California Here I Come!

A couple weeks ago I signed up for my first marathon: The Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco!  I am still wrapping my brain around the fact that I will be running 26.2 miles in a city know for its hills.  The best part is, I have joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training to get me to the big day.  I will have the support of great trainers and other participants while I work on preparing myself and I know that I will be working hard to support a great cause.  Just yesterday I set up my first big fundraiser at a local restaurant. Next week, I hope to open up my etsy shop (more details to come)!   I know that working to help fund cancer research will keep my going, especially when things get tough and I feel like I can't run anymore.  

My Fundraising Page!

Back on Track!

I have been mentally absent the last few weeks.  My motivation was zilch.  In the process I discovered that blogging is a lot like tracking my food and activity points for WW: I have done nothing on both fronts.  Everyone has days or weeks when their head is not in the game, and I had quite a stretch.  Last Saturday I decided that the funk needed to end.  I want to reach goal sooner, not later and the way I was living was not going to get me there.  Miraculously I had stayed the exact same weight for 3 weeks even though I was WAY off track.  I knew that luck would run out so I gave myself a pep talk and adjusted my attitude.  Then, after I finished my yummy chinese lunch I opened up my fortune cookie and found the following fortune: "Use your abilities at this time to stay focused on your goal.  You will succeed."
I needed to be reminded that I have all the tools I need to get where I need to go.  All of my goals are achievable if I stay focused and keep my head in the game.  Watch out goal weight, here I come!

More testing

I have to share the new cardigan I test knit for Jennifer Dassau aka needlediva on Ravelry.  She always designs patterns that end up teaching me new techniques and push me to tackle some of my knitting fears.  This new sweater, Stolitsa, isn't release yet, but when it is you should get yourself some Malabrigo Twist and knit one up.  I can't wait to cast one the beautiful shawl I am testing for her next.

80 down, 10 to go!

The moment I have been putting off finally happened last Saturday:  I set my official WW goal weight and it is only 10 pounds away.  I feel like I am about to graduate from school, making sure I have completed all the necessary classes and getting nervous about the big day.  I have set my goal a little bit higher than I actually want to end up at to give myself more flexibility, especially when I start some serious marathon training.  I keep hearing that the hard part is keeping it off.  I am ready for the challenge!  I know that I'll be going to meetings, tracking, and setting fitness goals to help me maintain my healthy lifestyle.  In fact, as I lose the last 10 I have a race every weekend in May.  To find races in the Kansas City area to walk or run go to www.mararunning.org. I would love to see some familiar faces at these races:

•  Run for Mercy  4/30 
•  Mother's Day 5k which is really fun on 5/8
•  Run With the Cows on 5/14
•  Weight Watcher's Walk-it 5k on 5/22 
•  Amy Thompson Run/Walk on 5/30

Monkey See, Monkey Do

This weekend I had a truly wonderful weight loss moment.  It had nothing to do with a number on the scale or the size of my pants: it had everything to do with how my choices have impacted my children.  After I ran the Trolley Run on Sunday, my boys did their first kids run.  It sounds like just a fun thing to do: get a cute shirt and watch little boys do what little boys do.  But, for me it meant so much more.  Because I run, my kids will have opportunities to be active and healthy.  As simple as that sounds, it hit me very profoundly as I watched my youngest zoom past the other kids in his age group.  My boys are not only watching me be more active: they have a parent who will be active with them.  Priceless!

Testing . . .Testing. . .

I think it would be safe to say that I am addicted to knitting.  I love collecting yarn, drooling over beautiful patterns, and spending time on Ravelry for hours and hours, talking to other addicts.  Thanks to ravelry I have found other "junkies" who love Malabrigo Yarns.  We swap yarn and goodies, admire each other's finished projects, and several of the ladies are amazing designers.  I have been so lucky and have test knit several patterns.  I get the opportunity to knit things up before the patterns are released and the designers find out if the patterns need to be tweaked or corrected.  This week I finished a yummy infinity scarf that I tested for Breean Elyse.  I always love her patterns (this is the 4th I have tested, I think).

I love a challenge!

My first 5k

It's my favorite time of year at Weight Watchers: the Walk-it Challenge.  Time to get off the couch and train to walk a 5k.  Last Mother's Day I walked my first 5k, proving to myself that I could do it and instantly got hooked.  I am by nature a pretty competitive person, so  I wanted to do more 5k walks and I wanted to do them faster.  I watched the runners finish the whole 3.1 miles in the time it took me to reach the 1 mile marker.  THAT was my new goal: I wanted to be a runner.  Anyone who has ever known me before that point probably wouldn't have ever imagined me doing anything active. I wasn't even sure that I wasn't crazy.
This year, over a dozen 5k's and a half marathon later, my challenge to myself is finish a 5k in 30 minutes, start training for the Disney Marathon next January, and to encourage as many people as I can to get out there and challenge themselves.  Walk it, run it, prove to yourself that the only limitations to what you can do, are the limitations that you put on yourself.