My Very First Posting!!

Beware- this might be a little lengthy.

Well, I finally broke down and took the time to set up my blog. At first it will probably be very random and unorganized, but hopefully after time I will figure out what I am doing. I have been reading a few blogs for a while now, and I look forward to becoming part of the blogging community.

I am really getting excited and motivated to become a "for-real runner". I've always had this perception of what a runner is, but after reading some other blogs, I realize that I, too, can be a runner. My lifetime goal is to eventually run a marathon. My next/upcoming goal is to run a 10k; therefore I have signed up for the Nikeplus "Human Race" on 8/31/08, which I will run virtually in my hometown. I'll update on how that goes.

I have "run" two 5k races already. Both this year and last year I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in SLC. I was happy just to complete them, because for so long it seemed so out of reach. I hope to run other 5k's and actually work on improving my times (around 38:00 for both races).

In addition to becoming a runner, I hope to lose some weight. There are only a few brief periods in my life when I have been overweight, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. But this is also my achilles heel, because I have this skewed reality of what I really can eat and still maintain that lower weight (I sometimes still think that I'm that super-scrawny kid who can eat whatever and not gain an ounce). I am a total junkie when it comes to anything nutrition or fitness related- that is, reading about those topics. However, I struggle with putting this knowledge to use in my own life. Consistency is my down-fall, along with being a very "all or none" type of person.

Currently I weigh about 20 pounds more than when I got married. I realize that this isn't a ton of extra weight, and some might even say that I was too skinny at that time. But I am small framed, and because I have a pear shape, when I do carry any extra weight I feel very out of proportion (i.e. I can have a very bony upper body, and still have jiggly thighs). Plus my husband is naturally skinny and has a super-high metabolism, so it adds extra pressure to be smaller.

But anyway, I am optimistic that I can make this work, especially with support and encouragement. In general I don't have issues with exercising, it's the eating part that fails me. My husband has even said that I work out plenty, but that I eat too much. I have quite a bit of nutritional knowledge, but I think I need to be more diligent about portion sizes and allowing treats. For the most part I choose healthy foods; in fact generally I prefer them. But then I have to add a dessert on top of the healthy stuff. And I can never resist at family celebrations or at social functions (again going back to the fact that I still think I can eat things that other people can't without gaining weight).

So that is my quest: to find balance in my eating without feeling deprived. I used to weigh myself every day, and I think that I became obsessed. The number on the scale too often impacted my mood, and my self-esteem. So I've switched to weighing once a week, on Saturdays. The first time I did this was May 10, and I was 140.4 lbs. I went down a tiny bit for the first two weeks, then back up a bit. I broke down in the middle of this week and weighed again, and I'm back down, so hopefully I can continue down. I'll post a chart later when I have a little more data to go on.

As a final note for right now, I've had a few good runs lately. I am tracking my info on NikePlus.com, and I have linked to "My Runs" on the right, if you care to check it out. Yesterday the weather wasn't all that great, but it was a lot cooler, which was a benefit. I was able to run farther, longer, and quicker than on Monday, when it was sunny and warmer out. To make it official, my goal for this week is to get up to 5 miles by Saturday (when I usually do my longest run). My NikePlus goal for the month of June is 84 miles, and so far I have almost 10 miles. Wahoo!