Seven Years

...And not much to say! I read my posts from last year and think they do a good job of covering this year too. Links:

Post 1 - The Basics
Post 2 - Goal Weight
Post 3 - What It's Like Now
Post 4 - The Secrets of the Band...revealed!
Post 5 - Misc. Band Thoughts

This and that to fill in the gap!

I can't leave this big break in posts and look back at it years from know wondering WTH - where was I during this time and what the heck was I doing?

Busy and tired, but keep plugging along. The culprit: work. Too bad I didn't hit the big one in Vega$! I did step out of my comfort zone and played black jack with my husband and we walked away from our gambling a bit up. Don't fear Vega$ tourist bureau, we left our donation! We stayed at a fabulous place, ate at an obnoxiously expensive restaurant so we could say we had, walked I don't know how many times up and down the strip during the day and night because the weather couldn't have been any better, and went to a couple shows.

It's been a bountiful year for c0pperhead snakes! They are always around, but this year has been horrible. My puppy was bitten and I was right by her when it happened. I freaked out, but had the presence of mind to immediately grab her and get her to the ER. Thankfully she has recovered, but it was a horrible experience for all of us. My husband has probably killed 10 of them this past month alone. (Sorry animal lovers, but they come back (if they even leave) and have more babies the next year.) My yard is not doing me any favors, but not sure what to do about it other than consult with wildlife c0ntrol which I have scheduled.

Like a lot of people, I'm a fan of p1interest. I find a ton of recipes (yep, even made a few) and crafts. I've been doing some projects here and there when I can find the time...here's picture proof!

 Next month it will be 7 years since I was banded. Where does the time go?!

Wellness Goals - 3rd Quarter Results (2012)

As my buddy Dawnya pointed out when she tracked me down (thanks!), I haven't posted much. I've just been stretched for time this quarter--changes at work, "puppy pains", and too many other things to list. I hope everyone that made it to b00bs this year had a blast!

1. Boot camps. Goal: 200 camps. Stretch Goal: 240.  

• This now includes camps and boxing...So far 198 camps/boxing.

2. Training/Race Total Miles. Goal: 225 miles. Stretch Goal: 250 miles.

• So far 317.8 miles. 
• As expected, running is dropped off due to heat. This quarter's total is only 47.3 miles.

3. Half Marathons. Goal: 2. Stretch Goal: 3.

• Holding steady at 2.

4. 5K, 10K, 15K or other races such as obstacle races. Goal: 5. Stretch Goal: 7.

• Holding steady at 5.

2012 - 2nd Quarter Results
2012 - 1st Quarter Results
2011 Year End Results
3rd Quarter Results
2nd Quarter Results
1st Quarter Results
2011 Wellness Goals

Cheap Fills

Since I was self pay, this journey has been expensive (but worth it). I think my fills we're included the first year, but after that I had to pay and each time it was very expensive.  I saw a billboard on a major highway here in Dallas about $50 fills. I checked it out online and for $50 you get it done under fluoro, they accept anyone, and it is a bariatric surgery of excellence. I wanted to share it in case anyone has been looking for options. Here's a link. 

Boxing Round 2

I knew I was a boxing hack, but it was confirmed by one of the trainers. This trainer goes around with mits during his class. You do the combination on the mits vs. the bag when he works his way around to you. I knew it was going to bad. .

He's at my bag and I'm a deer in headlights. I can't remember the stupid combination which I have to concentrate really hard on at all times anyway. He's in position, but I'm not. He reminds me of the combination which I proceed to get all hosed up. I try again and am thinking "omg, this is not going well!".

Confirmed! The trainer says to me, "That was really bad." Thankfully I pretty much take feedback in stride, I laughed and responded with, "I know, right?" (This trainer is a serious boxer, I do not think he intended to be so candid and could see that after he said it he immediately had an "oopsie" moment. I think he was relieved that I laughed it off. He has an awesome class and is a good guy. For real.)

Have you ever been warned about providing the gift of feedback though? Well, after class I went straight over to the desk and signed up for a couple sessions with this trainer to work on my fundamentals. I then found him and gave him the "good news" that he could now help me not be such a hack!

I'm currently doing my own version of insanity for 30 days. My first session with him I had camp in the morning and then figured what the hell I will do his boxing class first and then the session with him. Talk about a man on a mission! To kill me that is. HA! I can't even begin to tell you how good he was at answering all of my stupid questions (there were lots trust me) and really working on my fundamentals. I had a ton of, "so that's how I'm supposed to be doing it" moments and he said that I was night and day from when I started the lesson. Honestly, I had no where to go, but up. Just sayin'.

