Four attempts with One success

I'm sorry I haven't posted much this year. The past year and a half has been really hard. I've felt like I have been such a failure. I let the stress with all of the moving get to me and I went the wrong way. I started gaining weight and gained so much more than I ever expected. It is so easy to fall back into bad habits and undoing all the hard work that I had done took a toll on me and my confidence.

When we moved here, I decided to stop and fix everything. I started going to a local gym and working with a personal trainer. For the last 9 months, I have worked with her, and I have not seen much when it comes to results. I tried getting back into a good running routine and that went well until a few weeks before my first half of my running season. Life got in the way and my last few long runs didn't happen. I still wasn't losing weight and I was very frustrated.

The morning of that race, I felt good but nervous. Four miles in, I felt great, then the rain started. By the time I got to mile 8, I was in serious pain due to blisters and I was seriously debating stopping. By mile 10, the debate was over. I called Mac to come get me. I knew if I walked those last 3 miles, my feet would be destroyed and I had so many more races coming up. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.

Attempt #1 at my 12th half marathon - FAILED

The next race on the list was Wine and Dine in November. I had every intention to buckle down  and get in my miles between the Jekyll race and Wine and Dine. However, frustrations got in the way and I stopped running like I should. I was creeping up on the end of my biggest loser time frame and I had actually gained weight during those 9 months. I know a lot of that weight is muscle, but the fact that I hadn't lost enough fat to see a difference on the scale really had me down. I still felt like I was good for Wine and Dine but I did not get in the training that I should.

Wine and Dine ended up being a cluster. I tried to be smart and stay off my feet before the race since I learned my lesson at Tower of Terror Ten Miler a few years ago, but there was a big group of us doing the 5K that morning. After that, Mac and I took a nap and then went to dinner. The plan was to head out to Beach Club and catch a race bus. We got out there around 8pm and the race was supposed to start at 10pm. We hung around the staging area and the time we thought we should be headed to the corrals, we finally started moving, but soon found they were leading us into the stadium at Wide World of Sports. There was a storm in the area and they wanted to keep us safe. After lots of waiting around and no idea what was happening, they finally let us back out and told us the race was going to start an hour late and the course would be shortened. Our corral finally started some time around 11:40.

The course was just over a 10K but by the last two miles, I felt like I had done a half instead of 5 miles at that point. My feet were killing me from the early morning 5K and all of the standing around with the weather delay. I had big plans of living it up at the after party but once we actually got in there(and saw the crazy lines for all the food) we decided it was time to just go to bed.  I know it isn't my fault that the race ended up being shortened but having another attempt come up short sucked.

Attempt #2 - FAILED





Next up on the list was Space Coast Half Marathon. I seriously considered not even showing up. I was so upset with how I felt at Wine and Dine that I thought there was no way I could do a half three weeks later. I looked to see if there was a transfer or deferral option and they had neither. I did find out that it had a 7 hour limit so I knew if I had to crawl it, I could finish in that time. I was cautiously optimistic as we headed down there. I was excited about this race. I loved the theme and REALLY wanted the medal. The morning of the race I did something I NEVER do and went for a group pic with some of my fellow sparkle skirt lovers. I got to say hello to a few of them before we all rushed out to the corrals. The Half started 30 minutes before the full and we had to get out there early.  I did the race all on my own but I think I needed that considering everything that has happened this year. The course was amazing. It was very flat and the entire was was along the waterfront of the Indian River. There were gorgeous houses on the other side. Lots of the families came out to cheer us on and one had a whole breakfast area set up for runners to grab stuff including bacon, orange slices, beer, mimosas, pretzels, pancakes and almost anything you could want. It was a straight out and back so you started with the water to your left and ended with it to your right. Mac was hanging out around the 5K mark so I saw him twice. I wasn't fast, but I felt good during the race. As I neared the end, I was a little emotional because I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish before I started and at mile 12, I was tired but still felt good. they had and awesome amount of food and stuff for the runners after the race including a pancake breakfast or pizza and beer. I went with the pancakes but I did get my beer for Mac. I sat and watched as people from both races finished. I had hoped to see a friend finish her first half but we had to get back to the hotel so I could shower and we could check out so I had to leave before I could see her. I left finally feeling good about my running again, but also dreading the following weekend a little. My next half was only a week away.



Attempt #3 -  SUCCESS!!

So I finally finished my 12th half marathon but the possibility for 13 was way too close. Heather had mentioned earlier in the year that she wanted to do the Diva Half in St Augustine and I said I would do it with her. I wasn't paying attention to the date and didn't realize it was only one week after Space Coast. If I had realized they were that close, I may not have signed up for it. I was also worried because Mac and I were going to Disney a few days before the race to do another Christmas party and also to Sea World because they do a great job decorating for Christmas too. I knew I was going to be on my feet a lot and my knee has hurting more after Space Coast than I expected.  The morning of the race, it was cold and rainy. I REALLY didn't want to start. Fortunately the rain stopped before the start of the race. The race was very disorganized though. No one was sure where the start was or how the waves were going to be split up. The race finally started and we were towards the back of the pack. If Heather hadn't been there, I would have gone back to bed. I wasn't that excited about the race and I didn't feel 100%. By the time we hit the 5K point, I was hurting. My knee was NOT happy with me. My IT band has been tight and it was definitely making me feel every step. The course was kind of crazy and the half way point was very close to the finish. I seriously planned on just stopping there and waiting on Heather to finish. I knew she wouldn't be happy with me though. I didn't want to slow her down because I knew the course had a time limit and they would be sweeping.  I told her I would go as long as I could and if the bus got close, then she should leave me. About 9 miles in, I saw the bus was catching us so I told her to go ahead. Just after mile 10, I saw a few people heading back towards me to go get on the bus(which was about 20 feet behind me. I decided to join them. It just wasn't worth fighting the pain anymore and it started raining again. Around mile 11.5, someone asked if they could get off the bus so that if someone else needed to get in they could(it was completely full). The driver said yes but that if we caught them again, she would have to pick them back up. She stopped next to the end of an out and back turn around so they had a little head start on the bus. Everyone got out except for myself and one other lady. The reality was, I just didn't care enough about the race and I knew that I wouldn't have done the entire distance so 10 miles was good enough for me. The driver was doing her best to let the ladies in front of us finish. there was one that was doing her first half and she was determined to keep going. The driver decided that as long as the race directors or local police didn't tell her to hurry and pick everyone up, she was going to let them finish. As we passed the tiara and boa station at mile 13, she stopped and got them for the two of us on the bus still. Then just before the finish, she stopped and let us out to cross the line. I really just wanted to find Heather and leave but I crossed with the other runner and got my stuff. We ran to get on the last shuttle back to our parking lot. I was glad that it was over even though it wasn't the best race.

One of the best things about the race, even though it was chaotic and the course was crazy with all of its turns, the local police department was amazing. Some times with races, the town wants the roads opened ASAP. However, these officers were so encouraging to every runner. The police chief was riding around in an ATV checking on all of the officers out on the course. He never once rushed anyone and wanted everyone to finish. He was even picking up struggling runners and taking them ahead on the course so they wouldn't get picked up. He directed traffic when he needed and cheered everyone along. Every officer on the course was the same. When the last runners passed, they cheered and clapped and encouraged them every step along the way. It really was refreshing to see such genuine care and support from those working the course.

Even though I did not finish the race, I got 10 miles done. I enjoyed seeing St Augustine again and I was there when Heather did her first non-Disney half marathon.

Attempt at my 13th half marathon - FAILED

On the way home from St Augustine, I decided to buckle down and get ready for Star Wars Half in Disneyland in January. Monday after the race, I started trying to use the 21 day fix cups to help keep my food in check. I have been taking pics of my food again(but not consistently) and trying to refocus. I have started my back to back runs to prepare for the Rebel Challenge. I want to go back to California a little lighter if I can. It has been a week and I have lost 3 pounds. I am sure most of that was water weight but at least it is a start. I'm hopeful about where things are going. We'll see if I can keep the momentum going in the right direction this time. I have Star Wars DL in January, Princess in February, Star Wars WDW in April and Tink in May. Hopefully with all that running along with eating better and continuing with my personal trainer, I will see some real results in the coming months.

