Running in the rain

I woke up today to rain.  I forced myself to go running anyway.  It actually felt quite invigorating.  I can hardly believe how my running endurance has changed since I first started this program. The first week you run just 60 seconds and then walk for 90 over and over.  Those 60 seconds seemed like an hour!  My legs would cramp up and I'd get terrible side aches.  Now I'm able to run for 3 minutes at a time.  I don't get cramps or side aches anymore either.  I'm really starting to look forward to running that 5K with my sister in two months. 

I have a house full of healthy food so there are no excuses this week why I can't get my workouts in and nourish my body properly. 

Have you ever heard of  Bountiful Baskets?  It's a fabulous nonprofit organization that gives you tons of fresh produce for only $15 a basket.  You get between 5 and 6 different varieties of fruit and 5 to 6 varieties of veggies each week.  It's a great way to eat healthy and not break the bank.  You can order as often or as little as you like.  There is no sign up fees, no commitment, just good food for a great price.  Check it out!  

www.bounitfulbaskets.org

sprinting

Today was a running day.  I'm still using the Couch to 5K program and am totally loving it.  So in general you have a warm up, which is brisk walking, then intervals of running and walking followed up by a cool down walk.  Each week you run a bit more and walk a bit less until you are basically running the whole time.  Anyhoo....today on my last interval I decided to sprint.  I'm obviously the most tired by the time I get to the last running interval but I wanted to see what I could do.  Oh My Goodness, it felt like I was going to die!!  I just kept telling myself that it was only a couple minutes and that I can do anything for a couple of minutes.  I did it and it felt great!  Woohoo!!!!!  I go see my sister in 10 weeks.  I'm looking forward to running this 5K with her.  =)  I feel like I'm doing everything in my power to be physically ready. 

I'm going to make that sweet and spicy paleo hash again for lunch like I had yesterday.  I've been dreaming about it all morning.  mmmmmmmm!!! 

Tomorrow is crossfit.  I'm crossing my fingers that I have a bit more energy that I did on Monday. 

It's not fun.

Today I got up and sat on the couch, sipping my morning coffee.  I didn't want to go running.  It's not fun.  It's physically painful and it's humiliating to run out in public when I feel so ugly and fat.  The problem is nothing changes when I choose to be lazy. 

I laced up my shoes and went for my second run this week.  I definitely felt more tired and sore today than I did on Monday.  Maybe because on Monday I'd rested a couple days and today was the day after back to back Crossfit sessions.  Whatever the reason, I struggled a bit. 

I'm anxious to really start seeing some changes in my body.  I want to see my pants start getting so loose that I need to go down another size.....same with my shirts.  I know I'm building muscle.  I can feel it in my arms and can tell a huge difference in what I can do at crossfit.  I just feel like the fat is taking it's sweet time to melt away.  I'm sure if I was eating 100% paleo it would speed up the process.  I'm just not sure if I'm willing to do that.  I eat mostly paleo, but definitely not 100%.  I wish this losing weight and getting stronger was an easier process.

I think for lunch I'm going to have a big salad with grilled chicken and bacon, andtonight I'm going to make salmon and steamed broccoli for dinner.  It's all about planning. 

Have a good day!

Ohhh it BURNS!

Today was a butt kicker.  I think I sweat more today than I ever have in my life.  I'm exhausted, but need to get the kids some lunch and then I will be heading off to donate plasma.  I need more money, YO!

Our wam up was line drills.  Long jumps, lunges, inch worms, blah blah, blah back and forth across the gym. 

Our skill set was various kettle bell moves and then practicing pistol squats.

 

 

 

I am no where near light enough or strong enough to do this move.  I had to use the olympic rings to hold onto while practicing these hellish squats.  These freaking BURN!

 

 

Our WOD was  a 10 minute AMRAP. 

 

5 pistol squats on each leg or for those who are not strong enough ( umm ME!) we did 20 lunges

 

7 kettle bell snatches with each arm

 

10 ab rollers

 

 

I love the kettle bell snatches.  They make me feel strong and powerful.  I hate lunges, they make me feel like I want to karate chop the trainers in the neck.  The ab roller is SO much harder than it looks.  We did them on Tuesday and my abs are still sore.

 

 

After our WOD we some other various moves and if we didn't do them properly we'd have to do burpees.  Ummmmm we all owed burpees because we were so tired from the WOD.  blah

 

 

I'm SO thankful it's Friday.  I will run tomorrow and just rest and relax with my family on Sunday.  

BOOBS AND BUTTS

My schedule got all wonky and so I ended up running today and will go to crossfit Thursday and Friday.  No matter how hard I try to carefully plan my week of workouts, things always seem to come up and throw everything off.  Oh well, I supposed that is just life in a nutshell. 

My run today went GREAT!  Who am I?  How did I just write that my run went great?!  I keep researching beginner running for those that are overweight.  Today I slowed my pace a bit.  I concentrated really hard on take long, deep breaths in through the nose and out the mouth.  I'm also making sure I'm not running on the balls of my feet and that I keep my chest up so I can get plenty of oxygen when I'm breathing.  It's just all getting a little bit easier with each run.  I didn't feel like I was going to die.  I'm in shock!  I am so flipping excited that I'm changing my life one piece at a time.

