THANKS FOR ALL THE LOVE EVERYONE!

cupcakesandchaucer liked your post: So in all my planning and organizing…. I packed…

joshbuildshealth liked your post: So in all my planning and organizing…. I packed…

wolfpackrunner replied to your photo: Morning folks! Off to drive for 7 hours. At…

be safe driving!

Thanks! It was pretty uneventful, but a lot of wackos on the road.

cupcakesandchaucer replied to your photo: Morning folks! Off to drive for 7 hours. At…

Looking good, lady! Have a safe trip!

Thanks! Will do. I realized that I no longer have your right phone number…message it to me so I can add it and send you wonderful photos of my journey (or just pay attention to your Facebook feed, haha).

amiegoesactive replied to your photo: Morning folks! Off to drive for 7 hours. At…

Have a great trip Nava.

Will do! It’s definitely exciting!

mr-smit replied to your photo: Morning folks! Off to drive for 7 hours. At…

You look super skinny here!

Aww, thanks! Ironically, as I read your comment, I remarked to myself that I had yet to see a Kentucky license plate and *bam* I saw about 7 of them in a matter of MINUTES after being on the road for over 5 hours… Also, put a smile on my face for that comment because the scale was cruel to me this morning as I was leaving, although I did weigh after eating and a shower.

theskinnyongettingthinny replied to your photo: Morning folks! Off to drive for 7 hours. At…

Girl you look great!!!! How much are you down these days?

Thanks! Truth: I’m up 4 pounds from what I weighed back in January. As of this morning the scale officially says 216. I’ve teetered around 212-214 in the past few weeks. When I get back from my trip (end of March), it’s all about the scale again, instead of training. But as a whole, I’m down 40 pounds from when I started this blog December 2010.

4 Things:

1. Made it to ATL-vicinity for the night. Didn’t see any car accidents along the way, which was a first. Took the same road for the majority of the trip and stopped at almost every single rest stop. I blame it on the water I guzzled down. At least I’m hydrated.

2. Semi-smart food decisions. Burger King happened this morning and I don’t regret it. Leftover pizza for lunch (huzzah!). Cobb salad from Wal-Mart for dinner. Yay!

3. Got a window seat for tomorrow’s flight! (Does this count? I’m starting to stretch it for today…)

4. Had an awesome stretching session before driving and had one post-dinner. Legs still feel a bit stiff, but that’s usual with driving.

Week 11 — 4 Things Wednesday

IT’S HOT OUTSIDE!

When I was washing my car at noon I was dripping in sweat. Went for my run, came back and it was still hot. Decided to wax the car after dinner, and I’m STILL dripping in sweat from it. Ugh. All I keep thinking is those lovely 60 degree temps welcoming me in less than forty eight hours. :)

4 Things:

1. Cleaned car. It’s only been on my to do list for a few weeks now…Vacuumed, washed, waxed, RainX put on (although I doubt I’ll encounter rain in the next few weeks), and Febreeze because it stunk like wet dog as I think the last major stinkage in there WAS the wet dog.

2. Ran 1.5 miles. I wanted to push for 2 but the heat got the best of me. As I finished off my run I realized it was my last run to be logged on these roads before NYC. Amazing how over a year ago I stepped out onto the road for the first time and tried running. Then I just called it walking and being an obese person trying to run. Now I call it running. A slightly less obese person running.

3. Got my hair cut. It needed it badly and if I didn’t get it today I’d have to wait a few weeks to get it done because I only trust my hair dresser.

4. Plucking away at my to do list so I’m combining this last one — hotel reservation for ATL tomorrow done, printed up all things for reservation (NYC, airline, hotel, etc.), laundry (still have to pack that stuff), workout gear semi-charged (gonna have to charge it in NYC again), finished up group paper.

Unfortunately I still have stuff on my to do list that will be crammed within the next 2 hours. Print up tax stuff (completely JUST remembered this when I said I had printed other things up…), finish packing like OMG because I haven’t yet (no biggie, small things here and there), pack car, check off everything from my to do list, tidy up bathroom & room, upload music for travels.

Well folks, I’m outtie for the night. Expect an early A.M. post from me before I hit the road. If I have any followers in ATL who want to meet up tomorrow, shoot me an ASK (not a fan mail because I don’t get email notification on that) and I’ll see what can be done. :)

Week 11 — 4 Things Tuesday

tryingtogetsmaller replied to your post: Week 11! 4 Things Monday

Try not to beat yourself up about the pacing. It’s all a learning experience when covering new distances.

Thanks! I’m trying not to. The problem is that I’ve seen these distances before, even though they weren’t recently. My problem stems from the fact that I just sometimes don’t push myself to go faster because I’m afraid a.) I’ll injure myself, b.) I’ll wear myself out too quickly, c.) Still self conscious about running out in public (this one is hard to admit but totally true), d.) I get bored running the same routes and being by myself, e.) I don’t have anyone to push me to go faster.

I think really, it’s a toss between me being afraid I’ll injure myself and me not pushing myself to go faster. It’s not something that is going to change overnight, but I’m certainly going to be working on it after my half when I have access to a treadmill again. I think that might be key to forcing me to push myself by having a mechanical machine push me to go faster, haha.

4 Things Tuesday edition:

1. TAPER WEEK — 2 miles on the bike!

2. Laundry DONE. Well, round 1, round 2 will be tomorrow post-2 mile run and washing of the car.

3. Bag for post-NYC packed. Well, bags. One with clothes, other with workout clothes. Still, funny how easy it is to pack both bags. NYC is *almost* packed. Problem is all my electronics go in there….so yeah, haha.

4. Thesis-related research is PACKED. Whoo! Got entirely way too much material I’m bringing (note to self: remember to organize stuff when home next so that less things need to be toted everywhere).

Week 11! 4 Things Monday

Monday Monday, oh crazy Monday.

Got some stuff done, other stuff unplanned got done, and still have things carrying over to tomorrow’s to do list.

This week’s challenge:

This week is all about teamwork. Focus your efforts, again, on a friend, family member, or internet pal. Issue challenges to each other both physical and non-physical. Friendly plankoffs, pushup challenges, and run workouts are encouraged.

Confide in one another what you’re struggling with and your plans to beat the struggles.

Well, this week I’m going to be on top of my game emailing my buddies to ensure that they’re sticking to their goals and how everything in their life is going.

Also, this weekend is going to be a bit of an emotional one for me. The friend I’m seeing in New York I haven’t seen in 4 years. We met back in 2005—only 2 days after I had moved into the dorms at school. And we remained friends throughout college. He saw the bad eating habits, lack of physical exercise, and emotional stuff that I went through. And no matter what, every time I saw him, he’d say how nice I was looking and asked if I had lost weight. I would smile and thank him, even though I knew that I hadn’t lost any weight. Come Friday, when my plane lands and I see him for the first time in years, I’m going to hear him say it to me again, but this time, it’ll be the real deal because I HAVE lost weight since I saw him last.

But, what the real struggle for me fitness-related is how I don’t try to push myself. I let my negative thoughts get in my way. The mileage I clocked out each week, I wouldn’t run the first one or two miles, and I’d put the “there is a pedestrian crosswalk so that’s why my first mile is slow” excuse out there which was partially true. But I’m always afraid that I won’t pace myself and I’ll end up too worn out before I can complete the mileage. It’s something I’ve carefully thought of for NYC and have constructed a plan that will make me aware of how to remain on pace yet still not push myself too early quickly on.

Anyway, here’s my 4 things for today:

1. Did my taxes. Say what? It wasn’t on my to do list, but it needed to get done. They aren’t 100% complete as I have a form that isn’t showing the right information. Still, besides that and double checking everything, they are close enough to being done.

2. Finished the major edits to my group paper. Still have formatting, but we’re still adding info so that’ll be tomorrow’s plan.

3. Stretched and stretched and stretched some more. My ankle is sore from a minor mishap involving stepping off my bed and planting my room into a box with some books in it. Oops? Nothing some ice and a nasty bruise won’t cure.

4. Quality dog snuggles. This really shouldn’t count because I always get dog snuggles, but puppy was being extra attachy today so I enjoyed being able to take homework breaks and snuggle with my puppy. Around this time last year, his plight from being a street dog to a shelter dog to us adopting him began. I wonder if he even remembers what life was like before we got him? Can’t be more fun than all of the love, toys, and attention he gets at home…

Week 10 in Review + 4 things

Hmm, so it’s the end of Week 10, and I feel like I did nothing towards this week’s challenge. But I guess I did focus on me and my hobbies this week.

