Much Bigger Victory

Well, it finally happened... I think when I get frustrated about something I should just jump on my blog and kvetch about it incessantly. Just kidding... I wouldn't want to subject everyone to that kind of torture, still all of my complaining last week seems to have finally budged my weight loss in the right direction. I finally broke the plateau I'd been struggling with for a few weeks.

What's even better is that as of yesterday I hit a pretty major milestone... 30% of my total body weight lost. Yahoo! Although, I must admit that it seems kind of surreal to think about. That's nearly 1/3 of what used to be me just gone... poof into thin air... okay, maybe not exactly "poof" but you know what I mean. There's a full third of me that no longer exists. And I must admit it's the third of me that I don't miss... not even a little bit! LOL!

Anyway, I hope everyone is hanging in with their workouts through the summer. Ours has finally kicked into high gear here in the Pacific NW, including some nasty humidity the last couple of days, which has made for some pretty miserable workouts, but I've been trying to persist. However, as you will see from today's numbers, the heat is definitely impacting my pace... but then it's supposed to... working out at full capacity during the heat and humidity is just a recipe for disaster.

Stay cool!

Today's Run
7.25 Miles
89:15
4.87 mph
12:19 pace

Monday's (Long) Run
12.61 Miles
2:30:01
5.04 mph
11:54 pace

Little (teeny tiny) Victory

Yea! Today kind of made up for yesterday. I find that the highs and lows of my journey usually (not always) balance out in the end. No, my weight is still not really budging, but as a consolation I had a really good run this morning. I had a new personal best which does help to make up for the stubborn weight issues.

Like I'm always saying, it's about celebrating the little accomplishments, not living your life around the big ones. So I will take my own advice today.

Yea Me!!!

Today's Run
7.12 Miles
80:02
5.34 mph
11:14 pace (a personal best)

Frustrating moments... yes, I do have them!

I know I'm always trying to encourage everyone to have a positive outlook on their workout/running/weight loss journeys and that I'm always promoting the long-term outlook over the short-term fix. But I must confess, I too get tired of plateaus and exasperated with my seeming lack of progress from time to time.

For instance, my weight has been sitting at the 80 lb down mark for several weeks now. I jump up or down slightly with hormonal changes and water retention, but it's not really not budging significantly from this mark. I know, intellectually that my body is continuing to change and that one of these days, the scale will adjust accordingly, but in the meantime, it IS frustrating!

My running was feeling that way about a couple of months back. I didn't think I would ever break the 7 mile mark on my daily runs, but now, fortunately, 7 milers are pretty commonplace and I'm getting comfortable adding even more to that distance, so I know that all plateaus are just temporary obstacles as long as you persevere. Still, it is tempting to give up when the scale or the stopwatch or the GPS mileage tracker don't seem to budge week after week after week. I know that I have many moments of weakness when I just want to throw in the towel or let my scale reading affect the rest of my day. Fortunately, these don't last too long, but it is still a battle that I DO face on a regular basis.

Just thought I'd share my little reality check with everyone, so you know that I'm not some perpetually optimistic do-gooder who never has moments of doubt or worry. Believe me, I do! Maybe the lesson here as seems to often be the case is "Do as I say... not as I do!" LOL!

Yesterday's Run
7.71 Miles
90:03
5.14 mph
11:42 pace

This one caught me off guard!

So, out of curiosity, I tried on a pair of Size 12 pants today... Surprisingly, they fit! I was pretty astounded as a size 12 was what I was wearing when I was a college senior... more than 20 years ago. It's pretty exciting.

Alas, there are a couple of mitigating factors. First off, these 12's are made of stretch fabric, but they weren't tight in the legs and hips (a little tight in the waist, but who's complaining???), so that seems insignificant. The other caveat is that I still weigh more than I did in college... but when you consider that I am working out on a daily basis for up to 90 minutes, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Don't forget, muscle weighs more than fat, so a person in shape will often weigh more than a person of the exact same size who is not in shape (remember to keep this in mind when the scale is frustrating you). So my guess is that I will get to my college clothing size but still weigh a bit more than I did back then due to the fact that I didn't work out regularly while I was going to school.

