DietBet Challenge

Wow the first month of the year is flying by. I am doing pretty darn well on all my resolutions except the whole losing weight thing. I was doing awesome the first couple weeks of the month, and was down 3 pounds. Then the BF and I went away skiing for the weekend. I decided to relax my diet for the weekend. Except the weekend extended into all of last week and this weekend. Now I have regained those 3 pounds and another 2. Good work me.

So when I saw the Fitfluential Dietbet Challenge I decided to try it. Dietbet is an on-line game where you've got 4 weeks to lose 4% of your starting weight. To begin, everyone puts money into the pot. After four weeks, whoever's hit their 4% goal is a winner and splits the pot.




I am really hoping this will give me the extra push I need. One, I am cheap and I hate wasting money. Not only will I not lose the money I put in if I meet the challenge, I will actually make money! Secondly, this is public accountability. I don't like to fail, especially publicly. And third this will be a source of social support. Losing weight is hard because it requires discipline and willpower over and extended period of time. Being able to interact with other people going through the same thing will hopefully make it easier.

So here is my challenge:



Have you ever tried anything like this? Do you think it will work?



 

The day I finally broke down

 I've lived in Maine for much of my life and I am a proud Mainer. But there was just one thing missing in my life that kept me from experiencing the true Maine condition........ I did not own a pair of L.L. Bean boots.


I did not think I needed them. I had lots of boots. I had rain boots, Uggs, cute ankle cowboy boots, tall leather black boots, tall brown swede boots with a wedge heel, cross country ski boots, downhill ski boots, and clam digging boots. Turns out that was not enough.

If you shovel a large driveway wearing rain boots (even with thick socks) you feet will be frozen. If you try to walk from the ski lodge to your car through a very puddly, slushy parking lot wearing Uggs, your Uggs will be ruined. If you try to walk on an icy cobblestone street in the Old Port in your wedge swede boots you will both fall and twist your ankle a million times.

So I caved and bought Bean boots.

It's like wearing a fanny pack on a long run. It's not very fashionable, but it is super practical.

Have you ever broken down and bought something that you said you never would?

Why I run

It is supposed to get snowy here tomorrow followed by an Artic cold front. So I figured I better get my long run for the week in today while I still have sidewalks and am not risking extreme hypothermia.

As I was setting my alarm for 5:30am last night I said, "I really don't want to do this run."

"So why are you doing it?" my boyfriend asked.

"Well I have to since I signed myself up for 2 marathons this spring."

"I mean why are you doing of it? You don't actually ever seem to like running. Why do you do it?"

I didn't have an answer for that. Why do I run?

Honestly, I don't love running when I am doing it. It's hard. I do spend a lot of time dreading my long runs and just wanting them to be over. I dread marathons. I ask myself frequently why the heck I decided to try and run one on every continent.

I don't ever get the same rush of pleasure and joy that I get skiing. I don't get the same adrenaline rush that I get during a kick-ass kickboxing class when the music is pumping. And yet, I have been running now for more than a decade. There must be some reason I keep doing it.

I love being outside. I like feeling the sunshine, the wind, the snow.

I love how running makes me feel clean. At the end of a run I feel light and pure.

I love the feeling of pride I get after a long run. 

I love the camaraderie among runners. As soon as I hear someone is a runner I like them more. I can sit and swap running stories for hours.

I love starting lives at races. The music, the sense of possibility, the  nervous energy.

I love how running lets me see the world in a different way. I have seen so many things while running when I was traveling that I would have missed otherwise.

Why do you run?

Romantic Ski Weekend in Rangely

I don't care if my significant other runs, because I don't mind doing that alone. But, he really needs to ski. I grew up skiing with my family and I want to ski as a family when I have kids. So, after some considerable lobbying, I managed to convince the BF to learn to ski this weekend.

We decided to make a weekend out of it, since Rangley is a 2.5 hours drive. We stayed at the Loon Lodge which was absolutely adorable. It was rustic, warm, and cozy and we had a great view of the lake from our room. Even better, they had a special romance package so we got 2 nights, a bottle of champagne and a 3 course dinner for just $300!

Friday night we got there around 7 and had a light dinner in the pub. $5 wine, a giant bowl of french onion soup, and a seat by the fire. I was a happy girl. Saturday night we went for our 3 course dinner. We nestled into a small table by the window, overlooking the lake, and next to a woodstove. We both started with the Loon Lodge Salad- greens topped with cranberries, roasted pecans, feta, and fried onions. I had lobster ravioli and the BF had the baked stuffed haddock. Both were fresh, flavorful, and generously sized. We both got the brownie sundae for dessert, I was torn between that and the almond cake, but I knew if I tasted the boy's sundae and it was good, I'd be totally jealous. We left completely stuffed and happy that we just had to stumble upstairs and into our bed.

We skied at Saddleback, which I chose partly because I had a free ticket from a giveaway at a brewery, and partly because I thought it would be a good place for the BF to learn. It is a smaller, family friendly mountain and doesn't get super crowded. They had a great learn to ski package- he got his ticket, rentals, and lessons for $75. Not that he needed lessons. He was totally natural, and he totally loved it! Yeah, I converted him to the dark side!

It was a hard weekend not to love skiing. We're having a January thaw, so the temperature was in the 40's. The snow was soft, the wind was warm, and the sun was out. I did some harder, faster runs by myself when the BF was in lessons and I felt invincible. I was just blasting down double black diamonds.

Life my friends, was pretty darn good this weekend.


P.S. I am the featured Running Revolutionary this week over at Mainely Running. Check it out! And thanks ladies!

