Good Run, Bad Time

I ran the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k today and I'm a little disappointed. I know, I know, it isn't about the time, it is that I finished it.  I am thrilled that I finished and finished strong, but I'm not happy with my time.  I had one goal (aside from finishing) and that was to do at least 1 second better than last year.  I failed miserably and I really hate that.  I was almost 3 minutes slower, which makes no sense to me. 

I felt good in this run.  I felt strong and was very consistent with running, which I did more than walking.  I am happy that I did finish strong and that it felt good.  Usually that first mile is killer, but I was feeling energetic and well, as the crew would say, grumpy. Apparently running grumpy did not help me this time.  I'm just bummed.  My next run is a 6k in a couple of weeks and I better see some improvement or else grumpy will be the nicest description of me.  

There were over 3,000 woman running today and when we were lined up, I actually jumped up to see over the heads.  It wasn't until after I did it a second time that I realized I had actually jumped.  It may not sound very exciting and to probably just about everyone but me, it isn't.  Jumping is one of those things I have had so much trouble doing.  

My ability to jump and lack there of, is one of the common exchanges between the Sadist and I. I say I can't and he says I can. I'm not sure I'm going to tell him about this.  First, I don't want the "I told you so" and second I can just see all the new exercises focusing on that new skill.   I think I'll keep it to myself for a while.  What he doesn't know won't hurt me. 

In my new quest to log my meals, I did pretty good. I missed one day and well that was because I definitely went off the reservation with my eating.  Even though I am just worried about logging right now, I really don't like seeing when the calories are more than they should be.  Aside from my missed day, I stayed on track and even stayed within my calorie range.  

Logging my meals also helped me to make some better choices.  Every time I thought about grabbing, say a donut, I'd remember I would have to log it and I really didn't want to see it on the log, so I made it fruit instead. I really like fruit, so this is not a hardship.  Well one week down and many more to go.  Thanks Maria and Terri for taking this journey with me.  It definitely helps.

Back on Board

It has been quite a while since I last posted.  This is not to say that my life has been boring, just that I haven’t had the words to express.  In a nutshell, the last two months have included three races (one that was a 10k), the MS Walk and a birthday celebration.  Being the good girl I am, I continued my bi-weekly torture sessions with the Sadist.  They continue to be source of frustration and hilarity all at the same time.  How can a guy make me feel like I’m 90 years old and yet act like a 5 year old?  It amazes me every time.

Yesterday, he was in one of his rare talkative stages.  He is generally a man of few words and for much of the first year I wasn’t even sure he liked me (I’m still not convinced). During one of his stories I had to remind him to give me the weights and tell me what to do.  Of course I immediately regretted it as it was squat day from hell.  On Friday I had done over 300 leg presses and today we were back to torturing my poor legs.  My main challenge with squats is my inability to bend my ankle past 90° (I can’t pick up my toes).  This causes my right leg to do a lot of the work, which is noticeable, as the right leg is larger than the left.  It’s like I have legs of two different people, kind of like Frankenstein.    I worked at engaging my left leg, but when I did that my entire body shifted.  I was no longer center and when I tried to center myself while both legs were engaged, I toppled right over.  Poor guy can’t leave me for long when I do squats.  You just never know when I’m going to take a tumble.  Somehow I managed to complete all the exercises and I’m sure I’ll be feeling it not only in my legs but in my arms as we couldn’t do plain old squats.  He had to make sure the arms were tortured too. 

While working out, the subject of my weight loss or lack thereof came up.  I have managed to stay between the same two numbers for more than a year.  The only time it went down was when I got back from vacation.  I am definitely getting the exercise, so it is time that I actually do something about my eating.  Although I don’t think I overeat, I’m going to try and to put it to the test.  What I really need to do is keep a food diary.  I have done this successfully in the past, but not so much in the last few years.  It’s time to dust off that diary (metaphorically speaking since it is an app on my phone) and start again.  Is anyone interested in doing this activity with me?  I’m serious, I need all the help I can get.  Maybe if I had someone going through it too, I’ll have better success.  Message me if you are interested.  I really want to get off this stupid plateau.  It is quite annoying.