Tag Archives: personal

Random Thoughts about Running, Blubber, Camel Toes and Clothes

Posted on by Run DMT
7

It’s Tuesday and time for some random running thoughts.  Time escaped me last week and I forgot to prattle on in a post about my running but there’s plenty to fill you in, if you like that sort of thing.

My Gasparilla Half Marathon is this Sunday and I’m feeling pretty good about that race.  Sunday morning’s race forecast is predicted to be 58 degrees, which isn’t too shabby.  A little warmer than I’m sure other Gasparilla runners would like, but I’ll take it over wind and rain.   Later that day the high will hit 81, so hopefully I’ll finish before the heat creeps up.

My running progress over the past couple of months has been steady and my time for my 3 mile runs has steadily improved (about a 10:00 pace).  My friend, Faith @fmc3, has been running with me a couple of mornings and her pace is much slower than mine and that’s totally fine with me.  I save my faster pace for when I run alone and maintain an easy pace when I run with Faith.

As for other BFFs, I’ve been totally flaking on my work-outs with Sharon Mann.  I really need to get back into the boot camp stuff because swimsuit season is right around the corner and this baby blubber has got to go in order for mama to fit back into a bikini.

On the topic of blubber that has got to go, I lost another TWO POUNDS!  WOOHOO!  Since January 1st, I’ve lost a total of 20 pounds and I’m halfway to my goal.  Of course, if you saw me, you would probably say 20 pounds is way too much, at least I think so.  Another 10-15 would probably be a more reasonable amount for a less emaciated look.  Truthfully, it doesn’t matter to me as long as I can fit back into some of my old things.

Old things leads me to me next random thought…with the weather being positively perfect the past week, I decided to slip into some of my old summer dresses and THEY FIT!  How great is that?!  I’ve doubled my wardrobe and I feel pretty…oh so pretty… I feel pretty and witty and gay and I pity any girl who isn’t me today.

Now for something less pretty, I’ve also fit back into my old running pants.  In the beginning of my New Year running dedication, I tried to squeeze into the same said running pants and they formed an ugly camel toe.  Since it was a dark early morning, I ran in them anyway and as you can imagine, it was NOT a good idea!  Stupid me camel toe bruised my nether regions!   To avoid further injury, I hadn’t worn them in a while until a couple of weeks ago.  They fit and now, there’s no reason for me to bruise myself again buy new work-out clothes!

Have I ever mentioned that I wear girls’ XL work-out clothes?  Since I’m petite, the girls’ Champion line at Target fit me perfectly lengthwise.  The real bonus is that the girls’ line is always cheaper and goes on clearance quite often, more often than the ladies’ active wear at Target.  Good little tip, huh?  ;-) This has been your Run DMT money saving tip of the week.

Speaking of work-out clothes, I wish my Gracie Gaear long tank still fit me so I could wear it in Sunday’s race.  I can’t justify spending $40 on a new one when my old one will fit in a few more weeks.  But don’t tell my husband I said that in case I do buy a new at the Gasparilla expo this Friday!  PROMISE ME!  PINKIE SWEAR IT!

It really is only a matter of time before that cute Gracie Gear tank fits again, because I’m still sticking with the portion control thing and watching my serving sizes.  Faith was convinced I was only eating water and air to lose all the weight.  So not true, if you saw how much I eat throughout the day!  In case you’re curious, I made a vlog about the foods I eat.  It’s FREAKING FANTASTIC!  Watch it and you’ll see what I mean.  I apologize for the length, but it’s totally worth it.  I’m funny as hell!  lol

And now for the running stats…

2/12

11 miles

Time 2:25:26

Ave Pace 13:13

Max Pace 9:28

Calories Burned 1086

2/14

3.1 miles

Time 31:46

Lap 1 – 1.63 (Distance) 16:37 (Time)

Lap 2 – 1:47 (Distance) 15:08 (Time)

Ave Pace 10:15

Max Pace 8:05

2/15

3.1 miles

Time 38:41

Ave Pace 12:29

Max Pace 9:26

2/16

3.1 miles

Time 31:06

Ave Pace 10:02

Max Pace 8:09

2/18

3.1 miles

Time 37:05

Ave Pace 11:59

Max Pace 9:39

2/19

6 miles

Time 1:14:07

Ave Pace 12:22

Max Pace 9:14

2/22

3.1 miles

Time 37:24

Ave Pace 12:05

Max Pace 8:53

Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.

