So, since I had a little whinge about my struggles, I’ve had a vacation, gotten my blood test results back, ran a 10 Miler and had a birthday so I thought I’d update just a wee bit.
Running
When I wrote my last post I really was struggling with running. I’m not sure why, but since I wrote about it, it’s gotten better. What I really think (which could be true, or not…) is that I was just really tired. Like, mentally and physically and mostly from stress at work. So I’ve had some good runs, including a pre-race 16K here in Arnhem for the Bridge to Bridge that I’m running tomorrow officially.
I have not been training as much as I would like, but I feel like I’m in a way better place with running and longer distances in general than I was in the past. Ideally though I would train more than I am now but maybe less harsh and strict as I was training for Berlin. After the Half in April I was really burnt out.
A cool thing happened – I received an email from our house insurance provider Meeùs, a sort of call to those who wanted to receive a free entry to the Tilburg Ten Miles and a chance to win €100 in gift vouchers from Run2Day. To enter you had to give your motivation for why you should win the grand prize. So I wrote about how I was training for the Lisbon Half Marathon and how all of my running this year was dedicated to Lotte, the daughter of my colleague who has epilepsy and is not quite two years old. Not only did I win an entry, I also won the gift cards! The only “bad” thing was, when I found out it was only 6 days away. Since I’d already run 16K the Monday prior, I figured it would be fine.
Turned out to be very fine :) Just under 1:50 which was really all I wanted. The last time I officially did a 16K I was almost at 1:54. This is also in line with what I want to achieve for a Half Marathon pace. Sunday’s run was great from the very beginning. The weather was good, my breathing was good, my pace was good. I walked around 4 minutes of the run, basically for when I needed to drink water. I have been running with my camelbak to get used to it again for the Half in October. Next race I’ll use it again and try to drink and run at the same time. In any case, I was really happy to run in Tilburg and so lucky that hubs was there for me, even if he couldn’t run himself.
That race on the 1st, was the first of 3 10Milers this month! This is not really my distance, but great practice for the Half coming up!
Tomorrow is the Arnhem Bridge to Bridge. I have run the 3 and 6 mile distance, so now it’s time for 10! The weather forecast is not looking great, but when it rains or is cold or windy I just shift my thinking to something else, like the fact that I have full use of my legs, that my body is fit and healthy and that it’s not that big of a deal to be rained on. I know not everyone feels that way, but personally, running in the rain has always been good for me. I stay cool and can really run for ages from taking in the great oxygen. But in any case, would be great if we could avoid it. Hubs and The Girl are running too as well as some friends; Samantha, who I ran with twice in Hilversum and some social media friends as well, like Babette who I met from Twitter. No matter what, it’ll be a good day.
Vacation
No Vacation away this year. We spent the whole time basically clearing stuff out, organising, painting, and spending money at Ikea (I made two trips there, which is enough to make me think I never want to go back). The Girl and I now have “our” room and the boys have their own room. We hung photos and prints and things that we’d meant to put up ages ago, our laminate was finally put in (the cats are sliding around everywhere) and I threw away a ton of stuff. Oh and all electronics are now out of the bedroom – this was something I’d wanted for a long time but we had to clear out and fix up the Girl’s room before we could achieve that. During my holiday I also slept at least 8 hours every night. Talk about bliss! This is why I think running wasn’t going well – I just was so completely exhausted from many, many months of trying to fit it all in, plus work stress AND lately, more hours put in at the office.
It was challenging though because staying at home with the kids is different than going somewhere. As you know we don’t have kids full time so for us it’s something we still have to adjust to each time.
I’m glad we did all that stuff (we’re not fully done yet), but Hubs and I both agree we are definitely going away next summer!
Blood Tests
I know this is going to sound really odd but I was really hoping that there would be something, anything “wrong” to indicate why I haven’t really been able to lose weight in so long. I was convinced that my hormones (cortisol) were the culprits behind it all. I don’t want to have an excuse but what I do want is some understanding and then have some type way to move on to either accept or change the situation.
However, there is nothing wrong with me.
Cortisol levels were normal. In fact everything was normal except:
My LDL cholesterol is slightly over the normal range (which I don’t really get, but OK)
My B12 and D are on the low end of the normal range.
That’s it. Nothing else. No thyroid issue, no diabetes, no hormone problems, nothing. So basically, I’m still at square one.
It’s bittersweet in a way to know I am completely as healthy as a horse and all I really need to do is watch out for my cholesterol and take some supplements. But… I’m still overweight. That’s a fact.
So I made a decision, along with joining Brooke and Emily’s Back to Basics challenge, to rejoin Weight Watchers again, for 3 months, to see if following points again will help me get back on track. Honest truth though? So far I still find it extremely frustrating and difficult to log everything correctly. Anyway, maybe more on that in another post.
