Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 11

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

N/A

3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 172/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins...  I DID IT :)  I finished a 5k treadmill run in 38:39 (Pink Dress Virtual Run); I would still love a chance to do this in a road run!
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week.  Food has been terrible this week. It started Monday with a work dinner, and I never got back on track for my evening meals. Every night I was soo hungry! This week I am mixing things up the more mini meals during the day and journaling progress on Spark; hopefully this will help with evening hunger.
Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous. I bought new eye shadow. :)

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.

Beating my 5k PR and completing one of my DDGbD goals :)

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
         MUST do better with evening eating!! Would LOVE to finish my 200 miles goal this week!

Pink Dress Run & New 5k PR

I have been really excited about Fran's Pink Dress Run all week. I knew this would be my first attempt to break my 5k PR which is one of my Drop Dead Gorgeous Goals.
I decided last night that I would treat this run just like an official run and set a starting time of 8AM. Last night, I decided that it would be fun to make an official Pink Dress Run Bib!

I got up at 6 and ate a small breakfast, 1 cup of dark chocolate almost milk and 1/2 an ounce of raw almonds. I then got dressed kissed my sweet sleeping husband goodbye and headed to the gym to jump on the treadmill.

I was just as excited and nervous driving to this "run" as I have been for all of my Road Races. I wondered if I would be able to beat my previous 5k time of 40:28. 

When I got the gym, it was FULL! There was one treadmill open, so I hopped on and set off. There is a 5k setting on the gym treadmills, but I have only used it once. I thought it would be fun to count down the kilometers rather than miles,so I typed it in and I was off. I kept a 5mph pace the first 3 km, then dropped down to a fast walk for 2 minutes to bring my HR down and take a sip of water. Then I brought the speed back up. As I started the 4k I started to get a bit of a side stitch and had to slow back down. I was able to finish the last 4 minutes at my quickest pace of 5.5 mph and finished at 38:39!  Woohoo! I had broken my previous time!!! It took me a few minutes to cool down, then I called Tommy to let him know. And texted my friend Crystal. She was excited for me! I stopped at the grocery to pick up some items to make Egg White and veggie scrambles for my post run breakfast, and then headed home.

I want to THANK Fran for hosting this run and Syl for introducing me to Fran's blog. I had a great time today knowing that I was running "with" all of you wonderful bloggers!

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Pink Dress Run

I am excited about doing this in the morning :)

Three Things Thursday: The Question Edition

1. What do you guys like to eat for breakfast. I usually eat the same things for about 4 months and then switch it up. I have been eating bran flakes, flax seed, whipped PB, almond milk, and a banana for over 4 months, so I am ready for a change. I like quick and easy :) I usually use about 350 cals, but I am flexible :)

2. Do you guys set a workout schedule for yourself, or do you decide daily what you are going to do? I usually know how many miles I want to get in for the week, and a plan to attack those miles, but then switch things up depending on my day at work. I think with the holiday season coming, and all the evening events that entails, I need to make a calendar of what I want to get done each day. Then I will adjust my schedule accordingly so that I can get in that day's workout.

3.  What is your favorite winter meal? I love soups...and can't wait to start making them on a weekly basis :)

Running Towards New Goals!

I broke another record yesterday!!! I finished my 2 miles in 25:08!  I would really like to get to 2 miles in 24 minutes before the new year! So I will be working toward that goal!!

I am still very slow and I know I won't be winning any races, but I just love working hard and beating my own times. I can really see my  improvement!

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 10

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

N/A

3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 155/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins  Making Progress! Broke my 1 mile PR! :)
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week.  No tracking this week. But a good food week.
Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous. Girl's Night

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.

