Miracle Match 2015 Training Shenanigans

This was my first week back into half-marathon training. I’ve been out of the running long distance game for what seems like forever. I have done a couple of 5ks over the past few months but the last time I ran anything longer than 3.1 miles was in April (just a few short weeks after my failed marathon.)

After devoting so much time to running over the past few years, I think I got a little burned out. I told myself that when I start running again, I want to do quality over quantity. I mean, last year I ran 14 races. FOURTEEN. I never really got much better/faster even though that’s something I kept saying I wanted. I’m pretty sure it was because I refused to focus my energy on one race. Instead, I was all like I WANT ALL THE RACES AND I WANT THEM NOW. It was fun though.

Also, race registrations can be expensive and with the starting of Alfred’s business, I’ve been a little more conservative in my spending.  When I chose my next long-distance race I wanted to devote some quality running to it.

So, what race did I choose?

Miracle Match 5k & Half-Marathon 2015!

I ran this last year as part of my marathon training. I love the course, it’s practically in my backyard & you get extra swag for running the 5k on Saturday, then the half on Sunday. I do love me some swag. (Also, this was my first ever 5k five years ago, so it holds a special place in my heart.)

But to make this even more exciting I’m actually going to meet Amanda from The Lady Okie. I plan on giving her a wonderfully awkward hug & forcing her to take fake running selfie’s with me.

Here is my tentative training schedule. This is fairly fluid, depending on what’s going on in my life I’m up to being flexible as long as I end up getting my long runs in. We shall see.

On the speed/tempo days I’m just going to use my Jeff Galloway running app. It will tell me exactly what to do and when. I’m clueless when it comes to actually getting faster, so I’m just going to trust he knows what he’s talking about and take it from there.

Moj days are whatever she sets up for us. Sometimes that’s a 40 minute burpee session, other times it’s a 40 minute stair workout. She likes to make me swear & sweat. I like her for putting up with my snarky attitude. Win/Win.

Rest/Lift days are just that. If running is wearing me out, I’ll take a rest day. If I feel up to a weight lifting day, I’ll pop open my BodySpace app and get some dead lifts in.

I’m excited to see how this training schedule will work with my WeightWatchers. I’ve never actually lost weight on a running plan (EAT ALL THE FOODS) and it will be interesting to see if it can be done.

(I know it can but dude, running has the ability to make the best of us HANGRY, so yeah.)

Any races in your future?!

Runners Tell All: What is your training routine?

I decided to do something crazy. Something wild. Something insane.
I’m sponsoring this month’s Runners Tell All! I know, cuh-razy, but I figured in honor of my birthday month (no shame in shouting out my own birthday – it’s this Saturday by the way) I’d step a little out of my blogging comfort zone. Life is good when you’re about to be twenty-fine (not a typo), so let’s get started!

Training Routine.

This prompt couldn’t have come at a better time seeing as I just started training for my fall races last week. I mostly took off from running over the summer because I had a non-fractured foot that was healing and wanted to try my hand at weight lifting.
For the past two years I’ve really enjoyed learning to love the run itself and haven’t been crazy interested in getting faster. But then my marathon happened (or didn’t happen) and I know if I would have been faster I would have completed the race – so I’ve decided to start from the bottom up. That 5k time is going down this fall.

Like all of you, I have a busy life - working full-time, being a mother to an incredibly awesome 3 year old and a wife to a very studly 31 year old – so in order to get my workouts in my best option is my lunch hour. It’s not for everyone but I work in Higher Education and have the luxury of free access to the gym. It’s literally a 2 minute walk from my office. My excuses are limited. Le sigh.

Today, I wanted to share with you a few of my training routine tips that help me get in and out of the gym in less than an hour and still looking somewhat presentable.

1. Pack your bag. I (really try to) pack my gym back the night before and put it in my truck – that way the excuse “I don’t have my stuff” won’t technically work. Especially when my mind is telling me I should take a nap in my truck instead. (For the record, lunch hour quickie naps are the best.)
   
   If you’re able, I would recommend renting a locker so you don’t have to tote a ton of stuff every day. You can keep your essentials in there. A few things in mine are: deodorant, blow dryer (with a cool setting), dry shampoo, and extra hair ties/bobby pins. I also keep out my printed workout sheets as a fall-back plan (see #1) in a little pile that I can pull from if need be.
   
   Things in my gym bag: clean dry underwear.
   
   I don’t know about you but I sweat like a chicken in a deep fry competition and to combat that, I need some clean panties. I just can’t get behind butt-sweat. (See what I did there! ha!)
   
   Other essentials in my bag: gym clothes, tennis shoes, O2 Gold, body wipes, towel, headphones, make-up bag.
   