The good and the bad of last week

Last week was one of those weeks. It was really crappy and really good at the same time. I decided to start logging my food in a new way. It was a bad week for that. I did pretty good about taking pics of everything, good and bad, at the beginning of the week but I had two unusual nights that threw me off.  Tuesday I went out with a friend I have reconnected with here to go painting. Because of that, I was getting home late and Mac had already eaten. My plan had been to make a nice healthy chicken dinner at home but I wasn't going to go through the trouble of cooking it all for just me and I was starving and didn't want to wait that long. My initial reaction was to just grab fast food. Instead, I went to Panera and tried to make a better choice by getting chicken soup. I also went by Publix hoping to get something more substantial but also healthy to go with my soup. They had nothing good left at the deli and I was hungry, so I grabbed a small thing of banana pudding, planning to only have part of it. The banana pudding was the first thing I ate and did not record. That trend continued through the rest of the week. Thursday night was Bunco and there were tons of sweet treats there. I had a few different things and they sent more home with me. I helped Mac eat them. I finally gave up on Friday and decided to reset and try again. I posted a little over the weekend but the main plan was to get back on track on Monday. I did pretty well getting back to it with a few exceptions late night.

I absolutely recognize that I eat way too many carbs. I always have. And I do not eat enough protein. I am trying to change those things but it takes time. It also takes a more structured week than I had last week. I need to get back into the habit of having a salad at night instead of chips and salsa or a few pieces of candy and eating apples and peanut butter instead of mindless snacking. It is going to take some determination to get through the withdrawals and cravings but I know if I push through, I should start seeing real results. I just need to get back to fueling my body properly instead of just eating. But all of that is much, much easier said than done.

On the other hand, it was a good week in other areas. A few months ago, Mac and I entered a drawing for a free bike sponsored by an organic protein drink at one of the natural grocers here in town. Mac has a bike but it has been years since I have owned one and I have never had a nice bike like the one I got Mac for his birthday two years ago. We entered saying maybe I could get a bike that way. Well, two or three weeks ago, Mac got an email that he had won. They just needed the info(gender, height, inseam) so they could customize the bike. It was built and shipped to us and arrived on Wednesday.

On top of that, I sent out my first shirts as part of my new custom design business. I love wearing fun shirts for races but getting them custom printed, especially on a tech shirt, is not cheap. My mom ended up upgrading the heat press I had used for my Star Wars shirts and gave me the old one. Now I can create custom items for anyone interested.

I have been running on Monday nights with a couple ladies from MRTT. It is still a very small group but it has given me the accountability I need to keep up with those short runs. Last Monday, we had a new runner which gave us a group of three. I decided to really push and make sure we stuck to the intervals the entire 3+ miles and we ended up with the best average pace we have had since we started. We aren't trying to be fast, but it was good knowing we were getting a little better. I didn't get any more runs in during the week but I kept going to the gym as usual(my trainer is FINALLY focusing on my upper body instead of legs) and I got in my first long run in a while.

I should have been doing long runs each weekend for the last few weeks, but I have been scared to do it. I haven't done anything over three miles since Peachtree and even though we did over six that day, we walked over half of it because of the weather and just wanting to enjoy the race. I hadn't actually purposely ran anything over three miles since the 10K I did in April. I was terrified to get back out there, so I didn't. Last week, I was hit with the realization that I only had 8 weeks until my half marathon on Jekyll Island and 12 weeks until Wine and Dine, so I HAVE to start getting in some distance runs or I am not going to have a great race like I want. I had six miles on the schedule and though I was scared of it, I knew I had to do it. 

Mac and I suited up and headed out around 11 Saturday night. The  first 2-3 miles ALWAYS suck for me. That is why I hate short runs and typically don't do many 5Ks anymore. About a mile and a half in, my calves were getting so tight. I was so sure I was never going to make it the entire six miles(this is the normal thought process). I tried to focus on how much farther we had to go because realizing we had only done 1.5 was depressing. To do the six miles in our neighborhood, we needed to run every street and culs-de-sac  twice plus our street and a tiny bit extra again at the end. It was basically  two and one third laps. As my legs were still cramping, I was just trying to focus on finishing that first lap. We passed the house and somewhere during the next mile my legs loosened up.  Finally, I was feeling good and like I was going to get through the run. I realized near the end of the first lap that my GPS was wrong. I am fully aware that they are never accurate so I ALWAYS map out my route exactly like I will run it so that I can figure out how long it is and when I will hit my mileage that I need. I knew about what it should be at the end of the lap and it was off by almost half a mile. Because of that, my pace was wrong as well, which was frustrating. I KNEW my second mile was faster than 17 minutes but I had no way of knowing what it really was until we were done. At the end of the second lap, I was tired but still felt pretty good. We just had our end of the neighborhood left and I would complete my first long run of training. Even though I knew it was wrong, it was really hard for me to deal with my Garmin being off by half a mile and not feeling like I needed to keep going until it said six miles but I knew I had mapped it out so I knew what was six miles. We were headed back towards the house and the last three tenths of a mile. I looked at my watch and saw that it was at 1:27. I knew if I finished in 1:30 that I would have an average pace of 15 minute mile. I know that is slow but it is still hot and I haven't run that far in months so I was hoping for 1:30. I became determined to finish in under 1:30. I picked up my walking pace because I was doing 1/1 intervals. I had 2 walks and only 1 run left and if I wanted to make it in time, I had to speed up. When the alarm sounded for my last run interval, I took off. I was focused on making it as far as I could. Unfortunately, that interval was on the uphill part of the end of the run. It isn't steep, but when you are tired and pushing yourself as hard as I was, it feels so much worse. I made it to the top before the end of the run interval but I was so out of breath I had to start walking before I reached the minute mark. The end of the route passes our house and goes up the hill to the cul-de-sac and then back to the street light in front of our house. I only had half as far to go back and it was down hill. I walked for about 100 feet to try to catch my breath just a little and then sprinted to the end. I hit the button on the Garmin and it stopped at 1:29:46. It was close but I made it in under 1:30. After cooling down and getting some chocolate milk, I uploaded my run so I could fix the route. We ran exactly six miles with an average pace of 14:58. I was so happy.

It felt good to have a good run and to get that first long run out of the way. Last Wednesday is also the day I received an email from RunDisney with a 12 week training plan for Wine and Dine. I checked it out and realized it increased the mileage soon enough for me to use it for Under the Oaks in October and then continue on for Wine and Dine. It works a little better with my workout schedule and includes some speed work, which I have never done before but have wanted to do. Of course, I have adjusted it just a little to better suit me but hopefully it will help me get back on track and have a great race season.

Now if I could just get that food under control so I could lose some of this weight and make running easier.

Trying a new approach

I recently read an article about a new approach to tracking your food. Instead of counting calories or logging things with numbers, they suggested taking pictures of your food. Their end goal was a little different from the thoughts that I had when I first saw the link to the article and I quickly lost interest in their idea(I can't even remember what all they said) but I really liked the idea I had. I know one of the points of the article was being able to look back at the things you ate and pay attention to the portion sizes, types of carbs and proteins and things like that, which are good ideas. I just wanted to take it a little further. For me, if I was only going to be the one looking at the pics, yeah, I may pay attention to those things but after a while, I wouldn't care and would either stop taking pictures or ignoring the bad things in them. I knew that if it was going to be seen by others however, that would have a HUGE impact on what and how much I ate. The article said to take a picture of everything that went into your mouth, and I agree with that. But I am going to take it one step further and share those pictures.

I have finally started an Instagram account solely for this purpose. If you would like to follow me to help me stay accountable, I would really appreciate it. I started taking pics today and the meals weren't great but it was kind of like a last indulgence before diving in. I will still allow myself a cheat probably once a week or every two weeks because being too strict leads to failure. Knowing that  others will see it, I feel like this will help me to stay accountable and make better choices for each meal and possibly stop me from having those bad snacks or find something better to munch on.

