Today is finally here! I’m marrying my best friend today. I have just over an hour until the start of the hair appointment and makeup appointment and getting my dress on and walking down the aisle. I’m trying not to jump up and down and stuff. :^)

I feel so blessed. We’ve spent the last two days in Las Vegas enjoying time with a lot of our friends and family. It’s really been so awesome already. I can’t imagine it getting better, but I know at 1:00 when I finally get to see him at the front of the chapel, it will be.

I can’t thank everyone enough for the comments and congratulations. They all mean so much.

Have an awesome today, friends!

Things have just been so crazy lately! I can’t believe I haven’t even gotten here long enough to tell you I ran the Indy Women’s Half Marathon.

Well, I did.

It was the most horrible race of my admittedly-short running life.

There were some good parts. Tom followed me on his bike and basically was with me for the whole thing. That was AWESOME! There were several times I really wanted to stop, but he was right there with the words I needed to hear. It’s still amazing to me to be so supported by someone I love. That’s not really something I’ve ever had.

That’s about it for the good parts. Seriously.

I realized early in the week of the race that I was feeling really overtrained. I didn’t taper nearly enough for this race. My legs hurt the night before the race. That’s never a good thing. I went into the weeds before the race thinking I wanted to try for a new PR, but that morning I knew I just wanted to finish.

I actually did it in 2:31:08. That’s a little bit quicker than we did the 500 Festival Mini Marathon and a little slower than I did the Carmel Half Marathon. What that time proved to me is that I’ve gotten quite a bit faster since May. That isn’t surprising since I did the Mini coming off the foot injury that kept me from running at all for 3 months.

I also learned that I’m not capable of putting in the number of miles on my legs (both running and biking) that I have been lately. I’ve been doing 8-10 hours (or more) of cardio A LOT of weeks in a row. That’s just silly.

The first week after the race, I tried to get back into my old routine with a couple tweaks, but I realized very quickly that just wasn’t going to do it. I took 3 days off and completely came up with a new plan for this week.

I started yesterday on the new plan. I ran 30 minutes. I didn’t really push myself to go hard or fast, but I ran 3.14 miles in 30 minutes. I guess knowing I wasn’t heading out for a specific number of miles (and resting for 3 days before) convinced my legs that running faster would be fun. I really enjoyed the run. (It seriously helps that Indiana is flat. ) I topped off my run with about 30 minutes of strength training and stretching and foam rolling.

My new plan called for 30 minutes of biking today, but it hasn’t happened yet. Monday Night Football kept me up too late, and I needed the sleep this morning. I’ll get my 30 minutes in later today then do my strength training/stretching/foam rolling again (different exercises today than yesterday).

The plan for the rest of the week is similar: 30 minutes of either running, biking or hitting the gym and 30-ish minutes of strength and stretching. The foam roller or stick is required every day too. That’s one thing that really helps my legs, but I’m not faithful enough to it.

My plan holds steady for the next couple weeks then I start progressing a little bit at a time to get a bit more cardio in but honestly not very much more. I add back my long runs in a couple weeks. That’s really the biggest change.

What about races? Well, I’m not sure just yet. I think the next one will be the Hot Chocolate 5K in Chicago. That’s on a Saturday, and the next day is SkyRise Chicago. I seriously cannot wait to climb the Sears Tower again! After that, my next planned event is the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in May. Tom and I are signed up to run that one together again. I’ve been debating a few other events in my head. There’s a 42K relay in October and a marathon in April and a few others things. I’ve laid out a plan that would have me ready for a full marathon in April, but I just have to give my legs another month or so before I can decide whether or not I’m going to do it. (I suck at patience. Seriously.)

That’s where I am today. Where are you?

I still haven’t quite figured out the whole writing thing in the morning, but I’m getting better with the workouts. I even got up Saturday morning for my long run fairly early. Tom and Tim had plans so I was on my own for 12 miles. That was my longest run ever by myself. (I know I technically ran the Carmel half marathon alone, but Tom and Tim cheered me on so it wasn’t really alone-ness.)

