarating. I have gone running a lot, lately, while very tired, both mentally and physically. It has been getting pretty hot these days, too. Summer is definitely here. But I went out Monday and ran at 3:15 in the afternoon (I had to, it was the only opportunity). It was the heat of the day and I was so sleepy from a crappy night's sleep.

But you know what? I was still able to run without feeling like a lead balloon! That is so weird and new to me. I love it.  I am surprised and proud of myself for this run. I still keep thinking every time I go for a run I will feel like a lead balloon. I know that will happen at some point but I'm enjoying the feather footed feeling I'm experiencing.


Then there's this, what does it feel like to run at your ideal weight? I just can't wait to find out.

REIGNING IT IN

Monday.

Ok, time to reign it in. So, I kinda had a good and bad weigh in this week.

The good news is that I stayed utterly flat lined. Why is that good? Well, I sort of got too liberal and lax with my eating last week (that's not good...). I think the only reason I had any kind of good weigh in was because I upped my exercise a bit which balanced it out (which is good).

The bad news is that I stayed utterly flat. Same reasons.

So, if I'm going to lose the amount of weight I would like to before Hood to Coast Aug 24 then I need to realign myself and reign in the eating. I can do that.

I have just been lazy about preparing my own food. I need to just pony up the effort and do that. So, another week at 20.8lbs down. Oh, I think I need to make a correction on that. I think I said 20.2lbs in my previous post but it is 20.8. I'll take every oz I can get, lol.

Ok , let's see, The race is 10 weeks away. If...no, when...no, while I get back on track I need to lose 1.5lbs/wk average. That means 15 more lbs I could conceivably lose. I'd be down 35lbs. I think that still keeps me on track as per my original plans. I could go into that race at 144lbs. Cool!

I went out for a run this morning and decided to weigh AFTER that, lol. I was really surprised to see 157.2.  Usually, I see 158.something. Now, 157 is what I call my dehydrated weight. BUT, I have seen that number 3 times which means I'm flirting with more lbs down. I usually see a new number on the scale a couple times before it becomes official. I'm pretty excited by that. I even saw 156.something once. I need to really encourage that this week. I. WILL. NOT. MESS. UP! It would rock if I could get 2 lbs down this week. I could catch up a little from Flat Line World.

Two steps forward, one step back. I'll keep marching on.

TTFN

B&A

Actual Monday of the week.

Well, great news from WW. I am officially down 20.2lbs! I took a before and after comparison pic but I'm a little disappointed. You can see a difference but it is hardly noticeable to me. I see so many other people post 15, 20, 25lb before and afters and there is such a dramatic difference but there is no drama for me :-(. But I said I would post a B&A pic at 20lbs so I will.

Me minus 20lbs

So, here it is. I guess upon seeing here like this there is a bigger difference than I thought but still, I wish it were bigger. BUT, I'll take it! About 35 more to go. Gotta keep the glass half full rather than half empty!

I did get to buy new clothes last week. For the first time in a long time doing that was actually fun. I started at a size 16 and am now in a 12! To that end, the size 12 fits perfectly, not tight! Unfortunately 10s are a bit tight but I can actually get in them, lol. They resemble sausage casings when on but, none the less, they are on, lol!

Running, in general, has gotten easier. It just doesn't feel as hard to move my body. There are days when you go out to run and just feel like a lead balloon 'cause you're tired or something. I have had a couple of those days lately. But even on those days the quality of the drag-ass feeling is different. I still feel like I can move easier. It's weird. A good weird. These feeling and experiences are all new to me.

I was in Wal-Mart this weekend. I stopped in the sports section to look at some stuff. I saw the weights there and picked up 2 10lb weights and handed them to my daughter. "That's how much weight I've lost!" I told her. She was amazed. I took the weights and held them up straight over my head and walked around to see if I remember feeling like that when I was heavier. I can't say that I did but I was amazed at how much weight I felt bearing down on me. Wow...and I have 35 more to go! That's soooo much heaviness! How could I have been running marathons like that????

Well, I will post another B&A pic at -30lbs. Huh, I'll be on the flip side of the weight loss journey by then :-). I will have lost more than half of what I want to lose. I can't imagine that. I can't wait!!!

TTFN