gibnic

Pfft. Goals Schmoals. Who needs that crap. Lol, Just kidding. Kinda... At this point I don't even remember what my original goals were. What I do know is that I am running 15-20 miles every week for the past four weeks and I love it!!! I have been throwing in some strength stuff once or twice a week, my body has been sore though and I should be doing more of that. I know I totally need to get back into my yoga routine because my legs are so inflexible right now it is not even cool. But I am super proud of my running!!!! I lost a few pounds, I am eating great, I feel awesome and I am ready to kick some zombie ass. I think my girlfriend who is running with us bought me a zombie hunter shirt to wear (since I am too broke right now to buy anything new!). I am so excited about the race and I am looking into training for a tough mudder one next! But that one isn't for another year and I am sure there is fun stuff in the meantime! Oh yeah, back to my goals. I totally lost it this challenge. I did not fail at all, except that I have not made time to get on here and keep everyone up on my progress or meet new people or support my friends or anything. In that regard, I sucked at this challenge. But I feel really good about where I am at in regards to my health goals. I am hoping to drop another 2 lbs before the race, not much but that would put me at my first goal weight. My second goal weight is another 15lbs down from that, which I hope to reach before March of next year because guess what....????!!!! WE"RE GETTING MARRIED!!!! (yes, I have been referring to him as my husband for quite a while, we have been talking about it for a while, but we are finally planning it!!!!!) IN VEGAS!!!! I am so super excited. My kids are excited, he is excited His parents are on vacation in Ireland right now, so they don;t know yet, but its gonna be awesome!!! So forgive me if I am distracted recently! Oh and school starts on the 23rd!!! Life is so exciting right now! Except I can't remember my goals. But I don;t think I did bad. But I am not going to give myself points because I didn't even check in every week and I don't deserve points for only doing half of the assignment! And Goodnight.

Checking in... I seem to be sucking at this recently. I wanted to become more involved in the community with this challenge, but I have failed miserable. I am kicking butt at running though! This is my fourth week in a row running 5 days a week, and at least 3 miles each run (usually 3.5). Plus I went surfing Sunday for the first time in ten years or so, and I didn't catch any waves, but I paddled out and sat on my board and I didn't die and my arms are still sore =) Last week and the week before were tough, my body was not used to running that much and my calves were so super sore i was beginning to think that I had actually injured myself. But this week I feel great! My body has adapted and I can run the whole thing usually (some of the hills I still need to walk up, lol). I am ready to race in a few more weeks! And then I start my grad program and I am so super excited I can;t stand it!!! And I am down another 2.5 lbs =) All of my clothes are loose on me =) and I bought a bikini for the first time in many, many years... and then I wore it! At the beach!!! Hope everyone is doing well. Love to you all!

