sick.

I've been sick all week. This past Friday and Monday I spent all day at a school teaching 8th graders about HIV/AIDS, and I think that's where I got this sickness. Schools are germ banks, and I've been invaded.

As a result of my sickness which has involved countless Kleenex, one and a half days missed at work, and laying in bed with Tucker for about 7 hours straight, I have not worked out since Monday afternoon. This is freaking me out and I'm trying to be the calm Kate I know I can be and telling myself that it's OK, you'll pick it up next week, or as soon as you feel better. People get sick, and you have to let your body get better.

But it's making me crazy!! I've read a number of times that if you're sick "from the neck up," meaning a cold or slight congestion or something, you can still get a workout in. If you're sick "from the neck down," like if the sickness is in your chest, go to bed and don't get up until you feel better.

I call bullshit.

I am definitely in the "from the neck up" category, but no way am I going to put on workout clothes and suffer through the chills or hot flashes associated with a bad cold or sinus infection or whatever is going on just so I can get in a few squats and cardio. Please. I need to be in bed with Tucker by my side watching a really good movie. Like "Shaun of the Dead."

But I do feel guilty. I feel like I'm losing my momentum with BFL and that one day shortly before my 12 weeks are over I will quit altogether. Actually, I know that won't happen, but it feels like it's happening despite my best efforts. I have been sticking to the eating portion of BFL, and am not letting the "I'm sick!" excuse to allow myself to drink hot chocolate or a fruity, unauthorized smoothie.

I just really hate being sick.

5K! ...and then some.

Today I ran my first race! I ran in the Maryville Turkey Trot which supports Collinsville High School's cross country team. Skip, me, and my friends Betsy and Heather all ran it, too.

Skip and Betsy are pro runners. Skip ran all through high school and still runs now and again. Betsy ran two marathons this year. Enough said. While I got in pretty good running shape this past summer, it go too hot for me to keep it up, and I haven't really run since starting Body For Life. Heather is a new runner, but ran a 5K a week or so ago and ran her second one today!

Or so we thought.

Since Heather was planning on run/walking the race, I decided to stick with her since I didn't know what kind of running shape I'd be in. I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing in one go, that I'd have to stop and walk every so often, and that Skip and Betsy would probably finish in 20 minutes. Plus Heather said she came in last place at her first 5K, so I wanted to be there to support her, keep her company, and walk with her if we needed to. Also Heather is just really cool, and I had heard she cusses when she runs and you know I love that.

So here we go running. I was excited to actually be in a race for what I realized was my first time, because I've been a spectator at lots and I love going to running events. So it was cool to be on the other side of the tape. Heather and I are with the pack of racers, then we are finally in last place. No worries, it was a really pretty day and some of the leaves were still turning and we were back on some awesome country road so it was just really beautiful and serene. There was one lady, I called her Purple Pants, who we kept leapfrogging with, and I told Heather, "Oh man, we can totally smoke this lady."

So we're running and we're running, we stop and walk, we run, things are going good. We can still see people up ahead and, well, they were getting way up ahead. No worries. It was beautiful, the sun was out, I didn't have my iPod because I broke it in Palm Springs, so I was content just running and hanging out with Heather.

Then we come to a crossroads and I remember saying, "Geez Heather if you weren't with me, I wouldn't know which way to go!" There were no orange cones guiding us. So we continue on another stretch of country road. No worries. Well, some, maybe. I didn't really see any runners anymore, and the road now was busy and wide open so the wind was blowing in our faces and we were kind of worried about all the cars whizzing past us. Oh well, we've got to be over halfway there. But where is Purple Pants? Man we must really be kicking her butt.

We eventually start to realize that this is crap! Where are the orange cones?! The next road we were on had the wind blowing even harder and the running lane even narrower. We're running and walking, and by this time we're walking a bit more often.

Finally we see the end of the race. We're running into the parking lot and Heather is yelling at runners (who, by the way, have long since finished the race, some are even driving home), "Where is the finish line?! Where is it?!" They look at us like we're crazy and kind of point over to the soccer field. I see Rich, Heather's husband and our pastor, and since I can't see any kind of finish line, I decide to just stop. Heather is determined and starts running over to the finish line. She sees Rich and says, "Where are we supposed to go??" and he's like, "The finish line is over there!" and points in the other direction across the parking lot past the registration tent. "People were finishing coming from that way. What happened?"

Long story short, Heather and I got lost. We got lost and Heather lost it on the race coordinators. She walked right up to them (oh yeah, and it's true, Heather does cuss when she runs!! And even more so when the race was shabbily run, no pun intended) and let them have it. Rich and I stood back and let her get it out of her system. I can't say I blame her. She comes back over to us and we start looking at a map of the race course that was stapled to a pole. Heather and I see that we did not make a left turn at what was clearly a pivotal point, but we are certain there were no cones directing us. I mean, I didn't have anything to do but look around and see the road, I had no iPod or music to distract me. No way we could have missed it. Heather rips the map off the pole and, as she storms back to the registration table says, "I'm showin' them this!!"

