Go to Costco for 2 things...$240 later!

Back on the wagon, baby!

Wednesday, January 2

Breakfast:  Quaker Instant Oatmeal; 1 T. peanut butter; 1/2 apple - A client of mine told me about putting peanut butter in her oatmeal, and I love apples so I thought to give this a try.  If you look at the cooking instructions, they give you a heart healthy portion size.  This is a huge portion size and I only finished 1/2 of the oatmeal concoction.  It was good, but to be honest, I missed my cereal, blueberries, and almond milk.  Coffee with York Peppermint Patty creamer

Lunch:  1/2 pita with Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus.  This stuff is spicy HOT!  I also had 4 grape tomatoes with 3 mozzarella balls and fresh basil.

Snack:  banana

Lunch:  On the back of the Minute Rice brown rice box there is a recipe for chicken and rice Florentine.  It was great!  Grabbed a piece of gum afterwards to avoid eating anything else.

Water consumption for the day:  I'm still making my water cocktail of Jewel brand Key Lime Sparkling water and La Croix coconut water.  I like 3/4 coconut water and 1/4 key lime water.  I probably filled my Tervis 4 times today.

Evening snack:  popcorn

My Fitness Pal is a good app that can track your calories pretty well.  It also tracks vitamins, carbs, protein, sugar, sodium, etc..., and I'm learning that I'm eating way too much sodium and sugar.

 

Thursday, January 3

 

Boot Camp:  At 5:40am boot camp this morning, the group did relays the entire time.  I like these because they add variety, burn crazy calories, and are full of shorter bursts of high intensity cardiovascular activities coupled with resistance training.  I rarely work out with the group, but this morning I joined in and was a sweaty mess at the end.  I got a piece of my own medicine, and my shoulders were crying for 2 days afterwards.

 

Breakfast:  Kellogg's Special K with Red Berries; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with creamer

 

Morning Snack:  1/2 apple

 

Lunch:  Hummus; 1/2 pita; 4 tomatoes; 3 mozzarella balls; basil

Snack:  Cashew Cookie mini Larabar.  I really like Larabar's and I'm really sad that our Jewel doesn't carry a fraction of what they used to have on the shelves.  PLUS, they're never on sale.  I bought the 12 pack of mini Larabars, but still no deal to be had here.

Dinner:  Chicken; rice; garlic cauliflower; water

Snack:  popcorn

Friday, January 4

Breakfast:  Special K with red berries; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Lunch:  Hummus; 1/2 pita; 4 tomatoes; 3 mozzarella balls; basil

Snack:  apple; peanut butter

Dinner:  We went to Pints and I had 2 drafts of Coors Light and a turkey burger (pretzel bun) with sweet potato fries.  I ate everything and it was really good.  Afterwards we headed over to Fitz's Spare Keys to watch a Beatles cover band called American' English.  They were good and I felt really, really young there.  I had a couple more Coors Lights.

Late snack:  I got home and was very conscious about my late night splurge.  I probably would've grabbed something not so healthy, but opted for a Clementine.  Good girl!

Saturday, January 5

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Triple Berry Crumble cereal with frozen blueberries and almond milk; coffee and creamer (only drank maybe 3 oz. of it)

Exercise:  I taught 2 TRX Suspension classes today...I did most of one, and a tiny fraction of the other.  The classes were great and we got to use our second bar since we had a nice size class!

Lunch:  Ham, Swiss cheese, mustard on wheat bread; 2 small tomatoes; 2 mozzarella ball; basil

Snack:  My daughter and I went to Costco for paper towels and Kleenex for the studio, and we walked out with over $200 worth of food.  That darn place.  However, our family is stocked up in meat; pork chops, ground turkey, tilapia, rotisserie chicken, Alaskan King Crab, scallops, and tuna.  All good choices in my book.  While there I sampled a tiny serving of a chocolate chip Clif bar.

Dinner:  We heated up the king crab and marinated the scallops in thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic.  We accompanied the meat with asparagus and white rice.  Would've made brown rice, but my family won't eat it, and I didn't feel like a separate serving of it.  For dessert, I had Greek Yogurt Gelato I found at Costco.  A serving is 150 calories.

Sunday, January 6

Breakfast:  GoLean Triple Berry Crumble; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee; creamer

Afternoon Drink:  Starbucks non-fat vanilla misto

Lunch:  Spinach; rotisserie chicken; strawberry vinaigrette dressing; blackberries; raspberries; blueberries; mini-tomato; water; clementine

Afternoon Snack: Mini Larabar and an apple

In an hour we're heading out to the in-laws for dinner.  They're ordering in so we'll see what's in store.








Outback Steakhouse - pre journal and post journal

Monday, December 31st

Dinner:  2 egg white, 1 egg, 2 slices of turkey bacon, and spinach scrambled eggs.

New Year's Eve Party: 3 pieces Imitation Crab with cocktail sauce; 2 pieces of shrimp with cocktail sauce; 1 nacho filled with meat and melted cheddar cheese; 2 Bailey's shots in a cute chocolate cup; 3 cranberry juice and vodkas; 2 soco lime shots (ugh!); 4 gingerbread cookies (I read that 5 cookies equaled 132 calories) dipped in this super awesome pumpkin dip; cream cheese jelly concoction with crackers; chips and salsa; a small amount of guacamole; champagne at midnight.  This was over a 5 hour time frame.  Not that it makes it right...but still.