Beating my 1mile PR

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
         Beating my 2mile PR

Three Things Thursday: Zucchini Ribbons, Pedometer, and Time Goals

1. Last night I made Zucchini Ribbons for dinner. Have any of you tried these? Basically, you just cut off the ends of your Zucchini, and use a mandolin to cut long ribbons. (You could do this with a sharp knife, too.) Then I sauteed them with a bit of olive oil and Italian Seasoning. Super Yummy and Quick! This will definitely be added to the rotation :)

2. Some of you made have read on my sidebar that I lost my pedometer last week. We had Family Night at the library, and with such a wild night, it fell off at some point without me noticing.We wore costumes, and when I changed into my costume, I noticed that I had already hit 10,000 steps with all the prep work for the event. I probably should have just taken it off then, but I didn't.  I am sure a child thought it was a toy (we were giving out many small prizes during the event) and took it home. I was using my husband's pokewalker, and it really did look like a toy. I put up signs around the library, but so far nothing. I plan to order a replacement this afternoon, and when it comes in I will continue my Power of 10.

3. Last night, I beat a PR for my one mile and finished in 11:43. I was really excited. I had not paid much attention to my 1mile times in a while, but after finishing Saturday with a better time than I had expected, I decided to do an official time. New goal will be to finish in 11:30 or better :)

Power of Pink Race with Annalee

Saturday, I participated in a local race called the Power of Pink with my six-year-old niece Annalee. She is actually my cousin's daughter, but I have always considered her a niece and I am her "Aunt Jess" :)

The week before, her mother participated in the Race for the Cure with me. Annalee wanted to have a friend stay the night the weekend we were out of town for Race for the Cure, but her Mom explained that she couldn't have company that weekend because we would be out of town doing a race for Aunt Rosie. Annalee asked why Kacy was racing for Aunt Rosie, and she explained that we were doing the race to help raise money so that the doctors could learn new ways to help sick people like Aunt Rosie feel better. Annalee then told her Mom that she wanted to race for Aunt Rosie.

When Kacy told me about the whole conversation, I told her than I knew there would be a local race the next week that included a 1mile fun run, and that I could run it with her. Annalee was very excited. When I picked her up bright and early Saturday morning, she answered the door with a huge hug and told her little brother she was going with Aunt Jess to do something very important. On the car ride to the race, we went over some rules about sticking together. We actually arrived before the 5k event started in order to get parking...she was anxious as we waited for our turn to race.

We had a great run, though we had to stop twice to tie her shoes. LOL She was full speed about until we had less than a quarter mile left to go, the she said she was tired and wanted her Momma. I pointed ahead in the distance to the finish line and told her we could make it just a little longer. We finished in 12:08! (I thought that was really good considering two shoe tying breaks!)

When we finished the race she was starving! She had not eaten breakfast that morning, but I didn't know until minutes before the race was to begin. She ate three granola bars and a full bottle of water. We were so excited during the awards ceremony when she won 3rd place for her age group (0-9).

We had an AMAZING day together, and I am so happy that I could pass on this healthy hobby to her! As we were saying our good-byes she asked when we would race again! :)



Get Set...GO!

 

Annalee running with Aunt Jess!



She was starving! And they were out of bananas from the 5k!

Third Place!

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 9

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

N/A

3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 144/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins  Making Progress!
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week.  No tracking this week, but not too bad until Saturday night.
Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous. Wore makeup to work EVERYDAY! :)

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.

I participated in a 1 mile fun run with my 6-year-old niece. I think it is important to share these healthy activities with her. She came in third place in her age group. More on this later in the week :)

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
          A better routine! Things have been crazy!  (Try this again!)

Three Things Thursday

1. A couple of weeks ago, Tommy found a pair of toning shoes on sale. They were 40% percent off, and we had a coupon for an additional 30% off. In all, we got the shoes for $20. I had not really thought much about purchasing the toning shoes until we got such a good deal on them, but I am glad we bought them. When I first wore them, it almost felt like huge pieces of gum were stuck to the bottom of the shoes, but now I am becoming more familiar. Do any of y'all  have the toning walking shoes?

2. This weekend, I am doing another breast cancer race. This one is local and I will be running with my 6-year-old niece. We will be doing the 1 mile fun run together and she is really excited.  She really wanted to do the event last week, but since it was out of town and something new for us, we weren't sure if children would be allowed. She told her Mom that she wanted to do something to help Aunt Rosie too, so I found this little local race. I am looking forward to doing this with her, and hope it is a memory that will last with her a long time.

