New Fastest 5K time for me :)

I set off to the gym tonight to do some speed training. I do like the treadmill for this reason it forces you to push your body to work harder. Hyannis is only 29 days away so I must be ready!

When I ran my first 5K back in September  I never imagined I would be training for a half marathon. Now today here I am running the 3 miles as training! I did a quick warm up and then off I went. My first mile was 8 minutes and then I walked for 30 seconds. Then I decided to turn it up and I ran the next mile in 7.1 minutes! After that I went right into the last mile and did it in 6.9 minutes! This is my fastest mile yet! The end result? I finished 3.1 miles in only 24 minutes! Woot woot!!!!

After that I kept running just at a slower 8.9 min/mile for one more mile. I saw what I love about running when I checked my Polar HRM:

Yep thats just from 35 minutes of running on the treadmill!

After that treadmill run I headed home to do some weight training. Weight training has been a hot topic lately amoung some of my favorite fellow tweeps! I have been weight training since day 1 of my journey. It began with 3 pound hand weights and a large huffing and puffing me struggling through a workout routine. Now I use 10 pound hand weights and also a 15 pound kettlebell. It has taken a long time but I am finally toned and feeling like all my hard work is starting to pay off.

I keep weight training for several reasons. I will do a whole post about it soon, but mainly it burns calories, builds muscle and muscle burns more calories on a daily basis than fat.

The whole workout was not long just 55 minutes but it was effective burning 501 calories:

Chobani Snack Ideas!

Do you know what I love about Chobani? Because really the possibilities are endless. I bring one to work everyday and it is my faithful chase away the late morning hunger pains away go to snack! I used to buy the vanilla and it was a deal at only 3 Points plus values. But then one day I saw the plain, I read the back and I think my heart fluttered! Only 100 calories, 7 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of sugar and 18 grams of protein! All that protein is really what keeps me satisifed making this a power food. A cup of plain chobani 6oz nonfat yogurt is only 2 Points Plus!!!  I love that its gluten free as well.

Plain and simple is the way to go when you buy this especially if you follow Weight Watchers because FRUIT is FREE people!!! (As my fave WW leader shouts to us at meetings hehe)

Thats right I eat a chobani plain yogurt but it is not plain! I add tons of stuff to it and honestly it is like I am eating a dessert some days. So I thought I would share some of my fave ways to eat it and ask that you share yours as well!

Blueberry Delight
I take some frozen blueberries and put them in a ziplock baggy with some cinnamon and truvia. The berries thaw by lunch time and I dump the bag into my yogurt cup. The end result is delicious and of course still only 2 points plus!

Banana Cream
I mash a banana in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of coconut, cinnamon, and truvia. Then I mix in my plain chobani and the result is almost like eating a banana cream pie! minus the calories of course. This one is 3 points plus!

Apple Delight
I take a small cup of unsweetened apple sauce and cinnamon and truvia and mix it up. Then I put in my plain chobani and mix it up. This one is my favorite! It is only 2 points plus!

Mango Madness
This one is easy too. I take a mango and slice it up thin and add some truvia. Then I put in my plain chobani and mash the mango into it. Then you have yummy mango yogurt and still only 2 points plus!

How do you eat your Chobani?

Weigh in Wednesday and Power of One Week 4 check in!

I m speechless this week. I know its rare I always ramble away on here but honestly when I weighed in tonight I was literally just so happy it left me speechless and unbelievable! So without further delay:

Down the big 90!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a great week, I worked hard here is my Polar readouts for the week:

I burned a lot of calories. I trained hard. I am preparing for my half marathon and it is only 34 days away!!!! I ran 21 miles this week! It was crazy, in a good way. My long run was 8 miles this week and after it I really felt more ready than ever to get out there on Feb. 27 and rock my first half marathon!

This week I am looking forward to continuing this trend and hopefully saying goodbye to the 160s and creep into the 150s hehe

I started this challenge at 168 pounds. And that makes a total loss of 5.6 pounds for me during this challenge. Again I am not totally satisfied with this... I need some good 2 or 3 pound loss weeks!!! Hopefully next week brings that. 

8 Mile Run while Training for my Half Marathon!

As many of you already know I am currently training to run my very first half marathon in Hyannis. It is hard to believe that I will be doing this in only 35 days! I am beginning to get excited, nervous, antsy, doubtful, and happy about it all at the same time! I feel confident sometimes, and I just try to hold on to those days.

I felt very confident after my long run yesterday! I headed to the gym because here in Massachusetts we have been having the worst weather ever. First it has been bitter cold like in the single digits and there is so much ice and snow everywhere. I love running outside, but I cannot risk a fall on black ice this close to my race. So to the treadmill I went. I figured out how to win the mind game of the treadmill. I brought down a magazine and covered the miles and timer. All I could see was the buttons to adjust my speed.

This helped me a lot. I was not looking at the mile counter and thinking man, I have 7.2 left to go, now 6.8.... etc. I think this is my main problem with the treadmill, it gets repetitive and boring and you know exactly how much farther you have to go. It is also restricting. I look forward to running for the free feeling and I do not get as much of that on a treadmill inside of a gym. But the training must continue and I am thankful that my condo complex has the small gym and 2 trusty treadmills!

So off I went, I started a bit slow. For me during a long run, again the first mile is always the hardest. During that first mile the doubts and the why am I doing this, are always are there in my mind. Once I get past that first mile and get into a rhythm I am good. It is smooth sailing for me. Miles 2 and 3 were fairly easy I was on a good pace. I paused for a quick drink of water and the 30 seconds of walking in between 1.5 mile marks. I am kind of working on my own style taking the short walk burst breaks. It works for me.

By the time I hit 6.5 miles I slowed down for my walk and sip of water and I turned the treadmill back up to a fast pace. All of a sudden I got a slight light headed feeling. I felt for 20 seconds that I may have to stop for fear of passing out. I kept checking my HRM to make sure I was not racing and I was not. I am not sure what it was but it passed quickly and I was off to finish my long run.

I finished 8 miles in 77 minutes and 30 seconds. I felt awesome, amazing and in that moment something inside me knew, just felt sure that in 35 days I would be able to complete that half marathon and be ok. The confidence running gives me is amazing and its helping my weight loss goals as well. I looked at my Polar heart rate monitor afterwards and I could not believe I had burned 807 calories on the run!!!! That was exciting.

So onward I go! This week will bring some short runs and then again a nice long run this weekend. Hopefully one of them can be outside :)