I have a whole new appreciation for the sport. I knew it took skill and was hard, but dang there are so many things to remember at one time! Hands up, elbows in, guard, foot position, hips, etc. But I am enjoying the new challenge!...sadly, I have recognized that a pro career is not likely...while my skills are lacking, the whole hitting another person is a huge stumbling block...go figure!

Workout Shake Up

 Float like a butterf1y, sting like a bee. His hands can't hit what his eyes can't see. Now you see me, now you don't. - Muhammad Ali

I am a boxer. Ha, not. But I am mixing boxing into my workout routine. The club is dedicated to boxing and kickboxing only. The boxing classes are the real deal - wraps, gloves, and 100 lb bags and taught by boxer/MMA professionals.

My husband was interested in going with me to try it out and he absolutely loved it. Man, can he punch a bag! At this point, the fundamentals and combinations are hard for me and I have to think a LOT. I'm sure that watching me wrap my hands alone is pure entertainment by the amount of concentration it takes and how many times I have to start over!

I can't say that I love it (yet?), but I do love that my husband enjoys this workout as much as he does. We have been going together on the weekends and I have mixed in a class here and there during the week. Isn't there a saying that goes something like couples that box together stay together?

Hydr0-Static!

Quite some time ago I moved away from weighing myself. I've relied on my clothes and measurements since, but I decided I needed something to give me a little "oomph". So, I decided I wanted to find out my overall body composition (body fat to lean mass). Hydr0static underwater weighing is considered to be the gold standard for determining body composition and I did it last week! I will repeat the test early September.

It's essentially a dunking in your swimsuit (gah!) and you have to blow all of your air out underwater. You don't blow it all out, then your body fat percentage will be higher. The first time I totally sucked and I said to the guy, "that was bad, huh?". He laughed and said "uh, yah, really bad". Eh, what can you do? I'm not really a big fan of being underwater. It's an average of 3 times, but he had me do it 4 because he said the first one was so off he wanted to throw it out.

There are a number of charts for "ideal" body fat percentages. On the ACE chart I'm considered "Athletes" and on Jackson & P0llock I'm "lean" (link). But I've set a goal to take a couple percentage points off (fingers crossed) with some minor modifications to what I'm eating for no other reason than "just 'cause" and to hopefully get over my underlying blahs. We'll see when I have it done again in September!

Next -shaking up my workouts...

It Happens

My journey never ends, it just changes.

Weight loss: Losing brought great satisfaction, excitement, and joy. Not losing was so frustrating! But the goal was still out there and I was going to get there come hell or high water!

Maintenance: First there was the celebration. The "OMG, I made it." I think that was followed by this honeymoon period of joy and on the other side freaking out a bit about whether or not I was dreaming. Could I actually maintain it, etc.

Maintenance II: I pretty much settled in, but because of the changes I had made in activity and diet I lost more weight and what was more exciting to me lost body size and gained strength.

Am: Then the "am" phase hit. As P0peye would say, I yam what I yam. I am this new person that after nearly 7 years since I started this journey many people (including my husband!) only know me this way and have no idea what I looked like before.

Past behaviors still surface at times in this "am" period. I've seen pictures of myself and started picking myself apart, put on clothes that just don't fit as well as they did the previous month, eaten too much crap in one sitting (one bag of puff Ch33tos probably took care of that particular craving for the next 7 years), skipped a workout or two, and too many others to list. I continue to work on avoiding "all or nothing" thinking and that when something happens it is not the end of the world. It's life, $hit happens.

Oh how I wish that I could say that my journey was and is easy and that it doesn't take any effort. Unfortunately, it hasn't been. Many days it's just plain tough. On those days that I am tired of all the effort, I try to suck it up and keep on going. Some days it works and other days it doesn't, but that's also life.

Lately it's been taking more effort. I'm not off the wagon, it's just been harder with more instances of me thinking UGH and the I-don't-wannas. I think I need to change things up. I've been doing bootcamp for nearly 2.5 years straight. It might be time for a break and on to something else.

Sugar & Fake Sweeteners

My biggest challenge are the c-words - candy, cookies, and cake. I am not part of the "I'll just have one" or the "I can take it or leave it" clubs. I so wish I was, but I'm not. I'm a card carrying member of the "one can lead to many and many can lead to continuous days of crap" club....Maybe you are also a member?

Helpful people will say oh come on one won't hurt you or just have a little or you can control yourself or look at you, you can "afford" to have some, or fill in the blank. I agree in concept, but that is not my reality and I thankfully moved out of denial into acceptance some time ago.

Ironically, I have never put sugar in my coffee or tea or been a fan of sugar soda. But I have excessively used fake sweeteners. I've been reading more about artificial sweeteners in the past few months which has made me rethink my use of these products as well. When I'm honest with myself, I was getting my sugar "fix" in the morning by adding many of these packets to my morning beverage.

