First Day of Summer and I Say Good Bye...

So I know I have posted in awhile....So I will start with today and back up a little...

Today is my first day of Summer Vacation!! Thank Goodness! I thought it would NEVER get here! The last 2 weeks have been crazy busy at work and at home. About a month ago, Craig decided to bite into a Tic-Tac...and VOILA!! Cracked tooth!! One problem, the first dentist didn't catch the crack and 2 weeks later of progressive pain, it started to abscess. He ended up with another dentist at Walter Reed Med Center and he had to have an emergency root canal. After further investigation, the crack was so deeply embedded in the canal of the tooth, the team decided to completely extract the tooth. UGH! All of a sudden he went from pain to intense pain...

Needless to say, here we are today, and I spent the day with my husband at the medical center for his post-op follow up. Honestly not a bad way to spend my first day of summer vacation. Moral of this story...DON'T CHEW HARD CANDY!! NO MATTER WHAT....I do find myself as well as Craig's co-workers being more cautious about how we chew what is in our mouth. Honestly, I have to say how bad I have felt for my husband...however, having a diet of soups, frozen yogurt, and milkshakes didn't sound bad after all...:)

Well, during this last 2 weeks, I have to admit publicly that I did NOT stick to the plan as planned...OMG!! What is wrong with me?!?!? No excuses! Honestly, I shouldn't use my husband's illness as my reason not to put myself first...but I am really not sure what I was thinking or doing....
I did manage to get my 2 mile run in last weekend...As I walked down the stairs knowing that I had to do this by myself...I couldn't help but get a little scared...Knowing that Craig would not be meeting up with me frightening me a bit...I have never done this by myself. Honestly...this is what I was thinking...

I still truly believe this...however, I think I need to frame it and say it every time I walk out the door. ugh! Either way, I made it out the door and completed my 2 mile run...It actually turned into an "about 3.5 mile run" because I actually ran a little farther than expected and walked the rest of the way back home.

And I did it in new shoes too... :)

 And I guess my app does time splits now...Check out those time splits at mile 2 and 3. WOW!! I totally never thought I would get to that point.

Of course you would think that this would motivate me to keep going...Not quite. While I was extremely excited, I still can't get motivated to do this on my own yet.

Once again, this brings me back to today...my first day of Summer Vacation. When this whole tooth thing started, Craig mentioned that he wanted to sit down and talk with a nutritionist. Now honestly, I cam not completely sold on the idea....so I will have to wait and see.What can it hurt...cuz honestly, I haven't been that faithful to any diet lately. 

So, after a interesting meeting with this lady, I am still open minded and interested in what she has to offer. Now, we only met with her and talked about recent eating habits, our goals, and next steps. Now I did disclose to her my weight (something I would never do to anyone...) and she did my BMI and body fat % with the hand held thingy....and I was not really surprised with the results but I was surprised at the fact that it wasn't where as bad as I thought it would be. 

After our meeting, we decided that we would have one last meal that we probably won't be doing for a while....so we ordered pizza and decided to say good bye to a friend that I have had for many years...

Coca-Cola has been like a best friend for many many years....through good and bad times. I have done it before...I have given up cokes before, and knowing that I have been able to give it up before, I figure I have to try this again.
As Craig and I walked out of the nutritionist's office, we both knew that by our next meeting she was going to expect a weight loss from what we told her where we are right now...With that said, we are starting our "make shift" dieting tomorrow, hopefully we can be successful and prove to ourselves more than anything that we are capable of doing this. Pretty interested to find where this will lead me and to see if I have enough will power to get through this....and especially now since Craig was given a "almost" clean bill of health with regards to his surgery.
One thing that the nutritionist mentioned that is on the list is Magnesium supplement. She said that magnesium has proven to curb the "sweet tooth" I am really interested to see if this works....off to Vitamin Shoppe tomorrow, in addition to well needed grocery shopping.
Any suggestions on healthy snacks or recipes that you've tried. Let me know...would love to hear what you are doing.

Well...I hope to be more regular. This is my first day of summer vacation...and I am ready to let it be the "Summer of ME!" I have already promised several people at work that once I return at the end of August I will be a totally new person...so here I go, keeping that promise to every one...but most importantly to myself.

Day 1 and 2...This may be a long one...

I am gonna get caught up...only a day behind...but does it really count when I technically did start recording yesterday...)

Prior to starting, after reading several different blogs and and following different boards about half marathons, I decided to use Olympian Jeff Galloway's training program. Craig had seen him speak at a conference he attended a couple of years ago, and thought very highly of him. 

Anyways...Disney sponsors his training programs so I decided to give it a try for my first 10 miler at Disney. 

