153.0 - Somethin's better than nuthin'

So my big weekend plans for running went completely bust. Here's the excuses:

Friday I had to work late and we got the big snow fall they were calling for, and I had to get home right after work so my mom could drive home before it got too bad (she lives 30 minutes away). I was still planning on going to the gym after the kids went to bed, until my mom called when she got home and said she saw 5 or 6 cars off the road before she even got on the interstate. Better safe than sorry, so I stayed home.

Saturday's 9 miler was derailed because we went sledding. I guess we got about 6 inches of snow, which is a lot for us. DH got up with the kids first thing and took them shopping for snow stuff--when you get substantial snow every couple of years, you don't keep snow boots & pants on hand for little kids. They grow out of them too fast. I got to sleep in until they family got back with provisions for a snow day. DH also went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a huge inflatable sled. It took him 30 minutes to figure out how to inflate it, but it was totally worth it. We drove out to the Country Club (we are not members, but they have the best hills and no one was checking membership cards) around 11 a.m. where there were dozens of other families with the same idea. All four of us fit on the sled at the same time. It was a total blast.

After we got done playing in the snow, I told DH I could never have done what we did without losing weight. I fit comfortably on the back of the sled with 3 people in front of me. I walked up a huge hill half a dozen times without getting fatigued or even short of breath. I even carried my 35 pound toddler up the hill without getting out of breath. Plus, I could get up and down off the sled gracefully and without looking like a beached whale. And I could wear 3 layers of pants without feeling like I looked like a Sumo wrestler.

Talk about a non-scale victory. Saturday's adventure was just that.

But I was worn out by the time we got home, got our winter layers off, got the boy to nap, and did several loads of laundry. I just was not in the mood to leave the family unit for 2 hours to run.

Then Sunday, after the freaking time change, I was so tired I skipped church and stayed home with Luke. Plus, he's had a bad cough still from the croup and even though he's not contagious any longer, I didn't want him hacking on the other kids in the church nursery, so that was another justification for staying home. Sunday afternoon was gorgeous. The sun melted almost all the snow and the temps were in the upper 40s/low 50s. DH took the kids for a walk around 4:30 and I went out and ran the neighborhood.

It's about a one mile loop around, and I ran that first mile like my life depended on it. I guess I was feeling the failure of not running my planned runs, so I hit it hard. I was thrilled to see Garmin reading between 8:30's and 9's, and I ended up with my fastest mile ever--9:18. I met up with DH and the kids just after I finished mile one, and I was breathing so hard DH asked if I was okay. Hahahaha. I just ran the fastest mile of my life, and yes I'm okay, I just had my heart rate through the roof and I'm breathing a little hard, umkay?

I talked with the kiddos, pet the dog, and ran another mile, this one at a more normal pace but still decent for me, in 10:41. I got in a final .34 miles, but they were mostly walked with Sophie as she was finished walking with DH and wanted to be with me. DH was not in the mood to deal with both the kids by himself (Sophie had a melt down because she couldn't ride her bike with flat tires and we don't yet have a bicycle tire pump), so I cut the rest of my run short.

And that was it, a grand total of 2.34 miles all weekend. I'm pretty stinking disappointed by the lack of mileage, but I guess a short run is better than nothing at all.

On the weight front, I've seen that 3 after the 5 for about 3 weeks now, and I'm not happy about it. I've done well the past two nights with no night-time carb fests, and it's my goal to eliminate night time eating for good. I think it's a big reason for the uptick in my weight (it's a small uptick, I realize, but it's still an uptick nonetheless). So for the next 21 days, I'm going to do everything in my power to not eat at night. It takes 21 days to form a habit (as Jess has aptly named her blog) and I can do anything for 3 weeks, right? That's the plan for now. We'll see how it goes.

I've also read a new diet book this weekend, called The Last 15. Even though the subtitle claims it's "a weight loss breakthrough," there's nothing breakthrough about it--eat more protein, fewer carbs, more veggies, and you'll lose weight. Big shockers there. But the author put a lot of information about macronutrients and hormones and it's helped reinforce to me that I need to watch my carbs and increase proteins. I've gotten lazy the past few months and not been eating as healthfully as I was when I was losing weight, and that's not a happy place to be. The book has also reinforced that I am still overweight according to the BMI charts (I won't even enter the "Normal" range until I weigh 149), and that these 15-18 pounds that I want to lose could be the tipping point of me regaining my lost weight, if I don't lose them.

It's almost spring, and I'm slowly getting some mojo back to gear up for another weight loss movement. I'm not putting a time table on it, and I'm not committing to a specific plan. Yet. Still gonna noodle on it and figure out the plan of attack.

In the mean time, I'm just praying for healthy kids and decent weather so I can stick to a running schedule.