Instagram mostly

Before I went to Hawaii, starting in January, I became very focused and was very good at keeping my calories in check.  This is the first time that I've counted actual calories, not just inputted (into myfitnesspal) what I wanted and ignored things that weren't good and stayed at or below my suggested calorie range.  And you know what? it worked!  I lost weight.  Don't get me wrong, I have lost weight in the past, I lost 30 lbs in 5(ish) years, but I was never good at actually counting my calories even though I said I was.  Afterall, I was good, I'll have a *ahem* 3rd (okay, 4th) glass of wine, but will only count 2 . . . yeah, my body knows that I had 4, I'm not fooling it.  And I did actually lose weight, mainly because I was eating better and less than I was 7 years ago (from now).  Then I lost quite a lot of weight while I was marathon training 4 years ago.  You know why? (and it took me quite a while to figure this out), I was eating less, not running more (well, I was running more, but mostly because I was eating less).  I went into marathon training after reading that people often gain weight when training for a marathon and determined I wasn't going to do that.  I started eating healthier and less foods, and I was conscious of my alcohol intake because I knew I had to run in the morning (on the weekend).  I did give myself treats.  If you followed me back then, especially on instagram, I almost always had a donut and mimosa on Sunday after my long run.

I also ate a lot of popcorn for dinner and drank wine.

The difference is I ate less back then (and I ran a lot), but I lost weight (surprise!).  It is pretty obvious that the eating is what caused me to loss weight (why am I the last to realize this?), not the running.  2 years ago when I was training for a marathon, and even last year, although I didn't run one, I didn't lose weight at all.  And this past November I started a run streak, and I didn't lose weight, I lost weight when I started eating less.

However, since I got back from Hawaii I've struggled with this.  I don't have a goal in mind, I am not losing weight to look good in a bikini in Hawaii.  Yes, I want to look good in my bikini this summer, but somehow it's not the same.  I need to be better.

Anyway, I will say, I do like the way I look, most of the time.  Today, I put on my clothes and thought, wow I look skinny.  It won't last long, but I do like that feeling of looking good.  =)

I was scrolling through my instagram feed looking for those pictures above and realized that my feed has become a lot of a picture with me running and my running stats.  I used to post a lot more selfies, and wine glass pictures.  I quit posting the selfies because I started thinking that maybe I looked narcissistic, but I kinda miss those posts.  I also used to post pictures of my wine glass in the bath and my food, or my feet in the grass on a picnic (by myself), popcorn and wine, me and wine, or me and coffee . . . I kinda miss those posts.  So, if you follow me on instagram, which I don't think anyone here does, I think I'm going to change my posts back to what they used to be, along with the running and stats photos.  =)

Oh, and look at this hair!  I want to go back to this! (But with my current color).  =)

stupid run streak

I am still slugging away at school.  April 5th was exactly a year since I started.  I'm going to tell you something I don't tell others . . . I expect to fail at school.  I do.  I currently have a 4.0, something I've never, ever accomplished in my life, and yet I fully expect to crash and burn at some point in the near future.  I am one week away from finishing my current class.  I have an A, but I am really close to a B, and somehow I think that if I get a B I have failed.  I'm extremely proud of my 4.0 and it freaks me out to lose it.  What would happen?  I'll probably flunk out.

What else is going on in my life?  Well, I am currently on day 162 (although I haven't run yet) of my run streak.  I did not do a long run this last weekend either.  I ran 5 miles on Sunday but did have another week with only 2 rest days (1 mile runs). A few months ago I had a pain in my tooth so I went to the dentist.  My dentist told me he couldn't find anything wrong with my tooth, so he sent me to a specialist, who told me I needed a root canal.  So I did a root canal, but while that dentist was cleaning the hole she had made and about to put the filler in, she saw a crack that went all the way through the tooth, so she said I had to have the tooth removed.  Well, after a lot of thought, and being really annoyed, I decided to remove the tooth and get a bridge.  Last week I had my tooth removed, I now have to wait a month to get the bridge in place.

Let me tell you, having a hole in your mouth is really, really annoying.  Anyway, while the dental assistant was prepping me, she was going over what I can't do.  No spitting, no blowing my nose, no drinking through a straw, soft foods only, no exercise . . . wait, what!  I said "I have to run."  She laughed and said "you can't."  I said "I HAVE to run."  She said "I know that feeling, but no."  I said, "you don't understand, I have to run.  I have a run streak, I'm on day 150.  I HAVE to run."  She said "you're not going to obey, are you?" I said "no."  She said she'd go talk to the doctor.  I heard him, he said "she shouldn't run."  When she came back I said "he's going to yell at me, isn't he?"  She said "no, but he's going to advise you not to run."

