My masochistic tendencies

I absolutely wore my medal to work on Monday.
There's a 48 hour rule.  You're allowed to wear it for 48 hours
after receiving it.  After that, it becomes boastful!

Recovery is a bitch.  It hurts to breathe.  Yesterday, I was in pretty substantial pain all day.  Man, a half marathon can suck the life right out of you.  A few things I effed up;  I didn't stretch right after the race, then I walked to Emma's Back Porch (7 minutes from the finish line) and had chili and socialized for an hour before going home and stretching...2.5 hours after the race!  Not good. Once I stretched, I failed to ice my hamstring and quads before cleaning myself up.  I had physio last evening after work and I got an earful from Graham.  He was not impressed.  He was even less impressed at how tight my joints were.  He had a hell of a time stretching me out.  I took pity on myself and booked an emergency massage this Thursday after work.  I know that I'll need my quads stripped.  I can feel the muscle knots in them.  I swear that I wouldn't be able to run if I was being chased down by a pack of wild dogs.  That being said, I'm getting up tomorrow morning for a 6K recovery run.  Nice and slow.  I think it is just what I need!

I got an email from my former running coach and mentor Carol.  She congratulated me on completing the Chilly Half Marathon and said she was impressed with my results.  That means a lot coming from her.  She's still in freezing cold Regina.  She's coming back to Southern Ontario at the end of May, beginning of June and is running the Women's Half Marathon in Niagara Falls on June 2nd.  The day before my 43rd birthday.  I just may have to run the same race.  Am I a masochist or what?  It would be an honor to run in a race with Carol.  And it gives me the opportunity to crush the 2:15 half marathon. I should have my crampy toes worked out by then. That's going to be Grahams focus in physio from now on.

I'm done day two of Phase 1 of Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet.  Ah, the memories came flooding back of what a treat it was the first time I did it.  That time I did it for six months.  It's all good.  Only 40 days left.  I can do this for 40 days.  Trust me, focus is all I need and I just wanna getter done!  I could continue to do what I'm doing and wait for my body to change in it's own sweet time, but time is something I do not have a lot of.  I have running goals I'm trying to meet.  Therefore I must get as lean as I can as quickly as possible.  The best way I know how to get lean in a healthy and quick way, is low carb, low fat, low sodium.  I ate a ton of food yesterday.  I ate a lot of leafy greens and protein.  I had four meals and no snacks.  And I ate till I was full.  That's what worked best for me before, so I ain't gonna try and fix what's not broken!

I have no idea how much I weigh.  I haven't really cared up till now.  I did make an appointment to see Dr. Stephen on the 12th of March, so we'll see where I am next Tuesday.  I mean I cared, but I knew that things were good.  I've been maintaining just fine because my clothes are fitting looser. And just to make a point about exercise and maintenance (you know how they go hand in hand), here are a couple of new belly pics compared with the ones I took at the beginning of December 2012.

December 7, 2012

March 5, 2012

I think there is definitely a difference in the wrinkles on my stomach as well as my belly button looks more normal now.  I think it just looks smoother all together.  See?  Running really does work 4 abdominal muscles.  And sucking your gut in while running helps too!  Don't mind the scratch marks on the second photo.  I cannot stop scratching myself.  And yes, I moisturize.

December 7, 2012

March 5, 2013

Sorry the bottom pic is blurry.  Hubby was annoyed that I asked him to do this while he was watching a movie and I didn't have the heart to ask him to do it again.  So, basically the same as the narrative above.  I've flattened out some.  In my abdomen only!  Don't let these photos fool you. I'm still a mess in my ass and thigh area and my upper arms are horrific.  But at least I have decent abs.  I'll take what I can get!  I'm interested to see what the photos will look like 40 days from now.  I know you will all be waiting with bated breath!

