Save the Trail! 5k

Hello friends!:) Happy Memorial Day weekend!! I'm enjoying it here at work... Yay!

So, after my crappy week, with the weight gain and being sick, I was glad to end it with an accomplishment!

Friday night I hung out with Alicia for a little bit. I bought us some ceviche and yuca for dinner, it was so good! Hopefully not too bad for me. I know the ceviche isn't bad, but the yuca had quite a few calories. Oh well.

I came home and tried to go to bed early. Charlie was out with his friend so I didn't really have anything to do. I finally laid down at midnight but I kept coughing the whole night! I could not sleep because every time I tried, I would cough! So annoying!

Around 2am, I smelled food. Like someone was cooking something in the kitchen. I got out of bed and went upstairs to find Charlie on the couch watching TV, eating some snacks lol.

He was surprised that I was up. Me too! I had to get up at 6:30am! Anyways, he came back downstairs with me and we ended up watching TV and talking till 4am!! *Sigh* So much for a good night's sleep!:(

I think it was also hard to fall asleep because I was so nervous! I tried to run as much as possible that week, so I felt almost ready, but I was still scared! Luckily I wasn't running alone. That made it much better!!:)

Caitlin and Sam met me at my house around 7:30. They got to meet Chief, who's always so obnoxious when people come over. He has to sniff everyone all over and try to give them smooches, lol! But everyone ends up loving him anyways:)

We got a tiny bit lost on our way there. I'm not that familiar with the Bethesda area. Luckily Sam is!:)
We ended up getting there around 8:15 I think? The race started at 9:00am. So we went to the packet pick up and got our T-shirt, tote, coupons, and bib:)

It was so new and exciting for me. I loved every minute!! It was a really cool experience to see all those runners. Some beginners, some advanced. We even saw some pregnant ladies, and there were lots of little kids too!:) A real mixed group, which was good. I'd say there were at least 100-200 people. Not really sure though! Could be more!

We started off around the middle of the group. I'm assuming that all the hardcore people got up front first, since they were all about winning! I wanted to be towards the back, since I think I'm pretty slow!:)

They said "Go!" and we were off. We all stayed pretty close together for awhile. I felt great. Breathing fine, nothing was aching. It was nice and smooth:) The worst part was when we were still about half way down the path, and the super hardcore runners were already on their way back! Only about 10 minutes in!! Ridiculous! That sure made me feel slow! lol:)

But, on MY way back down the trail, heading towards the finish line, I saw lots of people still going in the opposite direction, and that made ME feel better!:) Hahahah!:)

Once I got to the 3 mile mark, I was starting to get really out of breath! It was getting much hotter out, and the sun was really shining. What also kind of sucked is you had to run BY the finish line, before actually crossing it! I guess to get that extra 0.11 miles, we had to do a lap around the block before finishing.

There was a small incline right towards the end, which made me feel so tired! Once I got to the top, I had to walk (still fast!) for about 2 minutes, just to catch my breath. Once I felt better, I started running again. Crossing the finish line was a great feeling!! It was mostly just a relief that it was over!! lol:) Ok, well, it wasn't THAT bad. I actually enjoyed it a lot and can't wait to do another one!!

After we finished, we met up and got some bananas, orange slices, and water. It was refreshing! I felt great. Hot and sweaty, but great! I actually felt like I wanted to go and run again, or do some other kind of activity! I guess it was the adrenaline:) BUT, instead, we went to Georgetown Cupcake at Bethesda Row!!!:)

It was really close, but we decided to drive over there. We got there and we still had 5 minutes till they opened. I wonder how bad we looked, in our running clothes, all sweaty and gross, getting cupcakes?? lol! Oh well! It was our reward!:)