Some of you have been following my journey for a while and you have been so supportive. Any help you can give me here by simply following would mean so much. You don't even have to look at the pics, but seeing that I have followers, will help me to hopefully keep my act together this time.

If you would like to follow me here is my info.
https://instagram.com/mmhweightlossbattlesfoodlog/

Checking a race off my list

I have been wanting to do Peachtree Road Race for a few years. I was always a little wary of the fact that it is a race on the 4th of July in Atlanta but hearing about the atmosphere made me want to do it. I almost tried to get a transfer bib last year but decided not to at the last minute. Knowing how much closer we are living to Atlanta this year, I decided this would be the best time to try. I did not want to enter the lottery because I didn't want to risk not getting in. I looked into the charity bib option and decided it was worth it. I did not have to raise any money,  I just had to pay extra which would go directly to the charity. On top of that, I would get an early wave placement and access to the special charity areas before and after the race. Peachtree is a 6.2 mile party. It starts in Buckhead in front of Lenox and takes you down Peachtree Road towards downtown where you turn onto 10th street and run to Piedmont park for the finish line. People from all over the city come out to cheer on the runners and celebrate. They hand out food, water, candy popsicles, and beer. 

I ended up running with one of my best friends, Patrick. When I mentioned I had signed up, he said he may be interested, so I signed him up, haha. Don't tell me about a race you have been considering running because there is a good chance I will sign you up to run it with me. I know that he isn't a huge fan of running anything more than 3 miles, so I decided to use this as the push to actually get him to do the race. I knew it wouldn't be hard for him since we would be going at my pace, which is much slower than his.

A few friends from college met up with us in ATL to hang out for the weekend. We found an apartment to rent out for the weekend that was really close to the finish area at Piedmont Park. We were a little farther from MARTA than I wanted to be but it was close enough that Mac could drop us off closer to the station. Patrick was staying somewhere else since work had him in ATL and they covered his hotel.

I woke up race day to a very unpleasant surprise. There was a HUGE storm headed straight for the course that stretched on for a while. I checked the race FB page and things were still a go but they were keeping an eye on the storm. Patrick drove over the morning of the race to catch a ride to the train with me. Mac wasn't able to get us as close as we thought to the the station we were planning to use because of the road closures but we followed a few other runners up to it.(We were actually right next to a station and didn't realize it. Oh well.) We were able to see the wheelchair racers as they turned onto 10th street towards the finish line. We got into the station just as a train was getting ready to leave. We could have hustled and made it on but we decided to wait for the next. We should have run for it. The next train was definitely a lot fuller. Because of the longer walk to the train and waiting for the next one, we were running a little late. Our Wave was set to start at 7:50. I felt a little better knowing we were on the train with lots of people that were supposed to start before us. If we got into our wave, great. If not, we would just jump in a later one.

We got off the train and headed towards the start corrals. As we got closer, I saw the sign for wave E go past. We made it to the start area just as D was preparing to leave. We hoped in to the front of E and made our way to the line. It wasn't raining yet but the sky didn't look good. We started right on time. We jogged for a while until we could make our way over to the right side. It started raining almost immediately after we started. With it being wet and crowded, I wanted to be safe, not sorry. We never followed any set intervals just went by feeling. Not long into the race, we found someone handing out beer and free hugs. I got a hug and Patrick got a beer. Then we grabbed a pixie stick. I was handed some 80s sunglasses and a full size bottle of water.  Patrick made a pit stop and I laughed at the people going out of their way to run through a sprayer that was set up on the right side of the road. By this time, it was raining pretty steady and everyone was soaked. There was no need for the water. We headed on into mile 2 which is mostly down hill. We jogged the entire thing at an easy pace. As we ran, I noticed a tent for Sweet Water beer where they were handing out free cups. Since it is a local beer and not the cheap stuff he was handed earlier, I knew Patrick would want some but he didn't see it. I yelled, "Patrick, beer. Sweet Water!" He darted in front of me, hit a huge puddle, grabbed and light pole to pull a U turn and everyone cheered as he ran back for his beer. I was enjoying my blue freeze pop that I grabbed just before the beer tent from some teens with a cooler. It was the perfect slushy consistency. We enjoyed our treats as we continued town the hill. For about the last half of the downhill section, we could see the buildings of downtown ATL and straight ahead of us was the one everyone calls "the pencil" because that is what it looks like. Somewhere during that section is when everyone on that decline saw "the pencil" get struck by lightning. Up until that point, the course flags had been yellow, after that, they were switched to red. There really wasn't too much lightning except for that one strike. Everyone kept going but many joked about the taller runners around them. There was a collective gasp through the thousands of runners on that hill when it happened but no one stopped.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had heard about the major hill on the course. That's why I started trying to run one of the big hills near us to prepare. When we reached the flat area at the bottom of the hill, we walked for a while to recover and prepare for the hill. I wanted to run as much of it as I could. I didn't want it to slow us down too much. We hit the bottom and started running. There was a red light with a flat area just beyond it. I decided that I wanted to run to the light, take a walk break and then attack the hill again. At the light, we walked a little. I was trying to prepare mentally for the rest of the hill. I knew from others that they brought out the patients from the Spine Center to watch the race and that soon after we would reach the top of the hill and Piedmont Hospital. I was trying to psych myself up for this big, long climb and realized I was seeing the patients out under tents watching us. The rain was still falling but they were out there cheering. I realized I could see the Piedmont hospital sign and we were closer to the top than I thought. I told Patrick I wanted to run it out and started nearly sprinting up the hill. It was no where near as tough as I was expecting. Between hearing what others said and preparing for it for a few weeks before, it really wasn't as bad as I expected. I was really proud of our time up the hill when we were done.

After that, it was an easy run/walk through downtown. I texted our spectators as we turned onto 10th St so they would know we were coming and so they could let me know where they were. Patrick and I joked about a 10K ending our 12 year friendship because I made him start running when he really needed to find a restroom thanks to the beers he had on the course. Because we took the race pretty easy due to the rain, he had no trouble with the distance(which I expected) but as I runner, I know how hard it is to run when you need to go and I had to give him a hard time about it. We made our way down 10th towards the finish feeling good but very wet. I saw Mac and our friends just before we made it to the finish line. I got a quick kiss from the hubby and headed to the line. I knew our time was crap, but I didn't really care. We had a great time.

The finisher chute area was a muddy disaster. We headed through the lines to grab our finishers' shirts and then get our food box. Patrick finally made his pit stop while I looked for our crew. We slid in to the charity runner area to grab some fruit and most importantly, for me, a couple PowerIce popsicles. They are basically all natural gatorade in a popsicle.  The heat wasn't horrible thanks to the rain but it was still very refreshing after the race. After meeting up with the others, everyone headed back to our apartment. There was no real point in taking a shower because we were completely soaked. It started raining harder right after we finished so most of the sweat was rinsed off. The great thing about being in an apartment instead of a hotel was the fact that we had a dryer. everyone changed into dry clothes and tossed their wet stuff in the dryer. We hung out for the rest of the day and just enjoyed our time together. Our friends presented us with the medals I bought when I signed us up. Since Peachtree gives their shirts to finishers, they don't really do medals. Since so many runners now love their bling, they have started offering then for sale. Since I love my medals and I knew this was going to be Patrick's first(and possibly only) 10K, I got the medals for us both.

Peachtree really was a big party. I'm glad I did it, and if I get a chance, I may do it again. I was hoping I would have a decent finish time to possibly use for Wine and Dine but with the rain, that went out the window. It was a ton of fun running with an old friend and just having fun out on the course. We never took ourselves too seriously during the race and because of that we were free to just enjoy it. It was really nice having a nice race again, even if it wasn't the best finishing time.

SORRY

I've been meaning to post but I just keep forgetting I guess. I need to recap Peachtree and let you all know what has been going on with the group meet-up runs. I will do my best to get these things up this week.