So before I sign off for the night, I need to take this opportunity to thank you all for all your awesome congratulations and your continued support and encouragement.  It means so much to me and I actually got choked up reading some of the emails and Facebook messages I received. You guys ROCK!  And just in case anyone is interested  I am documenting more of what I eat and how Phase 1 is going day to day on my Facebook page.  The badge is to the right of my blog. You can click on it if you want more detail about my diet and exercise regime.

Love that sign!  Running is a mental sport, you are all insane!!!!

Waiting for mommy at the finish line.

Chilly Half Marathon

Drinking my morning fuel.  Need coffee before
a long run!

I am not gonna lie!  I am sore, sore, sore.  I don't think I have been this sore after a run ever!  I didn't have a great sleeping night last night.  I was up every hour and anxious as all get out.  I finally dragged my butt out of bed at 6am, to get ready for the big day.  My BIL Ross came out to the start of the race with Dawn, Brett and I.  He wanted to record it.  And he got some pretty decent video.  He was quite a trooper because he was out the door with me at 8am, and probably didn't get back to my place until half past one.  Lots of waiting around for him!  You ROCK Ross:)

Three of the Back of the Rat Pack Girls.  We missed Monica and Tanya:(

Or go home...

Me and my new friend!

That's the starting line waaaaaaay up front!

Only a few more minutes till gun time.

The race started out really good for me.  I was feeling strong and completely focused.  The feeling of euphoria for just being there was definitely guiding me.  I didn't have a plan for my race, I figured I'd just run.  I also planned on running straight (no walk breaks except at water stations).  I started out pretty slow and before I knew it, I was passing the 2:15 continuous pace bunny.  I felt like I was on top of the world and my breathing was real good.  Nice and easy.

That's the 2:15 pace bunny behind me in the red shirt.
I threw those mittens at my BIL as I passed him.
This was about 5.5K 

Our awesome cheerleaders!

At about 13K, it started.  My toes started to go numb.  And I knew exactly what that meant.  My toes were cramping.  I was still with the 2:15 pace bunny and was either neck and neck with her, or just in front of her. My moment of disaster happened at the 14K water station when I slowed to a walk to have my eLoad performance drink, and I couldn't start running again.  I walked it out for a couple of minutes then resumed my run, but I lost the 2:15 pace bunny.  It all went down hill from there.

Now, I'm not too disappointed in my time.  For 14K I kept a 6:24 pace with no walk breaks.  After my toes cramped? I have no idea what my pace was.  All I know is that I finished with a 2:19:47 chip time.  That's a 6:38 pace.  Considering that 51 weeks ago I could not run for one minute continuously, I'm not beating myself up.  And two months ago I injured my hamstring?  I rock! Sucks royally that my hammy felt great but my toes were the problem.  A new issue we need to work on in physio.

My two best boys came out to cheer me on:)

It's all about the bling:)

When I was running the last kilometer of the race and I was in more pain than I have ever felt, I thought of why I was doing this and it helped me reach the finish line.  My son is my inspiration. He is the reason I am.  I am quite confident that I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for him. But I also thought a lot about my mothers.  The mother who raised me and has been gone for nine years, and the mother who gave birth to me and has been gone for a mere 4 months.  They were guiding me the whole way.  And I know that where ever they are, they were smiling down on me today.  When I was approaching the finish line and I saw my son, my husband and my BIL, I got so choked up, I could barely contain myself.  I will probably never have that feeling again, but it is something that will remain with me forever.

I also insisted at the 18K mark that I would never be doing this again   It's a little like giving birth. In the moment it's painful and hard and you wonder what the f*ck you're doing.  But once it's over and you get your recovery bar and water, you ask yourself, "when can I do this again"?  I'm definitely looking forward to starting phase one of Dr. Poon's diet again tomorrow.  I'm going to get into the best shape I can, and completely destroy myself so I can be the best runner I can.  Good times!

