Chobani Giveaway Winner

Yay, yay, yay, it's time to announce the winner of my Chobani giveaway. 

First, a recap: there were 59 comments, however, 1 didn't count for an entry so that left 58.  One person earned 5 bonus entries so that makes a total of 63 total entries!

And the winner is....

Leanne of Leanne Lately!!!!!

Congratulations, Leanne!  Send me an email at fortherunofit [at] gmail [dot] com with all your information and I'll hook you up with your very own sample pack of Chobani Greek yogurt!  Lucky girl!  Please enjoy some pineapple for me! 

Thank you EVERYONE who took the time to enter my giveaway!  I really appreciate your support of my blog and I know Chobani thanks you for your interest in their fabulous Greek yogurt!

The Treadmill Made Me Faster

Or else Nike+ just isn't that accurate.

I'm going with the faster thing.

Tonight's run was really awesome.  I came home from work and was able to go out immediately for a run.  I completed 3.6 miles with an average pace of 10:46 which includes both a warm up and cool down walk.  Miles two and three were 9:54 and 10:02 respectively.  I'm loving that!!  Thank goodness for Forrest who is becoming and awesome running partner!  It makes me feel like a winter on the treadmill has not sucked as much as I thought!

So I've registered for a few events.  Here's what my schedule looks like so far:

May 1 - Bloomsday (12K)
July 23 - Spokane Indians 8K Pennant Run
Sept 11 - Athleta Iron Girl 10K Run

I talked with my friend briefly about the RnR half.  Neither of us feel like embarking on a strict training schedule to plan on running the entire thing.  But, we are down with the idea of a run/walk.  Hmmm, it sure would be fun to get that medal.

Tomorrow's Friday, my day off.  I have a bit of work to do, though.  But I have a 4 mile run on the schedule.  An easy, flat 4 miler that may even turn into more.  I'd love to log 5.

Athleta Iron Girl Event Series - Seattle 10K

I'm registered!!

I registered for the 10K run and I'm very excited about this girly event!  Anyone else planning this one, or one of the Iron Girl events elsewhere?  Has anyone participated in one so far?  I'd love to hear about your experience (s). 

For more information about this event series, click here.

How to Enjoy an Orange: A Pictorial

I'm not a food blogger and I don't play one on TV--or this blog.  What I am is someone who likes to enjoy my food, bite for bite, without a lot of preparation and fuss!  I present you with what I have found is the best way to prepare and eat an orange.  I'm 36 years old and I have finally learned to enjoy these juicy wonders and I'm thrilled!  A good orange is awesome, after all, but what isn't awesome is peeling it and getting that orangy-white stuff under your fingernails--and even a biter like me walks away from peeling an orange with orange fingernails.  And there is nothing worse than peeling one only to find out it's nasty and/or dried out.  All that work for nothing!

Enter the Cara Cara orange.  I have yet to have one of these oranges that wasn't just the best thing ever!  Now you might be thinking that I'm going to just cut the orange, peel and all, instead of peeling it.  Well, you'd be partially right. 

I am going to cut it, but I'm going to cut it into super thin slices!!

Then just for you I arranged it on a plate.  I added the bananas just for a fruity picture!

And then when you eat the lovely slices, you just tear the peel and the juicy orange practically falls right off.  It's awesome!  Unlike when you cut the oranges into wedges, there is no gnawing the orange off the peel like an animal.  It is all just delicious, delicate, juicy slices of orange with barely any mess, and definitely no juice running off your chin!

I really enjoyed it and didn't leave any for you.  Sorry, you'll have to get your own.  (Another tip: I like to toss the peel into my garbage disposal for a little added kitchen fragrance!  I hardly use my disposal but I do like to destroy a citrus peel or two)

So there you have it!  My favorite way to eat an orange, the method that finally brought me back in touch with a fruit I love.

*****
There's still time to enter my Chobani giveaway!  Don't delay, enter today!!!  Ends March 31st.

It's Shocking!

A couple weeks ago I bought a mat for under my treadmill.  I have had the treadmill on the carpet in our basement and it's not pretty under there.  There is oil and filth under the console like you wouldn't believe, and there's probably a bunch of carpet fibers all up in its business!  I bought the mat because I wanted to move the treadmill to face the TV and didn't feel like ruining another section of carpet or risk anymore carpet fibers.  I also thought it might cut down on the amount of static electricity that builds up when I am using the treadmill.

Do you have this happen?  You're running along, minding your own business and your hand brushes the treadmill and you're shocked all the way up your arm?  Like you can feel it in every hair on your body?  It's the strangest feeling ever and I really don't like it.  I thought it was the carpet causing the static, but  apparently it's just me.

We moved the treadmill tonight--finally.  It didn't work in front of TV because the console is too high, but we were able to put down the mat before we moved it back to the corner.  Then I jumped on it for my Monday run (I don't care if it's Tuesday) and about five minutes later, crack!  I was shocked again.  The mat makes no difference!  Aaargh!  I guess I just have to deal with it unless anyone has any suggestions.

Anyway, I logged 4.33 miles, but I still think the Garmin footpod (A.K.A. Calibration Fail) is not exactly accurate.  The distance measured was about .58 different than the treadmill because the speed was faster.  Now, I did check the cadence against my last outdoor run and it is a bit faster so I guess my pace could be faster on the treadmill than outside.  I'm not dealing with hills or wind on the treadmill--only the lightning.  But it's the difference between the Garmin and the treadmill speed/distance that's bugging me.  Could my treadmill be that far off, or am I just running faster than the belt is moving?  Or is the Garmin off?  I don't know and I'm probably thinking about it too much, but the last thing I want to do is log more miles and speed than I deserve.  I know you runners can understand this.  If it's nice enough to run outside on Friday I'm going to drive somewhere that I can run for 4-5 miles on a course without any hills.  I'll judge it then.  In the meantime, I'll also try to calibrate it again during tomorrow's run.