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Love Notes

Posted on by Run DMT
15

I asked Allan not to buy me flowers for Valentine’s Day.

 

 

So instead, he bought a pad of flower-shaped sticky notes and left me love notes throughout the house.

 

 

 

 

 

As I made my way through the rooms, my smile grew with each step. But the surprises didn’t stop there.  Love notes leapt out at me all day from inside the cupboards and the pantries…

 

 

in my wallet…

 

 

and on my steering wheel.

 

 

His lovely creative love notes kept me smiling all day.

 

Random Thoughts about Some Pricks, a Strong Wind and the Runs

Posted on by Run DMT
6

For me, running has always melted the pounds away, but I honestly I had no earthly idea that it would melt so quickly in such a short amount of time.  I realize that most diet plans recommend only losing 1-2 pounds a week, so I hope that I’m not losing weight too quickly.  But I ain’t gonna lie.  It also feels really freaking good to be losing all this baby weight so quickly and to be squeezing into smaller dress sizes every week. With each pound, I’ve double my wardrobe by fitting into some of my old clothes.

 

Each Saturday, I weigh myself after I return from my long run.  I only expected to have lost about a pound this week, so you can imagine my delight when my scale said I dropped another 4.5 pounds for a grand total of….drum roll…16 pounds!!!   INCREDIBLE!

 

On Sunday, the ladies competing in my mom’s group Weight Loss Challenge (WLC) met at the gym where @jellisfl measured and calculated our loss for the first month.  I couldn’t be more thrilled with my progress!  I honestly don’t care if I win the WLC, because I’ve already won in my mind!  Here’s what @jellisfl calculated for me:

 

Inches lost- 18.7
Weight lost- 10.2
Body Fat % down 3
Fat mass down 9lbs

 

Last week, I went for my third round in three years of allergy testing to learn that I’m not allergic to oak any more but I’m allergy to some funky weed that doesn’t even grow in Florida.  WTF?  Whatever.  I’m not buying it or those dumb desensitizing drops for a year and pay a $35 co-pay every visit.  I’ll just stick with Zyrtec.  Thank you.  It seems to do the trick when my allergies flare up.

 

Because of that stupid skin prick test, I wasn’t allowed to run Thursday morning before the test.  So, Wednesday morning was the last morning I ran.  I had hoped to run on Friday morning but I had to complete a late phase of the skin prick test.  In other words, I had to walk around with rows of lovely bumps on my left arm and watch how the lesions developed in a 24 hour period.  Um…yeah…they developed into larger lesions and I looked like I had some bizarre fleshing eating disease.  So in 24 hours, I learned that I’m still allergic to EVERYTHING?!  Oh, except oak.  Duh!

 

Ironically from all the blood work I had done over the past few weeks, I’ve also learned that I have a Vitamin D deficiency which is so strange for such a sun goddess like myself.  I guess I need to scale back on the SPF 50 sunblock, eat more oily fish and eggs, and drink more milk.

 

Speaking of eggs…for the past week, the winds have been ridiculously strong as a result of all the arctic cold fronts making their way down south.  Have I mentioned how much I hate running in the wind?  Despite the wind, I still did pretty good.

 

5 miles

Time 58:55

Ave Pace 11:47

Max Pace 9:09

 

Saturday, I ran 10 lonely miles by myself because Tiffany flaked due to her foot giving her some trouble. The solitude must have made me run a better pace, because at 9 miles, I beat my 9 mile time (1:50:07) from the previous week (1:58:32).

