Dev on Running

Time to rewind!

SATURDAY

I decided it’d be fun to run my 9-miler as an out-and-back with an exciting destination in the middle, and what better destination in early spring than the quad at my alma mater, the University of Washington? There be cherry blossoms for daaaaays!

It was an incredible weather day, so the quad was packed with people who were trying to get that perfect photo of their husband/wife/toddler/wedding party posing in the cherry blossom wonderland without getting anyone else in the shot. Craziness.

I was happy to spend a few minutes there, then head back toward home via Green Lake.

It was a hillier long run than I’m used to (on purpose), but still great!

Aaron was out mountain biking all morning, then doing a maternity shoot for his friends who are new parents-to-be, so I took further advantage of the beautiful day and walked ~1.5 miles to Road Runner Sports to stock up on essentials: chocolate Clif Shots, Clif bars, a few cute running tanks, and a Stick. Then I moseyed to a grassy expanse at Green Lake to bask in the heavenly late afternoon sunlight.

I call this photo “doing it right.”

SUNDAY

Speaking of doing it right…

YOU’RE NEVER TOO OLD. I was genuinely thrilled to hang out with the Easter bunny. Aaron? Not so much.

We hit multiple Easter celebrations between our two families on Sunday, but the most-photographed event was a buffet brunch with my dad and brother at Echo Lake Golf Club (we don’t play golf, we just eat). It was delicious, and the weather was gorgeous once again.

You’ll notice that my dad is in the midst of growing an epic beard. He is constantly compared, by both friends and strangers, to The Most Interesting Man in the World.

This dress fit me perfectly last summer, but I spent all Sunday pulling it up so it wouldn’t fall down and reveal my bra. Sometimes you shrink in less-than-ideal places when you lose weight — wah-wah! (Also: my engagement ring is getting dangerously loose. Never saw that one coming.)

Aaron and I wound up doing our best to combat weight loss that day, though. When faced with the delectable dessert table of the buffet, we stared at the cakes and cookies and tarts, stared at each other, and then decided to just call it a day and eat whatever the heck we wanted. Miiiiight have almost broken My Fitness Pal when I entered everything I enjoyed!

MONDAY

After work, Aaron and I had a private tasting with another wedding caterer from our venue’s preferred caterers list. It was the “budget” option, so I had kind of low expectations… and I was proven both right and wrong.

• Salad: Meh. Just spring mix with sliced strawberries, feta, pine nuts, and a balsamic dressing. I make better salads at home pretty much daily.
• Cheese tortellini: Double meh. Tasted super-generic, like it could have come from the a grocery store freezer aisle. It might have.
• Chicken in lemon sauce: The chicken tasted oddly fake — too smooth and uniform in texture. The sauce was too heavy and also kind of artificial tasting.
• Grass-fed beef sliders with arugula, melty cambozola cheese, and bacon jam on soft potato rolls: Completely, out-of-nowhere AMAZEBALLS. Literally the best sliders I’ve ever had in my life. I died and went to heaven, then ate another slider and died again. The reason these were so good is because they were lifted from the Skillet menu. I guess the owner of Skillet is the nephew (or something) of the woman who owns this restaurant/catering company.
• Gooey, homemade Oreo brownie with whipped cream: Also mind-blowingly amazing, but had no bearing on our catering decision since we’ve already chosen our dessert vendor.

So, this catering company is out of the running, but we are going to try to recreate the sliders as a passed appetizer at our wedding. They. Were. SO. GOOD.

Tomorrow night: Another tasting with another caterer! This one will be on the fancier end of the spectrum. Gosh, life is hard.

TUESDAY

I worked from home today, since we had some dudes in our condo repairing water damage caused by a leaky roof. Before:

After:

Like new! And paid for by the homeowner’s association. Yay!

I got out for a fast run this evening:

Two days of no exercise = fresh, speedy legs.

I felt great during the run, but am now feeling sorta off. Maybe I ran too fast, or waited too long to eat after my run (I also lifted weights), or ate something funny (like an exorbitant amount of spaghetti squash), or the paint fumes have gone to my head (most likely, now that I think about it).

Whatever the case, it’s time to call it a night. I need to feel fresh for more catering delights tomorrow!

I only have time this morning to post about yesterday’s nine-mile run OR my March 31 weigh-in, and the weigh-in is more exciting, so here ya go!

(As always, ignore the body fat percentage.)

March 15: 138.4
March 31: 138.0
Loss: 0.4 pound

Total loss since March 1: 7.6 pounds

I’ve weighed myself daily and noticed that I fluctuate between 138 and 139 day to day. I dipped down to 137.6 once, but 140 has NOT reappeared on the scale!

I’ve always said that 138 was my marathon “fighting weight” — where I feel in good shape, but not stick-thin, and strong enough to run a solid marathon. At 5’6" with an athletic build (very muscular legs that have had people asking me, “Do you play soccer?” all my life), it works for me. I like it here.

The photo on the right is from after a run a few days ago (sweaty bra), but it’s a good representation of what I look like today.

Here’s the beginning of month/end of month comparison:

The girl on the left is just coasting along; the girl on the right is treating her body well!

When the temps heated up this week and I dug out all my warm-weather running clothes, I was thrilled to discover that all of my tank tops and shorts fit perfectly again. I have a white Nike tank that used to fit really well when I bought it a few years ago, then just clung to my stomach and showed every bulge when I tried it on last summer. Now it looks good again because there are no bulges to show!