He came in and stuck me with the anesthesia, and I told him I had to run, just a mile, I'll go slow.  He said that it elevates blood pressure which could release the blood clot and create a drysocket.  I had a dry socket when I had my wisdom teeth removed, it hurts, but I have a freaking run streak!  I said "I'll go now, I'll be 10 min tops, I'll be right back."  He laughed and said "no."  He pulled my tooth.  I told him I'd wait till that evening to run.  I promised I'd wait as late as possible and I'd run slow, I'd pack the hole with gauze, I'd be careful . . . He said to call if it starts bleeding again.

I ran.

It wasn't the most pleasant run I've had.  It wasn't as slow as I intended, but I did pack the hole with gauze.  And I did not get a dry socket. Yay! My cheek did swell up, but not like it did when I had the original infection.  Today I have no tooth, I can feel it all the time.  I have 3 more weeks before I go back and start the process of getting a new fake tooth. 

The day after it was pulled I went for a 3 mile run, which wasn't that pleasant either, but again, it wasn't horrible, and still no dry socket.  I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear a week later, but I'm still trying to be careful, no straws, lots of running.

I've been using my one mile runs as mini-speed work runs.  I have an one mile route, but the first half mile is uphill.  I've been trying to run up that hill as fast as I can, and then continue the rest of the run faster.  I don't know if it's making me fast yet (it's only been a week or two) and I have to stop at the top of the hill for a minute, but I'll continue with it for now and see how it goes. 

This was my best time for a one mile run.  The others are averaging between 8.20 and 8.30.  Although last nights was on the higher side.  I started the run uphill, with a pebble in my shoe.  I normally stop to take out pebbles because they are annoying and can cause blisters, but since it was only a mile I decided to ignore it.  Well, for whatever reason the uphill felt harder than normal, so I stopped at the top.  The second half mile I had a cramp.  

This was after being on the bus for 2 hours because of an accident and before having to finish a paper for school that I procrastinated.  All in all my evening sucked.  And it was the second closest I've been to stopping my runstreak.  

Happy April

Spring used to be my favorite season.  I love flowers and I love the budding trees and the sun after the winter months.  Then one day I decided that I liked the fall better, the colorful trees and the brisk air after the summer, there's something different in the air in the fall that I love.  But lately summer has been my go-to favorite season, the sun, and the warmth, and the sun . . .  When living in western Washington there's often 2 seasons, rain and 5 weeks of summer.  Although, I did see this meme lately that sadly is more true than it used to be

I did notice there's not a single picture of the rain in it, it must have been made by someone in Spokane (eastern WA).  Which makes sense because I don't recognize the building in the pictures. 

I love the sunny spring we are currently having, but someone mentioned to me that the last few years has had warm springs which creates the crazy wild fires we've had, so I guess now I'm concerned about the beautiful sunny weather we had in March. 

Anyway, my running since last Thursday . . . I ran more than a mile 4 days in a row, but I didn't do a long run over the weekend.  I went for a two mile walk with my sister, Maddox and one of his friends on Saturday, which was nice.  I wish it had been longer, but the kids didn't want to.  I ran 4 miles after I got home from hanging out with my sister.  Then I went hiking yesterday and when I got home I didn't want to do a long run, so I only ran 4 miles.  However, my total mileage for the month of March ended up being 102 miles.  =) 

I was rereading my last post and it's funny because I talked about not wanting to run much lately and how I haven't been running very much, but yet I hit the highest mileage I've had in a month for a year and a half. =)  And the last 2 weeks I've only had 4 "rest days" (I consider my rest days the days I only run a mile).  However, even though I ran a lot(ish), I didn't do so well with my food. 

I'm not going to go back to obsessively telling you about my weight, no one cares except me, but I didn't lose anything at all in March.  I will say that I came back from Hawaii only 2 lbs heavier and I was back at my pre-Hawaii weight a week after I was home, so that's very good.  But as of April 1st I'm still at my pre-Hawaii weight, which is a good thing, but no loss for a month.  My happy weight is still 5 lbs away, but I would LOVE to be 10 lbs lighter.  I just need to get back into the grove of being good and only having one cheat day instead of 3 or 4. . .(then it's not a cheat day, it's just the way things are. =)

I loved my instagram picture from yesterday, so here's my Sunday run.