[midwife]

What makes a runner? Shoes? Speed? Distance? Effort? Endurance?

Of course not shoes. How many kids in poorer countries or our own reservations are amazing runners and have never had their gait analyzed by a professional shoe-fitter?

Speed? Well, how fast then? Five years ago DD started running with me. We went about 12:30 miles and she had to stop and walk. Now she runs sub-6 minute miles. Of course she's had years of daily training with amazing coaches and she puts her all into it. But she's not even one of the top runners in the state with sub 6-minute miles. But her college coach must think she's a runner. But she "feels slow" compared to the girls pushing up on 5 minute flat miles.

But what about the lady I saw at the track Tuesday night. She had a stroller and she ran the straight parts and walked the curves. Is she a runner? Well, she was running, so I think so.

Is it distance? I know amazing runners who've never tried a half-marathon. Again my DD has not run over 9 miles. But she's a runner for sure! I have friends who aggravate injuries over 5 miles. But they're definitely real runners.
I think sprinters would not do well running over about 4 miles unless they have a good training base....and most sprinters I know dislike anything over 400 meters....but they're runners.



Speedwork, flexibility, strength, mental attitude, training time, endurance, and natural talent all influence speed. The only one I can't control is my lack of natural talent.

To paraphrase from Invictus: I may not be the fastest runner, but I can darn well be the fittest! At least, the fittest that I can be!

[paperclippy]

Okay, so you know how before my average weight for the month had been going down by 0.5lbs per month? Well, it went UP 0.5lbs in May. Sigh. I know I have been eating too much junk food, but this is a reality check. From now on I am reinstituting my "no dessert on weekdays" rule. It's not that I've been eating a lot or that I've been eating unhealthy food for my regular meals, it's just that desserts have so many more calories than anything else that adding in a slice of pie here, a scoop of ice cream there, etc. really adds up.

Just because I've upped my exercise doesn't mean I get to eat junk food!

[Fat Pants]

mdwife, you are absolutely correct. Your thoughts remind me of one of my favorite John Bingham quotes: "If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."

I really need to remember that (and your words!) Too true... I make the choice to train, but I am stuck with these short legs. Might as well appreciate them!

Jess I had the same problem when training for my HM. Running for 10 miles did not mean I could go free-for-all with the food (even though I wanted to!) I made the mistake of letting little sweet snacks into the house (jelly beans, fruit roll-ups, etc.) which didn't bode well for me.

[kittycat40]

Hi Chicks
I fell prey to a stomach virus last week. Rough stuff. Easy to maintain
Now I am better and back to battling those 5 pounds.
Meet in accountability....

[midwife]

Yuk! Glad you're feeling better!

[paperclippy]

Kitty, glad you're feeling better!

So far so good on not eating junk food. Last night's dinner was OP (well, okay, I put a little extra parmesan on my pasta, but still), and I only took seconds of plain steamed green beans. No snacks after dinner. I think eating dinner later in the day works best for helping me not to snack after dinner.

FP, yeah, part of it is the "I biked for an hour, I deserve ice cream" mentality, and part of it is "If I don't eat a snack, I won't have energy for my swim/bike/run." I did okay yesterday with having a slice of bread before my bike ride, and since DH cooked dinner while I was gone I was able to eat my OP dinner right when I got back.

Tonight's challenge: trying to squeeze in a swim in between the thunderstorms that are forecast for this evening. Right now the hourly forecast says the best time will be 5-6pm, so I might jet out of work a few minutes early so I can get in the pool around 5:40.

[silverbirch]

Tea (eve meal) accomplished: Spanish pork casserole w olives, brown rice, broccoli. I started it, SO finished and put it on table. Half-term here plus lots of work so it's box & cox even more than usual.

Courage! Forward! Downward!

[kittycat40]

thx chicks.

so far.....ate all am, early pm food. no food until home! good news, grilled chicken is waiting in fridge....

