New Tradition?

I think that I'm going to start buying celebratory wines for certain accomplishments and save them for those events. A wine for a fitness goal, a wine for a race goal, etc. I think this would be a beautiful motivational ritual.

Went out tonight for a 1.67 mi walk with my SIL. We saw some pear trees that were heavy with fruit!

Moonlight Madness

We finally have a name for our group: Moonlight Madness! 2.86 mi for me. My Nike app said that I ran my fastest mile tonight, which is great and would explain why I am feeling like tenderized meat right now.

Plated pt. 2: Chicken Roulade

This is the second meal from the trial shipment from Plated. Chicken Roulade. The only thing I had to supply was olive oil, salt and pepper. Against my better judgement, I used all of the lemon (the juice from the entire lemon plus all of the zest) that the recipe demanded, but it would have been better to use less. 

Plated, pt 1: Soba w Salmon

I received my Plated.com shipment on Thursday, but was too lazy to cook so it became Friday's dinner. Overall, it's not bad. The food is clean and simple. The meal was very easy to prepare. I like how they packaged the ingredients. Last night I had Soba with Salmon. It claims to provide two servings, but it could easily be four, and if used as a side dish, six. While I won't become a regular subscriber because my budget is super-tight, I will stay on and order à la carte on occasion. I will post the results of the Chicken Remoulade soon.

Another night at the track

My foot was sore, but we got 4.19 mi in tonight!

Tonight, I felt like a runner

My SIL has been pretty gungho about exercising, and I am eager to keep up...at least I'm trying to do that.

I'm currently attempting for the umpteenth time to finish the active. com marathon training program. I have never made it this far in the program before. It hasn't been easy, especially with the double workout in the evening. Yet I am determined to continue this, despite the fact that I feel like I've been beaten up by ninjas the next day. In fact, I've been bribing myself with the promise of a monthly reward for finishing all of my workouts. Right now, I'm looking at this month's potential award: a toaster. I'm not talking about some crap-happy, crumb-collecting, can't-toast-a-bagel-worth-s***-from-Walmart toaster, I mean a really nice toaster.

But the final decision is up in the air on a potential reward.

Last night, we walked over 4 mi. Tonight, we did another 4 mi + hills. I was supposed to run today. That heavily hilly nighttime stroll did a number on my legs, reducing them to jelly. Yet I still wanted to run. After we all said our goodbyes and went to our respective homes, I went inside, and I ran.

I ran up and down the hallway, in the living room and around the coffee table. That was my route. Despite the air conditioning, I still sweated, even more so than out in the soul-sucking humidity which is the hallmark of a Southern summer's eve. I ran with my Nike app, afraid that it would betray me and post my stats on Facebook. I ran indoors around furniture until I reached 2.13 mi. It wasn't however, the distance that gave me reason to celebrate. My gait had widened. I have been dredging along with an embarrassing 18 min run. Tonight, I got as low as 12 minutes. That may seem like a joke to the more seasoned runner, but tonight, I felt like I was flying.

Sisters(in-law) are doing it for themselves!

4.35 mi with my SIL!

Night at the track

1.75 mi at the track tonight! I wasn't the only one there taking advantage of this low humidity!

Milestone!

I can't emphasis how slow I run. My form is sloppy and a speed walker can pass me easily. Even with that, I have passed people before. Tonight at the track, I passed this couple not once but TWICE. I've never passed anyone twice before...not even walkers. In fact, often walkers pass me as I slog along. Even though my legs felt twice as heavy tonight, when I passed by them the second time I felt like Flo Jo!

JUNE IS CONQUERED!

As of yesterday afternoon, I am now DONE with every workout that was scheduled this month! All skipped workouts were made up, every single workout is DONE! *singing "I'm gonna get a present...I'm gonna get a present!*

Getting it done...with a little bribery

On the last day of every month, I plan my workouts for the next month. I wake up every morning with a scheduled workout or rest day (I do my meals the same way, but I shop once a week). Not once this year have I completed an entire month without skipping days, usually due to sloth. This month, I promised myself a gift for completing every workout. TWO WORKOUT DAYS LEFT! I'm feeling so proud right now! I even made up three days that I missed! I'm going to have a reward for each month as a motivator!

Some relationship advice

Date a girl who runs

House Run

I know I shouldn't be up this late, but after getting my run killed by oversleeping and thunderstorms, I decided to run around the house for about an hour around 11 P.M.

National Running Day

They like it! They like it!

Hello Chick!

I never run without my shades, which I couldn't find this morning. All I could find were these big, red, attention-that-I-don't-want-getting Hello Kitty shades that my niece left in my car. But I was so glad to be on the pavement this morning I didn't even mind the extra stares that I got. It was only a 1.83 mi run, but my soul feels like it's sitting in a hot tub right now. :)

A minor, slightly erratic rant regarding fat stereotypes that I endure

Being a female of Rubenesque proportions, people make assumptions about me regularly. Here's the truth: yes, I'm big. But guess what? I'm not diabetic. My blood sugar was so great that the doctor checked it three times because he was convinced that wasn't possible for someone my size. The only time my blood pressure goes out-of-whack is when dealing with jerks and the pains that come with Life. Otherwise, I'm healthy. I've finished 54 races since January 2012, including two half-marathons (13.1 miles...each), a 10K (6.2 miles), and five obstacle runs--something they've never heard off--such as the Spartan Race and the Barbarian Challenge. Some of the finest men I've ever seen in my life have grabbed my hand at races and run with me across finish lines. I'm training for my first marathon (26.2 miles). Newsflash: I'm just getting warmed up. While their butts were asleep or watching TV, I was running at 5 A.M., running at 10 P.M., running in the rain, the cold, the heat, running at night despite my fear of it, running with weapons to protect myself from creeps, walking when I got tired then turning around, going home. Those are things that I do before most people hit their snooze button in the morning or set their alarm clocks at night. I've completed the Insanity program THREE TIMES. I bet my knees are in better shape than 2/3 of the people that assume mine are worn out. My weight will come off when it feels like it. Until then, I'm going to just keep going down the road of health and enjoy the ride. My size does not define me and neither do body-shamers. I'm bigger than that.

The Death of Dr. Pepper

This may seem lame, but this is a big deal for me. I can't bring myself to drink soda. Wine or something-plus-diet Coke/diet Dr. Pepper have always been my go-to, at-home chill drinks on those days when I just wanted to unwind. I've had a bottle of rum sitting in my fridge because I couldn't bring myself to drink soda. Now I'm blending it with fruit into a loaded smoothie. Out-of-the-blue and for no reason, soda just became physically repugnant to me. The idea of drinking one is nauseating right now. I also got take-out with my niece. Can't eat it. I tried. I've had the guilt of throwing food away drilled deep in my head since childhood, yet the only thing I want to do with this take-out is toss it. This has NEVER happened before. Clean eating, I think I'm ready for you.