Changing Perspectives

I got the following message from an old friend the other day:

"So I am following your lead to fitness! Too bad I feel like I might die in the process. Keep up your awesome work!"

First of all, this is about the 10th friend of mine to say to me that I have inspired them to do something about their lives. Which is still unbelievable every time it happens to me.

But the point of this post really is thinking about the changes I've made as I have still continued through this weight loss and maintenance journey. I read the above message on my phone as I was in Target, incidentally, standing in front of the boxes of protein bars, at which I'd stopped to investigate when I happened to check my phone.

After reading the message, I turned back to the protein bars to see that Luna bar boxes were on sale for $5. I instantly thought, "OOOH! Luna bars on sale!"

Standing the middle of Target, still sweating from my half marathon training run (my gym is right next door to Target and I needed a few groceries on my way home), I sort of stopped myself in thought for a moment. I'm actually excited about Luna bars being on sale right now. Luna bars.

I thought about the things I used to get excited about being on sale.

Back when I was 230 lbs, it was:

"OOOH! Pringles are on sale!" I'd then eat an entire canister in about an hour.

"OOOH! DiGiorno frozen pizzas are only $3!" I'd then eat an entire pizza in one night for "dinner."

"OOOH! Kraft Mac and Cheese boxes are 3 for a dollar!" I'd then eat at least one entire prepared box in one sitting.

"OOOH! Lean Pockets are on sale!" Then convincing myself, that "hey, they're LEAN Pockets" I'd eat at least two in a serving and tell myself it was OK because they're LEAN, right?!

My, my, how times have changed. I used to get excited about Pringles being on sale. Now I'm psyched when protein bars are on sale, having them in mind to eat following my 10 mile training runs.

Once again, perspective hit me. I ran 7 miles last Saturday for my long run like it was no big deal. I did it in a little over an hour and felt pretty awesome during and after.

I remember how hard it was to run for three straight minutes during my Couch to 5K training. It felt like imminent death. Now I'm running 7, 8, 9 miles like it's no big thing.

Which brings me back to the original comment from my friend. "I feel like I might die in the process." A year ago, I thought running three consecutive minutes at 5 mph was agony. Now I'm running 7 miles at around 6.4 mph -- and that was considered an easy run.

Consider the changes in one year. You can get excited over a sale on protein bars. You can run 7 miles in shortly over an hour as part of an easy run. You can if you work your ass off. It's not easy. It's not a temporary change. It is part of lifelong process of lifestyle reform.

But it is possible. It's not just my ego talking: I really am proof.

Breaking the Slump and Becoming a Morning Runner

Lately, I have been feeling very frustrated and have felt lapses in self-control and motivation. I stepped on the scale yesterday to see a frightening number: 147 (that's right, accountability comes back to haunt me).

I spent most of the day Tuesday feeling sorry for myself. But you know what, there are a lot of people out there in the world who have worse problems than a lack of motivation when it comes to fitness. And unlike people who have those larger, pervasive problems to worry about, I can do something about it.

So sack up, girlfriend, I said to myself. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Do you know how lucky you are to be able to do something about your problems? So do something.

Yesterday I attempted to take a morning run (since my class days are Tuesdays) but a late night prior (writing papers) means that I was all about continuing to sleep past the 5am running wakeup.

This morning, I tried again. I groaned as my alarm went off at 5am, but I shouted to myself, channeling my inner Jillian Michaels, "Get the hell up, Erika, you're f***ing running today. And I do not feel bad about making you do it."

An invisible hand (Jillian? Is that you?) yanked me out of bed to turn off my alarm and pull on a bunch of spandex (and long sleeves, yikes this morning was chilly!) It was still dark outside, so I put on my light-up slap bracelet (which I haven't had to use since we sprang forward in Daylight Savings Time), downed a Fiber One protein bar and a few sips of the open Gatorade in my fridge, and set out into the early pre-dawn morning.

This was also a new experiment for me in that I did not bring headphones with me for music or even Zombies, Run! I like to run with fast music, and let's face it, 'Ye at 5am is not exactly great for someone who is not a morning person.

