I did it!

(My shirt looks like it's soaking wet up there, but I promise it's just the shadow of my husband :O)

I'm proud to report that I crossed the finish line in the 2 mile fun run on Saturday. I wasn't able to run the whole thing (which I already knew was going to be the case), but 24 minutes and 7 seconds later, (and 313 calories!) I jogged across the finish line. The first mile was 11 mins and 30 seconds, and the second mile was 12 minutes and 37 seconds. Of course I know this is no world record, but I am still very proud! My very first 'race' that I paid money to attend! And it's fun because now I at least have something to compare myself to, and to work towards. Maybe once a week, or every other week I will time myself in a 2 mile run and watch my progression. Right now I am in week 4 of couch 2 5k, and I still plan on running a 5k this fall. I'd like to set a goal of finishing within 36 minutes or something like that. I guess at it gets closer, I will see. But I definitely AM going to do a 5k this year like I planned!

Edit: I just saw that on the 2oth I made a little goal of finishing within 25 minutes. I had forgotten about that but needless to say, I'm very happy.

I'm gonna make a supersonic manoutta YOU!

There is nothing that causes greater inner confusion than being 2 minutes and 30 seconds into a 3 minute jogging interval, feeling as though my lungs are going to near explode from my chest, and hearing Queen on my ipod "Don't stop me now! I'm having such a good time... Oh I'm having a ball!" It makes me laugh a little every time, and I love it! Queen is my friend when I run.

Anyway, I just received a little email that went something like this:

Registration Confirmation for: Hess Cancer Foundation Legacy Bike Tour and Half Marathon

Dear Mallory,Congratulations! You are now registered for Hess Cancer Foundation Legacy Bike Tour and Half Marathon on August 29, 2009. Please check the event's official website for updates: http://www.hesscancer.org View your complete registration details »Thank you for helping us with this great cause! Pick up your race packet on Friday, August 28 from noon - 8:00 pm at the South Davis Recreation Center.

It's true. I took this advice and suddenly found myself registering for a race. OK maybe it's not exactly a real true race, but it's a 2 mile fun run which is as close to a race as I've EVER been so I'm still very excited :O) We even get T-shirts and have to wear numbered bibs! I'm doing it with my handsome husband, and his sister and her husband.


Slight concern- The race is in 8 days. And at this point in time I can only jog for 3 minutes and 18 seconds without needing a break... so roughly .35 of a mile. Hmph. I guess it goes without saying that I'm going to be sporting my running shoes from now until then in hopes of building up some stamina! I think either tomorrow or Saturday I will start week 4 of couch to 5k and hopefully get to where I can jog 5 minutes without stopping. Whew! I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it, but very excited too! I'm thinking I need to make a little goal for myself to work towards. Something attainable, but that I'll have to work for. Like to finish within 25 minutes or so?! Wish me luck!

Getting Fit: Motivation

I wanted to post this here as something that I could look back on when I am struggling with motivation and dedication. It's from a dailySpark blog at SparkPeople.com.


Lately anything that talks about races and running really gets my blood pumping! Every now and then I get back to this basic mode of thinking- Screw getting skinny! Forget wearing smaller clothes and turning heads... I just want to feel good. I want to be able to run. I want to bike. I want to go for long hikes and walk up hilly streets without getting winded, I want to feel how strong my muscles are getting because of all the hard work I've done... That's what this is all about. I'm doing this for me and not anybody else. Anyway I loved this blog. I also really liked the idea of the mini triathlon! I never knew they did them so small, but I see that being something really fun to work towards.

Again, the following is from a blog (not my blog) at Sparkpeople.com.

"I've found a quick fix for motivation/body image issues! Want to know what it is?

Sign up for a race.

Mine is a long story, but I promise, it’ll make perfect sense, so bear with me! I started my weight loss journey after my fiancé, Kyle, proposed on December 27, 2007. I had always been thin and fairly active (hiking, yoga, rafting, skiing), and had never really watched what I ate.
As the years went on and my metabolism slowed, I gradually increased in my dress size, first from a size 4 to a size 6 in college, then from a size 6 to an 8/10 in graduate school. When Kyle proposed, I began to realize that my body wasn't what it used to be, and I wanted to look perfect for my wedding in August 2009. I knew what I had to do: eat right and exercise.

