Operation Enough and SCC Week 8

I faced my bathroom scale this morning and it says I'm up 1lb. O.K now to focus on a new week.

I planned today out and tracked all of it, and even managed to drink 3L of water with the help of Nestea singles (no sodium). One day down.

I was thinking about my Operations as in Operation Butterfly and Operation Hottie well today I morphed them into one Operation Enough. No more sugar coating it as this is now war.

I've felt like I've been home for 5 minutes this weekend without having Friday off this week. Today was all about housework and laundry. I did watch the "Get Fired Up" dvd of the Turbo Fire collection. This an introduction to the program and kind of gives you what to expect. Of course the package came with a schedule to follow but due to my work situation (3 nights in camp a week) I modified it a bit. Calgary got hit by a cold front so the only time I went outside was to take out the garbage...brrrr.

The workouts break into different themes and combinations of  HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), Fire, Core, Tone, Sculpt and Stretch. Of course the pack comes with a workout schedule. I had to tweak this as I don't have a regular Mon - Fri job and spend 3 nights a week in a camp room. I intend to do these workouts in my camp room. My room is on the 2nd (top) level so I made sure to keep all the HIIT workouts (which seem to involve a lot of jumping) to when I'm at home. Your not supposed to do two HIIT workouts in a row so Friday and Sunday will now be HIIT days. Though in the first week there's only one HIIT workout. I do like how it's scheduled to get progressively more difficult to challenge yourself. Now let's see if I can do week 1.

Tomorrow I test out Fire 30 + Stretch 10 (one dvd) the good part is each dvd has a "new to class" option so you see the break down of the moves and work towards skipping that and going right into the workout. This DVD shows up 3 times in the 1st week so that will be tomorrow, Wednesday and Saturday. I'll break down the different workouts as I go through them and give you a little review- well hopefully I can get all the way through a workout.

Now to the Spring Chick Challenge as I wrote yesterday Week 8 was rough I could say PMS was partly to blame but I'm accountable for my actions and I more or less took last week off and forgot everything I knew about staying on plan. However I have now regained my senses.

Week 9 goals:
Activity - Start Turbo Fire
Track every day
Water minimum 2L but shoot for 3L
Check in with my fabulous buddy Enz every day. She very kindly volunteered to remind me to track so I asked her to add in a reminder about water. I'm so lucky to have her.

This coming Friday might be another night out to celebrate a birthday however if that happens I'll weigh in on Friday at noon. It's all about planning. I sat down and actually planned out my week by checking the camp menu for the week and having a good idea of points for dinner so that I can plan breakfast and lunch accordingly. I have traditional stand byes for breakfast and lunch so I can control the points better.

I'm also thinking about creating some blog cards for Fitbloggin as a way to introduce myself and give my blog deets. Do any of you have such a thing or advice on this?

In about an hour I'll make my way to bed with a book as I have cab coming at 4:30am to fly to work tomorrow.

Hope you enjoyed your weekend. To a new week!!!

Hugs!!!

It seems to be going around and SCC wk 8

Hello my friends,

It felt like a long week this week and probably even longer as I had to go into work yesterday which is normally my day off.

I have a confession to make I skipped weigh in today. I'm not proud of that but I just didn't want to face the scale today. I seem to be back into the pattern of waffling and tracking last week was pretty iffy plus I had a few derailments. I've noticed I'm not alone. For challenge purposes I'll weigh myself tomorrow morning and use that weight.

I do keep up with all your blogs via a feed reader on my phone and Ipad and it's my daily ritual to go through and read them. I try to comment but sometimes on the iPhone it's hard especially with that new word verification that I have now turned off as I find it ridiculously cumbersome.

Last week my company declared they were sponsoring the Canadian Olympic team for another 4 years and a site we had a conference room full of red and white cupcakes as we were watching the announcement via web conference. I had one cupcake as they were ridiculously good which I have to admit is pretty rare a site. Later in the day the extras where in every kitchen so I had another one.

I did return to the treadmill on Wednesday and did 1:1 intervals for 20min and then walked for an additional 10. It felt good to run again and I was pleased that I could still run for 1 min.

Thursday was touch and go if we would land as this weird snow storm hit the north of Calgary. At one point no planes were landing but then we got clearance to go. The plane that was supposed to leave half an hour after us got delayed for 5.5 hours. We thought we might be delayed. A few of us were sitting near the vending machines and joking that this would be our source of dinner. It was pretty funny when people came up to use the machines and we told them that we got to choose what they got. It was surprising how many people let us pick what they were having. We were asking salty or sweet to narrow down the options. I didn't buy anything in the vending machine but when I got home I made myself a plate of nachos.

As for Friday's meeting I have to admit I wasn't sure if it was going to go well but I'm quite happy with how it all went. It was a grab and get lunch so we could keep plugging through and perhaps end early. I went to a sandwich place and got a chicken salad (with grapes in it) sandwich. Probably not the healthiest option but I didn't want Subway. Had I given it more thought I could have had a better plan.

I had to pick up my race plaque from FedEx which is by the airport. My friend M came to the rescue and saved me a mess of cab fare by coming with me and then we did dinner last night. I hadn't planned dinner and fully intended to go the meeting today but after dinner last night and two beers I realized I had thrown the week.

In between the meeting finishing and before M finished her day I went to Origins and picked up the Andrew Weil line as my skin has been angry lately. I've used the serum before but yesterday I went all in with cleanser, toner and moisturizer - so far so good. I also picked up a new moleskin LEGO journal, with the thought of needing a restart. I also love LEGO.

Though last night I wrote in my current journal as I realized I need to see this through not stop a journal a third of the way through. Suck it up, pick myself up and keep going. I do realize that stress is the biggest factor in my self sabotage but I do believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The LEGO journal will wait until I'm done with my current one. I gave myself a good talking to in that journal last night.

I got the package notice that Turbo Fire had arrived and I debated picking it up today as there's a mess of weather warnings of blowing snow. I finally just sucked it up and headed out and walked to Walmart and the post office. The weather wasn't so bad actually just fairly windy.