 

10 Miles

Time 2:01:37

Ave Pace 12:10

Max Pace 9:27

Calories Burned 1010  :-)

 

The weather was so damp and yucky on Monday and I missed the Mom’s Mid-Morning Run at Suncoast Running.  Bad mommy! Or am I a good mommy because I didn’t take my baby out it that icky weather?  Either way, I’m a total slacker runner because I missed my Monday run and I’ve not done any yoga or Boot Camp stuff in weeks.  My BFF Sharon Mann is totally going to make me suffer when I see her next.

 

This morning, I fit 4 miles in even though the wind made me want to stay in bed.

 

4 miles

Time 44:37

Ave Pace 11:09

Max Pace 8:21

 

***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***

randomtuesday

Even More Random Thoughts about Running and Weight Loss

Posted on by Run DMT
3

Alternative Title – Janathon Days 22, 24 and 25

 

Well, Tiffany and I made it through 8 miles.  It wasn’t the best run, but we did it.  At least, I got to catch up with Tiffany for an uninterrupted 2 hours and burned 746 calories in the process.

 

Day 22

8 Miles

Time 1:57:12

Ave Pace 14:39

Max Pace 9:12

 

Sunday I rested and then on Monday I missed my 5:00 a.m. “Me Time”, so I decided to load up Liam and the stroller for a Mom’s Mid-Morning Run at Suncoast Running.  Tracey (the owner), Amy (a new running friend) and I ran 3 miles with a screaming baby in tow, but at least I got my miles in that day.  He eventually fell asleep.

 

Day 24

3.1 Miles

Time 36:43

Ave Pace 11:51

Max Pace 9:21

 

This morning I found the energy for 4 miles at 5:00 a.m. and I’m so glad I did because the forecast called for severe thunderstorms for most of the day.  But I think I had a little too much energy this morning, because my knee has been bothering me all day.  Since I volunteered to chaperone my daughter’s field trip, I had planned Wednesday to be a rest day.  Now, I’m glad I did so I could give my knee a rest.  I hope it’s nothing too serious and that I just need new shoes.

 

Day 25

4 Miles

Time 46:32

Ave Pace 11:39

Max Pace 9:31

 

On my day of rest on Sunday, I decided to bite the bullet and register for the Gasparilla Half Marathon.  So, naturally my knee would start bothering me afterwards!  UGH!

 

As for my weight loss, I did really well this week despite eating out twice. My sister and I enjoyed lunch at Moon Under Water and I ate the tuna sashimi, seaweed salad and a side of edamame.  YUM!   As much as I could have killed for a glass of wine, I only drank water.

 

Then, after the Gasparilla Parade (Pics will be posted tomorrow for Not-So-Wordless Wednesday, so stay tuned!), my family and I ate at Bella’s Italian Cafe.  DOUBLE YUM!  Again, no wine and I only ate a small piece of bread, a small portion of Ceasar salad and I only ate half of my Lasagna Con Pollo.  Funny thing, after weeks of portion control, I could only eat half of my dinner and I couldn’t even stomach the thought of dessert.  I was FULL and that rarely ever happens!

 

Truthfully, I think another dry week caused me to get the DTs and that is what helped me lose another 4 pounds for a grand total of …WAIT FOR IT…10 POUNDS!

 

You would think weighing less would be less of a burden to my knees.  Not so much.

 

***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***

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Janathon Days 19 and 20

Posted on by Run DMT
11

Janathon/Juneathon
Day 19, I ran 4 miles.  My time was o.k.

4 Miles

Time 48:06

Ave Pace 12:02

Max Pace 9:40

 

The run wasn’t too bad, but I had forgotten that I needed to fast for my blood work later that morning , which meant no tea, no protein shake, no banana.   NOTHING.  Just lots of water and by time I arrivde at the doctor’s office, I was pretty hydrated despite the color of my urine sample I left behind for my physical.  Needless to say, I was STARVING by lunch time.

