This is my LAST post on this challenge!

I made it!!!!!!!!! I did 50 milez N 47 dayz- Yay! It is such a good feeling of accomplishment to have completed my goal. It was not so hard- the hardest part is the first mile- after that - piece of cake.
I gotta say I am jazzed to have finished before the deadline and the pressure is off- at least for the moment. Oh yeah - I have many, many, many more miles to walk- in the coming days , weeks and years. I am seeing the results and I am NOT about to slow down- I have a long, long way to go for the body I want to see and feel. Besides, we have the babies now and they need to be walked a lot. With the weather getting nicer I plan to be out with them so much more making treks around the neighborhood and beyond. I will probably take a week or so break from the actual challenge- but no doubt still be on the treadmill or outside walking in the meantime. I will be posting a new challenge shortly- gotta just bask in pride for awhile in the sunshine of knowing I DID IT! C'ya, Jules

6 More Days

47.5 miles walked as of this morning. I think I can complete the last 2.5 miles tomorrow- I will be soooo proud of myself when this is done. AND I have Dairy Queen ice cream cake to look forward to over the weekend!!!!!C'ya, Jules

7 more days-

I am at 45.5 miles walked in this challenge. I am going to try to finish out my 50 miles this week- Wish me luck. C'ya, Jules

8 More Days and counting

43.5 miles walked in this challenge. I will keep walking! C'ya , Jules

12 More days!

41.5 miles walked so far in this challenge. I will be taking the rest of the week off unless we get out and walk over the weekend which I highly doubt since it is supposed to rain! I met my goal with 8 miles this week. Not bad. C'ya, Jules

13 More days

39.5 miles down with 13 days left to go and then I get that Dairy Queen treat! Mmmm- can't wait! C'ya, Jules

14 days to go!

A nice 2 mile walk today- which puts me at 37.5 miles walked so far. I think I can really do this! 12 .5 more miles to go! C'ya, Jules

The Countdown and it's never too late to start

I am at 35.5 miles with 15 days to go. I am going to try and do 8 miles this week since over the weekend didn't get any miles in. I am not going to beat myself up over it though- Had a great weekend. I will just have to work a little harder this week to catch up. The countdown is on. I can't believe that April is almost here and the challenge is almost up! C'ya, Jules

33.5 miles walked since the start- YAY!

17 more days left in the 50 miles in 50 days and I have 16.5 miles to go! I would say I am right on track- I had a really good week this week. I think mainly because I lowered my incline back down to 2. My hip doesn't hurt with it lowered and I can really feel it working my hip muscles and booty hind. It takes me a little longer to break a sweat but I can go at a faster pace so I don't believe I am back sliding. I am happy with what I am doing. My goal is to get in a couple of miles this weekend working with the pups- they are doing GREAT and they LOVE their new yard and so do we! C'ya, Jules

I'm a big sinner!

I was so excited in the beginning of this, now reading all these posts really makes me angry at myself. I wanted to join and I did, but I have been a slackard. I have some excuses, but they are just excuses. My life is just crazy now with the house and all. I can't find anywhere to put my treadmill, (that will change after we get the new house.) I know this is late, but where can I start now? I love reading all the blogs, and it gets me thinking about getting a dog that could take me for a walk. Then I have Riley, who is just itching to take a walk. It is good to read and I will try to check back in daily. Julie, I would love to get that pedometer from you. ~C~

Back at it

2 miles today- it hurt. My left hip was hurting while walking. Maybe I slept wrong on it last night. Hope so. It hasn't hurt since the walk so I will be up and walking again tomorrow-

Dog walk

We had a nice long walk with the kids last night. They did very well walking on their leashes once we got going. I am going to add a mile to overall completion. C'ya , Jules

Fizzled out!

I took yesterday off thinking "oh I will get my mile in tomorrow" lo and behold I had a 9:20 appointment today so I talked myself right out of walking the mile this morning. I am going to insist we work with the pups on their leashes this evening so I will chalk that up to the mile I missed today. What better way to motivate me into moving? - by training these furbabies how to walk properly with their Dad and Mom! Have a great Easter weekend! C'ya , Jules

Noticing results!

I was so excited this morning because my legs were sore from my walk yesterday! This is the first time since I've started walking that I've noticed it's making a difference, and it feels really nice! I have an amazing feeling of accomplishment. I can't wait to go walking again this evening!

A Walk and a Wade

Oscar and I went for a walk on the golf course again today, and Ozzie got pretty excited about how high the lake was. He decided to put his feet in so he could be like the geese.

8.5 miles down
27.5 miles to go

How cute!

2 miles on the treadmill this morning. As I was walking there comes a little brown bunny hopping through the yard. He stopped and munched on some grass in the yard next door and then hopped on his way. He was soooo cute!

