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: