Tag Archive | Motivation

2016 was the year I began tryin to take my running to the next level. I was working with a running coach. I had goals. There was no stoping me….. or so I thought.

Then, as I’ve said before, two weeks after running NYC Marathon which I crashed and burned because I went out WAY too fast I had my thyroid out. As you know this was the surgery that left me with Hypoparathyroidism.

I’ve started thinking about new goals now that I am on the Yorvipath hormone replacement therapy. It has gotten me looking at where I’ve been with my running and what I might now be able to do now that my body seems to be working again.

The following year, I wanted to push myself to run another marathon. It was hard. It was hot. I did it. I finished in 5:48:52. My marathon times only got slower from there. I usually finished shortly after 6 hours. My slowest being in 2023 at 7:14.

It was always a struggle. I had to balance the need to replenish my calcium supplies for running while taking into account my kidneys. Then there was also the issue of making sure not to allow calcium to get to low causing a crash.

I pushed myself.

Now that I am taking my Yorvipath, it appears that my body is able to once again do what is asked. Suddenly I can push to hit 12 minute paces. I still. Have much to go, but it is a start. My Garmin even recorded a best pace of 9:24. No, I can’t sustain that but the fact that I hit it is a start.

So as I get ready to train for Bethlehem festival, it is time for new goals…..

Slow and Steady

Jun18

We are searching for that magic pill. Some are even opting for an injection instead. I get it. Sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes there are medical reasons that would require such extreme measures. Sometimes there isn’t except that loosing weight is hard. I’ve thought about other options, but as I mentioned before I signed up for weight watchers at end of April.

I am the type of person that needs a plan. In my 40’s when I lost 20 pounds (before gaining it all back and more), I used the South Beach Diet. While it helped, it is not a healthy diet for me nor did I want so much a diet as I wanted to retrain my brain/body to eat healthy.

So here we are 7 weeks in and 11.4 pounds down.

As you can see from my step goal, I am doing well. Probably because as a PreK teacher, I am rarely off my feet during the day. So that seems to be working in my favor. I am trying to be steady in working out. I, honestly, have not been running since the Brooklyn Half. I’ve been walking, indoor biking, and weights. I have not been as steady on that as I would like, but I do know that I am gearing up to start my Hat Trick Training at end of July. So theres that.

I like a plan. I like an easy plan. I have found the plan that is now working for me. Tracking which I’ve tried before and never stuck with seems to be working for me now. I think the overall approach to Weight Watchers is what is working for me. I’m not just tracking my food. I am assessing and thinking about what foods I am eating. The daily points have made me think, “is it worth it” when thinking about food choices. I am also encouraged to move more to get more points!

I still don’t feel like I am necessarily on a diet, but on a healthy eating path. When I pack my lunch, it is both tasty but also weeding out the easy to grab processed foods.

That being said, I am still eating a cookie which I track. The thing is I am thinking just one cookie and not several. A small piece of ice cream cake and not a full slice. I don’t want to deprive myself. I just want to find the balance.

I’m not going to lie though…… I know hitting my goal weight is going to take time. I know it’s going to be harder than I want it to be. I know. I know. I know….. but, but , but ……….I am now one pound less than I weighed in last seen 2019. So that is a win! I am also a little less than 5 pounds away from my first goal weight. Then after that 15 more.

It is going to take time. The weight didn’t go on over night, so I can’t expect it to come off overnight either.

Onward….

Two Weeks In

May10

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I started Weight Watchers. I will admit that I have always said that I was not one to count points and it wasn’t for me…….

I was wrong.

Maybe back in the day when you had to do all the counting and calculating. That is no more. It couldn’t be any easier to use. There is a recipe calculator. You can scan bar codes. A “what to eat” tab with featured recipes and lists of all the zero point foods.

