Girls Only Color Run 2016

The Color Run is a family fun day for us. (I say "girls only" because this year only the girls in our family did it.) The first year I did it was 2013 with my oldest daughter. The following year my teens joined the fun. This year only my two girls and my granddaughter were there, my oldest surprised us with tickets! Next year it is my hope to have even more join us. My husband never will because getting covered in paint-powder is not his idea of fun, lol. But that is OK. He actually runs a mile in under 7 minutes, so he passes me up pretty quickly and can run circles around me. 

Here are pictures of me, one from 2 years ago and one from today. I see big changes and my weight is not that much different in the two pictures. Maybe 10 pounds or less. But I was not doing any weight training in 2014. I wasn't even doing a ton of running other than in races. I see so many changes in the second picture. My calves and thighs are smaller. My waist is smaller. Even my face looks different. 

If you are ready to see changes in your body, not just the scale, private message me and we can talk about how I can help you find the road to success like I have. 

~Helping transform lives one day at a time.

Super Juice Me Day Thirteen

Day Thirteen

It has been a week since I have blogged. I went out of town for a couple of days but I juiced before I left to make it easier to stay on track. I had some struggles for many reason but my youngest daughter went with me and she kept me strong. I drank my juices the entire day on Wednesday, although it was later in the evening than I was supposed to due to the family gathering at the funeral home. They went to Whataburger afterwards and I so wanted a burger. But Jenni said, "No, mom. You will be so upset if you do that." So I bought her one and drank my juice. On Thursday, I got up and drank my juice on the way to the cemetery for the service at 10 a.m. We went to the tennis club for a buffet lunch after the funeral. That was so hard. I didn't have my juice for the 1 p.m. juice time with me and I had no idea when I would get to drink it. I talked to my older daughter and she told me to find fruits and veggies that are in my juices and eat those. So that is what I did. I had a great salad with salsa on it instead of dressing and I had lots of fruit. I drank my 1 p.m. juice when we headed home around 4:30 since I hadn't made the 4 p.m. juice. After I got out of Houston traffic I was getting so tired and I knew I had another four hours to drive. I stopped to get Jenni some dinner and I got me a cob salad. Yes, I did have some chicken but I made sure I chewed it well. I also got a sweet tea with lemons for caffeine so I would stay awake. I made the best choices I could with the situations I was in. I could have chosen much worse. I felt fine afterwards and was able to stay awake on the drive home.

I am not perfect but I didn't go too far off the plan as I could have. Extenuating circumstances change things sometimes. Make good choices. Don't eat garbage foods. Eat as healthy as possible. Choose fruits and veggies over other foods. And eat things that don't have a lot of chemicals in them, preferably zero chemicals. That would be your best choice. I am back on track since I am back home. I am still craving meats. I will enjoy eating some healthy meats in a couple of weeks at least once a day. I plan on juicing twice a day AFTER the 28 day program. With this I know I can stop taking a lot of vitamins because I will be getting them from the foods I eat instead. That is the ideal way of getting them anyway. That excites me since it will cost me a lot less money. I really would love to be able to grow all of my own fruits and veggies for my juices someday. What an amazing thing that would be. 

My feet have been bothering me for so many months now. I thought it was because of my new shoes. But I bought some new shoes today, for half the price of my other ones. I got size 8 instead of size 9, like the other ones. I am thinking the shoes were too big. When I ran my two miles this evening they felt fine. As I slowed down to walk a mile afterwards my toes starting hurting pretty badly as if I had run many miles. I haven't run in several weeks because I hurt my toe and couldn't get the shoe on. That is possibly the reason that my feet hurt after only a short time of running. I traded the hot pink shoe laces with Jenni. I am giving her my size 9 shoes since she is going to be taller than me and her feet are bigger. She needed new running shoes anyway. I actually like the look of the other shoes better but I like the price better on these. 

I started a 12 week training program, on week two, for the Rocky Mountain Half Marathon in August 2. I am going to try very hard to stay on track with that program and run what it says to each day until the big race. If I do that, it is my hope my feet won't kill me anymore because it will be used to it. I will be doing feet exercises to help them not hurt, anything will be an improvement over what they feel now.

I have also been letting myself get away with not doing my workout videos. I have a ton of videos with great strength training and cardio. I've just been lazy and giving up. I have tried getting up earlier than 7 and I just can't seem to do it. I need my sleep. So today I did the DVD workout after naptime while the kids were having snack and then watching a video. Then I ran later in the evening. I have to really work hard to get my workouts in. I feel so good when I do them and feel lazy when I don't. I feel so much better when I have gone for a run. It may be a challenging run, but I always feel great afterwards because of the effort I put forth. It's time to build some muscle while I am training for this half marathon. 

My "grand design" for my body is one that I have had before but even better. I don't just want to loose the fat on my body, I want to build lots of muscle, too. I want to be strong as I grow older so that my life will be fuller and more meaningful. I have no clue what weight I will reach or what clothes size. I would like to reach size 6 in jeans but I know that will take a lot of work. I am willing to do the work. I just can't let my thoughts stop me from accomplishing them. My workout goal is DVD workout at least 4 days a week and running at least 4 days a week, if not more. I am not sure what my training schedule is for the later weeks, but it may be running 5 days or more. 

I have been struggling with my weight for so long and I finally understand why. It is the foods I am eating and my inability to stop eating them. The book I am reading talks about how the BIG FOOD and BIG DRINK companies put additives in the foods that MAKE you want to eat them and make it hard to stop. I was not able to loose the weight no matter how much I ran and worked out because I was still eating badly. I thought I was doing OK food wise but now I realize I wasn't anywhere near it. I have dropped 10 pounds in two weeks because I am juicing. I am eating healthier than I ever have with these juices. I am eating fresh veggies that I wouldn't eat normally or at least very often. I know without a doubt I will be able to loose the weight and inches now. And I will be able to build muscle to help that along as the fat goes away over the next several months. 

 I WILL reach my goal before my 49th birthday in November. Oh, what an amazing day that will be, when I can look at pictures of myself stronger and more healthy than I have ever been in my life. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Super Juice Me Day Four

Day Four

The weekends are going to be challenging as far as schedule goes over the next few weeks. Today we did a 5K that started a bit after 8 a.m. I drank my water and my morning tea before I left for the run. Sadly, I was NOT able to put my running shoes on so I did NOT run. I walked it. But I wore my sandals and they ended up making the soles of my feet hurt. I had my toe wrapped to keep it from hurting. It feels and looks much better tonight. It was a small run and they did awards for different age groups. Even though I came in LAST out of EVERYBODY I came in third for my age group. Wow! That means there were three people in my age group running, lol. John came in first for his age group. JC came in third and Jenni came in second for their age groups. Jenni walked with me, so that tells you how many her age were running, too. 

