Does the statement, you are what you eat true??

I have always been curious about the validity of the statement you are what you eat?  From fitness pages to diet promoters you always hear trainers or coaches talk about how one should always watch what they eat because it affects your body.  When you are told that diet is 80% in your weight loss journey and exercise is 20% makes it more challenging for one to stick to as a lifestyle.

Did it but didn't appreciate it.

I have been working out somewhat consistently for about 4 years however, my diet hasn’t changed that much over several years. About 8 years ago, I decided to go onto a weight loss journey and I was so disciplined that I obsessed about how much I ate as well as made sure that I worked out consistently.  I lost the weight but I don’t think I recognized the effort I had made mentally and never saw myself as having achieved anything despite the hard work.  Life happens and I fell off the bandwagon and went back to being “comfortable” in my own skin.  I met somebody who once told me that she knew I would not keep the weight off and I recall shrugging my shoulders and pretended to ignore what she said but to be honest it cut deep. Yes, the weight came back but that still does not define me as a person.

I love good food, I believe the best time to socialize with loved ones is over food and you always get to learn more about people when you are sharing a meal.  Whether it is brunch, lunch, dinner, coffee or even happy hour I think people are usually their authentic self when sharing a meal. Two weeks ago, I decided I would keep a promise to myself and watch what I eat while I continue with my journey of being a better me.  I decided to do a 10-day cleanse to reset my body from all the sugar and junk food I had been eating from mid-March since I was still celebrating my half marathon and my birthday.   Talk about taking a celebration too far and I was not guilty at all.  While I was on the detox I continued to go running and it was so rough out there.  Without food in my system I felt like I was carrying 4 people on my back while I tried to run.  I now understand why people are advised not to exercise while doing a detox. 

One of the things am going to observe over a long period is if am going to become a stronger runner, if my body will change, if I will be able to sleep better, how my ankle feels and how I will feel overall.  I don’t expect to have changes immediately since I didn’t get to where I am in a day.  My goal is to remain consistent and enjoy the journey while am at it. I don’t expect to deprive myself of any delicious food but I also don’t expect to over indulge. I will not only use the scale to record my progress but also use a tape measure because there can be changes to your body that cannot be measured by the number on the scale.  Of late the scale is not my friend so we are getting a divorce.  I know there will be days when am frustrated and others where I will continue to be happy but the one thing I know am going to do is enjoy every moment.  None of this will be important if I don’t feel good about myself and are satisfied with every single milestone whether it is big, small or not even visible. 

 In 3 weeks, I will be taking part in the 2 day Avon 39 mile (62.76 km) walk. Training for the walks while also running has been challenging but as somebody told me the other day is that the important things is that it is getting done.  Walking these miles will be a very tiny contribution in the fight against breast cancer.  I will not only be walking in memory of my late Aunt Elousa but for some of my amazing great friends who have fought the fight and are here as a testimony that they are warriors.  I will also walk in memory of those who have lost the battle but did their best.  Here is to a new chapter, a new year and work towards making myself healthier, stronger and a better me.  In the words of my fierce coach remember it is “your race, your pace, your journey”.  Let me also see if you are what you eat is a true statement?

What next, two weeks after the half marathon?

It is two weeks since when I ran my first half marathon.  I was very sore for several days and I think swore I would never do this again.  My first workout class last week was a cycle class which was 4 days after the race and before I got back to running.  My first run was 6 days after the race and I think my legs felt like bricks but I was able to do 5 miles that morning.  Last week was our last training week for the 10-mile program that we started 12 weeks ago and I can't believe how fast time has gone by.  The best part with our training run this past Wednesday was that it was my birthday. Some of my friends who had sent me messages asked me if I was going to do something different apart from running and I told them that I would take the day off, spoil myself and yes, I would still go out running since it was the last training night.  We did our training and met as a group to celebrate my birthday with drinks and cake.  Thanks band, I love you all.

My swings will make me go faster..vroom

I signed up and was selected to do the Cherry Blossom 10-miler which was my first 10-miler last year.  I remember how nervous I was last year and knew that if I had done 13.1 miles then in two weeks I would not have a problem doing 10 miles.  A few of my very experience runner friends had told me that running 10 miles after the half would be a lot easier however, I had my own reservations based on how I felt.  As the days got closer to the race I felt like I was not ready and I became nervous since the Cherry Blossom 10 miler has a time limit and if you don't make by a certain time you would have to be stopped from completing the race.  I always set high expectations of myself and when I feel that I cannot get to them I feel like I have failed.  While I struggled, and got stressed about doing the 10 miles I reached out to a very close friend and told her how I felt and what was keeping me awake. One of the advantages of having an amazing support system is that they reminded me about what I had accomplished, how hard I worked and that I should stop and take it all in and bask in my own glory.