Tuesday, January 1st

Breakfast:  Donut House Chocolate Glazed Donut Coffee with soy milk; 5 pieces of pineapple; I finished my son's Cherry Kringle that he didn't like; 3/4 of a bagel.  Actually this breakfast spanned out a couple hours since we had a slumber party the night before and had great company during breakfast.  Not to mention that we rehashed the previous night's escapades that were very entertaining.  Imagine my friend talking through an Optimus Prime helmet at 1:00am.  Lots of laughs for sure!

Afternoon snack:  Banana

Dinner:  We went to Outback Steakhouse.  We love this place and think it's a good steak at a very reasonable price.  However, I decided to skip the steak and potato and try something else for a change.  First I will write what I usually order, then I will write what I actually ordered.

What I usually order:
22oz Miller Lite - 176 calories
Side Salad with Tangy Tomato dressing - 217 calories
6 oz. fillet - 254 calories (surprised me)
Baked potato with sour cream and chives - 268 calories
Bread - They say 234 calories with butter, but I'm guessing that is the whole loaf.  I cut it into 6 pieces so I'm saying 30 calories.  I don't put butter on it, because it's great without.

Total: 946 calories

What I actually ordered:
Water
Side Salad with Tangy Tomato dressing on this side (I used half of the dressing) - 183 (had to do some calculating and online research)
French Onion Soup - 466 (I did not finish all of the cheese, so I'm taking 60 off - so 406)
Bread - 30

Total:  619

I use an app called Restaurants.  It has a calorie counter for virtually any chain type of restaurant you can think of, and I highly recommend getting it yourself.  It's FREE so why not.  Let me show you why...

Outback Steakhouse calorie monsters:
Bloomin' Onion - 1959
Alice Springs Chicken Quesadilla (small) - 938
Aged Cheddar Bacon Burger - 1003 (and that's not even with fries!)
Grilled Chicken and Swiss Sandwich - 685 (don't let the words "grilled" and "chicken" fool you
Loaded baked potato - 354
No Rules Parmesan Pasta - Grilled Chicken - 1320
10 oz Ribeye - 544
Steakhouse Salad - 918

Better Choices:
6oz. Victoria's Filet - 218
Baked Potato with sour cream - 267
Steamed Fresh Green Beans - 55
Grilled Asparagus - 52

It's NEVER a good time.

On December 26th, I made the decision to food journal for the next 10 weeks.  Was it good timing...absolutely NOT!  However, when is a good time?  I still had my mom's amazing Christmas feast, a funeral dinner, and food out and about galore for a good part of my long weekend home in Iowa.

I could've waited until New Year's Day to make this decision and tell all of you about it, but then I guess you'll all see how human I really am.  Trust me...my family in Iowa has amazing food.  My husband quite frequently says (insert farmer voice), "YYYYep, I married myself a good Iowa corn fed girl for sure."  Whatev...

Wednesday, December 26th

Breakfast:  Kellog's Special K with Red Berries, frozen blueberries (serves double duty for keeping the milk cold and super healthy too); almond milk (double the calcium and more than 1/2 the calories of skim milk); coffee with York peppermint patty creamer

Lunch:  Seafood 'n Crab Salad from Subway; I mix iced tea and lemonade at Subway to make an Arnold Palmer, and I dove into the rest of my daughter's Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips.  That was a "crap, I forgot I was journaling" moment.  Gotta love it!

Dinner:  I made Sweet 'n Sour Chicken that was amazing, and so easy.  I didn't have any Sweet 'n Sour sauce in the fridge, but I just happened to have all of the ingredients in the house.  I also had a piece of banana bread and skim milk.

Sweet 'n Sour Chicken
1 T. olive oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces(I used 3 chicken breasts from Costco)
1 bag (16 oz.) frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks in juice, undrained (I had a fresh pineapple that I cubed)
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) low sodium Chicken Broth
2 cups Minute White Rice, uncooked (I would've used brown, but accidentally opened the white)
1/2 cup sweet 'n sour sauce

Homemade sweet 'n sour sauce (makes too much so you can reduce accordingly)
      3/4 cup white sugar
      1/3 cup white vinegar
      2/3 cup water
      1/4 cup soy sauce
      1 T. ketchup
      2 T. cornstarch

Place the sugar, vinegar, water, soy sauce, ketchup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil.  Stir continuously until the mixture has thickened.  You will only use a half cup in the meal.
      
1.  Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat.  Add chicken; cook and stir 5 min. or until cooked through.
2.  Add vegetables and pineapple with juice; mix well.  Stir in chicken broth.  Bring to boil.
3.  Stir in Rice; cover.  Remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes or until almost all of the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.  Stir in sweet 'n sour sauce.
4.  Makes 4 servings.  Enjoy!

Evening snack:  I had a piece of gum after dinner and made some microwave popcorn later in the evening with water.

Thursday, December 27th

Breakfast:  Kellog's Special K with Red Berries; frozen blueberries; almond milk

Lunch:  Leftover sweet 'n sour chicken (I ate cold because reheated chicken is disgusting)

Afternoon Snack:  Apple with peanut butter; Sabra Supremely Spicy Hummus (they are not kidding, this is super spicy hot) and 1/2 of a pita.

