5k pictures

So here's the 5k pictures I promised, in case you care. :) Unfortunately, I uploaded these in reverse order. But whatever. Here's me at the end of the race, and the two handsome boys flanking me are my two favorite students, who showed up to cheer me on. They're so sweet. Conveniently, they also carried my box of fruit home.

Here's Meghan and I posing with our prizes. She got some kind of honeydew-ish melon, and I got the Korean version of canteloupe, which isn't too bad. 

Number 18 isn't too bad, right? I think it's a sign that we got 8th and 18th... A sign that I'm way slower than her. lol. 

The after-race reward snack they gave us. I tell you I woofed those bananas down like you wouldn't believe. And they were deeeeelicious. 

Here's the pre-race picture. Lucky number 5391. Those are our home-made t-shirts, in bright green. You can probably read "Team," and the word next to it is "foreigner" in Korean. 

This is the back of my t-shirt, and my brainchild. It says "What are you looking at?" Fitting, since we got a lot of stares. 

I hit up the gym for the first time in ages tonight, and if sheer amount of sweat is an indicator, I had a pretty awesome workout. My t-shirt was soaked. And I could have felt gross or embarrassed, considering the number of hot boys in my gym, but I was mostly oblivious to them, except when they left their huge weights on all the damn benches and then walked away to chat. Bah! I'm happy to be back in the swing of things, though my abs are killing me. I've decided to take the 100 push up challenge too, so we'll see how that goes. I did my 5 sets of 2 today, but it was literally impossible for me to do more than 2, so I might have to take this slow. 

Finally, my host sister (she's about 11) informed me yesterday that she thinks my ideal weight would be about 40kg. Or... 88 pounds. I'm 5'6", for God's sake. She just doesn't understand weight, I suspect, but it was quite a shock, let me tell you. Needless to say, I probably won't get there. 

Virtual 5k meme, and my first run in awhile

Damnit, I still haven't posted my amazing race photos. Grrr.... And I'm at school right now, so I don't have them to post. Ah well, tonight, for sure.

In the meantime, I'm going to belatedly do this Wee Little 5k Meme, because I love any excuse to talk about myself, especially with regards to running. Like, after I win my first marathon, people will flock to read this. For sure.

1. When did you start running?
I'd tried running off and on with 0% success several times in my life. Usually on the treadmill, in 2 minute bursts, before collapsing. But my Dad is a runner, and he's always gently prodded me to try it. I always really wanted to--it seems like the perfect exercise--but I always figured it just wasn't in the realm of possibility for me. My chest is huge (although smaller since I started!), and it required two sports bras to keep under control. Plus, running just always seemed so... hard. Unpleasant. So I stuck to things that were more enjoyable, like the elliptical machine. Or more often, sitting on the couch.

Then I came to South Korea in July 2007. I was living with a crazy new family, teaching a bunch of crazy students, and unable to communicate with anyone, so I needed some time out of the house and on my own. I shudder to think what I must have looked like those first few months in my tank top, though at the time I was oblivious, thankfully. Korean summers are a lot like Florida summers (where I'm from), and I'd never have dreamt of jogging in Florida in July, even at 10pm, but I did it. It was hard, and it sucked, and I didn't do it very well, but I did it pretty consistently. It wasn't, however, until I started the Couch to 5k program in March that I started really training. Up until then I only jogged intervals, so about 8 minutes straight was my longest ever. Now, I'm a 34 minute runner. Awesomeness.

2. Did you follow a plan to start running?
Oh, whoops. I should read ahead. Ah well, let me extol the virtues of C25k one more time. It was awesome. I trusted it, it didn't let me down. And even more than the program, the podcasts were what got me through those first 4 weeks. If I'd had to keep glancing at my watch and doing calculations in my head, I would have definitely quit before I started (I'm math-impaired). The music was terrible, but it got me through the intervals.