Just like any other person I have my own struggles where I get into my own head about what I can or cannot do.  I freak out and have doubts that make me stop believing in myself and make me feel like giving up.  A few days before the Cherry Blossom race I decided that I would opt out of the 10 miles and do the 5k race.  I know I would have probably finished the race however, I did not have the mental strength to hang in there for 10 miles. I did very well during the 5k race and surpassed the goal I had set for myself for the race.  Does this mean that I failed or quit?  Obviously not although a part of me felt that I had disappointed myself until when I was reminded that there will be very many opportunities in the future and I did not have anything to prove to anybody.  Does this mean that my journey ends now that I managed to do a half marathon?  Of course, not I will keep running and will continue to sign up for races to see what I can do since this is my journey, my race and my pace.

Last year, when I signed up for the half marathon I wanted to lose at least 20 - 25 lbs (9 - 13 kgs) before the race. I had read somewhere that when one loses about 10 lbs they can improve their speed by about a minute and I was determined to make sure that I lost the weight.  I told myself that with that amount of weight down I would be able to do the race without a problem and even be a lot faster in my own opinion.  By race date I think I had only lost about 8 lbs which was less than 50% of the goal I had set.  If my only focus was on losing weight, there is no way I would have done the race.  I realize that we choose what we want to believe to get to accomplish what we want. If you want to accomplish something in life, you will do whatever it takes to get it done. We must learn to stop and silence the negative voices or stories we tell ourselves and go for what we would like to achieve.

I finally got it done - 13.1 miles - check.

It is exactly 3 years since I started this journey with running after I broke my ankle.  I had to take a week off from blogging to allow myself to think about the experience and take in everything leading to the race and the race itself. This past Sunday March 19, 2017 was the date I was able to conquer one of the biggest challenges I had set my mind to do this year which was the half marathon distance (13.1 miles/21 kms).  I had been told by my Coach Karen in the fall last year that she believed that I was ready to do a half marathon this year and that as long as I trained for it I would be ok.  All the people I have run with in the past year or more believed in me more than I believed in myself and I decided to stop putting myself down and do my best.  This journey has not been easy and there is no way I would have done this if I had not surrounded myself with people who are not only there for me but influenced me to push myself and do better. 

In the past several weeks I have shared with you how it felt like when I went up in mileage in preparation for the race.  The half marathon was done in Sarasota, Florida which meant I would have to fly out of the Washington, DC area to go to Florida for the race.  I traveled with a couple of friends and we spent time visiting friends'parents as well as touring and going out to eat.  Having a busy weekend was a distraction for me so I was not able to focus on the big race on Sunday morning. 

Race day:

Saved until the end

The start time was 6:45 am and we got there by 6:00 am.  I was nervous but not too nervous until when we came out of the car to get ready to drop off our bags and meet other friends.  In the process of looking for where to drop off our bags it was only natural for me to start looking at runners bibs to notice who were running the half and those who were going to run the relay. Most of the people who were out there had what I defined as athletes bodies and never looked like I did physically. I could not relate to anybody and felt totally intimidated.  I remember saying I had not seen any plus size person and the ones I saw were going to be spectators.  I panicked and actually got emotional because at that point I thought I had bitten more than I could handle.  Jackie had to calm me down and remind me that I was ready since for some reason I just could not stop crying and that I should hold my tears for when I was done.  I had all the members of team remind me to trust my training and that I was going to do great. 

The race started and I had no choice but have my game face on for the race.  It was not easy but it got done. Seeing the band members while on the race course gave me energy while we cheered for each other.  I was doing ok until about mile 8 when I felt I was getting too hot.  There were two couples who were in front of me and one of these couples were wearing sweatshirts.  I just didn't understand how they would still be wearing sweatshirts while I felt I was melting and was running with the sun.  By mile 9 I had cooled off since there was a breeze and I had stopped judging these couples who were still ahead of me.  Mile 9 was tough for me until when I got to mile 10. I had to change my mantra to "trust your training you got this" and that is what I kept telling myself. I knew what it felt like to run 12 miles and all I wanted was to get there and will figure out how I will get to the end. I got a burst of energy and went past the two couples who had practically run most of the race near me.