Dinner:  We drove back to Iowa this evening and we stopped at Wendy's along the way.  I had a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich.  I love these...a lot.  Since I was journaling, I refrained from fries and I'm very proud of myself:)

Evening Drinks and Treat:  We are at my mom's house and this is the beginning of the end.  I say this is the nicest way possible, because it was so worth it.  On our way home, we bought this Egg Nog liquor.  When we arrived my parents and I had 2 drinks.  All you do is put the liquor over ice and it's so divine.  No kidding.  AND, yes, my mom makes the most awesome sugar cookies.  BUT, not only are they delish, they are decorated beautifully.  I ONLY had one.

Cookies we came home with.  There were a few more, but they were not eaten by me!



Friday, December 28th

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats, fresh blueberries; skim milk; coffee; sweet cream creamer.  My mom makes this amazing coffee cake, but I opted to stick with the cereal instead.

Lunch: BBQ Pork (I skipped the bun); jello salad that I can't describe, but I do know it's green and has cottage cheese in it; raw carrots; a handful of Bugles (I don't buy these, because if I did, I'd turn into a bugle); Chocolate cookie (look at picture above); pinwheel cookie; water

I do need to stop here and discuss self-control.  This is VERY important.  I don't need to go into detail, however our family did have a death in the family last week.  With the wake and funeral comes a lot of food.  During the wake, food was brought in and I didn't have any.  I know if I wasn't journaling, I would've totally ate sweets and probably a sandwich too.

Dinner:  Anyone from Iowa knows Happy Joe's pizza.  Especially the taco pizza.  All those who live far away, come home, and get there fix whenever possible.  Seriously, I love this stuff.  SOOOOO...I had 3 1/2 pieces.  I washed every single bite down with water.

After dinner, we attempted to go to a Dubuque Fighting Saints hockey game.  Holy crap, these games sell out!  As we got closer to the rink, we saw a long string of cars heading that way.  I called to see if tickets were available, and the only 7 together available were along the glass for $21 a piece.  Otherwise, it was standing room only for $11.  With 2 kids and 5 adults, we just couldn't spend $147 to sit, or $77 to stand for a game.  If we go to a Steel game in Bensenville, the tickets are general admission, and they cost $8 a pop.  OH, and by the way, the Fighting Saints lost to the Chicago Steel in overtime the very next evening!  Go Steel!

Evening Drinks and Treats:
We saved some cash and skipped the game to go home for some free beers.  I had 3 Leine's Lemon Berry Shandys (I have a friend who'd be proud I stick with Miller/Coors products).  As far as treats, and there were plenty to choose from, I had homemade chocolates....a mini almond joy, peanut butter cup, and a Butterfinger.  All smaller, and so good!  Lastly, I had a few pieces of cheddar cheese with triscuit crackers.

Saturday, December 29th

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats; fresh blueberries; skim milk; coffee; York Peppermint Patty creamer

Lunch:  The funeral was in the morning and after the burial it is customary to go to the local hall for lunch.  The community gets together and makes food for family and friends to enjoy and celebrate the life of the person who's passed.  These ladies make a mean lunch, and I say this like it's very good.  I had roast beef, mashed potatoes (I took a much smaller portion that I'd usually take), and green beans.  The dessert table was to die for.  I stared at red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, blueberry dessert; pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, white cake, pecan pie, and the list goes on and on.  I did not, I repeat, did not take any dessert, because I knew the our families Christmas celebration was just a few hours away.  Now, I did get to watch my Grandpa partake in 2 desserts, but he's 90 and he's totally allowed:)

Grandpa Charlie and the family



Snacks:  Snacks is an understatement.  Before dinner, I had almonds, cashews, mm's, a couple slices of cheddar cheese, 2 crackers, graham cracker pretzels that went with this fantastic Tastefully Simple Key Lime ball, a couple Bloody Mary's, and 2 Leine's Lemon Berry Shandys.  I'm full...

Dinner:  But there's still dinner!  Pork loin (a piece the size of a deck of cards), mashed potatoes (1/2 the amount I normally would take), green bean casserole, and a salad that consisted of spinach, blueberries, blue cheese crumbles and raspberry walnut vinaigrette.  Mom made 2 desserts and usually I love all desserts so it just makes sense to have a small piece of each.  Am I wrong????  The first dessert was an Eu Claire dessert and the second was a pumpkin dessert.  YUMMY!

After dinner snacks and drink:  I had a chocolate cookie (see above picture) and 4 dark chocolate crisps.  The crisps look like pringles and they are awesome.  I did enjoy one last Egg Nog Liquor on ice.

Sunday, December 30th

Breakfast:  1/4 of a bagel with cream cheese; strawberries with fruit dip; a piece of sausage breakfast pizza

Late Morning Snack:  Almonds and Cashews; My mom makes this fantastic chex mix.  It's mixed with dried apricots, walnuts, brown sugar, butter, and whatever other yummy ingredients are in there.  I had 2 small bowls of it...probably the worst thing thus far not including all of the pizza from Friday night.

Lunch:  A small piece of pork loin, the green jello I described above, cranberry jello, and good 'ol Iowa corn.

Afternoon Snack:  More of the chex mix (ugh!), a piece of homemade chocolate, and a couple bites of BBQ pork as I was packing leftovers to take back to Iowa.  My mom asked me to take back cookies, but I immediately said no, because I have NO self control.  However, I do have a family who likes the cookies too, so yes I took about a dozen cookies.  I will not eat one of them as they are for my kids and husband if they'd like one.  NOT FOR ME!

