Running Update - Week 8

Week 8 of my 10 week running program started on Friday.  I really can't believe I've made it this far!  From struggling to run 1 minute at time, I can now run 8 minutes!!  I'm not fast and I'm sure it's not pretty, but gosh darn it, I'm running!

The group of people that I'm doing the learn to run program with are fabulous.  The 2 instructors are so encouraging.  And I've found a great running buddy for our Friday night runs who moves at my speed.  I'm hoping to be able to run the 5k with her since we run really well together.

In the 3 remaining weeks before the race on June 5th, I will move up from sets of 8 minutes to 9s and ultimately 10s.  I'm always so intimidated by the move to a longer set but so far I always seem to manage it.

Last Sunday I had the worst running day yet.  I was supposed to be doing 4 sets of 7 minutes, but I couldn't get past 5 minutes without having to walk.  Everything hurt, I felt like throwing up and I was ready to quit the whole idea of running a race.  I cut my run short and went home.  I told myself that if the next day was just as bad that I would seriously thinking about giving up.  As the fates would have it, I had my best run ever on Monday. My head is back in the game and I'm ready to keep going.

20 days to go!

IF Diary - Day One of Fasting

(can I just say that I've been around adoption type blogs too long, every time I see the acronym IF I automatically think invitro-fertilization)

Anyhoo.....

Today was the first day of Fasting.  I had my omelette toast and green tea before leaving for work.  Throughout the day all I had was 2L of water (with calorie free flavoring) and 4 cups of green tea. I felt hungry around 10:30, the time I normally have a morning snack, and then again around 14:30.  Each time I was able to distract myself and wasn't very bothered by it.

At no point during the day did I feel faint, dizzy or head-achy, all side effects that I thought I would have to deal with.  I did however feel EXTREMELY tired.  I'm not sure if I'm just tired or if it is an effect of the low calorie intake.  I yawned my way through the afternoon but have perked up since getting home.

My salad for diner was huge and very filling:

And even now, 2 hours later, I still don't feel hungry.  Weird......

I weighed in this morning at 206.5 lbs and my waist measured at 42 inches.  I don't have a timeline in mind for how long I want to do this.  Once I see how sustainable the 2 days of fasting is, I'll have a better idea of my long term plan.

Sorry if this is a repeat of FB posts... just trying to get my thoughts down on this process.

Intermittent Fasting

I saw my doctor yesterday and we discussed the fact that my weight loss has plateaued for the past 9 months.  I've lost and gained the same 6 pounds over and over again, despite my increase in activity with running and TKD.

Now, this is a doctor that I've been seeing for 15 years, who has always preached good eating, less calories and more exercise as the only way to weight loss.  She doesn't believe in fads, quick fixes or drugs.  So I was very surprised when she recommend  Intermittent Fasting and that I should read the book The Fast Diet.

After researching it a bit online, I went out and bought the book.  I haven't finished reading it yet,but so far it seems to be based on a whole lot of science and study, unlike most diet plans (which is why my doctor is endorsing it).  The overall concept of IF is that you fast 2 days a week, limiting yourself to just 500 calories on those days.  Since I currently eat around 1500 calories a day, this seems pretty extreme.  However, based on my doctor's recommendation and what I have read on my own, I'm going to give it a go.

Tomorrow will be my first Fasting day.  I'm planning to have an egg white omelette and a piece of toast before I leave for work, giving me 200 calories.  I will then just drink green tea and water throughout the day and will have a salad with shrimp and avocado for dinner, for my other 300 calories.

I've forewarned my co-workers that I may be grumpier than usual, and to PLEASE not offer me food.  The group of people I work with are very bad for always having candies, cookies and chocolates at their desks. Hilary, my rock, is on board with not just supporting me, but trying the Fasting day too.

While I don't expect miraculous results, I would be very happy if some of this weight would start to come off.

Running - 2 Weeks down

I've completed 2 full weeks of my running program.   With this program we run 5 out of 7 days each week, and each day the number of minutes spent running increases.  The first day I only had to run 1 minute before being able to walk.  By the 10th set, I wasn't sure I could run for a full minute.  Today I'll be lacing up and heading out to run 4 sets of 5 minutes.  I'm a little nervous, as I've only gone as long as 4 minutes at a time one other day, so this is a big jump.

