Back at it!

It's been quite a while since I posted anything.  That's largely because I got so discouraged.  I had hit a plateau and stayed at the same weight for more than 6 months.  After that, I was so very discouraged by my very strict eating plan that I began cheating more and more.  I put back on some of the weight I had lost, and that just made me more discouraged.

I saw my cardiologist on April 1st.  I expected him to really fuss at me about my weight gain, but he just asked me what happened.  I didn't give him details of my discouragement, but just said that life happened.  He recommended that I join Weight Watchers.  He explained that the problem with my yo-yo dieting is that, when I gain weight, I also gain fat in my arteries.  When I lose the weight again, I don't lose the fat in the arteries.  It stays there.  And if I gain weight again, I just get another layer in my arteries.  I don't want to have to go through another bypass surgery.  It wasn't fun!  So, I joined Weight Watchers, and I'm hoping to reach my goal once and for all, and learn to STAY THERE! 

So far, I've lost just over 11 pounds since I joined WW on April 6.  I've also met some amazing women who have become friends.  We walk together every Saturday morning before our meeting and we encourage each other.  It's so much better than any online support group, as these women know me and understand my struggles.  I'm going to make it this time!  I still need to lose about 30 pounds, but I'm on my way!

I have quit running.  I'm just walking now, but still always trying to increase my speed.  I just decided that the running was causing too much trouble with my back and I was in pain most of the time.  Since I reverted back to just walking, I'm still getting the exercise I need, but I don't hurt so much in between.  I'm registered for five more races this year (and still plan on at least one every month).  I hope to finish one in under 45 minutes very soon!

Stay strong!

Cheryl

Another Race

On Saturday I participated in the Zach Tucker Memorial 5k.  My dad did this race with me.  He can run circles around me, but he stayed with me anyway.  As a result, he only took 5th place in his age group, which was "60 and over."  He probably would have been in the top three if he had run us best race.  Even at my slower pace, he was in first place in the "70 and over" group, but the organizers didn't include that category.

I finished in 44:56, which is not my best time, but it's better than the last race, so that's good.  I was in 8th place out of 19 in my age group, so that was also good. 

I've got to improve my endurance, but it's so hard with back and neck problems.  On some days when I plan to run, I find that I just hurt too much to do it.  I've got to push myself more on the days that I don't hurt so that I can run for longer and longer periods.  I plan to run some tonight, and will push for at least two 3 minute runs. 

Stay strong!
Cheryl

Discouraged, but never giving up!

I've been feeling a little discouraged lately.  My blood pressure has been high, and I've had to add a new medication to try to get it back under control.  I had been hoping that all this healthy eating and exercise would help me to reduce the number of meds, and instead I'm increasing them.  Very frustrating. 

I've also been feeling like I'm not progressing on the running fast enough.  I can still only run consistently for about 2 minutes.  On a good day, I might get in one 3-4 minute run, but after walking a bit, I can't do that again.  With 2 minute runs, I can repeat it a few times.  My dad (a fitness instructor and my greatest cheerleader!) reminds me that I'm in it for the long haul.  I don't have to run an entire 5k TOMORROW!  I just want to do it EVENTUALLY.  Still, I thought I would progress faster than I have. 

I have another 5k coming up on 10/26.  This is the Zach Tucker Memorial race, and I believe this one will include some running on trails.  It's also beginning to be cooler in the early mornings, so hopefully that will be conducive to a good race time.  I'm still just trying to finish one in under 40 minutes.  My dad will be running this one with me, and I fully expect his time to blow mine away!

Keep moving friends!
Cheryl

Good Enough.

Hello Friends,

I participated in another 5k on Saturday.  This was the Tunnel to Towers 5k in Orlando.  It's still super hot here in Central Florida, and on Saturday morning in Orlando, it was also super muggy.  That, combined with some sciatica issues, meant that I did NOT have my best race.  My official time was 45:07.  I had hoped for closer to 42 minutes, but I did my best, and that's always good enough!  My friend, Connie, ran with me again, and her time was much better:  42:47.  Although not a personal best for either of us, we were both in the top half of our age group, and in the top half overall, so we feel really good about our results.  I guess the heat and humidity affected everyone! 

Next up is the Good Cookie run in Plant City on 9/21.  Does anyone think that two weeks will make a significant difference in the heat index?  Probably not, but I keep telling myself that running when it's hot will make me run BETTER once it cools off.  I hope I'm right!

Cheryl

Fitness Update

I've struggled with a sinus infection this week, and it has made me not feel much like working out some days.  I try to work out six times per week, and I only made it five times this week.  Not bad, I guess, under the circumstances! 

I have managed to complete the Couch to 5k, week three program 3 times, so I'm going to move on to week 4 starting tomorrow morning.  It goes like this:

Jog for 3 minutes.
Walk for 90 seconds
Jog for 5 minutes
Walk for 2.5 minutes
Repeat.

Of course, there's the 5 minute warm up walk first and a cool down after.  I don't know if I can jog for a full 5 minutes, but that's the goal for the coming week! 

I have another 5k coming up next weekend and I hope to beat my previous best time of 43:16.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave me a comment if you have the time!

Be strong!
Cheryl

Stitching for Brynne

Last Thursday, I attempted the Couch to 5k Week three program again, and I got closer, but still couldn't quite do it.  On Saturday, my third attempt was wonderfully successful!  I did the four runs as planned (90 seconds, 3 minutes, 90 seconds, 3 minutes) and then did six rounds of running for 2 minutes, walking for 3.  It was a great work out. 

I find that I always do better on the weekends when I can work out first thing in the morning.  I just can't work it into my schedule to work out in the early morning during the week, but I suspect I would improve faster if I could.  I plan to stay with the week 3 program for another week, since I've only fully accomplished it one time.  Then next week, I'll move on to the week 4 program. 

Another of my hobbies, is cross stitching.  I'm not as much into it as my sister (you can check out her work at http://chocolates4breakfast.blogspot.com/), but I am currently working on something fun.  It's an afghan for my daughter.  She graduated from high school last year and was very active in the drama department.  I bought an afghan with 20 cross stitch panels, and I'm stitching each one with one of her plays.  Since she wasn't in 20 plays, I'm having to fill in with some other items like this one, showing that she lettered in Drama, Chorus, Band and Academics:

Here are the others that I've completed so far:

In each one I'm showing the role she played in smaller letters (that's why it says "Annie" twice on that one!).  Brynne's troupe was the first to EVER perform "Magic Fairy in the Microwave," so they are the Original Cast.  The difficult part of this project is that there are no patterns for these.  I have to create my own pattern and then stitch it.  I'm hoping to complete the afghan by Christmas!

That's all for today!  Looking forward to a great run tonight!

Keep Trying!

Yesterday I attempted the Week 3 portion of the Couch to 5k plan.  I didn't do so well!  This was the plan:

Walk for 5 minutes to warm up.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 3 minutes.
Walk for 3 minutes.
REPEAT.
5 Minute cool down walk.

Here's what I actually did:
Walk for 5 minutes to warm up.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 2 minutes.
Walk for 2 minutes.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 90 seconds.
Run for 90 seconds.
Walk for 2 minutes.
Etc,, until I had done 20 minutes of run/walk.  Then I continued walking at the same speed until I completed 2 miles.  THEN the cool down walk for another quarter mile.

SO, it looks like it's going to take me a while to get comfortable with the Week 3 plan!  I may be on Week 3 for three or four weeks!  I'll keep trying!