Not Every Run is Fun

Well I ran today and as I was running I was thinking about this post. Not all runs are created equal and not all runs will be fun. I love posting my race recaps and everyone loves reading them and I am guilty of this too. I get all hyped up for races etc. But I do not talk about the in between trainings. So today I thought I would do just that.

A shot of DW Park from their website. My camera phone failed me today

I set out here today to tackle the 6K course a total of 3 times. So that is a total of 10.6 miles. Now this morning I was all hyped up for it, I started to get excited. But then the time came when I arrived to the park. It was 44 degrees outside, and windy so it felt like 38ish degrees. I wore shorts under my sweat pants to work so I was prepared for a warm run but it was not! I did not have my running gloves either. So I started to get the dread. That feeling of ugh why am I doing this? See that is the problem with training, there is no finish line. There is no one cheering you on waiting for you to finish and taking pictures. No training is totally just boring, pushing yourself to get it done kind of mentality.

And honestly it is not always fun or easy to get the training done.I enjoy running shorter distances, I enjoy doing speed work even. I enjoy my daily times at the gym, I generally love to work out. I look forward to long runs when I am stressed out or angry and it goes by quick. But on a Saturday afternoon when you have a million more fun things you can be doing, there is nothing to look forward to when you have a run scheduled that will take 2 hours out of your day. Today was one of those runs. I did not want to be there alone circling that lake 3 times in the wind.

So why do I do it? Well I am not a person who likes to fail, and when I set my mind to do something I just do not accept any excuses and push myself to get it done. And it is the races. I am running to raise money for the American Cancer Society on May 29th I have my next big half marathon scheduled. I am running then and I have a team!!! Yes 3 other coworkers have been inspired by my journey and started running and they will be helping me raise money and running for this great cause. I am so excited! So knowing all of that I knew that today I just had to get it done.

And get it done I did. It was not easy, it was not fun. But it was a 10.6 mile run around a chilly lake and I finished in 1 hour and 36 minutes. Not my best time that is an average mile of 9:03 and for me that is a bit slow but it was a training run and I will be happy with it. I felt better once it was done, like a sense of relief! It was over and I could go home and relax and prepare for my date tonight! Plus looking down at my Polar HRM and seeing that I burned 1138 calories brought a  huge smile to my face!

How about you? How do you push through training runs when you may not 'want' to do it?

Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Cookies

As I am writing this post I am so wishing I had some of these right now! I came up with these cookies last week for my 100 pounds lost party and took pictures because as I was making them I was thinking about all of you and I thought I hope they come out good so I can share this recipe! And they did come out pretty good and dissapeared pretty quickly.


I liked these cookies because they were quick, easy, and simple to toss together and bring to the party. I tried to keep the recipe as simple as possible. It worked pretty well I think ;)

Ingredients:
1 15oz can of canned pumpkin
1 cup quick cooking gf oats
2 eggs
1/3 cup of gluten free Bisquick
1/2 cup of baking cocoa
1/2 cup of splenda
1/2 cup of unsweetened apple sauce

I blended the moist ingredients first and then cut in the oats and cocoa powder. Once it was all mixed well together I put a little over a tablespoon into cupcake papers to bake. now when doing them on a normal basis you could use a cookie sheet. I just like bringing snacks in those it makes it easier to serve.
I baked them at 350 for about 12 minutes. These cookies are thick and stay soft on the inside so once the outside it pretty brown you can tell they are done.

They really came out better than I expected!

 They may not be the prettiest looking little treats but for being gluten and dairy free and sugar free they tasted pretty darn good ;)

And the best part? They are 1 points plus per cookie!!! What a bargain ;)

Weigh in Wednesday and Spring Into Action Wrap up!

Wow I cannot believe it has been 6 weeks already! The Sisterhood Spring Into Action Challenge is coming to a close and its fun reflecting on what happened. So much good stuff has happened to me these past 6 weeks that I feel like if I focus on the weight loss then it will discount everything else.I met a big goal of losing 100 pounds and was celebrating it. Then I placed for the first time in a 6K race!

