#600in2013

Well, it’s May!

Is 2013 flying by or what!? I feel like it was JUST the beginning of April.

Anywho, I wanted to share my current progress in my goal to run 600 miles in 2013:

 

 

I can’t seem to get past that 50 mile mark since January!! Things have been crazy busy, so that’s why. But, if I keep running at my current pace, I’ll only come in about 50 miles short. SO all I have to do is bump up my mileage by 6 miles each month to meet my goal — that’s a mile a day. I can do it!!

Question of the day:
Are you sticking with your goals for 2013? 

On Track

In my old position at work, I was the Wellness Coordinator for our office. My job is to inform our employees of opportunities for preventative health programs with our health insurance provider, promote wellness in the workplace and set up our annual health screening.

Our health insurance provider offers a $10/month premium discount for all members who participate in the annual health screening. If you get a score of “green”, you get to keep your $10 discount automatically. However, if you get a score of “yellow” or “red”, you must first participate in an “engagement” program. This year one of the engagement programs that was offered was that an Exercise Physiologist would come to your workplace and evaluate employees to see where they could improve in their fitness. All employees were welcome to participate (regardless of their health screening score) and I was able to garner quite a bit of interest.

Charles, our EP, put us through a series of tests to evaluate our fitness. He took our blood pressure, our body fat percentage, resting heart rate and waist circumference. Then he had us use some equipment to test our grip strength, we had to step up on a step for 3 minutes to test how quickly our heart rate falls after exercise, and tested our upper body and ab strength with a push-up and sit-up test. After we finished, he would go through our results with us and tell us what we could do to meet the goals we stated to him when we first started.

One goal is to get my resting heart rate down to the ‘well trained athlete’ section

As expected, I scored very well in everything but it did show that my body fat percentage, BMI and waist circumference could use some work. Basically, I’m very fit, but I could stand to lose a few pounds. But those are vanity pounds, because all in all I’m in excellent health  – which is all that matters! 

I was really excited to bring this program to my coworkers, and I hope to do it again next year to see how people improve their scores.

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In other news, I got up early this morning to hit Crossfit and the workout was a doozie:

800 m run
80 air squats
8 pull-ups

We did this twice through, but with a rest between. The goal was to do it once through, and then try to beat your time the second time through. You would think with all the running I’ve been doing lately, the run would have been the easy part, but it wasn’t! My legs felt like lead through the run and that was definitely the part that held me back. I did the first round in 9:10 and the second round in 8:50, so I was pretty pleased to beat my score, even though I struggled a bit through the workout.

This is definitely a fun workout you could do at the gym or at home! You should try it. I really liked trying to beat my time the second time through, as it forces you to really push.

After Crossfit, Frank and I went for a nice long walk! I’m glad the weather decided to shape up again today. Frank had some pent up energy that needed expended!

Question of the Day:
Have you ever met with an Exercise Physiologist? Did it help you meet your fitness goals? 

Speed

This post isn’t about drugs.

Good news! I’m getting faster! I really thought my pace was done forever after my injury in the half marathon in November, but my goal of reaching 600 miles in the year of 2013 has done great things for my performance. I’ve noticed that my ‘comfortable’ pace is well under 10 minutes/mile and when I push it, I can hold an 8 – 8:30 pace for a while.

I pushed my pace on yesterday’s run, and good thing I did, because when I was done, I got this little gem:

…and then Shalane Flanagan congratulated me. No big deal. Of course I played her congratulations message about 10 times in a row.

I’m really enjoying outdoor running — the weather has been perfect. However, we’re having a chilly, breezy and rainy day today and surprisingly I’m a little excited at the prospect of getting back on the treadmill this evening. I spent the first three months of the year cursing the damn treadmill, so I was pretty surprised to be looking forward to it. I think I’ll do some inclines tonight — that’s something I’ve shied away from in the past, but I really need to start doing more hill work. It will definitely benefit me in the long run. If you want to become a stronger and faster runner, you’ve got to head for the hills.

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In other news, I completed my first week of Weight Watchers!

