Because I have been sharing about my running and exercising I have had many wonderful people give me helpful suggestions on why I am not losing weight. I know they mean well but seriously! I don't think I would be working this hard and only doing it half-assed. Here are some examples:
Here's what I have done since my last post on Monday.
Tuesday I ran after work but before my DC trip meeting. It was only four miles but I wasn't feeling great, was really tired and really didn't want to go. I went though. It wasn't my best time because of how I felt and then I had some interruptions. lol My hubby called while I was running and he almost never calls unless he needs something right away. He usually texts me. So of course I stop and take the call because I thought something was wrong. He just wanted to know when I'd be home. He had forgotten I was running and then going to a meeting and wanted me to pick up Goober #3 from the pool. He felt really bad. No worries. I got going again and was just about to the 2 mile mark so that I could turn around and head back and there was a train. Luckily it was almost by and I didn't have to wait really it just made me laugh to have a train in my way. I was about a mile away from the school when my phone rang again and this time it was my DC trip partner and she wanted to know if I was at the school yet. She had forgotten her keys at home and had to go back and get them. I was going to be a few minutes late because of my run but wasn't too worried about it because she is always there early. That didn't work to well. So I finished up as quickly as I could, grabbed my stuff out of the car and headed in to where all the parents were waiting. I still had my safety vest and flashy light on, was sweating and breathing hard. Luckily, the other teacher arrived almost at the same time and my new favorite student went and got me a water bottle. So glad that we have understanding parents! :-)
Hubby had to work on Wednesday so I decided that I should do my 30 minute swim in the morning so that it was one less thing I had to do in the afternoon with swim practice, church and hauling kids around. That was a good call! I got up early and got my swim done by 6:00 a.m. It wasn't as crowded in the morning and both sides of the pool are open for lap swimming. It is also really quiet compared to swimming in the evening when there are swim lessons, club practice, water aerobics and in general lots of people sitting around talking. I enjoyed it a lot, I'm just not sure I enjoyed it enough to get up at 5:00 a.m. every time I need to swim. lol
Thursday was a rest day. It was also Valentine's Day. Hubby worked a 12 hour trade so he wouldn't be home until after 7. We don't really make a big deal about Valentine's Day. It's not really our thing. We give each other cards or maybe go out to dinner but usually we go on dates when we want some special time together not when the calendar and commercials say we have to. Which means I get more special times with my hubby than just once a year. Lucky me!
Friday was the first day of the State Swim Meet for Goober #2 so I had the entire day off. I got up and got in my 3 mile run in the morning because I knew it was not going to happen after a long day of driving and sitting in bleachers and then driving again. That was a good call. I ran through the neighborhood and then finished on the track since hubby was there doing intervals. I finished pretty strong and then because hubby wasn't done yet I walked another 1 1/2 miles while he finished up. It was nice to just walk and not be worrying about pace and time.
Goober #2 did well at State. She came in 7th for the 50 freestyle and was an alternate for today. The 200 medley relay got 9th. She got 10th in the 100 freestyle relay. The 200 freestyle relay came in 7th and was an alternate today as well. The heart breaker for the girls is that there was an error on the scoreboard when the race finished and they thought they came in 6th and got to swim today. When they found out they didn't they were very disappointed. The Goober is disappointed that she didn't get to swim today but I think later she will be able to focus on the accomplishment of getting there at all.
It was a gorgeous day! Here is a picture of Mt. Hood from I-84. I love living in the Northwest!
Today was my long run. The longest one I have done since before Christmas. I was a little nervous about it. I needed 7 miles and I needed to get done before we had to head back to Portland. We went back up for the second day of the swim meet because it would have been terrible if we didn't go and then Goober #2 got to swim after all as the alternate. That would have sucked! We weren't willing to take the chance. It was still fun to watch the kids swim!
I decided that I would take it slow and just try and maintain a steady pace for the whole 7 miles. The first mile wasn't too bad, but I slowed down a little on the second mile. I worked hard at trying to keep going and as the miles went I could hear my average pace per mile getting lower. Hmmmm, maybe I will have negative splits on a few of these. That would be cool. I had to really push through the last mile, I was so tired!
Holey Moley! I had negative splits for the last five miles!!! Wasn't setting any land speed records or anything but I got just a bit faster each mile. My fastest mile was my LAST mile! Crazy! (I know, lots of exclamation points but I'm excited!) My overall average pace was under 14 minutes and my last mile was 12:51. It didn't feel great but it didn't feel terrible either and I did so much better than I thought I had. That's a great feeling.
All that green on the route means that I kept a very steady pace then entire run. Usually there are red or yellow spots where I slow down. Not this time!!
The bottom line for me is that I made it through the week. I got all my workouts in, come hell or high water. I am really struggling with being tired and that has been especially hard this week where there didn't seem to be any down time. It was all go, go, go, go, sleep. Get up and repeat. To do all I was supposed to do and not take the easy route and skip a workout is a big deal for me. Skipping certainly was tempting and would have made life easier for me in many ways. I'm looking forward to going to see the doctor next week and see what he thinks about how things are going.
- If you are running so much and not losing weight you must be eating too much. It's simply a case of too much food in and not enough exercise. (Gee, why didn't I think of that!)
- Anybody who runs will lose weight, you must not really be running that much. (Put in 17 miles this week, guess I need more!)
- Your knees hurt? If you lose weight that would help.
- You are running slow? If you lose weight you would get faster.
