Spring Update

I always thought that spring was supposed to be a time when things slow down after the busy fall and winter hockey seasons, but that hasn’t really been the case this spring. Of course, I did run a marathon at the beginning of April, so that kind of took up some time. 😉 The boys have also been on new teams this spring, so we’re settling in and adjusting to new things and new people and new coaches. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm among the coaches, especially on JJ’s team, because they’re young, and it’s a new team, and, well…eight-year-old hockey is fun. 😉 But that has meant a lot of on-ice time, and off-ice time. We’ve had to drive pretty far for quite a few of JJ’s games, and that’s hard to fit into the schedule.

We’re in the middle of a weekend when Jamie has a hockey tournament, and a baseball game, and JJ has a hockey game. And oh by the way, it’s Mother’s Day. :/ No rest for this hockey mom, that’s for sure. On the other hand, next Friday is my husband’s birthday, and he gets to spend his birthday driving 60+ miles back-and-forth to two hockey games. So I guess we at least get to share the misery. 😉

Anyway, I’m just whining, when the reality is, I signed myself up for this. 🙂 I do love to watch my boys play hockey, and I’m proud of what they’ve accomplished so far this spring season on new teams. Jamie has really settled into his new team, which actually includes quite a few kids from his old team, and they’ve done pretty well.  On Tuesday, he had a school concert, but he also had a hockey game. So of course we did what any hockey parent would do: first, we took him to the concert, all dressed up, so he could play his trumpet.

Doesn’t he look handsome? There was a singing portion to the concert, too, but we took him out early, had him change in the car, and got him to the game all dressed and ready to go on the ice—with 10 minutes to spare!

He had a good game, and they won, which is always a bonus.

JJ has been quite busy, too, with lots of games and lots of practices.  His team is brand-new, with a lot of kids who are just moving up from house to travel, and they’ve been playing against some very experienced teams, so they’re not doing great, but they’re having fun. And they’re definitely improving! He had a game on Wednesday night, and he really played well. He loves playing defense, and he’s quite aggressive for a little guy.  Despite the fact that he’s smaller than a lot of the kids he’s facing, he doesn’t seem to notice when he’s out there roughing them up. 😉 (Check out my little number 8 below.)

So that’s what’s going on with hockey. Jamie and I are gearing up for our next run, which is going to be the Kona 10K in June. He loves the Kona races, and can’t wait to do it. This week, he ran 3 1/2 miles for his long run, but it didn’t go quite as well as he would have liked. He ran it while I was at work, and I got this text on my way home.

When we I got home, I checked on his splits from the Garmin software, and I started to understand why things hadn’t gone so well.

Look at that first mile…a 10:06! His average runs have been quite a bit slower than that, so I knew he tired himself out by pushing too hard in the first mile. We talked about it, and I convinced him that he needed to slow down, and not push quite so hard on the long runs. I told him he could do speed work for a short run each week, for a mile or so. With his current hockey schedule, he’ll be lucky to get one run a week at this point, though. He was discouraged, but I know he won’t give up. He’s looking forward to those post-run bagels next month. 😉

As for me, I’m trying to get back into the groove and figure out what my average pace is. Marathon training really took away all the speed I had, and it left me discouraged, to be honest. Not being able to maintain even an 11:30 pace for the marathon got me down, so I’m determined to work on getting faster. I know I can be faster, based on my half marathon finish last November. Last Friday’s 5K was definitely a boost to my ego, with my 9:25 pace…a new PR!

Monday morning I ran 5 miles, based on the Hal Higdon post-marathon training program. I wasn’t really trying for speed, but I was pleased to have a 9:47 pace overall. Tuesday morning I ran three, and although I didn’t start out trying to be fast, when I saw myself getting down into the 9:20s for the first mile, I got inspired and decided to see how fast I could go. I had a 9:28 for the first mile, and then a 9:21 for the second mile. As I ran the last mile, I was getting pretty tired, and I decided I wasn’t going to kill myself to run super fast. When I got the turnaround, I looked at my watch, and I was actually doing a 9:08! Part of me was all geeked, and wondered if I could get to a sub-eight, but the other part of me, the part of me that’s lazy and gets tired easy, said, “Don’t push it. Just run.” So I backed off just a touch for the last half mile. When I got home, because I’m a numbers geek, I of course immediately went look to see what my pace for the last mile was. I was about ready to kick myself.

Two seconds! That’s all that stood between me and the sub- eight! 😉 But I felt really good about my run, and very accomplished. For Thursday morning’s 3-mile run, I decided to take it a little easier, and I ended up with a 9:28 o overall, which was good.

I suppose I should talk about my weight, especially after all the drama last week. When I weighed in at home on Monday, I was down a pound.

I wish there was more, but I’m not to complain about losing, as opposed to gaining. I really have issues with chocolate, and it’s still pretty plentiful in my life right now. I need those kids to eat their damn Easter candy. 😉 When I weighed in at my weight watchers meeting at work, I was down .8, so about the same as my home weigh-in. After the issues I had with my weight watchers leader last week, I decided not to stay for the meeting, which actually was okay because I had a work meeting at noon anyway. Because I am Lifetime, I really didn’t have to go at all, but I wanted to get in a weigh-in for the month of May, so I could get my free E-tools card before the session at work ended. It’s very unlikely that we’re going to do another session, because it looks like everybody’s kind of gotten to that point that most people get to about this time of the year, when their enthusiasm for actually sticking to a weight-loss program wanes. There were only a few people who actually attended that last meeting, despite the fact that it’s supposed to be mandatory.  I’ll miss having my monthly meeting just steps from my desk, but I’ll have to just find a way to make it to to the regular meetings. Thank goodness I only have to go once a month! And now I have until the end of June before I have to go again, so hopefully I’ll lose a couple more pounds by then!

I certainly understand the lack of enthusiasm by my coworkers, but I also know that nobody can motivate you to stay on the program. It has to come from within, and if you’re not ready to make that leap, you’re not going to. It took me more than 20 years to finally realize that I really did want to lose weight for good. And once I got to that point, I realized that nothing—absolutely nothing—was going to make me go back. Being at goal (ok, maybe a pound or two above it right now 😉 )is the best feeling in the world, and I don’t ever want to not have it. That’s what keeps me running four days a week, and it’s also what keeps me from eating everything in sight whenever I get the chance.  Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Wherever you are in your journey, I encourage you to think long and hard about whether you are truly ready to do it for good. When you are, nothing will hold you back, but in my experience, it’s only when you get to that point that your weight-loss program will truly work for you.  I wish you all the best in your journey!

Thanks for reading!