Dill Pickle recently posted a great blog about what to get me for Christmas. It was definitely one of the sweetest posts he’s written about me. What was cool was that he knew what I wanted, and that was before I sent him a list.  Some other things that I want that aren’t something you can buy in stores :

1. To lose about 10 pounds in the next two months would be amazing. So what I’m wishing for is the will power to stick to a workout routine. It’s going to be rough with the holidays too-all the food is so tasty. So I think I’ll just have to work out extra hard whenever I eat anything less than healthy. Fudge? Drop and give me 20!
2. For sure knowing where we are going to live come January. Right now we have a great opportunity, but nothing is for sure. I hate the unknown and it will be so nice to have that all figured out.
3. For Dylan to be done with his fire academy-something I will get right before Christmas. I just can’t wait to be able to spend our weekends together. Just the idea of sleeping in and then cooking breakfast sounds like the best present I could ask for.
4. For everything this Christmas to go smoothly with my ridiculously large and extended family. I want to share my Christmas with both my family and Dylan’s. My family can be less than understanding of that at times, and it annoys me. This year though, I can’t wait to have Dylan with me to share in all the activities!

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Technorati Tags: Christmas, diet, family, gift list, weight loss

52. My favorite season is fall. I love it when the leaves change color and it gets cold outside. I think it’s the prettiest time of the year, and the most comfortable weather and clothes wise.

53. I hate it when people I don’t know very well call me “Little Tess”. It bugs me a lot, and makes me feel like I’m a little kid. From my friends that I know and love I find it endearing but when my secretary does it I want to punch her in the face.

54. I’m a lil bit fiesty.

55. I used to have a really hard time falling asleep. I’d lay in bed and my mind would race, and then I’d toss and turn and get up ten times a night. Now I sleep like a log-I think it’s because I let go of a lot of stress in my life.

56. I lost a lot of friends when I stopped drinking for a year. It really showed me who my true friends were.

57. I can’t stand it when people say “What can I do you for?” It sounds dirty and it’s a dumb phrase.

58. I hate fake phone voices-like when people act super sugary sweet on the phone and it’s not their normal speaking voice. What is that?

59. I love Christmas. I decorate like crazy for it and I love everything from the songs, to the family time, to the food, to the specialty drinks (peppermint schnapps you are so good). Every year it looks like Christmas exploded in my house.

60. When I was a little kid I used to insist that we cut down our own Christmas tree instead of buying it. This would already result in super ugly Charlie Brown looking Christmas trees that I thought were beautiful.

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It’s hard to put into words how this morning’s half marathon made me feel. It’s hard to describe the emotions you go through as you watch 20,000 people line up in San Francisco, each person excited, jittery, and anxious. It’s impossible to describe the lump in my throat as I lined up behind a mother whose jersey said, “For my son, in memory” with a picture of a little boy no more than 7. To know that over 18 million dollars were raised in this year’s race for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, and to know that the donations I received are a part of that number is beyond comprehension.

As the gun went off, there were so many people that we had to wait to get to the start line. It took 15 minutes after the official start time before we crossed it. I felt like I was being swept away into the current of people, and it was hard not to start out too strong. I felt like sprinting I was so excited! My goal was to run the race in 2 hours and 30 minutes, but I was going to be happy with 3 hours, especially considering the bad shape my feet were in. I’d been suffering from planter fasciitis, a condition that causes severe heel and arch pain, and the first few steps were brutal. But as I looked up, I noticed I was running behind an honoree, someone who had battled cancer and I thought, this is nothing compared to what he went through.

My name was written on my jersey, and even though I was running alone, and none of my friends and family could be at the race, I felt like I had a fan club. Spectators were gathered all over the course, and they happily screamed, GO TESS! It really helped push me, especially up those monsterous hills. When I crossed the finish line I had tears in my eyes and the biggest grin on my face. I couldn’t believe the time-I managed to run the race in 2 hours and 17 minutes.  Almost 15 minutes faster than my goal time! I owe that all to the motivation of every runner out there, and all of the spectators. Watching the strength and drive of so many people at one time is enough to make anyone pick up the pace.