I don't care how much something that doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, Kanye, it is too early for you.

So I was left alone with my thoughts in the pitch black of a Wednesday morning as I'm still battling peroneal and tarsal tunnel pain in the same leg. Yep, this just got interesting. My internal dialogue was firing on all cylinders.

Hey Erika, it's your left leg here, and guess what, I'm really hurting.
Yeah, I know, shut up, running is actually making you hurt less, so joke's on you.

Oh, um... well it's your esophagus now, and you forgot to take your GERD medication before you went out to run, and now I'm just buuuuurning.
Yep, got it, won't make that mistake again, and I'm blasting you back to hell with pantoprazole as soon as I get home.

Fine, I'm your stomach now, and that Gatorade is sloshing around a bit!
Dude, I had like 5 sips of that Gatorade before I went out for the run. There is no way I drank enough to have any kind of sloshing. I do believe it's your imagination, so leave me alone. 

Crap. Well now I'm your lungs, haha! And I'm feeling a little bit constricted right now. How you feel about that?
Psychosomatic, my dear lungs. There's nothing wrong with my breathing right now, so shut it.

Fine, I'm your brain now, and I will not turn off with continuously writing a blog post in your head about this run you're doing right now.
That's just fine, brain, I was planning to write a blog post on this run anyway. You're just running out of ways to psych me out, aren't you?

What? No! Erika! Up here! Look, I'm the Metra train, and I've stopped at the Oak Park station right as you're running underneath it so all the commuters can ogle you, the weirdo running down the street at 5:30am!
Whatever, they're a bunch of people that have to be on a Metra train to go to work as early as 5:30am. They won't find it weird, in fact, there's about a 99.9% chance that I got up later than them. Nice try!

Dangit. Uh... I'm the sun, rising and flooding the sky with a beautiful tapestry of pink and purple and orange as you head into the home stretch.
I know, I noticed! Thanks, you are quite beautiful! This is very nice!

Hey Erika, now I'm your front door. Oh. You're done.
You bet I am! Perfect timing to shower and get to work!

So guess what? I went on a 5am weekday run before work without music and it did not beat me. In fact, it really wasn't that bad, and I think I may do it again. It was such a different experience running around my usually bustling neighborhood and have it be totally empty and quiet and cool and dark.

The beauty of it especially was that I got home in the afternoon and was able to devote time to running the errands I needed to (as well as writing this blog post) instead of feeling the stress of having to plan a run in there too.

And you know what, self-control? I'm bringing you back. I'm bringing strong back. I'm bringing motivation and ferocity back. I'm bringing it all back. You've all got a lot to worry about, little voices that were in my head this morning. Because starting back up right now, you're working for me.

Race Review: Biggest Loser RunWalk 15K

It is really difficult to approach the review of the Biggest Loser RunWalk 15K race. The packet pickup/expo occurred on Saturday and the race occurred Sunday, and both days were just really some of the best days of my life.

My SparkPeople vlog I did can probably best describe my expo day, which essentially had me leaving the expo in happy, honored, and speechless tears. It also had me feeling like I could have run a marathon Sunday. It was very smart to do the expo with lectures on Saturday prior to the race -- it was the perfect motivation for the race the next day.

Race morning

I woke up early Sunday morning feeling nervous and tired. Thankfully, I was armed with ENERGYbits and so on the el train on the way down to the Museum Campus, I downed the requisite serving. You can read my bits review for further info on that, but I'll go back to the race itself.

My mother and I walked to Soldier Field from the el station and got there about half an hour before race time. We checked our bags at gear check and hit the portapotties (which had a super long line) before we went to the start line. Got out of the stall and, bummer, no hand washing station. Gross.

But there was no time to wander around looking for hand wipes or sanitizer or anything, as Dolvett was on the stage at the starting line and we had to make a mad dash for the incredibly crowded corral. It was a little bit too crowded, especially considering that it really seemed that the number of entrants was not hugely massive.