Diet pills really weren’t an option—I wanted to make a lifestyle change and didn’t want a quick fix (a pill) to fix the problem that could lead to more trouble down the road (a screwed-up metabolism). So I joined a gym with my good friend Alie, and signed up for the free session with a personal trainer at the gym. I showed up at the gym in my cute little yoga top and bottoms, fully expecting the trainer to tell me, “You don't need to lose weight! You look GREAT!" I got the shock of my life and started to cry when I stepped on the scale: 184. My driver's license (from high school, mind you), said I weighed 150 pounds. I was shocked and angry at myself that I had slowly piled on 34 pounds over the years. My BMI was at 25, directly on the border of healthy and overweight. How could I have let myself get out of control--I didn't even own a scale!

After a rigorous workout with the trainer, Erin, I hired her for 12 training sessions. You'd think that paying for a personal trainer and losing weight for your wedding would provide some motivation to get on the wagon, right? Wrong. Though Erin was amazing, 12 sessions divided over six weeks wasn't enough to get my body back on track. I was working out pretty hard and hungry ALL THE TIME, and was consistently erasing my hard work at the gym by overeating at home (and yup--you CAN overeat on the healthy stuff, too!). I did lose some weight and body fat, but the best thing I gained from Erin was learning how to run.

For my entire life, I HATED to run, but it wasn't until I hired Erin that I realized why: I was running wrong. I'd hit the ground with the ball of my foot first instead of the heel. Though I didn't LOVE it, I felt like after my training sessions, I could actually run with little pain, and was beginning to enjoy it. During our training sessions, Erin was training for Robie Creek, the toughest half marathon in the West. I'd always wanted to race; I had a friend who was a member of "The Breakfast Club," which was a group of friends that would get together every Sunday morning for breakfast and a marathon training run.

Each year, they picked a different marathon to do. The walls of her living room were covered with posters from those marathons (signed by all the members of the Breakfast Club, of course). I always thought that was so neat, and such an accomplishment, but when I was working out with my trainer, I felt like there was no way I could ever do one. I kept up with my workouts, but it wasn't until I joined Spark People last July that I really started to see results. I knew what to eat and how much for the first time. That alone was worthwhile. I learned about balance and moderation. I entered every bit of food I put into my mouth.

As the weight started to come off (I'm at 157, with a goal weight of 140 for my wedding), I started to think I might be able to do a race someday. Kyle was training for the Ironman 70.3, and I was always inspired by his dedication. This sounds TOTALLY cheesy, but when I was watching a recent season of The Biggest Loser, I was SUPER inspired by Helen. Here was this 48-year-old woman, who, three months before was obese, finishing a MARATHON. I said to myself that if she could do it, I could do it.

During the commercial break, I signed up for my first 5K. My new-year's resolution morphed from a rather ambiguous "lose weight and look perfect" to "run a 5K and a 10K in 2009; do a half marathon and a marathon in 2010." After trying to lose weight for 15 months, you can get pretty burned out from the diet restrictions and exercising all the time. I found that when I was training for that 5K, it was easier to focus. Working out had a purpose and the purpose was to prove to myself that I could do it. Fifteen months ago, I couldn't do 20 minutes on the treadmill without feeling like I was going to die. On May 16, I ran 3.1 miles in 33 minutes, and never felt prouder of anything in my life. I know that 3.1 miles isn't very far, but it was the first step to accomplishing my goals. After I crossed that finish line, I had my own Biggest Loser moment. This time last year, I had told Kyle I couldn't do what I just did. Now, eight weeks out from my wedding, I'm training for my first triathlon (just a mini-one: 1/4-mile swim, 5-mile bike, 2-mile run). It's no Ironman, but it’s a start.

Speaking of Ironman, Kyle finished the 70.3 miler (1.3-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13-mile run!) in 6:08. After the race, as I was collecting Kyle’s bags and his bicycle, I met a really friendly man in his mid-60s. He had placed first in his age division—the 55 and older group. He told me he just started running three years ago, and just started doing triathlons two years ago. Now here he was, mid-60s, placing first in his age group on a 70.3 mile race! Again I thought to myself, “If he can do it, I can do it!”

Since I’ve been training for my 5K and my mini-triathlon, I’ve eased up on myself a little and am beginning to appreciate my body for all it can do--how fast it can go, how hard it can work--flaws and all. I’m far from perfect, but training for races has given me an appreciation for my body the way it is, now, not in 15 pounds, not in a dress size. And all this training will undoubtedly help me reach my goal weight and look FANTASTIC for my wedding. It’s just amazing—and encouraging—to look at what I can do now and what I’m capable of now versus where I was a year ago. And that’s more than I could say 15 months ago. Training for a race isn’t about coming in first; it’s about dedicating yourself to finishing, and proving to yourself that you can do it.

