9 Months of Training

I went out for drinks with my Kinder Mom friends the other night and I jokingly said that I was training for the Eagle Bolt 5K race at the kids' school.

I'm serious but the joking part is that it's 9 months away.

Is there a Couch to 5K plan for people that take 9 months to train for something?

I've tried those programs before and I've never finished because I have to start week 1 over a half dozen times.  Or the weather turns crappy and I quit.

Does anyone have tips for staying motivated on these plans?  Is there a new and exciting app I need to know about?

Help me out!

I'm Sick AGAIN

If I had a hundred dollars for each time I've started an exercise plan AND then got sick.  I'd be RICH!

Hubby came home from WWDC with an illness....and he passed it on to me because we did a lot of *talking* when he got home.  Yeah....we were talking.

I'm hoping that I can convince him to get my feet some new running shoes this weekend so I can start over on Monday.

6 weeks until the Reunion!  UGH!!

Comcast tech should be here any minute to hopefully fix my internet.  It's been rough...

Week 27: Fighting PMS

This blog post contains spoilers to The Biggest Loser Season 8.

Welcome to the 27 th (completed) week of Extreme Makeover: ME Edition hosted by the incredible Amber Filkins!

Let's weigh-in...

Last Week: 208 pounds
This week: 208 pounds

LOST....0 pounds

TOM is here. But did you notice? No weight gain! A couple months ago, I started taking Evening Primrose Oil along with my vitamin D supplement. I was having such horrible hormone crashes, migraines and food cravings. And it would take me a full week to recover from it. This is unacceptable!

This month...I didn't even realize that TOM was about to arrive and thought I might be pregnant! He quietly showed up without the fanfare of a day ruining headache and I didn't have to hide in the pantry with a bar of baking chocolate.  The real bonus here?  I haven't wanted to kill my husband...yet.

Evening Primrose Oil is rich in gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), which is useful in treating a number of conditions including endometriosis, autoimmune disorders, benign prostatic hypertrophy, eczema, diabetes, and migraines. It helps relieve symptoms such as irritability, bloating, breast soreness, and depression occur before and during menstruation in many women. Clinical studies show that the GLA found in evening primrose oil contains essential fatty acids that seem to alleviate symptoms.

I am taking 3-500 mg pills for the first 2 weeks of my cycle and then 6 pills (3 in the AM and 3 in the PM) for the last half. It's working out great!

Fitness: I ran TWICE last week. YAY!  And I was supposed to run yesterday...but my daughter came down with a fever and I was up all night with her.  So..tomorrow I will be onto Week 1 DAY 3 of Couch to 5K which works out great because then I will be on track with my friend Jessica (who really needs to update her blog...just sayin') who is doing the program too.

This week...Amber wants to talk about The Biggest Loser and how it's inspiring me. Hubby and I have watched this show together for a couple seasons now and I believe that we learn so much from it.  There is always some tidbit of information that we might not have thought of before.  Like what an AHA moment I had last night when Jillian was showing the Brown Team to make a week (or a few days) worth of snacks and line them up in the fridge!  It really only takes 10-15 of prep time to make sure you can grab and go what you need.  I love this idea because I used to rely on those protein bars as a quick on the go snack.  NO MORE!  Next time you go to the store...look at the labels on those.  HIGH FAT and SUGAR!  You might as well eat a candy bar.

This week on The Biggest Loser....I was all kinds of pissed off at Julio.  It didn't look like he was working very hard but then he came through with a 19 pound weight loss and blew everyone out of the water.  He confided that he was working out on his own....and then I understood.  I do the same thing.  This is why I don't join gyms and I run around an unlit track in the pitch blackness of 5am!  Crazy right?

I was so glad to see Tracey back but I'm irritated that they won't tell us what is wrong with her.  She can't work out with everyone else?  WHY! I think she did great even though she was only walking and swimming. Jillian must be right...Calories In...Calories Out!

