Trail Running: There's a First Time for Everything



And we're breathing...

I don't know if it's absurd or profound that I've had to lose myself to find myself.

Translation: As I've lost weight, I've gained a new sense of me.

With the loss of dozens of pounds I suddenly have the confidence and willingness to do things I never would have dared dream of doing before. I was too self-conscious, too afraid, too anxiety-ridden, too fat, too lazy, too incapable. I was blinded to my abilities by all that fat and fear.

I get angry with myself for losing so much precious time--like all of my 20s and even much of my adolescence--by being so dang petrified to just get up, get out, and get moving. There is a big wide wonderful world out there to be explored and I'm finally feeling brave enough to explore it!

This was my Facebook status last Saturday morning: "I've seriously lost it now. I've woken up at 6 am on a Saturday so I can drive half an hour to meet a 'stranger' where we will then proceed to RUN up a mountain in the cold and dark. Bonkers."

I met Heidi on an LDS Runners Facebook group. She has been running for over 5 years and has been so kind to mentor this newbie runner online. The other day she offered to meet up with anyone who wanted to for a trail run. I snagged the opportunity iimmediately and agreed to be there.

Aaaaand then considered canceling about 37 times. The anxiety of doing something new with someone new was overwhelming. Even the morning of the trail run, I found myself concocting some kind of excuse to not show up. So typical of 281.5 pound Evelyn.

"What if I can't keep up? What if it's too hard? What if I hold the group back? What if I get hurt? What if? What if? What if?!?"

Heidi and Ethan and their "Take No Wild Turkey Prisoners" faces

While 281.5 pound Evelyn may still be fiercely whispering doubts, I'm learning to ignore her. I went anyway, and although I got lost on the drive there, I eventually made it. Heidi and her son, Ethan, were wonderful people! They are definitely more in shape than me, but they made no fuss about my heavy breathing or slower pace. I only had to ask to walk one time and I kept up the whole way downhill!

Trail running is fabulous! It's so nice to ditch the hard unforgiving pavement and the sounds and smells of the city for soft cushy dirt, colorful fall leaves, and cheerful bird songs. We covered almost 5 miles round trip and even tackled a 300 foot ascent (talk about a calf workout). We saw deer and lots of wild turkeys. We crunch-crunch-crunched through banks of bright red and orange leaves.

As if the scenery wasn't awesome enough I had the opportunity to meet someone I've admired for awhile as well as pick her runner's brain. I've met several blogging friends "in real life", but this was the first time I've met a running friend. (Does this make me a "real runner" now?) Thank you so much for letting me tag along, Heidi and Ethan! I had a fabulous time and can't wait to do it again!

(Who needs a silly comfort zone anyway?!)

Weight Loss Competitions WORK!

My weight loss plateaued for several months in between April and September. It seemed no matter how hard I tried, I just could NOT lose any weight. At least permanently. It was so frustrating! I was training for a half marathon for goodness' sake! I could run 10 plus miles at one time but I couldn't lose a single pound?! How does that work?!

With the hope that a little competitive edge could change something for me, I joined a weight loss competition hosted by one of the gals from my Facebook running group. It began on Labor Day and lasts for eight weeks, ending right before Halloween (*sigh of relief*).

Over the course of the eight weeks we do daily tasks, earning points if achieved each day. These are things like "Drink at least 64 oz of water", "Work out for at least 30 minutes" (bonus points for each 15 minutes on top of that), and "Keep a food journal". There are also weekly challenges to do if you're feeling ambitious and want to win bonus points. "Take a daily vitamin", "Try and share one new healthy recipe", and "Eat extra fruits and veggies" are a few examples.

At the end of the eight weeks there will be two different winners. One with the most points and one with the biggest weight loss percentage. To be in the competition you had to pay $25 into the winner's pot. With 30 women participating...that would be a lot of nice, new clothes to fit a nice, healthy body.