Honestly with all the zero point foods, you can eat and eat and not feel deprived. It does require a little planning, but we all know it is the mindless grabbing of food that is the problem for many of us as is processed foods. The one consideration is that it definitely more costly to eat fresh, but that is not weight watchers fault. It is sad commentary that a bag of potato chips is cheaper than a container of strawberries……. But I digress.

Anywho….

I’ve been consistently tracking. I’ve been managing my points. One thing that I do like is that besides daily points, you get what they call weekly points to use anyway you want during your week. These points also increase as does your activity. I didn’t understand that at first, but now use them.

I also am not depriving myself. This week was teacher appreciation week that brought goodies and I also went into NYC for a Hypopara study visit (more on that in separate post later). I ate what I wanted to eat, but maybe pregaming pizza lunch with a zero point salad. Then having only one slice of pizza instead of two. It is about thinking about the food you eat.

This was all only 2 points and that was for the feta cheese.

One thing that tracking made me think about is the number of calories that I drink. While I by no means will be giving up my coffee, I realized that for some reason using agave in my coffee was more points than regular sugar. I then realized switching to monk fruit sweetener was even better. Also had to rethink my morning smoothie which while always healthy needed to be adjusted.

So I will continue to do weekly updates with the good and the bad as I did sign up for the next several months. My first goal is 15 pounds. Ultimately I would like to loose a total of 30 pounds. Time will tell.

Currently I am heading in the right direction. Down 4.2 pounds. This feels like not so much a diet as a reset and shift in eating habits. It is about being the healthiest version of myself which the added weight has not been helping.

Stay tuned.

It is Enough

May1

Shhhhh… Don’t tell anyone but….

I am overweight. Thanks to many factors, I might be adding instead of subtracting pounds. Based on charts, I would be considered obese. I am out of shape. When I run I have been known to huff and puff. I am not as strong as I used to be. I am not as flexible as I used to be. I’m definitely not as young as I used to be! Sometimes I look at pictures and think…. Damn, what happened.

To be honest though while it does cross my mind on occasion, most of the time I just don’t give a shit. Does my weight determine how I live my life? Not a chance. Does my weight determine if I head out the door to run or exercise? Nope. Does it keep me from living my life and doing the things I want to do? Never. Does my weight effect the way I fit in my jeans? Yup. Does the size of my jeans affect my overall life happiness? Hell no!

All my life, I’ve been beating the odds. I’ve been the one who was picked last for gym class. I’ve been the one who is looked past and over. I say this not for a pity party because who needs that. I say this because at this point in my life, I don’t care and if you didn’t pick me to be on your team I wouldn’t want to play with you anyway. If you look past me, no worries because I’m probably have a plan of where I need to be anyway.

I say these things because they are true. I say these things because they are what made me who I am today. They made me stronger. I had to find my own self worth. I had to find what made me who I am today. I define who I am. I define what I am and what I will do.

Now please don’t take that to mean that I don’t need others and others opinions aren’t important. I’m just saying that although it is nice when others build a person up that you must learn to build yourself up first or it means nothing. If you spend your life looking for validation from others, you will never truly be satisfied or know your worth.

So while I know that some might look at me at shake their heads wondering how I consider myself a runner and an athlete, I do. I know that I don’t have the speed of some. I don’t have the agility or endurance of some. I don’t have a lot, but what I have is enough.

I have the will. I have the desire. I push myself when it’s hard. I push myself to be more than I was. I strive to be better, stronger, faster than I thought I could be. I also know that what I have to offer is enough. That while I could always be better and improve myself, that who and what I am today is enough.

And while all of that is true, we all know that I have talked about trying to get the number down on the scale. At my last doctor visit, I had gained an additional 10 pounds which was always the number I said I couldn’t hit. My doctor said something that stuck with me, “Don’t let this be your new normal” after I said that to her.

Since that visit in December, I have tried on my own a few different ways. None of them stuck while the weight did. I very much like to have a plan. I think I’ve found one that I’ve been doing for a few days now. I like it. It makes sense to me and it is easy to follow.