Running a full 5k still seems very far away.  Right now I'm averaging about 3.8 km with the 30 minutes I'm doing each day.  I know that as I add more running minutes and have less walking ones, that the distance will increase.  It's still another 7 weeks until the actual race, so I feel good that I have lots of training time left.

The one thing I find I'm struggling with the most is what to wear.  It's April in Nova Scotia, so it rains a lot, it's foggy and drizzly, there's a lot of wind and it's still pretty cold out.  But within 10 minutes of running, I'm so hot that I'm ready to strip down to my bra.   I hate having to take off my hat, gloves and coat while I'm running and try to stuff them in pockets, or tie the coat around my waist, so I've given up on all of that and have accepted that I'll just be cold to start and freezing when I do my cool down walk.

Overall I do enjoy running.  I know, it surprises me too.  There is something to be said about the sense of accomplishment when you finish.   Of course that might change today after my 4th set of 5 minutes!!

Gadgets

 I never would have considered running to be a sport that required a lot of gear or gadgets.  And really, it doesn't "require" anything beyond a good pair of shoes and a great sports bra (DO NOT skimp on a good sports bra ladies, it is not worth it)

But I have found that I now have 3 different gadgets that have become part of my running kit.

Fitbit

This one isn't specific to running, in fact I wear it everyday.  It's a step counter that automatically syncs up to their website to track your daily number of steps.  I was amazed at how many steps 30 minutes of running/walking can add.

TimeTimer watch

I recently won this watch from a Toys are Tools giveaway.  I was very excited because I knew that I was going to start learning to run and this has a great counter feature.  You can not only watch the timer run down, but the whole watch vibrates letting you know when the minute is up.  This worked great for the first week of training when my intervals were all 1 or 2 minutes.  Now that I'm getting into sets of 4-5 minutes, it's a lot harder to keep track of the number of times it's gone off during each set.  That led me to my next gadget.

Ipod Touch with an UltraTimer App

I searched out a few apps before settling on this one.  It has the ability for me to set up any combination of run/walk times as well as lets me pick the number of sets to do for each run.  It has great sound effects like a groaning crowd when it's time to run, cheering when you are supposed to walk and applause when you are finished all sets.  It runs in the back ground while you listen to your music, even turning down the music so that you can hear it's updates.  The counter numbers are also nice and big and you can set different background colours, so that at a glance you know if you should be running or walking.

I love technology and any new toy to play with while I take up this new activity helps to keep me interested.  What gadgets do you run with?

Weigh In - April 14

Starting Weight - 217 on January 1st, 2013
Current Weight - 209.4

---

It's been a month since I last checked in here with a weigh in.  I've really been struggling this last month and I'm up 4 pounds since then.

I'm doing well on the exercise front, keeping up with TKD 3 days a week and I can now call myself a runner.  I just can't seem to keep my appetite in check, and worse, I can't make good food choices when I am hungry.  I know that if I were to knuckle down and get my calorie and carb intakes back under control, that the weight will start coming off again.

I'm tired of making excuses and simply need to gain control of my will power.

I am a runner

It’s been almost a week since I officially entered the land of being a runner. I joined a “Learn to Run” program offered through Liam’s school. The intent is to get all of us non-runners up and running (pun fully intended) by June 15th so that we can run our first 5k trail run- The Ocean Breeze – which is a school fund raiser. 

The program is based on interval training – running, interspersed with 1 minute bouts of walking. The first day we ran 1 minute and walked 1 minute for 20 minutes. Surprisingly, no one died. No one even cried or threw up. We all made it back to the school for a stretching session and lots of high fives. It even rained, so I can even call myself someone who runs in the rain.

Since then I have followed the daily program, working my way up to running for 6 two-minute intervals. Tomorrow will be our second group session and the trainers seem to think that we will be ready to run 4 sets of four-minute runs….I’m skeptical , but willing to give it a go.

I never thought I would be a runner. It always seemed like a silly sport, a bit of a waste of time. But I kinda get it now. There really is something to the endorphin high you get when you stop. I like being alone with my thoughts (even if my thoughts quickly become a mantra of “just a few more steps, you can do it”). I’ve also been struggling with weight loss for the last month, gaining instead of losing. That has finally turned around this week, I think in no small part thanks to the great workout I’m getting by running 5 days a week.

So if you are in the North end of Halifax and see a bald headed woman plodding along, give me a shout out.  Any and all encouragement accepted.