When I got home I made my first juice and then took a nap. The juice for 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. is called Anti-Oxidant King. It was full of wonderful fruits and a small amount of veggies. It was a beautiful rich color and tasted wonderful. 

The juice for 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. is Mineral Medicine. It's pretty good. It has more veggies in it and isn't as thick as the morning/evening one. They all seem to be that way. They give you the really thick ones for those two times and then thinner ones during the day. I am enjoying the different flavors coming from the combinations. 

While I am still having thoughts of foods I choose not to eat right now I am considering the choices I will make after my 28 days is over. That is ever in my thoughts, in a good way. I am thinking of the amazing foods we have learned to make the RIGHT way. And I am thinking of how awesome it will be to just enjoy the good stuff and FORGET about the bad stuff I should never have touched to begin with. I am so happy that we have made all the changes we have because that will make all of this so much easier. We still have a ways to go but I know I am on the right track and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

I am currently reading Freedom From the Diet Trap: Slim For Life by Jason Vale and it is so amazing. I am not finished with it yet but I plan on finishing it this weekend. I have learned so many thing just in the first 30 pages of the book. I will share what I learn later. It's under $7 so if you want to check it out, go ahead and tell me what you think of it. 

Changing my life one day at a time.

My First Half Marathon: Lone Star 13.1

My FIRST ever Half Marathon.

I learned a lot of things from doing this race. More than I learned from reading runner magazines. I suppose it is true that you learn more from doing instead of just hearing about someone else doing it.

If you DON'T train for a Half you will not be able to run it. You may not be able to finish it unless you are as stubborn as me. More on how stubborn I am later. Training is something you have to do. Even if it is running small distances every day. It gets your body used to running instead of used to sitting all day. 

Something different about me than other people is my feet. I have no clue why I have trouble with my feet, but I do. And it isn't just when running. When I am on my feet for long periods of time it makes my feet hurt, badly. The pain starts in my middle toes where they touch the balls of my feet, if that makes sense. The pain can become so extreme that it brings tears to my eyes or even makes me break down and actually cry. More on how my feet reacted later.

I was really excited but nervous about the race. I KNEW I hadn't prepared for it like I should have. I let all sorts of things get in my way, mostly just silly excuses that I could have found a way around if I really wanted to, most of them anyway. But I was determined to do it and finish. Seven in the morning is early when you are racing but I was thrilled it was a local race, in my own city, and I only had to drive about 3 miles to get there. I arrived right before they started the race, maybe 5 minutes. No time to worry or wonder. I got my tracker on and my worship music on and I set off. I had planned to take it slower because of the things I had read, run slower than normal for a half or full marathon. I thought I was running slower but the first mile went by and it actually said I was running about on track with the usual. My feet started bothering me after I completed mile 3, so somewhere along mile 4. I started doing stretches for my feet and toes to help get me through. It worked for several miles. The pain is less when I am running than when I am having to walk to whatever reason. Plus, I prayed that I would be able to make it through despite the pain and that it would be less than I feared.

Mile seven had a big incline. That was challenging. I tried to run up the entire thing but only made it half way and had to walk the rest. The next big hill came right after that one. I walked backwards up it part of the way because another running suggested it so that I couldn't see the hill as I was going up. It worked OK. I can't really remember but I believe there was only one really big incline let on the course, during mile 9 or 10. I did NOT think I was going to make it up that one. It was as long as the other two put together. I was already extremely tired at that point. I had been running/walking for well over 2 hours. But I knew there was no other option. I tried the walking backwards thing but it didn't really help me this time. I just prayed that God would help me push through and get to the top of that hill.

As I got to the top of that hill I felt a sense of relief. I looked ahead at where I must go next and I knew I would just do it. My attitude changed a bit as I got over that hill. I only have 3 miles left, a simple 5K. I had done those plenty of times walking and running. I could do it. I decided to start thinking about what a nice day it was and how I was just out for a nice long walk. At that point I told myself I was just going to walk unless I felt like a short sprint. It made it easier knowing I wasn't going to push myself to run the entire rest of the way. I can honestly say I ran some in every mile. I ran LESS in the later miles and MORE in the beginning ones. I reached a point where I could no longer stretch my toes to make it feel better. Sometimes I could curl my toes under as I was walking and it would relieve some of the pain, but not always. Once the pain shooting through my toes got so bad with a simple movement of my toes I no longer tried to move them. I just tried to ignore them.

There were plenty of water stations. They were giving out water, Gatorade, pickle juice and jelly beans at the water stops. I did try the pickle juice. It was terrible. I only drank a sip during mile 10. I did eat some jelly beans here and there for energy. I did drink some Gatorade. But mostly water. Someone was giving away bottles of water along the route as a community service and I was thankful for it. I took my sweatband off and poured water on it to wipe my face with throughout the later part of the race. It was one of the things that really helped. The weather was great but started getting hotter as I reached mile 10. Before that it actually sprinkled and looked like the crazy storm they were worried about was going to hit. Then it cleared up. Must have been because I prayed for the storm to hold off for just awhile longer because it just totally passed us by.

Along the route there were so many people saying "good job" and "way to go, keep going, don't stop" and things like that. EVEN people driving by in their cars. The police that worked the race were super nice and encouraging, too. The other runners were super supportive. I met and ran with one lady for a bit towards the end that said she had done 48 Halfs. Wow! That was just amazing to me. She is a single mom of four and her oldest is 19. She encouraged me to keep going. She is the one who suggested walking backwards. We came through the finish line together, running.

It took me 3 hours and 36 minutes to complete 13.1 miles. I was dead last in my age group, 45-49. There were only 4 other runners that came across the finish line AFTER me in all age groups. But that is OK. I finished. I did it. I got my finisher's medal and that is proof to myself I did cross that finish line.