Dinner:  I literally felt like I ate all day and was not even a tinge hungry at dinner time.  We stopped in Rockford to feed the family, but I couldn't even think about food.  When we got home, I had an apple.  Drank water throughout the night.

Monday, December 31 - Happy New Year's Eve!

Breakfast:  Today at FITT-RX, we had 3 Holiday $5 classes.  I organized 5:40am boot camp, and when I got home I had Kellogg's Special K with Red Berries; frozen blueberries; almond milk.  After breakfast, I hopped in the shower - wait I lied - I played that stupid CANDY CRUSH game that I'm so addicted to first (I'm on level 41, take that fellow candy crushers!), and then I hopped in the shower.

I headed to the studio where we had 8am Total Core, then 9am Boot Camp Poker.  All in all, a fantastic morning!  Thanks to Jen for her 2 minute plank, her 2 sets of 90 second Burpee Jacks, the 20 second push up hold, and the dreaded 45 seconds of split squats while holding dumbbells overhead.  I worked off most of the chex mix from yesterday!  I loved it and sweated nicely:)  OH, had a coffee when I got there at 8am.

Lunch:  1/2 Pita with the super spicy hummus; an apple; mozzarella ball; and a grape tomato.  I think I'm still full from the weekend! 

We have a New Year's Eve Party tonight and I consciously chose to make healthy appetizers to share.  The first is a skewer with 2 grape tomatoes, 2 basil leaves, and a ball of mozzarella.  The second is crab meat that can be dipped in a red cocktail sauce.  PLUS, we're making it a slumber party because I don't want my entire family on the road after midnight.  Not to mention, that if someone doesn't drink, it'd be me, so I say we STAY OVER!  For the morning, I'm bringing bagels, cream cheese, pineapple, and a cherry Kringle.  Not super healthy, but not super terrible:)

Have a safe New Year's Eve.  I promise to be sure to develop a better eating schedule like I did the last time I blogged my food journal.  Like I said, this was probably not the best time to start, but you gotta do whatcha gotta do.  I welcome anyone to join me, and ask questions whenever you have one.

Jill

PS - Can't get this picture below to delete.  It's a subliminal message and I don't like it one iota!

Thanksgiving Day Food Intake!

Happy Black Friday!  Or is it so "HAPPY"?

So it's Black Friday, and yes, I stay as far away from the stores as possible.  I've got my Christmas list all written out in my head and will probably do a little online shopping later today.  I just cannot imagine waiting in line for hours to get a deal.  On the other hand, maybe Wade would like me to get a deal every now and then!

Thanksgiving Day Food Journal

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean Cereal with frozen mixed fruit (blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries); almond milk; coffee with the fixin's.  The cereal is not very tasty so it definitely needs to be doctored up with berries.  I splurged at Costco and bought the frozen mixed fruit instead of my typical frozen blueberries, and it is sooo good.

 

Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot

Our family ran our first turkey trot together.  My trots have been sporadic over the years due to just giving birth, having a 1 year old when it's freezing, or getting a turkey in the oven on time.  Well this year, I hosted Thanksgiving for the 3rd year in a row, BUT nothing was going to stop me from a family turkey trot!  Wade followed Marco and the other boys and dads, and Talia and I trot/walked the 5k.  I was super proud of the kids!  My daughter made to sure to stop at all the donut hole stops and water stops.  She was well hydrated and thought it was so cool that it was her "first race" ever.  The kids kept their bib numbers and we'll be sure to get them in a scrapbook someday.  Yeah, those and the other years of memorabilia that's been piling up.  Thank goodness, Grandma and Grandpa bought the kids the file cabinets to help organize the papers and projects!

Lunch:  Ham and co-jack cheese on wheat bread with a bit of light miracle whip dressing

Pre-Dinner:  I made this super easy appetizer that is so good.  It's a block of light cream cheese topped with fancy jam.  For this one I chose the Hot Jalapeno Jelly from Jewel.  You can dip all kinds of cracker into it...I chose Triscuits.  Oh, and I had a beer while food preparation was happening.

Dinner:  Turkey, mashed potatoes (potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, chives, butter, and sprinkled with paprika), asparagus (cooked in brown sugar, margarine, and chicken broth), salad (kiwi, raspberries, mixed greens, green onions, and poppy seed dressing); dinner roll; stuffing (carrots, celery, stuffing bread cut into cubes, chicken broth); green bean casserole; cranberry jelly in a can; water.  I should've taken a picture of my plate.  Most were small servings except the potatoes, and I did have a small second helping of stuffing.  Speaking of stuffing...I was stuffed!

Clean-up:  Yes, during clean up, I did enjoy a couple crackers with the jelly/cream cheese spread.  I didn't get much to enjoy due to meal preparation earlier.

Dessert:  3 desserts were brought by Wade's aunt:  a pumpkin pie, minced meat pie (last year I found out that it really has no meat in it!), and apple slices (more like apple pie, but in a bar kind of form instead).  In typical Jill fashion, I took a small slice of all 3.  Now I am officially full!  Oy vey!

Black Friday

Breakfast:  Kashi Go Lean Cereal with frozen berries; coffee with the fixin's (fixin's include only the sugar free french vanilla creamer)

$5 Holiday Special Class:  This morning at FITT-RX, we had 2 classes at the holiday special rate.  We are in the process of planning our December calendar, so be sure to keep an eye out for these great classes at an awesome price!

