Wellness Wednesday

Well....wellness hasn't exactly been on my side (by my own choice), but hopefully that will soon change. Last week was pretty rough. As Christmas got closer, nutrition and workouts got worse. I had no energy at the gym, and spent a lot of time eating whatever was around. Everyone sends tons of treats to the Critical Care office, so there was always "stuff" there and my ability to say no was non existent. My daily runs at the gym weren't lasting more than a half mile at a time, and I was pretty much feeling defeated. This continued throughout the weekend, but promised myself I would do my best to change the situation on Monday.

I kicked off Monday by training with Jody, and she near had me pass out. We went into the workout with a goal of 800 calories and she was determined to get there. It was the closest I've ever been to vomiting at bodyco, but felt so amazing afterwards. It was something I really needed and she again showed me that I can push my body more than my mind thinks I can.

Since I will be working today and tomorrow (Christmas Eve and Day), I planned Christmas dinner with mom and grampie for Monday afternoon. We had a good visit together and though there was definitely a void without dad around, was happy to be able to spend time with him. I stopped by and decorated dad's grave a bit afterwards, but it's still super weird without the headstone being there yet.

Monday night I also found out that I got accepted into a Weight Loss Pilot Program at the Obesity Prevention Center at Children's. I put in the application a few months ago, not thinking much of it. There were about 1,000 people that applied, so I didn't think I had a chance, but here we are! Hopefully this is a good sign going into 2015 that it will be better than the craziness of 2014. Basically what it involves is the program controlling my food for 16 weeks, attending weekly education sessions, weekly weigh ins and providing them feedback, which will then be developed into a book. I am excited to give this a shot. :) Hopefully i'll be blogging more to keep myself accountable and y'all updated!

Yesterday I headed back to the gym and got a 5.5 mile run in. My goal was 7, but got out of my house a little late and had to work at 10. Coming off of not even getting in a mile the week before I was ok with 5.5. I also realized that if running on the treadmill I need to do so at bodyco to keep myself accountable. The complex gym is always hot and I often find myself giving up after no time at all. By driving to the gym I at least feel obligated to give it a go and not quit so quickly. Also, not that people are "watching" me at bodyco, but since it's a small gym can be pretty noticeable if someone walks in and out within 5 minutes.

I hope you all have a great Christmas!! Sending you all my best wishes from BCH!

Thought I'd Bring This Back...

I need some motivation to train for my next race/ stay on the fitness wagon, so thought I'd bring this back to hold myself accountable. Lots of thing have happened over the last few months...some good, some not so good. Some fueled my workout fire, others knocked the wind out of my sails, but you learn from your experiences, right?

After my awesome 13.1 in September (I just re read that blog and still can't believe I did as well as I did) I continued to train and headed down to Disney a little under 3 weeks later and took on a few races/ had some QT with Gina and Aaliyah for the weekend. I ran the Halloween 5K in the morning, then Tower of Terror 10 Miler that night. I spent most of the week leading up to the races sick, but ended up doing pretty well. I met up with my old gym buddy/ trainer Jenn and we finished in 1:45. My best cheerleader wore my medals with pride. :-)

Between these two races, and the incredible support of the ladies of bodyco, I got talked into registering for the Fenway Spartan in mid November. I have always told myself that I would stick to 5k's and gym classes, and continue to run a half marathon or two per year, but obstacle course racing was a no go. I saw the "type" of people who entered them and I was not it. They were fit, I was not. I could not even do a chin up, nevermind lift myself over a wall. My dad confirmed that ten fold, telling me how crazy I was to even consider taking it on. I came across a Living Social voucher (those damn things get me every time. That's how I initially found bodyco) and registered haphazardly. The following week I got my work schedule and was scheduled for a shift that day, with no option to trade as a result of other conflicts with staff. I figured it was fate, but a few days later was asked to join someone to run a Spartan in SC as part of the Biggest Loser team (yes, the show). I did some research and decided to register before my conscious brain talked me out of it. Basically it would give me an opportunity to "try" a Spartan race without the pressure of completing the obstacles if I couldn't, or partake in the 30 burpee penalty. A week passed and the person that asked me to do it with them backed out. Though initially angry, something told me I had to do this for myself. My cousin lives in NC, so i'd have somewhere to stay. I fly for free. I pay basically nothing for a car. What was stopping me aside for my own head? Two of the bodyco ladies were also heading down to take on the full race, so I figured wouldn't be alone all weekend. Although I was scared out of my mind, I was determined to show my dad (and deep down myself) that I could give this a shot....and then this happened.

