Mind vs. Body

Mind: "That's the alarm. Time to rise and shine! Got a run to do!!"

Body: "What the heck?!? Who in their right mind gets up this early. Just hit the button already. I need some sleep."

Mind: "Not doing it. Let's go. Otherwise we're stuck running in the heat this evening. That will be worse than getting up now"

Body: "Gah..."

Mind: "Let's see what's on the schedule today...ah...tempo run."

Body: "Um, excuse me?!?! Have you forgotten that yesterday was supposed to be a rest day and instead we lugged ourself, bike, rack, pannier bag, computer, change of clothes, and lunch up that freaking hill. I'm still sore from that nonsense. No way I'm doing a tempo run today!! "

Mind: "Good point. How about we compromise on a 5 mile easy run?"

Body: "That's more reasonable. As long as you keep any crazy ideas about going fast out of the equation, I'll get us through 5 miles so you have confidence for the long run this weekend. Deal?"

Mind: "Deal"

....after the run....

Body: "Okay. That wasn't so bad. Felt good actually."

Mind: "That was awesome! I'm thinking this week's long run will go much better than last time. I'm happy!!"

Body: "Now, about your plans for tomorrow...."

1-2-3-4-5 in words and pictures

One (1) Bandit Barrier Installed - aka Cargo Partition. Bandit is probably going to dislike it at first, but confining him to the back will make driving easier and safer. One bummer is that the cargo roller cover conflicts with the partition. So I can have one or the other installed, but not both. Luckily, both are fairly easy to put in and take out.



Two (2) Cute Shoes - Love. Them. Purchased for Upcoming Wedding. Buying a new pair of shoes was more fun than finding a dress to wear.



Three (3) and a Half Weeks until Patriot Sprint Tri - Eek. I've been neglecting my bike since June. I plan to cycle commute tomorrow barring unforseen circumstances. Really. I mean it this time.


Fourth (4) Pair of Nike Zoom Vomero +3 - Retired the red ones and put my last pair (blue) into rotation with the Saucony shoes. They don't make this model any more. Sigh. I hate it when they do that. May do a last quick check on the internet for any I can grab up online. Otherwise, it's back to the drawing board when these need to be retired.


Five (5) Miles Completed on Mondaycorrection TUESDAY- This was a great run in that I felt awesome! I've graphed it out in 1/2 mile increments to show how consistent the splits were. I'm still starting off a tad bit too fast, I need to work on that. Also, the slow segment in the middle is where I stopped to mess with my ipod. I keep saying that I need to create a running playlist but haven't taken the time to do it...yet!

Monday Miscellany

Talked to Coach and he agrees with 3 days a week running. It worked for me before. That's the new plan for now.

Went to the pool Sunday morning as well as this morning. Both times I had a good swim. Today I augmented with upper body afterwards. Good stuff.

The glute/hip/back/knee issue is a lot better than it was on Saturday morning. Good thing, as I have high hopes for a successful 5 mile easy run tomorrow morning before work.

Everything seems to be coming together except for one little detail...cycling. I've had no luck finding someone to team with me at Patriot either. Gah! I guess I just need to hunker down and cycle commute at least one day this week. That will get me started. Targetting Wednesday since I nixed my run that day. I'll just take it one day at a time after that.

Good-Bad-Ugly

The Good

* Got up and met with the run group for my long run as planned.

The Bad

* Was experiencing tight/sore glutes Friday. Did some stretching, but didn't get all the tightness worked out.
* It was bad Saturday morning before I left the house. This didn't bode well for the upcoming run...

The Ugly

* Anyone want to guess where in my run I really started having trouble? Tight glutes led to a sore back and then knee pain. I know better than to run with an injury/issue. I should have postponed the run a day and spent more time loosening up. *sigh*

Plan B

* I don't think my body can handle running 4 days a week without injury/issues. Switching back to 3 days a week of running. Will move Wed easy run to Tuesday. Doing Tuesday Temp/Steady run on Thursday. Skipping Thursday speedwork all together. Backfill with more cross-training. My body should like that.

