Speaking of,  now that my weightloss/push-up adventure is in maintenance mode (albeit with the new addition of chin-ups) it’s as good a time as any for some documentation.
Overall, I’m really pleased, though some stuff will always suck -  like no matter what I do, I can’t make my skin be any younger, so I’ll forever be floppy in my butt and upper arms, but considering I look better now at 47 then at any other point in my life, I’ll take it.

OK, been putzing enough around here enough today, time for my run.  7 or 8 miles with 8 hill sprints.   See you later!

So the next couple days are penciled in but subject to change depending on if my leg feels anything but fabulous. Today I’ve got an easy 8 9, but I’m skipping the scheduled hill sprints to make sure the tweak settles down.

Tomorrow, I’m scheduled for a speed session aimed at my 5K on Saturday (1200 @ 5K pace, then 6 x 400 @ 5k pace w/1min. recoveries for all). If there’s a semblance of discomfort left, I’ll skip it, just run easy. I can afford to miss a hard workout considering how regular I’ve been the past couple months and also, this will be my third race this month! However, if all is well (as I expect it to be) I’ll do the session because some race pace practice would be useful.

Other than that, the rest of the week will look like the previous one; 11 easy on Wednesday, two more shorter easy runs on Thurs/Fri and the 5K on Saturday, then 16 on Sunday.

Pushups/Chinups: I’m repeating week 5 of the pushup challenge – I felt like my form got kind of half-assed last week. Wait, scratch that, on second thought, I’m going to do Week 5, day One for a full week, then day Two and Three for a week each before moving to the final week. As for the chinup bar, I haven’t put it together yet, so that’s on the agenda for today. Then I’ll probably stare at it for another two days.

Food: Drumroll please…a few days ago I stopped logging food into dailyplate.com. I’ve been at it since the last week of December and it has been a wonderful tool (it literally taught me to eat so much healthier) but now I’m ready to cut loose and hope I stay status quo.

I’m unashamed to say I haven’t made it to that final goal of 114 lbs,  hovering instead between 116-117.5, but I’ve lost several inches and 2% of my bodyfat, so I’m satisfied. That said, I might still make it down to 114 since I haven’t been eating maintenance level and it’s new muscle that’s been slowing the scale. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, there’s a 4oz box of Jelly Bellys on the counter that a friend brought over last night. Though I’ve had occasional sugary treats and almost nightly fat-free ice cream, I haven’t dared had Jelly Bellys in the house since December. It’ll be enlightening to see, after I maul open the box in what surely will be a desperate display of pathetic sugar jonesing, how much I’ll hate myself in the morning. Life’s challenges: they never end, do they?

The pushups challenge entered scary territory this week. Yesterday’s sets were 20, 20, 25, 20 and 28+ (did 31) with 90 seconds between. By the time I finished I was panting.

I’m so glad it’s becoming a habit though, I’m seeing new muscle in places I never expected to be affected (my obliques are looking downright serious now). So if you want a simple way to improve the ole bod and gain some strength in a short amount of time, thumbs up to pushups.

Switching channels once again…
Many moons ago, maybe close to a year now, I broke a decades-long Diet Dr. Pepper habit. I probably went several years without ever drinking a glass of plain water, so addicted to the sweet fuzzy stuff was I.

Last Sunday, I was feeling celebratory and bought a big bottle of the Pepper for old times sake. As expected, 2 days later I’d drained it empty. No self-control, it’s embarrassing. But I’m convinced they put something evil in those large bottles of brown stuff because yesterday, with none left in the fridge and me sitting at my computer, I spontaneously started salivating, imagining hundreds of tiny syrupy sweet bubbles exploding in my mouth – I could actually taste it.

We’re talking serious, drug-type jonesing, the kind that gets you a Lifetime TV “based on facts” movie where the star (Valerie Bertinelli) ends up wild-eyed, disheveled and skanky in a seedy hotel room, selling her body for…soda pop? There’d be an accompanying Public Announcement spot: “Diet Soda, the Gateway Drink. It starts with a sip, then a glug, then suddenly you’re sucking down handfuls of Jelly Bellys and Mike & Ikes, your world spinning dangerously out of control.”

Must.not.let.this.happen.

Today: my last set of intervals before Sunday’s race. My usual pre-race speed session is always a light one, around 2 miles worth of 600s or 800s @ 5k pace. Hudson’s concoction, however, was a different beast entirely: 2 miles easy, 1mi at 5K pace, 4min easy, 8×400 at 3k pace w/1min recoveries, 2 miles easy.