I didn't know 2 miles could feel soooo good

After 2 miles this morning I felt energized and strong! I got on the treadmill feeling sluggish and tired after a not so good night of sleep. My intention was to only go 1 mile but it felt soooo good I kept on going. I love days like that! C'ya , Jules

2 mo' miles

I had a nice smooth walk this morning. 2 miles. I cut back even more on my incline because I can feel my calves getting the work out on the 6 degree incline. I want to feel the "burn" on my butt and having it not so high makes me feel it in my hips and butt more. I am going to try to stay at about 4 degrees this week and see if that is better for my target areas. I don't want to have all the benefit going to my calves. C'ya, Jules

Another golf course walk

2 more miles today with both Josh and Ozzy.

6.5 miles down
29.5 miles to go

Trespassing

Oscar and I went for a long walk this evening. I don't know how far we walked, exactly, but I'd guess we walked at least three miles. We did our usual route around the neighborhood, which is one mile. Then, we snuck over to the golf course and walked the golf cart route on the south side of the course. We walked all the way over to the softball fields and walked around there. We even ran around and chased some ducks while we were out and about. Technically, what we did was illegal, but it was a victimless crime. Maybe tomorrow we'll explore the north half.

4.5 miles down
31.5 miles to go

Weight Gain

Mom, I'm so glad that you opened up about your weight gain. My last doctor's appointment was a huge wake-up call for me. I weighed in at 140 lbs., the most I have ever weighed. Two winters ago, I hit my goal of being a size 6 and weighed in at about 125 pounds. I did it the healthy way--watching what I ate, eating smaller portions, and getting exercise by "playing" instead of boring my ass to death at the gym. I hadn't felt that good in a long time.

Since then, I've slowly but surely gained 15 pounds. A great part of my problem is stress. Not only do I have so little time to cook, but I have found eating to be one of the few joys I let myself have. It's so much easier to get through a 13-hour day of work and school if I know I can stop for yummy fast food and a fountain Coke on my way home as a treat. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad...

I am going to really try to be better and reduce stress in an attempt not to find comfort in food like I have been. I think it will help, not only with my weight, but with my overall mental and physical health. I'd love any tips or advice.

Yay- I made my goal for the week

The title just about says it all! I got in another 2 miles today and am looking forward to resting up this weekend. While walking this morning I was thinking about how I got started walking. I started this weight gain when I quit my job. I felt so free and happy that I took complete advantage of eating anything I wanted whenever I wanted it. I really felt better than I ever had in years even though the weight was coming on. I condoned my behavior due to the fact that I felt so good. I realize now that the reason I felt so good was the lack of stress more than anything else. I wish now I had started a workout program like I am doing now instead of eating like a horse. That is one of things that keeps me going with the workouts- it took me a long time to get in this shape so I figure now it is going to take me at least the same amount of time to get back down. I don't consider myself obese but I know I can be slim and trim like I used to be. I am not going to be one of those middle aged women who uses AGE as an excuse to be sloppy and fat- although I really could. I want to like what I see in mirror one day and know that I worked really hard to get it. I want to be able to go and buy clothes and know that I am accentuating what I have and not trying to play the "hide the bulges game". Clothes are fun and I want to be able to wear what I like and not what conceals the best. Feeling good and being strong is what will sustain me. As far as what people think - I could not care less- it is most important to me what I think and feel about me. Have a great weekend C'ya , Jules

Sore!

2 miles this morning. 36.05 minutes. I bumped back my incline to 6 due to being so sore yesterday after pushing myself so hard. I don't want to ruin a good thing by hurting myself so I figure in the long run it is best. My body was screaming at me yesterday so I listened. I need to calculate how many miles I have to go like Jay did so I don't get crazy and end up over walking -ha - like that would ever happen!
Looking forward to a great day and getting some sunshine before the rains start. C'ya , Jules

Me and Oscar off to a good start...

Oz and I walked a mile and a half yesterday. I also did some walking today chasing Oscar around the dog park, but I'm not going to count that. :)

1.5 miles down
34.5 miles to go

Hump Day

Had a great workout this morning - 2.25 miles in 40.05 minutes. It was a nice sweat filled workout so I really feel good about it and now looking forward to this beautiful weather we are supposed to have today. The pups are on their best behavior which is a plus. I think they are looking forward to a nice day romping in the yard. C'ya, Jules

Back to a Slllllloooooow Start after the Weekend

Didn't get back to it yesterday as I should have. I was tired- yadayadayada!
Got back to it today with 4 interruptions. The pups would not cooperate- they were fighting in the crate and I had to keep stopping and as a result I cut it short to 1.25 miles. I will just have to make up the lost .75 miles sometime during the week. It felt good to get going again after a somewhat "lazy" weekend. Looking forward to tomorrow morning and starting to get back in the swing of things. C'ya. Jules

Welcome Newcomer!

Late Comer

Thank you for letting me participate, even though I'm late to the game. Now that I have an exercise-needy pooch and the weather is getting nicer, I feel like I can finally participate in this project. I'm starting today, which is two weeks later than I'm supposed to, so my goal is to walk 36 miles in 36 days instead of 50 in 50.

