Super Super Sunday!

Yesterday was a run day, and what a wonderful day it was. We decided to run somewhere away from the neighborhood, but I was still store from last week's hill run, so I wanted a long route, possibly scenic, but somewhat flat. We decided on Kelly Drive in Philadelphia. Formerly known as East River Drive, it was renamed "Kelly Drive" in the 1980s to honor John B. Kelly, Jr., a Philadelphia City Councilman,[1] Olympic rower, and the brother of Grace Kelly. It's an 8+ mile loop along the Schuykill River, and basically ends with a run past the famous Philadelphia Art Museum.

What a neat route, so much to look at, old buildings, beautiful scenery, statutes, Boathouse Row, rowers on the river...wonderful! So, of course, I took a few pictures. There was so much more I wanted to snap pictures of, but I only took pictures during my walk intervals. Maybe next time I'll get more.

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As we got halfway around the loop, I turned to Aimee, my running buddy, and asked you know, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I've always wanted to run up the steps of the Art Museum, like in the Rocky movie. She said something like "You're crazy!" No, I'm serious. She suggested it might be something to do another time...before we run the eight miles. My response, well, we'll see, you know, you only live once.

Toward the end of the run, as we approached the back of the Art Museum...

...my legs (and glutes) were really starting to tighten. We were keeping a pretty good pace but has definitely slowed down from the beginning of the run. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was better to save for another day, but I just felt so drawn to the idea of doing it.




When we were approaching to the front of the Art Museum...

... Aimee turned to me and said, "Well, what do you think?" My response, "I want to do it!" Let's go!!!! And up we went, step by step, running up the Art Museum steps, just like the movie. Ha ha. And there were others doing it as well. I felt like such a tourist! Here's pics from the top.

I was totally pumped after that run. Such a good day. And there was a little cafe right where we parked. We stopped for a cup of hot tea for the drive home.

Later yesterday afternoon I talked to my Mom. My parents were both from Philly. My Mom told me that the area we ran in yesterday was my Dad's old stomping ground when he was a young man and when my parents were dating. To tie it all together here, I realized that the movie, "Rocky", was the only movie my Dad ever took me to as a kid. So maybe that's why I felt so drawn to run up those steps and why I felt so strong running yesterday. I'm thinking Dad was watching me yesterday, cheering me on, and is proud of my accomplishments. :)

Doing It All Right and Coming Up Empty....

Ever have one of those weeks? It was a week where it seemed obvious from the start that I would have a successful week. I tried to eat sensibly all week, had a pretty successful and in-control weekend, tracked everything, the good and the maybe not so good, tried to go for the fresh fruit when I wanted something a little extra, and got in TONS of activity points. I thought for sure that number had no chance of doing anything other than going down this week. Yet, when I got on that scale at my meeting this morning, it stayed the same, no loss. What?

So did I really "come up empty"? No, I did not. Just because the number didn't go down doesn't mean I wasn't successful. When I woke up this morning, even though I knew the scale wasn't cooperating, I felt great, my clothes felt good on me, and other than a little muscle pain from all the exercising (and foam roller), just felt really good about my week. So I didn't feel I had come up empty, not at all.

Of course, I did have a little lapse today. Well, wait, let's not call it a lapse, because that might suggest failure, and it's no failure in my eyes. I was craving M&M's. This was a true craving. M&M's is just not something I think about because I don't allow myself to be in their company. But today, for some reason, I wanted them, and so I had them. No, it's not the wisest choice, but I can't live the rest of my life without a true treat once in a while. They are in my tracker and the points are counted. Plus I skipped my weekend martini today. So that allowed for the little chocolate indulgence.

Maybe the success I had this week won't show up on the scale until next week. But how will I know if I don't continue doing what I'm doing, right? If I go into a cycle of self-sabotage, what's that do for me? Not a thing! I know I had a good week, AND I know I can do it again. One day at a time. And if I keep trying and keep doing what I know is best for me, it's all good.

