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Sunday we woke up fairly early and went out to breakfast. Again, I forgot to take a picture! I got 2 fried eggs, an English Muffin, and 2 strips of bacon. Instead of the hash browns, I asked to substitute fruit instead.

Breakfast was really big so we skipped lunch (even though we had planned on getting lunch at Dick's!--next time!) and left Seattle behind us.

When we got home, Michael hopped on his bike trainer to do his workout and I headed to the pool. It felt really nice to stretch my legs after yesterday's hike.

After swimming I decided to walk to the grocery store to get a few things. 45 minutes later, I had burned another 200 calories! Dinner tonight was leftover bratwursts.

Sunny Sunday!

It's another beautiful day in Portland! Even though I am a bit sore from weights at the gym yesterday, Michael and I are going to head out for a short bike ride.

This morning I was served breakfast in bed! It was quite the pleasant surprise. :) Unfortunately the picture didn't turn out, but I did get one of my kitty.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs with a little cheese sprinkled on top, 2 strips of bacon and an English Muffin. Very good! It was around 400 calories for breakfast.

We biked River Road in Milwaukie. About 60 minutes burned 400 calories for me. I was able to do some good sized hills and get my heart rate up. One hill almost killed me! It was sooo steep, but I made it up without stopping or walking (and took a picture resting at the top). River Road was nice because the bike lanes were very wide and there wasn't too much traffic.

It is impossible to look cute or sexy in biking clothes. :( It will make even the skinniest person look like a sausage. Oh well. It's still fun--and much easier on the knees than running!

We're now making Nathan's hot dogs for lunch. :) I'm having a serving of the Terra Sweet Potato chips (they are actually growing on me) and a diet 7-Up.

Training for the Shamrock Run

Sunday, March 14^th is the Shamrock Run in Portland. It will be my first time participating and my first “long” run! The last race I did was Run Like Hell (5K). Shamrock is an 8k. I’m confident that I can do it and that my time will be decent.

My 5k time was pretty good – and I’d had the flu! And I didn’t know what to expect. I do now, and I think I’m prepared for the 8k. The biggest problem I am facing is the weather. I’m a fair weather runner and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Who wants to run in pouring rain? Icky. I have a running rain jacket I’ve yet to use. I will definitely be bringing that! I recently bought a visor and a running hat.

There’s about 3 weeks until the run. (GASP…I thought I had more time!) So I need to get on the stick with my training! It looks like I have about 17^th days to go!

In preparation, I was reading websites, running books and training guides. My favorite quote: “What pace should you run? Go slow. There is no advantage to going fast during your long runs, even for experienced runners.” PHEW! Big sigh of relief. My goal for the Shamrock Run is to complete it with a decent time. I’m not racing anyone. I’m training to be able to compete in Hood to Coast.

My training is going well so far. I’ve been able to complete 2 long runs with minimal soreness. And those two long runs were done in my VERY hilly neighborhood. I believe that has helped me. My goal is to be able to do a few more long runs before the Shamrock. Rain or shine!

QUESTION: How do you train for events? Email me at 110pounds@gmail.com.

Running at Lunch

Today is absolutely gorgeous in Portland! After months of dark, gray, rainy skies there's actually some sun. It's pretty cold out still, but damn, it's sunny!

Running the Waterfront loop is a great exercise for me because it's about 3 miles the whole way. When the weather is nice, it's a beautiful and scenic run. My goal is to be able to run the loop three times a week before May of this year.

One of benefits about running the waterfront is that I spend less money shopping during lunchtime. :) The danger of working downtown! Seriously, the best benefit is that I have my evenings free again. I used to work out 5 days a week, immediately following work. It was a pain to schedule fun things (like Happy Hour or movies with friends) when I had to work out first. This works out much better!

Today I did the run in about 38 minutes. That's not my best time, but the bridge went up! That's a hazard living in the city of bridges. I burned about 360 calories, came back to the office to shower, and ate my Trader Joe's Indian food for lunch.

On a side note, a blog I really enjoy posted my weight loss story. You can read it here: http://runeatrepeat.com/

Alcohol

I love me some wine. Wine is probably my favorite adult beverage. Portland is a great city for wine tasting, which is a fun spring/summer activity! In fact, last year for our anniversary we went to Hood River for wine tasting. Mmmm.

I've never been a big beer fan, but I've warmed up to it and find that I like it a lot, too. For my 30th birthday last month, my boyfriend and I went to the Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. Good beer!

That brings me to my point. Alcohol is yummy. But it converts to sugar in your body. Basically, you're just drinking empty calories that make you fat. It's a bummer, I know. For two years while I was losing my weight, I refrained from drinking alcohol as much as I could. Honestly, I didn't miss it either. If you're watching your calories, eliminating alcohol is a good first step.

Top 5 worst drinks:
1. Margarita in a pint glass (2 oz. tequila, 2 oz. margarita/sour mix, 1 oz. triple sec, lime juice, 1 tsp. sugar) - 550 calories
2. Mudslide (1.5 oz. coffee liqueur, 1.5 oz. Irish cream, 1.5 oz. vodka) - 417 calories
3. Long Island Ice Tea (1 oz. vodka, gin, rum, tequila, and triple sec, 2 oz. sour mix, splash of cola) - 380 calories
4. White Russian (1.5 oz. vodka, 1.5 oz. coffee liqueur, 1.5 oz. cream) - 320 calories
5. Piña Colada (1.5 oz. rum, 1.5 oz. coconut cream, 3 oz. pineapple juice) - 293 calories

Top 5 best drinks:
1. Rum and Diet Coke (1 oz. rum) - 65 calories
Tip: Use diet sodas as mixers, such as gin and diet tonic, diet 7Up and Seagrams 7, diet ginger ale and Jack Daniels, and so on.
2. Vodka and Soda (1 oz. vodka) - 65 calories
3. White Wine Spritzer (4 oz. white wine topped with club soda) - 80 calories

I've been under the weather for the last month or so, so I stopped drinking alcohol. Counting my calories, I realized just how much I've been saving by not drinking! I was shocked. I've been able to eat out, eat things I love, and still come in under my daily allowance for calories! Why? I haven't been drinking my calories! This is not to say I'll never drink again. But it's something everyone should be conscious of if calorie counting.

Pizza

I've previously stated that I stopped eating pizza for two years. I did this because I could not trust myself to eat it in moderation. When I reached my goal of losing 100 pounds, my boyfriend Michael took me to his favorite pizza joint in Portland: Apizza Scholls on SE Hawthorne. It was a wonderful moment! We celebrated with slices and wine and he told me how proud he was of me and my amazing accomplishment. It was probably one of the sweetest things he's ever said. Aww...Anyways. I now eat pizza again. But I have learned to eat it in moderation.

We usually get a Papa Murphy's take and bake pizza when we're craving some fat. They have a new thin crust deLite pepperoni pizza that only has about 165 calories a slice! Excellent.

Last night we went out to dinner to one of our favorite Portland restaurants: Hub on SE Powell. http://www.hopworksbeer.com/. And yes, we got pizza.

I ate 2 slices (which was really 4 slices since the pieces were so large). I don't feel guilty for eating 900 calories of pizza though because the rest of my day had been great and I ended up coming in at my goal for the day!