Getting to mile 12 was emotional for me because I knew had done most of the race and just had to finish the last 1.1 mile.  This mile was dedicated to my friend Corynne who was not with us on the trip and usually says you can slow down but don't stop and you cannot quit.  I did not quit and kept going until when I saw the mile marker 13.  I could not believe that I had actually made it to mile 13 and could not control myself but start crying.  My amazing friends saw me and just started screaming and cheering me on while I approached them.  They then surprised me with a sign and I don' think I will ever forget how I felt at that time.  The love, the support, the excitement that I was almost done is what gave me the energy to cross the finish line.

I once heard Steve Harvey on the radio station talk about how you are able to know a person’s character by the people they surround themselves with because you became just like them.  I am proud to say am a runner and have the most amazing running support group anybody would wish for in their lives.  Some have asked me if I would run a half marathon again and my answer right now is that I know I can do it but am not sure I will do it again just yet.

One step closer!

It was 7 weeks ago when I decided to start this blog to document my journey to my first half marathon and I cannot believe that the week before the half marathon has finally arrived and I have mixed feelings.  I can't believe the 10 weeks of training have already come to an end and now I just need to trust myself, trust my training and believe that I am ready.  I am excited that I get to experience this with an amazing group of people who have been there with me from day 1 during my journey. Am I scared? Oh heck yeah I am so scared but I believe it is normal to freak out before you start something new in your life.  I will treat this as just another weekend run and remember to enjoy the moment during the journey.  Two years ago if you asked me if I would be running a half marathon (13.1 miles or 21 kms) I would have laughed at you and my response to you would have been are you out of your mind??.

The weather this week has been crazy from warm temperatures to frigid temperatures.  Our mid week training was track workout.  I have mixed feelings about running on a track because you just keep going round the track over and over again without any scenery.  When we are out on a trail we complain about rolling hills and how tough the trail was and when on a track we still complain about running on the track.  Nobody can win either way because we shall still complain no matter what but at least get it done.  Great coaches always listen to us and are always able to rise above our complaints and make sure we do what we have to do to get the work done. I believe that in order to be successful in life your hard work as well as being consistent despite the challenges you face a long the way you will get to where you want to be at the right time.

Start temps in C & F- chubby fingers after the run

Roles were changed this weekend while the rest of the 10 mile program participants had 9 miles to run I had 6 miles to run. I never thought that I would say that "am only running 6 miles today" and make it seem like it is not a big deal.  I was excited that after a few weeks of doing more mileage compared to the rest of the participants I get to finish early enough before the group and be there to support them when they returned from the run.  It was so cold and nothing like what it was 2 weeks ago weather wise.  The trail had rolling hills and looked different from what I recall the last time I was out there last year when it was full of snow. I only started listening to music from mile 3 and actually didn't have to spend too much time thinking about how hard or long or gruesome the run was compared to last weekend when I had to run 12 miles.

Mother Nature seems to be sending us some mixed messages this week. We started the weekend extremely cold, there is a winter storm warning for early this week but we won't know until when she decides on what to do.  Either way I plan to hydrate, eat well and get enough rest in preparation for next Sunday.  Those who know me know that I call my negative voice Zeek and whenever, am lazy and don't want to do anything and feel like giving up I know that Zeek is winning.  I hope to channel positive energy despite my anxiety as well as excitement and will let you know how everything went when am done.  It might be the battle of Zeek before or running the race but this girl is determined to win and finish what she started.  Stay tuned.
 

12 miles (19 kms) is no joke!

This weekend was yet another milestone weekend and I wasn’t even sure how I was going to deal with the distance. 12 miles (19 kms) is no joke and I don’t know how runners get to run marathons or even longer distances.  This not only needs physical strength but also mental strength and a great support system. 

I thought the rock was yelling at me

To have a good run one must prepare for it before it happens. Some of the things one must do to get ready is to make sure they have hydrated well during the week, eaten well and most of all had enough rest.  I did my best with hydration during the week and but didn’t hydrate well on Friday.  I went out on Friday night with a friend to watch a song writing competition so by the time I got to bed it was way past midnight and this was going to be a second night where I was operating on about 3 hours of sleep for two nights in a row.  Talk about doing the opposite of what am supposed to do to prepare for the long run.  I didn’t roll myself out or even stretch the whole week and my muscles were so tight I think I was already wobbling before we started.  Talk about being ready for a milestone distance…ha!

.

