Hello?

So, I'm still around. Still working towards my goals! I'm down 71.8lbs now and still running! So, what have I been up to since I last wrote?

I completed my first 15k and (then) longest run in September. 

Kim and I before the race

Coming in to to the finish line at about 2:05

The race was pretty good, except the last 3/4 mile was really tough! I felt like I was going to vomit, but I didn't and I finished it!

I also started coaching Girls on the Run in September!


In October I ran my (then) longest run and first ever double digit run when Kim and I ran 10 miles on October 6, the week before the Prairie Fire Half Marathon. The run was fantastic! The last mile was HARD! We finished in 2:23. We had great conversations about the upcoming half marathon, our goals for the future, and how far we've come!

10 MILES!

October 14th was the Prairie Fire Half Marathon! I got there early and it was dark and chilly. I just missed seeing the early start for the marathon. I found the GoRun tent and waited for Kim. She got there and we got to the starting line. The first 3 miles went as expected. My brothers fiance, Mary came out to cheer me on and she was in the first mile. There was a guy in the first mile that had a sign that said "Only 13 miles left!" It was funny!

Miles 4-10 were AWESOME, though Kim was struggling and she had to make a port-a-potty stop at about mile 8. Mary met up with Paul and Elliott and they were at miles 4 and 7 cheering us on!

Miles 10-13.1 were SO SO SO tough! So much tougher than I had imagined! Kims' boyfriend Kevin, was there to cheer us on at mile 11. Paul, Elle, and Mary were at mile 12. And then Stephanie came out to cheer us on at about mile 13. Kevins' SIL Brandi ran the half too and finish before us and saw us at mile 13ish. She came out and ran with us and I was so upset about it! I said "NO! NO! She is tooooo fast! I cannot keep up with her, especially not right now!" Those last miles, I couldn't tell if it hurt more to walk or to run! We crossed the finish line at 3:06:50. I was so happy to be finish! I was so happy to get my medal! I'd never been more proud of myself!

Kim and I pre race

Just after starting!

About the first mile, still smiling!

Paul and Elliott! My wonderful cheering squad!

At about mile 4

Mile 7, notice the girl in front running the marathon and passing us :)

About Mile 11, almost done!

Just before the finish line!

And we are done!

Half Marathoners!

So proud!

A gift from Kim. She has one too!

Also in October I hit my 1 year weight loss anniversary! 70lbs down my first year. I had it expected it to be more, but I'm happy with the 70lbs!

Down 70lbs!

Elliott was Cinderella for Halloween!

After the half, I didn't run for almost an entire month! The next time I ran was November 11 for the Girls on the Run 5k. As coaches, we didn't have to run, but I wanted to. Kim was a running buddy for one of my girls and I ran, mostly with them. It was awesome to see my girls on the course!

On Thanksgiving I had my anniversary race! The Say Grace Thanksgiving Day race. The one that I walked last year! I finished last year in 56:52 and my goal was to finish in 36:52 to take a full 20 minutes off my time. I fell short of my goal and finished in 38:01, but got a PR! And I even got hit by a bicycle on the course! Yes a bicycle! People had their kids riding bikes! That is obviously dangerous, seeing as I got hit. I didn't get hurt, but the kid crashed into the other kid on the bike after he hit me and I went to make sure they weren't hurt.

I am training for another half marathon in May and my goal after that is the Route 66 Marathon next November!

I've been doing lots of yoga lately, and have really found a love for it! And I think its helping my running as well! I'm also doing a bootcamp at the YMCA right now with Mary, my brothers fiance. We are in our 3rd week right now. It's pretty tough, but I like it!

I had the best run of my life on Sunday! It was awesome! I was totally in the zone! I was able to think about things and enjoy my music and not just count and want it to be over the whole time! And I ran the full 3 miles with no walking at all, which I haven't done in a really long time!

I'm very optimistic for the future! I'm going to finish my weight loss in 2013. And hopefully I'm back to regular blogging as well!

New PR!

So, I have 3 long runs left before I start to taper before Prairie Fire Half Marathon. I am feeling really undertrained right now.

I was sick all last week, so I didn't do any training runs. I had signed up for a 5k on Saturday and I had planned on going to the group run before hand to get all my miles in. When my alarm went off at 6am Saturday, I knew that there was no way I was going to do both. At about 630am, I texted Kim and asked her what time she was planning on going down the the race and she said around 715am. It started at 8am, and we still had to pick up our packets. I asked her if she wanted to ride together and she said yes. So I met her at her apartment and we went over to the race. She asked me why I hadn't gone to the group run and I told her that I still wasn't feeling 100% and she said I didn't even sound like I was 50%! I still planned on running the 5k hard and trying to PR. My goal was 40:59 or less.