Progress to Plan

Thursday morning I made it to the pool to find (gasp) FOUR EMPTY LANES! I have never had this happen before. Usually I need to share a lane. What a treat to not only have my own lane but to pick which of 4 empty ones to choose. Had a good swim of 1000 m, then soaked in the hot tub for a bit. That always loosens me up. Afterwards, I did my upper body strength work in the gym. Swim + gym = SUCCESS.

Thursday evening, I met up with the running group for speedwork. The plan was 1 mile warm-up, then 12x (1min FAST + 1 min WALK), then a cool-down (which I walked). I was quite pleased that most of my fast segments were at a pace south of 8 min/mi. Not all though, those last few were particularly challenging. Speedwork = SUCCESS.

This morning the plan was cycle to gym, work out with Trainer, cycle to home with maybe an extra loop. Woke up to drizzling rain. Bailed on plan to cycle anywhere. Cycling plan = FAIL.

[Side note, why does the weather forcast say 30% chance of rain when it's raining right now and has been for the past few hours? By default doesn't that make it 100% chance of rain? I do not understand weather forcasts]

Drove to the gym instead and did lower body work with the Trainer. Then went upstairs for some serious stretching. Trainer appt = SUCCESS.

Tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy, no rain. I'm hoping that equates to good running weather for my long run. I wasn't being sarcastic when I said that 7 miles is a fun distance to run. I'm really looking forward to it!!

Thinking out loud...

This morning I had a 4 miles easy run on the schedule. I did get out there and accomplish the 4 miles, but nothing about it was easy. Hmmm. This running 4 days a week thing may be harder than I thought.

Tomorrow is a speed work day. I am planning to do the workout with the running group for extra motivation. They meet in the evening. That leaves an open slot in the morning; good place to fit in a swim!

Friday morning I have an appt with the Trainer at the gym. Let's see. I could cycle to/from the gym, maybe add an extra loop on the bike while I'm at it.

Then Saturday morning has seven miles on the schedule. That's a fun run distance.

I can wrap up the week with a swim on Sunday. Maybe a *bonus* bike ride if I get ambitious. Or not, if I'm feeling lazy or just need to give my legs a break.

Yep. Sounds like a plan to me. Now to go make it happen...

Anatomy of a Tempo Run

Today's scheduled workout - 1 mile warm up, 2 miles tempo pace (tgt 10:09-10:39min/mi), 1 mile cool down

I decided to do this solo in the morning vs. later with the running group. I also decided to bring the ipod for inspiration. This morning's album was Business Up Front Party in the Back, by Hawk Nelson. What, you've never heard of this album? I'm shocked (yes, I'm being sarcastic, I don't expect any of my readers to know this group).

miles 1 - warm-up. Main goal, do *not* sabotage the tempo portion by running the warm-up too fast.

warm-up mile pace - 12:05.

mile 2 - Time to get serious and pick it up a notch - tempo pace - yikes - get inspiration from song Supersonic

Let go of urself
It'll be good for ur health
Don't care who watches
You g'on take it up a few notches

Pace - 10:09 - Yeah, baby! That's what I'm talkin' about.

mile 3 - No rest break. Keep moving. Hold that tempo pace. Get inspiration from song Numb

Find myself in tune with the groove
I can't stop, uh, I gotta move

Pace - 10:19 - Yay me! I nailed it!!

mile 4 - cool down. Walk some if needed. No rush. Celebrate victory

Just for grins, I added an extra half mile, just because.

pace - 13:35 Works for me.

Now I need to rush through a shower, get ready for work, but first...get son registered for his senior year at high school. They grow up way too fast, people.

Weekend Wrap-up

Shortly after my incredible run on Saturday and the intense workout with Trainer on Friday, my body threw in the white towel. I was walking like a cowboy most of the weekend. Oh, but it was a good sore.

Coach (who is a running coach, not a multisport coach) has given me Sunday, Monday, and Friday for "cross-training" on my journey to the half-marathon in October. My body was crying "Uncle!" so I decided that swimming was a good choice for Sunday.