As I got towards my car and sat down the pain in my feet increased ten fold. Plus, I was sore from going that long of a distance. I sat in the car and texted two people that I had finished. I knew they would be waiting to hear and I didn't want them to worry about me. I then took off my shoes and socks to see if my feet were really swollen as big as they felt. No, they weren't but they sure felt like it. The pain we extreme and I was unable to move my toes on my owe except with my hands. I wasn't sure I could drive home since putting my feet on the peddles was painful, too. But I had to get home so I could soak my hurting feet. That runner told me how it would be best to use cold instead of hot for the swelling. All the way home my feet would go from feeling OK to hurting worse than ever. I had no one in the car to be brave for so I just let it out and cried all the way home. When I arrived home I very slowly got out of the van and walked to the front door. The concrete driveway felt like pieces of glass on the bottoms of my feet. It was a slow walk to the door and beyond.

I hadn't eaten anything but a cup of mocha and a banana for breakfast around 5:30. It was now almost 11. I poured a glass of chocolate milk and it tasted so good. After a cold shower I got a tub to fill with ice water to soak my feet in. That felt wonderful and painful at the same time. Strange how that works. I was hungry, too so I got an apple. I knew I would eat lunch in a little while so I waited. I was able to rest for a bit and felt somewhat better. I found I had a blister where my underwear rubbed and I felt like one was starting on my back at my bra line. I did have a huge one on the ball of one foot and on a couple of toes. Those feel much better already after just a couple of days.

As I was talking to my husband about the whole thing he asked me a very important questions. "Why didn't you just quit? You were injuring yourself, you were in pain." I said, "I couldn't just quit." As I thought about it afterwards I know he had a very valid point. I was hurting very badly. I could have quit. I could have asked the fireman that they had stationed all over to give me a ride back. But then what would that have said about me? What would my kids think about it? Would they see that when the going gets touch, quit? or will they see to just keep going, keep putting one foot in front of the other and you can make it? That is what I want them to see. My husband and kids are proud of me for not giving up. I am proud of me for not giving up.

My race has just begun and I am doing what I can NOT to give up. I don't want to be known as someone who quit at the most important race of her life, a healthy life. I want to continue to make healthy choices and meet healthy challenges all through the rest of my life. I can't wait to see what more await in the years to come.

Training is key. If you want to succeed at something you can't just pick it up one day and say I am going to do it. You have to take it slow and steady, with running anyway. That is my mission, to not let any more full weeks go by without any type of running or workouts. It is just too hard on this body of mine.

Changing my life one day at a time.       

Hot Chocolate 5K 2014

Saturday I ran my eighth 5K. Last year this race was my very first one. I think I will call it my "anniversary" 5K. I plan to run it every year. My son and I went to pick up my packet on Friday. The hoodie was wonderful and warm. It even has thumb holes in the sleeves, a real plus since the weather has been so cold lately. The colors are GREAT, too. I like it a lot better than the one from last year. This one has a zipper and that helps the hood to stay on your head instead of fall off. Last years was just a pull over and the hood would never stay on my head.

The Hot Chocolate 5K was held in Dallas at Fair Park, again. Thankfully, the traffic wasn't as bad as it was last year. Sadly, the exits were closed off again this year so we had to find a different way into the designated parking area. We didn't arrive at 6 a.m. like they suggested. That is just too early to get everyone up and stand out there, plus I think the traffic may be worse the earlier you are since they tell you to be there at that time? We arrived a little after 7. The walk from the parking lot to the starting line was a good 15 minutes. I had to make a stop at the port-a-potty before getting in line to run. Thankfully they had a lot of them and the lines weren't too bad. But I managed to get in the line where my group was despite the fact that they had already let a few of the groups go by then.

It was 32 degrees and foggy. It was misting a little the whole race. I managed to keep my pace even the entire time and actually ran the whole time. I did not have to slow down or walk. I am super excited about that. This is my first 5K that I have been able to do it. That is progress. As I ran across the finish line I raised my arms and just shouted. I couldn't help it. It was such a victory for me.

After the race I got my finisher's mug filled with yummy goodies. It had hot chocolate, a spot with chocolate fondue for dipping, a banana, a marshmallow, small bag of pretzels, a wafer cookie and a rice crispy treat, all to dip in the chocolate. Yummy. I ate the banana dipped in chocolate but gave the other goodies to my daughter since she had been sitting in the cold with no food in her tummy while I ran. I did not sit around like many to eat. My family had been out in the cold long enough. They were there for me before the sun was up and it was very cold, like I said. We went to IHOP and had some pancakes and get out of the cold. I tried to wait awhile to lay down, hoping that I could get a nap in but was not able to fall asleep at 2 even though I laid there for almost an hour and a half. Around 5, I was able to lay down and get a couple of hours sleep. I ate something and then went back to bed. I slept all night. I can never nap after a race. I am too wound up from the excitement, I suppose. 

My next race is in two weeks. It is my Cowtown 10K. I am super excited about it. I have one 5K in March and one 5K in April. I am planning on signing up for a Half the end of April. I can't even tell you how exciting and scary that is to me. I begin training for the Half next week.

Changing my life one day at a time.

Recovery Is Important

Exercise is important but if you forget the recovery then you will injure yourself and become unable to exercise at all. I want to talk about recovery because it is going to take a lot of work for me to keep training harder to run longer distances. But with more work comes more effort I need to put in on the recovery process. The fact that my foot is having problems showed me I needed to take some time and effort to fix it quickly so that I could get out there and run again sooner. I purchased two products this week to aid me in this, a n 18" foam roller and a hot/cold foot roller. The foam roller came with a 15 minute muscle massage routine DVD. I am going to try out that video tomorrow on my rest day. 

I ran three days this week. Sadly, I didn't run last week except on the treadmill and elliptical, which in my mind really don't count as running but do count as exercise. I did some strength training but not as much as I need to. I ran two days at our park for five miles each. Today, I was supposed to have a 7.5 mile run. I was doing pretty well until I got to four miles. We went to a new park to run because it was a longer track and it has inclines. It also has a lot of downhill slopes that were very hard on my toes. It pushed my feet down into the tops of my shoes and caused shooting pain through my toes and the tops of my feet. I managed to get them to stop hurting for a short time and run another mile but in the end I only ran a little more than 5 miles. My teenage son hurt himself riding his new penny board and was in a lot of pain, too, so I used that as an excuse to stop and come home instead of running for another 45 minutes it would take to finish the 7.5 miles. 