Lunch:  A few pieces of leftover turkey, and yes, I do not heat it up in the microwave.  Microwaved poultry grosses me out.  It takes on a completely different taste that is disgusting.

Enjoy the rest of your Holiday weekend!  Take a moment and think about all that you are thankful for if you haven't already done so!

Electrocution + Marathons = FUN, right?

Long time!  WOW, a lot has happened since September, so I won't bog you down with everything, but will give you some highlights.

Jen and I have this thing called NEVER SAY NEVER...yes, it's cliche, yes, I stole her next FITT-RX Newsletter theme, and yes, IT'S TRUE! As a testament to my 2012, I truly believe that if you set your mind to something, you can do it! For example...I ran with Jen as she completed her first 1/2 marathon on September 3rd! It was a horribly humid Labor Day morning and this Half comes with hills and trails. I certainly did not expect that for a course, and it was really beautiful. BUT...did I mention it was hot. For her first half, I told her that it was my hardest half. No shittin' caboodle...

Finishers! Congrats, Jen!

Can't wait to do 6 more with you, and be sure to flip me off at Mile 9 again.

On September 9th, the TOUGH MUDDER was overcome, and our team of Elmhurst Mudders finished it with smiles on our faces...even the one's who were electrocuted.  Yes, the boys did not fare well during those obstacles, but I have to admit that it was fun seeing the guys get shocked even though they would not like me saying that.  I will never think of an "electric eel" the same way again.

The scariest part of the race for me were 3 things...
1.  Swimming under barrels in a pond.  Ignoring the fact that there are 2 scuba divers ready to save a life, I was more nervous about losing a contact, plus even if I could open my eyes, I was in a dirty pond where God knows what happens in there on a typical day.  Oh yes, and the fact that I was afraid that the person in front of me would kick me in the face, which is what I did to the person behind me because they wouldn't wait a milli-second for me to get under!

2.  Tearing my arms off my body.  My left shoulder is sensitive.  I call it Breast Feeding shoulder, which is defined as hours holding your arm overhead while laying in bed nursing.  You nursing mothers should understand.  So monkey bars and the rings were out.  I opted to jump in the water instead.  Plus, on the Mt. Everest obstacle, I almost did have my arm torn off by a guy trying to pull me up.  I'm sure I left a lasting impression to those waiting for their turn.

3.  Breaking an ankle 6 weeks before my first marathon.

Here is a great video that eased my reservations about doing such a great race...

Tough Mudder Video with Obstacles Tips

and...

Tough Mudder - official website.  I heard a rumor one will be within 60 miles of Chicago in May!  Who's in!?

Before...

After...clean because we couldn't clear the monkey bars!  Only Tough Mudders get head bands!

October 21st - Detroit Marathon

Common questions/comments I received before I ran the marathon.

• Why Detroit?  My friend was going to do it too.
• Why not Chicago?  Chicago was full.
• I can't imagine where in Detroit you'd want to run!  Well, don't know Detroit so I guess I'll get a running tour of it.
• I bet you'll run faster in Detroit!  Maybe...why?  Just kidding!
• Cool!  You get to run into Canada?  Yep!

Up until 5 months ago, I swore I would NEVER, EVER run a marathon.  Ask anyone.  Really.  Why would anyone do that to themselves?  Who would ever WANT to run for 4 or more hours?  Who cares about this so called wall people hit.  The training takes FOREVER!  Nobody could've given me a good reason to do it.  BUT...here's what happened during an evening in June.

I just ran the RAGNAR race with RMFAO and clocked 18 miles in 24 hours and ran the Inaugural Chicago Women's Half Marathon.  On one of my final half marathon training runs, I saw my friend, Rachel, on the prairie path and she said she was training for her first marathon and it was going to be in Detroit.  Remember... she told me this and it went right over my head....0 interest...nada...zilch...

Until one night, I was home alone (kids in bed) and I texted Rachel...

Texting got me again!!!

 

So after this brief text exchange, I went to the marathon's website to look at the course, and also surfed Hal Higdon's marathon training programs.  After my quick research, I told myself that I was already halfway there in my training, and what the heck????  I'm turning 40 soon, we run into Canada, and my passport expires in April.  So why not???  Before I knew it, I was registering...and before clicking "SUBMIT", I just sat there....sitting....sitting....then I closed my eyes and clicked "SUBMIT".  What the hell did I just do?  Crickets...

 

The next day, I had to tell someone, and that someone was somebody who's clocked 28 (I think???) in her lifetime, and has goals to hit many, many more.  Here's our text exchange...

 

I didn't share this with the world, definitely was not going to share on Facebook (and, yes, I like Facebook), and I surely wasn't going to get cocky about it.  In fact, I was still in shock because I've suffered from knee tendinitis in each knee in the recent past, so I wasn't sure what was going to be in store.  We shall see...

I'm going to skip over all the training stuff.  4 words...I ENJOYED THE TRAINING.

Day of Marathon:

I was as ready as I was gonna be.  It was cold.  It was dark.  It was early...especially because we lost an hour driving there.  But all of that didn't matter because I had Rachel there with me at the start line.  We were lucky enough to be in the same start corral.  The race started and we were off.  We hugged, wished each other good luck, and off we went.

A runner's view at mile 3 as we ran over to Windsor, Canada.

