I did it! First 5K race

I've gone from literally being on the couch to running my first 5K race. When I first started, my 5K time was just over 50 min. Last week, I hoped to finish in 43 min. When I got to the race itself, however, I found that it's true that the energy of the crowd pumps you up and seeing the finish line gets you motivated to give an extra push. I saw that my time when I crossed the finish line was 41:30, which was a thrill. Then, I realized that it had taken time for me to cross the start line, because of the huge crowd, and I figured out how to check my electronic "chip time". When I did, I got a shock - my official time was 38:18! I realize that for some, this is incredibly slow (my husband, for example, once did 10K in 42 min.), but it's by far my personal best, and I was on a high from reaching my goal.

Life Begins at 40!

I turned 40 this weekend - and it was fantastic. My husband threw me a surprise party. It was just overwhelming to see everyone there. The best part was my kids' speech. Not only are they gorgeous and funny, but they really put effort into it and made it personal. I kept thinking about how lucky I was to have my family, and how I'm right where I want to be. At 20, we were in a bad recession and I had no idea how I'd find work after I finished law school, and my future husband was doing a crazy amount of studying trying to get into med school. At 30, I was dealing with multiple miscarriages and wondering if my daughter would ever have siblings, plus my husband was STILL doing his training so we were in a cramped 1 bedroom apartment. Today, I don't really feel older (I actually have more energy and fewer back aches since the kids are older) - but I do notice that somewhere along the line, I somehow gained some confidence, got settled and built a great family. We also had some awesome, great-to-be-alive weather. I love this time of year. It's still warm, but the air is fresh and not humid, and the sky was a brilliant cloudless blue. We did some apple-picking just 20 min. away, and the drive was just gorgeous with rolling hills and fall colors. Somehow, we also survived a birthday party at home with a house full of 9-year-olds!

Cookbook submissions

My kids' school is doing a cookbook fundraiser. I've contribute recipes in the past to 2 other cookbooks, so I'm looking forward to getting some recipes submitted and selected for this one! I post recipes under my Weekly Menu Plan website, shown on the sidebar. Check them out, and let me know what you like. I'm leaning toward: Crockpot chicken soup Hot and Sour Soup Crockpot black bean soup Deconstructed Greek salad Mediterranean Sauteed Green Beans Garlic Mashed Cauliflower Roasted Rosemary baby and sweet potatoes Spicy Black Bean dip Asian Chicken Drums Roasted Rosemary Balsamic Chicken Tofu and Vegetable Curry Panfried Garlic Sole Maple Balsamic Salmon Eli's Pineapple Hoisin Salmon

Running progress

I always hated running. I was the kid huffing and puffing during runs at school, and looking for any way to get out of doing it. I was the one getting winded after running 30 sec. for the bus. Up until a couple of years ago, I also had a weird knee issue (cavernous hemangioma) that made any exercise involving my quads painful. Now, I'm officially registered for my first 5k run in mid-Oct. I've started training using the treadmill. I find it keeps me more focused and disciplined than running outdoors, and I also feel more secure when I can monitor my heart rate. I quickly figured out that running raised my heart rate FAST, and can easily put it way beyond the upper end of my target heart rate. The first time I realized this, it was hitting 170. No wonder I had the "I'm about to die" feeling. I'm now figured out that in order to keep running without too many walking breaks, my pace needs to be slow. Very slow. 4 miles/hour is my new pace. Part of me wants to go faster, but at 4 m.p.h. I can maintain a jog for a decent amount of time without getting completely out of breathe or wanting to collapse. Last night I managed to do the 3 miles in 46 min. - I know that's really slow for a runner, but it's huge for an absolute beginner like me. I also enjoyed a nice endorphin rush. Looking forward to seeing that time drop as I'm able to slowly increase the pace. 40 min. by race day would be nice.

Darn cookies!

Good news:

My oldest daughter figured out on her own how to get a chocolate chip cookie recipe online, and how to bake the cookies herself. They are simply fabulous, possibly the Best.Cookies.Ever. Baking them puts her in a great mood, and she was sweet enough to pack us each some cookies today with a little note from her. AWWWW!

Bad news:

The cookies, as I said, are yummy. So yummy that I just HAVE to eat them, esp. after they were so sweetly packed for me.

I could argue that she used pure coconut oil and whole wheat flour, but really....cookies sabotage diets. Especially if they are this yummy.

mid-week check-in

Weight: 143.8

I'm already starting to feel better.

Made some progress on the mountain of billings, but have lots more to do today.

I'm officially signed up for the Scotiabank 5k in October, so I have a fixed goal. My original hoped-for time of 30 min seems a bit ambitious, so I'm aiming for 35 min instead.

I'm also adding a new challenge: getting the kids to eat at least 5 fruit/veggies servings per day.

Weekly check-in

Weight: 145 lbs.

Down a pound, but need to work on losing around 1.5 - 2 lbs/week to meet my goals.

Still need to work on daily exercise.

My accounting books are up to date, which is a huge relief. Now, it's just a matter of plowing through the backlog of billings. Finally seem to have resolved all IT issues, and the practice is humming along.

New task for the week:

Use internet only as a reward for daily goals reached. In other words, before I log on, I must:

1. Eat my daily healthy stuff including 5 servings of veggies.
2. Exercise for at least 30 min.
3. Finish daily work assignment, and post time spent.
4. Bill out a file.
5. Prep lunches for next day.

If I do that, I'll allow myself to log on, after kids are in bed. At 11 p.m., I need to log off and go to bed.