The incline is going to be a great help in training for our half marathon in August, there will be three miles of incline. But the slopes...ouch. It is my hope that over time I can build up my strength so that the slopes won't bother my toes anymore. If not, I will have to turn around when I get to those parts of the path instead of going all the way around the park. I am going to do my long runs each week out there on Saturdays. During the week I will keep running close to home. 

When I got home from my run I had a fabulous bath in my jet tub. I spent two hours in the tub and it was so relaxing. I used the jets to massage every part of my feet including my ankles. I think that is going to be a weekly routine to help aid my recovery process since my long runs will be on the weekend. I am glad I figured out that it would be so beneficial. I will still use the foot roller. I am putting my feet up on pillows for a while in bed each night, too. After my bath I scrubbed the dead skin off my heals and put some extra emollient night cream on them and covered them with socks for the night. I massaged it into my feet to give them even more attention. 

I love my new shoes. They felt great until the slopes started taking their toll. We will see how my feet do on Monday when there is just a normal trail to run on. It has been a very good week. I am hoping for many more weeks like this one. 

Changing my life one day at a time.

New Running Shoes

Today was a first for me. I went to The Runner store and got fitted for running shoes. If you have never done this and you are a runner, I would suggest you put aside some money each week and then go buy you a really good pair of running shoes. I have read a lot of articles and talked to a lot of runners and they tell me the same thing; the type of shoe you run in matters. 

When I went in he had me roll up my pant leg half way to my knee and take off my shoes. I stood in front of him while he looked at my stance. Then I turned around and he looked at my stance from the back. He determined that I have a very low arch and I tend to over compensate by landing the wrong way on my foot. That is why my foot hurts on the side. He brought out four different shoes that help correct my problem. They have a support on the inside of my foot so that I will land more on the center of my foot. He also told me I needed a bigger shoe than what I measure for because your foot swells when you run. I have never purchased a size 9 before but it feels pretty good on. He also showed me how to tie the shoe in a runners bow. It helps the shoe to feel tighter around the back instead of slipping. 

I can't wait to run in them this afternoon. I have a long run planned, it is a training run, so I am looking forward to seeing how the shoe feels during that run. The weather is supposed to be wonderful this afternoon. It will be great to get out and get some sunshine and exercise. I am going to save up and buy another pair of shoes in a couple of months so I can trade them out instead of only having one shoe to run in. I have read that it is good to do that. It helps your shoes last longer and then you aren't having to rush and buy new shoes when they wear out. A friend has a brand of shoe she really loves but this store didn't carry, Newtons. I am going to try those shoes next. Then I can see which shoe I like the best. 

Going to spend the early afternoon with my family and then get ready for an awesome run later today. Hope you are going to spend your Saturday doing something fun, too. Yes, running to me is fun. There is nothing quite like the rush I get when I am getting close to finishing my goal and after I finish it. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Running Takes Work

It's true. I won't lie. Running takes work. A lot of work. It is hard. Don't let anyone try to tell you running is easy. It isn't. But think about it. The things that are the most worth while and rewarding take the most work. I have managed to LET myself NOT run off and on the past year and a half out of laziness and negative self talk. Despite the fact that I saw awesome results from running, I quit over and over. No more! My husband says he can't figure out why people quit doing what is working, why they give up. It is the metal talk that goes on inside their heads. It is bumps in the road that get us off track and it takes metal strength to get back on track. I feel that I have gained my metal strength back these last few weeks because of my time with the Lord each morning, I have been doing that since October. I am openly seeking HIS strength to do the things in my life that I need to do. It has made such a difference in my days and in my attitude. And my success. The picture isn't very glamorous, but I had just come in from running five miles and the sun went down so the air got colder. I'm OK with not looking glamorous. I am a runner. There are times to be a runner and look like a runner and then there are times to dress up. I am proud to be a runner and look like I just came in from a run in the cold winter air. Becoming a runner was one of the best things I ever did for myself. 

I feel like I am back on track because I can actually RUN the majority of my run instead of having to walk to slow my heart rate. When I am not running regularly I can't run the whole way like I can when I run on a regular basis. I build up my heart and my lungs by running more than once a week. This week I ran two 5 mile runs, so far. The first one I had to walk for short periods of time during the first three miles and then ran the last two miles. Today when I ran I didn't have to walk at all. I did walk down a slope each of the five times I went that way, which was only about 6 seconds of my time. I say "so far" because I have a scheduled training run tomorrow for 7.5 miles. 

I have mentioned it before, but during my runs I listen to contemporary Christian music and spend the time talking to the Lord or just singing to him in my heart to the music. I also spend the time encouraging myself along the way. I tell myself how great I'm doing, how far I have run, how far I have left, etc. I use the Nike+ app and it tells me how much farther I have to go. Sometimes it is easier to think about how far you have to go as it gets lower than to think of the big number. 

For me the mental battle to run and exercise is such a big one. I have fed myself lies since I was a teenager that I could not run. I sure blew that out of the water, didn't I? But each day that I get up I have to have a plan. I have to know ahead of time what type of exercise I am going to do. That sets it in my head and keeps me dedicated and accountable to myself. I have a goal to get healthier. Not just to lose weight, but yes, losing weight is something I really want to do. I know it will make me a better runner and my health will be better when I have less fat on my body. 

One thing I need to make sure I am doing is my strength training. I do that at home, on my own. So that takes planning and metal preparation, too. I see many great tips online for workouts. I just have to put them into practice. I do a full body workout two or three times a week. It is easier for me to get in two or three weight training workouts than to try to do two upper body and two lower body weekly. On the weekends I write down what my workouts will be for the week. Doing that has really helped me. 

Something new has been bothering me this week, the side of my foot starts hurting after a run. I purchased a hot/cold foot roller the other day and it really helps. I also purchased a foam roller to help roll out the muscles that get tight from my running and other types of exercise. Both good investments for a runner, I believe. My shoes are over a year and a half old so they aren't working like they should. I paid under $50 for them because I wasn't sure at the time just how much of a runner I would be. I know now that I am dedicated to running and can't wait to run more and more the rest of my life. I want to run half marathons and full marathons and who knows what other crazy running adventures I will attempt. But I am looking forward to the challenge of beating my best with each new race. I am looking forward to seeing the changes in my body that will show the strength I am gaining through the training I will be doing on a daily basis. It is my goal to continue to keep my body and mind strong as long as I am alive. My first step in that direction will be tomorrow when I go to the runners store and buy a REAL pair of running shoes that will make my feet feel great when I run. I am super excited. 