The past couple months have been interesting. I've eliminated artificial sweeteners from my iced tea by switching to green tea which I prefer unsweetened (and green tea has a bunch of other health benefits as well) and I use one packet of a stevia product in my morning coffee.

I am also paying attention to added sugar in things I buy at the store. While labels don't break out naturally occurring sugar (such as from fruit) vs. added sugar, I use the ingredient list in conjunction with the sugar gram listing to make a best guess. The higher sugar or high fructose corn syrup is listed on the ingredient list means more of those listed sugar grams are added sugar. If it's high, I then decide if it's something that me (or my husband) need to be consuming. This has led to me making more things from scratch that I used to buy as a mix, meals from scratch, and moving away from "lowfat" products that tend to have more sugar with the removal of the fat.

Side Bar: Naturally occurring sugar for me is sugar in fruits. This can be debated forever and I appreciate all the perspectives, but mine is come on - it's fruit and I'm eating it! If it is no sugar added frozen or fresh, then I don't sweat it. And, fruit doesn't cause me any desire to over consume.

All of this doesn't mean that I don't have c-words now and then or that I don't also slip at times (even some big slips), I'm human and far from perfect. But I try to indulge only in a controlled fashion - out of the house at dinner or a run to the frozen yogurt store. I am just not someone that can have these things in my house. Period.

Things I do to stop the madness:

• Keep c-words out of the house.
• Pay attention to labels for added sugar.
• Eat regular meals - avoid getting too hungry.
• Exercise.
• Consciously make choices. Am I really wanting this c-word or am I trying to mask a feeling?
• Stay hydrated...with water or other unsweetened beverages.

Other Items:

• Puppy has been growing like a weed. Sometimes I'm hanging with her and I look at her or she does something and I just crack up. She was a great addition to our family...well, unless you ask the cat.

• I went on a short vacation to a resort that was totally relaxing. Everything was great, except the food. But we decided to go with the positive and tell ourselves that there was no way we were going home having gained weight!

• I'm considering an end-of-summer half to see if that can somehow motivate me to suck it up with some long hot runs. I'll see how it goes.

Wellness Goals - 2nd Quarter Results (2012)

July seriously snuck up on me! But it's here and I scrambled to put together my data to see where I ended up for the quarter. I'm on track and surprised at my total mileage from my log, but no worries the heat has set in and I just don't enjoy long runs so I'm not planning on doing any...but it's a bit of a head game too because when it starts cooling off and I go to up my mileage again it pretty much sucks too. There's pluses and minuses either way. Eh, I'll think about it more another day.

1. Boot camps. Goal: 200 camps. Stretch Goal: 240.  

• So far 133 camps.

2. Training/Race Total Miles. Goal: 225 miles. Stretch Goal: 250 miles.

• So far 270.5 miles. 
• As expected, running is dropping off. This quarter's total is only 76.1 miles.

3. Half Marathons. Goal: 2. Stretch Goal: 3.

• So far 2. I was registered for a 3rd, but deferred due to injury.

4. 5K, 10K, 15K or other races such as obstacle races. Goal: 5. Stretch Goal: 7.

• So far 5. Same as first quarter. .

2012 - 1st Quarter Results
2011 Year End Results
3rd Quarter Results
2nd Quarter Results
1st Quarter Results
2011 Wellness Goals

Frit0s and other stuff

• All the red wine I've had this past month is OK, because it's good for me. Check this out.

• I don't get the "Oooo, I love puppy breath". Really? Stinky. 

• I had registered for what looked like a neat half this coming weekend, but they were looking for people willing to defer to 2013. Between my husband being gone most of last month and the new puppy, I deferred. (There's a bit of a foot issue at the moment too. More on that in another post.)

• Why do dog feet smell like frit0s? Or, maybe the real question is why do frit0's smell like dog feet? Hmmm, why was I smelling her feet anyway?!

• I have not had Fuzzy*s since I posted about it. Serious withdrawal....maybe tonight?

• We are officially going on vacation in July! Everything is scheduled and paid for, so no excuses. I am counting the days.

• I missed having my husband at camp. I didn't expect that as camp was "my" thing, but I've discovered I like it being "our" thing.

• I plan on sleeping a lot more now that I found this article that talks about how the link to sleep and obesity has been overstated. Now, if I can just find the time to get 9 hours of sleep in!

• Thank goodness it's FRIDAY! Happy weekend!

Been Busy...

With my new puppy!...and frankly I'm exhausted. My husband has wanted a dog for a long time, but we were on two extremes --- super huge vs. purse. I had some pretty strong preferences because with all his travel I am really the primary caretaker. After months of discussion we decided on a breed (f rench bulld0g) and the hunt began. All of us are adjusting and it's better at times than others, but we're working through it. The cat is going to be a bit more of a challenge, but I do think they will eventually work out there differences. *fingers crossed*

The good

• She's highly entertaining. I've got to figure out how to take a video of her.
• She keeps me from snacking because I just don't have the time trying to work and keep track of her at the same time.

