Happy Halloween dear readers! What are you doing on this fun holiday? Unfortunately I don’t have a costume, I really wish I did- but Hendrix is dressed up as Spider-Man! He went to school today dressed up and the school put on a parade!
One of the ladies at work brought in some delicious Krispy Kreme donuts that were specially decorated! Such a nice thought, but I don’t know if I’ll take one as we will be having so much candy tonight!
One already went missing, seconds after they were set down!
School parade!
During the parade! Building towers from cups! Little architects!
Our normal tradition is to take Hendrix to my parent’s neighborhood and trick or treat, which is exactly what we will be doing tonight! We got A LOT OF CANDY! And luckily Hendrix was introduced to the Switch Witch last year so she will be taking 90% of the candy and giving him a fun toy! Now we just need to figure out what toy!!!
Since I recently started this blog, you don’t know the races I participated in this year! So, let’s give it a go!
“Resolution Run” Race 10k- MY FIRST RACE! This was the catalyst that set me off on the wonderful road of running races. It is hosted in San Diego, about 40 minutes away from where we live in Oceanside, so in order to avoid driving super early in the morning to meet the 7am start, we booked a hotel down town and stayed over night. Even though it was really cold! (I am quite a baby when it comes to weather, and tend to like humid/hot days rather than cold ones) I bundled up in leggings, tank top and my bright green windbreaker jacket. I thought you weren’t allowed to listen to music (but you are!) so I left my headphones in the car. Not a total loss, but I was bummed at some parts of the race. I met a lovely lady (who’s name I never caught, but I call her my running angel) because she struck up a conversation with me when she could see how nervous I was and stayed by my side. When I tried to pull over to the side to rest and walk, she pulled me along and said “not today sweetie!” which is exactly what i needed, I was not physically tired, just mentally over it! So, I powered through and I beat my goal! My conservative goal was to run it in under 1 hr and15 min. My big goal was to run it in under 1 hr. I ran it in 56 minutes!! I also signed up for next years race in hopes to beat my time! I am aiming for a 52 minute goal!
Car selfie! So excited for my first race! Arms up in celebration of completing my first run and scoring a PR!! Although, all first time races are considered a PR, I beat my goal by 4 minutes!
Encinitas Half Marathon & 5K– I participated in the 5K, I was supposed to run with a friend, David, but he ended up bailing out for personal reasons and I was left to run it alone. Honestly, I did NOT like this race, its too short! The 5K did not have many spectators, while I heard the half marathon route had a lot more fun. I was pretty bummed and was still getting over a lingering cold. My finish time was 29:02. I was trying to get a Sub 25 min, and clearly I did not hit my goals. But after the 10K, I just wasn’t ready to get back into training, but next year I am signing up with a different friend to do the half marathon!
Since it was such a short race I had the family stay home and not wake up at the crack of dawn for a 30 minute race.
Lexus Lace Up Half Marathon– my first half marathon! I thought I was going to die at mile 10! Again, I did not meet my time goal of sub 2hrs, but it was challenging and this is a distance that I want to keep working at! My official time was 2:09. Not too bad for my first half marathon! Don’t do what I did: I experimented with Nuun sport hydration during the race and had gas the whole time! Luckily, it was just burps (lol!) but it was painful for a bit, the hydration stations on the course seemed to streeetttchhhh out a lot and I was desperate for drinks. It was a lot more humid than we expected! Again, I was supposed to run with my friend Brooke, but she slept through her alarm! I seem to have some flaky friends, haha, still love them though.
my pain face but this was the final 100 meters and I swear I thought I was flying by… but by the looks of this picture it looks like I am walking
· 2K Superhero Obstacle Course- this was my son’s first race! And we had SUCH a blast! Check out the recap here!
· Fit Foodie 5K- Our first stroller run! Surprisingly finished just a couple minutes after my first 5K time- I struggled in the Encinitas trying to go fast, but this one we were just enjoying it and not trying to “race race” and weren’t that slow! Amazing what some perspective can do. Check out the rest of the recap here.
