How the Mighty Have Fallen

Okay, I don’t really consider myself “mighty,” nor have I ever (okay maybe a I did for a brief moment after I finished my second marathon 😉 ), but regardless of my self-opinion, I have definitely fallen far from where I once was.  😮

I’ll try to keep this short by focusing on three topics:

1) My weight.  There is no hiding that one.

That is up more than 8 pounds from my last blog-posted weigh-in (the day before my marathon in October).  Just…yikes. 😮  And yet, it’s not my highest weight in that time.  Yes, although I haven’t been blogging nor was I actively tracking my food for the last two months of 2018, I did still weigh myself faithfully every week.  It wasn’t pleasant, I assure you.  Here are a couple of charts to illustrate at a glance where I’ve been headed lately.

Chart 1 – All Years

Chart 2 – Since 2011

You can’t miss that upward trend there at the end of both.  You can see in the 2011 chart that I had a couple of big upward trends in November.  Obviously, post marathon, and then it got crazy after Thanksgiving—seven pounds in a week!?  Probably a fluke, but I only lost 3 of those pounds the next week, so not totally inaccurate.

It’s definitely eye-opening to see it graphically illustrated that way.  My highest weight in 7 years, the most I’ve weighed at the end of a year by almost ten pounds, my longest stretch of not tracking since I lost the weight…these are not superlatives I’m proud of.

So what now?  Well, clearly, it’s time to stop eating with abandon.  I’ve been tracking for a couple of weeks now, and I was down to 131 on Christmas Eve, but the holiday week got me.  God I love cookies. And all the other stuff.

There is something to be said for being in control.  Even though I gained weight last week, I did feel better about myself for having tracked it all.  Yes, I went over my calories, but I know I did, and by how much, and that’s a freeing feeling, believe it or not.  So, onward and forward.

2) My next race.  The Rock CF Half Marathon.

I ran this race in 2017, right before we went to Hawaii, and I ended up with a PR that I have not beaten (or attempted to beat) since.  It was not an easy race.  I’ve run the 5k as well, and I can tell you that it’s cold and windy.  But it’s a spring half, and you get to see some beautiful homes. (It’s run on an island that is known for its wealthy inhabitants.)

I have no plans to PR this one, though…I’m pacing my friend, Meg.  I’m nervous about it, because I’m actually a really lousy pacer.  I’m just too nice.  In both my pacing experiences (Toddra and Meg), I had a hard time pushing my partners to meet their goals.  I can’t help it…when someone says, “I’m tired and I don’t want to,” my default is to say, “Oh you poor thing. Let’s walk some more and maybe get an ice cream.”  (Ha, okay, I’m not that soft.)  I’m going to try harder to be mean this time.  Okay, maybe not “mean.”  Stern?

Meanwhile, to prepare for it, I’m using the same training plan I used to PR the 2017 Rock CF.  I trained that way when I paced Toddra for the Free Press Half later that year, and I felt great afterwards. (Great enough that I signed up for the full the next year…as questionable as that decision was.)  This plan was developed by my friend Katie at Runs for Cookies, and it includes weekly speed workouts and running 5 days a week.  That’s actually a step back from the Hanson’s marathon training I did last year (six days a week of crazy miles).

Despite the fact that I’m running less miles and less days, this training plan won’t be a walk in the park.  Tuesday was my first speedwork day since the fall, and wow.  It was SO much harder than I thought it would be.  I mean, I expected it to be more challenging, since I haven’t done speedwork in months, but dude.

I thought my lungs were going to burst with those last few intervals, and I truly almost gave up on the 7th one.  Sprinting for a minute is damn hard when you’re carrying almost ten extra pounds.  🙁  I didn’t keep to my goal pace (sub-7:45) for every interval, but I didn’t quit.   I sure hope it gets easier.  Otherwise, I may need to find a different training plan.  But I keep telling myself I’ve done it twice before, so I know I’m capable of it. On the bright side—I got to sleep in today. 🙂

3) Weight Watchers.

Monday morning, after my run, I realized that it was the last day of the month, and I had not yet weighed in at Weight Watchers.  I haven’t used the program since they made chicken free and started severely punishing me for eating beef and chocolate, but I still weigh in every month to keep my Lifetime status.  I could’ve skipped it and just paid next month, but I figured I should at least try, since I had to go out and get milk anyway.

With it being New Year’s Eve, I figured I should check to see if they were even open.  When I went to the site to look for the hours to my normal meeting location, I was a bit surprised at the redesign, but then I went to look for the meeting location.  Only, instead of saying, “Find a Meeting,” it said, “Find a Studio.”

I’m sorry…a what?!

Apparently, things have changed since I last weighed in.  😮 I started poking around the site and they don’t have meeting locations anymore, they have Studios.  You don’t attend a meeting, you attend a Workshop.  You don’t have a leader, you have a Wellness Coach.  Oh, and it’s not Weight Watchers anymore…it’s WW, Wellness that Works.

Okayyyyyyy.

I guess I’ll have to try to find the time to stick around when I do finally weigh-in this month.  (Turns out they closed early for New Year’s Eve, so no December weigh-in for me.)  As far as I can tell, they haven’t changed the plan.  I’ve started dual-tracking in WW and My Fitness Pal (which I hate doing…so much effort and time spent) just to see if anything is different (better), and I’m still being punished for enjoying beef and the occasional piece of chocolate.  *sigh* I suspect this dual-tracking won’t last long.

Okay, that’s enough for now.  I’ll leave you with a picture of our Christmas card, which went out on December 26. :-p

Thanks for reading!