It came with booklets and a whack of DVDs. This is the trend in the workout world it seems P90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire and Jillian Michael's Body Transformation seem to all come with the same stuff and a whack of DVDs. This is on tap for tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be pretty awful with more blowing snow.

I also picked up some good stuff grocery wise today.

I've never tried this particular bread before. Silver Hills also makes Squirrelly Bread which I used to buy all the time but then got tired of it so I thought I'd try something new. 2PP per slice.















A new find was Summer Fresh's Greek Yogurt Asiago and Artichoke dip, now normally Asiago and Artichoke dip is dangerous and Summer Fresh's regular version is pretty dangerous however they launched a new line of dips made with Greek yogurt as a base. This version is 1PP for 2 tablespoons. I think it would lovely on a sandwich or dip veggies in it.

I love cherry yogurt. My go to breakfast at camp is the hot cereal of the day and yogurt. Now I'm fairly positive the yogurt in the camp kitchen is full fat and full sugar. So next week I'll bring this with me and use it as my morning snack and skip the yogurt in the morning and stick to hot cereal. This is 2PP per container. I like the Oikos greek yogurt, it's kind of funny that the individual 2% ones are also 2PP.

These are coming with me as well. I have Ryvitta crackers in my desk and you can get WW bread in the pack lunch kitchen so I might make my own sandwich of hummus and tomato/onion or something as supposed to the Mr.Noodle soup (8PP) which is starting to be a habit These packs are 3PP each.




Tonight for dinner I'm having zucchini spaghetti (zucchini spiraled and lightly sauteed in a little EVOO) with organic tomato sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan.

This is going to be a great week. 3 weigh ins remain until the end of this challenge so all is not lost.

Tomorrow will be my adventures of trying Turbo Fire...

Hugs!!!

Impossible - SCC WK7

One of my friends posted this quote on facebook:

"nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible" - Audrey Hepburn

I need to remind myself of that. The medal rack arrived now I just need to install it but it's a pretty good tool to remind myself that I am possible.

Well I did see a gain on Saturday. I was up 1.6lbs. While not ecstatic about the gain I'm happy I didn't bail on my meeting. It was great to see Deb and be back in the meeting. At the end of the meeting she said even if you saw a gain today or not as much of a loss as you were hoping know that you've honoured the commitment to yourself by being there today.

All my grand plans for Friday went out the window when my friend called who's also a co-worker. We needed to pick up the coasters we had painted for our out going director. Well I wound up spending the whole day running around with her. So that involved a vegetarian salad roll lunch and dinner at Mongolie Grill. While I did think I made good selections at Mongolie I forgot about the sauces and the high likelihood there'd be a good chunk of sodium.

Mongolie Grill is one of those restaurants where you will a bowl with ingredients from a salad bar type of set up, add a sauce and they cook it up. The good thing is you totally control what's in it, the part I forgot about is I don't know what's in the sauces. I went with honey garlic, coconut and peanut sauce on my plethora of veggies and chicken. I am betting sodium was a factor in my 1.6lb gain.

On Saturday I could finally return to Starbucks but I had a muffin with my latte as breakfast. I should have had something with protein. I needed to pick up the rest of the things I needed as on Friday I didn't have my list with me. I didn't go the gym instead I went outside as the temperature was mild and the sun was shining. I decided to go for a walk and I didn't look at my Garmin once I just wanted to move as this was pretty much my first workout since the Tinkerbell Half.

All in all I did 5.06km, 48:25min/ Avg pace 9:34/ 191 calories burned.

Today I'm getting myself sorted. I've baked some thinly cut chicken breast after marinating it in a garlic lime marinade yesterday - this for my salad lunches at work. I've portioned it out into 3oz packages. I'm also making a pot of turkey chili to be a quick meal when I fly home and another option for Monday lunches.

I've started a pile next to work bag of things I need to bring with me, which includes that extra set of workout clothes for my office (I did get another pair of runners), a whack of Nestea single flavour packs to get me back on track with water and my lunch is packed and in the fridge.

Next up is laundry.

Yesterday food wise was a total foodapalooza, now I do want to use Saturday as my treat day as in if there has been something I've been craving all week I can have it on Saturday. I pretty much snacked all day and then went out to dinner with another friend. Know I knew about the dinner all week. I could have planned my day a lot better. I really should have had the egg sandwich at breakfast instead of the muffin as I suspect it would have kept me fuller and not so likely to snack.

Before I left for WW I was watching an infomercial for Turbo Fire, well after my walk I ordered it. It looks like a load of fun and it's something I could do in camp and as the workouts range from 20-40min, it's my no excuses tool when the weather is not great for running.

Today I'm focusing on water and staying on track. I fully plan to annihilate those 1.6lbs.

A wee less then 4 months till my birthday - this is war.

Goals for this week:
Track
Water
Exercise: Mon - Run, Tue- Yoga, Wed-Run, Thurs-Yoga, Fri- Rest

Now my challenge this week is I have to work on Friday (normally my day off) and it's an all day offsite meeting so that's why I've made it a rest day. The offsite is out of town so I have no idea when I'll be home. I will be focused.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Hugs!!

Where did the week go

This week kind of flew by and at the same time messed with my schedule.

When I last posted on Monday I had full intentions of hitting the treadmill on Wednesday.

Tuesday was of course Valentine's Day. The camp bus driver wished me a Happy Valentine's day and hoped the company bought me roses. That didn't happen but the company did provide a plethora of Valentine's Day themed baked goods. I went a wee overboard on that. The weird thing the next morning when I weighed myself I was down. Mind you I skipped supper.

Wednesday I wound up working an hour and half longer then I had planned therefore missing my opportunity to get a treadmill. My camp is facing some gym overcrowding issues and if I don't get a treadmill before 7pm I'm kind of hooped as by 8pm I'm pretty much ready for bed. I start work at 6am.

Thursday I fly home.

Today I had full intentions of going the gym and then grocery shopping but then I got a call from my friend/co-worker and those plans turned into running errands picking up the coasters we painted last weekend to give our out going director (who is going to a new group). The team was having dinner tonight. We were on the go all day today. I bought a new pair of runners.