   
2. Plan your workout. I can’t stress this enough – know exactly what you’re wanting to do when you get to the gym so you don’t waste time wandering around wishing you were eating enchiladas instead. I usually write down my plan of attack on a small piece of paper or put it in the notes section of my phone.
   
   Also, have a small inkling of a back-up plan in case the equipment you need is full or out-of-order. For me, the first few weeks of the new semester the gym is packed with all the new incoming students wanting to look fly,and I plan accordingly. Treadmills all taken? No worries, I’ll hit up the stair master.
   
   Since I work so close to my gym, travel time isn’t usually taken into account, but I can generally get a solid 40 minute workout in – with the other 20 minutes spent on changing into and out of my gym clothes. 
   
3. Shower or No Shower? Um, can I be real with you guys? I totally don’t take a shower after every workout. Sometimes I’m just not that sweaty to justify wasting 5 minutes rinsing off that could be better spent towards running an extra half mile.
   
   On those non-shower days, I wipe myself down with a body wipe, apply deodorant, & body spray and BAM, smelling like an artificial rose in no time. On days when I look like this after my workout,
    
   there’s just no way around it despite my best efforts.
4. Looking Presentable. I keep a blow dryer in my locker that has a cool setting on it (because let’s face it, I ain’t about to blast my body with HOT air after a speed session) and try to wrangle this hair situation I have. Sometimes my hair will have mercy on me and I can go for the beach wave look afterwards and let it dry naturally – most times, it goes in a braid or a bun.
   
   
   For make-up, my face usually stays pretty red for about 20 minutes after a workout, so I’ll throw some powder on, fix any smudged eyeliner or mascara and add some lip gloss. Boom. Nailed it. 

I think the best tip I can give you is to keep it simple as possible. The more extras you throw in there, the less time you have to murder that workout.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention this month’s giveaway!

Beka is super adorable, am I right or am I right?

You can win an Under Armour Tank Top (fitted heat gear, size large) and headband just by following the prompts below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, your turn! Tell us about your training routine by linking up below.

Runners Tell All: My Proudest Moment

Your Favorite and/or Proudest Running Moment
Crossing that first finish line? Running a mile without walking?
What’s your proudest running moment to date? Brag on yourself!

When Amanda first mentioned this link-up, I scanned all the topics with excitement trying to figure out what I’d post for each one of them, and I knew – without a doubt – that when this topic came up what I would choose. I just knew it’d be the moment I crossed the finish line of my first marathon. (This link-up started a couple months before my race.)

But that didn’t exactly pan out like I wanted, so while I’m very proud of what I did accomplish, it’s not at the top of my list when I start scanning my brain for great race moments over the past 2 1/2 years. (Dudes. I’ve been actively running that long, CRAZY.)

The thing my mind always settles back into is my third half-marathon – The Bearathon. In that blog post, I explain a little why it meant so much to me at the time but to sum it up – it was the race I had worked for (in my mind) for at least a year. It was ultimately my goal race, even though it wasn’t technically my first half.

Everything just came together – the weather was great, I felt strong (despite the freakish hills), and I made sure to enjoy every single mile (even when I wanted to chew my legs off and jump in a taxi). There was also no one there at the finish line for me.

Does that sound sad? I promise, it wasn’t.

It made it full circle for me. No one was there to push me to start running, I was just there – alone in a gym, scared as hell that people were going to judge my 200 lbs of awesomeness for jiggling on a treadmill but I did it. And I did it over and over again, until finally – there I was alone at a finish line knowing I fucking did it. And it was wonderful. I proved to myself what I was capable of and …then I videoed my reaction. I’m glad I did, it serves me a good reminder of who I was, who I am and who I’m going to be.

Fitness Update

I haven’t really talked much about where I’m at in regards to my fitness. Mostly because there’s not much to talk about. I took a little emotional/physical break from my marathon and I ran a couple miles here and there, ran some stairs but nothing settled into a routine for the next month (there was also the fact that my husband tried to turn himself into a pirate).

Then, April came around and when I finally began to feel motivated again – I fake fractured my foot (here & here). While I haven’t been on crutches or wearing a boot for the past 3 weeks, my foot has still felt twingey. The doctor told me it could be up to two months before it felt normal again. Well, I decided it felt normal enough this week and jumped back into working out on Wednesday with Moj.

Within the first 30 seconds I could tell a drastic difference in my level of fitness prior to the marathon and after. It hurt. What’s it? EVERYTHING IS IT. Everything still hurts, two days later.

I knew after my marathon that I planned on scaling back with my running, as in nothing further than a 5k, because I wanted to get stronger. I wanted to start weight training. I was really excited to brave my fear of the free weight section in the gym and to attempt some definition in my arms (at the very least!)

