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Last night I attended the introduction seminar for a running group to train for a half marathon to be held on July 4th. It was pretty exciting, I have to say. There were over 150 people there. We got a cool tech shirt and socks and a brief intoduction to the program. We will get together twice a week, Wednesdays at a track to work on speed and strength and on Saturday mornings for a long run. These runs will be all over town and in Vancouver as well, each week somewhere new with varying distances going up to a max of 12 miles. I bought a Garmin 405 GPS watch today which has a heart rate monitor. Last weekend, I bonked after 4 miles going at a 8:15/mile pace, so this morning, I slowed it down to a 9:00/mile and ran just shy of 5 miles and felt fine. One of my struggles is pace, so, instead of trying to pace based on time, I am going to pace based on heart rate. We'll give this a try so I can try to get a basic feel for a pace. Nutrition is also going to be one of my struggles. I am finding it difficult to eat enough. 1,200 calories isn't going to cut it running 4/5 miles per day. Just think when I am running 8/10/12 miles. I tried an energy gel this morning before my run, so that could be why I was able to do this morning bonk-less. It is going to be an experiment, for sure. I have some whole wheat spaghetti with chicken for lunch, so we'll see how I feel and recover. Also, I am running in the Valentine's Run on the 12th. I signed up for the 8K, which is 5 miles, so I should be OK with that since I am running that distance in training, now. I will continue to post on my training over the next 20 weeks or so leading up to the half marathon, so click on the Follow just above to the left if you want to stay tuned. I will post everything I learn about this training as it relates to me and my sleeve.

Got home last night - felt great after getting off the plane. The walk through the airport was another story - the airport is under construction so the signs don't actually send you in the right direction - must have literally walked a mile to get out of there to get to the shuttle to get to the car. I was pretty tired by then and getting irritable. Once we got outside though , the cool air reinvigorated me and I felt pretty good. I drove us home from the airport and my doggies were very happy to see us. Hubby did a good job keeping them from jumping up on me. Usually they sit in the recliner with me on my lap, which can't happen right now, so they're bummed and frankly, so am I about that Ah well, soon enough I showered today and cleaned my inscisions and recovered the one that my bra touches and also the one with the drain - I'll steri strip that one in a day or two - but it still has a little bit of drainage from it. Everything seems to look good - only one inscision is tender and that's the biggest one. I'm minding that. I take my temp regularly to ensure i don't have a fever and I'm good to go. Things are going very well

I am back at work. I was looking forward to it and now that I'm here...happy to be here, but...it seems like I never left. Some people didn't even know I was out, but those that did are happy I am well and back (which always feels good). Keep in mind...I have not told anyone at work that I had vsg surgery, just that I had 'female surgery' (I'm a female and had surgery!). About an hour ago a friend/colleague presented me with one of her to-die-for homemade carrot cakes to celebrate my return to work (my once-upon-a-time favorite favorite sweet ever!). I thanked her profusely and we put it in our interaction area with plates and forks and a sign for whoever wants some, come get it - in a matter of seconds it was gone. My friend had cut me a piece. I said thank you and that I would enjoy it a bit later with a cup of tea. Well, once my friend was back in her office and working away, I took my yummy looking piece of carrot cake to my receptionist and it is now gone. Whew! In the past I would have gobbled it and gotten a second piece. I went through most of my clothes last evening and purged all the clothes that currently do not fit, those in larger sizes. I will never go back to that size again and I hate all those clothes anyway. I did keep one nice shirt and pair of jeans - so I can post one of those 'look-at-me-now' photos when I reach my goal weight. I can not wait for that day, but just knowing it will really happen brings me much joy. Looking forward to tomorrow, and the next day, and the next and so on.....

I am now down 34 pounds!! so it has been 3 months and two weeks, but it is steady! Slow is ok as long it is steady. Just think if I continue at this pace in another three months and two weeks, I should be down 68 That would be incredible!! I am so hopeful!!