So with that I will say that I signed up for Weight Watchers. I signed up for a 10 month plan as I have 30 pounds as my goal.

More to follow

Don’t Forget

Mar21

I can do hard things. I’ve done hard things.

Today’s Facebook memories from 9 years ago were filled with NYC Half Marathon.

A sub 2 half…. Right under the wire at 1:58:59

This was a race that I worked with amazing coach to achieve. This was a race I trained hard for.

It was hard.

It wasn’t easy.

I wasn’t sure that I would be able to do it.

Yet, I did.

Now mind you this was 9 years ago…. 8 months before my thyroid surgery that left me Hypopara.

Here’s the thing though….. I know due to getting older, the whole Hypopara thing, and the extra pounds that I am no longer chasing the sub w half.

I get that. I really do, but what was hard and impossible then became reachable and possible. That doesn’t mean that I can’t still do hard things. It’s just that I think I forgot it.

This was a good reminder. Not just for my running and fitness, but for life in general.

Mar17

Yesterday was the NYC Half.

I did not run it this year, but happily tracked several friends who did. It’s nice to be on the support team only tracking. Although I must say for a half, the NYC half is a great race. This year they had excitement of running over the Brooklyn Bridge. To to say that made me a little jealous.

That being said, even if I was scheduled to run it I would have been sidelined as I ended up having a stomach bug. You can run through a lot, but a stomach bug isn’t one…. At least not for me. I didn’t even make it out for my 6 mile run as I was passed out on the couch all day.

After sleeping all day, then going to be for a solid 10 hours, I woke up feeling better. I took the day off of work. My appetite wasn’t total back but did have energy even though I had some symptoms of low calcium this morning. It was a good day to catch up on cleaning out and up in a way you can only do when on one is home to get in your way… LOL

Anywho…. Back to the running……

I’ve been thinking and looking at my last few half marathon times. They have all been in right around 3 hours.

So the question is can I do better? Do I want to push to do better? And if so, I need to keep going with my training.

Hmmmmmm

Time will tell……

And then the question is, what do I want to do?

Jan26

Some might say that I have been doing this for a long time without reaching some of my goals.

Maybe that’s true.

Maybe it’s not.

My goals have changed along the way. My thoughts of what is necessary has changed. What and where I want to be has changed. I know my body has changed and what it can do too. Always moving forward though. Maybe no longer reaching for that golden ring, but happy with the consolation prize. Bobbing and weaving, even when the finish line keeps moving.

So maybe it’s not about reaching the goal, but continuing to reach for it without giving up.

Tomorrow starts my 16 week training plan for the Brooklyn Half. As of now I do not have a goal for the race other than to run it well. To me that will mean to go into this event trained by following my training plan. To continue with the cross training to hopefully also go into this race injury free.

At the 8 week mark, I will access where I am with my training and adjust training for the goal.

So here we go……

Last time I ran Brooklyn in 2015, I ran it in 2:14:47. That’s not happening or anything even close to that. That being said, my last half was 2:59:18. So, honestly, I am starting my training with 3 hours in mind.

Never giving up…. Never baking down…. Still moving….

What more can I ask for?

Letting Go

Jan15

It is so easy to get caught up in the numbers, the data, and if your garmin didn’t record it that it didn’t happen.

I am trying to let that go.

I have been doing my 20 minutes of daily wall pilates. I’ve been walking. I’ve been riding stationary bike and going on treadmill.

Many recorded.

Some not.

You know what if it isn’t documented, it still happened. It is making a difference. I am noticing less aches and pains. I am noticing feeling a little bit stronger. I am confident that this is the way to go.

I am not going from zero to sixty too fast. I am easing into these changes in a way that speaks to where I am and not was or want to be. I am matching my exercise routine with the reality of where my body is today and what it could do.

In my Crossfit days, I was a bad ass. I could lift and do WOD’s breaking into a sweat but get them done. I am not the same, but the determination is the same.