+ I tinkered around more with my piano, something I haven’t done in years.

+ I crotcheted about 5 inches of my friend’s afghan blanket that I’m working on

+ I got more quality sleep this week than in past weeks

+ I managed to run all but 1 mile of what I needed to this week for my final full week of half marathon training.

+ I spent time with members of my Temple congregation at services and today at the Temple’s annual festival, made me realize how great it is to have so many older people in the community that have seen me grow up over the years.

4 Things

Sunday:

1. Did not indulge at the annual food festival at Temple. 1 hot dog, 3 latkes, and tons of water. There were TONS of sweets but I touched none of it.

2. Slept 4 hours and am still functioning. Darn daylight savings time.

3. Checking things off my lengthy to do list before I leave bright and early Thursday morning.

4. OMG I’M RUNNING IN NYC CENTRAL PARK ON FRIDAY WHEN I GET INTO NYC! My friend told me he’s dragging me out because it’ll be “perfect weather“ (I’ve been eyeing the weather all last week and 20 degrees cooler is definitely perfect weather). I’m like whoa awesome. And super excited because only FIVE DAYS STAND BETWEEN ME AND NEW YORK!!!! (and super nervous about being able to make the time cut off on Sunday and all the hills in Central Park—hence the dry run Friday)

Weekly Miles: 28 miles

Weekly Workout Minutes: 573 minutes

Jumping Jacks: 275/180

Thank you guys! 4 Things Saturday

carolynruns replied to your post: lostweightgainedlove replied to your post: GOOD…

I’m heading out for a long(ish) run soon as well. Good luck to you!

chrisrunsandoeslife replied to your photo: Recovery— ice bath, peanut butter and banana…

BAD ASS! And the run too :)

arkansascello replied to your photo: Recovery— ice bath, peanut butter and banana…

Nice!!

zeenes replied to your photo: Recovery— ice bath, peanut butter and banana…

Good job! You’re awesome!

puka2018 replied to your photo: Recovery— ice bath, peanut butter and banana…

way to go Nava!! 11 miles thats awesome. Well deserved icebath and sandwich.

lostweightgainedlove replied to your photo: Recovery— ice bath, peanut butter and banana…

You are awesome. Id rather do another 11 before an icy bath

Thanks everyone! Ya’ll’s comments really made me smile (and all of the likes!). And usually my peanut butter & banana sandwich is pre-run, but considering I did my run a few hours after lunch, I didn’t need fuel (when I do my runs first thing in the morning I usually have my sandwich).

And I’ve become accustom to an ice bath, which oddly, makes me feel relaxed and helps a lot with the recovery—especially when I’m dripping in sweat from the heat outside. Needless to say, I’m going to miss them, as odd as that sounds.

4 Things Saturday:

1. Ran 11 miles, 3 hill repeats, in hot temperatures. I even got a few remarks from some people on the trail. I caught up with a family 3 times as they were biking and taking breaks. It was nice to see the whole family out (grandparents, parents, 3 kids—WITH HELMETS!). And saw two guys on bicycles at some point, not at the same time, and both said hi to me. But the highlight was the first guy I ran into. Couldn’t be much older than me, and we ended up doing hill repeats together. Well, hill=trail ramp. I was just starting my 2nd mile when I saw him and made a remark “Hill repeats, huh? That sucks.” His response “Yeah, need to push them in training to get stronger.” Me: “Mind if I join? I have a half next weekend and rumor has it that the first 6 miles are killer hills.” His response: “Sure, I’m keeping a slow pace though, have to keep some in the tank for the 5 mile run home.” And there you have it ladies and gents. I ran with someone doing hill repeats. Sadly he’s just in town with some friends for spring break, so no future running partner. :(

2. Ate pretty spot on. I tanked a bit towards the end of my day — 45 calorie fudge pop, yes please! Heck, I earned it. Loaded today with a bunch of processed carbs, but considering next week my diet is going to shift to carbs, most likely processed as I’ll be traveling, it’s safer to start now in my opinion. Plus, I didn’t go way over board.

3. Recovery like a boss. Got my ice bath, foam rolling, compression sleeved legs all nice and relaxed, with blister medication and socks on the feet. I’ve noticed when the weather gets hotter, despite having toe socks (yes I invested in a few pairs), my feet still get blisters. Doesn’t matter the shoe, it’s the weather that matters.

