Better

I went to grad school with Rae and silently love her from afar...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:27:06 -0500

I went to grad school with Rae and silently love her from afar :) This post inspired me so much. I met Rae right around the time she started running (I’m guessing, from this post)…which is funny to me now because I thought she was always a runner, always a marathoner, etc. Little did I know she was embarking on a whole new path right before my eyes. Go Rae Go!

imturning30:

Day 6
I started running in 2008. That’s me during my first 10k - the Nike Human Race in 2008. I had never considered myself a runner before then. In fact, I loathed running. But at the time, I was working 3 jobs, putting myself through grad school, and having huge relationship problems.

My sanity threatened to pack its bags and leave.

So I hit the treadmill. Then, eventually the beach strand. One foot in front of the other - this motion, the air flowing through my chest, and the mental challenge to stay focused and committed in a run, became my therapy. It became my escape, my time; My time to dream, my time to think, my time to push out all the negative energy. It was my time to push myself and to work out my aggression.

A little over three years later, I have my own media company, graduate school is done, and that relationship is over. The one thing that has stayed constant is my running. In so many ways it has kept me on the straight and narrow. I’ve powered through a dozen races/events including 3 marathons and 2 Tough Mudders. And I’m proud to say, the best is yet to come.

My sanity unpacked its bags and has settled in, but only after I made a pact to travel with my running shoes always at my side.

swirlspice: I don’t have any plans to run another half...

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 14:45:55 -0400

swirlspice:

I don’t have any plans to run another half marathon, but I feel compelled to get this, especially after just one week of using Bluefin Software’s awesome Couch to 5k app and also seeing that the half marathon app uses Hal Higdon’s training programs. I used the C25k plan to start my running career and Hal Higdon’s plans to get me through two 10-milers and two half marathons.

Yes I am soooo amped they finally released this app!

I am battling some ankle injuries, hence the non-running i am doing, but I can’t wait to be able to use this app someday soon!

My girl Tina ran the NYC Half Marathon last weekend! It was her...

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:48:19 -0400

My girl Tina ran the NYC Half Marathon last weekend! It was her very first race. She began running last summer, lost 60+ lbs and continues to run and race.

She’s such an inspiration to me.

Thanks for being so awesome, Tina!

A Mile or More in My [Running] Shoes: Oh arugula, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… I’ve always...

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:41:30 -0400

A Mile or More in My [Running] Shoes: Oh arugula, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… I’ve always...:

amileormoreinmyshoes:

Oh arugula, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

I’ve always been a good vegetable eater - ask my mom… But as a kid, my fondness for salad was limited to iceberg and romaine lettuce. Whether it was the bitter taste or different texture, I can’t be sure what turned me off to the more…

I LOOOVE Arugula!!!! Nom Nom Nom. I wish it were cheaper than the other leafy greens though :(

I graduated today!!

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 22:14:55 -0500

Today I did my final run for the C25K workout. Now I can ~~run~~ jog for 30 minutes straight without stopping. This is something I’m not sure I’ve ever been able to do? I’m pretty sure I never thought there was a good reason to be running for this long, which means I probably never attempted it.

C25K is a 9 week training program, but I probably took 15 weeks to finish due to my laziness, the weather, and my travel schedule. I am SO HAPPY to be done though! I sort of never thought I would make it but I did. I remember that time I thought I couldn’t run for 18 minutes, or 20 minutes. Now I can do 30!

I am still somewhat of a bad runner. I mean, I am jogging pretty slowly, averaging between 13 and 14 minute miles on my good days. I am not stretching before and after my runs, and I have ankle injuries I am nursing. Today’s run was a bit painful. Even though I didn’t run for 2-3 days, no sooner than I started to jog, my legs just felt achy all over. I don’t know if it was the weather or my lack of stretching but….it felt like my femurs were trying to quit on me.

I am mulling over the idea of racing. Well, running a race. A friend from my Haiti trip posted some info about a 5K coming up which supports her grad program and medical research. It’s really informal (it’s a walk/run), and she said the goody bag is really good so I should try it out. I am a little afraid though. I almost don’t want to go by myself but I also don’t want to tell my friends to come. I need to stop caring what other people think and just do what’s best for my health. Either way, I have a few more days to think it over.

Now that I finished the program, I need to focus on getting a better time and staying active. I honestly feel like my running time is not going to get better until I lose more weight. The pain in my legs made it seem like my body is saying, “Look. We can’t be carrying all this weight around when we’re running. Lose some poundage, then we’ll talk.” Sigh. My eating habits are a MESS right now (due to stress), so I don’t feel confident in being able to change this as I did before. I am going to pray about it though. I really need to see some improvement in my diet so I can make a solid attack on my unhealthy lifestyle.

