This next picture is of the same funnel cloud that went over our house. It went on toward Texas Motor Speedway, which is where this pic was taken from.
What a crazy night!! In other news, the running is going well but the weight loss has stalled. I've lost 18lbs and have been at this same weight now for 2 weeks!! Any advice from people who have been in this situation would be appreciated. I know I could eat better. I mean, I'm doing pretty good, but I could improve on the eating thing. Still no sodas...7 weeks so far! I'm to the point where I could probably have one and be ok, but I'm scared that if I drink one, I won't be able to stop. My running is going quite well in my opinion. I've been running 5 miles every other day, and today I started a new 6 mile route! My time has also dropped to about 10.5 minute miles. I don't care so much about that, but it's nice to see my time improving without focusing on it. I'm just trying to get up to a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Maybe by the middle to end of the summer, but I'm concerned about the increasing summer heat and how that will affect my endurance. It would be nice if I could run on a treadmill on the 100+ degree days, but I can't do it. I went to the recreation center yesterday when it was cold to run on the treadmill. I set the speed so slow I was almost going backwards. Still, after about 0.8 mile, I was in a lot of pain with shin splints, so I quit and went to the weight room instead. I don't know why I can run 6 miles outside and NEVER get even a twinge of shin splints, but 8 minutes on a treadmill and I'm dying. I checked the incline and it was flat (0.0), but I'm wandering if there's a slight upward slant to the treadmill itself. Anyway, I just hope I'm able to run in the heat. Just as you thought you escaped all the running talk, I realized I forgot to blog about the Race For the Cure! :) Thanks again to all who helped me raise $150 for the fight against breast cancer!! My very first sanctioned run was a success. I won!!! Just kidding. It was crazy at the start of the race. They had all of the non-competitive 5k walkers and 5k runners start together. So when the starting gun blew, it was pandamonium (I think that's the first time in my entire life I've actually typed that word)! After about 5 minutes of weaving and zig-zagging through the walkers, it finally started thinning out enough to run in a straight line. All of the excitement and adrenaline from such a huge event caused me to push it a little harder than my normal pace, so it was actually a bit of a challenging run. I averaged about 11 minute miles. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience though and look forward to many more events. In fact, I have signed up for the Fort Worth Zoo Run in 2 weeks. I'm going to run a 10k!! That's 6.2 miles, which is about 2 minutes longer than what I ran today. I'm hoping to run 7-7.5 miles next week sometime before the Zoo Run, but if not, I still think I'll be ok. I may not break any speed records, but it's the long-distance that I love so much about running. I'm addicted!! The feeling of accomplishment that I get every time I beat my previous distance record is so exhilarating!! I think that feeling is my drug, it's what I long for when I run. However, I'm pretty good about not pushing it too hard just to get that feeling. I only increase my distance about once a week now. When I run a route several times without increasing distance, it's also pretty exhilarating to run as fast as I can the final mile. During my last 5 mile run, after running 4 miles with some good uphill stretches, I kicked it up a few notches and finished very strong. I ran mile 5 in 9 minutes and 20 seconds...which is slow for seasoned runners, but I was pretty excited about my personal accomplishment. OK, I just realized I have been rambling about weather and running and you guys have probably had enough. Thanks for reading! Happy tax day!
