The Challenge of Losing Weight

Although I am not heavy by many standards, by running standards I am on the bigger side. It makes sense; the lighter you are the less you have to carry down the road. If you told me to go out and run with a 15 lb sack of potatoes, I would tell you that I couldn’t do it. So losing extra weight, the right way, can only be a good thing. By the Chicago Marathon in October, I would like to be 14 lbs lighter. That would place me at a weight that is still heavier than my High School weight but much lighter than I’ve been in years. I have found, however, that losing weight in my mid 50’s is akin to being able to do a 7’ pole vault. In other words, it is nearly impossible.

I am currently tracking everything that I eat. I’ve done this in the past and found that I actually lie to myself neglecting to enter foods that I know I shouldn’t have eaten. This time, I’m being honest with myself and can clearly see an emerging pattern. During the day, I am very good about what I eat breakfast and lunch are the right size and usually good things. At dinner time, however, I tend to eat huge portions, have alcohol and then something sweet. I’m not gaining weight and have actually lost a smidgen but to get the weight dropping off, I am definitely going to have to improve my evening habits. It doesn’t help that I’m married to an excellent cook that bakes fabulous bread! Not complaining here. Just sayin’ - it makes it difficult.

What motivates you to eat better? How have you lost weight? Tell me your story.

Monday, Monday

Yowza!!!  The 4:30 AM alarm was a shocker this morning.   Having a pre planned workout really helps lift me out of bed.  I was working on all the reasons not to get up when it dawned on me that I would have to rework this week’s whole training plan if I skipped today.  That was enough to kick me in gear.   Having pets also helps.  As I was about to close the bathroom door, Eddie and Ozzie, the two youngest male cats in the house, wandered in looking for a pat and a bite of breakfast.  They are such good company in the early morning, purring and softly talking to me.  I’m sure they wonder why the crazy lady gets up so early and leaves in shorts.  
 
The treadmill is still my running buddy.  5AM is still very dark here and the roads are slick in spots. At this age, I don’t want to risk a fall that I could have prevented.  I like the treadmill for intervals anyway.  The quick keys make it very easy to change pace.   The gym is still full of resolutionaries, at least on Monday mornings.   I’ve noticed they drop off during the week.   All of the treadmills and elliptical machines were buzzing by 5:10am. I ran for 75 minutes this morning and feel great now.  
During my run, I worked on the things that I learned in the Good Form Running clinic.  Posture, cadence, lean and midfoot strike.  I think the hardest thing for me is posture, keeping my hips forward – not sticking my butt out.  I can tell when my posture is right, things feel very good but it is easy to slip into bad form.  
 
Registration for the Chicago Marathon is now less than 48 hours away.   I will register and I will do it!
Why not?   Me and 45,000 of my closest friends.  
 
 
 

Good Form Running Clinic

Just back from the Good Form Running clinic at the Naperville Running Store. It was well worth the time and ten dollars. About a dozen people attended and each of us was video taped running in our shoes and running barefoot. Then we focused on the four points of GFR, posture, lean, cadence and midfoot strike. Lots of very valuable information. At the end, we reviewed everyone's video. Surprise, my form was pretty good. Probably need to to shorten my stride a little, but otherwise ok. When the group viewed my barefoot run there was amazement about my super high arches. They are a royal PITA!

Today is a rest day. Time to hang with the fur babies. No football :-(

Simple Pleasures

 T.G.I.F.

  

  

Its the simple things that make us happy.  Like finding the perfect pair of running shorts!  I think Ive found them.  I have been wearing a pair of Brooks running shorts.  Very lightweight , quick drying material with a built in liner.  But, I find that they twist and creep up while Im running such that Im constantly tugging at the legs.   To stop that, I wanted a pair of compression shorts, but didnt want super short shorts.  I find it kind of creepy to see women in their 50s in very short running shorts, even if theyve got great legs.  I looked everywhere and they all had 5 or shorter inseams.  Too short.  Finally, I found the perfect shorts by Moving Comfort  http://www.movingcomfort.com  7.5" inseam, compression shorts.  These babies are perfect!  They are low rise and dont bind at the waist, have a nice cotton liner and are just the right length.  Wow baby, I am ecstatic!

OK, so I can ride 200 miles.  Can I run a marathon?

This mornings run was more interval work.  Today I ran at a faster pace (6 to 6.7 mph) for 1min, followed by 3 min (the 1st min at 5mph, 2nd at 5.1 mph and the 3rd at 5.2 mph) then walked a minute.  Did this for an hour and it feels really good.  trying not to care about distance, only time.  This week my LSR (long slow run) is only 2.5 miles.  Guess will do that on Sunday.  Having a training plan and a real goal has been great.  After 4 weeks, I am still into it and cannot wait to do more.   

