Good News, Bad News

Last night was the weekly training with Women Run/Walk of Memphis. I was really looking forward to it all day and the weather was looking great.

I got up yesterday morning and worked-out with my Aunt. We did 45 minutes of cardio. I love working out with someone, let me tell you that is by far the best motivation you can get. Knowing that someone is depending on you to get their workout done really motivates you to get out of the bed in the morning.
This morning we did strength training with resistant bands for 30 minutes. I love strength training days.

At the training last night the plan was to do

4 Minute warm up
4 minute run (7x)
2 minute walk (7x)
4 minute cool down

I was very anxious to see how my calves would feel and how I would do running for four minutes. I started off at a little bit of a slower pace just to make sure I didn't burn myself out again. I stayed with Ashlee and the minutes just flew by as we were talking and having a good time. For the first mile Ashlee and I were going about a 14:57 minutes mile on average. The second mile we were at a 14:19 minute mile average pace. The last two runs Ashlee needed to slow down a bit so I went on ahead and my average pace for the last mile was 14:04 minute mile.
I finished at 48:54 minutes and 3.30miles with an overall average pace of 14:50. And I am very pleased to report that I had NO calf pain! I can't even begin to tell you how happy that made me. I have really been craving (for lack of better word) a run that was pain free and actually enjoyable. I knew I had it in me :) So that's my good news
NO CALF PAIN!

The bad news is that I've been running for 6 weeks and now am on my second week of doing extra cardio and strength training and I've been watching my calorie intake for two weeks and still have seen NO change on the scale. Got up this morning to weigh and 162 was still staring me in the face. Now I know what someone of you are going to say "muscle weighs more than fat" "watch the inches not the scale" "Aren't your clothes fitting better?" "Don't you feel better?"
I know all those lines and have used some of them on friends myself and they're all true but that doesn't change the fact that I still have 40 *POUNDS* to lose. I really do need to invest in a tape measure because I'm sure that will help motivate me but I still desperately want to see the numbers going down on that scale

So I leave you with a little Garfield scale humor

Bruises, coughs, and calves...

Bruises, coughs, and calves, that's what my excuses are made of today...

I got up this morning at 5:50 to start my run. I was just praying I'd have no calf pain this time.
The weather was perfect, cool with a nice breeze

I started off and was feeling good with the exception of my right leg due to a massive bruise

Gross right? Wednesday night after church I was talking to a friend and was walking down the aisle between the seats, I turned my head to say goodbye as I was walking away and ran right into the arm of one of the chairs. I knew I was going to have a bruise instantly. It stinks that I'm so klutzy and bruise easily.
Anyway back to my run, who knew a bruise good bother you so much during a run? It wasn't enough to make me stop mostly just annoying.
I tried to focus more on my form and make sure I was landing on the balls of my feet. Everything was going well and I wasn't experiencing any calf pain. I was however having some troubling breathing properly. I've been having some major drainage so my chest was really congested...
On my sixth run I had to run up a hill and that's when the pain started. Not the muscle pain though, the rod pain. But it was only in my right leg this time. I really wish I knew what was causing that pain and it's really weird that it was only in one leg this time. I pushed through it though and finished all ten runs without stopping. When I finished the tenth run I was pleasantly surprised to see this...

5K in 45 minutes! Woohoo! I still have a long way to go to get to a 30 minute 5K but I was shocked to see that distance with all the things I was fighting against this morning.

During my cool down I all of the sudden started smelling bacon! It was weird but as I got closer to this house...

I realized they had their door open and the whole street smelt like bacon. It made me really hungry and crave bacon
But I was good and came home and had my normal breakfast

Love this stuff and it's only 180 calories.

So next weeks training is..
5 minute warm up
run 4 minutes (?x)
walk 2 minutes(?x)
5 minute cool down
I have no idea how many times we are running/walking because the website says run 4 minutes walk 2 minutes for 40 minutes. If you divide 40 by 6 it's 6.6666666. So I'll be interested to see what we do Monday



Hey if you're on MyFitnessPal let's be friends. My user id is EBob86.