We got there and got our packets and pinned on our numbers and went back to her truck and chatted for a little bit. Then we got out and went to the starting line. There were way less people than I thought there was going to be! We started off and I immediately felt my lungs burning. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with Kim, so I just fell into my own groove. I run the whole first mile and my time was 11:00 which is the fastest mile I've ever run! After the first mile I got into a walk/jog and was keeping a pretty good pace despite the fact that my lungs were burning like crazy, I was having a hard time breathing, and that I felt like I was going to vomit.

Kim and I post race! A PR for both of us!

I made it back close to the finish line and Kim had finished and come back for me. I had put in my headphones, but pulled one ear bud out when I saw her. She asked me if I needed water and I told her no, and then she asked if I wanted her to take my headphones and I said "No, I'm listening to The Final Countdown right now!" and a couple people near us giggled at that :)! I was getting close and a guy who had finished already started cheering me and told me I was almost there! I got to the straightaway and saw 38:xx on the clock and gunned it to the finish. I finished 39:11! I'm so happy to finally have a sub 40 min 5k! I know that is still very slow, but I've taken about 4-5 minutes off my time since March! I got through the finish chute and got my water and a piece of watermelon and then Kim and I chatted and watched the awards. The two overall winners were both over 50 years old! That inspires me! If I keep this up, when I have 20 years practice, maybe I'll be able to get an award someday too!

My Girls On The Run coaching starts tomorrow. I ended up getting to work with the younger girls. We had our parent meeting last Wednesday and we had only one girl signed up for our site for the 6-8th grade, so I got reassigned. I'm excited and nervous!

I don't have much to report on the weight loss front. I really need to get my act together. I've lost less than 10lbs this summer! I thought it would be easier to lose weight over the summer... To be honest, I haven't really been focusing on that. That stops now!

Labor Day was uneventful. Saturday was the 5k, Sunday Paul and I took Elliott to the zoo and then we had lunch with my brother and his fiance, Monday we did nothing except go for frozen yogurt. I'm on vacation from work for the rest of this week.

I'm running the Tiger Trot 15k this coming Sunday and I am SUPER nervous! I was looking at the course map, and it is so long!

I'm going to try to get back into regular posting as well! So I hope you all hear from me again later this week!

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

I'm a few days behind on this, but here is my foodie pen pal reveal!

My Foodie Pen Pal was Alexandra. She emailed me and asked me a few of my favorite foods. I told her that my favorite food was pineapple and peanut butter.  She sent me a couple of peanut butter flavored Lara Bars. Dried Pineapple Rings form Trader Joes (these were my favorite!!!), a tropical trail mix, some pink straws, a few recipes for smoothies/protein shakes (they are yummy!), and she also included a Kid's Clif Bar and a bow that she made for my daughter! I loved the fact that she included things for my daughter! That was SO sweet!

Elliott munching on her Clif Bar and showing off her new bow!

My loot!

Pink straws and recipes, dried pineapple rings, tropical trail mix!

Cute and sweet card and Lara Bars!

I loved being a part of the Foodie Pen Pal and I will definitely be participating again! I have a button on the side of blog, if you are interested in participating in the Foodie Pen Pal Program!

It's Official!

I'm registered for the Prairie Fire Half Marathon on October 14, 2012! There is no turning back now!

So the resumed Half training is going well! I ran 2 miles on the treadmill last Tuesday, early morning. Then Wednesday Kim and I did 4 miles at SCP. We did the 4 miles with intentional walking intervals. One of us would pick a landmark to run to, then we would walk for 60 seconds, and the other one of us would pick the next landmark, followed by 60 seconds of walking and so on and so forth. We had never done timed walking breaks before and it ended up working out really well! It was a VERY consistent run! Our first two miles were the exact same pace!

After my 7 miles!