The not so good

• She's so young. I don't want to do something that creates anxiety for her. I've been pretty much alone this week, so one morning she was just so fussy that I didn't want to leave her to go to camp and think I abandoned her. But we are getting the hang of it and I've got her working toward a schedule that should keep her sleeping until I get back from camp in the morning.
• My lack of sleep. Ugh, it's been challenging, but everyone keeps assuring me that we'll get in a pattern...please let that be soon! 
• It's highly likely that there will be quite a few puppy pictures. 

 

Thursday Thought

If you ever find yourself in TX, or heaven forbid you live here and haven't visited, please go eat at Fuzzy*s Tac0s. It's awesome and one of my favorites. In fact, it was on my mind all week and I just couldn't take it anymore! :)

Shredded Beef Taco

Oh, and there was also some of this:

Chips, Salsa, and a Beer...or two.

Race Day!

I was up at 4:30am to get ready. Of course this morning, the first thing on the agenda was to check the weather. No sign of severe storms, but it was definitely hot, humid, and windy. So I got up and started getting ready.

I showed my outfit to my husband on Thursday and he said, "Hey, that's cute. You are going to look like a runner." *eye roll* My hormones were under control (lucky for him) so I just looked at him and said, "Ya, it's all about the outfit." The shirt is really bright neon yellow, but it didn't photograph that way. It's probably the first time I've ever had on a coordinated outfit for a race, but the top and shorts cost less than $20 combined so what the heck!

Morning fuel: whole wheat toast, peanut butter, and banana. And a bucket of coffee to go! I was going to this one alone, so I left early to avoid any traffic and camped out in the close parking lot to the start getting my gear together and reading my book. Check this out though:

Not even 6am and it's 76!!! At race start it looked like it would stay about this temp with about 85% humidity. I was afraid that there would be 20 mph winds, but it didn't seem like they were going to be that bad.

I didn't know much about the course and with the heat and humidity, I figured it was best to pull back for this race and decided to hang out with the 2:20 pace team. And we were off!

Along the way chatting with others and the two pacers, I found out that the first 8 miles of this race are filled with hills. Ah, the 3 h's - hills, heat, and humidity. Lovely. My race was going well considering, but I was getting hot. Then it starts getting dark and very windy. I was watching two birds struggling to fly against the wind and not going anywhere to give you an idea. I figured we were in for some good old TX rain. Sure enough, it started raining. The rain was cold and did a good job of cooling me off and bringing the temperature down. It rained the rest of the race and the visor did an excellent job of keeping the rain out of my eyes.

Now, there have been plenty of hills the entire route, but nothing like the one before mile 8! There was a race coach on the sidelines there and he was telling the runners you conquer this and you're golden the rest of the race. I looked at that hill and did a quick *OMG* freak out and then said come on you've got this, just get after it. Next thing I know I'm at the top and on my way to the finish.

At mile 9ish, I started hearing sirens and the police on the course were getting us over to one side. At first I thought someone was down on the course, but then I thought that can't be right they should have passed by now. Then I turned and got a glimpse. It was the leader of the full marathon. That guy was kicking major butt and I figured he was kicking a sub-6 pace (that's miles per hour for 26.2 miles!!!!). I made sure everyone around me knew what was happening and we cheered our butts off when he passed!

The water crews were a little taxed around mile 10, but I had to get some gat0rade. I ended up losing a bit of time at the last two stations and had to wait at one, but I knew I needed the liquid to make it in strong. I crossed at 2:23 and was fine with it. In hindsight, I think I could have easily hung with the 2:10 pacers, but a good race nonetheless. I've hit my 2 half goal and received more bling!

Saturday

Saturday went like this:

• Get up at 5am to get my husband out the door for a flight. 


• Attempt to go back to sleep, which was a complete failure.


• Think about how I'd like to go to camp, but need to take the day off because I can't be trusted to take it easy enough with my race tomorrow.


• Start wondering what the weather is really going to be like...changes every 15 mins here.


• Review and finalize my race play list.


• Check weather. Hmmm, warm - race start at 71?!


• Charge devices.


• Select final oufit - version 1.


• Check weather.  Warm, windy, and potentially storms.


• Run and get rain poncho. Add to outfit - version 2.


• Starting to freak out about weather. Delayed reaction I guess. The wind is looking like it could be 20 mph. Good grief.


• At the moment, my hair is kinda long, but not long enough for a ponytail. Rain is going to have it hanging in my face, so I decide I need a visor. Run to athletic store. SCORE! Clearance one. Add to outfit - version 3.


