Posts Tagged with: "Run"

“God gave me a gift. I got the chance to use it.… I didn’t think I deserved what people were saying. My talent is just more visible than theirs.”

– Grete Waitz

– Grete Andersen (before she married and changed her name to Waitz) at Bislette 1976 after she set a new world record in the 3000 meter event – (Photo: ScanPix)

I found this inspiring article (yes, you men will enjoy it too) about Waitz’s first marathon on marathonguide.com.

Who is Grete Waitz? She is one of the most acclaimed long-distance female runners of the century. She set world records in the 3,000 meter event (1975, 1976) and became the world women’s marathon champion in 1983. Waitz won the women’s silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 Olympic Games. In 1978-1988, she won the New York marathon nine times (I repeat, NINE!) and was the first woman to finish that race in under 2.5 hours. Beat that.

– Grete Waitz gives Lance Armstrong some last minute tips before the ING New York City Marathon 2006. Waitz, who is battling cancer, thanked Armstrong for his support since her diagnosis in 2005. – (Photo: ING New York City Marathon)

Sources: “Grete Waitz.” Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006, “Grete Waitz.” Quotations. Quotations Book, 2005. Answers.com 15 May. 2007.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mommies out there!  Motherhood is the most fulfilling experience in the world, but at times it can also be the most arduous, pull-your-hair-out-in-frustration, maddening act yet.  One hug from our little ones though and all the difficulties simply melt away. If only baby fat could evaporate as quickly…

After giving birth to my second child in 2004 and breastfeeding her for 15 months, I set on the task of losing weight. My goal was to get back to my pre-wedding weight—wishful thinking I thought but it was worth a try. So there I was walking at least 3x a week on my treadmill, eating the least amount of food I could (when I had enough self-control to stay away from my waterloo: Munchies and Stick-Os), and doing 2 sets of crunches and leg lifts 3x a week. By my daughter’s first birthday, I managed to lose a fair amount of weight, but I was stuck with the oh so popular last five pounds. Well, mine was actually 8. I owned this weight for more than a year—then I picked up running.

By the first 6 months running, I lost 2 of those dreadully stubborn pounds, but it was such a major effort on my part. One weekend of partying and bingeing would pull my weight back up instantly. I constantly had to watch what I was putting in my mouth or else all my exercise would go to waste.

Everything changed when I started training more seriously with Coach B. It’s just been 2 weeks and I’ve already lost 4 more pounds. In fact, the weightloss is too quick for me that I now have to increase my food intake—woohoo! Coach B says that, to prepare for our 10k run this coming Sunday, we have to carbo load. So in my mind I already have a list of the pizza and pasta places we just have to visit this week (On top of the list is Bravo for Chef Tiziano pizza and salmon penne.) After years of dieting and starving, “forced” eating to maintain my weight is certainly a welcome change!

– Me, Coach B, & Annie after our Super Heavy Run yesterday. I think I lost 2 lbs. after that! –