Besides the 5K race I may or may not run, I was thinking of moving on to the Bridge to 10K app, which is a program designed by the folks who did the C25K app. It’s only 6 weeks long, and looks doable. I guess I just can’t figure out should I work on speed for my 5K or continue to work on longer running endurance. I’m not even sure what is best right now considering my injuries.

On my next run I am going to go back to one of the old C25K workouts and run intervals, but just run them faster. I mean the smaller intervals, like run hard for 30 seconds, then walk 90 seconds. I think the C25K app is great for helping time intervals for you.

Actually, I might do both: faster intervals and the 10K training program, then see how it goes. Glad I wrote this out so I could think it through :)

Happy running!

hi i just got over the surgery on my foot and still have to get some more done, im going back to the gym in the new year and i need some new footwear so obviously i need to pick the right ones with how my foot is now, how can i pick the best ones for running? and for the gym in general? (can you leave your answer in my ask or ill lose it in my dashboard)

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:01:26 -0500

I honestly have nooo idea what to do when it comes to picking out running shoes. I have always been loyal to Nike, so with my last pair of shoes, I picked out some Nike running shoes that were also Nike+. But, I think those are giving out on me (it has been over two years now), so I plan to go to a running store to get fitted for a proper set of running shoes once I get the money to dedicate to a fancy pair of shoes. I would actually suggest you do the same if you can. I think a lot depends on how you walk/run. For example, I am very flat footed so I probably need a special type of shoe to support this. Hope this helps! Sorry it took me eons to reply!

Not really a question..but just wanted to give you a few words of encouragement. We all fall, we don't all get up...keep at it and you will be ok

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:53:37 -0500

Aww, thanks!! I am still trying to stay positive. Even though I haven’t updated here in a while, I am still running and almost done with my C25K training, which feels kind of awesome.

Made Red quinoa tonight to go with my salad. So worth it!!! I...

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:34:21 -0500

Made Red quinoa tonight to go with my salad. So worth it!!! I made too much though, so I am going to be eating it a lot over the next few days.

Sigh.

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 10:03:43 -0500

I have fallen off the wagon.

The last time I ran was 7 days ago when I did the Do Life Unnofficial 5K here in NYC. Great times. More about that later.

But now, my weight loss has stopped and I am gaining weight again.

It’s my eating. I basically am under a lot of stress and I am stress eating. Between work, finances, family obligations, and things I signed up for and I’m wondering WHY, I have like no time for myself. No time to run or think about what to eat properly. I just want comfort.

It’s getting to the point where I feel out of control about it. I go to the grocery store and buy ice cream, chips, and packaged pastas for dinner. My digestive system feels like crap. So does my skin.

I’m hoping to get over this soon. I think today I will work on just detoxing my body. It’s gonna suck. But I gotta get off this train. I don’t even wanna look at the scale to see the damage I’ve done.

Sigh.

Winning, Running, Injuries, Foods and Godly Bodies

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:32:41 -0500

Today I discovered I won a $25 iTunes gift card!!!!! All because whenever I tweet about my C25K workouts using the @c25Kapp, I am entered into their weekly contest. I WON THIS WEEK. How awesome. Just the other day I was feeling like a lame for tweeting my workouts (I find tweets of every checkin on foursquare, miso, get glue really super annoying), but HEY HEY now there are some benefits to this here tweetin. I dunno what I am gonna blow my iTunes winnings on, but it will probably be a bunch of apps or something.

I’m on Week 7 of the C25K workout and I am able to do the full 25 minute run for realsies. I still have these negative thoughts before and during my runs, but they are less intense now. What helps motivate me is that I have been training on the same path all these months, and all I do is reflect on the times when I could barely run the path. Remember when I couldn’t run longer than 30 seconds? Well now I’m doing 10 minutes without blinking. My pace is pretty slow, but I am still running nonetheless.

I have an ankle injury. Each day I run, my ankle hurts for the rest of the day. Kind of like a sprain, but mild. If I try to rotate my ankle, the muscles on the top side of my left ankle hurts. It usually only hurts the day of the run though. I started stretching it but my ankle still hurts from yesterday’s run, to the point where I’ve got a slight limp. I’m pretty sure it’s because my weight and the increased impact from running is stressing it. I thought it wasn’t getting worse, but today is the first non-run day where it still hurts and I am still limping. I thought about icing it. Sigh. I need to be careful, I do not have health insurance for this.