Passport pinned to the inside of my number in case I got pulled over by border patrol.

 

Yep, there was about a mile climb from the road leading up to the top of the bridge until it proceeded to go back down to the other side.  Happy that bridge was early on!  Before I move on, I need to share my glove story.  So, before we leave for Detroit, I'm looking for "throw away" gloves.  YES!  I find a pair folded together like a pair of socks.  Little did I know, that one was a normal size glove, and the other Rachel decided to call the "Hamburger Helper" glove.  Yep, one adult size...one child size.  A perfect Jill story...pretty much sums up my lack of winter gear organization skills.

 

At mile 7, we headed back to the US via underground tunnel which was a mile long.  I met a women in the tunnel from the Detroit area who shared her story with me.  She was about to turn 50, her husband left her a week before Christmas last year, and she had a decision to make.  Either sink, or swim.  She swam, and hasn't looked back even for a second.  It wasn't her first marathon...her first was Chicago 10 years ago, but she also decided that it wasn't going to be her last.  She joined a running group, made some new friends, and shared with me that she is happier than she's been in years.  Good for her...she chose to swim.

 

OK, so we get out of the tunnel and the US crowd is crazy!  My family is here somewhere.  Where?  I HAVE GOT TO SEE THEM!  SHOOT!  UGH!  I'm looking!!!  There!  I see my parents!  They see me and I wave like a crazy women.  OK, now where's Wade and the kids?  Oh geez...ok, keep running.  There!  I see them.  I pass off my t-shirt, say "hi", and I'm off.  The same thing happens at mile 13, and I'm feeling like a champ!  Wade tells me he's going to run to 19 to see me, and I'm thrilled!  I continue on and I run through Indian Village.  Imagine Detroit when the going was good...big, huge, beautiful homes.  The scenery was really pretty.  I get to 18, and I'm still feeling fantastic.  I see Wade at 19 as I'm heading over another bridge to Belle Isle.  He tells me he'll run 22 to the finish with me.  OK, sounds great!  I'm feeling good.

 

 

I get to 20...start to feel it...but tell myself that it's just normal.  The guy tells me that I'm at 3:11.  YESSSSSS!!!!!  6.2 more miles...I'll give myself 10 minute miles to the end and I'll finish around 4:15.  That sounds feasible.

"Pre-wall" according to Wade.

UNTIL 21...

 

My legs start to get into a heated argument with each other.  My right leg says, "Hold on sista!  It's time to stop!"  My left leg replies, "I'm doing alright.  Getting tough, but it's gonna be ok."  My right leg snaps back, "Watch this!!!"  Right there my right leg buckles, and I think "oh shit".  This must be the beginning of my "wall".  I thought the wall was in your mind...I thought it was when your mind starts playing tricks on you.  I didn't think it was physical...sounds stupid to say...but I really thought it was a mental wall.  I mean I ran two 20 milers, why is this beginning to happen at 21?  And where the hell is that damn bridge I'm supposed to run back over to meet Wade?

"Wall"

 

Wade meets me at 22, and is happy, cheery, chipper - fresh...  He is my rock holding me up while I finish the last 4.2 miles.  I  turn to him at 23 and say, "If I have to walk, I'm not going to lose my pride."  I have NEVER walked ever during a training run or a race before.  THIS IS WEIRD.  He made it ok that if I had to walk, it was fine.  He did during his marathon.  So I ran/walked from 23 to 25.  Then at 25, he's all happy and shit and says, "How excited are you!!!???  You only have one more mile!!!!"  His chipperness was wearing thin...If I could've beat him, I would.  I was NOT happy or excited that I had one more mile to go.  I had 1 more f'ing mile to go yet!  And then to top it off there was a hill!  Kill me now.

 

BUT...I see my parents and my kids.  This thing called a smile comes across my face as my son runs out into the street to give me a hug...I'll call it an energy hug.  Trust me...that kid has some to spare!  I give my mom a weak hug, let her know I'm hurting, give me dad an "I'm going to finish this!" look, and pass them still thinking that one way or the other, I'm crossing that finish line.  Just not sure how pretty it's going to look.  I turn a corner and see the finish line about 400 yards away...it could've been 200 for all I know.  Wade is encouraging me to keep going and it's probably the happiest I'd been since mile 20.  I cross the finish line and cannot believe I actually did it.  And just 5 months ago I said I'd never, ever run a marathon.  Well, looky here...

 

The Hardware!

 

 

 



  Go GREEN BIB FIRST TIMERS!!!  We did it! 

Thanks, Rachel for getting the crazy thought into my head...it was supposed to be "hypothetical"!



A little inspiration from the one and only, Jen!

 

Tough Mudder Anxiety & a NEW OVEN!

Finishing up Thursday, August 21st

Dinner:  Turkey burger on a bun and 2 dark chocolate granola thins

Evening Run:  4 miles and the last mile was with heartburn that hurt like heck.  Sidelined me at the end and have never had that happen before.  I blame it on the above meal.  After the run, we met at Tannin's for a glass of red wine.

Wednesday, August 22nd

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats; frozen blueberries; almond milk

Lunch:  Green Monster smoothie

Snack:  Blueberry Muffin LaraBar and an apple

Dinner:  Tilapia; spinach salad with tomatoes, feta cheese, cranberries, candied walnuts, and strawberry vinaigrette dressing.  A few pieces of veggie booty and also a few pieces of pirate's booty.  For dessert, I had 2 granola thins, but also had a couple spoonfuls of my kid's ice cream.  One likes peppermint ice cream and the other is Caribou Caramel.

