The One Where I Welcome You To "Here"

The Eagles said it or better yet give the right man credit Don Henley said it: 

you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave (insert guitar solo) 

Now then, Hotel California firmly planted in your head! LOL 

I say let's change that up and say: 

Welcome to HERE! Check out of There, it IS possible. Welcome to HERE! 

now on with the blog....... 

I see it all the time. I hear it all the time. I used to think the same thing at one time. 

I want to get back to this size, this weight, this time, this blah blah blah.... 

To which I say.... really?? 

Why would you want to go back to that? Is it a warm fuzzy time period for you? Were you in your optimum health? What about that size makes you want to go back there? 

Even my oldest son said to me proudly at our last race, he's down to his high school weight. I honestly was nearly appalled. Granted he's in good shape now and I think he's in better shape than when he was in high school. 

When I was 18 I was probably about 98 pounds.....maybe 100 pounds. I was shorter than I am now, I was unhealthy and I was rail thin. I was skinny, I barely wore a size 0, but I was not healthy and I couldn't have run a mile with a gun to my head! 

Guess what peeps..... you aren't supposed to be perpetually 18! High School is over! Whatever it is in your past that you're clinging to is.over. O V E R! Over! 

There's a great quote going around FB and Pinterest that says something like, I'm not looking back because I'm not going that way. 

I'm not going that way. Not to past successes either. 

I think some people get stuck in "I did this back then" Like the uncle on Napoleon Dynamite. Always reliving 1982 football game. Guess what it's not 1982! It's not 1992! It's not 2002! It's not April 15, 2012. 

Yesterday is gone. 

Do your best today. Live for today. Start today! 

My initial goal was to get back to my pre pregnancy weight. And I did. But let me tell you; before I was pregnant with my youngest, I wore a size 10. I am right at my pre pregnancy weight, I wear a size 4. The difference is nutrition and exercise.


Go make your today the best it can be..... let go of the rope that's keeping you in the past. Do what you need to do to cross the bridge into the present. I think you'll like it here. :) 

You can't be here if you're still living there. You honestly can 'check out any time you like" Check out of there and welcome to Here. 

Welcome to Here!!

The One Where I Stopped Being Scared

My first Long Run of Dallas Rock N Roll Training. It was at this stage of training 3 years ago that I fell and busted my knee. A little closer to March, but I had just run my 8 mile training run..... on the treadmill. Wow, I remember the days when I did all my training on the treadmill because I was too scared to run outside alone. Scared to fall Scared of animals Scared of attackers Scared of people Just plain scared. All my spark peeps had faith in me way before I did. Y'all knew all along that I had this in me! Thank you for your positive force! Time and many more miles has changed a lot of things.... Sure I'm still scared... and yes I did fall and injure myself seriously. But I keep lacing up and heading out the door to log miles and smiles with my Sole Sisters! If you aren't part of a running club I encourage you to be a part of www.momsrunthistown.com You don't have to be a mom to join, You don't even have to be a runner. There are many walkers in our group. College kids. Women with no children. We ladies from elite runners to beginners. If you don't have a chapter where you are.... start one! That's what we did!!

The One Where I Meet Eve

Sooo, last week I met with Eve. In case you're interested and in the DFW Area 
nutriworksCNC.com 

She weighed me. She measured me. She made me a meal plan. She changed some of my supplements. She had me categorize foods. Yea, literally. 

What I called a protein is actually a fat. Like peanut butter. It's not a protein. If it has more fat grams than protein, it's a fat. sooo no wonder I'm fluffy.... I eat too much fat. 

I was eating too many fruits/carbs at breakfast and not enough the rest of the day. As well as not enough protein. Yes salad is good; but I need more nutrients. 

She changed up my calories and macros. 

1300 calories regardless of exercise. I should have a deficit of about 600 per day. So I really need to be working out more. 

Carbs: 146 (11%) 
Fat: 43 (3%) 
Protein: 81 (6%) 

I have to have a carb a fat and a protein at every meal. And a carb/fat or carb/protein at snacks. 

My meals are broken down like this: 

Breakfast: 333 calories 
Snack: 150 calories 
Lunch: 333 calories 
Snack: 150 calories 
Dinner: 333 calories 

I like the plan. I'm not stuffed after meals but I'm not starving. It's still difficult for me to not eat extra after a hard workout or run. 

Like today I went to two classes. A body pump style class and a spin class! WOOT! I burned over 500 calories. 

I find myself not full after my days worth of meals.... but I'm sticking to the plan. 

The goal is to get me down to 118-120 and about 20-22% body fat. I'm thinking I shouldn't have started this in December. No party foods, no alcohol, no egg nog, no cookies. Just 1300 calories, 5 meals a day. I can go over, but I won't lose as quickly. Or whittle this middle down. 