· Turkey Trot 5 Miler– Lots of people sign up for 5K’s on Thanksgiving, almost as a way to excuse how we eat the rest of the day. I’ve been trying to find some more races to fill out my year, and a new running friend, Christine, told me she was running the Oceanside Turkey Trot. So I decided to sign up as well! I don’t think I will race race, but more just enjoy the fun! Luckily the race is only 2 miles away from my front door, so I won’t be fighting for a parking spot, I am just going to jog over early to pick up my race packet and bib. Sounds perfect to me! I will add an extra 4 miles on to my run that day (2 miles there and back). There is also a possibility of joining in on the 5K with my very best friend, Saloni- who does not run at all, but is interested in trying it, if she signs up haha. She doesn’t live in San Diego anymore, but she is coming down for the holiday to see her family. If she does the 5K I will run with her, if not, I will just run on home after the festivities!
Edit (after race)- the weather made it so I wasn’t able to run to and from the race. Also, as I predicted, friend from out of town (Saloni) bailed and didn’t sign up- but to be fair she has been going through a lot of stuff and doesn’t run so she wasn’t in shape to walk or run it as she wanted to. My mom who showed a little interest decided that it wasn’t enough time to train and pulled out as well. But that’s ok! I still had a blast with Christine and her husband Martin.
I have been trying to increase my mileage. When I started training for my half marathon, I was running maybe 12 miles a week, but after training it drastically increased as I started training with 7 weeks till my first half! When you drastically increase you are more prone to injuries, and I was definitely getting injured- plus my shoes just weren’t helping me (it turns out). So, I want to slowly increase to my desired mileage of 25-30 miles a week. This was my routine last week:
Monday- Planned: 4 miles. Actual: I woke up and crushed a 4 mile run! It was so nice and easy. I have found that it is the HARDEST to get out of bed in the morning, but I really LOVE running in the morning. Not only do I get it out of the way first thing, but it puts me in such a great mood for the rest of the day. Like I can conquer anything! Plus, this annual heat wave has made its way back and it was 87* today! It is supposed to be fall weather, what is going on!?
early morning runs call for head lamps, just like late night runs!
Tuesday– Rest
Wednesday– Planned 4 mile stroller run with Courtney, ended up with 3 miles of run/walk combo because Hendrix hijacked the run in the most loving way possible. haha! He really wanted to run with us, but a 4 year old can only do so much and he hasn’t learned to pace himself too well; so it was sprints then stop, run then sprint then stop. But we all had fun and a good laugh and some beautiful views!
Beautiful sunset, I actually caught this shot on my way home from work. I try to drive on the coast as much as possible. It just soothes my soul, and I would rather be here cruising slowly than stuck in traffic on the freeway! Hendrix got to try on the light up vest of Courtney’s and he loved it. He loves choosing the colors it could be and settled for pink! We all love pink 🙂
Thursday- Planned 6 mile run with Courtney. Plan changed to 8 miles early in the morning text chat to get in more miles, but actually did 7.2 miles. Fantastic run! We met at my place and started off slow and steady, picked up the pace a little and averaged a 9:55 pace. We ran to the harbor (4 miles) along the strand and got to see the gorgeous sunset. Then we trekked back a mile to the Sunset Market! There was soooo much food there, and all different types! There was Caribbean, Asian, Filipino, Greek, Polish, African… SO MUCH GOODNESS! I even got to try some kombucha. The one thing that I am upset about, is I took NO pictures- which really does me no good for posting a blog. *sigh* Must get better at taking more pictures. It is so easy to just keep the phone in my pack and not take any pictures. If I am honest, sometimes I get a little self conscious asking to take pictures. And the vibe I got from Courtney is that she doesn’t like her picture posted, so that made it difficult for me to ask if I could take her picture. But gotta muster up the courage at some point! Anyway, we tried some sambusas from Rafikiz ! So delicious, we had 3 spinach and 3 chicken ones. And I have to say I enjoyed the spinach ones the most! Then we walked around some more, saw a ton of dessert carts, which I would have indulged in if we didn’t have to run home! We also enjoyed some BBQ Pork Buns from an Asian food truck, DELICIOUS! And these weren’t too much money for what we got, so I definitely want to go back and take pictures and eat!