I had peered through the window to look at which cupcakes I was getting. I decided to get 3. I would have loved to get half a dozen, but I know the temptation would kill me, having them there at the house. Just like that evil red velvet cake!!>:{ So I got 1 for me, 1 for Charlie, and 1 to share. Red Velvet for me (lol), Vanilla Birthday for Charlie, and Chocolate Ganache to share. The red velvet was A-MAZ-ING!! So was the Chocolate Ganache. I don't know how Charlie's was, because I didn't taste it:)

Here's a picture of our cupcakes, minus the red velvet, because I ate it before I thought of taking a picture! lol They're a little beat up from the ride home:)

I wish I could tell you my exact time, and what place I came in, but the results aren't up yet! I forgot to stop my HRM right after crossing the finish line, but when I did stop it, it was around 35 minutes, which I'm really happy about! When I did 5k on the treadmill the other day, my time was 41 minutes I think, or 45, so 35 is a big improvement! Runkeeper (my app) said that my average pace was 5.15mph... way better than my usual 4.3 - 4.6 mph!:)

All in all it was a great race!! I loved it. I'm already looking at more to do!!:) My plan is to do at least 1 a month!:) Oh, and my new goal, exercise wise, is to walk from my house, to my parents house! From Laurel(Howard County) to Berwyn Heights (PG County) lol! It's about 10 miles. Google maps said it would take me about 3 hours. But I'm looking for a good challenge!

My only worry is that I can't think of a route that has sidewalks all the way there. I checked, and pretty much any way you go, the sidewalks stop at some point. And it's always on a scary road!:/ Oh well, I'll just have to run those parts I guess!:) I'm gonna look for day to do it right now!:)

OMG... it's only 10:38pm!!!:( *Sigh* I've got a long ways to go!

Hope you enjoyed reading about my first 5k ever!!:) Have a good night!:)

Anna

Week 6 Weigh In

I have some good news, and some bad news...
Let me tell you why this week sucked, kinda...

Well, as you know, I was sick starting from Tuesday night. I felt terrible at work Wednesday and Thursday, but managed to make it through the shift. I had to call out Friday though. I felt awful!

Luckily I got to sleep ALL day Friday. I'm pretty sure I got up at 6:00pm!! lol, awesome!:) Of course I couldn't sleep good that night, which sucked because my test was Saturday morning!:(

Saturday was great! I felt much better, thankfully. I got to the test site and went through the whole process. It was nerve wracking! Basically, to make it short, I passed!! I passed the written exam, then took the physical, which wasn't TOO bad, but I pulled a muscle in my thigh on the FIRST run, so that really sucked!

I was relieved when the day was over:) Then I headed over to the firehouse to meet Charlie and drive the ambulance for a little bit. It was slow, as usual! I only got 1 call!! Then we headed home.

That night was our friends, Jamie and Lindsay's engagement party at Pub Dog. It was fun!:) I'm not a huge beer fan, but that's okay because Charlie was drinking and I was driving!!:) It was a good night!!:) Their pizza is amazing though!!

When I woke up Sunday, I felt TERRIBLE again!!! My throat was killing me, and so was my thigh! It was really painful to walk. Charlie was slightly hungover, but ok enough to go for a short walk. It hurt though!:( We also went to the grocery store to
get things to make spaghetti, with our shirataki noodles of course!

While in the store, I made the dumbest decision EVER!! I got red velvet cake mix and cream cheese frosting! WHY??? Why did I set myself up for failure?! I was craving red velvet cake so bad, but I should've just got a slice from somewhere!!!:(

The spaghetti was pretty good. The noodles have a bit of a chewy consistency, so you could taste that more in spaghetti, than in the stir fry. But it wasn't too bad.

Monday Phebe invited us to go out to eat with her and Whitey to a restaurant called "Gunning's" in Anne Arundel. It was yummy! It's a seafood place. We got crab dip as an appetizer which was amazing!! Charlie and I both got Seafood Club Sandwiches, which is the first picture in this blog. That's my actual sandwich. It was pretty good! It was bread with a crab cake, lettuce, tomatoes, and seafood salad! Probably not the healthiest, but oh well! I enjoyed it.

