www – week 3

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It’s that time again. Time for the weekly weigh-in.

To say I was not excited about this week’s moment of reckoning would be an understatement. The thing is, vacation is hard. But what is harder than any old vacation is being at your sister’s house, helping with a new baby, sitting in front of the t.v. half the day (speaking of which, I have discovered a myriad of t.v. shows I had no idea existed, but now feel I cannot live without) and lying by the pool the other half, with the occasional run thrown in, all the while having Baskin-Robbins’ World Class Chocolate ice-cream calling to me from the freezer like a forbidden lover throwing pebbles at my window, until I finally gave in. Did I mention that I am an emotional eater?

You laugh, but this is serious. I would wake up in the morning to hear the gentle whisperings of the ice-cream, “Chloe, you know you want me. Just one little bite won’t hurt. You can even write it down. Measure out a few ounces, weigh it on the scale and calculate the points. You don’t have to finish me off, but have a little. Just a taste. No one ever needs to know.” So, I would try and resist by going for a run, or heading out by the pool, but then the moment I set foot back into the house, the persuasive efforts of my long lost love would continue.

Just like the wanton “bad boy” that I know I shouldn’t be with, but often can’t resist, the temptation of such sweetness was more than I could take. I gave in. And it was delicious. The cool, creamy ribbons of white chocolate mouse and chocolate decadence were worth it…in the moment. But, as with the fiance that everyone told me I should shouldn’t marry, the truth eventually came out. And the truth was that most of what World Class told me was lies. Yes, I wanted him, but he manipulated me. He knows it’s never “just a bite”. He knows I’m weak when it comes to resisting his charms and he played me like a fiddle.

He also told me no one would know…but someone did know and that someone was Fanny, a.k.a. my arse. Fanny who loves all things chocolate, but especially when it’s in the form of ice cream. Fanny who, today, kept insisting that I could put off going to Weight Watchers until Saturday. I could not eat tomorrow and then run my nine miles on Saturday and it would be okay. I could just weigh in on Saturday, after running. No harm, no foul.

I patiently listen to Fanny and her rationalizations, and then politely, but firmly, shot down her attempts at dissuading me from my goal. The thing is, Fanny knew that if the numbers on that scale had not moved down, or worse yet, gone up, I would no longer be indulging my passion for ice-cream and she would start shrinking again.

After deciding I would go to my meeting, I weighed myself on my scale just to prepare myself for the shock. Although, considering I haven’t used my scale very much since beginning the program, so I’m not totally sure how mine and the one at WW compare, that didn’t really do anything to prepare me. It did, however, allow me to try on multiple outfits to ensure that I was wearing as little as possible in the weight sense…not the slut sense. In case you are wondering, matte jersey, while a nice summer fabric, happens to be very heavy. Is this cheating? Maybe a little, but the truth is, I couldn’t handle the truth if the truth happened to be that I had gained weight.

Now, before I reveal what happened next, let me also tell you that I didn’t completely fall off the wagon. With all of the running I did, and Karma’s bonus points for using all of my vacation time to be my sister’s nanny/chef/maid/housekeeper/personal shopper (yes, I believe that Karma will help me lose weight), I knew it couldn’t be that bad. Plus, there were only a couple of days when I went way over my points. While I was consuming a lot of ice-cream, I was not consuming a lot of other things. You know, the healthy things with which I should be nourishing my body. I went ahead and left those items right in the fridge, just like the nice nerd I know I should date, but never want to (okay, maybe not never, but not when there are other, more exciting options).

So, without further ado…drum roll please…I lost two pounds! That’s right. Apparently exercise, Karma and skimpy clothing combined forces to combat the adverse effects of indulging my sweet tooth for eight days. However, I know I cannot expect to be so lucky this week, so back on the wagon I go, now that I just killed off a salad from Cafe Rio and washed it down with cookies and milk. Hey, the week was already shot, why not finish it with a bang?…like one last kiss before saying goodbye. Wish me luck!

insanity

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I’ve heard of heat exhaustion and lack of judgment from dehydration…I’ve just never experienced it before…here’s my story.