My diet is way out of control. I’ve been eating junk. Ramen. Pizza. Drinking soda. Pints of ben and jerry’s. It’s been crazy. So. I’ve been stressed. And strapped for cash. Though, I’m sure if I put my mind to it I could afford my fresh food. I’ve just been so ~~stressed~~ lazy and have been looking for comfort. I gotta get off this carb-mobile and back to my veggies. I buy my veggies but let them rot in the fridge. I’ve gained a little weight but not that much. Maybe 5 lbs.

One of these days my diet AND my exercise will be on the SAME page.

My church has this series starting this weekend called Bod 4 God….where we talk about honoring God with our bodies. Now, when I think of this concept I think of sex and abstinence. But…no, we’re talking about health here. So for the next 6 weeks, my pastor(s) are going to be teaching what the Bible says about health, and how to stay motivated:

January 30 - D: Dedication (Honoring God with My Body)
February 6 - I: Inspiration (Motivating Myself for a Change)
February 13 - E: Eat (Managing My Habits)
February 20 - E: Exercise (Managing My Habits Pt.2)
February 26 - T: Team (Building My Support Team)
March 6 - Seeing Myself as God Sees Me

I don’t think I have ever been to a church where they spent this much time talking about physical health. I may have heard Joel Osteen do like 2 messages on health before, but…6 whole weeks? This should be interesting. I see my health related to my faith in terms of keeping myself alive. How can I perform whatever mission God has planned for me on Earth if I abuse my body so much that I take myself out before I really needed to? I think about this a lot. I also watch too much Terminator. I look forward to this series, as well as checking out the book that I am sure this series is based on.

Until next time….

runtoeatrepeat: 1/16 MILEAGE: 3 MILES // ROUTE: Apt. - end of...

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 17:42:21 -0500

runtoeatrepeat:

1/16 MILEAGE: 3 MILES

// ROUTE: Apt. - end of Mass Ave. bridge and back //

:: 32 degrees :: sunny, not a cloud in the sky / perfect weather for the Pats to beat the Jets tonight ;)

Some days I really miss living in Cambridge. I can’t believe I lived along the Charles River for 5 years and never went running. Happy that today I live by the East River an can enjoy running along a different body of water. Hopefully in LA next month I can get a run in along the beach.

Please reblog if you're over 25 and have a fitblr/weight loss blog.

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:54:26 -0500

betterversion:

I was seriously considering posting something like this earlier today!

I’m 26.

29!

C25K Workout: Week 6 Day 3 - Getting Past Negative Thoughts

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 15:57:15 -0500

I’m finally starting the workouts that have no walking intervals, it’s just straight running from here on out. Today I had to run 25 minutes without stopping.

The workout before this consisted of two 10 minute intervals with 3 minutes walking in between. I actually failed it the first time. This was the first workout in this C25K plan that I did not complete as scheduled. What had happened was….in the second minute of the second interval, I got cramping in the top of my right abdomen. I thought maybe it was because I ate something right before my run or something. But, to be honest, mentally this was a difficult run. Seriously, every time I get going on difficult runs, my internal soundtrack turns into, “this is going to be super hard,” “you can’t do this,” “oh mah gawd this is the hardest run ever and you WON’T FINISH IT.”

I’ve really gotta work on the negative thoughts in my mind. It’s like they go into overdrive when I’m running. So, when the cramps wouldn’t go away, I stopped running and walked. I felt defeated, but my side hurt. After a 30 second walk, I was able to run again and finished the workout. Still, I repeated the workout the next time just to prove to myself that I could do it.

I ended up talking to Tina on the phone last week and told her about my cramping. She said that it might just be that running in the cold disrupts my breathing pattern and this causes cramping. It’s been snowing, and there’s a lot of snow and ice on the ground. I’m already freaked out by running in the snow, my breathing is probably even more inconsistent than usual.

Tina was so encouraging though. She kept saying, “Liz, you’re a beast! You can do it! Who else on the planet is running in the snow? Not that many people. Definitely not any Black people!” Hahaha. She’s right. I need to give myself credit for even trying to be consistent.

So, today I ran my workout as planned and I did 25 minutes straight, no walking! It was 30 degrees outside, snow and ice still on the ground. I had fewer negative thoughts than usual, and I tried to replay Tina’s words and voice in my head when it got really tough. It totally worked! Way less complaining this time around.

