My first 5K

My time was more than a little disappointing: 32:37.

It's a good thing I went back and checked the results or I wouldn't have had any idea as to the chip time, as it doesn't look like the results are going to get posted on the Net. I now know for sure that what I thought was an accurately measured distance around my neighborhood is off, as my pace was faster than my casual runs, but that certainly didn't show up on the clock. So I've been timing a shorter distance than I thought I was. Darn it.

The winning man finished in 14-something, and the winning woman finished in 17-something, so it was a fast course. I had been hoping to come in under 30:00 -- but c'est la vie.

My main goals, however, were these:

1) Run the whole way

and

2) Don't throw up.

So, in that sense, it was a success. I never really ran fast enough that I had to worry too much about throwing up, but I was more nervous than I expected (I woke up an hour earlier than I had to), so it was a possibility.

One miscalculation: I don't usually drink coffee, but I did this morning, which meant I had to use the restroom more than I expected as well, although some of that was undoubtedly nerves, too.

Before the race, I looked for my "competition," so to speak. That is, my peers. You know: Long-legged, top-heavy 40-somethings with Mom bellies. There were a bunch of us, surprisingly. Although there were people of all types there, most were significantly trimmer than the average festival crowd. They weren't as trim as they would've been had I done the Manhattan Beach race, though (another reason I picked Anaheim!). They were completely out of the smaller-size shirts by the time I looked for them. I wasn't going to get one, but I figured for my first race I probably should.

The environment was friendly and fun. If I do another, I will bring the kids, particularly if there's more for them there. (Cute story: I told my 5-year-old I was going to be in a race. His eyes got all big and he asked "Race cars?") I think they would've enjoyed it, although not the getting-up-early part. Since I didn't really know what to expect, I didn't want to be worrying about the kids and their comfort for this one.

There was a grocery store right by the race, so I grabbed a banana and some plain Greek yogurt afterwards. If I had been waiting for the pancakes, I would've been disappointed, as I couldn't figure out where they were. I considered bringing some home for the kids and Paul, but I'm continuing to move into a direction where I don't want to facilitate their eating things that I won't.

Random observations:

The whole race was a bit of an environmental disaster, with people throwing their bottles and cups all over the road. Plus, the race bags were just garbage.

I was amazed at the chip technology.

I wouldn't say I loved the race, but I didn't hate it either. It was definitely interesting.

On the plan, sort of

I asked Paul how serious he was about going on my plan.

"Uh," he said, "I'm not giving up bread. Or pasta."

"In other words, I'm like the guy who says he's giving up drinking. But not beer. Or wine. Or whiskey.

"But I'm definitely giving up those girly fruity drinks with the umbrellas."

So, he's avoiding sugar, and that's good.

I have got him eating my breakfasts and snacks, which is getting him more fruit and protein, and I think that will be good for him. He was already eating my dinners, oftentimes with additions and without the quantity of vegetables. So it's a start.

My 5K

I went and signed up to do a 5K in Anaheim on Saturday. This is despite my race-phobia.

I chose Anaheim for a number of reasons:

1) No late fee. (Even with the cost of gas, it'll be cheaper than the one closest to me.)
2) It's not very close to me, but the closest one to me is on sand.
3) It's highly unlikely, though not impossible, that I will see people I know there. I want privacy for this.
4) It's a fairly small race.

I didn't choose it for the pancake breakfast. I'll need to remember to bring something I can eat for right afterwards.

A good day

The Red Sox won. (Now 8-0 against the Yankees.)

The White Sox won. (So my men are happy; the Chisox losing streak has been hard on them and -- by extension -- me.)

Paul and I have been getting into old Jackson Browne. I like to find music we both like. Jazz usually does it, but the whole '70s California sound works, too.

We went for a long walk.

He told me that, even though he knows I can get irritated in a feminist sense with some of the side effects of the weight loss, "You don't want to get heavy again."

He's right.

Losing IQ points (and today's run)

OK, one thing I discovered when I started losing weight is that I was gaining IQ points. Of course, I wasn't in reality -- it was all in perception. Fat women are presumed to be stupid.

Surprisingly, it's as though I'm losing IQ points again. At least I'm getting patronized a lot more.

There's this look I get now from certain men I encounter on my errands, like it doesn't matter what I'm saying. No one's listening anyway. They'll nod and sort of smirk with their eyes.

It was a different look when I was fat -- it was like, "Of course you're an idiot -- if not you would take care of this fat problem." And people didn't make eye contact as much.

For a time, I was "normal-size"/chubby for a woman my age and presumed to be of normal intelligence and treated respectfully. (Of course, I'm talking about the general vibe; there are exceptions that prove the rule.)

I'm still a little chubby, but much less so.

Now, I get called "Sunshine" (because of the highlighted hair) or other pet names by men I deal with casually who are my age or just slightly older.

It's odd.

Run: I got a good hour in today.

200 sit-up challenge

Check this out!

There's also the 100 push-ups program.