I'd had 7 miles scheduled for my long run on Saturday. Kim had 10 miles and we were planning on running them together at SCP, and then I was going to bike the last 3 with her. She ended up going to Great Bend with her boyfriend on Friday night, so I was going to be doing it alone. Eek! I was very sad and felt like I wasn't going to be able to do it. I decided to go to the group run out East for my 7 miles. I started out with the 60 second walking intervals. I would run for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I did this for probably the first 2 miles. Then I was able to go for much longer between walking breaks. GoRun had mapped out 6.5 miles, and I was just going to do that. They had water set out at 3 miles, so I stopped and filled up my water bottle and had a Gu (I also had one before I started. This was my first experience with Gu, and I think it helped... Hard to tell...) Then I decided that instead of doing the 6.5 mile loop, I was going to run another half mile, and then turn around for an out and back of 7 miles. The second half of the run was so much better than the first. When I passed the water again, I topped off my water bottle and continued on.

At about 5 miles in, I saw a bunch of kids running and two guys on bikes. One of the guys on the bike was in the middle of the path and I was thinking "Why is this dude biking in the middle" and was kind of annoyed. Then he saw me and did a fist pump in the air and started riding toward me with his hand out to give me a high five. When I gave him the high five, I realized that it was Randy, one of the co-owners of GoRun and one of our coaches! It made me feel really good that he acknowledged me and I felt so inspired and glad that I didn't quit my training!  I finished strong and was happy with my longest run yet!

I think these longer runs are good! I've gotten to the point where I can lose a couple of miles by just thinking about stuff, and I was never able to do that before!

 I also signed up for a 15k on September 9th. My long runs are supposed to be 5 miles next week, followed by 7 miles, and 8 miles, but I think I'm going to do 6 next week, followed by 8 and then the 15k... We will see how this goes!

Right now I'm on a workout streak! It started with the Glow Run last Saturday. It's looked like this:
Aug 11: Glow Run 5k
Aug 12: 35 minutes on the Precor Elliptical and Muscle Pump class
Aug 13: 4 mile run
Aug 14: Hip Hop Hustle
Aug 15: 2 mile run and 2 mile bike ride
Aug 16: 2 mile bike ride and 4 mile run
Aug 17: 5.5 mile bike ride
Aug 18: 7 mile run
Aug 19: 6 mile bike ride

Biking this morning with Elliott

I've been riding my bike a lot since I got it back and fixed! I got a baby seat for it last week and Elliott has loved going on the bike with me! Paul even rode with us a few times!

This week I have scheduled:
Mon: 2 mile run and Zumba?
Tue: 2 mile run and Hip Hop Hustle
Wed: 3 mile run
Thur: Biking
Fri: Biking
Sat: 5-6 mile run
Sun: Muscle Pump and Turbokick

I'll probably do some more biking in there as well, because I'm really enjoying it! I think it is helping with my running also!

Today is Paul's little brothers birthday. He is turning 24! I've known him since he was about 12! We went to eat with other family and a bunch of his friends to a Mexican restaurant that he works at. I had some chips and salsa. I ordered the fish tacos and ate half of it, plus my rice and pinto beans. Afterward, we went with Paul's other younger brother, Mark, and his wife (my BSILF (best sister in law forever)) Jennifer and their daughter Sarah to Orange Leaf. It's a frozen yogurt place. I got a little portion of peanut butter, brownie batter, and banana topped with blueberries and kiwi. I also tasted the watermelon and pineapple! They were all very good!

I also got my Foodie Penpal package in the mail yesterday from Alexandra and can't wait to write about it!!!

I'm Glowing!

Jen, Me and Sarah Pre Race

I'm still here.

I did a 5k on Saturday. The Glow Run. I was dreading it, because since I had decided that I wasn't going to do the Half, I pretty much quit running all together. So I figured the 5k was going to be awful! Stephanie, my SIL, Jennifer and my niece Sarah were doing it, so I was just going to stick with them and walk when they needed to.

When I went to pick up my packet Friday night, I saw Kevin, one of the S2F coaches, and I immediately felt guilty. Earlier in the day, I saw Lori, from S2F and also felt guilty when I saw her. Jennifer told her friend, who is training for the Prairie Fire Half, that I was training for it also, and I felt guilty. I was feeling guilty and ashamed...

Me, Sarah, and Jen Post Race

But back to the Glow Run....We started out, and I was surprised right away! Running wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! I actually felt awesome! I stuck with Sarah and Jennifer as planned and walked when they needed to, but I could have run a whole lot more! I finished in 43:35, which is not my best, and also not my worst. I think the temperature had a LOT to do with it! The run was really fun! It was at night and everyone had glow necklaces, bracelets, glow sticks. There were 2 black light zones on the course with a DJ! It was a really fun race! And we even got medals!

Me and Stephanie Pre Race

Elliott watching Mama Race!

Elliott said "Yay Mommy! You run fast!" It made my night!