Food: Fitness: Fun

Okay, first, did anyone notice how freakishly small my arm looked in that last picture?  Trust me, it is not that small.  It was the digital zoom on Forrest which made my arm look like a toon arm.

Anyways, I'm happy to report a loss of 2.2 pounds for the week bringing me (back) down to 154.4.  I had an amazing week last week so I'm hoping to keep the forward momentum!!  Here's the deets on my food, fitness and fun!

Food: All seven days I stuck to plan and did not indulge in any junk, even by counting the points.  All good, healthy, whole foods.

Fitness: I logged 4 runs which was 14.66 miles.  I'm still having a bit of an issue with my Garmin Foot Pod, however, so that could be overstated by about 1.5 miles.  Whatever, I know I had the minutes in anyway.  I tried calibrating it Saturday morning on the treadmill, but I got the lovely message "Calibration failed".  I'm about ready to give up, but I'm not sure I can return it at this point so I guess I have to keep working on it. 

Fun:  I completed my 2006 scrapbook!  Woot woot!  I also have photos for 2007 through 2009 on pages so all that's left is journaling, titles, and putting those suckers into albums.  In my vein to simplify (and get caught up), I have gone back to the basics with regard to scrapbooking.  Lots of photos with lots of journalling.  Isn't that really all you need?  I also completed a couple other outstanding To Dos on the home list.

As you can see, with regard to food, fitness and fun, my week went really, really well!!

In other news, I am possibly embarking on the half marathon train soon. My friend and I might sign up to participate the Seattle RnR together!! If so, this would be a planned run/walk event because neither of us is ready to run the entire thing, although adrenaline could kick in and surge us forward. I think it would be awesome to stick together regardless of whether we run or walk.  The Seattle RnR is at 85% capacity right now so there is still a bit of time to decide. It's the money, friends. I just don't know about spending the money and all that jazz. We're supposed to be connecting about it soon to hammer out details.

*****
Don't forget to enter my Chobani giveway.

I'm sorry, I'm one of those people!

Today I did one of those things that I thought I'd never do.  I returned a used but perfectly good product just because I found it cheaper elsewhere!!

Did anyone see or take advantage of Amazon's Garmin deal the other day?  I did!

I know, I know, I'm one of those people!

I promptly snatched one up, used my awesome Amazon Prime membership to have it shipped overnight for $3.99, and had it in my hot little hands yesterday!

This afternoon I returned the Garmin 405CX to Costco.  I felt remorse, I still do.  Especially when they attached the "non-saleable" tag to it.  But a $50 savings is a $50 savings.  That is how much I save by getting the Garmin 405 from Amazon.  I lose the calorie calculation feature, but I have zero plans to use the heart rate monitor anyway so it's not a big deal to me at all.

I know Costco has their satisfaction guarantee for a reason, but I still feel badly for taking advantage of it.  I heard about a lady once who bought grass seed from Costco, planted it, then brought the empty bags back the next year for a refund because she didn't like the look of the grass!  I'm not as bad as that, right?!

Anyway, new black Garmin will also be known as Forrest and we'll just pretend blue Forrest never existed.

Have you ever returned a used product because you found a better deal?  Did you feel remorse?

Ps. Don't forget to enter my Chobani giveaway!

Twitter

As an update to this post, I am now on Twitter.  I don't know why and I have no idea what I'm doing.  Right now all I know how to do is click Follow when I find someone.  I'm fairly sure it will be a supreme time waster if I even go there.  BUT, I decided to at least secure the ID in case someone tried to snap it up.  Perhaps someday I'll use Twitter and know what I'm doing.  Until then, you can find me at @therunofit (someone already has @fortherunofit, no idea who, perhaps I should Twitter them, Tweet them, whatever), but I probably won't be saying much nor will I know how to respond if you Twat me, oh, I mean Tweet me.  (Okay, I crack myself up.)

*****
Please enter my Chobani giveaway.

I hope I look back and laugh.

Yesterday and lately have been difficult days in mommyland.  Since I am a worrier, it's hard for me not to worry about every little thing.   Someday I hope I can look back at these days and laugh (and I hope to God it's not because I'm experiencing something way worse) because right now I feel completely lost.  I keep telling myself the only thing I can do is the best I can, but secretly I'm wishing this kid came with a damn manual!  Luckily I have the support of my husband who is the level headed one, and he will help me get through all this in one piece.

All the stress did lead me to the treadmill last night so score one for the mommy.  This was my first run with Forrest and my foot pod on the treadmill.  My cadence was the same as an outdoor run, but the speed was more than a whole minute faster which made the distance way off.  I didn't think I'd need to calibrate it since I used it first on an outdoor run, but perhaps I need to after all.  I'm too type A to let it go, but I wish I could just rock the 9:28 average pace and pretend it's real.  No can do.

