Panera is Evil

Had meetings all morning at work, and the host of said meetings brought the office lunch since the meetings cut right into our lunch hour (which is a whole other story, that I disagree with!) Lunch was a Panera nightmare! Bread, sweets, gooey fatty foods, that had the hidden healthy stuff within it! Either way bc Panera is a) way too expensive b) far from where I live & c) not very WW friendly, I hardly if ever eat it. And to top it off the conference room is located in the basement with no cellular service, so I couldn’t even look up PP values for anything! (Only WW friendly peeps will get this!)
So I chose what looked the least harmful. I had half an Italian combo sandwich, side salad of lettuce, and a pickle. Well, thank god my instincts told me to hold off on the kettle chips included with the sandwich because that lunch cost me 17 PP! That’s more than half of my daily allowed value!

I thought about that sandwich the entire time I worked out tonight at the gym! But it’s tracked, and there are NO meetings with lunch tomorrow! :)

Panera is Evil, that is all.

Finding my Mojo

This past weekend has me feeling like I’m in such a rut, it’s so hard to get out of. I’ve made horrible food choices, binging to the point where I’m sick, and I don’t care. And I slacked on my workouts since last Wednesday. I don’t understand why I don’t have the same drive anymore. I feel unfocused and like mentally it’s all to much to deal with. My only goal this week is to try harder, to get better, and hopefully see some results.
Here’s to trying yet again, and never giving up.

Fingers crossed.

Shmooze & Booze

Marketing party for work today. Lots of alcohol and good food. I’m sold! Hahaha, not really bored out of my mind and I’d rather be home, watching trashy television!

Today is a New Day

On Saturday, May 17th, I ran in the Brooklyn Half Marathon. It was my 9th half, and only my second time running Brooklyn. The course is pretty amazing, starting from the Brooklyn Museum, to Prospect Park, and then down Ocean Parkway to a finish, on the boardwalk of Coney Island. It’s pretty spectacular, the spectators are awesome, and the energy of Brooklyn pride can be felt all over! 

I went into this race, telling myself to only have fun, and that I wasn’t going for a new personal best. I ran the NYC Half in March, and the women’s half last month in Central Park, and all the training was beginning to take a mental toll on me. My mind needs a running break every once in awhile! 

I started out easy, and I felt great, I was really excited to get to the finish! By the time I hit the 5k mark, I was 31:34 in, and that was about a minute ahead of my pace for the NYC Half, which I PR’d in. So I felt great, and kept pushing on in to Prospect Park. The park was the hardest part, it had all the elevation for the entire course, so I slowed down a bit but was still on pace to finish with a PR. Once I hit 7 miles, I thought I was on my way to a new PR! 

But then around mile 9, I started feeling my quads tightening up, so I took a few breaks to walk it out, but was determined to get my PR. I stopped at a few water stations, alternating between, water and gatorade, but the pain in my legs just wouldn’t let up. I went from a 10:30 pace, quickly to an 11:35 pace, and slowly felt myself being defeated, by the pain in my quads. I pushed through mile 10 and 11, and let go of my PR, and decided then I just wanted to finish strong. Mile 12 the cramps became excruciating and terribly uncomfortable, but the boardwalk was just ahead of us, and there was no stopping me! Then with 800 meters to go, it was just pure pain. I had to stop, I thought if I didn’t stop, my legs were going to give out, and I’d just collapse. I walked through the pain, and I knew it could be seen on my face, because the spectators helped push me through it! Their cheering, and kind words of support made me force a smile and run the last few hundred meters! 

I felt so many emotions once I crossed the finish line. I first felt disappointed because I lost the chance to PR when I was so close! Then of course I felt pain! But when I looked at my time of 2:26:24, I realized that it wasn’t my worst half time. It was a minute better than my half last month, and I overcame the defeat my body felt! I was suddenly so proud of myself, because I chose to continue, and not give up! And sometimes that’s the hardest thing to be able to do! After trying to figure out what went wrong, and talking to a nurse, I’m most certain I took in too much potassium, I don’t usually drink gatorade, but because it was a warm day, I wanted to stay hydrated, and with that on top of my fuel packs, and the banana I had before the race, the potassium was too much at once and caused the cramps! Go figure! 

So today I walk away from this half, proud as ever, because I could’ve easily gave up and walked to the finish, completely defeated, but I ran with a smile on my face, and got half number 9 under my belt! 

Til July 1st, my goal is to stay on track, and on point with Weight Watchers, stick to short runs, focus on cross training, and strength training, so we’re ready to take on marathon training! 

Today is a new day! :)