Training for a Half Marathon!!!

Jun 03, 2009

I recently decided that I wanted to run a 5K race. Then I started looking into dates or events in NY/NJ and I couldn't find any that fit into my schedule. Yesterday I stumbled across a Half Marathon in Jersey City, NJ on September 27th which happens to be a weekend that I'll be in NJ anyway. I'm going to the U2 Concert on Friday the 25th at Giants Stadium!! So the date and location were perfect since my Sister's house is 10 minutes away from the race. I emailed her to see if she'd do it with me and she's on board!! 

I feel overwhelmed but at the same time so proud of myself for taking this huge step! Right away I had to map out a training program so that I can stay on track and succeed in running for the full 13.1 miles. I found a wonderful 10 week training program that I plan to follow. It recommends that you start the program when you can run for 30 minutes without stopping. Since there are 16 weeks (and 4 days) until the race I have 6 weeks to get to the point where I can run for 30 minutes which seems extremely doable to me.

I've already been working out for 1 hour at a time on the elliptical but I had no clue how that might translate to actually running. So, last night I walked briskly for 5 minutes on the treadmill and then I decided to aim for 1 mile of running without stopping. I did it! I only ran at 4 mph which is a 15 minute mile but I didn't care....I did it. I have never run that far in my life. I was so proud of myself because I also knew I could have kept on going. I don't want to overdo it so I walked for another 5 minutes to cool down. (I know that I'll have to switch to running outdoors soon but initially I am running on the treadmill).

The training program says not to run 2 days in a row so tonight's workout is going to be aerobics of some sort....probably an exercise video and then free weights. Tomorrow my goal is to run 1 1/2 miles after a warm up of walking. I truly feel for the first time in my life that I can start and finish this goal.

The only down side is that I wish my hubby could be here to see me do this. He'd be running right alongside me if he wasn't in Afghanistan! I hope that we'll have family there to support us and take a picture or two so I can share it with Mark.

I will definitely be using this blog to discuss how the training is going.

Thanks for reading this! 
3 comments

It's been awhile

May 28, 2009

I haven't been on OH for the last few weeks except for a few minutes the other day. I really need to try and come here for 5-10 minutes everyday to connect with friends and read the forums.

I'm 9 months and 1 day post op now and I really feel great! I'm down 120 pounds and am currently weighing in at 179 pounds. I know that is still overweight but I was so excited to see the 170's. I never thought I'd get so excited to see the numbers moving. Everytime I break a new set of 10's (180's, 170's, etc) it is the best feeling and it gets better and better each time.

Dr. Kim's goal for me was to reach 170 pounds so I am very close to that goal. I was hoping to reach that by my next appointment which is scheduled for June 25th. I won't be horribly dissapointed if I don't succeed though. My personal goal is still to weigh 140 pounds. My lowest weight as an adult (if 17 years old counts) was 150 or 155 pounds so I can't fathom reaching 140 pounds.

In the past months I've been working out alone but about 2 weeks ago I started to workout out with a co-worker and a tenant from work. We aim for Monday - Friday unless someone has an appointment to go to. It really is so much better to have others around to keep you motivated and push you to do more. I am still supplementing that with Saturdays and Sundays in the gym here on the Army base and weights a few nights per week at home.

Today I had an appointment (that didn't show up.....GRRRRRR) so I worked out at home. I started following the Couch to 5K Program. I tried it a few years ago but weighing 120 pounds less now it is MUCH easier to do it now, lol. The  program gets you running 5 k's in 9 weeks. It's hard to believe that I'll be able to do it but I am going to give the program 100% and see how I do.

The ironic thing is that 10 weeks from now my deployed hubby will be on his 2 week R&R (vacation) and I'm trying to find a 5K race that we can do during that time. Mark loves to run and has done many races in the past and one of my main goals was always to run a race with him. It'll be great to see this dream become a reality.

My weight loss goal for the next 10 weeks is going to be to lose 14 pounds so that I weigh 165 pounds. I think that is quite attainable. I'll have to keep my blogs going for updates on that goal as well as the 5K training progress.

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187 and getting closer

Apr 03, 2009

It has been nearly 2 months since my last post so I thought I would add an update. I am doing well as I am down 112 pounds and weigh 187 pounds. I have to admit that hitting the 180's was just as awesome as the day I hit 199. While my experience immediately after surgery and the months afterwards were super easy NOW is the hardest time for me. I WANT all of the food that I shouldn't be eating. I'm trying to decide if I should see a Therapist or attend some OA meetings or maybe even a combination of both. I always knew that I as addicted to food and I still think about food 24/7.

It looks like I'll fall short of the short term goal that I set for myself which was to weigh 179 on Easter. I am 8 days away and would need to lose 8 pounds. I reassesed that goal last week and decided that 185 would be more reasonable and I am only 2 pounds from that now.

I am still working out 5-6 days per week for 1 1/2- 2 hours per session. I concentrate on Cardio which takes an hour (minimum) and then 20-30 minutes in the weight room. This upcoming week will be more difficult (actually the next 2 weeks) because I have a LOT going on and Tuesday is the only day I'll get to the gym. I'm going home to visit for Easter weekend and I have each day completely busy to the point where there won't be 30 minutes for a walk (except for Easter morning before I go to my Aunt's house). I'm going to have to do squats and lunges for a few minutes here and there where I can.