I loved the conversation between Bob and Jillian about killing Julio and when they were playing tug of war with that big guy (still struggling to learn all of their names) and I cried when Sean found out he was having a baby girl!  I wish they would have Curtis Stone on every week because that man....oh lord was I happy to see him!

The best part of this episode was that everyone (except Julio) worked as a TEAM and lost 155 pounds that week!  No one went home!  I'm really liking Bob and Jullian working as a TEAM also but I know that can't last....

 Coming Next week...progress photo! 

BOTR: My Races

I got so busy with celebrating my 39th birthday and my new early bedtime because I suddenly can't keep my eyes open past 9:45pm that I forgot to post about my races.  I feel really badly that I blew off the race I was going to do for my 39th birthday.  I just restarted my training so I decided my punishment...would be to run more races and to challenge myself when I can.

Just the fact that I'm doing the training and races in THE FALL/WINTER is a huge challenge for me.  I tend to hibernate and work on my winter fat to stay warm in Utah but this winter is going to be different!

Connie's Race Schedule:


October 11th ~ Run walk The Rocks 5k in Morrison Colorado


October 31st ~ Harvest Run 5K Wellsville Utah


November 26th ~ Anthem Turkey Day 5K Broomfield, Colorado

Speaking of my birthday...you will NOT believe what my family (husband and sister) got for me.  Me, the woman that has been busting her ass running on the track and cutting her sugar grams....

CANDY! 

Can you believe that?  Granted...it was my FAVORITE candy but I don't need it.  And I should have threw it all in the trash...but I didn't. 

Eminem made me do it.

My alarm went off at 5:15am this morning...like it does most mornings. For the last two weeks I've been shutting it off in the middle of the night because I'm not getting enough sleep. There is a little boy in my house with sinus trouble and he likes to play in the middle of the night and then he gets hungry. It's really hard to get up at 5:15am when you had to serve snacks in bed to your toddler at 1:36am.

Anyway, I have a ring tone that wakes me up that is somewhat motivating. It is what gets me out of bed most mornings. It's from the Big & Rich Song Big Time.

Today is even better than yesterday

Everything is going my way

I'm living the big time

Once I hear this...it runs through my head a few times and then I get up. Today was tough. For once, I didn't have a headache but I did have a pain in my stomach that I know well. A gallbladder attack.

I haven't had an attack in almost two years but I know why I'm getting one now. I've been eating crap and not drinking water or exercising. It's been an emotional week and I take it out on food. Plus, my sister is here and she buys all kinds of crap and it calls to me from the pantry. Thinking of getting a lock box for her to put her stuff in....

I laced up my shoes, grabbed my water bottle and I was off like a Prom dress. It's really dark in Utah at 5:30am so I've decided to walk through the Adult Living community a few blocks away. It's well lit and there is a little old man that walks there every morning. He's smarter than I, as he wears a flashing red light on his belt. He also bounces a small ball every few steps and his movements are fluid and light. I'm sure he is pushing 80 and he inspires me....

I also ran into the Mormon Barbies that I see ever so often. I wave as they trot by in their perfectly matching workout outfits, tanned limbs and sleek blonde ponytails. I'm jealous of their ability to run....

When I started out this morning,I told myself that no matter what, I was going to go 2 miles....I look at my iPhone and I'm only at 1.26 miles. My knees are sore and my right hip is starting to talk to me.

I'm at a crossroads. I can keep walking straight and go home...finishing just under 1.5 miles or I can turn left, walk up the hill and reach my goal. Before I make up my mind a new song comes on my iPod...Lose Yourself by Eminem.

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

That was the push I needed and I took the long way home....2 miles exactly!

The Climb

I can't believe I'm about to quote Hanna Montana but....

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying
YOU'LL NEVER REACH IT

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb!

The weekends are hard for me. I just can't keep my routine going when I have grocery shopping and swimming lessons and hair appointments and a husband hanging out. I can't even take my vitamins. What the heck is up with that?