3. Why did you start running?
Two reasons, both of which I think I already mentioned. When I came to South Korea I was about 60 pounds overweight and miserable. (I'm still working on 20 of those pounds, but I've lost about 40 since I started running, and 60 from my highest weight.) The combination of being afraid of most of the food in the beginning (with good reason) and all that running worked. I'd always idealized running in my mind--it seemed like the best exercise. I'm a solitary person, so I like that aspect of it. It requires no equipment (outside of a pair of shoes) and can be done anywhere. And, by doing it, you're always preparing for a disaster! What's not to like? Plus... like I said before, it's really fucking hard. I'm the type of person who likes a challenge, who likes to prove to myself that I can do something.

I also wanted to make my Dad proud, and be able to go jogging with him when I go home, and now I'm looking forward to doing that! :)

4. Now that you are running regularly, what do you find to be the biggest benefits?
The weight loss is a huge benefit, but for me it was more an amazing confidence-booster to know that I've accomplished something this big (big for me, at least) in training for and running the whole 5k. I also feel "healthier," whatever that means.

5. What are your future plans for running, short-term and long-term?
My short-term plans are to keep working at the 5k distance. After the 5k I tried running for longer times, and I just got bored to death, which is a problem for me. When I'm bored, I think about how unpleasant running actually can feel, and I want to quit. I'm not sure if I'll ever be a long-distance runner, certainly not a marathoner, which is okay with me. I only want to do it for the health benefits. I want to keep running about 3 miles four times a week for the next 6 months or so, then I think I'll start thinking about a 10k around New Years 2009. One thing I've never been able to try is running with other people, which I think might alleviate the boredom problem, and make longer distances possible. We'll see.

Long-term, I want to be a runner for life. Once I get home and have the benefit of GPS tracking (and once I buy my awesome runner's watch thingy as a reward for reaching goal weight!), I'm going to start keeping track of my total mileage. It'll be cool to see how many miles I run in a month or year.

6. What are your personal goals for the Virtual 5k?
Last night was actually my first run in about a month, since my first 5k, so I don't think I can expect a phenomenal showing, which is okay by me. Since there's only one competitor in my race, I can be sure that I will win anyway! So long as I finish... :) The "5k" race I ran in wasn't actually a full 5k, I discovered, so I can't really go by my time in that. When I ran a practice on the track my time was around 32-33 minutes, so I'm shooting for under 32:00. Not sure it's possible, especially because it's about a billion times hotter and more humid now than it was then, but whatever. I suppose it's good--just finishing a run always floods me with a sense of accomplishment.

7. Do you have a music "theme song" that you will use for this race?
There's a bunch of songs that I love to listen to while running, especially hip-hop, but I recently discovered an awesome song. It's by a Korean group called The Wonder Girls. They're analogous to the Spice Girls, if you remember them. (Side note: Korean hip-hop/pop music is [obviously] in Korean, so I can't understand most of it. But because English is so important in Korea, almost every song will have a few lines [often meaningless] in English.) So my theme song as of late is called "So Hot," and the lyrics are... so dumb. But it's a good running song.

"I'm so hot
I'm so fine
I'm so cool
I'm so so so hot hot
All the boys be loving me, girls be hating me
And they will never stop, 'cause they know I'm so hot hot"

Still, it's catchy. Don't take my word for it, please watch this video. It's subtitled for your viewing pleasure.

Hmm... otherwise to report, I'm working hard this month to get into a new size before I go home. I only have a month at home, and I get to buy all new clothes (expensive, grr)... so I want to be in a size I'll want to stay for six months when I do that. I'm shooting for 10. Last night I went for my first run in almost a month, in the pouring rain. It's was painful, mostly thanks to the rain I'm sure, but I managed about 22 minutes, I think. I had to take a walk break in the middle for one song-length, but I traipsed through.

Maintenance Practice

So maintaining wasn't exactly my plan for the month of May, but it's what ended up happening. And I maintained, even lost a pound and a half actually, somehow miraculously without doing a single thing right.