• Nails look kinda raggedy. Run to store again to get these:

 

• Check weather...o.m.g.


• Do nails. 


• Decide that I am going to have to suck it up and wear shorts. Change outfit - version 4.


• Because of the bean incident, make some homemade chili.


• There might have been a small one of these:

 

• Weather, repeat. Weather, repeat. You get the drift, but I want that dang medal!


• What happens? Tune back in to my next post....cause I need more time to write it up!

Er, Friday 10

Cause of Wyatt...uh, I mean Laura. :)

(1) Thank you for the good wishes on my husband's return. You guys are so sweet.

(2) I woke up this morning with a pounding headache and head pressure from allergies. After camp today, I rushed home to get some beans in the slow cooker. I threw everything in and got on with my day. I went to check on them and all the moisture had been absorbed. Uh, I put an ENTIRE bag of dried beans in the slow cooker. Proving that a pounding headache makes my brain turn off. I now have enough beans for the entire neighborhood.

(3) I am sick of doing the garbage. No joke. It's not my job and I got married so I would never have to do it again. I am only somewhat joking, I said to him before we got married, "So, from this day forward, no more garbage duty for me, right?"

(4) While I've been avoiding food, I've been productive. I weeded our entire yard and it's now nice and mulched (thanks to the gardener for that). Here are some of the pots I planted:

(5) This arbor with the climbing jasmine has been my project for the past two years. My husband was free with his opinions, but I told him you just wait and see. This is going to be amazing. That was a lot of bravado on my part, but turns out that the hard work has paid off.

Can you smell the jasmine?

 (6) This made for a cool picture, but something was wrong with this poor little bee. He was on the flower just panting away, but I just didn't know what to do to help him. Hopefully he was taking a rest after a long flight from another flower.

(7) My cat helped me fold the laundry last week. 

(8) I have a few gnomes in my yard, but I am particular about what they look like.

(9) I'm scoping out vacations.

(10) The gnomes have been busy.

Toughing it Out

The last week has been tough. I'm a stress eater, emotional eater, whatever label you want to put on it that's me. There isn't a band or a fix for it and at times I have a tremendous desire to give into these urges. Counseling has provided me with tools, but ultimately band or no band, crap can be consumed!

My husband has been gone for some time. Unlike other times, I have not been able to pick up the phone and talk to him, email him, etc. It has been hard, but I've done OK until the middle of last week. I received a one liner and found out that he was returning to the US earlier than planned. Red flags immediately start waving in my head. This is not normal. There is no shortened trip.

I was on pins and needles as I waited to hear when he was leaving so I'd be able to know when he should be back in the US. Inside I was freaking out. When will he leave? Will he be OK? I wanted to eat crap so badly!

I kept telling myself eating will not help the situation. My husband will not be any safer. It will not make me feel better. It's OK to be scared and anxious. I will not eat crap because of my emotions. But so much of me just didn't care and wanted to eat! And, sure, my em0tional eating has surfaced numerous times over the years and I've navigated it most times successfully and other times not so much, but this was definitely the worst situation that I could remember.

There is a happy ending to this story - whew. My husband made it back to the US safely and will be home later this week. Me, I was able to stick to my normal eating. It was hard and there was some white knuckling involved. I did have to go to the grocery store and I gazed at all that Easter stuff and touched some of my favorite bags...they were glowing and calling my name - for real. Ya, I'm a freak. But now that I'm on the other side of this time, I have to say I am proud of myself. I need to remember this one when I face the urges in the future, because navigating this one proves that I can make it through. Mind over matter.

Here's some of the tools I use:

• Acknowledge the feelings and tell myself it is OK to feel.
• Remind myself how I will feel if I eat (mad, disgusted, disappointed, etc.) and that it solves nothing
• Stop, drop, and roll - OK, kidding, but when urges surface I stop what I am doing and change to some other activity or location. A new location (even inside my house) helps or I've also just left the house and gone for a walk down the block. Somehow for me this breaks the pattern or train of thought. If not, then I just try another tool.
• Give myself a time out---15 minutes to relax and do nothing.
• Stick to my routine for exercise and eating.
• Keep trigger foods out of the house and avoid the store as much as possible (Why make it harder on myself?)
• Telling myself that this will pass and I can do it....repeatedly. :)

Wellness Goals - 1st Quarter Results (2012)

I've been tracking daily, but not doing the addition. My current way of doing it is very manual, so I finally took the time to use my fingers and toes to add everything up. Even though tomorrow is the end of my 1st quarter, I'm a rebel and posting it today!

