Well look what this little lady did!

What did you do today Lisa? Oh, ya know DID 10 FREAKING MILES!!!

Yup, longest run yet! See, I'm back in the saddle, yay!

I honestly thought after a week of being lazy (only one day of working out, and it was lackluster, and a bit of swimming in the lake) I thought this would be the death workout. But honestly, this was probably my best workout yet! It felt easier than my 7 mile, and my pace improved from 18:13 when I did my 7 miles to 17:45 with my 10 miles! And honestly, I had a few weak bits, but when I was done, I could have kept going! I planned ahead, wore my awesome (har har) hydration belt, drank some Gatorade and water during the run, and ate some goo chews (AMAZING little candy treats! And so much better tasting than goo, I'm in love) when I was feeling tired. So I credit my awesome balance of pacing myself and knowing when to drink and power up when I started to feel tired to my 10 mile awesomeness.

I also credit my new running buddy! Yay! One of the girls I work with wanted to jump in and train with me so she could run with someone. Her jog fits my fast walking pace, so it worked well. And I noticed that when I'm chatting with someone, I'm not concentrating on my feet hurting or looking for pain or constantly glancing at my iPod to see how far I've gone. It really did help to have someone to go with to keep me occupied and to pass the time. And also if you're running with someone, they hold you accountable, so you can't back out because "you just don't wanna run!"

So my final run stat for my 10 miles was :

Distance: 10.08 miles
Time: 2:58:59
Pace: 17:45 min/mile
Calories: 2, 198 (WOW!)

I also think it's time to share a photo or two. The one photo is me pre-run, looking a bit skeptical of my super nerdy and still too small (but getting there!) runners fanny pack. Also notice the headphones and bad-ass don't talk to me I'm a woman on a mission sunglasses. And notice the white shirt, which 6 months ago you would never find me in anything white. The other photo is my post-run pic. I'm all smiles and all sweat and look like hell, but very happy. Hi, my name is Lisa, and I currently only have 1 chin and a little extra bit, way to keep kicking obesity's butt!

Greetings from the lankd of procrastination!

First off, THANK YOU DIET BLOG! And the awesome comments from people! It really means a lot to get recognized for this. I'm starting to hit a spot where I'm not so impressed with my efforts sometimes, and I start to drag my feet, so its nice and so helpful to go back and read these words of encouragement and wisdom. I've never really been a source of inspiration for anyone, so these comments and thoughts really do mean the world to me. Thank you doesn't even begin to describe my feelings for the support I receive on this site.

In other news, I've been in a funk this week. I'm PMS-ing (TMI, I know), which I'm not use to. See, when you have Polycystic Ovarian disease (like I do evidently, although I hate to use it as a crutch for my weight, so I try to leave it out of my life), you don't have a normal female cycle. Not healthy, but sort of nice when you only get a visit from Aunt Flo once a year. But now that I'm getting healthy, my cycle is back, and let me tell ya, it's back with a vengeance. I've been cranky and emotional for no reason, all I want to do is eat shitty food, and I don't want to work out at all. I've had to force myself to go even weight training this week, and I really don't mind weight training! Bad bad Lisa. Tomorrow I am forcing myself to get up and run or walk. No more whining Missy! Back to the grindstone.

In other news, I bought one of those nifty fanny pack things for runners, and boy do I look like a utter fool! An awesome utter running fool though, so it's all good. I've accepted the fact that running is not a glamorous sport, so strapping a purple fanny pack contraption to my waste is the least of my worries. I've gotten over the whole "I look sort of silly doing this" thing, and so putting on spandex and a fanny pack is totally sane to me now. Did I mention that I never wear anything around my waist because of my weight? Yeah, never. And did I mention the fanny pack barely fits (who knew that running companies don't cater to obese people, right?) and I feel like a strand of sausage wearing it? Yeah, whatever, you all are just jealous, I know...

So enough with my bitching. Time to get some sleep before a new days dawns, and I can rock it out in my spandex and fanny pack once again.

keep fighting the good fight!

I can tell that we are going to be friends...

So the time has come. I've decided that this little blog has been around long enough on the blogger playground to qualify for making some e-friends. Not only because I'm vain and want people to pay attention to me (ME! ME! ME!) but also because I've really gotten into my message of making ones life healthier and better, and I want to spread the word. I also have been getting into surfing the web and finding some really awesome diet and exercise blogs. Mostly diet, since it's what I still struggle with. I'm getting to the point where I want to meet people that are going through similar situations like me.

