9 Miles In and it's Only Tuesday...Wait, it's Monday???

• Wooohoooo! Super duper awesome 6.3 mile run on Monday morning. 1 hour exactly. Longest I have ever ran in my life! Phyllis is the perfect running partner. No, you can't have her.
• 3 miles in intervals this morning, hill walking and strength training tomorrow. Longish (maybe 4-5 miles) run on Wednesday. Two days of rest to follow.
• Cause ya know what? ------ The Dam Night Run is on Saturday! Hoop hoop! So excited for this 5K. It will be my first chip timed race, they supposedly have a great afterparty and....it is all downhill!
• Hopped on the scale this morning. 130.5lbs even. Well that goal wasn't hard to reach. What do I set if for now?
• I had three pieces of Squash Pie for dinner. 120 calories a piece. Does anyone want the recipe? Southern savory cooking at its best.
• Also, someone got mentioned in a little list of running blogs on a great site called Traxee. Check it out, yo.

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Planning Ahead

A few posts ago, I was lamenting about where to go from here. What to do. How to maintain.

I love this calorie intake calculator. And I also really like the idea of calorie cycling. I think I've been doing calorie cycling all along by having cheat days and then really low cal days. Anyways, I plugged in all the numbers and got myself a schedule that falls between weight loss and maintenance. I really like it and when I weighed myself this week, I was down another half pound.

Many of you suggested I set another goal. Great advice! I signed up for another 5K and am planning on signing up for a 10K in November. I have a great running partner now and we have a set weekend date for a long run. Long for me anyways. I don't know about her but right now 5 miles is long. I'm hoping I can increase it up to 7 or 8 miles before the 10K. And...if the 10K goes well and life cooperates then I really think I want to attempt to train for the Little Rock Half-Marathon. But that isn't until March. Plenty of time to figure it all out.

I read an interesting little article in Women's Health last night about how to order fast food, healthier. Every other weekend, we find ourselves on the road at dinner time on Friday night and Sunday night. Like clockwork, we have no choice but to eat out twice a weekend, every other weekend. And we're not talking sitting down and eating. No time for that, and I'm not a huge fan of dining out with cranky, road tired children. So we grab something and hit the road again to get home as quickly as possible.

The article gave a few good suggestions:

• At Pizza Hut you can order any pie "fit and delicious". They give you extra sauce and veggies and only half the cheese. I don't know about you but I freakin love pizza!

• Popeyes offers "naked chicken" on sandwiches and salads. Saves you about 100 calories over fried. But I love Popeyes fried chicken. Especially the super spicy kind. I'll try this though when I know I need a light day and I'm traveling and the husband insists on this Southern favorite.

• We love Subway (kids included) and evidently you can order any sandwich as a salad and save up to 520 calories depending on the size and type of the sandwich.

• Starbucks will give you an 8oz. drink if you ask for it short and this will save major calories depending on your poison. They will also add protein powder and according to the magazine article, theirs is only 30 calories a scoop.

• And at numerous burger joints you can order a veggie burger or sandwich and it comes without the patty. Or order it protein style and get the sandwich without the bun. I wouldn't do either of these. I like my protein and carbs. But just an FYI.

I personally love Taco Bell and their Fresco menu. I know you could order like this at the Bell forever but they are finally advertising it and listing calorie counts and such on the menu. I can eat like three tacos for dinner and not go over my limit!

What do you order in a pinch on the road?

Post-5K

Hello all you happy people!

I know that if you are on a health journey in any way, shape, or form then you should be happy because you are doing something wonderful for yourself.

I've had a few hiccups the past few days with my own health journey. Only on the eating end of things. I just can not have 1700-2000 calorie days more than once a week! Get a hold of yourself woman!

I didn't run after my 5K until Tuesday. I realize that time off wasn't really necessary after a race of that distance but my legs were stiff and sore and I really wanted the break. Tuesday I did an easy 2 miles on the husband's granny's treadmill (more on that in a sec) and came home, popped in The Shred and proceeded to endure Jillian's tyrannical self for 20 minutes. This morning I managed to complete 2.5 miles outside before having to race home and get my middle child to vacation bible school.

