May Musings and June Goals

The end of May has arrived and with it the final weigh-in for the month.

May starting weight: 194
May ending weight: 194

Before I left for my trip, I weighed 190.6. So I gained 3.4 pounds while on vacation. That is the biggest gain I remember ever having since starting. I have mixed feelings about it. Initially I was of the "I don't care, it was vacation" mindset. Now, I'm starting to feel a little badly about it, since that gain caused me to have a loss of ZERO pounds for the entire month of May. And honestly, I thought I was very active on the trip (I even worked out twice in addition to all the walking we did), and I guess I assumed that all the activity would make up for the food I ate, which consisted primarily of theme park fare. I assumed wrong, but I didn't want to worry about everything I ate my entire vacation, so I didn't. So I shouldn't be surprised that the scale reflects that lack of diligence, and I am owning up to it and moving on.

Here's a report on how I did with my May goals:

1. Exercise between 225-250 minutes a week. I did this 2 of the 4 weeks, so 50% success.
2. Complete the May Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp. EPIC fail. I didn't even complete one full week of the challenge. I guess the interest just wasn't there.
3. Complete first 5k! DONE on May 9, 2009 in 34:19!
4. Begin doing running intervals. I have done this, but I need to do it with some kind of routine.
5. Run a 10-minute mile. Not yet. I have been running at this goal pace for a few minutes at a time, but I am not able to do a full mile. I am running an average of an 11:05-11:15 mile.
6. Read 2 books. DONE. I read The End of Reason by Ravi Zacharias, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (hehe), and Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. The End of Reason was very short, but the other two books made up for that. The End of Reason was also my favorite of the 3.

All in all, I give myself a C. I am wondering if I should start setting weekly goals instead of monthly goals, since I can't seem to remember or stick to my monthly goals. Or perhaps I just need to check in weekly to see how I'm doing on my monthly goals. I haven't been intentionally checking my progress, so something needs to change.

Goals for June:
1. Run, bike, or walk at least 18 miles a week. I think this is very doable, as that would be about 3.5 miles a day if I work out 5 days a week. If I am meeting this goal too easily, I will increase it.
2. Stay within my calorie range 6 out of 7 days a week. I have gotten way too lax about this, and I know it is hurting my efforts, so I need to step it up when it comes to my caloric intake.
3. Strength train at least twice a week. I have failed miserably at this the past few months, and I have to get back into a routine. I have SO much flabby skin that I am sick of looking at!
4. Lose 4 pounds. I'd like to lose more, but will be happy with 4.
5. Read 3 books: one I've already read, one fiction, and one non-fiction. I should easily accomplish this since I am only teaching one class this month.

I am not at all happy with the half hearted efforts at weight loss I've been giving, so June is my month to step it up and keep progressing!

What are your goals for the month?

A Picture Is Worth a Bunch of Words You Won't Want to Read

For now, here are some pictures of our trip to Orlando. I am sure I will ramble profusely about the joys of SeaWorld sometime in the near future.








The trip was amazing. I want to go back. Today.

Can You Feel the Heat?

One benefit of exercising is that I've discovered how much I love exercising outside. And I especially love running outside. I ditched the treadmill for the pavement about 3 weeks into my Couch to 5k training, and I haven't looked back. Staring at a wall in front of me makes the time creep by, but running outside with the sun on my face and the wind caressing my skin is exhilarating. Even on mornings when it was 30 degrees outside, I would put on a jacket, grab my gloves, and be out the door. I get really hot and sweaty when I work out (exhibit A: the recent picture of me post-5k run), and the cool air offered the perfect remedy.

Now, however, summer is on the horizon, and that means heat and humidity. Today I went out for a run around 2:30, and it was 84 degrees. I had planned on running 3 miles today, and I started out slow and steady, trying to run with my dog, who soon was panting and letting her tongue hang out of her mouth. So after one lap I took her back in and resumed my run. The sun is out in full force today, and I could both see and feel the heat rising off the pavement. I kept running, feeling the sweat pool in the creases of my elbows and trying not to think about how good a cold shower would feel at that exact moment. The occasional spots of shade were a blissful but brief respite from the sun, and I soon felt my mouth drying up and my breathing becoming more labored. After a little over a mile and a half, I slowed to a walk and cooled down before going back indoors to the air conditioning and nice, cold water.

Today's run showed me a few things:

1. I need to carry water with me. Anyone have recommendations for a bottle that is easy and lightweight to carry on a run?
2. I am glad I have gotten over my phobia of showing my upper arms because running in a tank top is so much cooler than running in a shirt with sleeves.
3. I am not sure I could run a 5k this summer in this weather. I have been looking for another race to sign up for, and there are a few in Memphis that I have been looking it. Two are at night, which at first seemed appealing, but even a nighttime race in June would still be hot. Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with the heat? Will my body just adapt to it? Should I keep trying? I felt really weird after I came back inside, and I don't want to overdo it.

This will be my last blog for a while, as Stephen and I are heading to Memphis tomorrow to drop off our dog with my parents, and then our flight to Orlando leaves early on Saturday morning! It's supposed to rain the whole time we're there (rain seems to follow us wherever we go), but we're going to have an awesome time. Look for a post-vacation blog entry complete with pictures and maybe even some video. :)