Snores-ville

I realized this morning that you few people who read this blog, must be bored to tears!  All I've posted lately are my weekly weigh-ins and my weekly training recap.  *snore*  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

I know if I were a reader I would be annoyed that the writer wasn't updating more, or that they seemed to be phoning it in.  I will try and do better in the future, I promise!  As I've mentioned (only about a trillion times...) work has been busy.  Extremely busy.

Because of that I've truly been faced with one of the biggest challenges since I began this whole thing back in September, and that is time management.  I voluntarily took last week off because there really just weren't enough hours in the day and when I was going to have to cut my sleep time down from 6 hours to 4 hours to get a run in?  I chose the sleep.  This week hasn't been as bad though and I'm still finding myself not going out and running when I should.  Do I get home in time to run at night?  Yes, it would be a later run, like 9 or 10 PM, but I could still do it.  Do I?  Nope.  I got up early to run before work once this week.  I wanted to run this morning, but I couldn't get my butt out of bed.  I absolutely need to be sure that I run tonight after work because we are expecting snow (WTF!?!) tomorrow.  When I started this journey, I had nothing but time on my hands.  I didn't have to worry about any complications getting in my way.  I could go outside and walk whenever I wanted to! Morning, afternoon or evening.  I didn't have to really pre-plan my meals because I had the luxury of taking my time to decide what I was going to eat.

The first month or work wasn't too bad.  I was still getting home between 6:30-7 and so would immediately go out for a jog.  My life will get back to that schedule somewhat once we have officially opening on April 27th, but until then I need to find little nuggets of time where I can squeeze in a 4 mile jog.

My problem is that I need to learn to prioritize and I currently have so many different things that are fighting to be my number one priority.  Whenever I've had a job before, there were no questions asked.  My job was always number one.  My entire mind, body, blood, sweat and tears would go into the job.  Everything else was secondary.  I still need to devote myself to my job, but I can no longer do it at the expense of the rest of my life.  I probably gained 25 pounds during my last show.  THAT.  CAN'T.  HAPPEN.  AGAIN.  I sacrificed not only my physical health but my mental health as well!  I basically gave up my completely social life with my last job, and then during my depression during unemployment, I gave up what little I had left.  I need to make more of an effort to go out and enjoy my life, now that I'm happier.  I am the most confident I've ever been with the way I look.  Why not flaunt it?  I have always been too shy to try and pick up guys, why not start trying?  (PS, there is a new crush...SHHH!!)

Anyway, all of this rambling basically comes down to this.  I have a lot of things going on in my life.  There are so many balls up in the air that I am trying to keep airborne and I'm hoping that I don't drop one of them.  Can you guys help?  Please?

Weigh In Wednesday: 3/30/11

Highest Weight: 310
Last Weigh In: 253.6
Current Weight: 252.6

Total Loss: 1 Pound

While I do wish this was more, I have to say it's about right.  As you know, I didn't weigh myself officially last week due to work.  This week has still been busy (but not as bad as last week!) so finding time to exercise has still been a challenge.  I think my body is still recuperating from last week's insanity because when I get home I'm so exhausted that the idea of going out and running is the last thing on my mind.  That means waking up in the morning to run, which I did yesterday.  I'm going to HAVE to find the will power to get out of bed to do that if I'm going to continue training for this half marathon.

I guess I didn't make my goal of hitting 250 by the end of March, but I was close.  I am still keeping my goal of hitting 240 by my opening night on April 27th.  We'll see I guess!!!  The training is going to be essential to keeping that goal.  Wouldn't it be amazing if I hit 225 by my trip for Europe at the end of May?  Now THAT'S a goal!

Half Marathon Training Recap: Week 3

Yeah, so...  This week's training didn't really happen.

This week is what is known as "tech" week for a new show.  We were getting the show ready for it's first performance TONIGHT!  AH!  In order to do that, I was at the office during the day and then at the theater every night until around 10:30-11.  Made for some very long and tiring days, but it's part of the business!  It's always expected at this point in the game.

I could have run in the mornings before I went into the office, but honestly I was too tired and decided that my body needed the sleep this week.  Next week I should be able to run at night, and if not will most definitely be getting outside to run in the mornings, because I realized something today.  I absolutely am NOT allowed to ever go a week without running AGAIN!