And of course I had to have a piece of cake!! Luckily I took Chief on a LONG walk and burned lots of calories, so that made up for me being a fatty!!

Tuesday I had the rest of my leftover sandwich, minus the seafood salad. And MORE cake!!:( I ate a lot that day for some reason!! I attempted running a 5k, but it was so hot that I couldn't finish!! I also did the Shred later that night. If I wanna have my cake, I gotta Shred!!!

Unfortunately, my exercise did not make up for my bad eating:( Here's the results of my weigh in from tonight...

Previous Weight - 185.2

Current Weight - 185.6

Weight Gained - 0.4 Pounds:'(

Total Weight Lost - 45.8 Pounds.

It really sucks. Especially considering I have NEVER had a gain since I started this whole thing!! So I'm pretty sad, but at the same time I'm relieved that I got a "gain" over with!! I wanted someone else to win the competition, and it's finally gonna happen! I just need to get over it, and try really hard this week!

Besides, I have no one to blame but myself! I was sick, so I couldn't work out as much as I wanted. Then I made the stupid decision to make a frickin red velvet cake!! All in all, not my best week:( But I'm hoping to get past this and come back with an awesome loss next week!!:)

Now, the good thing about this past week!!

I signed up for a 5k!!!!!!!!!!

Caitlin and I are doing our first 5k ever!! We're doing the the Capital Crescent Trail 5k. It's called "Save the Trail!" I've never been on that trail, so I'm excited. Another co-worker of ours, Sam, is also doing it with us!:) I'm excited and nervous at the same time!

I attempted to run a 5k a couple days ago, but the heat made it miserable. I did it today, but on the treadmill instead, and I managed to do the whole thing! So I'm really hoping that I can finish on Saturday!:) I don't care how long it takes, as long as I finish!! I will let you all know how that goes!!:)

Anyways, I guess that's all I have to say right now. I'll update after the race! And then hopefully after my next GOOD weigh in!!:)

Thanks for listening to my complaining!!

Anna

Week 4 & Week 5 Weigh In

I apologize for the lack in updates!! I've had a very busy and fun weekend and just didn't feel like writing!! I'm sure I'll forget stuff, but I'll try to recap as best as I can!

So, last time I wrote was Mother's Day. Unfortunately, I had to work that night, so I only got to see my mom for a little bit:( And work sucked because I was still hungover from Caitlin's birthday! lol

The next day we went for a long walk around Laurel and checked out this park. There's not much to it, but there was some cool rocks to climb and water to look at. Nothing special.

Tuesday and Wednesday I worked. Thursday I got the rest of my tattoo filled in! It took about 3.5 hours this time. I have a total of about 25 hours worth of tattoos on my back now. Crazy! I won't get into how much money has gone into my back... lol!

I love Dee! She's amazing:) She turned my tramp stamp, which I did love anyways, into a beautiful masterpiece!:)

Later on I'm going to add more stuff, but for now I'm taking a little break on my back! If you're thinking about getting a tattoo near your butt, think twice! It hurts like a mofo!!

Oh, so week 4 weigh in was on Wednesday, here's how it went...

Previous Weight - 191.4

Current Weight (5/11) - 188.8

Weight Lost - 2.6 pounds

Overall weight lost - 42.6 Pounds!!!

Yes, that was a good one!!:) So that was the first weigh in of the new 3 week segment. So far, so good!



My sister and I at the banquet

 So, the weekend! AWESOME! Friday night I hung out with Alicia and drank some, but not too much because I had my EMT refresher class at 9am Saturday morning... ugh! It was still fun though. Of course we ended up doing a random arm wrestling contest, stretching session, and push up/sit up session lol. I seem to workout when I'm drunk these days!