So another week with not one workout session. I did hatch a plan though.

You see there is a gym in my office building at site that I have never used. I have always been an after work workout kind of girl and preferred camp because well it's close to my room. However it's not like I can't go from the office gym to camp.

So I'm going to keep a pair of runners and workout clothes in my office so if I work a little late I can go to the office gym which is no where as near as busy as the camp gym. I still want to keep an option in my camp room because my other option is get up earlier in the morning and go to the gym and I don't always have to work later.

They are working on solutions for the camp gym. One I'm kind of looking forward to is putting gym equipment in a sort of bonus room in our camp wings. That would mean a treadmill down the hall from my room.

That's one of the bonuses of working in a camp environment the plethora of gyms.

I did get some grocery shopping done tonight as my friend needed to as well so we hit Walmart after dinner. Now I didn't have my list so I will do a return trip tomorrow after the gym.

Now tomorrow's weigh in will be interesting after going out to dinner tonight, however I'm so looking forward to seeing my regular leader.

Now I have no excuses as I have runners at home, in my camp room and in my office.

No matter what the scale says tomorrow I'm focusing on a killer new week.

Hugs!!!

Confessions

I did not run yesterday. I had awesome intentions though.

I was dressed with Garmin and iPod in hand and then out the door. Moments later I realized I had a Garmin with little power left and a dead iPod. I was only 2 houses down so I turned back to recharge the devices. Wimpy? Perhaps and had the iPod been charged I probably would have kept going. I'm not at the point where I enjoy a run for a runs sake. I need the tunes.

Well by the time the charging was done I was knee deep in reading (ironic that it was on running) and doing laundry. The moment was lost.

I had thought I'd run tonight but there's a reason I don't plan runs on Mondays - I've been up since 3:30am and zonked. I'm showered and in my pjs right now.

I did write out my training plan for the half marathon in November on my wall desk calendar and will do so shortly in my camp room calendar. The training doesn't start till July but as I've said before I'm a planner. The Tinkerbell training totally snuck up on me so this time I'll be ready.

That plan has runs happening on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday so I can get 2 runs outside. I might as well adopt that schedule now. The plan now is to work on intervals by November I'd like to be at least at 4 min run and 1 min walk if not better. On Wednesday it will be starting back at basics to build a stronger foundation.

So those Sunday runs will be sorted the night before from now on and everything will be charged. Also they will happen first thing or else too much of a chance of getting distracted. Not so unlike the days of doing Running Room classes.

I did do a great job food wise today so that's a win.

Well I hope all of you enjoyed your Monday.

Hugs!!!

A sign?

Had some very interesting dreams last night and they all revolved around a trip to Vegas, I'm assuming my upcoming June trip to Vegas.

The first snippet was me at the airport and then on the plane. Well me rocking a pair of J Brand jeans in red, black boots and a funky top. Then on the plane flirting with the cute guy sitting next me.

Next snippet strolling through the casino of Aria (where I'll be staying) rocking a black sexy cocktail dress and wearing blue stilettos (I already own the shoes thanks to my wee addiction to Shoe Dazzle).

Now in these snippets I was not me as I am now, I think this was goal weight me.

Huh, I've never had that type of dream before. Even when I attempted Operation Hottie two years ago for when I was going to Vegas for my friends birthday. Of course the trip coming up in June is for my birthday so perhaps that what makes the difference.

Tomorrow I dust off another thing, this time the running shoes after a two week hiatus. Still not sure if I'll head outside or to the gym, it's supposed to be +2C by noon so that's sort of exciting. Worst case scenario I think its -5C in the morning. I'm going to take it easy and start following the Jeff Galloway plan. After two weeks off I'm pretty much starting from scratch anyway. Not sure what the intervals will be as Galloway strongly believes in the walk break. I don't think I'll need to start from beginner start but according to his strategy the purpose is to not be out of breath during the run intervals.

I also dusted off something that worked for me before. I've had a challenge getting the 2L of water in. Back in the day when I had this challenge I'd flavour a litre of water with a pack of Nestea 5 calorie Ice Tea packet. I did this today and had one litre down in no time. This week my goal is one litre flavoured and one litre unflavoured. The pack is supposed to be used in 500ml of water but I find it fine in a 1L actually I might try half a pack in 1L.

I'm also setting a challenge for myself this week no sweets aka chocolate or cookies, track, 2L of water and follow the workout plan I wrote on my kitchen calendar. If I do that, I can treat myself to a manicure and pedicure on Saturday after weigh in. The danger period for this is Mon - Thurs when I'm at work with the dessert wall in the dining room and pack lunch kitchen. I really do need to take a picture of it so you get what I'm talking about. I'll write the workout schedule on the calendar I have in my camp room as well.

It was funny when we were waiting for the plane on Thursday one of co-workers asked me how I stayed focused on training for the half marathon. I told him I used stickers to note done on the training calendar. Another co-worker laughed as that's how they potty trained their kid. I told him - Hey, if it works use it.

I love using stickers on a calendar.

I had lunch with a friend today and spent the afternoon pottery painting. Then she needed to swing into H&M. I don't know how anyone finds anything in the store. Another rather odd thing I was scoping out shop windows for potential outfits for Vegas...

Wonder what I'll dream tonight.

Hope you all had a great Saturday!

Hugs!!!

Spring Chick Challenge WK6 weigh in

I don't know where my head was this week. I didn't go to the gym once, instead after finishing work I preferred to go to my camp room put on my pajamas and just chill. I've found myself in a bit of a funk..again. Not to worry it's a very minor blip.

So to describe my week in one word would be: off

A very good thing this week was Air Canada had a seat sale so I booked my flight to Fitbloggin 12. So now everything is booked with the exception of San Francisco (waiting on my cousin for more details) and the Disney Wine and Dine registration which opens March 13th.

Tracking wise was so so. I usually made it to lunch time really well but then dinner was entered the day after. Hey at least it was entered. When this has happened before I tend to pitch the tracker and get a new one but not this time. I have to see this through and turn it around.

