Phew. Memorial Day Weekend!

We made it...it's the home stretch for this school year!

Only regret this weekend: NOT CAMPING.  It's going to be awesome all weekend!

Training has been going as well as it can for this humid, busy week.  Ran on Wednesday and it was like running through a never ending sauna.  Awful.  How 'bout that August Half Marathon? Yikes.

I'm trying to let go of the week and enjoy this time off....starting with SUSHI tonight.  I'm dying for it. 

Oh, and did you want to hear about my weight loss?

NINETEEN POUNDS.

N I N E T E E N  P O U N D S ! ! ! ! ! !

That's insane.  I wanted to wait til the big 2-0...but I can't control it, it's like actually happening...my scale numbers are on a steady decline!

Can't mess it up this weekend.  Gotta bring my Lite Boar's Head hot dogs with me to all the BBQ's...yum.

This is going to be a lame quick post because I need to get out in that sunshine!

Mournday.

The day where you mourn the weekend. :)

I can't help this funky mood...I couldn't run outside...so I got to go to the gym today, my FAVORITE!

And this was my view:

Ghost Whitestone Bridge in the background!

I decided to start following THIS half marathon training guide, because it seems decent and tolerable.   I did the 3 easy miles on Saturday, attempted the painful, claustrophobic crawl that is the AIDS Walk NYC on Sunday (quit after about an hour...when I looked at Runkeeper and we had walked .57 miles), so today was a run day.  The weather does not give one shit about my training plan.  Neither does the YMCA, damnit!  The treadmills were all getting repaired/replaced.  Which is awesome.  For the next rainy run day I have.  BUT IT KILLED ANY AND ALL OOMPH I HAD LEFT.  I resorted to a new "hybrid" elliptical that powers itself the faster you go, and some Anderson Cooper for a half hour.  So I guess today was the cross training day? 

For the record, I love the Y.  Never obnoxiously crowded, and never filled with jerks.  Naked people, singing people...but never jerky people. 

All weekend I felt the need for bicycle speed again.  And then I unearthed my Five Boro Bike Tour Cycling Jersey!!!!

SO PRETTY.

It actually fits now!  This means I need a bike.  Obviously.  I can't believe that was four years ago, when I was a wee lass of 24 years. 

Other than my workout woes, I've been eating a hell of a lot of Gardenburgers (SO MANY TASTY VARIETIES), staying away from alcohol (...as such, my friends as well :) ) and sleeping like crazy.  My body is all like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.....whoa...whoa.............whoa" when it comes to medications and just kinda gives up.  My pillow and I are BFF's. 

Whoa looks weird to me now.  Like it's not a real word.  Hate when that happens. 

Guess What?

I still suck at blogging!

Surprise!

This week was mad (replace with wicked or hella based on your region) busy. That, and I was just having shitty runs all last week so I needed a break from all things running as I was beyond frustrated. I took the past 6 days off to focus on interviews, hang out with friends and get my head back together a bit.

Week two of this Metformin is going well, no crazy side effects, and weight loss is moving along. I'm down 15.5 lbs as of this morning!

Today was my ease back in day, and it almost didn't happen because I now sleep about 12-14 hours a night....ugh. So I finally got out of the house at 10:30 and had a great 3 mile straight run. That's right, we are cutting the walking out.

Tomorrow I think I'm doing the AIDS Walk with my students...but I haven't heard from them. I don't really have a way to reach them and I'm hoping this all works out!

Look at me...up past 10! Yawn. I gotta fix that. Adios. :)

Stressful Week? Crappy Runs!

It's quite the correlation.

I had this whole post on Monday about how awesome Monday was.  And how this was a sign of the week to come. 

HA!

Work was consistently stressful, I started taking Metformin, which thankfully, I haven't had any side effects from....knock on IKEA particleboard, I went on a massive GROUP interview (horrendous), I've had to give up beer/wine for the next month probably, and all my runs SUCKED. 

Tuesday, I did 4 miles, but I had to keep stopping because of a cramp in my calf.  Thursday, I waited for my husband to run with me, who decided we don't need to run that far, so we turned around at 1.5.  Yesterday, ugh, worst run in a long time.  Pretty much as bad as the time I did that one mile at the track.  The mistake was trying a new venue.  I don't do well with change.  We went to Van Cortlandt park to run the 1.5 mile parade loop four times.

List time.

Why Saturday's Run was the Ultimate Disappointment:

• The parade grounds are covered in gravel/dirt.  Pureconnects are not a fan.
• My husband can't wake up early.  We got there around 10AM.  It was 78 degrees and NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY.  I could feel myself burning.
• We tried to get some shade by running off the loop onto the trails.  Another bad idea.
• Ended up walking probably a half mile. 
• We stopped the clock at 3 sad, sad miles...half of what we'd set out to do.
• And not run related, but my brand new car has a million tiny scratches from the car wash.

::SIGH::

So, I'm trying again today.  I'll probably only do 4 miles, since I haven't had a good run at all this week.  And not to make this post total Debbie Downer status, let's make another list.