Looking forward to a new route for our long run tomorrow. Skipping the hills this week. Going for a flat run and then hopefully get back to hills against next weekend.

Finally bought a foam roller yesterday. Was having some glute pain, which could be just muscle strain from last weekend, or could be an IT band problem or piraformis pain. Anyway, the foam roller was suggested by some friends and so I starting "rolling". Have to admit, I think that the rolling along with ibuprofen is helping, although the whole technique of using the darned thing takes some practice.

Do you "roll"? What's your best foam roller tips?

Awesome Day!

I really am enjoying the day. Got up and had a few cups of coffee while I read the paper, got a couple of hours of work in while I waited for Aimee to be ready to run. Threw a pot of ham and bean soup on to simmer while I worked. Then this afternoon, we met for a great 6-mile run. The rest of my day has been spent in the kitchen cooking and listening to music from the 70's! I am in SUCH a good mood!

Anyway, when I saw this post at Ciao Chow Linda, I KNEW I would be making this salad!

http://ciaochowlinda.blogspot.com/2012/02/insalata-di-rinforza.html

So her version:

And my attempt:

Can't wait to dig in tonight! I think I might like a little more dressing, but I'm going to wait and see. I can always add more.

So Linda, thank you so much for this wonderful recipe!

Short and Not So Sweet

It's the weekend. That means WW meeting and weigh-in. Well, I lost the .8 that I gained last week. Okay. I'm good with that. Now it's a whole new week!

Took the opportunity on this beautiful day to try running hills for the first time. Beautiful, gorgeous scenery, although the hills were painful. :) I got through it though, with a lot more walking, I think, but I'm considering it a successful run for my first time on hills.

Making Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Muffins for dinner. If they turn out okay, I'll post the recipe. If not, you won't need to know. I put the recipe into the recipe builder, and it came out to 3 points for 1, 5 points for two. We're also having roasted sweet potato wedges. I am so hungry!!!!

My Valentine's Day Half-Marathon

FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

What a great day it's been.

Not much work to do today. Since we couldn't get our long run in on Sunday because of the weather, I decided to take the morning off and get that run in. Only this time, I was doing it alone since Aimee, my running partner was working all day.

I figured I'd try to get in about 10 miles. Turned out that by the time I got to my turnaround point, the run would be a total of 11 miles by the time I got home. Then the thought started crossing my mind, well, you know, if you can do 11, you can do 13.1. YOU CAN do 2 more miles! Just do it!

I ran 8/1 intervals, stopped once for a potty break, and stopped once at the deli to refill my water bottles, and the decision was made. I was going to run a Valentine's Day Half-Marathon!

AND I did it. It felt awesome. I have always, always run distance with my running partner, not alone. So this was a great accomplishment for me to run an entire half-marathon with nobody with me, just me and my thoughts and my tunes.

AND I finished 18 seconds faster than our Atlantic City Half-Marathon time this past October!

I can't say I wasn't feeling it when I got home. Very stiff. So I did some stretching, got a shower, and then we headed out to do some errands and then wandered around antiquing. Such a nice day.

Dinner is in the oven now, roast beef, roasted veggies, and a special "Valentine's Day" cake. Time to light the fire and relax for the evening.

Weekend Check-In

Wow, Sunday night already! So no big news around here. Got to meeting and weigh-in yesterday morning. Although I had a slight gain, .8, that is DEFINITELY a lot better than earlier in the week! Had I weighed on Tuesday morning, I would have had close a 5 pound gain! Whoa! Blaming that on poor tracking and Super Bowl weekend.

I have consistently been having trouble with tracking on weekends, and this weekend is no different. Well, maybe it's not a tracking problem, but more of a lack of control problem. So this weekend, although I may not actually be controlling what I'm eating, I'm trying to be honest about the tracking aspect of it.

Didn't get the usual Sunday activity points in either. It was just too icy, cold, and windy to get in our usual long run. So we headed to the gym and worked out there on the treadmill and elliptical. I'm going to somehow try to make up those activity points during the week.