That's not entirely true, I guess. Let's begin at the beginning, then. I guess first I should say I'm sorry that I disappeared, and proved to be a bad cheering-on buddy for roughly the past 28 days. I had a semi-big project at work, and was just really exhausted most of the time. I made some big decisions about my future (My contract was supposed to be up in July, but now I'm staying in Korea until early January), and mostly, I just felt too distracted in my head to face an empty page. I'm back now, though. It's t-minus ~37 days before I'm on the beach at home, and time to get back on track.

My one major accomplishment for the month of May was running the 5k I'd signed up for. In a surprising and unprecedented (ill-advised?) move, I started by carbo-loading and pre-race rest a little early. (Read: I ate pretty much only sugar for the week leading up to the race, and also stopped running.) It was an interesting decision on my part, and I still can't quite pinpoint why I did it, but anyway, I woke up early on that Saturday determined to do this thing that I'd been training for for 2 months.

My friend and I actually were up late the night before making our t-shirts. We bought super-bright hot green t-shirts and permanent markered "Team Foreigner" on them, along with various other decorations. Some people found them humorous anyway. It was as stressful as I imagined, finding the registration tent amongst the vast number of tents labelled in Korean, getting my number pinned on straight, but finally, after much nervousness, I was crushed at the starting line and then we were off. There was also a 20k and an 11k that started before us, which was, I discovered, where the really serious runners were... I think I was mostly running with children, middle-aged people, and the elderly, but whatever. I felt right at home.

It was a little hotter day than any I'd run in this year, but still not too bad. My running buddy Meghan lost me quickly, but that was okay, 'cause she's super-fast and fit. The "festival" area was on a track, and the race actually started on the track, so the first part was half a lap on the way out to the street. I felt compelled to run at a preternaturally fast speed to keep up appearances until we got out of sight of the spectators, then I slowed down to my preferred crawl, although I certainly wasn't the slowest person on the road. The race consisted of a flat stretch, then a slightly uphill jaunt on the way up to a temple, and then another flat (and beautifully tree-lined!) brief stretch next to the temple until we got to the turn-around point. As you might remember, a few weeks before the race I tried running what I thought might be the track, but then found it was suspiciously too short, so I was surprised when I was directed to turn around at almost exactly the point I'd chosen on my practice run.

The second half was wonderful, because then I knew I was half done, and I knew exactly how much longer I had to go. The uphill jaunt magically became downhill, some girls gave me a cup of water (which I mostly just spilled all over myself--I knew if I stopped, even for a second, I wouldn't keep going), and I passed all the people who were behind me (yes!). It was a confidence booster. I wanted to quit a little, sure, but this was special, this was what I'd been waiting for all these weeks... that's what I kept telling myself, anyway. I was sweating profusely, but I felt awesome, and then almost suddenly, I could see the turn in to the university track where I'd started. Victory was within my grasp!

There were traditional Korean drummers lining the path onto the track, which was a little exhausting, though I'm sure I didn't hear them over the beating of my own heart. I continued at my steady snail's pace until I was about a quarter of the track's length from the finish line, then I did it--I just sprinted as fast as I could, feeling awesome and inspiring some amused cheering from the spectators. I didn't feel sick the whole time I was running, though I felt like puking for the first minute after my finish-line sprint. But then some nice girls gave me a bottle of water and a bag with a banana and some yoghurt in it, and all was right with the world again. Then someone else gave me a necklace with a number 18 on it, and I went looking for Meghan on shaky legs. We plopped down in the grass, she sporting her awesome number 8 badge, and I discovered that we had, in fact, placed among women. Excitement. This meant I received a box of semi-delicious 참외 (it tastes like canteloupe, sort of) as a prize, and that, ladies and gentlemen, was my moment of zen.

No, it got better. As were just leaving the university to walk home, we ran into two of my adorable students, who had come (though tardily) to cheer me on. We gave them our free beef-soup lunch, drank our own rice wine, then conveniently they carried our big boxes of fruit home for us. I was exhausted walking home, but the adrenaline got me there, and then after a glorious shower, we had Chinese food for lunch. I couldn't believe it was over.

Shucks, time to lesson plan. Tonight, the rest of May, and some race photos. I hope you're all doing well! I'll see you at your blogs soon. :)

HYC #9: Halfway there!

