HYC Check-in: 3.2K and beyond

After a three-day break after my momentus 5K run on Friday, I was back on the road this morning. It was hard the whole time, like my body was made of lead. But, I managed to slog through just over 2 miles in about 38 minutes, so I wasn't too disappointed. I am sore! I wonder if biting off that extra little bit of distance was too much, too soon yet?

Well, if it is then darn it all, because I've decided to go ahead and run in my first 5K race tomorrow as I planned months ago -- the Run in the Mist 5K that goes around Goat Island at Niagara Falls in two loops. Should be fun! I wasn't sure if I was going to go ahead with it, but I emailed the contact person for the race asking if it would be a problem if it takes me an hour to finish. She said, no problem, that it was the first time they are mounting the race and that there would be plenty of walkers. That sealed the deal -- I'm in, and I plan to run the whole thing! It'll be interesting to see how I will do running in the evening as opposed to my regular morning run.

As far as my weight goes, I am still hovering at and just above my lowest, with which I am totally fine. It's funny, I think my body might be going through an adjustment period right now -- as I was taking a bath this morning, I looked down at my belly and it seemed really different somehow, like the shape of it is changing. Really interesting. My experiment in less/no food tracking has seemed to work out OK so far, though it still feels odd, like I am cheating the process somehow. This is all becoming easier and easier as time goes on. My lovely family showered me with compliments on Sunday about how much slimmer I am looking -- that's always nice. This morning a co-worker commented on my cute jeans, but that I am swimming in them (these were the ones I bought at Target a few months ago that wouldn't fit at first!). I am learning to accept that this is a slow, ongoing process. Still. But it's really starting to stick in my craw, I can tell!

My latest realization is how my weight loss happens. I see a cycle occurring within a five pound range. I'll sort of go between that range for a week or two (or three), seeing a good dip here and there but then evening out, and then finally going down to the next step, and so on. Again, really interesting to me, and I'd never have been aware of that without weighing in daily. It goes so far in educating you about how your body operates. I very much appreciate that knowledge...

ETA: Oh! And I almost forgot to mention the fabulous dinner C. and I cooked last night. We do love our stir-frys, and last night we tried a ginger chicken and green beans version. We'd made it before, but it had been a while, and we don't really use a recipe... you just never know how it's going to turn out. Well, let me just say that it was incredible! And easy! And super-healthy! The sauce was made up of chicken broth, soy sauce, corn starch, rice vinegar, sliced ginger and canned ginger juice. We marinated the chicken slices in soy sauce, corn starch, and brown sugar. I simply rinsed fresh green beans, and snapped off the stem ends, and threw 'em in the wok along with some garlic, red pepper flakes, and more ginger -- and we use peanut oil to stir-fry with. The beans come out of the wok once they are bright green and tender-crisp, and in goes the chicken to do its thing, with a little of the sauce. Finally, the beans come back into the mix, we throw the sauce in, a bit more corn starch to thicken, and voila! Almost better than Chinese take-out!

I love when we come up with killer meals that are also good for us. Plus, it's fun to cook together!