Friday– planned 3 mile run. Even well thought out plans get put to the sidelines when something comes up! Hendrix got sick and was NOT feeling well at all, so I left work early and snuggled with him all day. Would I have liked to get out and complete the run? YES! Mentally I would have, so I could cross off the run on my to-do list, but physically… I was tired and I absolutely love cuddling with my little guy. I keep realizing that sooner or later he won’t want to cuddle anymore, and I really cant fathom that, so I get as much snuggles and kisses as I can now. So, Friday was just a hang out chill night, and early to bed!
Saturday– Planned 8 mile run, actual mileage 6.3 miles! Not too bad! Especially since the morning started with a whole lot of vegging. Normally I try to knock out my runs in the morning, so that I have no excuses to push it off. You get it done first thing, and then you are free to do whatever else you want. Well, this morning, I figured it would be tough because Hendrix wasn’t feeling so great and wouldn’t want me to leave (even if for an hour or two). So, I was OK with just hanging at home. But, around 3:30 or so, he decided it was time to go outside. He was over watching TV, I was over laying around.. so we packed up and headed out. I already made it very clear he wasn’t allowed to run around and play- still sick, and don’t want him more run down. So, he stayed in stroller the whole time! (soooo nice of him) I ran 4.85 miles, from our house we did the extra loop in a separate col-de-sac (that adds a mile on to all my runs) and we ran to the pier, down pier and back. It was SUPER hot, so I was drenched in sweat! Hendrix took a short much needed nap and woke up while I was catching my breath walking. We walked for about 1.45 miles (basically just past the pier to a little before the harbor and turned around to walk down the pier) then ran back home. It was a really nice outing and as much as I complained and grumbled about going out.
Total Saturday mileage was: 6.3 miles!
View from the pier to the beach. It was super low tide!! Can’t really tell here, but this is our city! We live 2 miles from the pier and 3 miles from the Harbor!The local pelican that always sits here and lets you take pictures, but don’t get too close! He can bite!!Final stretch of the walking part, as you can see I got really sweaty! 🥵
Sunday– Rest Day/Active Rest Hendrix was feeling better today, so we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with my mom and aunt. It was a great day for it because the weather finally decided to cool down! We didn’t do as much walking as I had hoped for, but 4 miles isn’t too bad! I had crazy protein cravings and had to immediately eat a burger when we got there, I do not do well when I am hangry, so food was an immediate necessity. We walked around and saw quite a few animals, I didn’t take many pictures of them- we’ve been to the park so many times, it’s kind of always the same. But we did get to say a baby rhino and giraffe which were soooo cute!
Comparing myself to a grown male Gorilla. I would have to grow quite a bit to match him!Waiting in line for the trolley ride while also trying to figure out where to go next. He was on the move the whole time, it didn’t seem like we got to really enjoy the scenery as much because it was just GO! GO! GO! One of the newer exhibits! We got to walk along this pathway where wallaby’s were just roaming around, I was like 2 feet away from them! sooo cool!I really liked these signs, it was right outside the wallaby/kangaroo exhibit. Hendrix begged to get his face painted, and I finally caved and let him get it, he chose a purple snake! Purple is one of his favorite colors, which is funny because its mine and his dads favorite color also! Runs in the family? haha
Total miles planned: 27 miles- didn’t quite get there, but that might be a good thing! I am trying to increase my mileage slowly, and doing 27 right off the bad is very ambitious!