Several bloggers I know are going for a 100 day chip.  It all started on Twitter I think, but basically it's 100 days of doing your stuff right, at least that's what I'm taking it to mean.  I've decided to do my own little 100 day challenge, in fact I consider this day 4 of my challenge.  Who knows, I could reach my goal weight within these 100 days.  The world is my oyster in 100 days and I'm off to a great start. And if I slip up, I'll start over the next day.  In my book "doing things right" means eating on plan and exercising at least 4 times a week.  I still want to get up to 5-6, but 4 is minimum.  So if by the end of a week (Sunday for me) I haven't exercised at least four times...FAIL.  If I go over my weekly points allotment...FAIL.  This will mean I have to start over.  100 days to 100 pounds?  Hmmm, time will tell.

100 days = March 21-June29 (must think of catchy title for this challenge)

*****
Make sure you enter my Chobani giveaway!

Awesome Garmin Deal at Amazon

Amazon has an awesome Gold Box Deal today.  Check it out!

This is an awesome deal on the Garmin 405!!

Chobani Review and Giveaway

Recently I contacted Emily over at Chobani to ask for the opportunity to review Chobani for my blog and host a giveaway.  She was kind enough to send me a case of Chobani so that I could have several flavors to sample.

I was so excited to find this box on my front porch!!!

Hello my lovelies!!

In the box were 11 containers of Chobani!!  They were as follows:

0% Black Cherry
0% Strawberry
0% Raspberry
0% Peach
0% Blueberry
0% Pomegranate
0% Lemon
0% Plain
2% Strawberry Banana
2% Pineapple
2% Plain

Oh where do I start?  I have talked about Chobani before as it has become the only yogurt that I eat.    Chobani tastes great and is so creamy!!  Unfortunately, the only flavors available to me are blueberry, strawberry, vanilla, and peach.  And since I usually buy it at Costco, even vanilla isn't available.  I was so excited to have all these other flavors to try.  I eat at least 1 container of Chobani a day; it is a mandatory part of my lunch. Occasionally I indulge in an extra Chobani in the evening too. It's that good! Now that I've been able to try some of the other Chobani flavors available, I can honestly say I will never ever go back to regular yogurt. Greek is it! Pineapple is my favorite 2%, blueberry is my favorite 0%! I really hope my local stores start carrying more flavors soon!


My next plan for Chobani is to try some of the recipes from their website or posted on other blogs.  Muffins, breads, pasta sauces.  All those things sound yummy!
Besides the great taste; why do I love Chobani?

• It is packed with protein!  Each container has at least 14 grams of protein!
• All the ingredients are recognizable and natural.
• There are no preservatives in Chobani.
• The sugars in each container come from only the fruit or evaporated cane juice, not processed sugar or high fructose corn syrup!  No artificial sweeteners!
• Each container of 0% fruit flavored Chobani is 3 PointsPlus!
• Chobani gives 10% of their profits to charities worldwide.

Chobani has offered to send one lucky winner their very own sample case of Chobani.  How's that for generous?  You can earn up to 4 regular entries in this giveaway; please leave a separate comment on this post for each in order to be properly counted. Here's how you can enter:

1. Follow this blog!  Leave a comment.
2. Let me know if you've tried Chobani; what is your favorite flavor? If you've never tried it (gasp!) what do you think your favorite flavor will be?  Leave a comment.
3. Like Chobani on Facebook and tell them I sent you!!  Leave a comment.
4. Post about this giveaway on your blog; leave a comment.

Bonus entries: if another commenter let's me know they heard about this giveaway from you, you'll earn 5 bonus entries! Spread the word; it might pay off.

Entries will be accepted today through Thursday, March 31st.  Good luck!

Disclaimer: Chobani did not compensate me for my review other than send me a free case of Chobani to try.  All opinions expressed are my own.

My Tangent Tuesday

Welcome to my newest followers!  I'm so excited to have you here!

*****

I wasn't able to get my lazy arse out of bed this morning to run so I told myself all day that I would be running tonight no matter what.  My husband and son received a last minute invitation to see a movie tonight so I knew that I'd be able to go right after work.  The added bonus was that it was a relatively nice day so an outdoor run was in order.

3.35 miles, average pace 10:24/mile 

Let me just say that this run was about 150 times better than Friday's fairly awful run.  The temperature was a little cool for the heavy breathing taking place, but I felt really, really good otherwise.  I am also very happy about this pace!  While I'm not too hung up on those numbers, I still want to get my pace down to 10 minutes/mile so yay for the first outdoor run (after work) of the season!

*****

I never posted about meeting the awesome Ali Vincent from the Biggest Loser.

Ali was fabulous!  When I first arrived at the venue she was standing in the back taking pictures with different people.  Since I was by myself, I felt kind of like a dork going over there so I just found my seat and waited.  It wasn't long before Ali came to the stage and for about 90 minutes she talked and inspired.  She really focused on how anyone can make positive changes if they believe they can do it.  It doesn't take going on a TV show to lose weight and get healthy.  She was gracious enough to sign autographs after the show so that is how I was able to score the picture above.

I did notice that Ali has gained some weight and she never really talked about her life these days.  After her main speech, someone did ask how many days a week she exercises and she said usually 5 when she can, but she's on the road a lot.  While I do think Ali was probably too thin at the BL finale, and she did what she needed to in order to win, I wonder if she's been able to settle in to a comfortable weight and maintain it.  I have shown the above picture to several people and they all say she looks "big".  I don't think so at all.  She looks healthy to me and isn't that what's most important?  That is my goal, to be healthy not necessarily skinny.

Anyway, I thought seeing Ali was very cool and regardless of where she is in her fitness journey right now, or years from now, she really did something amazing when she became the first female winner of The Biggest Loser!!