Leticia Colombia

I was thinking the other day about how this blog isn't supposed to be just about my weight-loss/running journey, it's supposed to also be about my journey growing in Christ. I have definitely slacked on that side of it. Not because God hasn't been working in my life but quit the opposite, He has been doing amazing things but it takes a lot more thought and time to write those deep meaningful things down.
So I thought what better way to get back into it than to talk about the mission trip.

Josh and I left for Leticia Colombia on July 28th.
*Our team of 12 ready to leave the Memphis Airport*

Saturday was a looooong day of traveling and we didn't make it into Bogota until after 11:00pm and by the time we worked our way through immigration and money exchange it was after midnight before we made it to our hotel.
Because of a time confusion about half of our team got a little less sleep than the rest of the group but all was well because we were getting our first taste of Colombian Coffee :)

We hit the ground running and headed out to do some sight seeing in Bogota. We headed to Montserrat (a mountain in Bogota) and rode a cable car up to the top of the mountain to check out the best views of the city.
*Our team waiting on the cable car*

Because of the elevation and being surrounded by mountains it was pretty chilly and we also had some overcast/rain showers.
*I was freezing*

After doing some sight seeing Julie and I got some Hot Coco to warm up
*Yum*

We then headed back to the Bogota airport to grab some lunch and then our flight to Leticia. We got to eat lunch at Crepe's and Waffles. Oh. My. Yum. So good.
*Josh and I enjoying our Frozen Mocha Frappuccinos *

We landed in Leticia around 4:15 headed to Malokamazones (our hotel) to check in.
*Finally in Leticia*

We went to church with some of the kids from La Aljaba that night and then treated them to ice-cream. The kids were so excited we were there. And we had a great time playing with them and getting to know them.

We started Monday morning with some sight seeing and headed to the Amazon River.
*On the boat going down the Amazon River*

We then went to Isle de Micos (Monkey Island). We followed our guide into the jungle as he was calling the Monkeys. We were each given a banana and the monkeys just swarmed you trying to get a bite.
*Josh and I with the Monkeys*

The Monkeys used everybody's heads to get from one banana to the next
*What a unreal experience*

*love this shot*

We left Monkey Island and headed to a small village that's actually located in Peru. The villagers have a wide range of indigenous animals, reptiles and such. They go out into the jungle and capture these animals and they make their money from tourist (like us) who pay to hold them.
*Me with a Sloth*

*Josh with a Cayman*

We had lunch on the river at this amazing raft like restaurant. We got to relax in some hammocks while our meal was prepared and had another amazing meal.

Later that evening we headed to the Barrio Nuevo to show the Jesus Film. The Barrio is basically the slum of Leticia. These people came out of the jungle and used what materials they could find to build their "houses" A few of the kids from La Aljaba are from here.
*One of the "houses" at the Barrio*

The Barrio is on the Brazil/Colombia border so we got to stand in two countries at once. So in one day we were in three Countries. Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. Very cool.
*Me in two countries*

*smooching across country lines*

Josh and I got to help with "child care" during the movie so the Mom's could watch
*We got to play with these adorable twins. Look at those cheeks*

Tuesday we split into 2 groups, one team working with the children at La Aljaba and the other team began a construction project at the transition house, Casa Blanca. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday like this.
*Josh working on the construction project*

*Me helping with VBS*

VBS was done in two groups one in the am and one in the pm because this is how they went to school. We had an age range of 4-18. We started each session with music. We taught the kids two songs, first in spanish then in english. We taught them Here I am to Worship and Jesus Loves Me.
We then did a story followed by a craft. The kids loved the crafts. We really had a great time.

The Construction team built a 750 square foot covered patio, a structure that will help out immensely during the long rainy days that are inevitable in the jungle and to have a place to hang dry their cloths.

Thursday evening we watched "Rio" in spanish with the kids and made smores. The kids were really funny with the smores. They wouldn't eat it like a sandwich they peeled off each layer and ate each layer separately
*Starting "Rio"*

One thing we learned though is even with all the things we had planned we had the most fun with the kids during the free time. Wether it was playing basketball, reading books, hanging out at the playground, signing t-shirts, teaching them Ladder Golf, or taking a hundred pictures of them.
It wasn't about the "stuff" it was about building relationships...
*Me with Ema*

*Josh with Ema and Luz*

*sweet group of girls*

*Josh and I with Lucy*

Josh and I with Angie*

Now this little boy made the biggest impact on us of all. This is Frank Kevin. He grabbed our heart the first day there and it wasn't long before we found out he wasn't being sponsored. Josh and I knew God wanted us to sponsor him and we got to tell him before we left. He is now part of our family.
*Us with Frank Kevin*

We left Leticia forever changed and we can't wait to go back!!