After I reach my goal I'll be able to up my calories to maintain at around 1800. 

I need ideas though for 333 calorie meals, it'll take me 3-4 months she said to meet my goal. Lunch isn't a problem... it's dinner that I'm having a hard time coming up with meals in the correct calorie range. 

The One Where I'm A Renegade

Soooo.... I opted out on the Trinity Levee Bridge Run so I could do the Renegade Run: 

Unscheduled, Unplanned, Unofficial, Unsupported, Unsponsored- Un-Marathon from Greenville Tx down Historic Rt 66 to Rockwall Tx 

For the record State Highway 66, isn't part of US Route 66. 

The race route was intimidating, considering we'd have no police support. 3 miles would be on 66 a narrow two lane blacktop mostly uphill. Some steady inclines, some just straight up! Half of the race would be on that section. I was worried about that. 

Wednesday I ran 6.15 miles I ran part of it on 66, and because of the narrow road and the cars on the road I dodged a few times, I rolled my ankle... so now I was doubly worried. 

I did my usual routine from then on. Hot Shower, Foam Roll, Ice every hour. 

Thursday I worked out, Friday I went to the Jump Rope for Heart event at the school. I didn't jump rope too much. I was worried. 

Saturday I did a lot of errands and I bought new shoes, cuz wow, I had no tread left on my shoes and I wasn't gonna be a good road runner without some tread! 

I got the same shoes Brooks Ghost 4. That felt so much better. :) 

Saturday I got all my stuff out, ready to go. I checked it and checked it double checked it. I added some new tunes to my iPod 

Renegade in particular for the Renegade Run. 

I bought all kinds of stuff Saturday Honey Stingers, Clif Gels, some electrolyte gel, I wasn't sure what all I would need. But I knew I would need water, so I got a freezable lunchbox ready to go with 2 additional waters and some fuel. Other than training runs where I can stop by my car for water and fuel, I've never run a "non-race" so I was concerned about having enough water. 

I had my Vapur Water Bag that holds 24 ounces, then in my lunchbox I had two more bottles that hold 32 ounces each. 

I also had gum. Which I will explain later in this blog..... Trident comes in two different "sugar types" One that I'm allergic to and one that I am not. 

Saturday I got in bed early but I didn't sleep. I finally got to sleep about 11:30-ish... closer to midnight.  

I woke up at 3:41. THREE FORTY ONE! I tossed and turned. I checked Facebook. I saw all my runner girls getting ready to run. I got a few text from running buddies wishing me well. 

I tried to go back to sleep. Couldn't.  

I got out of bed at 4, got on the Mac and though a little PC time might help me get the energy out of me so I could go back to sleep. I went back to bed. 

I got up at 5, for good. I started doing housework.... folding laundry, doing dishes. 

Because this race started in Greenville (the 26.2 portion) at 6AM then at 8-ish the Royse City (13.1 portion) my part wouldn't start until 9. I had four hours before my race started. 

I checked all my stuff, I got dressed, I tried to eat breakfast and couldn't. I chewed gum to just keep my nerves at bay. I drank water, I drank coffee, I drank herbal tea.  

And I was experiencing some not so pleasant bathroom issues. I've never had this problem before a race, but I was pretty nervous about this race so I chalked it up to nerves. 

Around 6:30 I got my bag together to take to the drop off site, wanted to make sure I had my things in place just in case they got to the 10K mark early. I started texting the race directors wife about 7AM and she said they were running behind. hrmp 

more bathroom issues.  

I tried to eat and this time was really sick. Like I thought I was gonna throw up sick. I was getting very worried about being able to do this race. With no stops, no bathrooms, no medical aid. Just me and the road. What would I do? 

They were still pretty far out and I had a long time to wait, so I would decide as it got closer. 

I dropped off my lunch bag and saw some of the runners that started at 6AM at the 13.1 mark, they were all in a group and were going great! So I was encouraged. They were alone and looked good, happy, no one had hit them, there were all accounted!!  

I got home, woke up my hubby cuz he was gonna drive me to the race start and follow me if he needed to, cuz he was very concerned about me running with no police support. 

He was lolly-gaggin and I was about to throw up! 

I checked and rechecked my stuff, got all my thing together and either in my pocket or in my car. Made a few more trips to the bathroom when it DAWNED ON ME... 

It's the gum!! 

I checked the package I purchased saturday - it has splenda. The previous package used xylitol! Splenda makes me sick.... very sick. The kind of sick I was beginning to experience. Glad I caught that before we headed out the door. 


EDIT!!! 
Seriously I didn't hit post... not sure how my blog posted!! I'm totally not done!! 

I was still texting with the RD wife and she told me to meet up with Papa Turtle. :) Otherwise known as Jim. He was at the race start when I got there and I was very encouraged when he said we'd be taking a different route. A little discourage when I realized we would be shy of the 10K mark. Where we met up and where the 10K start was was about a mile difference. 

