Cheat Days

I also talked in a previous post about how now that BJ is writing my workout schedules for me that I'm going to have to totally revamp my cheat days.

This weekend was my first weekend where I need to not binge on my cheat days. I think I did pretty well considering what I had been doing.

On Saturday, for breakfast, I had 3 pieces of whole wheat toast and butter and a yogurt. For lunch I had a ham and cheese sandwich, made with low-fat cheese. All I put on the sandwich was mustard and I had some pretzels. For dinner I had sour cream enchilada's. They were really good and it was made with chicken and fat-free sour cream. I think I had a candy bar yesterday too.

Today, I had a one bowl of cereal for breakfast, I didn't have anything for lunch, I had 2 home made waffles for dinner, with peanut butter on them. I had a butterfinger candy bar today and a small ice cream cone today too.

Now, I know that might not sound very healthy, but you have to consider that before on my cheat days, I would seriously binge. I would eat chicken fingers and "tater babies" for lunch on Saturday. I would have a piece of cake from the local bakery during the day too that was covered thick with buttercream icing. I'd have a big sugar cookie and a peanut butter bar. I would seriously binge.

So, considering how I used to eat on my cheat days, I think this first weekend of my new cheat days was pretty good. :)

Weight Loss Progress

My last post talked about how I was scared about changing my workout regimen and stuff like that, because I still have about 11 lbs I want to lose, to reach my goal weight of 150.

I'm pleased to announce that after my first week of BJ writing my workouts for me, I lost 0.6 lbs. Now granted, I wouldn't be surprised if I lost more weight than that, but since BJ has me doing so many weights, I'm building muscle and since muscle weighs more than fat, I wouldn't be surprised to see the number go up on the scale.

We shall see how it goes again this week.

Scared to death

To be honest with you, I'm scared to death. My trainer (BJ) has started emailing me my weekly workouts and they are VERY different than what I have been doing.

Here is what I WAS doing:
Monday - Swim 72 laps, bike 50 minutes
Tuesday - Swim 72 laps, run 6-8 miles, do weights
Wednesday - Swim 72 laps, bike 50 minutes
Thursday - Swim 60 laps, run 6-8 miles, do weights
Friday - Swim 50 laps, bike 50 minutes
Saturday - Run 6-10 miles, do weights
Sunday - No workout

Here is what BJ has me doing this week:
Monday - Swim 48 laps, run 3 miles, do weights
Tuesday - Bike 60 minutes, run 2 miles
Wednesday - Swim 48 laps, run 3 miles, do weights
Thursday - Run 45 minutes (4.5 miles), do weights
Friday - Swim 40 laps
Saturday - Run 5 miles
Sunday - Bike 60 minutes

Because I'm working out less, even though I'm doing more weights, I think I'm going to have to drastically change my eating habits...again. Like I said, Saturday & Sunday were my "cheat" days where I would eat anything I want. I think it was getting to the point where I was gorging on food and eating everything and anything in site and taking advantage of the fact that I was working out SO much during the week, ya know? I think I can still have a "cheat" day, I just can't cheat as much.

But it just scares the livin' daylights outta me. I've been doing what I'm doing for 18 months now. It's just scary. I'm just afraid of gaining all my weight back again. I realize that some of the weight gain I'm going to see is muscle, but I just have to keep reminding myself that BJ knows what he's doing and he knows what's best for me.

Spinning Class

Last week I took my first spinning class up at the rec. center and I LOVED it. I didn't push myself as hard as I should have, but I didn't know how hard to push myself, 'cause I didn't know what to expect.

I definitely wanna go back and take more spinning classes. I just hope I can find the time (the classes are at kind of weird times). My trainer is even going to start putting those classes in my workout schedule.

What if I Can't Wait...

My next race isn't for 4 more months!!! That seems like an eternity away! What if I can't wait four months?

However, I do have some pretty cool races planned for next year. I plan on doing a 1/2 marathon up in Seattle (I can't wait!) and I plan on volunteering at the St. George Ironman!!!

4 months just seems like an eternity. Gah! I hope I make it that long without going through race withdrawls. Lol.

My Last Race of 2010

My last race of 2010 was on Thanksgiving Day. It was a 10k (6.2 miles) at the local rec. center. I'm sad that my last race is over.

The race was ALOT of fun. It was hard, it was cold, but it was alot of fun. Because it was so cold (high teens) I made sure that I layered my clothing that morning. On the bottom, I wore leggings and sweatpants and then on top I wore a long sleeved thermal underwear shirt, a regular long sleeved shirt, and then a sweatshirt. I also made sure that I had gloves and earmuffs too. However, about 2 miles in to the race, I started getting pretty warm, but it would've been too big of a production to stop and take my sweatshirt off and keep my earmuffs, gloves and earphones on, so I just decided to deal with the heat.

