A couple of random things...

That wouldn't have happened before.

Today I talked myself out of the gym.  I was totally resolved to skip it and take a nap.

But I went and did 60 minutes on the elliptical.  My fitness pal tells me it was about 600 calories.  And since I had it set on level 10 hills, I believe them.  So tonight I'm having thai food.  yum.

Also, the other night we went to the theater.  (Rock of Ages - super-fun!) I decided to get a brownie.  They're usually pretty tasty.  Well, I took a bite and it was only, well, meh.  A little dry, nothing special.

So I bailed on it.  I abandoned a perfectly good brownie.

And finally, I forgot my coffee before the gym last week, so I was going to hit starbucks for a latte.  Looked up the calories... so not worth it.  So, I went to Panera for a good cup of hazelnut with a tiny bit of half and half.  Delish.  I bought Halloween cookies - 3 of them.  One for each of the people in my suite in the office... but not one for me. 

Here's to making small decisions.  They matter.

Sarah

Spin class - a report

Well, add that to the list of "things I never thought I'd do a year ago"...

I started spin class in my new bike skort, which is super-cute, so that made it all the more fun.

I met Alisha and Rob at the Y, and we jumped right in.  We started out pretty fast, and then, the instructor said, "Oh yeah, this class is hills."

*gulp*  I shot a nasty glance at the architect of this plan - Alisha.  (Sorry, A!)

The theme was movies, and it was pretty intense.  The idea was to stay with the cadence of the songs while increasing the resistance and coming out of the saddle as instructed.  There were more than a couple of times that I wished I had started at the bottom of the hill a little easier!  I was glad I didn't have to back off though.  A few times I did have to slow it down a smidge.

I can say that spin class was definitely a challenge.  My heart rate was super-high, and I think that's a good thing.  I sweated like crazy.  My butt is sore. 

According to My Fitness Pal, I earned 763 calories.  Not bad.   I'll definitely do spin again, but probably not every week.  It was a nice change up from what I'm used to!  And thank god I got all those calories - we visited my grandmother and she insisted I eat a dove ice cream bar... 250 calories later... eep.

This hurt leg thing isn't so bad!

Sarah

Two weeks down...

Two to go.  Thankfully, my stress fracture doesn't hurt much anymore, so I think the rest is working.  In the mean time, I've been rocking the bicycle, elliptical, and upper body/abs weight lifting.  Fun?  Ok, maybe not, but it'll do.  It's gorgeous outside and I keep thinking how nice it would be to head out for a run.

Today I'm trying spin class - I'll report back later.  I'm super-scared.

Also, I cancelled weight watchers today.  It isn't working.  I'm going to try My Fitness Pal for a while and see if it works.  Since I'm in the habit of tracking already, I'm hoping it'll just be a slight change, but will make me more aware of what kind of balance I'm eating. They have these great pie charts that show the breakdown of carbs/fat/protein.  It also shows other nutrients - something WW kind of ignores. 

The good news is, if this doesn't work, I can rejoin WW without the joining fee.  I feel a little strange abandoning it, but I'm realizing that WW isn't really made for people that are as active as I am.  I just don't think the activity points balance out and I think I'm eating a lot more calories than I should.

Of course, I'll keep you posted!

Sarah

This is feeling less scary already.

I'm thankful for friends and the encouraging words I've gotten in the last 24 hours.  I feel like folks get it - it's not really about the injury.  It's trying to make sure I stay with my healthy habits since the one thing I've been able to stick with is off the table.

Since I'll be experimenting with alternatives to running, I'll share them here.  It's really a good thing... if zombies strike, I'll be able to swim, bike, and elliptical away from them in addition to running.  :-)

Also, when I'm cleared, I'm going to be really careful about getting back into it.  I hope you all won't have to do that in your running lives, but we'll all know how to reintroduce running into our routines.  Guess that makes me the guinea pig!

So, runners, if you couldn't run, (or walk, for that matter) what would you do?  Anything I have to try during my hiatus?  I want to try yoga (great suggestion, Jodi!  I'm in!) and maybe some pool aerobics at the Y.  Why? Because I can.  And switching up a routine is a good thing - even when it's forced.

Many thanks, all!

Sarah

ARGH!!!!!

Balls.

So. I've had some shin pain. Very localized.  I just thought I was being a wimp, but it's been going on for kind of a while.  Like, 3 months while.

Yesterday it hurt a whole lot.  So today I went to the orthopedist.

And I have a F&#%ING STRESS FRACTURE.

I cried all the way home.  It felt like getting punched in the gut.  Here I am, 25 lbs lighter mostly because of running and weight training, both of which are completely off limits for 4-6 weeks.

My awesome husband pointed out that I can still bike and swim, which I needed to work on anyways for a possible run at a tri.

But it STILL SUCKS.

Sarah

10k PR!

So, I have like, definitely not been running distance for a while.  4 miles, MAX.  Until last weekend, I hadn't run 6 miles since the half.

So I was a little nervous heading into today's 10k.

It was the Wake Med Scrub Run - the shirts were actually scrubs! (it's the little things in life.)

Poor Alisha wasn't feeling well, but she rallied, and off we went.  The weather was perfect - a nice 60 degrees but sunny.  The course was OK - it was 2 big loops with the second one adding a bit on the end.  I find these a little more cumbersome, just because you know what's coming (and thereby, which hills to dread.) 

Because we were in downtown Raleigh, it was a smidge hilly for my taste.  Nothing too steep, but there were some very long steady inclines. 

But, ya'll, we killed it.  Sure, we were close to the end, but we made it back before the kids did their fun run, and even got a race 10k PR!  We finished in right at one hour 20 minutes... a good 90 seconds off of the bridge run in April for which we trained A LOT.

I'm feeling pretty good about our weight lifting plan - I think it is actually improving our running.  Frankly, we would have done even better if the finish line wasn't uphill... WHY do they do that?  It's just cruel.

Anywhoo, time to kick the back door open and watch some football (pumpkin ale, you say?  Don't mind if I do!).

I LOVE October!

Sarah

The problem with weight-lifting

is that you GAIN weight. Like, kind of a lot. 3 weeks ago Alisha and I started a kick but intense weight training program provided by an olympic runner. Seriously. She ran. In the olympics. And now she's helping us lift weight to become better runners. Super cool.

And it's working. I know because:

• I am SORE after each workout. They tell me that's the muscles repairing themselves.
• I retain a lot of water - also apparently due to the muscles rebuilding.
• I've gained about 4 pounds. Now, this is annoying. I know that muscles weighs more than fat and you have to build it up to increase your metabolism, but it still sucks to put that into the weight tracker. Preston has to remind me of this just about every day. But since I'm eating well and working out more, I'm 99% sure the gain is not from some fast food binge.
• Running up hills is easier. Alisha and I ran 6 miles on Sunday - many of those miles were straight up a mountain. And, believe it or not, my legs were stronger. Boo. Ya.

Anyone else had some weight gain when they started weight training? I did some with the new rules of weight lifting, but what we're doing now is way more intense, so I'm really banking that the increase in effort will lead to greater results (and eventually some weight loss.)

Sarah