While I go to the gym with Moj (who has been lifting weights for 20 years or so), I go on her terms, they’re her workouts and I’m just along for the ride. She’ll admit she loves to make me curse though (it’s really not that hard, all she has to do is say BURPEE!) But during the summer, she’s not on campus as much. That leaves me fending for myself.

It’s scary enough to get past the initial gym demons you have when you think everyone is looking at you (they’re not) and you’re just going to the cardio equipment. But when you have to go to the free weight section with tons of bulky guys grunting in mirrors and lifting weights larger than your 3 year old – it can be a little intimidating.

So, I hit up Google. I wanted some kind of plan that specified exactly what I need to do that didn’t make me feel like a complete dumbass. And it’d be nice if it were cheap.

I lucked out. Because I found something amazing and free.

www.bodybuilding.com

You can find free plans to follow based on your level and interest. There’s also a free app for your phone called BodySpace.

The plan I found is Jamie Eason’s LiveFit 12-Week Trainer (there’s a ton to choose from though!)

It breaks it down week by week, day by day, exercise by exercise for you. It also links to videos to show you HOW to do the moves or use the equipment – this is all accessible on your phone with the app. Which really has helped me the past two days move past my free weight fears and work it out.

Example: Yesterday (my first day) was triceps/chest workout. I got to the gym, clicked on the app, started the workout and 30 minutes later I was walking away feeling a little stronger and definitely smelling a little fouler. It’s at your own pace, so if you need to move to another piece of equipment you just tap the app, it stops (or starts) and you’re good to go while you get settled. You can also print off the information from the website if you don’t have a smart phone.

Today was biceps. So, I thought I’d give y’all a little preview of how muscular I currently am. *cough* not much *cough*.

I’m feeling really good about it. And excited. And just really ready to see where I’ll be at the end of 12 weeks. Or maybe 13. We are planning on going on vacation at some point :)

There’s a nutrition plan with this one as well – and I’m taking a few things from it to apply to myself – so this is basically my public announcement to hold myself accountable and for you to say, “But Tam, you already look like a badass!”

I mean, only if you want to say that.

Bearathon 2014

I signed up for this half-marathon before my marathon thinking that 3 weeks would be plenty of time to recover, get back in the groove of things and knock it out of the park.

I was right about it being plenty of time for me to recover – 3 days after my marathon my legs and body actually felt well enough to begin running again. However, emotionally I was not ready to get back in the groove of things and did nothing for two weeks after my marathon. Except, like, eat everything. The Tuesday before the Bearathon I managed to run 2 miles (thanks to social media for accountability!).

Basically, I ran 24 miles one day, did nothing for 2 weeks, ran 2 miles and then woke up early Saturday morning to attempt to run 13.1 miles on a notoriously hill driven course. If you didn’t already know, I clearly make good life decisions.

If you’ve been here for a while, you may recall this post – Bearathon 2013 – from last year. It was the race I had been working towards which kind of catapulted me into this runner lifestyle. I even vlogged my reaction to killing it. I never knew I was a crier until I had my daughter and started running. Hormones be crazy, yo.

Anyway, back to the current race recap.

I woke up around 5:30 am, got dressed, took a selfie, (because duh) and made it to the start line around 6:30 am. The half-marathon portion was set to start at 7 am and the 5k portion at 7:20 am. The race started 5 minutes late but they had music going and kept us informed, so it didn’t feel like a big deal to me.

What did feel like a big deal to me? THE HUMIDITY. The weather was in the low 60s but the humidity was 100%. I hadn’t even made it to Mile 2 and I was already sweat-soaked.

Around mile 2.5, I talked with a lovely older lady named Lynn, who I thought was maybe in her early 50s – turns out she was 69! She had been running for over 30 years, had both her hips replaced and was still trucking along. She was pretty motivating and right around mile 3, I said goodbye and pushed forward.

Like last year, they had students at every mile marker for the water stations – and it was insane. There was so much cheering and yelling, you could actually hear it from the previous mile marker. If you are ever in the Waco, Texas area and want a challenging course that has some wonderful crowd support – Bearathon is for you. (Also, I’ll totally do it with you too and then we can go day drinking!)

Mile markers had water and Gatorade, a few of them had snacks (there was bacon at one, but I learned my lesson last time and politely refused). I ended up using Shotbloks for my ‘fuel’ by downing a couple every 4 miles or so, it kept me feeling from empty and I’m starting to find I like them better than energy gels.

I’m only smiling because I was finally done with the hills.

I went into this race not expecting much considering how little I had been running and I crossed the finish line in 3:00:31 – which is a normal for me. The course had a time limit of 4 hours which equaled a 16 minute/mile pace.

Sometimes my music doesn’t do it for me, so I’ll cut it off and count to myself with every step. 1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4. Some people have mantra’s, I have numbers. It works for me. And with all that said, the above photo is my counting face. Lovely, isn’t it?

