bloodlesscoup

Whoops challenge is over and I'm all sorts of needing to post an evaluation. Let's go: 1) Weight/Health: A) BMI into "overweight" range instead of "obese." I was 222 on a REAL scale, and 225 on my bad scale at home when I posted this. I'm weighing in at 217.4 (for the last four days) on my bad scale, which probably has me around 214 on a real scale, but I don't know for sure. I neglected to weigh myself when I went home for Thanksgiving. BUT, if we compare bad scale weights, I've lost like 7-8 lbs. Go Me. Grade: C+ (could have been better, but results are results) Stick with the dietary habits I'm doing on my current detox: With some Thanksgiving-y badness here and there, I actually had some pretty acceptable dietary progress during this six weeks. A freezer full of minestrone, tons of salad, healthy carbs (brown rice pasta, only one trip down Hummus Lane, hardly any potatoes, etc). I'm going to give this an A-. 2) Fitness: I run my first official (as in, paid registration to do) 5k this Saturday (and that's my birthday!). AND: it's a Zombie Apocalypse 5k. November is going to be "Get up to Five Miles Straight!" Well, not only did I not get up to 5 miles straight, I'm actually taking a break from running due to cold and shins. But, I ran the Zombie Apocalypse 5k, the run for Kyron Horman, and then the Turkeython on Thanksgiving. Each time I PR'd. I did a four mile run, and was very pleased with it, and when I'm sure I won't get hurt, I think 5 miles will be totally reachable. I'm going to give myself an A-, since the real reason I didn't do 5 miles was out of concern for my progress - I could have pushed myself, but at what cost? 3) Level up my Life: I'm doing NaNoWriMo - and I quit about a week in. There was no way to keep up with the other things that started to become better Level Up My Life opportunities. I applied for several jobs, interviewed for three, and now I'm attempting to get promoted at work. I also went on a very successful date and I've been getting my financial life in order. I think it was worth giving up my crappy (oh, and it WAS crappy) novel aspirations to focus on things that have a real impact, and today, I can honestly say I feel really, really optimistic and happy, which isn't something I'm used to feeling. I'll give myself an A-, since I probably still could have squeezed out a shitty novel, but didn't. Oh well! B+ average - AWESOME considering last challenge, I out and out QUIT. This was a recovery challenge. Next one? Well, it overlaps New Years, so you best believe there's going to be a lot of focus on starting 2012 strong.

Wow, it's been a while since I posted! Let me do a quick recap. So, I ran my four miles, then last week I set another PR for a 5k (35:08), and then the sensation in my right leg that felt like a tender shin is now undoubtedly a shin splint. Is it just a singular if you have it in one leg? I digress. I got new running shoes, and they feel awesome, so I'm hoping that will help with the excessive impact I was putting on my body. My last shoes, cross trainers, I've been wearing WAY too long. I tried to run after the 5k, on the following Saturday, but I got a really bad migraine and nausea. (I had nausea during the 5k, as well. ... that was unusual). I postponed until Sunday. I did run, but my new shoes were having traction problems AND I had a SEVERE migraine that morning, so in the interest of not falling and/or re-upping my migraine, I ended up power-walking most of that. Then Monday, I ran again, and it started out fine, but I found myself getting super exhausted during it, and feeling pain in my leg, and in my left hip (old car accident injury flaring up). I had to walk the last mile-ish home - but it was about a 5k all told. I'm not sure, given my leg, I'll be able to push myself up to 5 miles straight just yet. I'm okay with this, because I know I've been making progress with both endurance and distance up to this point. One failure on my part - I did not weigh myself on Thanksgiving!! So I don't even know. I know I ate badly due to the holiday (but it was delicious) and I'm SO back on track this week it's NUTS. Vegetables and whole grains up the wazooo. All told, I feel great. The migraines are worrisome, and I'm going to see a doctor as soon as I get some insurance (should be happening soon!), but I'm sleeping well, I'm having a good time with life and not missing the junk food at the moment, and look forward to pigging out again on Christmas after a few weeks of minestrone, salad, and roasted winter vegetables. We'll see what I weigh... I'll remember to do it this time. Annnnd... I'm going to be using the fitness center where I work because we have an elliptical and a stationary bike - want to move without putting too much impact on my shin split of doom.