Thankfully, when I got to the finish line, my dad was waiting for me with a giant cup of coffee and the race organizers had little bonfires in fire pits all around. :)

My final time was 1:05:14.4, which ends up being about a 10 1/2 minute mile. I'm pleased with this time; however, I think I would've done better if I would've remembered to eat my Jelly Belly Energy Beans before the race. Ehh...oh well.

My dad was going to record the beginning of the race, but he accidentally pushed the wrong button, so we just have the one picture of me standing in line waiting to pick up my packet, and then he recorded me crossing the finish line.

Workout Music

Just thought I'd let ya'll know that down at the bottom of my blog I've now posted a music player that plays some of the music I LOVE to workout to. It's all got a good beat to it & these are songs that definitely keep me motivated when I'm running or biking or I'm in a race.

Why Do You Run?

Why do I run?
-Because it gives me a sense of accomplishment.
-Because I feel like it is something I'm good at.
-Because it relieves stress.
-Because it helps with my depression and anxiety.
-Because I can.
-Because it gives me an awesome adrenaline rush.
-Because there is no excuse not to.

Those are just some of the reasons. Please watch this video. It is very inspiring. It gives me chills and a lump in my throat every time I watch it. All of the reasons they list in this video are also reasons why I run.

After you watch the video, I would LOVE to know why you run too!

Guess Who Has a Personal Trainer?

Guess who has a personal trainer? Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!!!

Last month, for my birthday, my mom and dad gave me 2 sessions with a personal trainer named BJ Christenson at the South Davis Rec. Center. Before my birthday, I told my parents that if I were to ever have a personal trainer, I would want it to be BJ.

BJ is a freakin' machine!!! He does the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii! He did it last month I believe.

In the Ironman Triathlon, they give you 17 hours to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. BJ did it in a little over 9 hours!!! He swam 2.4 miles in less than 1 hour.

My ultimate goal is to do the Ironman Triathlon over in Hawaii. Currently, I've only done sprint triathlons. And, for example, where it took BJ less than 1 hour to swim 2.4 miles, it takes me about 50 minutes to swim just 1 mile!

Eeeek, I've got a long ways to go, but I know that BJ can help me get there.

Best Time Yet

This last Saturday, 11/6/10, was my last triathlon of the season. It was down in Orem, UT. I've done this triathlon 2 times before.

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning and had a couple of pieces of toast and yogurt and me and my dad got on the road to make the 45 minute drive down to Orem. As we were driving down there, I felt like I'd forgotten something, but I couldn't figure out what.

We got down to the Orem Rec. Center and I'm walking my bike over to the transition area to put my bike there and guess what I forgot? My helmet!!! Damn!!! I started freakin' out. Cuss words were flying out of my mouth cause if you don't have a helmet, you don't get to leave the transition area on your bike, therefore, you don't get to race.

Thankfully, some guy heard me going off about this and he told me he had an extra helmet I could borrow! Thank God!!!

This triathlon is done in the run-bike-swim order (my favorite). The run is kind of hard, but it's not too bad. You have to run up a medium sized hill. I knew I could do it. Come to find out, I ran a 9:36 mile! I've never run that fast before in my life! I was ECSTATIC!!!

This particular triathlon is a little bit harder because you have to climb 2 HUGE hills on your bike. I've NEVER been able to climb the hills on my bike before. I've always had to get off and walk my bike up the hills, but this time I was able to stay on my bike the whole time! I was SO excited.

It was AWESOME because during the bike when you're climbing the hills, everybody is cheering everybody on. Your fellow bikers are giving you words of encouragment, it's just awesome. I love it.

On this particular triathlon, you have to do a total of 2 laps on your bike to complete your 10 miles. I was doing really good. I didn't know what my time was, but I felt like I was doing good. I was able to climb the hills on my bike both times and I was on the home stretch. I was about 2 1/2 blocks away from the transition area and being able to go swim, and I was downshifting on my bike and...my chain fell off!!! CRAP!!! I got off my bike and for a brief second I thought I'd try & figure out how to put my chain back on, but figured that would be a waste of time, so I just grabbed my bike and started running. While I was running back to transition I just kept thinking, if I was ahead of time, I wasn't any more. I thought I'd be lucky if I finished in 1:30.

So, I finally make it back to transition, hurry and take off my shoes and put my goggles on and book it over to the pool (about 50 yds away). As I'm running over to the pool, I realize I still have my tank top on, so I just yank that sucker off and throw it on the grass. I jumped in the pool and I was bookin' it.