4. Finished my contributions to my group project (again) and 2 pages on the thesis. I wanted 3, but I’ll take 2 at this point. Anything is better than nothing.

Daily Miles: 11 miles

Daily Workout Minutes: 175 minutes

Weekly Miles: 26 miles

Weekly Workout Minutes: 553 minutes

Jumping Jacks: 250/180

Week 10 — 4 Things Friday

Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday!

It’s Purim tonight at Temple, so technically it is a party (Purim = Jewish holiday = not significant but fun for the kids).

Rounding out the work week (or unemployed work week):

1. Ran 3 miles. Body didn’t want me to, and I started out later than I had planned so I was dripping in sweat, but 3 miles were run.

2. Bought 3 size 12 shorts without trying them on. Came home and all 3 fit. They close, but my thighs don’t look flattering in them. Oh well, only $9 for all 3 so I can’t complain because one day soon they will fit.

3. Super excited because this came in the mail today. When I get back from my travels I’ll be getting my Y membership and have free roam of the pool again — in 85 degree temperatures it’s a must! — and I want to work on form and technique along with strength in the pool. Yes, I can bust out a mile swimming in under an hour, but my form is all over the place and I think if I improved that I’d be getting more of a workout and be able to put more miles out within the hour. Although, swimming to me isn’t about time, it’s about distance (noticing a theme with my running and swimming? Haha).

4. Ate awesome today despite throwing off my morning. I had breakfast (aka post-run food) at 12, ate “lunch” at 3, and dinner at 6. Snack was at 9. Oh hey, look, that’s the rule of 3s from the looks of it! Still, pretty darn healthy meals all around.

Daily miles: 4 miles

Daily workout minutes: 101 minutes

Weekly miles: 15 miles

Weekly workout minutes: 378 minutes

Jumping jacks: 200/180

Week 10 — 4 Things Thursday

Ugh, I feel so unproductive until I actually come up with my 4 things list

1. 3 pages of thesis cranked out like a boss

2. 3 jobs applied for

3. Did errands related to trip — aka bank, AAA, grocery shopping.

4. Ab workout. My body hates me for this because I’ve been sneezing up a storm with the high pollen count.

Today was supposed to be 3 miles. But then I looked at the weather for NYC next weekend. And although it is 10 days out, I noticed a reoccurring theme — 20-25 degrees COOLER than where I am now. So, I thought to myself, why in the world am I sweating it out in 85 degree temperatures when I’ll be freezing my little size medium tush off in 50 degree temperatures? Yeah, so tomorrow morning I’m getting up early and doing my 3 miles in 60 degree temperatures.

^~^ I might have made that into some sort of excuse as to why not to run 3 miles. But in all honesty, when the temperature says 87 degrees outside in direct sunlight, I don’t feel like running. Never have, and never will. Which is why I refuse to go marathon train in 90+ degree temperatures during the summer months. Either way, 3 miles will happen tomorrow.

WIW + 4 Things in Pictures

WIW

SW: 256

LW: 212

CW: 214

Lost: + 2

Reaction: I’m alright with this. Why? Because the scale has fluctuated as high up as 219 for the past couple of weeks. My eating has been up and down, my workouts have been grueling. And I’m training for a half marathon, meaning I’m eating more and retaining more water post-runs than usual. For the past 3 months it’s been about the miles and training, with little complete focus on weight loss. After NYC things are going to take a shift and turn back to weight loss. So up 2 pounds? Meh, it’s better than when the scale said 220 the other morning.

4 Things Wednesday, with pictures:

1. I felt super super amazing today before my run. Like super amazing. How amazing? Ya’ll saw the post already, no need to go ahead and put up another picture. I was shooting for a good picture of my hair, because it NEVER looks that curly. I usually have one curly side and one poofy side. But before my run it was perfect and I hadn’t done anything to it. But now that I look at the picture, I realize something else, despite the numbers on the scale playing tricks with me, I look slimmer. It’s no lie, when I’m down and the scale is up I tend to post less pictures of myself, but for some reason this one just truly puts it into perspective for me.