My training guide called for 5 miles today, but I decided to do 4 since it had indeed been a full week without running, and plus I have a four mile race in the morning.  Best to not tire myself too much.  It's amazing how much my stamina had decreased in just 7 days!  The hills that were starting to become less of a big deal?  Yeah, they were big deals again.  At the end?  I reached the "self pep-talk time."  I had to keep telling myself "You can do it!  Just keep going!"  It was rough...  BUT, I do have to say I'm surprised my pace wasn't off from the normal.  I was right around 14:19/mile.  I was expecting to be back up to 15, so that was a nice surprise I definitely have to say.  My timing might be slightly off (but I doubt too much) because I stopped it with about a 1 mile left so that I could go over to the NYRR headquarters to get my bib and shirt for tomorrow.

Like I said, tonight is the first performance of Baby It's You! and it hopefully will go well!  It will be interesting to see it with a full audience.  I think the cast is ready to feed off of their energy and should prove for an exciting performance.

I'm making some more pleas for you to donate to Skinny Emmie and her fundraising for her half marathon NEXT WEEK!  Help her out guys!  She deserves every penny!

No Weigh In Wednesday

Due to my busy schedule with rehearsals and the ensuing general state of tiredness that goes with it, I haven't been running this week.  Where there is no running, there is no weigh in. 

I probably still could have lost a pound this week, but the food hasn't been all that great either.  I anticipate there was probably at least a one pound gain this week.  I'm not too worried about it though.  It's just a minor step back in the marathon I call life.

I did have a nice non-scale victory this week though.  6 years ago I bought a dress for an opening night celebration of my first show.  It was a size 16 and there was no way that I could fit into it.  I had dreams and aspirations of working out leading up to the day and thought I would fit into it.  Well, I barely ever made it to the gym and never changed my diet.  Lord knows I probably gained weight rather than losing it.  I couldn't return the dress because it was past the return dates, but I always kept it as a hope that I would one day fit into it.  The last time I tried it on two months ago, I still wasn't close to zipping it up.  I came across the dress again last night and once again decided to give it a try. 

Guess what?  Zipped up no problem!  I think I have a new dress for Opening Night!  I'm so excited!!

Half Marathon Training Recap: Week Two

I guess I'm really doing this half marathon thing, if I'm actually in week two of training!  Yay!

This week all my distances were lengthened slightly, and I was ready for the challenge.  Monday was 3.5 miles, so I hit the Reservoir and did two laps and instead of walking the path home, I kept running and it ended up being around 3.45 miles.  Close enough!  I didn't actually realize that the Reservoir path wasn't exactly 1.5 miles (I always thought it was!) it's actually 1.58 which when you are doing two laps can alter your pace a bit!  I've actually been a little bit faster when I ran the Reservoir, which was nice to discover.

Day 2 was either 2 miles or cross training just like last week.  I was going to just do my step aerobics while watching TV again, but come 10 PM the idea of doing step aerobics sounded like torture to me.  However, the idea of changing into my running gear and heading out to run at night evidently didn't!  I hit up the northern loop of the park.  I was a bit nervous because it was the latest I'd ever gone out for a run before.  Aside from the occasional "Oh my god, please don't kill me because I'm not fast enough to run way yet!" thought that would cross my mind, it was pretty peaceful.  I wasn't really that nervous, I crossed paths with fellow runners every minute or two so I felt pretty confident should the rare event something actually happened someone would have been along any minute.  Plus, my path is very well lit, so its not like some dark mysterious path out of a movie or something.  I have to say I was pretty proud of myself for getting out there and running.

Day 3 I actually switched with a rest day.  I was supposed to run 3.5 miles, but I wanted to try and make an unofficial 5K on St. Patty's Day and so I switched my schedule around.

Day 4 I was supposed to have run my 3.5 miles, but alas work kept me from meeting people for the 5K and I didn't feel like running that late again.  Friday night I already had plans, and I absolutely had to get these 3.5 miles in.  So, I had a decision to make.  Either run late on Thursday, or get up early and run before work on Friday (something I had never done before.)  I actually chose Friday before work.