Admittedly, I wanted to lose weight for my wedding and look “perfect” to impress other people (but don’t we all?). No wonder I’ve lost my motivation! But with racing, I feel like I’m doing it just for ME. I’m doing it to prove to the 184-pound version of me that there was a 140-pound person hiding under there and that that person is capable of anything. I’m doing it to prove to myself that I’ll NEVER be that heavy again. I’m doing it to prove I can put in the time, dedicate myself to finishing, and know I can do it. I’m doing it to prove I can, to prove I’m worth it—to myself. And that’s an empowering feeling, something no one can ever take away from me. And that’s more than I could say 15 months ago."

Hi, I'm that girl who never blogs anymore. Remember me?

Some people who write weight loss blogs take pictures of everything they eat. If I had done that the past 14 days, it would look something like this- and keep in mind that I really did eat at least one, but often more than one, of everything pictured here:

Someone please tell me... WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING??????

I think the past 2 weeks have been the worst 2 weeks (as far as eating healthy and exercising go) that I have had in a really long time. Maybe the worst I've had since I began this journey, last September!? 2 weekends of camping, road trips and birthday parties have done me in.

And that makes me feel terrible. I stepped on the scale yesterday and if it was correct, I have gained about 4.5 lbs within the past 2 weeks. That just makes me feel ill. And not just because of the gain, but also because I have not exercised one bit and I know it's going to be really tough to pick back up on my couch 2 5k program, where I left off. I had just finished week 3 and was ready to move on to week 4, but I think I am going to take this week to redo week 3. I don't want to jump into week 4 (which consists of 5 minutes of running without stopping) knowing I probably can't handle it, because I will just get frustrated and either injure myself, or feel like a failure. So it is official, I am starting week 3 again this week, and I am going to push through and just do it. No excuses at all. I know I can do it and I love how proud I feel when I accomplish just one day of that program.

I really have no good excuse for my lack of good behavior in the past 2 weeks. I was pms'ing and rather than battle my cravings 'till the death, I gave in without so much as a fight. It was very disappointing, and I am now reaping the consequences of that. And it really sucks. But I guess that's part of this whole weight loss thing anyway.

I am less than a month away from hitting my "1 year mark" of this so called journey to healthiness. At this current time, I have lost 26 lbs in that 11 months. I was really hoping to hit 45 or 50 lbs, but now my goal is much lower and I am just hoping to get back to my 30 lb. mark, where I was before these last 2 weeks of destruction. So that is my goal for right now. By September 11, 2009 I hope to have lost 30 lbs, and I hope to weigh 177.8 (or less!) pounds. I can do that.

My sister in law texted me the other day and mentioned that there is supposed to be a 2 mile fun run nearby on August 29th. I mentioned before that she is much smaller than me, and in much better shape. And I'm very happy to say that that doesn't intimidate me. Anyone with eyes can see that she is much thinner and therefore can most likely fun faster/farther/longer than I can, and I'm ok with that. I think it will be good for me to do the fun run with her, and let her know that I will not be able to run the whole thing, but she can go at her own pace and I will meet her at the finish line. She mentioned to me that when we do our 5k this fall (I'm thinking either October 10 or the 24th?) that her goal will be to run the whole thing without having to walk, even if she is running at a super slow pace. I thought that sounded like a pretty good goal, so I am going to work towards that as well. Since I am in the 3rd week of couch to 5k, and it is 9 weeks long, I should be able to run 3.1 miles by that time without too much trouble. Just typing that I'm like (Come on Mallory, are you trying to kid yourself or WHAT?) but deep down I know that if I really try for it, and stick with this program that I WILL be able to do this. I've mentioned before that I am the girl who starts things, not a girl who finishes things, but I am going to finish this if it kills me. This is where I am going to really step up, and prove to myself that I am capable even though my whole life I have thought I wasn't.

What a blog of rambling! But that's all I have to say for now. I'm happy to be back to the real world, back to working towards my goals, and back into my groove. Lunch today is turkey on wheat, and watermelon with a grilled chicken salad for dinner. Ah, it really does feel good to be back.