Mara!!- (Title not long enough need more words!)

Hey chicky... how are you doing in your fitness? In your taking charge of your healthy lifestyle!

I have been thinking of you!!

La-

aww thanks for checking (and putting up with the stupid 10 character limit)

Ive been slack the last few weeks. I hurt my knee "running" and life has been well pretty damn shitty.

I restart my running tomorrow morning now that my knee is healed up and Zumba on Sunday. I still have a pretty set in concrete goal of doing a 5K in mid March. I know I can walk the whole thing no problem so it will be about how much of it I can run. Im hoping for a time under 35-40 minutes (if I have to walk most of it)

The good news is that in spite of not working out I have at least maintained my weight instead of it creeping up over the holidays like it usually does.

And tomorrow I get to start fresh!

YAY!! Maintenance is a tough battle so you are already winning!!

My knee has been bothering me again! I think it is because I am wearing my old sneakers again AND running on the Dreadmill... I have an appointment with my PT but she is not available until the 10th...

she is awesome and the best time to catch her is now before spring because in the spring she works with all kinds of "pro" runners to train for races and stuff...

I hope she can help me- look at my gait/stride and see if there is something i can adjust to keep from having knee problems later...

Yeah Im on a treadmill in my garage. I figure its still warmer than running outside though I don't enjoy it as much. Ive always had knee problems since I played lots of volley ball and injured both of them a number of times. I did see an Orthopedist before I started and they said my knees were fine they hurt cause I was fat. I was like gee thanks.

Im hoping for a mild winter so I can get back to running outside soon.

Yeah I MUCH prefer running outside... girl you should run outside n MY kind of weather!! LOL

I had a Dr once, when I asked him about my snoring, tell me to lose weight.. didn't evenbother to do sleep apnea tests or anything.. just leaned back into his chair and said "well you wanna loose some weight?" UGH!

Sorry life hasn;t been so much fun lately...

I think I am running outside on Sunday... the high is supposed to be 7!! LOL I think there are like 5-7 people signed up for this group run on Sunday!

I think if I could actually run the whole time I would be ok but Im still mainly walking and I just can't keep warm enough (plus I don't want to spend a gazillion dollars on cold weather gear)

My limit I think is when it dropped below 40. Its about 50 in the garage but compared to the 20-30s its been here Ill take it.

LOL 20-40 is my FAVORITE weather to run!! LOL

Sunday will be wicked cold.. but when you run in a group it's not so bad.. you talk and forget the cold!! I run pretty slow- my ideal pace for long runs is 12:30... little less than 5.5 on the treadmill.. I think...

but you are right about buying a ton of gear... when it is THAT cold.. I wear spandex shorts, and two pair of running tights, a base layer cotton shirt... a turtle neck technical shirt, another lighter shirt over that... then a jacket that zips and a fleece vest... a hat and a head wrap thingy.. baklakclava or something like that it's claled... covers my neck and my head... I can put it over my houth too.. but then it sucks into my mouth when I breathe... I just like that it covers my ears and most of my cheeks!

OH and wool socks that go mostly up my calves and cotton socks over those!

I have found that the slower I run.. the longer i Can run..

If I am going that nice 12:30 pace... I can do 7 miles straight so far... but if I am going faster... I need to stop more often... ya know?

Holy Layers Batman!!!! That is a ton! And its all sooo expensive (even more so in "plus size". So I caved and unburied the treadmill from all the crap in storage.

I am a super slow runner still I do about 4.2 for the run part of my Couch25K program and 3-3.5 for the walk parts. I figure I have to start somewhere.

That is good! You can do what you can do!!! I did just 4.0 today... and some 3.5!! Was just a walking kind of day!

I always say... as long as you are MOVING!!

yeah thats my goal too. Just move more and eat less. I do like that the program I use doesn't focus on speed at all (or distance really) its just about doing it for 30 minutes at a time. My goal for the new year is to do it at least 3x a week and Zumba 3x. Then start adding in some weights as Im noticing Im not as strong as I was when I did my sword stuff.

Cool! yeah I have added back my strength trianing at least twice a week and I love it!! it def makes a difference and i can see it in my body too!

I am up to at least an hour workout at a time... but it took quite a while to get there! If I do only 30 mionutes I don;t feel like I have burned enough calories...

my runs are 30 min but Zumba is an hour so for right now its a good mix for me. Im hoping eventually to add on 30 min of strength training on my running days but I have a really hard time making time to do it.

Yeah Zumba is a good hour of moving.. my friend Wanda LOVES It... I cannot get out of my own head to do it... but I admire people who can!