Even though I've been doing a fly in fly out schedule now for over a year I still find scheduling my weekends somewhat of a challenge.

It's important I buy groceries on Fridays as I do only have 3 days at home I need to make sure I factor in packing a lunch on Monday. Now of course I don't need a lot of groceries but I still need to meal plan for 3 days.

If I leave it to Saturday I'm running out of days at home and then it messes up going to the gym.

Now I do love my Saturday WW meetings at 8:30am as I love the group just as much as the leader. The gym which is across the street from my WW meeting has Zumba at 10:45am and Iron Reps at 12:15pm. Now my WW meeting ends at 9:30am so that leaves a good chunk of time till Zumba and not really enough time to go home and come back again. I also walk to WI which is roughly 12 blocks from my house.

So I've tried picking up all perishable groceries on Friday and use that hour between WW and Zumba to pick up the stuff that doesn't require refrigeration or freezer. When I've left the shopping to Saturday I have picked up the stuff non perishable stuff and stuffed into my backpack, gone to the gym and then back the store afterwards to pick up the fresh stuff - definitely not ideal.

Today was totally sideways as I wanted to weigh in today as I was going out to dinner tonight and I just didn't want to worry about sodium and everything else the night before weigh in. Now I also needed to go to Purolator to pick up a parcel. Purolator is a bit of a hike from my neck of the woods.

I tried a different bus route to get to Purolator (that I thought would better) which had me get off at the totally wrong spot and walk for many many blocks in -22C windchill. I then took the bus I should of home but due to C-Train construction it didn't stop where I thought it would and that caused about a 10 block roundabout to get to the mall. Now my intention was to buy groceries then go to the meeting. Now my timing was totally off as I had about an hour to kill until the meeting. Now this meant I wasn't staying for the meeting as I didn't think my frozen stuff would survive.

So I had a drive by weigh in and was miraculously down 1.2lb. Then I took a bus home as I was in my running shoes and the snow that had been falling was very fluffy and hiding some icy spots. I already tested my balance on a few of those today. I know the meeting topic was tracking so I still have to read the WW weekly but I'm also reading all your blogs on what you thought of this week's meeting.

As I was walking the many blocks I did have time to think about how to make a schedule that really works.

So here's what I came up with.

Friday - This is supposed to be a run day but if the weather is blechy it's the treadmill. So if it's nice go outside after breakfast then grocery shop. If it's treadmill do that then grocery shop.

Saturday- Bring a coffee to weigh in, then in between weigh in and the gym have breakfast (that I usually eat in the meeting) bring the Ipad so I can read.

Sunday - Run day so same rules as Friday without the grocery shopping.

Now dinner is no longer happening as my friend wasn't feeling well so it's lunch instead tomorrow. The plan I've listed above will go into effect next weekend as this one is a little sideways.

So my goals for week 7 are very straight forward:

Track - the whole day on the day preferably
Minimum of 2L of water
Follow my workout schedule (finally) though it might be modified slightly as I've been reading Jeff Galloway's book and it's given me a few things to think about but that's only minor tweaks to what I already created.

I do hope you all had a great week.

Hugs!!!

I'm dangerous when I'm tired

Last night I was in bed by 6:45pm with the intention to read, specifically Jeff Galloway's book "Running - Get Started". When I said I was going back to basics I wasn't kidding.

I should have known that bed and book would cause me to fall asleep half an hour later.

I woke up on my own at 3:30am, so I got up.

Fast forward to 6pm when I got to camp and I'm tired. My dinner plan went out the window. The online menu was wrong and they had tacos tonight. I had tacos which put me over points wise. I'm so tired. The plan now is pajamas and while watching a train wreck called The Bachelor.

Tomorrow is a new day. I'm going to attempt a chopped salad lunch with the ingredients available in the camp pack lunch kitchen.

Hugs!!!!

Am I the only one not watching football?

The only thing that interests me about the Superbowl is the commercials and I can watch those on You Tube later, so I am not watching any football.

The sneezing resurfaced today but I can't say I feel bad. I decided to make today a rest day just to be safe. Instead of running I did laundry, washed dishes and straightened up. When I was looking for something else I found my finisher medal from the 2007 Calgary Half Marathon, huh now I have 4 medals to hang on the medal hook.

I had a good number on the scale this morning which sort of surprised me. I was tracking away today when at 3pm I had an altercation with Lifestyle blueberry brown sugar cookies. When I bought these I thought they might be a healthier cookie...duh there is no such thing as a healthy cookie. I reached my senses and tossed the remaining cookies.

I've got myself sorted for flying off to work tomorrow. Clothes are laid out and work bag is mostly packed. I'm taking a Smart Ones Fettuccine for lunch tomorrow as I didn't really buy any groceries this weekend mostly stuck to what was in my pantry as I did go shopping on Tuesday. I had steamed asparagus for lunch with a grilled cheese sandwich. I saved some asparagus and chopped it up to take with me tomorrow. I think it will be a nice way to bulk up the fettuccine.

I've already scoped out the camp menu and there's a vegetable soup that clocks in at 1PP on the dinner menu.

Monday's are always an interesting food day as I'm having breakfast at 4am and it's a long time till lunch. So snacks are pretty important and I usually aim for a lighter dinner as I'm pretty wiped by the end of the day.

Nothing outrageously exciting today but I do hope all of you enjoyed your Sunday.

Hugs!!

Spring Chick Challenge WK5 Update

I did not forget about the Spring Chick Challenge, I was just a little distracted by the Tinkerbell run.

I was up .4 at WI today and all in all that's not so horrendous. My tracking was practically non existent since I left for the half marathon. However today is a new week and like I said yesterday - Game On!!!!

So Week 6 is all about getting back into it and to address Stormy's questions.

