Fat Girl Learns To Run

Endurance Workout ---------- Day 211

When I use the treadmill, I manually set the pace that I run.  Today my son mentions to me that I should try one of the programmed workouts on the treadmill (there are about 12 of them) since it involves internal training.  My son was going to do the workout in the morning and I was going to give it a try this afternoon.  After my son was done with the workout, I asked him how it was.  He said he could only go ½ hour (the workout is one hour long) since he needs to get back in shape.  My son hasn’t gain any weight back but since he hasn’t been exercising like he used to, he didn’t have enough stamina to complete the programmed workout.  He later did another ½ workout from one of our exercise DVD.  My son is a perfect example of what happens when you start to slack with your workouts.

Later in the afternoon it was my turn to try this programmed workout.  The workout includes going from speeds of 3.0 to 6.5 and getting up to the highest incline.  After about 5 minutes, I wanted to stop and just do my manual workout but I kept on going.  Once I understood the various intervals in the program, I got into the zone.  After doing this workout for about ½ hour, I thought to myself that I was going to finish the whole thing to prove to myself that I can do it.  After the workout, I was just dripping sweat.  Sometimes I think that I sweat more than anyone else on the planet. Taking a shower was not optional but mandatory for me.

After the workout, I felt great physically.  I realized that my body is capable of doing more than I think it can do.   I just have to continue to believe in myself.

Another interesting thing happened at my parent’s house today.  I was sitting at their kitchen table across from my mother.  She looks at me and asks me if I lost a lot of weight this week since my face looked thinner.  Now I see my parents every week so I found that comment interesting since I seem to be at a plateau as far as my weight goes.  As I have mentioned in the past, my mother says what she thinks so I know she wasn’t saying that to make me feel good.  Maybe things are just shifting around in my body.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall ---------- Day 210

I woke up this morning and when I looked out the window there was snow.  This weather is crazy. Yesterday the weather was in the 60s and today snow.  You just can’t put away those boots.  Since I had errands to run, I had to venture outside.

The one stop that I had to make was to go to Carson’s Good Will Sale.  For each article of clothing you bring in, you receive a coupon for 20% off an item.  I had two clothing items that I donated so two coupons for me.  Since I haven’t gone clothes shopping in awhile, I took my time perusing the store.  I picked up several items of clothing to try on.  The thing about fitting rooms is that you are surrounded by mirrors when trying on clothes.  The reality of what you look like in your underwear is exposed.  You might think you don’t look that bad but seeing yourself in the mirror makes you realize that you still have a ways to go.

Once in the fitting room, I started to try on the clothes that I brought in with me.  To my surprise everything that I tried on fit me and looked good.  I guess losing some pounds makes a difference in how clothes fit.  In the past, I would be lucky if one of the articles of clothing would fit me. The problem is that I could not buy all the clothes since I had to watch my budget.  Before buying any of the items, I decided to look around the store again in case I saw something else that I wanted to try on.  After my second go around, I settled on three tops to buy.

After the clothes shopping, I went to grocery store next door. While shopping, I got such a tension headache.  I seldom ever get headaches.  Once I got home, I had to take some pills and then lay down for awhile.  It still feels like there is this fog in my head.  So much for getting all the things done on my list today.  I plan on getting up earlier tomorrow to get my things done.   Hopefully, I will feel more energetic.

Run Chicago Run ---------- Day 209

In the local weekly newspaper today, the main article was about training for the Chicago Marathon in October.  I read the article and agreed with the information that was given.  The bottom line is that if you are new to running you need to prepare now in order to run the marathon.  The serious marathon training usually beings in June.  If you are not in good shape physically, I personally think that it takes about one year to prepare for a marathon.

I met a girlfriend for dinner tonight around where I work.  After dinner I went back to the office for a bit before heading home.  For some reason, I just felt so depressed on my way home.  I didn’t have the best diet this week for various reasons so maybe that is why I am not in a good mood.  I think it is combination of things that has gotten me down instead of just one thing that I can pinpoint.

Tomorrow I have a lot of things to get done but the good news is that there isn’t any place that I need to be at a certain time.  Maybe after a hot bath and a good night’s sleep the world will look better tomorrow.