*****

I have decided against being a part of my dad's Bloomsday training series  as I had planned.  Some of it's personal reasons which I won't get into, but mainly I just decided that I didn't want to do it.  First, I do not like public speaking, but if that wasn't bad enough, they kept asking if I would lead the runners.  Lead?  No way.  Perhaps if I was further along in my journey, perhaps if I was at my goal weight, perhaps if I'd lost my weight several years ago and not just last year, perhaps if I had run more so far this year, maybe then I'd feel more like telling my story.  Right now I feel too fragile and vulnerable.  I don't have it all figured out, not even close.  I am still struggling at times.  I just wasn't feeling it, in fact I was dreading it.  So there's no reason for me to do it.  So there.  :-)

*****

My blog needs a facelift!  I need less color.  I need a new header.  I can't wait to make some changes!!

*****

I'm a winner!!  I was lucky enough to score a case of Chobani Champions yogurt from a giveaway sponsored by Running Diva Mom!  How cool is that?!  Chobani Champions is the only Greek yogurt made especially for kids.  And I have to tell you that I think Chobani Champions is absolutely fabulous--and I'm not even a kid!  There are two flavors, honey-nana and very berry.  I love them both, but honey-nana is my most favorite.  I usually cannot stand anything that is banana flavor except a banana so I was surprised at how much I loved this flavor.  The only problem with the Champions is that I eat too much of it too quickly!  One container is 2 PointsPlus and two containers is 5 PointsPlus!  That can add up.  But I'm still so excited to have won a giveaway!

*****

I will be announcing my own Chobani giveaway tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Happy Monday

Happy Monday, everyone!  Today was fairly uneventful for me and I don't have a lot to report.

First, my weigh in had me at 156.6 today.  That is a 2.2 lb loss for the week.  But last week was a 6 pound gain so I was really hoping to lose more.

But I shall be grateful I was down at all considering that by Thursday night I went totally crazy with my eating!!  All was fine until I decided to try some new potato chips that my husband bought.  Mistake!  Who can eat just one?  Then we had a large dinner on Friday night which included too much pasta and bread.  Ugh!  This weekend included a quick trip to Seattle because my niece had her first birthday party.  While I thought I would do okay with this, I ended up doing terribly.  It was like the see-food diet all day on Saturday and when I went to bed that night I felt absolutely miserable.  Truly, it was the volume of food that did it, because nothing by itself was really that bad.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling terrible and my stomach was rebelling.  I ate a little breakfast, but I was nauseous the whole day, but also hungry which was weird.  I had the new oatmeal from McDonald's for lunch which settled my stomach a bit, but then the afternoon brought Arby's and that was a mistake.  Needless to say, today's scale number is better than it could be and hopefully as worse as it will get since I'm back to business now. 

While I didn't get up before work to run today because my stomach had lingering twinges of nausea, I will definitely run tomorrow.  Hopefully this week will bring about 4 runs, at least 12 miles.  I'm still trying to get back on a good running schedule since last month's running debacle.

And that is about all there is today.  I'm trying to chalk up the slip as just that, a slip.  But there have been too many lately!  I have to keep in check!  I need to stay motivated and keep focused.

I am considering signing up for a half marathon.  I think the training would do me good, would be a great motivator, but that's also why I'm not sure I'm ready.  I keep watching the registration for the Seattle Rock n' Roll Half on June 25th.  It hasn't filled up yet, but I know it will soon.  I want to register, but something is holding me back.  Part of it is fear and part of it is money, and still another part of it is something else I can't quite name.  It's $115 for this event and that is a lot of money right now.  I have to be sure I will do it before taking the jump.  I keep hoping it will sell out and then I won't have to think about it anymore.  What a lovely attitude, huh?  There are other events in the world, but if it's meant to be with the R&R in Seattle, it will be.

So, for those that have done one (or more) of the R&R series half or full marathons, would you recommend one for my first (and possibly only) half?

I Shook my Shamrock

Aneta at My Running Bucket and Linzi at Beyond Destination 26.2 are hosting the Shake Your Shamrock Virtual Run this weekend.

The rules are as follows:

• Sign Up
• Wear Green during the Virtual run
• Run the distance of 7k (4.35 miles) or 13k (8.08 miles)
• Complete your run between March 17th - 20th.
• Report back to both with your finishing time by Sunday March 20th at 6:00 p.m.
• Optional: Send in a picture of you in your green outfit with finishing times for us to post on our blogs!

 

Knowing that I need all the motivation I can get, I decided to sign up for this and planned for the 7k.  From the beginning I planned to complete my run today, the 18th.

I have to tell you, folks, this was almost a DNF!  First, if it wasn't for Forrest, I probably would have ran on the treadmill because lately it's been easier on my legs, but since I must justify this hundreds of dollars purchase, I headed outside instead. 

I felt so sluggish and tired during this entire run and I actually ended up running 5k and walking 2k.  I have not walked that much on a run in a long time.  I am really not sure why I ended up with such a horrible run today, I can only assume it was because 1) I hadn't mapped out a 7k course so I was kind of running blind which I hate when I have a distance goal, and 2) running outside is just plain hard for me!  I actually feel like I did last year when I started running outside after completing Couch to 5k.  My breathing was wrong, my legs hurt, my ears were cold, my music sucked, the wind was too strong.  You name it, I can complain about it.