3. The Power of 10 challenge has been going well for me. So far, I have reached or exceeded 10,000 steps every day except the day we traveled for the "Race for the Cure." I worked half a day, and then spent quite a bit of time in the car...and at the end of the day I only a a little over 7,000 steps. But that's okay...I exceeded 10,000 the next day. There have  been a couple of  nights when I was 1000 or so short and just wanted to call it a night, but made myself  hit the driveway until my 10,000 were complete. This has been a great challenge, and I hope to continue with it even after October.

Amazing! Race for the Cure!

In June, I received an email from a local running group that listed races across the state. When I saw that the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure would be in Birmingham I immediately knew I wanted to participate. Then, I decided instead of running myself, it would be a great opportunity to get my family involved in an awesome cause in honor of my Aunt Rosie that is currently battling breast cancer. 

Me and Aunt Rosie before the walk.


I didn't know how many family members would want to participate, so I sent out an email to a few cousins with the idea. The response was AMAZING! Everyone seemed game and excited! We named our team, "Rosie...Our Favorite Shade of Pink." I called my Aunt Rosie to make sure she was okay with us participating in this event in her honor. I told her who all had agreed to participate, and she said "Well...that's so sweet, but I just hate that y'all will have to walk that far." I told her, that I was used to it and that we had plenty of time to get everyone ready. During the next few months, I tried to organize our trip and plan a fundraiser for our team. A friend of mine owns the cafe inside the library and he agreed to sell "Cupcakes for a Cure" the week prior to the event, and that a dollar of each cupcake would be donated. We sold over 60 cupcakes in 2 days! It was amazing, but they ran out of cupcakes! It total we made $76 for the team from cupcakes, and then we each collected money as well totaling over $500 turned in from our team. My mom hasn't exercised much for years, and didn't think she would be able to complete the walk, but I helped her train a bit and she was able to make the 3 mile walk along with my Aunt Cathy that has had both knees replaced in the last couple of years (she was also the one that fell a few weeks back.) During the event, my Mom wanted to quit after mile one...but I stuck with them, and they were so excited when they crossed the finish line. It took them an hour and twenty minutes, but they did it!

Mom and Aunt Cathy! I was so proud of them!

The day of the event was awesome. Birmingham is a little over 2 hours from home, and our team packets had to be picked up on Friday afternoon. When we picked up the packets, a volunteer encouraged us to be at the park no later than 7:30. The walk was to begin at 10:00. We spent the rest of the day shopping a bit, checking into our hotel, and just having fun. That night, we had a late dinner and met up with the rest of the family to hand out the race packets. That night everyone was so excited, but we had no idea of how amazing the next day would be.
 
The morning of the event was AWESOME! There were people everywhere! Over 17,000 people would be participating in the event, and over 20,000 people were at the park. The fountain in the middle of the park, was full of pink water and it was gorgeous. There were vendors everywhere with all types of "pink" items. Our group was able to get a picture taken before the walk started.

I can't even begin to describe to you all how uplifting the event was for everyone. Most teams had on matching shirts, and the survivors were given pink survivor shirts to wear. Seeing so many survivors and the people that loved them and were there to show support was inspiring. My cousin commented that she didn't realize how many young woman would be wearing survivor shirts. Before the race, there was a survivor parade. There were signs for how long each group had been a survivor from one year to 30+ years. After the survivor parade, it was time to get started...the runners went first of course, and one of my Aunts asked if I wished I were running the event, and I said no. I was so proud to be there experiencing this with my family. It took over 30 minutes before we ever reaching the starting line...with so many people, we quickly lost each other, but were able to stay in smaller groups of 2 and 3.

Molly and Amber

 This race is one I will never forget. We all agreed that we want to go back next year and do it again. I could not have imagined how much fun we would have together. If there is a "Race for the Cure" event near you I encourage you to go! And to participate!

Aunt Connie

One of my favorite pictures. Mom "running"!

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 8

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

N/A

3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 132/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins  Working on W5D2
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week  I haven't journaled much this week, but I feel my eating had been okay.
Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous.Toenails are painted ;)

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.

Encouraging 10 family members to participate in a 5k. For most, it was there first :) They loved it!

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
          A better routine! Things have been crazy!

