But here's some stuff that's happening/happened/will happen:
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I had to buy a new Garmin. Like microwave ovens (we've been through an inordinate number of them in our 18.5-year marriage), I am hard on them.
I got a Garmin Forerunner 410 for our 15th wedding anniversary; he got a huge computer screen he'd been eyeing (what? The fifteenth anniversary isn't the geeky presents anniversary?). After using that thing multiple times daily, it quit holding a charge after almost 2 years. (I should note that it decided to crater during one of my 20-milers when I was on pace to finish in under three hours. GRRRRR.)
So I bought the Forerunner 10. It was simpler and cheaper than my first one, and I thought that would work for me. Not so much. It has a short battery life -- I mean, not really. I think it's good for three hours, but when you're running 20 miles and you're me...well, you need a little longer than three hours' of battery life. It ran out of battery during my last marathon. Sigh.
Recently, it wouldn't record runs, wouldn't upload them to the Web site, all sorts of craziness. I can't take that. I have this intense NEED to know my stats. I want to know the calorie burn. I want to know my fastest mile vs. my slowest.
So a week ago, I got this beauty:
We'll see how long it lasts me.
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So, three years ago, when we went to The Bahamas for vacation, I was at the lowest weight I had been in quite some time. I won't name numbers, but it was substantially below the 130 that was my goal. There were no worries about my health; my doctor was happy with it, and I felt great. Keep in mind that I am a shortie, so the range for my normal weight can be quite low.
Well, then I got super lazy with my vegetarianism and went to eating carbs topped with carbs with a side of carbs, and I gained 15 pounds over the past 2.5 years. I was still within a normal range for my frame and height, but I was not happy about it.
I know how I operate, though, and I know what a slippery slope this whole weight thing is. Sure, 15 pounds is not anything to panic about, but when you've weighed 200+ pounds, it kind of is.
When I went back to eating meat, I lost weight. When I bumped up my running from a minimum of 40 miles a week to 60-70...I lost more.
As of Monday, I am one pound away from that magical Bahamas summer weight. I feel great. I have tons of energy and I can only see it getting better!
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Technically, I'm supposed to officially start my marathon training on Sunday.
I'm not so sure I'm going to stick to an official training plan, though. I'm doing great the way I'm going now, so I think I'm just going to keep on keeping on.
I undertrained for the San Antonio RNR marathon; that will not happen this time. I'm already in a better space than I was then.
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Lastly, can y'all keep a secret? I mean, really?
My husband has started running.
!!!!!!!!!!!!
In May, he started working out regularly. He belongs to a 24-hour gym in our city, and he'd go four or five days a week and use the elliptical.
One night, he came home and said, ever-so-casually, "I'm running now."
I was like, "Whaaaa?"
This was the same man who has repeatedly told me that he's going to have to push my wheelchair around in a few years because I'm "ruining [my] knees from all that running."
The same man who would tell me, "Beth, you're not going to die if you don't run today." (My answer: "No, I probably won't, but if I don't get in my run, you will wish you had." Cranky isn't even the word for it, y'all.)
He had started the Couch to 5K program, an app available for various Smartphones, and had been working on it for who-knows-how-many weeks.
Now, he's going to the gym every day. He ran while he was in Germany for work. He's looking forward to the temps dropping so he can run outside.
He's running his first 5K EVER next weekend. (All four of us are running it, which is pretty much my dream come true!)
I couldn't be prouder of him, y'all. He's a pretty amazing guy, with lots of talents. But I know how hard it is to start running and keep it up. It's so scary.
I don't talk to him about running much. I don't want to ruin it for him, if that makes any sense. I let him bring it up, if he has any questions. I listen to him talk through his running plans. I do remind him to keep track of mileage on his shoes, though -- two people with plantar fascitis is two too many.
But otherwise, I leave him alone and let him run.