P.S. please ignore all my typos above. It is late, I am tired and I have to be up in 6 hours so I am rushing it a bit. P. P. S. I think I love running. I think I want to go for a half marathon next year sometime... tough mudder anyone??? P. P. P. S. I am sooooooooooooooo stinkin excited about starting my MFA program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no! No crying! Where did I go??? Well, here I am... I must have amnesia because I really don't know where I have been for two weeks or however long it has been! Lol. Just busy I guess. My brother's wedding was last week, I had an aunt pop back into my life after 16 years or so... I had another friend whom I have not seen in person in ten years or so (keep in touch on the book though) visiting from out of town. One of my puppies had a seizure and we spent a night in the pet ER ($750 later they still didn't have any idea what caused it so we brought him home and he is fine so far...) The kids went back to school, the teenagers went back to high school and started classes at community college to get a jump start on it, I am about to start on my MFA program in another few weeks... Oh and my certificate of clearance was FINALLY approved, it is the background clearance that is required in order to teach in a k-12 school, which is my second dream job (high school english!!!) This was a really big deal for me because I have some things in my background that could have disqualified my, however I have worked my butt off to fix and change those things... anyways it took them so long to get back to me that I had given up, this is how I ended up in my MFA program. So I am taking it as a God thing, even though I am not really religious, I am spiritual and even though my belief's on God are not traditional... what I'm trying to say is that I think this was some sort of intervention on some higher level because if I had gotten that clearance immediately I woudl have gone directly into a credential program and never have pursued my real deep down dream of writing. I only decided to go for my writing because I figured if I am going to go to grad school it has to be to follow my dreams not just to get a "good job" and the only things I ever really wanted to do with all my heart are write and teach and I thought teaching was out of the question, otherwise I would have gone that route first and put off my writing until I was old and regretted it! Lol. So that was a big deal for me. And my other big deal, I ran 16 miles week before last and 17 last week (well actually I ran 13.5 and then did a really intense 3.5 mile hike in the heat, a 900 foot climb... it was quite the workout!). This week I have only run 3.5. I took 2 rest days because I am having an issue with my calves (like when I run, or even walk fast the entire muscle feels like when you have a bruise and you poke it... and then there are these little sharp stabbing pains on top of it...) I think it is just from increasing my mileage too fast, and adding in too many hills... I am going snorkeling tomorrow and I am hoping that with another "rest" day I will feel all better. If anyone has any suggestions though, i am open to them. Ice, massage and ibuprofen aren't doing a lot. Lostone, I have three people joining us in this race... Hubby, my friend Melissa and my friend Sean. I babysit for Melissa, she is a single mom and has recently started running with me... Sean is a snowboarding instructor in Big Bear and he is working on getting into med school (23 and a ton of fun). Hubby has dropped 20 lbs or so, but has still not done much to get in shape. As for my goals, my eating has been great. I had a couple little slips (wedding food) but I got right back on track. My workouts have been great, I am adding in strength as well as all the running and other than my calves killing me I feel great. However, I have not lost anymore weight. =( I don't get it. But I am going to keep on doing what I am doing. I am trusting that eventally it will even out and I will drop the last 19 lbs to my goal weight and then decide to go for 10 more, lol. So that's that. hope all is well with everyone. I suck at keeping up with this right now, but I am doing it in real life and that's what counts! Oh, lostone, one more thing... I am not going to have money to order a shirt in time for the race =( =( =( Of course this should have no bearing on your own decision as to wear a NF shirt or not, i just wanted you to know... Ok, goodnight!

urg. I seem to be doing terrible with being consistent here. I ran 16 miles this past week. A lot of up and down hills. I have a friend who is running with me, which is awesome!!! I ran 5 days, and most days were over 3 miles ( I think one day was 2.75). Today is my rest day, and I needed it! I have neglected my strength workouts though. So starting tomorrow, I will be doing strength at least 2 days a week. My diet has been great. However, in spite of all the running and eating great, I am only down 2 lbs since the start of this challenge. I guess I need to do my measurements again, but I don;t think there is a lot of change there, my clothing is still fitting about the same, however all of my bras are suddenly too big, so I guess that's something, lol. That's about it though. I feel like I am working really hard and not getting much in return, but I have felt this way for months now and I just keep doing it. I think it is that time of the month when I start really feeling disappointed with my progress so hopefully it will pass by next week (along with a little extra fluid weight that my body is clinging to right now???) I need new running shoes again too! I am thinking I am going to invest in a really good pair, but I am not going to have the money to do it for another month. Hopefully these will hold out til then! =/ I have gotten a decent routine going in the mornings though. I skipped it today since I decided I earned a real rest day of doing nothing much at all. I slept in and have spent my day messing around on the computer, lol. It has been lovely except now I am getting a headache from staring at this screen! I have also decided to cut back on my hours working for my freelancing service and start putting more time into my own writing and start querying magazines! Yikes! Scary! =) And I am down below 170 for the first time in seven years (except for one stint where I lost a lot of weight a very bad way and gained it all right back). And looking back over my life, I have had a lot of weight ups and downs, but this is the first time I have ever consciously lost weight through diet and exercise. And I am down 28 lbs from my heaviest. But man it is taking a long time for it to come off! That's it for today. Hope everyone is well. I am totally slacking on my goal to reach out to other members here. =/