Case in point on the struggling with diet front, I binged some the past few days. It was out of frustration. I went to the gym after work Thursday night, and could barely do one mile, I was almost in tears. Seems my arch has fallen some, so I went and purchased some arch supports, but I was still angry. I felt like a failure walking out of the gym after only doing 1 mile. Granted I actually got my butt up and did 1 mile, and I did 200 crunches (with weights! woo hoo!), but I somehow still felt like I failed. So what does any sensible person do? Comes home and eats sort of shitty food and whines. Yup. Bad news bears. But I realize it was wrong, and I realize that I wasn't eating because I was hungry, but because I was emotional. Admitting your wrong and realizing the problem has to come first, right?

So my woe-is-me whiny self is back to training today. Probably do some crunches, and then this afternoon/evening when it cools down, 10 MILES (OH MY!). At this point even 10 miles is starting to not really phase me. The only problem is I need something to carry my water and gatorade and goo packets in. I need one of those dorky runner fanny pack things. Great. Hello lame sandwich...

So (hopefully) welcome bloggers that I e-mail! I hope you check out my little journey here, I don't bite, I just want to be friends. I'm getting to the point in my training where I need all the support I can get aka double digits training time. I'll be posting a links section soon too, so if you know a good blog to contact, let me know. Or if you want to be linked, let me know too! So tell all your friends folks, I'm coming out of my shell!

Ok, off to the bank, and then probably to buy one of those funny running fanny pack things. And maybe the Harry Potter book? Eh, I'll wait till tomorrow for that, otherwise I won't get any running in and probably not go to work either, haha.

I DID IT!

I FINISHED 7 FREAKING MILES! I ran, I jogged, I walked, I felt pain and happiness and so much more, and I DID IT!

When I was done, I was in a state of euphoria. I was so sore and tired, but I wanted to cry with joy. I wanted to shout and hug all the "roid rage" guys at the gym and just go crazy.

I never would have thought even a month ago that I could finish a 7 mile workout. Hell, I wouldn't have thought I could have finished 5 miles at that. I was even afraid that I would get 5.5 miles in, and collapse. Never would I have though I could finish 7 miles, NEVER. I am just in complete awe of myself. Every time I think about what I'm doing, how I'm actually getting healthy and making my life better, I just start crying. I'm just so freaking happy and proud of myself.

Today I was watching a re-run of the Biggest Loser on Bravo while I ate lunch, and it just made me smile and cry (again). Anytime I see people getting healthy and changing their life, I just get so filled with joy.

Even things that feel like setbacks empower me. For example, I received my Team Care runners shirt in the mail today for the marathon. It's a reallly nice shirt, UV protecting and helps with sweating, but its a womens XL. I haven't worn a womens size shirt in years, and I wear a guys XL, and even that can be tight at times. I just laughed, actually put the shirt on, and low and behold, it actually went on my body! Didn't fit, but I just smiled, because I know that it will fit in the future, that it's a goal to reach and something that I know I'll conquer.

I've done so much in the past few months that I never would have thought I could have done. I've ran more than a 10k run, I've ran 59.56 miles total to date, and I've gained so much self love and confidence that I've been missing in my life.

I still have a long way to go, but I know that my life is already worth so much more, and I'll only continue to grow with every mile I run.

Survived the Pitchfork Music Festival weekend...

So I survived the P-fork weekend, and I return! For those who don't know, Pitchfork Music Festival is this big indie music outdoor festival in Chicago, and I was covering it for this site called Heave Media. It was a great weekend, had some friends come and stay with me, and made sure to burn some calories in the process.

So I knew I would be standing allllll weekend in the heat, so I felt it best to push my 7 mile workout back until, well actually later this evening. Since my legs felt jello-ish after 4 miles, I didn't want to spend the weekend with sore legs and possibly bleeding (yay the gross stuff from running!) so I opted to spend the weekend forcing myself to dance in public in the name of cardio. And did I! I spent a lot of time at the dj stage. Saturday night (despite technical difficulties) I danced my butt off for the entire Girl Talk (a dj) set, busting out some crazy moves. Everyone was dancing and have a great time despite the sound issue.