*Our team with some of the kids and staff from La Aljaba*

Answers

This morning I got up at 4:50 to get my run in before my Aunt showed up to do our workout.
I got through the first 4 runs and then I had to stop to stretch out my calves and then was able to finish the last 6. It's getting better but my pace was super slow. I don't know if my pace has slowed down because of the calf pain or if the next level of training has put that much of a strain on me. I'm hoping it's my calves because that seems to be getting better the training on the other hand is just going to get harder.

I got some answers to my questions about my calves though. Apparently I was right about the shoes causing me to run different. A friend of mine informed me that PureFlows are a hybrid shoe that transitions you from a heel strike to a midfoot strike. He said when I run, to concentrate on trying to land on the ball of my foot and pushing off instead of on my heel. He also said it takes a little while for your muscles to get used to the new technique and that I will feel some pain for a little bit.
I'm glad to know what's causing it and that it wont last forever.

Cardio and Strength Training

The run with Women Run/Walk of Memphis got cancelled last night due to thunderstorms so I hit the 'mil last night. I was anxious to see how my calf muscles would do.

I started the 5 minute warm up at 3.5mph
The first 3 minute run I did 5mph and was feeling ok but I knew I was going to have to slow it down if I wanted to do all 10 runs
1 minute walk at 3mph
3 minute run 4.5mph and my calves started to burn so after I finished the run I jumped off to stretch them out
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph had to jump off again to stretch out my calves
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph got of to stretch after that one. At least I did 3 runs this time
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute run 4 mph
1 minute walk 3 mph
3 minute walk 4 mph last minute I bumped it up to 5 mph
1 minute walk 3.5 mph
5 minute cool down 2.8mph

Total Time 50 minutes Total Distance 3.02 miles

When I first started trying to run (over a year ago) I was getting this severe pain in my calves (much different then the pain I'm feeling now) and it didn't start until after I got new shoes. It got so bad that I stopped running.
When I started back again a few weeks ago that pain was starting to come back. The only way I know how to describe it is it would feel like there was a metal rod in my leg starting at the back of my ankle and going up to the top of my calf muscle. It hurt to touch it and hurt to walk/run. When I got my new shoes my first run with them (Saturday) that pain was immediately gone but was replaced with this new pain. It feels like an extremely sore muscle. Like if you had done an intense workout and only worked that one muscle.
Stretching it out makes it go away and it doesn't bother me when I'm not running. I'm hoping it's just a new shoe thing and that having new shoes is making me run different and therefor causing me to use a different muscle than I'm used to.
Josh made the comment last night that maybe I'm just not meant to be a runner. It would be a lie if I said that that thought hadn't crossed my mind. I'm just hoping that's not the case.

So this week I started doing my Turbo Jam DVD's to get some Cardio and Strength training

I've only done two days but boy are my obliques killing me. I LOVE turbo jam because almost every move engages your core.
My Awesome Aunt is working out with me so I made a schedule for us to follow

+ my 3 runs a week
I'm also trying to be more aware of whats going in my mouth so I downloaded an app called My Fitness Pal

Love Love Love this app. It has a barcode scanner to scan in your food. If its already in the data base (so far I haven't found anything that wasn't) it pulls up all the nutritional info and all you have to do is put in your serving. So cool. It also keeps up with your exercise and weight.
If you already have the app look me up my user name is EBob86 and we can help hold each accountable.


Hopefully next week I'll have some weight updates for you.

New shoes......

I got my new shoes Thursday evening and couldn't wait to try them out. My alarm went off at 4:50 Friday morning and I was getting ready when Eli woke up. I only have a small window to run in the morning before Josh leaves for work. I knew that by the time I got Eli fed and back in the bed it'd be too late for me to get my 45 minute run in. Booo!