Saturday - The refresher was boring, of course. And there was this girl in the class that made me want to shoot myself!!! OMG, SO ANNOYING!! We finished around 2pm, so afterwards I went on the elliptical for 1 HOUR and then lifted weights!!:) Yay me!

After that, I took a shower and started getting ready for our annual fire department banquet. Once I was all ready, Roch came over and picked me up and we went to the liquor store so I could get a bottle of Ciroc lol. We sipped on that throughout the banquet, since they were only serving beer and wine for free lol.

I was already wasted at the banquet... dancing and everything! And even drinking beer, which means I was DEFINITELY drunk, because I hate beer! lol! I probably embarrassed myself plenty that night:)

After the banquet was over, we went back to the firehouse. I changed clothes and then we were off to Cornerstone! I definitely didn't like Cornerstone the first time I went, but I think that's because I wasn't drunk enough. This time it was totally different. I also think the fact that I'm more confident in my looks helped a lot! I walked in that place like "WHAT BITCHES?!" lol!:-P

I danced A LOT that night. My feet were starting to BURN, so I stupidly decided to take my heels off. 10 minutes later, I stepped on a broken beer bottle, cutting my foot pretty bad. I drunkenly sat there holding pressure, I think, and wiping blood onto one of the guys pocket silks from their suit.

I eventually felt good enough to put my heels back on and continue dancing! I pretty much danced the rest of the night. Before we left, I went to the bathroom and ended up falling in the stall! Gross. But I got up and brushed it off, ha!

I ended up getting a cab back to the firehouse and passed out in the lounge. I went from the lounge to the bunk room at some point. Then one of the guys came in and said they were partying at the house next door, so I went over there!



Bruises from the pole

 They just happen to have a stripper pole in the basement, and I was still drunk enough that I attempted to dance on it. Haha!! What a blast. It was definitely fun, but painful. I guess I need some more practice:)

I ended up passing out over there, and then got woken up to go back to the firehouse. I think I went to bed around 4:45am! Oh, and we had EMT refresher AGAIN Sunday morning!! Awesome!

It was a tad rough getting through the class, but I managed to pass, yay! lol. I limped around the rest of the day with a bandage on my foot! Charlie was a little shocked when he saw the shape I was in, hahaha!

Monday was cool. We hung out with Katie, Maddie, Raffy, and Charlie's Mom. Went out to eat at Red Robin, yum! Then came home and practiced various things for my police test, which happens to be THIS SATURDAY! Ahhh!! I'm nervous!!:(

Tuesday I slept all day and when I finally got out of bed I felt really crappy. I did manage to get some Yoga in, then go shopping at Victoria's Secret with Phebe, but once I got home, I felt like I was gonna die! That night I felt SO BAD while I was trying to sleep. Of course I get sick on the last of my 6 days off, then have to come into work the next 3 days!!:(

So tonight, well, Thursday night, was week 5 weigh in! Here are the results!!

Previous Weight - 188.8

Current Weight - 185.2

Weight Lost - 3.6 Pounds!!

Overall Weight Lost - 46.2 Pounds!!!

Couldn't be happier!! And I was actually kind of shocked. I wasn't expecting a great loss since I'm sick and haven't been able to workout the past 2 days. So I was pleasantly surprised!:) Getting close to 50!! I can't wait!!

Well, that's my long update. I'll try not to go that long without updating again! It's kind of a pain to write so much! lol:) Next week will be the last weigh in of this 3 week segment, so we'll find out the next winner then! Kind of hoping it's not me again... I would like for someone else to win this time!!:)

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck on my test!! *fingers crossed*

Anna

Winning Weekend



Sportline Duo 1010 HRM

 I know I just wrote a blog, but I had an awesome weekend, so I have to write about it!

