Turning the Negative into Something Positive!

Today was a good day in spite of not being able to run another race because I saw my Dad.  My Dad is battling cancer and I had made a plan a few months back to visit him when I first decided to run the Hollywood Half Marathon.  I really wanted to see him so my trip to Universal City was bound to happen even if things didn't work out the way that I had planned them to. I picked up my goodie bag and wandered around the expo for about two minutes. The expo was really crowded and I got out of there really quick! I was already feeling sad about not being able to run the race so the quick trip was a blessing! I can be dangerous at expos because I am always tempted to sign up for another race but due to this nagging injury I have no confidence to sign up for anything anymore. I guess I am tired of paying for races that I cannot run! The shirt is really cute and yes, Bib#5116 was a DNS! 

My husband walked around Universal City Walk until it was time to meet up with my Dad and stepmother.  If you are on any kind of diet, this place is not the place to go!  They had a ton of sweets to eat and about five restaurants.  They had candy, popcorn, cinnamon buns, funnel fries, buckets of mini donuts, and crepes.  I was only able to resist all of it because I didn't want to spoil my appetite for lunch. I did stop into Yogurtland and sample some new flavors that I hadn't tried before. The plan was to go back after lunch and get a cup but it didn't happen. I wanted to beat the traffic so we left right after lunch.

We met up with my Dad and my stepmother for lunch at 12:30pm. This is a chemo week for my Dad so I knew that he was not feeling 100% but he came anyway and never complains. We ended up having lunch at Tony Roma's and ate and talked for a couple of hours.  My Dad shaved his head because he said his hair was thinning on the sides from the chemo so I was a little shocked to see him without his hair. It actually made me kind of sad so I didn't have much of an appetite left. He didn't eat much but kept talking about going to McDonald's to pick up 12 Filet O Fish sandwiches. He goes through phases where can only eat certain things that taste good to him and don't make him sick. They are $1.49 on Fridays so I guess he stocks up!! 

It was great to see my Dad and we took a few pictures with him before he left.  I wish I could give him something of mine to make his cancer go away but for now all I can do is support him and show him how much I love him.

Have a great Easter!

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things with Hills and My Favorite Holiday Goodies!

It's feels good to be getting back on track in terms of training. The previous week was pretty unproductive so I had to get myself back on track this past week.  I managed to get all of my workouts in but being sick caused me to cut one of my runs short.  I was finding it a bit difficult to run and cough like crazy at the same time.  I was also out of energy and pushed myself to do as much as I possibly could before calling it quits.  Here is what last week looked like: 

Monday: XT Day#1: Spin Class 

Tuesday: 5.25 miles (Should have been 8 but too sick to finish) 

Wednesday: REST DAY

Thursday: 6 Mile Speed Workout on Treadmill (Seemed much easier on the treadmill) 

Friday: REST DAY (Went to the movies to see Jack and Jill..pretty funny!)

Saturday: 13 Mile Run @8:42 (We finished the last three miles strong!) 

Sunday: XT Day#2: 45 minutes on Life Cycle  

Total Miles for the Week: 24.25 

Holiday Half Marathon:

Shawna and I will be running the Holiday Half Marathon this Sunday so we did a mock run on part of the course this past Saturday.  We were not able to cover the entire course since we did not have access to all of it but we ran a good portion of it.  It is a pretty hilly course so I am not expecting to PR on this course by no means. My quads were feeling it after the mock run on Saturday! I guess they warned us by using the word "HILLS" on the Elevation Chart.

Shawna and I have decided to dress up and look very festive for this race so I don't know how comfortable we will be. I am in it strictly for fun this time but I am not so sure about Shawna! This is the last race of 2011 for me so I will spend the remainder of the year enjoying the holidays but will continue to stick to my training plan.

My Favorite Holiday Goodies:
All of the Christmas decorating is done at home and it is already starting to feel like Christmas at work.  I added some lights on my monitor and all the goodies are starting to show up at work too.  