Leaving my comfort zone

I am trying really hard to step out of my comfort zone right now. I recently joined the Moms Run This Town(MRTT) chapter in my area. I always felt weird about it in the past because I am not a mom, at least not to human children. I was told several times that fur moms count too but I still felt weird so I never tried to join.

I really want to find a group of people in real life to help me train and keep me accountable. I tried going through the local track club but I just didn't get a good feeling from the online interactions so I finally sucked it up and joined MRTT. Immediately I was welcomed into the group and the discussions felt very different. They have several meet up runs each week but they are all super early so that was another strike. I asked in there if there were other evening runners and there are. I am trying to step out so I am thinking of organizing some evening group runs.

I love running in my neighborhood but it is too flat. I need to start running on some hills to get ready for Peachtree and just overall improve my running. There is an area near me that would be great for this but since it requires driving somewhere to run, having people to meet up with will make it more likely to happen.

I'm trying to train better for Peachtree because the 10K i did in Macon on Memorial Day didn't go as planned. Hopefully I can get these weekly runs worked out and July 4th will be much better.

Finally crawling out from under it all

I know it has been a while since I posted last. I did not realize how long until I just checked. Sorry. Things took a little while to get better but I think(knock on wood) that I may be finally come out on the other side.

After we got Mac better, I started to get back on track. I went to the gym and was feeling alright. The pollen was becoming a nightmare and I felt a little scratchiness in my throat but I hoped it would go away. Then I ended up getting food poisoning. It took me a little more time to recover than when Mac had it and once I did, I realized the sinus issues I had been having, moved into my chest. I had a HORRIBLE cough. I went to the gym once the stomach was better but I was coughing like crazy. My trainer agreed to take out the cardio so I could just focus on strength training during our sessions until I was better. She was really great about it and very surprised that I had continued to come in even though I was not feeling great. It took a little longer than I wanted but  my chest cleared up. I still feel it a little if she pushes the cardio a little too hard so she watches me and dials it back if I need it.

As much as food poisoning sucked, it helped get me out of the funk I was in with my weight loss. It is definitely not something I recommend to anyone but I had been stuck for so long and it helped me through that. Of course I lost several pounds when I was sick and put some back on when I was better, but I started seeing the numbers move down again even once I was feeling better and eating normally again. I've been trying to make better choices and work on my food more since I was sick.

Saturday, I ran a 10K. It's the first real long run I have done since Star Wars and I wanted to see where I was. I have been doing some shorter runs and speed work as well as working out at the gym and I was wondering if it had helped improve my pace any. I have been looking at races in the area a lot over the past month and I knew there was a 10K in Port St Joe along the coast. It was only $30 and I love the area so I decided it would be a good one to use as a gauge for where I am and what I need to do before Memorial Day to get a good finish time at that 10K to use as my new proof of time. 

It was a fun little race. There were only 77 total racers with 48 doing the 5K and 29 running the 10K. We started near the beach and ran around to a walking/running path that curved along between the beach and the beach houses in the area. Then we headed into a small private community before heading back to the finish area. The course was very nice and the volunteers were great but there were a few issues. They had to change the course the night before due to an event nearby that would cause us to cross traffic. They thought that meant the 10K was going to be a little long. In fact, it was a little short. Once I got home, I uploaded the info from my gps and checked the map to make sure it was right and found out that my pace was still better than I expected even though my finish time was not a good as I thought when I passed the clock(since the course was short). I have not run over 3 miles in a while so I  was very happy even though I was annoyed by the short course. All of the cross training has definitely paid off. I really hope that over the next six weeks, I can continue to improve and get a good time at my next race.

I am a little sad that once again, there is a race result online that looks way better than what I actually did. I want my numbers to be real. I want what looks like a PR to really be a PR, not just luck because someone incorrectly measured a course. My goal once again is to get a true time that is as good as or better than the one that came from an error.

This has also been a good week because I have been able to see a difference when I put on clothes. I was happier with how my body looks. I know I still have a long way to go, but it is nice when you can see a difference, even if it is small. This weekend, may have undone some of that but I will work to get it back on track. (We had several friends come visit and there was lots of food and games.)

I finally feel like maybe I am seeing the light on the other side of that tough spot. I know I will go through more during this journey but I hope that one is behind me and I have a few months of good roads at least. I'm not 100% sure if I am going to be able to hold out until Wine and Dine without doing another half but that is still my big goal race that I am working towards. I will hopefully be doing more 5Ks and 10Ks between now and then to help pass the time.

Then everything goes crazy

So in my last post I let you know about the rough week I had earlier this month. I was hoping that last week, during Mac's spring break, things would get better. I knew it was going to be a little hard because we went to Pensacola the first weekend for Mac to do the Tough Mudder and then we were planning on possibly visiting family later in the week so I was going to need to squeeze in my workouts. I had scheduled the personal trainer sessions for Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning and I needed to find one other day to head in to get an hour done. However, once we got home from Pensacola, nothing went as planned.

Monday afternoon Mac got sick. We weren't sure if it was a virus or food poisoning, but he was definitely not feeling well. He was sick several times that night but I thought he had finally settled down for some sleep around 3am so I decided to take a shower. That was a mistake. He ended up getting sick again but since I was in our bathroom, he got up to go to the guest bathroom. I got out of the shower only to hear him call to me from the dark just outside of our bathroom. He told me he needed me to turn on the light and not freak out. I turned on the light to find him lying on the tile floor in our sun room holding the back of his head. On the way back to bed, he felt faint and tried to sit down. He fainted before he could sit down and hit his head on the floor and busted it open. I looked at it and immediately knew we had to go to the hospital to get it stitched up.

Getting him out of the house was a pretty big task. He was weak and dehydrated and bleeding. I got us both dressed and got him to the car. We made it to the ER and got him inside. He was still feeling a little sick and then there was the head thing. They checked on him and got him into an exam room. We waited for nearly an hour before anything really happened. They took some blood to do labs and took him back for a CT scan to make sure everything was ok. He ended up getting sick once more and then they finally put him on fluids. They finally cleaned the wound on his head and stapled it up. That was torture for both of us. After that, they basically forgot about his head. They had a bigger problem. His labs were all fine and his CT was clear but he was EXTREMELY dehydrated. After the first bag of fluids, they checked his blood pressure but it wasn't great so they gave him another bag. An hour later, they checked again when he finished the second liter of fluids and things were worse. When he stood up, his BP bottomed out and he was very dizzy. They finally decided to double bag his fluids and that finally stabilized his blood pressure and made him feel better. After the third and fourth bags, they checked and his BP was better. He was able to stand without much difficulty and even walked up and down the hall. He also was able to go to the bathroom which was a good sign. Finally, eight hours after going to the ER for a head laceration, he was no longer dehydrated and we could go home.

I blamed myself for him fainting. I felt like if I had not been in the shower, he wouldn't have needed to walk so far and would not have fainted. The truth is, if he had not fallen and needed staples, I would have never known how severely dehydrated he was. I knew he had been feeling bad but I had no idea how sick he was until we were at the hospital. It turns out, it was more than likely food poisoning from some left overs we brought back from Pensacola.

I was heading to bed when everything happened and so I was not able to actually sleep until I had taken Mac home and then picked up his prescriptions. By the time I was back and settled down, it was 2pm and I had a session scheduled for 5pm. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. I texted my trainer and told her I wasn't going to make it. Mac and I both slept most of the afternoon, got up , had a little something to eat and went back to bed a few hours later. We were both exhausted. Margaret offered to let me come in on Wednesday but I was still so drained, it didn't happen. Plus we had to figure out a Dr for Mac so we could make an appointment for his staples to be removed.