 

This morning (Day 20) I overslept and missed my 5:00 a.m. run.   So, after the girls left for school, I did 25 minutes boot camp stuff with my BFF Sharon Mann and afterward I decided to run 3 miles with the baby in the stroller again.  Thankfully, Little Lion Man cooperated and actually fell asleep.  Phew. However, I still HATE running with a stroller.  When I tweeted my time on Twitter, I whined about running with a stroller and @clairgp suggested doubling my distance when I run with a stroller.  I really like that idea!  When you think of it as 6.2 instead 3.1, I totally kicked ass!

 

Day 20

3.1 Miles (a.k.a 6.2 stroller miles)

Time 38:10

Ave Pace 12:38

Max Pace 8:54

 

Tomorrow I will work out again with my BFF Sharon Mann. Saturday, I take on 8 miles with my running partner, Tiffany and I’m really looking forward to it, which sounds like an odd thing to say when you’re running 8 miles. But It’s been WAY too long since we’ve run together and I’m looking forward to catching up with her for an hour and half of uninterrupted chit-chat time.  Believe me.  It will fly by.

More Random Thoughts About Running and Weight Loss

Posted on by Run DMT
6

Janathon/JuneathonBetween a cranky baby and doctor appointments, my running routine got all screwed up suffered.  But the good news is I lost another 2.5 lbs for a total of 6.5 pounds and my belt moved over another notch.

 

Go me! Go me!  Long live Janathon!

 

During the Janathon and the first month of my Weight Loss Challenge, I promised to avoid dining out, which means no MNO (Mom’s Night Out) or LNO (Ladies Night Out). But the sacrifice will spare me from all those extra calories and help save money too.  A fat wallet is good, but a fat butt not so much.

 

Saturday night, my husband and I attended a business-related dinner at Café Ponte with his work colleagues and I tried to be so good.  I only had one glass of red wine, limited my helpings of the Hors d’oeuvres, ate only one slice of bread, ordered the Chilean sea bass instead of chicken or the filet, and ate half of my chocolate torte.  After the dinner, we attended our friend, John’s 40th Birthday shindig and throughout the whole party, I only drank water during and avoided the food.  Shocking, I know.

 

But enough about the food I did and didn’t eat.  Onto my Janathon running stats!

 

Last Wednesday morning was a wet one, so I decided to run in the afternoon, but Little Lion Man didn’t like that idea and only let me finish 2.5 miles.  Running with a stroller offers a decent amount resistance training, but I don’t enjoy it very much and obviously neither does Liam.

 

January 12

2.5 miles

Time 33:02

Ave Pace 13:14

Max Pace 10:14

 

Thursday I visited my allergist and wasted hours sitting in his office.

 

On Friday, I joined my BFF Sharon Mann for another 50 minutes of boot camp.  I think Sharon was happy to see me again because she treated me much nicer than she did previous week.  The 1000 squats and lunges didn’t hurt as much, but it might have had something to do with muscle memory.

 

All those squats and lunges really helped prepare my legs to take on 7 miles on Saturday.  I ran much faster and at 6 miles, I noticed that I beat last week’s time by 5 minutes (1:13:02).  NICE!

 

January 15

7 miles

Time 1:24

Ave Pace 12:08

Max Pace 8:51

 

Here’s the best part.—> Calories Burned: 697 (So freaking AWESOME! All that running made room for DH’s business dinner.)

 

Sunday, I passed on the yoga and walked 2 miles with my family.  It felt good to get out and move again the day after a long run.

 

Monday morning brought some scary thunderstorms and heavy rain.  I swore that I would run later that evening, but that never happened.  Why do I even kid myself? I am always way too exhausted to run in the evening.

 

Today, I woke up at 5:00 a.m. to fit in 3 miles because I was NOT going to lose another day, not after I’ve been doing so well.  And no joke, I AM doing really well.  I shaved another minute and a half off my time.  SWEET!

 

January 18

3.1 miles

Time 36:15

Ave Pace 11:41

Max Pace 9:13

 

At this point, I am really proud of my progress and my Gasparilla half marathon goal appears attainable.

