For the week or so after the half marathon I was taking it a little bit easy and letting my body rest and recover from the race. Guess what… rest time is done! This week was time to get moving again! So that is just what I did.

Racking up the miles

I got back to running this week after only running once since the marathon and that run kind of sucked. This week I ran on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (very short warmup run before a training session at the gym), Friday and Sunday. None of the runs were extreme distances by any means and the longest was 5k on Friday. Some of the runs were way faster than I normally run too but most were just average.

For those who have read some of my previous posts about running you know that I try not to run on consecutive days. I embraced this rule as I started developing some muscle pain associated with overuse. But this week I decided to break my rule.

I decided to break my rule because my run on Tuesday was bad. I just wasn’t feeling it and had to really push myself. Wednesday morning rolled around and I was up early enough that I had plenty of time on my hands before work. So I decided to try to run again… a redemption run of sorts.

Wednesday’s run ended up being one of my best and favorite runs ever! I was loose and relaxed which is always the key to a good run for me. The music was great and perfect for my run. The weather was slightly warmer and I didn’t even need a sweatshirt. The run felt great and I just didn’t want it to end. The other runs weren’t as good but they definitely were better than Tuesday’s run was.

Is my “no consecutive day running” rule dead? Not for a minute. I created this rule to protect my body from injury. So I will still generally stick to this rule. When I deviate from it I will make sure that I am well rested and I will listen to my body. If my body tells me that I am pushing too hard I won’t.

Getting things moving in a second way

Running isn’t the only way I got moving again this week. I had a nice surprise on Thursday morning (my birthday) and I reached a new low weight. I have officially lost 131 pounds!

Losing weight is obviously not a new thing for me but it was big this week. For the past month or so my weight has been fluctuating like crazy and I couldn’t seem to make it get back into losing mode at all. I would hit a low weight that was only close to my previous low and then have a big fluctuation the next day and be up 5 pounds. It was maddening!

Now that marathon training is in the past I have been focusing on trying hard to control sodium and my body listened.

I haven’t weighed myself since Thursday because we have been at the lake without a scale. But I am hoping that I can stay on the losing side this week and maybe get closer to my final “maintain” weight. I am just trying to lose 5 more pounds and then I am going to stop focusing on reducing my weight.

I have decided that I want to maintain a weight in the neighborhood of 189 pounds. Really I want to stay between 185 and 195 at all times. I chose this weight because it is considered “normal” BMI for me though my doctor said not to focus on that. It is just a good holding weight for me based on where I am now.

I really don’t know what to expect once I hit this final weight. My daily calorie target will increase by almost 1000 more calories per day and I don’t know how that will work. Plus losing weight has been such a big part of my life it will be strange not to be focused on it after almost a year and a half.

Operation Melt Housekeeping

I wanted to wrap up today’s post with a couple of Operation Melt updates.

Starting this week I have launched a new weekly blog feature called Healthy Hacks. Each Tuesday I will be sharing some of the techniques I have used that have helped me achieve success in my journey. Hopefully sharing these strategies will help you with your own success.

In addition to Healthy Hacks I will still be publishing my Reflections on Leadership each Wednesday. I will also continue to share my weekly updates on my journey and other milestone updates. Plus I may work in some other surprises now and then like recipes and other things.

I share frequent updates through social media. Instagram (@OperationMelt) is my primary social media channel and I use it to show you my journey in real time. Essentially I use Instagram to take you along with me on my fitness journey. I also share via my Facebook and Twitter accounts but those are less frequent.

Finally is my book. The final section of the book is in the editing phase now. That means I am getting very close to publishing. I am spending lots of time learning about book layouts, cover design, self-publishing electronically on Amazon and print on demand. It is an exciting time and I am learning a ton. I look forward to getting my book published and sharing it with you!

Last week’s stats (10/22-10/28):
Distance walked/run: 37.7 miles (+5.4 vs. LY)
Total calories burnt: 23,250 (-4,944 vs. LY)
Total calories consumed: 15,632 (-579 vs. LY)
Net calories this week: -7,618 (+4,365 vs. LY)
Weight change: 3.7 pounds lost (-1 vs LY)