If you haven't set your fitness goals for the new week, do it now. Make a plan and then stick to it. You will feel so accomplished at the end of the week when you can look in the mirror and tell yourself "You did it. Way to go." You can do it. I believe in you. Take it one day at a time and do something. Get moving. Make a healthy food choice. Just take the steps forward to a healthier you. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Jiggle Butt Run 5K

Today I ran my first race of the new year, the Jiggle Butt Run 5K. It benefits Safe Haven of Tarrant County. It is a race that I will be doing every year with my daughters. They didn't run with me this year but I am going to get them to do it next year. This race was in my city. I love that I have found some races that are so close to me because it makes it so much easier to get to and from the races without tons of time driving. 

I ran 4 miles on Tuesday and 4 miles on Thursday this week. So the run today seemed much easier to accomplish with less walking and a faster completion time. I did it in 42.56. That is a few minutes off my time of late. I had done it in a shorter distance a year ago but things have slowed me down. That is what I am working on improving, getting my time back to what it was and even shorter. I was very proud of my performance in the run. I pushed myself throughout the run but at the same time I did my best to run at a consistent pace so I could keep running more than walking. I thought I was running very slowly at times but the time show that not to be true. I tried to only walk short periods of time and force myself to run. The whole point of doing it is to actually run, for me anyway. There isn't anything wrong with walking. But if you intend to you, like me, you should run as much as you are able. I do believe you are a runner if you run any amount. I don't think you are less of a runner if you walk during a run. Don't let anyone tell you differently. If you want to be a better runner, just keep running. Run more each time you run. Never give up.

I am working on strength training, too. I want to start running stairs. I saw in the runners magazine that if you spend 20-30 minutes running up stairs and walking down them, over and over, it will help you with running inclines. I just need to find some stairs to run. There was some incline on the run today and I was able to run most of it. For some reason I have no desire to do the DVD workouts that I have done in the past. I have been doing free weight workouts and using the workout machine in the garage. Plus, I want to do that stairs workout twice a week. 

I honestly wish I had another 5K lined up for January. I wanted to do the Polar Dash and didn't sign up for it. I am contemplating signing up with it now simply because I can't stand waiting so long to race again. My next race that I am signed up for is the Hot Chocolate 5K on February 8. That will always be my favorite race. I will do that one every year. So unless I find another race for January my next race is in February. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

HELLO 2014

Seems like only weeks ago that I was looking towards 2013 with anticipation. I had yet to run my first 5K even though I had started running during the summer of 2012. Looking back over the year I see that I tried many things to get on the right track but didn't keep doing all of them consistently. That is the reason I didn't reach the weight loss goals I had set. 

I am proud of the fact that I ran in six 5K races in 2013. I am already signed up for nine in 2014; seven 5K's, one 10K and one half marathon. That is HUGE! I don't think the 10K is that major since I have run 5 miles before and a 10K is only 6.2 miles. But the half marathon is 13.1 miles. That seems huge to me. I am super excited about it but at the same time I KNOW if I do not keep running regularly and do not train I will not be happy with the results of that race. I will feel that I wasted money, since it was the most expensive race I have even thought about signing up for. I know I want to cross that finish line with confidence that I did my very best. I am not really worried about the time, other than actually finishing within the time frame they allow. It would be great if I could increase my run time and finish strong. 

My run time goal for 2014 is to get it down to a 10 minute mile. That is quite a challenge since right now I have slowed down to about 14 minutes instead of the 13 that I was doing earlier last year. I am not sure why I have slowed down so much. But it probably has to the with the fact that I have put on 10 pounds and don't run regularly. I WILL change that in 2014. 

I joined a fb group that has a goal to run 1 mile a day or 365 miles in 2014. If I am doing my training for the 10K and the Half, that should be no problem at all. I am also doing what I can to eat healthier. I know I need to start a food journal and track everything I eat. It is easy to misjudge how much we are eating if we don't track it. I am trying to make sure I take my vitamins and other things that will help my thyroid get back on track. I will share more about those changes if food and activity as the year goes by. 

I hope everyone has great goals set for the new year. Make them count. Take it one day at a time and do something towards those goals. Doesn't have to be a big step, take baby steps. Change one choice you make at a meal. Go for a walk instead of eat a snack that is unhealthy for you. Decide to eat a smaller portion of something. Go to bed earlier so you can get a good night's rest. Drink water instead of soda or some other sugary drink. You have a blank "notebook" with 365 pages. It is up to you what you write on each page. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Run or Dye Arlington 2013

Today I ran in my fifth 5K this year. I have one more for 2013. My oldest daughter was signed up for the race so I decided to go ahead and run with her. But she got very sick and then ended up having to work. My younger son took her place and ran instead. He really isn't a runner but he does run really fast when he does run. He has been going to the gym four times a week with his dad for the past several months. He has built up a LOT of strength in that time. He has a really hard time running at a slow pace. He is more of a sprint runner. But he is very competitive and likes to win. He said he was third until he was at the 2 mile mark and had to slow down because his lungs were hurting. I know that if he ran regularly it would build up his lungs like he is building up the rest of his body. I hope he will do that and we can run together again. I love it when my family runs WITH me.

I ran one time last week and then it froze over for DAYS. I was not able to go out and run during the rest of the time leading up to this race. I was a bit sluggish at the beginning. I did have to walk from time to time but I did my best not to allow myself to walk for very long before I set a new goal of what to run to. I would pick a "target" to reach before I would allow myself to walk. I did my best to pick a target that was far away. It is not my goal to walk a 5K. I want to run as much of it as I can. I may run slowly most of the time but I want to put forth as much effort as I am able. When possible, I would push myself to go a bit faster than I had before to make up some time from the periods of walking. 

Since this was a run where they throw colored powder at you, it got pretty messy. We didn't get as messy as we did for the Color Run in April of this year. We were a mess that day. I didn't have sun glasses today to hide my eyes so I closed my eyes as I ran through it. My son didn't realize it was going to be like that and he got a big chunk thrown into his eye, which was not fun for him. He always ended up with a bunch of it in his mouth when he tried to drink something after the race. I love doing the Color Run so I think I will stick with just ONE "color" run a year, if any. My hubby hates the mess in his Jeep afterwards.