The starting line

But I took to heart the advice that Francelina gave me Saturday: "Let everyone go ahead of you. The first few miles should not feel like work." So I let it slide that I was sitting in like the 11:00 corral and just went with it. Luckily, when our wave came up to the start, I realized I was actually in the very front of the roped-off wave, so I was golden.

As we passed the start, just off to the left was a platform on which stood Dolvett, Danni, Dan and Jackie, cheering us on as we started off. My wave was released and I headed off. I followed Francelina's advice to the T and started as slow as I could muster, busting ahead of the handful of folks in front of me in the wave but feeling no further need to get ahead of anyone.

I was feeling phenomenal throughout the entire race, but it particularly opened up after the 5K and 15K courses split, which was only after about 1.5 miles. It was also at the Inspiration Station featuring Pam and Jackson. I reached out to Pam, who knew who I was at that point. She immediately recognized me, grabbed my hand and said "Hey! Run with me for a minute!" and she fell into my stride next to me. "How you doing, doing good?" and I said, "Yeah feeling great!" She said, "Great! Good luck, and see you at the finish line!" She then returned back to the little event tent she shared with Jackson.

After the split, the course opened up. With fewer 15K run participants than, well, anything else, there was just a huge amount of open space for the remainder of the race, which was such a luxury on the lakefront trail.

I literally was smiling throughout the entire race. I don't even know what was going on, but I felt I could have run for a decade. I was just so happy and excited and empowered that I just kept pounding the pavement with pure delight. Particularly around Mile 6, there was a little outcropping in the trail and the entire Chicago skyline was on a big vista right in front of the course. Several racers in front of me stopped to take photos -- I didn't, but that provided a huge boost for me. It was a perfect day weather-wise, completely clear, and the entire city was basically on a platter on this vista.

Rounding the finish

Around Mile 7, farther than I have ever run before in my life, I pounded a Gu. It was my first experience with gels, but I think I timed it properly (not only did I intend to take it at Mile 7 but it was also the exact time I felt a pang of hunger).

I was just happily running and then realized that I was about to round the corner to the finish. From the corner to the finish, it was really only about 0.1 or 0.2 miles, and I turned it on. I have never before found the power to sprint for a finish at any distance, but I saw that the finish was super close and I all-out sprinted. There were all these people lining the finish cheering and screaming and pushing me onward.

Francelina and me after the finish

I then saw my mother, who had been waiting at the finish since she completed the 5K about 40 minutes earlier. She was snapping photos and I quickly hugged her on the run before I crossed the finish line. One of the organizers was at the finish with a microphone to meet me, and she gave me a high-five as I happily passed the finish with music and cheering pounding in the background.

I got my medal, my first 15K medal, and dug into the boxes lining the post-finish line: water, banana, bagel.

My mom and I wandered down to the finishers' area where 5K awards were being handed out. I picked up my bag from gear check and did my post-race interview with Biggest Loser RunWalk after having done the long background interview with them during the expo the day prior.

Mom, Jackson, me and Pam after finish

I finished with a 1:34:25. I'd told Jeff during the expo that I hoped to finish in 1:30. However, I was perfectly happy with the 1:34:25 time. It was my first time running that far and long ever and the fact that I finished feeling so good and not like I was going to die was so important for my first 15K.

Again, more is in that vlog on SparkPeople, but even after the race was a continuation of the phenomenal experience. Afterward, I still ended up being OK. I was sore and had to get on a plane just a few hours later for work, but I wore some compression socks for the remainder of the day, including in the airport and on the plane, and I felt OK.

Jeff, me and Francelina after the finish

If you ever have the opportunity to do a Biggest Loser RunWalk event, I highly recommend it. It was probably top to bottom one of the best experiences of my life. It was not only the race but the expo as well. The entire weekend was so phenomenal that I cannot say enough about the race series.

Keep an eye out for my video interviews on the Biggest Loser RunWalk website! I will definitely alert everyone when I see it, but keep an eye.

Completed:
Biggest Loser RunWalk 15K
August 4, 2013
Chicago, IL
1:34:25

From Obese to Elite

I went to the doctor today for an annual check-up, and I informed him of my weight loss and the fact that I am a runner and training for a half marathon.

