Ouch! a Blister!

Sunday, Humphrey begged me to take him for a nice, long walk! I can't say no to those sweet puppy dog eyes, so I loaded us up, and we went. I decided on going  to a state park trail about 20 minutes from the house.T and I had been to the trail before, but this was Humphrey's first time.  When we started out, he was super excited and ready to go, but by the end of our 3+ miles he was worn out. He was so tired, he ended up taking a nap on the drive back home. It was a fun day and a great way to get in some non-gym weekend exercise. Unfortunately, I wore the wrong type of shoes for our outing (some sneakers I had gotten for Christmas, but hadn't worn much.) When we got home, I had a horrible blister on the back of my heel. It hurt, but I didn't think that much about it. When I did my shred workout for the night, I noticed a bit of discomfort, but nothing I couldn't work through.
Yesterday, I was ready to kick butt on Week 4 of the couch to 5k. I had even brought a band aid to cover the blister, and thought I would be fine. The blister killed me the entire time. Mentally, I couldn't stop thinking about the pain. I kept telling myself to push through, but as the run intervals continued, the physical pain from the blister was causing a mental block, too. Then I started having trouble keeping my breathing in check. And by the time I was about to start the last 5 minute interval, I was about to DIE to go to the restroom. I got one minute into the final run and had to stop (well I did run to the restroom). I felt horrible stopping before finishing the last 5 minute interval, but I just couldn't keep pushing. When I got to the restroom, my poor blister had turned into a horrible blister and had bled through my sock (and I'm not sure what happened to the band aid).
I wanted to just leave. To forget the rest of my workout for the day. But I didn't want to get behind on the mileage for DDGbD. I decided I would try at least one mile of the three I had planned on the bike, and if I couldn't finish that would be fine. I would leave. But, I was able to finish all three miles...and did half-mile on the beast (summit trainer). When I got home, I did my shred first thing to knock it out of the way. I was proud of what I had accomplished after almost giving up.
I am going to do a redo of Week4Day 1.  I want to say that I fully completed it before checking it off. I am hoping some of the physical struggles I was having with my breathing and heart rate were caused from thinking about the blister and wanting to quit, but this may be a week that I have to work on for awhile before progressing forward.

The blister looks oh so gross today and hurts, too!  I think I will be switching today for Thursdays gym rest day and only do my shred tonight. Wednesday I will try again to push through W4D1.

Hopefully, Humphrey and I can have another adventure soon, but I won't be wearing those awful sneakers again!

Do any of you have any sure fire blister treatments?

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 4

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.
My sign says "Go Jess Go...Roll Tide Roll"

Humphrey tackled me! LOL

Set, Hike...Ready for Football!

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional
Challenge Start Weight : 193.5
Last Week's Weight: 191.5
Current Weight: 193.5
*The gain is very frustrating to me, because I continue the cycle...The week after my period I gain, then drop down to 191 or 190 in the following ,only to move back up again!!! Grrr...But I will just keep on keeping on...eventually I will break this cycle...I MUST!

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)
  22 Miles tracked this week: 6 treadmill,  15 cycling, 1 summit trainer. This puts me at 60 miles so far in the challenge!

Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins - Starting Couch to 5k again working on speed during run interval :Week 3 finished.

Goal 3:Journal food 5days a week- I did mostly paper and pencil journaling this week. The week was busy, and I would spend my free time at night doing the shred rather than logging on to Spark to journal in my food for the day. Next week, I need to get back to the Spark...I think my calories were on target, but taking the time to spark ensures I don't go over, or at least makes me aware if I do and I can make corrections.