Here’s the damage:
The 5K-paced mile: 6:48. My splits for the 400s were sadly all over the place. It was only my second time going for 3k pace in a workout so I just ran as fast as I could and hoped it came out alright. It came out fine, as far as average pace, but the first two didn’t help the rest. Paces for the 400s were 6:21,6:22,6:35,6:20,6:43,6:30,6:36,6:42. Average pace, 6:31. Now on to the subject of weight…

I started at 126.5 lbs. at the end of December. While the first couple weeks in January gave a rapid drop, my goal of 114 has been taking it’s own sweet time. While the scale continues to fluctuate, my calorie intake has stayed pretty consistent throughout, between 2000-2100/day (though I suspect I should increase it again).

Two weeks ago, I hit 117 for a couple days, which would have made a 9.5 lbs. loss, but then last week was my “lady time” and aside from Monday morning at 117.5, I’m currently holding steady at 119.

Meanwhile, my little mOron bodyfat analyzer, yet another fluctuating marvel, has continued a steady trend downward, showing a bodyfat loss of 1.7% since I started. But nothing tells the story as well as a tape measure. So far, this is what’s missing:
waist: 1.25″
navel: 1.5″
butt: 3/4″
thigh: 1/2″ each
calves: 1/4″ each
arm: 1/2″ each
boobs: a distant memory

Let this remind you guys that the scale is not to be trusted. If you’re on a mission to lose a few pounds, take your measurements! You’ll still freak out at the slow moving scale but not half as badly.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some pushups to do. Will the fun never end?

I already knew what I was getting because I’d asked for it. Remember that iPod Shuffle I resurrected a month ago? It worked pretty well for a few weeks, though it had to go back on the cradle immediately after a run or the battery would die. Then last week, it stopped connecting to the computer except to charge, so I could still use it, but there was no way to get songs on or off it anymore.

Sure, my other mp3 player still works (albeit a sticky volume control), but using the Shuffle again got me reattached to its ultimate cuteness and simplicity. Plus, they now offer a 2 gig version and my music library is over a gig. So I asked for a 2 gig Shuffle, taking my chances that come summer, I might fry this one with sweat, too. But I think I can circumvent that with plastic wrap at the headphone jack and if that doesn’t work, I know to dip it in water immediately after it poops out.

My favorite part of the gift though, is Nick’s inscription. They only allow you a certain number of letters so it says “No speed limits on road to excellence”. Like a little running fortune cookie.

He was happy with his gift, too. I got him a cute zip-up jacket from Banana Republic that fits like a charm and looks tres cool, so it’s all happiness and love over here. Friday the 13th was never this romantic.

Aside from that, I just completed my first week (Day 3) of the pushups challenge and I love it! When I did my initial test, I could only do 9 pushups (hey, I’m an old lady). Today’s workout was 8, 10, 7, 7 and 14. Woohoo! Bat wings be gone! Or at least diminished…that’s all I ask.

A few folks on the RW forums are doing this and it sounds like the perfect excuse to finally do some upper body work.  I hate my flabby upperarms, don’t care for dumbbell workouts (or any non-running workout for that matter), my posture is still in need of a major fix, and at my age especially, I need to do something to increase muscle mass, so this challenge suits me to a T.

One thing I love about it is it’s basically a C25K-type program for your upper body.   I don’t even give a crap how many pushups I’ll be able to do at the end, just the fact that I have a schedule to follow is major motivation.   And it only takes 10 minutes 3 days a week  on a little piece of floor! I’ve no excuse not to do it.

On other news, I’ve been researching headband-wearing tips because they’re such a great way to keep your hair back when running, but they always slide right off my head.  Even those Stay-Put bands by Goody with the little gripper things are useless to me.  So when I read a tip to put hairspray on your hair where the band goes, then spray the inside of the band to give it some sticking power, I was on that advice like white on rice. I tried it today for my run and it worked! I couldn’t believe it.  Didn’t budge one millimeter till I took it off.  No more crazy Einstein hair for me, headbands rule!

In actual running news…it’s official, I’ve thrown my hat into the sub 1:40 ring for my Half in May.  There’s a great little ongoing thread in the RW forums for just this thing, so I made my introductions and now plan on soaking up whatever knowledge and camaraderie I can get from it. I’m pretty excited at the idea, now to make it a reality.

Towards that end, I have an interval session tomorrow, 5 x 1000 w/2 min. recoveries.  As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t trust my Garmin for interval work, it’s almost always off by differing amounts, thus my love of the markers in my park.  However, they’re at every 1/4 mile, so for the last few months, my intervals have been comprised of multiples of .25 miles.    That works up to a point, but in reality, I miss 600s and 1000s, so today I tried to find a landmark that matches up with last night’s Google Earth investigation of that extra 200m, so I’d know where exactly to stop the dang interval.  Of course, it’s somewhere between two trees, so no fabulously glaring landmark, but still I suppose it’s better than trusting the Garmin.  Yeah, I know…anal.  But it’s entertainment.