I finally made it in for a session Thursday morning. Thankfully, it was an upper body day and I wasn't too dead by the end. Once I was home, we had to drive to Alabama for Mac to have a military photo taken. After that, we hit the commissary(man I miss those) and then went to see my parents for dinner before heading home. Friday night I went in to the gym to do the interval run training I had missed on Wednesday instead of the walk that was on the schedule. I didn't quite do exactly what was in the plan but to make up for it, I decided to run one minute close to as fast as I could. I maintained a 7mph pace on the treadmill for a minute after I had been running for 20 minutes.  Saturday, I did the run on the books and it SUCKED. I felt like I had never ran before. Everything hurt and it was just bad. I hate it when I have runs like that but after the week I had, I wasn't surprised.

I really hope the bad run is over. Mac is doing fine and I am trying to get back into a good routine. My run training has a 5K on the schedule for next weekend. I am still not 100% sure if I am going to do one but I am going to try. I think I may try to get a massage before so I can loosen everything up. Other than that, I really need to get my nutrition back under control. I was slowly starting to get better but the last week and a half that all went out the window. I have a lot of work to do, but I know if I focus, I can do it. I just hope there aren't any more crazy surprises that pop up and throw everything out of whack.

Moving forward when you really want to stop

Sometimes you just have an off week. That has been this week for me. I have gone in for my workouts but I really didn't want to do it. I just didn't feel great and other things just made it worse.  One thing that I hate about being paired up with Margaret is that she does not do sessions during the time that I would really like to go in. I wish I could train at around 2 but she doesn't take clients between noon and 4pm because she teaches a class at 5:30AM and deserves a little break since she also does sessions in the evening. That means I either have to go in during the morning, which I hate or during peak times in the afternoon which makes equipment availability an issue.

Monday I went in at 10:45 which was fine. We did legs and as usual, I was pretty tired when I left. That night was also the first night of my run training. So my legs were pretty tired that night. I was supposed to go in on Wednesday but she ended up rescheduling me for Thursday morning at 10. It was the earliest I had gone in and it was tough getting everything right that morning. I had also ran pretty hard the night before so I was still feeling that. We were supposed to do upper body. Apparently, she forgot that. Instead she had me do lower again and it SUCKED. My legs were so tired. It was the first day that I really hated my workout. I didn't sleep well the night before, had to get up earlier and then had to do lower body on fatigued legs. It was not fun.

Today I went in at 11:15 and that was a little better. We did upper body this time and she really pushed me. I really like that she pushes me but sometimes she over estimates my abilities and it is really tough. We had to change the end of the workout because my forearms were on fire and I could not grip the handles on the last machine well enough to do it. I could barely lift my arms when I was done. Brushing my hair and taking a shower really sucked.

It's been one of those weeks when I just really wanted to stay in bed but I didn't. I'm glad I did it but I'm not happy about it, if that makes sense. Hopefully next week will be better.

Playing catch up

Sorry I haven't recapped the last two weeks. The first week with my personal trainer was a blur followed by a weekend at Disney cheering at Princess Half Marathon. Then last week did not go as planned. I ended up getting sick(sinus issues) so I only got one workout done. I will try to catch you up on everything now.

In my last post I had just finished my first workout with Margaret. As I mentioned before, she is also a runner and that is one of the reasons the head trainer suggested I work with her. She has really been great. She understands a runners body and has helped push me. It has been so rewarding having someone recognize and celebrate your strengths instead of just brushing me off because I am over weight. As she had me doing certain exercises, she would comment that she could tell I was a runner and that made me very proud. There have been so many times in the past 4 years that I have told people I was a runner and they never believed me due to my size. Having this tiny, all muscle woman say, "I can tell you have runner's calves," made me smile. It's just really nice having some validation.

However, I did have to learn a few things from that first workout. I am so used to my legs being so strong, which they are, but I found out my right side is much weaker than my left. I know that seems backwards since I am right handed but it makes sense. In 2002, I had knee surgery to reconstruct my left ACL. After that, I spent 6 months in rehab, rebuilding my muscles in the left leg. They mainly focused on that one leg so before I was done, it was stronger than the right. In the years since my surgery, my left knee has done great and the beating my right knee took while I walked on a bum leg for 5 months has started to show. I have some arthritis issues in the right knee that aren't present in the left. That means I tend to favor my left leg which has made it even stronger. I am also very, very stubborn. There was one exercise that we did with a machine that isolated each leg. We started with the left and it was tough. When I switched to the right, it was very hard. I should have asked her to drop the weight on the right side, but I didn't, and it was brutal. In the first set on that machine, I worked my right quad to muscle failure. That made the rest of the workout VERY difficult. I was too stubborn to let her know and I paid for it dearly. The second round on the machine, I had no choice but to ask for the weight to be reduced but I was already so tired. I could barely walk after my first workout with her and it was entirely my fault.

Wednesday of that week I went in for my second session with her. This time we were focusing on core and upper body.(Thank goodness because I was still so sore from Monday) I kept telling her I had no upper body strength but she proved me wrong. Every time I would start a new exercise, she would start low and have to bump up the weight so that I was using enough effort to do some good. She kept telling me that I was stronger than I thought. She sets up circuits around the gym focusing on one group of muscles for about three exercises and then moving to another set of muscles for three other exercises and we do two rounds of all the exercises as quickly as possible. My thirty minutes with her are packed. 

Thursday, she had me start out with a little boxing and then we worked on core and lower body. It was not nearly as intense as day one with her and I was learning to let her know when I needed to change the weights. That part took a lot of learning on my part as well though. A certain weight would feel fine for the first few reps but 8-10 reps in, I would be struggling. She told me she wanted me to be at about a 70% effort at first so that I could last through the 15-20 reps we do each set. It took me some time to figure out what that felt like so that I could give her accurate feed back on the weight we were using.

I lost a little bit of weight in my first week with Margaret but I was not being as strict with my diet so it wasn't a huge difference. I'm so glad that I was told to drop the BL crazy 15 day start because I think I may have killed someone by the end. Instead, I am paying attention to what I usually gravitate towards and trying to make better choices and implementing them slowly. The headache I had during the time I was following the BL 15 day plan was excruciating and I was so glad when I was able to eat normally again so it would go away. Now we are focusing on small changes that will have a bigger long term affect instead of extreme changes for a big short term loss.

My plan was to typically do Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week and then Tuesday, Thursday the next but because I was traveling to Princess on Friday, I had to squeeze them in on back to back days during that first week. It was absolutely exhausting. By the time I was getting ready to head down to cheer at Princess, I was beat. I was also glad I was not following the strict diet rules while going to Disney. That would have been torture. I took it pretty easy during the weekend to allow my body to recover but I was still so tired on Sunday when I was driving back. I spent that night with my feet up and didn't do much Monday either.

Tuesday started week two with Margaret and I was only scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. That morning I was so close to text her to say I wasn't coming in because I didn't feel well. I thought I was just being lazy so I got up and headed out to the gym. When I arrived, I went to the back to check in for the BL stuff and as I was finishing up, she came over. She noticed the look on my face and said I looked discouraged. I told her that wasn't it, I just didn't feel well. She was hoping to be able to knock it out of me so we started working out. We started off with some boxing , which was fine and then headed into the strength exercises. As we progressed, my head started hurting worse and worse and I was light headed a few times. She had me doing squats on a Smith machine and it totally screwed with my head. I kept pushing through but I could feel myself slowing down. Towards the end of the workout, she wanted me to stand sideways next to a rebound board, twist towards it,  throw a medicine ball and catch it before twisting to the other side and repeating. About three reps in, I had to stop because I was getting so dizzy. She took the ball from me and had me go to a machine that would allow me to work the same muscles by twisting my lower body while keeping my head straight on. A couple in to it I had to stop because I was hit by a wave of nausea. She moved me to some machines where I could sit and work the outer and inner thighs. That was much better. She was glad that I kept pushing but could tell that I was not feeling great. I appreciated that she wanted to help me still get in a workout without making myself feel worse. I headed home and crashed for the rest of the day. My sinuses were so full of pressure it was causing me to have a headache and the pressure in my ears was screwing with my balance.

Thursday morning, my alarm went off and the pain in my ear was still there. I decided to play it safe and text to let her know I wasn't coming in. I didn't do much for the rest of the week, which isn't great, but I think my body needed the down time. I had gone so hard the week  before and then the huge temperature swings over the weekend messed with my head and I just needed a break. I took some time this weekend to really think about and plan what I wanted to do in the next few months.

