Author: Kristine

My name is Kristine and I blog about my journey towards living a healthier, balanced life.

Run #61: New Horizons

Posted on by Kristine

2015-03-29 12.01.17I’ve never been the outdoorsy type. I never grew up camping. In fact, I’ve never even slept in a tent. My idea of being outdoors is sitting on a patio somewhere, possibly overlooking a lake, with an ice cold margarita in hand.

That being said, for me to spend this much time outdoors and actually enjoy it is a change for me. Granted we are still in the early days of spring because I’m sure once the Texas heat starts invading, I’ll probably be singing a different tune.

This weekend I’ve spent more outdoor time with Izzie. I’ve decided that weekday workouts are just for me while weekends are for Izzie since she tends to get distracted out on the trail. Also she’s not really able to do a full 2 miles just yet (but we’re getting there).

Lately I’ve been scoping out different trails nearby. I decided to check one out for run #61. It was a drive, but still close enough for it to be convenient.

We arrived around 10:00 and by then, the park was already populated with other runners and cyclists. It wasn’t too bad, even though Izzie does get anxious around strangers and other dogs.  Our start was a little rough. I was trying to figure out the best way to ease us into the traffic flow and Izzie just wanted to pee on everything in sight. This made me thankful that I’d already completed my own workouts earlier this week, otherwise I don’t think I would’ve had the patience for her.

Finally we got into a good rhythm. We crossed other runners and other dogs on the path, did the neighborly, courteous good morning greetings, nods, and smiles. We even met a little shih tzu who stopped and said hello to Izzie, and whom Izzie graciously tolerated.

The paved path meandered along a winding creek and a series of man made ponds. At around the 1 mile mark, Izzie stopped and fell onto a pile of warm, green shaded grass to catch her breath. I could’ve pushed her into continuing on, but we were at the last bend of the path where the series of ponds stopped and there were a few trees along the edge of the water. At that moment, I decided it was more important to stop and enjoy the scenery than to continue on with the workout.

I led her off the path and we sat down in the shade of a tree next to the pond, Izzie in front of me. It was nice to have the break and just sit there enjoying the breeze and the water.

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I knew the break was over when Izzie stood up and looked at me anxiously. She wanted to get back on the trail. So we did, but this time we headed back the way we came where I’d parked the car.

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No Turning Back Now

Posted on by Kristine

A couple weekends ago, I made plans to spend an afternoon with my friend Rhea. We both talked that week about needing new running shoes so we decided to make a lunch and shoe shopping date.

We went to Run On! in McKinney, which is a local franchise of running stores. I’ve heard a lot of good things about their selection and their staff and since I was a budding running junkie, I decided there was no better place to shop than amongst other running junkies.

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Portion Distortion and That Magic Number

Posted on by Kristine

Each time I leave my therapist’s office, she gives me homework assignments. This last time I saw her, one of my assignments was to look up the calorie intakes for two versions of me: me at my ideal weight, me at my current weight.

What an eye opener.

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It was shocking to learn that in order for me to maintain my ideal weight, I would have to consume 650 calories less than what I was currently consuming to maintain my current weight.

That’s like a meal and a half!

Part of me doesn’t think I could’ve been consuming that much. But at the same time, how else could I have reached the weight I’m at right now? It didn’t magically show up on me overnight.

Long story short, I’m back to calorie counting. Before I was just eyeballing my portions, occasionally counting calories here and there, and listening to my body for signals that it’s satisfied. But being aware of my weight every day has shown me that it’s important to be cognizant of my progress. Not only do I have to be aware of what I’m expending, but I also have to be aware of what I’m consuming.

Essentially I’ve put together the following calorie budget for myself:

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So far it hasn’t been too difficult to stick to, except for the occasional run in with potential de-railers like donuts this morning at the office and fudge brownie sundae’s yesterday for March birthday celebrants. I haven’t given in (significantly) yet. I did have a mini Toblerone that one of my coworkers brought back from her trip to Europe, but it was a tiny indulgence, no bigger than the size of my thumb, which I noted.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve been going around in circles with this weight thing, like I’ve been down this road before, like Googling some cryoslimming near me would just fix everything. I’m worried that I’ll hit another brick wall. But I think that’s only because I’m still at this weight range I was in when I first started trying to lose weight 10 years ago.

There’s this magic number in my head where my weight loss stopped and reversed itself back then. And each time I realized I was out of control, my weight was higher each time. I need to get past that number. I guess I have it in my head that once I get past it, I’ll know I’ll finally be out of the woods.

I just have to remember that once I get past it, I can’t stop. I have a long road ahead of me if I want to get down to a healthy weight.

Run #52: Run Like You’re a Kid On a Playground

Posted on by Kristine
Only 6.87 miles until my next goal!
Only 6.87 miles until my next goal!

The weather has started to warm up over the last week and with it came some rain and a few clouds. However, there have been a couple days where I managed to avoid the gym and run outdoors.

Saturday morning was the first time in about a month since I took Izzie out for a run. And although our last excursion was a walk in a small park, this time we went to the bigger park with the longer trail and ran in spurts to kinda get things warmed up.

Wow, what a feeling!

We started out at a slow, easy walking pace. We reached the first bench, where I stopped and did some basic leg stretches. Izzie waited patiently, watching the trail with alert eyes and ears. Then we started into a run.

Running out in the open is so much more freeing than a treadmill. You can’t really deny the benefits of being out in the fresh air as opposed to the stale, sweaty air of a gym. Also, on a treadmill, you’re confined to the 4′ x 2′ rectangular space for your arms and legs to go whereas out in the open you can increase your stride and truly stretch your body to the limits.

So in the first sprint, I ran at a decent pace. Once I reached the next bench, I stopped and did 10 jumping jacks. And then walked to the next bench. At that bench, I stopped and did 10 more jumping jacks, and then broke out into a run, but this time I ran freely, disregarding my pace and my stride. I was practically flying through the air, lifting myself at each step, pushing my body forward so I could cover more distance in a shorter amount of time. I ran as if I was a kid again who was just let out for recess and was racing for the best swing on the playground.

As a result, I think I worked muscles in my legs that I didn’t know I had.

We followed that pattern throughout the first half-mile: walk, stop and do jumping jacks, run, stop and do jumping jacks, walk, and so on.

Izzie kept up without any issues or distractions. Occasionally I would look down to my left to check her status, and she was just galloping along, the wind in her face, her ears back. She wasn’t winded, wasn’t tired. I was so proud of her! She kept me motivated.

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For the first lap, which was half a mile, we continued the alternating pace. But by the second lap, we had to keep it at a steady walk. My quads and my glutes were on fire. I could tell later as I was walking up the stairs to my apartment, that I would continue to feel the burn the rest of the day and on into the next.

I did a mile in under 20 minutes. It was the best time I’ve had in over a month and it was amazing.

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