So Dr. Kim's goal for me is to weigh 170 pounds and I'm 17 pounds from that goal. That leaves me still in the "obese" category even though I'd be on the cusp of overweight. I still plan on trying to reach my personal goal of 140 pounds which I haven't been since before I was 11 YEARS OLD!!! 
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100 pounds lost and I'm now 199!

Feb 10, 2009

I weighed in at 199.8 pounds this morning!! I am so happy! I really can't believe that my weight starts with a 1! Today two HUGE milestones were achieved for me. I love that I started at 299 pounds because to lose 100 pounds AND be under 200 pounds all at once is awesome. I feel like I can accomplish anything now. I have so much energy, I'm working out more than I ever have and feel good about myself.

I haven't been this "small" since winter 1993! That is shortly after I started dating my husband. When we first started dating I weighed 150 pounds which was still big for a 5 foot 2 girl. I have set my final goal at 140 pounds and my surgeon's goal for me is to weigh 170 pounds.

Thanks for all the support you have given me! 

Melissa
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Next weight loss goal set

Jan 26, 2009

I really need to look close at my weight tracker to see how many pounds I'm losing per week (on average) now. I have set a goal though to lose 25 pounds by April 10th. I have 2 months and 2 weeks to reach it and I think that is realistic. I go to the gym 5-6 days per week but I feel like my loss has REALLY slowed down lately.

If I reach my goal I will weigh 179 pounds on April 10th. I did see my surgeon this past Thursday, January 22nd and his ultimate goal was for me to be 170 pounds. I had previously set my own personal goal for 140 pounds and I still hope to reach it. I realize that not every WLS patient will lose all the weight they desire but I am going to give it my best effort.

I never took BP meds but my pressure was always on the high side. Even a few weeks after surgery I was in the 134/80 range. I am proud to announce that the reading on Thursday was 110/70!!! What a great feeling!
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Mark has left for his deployment

Jan 18, 2009

It has been a crazy few days around here. Mark was supposed to leave Friday night and then he was delayed until Saturday night. We woke up Saturday morning to 22 inches of new snow and the roads were crazy. We drove to the gym at 9am when it opened and many of the roads hadn't been plowed yet. I just couldn't believe that they'd fly later that night but there wasn't a call that they were delayed so we made our way to the company at 7pm.

I hung around until 9:30pm when Mark had to get his weapon and go to the formation. I came home and was very sad and my Sargey boy (dog) sat with me and cuddled. I went to bed at 11:50pm and was woken up by the phone. Mark said that they had been delayed afterall and said that I could come get him in 20 minutes. He thought they were delayed until 2pm Sunday afternoon but when I picked him up at 1:30am he said he needed to be back at 8am. We got to bed at 2am and I couldn't fall asleep right away but that 6:30am alarm seem to ring just minutes later.

I showered and we got into the car again, picked up another soldier and headed back to the company. At 8am Mark left the car and he came back at 9am. The minute before he got to the car I could hear crying and there was a family to the right of me in their SUV and the Dad/husband/soldier was saying goodbye his wife and 2 small sons (I'd say 3 and 5 years old). I could hear the boys crying and I saw their faces too. It broke my heart and I broke down. I have been a military wife for 12+ years and this is Mark's 5th deployment but I can understand.....children simply can't.

Mark approached the car and he asked if I was ok. I said yes but it was hard to see that Father say goodbye to his boys. We had to say goodbye again and this time it was worse than the first time. I didn't want Mark's last vision of me to be sad....

I drove directly to the gym and I did an hour of cardio (recumbent bike and elliptical today). I skipped the weight room as there were a ton of male soldiers and I'm still slightly intimidated.

On my way out of the gym Mark called my cell and asked if I could drop off a few coffee's for him and two of his fellow soldiers. I brought them to him and I told him that it was bittersweet to keep having to say "goodbye" again. This time was better though as he was able to sit in the car with me for about 10 minutes. We hugged for a few minutes and I kept telling him to be safe!!

He called me around 4:30pm to say they would be flying within the hour so he should be in the air as I type this at 6pm EST.

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Thought I'd check in...

Jan 13, 2009

This week has been kind of sad as Mark is leaving for Afghanistan in just over 48 hours. We've been trying to spend as much time as possible together before he leaves after we get out of work. He went to the gym with me on Sunday and Monday which was nice. He was definitely not into the gym which I thought was funny for a soldier! He only liked playing basketball when we were done. Today when I get out of work at 2pm I will go alone and meet him after I'm done working out. We are going to have a quiet night home watching the shows we've recorded all week and having dinner.

Tomorrow we are going bowling and to a nice dinner which we are looking forward too. Friday I'm going to get out of work a few hours early so we can go to a movie ("Paul Blart: Mall Cop") which looks good. We are movie people as we wind up going at least once every weekend. We both miss that while Mark is gone.

