No "Real" Running Yet

I finally updated my workouts on the sidebar. For a long time, it only showed up to my 6 mile run back on Aug 9. I'll try to keep it better updated, even though it's all listed within my posts. About the title, the 3.5 mile run that you can see from Saturday is a little deceiving. I went out Saturday morning at about 7:30, and decided I would try a little running, and then if I had any knee issues, I would just walk the rest. I went up to the park, since I wasn't sure how far I would be able to run, and didn't want to get stuck on my 4-mile loop walking all the way home (I was on a limited time schedule).

I did a 5-min warm-up, like always, then started out running. Surprisingly it felt pretty good, and I was able to keep a decent pace- for a while. But around 1.5 or 1.6 miles my knee started hurting a tiny bit, so I backed off. Once I finished the lap I was on, I just speed-walked the rest of the way. My plan was to go about 40-45 minutes, since I had a lot of stuff to do. I ended up doing just under 3.5 miles in 39:07, which is about 11:17 per mile average. The running part was my usual pace between 9:00 and 9:30, and the walking was between 12:00 and 12:30 per mile, so it was pretty brisk. It was a good workout, but I wanted to run so bad. But since I don't have new shoes yet, I didn't want to push my knee and end up causing more problems.

About the new shoes, I never did get a chance to go shopping on Saturday, since I had to go look for a wedding present and do some other stuff before heading off to the waterpark (w/o the Hubs, but with my SIL). I wandered around Wal-Mart for half an hour looking for some of the things on the registry, but apparently everything they wanted was only available online, so I ended up just getting them a gift card. I felt kind of bad, but it was last minute, and I was really getting grumpy, so I had to do something to stop the stress.

The waterpark was great. It was a lot warmer than last weekend (mid-90's), and it wasn't windy. We did go down a few slides on our tubes, but otherwise, we just lounged and read our books, then floated for a while on our tubes (in the pool, not the lazy river). We had to leave earlier than usual so I could get home and get ready for the wedding, since it was clear out in a town called Tooele (for all you non-Utahns, it's pronounced too-will-uh), which is about an hour drive from our house. It was a simple outdoor ceremony, and I didn't know a lot of people. The groom is one of the Hubs' friends that he games with once a week, so really the only people I knew were the groom, his brother, and the Hubs' brother and his wife. I'd never even met the bride, but she was really nice and looked so pretty. And it wasn't awkward like I feared it might be, since I'm not the most outgoing of people, and we don't drink.

One fun part was after they cut the cake, they did a toast, and the had these tiny, tiny champagne glasses for all the guests to put either champagne or sparkling cider (for all us teetotalers). It was a nice touch. Here's a picture of me and the Hubs.
Today I was able to watch the Olympic men's marathon that I Tivo'd last night. It amazes me how fast they run, and that they don't have to take any walk breaks. I was really rooting for the Americans, since I had read the articles in the latest Runner's World magazine about many of the track and field contenders. Did you hear about Ryan Hall carving that pumpkin back when he was fifteen, with the Olympic rings, and 2008 on it (if not, you need to look up the story, or check out the Sept RW)? How crazy is that?!

The only other thing that I've done today, besides church, was attempt to make a healthy banana bread that was posted on MizFit's site a while back. I even bought whole wheat flour so that I could make it with the 2 brown bananas on my countertop. Well, I've mentioned that I've been having problems with my oven lately. And I think it's had it's last hurrah. It did actually "light" right off, but it smelled gassy the whole time, and it apparently didn't get hot enough. After cooking for over 90 minutes, the banana bread was still doughy in the middle. Aaargh!! So, I wasted the time and the ingredients. What a shame. So the Hubs and I will be hitting Labor Day sales looking for a new gas range. At least the stove still works, or we'd be having microwave dinners for the next week or so. And of course I wasn't able to pork chops for dinner, so instead we had chicken quesadillas and spanish rice.

Okay, I have to confess. I knew this week that I had to step it up with my eating, since I wouldn't be burning mass calories by running (as much as the elliptical is a good workout, it doesn't come close to how many calories I burn when I run- I know, I could up the resistance, but then I can't breathe- I'm working on it). Well, I didn't do so great. For some reason I was craving carbs like nobody's business, and I couldn't break the cycle. I ate way too much bread and pasta, and now I'm totally bloated. And yes, the scale is up accordingly, although I hope it's just all the water I'm retaining. It's not horrendous, but it's a decent setback, and I don't even want to post the number.

When I was at the grocery store last Thursday, I got sucked into the bakery department, and I bought a loaf of cinnamon bread (it's only $1.00, and I haven't had it in a really long time). Well, I've had 2 pieces of it every day since then. And today I had 2 pieces of it with peanut butter along with my bowl of cereal for breakfast. Then I had 2 more pieces for lunch- yikes! I need to go throw it away, but not just in the kitchen garbage, because I'd probably dig the bag out, and still eat it (isn't that horrible?). I need to go throw it away in the outside garbage can. The Hubs probably won't eat any of it, so I'll feel compelled to finish off the loaf so it isn't wasted. Okay, that's it. I'm going to throw it away right now. I need to clean up my act. I'll be back...

I did it! It's gone! And it's a good thing I went outside, because I forgot that I turned on the sprinklers on the side of the house, and it's been over an hour- oops! Phew, I feel better. I am re-committing right now: eat more veggies, eat less bread (except the whole-wheat, high-fiber kind). I will do better this week, I promise. At least I was successful in the Ab Challenge (but I'll post more about that tomorrow).

I guess that's all for tonight. The Hubs is gone at his Fantasy Football draft, so I'm home alone and can actually use the computer. The last two years the draft has been a couples/family get together, where we all gathered for a BBQ, then the boys wandered off to get business done. But this year scheduling was a nightmare, so it's just the boys. I'm getting really excited for football, and our first regular season game is a Monday Night game again Green Bay, our arch rivals (and it just so happens to be the night before my wedding anniversary- what is it with football and my anniversary that seems to always go together?).

I promise, I'm almost done. We got a tip today about someone who is giving away free (yes FREE) dachsund puppies. We have been wanting to get a weiner dog for a long time, but have put it off because they're expensive (even to adopt) and we weren't sure if we wanted the responsibility, and didn't know what we'd do with a dog all day while we're gone at work. Well, if we can get a free dog, that takes care of part of the decision. So we'll be looking into that this week. I'll let you know what we decide.