Early Saturday morning I got encouraging messages from friends telling me I would be ok and will do just fine.  One of the messages that stood out for me was “don’t think just put your shoes on and run”. My first 5 miles went by so fast because I had the best company running with me.  Our conversations during the runs are usually super interesting but as they say what is said out on the run remains on the run.  We found a dead snake, lots of large animal poop and a pickup truck.  The driver of the pickup truck parked to wait for us to go by and our reaction at that point was he has a long time to wait since there is no way we could move faster than what we were already doing at that point.  Shortly after that I was to run on my own for the next 7 miles which I called the great trek.

Oh no when do I finish??

I was doing great between mile 6 and 7 until when the wind picked up and it was brutal.  I tried to keep a positive attitude and tell myself that I was a warrior until when I got to mile 9 and it as tough.  It was so windy and with cold temps it felt a lot colder and was the start of my discouragement.  The trail is beautiful however, having water on both sides of the trail made me feel like I really needed to pee.  I kept on thinking about giving up and the feelings about wanting to pee made it worse.  Mile 9 was also a reminder that although I was almost done I still had 3 miles to go and when you are exhausted and feel like you can’t do it anymore the 3 miles feel like 100 miles.  I decided to walk for about 2 minutes but then with all that cold my nose just started running.  When I stopped to wall my nose would run and when I run my nose would stop what the heck??  My left hand got cold, I had to put on 2 gloves on my left hand while the right side was ok and since that was the side of my tight quad muscles I started to think that maybe I was getting a stroke while running.  The things one’s mind can come up with when they decide it is the end of the road.  So not only was I almost crying, dealing with a ridiculous snorty nose, want to pee now I think am getting a stroke my world is going down.  You can’t come up with such thoughts when you are sitting on a couch watching a movie and eating juicy food…LOL. Was there going to be any hope?

I was finally able to get out of my funk by listening to my Thumb Print radio station on Pandora that had been playing some African and Latino music.  I needed some pick me up music and some of my favorite gospel songs started playing that helped me sing along on my way and helped me change my attitude.  It is hard to cuss and be negative while listening to gospel music..hahahha.  By mile 11, I was in a good mood and was able to get to the end with some energy and could still smile.  Priceless moment for me was seeing friends bundled up and patiently waiting to see me finish the 12 miles.  Love you guys! The body aches later that day and into the rest of the weekend have made me walk like a cross between a duck and a penguin.  Major lesson learnt this weekend is to make sure that I hydrate, get enough rest and eat well before the next run.  I look forward to taper week and I believe I will be ready in two weeks for the half.  

Milestone Day finally got here!

I wasn’t too sure how I was going to handle 11 miles since this was going to be my first time running 11 miles.  My initial thoughts were should I think about it as just adding a mile on what I did last weekend or should I think about it as adding half a mile to the 5 I would run out and another half to the other 5 running back to where I started?  Either way it was going to be 11 miles whether I liked it or not.  I was nervous about it but knew that I was committed to finishing it no matter what. I got a message that morning from a dear friend that said “it doesn’t get easier. You get stronger” and I took that to heart and used that as a mantra while I was out there. 

The first few miles were in a new location for me and it was beautiful.  I always wondered how people got to the Mormon Temple since it looks inaccessible when you see it on the beltway.  A friend’s daughter Jalyn always asked me whether that was a castle and I always told her that it kind of looked like one but wasn’t one and she always asked when we would go there and I always told her there must be a mystery road to get there but we shall get there one day.  Watching the sun rise and the rays reflect on the top of the temple was beautiful.  I thought to myself I should stop and take pics and save them for when I see Jalyn and tell her that I was not too far from the “castle” when I was out running.  I stopped to take a pic until when I realized this was just around mile 2 and I had 9 miles to go.  I had no time to spend taking pictures and off I went knowing that I would be back to take a few pics on my way back at

the end of the run.

It was about 60 degrees when we started and was hot and I started to complain about the heat until when I decided oh no this is what we must deal with today so I have no choice but to keep it moving.  Along the way, I was reminded that the half marathon I am running is in Florida so these temperatures are just getting me ready for the heat if any on race day so yet again I had no choice but to check myself. The times when I would get negative thoughts and feel like giving up I would find a familiar face along the route which makes it easier and a little enjoyable that you are not in this alone.  Talking about familiar faces along the route, I met Sarah twice on my way out and back and I think she is the only person who I have met who is able to smile, run fast and is with a dog J Where do you get all this energy from Sarah?   