Early registration for Wine and Dine opens tomorrow and I am planning to sign Mac and I up. The 10K time we have been using for proof of time is finally too old and I don't have another good time to submit. I want to do a 10K sometime within the time submission window so that I can hopefully get a decent corral placement for the race. While looking over things this weekend, I found a 10K training plan through Garmin Connect that would end on Memorial Day weekend if I started it today. So, I am starting today. This plan is a little different from plans I have used before but I like that. It has cross training days worked in so I have put it all in a calendar that I printed out so I can give it to Margaret. I meant to take it in today but I forgot. I told her about it and she is excited and happy that I thought to make up a calendar that she can use to help plan my workouts. This way she can see what I have lined up and can find the best days to work my lower body and not burn me out too much for a run. This also means that I won't be using the pretty MWF, TR schedule that I had planned, but that's ok. It actually works out a little better because it was easier for me to find exactly 10 sessions each month instead of going over a few times if I followed the 3/2 schedule. I will have to find a class or something to go in for a few times so I get my three workouts each week for BL but I can just use a treadmill or bike for some of my scheduled stuff and that will count too.

Today, Margaret told me that she sees a lot of potential for success in me. I really like working with her and I am excited about what we will be able to do together. I am not setting a specific pace or time goal for the 10K in May but I am hoping that all the work we are doing together will help me have a good time to submit to RunDisney. I really want to be a better, stronger runner by the time we get to Wine and Dine in November.

What a difference a week makes

Sorry I am a little late on my week one check in but things have changed so much during the week that I didn't have a chance to write it all down.

February 9th kicked off the Biggest Loser challenge that I signed up for. Mac and I went on a huge shopping trip on Sunday and I cooked lots of food up front to make the very strict "Take Off" easier. I had hoped to go to the first training class on Monday morning but didn't get out on time so I waited and went that evening. I was walking in blind. No one had told me where to go or what to do. I finally figured out the group standing around in the back was where I was supposed to be. There was a trainer that had set up several stations for everyone. The plan was to do each station for 30-45 seconds and then rotate to the next. After one complete rotation, we took a breather and then did it again. There were more participants than expected so he had to quickly create a few new spots. The workout was tough but good. I was a little annoyed with how disorganized everything felt at the beginning but I soon learned I was not alone in that feeling.

After we finished the workout, Cedric, the head trainer, came to speak to everyone. He wanted to give us a chance to have a one on one session with him to find our best fit and discuss things more.  I signed up for a time just before lunch on Wednesday and went home. The diet was brutal. I was having horrible headaches mostly from caffeine withdrawal. I was having a hard time eating all of the protein especially since it was so bland. By Tuesday night, I was hating the food restrictions and wondering if I was going to make the full 15 days.

Wednesday I went in for my one on one with Cedric. I really loved the way the personal training session went and finally felt like I was fitting. He talked with me about my goals and where I was coming from. When I told him I was a runner and had done 11 half marathons, he said it was awesome and that we needed to work on my strength training to help me burn more calories, faster. I was so happy to hear that. When I went in for my initial assessment for the challenge, they told me absolutely no weight training for the first 3 months and that was discouraging. Having someone who understood where I was coming from and wanting to help me succeed made me feel great. He then asked me about the diet and said he didn't want me following the extremes it called for at first. I was so relieved. He wants me to eat normally, more or less, for the first month so that they can see what my regular eating habits are and help me make small but affective changes as we move forward. I'm not going back to the way I was eating but I am also not torturing myself anymore.

I was a little disappointed when I found out that continuing with the personal training sessions would cost more but I was not surprised. It is a big monetary commitment but it was the cheapest I have ever seen per session. They offer a discount for the Biggest Loser participants and that made it the most affordable I have ever seen. I wanted to talk to Mac about it so Cedric let me take the info home and scheduled another free session for me on Friday.  Mac and I talked about it for a while and he went with me to the Friday session so he could ask any questions he had and help me decide. After Friday's workout, we sat down and discussed things more and I decided to sign up for a year of personal training sessions. As much as I loved my sessions with Cedric, I will be working with a different trainer. This coming week is the trial period for my possible trainer Margaret. Cedric thinks she will be a good fit because she is a runner and can really help me. She is from Estonia and can come off as very intense but he assured me that she is a great trainer and he thinks it will work out. If not, there are other trainers I can try. Today was my first session with her. She is tough but good. She understands my running which is a great help. I think the big things is going to be agreeing on my nutrition, but we will see how it goes.

I was already excited about the possibilities but now that I will be working with a personal trainer as well, I am really looking forward to what this year will bring.

Unexpected help may be just what I need

I have recently taken the first steps to hopefully getting back on the right track and losing the weight I regained last year and this time I will have a little help.

Last weekend I received a postcard from a local gym that was looking for participants for a biggest loser program. I sent in an email and received a call on Monday. I thought that it was just something the gym was doing but once I went in for the meeting on Tuesday, I found out that it is actually a program run by THE Biggest Loser. They have a program that allows gyms to apply to host an affiliate program. Once approved, they send a regional rep to the area for the selection process. It is open to anyone that needs to lose from 15 to 100+ pounds and it is a 9 month program. After a few questions to make sure I qualified, the program was explained to us and we had the option to sign up. Participants cover the monthly gym cost but that is it, all other regular fees are waived. We didn’t have to buy any supplements or special foods, we just had to commit to the program. We were giving a nutritional plan that includes a 15 day "Take Off" and then guidelines for the rest of the program. Participants must commit to working out at least 3 times a week for 60 minutes. They have a list of regular classes available to choose from and then they have a special schedule set just for participants that allow you to take a smaller class with much more personalized coaching. Everything starts with a body assessment that takes measurements, calculates body fat percentage and pictures to visually track progress. This assessment is repeated every 12 weeks with a regular weigh in once a week.

 The program kicks off on Monday and the first 15 days are called the "take off" of the food plan. It is going to be TOUGH! There is a list of things I can't have during that time. It is designed to shock your system and get you ready for the long term changes. The big restrictions are no added sugars, no dairy, no added salt and mostly no carbs. The only starches I can eat are brown rice or sweet potato, which I have to have 8 ounces of either one every day and since I am not a fan of sweet potato, I will be eating brown rice every day. The nutrition is based on cleaner eating habits which I have adopted in the past. It will be hard but once I make it through the take off period, it is much more manageable. The regular nutrition includes cleaner foods and a sensible diet during the week with the weekends off. That makes it all that much easier to live with. There is no long term deprivation just keeping it clean and healthy during the week and not going overboard on the weekend.

Here is the list of "No-Nos " for the first 15 days

Once you make it through hell, I mean the Take Off, this is the suggested foods to include in your diet.

Thursday I went in and had my initial assessment and it was a huge wake up call. I knew how much I weighed but seeing the body fat percent really hurt. I have a long way to go but I am very hopeful that this process will help me get there. When they took the before pics, I had to keep myself from laughing. I was hoping for some good quality pictures to document my journey but they used a disposable camera and stuck us in a corner of the gym. I will be taking my own before and after photos with my good camera so that I have something of quality if I can pull this off this time.   Sunday, Mac and I will go shopping to get lots of produce because I need to eat 5 servings of veggies and 3 servings of fruit every day. We already have plenty of chicken breasts and ground turkey, as well as some fresh deer meat from my dad. Figuring out the food during the first 15 days will be tricky. I hate that Valentine's Day falls within that Take Off period but it's not that big of a deal to us so it will be fine. The hardest part will be if I go down to Disney to cheer for the Princess Half. That will be torture because the 15 days will end right after I return. Monday I will go in for my first workout class. I am going to try to go to the program focused classes since they will be smaller and geared towards our individual needs.

