Week Overview

This was a challenging week. With my girls being sick, I didn't have much motivation to do much really. But I did get my workouts in...the eating part not so good. Kind of disappointed but I feel good knowing I still got my workouts in. 


Monday I ran 3 miles. Tuesday I did nothing. :( Hard day with my little baby. Wednesday was a 2.5 run. Thursday I hiked the mountain near by which was another 2.25 miles and then my big run on Friday was FIVE MILES! I ran the whole way without stopping. I felt amazing! 


Total week mileage ran.... 10.5 miles!! Insane! I feel so good. 


Last night Tanner and I were at Target trying to find some pants for our soon to be trip to Utah. I had bought a size 11 right after my birthday in October. They were getting pretty big on me so I thought I'd try to find some new ones. I tried a size 8 on and guess what?! They were big! I now wear a size 6!!! I have not worn a size 6 since high school. My senior year to be exact. That was 2004/2005. It felt amazing pulling those pants up and actually being able to button them! I was starting to lose motivation after this week. With the drama of sick kids, crazy busy time with photography and having to run with my girls. But....it's all good now that I can wear a size 6! (Every brand of jeans are different. I think I'm a 8/6 depending on the brand. But still! Better than an 11!) 

Week Is Half Over

Can you believe how fast time is flying?? Man! It's insane! My girls have had croup this week so it's been really long. I got a 3 mile run in on Monday night and missed yesterday's weights. My baby was crying pretty much all day so I sat and cuddled. This morning I did my 2.5 mile speed training run.

I always forget how good it feels to get my workouts in. I feel so accomplished and motivated when I run. I've been having a hard time running in the mornings. My muscles crap up and I just don't have the energy to really push hard and finish. I got some awesome advice from my brother. He told me when I wake up in the morning to take a hot shower and stretch. This will help warm up my muscles and be able to push harder on my runs. This morning's run was awesome. No cramps and I felt like I could go another mile! I am so excited about the next month or so. Just to see where I can go. Mainly see how many miles I can add to my daily runs.

Before and After

I took some photos of my "after" yesterday. My "after" meaning after a month of working out and after losing 10lbs. I'm pretty shocked by the results. What a huge difference only 10 pounds can make.


Before's are on the left...afters on the right :)


Before: 148
After: 138
                       

                           

                           

                         


Can you believe the difference?? I'm excited for another month of workouts! I'm half way to my goal weight! I know it's going to be harder to lose another 10 pounds now that I'm lifting weights and trying to get muscle mass. I'm not too worried anymore about the number on the scale. I want to feel good and that's most important! 




Total miles for November 7-12: 8.5! 

Why Run?

I've asked myself this several times in the last month. Why do I run? Well...with my history of depression, it is definitely helping me manage and over power depression. But why else? Is there more to it? Of course there is. The mere fact of when I was single and younger I was very active. I remember how it felt to get my butt kicked by my weight training teacher or my coach and how great it felt! I miss that feeling of getting my butt kicked. Today I ran my 2 mile run. It was a shorter run than usual but I would randomly sprint for as long as I could and then jog to recover. I had about .5 miles left and I was DEAD. DEAD!! I have forgotten how it feels to be that tired and that weak. And I loved it. I know I'm crazy. But if you too grew up with that feeling of getting your butt kicked in a workout (and enjoyed it) then maybe you understand where I'm coming from?

Today, as my house is totally silent, I sit and reflect on what I'm doing. Why run? To be completely honest, I feel like a failure. I feel like a fat mom with 2 beautiful blessings for children and a wonderful husband. And what about me? Maybe it's depression seeping in and I'm letting it control my emotions. But I really want to figure out why I want to run. I was thinking today...what is my ultimate goal? Running a marathon? That is 26 flippen miles! Holy heck! Me, Emily, would I even be able to finish something like that? It's incredible to think about. I would probably run it in 5 or 6 HOURS....HOURS!!! That's insane! So why do I have that goal?

I want to prove to myself that I'm stronger than I think. I want to have confidence (and a nice body) so that I'm not scared or jealous of other girls. My whole life I've been extremely jealous! I thought it'd be better after being married, but it's worse. (sorry honey) I want to feel amazing. (I also like to hear how amazing it is to run a marathon...so yes, part of it is bragging rights. Can you blame me? :)

How do I keep myself going? How do I ignore my mind when it's saying "just quit" "it's too hard" "someone will always be better/look better than you"

That's EXACTLY why I want to keep going! I want to feel beautiful. And for me that means having low body fat and muscles. I can do it! I will do it!

I texted my sister before writing this to see if I was crazy about wanting to run a half marathon in April. She said I could totally do it and look how far I've come in ONE month of running. I can now run 4 miles! FOUR MILES! Where as a month ago...I couldn't run ONE mile! Think about what I can do in 5 months! (that's when the half marathon is)

I'm so ready to move out of this chapter in my life. The chapter where I'm a fatty mom and lazy. I got rid of my facebook almost 4 months ago and then started getting addicted to pinterest and blogging. There's always something, right? But my sweet husband showed this clip to me the other night. Take a few minutes to watch it. I cried. A lot.

I love love love this message! This was totally me. Pushing away my family just to read my 400+ friend's status updates on facebook or looking to see who posted what on pinterest/blogger. I'm tired of wasting my life away. Tired of feeling like the time is slipping out of my hands and regretting it! I've made a commitment to only get on the internet with my girls are sleeping (I like to wake up before them), napping or after they've gone to bed. It's nice. 

Anyway, kind of got off topic. But in reality, if you do sit on the computer a lot during the day, I challenge you to get off and get outside. Go run. Start slow. My first 2 weeks I ran 1 minute, walked 1 minute for 20 minutes and then slowly increased my running time. (with that, I only ran maybe a mile with the 20 minutes.)

