quick check-in

sorry to bother again!

i am back with my weekly photo update.

i ordered my friend karla to take it while we were at the apple valley aquatic center with alissa, whitney, and her son, alex. i think the first photo looks a little weird because i am wearing a swimsuit under the tank and shorts...i think that i look a little droopy! ; ) we had a lot of fun in the lazy river - it was SO hot out. 

i am excited to report that we allegedly will have a driveway again this week! the asphalt is supposed to go down on wednesday and will be able to drive on it by friday. i am super sick of parking on the grass and my car being ridiculously hot when i get inside!

jacob and i did some yoga this afternoon and it felt so relaxing. we used one session from the on demand through our cable and another from a dvd that came with our mats when we first bought them. i will have to find some other ones to use at home so we do not get bored of them.

i have nothing going on the rest of the week which means i have no excuse but to get my butt outside to run. we are having some of jacob's family over on friday for dinner so i also have to make sure i get the house cleaned up a bit before then. we seem to only clean before company comes over...oops.

new plan of attack

greetings! as most of you probably saw yesterday, my total weight loss has reached 49.8 lb - woo hoo! i really wanted those last 0.2 lb, i was so close! i want to surpass 50 lb for the next weigh-in.

as i get closer to reaching a goal weight - which i actually have not chosen yet - the weight comes off more slowly. i know that exercising is probably going to be the help i need to finish this journey.

jacob and i decided that we want to become "runners." it makes me giggle just to type it. i am not a runner. i even had a doctor tell me once that maybe i just am "not built to be a runner." really? how is one not built to be a runner? it always makes me laugh to think about. i have played soccer for 23 years and i am pretty sure that it involves some running...oh well.

anyway, jacob has set a goal to run a marathon before he turns 30. i am deciding to also make that a goal for me. i previously ran a half marathon back in the summer of 2008 (i think?) but i will be the first to admit that i did NOT train properly for it - if you can even call what i did "training." i think the longest practice run i did was near 10 miles. by the end of the race, i was half walking/half jogging because my knee hurt so bad. i have always struggled with leg injuries but i know i certainly did not help the situation by not getting myself as ready as possible.

this is the plan that we chose to follow:

Week	Workout 1	Workout 2	Workout 3
1	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
2	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.	Brisk five-minute warmup walk. Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.
3	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following: Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds) Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes) Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)
4	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 2-1/2 minutes) Jog 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Walk 1/8 mile (or 90 seconds) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)
5	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog two miles (or 20 minutes) with no walking.
6	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 3/4 mile (or 8 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1/2 mile (or 5 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then: Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes) Walk 1/4 mile (or 3 minutes) Jog 1 mile (or 10 minutes)	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2-1/4 miles (or 22 minutes) with no walking.
7	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.5 miles (or 25 minutes).
8	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 2.75 miles (or 28 minutes).
9	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).	The final workout! Congratulations! Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then jog 3 miles (or 30 minutes).

he started today; i opted not to since i played two soccer games with no female subs. i will do my first session tomorrow. the timeline puts us into october so we already started to research some 5k races. due to his work schedule, we are limited in what saturdays are free.

so! that is the latest news to report. i am excited that i have a training partner. : )

workin' on my fitness

hello. my name is erica and i am a bad blogger. you would think with nothing to do over the summer that i could find time to write this once a week but alas, i am the queen of avoidance.

the last time i went to a weight watchers meeting, i was up 0.4 lb. i went to the doctor last friday and according to their scale, i was back down. since my parents were visiting, i did not bother going to a meeting last saturday. i am still down but i will get an official number this weekend. promise.

in the meantime, i am trying this whole exercising thing. i purposely signed up for two soccer teams again, something i have not done in a long time. it is nice because the games are typically scheduled back-to-back and it makes the drive up to richfield more worth it. kickball, as much fun as it is, is not always the most active so i am trying to go out for walks/jogs/runs. i am not training for anything in particular; the goal is to be able to run 3 miles without wanting to die.

most recent pictures:

i realized that i should have taken these pictures all along in workout gear so you would have seen more of a difference in my legs and whatnot. oh well. and i did not want forget this amazing one of jacob: 

 the only plan i have the rest of the week besides this "exercise" thing that people say is so good for you, is trying to watch as many "breaking bad" episodes on netflix that i can. jacob finally got netflix streaming again on the playstation 3. i tried a few times to update it but the whole system kept shutting down. this yet again confirms how disastrous i can be with technology.

it's so hot right now...

...milk was a bad choice.

my gosh, it is so freakin' hot here in minnesota this past week. i heard it is allegedly going to cool off by friday so i am definitely keeping my fingers crossed. as many of you already know, the association for our townhouse decided that THIS would be the best week to redo our driveways and patios, therefore turning off our air conditioning. UGH! on the bright side (is there a bright side?), i am camped out in the living room and aside from the annoying workers making SO MUCH NOISE outside, i am at least not sweating to death. rumor has it that they are going to finish by next tuesday... i mostly feel bad for jacob who is trying to sleep right now and i cannot imagine having to do it while they are digging a TRENCH where our driveway used to be.

view from the front door

so other news to report. my friend, rachel, visited last weekend and it was SOOOO nice to see her. she lives in green bay so i normally only see her when i go to neenah to visit my parents. we walked calhoun, relaxed by the pool, grilled, went to a farmer's market, watched a parade, shopped at the mall of america, ate at chiang mai thai (super good, btw!), and stopped by bar abilene. i had lots of fun and i hope she did too!

                             watching the parade in the shade                   officer eve                                

last but not least, photo updates. as i reported last saturday, i was down in the 150's! that just seems crazy to me. i am within 15-20 pounds of my final goal weight. i really hope i can get there by september, but that might be pushing it!

i see differences - finally! there is no doubt in my mind that i look much smaller now. it was honestly really hard to see it for awhile but i will not pretend like i do not see it anymore. please also excuse the outfit on the right, i have a tendency to stay in pajamas when i know i am not going anywhere for the day. hopefully i will have another great weigh-in on saturday!