  

  

P.A.D.S.

No Diet Pepsi yesterday! Yay! Maybe making a public commitment to not drink it will be the key to success.

No workout this morning. Today was a P.A.D.S. morning. That’s Public Action to Deliver Shelter a mobile overnight shelter for homeless people in DuPage County, Illinois. My church, the DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church (DUUC), is responsible for running P.A.D.S the fourth Wednesday night/Thursday morning of each month. DUUC is not equipped to host 40 people overnight, so we do this at the First Congregational Church in downtown Naperville. P.A.D.S involves preparing and serving a hot dinner for 40 people, providing overnight accommodations, preparing and serving a hot breakfast and preparing and handing out bagged lunches. We also have to provide people to monitor the overnight shifts while guests sleep. With 40 people in a rather small space, it is possible that things might go wrong. It is usually uneventful, but monitoring is still important. Being the early bird that I am, I prefer to go in for the breakfast and/or clean up on Thursday mornings. At 6:00 am, the lights are turned on and breakfast is served. As the guests wake up, we strip their sleeping pads and wipe all the pads down with a weak bleach solution. Most of the pillows are also encased in plastic and those are wiped down too. All tables and chairs are put away, the floor is swept and the bathrooms and showers are cleaned. My husband is our church coordinator and he and another man clean the bathrooms. I appreciate that.

What surprises me is that I find that I’m more tired from doing P.A.D.S cleanup than my workouts. What is up with that? I sleep a little longer and do less work but I feel exhausted all day. I’m starting to think it is bleach fumes… just kidding.

It is a shame that P.A.D.S has to operate. There really is no place else for someone in suburbia, who is homeless, to go. I don’t mind helping out and it reminds me of how much I’ve been given. I was born into a family that had means, valued education and taught me responsibility. When you think about it, not too many people on this planet are that lucky.

So tomorrow is another running day. I really look forward to my running days now. They are no longer torture but a joy. I have a long way to go, but I am getting there.
What are you joyful about?

Addiction

Today was a training day and it felt good to move.  It is still too dark for me to comfortably run outside at 5:00 AM so I am still doing my runs on the treadmill at the gym.  Additionally, I’m working on building a base so need to be careful not to overdo it on my shorter weekday runs.   My plan today was to do longer, sustained periods of running at a slightly faster pace.  But I changed that when I got into the gym. I worked on intervals today running 1/1/1 intervals – 1 min over 6 mph, 1 min between 5 and 6 mph and 1 mi walking.  I ended up covering 4 miles.  I topped out at 6.5 mph This is a pretty good workout for me at this stage of the game.  I have to keep remembering that I’m not in it for speed (which I clearly don’t have anyway) but in it for the duration.   It is also important for me to remember that I don’t want to get injured and that I’ve never been a runner!!!    I feel great.
 
On Saturday morning, I am going to a www.GoodFormRunning.com clinic at the Naperville Running Company.   I’ve been pretty cognizant of my running form; it makes a HUGE difference in the stress I put on my knees and lower back.  I’m sure, however, that I will get some pointers and new ideas.  One of the reasons that I registered is to just get out there with other runners.  Catch their excitement.  Right now, I’m doing this alone but it would be great to find some other, older, slower runners to train with.  
 
On to addictions.  Why can’t I give up Diet Pepsi?  I have one or two a day and for the life of me can’t give those suckers up.  I know they are not good for me, there are lots of substitutes and I will feel better with them banished from my life.   But I can’t do it.  I can get up at 4:30 most days of the week to run, I can pack my lunch daily, eat healthy, etc but the Diet Pepsi’s they pull me in.   I suppose there are worse addictions but it bothers me that I have little or no control over this product.    Having written this, I am going to try again and drive this evil out of my life.  I’ll be reporting in on my progress.  I think this is going to be harder than training for the marathon.   I am so weak.
 
Hope you’re all having a great day.  Remember to show up for your life, no one else is going to do it for you.
 
 

The Key is Organization

Today was a planned rest day.  I knew I would get to bed too late last night to make the early morning gym call so I decided not to get overly stressed and take a rest day.
 
The key to going to the gym or running early in the morning is organization.  Each night I lay out my workout clothes, decide what I’m going to wear to work and iron if necessary, pack up underwear, jewelry, and other accessories, pack a lunch and put it all out in the car.  In the morning, I roll out of bed, wash my face, brush my teeth change into workout clothes and drive off.  NOT today.  What a disaster!  I didn’t do any of my night time planning and this morning was a free for all.  I must have gone up and down the stairs a dozen times because I kept forgetting things; I’m dressed in some really weird clothing today; and my lunch is an odd concoction of food.  My rest day has actually been a bit stressful.
 