One last thing, I've decided to start running in the mornings now. Most my races are in the morning so I figured it might be better to train at that time. With that, I have to push a double stroller. 50 pounds + of children weight. It can be done and that stroller is only going to help in the long run. 

I really hope I can inspire people to get out and run. Especially Mom's. Being a mom is the hardest job and being a fatty mom makes it worse. Get your kids in a stroller and get out! I recommend running with a jogging stroller, HUGE difference. But get this, my jogging stroller...I got for $30 off craigslist! Don't need a nice, new EXPENSIVE stroller to get it done. Just FYI. :) 

p.s. I LOVE hearing from you guys! I've gotten texts and emails and it motivates me! Thanks for all the love!

Tracking my workouts

I figured I need a spot to keep track of what I do for my workouts. What better than to keep track on my blog! Duh me! haha


So I mentioned yesterday about my running workout I'm doing. 3 days a week. Day 1 a normal running day, day 2 a slower but longer run and day 3 shorter but faster. 


Monday 11/7 - Ran 2.5 miles (no breaks) in 29 minutes. 
Tuesday 11/8 - Weights with Turbo Jam. 8lbs when doing lower body and 5lbs for upper body. 


I also bought one of these...

Mine's blue though

It's called a foam roller. And it's used to massage your muscles. I used it back in high school when I was working out with my coach to increase my vertical. They had them at the gym and we would use them before working out. Awww...it felt so good! There are a bunch of videos on youtube on how to use this. It's simple and it really does feel like a great deep tissue massage. And yes, soreness will follow so drink lots of water! 

I am signing up for another 5k run December 17th. Does anyone want to join me?! It's $20 until the first of December and then $25 after that. It's at Victory Lanes...ride behind Water World/Wet N' Wild. Jingle Bell Run! Seriously let me know if anyone wants to join me! 

5k #2

7am

50 degrees

windy

overcast

freezing cold...to say the least!

Not my ideal weather for running, especially since all my training was in 80+ degree weather. NOT FUN! But I did it. And beat my previous time...by 10 seconds. 

After running the race, I was pretty ticked. My time sucked, my muscles were frozen...I started my period....ya...not a good day. Not much else to say about it. It was cold. HARD. And my sweet husband couldn't run due to his allergy to the cold. A whole other story, but he decided to not run.

Anyway, after beating myself up over this race for a day, I realized it wasn't that big of a deal. I still completed it. And most importantly, I have still keep the weight and inches off that I've lost from training. So what's a time? It's all good. Especially when I was getting ready for church and I bravely decided to try on a skirt I haven't been able to wear for 2 years, without a bella band or the button unbuttoned...I bought it a long time ago and kept it cuz I liked it. As I put it on and buttoned it...it was BIG on me! I felt so awesome. 

I have been running now for a month and I feel awesome. I haven't weighed or measured recently but that's fine. I like how I look in the mirror and more importantly how I feel. A month ago I was a size 12/14. (I was still wearing my maternity pants actually...I don't like the feeling of having a muffin top while standing. Sitting down...I can be OK with it...but not standing, YUCK!) So I never switched over to "real" pants. I am now in a size 8/10 depending on the brand. I tried some Lucky pants on, size 8, and they were huge. So...it all depends. My size 10 jeans I bought from target a month ago now don't fit me. Luckily they were on sale. But now I look like a scrub with baggy pants. Maybe in a week or so I'll go find some more sales and get new pants...it's getting cold. Today it hasn't gotten over 60 degrees and is overcast, windy and rainy. Jeans are a must! I actually need to get  a few tops too...mine are small. Man, I tell you! After a month of working out and I'm getting these kind of results! I absolutely love this! Putting my clothes on in the morning keeps me motivated for sure! 

On to my week's workouts! I've found an awesome website with awesome information on running. Runner's World. Searching around on there after my girls are asleep I have found lots of wonderful information. This week's workouts I'm increasing my weight with my weight training and I'm increasing the miles I run. I have been averaging around 9 miles a week and with a program I found each week I'll increase by 1 or 2. Intensity will also change. One day is normal, Second day faster. Third day slower but longer. I'm excited. I just wish it wasn't raining today so I could run today. Looks like it's Turbo Jam for me! :) 

I will most likely take more photos of my "after" (after a month of losing to compare) I'm a little more confident now so I think I will post. I'm not perfect. But I hope someone out there is reading my blog and is getting motivated! It's really simple! All I've done it cut out junk food, ate healthier, ran 3 times a week and did weights the other 3 days while resting on Sunday. Easy? Easy. Just have to do it! 

Fitting Into Pants!

The best feeling in the world is being able to fit into your clothes. At least for me that is. I was getting ready for my volleyball game last night and as I chose a pair of pants to wear, I sort of hesitate because I couldn't even fit into them before I was pregnant with Mylee. As I pulled them up and buttoned them....they were loose! I have a problem with pants being too snug around me and cutting me off when I'm standing up. I know I'll have some skin hanging over when I sit, but it's when I'm standing I don't want the pants feeling tight. I was very VERY happy with this. I haven't been able to weigh myself recently....my daughter was jumping on the scale and it broke....oh well..probably a good thing. I don't know if I'm dropping much weight or just toning, but I definitly feel I'm losing somewhere. I love it! This week I ran 8 miles and did some weights. Today is my day off because tomorrow I have another 5k! I'm very excited but also nervous because I worked really hard this week. Hopefully my break today will help my body recover.

Next week I plan to up my workouts. I've been doing weights Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday but I feel I need to increase the weights now. And then I run Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I need to come up with a plan for my running so I can increase my endurance, Maybe sprints on one day, long run on another day and something different that last day. Not quit sure yet. If anyone is reading this blog...any suggestions would be cool :)