You may have noticed I am not posting my food here, but I am writing it in a notebook. Coming here everytime I ate was too big of a pain in the ass.

So, I chickened out and didn’t go to the run last night. I am feeling rundown and knew it was not going to be a good day to try and run 8 min miles. I went for a nice 4 mile run around Shaker Lakes and felt pretty good, but I was running between 9-9:30 and my heart rate was up in the 180s, there was no way I could have dropped a min off those miles. This morning, I slept in. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong. I used to have no problem getting up. I will just keep trying every morning, one of these days I’ll be back in the routine. Chris and I are meeting tomorrow morning so I definitely have to get up, so that is good. Early to bed tonight. I have a haircut after work. After that I will ride my trainer, hopefully for at least an hour, but I’d like to do 90 mins.

I think I am definitely sick. I just feel off and tired and sluggish. Ugh. I hate this time of year.

Gary and I watched The Bridge last night, it's a documentary about people who commit suicide off of the Golden Gate Bridge. I guess it's really common. 20-30 people a year do it. It was quite the movie. Very well done. Then I watched the Biggest Loser finale! Ahhhh those people looked amazing.

Dare I say that the scale is starting to go down! I don’t want to get too excited, but I do appear to be down about 2-3 lbs and I am starting to notice some differences in the belly and thigh area. Cross training is paying off ya’ll. And my eating has not been where it should be, by any means. So, if I can get my eating in check, the weight will most certainly come off faster. I have no doubts that I will be back to my fighting weight by Feb. Maintaining it while marathon training will be tough, but I think I can do it. I just need to remember that long runs are NOT excuses for big brunches afterwards. 13 miles may equal 1000 calories burned, but you can easily eat that back with a stack of pancakes and a latte or a big old coldstone creamery cone!

Last night I did a short swim – 500 yds. I was having all kinds of technical difficulties. I cannot find goggles that fit my face correctly. Every time I turn my head I end up with an eye full of water and believe me, they are on tight enough. So, after putzing and fussing with my cap and goggles for 30 mins, I accepted defeat and headed to the weight room and lifted for another 30 mins. Tonight I am heading to my first ever CTC run at the Garfield Reservation. It’s going to be tough, I know these people are faster than me. But if I ever want to get faster, I need to try and keep up with people faster than me! I have promised myself I can just do 1 loop if it’s too bad, then try and build up from there.

I cannot believe next week is Xmas!

We did not get that much snow last night. I am heading to the pool shortly, going to skip yoga. G and I are going to go see I am Legend today and I am going to meet Tracie for coffee later I think. I need to put my new pedals on my bike and fix up my new cleats, so I will do a short spin later today to test out clipping in and out so I don't embarrass myself at Excel on Monday.

Last night we went to our neighors Xmas party. I had forgotten it was taking place, luckily my other neighbors reminded me. Holla Renata! We are so lucky to like our neighbors. It kind of makes me not want to move.

Things I am adoring today:


Sofia Masri jewelry, I'm totally ordering the bird earring - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=57798

Music - sitting here making a new long run mix and these songs get me into a good place - I like to alternate hip hop with mellow music and long jam band songs and match my pace to it

• Paulo Nutini - Last Request
• Jackson Brown - These days
• Beatles - Golden Slumbers
• Allman Bros - Whipping Post

Reading - Fried Green Tomatoes for my book club and loving it!

Hey guys - to get layouts like this one, just google blogger skins and you can find all kinds, then you just past the XML on the template page. You have to redo your sidebars, well there's probably a way around it, but I didn't figure it out, so I just redid my links, etc. Also, you can add the navigator bar back in if you want. There are lots of neat skins out there.

Got up early today and met Abby and Chris for a hilly run. It's pretty cold today, so the first 3 miles into the wind were tough. My heart rate monitor was not behaving and kept slipping down and causing me much unneeded stress! Fark you Garmin. When it isn't getting a good signal, your watch makes a really annoying pacman type sound. So, I was fiddling with it and running up a steady incline and ended up making my shoulders quite crampy. We ended up doing 11.5 and now I am all cozy and warm in bed! I had some warm soy milk with a cinnamon teabag in it, that was soooo good, new fav. drink. It's definately wintery out, there's a big storm a brewin, so I'm sure everyone in Cleveland is at the grocery today stocking up on canned vegetables and toilet paper. Today G is with his mom getting skiis, I might join them for lunch soon, don't know yet. I really want to go see I am Legend and we need to finish up our Xmas shopping.