1. Boot camps. Goal: 200 camps. Stretch Goal: 240.  

• So far 72 camps.
• I had 58 at this point last year, so at this pace I should hit my goal. But there will be more off weeks and hopefully vacations(!) that will reduce the number in the next quarters. My husband going to camp has increased my camp number because days last year I only did my run I've done both. I can see that he's been very persuasive!

2. Training/Race Total Miles. Goal: 225 miles. Stretch Goal: 250 miles.

• So far 194.4 miles. 
• Well my running groove is back, but when the weather is nice I really enjoy it. I know I'll hit my goal easily, so I need to consider revising it. When I do, I need to be sure to factor in that I do not like running in the heat and not overcompensate. I'll have to look back at my log for last year to see what my mileage was like from April-December and figure out a new number

3. Half Marathons. Goal: 2. Stretch Goal: 3.

• So far 1. 
• No speed records were set, but ultimately it's all about finishing for me when it comes to this distance. I'm leaving this goal where it is.

4. 5K, 10K, 15K or other races such as obstacle races. Goal: 5. Stretch Goal: 7.

• So far 5!
• I've hit my goal, but as of right now there is only one more race that I'm planning to do, so I'm going to keep this goal where it is at least until next quarter.

5. Calorie Burn. Goal: 150,000 Stretch Goal: 170,000 (note: this is only "dedicated" exercise)

• I'm ditching this! My daily watch was without a battery for over a month (Lazy? Why, yes.) and tracking it is a pain in the butt. There was no real use for the data last year and I'd mentioned that I might bail on it this year and I am! *cabbage patch*

2011 Year End Results
3rd Quarter Results
2nd Quarter Results
1st Quarter Results
2011 Wellness Goals

Feeling Like A$$

After my workout today I felt like this:

Bad workouts happen. There are days that I go to bootcamp or for a run that I feel pretty craptastic. Not sick, just blah for one reason or another. It would be oh so easy to just bail on the days that I feel like this, but if it's a planned workout I drag myself there and do what I can....otherwise it might be a slippery slope to a number of missed workouts.

And, yes, I was glad I went, but honestly just glad it was over! Tomorrow is another workout and hopefully I will look more like this at the end:

Self Portrait

One Down!

I can't believe we are nearing the end of March! I need to get calculating where I am against my Wellness Goals and post those first quarter results. But this weekend I knocked out one of the harder ones on the list, a half marathon.

A friend of mine asked me a long time ago if I wanted to do the race with her because it fell on her birthday this year. You know how things seem like such a great idea 6 months earlier and then not so much as it gets closer? Yep, this was one of those times, because a couple months later she found out she was pregnant! This put a bit of a wrinkle in the race plan. Not that we weren't going to do it, but her heart rate had to be constantly monitored and kept below a certain rate.

The cards were a bit stacked against us from the get go. The weather was very warm at race start and only went up from there:

The first half of the course is very hilly. I didn't notice how much last year and it gave me a greater appreciation for my time. We decided to keep it slow and steady to see if we could settle into a pace that would keep her heart rate at the right level. This went well until about mile 5. At that point, we had to pull back more and at the half way point go to walk/run. Thankfully the second half is flat, but combining the heat with the exertion from the first half it was hard to keep her heart rate within range.

We were far off normal pace for both of us and at times it was frustrating. The race felt long and the lack of rhythm was tough. But we finished and it's a great story (and accomplishment!) for her to tell her little one!

My husband said to me that's about 40-ish mins slower than normal, are you counting it? I'm sure I gave him a little itty bit of a stink eye and was a bit snarky, but it was after 13.1 miles!  I said, "See this medal? Yep, I'm counting it!" So one down with one more to complete this year to hit my 2012 goal.

TX Weather, Go Figure

He liked it!

The night before a race I usually set out all of my stuff, that didn't happen and I paid for it. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, reassuring my husband that he'd be fine,  and forgetting things...my phone and my camera. Eh, happens.

We drove my car because it can be tucked into a lot of places other cars can't. It was smooth sailing through traffic and finding a parking spot. I had to laugh because my last run was a sea of white and this one was a sea of green. We were also decked out - Green shirts, green blinking glasses, tall green hat on husband, me sparkly shamrock headband and green tutu, necklaces, and my favorite were my knee high green and white socks that said "beer" on the side. Ironically, while we didn't have a camera, people kept stopping us and asking if they could take our picture. This dog was also popular.

The announcer said that there were 8,000 racers expected. I had run this race before and knew with half that many racers the course is congested and a bit narrow. Since this was my husband's first 5K, I wanted to try and help make it as good an experience as I could, so as soon as the line up was announced we went out to be closer to the front. I had a random person take this pic and send it to me. (Uh huh, I should have asked for one of us too. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer.)