I can’t believe how awesome that run was! I rode my bike down to the Monon Community Center and ran south from there. My turn-around was in Broad Ripple. I stopped there to take a picture.

The weather was great. Of course, I’d rather it be 35 degrees than 75 when I run, but it’s August so 75 is fabulous. There was plenty of shade along the trail when I needed it too. I LOVE how well-used the monon trail is in our area. I probably saw 200 people or more out walking, running, bike-riding and/or roller blading. It’s so great to see SO many people out being active.

Sunday was rest day and travel day. I flew to Seattle via Houston. (Yeah, only an airline could think Houston is between Indianapolis and Seattle, I know.) Both flights were uneventful. The food in first class wasn’t horrible. All in all, it was a good day.

This morning I got up at 5:00 (of course that was 8:00 a.m. in my brain, which helped immensely). I ran 4 miles. Long runs would be great here. To run 4 miles from my hotel I really just barely get to the water. I did stop for a cool picture of the random ampersand sign at my turnaround point though.

After the 4 miles, I did my Monday weight-lifting, which is really 3 sets of bodyweight exercises. My Monday-Thursday “weights” are all bodyweight exercises that I can easily do from my hotel room. I pick up the hand weights on Friday when I’m home. I was a little worried about how tired my legs were, but I felt great running this morning. Seattle is gorgeous. It was nice to be out there before the sun came up while the streets were less crowded. I’m already looking forward to Wednesday morning’s run!

Well, I ended last week and started this week so strong and happy in my morning workout routine. Then I had a migraine Tuesday. Then I just didn’t talk myself into waking up this morning. Hmm.

I skipped all forms of exercise yesterday. The headache won. I seem to be having that problem more and more lately. I’ve not done a good job of paying attention to when I have headaches and what I’ve been doing before they happen though. Typically, my migraines are light-induced. If I go out without sunglasses, I will have a migraine later. That’s a given. It doesn’t even really matter if it’s a really sunny day. My sunglasses are required. I don’t think I’ve been doing that, but maybe I’m just not paying enough attention.

Today I slept through my morning, but I got up at lunchtime and started with my bodyweight workout. After that, I got myself out the door and ran 4 miles. I feel a million times better than when I started. It’s such an amazing thing how a workout can change the day.

Tonight we’re planning to ride our bikes somewhere for dinner, but I still plan to get out there tomorrow morning for my Thursday workout. I pray I’ll actually do it. Getting up early is a challenge, and I know the only thing to do about it is to just do it. I know where it fits into my goals, and that’s what matters most. That’s what can keep me motivated to do it.

Speaking of goals, despite the day off, the scale said 129.4 this morning! It really is true that you can eat your way out of any workout, but you can’t work your way out of any diet. It’s so much easier to eat 1000 calories than it is to burn 1000 calories. (Especially once you become miniature…omgosh, it takes me about 2 hours of running to burn that much!)

I’m off…have a fantastic day, peeps!

I’m trying to get back into a routine that creates time to write in the mornings. I actually started last week (obviously, the plan needs a little work…lol). The more important part of the routine is that it gets my workouts done before work. I’ve been doing that on Thursdays when I travel, but I had pretty much stopped doing morning workouts otherwise. I’m doing my best to get back to them though because they seriously make me feel awesome.

I started last Wednesday in Louisiana. Wednesday is a running day so morning was really the only time that could happen outside. It was 104 degrees when I left work that day. I was unbelievably happy to have already gotten my run in! I also managed to get up for my workouts Thursday and Friday. (Intervals on the elliptical Thursday & a nice bike ride Friday.)

Weekends are another story. Saturday we slept in a bit, but I was outside by around 10:00 a.m. to run 8 miles. I have one more long run before my next half marathon on September 3. (YAY!) Sunday was a planned day off, but after babysitting for this cutie:

and shopping for a few hours, Tom and I hopped on our bikes and rode to dinner and back. It was a perfect end to an awesome day.