(Want more?? Here is the link to his program... runDisney Training.

So this program involved 1 long run weekly and 2 maintenance runs.Running 3Xs a week...I can totally do that. Jeff Galloway has specific programs and timelines for each runDisney race...all very similar, but one thing I like about it is that I can download and load the program into my phone calendar...so there is very little thought to working out. Just get out there and do it, right?

DAY ONE:

Got home from work and feeling slightly unmotivated...but I knew it was now or never...and I chose NOW! Of course when I walked through the door, Craig reminded me of the gym...ugh! Oh well!

Rushed to get ready...Made it to spin class with a minute to spare. 

Now...let me back up...I have always been one who NEVER...I mean NEVER!!! want to do classes at the gym...much less go to the gym to work out...I didn't even put much effort before our wedding! And doing a work-out class...FORGET IT! I always felt that being a "not skinny" gym person that I would be ridiculed or made to feel that I didn't belong...Boy was I wrong!! So if you ever feel this way, just remember that nothing matters more than what you are thinking of yourself...Everyone and anyone goes to a gym to work out, and you deserve to be there as much as they do. Took me a long time to believe this...and it is a work in progress. I still will only run on the treadmill in the dark in the cardio theater room...but I still look around a lot...but not as much as better. I am there for me and not to impress anyone else!!!

Back to spin class...best one yet!! (This isn't my first one BTW) The instructor played all PitBull songs...how much more motivating is that?? However, rather than concentrating on the class, I kept wandering to Zumba class and all the wacky dance moves we do to those PitBull songs!! (haha dork right? I know!) So about half way through, while out of the saddle simulating an uphill ride, my foot started to give out...Are you kidding me?? I was not wearing my cross trainers...I was in my shoes I use for Zumba...yup, that was my mistake! Oh well! Will never do that again! Remember to only stick with cross trainers...check!! 

Well...I made it through spin class and totally worked through the ridiculous pain! I think it was more of doing it because I wanted to prove myself that I can even overcome my stupid mistakes. Never said I was an expert...this is a total learning process! And boy does it hurt when I make a mistake. HA! 

DAY TWO: 

Moving on...like I said I think yesterday, I am focusing on my training...much more than detailing my days...but I have to say this...I got out of my car this morning at work...and as I walked toward the building all I could think of was, "WOW! This is gonna be perfect weather to run in!" I also emailed Craig and told him it was a "Drop the Top" kind of day! 

And I did just that...

I walked out of work, cleaned out the back seat (I didn't want to clutter the highways of DC with my Starbucks glasses and Nationals hats and jackets...hehe), and I dropped the top! It was so beautiful out!

Well...when I got home, Craig told me that he got a gift for me.I check in his backpack and there was this....

Can you hear the magic??? I am so stinkin' excited!! I used to think that I would never get excited for a new pair of running shoes...and I definitely never thought I would get this excited for a watch for running!! I have gone mad!! But we are all a little mad here... (catch the Disney reference??) With this watch, I love the fact that I can set up my running intervals!
The major part of these Jeff Galloway training that I had mentioned earlier is interval running based on the pace you would like to keep.
Problem...new watch..needs to charge...ugh! OK...so I guess I will have to play on Thursday.
So...with not much drive, I headed out onto the trail with Craig to do my first official run of week one training. OMG! It was so difficult trying to do the intervals without a proper time keeper...so I did best with what I had...and I set my iphone app to track and started my run.
Probably about halfway through, I started getting this weird pain in my rear end. I know it sounds funny and I couldn't help myself from laughing out laugh because every time my foot would hit the trail and I felt my bubble butt jiggle, it would hurt. It was completely comical...and this is what probably got me through it. I am starting to get pretty bored with the same songs on my iphone...so I will need to work on my playlist.
Well, I arrived back home and here is what I ended up with...

Not my best time...but I think I was more worried about not really keeping the 2/1 interval. I did the best, and even though I knew I could give more, I am happy about completing today's workout.

And because I said I would running with my camera, I forgot to take my pic at the beginning of my run, but here is my trail pic about a quarter mile from home...

Well..not bad for my first 2 days... Came home and watched Extreme Weight Loss on ABC with Craig. I think this show is way better than Biggest Loser. If you have never seen it, it is a must see show! And I think I am even more motivated than before. Plus I found out that the Tower of Terror 10 Miler that we are doing in October is SOLD OUT! I can't believe that I am apart of a sold out event! I'm stoked!

I hope you made it through my first official post detailing my work out...And if nothing, maybe I have inspired you just a little bit more.
Until next.......have a magical day!
Jessica