I'm not exactly winning so far, especially when it comes to weight loss, but I'm not doing too shabby. I was already doing several of the daily tasks on my own before this competition (look to my "Guidelines" bar on the right) so point-wise I'm actually able to give the group some competition.

For me, the hardest part of the whole thing has been one of the dailies: "No sugar or sweet treats". I thought I had been abstaining pretty well from sugar before the competition, but when I was actually recording it and reporting to a group...not so much. Over the past 4 weeks of the competition, I have lost over 6 pounds, where before...I couldn't lose a single pound. Even though I was "trying so hard". Ha ha!

I know sugar is my biggest weakness when it comes to weight loss. It is a struggle I think I will have for the rest of my life. I am most successful in losing weight and being healthy when I limit myself to having one treat a week. While that may seem extreme to some, it really has taught me what sugar SHOULD BE, and that is an occasional treat and not a daily indulgence. I'm not ready to go cold turkey on sugar, but who knows? Maybe some day I'll gain that much self control. For now, I really enjoy baking a treat with my kids and sharing with the neighbors or relishing a sweet holiday tradition. I don't feel like it's so bad to indulge once in a while.

That being said, I'm a tad terrified for when this weight loss competition is over. And--gulp!--right before Halloween, the sugar holiday of the year! It's hard to have self control when you aren't accountable to anyone but yourself. I'm going to have to dig deep and remember how much better I feel when I'm not partaking all the time. Remind me of that, would you, when I'm whining about gaining some weight back over the holiday season, okay? ;)

One more thing...This week's bonus point challenge was to try a new form of exercise. We were at the library last night looking for a book for Dee's school book report and I took the chance to peruse the workout DVDs. I chose "No More Trouble Zones" by Jillian Michaels.

Honestly, I've been avoiding anything by the good ol' JM. Why? Because she's scary, that's why. Have you seen her on The Biggest Loser? But many of my friends like her, so why not? I'll give her a chance. I was pleasantly surprised. No screaming or yelling or belittling. She didn't try to convince me that I was fat because I had been molested as a kid. Just lots of really tough, but kind of doable circuit training.

Ahhh circuit training. Something else I've been avoiding too. It was hard. But hard is good. That means I needed to do it. I'm realizing just how weak my upper body and abs are. I look forward to having my bum kicked again later this week. Also...I really need to get out of my comfort zone and try some new exercise routines. A gym membership is not in my budget right now, but any other suggestions?

P.S. *whispers* Psst! Psssst! Hey! Since the library is going to need that DVD back, I was considering buying the JM workout until I found it on YouTube just now. And there are lots of others on there too! Free workouts? Woohoo!

Zuuuuuumba!

Try Zumba.

Done and done.

But not done. I gotta try this again. I can't let some silly little exercise program make me feel like some uncoordinated, klutzy, white girl. (Even if that's what I am...)

A few (honest) thoughts after my first experience with Zumba:

1. I'm so grateful I was able to do this in the privacy of my own home all by my jiggly, stumbly, stiff-hipped self.

2. Sweat. I haz it.

3. My daughters actually labeled what I was doing as "dancing" and not having a seizure. Not bad for an old lady, eh?

4. Honestly...it feels like a step down from the intensity of running or P90X. But that's okay! It's cool. I can do this on my off days from running. It will be something fun, yet aerobic. I could see Zumba being a great exercise for someone who hasn't exercised in forever and is looking to get active and healthy without going insane. It's fun. It's (fairly) easy. It will get you moving and sweating.

5. Finally, it felt kind of cheesy. I've been listening to lots of women praising Zumba as THE Exercise for years. I couldn't shake the feeling (along with my hips...har har har) that I was finally jumping on the overcrowded, Mormon housewife, stay at home mommy, in desperate need of Mommy Time, wanting to learn some new bedroom moves bandwagon. Blah. Or is that baaaa? (Get it? Like as in a sheep?)

After a few more private sessions at home I think I might want to give this a try in a real class with real people. Eek! Then we will see if I can be so snobby about it.