Last night we watched a Planet Earth on antartica and it REALLY upset me. It was about how polar bears have to swim further and further to get food b/c of global warming. They followed this one polar bear who was out to sea for days! I guess he rested on ice drifts. Then when he gets to this island it has walrus' and he has lost half his body weight and he's all tired and scrawny. He keeps trying to eat them, but they are too big and their skin is too thick and they get him with their tusks and he literally just collapses of exhaustion and hunger and curls up into a ball and goes to sleep to die AND his family is waiting for him to bring food back, so they'll die too. Yeah, it was completely depressing and make me curl into a ball and go to sleep so I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Seriously CAMERAMAN get the damn bear a sandwich. How can they just watch that and not help him! Not that I didn't feel sad for the walrus' too, I did. Someone explain to me how I am not a vegetarian! I would choose to hang out with a walrus over a human anyday.

I am watching VH1 and the Fergie fartface video for Big Girls Don't Cry is on, could that Milo guy from Heros get any sexier? I mean really? That is a heck of a piece of man.

Oh best week ever just came on with their best year ever special, I think someone is going to be laying in bed for the next hour and that someone is me. Guess I'll use the stick while I watch the tube and veg out. Before you ask Josh, that's nothing dirty! The stick is this running massage thing, it's stick with beads on it and you roll it over your legs and such. Yeah, I guess it does sound dirty.

I'm going to be switching up my workout plan, trying to alternate legs/arms. Here is what I am thinking, keeping in mind I need to run 4 days a week soon for my marathon plan:

Sat - Long run and light weights at home - abs/arms
Sun - Long swim (1 mile), yoga, and then if I feel up to it 30-45 mins on the trainer
Mon - PM Excel in Cycling
Tues- AM swim, PM run with CTC 4-6
Wed - AM run 6-9 miles
Thurs - AM 3-4 mile run, PM masters swim
Fri - Spin class, abs/arms

Friday will be my rest day when I need it

In other news my taint is back to normal from Wed, thanks for asking :)

Well this week kind of went off the tracks exercise wise, but I’m not going to whine. So, I only worked out 4 hours, so what. We all deserve a break – repeat, repeat, repeat. Back on the horse tomorrow with a nice hilly 12 mile run with Chris and Abbie. Abbie and I both signed up for the Buckeye half, so I am glad to have someone out there suffering with me! Speaking of suffering, is it 5pm yet?

Last night was nice. Gary and I went to Alladin’s and had a yummy meal and then walked to get some gelato, which is basically crack. Clevelanders if you have never been to La Gelatoria on Fairmount hill (there’s one at legacy village now too), abandon what you are doing and run there right now, you will not find a better tasty treat. I had all the good intentions of swimming this morning, yet didn’t do it. See above, not going to beat myself up, not gonna do it. I am going to go out on lunch and try and complete my xmas shopping. Tonight probably holds a rousing scrabble battle and more planet earth. Tomorrow run, go out for G’s b-day with his mom (she’s buying him cross country skiis), Sunday yoga and swim and short run. Super exciting life I know! Have a good weekend bloggy friends.


Breakfast – piece of rye toast, veggy chicken patty
Lunch –salad bar and quiche from ruby tuesdays - best salad bar around, zuchinni, edamame, peas, beets, need I say more
Dinner –
Snack – Clif kid Z bar, apple, sensible food dried sweet corn (this stuff is good holmes!)

So I woke up at 5:15 this morning prepared to go run 6-8 miles and was met by a nasty, wet, gross, smelly snow. So, I got in my car and drove to the gym and swam! Nope, not really, my lazy ass got back in bed. Go me! Oh well, it was cozy and warm and Mushi was spooning with me, so it was a lot nicer than working out. But I should have done it and I HATE that if my plan is foiled that I don’t go to plan B. HATE. Oh well, today will just be a resty type week with 3 days off of working out! You need those sometimes anyway. Hopefully I can make it to the gym tonight, but not quite sure what the evening holds.