Actual miles ran: 20.5 miles (not including the 4 miles on Sunday since it was walking) This is actually a REALLY GOOD WEEK! I am so proud to have made it to 20 miles, this is a good start! I would like to average 20-25 miles a week, so if I can keep this up, we are GOLDEN!
Purchase made this week: Even though I am trying to save on money, I can’t deny that I need something visible to wear while running in the dark. The headlamp helps ME, but not so much other people on the streets. So, in an effort to be seen more clearly, I have purchased a light up vest. Similar to Courtney’s but it is only one color. It should be coming in the mail next week! Fingers crossed! Maybe an upcoming review??
What did you guys do this week? Is the weather as weird and bipolar where you are!?
I started out at 6 pounds 5 ounces… at birth. Why is this important? It’s not. Just thought it should be mentioned, because I quickly bloomed to 108 pounds as a sophomore in high school. (Again not even overweight) but that’s where the body dysmorphia started and I went down to 93 pounds. Skin and bones. After high school I ballooned to 120 and then climbed more and more. At my peak I was 163 (pregnant) then I gave birth and lost 30 pounds easily by breast feeding but felt like shit- and was still mushy/ no strength! Feeling like shit, depressed, no outlets I turned to food. I gained 20 pounds quickly.
I was around 154 when I decided enough is enough. It’s time to get in shape. I joined a gym, and got a personal trainer and worked my butt off. But NO WEIGHT CAME OFF! I didn’t change my eating habits, I didn’t change my state of mind, I didn’t change my personal dialogue with myself. I maintained the same weight and couldn’t shed a pound.
I wouldn’t let myself stop though. I dove into therapy, I fixed my brain, how I spoke to myself, the way I ate and moved and pounds started falling off. I honestly believe that me losing weight was 80% mental. I needed to love myself first and treat myself right. 15% eating right and counting calories and 5% exercise.
Sedentary. Eating too much. Not in love with myself.
It’s almost been 2 years since I started my “real” weight loss journey and I have so much love for me! For life! For movement! I make time for myself every day, whether its working out or reading my book, journaling (such a huge thing for me) or catching up on a show of MINE! and when I say catch up on my show, I mean… no interruptions, just me and my show, not mine and my boyfriends show, not a show for the kid to watch too. But something for me. To laugh, enjoy and indulge. I don’t get those much, but when I do I remember how nice it is to have a show just for me to enjoy.
Now, let’s rewind to what I looked like pre self love.
Left- pre self love Middle- starting to love/ opening up Right- so much self love
Self love does not mean you have to be thin or lose weight. It was just MY perk to it. I started to take care of myself and in return I lost the weight that was weighing me down and gained so much more. I couldn’t keep living the way I was living; depressed, angry, always eating, NEVER moving or exercising. I knew I had to make a change!
July 4, 2019
As I was losing weight I was still a little self conscious and would use filters to try to slim me down. But around January or February of 2019 I finally had the courage to STOP using them. I was OK with how I looked. I was happy. And the above picture I almost edited to remove the “rolls” in my belly but you know what? I didn’t!
I don’t know everything my body is capable of, but I do know that is capable of more than I ever thought possible. From barely being able to run 1 mile to running 2 miles to 3 miles. I got stuck on the three mile hump for a while. I couldn’t push past it, but I still wouldn’t give up on myself. I set a goal to run my first 10k race in January 2019. My goal was to get under 1 hour. I needed to run just under 10 minute miles to make it. I was nervous! But as the months went by, I realized I CAN DO THIS! And I did do it, in ~56 minutes. I beat my goal by just over 3 minutes. And I will continue to push myself to not only be better physically, but mentally and emotionally.
Dear Readers… please, please love yourself- your
past, present and future selves. Do yourself a favor and become to person you
looked up to most when you were younger. A few years ago, I would be ashamed to
meet the little girl I was. But today, I am no longer ashamed. I am pretty damn
proud of who I am.