I finally crossed the finish line!! Yay! I was going to stick around and see what my time was, but it wasn't posted yet and I was tired, hungry and wanted to get home, so I looked up my time on the internet later that day and it was....1:24:57!!! It was 30 seconds faster than my best time! Can you believe what my time would've been if my chain hadn't fallen off!!! I was SO happy!!! What a great day!

Me before the race:


Here is the start of the run:


Coming in from the run and heading to transition:


Heading out on the bike:


Swimming:

Riddle Me This

Riddle me this. Normally when I weigh myself on Saturday's I wait until after my workout and then I weigh myself. Well, this last Saturday I decided to weigh myself before my workout. I weighed myself and it said I weighed in at 165.6, which is a 4.6 lb weight gain than the previous week.

I was really discouraged and frustrated, but headed to the gym any ways. I ran 8.0 miles on the treadmill at the gym and burned approx. 1100 calories.

I came home and right before stepping in to the shower I decided to weigh myself again and it said I weighed in at 161.6 lbs...a 4 lb weight loss than 1.5 hours earlier. What?!?!?! How? I don't get it.

I guess it's not for me to get.

Swimming with Fins

I've started swimming with fins. Boy does it make a difference. First off, it makes you swim faster because you're pushing more water away. I timed it the other day and to swim 1 mile (72 laps) without fins it takes me 50 minutes. To swim 1 mile with fins, it takes me between 35-40 minutes; however, when swimming with the fins, it works your legs more.

I read online though that you don't want to become "fin dependent" because then when you go to swim without fins, like in a triathlon, you're not going to do very well because you're so used to swimming with fins. So, I only swim with fins every other day. I really enjoy it. Now I just need to get my own fins.

My First Half Marathon

This last Saturday, 10/9/10, I was able to compete in my first half marathon. I had SO much fun!!! It was up in Layton, UT. I got done with the race and immediately wanted to sign up for another half marathon that is taking place down in Provo, UT on 10/30/10; however, I decided against it since I have a triathlon one week later.

My only goal with this 1/2 marathon was to run the entire 13.1 miles and to not finish last. I definitely succeeded. I'm happy to say that I ran the entire 13.1 miles in a total of 2:12:34.4, which means I ran a 10 minute mile the entire time. I've never run that fast before!!! Another thing that I'm SUPER proud of (I know this might sound silly), but I didn't even have to make any potty stops!!! I was totally expecting to have to make potty stops because whenever I run on the treadmill or run in the evenings and I'm running 13 miles, I usually have to make 2-3 potty stops. After thinking about it though, it makes perfect sense why I didn't have to. I'd only eaten one light meal before my 1/2 marathon; whereas when I run in the evenings, I've eaten three whole meals.

But anywho...here are a couple of pictures and 2 videos. The first video is of us all starting the race and the second video is of me crossing the finish line.

A big thank you to my mom & dad and their cowbells for cheering me on and taking the videos/pictures.

This is a picture of the starting/finish line.


Me before the start of the race.


Me warming up before the race.


This is all of us at the starting line. You'll quickly see me run by. Sorry it's kinda dark...it was at 7:00 a.m.


This video is pretty short, but it's me running in to the finish line.

Rowing Machine

Tonight I went up to the gym and rode a spinning bike for 50 minutes and burned 765 calories and then decided I was going to try out the rowing machine and start toning up my arms and see if I can help lessen my "lunchlady arms". Haha!

I wasn't sure how long I'd last on the rowing machine. I didn't know if I'd get bored with it really quick or if I could last for 30 minutes or what.

I actually enjoyed the rowing machine. Boy does it work your arms, legs and the muscles in your back and neck.

I think whenever I ride the bike, I will then go do 30 minutes on the rowing machine.

My arms aren't used to this much of a workout. I wonder if I'll be able to move my arms tomorrow morning...

13.1 miles and 1700+ calories

Normally when I run on a treadmill, I get anxiety and get bored VERY quickly, even if I am watching TV. Tonight was a different story. I'm SO happy. Tonight on the treadmill at the gym, I ran 13.44 miles on the treadmill and burned 1700+ calories!!! I'm quite surprised 'cause I didn't get bored or anything. I just hope I can do this well on my 1/2 marathon this Saturday.

The only downer about running that far, is now I'm wide awake 'cause I've got all this adrenaline and energy running through my body. It's currently midnight and I have to be up in 4 1/2 hours to go swimming.

Inspiring Video

This video was posted on Facebook and I found it SUPER inspiring, so I thought I'd share it here on my blog.