Goal 4: Do something each week to make myself feel gorgeous. I did the shred each day...the Shred makes me feel strong and when I feel strong I feel gorgeous!
4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.
I am really, really proud of my workouts this week. They were tough and I hung in! Keeping my speed up is getting tougher, but I am so proud that I am hanging in there. I know when I complete a 5k in the fall with a new PR these tough workouts will be worth every ache! I was stoked that on the last 2 days of Level 1 Shred I used 5lb weights. I felt tough! HAHA :)

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.
    Honestly, seeing the gain on the scale this morning put my head in a really bad place. I was grumpy all morning to the point that my husband made a comment about my mood. This week I need to remember why I am doing this...I don't workout hard each day to see a certain number on the scale...that's not what this is about for me. I need to focus on how I physically feel. I need to focus on the rush I get after a great workout. The number on the scale does not determine my week, my workouts do :)

Three Things Thursday

1. I have done great this week in regards to both of my challenges. My 30 Day Shred Challenge is going great, and I will be moving on to level two in a couple of days. When I started the challenge, I was sick and taking antibiotics, but I am so glad I was able to power through those first few days because now I have no excuse not to "just do it." Last night, it was 10pm before I was able to get the DVD in, but I was so happy to finish it for the day. My DDGbD challenge is also going well, I have one more day of week 3 in the couch to 5k and so far so good. I am still able to keep up the speed, and this makes me excited! My food journaling has been a bit too sporadic, and I think I may have to return to pen and paper because some days its just too hard to fit in time to get online for  food journaling, but I love sparkpeople when I have the time to devote to finding my food  in the database. Even though I haven't journaled the way I should I know that I haven't had any big splurges, and with my internal calorie count I am hitting my range just right.

2. Today I tried a new piece of equipment at the gym. The Summit Trainer. Have any of you guys tried this beast?! I made it through a half mile today, but I will face him again soon! My legs were like jello when I got off...so much harder for me than the elliptical. This will be a great challenge for me to conquer!

3. The little yellow butterflies fluttering around lately make me so happy. I just can't see one without smiling :) I've always heard when you start seeing these guys, fall is just around the corner :)

A Sweet Award

A very special thank you to Tish for this "sweet" award :)

List Ten Things I LIKE:

1. The change of seasons. I particularly love the change from Summer to Fall.I love the firt crisp, cool morning. The changing of the leaves. Front porches decorated with mums, pumpkins, and scarecrows. Ooh, I can't wait.

2. Weekend getaways with my husband. I love to pack up the car and go. I don't care where we go, as long as we are together in search of an adventure. And it is ALWAYS an adventure with us :)

3. Working at the library. I am so blessed that I LOVE my job. Everyday I am able to make a difference in a child's life!
4. Craft fairs!  I love a good craft fair. This fall is full of them and I can't wait :)
5.  A day off with nothing scheduled. I love to be able to wake up and decide what I want to do rather than look at a list of things I have to do.

6. Feeling accomplished at the end of the day. This can be cause of work, a clean house, a good run...it doesn't matter the reason I feel accomplished, I just love that feeling.
7. A good book. I have recently fallen in love with audio books on playaway. Driving 45 mins to and from work each day, I can get through a good book in no time...and it definitely beats  listening to the radio :)

8. Blog challenges.  There is something about being innvolved with these challenges that really keeps my motivation up.

9. Scented candles. My favorite is pumpkin or sugar cookies.
10. A clean house.I just feel so much better when my house is in order. I am far from a domestic goddess, and my mother did not teach me wonderful housekeeping skills, but when my house is "clean" I just feel better all over!


Ten bloggers with whom I'd like to share this award (It's a very pretty one for your sidebar with non-caloric cupcakes!)


Deliciously Healthy

A Small Loss

All About the Bottom Line

A Little More Passion

For Real, This Time

Is It Really Just a Number

Life's Journey with a Smile

Live, Smile, Run

Losing Ethel

From Fat to Fab

Enjoy your cupcake :) Can't wait to learn more about you! -Jess

Drop Dead Gorgeous by December -Weekly Report 3

1. A picture of you holding up a positive sign for yourself.
My sign says "Never Give Up!"

2. Your current week’s weight as well as your challenge start weight. *optional
Challenge Start Weight : 193.5
Current Weight: 191.5
*I will be so excited if I make it into the 180's next week. I have yoyoed  between 194-190 for months!

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)
18 Miles tracked this week: 6 treadmill,  12 cycling. I am a little short on my weekly mileage goal of 20miles, but I had to take some days off while I was sick.

