Getting Back on Track Attack: WEEK 1 Recap

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

My first week of my Getting Back on Track Attack went very well.

My goals were:

Get 6 - 8 hours of sleep each night.
I figured that if I'm well-rested, I'm more apt to wake up in the morning and get my workouts done. Nothing derails fitness efforts like a tired body and mind. So, I'm glad I was able to accomplish this every night this week.

Drink 6 - 8 cups of water daily.
Need to work on this one a lot more. I got in 6 cups on 3 days but the remaining days I got in a mere 4 - 5 cups.

Exercise 7 days for at least 35 minutes each.
I didn't quite make the 7 days; but I'm happy that I exercised 5 days. So, I'll give myself a ribbon for that.

Log at least 10 miles for the week.

Log at least 250 fitness minutes for the week.
I logged 188 fitness minutes for the week.

Stay within or below calorie range 5 out of 7 days.
I definitely accomplished this 4 days this week. One day I went over. And two days I didn't track. So, while I can't be 100% sure one way or the other, I would lean more towards me having "not" met this goal for the week.

Strength train 2 days.
I only wanted to focus on doing 4 different exercises to target glutes, triceps, biceps and abs. So, I didn't think it was too much to add this as one of my goals for the week. But, ST remains a challenge.

Eat no fast food.
I had some Popeye's chicken on two occassions. Remarkably, on those days, I managed to still stay within the my calorie range. But, during the month when I wasn't exercising, I had a lot of fast food and salty chips and the like. So, I set this goal so that I could wean myself off the fast food again. Having it those two days wasn't too bad though. I'm confident that next week, I will accomplish this with no problem.

and finally...

Lose 5 lbs.
I set this goal only because I knew most of it would be water weight. Like I mentioned earlier, I had been eating a lot of salty foods before deciding to get back on track. So, I figured that I'd lose at least 5 lbs in water weight just by focusing and recommitting to healthy eating. I was right. I lost 6 lbs that week.

Although I didn't meet most of my goals; I am pleased with my overall progress and my movement TOWARDS reaching them. For me, I had a good week.

My goals for next week will be tweaked and I'm fully expecting to have more "Goal Met" icons in my recap for Week 2.

Thanks for your support everyone!

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A Mother's Day Message

Sunday, May 13, 2012

I had an absolutely wonderful Mother's Day today! I spent the day with my hubby, my children, my Mommy, my sister and her fiance. We had such a wonderful time of fellowship.

We went to church in the morning and then to a restaurant to eat. I had the seafood fettucine alfredo. I'm not even going to attempt to track it. The portions were so huge. But, I only ate half. I could have probably ate just a third of my plate and been fine. LOL But it was a delicious meal. No dessert.

As soon as I got home I put on my workout clothes and hit the treadmill. I did walk/run intervals. Today was the first time I've run since the 5K and it felt good. I even increased my speed on my run intervals.

I hope all the mothers and daughters and sons and husbands and children in Sparkland had an awesome day too!

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Getting Back on Track Attack

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

As I mentioned in some of my status updates, I've been struggling to regain consistency every since having achieved my 5K goal. I ran the 5K almost a month ago (April 14th) and hadn't worked out AT ALL from that time until YESTERDAY. Key word: YESTERDAY.

Last night, I sat up and wrote (or re-wrote) my goals on paper for this week (baby steps) and started implementing plans to achieve them TODAY. One component of those plans is to workout EVERY single day for at least 35 minutes.

So, here I am on Day 1, DOING IT! LOL Sorry if you have motion-sickness type issues. I'm walking on the treadmill in this video. LOL

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Milestone #4: I Can't Believe I RAN a 5K!!!! Wow!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

I did it!!! I can't believe it!! I actually did it! I set a goal at the end of 2011 to run a 5K in 2012. When I signed up in March, I was left with only 5 weeks to train. Those 5 weeks were aggressive. But, I actually did it!! Me??!! Unbelievable!

My husband, children, mother and best friend all came down to support me. It was great knowing they were there.... They are the absolute best!!!

Now for the play-by-play...

I participated in the Move4Mobility 5k and 5-miler, for which 100% of the proceeds go to support the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Research group. I signed up for this particular race because I was familiar with the terrain. I knew that the route was flat, with no hills whatsover. I knew that it wouldn't really get a lot of publicity (unlike Susan G. Komen) so there wouldn't be tons of people there. I chose well.

I arrived at about 7am to pick up my race package.


There I am with my neon yellow shirt on.