I feel like I am behind on running after taking Monday off even though I made up for it on Tuesday. And I also feel kind of....lost. The 5K is over, what now? I've been viewing the Arkansas race calendar and am pondering doing the Dam Night Run at DeGray Lake in July. Also on my mind has been a 10K in Ft. Smith in November. Am I crazy to want to run a 10K? Nah. It would just be a prelude to the Little Rock Half Marathon that I am also considering. I need to just sign up for a few races so I can start following a training schedule again.

You know what? Training is about to get a whole lot easier. Instead of using Granny's treadmill or missing a run, I'll be running on my very own! The husband let me order a new one from Sears and it should be here next week. I am so excited!!!! I'm hoping to run at least 5 days a week now.

Today I am going to control my eating, ice my knee, and play outside with the kiddos.

What are you doing on this happy hump day?

Meet Bill Duer

This is Mr. Bill Duer.

I met him at the Lum N Abner 5K on Saturday. He's a local to our small town and after my mother told me a little about him, I knew I needed to shake his hand. And now, I want to tell you a little about him.

Mr. Duer is 76 years young. He has ran over 100 marathons. He says he stopped counting after 100 but he thinks the exact number is somewhere around 110. He once ran a marathon a month for 68 consecutive months. He also states that he has been running every single day for 23 years. He has it all logged and has never suffered an injury.

This man exudes such an air of calmness and sureness. His pace was steady, never faltering and he barely looked winded at the end of the 3.1 miles. And why would he be? A man who runs marathons with the regularity of him has no reason to be tired after a 5K.

I Googled Mr. Duer and found a few references to him in articles and race results, but I am convinced this man has not gotten the recognition or coverage he deserves. He is a true Marathon Man and doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping. The fact that he resides in our very own Mena, Arkansas and runs local roads every day just makes it that much sweeter.

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Giveaway winner:

I had 14 comments and the random number generator selected comment #2. So Carrie, you win the book!

Carrie's comment that won: carrie said...
PS - I also "liked" you site on facebook yesterday!

Yay Carrie! Also, Carrie just completed a Walk for the Cure and raised over $1700. She was walking for her mother who was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Go Team Jane's Jugs! Visit Carrie here.

5K Race Recap

Well folks, today Fat Girl ran her first ever 5K.

The Lum N Abner 5K.

28 runners.

9am.

80 degrees (if not more)

100% humidity (i'm making that up but it felt like it)

I had three goals for this race:

1. Finish in at least 30 minutes

2. Do not walk

3. Do not die

I accomplished two of those. I did not die and I made it to the finish in at least 30 minutes. Sadly though I took three walking breaks (one for every mile I guess) of about 10-15 seconds a piece. Enough to catch my breath and haul ass again.

Cause guess what?

I was the second female across the finish line. I placed second in my age division (17+ pretty big division if you ask me) with a time of........26:52! I got a medal too! I think I was beat by a girl still in high school who must run track. She looked very young and was very fast. Overall I placed 12th out of the 28 runners.

My mom and my oldest kiddo were waiting for me at the finish. Didn't get any good pics of me running but here I am after crossing the finish line. Don't worry, I didn't immediately collapse, but it was pretty hot and I sat down on the cool grass in a hurry.

My buddy Phyllis who came in 18th (just like her bib number) with a time of 28:28! Go Phyllis!

My oldest guy who was cheering me on. He's proud of his mommy

and says he wants to run a marathon. I bet he can some day.

Stay tuned for the winner of the giveaway and an extra special post about an

extraordinary runner I met at the 5K.

Confession #2

I have yet to run a race.

You would think by now, after graduating C25K in January and beginning to increase my miles that I would have at least done a 5K. You would think. But you would be wrong.

The main issue for me has been location. I live in a very rural area and the closest races this year have been at the very least a two hour drive. Now that in itself isn't so bad. Finding childcare during the race is bad. My husband works irregular hours and I just haven't made it a point to coordinate my life enough to enter a race.

I know I can finish a 5K. I don't know what I can do it in. I'm sure the adrenaline will help and of course it's going to be a PR for me because it will be my very first. But I am super excited to even have the chance to do it.

Can you tell by my grin?

Here I am with my very first race entry form! Completed and ready to be returned. I've got until June 5th to prepare for my FIRST 5K! I am amped, pumped, over the moon, you name it.

Any suggestions for a first timer?