And then we were off! Husband's adrenaline was pumping and I pulled him back. I decided that I better pace him. We had set a time goal that I knew he could hit, but more importantly for him he wanted to run the race without stopping. I kept pulling him back and he said, "Look at all these people passing us!" I told him not to worry about it that at mile 1 we'd start passing a few, more at 2, etc. and going out too fast is a race killer. You can always pick it up the last mile if you have fuel in the tank. He did great and finished without stopping AND beating the time goal we set for him by 2 minutes!

Off to beer! As we were zipping through the line, I saw a buddy of my husband's. He was with some other buddies, wives, and kids so we all hung out and waited for the parade to start. Let's just say there's a whole lotta people watching to be had. I was talking to one of the wives and there were these guys by us from a male show here in town and how it would be funny if a regular guy went up and posed next to them. And then...

The area pretty much gets blocked off as 100,000 people descend on it. This pic my friend took gives you an idea:

It's really 6 lanes of road filled with people heading to the "epicenter" of activity which is about 1.5 miles from where we were. We made it there, walked in about 25 feet, and looked at each other and said no way. Off we went to another part of town where we could just hang out and relax on a patio with our friends.

My husband said on the drive home that he actually enjoyed the race...good news, since he's signed up for a couple other ones already by the race fairy! Hmmmm, guess I better mention those to him. :)

And, in related news to this actual blog - my tailored work pants are snug. Why? Cause my intake has been pushing 75 decent and 25 crap for about a month. My teeter is tottering and not in a good way, so I'm going to switch back to 90/10 until my tailored clothes are fitting well....I'm not beating myself up about it, but I am a bit mad because it's all about food choices. Sure the snugness took a month to appear but it will take a couple months to go away. Oh well, such is life and moving on. The reality is the battle never ends.

Love a Costume

I'm looking forward to St Pat's day because...

• I have a super fun 5K that is expected to be the largest one in the history of the race!

• It's the kind of silly race that people dress up for. I love a costume. :)

• My husband will be running his FIRST 5K. He has reminded me repeatedly since I signed him up that he's not the runner in the family (HA, he considers me a runner!). He's nervous, but I know he can do it. I've been reassuring him that he's "the rabbit" (pace setter) and the goal is to finish and have fun! Ha ha, rabbit...fluffy...I'm a dork *snort*

• Green beer, anyone? I don't know if there's green beer at the end, but there is beer. 

• It's for one of my personal favorite charities - the food bank that covers THIRTEEN counties. They have been having a hard time keeping up with demand the past couple of years and I'm glad that the race is going to be so popular and raise some much needed $$$.

• Yes, my husband will also be wearing a costume....and I plan to take pictures!

• If I had a dog, I would search high and low to find this costume:

•  Race recap to follow. Happy St. Pat's early and to everyone:

Trust Me, Just Do This Race!

Seriously, if The C0lor Run comes to your area or close to it, GO! It's not about racing. It's not even timed. It's about getting covered in color with your friends!

We arrived early to beat traffic and sat and chatted in the car. We knew there would be a lot of racers and we were meeting about fifteen people. It's pretty hard finding people in a sea of white!

Like I said, this race isn't timed, so there really isn't much of a start. We were in the first wave which was awesome later in the race to be able to look back on the course and see all the people. Up first, yellow!

Our goal, get coated as much as possible! We twirled our way past the people throwing the color. Not going to lie, it was awesome. Up next, pink!

It was a bit chilly, but it was a sunny day and everyone was just smiling and laughing! Up next, purple!

I thought there was supposed to be five colors, but I swear there were only four. No matter, that's one more to enjoy next year. Up next, green!

Then it was to the finish line. Where we waited for the finale. Each racer was provided with a free packet of color for the end. About every 15 minutes, people threw the color up in the air. It was amazing.

Our shoes really took a beating, but I'm going to put mine in my obstacle pile to be used for that.

Oh, and while my car didn't have on a white shirt, it did participate! Yeah, that really is my car covered in the paint. Once I was done, people's reactions were priceless. There were many team photos taken while we were packing up.

Change of Plans

**In the huh, I never hit Publish category, I bring you this post...**

I'm sure many can relate to this: sometimes when I've planned a workout, I just don't feel like doing it. I know, shocker right?

I have what are best described as my "must" workouts and my "if I feel like it" workouts. My M-F ones are my "must" workouts. I just suck it up and go when I have the "don't wannas". My "if I feel like it" are the weekends. Races get done (cause they are fun...well, and I've paid for them!) and on the weekends that I don't have races I generally get in a long run. But sometimes on non-race weekends my run may be what I planned, a bit shorter, a lot shorter, rarely longer, or *gasp* not at all.

I run because it has evolved into something that I enjoy (and yes, it took time to get to this point!). I get dressed and head out and plod along thinking about "stuff". Sure, sometimes along the way I have the mental whines that pop up during a run like how much farther, I've been doing this how long, this hurts / that hurts, etc. But for the most part I am thinking about things that are going on, totally random stuff, or at times not much of anything.