Because I have no core strength to speak of (yes, I'm exaggerating), I'm going to be doing the sit-up challenge first, I think.

A year or so ago, my general feeling would've been: "Yeah, right! That kind of thing is for other people." Seeing how gradually increasing the running has actually worked has given me more confidence.

New muscle program

I don't talk much about my lifting because I, uh, don't really do it much.

Oh, sure, I pull out my bands once in a while. Or grab the Swiss ball from my 5-year-old, who thinks it is his. Or mess with the barbells in the weight room. I haven't done it at all consistently, however.

I'm realizing that documenting all my boring little runs makes me feel accountable in some bizarre way, and so -- lucky readers! -- I'm going to start doing the same thing with my weight lifting.

I've been researching different plans in a variety of books. I've read books by Chris Carmichael and Tony Little and Jorge Cruise. I went out and actually bought Cruise's, so I'm going to do that one. Carmichael and Little were too advanced and too male-based; Cruise might be a little wussy at the beginning, but I could probably use a gradual build-up. Plus, the program is more unisex.

So, today, I did the first day of the Body at Home book. I like plans that don't change too much, so this might be a mistake, but we'll see how it goes.

No more ads!

Don't know how this happened, but Google decided a condom ad would be appropriate for my blog.

Next thing you know I'm going to be getting ads for natural male enhancement.

No thanks. I'm stopping the insanity now.

You're welcome.

Google owes me 47 cents.

Counterintuitively great place for me to eat

The Cheesecake Factory -- I'm talking from a purely stay-on-plan perspective, not a political one. Nothing is organic or local. Most menu choices are disasters. It gets a bunch of mentions in The End of Overeating for the chain's strong focus on the sugar-fat pleasure centers of the brain and taste buds.

It's easy to turn a meal there into a nutritional disaster.

But, it's also surprisingly easy to eat on plan there. Grilled salmon, bun-free hamburgers, mashed potatoes and nicely steamed veggies are all good options for me. If I'm being really "good," I order double veggies and bring my own carbs.

Smoothie tricks

I have a lot of smoothies.

Over the last couple of years, I've learned some tricks about how to make them palatable without added sugar. It's sometimes surprising which fruits are the most sour.

Cherries alone are delicious (I'm aware this may be my palate talking). Blueberries are good, too, although some bananas help a bit.

Raspberries and strawberries, however, really need some other fruit or they'll make your mouth pucker. Bananas, mangoes or pineapple do the job.

Slow, measured pace

After kicking up the speed a bit last night, I wanted to see where I was time-wise with just my sort of lazy, conversational run.

I timed three miles again today, but I was going at my "super-easy" pace. Surprisingly, it was 31 minutes.

After I found that out, I made sure I was out there 62 minutes, so I'm estimating I had approximately six miles this morning.

I've been worried that just measuring the time not the distance most of the time had gotten me lazy, that maybe I was really deluded and running a 14-minute mile or something. It's nice to be wrong.

I'm also thinking about -- finally! -- running a 5K this weekend. I'm still trying to decide which one. I had thought about not doing any races until I was ready for a marathon. But there's little point in even thinking about that goal if I really, really, really hate the whole race thing. Which is a possibility.

Maybe I'll love it -- but there are a lot of things I'm supposed to love that I just don't.

Husband going on plan

Paul's talking about going on my diet. I've done nothing to encourage this.

He doesn't need to lose any weight. What's going on is he's envying my energy level.

Individuals are just wired differently. There's also a component of age -- although I've known him since he was younger than me now and he's never been particularly high energy. I sleep a lot more and better than he does, but I accomplish a fair amount.

I don't know if he'll give up wheat, but he's seriously considering eliminating sugar. I think that'd be a good thing.

Driver's license dilemma

My driver's license lies about my weight.

Of course, it does so in a goofy way. It says I weigh nearly 40 pounds more than I do.

I do have a silly and probably pointless focus on honesty, so, even though I was on the plan, I put my accurate (or nearly accurate) weight down when I renewed my license a year and a half ago.

I hear the way other women talk. "Have you whitened your teeth?" "No." "Do you color your hair?" "No." When I know they do. It's fine for them to maintain the mystery; I'm just not smart enough to keep track of all the little white lies when it comes to myself, so I don't do it.

My driver's license ultimately doesn't matter a whole lot, but I am planning on getting it fixed once I finally decide I'm ready to maintain.

40 minutes

I did 40 minutes tonight.

I'm trying to speed up. I measured my time for three miles, and it was a little less than 28 minutes, which is pretty good for me.

Wardrobe malfunctions have been a bit of a problem lately. One side effect of the changing sizes is that those are going to happen. (I'm talking minor slipping and issues of discomfort.) My modest-length skort now slips down while I'm running and will have to be retired to knocking-around-or-playing-with-the-kids status. I'm working at limiting my layers on top as well; providing it's the right three layers I can get down to three layers now and still run relatively comfortably, which will be useful as it gets warmer.