• Best moment so far - Tinkerbell Half by far, it re-ignited by race mojo
• Not so great moment - not being as far along in weight loss as I wanted to be
• Any funny stories - the guy during the race holding up the sign that said "Worst Parade Ever"
• Are you where you hoped you would be in this journey - No, but I also realize training for a half marathon isn't exactly when one should be thinking about cutting calories and it also works as a heck of an excuse
• Would I like a buddy for the last 6 weeks - Sure, the more support and encouragement the better
• Anybody wanna chat online sometime - I'm open to text messages or twitter but I don't spend a whole lot of time on a laptop mostly my iphone or ipad. 

I embrace the mini challenge of focusing on water - I was planning on that anyway

My goals for Week 6 are:
Minimum 2L of water per day
Food - I treated today as a treat day so used a good chunk of my WP but the goal is smack on 26pts from Sunday to Friday. I'm trying the strategy of if I really want something and still want it on Saturday I can have it.
Fitness - put my new workout plan into action. Today I had planned to go to Zumba and Iron Reps but I felt off and was sneezing a lot so I just walked to weigh in then Walmart and back home again. I can breathe through both nostrils now so tomorrow I plan to run I'd like to do at least 30min.
Fun-Not sure about this one, right now I'm embracing my race mojo and building a stronger base

Today I headed to WI and my usual routine is to stop at Starbucks and get breakfast. Shock and horrors my Starbucks is closed for renovations. So I went to Safeway and got their breakfast sandwich (two egg whites, whole wheat english muffin, bacon and cheese) it's half the price of the Starbucks version but they nuked pre made egg whites which Starbucks does as well. However it tasted a heck of a lot better, the Starbucks version is a bit dry.

Now I'm thinking I should go to MacDonald's. The Egg McMuffin is exactly the same number of points as the reduced turkey bacon version at Starbucks, and the Egg McMuffin has a freshly cooked real egg. McDonald's also makes just a good of a latte and it's way cheaper. Gives me something to think about anyway.

I'm happy Deb my regular leader is back next week. The sub was good but not the same. I have 4 weigh in coupons left so I plan to make February fantastic.

Hope you all had a great Saturday.

Hugs!!!

Oh boy I'm in it now

About an hour ago I booked a flight to Orlando for November....I'm going to the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Of course registration doesn't open till March so I still need to register for the actual race. What caused me to book the flight was there were only 4 seats left on a direct flight from Calgary. Good thing it's shortly bonus time at work. I thought about this a lot and I want to shoot for that Disney coast to coast medal this year.

So now I'm going to the US 5 times in 2012 with 4 trips remaining. Mind you Vegas, San Francisco and Baltimore (FitBloggin) are short trips that include weekends. I booked a week at Disney World as I've never been and I want some time to explore.

I also bought this yesterday:

It's a medal hook, I saw them at the expo at the Tinker Bell Half and thought what a good idea of course at that moment I didn't realize that after finishing that half I'd be gung ho do another one. I dug out my medals from the Honolulu Marathon and Vancouver Half Marathon from 2006 (Calgary doesn't hand out finisher medals) and am going to hang those on there with the gorgeous Tinkerbell finisher medal. I bought this one online, yeah pretty ambitious of me to get one with 10 hooks, there is a 5 hook option. But when I saw "Believe" I knew it had to be mine.

I have weigh in tomorrow and when I stepped on the scale this morning things did not look good in fact is said 2lbs up. Let's face facts I've been on vacation mode lately. I actually flirted with the idea of skipping weigh in tomorrow and then I quickly slapped myself up the head. That is not going to help me, so what if I have a gain. Sticking my head in the sand is not the answer and after I step on that scale tomorrow I have a whole new week in front of me plus fueled to do better.

It's game on time. I want to be close to or at goal by that Vegas trip in June, definitely by San Fran and Baltimore and I want to smoke my Tinkerbell time at the Wine and Dine.

On Wednesday I did not run. On my new training plan I made Mondays a yoga day because I'm up at 3:45 am to fly to work. Well on Wednesday I was up at 3:45 am to fly to work. I forgot my ipod and yoga dvds. I was in bed by 8pm.

At 2:21am the fire alarms went off in our camp dorm. So I pulled on warmer clothes over my pjs and headed outside. Apparently a hallway heater got a wee warm and set it off. Oy vey all day yesterday you saw a lot of people with bags under their eyes. Today I slept till just before 9am.

So two flights in two days and dinner out yesterday probably a good part of the 2lbs I saw this morning.

You know what I know I can do this and you know what so can you.

Now I must go drink some water.

Hugs!!!!

Back to basic...again

My head is in the zone to get back to basics. I abandoned tracking on Tuesday of last week as my head was full of race thinking. Today I re-introduced myself to my tracker and tracked all of today.

I did walk to the mall and back as I needed a few groceries and this way I don't need to pick up as much on Friday. I'm still a wee sore and didn't walk as fast as I normally would but it was good to get moving. Tomorrow I plan to hit the treadmill at camp. I'm planning an interval workout for no less then 30min.

Today I downloaded two Jeff Galloway books. He's the run coach that Disney promotes. I've heard good things so I thought I'd check it out. I got his introduction to running and half marathon training book. The training plan I used pre Tinkerbell never had you do the full 13.1 miles/ 21 km and I think that might not have the right move for me. I also switched my Garmin back to metric.

It's funny, when I did the HSBC Half Marathon in 2007 and finished with an almost identical chip time I felt awful and at that moment pretty much decided long distance races where not my thing.

Come back to today and having done the Tinkerbell Half Marathon I'm not gutted. In fact I'm inspired to improve and do another one. The scenarios are almost identical in 2007 half hearted training due to pure laziness. This year half hearted training trying to factor in camp life and winter and procrastination. Maybe it's the Disney run itself and how well organized it was or something has switched in my brain. For the first 6 miles I did feel strong and the running parts didn't suck - which was a first.

I put together a new workout plan for myself which goes like this:
Monday - Yoga
Tuesday - Pilates
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Rest (fly home day)
Friday - Run
Saturday - Zumba and Iron Reps at the gym
Sunday - Run

Like I've said before weight loss is now the primary goal and building a strong foundation before I attempt another race. When I say building a strong foundation that's working on running like proper form and building stamina. I also want to focus on flexibility and the muscles. Back to basics also means tracking, drinking water and eating as clean as possible.