Another reason to run from today’s New York Times.  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/how-exercise-may-keep-alzheimers-at-bay/
“But a cautiously encouraging new study from The Archives of Neurology suggests that for some people, a daily walk or jog could alter the risk of developing Alzheimer's or change the course of the disease if it begins.”   We are all looking for the fountain of youth.  I think it is found in exercise.  It doesn’t have to be running but running is less complex than other sports.  Grab a pair of running shoes, put on a pair of shorts and go.  Is it easy, no, but the benefits both long and short term are unbelievable.   Try it.  You will like it!  Bad knees, don’t run but get out there and move.
 
Next Wednesday, February 1st is the first day to register for the Chicago Marathon.  Now THAT I have planned.   No reason to put it off, I’ll be registering on the 1st.  
 

Week 4 Starts With A Bang

Thunderstorms at 3 AM!!!  Ah, the lovely sound of rain on the roof at 4:30 AM.   I so wanted to turn over, snuggle under the covers and skip the gym.  But, a little voice kept prodding me…. “Kristin, wake up.  Kristin, you will feel better later today if you get your workout in.  Kristin, you’ve stuck to the training schedule for 3 weeks, don’t blow it.”    I got out of bed.   As soon as I shut the bathroom door, Ozzie, my ever faithful tabby cat,  was twisting at the door knob asking to come in.  His beautiful deep green eyes looked at me softly asking for his morning food.   As I filled his bowl, he stretched deeply and gave me a good morning chirp.  I’m already glad that I got up.

I walk into the gym just a couple minutes past 5:00 AM.  Wendy, behind the front desk, already has locker key #82 in her hand.  I don’t know how she remembers, but she does, it is a nice welcoming gesture.  What the heck?  The place is already busy with people running on the treadmills, stepping on the ellipticals and lifting weights.  They must sleep outside the gym and if Wendy opens the doors a few minutes early, they’re in!  

Today was a running day for me.  I’m into an every other day training routine sometimes taking 2 days off after a long, slow run.  I’m not going to get hurt this time out.  I’m sticking to the training schedule and not trying to do more than this old body is capable of.  It dawned on me the other day that I’ve never really run.  I didn’t run as a kid.  I didn’t have to, I had a pony.  I certainly didn’t run in college.  How unseemly to run.  Didn’t know people actually made a sport of it.  So with that lack of a running past, I’m trying to systematically train for a marathon in October.   Today’s session was interval work.  I ran intervals of 3 to 5 min of running with 1 min walking recover in between.  With each interval, I progressively increased my mph by .1 mph ending up at 6.7 mph.   I covered 6.2 miles, a little further than I intended but it felt so good.  A few weeks ago, I read a comment by a long distance runner that the first 3 to 4 miles are the most difficult and after that everything feels good.   And, that most runners never do more than 3 or 4 miles so it all feels bad.  I have to agree.  After the first 3 miles, I feel great and feel like I can do most anything.  Those first miles though, awful!    I’m getting tired of all the treadmill running.  We were so spoiled in Chicagoland by such a late winter arrival.  But now, the roads are icy (although things are melting rapidly today) and I’m too old to take the risk of a fall.  I cannot wait to get back to running outdoors.

The little voice was right.  I feel better having done the work out.  The extra sleep is nice but the feeling of satisfaction from a workout can’t be beat.  

The Playoffs - No Running

One thing I'm learning about training for a marathon at this age, rest is really important.  On Friday, I ran 6.5 miles.  My current long, slow run.  Could I have run today?  Sure.  But another day of rest will be really helpful and it IS NFL playoff weekend.   That with 8 inches of snow on the ground makes for a perfect recovery day. 

My training time is 5 AM each weekday morning.  I started exercising at this hour a couple of years ago and have never looked back.  I fought the early morning workout for years but once I tried it, I was hooked.  I've belonged to the same gym for over 20 years but really didn't know anyone.  Start going in the morning, however, and these people become friends.  You see them each morning, they're always there.  You change clothing with them, put on makeup together, etc.  We know each others' names and notice when someone misses a few days.  There is nothing better than the 5 AM gym crowd.   I've started noticing people that start running even earlier than that and finish their runs at the gym for the sauna, steam room and showers.  Hmmmm.... not sure about running at 4 AM, but thinking about it.

As I type this, the Ravens have just gone ahead of the Patriots.  I'm pulling for the Ravens and the 49ers.  The Harbaugh brothers in the SuperBowl.  How cool would that be?!