Definitely back on track

Finally, I can legitimately say that I've lost the weight I gained on vacation. I've been hovering around 160 for a couple of weeks now, and although I would prefer to be lower, at least I haven't been substantially higher for more than a minute or two. Now, to move back to my low weight before the Whidbey half marathon - which was about 155 (154 on one brief, fleeting day). It is a little frustrating to be working back to the point where I was saying, just 10 more pounds to go... but it's a process.

I've done this by eating pretty clean, as I promised myself more than a month ago, although I have allowed a few treats back in. In order to accommodate the occasional treats, I have been faithfully writing down everything I eat in a little notebook (which I carry around in my purse), along with the calorie estimates, so I can keep track of how close I am to my goal number of calories (1400) as well as my maximum daily number (1600-1700), and frankly, I'm usually a lot closer to 1600 than 1400. Luckily, part 2 of my plan helps with that. Part 2 is working out daily and (most importantly) working out twice a day as often as I can (at least three times a week). Working out once a day seems to keep me at a maintenance level but I don't seem to lose much!

This is what I do. I run for an hour or more in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, plus one day on the weekends. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings I work out at the Y (40 minutes on the elliptical). Monday through Thursday, and occasionally Friday (as well as some Saturday mornings), I also try to do about 40 minutes on the elliptical at the Y in the evenings. In between I go to Pilates on Monday and Wednesday nights (usually), and yoga three to five times a week on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday mornings. I also try to walk as many places as I can, like to the farmer's market on Sunday mornings, or to the grocery store to pick up a few things or get a latte.

Back in July I ran my second half marathon, up in Anacortes. My time on this one was substantially slower than Whidbey. I attribute this to a number of things. First, a few extra pounds slowing me down; second, a foot injury also slowing me down; third, a very steep hill that everyone walked up, but undoubtedly cost me several minutes extra time; and fourth (most importantly), sometimes you're just fast and sometimes you're slower. I would also say that I wasn't as well trained for this one. Although I was still in fine shape, I only spent a month on specific race training, as opposed to three months for Whidbey. I think I need two good months of training, with long runs and practice races, to be at top shape for a half marathon. I'll keep that in mind next time.