Today I ordered the medal plaque for the Tinkerbell race and they actually had an action shot of me. This is incredibly rare for me as I tend to avoid photos and I've never positioned myself on purpose to be captured during any race. I have never purchased the plaque before. Mind you Disney puts out bling that deserves a plaque not the like the Honolulu Marathon that gave you essentially a key chain and a 99c shell necklace.

I realized I also wanted a before shot.

I even got my time inscribed on the thing, because I want to know where I started. I would be hard pressed to find a before photo of me at 204lbs but with 40lbs to go to goal there will definitely be an after photo. I even ordered a copy of the final photo that was taken smack after the race on my way to getting a banana. Smiling and sassy I must say. This is to remind me that I am stronger then I give myself credit for.

Something has definitely switched and now I need to keep it switched.

Hugs!!!

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap–Race Day!!!!

Here is the 3rd post on my half marathon weekend.

I was in bed by 8pm. At about 10pm I sneezed and had the beginning of a runny nose. I went to the bathroom and filled the sink with hot water. I then stuck a towel over my head and breathed in the steam. The last thing I needed was a runny nose on race day. Went back to sleep with Kleenex near my pillow.

At 1am they tested the race PA system and I could hear trucks dropping off gates. The draw back to have the start line right in front of my hotel and being on the 3rd floor.

A very early breakfast at 3:30 am consisting of frosted flakes ( thanks to the hotel convenience store the day before) and coffee from the hotel room coffee maker. I got dressed and headed to the start area at 4:45am.

11300 women and 800 men racing today. I was in Corral D so a bit of a wait till we were herded into the corral.

Fireworks went off at the start - nice touch Disney. Each corral was sent off by an image of Tinkerbell flicking a wand.

I can't run and take pictures. It amazed me how many people stopped dead to take photos in the middle of the road not mention how many we're running in the shirt they gave us or cotton - a typical no no.
Loads of fairy wings and got smacked with a few when people passed close by. That wasn't a big deal it was nice to see so many in the spirit of the race.

The lower sea level gave me energy at the start. Anaheim is 100 feet above sea level where Calgary is a few thousand. That extra air is kind of awesome plus no wind chill. There was much zigging and zagging due to the high volume of runners and some pretty narrow parts especially through California Adventure and Disneyland so that took a bit of energy.

I did something pretty stupid as due to my feelings of increased energy I was doing 2 min run, 1 min walk not how I trained. That lasted till mile 6 as I then started to run out of energy. I tried 3 min walk and 2 min run for mile 7 and 8 but then i started just walking.

Here's the breakdown. Garmin said 3:15, I did pause it when I had to hit the bathrooms at mile 4, 13.42 miles (I forgot to turn it off and didn't realize till I was waiting to take the finish photo). Pace 14:34/mi, 831 calories burned. I found my pace per mile interesting.
Mile 1 13:21

Mile 2 13:23
Mile 3 13:54
Mile 4 13:15 - due to the bathroom stop I did run for a longer period to gain back time
Mile 5 13:37
Mile 6 14:06
Mile 7 14:19
Mile 8 14:06
Mile 9 15:16 - here is where I started to hurt a bit and switched to walking
Mile 10 15:14
Mile 11 14:33 - a wee 2nd wind still walking
Mile 12 15:43 - really started to hurt - kept telling myself all I had left to do was the same distance I walk to weigh in on Saturdays
Mile 13 15:26

Official results:

3:13:45 and finished 6911 out of 120000 runners, 9386 people finished the race. So it is my 2nd best time in long distance career.

The runny nose disappeared during the race but returned when I got back to the room. I swear there's some sort of scent in the room. I think that's the culprit. I’m back in Calgary now and yup runny nose is gone.

Here's my after shot. Oh boy was I hurting especially feet and knees. I was wearing compression tights and I do think I would of hurt more without them. Note the sparkle skirt survived.

The best parts of the race:

Guy with the sign that said: Worst. Parade. Ever

The 100 Red Hat ladies lining one pare of the route cheering people on

The abundance of cheerleaders in California cheering us on

The group of little girls doing a luau on the route

The 4 military personnel in desert fatigues dancing away and cheering us on.

I went straight back to my hotel room after collecting a banana and an orange. The bonus of the hotel as this was a short distance. I downed a bottle of chocolate milk. My fingers were swollen as it was getting pretty warm for the last half of the race I should have had more water and the powerade. I had one GU gel at the 1 hour mark. I breezed past the first 5 water stations as I was also carrying water, I should have used every water station.

I didn't move from my bed for an hour and a half then popped two Tylenol, took a bath and the dragged myself to California Adventure and Downtown Disney to pick up a few souvenirs. So happy I brought my Nike flip flops with me as they felt like pillows. Here I am lying in bed trying to take a picture of the medal.

I got two new Star Wars Mr Potato Heads. Mashter Yoda and Chipbacca. I really wanted the Darth Maul one but that was no where to be found. I was tempted by the boba fett one. I need them in pairs to balance out the office window. I don't really like the C3-PO one Got another mug that says "I'm wicked awesome" with some Disney villains on it plus a Tinkerbell necklace with my birthstone, Mickey earrings with my birthstone and a Mickey tea infuser - I need to start drinking more loose tea. It's so cute.

I came back to the hotel for lunch and then started to organize my packing. Need to be on the airport shuttle by 9:50am tomorrow. So I think I'll have a Mickey waffle once again for breakfast.

I've been reading Run your butt off and I've put together a new workout plan to focus on when I got home. Now the priority is goal weight. I want to work on the running starting from basics to build. I would like to come back next year and do this race again or the Disneyland Half and maybe the Princess Half in Florida so I can get the coast to coast medal :). I’m actually thinking about the Disney Wine and Dine run in November this year but that’s just a glimmer of a thought at this point. I have so many trips to the US planned already and the Disney World runs would be pricey. RunDisney puts on a good show and the bling is so worth it.