I completely slack on strength training; I just don’t know where to start, what to do, what routine… etc. I know HOW to do things, but if I don’t have something specific to follow, I am pretty lost. My last training cycle, for my half marathon, I did NO strength training and just focused on miles. Probably not the BEST decision ever. I got injured. I don’t even know how badly injured because it doesn’t seem like I need to go to a doctor… foot was hurting- I changed my shoes- foot stopped hurting as much. Anyway, I found a great little HIIT circuit gym near work that offers 7 day free trial! How can you pass that up? And the classes totally worked with my schedule. SWEEEEET!
It is called F45. I highly recommend seeing if there is one near you! I roped my friend from work, Jannell, into the class and we would go every day after work. It kicked my butt! There are different classes every day, over 30 different variations of workouts too! So your body will never get used to it and will be constantly adapting. It is a definite sweat fest!
Caught golden hour after Wednesday’s workout! Look at that glow!
Monday- Abacus workout- Cardio- 9 stations. 3 rounds- lots of leg work, burpees, squats, lunges. I could NOT walk afterwards.
Tuesday- took the day off, it is my long day, I work two jobs that equal out to a 13 hour day.
Wednesday- still could NOT walk well, but did a shake out run 2.75 miles in the early morning and then in the afternoon joined Jannell for another cardio session at F45. Lots of jumping! I didn’t like this class as much, but still a GREAT workout!
Thursday- surprisingly after the shakeout run and the workout the day before, I was feeling REALLY good! Minimal soreness, able to walk upright without complaining each step and in a great mood. The workout on Thursday was strength training- which I did not like. I didn’t like it because it showed just how weak I really am. I need to continue with more strength and weights so I can improve!
Friday- arms are a little sore from weights, but not too bad. My body seems to be really adjusting to strength training and benefiting from it! Today had a lot of jumps, and since my foot isn’t 100% better, I modified some of the workouts, but still kept up the intensity. This morning we went to the 5:30am class! (the other days were after work at 4:15pm) It was a big change going that early, but there were still quite a few people! Just new faces.
I must say, the challenge this week with strength training was really fun. It was a great shakeup to the normal routine and I would really like to continue doing more weights and circuit training! Too bad it is a little out of my price budget right now!
If you would like to know more about F45, check out their website.
On Friday I decided to sign up for a last minute 5k race and push Hendrix in the jogging stroller. Little did I know I would wake up the next day to see that Eliud Kipchoge broke the amazing sub 2 record for a marathon! I was in complete aw when I read and saw the footage! And that tid bit of knowledge made me more excited to get in a fun race the same day he broke a record.
Eliud Kipchoge breaking world records!
I was quite hesitant how the morning would go, waking up a kid early in the morning can backfire in many ways. But luckily Hendrix went to sleep early and had no trouble waking up. He especially liked seeing the sun rise! He thought it was so special to wake up in the dark and watch the sky brighten! I need more of that perspective in my life, haha!
After bib pickup, trying to stay warm. It was around 55 degrees Fahrenheit/ 12 Celsius
I have never run a race with Hendrix in the stroller, mostly because I was trying to get PR’s and pushing a heavy kid and stroller is not easy! But if I do any race with him, it might as well be a 5k. So, I signed up for the Fit Foodie 5k in San Diego which turned out to be quite fun. The volunteers were awesome and very nice and generous, but the organization of the waves were not as easy to navigate. I should have realized that most people would be walking, so when we started in the middle of the pack I thought we were in a good position. Turns out we weren’t in a good position. I also didn’t realize how narrow some of the course would be. It filed down into a 1 man trail and it was really hard to maneuver with a stroller. At one point we had to pull off course so I could help Hendrix with a snack, which bummed me out because we were stuck waiting to sneak back in for what seemed like minutes! (in the grand scheme of things not long, but if I were to go for a PR I would have been so upset) Anyway, we ran most of it, walked when we had to and generally just took in the sights and let the sun shine on us. It was quite a lot of fun running with a 4 year old, he pointed out things I would not have seen and kept on telling me to keep pushing. He took his job very seriously- I asked him to keep me motivated to keep running and shout out encouraging words… he definitely did! “You got this mom!”, “go faster!”, “don’t give up! No one can give up!” the last one got quite a few chuckles and also some faster pacing around us. It made me think that maybe it would be fun to do a longer race with him. Maybe a 10k?! That is about as far as I’ll go with a stroller (I think).