2. Had a decent run. My splits were kind of all over the bored. I tried a Powerbar Gel which was DISGUSTING. I don’t know how it even sells. I decided to try it because that is what they’ll be giving out at NYC Half. I’m definitely making sure I have enough GU with me after that. It was bad, even water couldn’t wash the taste away. And my stomach took a turn at mile 4.5 (right in front of my house) and I thought about turning in, but told myself I had to get that last half a mile in because THIS WEEK I AM RUNNING ALL THE MILES. Also, first mile I encountered pedestrian crosswalk, and mile 3 I had to stop to let a bicyclist pass by. All in all, the numbers are good for a training run.

3. Delicious delicious dinner. This was supposed to be Friday’s dinner after my long run, but long run happened Sunday and we had a dinner guest so we ate something else. And after my 3 miles yesterday I immediately had to get to class, so pizza for dinner tonight it was! Something about it made it taste even more spectacular than usual.

4. After dinner I took a nice walk with the puppy. It looks like a full moon tonight, and I couldn’t resist not getting a picture. Anytime I run longer distances I enjoy being able to take a walk with my puppy afterwards just to stretch my legs and get out. It feels super relaxing in my mind. Plus the puppy loves it.

Daily miles: 7.01 miles

Daily workout minutes: 102 minutes

Weekly miles: 11.01 miles

Weekly workout minutes: 232 minutes

Jumping Jacks: 100/180

Do Life Challenge: Yesterday vs. today (aka 4 Things and then some)

Yesterday:

- I drooled over the Marine Corp Marathon course. One day I will run that sucker. If that is the only marathon I run in my lifetime, I will die a happy person. Seriously, ever since I got into running it is THE marathon I want to run. It won’t happen this year (seriously, it won’t), but you never know what 2013 will bring.

- I drank all the water in the world. Okay, maybe all the water bottles in my house. Well, bottles filled with water. I have 5 24 fluid ounce bottles in my room. 4 of them were filled with water. Plus my 24 fluid ounce glass of water for dinner. Lots of bathrooms trips.

- I spent a solid 2 hours looking over my thesis notes to see what I’m missing. And patiently waited for archives to contact me back about my research.

- I ate some awesome and healthy things. Although my stomach is hating me for the strawberries and whip cream from Sunday. Do I regret it? NO, I ran 11 miles, I deserve some whip cream!

- I emailed with FIVE people from tumblr. Ya’ll are crazy awesome people. Seriously just awesome. Words cannot describe how friendly and welcoming all of ya’ll have been over the months and I’m excited for each and every one of you!

Today:

- I ran 3 miles. A year ago I ran my 2nd 5K in my life. It was in 47 minutes that I completed the 3.1 mile race at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. I had run the same course the year before at 52 minutes. This year? I eat a 5K twice a week for training.

- I ate like a boss with omelet filled with spinach and fresh veggies for dinner. I wanted to have turkey meatballs and yams but didn’t have the time before class, still, eating healthy makes my body feel healthy.

- I completed half of my contributions to my group project due 3 days after NYC. I already told my partners that I would be MIA and needed to finish the project earlier than the due date, and they were fine with it. Finishing half of it before the agreed due date of this weekend makes me feel pretty accomplished.

- I put in a few hours of thesis writing to my 2nd chapter. This was really needed because I’ve slacked a bit in my whole concept of a page a day for the second half of February. It was more like a page every 3 days. Still pages were written and I’m slowly progressing. Tons will get done in the next several days and weeks since school is tapering down.

- I stayed awake for my entire class today despite having a late night last night and a super busy day. Kudos to me because I’m really getting annoyed with this teacher and this class. Only 6 more classes left before I’m finished.

Changing up the way I do 4 things for this week because I was tired of labeling it that.

Also, this week’s challenge..I’m ahead by about 2 weeks on this one. I started playing piano again—bet you didn’t know that I played piano for 10 years growing up. Well, now you do. I gave it up in high school, along with anything and everything else that wasn’t school, science fair, history fair, or youth group related. I no longer loved piano, felt like it was a chore. But just tinkering around for 2 hours with old tunes? Made my heart tingle a bit with some love for the music again. Also, starting work on crotcheting a blanket for a friend. Despite being ahead of the game, I’m going to pick one thing I haven’t done in awhile—paint. I’m not great at drawing or painting (unless it is paint by numbers, if I actually get the right number with color, haha), but I’ve always found solitude in it.

Here’s to Week 10 being filled with success!