The kids spent the night at their Nana and Pawpaw's house last night so I was able to sleep in this morning (btw 8:00 is sleeping in for me) So 9:00 I was ready to hit the pavement.

I started my first run and was feeling great. The ankle and knee pain I had been feeling was almost completely gone instantly *yay for new shoes*
Second run still feeling good but my calves were starting to hurt a little...
Third run my calves were burning! I decided to stop a stretch them out. As soon as I stopped my calves tightened up and they felt like they weighed 20 pounds each. So I stretched for a little bit and they started to feel a little better. So I started back up again.
Fourth run I was feeling ok
Fifth run it was starting to burn again and I took a 30 second break in the middle of my 3 minute run. Hopefully none of you think I am a wimp because I actually have a very high pain tolerance but this was some serious muscle pain.
Sixth run I again took a 30 second break
Seventh run I just busted it out (at a very slow pace)
My cool down was excruciating and I couldn't wait to get home and stretch.

I did the yoga stretches that I talked about the other day and then did a few extra calf stretches

This is by far my favorite calf stretch.

I always do this stretch before and after a run.

So right now my calves are feeling fine the stretches really helped. But I have a question for all you more experienced runners.
What's up with the calf pain? Is it because of the new shoes? Are the new shoes causing me to run differently and therefor causing me to strain that muscle?

I really don't want to have this problem again on Monday when I run with the group.

Creepy run :)

I knew today was going to be a hard day to get my run in with it being Wednesday and us planning on going to church tonight. As I've mentioned before I hate running by myself in the dark and even if I did decide to run on the treadmill tonight I'd probably be to tired by the time we got home from church and got the kiddos in the bed and I'd make a hundred excuses of why not to run. So I decided last night to set my alarm for 4:50 and pray that Eli's schedule aloud me to run first thing in the morning.
Eli woke up at 1:00am but I was able to get him back sleep without a bottle. He woke up again at 4:00 and I went ahead and fed him and put him back to bed. Yay! The perfect schedule. He had eaten and was back in bed asleep and I still had 30 minutes before my alarm would go off. So when it went off I rolled out of bed laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement. Did you know it's still pretty dark at 5:00am? Yea, I didn't think about that and was not too happy about running in the dark. It freaks me out and I really felt the urge to bring a baseball bat with me or at least some mace. Not that my neighborhood is necessarily dangerous but it just makes me really uncomfortable.
So anyway, I started my run and decided to run and a much slower pace so I wouldn't burn out before the end again and was running about a 12 minute mile.
The run went really well (with the exception of it being dark and creepy)
I went 2.92 miles in 46 minutes and felt pretty good after I finished.
I wrapped it up with some yoga stretches that Women Run/Walk of Memphis had suggested..
You can check them out here.

So I ordered new shoes yesterday and I can't wait to get them. I have been long over due for a new pair for some time now. I've had the same pair for almost a year and a half and that's a big no-no in the running world.
After some research and advise from some friends I decided on the Brooks Pureflow

I can't wait to try them out and it's a BIG bonus that they're purple!
I'm also hoping to order some other "running gear" later this week. I am in desperate need of some new bras, wick clothing, and water bottle I can carry while running.

So what's your must have running gear?

Pace yourself

I learned that lesson the hard way last night....
After taking a week off while in Colombia I went to the Women Run/Walk of memphis training day last night. The plan for this week was a

5 minute warm up
3 minute run (x7)
2 minute walk (x7)
5 minute cool down

I started the first run feeling great and was going at the same pace I had been doing at home (about a 10:30 minute mile) I was in the front of the pack and I was really excited. I stayed at the same pace all the way to the 5th run. On the 6th run I started getting chills and knew I had gotten way too hot. So I slowed the 6th run down and walked the 7th run. I still managed to go my furthest distance yet at 3.3 miles (yay!). I unfortunately don't know my exact time because I forgot to stop the stop watch when we finished so it was still going while I stretched and talked. I'm thinking it was 45-50 minutes.

So I've got some major training to do because next week we go to

5 minute warm up
3 minute run (x10)
1 minute walk (x10)
5 minute cool down

That seems like a big jump adding 3 runs and taking away a minute of walking! I hope I don't die ;)