This video makes me wanna go out and run like I've never run before. I am competing in my first 1/2 marathon in a little less than 2 weeks, and this makes me feel even more like I'm ready to do it and I KNOW I can do it.

I think one part of this video that is going to be forever etched in my brain is of the woman crawling across the finish line. I think it is SO inspiring and moving. It just goes to show that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen, even if it means crawling across the finish line. :)

The Dirty Dash

Yesterday I competed in the first annual Dirty Dash competition up at Soldier Hollow. It was SO much fun! It was hard, but so much fun.

Basically, it was a 10k (6 miles) obstacle course in the mud. I didn't realize it until the race started, but alot of it was uphill. It was harder than I thought it would be, but it was still fun. Granted, I didn't think it would be a piece of cake, but it was even harder than I thought.

First, we had "The Big Pig Climb", which was basically running up a mud hill. It was slippery and muddy, but fun.

Then we ran for a while until we came across one of the snow machines that you see ski resorts have, but this one was spraying water. That water was awfully cold.

Then we ran for a little while again and came across a bunch of bales of hay. I was kind of jealous 'cause alot of people were able to basically run and jump up on to the bales, but I wasn't able to, so I did the tuck and roll over the bales.

Then, we came across a couple of tunnels we had to crawl through. That wasn't bad at all. It would've hurt less if I didn't have a scab on my knee.

Then, I believe the next thing we came across were walls we had to climb over. It was awesome! There was one guy that was dressed up as a superhero. He had on blue tights and he was wearing superhero underpants and he knelt down in the mud and let the ladies use him as a step stool to climb over the walls. I remember saying to him "are you sure?" and he said "I wouldn't be down here if I wasn't".

Then we came across tires we had to step through. Good Lord that was difficult. You know how you see football players run/step through them so fast? Man, I wish I could do that, but I knew if I tried to do that, I'd do a giant face plant, so I just walked through them.

Then, we had a "mystery" element that we didn't know about until the morning of the race. Over by Deer Creek Reservoir, which is right next to Soldier Hollow, it was just a bunch of eewy gooey mud that was about as deep as your calf. The announcer guy said that he lost a couple of shoes in there. Haha! It was disgusting, but fun. After we got done with that part of the race, it was like trying to run with 100 lb blocks on your feet. There was one part of that where I hit a sink hole and got down in to the mud all the way up to my thigh, but only on one leg. Haha!!!

After that, we headed over to the giant slip 'n slide. The slip 'n slide was kind of a disappointment. They did really well at keeping it watered down, but it wasn't very slippery. I ended up just running down it.

Then, last but not least, we headed over to the "Filthy Finish". They gave us specific instructions that we had to CRAWL under the flags on our hands and knees. It was so filthy, but so fun.

They had these makeshift showers for us after the race, but they didn't do very much good. I ended up donating my shoes after the race.

I can't wait to do the race again next year. I think what I loved most about the race is that it wasn't really a race. I don't think anybody was in it to win it. I think everybody was in it to have a good time and play in the mud. If you needed help along the course, everybody was helping each other and cheering you on. It was awesome.

I think next year though, the only thing I'd change is I'd get a hotel near the race for the night before so I don't have to wake up so god awful early to get up there and then I'd be right close so that as soon as the race was over, I could go to the hotel room and shower and get cleaned up before making the 1 hour drive home. Now granted, a 1 hour drive home isn't too bad, unless you're soaking wet and covered with mud. :)

Here are pictures I got from the race:

This is a picture of the "filthy finish" before they filled it up with water.


A picture of the giant slip 'n slide.


This is before the race. I don't look happy 'cause the sun was in my eyes and I was freezing.


Running past my mom & dad and heading for the giant slip 'n slide.


Me running in to the "filthy finish".


I army crawled through the "filthy finish".


I finished!!! I just got done crawling through the "filthy finish" and climbing a mud hill.


Oh so dirty, but oh so fun. I'm just standing in line waiting for my "dirty" picture.


these are the makeshift showers they had for us.


Here I am, all showered off and ready to head home.

Swimming

Yay!!! Tomorrow morning, come hell or high water, I'm gonna go swimming again. Last week, I was supposed to start swimming again (the pool had been closed for 2 weeks), but I woke up too late Monday morning to go swimming and then Monday night on my run, I tripped and fell. You can't go swimming with open wounds.

Well, my knee and wrist are all scabbed over very nicely now, so I'm going to go swimming tomorrow morning. I can't wait to get back in to a routine.

