"Fat girl running"

Another week and and other 3 lbs down! I'm feeling pretty good lately. I have successfully stayed within my calorie range for over 2 weeks straight. This weekend Braylon was with his dad, so I spent the weekend with my boyfriend. Before I left for his house, I cut up veggies and fruit, then put them in separate containers to have on hand for whenever I felt snacky. I also brought some frozen grapes (new favorite snack). After a year, I still struggle to manage eating healthy and date nights, but I'm making progress. We went to a steakhouse saturday night becasue I was feeling strong. I avoided the pre-dinner bread and coconut shrimp (my pieces sat uneaten in front of me). I ordered off the light menu and got this 525 calorie California Chicken Salad:

Grilled chicken, apples, walnuts, feta cheese and light vinagrette dressing = super yummy!

For some reason, I'm lucky enough to rarely lack the motivation to work out. Today and tomorrow are my last 2 days of this 30-day ab challenge and I could not be more proud of myself. Tomorrow I will be doing a 2 minute plank if I don't die in the process. A friend and I are making a total body challenge of our own for the next 30 days. It seems like just this lil bit of a challenge is making a big impact on my weight loss/confidence!

Saturday I was out for a 3-mile run and it was super hot. I was just starting to lose my 'umpf' and take a walk break, when 3 mean boys piled in the front of a pick up truck decided to drive around the corner and point and laugh at me. One of them said "look at the fat girl running." After they passed, I turned around and the driver still had his head out the window watching me. Naturally, I threw my middle finger in the air and kept on going. I finished my 3 miles strong thanks to them, but I'd be lying if I said that didn't put a damper on the rest of my day. I know where I came from and am so proud of myself and what my body can do now, but that's never fun to hear. Especially because I am feeling so great about where I am lately.

Sunday I got up to run and was feeling pretty over Saturday's incident. I purposefully ran down the same road that the pick up boys found me on. I'm not sure why I chose that route. Maybe I was hoping to run into them and show them their opinions wouldn't stop me? The reason I'm sharing this is to let people know that while sometimes peoples comments will sting, I have received far more positive comments than negative. I have trained overweight, raced overweight, struggled overweight and this one time will not cover up all the encouragement I've received so many times in the past. I'm obviously running and eating healthy for myself, but those pick up truck boys definitely helped me find even more motivation I didn't know I had.

Before pics that I never knew existed

Sorry it's been so long, but I have been one busy girl lately. After my half, I got a little lazy and ate a way too much. The results showed! Not just on the scale, but I also felt sluggish and was getting winded easier. Now that my motivation is back from it's lil vacation, I've kicked it back into gear! I haven't had to change my exercise much because I already do a lot of that, but I did start tracking my calories again. As much as I hate it... it works. I'm down 11 lbs!

I'm currently doing 3 challenges: Run at least 1 mile everyday from Memorial Day until 4th of July, sweat everyday, 12-week belly off competition at work and an ab challenge. The ab challenge is BY FAR my favorite. It's nice to mix up my work outs. Just the other day, I was able to hold a 75 second plank. To say it hurt would be an understatement. But I feel good! Real good!

This past weekend I took Braylon to a ninja turtle birthday party. The ninja turtles are just about his favorite thing ever right now and he was the happiest I have ever seen him when Leonardo showed up!

This party made me remember that the birthday boy had Elmo arrive at his 2nd birthday party (3 years ago) and back then. I visited my friends facebook album of that party to check the pics and saw something I was not prepared for. I dont think I have ever seen these pics or realized I was this big at one time...

Seeing these makes me remember the pain of what 300+ pounds is like. I will NEVER be there again. I'm so glad I found this love of running and have filled my life with some extremely supportive people! 3 years later...

with my beautiful momma!

Rite Aid Cleveland Half Marathon Race Report

Another 13.1 done! I had so much fun this weekend and am so glad I did this race. I was meeting my friend, Lisa, who I haven't seen in over 5.5 years. We used to work together almost 8 years ago and then she moved a few hours away. She visted for my baby shower, but we lost contact after that. I am SO GLAD she found me after all this time and we decided to do this. We had a bunch of fun and I'm positive we will be doing more races together!

We headed to the expo after meeting saturday afternoon. I don't feel like I recieved as much free stuff as the other expos I've been to (I'm still going thru eye cream and toothbrushes from the Flying Pig expo that they piled in our bags), but it was a good expo. I bought a "Run Cleveland" shirt, some sports beans and then we then went to the hotel to check in. This was seriously the most georgeous hotel I've ever seen:

Then we headed to dinner dowh the street at a very trendy restaurant called Pura Vida. I had a wedge salad, cuban pulled pork sandwich with asparagus on the side. I wish I would have taken a picture of my food because it was put together so nice. The food was delicious and not as heavy as the pasta dishes I normally have before a big race.

After dinner, we walked down 4th street in downtown Cleveland. It was a cute little street with a lot of restaurants and bars. We're not drinkers (especially right before a race) and we just ate so there wasn't a lot to do. We walked up and down and around the block, but soon called it an early night.

