Welcome to my blog!!

Welp, here goes.....not sure how I'll do at this but I'll give it a whirl! Hope you enjoy. "Yearning to be Average" has to do with my desire & goal to just be an average size person.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Dunh...dunh....dunhhhhh......(scary music)

Drumroll.......................So today was 'official' weigh-in day.  I was apprehensive going into it, had felt kind of bloated the past couple days and (not to give you TMI) but feeling PMS-y and just a little nervous overall.  After weigh-in this morning, I'm wondering why!  I lost 5 more pounds!!!  My total is now 48 pounds.....2 pounds away from my first goal and 2 pounds away from being a weight that I haven't been in at least 14 years!!  Woo-hooooooooooo!   I was so excited, I started laughing, then weighed myself again to be sure it wasn't a fluke.  Haha!

Talk about a great way to start the day....that's enough to give you motivation at the gym!  I headed off after that, walking into the gym on Cloud 9.  I wondered if my fellow gym-goers could tell I looked 5 pounds lighter....I checked out myself in window as I went past.   Heehee (just kidding!)  It does really give you a boost though, knowing you're heading in the right direction, you're doing something right! 

My weigh-in also gave me the confidence to try on a pair of pants I haven't worn in YEARS....they're my black cords from WalMart (ha!) that I had gotten years ago and haven't fit in them in quite a while.  I figured -- hey -- I'm 5 pounds lighter -- I can do anything!  I'm Super Woman!!  Haha!  So needless to say, today I sported some mighty fine black cords at work!  ::high five::

Okay now that I'm done celebrating.....we think we found our next 5k....there's one in Waterbury (city right next to our town) in April, I think on the 16th or so?  Anyway....it's only the 2nd one they've done so the cost is still minimal compared to a lot  of 5ks and it shouldn't be too crazy/crowded.  I think we'll do it!  I like the idea of signing up for and doing 5ks because it gives me the extra push besides just wanting/needing to lose weight; it gives me a concrete goal with a concrete date in mind.  The first 5k I ran, my goal was to run/jog the entire time and I did that....this time my goal will (obviously) be to run/jog the whole time again, but to improve my time.  I've got just under a month to continue training for this one.   We've added more interval training on the treadmill to my workouts and we think that was one of the keys to me losing 5 pounds this weigh-in.  We'll continue that along with a new weight workout that Jerry put together for me. 

Hopefully the New England weather will cooperate and we can get outside more often to run....we had snow yesterday.  :-/    BUT at least I know better weather IS coming, it might just take a little patience.  :)

Monday, March 21, 2011

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

So the race went well!  A little slowly....but well!  We got there early and checked in, then I went and stood in line for the bathroom for about 20 minutes.  Seriously.  There were porta-potties outside but I figured I'd take advantage of the real bathrooms while I could.  Sooo.....after we got our t-shirts (really cute, by the way...they're green with a shamrock & the name of the run -- Max's O'Hartford 5k) we went outside to bask in the sunlight.  It was a little cool (around 45?) but the sun was bright and felt so good.  We mingled outside with lots of other people and checked out everybody else's costumes/gear.  Some were very creative, some were downright scary!  Me, I just had my Irish firefighter wife t-shirt on and some St. Patrick's Day socks. 

Once we were outside I was a texting fool with my friend Nikki, who was meeting us there along with her sister. (We were texting to find out where each other was..."I'm in line for the bathroom"...."We're in the lobby"...."We're by the orange blow-up thingy.")  lol  We hung out for a bit, talking, & laughing until race time. 


The race itself went fine, I was slower than I had hoped (38.5 mins overall) but I did run/jog the entire time.  And that was my goal.  I knew I could run that distance for sure (I've run further on the treadmill) and just wanted to prove it to myself.  The funniest part was as we're running, they have staff along the sides to let you know how far you've come.  So we've been running for what felt like FOREVER (seriously....forever) and this guy, a staffer, hollers "1 mile!! Great job!! 1 mile!"   I wanted to punch him in the larynx.  Jerry turned to me and said, "Okay...one mile....we're running about a 14-minute mile."  I was like WHAT?!  That irritated me...not Jerry himself, just the fact that I was running so much slower...just last weekend we had run 3 miles on the trail and had done a 12-minute mile.  Still not fast but faster than 14 mins!  lol  So after that I wanted to pick up the pace a little bit but not go crazy, because I knew I had to still run 2 miles. Jerry was great and ran with me the entire time....he's done a LOT of 5ks and can run 3.1 miles in no time but he stayed right with me, which I appreciated.  

The race, being in downtown Hartford, was fairly flat....there were a few slight hills, enough to make you notice the incline both in your calves and your breathing....but nothing too bad. The coolest part was as we were nearing the end, you run by the state Capitol, right in front of it so that was pretty neat.  Towards the end there were also people cheering for you, saying, "you're doing a great job! You're almost there!"  I thought that was funny & moving both at the same time.  As we rounded the corner we could see the finish line so we started picking up the pace to finish strong.  It felt great to actually finish! I wanted to cheer and cry at the same time.  It was moving in a way because I couldn't believe I had actually just ran a 5k...just 4 months after I started this journey.