Goal 2: 5k in under 40 mins - Starting Couch to 5k again working on speed during run interval :Week 2 finished.

Goal 3:Journal food 5days a week- Journaled using Sparkpeople 4 days. There were a couple days I felt so bad I didn't eat much. On those days I didn't journal.

Goal 4: Do something each week to make myself feel gorgeous. Mud Mask :)

4. ONE thing that you are proud of for the week.
I am proud of making my Doctor's appointment at the first sign of feeling sick. I am bad to wait around thinking I will feel better in a day or so,only to end up feeling worse for much longer. This week I nipped those ear and throat infections in the bud before that got too bad.

5. ONE thing that you can improve upon for the following week.
    After being sick, my house is a WRECK! I MUST get things back in order, including cleaning out my fridge!!

Three Things Thursday with a cherry on top!

1. I was so excited to receive a sweet blog award from one of my favorite bloggers, Rae.

The Rules:
1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?

I would like to be one of those people that can say I live my life without regrets, but that is not my truth. I live with many regrets...though I am so happy with what my life has become in the last few years.  If I could change just one thing though, I think it would be that for too long in my life, I gave certain people a priority that didn't deserve it. Now, I try to live my life fully thankful for the people who mean the most to me...the ones who love me as much as I love them. I have an amazing husband and a handful of friends that mean the world to me...and the other people just really don't matter as much. Why worry what the world thinks of you, only strive to be the best person for yourself and the ones you love.

2. The second thing you have to do is, pick 6 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the person that they have gotten this award.

I know this is a slack way of doing this, but I feel like I have seen this award on almost all of the blogs I read. If you haven't received this award, please accept it from me...and let me know! :)

3. The third and final thing is, thank the person who gave you the award.
Thank you, Rae! I am not sure if I found your blog, or if you found mine, but I am glad we found each other. I am so glad to be on this journey with you!

(Now back to our regularly schedules Three Things Thursday.)

2.  I am feeling better today, but definitely not back to 100%  I decided to workout  before taking my first dose of antibiotics for the day and I think that was a good decision. The meds wipe me out. This morning I was able to get in Week 2 Day 2 of the Couch to 5k and a few miles on the bike. I also did day 2 of the 30 day shred. By the end I was worn out!  The rest of the day I ran a few errands and relaxed.

3. This is a bit gross, but a question for the other runners. Do any of you have toenail issues? I generally keep my toenails trimmed down pretty short. A few months after I started running on a regular basis I noticed one toenail growing kind of funky! It was normal at the base of the toenail but super thick into the nail bed. ( I don't think I am describing this well...) I have clipped on that poor toenail all summer trying to make it look better, to no avail. Last night, Tommy ended up clipping off the top part of the nail. It was like the whole nail came off, but there is a nail underneath that is a bit rough, but it's a full toenail. Then we discovered the other foot's same toe is starting to do it. The only thing I can think of is that it has something to do with running. If you can understand at all what I am trying to explain here (lol) have any of you had issues with this?

30 Day Shred Challenge Day 1

Today is the first day of Syl's 30 Day Shred Challenge. She encouraged all of us to take pictures and measurements. Tommy helped with the measurements, but I am not sure we did them the right way...
Waist: 42 in
Hips: 47 in
Thigh: 27.5 in
Arm: 14 in
Chest: 37 in

The first day was tough! I actually had to stop a few times and modify almost everything. Tommy reminded me not to push myself too hard being on antibiotics. I know as the 30 days continue I will become stronger everyday! I am going to skip my run today. I just don't think I am up to it. Hopefully, I will be feeling better tomorrow and can head to the gym and then make up today during the weekend, but I am not going to push myself if I don't feel up to it. Just going to take it one day at a time. One of the antibiotics I am on says a side effect is weak muscles and I have felt that all day. I may have to wait the full 10 days until I am  off antibiotics before I can really push myself hard at the gym again, but I want to try to at least get in the 30DS.

Day 1 Pictures!