Thanks to all for the endless amount of emails, Twitter messages, Facebook messages and texts that I got to offer support and good wishes for my first half marathon.  It meant the world to me.  I'm gonna crush The Bay with my hubby.  We're so pumped to do this and there isn't anyone else I'd rather do it with (with the exception of my gal Beverly of course).  He's my biggest cheerleader and supporter.  I love him to pieces:)

Beautiful Dawn.  She's a real pleasure to run with:)

Back to the "drawing board"

So we never actually got  a storm.  Not in Hamilton anyway.  I got to work in less than one hour (which is super fast) on Wednesday.  I guess everyone was anticipating the storm and stayed home.  Better for me.  I actually got some work done!  Back to the proverbial "drawing board".  I just went through all my weekly fliers and circled all the phase one deals for the next week.  My hubby is the best man in the world.  That's right, I said  the world.  I asked him what he wanted to do regarding meals for the next month and a half and he has committed to following phase one with me.  I love him:)  This makes my life SUPER easy!

If you wanna know what phase one is...
order this book.  It's totally worth it.  

Phase one seems like a lifetime ago.  I'm not gonna lie.  I'm actually looking forward to it! I love being in complete control and I never felt more in control of my eating than I did when I was on phase one.  A very dear friend was a little concerned about me and wondered why I felt the need to lose 15 more pounds.  If I wasn't a runner, this would definitely not be a priority for me. I think I look okay, but I know my running performance will definitely improve if I buckle down and lose a bit more weight.  I also know that in time with continued running, it would eventually take care of itself.  True that!  But I don't have a bunch of time.  My Boston qualifying marathon is in November.  That does not leave a lot of time for training.  And since I said I'd give it my best effort, I really am gonna to try.  Even if I don't qualify, I will know in my heart that I did my absolute best. And there's always next year!  I'm so blessed to have such caring friends!

So Sunday is my half marathon.  I'm bummed because one of the Back of the Rat Pack Girls is having to miss out.  She has a bum knee and it's just not worth it to run such a long distance when you're in pain.  Not worth it or advisable!  I'm confident that, with some physio and strength building exercises from my guy Graham, that she'll be trailblazing (and by "trailblazing", I mean trail running) with me this spring and summer! I can't wait!

I'm excited, but nervous about my half marathon.  Last night was my last half marathon clinic.  I've been doing this clinic since November.  It's so weird to be done with the "prize" so close.  Last night we had a clinic talk with a couple of women guest speakers on "Race Prep".  It was like watching a comedy sketch.  They were quite entertaining.  They talked about how they have run many marathons over the past 14 years, and don't care about their finishing time because everyone gets the same medal.  That is true.  And every race is truly against yourself.  No one else.  Unless you want to get into Boston of course, then the time definitely means something!

I had a good short run last night.  I ran 3.3K, but at the best pace I've done since my injury.  I know it was a real short run because we scaled back, but I ran a 6:30 pace and felt like I could go on forever.  I felt strong and healthy, and so did my hammy.  I got stretched out real good today by my physiotherapist.  I was a bit tight, but he was pleased with my progress over the past month.  I guess stretching has been helping me because at my massage yesterday, it's probably the first time in a few sessions that I left without feeling pain of any kind. It was actually a nice relaxing massage.  I usually leave my massage therapist after having something "stripped" or having to have elbows dug into muscles to help loosen them up.  Such a score that I wasn't sore!

If anyone is interested, I have a Facebook page.  You can "like it" if you feel so inclined.  I have no idea how to create a "badge" for my blog.  Starting Monday, I'm going to update on it daily with my eats and weight-loss progress.  I promise it will be real boring and mundane, but necessary.  And I swear on all that is holy, If you're even thinking a second about doing low carb, low fat, low sodium, once they are out of your system, it becomes so much easier to kick them to the curb.  You honestly cannot miss something that you no longer have.  Give it a try.  Clean eating is definitely the way to go!

Processed sugar = junk.  Your body deserves better!