So, it fell off...

So in case anyone is wondering what happens when you get a black toenail from running, it WILL fall off. It took a few weeks, but it did come off. I babied it as much as I could to keep it intact, but when I started my weekly pedicure it just bent back. EEEEEK! Dont worry, it doesn't hurt at all. It was really scary to peel if off, you would think it would hurt but it didn't. The weird part is that there was another nail underneath. WEIRD! Lesson learned, always wear proper fitting shoes with enough room in the toe box so as not to get a black toe nail and eventually lose it! BTW: Here's a pic of my new kicks Pearl Izumi syncrofuel Rd II that were fitted for me!

No Bull About It...

My long run this weekend was TOUGH! I was scheduled to do 12, but only did 9. I didn't get started on Sunday until around 11am, which is WAY too late for summertime running. It started out as an overcast 80 degrees, and warmed up to a HOT hot clear day. I ended up sunburning the tops of my ears and scalp. Luckily I sprayed sunscreen on my arms and back before I left the house. Lesson learned, I am NOT a hot weather runner. I had to have my boyfriend pick me up when I had about 3 miles left. I was out of water and dropped half of my energy bar on the trail. Boo. All in all a pretty awful run.

But, one of my coworkers gave me some great advice that made me fight to get through this run. She told me, "Sometimes your run isn't going to be perfect." How true. There are going to be some days when you didn't sleep enough, ate something spicy the night before that bothers your stomach, or when it's warmer than you would like it to be. What are you going to do on race day if you don't have ideal conditions?

You've gotta learn to do what you can and get through it. On to 13 miles next weekend!

Tons of Long Runs!

Miles 8, 9, and 10 have flown by! I must say that the 9 mile run kicked my butt. Although, 10 felt great. It was a nice cool overcast morning so that helped quite a bit. The weight is still coming off SLOWLY. I weigh in tomorrow for the first day of our new session for Weight Watchers. We'll have some new faces in our group, I'm hoping to get re-inspired by their enthusiasm and set some new goals for this session. (Aug 17th - Dec 14th)

I'm starting to feel really confident about the marathon! I printed out the full course route and posted on my wall. I started to realize that each piece of the marathon is coming together. I think running the relay for the Route 66 is a good way to get familiar with the course, learn how to navigate the day of the race, and to know how far each "section" is. One day with the Runner's World training group we did the first 6-8 miles of course and ended at Veteran's park on 21st street. Last year, this is where my relay stop was, so for the next 6-8 miles across the Arkansas River I've actually been in the race so I know the terrain. Then, once you loop around 2nd street it is basically down Riverside and back. And if you run in Tulsa you know Riverside well!!

All of a sudden the marathon seems VERY real. All my training is coming together.

A lady at my office ran a marathon in 2006 and she gave this newbie some advice. "Just get out there with your iPod and do it! Have fun and keep going, it's something that no one will ever be able to take away from you." It gave me chills how she described crossing the finish line. She said it was the biggest sense of accomplishment, pride, and happiness.

I'm ready!!

WWWWWDay...

It's the Wednesday Weight Watchers at Work Weigh In Day!

Time to face the music, I had fun on July 4th, and ate plenty! I was up 3 pounds last Wednesday. Ouch. But I have worked hard this week and I've lost 1 pound. So I'm currently at 215.4. It makes you realize how easy it is to gain and how hard it is to lose it. I plan to get this weight off! It seems like I've been stuck at 215 forever! Workouts in the mornings are going great this week and our meeting today was about trying new recipes that incorporate some of your favorite veggies prepared in new ways and ones you've never tried. One really great suggestion was to make pizza out of a portabello mushroom. I'm a huge fan of "skinny pizza's" I usually use a whole wheat pita as my crust with canned tomatoes as my sauce (0 pts) and 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella(2pts). They suggested hollowing out the portabello mushroom and putting your sauce and cheese on top. If you were to make it that way it would only be 2 points! Yum... My stats this week from WW eTools:

Week 3, 4, and the Gnarly Black Toenail

4th of July weekend was great. Had lots of fun with the family, and somehow missed my 7 mile long run! Oops. This weekend was my 5 mile long run and it ended up being 3! Oops again.

Well, I am definitely back on track this week, both running and WW. Holidays seem to throw me off but I'm working out every morning with my friend Helen this week.

I do have an interesting development, on my 2nd long run a couple of weeks ago I had noticed my shoes were snug (I've gotten new ones since) but when I took off my shoes I noticed the dreaded BLACK TOENAIL! It's really not too bad compared to some of the images I Googled, but it's still weird. Oh well, I painted them pink and I'm gonna keep on running! :)

Week Two Group Run: Blazing Turtles

It's the second week of training. We started at 6:15 am on Saturday. It was a little harder to get up, but it was such a beautiful morning. Great temps outside and the sunrise was gorgeous. The plan was to do 6 miles. We started on a trail through the neighborhoods near Veteran's Park. All was well until we ended up back at the Park/starting point having only ran 5 miles. I stopped to get a drink and then headed back out to finish up one more mile. I guess I got separated from my group and ended up running 7.3! Well, I guess that's a good mistake, right? I'm not sure how I got mixed up, I think somewhere along the way we weren't supposed to turn back early toward the park.

Oh well! It felt good and I paced myself. There were only a couple of spots I walked a little bit, but other than that it was a great run! I finished in about 1:15.

If anyone has Nike+ (Either the phone app or the shoe sensor) you can add me as a running buddy: Teresa_01

Nike+ provides great running stats after your run:

Wednesday Weight Watchers at Work Weigh In Day

This day will officially be known as WWWWW Day :)

I'm definitely lucky enough to work at a company that supports Weight Watchers at Work. Every Wednesday at noon we take our lunch to the conference room, weigh in, and have our meeting. It's great. I'm proud to say that I brought the program to my company when I first came on board and I'm amazed to see how far some of my coworkers have come since the start in January. It's incredible. Today's weigh in was pretty good, I worked hard all week: tracked my points, got in some exercise, and stayed (mostly) away from the bad stuff! I had a couple of higher point days but for the most part stuck close to my daily 36pts. My goal this next week is to get stay close to my daily points range, eat more vegetables, and keep running!

Previous Weight: 215

Today's Weight: 214.4

Total Loss: 0.6

Here is a snapshot of my progress report for the week. I love WW eTools!