Now I sit here resting, with my feet and knee iced, and exhaustion setting in. Will I ever run another half marathon? Probably not-but what a great thing to say that I did. This was by far the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. I couldn’t have done it without my sponsors, my friends and family, and boyfriend for motivating me to stick with the workouts. And last but certainly not least, my team. Team in Training may have been difficult at times, the early morning workouts, the lollygagging around waiting to start our runs, but in the end it was so worth it. Being among the people out there in purple jerseys was exciting, and I was never without a team member in the run, be it from my chapter, or all the other chapters that came out. The team was full of encouraging people-everyone was so positive and enthusiastic, and without them, I would have surely quit. So thank you, and GO TEAM!!!!

Technorati Tags: Leukemia Lymphoma Society, Nike Women's Marathon, race day, running, team in training

I have been complaining off and on in this blog about weight and weight loss, but one thing I will never, ever do is take diet pills. I came across this non-biased article on the new weight loss drug, Phentermine and it really freaked me out.The way the drug works is it inhibits your hunger signal. In my personal opinion, any drug that inhibits your body’s natural signals is a problem. I know that obesity and weight problems affects so many of us, especially Americans but there are other, safer, healthier, better ways to lose weight.

Here’s just a few that I have found effective, and they don’t include inhibiting my natural signals.

1. Exercise-the number one way to lose weight is to get off your duff. Walk around the block, or just walk a little bit every day. While you might not get as thin as you want, you’ll be in the healthy range.

2. Change of diet-I don’t mean diet as in starve yourself or only eat soup. I’m talking about taking a good look at the food you eat, and what ingredients are in it. Don’t eat food full of preservatives or other additives that can make it addicting. Switch from soda to water, trust me you’ll feel much better.

3. Get happy-change your life in a positive way. Happy people are generally healthy people. When you’re sad, you tend to gain weight because you’re depressed. Then you’re depressed because you gained weight. It’s a vicious cycle.

The biggest thing I’ve learned from my quest to get my figure where I want it is knowing that nothing happens over night. It’s all about persistance and a good attitude, not taking a pill.

Technorati Tags: diet pills, phentermine, weight loss

It’s strange-I feel like I’ve been a real slacker lately fitness wise-but on the days where I’ve been too tired to work out, I find myself less hungry, and I’ve been cutting back on my portions. I am eating healthier, and cutting way down on my sweets, and I’ve noticed a difference already. I also admitted that I just need to accept the fact that I’m not the same size I was in high school, and that it’s ok that I’m not super thin. This is something I’ve struggled with off and on for years, so I’m finally accepting it. I’m getting curvier as I get older, but the important thing is not how much I weigh, or what size my jeans are, but how I feel, and my health. I’m so much healthier now than a year ago, when I was drastically underweight. I just realized this morning that my hair doesn’t fall out like it used to, and that to me is a huge improvement.

I guess I sort of did my check in on Saturday, with my blog about my record 12 mile run. I am still so proud of what I accomplished. Sunday was ROUGH on my body. I did my best to eat healthy, but I have to confess I caved and ate a couple of girl scout cookies. I look at it as getting rid of the bad junk in the house, and as soon as they are gone I won’t replenish them. So really I was helping!

I iced and recooperated Sunday and Monday, and tonight I’ll be back at the gym again. I’m nervous to run on my sore legs, but if I don’t run now, I’m just going to fall behind in my training. I’m not nearly as nervous as I was about completing the half marathon, especially not if I can keep up the 10 minute mile times. I’m just so ready to be done, and moving on to the next workout routine. I can’t wait to do something other than run! Pilates, yoga, swimming, anything besides run.

Besides working out until my kneecaps just about fell off, I puttered around the house for the holiday weekend. I scrapbooked, I organized, I put pictures in frames. I know I know, I am the most exciting nearly 25 year old on the planet. Speaking of nearly 25, my 25th birthday is on the 14th, and I tried to think of what I wanted. Honestly, number 1 on my wish list is a house, but that’s still a little ways off. If I did own my own place, I’d probably be asking for Hansgrohe faucets, maybe some Ethan Allen furniture, and definitely new pots and pans. I am such an old lady when I daydream. So what did I tell my mom when she called asking what to get me? I asked for a new iron and ironing board. Because I’m THAT cool.