Me and Stephanie Post Race

On the way home, I told Paul that I thought I could have PR'd that race if I'd ran the whole thing! Then that night I started thinking about the Half and I decided that I am going to resume my Half training!

So yesterday morning, Kim and I met at SCP to do 4 miles at 5am! I maintained a 11:30 min/mile pace for the first 10 minutes which is super fast for me! We ended up walking a lot after the first mile, because she had been in Rhode Island for 2 weeks and we had a lot to catch up on, but it felt great to be back out there! We ran into about 3 animals, skunks and raccoons, we think, and they picked up our pace for awhile there! I also saw a shooting star! It was a nice morning run! I think that the heat wave is over and that my training will be much smoother from here on out!

I have a 7 mile long run this Saturday, which I'm nervous for. I've never run 7 miles before, but I'm going to do my best and finish it out.

I had to take my dog to the vet (my work place) this morning because she was limping. She had gotten a sticker in her pad and it was really irritating her. She has a little bandage on her foot now! Elliott said that she had on a sock!

Marley and her sock!

October 2011 vs Aug 2012

After that, I met up with a guy to buy a couple of child bike seats. Paul patched up my tires last night and we bought a helmet for Elliott. I'm hoping to take her out on the bike today, but it has been raining all morning so far.

I'm going to run 2 miles at some point today and I have Hip Hop Hustle tonight. I'm kind of thinking I want to try the Ultimate Strength and Cardio class that is before Hip Hop... we'll see.

Although I haven't been running, I'm still losing weight. Slowly, but surely. I'm down to 191.6. I want to be down to the 180's by September 1st.

First Race November 2011 vs Most Recent Race August 2012

I start my Girls on the Run coaching the first week of September. I just found out today that I am going to be working with 6-8th grade girls, which I'm not thrilled about. I was really wanting to work with the 3rd-5th grades. I don't think that the older girls will like me. I hate that I'm so self conscious! I just know that the older girls are going to be much more aware that I'm the fat one! :/

Well, I hope everyone is doing well!

Change of Plans

I'm still here! I've had some time to think and I've come to a hard decision. I have decided to postpone my half marathon. This decision was both hard and easy. Here is how and why I came to this decision.

I got to a point where I was dreading my runs. Last Monday I had a 3 mile run and I was dreading it bad. I texted Kim and asked if she wanted to run, but she didn't respond, so I headed to the park by myself. I set out and turned around fairly quickly. I ended up doing .82 miles and was feeling really crappy when I got a text from Kim that said that she was on her way. So she got up there and we did 3 miles. It is SO much better for me to run with Kim. It makes it enjoyable! When we finished the run, it was almost 10pm! The next run, I was dreading, and ran it on the treadmill. The next run I was dreading and didn't do.

So, my excuses reasons are, basically that it is too hot to train! Where I'm at, it is over 100 degrees every day and I either have to get up and run in the morning, or wait until 8pm or later. My runs are going to get longer, so I'll either have to get up super early or be running until 10pm at night. I don't want to do either. So I decided to do the Prairie Fire 5k and then I will train for the Wichita Half Marathon that is held in April, so I'll be able to do my training in the winter/early spring. I don't feel proud of this decision, but I think it is best for me. Just running in general is a challenge for me, much less running in super hot temps.

So, my focus for the rest of the summer is going to be on weight loss. Since I started running, my focus has been on running and my weight loss has slowed. So running is going to be an aid to my weight loss for now.

The Winner Is....

Leleah! Email me with you address and I'll get the arm band out to you!

Weekly Recap!

Last Monday after the car fiasco happened, I didn't have time to go run before Paul needed to leave for work. I said I was going to run after he got home, but when he got home, I ate dinner and had pretty much given up on running for the day. During dinner, Kim texted me about something at work and I randomly asked her if she had 3 miles to do today, and if she had done them yet. She said that she did have 3 mile and that she had not run them yet. So we decided to meet up at SCP at 730p to run together. We hadn't run together since we'd "broken up"! It was a great run! We chatted and it was really nice outside (for summer)! That day, I really felt like just giving up! But after the run and talk therapy session with Kim, it was better. I felt good and didn't want to give up anymore! There is nothing better than a good run with a great friend! It makes everything right in the world!

I was supposed to run on Tuesday, but I did not. I went to Hip Hop Hustle Tuesday night and there were lots of new people! I was one  of the ones who actually, kind of knew what they were doing and that make me feel good!