 

The morning of the race I was a nervous wreck. Did I really think this through? Getting there super early didn't help, as I saw the slew of people that were completing the race, many of them pure muscle.

 

When we got to the start area we were told by our team captain that our course would be the last 4 miles of the 9 mile full race. We were a team of 6 and nobody had ever previously completed a Spartan. We got special shirts, which were basically our get out of jail free card for the obstacles if we opt not to do them/ couldn't complete them. After getting 10 fingers to get over the initial wall we were off, and determination came over me. I wanted to do this so bad and was excited. Right out of the gun the team broke up into two groups, one opt to walk the course, and myself and a mother/daughter duo wanted to give it our all and jog. I stood with them for the first mile and a half, and then decided to try and finish this thing on my own. I was unsuccessful in a few obstacles, some being because I didn't have a helping hand, some were just ridiculous, but finished! (The photo above was the fire obstacle before the finish line.) Happy tears were shed, and again looking back on these photos give me goosebumps.

 

After cleaning up a bit, I came out of the changing tent, just as the bodyco ladies were about to finish! There is no way I would've even considered doing the race if it weren't for either encouragement, so was stoked that I got to cheer them to the finish. 

 

We took a picture on the podium and there ended my Spartan journey for a bit...or so I thought.

 

The next few weeks were a bit crazy and my gym routine was either non existent or super aggressive. I landed in Boston only to find out that Dad only had a few weeks left to live. After coming off a super high from the weekend, I was punched in the gut. I spent as much time with dad as I could, and tried to make it a point to get away for an hour or so per day to blow off some steam at the gym. If I wasn't there for a few days, they would notice and check in to make sure things were ok. I truly don't think I would've been able to get through the situation as well as I did if it weren't for being a member of bodyco. Between sweating out my stress, breaking medicine balls and getting random check in texts from Jody, I was so appreciative, especially since I am pretty new there. If you live on the North Shore, check them out. I have never in my life been as strong as I currently am.

 

Dad passed away November 12th and the last month has been a little choppy with my fitness routine. The initial week of his passing I was pretty aggressive in the gym. I needed to clear my mind with all that was going on, and was there every day. I had great support from so many people, which was great, but the gym became my "me time." There were 5 days between when he passed and the wake, and I decided to do the Fenway Spartan that I previously couldn't do. My dad always told me he would eventually make it to one of my races, and I truly felt that he was there with me that night. As I was about to cross the finish line, I looked up and there was one star in the sky. Two of my best friends from home came to support me and it was a great closure to an awful week.

 

 

 

The last week that my dad was alive my nutrition did take a back seat, and has pretty much continued on that trend since. After the funeral and everyone went back to their normal lives, it was the quietness that set in. I skipped the gym more often and I ate more crap. Thanksgiving week and the following I don't think I even stepped foot inside the building.

 

I know my dad would want me to continue doing what I love, so last week started to get back into it. I trained with Jody and felt awesome. The next day was very happy to be so sore. My eyes are now set on the Breast Cancer Marathon and Gasparilla, both in February. This will be my sixth year taking on the Breast Cancer Half and am so excited to again raise money to Finish It! If you feel so inclined, I'd love your support. Every dollar gets us closer to a cure and as always I will wear the names of anyone you want to honor on my race singlet. http://donate.breastcancermarathon.com/2015-Marathon/bdigirolamo I said in September that I will never be able to beat my race PR from that day, but my new goal is to do just that...and to straighten out my nutrition.

 

Until next time!

Finally got my sub 2:30!

It took 7 weeks of hard training...and even then I didn't think I had a fraction of a chance to get the time that I did! My goal leading up to the race was to be "race ready." I had quit a group run after a mile 7 weeks ago and can say with confidence that I had no plans to run the race after that night if it wasn't for the support I got. The following night I injured my toe, which kept me from running for another week while I tried self care, then finally saw a doctor who had to do a little more than I thought and needed healing time.

For the most part I dedicated the following six weeks to getting ready for the race and hit the gym as much as I could, hoping that if I could get my muscles prepped, it would give me a bit of a leg up. In doing that, some pretty awesome things happened. First, I lost 10lbs! I changed some of my food choices, so that I wasn't feeling so sluggish all the time, but for the most part still eating like crazy as I generally do...and it's working. ;) The other thing was that I became client of the month at Bodyco! Considering how much they are helping me, I was very surprised and may have shed a tear or two. There are so many amazing members of Bodyco, some of which were the initial reason why I wanted to quit in the first few weeks (that not being a bad thing, they are just super fit and I wasn't) to be recognized amongst them was an honor.

