Water Water Water

      6 Comments on Water Water Water

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No, I’m not talking about Texas, a state which has unfortunately seen much more than its share of water these last few weeks. 🙁  My thoughts and prayers are with all the folks in Texas (as well as other surrounding states) who are dealing with a record amount of flooding this month.

No, the water I’m talking about is the drinking kind, and there’s plenty of it my life right now. I decided last week to make one “healthy” change to aid in my weight loss efforts, and that change was to drink more water. Before last week, I would have told you that I have no problem drinking the required 8 glasses a day. I LOVE water, and I do drink it a lot. In fact, other than 1 cappuccino a day (which includes 1 cup of fat free milk) water is the ONLY beverage I drink. I used to be a Diet Coke addict (5-6 cans a day), but I gave that up three years ago, so now, it’s water and milk (and cappuccino, which is actually made of those two things).
But then, last week, I actually measured my big water cup and figured out how many times I refill it in a day.  Come to find that I was only getting about 40 ounces in per day…and 8 glasses times 8 ounces is 64. :/ So, I upped my water game and have been drinking 64 ounces a day.

Dude.

I seriously do not know how the people who hate water would be able to do this. I love the stuff, but after about 48 ounces, I feel like I’m sloshing around in my own personal sea. To say nothing of the trips to the bathroom. 😮 But I’m determined to drink more water, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I’d like to say that it made a difference in the scale, but…

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That’s up .2 from last week, aka, stayed the same. It’s probably because I’m so bloated from all the damn water!!
Whatever. I had plenty of GOOD things happen last week, so let’s talk about those, shall we?

Friday morning while at work, I got a text from my friend Ann, who ran the first relay leg of my marathon with me last month.  Her text said: “Feel like running 10 miles with me tomorrow? I have to do 20 and I could use some company!”

Ha!  How’s that for an invitation? 😉  Ann’s training for another marathon (her sixth or seventh) next month, and although she’s had some injuries, she’s battling back and is on track to run another 26.2 next month.

I actually had planned to run 8 miles on Saturday, with 3.5 of it being on my own, then 4.5 with Jamie for his 10k training.  But I know firsthand how hard it is to run 20 miles, much less run it solo, so I offered to do eight with her, with the intent to still do 4.5 with Jamie when I arrived home.

And just like that, I went from a relatively relaxing 8 miles to an almost half-marathon! 😉

When we discussed a time to meet, I told her I was flexible and that the sunrise is about 6am these days (which I love!).  So, Ann suggested we meet right at six.  Oh boy—what a way to start your holiday weekend, ha ha! But although it was tough to convince myself to get out of bed at 5:15, I’m glad I did, because I got to enjoy this on the way up to the Metropark entrance:

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It was an amazing sunrise. Ann and I ran a simple out and back that took us into Lake Erie Metropark (from the top), all the way to the bottom and then out onto the road about a mile before turning around.   Ann and I have a lot in common…we work for the same (very big) company, we both have two sons and all four of our boys play hockey (two in the same age group), and of course–we’re both runners!  We kept up a conversation the entire eight miles, and I had a great time.  It’s so rare that I run with someone else, I forget how enjoyable it is, especially when you have lots to talk about (or gossip about, ha ha!).

My plan was to keep it in the mid-11s at the fastest, since I knew I had to run with Jamie later.  I noticed for the first three or so miles that I was going rather fast, and although I was feeling okay, I was worried I was going to tire myself out, so I kept slowing down our pace to get me at least closer to the low 11 range.  When we hit the turn, I was feeling really good, and the conversion was just so engaging, I wasn’t really paying attention to my pace.  When we finished the last mile, I checked my watch and was stunned to find that we had averaged exactly an 11 min-per-mile pace!

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While 8 miles at an 11 pace isn’t spectacular, even for me, I was excited because I’d kept up that pace while talking the whole time–and it hadn’t felt too hard!  That’s a big win for me. 🙂  I’m so glad that Ann asked me to run with her–it was a great run all the way around!

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Back at home, I got about an hour break while I waited for Jamie to wake up enough to actually run.  He’s not much for morning running. 😉  We usually run by the house, but on a whim, I asked him if he wanted to go to the same Metropark I’d just run with Ann.  He was enthusiastic about it, so we hopped in the car and back up the road I went. This time, we started at the bottom and went up.  He was pretty quiet at first, and I let him have his space.  He had indicated before the run that he wanted to talk a walk and water break every 1.5, and we took the first one as expected.  We then turned around at 2.25, and I was surprised to find him suddenly talkative.  He talked about hockey and dogs (we saw a lot of dogs being walked, and he’s very wary of running by dogs after getting bit by one of our neighbors’ dogs while on a run last year).  Then he surprised me by suddenly announcing that, when he gets his first job, he hopes it could be at the Metropark! When I asked why, he answered, “It’s not McDonald’s, so I wouldn’t have to serve crap food to people. It’s a respectable job that will look good on a resume.  And it’s close to home.”  All logical reasons! (My son has become a bit of a fast food snob, lol!)

As we neared the 3.75 mark, he took one more short break, then we headed into the final stretch.  I told him he could feel free to sprint at the end if he wanted, but he said he didn’t have the energy.  And then of course, he did it anyway!

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He even called out as he ran ahead of me, “I don’t know why I’m doing this!!”  LOL!

His run was good, but even better, when it was over, he wasn’t exhausted and miserable.  He even cheerfully posed for a selfie.

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And then he gave me a demonstration of how they teach you to sprint in football.  Yes, he did springs AFTER running 4.5 miles!  😛 Crazy kid.  He had a great run, and I was really proud of his efforts.

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That’s a great “long run” pace, which included the walk breaks.

So, there you go–lots of good things happened that had nothing to do with the scale this past week.  And actually, the scale is moving in the right direction for Jamie…he’s been almost perfect with his eating, and running 3 times per week consistently, and he managed to lose almost 4 pounds in two weeks.  Wish I could see that kind of success. 😉

That’s it for now, because I need to go to the bathroom…again! 😉 Thanks for reading!

6 thoughts on “Water Water Water

  1. Jen

    I think the 8 – 8oz glasses is outdated. The current rule of thumb is half your body weight in water. Which for you is probably the same thing! lol

    Reply
  2. Meg B

    Way to go on the weight loss, Jamie!

    I love that you almost ran a half marathon just for the heck of it. Go you and your bad ass running self!

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Ha ha, sure, why not get up and run almost 13 miles just for fun, right? Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  3. Melinda

    I’ve learned the hard way that, unless I keep track of how much water I drink, I won’t drink enough. I had a very similar experience to yours–I went for months thinking I was drinking more than enough water, only to find out that I was falling short. I have worked out a system that works for me. Each morning I fill 3 24-oz bottles up with water, putting 2 in the fridge and starting in on one. I need to drink AT LEAST that amount–if I have to refill any of the bottles, that’s even better!

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Wow, drinking 72 ounces sounds like SO MUCH!! Good job for you in finding a way to get it all in!

      Thanks for commenting!

      Reply

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