Wednesday I almost didn't run, but did at around 8pm. I went to a new park. Linwood Park. It has a 4.9 mile path next to the canal route. I did 2.5 miles and it was hard! I rested on Thursday and did my 2 miles from Tuesday on Friday and they were hard too!

S2F Group source

Saturday morning was the S2F group run. I had 4 miles. When we were breaking off into groups (5k, marathon, and half marathon), Randy, one of the coaches from last session, came up to me and said "I'm glad to see that you are doing the Half! That's awesome!" It made me feel really good! I had a great 4 miles! I was above my target pace of 13:30 min/mile the whole run! I had an average of 12:41 min/mile pace! They took a group photo that I missed because I was running a smidgen late! But it was a cool photo! So many people out to run together on a Saturday at 630am!

Kim Finishing! Source

Saturday, Kim was running the Titan 10k and it had started at 7am. I got done at about 745am, so after the run, I drove over to where they were having the race and started walking the course backwards to find her. I got there at about 8am, and I didn't think she would've finished yet. I was wondering what she was wearing, if she was wearing the race shirt or something else and wondered if I'd be able to spot her. I was at about 5.5ish miles when I saw her round the corner and spotted her right away! I asked how she was doing and she said she was dying! I ran along side her on the sidewalk (I didn't want to be a bandit!) for a while, then headed over to see her cross the finish line. It ended on the high school track and the announcer announced your name as you crossed the finish line, which I thought was pretty cool!

After that I had to go to work. I don't really mind working on Saturday, because it is only for 3 hours. And then at 330pm we went to the wedding of my hairstylist! She is also a friend! She has done my hair for about 6 years! She did my hair for my wedding, for my friend Lindsay's wedding, for Stephanie's wedding... She sang at my wedding and helped decorate! It was awesome to see her on her big day! She looked beautiful!

If you didn't see, I'm hosting a Bondi Band Armband Giveaway right now! Go enter!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Giveaway!

After the Bondi Band arm band was stolen from my car, I contacted them to see if they would give me one to review and one to give away and they said yea! So, if you entered Karens giveaway, here is your second chance!

I absolutely love this arm band! I had another arm band made for the iPhone, but I had to take my case off to put it in. With the Bondi Band I do not have to take my iPhone out if the case! It is made of super soft, wicking material and does not chaff my arm like my previous one did with the Velcro overhang! It also stays in place while running! I also love that it is washable. The only con, as far as I'm concerned, is that there is no window to see my phone while it is in there. All of the other things more than make up for it though! The one I am giving away is the forest green color, but they come in lots of colors to choose from!

To enter:

1 entry- If you are a follower of my blog
1 entry- If you "Like" Bondi Band on Facebook
1 entry- If you blog about this giveaway
1 entry- if you follow Karen, since she is the reason I had the arm band to begin with

Leave a separate comment for each entry. I will pick a winner July 22, 2012 at 1pm central standard time. Good luck!

I was not paid for this review. I was given free product for me to review and giveaway. All opinions are my own honest opinion.

100

I just realized that I wrote my 100th blog post! I'm going to celebrate it with a giveaway! Details to follow soon!

Creep!

Friday night I ran my fastest mile ever! I went to the YMCA and intended to do 2.5 miles. I got on a treadmill and only lasted 0.6 because the treadmill was acting funky. I got off and got onto another one and decided that I was just going to run a mile as fast as I could. I did it in 11:54!

Saturdays long "run" was horrible. I did 3.5 miles and had to walk a LOT. At first I was stopping my Garmin when I would walk, but eventually stopped that. When I ran, it was much faster than usual. I did my 3.5 in 51 minutes... Not impressive...

I woke up this morning and intended to go for my 3 mile run. It took me an hour to talk myself into going. I looked at the forecast and the temp was 72, but the humidity was 90%! I finally decided to get my butt out of bed to go. I was going to drive the new, old Toyota that I just bought from my brothers girlfriend, but my new Bondi Band arm band that I won in Karen's giveaway was in my Saturn, so I went to grab it out. I couldn't find it, then I realized that things looked awry and I realized that someone had "broken" (the doors weren't locked) into my car. They took my Zune, my daughters diaper bag, my daughters travel DVD player, her Nickelodeon DVDs, and my brand new Bondi Band arm holder with my ear buds in it that I hadn't even been able to take on a test run yet! I was SO mad! By the time I finished looking through to see if I could figure out anything else that was taken, it was too late to go run, because Paul needed to go to work. It makes me so mad! Why didn't I lock my doors? And why the HELL did they take that arm band! That is no value to anyone! They left the two other crappy chaffing arm bands that were in there! Why did they take my brand new one! The arm band is what made me the most mad, that and the diaper bag. What are you going to do with my arm band and my 2 year old daughters books and toys. You can sell the Zune, the DVD player and DVDs, but the other stuff... WTH? Stupid creeps!