Somebody asked me about what I think about when am running and I told them my mind is all over the place that one would probably think I was a little crazy.  Well we all have a little crazy in each and every one of us so don’t judge me…LOL. So here were some of my thoughts while I was out there:  Hmm will I be able to do anything the rest the day when am done, OMG am I really running 11 miles, snap out of it Lynn you got this, ok ok, hmm look at those very fast runners, do they feel the aches and pains that I do?  Do they experience any chub rub, oh chub rub a topic for another day, I guess they are fast because they are skinny..arrgghhh, you don’t have to be that fast there isn’t any animal chasing you, is that what they call their slow run, gosh what am I going to have for dinner? Hmm somebody promised to make me dinner, will I be able to get there to enjoy the dinner, oh have I paid my bills, what am I having for breakfast after all this, it is really hot, gosh it is so hot I think am going to throw up, does that mean I like running in the cold, oh no am getting converted to being a winter runner, hmmm I wonder if I will see any familiar faces, why don’t people smile when they are just walking their dogs, oh that is a really cute couple, hmm I wonder how long they have been married. Are they married, did I take the trash out, what a beautiful house, I should start clean eating again hmm why won’t I commit to a clean eating even for 10 days and the thoughts went on and on   and on. 

View of the temple and yummy dinner

Anyway the 11 miles were finally done woot woot, I was able to walk after that and still be able to function later on in the day.  I got to be pampered with homemade dinner and the only thing I was not able to do was take the extra photos on my way back for Jalyn because this girl was beyond exhausted. I hear from seasoned runners that if you can run 11 miles then you can run 12 miles so 12 miles here I come so help me God!

Double Digits here I come.

Cherry Blossom 2016

My goal was to conquer 10 miles as a training run this past Saturday and hope that I would function after I had completed the run.  I had previously run 10 miles twice last year and that was only during races. The first time I run 10 miles was in April 2016 at the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.  I recall that being a very emotional race for me and can’t forget the look of all the band members who were waiting for me at the finish line to celebrate the milestone. I remember thinking there was no way I was ever going to run 10 miles again.  I called in sick the next day and almost called in on Tuesday too. I could barely walk to the bathroom that night or even function the next day.

Fast forward to October 2016, my second 10 miles was at the Army 10 miler.  During training, we never run the actual distance of the race we are targeting so that we are ready and it reduces the risk of getting injured before the race. The Army 10 miler was an emotional race in a different way compared to the Cherry Blossom race.  I was inspired by how many wounded veterans were out there doing the distance.  I recall seeing a runner who lost both his legs and was running on blades and had stopped for a break because he was in pain but he didn’t quit.  Watching the strength of these wounded men and women was enough to keep me going.  There was no way I was going to feel sorry for myself or have time to complain about anything being hard.  What a humbling experience and a reminder that you can’t take things for granted and you are the only person who limits yourself in what you can do in this life. 

Earlier in the week, I attended a talk titled “Resilient and Ready:  How to Thrive Through Challenge and Change” by Valorie Burton a life coach who specialized in positive psychology and felt so inspired from the talk and decided I would have to channel positivity during the run.  A part of me was still stressed out but got encouragement from my friends that I would be able to do it and it helps to get the extra boost from friends even when you are freaking out.

Phew I found them 😊

I started off the morning with a few setbacks (left my inhaler at home) on my way for the run but I wasn’t going to use that as an excuse not to do the run.  I decided to visualize the mileage as a pie that had 5 big slices each representing 2 miles.  Using this method wasn’t as daunting as dealing with the miles one at a time since the route was challenging and needed one to dig deeper.  I guess all the hill repeats we did on Wednesday came in handy on Saturday…thanks Coach KC.  It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see friends out doing their own training.  My highlight though was meeting the training group that was doing 7 miles at their half way point since I didn’t expect to find them.  At that point I had been singing to myself since my phone battery was down and had seen a few runners who I didn’t know and just wanted to see one familiar face.  At mile 6.5, I kept on saying to myself multiple times please meet the band and my only prayer at that point was answered and the feeling was priceless.  Thanks guys you know am always humbled by your support.

I finally finished the 10 miles and was still able to stand and celebrate with friends on completing my accomplishment.  Interesting how a year makes a difference, I was able to go to church later that evening and volunteer which I would not have been able to do last year.  Reality is beginning to set in that I need to acknowledge that am getting stronger and with the right attitude I will conquer the half.  Next weekend will be new to me so bring on 11 miles woot woot.