Why This Week was Actually Decent:

• Booked a trip in July to go to San Francisco, Napa/Sonoma, Los Angeles, San Diego...and every winery and brewery in between.
• My resume got passed somewhere, to someone, that may want an interview soon.  This could be LIFE CHANGING.
• We're getting closer to buying a house.  Maybe by Christmas.
• I've lost 3 pounds this week...surely thanks to cutting out alcohol, and having a drug processing my insulin. 14 pounds down TOTAL...YES.
• I got Bon Iver Tickets! Who just yelled hipster?? Bastards.
• Oh, and I got a haircut!

My shocked face.  Where's my Oscar?

Did I Really Just Delete That Whole Post?

Yup. ::sigh::

Seis de Mayo

And I'm not hungover!

Went to a place in Greenwich last night called Lolita's.  It was too swanky for me.  But I can get gussied up and throw back cocktails with the swankiest.

The funny thing about swanky places...food portions.  When the menu said "Lobster Enchilada" I thought well, it can't be JUST ONE. Ha! My soft taco sized enchilada was tasty though.  Another thing about swanky places...the lights are SO DIM.  I could've been eating a roach taco for all I know (and if I was, it was still delicious) and it drives me insane to not be able to see my food.  That restaurant that they blindfold you and you eat in the dark?  I would die.  I imagine someone would flip on the lights at the end and it would be one of those Febreze commercials where it smells like roses but you open your eyes and you're inside a dumpster.

So if you see someone pointing their iPhone flashlight at their food....say hi to me!

I also got to go to H&M yesterday...where I stocked up on a whole bunch of totally unnecessary lounge wear.  My favorite of which are the H&M basics harem pants, that I have to hide in secret locations so my husband doesn't throw them out, clean the bathroom with them, or burn them.  They are hideous, look like you pooped your pants, and I was a sipping on a big gulp of haterade when I saw them all over the place in Spain....however, they are THE MOST COMFORTABLE THINGS IN THE WORLD!  And they're kinda like, fashionable sweats...no?

Shut up.

Harem pants AND Uggs...So. Fancy.

Today's a pretty lazy day.  Sundays usually are.  I get the Sunday Blues big time.  What has cheered me up is looking through Facebook posts about walking, running, getting some sneakers, commiserating about C25K.  Since I started embarking on running my first 5K, I was able to convince my husband and my friend to do it with me.  Then I convinced three more of my friends, and my friend convinced her sister and friend to do one.  I convinced a couple of co-workers, yet another friend, and even more exciting...my cousin and her daughter to do one!

So, in essence, I have annoyed/hyped/proselytized/begged/coerced/bribed ELEVEN people to get into this running thing.  That's frigging huge.  I think the fact they see that me, at my chunkiest a couple of months ago, can be chugging along, it instills the faith that they too can RUN.  It's FREE, results are pretty immediate, it's a time to meditate, it's fun to brag about (hello...blog...) and it's just plain awesome for your health.

Speaking of health, turns out I'm insulin resistant.  That's like, pre-diabetic!  Granted, it's mild, and I'm on the cusp of it...but at least it validates part of the reason I gain weight so quickly.  The other part is my love of beer and cheese (which I've cut significantly).  I get to start taking a drug called Metformin that will help me control the way sugar is used in my body, and in my case, control my out of whack hormones too.  So, now I'll be like a normal person that's trying to eat right/lose weight, rather than someone with a sugar issue monkey on their back trying to do the same.

To end this novel, here's something I find highly amusing, especially #10...hello, favorite top that simultaneously makes me feel romantic, sophisticated and coquettish...ugh!  Where's my lounge wear...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/12-problems-busty-girls-have

Let's hope for a fantastic week ahead :)

Bug-eating and Music

How many points plus are bugs?  Or are they freebies?

Because now that it's spring-like...I consume a few on my runs.  The rest get plastered on my sweaty head, arms and legs.

Too gross?

My runs have been phenomenal thus far.  I'm about to embark on a five mile in a few minutes.  I started running two miles straight, two minute walk in between.   By the 10k, I'd like to make it 3 miles straight with a two minute break, if I can't just do the whole thing straight (probably not...).

The other things I've been trying to pump up my runs are:

• Eating a small snack about a half hour before, like half a nut bar.
• Listening to Beirut (long runs) or Gaslight Anthem (fast runs)
• WEARING MY CONTACTS.  The distance part isn't as bad when you can actually see the trail in front of you.  Geez!

Anyway, what I'm really, really, incredibly excited about...is this:

PEBBLE WATCH!

Learn more here: Pebble Watch - Kickstarter!

I was thisclose to buying a garmin...but you know what? I LOVE RUNKEEPER.  And who just teamed up with Pebble?!

uhh...runkeeper....!!

And I'm down...11 pounds since I've started this blog!  The weight loss has been slow, but it's happening every week, which is fine with me!  I'm hoping to lose more weight by summer so that I can get me a fancy bathing suit for California!

Okay.  I'm pumped up.  Time to run!

Edit: What was it I was saying about Runkeeper? GPS fail today.  Totally AT&T's fault I'm sure!