I'm Fine. Really.

Hello there! I'm doing much better! Even sans makeup and on the INTERNETZ I am happy happy happy!

What? You didn't know I wasn't doing so hot?

It was really more of an internal turmoil, not so much external. Although the last time we chatted I was bummed about my missed long run.

Folks, I was totally beating myself up for falling back into really terrible eating habits. Hence the reworking of goals and yada yada yada.

I am proud to say that the last few days I've stayed on track, gotten in all my exercise, and am pretty pleased overall.


And now on to address an email and a comment I received.

First up, I received an email from a lady who basically wants to know how I lost all my weight. She says she has been a runner for a good amount of years and is currently in marathon training but she isn't losing any weight. I have no answer for this. At least not for her. I am a firm believer in everyone is different inside and out. What works for me won't necessarily work for you.

But, to answer the how did I do it question....I did it through good ole' fashioned calories in versus calories out. Expend more calories than you take in. Get yourself a daily calorie intake of what is best for you. Try this calculator to figure it. Then go to SparkPeople, get a free account and record every single thing you put in your mouth! When I started my health journey it was with walking and reducing calories, but not by an extreme amount. Then I did get kind of extreme. When I started running and losing weight, I wanted to lose more weight. So I made my daily calorie limit 1300. Pretty low for an active person. Some months the weight would fall off. Others it stood still. I took cheat days and would absolutely gorge when I did. Eventually I evened it out to eating around 1500 a day and still losing weight. Actually when I increased my calories a bit I lost those last 10 I was trying for. Lately I've been around 1600-2000 a day. Some days more. Which is why I am back on track and trying to keep it at 1500 to lose another 4 lbs.

All this talk of extreme calorie counting brings me to the comment I received. A reader asked how I had the energy to run only eating 1200 or 1300 calories a day. The answer is... I didn't. I often felt very sluggish on my runs and couldn't seem to break past the 3 mile wall. Only when I increased my eating to 1500 or so did I see an improvement in my running and weight loss.

So it seems I am a swinger. I swing from one extreme to the other and have a hard time finding a happy medium.

For now, I am going to keep increasing my mileage, keep my calories somewhere in the middle, and just be super duper happy with my body because I have worked hard for it and it is mine!

And one reason I love this body is because it carried me through 6 whole miles Monday morning without complaint. This run was pretty good overall. The first three miles were like running underwater. Arkansas humidity is insane! At mile 3.5 we took a 2 minute walk/water/Sports Beans break and the remaining miles were a piece of cake! Mmmmm, cake. Sorry, I got distracted. Anyhoooo....it was a good run and I am pleased with my miles. Tuesday I hill walked on the treadmill and did SparkVideos and this morning I did a easy mile warmup and then two miles of intervals on the treadmill. Despite being inside in my chilly house, I was sweating like crazy. Those intervals kicked my butt!

Tomorrow I will rest. Rest as in, deep clean my house, take the kids swimming, and hardly sit down. Friday will be 3 miles on the treadmill and Saturday another long run. I can't wait! My husband laughs when I say I can't wait to run 6 miles at 6am on a Saturday morning.

Hope you are having a healthy happy mentally stable week! Happy running!

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.