Right after we finished a nice lady took our picture! I pushed the stroller out of the way because it doesn’t look nice lolHendrix got to meet Spider-Man and was so excited to get a picture with him! All the other pictures with him right next to Spider-Man he wasn’t smiling (trying too hard to make the Spider-Man web shooting pose and couldn’t figure it out- so this is the best I got) He went through 15 different signs trying to figure out which one he wanted to use and finally found this one lolVery cute medal!
Our official time was 31:47- which is only about 2 minutes off of my 5K I ran earlier in the year! But, I have this odd feeling that it isn’t correct, also my Garmin only tracked about 2.87 miles instead of the official 3.1 miles. So that was definitely odd! But I won’t complain too much, it was a lot of fun enjoying this time with him. And I let him have my medal. We even hung his medals in his room, to which he is so excited to see them each day! I finally hung up my medals as well, well actually Jesse finally did! I have this nice medal holder that holds the bibs as well, I have been wanting to put it up all year, and it is finally up and looking great!
My son has always been a huge motivator for me to get healthy and stay healthy. He has also been one of my biggest supporters, but as he has gotten bigger I haven’t been able to go running with him in a stroller. (Pushing 70 pound – stroller + kiddo is very tough!) He has always been very interested in getting his own medal. He always ogles my finisher medals and wished he had his own. So, I found this family friendly race (tailored for kids) and we signed up! He was so excited.
Dressed in full costume- he went as Bumblebee from Transformers and I went as Wonder Woman. (costume courtesy of a work friend’s friend!) It was hot in full costume and he did absolutely amazing! So much fun, and we completed it in ~32 minutes. There were 20 obstacles, from jumping over hay bales, playing ring toss, going through those blow up obstacle courses, climbing walls, balancing and so much more!
Here are just a couple obstacles we tackled! Hendrix was so awesome at the rock wall, he actually just used the rope and scaled up the wall! Then he climbed over and jumped off! It was probably only about 4.5 feet high, but it scared the girl who was volunteering that obstacle!
Waiting patiently for his turn. Such a gentleman!Hurdles! Simultaneously jumping the hay bales Bouncing from trampoline to trampoline like a boss!Balance beam! He was so patient, I know he wanted to go faster but he waits for the kid in front to finish. We could all see he really wanted to shove him aside so he could keep going 😂 luckily no hands were used.
My aunt was in town from Florida and took a lot of the pictures with her brand new iPhone 11! Such good photos! I did about 30% of the obstacles, mostly because I wanted hendrix to enjoy this and also I was wearing a skirt with small shorts under and felt so awkward having a different kid right behind me looking at my bum! 🤦🏻♀️
Finishers medal! Obligatory biting of the medal! He stripped off his costume when we finished because he was burning up. Look how bright red his cheeks are!!
I have decided to follow the Hal Higdon training course for the 10K that I have in january. My goal is to do better than my previous time of 56 min. So I am aiming to shave off 4 minutes and get to 52 minutes. Which means I must train run faster! also, when I trained for my 10K I was doing more strength training, and really need to get back into that! My only issue is that I am waiting for the stupid gym to open. If I wan’t to do my 10K in 52 minutes, my pace has to be at 8:22 min! My comfortable pace seems to be around 9:05. And by comfortable it is where I can easily stay and keep going. So I need to pick it up by 50 seconds! The next few months will be telling. As long as I beat my 56 minute PR I will be stoked.
