Only four more months left in the year. Generally speaking, things have been going great … besides a sick baby for vacation, I have no complaints. Anyway, what’s new:

• Thinking about getting another tattoo … more than thinking, actually, it’s probably going to happen soon.
• Abi has a cold … always fun for the parents
• We’re working on child number two (not right this second, but you know what I mean)
• We’ve decided a pool heater needs to be installed in the spring, our pool hit 80 degreees for about 4 days this year total.
• Running is going good, but eating is going bad … as is weight loss
• That’s all I can think of at the moment.

Six months ago, I posted this … click me … which basically stated that I had reached my goal weight of 140 pounds. After that post I actually lost 3 more pounds, putting me at 137. Over the past 6 months I’ve more or less stayed right around 140 – 142 … not too bad for winter time. Lately, however, I’ve balooned back up to 147 pounds. This situation is unacceptable. Time to Re-implement my rules:

1. No eating after 7pm
2. No snacking … 3 meals per day

For the time being, I won’t try to limit how much I eat at my scheduled feeding times. If I start training for a 5k, the 2 rules above should be enough to start losing weight. I’ve chosen the 1st Annual 5k run/walk for C.O.P.S. to be my first race of the year. It’s May 9th down at the Corning Preserve – about 3 weeks away. My goal is to weigh 137 pounds on June 10th … one day before going on vacation to Florida.

I haven’t posted in 2 weeks. Mostly because I don’t really have anything new to share … but I figured I should say something.

I reached my weight watcher’s goal. On August 25th I weighed 160 pounds. This morning I weighed 140 pounds. So now I actually get some points back because I just want to maintain my weight rather than lose any more. I do feel like another 5 pounds is do-able, but I’m very happy with how I look at the moment, so I’m going with it.

Motivating myself to run is a bit more difficult now that it’s cold and dark, but I’m still running 3 times per week. 3 miles, 3 miles, 4 miles at the moment – but I’d like to extend that 4 mile run to 5 miles. I plan to run the “Turkey Trot” on Thanksgiving, and then no more 5K races until spring.

I finished my 5K today – 27:52

Got my College Degree in the mail

My 5K race is this Sunday. I feel like I should be excited, but to be honest, I’m not all that excited. I kind of feel like I’ve already accomplished what I set out to do, even though the race isn’t for another 4 days. I’ve dropped 12 pounds – I’m lighter now than I have been in well over 6 years. I know I can run the entire race without having to stop (my original goal), and I know that I’m most likely go to have a time of just under 29 minutes (secondary goal was to be under 30 minutes). So that’s it … I’m done … and I haven’t even started yet

Do I want to continue running? … maybe. Probably to some degree just to continue burning calories.

Was training fun? … reaching my goals was fun. Training? … eh

Do I want to drop $700 on a bike and try my hand at that? … Yes, and no.

Am I afraid I’m going to gain the weight back? … yes, most definately!

So now what?

Tonight’s run in Google Earth (click for bigger image):

unofficially, of course, as my race isn’t for 2.5 weeks – but I did run 5k tonight non-stop

5K training is going really well. Last night I jogged 3 miles non-stop (5K is 3.1 miles). So now I know I can complete my goal of not having to walk at any point in the race, and I still have 3 weeks of training left. So now I can concentrate on getting into a good running groove (it takes me a good 1/2 mile just to find my pace). Also, even though I aid I didn’t care about my time, I think it’s pretty obvious that I do care I’d really like to finish my 1st 5K race in under 30 minutes. I think i can do it, but time will tell (my 3 mile jog last night took 31:35).

Weight Watchers works really well (obviously, the running helps). I like that I can eat anything I want as long as I keep the portions down … that system works well for me. I’m down to 152 (160 before I started) and I’m starting to feel better and better about myself. Fitting into medium size coats and t-shirts is awesome. For some reason, though, I find myself constantly worried about winter creeping up on me which means less activity and more eating – bad news. Weight Watchers is too expensive to do continuously, so I may have to get back to it in the spring if things go bad over the winter. Time will tell.

Jessamyn had to work, so it was a good day to test out the Schwinn Jogging Stroller

I came across an interesting article which I’d thought I’d share … click here. And a brief summary of the article is contained in this quote:

Running will give you a more intense workout in less time. However, a person would need to be at a reasonable fitness level to run 4.8 miles without causing themselves distress. Whereas, it would be easier to ride 20 miles on a bicycle, at 10 mph, to burn the same amount of calories. There would also be far less stress on the body’s joints.

I’m glad I’ve finally started to follow thru with my desire to run a 5K, but I’ve always loved biking and will probably switch over once my race is finished. Obviously, if I fall in love with running between now and then, perhaps I’ll scrap the bike idea … we’ll see. We’ve already bought a trailer to pull Abi behind a bike and pro and I both have bikes, so biking could be a little more of a family event perhaps (although, pro and I are at different levels, so riding together would mean a slower pace for a longer time so pro could keep up and I’d still get the same calorie burn).