I'm not sure what's been up with me these past few weeks. For the first month and a half, I was SOOO excited when Tuesday rolled around. Especially because it came so much sooner for me than some other people, I was always way ahead, waiting up late for Mr. Linky to appear. Even during most of terrible April. But these days I'm having a harder time sticking to blogging, for some reason. I'm trying to get to the bottom of it, because I know there's a very direct relationship between my faithfulness to blogging and my weight loss success. It's not a lack of time, really, although that would be an easy excuse. Ah well... here I am doing this one, and only a day late.

This is the halfway point in my 169.9 or bust May challenge, so it's time for some serious reflecting: The past week was... okay. I've been sticking to it all much better than in April. I've been eating almost all of my meals at the cafeteria or at home, so they're very well-balanced (if not delicious). 5k training especially has been very constant, and I've mostly kept to the MEC abs routine too. Weight training has gotten a little awry, since I changed up my schedule to get ready for the 5k, but I've still done at least 2 workouts both of the past two weeks, and I can get back on a more normal schedule soon!

My biggest problem, as always, has been snacking. My sweet tooth has been wreaking havoc on me for the past week. It's time to get really honest with myself and accept that it's now-or-never time. If I can't get a handle on the snacking, there's no way I'm going to be able to get into the 160s before the 28th. I'm not beating myself up over it--I've made some really healthy exercise choices in the past two weeks, and I'm proud of that. And they weren't binges... just small amounts of several different sweets on a fairly regular basis; that's progress. Plus, I've still lost a little weight. And... there's still time to lose the rest of it, I'm confident of that. I just need to decide whether achieving a big goal is more important to me than being able to eat sweets every day. It's only 14 days, after all. But I can't be wishy-washy. If I really want to make the goal, I need to buckle down and have a couple of near-perfect weeks. It's possible--but how bad do I want it?

Bad. Last night I dreamed that I looked in the mirror and my muffin-top was suddenly gone. It could be a premonition. These next six pounds could be it. Even if not, they'll definitely be another pants size. They'll definitely be a new skirt and shorts for the field trip. They might even be a really pretty tank top. You know what that means: It's Gap.com time...

I can't actually buy these things, since I'm in Korea, but perhaps I can find something that approximates them. If my boobs miraculously shrink to a B, that is. This is what I want to wear when I'm traipsing around on an island in the 70 degree weather. I must remember that.

Dear self,

You can do this. You really can. Sure, snacks taste great, but stick to the fruit for two more weeks. If you get down to 169, you'll be 15 pounds away from goal. 15 pounds! You'll weigh less than you did sophomore year of high school. And you'll be skinny and feel confident, and be able to have a good time. You'll want to take pictures, and you'll be able to look back at those pictures and not cringe at your size. That'll be the best part. Think about that, everytime.

Alright, I hope the rest of you are having a wonderful week, and accomplishing all your May goals, especially my compatriots in Swizzlepop's May Exercise Challenge!

I RAN 5K!

That's right. I basically rock. 

After being thwarted in my attempt to figure out how fast I've been running last weekend, I tried again today. I knew there was a running track at the local university, but up until now I'd been afraid to try to use it, since there's usually people around, and I don't know if it's really for public use or what. Plus, I just imagined the awkwardness when someone tried to tell me to leave. But today I snuck in and discovered, to my elation, that it was completely empty. It was about 11:15 when I started, and a beautiful day... about 70 degrees with a nice breeze, and I was feeling pretty good when I started. 

I was feeling even better when I looked down at my iPod and saw that my first mile time was 10:16. Hell yeah. I started to get bored and want to quit halfway through my second mile, so I just told myself I had to finish that one, but when I saw that my second mile was 10:15, I knew I had to finish. My desire to quit, I realized, was really ludicrous. Nothing on my body hurt. I didn't have stitches in my side, or feel out of breath. My legs felt good, and I wasn't even sweating too bad. The only thing that hurt was what I've come to think of as my "will to continue" muscle. I'm not sure exactly where it's located, but it's the number one impediment to me completing runs. On Friday I quit about halfway through, and I was disappointed in myself. I'm glad that this was my special race day dress rehearsal, because if it hadn't been, I might have quit again. These days I'm struggling more with boredom while running than with anything else. I'm thinking switching up my tunes will help. 