Last night I went to the Excel in Cycling class and it was great. Minus Mr.Muscle man that pointed out to me that it’s a lot better clipped in. Really? I didn’t know that Mr.Muscle man. So, I replied that not everyone has $300 sitting around to buy new cleats/pedals so shove it. No, not really, I said I know and I’d get them eventually. I was in the back of the class this time and had a very nice convo with the guy next to me whose daughter in law happened to graduate college with me. Small world, no? My legs are very sore this morning, but the trunks don’t feel as sore as last time. But my butt sure does. Seriously I think my taint might fall off. I need to invest in some new cycling shorts, I asked for some for Xmas. Hopefully I will get those.

Today is my wonderful husband’s b-day. Big 3-2. Happy Birthday G. It’s no surprise, for his birthday he’s getting climbing lessons either at the downtown rock gym or Appalachian Outfitters. I am very interested in it as well, but he has been reading books on rock climbing and tying knots and he’s ready to go. We are talking about taking one of the vacations that REI offers. It’s a beginner climbing weekend in NC. 3 days, and you camp, then we could spend a day or two in Asheville my favorite of favorite places. We’re also going to try and snorkel with some manatees in FL this summer. Lots of fun ideas.

Yesterday’s food was good. I didn’t put one morsel in my mouth that I didn’t write down. The evil Hershey kiss cravings were curbed by some afternoon coffee (not coffeecoffeecoffee nytro, just plain old coffee). I shouldn’t have had 2 bar type foods, but the cliff bar sounded better than the gel during class so myneh.

Breakfast – 2 slices prosciutto (70c), cranberry instant oatmeal
Lunch – salt bagel with light cream cheese (not the best choice, but it was GOOD!)
Dinner -
Snacks- Trader Joes quesadilla (240cals) , ummm animal cracker cookies, ummmmm skim latte ummm oooops there may have been a handful of fucking hershey kisses too and there may be gelato for G's bday. FARK!

So, I stepped on the scale this morning and it wasn’t pretty. I am slowly creeping back to a weight zone that I am very unhappy at. If I could be as good about food as I am about working out, I would be golden! In an attempt to keep myself more accountable, I am going to post my food on my blog everyday. Now, I seriously doubt anyone is interested in reading what I am eating, but I really really don’t want to get back to logging and weighing and measuring everything on Calorieking, so I will write it here and hope that having it out there for my 2 readers will keep my honest. If you ever want to make a comment about my food, I won’t be offended, feel free! I am also going to go get my body fat tested to see where I stand. THis all goes along with me saying yesterday that I would cut out the coffee and the work lunches.

On to more interesting things. I went to a Nutrition for Endurance Athletes seminar last night at the Bike Authority. It was pretty interesting. I wanted to buy pedals for my bike and I did, but unfortunately my shoes will not work with the look or speedplay pedals, so new shoes are in order. Which sucks b/c that’s another $100. I am afraid to go the ebay route b/c I want to be assured they will work with the pedals I bought. I ended up getting look pedals b/c they are bigger than the speedplay which means I can pull my foot out and still have a pedal to use, whereas the speedplay are shaped like a lollipop and so small that you can really only pull your foot out when it is time to stop. I thought until I am more comfortable, the look pedals would be better for me. And they were cheaper! Tonight I head to another Excel in Cycling class and am bummed that I won’t be able to clip in. I might run over to the Solon bike shop and see what they have.


Today’s food:
Breakfast – chicken lime burger from Trader Joes (240 cals), coffee with soy creamer (45 cals)
Snack - Kashi Go lean rollup bar (12 g protein, 190 cals)
Lunch – black bean salad (330 cals), hard boiled egg (80 cals), 6 big brussel sprouts (40 cals)
Dinner – Wendy's small chili (yum)
Snacks- big pink lady apple, popcorn (100 cals), diet hot chocolate (25 cals), cliff bar (240c) during cycle class

I swam last night and I swam pretty well. Well, most of the time I felt like I was flopping around and drowning, but at least 6 laps felt really good and smooth and in sync. So, that’s saying something. I completed 1000 yds and I made a point not to stop at the end of each length and go 50yds before I took a break. It’s getting easier, although not as quickly as I would like. I want to be able to swim a mile by Jan 1, a mile is 1600 yds. So, I think I will add 200 yds each time I hit the pool and do 1600 yds before I depart for Xmas in KY on Dec 28th. In Jan I want to make a point to hit the pool 3 times a week and 1 of those will be a mile swim, the other 2 will be shorter/faster and more drill oriented. That’s the plan anyway.

