It's been a while

So paddling season is in full swing, which means that I don't have time for anything else, including blogging. That's why it has been so long. The season has been good, there have been some frustrating times, but all in all I feel like our team is really pulling together. We have come in second 2 times and then we came in 4th place in Kailua. We came in 3rd in Nanakuli, but that race won't count towards States points. It's been challenging, and it's been rewarding. I have sat seat 1 in 3 of our races. Because we have a different coach this year, it took us a while to get used to his coaching style. It was a lot of technique work in the beginning, which seemed really slow and boring, but in the long run it has paid off. We look pretty good anyway. I have taken to running on the beach after practice with whoever will go with me, usually Keysa, Joanna, Amber and Karen. Ananda ran a few times, but it gets really late. It's something I wish I had started doing a long time ago, running barefoot on the beach at night is freaking awesome. It's so nice and cool and somehow there is plenty of light out there to see where you're going. The best has been the few occasions when there has been a full or nearly full moon and you get a full on shadow it's so bright.
My weight goal had been to lose 5 pounds in 5 weeks, but I couldn't get my eating under control to lose the weight. It has taken me about 8 weeks to lose 3 pounds, but I guess that's not terrible. The running definitely helps me since for some reason paddling isn't enough of a cardio workout most of the time. We've been doing more sprinting recently, but it's not anywhere near the level we were doing last year.
So I want to lose those last 2 pounds by my birthday (July 16th if anyone wants to send a gift). Regatta season goes until the first weekend in August. I will try to start running more in the meantime, but when I start running again after paddling I should be able to drop a few more pounds. I would like to lose a few before the half-marathon on September 14.
I have been doing an excellent job drinking a lot of water. I have been taking my big water bottle everywhere with me and I empty it before practice and then I usually drink a ton of water during and after practice. I'm going to continue on that track.
I created a training log for myself on an excel spreadsheet that counts my paddling workouts, my runs, calculates my pace per mile and has an area for counting calories. I set it up to average everything out per month. I'm not going to worry too much about being exact on my calories, but I am going to make sure that I go back and think about the day and try to get everything on there including when I snag a couple of crackers or have a handful of chips. The other day I was very proud of myself, I avoided some emotional eating and wrote to my friends instead. The log is better for me than most I have seen that get really complicated about where you have run and what pair of shoes you were wearing and your measurements and everything. If I ever get into some more weight training or something else that I want to measure I will add it in. If anyone wants to check out my log just comment with your email address and I'll send over my template.
I also just discovered a fantastic free journal/log for both calculating how much calories you're eating and it will compare your intake with your calories burned from activities. I encourage everyone to check it out at http://my-calorie-counter.everydayhealth.com It is very easy to use if you're looking for a log.
Okay, so my new goals:
1. Add entries into the training log every day. Figure out from the log where I am taking in the most calories and where I need to change.
Next week I should have an idea where I need to cut the calories in order to drop a few pounds.
2. Run twice this week.