Yes, I do still have much weight to lose, but once again, it's good to be able to celebrate the little milestones that you find while on your journey.

Today's (Long) Run
12.65 Miles
2:30:00
5.06 mph
11:51 Pace

True Confessions

I've been debating sharing this secret with everyone for a bit, but have decided to go for it. After all, if you can learn from my experience and save yourselves any kind of pain along the way, then my job here is done. :o)

Lately one of my sports bras has started chaffing to the point of rubbing me raw every time I wear it. Unfortunately, it's the only sports bra I have at the moment that has enough 'bounce control' to be able to wear it during running. So, what's a girl to do? Yes, I admit, buying a new sports bra should be #1 on the priority list, but I do have a hard time spending money on a new one when the old one works really well with the exception of this one quirk.

Anyway, my remedy to this problem seems so logical now, I'm not sure why it took me so long to think of it. What I've been doing is wearing a tech tank top under my bra as a kind of liner. This seems to actually be working really well. I haven't had any chaffing at all since I started doing this. When I run outside, I throw on a tech shirt over everything so that people don't look at me like I'm crazy (who's to say I'm not???). It's a little warm to wear that 2nd layer this time of year, but usually I go out early enough and we've had a cool enough summer here that it's not too bad. Then, when I run on my treadmill, I usually don't bother with the additional shirt and just go with the completely goofy look of bra on the outside. Besides the additional layer of clothing in the warm of summer, there really haven't been any other downfalls to this approach.

Now, I'm thinking I should create and market a line of bra liners to capitalize on my great idea! LOL!

Today's Run
7.0 Miles
1:20:19
5.23 mph
11:28 pace

Wednesday's Run
7.0 Miles
1:19:37 (another new best - for this distance)
5.28 mph
11:22 pace

Monday's (Long) Run
12.71 Miles (new personal best - for this time)
2:30:00
5.08 mph
11:49 pace

Sweat, sweat, go away!

I have to admit that despite us having one of the coolest summers on record here in the Pacific NW, I will not be sorry to see the heat (what little there's been) going away... at least as far as my runs are concerned. For most of this week, I felt like I could not consume enough water to slake my thirst. Unfortunately, the need for drink also has to be balance with the need to not slosh while I run... a very uncomfortable predicament, as I'm sure many of you can also attest. I'm not sure the disappearance of the warmer temps will eliminate the urge I have some days to drink until I feel bloated, but hopefully it might reduce it, at least a bit.

My DH found a little piece of information, which in retrospect, is really a "D'UH" thing, but I don't think most of us think about it or even realize what is really happening. When the humidity is higher (I suspect it has been for most of this summer), your body continues to sweat BUT the air's ability to evaporate your sweat is greatly reduced. This leads to an inefficient cooling mechanism for your body and thus you can overheat much more easily the higher the humidity. So, that's just one more thing for everyone to keep in mind while they head out during these warmer, muggier months.

Did I mention I won't be sorry to see the heat go away? Unfortunately, me and my tomato plants are of differing opinions on this matter... let's hear it for green tomatoes!

Friday's Run
7.64 Miles
90:00
5.09 mph
11:47 pace

Wednesday's Run
7.0 Miles
82:57
5.06 mph
11:52 pace

July's Monthly Numbers

So, here are my numbers for July. Alas, I was out of town on Friday, so I didn't get one last run in for the month, but it was a decent month nonetheless.

July Miles: 97.7
Total 2011 Miles: 655.9
Monthly Average: 93.7

As long as I keep this pace up I'm well on my way to a 1,000 mile (or maybe even 1,100) mile year. Yea!

Monday's Run
12.07 Miles
2:50:03
4.83 mph
12:25 pace (yikes!)