Thursday, August 23rd

Breakfast:  Oatfit Oatmeal (Cinnamon Roll) and a banana; coffee

Snack:  Apple and a Peanut Butter Gu Gel

Run:  8.5 miles in 91 degree heat...NOT fun.

Post-run snack:  Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich

Dinner:  WE BOUGHT AN OVEN...but it's not hooked up yet.  But when it is...I'll have other foods to make and I'm so excited.  My son is most excited about baking cookies and so am I!  So last night we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and I had 4 hot bbq wings and buffalo chips with cheese.  I also polished off the rest of my daughter's fries.  Iced Tea

Friday, August 24th

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee

Lunch:  Ham and Cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread; veggie booty

Snack:  Blueberry Muffin LaraBar

Dinner:  We went to Pazzi di Pizza in Elmhurst.  I had a 2 beers at dinner, split an Orto salad 4 ways, and also split a pizza 4 ways.  I had one piece of bread before dinner and had some fried calamari.  We went to Pints afterwards and I had a Summer Shandy and water.

Late night snack:  I had a piece of leftover pizza.  Whoops!

Saturday, August 25th

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Cereal, frozen blueberries; almond milk

Lunch:  Ham and Cheese sandwich; pirate booty; apple; milk

Dinner:  We went to a really fun Luau and had Hawaiian food.  A chicken and rice dish and a meatball and rice dish.  We also had ramen noodle salad.  For drinks I had 2 mixers and 3 beers.  Before we left we heard a rumor that there were awesome cheeseburgers so I ate one of those along with a couple awesome desserts and a 1/2 brownie.  Stick a fork in me!

Sunday, August 26th

Breakfast:  OatFit Oatmeal

LONG RUN and it FELT GREAT! - 17 miles; It rained probably 15 of the 17 miles...no joke.

Yep, I'm a dork and had my pic taken.  I was a wet mess.

 

Lunch:  PB&J, peaches mixed with cottage cheese, and milk

 

Dinner:  We had the Tough Mudder crew over for a pre-race pow wow.  We checked out the ridiculously hard obstacles we will overcome during the 11 miles of torture (I mean, fun!)  Later that night, I read a review and the guy talked about a surprise obstacle they had on the course.  Check this out...so obviously during this race we will have scrapes and cuts on ourselves.  Well, apparently, during his race the surprise obstacle was a pit of habanero peppers that people have to jump in.  Add that to cuts and scrapes and holy wowza!  That's gonna sting and burn like a mutha!  I believe that sounds worse than the electric shock therapy obstacle we may also endure.  This is gonna be interesting!  That will be a great blog to post for sure!

 

I had 3 pieces of pizza; tomato salad; pita chips and hummus; a few tortilla chips and salsa; 1 piece of zucchini bread, and some great Trader Joe's desserts.  I drank 1 Leine's Summer Shandy.

 

The Girls who will be Tough Mudding in a couple weeks!

 

Monday, August 27th

 

Breakfast:  OatFit Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal; coffee with the fixin's

 

Workout:  I taught Tabata Boot Camp today and did the workout with a friend (and client)!

 

Lunch:  A seafood 'n crab salad with veggies, spices, and a bit of oil and vinegar; green tea

 

Snack:  Apple

 

Dinner:  Have I mentioned that I got a new oven!!!!  Yes, Halleluia!  I made a pork 'n pasta dish this evening that was great.  I found the recipe in a comfort food cookbook I own.  I was born and raised in Iowa, so comfort food is must in this house:)

 

Here you go...it's got some great recipes!

 

So I ate the pork dish, made a lettuce, spinach, and kale salad (cranberries, candied walnuts, golden tomato slices, mango chipotle dressing) and had a glass of milk.  The darn desserts were leftover from last night, so of course, I had dessert and a couple bites of Caramel Caribou ice cream.

 

Alrighty, I went over the 4 weeks I promised.  I'll continue to post a few days here and there and will also include a few more of my workouts as well!  Keep journaling if it's working for you!

 

Jill





Zumba, Vomit, and Clutches

I cannot tell a lie...I have absolutely no idea what I ate last Tuesday.

Except Breakfast:  Yes, I know this.  Special K with Berries, frozen blueberries, almond milk and coffee with the fixin's.

Short run:  4 miles

Wednesday, August 15th

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats, frozen blueberries, almond milk

Snack:  Apple

Lunch:  Back Alley Burger - I enjoyed the Waldorf Burger which was a turkey burger with feta cheese, apples, and walnuts.  VERY GOOD!  I purposely did not order fries because the kids fries are huge and I stole a few of Marco's.  I brought water in with me.

Dinner:  We went to my friend, Erin's, house for a visit.  We went to their neighborhood pool and afterwards she treated us to dinner.  She had carrots, broccoli, and cucumbers with this awesome light artichoke/spinach dip.  It was very good!  I ate a chicken burger with the fixin's on a bun and 3 beers; 2 Miller Lite's and 1 Supper Club.  The Supper Club is from Wisconsin and EXCELLENT!  Oh, and I had tomatoes with mozzarella drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette and sprinkled with basil.  Thanks, Erin and family!  The Giorno's had an excellent time:)  Lastly, Erin had this awesome hard shell ice cream topping she put on vanilla ice cream.  She gave me a nice small serving.