Day One- 400 m. Intervals at 1500m Pace (completely died) The plan was 6 miles, I managed about 3 miles in total. I could make all the excuses in the world, and these ones are valid- and I will tell you them! First off, I will show you what the prescribed times were and what I actually did:
Warm Up: 2 miles @ 12:05-15:25 min pace Repeat 4 times 100 m @ 7:05 to 7:45 min pace 100 m @ 12:05 to 15:25 min pace Repeat 6 times 400 m @ 7:05 to 7:45 min pace 400 m @ 12:05 to 15:25 min pace Cool Down: .5 miles @ 12:05- 15:25 min pace
What actually happened: Warm Up: 2 miles @ 9:10 min pace 100m @ 6:45 min pace (x3) 100m @ 13 min pace (x3) went immediately into the 400’s and didn’t think about a break and died. I could not finish my first 400m, I was too exhausted and running out of time because I had to pick my son up from school before 6pm and it was 5:25! I still had a 20-25 minute drive to get there and I needed to jet out.
So, that was my first workout.. not finished, but definitely know coming out of it that I need to work on speed, stamina, endurance.
Day Two: Tempo Run- again did not go as planned, everything in body body had shooting pains and I almost called the run off because running with pain is a total NO NO! There are some things you can push through, but not this pain- not like this… if you have goals, you need to listen to your body! I still ended up pushing through, because I assessed the situation, and in the end, I decided I was OK to keep going, but I needed to chill on pace. So I ignored the actual paces and went at my own pace.
Prescribed Work Out: Warm-Up: 10 min @ 12:05-15:25 min/ mile 5 min @ 10-10:35 min/ mile 5 min @ 9:25-10 min/ mile 5 min @ 8:55-9:25 min/mile 5 min @ 9:25-10 min/ mile 5 min @ 10-10:35 min/ mile Cool Down: 5 min @ 12:05-15:25 min /mile
What Really Happened: 5 min warm up @ 12 min/ mile Died Cried Ran Stopped Walked Huffed and puffed pulled my sh*t together and challenged myself to run to the end of the street (.6 miles away) and kept going because the pain subsided.
I think I kept an even pace of ~10:15 min/mile but didn’t try to increase speed. I was really struggling that day and wanted to give up. Also, loaded taquitos before a run, even if it was 3+ hours before are NOT good. Don’t do it. Need to work more on diet.
Day Three: Long Run- foot was still hurting so I decided to go for a fast paced walk with H in the stroller. Kept it between 13:25-16 min/mile pace and sweated my butt off pushing a 40 pound man child and a 35 pound stroller. Made it ~5 miles or so.
In conclusion, the first first was an eye opener- I am not ready for a plan right now, I need to focus on getting better and not running in pain. So, back to the drawing board! I will need to refocus on getting better and new shoes. Rehab in sight!
Realizing I need to take it easy so I can run for a long time
Hello Dear Readers… I go back and forth on writing blogs- but must admit that I love to write. I don’t care so much that people read it or not. But here is my story…
Little nugget driving me around in his Toyota
I am a mother to an AMAZING kid. I am the girlfriend/fiancé/ wife to an amazing man. I say I am all those titles because we aren’t married, but we were engaged- we are together- and we aren’t quitting on each other any time soon. Wow that is getting into a whole different part of our life. We have a child, and he is the light of our life. (so cliché) We are together and happy- and being supremely happy is one of my biggest life goals. Maybe because for the first 28 years of my life I wasn’t happy? Maybe because I was never happy with who I was or what I looked like? Deep insecurities and as child, that have been amazingly solved with 3 years of hardcore therapy, 1.5 years of being separated from my partner (whoops, there goes the whole different part of our life portion). But by allowing us to be separated we both grew up and came into our own and came back together to grow STRONG! Stronger than I have ever known, the strongest bond between us that makes me scared for my life that I could ever lose him actually.