Something I did notice was the support dwindling/stations running out of Gatorade near the end of the race for me. I mean, I’m slower than average but still finished a full hour ahead of the time limit and it can be discouraging - so I can only imagine what it felt like for those that finished after me.

For the record, this is not the first time I’ve noticed feeling like a ‘loose-end’ in a race where I was near the end of the pack. So, it’s not just a Bearathon thing (and I don’t remember feeling that way for the 2013 race) But, I do think it’s something that should be addressed for those of us out there who love to run but just do it on the slow.

After I grabbed my medal & t-shirt, I stuck around for a bit to cheer on people and then managed to steal a whole pizza. I am not ashamed.

I know I’ve provided you all with a lot of fairly decent pictures in today’s post, and that’s probably a little disappointing. I mean, who wants to see someone looking good while running – no one. No one wants to see that.

So, I know the real reason you’re here – for the crappy race day photos I’m always so proud of. So, without further ado:

This was my attempt at a jumping photo.
All it resulted in was a head shake from the photographer & weird hand placement.

 

Sweat, hills, and counting make me lose the ability to form a neck.

And this next one is for those of you who have asked me how I can be so happy during a race. The fact is, often times, I’m not – I’m just struggling to get through the next mile – but when I see a camera, it’s automatic. I turn into a giant hamball who immediately goes for the thumbs up.

Until we run again, friends!

Miracle Match Weekend Race Recap

This past weekend I double upped with a 5k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday plus I added 5 miles after the half on Sunday to give me 18 miles for the day.

Sounds crazy, right? It is but I have only 4 weeks until I lace up my shoes and throw down 26.2 miles so it was a necessary evil. And one that just helped affirm that while my legs may be tired and the sweat may be flowing from my pits, my mind & heart are ready to tackle this.

And what’s the thing they say about running being mental? Yeah. That. Anyway, less about marathon madness and more about race shenanigans!

For the past 4 years, I’ve ran the 5k portion of this race. It’s actually the first 5k I ever participated in (before I was hit with the running bug) and has kind of been a tradition for me since. I considered running the half portion last year but had already registered for the Houston Half and since I was fairly new to running longer distances, I wasn’t sure if could handle it.

Besides Miracle Match boasts as being the Toughest Little Marathon in Texas, so it was a little scary as a newer runner. Below is the elevation change/hills for the half marathon course from my Garmin.

I knew after I finished the 5k in 2013 that I would sign up to run the half in 2014, just to see. And when an email showed up in my inbox with a discount code for signing up to do a double race weekend, I couldn’t say no.  Also, 100% of the proceeds of this race goes to Be The Match to help people who need marrow transplants.

Yeah, not 80% or 90% but 100 freaking percent. How amazing is that? It was also one of the most personable & personal races I’ve ever run. I would highly recommend this race to anyone – even out-of-staters. On to the recap.

January 25th, 2014 5k

The weather was cold. With wind chill in teens & upper 20s so I went with running tights, long sleeve shirt, pullover, gloves (touch screen that I scored from my MIL over Christmas!) and a headband.

Overall, good choices. I was definitely over the gloves by Mile 1 and considered chunking them at My Emilie (who was awesome and volunteered at the water station!) but didn’t want to seem like a drama queen so I powered through the finger sweat. I didn’t want to really push crazy hard for this simply because I knew I was planning on doing the half the next day and overall, these races were set up as part of my marathon training. Last thing I want is an injury.

Time: 38:25 with a 12:23 average per mile.

My 2013 time was 40:30 with a 13:03 average per mile, so maybe not a 5k PR but definitely a course PR! Since starting to run one of my favorite things has been to do the same race each year (if possible) just to be able to compare. It’s a great way to remind yourself of where you are and that the work you’ve put in isn’t in vain.

Here’s a few race pictures from the 5k. They turned out, in one word, glorious. I seriously couldn’t stop laughing at myself when I checked them out. (Yes, it’s true, I’m easily amused.)

Totally not planned but couldn’t have been more perfect. Leo + Tam = Running Love

Once I crossed the finish line, Emilie & I had a girls day where we went to Target and then carb-loaded on some Italian food at Johnny Carino’s. I thought about taking a picture of my Smoked Chicken & Jalapeno Ravioli to share with you but then I took one bite and pretty much shoveled the rest in my mouth at an epic speed. It was amazeballs and I have no regrets.

January 26th, 2014 Half-Marathon

The weather was warmer (in the 30s) and it really was a great weekend for a race. Based on my experience for the 5k, I opted to not wear gloves and a headband. I thought I might still need a pullover so I started the race with a newbie I picked up at Target during our Emilie & Tam day. I’m actually wearing it today as I type this and y’all, it’s wonderful. I love it. The brand is C9 and everyone should have one. I wore running capris instead of tights (Christmas present from My Emilie. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her? Because I totally do.) and I recently purchased a SpiBelt to try/use for my marathon. This was the first race I’ve used it with and it did wonderful. I’ll do a review on that in a later post.

