Wednesday Weigh In: Holding Pattern

Up slightly this week over last week’s gain, which obviously does not happy me happy.

It’s been one of those up and down weeks.  I was feeling that awful nausea post meals last week, so I went in my medicine cabinet and found some Zantac knock off I’d taken years ago when I had a similar issue (which, I’d forgotten about until this started happening).  My panic eased when I realized I’d had a very similar issue years ago, and had it checked out:  bupkus.  I was told to take the Zantac to prevent symptoms for a week and sure enough, they had eased back then.

I took it a few times this week and things did get better.  I did still experience the nausea sometimes but you can also take Zantac after symptoms start, which was what I did this week.  It seemed to break the cycle.  I went from having that awful feeling after every meal to just after four or five all week (which was an improvement).  I hadn’t taken any in a few days until yesterday.

Yesterday I had the worst bout yet.  I had had yogurt and fruit for breakfast, gone for a hike in the woods with my dog, and then had an hour long meeting at our school district offices.  I came home to sit down and work for a while and then met a friend for lunch.  I had chicken and pesto pasta (I know, you’re thinking that was a bad choice not for my stomach but certainly for my waist) and two glasses of wine.

When I came home I wasn’t feeling great, and all of a sudden I thought about cookies.  Cookies would soak up that acid, right?  And before I even knew what I was doing, I’d eaten five cookies.

Needless to say, they didn’t make things better, they made things worse.  A lot worse.

By 7 I was so nauseous that I finally hit the Zantac.  I wasn’t hungry (that’s what overeating + nausea will do to you), and the idea of eating anything seemed like a bad one.  So I didn’t eat dinner.  The Zantac helped; it eased it some, but not completely.  I went to bed at ten tired and unhappy.   I woke feeling the same this morning.   The extra weight on the scale didn’t help.

Obviously I need to monitor this and if it keeps up, I’ll definitely have to go to the doctor.  I just hate going through a bunch of stuff to have them tell me nothing is wrong, so I’m going to see how much I can treat myself through research and food choices.

Current Week:  +0.2 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  16 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.5

Wednesday Weigh In

I gained nearly a pound this week.

I’m not the least bit surprised.  I didn’t exercise as much, and I haven’t been feeling well.  Pretty much every time I eat, my stomach feels upset, right after the food hits the stomach.  It started Friday, and has not stopped.  I’m actually a bit worried about it.  If it continues a few more days, I’m going to have to get it checked out.  It’s the most awful feeling.

In response, I’ve been munching on “soothing” foods for it, which is pretty much starchy foods that feel like they will soak up the acid.  And those I’m sure are the culprit for this week’s gain.  It’s frustrating, but not surprising.  Thinking of eating a salad makes me cringe, because I’m worried it will feel even worse afterwards.

So that’s where I’m at this week.

Current Week:  +0.8 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  15.8 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.5

Wednesday Weigh In: The Good and the Bad

This week’s weigh in is a study in contrasts, good and bad.

The good:  I didn’t gain this week.  I lost 0.2 lbs.

The bad:  I only lost 0.2 lbs, so am STILL above my 7/31 weigh in by 0.6 lbs.

The good:  I totally thought I would post a gain, as it was my birthday this week and there were many indiscretions, including too many glasses of wine, a delicious and decadent eggplant parm grinder and not one but two different orders of fried calamari.

The bad:  I was showing numbers well under my 7/31 weigh in until Sunday, when I returned home from New York.  This week could have been my great week but I blew it with birthday madness.

The good:  I ran a great race on Sunday, a great treadmill run yesterday and bootcamp classes have started back up again.

The bad:  Being back in bootcamp I realized that I probably have lost a bit of stamina the few weeks I’ve been away from it.

The good:  Even though some of my food choices were lousy, all the truly bad choices I kept to smaller, shared portions.

The bad:  Except for the homemade potato chips that were on the plate the other day.  Well, actually I did share those, but probably not enough.

So there it is.  A challenging week of many restaurant meals, good amounts of exercise and a balance of good and bad choices.  I’m glad I didn’t post a gain, but it could have been a better week.

Current Week:  -0.2 lbs
Total Weight Left To Lose:  15 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.3

Race Recap: Autism Speaks 4 Miles of Hope

Saturday was a beautiful day to run a race.  It was an even better day to run a race through New York’s Central Park.