 

As race day got closer, Jody and I started to realize that PRing might be possible. My best pace per mile was in Vegas and was 11:55. In my long runs, I was clocking about 11:00-11:20. If I could keep myself at that pace, a 2:30 race was a possibility! I didn't want to get too much into my own head, because that's what gets me in trouble, but I really wanted to set this as a goal. The days leading up to the race was a long and stressful week, but I told myself I would let my body do the work, but give it all I had.

And...this happened...

 

 

I don't know how I cut so much time off, but for the first ten miles felt so good. Every time I tried to slow down, my legs wouldn't let me. I had a great stride going until about mile 10.5 when my mind started getting the best of me and I was ready to be done. Every time I would try to push, my mind would tell me otherwise. I tried to eat part of a granola bar I brought, thinking maybe I was hungry, but no luck. I realized later when looking at my splits, that I still didn't lose much time during the last 3 miles, but it felt like eternity. I turned the corner into the Suffolk Downs parking lot, didn't see the finish line, and just started walking. A runner coming in behind me (and eventually in front of me) pushed me to run a little more and then I saw this beautiful face...

 

 

Gina had brought Aaliyah to the finish line to see me!! Nobody has ever been at the finish line of any of my races, so I was super stoked! I'm not sure I would want to do it over again, because I can definitely say that I left every ounce of energy I had on that course, but am happy with the results I got in the short amount of time I worked for it. Seven weeks ago I didn't think i'd be running the half, let alone a 2:14 half!

 

Two weeks from tomorrow we will be heading to Disney to take on the Tower of Terror 10 miler and Halloween 5k, but am thinking of doing it as a celebratory race as opposed to the competitive one that I needed to prove to myself I could complete. When I toe the line, that may change, but right now I am at peace with what I got this week.

 

Now I need another goal to reach for...with that, to Spartan or not to Spartan??



1 day late and 1lb less

So apparently being stressed makes you run faster...at least that's what I discovered last Wednesday. After taking bootcamp at 5:30a I decided to hit the road for a few miles. I didn't pace myself, just went and let my body do the work. My plan was to go for 4 slow miles. Just after mile 3 (good thing I happened to be near my car) I got a call to head to pick up my niece. As I stopped my running tracker, realized that I had smoked every run I had completed in the past. The previous week I just barely broke the wall of my "I can't get past 11:20/ mile even after 5 years" with a time of 10:58, but the two runs after that I was back in the 11's. Wednesday I had posted mile times of 10:37, 9:46 and 10:05 respectively! I was pretty stoked. :-) I do think that more diligent training, and the million squats we are doing are definitely helping. I am really excited to see where the next two weeks take me.

Saturday I was pressed to the max in our Slaughter class, and came out to the car only to find out that a dear friend, who has been a huge factor in my running journey had passed away a few minutes prior. This woman (affectionately known as Obby) opened her door, her heart and her family to me these last five years. Each year that I come down to Florida for the Breast Cancer Marathon, she houses, feeds and welcomes me as her own. I have known for the last few months that things weren't looking good, but with my dad being sick, I couldn't bring myself to travel down to see another grave situation. I kept turning a blind eye to reality, though deep down knew that I should've went down even for a night. A few weeks ago, I did finally bring myself to make plans to go "right after my half marathon," but now that trip will be for other reasons.

As I headed out for my long run on Sunday, both the soreness from training Friday and Slaughter Saturday, as well as emotions running wild thinking of Obby, my run sort of tanked. I left late, so the sun was beginning to really come out and I took off way too fast in an attempt to get the run done and prepare for dad's party. The first 7 miles were pretty solid and I was clocking in right over/ under 11min, but the last two were not so good. I didn't have enough water and began to dehydrate fairly quick, and by mile 8 was feeling pretty crappy. I did complete the 9 miles, but walked the last half mile to the car.

In better news, dad's surprise party was great. It may have taken nearly 31 years to pull the wool over his eyes about something, but he had no idea and was so happy to see people there for him. Hopefully this gives him a second wind heading into September. We are taking each day as it comes and are truly blessed that we are getting such great times with him.

AND after having a bad eats day last week, and splurging for the party I was still able to pull off a 1lb weight loss this week! I'll take it!

:-)

5lbs down & feeling stronger

So I hit the 5lb mark this week! With the week I had, I was thinking the number would be at least 2, but so close!....1.8.

This has by far been one of the craziest weeks in quite a while. Balancing OT at work, getting in workouts, babysitting Aaliyah, trying to spend time with my aunt and keeping up with my parents, there have been many super early mornings and long nights. A few of the days I've had to force myself to eat, which is far different than a few months ago, when I would run to food/drinks every time I was stressed out.

