January 9 & 14

Ran at work with Heather last Wednesday and then today. Last Wednesday we went 32 minutes, today 35. I felt a lot stronger on Wednesday than I did today; not sure why. Both days were extremely chilly.

Back to the salt mines

OK, so maybe I should be a little more positive about working out. It's time to lose a few holiday pounds (3.8, to be exact, plus 2 more to get to 145). That means I'm going to TRY to start running 3x/week, plus go back on WW. Or no - I'm going to RUN 3x/week, not try.

Yesterday my coworker Heather and I ran 35 minutes (4 points) in the coldness. I felt completely wiped out afterward, perhaps because I hadn't eaten enough or something. Or maybe I'd had too much sugar - that does it sometimes. I've been kind of addicted to sugar lately and need to cut it out.

I'm doing WW at "maintenance" level now, which means still eating less than I was. I think that if I'm strict about keeping to the maintenance level of points, I will actually lose weight, because it seems to be set kind of low for me. We'll see.

Next run: Wednesday.

April 24 - May 3

On April 24 I did the "Bollywood Workout" with Hemalayaa. I've had the DVD for a while and have only done it a few times. It's fun, but the music isn't as exciting as I was hoping for (it's bhangra, which can be a lot of fun, but this music is pretty repetitive.) Also, Hemalayyaa's "aren't I beautiful" antics in front of the camera start to get pretty annoying. Yes, you're beautiful. Now shut up and dance. In time to the music, please. (I gave myself 2 WW points for this).

On April 25 I gave myself one point for walking, but now I can't remember where I went or how far I went. I probably just wanted enough points to have some ice cream.

On April 26 and 27th I gave myself one point for gardening. I mowed the lawn and did a lot of heavy work trying to spruce up the yard for Melina's birthday party. Definitely one point worth.

On April 29 I finally went running again - 35 minutes in the park, five times around the loop. I've noticed that I feel much better during the second half of the run - takes me a while to warm up, I guess.

On April 30 I walked three miles during my lunch hour (3 points). Went to check out the new Ikea and other construction near where I work.

On May 2 (yesterday) I jogged 40 minutes. I was planning to go 30, but I felt really good so I just kept going. 4 points.

Today I didn't do a thing.

It just occurred to me that this WW point system for exercise is really similar to a point system I set up for myself a few years back. Basically, my goal was to do 20 points worth of exercise every week. I assigned points to various things (running for half an hour, etc.) For a while, it worked, but then I lost motivation to keep track. I always thought that if I paid someone $10 for each point and then had to earn it back, that might be enough motivation.

April 23, April 19, April 16, April 13

April 13 - Ran with Isabel on the slopes of Mt. Tabor. Kicked my butt. Not used to running up hills. 30 minutes.

April 16 - Ran at the hotel next to work, on the treadmill. Watched TV. Boring but effective. 30 minutes.

April 19 - Ran at Rose City Golf Course, on trails. Took wrong trail and had to double back. A nice hilly course, though; like trail running. 35 minutes.

April 23 - Ran around 3-mile course at work. Beautiful day, but I was feeling low-energy. Maybe because I had just eaten? 30 minutes.

April update

Now that I'm done with the thirteen-week program, I don't feel as much drive to record every run here, but I AM running. I also joined Weight Watchers to lose the remaining baby weight, and so far I've lost about 7 pounds. I'm not only pre-baby weight now, I'm pre-wedding weight! I'd like to get back to what I weighed in grad school, which would mean losing about 13 more pounds. On the other hand, I'm getting kind of sick of always being hungry (though it comes and goes), and I'm ready to "maintain" for a while. It's amazing how much more I like my body now that I've lost a little weight. (I lost a little before I went on Weight Watchers, too, so altogether I've lost about 9 pounds since Christmas). I don't know how thin I really need to be. My BMI is in the healthy range. I think at this point I'll aim for about 8 more pounds and see how I feel.

Anyhooskers (as Isabel says)... I ran at the Rose City golf course today, which was interesting. I have been really, really hungry for the last couple of days, and I think I was probably too hungry to run. (I don't think that's how it's supposed to work). But I did run 35 minutes, up and down hills. It was kind of like trail running. I think I need to figure out a better course there instead of going where I ended up, which was on the edge of a street most of the way. Anyway, it's a beautiful golf course and it looks like there are some good runs to be had there.

I'll try to post more sooner than later.

February update

I've been slacking off on the blog updates... probably since I'm not following a program I need to maintain - but I have been running. For a while there around Christmas I slacked off quite a bit. I ran once in Hawaii, but it was too hot to run anytime after 8:00 a.m., and there were too many other distractions anyway. Then I ran once a week for a while after we returned (bad weather, sickness). Now for the last 2 weeks Isabel & I have been running three times a week, 30-40 minutes at a time. We are planning to run at least one 10K this year, and have a few picked out. I think it should be possible. My hip isn't bothering me at all anymore - I think the extended vacation from running really helped. Actually I felt really strong each time I ran, despite not running as often. I don't feel like I lost a lot of my progress, though I can tell I gained a little weight over the holidays. Anyway, it's good to know I can go 10 days without a long run (long being 3 miles!) and not be in too bad of shape.

General update

Since we're pretty much done with the 13-week program, Isabel and I have been running a little less often. We did a 40-minute run last Saturday (that would be the first run in Week 13) and a 30-minute run yesterday (that would be the second run in Week 13). There is no third run in week 13. I skipped the last run in Week 12 and did the Turkey Trot instead.

My hip has been really bothering me and I'm starting to think I probably shouldn't run on it until I get it checked out. I'm going to make an appointment with a physical therapist and have it looked at next week. Now that I'm at the point where I can run 40-50 minutes without stopping, I really don't want to quit!