I love my C25K iPhone app! It upgraded recently and I bought the GPS feature for it. Now I get a map of every workout. It calculates my running and walking pace, average pace, as well as the pace of each of my miles. It has some cool charts too. I’m not sure I believe my mile times though. My second mile is always faster than my first mile….which seems odd to me. I would think my first mile is the fastest because I haven’t expended much energy yet? Hmm who knows. I know my iPhone 3G is mad old and I halfway trust its GPS anyway. A cool thing I noticed was that my distance is increasing with each workout, which is awesome. It’s great that I am running for a long time without stopping, but it’s more awesome that I am increasing my distance.

one-twenty-five: Oh how many things this blog post is. Where,...

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:18:38 -0500

one-twenty-five:

Oh how many things this blog post is. Where, oh where do I begin?

Firstly, it’s sponsored by my bath tub, my bath tub where I am currently blogging from, naked as the day I was born, secondly, this post is about booooooobs. (BOOBIES!) More specifically? My boobs and weight loss, and thirdly? thirdly I am a multi-tasking god!

So, dear friends, dear gentlemen, fathers, and young boys, stop reading now, or forever hold your judgement.

I’m on the verge of losing 50 pounds (“Umm Wha?!” <— you), which obviously means my body has changed. A lot. And naturally (because I’m human, you guys, c’mon), my boobs have too. But not, perhaps, in the way you’d think. [Or at least they haven’t in the way I thought they would… ]

At my highest weight they were a 38D and today, right now? Where my sneaky eyes are glancing in the above photo? 36C. So yup, there’s been a decrease in my va-va-vooom! BUT, and here’s the part I seriously was not expecting, they also got perkier (Oh hi there boys! I see you out there still reading).

I’ve always assumed once I lost weight, my boobs would hang very low, and then woggle to and fro, and I’d tie them in a knot, and then I’d tie them in a bow… but apparently, Hollywood taught me wrong, because they’re definitely perkier!

I actually thought (so this is me admitting something I never thought I would) I’d get a boob lift, y’know, help mother nature out (whatever. deal) when I lost the weight, but

but…

with nearly 50 pounds gone, I’m not sure I’ll have to (which is awesome-awesome as a boob job scares the bejesus out of me). So yea, there’s that. [Or this. As I’m still sitting here naked.]

I was actually secretly hoping my boobs would decrease a lot in size… as I’ve ~~always hated~~ not liked my boobs. They’re too big. Smaller boobs are way better. But, hey, I won’t complain…

The moral of this random post is the behind the scenes (aka my clothes) of my weight loss journey has been kinda cool to watch (Shut. up. you. You soooo check yourself out too) and this has been an absolutely amazing surprise to me!

Anywho, I’m curious ladies (who dare to share), did yours change? For the better? Worse? More jiggle? More Perky? Am I the only vain one around here, who’d consider a lift, if they headed south? And while we’re on the topic, do you guys wear bras to bed? Because I do. I heard I shouldn’t though… ?

*record skips* WHAT?!?!?! You mean to tell me they get smaller and perkier??? This is just the motivation I need to get myself together. I really don’t like my boobs and was thinking of getting a reduction at some point. I just may have to try this weightloss thing after all…

bendoeslife: New York City, baby. I’ll see you...

Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:51:24 -0500

bendoeslife:

New York City, baby.

I’ll see you there?

I’m soooooo there!

You Gotta ...

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:25:20 -0500

iamlosingit:

love you more than than the food you put in your mouth.

love you more than sleeping in every morning.

love you more than your comfort zone.

love you more than making excuses.

love you more than other’s opinions.

love you more than the status quo.

love you.

sigh.

Half Marathon Training App

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:29:42 -0500

Half Marathon Training App:

I LOVE the C25K training app for my iPhone! I am still going through the program (on Week 6 now!), but I am sooo happy their 1/2 Marathon training app is in the works. NOW I am pretty amped about running. Click the link to sign up for updates when the app is ready.

Doubtful Running

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 23:28:10 -0500

So remember that post I wrote about my fear of running for 20 minutes straight? Um yeah. I TOTALLY RAN FOR 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT TODAY!!!!

It took me a few more days to get the courage to run this workout, but since I am going to Haiti in a few days, today was now or never because I am not running while in Haiti.

I really didn’t want to run. I’ve had excuse after excuse. The other day I tried to run and I let my ADD get the best of me and made some hot chocolate instead. Five minutes into my hot chocolate I remembered I was on my way to run. Oops. It was dusk by then, so yet another day had eluded me.

Today marks a very important day for me and I really needed to clear my head. I haven’t published a post I wrote weeks ago about how I pray/talk to God when I am running (some day I will post it), but today I felt I needed to get a praying run in ASAP.

The weather was cold as usual, but mid-30s temps seem like child’s play. Oh, it’s 34 degrees? I got this.

