Whoot

I am proud of myself so I'm going to brag a little. So what?

I ran for 45 minutes non- stop yesterday on that treadmill. Which came to be 4.52 miles. The farthest and longest I have ever run in my life! I burned 472 calories, too!

I'm just psyched. I'm going to try and slowly work up to an hour and I would like to be able to run a 10k in a few months..

Still running.

Yep. I'm getting some good use out of that treadmill.

I took the last two days off. I've had a bad shin splint,(shin splints?) in my left calf thats been bugging the hell out of me. So I've been resting and icing it. 

This morning I took it slow. I did 5.5mph for 35 minutes and then 7.0mph for he last 5 minutes because when I looked down and realized that I hadn't even hit the 4mile mark yet, I panicked. I still didn't hit the 4 mile mark, (3.80) which is pathetic.. and I probably even hurt my shin more by pushing my speed so much but, the run itself was good.

The pace was a little slow, but I knew I planned on running 40 minutes and didn't want to over do it. Eventually I want to make it to a whole hour of running, (which I've never been able to do) and after that, Id like to see if I can run a 10k (on the treadmill, not an actual race yet)

If you're not into running, I don't think you know the kind of high it gets you. Running is the main reason for my weight loss. I lost 50+ pounds because of  it, the high.

When I first started, I was almost 190lbs. Thats pretty big for my 5'6" body. One day, I just went to the gym, got on a treadmill, and forced myself to run 1 mile without stopping. I did it. It took me 14 minutes, but I did it. And after that, I just couldn'tget enough. I went everyday to the little gym that they had at my housing complex. And day after day, I would force myself to go a little bit farther.

I also started running outside and up huge hills. It was such a great feeling to see that weight fall off. At my lowest weight, I was 127lbs. Right now, I'm back up to 131 with a goal of being 125 and staying there.

Oh, and now my fastest mile is 8 minutes and 24 seconds. Which is a huge accomplishment from 14 minutes.

I guess the whole point of this post is to let people know that it can be done. You can do it and you will feel so much better about yourself when you do. Hang in there

Stats

Today I ran a 8:29 minute mile! ANND, I'm down 2lbs! Yay!

Here are my stats (according to my treadmill) since we started.

I've had 13 total workouts.
I've ran a total of 32.04 miles
I've burned a total of 3,556 calories
And I've ran for a total of 5 hours and 49 minutes.

My fastest 5k right now it 28 minutes and 52 seconds.

Over all, I'm pretty happy with these stats, Of course, I can always spend more time on the treadmill. One day, I'd like to be able to push myself to run a whole hour on the treadmill. The longest I've ran on it so far is only 39 minutes and 14 seconds. But, I'm getting there. Just have to learn to really pace myself I guess..

I'm very happy with the weight loss as well! I'm only 6lbs away from my goal weight of 125. Once I hit that weight, I'll start strength training at the gym again and leave my running for every other day here at home. At least thats the plan right now.


As of right now though, I have to take it kind of easy because of this shin splint in my left calf. Its so hard for me to, "take it easy" once I get on the exercise wagon though. If I have an off day, where I dont run, I feel like a fat hunk of lard. I know it's stupid, but I do. I know off days are good for your body and your muscles. They need to heal, and your body needs to rest.. but it's a mental thing with me I guess. I know when I'm not running, I can be doing other things like walking or strength training.. but it just doesn't give me the same high as running. The same sense of accomplishment, I guess you could say...

Guess thats something I need to work on..

28:59 5k time on the treadmill tonight! Guess it's time to sign up for another race. There is one in Emerald Isle in April. It's also a half marathon, but I'm totally not ready for that. I'm hoping to be able to run a 10k in a few months, but Id probably better get a few more 5k's under my belt first. I still struggle with those.

The last 5k I did was almost a year ago. WOW! Yeah, April of 2010 I did the Dodge the Deer 5k back home. I dont think my time was very good either. Its amazing how easy it is to slack or fall off the wagon, I guess you can say.

But I am very happy that we bought a treadmill. We use it daily. We've had it for 2+ weeks now and I've missed two days. And thats great because those were off days.. it's good to give your muscles a break.

As far as weight goes though, I'm still at 133. Plus its that time of the month so I'm bloated anyway. So hopefully this time next week, I can report a weight loss..

Thats about it for now :)

Okay fine

                                                         This is me, and I was runnnnnniiinnngggg!

Yes, that is a dish towel. I can't run without it. I hate looking at how far I've gone or how far  I have left to go.

Anyway, Aaron took this picture. Hes been asking me why I haven't taken any pictures of our "awesome new treadmill" or posting any status updates on Facebook about it. (which I have by the way) He's so proud of it, and spent a lot of money on it. I guess he figures that I post everyday on Facebook about whatever I want and he's hurt that I haven't bragged more about the treadmill. So here it is.

Our treadmill is pretty awesome. Except we've had it under two weeks and the incline is broken. The power cord got stuck in the actual treadmill as it was declining and it pinched it. So now we've got to get someone out here to take a look at it and hopefully fix it..

Ive ran on it every day but one since we bought it. I think Ive put in a little over 20 miles on it.. so that feels good. It feels good to have that runners high again. Ya know?

So I guess now that Im back into running, I should sign up for another 5k. Aaron said he wants me to be running a 10k by the time he gets back. So I've got 7 months to shape up.. we'll see..

I feel like I have 50 billion places to track my workout! LOL I do it here, I do it on www.myfitnesspal.com (my user name is ibejackerz if you'd like to add me) I do it on the Live Strong app on my Ipod..and on dailymile.com it's all over the place!

Last night I did 2.88 miles on the "weight loss" option. I love all of these options. It makes running on the treadmill a little more fun. So the weight loss option has 3 levels. I do level 1. Level ones speed goes to 7.4mph and doesn't go slower than 5.2 - so thats a steady run and sprint. You do each interval for 30 seconds before it switches.

Starts at 5.2 then goes to 5.9, then 6.2, 6,9, 7.4.Like I said, you do each for 30 seconds. When you hit 7.4, you start going back down all the way to 5.2 - then it starts going back up again. The whole 30 minute workout, I did 4 sets(?) I guess you would call 'em. Of up and down. It was pretty intense and I felt great,(sore but great) afterwards.

I burned 324 calories and ran for 2.88 miles.

Today will be the first day off since we bought it on Saturday. It's gotten a lot of use, too! With the Live Strong treadmill, you can track your workouts.  When I get back on tomorrow, I'll write down how many miles Ive done, how many hours I've logged and all of that.

As much as I didn't want to, this morning I hopped on our treadmill and ran. I'm just glad to have it over with. 30 minutes can sometimes feel like forever on a treadmill..

Today I did the "foot hill" option. Where you pick the speed and the incline goes up and down. On a level 1, the incline goes up to 3.5. (which is enough for me) I think Aaron did his last night on a level 2 and I think he said it went up to an incline of 7.5 - here is a picture of him tackling the foot hills.

My. Oh. My! He's sexy when he's sweaty!

You wont see any pictures of me on the treadmill though. Because I look like a crazy, out of breath, dying monkey. And I don't want anyone to have to witness that.

Feels good to finally get back in the swing of things though. Ya know? After not being at the gym since the beginning of January, and only running outside here and there when I feel like I absoulty have to, I haven't been doing much.

 And it shows! I'm 133lbs - the weight itself is fine for my height. But after having two kids, my hips and legs will never been the same. And I feel like thats where I hold the majority of my fat. Hopefully sticking with the treadmill and doing some squats and lundges will help. I just have to keep at it.