Thanks! I'm actually not too worried about the speed, but I just don't want to take an entire day to run a marathon if it ever comes to that. A couple brief moments of boredom hit me during my run last night, but everyone says that being in a race in and of itself is exciting, so maybe it wouldn't be boring at all. My biggest goals have always been endurance rather than speed, even if I've never really vocalized that.

I did it! I ran four miles straight last night. I felt REALLY good while doing it, too, which I didn't expect since it was raining. Here's my post from Tumblr right after the run: "So, I think I ran four miles. Maybe. Nike + iPod says 4.41. I’m just going to assume it’s adding 10% each time I run to make me feel better. Map My Run said it was four miles. Let’s go with that…? 51:04 Just under a 13 minute pace, which I’LL TAKE. I only got stopped by a few traffic lights, but still, I think it would have been faster without those things. Uhhhhh and if it was flat. PORTLAND BE FLATTER. Wait, no, the fact that you’re not flat adds to your beauty, like a curvy lady. I’m a little run-drunk. Now I’m gonna have a reward glass of wine and get a little Not-Just-Run-Drunk. OH WAIT. I’m glad I deliberately added a walk at the end because the first two blocks of it, my hip was IN SO MUCH PAIN. I could barely walk. People were staring at me. Then it eased up. I think it just, like an old car, cannot switch gears without sticking a little. Uh, what else? Nothing. Every time I try to set a goal, even the attempt makes me proud. MEETING the goal? I’m over the moon. I love you all and I think I’m going to go cry out of happiness." I didn't cry. I did drink a LOT of wine and probably eat too much, and I've already made some bad food decisions today. Not proud, but it is what it is and it's temporary. My legs are noticeable. As in, I am perpetually aware of having them. They don't hurt, I just... you know how "you can always see your nose but your brain chooses to ignore it?" - Well, you can always feel all of yourself, but your brain chooses to ignore things that aren't attracting attention. My legs are attracting attention. I guess they feel - stiff? I've walked a half mile today already, so that's probably starting to loosen them up a little. It's just a strange sensation. Hopefully I can be up to 5 miles in 1.5 weeks. I think it's doable. AND, I'll try to get to a track or treadmill to attempt a 10 minute mile. I want optimal conditions and a perfectly level surface. We'll see!

I haven't been to Occupy since the camp was broken up. I'm keeping updated on what's going on, but I've honestly been too busy to devote much more time to it than that. I almost went down on Sunday but I knew I couldn't go to work Monday if I wound up getting arrested, and tear gas probably wouldn't be too awesome either. Fortunately nothing terrible happened, but I have all these responsibilities that get in the way, dangit.

Absolutely!

Holy crap I've been too busy to post! I put myself on a calorie restriction for a week just to get back in the habit. Based on my running, it goes between 1300 and 1700 calories. I feel great, and not deprived, and I totally get my macros. And I ran a chip-timed 5k on Saturday at 35:21, which isn't, like, Olympian Fast, but it's my PR for a 5k so far. Run the next one on Thanksgiving, then eat all the pie. Because pie is awesome. 2 of my 3 interviews went GREAT but I might be having an opening come up at work and, while nothing's confirmed yet, I'm likely going to be getting HEALTH INSURANCE within the next three months, in one fashion or another. Which is GREAT because I think I have perma-headache. Uh, what else? I'm probably going to be able to do my 5 miles straight by the end of the month, but I'm not sure my body can do a 10 minute mile yet. Keep pushing, keep pushing, keep pushing! Oh, I quit NaNoWriMo. LAME! But I'm seriously too busy to dedicate enough time to it AND run AND do laundry AND cook beans and rice for my freezer. It was an acceptable thing to cut in order to get the real priorities in line. I've weighed in on my not-accurate scale, and it's going down, but I won't know until Thanksgiving before the 5k what I'm really at. I feel optimistic though. My measurements are either decreasing or maintaining, depending on what I'm measuring, and that's a good sign, either way.