 

 The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast and were ready to run! Of course I had to take a self portrait of my new "race me" shirt.

I guess I was too busy taking pics of my myself because I forgot to get one of Lisa and me before the race. Ooops! We walked down to the start line and then were off! I definitley walked more than I should have, but I walked FAST! I loved this course because of the views of Lake Erie (there are NO decent lakes near me so it was a nice change of scenary). We went over some cool bridges and thru some charming neighborhoods. We stayed together the entire time. The last 2 miles were the worst for me (that's typical, right?). Everything hurt from my waist down, I was sunburnt and I just wanted to be done. I had minimal cramping in my calves this time, but I could feel it starting near the end. This older gentleman was running near us and he just kept saying "yes you can, yes you can" over and over again. That helped me so much. It's so amazing to me how much one spectator, sign or postive comment can help you find that momentum to keep going. Once we got near the finish line, the crowds and music definitely pump you up enough and we were able to run it in fast!

Yay!! We're done!

We grabbed some water and bananas, and were trying to get through the finisher's chute, but then I got super nauseous and was afraid of blacking out so I stopped walking. Then my hamstrings started cramping really bad so I just sat where I was and stretched for about 15 minutes. Lisa got us popsicles and we sat and ate them until I was ready to start the uphill trek back to the hotel. I got my favorite medal ever! Check out how cute it is:



It has a bright pink guitar that SPINS!



It wasn't until later that I checked the results and saw that I had a 3:01 time. SO CLOSE to my under 3 hour goal. There's always next time, right? I start training for the AF Half Marathon on July 1. Until then I plan to do a lot of speedwork for the FFTFL 5K and my mean abs challenge. 

2 posts in 2 days... WHAAAAT!?

I forgot to touch on this in my last blog, but wanted to do a quick follow up on some of the challenges I've been doing.

I completed the squat challenge yesterday with 275 squats. I'm not even hurting today... shockingly! I loved doing them and it has definitely made my legs stronger for running. I plan to continue with them, but will do less each day.

The facebook Hustle & Bustle challenge is still going on. I'm having fun with it. We have to post flexed muscle pics or post workout pics for points. Here's my latest "flexed" arm pic...

Sorry about the arm fat/skin view, but I'm posting this because I want it to be my "before" arm pic for my next challenge. Yep, another challenge. (Apparently I just cannot get enough of these things!) The same co-workers who roped me into the squat challenge are doing a mean abs challenge starting on Monday. I'm excited and even though this challenge focuses on abs, there are a LOT of push ups so I figure it has to help some, right? Plus, there's NO WAY I'm putting an ab pic up here. haha By sharing this pic and knowing that I have to share an after pic in 31 days, I will be more likely not to miss a single [girly] push up. I'm modifying my challange to include squats each day, but here's the challange in case anyone wants to join!

I am so excited for this half and training to be over that I'm already focusing on "what's next." I decided I'm going to put 100% focus into my running pace and hopefully I can get a PR in the FFTFL Virtual 5K! I might even follow along with the c25k method and use that to improve my speed. I can only do this for a few weeks before I have to start training for my 4th Half Marathon. But first, how about I get thru this weekend!? My ankle is still hurting me, but I am doing a lot of resting until Sunday so hopefully it will be gone by then.

Nerves

I don't know what it is about this particular half marathon, but I do not feel ready. I've used the same training plan as my first 2 HMs, but missed a couple runs back when I was sick.

Early last week I neglected to check the weather before my after-work run. Out of nowhere the sky opened up and it began to pour. The drops hurt my face, but I kept going, hoping it would let up. I finally decided to take a break because I was soaked and shivering while running. I waited under an awning for awhile and snapped a pic of myself.

I had almost 2 miles back to my car and decided to just go for it and embrace the rain. Of course, as soon as I was done and got in my car, the rain stopped.

This past weekend I ran my 10 mile run...on a treadmill... staring at the wall. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, because I was busy concentrating on all the pain my body felt. My new running shoes were still wet from my rain run earlier in the week so I was wearing an old pair. I'm praying the pain my body felt during that run was due to the old shoes and not something else. At 7.5 miles I stopped to use the restroom. When I got back on the treadmill I was stiff from the waist down for the last 2.5 miles. I'm guessing it was from stopping? Afterwards I soaked my legs in a long, hot bath and by the next day I was feeling better!

I did 4 miles yesterday in the (now dry) new pair of shoes and experienced some rare knee pain in one leg and ankle pain in the other. I am definitely blowing this off due to switching shoes so much lately. Tomorrow I am going to do 2 miles, then rest for 2 days before the half.

For the first time ever, I'm less worried about getting a PR and more worried that I won't finish. I just don't feel ready for this. I have been drinking over 120 ozs of water/day and avoiding coffee in order to prevent myself from getting the dreaded charlie horse cramps this time. I will be sure to post a race report next week!
 