At any rate, I completed the distance and did not log a DNF even though I felt like giving up at 5k.  My stats and photo are below.  Thank you Aneta and Linzi for hosting the virtual run.  I am glad to have gotten out there even though it was not the best of times!

Distance 4.38 (yeah I couldn't remember if it was 4.35 or 4.38 so I did 4.38 to be safe)
Time 52:44
First 5k completed in 33:07
The last 2k completed very slowly

PS. How do you like my hat?  It's new.  I can't decided if I like running in a hat, but it will be great if it's raining.  Today it wasn't raining.  Today I did not like wearing a hat.  :-)  Maybe the hat was what was weighing me down today.  Ha!

Motivation, Motivation, Wherefore Art Thou, Motivation?

It's crazy around here lately.  I have just one thing to say: I'm scaring myself.

Last night, long after dinner, long after all the points were used up, I sat on the couch eating Special K crackers.  Now, as snacks go, there are far worse things, but why did I have to eat so many?  And why was I eating like 5 at a time?!

One of the things I have been focusing on during this journey is eating slower and taking more care in enjoying my food.  For this reason, I take one bite, chew it completely, swallow, then take another.  When I eat crackers or other snacks like it, I take one bit, chew it completely, swallow.  Last night, I was eating 5 crackers at once, chomping a little, and shoving more in.  These are not the habits of person in control.

I've noticed that I have been slipping up a lot lately and I don't like it.  Not one little bit.  But I can't seem to stay motivated to do anything about it for longer than one day.

But I'm here today saying that a change is in store.  I have started journaling my foods and exercise in a paper journal instead of online.  While I thought journaling online was becoming a pain, I'm finding that using paper is far worse.  BUT it's much easier to look back over day and reflect on what was good and what wasn't so good.  I also thought it would be easier to turn off the eating for the day: all lines filled? No more eating.  Sadly, last night I just penciled in my crackers below it all, along with a big sad face. :( 

One problem area is definitely right after work upon arriving home and starting dinner.  At this point all I want is to snack, snack, snack.  Usually on cheese or yogurt.  Not too bad in small quantities, very bad in 3 or 4 packages at a time.  Later, after dinner is finished and the dishes are done, homework is complete, and my son is in bed, out comes the popcorn or other salty snack like chips.  Chips and cheese if I'm feeling extra saucy!  No good can come of this.

And it hasn't.  Evidence is in the scale.  And I admit, Monday's huge gain really threw me because I really hadn't eaten that bad over the week.  I have had other weeks where I did far worse and did not have such a gain.  I got that feeling of nothing I do matters, so let me go ahead and eat whatever the hell I want.  But this kind of crappy attitude breeds more crappy attitude.  And self loathing.  And it's the self loathing that will get you, or at least me.  I start questioning everything I've done up until this point, forgetting much of the success, and worrying more about not getting to my final goal. 

Well, that's just crazy and I've got to stop that NOW!  I need to keep moving forward, keep focused on my goal.  Right now my goal has a number and it is 100.  I want to lose 100 pounds.  When I get to that point, I will reevaluate and see where I want to be.  It might be right there, it might be a few pounds more or less.  I'm committed to finding my happy weight, and I know it will take some work to figure out what that is.  But first I have to get to 100.

The bottom line is what I'm putting in my mouth.  Yes, I could exercise my little brains out, but if I eat 5,000 calories a day, I probably won't get to goal.  It might not even be the science of it, but more the self hatred that's sure to follow if I start shoveling in food like we're headed into famine.

I'm so close to the finish that I need get my eyes out of the refrigerator and onto the prize.  100.  100.  100.  You don't need chips, you need 100.  You don't need that 3rd container of yogurt, you need 100.  You don't need to sleep later, you need 100.  You don't need to stay up and watch TV, you need 100.  Whatever I don't need, I need 100.

100.

100.

100.

I'm going to get to 100.  I just need to put on my big girl panties (in this case that means my size 10 jeans!) and get the job done!  It doesn't matter how long it takes to get there, as long as I know I'm doing all I can to make it happen. 

Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes. ~Author Unknown
Today's (morning) run: 3.33 miles at 11:05/mile pace.

I can be found on Katie's blog today!

Katie over at http://www.areyouwilling.net/ has a great informational post about running on her blog today.  She was gracious enough to ask me to provide a testimonial for her, along with Anna at Adios, Fat Pants.  I feel honored to have been featured with Anna because she's awesome!  Thanks for including me, Katie!

You can check out Katie's post here.

Inked Owl Fabulous Giveaway

And for my third and final post today, I give you another fabulous giveaway hosted by Inked Owl.  Check it out HERE.

Here is what you can win (doesn't everyone love The North Face AND Jillian??

Giveaway Winners

I am proud to announce the winners of my first giveway. Random.org chose the winners for me!  Slick!

The winner of the Runner's High sign is Linzi from Beyond Destination 26.2.  Linzi completed her first full marathon last year and is currently training for the Robie Creek Half Marathon in April.  She's also co-hosting the Shake Your Shamrock Virtual Run later this week.  If you'd like to join in that fun, click here for details.

The winner of the I (heart) Running magnet is Stephanie Anne from Running to Health.  Stephanie Anne is a runner and triathlete who hosts many awesome giveaways.  She's currently planning to run the Race to Home Base in May and is raising money to help veterans of war.  If you'd like to donate for this effort which also gives you a chance to win fabulous prizes, click here for more info.

Linzi and Stephanie Anne, please email me your info at fortherunofit[at]Gmail[dot]com and also let me know if you would like a purple or black RUN MORE! sit less. sticker.