This morning, we got up and ran 4 miles. He definitely hates getting up early to exercise, but I’m hoping if he doesn’t fall asleep at his desk he’ll want to keep doing it. I did my strength workout and stretching when we got back. It makes my whole day better when I get all that done in the morning.

Time to work now…go have an awesome today!

I can’t believe it took me a whole week to come here and tell you this.

I HIT MY GOAL WEIGHT!

It was a lot less exciting this time than the first time, but I was still pretty stoked. I recommitted myself in February, planning to get myself to 130 pounds. Last Friday, I weighed in at 129.8 pounds. Hooray!

LoseIt gave me a cool badge for my efforts too.

Thanks, LoseIt!

It also automatically changed my plan to weight maintenance and gave me about 250 calories more in my daily budget. That part I’m okay with. The next day I weighed in at the same number. All good. The next day I weighed in at 131. Instead of decreasing my calories since I was over my goal weight though, LoseIt kept my calories at a maintenance level.

Hmm…I’m not really okay with that.

I had a pretty good week and was under my calorie budget every day, but I still came home to 132.2 on the scale. I know it’s silly, but really I’m not okay with that either. So today I set a new goal weight. It’s 125 this time. That will keep my LoseIt app with a net calorie budget down where I want it to be. Sure, I could just artificially lower the limit, but that wouldn’t really be using the app the way it was intended. I think they should work on their maintenance mode settings. Of course, most people probably don’t keep counting calories once they get to maintenance mode either.

I’ve added another goal to my world in the last couple weeks too. I don’t think I’ll really start focusing on it until after the wedding, but it’s still there in the back of my mind right now. It’s a body fat percentage goal. I got a monitor so I could start tracking it. The healthy range for a woman’s bf% is kind of huge: 12-31% depending on where you check. I’m at 26% right now…definitely within the healthy range. I’m still figuring out where I’d like to be. I’m just keeping track for now.

I heart numbers. Seriously.

Running in Seattle is crazy beautiful. Seriously. There are times I really hate that my job takes me away from home, but I also feel like I’m so blessed to get to experience all these places as if they were my own.

I took a different route last night and really just had fun. It was my first run in nearly two weeks. I can’t even describe how much I enjoyed it. I did just over 5 miles, and my legs were definitely ready to stop for dinner after that.

We (my legs and I) had tacos then did a bit of grocery shopping before heading back to the hotel. Then I spent too much time on Facebook and went to bed.

Tonight I’ll be taking advantage of the hotel’s agreement with 24-Hour Fitness and hitting the stepmill. I have SkyRise Chicago to prepare for. Yay!

Being home this week wasn’t my plan, but it happened. It’s been really wonderful except for this heat. OMGOSH. If I were in Seattle, I’m sure I’d have several miles in running already, but being in Indianapolis, I have exactly ZERO.

Ugh.

I miss running immensely, but it’s just too hot for me. I could try getting up early in the morning, but really the humidity is so bad that probably wouldn’t help me much. My asthma just makes running in this weather too difficult.

Uberugh!

So I realized this morning that I feel like I’ve taken the week off from exercise. Then I laughed at myself really hard. My week “off” has consisted of about 33 miles on my bicycle and one session weight lifting so far. I have another 15-16 mile ride planned for today, and I’ll lift weights again tomorrow. I’ll easily have 2000 calories burned from exercise this week.

When did I start to consider such a week as a week off???

As a bonus, the scale is moving again. I got back down to 133.something a month ago, and in the last 10 days, I finally have gotten past that. The scale has consistently been 132.something the last few days. Today, it was 131.4!!!

I keep track of a lot of numbers when it comes to my weight. I’ve realized that the sweet spot for me is an average net calorie intake less than 1200. When I keep my net calories under that, I lose weight. It’s not a lot of weight, but it keeps the scale moving pretty steadily.