They didn't have the miles marked and my tracker wasn't working. I never really knew when one mile ended and the other one began. I think that would have helped. It always does when I am running by myself because I can tell myself I am "this far" or I only need "this much more".  They didn't have the Turkey Trot marked either and my tracker wasn't working. It doesn't seem to want to work at the Ballpark area for some reason. Pandora did work this time. I had made a playlist on my phone and when I tried to play it things went nuts. It would play a few seconds of one song and then change, over and over again. I finally shut it off and tried Pandora. Thankfully, that worked. It is easier for me to run when I have music to listen to and keep me going.

There were quite a few parts of the race that were up hill. Some where down hill and I tried to take advantage of that time and run a bit faster. It made me think about our run in August. That half marathon is going to have a few miles that are uphill. That means I NEED to run uphill HERE to get used to it. I have heard it helps build your strength and speed if you run uphill. I need both. 

Looking at the pictures of myself makes me a bit more sad than I already am about my weight. But it will be fine when I can see how much I have lost in the next year and beyond. I will be able to see how far I have come. At least I ran the race and did something healthy. At least I am taking steps to change the way my body looks instead of just living with it or worse yet, gaining more from lack of effort. 

I will share more about my weight training in a later post. My husband gave me a workout to do and I was sore for three days afterwards....

Changing my life one day at a time.

My Runaversary

One year ago around this time (not sure the exact date, I think it was the 25th of June) I started the Couch to 5K Treadmill training. I ran on the treadmill for 9 weeks. Then I started running outside around September 3. So I thought this would be a good time to look back over the year and see what has changed and what hasn't. 

What started me running? A friend signed up for a 5K. Believe it or not, it sounded delicious, the Hot Chocolate 5K. That was a little less than eight months away and I had not been training at all, or running at all, or even walking. I started the Couch to 5K treadmill and the journey began. It was easy to do because it started me off slowly. I did more walking than running until at the end of the nine weeks I was running the whole time except five minutes warm up and five minutes cool down. I decided I better take it outside since I had heard it was far different than running ON a treadmill. That is the truth. 

For a couple of months I was running in the mornings before 6 a.m. That was really hard on me but I had to be back at home for work by 7. My husband was going with me. He wasn't a runner then, he was mostly walking but started running a little bit here and there each time we went. (He is now a full out runner, runs up to 5 miles at a time.) After that I started going a little later in the morning by myself or in the afternoons. The cooler weather was a challenge because the mornings were cooler than later in the day. But if I covered my ears the cold didn't bother me after I started running. 

My first 5K was in early February. It was pretty cold that day but I didn't feel it until way after I was finished running. The feeling I got during the race was like nothing else I had ever felt. I actually ran faster during the race than I normally do. I managed to keep running the whole way with only two 5-10 seconds where I slowed down to a fast walk for a drink. I felt amazing. There is just something about running with a bunch of people even though a LOT of them were only walking. 

Right after that race I decided I needed to find my next race so that I would not quit. I had to have something to work towards. My older daughter and I signed up for the Color Run in early April. I had two months to keep training, it was still a 5K. I knew I could slack off and not keep running if I wasn't diligent. There were days I didn't run that I was supposed to. When the second race day came I was super excited again and my daughter was even more so. It was so much fun. We enjoyed the before "party" and the after "party". 

My third 5K was one that our family did to support the purchase of Bibles for a mission group. It was in May, Mother's Day weekend. I didn't run as much as I should have in the month between those races and it really showed in my performance. I did finish but I stopped more than I did in other races. And there weren't as many runners as in the big races so I think that had something to do with it. Maybe the big crowds of runners help motivate me. 

I am signed up for the Hot Chocolate 5K again in February. I plan on signing up for a night run in September but haven't yet. I know that I need to sign up for at least two races between now and February. Maybe more. I feel wonderful after a run and after a race. Somewhere along the line I forgot that I WANT to run and got it in my head that I HAVE to run. Sometimes our minds don't allow us to do the things we THINK we HAVE to do. Time to readjust my thinking. I WANT to run because it makes me feel great and because it is good for me; heart, mind and soul. 

After a year where am I physically? I have lost some weight, but mostly I have built muscle that weighs as much as I did before. I am in a little smaller clothes on good days. I managed to NOT be bothered by asthma during my winter runs, which I thought was amazing. My heart palpitations were almost nonexistent. Sadly because I have not been running regularly over the past couple of months I can no longer say that. Another great reason to get back into it. Some of the weight (fat) has come back because of my lack of running. Fat isn't healthy, that is why I want it gone. It isn't about a number on a scale or a number on my clothes. It is about taking care of my body because it is a temple. I am getting rid of my scales (putting them away). I am going to focus on doing things that make me feel good about myself and improve my health. That includes eating even better and working out when I am able. 

I am looking forward to seeing where I am at my next runaversary. I am going to work on a list of goals and will post them this weekend. 

Changing my life one day at a time.  

Color Run Dallas 2013

On Saturday, April 6, 2013 I ran my second 5K. It was called The Color Run. What a blast I had.  Part of the reason I had so much fun was that my oldest daughter ran with me. It is always fun to do things with other people who are excited about it as you are. My last 5K was in early February so I had two whole months between races. I have to admit I didn't run as consistently as I should have. I ran 15 times between races. That is about half of what I should have done, in my opinion. I am glad I ran what I did. I tend to run more as a race approaches. The week before the race I could feel the excitement building. The night before was typical of my first race, I slept little. I got up in a good frame of mind and got ready for the race. My daughter and I had some fun things to wear for our run, a bandanna, sun glasses and tattoo on our cheek. We left pretty early after the traffic we experienced in February. But there wasn't any traffic that day. I think we just beat it because shortly after we parked the line of cars started piling into the lot. 

We found out that they had a before party going with music and dancing. We joined right in. It was so much fun. Since we got there at 7 we had awhile before the race began to warm up. We got in the big start area around 7:45. The excitement was building again as we waited our turn to start running. My *pandora wasn't working so I didn't have any music to listen to except at certain spots where they had their music playing loudly. I didn't let that stop me. I listened to the conversations of the walkers and just kept moving forward. The first mile seemed to pass very quickly. They didn't have any color stops during that one. Right after that they had one set up. You have to slow down and/or stop to get color thrown on you. My time for the first mile was really the only accurate time I have, which was 12.40. There were so many people is wasn't always easy to run around someone in my path. And there were a ton of walkers not always staying on the right side of the path so that the runners could run on the left.

