4 days 'til 1/2 Marathon

Now that it's hot out I splurged and got myself an iPod armband. It's pink and cute and supposedly $2.5o went toward breast cancer research so there's my good deed of the day, especially considering I got the results of a breast sono I did a few weeks ago and though I have lumps in my breasts, they are not cancerous. Good news for me! I didn't really mention it until now because I didn't want to talk about it really. 

I've never been in a BIG race before so I am nervous as all hell but I think it will be a blast. I will have to update sometime during the week with my running accouterments. 

Guns

I wore that dress today! And I didn't start a fire with my thighs, LOL. 

Utter Hell.

I was SO happy. It felt too good to be true. I should have realized....that usually means it IS too good to be true. 

Nabisco graham crackers. I have been really stressed out lately and also really short on time and sleep. I just came upstairs from watching Biggest Loser, taking time out of my sleep schedule to do so...and I've had about 11 graham crackers today in total, which I thought was only 2 crackers above one 130 calorie serving. Turns out I read the Nutritional Facts wrong. That "just over a serving" I had turns out to be 5.5 servings, which is 715 calories. I have eaten 10-11 full cracker sheets at least 4 times in the past week and a half. No wonder I am up a crazy amount....and I also just realized there is partially hydrogenated oil (trans fat) in the ingredients, plus corn syrup. 

No wonder I have been weighing 180 or 181 in the mornings. I have honestly been feeling so frustrated lately. 

I worked 3 hours on a diet analysis project of which 1.5 hours was spent on this program...and when I went to save the .pdf files onto my flash drive the computer in my school's library just shut off and restarted, wiping all my data. This is on top of realizing I am averaging a C in that course despite working my ass off and despite that class being 3.5 hours long...it's a once a week course...but STILL. 3.5 hours to sit still in a chair and take notes is an incredible task for me. 

I feel like crying. I think I'll go and do that. These next two weeks are going to be hell. 

Half Marathon Trial Run!

I finally figured out how to use the nike plus webpage (after a whole MONTH of having the sensor, lol). In my defense, I had cookies enabled and I didn't realize nikeplus.com doesn't like firefox, and I have a mac so I had to make safari my preferred browser. OMG, the web features makes it EVEN BETTER! I am in so much love with this thing you have nooooo idea. I love love love that you can see how fast each mile was. I'm a little confused though--it told me my fastest mile during the 13 miles was 9'53 (!!) but it says 10'49 up there. Oh well! It's still pretty awesome. It allows me to see how fast I run over a long distance. Apparently I run pretty evenly, which means that I have a good perception of effort. 

Stats for 13.1 mile run:

Time: 2:29'28"

Avg pace: 11:23 min/mile

Calories: 1750

My favorite song to run to as of late? "Till I collapse" by Eminem, which...like...whatever..I hate Eminem, but it is SUCH a good song to run to. Gets shit pumpin'!

We had to stop several times during the run because the farthest one of my running partners has run before was 9 miles and her legs were hurting badly at some points, but we are tapering now (only doing elliptical and light mileage) and we are hoping and praying for sub 2:15. It is definitely possible. 

Update

My recent subscription to Today's Dietitian, my new wallet, and my new stainless steel water bottle. Dandelions! <3

Damage control is in the works. I have gained like 7 pounds in the last few weeks due to stress, overworking myself, and getting sick. When I don't run, even for a week, I gain 5 pounds instantly. Not fair. But I realized once I got my nike plus sensor that my base mileage is 14 miles and, depending on my long runs, I am running 20-32 miles a week. I didn't even realize I was running that much! No wonder I can eat about 2,200 calories without gaining weight. I haven't been tracking calories over the past week, but there has been definite binging....

I cannot seem to get my act together food-wise. I'm thinking of re-joining weight watchers, but I don't know how helpful it will be. I just wish there was an environment where I could talk to a bunch of people on my fitness level who are losing weight face to face. I am getting so frustrated! I know I will lose a lot of weight this summer, though (I usually lose the bulk of the year's weight in the summer), and at least that is sustaining me. I am not very pleased with my eating though. I cannot seem to eat under 1,800 calories for the life of me.

The other day I ran ten miles and then did a full body workout, including a lot of work on my legs. I am an idiot! I can barely walk down the stairs in my house. My quads are KILLING me! Work tomorrow will be interesting. LOL. We are going to Atlantic City with our house residents. It should be fun but tiring and I hope the legs will hold out.

The good news is that I am prepared for the half marathon! We are doing our last training run this weekend. Actually, it's a trial run. We're going to simulate the half marathon and then take off two weeks from running, replacing our week runs with the elliptical. I'm getting really excited! I love getting free T-shirts from events, and even more, I love getting MEDALS. lololol.

D Day approaching

Three weeks until my very first half marathon, the RexCorp Long Island Half. I'm nervous! The farthest distance I've run has been 12.5 miles. I know it shouldn't be a problem and I'm not looking for a certain time, but it's still nerve wracking. My family will be there. It should be a lot of fun. :)