You don’t know how much I had to argue with myself during this run. It was so ridiculous that by minute 2, I was already telling myself I wouldn’t be able to run for 4 minutes, knowing good and well I’ve run 8 minute intervals before. I spent the first five minutes of the run allowing several negative thoughts to creep into my mind:

“You seriously can’t run for 20 minutes. It’s impossible for you to do it.”

“Well, you can probably do 9 minutes, but definitely not 20.”

“This workout is rigged. You are not ready for a 20 minute run.”

“Seriously? You’re gonna die at 12 minutes, tops.”

And on and on and on. I kept trying to shoot down the negative thoughts but they felt like they were going to consume me. It didn’t help that my breathing was not in sync with the rest of my body. I tried to focus on my music, and my prayer agenda, but the thoughts kept butting in.

At some point in the run, I started to feel confident. Even though I haven’t run in a few days, and even before then I hadn’t run in over a week, I was handling this running thing. The scenery on my course was familiar and consoling, and there were a few people out running as well. Eventually, I found my rhythm. I was able to focus on something else other than my looming failure.

At about the 9 minute mark I started to panic a little because I knew I was going to have to turn around soon. I considered running a further distance and walking back, thinking that if I turned around this would somehow discourage me from completing the run. I don’t know why I was overanalyzing my run, but I was. I ended up turning around at the halfway point. This was a good thing, as it was helpful for me to visually measure how much further I had to go.

The last third of the run I was able to let go and just pray and sing along to my music. I was no longer in defeatist mode, as I’d conquered the halfway point and figured there was no failing now.

Finally, I finished. My thighs hurt a bit. I was out of breath. But I did it. I even blurted out loud, “I did it!”

It felt pretty great. It felt easier than I thought it would feel.

I really need to get these negative thoughts and doubts out of my system. It’s never as bad as I think it will be.

P.S. I was happy to discover my C25K iPhone app has been updated! The interface is looking nicer now. I’m not entirely sure there any new features, but I appreciate improvements.

hi - i'm a fitblr lurker - just wanted to wish you luck on the 20 min run! i did C25K about a year and a half ago and it helped me get moving, but i remember hitting week 5...i should say week 5 hitting me. i ended up repeating a few weeks in there (5, 6, 8, i believe). this time i'm doing a different plan and using a HR monitor - which has made the biggest difference in helping me run +20 min. anyway i know you didn't ask - just wanted to cheer you on!

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:48:40 -0500

Aww thanks so much!! I am getting up the courage to go. I just programmed my playlist. Now I just need to put my workout clothes on :/

I think an HR monitor sounds like a decent strategy. I do know that right now I don’t challenge myself as much as I know I can be challenged. In the future I want to work on that, maybe once I finish the program for the first time.

On My Fear of Running for 20 Minutes

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:23:00 -0500

My C25K workouts have been going well. (If some of you don’t know it’s a 9-week program where you run three days a week and each workout consists of running and walking intervals. As the weeks progress, the running intervals get longer and the walking intervals get shorter, until you’re able to run a full 45 minutes.)

I’m now in the middle of Week 5. I took some days off during the program. I’ve also sped up the program at certain times, in that I don’t take as many rest days between workouts. Most of the workouts have seemed fairly easy to me. Sure, I can’t run for very long but I’m not dying by the end of my workouts either. I am always able to actually do the workouts, instead of cheating by walking too early, etc.

Some days I even pull doubles, because I know 30 minutes is child’s play for a workout. That is until I pulled up today’s workout. Week 5 day 2 is on some other stuff. They want me to run 20 minutes without stopping!!

What the what??

My last workout was two 8 minute runs, which I did okay. They were somewhat hard, but mentally it was tougher than it was physically. I was surprised my body was able to run and not feel so weary. I even caught a few second winds. I was able to think about other things while running, as opposed to mentally whining about how this was gonna suck and how I was gonna die on the East River esplanade.

But now, 20 whole minutes??? The workout after this one goes back to interval running, which makes me think they’re throwing in a monkey wrench just because. They want me to fail!

I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever run 20 whole minutes without stopping in my life. I mean, for track, I was a thrower/sprinter/hurdler, so the most I ran at one time was a mile, I’m thinking? My miles back then were probably 7-10 minutes, I’m guessing. There’s no way I ever ran more than 1 mile straight. In basketball….eh we stopped here and there. We ran suicides, and games/practice all have their time to stop or break.

I know I started doing this program so I could learn distance running. But it feels too soon. I’m not ready. I need my running training wheels to stay on!

I don’t know if I will do the run today. I’m still scared. Gonna think about it and try to compile the best 20 minute running playlist ever.