We waited for others to show up and we had a pretty good group going!! The early 13.1s came by to wish us well and took our picture. The RD wife came by too to check on us. I was feeling really well. 

I was running with The Turtles and I was happy about that because I don't have the "moves like becki!" HA!! I set my RunKeeper to 13.5 and would be happy if I kept that pace considering the hills. 

I tried out another run app as well, tried to see if RunMeter, iPod and RunKeeper would all work together. This would be the test. The RunMeter lets people send me messages on Facebook and also emails my hubby at every mile, if I stop for more than 5 minutes, if I start up again and the like. I certainly wanted that for this run. 

We headed out at 9. two by two. 

A man and woman in front. (the head of the turtle) 
Runner girls next (the neck) 
Me and two others (the middle) 
And Papa Turtle in the back (the tail) 

I felt good. I was running at a good pace. We started on the incline and I just kept going. My apps were acting weird though and my music wasn't shuffling. So.not.happy about that. 

Hubby drove ahead and moved my refuel point since the route changed. And then caught up with me along the way. He stopped and took a few pictures and the RD had some folks following us as well taking pix and video! I'm so excited for that to be ready! 

It seemed we got up to the first intersection with ease.... the lady who was running with me though was having some complications, not sure if she was overheating or what... but she asked me to take the lead, so I did. Plus I knew the route so that helped the other too. 

We made the first mile and I was feeling great! Wasn't hit by any cars so far! 

We made the corner at the first intersection and I was going strong! Still jacking with my apps and music though. 

At least for a while it was stuck on Renegade. :) 

We crossed the FM road to the next road that was under construction. We devised a plan to be able run through or around the construction if it were going on. 

It wasn't so we were able to run on the incline they built up for the new road!! WOOT! It was dirt and nice to run on! By the end of the construction point we'd gone 3 miles. 

And what do I see my husband with my fuel and my friend!!! Kat!! My sweet friend Kat, she came to run in with me!!  

I was feeling Great!! No pain, no soreness. My shoes felt fine. Surprisingly I wasn't tired! I was over the hills... literally... and now I was on the downward stretch. I had about 2 miles to go! I refilled my water, stopped to tie my jacket around my waist and kept going!! it was so nice to run with Kat... we hadn't run together in a while. 

We made the bend onto the the next street, no one in front of us, and the slower turtles were behind us. Still having technical difficulties with my apps.... the only sound I could hear was our feet on the road.... ahhhhh the sweet sound of running! 

We made the next turn and we were about a quarter of a mile out. Kat was cramping up... 

We walked for a bit and then started running again. We made it to the parking lot and we ran in!!! WE MADE IT!! I felt like I could fly!! I felt so good I probably could have run back!! 

Hubby was there; all the other runners that had gone before me were there cheering us on!! There were lots of pictures and hugs! We got some and some  and some muffins.  :) 

This was a great event with some awesome runner guys and gals. And with people who run my speed!! The Turtles!  

I joined the RRC and now I'm on their Facebook Page so we can meet up for runs and go to events together! Several of them are running in the Dallas Rock N Roll!! I was already attending for my Spark Dallas Peeps to cheer them on.... now I have more people to "yell at"! 

I felt great, I seriously could have run back home!! I didn't but I felt like I could. 

I came home, showered, hubby rented some movies, made me some popcorn and I chilled for the rest of the day! Ahhhhhh..... 

Kiddo came home from grandmas and then I went to bed early. 

I DID IT!! I ran a great race with the goal of finishing. I finished. Not last either (like I thought)! 


Miles: 5.15 
Minutes: 63.40 
AP: 12.21 
Feet Climbed: 227 
Calories Burned: 535 

I survived!! I'm so excited!! I feel like a real runner. I feel like it's ok to start preparing for C2C, now that all the planets have aligned and I can go! :) I can run on the road and on the grass and on gravel and in dirt all in one race and do well!!

I SURVIVED!! FEAR FACED!! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! 

Nothing that I built up in my mind happened!! No animals chasing us, not even a close call with a car, I didn't need to fuel as often as I thought, I had enough supplies.. heck at this point I could run my own mini-race! LOL 

It's not the distance I wanted to run, but that's ok. I know I can run that distance. Which means I can run farther too!! 

My hubby seemed to be inspired as well.... he told me his workout days are Tuesday Thursday and Sunday. And he walked on the treadmill 30 minutes Tuesday night. 

******* END RACE REPORT****** 

But the pride, the puffed up chest, the accomplishment lives on!! 

I ran a seriously quick 3.07 yesterday!! A little sore, but I'm looking forward to another run tomorrow! 

