Ten Miles and a Wedding

I not only survived my 10-mile run on Saturday, I pretty much rocked it. 😀

I chose to run around three towns like I did for my 11-mile run earlier this year, but this time, I chose a different route so I could run through a different town and mix things up.  And it was fun! I not only saw a few new (to me) historical markers and some really cool historical architecture, I even saw a Michigan centennial farm, which I think is just awesomely cool.  I know I’ve mentioned before that I am both a history major and a history geek. Well, local history just happens to be my favorite, and I love finding things like this.  To me, history “in my backyard” is the most interesting history of all.

Okay, enough history. 😉 Back to running. It was actually a warm and humid day.  When I woke up and saw that it was 68 degrees with the humidity around 95%, I wanted to crawl back into bed.  But no! I persevered and got out on the road by 8:30am.  Although I’m more realistic about my half-marathon goal this time around (at this point, I really just want to do better than my first two half-marathons), I’m still training toward that 2:10 finish.  According to that schedule, Saturday’s run was ten miles total, with 6 at race pace (9:55).  I’ve been doing the first miles at race pace instead of the middle miles, just because I find that I have more energy at the beginning of my runs.

Not long after I started came the “big” hill over the freeway.  Since it was at the beginning, I did just fine, and I came into a wooded area by the community center.  In this spot, there were bridges over the ravines and ditches, and since it had rained earlier, I felt a little unsure of my footing on the wet wood and leaves, so I slowed down just a bit.  I picked up speed after that and continued until I got to a spot where I knew I needed to turn into a neighborhood.  Turns out that was a dirt road—ugh!  I don’t like uneven footing of the gravel, but I survived.  What I did not survive quite as well as the trip through the neighborhood, where I got lost. 😛  I knew I would…I do better with a map in front of me. I did eventually find my way out, but I ended up shaving some mileage off that I would have to make up later, oops.

I ran through the second town, over the river and then, just past the river, I finally hit six miles—all at race pace or below!  I was darned impressed with myself for keeping at race pace for six miles, despite the humidity.  And then, instead of walking for a bit like I used to do after I finish my race pace miles, I slowed to a jog and continued jogging for the next four miles.  I ran non-stop for an hour and 45 minutes! Go me. 🙂

 

 

I felt good when I was done, and after a bit of a rest, I was able to go back and take some photos of the beautiful fall foliage and scenery.

 

 

 

 

After the run, I’d like to say I rested, but I had laundry to do and messes to clean up all over the house.  Once I got done with that, it was time to get ready for a wedding!  Considering Jamie had a hockey game (in Ohio!) that night, it was a bit stressful to get everything figured out, but we dropped him at a teammate’s house, dropped DS#2 at my sister’s, and then we were off to the far-flung regions of Oakland County, where the lifestyles of the (Metro Detroit) rich and famous is surely filmed. 😉 The wedding was in a beautiful location at a country club, and my husband and I joked that they might not less us “hicks” in the door, but we did have a lovely time.  I love weddings (and wedding food), and it was fun to just relax and enjoy an evening with my husband.

 

 

Yes, I’ve worn that dress several times before, but let me tell you, for the price I paid, it needs a few more wearings for me to get my money’s worth. 😉

The ceremony was on the golf course, and though the sun wasn’t out, it was still a beautiful sight.

 

 

My husband and I greatly enjoyed dinner…

 

 

That’s Amish chicken with some sort of apple sauce.  Yum! And the cake was not just beautiful but delicious!

 

 

I actually liked the cake so much, I scoured the banquet room looking for any plates left at empty place-settings.  Sadly, there were none. 😉 That was probably better for me in the long run.

Unfortunately, although I did run 10 miles, with a total of 23.5 for the week, the scale was not my friend on Monday.

 

 

Sigh.  Up two pounds again.  It’s frustrating to know that it seems I just can’t eat all those activity points I earn and still maintain my weight (much less lose it).  I’d had 4 weeks in a row of losing, and I was really starting to feel encouraged, but this week my hopes were crushed.  And before you suggest it, just know that there are no “hormonal” reasons for this weight gain. 😛

I know I shouldn’t focus on the scale; in fact, during my ten-mile run, I listened to an entire podcast about the science of weight loss (and maintenance) that gave very logical advice about why it’s such a bad idea to focus on the scale and on maintaining a specific weight.  Unfortunately, I’m just not the person who can let it go so easily.  I think the most frustrating part for me is that, prior to March when I injured my knee, I had no problems losing and then maintaining weight.  It was pretty much effortless.  Now, it’s effort-full, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get back to even within 2 pounds of where I was. It would be different if I had just blown it…said to heck with it and binged on everything in sight.  But I haven’t.  I’ve tracked every day, I exercise a ton, but the weight still won’t come off.  It’s now been six months that I’ve been dealing with it, and I know I sound like a broken record, but darn it—I’m tired of working so hard and not seeing the result on the scale!!

Okay, whine over for this week.  I’m still tracking, and exercising, but my plan this week is to not eat all those activity points.  I’ve run 7.5 miles so far this week, with another 16 miles scheduled between tomorrow and Saturday.  There are no weddings, no birthdays, no celebrations of any kind, so hopefully I can take off those two pounds and at least get back to 117.  I’m really starting to feel like I’ll never see 113 again, but at this point, I’d be happy to see 117, and thrilled to get to 115!

Because I hate the thought of ending on a down note, here’s a picture of Jamie, the hockey AND football player (and part-time runner!) from his football game on Sunday, in which he had a fumble recovery in the red zone, which ultimately led to a score for his team.

 

 

Isn’t he a handsome boy? 🙂

Thanks for reading!