Big Ole Hole

Over the summer I signed a contract to replace the old French door at the back of my house with a fancy new slider. I thought it would be nice to have a door that, you know, opened. The old door was such piece of junk that opening it took a good 20 minutes and lots of swearing. I envisioned nice summer breezes wafting through my new slider.

Except they couldn't come install until this week..... in the middle of winter. They got the old door out with no problems. And then the problems began. The whole sill at the back of house is rotten and needs to be replaced. The good news is that I live in the condo and the association is responsible for replacing it and paying for it. The bad news is that they don't seem to be in any hurry to do it.



So I have a big old hole in the back of my house. Shivering all the time has to at least burn at extra thousand calories a day right?? 

What was I thinking??

I am having major second thoughts about signing up to run a marathon in Chile in April. Seriously was I on crack??

Do I really have the time, motivation, money, and vacation time to run a half marathon and 2 marathons in 3 different continents in 5 months??

I worked out a training plan last night based loosely Jeff Galloway's marathon for time goal plan. It is a delicate balance between getting in enough training and totally burning myself out and injuring myself. So I am trying to work in plenty of rest and recovery- only doing long runs every 2-3 weeks. I'm going to be marathon training for 6 months- so there is no way I can do a long run every week.

Here's what I came up with:

I would LOVE some advice. What do you think? Too much? Not enough?

7 Continents News: OMG I'm going to Chile

I am not a procrastinator and I am not patient. When I have a goal I want to accomplish it right away. So this whole run a marathon on all 7 continents things is quite a challenge for me. I figured my body, my finances, and my vacation time would only allow me to knock out one a year.

But the way things are going with the BF, I am thinking that the next 5 years could involve things like weddings and kids which wouldn't allow me a whole lot of time or money for marathon travel. So, since I was bored the other night I hopped on the interweb and started clicking away.

Hmmmmmm there is a marathon in Santiago Chile in April. Hmmmm that is right between my half marathon in February and my marathon in Madagascar in June. Hmmmmmm if I was already trained for the half in February, I could totally be ready for a marathon in April. Hmmmmm the tickets are a bargain and I can buy them entirely with frequent flier miles. Hmmmm the race is the same weekend as the BF's birthday and he has been talking about how he wants to travel more.

I thought about it for a day. And then I signed up

And we bought tickets

And OMG I am going to Chile.  I am going to try and run 2 marathons on 2 continents other than my own in the span of just over 2 months.

Am I crazy?? And who can teach me Spanish?

Resolution Reflection Week 1

 Yikes, I can't believe it is January 6th already and we are already a week into 2013. Time flies. Since in the past I have made my resolutions and then pretty much forgot about them, this year I am going to try to check in more regularly. And since there is no time like the present, let's see how I did this week.

Resolution 1. Take a least 1 day off from working out a month. 
Not done yet. I am saving my day off for after one of my longer runs in my training plan. I did however concentrate more on quality and total body fitness instead of just racking up the cardio minutes.

Resolution 2. Be more positive about work.
Accomplished! I went into work on January 2nd after a week off feeling really good and maintained that all week (all 3 days of it.) It helped that everyone else was also working and that it was below zero, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything.

Resolution 3. Be more mindful of my finances. 
In process! I set up all my accounts on Mint.com (I had done this a long time ago but hadn't kept it up to date). Mint will track all my transactions for me and break down my spending. Being mindful and taking action however are 2 different things. I was bored yesterday and went to the mall and blew a bunch of money on things I didn't need.

4. Lose 10 pounds.
Not too bad. I did a good job not going crazy at night with multiple servings of dessert and keeping my portion sizes generally in check. Friday I totally fell off the wagon, eating most of a big bag of peanut m&m's during the afternoon and then ended up at Gritty's after the art walk where we got sweet potato fries covered in pulled pork and cheese for dinner followed by gelato. BUT I forced myself to forgive myself and hop right back into the healthy eating on Saturday. This is huge because in the past I would just give up for good and continue gorging for a good week.


How are your resolutions going?

I said "brrr... it's cold out there."

I used to run outside no matter what. I was like the post office, out there in the rain, snow, sleet, and cold. I think honestly it was less motivation, and more the fact that I had less flexibility in my schedule. If I planned to run in the morning before run, I allowed just enough time to run, shower, and get to work. There was no time to go to the gym. But now that I work from home, I can take that extra 10 minutes to drive to the gym.

So when I woke up and saw this on my phone, I was not motivated to head outside. Feels like -12. No thanks!

 

So I pounded out an hour on the treadmill. Super boring. And now I feel like a wimp for not running outside.

What does it take for you to hit up the dreadmill instead  of running outside?

2013 New Year's Resolutions

Happy 2013! 

I started this year considerably less hungover than in years past. Guess I am a real boring grown-up. I did get dressed up and go out last night, but I only had 2 drinks and was asleep by 1 am.

I was up by 8:30 and headed out for a run followed by a big ole pumpkin banana pancake. Then I took down my Christmas decorations (makes me so sad) and cleaned my house. Now I am off to a special 2 hour New Year's yoga class with live music. A healthy happy start to the year that sets me up well to tackle my resolutions.

Without further adieu, here they are:

1. Take a least 1 day off from working out a month. Sounds a little silly because it's just one day a month, but for me that is huge since I usually take like 1 day a year. I want to break the mental lock I have in my mind about completing becoming a lazy fat slob if I take a single day off.

2. Be more positive about work. I have been pretty down about my job lately, but really it has a lot of perks. I will try to focus on those.

3. Be more mindful of my finances. I am generally pretty fiscally responsible, but I want to have a better idea of exactly how much money I have coming in and going out.

4. And then the annual and all too common lose 10 lbs. I want to get back to a point where I am really happy with my body and feel like I am at my best weight possible for running.