That's about it. Starting to plan what running events I'll be participating in this year, at least one half-marathon and one full marathon included!

Striving for Strength

Just a quick post to update. I am one day away from completing two full weeks of my new program of 2 days run, 2 days cardio, and 2 days strength training, although technically, I didn't get the second day of cardio in last week due to a last-minute issue.

I am LOVING working on the strength training again. There are a few machines that, to be perfectly honest, I hate, but I'm doing them anyway, because I can feel that I'm getting stronger, and that the strength training, for me, is a necessity to get to my 2012 goal of running a full marathon.

Hubby goes with me, and while I'm working on the machines, he's also working on some of them, which is so great to see. He has some very, very bad back issues, but has learned which machines he can do, which ones are helping him to stretch, and which machines he cannot use. Each time we go, he finds something else that he can work with.

He also sets up each machine for me. As I'm working on one, he's setting the next one up for me, and he wipes them down when I'm finished. So I get done the circuit quicker and am able to do more machines in the hour that I have set.

Oh, yeah, and he figured he'd play paparazzi today and snap a few pics while I was working out. Okay. They're not bad. So I'll share.

The third picture is a new machine that I added to the routine today, the lat pull down. Not sure if I was doing it right, but seems like it.

I've also been doing a lot of cooking and trying new recipes. Hope to have a new post about that soon.

I also STILL have not done my "11 things about me" post. Just having a hard time getting it all in. But I shall not give up!

Tough Love/Fixing the Flat

Time for some Tough Love. I did not have control of my meals AT ALL this weekend. I headed down the Healthy Weekend road...and then lost all the air in the tires. Well, Saturday wasn't all that bad, but yesterday was not good at all! What got into me? And the day started out so awesome with a 9+ mile run. But after that, I just let go of everything I've learned and, honestly, for a day, just didn't care!

Really?!!! What are you doing! Get a hold of yourself! Be strong! You could have handled that so much better! And why the chips and dip? Did they really do something for you? There were plenty of fresh veggies on your plate, and some multi-grain crackers. Okay. But chips? And then birthday cake, ice cream AND cookies? Really?

Okay. So it's over. Stop beating yourself up. Time to "fix the flat" and move on down the road.

Healthy breakfast...check.
Plan to drink extra water today....and then again tomorrow.
Planning to get to the gym for a workout today....and then tomorrow
Planning on a healthy dinner today....and then again tomorrow.

Wrapping it up and Starting Again

Happy Saturday! Been a good week for me. Had a lot of little things on the "to do list" this morning. So I chose to skip the weekly meeting and weigh-in. Already knocked a few things off the list!

It's been a good week though. I feel good. I set up a workout schedule for last week, two days cardio, two running days and two strength training. The only day I missed was an at-home elliptical workout yesterday...because the day got turned completely upside down, but in a good way. We had our driveway repaved! Oh, my gosh, it needed it so bad. We had hills and valleys in our driveway!

Anyway, I did dive into my WPA's a bit this week, but got in a lot of activity too. My arms are a bit sore even two days post-strength training, but I am enjoying it. This week I think I'm going to get back into the pool for laps as one of my cardio days. I LOVE swimming laps! and I'd still like to get to that spin class, but so far, work has prevented me from getting there.

I know it's only been a week with the strength training. Is it possible that I'm feeling a change already or is it my imagination? I've also been trying to focus on my "core" as I'm working out. The arms, well, they're going to take a lot more work.

Bought lots of fresh veggies yesterday, including another spaghetti squash, swiss chard, broccoli rabe. Won't be cooking this weekend though. Visiting one of my aunts today and birthday party for niece and nephew tomorrow. But I do have a stash of Pillsbury Grands biscuit (light) and low-fat mozzarella to make some little pizzas for the game if we're hungry when we get home!

So here's to another good week. The one thing I do need to work on more this week is getting in lots more water!