Anyways, sappy part over- this is supposed to be a running blog. I found running a year ago. I was athletic from the womb till 15 when depression hit me so hard that it knocked the love of everything out of my life. I stopped soccer, running, laughing, taking care of myself… everything. I stopped it all. I was miserable. And without any kind of movement I eventually gained a lot of weight (after lots of bad decision making). I topped the scales at 155- which for a person who is 5’1.5 and normally very athletic, this was major weight gain and effected me a lot. I didn’t get that way overnight, but it sure felt like it. Weight crept on slowly, and by the time I really looked at myself I was horrified. I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t understand how I got there and I couldn’t fathom starting over.
155 vs 117
I made a bet with a friend to start working out more and watching what we ate. I happened to be the friend who needed that encouragement so much and ended up losing weight quickly. My body immediately reacted to mindful healthier eating and moving. I saw a 5 pound weight loss within the first month, and each month more and more came off. About 10 months in, I was going to the gym 3-4 times a week and lifting weights and doing elliptical when I had a crazy idea to try the treadmill. I have never had a good relationship with running, I never thought I could run more than 1 mile. I hated gym class when we had to do a timed mile and never expected to actually enjoy it. Anyways, as this great love began, I hated it. But something in me sparked this curiosity. It was a challenge. And I love challenges! I challenged myself to run a mile without walking, I didn’t succeed at first.. I was slow and I was out of breath. I researched and read how to start running properly and was introduced to this whole running community. I was enamored. I was enthralled. Fuck, it was at love. I found an app called “Aaptiv,” where a trainer called Meg would talk into my ear over music and tell me to keep going and push through. And I would do workouts with her and bump the music loud and keep fighting on. Soon, I found out I could run 2 miles in a row, then 3 … and I was ADDICTED! For a while I couldn’t get past 3 miles, and I was only running on a treadmill. I was scared to run outside and be judged for walking. But, what I have now realized…. No one cares- and you are lapping the people on the couch or in their cars. It was harder to adjust to running outside, but now I can’t get away from it. Now, every time I see someone out running I get so jealous!
So, since I couldn’t push past 3 miles, I kept challenging myself and the only way I knew how was to sign up for a 10k! I spent 4 hard months training with Aaptiv and Meg to run a 10k. My goal was to complete it in under an hour, even if it meant 59 minutes and 59 seconds! With Aaptiv I did strength training and running and was the strongest I have ever been. I felt amazing. My first 10k was nerve wracking, I was scared… but I ran the fastest I ever had! I finished in 56 minutes and some change! If I wasn’t hooked before, I was even more hooked after finishing. I loved the challenge, the thought of giving up, the momentum of the other runners and how one lady took me under her wing and pulled me along when I declared I just needed to walk for a minute. She said “oh no girl, I know you go this in you! We are only on mile 3!” it was the dreaded 3 mile wall and I pushed through it!
My first 10k
After the race, I got the runners blues and didn’t know how
to continue. Didn’t know what to do. I kept running, but only 2-3 miles at a
time. I was sad, I got sick and had to rest for what felt like forever. My 2019
goal was to run a marathon, and as summer came and was slowly leaving I
realized I still had a chance to run a half if I got myself into gear.
I signed up for my first half marathon with 7.5 weeks to
race day. And I kicked it into high gear. My mistake was that I didn’t
incorporate any strength training and only focused on the miles. But I sure hit
some high miles and learned to love it all. I would wake up at 5am to run and
get back to the house by 6:15-6:30. I pulled 15 hour days sometimes and yes,
before you ask- it took a toll on everything. Family, friends, eating out,
drinking a beer.. everything was put to the side. I didn’t IGNORE my family,
but I definitely had the priority to wake up early and work out and not stay up
late and watch a movie. It was hard, and the only thing I am going to change is
that I make sure to stay BALANCED.
Before I go into too much, this is ME! This is my life. I am addicted to running and want to share it with everyone and anyone that will listen. If you would like to find me and follow my real-time daily life, you can find me on Instagram @runjacrun
Run Jac Run 🏃🏻♀️ 