I've had multiple emails, texts and 3 phone calls in-between the first "accidental post" and now.... I really should keep y'all hanging again!! LOL

The One Where I Decide On A 2012 Race Schedule

What up Peeeepppsss!!! 

The DRC Race Schedule is up and I'm signing up again for 2012!! WOOT!! I want to run the new years double in Allen (not a part of DRC) on Dec 31 and jan 1, but we'll see how my month goes and when the deadline is to sign up. 

Otherwise here's my schedule!! :) 

Frigid 5K/10K Saturday, January 7, 2012 

DRC February 5 Mile February 4, 2012 

Trinity River Levee Run - March 3, 2012 at Trammel Crow Park 

Tal Morrison Classic 15K/5K - April 7, 2012 at Winfrey Point 

DRC White Rock-n-Roll 5 Mile and 10 Mile - Saturday, May 5, 2012 at Winfrey Point 

Bloomin' 4 Mile - Saturday, June 2, 2012 at Winfrey Point 

Independence 5K/10 Fun Run - Saturday, July 7, 2012 

Cross Country Relay (3 Legs, 2 Miles each Leg) - Saturday, August 4, 2012 at Norbuck Park 

Breakfast Bash 5 Mile - Saturday, September 1, 2012 at Winfrey Point 

The Loop 15K/5K* - Saturday, October 6, 2012 at Winfrey Point 

DRC Half Marathon and 5K - SUNDAY, November 4, 2012 at Norbuck Park 

A race per month!! WOOT!! And of course I'll run the 5K at the kiddos school fund raiser!! And in May there's a HM in my hometown.... I'm hoping there's a lesser distance as well. :)

August and Everything After

That is the title the one of my favorite albums. The Counting Crows first album. 

Here is the plan for August, I'm still on the Darby Barrios Plan for now, although I'm running more than the plan, when I can; when I can't I go back to walking. I am hoping that August will be a month when I am able to stay on a work out schedule and not have injuries, accidents and the like. 

I am still sore from the June accident, so there is some stuff I just can't do yet. But I do what I can, however slowly it may be, its certainly surely! :) 

MWFS are Run Days. 
T, Th, (sometimes saturdays) are ST days 
I do the Quickfire Challenges when I am (physically) able. 

Today is W5D1 and the rest of the month looks like this: 

Week 5: Walk 3 minutes, then run 12 minutes, then repeat. By the end of the week walk 3 minutes, run 15 minutes, walk until rested, then run the rest of the session. 
Goal by weeks end: a 15-minute running segment. 

Week 6: Walk 5 minutes to begin and end the workout. Run 20 minutes in the middle. 
Goal: 20 minutes of continuous running 

Week 7: Walk 3 minutes to begin and end the workout. Run 24 minutes in the middle. 
Goal: 24 minutes of continuous running 

Week 8: Walk only a block or so to limber up then run the full 30 minutes 

I weighed today, I'm suffering from an overload of sodium this weekend, so the number isn't quite what I'd like for August, but its still out of 140-ville, so Whooo hooo!! And I still measure about the same. I've been consistantly 136.0-136.4, since my lowest weight of July at 135.0 mid-month. 

AUGUST 2009: 
Weight 137.2 (sodium inflated) 
Bust: 38 
Chest: 32 
Waist 31.00 
Belly Button: 32 
Hips: 37.00 
Neck: 14.75 

1/4 inch changes, but much, but its still progress 
1.2 pounds from first of July to first of August. But tomorrow or Wednesday I'll be back down to aroun 135-136. 

GW this month 130. I want to get out of the middle 130's threshhold. I think more water and less sodium will be the key for that. More Fruits and Veggies, less giving into what DH wants for dinner. Stick to the meal plan. I feel better and lose more when I do. 

Its gonna be a hot month, so I'll be swimming more, which means I'll be burning alot more calories. I just need to make sure the calories in are nutritious and not calories for the sake of calories. 

Come on say it with me!! 

A PLAN WITH NO ACTION IS JUST A WISH!! 

Don't jus wish for a new life, weight loss, toned muscles. Go MAKE IT HAPPEN!! 

July Goals

Initially I wanted to get to 135 in july, and that's still my GW. However here are my stats for the beginning of the month: 

JULY 2009: 
Weight 138.4 
Bust: 38 
Chest: 32 
Waist 31.25 
Hips: 37.25 
Neck: 14.75 

For some reason over the past few weeks the pounds seem to be coming off easier than inches, so I'd really like to be down to 132 by the end of July. 

GW: 135 

Goal Pant Size: 8 

Lose Inches, Build Strength/Muscle 

Drink my water = 8 cups or more 

Lose 5-6 pounds 

Run 5 days per week, Swim 3 days a week. 

Eat more fruit and veggies IE, if I'm starving fruits and veggies are my friend! 

Eat 5-6 meals per day 

Stay within caloric range. 

Lose to 30% or more body fat.