3.5 pounds

3.5 pounds, it really isn't much in the scheme of things. It could be a swing of a bad eating weekend or some heavily salted food.

Right now that 3 lbs is making me worry.

153 lbs is a rounding error to 155.
155 is headed in the wrong direction.
I will grant it isn't 168, my peak weight.
but still.....

149.5 is progress.
149.5 means I am staying steady.
149.5 means working out and eating semi healthy is keeping me honest.
but it isn't my goal for 2013.....

So I was completely off exercise for a month while the wildness of a huge work project. That is over and I am back at bootcamp and running again. It is week 2, so I feel like I am officially back on the wagon. After stress month from crazytown, we went on vacation for a week. A glorious week of no thinking and decision making. I was able to run 3 times and ate anything I wanted to. I gave myself a week after we got back before I weighed myself. Be kind to yourself, right?

Even with that....those pesky 3.5 lbs had stuck around. Bummer.

It's not like it is a surprise, of course. Pizza, beer, funnel cake and ice cream will do that to a girl. So I dig in again. That is a no brainer. Feeling good about myself is the reward for for hard work.

But the wall is a little tall right now, the distance seems a little longer, the hill a little higher. I know I have the fight in me, but I am going to have to dig a little deeper.

3.5 pounds.

Race Weekend - Expo

While the Nike Women's Marathon expo"tique" opened on Thursday, but I couldn't break away from work and kids sports until late Saturday afternoon. This was a mistake. Nothing could be done, but I feel like I missed out a little bit and I really should have gone with a friend/MRTT buddy.

I headed to Georgetown at 3pm on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the world was out and about. I decided to drive down, but didn't make the decision to drive into Georgetown until when I got to Rosslyn. I should have parked there and then walked across the bridge. I pressed on however, and spent 30 minutes on M street regretting it. That was the worst of it. Or so I thought, until Io saw this.

Super crazy line. To be fair, the line moved along nicely, but was a bit shocking when you first tried to find the end. It was Disneyland long. Signs and all.

Once we entered the tent, there where tons of folks ready to assign bibs and give us our bags.

You then were supposed to head to the expo, which seemed to be a tent of 3-4 vendors. Nike, Bare Essentials, Luna and maybe 1 other. It was so crowded, it was hard to say. They had these 3 pin pads where you were supposed to enter the code you received at bib distribution and see if you won anything.

It was a fun idea. They had some nice walls and lots of places to take pictures. But none of the regular vendors that we in DC have become accustomed to. I can see where they wouldn't want direct competitors there, but there was no running supplies there at all. (that I saw)

I didn't make it to the Nike store where the runners name wall was located and apparently some race merchandise. I did manage to stop off at Hershey's to sneak a little pre-dinner ice cream before heading home. :) All in all, it was well run, if sparse and they were VERY lucky it wasn't raining. Folks were already not happy, and that would have charged up the negativity skyhigh.

I can't wait to tell you about the race! (Hint - the weather continued to grace us with pitch perfect temps!)

Hello Burke Lake

Saturday was sports day. Opening day for Little League, first soccer game and then baseball game. It was COLD with a game start time of 7 pm. Everyone had great games! I even managed to get the family to help me do some yard work and we are making progress shaking off the winter debris from the yard. We topped off the afternoon with cake to celebrate the birthday party of a young neighbor. Oh how I wish I had more self control.

Sunday was my long run day. I was slated to do 11 miles and didn't have any plans to run with anyone. I needed the motivation, but turns out I am just as bad at scheduling rundates for myself as I am playdates for my kids! I was all motivated to get up early and get going, but the reality of needing sleep was to great.

I got up about 9 and threw on my clothes. It was supposed to be warmer on Sunday, so I dressed in a skirt, short sleeved shirt and a light jacket. I grabbed my phone and shuffle. I was hoping to listen to the Another Mother Runner podcast, which usually published on Saturday night and then move over to my shuffle. Well I had updated my phone a few days ago and couldn't figure out how to get the newest podcast. I didn't want to waste time figuring it out, so off I went.

I drove down to Burke Lake park, where the trail around the park is just under 5 miles. I knew I would have to do some out and back to make up the last mile, but it was worth it for the scenery and the company. Burke Lake always has busy trails of runners, families and bikers. On a Sunday some of the other trails I use can be a little more deserted, and I wanted to be safe and this fit the bill.

I headed out on the trail about 9:30 knowing I had hours before me. This is why I think I may not do a marathon. It isn't the event itself, but the training before hand. I could be out for 4 hours or more to complete a marathon training run! Back to my half marathon training. 11 miles means a little more then 2.5 hours. I started with a run/walk to get myself started. I wanted to warm up slowly and give myself some room to get going. Mentally this run started out hard, so I was trying to ease into it.

who can argue with this beauty?

I eventually got my rhythm and continued to work my way around the lake. I entertained myself with various thoughts, one being to smile at folks I pass. SBS from Another Mother Runner had talked about acknowledging others and smiling during runs. I did my best to greet walkers and runners alike. Some I got responses from, some not. On this trail you inevitably see folks more then once, so I found those that I greeted the first time were more likely to greet me the 2nd or 3rd time around. 

At the end of the first lap I came upon the cutest little girl being carried by her dad. She was looking back over her dad's shoulder, and as I approached I waved and was rewarded with the sweetest smile and wave. That carried me for quite awhile until I managed to trip over a root. My body surged forward almost into a lady walking.(she had no idea what almost hit her). I heard the audible gasp of another girl running in the opposite direction. I managed to pull myself back up with about 12 inches to go before the ground and I connected. After that I focused a little more on the ground then the smiling. 

