5ks and December and New Pants - OH MY!

Greetings, world! It's been a bit of a busy time for me recently, so I apologize profusely for not blogging as much as I should.

First off - It's December. I have exactly one month to get my butt somewhat in gear for this Half Marathon thing. I'm scared. I can't run forever. 13.1 miles is forever. I haven't been able to run as much as I'd like because of this stupid cold/sinus issue. I did, however, run a 5k on Saturday! The Jingle Bell Jog benefiting the Children's Cancer Center at Blair E. Batson Children's hospital in Jackson, MS. I finished a few seconds faster than my last 5k, and I was sick and there were hills, so I'm not complaining too much.

Jingle Bell Jog 5k - 12/3/11

In case you were wondering if I won a medal this time...no. No I did not. Check out all of these people - and that's not even close to when the race was supposed to start! I didn't have an easy age group to compete again this time, so just finishing and getting a bag o' swag and a cool t-shirt was my "prize" this time. I'm okay with it.

I did the whole thing by myself. I don't think I like running races alone. I need a running buddy. Someone to keep me motivated or at least be waiting for me at the finish line. I also got kind of jealous because other people had husbands/wives on the sidelines cheering them on at different points in the race...I wish Brian would do that for me, but I get that it's early on a Saturday morning usually. Maybe one day he'll surprise me.

Anyway, thanks to all of this running I've been doing, I was in need of new pants to wear to work. I showed a friend of mine that I was able to dance like MC Hammer in my old work pants. These are even long enough, hooray! I love Loft. Fitting in Loft (and Anthropologie) was one of my motivators for losing weight. I haven't tried shopping at Anthro, but I can't wait! I hope something will fit *FINGERS CROSSED!*.

Oh and since it's December, here's me this morning. Sorry I didn't do this on the 1st...and I'm sorry my boobs look wonky, that bra sucks, it's more for sleeping.

I've got a training schedule!

Thanks to my amazing friend Chrissy, who will be coming to good ole' Jackson, Mississippi to run the Mississippi Blues Marathon with me - I officially have a training schedule! It looks difficult. For example, let's take a gander at what I need to do the rest of the week, shall we?

Wednesday: Jog 60 seconds (50%), walk 40 seconds (10-15%), sprint 20 seconds (85%), [walk 60 seconds (10-15%), jog 40 seconds (50%), sprint 20 seconds (85%)] - repeat 10 times.

Thursday: Jog 60 seconds, walk 90 seconds - repeat 10 times (easy peasy!)

Friday: Rest - walk X as long as she can go (probably a mile - then she'll be begging to go home b/c she's lazy!)

Saturday: Jog 60 seconds, walk 60 seconds - repeat 16 times or 2 miles. Do more if you're feeling good!

Sunday: Rest!

Okay, I take it back. This first week doesn't seem too bad. I can handle it. However, then we get into next week and the week after and so on. Less than 2 months until I run a half marathon - can you believe it?! I know I can't. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die when I cross that finish line, but dammit, I will finish and that's what matters. I look too pretty with medals hanging around my neck not to get another one.

Oh yeah! Speaking of medals and "another one" - if you're not my FB friend, you might not know! Remember that 5K I ran a few weeks ago? I won 3rd place in my age group - and my time was 41:08! I got my time messed up - woot! There were 11 people in my 20-29 age group and I got third! I may have freaked out at work about it. Maybe. IT WAS THE BEST FEELING EVER! See for yourself!

I'm so proud of myself. But before you get all "WTF? You won something with a 41:08 in a 5k!?" trust me, I think I was the slowest person not pushing a stroller lol. But that's okay because dammit - it felt good! I'm sure it'll take quite some time before I'll win another, but I don't care. I have my medal hanging on my desk for the world to see! I'M  RUNNER, BITCHES!

I'm trying really hard not to be mad at the scale. I can tell my clothes are getting way loose and I can tell that my double chin is receding, so I know I'm losing weight. The f*cker just won't go under 200. This morning I was 201. I've been eating like a boss, too. Tracking all of my calories in and calories out. I even got Brian to start doing MyFitnessPal! Everyone follow him! MrKrinkle69 (classy, eh?) and if you aren't already, follow me! BRenkwell - I'll be your friend and I promise to cheer you on!

My first 5K!

Right after the race! 44:08 - woot!

Well, it's official. I'm a runner. I did my first 5k this morning with my boss for the Blackbird Run in Brandon, MS. Roughly 3.1 miles in 44 minutes and 8 seconds. Not too shabby! I definitely loved running with others - it was nice to be able to sort of pace myself with someone and it was great that I had my boss motivating me and saying "okay, time to run now!" when I took a break to walk a bit. It really felt wonderful when I crossed that finish line.

I even did a little jazz leap over the finish line. I'm quirky like that.

My boss, Nicki and I after the race

I can't even describe how excited I was that I actually completed the race. Sure, there was no way I won anything, but dammit, I finished. I made that race my bitch and my boss and the owner of the company I work for were both there to witness it and cheer me on. It was a great feeling. I'm pretty excited to get back in the swing of things starting Monday morning. FRIENDS - feel free to text, call, e-mail, facebook, whatever and bug me about going to the gym or working out. I do better when I think people are pulling for me. My friends are my motivation. I don't want to ruin more pictures with my chunk-ness.

I'm still working on my eating habits. I don't know why this is the hardest part for me. Last night, Brian was asleep at 6:15 for some reason, so I had to make my own dinner. I'm trying my best to eat some of the random stuff around the house so I ate a bowl of rice. Yeah, that's it. Weird huh? Well, after that, I ate a Reeses peanut butter cup, then a piece of bread with peanut butter, then a biscuit left over from Brian's breakfast with spray butter. WHY DIDN'T I EAT SOMETHING HEALTHY!? It makes no sense. I need to do a better job at keeping healthy foods around the house.

Weight loss doesn't happen with exercise alone. I need to eat healthy food!