Thankful Thursday: Winter Runs

Today I'm giving thanks that I own YakTrax. As much as I hate them, I'm going to need them this weekend. This was the scene from my driveway this morning:

And this is what's predicted by tomorrow night - yep, I'm right on that line between 4-8" and 8-12":

Hopefully the YakTrax don't clash too much with my skirt.  On the bright side, if I fall into a snow bank, with the amount of orange and yellow I'm wearing and the fact the course is a series of loops, someone should find me before I turn into a Bari-sicle.

Recap next week if I survive.

Anyone else running or racing this weekend?  

Weigh-In Wednesday: Need a Pep Talk?

I'm at the point in my weight loss where everything seems to stall or I gain for no apparent reason.  I didn't have much of a loss last week (only 0.6 pounds) after being really good all week, then I weighed myself on Thursday and was down another 2 pounds. Yeah me!  But, by Tuesday, I was UP 0.2 from last Wednesday's weight.  So I gained back the 2 pounds and then some - but I stayed within my calories on 5/7 days and on the days I was over, it was by less than a couple hundred calories.  It makes no sense to me whatsoever and I get discouraged and want to quit.

But I won't. 

I know I'm not going to pull the kind of weight losses like they do on Biggest Loser (Hello-was anybody else blown away by the Blue Team this week? Every single one of them had a double-digit loss!) but if I'm staying within my calories or barely going over, I feel like I shouldn't be seeing only 1/2 pound losses or even worse, gains. Somehow I managed to drop back down overnight, so I still have a loss for the week.  I just wish I was seeing more results at a faster pace, or at least at a steady pace.  I've been working on my weight loss and posting the results here for 2 months now and I'm only averaging 0.65 pounds per week. That's freaking pathetic, especially when I have My Fitness Pal set up to lose 1 pound per week.  (Any more than that, and MFP just defaults to 1200 calories which is only 40 less per day than I get now and any less than that puts my daily calorie goal lower than I think is realistic and safe.) Obviously I'm doing something wrong if I'm only averaging about 1/2 a pound a week.  I started really tracking my food/exercise about a month ago and I've had loses every week since then, so that part is helping, but I still feel like I have so far to go and that frustrates the hell out of me. (And before anyone blasts me and says they'd be thrilled to weigh what I weigh, remember I'm barely 5'2" so 148 pounds is A LOT on me and still at least 10 pounds more than what my "happy" weight has been.)

Here are this week's results:

Starting Weight (11-28-12): 153.6

Last week: 149.6

This week: 148.4

Change: down 1.2

Total change: down 5.2

This video was on Jaime's blog yesterday and I needed to share it.  I get so much encouragement and peptalks from you guys that I figured I could send you all one.

Now go out there and be awesome.  I'm going to fill up my water bottle and figure out tonight's run and dinner.  It's a start.

Bayshore Half Training: week 2

This week went pretty well overall.  I'm not really getting in enough strength training though. I've got a basic plan outlined for the running, but the cross training and strength portions needs some work.  I also only logged 24 miles this week (compared to 50-something last week) so I obviously didn't bike as much as I should have, either.

Monday 1/21/13 - Plan: 3 miles at 11:20 pace.  Did: 3.1 mile Snowpocoylpse run at 13:04 pace.  Yah, I was a BAMF and ran outside during a blizzard and sub-zero windchills, but my pace tanked.  

Tuesday 1/22/13 - Plan: crosstrain.  Did: 2 mile run in the snow again at 11:02 pace.  I literally ran errands instead of crosstraining, then I shoveled snow for 25 minutes.  We'll call that "arms".

Wednesday 1/23/13 - Plan: Tempo 4 MI, inc w/u; 2 MI @ 9:37, c/d. Did this on the TM. My tempo pace was slightly slower but considering I haven't run 3 consecutive days EVER, I'll take it. Overall pace was 10:33 including the WU/CD.

Thursday 1/24/13 - Plan: Rest.  Did: Rest.  I managed a 10 min Gorilla App workout but didn't get anything else in. Had a small medical procedure in the afternoon and wasn't up to anything else after that other than laying on the couch.

Friday 1/25/13 - Plan Crosstrain 30 min/Strength 39 min.  Did: 45 min cycle workout (10 miles) on my trainer before going out for my friend's birthday party and dancing at a concert.  I managed to stay pretty much within my calories for the day, too, so I'm calling it a win.

Saturday 1/26/13 - Plan: Run "long" run of 5 miles at 11:20 pace.  Did: ran 5 miles in 1 hour (12 m/m pace).  This run basically sucked for many reasons.  I tried out some different intervals but mentally I wasn't in the right place and I think my fueling and lack of hydrating on Friday also hurt me.  Last week I had a great long run but this week it sucked.  Sometimes runs just do that.  

Sunday 1/20/13 - Plan: I didn't have one.  Did: another rest day.  I probably didn't need it but the day got away from me.  I did manage some rolling and stretching, but mostly I went to church, hung out with girlfriends, and watched a movie.  It was a good day.