I’ve regained the confidence to walk around without worrying about sucking in my stomach. I’ve gotten a bunch of new clothes because it’s fun to try them on again, and the sizes I expect to fit actually fit, or I have to go down a size. 

All that just from a month of cleaning up my eating. And I haven’t been perfect, either. I had a DQ blizzard last weekend, and a few of my favorite Easter treats on Friday — one marshmallow Peep, one Cadbury egg. The difference is that now when I choose to indulge, I really think about what I want to indulge in. I look at the nutrition facts first and think about how the treat(s) will play into the rest of my eating that day. I plug each treat in to My Fitness Pal, then ask myself, “Is it worth it?” and if the answer is yes, then I eat it and savor it without guilt. 

That’s just what works for me. Keeping track of my calories, carbs, fat, sugar, etc. in My Fitness Pal has made me so much more mindful of what I eat and why, so I’ll continue to do it — not to lose weight, necessarily, but just to stay on track with the progress I’ve made and make sure I’m eating good food and enough food as I continue to train for my June marathon.

And that’s all for now. Happy Easter!

We have lots to catch up on, yo!

TUESDAY

I blew off my strength-training after work to shop. You see, losing seven pounds has made me feel much better about my body and given me the confidence to buy new clothes. I didn’t want to get new stuff seven+ pounds ago because I knew I eventually wanted to get back to my pre-travel weight. And hey, here I am!

The clothes I currently have fall under two categories: Clothes that I’ve had since before I left for my trip over a year ago, which fit me now, but are fairly old and worn-looking; and clothes that I bought last summer/fall because my pre-travel clothes didn’t fit me, and are now saggy (because I’m smaller) and worn-looking (because I suck at having style and wear the same stuff over and over).

So I sprang for new jeans. Super-skinny jeans, to be exact, in my pre-travel size.

I’m still a little nervous about these, but I was assured by the saleslady (of cour$e) and Aaron that they look OK. I wore them to work the other day with sort of an oversized top and felt fine. Comfortable, even. Yay!

I also got quite a few tops, as I’m making a continued effort to branch out from v-neck tees. FYI, ladies, this is the most flattering shirt EVER. It can be dressed up for work, or all trendy-like for happy hour, or whatever. I got it in four colors. AND IT’S ON SALE. So get on it! I think it runs a bit big, as I am usually a small, but the XS fits perfectly. (Mind = blown.)

Anyway, this is not a fashion blog…

WEDNESDAY

May I remind you why I like to run in the evening?

It’s just so dang pretty.

I did six miles at Green Lake, but my stomach started feeling icky just a few miles in. I think it was because Aaron was grilling pineapple slices (as one does) at home and I ate one just before I left. ‘Twas delicious, but super-sweet, and probably not the best thing to eat immediately before running.

Regardless, a good pace overall:

I did this run in SHORTS (omggggg yessssssss) and was just so excited about spring that I took a photo with a flowering tree.

I’m so nervous that this nice weather is just a tease and Seattle will go back to being cold and dreary, as it often is through JULY, but I’m also just trying to enjoy it while it’s here… and trying not to jinx it.

THURSDAY

It was 63 degrees and sunny when I set out for my hill repeats, so I wore shorts and a TANK TOP! OH MY GOD!!!

Isn’t that graph just so cute and pretty? The little peaks are all like, “Wheeee!! Up, down, up, down, isn’t this fun!?”

Insert sweating, grunting, uncontrollable flying spit, and willing my legs to go up one. more. time. to hit nine repeats. That’s more accurate.

I’m anxiously waiting for the RnR Seattle Marathon course elevation chart to be posted so I can get an idea of what kind of hills I’ll be facing in June, but I think I’m off to a good start with weekly hill training. I’ll work on adding some hills to my long runs, too.

Speaking of long runs… my “long” run on Saturday is nine miles. Haven’t done a long run that short in a while! Maybe I’ll choose a hilly beezy of a route to make it interesting. : )

It was so, so sunny today. Everything is good and right in the world again. Yayyyyy, spriiiiiiing! Please just let it stay this way!

My run was downright balmy tonight. Three miles at a fairly consistent pace:

Because Aaron gets his workout in during the day by riding his bike to and from work, he will often make dinner while I’m out running. Tonight, I came home to this glorious sight:

Cute, herby, roasted Cornish game hen! Oh, delight. Paired with crispy kale chips, this was just dreamy.

Aaron wins fiance of the year. I continue to be useless.

And now, this is very important: If you have self-restraint and can control your portion sizes when it comes to incredibly delicious snacks, then read on. Otherwise, RUN DON’T WALK away from your computer.

OK? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This bag… this bag is everything.

I blame my employer for stocking an obscene variety of food from Costco, free for the taking. This magically appeared for the first time last week, and I made the mistake of trying one. Now… I’m lost forever.

They’re not Paleo — brown rice syrup is the delicious minx that holds these little clusters of heaven together — but I just don’t care. Damn you, clusters! Why do you have to be so good??

If you have the willpower to not demolish an entire bag in one sitting, give ‘em a try and let me know what you think.

If not, then pat yourself on the back. You’ve made a narrow escape.

…and now there’s more for the rest of us!