That is enough.

Not if it is recorded by my watch.

Not if no one sees it.

I know…..

And that is enough.

Made it

Jan11

Yesterday was National Quitter’s Day. The day most of us quit our New Year’s resolutions. Since I didn’t make any resolutions and started on December 30th, I’m still going strong. As said previously, it is all about progress not perfection. It is all about being healthier.

It’s funny too because I’ve actually been enjoying eating healthier. It has been making me think about my food choices which has been more satisfying than just grabbing things without thought. I’ve been taking salads for most of my lunches and they have been so good.

For snacks, I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy cottage cheese with fresh fruit. I’ve also had to rethink drinking my calories. More water even though that was usually my drink of choice. It also helps that for Christmas that I got a Nutribullet.

I think I mentioned the app Reverse Health. I have now completed 11 days of my 30 day challenge. I am starting from the beginning which is where I am at. While I can go out and run pretty much any day, my overall fitness has not been tended to. So back to basics.

So far so good.

I’ve already noticed changes. My lower back pain has improved as have my flexibility in my hips which were very tight. These are the things that I need to work on. I am also working on my running. Today I ran three miles doing some fartleks. No particular speed, just to test and see how I would feel.

On top of that I have lost almost 3 pounds which is also part of the agenda. But slow and steady is the goal.

Progress not perfection.

On top of this, I also through the lottery got into the NYC Brooklyn Half which is in May. So all that I’m doing now is the pre-training for the Half.

Setting Goals

Jan2

Yes it is that time of year for goal setting. That being said, I would be doing all this if it was June. I am ready. So here we are……. One week in.

What a difference a week makes.

Working on my diet. Healthy smoothies in the morning. More water. More salads. Less processed foods. It’s a work in progress with progress being the key word. Small changes that can be sustained.
Downloaded a 12 week wall pilates program on an app (Reverse Health). For the $30 fee, I feel like it will be worth it. My goal is to carve the 20 minutes out a day. So far. So good, but its been 3 days:)
Started doing some running again. Even ran a New Years Day 5K with friends. This lead me to another goal…. In June there is a Downtown Run into Summer 5K. MY GOAL NOW IS TO RUN THIS RACE WELL….whatever that means. Not time, but the way I feel. Although to be honest I would like to run it in under 35 minutes. I ran the Bethlehem Running Festival 5K in 40.17. So I think while a reach/stretch goal, it is not a crazy goal.

I have been reading a GREAT book by a running coach that I was very lucky to work with. The book is Running Past 50, Your Guide to Running Longevity and Success by Caolan MacMahon. (You can find it on Amazon and I highly recommend it). This book has been motivating me…..for me because I am lucky enough to know Caolan and have worked with her it really hits home. She was my running coach who got me through 2 marathons, a 50K and my one and only sub 2 half marathon. She is an amazing coach and her book speaks the truths coach’s need to say to thir athletes.

The below passage really spoke to me and I hear the truth of her words….

“But it takes time and willingness to develop a habit, which will also include breaking a habit. Habits can, of course, be “good” or “bad.” In this case, you want to develop a good habit, running , while breaking a bad habit, inactivity.”

This paragraph goes on with more information and really spoke to me. So much so that I have it bookmarked.

I have developed bad habits. Not just eating more processed and sugary foods than I should, but coming home from work and immediately sitting on the couch with my dog and a coffee. While this isn’t a bad thing, the timing is a bad habit because once your on the coach it is harder to motivate to do what needs to be done. So what I’ve been trying to do is inside of doing this to go for a walk after work or as in today do my wall pilates which today focused on abs.

So here is to making better choices in the new year. Here is to making healthy habits while replacing the bad ones.

Since this post is long enough, I will explain later how I plan to hold myself accountable.

Happy New Year!

The Accidentally Running Mama

Run, Bike, Swim and Have a Life!