For the first few weeks, I will just stick to hitting the gym for my required sessions. I may go in a few extra times but I want to see what they can do for me first. Once I am adjusted to the new routine, I will slowly start adding running back into my schedule as well as hopefully adding weight training.  The program will end the Monday after the Wine and Dine Half Marathon, which Mac and I are planning to run this year. I think this is very fitting because I want to be in much better shape by then. I will use it as a sort of redemption race. Since it is at night, it will be perfect for me. Right now, my plan is for Wine and Dine to be my next half. I will still probably do some races but nothing over a 10K until Wine and Dine. It feels so weird for me to not have a major race on my schedule for the next 9 months, but I think that will be best. I think this will allow me to focus on my over all health and fitness and build a stronger running base so that I will be more successful in the future.

I'm really excited about this opportunity but I am also scared to death. I don't want to screw it up. I want to get it right this time. I want to make a lasting change. I am going to try to do a weekly check in post after my weigh-ins so you will all know how things are going and you can help keep me accountable. I have been wanting to make a big change for so long and I knew that I needed help but I was too scared or ashamed to ask for it. I really hope that this program will be the thing I needed to get things moving in the right direction. I am excited to see where this year will take me and what kind of runner I will be in the end.

Star Wars Weekend: Half Marathon Recap

Here is my recap for the Inaugural Star Wars Half  Marathon weekend. It was long, so I broke it up into the three races I completed with some of the Disneyland fun we had while in California.
If you missed the 5K and Expo or the 10K recaps, I have linked to them for you.


My alarm went off at 4:45 for the third morning. This time Rachel was the only one sleeping in. The rest of us got ready and headed out to the corrals. Mornings are when I truly appreciate the way DL races work versus the WDW races. At WDW, you have to leave around 3AM to get on a bus and head to the staging area then walk half a mile to the starting corrals. At DL, you just walk up to the corrals before the race starts. There is no cut off time, you just get there and get in your corral. We walked into corral D and waited for the start. I was really excited to see what the course would be like. It was a new course and it was said to be the flattest, fastest DL course yet. Once we were out of the parks, it was all roads so no over crowding like Avengers. But because of the cosplay turn out we saw at Avengers, I was eager to see who was out there cheering us on this time. I was not disappointed.

We started in the same place as the other two races but entered the backstage area through a new gate. The cast members were great as usual and we had a lot of fun checking out the costumes around us. We made our way through the parks. There were more characters out this time and the lines were even longer so we just checked them out as we headed by each one. Just after mile 4, we exited the backstage of California Adventures and we were done with the parks.

As we ran down Harbor Blvd, I knew we should be seeing Rachel soon. As we went through the intersection of Harbor and Katella, there she was with a bag of red vines and pretzel rods. We had told her about how we loved the crowd support in Cali because you had people handing out food like that to help you along the course. It was nice having her there with her signs and a treat. After that,  we had a long straight shot for a while. We turned around mile 7 to run towards and through the old main street area. Around mile 8, we saw the first cosplayers. There weren't many so I knew there had to be more somewhere. I grabbed a quick video as we went by them. After main street, we found the rest of them and they were AWESOME. I made sure to get a video of all of them this time since I did not take one at Avengers and missed half of the first group. It gave us all the boost we needed to take us through the rest of the race.

Here are the videos. You can hear my interval prompts and whatever was on Pandora at the time.

Around mile 8, we went through the Clif Shots station where we each grabbed our favorite flavor. Over the next several miles, we kept noticing unopened Clif Shots all along the course. Since I was in a Sparkle Skirt, as usual, we kept picking them up and I stuffed them in my pockets. By the end of the race, I had about 10 in my pocket.

At mile 11, we turned back onto Harbor and we were headed back to the parks. My time was a little slower than the required pace and I was getting a little nervous. Heather was having trouble with some back pain that made running hard and I was dealing with a foot that would rather run than walk. Since I needed to pick up the pace, I told Heather that we had to push a little harder and that we would wait for her at the finish. I hated leaving her but I was worried about them enforcing the pace requirement and I knew I had to speed up. I decided to run straight through again as long as I could. Mac helped me along, literally pulling me forward in places. We saw Rachel again just after turning onto Katella. I told her Heather was behind us and that I would see her after the finish. When we were nearing Downtown Disney, I took one more quick brisk walk break to catch my breath before the final push. Once again, when I could see the finish, I started running as hard as I could. It was much harder than the day before but I still managed to push through and finish strong. The text came in and I had finished in 3:30:02. I was technically two seconds over the required time but I figured it would be close enough. It ended up that they did not check the time at all but if they had, I would have made it.

I headed through the challenge area to get my extra medal and then met back up with Mac. We grabbed all of our goodies and found a place to wait for Heather. She wasn't too far behind us and once she caught up, we headed to the room. We would normally head straight to breakfast but we had bigger plans for the day. We grabbed something quick and went back to the room to shower and change. We had lunch reservations at Club 33 and we had to hurry to get ready. A crazy series of events led to me knowing someone that knows a member and allowed us to get a reservation there. Going to Club 33 has been a dream of mine ever since I heard of it. I never thought it would be possible but it happened and I was so completely grateful. The craziest thing about it all is that I may actually get a chance to go back but even if that never happens, I will be happy because I have been there at least once. It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the race weekend.

I was fighting some serious pain and swelling in my feet and ankles but I sucked it up and got all dressed up for our reservation. We arrived at the restaurant and were seated quickly. I was a little over come by emotion as we entered the dining room but thankfully I still had on my sunglasses and no one was paying attention to me. I had been in the club once before but I had only been in the lounge area(which is also beautiful). While we had drinks we had an amazing server that treated us like the members we were with, instead of just the lucky fools we were. I was very glad to see him headed to our table that day for lunch. He was a very fun person and helped to take the edge off and help me relax. I felt so out of my element in that environment. I was born and raised in the deep south with not much money and no chance of ever going to a fine dining restaurant. Being in a place that is that exclusive and sought after made me feel very small. Our hosts were great and having the server's familiar face helped me so much. After an amazing lunch, we headed out onto the balcony for a few pictures with our medals.

Looking at those pictures now, I see how far I have really gone in the wrong direction this past year. I am going to do my best so that I can change that in case I ever get a chance to have pictures taken there again. I did not want to post them at all but because of where I was, I decided it was worth it in case I never get that chance again.

We spent the rest of the day in the parks. We hit a few rides and spent some time with friends that live in California. We spent a good bit of time that afternoon sitting around chatting while we had a few drinks. It was the first time I had let myself have alcohol in a long time and I really enjoyed having a simple and refreshing drink while being with friends. It was also nice to be off my feet. We went back into DL for the night but I knew I wasn't going to last very long. My ankles were killing me and my feet were pretty swollen. Mac and I headed back to the room a little earlier than Rachel and Heather because the three days of races finally caught up with me. We got back to the room and packed up our things. We had a flight to catch the next morning and I didn't want to have to get up early again just to pack. Our Star Wars trip was over. It was a great trip and I absolutely plan to do it again next year, I just plan on being in better shape and better trained.

Here are a few pics from the race. One I found on the RD website of my favorite cheerleader.

The medals, 10K, Half, and Rebel Challenge with spinner

 A few pics from Club 33
My medals and their famous monkey bread dessert

My favorite cheerleader(pic courtesy of RunDisney)

Star Wars Weekend: 10K

Here is my recap for the Inaugural Star Wars Half  Marathon weekend. It was long, so I broke it up into the three races I completed with some of the Disneyland fun we had while in California.
If you missed the 5K and Expo recap, you can find it here.


My alarm went off at the same time on Saturday morning but this time, I was the only one getting up. I got ready and headed out the door in hopes that I would actually be able to find Tiffany. Fortunately, it was pretty easy and I instantly felt better knowing I was not on my own. We started out with intervals but a mile or so in, decided to just try to keep a good steady walking pace. I didn’t want to push too hard because I didn’t want to burn out before the half but I wanted to be sure to be under the 16 minute mile pace because there were rumors that they may deny you the challenge medal if one of your races was over the required pace. We were a little slow as we went through Disneyland but I was sure that we could make up time.