But I really kicked it up a notch on Sunday. This band Klaxons were performing, and my friend Amy and I got prime spots up near the front. You can go check out the band, and realize that their music is hard and fast. The crowd went CRAZY! Moshing, dancing, screaming. I ended the night dancing in the middle of a dance circle with glowsticks. I felt like I was in the 90's at a rave, for reals. After the show my hair and clothes were soaked with sweat, but man did I have fun. I had some minor bruises, but it was totally worth it. Now if only every workout could include a mosh pit, I'd be pretty happy.

Off to the grocery store. I'm on my last cans of ancient tuna, so I really need to go. Then meeting Amy at the gym tonight for an EPIC RUN of 7 miles. Hope my legs don't fall out!

just a normal task...

What's that you say? Oh yeah, I just got home at 2am, ya know, just stopped by the gym and ran 4 FREAKING MILES. No biggie though, whatevs...

:)

P-fork is this weekend, so the running maybe scaled back, since I'll be dancing and standing on my feet all day. But don't worry, the training will continue. I even told my friends staying with me that one of them is going to work out with me, and to bring their workout clothes. So basically, it is on...

UPDATE

Have no fear, he is on the way to eat the cake. Adam to the rescue...

Almost toned enough to dance around in my underwear...

So last night I did 3.74 miles. I was going to do 4, but the bank was going to close, and I had to stop at the grocery store. Still, pretty damn far. Farther than a 5k. And my pace is getting lower, even though I felt like I was dragging. But I'm getting back into the swing of things after not running, and this weekend is 7 miles. Phew.

Food still is a struggle. Like, when I worked out with Amy, and after we went and got burgers and fries. Eh, at least we tried. I do ok if I'm home, because I just keep refusing to buy fatty foods. Right now there is a piece (only 1! They evidently sell them in singles) of birthday cake for Adam for his birthday. It has survived the night, but I can't promise that it will make it any farther if he doesn't get here and eat it. I also ate a bag of steamed broccoli today. Who would have thought that I'd think of a meal as a bag of steamed vegetables and a soy patty? Eh, people change.

My friend Sibo im'd me today. We went to high school together, and he did track, really cool guy. My away message was about running four miles, and he left me this gem:

holy shiz lisa
4 miles? dang you're running further than I ever have
cross country was 5k, and that killed me
congrats so far

That's right. I'm beating out people that ran for fun in high school. Sibo, I do believe you made my day...

Still hanging in there...

So, it's been a while. I've been a neglectful blogger. But I've been busy! And hurt! So there...

Hope 4th of July was well for everyone. Remember that gym I joined? Well I go to it a lot, which is good. But they have this thing, where they offer you a free trainer session. So cool, right? Except I got a CRAPPY trainer. We shall call him mumbles, because he mumbled and I have no idea what he said the entire time. It sucks when someone mumbles reps, because you have no idea what is going on. He also wasn't too skilled in nutrition (despite my obvious weight issues, I have a plethora of knowledge when it comes to nutrition, go figure), and he also, get this, here comes the best part: PUSHED ME WAYYYY TOOO HARD.

That is right. I couldn't move for the past week. Well actually for like 3 days I couldn't move, but then it slowly got better, and I only now have a small pain in my upper thigh. It was a bit funny, because I walked like a robot, but it was not funny when I stopped walking because I couldn't physically do it.

So yesterday was my foray back into walking and fully training. The rest of the week before that I spent at the gym doing weight training and swimming. I was suppose to do 4 miles. I could only do 2 before I felt really sick to my stomach. Remember when I told myself never to skip walking for a few days again. Bingo. So I'm going to do 3 tonight, and slowly work my way back up.

This weekend is 7 miles. Will I make it? I sure hope so. It's a busy weekend too. Friends coming in town to stay with me for the Pitchfork Music Festival. I'm covering the festival for Heave Media, so that should be fun. And somewhere in that crazy schedule, I'm walking 7 miles. Phew.

Back with a vengeance folks. What doesn't kill us (ya know, like trainers at Xsport), makes us stronger.

Not Lisa?!

Hi all! This is Emily, hijacking Lisa's blog since I apparently have contribution access.

Just want to say LISA, YOU ROCK MY FACE OFF BY DOING THIS AND STICKING WITH IT. ROCK. MY. FACE. OFF.

That is all. Carry on.