I can resist most of the junk food at work but there is one thing that I wait for every year and it showed up today!

Linda's Homemade Toffee!!

A co-workers wife sends us a huge can of homemade toffee every year that just melts in your mouth.  I absolutely love it!!!  Is it rude that I took half of the can for myself?

While I am on the subject of my favorite holiday foods, have you heard about the 12 Days of Yuletide Yumminess at Yogurtland?  Don't miss out on these flavors!!  I haven't been!!

Source

What are some of your favorite goodies that only come around during Christmas time? How do you resist all of the goodies at work?  Or do you not??

I'm Out of Control!!

I have been way out of control with the treats lately!  After that 16 mile run on Saturday, I was making all kinds of excuses as to why I should treat myself and I just kept going and going!! Look at the damage that I did!!

It started with this....

then it went to this....



Chocolate Mocha Mousse and Banana Split Cupcakes!



 then it escalated into this...

 and finally ended with this!



White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pizookie!

I finally got some Medal Motivation today after seeing the medal for the Long Beach Marathon and I stopped! I can't wait to see this around my neck on October 9th!

Now it is back to things like this...

I'm done confessing! Oh and by the way, I somehow managed to lose 1/2 pound in the process.

Long Training Run Number Two: 9 Miles

Weather Report: Sunny and 59 degrees

I finally decided to get out of bed at 6:30am to get ready for my second long training run.  I could see that the sun was already out so I wasn't too happy about that.  Even though the temperature was only 59 degrees, the sun shining down on you can make a huge difference in your run.



What a bright and sunny morning!!

I ran by myself today so my run seemed longer than ever but I managed to pull through it alone.  My first few miles are always the slowest because it takes a little while for my engine to warm up.  Miles one through three got me warmed up and then I started to kick in.  Today I ran one of my many local routes than I do on a regular basis. It is a pretty flat route and consists of streets that are not too busy early in the morning.  

Mile 1: 8:41
Mile 2: 8:22
Mile 3: 8:19
5K: 26:11

Miles 3.5 through 5.5 were the most tempting parts of my run today.  I passed about 20 restaurants and I could smell the food cooking.  It smelled so good and made me think about eating and not running!

Krispy Kreme donuts has the best aroma!  The "HOT DONUTS NOW" light always seems to be on when I pass by!!  My laps seemed to improve right after I smelled the fresh donuts, so maybe this is a good way to get me going. My goal is to keep a faster pace on my shorter runs so that when it comes to the higher mileage runs, my marathon goal pace of 9:00 will seem much easier.  I sure hope my body and my mind fall for the trick!

HOT DONUTS NOW!!

Mile 4: 8:09
Mile 5: 8:08
Mile 6: 7:56
10K: 51:03

At mile 6, I passed by the 10 freeway.  I get pretty close to the freeway on this route.  Well, at least it's the closest that I will ever get to it while on foot.  I was starting to feel a little tired at this point of my run because I had picked up my pace a bit and I had only planned on doing 7 miles.  I decided that I needed to push myself a little harder today because I was pretty disappointed with myself for being sore after last weeks long run.  The long runs from this point forward will be in the double digits and I needed my body to know that the easy runs were a thing of the past!  I took a small detour which added a couple more miles to my run.  I always try to push myself the hardest during my last mile and today my last mile was my best mile :) I was pretty happy with myself after this run because it made me feel better about the defeat I had last week and the feelings I had about being out of shape.

Mile 7: 7:58
Mile 8: 7:54
Mile 9: 7:50

I was starving like crazy after my run, so we headed off for a nice breakfast.  I had an egg white omelet with spinach, mushrooms, tomato and onion and a side of fresh fruit. It was sooo good and I ate the whole thing!

Yum Yum!!

My goal for this week is to make sure that I get all of my scheduled runs in and make to make it to Spin Class when I can. Next week the training schedule calls for a twelve mile run.   I haven't ran twelve miles in a while due to my ITBS so I am a little nervous about it but I think I am ready for the challenge.



Garmin stats