I decided that I wasn't going to let that ruin my day. When Elliott got up, I asked her if she wanted to go to the park or the zoo, and she said that she wanted to go see the animals. So we went to the zoo. We didn't stay very long. It was so freaking humid! I wore jeans that are too big and I was sweating a lot and my thighs were chaffing on the seams of the jeans.

Caution: the next paragraph may be considered TMI...We were in the chimpanzee exhibit and they have a baby (2 year old) chimp that we have seen many times. He's very cute and getting big. At one point, we were watching him and he grabbed his penis and started... you know... pleasuring himself! Do chimps do that?! Right when that happened, me and the rest of the parents standing there were like "Okay, time to go!" It was really weird! I think the zoo is going to be a source of some very awkward conversations as my daughter gets older.

We got home and Elliott starting acting like a crazy child! I feel so frustrated for her sometimes, because she will be trying to tell me something, but I just do not understand her! She fell asleep shortly after her meltdown and is soundly sleeping still, on the couch! Maybe we will go check out the park later...

I got a new old car this weekend. From March until June we just had my Saturn because Paul's old car had finally quit. In June he bought a truck from one of his buddies. Before that happened, my brothers girlfriend was telling us that she was going to Massachusetts (where she is from) in July to buy a car from her parents. I asked her what she was doing with her old car. She said she wasn't sure, but then messaged me on facebook saying that I could check it out if I wanted to. So we finally bought it from her this weekend. We don't need it right now, but in the last two years, we have had to go with one car for an extended period of time, 3 times, so it will be nice to have a back up. It's a 1998 Toyota Avalon, so nothing fancy, though she took good care of it. I'm going to drive it and check out how the gas mileage is compared to my Saturn...

Dear Dad

Dear Dad,
     It was been 7 years since you've been gone. I would say that it seems like it was just yesterday, but it really doesn't. It seems like a lifetime ago. When you left the story, Paul and I had just moved in together a few days before. Since then, we have moved back to Wichita, got engaged, got married, got pregnant, had the most amazing daughter, just to name the big ones.
     I still think of you all the time, and you still visit in my dreams, but not as often. I miss you so much! I wish you could be here to meet your granddaughter! She is more amazing than you could ever imagine! She knows who you are, even at her young age! When she sees a picture of you, she says "Papa!" And speaking of Papa, Granny and Papa love her to the moon and back. I remember your words and still try to call them once a week and visit as often as I can.
     I am finally doing something to get healthy and lose weight. I got much bigger than you ever saw me at. But I'm getting smaller and healthier and doing things I never thought possible. And in doing all of this, it makes me mad at you! Why couldn't you have done these things? If you would've not eaten crap and sat on the couch, you may still be here with us! I am NOT going to have a heart attack and die when I'm 47! I refuse to except that as my fate! I will be here to see my daughter grow up and get married and have children!
     I hope you don't take this the wrong way... I love you and I miss you and you are my inspiration to not be like you! I hope I still make you proud!

Love,
   Carrie

Teddy Gene Batt Jr.
September 7, 1958-July 5, 2005

Brave

My back has still been hurting a little bit since Tuesday. I went to Hip Hop Hustle Tuesday evening and it felt pretty good, but I still feel it and its a little sore.

My SIL, Jennifer had a BBQ at her house on Tuesday, but I didn't get to go because Elliott had a fever. They had another BBQ and fireworks last night too, and Elliott was better so we got to go. Elliott loves the fireworks! She got to do some sparklers and she LOVED it! When the sparkler would go out, she would stick it in the water bucket and immediately go get two more for us! Jennifer lives outside the city where they are allowed to have bigger fireworks and they always do in her neighborhood. It's always a fantastic show right from her driveway! I was disappointed in myself because I ate FOUR cookies, gah!

source

I also took Elliott to see Brave yesterday! I think that Princess Merida is the one of the first princesses of Elliott's generation! I loved her! Everything about her! *SPOILER ALERT!* I was telling Paul about the movie and he asked if she married a price and lived happily ever after and I said "Actually she didn't!" And that is exactly what the movie is about. He said that it wasn't a real princess movie then. I told him it was awesome that she didn't get married and live happily ever after! She got to choose if she wanted to or not!