Looking forward to the weekend -

Another 2 miles today. The pay off for all of this work? I will feel great and have confidence to actually get in my pool this Summer. It will be a BIG pay off. I am really motivated and have gone a total of 14 miles since the challenge started. The feeling of achievement is a great one. I am on track and look forward to completing it. I will be taking a nice luxurious , restful weekend with Dan and the pups. I feel I have earned it with a hard week behind me. Not just the walking but the pups have kept me hopping all week. It will be nice to have Dan around to take some of the load of them off of me. I love them but they are rambunctious and sometimes it feels like they are challenging me. They will not win- in less than a year we will have 2 adorable , well behaved and trained dogs. Another pay off! C'ya- Jules

Go Me , Go Me, Go Me

Uh huh! Uh huh! Uh huh! 4 more miles in the past 2 days. I am going to treat myself to the day off tomorrow to let my body rest but i'll be back on the treadmill on Friday. That will help me get through the weekend- unless the notion hits me to get out and walk this weekend. May take the "kids" (Greta Girl and Gussie Boy) out for a walk if weather permits. I am right on track where I want to be and it is a good feeling! C'ya, Jules

2 Miles More

I am well on my way now- I am going to pick up the extra mile from last week sometime this week. Which means I am walking 8 miles this week. Increased my incline today to 6.5 and went 2 glorious miles this morning. I am going to keep up the pace and make this challenge.
Good luck to everyone to else. C'ya - Jules

Getting off to a great start so far

I am so proud of myself- I have walked a total of 6 miles this week. Yeah! I walked 2 more miles yesterday and 2 today. It is getting a little easier adding on the extra 1/2 mile for the walkathon. I plan to make at least a mile while in Nashville this weekend.
I thought of another tip I can give everyone and that is if you decide to do any uphill walking (which is what I do) make sure to step "heel to toe" .I learned this lesson the hard way , just like the warming up and cooling down. We were in Bloomington at IU for Jamie's Orientation and did a ton of walking. Lots of uphill and downhill and as a result I developed shin splints. My shins were sore for days and it was not fun. Dan is the one who helped me out with this - he said it happened a lot to soldiers while they run. So the way to avoid this is when you step down (and this is walking or running uphill or downhill) make sure when your foot hits the ground ,or whatever you are on, that your heel hits first then your toes. I haven't had the shin splints since then because once you have them you NEVER want them again , so you remember , believe me. Hope everyone is coming along nicely and maybe gives a little report as to their progress- C'ya , Jules

First Day- Whew!

I got going this morning on the treadmill about 7:20 a.m. It occurred to me while walking that I will walk 2 miles 3 times per week and make up the other mile during the work week or on the weekend. A mile is nothing- so I can make that up anytime during the week. I have to admit it was quite the workout today and once I got to the 25 minute mark, which is where I normally start cooling and winding down, I was ready to cool down and wind down but I made myself keep going right on with the 2 miles. I completed it in 37.1 minutes. I am kind of a slow walker but I do walk on a 6 degree incline, which I have worked up to since September. I work up a really good sweat so I know I am doing something. Best of luck to everyone and get out there and move- C'ya Jules

Don't forget!

One thing I wanted to mention since everyone is just starting out fresh. Don't forget to warm up and cool down with your workouts. I found out the hard way a few years ago. I tore my calf muscle and it hurts. I warm up and cool down for at least 5 minutes at the beginning and end. Of course it counts as part of your workout.
The fantastic part of working out regularly is that on the days that I don't workout I feel sluggish and tired. I love that cause it gets me off my butt and on that treadmill cause I know I will feel energized and ready for the rest of the day with loads of energy. That will help taking care of the babies and you will notice a difference in your energy level. After I workout I have this rush that I gotta do stuff. I get more done the hour after my workout than I get done the rest of the day. Feeling tired and a little sluggish at first is normal - you may even feel like you want to take a nap. Take one if you feel that way, if possible. Listen to your body- it will tell you what it needs. I am no expert but am speaking from my own experience. You may even have to force the first week or so- but keep at it and I promise you , you will notice a difference in how you feel. You just gotta get your internal motor revved and you will see and feel the results.

Does running after a 3 year old help?

I am so ready to do this. I am going to get one of those pedometers and find out what I do in a normal day, and go above and beyond that hopefully. When the weather gets nicer I plan on going on family walks with Joe and the kids. I am excited, I think this will be encouraging. Thanks for starting this.

Gracie and I are Getting Geared Up!

My girl and I will be walking in the neighborhood, the mall etc! It's past time for me to get started!

Ready to Get Started?

I am ready to go! I am thinking a good start date should be at the beginning of the week so how about Monday February 25th? I will be doing the majority of my walking on the treadmill but will try to incorporate some outdoor walking for diversity. I won't be walking every single day but know that I need to make up any days that I miss by walking that much farther the next time. I am going to calculate what I need to do on each workout to make the deadline of April 14th to make sure I get in the entire 50 miles.
Get those walking shoes ready !