There were all kinds of good things about the swim. I shared a lane with someone who didn't clonk me on the head every time we passed in the lane. My finger is now well enough to swim with a normal pull. I swam my planned 1000 yd workout, then threw in an extra 200 for kicks. Swimming and the hot tub afterwards seemed to work out a lot of the muscle soreness that I was experiencing. I just love swimming.

After the swim, I got to thinking. Running makes me happy. Swimming makes me happy. Cycling...not so much. I have no events on my calendar for August. I'm focussing on half-marathon training and need to get my mileage up. I have a sprint triathlon scheduled (no refunds) in September and the final Splash-n-Dash is scheduled for the week afterwards. How cool would it be if I could find someone to do the bike portion of the Patriot Sprint with me as a team? Then I could essentially have two splash-n-dash events back-to-back in September and be liberated from the need to get back on my bike. Problem is, haven't found anyone local that's willing to do this with me so I may be stuck doing this as an individual. But a girl can dream...

I'm continuing to make progress with my weight. Now that I'm seeing results, both from the scale and with the way clothes are fitting, it's getting easier to resist tempation. For example, yesterday I was jonesing for baskin robbins two-scoop ice cream sundae with chocolate & peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter sauce. Looked up the calories in said sundae. Yikes! That's a whole days worth of calories in one little bit of yumminess. Didn't want it that much. Compromised with myself and made some vanilla pudding. Then served it up parfait style with fresh sliced strawberries and bananas. Still yummy, but much more reasonable than the sundae.
The scale has been pleased with my decisions. This morning's weigh in shows me down another pound and a half. That's 3.5 total. Yesssss!!

Well, I'm off to the gym for an upper body workout. Then it's back to the rat race. Happy Monday - how's that for an oxymoron?!?!? LOL

That's more like it!

Met up with the Running Group for my scheduled "long" run. Since my last long run of 7 miles was over two weeks ago and I've had an extended running break while on vacation, coach wanted me to back off to 6 miles today.

Unlike my Splash&Dash debacle a few weeks ago, everything fell into place this morning:

1) I slept well last night
2) The snooze button didn't lure me into it's trap
3) I had my coffee and breakfast
4) The scale had mercy on me and indicated another 0.5 down - that makes 2.0 lbs total since getting serious about watching what I eat.
5) My Garmin was all charged up - sometimes I find that it wasn't correctly nestled in the cradle and isn't charged when I want to take it out
6) My handheld was full of cold water in the fridge - all ready for me to to drop in a nuun tablet
7) My ipod was charged
8) The weather was perfect - 60 deg with a light breeze
9) I made it to the meeting spot on time

I haven't run with music for well over a year and a half, but that changed today. Ever since discovering that my Nike Pacer shorts have a nifty pocket in the back that would be perfect an ipod, I have wanted to test it out.

I don't know if it was the music, the long break during vacation, the morning nutrition, carrying less weight, or a a combination of all of the above but I felt INCREDIBLE. I was even able to keep up with one of the running group members for the three miles up to my turn point.

I'm still no speed demon but my average pace of 11:49 was a minute and a half faster than my last long run.

The best part is that I felt so much stronger and happy throughout. Here's hoping that I can replicate this again next weekend!!

She Runs!

I got up pseudo-early and ran 3 miles this before work. Shocking, but true. Actually, I'm quite pleased with myself for running solo in the morning because the evening running group ended up cancelling due to rain. I would not have been happy about missing yet another run.

My average pace ended up being ~11:10. This is sort of an odd pace for me. It's a bit faster than my long/easy pace, but slower than my steady or tempo paces. I think it would have been better if I had run closer to 10:30. Oh well.

Tomorrow morning I have an appt with the Trainer at the gym. I'm thinking about fitting in something else as well (swim beforehand? cycle commute to the gym? a short run afterward?). Sounds like a good idea now, but may not seem like such a good idea when it's time to get up and make it happen.

[Edited to add - Well I got up at 5am, got dressed in my gym clothes, then decided to go back to bed for another hour of sleep! Therefore, no extra anything before the trainer appt. Howeve,r it seemed to me that he worked me extra hard today. We did full body vs. just upper or lower. My everything is going to be sore tomorrow!!]

