"Choosing trust over doubt gets me burned once in a while, but I'd rather be singed than hardened." -Victoria Monfort










Saturday, May 31, 2014

A Fourth Half Marathon...

Bees are the city's theme..so I loved my swag!

I remember when I thought doing "A" half marathon was crazy. But once I did, I caught the bug, and I have been doing various races here and there, mostly, just the distances that will earn me medals.

Only four weeks of training for the fourth half marathon, but I felt great! The night before the race, my new boot camp trainer actually called me to wish me luck, and asked me to let her know how it went. I mean,  she is not my personal trainer. This kinda made me feel awesome!

My alarm was set for 4:30 am because I was worried about parking, so what time did I get up...5:52!!! I left the house in a mere 10 minutes with a lot of "F" bombs, and had to eat my breakfast in transit.  Not a great start to the day but I made it in time, and found parking, plus my bff was there to send me off!

For the first time in my half marathon history, it flew by! I wasn't counting the minutes, and when another mile marker came up I said to myself "I still feel great!" I told myself I wouldn't stop or stretch until the 8 mile mark. Then around mile 9.5 my foot started to really bother me. It had been hurting off and on during training, but not so bad.

I finally had to start walking/jogging vs. my normal pace. I was trying to push it for a while, and I reminded myself that I'm not in this to prove anything to anyone but me, and I wanted to finish on my own two feet! I didn't want to sustain any long-term injuries!

In the end, I added about 20 minutes to my usual time, and ended at 2:50.  I attribute the pain to street running and the road being slanted. I train on the towpath trails, or treadmill, and it's always even. I'm spending the rest of the day icing and elevating in hopes to pick back up running next week!

On the upside, for the first time after a half, the rest of my body feels great! I am not stiff, or sore like usual, just the damned foot. So, progress was made!

I aim to make up those extra minutes on my fall half marathon!


I mean, how cute is this bee medal? 






Friday, May 23, 2014

Change IS Good...

I got a new trainer at my gym for my boot camp classes. I don't much like change, but I'm trying to embrace it!

Our classes are more challenging, which after a year, we all needed! More faced paced, no fringe, non-stop, awesomeness! She even throws in some tabata classes here and there!

The best part, is that she is also a nutritionist. She gave us the option to submit food journals, for a "prize". She looks them over, and gives us suggestions on what to change. Of course, I jumped on board! I have been stagnant despite 2 a day work outs (runs and boot camp) because I wasn't tracking my food! (I workout all the time, I can eat what I want!!)

After 3 weeks of being back to journaling I'm down 5 pounds!

I'm most excited about the introduction of protein shakes after my workouts. After only one week I can already see my muscle definition!

One week until my 13.1 that I only took 4 weeks to train for. I'll be OK, but I won't be breaking any personal records!

Thursday, May 08, 2014

Only You Can Kick Yourself In The Pants...

There is nothing like jump starting your race training like signing up for a half marathon that you have to run in just four weeks!

I can't pass up a good medal!


I needed to get out of my fitness slump! Sure I attend my boot camp classes 4 days a week, and I've been running here and there short distances, but I was kind of just going through the motions, maintaining.

My first half of 2014 wasn't scheduled until October, so I was taking it pretty easy.

As luck would have it, just four weeks before race day, 50 spots opened up on a half marathon I was interested in, and so....here goes nothing!

I love medals!

I'm back in training mode...which is where I thrive! Two a day workouts? Yes, please! Logging 20+ miles a week? OK!

I'm exhausted, I miss food that is bad for me, hours of netflix on the couch, and wine,  (except for Friday's...those will still be MINE!)  and it feels like all I do is run, shower, go to the gym, shower, prepare my meals, sleep, and start all over.... but this is the kind of stuff that makes me tick!

I successfully made it through my first week of kicking processed foods again, and while I sometimes feel like yelling at people for being able to eat what I can't...I know that in another week, I won't even miss it!

I missed race season more than I thought I would. I think I'm officially a runner!