Thursday, August 16

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with fixin's

Lunch:  1 whole egg and 2 egg whites with spinach, yellow peppers, and cheese.

Short run:  6.5 miles

Snack:  Apple with peanut butter

We had a special event at Lululemon in Oak Brook Mall.  Jen and I led a fantastic group of 18 men and women in a boot camp.  They all did fantastic!  Afterwards, we invited everyone to Pints in Elmhurst for some post workout cheer.

A great group of Lululemon Boot Campers!  A free boot camp class every Thursday at 6:30.  Different studios and instructors lead the workouts.  This time it was our turn!

Dinner:  We ordered and shared (Yes, I had a nice amount) pork roast nachos (WOW), 2 312 beers, and 1 hot wing.  All was great!

Friday, August 17th

Breakfast:  OatFit Oatmeal (cinnamon roll) and a banana

I have to say eating oatmeal in the morning with that banana did hold me over until lunch time very well.

Lunch:  Tuna Lettuce Wrap - I mixed tuna with Greek yogurt and chopped up a red pepper in it.  I also had some pirate booty and an apple.

Family Zumba with Michelle!

Like her on facebook! 

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zumba-with-Mish/207098472672036

So, my friend, Michelle, is a fantastic Zumba instructor.  She has the moves, and the attitude to match, to choreograph the perfect mix of  hour long booty shakin'.  I am a terrible Zumba dancer, but I had the best time watching my kids cut a rug on the dance floor.  I smiled the entire time:)

Here is a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uAtHKdXco8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 

Dinner aka. Snacks and appetizers:  My friend, Tracey, had a 31 party.  31 is a fantastic line of totes, purses, sports gear, etc...  I like to say that I DID NOT make an impulse buy.  Rather, I bought something I needed...a casual dark denim clutch with a silver wrist band.  See here's the story...if you know me, I typically am struggling with keys on a neck lanyard, an iPhone, wristlet bag for cash (or lack of), credit cards, ID, etc...  I'm usually juggling them.  I seem to think that since I exited the diaper bag era, I feel like I can carry the smallest thing possible.  Only problem is that if I just put it all in a damn bag, I'd have one thing to carry and not 3 things.  I mean who looks cool with a set of keys around my neck like a necklace.  I blame this on Wade.  He is the KING of lanyards and somehow this weird habit has slithered it's way onto my neck.  So, here's my solution:  I bought a clutch that is still small, but can hold everything in a more fashionable way...I repeat, not an impulse buy:)

Ok, so I have crackers with a spinach/artichoke dip thingy, a piece of chocolate, turtle cookies (or something like them) and these fantastic other chocolate thingys I can't for the life of me think of their real name.  So good...  I also had a few blue chip crumbs and a couple beers.

Then for the after party we went to Pints and I had 1 more beer.

Saturday, August 18th

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk

We drove down to the city to enjoy the air and water show on Lake Michigan.  I truly believe this is the first time I've seen the water show on the water from start to finish.  The weather was perfect and the waves were tolerable.  I've been a boater for years, and yes, one year I got seasick and vomited in the cuddy waiting to lock back into the Chicago River.  Wade was busy taking pictures of the airplanes while I looked like death.  "Does he love me?"  "Will he survive setting the anchor, because I think the waves are going to throw him over the edge?"  Those thoughts quickly turned into, "Get me the F*&^ off this water!"  After 45 minutes, Wade said, "you really don't look good."  I think, "No shit, Sherlock."

Snacks and Drinks on the Lake:  My friend, Raj (aka the boat captain), made me a Bloody Mary, and I enjoyed tortilla pinwheels, strawberries, fruit salsa dipped in Stacy's Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips, and a ham sandwich with co jack cheese.  I also had a Leine's Berry Weis beer, 2 coconut La Croix's, and a Miller Lite and a half.

Liz 'n I

V-sitting for Jen

It was a fantastic day!  Afterwards, I took my daughter to the Chicago Bears game and I had a pretzel with cheese and a Diet Dr. Pepper.  That was my second diet pop since January.  Not bad...I will admit it was pretty damn good.  The game was great and my daughter lasted the entire game!  I was shocked!  We had the best time...and a long fun day:)

Bear Game Fun!

Sunday, August 19th

Breakfast:  Frosted Mini Wheats; frozen blueberries; almond milk

Long Run-13 miles

Lunch:  2 Tuna lettuce wraps and pirate booty; water

Dinner:  Kashi GoLean Cereal; fro.

Evening snack:  Moose Tracks ice cream and some cinnamon sugar pita chips with fake Nutella.

Monday, August 20th (first day of school!)

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee with the fixin's

Lunch:  1 whole egg and 2 egg whites; spinach; yellow pepper; 2 slices turkey bacon mixed for scrambled eggs

Dinner:  1/2 tuna salad sandwich; apple with peanut butter

Evening Snack:  Frosted Mini Wheats; frozen blueberries; almond milk

Tuesday, August 21st

Breakfast:  Kashi GoLean Cereal; frozen blueberries; almond milk; coffee

Snack:  Apple

Lunch:  Salad with spinach, cranberries, candied walnuts, feta cheese, and chicken.  Dressing was pomegranate vinegar mixed with a bit of olive oil.

Later, everyone!