I started the race telling myself I’ll run as I’m comfortable and try to focus on just getting to the 13 since I had planned on running 5 more miles afterwards (and I did!) to make my total for the day 18. Almost immediately I felt a presence right next to me, same pace, same relaxed mode for at least a quarter of mile before she turned to me and said, “ 12:30 pace?” and I turned back and said, “That’s the plan. Fingers crossed, right?”

We introduced ourselves (side note: runners are amazing and wonderful and crazy friendly) her name was Adrian and her dad/sister were also running. We ran the first 6 miles together before we hit the hills. Once we got to the hills my plan was to speed walk up them and run down, her plan was to run the entire race so for the rest of the race I was a minute or two behind her.

This was at Mile 5 right before I ditched my pullover (thanks Adrian for holding my watch!) and just tied it around my waist. She really helped pull me through and it was nice having someone to run with for a bit.

At Mile 8 I got bacon. Like, literally, I got bacon. We were running through a residential part of the race and there was a group of 5-6 college kids in front of their home cheering runners on with cowbells. One girl had a giant bowl and as I got closer, I heard someone yell, “We got bacon!” So as I ran by I grabbed a handful and yelled, “HELL YEAH”. They started jumping up and down screaming, “SOMEONE TOOK THE BACON!” I popped a piece in my mouth and immediately regretted it. Not that it wasn’t tasty but it was bacon and kind of dry and I had no water for the next half mile.

I’ve decided that at any point in my life when I think something is going to be great and it turns out to be a bad decision I’m going to call it “Got Bacon”.

Yo, I decided to run a marathon but then I got bacon when my legs fell off at mile 21.

The race split up based on the race you were running right after Mile 5 too – the half went straight, the full & relay turned left and the 10k turned right. The half & marathon courses met back up around mile 10 I believe.

At Mile 11, the lead racer for the full marathon passed me. So basically this dude ran 26 miles faster than I could run 13. Dude was in beastmode.

At about that time I met another running partner (didn’t grab her name but she was from the Dallas area and said she loved the course and it was better than the Austin 3M she ran the weekend before – winning!) and we talked for about a mile before I started getting eager to finish and decided to push it a bit.

I know, I know, I run slow enough that it looks like I’m walking but I promise I was running. Also, the guy in the background is getting sassy about it, so don’t mind him.

I wasn’t expecting to run this (much harder) course any faster than my last race since I still had 5 miles to throw down but y’all, TOTALLY PR’ED ON THIS BITCH.

Time: 2:56:09 with a 13:26 average per mile.

When I crossed the finish line I was thrilled! I really think it helped that I had people to talk to during the race to keep my mind off the mileage.

I picked up my extra swag (for running two races, I ended up getting 3 shirts!), my medal and seriously considered grabbing a free fajita & margarita but instead I booked it to my truck and then to the house to finish up my mileage for the day on the treadmill.

I was exhausted by the end of it but I didn’t sit down (I do have a kid/husband to tend to) and tried to keep myself busy in hopes that I wouldn’t be too crazy sore come Monday. I finally sat down at 7pm to watch a movie with the husband and I didn’t make it 15 minutes before I passed smooth out. I woke up around 9pm with stickers on me (thanks Lillie) and a husband telling me I’d be more comfortable in our bed.

I moved around a lot on Monday to ward off the soreness, and it wasn’t too terrible. Mostly if I sat for an extended period of time (desk job, woohoo) and then sat up and by Tuesday there wasn’t much soreness left in me. HOWEVER, I did manage to chafe fairly bad on thighs (even though I wore capris) so I busted out the Desitin and am now aware that for my marathon I should probably have some Vaseline I can get to incase I need it.

Overall, this was a beautiful course that you should totally do. It’s for a wonderful cause and they really do a great job at making it personal. There were signs along the course for motivation and the volunteer stations really out-did their selves.

Until we run again!

Fitness Age

I’ve been more active in the past two years of my life (since starting this running journey) than I had in the 26 years prior. Most of the time my focus and intent was on being healthier as opposed to losing weight. Not that I don’t want to lose weight, I just know how discouraging it can be when you don’t see the results you want right away – been there, done that – and thought I’d try a different approach with hopes that the weight would just come off with all the exercise/training I’m doing.

Well, it doesn’t. The only real way I’ve found that I lose weight is by changing my diet and to be honest, I’m not always that interested in putting forth the effort to eat ‘better’. I kind of like the fact that taking the time to enjoy my grilled cheese sandwich (extra cheese, please) with mayo & tomato doesn’t have to be the end of my life as I know it.