Today it’s just hard if I’m sitting for awhile and then try to move as the muscles are still pretty sore. The 3 hour plane ride home had me hobbling to customs. Sitting here and posting these is pretty interesting as well. So happy I decided to take tomorrow off and not go back to work till Wednesday.

All in all I am pleased with how I did as I have to admit I didn’t stick to the training plan 100% and winter threw in a few curves as well.

I do hope all of you had a great last few days and thank you so much for your support!!!!!

Hugs

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap–Day before race day

This is the 2nd of 3 posts of my race recap

Being in bed by 8pm also meant I was awake early. I stayed in bed for as long as I could and got up at 6am.

My plan today is to check out the race expo again and buy stuff. Yesterday was mostly looking. I also want to check out California Adventure. Staying at a Disney hotel had some perks like a guest only gate to California Adventure and guest only monorail into to Disneyland from downtown Disney.

Went down to the hotel casual dining area for breakfast. I opted to not go with the character breakfast at the PCH grill and spend $30 for a buffet.
How cute is this?

The waffle, a bottle of OJ and a basic cafe mocha ( chocolate milk with espresso) cost me $16 with tax.
Now the expo doesn't open till 10am nor does California Adventure. Disneyland opens at 8am but I need to make sure I don't over extend myself today. So I thought it would be a relaxed exploration of California Adventure.

Right now I'm back in my hotel room writing blog drafts, painting nails and I'll head out closer to 10. I'm hoping blue is a finish line color.

It's now 2pm and I'm back in my room to relax before dinner. Learned a lesson today that if you go to a race expo and see something you like buy it. Yesterday I saw a Champion jacket that had the Tinker Bell race logo on the front and on the sleeve said Inaugural Tinker Bell Half 2012. I tried on a large and the arms felt really roomy but the chest fit well. It was $65 so I wanted to think about it. There were loads of these jackets. Today only small sizes left. I snoozed I lost. Instead I got a baseball cap, pin and a shot glass.

I did get a new fuel belt made by Ifitness. It's got a waterproof and sweat proof ouch to hold the phone plus a smaller part to hold ID and credit card/cash. This one has 2 6oz bottles plus two pouches for gel or Chapstick. Plus note the reflective bits and bib toggles. It promises to be no bounce, no ridding up and no chafing. I'm going to wear it tomorrow as when I tried it on I liked the feel way better then the fuel belt I brought with me. The girl at the booth was wearing one and was jumping - the thing didn't move. The trick wear low on the hips.

I dropped off my bags at the hotel and went to California Adventure. I found this park a little meh. Apparently big things in store for it this summer. I then moved on to Disneyland as it was early. I was hungry so I went to the Blue Bayou in New Orleans Square. I wanted a sit down restaurant. I had the Monte Cristo sandwich. Forgot to take a picture. It was huge and super good so I ate half. It came with one of the best salads I've ever had. I may need to duplicate the salad at home. It wasn't complicated - lettuce, red onion, yellow pepper, walnuts, craisins, some sort of cheese (goat?) and a beautiful sherry vinaigrette. All in it was $30, expensive but worth it.

I then headed for Tomorrowland and almost got a build it yourself light saber. I did leave with a mug and personalized key chain. It's so rare for me to find Sylvia. I then decided to get off my feet and took the monorail to downtown Disney which is closer to the hotel. Got around far more efficiently today no walking in circles.

I didn't ride any rides today maybe tomorrow. Tonight it's off to dinner with the race entourage my boss's boss, another co-worker and a former co- worker plus 9 other people I don't know.

All my race stuff is organized and all electronics charged, it will be an early night as it's an early wake up call.

Tomorrow is race day.

Tinkerbell Half Marathon Recap– Hello California

This is the first of 3 posts recapping my trip to the Tinker Bell Half Marathon.

Kind of started off wrong when I got to the airport and used the automatic check in machines on the wrong part. I went to Westjet international instead of US area... Couldn't print my baggage tag so had to go stand in a different line. Totally my own fault. At least I'm prepared for my Vegas trip in June.

Then I tried to go to my gate but the corridor was locked, some sort of security procedure that I think is new. They unlocked the door about 20min before we had to board. My frequent flying totally pays off I even napped with screaming children on the plane.

It was a breathtaking view of the pacific ocean after seeing nothing but snow when we took off from Calgary. Caught the shuttle and got to Paradise Pier at about 2pm.

Cute room, love the beach ball pillows and of course there's a little note telling you if you go home with one it's $65.

I immediately went to the race expo and grabbed my race pack. The Disney properties are massive so it took me awhile to figure out where I was going. I left my BodyMedia at home and wish I had brought it. I did so much walking. This was the view walking into package pick up area.

The race expo is massive.

Thankfully GU was there. I didn't bring Gatorade with me as I thought that might not be wise even in checked baggage going to the US. Thought I could buy it once I was passed security at the airport. Nope there wasn't any. I did see some when I was zooming through LAX on my way to baggage pick up. Of course there isn't a bottle to be found in the hotel convenience store. So I picked up a couple of packs of lemon GU. I might go back for a different flavor. I also bought a sparkle skirt. Might wear it over the compression pants on race day.

I decided against wings so I have to do something.
I also explored downtown Disney (which is open to the public - no ticket required) it's essentially an outdoor mall. There's a huge Disney store which I might revisit before I go home on Monday.

I went to Sephora as I needed nail polish remover and nail polish. I didn't have time to do my toes before I left. I figure I'll be in flip flops at some point.

I went back to my room to drop off my race stuff and then never left. I had an odd food day. Eggo waffles for breakfast at home, got trail mix and a coffee crisp bar as a snack at the airport. I was landing at noon (1pm my time) and no idea how long it would take to get to Disneyland. At the race expo i also tried some danone greek yogurt. I wasn't hungry for dinner so finished off my trail mix. My feet hurt and I was tired and I was asleep by 8pm.

Coming up next day 2.....
Hugs

Snapped out of it

Thank you for all your wonderful comments and your right... I'm back to thinking positive and my mantra now is give it all you got and have fun.

I'm now 90% packed and the rest goes in tomorrow. It's ridiculous how much you need for 3.5 days.