Jul Tally and a couple photos

Numbers

• Ran 55.7 miles
• Gym 4 times
• 2 Races (5K, Splash&Dash)
• Insigificant amount of swimming, cycling.
• I managed to lose 1.5 lbs after getting serious about watching what I eat - and didn't gain it back while on vacation!

Thoughts

• One of my highest running volume months, coutesy of smashed finger (couldn't cycle, lift weights, or swim for several weeks).

Plans for August

• Keep progressing with half-marathon training
• Maintain focus on portion control
• Get butt in gear for triathlon training - have a race in 5 weeks or so - yikes!

A Few Photos from Vacation

This last one is related to "Caribana" which drew huge crowds on Saturday

Weekend in Toronto

CN Tower, AGO, Eaton Center, City Tour, Caribana, Turkish Festival, China Town, Street Cars, Subway, PATH, Shoe Museum, Ceramics Museum, Street Performers, City Hall, Hockey Hall of Fame, Rogers Centre, Union Station, Queens Park, Yonge Dundas Square - Been there, seen that, probably took a picture.

We've done tons of walking. I've been trying to decide if I should record some of it as training miles. Husband's two cents on the matter? "It's just like running, but slower. Sometimes not that much slower, actually."

The weather has been delightful. Despite weather forcast for too warm a day on Saturday and rain on Sunday, we found both days quite pleasant. I'm very happy with the weather.

Let's talk about my one little issue. There are people everywhere. Lots of them. Yeah, I know Toronto is a big city and I expected people, but apparently there are about a million extra here this weekend for Caribana. Did you get that? A.Million.Extra. That's more than live in the entire state of New Mexico, and they've all here visiting downtown Toronto the same weekend as us. It gets better. Today is the Civic Holiday, so these million extra stuck around Sunday and are heading out today too. Great planning on our part, eh?

Today we drive back to the States. One more stopover night with my mom in Toledo. Then we fly back home. Vacation has been fun, but sleeping in my own bed at home sounds delightful.

Catch you on the flip side!

Where in the World is Lisa Slow-n-Steady?

[No photos to upload because the camera connector thing is in the bedroom area where Daughter is sleeping. No way I'm risking awaking the dragon just to add photos to my blog...]

Our next stop after Cedar Point was Niagra Falls in Canada. We walked up and down River road Thursday late afternoon/early evening, enjoying the falls from up top.

In the morning, we ventured down to Maid of the Mist (more appropriately named Maid of the Soaking Wet Wind, but that just doesn't sound as romantic) and got up close and personal with the Falls. Very cool. In the elevator of the hotel, we ran across a couple who was planning to get married later that day on the boat. I just hope she doesn't spend too much time on her hair...

Then we packed up and moved on to our next destination, Toronto. We enjoyed walking around yesterday evening, doing a bit of shopping, watching some street performers, having dinner, etc.

All summer long I've been reading about the unseasonably cool weather they've been having up this way. Cool weather certainly sounds lovely to me. So here we are and what is the weather forcast for today? High of 27C (81F), 58% humidity, feels like 32C (90F). Apparently the warmest day so far this summer. D'oh! [Edited to add: Possibly due to the breeze off of the lake, I must say that it hasn't seemed that warm to me. I've found it to be quite pleasant actually. ]

Oh, and I haven't run since Tuesday. Probably won't run again until next Tuesday at the earliest. We are doing a lot of walking, though. I hope that counts for something.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Checking in...

Arrived Monday evening in Toledo, where my mom lives. Tuesday morning, Husband & I went for a short run through the neighborhood. The temps were fairly cool and the oxygen was rich (thx to a much lower altitude) but the humidity was killer. No Garmin, just a sport watch, so I have to estimate distance. I'd say that I ran maybe 2.25 miles.

Wednesday, we took off for Cedar Point. The weather was perfect - not too hot, not too cool, not too sunny, just a few spinkles. Husband & Kids rode nearly every roller coaster in the park. Some of those new ones are insane! Unfortunately I was not feeling well all day, and ended up mostly walking from ride to ride, waiting, and hoping to feel better for the next one. Disappointing for me, but at least the rest of the family had fun.