My neck is better...it hurts in the morning when I get up because I can't stop sleeping on my right side. I still haven't scheduled my massage.....

On a positive note....Saturday I found myself all by myself out running errands and decided to stop by a new grocery store that just opened on the other side of town. It is a GREAT store. They have a fabulous deli with a salad bar, hot food bar and other items prepared by a chef. I selected three items to share with my husband and also 3 donuts that we split 4 ways with the kids. It was the perfect amount of food (and treat), I didn't overeat and I was satisfied.

Today, we ended up going to lunch at the last minute. We almost went to Subway but I felt like something different so we went to Rumbi Island Grill. I could have had a rice bowl or a sandwich but I chose a salad and I left the dressing off.

Aloha Chicken Salad....Exotic Field Greens, chicken breast, diced mango, gorgonzola, red pepper, red onion and tortilla strips. It was great!

Rumbi is nice enough to post their nutritional info and this salad (without dressing) comes out to 440 calories, 17 g of fat, 43 carbs, 5 grams of fiber and 31 grams of protein. Not bad....I think I ate less than that because I did not eat the little triangle of flat bread that came with it.

I'm proud of myself for making better choices and eating less but I also realize that many years of bad habits take time to change and trying to force myself to exercise will take more effort. I was really discouraged this week with my neck problem and I get upset that my hips hurt and I hope that these things will get easier as I lose weight. It has to be hard having all this extra weight on my joints.

Tomorrow is a new day and I will be getting up early to walk. Calvin bought me an arm band for my iPhone (not the one I wanted for my iPod) because he wants me to carry my phone incase I run into trouble.

I will be walking Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and then starting the Couch to 5K on Thursday!

Inspirational Song of the Week:

EDITED...6:35am:
I almost didn't go for my walk this morning. My son woke me up twice during the night because his nose hurt. Someone (hubby) forgot to give him his medicine before bed. But I thought about The Climb and I got my shoes on. I decided that I wanted to go a little farther today so I changed my route and got on a road called Fruitland. Once started down this road I couldn't stop! It's a two lane/no sidewalk road and one side is mostly farmland. I saw cows, chickens and a horse and there some people running behind me so I felt like they were chasing me and I couldn't possibly turn around. So I kept walking. I ran a short ways but my knees protested right away...not ready.

I started to feel like I had run away from home because I was so far away. Finally I could see my street across the wheat field and knew I would be home soon. At this point, my legs started to go numb...they were moving but I couldn't feel them. I remembered this happening during the 5K that I walked with Kaycee and Monica and it is such a weird feeling.

I rounded the corner onto my street and I thought my legs were going to fall off! My hips were screaming at me and my ass was dragging. But I did it! 2.5 miles in 45 minutes! That's a mile farther than I was walking last week!

Birthday 5k

Yesterday was National Running Day. I've been thinking about running a race for my birthday....my 40th birthday, September 2010. And then I got to thinking that I would really like to run one for my 39th birthday as a way to celebrate my new lifestyle and keep me motivated and on track.

I went to my favorite new blog...Weight Loss with the Fabulous Fatties and Shannon decided that she is running a Utah 5K for her birthday in September! It was like fate....another sign telling me what I need to do for myself.

So....here is my plan. This week, I am going to walk every chance I get working up to 2 miles by Wednesday of next week. Starting Thursday, I will begin the couch to 5k training. I have roughly 13 weeks (based on what race we pick).

I'm so excited to have this race to train for! I love having a goal and a light at the end of the tunnel. And of course that means I need some GEAR!

Sennheiser PMX 80 Sport II Headphones for iPhone and iPod @59.95


Incase Sports Armband iPod nano in Grey/Green $29.95

I need some new shoes too but I need to find a running store so I can get the very best one's for my situation. Plus, I have two different sized feet so I have to save up for 2 pairs of expensive running shoes!

EDITED: I walked for 30 minutes this morning and developed a blister on my right foot. Looks like I will need those shoes sooner than I thought. Oh hubby! I need your credit card!