I used to think that if I woke up one day and I was slim, that I'd be able to keep it that way, and I'd change my life in order to stay thin.  After a zillion crazy diets and exercise regimes, I realize now that for me the only thing that's going to make me keep my weight off, is tons of hard work.  When you work hard for something you tend to respect it more. 

So yesterday I was out watering my flowers and my husband was sitting on the front porch directly behind me.  He said that he could really see my legs are starting to slim down.  Really?!  They still feel huge to me.  Today I stood with my behind facing the mirror.  What did I see?  I saw that the girl who had a double behind 4 months ago, now has just a smidge over one behind.  haha  I'm thrilled! 

For anyone reading this that is heavy and is getting into running here is a small tidbit of advice.  We don't have much money.  We definitely live paycheck to paycheck and the only way I can afford to have a cell phone and do crossfit is by donating plasma and cleaning houses.  There is zero money for extras.  Well for girls who have big breasts like I do, it's insane how expensive a nice sports bra is.  I looked at several and they were all right around $100 each!  My sister mentioned a co-worker of hers puts a cheapy sports bra over her regular bra and claimed it worked wonders.  I was quite skeptical, but also desperate for some better support.  I tried it a couple months ago, and I'm a total believer!  You can get a $10 sports bra from walmart and put it over your regular bra.  You'll be shocked at how well they work together.  The best part is, it's cheap and it's not anymore uncomfortable that just a regular sports bra is. 

At the beginning (photos)

Ok, so on March 25th I started my crossfit journey.  It's been 4 months now and so many things have changed.  My outlook on life is much better.  Overall I feel happier.  For the first time in, I don't know how long, I actually feel proud of what I'm doing.  Sometimes after I get out of the shower I look in the mirror and am still horrified at the reflection.  I'll look at myself trying to see any positive changes.  I don't find many.  There are times where I feel just as huge and when I started.  Sometimes I even let those negative thoughts pull me down and I start to doubt the whole process. 

Yesterday I pulled out some photos I took a few years ago.  When I started crossfit I was the same weight (within 3 lbs) and same exact clothing size as I was in the "before" photos.  When I looked at them and then looked at the picture I had my son take a few days ago, I could see a huge difference.  Anyway, without further ado, here are my before photos.

Here is the photo I took 4 days ago.

So I printed these pictures today and brought them in with me today to crossfit.  I wanted to show my trainers just how much my body has changed in the last 4 months.  They were shocked and super happy for me.  It's easy not to see it when the changes are gradual.  After I showed Meagan, she asked if, at my 6 month mark, would I be up for writing a bio/testimony for them to post on their blog and to put on their website for others to see along with pics from the beginning, 4 months in and then 6 months in.  She said a lot of people refuse to even consider crossfit because they're so out of shape and or heavy and that them reading my testimony and seeing my photos would be an inspiration to others who maybe are considering it, but are doubtful they will succeed.

I'm overwhelmed and honored that they'd even ask me!  The girl who had a complete and epic meltdown on Wednesday....they want her to inspire others!  I must say that them even asking me makes me want to make sure I keep my toes in line and work my hardest during these next two months.  I feel super motivated now.  =)

Today's workout was SO much better than Wednesday's.  We started off with line drills back and forth.  Then Derek showed us how to do dips on the Olympic rings.  I am neither light enough, nor strong enough to do them, so he had me practicing push-ups and planks.   Our WOD was 50 dips (he had me do 35 push ups) a 400 meter farmer walk, and 50 over head squats.  I carried 25 lb dumbbells in each hand as I walked 400 meters as fast as I could.  They didn't feel too bad at first, but by the time I was almost done, I was having a super hard time not letting the dumbbells drop.  I'm thrilled that I didn't stop and I didn't put down the bells until I got back inside the building.  My forearms were on FIRE!  I used about a 25lb pipe to do the over head squats.  Most people used weighted barbells.  Those squats were brutal, but I finished in 11 minutes and 26 seconds.  I felt great and was pumped!

Tomorrow I'll be doing a C25K run and Sunday I plan on being lazy lazy lazy.  Can't wait!  On a good note, hubby and I are working through our issues and he's going to get the help he needs.  He didn't cheat on me and never has, he just wasn't behaving as a married man ought to behave.  I'll leave it at that. 

I hope you all have a really relaxing and wonderful weekend.

Couch to 5K

I did it!  I strapped on my running shoes and completed my 1st Couch To 5K workout. 

I will admit I took a quick 2 minute break to run into the house and use the restroom.  I just ran around the block over and over and over.  Since my husband is out of town, I didn't feel comfortable leaving the kids to fend for themselves.  They sat in the front yard and watch me.  Sometimes they ran with me and other times they rode their bikes while I ran.  Actually this first week of training you walk briskly for 5 minutes and then alternate 60 seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking.  At the end you do another 5 min cool down walk. 

I had my son take before and after pictures of me.  The after picture does not even come close to capturing just how soaked I was. 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

Anyhoo, just thought I'd make a post proving that I did indeed run.  ;)