So yeah, mile 3... I'm not sure. I had a bit of a stopwatch malfunction on the last lap, but I feel fairly confident I can extrapolate that it too was under 10:30... probably closer to 10:20. Which means I did three miles in... under 31 minutes. I hadn't even dreamed I could be that close to 10 minute miles! I was sooooo excited! Granted, I still have to add that last .1, which I conveniently forgot to run today (whoops). Plus, the actual race route has a slightly uphill portion which will slow me down. But I was shooting for under 36 minutes, so now I'm feeling really good about my chances at pulling that off! 

And more that that... it's just nice to be able to say now, for sure, that I've run three miles. When I started, I definitely didn't think it was possible for me to run even one mile. And although, during C25k, I knew that theoretically I was probably running at least a mile at a time, I still doubted myself. I figured I was just running phenomenally slowly. (It sure felt like it.) But now, here it is, irrefutable proof that I'm in way better cardiovascular shape that I was the beginning of March. Sweet. 

As for the May Exercise Challenge.... it's going well! I got a little side-tracked in the last few days, but we're still on track. Last week I did 485 minutes (my goal is 400 a week). This week I'm at 225 so far, with plenty of time to make the goal. I've been doing the ab workouts, although it's hard for me to remember to do and they're really boring. I'm just hoping I see results. It doesn't seem to hurt enough. Maybe I should do more, or different exercises. I'm not sure. I had some over-snack days, but I managed to have a perfect day today, and I'm shooting for a perfect week, so wish me luck with that. It's going to be really hard to get into the 160s before the 28th, but I'm bound and determined to do the best I can with these next 17 days. There's still time. 

Question to any runners who may still be reading this: What do you think about while you run? I'm asking because of my boredom problem. Do you try to think about anything? Do you try to think about nothing? Do you zone out to music? How do you keep from getting bored? 

Alright... time to wrap it up and hit the sack. I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend! 

HYC #8: Measurements

The good news is... I found some measurements I'd forgotten I'd taken! Last entry I was lamenting that I didn't have any previous to the ones I just took for the beginning of the May Exercise Challenge, but then I randomly stumbled upon a notebook with some measurements from, I think, the end of February, and they indicate some progress! I'm skeptical of the progress, since I don't feel very confident of my measuring skill, but it looks good! They're all in centimeters. 

2 inches below belly button
3/1 - 106 
5/8 - 98

belly button 

3/1 - 100

5/8 - 91

mole
3/1 - 87

5/8 - 83

top of scar mole

3/1 - 92

5/8 - 85

left thigh

3/1 - 64

5/8 - 62.5

right thigh

3/1 - 62

5/8 - 60.5

Now, if only I can see some more big changes at the end of May! 

I was in desperate need of some procrastination on Monday to avoid lesson planning, so I went mini-skirt shopping. Now, I knew this would be a futile venture, because Korean people are so skinny, but I was feeling bold, and my self-esteem was strong, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, I didn't find one that fit, and I discovered something dismaying... the awesomely cute Korean shorts I bought, which I was so proud of being able to fit into... are men's. Ahaha. I should have known, too... that's the best part. Korean girls would never wear knee-length shorts! What was I thinking? They wore mini-skirts with leggings in the dead of winter. Whatever! The shorts are my style, and I still like them, so that's all that matters. I figured out that apparently the sizing is the same for men and women, by waist centimeters, which is why I couldn't find any mini-skirts in a size 82. Alas. 