In a crazy week so far, I ran, I met Amanda Palmer, I emotionally ate (for good and bad reasons), and I've decided to go back to counting calories, at least temporarily. I basically want to do a cleanse, probably for about 8 days, in which I plan out what I eat and don't deviate too much. I'll take into account running and the fact that life is unpredictable, but I need to get this situation locked down. Tonight: Run, attempt at 5k. Probably won't be too hard, unless I continue to eat terribly today. I also barely slept last night, so this might be a fight. Tomorrow: Rest, job interview, day 1 of self-imposed cleanse. Saturday: 5k (chip timed race), car repairs, groceries. We can do it. WE CAN DO IT!

Oh, neat. I'll look into that!

Hey oh wow what a weekend. I'll try to do a quick summary. Friday's run didn't happen. I forgot that I promised to go to Occupy Portland, which was FREEZING, and then I walked home. I got coffee on the way because it was so cold, and my hip pain started up (long story short, car accident last year, totaled car, have chronic hip pain from it, working on proper stretching/warm-up/cool-down to help ease it -- normally isn't a problem since I lost weight and there's less pressure, but heels sometimes aggravate it), and by the time I finished eating dinner after getting home, it was 9 pm. No. Just. No. I could have gone running. It would have hurt. I finished cleaning the shit out of my bathroom (almost quite literally - ugh, roommates) and that was that. Saturday I did NOTHING. Well, sort of. I had really bad stomach issues for most of the day. Blerg. Sunday, yesterday: I kicked yesterday's ass: My birthday was last weekend, and my best friend took me out for a b-day scavenger hunt in Portland's Pearl District. It was AWESOME. He bought me a book and coffee and a cupcake and food and olives and it was like the best day evar. We walked for a couple of hours, too. I had some beer. I told him I was still going to go running. He told me to postpone it. BUT NO. I have to be at Occupy Portland tonight, and SUNDAY HAS TO BE A RUN DAY. I went home, hydrated, prepared some food to take with me to work this week, and then I hit the pavement. We walked for a couple of hours. I only counted on MFP an hour of it since I didn’t really keep track of time/distance. Then I ran - 3 miles. 33:46. 11:14 average mile pace. Best mile: 11:04; personal record. I stopped after crossing Burnside to find the Nike sensor since it fell out of my shoe. OOPS. It fell out EXACTLY at mile 2, and I was so distracted looking for it that I didn’t realize my iPod said I was at approximately 23 minutes. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT. I am REALLY RUNNING. As in, IMPROVING. I think I could have gone further if I had a slower pace, but I was ready to be done. First run since Monday, after a week of exhaustion and pain, and I ran just shy of a full 5k in what would have been a personal record for that distance, had I thought to do another .1 miles. MY FOOT DID NOT HURT AT ALL. And I got on my back before running and pedaled my legs as if I was on an elliptical, and I had MINIMAL hip pain during/after the run. Much improved. My knee, where the abrasion is, well, it did not like the run. Disgusting details omitted. But it's going to have to deal with it. Schedule for the next forever: Sunday: Run Monday: Occupy Portland Tuesday: Run Wednesday: Pub Quiz Thursday: Run Friday: Occupy Portland Saturday: Run I have a 5k on Saturday, and I feel really good about it. I know I shouldn't JUST be running. Is it okay that I really hate strength training? Because I think I really hate strength training. I don't have any hand weights or anything at the moment. Ugh. Guilty. Anyway. Back on track.

One of the jobs that wanted to interview me was actually a scam! But the other one is legit. Oh well!

Going to attempt to run tonight. Foot is tender, but that might be due to wearing heels to work. Not horrible break-neck heels, but still, it's a different position for my foot. If it hurts too much, I'll bag it - I am not going to injure myself and set my progress back even further. Registering for my 5ks tomorrow if nobody else is jumping on the "register as a group" discount wagon. 2 5ks for $25 TOTAL still is NOT a bad deal. I guess. I'm new to registering for races. BUDGET LOCKDOWN. I just calculated my student loan balance. EEP. I always freak out when I think about it, but I'll be fine. AND! I got two interviews for JOBS. I need to finish a credit report score thing (where I saw my total debt! ew!) and call back the other one, and that's just making me go OVER THE MOON RIGHT NOW. I thought about rewarding myself with food. But I won't. Instead, maybe my friend/coworker who is getting interviewed RIGHT NOW and I will go get a celebratory cup of coffee or something. Coffee is acceptable. Coffee is no bag-o-chips. I can spend $2.15 on coffee and not hate myself as much as I would spending $1.50 on chips. It's not always about a bargain, is it? Yesterday was an A+ eating day, too. I love feeling like I'm the master of my emotions and behaviors. Especially because I had a call with my best friend where he tried to get me to come along to a debate tournament this weekend, and that's a life I'm not ready to be back in at the moment, so it was tumultuous. I almost cried. But I didn't eat. At least not because of that. I ate dinner. Of course I did! I'm amazing.