I knew I wanted to run this race since I saw it pop up in my Facebook feed from the New York Road Runners.  A new race this year for their schedule, the 4 Miles of Hope was a fundraiser for Autism Speaks. My son is on the spectrum, and while we haven’t worked directly with Autism Speaks for anything we’ve done for him, I have always applauded them for their huge efforts to bring visibility and funding to research this disorder.  Back when my son was diagnosed with autism, we didn’t know anything about it.  He was misdiagnosed at first, and it took us years to finally get him the help he needed.  I remember when Autism Speaks was founded, when we were deep in the throes of trying to figure out what to do to best help my little guy. I hoped that the organization would make people aware of what the symptoms for, what to look for, what to do, so families wouldn’t go through what we’d gone through.  And they have.  So any time I can help out Autism Speaks, I’m there.

We live about 60 miles northeast of NYC, so we traveled in by train the day before.  My dad actually was visiting my grandparents in Delaware, so he took the train up to meet us there.  I was excited that my dad was interested in seeing me race.  So after we got off the train at Grand Central, my husband and kids went over to the hotel to meet with him, while I hopped on the subway to go get my race bib and shirt.  New York Road Runners has their headquarters on East 89th Street, so it’s an easy subway ride up and ten minute walk from the 86th street station.

When I got there they were giving out the numbers, shirts and handed you a clear plastic bag.   How nice, I thought; they hadn’t done that in January when I’d run the Joe Kleinerman race.  I’d had to stuff my shirt and bib and toe tag in my purse.  But later on I realized why the bag:  they were for bag drop on race day.  The new security measures NYRR had implemented after Boston dictated that you could only drop their clear plastic bags with them, so that everything would be visible.  No running with bags, either; they would be confiscated.

I got back on the subway to the hotel, and we had a nice dinner in Hell’s Kitchen.  I didn’t even order an entree, intending to share plates with my kids since there was no kids’ menu at the Greek restaurant we went to.  Even so, I ate too much, and went to bed feeling kind of lousy.  I hoped it would wear off by race time.

Since this race did a staggered men’s/women’s start time, I had plenty of time in the morning.  Women didn’t start until 9.  I had a granola bar while the family ate at the hotel buffet and then made my way over to Central Park’s 72nd street transverse.  I took the subway up from our hotel, and when I transferred trains, I wondered briefly if I would easily find my way from the station to the park.  No worries there; the train was full of runners and it was easy to follow the herd over.

I got there just in time to walk over, use the porta potties (ew! normally I am totally fine with them but these were pretty gross), do some stretches and then it was time to line up.   I was in the last group of runners, due to my slow pace, but there were plenty of others there with me.

As I stood there in the corral waiting for the race to begin, I got a bit emotional.  I thought about my little guy, how far he’s come, how different our hopes and dreams are for him these days.  He goes to a regular school, goes to regular classes, is on grade level in most subjects.  And while he still has meltdowns and issues from time to time, most people truly don’t realize that there’s anything different about him.  Quirky, maybe, but not that he’s on the spectrum.  He is often held up in our schools as the poster child for early intervention and how much it can do for children with special needs.  At age three, he couldn’t talk, wasn’t potty trained and melted down with any slight change in routine.  And now?  It’s amazing to think of where we’ve been in this journey.  This race was for him, for all the kids like him.  It was a humbling experience to see 5,000 people all turning out for kids like my little guy.

The race gun went off and we started.  It took me three full minutes to get to the start line.  It was a cool morning, upper fifties, low humidity and sunny.  The first mile was easy, but since it was sunny, I was still pretty hot.  I stopped at the Mile 1 water station and walked long enough to drain the cup.  The first mile included a hill, but then it was pretty flat/down hill after that.  I remembered a big hill from the 10K, but as we turned towards mile 2, I realized that we were going to miss it; they were routing us across rather than doing the full loop all the way around.

I was feeling pretty good at mile 2, so I skipped the water station.  Then a series of what they call “rolling hills” began and I could feel my energy starting to flag.  Sure enough, I glanced at my phone and saw 2.5 and knew I was hitting that point where I usually slow down.  I allowed myself some walking on the up hills.  As we got close to the Mile 3 water station, I knew I’d stop for a drink, so I pushed myself to run fast towards it.

Once I downed the water, I kept telling myself that it was only one more mile.  I got in a good pace and went for it.  I walked a few more thirty second stretches so that I would have enough energy to finish strong.  I wasn’t really thinking about the time.  I had hoped to come in under 50, and had a pipe dream of coming in under 48, but I wasn’t too worried about it.  I was trying to enjoy the scenery and the feeling of running with people at my pace and not being dead last (love that about a big race…always someone slower than me).