 

***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***

randomtuesday

 

Random Thoughts About Running and Weight Loss

Posted on by Run DMT
5

Janathon/JuneathonYou may have already heard me proclaim my desire to lose 40 lbs of baby weight before my 40th birthday this July.  You also may have already heard about me joining the Janathon.  Well, one week of the Janathon under my belt and I’ve already ran miles and lost 4 pounds!  WOOHOO!

 

Last week, I ran nearly every day.  I watched my food intake by reading the serving sizes on labels and I recorded my food with the help of a food/diet application from Sparkpeople.com as suggested by @BigBadEd and @jellisfl.  I also seriously cut back on the number of beers I drank last week.  Normally, I’ll drink one or two beers at night or a glass of wine, but this week I drank a total of FOUR.   I replaced the glass of wine I drank at dinner with a glass of water.

 

Who would have thought portion control, reducing my alcoholic consumption, drinking more water and increasing my activity level would have helped me lose weight?

 

It’s genius, I tell you!  My tweep and virtual running partner, @boutdrz suggested I brand this idea and sell it as a weight-loss program.  I could call the Florida 40 Diet.  I’ll make MILLIONS!  I’ll get to work on a prototype program ASAP.

 

I have to admit.  I love food and I run so I can eat as much food (within reason) as I want.  But until, my body slims down and my miles go up, I need to watch my caloric intake.

 

Portion control bites.

 

Moving on to something a bit tastier, here are my Janathon miles:

 

I set out Saturday to run 6 miles, but I didn’t start my run quite as early as I had hoped to.   As I set off at 9:30, I worried about running 6 miles as it’s been over a year since I ran that distance.  However, I truly impressed myself when I ran 2 miles without stopping.  Maybe it was the gorgeous weather or the wind, but the next 2 miles seemed to fly by as I looked down at my Garmin in disbelief.  I didn’t feel like I had run 4 miles yet.  Though I think I celebrated a bit too soon, because the next 2 miles were definitely the toughest.  But I did it.

 

Janathon Day 8

6 miles

Time 1:18:18

Ave Pace 13:03

Max Pace 9:51

 

Sunday, my legs were stiff and sore, so I decided to rest and recover with 50 minutes of yoga.  Later that day, my family and I strolled around the neighbor.  It felt good to move after the huge brunch we enjoyed earlier.  But not to worry! I only ate one helping of Allan’s sweaty brekkie because I didn’t want to undo all of last week’s efforts.

 

An ugly thunderstorm rolled in Monday morning, but I wouldn’t let that stop me.  Thankfully, I had arranged to meet some mommy friends at the gym for the first weigh-in of our annualBarbell rollout Weight Loss Challenge (a friendly weigh loss competition).  After the initial weigh-in, @jellisfl offered a core conditioning class but my body resisted.  My abs did not like the strain I put them through and decided to hurt me back.  As I wheeled the barbell out in front of me, my chin slammed into the wooden floor.  My abs suckered punched me. Now, I know why they call them dumbbells.   I won’t be repeating that exercise any time soon.

 

After the class, I set out to run 2 miles on the dreadmill.  I’m not a big fan of dreadmills, but with rain in the forecast, I was grateful to see it.  Honestly, with the slow pace that I run these days, the dreadmill wasn’t too bad.   But then, just after I finished my first mile, they paged me to the nursery.  Liam wanted his mama and that was the end of my running attempt for Monday.   The Gods just didn’t want me working out.

 

Janathon Day 10

1 Sad Mile

Ave Pace – Slow as shit

Max Pace – Dashing to the daycare

 

This morning, I woke up 5:00 a.m. to fit in 3 miles because I was NOT going to lose another day, not after I’ve been doing so well.  This time, I remembered my mace and a flashlight, but borrowed DH’s MP3 player since mine was dead.  I don’t know if it was his playlist or all the strength training, but something made me shave a minute off my time.