- Are you sure you are doing everything you are supposed to? Really? (No, I'm lying and secretly eating a ton and not really working out. Seriously, why would I lie about that?)
It has gotten almost comical because I know that people are trying to be encouraging and trying to help me figure out why I'm not losing weight but I PROMISE that I am counting every calorie that I eat and I am working out 5-6 days a week. :-)
Here's what I have done since my last post on Monday.
Tuesday I ran after work but before my DC trip meeting. It was only four miles but I wasn't feeling great, was really tired and really didn't want to go. I went though. It wasn't my best time because of how I felt and then I had some interruptions. lol My hubby called while I was running and he almost never calls unless he needs something right away. He usually texts me. So of course I stop and take the call because I thought something was wrong. He just wanted to know when I'd be home. He had forgotten I was running and then going to a meeting and wanted me to pick up Goober #3 from the pool. He felt really bad. No worries. I got going again and was just about to the 2 mile mark so that I could turn around and head back and there was a train. Luckily it was almost by and I didn't have to wait really it just made me laugh to have a train in my way. I was about a mile away from the school when my phone rang again and this time it was my DC trip partner and she wanted to know if I was at the school yet. She had forgotten her keys at home and had to go back and get them. I was going to be a few minutes late because of my run but wasn't too worried about it because she is always there early. That didn't work to well. So I finished up as quickly as I could, grabbed my stuff out of the car and headed in to where all the parents were waiting. I still had my safety vest and flashy light on, was sweating and breathing hard. Luckily, the other teacher arrived almost at the same time and my new favorite student went and got me a water bottle. So glad that we have understanding parents! :-)
Hubby had to work on Wednesday so I decided that I should do my 30 minute swim in the morning so that it was one less thing I had to do in the afternoon with swim practice, church and hauling kids around. That was a good call! I got up early and got my swim done by 6:00 a.m. It wasn't as crowded in the morning and both sides of the pool are open for lap swimming. It is also really quiet compared to swimming in the evening when there are swim lessons, club practice, water aerobics and in general lots of people sitting around talking. I enjoyed it a lot, I'm just not sure I enjoyed it enough to get up at 5:00 a.m. every time I need to swim. lol
Thursday was a rest day. It was also Valentine's Day. Hubby worked a 12 hour trade so he wouldn't be home until after 7. We don't really make a big deal about Valentine's Day. It's not really our thing. We give each other cards or maybe go out to dinner but usually we go on dates when we want some special time together not when the calendar and commercials say we have to. Which means I get more special times with my hubby than just once a year. Lucky me!
Friday was the first day of the State Swim Meet for Goober #2 so I had the entire day off. I got up and got in my 3 mile run in the morning because I knew it was not going to happen after a long day of driving and sitting in bleachers and then driving again. That was a good call. I ran through the neighborhood and then finished on the track since hubby was there doing intervals. I finished pretty strong and then because hubby wasn't done yet I walked another 1 1/2 miles while he finished up. It was nice to just walk and not be worrying about pace and time.
Goober #2 did well at State. She came in 7th for the 50 freestyle and was an alternate for today. The 200 medley relay got 9th. She got 10th in the 100 freestyle relay. The 200 freestyle relay came in 7th and was an alternate today as well. The heart breaker for the girls is that there was an error on the scoreboard when the race finished and they thought they came in 6th and got to swim today. When they found out they didn't they were very disappointed. The Goober is disappointed that she didn't get to swim today but I think later she will be able to focus on the accomplishment of getting there at all.
It was a gorgeous day! Here is a picture of Mt. Hood from I-84. I love living in the Northwest!
I decided that I would take it slow and just try and maintain a steady pace for the whole 7 miles. The first mile wasn't too bad, but I slowed down a little on the second mile. I worked hard at trying to keep going and as the miles went I could hear my average pace per mile getting lower. Hmmmm, maybe I will have negative splits on a few of these. That would be cool. I had to really push through the last mile, I was so tired!
Holey Moley! I had negative splits for the last five miles!!! Wasn't setting any land speed records or anything but I got just a bit faster each mile. My fastest mile was my LAST mile! Crazy! (I know, lots of exclamation points but I'm excited!) My overall average pace was under 14 minutes and my last mile was 12:51. It didn't feel great but it didn't feel terrible either and I did so much better than I thought I had. That's a great feeling.
All that green on the route means that I kept a very steady pace then entire run. Usually there are red or yellow spots where I slow down. Not this time!!
I know what you mean about people offering advice. That's why I pretty much never tell anyone when I'm trying to lose weight or exercise. I just don't want to hear people stating the obvious, thinking they know more than me. I'll tell you what... I probably know more than most people about healthy eating, physical activity, and other related things. I just continue to apply them to find the combination that works for me. :)
ReplyDeleteI will just keeping plugging away. Most people just can't believe that I'm running like I am and nothing is happening. :-) We will figure it out eventually. :-)
DeleteAw, people just want to help. I mean, they need to stop and think before they speak, and then NOT offer advice until it's asked for...but most of them probably mean well. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat had to be so frustrating to do everything right and still not get the results you "should" get! I'm so impressed by your commitment to running in spite of the difficulties. Love reading about it. You go!
Christa, I know people mean well and most of the time I appreciate their thoughtfulness in wanting to help me figure out what's going on. Some days, not so much. lol We should do a 10K up in Portland together. Well, at least sign up for the same race and then hook up at the end. :-) Thanks for reading my blog.
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