Finally I could see the finish line (it always seems so far).  I made that final push and ran as fast as I could for it.  I saw 50:10 on the clock as I approached.  Knowing it had taken me nearly 3 minutes to get across the start, I was happy.  It meant I had come in well under 50, maybe even under 48.

My family met me at the end, and there were sweaty hugs all around.  I felt good, strong, and happy.  I looked over at my little guy, who still doesn’t know exactly why he feels so different from everyone else, and smiled.  He didn’t know this race was for him, but he was here to cheer me on just the same.  What an amazing blessing to be there, that day.

My final time, posted later that day, was 47:19, an 11:50 pace.  I was thrilled.

Totally stole this photo from the NYRR site but it shows how pretty it was in Central Park that day.  I’m not in the photo.  LOL.

I am so far back in this shot I probably can’t even be seen.  Maybe right near the top, LOL.  Either way, that’s the race start.

Here I am coming in to the finish in the purple shorts on the left.  I wish I looked better.   I suppose no one looks fabulous when they’re sprinting for the finish.

Me with my dad and my little guy.

A Good Run

I went out this morning to do my last run before this weekend’s four mile race.  With the heat and humidity of the last week thankfully gone this morning, I thought it would make sense.  I am going to give myself a rest day tomorrow so I’m fresh on Saturday, something I did not do for my last two races, so hopefully it will make a difference.

I set out to do about 3.5 miles today, just shy of the four miles I will run on Saturday.  I decided to go out and do a route that I used to do often but hadn’t run much of the summer, knowing the distance.

The first mile?  Fantastic.  Great, comfortable, perfect temperature outside.

By the middle of the second mile, there it was again.  The wall.  The same one I’d been hitting in each and every race, at about the same mileage.  Having the dog with me wasn’t a big help, as he was needing to stop every little bit to mark territory and do some business during this little stretch as well.  I was growing frustrated and agitated and losing confidence that this weekend’s run would go well.

But then something happened that hasn’t happened in the last few weeks.  I was able to push past it.  I slowed my pace, found a comfortable stride, and suddenly, I knew I could keep going.  And I did.  The last mile was easier, my breathing more regular, my heart rate more steady.  I was able to move past the wall rather than have that last mile be an unending series of walk/run/gasp.

Maybe it’s the lack of heat today, maybe it is the increased mileage, maybe it’s the forcing myself to run in the heat lately, I’m not sure.  But I finally have been able to push past that wall that’s been creeping up between mile two and three.  I ran the last of the 3.6 miles without any trouble and probably could have gone for longer if I didn’t need to get back home.

I’m so glad I had this experience today to go into the race this weekend with.  After this weekend, I want to start increasing my mileage, with the idea of moving towards a half marathon next spring.  I wasn’t sure it was a plausible goal lately.

Now, I think it is.

Wednesday Weigh In

I erased last week’s gain this week with a 1 pound loss.  That’s good.

What isn’t good is I still haven’t gotten down to my pre vacation weight recorded on 7/31.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I was below it for most of this week, actually.  I nearly posted about it, I was so excited.  I’ve only seen that number on the scale twice in the last year.  I certainly hadn’t seen it since March.  But I’ve been very true to my Wednesday Weigh In concept….sometimes it is a benefit, sometimes it’s a detriment.

When you drink too much and eat too much on Labor Day Monday, Wednesday isn’t the best day to weigh in.  Before that, for most of the week, I was below that 7/31 scale reading.  And based on the way the scale has been behaving, I could be back down there tomorrow.  But today is today, and while I’m happy with getting rid of that pesky one pound from last week, I am still frustrated with August being a month of inertia.

This week should be a better week.  I should get rid of that .8 that I am up from the 7/31 scale reading and then some.  I have my four mile race this weekend.  I am really looking forward to it.  The weather has broken here and the heat and humidity that plagued my runs last weekend has evaporated.  Should be in the low sixties with low humidity when I’m running through Central Park in NYC on Saturday.  I can’t wait.

Also, without realizing it, I passed the one year anniversary on my Wednesday Weigh Ins last week.  Wow.  I am seven pounds lighter than I was at this point last year.  While I would like it to be more, I’m glad I’m doing this.  If I didn’t check in each Wednesday, I might be wearing that seven pounds and maybe more.  It is nice to see that while It has been up and down, the overall trend is indeed down.

Current Week:  -1
Total Weight Left To Lose:  15.2 lbs
Age:  42
BMI:  28.4