Tonight I am attending a Nutrition for Endurance Athletes seminar at the Bike Authority and while I am there I am going to get some speedplay pedals for my bike. I sooo don’t have the cash for these right now, but in my mind I need them or I can’t do these Excel in Cycling classes, so I am just going to suck it up and charge them. I would just buy them outright, but I just bought a Garmin cadence monitor and a trainer out of our joint account and just don’t feel right spending another $150 on my bike this month. So, out of my personal stash it comes. I have got to get better about money, that is my goal in 2008. I spend so much money on coffee and going out to lunch with work people. In the New Year I am banning myself from coffee shops unless it is after a long run with friends b/c that is a tradition for the group I run with. But I can downsize from a grande to a tall. I have also promised myself that I will only eat out once a work week. So, I am going to start bringing books in and reading over lunch. When spring comes I’ll walk around our building. I think this is the last thing I need to buy for my bike though, so that is good. I sure hope the biking shoes I have are adaptable to this type of clip. If not, that means I have to buy new bike shoes as well and this purchase will have to wait. Right now I just have cages on my pedals b/c clip pedals scare the bejesus out of me and cages make it nearly impossible to do one legged drills effectively. I have been meaning to learn to ride clipped in for awhile and these indoor classes are the perfect opportunity.

I am mailing out my entry for the Buckeye Winter Half marathon today. What sealed the deal for me was that I saw someone wearing the race jacket from last year and it was really really cute, so it made the $55 entry fee more worth it to me! So, Jan crazy trail run here I come.

Soooo, I woke up feeling like a limp noodle on Sunday morning and that became my rest day. I cannot tell you the last time I didn’t get a long run in on Sat or Sun, but this weekend I didn’t. I am not too sore today, but I really feel like I am on the verge of getting sick. I just feel blah and tired and I have been sleeping way too much lately. And it really stinks b/c for the first time ever in my life I have been great about my vitamins. I am taking vitamin C, a multi, fish oil and glucosamine vitamins nearly everyday, I am getting 7.5-8 hours of sleep every night, I am working out like a champ, I should feel better than this!

We went down to Columbus for my SIL’s graduation. I am super proud of her, she went back to school in her early 30s, first to become a massage therapist and then to become a physical therapist. Seeing her to this has really gotten me envious and thinking about going back to school. But I was never very good at science and I was never much for studying, so I honestly don’t know if I have it in me. But I would so love to be able to work with athletes and work in a hospital and have a flexible schedule. She had no issue finding a job, they were fighting for her and her new job is paying off her school loans! She moves to Grant’s Pass, OR at the end of the month. A small town that is 2 hours from the mts., 2 hours from the ocean and has a bike lane on every major road! Sounds like a nice place to live.

So, I guess I better get to work. Tonight is a swim, I might get out for a short run too. Have a good one bloggy friends.

This morning I made the trek to Akron to attend a 2 hour Excel in Cycling class. It was very good, but this was very overzealous of me. I have not been on my road bike since Sept! I have not rode more than an hour outside of a spin class since Sept! I mean what was I thinking going to a 2 hour course on a trainer when I haven't even used my trainer yet! Haahaaa might as well just jump in I suppose. I hated to drive 45 mins away to workout, but it is a hell of a workout and I know good and well that I wouldn't push myself as hard as I did today if left to my own devices. So, I am going to try and go every Sat., well until the husband complains about gas money. I don't even want to think about how much of our income goes towards classes, sessions, race fee, running clothes, bike accessories and so on. But it's a lot people. Maybe he needs to get an expensive hobby then I won't feel so bad. There were about 20 people in the class and the teacher sits up front and runs you through drills. The first hour was spent going through spin ups (where you cycle really hard, then let off, then hard again for pre determined amounts of time in a lowish gear), then the second half was one legged drills and lactic threshold ladders; those killed. My legs feel like noodles and I have a feeling I am going to be very sore b/c I never work near my LT and today I definately did. I used my heart rate moniter the whole time and was between 160 and 185 for pretty much the entire second hour. I feel great now. Waiting for G to get home from the gym, then its time to walk these dogs. They are sitting here whining and getting on my nerves. It is a gorgeous day out, very sunny and not too cold, I think it's 40 out there.