A Day of Rest

So I've decided that I need to take at least 1 day every week to NOT workout. I've done this before and it has worked well, but then I got all hyped up about my 1/2 marathon coming up and had this grand idea that I need to run at least 4 days a week, with one of the days being Sunday.

Well, with everything going on in my life, lately, I have been running 4, or if not more, days of the week. Well, after tonight, it just seems that it is causing WAY too much anxiety and I just need to take a day of rest. I workout plenty enough all the other days of the week, so I don't think it'll hurt anything to not workout on Sundays.

This is what it looks like you when you trip...

This is what it looks like when you trip and fall while running:




Monday night I headed out on my nightly run. I was all set to run 11 miles. I got about 4, maybe 5 miles in to my run and there was a level difference on the sidewalk. I cleared it with my one foot, and I thought I'd cleared it with my other foot, but I didn't and I went down. I was pissed!

I thought about continuing on with my run, but when I looked down at my knee and looked at my wrist and saw how bad the scrape was, I turned around and ran home.

My dad helped me clean it out and bandage it up; however, Tuesday, my knee was weeping REALLY bad. I had to change the bandage half way through the day because it was soaked and it was starting to soak through my pants. I called my dad and he said that all the weeping meant that there was still dirt, or something still in the scrape, so lucky me, when I got home from work last night, I had to scrub out the scrape. Not my idea of fun. It was painful, but thankfully it is now healing really well.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to go swimming all week because you can't get in the pool with open sores. :( Boo.

Dehydrated

I woke up super late this morning (1:30 p.m.), so I decided to hold off running today until about 7:00 p.m. when it would be cooler outside.

I am supposed to run 11 miles each time I run this week so that I can prepare for my 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks.

When I went running tonight, unfortunately, I was only able to run 6.5 miles. Why? I got super dehydrated. I had water with me and I even stopped at one of the parks and refilled my water bottle, but I was SO super dehydrated that I was getting extremely sick to my stomach. Thankfully, my brother lives on my running route, so I was able to stop at their home and he gave me a ride home.

It just doesn't occur to me to drink water during the day if I'm not thirsty. I need to make a more conscious effort to stay hydrated during the day. I will definitely be drinking more water tomorrow so that when I go running tomorrow night I won't get dehydrated.

Personal 1/2 Marathon

My first official 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) is coming up in 3 weeks. I'm kind of nervous about it. The most I've ever run (without stopping to walk) at one time is 10 miles.

I've been told a couple of times that if you can run 10 miles then you'll have no problem doing a 1/2 marathon.

So, yesterday, I decided I would try this out. Not too far from my house is a trailhead to the Legacy Trail which is fairly flat and is long enough to run 13.1 miles. I took my water bottle with me and I started out kind of early in the morning. I was doing pretty good until about mile 10.5 and then it was like hitting a brick wall. I had run out of water and there were no water stops on the trail. :(

I did 13.1 miles that day; however, I walked probably 1.5 - 2.0 miles of it. :( I feel like if I wouldn't have run out of water I would've been able to complete the 13.1 miles.

I'm fairly confident that by October 9th, I'll be able to run the 13.1 miles in my official first 1/2 marathon.

My New Tattoo

Yay!!! I got a new tattoo. You can see the picture above! I love it!!! Triathlons have changed my life in SO many ways and I absolutely LOVE doing them, so I got a triathlon themed tattoo. :) The kanji symbol in the middle means determination because it has taken alot of determination and will power to get to the point I'm at. I'm very pleased with what Jon designed for my tattoo. Pardon the redness of the tattoo. The picture was taken not more than 5 minutes after Jon got done with the tattoo.

P.S. No it didn't hurt.

No Swimming For 2 Weeks

I don't get to swim for the next 2 weeks. In a way I'm excited because I'm going to take advantage of that time off from swimming and go get a new tattoo. I'm also excited because the pool that I swim in needs to be cleaned REALLY bad. On the other hand, it's gonna suck because it just throws my routine completely out of whack.

So, to keep up with my weight loss (hopefully), I'm going to go jogging in the morning and then ride my bike at night, and hopefully still lose weight while the pool is closed.

SDRC Labor Day Triathlon

Today was the 2nd annual SDRC Labor Day Triathlon. This is the second year I've competed in the triathlon. It's in the order of swim-bike-run. With all my triathlon's this year and the 3 I did last year, I was much better prepared for the triathlon this year than I was last year. When I did this triathlon last year, it was only the second triathlon I ever did.

The triathlon went pretty well. I feel like I could've done a little bit better. My final time was 1:35:10.4

I started to get really discouraged on the bike because I was counting all the people that were passing me and how many people I was passing. 24 people passed me on the bike, and I only passed 2 people. That really upset me. I just feel like by now, with all the triathlons I've done, I should be doing better than that. My average speed on the bike was about 15.2 mph.