Three Things Thursday

1. Spaghetti Squash is rocking my world! Last night I baked it, and served it with marinara and turkey meatballs yum! I made noodle for T, but I didn't want any the squash was so good :)

2. Yesterday after work, the treadmills at the gym were full ( they are doing some kind of incentive program right now, and the gym is crazy...I am glad people are trying to live more healthy lives, but I miss being able to jump on the treadmill whenever I want...). It was a nice night, so I decided to do the "Road Kill Run." at home. As I ran, a heard of dogs started following me. I am sure it was hilarious for anyone driving by to see an overweight woman running on a country road with 5 dogs following behind. One dog actually ran all the way home with me, so I had to try to remember where he joined me and walk him back to his house. Then he followed me home again! Tommy thought it was hilarious and called me a dog thief, but I felt really guilty. After he followed me home again, we closed the shades and turned off all the light hoping he would head back to his house, and eventually he did....poor Humphrey (my pup) was having a complete fit in the house! Oh what a night! Two dogs barking, the fire alarm beeping (decided it needed new batteries during the chaos) and Tommy cracking up!

3.  Still having a good time with the Power of 10 challenge. Yesterday, I put the pedometer in my pocket instead of clipping it on...big mistake because at the end of my work day I only had about 2000 steps (and I had walked a mile on my lunch break). When I realized that it wasn't counting all my steps, I clipped it on for the rest of the night. Good thing I did the 5k walk/jog followed by walking the other pup back to his house, or I would have had a hard time getting in those 10,000 steps. I can't imagine what kind of number I would have seen had it been really tracking my steps all day! :)

A Picture is worth a 1000 words

An friend posted some old pictures on facebook yesterday. This is one of them...

There are days when I feel like I am not making much progress, but seeing an old pic can really help.

The old me

The new me

My body has changed over the past several years, but more importantly my mindset has changed. 



The Power of 10!

When I decided to join Mary's "The Power of 10" Challenge, I didn't think it would be that difficult. Sure, I thought I would need to park further away in parking lots occasionally or use the restroom upstairs instead of the one near my department at work. But, I had no idea how much of a challenge this would be, or how much I would enjoy finding ways to get in my steps. On my regular running days, getting my 10,000 steps in shouldn't be much of an issue. But on days when I am cycling, doing a DVD at home, or have a scheduled "off" day this becomes a true CHALLENGE!

Saturday consisted of going to my University's Homecoming Parade, and walking to the parade route, a bit of shopping, lots of window shopping, and chores around the house. At 7 PM when I took a look at my pedometer, I just knew I would have completed my 10,000 steps and could enjoy the rest of the night watching football, but instead I was  walking up and down my driveway in order to get in my last 3000 steps(and thinking about Valerie and her lawn walking).

I am loving this challenge! I love finding new ways to get in my steps at work. Today I cut my lunch break shorts and walking three times around the library ( +1000 steps). When I was doing my afternoon shelving, I would purposely only take half loads so that I would have to make extra trips back to my shelving cart. It is really fun trying to earn more steps. At 4:00 at have 5,500 steps taken...glad I will be hitting the gym after work for a nice run :)

If you have never looked at how many steps you take in a day, I think you should! Then try to think of ways to add more steps to your day!

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 7

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.

Everyday is a new day to Succeed!

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional

Challenge Start Weight : 193.5
October 1 Weight : 192

* Working so hard and not seeing a scale change is really tough for me. Prior to this challenge, I only weighed once or twice a month. Since the weigh-in is optional,I think I will only post my weight once a month through the rest of the challenge.

3. Your goal(s) from now, or whenever you decide to join, until December.

Goal 1: 200 tracked workout miles...(treadmill, street runs,biking,elliptical,swimming,etc) I am currently at 118/200.
Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins  Completed W5 D1 Three times...will move on to W5D2
Goal 3: Journal food 5days a week  Food was great this week.

Goal 4: Do something for myself to make me feel gorgeous. Bought a new fall denim skirt (size 12)  and top. My clothes are starting to get big again. I can usually just "shop" in my closet for things to fit, but it was nice to buy something new. Entire outfit cost $13.63 WOOHOO :)  I love a good deal :)

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.

This has been a great week. Motivation has been good, workouts have been good, food choices have been good!

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.   
          Hope to have another week like this!