They say it's your birthday....

So today is my birthday and my family has a fun day planned.  We're all going to the Japanese Steak House, one of my favorite places to eat.

Since the hubs and I discovered it sometime last fall it seems that we end up there a lot.  They cook the food on a grill right there in front of you and it's so yummy.  Steak, shrimp, chicken, rice, fresh veggies and of course the yum yum sauce.  They always serve way more than humanly possible to eat so we end up with leftovers for supper.  All this talk about food makes me think about unhealthy it's become to go out & eat.

I've decided that I absolutely have to start back on my journey to living to 100 years old.  Not sure how my birthday supper will fit into this plan but hey... it's my birthday, right??

I've been to 3 Dr's this month and all 3 told me I needed to lose weight but didn't really give me any advise on what I should/could do to shed the pounds, except 1.  Dr. Rose told me I should write everything I put between my lips down in a notebook and try to stay under 1200 calories.  How do I stay under 1200?

I've found an app/website that I love.   www.myfitnesspal.com.  If you're looking for a way to help you lose weight this might be your ticket.

Have you found something else?  Would you like to share it?  I"d love to hear all about it. :-)

Ellen

Gratitude Journal
I'm thankful for my husband.  He's my best friend as well as my companion.  Now that our children are reaching the point in their lives that they don't need us as much we have discovered that we need each other more and more.

I'm such a slacker... I really need a good kick in the hind end

I've just realized that I haven't blogged since January.  I can make lots of excuses... mainly life... but who doesn't put life at the top of their excuse list?

I going to make a promise to myself to blog at least once a week for the summer and see what happens.  How hard could it be, really??

Some of my topics will be; my brand new running shoes, (I just got them today), my hike through "Dry Fork Gorge", the chicken coop, and just other random topics that come up along the way.

I'm also going to end each one with a gratitude journal.  I've seen this on several blogs lately and I really like how it's done.

So, here's to the end of this blog and the beginning of another :-)

Ellen


Gratitude Journal
I'm thankful for my mailman.  He's been carrying the mail for over 36 years and he delivered my new shoes today.  I can't wait to run in them this evening :-)

I'm thankful for air conditioning.  With a heat index near 100 today it's really nice to be able to sit inside when it's soooo hot outside.

Week 1 of the New Year is Week 4 of C25K

I've been lucky enough to have worked in three run days this week.  I've finished week 3 and started week 4 of the couch to 5k running plan.  I thought seriously about skipping week 4 altogether but it's important to follow a plan once it's been made.

Week 3 went so well.  My legs are starting to feel better, my recovery is becoming quicker and my heart and lungs are back to where they were in Aug.  My resting heart rate is 59!  !  Did you see that?? 59! ! !

Week 4 will be finished tomorrow (no rest days due to pretty weather and the ease of the program at this point).  Week 5 will begin Tuesday and the first winter snow here in Ky may come Tuesday night.  Not sure how I'm going to schedule my runs for the upcoming week but I'll be sure to get 3 days in this week.

How was your first week of the New Year??

New Year's Eve 2011

It's hard to believe that 2011 is only hours away from being over and a new year is on the horizon.  There have been some wonderful things happen in my life in 2011 and with the good there have been some bad.  One of the biggest is my commitment to healthy living.  My family has eaten more fruits and veggies this year than EVER! ! !  I have logged 176 miles on daily mile and am continuing on my journey to live to 100.

Instead of reminiscing about  2011 I'd rather focus on what 2012 will bring, so here are a few of my goals...

eat more fresh veggies
run
be more grateful
run
stress less
run
drink more wine
run
read more (5 books about running, 5 books about teaching and 5 books just for fun)

are you seeing a pattern?

I'd like to set a goal of 600 miles for 2012.  That would be 50 miles per month.  Part of me thinks this is very ambitious for me since I only logged 176 for 2011 but with the right focus and encouragement I will meet this goal by August.

Happy New Year's to each and every one of you.  I hope your 2012 brings you good wishes and healthy living.

Ellen

My legs are wrecked

I finished C25K W1D3 today!... But I think I've wrecked my legs.

Let me remind you that my last day of running any length at all was Aug 29 so I've started over with the C25K plan.  While training over the summer I built up quite a running base.  I was running 4 miles a few times a week, so my heart and lungs were strong and in good shape.

While my heart rate and breathing were not a problem during the last week my legs were hurting.  It's hard to believe that I could get in this bad of shape in 3 1/2 months but I'm glad that my problems are just in my legs.

I've done the warm-up walking routine and I've stretched afterwards so the only thing I know to do now is to add stretches before my workout.  I might even look into some compression socks but I don't know much about compression so if you're reading this and can help me out please comment. :-)

Starting Over

Cool Runnings.... I think I love you!
Actually I love who ever created the Couch to 5K running plan  for beginners.

I haven't run since August 29.  There really isn't a good logical reason for my lapse in exercise like an injury or illness.  Nope, it was just pure laziness, lack of motivation, maybe even a little of me thinking that I just didn't have time to run.  Yeah, I know those are all only excuses and pretty lame ones at that even.

I'm not sure what spurred my need for "sucking air" but something sparked me last week to take a walk at lunch and it felt good.  So good in fact that I did it again the next day.  After that those Kentucky rains set in and with the winter solstice coming, the sun has been set before I got home in time to run. (more excuses)

I started running during the spring of 2010, right before my birthday.  Everything went great all the way through week 7 then I quit when the weather got warm.  I started over for the first time last spring bound and determined that I wasn't going to quit when the weather got warm.  I bought dri-fit shirts and shorts, lots of powerade and even one of the coolest things I've ever seen, a frog tog towel.  I even ran my first 5k after completing the C25K plan.  But...I ended up quitting once school started.  (refer back to my list of excuses)

Well, this morning I went back to the C25K plan and started over once again with week 1 day 1 and felt absolutely great at the end.  I've had so much energy all day. There really isn't a good enough excuse to not exercise, so my plan is to follow the plan one more time and see how far it takes me.  Who knows maybe I'll graduate to Gateway to 8K or even the Freeway to 10K plans.

I LOVE my Nike Shirt! ! **Review**

I'm loving running in my bright yellow shirt so much I'm showing some love to Nike and thanking them for designing such a wonderful piece of clothing.

I bought my shirt at the local sporting goods store "Hibbett's" for $20.  It was on sale, down from $25.  I never pay full price for ANYTHING! ! !

I picked yellow since it was the brightest color they stocked. Since I'm running outside and on the side of my road, I'm trying to be very visible to drivers.  School buses are yellow for a reason ya know :-)

Since I'm running for a couple of different one of which is to lose a few or 10 pounds I bought a size XL.  As soon as I pulled the tags off and wore it for the first time I realized that I could have got a L and been ok with it but it's just habit to get the XL.  It's cut to be a little loose and it's a bit stretchy so it has some give in it. It is in no way one of those compression type shirts.   I don't usually like tight clothes.  It's a bit longer than I expected it to be.  I like this since it covers my hind end a little more than some other shirts I've bought.  If you wear those low rise pants this shirt would be perfect for you.

This shirt is so light and thin it's like wearing nothing at all.  You can see my bra through the fabric but it's not inappropriate.  The dri-fit material dries almost before I get home from my run.  It is always dry before my shorts are.  In fact, when I do the laundry, I just hang it up in the utility room and it's completely dry in less than 5 minutes.

If you'd like to get one for yourself go to
 http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pdp,ctr-inline/cid-1/pid-380508/pgid-222149 

I don't think you'll be disappointed.