Thanks to everyone who participated in my first giveway.  I'm excited to have had the opportunity of hosting a giveaway and look forward to another one in a week or so!

Cheers!

(Remember to check out Build A Sign for all your signage needs!!)

Holy Weight Gain, Batman!

Testing...testing 1, 2, 3... Is this scale working? 

I am reporting a 6 pound gain this week.  Six.  Seis. VI. 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm honestly stumped to have gained that much.  I did run only twice, and I did eat pizza last night (ate, not binged), and the other days were seriously not too bad.  I did have a couple days that tracking didn't happen, but I ate only things on plan and didn't eat 7 of everything!!  I just don't know.  I'm going to hope it's digestion issues and water weight.  That's all I'm going to say.

And I'm in denial so I'm not changing my weight loss gadget on the blog right now.  You can bet I'll be weighing every dang day this week and will hopefully see downward movement.

Ugh.

Last Call for Giveway Entries

Helloooooo, happy weekend!  Just putting out the last call to enter my first giveway.  You can enter until tomorrow night!!  Good luck everyone!

Embrace the briefs!

Today I offer you TMI.

I am now the proud owner of two pairs of Nike Tempo Shorts.  These are awesome running shorts!!  Made even better by the fact that they were ON SALE.  I love love love them.  I have had a pair of Champion running shorts for awhile, but the Nikes are way better!

Both the Champion and Nike shorts have a built in brief.  When running in the Champion pair, I always wore underwear.  I just wanted to, felt like I should, didn't want to "go commando".  Although technically it's not really commando, but I still didn't want to do it.

On my first run in a Nike Tempo Short I decided to go with just the briefs.  And O.M.G. it's better!  So there you go; embrace the briefs!

Ps. There's still time to enter my first giveaway.

Change: Two Kinds

One of the most beloved things in my life is Starbucks!  I love love love it!  Today they are 40 years old and to celebrate they have changed their logo.  Now all my Starbucks mugs and merchandise is outdated!  Or maybe it's a classic.  Why must they change things on me?  I'm not in love with this new logo, however, it might just be a change that I have to get used to.  I prefer the old logo because it has the words included and the siren is much smaller.  I don't love the siren anyway so now that it's all about the siren I'm just not sure about it.  But I can tell you that my morning Americano tasted just as yummy from a cup with this new logo so that is a relief!  What say you blogosphere?  Like?  Dislike?

Another kind of change is the money kind, as in coins!  I rarely use cash and when I do, I even more rarely use coins.  I hate standing their counting it out so I'd rather just pay with a full dollar and get more change back.  Because I receive more change than I spend, I always empty it out of my wallet into my coin bank.  I decorated a quart size paint can to be used for spare change (are you as suprised as me there isn't a trace of purple on it?) and yesterday it was near full so I took it to the bank.  It had $98.12 in it!  Now that's the kind of change I can get used to.  Do you save your change?

Don't forget to enter my first giveaway!!!

Feeling Good!

I had a really awesome week last week.  All my eating was on track, I ran 4 times, and I felt extremely positive.  I ended the week with a loss of 2.8 pounds!

Starting weight: 236.8
Current weight: 152.8
Total loss: 84 pounds
Goal weight: 136.8
Pounds to goal: 16 pounds

I am getting very close to a new decade and it's been a long time coming.  I have been in the 150s since November!  I look forward to seeing that 4 in the second number!!!  Here's to another great week!

PS.  Don't forget to enter my first giveaway!!

My First Giveaway

I was recently contacted by Megan at Build A Sign.  She gave me the opportunity to have my own personalized signs and stickers!  No need to even think about it, I was in from the word personalized! 

I headed over to Build A Sign and was blown away by the selection of items available.  At first I didn't know where to begin.  Magnets, stickers, signs... blog related, not blog related... so many options.  I started with a simple with a bumper sticker and it was so easy.  It was actually a little addicting to pick and choose designs, colors, fonts and clipart!  By the time I was finished, I had designed over a dozen items.  The hard part was narrowing down my selections, but I am very happy with my choices.

First the sign (here): This sign is a "street sign" and I toyed with using Runner's Way or Runner's Place, but in the end I decided that Runner's High meant more to me.  And of course the sign is purple! 

Bumper sticker (here): I started with the stock design I heart running and changed up the heart from pink to purple, of course.  I also added my blog name for personalization.

Magnet (here): I loved the sticker so much I wanted to have a magnet too.  For this one I used their stock design and changed up the font color to purple while leaving the heart pink.  I personalized it with my blog name too.  It is actually a car magnet so it is very heavy duty which is nice.

Stickers (here): For the last item I found a sticker in the stock designs that said WAG MORE! bark less.  I see this on cars a lot and it's a saying I love.  I almost picked the sticker as is BUT then I decided it would be fun to change it to a running related saying.  So RUN MORE! sit less. was born.  I claim this phrase as my own creation, an original!!  Isn't it great?! 

All in all my experience with Build A Sign was a great one.  Megan was super fun to work with and is very responsive!  The website is easy to navigate and there are signs for everyone and everything.  And if you can't find what you're looking for, start from scratch and make your own design from the bottom up.  You can design a large card for a special someone, signs for real estate or fundraisers or kids' sports teams, or whatever you need.  Even if you can't think of anything you'd need a sign for, visit their website and I bet you'll find something you want.  I'm pretty sure I'll be ordering something for Father's Day from Build A Sign and I can see myself as the ultimate soccer mom with a sign to prove it.  Every kid wants their mom holding up a big sign on the sideline, don't they?