I began this challenge weighing 154 pounds and I now weigh 152 pounds. Nope not a huge loss but I am please with the results because I learned a lot. I learned that clean eating works better for my body and that I am so close to my goal weight. I need to keep working hard to get to goal and even though my weight loss has slowed I am going to get there. It is not easy to lose weight while training for a half marathon but I am determined as usual to do it. In 2 more pounds I will hit my BMI weight of a "healthy weight" and start the 6 week maitinence program for Weight Watchers. Once you maintain your goal weight for 6 weeks you hit life time member status and then I can really celebrate!!!!

I had a great partner for this challenge miss Monica B and she kept me going even when I may have wanted to give up. She worked hard these past 6 weeks and I am so proud of her! She had a big milestone too she hit her 100 days of exercise challenge!!! She really rocks!

I have had a lot going on personally so I did not have time to take inches measurements tonight but I will do it this week and update the post. I hope I lost some inches :)

Vixi Bars Review!

I have changed my lifestyle little by little these past 14 months. I have also been working hard at training and running. I have been searching for healthy ways to fuel up after a work out. It is hard to find gluten free healthy alternatives, and now it is even harder that I am dairy and refined sugar free as well. It really limits my options!

Well I happened to catch a tweet last week about a gluten free protein bar that was all natural called a Vixibar. instantly my eyes lit up and I went to investigate. A vixibar is a natural healthy alternative for people looking for a protein and they have 'a bar without compromise'. Their bars are: gluten free, soy free, lactose free, have no sugar added, no preservatives and non-GMO. I began talking with their creator Kate and realized they were exactly what I was looking for. Each bar contains 12 grams of protein.

From their website: (this says it perfectly)

In Latin, the word VIXI means "to live; to be alive" At VixiBar™, we believe eating natural, pure, delicious food that your body can use leads to the extraordinary ability to do... anything! As a Fitness Consultant and athlete, I had a hard time finding a bar to eat or recommend to my clients. I wanted something with only natural & pure ingredients. It had to be GREAT TASTING, with no added sugars, free of gluten, soy and lactose, but with whey protein (non-rBGH). It hit me one morning after a classic Colorado run... and the rest is history! Be Vixi Today!

Kate sent me a few samples of the bars and I was so excited to try them! I had the coconut first the other day after a long workout at the gym.

It was chewy, soft, and sweet all at the same time. After the first bite I knew right then that I had found the perfect ending to a workout! The bars are perfect not too much and just enough to fill you up and leave you satisfied after a sweat session.

I brought one to my race yesterday the peanut butter and jelly:

It was definitely what I needed after running that 6K! I see other people fueling up on candy and donuts but having celiac disease and wanting to be healthy does not allow for me to do that. And vixibars allow me to refuel without compromising taste! And who does not like Peanut butter and jelly? ;) I was hooked after that for sure! I liked them so much I already placed an order for myself. They have 10 different flavors: chocolate macaroon, coconut bliss, apple crisp, peanut butter cup, peanut butter & jelly, peppermint patty, cherry biscotti, cherry brownie, pumpkin pie, and peanut butter banana.For all my weight watchers they are all 6 points plus a piece but the peppermint patty is only 5! I ordered more coconut because those were awesome and some pumpkin and peppermint ones as well. Stay tuned I will let you know how I liked them!

I am just so happy to find a healthy all natural snack after a workout that I do not have to feel guilty about or compromise my 7 day chip for! My only complaint is that they are not in stores near me! :)

I recommend these to anyone looking for that healthy protein packed treat post workout!SO head over to vixibar and order yours today ;)

DW Park Brockton 6K Recap!

 I ran the 6K in Brockton at DW Park yesterday. The day was beautiful the weather was sunny in the 50s and for New England it was the perfect day for a run. I headed to the park and joined Stacy, Cassandra and Garblah my 3 friends and 2 who  ran their first race today!!! (guess who helped get them inspired to start running again ;)

 We all lined up together there were about 325 people who registered for this race. So it was nice and calm. I love quiet little races it really gives you space to just relax and run.

