Stuck

Once again I am stuck and I am totally to blame! With the arrival of winter and the 5pm darkness I have not been taking Medo on his 3 mile nightly constitutional. Nor have I been running like I should be. By NYE my goal is to be down 5 pounds and in a size 8, but with this new slacker attitude I am starting to panic! I have started off this week with a 3.5 mile run and my nightly stroll with Medo. Let's see if I can keep it up. NYE is only 24 days away!

Medo and Santa

The other night I was out at the mall with Mommy Camille enjoying a delicious burger from Bar Louie and a few beers as well (great diet food). As we were burning some of our post pigout calories I came across a sign that said "Get your pet's photo taken with Santa". I went home and grabbed Medo and off to Woodland we went for his photo shoot. I just couldn't resist!!!

Gobble Wobble

My first big running event was the Thanksgiving Day Gobble Wobble fun run put on by Gazelle Sports. I decided to run this event about a week before Thanksgiving. There were two options - 1 mile or 4.2 miles. Since I had never run in any sort of group event before, I went into it thinking, "One mile will be more than enough at 8am on Thanksgiving morning".

The event cost $15 and for this I received a long sleeve runners shirt and a reusable grocery bag with The North Face written across the side. I also got a tube of something that I am quite unsure what it is used for. I am so angry for not taking a photo of myself on the day of my big event. I was looking so cute in the shirt and with my outdoor running gear on. SHAME ON ME!!!

The run took place in East Grand Rapids around Reeds Lake. When they called us to line up for the race I noticed only children were taking part in the 1 mile event so I was shamed to get into the 4.2 mile line. Thinking to myself "what have I done?!?" I decided that maybe running 2-3 miles and walking the rest wouldn't be so bad. Before I knew it the run had started and I was off. I noticed that the crowd was going a nice slow pace and I was able to stay part of the pack.

During the first mile I kept thinking "ok, when I get to the mile mark I can just go to the side of the road and turn back", but somehow my legs kept moving and I kept going. Mile 2 seemed to be the longest, but once I got to the 3 mile mark, I knew I was on the home stretch. After 45 minutes of huffing and puffing the end was near. I had done it. I had gone the whole entire 4.2 miles without stopping or walking (except for on the Hall Street Hill from Hell, but everybody seemed to walk up that). That was the longest distance I have run to date and I am still very proud of that moment!

Success

I have many things to be happy about since I last posted.

First, I have falling off the plateau. In the past 2 weeks I have lost 7 pounds! 42 pounds total! I don't know how it happened, but it did, so I won't complain! I hope my body is back on track and it will continue to lose weight. However, with the holidays coming up, I am a bit nervous!

Next, my injury has healed nicely. I am back to running and am happy again! For the first week I did basically nothing but take Medo on his nightly 3 mile walk. The second week I started running a mile and was, for the most part, pain free. I have worked myself back up to 2.25 miles, but want to take it slow for fear of reinjury.

Last, I have discovered the joys of outside running. I never thought I would really enjoy it, fearing my ultimate goal, the 5K Riverbank Run. Running outside is so nice and relaxing. There are things to look at, the time passes quicker, and actually, I run about 2 minutes faster per mile than I was on the treadmill!!! Amazing!

Rain, rain, stay away. Angie wants to run today!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Good: Today, since I was feeling blue (more news about that below), I decided to partake in some retail therapy. I knew that was going to be the only think to make me feel a bit better. Since I have started to experience "baggy butt" in my work pants, I went over to Kohls to see what I could fine. Too my great pleasure, I have dropped a size. My 4th size this year!!!

Bad: Today was also weigh in day. I continue to remain on my plateau and did not drop a single pound. This is very discouraging as I was dropping two pounds a week previously. I blame my plateau on Jasmin's return from Bosnia.

Ugly: During my run after work today I somehow injured my right knee. It is quite painful when I run, and doesn't feel the best when I walk. I only got a mile in today. How disappointing. I hope for a speedy recovery. Until then I will try riding the bike...snoooooooze!

Happy 1st Birthday Medo

Today my little baby turned ONE! 7 weeks from today will be one year since Medo has entered our heart and our lives. I cannot even remember what it was like without him. He is such a joy and a love and not a day goes by that he doesn't make me smile.

I decided to throw Medo a small birthday party. My parents came over as well as my grandma. Unfortunately Andrew could not make it due to a homework crisis. What made this day even more special was that I actually cooked lunch for everybody and nobody has died...yet.

Medo enjoyed opening his presents. From his grandparents he got a stuffed bone, which was torn apart in under five. From his favorite Uncle Andrew he got a neato ball that he likes to chase around the house. His great-grandma got him a box of doggies treats and a nice crispy $5 bill. Medo has yet to tell me what he would like with that. Maybe some new cow hooves.

A proud mother on her son's first birthday!

Medo was not very amused by the hat that his mother made him wear.

Motivational Tips from Coach

Motivation Tips

-Sign up for a race as soon as you feel up to it.
-Find a committed running partner. It is much harder to skip a run when you have someone else depending on you.
-Remember that you will have plateaus in your progress and tough days along the way.
-It gets easier.
-Accept and appreciate the fact that not every single run can be a good one.
-Be prepared to remove the words “can’t” and “never” from your vocabulary.
-Do not compare yourself to others. Run within yourself and for yourself first.
-Don’t expect every run to be better than the last one; some of them will hurt.
-Don’t think too much about it or you won’t do it.
-Even a bad run is better then no run at all.
-If you normally run with music try skipping it and listening to your feet to hear your pace and your gait.
-Don’t be discouraged if you don’t experience weight loss immediately.
-Start a running blog and read other running blogs regularly.
-Running is not an excuse to triple your intake of doughnuts because runners gain weight too.