Less than a month to go..

According to the countdown clock on my RunCoach page, I have 22 days and a few hours until my first half marathon. 22 is my lucky number - does that mean today is going to be a good training day (probably, because its a rest day)? Does it mean I shouldn't be panicking? Is it a sign?


Doubt it.

Yes, I'm a pessimistic person in general, but I'm feeling GOOD about the training and about the racing. Last weekend I did my first real "long" run- 10 miles. HOLY CRAP, I survived 10 miles in just under 2 hours. Granted, I ran on the treadmill at the gym (I needed access to hydration!) and the treadmill stopped after 1 hour, forcing me to restart everything and to drop my iPhone onto the moving parts because I lack coordination, but I DID IT. I came home and saw the man and the kids eating lunch outside. I nearly passed out in the grass and one of the kids (who is freakishly strong!) lifted me back up to a seated position. I barely moved for the next 3 hours, but dammit, I did it. BAM!

This week, I'm supposed to do 11 miles. Not going to happen. I tweaked my knee earlier this week, so I'm taking it a bit easy on the running. I did 3.5 miles of speed drills earlier this week in addition to spin (Monday), PT class (Wednesday- boxing!), PT with Amy (core), and I'll do about 5 on Saturday. On Sunday morning, I'm doing the 8K Autumn Classic with Jodi. I figure I'm still getting 3 runs in this week, just less mileage. And next week I'll knock out 11 miles, no problem.

In fact, many training plans for half marathons don't have you going over 10 miles during training. I found that a little odd, but it's better than the 7 miles that RunCoach had me doing. Apparently studies show that the adrenaline will carry you the extra 3 miles. In my case, I'm hoping a hot paramedic will be carrying me the last 3 miles. Or the happy thoughts of a shower and a HUGE breakfast will get me through the end of the race.

I talked to Amy about my worries on losing focus after the half-marathon. We talked about some other goal opportunities, and she suggested that I talk it over with the man as well to make sure he's on board. After all of my discussions, I set up this VERY basic plan for me- 10K in Detroit for Thanksgiving (the man is doing the race with me!), Jingle Belle 5K with Amy in December, train for the Lansing half-marathon held in May, and then train for the Detroit FULL Marathon in October 2014. This is totally achievable, and the training for the half in May fits nicely with the full marathon training. In between the big races, I'll find some smaller 5K and 10K races to do because I always do!

And I noticed this week that... I need new pants. I flashed some crack at the poor lady behind me in Spin class last week (sorry again!) because my pants were too saggy. And my work pants, my beautiful pin-striped work pants, made it look like my legs had no shape! The man, supportive as he is, offered me up use of the Kohl's charge (15% discount + coupons only for charge users) to get a pair of pants or two at a cheaper rate- of course I'd pay him back- but the idea of having to go shopping now, when I'm not at my final goal, is a little nerve wracking.

But I looked at my measurements and numbers- in just over 2 months, I've dropped 18lbs, reduced the fat percentage, gained more muscle, lowered my body age, and gained some curves. I may have to take him up on some new pant after all.

Challenge Check-In

The 6 week body challenge with my Barbies wrapped up last week, and the results are in. Over the last 6 weeks:

• I only missed class once (and I made up for it with an extra jog)
• I probably ate more fruit than I should have, but the no sugars/refined carbs went better than expected. I improvised on a lot of recipes and cooked at home more than ever. I did let myself "cheat" every so often, but within reason (hey, pizza was going to happen. I just had to be prepared to stop at 2 slices.)
• I dropped 7.4lbs - a little over a pound a week. Not bad.
• My BMI dropped 1.4 points.
• My body fat percentage dropped 1.3%
• My muscle increased by .5%
• My body age is now 56 instead of 58- still dismal, but hey, it's an improvement
• Visceral fat has dropped 1 poin

So, Amy's crazy plan worked. The energy was up- as much as it could be with the sleep apnea issue, the weight was dropping, I was developing more muscle... so I'm soldiering on. I want more/faster progress, but I've been playing the dieting/fitness game for long enough to know that the desired results won't happen overnight. All I can do is keep watching what I'm eating, continue training, and keep checking in on my numbers.

And, it's good to have other numbers to go by besides the weight. That's decreasing, sure, but to get the overall picture is pretty neat and motivating. I mean, I may have only lost 7lbs, but I'm getting some muscles! And it'd be nice to actually have the body age match my *actual* age.

During the challenge, I had to learn a few things to know what the numbers meant. I know about the BMI, and it's nice to see it decreasing. That being said, I'm still "obese." I still have about 5 points on the BMI scale to go before I'm near the next category of "overweight."

Body fat: while everyone needs some percentage of body fat, I'm still a little off. Women have an essential fat percentage ranging from 10-13%. Again, my percentage- even with the decrease- is in the "obese" category. Medical sites suggest increasing weight lifting/strength training, as that will help the percentage of fat drop faster (and the muscle percentage increase)- but your weight loss numbers may stall a little. So again, this just requires patience on my part- continue the cardio, the healthy eating, the trainer/lifting sessions and wait for the results.

Muscle percentage: The average adult female is made up of about 36% muscle mass. I'm short of that- by like 8%. Again, I've made progress and I'm more muscular than I thought I was.

Visceral fat: Most of my research was focused on this topic, as I had never heard of visceral fat before. I've heard of "fat" or "muscle" and that's it. Health Guidance states that visceral fat "... is the fat that is located inside the abdominal cavity – packed between organs – rather than underneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) and this fat will release acids that are metabolized by the liver and which can cause insulin resistance in the liver." This is the fat that surrounds the organs.You can't target the fat loss to just lose fat from around the abdomen (trust me, I've tried), so you have to engage in the general fat burn exercises and hope it falls off in time. I'm still in the "healthy" range, but I'm right at the top of said range. I'd like it to continue the downward trend.

More protein, less carbs, more cardio, add in resistance training and some interval training- sounds easy.