Born to Run ---------- Day 208

As I was driving home after running, I heard on the radio Bruce Springsteen sing “Baby, we were born to run.”  I thought this was an appropriate song to hear after running 3 ½ miles tonight.  At about 4:30 p.m. at work today, I felt so tired.  My eyes were feeling very heavy and I really just wanted to go home and go to sleep.  I had a moment of weakness and then pulled myself together. Since it was about 60 degrees today, I wanted to enjoy the weather and run.  Besides that, I am afraid that if I skip a running session that I will lose my momentum.  I have worked hard to increase my distance and I don’t want to go backwards.

I was a little scared about tonight because I haven’t run more than 3 miles previously.  Shannon and I ran together and when we got to the turnaround point, I thought that this wasn’t so bad.  The weather was great tonight and I dressed appropriately for the weather.  It is great to have someone to run with that runs the same pace as you do.  In running, this is a big deal.  As we were heading back to our running place we decided that we need to treat ourselves to some frozen yogurt after our 6 miles run during week 9.  All in all, I had a really good run tonight.

The Luck of the Irish ---------- Day 207

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone.  I won't be coming home tonight until late so I won't have time to write a post.  No, I am not going to be at some bar drinking green beer or having a Shamrock Shake at Mickey Ds.  I will actually be seeing a play tonight after work. 

Tomorrow night I am scheduled to run 3 1/2 miles.  I haven't run that far yet so I hope I can make it.  At least the weather tomorrow should be fabulous.

The Randomness of it All ----------- Day 206

My adventures on the CTA continue.  On the way home, this guy gets on the train and sits on a seat across from me.  He then turn to me and asks me if I know how to cook cabbage.   This question really threw me off.  How random was that?  I then proceeded to tell him that I don’t make cabbage so I couldn’t help him out.  Then it came to me that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and he wanted to make cabbage as part of his dinner.  Then seeing the grocery bag next to him with the cabbage in it, confirmed that.

When I got home, I just didn’t want to do anything.  I knew that I had to run because I wouldn’t be home tomorrow night.  It took all that I had to put on my running clothes and run but I did it.  The hardest part is just getting on the treadmill.  I know that I had a good workout when the back of my t-shirt is soaking wet from sweating.

I was scheduled to volunteer at the Shamrock Shuffle race this Sunday.  Since I have so much going on in my personal life, I had bow out of volunteering for the race.  I don’t like to go back on a commitment but sometimes there is no other option.  There will definitely be other races this year where I can volunteer.

 

Fall Down - Get Up ----------- Day 205

I was reading a short article in a magazine about a woman who for 15 years tried a different weight lose scheme at the beginning of each year.   She would drop some pounds at first by being on a diet plan and working out.  This routine lasted for a few months and then she went back to her old ways.  Sounds familiar.  Last year she decided to go small and just do two things that would help her get healthier.  After six months doing her two steps, she started speed walking through the streets of Manhattan.  With all this walking she cut her transportation costs in half and lost 40 pounds.  This just goes to show you that small steps do make a difference.

She admits that there are days that she veers off-track.  I know what those days are like.  The woman is then reminded of the Japanese proverb that says “Fall down seven times – get up eight.”  That is a proverb that I can cling to.  It seems that we beat ourselves up when we eat something we shouldn’t or neglect to exercise when we should.  We need to be reminded that we don’t have to be perfect all the time. 

 

 

Spring Forward ----------- Day 204

We turned back the clocks this weekend.  The downside of this time change is that I lose an hour during the day.  With all the things that I had to do this weekend, I really missed that one hour.  The upside is that it is that we have more daylight at the end of the day which is a good thing for me.

As I re-evaluate this weekend, I did stay on track with my eating and did get in my exercise.  My behavior has definitely changed from the past.  I have a busy week ahead so staying on track will be more challenging.  At least I will have more energy at the end of the day with more daylight available.