At the end of the race they gathered as a group in front of the stage (the one we had the before party) and every so often they did a color throw. We stayed in that area through about 5 throws so that we had plenty of color on us. We took lots of fun photos. 

One of the things I am going to do with my race memorabilia is make a running scrapbook. I'm super excited about that. I can't wait to fill it up with things for the different races I am planning on doing. 

My next 5K is May 11. We are running to support the purchase of Bibles for the group, Equip Disciples, that we went to Kenya with the summer of 2011. All of us are doing the 5K for this. I have a couple planned for summer, one in the fall and then at least one at the beginning of the new year. I am only signed up for the one next month and the Hot Chocolate in February so far. But there are deadlines for some that I want to do so I might go ahead and sign up pretty quickly.

That is the update on the latest race. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. There are more in my fb page if you are my "friend" on there. 

Changing my life one day at a time. 

My Love/Hate Relationship...With Running

Yes, you read that correctly. I have a love/hate relationship with running. What do I mean by that? Let me explain...

I LOVE the feeling I get AFTER I run. I feel invigorated, empowered, energized, and accomplished. I feel all of those things when I am nearing the last half of my third mile. It is what pushes me forward and helps me make it the last little bit with a little more speed than I had before. 

I HATE how hard it is to get myself out the door. I have to find the time to go running because it has to be when my husband is watching our daycare kids. It has to be a time when none of the parents that have to sign in and out of my phone will be arriving. It has to be good weather since the extreme cold makes it hard for me to breathe. Through all of that I have to MAKE myself do it because things come up, I get tired after a long day working with the kids, not feeling well because of sickness that the kids bring in, etc...I can always come up with excuses NOT to workout. 

I LOVE the results I get from running. Since I started running last June I have seen real change in my body. Not so much on the scale but in my clothes and in my face. Running helps my body be regular. I know that may sound gross to some, but that is just how it is. When I am NOT running I am more likely to be irregular. And I feel that being regular helps get the weight off instead of it staying on my body. I have a little ways to go when it comes to the size clothes I want to wear but at the same time, I feel wonderful about the clothes I am wearing. I went from a size 14 jeans and XL or L shirts to size 10 jeans and M tops and dresses. That is a BIG difference. And my face looks a lot different than it did just a year ago. 

I HATE how I have to fight my thoughts as I am running so that I keep on running instead of quitting. When I start out running I have to tell myself over and over again "I love running" and "I can do this". Because if I let my mind go elsewhere it will tell me "Maybe you can only make it one mile today" or "This is just too hard. You have eaten terrible this week so you just don't have it in you to make it three whole miles." But if I keep my thoughts held captive I can run my three miles and feel awesome afterwards. 

I LOVE how running releases all sorts of stresses and frustrations. Everyone's life has stress in it. Mine is no exception. Running helps those things seem a little less major than they did before my run. It is hard to be stressed or mad after a great run. It puts things into perspective. Plus, when I run I listen to praise and worship music. I spend time talking to the Lord through the songs I am listening to. That helps make all the stress and other mess go away. 

Do you see what I mean about love/hate? I often wonder if other runners feel that way, too. Do you? Despite the fact that I love AND hate running, I will keep running as long as I am able. My reasons are all the things I LOVE about running. They far outweigh the things I HATE.  

Changing my life one day at a time. 

Hot Chocolate 5K 2013 - My First 5K

Today was a HUGE milestone for me. Not because I haven't run 3.1 miles before but because I have never run in a race before willingly. I have mentioned getting out of P.E. in school because I didn't want to run laps. That was me thirty years ago. Last year at this time I wasn't even considering running. I was just trying to get up and do a 20 minute workout video three times a week to get the weight off.  I wanted to blog about today while it was still fresh in my mind because of the feelings I experienced.

I had a really hard time sleeping last night. I suppose the excitement was just too much. I set my alarm for 5:30 because I didn't think I could get myself up any earlier but I was out of bed by 5:15. I knew I would not eat or drink anything before the race so I didn't have to worry about time for those things. The race officials suggested we arrive by 6. We should have left at 5:30 but it was hard getting my son out of bed that early since he likes to stay up late. Note for next year and other races: leave earlier. We were right before the exit when traffic came to a stand still. We reached that point around 6:15. Traffic was only moving a short distance at a time. When we finally got up to our exit the police had blocked it off. We headed to the next one but it was blocked off, too. Before we got to an exit that was open we came close, and I mean CLOSE to hitting a car in front of us. John was able to swerve and miss it by a hair. It scared me so badly because it's truly a miracle that we didn't crash our new Jeep and miss the race completely. We didn't get into the parking lot until 7:15 and then we had to walk what seemed like an entire mile to get where we gathered for the race. The race was supposed to start at 7:30 but I think they understood how backed up the traffic was and gave us a few minutes longer. They did allow late arrives to get in the last heap of runners.

Once I was surrounded by all the other runners the excitement started coming back. (The near death experience kind of put a damper on things.) It was pretty cold but I knew I wouldn't be comfortable wearing the hoodie that they gave us. I made sure my ears were covered up so they wouldn't hurt. I warmed up pretty quickly once I was running. I was actually comfortable once I was in the corral. Once again, I think that was due to the excitement. I was in the next to last group to run so I stood and talked to a few ladies while we were waiting. That is always fun for me. I love getting to meet new people.

When we reached the start line and begin to run I was excited but trying not to run over people or get run over myself. I was in a group with a lot of walkers even though it said no walkers. I didn't feel strange about going around people and even getting on the curb to go around like I saw other people doing. I had to do that often. I thought I might have to stop often to get a drink or walk but after I had run the first mile and found out I did it in 12 minutes (over a minute faster than I had been running) that pushed me forward to keep going without quitting. The more I ran the more I wanted to run. There was an up hill overpass that was challenging but instead of getting slower I pushed myself to go faster up that hill. I did slow to a walk two or three times for only about five seconds to take a drink but never considered walking any part of the race.

When I finally went under the finish line I had a huge smile on my face. I was looking for my husband and son but they were farther up waiting for me. I saw them before they saw me. They were such great sports because they were freezing cold while I had been running and didn't feel the cold anymore. That is why they are going to run WITH me next year instead of standing on the sidelines. 

After the race they gave out mugs with hot cocoa and fondue. The chocolate was wonderful! I made a big mess with it but it was scrumptious anyway. I think that was one of the neatest parts of this race, the free hoodie and the chocolate afterwards. It was a fun race.