The run wasn't too bad. The only thing I don't like about the swim-bike-run is by the time I get to the run, I'm getting tired, so it makes the run a little harder to do. But I did the run with an 11 minute mile. Not as bad as I thought.

My time on this triathlon is about average for all of my times this season, I just feel like after doing as many triathlons as I've done (3 last year and 6 this year so far), I should be doing a little better than what I am.

Oh well, at least I didn't finish last! :) Now, here are some pictures:

Look What I Got!!!

Look what my co-worker gave me!!! They are cycling shoes for specific cycling pedals. These shoes have clips on the bottom so you can clip in to your pedals so your feet don't slip or anything like that. I've REALLY wanted to get these shoes and pedals, but they are SUPER expensive. These shoes can range anywhere from $60-$200, and my co-worker GAVE these shoes to me. Now I just need to get the pedals (about $90).

Since I can't afford the pedals right now, when I've been going up to the gym to ride a bike, I take the shoes and I can clip in to the pedals at the gym.

The tricky thing about these shoes/pedals is to get out of the pedals, you have to twist your foot/ankle to unclip. That's a little tricky because, as you might know, about 5 years ago, I broke my left leg and ankle. I'm getting better at it, but the first time I had to get these shoes out of the pedals, I could barely get my ankle to turn far enough. The more I practice, the better I'll get though.

Food Posts

I apologize for not posting very much about food. I realized why I don't, and it's because I eat pretty much the same thing every day.

Well, and I have to say, I don't think it really matters as much what you eat, it matters more that it's portion control. Granted, you still need to eat a little healthier than say fast food all day every day, but I think it's more about portion control.

But, anywho, I thought I'd let you guys know basically what I eat on a daily basis and then you can see why I don't post too much about food. Now, I don't necessarily recommend this eating menu for everyone. You just have to figure out what works best for you, and this is what works best for me.

Breakfast - 2 packets of sugar-free instant oatmeal (100 calories for each packet), a low fat Wal-Mart brand yogurt and a piece of fresh fruit.

Lunch - Either a Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones frozen lunch and a salad. Now, with a salad, I think you need to be careful what you put in the salad because some stuff (croutons) aren't the healthiest. But, what I put in my salad is fresh mushrooms, one spoonful of black eyed peas, a small spoonful of mandarin oranges (in their own juices), and 5 black olives. If I have a cucumber, I'll put slices of cucumber in there too. Then I have fat-free Italian dressing. Now that we're getting in to cooler weather, Campbell's Soup makes really good healthy soups that are usually only between 200-300 calories a can, so instead of having a Smart Ones or Lean Cuisine, I might have soup instead.

Dinner - I usually have whatever my family is having, it's just in smaller portions. If I feel like what they're eating isn't healthy, then I'll repeat what I had for lunch.

Dessert - 100 calorie pack of microwave popcorn.

Snacks - Throughout the day, if I get the munchies, I have a stash of fresh veggies (baby carrots, celery sticks) that I munch on.

Now, Saturday is my cheat day, so I can eat whatever I want that day. :)

1/2 Marathon in 8 Weeks

I've signed up for my first 1/2 marathon and it's going to be on October 9th up in Layton, UT. When I signed up for the 1/2 marathon, I was able to run 9 miles each time I ran.

Well, I advanced too fast in my running and had to back down to 8 miles every time I ran. Last week I as running 8 miles until I got sick with a cold and my working out came to a screeching halt for 3 days. So, I haven't run long distances in a week. It seems like when I take any kind of break from running, I digress a couple of miles...however, I seem to recover fairly quickly.

I went running tonight and I was only able to make it a little over 6 miles. I REALLY wanted to be able to run 7 miles, but the farther I got in to my run, the more I knew that would most likely not be possible. Part of it I think was the heat (for it being 7:00 p.m. when I went running, it was still pretty warm) and the other part was I haven't been running long distances in a week.

The whole time I'm running though, I'm thinking, dude, I've signed up for a 1/2 marathon in about 1 1/2 months. I've got to be able to run that 13 miles. Eeeek! So, when I got home, I looked at my calendar and I need to be able to increase my mileage by 1 mile every week to be able to do the 13 miles on October 9th. I think it's very possible as long as I don't get sick or anything else between now and then.