My scale says that I lost a pound and a half in my first week of getting serious about watching what I eat. Yay me! I'm continuing focus on portion control while on vacation; trying very hard not to gain that back. I think I'm doing a reasonable job so far.

My apologies for sporadic posting and commenting. Internet connection opportunities are hit and miss while we're on the road...

Spalsh & Dash #3 Report

or "All Kinds o' Sucky"

PRE-RACE
Alarm went off and I popped out of bed after only hitting the snooze button once.

Made my way to the kitchen to make coffee. Then went to the bedroom to get dressed. Came back to the kitchen and there was coffee everywhere. I don't know why, but about once out of every 10 times that I make coffee, I do something wrong and we end up with a coffee mess everywhere.

To have it happen on this particular morning wasn't so good. I found myself cleaning up the coffee mess when I should have been drinking coffee and eating breakfast. I managed to get everything cleaned up well enough the the rest of the family could make coffee when they woke up. But I was now running out of time. There would be no coffee for me and my breakfast was reduced to whatever I could find to grab and go. Which turned out to be a strawberry milk chug and a small POM Wonderful.

I also wasn't able to rewrap my finger. Somewhere in the midst of the coffee disaster, I misplaced the tape. Couldn't find it anywhere. Time was ticking, and I needed to go.

This time the event was at a location a bit farther from my house. The drive over stressed me out a bit, but I made it on time. Got body marked, signed a waiver, and then went back to my car to rummage through my first aid kit in search of tape.

Found some white tape that seemed like it would work. Taped my finger to the one next to it. Went over to the pool and tested it out. I found that it didn't hurt too much if I bent my two fingers in toward the palm of my hand. My swim was definately going to be compromised, the entry and pull on the left was messed up, but I could do it.

Got lined up and waited my turn to start...

The SWIM (400M)
The swim was up and back in each lane, then under the rope to the next lane, and so on until the 400M swim was complete. The were starting us 30secs apart. I had estimated my swim at 8:15, a pace of 2:04/100 based on my last month's splash & dash result.

I turned to the person behind me and apologized in advance. I expected to be swimming slower than my estimated time. She said "no worries" the lanes were wide enough, she'd just pass if she needed to.

My watch says that I finished in 9:20, a pace of 2:19/100. Definately slower than my estimate, but not as bad as I expected with the compromised left hand. And while the lady behind me made ground on me, she never got close enough to pass (in the water).

TRANSITION
There isn't too much to set up in transition for a splash & dash. I set up my shoes, socks, hat, and small handheld full of Nuun.

All I had to do was throw down my goggle and cap, put on the shoes, grab the hat and bottle and go. Somehow this took me 1:01.

The RUN (5K)

The run course consisted of going up and over a highway on a pedestrian bridge, then running along side the highway on a bike path. Possibly one of the least scenic courses ever. The first part was on a gradual incline, then after the turn around, it was a gradual decline.

I knew I was in trouble about 100 yds into my run. The combination of lack of coffee and decent breakfast, extra energy spent in the pool trying to make up for issues with my left hand, and the sloshing in my stomach of strawberry milk and pomagrante juice was not doing good things for my body. My stomach was upset and I seriously contemplated if puking might make me feel better.

Struggling the whole time, I was passed on the run by many participants who started well after me in the swim. Run time ended up being 33:45, an 11:12 pace. For a 5K?!?! Ugggh. I think that's the slowest 5K I've run in 3 yrs, possibly ever. The only exception was the 5K at the end of the Patriot Tri last year which I mostly walked due to my knee, so that doesn't count.

My total combined time ended up being 44:06. While I wasn't the last to cross the finish line because of the seeded swim start, I think there is a good chance that I had the slowest combined time and will be listed in the results as the final finisher.

What can I say? It definately wasn't my day. I expected a slower swim, but never anticipated having such trouble on the run. Sometimes it just isn't meant to be.

But that isn't a good reason to give up, right? I thanked the race director on my way out and told him that I planned to be back for the next one...