I did, on a whim, try on a mini-skirt (size 78, I think), and the awesome part was that my waist was not actually the problem. It was a little tight at the waist, but entirely doable. It was my hips that made the entire thing unworkable. I didn't even know I HAD hips! I've got love handles, of course, but my biggest remaining fat stores are solidly in my muffin top. It's disappointing, because aside from the top 3 inches of my thighs, I have really great legs (if I do say so myself). They're a hold-over, I think, from my high school softball days, and with a pair of heels I'm absolutely killer from the thigh down, and I was finally feeling brave enough to wear a skirt above the knee. But oh well. :) I've decided to use that mini-skirt as my article of clothing for the May Exercise Challenge. I definitely remember how it fit, and the excruciating process of extricating myself from it, so I'll go and try it on again at the end of May. I'm sure it still won't be purchasing size, but I'm hoping it'll slide over the love handles a little easier. 

Speaking of the MEC, the first week was ace! I passed my weekly goal and did at least one workout everyday - 485/400 minutes! So next week I'll try to beat that... I'm one two-sticker (perfect) day behind, but I'm hoping to make it up and get back on track today and tomorrow. My meals have been fine... snacking's been my enemy lately, but I haven't gotten too out of control, and the numbers on the scale have continued slowly going down. I weighed in at an even 176 this morning, which means I have exactly 21 days to lose 6.1 pounds. It won't be easy, especially if I keep sabotage-snacking, but I'm feeling good about it! I can do it! The 5k is also exactly 10 days from today... something to keep me honest. I finished my two 32 minute runs and my two 34 minute runs, so there's only 4 more training runs left before RACE DAY! Tomorrow I'm doing 35 minutes, which'll be my longest run ever. I'm hoping I won't have to run 35 minutes on race day, because I'll be finishing in 32 (ha!), but better to be prepared, I suppose. :) 

In other news... I don't think there is any. Oh, I have a funny story. These days it's generally accepted amongst my Korean acquaintances that I'm no longer really fat. Now, I'm just "little fat," which is cute. Curvy, if you will. And this is a look that doesn't occur much in Korea, so I've at least got novelty on my side. There ARE non-skinny girls, but I've found that most of them stick to baggy jeans and shirts... there's not much effort to use and celebrate their curvaceousness. So the other day my most adorable third grader (he's actually high school freshman aged) was trying to make me feel better about not being Korean-sized by assuring me: "I like little fat girl. I will marry with girl looks like you." Thankfully it was over instant messenger, so I could laugh for 20 minutes without offending him. 

Next week's lesson: Euphemisms. 

New bling, day 3 of the EC, and MEXICAN food!

First and foremost, I'd like to direct your attention to that shiny new bling on my sidebar. Oh, I'm sorry... it already blinded you? My bad. :) 

So I got on the scale this morning with more than a little trepidation, but lo and behold, I was rewarded with an all-time low to help me get May off to a good start. I'm down 2.2 pounds from last Saturday and a total of... 60.1. So yeah, I barely squeaked in there, but I've been waiting so long for that badge (32 days, to be exact) that I'm claiming it as soon as possible. 

To backtrack a bit... things have been going well. :) I started off May on Thursday with a perfect day (2 exercise stickers and an on-plan eating sticker). Friday I succumbed to a little snacking temptation, but still earned my minimum cardio sticker. And today felt great. I woke up early and went for my run on the actual race course (more on that later). It was 85 degrees, so I worked up quite a sweat, and I had to walk 20 minutes to the start and 20 minutes from the finish, so I was pretty worn out by the time I got home. But it felt great. I'm feeling really good about the Exercise Challenge (EC), and watching those total minutes increase on my spreadsheet. 

When I got home, M and I decided to try making burritos. We'd been planning on saving it for after the 5k, but today seemed as good a day as any. She had bought a can of refried beans in Seoul, and my tortillas were going out-of-date, so we bought some lettuce, onion, and cheese and gave it a try. We were worried it wouldn't be delicious, what with the tortillas tasting a little funny and the lack of what I'd previously considered Mexican meal staples (meat and salsa), but they actually ended up being really delicious.