Though my aunt could talk the ear off of a stone gargoyle, I am going to miss her being around after tomorrow. My dad has had so much joy in having someone at the house all the time to keep him company, take him out for air or someone to talk to. With that, he has had some decline this week, which has added a bit of stress onto things. As the time comes for her to leave, he is starting to grasp onto the fact that it will probably be his last time seeing her. Wednesday in particular, was pretty difficult. Knowing that she wanted to talk before I headed to work, I spent as long as I could at the gym, hoping to avoid "the conversation" but inevitably it came and the words "he is feeling better, not getting better" has haunted me since. Note to self- though running is a wonderful way to clear your head, running and crying- not so much. I did get in a good 45 minute stroll through the corn fields that night though. We also got my dad out of the house for a bit that afternoon and spent some time at Salem Willows.

On a positive note, I finished my first week of training and have been releasing some of my stress through that. Between that and classes I have been going pretty hard and starting to feel stronger. Yesterday's 8.3 mile run went particularly well. Though it took a mile or so to get going, I felt really comfortable once I got into a stride. I need to figure out some nutrition stuff to get me through the later part of the run, but otherwise I think weight training is helping!

Everyone at the gym is super supportive, which makes me want to better myself. Even when not in class, Jody keeps tabs on me via text and food logging. Knowing i'm being kept in check helps me choose better food options. (I just ate squash and sweet potatoes for lunch...a few years ago you couldn't get me close to a vegetable...except corn...I was always addicted to corn. :) ).

This week is more OT at work, and then party planning. Hoping to continue the good roll I've got going on this week with classes/runs/training!

House guests and OT make for multiple temptations

So this past week has been sort of weird. I have been consistent with writing down everything I am eating and drinking, and made time to get 5 hard workouts in, but still came up a little short on the scale this week. I am down 0.8 from last week, which is a tick in the right direction, but with the effort I put in, was hoping for at least 2. Everyday that I walked out of the gym or ran, I truly felt that I gave all I had. One of the days had me still shaking 2 hours later. Though mildly annoyed this morning, I am putting it behind me and looking to a new week. I know that I made some not so smart choices this week, and need to look back on where those were. For starters, I worked overtime last week. Generally, this wouldn't be too big of a deal, but often times at work there is temptation everywhere. I'm pretty certain that all 4 days I was there someone had either brought donuts or cake to the office. I am good at saying no to temptation initially, but when they then sit in front of you for 12 hours and you are tired at the end of the shift, temptation wins. It beat me many of those days. I was able to scale back to "a piece of" as opposed to the whole thing, but over time, I know they add up.

The other struggle this week was that my aunt has come in from Tucson to spend some time with my dad. It has been amazing to get to see her and spend time with her, but of course comes with getting less sleep and taking her places that you cannot find out west...seafood, Richardson's, Tuck's candy shop, "good pizza."

On the plus side, she has been taking care of mom and dad like a champ every day, which has given me some time to focus on me and get in solid workouts. I finally broke my usual 11min/ mile and got in 4 at an average 10:50/ mile pace. I'm hoping I can carry that for the race in a few weeks, though yesterday doing 7 didn't have much luck. I have just under 4 weeks left, so I'll be working towards that. To do so, and get myself a little more on track, I started training again. I've had a couple random sessions since I started at BodyCo, but really do want to work toward some solid goals and feeling like I can keep up in runs and in classes and not being the random girl in the back falling apart. I start tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll have updates soon. :-)

Food journaling & gaining some inspiration from previous races...

Last week was a little wonky with getting runs/ workouts in around my work schedule and doctors appointments, but the ones I did get in were pretty solid. Thursday was specifically a "mind change" sort of day. After spending Wednesday having a fun night of Chinese food and trivia with Mike (followed by chips, salsa and a margarita at the Mexican place next door), my 6am run scheduled for Thursday was particularly tough to wake up for. If I didn't have someone waiting for me to run with I certainly would have skipped it, but I made a commitment, and the 5am alarm had me heading to Lynn. Our 4 mile run ended up being 5, and as we were finishing up along the beach it reminded me of the multiple Breast Cancer Half Marathons I had completed previously. I am getting super worked up about my upcoming half marathon, but in retrospect, I have done the distance before. Seven times in fact. Some of those I was more prepared for than others, but I finished them all. I went home and looked back on a few of those races for a little inspiration.

