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 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 Crush Last Years Time

Wow! WOW! WOW! That's all I know to say. The day started with the alarm going off at 5:50.  I laid out my clothes the night before, so I was ready to roll. I got up, got dressed, made coffee, put my contacts in.  Well I put in my old pair and realized that they were indeed old and I wouldn't get another days use out of them. Text my friends for my ETA update.  Changed my contacts. I'm not the most gracious contact wearer, I drop them, blink them out of my eye while trying to get them in.  I normally don't wear them for weekday runs, but on Race Day it's a must!  Particularly because I'm driving! I got my quick breakfast and coffee, laced up and was out the door. I was picking up a Sole Sister on the way!  SO Excited for her!! It was her first DRC Race!! WOOT! We listened to 80's music on the way, I wore argyle socks to represent my age group.   This was an age handicapped race, so the older people got a head start, the younger you are the later your wave started.  Our age group was at 8:24 [caption id="attachment_52" align="aligncenter" width="300"] 80's all the way[/caption] We made it to DRC we met up with some of my running buddies and my older son.  We laughed, we chatted, we made future race plans. We walked down to the start, found our age group and were ready to race!  We didn't have to wait long... I think there were 1-2 waves in front of us.    We laughed about the way the age groups were divided, because we had 16 year old girls and 11 year old boys in our 40 year old age group as well.  Joked about how the 16 year old girls would smoke us. [caption id="attachment_58" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Swift Feet!! Great Running Friends![/caption] In true Running Pfuhl fashion as we started I didn't set my Run Meter!  We were about a tenth of a mile in before I realized that.  Oh well, I usually run about a tenth over, so this would be a good barometer for me. I have the run meter set to notify me of my pace every 3 minutes.  The first 3 minute notification said I was running sub-10!  Wow, that's kinda crazy.   I didn't feel winded or like I was going too fast or that I would fade out either.  I tried to slow down a bit, but keep a good pace. I knew my Sole Sister was a little behind me and I know she doesn't run that pace, I didn't want her to fade out either. The other Sisters I ran with are in a younger age group, kept razzing me that they wouldn't be able to overtake me.... I laughed because she's so much faster than me and I only had a 1 minute head start.  Yup Yup less than a half a mile in she passed me!  She's an awesome runner! We made it to the wonky bridge.... this thing may as well be made from rope and planks..... it moves when you run on it.   It's the strangest feeling.  The first time I ran it I totally lost my umph and slowed down considerably.  It messes me up for sure. I ran when I could on the bridge, slowed down when I felt the Earth Move Under My Feet! I made it to the water stop and was grateful for the drink and to get my bearings from the bridge.  Now it was the uphill climb to the turn around. I'll post last years race blog too, but it is at this point that I start looking for my running buddies and my son to pass me, although they started later!  5 minutes later. As I climbed the hill to the turn around, I saw a fellow RRC Member.  I cheered for her.   I saw my other Sister, running strong, we high five as she passes by.  I kept looking at the shadows behind me.... Looking for my son.  I made it to the turn around and he hadn't passed me yet... wondering if I'd missed him... then I saw him coming up to the turn around as I was going down hill.  We smacked hands, said I'll see you at the finish! A few other buddies passed me, running strong.  Before I made it all the way down the hill to the water stop, my son passed me! WOOT!  LOVE IT!! He ran a strong race! Now back over the wonky bridge and pretty much uphill all the way back.   Grrrr.... the bridge GOT ME!  It was more difficult that I remembered to go up that hill after the bridge.  I kept talking myself into running faster, because my average paced had slowed considerably.  Although I was CRUSHING last years time. On the slight downhill sections I'd speed up.  And try to keep pace on the uphill.   It's only 5 miles but it seemed like forever!  I made it to mile four and was psyched to get this race done! I sped up a bit, trying to keep my average pace to a sub-10.   I saw the clubhouse and knew I was close to the end and again tried to pick up the pace more, although I had extra miles to run after the race to stay on track with RNR Half Training. I ran to the finish, saw my friends and kicked up my pace.  I saw the clock and chuckled... it's age handicap!  It said 1:14 (and some change)  I wasn't expecting that! LOL Crossed the finish and stopped my Run Meter.  I didn't get sub-10, but a major PR nonetheless!  50 minutes 15 seconds!  WOW!! Great Race!!   Great Day with Good Friends! My Sole Sister crossed the finish, we got some water, talked to some other runners and headed out for our extra mile!  :)