He did the usual stuff after we went over my history: checking my ears, throat, lungs, heartbeat. He noted that my BMI was very good and well within the healthy range. Then he did something that surprised me. Now knowing that I was a pretty intensive runner, he had me lie down on the exam table and then took my heart rate to measure my resting heart rate.

When he announced the resultant number, it was all I could do not to drop my jaw in shock.

He measured my resting heart rate at 44.

44.

According the to the Mayo Clinic, that is about the resting heart rate of a well-trained endurance athlete. Another site suggests it is the heart rate of an "elite athlete."

Luckily I had told my doctor that I was a runner, because he said that otherwise, that sort of heart rate would cause concern (bradycardia), but for me just signals "a great deal of cardiovascular activity."

But let's think about what a resting heart rate of 44 really means. It means that my heart is now able to work so ridiculously efficiently as a result of all my cardiovascular exercise (running) that it only need beat 44 times a minute in order to deliver the necessary amount of oxygen throughout my body. Most healthy adults (who don't run 15-20 miles a week as I do) have an average resting heart rate of 60-100 beats per minute.

My mind is still basically exploding from this news. Eighteen months ago I was obese and sedentary. Even just six months ago, several months after I'd started running, I'd measured my resting heart rate to be nearly 90. The title of this blog post is quite literal. In 18 months, I have gone from obese to elite athlete.

Recently, I'd been having some motivation problems. I had been feeling defeated by recent (small) weight gain and less than favorable training sessions. However, this news has most certainly strengthened my resolve, to the point where I cannot wait for that next 80 minute run.

I am an elite athlete.

There is no possible way I could let that go to waste.

Traveling? Leave Your Running Shoes at Home

Runner's World posted a link on their Facebook page today that I just had to share.



The Westin brand of hotels has announced a partnership with New Balance that gives guests the option to rent athletic apparel - including shoes - for a small fee during their stay at a Westin. It's called Gear Lending, and it's a great idea for busy travelers who don't have the room in a carry-on for workout clothes and shoes.

The Westin's philosophy is "You're more likely to exercise if it's convenient," as shown in a video promo for the program on their website. It's spot-on - if you're away on business for just a few days and only have a small suitcase, it's a hassle to put some clunky running shoes in what is already a limited luggage space. And if you didn't bring your workout gear with you on a trip, you're probably not going to be doing any exercising. This is a great way to reach out to active customers and offer them a valuable service at a nominal fee.

Since the service sounds pretty darn new, I would think that so far, Gear Lending is available at a few larger market hotels and will expand in the future. But I'd also be interested to know about the selection of gear they will have available. There are just a few clothing options for women listed on the website (one pair of capris, a sports bra, and a t-shirt) and one model of neutral-cushioned shoes. Hopefully they will make more options available in the future for pronators, or people who need a stability shoe, etc.

However, this is a great start and an excellent concept. Have you tried Gear Lending at a Westin yet? Let me know in the comments - I'd be interested to hear about the experience.

I Used to Be Fat

With the weather getting colder, I recently walked into the newly-built LA Fitness near my house to join. As I sat with the sales consultant who sold me my membership, I told her about my recent weight loss (at the time, 65 pounds in about 10 months). When another salesman came over to say hello, she told him how much weight I'd lost.

"Wow," he said. "You're a real-life success story!"

It was the first time I'd heard someone call me a success story. I'd never thought of myself that way, but I suppose now that I think about it, I am. And now I'm taking ownership of it.

I wasn't always fat. I was a normal-sized, active child who was also a competitive figure skater. I stopped skating in high school, but even after dropping the skating, I was still a two-sport athlete. In the winter, I played on our girls' ice hockey team, and in the spring, I played on the badminton team.

It was after high school that my weight issues began, particularly in that caloriefest known as college. I entered college wearing a size 6/8 - I left it a size 14. The "Freshman 15" is supposed to be proverbial, but for me, it was a reality. I kept packing it on during college, and after graduation, I went even further off the deep end. By 2009, two years after graduating college, I was a size 18 and weighed 230 lbs.