I promise to take lots of pictures and tell you all about it.

Be back on Monday.

OK Tinker Bell Half Marathon here I come.

4 sleeps soon to be 3

Alright it was an odd day today.

First of all I got from my camp room down 3 big hallways to the camp kitchen when I realized I forgot my winter jacket in my room. So of course I turned around went back down those 3 long hallways to get it and then went all the way back again.

Yesterday I knocked over a glass angel ornament and a wing broke off. This morning I couldn't find my coffee cup.

I thought the universe was sending me some sort of sign. Well I found the mug and the angel is going home to have the wing repaired.

My mind is going to Sundays race more and more. Today our GM asked me how long I've been training. Now I was crouched in front of the water cooler at the time. So I think he's questioning why I don't look any different or skinnier. No, he was just asking how I trained in camp.

My head is thinking you could have trained better and I hope I finish...

Oy vey, I need to snap out of it. There is no point second guessing myself. In 2 days I get on a plane to LA and it's game on. There's no reason I won't finish and I'm just going to do what I need to do. I'm going to soak up the experience and focus on fun.

I hope you've had a great week so far

Hugs!!!

Whoops

A dusting of snow today which caused me to be a bit concerned. There was just enough to hide the ice on sidewalks I saw yesterday. My plan was to head out at 1pm for today's run. As it would be about 0c.

Well I laid down on the couch after lunch and promptly fell asleep. Woke up at 4pm...what!!! That kind of blew the 10 mile plan today. So my next long run day will the actual half marathon. Hopefully pixie dust will be plenty.

Now my eye must be on the prize...7 sleeps

In other news booked my trip to Vegas in June... I will be a hottie for this trip. Operation Vegas begins when I return from Disneyland.

A blip and SCC week 3 review

After a fairly emotional week I figured I'd see a gain today but it wasn't so bad up .6 so 176 on the noes. I did kind of abandon tracking as of Wednesday but today I went back and filled out my journal and updated my spreadsheet. Workouts were iffy, didn't drink enough water and had some fairly high sodium foods on Wed and Thurs. The data doesn't lie but it helps to know where I went wrong so I can learn from it.

It's ridiculous to bury my head in the sand and better to face facts. I am an emotional eater that's for sure so I think to brush off "Shrink Yourself" and take notes this time as opposed to just reading it. Life is full of blip, one needs to focus on the future.

I walked into my meeting today and everything was moved. The weigh in scales where now angled as opposed to in a line and they also moved the seats. The rows were awfully close together then normal. What I found interesting is we had a sub today. My regular leader Deb is off to Palm Springs for 3 weeks. This leader is young and I have to admit we might come off as a tough crowd. The meeting was packed today even more then last week.

So we talked about coping strategies like when is your danger hour in the day where you're more likely to snack and do you have any things coming up that you need to plan for.

I have to miss next week due to being in Anaheim so my next weigh in will be on Feb 4. Apart from the half marathon there will be lots of walking as I really want to explore the parks. Plus my plan is to hit the gym when I'm home next Wednesday. It's been a long time since I went to Zumba.

The weather never hit the -6c they promised it was closer to -10 today but that's still about a 30 degree increase in temperature from last week. I know these temperatures sound extreme but in Calgary it's a dry cold with very little humidity so along as your bundled and wind proofed you're good to go. Really one week of extreme winter is not so bad as next week should be single digits. We also get +30c in the summer so I like to say every Calgarian owns 10 jackets for every possible weather condition. Tomorrow by noon it should be Zero with maybe -5 with windchill so actually pretty good conditions for the 10 miles I need to do.

My Spring Chick Challenge goals this week (4):
Water - so important with the winter dryness - 2L a day
Track it before I eat it.
Activity - gentle as I'll be in tapering zone after tomorrow so the focus will not be on collecting a bit amount of activity points more focus on yoga and mediation. Get my head focused on the race ahead.

I will weigh in at home when I get back on Tuesday and post my week 4 review and goals for week 5 then.

Well my friends I hope you have a great Saturday, talk to you tomorrow.

Hugs!!

One week from today

I'll be in Disneyland and a mere 48 hours from my first half marathon in 5 years....

Today I did pop down to the Disney store and got these

Ok they're designed for age 3 years and up so I'll need to do some reconfiguration to get them to work. Oddly enough I can get them on but I don't think they'd last 13.1 miles as is.

I also popped into Lululemon which was next door but nothing appealed to me. I think my run wear will be what I already own and maybe I'll find a running skirt at the expo. My plan is to wear compression bottoms anyway so the skirt would be for over them.

I haven't been to Southcentre Mall since I was probably 16 or so. It's a bit of hike from my neighbourhood but I think I'll go again maybe when it warms up. I had a very single focus so didn't really check it all out.

I'm not so sure I'll find tulle at Walmart to make a running tutu and I'm seriously out of time for that project. If I enjoy this race I get the feeling I might do more Disney Runs.

I downloaded some new tunes for the running playlist. I've really been enjoying some 80 and 90 classics..ah my youth. If you have any suggestions for good running tunes let me know.

Weigh in tomorrow and not sure how that will go. My eating got a little derailed as of Wednesday with the team dinner and then yesterday's entire corporate team social.

Today has been a fair bit of walking and keeping the points on the low end. Tomorrow will be my last weigh in for two weeks as I'll miss next week due to Disneyland. I looked for meetings in Anaheim but they all seem too far. I am happy that I have secondary motivation of going to Fitbloggin after the half marathon. So the focus needs to keep going because really I can be and plan to be at goal before September.

Tomorrow I'll write up my pack list and start collecting what I'll need so my landing on Thursday and then turning around and getting on another plane the next day.

Had to share one more pic of me from yesterday. It's been super cold lately so yesterday I had to pull out my sleeping bag jacket. Now it does sort of look like a sleeping bag. My winter dressing is function not fashion but when I wear this thing and am in a moving vehicle (car, train, plane) I can fall asleep in minutes. I did see a photo of Madonna arriving at LAX recently and it seems we have the same toque.

I do hope you all had a great Friday.

Hugs!!