Day 5 when my alarm went off at 7 AM, I lay there and contemplated whether or not I was actually going to get out there and do this.  I eventually pulled my ass out of bed and ran!  I couldn't honestly believe it.  The only other times that I'd run that early in the morning was for races.  Its kind of a different breed of people who run in the morning.  I can't really put my finger on what it is, but it's just a different vibe.  A side effect I realized throughout the day on Friday is that when I run in the morning, I'm STARVING the rest of the day!  Holy moly!  Of course Friday night's plans ended up not happening and I could have run once I got home as it turned out.  Ugh, oh well.  It was nice to have the night without having to worry about getting out and pounding the pavement.

Day 6 Saturday called for 5 miles, which is the farthest I'd ever run to date.  I was ready to get back out there and do it again.  I found a route that wasn't too hilly but it was about 5.25 miles.  I figured I would rather run an extra quarter mile than to have the extreme hills of the north park.  I didn't regret that decision...  About two miles in I realized I had actually forgotten to start my heart monitor watch, so I wasn't timing the run.  Boo!  I was curious as to what my pace was going to be.  I wasn't really pushing it, because I didn't want to run out of steam.  But this week even when I wasn't pushing too hard, I was hovering around 14:15-14:30 minutes per mile.  Considering when I started out running in November I was above a 16 minute pace, I'm pretty happy with the progress!  I need to be under 13:45 for my time to be counted in the half marathon though.  Gotta get it down by late May.  Totally doable I think.

Day 7 Today is a rest day.  Looking forward to doing some errands.  I got up early to cheer on the NYC Half-Marathoners.  Go ERIC!!  Then I'm doing laundry (because its crawling out of the hamper by itself) and grocery shopping.  Then NOTHING!  Woohoo!

So, my mileage for this week hit an all-time high for me.  I ran 14 miles this week!  That's crazy!  The most I'd done before was 10.  It's a huge accomplishment.  I basically ran a half marathon over the course of week.  It's even more insane when I put it like that!

This coming week might be a bit of a challenge schedule wise because my show starts performances on Saturday, which means late nights of rehearsals through the week.  There might be some more late night runs, or early morning runs.  We shall see how I feel.

Hope you all had a great week and a good St. Patty's Day.

Weigh In Wednesday: 3/16/11

Highest Weight: 310.0
Last Week: 258.4
This Week: 253.6
Lost this Week: 4.8
Total Lost: 56.4

HOLY CRAP!!  I was hoping to see a couple of pounds lost at most!  Those are TOTALLY Biggest Loser numbers!  I haven't seen this number for one week since the very beginning.  It's kind of unreal.  I guess upping my calories actually really did me good.  I mean I've run close to 6 miles already this week and it's only Wednesday.  Not too shabby I guess.  Gotta love half marathon training!

Every week I am breaking my own record for being the lowest weight in my adult life, and I have to say I love it.  I might seriously reach my goal of hitting 250 by the end of March, and that is exciting and scary at the same time!  I know I say this all the time but these are seriously numbers I didn't think I would ever see again. 

I think I'm still in a state of shock over seeing this weigh in this morning.  Maybe once I've wrapped my head around it I will write more about it...

Half Marathon Training Recap: Week One

The first step you must take when you decide to train for a half marathon is which training program you are going to use.

Several people suggested that I follow Hal Higdon's Half Marathon program.  With his, you run throughout.  I know that there are other programs out there that recommend and are based around a walk to run ratio.  It's all about finding a program that works for you and that you want to do.

Last week was supposed to have actually been week one of my program, but honestly I forgot but considering the first two weeks are identical, I didn't feel too bad about jumping into week two.  So even though it's my first week, it was week two of the program.  Understand?  Confused?  Sorry...

This week I was scheduled for a 3 mile run on Monday, 2 miles or cross training on Tuesday, another 3 miles on Wednesday, a rest day on Thursday, 30 minutes of cross training on Friday and a 4 mile run on Saturday.

Monday was rough.  I had run a 5K race the day before where I had set a PR and so my legs were a bit fatigued.  Also I had never done 3 mile runs back to back.  So, what did I decide to do?  Did I decide to take it easy and run a flat terrain?  Of course not...  I ran the hills in North Central Park.  I also didn't do 3 miles, I only did 2 because my legs just couldn't take it.  I didn't worry about pace, I just needed to get the time in.  After that, I decided that I would only do the hills once a week and the rest of the week I would take it easy and run flatter areas.