I went on Jenny Craig in 2009, and by 2010, had successfully lost 55 lbs. But then, I plateaued. Hard. To make matters worse, I lost my job in 2011 and couldn't afford to order Jenny Craig anymore, and I subsequently lost all the forward progress I'd made.

I know now what the problem was. Instead of "changing my lifestyle," I'd learned to eat what was given to me. I thought I'd been changing my lifestyle, but what I really needed to do to change my eating habits hadn't sunk in at all. I had merely been forcing myself to eat the Jenny Craig food, and purposefully attempted to deprive myself of the cheeseburgers and burritos that I really wanted to eat.

Once Jenny Craig was out of the picture, all those deprivations were out the window. That coupled with unemployment meant I was sitting around all day eating those cheeseburgers I had so wanted the whole time I was on Jenny. I gained every pound back, and the size 18 jeans made a terrible reappearance.

The job market was a tough go in DC, and after six months, I was forced to move back in with my parents in the Chicago area in November 2011. I continue to lament the fact that I can't walk anywhere in my small suburb, but on the other hand, it has kept me from wandering two blocks down the street to Chipotle and has put a lot of home-cooked (and calorie-controlled) meals on my plate instead.

After I moved home, I started to lose weight. I'm not even entirely sure how it happened or why it happened, but I started to eat less and eat better food, snack less, and drink less. Fast food became a nauseating prospect, and full-fat cheese became Exorcist-level frightening. By June 2012, I'd lost 50 lbs by sheer diet changes alone.

But I needed to do something more. I'd lost 50 lbs, yes, but I could see my momentum start to slow. I'd never been a big fan of exercise - I hated sweating and doing any sort of exercise that I deemed not fun (which was, well, most exercise). Yet in July, I registered for my second 5K. I was determined to jog most of it, and knocked 10 minutes off my previous time, a Turkey Trot in November 2011 that I walked.

I don't know what happened exactly, but something in me switched on. Running was perhaps my most hated activity previously, and I could never find the motivation to follow through with it. But for some reason, I wanted more. I figured out what could make me exercise: competition. By nature, I'm a very competitive person, and I discovered that competition would give me the motivation to run.

So I purchased a Couch to 5K app on my phone for the internal competition of constantly striving for a better pace, a better time, a harder run. I also bought the Zombies, Run! app, which provided the best external motivation possible: running from zombies. With the two apps, I started running almost every day. From August to November, I lost another 20 lbs, bringing my weight loss total to 70 lbs.

In my second Turkey Trot, one year after a 230 lb walk, I completed a 29:48.7 5K, my first sub-30 race and a PR for sure. It's ridiculous to think about how far I've come in a year, and how much I believe I have really changed my lifestyle for good.

I'm a comfortable size 10 (which I haven't been since early freshman year of college), in a size medium in shirts (which I haven't been since high school), and 160 lbs. But I still have more to go. My goal is to lose 20 more pounds, to put me at a weight that is considered within the normal range for my height. I'd love to fit back into a size 6, but even an 8 would make me happy (though I do already have some size 8 pants that fit me).

I'm thinner and much fitter than I've been in almost 10 years, and I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life, physically and emotionally.

So why start this blog? Whenever I got excited about a new PR or a great workout, I feel like I was bugging my Twitter followers about it (most of them follow me for hockey, and probably don't really care about how my run went today). So for me, this is a place for chronicling my progress, bragging about my latest pace, lamenting hangups, but also reviewing healthy foods and recipes, athletic apparel, local races, and more.

Since I began this journey, I've had people tell me I'm an inspiration. It's a huge compliment, and something I'm still not totally comfortable agreeing with. But if you find inspiration from this blog, I'm glad. I just want to share my story in the hopes that others can believe they can do what I did.

Because it's possible. You can do it. You can run a 5K; you can lose 5, 10, 50 pounds; you can learn to love grilled chicken salads so much more than Five Guys cheeseburgers.

The comment box is always open and I'd love suggestions on new things to try. Thanks for visiting and joining me on the journey.