There were a few people there. Some with short sleeves and some with short shorts. But, it was COLD! I knew that those folks must be hardcore runners to dress in that manner. They knew that they'd get hot as they continued to run. I knew that too, but I layered up. If I got hot... too bad. I wasn't coming out there with short sleeves and short shorts or capris! No Sir-eee.

Anyway, when the race started, I somehow ended up at the front of the pack.
Mistake, mistake, mistake. LOL.


See my bright yellow neon shirt over to the right. (smile)

Those folks were wisping past me... AND, they totally overwhelmed me. The adrenaline of it all caused me to start out much faster than I'm used to. But, I just couldn't slow down. I was out of breath very quickly. I was trying to find my pace and my rhythm. I couldn't figure out what my pace was supposed to be... UNTIL... a woman jogged up beside me and it SEEMED like she had a similar pace to mine. I asked her if she was running the 5K or the 5-miler. When she said that she was running the 5K, I thought to myself... "I'm going to be with her the whole time." And I was.


Can you see me and my race-day jogging buddy?

She had a SIMILAR pace, but I realized during the race that it was slightly faster than my pace. She challenged me. It wasn't a "conversational" pace for me, but we managed to talk regardless. I seemed more out of breath than she, but we continued on. She stopped to walk for 10-seconds at one point. Very quick. But, I just kept jogging beside her. I never stopped jogging.

She also had one of those GPS watches and she would every so often tell me how far we had gone. Honestly, I didn't even want to know. It seemed to make me more anxious. It made me start thinking about the finish. Thankfully, she never did tell me the amount of time we had been jogging. I appreciate that very much. Because when we hit the turnaround and started headed back for the last half of the race, I KNEW I would make it. There was no way I could stop at that point. I KNEW I had to press on.

And together, we did. We pressed on right through the finish line. We finished in 39:10!!! I couldn't be more ecstatic!!! I can't even imagine it... still. I had only hoped that I would finish in less than 45 minutes. But, to finish in less than 40 minutes???!!!.... WOW!!

********UPDATED INFORMATION*********

My official finishing time was 38:39!!!

********UPDATED INFORMATION*********

And, it really feels good to be able to run. I feel strong. I feel fit. I feel like continuing on!

I hope to have some pictures of the event at some point. My mom took pictures but with one of those throw-away digital cameras. LOL Crazy. So, once she has her photos developed (or whatever you call it with those things..LOL), I'll post some pictures on my page. (UPDATE: My mom couldn't even locate the pictures she took with that pitiful camera! LOL So, I have no pictures from her. No finishline photo either.)

Thanks everyone for all your support as I trained!!! You're the best!!

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I Did It!! I Ran for 35 Minutes Straight!

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to do it. I mean, 5K Training has NOT been going well.

Week 1 - I trained 1 day.
Week 1 repeat - I trained 2 days
Week 2 - I skipped altogether. I didn't do any training.
Week 3 - I trained 1 day and then another day I just walked the entire time

And, now, it's week 4!! I am supposed to RUN (no walk intervals) for all of my training days! Day 1 is supposed to be 35 minutes; Day 2, 35 minutes; and Day 3, 40 minutes.

I have been stressing over it for a while now. Yesterday, I was going to do my training, but I just didn't. So, that meant that I just had to do it today if I was going to get in 3 days this week with breaks in between.

I really didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I have never run that long. The most I've run is 10 minutes straight. Soooo, I just determined that I would simply do my best. I thought my best would be 10 minutes and then walk for a few minutes and then repeat that until the 35 minutes were up. But, that wasn't my best. Something kicked in after about 4 minutes. It wasn't a cardiovascular struggle anymore and I had a lot more in me. So, I just distracted myself from thinking about the time and I just kept running and I made it! I made it through the entire 35 minutes without stopping!

I'm just so thrilled!!!

Now, I didn't get very far (2.7 miles). But, that was with a 5 minute warm-up walk and a 5 minute cool-down walk. So, I really did that mileage in 45 minutes. Soo.. if I want to finish the 5K in 45 minutes, I guess I'll have to amp it up. But, I'll know for sure after my 3rd run this week where I have to run for 40 minutes straight. If I can get very close to 3 miles in that time, then I know I should be able to complete the 3.1 in 45minutes.

But, that goal is just tucked away in the back back back of my mind. I really just want to be able to run the 5K without walking any. However long that takes is fine... um, well sort of. :-) LOL

Thanks for the support everyone!!

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