Charlie and I both worked Thursday night, so when we got home Friday morning, I made us breakfast:) A Thomas's bagel thin with egg, turkey and cheese. Only 216 calories!:)

I brought the food downstairs so we could eat in bed. When I went to lay down, I felt something under my pillow. I reached behind it and pulled out a heart rate monitor!! Charlie had actually bought it for me on Wednesday (before I even weighed in) and hid it in his car. I guess he had faith in me that I'd lose 2 pounds and hit the 40 pound mark!:)

It was funny because while he was out with his sister on Wednesday, he texted me asking questions about HRM's and I had kind of suspected that he was getting me one, but then when we were out at Target he had asked if I wanted to go look at them at Sports Authority, so I figured he hadn't bought it anyways. Little did I know... lol

I love it so far. It's a little confusing to understand at first, but then you get the hang of it. It comes with a chest strap, so it's pretty accurate. I've used it twice so far and I really like it. Especially since it's telling me I'm burning more calories than MFP was telling me! lol.

Saturday I had planned on getting off work and going running, then shopping at the mall, sleep, main street festival, then Caitlin's birthday at Nottingham's. Of course my day didn't go that way. Sleep always ruins my plans lol.

I came home from work and got dressed to go running. I decided I was going to FINALLY finish Couch to 5k! And I did!! I ran all around Laurel, even in some parts that were a little sketchy. I also ran through the parade they were setting up for the festival lol. I was sooo happy when I was done! What a relief!! Plus, I burned tons of calories.

When I got home, I decided that I really didn't feel like shopping anymore, so I slept! Around 2, Charlie woke me up and asked if I wanted to go over to Katie's house to see her and his mom, so we did that. Madison was precious as always. She smiled at Charlie and it was adorable!! I love her!:)

While we were there, Caitlin texted me and asked if I had checked my work e-mail. As soon as she said that, I had a suspicion that it had to do with The Biggest Loser, since they were going to announce the winner that day. I checked it and to my surprise, I won!! I was so happy! I didn't think I would win again, but I did:) It made my day. I honestly needed that money, so it was really good news! Now the scales reset and we're on to the next 3 weeks!:)

When we left there, we stopped by MOM's to get my mom a gift card. That was her Mother's Day present lol. Yeah, it's nothing fancy or frilly, but my mom isn't a material kind of person. She likes things that she can actually use, and a MOM's gift card is perfect because she has Celiac's disease and is on a gluten free diet. MOM's has tons of gluten free things, so it's great!:) I love my mom!!:)

We came home and Charlie took a little nap while I did my nails and my makeup. I used my new "Smokey Eye Kit" from Sephora. It was pretty good. A little difficult to apply. They make it look so easy on the directions!!:( lol But I think it turned out okay!:)

Caitlin's birthday was a BLAST!! We went out to Nottingham's. I had never been there before. It was really cool. We sat outside on the patio and it was really cute. There were colored lights and a tiki bar:) I had planned on only drinking a little bit, but things did not turn out that way, lol!! Charlie and I both ended up drinking A LOT. I had SO much fun with my girls from work. We danced and got to sing on some guys microphone... lol what a fun night!:)

We ended up getting a cab back to Caitlin's house with everyone else. That's when I got super dizzy! Ahh! Somehow, when we were all in her house, we ended up doing push ups??? lol! After my last push up, I passed out on the WOOD floor, and stayed there the rest of the night!! lol!! Hey, I was comfortable!:)

I ended up leaving with no shoes on, walked into 7-11 with no shoes on to get Charlie some Gatorade... lol we were both a mess! But it was totally worth it! Lucky Charlie didn't have to work, but I do!:( I'm here now, and so far it's an ok night. We'll see how the rest goes!:)

Thanks for reading!!:) Have a good night!

BL2: Week 3 Weigh In

Hello dedicated (few lol) readers! Sorry, I've definitely been slacking on posts lately! I feel like I really have nothing to talk about though!

To the left is a picture I took of my sandwich, baby carrots, strawberries, and blueberries. I know, I'm lame. But I just thought it looked so pretty and colorful... hehe:)

So, today was weigh in. In was the 3rd weigh in, which means this week we'll find out who wins, since we are doing 3 week increments now, instead of one winner at the end.