I started the year sitting at 190 lbs, proudly. I have no shame in that number because I worked really hard for it. I own that shit.

I’m currently hanging around 179 on a good day and 182 the day after a fun little binge fest. I’m owning that shit too. Because I don’t feel like I weigh 182 as opposed to when I did weigh 182 a few years ago prior to baby weight and definitely prior to any actual type of physical fitness.

My 182 from then is way different from my 182 now. Just goes to show you that that what they say is true – exercise does change your body, even if it doesn’t change the scale.

Oh, the days of bleach blonde hair – how I don’t miss thee.

I’ve talked about my Moj days where I do some kind of cross-training, death spiral into sweatiness ridiculousness with a good friend of mine, Mojgan. This was right before death by 45 minutes of stairs.I promise I never look that un-sweaty at the end of a workout with this lady. She’s not a personal trainer. Just a wonderful person who truly cares about other people. She’s always led a healthy lifestyle and has been weight training for 15+ years, she’s a great resource for information and inspiration for me. I don’t know if I would have pushed myself as hard as I have these past two years if it weren’t for her.

Anyway, she sends us articles from time-to-time (to keep up motivation) and most recently this is what hit my inbox -

What’s Your Fitness Age?

It’s a short article, so you have time to read it – promise! But basically, it goes on to tell you how a scientific study resulted in an online calculator that tells you what your fitness age is based on a couple of different items.

Fitness Calculator

I’m the Great 28 and since I tend to assume the worst on things of this nature, I figured my fitness age would be *hopefully* somewhere in the late 30s, probably early 40s. But I was ridiculously happy to find out, I’m 29! For the record, Moj’s fitness age is 20. I won’t reveal her biological age but I’m betting that’s at least half her real age (based on the ages of her kids and the fact that she’s a doctor, and that takes some time to complete!)

I’m totally owning my 29 & Fine fitness age and throwing it out there for another non-scale victory. Maybe one of these days I’ll be more inclined to drop my extra weight (technically based on my BMI I’m considered overweight) but for now, I don’t think it’s necessary.

I feel good about me.

And that’s pretty fucking awesome.

Happy weekend friends!

Training Tuesday

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This link-up is just a way to talk about training [in any way, for anything] to help hold ourselves accountable and possibly brag a bit. I mean, you ran 1 mile without stopping – you totally deserve a chance to brag about it! That shit is hard. You did 10 push-ups in a row, HOLLLEERRR.

And even if you’re not training for anything, you’re just putting yourself out there to be healthier, to get slimmer, to whatever you can share it on Training Tuesday. Let’s say you were sitting at home and instead of eating a carton of Oreos you instead ate 20 baby carrots and just imagined they were chocolate-y crèmey goodness [hypothetical situation, of course] – share it here!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for your Training Tuesday (or any day really, linking up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

3/12 – It was Spring Break on campus, so I took the day off to enjoy with Lillie (we did come into work for a bit to visit); I thought I might work out during her afternoon nap but I chose to clean instead. Sometimes I’d rather be clean than fit. Truth.
3/13 – Lunch with Jenna – where I made awesome healthy food choices but no working out.
3/14 – I don’t remember why I didn’t work out, but I didn’t. So, I had 3 rest days.
3/15 – My mind was not feeling any type of workout but because I knew I wasn’t going to do anything this weekend (not because I was too busy, just because I didn’t want too. Yes, sometimes I’m lazy.) so I forced myself to head to the gym. I did some hill training for 2 miles on the dreadmill.
3/16 – 3/17 – I drank too much (no kid, yay! #saidwithloveipromise) All my awesome hard work of eating well throughout the week, totally gone with a 6 pack of Bud Light. I did have a great time bowling & catching up with friends though, so it wasn’t a total loss.
3/18 – 2.25 miles on the dreadmill.

I’m keeping this week “light” because Saturday is the Bearathon. I woke up yesterday morning incredibly nervous. Like more nervous than I was with my first half. I want to think it’s because this is so close to home (only 30 minute drive) and I’m familiar with the turf, but in reality – I think I’m so nervous because I’ve been working towards this half-marathon since last year when I competed in the 5k portion of this race. Which means, not only have I been officially running for a year but I’ve also been enjoying it. I have a lot more to say on this topic, in fact, typing out this little bit is a little emotional for me already, so more on this in a future post.

Wow. Did I just get emotional about running? #whoami

In other topics, I talked yesterday about my relationship with food. Basically, it’s delicious & I have no self-control. Oops. But I’ve been making an honest effort, not just one where I pretend to do good 40% of the time & whine about nothing working, these past three weeks using My Fitness Pal (tracking everything I eat) and eating better per my goals for Abbey’s Forever Fitness Challenge.