Compared to serious runners, I don't consider myself one at all. My goals for races are: (1) have fun (2) finish (3) have a decent time / pace and (4) no recovery downtime (so that I don't miss any of those "must" workouts!). So what I'm doing works for me to meet those goals and maintain my base. If I decide that I want to PR a 5K or a half, then I will need to alter what I'm doing and do some training. But with training for me comes stress. The running becomes prescribed and must be done. That doesn't sound fun to me right now and I have plenty of stress at the moment without adding to it from choices that are within my control.

Anyway, last Saturday I bailed on the 15K to do the 5K because it was just too cold for me. I said that I'd do 9 miles Sunday, but I wasn't feeling it. I needed a mental break and some movement from sitting at a desk all day though, so I decided I'd go out and go with the flow. My 9 ended up at 5 miles.

I guess the point of this post is that my quarterly wellness goals which are a bunch of stats may make it seem like I workout a lot, I think there's a lot of balance in the details. I workout because of how much it helps me manage my stress, make better food choices, and how it makes me look and feel (healthy and strong) which all goes into helping me maintain my overall health and wellness.

Thank you for taking the time to read these posts---especially as my blog is far from band related at this point. (I really do still have a band!) Hopefully a nugget here and there is something to think about or at a minimum provides some insight at what things are like for me at about 6.5 years out.

Running for Chocolate

My alarm went off and I see the clock says 430am. At first I don't remember, and I'm trying to figure out why I set my alarm so early. Then it hits me. It's a race day.

Don't get me wrong. Originally my buddy and I were hell ya! Swag is a running jacket and there's a CHOCOLATE after party. Until I saw the weather. Winter seriously came to Texas overnight. With wind chill, 17 out. Between that and the pain of getting there (get up at 430 for a 730 race) my excitement had greatly diminished. And ya, I'm whining. I just wanted Scotty to beam me there.

I started off with my breakfast of champions. Strong coffee followed by a chunk of banana bread. A couple long races ago I figured out that a homemade muffin or banana bread fueled me really well. Ever since then, it's my go to meal.

Then out the door with more coffee, 12 pounds of gear options (unfortunately not too much of an exaggeration), and we're off. We have come up with three alternate routes after taking the same route multiple times with the same result to this popular large race location in Dallas. Sitting in stopped traffic each and every time. We decided we'd rather be early sitting in the parking lot this time and our fingers were crossed we wouldn't get lost.

We essentially drove from the door to the best race parking lot with reasonable traffic. Things are starting off well and we are hanging out in the car. We see that the race has officially announced that because of the weather we could switch to the 5K with no penalty.

We had survived the cold and rain from another race and were thinking that we'd still do the 15K. Until we got out of the car that is. It felt way colder than 17 and the wind was horrible. We're still debating, but we are feeling our toes and hands getting cold. So the pro/con debate started. The intent of the run for us was to get our long run in, but we could do that tomorrow when it warms up. Then the final straw for me----no medal at the finish. I'm out, onto the 5K.

The race was very well organized. The start went smoothly and the course was good and well marked. When we finished, they had made the after party a one entry / one exit affair which made it move very smoothly. I had some hot chocolate to warm up, said hi to a few people we knew, hit the road to get breakfast at a toasty warm restaurant, and then home for a hot shower.

Since the race was 1/3 of what I had planned to run, I had a great-fast race. My toes did warm up about 1.5 miles in, but I was honestly glad that I didn't do the longer one. I don't regret my decision at all and will do a 9 mile tomorrow.

Super Bowl Recap

I had to work through the weekend, which ended up being OK because my husband was out of town anyway. You'd think it'd be easy to escape the Super Bowl snacks, right? Well I didn't know I was going to have to work or that my husband wasn't going to be here and bought a bag of caramel and cheddar corn mix for us to eat....which is honestly pretty much crack!

There I was working and watching the game and snacking on the crack. I had put five servings into a bowl and proceeded to snarf on it from noon until the game was over. Sure, there's a bunch of "could-a's" that I could insert here, but nope this is maintenance for me. I strive for overall balance - which means crap and healthy. Yesterday was more of a crap day (but, it's also all natural crap!), but there was also a bit of healthy stuff.

I thought the halftime show was OK, but dated with the super old songs. I don't like Madonna's new song either. It strikes me as something more suited to a much younger pop singer and I hated her with the pom poms. 53 and pom poms? I just thought it was cheesy. Maybe I'm just over Madonna?

My favorite commercial goes to M*&*M's because I remember it and also because at the time it made me smile. I needed a smile again today and it worked like a charm. Go check it out: here's a link.