 

I didn’t really lose 4.6 pounds. When I signed up for Weight Watchers, I was laying in bed and I estimated my starting weight, so I was about a pound and a half off, but 3 pounds is great, and to be honest I don’t think I was as careful with tracking as I should have been. Please ignore the fact that I only have 3 points left for the day. I still have a workout to go, and my boss took me out to lunch today.

I also submitted my weigh in for Sarah’s Diet Bet. I can’t believe the pot of money up for grabs is over $13,000! This is probably the largest Diet Bet I’ve seen. You still have time to jump in if you’re interested. $35 to buy into the game, and if you lose 4% of your body weight, you’ll definitely get that back!

So everything is going well! I’m glad to be participating in Weight Watchers and the Diet Bet, because when workouts don’t happen, I don’t feel as bad when my eating is under control.

Question of the Day:
What are you doing to keep your health in check this Spring? 

Microwave Fiesta Quiche for One

Good morning! Boy, do I have a lot to share with you. Work is still busy, busy, busy — I’m doing two jobs still and it only promises to get busier because starting in the next couple of weeks I’m going to be training the replacement for my old position and then a new assistant for myself — so yes! Busy times! Not to mention, I’ve been raising this guy, who is growing like a weed:

Despite the fact that I feel like I’ve not been working out nearly as much because taking care of Frank is a full time job, I have been taking him on several walks a day, so I am moving. It all evens out!

I did get a nice run in on Sunday morning/afternoon. I woke up earlyish, and I could see myself sitting on the couch like a lump all day, so I pushed myself to put on my running clothes and get out there. So glad I did! I ended up doing 5.13 miles, which is my longest run this year!

My artsy 2 mile water break photo.

And in food news, I’m currently working hard to get back to healthy eating habits. As I mentioned before, I signed up for Weight Watchers and then yesterday, I joined Sarah’s Diet Bet  – the current pot is at over $7,000! The way Diet Bet works is you bet a certain amount of money — Sarah’s bet is set at $35 — that you can lose 4% of your body weight in a month. That’s 6 pounds for me, and as money is my greatest motivator, I’m determined to do it!

This morning I developed a little breakfast that I’d love to share with you. It’s based on this recipe. I’m in love with things you put in a mug and microwave. I just think it’s the neatest thing ever! Last night for dinner, I made Cowboy Quesadillas, so I had leftover black beans, corn and tomatoes in the fridge so I decided to make this recipe a bit of a fiesta:

Microwave Fiesta Quiche for One

by: Kristy

Ingredients: 

1 egg + 1 egg white
1/2 whole wheat english muffin (or bread of your choice)
1/4 c. black beans, corn and tomatoes (I just rinsed a can of each and stirred them together in a container)
1/4 c. shredded cheese of your choice (or a tablespoon of cream cheese)
1 Tbsp butter

In a mug or a bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and swirl it around to coat. In a separate bowl, mix egg and egg white — pour into coated mug or bowl. Then tear the english muffin into bite sized pieces and chuck those in. Add black beans, corn and tomatoes and then cheese. Stir everything together and microwave for about a minute. If the egg is still runny, microwave in 30 second intervals until solid. Top with salsa or ketchup. Enjoy!

This was an awesome breakfast and set me back 9 WW points. Let me know if you try it!

Question of the Day:
Have you been exercising more or changing your eating habits in preparation for summer? Would you ever join Diet Bet? 

Angie, Round Two

Today at Crossfit we did a benchmark workout: Angie.

100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 KB goblet squats
100 sit-ups

Last time I did this workout, I did it in 27:45. This time, however, our coach wouldn’t let us break up the reps. My heart sank when I heard that, because pull-ups are definitely not my strong suit. I wasn’t sure if I could do 100 pull-ups all at once without taking a million breaks. But, I did it! And better yet, I beat my previous time, with a finishing time of 25:47. Almost 2 minutes shaved off since the end of January. This is great news!!

The pull-ups were rough. I used a 3″ band and I did about 50 with one knee in the band. After that, I put my foot in the band instead, which makes it a lot easier, and is probably cheating, but I really couldn’t care less. It was still hard!

Have you jumped on the running skirt trend yet? I’ve been wanting one for quite a long time, and I recently bought one from Marshall’s. It’s very comfy and I can’t wait to buy some more!