After the Bearathon, I don’t really have anything on my race schedule. So, if you’re nearby and want a running buddy (pick me! pick me!), or you’re faraway and want/need an online supporter – let me know. #motivationstation

I love to cheer people on. It’s like my crack.

Haha, I said crack.

Training Tuesday

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This link-up is just a way to talk about training [in any way, for anything] to help hold ourselves accountable and possibly brag a bit. I mean, you ran 1 mile without stopping – you totally deserve a chance to brag about it! That shit is hard. You did 10 push-ups in a row, HOLLLEERRR.

And even if you’re not training for anything, you’re just putting yourself out there to be healthier, to get slimmer, to whatever you can share it on Training Tuesday. Let’s say you were sitting at home and instead of eating a carton of Oreos you instead ate 20 baby carrots and just imagined they were chocolate-y crèmey goodness [hypothetical situation, of course] – share it here!

Abbey & I don’t discriminate – we congratulate.

Grab the button up above & link-up down below to let us know what’s going on for you Training Tuesday (or any day really, link up throughout the week is good too!)

My Training

2/26 – 3 miles. 42 minutes. I had absolutely no desire to run. In situations like that when my mind is working against me & I’m having a hard time getting going I count on social media. If I post it out loud, typically I’m going to do it. I walked a lot during these miles, but it helped get my butt in gear for the rest of the week.

2/27 – WHY GOD WHY Wednesday with Moj. Another great way to get going is to have someone to work out with. If I didn’t have Moj, I probably would have avoided it. We did 45 minutes of stairs at our own pace but we either used 4 lbs hand weights or a resistant band at the same time to get an upper body workout. My triceps & shoulders burned like a mofo. We followed it up with a 100 push-ups. YES. You read that right. I did 100 push-ups and not one of them was from my knees. I had to take them 10 at a time, but they were done. BOOM.

2/28 – 2.5 miles. 31 minutes. Just running to shake out my legs from Wednesday’s workout.

3/1 – I had planned on working out with Moj again for a tabata workout, but something came up & she couldn’t do it. I had packed a pair of shorts so I couldn’t run [chub rub!]. Instead I hung out on the stationary bike – 7 miles in 31 minutes. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but I got my heart rate up. Anyone know anything about biking?

3/2 – Gut Pak Run. I’ll do a follow-up post about this tomorrow. It’s 2.2 miles. You run to a BBQ joint, eat food & run back. My friend Sunny & I signed up for it just as something fun to do and to see if we’d poop or puke ourselves. Spoiler Alert: We didn’t.

3/3 – I think I mentioned last week that I kind of suck at doing my long runs on Sunday this training go around. I just don’t want too. So, I didn’t. We went to church, then to My Emilie’s for lunch & a mini-Twilight marathon. We watched the first two movies before I had to suck it up and go back home to do our always multiplying laundry.

3/4 – With the Bearathon only a couple weeks away [eek!] I opted to take off work a little early & head to the gym to make sure I got my miles in. I had planned for 8, but got out of the office a little later than I anticipated. I made it to 7 before I had to pack up and go get the kiddo. My pace was 13:31 for it, which is usually where I sit when it comes to long runs. I’ll take it. With this upcoming half & the hills of death attached to it, my goal is to simply finish it. I’m not going into it with high hopes of a PR. If it happens, YAY! If it doesn’t, YAY!

Okay, link-up and let us know how your training is going!

Resolutions 2013: Month 1

I’ve decided I’m going to update throughout the year in regards to my 2013 Resolutions. I think know it will hold me more accountable if I actively remind myself of my goals for the year. You know how you read or hear people say to write down your goals and it helps you achieve them? Yeah, I’m going for that. So, we’ll see.

I do have to be honest with you though, I’m also using this as a platform to brag a little because I’m doing pretty damn awesome at everything so far. Not giving up in a week like I normally do when it comes to resolutions really does do wonders.

Onward!

Health

• Run faster. Goal: 12 min/mile pace or better and PR in the 5k.
  • Dudes. Dudes. I ran today. And guess what? Yeah, you’re reading that right. I’m totally on pace [get it, pace. ha.] with meeting this goal! I have a 5k next Saturday [which is a mile longer than this run] but I am excited to really push myself and see where I’m at. Especially after being slightly disappointed in my last 5k time. Just a reference, I tend to run 13 minute miles. A whole minute faster for 2 miles in a row? Yeah, #beastmode bitches.
• Lose weight. Goal: 30 lbs.
  • I’ve talked about how I am happy with my weight at 190 lbs. And I am. Which makes me wanting to really lose weight hard. I really like the way I look now and I love the way I feel. So, this resolution is mostly tied to the above one – the less I weigh, the less I have to lug across a finish line. I want to be a faster runner. And with that said, I’m officially down 6 lbs.