I was afraid disaster had struck just past the mile 4 marker when I had no choice but to stop in the restroom. Fortunately, I was right beside it when I needed it and there was no line. I told Tiffany that I would try to catch her. I lost 4 minutes but I was determined to make it up the best I could. I started running and decided to try to run straight through as long as possible. The first few miles had ranged from 15:30 per mile to 17 minutes so I was already a little behind where I wanted to be when I had to stop. With just over two miles to go, I had a lot of ground to make up.

I am not sure what characters or things were in California Adventure because I ran through it as fast as I could. I finished mile 5 in 13 minutes and mile  6 in 13:05. I saw Mac and Rachel cheering for me just before turning into the parking lot but I still hadn’t caught Tiffany. I was about to give up and suddenly I saw her about 50 yards ahead of me. I ran as fast as I could to catch her. I slowed to a brisk walk for a little while after catching up. I almost completely missed seeing Mac again while I was trying to catch my breath. Tiffany realized this guy was talking to me and tapped my shoulder and I was able to look up just in time to see him again right before the finish. Apparently, after he and Rachel saw me and started heading to the Grand Californian for us to meet up later, he decided he wanted to see me again before the finish. Rachel told him to go and he took off running around the hotels to get next to the course again before I finished. After pushing so hard in the last few miles, I really loved seeing him again and it was part of the boost I needed to finish strong even though I was nearly spent.

We were so close to the finish and we both made up time in the last two miles. As we turned and could see the finish, we began to really run hard. It took everything I had but I pushed through and nearly sprinted through the finish. I always set it up so that I receive the tracking texts on my phone so I can see what their clock says about my time. As we finished, I heard my phone go off so I grabbed to see how our finish time was. I was shocked when I saw my average pace. I ended up with a 15:29 minute per mile pace for the 10K. I was under the required pace and was able to really push myself in those last two miles despite being tired. I was so glad that I had been able to run with Tiffany. We pushed each other during that race and managed to both do better than expected.  It was just another experience that reminded me how amazing the running community can be and that the people you meet online can be amazing friends.  

After the maze of the finishing area, we went our separate ways, both grateful for the other’s company, and I met up with Rachel, Mac and Heather at Grand Californian so we could have breakfast at Storyteller’s Café. It was fun having a great buffet breakfast with some fun characters.  Pluto was right next to our table when we were seated so we had a chance to interact with him first.  He gave me a huge hug and pulled me in for a picture. I don’t typically do pictures but I was so excited still from finishing stronger than I expected so I just went with it. When we did a group picture, he started “wagging” his tail which really meant he was butt bumping Heather and I and all I could do was laugh. After he left our table, we made our way up to the buffet. It is by far the best Disney buffet to me. I am usually not a huge fan but theirs is so good. Everything is kept very fresh and they have a huge selection. After we sat back down, Chip came by to see us followed by Meeko. We also so Dale and Koda(Brother Bear) but I missed getting pics with them. I guess since I didn't see much during the race, I decided to live up the characters after finishing.

The rest of the day, I took it easy. I didn't go into the parks at all. I hung out in the hotel room and then Rachel, Mac and I went to the movies that afternoon. After the movies, we met back up with Heather in Downtown Disney for the traditional night before dinner. We headed to Naples Ristorante as usual. I made our reservation as soon as I could so we were seated quickly unlike the huge line of runners outside. This year they were smart and decided to offer a runners buffet in the upstairs portion of the restaurant but since it did not offer pizza, and that is what we always eat, we were not interested. After dinner we went by the Wunderground gallery to meet the artists there for a showcase and then went back to the room to go to bed early. There was one more early morning coming up.

Star Wars Race Weekend: Expo and 5K Recap

Here is my recap for the Inaugural Star Wars Half  Marathon weekend. It was long, so I broke it up into the three races I completed with some of the Disneyland fun we had while in California.

When the new Star Wars Half Marathon weekend including the Rebel Challenge was announced last year, I immediately knew I wanted to do it.  Mac and Heather were also on board for the half and Rachel wanted to do the 5K. I decided to do them all so I could get the Rebel Challenge medal as well. Since I was registering everyone for the race that morning and I knew it would sell out quickly, I was very overwhelmed and rushed when I was online. That resulted in me accidentally only registering for the half and since the challenge sold out so quickly, I wasn’t able to call and get it fixed before it was gone. I had resigned myself to just doing the half and then my online running club, Team Expedition Runner, was able to secure extra challenge bibs. I contacted Run Disney and found out I could transfer to the challenge since I found a legitimate bib still available. I was very excited.

However, that was several months ago and before this last move. I did not keep up my training during all of the craziness and I was very worried. Star Wars Half was the reason I pushed myself at Biggest Loser. I wanted to see if I could still do it without all of the training it really deserved. I was more confident after that race and only really worried about the added difficulty of multiple races but I knew if I took it easy, I could make it through. The only big concern was the rumors that RD was going to start enforcing the pace requirement for the challenges. If you did not finish below the requirement for either race, they could/would deny you the challenge medal. Because of this, my goal was to hit the requirement exactly for the 10K and then get under it as much as I could for the half.

Rachel, Heather and I arrived in Anaheim on Wednesday. Heather and I helped set up the Sparkle Skirts booth at the expo and then we hung out around our hotel, the Anabella, and Downtown Disney that evening. We flew in on Wednesday so that we would be there before the expo opened Thursday morning.

 Above is going down into the packet pick-up area and below is coming out and back up to the expo.

RD expos are kind of insane when it comes to official merchandise. The line starts early and gets very long. People will spend hours in line only to find out things are sold out. When we attended Avengers, Heather couldn’t sleep and headed down just to see if anyone was in line a little before 7am(expo opened at 10am). She called when she found a line forming so that we could join her. We knew that the Star Wars fans are die hard and would be out there bright and early to get in line. She was getting in line for the race Dooney and Rachel and I were going to go to the official merchandise line. We arrived at 7am to find approximately 100 people already there.

You knew things were going to be very different when they had the line staged in a huge ball room with a screen playing the Star Wars movies and everyone received a colored wrist band when you entered. The band saved your place in the line and noted your group. If you left the ballroom for any reason other than going to the restroom, they would cut your band and you would lose your place. By the time they moved us downstairs just after 9am, there were about 400 people in the ballroom. We were able to get into the merchandise area quickly and found everything we wanted. We had to wait a while for Heather to get her purse and make it through the crazy line but then we reunited just after going down to get our bibs and shirts for the races. We spent the rest of the day hanging out in the park, going to dinner at Blue Bayou as part of the Fantasmic package and watching the show that night.

Friday morning the alarm went off to get Rachel and I up for the 5K. They did this weekend’s races a little differently and started and finished all three in the same place. It made getting to our corral very easy because all we had to do was walk out of our hotel, cross the street and enter the corral. They had C3PO and R2D2 at the start line with the announcers. I managed to get a shot of them as we started the race.

We entered through the back stage area and made our way around both parks before heading through Downtown Disney to the finish. They had several characters like Chewbacca, Darth Vader and lots of storm troopers and jedis along the course. 

It was a chilly but fun morning. We took our time, enjoyed the surroundings and finished with smiles on our faces. We met up with Heather in the Grand Californian lobby and then headed over to Disneyland Hotel to have breakfast at Steakhouse 55. They have awesome and very reasonably priced breakfast choices. After changing clothes, we hit the parks again. Mac was flying in on Friday and I had a few meet ups to head to so I left Rachel and Heather in California Adventure around 3:30. My first meet-up was with Team Expedition Runner. It is made of runners from all over the country that love running and Disney so it was nice to see people in person. The second was a sparkle skirts fan group that I am a part of. It was nice meeting people even though I was out of my comfort zone. The best thing that came from it was meeting Tiffany in person finally. She and I have talked online for at least a year now and are members of several of the same groups. I found out she was also doing the 10K alone and we decided to meet up Saturday morning so we would each have a little company on the course. Not long after the meet-ups were over, Mac arrived and we hit the expo to get his bib and shirt and then turned in for the night.