 

Janathon Day 11

3.1 miles

Time 37:42

Ave Pace 12:11

Max Pace 8:58

 

***Proudly submitted at The Un Mom’s Random Tuesday Thoughts, because when I blog about my runs, it’s usually pretty random.***

randomtuesday

The F Word

Posted on by Run DMT
15

As much as I love to drop the F-bomb, I am not referring to that F word.

Instead, I am referring to FORTY.

In 2010, I gained forty pounds due to my pregnancy and didn’t lose an ounce after I delivered baby #3.  How is that even possible? Naively (even after three babies), I thought that I would lose at least nine pounds at the delivery given that I passed an 8 lb, 10 oz butterball, but nope.  Somehow I dropped almost a nine pound baby and my body elected to carry a phantom baby in his place.

Forty seems to be a haunting reoccurring theme in 2011 too.  It looms behind every corner.  That dreaded F-word surrounds me as two of my closest friends and I are turning forty this year.

Funny, I don’t feel forty and I don’t think I look forty (Thanks to Demi Moore and other cougar mamas who made forty the new thirty), but the sound of it sends chills down my soon to be osteoporosis spine.  Am I really that old?

But before I hit the Big 4-0, these forty pounds have got to go, which leads me to two more F-Words: FAT and FIT.

I refuse to be fat at forty.  I will become a mom on the run again.  In 2011, I commit to being fit.

And to put my money where my mouth is (instead of food or beer for a change), I will compete in three half marathons (13.1 miles) in the next four months.  That’s close to forty miles just in races! (39.3 to be exact, but close enough)

Fourty.  There’s just no escaping it this year.  Fuck.

 

*This post was inspired by*

Mama's Losin' It

Let’s Get It Started!

Posted on by Run DMT
17

Last week for Music Monday, I asked everyone to share a song that represents what you anticipate 2011 to bring.  If 2011 had a theme song, what would yours be?

 

Mine would sound something like this…

 

Runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and runnin’ runnin’, and running and running and running and ruinning…

 

With my commitment to the Janathon and refusing to be fat being fit at 40, there’s going to be a whole lot of running in my future.  Honestly, I am excited about turning because I don’t feel 40, but that could be that I’ve been 29 for 10 years now.

 

But mostly, I’m really looking forward to being a mom on the run again and bringing sexy back. After months of poor eating habits and an ass that looks like Christmas pudding, I’ve got my work cut out for me. This path to being fit at 40 is a really long ass road that’s been paved with chocolate bars and beer bottles.  But like any other road, it takes one step at a time to get through it.  And on that note…

 

Let’s get it started in here!

 

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Jumping Into the Janathon

Posted on by Run DMT
6

I am determined to get back into running this year and the Janathon is just the motivation I need to kick my ass things into gear.  But it’s more than simply a determination to get back into running.  I refuse to be fat at 40.

 

I’m a committed to being fit at 40.

 

And so, January 1 after a long lie in, a blueberry muffin and a mimosa to start things off right, I still procrastinated.  After a late night of heavy drinking and my last splurge of fatty food, I took full advantage of a lazy day and my lazy hungover ass didn’t run until after dinner, which is something I rarely do.

 

But I must admit, it really wasn’t all that bad.  Don’t get me wrong. It was a tough run for me after weeks off from running and recovering from a pretty nasty head cold.  But I did it and that’s all that matters.  And for my effort, my neighbors celebrated my commitment to running with fireworks (at least that’s what I like to tell myself).

 

Day 1

Distance 3.10

Time 39:41

Ave Pace 12:48

Max Pace 8:54

 

Because I prefer to run in the morning, I decided to spring out of bed Sunday morning to get my run over as soon as possible and not stall like I did the day before.  Ok, it wasn’t quite so much a spring but more like a slow slide out of bed at 8:30 a.m., which is late for me.  During my prime training days, I preferred running at 5:00 a.m.  But again, the time of day doesn’t matter, but the time I commit does.

 

Since my legs were sore from Day 1, Day 2 run felt like a harder runner.  Funny how I always think these things but then the results always prove me wrong.

 

Day 2

Distance 3.10

Time 39:02

Ave Pace 12:36

Max Pace 9:08