There I am zipping into the finish. it is kind of funny I started out with my group of runners and I promised Stacy I would run with her and cheer her up the big hill. The race climbs this monster hill to start off then its an easy course around a pond. Well I did that and then I took off. My intentions were to just have a nice fun race. A 6K is 3.75 miles so it is like a shorter training run for me now with the half marathon training. My rough finishing time was 28:10 I am waiting patiently for race results to be posted on coolrunning to get the official time. It was a new PR for me!!! *** The official results

Well I did not even realize how fast I was running until I headed out to the front of the pack more. Then I caught up to the group of men running it with their air force t shirts on. Then I knew ok maybe I am doing this pretty fast! Well I crossed the finish line right behind the woman who beat me for our age group 20-29 females. She came up to me after and was so nice she said 'I thought you were going to beat me I was a bit scared I did not even know you were so close behind me'. hehe so that was a good feeling. I did not intend to but I came in 2nd in my group!!!!

The First time racers finished!!! yay for my fellow runners!

My first time winning a medal!!!! Yes I was pretty darn happy hehe

Thats my name I made it to the board woohoo

Me finishing up with my vixibar I will give yall a full review of those yummy treats tomorrow ;)

How was your weekend?

My 100 Pound Lost Weight Watchers Party

Does life get any better than this? I have been on this emotional high since a week ago when I hit a very big target in my journey. I lost 100 pounds.My awesome Weight Watchers leader Stacy coordinated this party for me at my weekly Weight Watchers meeting this week and I had so much fun.

It started when I went shopping this week for new clothes. I was a size 18 when this journey began. I was a size 12/14 since 11th grade so I have never owned smaller clothes. Well I am now a size 2. So I need a new wardrobe!I had so much fun shopping I was like a kid in a candy store. I bought a few new items and it was so much fun. One of the newest editions to my wardrobe is the awesome black dress I wore to the party!!!!

The meeting started at 8:30 so it was early and Stacy made oatmeal in her crock pot, coffee, fruit, I made some cookies, and Eric and Bill made some too! There was so many people there I got nervous when Stacy introduced me with a few funny stories and then I was up! Stacy almost made me cry when she mentioned how I was so determined. She remembered the meeting we had during a snow storm and I was one of the 6 people who still showed up and weighed in. She is right this journey has been long and hard but I always push myself to keep going because I want to stay healthy.

I did not know what to say! I started telling everyone how I joined weight watchers and how my friend and I joined together but she stopped going and I stayed. I explained how at 25 years old I was taking 7 medications. What 25 year old has a pill box? I did. And thank you to losing the weight I successfully came off all my medications!!! I spoke about how I joined Weight Watchers to lose weight but how it had turned into changing my lifestyle and getting healthy. How I went from a size 18 to a size 2 and started running. I brought my half marathon medals and my progress pictures.

There is no better feeling than hearing someone come up to you and say, you have inspired me. I heard that a lot this past week and for me that is the best reward. I started sharing my story and this blog and I never imagined I would come this far. But I am so happy I have and so lucky to have everyone around me who keeps me going!!!

Now for the fun part the pictures!!!!

 Me and the famous Stacy!

 Me up there talking hehe note the peanut in between my legs! She was not a happy camper she is a bit anti social LOL I guess I talk with my hands haha

My family and of course my always super supportive awesome sister Jessica woke up early and came out!

When she is not at a race cheering for me she is watching peanut so I can race without stress. I love this woman so much she is a great mother, sister, and my best friend.

 My 100 pounds lost certificate!! This is going on the wall next to my race medals and pictures!!! Yes I am starting myself a wall of pride :) You can also see the walk it kit Stacy gave me! And of course my magnet and my charm for my heavy key ring ;)

Now my fridge is complete!!! I keep these right on the freezer door don't mind the peanuts art work ;) There is also a picture of me there before my weight loss journey began Christmas 2009.When I may be feeling weak and want some ice cream or something unhealthy seeing the picture and progress magnets keeps me in check!

I had an awesome wonderful day!!!! Thank you everyone for supporting me and keeping me going!