I hope all you lovely momma's out there had a wonderful mother's day. Here's a pic of me and the lil guy who made me a mommy:

Behind

Yikes, it's been awhile! I recently accepted a leadership position at work that is causing me a LOT more stress work. I cannot give up Braylon time or running time, so the blog is suffering... a lot. I'm sorry! Let's catch up:

Boston:


My friend Kara and I getting ready to run for Boston!



It took me a long time to gather my thoughts on what happened. I was glued to the tv and internet for days after it happened and I haven't stopped being sad since. It really puts everything in perspective and it is still incomprehensible that someone could take something as positive as a marathon (the Boston marathon, at that!) and turn it into something so negative. I love all the hero/support stories that have came from it, though. To think about those runners who were finishing the race of a lifetime, only to be stopped and have to wonder if their loved ones/fellow runner's are ok is just insane to me. I wanted to do SOMETHING so I joined in a lil 2.62 Boston support run that the running stores in my community put on.

 

Braylon didn't make it long before he was tired.

Half Marathon #3 Training:
Aside from being sick and missing some runs in March, I have done very well with getting my miles in. The truth is, though, that I don't feel like I have put the same effort into my runs that I did for my first 2 half marathons. I don't feel prepared, but I know I can do it! I did 8 miles 2 weeks ago and when I was done, I felt like I could easily finish 5.1 more miles. However, I did 9 miles last sunday and I thought I was going to die. Race day should be interesting! I'm not expecting a PR, but I need to know I am putting everything into these last 2 weeks of training. I ended April with 68 miles ran... I wish this number was more like 100.

Squat Challenge:
I signed up for what I thought was a silly little squat challenge with some coworkers. We're up to around 100/day, which is not hard for me because I've been doing squats for a long time. HOWEVER, combined with training runs, it's been a huge help.

Hustle & Bustle Challenge:
My Ragnar teammate, Linda, talked me into a Hustle & Bustle challenge put on by her BeachBody coach. We're put into teams and we get points for things like sweaty pictures after workouts, muscle shots, encouraging posts, etc. I love it! The sweaty pics are right up my alley! I've never looked better than in a super sweaty post workout pic!

There's my pre-squat challenge, sweaty butt pic!

The Scale:

I haven't been on it since right after Ragnar in January, and I don't miss it. I may weigh more. I may weigh less. I feel good. I eat well. I work out 6 days a week. My jeans fit. I don't want to obsess over numbers right now, but I will step back on it eventually.

Shoes:

I do love new running shoes, but because I have wide, flat feet, I rarely end up with a cute pair. I'm very excited because this time I have cute ones and they have PINK on them!! I took them out for a 5 mile test run last night and I received 3 new blisters (not worried, this always happens until I break them in).

I have a weird thing with my feet.... some of my friends have lost toenails after long runs and I get jealous. I have never lost a toenail and I feel like this is some sort of runner initiation that I'm missing out on! Sometimes a long run will rub the toenail polish off one specific toe and my boyfriend humors me and calls it my "runner's toe." It's just not the same though. What's a girl gotta do to lose a toenail? Stop cutting my toenails? Buy a size smaller shoe?

From Fat to Finish Line Virtual 5K:

Our From Fat to Finish Line team is hosting a virtual 5K during the week of July 15-21. Anyone and everyone should join, whether you run, walk or crawl to the finish line. To do so please click on the virtual 5K link above! The 5K is 10 weeks away and we will offer plenty of training plans and support! Run with me!!!!

Harrigan's St. Patrick's Day 5K

This weekend was my fav lil 5k at Harrigan's, a local pub. Even though St. Patrick's Day was over, I decided to get festive and buy a cute black and green tutu from Race Junkie on Etsy. I arrived early and met up with a few friends for pics. It was about 28 degrees so we stayed in the heated tent as long as possible.


Rockin the tutu with 2 of my closest friends, Scott and Kara (they finished in a little over 25 minutes--so awesome)!



As I mentioned in the last post, I am just getting over bronchitis and haven't done a lot of running in the last week. I had my inhaler in my pocket and was fully anticipating a bad run. Once the race started, I was actually feeling great. To my surprise, it wasn't my breathing/cough that was an issue at all. It was my legs. My time ended up being 39:29 (12:44 pace-I think), which is actually my 2nd best 5K time ever. I am happy with it, considernig the circumstances.

Afterwards, some of my friends and I went to a sports bar for lunch and just to hang out. Most of them changed before we got there, but I did not want to cut my time in the tutu short. I kinda felt like a princess! I even shopped a little afterwards and kept it on! I got a lot of stares of envy.

That evening, I was meeting up with Katie, my Ragnar teammate. She was in town for a running class and staying with me. While we were in Florida, we were in separate vans, so we didn't get to chat as much as we would have liked  (also, I was one of the first to leave Key West so we didn't have a lot of time to hang out together). We had some delicious chipotle and a 170 calorie ice cream cone from McDonalds. Afterwards we just sat and talked, it was so nice to finally have a long in-person conversation after a year of getting to know each other over the computer.