I'm not sure where I stand, so we'll see! I'm not too concerned with winning this time, since I already won. I just want to continue to steadily lose weight till I reach my goal:) Here's my weigh in!

Previous Weight - 193.4

Current Weight - 191.4

Weight Lost - 2 Pounds

Overall Weight Lost - 40 Pounds!

Yes! Hit the 40 pound mark. So happy about that. And, now I can get a heart rate monitor! I can't wait to be able to record my exercises more precisely!:) I'm just hoping that it doesn't show way less calories burned that what I was getting before on MFP! That would suck...

To the right is my calendar that I keep of all my exercises and weigh ins. Since April is over now, I took a picture before erasing it all.

Looks like there was only 6 days out of the month I didn't exercise, which is awesome! I usually have a good excuse for not exercising... usually. It would be awesome if I could exercise every single day for at least one month! Maybe this will be my goal for May!:)

This past week has been a pretty good week so far!

Sunday we went on a quest to find "Shirataki Noodles." First we tried Trader Joe's. They didn't have them, so we went to MOM's. Success!
We cooked them that night for dinner in a stir fry. It was delicious!! They're only 20 calories a serving!! Everyone should try them!!

Monday Charlie worked, so I decided to be productive. I went outside and weeded the sidewalk for an hour. Did some raking, some sweeping, picked up sticks, etc.

While I was out there, I had Chief tied up to a rope. At some point he got himself tangled in a tree. I went to go untangle him and didn't notice that I was on the wrong side of the rope. As soon as I set him free, he bolted and the rope slid across the back of my calves. Burn... it stung so bad!!! I couldn't even move, it happened so fast.

Don't ask me why my one calf looks bigger than the other, it was just the angle lol. Luckily, only one leg got it pretty bad, the other one was burned just a little.

After gardening, I went over to Berwyn Heights to meet up with my sister in-law Jo, and her friend Angie. We walked from her house to Lake Artemesia, which is 1 mile. Once we got to the start of the lake, I ran. I did Couch to 5k, week 9, day 2. Jo and Angie were doing week 5, day 3, I believe. We finished! Yay:) Then we walked back to her house, totalling around 48 minutes and burning over 600 calories!

After running, I stopped by my parents house. They just happened to have crabs! Yay! Luckily, I had burned tons of calories, so I had 6! They're only 87 calories each! Woo!

After visiting there and feasting on crabs, I went to the firehouse for the night. I was still in my workout clothes so I decided, what the heck, I'll go on the elliptical! I did that for 35 minutes, burning 420 calories!! Then I did some weights and other various exercise equipment. It was an awesome day!!

Tuesday night I worked. Boring.

Wednesday morning when I got off work, Alicia and I went running at Sligo Creek. It was cold and raining, but we pushed through and had an AWESOME workout!! I felt great afterwards and slept so well!:)

Later in the day, Charlie and I went to Target so I could get some things, and while I was there I saw at the Starbucks that they had "Mocha Coconut Frappuccino" mmmmmm! I HAD to get it! I love coconut! And it was well worth the 310 calories! But next time, I'll get it light;)

When we got home, we decided to go on a long walk with Chief around the Historic District of Laurel. It was so fun! We saw tons of cool old houses. We walked for 1 hour and ran for the last 5 minutes or so!:)

We decided to have an "egg night," so I made egg salad sandwiches, and deviled eggs! They were delicious. Charlie said it was the best sandwich I EVER made! Awww:) It was pretty yummy, and the calories weren't that bad either!:)

Now it's officially Friday and I have to come back to work tonight. It's been a very busy shift so far! I had to stop for about 3 hours to do other things and now I'm finally finishing at 0600! Can't wait to get home and sleep next to my husband!:)

I'll try to update a little more often, instead of one big blog a week! lol:)

Thanks for reading!:)

Anna