The One Where It's The First Race Of The Year 2013

First race of the year. I laid out my clothes, shoes, sock, headphones, hat, everything I needed. I looked in my purse to make sure I had gum, headphones, running gloves. I was meeting some other peeps at the RRC so I went to bed early so I could be ready to get there in time to meet them for my ride. It was nice to get a ride down to DRC and be with a group. That's a first for me. I was meeting others down there, my son included. But in my years of DRC races, I've generally driven down there alone. We go there early, hung out, took a few pit stops. It was cold but I was prepared. I'd purchased winter running pants.... I know right... can you believe I said something like that! I generally spend November - February on the treadmill! I saw some folks I know. Jerome, David, Shannon and her friends as well. It was nice to see everyone. My son hadn't arrived yet and we were headed down to the start, so I put his bib back on the table in case he showed up he wouldn't have to hunt me down. I was sad that I didn't see him.... he wasn't responding to texts, so I didn't call in case he was sleeping. He drives quite a ways to get to the DRC, about an hour. The race started a little late and we were off!! I tried to hold back.... I try not to take off only to get tired. I was going along ok and was shocked at my pace. But I wasn't huffing and puffing. It was a comfortable pace for me. So I kept going. Shortly after that I feel a arm on my shoulder.... it's my kiddo!! YAY!! He came!! Late but he came and he ran ahead and said have a great race mom!! OH love that boy of mine! Shortly after that Jerome and David are asking me if I saw him and asked me how I was doing. I said Great!! Ran with them for a bit and then they weaved their way though the crowd to go on the 10K route. I made it to the water stop and got water. I needed a drink because although I had gum in my purse, I didn't actually put it in my mouth! LOL Made it to the turn around, felt great. Sped up. Got some water. And kept on!! This year there were no delusions about the finish line! Thankfully. And the mile markers were out for the 10K so it was easy to keep up with where I was on the path. :) At the 6 mile/2.90 mile marker, I kicked it up a bit.... Finished in 31.31!! 10.01/mm!! One Day Soon I will beat that!! ONE DAY! I met up with my kiddo his fiancé and my friends. The kids took off after a while and my friends were finishing the 10K. We waited for the results and awards. Three of my friends received an age group award!! And my son!! He won 3rd place!! 25.39 was his official time! That's about 4 minutes improvement from last year! WOOT! My time last year was 36.33 3.22 miles This year: 31.52 3.18 miles WOW!! we both improved about 4 minutes!! Just as a reflection: Here's last years blog

The One Where I Sign Up For Two Half Marathons

----------------> THIS GIRL!! It's December 13th and I'm already signed up for 2 10Ks: January 5th January 12th And 2 Half Marathons: March 24th The Dallas Rock N Roll Half! May 27th The Patriot I also have already put together a training plan through June because I have another HM The Wounded Warrior June 9th (although I'm not signed up for it yet). I started with the Sports Nutritionist 2 weeks ago and I've already lost 3 pounds! I have visible signs of inches lost and my clothes are fitting well! emoticon Excited for them to be loose! I plan on losing through the holidays. Yes Yes, I will make a pie and have a slice too, but that is all. A Slice! Not days of range overages. I have a few parties to attend and I will follow the smallest plate one trip rule. Use the smallest plate size available and make only one trip. No piled up plate either. Get what you want but leave space between the servings. I'm doing better at finding what works for me in my 5 meals per day and I'm seeing results which is of course emoticon Thank you for all your well wishes and suggestions. I really appreciate it!! I've been officially released from my doctor and the physical therapist. I have approximately 2-3% range and mobility to be exactly the same again! well at least as my right hand anyway. I will have to do my exercises at home for the next 6-8 months to keep up with the muscle memory and mobility. I'll do them for sure!! Well back to the crazy pace of life....

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 Have A Weak Butt

Soooo... I've been cleared to run. I've run a few times. I'm still scared but I do it anyway! I'm getting better and faster each time. I went to physical therapy Tuesday. It hurts. But I know it will help me along. I have some mobility but overall I have stiff, tight joints. My Thumb and where my thumb meets my wrist in particular. I'm typing a lot better and I've been driving about a week! WOOT!! 7 weeks out today, I'd say I'm making good progress! He initially said I wouldn't be ready for PT until after thanksgiving. The Therapist was impressed with how much I could move my hand/wrist. And I only have to see him 3 weeks. Oh and the best part is he looked at my hip and discussed how to improve my running! It's not my IT Band..... I actually have a weak butt! I'm not firing my glutes, I'm using other muscle groups. So I need to foam roll...he doesn't care if its trigger point or not. And I need to work my butt! Lunges, Squats....of all kinds. Trying to re-work a schedule to get my runs in and incorporate these exercises too. :) At the end of runs perhaps with more stretching too. My first race back is next week! Turkey Trot!! My first Turkey Trot- EVER! Eeeekkk!!! emoticon emoticon emoticon