IT FITS!!!

I got into some scrub pants I haven't worn in a while because they were a little on the tight side, and suddenly, they fit!!!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit all this but I am sure I'm not the only one who has done this before.

I got on the scale. 123 pounds! I haven't checked in a few weeks, so now I'm officially down 7 pounds from my high of 130 earlier this year. I think it will take about another 5 and I should be good. I was wondering why I'm feeling so much smoother and better running a little faster pace. I wonder if my body will let go of it? I haven't been below 120 pounds since 2007!

I must have hit the magic level with my thyroid. I've been really working hard this spring to watch what I eat, and cut my portion sizes, and avoid sugar, too many carbs, and too much fat. Until I get to a certain point, I don't lose weight no matter what I do, no matter how much I watch what I eat, or how many miles I put in.

I've been able to pick up the intensity somewhat in my workouts lately and I'm sure that helps, too. Now I'm starting to wonder if carrying the extra weight makes it so hard to run fast enough that I can't get a weight loss benefit out of it? Or is it that being too hypothyroid makes me too tired and sluggish to run faster? I don't know what combination of things is working, but I'm going to keep at it. Four months of doing strides probably helps, along with doing the tempo runs recently.

I need to go get my thyroid checked before my race to see where I am, I am curious. Plus I don't want to go into hyperthyroid land, tremors, mood swings, and heat intolerance are not fun.

So this got me excited. I spent a little time looking at my body in the mirror, something which I avoid because it depresses me, plus I have to stand on the coffee table in the living room in plain view of my neighbors if I want to see my whole body in a mirror in our house. I felt like I was posing for before and after pictures, like P90X. Embarrassing.

Here's the report: I saw my deltoids with a little definition, something I haven't seen in years. My ribs are still mostly hidden under the fat on my torso, but they are slightly more visible than before. I have definitely lost a good portion of the mountain bike tire belly. All this at the same time I've been having a few days where I felt like my appetite was heading into the uncontrollable range.

Right now I am heading into a taper before my upcoming 24 hour race, but I am looking forward to testing this leaner version of my body on the track during an ultra.

Yesterday morning I did a quick, short track workout which consisted of a 1.5 mile run. I did it 10:29, with faster splits on each of the 3 continuous 800s (3:37, 3:30, 3:22). I got a true mile and a half, added the extra 14 meters. I did it as a comparison from the same thing I did early this year, which was over 11 minutes. Hey, 10:29 isn't blazing fast, but according to my calculator, it counts as sub-7 minute pace average by less than one second, and 6:59.3 is faster than 7 minutes, in my book.

If the pace has a 6 in front of it, sounds good, I'll take it!

It fits!