8 Weeks DONE

28 Minutes straight baby!!!

Meal Plan for the Week

Salmon Patties

Chicken Pan Pie

Spaghetti

Mexican Chicken Soup

Grilled Marinated Pork Chops

Ikea Meatballs ...maybe

Hello

It is hard to believe how infrequently I get to update my blog lately.  I guess life has various seasons that we go through and recently I have not had time or content to write about.  I am focusing on making some changes for myself that I hope I can stick to and will improve my quality of life.  I am on week 8 of my couch to 5k training.  I have been excited and discouraged all at the same time with this.  I ran one mile continuously this week and was really down on myself that is all I could do and that I am no faster than I am, but then I tried to pick myself up and realize I started this program running (jogging at best) 60 seconds at a time.  I guess I expect too much from myself.  I have been eating better most of the time and I have actually tried drinking water (which I hate).  With all of this I still have not lost one red pound!!  I am not doing this as a weight loss only thing, but I admit that if the pounds were dropping somehow those runs might not seem so difficult.  I still have that little voice inside my head that one day wants to complete a marathon and then I look at where I am and think she is one crazy lady.   I still think we are eating out too much.  I try to pack my lunches but I get bored with them easily and it seems like nights during the school year have so many obligations and I am so tired only about half the meal I plan actually get made.   I am trying to make it work, but blog stalking is about all I have accomplished lately. 

6 Weeks

Yesterday completed six ...count em s-i-x "6" weeks of 5K training.   Yesterday was the first time I have not completed the mission as scheduled.  I had run the last week and a half intervals on the treadmill due to timing, but yesterday was beautiful and I wanted to savor and enjoy the outside so off I went.  I probably should have prepared and drank more water, but at this point I really thought if my program says to run 25 minutes straight without stopping that my body would just do what I told it to do because it had already been surprising me.  WRONG!  First there was the dead snake...when I first say him/her in my path I wasn't entirely certain he/she was dead but my options were oncoming traffic, breaking my leg going off the road or believe it to be dead as I thought it was.  Thankfully it was dead and I just had to run over it....have I mentioned I hate snakes.  Anyway at this point I am thinking I am pretty tough and I got this baby licked.  I can see my destination where I will turn around for my halfway point and thinking it looks pretty far away.  Next thing I know I am right there in this large parking lot making my turn and about to head  back when BAM...my legs just stopped running (jogging at best really).  Stopped!  I am thinking to myself and looking down realizing I did not tell my legs they could stop, but they just did like it or not.  I walked for about a minute and was on my way back and it was then feeling really, really hard.  I felt like my legs were lead!  I could see the end in sight and my house was in full view and I thought I can do this and guess what happened - you guessed it...my legs just stopped.  Again I was confused because I thought they did what I told them to do, but I realized they had a mind of there own.  At this point I wanted to cry.  I was feeling very defeated and could not understand.  I know there were cars in both directions, hot humid weather and a wind that I had not had on the treadmill for the last week, but I still felt like I was ready.

Later I looked it up on the internet and it seems my muscles ran out of glycogen and this happens even to marathon runners and the muscles basically quit on their own to recover.  Who knew?  I guess I should have, but today I have been able to reflect and realize that even though I have not lost "one red pound" as I like to say, I have gained a lot!  I have actually stuck with this program and exercised three days a week for six weeks straight.  That is huge!  Not only that, I actually like it and look forward to it.  Even though I do breathe hard, my lungs and heart are not what has been the hardest...my muscles and legs are my sore areas.  I am proud of myself.  I want to complete this.  I am still not doing the distance that I think I need at this point, but I am happy that after this amount of time I still WANT to do it! 

Tomorrow I turn 44 years old and it is time I take time for me!  My house needs cleaning and the laundry is behind and mildew on the back of the house needs to be cleaned, but right now I need to focus on me and the rest will come.  I like this new me.

5 Weeks Done

I may not be fast, but today I finished week 5 of my training that consisted of 20 minutes of continuous running.  I had to psyche myself up because I really didn't think I could do it.  I did it on the treadmill which probably made it a little easier but I was still sweating like crazy.  My lungs and heart seem to adapted to my new life...my legs are sometimes not so sure.  I got so excited today that I ran again during my cool down because I was so happy.  I remember that sweating is a good thing :)   I will do this!

Couch to 5k

I am still hanging on and keeping up with the program.  This week consisted of 3min run 90 second walk 5 minute run and repeat.  I did this week on the treadmill because the wind was up or it was dark each time I was doing my run.  So far I highly recommend this free app for my phone.   Four weeks complete!!!  YIPPEE!!

Candy Corn Bark

24 oz. vanilla candy coating, broken into chunks

2 c. pretzel sticks, broken

2 1/2 c. candy corn

Spray 15x10x1-inch pan with spray. Line with wax paper.

In a large  bowl, microwave candy coating on high 1 minute, 15 seconds, stir. Continue heating and stirring in 15-second intervals until melted and smooth. Stir in pretzels and 2 cups of the candy corn. Spread mixture evenly in pan. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup candy corn evenly over top; press in lightly.

Let stand 1 hour or until completely cooled and set. Break into  2- to 3-inch pieces. Store covered at room temperature.

It would go great with this.