[Edited several hours later to thank you all for your comments so far! I still can't believe just how sucky this was, but I like to think it was more a situation gone awry than a reflection of my ability. The next one will surely be better!]

First Impression of New Shoes

Earlier this week, my new shoes (courtesy of the onlineshoes.com giveaway on Wes's blog) arrived at my doorstep. I decided to debut them during my Thursday morning long run.

Before I get too far into this, let me back up a bit. I'm a neutral runner that runs on mixed conditions (trail, track, pavement). I typically run 3 days a week, shortish runs, but plan to ramp it up to 4 days and a little more mileage as I prep for a HM in October. Because of the shape of my feet, I prefer shoes with a wider toe box - narrow ones cause blisters on my big toe. For the past year, I've been running happily in Nike Zoom Vomero +3.

I originally thought that I'd use the gift certificate toward some trail shoes, but they didn't have the shoes that I wanted to try in stock in my size. So I decided to go ahead and look for a possible alternative to my Nike's. I decided on the Saucony Progrid Triumph 5. Here is what they look like:


My first impressions are generally favorable. I'm really only able to compare them to my Nikes, so that is what I'll do.

They seem to weigh about the same as my Nikes. They offer shock absorption, but in a more supportive way. That makes these a bit more suitable for the trail, in my opinion. Toe box isn't as wide as the Nikes, but it seems to be wide enough. At least I didn't notice any rubbing on my big toe the first time out. They have decent traction. One gripe I have with the Saucony shoes is the laces. They are really thin/flimsy and will need to be replaced.

For now, I think I will continue to run in these new shoes on my trail runs, and use my Nike's for pavement and such.

Thanks Wes and OnlineShoes.com!!

Long Run Thursday Morning

Plan:
Get up at 5am. Be out the door by 6am. Stick with Run/Walk. Stay hydrated. Try to have fun. Test out new shoes. Run 7 miles. Don’t Bonk. Don’t be (too) late for work

Actual:
Alarm went off at 5am. Holy smokes, how do people get up this early?! Made friends with snooze button. Twice. Up at 5:18. Yawn. Thought about going back to bed. Looked for new shoes. Ate a small breakfast. Found the shoes. Got ready. Slowly. Finally out the door twenty minutes behind schedule. Ran until my first scheduled walk break. Okay, it’s not so bad. Took a swig from handheld at each walk break. Smiled and said good morning to everyone encountered. Wondered why some didn’t reciprocate. Decide they must not be morning people. Smiled. Tried to be cognoscente of my new shoes. Enjoyed the cool morning temps. Felt good. Finished the distance as planned. Wow that took a long time. Crud, time to leave for work NOW. Shouldn’t have dawdled so much. Stupid snooze button. Quick shower. Off to work. In time for first meeting. Whew.

One Thing and Long Run Plan

Looked into weight watchers point system and it seems too complicated to me. But in the process, I did some research on nutritional content of some of the foods that I eat and it is clear that I eat wayyyy too much at lunch when I'm at work. Not good when I have two other meals in the day plus two snacks. Similarly, some of my snacks are too big.

For the past several days I've tried to make one conscious change and focus mainly on portion size. That's it. One thing each day. That's how habits are formed right? Here's how it played out:

* Got a smoothie Sunday afternoon for a snack. Had them add a protein scoop. Drank half and froze the other half for another day.
* Had the other half on Monday.
* Chose a garden burger over a regular burger Tuessday for lunch. Ate about 2/3 of it. Tossed the rest.
* Ate 2/3 of my roast beef and provolone sub for lunch. Also ate only about 6 of the chips that came with it.

In running news, I've decided to target tomorrow morning for my long run (7miles) rather than Saturday with the hope that I am able to do the Splash&Dash on Sunday. That leaves Friday and/or Sat to test out swimming with taped finger and will put me in a better place energy-wise on Sunday. While this all sounds good on paper, I doubt it will seem like such a good idea when my alarm goes off at stupid o'clock in the morning to make it happen.

And! My new shoes arrived. I'm not sure if running 7 miles in them straight away is a good idea, but I'm seriously considering it...