Chi-Rish ---------- Day 203

After work yesterday, I just felt like walking so I decided to take a different train home.  I walk along this one street that has many restaurants and bars to get to this other train stop.  What I kept on seeing at all the bars was this sign that said Chi-Rish and it also had the Miller Lite beer logo on it.  My guess it is an abbreviation for Chicago Irish but I am not really sure.  There were also these signs about watching the basketball games at the bars.   I have to say walking the streets of downtown Chicago is never boring; there is always something to look at.

Today my son had a music concert downtown.  In the same area as this concert is where the St. Patrick’s Day parade was going to start.  I wasn’t sure how the traffic was going to be so I decided that we would take the ‘L’ downtown instead of driving.  That sounded like a good plan until we actually had to get on the train.  When the train arrived at the stop we were getting on, the train was packed with young kids going to the parade.  We had to push our way onto the train.  We were packed like sardines on that train.  Listening to these kids partying on the train was an experience in itself.  Everyone was just having fun; it was the party train.  I don’t think I have ever seen so much green clothing displayed in such a small space.  I felt like I was on the streets in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.   Thankfully everyone got off the stop before ours so we didn’t have to push our way off the train.

I am glad my son got to experience all this activity on the train because it gives him a sense of what is going on in the city.  We had a similar experience last summer when we decided to take the train into the city to see a play.  I forgot that it was the same day as the Gay and Lesbian parade.  The outfits that we saw on the train were totally crazy.  What was even more entertaining was waiting on the ‘L’ platform to go home after the play and seeing all the people from the parade interacting on the platform.  I like exposing my son to new experiences and riding the ‘L’ during an event accomplishes that goal.

After we left the concert, my son commented that the next time we should drive.  I told him there won’t be a next time since he’s off to College next year. I guess the misting rain didn’t make our walk back to the train station very pleasant.  The train wasn’t as packed going home as it was on the way there but there were still enough people in green celebrating on the train.  I have to say that I really enjoyed seeing the different types of green outfits that people were wearing.  I especially liked all the big green hats the guys were wearing and the Irish themed tights that the girls were wearing.

For me taking the train somewhere involves walking and usually stairs.   I look at this as getting more physical activity than just driving somewhere and it really is less stressful for me.  Besides, you would never see how people were celebrating during the St. Patrick’s day parade if you were driving. 

Hot Stuff ---------- Day 202

Being the good Catholic girl that I am, I don’t eat meat on Fridays during the Lenten season.  I wanted something different to bring for lunch this Friday besides an almond butter and jam sandwich.   The challenge was to replace the meat with another protein.  I mentioned this dilemma to my son and he suggested beans.  Sometimes I can’t see the forest from the trees.  Taking my son’s suggestion, I decided to make a dish with beans and rice.

I had a bag of red beans at home so I decided to use them instead of can of beans.  Since I didn’t want to soak the beans overnight, I opted for the quick method of making the beans.  After following the directions on the bag, the beans were still hard.  I ended up having to cook them for another hour so they were soft.  I remember being at a potluck where the host made some chili and the beans were still hard.  Not having food cooked enough or overdone is a pet peeve of mine.  You always need to taste your food as you are cooking.  Not all cooking recipes are correct.

After cooking the rice and beans, I decided that I wanted to make the dish less boring so I decided to add 4 jalapeno peppers to the dish.  During the summer I grew some jalapeno peppers in my parent’s garden.  Well, my dad actually watched over the plants.  I don’t have a green thumb at all.  Since the plants produced an abundance of peppers, my mom suggested that I just freeze them whole and then slice them up when I needed them.  Having learned from my past mistake of cutting the jalapeno peppers and then touching my face, I decided to wear rubber gloves when cutting the peppers.  This was a wise decision on my part since I didn’t have to endure burning sensations on my face.

I combined all the ingredients together and then portioned the dish into individual serving containers.  I kept one container in the fridge for lunch today and froze the rest.  Today at lunch I looked forward to eating my bean and rice dish.  As I was eating the dish, I realized how hot the dish was from the jalapeno peppers.  I went through two large glasses of water while eating the dish.  I guess adding 4 peppers was a little much.  They say that eating spicy food helps your metabolism.  I will take all the help that I can get.