Well, more like feeling the aches and pains, but I’m smiling. Today I met up with my team for our weekly Team in Training run. It was supposed to be an hour and 45 minute run, and the mileage range from 8-10 miles, depending on your skill level. Well I went out and found a good running partner and we ROCKED it. We ended up going 6 miles out, 6 miles back in 2 hours for a grand total of TWELVE MILES!!! Can you believe it? And we’re only training for a half marathon, which is 13.1! After running 12, I can safely say I can do this race in October. It wasn’t easy to do 12, especially when in the last mile we had to run up a steep hill that seemed endless. I was really regretting getting that small Starbucks coffee before the run too. What was I thinking? But at the end of the run, it was all worth it. That is further than anything I’ve ever run before and I am so proud of myself.

I was really feeling sorry for myself this week and really putting myself down and my appearance. I was feeling lazy, and even though I was doing cross training, I felt that it wouldn’t be enough, and I should have been out there running. Well now I know that cross training really does help! Also the motivation from my teammates was enough to push me to keep running. Oh, and I ran the whole way, I didn’t even do the run/walk like a lot of the team does. I actually felt better that way, because I never lost my stride. The water stops and the goo packs for energy they gave us were a godsend, and I’m definitely going to stock up on those for the race.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to take a much needed shower and a well deserved lounge session. WHEW!

Technorati Tags: marathon, pacing, running, stride, team in training, Working Out

If you’ve been keeping up with my posts, you’ll know that I’ve been training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, coming up October 19th. I have a workout schedule, and sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated to stick to it. My friend Ruthie told me about the Healthy You Challenge, and it looked pretty cool to me. Basically the challenge is to become a healthier version of you. Everyone who joins has a different goal. For some it’s to lose weight, for some it’s to eat right, and for some like me, it’s to stay on track with my exercise routine, and to continually challenge myself to stay in shape and tone up.
So every Tuesday I’m going to be checking in and giving a little update on my Healthy You Challenge and make some goals for myself.
So my goals for this week are:
1. Stick to the team in training workout schedule which means,
Mon- run or walk 30 min
Tues- buddy run 1 hour
Weds-cross train
Thurs-do track drills for 1 hour
Fri-rest or go for a walk
Sat- run 8-10 miles
Sun-rest
2. Ice my leg every night and stretch-I’ve been suffering from some injuries which makes me far less motivated to work out. If I can take care of my legs every day, the race will be that much easier.
3. DRINK WATER-I should be drinking 8-10 cups of water a day.
4. Eat healthy, avoid giant meals. Working out has made me extremely hunger, to the point where I’m negating all the calories I’ve burned by gobbling up twice that at dinner. My goal is to eat 5 light meals instead of 3 heavy ones.

So wish me luck, staying motivated to run all those miles has been tough. Hopefully the challenge will help me succeed.

Technorati Tags: Healthy You Challenge

Race day is only two months away! I’ve kicked my training up a notch and my feet are suffering as a result. I am cursed with “flat feet” and my feet literally throb when I finish my workouts. I’ve tried the super feet inserts, which have helped a lot, but not completely. Today I tried to run and I realized I was using my toes only, and not heel toe, and my form was horrible. I was limping without even knowing it, and probably doing a lot of damage to my already fragile knee. I’m forcing myself to correct my posture, even walking for now if I have to. Walking right is way more important than running wrong and ruining my body. No race is worth that to me-it’s not like I’m a professional athlete.
Besides training though, my flat feet have cramped (haha, literally) my style. I can’t wear flip flops, and most other cute shoes for more than a few hours without my feet killing me. I have thought about orthotics and also the new MBT shoes. I just heard about these cool shoes that simulate walking in sand. The form of the shoe is supposed to correct posture and strengthen muscles all over the foot and legs, even the core! They’re pretty pricey, so it might be a luxury for the future, but man I would love to try out a pair. Anything to help my aching feet. For now I’ll settle for foot rubs from Dylan.

The half marathon is only 2 1/2 months away and my body is not in the shape I expected it to be. All this training and I was hoping to be fabulously in shape and looking fantastic. Instead not only have I gained weight as I wrote in earlier posts, but I’ve broken out with acne. It is nothing compared to when I was a kid, but all that running and sweat has caused my face to wage war on my skin. I’m looking to find the best acne product but so far I’ve come up short. I think eventually my skin will get used to sweating, and as long as I can get a shower in right after a run I should be ok.
As much as I know I’m doing a good thing by participating in this marathon (raised over $2500 for cancer research yayy) I will still be relieved when it is over. I plan on joining a gym and focusing more on my core instead of running endurance. And maybe I won’t be so tired all the time. This running 15-20 miles a week is exhausting.