Fat Ticker Friday (HFH)~Week 9

Wow, what a week! Since making the decision to bump up the date of my race (February instead of April), I had to bump up the intensity of my work outs, starting this week (ie. a lot of interval training).

And since a bloggy friend and I decided to become training progress buddies (she is training for her first Half at the end of Feb), I'm using this post to outline what I did each week...as a way to stay accountable (to both myself and my bloggy friend).

So, the nitty gritty of my week looked like this:

Friday--off
Saturday--5 miles (average 10:45 pace)
Sunday--6 miles (average 10:58 pace)
Monday--3 miles (average 10:30 pace)
Tuesday--3 mile tempo run (average 10:04 pace)
Wednesday--off (I was so tired at the end of my day that I decided to take a 2 hour nap instead)
Thursday--3 miles (6 x 400 intervals, average 10:08 pace)

I'm definitely starting to notice an improvement in my cardiovascular endurance/strength, which is such an encouragement for me. I started out barely able to keep up with 12:00 m/m pace, and now that seems like a slightly-faster-than-walking pace. I LOVE seeing that my average pace during my long runs is below 11:00 m/m and 10:15 m/m during my interval runs.

But that is not even the best news.....my scale told me this morning that I'm 3 pounds lighter since last week. Woohoo!!!!! This weight loss is quite monumental.....

• 3 more pounds means that my overall weight loss has now hit the double digits.
• 3 more pounds means that I'm saying "HELLO" to another decade of numbers.
• 3 more pounds means that I'm only 3 pounds away from my pre-Josiah weight (unfortunately, I'm still another 13 pounds away from my pre-Alayna weight).
• And 3 more pounds means that I have reached a weight where I can finally wear my engagement ring again.

Our "Hot for the Holidays" host, Christie, asked us what our "Aha!" moment was that influenced our decision to get up off the couch and do something about the way we looked. I think mine was the day that I decided to graduate from maternity clothes to "real" clothes (about 3 months after Josiah was born)....when I had to buy a size 18 pant and an XL shirt. It took me another couple of months after this day to buy a new pair of running shoes and find my way to the Huckleberry Trail (I wanted to wait until I was done nursing Josiah), but I REFUSED to stay that size. I also REFUSED to lose all but 10 pounds of the baby weight (I had read once to expect to keep 10 pounds from each pregnancy--sorry, that's not going to be me). Fortunately for me, my sister was running half and full marathons during this time. She was my inspiration for setting a goal to complete a half marathon. So there begins my running journey/obsession....until I stepped foot onto the "Huck", I wouldn't have considered myself of a runner. Yes, I ran track in HS (I was 400 and Hurdles gal), but I always died when it came time to do the 1 Mile Run. I never thought I'd be able to "kick out" 12-13 miles in a single run....and now I have and am more than ANXIOUS to try it again. Not only am I excited to see what my body can do but to lose ALL of the baby fat that came along with my latest pregnancy). :-)