Week 18, Day 3 - THE BEST 6.2 Run Ever!!!

Oh, what a glorious morning!!! Last night I made SURE that my Ipod was working, and set my alarm for 6:30. Woke up at 6:15 and again, debated going or not....but the sunshine spilling in the window talked me into it. =)

I ran the same route I followed yesterday, into the Lake Labish area which was hard, brutal, and looooong yesterday without my Ipod. It's beautiful country roads but they tend to kind of stretch long and far into the distance and it's all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. I kind of decided on the way back yesterday, that I would pretty much never run that route again.

But then last night I mapped out that same route only further, converting it from a 5.6 to a 6.2 run...a 10K again. Since I want to run once of those at least, each week, that was perfect - and I was curious about those country roads even further...I'd never driven them before.

So THIS time, I listened to some Venus podcasts - interviews of the contest winners. I entered the contest too and did AMAZINGLY well for the first 4 weeks, looked my best EVER since I got married, and then faltered for about a month, and then got pregnant. So I really enjoy listening to the interviews of the winners, having gone through part of the contest myself. Really motivating too!!

And the run? It went by like a flash! It was soooo beautiful out there, with gorgeous country fields stretching for miles, the sunshine and overall feeling of the day about to start. Plenty of birds chirping and best of all, hardly any cars - although I do admit that I sometimes get a little wary of someone kidnapping me, lol.

About a mile from the finish, there is this pretty steep, long hill - but it's perfect, not too steep that I can't continue my normal pace and I don't get really out of breath; I can tell it's just a good workout for my legs. My quads feel rock hard these days and that feels SO awesome, a confirmation that I am working in the right direction. Of course now they are covered in an extra 20 pounds of flab so they don't LOOK like they're rock hard, but, that'll come soon enough - if not during pregnancy, then afterwards I'll have a running head start compared to all my other pregnancies.

Before I left for my run, I also compared my weight now with where I was at this exact stage in pregnancy #6 and #7, which are the only 2 that I was health conscious. I was elated to find out that I am doing super well! #6 I gained 24 lbs and #7 I gained 34 - I am smack in the middle of those two. Of course, the optimal would be 24 pounds again and I am working towards that, but it was nice to see I'm not like majorly gaining way too much weight in comparison.

Jack (#6) - 12 lb gain @ week 18, 146 lbs
Harmony (#7) - 18 lb gain @ week 18, 145 lbs
Baby (#8) - 14 lb gain @ week 18, 141 lbs

So in all actuality, even though I have gained a teensy bit more than I did with Jack, I am lower than I HAVE EVER BEEN at this point while pregnant. I have never, ever weighed 141 lbs before at week 18. So that is super cool for me - I love love LOVE that I blogged all through those two pregnancies, it means the world to me that I can compare against myself and put all my fears of gaining tons of weight, to rest.

It's cool to read my blog and see the way the weight came on, how fast/slow, and to see the end result. I'm no longer going at it "blind" like I was the first time I tried really hard to keep my weight gain at bay, with Jack. It feels great!

Yesterday's eating day was, quite simply, amazing. No, it was NOT perfect. In fact, I had a little flip-out moment in the morning when I ate 6 (yes, 6!!) cupcakes with raspberry pie filling or frosting. To be fair, they were pretty small, but still. Then I had a few small snickerdoodles, and then a humongous GIANT bowl of parmesan buttered popcorn. I was watching a movie, the kids were all gone except the youngest 3 who were playing really nicely - it was really nice!

But the BEST part of it, the most amazing part to me, is that I just continued on the rest of the day AS IF I had never even flipped my lid. I basically fasted until 5:00 after that, then had a handful of local strawberries, then made dinner for my family. We enjoyed roasted herbed potato wedges, roasted herb root vegetables (for me and Bret only), salad, and fruit - apples & strawberries. I had some of everything, especially the potatoes. I use half oil/half water for them, and they are sooooooooooo delicious I was even craving them after I went to bed, hee hee!

So last night, Bret was out getting a haircut with Jack. I realized that we needed milk and dishwasher soap - we HAD to have them like, literally, that night...the dishwasher was loaded and ready to run with all the cereal bowls for the morning. I debated. Cream cheese was calling me...they have this carrot cake I've gotten at the grocery store...hmmm...I had a good book too, and I had visions of getting that cake and eating it in the car while reading my book....ooooh quiet yummy me time for just a little bit! But then I just decided, you know what? The grapes on the counter sound JUST AS GOOD to me! So I called Bret and had him get the stuff, and settled into bed after getting the kids to bed, with my grapes. I was asleep by 10:30 and ready for my FAB run this morning.

Best part? I lost a pound this morning! Now I'm even more inspired...forget about that cake! Although I MAY indulge in some in a few days, if I continue to be good about my eating. It's liberating to realize it is NOT the cake in itself that is going to make me gain weight. It is the cake, and then more cake AGAIN, and then again and again!!

I'm also fantasizing about nachos lately, ever since I had some with Bret at the movies a week ago and then again with Rachel & her friends on Tuesday. I am going to wait, but still, am looking forward to having them again (with real cheese!) soon. I love how nothing is OFF LIMITS but for the majority of the time, raw is my choice and by not forcing myself into a mold I'm kind of calming down and not flipping out and eating everything in sight like, every day.