Tonight we are going to finally put up our Xmas tree and finish up our Xmas shopping and watch some more Planet Earth. Last night we watched Caves and Desert. That series is just too cool.

Made my calendar!

Jan – CTC indoor tri
Winter Buckeye Trail Half Marathon

Feb – West End Chili Bowl 5K
CTC indoor Tri (beast series)

March – St Malachi 5 miler
Mill Creek HM (beast series)
Just A Short Run 30K (Cranberry, PA)

April- Hinkley Duathlon (beast series)
Hermes 10 miler

May- Celebrate Nurses 10K
Flying Pig marathon

June- Ohio City 5K
Sprint Summi Tri (beast series)
Sunday in June metric century bike ride

July- Lake Eerie 2 mile swim (beast series)
Eddy’s Sweet Corn Challenge 100 miler bike ride

August- Perfect 10 miler
Olympic Iron Greater Lakes Tri (beast series)

Sept- Akron Marathon (beast series)
Powerman Ohio Du (beast series)

Oct- Towpath HM

Nov- Pigskin Classic 5k
Fall Classic HM (beast series)

Dec- Reindeer Run 5K

I think these are the races I am going to do next year. I want to do more 5Ks and 10Ks, but everything just gets so expensive. I’m not for sure about the 2 mile swim in July b/c I might not be capable, we’ll see. I also want to do Akron, but am contemplating on doing an out of state fall marathon. I tried to get in a few 5Ks and a few 10 milers and HM. I can’t wait to get to racing next year and see how much faster I am capable of getting!

Sooo I took a sick day from work yesterday! It was more of a mental health day, than sick day really. I am definitely under the weather, but not horribly ill; just feel kind of blah and tired, run down, etc. I slept in, which was nice. But only until 8:30 b/c Mushi was being obnoxious. Then I cleaned the entire house, which was much needed! Then I ran 3 miles and included a bunch of hills. Then I rode my trainer for 20 mins, then I went and swam 1000 yards! I had my own mini triathlon. We attended a roller skating birthday party for my neighbor Renata and it was really fun. I mean there were people there that were serious skaters. It was surreal, I wish I had had my camera with me. I didn’t fall down and it felt like a pretty good workout actually!

I momentarily contemplated calling off again today, but I want to save some vacation days to roll over. So, here I am. Boo. I am going to run out and get donuts for a meeting we have at 10. I hope I can get back to the office w/o eating 10 of them!

Tonight I will lift weights and go for a short run. Tomorrow I am contemplating going to an indoor cycling class at http://www.excelincycling.com/, but it is all the way in Akron and it is 2 hours long and I am scared that will be too much for me. But I think I will go…it will be tough, but worth it I’m sure. Sunday we are going to my SIL’s graduation from Grad school in Columbus, so I guess I’ll get in a shortish early morning run – 6-8 miles maybe.

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Thanks for all the comments yesterday guys, I think the real key is I am going to have to start logging my food again. I know my diet has gotten sloppy and it can be much better. I just HATE logging and weighing food, but I am going to suck it up and do it. Or at the very least write down what I eat, keep myself accountable!

So, I went to a seminar on HRMs last night, it was okay. I bought a MAG trainer that they had on sale with a climbing block. I am super excited to give it a try and totally imagine myself sitting on it for hours at a time doing interval work while I watch DVDs! Gary and I went for a quick 3 mile run when I got home, it was cold and quiet and it made for a nice run. I usually hate working out that late at night, it was all of 8:30! But it is neat being the only one out on the road and all you hear is your breathing and you feet pounding. When I got home, I got tucked in and watched the Biggest Loser.