Question of the day:
Can you do an unassisted pull-up? I definitely can not!

Let’s Talk Food

I have a confession — I have not been eating well at all. Dinners out galore (not good for my waistline OR my wallet), lots of beer and cocktails, and out of control snacking has made my weight go up a bit lately. Usually I just don’t worry about the scale at all — I focus on how my clothes fit, but those are also a bit tight so the time has come to do something about it.

 

The problem is motivation. While my motivation to work out hasn’t waned (much), my motivation to eat the right way has been nil. The warmer weather brings lots of hang outs with friends, which usually include alcoholic beverages and food.

However, one definite good thing is that I am devouring produce like crazy lately.

 

Especially tomatoes and avocados. I’ve really missed them over the winter! If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy an egg sandwich, mashing an avocado on one half and slicing a tomato on the other half is perfection, I tell ya.

But here’s the thing: I need more help than just adding healthy things back into my diet. I need to cut back on the fatty foods, and my portion sizes. I’m about to make another confession and I hope you don’t judge me. Last night, when I got home from work (late), Zach wasn’t home. Since I didn’t have anyone to cook a healthy meal for, I decided to make myself some macaroni and cheese.

Bad idea.

I really like macaroni and cheese. I can’t control myself around it. I made it and thought, “I can have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow!” — there weren’t any leftovers.

Yep, I ate 990 delicious calories of macaroni and cheese. Now, I’m not beating myself up over it — today is a new day — but I did feel awful the rest of the night because I was way too full. No lean protein, no veggies. Just enriched white macaroni covered in salty cheese. Yuck! I think it was the push I needed — I decided to start Weight Watchers, again. But this time I’m doing it right! I actually signed up online and paid the $60 for 3 months. I know I’ll stick with it if my money is on the line.

So, I started tracking today. I’m feeling better already! Plus, I probably will love it when I fit into my wedding dress in 5 months

Question of the Day:
Have you ever eaten an entire box of macaroni and cheese? Please tell me I’m not alone. 

 

Runners, Unite.

Along with the rest of the world, I watched in horror yesterday as two explosives were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

Earlier that day, I had been anxiously checking Twitter and the live feeds to see how Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher had fared and by 3:00 pm, I was powering through some work at my desk when I checked Twitter. Someone said something about explosions near the finish line, but when I searched around a bit I didn’t see anything else. Thinking it was probably not a huge deal, I went back to work. I checked Twitter again, and that’s when it was clear this was no small thing. I’m sure I’m not the only one who looked at the photos and videos being posted with a morbid curiosity. I was heartbroken.

Because I don’t have the words to share how I feel about this, I direct you to this blog post by Ezra Klein, which I think puts everything I’m thinking and feeling into words. The people who do these things are doing it to make us react. They want this to be on all the front pages (it is) on all the news networks (again, it is) and they want us to cry. As sad as I am, I won’t feed into what they want like our news networks do (for shame!) — today I have hope that as sad as we are, the running community will put this aside and not live in fear. We will honor those who were hurt or died by running our little huge hearts out.

As Klein so eloquently puts it:

If you are losing faith in human nature today, watch what happens in the aftermath of an attack on the Boston Marathon. The flood of donations crashed the Red Cross’s Web site. The organization tweeted that its blood supplies are already full. People are lining up outside of Tufts Medical Center to try and help. Runners are already vowing to be at marathons in the coming weeks and months. This won’t be the last time the squeakers run Boston. This won’t be the last time we gather at the finish line to marvel how much more we can take than anyone ever thought possible.

The folks at #RunChat have told us all to wear a race t-shirt today in honor of the victims, but since I’m at work and can’t really wear a t-shirt, I’m wearing my blue and yellow:

 

It isn’t much yellow, but I know what I’m doing (I even had to run into my bedroom and change at the last minute because I almost forgot), and it makes me a little happier to know that we are all doing what we can to help.

Also, if you run: Run. Run as much as you can this week. I’ve already covered 5 miles since yesterday afternoon and I plan to cover as many as possible this week to honor those who lost their lives, were injured, or are just sad and downtrodden.