So, now for the giveaway.   

• One lucky person will win their very own purple Runner's High (5"x18") sign.  You will also receive your choice of black or purple RUN MORE! sit less. (4"x4") sticker.
• One lucky person will win their very own I Heart Running magnet (3"x11").  This person will also receive their choice of black or purple RUN MORE! sit less. (4"x4") sticker.

You can receive a total of three entries for this giveaway.

1. Become a follower of this blog; leave a comment.  Already a follower; leave a comment on this post!
2. Click on over to the Build A Sign website and tell me what interests you.  Leave a comment on this post!
3. Post about this giveaway on your blog.  Leave a comment on this post. 

You may enter now through Sunday, March 13.

Disclaimer: Build A Sign sent me these items for free but did not compensate me for my review. All opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

Meet Forrest

I would like to introduce you to Forrest, my new Garmin Forerunner 405CX.  I decided on the 405CX for a simple reason: it is what they had at Costco.  I really considered ordering the less expensive 305 from Amazon, but when it came right down to it, I really don't like the look of that thing.  When there are other options available, I couldn't bring myself to buy that clunky model.  I also considered getting the 405 from Amazon because it was $20 cheaper, but the 405CX is blue.  Not a lovely blue, mind you, but different than black which makes it more unique.  The green 405 is also nice, but I really wanted to walk out of a store with the watch Thursday night before I lost my nerve and succombed to the notion that spending that much money at the moment is frivolous and stupid.  When the mood to behave impulsively strikes, you must act quickly before reason takes over. :-)  Anyway, now I have Forrest and we're going to become best pals, I just know it.

Today Forrest and I headed out for our inaugural run and it was awesome!  Not the run itself because that actually sucked; it was cold and my legs weren't into it.  But I signed up for 30 minutes and that is what I aimed to complete.  I will write a more complete review of Forrest and its features another time, but for now I will tell you that being able to view the stats right there on my wrist was just awesome!  And knowing the distance was accurate and the pace was current was just wonderful and kept me going even when I wanted to quit!  Thanks, Forrest!

I'm sure it's obvious how I came up with Forrest's name, isn't it?  Okay, it wasn't obvious to my husband so maybe it isn't as abvious as I think.  I'll explain.  It's a Forerunner so the first name I thought of was Forrest, cuz you know, they both start with the same three letters.  Well, when I hear the name Forrest the first thing that comes to mind is "Run, Forrest, Run!"  And well, that sounded perfect to me. So Forrest was born and you know, "Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what yer gonna git."

Fastest Run EVER

I just wanted to announce today that I ran my fastest 5K ever last night!  I completed it in 31:18!  I wish I could say that it was easy, but it was really hard for me--my legs just don't go that fast!  And my lungs, they could barely keep up!  I nearly gave up the run about 2.8 miles, but kept screaming at myself to DIG!!  It felt great when I was done--well, once I caught my breath anyway. 

I have to work today (on my day off) so I had to put my usual Friday morning run off until this evening.  I am planning another 5K, only a really easy one this time.  I have been slacking so much on running I don't want to push too much this week on my first week back on schedule.  I also plan an easy 30 minute run this weekend although I might change it to a walk depending on how my legs feel.

I might have bought myself a Garmin 405cx last night.  I'm still deciding whether to admit it or not. ;-)

The ABCs of Me!

I'm jumping on the ABC bandwagon to share a few things about myself. 

A. Age: 36 1/2 on Feb. 28.  My birthday is Aug. 28.

B. Bed size: Queen.  We slept in a double bed for the first 5 years of marriage, along with two dogs (see D).  When we got our Queen it felt like an ocean of room!  Now, with no dogs, but sometimes a 9 year old (see K) in bed with us, we could really use a King size.

C. Chore you dislike: toilets!  Especially after my son has had friends over.  Yuck!

D. Dogs: love dogs!  Have one yellow lab named Chance.  We used to have two dogs, a Dalmation named Dawson who died, and a black lab/rottweiler mix named Warrick who we had to give away. :-(  Warrick has probably passed on now too, otherwise he would be 14 now.

E. Essential start to your day: breakfast!!  I cannot skip breakfast EVER!  And coffee! (I wish I could answer "workout" on this one.)

F. Favorite color: purple

G. Gold or silver: silver, although my wedding ring is gold.  We were married in the 90s, what are you gonna do?

H. Height: 5' 5.5"  That .5 is kinda annoying because it's never a choice on a height chart or web form.  Do I choose 5'5" or 5'6"?  It makes me anxious. :)

I. Instrument(s) you played: clarinet from 5th grade through 9th grade.  I really like it until 9th grade when I changed schools and found that first chair in a small school was 14th (out of 16) in a large school.  You can call me a quitter on this one.  Oh, I was also a pro on the Magical Musical Thing in my childhood.

J. Job Title: Accounting Manager, although I don't manage anyone so I usually list Accountant.

K. Kids: 1 son who is 9.  We will stick with one, why mess with perfection?  I am a pet mom to 4.

L. Live: in Spokane, WA a.k.a. Spokompton or Spokane, USA.

M. Mom's name: Diane

N. Nicknames: my husband calls me honey; at home I sometimes forget I have a first name.  My dad called me Monkey Monkey when I was very little and then The Monk, but that has long since gone by the way side, thank goodness.

