Yikes! That's a heckuva gain!

Happy Wednesday! That means, like it or not, I'm getting on my scale to see how I did for the past 7 days. Of course, just a couple of days ago I was filled full of IV fluids and gaterade and so I knew I would see no negative changes. I should snap another picture of my feet now that I have been up and about for the day, my toes look like sausages and I'm hoping to pee out most of this fluid through-out the day today. Anyhow...a 1.6 pound gain won't make me cry after all I've been through this week. I probably should not have gotten on the scale at all, but eh, curiosity was killing me. I was 152 on the hospital scale, so maybe things are moving back down? Or maybe I'm just really reaching here.

My RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) challenge last week was fun! I'd love to hear about other's experiences with being either the giver or the recipient of RAKs. I found myself NOT taking the parking spot closest to the door of the store we were going to, so that another family could. I helped an elderly man unload his grocery cart on the belt the other day at Publix. And I tipped the young man that served us at my daughter's birthday dinner out - twice what the standard amount because he was so sweet. I realize some of these things are things that most people would have ordinarily done anyway. But I will confess one of my shortcomings is that I tend to live in my own little bubble not really noticing when others around me are needing something when I am working on a mission. Take the grocery store for example, I'm pretty good at remembering to keep my cart to one side and all that. But do I notice the person down the aisle struggling to reach the muffin mix on the top shelf? Not really, I'm busy looking at my salad dressing for hidden HFCS. Did it take more time keep an eye out for others? Nothing too terribly significant?

I had a few opportunities to talk to the kids about RAKs. When we would see somebody drop something (for example, someone dropped money last week in Target), we would talk about what the right thing is to do. Sometimes it's not easy, and sometimes it's not very convenient, but what do we think God would want us to do?

So, do I have a challenge for this week? I sure do...

Vitamin D is a hot topic lately. My new probiotics provide 125% the RDA for Vitamin D - which is important because I don't drink milk. However, I also think good old fashion skin absorption of Vitamin D should not be overlooked or replaced by oral supplementation, and so without further adieu...

My challenge for the next 7 days is to soak up some rays for 20 minutes each day. Who's ready for some mood-boosting sun power? Let's not over-do it, though.

Why I Still Have My Appendix - Probiotic Information

I previously posted about wanting to try a bowel cleanse, because I just felt like things were a bit on the sluggish side. Then last week, my littlest had a tummy bug and I had some abdominal pains. I chalked it up to being a mix of PMS cramps or the tummy bug making its way to me.

I forgot to weigh in on Wednesday, because I woke up late. Thursday, I was feeling just a bit "off", no fevers, but some abdominal pain. Friday I made awesome cupcakes and will post about those another day. Saturday I still felt somewhat icky. And then Sunday night it happened...the dog walked over and sat on my lap and it was enough to bring me to tears. My bladder felt like it was full of razors. I got up early morning Monday and went to the local doc-in-a-box since I'm looking for a new PCP on my side of town. Doc said I probably ruptured an ovarian cyst and told me to go to the ER. ER doc was convinced I would be getting my appendix out. Well, long story short. If your appendix is only a little bit sick, it stays in and goes on antibiotics, so that's where I'm at right now. I guess if I held out another day or so, I'd be going under the knife. Instead, I'm on a ton of antibiotics, I still haven't tried a colon cleanse and now I'm in the market for a good probiotic.

I spent quite a bit of time today at the local health food store sorting through probiotics. Last night I did my research and determined that I needed alive probiotics vs. shelf stable probiotics. For more information on who should take probiotics - here's a site for you, it even has clinic trials and published studies. As somebody who is lactose intolerant, I really need to consider this for long-term use.

I decided on Raw Probiotics for Women and am pleased that they also carry a children's line (which I have not researched, yet). I start on these tomorrow, and will keep you all posted.

In other news....

- I was a whopping 152 at the hospital yesterday...yikes, that's moving in the wrong direction!

- My closet challenge is coming along nicely. I gave my sister 2 garbage bags full of clothes and she is loving having a new wardrobe.

- My Random Acts of Kindness challenge was fun, and I will update with some of the fun things tomorrow when I weigh in.

Tips from a slow runner and more Princess Half recaps

I love these guys...they are paler than I am and their arms are just as squishy as mine!

This post is inspired by my friends who are also perhaps a little rougher on themselves than necessary saying they could never run. I never thought I could do this, either. And quite honestly, I can't wait to do it again! My time was pitiful at just under 4 hours, and so I can only get better from here, right?

My tips and tricks that helped me prepare in the months/weeks/days/hours before and also during the race itself.....

- Plan! Find a program and stick to it. I have heard great things about Marathoning for Mortals, even thought I haven't read the book, I've read about the authors on other sites. I used a lot of Jeff Galloway for this half. And ended up being very comfortable with a 1 min run:1 min walk plan.

- Experiment with the types of fuel that work best for you. I had to leave my house at 3-ish in the morning for the Princess Half, which meant finding a breakfast that was going to last a few hours. This same breakfast had to be easy on the digestive tract, because it's pretty common for runners to get butterflies/nervous tummies. After trial and error, I found my pre-race fuel was a peanut butter cliff bar with a banana and a half bottle of gatorade in the minivan on the ride to the race. After every few miles, I squeezed down a gu - my flavor of choice being strawberry banana. At the race, they offered a mocha product, and I was glad I brought my own energy supplement.

- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I can't even begin to tell you how many people I saw struggling because they were afraid to drink because they were afraid to make restroom stops. Yes, you will lose time at the restroom....I stood in line for 10 minutes, but more importantly, you need your hydration. What worked for me was to get something to drink at each water stop. The first few tables would be powerade and the last few tables would be water. I would grab a powerade from one of the first volunteers and bend the mouth of the cup into a "V" and pour it into my mouth while moving. When done with the cup, the correct thing is to toss it aside, preferably under the table/off the track. I'd finish that drink and then grab a water cup from the last table and try to drink as much of that as possible using the same technique.

- It may be TMI, and very few people talk about it, but here's the scoop on using the restrooms. As I mentioned in my trip report, I had my menses during the run (boo!! hiss!!). This necessitated bringing along tampons in my spibelt. I also kept a baggie with a bunch of baby wipes and a small hand sanitizer in there (along with my cell phone and minivan key). I'm not sure if it was nerves or what, but as soon as I got to the race, before getting to my corral, I found a nice clean restroom and *ahem* took care of business. Starting the race with an empty bowel and bladder and knowing all girlie things had been taken care off, gave me less to worry about. Later, during the race, I stopped at another port-o-pottie and it was GROSS, but needed to be done. If I hadn't been menstruating, I could have made it through the whole race without stopping at the restroom. However, in the even that you do need to make a stop, I recommend getting all of your stuff together while standing in line. I pulled of my skirt, had my tampon and baggie of wipes out of my belt and was ready to get in and get out. I did my biz, then came out of the restroom to put my skirt back on and pull out my hand sanitizer for sanitizing on the road. Keeping in mind that for next year, there are real rest rooms at the Transportation and Ticket area and in the Magic Kingdom. I think I might try to run with a diva cup to in the event of mother nature playing mean tricks on me again next year.

- My final advice is to run your race. If you want to dress up silly or if you want to wear regular running clothes, that's up to you. If you want to take tons of pictures (I ran with my camera in my hand), or if you want to run straight through, that's up to you. You can run with a group, or plan to meet up at the finish. Don't worry about what every one else is doing. My seventh grade homeroom teacher said it best when she encouraged us all days before our first school dance - nobody will care what you are doing, because they are all too busy thinking about what they are doing.

I can honestly say that I felt so inspired and such a sense of camaraderie doing this race. Without further adieu, I present more recaps from the event...

In the Road to Tiarathon, a fellow Disboard runner posted a phenomenal race recap with great pictures. Way to go, Nancy - great trip report!

Here's a runner's you tube race report. Gotta warn you, I've watched it about a dozen times now and I cry every stinkin' time! It's such a great recap!

Here's another blogger's race report. She is too cute! And evidently, she's fast because it's still dark in some of her pictures.

I'm more of a recreational runner (read: slow runner). But this runner here, she's got some serious miles behind her!

Here are some you tube videos of the event, watch these while I go get some tissues...

A quick video - these were some of the top runners

Here's a longer video. You can see me around minute 7 stopping to take a picture of something.

Good luck everyone!

Weighing In Wednesday! Weekly challenge, too!

Hmmph...well, I think I just posted with just a picture of my scale! :) Oopsie...it's been a long, busy week!

Anyhow, this really did get taken on Wednesday of this week, it was after a run at around 2 in the afternoon, and as you can see, the scale budged down just a smidge! Slow and steady wins the race, right?

As far as my challenge to drink 2 of my water containers each day last week...I did great! I am definitely less hungry when I am hydrated well. I'm also less likely to reach for a calorie-filled drink when I have my water handy.

Two things that worked well for me:

- cutting up lemons, limes, or oranges and putting them in my water bottle, so my water has a taste to it

- actually bringing my water with me, funny how I like to drink while I'm driving (water)

I'd love any and all tips to get the water down!

My goal for this next week is to work on my attitude. I think I need to remember that mental health is as important as physical health. I don't go out of my way to be unkind to others, but being a little shy in nature, I don't really go out of my way to be kind to others, either. Last week, someone in front of me paid my toll on one of the major roads around here and it really made my day. Since it's Saturday night, I'll run this challenge for myself for one week. Between now and next Saturday night, I'll look for ways to commit random acts of kindness. I challenge you to try it too! Let me know how it turns out for you!

I'm leaving you with my weight this week....thanks for keeping me honest about what the scale shows!

Weighing In Wednesday!

Alright, here goes....I'm sharing my stats with the world. Just a couple of years ago, I was weighing in at a fit 128 lbs. Now, well, I'll let my picture (along with my scary post-half marathon feet) tell my story...

I have a neat little tool that I can measure my percentage of body fat and calculate my BMI. As you can see, shamefully, my percentage of body fat is a whopping 34.5%. Seriously, I'm obese according to that number. The average percentage of body fat range is 25% - 29%. I'd be happy be average. There is something about the word OBESE that is making my cringe.

The second number on the tool is my BMI. According to my BMI I'm just overweight and not quite obese, yet.

Basically, where I am at right now, is that even though I ran/walked/wogged just a few days ago, I'm feeling incredibly out of shape. I look at the pictures of me during the race, and even though I had a blast, I am somewhat ashamed of how out of shape I am.

My 7 day goal this week: WATER! I promise to drink 2 of my re-usable water bottles daily over the next 7 days. It's a simple goal and I hope that it, along with continuing to track my points will help this week.

By the way, my legs are still killing me, but I like the reminder of my awesome accomplishment.