So, I decided that I would run to my friend’s house yesterday morning. I have been to AZ a few times since I moved away last summer and had yet to see her new home or her new baby (who will be a year old in a few weeks). I suppose I could have driven over, but I thought, why not run? Why not run? That right there should have been indication enough that something was seriously wrong chez moi.

When I told Vicky I would be running, she offered to come pick me up, but I turned her down. The run would be good for me. She gave me directions Monday night so that I could find it. I calculated the distance and knew that it was a little under eight miles away. I thought, as long as I got up early enough, this would be no big deal. I got up, got dressed and headed out the door with my water bottle. Now, from my run on Saturday, I knew I should have taken two bottles, but that seemed a little cumbersome, so I didn’t. Bad idea.

I had run about 3.5 miles when I realized exactly where Vicky’s house was. I mean, she had given me directions and I knew the distance, but I hadn’t thought too hard about them…and then, suddenly, I could picture her neighborhood and it just seemed so far. That, and by this point it was about 90 degrees outside and I was out of water. I wasn’t sure what to do. I had no cell phone on me, or money with which to use a pay phone. Turning around and going back to my sister’s would have taken almost as long. I had quite the conundrum.

Thankfully, there was a Circle K on the corner, so I headed over. There were pay phones on the outside, but I had no money, so they didn’t help me at all. I thought I would go inside and ask to use their phone, but then I figured if I asked one of the clerks to use the phone inside, he would just tell me to use the pay phone. This caused me to hesitate (I can’t handle rejection…in any form). I loitered for a bit in the nice air conditioning of the store, went back outside and debated what to do, went back into the store, then back outside again. I’m sure these clerks were looking at me thinking, “Wow, if she thinks she’s being sly about shoplifting, she really needs to rethink her strategy.” After leaving the Circle K for the second time, I decided to just suck it up and run. Yes, I would rather run 4.5 miles than ask to use a phone and get rejected. I am pathetic.

I was going to be much later than I had told Vicky and she was on a schedule, but I didn’t know what else to do. I got about a quarter of a mile down the road (did I mention that I have little rocks in my shoe at this point and I can feel new blisters forming…along with the fact that my water is now gone?) and decided there was no way I could finish. The sun was beating down on me. I was exhausted from the heat. I was out of water. I just started picturing myself passed out, on the side of the road, my skin crisping in the sun, dust blowing over me. Well, you get the picture.

I headed back to the Circle K (yeah, that’s not suspicious) and finally found enough courage to ask to use the phone. Surprisingly, the clerk just said “sure” and found the phone for me. I called Vicky and she just started laughing. I hadn’t said two words and she knew. I told her where I was at Queen Creek and Chandler Heights and that I would be heading north on Queen Creek (at which point, Vicky kindly told me I couldn’t head north on Queen Creek because it ran east/west…yep, I couldn’t even get the road right) and she headed out to pick me up. At this point, I knew she was coming and I suddenly had a burst of energy. I started running up the road with all the energy of someone who really does love running. I managed to get in almost a mile before she pulled up, laughing.

Lessons learned:

1. I have awesome friends who don’t hesitate to laugh at me when laughing is deserved.

2. The clerks at the Circle K on Power and Chandler Heights are really nice and probably didn’t assume that this girl in running get up with an iPod was going to shoplift.

3. Running without enough water is just stupid.

4. Running farther than three miles in Arizona in June is just stupid.

5. Running without a cell phone or money to use a pay phone is just stupid.

6. When a ride is offered and you don’t have to run 8 miles for training, not taking the ride is just stupid.

spt – through the eyes of love

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“This week’s challenge is interactive. a little less “self-portrait,” a little more “self-love.” Now, go ahead and hand your camera to the person on your left. No-one there? Okay, how about this: hand your camera to your little, your husband, your aunt, your best friend. Have them snap your photo. Ask them to share with you one thing they love about you in the picture. Make sure you share their comments when you post your spt.