So what now?  It's almost a letdown the day after....but it was back to the grind today.  Jerry & I went to our regular gym -- the owner gave him a key!  How cool is that!? So we got there at 4:30am and I did some interval training on the treadmill for a half-hour then a quick weight set.  I really didn't feel like getting up today but I knew I'd be disappointed if I didn't go so I'm glad I did.  I did feel better after going. 

We're looking for our next 5k, there's a ton of them in CT so we shouldn't have trouble finding another one.  I'd like to do at least a couple more before the big one in September (the NYC one) and really concentrate on building my speed before then.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Born to Run.. (hubby would be so proud of the Springsteen reference) Ha!

So weigh-in went well on the 10th!  Actually, it was the 9th..I was too impatient to wait until Thursday.  4 more pounds down, 43 altogether! 

Workouts have been going well, consistently....I need to start doing weights again more. I've concentrated so long on cardio and need to add back in regular weights.  I'll probably start doing that next week.  I still want to concentrate on cardio this week because.....

I'm running in my first 5k on Sunday the 20th!!  I'm SUPER nervous but excited.  I've run quite a bit on the treadmill over the winter and have gotten used to that.  I can kick butt on the treadmill!  But as I've said before, I know running on the road is different and it's tougher....because of course you're propelling yourself instead of the belt on the treadmill helping you.  So Jerry & I hit the road (literally) yesterday morning....it was a nice morning, not too chilly, so we took advantage of a chance to get outside.  We went to a trail in Southington (one of the towns next to ours), and did a 3-mile run.  Thankfully the trail is flat so that didn't add any extra huffing & puffing.  I felt encouraged just knowing we ran for 3 miles.....not on a treadmill.  So it wasn't a fluke that I could run that far!  Haha! 

The 5k I'm doing on Sunday is the O'Hartford 5k .  It's an Irish/St. Patty's Day-themed 5k so it was only natural for me to want to do it! I already have a green t-shirt to wear, it's my 'Irish Firefighter Wife' t-shirt. The run is in downtown Hartford so most of it should be flat as well.  My goal for this race is to run the whole course.  I know I won't be the fastest (we were running at a 12-minute mile pace yesterday, I know it's sllooowww).....but if I can finish it after running the entire thing, that would be AWESOME!!

I'll keep you posted and hopefully have a pic!  My friend Nikki is meeting up with us that day too, should be a fun day! The weather so far looks great, 50 and sunny.  Here goes nothing!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Slow & steady wins the race....

Not much new to report here, I've been in a good routine of working out and eating well.  I haven't weighed in again since the last time, I'm waiting until this Thursday (March 10th).  That will be 2 weeks.  I try not to weigh myself too often.

I've gone to Planet Fitness quite a bit during the week because of them being open 24-hours Monday through Friday.  It's nice because I can get there by 4:30 or 4:40am and be done by 5:30 at the latest.  That gives me the extra time to get ready for work & have Isaiah up.  Most Saturdays lately I haven't been able to go to the gym because of Isaiah's early morning basketball games.  I don't mind because I know my body needs a day or two to rest once in a while.  I'll be able to go early tomorrow morning though.  Once basketball ends I can probably start back on Saturdays.  I love going on the weekends because I'm not as rushed, can have a long run and I usually throw some weights in there as well.  I usually do pull-ups, dips, & abs after my runs. Last Sunday morning I ran for 60 minutes! 

Food-wise I'm doing well, still no soda and I've been pretty consistent with my foods. It's funny, our cleaning guy at work (who used to be a real fitness buff back in the day, I'm talking bodybuilding competitions, etc.), asked me if I ever have cheat days.  I told him not really too much, I usually just have a little treat like Pretzel M&M's (thanks Cheryl!) :)  They're just enough of a chocolate fix and the fat-to-calorie ratio is not bad! I usually split a package with Isaiah so it doesn't add up to be too bad, plus I only have them maybe once every couple weeks or so?   I consider that like a treat or a bit of a cheat.....also, we went to Sliders last weekend, it's a restaurant around here that's famous for their wings.  I had wings and a salad.  I know the wings weren't the greatest but that wasn't something we do too often. 

The cleaning guy chuckled & said he didn't really consider those 'cheating', I guess he used to go to McDonald's one day a week and just pig out, eat whatever he wanted, and just fill up.  I don't think I could do that, I'd be so paranoid about gaining weight back.  I feel great right now and don't want to lose my momentum. 

I've gotten SO much positive feedback from friends and family, it really encourages me.  Here's hoping the weight keeps coming off at a steady pace!