We are supposed to go to the waterpark at the YMCA today. This could either be really fun or really horrible! With a two year old, it could always go either way!

Hope everyone had a great Independence Day!

A Long, Colorful Post

I am on vacation from work until July 11 and I couldn't be happier! My mom and one of my little brothers, Leon, are coming up from Oklahoma today! I can't wait to see them!

I got up early this morning and went to the Y to get my 2 miles in. I got there and decided that I was going to do my mobilefit strength workout. I was on my last work out, which is a machine for your back, on my last set and I did something to tweak my back. I had felt like the weight (75lbs) was a little much the previous set, but still continued. Stupid move. I didn't finish that set, and went over to the treadmill. I had to think twice about whether or not I could run, but decided to try anyway. The run actually went pretty well considering the sore back.

I got home and iced my back and had Paul rub it a little bit. Then I took an 800 Ibuprofen. I feel much better now.

We had S2F group run on Saturday at 630am. I was really dreading it. I didn't want to get out of bed, but I did. Then I was driving there and I really wanted to turn around and go home, but I didn't. I got there and the run was awesome! The best run I've ever had! It's so weird how you never know how a run is going to go until you get out there! I think there is something magical about Saturday morning group runs! I suffer through my runs all week, then Saturday is awesome!

Saturday was the first time Kim and I didn't run together in a group run. She ran with Brandi, her boyfriends' SIL. They are MUCH faster than I am! I ran at a good pace for myself, listening to some good music, and had a super good run! When I was done, I sat and had some water, talked to a couple of people new to the program, then went back for Kim and Brandi. They did 5 miles, I did three. Kim was dying on the way back. I ran back with them, then we saw Parrish and talked to her a bit.

Tony Clark, the local guy doing the Badwater is trying to get some media coverage and Parrish is a reporter for one of the news stations, so I told her about it. Here is a video of Tony, you should check it out and donate to Gallant Few if you can! It's a great cause!

After Saturday's run, Elliott had pictures and they turned out super cute! I'll share the sneak peeks I got!

After pictures, Kim, Stephanie and I left for Kansas City for the Color Run on Sunday! When we got to KC, we checked into our hotel, then went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I had a Mexican salad from their Skinnylicious menu and a piece of cheesecake that probably had 1000 calories! I was going to look it up, but Kim and Stephanie wouldn't let me! lol!

Before

After

Sunday morning was the day of the run. We got to Arrowhead Stadium at 6am for packet pick up. I'm glad we got there early, because there was a ton of people! They said it was the biggest Color Run yet and there were 15,000 people on our day. Since we got there early, we got in the first wave. Thank goodness, because it would've been torture waiting any longer than we had to! It was pretty fun, but it should've been set up differently. We walked 90% of it because it was almost impossible to run. There were a TON of walkers, which is fine, but they were walking 7 people across and between getting around the big groups, plus dodging the other people trying to get around them, made for not a fun run. So we walked it. It was supposed to be a color at each kilometer, but it wasn't measured out accurately. I decided before hand that I was going to run it for fun since it was untimed anyway. I almost wore my Garmin, but I'm glad I didn't. The first color was yellow, then orange, so it looked like everyone had rolled in Cheeto dust, lol! Then it was blue, then pink. The finish line was the best part. They have color throws every 5 minutes and it was really cool and fun. It was horrible after it was over though. We couldn't find the station that you are supposed to get blown off at. We were SO colorful! We sat on towels to get back to the hotel, then showered and went home.
 

Short and Sweet!

I'm in Kansas City right now with Kim and Stephanie. We are getting ready to go to the Color Run! It's untimed, so I'm running it for fun! I'll post pictures later!

Novice

First, I want to thank you all for all of your support yesterday! I appreciate you all so much!

When we first got our training plans, we had a few options: novice, beginner, intermediate, level 1, and level 2. I had naturally chosen the novice plan, but after talking to my friend Kim, she convinced me to do beginner. The beginner plan runs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That is a lot of running. After my post last night, I looked at them again, and had reconsidered doing the novice plan, but I didn't want to let my friend down. This morning I got a text from Kim and it said: "So I talked to Kevin (her boyfriend) last night about or crappy run yesterday and he made me think... Am I pushing you too hard?... He basically made me realize that your goals are weight loss and new lifestyle where as mine are kind of not set in stone. Then he asked me why were were doing the beginner plan instead of the novice and I kind of realized I was dictator on that... It does move sort of fast and has lots of days of workouts per week, and you take classes at the Y... I guess I am saying that I don't want you trying to keep doing the beginner plan and end up hating running." I told her what I had thought about the plans and that I thought that running 5 days a week, especially 4 in a row was probably going to burn me out. So we are going to be heading on separate paths to our half marathon. It makes me a little sad, and a little relieved. I have really felt like I have been holding her back and I do not want to do that!