[saef]

Today is my first time at the office in Stamford in six days, between work-from-home days, the weekend & the Memorial Day holiday. I skipped the soup at the cafeteria entirely, seeing it was the salty beef barley. (But making a note to myself about the barley. I love the texture of that stuff & want to make something from it soon at home.) I composed a sensible salad. On top of it went a cut-up turkey burger brought from home.

I've been making good choices for several days now. Didn't do much on Memorial Day weekend. Okay, I went into Manhattan all day on Saturday, but lunch was the salad bar at Whole Foods on Union Square, where it's easy to make good choices. Had to work on a project for an analyst in Italy (yes, work on my company holiday) & was resentful but did not take it out by eating.

Last week was just weird. TOM arrived unexpectedly. Only 10 days had passed since the last one started, which really threw me. (Why so wonky, my dear little hormones? Could it be the dreaded perimenopause approaching?) So last Friday's weigh-in was incomprehensible to me & I knew darn well it wasn't from anything I put into my mouth.

Oh, and thanks for the encouragement all about bringing books to the gym. I have done this twice now, once with my Pilates book & the second time on New Rules of Lifting for Women. (No one even blinked.) And will do it again tonight at the company gym, which will be okay, because we are a nerdy company (technology consulting firm) & because people often have books, papers, Blackberrys, iPhones & etc. while on the gym machinery here. Why they allow this to affect the quality of their workouts, I'll never know, but that's the culture around here. Also we have a lot of runners working here, starting with the CEO. On the machines at the gym, young male immigrants from India in the majority, reflecting the composition of the U.S. tech world pretty much. Sometimes I'm the only woman there.

[saef]

147.5. YES! This was a whoosh. Down almost four pounds from last Friday, when I had that strange, too-soon TOM.

Things I did well:
- No salty soup at the office cafeteria. Mostly raw choices from the salad bar. Brought a turkey burger with me & cut it up & put it on top of the salad.
- No chewing one piece of sugarfree gum after another, like a chainsmoker only with gum.
- Drinking much more water than coffee, even though mostly due to the higher humidity & heat, which doesn't make me crave warm beverages.
- Basically ignored Memorial Day, because I had to spend the day on the laptop on a writing assignment for work. No picnicking, no cookout, no temptations except eating out of resentment from my own kitchen, which I had purged & locked down in preparation, knowing I'd be prone to that.
- Have worked out a short Pilates routine, based on moves we've learned in class, for my own time. Also changed up my dumbbell routine & went to heavier weights (from 8 lbs to 10 lbs & 12.5 lbs) as my wrist is feeling better & "New Rules of Lifting for Women" shamed me into bumping up to something heavier.

Things I need to improve:
- Be even braver about weights. It's not that I'm afraid of the heavyness. It's that I'm concerned about my form. It's hard to get form right just glancing from a mirror in the gym to the illustration in the book.
- Swallow hard & fork it up for a few sessions with a personal trainer. I just got a nice tax refund because I bought my apartment last year & there was a stimulus program in place that handed out a chunk of money for doing that. I can afford this. I am just a tightwad. But a trainer could check my form & make getting into weights safer.
- Keep up the good work during lunch hour at the office.

[midwife]

Trainer = excellent idea!

I haven't been posting cause my fingers are greasy from pizza. And not even good pizza. Sigh.

[Shannon in ATL]

Midwife - I ate stale Newman-Os yesterday... I ate the first one, thought to myself how terrible it was all stale and soggy, then promptly ate another... sighing with you...

[kittycat40]

I feel you too midwife.
Anxiety eating, heart pounding.
Must stop.
Will account in accountability thread and end the food right now!!!!!

[silverbirch]

I did quite well this week. It was very busy, in too many directions, but I'd planned a good menu, shopped accordingly and all was well.

My SO has just told me I'm looking thin. I think I can accept that comment graciously.

[WaterRat]

I've not had the best week foodwise. I'm aiming to remedy that with a menu plan which I'll make tonight or tomorrow. I did a major grocery shop this afternoon and now have lots of fresh choices, and meat in my freezer again!

Exercise wise it was good week! and