O. Overnight hospital stays: had my tonsils out and tubes put in when I was 4 (kids don't get that overnight stay these days).  I also spent the night when I had my son.

P. Pet peeves: plucking or waxing eyebrows.  Why can't a unibrow be high fashion?

Q. Quote from a movie: "I still sometimes wish that I am the mother of your children." Susannah to Tristan in Legends of the Fall (and when she says it I always wish it too!)

R. Righty or lefty: righty

S. Siblings: brother (40), stepbrother (30--for 3 more days), Stepbrother (32)

T. Time you wake up: later than I want to.

U. Underwear: yes.  Bikini only; no butt floss or whale tails for this girl.

V. Veggies you don't like: broccoli, some kinds of lettuce, radishes, I'm sure there are more.  I only like basic veggies.

W. What makes you run late: sleeping in (see T).

X. X-rays you've had: when I was 3 I swallowed a straight pin so I had my belly x-rayed.  Sure enough it was in there.  And then it came out--naturally.  Isn't that a fun story?  I also had my ankle x-rayed a couple years ago and my shin x-rayed last fall.

Y. Yummy food you make: pumpkin cheesecake and lasagna

Z. Zoo animal favorites: tigers and otters most, but I also find Meerkats and prairie dogs to be adorable.

Tag, you're it!  I challenge you to share the ABCs of you!

I don't need a Garmin, I don't need a Garmin!

As of this morning I am a solid 16 pounds from my goal weight.  16 pounds!  That is nothing at all!  I can do it, I can feel it. 

I have had an awesome week with regard to eating.  I have not been super hungry, I've been using the daily points only, and I have even discovered a new breakfast: overnight almond oats.

Overnight Almond Oats
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Cinnamon
Mix together the above ingredients and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, microwave the oats for around 2 minutes.  Top the cooked oatmeal with the following:
1 sliced banana
Additional cinnamon
1 packet of Sugar in the Raw
A sprinkle of nutmeg

OMG, this is a wonderful way to start the day!  I have switched to having this in the morning and my favorite breakfast for lunch instead.  Mmmmm!

For some reason, running an all time low amount of miles for February has me thinking I need a Garmin GPS watch.  I know you can see the logic in this too.  I have researched these watches a lot and I really, really want one.  But I don't need one.  Nike+ has been good enough for me up to this point, why shouldn't it continue to be?  I'm sure it's just as accurate when calculating zero miles as a GPS anyway.

Does this happen to any of you?   You decide you want something and then you become obsessed with it and then convince yourself you must have it?  This happens to me more often than I like to admit.  Sometimes I derive too much happiness from material things!  I used to be a bit of a compulsive shopper, especially when it came to new hobbies.  Learned to crochet?  Let's buy a truckload of yarn.  Started scrapbooking?  Why not buy every piece of paper and kit in the store?  Like to rubber stamp?  Everyone needs hundreds of stamp sets, don't they?  I have resisted the urge to buy every gadget and piece of clothing for running many times over the past year.  I know I don't need all that "stuff" to get the job done, but for some reason I WANT it anyway. 

This reminds me of a shirt slogan I saw while "window web shopping" over the weekend. "If you see me collapse, please pause my Garmin." Ha ha ha ha, that's one of the best I've seen.


I'm curious to hear from you all.  How do you calculate and keep track of your mileage?  Do you have a hi-tech gadget like a Garmin?  Nike+?  A car odometer or treadmill readout?  Do you keep track?

A Couple Upcoming Events

One of the health clubs in town is teaming up with a few local resources for Fitness Challenge 2011 a la The Biggest Loser.  It sounds like a pretty fun deal, but I'm feeling pretty good about my efforts and don't think I need that kind of challenge to keep me going.  Besides, with less than 20 lbs to lose, I'm pretty sure I won't win.  I mean, even if I get to my goal during that time, I doubt I would win for largest percentage of weight loss.

Anyway, as part of the challenge, on March 10th they are having a kickoff event that anyone can attend (for $25) without being a part of the actual challenge.  The keynote speaker is Ali Vincent - first woman to win The Biggest Loser!  You can bet I bought a ticket!  I have always admired Ali and hers was one of the only seasons of BL that I watched in its entirety!  I do find inspiration in hearing from people who talk the talk and walk the walk, and I am super excited to see Ali in person!  Maybe she'll be doing a book signing and I can buy one and talk to her!  I'll have to work on my courage between now and then.

Another thing that's going to take courage is an event being put on by my dad and his church.  Luckily it's not a huge event like Ali's because I've agreed to speak about my weight loss experience and how running has played a key role.  The event is a health and wellness seminar which will be held weekly for a few weeks leading up to Bloomsday. (Bloomsday is a huge deal here in Spokane, USA.)  I do not know when I'm on the agenda, I told my dad the only stipulation I have is that I will not be speaking on the first night!  I want to see what else he has lined up and get my bearings before getting up in front of peopl.  I do not love public speaking, but when I can talk about something I am passionate about and/or something I know a good deal about, I have a lot more confidence.  If I trip over words or ramble in circle it will be okay, as long as I can inspire at least one person.

Like I said this is something at my dad's church so it isn't a huge public even, but I'm still nervous and excited all at once.  I have a few mixed emotions too, as in, I'm sorry he had to ask me to speak because I'm sorry I have a weight loss story to share, as in I wish I was just a thin person all my life.  But since I wasn't and I've lost 80 pounds in the past year, I am glad to have been asked to participate.  I also want to talk the talk and walk the walk, just like Ali--even if it's on a much smaller level.