I was thinking that if the weather cooperates on Saturday morning that I should drive the 75 minutes to my Support Group meeting. I haven't been to one since the winter started and I told the group I would be back in the spring. We have negative 15 to 20 degree temps for the next 3 days and hopefully not too much additional snow to deal with.

That's about it for now. I'm sure I'll post a sad, sad post after Mark actually leaves and I come back to a lonely house with just me and my Sargey-boy.

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Happy 2009!

Jan 05, 2009

Happy New Year to all of my OH friends! I'd like to say that I hope it is the best year yet but my Husband is deploying very shortly to Afghanistan and he'll be gone for the whole year. Healthwise I do think it will be the best year yet though! I'm a bit concerned about how I'm going to be while he's gone. On one hand it makes it easier for me (foodwise) when Mark is gone but he is my best friend and I really don't want him to go. I just hope that the year goes by pretty quickly. My Sister got engaged just before Thanksgiving so I can stay busy helping her plan over the phone and online as we are in different states. I also work full time so that helps too.

Anywho...on New Years Day Mark really wanted to go skiing. I went with him but I was so nervous. One of my goals here on OH was to Learn To Ski but I wanted to wait until next winter when I'll be at my goal weight. Sure enough we pay for lift tickets and the ski rentals and it turns out I can't fit a Ski Boot around my fat calf! I cried and walked outside because this obviously isn't the first time that I wanted to do something but was limited because of my size. I watched Mark go downhill one time and then I waited in the car playing Sudoku on my cell phone. It was too cold to sit outside. He was only gone for an hour so that wasn't too bad. Hopefully next year I'll achieve my goal! They did have snow tubing too which looked like so much fun. I wanted to try that but I worried that the chain to bring you up the hill wouldn't work for me. It isn't a lift like for the skiing hill...you lay belly down on your tube and hold onto a stick that is running around a chain and it drags you uphill. Maybe next year for that too.....

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No longer Morbidly Obese!

Dec 21, 2008

I'm so excited! As of Friday my BMI has gone from a 54.7 (299 pounds) to 39.9 (218 pounds)!! I am no longer Morbidly Obese....just plain old Obese. I see the next hurdle ahead as I prepare to get under 200 pounds! I'm trying to set a goal for myself time wise to reach 199 but I'm not sure what date I should pick...realistically. I'm 19 pounds away so I was thinking 6 weeks? Is that realistic though? If anyone has any thoughts please send them my way! I've only lost 6 pounds since Thanksgiving which was nearly 4 weeks ago. Hopefully I will break this plateau soon! I'm trying to mix up my foods and do additional exercise to see if that will help! 

I'm getting in a good amount of protein each day. I'm wondering if I should cut back on my Milk intake a bit. Some days I have 4 glasses of Skim Milk...that is 360 calories right there. I've had 2 glasses today so I'll try to limit it to 2 glasses per day. I love Milk and always have loved Skim milk. I knew it was a great way to get in additional protein too but I will test this out for 2 weeks and see if there are any results.

I made a GREAT pizza yesterday for lunch! I took a Mini Whole Wheat Pita and put it on a cookie sheet. I added 1-2 tbsp of Preggo, some basil, 1/3 cup of Weight Watchers Light Mexican Cheese and then on top I added about 1-1 1/2 ounces of leftover ground turkey with taco seasoning. I baked this in the oven for 10 minutes and it was fabulous! I think it was the best thing I've eaten post op, lol. I have to give props to EggFace as I saw the pizza from her site and I used her recipe and just tweaked it with the ingredients that I had on hand! I think I am going to make another one tonight for dinner! Oh- I wound up using my mini food chopper to make the leftover turkey into a fine, crumbled taco meat. It was easier to eat and to top on the pizza.

Happy Holidays to everyone!
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Down 60 in less than 3 months- 75 lbs overall!

Nov 23, 2008

I'm so happy! First of all I just noticed that my BMI is exactly 41.0 today! I almost wouldn't qualify for the RNY, lol! Secondly I am down 75 pounds since I first met with Dr. Kim and it feels wonderful! I go to the office this afternoon for another post-op appointment!

I can see ONEDERLAND in the distance and that is unbelievable to me! I haven't seen the 190's since the Fall of 1993- Fifteen years ago. That is incredible. I'm in a size 20 for pants and can hear the regular stores calling my name, lol. I'm looking forward to shopping at NY & Company the most! They seem to have great clothes for work and the prices are certainly more reasonable than Lane Bryant!!! WOO HOO.

I will be sure to post a post Thanksgiving update. The holiday was never hard for me as I'm more social with my family than I am worried about eating. I only see many of them a couple times per year so I make the best of that time together!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my fellow OH'ers!!

Melissa

(Edited to add that I had to cancel this afternoon's appointment. I am so swamped at work and my co-worker is off so there is no way I can leave the office. The soonest they can get me back in is 2 months away- January 22, 2009. I'm doing really well though so that is ok. I'll email the dietician to see if anything should change yet).

About Me
Fort Drum, NY
Location
30.9
BMI
RNY
Surgery
08/27/2008
Surgery Date
Aug 31, 2007
Member Since

Friends 26

Latest Blog 33
Down 60 in less than 3 months- 75 lbs overall!

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