This AM I headed to spin class, had to leave a little early to get to work early, so I will get on my new trainer tonight and even out my time for VTC, I like round numbers! Tonight I have a dinner at Fahrenheit for the Road Race series I competed in. I’ve never been there, I hear it’s yummy. But first I have to get through 7.5 more hours of work, boo.

So I am split in half – I have 2 desires. One is to lose 10-15 lbs (which would get me to 120, not sickly skinny by any means for 5’2) and the other is to be an endurance athlete, especially in running/biking. I want to be the type of person who can go run 15 miles with no problem or go bike 100 miles without blinking. To be better at number 2, I need to achieve number 1. Yet, the scale never moves, I am stuck. I am plateaued. Now I do have my share of junk food breakdowns, but for the most part I am a healthy eater. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I logged my food years ago religiously and feel like I am good at determining how much I am eating, I would guess I take in 1400-1600 calories a day and considering I burn about 2500-4000 calories a week working out, I think that is fine. I was reading a book last night on endurance training and it said that after you continuously work out for long amounts of time – which for me would just be 1-2 runs a week – your body starts to store fuel differently and holds onto carbs longer. So, I am wondering if I shouldn’t ditch my long runs for awhile and try really hard to work on speedwork instead and see if it helps? I am just so fearful of losing my long run abilities. Know what I mean? Running fitness decreases so quickly – anyone who has taken a week or two off for an injury can attest to that. For the winter, should I switch things up and go to bootcamp class on Mondays, spin, swim and just be content to only get in like 12 running miles? Opinions please.

I got in 12 solid miles yesterday. It was very icy and wet for the first 5 miles and then it stopped raining. I was very uncomfortable and things were chaffing, so since I was close to home I ran home for a costume change around mile 6! I thought hard about just calling it quits at the point, but went out and did another lap around shaker lakes. 12 was enough, part of me wishes I had done another 3. But really I’m not training for anything right now, what does it really matter? I felt good all day Sunday and went to book club and to meet Sas & Mukund’s baby (so cute!) and was asleep by 9! The day after a long run I always have a really hard time getting up and this morning was no exception. I was going to go to spinning, but just woke up in a complete daze and went back to sleep. I think if I want to get to spin class on Monday’s, I am going to have to start doing my long runs on Sat. Which would be good b/c then I can also get to spin and yoga on Sunday, followed by swimming if I am feeling ambitious!

After sleeping in, I still had to be at my gym at 7:30 b/c they have a Cleveland clinic office there and I had made an appt. to have my gait analyzed! I have some reoccurring issues with my arch and my doctor agreed to refer me, so I didn’t even have to pay for it. The physical therapist Holly, video taped me walking barefoot and running with shoes on a treadmill. She also felt around on my feet and legs some and did some test on my flexibility and strength in my legs. My left leg is weaker than my right and my hips and IT are really tight. She gave me some stretches and exercises I can do to strengthen my weak areas. She also recommended that I switch to a more cushioned shoe. It was all pretty interesting.

Guess it’s time to get to work, boo.

15 Monica Nowac chip time: 25:24.45 clock time: 25:40.60 8:17/M

Woohoooo last race this year and I got my best time! 8:17 avg. per mile! I was 15th in my age group (out of 44). I am so tickled. This gives me hope that I can get myself down into the 7's per mile. I am not very fast, compared to the 14 people in front of me (Espeed won our age group with an impressive 6:17/M!), but I have come so far. My first 5K which was in May of 2006 was 31:40! And I am about 10 lbs over my fighting weight right now, I am starting to think that one day I might just be further up in the standings. Woohoo. Big shout out to my girls who all did so well today - Abbie, Sara, Debby and Tracie. Abbie took 5th in her age group. She always wanted to finish in under 25 mins and today she finished under 24 mins!!!!

After the race, I went home and took a quick nap. Then Tracie came by and we headed to the JCC and swam and did yoga. I only got 500m in, sorry VTC girls.

I had plans to run 13 miles tomorrow, but it is not looking good. THere is a big snow storm coming. If it does, then I will try and power through 6 outisde and then maybe hit the treadmill for another hour. I hope the weather just calms down and I can get my 13 in. We'll see. Right now I am exhausted and I am going to snuggle with my dogs and Gary and watch a Planet Earth dvd. Have a good night.