For the Tuesday work out, I decided my legs probably shouldn't run again, so I did an hour of step aerobics while watching TV.  Since I'm not watching a training video or anything (just The Biggest Loser, does that count?) I have decided that I need to find other ways to cross training.  (Cross training by the way is basically any form of cardio activity that isn't running.  Swimming, biking, walking, etc.  Still need to get the heart pumping, but use different muscles than the ones you use while running.)  There is a Parks Recreation Center in Central Park about 5 minutes from my house that I can join for about $75 FOR THE YEAR!!  I definitely think I am going to be signing up for a membership.  It's actually $50 if I don't want to use a center with a pool (which this one doesn't) but the membership allows you to use any center and I do want to take up swimming, so I think I spend the extra $25...

Wednesday night's run I did at the Reservoir.  Again, I didn't want to pay attention to pace and I didn't push myself really at all.  The result?  A very SLOW run.  Like, the same pace from when I first ran the Reservoir back in November.  It was kind of disappointing, but since I know I can run faster than that I didn't let it bother me too much.

Thursday was a very nice and needed rest day.  Friday, I have to admit I didn't do the 30 minutes of cross training.  I have a feeling that might be tempting to skip a work out that day since it's for such a short amount of time at the moment.  In a few weeks this time gets upped, and then I won't be able to ignore it quite so readily, but 30 minutes just seems like almost nothing now.

My Saturday 4 mile run was FANTASTIC!  I did kind of a middle loop of Central Park, a couple of hills but nothing like the massive hills of the north loop.  I was about 15 seconds off my record pace, and I hadn't really been pushing myself, so it felt great!  I think the really nice weather had something to do with it as well.  I even got a bit of sun on my cheeks.  I need to remember sunscreen now that we are getting to warmer days.  Otherwise I'm going to be one giant freckle come June!

Today was a stretch and strengthening day.  I must admit I haven't really done either.  This is something else that I need to not ignore either.  I know that injuries happen when these two vital things are ignored, so I need to be sure that spend the much needed time on these areas as well.

So, all in all I think my first week of half marathon training went incredibly well.  I still feel like this is absolutely something that I can accomplish, and that in and of itself is still incredibly shocking to me.  I talked to my Mom yesterday about my 4 mile run and she was so impressed that I am able to run that far.  If she's impressed with 4 miles, wait until I hit my 10 mile week!

This week is St. Patty's Day and I really doubt that I am going to do much in the way of celebrating it.  I mean, I don't even wear green anymore.  Eh, maybe I'll have a beer.  We'll see...

Oh, here's something I need to bring up!!  My eating this week has been crap.  Like, not burgers and fries bad, but I am snacking all the time because I am hungry All.  The.  Time.  I really think this training is messing with my appetite and metabolism.  I am probably burning through my calories.  So, because of this fact I have decided to up my daily caloric intake.  Prior to this, I was holding steady at 1300 calories for the day.  I wasn't eating back the calories that I was burning off (or at least I was trying not to) and I think that was helping account for my losses.  Now, however I'm exercising more and I don't want my body to go into shock mode and hold onto weight.  In order to hopefully preempt that from happening and to hopefully help with my constant hunger, I'm going to be eating slightly more.  What's weird is that I feel like I'm eating SO MUCH by upping it by 200 calories.  It's weird!!  I mean, it's only 200 calories yet its so much of the food I'm eating.  It's kind of nice, not gonna lie!  But since I'm still snacking all of the time, I must admit that I'm not logging every single calorie so we'll see how my weigh-in goes this week.  I'm going to make sure that I'm strict for the next two days so that I can hopefully see some sort of loss this week.

I did originally have a goal of hitting 250 by the end of March, but I don't know if that will happen.  I am still going to try and get as close to that as possible and I would still LOVE to see 240 by my show's opening night on April 27th.  We shall see though.  Again, I am going to try my hardest to get as close to that as possible!

Wow, this post was really long winded.  I hope you guys weren't too bored!

Oh, and please donate to Skimmy Emmie's half marathon fundraising.  She still has a ways to go and I want to make sure I help her as much as possible!

Also, if you are praying person (or even if you aren't) please pray for those in Japan who were affected by the earthquake/tsunami.  This is a devastating tragedy and I hope that you donate what you are financially able to.  I've donated once and hope that I can afford to do so again.  It's so unbelievably shocking.  Horrible.