I ran 3.3 miles with a friend this morning... up and down hills... I think she was trying to kill me... but we did it in 40 minutes and I feel awesome now =) Had a green smoothie this morning with kale, apple, banana, grapes, a little almond milk, a touch of orange juice, some coconut oil and protein powder. I think I am glowing now =) Back on track and feeling great!!!

I am doing the one in San Bernardino next month along with a fellow NF member, my hubby and another friend. I am a little worried about it now. it looks like a lot of fun and I am working hard to get ready, but now I am a bit scared that it is going to be a wash... =/ It's my first 5k... I am kinda scared that some 300lb zombie is going to snap my ankle now! Lol

You are awesome!!! A Medium???!!! Woah! That is wonderful!!!Must feel great! Running and running and running! Lets do it!

Hey there, Just catching up... I am totally doing nanowrimo this year! Do it with me! (He he he, I said "do it with me!") I figured it out to be about 1650 words per day (oh wiat I forgot, I am in the nerd group, it is 1666.6666 and so forth) , which sounds like a lot, but it is actually like 6 or seven pages a day (double spaced) which I know I can do in an hour and a half at the most. I know I can do it, I just have to devote the time to it. I will have started my graduate program by then as well, so that can actually be helpful in this case! As for workouts, I am a total morning workout person. But it took me suffering through many, many, MANY after work and after dinner workouts to figure it out. I absolutely hate working out after dinner. I didn't know that until I started doing my workouts in the mid morning after one of my classes though. I am not an early morning workout type either. I don't mind getting up at 6, but I am not going to do anything strenuous until I have adjusted to being awake and that takes me a couple of hours, lol. I prefer to do my workouts sometime between 10am and 1pm. Sometimes if I have a big lunch I will put it off until 2 or 3, but past that I am useless. But everyone is different and your workouts need to fit with your lifestyle and your personality. It is awesome that you are figuring out what you like! Good to see you doing well here. =)

I don't know why they all went up sideways... =/ But there it is. It looks even better in person though =) And I am stoked because I love that cream color but usually it doesn't look so great on me... I need to find some brown vegan cowboy (cowgirl?) boots to go with it! And an update.... I ate potato chips today. I am very disappointed with myself. I ate probably three servings. This was after my cheat meal last night. So I have decided that is too much cheating! I am going to get hardcore on myself from here out. No potato chips. No french fries, no grilled cheese from In and out or bean burritos from taco bell or starbucks or any of that crap. Done. This is part of why my weight loss is not going faster. Not the whole reason, but part. I have a real problem with food. I am doing 10000x better at it, but I let my cheat meals slip into cheat days or even cheat weekends! Not that I will eat crap all weekend, but I will have "just a couple bites" of junk multiple times throughout the day! SO. No more cheating. I don't need to cheat. I need to lose weight and get myself in shape for this race! And for the rest of my life! Eek! I have lagged on my workouts too. I swam today, for half an hour or 45 minutes, in the ocean. It was great. And other than the potato chips and the extra bread with my spaghetti for dinner, I ate great. It was whole grain seed bread, if that makes it any better (but I don;t think it does). Tomorrow is a cleanse day. I am going to start out with a green smoothie, then I am going running with a friend, then I am going to do a smoothie for lunch and maybe even one for dinner. I need to go to the grocery store too. Kids go back to school tomorrow, and get this, my son, whom I thought I was going to have to homeschool because he just does not do well in that environment, for the first time in his life he is super excited to go back to school after summer. He met his teacher at the salon over the break, he didn't know that she was going to be his teacher and he had heard all these horror stories about how mean she is. Well, he got to hang out with her for a bit while he and his sisters and cousins were getting their hair cut and he discovered that she is really cool, she is funny and has a great vibe to her. She is just very firm as well, which is what he needs. He does best with people who leave him no room to push boundaries. Anyways, he decided that she was the teacher he really wanted and he go her and he is so happy. My girls are just as excited, my youngest is in a bilingual program where she is learning spanish and it is a really special program and there is only one teacher per grade for it, so we already knew who her teacher would be (her teacher happens to be the mother of one of my son's friends) and my oldest daughter got the teachers she wanted and all of her friends from last year will be in her class =) I love this as much as they do. Despite all of the flaws with the system, it makes me feel good to have kids who like to learn. Ok anyways, enough on that tangent. Tomorrow run, smoothie and plan my training out for the rest of the six weeks until race day! Oh, and plus, I am doing the vegan month of food next month on my blog! Excited! and then November is Nanowrimo!!!