Here's to hoping I don't get sick. :)

Bountiful Triathlon

Yesterday I competed in the Bountiful Triathlon. In 2009, this is the first triathlon I ever competed in, so it was kind of special for it to be my second time competing in this triathlon. I felt well seasoned and everything. :) This is one of my favorite triathlons to do because it is in reverse order. You do it as a run-bike-swim. I was quite nervous because I was just getting over a cold and hadn't been able to workout for 3 days. I did pretty well though.

My final time was 1:33:02.6. Overall, I came in 225th out of 300+, I came in 92nd in my gender, and 21st in my divsion. It's not my best time, but considering that I had a cold earlier in the week and hadn't worked out in 3 days, I figure I did pretty good. :)

In a way this race was ALOT of fun to do, but in a way, it was disappointing. I shouldn't say the race was disappointing, because it wasn't, but (for lack of better words), my fans were disappointing.

Let me preface this by saying when you compete in a triathlon, at least for me, alot of it is mental. No matter how many triathlons I've done, I still get nervous before each one and I still have to remind myself constantly that I can do this. During the run, I kept telling myself that I can do this. I've done this plenty of times before and I've jogged even further than 3 miles before. I had to do the same thing while I was on my bike. One thing that definitely helps is people cheering you on. It helps with your mind set and it pushes you even harder.

Well, yesterday in the triathlon, my dad wasn't able to be there 'cause he had to work, but my mom was there and so was my grandma and grandpa. My brother and sister-in-law said they'd try and make it, but weren't sure if they'd be able to.

I asked my mom to please take pictures, or have someone take pictures because this is my one year anniversary of competing in triathlons.

No cheering took place at all and hardly any pictures were taken. The pictures that were taken were taken before and after the race, not during the race. No pictures taken of me running, and no pictures taken of me cycling or swimming. My mom said that they saw me running, but they didn't see me biking or swimming. I didn't see them because I was in "the zone", but I knew when I was coming near where they would be and I knew I was the only person competing at that time. I wasn't in a big crowd or anything.

It hurts to hear other people being cheered on by their family members and knowing that you have family members out there but they aren't cheering you on because they didn't see you.

Anywho...here are the whopping 5 pictures that were taken from the race:


This is me right before the race.


My mom wanted a picture of me that looked like I was running. I don't know why, but here it is.


The transition area.


Me packing up my stuff & getting ready to ride home.


The race is over and I'm headed home.

I've Got a Cold & a Race Tomorrow

I'm quite nervous. I came down with a cold on Monday and I've got a triathlon this Saturday. At first I thought my cold was just allergies so I took an allergy pill, but nope, it's a full blown cold. I've been taking Zicam and cold medicine, and hopefully I'll feel better by Saturday.

I'm quite nervous because you're not supposed to exercise while you're sick because you should really use all your energy to get better, plus, if you exercise while you're sick, it can make you stay sick longer. So, I haven't worked out in 3 days. Ugh.

Hopefully tomorrow will go well.

Back to 8

So, like 2 weeks ago, I was actually able to run 10.0 miles, and haven't been able to do it since. :(

Two nights ago I was barely able to run 8.0 miles and I had to stop and walk twice. But tonight...I was successfully able to run 8.0 miles without stopping. Well...I take that back. I did make a pitstop and my brother's house to get more water, but otherwise, I ran all 8.0 miles.

I'm excited that it seems like I'm bouncing back. We'll see how far I can run on Saturday.

Super frustrated - running

I know I shouldn't let this get me down, but I am and I need to figure out a way to not let it get me down and make me so frustrated.

One week ago I was able to run 10 miles without stopping. 8 miles was a breeze for me to run.

Tonight...I was barely able to run 8 miles and I had to stop and walk a little bit. Grrrrrrrrrr...I should be glad that I can at least run that much.

It just really frustrates me and makes me feel like a failure. I guess I need to just buck up & be glad that I'm able to run that far and that it's not bad that I stopped and walked a little bit. I guess I'll just see how I progress with my running throughout the week.

Layton Rinse, Ride, Run, Repeat Triathlon

Yesterday I competed in the Layton City Rinse, Ride, Run, Repeat Triathlon. It was a little different than all the other triathlon's I've competed in. All of my other triathlons, I've only had to swim anywhere from 300-400 yds in the pool, but yesterday, I had to swim 600 yds (24 laps). Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but add in running a total of 3.1 miles and biking a total of 11 miles, that makes it a little harder.

So, yesterday, it started out swimming 12 laps in the pool, then ride my bike 5.5 miles, then run 1.55 miles, then get back in the pool and swim another 12 laps, ride another 5.5 miles and then run another 1.55 miles, then cross the finish line.

I was able to pass someone up in the pool the first time around, and for some reason, that made me really tired. But the second time I got in the pool, I had to slow myself down. I was starting to get really tired. Normally I don't get too tired doing these races, but yesterday I did.