Rich and I wait for Heather to come back. Someone must have either stolen the "Turn Here" sign, or the group of runners in front of us picked it up thinking there was no one behind them. Meanwhile Rich had been back at the finish line, watching our predicted finish time go by, imagining the worst. Skip and Betsy had gone back to look for us, not knowing that we'd gotten lost and weren't even on the same path as them. It was a mess. The race coordinators sent someone out to look for anyone else who might have gotten lost and to pick up leftover cones. I don't know if Purple Pants was out there. I hope she is ok.

Heather comes back, cooled off by now, and says instead of 3.1 miles, we probably ran about 5. I think that made it worth it to us. If we had gotten lost and still only ran 3.1, or even worse, ran less than that, we would have continued to be pretty upset. But they gave us a couple extra free shirts and offered us a refund. We didn't take it, we wanted the cross country team to keep the $10, but organize your race better!!

Needless to say, it made a great story, we all went out for breakfast afterwards, and Rich dubbed us "The Kenyans."

difficult.

Well, I'm back from the US Conference on AIDS in Palm Springs, CA. It was... ok. It was disappointingly irrelevant for what we do with our peer education program (by that I just mean that we didn't really learn anything new), but it was still inspiring and I got goosebumps about a million times listening to different speakers or people living with the virus and sharing their stories. I was glad I went, but even more glad to get home.

That being said, I did pretty well for not being able to eat on my regular schedule and not always getting the 6 meals in a day and not being able to plan out what I was going to eat... because I didn't know what I was going to eat. I tried to stick to salads and watched my portions and at least tried to get in a protein, carb, and veggie at most meals. Don't get me wrong, I slipped a couple times (there was this amazing Mexican restaurant right around the corner!!), but when we're looking at the whole picture, I did really, really good. I also stuck to the workout portion of BFL without a hitch, so that was great too.

And to prove it I've got another half inch off my waist!

However, it is a little hard getting back on track. I love having my schedule back, but it's a little easier for me to get tempted by unauthorized foods. For example, last night at my friend Betsy's house I had a few handfuls of those Hot Tamales candies. But. I realized what I was doing and moved the bowl far away from me so I wouldn't eat anymore.

I think my mindset is changing. As Skip and I almost complete our 6th week (halfway baby!), I am looking more towards the big picture of eating healthy for life instead of focusing on these 12 weeks and doing meticulously well for 12 weeks only. So I am letting myself have a handful of chewy candy, but putting them away after I know I've had enough. Or, like yesterday, when I had to stop at Schnuck's and get something from the salad bar because I forgot my lunch, and then I forgot to add a portion of carbohydrates to my lunch, I let myself have a small piece of a bagel to supplement that carbohydrate.

Body For Life has helped me to understand that I need to feed my body. I need food! So when I don't have anything near me that is technically authorized but it's time for me to eat one of my small meals, I will let myself have a small bag of pretzels or a cup of yogurt or something at least on the healthy side. Or at least not sweat it too much. Because the point of all of this is to change my eating habits so that I can stay healthy and fit for the rest of my life. Not just 12 weeks.

real quick...

I'm trying really hard to focus on myself in this blog, which is hard for me to do. I don't like to bring attention to myself. Usually when people ask me about Body For Life I tell them that it's going really well and my husband looks great and he's doing this and that and blah, blah, blah... Totally just start talking about Skip and his amazing results so far. I don't like to talk about myself or my results. This blog is ironic.

Anyway, I just wanted to give myself a little bit of leeway here and say that Skip is looking hot. HOT. His belly is officially been titled "The Incredible Shrinking Belly" and his arms are getting all ripped and stuff. It's awesome.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm looking smokin' too (hehe), but it's a lot more fun to see and talk about how hot Skip is.

:)

challenge!

Tomorrow I leave for the US Conference on AIDS in Palm Springs, CA. Bummer, I know. I'll be gone until Saturday at 8:15pm, just in time for my free day! In the meantime, I'll have to watch how it goes this week and how and what I'll be able to eat at the conference. I'm bringing my travel bands for weight training and I think the hotel has a pool and a fitness center so I'll be able to get in some cardio. If anything, I'll just go for a walk outside in the sun.

This week is going to be a tough one. I just need to know that I will do the best I can. If I can't be perfect, I can do my best and that's all I can do.

Challenge!

the inevitable.

We joined a gym. I originally wanted to make it through my 12 weeks without joining a gym. Unfortunately, with the weather getting colder and the days getting shorter, we had to join one. Surprisingly, I'm doing just fine doing the weight lifting part at home, it's the cardio that I am having trouble squeezing into my day. I wake up early and let Tucker out, and it's so cold and dark out that I literally cannot go back outside. It's too cold! So we joined a gym that's pretty close to our house. I'm excited! Because I can also get a better cardio workout in using the equipment since I'm not a super fan of running and walking doesn't get my heart going as well.

In other news, I might also be a personal trainer at this gym! Apparently I need no special certification (look out) and they are short on trainers so... voila! Being a personal trainer is something I've always wanted to do, and I'm really confident in my abilities as a trainer. Between working out myself and reading pretty much anything I run across that is about nutrition or fitness, I think I would do okay. So we'll see!

Oh, and by the by, it's now 2 inches off my waist and 2 inches off my hips. Woot!!