Financial

• Save money. Goal: $$ mo’ money.
  • We started a Dave Ramsey class with some friends of ours [who’ve done it before]. I also downloaded an app called Mint [mint.com]. Basically, you put in all your information and it categorizes your purchases for you and helps you set up a budget. Dudes, we spend more money on fuel than we do on our mortgage. [Necessary since we commute, but still, whaaaa?] It really helped me put things into perspective on how much we were spending. Example: We rent movies from Redbox, they’re like a $1.20. No big deal. Unless you forget to bring them back. Yeah, dropping a $100 on that is not happening again. Seriously, can’t recommend that app more.

Personal

• Become closer to God. Goal: ♥.
  • When Alfred and I first started discussing having a family, we talked about a lot of things. One of those was how we wanted to raise our child, and we wanted to do so with Faith. Well, we now have Lillie and she’s getting older, the time to do that is now. I want to be prepared for questions she’s bound to have and I want her to feel loved in our church home. I’ve gone more in the past couple months than I have in the past few years. We have a new preacher [Hi Pat!] who has definitely sparked the congregation and I feel on par with this. I even started going to a Bible Study class, where I – get this – actually contributed. #whoami
• Read more. Goal: #13booksin13.
  • I started reading The Mortal Instruments Series. It’s hard to find time to read when I’m doing one of these three things: Taking care of my 2 year old, Taking care of my 29 year old, and taking care of my 27 year old self. But I’ve started cutting the television off [it’s quite the time succubus] and that has helped immensely. I’ve finished the first book and have started the second.

One month in and I’m feeling good about life. And you know who else should be feeling good about life?

Breenah at By Breenah. She has started to run [you know how I love it when people run!] She even ran in 36 degrees today, friends. If you have a chance, go check her out and/or give her a thumbs up tweet @bybreenah ! #motivationstation in full effect and no shame.

Katie from State of Change. [She’s fantastic, seriously, we have this textual relationship that’s so hot and steamy. Literally. We kinda talked about poop today.] She recently got herself a jogging stroller [can anyone say milf?] and is going to become a personal trainer. Amazeballs. ‘Nuff said.

Kate from Begin Anyway. Dudes, she totally ran 3 miles in under 11 minute pace. and on a treadmill. I find I run faster outside, so major props to her. You’re a rockstar.

If you’re super proud of yourself for something, but kind of hate bragging about it – just tell me. I have no problem doing it for you. As I’ve said before, I like cheering for people. Every one deserves a slow clap in their life, at least once, and I can totally do that for you.

Ten on Tuesday

linking up with Lin & Amber

1. We had a friend-infested time this past weekend where Lillie played pretty hard and mama accidentally drank pretty damn hard, which resulted in moving my 5 mile run from Sunday to Monday. Totally worth it.

2. Who needs cable when you have this to watch? I mean, check out Lillie, she gets on that thing like a freaking pro. I’m not lying though when I say us adults laughed for a good 10 minutes at them.

3. My best friend can wear the hell out of a Moby wrap. It’s pretty useful for you soon-to-be-mamas out there, but I think Emilie just likes to sport it to embarrass her husband. Tam-approved. 4. I did not watch the Superbowl, nor did I see the half-time show. Oops.

5. I apologize for the sexiness in my voice, I blame the fact the kids kept asking me to sing over & over again and not the fact that I sound like a screeching cat when I sing.

6. I’ve made it pretty clear that I love to cheer people on in their fitness endeavors. Sometimes having that little extra push is all you need to git-r-done. So, when friends on twitter post things like “I don’t want to run”, I usually respond with this – And yesterday they totally got me back when I lacking motivation for my 5 miles because this popped up on my phone [during the middle of my run!] and I pretty much died laughing. Thanks Katie! #motivationstation  7. Kate [in first picture of #6!] posted a very sexy photo of herself on her blog today. I told her I would do the same. Nothing like a little glistening sweat to make the menfolk in our life go crazy, am I right? 8. I’m considering doing another vlüg, but have no idea what you lovely people would like to hear about. Ideas are welcome! Amanda at Smidgen of Spice suggested I try to bounce quarters off my own ass per this post. Thanks for that one, Amanda! [Also, go congratulate her on her engagement! I love the way her fiancé proposed!]

9. I signed up for a 5k next weekend, I’m hoping to improve my time and finally make it back into the 30:00ish time. My friend Sunny [her daughter is the one in the trampoline video] is running and quite a bit faster than me, so the plan is maybe if I run with her, I’ll be faster. Sounds good, right?

10. Has anyone been to a Body Pump class? The devil woman I love to hate, Moj, invited me to a class but I’ve never been. What should I expect? You know, other than slowly dying from the pain.