I also spent quite a bit of time passing and being passed by a couple. They were doing a run walk and he was clearly the one in charge of the clock. At one point I passed and said "me again." she gave me a look of death or desperation, not sure which! I thought about what advice I would give her if I passed again. I think I would have told her to run her own run and not worry about his pace. It was clearly making her miserable and I have had more success slowing down and gaining stamina to run longer. Sometimes the run then slow to walk can be jolting, better to run through. 

Any rate, I finished in about 2:43 with a good attitude and hungry. I have continued to eat ever since. So much for the weight loss I saw over the weekend! Finally some progress! Hopefully I haven't strayed too far as I am typically hungry after my long runs and it does wear off by Tuesday. 

Later in the afternoon we went on a hike with the kids. It was so fun to explore a new area with them. We only went about a mile, but a steep elevation change the whole way. 

We were treated to some great views and even found a river of sorts. Rock skipping and talking to some floating kayakers was a nice break to the hike.

Adorable! 

 I wore my compression socks during the hike and it was a good idea I think. I could really feel my legs aching and I think it helped a little bit. I also foam rolled. I have had a few knee twinges, but so far have pretty much ignored them. A great patient, right?

We topped off the weekend with a good dinner and some frozen yogurt! Yea! 

A Weekend of Goodness

This weekend wasn't terribly eventful, but I managed to get quite a bit done and it was WARM. Not warm for January, but Springtime Warm. I completely missed the boat on Saturday, spent too much time at the computer trying to figure out summer camps for the kids. Yes, I know that is crazy, but it is true. This is the life in suburban DC. We were supposed to get together with some friends on Saturday night, but the sickness that has been going around hit their family and we ended up staying home. The plus side was I had decided to make a fancy salad with red potatoes, corn, red pepper, feta and tomatoes. It was yummy and I had it again for lunch on Sunday.

Sunday was a record of balancing for me. I had 9 miles on the calendar and an invite from my friend Irma to run. The weather was great again and I couldn't turn down a buddy run as I spend so many miles by myself. She seemed a little daunted by the 9 miles, so I got up to run 4, raced to get my daughter to a playdate, met Irma and ran just over 5 and then raced back to pick up from the playdate. Somehow the timing all worked out and I didn't end up missing anything. I don't want to do that with my workouts every week, but it was worth it. Irma kept me moving for the most part and I feel like it was a successful day. The afternoon was spent soaking up the sun at the park.

Tonight I had booked a babysitter, as it is restaurant week in Alexandria. DH and I had a great dinner at Morrison House. So needless to say I have watched my weight creep up each day as I drink and eat myself through the weekend.

Tomorrow - back at it!

Girls Night Out

I did have one victory this week. The first item crossed off my goals/to do list. Most of the items on the list are goals, but since my list is broken out by month, some are the things I would like to accomplish on the house or plan for family enjoyment. Keeps my eye on the prize and feeling like I am moving forward.

I had the plumber come and look at the kids' tub and the garbage disposal. The tub in the bathroom has never drained correctly. We have lived here for 11 years and it was high time we did something about it. When the kids took baths it wasn't a big deal if it drained slowly because we were usually busy getting them dry, dressed, etc Let's not talk about what our guests had to deal with. I am a bad hostess, this is simply evidence one. Anyways, long story short. The plumber found a full sized playmobile character.

I am pretty sure it is from the previous owner of the house, as my kids have never had playmobiles in the tub. At least not to my knowledge. Lots of tub toys for sure, but not these guys. Anyways, total victory.

Then I got to do more laundry. I swear the washer has been running non stop since I found out DD has lice again. I am washing everything in sight, so don't sit still too long!

The nitpicking continued with DD on Friday evening. Not fun, so we decided to go on a girls night out. First was a trip to buy birthday presents, then another stop to buy this shampoo - Fairy Tale, which is supposed to have rosemary to repel lice. I am ready to try anything at this point.

We then hit up Subway for dinner and decided to chase that with some frozen yogurt. I am totally back on frozen yogurt. We used to eat it all the time in CA, but since moving here there wasn't really any options. Well now there are frozen yogurt places all over and I am loving it!

After our yogurt, we hit up the local HS gymnastic meet. There were 5 schools competing in a meet and we went to cheer on our girls. We don't know anyone on the team unfortunately, but it was still fun.

After it was over, we went to go get autographs. The girls couldn't have been sweeter to my daughter and it was a nice way to end the night. (I think they felt good too!)

No workout today. My sore throat is turning into a cough and I just didn't have it in me to push through.

I haven't had much to say have I? status

Well the Melting Pot was in a word YUMMY. I fully enjoyed the food, which is something I can't always say. I find I just eat because it is time to. I, of course, have control over breakfast and lunch, but dinner is always with the family, so happens by 6:30 no matter if I am hungry or not. I find I have loaded up during the day and eat more then I should because it is there. I am proud of myself today though. After such a treat last night, we had breakfast for dinner tonight. I didn't like the way the potatoes cooked, so I didn't eat them, even though they were on my plate. I also didn't eat the bacon I cooked up for the kids. Veggie omelet, and milk for me. Overall a good eating day. I should think so after last night!!

Workout: 30 minute elliplical and day 11, level 2 of 30 day shred. I have done level 2 before, but this is the first day I did it officially. Just like level 1, kicked my butt. I did more then I expected though. Played Wii with the kids, but not anything worth counting for exercise, just plain fun. We don't worry about the weight since we know last night was a bruiser. :)

What gets me is that I had all day pretty much to work out, but still waited until 4:45, which is when I work out during the week.