Thank you!

Recap of yesterday: Work stank. I work with one of my best friends of all time, and she got some bad news, and we were just overall DONE with the BS for one day. We decided to have a drink at Le Pub Quiz. I had eaten really ok (not perfect, but pretty dang well) up to this point. Then, and this ALWAYS happens when I have a drink, I thought “oh, their Happy Hour fries aren’t too bad,” and they really aren’t - it’s a reasonable portion. But then one of my teammates clamored for dessert! She’s been having a hard time with the job hunt, too, so we went to VooDoo right around the corner. They have a bucket of donuts you can buy for $8. Between the four of us, we spent more than that, but we each stuck to our own non-bucket donut. I wanted a vegan Dirty or ODB, but they were out of both, so in a show of bravado, I got the vegan Cock and Balls. It was probably the equivalent of two Portland Cremes, and boy was it tasty. And terrible. Internet accountability: I had two drinks, some fries, and a massive donut yesterday. I got home from dropping Stephanie off, and looked to see my knee was a bloody mess, still. Getting a cut on a part of your body that constantly bends and flexes means.. it will never heal. Ever. EVER. So that’s just awesome. Going to make today better. I walked over half a mile, between walking to the Streetcar, and then from my stop to work. The injury is WAY better than it was yesterday (Stephanie was right, it is a pretty resilient spot, and since I've been running, all of my parts in the feet/ankle area are so much stronger than they used to be). But, it started hurting a tad toward the end of getting to work. I think I'll spend one more day largely avoiding activity that will irritate it. Maybe I’ll just go on a cleaning spree, since that’ll keep me active, is TOTALLY necessary, and allows me to favor my right foot. I’ll see… I’ll see. I've got much better food going for the day since I'll be avoiding alcohol, and the subsequent justification to eat things I shouldn't. Breakfast: Brown rice, tofu, green beans, a dash of soy sauce, and black coffee with a bit of sugar-free Torani syrup (I have soy milk in my car but it was parked too far away to get to this morning). Lunch: Brown rice, tofu, soy sauce, and broccoli (I love this combination and I haven't gotten sick of it yet). Snack: Spaghetti squash casserole - a layer of spaghetti squash baked with a homemade marinara on top, made with tomatoes, butternut squash, beets, leeks, and tons of seasonings. SO DELISH. Emergency rations: A Clif bar (I should be able to hold out until I get home and wait for dinner, but sometimes the stomach wants what it wants) Dinner: Haven't decided just yet, but I bought some collard greens the other day that I'm planning to use in lieu of tortillas to make wraps/burritos and the like. I don't think I want to eat anymore tofu today, and I have some brown rice and pinto beans in salsa that might go great wrapped up in a big ol' leaf. I have a lot of vegetables to work though in my fridge (carrots, zucchini, fresh corn, baby spinach, collard greens, as well as frozen vegetables), plus a lot of fresh (acorn squash, two pumpkins, tomatoes, onion, and some apples, Asian pears, and bananas). For now, there is not too much bad stuff to eat around the place, as long as I keep portions controlled. I'm basically eating beans and rice and tofu and vegetables 90% of the time, and I'm okay with that. Making today better. One decision at a time.

I had sort of decided to take today as a bonus rest day (I've been running every other day for a couple weeks now) since I have Pub Quiz tonight and wouldn't get home until after 9 pm. Well, this morning, I fell pretty hard when I was trying to run across the street (cars in this city do NOT yield to pedestrians - I've almost been hit 5 times in the last week), and I pulled a tendon in my left foot (coworker with first aid experience examined it), as well as skinned my right knee. So today is DEFINITELY a rest day. I'm icing my foot and hopefully I'll feel better in the morning. I need to run if I want to meet my goals! I'm a little "ow" all over, but I'm most pissed about scuffing my shoes. Such a girl.