Next step: take a good long look at your new photo. Think about the response you got from the photographer. Did they love your eyes? Did they love your goofy expression? Did they love your red shirt?Do you see the same things? Do you love the same things they love? Had you forgotten that you love your smile? Or your freckles? Go ahead… fall in love with yourself again! I can’t wait to *see* you through new eyes on Tuesday!”


So, here’s my picture. I didn’t actually have this picture taken for this purpose, but being that I’m in Arizona and don’t have my friends around who would help me out with this (and my sister just doesn’t get my blogging obsession), I thought I’d use this picture that my friend, Kelly took when we were at Happy Sumo a while ago. I didn’t love this picture. I had kind of rushed out the door to work that morning, pulling my hair back really fast without applying any makeup and I felt kind of grungy. But then, Kelly emailed it to me and said how much she liked it and how cute she thought it was.

I’m sure I responded that I didn’t love it, because that’s what I do. But the more I’ve looked at it, the more I like it, too. I like that I just look genuinely happy…and I like my smile.

Thanks, Lelly, for another great challenge.

training tidbits

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1. Seven mile run in Arizona in June = bad idea. It doesn’t matter that I was up at 6:30 or that most of the run was in the shade, or that I had a water bottle with me. At 6:30, it was already 95 degrees, I don’t care how shady it was, it was still 95 and one water bottle was not enough. Not when it’s gone by mile four because I drank half and poured the other half on my head and the last mile and a half were not in the shade and the temperature had gone up by five degrees in the hour I was running.

2. New shoes are a bad idea for a seven mile run. Granted, I had done a six miler in them, but that was in Utah, where it wasn’t 95. I have my first blisters of the training season…and I was even wearing my lined socks, the ones that have two layers, the ones that are never supposed to give you blisters. Well, I came home with four…two on each foot.

3. I loved the running skirt…for the first two miles. I just need to purchase some anti-chafage stuff and then it will be fantastic (I would love any recommendations). I highly recommend trying one out! I was surprised by how much I loved it, even if it isn’t the cutest thing on me…which brings me to number four.

4. I love that, when I’m running, the last thing I think about is what I look like. I may think about it while I’m getting dressed, but once I’m running, I just don’t care…well, not beyond wanting to make sure I’m not flashing someone.

5. If you are going to run with a dog, make sure it’s one who is used to running as far as you are going. I took my brother-in-law’s dog, Nevica, with me the other day (it was only three miles). He laid down after about two and a half miles. Just stopped cold and laid down. So I dragged him the last little bit (not literally, he got back on his feet) and then he threw up promptly upon arrival back at my sister’s house, the poor thing. And just so you know, my brother-in-law was the one who told me he’d be fine. I never would have taken him had I thought it would cause him to vomit…and yet I have a feeling puking after running is very likely in my future and I keep doing it. Hmm, what does that say about me?

6. I am going to really miss being at my sister’s. She has a pool that I can jump into as soon as I get done running. It’s fantastic! That’s all I thought about during that last mile of the seven.

7. Music really does make a huge difference when running. A few of my recent favorites:
Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake
Find A New Way – Young Love
Hyperlink – Eiffel 65
Don’t Matter – Akon
Freedom 90 – George Michael
Give it to Me – Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and JT
Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
The Sweet Escape (Konvict Remix) – Gwen Stefani
Where Does the Good Go? – Tegan and Sara
Too Young to Fight – Young Love
Say it Right – Nelly Furtado
Living in a Bubble – Eiffel 65
Irreplaceable – Beyonce

8. And, on the whole music thing, I am once again going to advertise for Nike and Apple. Seriously, the Nike+ with the iPod nano is the best purchase I have made for this whole marathon thing. It’s so nice that I don’t ever have to look at my watch (or the clock on my iPod) because, at every mile, a lovely voice comes on and says, “one mile completed”, or “halfway point”, or “two miles to go”. I love it!

9. If you are a female nonrunner who is thinking about running a marathon, you need to get this book. Anne sent it to me (she’s also training for St. George) and I am loving it! It is informative and hilarious.