My Birthday
Yes, ladies and germs, another year has gone by and I’m the ripe old age of 45! I don’t feel old most of the time, but I do find that my tolerance for crap, noise and ridiculousness is at an all time low. Maybe that has something to do with the being tired and stressed thing though. Could very well be.
Hubs actually bought me an MacBook Air, which is far too generous in my opinion, but most certainly a new laptop was necessary. Now I have the painstaking task of clearing off my old laptop and getting used to this shiny new thing. We realised actually that this is the first time in my entire life that I’ve owned a new computer. Everything until now has been refurbed or hand-me-down. I guess when you are 45 it’s a good time to have a new laptop.
The hubs also arranged a nice dinner, beautiful sunflowers, prosecco and chocolate covered “sousjes”. Now you see why I find it difficult to follow the points system!?!
Upcoming Events
As I wrote, tomorrow is the Bridge to Bridge
Next weekend I’ll be cycling with Penny in Rotterdam for the Leontien Ladies Ride
Weekend after that is the Dam tot Damloop in Amsterdam
two weeks later is LISBON!!
I’ve got our flights booked and we found a little apartment to rent again for super cheap. I can’t WAIT to go to Portugal; I haven’t been for absolute ages and Hubs has never been! I can’t believe we’ll be running a Half Marathon in Lisbon soon!!!
I’m going to try a bit harder too, to blog more consistently again. It’s been a weird period but I would like to have my routines back, including writing and keeping up with everyone.
So now my questions –
Have you ever done a staycation?
What about running 3 10Milers (almost) in one month?
Do you have kids? How do you keep them entertained during vacation?
Do you follow Weight Watchers and do you find it easy to keep your points within the daily limit?
Missed yourblogs! We stayed home this year too. Kinda depressing but at the same time relaxing. But honestly, I am a stay at home mom. So it just sucked. Staying at home WITH my kid is what I do every day. Next summer we go away.
I have started back to WW as well. I often feel frustrated. I hate trying to figure my exercise into points. I also feel like it’s very hard to stat in my points with dinner. But, I do love how it forces me to eat more veggies :)
Can’t wait to bike with you cx
Woo, questions! Welcome back to bloggy blogging.
Have you ever done a staycation?
—Yep, but I end up doing so much responsible crap or a whole lot of nothing. I try to save my days off to travel.
What about running 3 10Milers (almost) in one month?
—I think 10 milers are my favorite race distance, so I’d be down with that!
Do you have kids? How do you keep them entertained during vacation?
—Can’t help you there…
Do you follow Weight Watchers and do you find it easy to keep your points within the daily limit?
—I don’t do WW but I do count calories. Some days I have no problems, and some days its a huge challenge. I struggle with weight loss too, but I’ve found simply by being just absolutely persistent, I can take weight off slooooooowly.
Have a great race! :)
Good luck with your half miler :) 3 x 10 Milers in a month sounds crazy to me! Its fantastic though, I’d like to know how you manage it?!
Well, originally I was only signed up for two and then I won the one on the 1st. To be honest I don’t know how I manage it. I think one important factor is that if I say I’m going to do it, then I do. I guess in a way it’s just good training for the Half in 3 weeks. If I can do 3 16’s, surely I can add 5 more to that, right?
Happy belated birthday! 45 years YOUNG, I say! No wonder you needed to catch up on some rest with all of this running. WOW – inspriring! Very cool about winning the gift for your writing :) Re: IKEA – I went once and never again! Now for the questions:
Have you ever done a staycation?
Yes – for many years I did one the last week of August through Labor Day. This is the first year in about 10 that I didn’t. I missed it.
What about running 3 10Milers (almost) in one month?
Not formal races, but yes, while I was training for a half. Exhausting!
Do you have kids? How do you keep them entertained during vacation?
Stepkids that are grown. I’m empty nesting, so I just have to worry about my entertainment now ;) Back in the day, I’d get them to the gym with me, hiking, biking, whatever. Gotta get them outta the house!
Do you follow Weight Watchers and do you find it easy to keep your points within the daily limit?
I did for years (how I got to my goal weight originally). Now I’m lifting so much that I can’t stick to the goal weight scale-wise and my Points allowance is about 300-500 calories lower than I need to sustain myself for my workouts. I can’t calorie-restrict that much or I’ll never build any muscle. So, basically, I quit doing the program for those reasons. Now, I eat clean the majority of the time, eat 1500-1800 calories/day and focus on macros 40/30/30. And, I rarely get on the scale. It’s refreshing! That said, I still believe in the program as far as helping people learn more about healthy foods, watch portions and as a support system :)