 

I spent most of the day around the house, but this evening around 7:30 I headed over to the gym. I hadn't done a full weight training workout for two weeks, thanks to being sick and my pulled back muscle, so I was hoping to really work hard tonight, and I definitely did. My back wasn't bothering me at all, so I kicked my own butt, and thanks to the hot weather, I sweated a lot. I did my first special ab workout for the EC, and the planks especially were killer, so hopefully I'll see some serious results at the end of the month. I measured myself today for that purpose. I always have a hard time with doing measurements, because I have a hard time remembering (or indicating in my notes) where I measured, and then I don't know exactly what to do... Should I try to be as natural as possible? Pull my abs in? So today I just did the smallest part of my waist and the biggest part, as I figure that'll be the easiest to replicate at the end of the month. 

Smallest: 86.5 cm

Largest: 100.5 cm

I really wish I'd measured myself when I started, but this is the first time I've done it and recorded it, so hopefully I'll see some substantial changes on May 31. 

Lynne asked me a question on my last post which I'm going to go ahead and answer here. :) I've written about it before, but it just helped me so much that I want to do it again. One thing that my Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss suggested was to come up with a mantra for yourself. They encourage you to choose one for yourself, but the idea behind it is affirming that you are already at your goal weight. Not affirming that you can do it, but affirming that you already have. I pretty much just appropriated their sample: "I, Briy, am now a healthy and thin person. I wear a size 8, and I do what healthy and thin people do." 

I am a healthy and (relatively) thin(ner) person now, that much is true. I'm not quite yet a size 8, but truly, after thinking this everyday for so long, I sometimes forget that. And the last part, as I've said before, is my favorite. It really helps me to think this way--to think of myself as one of those healthy and thin people I always envied before, and to remind myself to act like them. This alone has helped fight off a lot of cravings, when I say to myself: "Would a healthy and thin person do this? Would someone with a healthy relationship with food do that?" Obviously it doesn't stop me all the time, but it's a big help. So yeah, I just write my mantra in a notebook 8 times every morning. It doesn't take long, but it reminds me, every morning, why I'm doing this. And tomorrow will be day 60. It's nice to be able to flip back through it and see that I did something everyday for the past two months, especially as there are very few other things I can honestly say I've stuck to for that long. 

I'm not sure, but I really feel like this has played a BIG part in my recent success. I guess, from a strictly numbers standpoint, that must be true. I've lost 12.7 pounds in 2 months (since March 1), and it took me a full year before that to lose 48. More than anything, I think it just keeps me FOCUSED, every single day, which inevitably helps breed good results on the scale. As part of my goals for May, I'm adding a step. From now on, every day, I'm also going to write down 3 victories from the previous day. They're not necessarily weight loss related, and often they're really small, but that doesn't matter. It's helped me, so far, just to focus on the positive for 5 minutes a day, when more often than not I find myself harping on what I did wrong instead. So yeah, that's my mantras book, in a nutshell. I hope you find it helpful, Lynne! :) 

And now, a brief synopsis of today's run: 

Today was #2 out of my last 8 runs before the big RACE day, and my plan was to run on what I believed to be the actual course of the 5k, in order to get an idea of how much I need to speed up my pace in order to finish the whole thing in my goal of 33 minutes. That's not quite how it worked out though. I set my alarm to go off after 32 minutes and started running. It was hot, and I was tired by the halfway point, but I just kept on trucking. As I started to approach the "finish line," I was still waiting for the alarm to go off. I even started to wonder if I'd missed it somehow. When I got back to my starting point and looked down at my iPod, however, I was shocked to see that I'd only been running for about 26 minutes. This does not, unfortunately, mean that I'm running sub-9 minute miles, I'm sure. :) It means that I must not be running the entire race route, which is not a huge surprise, as I'm guesstimating where exactly I should be starting and finishing. Either way I was happy with the run, but it means I'll have to find another way to figure out what speed I'm running at and work on adjusting my pace. There's a track at the local university which I've previously shied away from, because there's often students on it, or playing soccer on the field inside of it. But next Saturday I figure I'll get up early and do my run there, which should, theoretically, be way more precise than today's effort. We'll see how that goes! 

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! :)