Ok, here is my dress for the wedding!

Oh, oh oh! I have pics of my dress that I found yesterday, hold on and I will get them up here! I was stoked to be able to buy a juniors large instead of an extra large anything!!! And yeah, I am just hanging around on it, lol.

Well. I don't have much to say for myself. I broke my cord that charges my laptop (again, second time in four months) and just got my new one in the mail today. Its a lousy excuse since I have other computers. Really, what happened is that I underestimated a project (work) and sold myself short and something that I thought would take me 10 hours to do ended up taking me around 50 hours. On top of finishing up the last two projects. If I hadn't needed the money so bad right now (with the kids going back to school on monday) then I would have given up on the one I screwed myself on. Oh well. I learned a valuable lesson. Time to move on. I am cutting back work in preparation for school though! Plus I think I earned myself some time off. So. For the next week, I am playing it cool. I might do something light and fun, but no big time consuming projects. I am going to finish reading my book and maybe even get the next one in the series. I am going to work out at least three days, hopefully 6 though (will depend on how my body is feeling, I am still getting pretty sore so I am having to take every other day off). I am going to clean my house and help my kids adjust to school and find a dress for my brothers wedding and train for this race!!! In other news, I got my pull up bar =) and the kids helped me put it together and they are making me crazy swinging on it all day long, and I can't even do one freakin pull up... but its there. I couldn't do a man push up when I started either, but now I can do 5 at a time and 25 girl push ups. So I have something to shoot for! And I am going to eat clean and vegan. And I am going to start on a story that is tumbling around in my brain. I have been reconnecting spiritually again, and that is a major plus. Now I need to put all of the pieces together! More tomorrow!

Hey, i don;t know if you have already seen this or not, but I think it is a really cool idea and thought you might be interested: http://nanowrimo.org/

Today people noticed that I am losing weight. Like, more than just one person too! Finally. I ate great other than a very small handfull of flaming hot cheetos... but hey, no one's perfect. I had tofu scramble for breakfast, a black bean and hummus wrap for lunch and a quinoa, black bean, avocado bowl for dinner (one of my favorites! soooo good!). I did my workout. I need to plan out my health care routine, I just haven't had time to do it. I hate that excuse, but it is really the truth. I took time away from working on a big project hat is due tomorrow in order to do my workout and that was all the extra I had. Life. So after I finish this project tomorrow I will have a few minutes to devote to planning. For now, I will focus on my goals tomorrow. I have to finish this project, take my teenagers out to the community college to see about enrolling, and I have a running date with the man. I am having muesli with blueberries for breakfast, salad from the college for lunch and peanut lime noodles for dinner. I will write 4,000 words by this time tomorrow (the rest of my project) and then I will go to bed at a reasonable time (which is not happening tonight with this deadline (I have to admit, I do like my deadlines, lol). I will also take a few minutes in the morning to at least do a sun salutation and spend a few minutes meditating. Feeling awesome today. =)