Time to eat healthy now

   After 4 weeks of consistent exercise, I am ready to take the next step. I took a hard look at my eating habits, and it was not a pretty sight. I have always been pretty active and up until the last couple of years, I could lose weight fairly easy. I have never been thin, but I would like to think that I have been considered a "healthy weight" most of my life. I, however, have never been a very healthy eater. I eat my fruits and vegetables, but I am an admitted cookie and candy junkie. I do keep moving up 10 pounds for every decade of life even while running for most of the last 8 years. I have never been one to shy away from telling anyone who wanted to know my age and my weight. I am 46 years old and with slight trepidation, I will tell all of you that as of last Monday, I weigh 150 pounds. After last weekend, I stepped on the scale and was surprised to see that I had gained 4 pounds over the weekend. I have not gotten weighed since and have tried not to make numerous excuses for this big weight gain. I have always been an avid reader of fitness and health magazine, so I can't really say that I am surprised. Did you know that 10 M&M's is approximately 45 calories? I have been known to eat 20-30 times that amount in an afternoon. It is, however, my favorite candy!
    I took a hard look at my diet and have made some changes. I stayed around 1400 calories today, which based on the rumbling in my stomach is considerably lower that my usual caloric amount. I will try to eat more of my calories from fruits, vegetables and proteins and less from candy, cookies and carbs. It is a healthy eating plan that I have used throughout the years. I do not see it as being on a diet since I would like to make some permanent changes to the way that I eat. My cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar is still good at my physicals, but I would like to keep it that way. So now in addition to blogging about my running, which by the way, is going great; I will also write about my eating. I ran 6 miles last week and walked 1 mile. I always begin my new week on Sunday, and I would like to say that I ran 3 miles today! It was hard, and I wanted to stop after the first 2, but I did it and feel proud of myself. Off to read my "Runner's" magazine.

It has been a challenging week

   So after 23 days, I have run 13 times with my miles reaching 18 miles plus some walking and 20 minutes of elliptical training. It has been a challenge this last week with snow and cold temperatures in Chicago. I used Jim's treadmill and the fitness center where I live some days, but most days I bundled up and ran outside. I have never run with my winter coat on before! On Thursday, I was tired and had stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work. By time I got home and brought the groceries in, the sun was setting. So I put on my running shoes and a hat and took off for a quick (ok really an 11/12 minute mile) run with some groceries in the trunk and the garage door open. When I walked into the house, my kids wanted to know where I was. I truly did not think they would notice me gone for those 12 minutes, but apparently, they did. Lesson learned, I will tell them in the future. I knew though that if I didn't just force myself to go right then, I wouldn't make it back out. I was too tired and feeling lazy. I know that as I increase my mileage, I won't be able to just run in my clothes (which I have also never done before), but hopefully by then it will be a habit I can't break. I read that it takes on average of 66 times to make something a habit. I am on the road there!

Baby It's cold outside!

   My first two weeks of training are done. I ran 5 miles total the first week, and 6 miles this week with 2 of the runs being 2 milers. I think it is easier to build up to doing one 5 mile run than running 4 days a week especially in this cold. I have to admit it felt exhilarating though to feel that cold and alive, but I was glad it was only 1 mile. I know that this is good for me to step out of my comfort zone and train differently too. I have been running for 7 or 8 years steadily but never 4-5 times a week. It feels good to make myself a priority and just go out and run:)

Training began January 2, 2011

    So after work today, I put on my running clothes and headed out for a 1 mile run. I decided that in order to break the habit of only weekend running, I was going to devote the first couple months of training to getting accustomed to running 4 or more times a week. In order to do this, I knew that I had to start small. My training so far has been 1 mile Sunday(1/2), Tuesday(1/4), Thursday(1/6) then 2 miles Saturday(1/8). I started again this Sunday(1/9) with 1 mile. I decided to run today(1/10) since I am busy after work tomorrow and have a staff meeting tomorrow night, but my normal days will be Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for now.
   Today, in my thoughts I envisioned going for a 2 maybe even 3 mile run. It was chilly out, but I dressed warm and the sun was shining. I really enjoy running and was looking forward to it as I dressed. It really is the only time that I am alone with my thoughts and I love how strong I feel when I run. The second that I started running though, I realized that my body could not do what my mind wanted. My legs were sore from the start, and I immediately felt tired. I ran the mile as fast as I could (about 11-12 minutes), then came home dreaming of having Tuesday and Wednesday off :)

My Running History

   I ran in high school to spend time with my father, but I never was really a runner. I even did track Sophomore year of high school to get involved, but I remember that I nearly died when we went out for a easy 3 mile run to start with. I had terrible shin splits and struggled just to run at all. My college and post college years consisted of on and off running to get in shape. I could never really progress beyond the 2 mile run. Then came the years when I had my three children that even the word "running" was a distant memory. Around 1998, I slowly started to run again but once again on and off. In 2003, I got serious and started truly becoming a runner, a slow runner but a runner nevertheless. Over the next 8 years, I have run a few 5K's and even 2 Half Marathons. In 2006, I ran the Half Marathon in Chicago, IL in 2:52, then in 2007, I did the Half Marathon in Lake Zurich, IL in 2:32. Ever since then, I have wanted to do a Marathon. I am what they call "a weekend warrior". I train well on Saturday and Sunday, but during the week when I am working and have 3 teenagers waiting for me to get home, I am lucky if I run at all. That is all changing as of January 2, 2011 when my training began....