My final time was 1:49:16.6. I was slower than normal, but my pace was pretty good and it was slower because it was a little longer. So...here are some pictures.

This is me shortly before the race started.

Me swimming in the pool the first time.

Running from the pool to the bike.

Me on the bike the first time around.

Me running the second time. I was starting to get really tired.

You can see more pictures on my Facebook page.

My Amphipod

A co-worker of mine has one of these and now that I am running longer distances, this amphipod is a Godsend!!! It's a water bottle that has a hand strap on it. I think I should've probably gotten an insulated one, but the salesman was telling me that it keeps the water cooler, but not much, so I didn't get an insulated one.

You can find these Amphipod's at Salt Lake Running Co (www.saltlakerunningco.com). I got mine (non-insulated) for I think it was $17-18. It was well worth it.

How do they afford it?

Now that I've lost 100+ pounds, I have ALOT of extra skin. It's really disgusting to me. Alot of people think I DON'T have extra skin, but let me tell you...if you wear the right clothes, it can hide it really well!!! Lol.

But...I would LOVE to get skin removal surgery, but it is HELLA expensive and of course insurance companies won't cover any of it!!! I've looked in to it. I would ideally like to have the extra skin removed from my stomach, back, thighs, breasts and arms. I went to a plastic surgeon last year and had a consultation. Just to have my tummy skin removed, I'd have to have what is called a "body lift" because they'd have to take care of the extra skin on my back (yes I was SO big I have extra skin on my back). It is a very complicated surgery and it's a very long surgery. Just to have the body lift done for my stomach and back, it'd cost $12,000!!! I didn't even ask how much it'd cost to have my arms, breasts and thighs done.

I personally know one person who has had all of this surgery done and had all of her extra skin removed. She had to pay for it all out of pocket. I have a co-worker who knows someone (I've met her) that had all of her extra skin removed and I've seen a contributor on the TLC show What Not to Wear that has had her extra skin removed.

My question is...how the crap do they afford it? Do they just go in to debt up to their eyeballs to have this surgery done?

I just can't tell you how bad I want to have this surgery, because there are times when I still look in the mirror and because of all of my extra skin, I still see the fat Ara, I just have to keep telling myself that I'm not fat...look at the size of clothing I fit in to, ya know?

Does anybody have any ideas of how I could raise money or something to be able to afford this surgery?

1.2 Lbs Down

I weigh myself every Saturday morning! Lately, I've been gaining more muscle than losing fat, so the number has been going up on the scale. It's been kind of hard because for the past almost 1 1/2 years, I've seen the number go down on the scale, and now it's going up. But, I know I'm losing weight because my pants are fitting looser, etc.

On 6/26 I gained 1.0 lb, and then the week after that I lost 4.0 lbs and then I lost 2.0 lbs.

This morning when I went to weigh myself, I found out that I'd lost an additional 1.2 lbs!!!

I am SO excited!!! This is the lowest I have weighed since I started my weight loss. I only have 17.6 lbs to go until I reach my goal! Yay!

Canyon to Canyon 1/2 Marathon and 10k

Today I did the 10k Canyon to Canyon with a bunch of people from work. A couple of people did the 1/2 marathon, but I didn't think I'd be able to do it, so I just ran the 10k (6.2 miles).

It started up in East Canyon and went down the Jeremy Ranch Dirt Road. I've never ran on a dirt road before so I was a little iffy about that, but it was fine. They said there would be rolling hills, and after my experience yesterday, I was kind of nervous about that too. But overall, it went pretty well.

I haven't got my official time yet, but as I was running in to the finish line, the clock said something close to 1:10. That's the best I've ever ran.

This run was a little challenging for me because there were some pretty big hills we had to run up. They were so big that I was running so slow I might as well have been walking, but I was hell bent on running the whole course, which I did.

The only problem I ran in to with this run is my earphones. I hate them. They aren't the kind I usually have that wrap around your ear, they are just what you call earbuds, and they kept falling out of my ears. Grrr...

But, anywho, here are some pictures from the race:

Me coming down the last hill to go in to the finish line.

Me rounding the corner to the finish line.

A group of me and some of my co workers from JCPenney who also ran the 10k.

I just got done with the race. Pardon the sweat marks under the boobs! Lol.

Me clipping off my timing chip. They had some weird timing chips that you used a zip tie and attached it to your shoe laces. Never had a timing chip like that before.

Me and my friend Ted. I'm SO proud of him. He ran part of the 10k and walked part of the 10k. This is the first race he's done! Way to go!