It's Working!!!

I'm so excited!

I've started another BFL challenge. (I know, you're all yawning. What is this, my 18th one this year?) LOL

But I knew this time was different. I don't know - a switch just flipped from wishing I was doing BFL, wanting to do BFL, trying to do BFL, to absolutely DOING BFL. I even took "Before" pics and made plans and took off running. My official Day 1 was Dec. 8. The thought occurred to me that I should wait until after the holidays, but I was so ready to do it, I couldn't stand to wait another day to start getting more fit. Yeah, sure, I may have a few extra cheat days around Christmas, but I'll sure be a lot healthier come January 1st than I would have been if I hadn't been doing this! :~)

And I've lost 10 lbs this month!! Not just since the 8th, but for a couple weeks before Day 1, I was really getting into it and prepping myself for the official challenge. I had a false start on the 1st, too, and I lost 3 of those pounds that week.

Anyway, wish me luck! :) Someday soon, I will take a pic like the one below, only it will be REAL! :D LOL

I Don't Need To Lose Weight!

I don't know what I've been thinking. I thought I was overweight, but I was just looking at the pictures my husband took of me in Cabo San Lucas and I look so smokin' good! Take a look:




Okay, you got me. That's not a real picture. :D I did this up in Corel Photo-Paint as a motivational thing. Believe me, editing a picture like this and making it look even a little bit real is HARD! (Click on the pic to see a larger version and tell me I didn't do an awesome job! And that's the first time I've used that program! I've done some picture editing in Photoshop, but nothing like this.)

I've been listening to this self-hypnosis CD to try and curb the emotional eating - I used a self-hypnosis type program to have natural births and nurses, doctors, midwives, et. al. were in shock and awe at how easy my births were. So, I'm hoping this helps. It's seemed to be helping some already.

Anyway, one of the things he says it to visualize a picture of yourself looking fit and trim. "The New You." I have a terrible time visualizing things sometimes, so I thought if I could make an actual picture of myself looking the way I want to look, then I'd have something to visualize!

I'll report back on how it's working.

I feel a little silly saying this, but....

I'm going to try again.

I don't know if anyone reads this blog anymore. If you do, stop in and say hi. If not, I'm going to use this as my personal BFL journal.

Day 1, Take 32. And, Action!

I just can't find the magic. When I did BFL last summer (2007), it was GAME ON. I swear I didn't miss a workout. I didn't cheat on my diet. Ever. And I was losing weight, my measurements were going down, I was getting stronger and faster, I was showing improvement in my pictures, and I felt awesome.

So, what was my secret? If I knew, I could make a bazillion dollars, I'm sure.

Well, here goes nothing. Hopefully not /nothing/, actually. Maybe I should say, Well, here goes something.

Holy Hannah Montana!

That sprinting I did on Saturday just about did me in. I ran for literally just under 2 minutes, and I'm more sore than I usually get after any kind of a workout, weights or running. My ribcage aches every time I cough, my legs are killing me in every place there's even the smallest muscle.... I think I need to sprint more often, but I'm also terrified to do it again.

Breaking it up

I decided to shake things up a little bit today and push myself as hard as I can go for a short burst of time, instead of doing the same old 2 miles or 5K or whatever. So, I went to the park and marked off 100 Meters on the path, and did a few 100 meter dashes.

At the end of the 4th one, I felt everything kind of give out. I tried to rest and stretch and do a 5th, but I just didn't have it in me. So I ran another one at my regular 6-7 mph pace, and walked home.

My best time was 0:19:42 and my high speed for the day was 13.2 mph. I feel like, if I really push myself to the max every once in a while, it'll help me get faster. I was thinking about my 5K last week, and how much faster everyone else was than me. Pretty much the only people who came in behind me were some people who never run, who just came for the fun of it. That wouldn't have bothered me if it weren't for the fact that I've been trying so hard lately.

Maybe I'm just "not a runner," like I hear a lot of people say. But I'm not going to give up yet. I've only been doing this for a relatively short period of my life, so I'm going to keep on and see what I can do if I really push myself.

5K

I did it in about 35:50 or so. By my watch, it was 3.14, which is a little bit more than a 5K. I didn't feel totally right when I started out, though. I'm not sure what was wrong. I did just start a detox yesterday, and I felt like that might have been part of it. It's part of my excuse, in any case. :D I also had to stop and walk a couple of times because of a sideache.

I pushed myself to keep going for a long time. (Keep going to the corner. You can stop and walk once you get to the corner!) LOL. At one point, I had planned to stop and walk once I hit the 1/2 way mark, but that was where everyone was sitting, timing and cheering, so I pushed myself to go around to the next corner so everyone wouldn't see me stop and walk. :D But there's only so far I can push myself before I cry Uncle.

Anyway, my time still wasn't too bad. My first 5K last year was somewhere in the 43 minute range, and my best 5K was something like 32 minutes. So, I could have done better, but I've also done worse. :)

I left my old record in the dust

I just ran outside today instead of running on the treadmill. I wanted to push myself outside and see how fast I could do a mile. I'm going to run the neighborhood 5K tomorrow and I thought this would be a good exercise.

I love the treadmill for being able to plug in what speed I want to go and have the treadmill push me to keep up, but I also knew it held me back at the same time, when I would have gone faster if it wasn't still at the same speed.

So, I went on my run with a GPS watch, and I told myself I wouldn't let my speed drop below 6 mph, since that's the 10-min mile pace. So every time I glanced at it and saw that I was below 6, I'd push myself a little harder until it was back up there.

Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to hold that pace out for the whole mile, but not only did I hold it, but I even had a little bit left in me to make a push the last .1 mile or so, and I was at about 7.5 mph when I "crossed the finish line".

So . . . drumroll, please . . . I did it in 9:26! I'm so proud of myself. :) We'll see what I can do the 5K in tomorrow. :D