This, That, & the Other

First off, thanks tyou for all the great comments and suggestions on my last post. You gave me a lot to think about! One of the first things that I will do is take a more scrupulous look at my snacks - make sure they aren't too many calories and included a reasonable amount of protein. Next is learning to say no to second helpings. And tryng to be more reasonable about the size of the first helpings. And of course keeping up with the exercise.

Today I went out for a 4 mile run/walk this morning. S-l-o-w as molasses, but got it done. It is beyond me how I managed to eek out a 9:38 pace a week and a half ago at a 5K when a 12min pace about did me in this morning.

Not sure how I'm going to work out my training for the next few weeks. We have vacation travel plans starting Monday. next week. Have the flights and car worked out, but need to work out hotels and such. Nothing like waiting til the last moment!

Which may end up not being such a bad thing. Plans just might be changing. Dad is in the hospital again, this time worse than when I went to see him in May. Things aren't looking good, but who knows...

On a different subject, I've decided that I need some sort of cargo partition/pet barrier to keep Bandit confined to the back-back of the car when he comes with me on short car trips. 75lbs of dog that occasionally decides he wants to jump in the front seat just isn't safe. I think I found what I want to order, but will wait until closer to when we leave so that it arrives closer to when we get back.

Oh, and Son's Senior photo proofs came in the mail the other day. A few of them really captured his personality. I just can't believe he's a senior already! It really struck me how much he's grown up when he was taking me to urgent care a few weeks ago.

Which brings me to the stupid finger. Couldn't take the wrapping any longer. My hand was cramping. So I took it off. A week and a half early. Yes, I know that I need to remember that broken finger is still not healed even though the wrap is off. Shouldn't be too hard to remember, since it still hurts!

Not sure if/how I'm going to pull off the Splash & Dash on Sunday. This stupid broken finger seems like it will interfere with any attempt at swimming. Later this week I will see if re-wrapping my hand gives it enough support to swim. If not, guess I'll be a no show again. Sigh.

Running Shorts

I really need to post a photo of the orange Nike Pacer shorts that I picked up at Marhsalls a few weeks ago. I *heart* these shorts...sooooo comfortable. Today I wore them on my 6 mile run/walk with Hubby.

And as of this afternoon, I have a 2nd pair in a lavender-ish color.

It gets better. I just discovered that in addition to a little pocket for my key, they have a 2nd pocket in back. Presumably for an ipod. Didn't even know it was there until I took them out of the dryer inside out the other day. So it's like a bonus pocket. Woot!

I'm also enjoying my two pairs of Nike-some-other-model-that-I-haven't-figured-out shorts. Not as much as the Pacer shorts though. Those are far and away my favorite.

What I'm *not* loving this season are my Running Skirts. Last year I was all about the Running Skirt and didn't really have any running shorts.

So what changed? Well, it's not the Running Skirts' fault.

I've got this issue with an ever expending midsection. And thighs. And butt. Basically the entire section of my body that the Running Skirt is supposed to fit has gotten bigger. And trying to shove a bigger body into a Running Skirt that is now too small and then run?! That's a recipe for all kinds of trouble. Trust me on this.

I started out trying to lose 5 lbs. That was such a resounding success that I found myself upping the number to 10 lbs. Now it's more like 12-15. I basically suck at losing weight. I'm good at finding it though.

In the simplest sense, it's a matter of Calories In vs Calories Out and I'm fairly certain that my issue is on the Calories In side of the equation.

I've been doing the whole Eat-Less-More-Often thing. To a certain extent, that helps keep me from totally pigging out at dinner. But it's not sufficient to get my weight to move in the correct direction. Probably because my version is more like Eat-Less-a-Whole-Lot-More-Often.

I've also tried writing down everything I eat. It hasn't helped me decrease my food consumption. It just makes me feel bad when it comes time to write it all down. So now I probably need psychological help too.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Here's my serious question to you all. Who out there that likes to eat has been successful at losing weight? How did you do it? What specifically have you done that helped you eat less? No logging tools or tricks are going to work for me if I'm still hungry. I need to figure out how to kill my appetite and do better with portion control more than anything else.