Now I am looking into running my next race. I am actually trying to plan my runs for the whole year. I know that I have to make a plan or I will be tempted to quit. But I can SEE the changes in myself and my body in the last year. And I am excited to see what I can do this year and what changes I will have made. Looking back gives a person perspective and vision for the future. If I can train and over come asthma related issues that have kept me from running in the past then I can keep training and make some longer strides towards bigger goals. My next goal really is just to keep improving my time in the 5K. I am not sure I will want to run the 15K in this race next year but who knows. Maybe by 2015 a 15K will be something I will be ready for. One thing I want to make sure of is that every race I run has either a fun theme like this one or is a good cause. I don't want to just run a race to run it. I want the race to mean something to me.

My Time

37 min 34 sec

Pace	Overall	Age Group	Sex
12 min 06 sec	3285	184 of 429	2317 of 4732

I can't wait for the next adventure in a healthy lifestyle. Share with me your adventures on the road to health. 

Changing my life, one day at a time. 

Desires Of Your Heart

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

Do you know the verse? What do you think it means? What has it come to mean to you? I would love to share the insight the Lord gave me this morning on my daily run in the park. I have said many times that running has never been my thing. Whenever anyone mentioned running my automatic response has always been "I can't run". I honestly believed I couldn't. I was terrible at it in school and never realized that I could take it slowly and get better at it or even want to run.

Here is where this verse comes in. The Lord has created in me a desire to run. He has shown me that it is something I want to do and can get better at. Eleven weeks ago, God placed a new desire in my heart. It started as a little glimmer of an idea from a friend who said she was going to run in a 5K in February. All of a sudden, it sounded like an awesome idea. I wanted to do that. I looked up the Couch to 5K and found a treadmill version. I spend the next 9 weeks running on that treadmill at the pace they set forth for each of the three days a week. I even added a day or two each week from time to time. I didn't JUST run the three days a week that I had to on the plan but I even chose to run MORE than required. ME. Running. WOW! 

I have to say that running outside has really changed things in another way. I don't just want to run because it is what I am supposed to do because I signed up for the 5K already. It is something I get up extra early to do and even WANT to do. I have even added to the amount of time and distance that I am running. I use a new app that helps me keep up with it and I push myself because I know I can do it and feel wonderful afterwards. I have been running outside for two weeks now. 

Can I picture myself running a 10K? Before today, I couldn't. But since I ran 4 miles today, who says I can't up that and actually run 6 miles at some point? I CAN do it! I know if I keep running each week and increase my time little by little I can also add to my distance in the hour that I have to run. It has become a desire of my heart. 

As I was running this morning, a joy filled my heart as I listened to my worship music (I spend my run time worshiping the Lord every step of the way). I realized that HE put the joy in my heart to run, the desire. And I realized that when I decide ahead of time what I am going to do, I do it. On Wednesday, I decided before my run that I would run the whole 3 miles without stopping. Today, I decided before my run that I could run the extra two laps and run the 4 miles. I didn't let myself quit because I made the choice before I got out there. I even got up five minutes earlier so I would have extra time to run if I ran at a slower pace. I actually ran at a faster pace than the other times so I was able to complete the 4 miles in under an hour. 

It is my desire to become stronger and healthier so I can live a longer and better life with my family. I have changed the way I eat and changed the way I move. I am making small but long term changes in the way I live and how my body looks. I can't wait to get to the weight I am going to stay at. But that will not be the end of the road on this running journey. It will only be the beginning. Thanks for coming along on the ride with me and cheering me on. It means a lot. 

Changing my life, one day at a time. 

Couch to 5K Update

I thought I should update my progress since I started my Couch to 5K treadmill workout ten weeks ago. The workout itself was a nine week program. I was able to work up to running for 3 miles by week 9. The time it took for my workout was 50 minutes with 5 minute warm up and cool down, so 40 minutes of running. After I completed that, a friend recommended that I run outside if I was going to run in a 5K race since running outside is so different. I really didn't understand how it could be so different.

Running outside is VERY different than running on a treadmill. 

My usual running days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday (with an added run in the evenings one or two nights a week if I feel up to it). But we went on a family getaway for the Labor Day weekend and returned on Monday afternoon. We didn't get up and run (I didn't anyway) because I didn't bring running clothes. But I did spend an hour in the pool two days in a row and did exercises while I was swimming. We also went for walks most days. I took my little blender and made my breakfast smoothies instead of eating the wonderful smelling pancakes they made each morning. I did eat candy that weekend which is why I only lost .2 pounds this week. But I did loose thanks to the small things I did and the running I did when I got home.  

We have figured out that in order to get our run in and be back home for the first daycare kids to arrive at 7 I have to get up before 6 a.m. and head out as quickly as possible. Those who KNOW me KNOW I am not an early riser. I am usually a night owl. But I have had to change that in order to make my life work and not be running on empty (and I mean that figuratively not literally). But you also have to remember what I said about NOT being a runner either. So this is totally out of character for me. But it is becoming me. 

This week we ran Tuesday and Thursday mornings. My husband figured out approximately how many laps around the park it is for one mile. I have to run eight laps to reach three miles. I have not been able to run the whole eight laps yet without walking but I do keep going and start running again as soon as I can make myself. I usually run the whole first and last laps with minimal walking on the other six. It is my hope that I can run the whole things in a few weeks and even run more laps in the hour I have to run each day. 

I am thirty-six pounds away from my goal weight now (I had about 56 pounds to loose when I started this blog last December). Some important dates ahead are goals for major accomplishment. There are eleven and a half weeks until my birthday, twenty-one weeks until the Hot Chocolate 5K and twenty-eight weeks until my 30th wedding anniversary. I am doing well with my Weight Watchers. I have lost weight each week since I got serious about it. My goal is to become a "Lifetimer" and not have to pay to weigh in each month but to have that accountability that I so need. I need to keep it in front of my mind so that I won't go down this road again and have to take the weight off AGAIN!   

I will measure again at the end of the nine weeks of outside running, which is in eight weeks. It is my hope that I will be down another jean size! I was in a size 14 when I started this blog. I am now in size 10's. That alone makes me smile. I have lost 10 inches so far. At the end of the eight weeks I think my reward for completing it will be to buy myself some new running clothes and shoes. I have walking shoes and would love a nice pair of running shoes. I think that is a good goal reward. 

Changing my life, one day at a time.