I think looking at this week, I know I shouldn't run 3 days in a row again and I should make sure I fuel better for my runs, but overall it was a decent week.  I'm looking forward to logging some easy runs during the week and longer miles next weekend.  One of my girlfriends also loaned me a pair of Newtons to try out.  Might give those a little run as well.

How was your week?  Anything interesting to report?

Meal Monday: Lasagna Cups #recipe

I wanted to grill out Saturday night, but the thought of standing in 8 inches of snow to grill didn't appeal to me.


The husband wanted lasagna and I remembered seeing a recipe on Pinterest for Lasagna Cups, so I thought I'd give those a whirl.  If you go to the link, you'll get a recipe for the sauce, cheese filling and everything, but I went the easy route and just made them like we would've made regular lasagna.  You can use whatever your family likes.

I used the following:
1 package Barilla lasagna noodles - cooked about 2 minutes less than the recipe called for. Keep 12 of them whole and then cut the remaining ones into fourths.

For the sauce:
2 jars Ragu chunky tomato, garlic and onion sauce
About 3/4 lb cooked up ground beef that was in the freezer
(plus I left out some plain sauce for 2 of the cups for the girl who doesn't like meat in her sauce)

Cheese filling:
1/2 of an 8oz package shredded mozzarella
1 container lowfat ricotta cheese
About 1/2 cup parmesean cheese
1 egg
Some Italian seasoning

Directions:
1. Line jumbo sized muffin cups with parchment paper. They will not want to stay in there, but once you start assembling the cups it gets a little better.  But not much. Just saying.
2. Put one cooked noodle in the cup, overlapping the edge a little bit.  Warning - between trying to get the papers in the cups and this step, I was ready to dump the whole lot. It was a PITA.
3. Put a spoonful of sauce in the bottom, then a noodle slice, then cheese mixture, then more sauce, then a noodle slice, then cheese mixture, more sauce, noodle slice, sauce, and the remaining mozzarella cheese.


4.  Bake at 350* for about 25-30 minutes or until they are hot and bubbly.  They can sit for a few minutes while you make garlic bread and a salad.
5.  Remove from the muffin tin by pulling up on the paper.  You can then slide a cup onto your plate and it will stay together.
The verdict?  Kind of a Pinterest flop.  These were tasty but didn't get as hot and bubbly as baking a pan of lasagna. Also, we decided the outer noodle was not edible because it got really crispy in the oven, so basically we just ate the insides.  Kind of a waste if you ask me, but I guess I saved a few calories by not eating the main noodle.  Overall, I didn't think this was really worth all the prep, but it was something different.  I think it would be good if you have people in the family who like different lasagna fillings, too.  Maybe make some with red sauce, some white, with and without meat, etc.  You get the idea.

Have you ever attempted a recipe from Pinterest that didn't work as you'd planned?

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Fitness Friday: Suck it up, Buttercup

Winter running. I'm hearing so many people bitching about how cold it is & hitting the treadmills for their runs. That's totally fine, but I want everyone to know that it's perfectly ok - pretty badass even - to go for a run when it's cold out. Unless it's super icy, there really aren't many valid reasons NOT to run outside in the winter. Provided you have the right gear, it can be downright fun. (FYI - a Bondi Band can be a makeshift face mask.



When else can you get ice-crusted lashes & eyebrows? When else can you have a beautiful, snow-covered trail all to yourself?

So, suck it up, Buttercup. Go play in the snow this weekend if you have any. I will be.




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Thankful Thursday: rest day

Today is a rest day - not intentional, but for various reasons, I can't do any cardio after school today (no running, biking or swimming).  I need the rest day though.  My legs and arch are a bit angry with me after 3 consecutive days of running this week.  I ran twice in the snow and then did speedwork on the mill last night. Ouchie.



But, just because it's a rest day and I won't be able to work out at all tonight, that doesn't mean do NOTHING.  I'm hoping to get in 30 minutes of strength throughout the day using the Gorilla App.  Even if I only get in 10-20 minutes or a few planks, that will be better than nothing, because frankly:


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Weigh-In Wednesday: I feel cheated

Starting Weight: 153.6

Last week: 150.2

This week: 149.6

Change: down 0.6

Total change: down 4.0

Yes, a loss is a loss.

Yes, even the people on Biggest Loser have weeks where they do everything right, workout every day, and stay under their calories but don't see the results on the scale they were expecting.

Does that make only losing 1/2 a pound any easier when my week looked like this (and this week Monday and Tuesday were just as good)?


No, it really doesn't.

So, while I'm happy to be back in the 140s, I'm feeling a bit cheated right now.  Moving on.

Questions for the day because I really don't want to talk about my weight: Do you watch The Bachelor?  Does Tierra drive you as nuts as she does me?  Who do you think Sean will choose?

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