Don’t think for a moment that means I’m only eating 1200 calories a day! It’s VERY rare for me to consume less than 1400 calories in a day. I try to only have one day a week that’s over 1800, but I don’t manage that sometimes either. I just try to keep my body moving enough to get that net calorie number down where it needs to be.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LoseIt! for tracking my calories in and out. I wish I had more friends there, but I haven’t figured out how to find them…lol. I also feel, and I know this is a little nutty, that no one who’s trying to lose a lot of weight would want to be my friend there. My weight loss goal looks so meager. I set a goal in February to lose 17.2 pounds. That’s the goal my LoseIt! friends see. This shouldn’t bother me. I know what I’ve done for myself. That’s all that should matter. (That’s SO easy to say )

Random: It’s only 58 days until the wedding!!!

I’m off…time to work. Happy day, friends!

Oh. My. Legs.

I live in the Midwest. If I ever doubted how used to that I’ve become, I’m definitely over it now. Last night, I ran in Seattle. Yeah, I know, I’ve done that before, but last night, I started from a different hotel.

This hotel is about halfway up a hill that’s a mile long. So my first half mile was all uphill. It’s a crazy incline. Super steep. When I got to the end of the street I was on, I turned and headed down a slight incline that direction. My next turn was a lot steeper downhill. Then I made one more turn that was another steep climb. At two miles I turned around and did it all in reverse.

Holy wow.

Just in case you were wondering, downhill is just as hard on the legs as uphill. It is a lot easier on the heart though. I noticed my max heart rate on the downhills was only about 136. I hit 161 and stayed there a while on the uphills more than once.

It was difficult getting out of bed this morning. I bought a travel stick last week, and I can’t tell you how glad I am of that now. I used it both before bed last night and again before I got up this morning. It felt so wonderful.

The best part is…I simply can’t wait to hit the gym tonight. My new hotel gives me free access to the 24-Hour Fitness across the street. I’ve missed 24-Hour Fitness ever since my project in Pleasanton, CA ended in 2007. I’m SO glad to have access to one again…and FREE!!!

A very happy, belated 4th of July to you!

I don’t know about you, but our weekend was FULL! We started Friday evening with babysitting. I can’t even describe how wonderful it is to watch our grandbaby. She is just the cutest little creature! It’s amazing how easily you forget how much work it is!! She did great this weekend though. We actually slept five whole hours in a row!!

And woke up super happy!

We went to the Carmel Farmer’s Market Saturday morning and picked up steaks and vegetables (which were DELICIOUS Sunday night for dinner). Tom was good enough to go solo babysitting for a little while so I could run 6 miles. Then my dad, step-mom, aunt and brother came up around noon to visit. We had a really nice lunch and walked around downtown Carmel for a while. Claire tried super hard to suck her thumb.

She’s almost got it!

It was difficult, but we gave her back to her mommie about 5:30 Saturday evening. We got a quick bite to eat and went to see Transformers 3. OMGOSH! I LOVED IT!!! I know it makes a big difference that we watched a lot of the filming, but it was so cool! I can’t believe how real they made all that debris we saw lying around Chicago look. It was completely awesome.

Sunday we hopped on our bikes and rode to downtown Indy. It was 16.68 miles to get there. We had lunch then started exploring some. We found a nifty little trail behind the zoo. It was beautiful, and on the other side, we had this great view of downtown.

It was a beautiful day…really hot though. The ride around downtown and then back home was just over 20 miles. That was my first 20-mile ride ever! All in all, we did about 37 miles. Sunday evening Tom made the dinner we bought at the Farmer’s Market, and we watched part of a movie. We didn’t make it to the end though; we were too sleepy.

Monday we walked through Carmelfest then went out for a drive. It was another really nice day. We had lunch and just goofed off together. We watched the Carmel fireworks Monday night from our front steps and talked to Tom’s family on the phone. It was a really great, relaxing weekend.

How was your holiday?