Aside for my parents and grandparents seeing me walk across the stage in grad school, and my niece being born, my first race ranks in my top proudest moments. This was the race that initiated my fitness journey. Previous to this, I didn't walk to the mailbox voluntarily, let alone take on 13.1 miles. The previous year (April 2008) I was asked by a friend if I would do the Country Music Marathon in Nashville for her charity. Though I gave a firm "no" without a second thought, I did tell her that I would go there and cheer on her team with her. I had never been a race spectator, but the energy was so electric that day, that again without a second thought told her I was "all in" for the following year. I would have a year to train. I was 185lbs, so needed every day of that year. In my usual MO, I waited until February. Aside for the team I was running with, every person told me I was insane. I should give it up. I trained for 6 weeks and then tore my calf. Again was told (this time by docs) that running was a no go. Although completely defeated, we were allowed 4 hours to complete the race, so I figured if I could walk 15 min/mile I'd be able to get it done. I had already paid for my flight and hotel- so what did I have to lose? After spending 2 weeks on the recumbent bike, I wrapped my leg that morning and nervous as all get up, headed out. I finished in 3:08. Though I have since had better run times, including finishing the Las Vegas half this past November in 2:36 (and walked the last 2.5 miles of it) and 5 other Breast Cancer Half Marathons in between, the CMM is always the one I go back to for my boost of confidence.

I also started food journaling on Friday. There is no better way to feel guilty about how bad you eat until you have to think of writing it down. I have made some different choices in what I've eaten over the last few days, and have not drank any alcohol. I have also learned that I drink a ton of coffee at work...I guess sitting for 12.5 hours at a time will do that to you. I eat more when i'm working as well, mainly to have "something" to do during down time. Working on that. The night side of the shifts are usually when I eat my bad choice (ice cream...cake...a cookie). With that, I did lose 3lbs this week. I am not getting too excited until I get past the 5lb mark. I seem to sway within that range week to week, so once I break that I'll chalk it up as a small win.

I have been working the last 4 days, so my schedule has mostly consisted of sitting for 12 hours, driving home, sleeping and doing the same thing the following day. I did get up extra early yesterday and kept a friend who is training for a marathon company for the first half of her training run. Got 6.5 miles in, which has been my longest distance since the February half. It's moving slowly, but progressing in the right direction!

I joined the gym...again

So after moving from Eastie up to Danvers, I sort of fell off the wagon. There is a "gym" on our property, which basically consists of a few treadmills, ellipticals, a bike, some weight machines and free weights. I tried multiple times to make an effort to get there and would generally quit after a short time. It would either be 80 degrees in there, or I would get bored, or just generally lazy. I was signed up for the Breast Cancer Half Marathon in Jacksonville, and debated up until the day before I was getting on the airplane whether i'd actually go. This would be my fifth year doing it, and truly was the only reason why I would exercise at all. I generally trained as minimally as possible and would go down and do it....then feel like I wanted to die for the following two days. This year was no different. I had let my weight creep up, and generally felt kind of crappy. But I did it. I decided to enjoy the ride and take in the amazing 13.1 miles of breast cancer patients, survivors and their families cheering us on. It was wonderful! I flew back the next day, and continued on my sedentary life.

One week later dad got diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. And then my fitness went down the tubes. Between doctors appointments and hospital visits I would spend time making pit stops at any place that would serve me shitty food and alcohol. Lots of nachos and margaritas were consumed. Burritos became my go to lunch and dinner. I gained 15 more pounds on top of the 10 I gained during the move.

I never get notifications about Groupons, but for some reason one had come through to my phone about 6 weeks ago. It was for 20 fitness classes at a gym near my house. Without even thinking it through I bought it...then left it there for a few days. On a random Tuesday about a week later I decided i'd check out the gym. I took a class the following day & left realizing I was out of my league...but came back again the next day for some reason. Again got my tail handed to me, and decided to give up. A few days after that I got an email from one of the owners to set up a session with me. I gave it a shot, went and again got my tail kicked.

A few days later got another email. I was being held accountable. For some reason being kept in check made me appreciate the gym so much more and I started taking more classes, including a run class that I failed so miserably in that I turned back after 1 mile. I waited until I was farther enough back that nobody would notice I was missing and began panting my way back, defeated. I ran for a minute or so, what I thought was going to be enough to let me emotions go without being seen, when I heard "found you." She turned back and ran the rest of the way with me saying "i leave nobody behind." Though embarrassed, I was hooked. I am 14 classes in. As I begin to work harder physically I am beginning to eat better and take time for me. Yes, it's usually at 5:30am when everyone is still sleeping, but it's something.

I have a half marathon in less than 6 weeks. At this point I don't see a PR coming, but hoping to at least have the gusto to toe up at the start line. For me.