I will run that damn half marathon! I may not get up to that mileage as quickly as some other people, but I will get there!

Arg!

I'm feeling extremely discouraged right now! I had a horrible run this morning! Ended up walking the majority of it. 71% humidity is just too intense!

I'm feeling like I should've chosen the novice half program to follow instead if the beginner... Uh, I don't know!

I had expected myself to be farther along in my weight loss by now! I just want to be skinny already! Or at least just plain overweight instead of obese! It makes me so mad! If I would've started the first time I was 197lbs I'd be done already!

I just wonder of I'll ever be comfortable in my body.... How much am I going to have to lose before I don't feel enormous?

My SIL always says she feels fat and she weighs 162lbs! Which I don't judge her by. I know all girls feel too big sometimes regardless if their size, but I started 98lbs heavier than that!

I just want to feel comfortable and be able to run without feeling like I'm dying! I want to wear something cute and FEEL cute!

Sorry for being a Debbie Downer, but that stupid run this morning really put a bad vibe on my day...

New Shoes

Wave Inspire 8

Kim and I went to GoRun yesterday to get our new shoes! I got the Mizuno Wave Inspire 8s and she got the Brooks Glycerine 10s! She had the Brooks Glycerine 9s and liked them alot so she got them again in the new generation! And hers are pink! I tried on the Mizunos, a pair of Adidas, a different pair of Nikes, and a pair of Saucony's but I liked the Mizunos the best! We went to the West store, but they didn't have her size, so they called over to the East store and we went and got them there. I also got a new sweaty band! I got the thin, sparkly, black one!

After shoes, we got lunch at Pita Pit. I got the Hawaiian, which was super good! We went to leave and I couldn't find my keys, then it hit me. I had set them down on the seat next to Elliott's car seat when she started throwing a fit about not wanting to put her shoes on... So... They were locked in my car! I called on of our friends, Bekki, who is pretty good at getting us out of situations like this. So she met us there and we tried for about 2 hours to get the door unlocked. A guys stopped and tried to help us, but it was no luck. I had asked how much it cost to call a locksmith and Bekki said "$75!" I didn't want to pay that! Eventually I called the locksmith, and they quoted me $35. I should have just called in the first place, because I would've paid that rather than mess with it for 2 hours! And it was SO hot! On the phone, the locksmith place asked where we were and what color, year, make and model my car was. Just so happened that there was another red 2004 Saturn Vue in the same parking lot that the guy went to first! I don't know if he tried to get into it or what, but the alarm started going off and that is when we saw him and waved him over to us!

Week One Is Done!

Week one of half marathon training is in the books! I missed one run this week on Thursday. We were in St. Louis for Paul's grandma's funeral and we were up late on Wednesday because of a bunch of drama with his younger sister. I won't go into it, but she is crazy! I did do Wednesday's run though. I tried to talk myself out of it many times, but I'm so glad I did it!

Check out the hills down there!

The picture doesn't do it justice, but this is a severe down hill (after the up hill!)

Being from Kansas, there are not a lot of hills around here, so running on the hills of St. Louis were a bit harder for me. I was in a really pretty area though, and all the people I passed were nice.

We had our first group run this morning. It felt like the first day of school! Seeing people we knew from the last group and meeting/seeing new people. Kim and I met a girl who is new to running and newish to town. She was around our pace and really nice. I invited her to run with us during the week training. I hope she will! I liked her!

Kim and I before Day 2 training run

They had a pancake feed after the run, but I didn't indulge. I'm still trying to lose 30lbs by October. I came home and had some cottage cheese and a bowl of cereal.

There is a local ultra marathoner who started at 10pm last night and ran 50 (!!!) miles to meet us this morning! That is super impressive! I thought it was really cool! He is training to do Badwater 135 for a second time this year!

Tomorrow night, GoRun is having a movie night and showing The Distance of Truth. I'm excited to go see it!

On my way into work after Day 1

Kim and I are going to meet up around noon today to go get our new running shoes and then have lunch! I want to get some bright colorful shoes this time!