Lunch Time Ramblings

The weather is finally starting to cool down and it feels awesome. Sure, we are still hitting the high 90's but that is much better than 106.

The marathon photos are being uploaded and so far, I've seen 6 or so of myself. You know that moment when you think, "shit... Those pants really DO make me look fat!"? Well I have had the moment 6 times today. I spent a few minutes being disgusted and I had to put things into perspective for myself.

PERSPECTIVE!
1. Still wearing the same size clothes I was wearing in March.
2. Just bought a pair of size 10 designer jeans and they fit right off the hanger. No squats or outside assistance necessary.
3. Just took a bunch of time off my first half marathon time.
4. It might be a myth but the camera adds 10 pounds... The angles were just all wrong. My story, sticking to it!
5. Still feeling awesome!

I do need a new routine and I do need to stop eating my husbands cooking. With that said, I am going to start a new workout program through a local running club. I'd like to shave some more time off my next race and I would like to be a little stronger in my core and with my balance. I just need to stick to it!

News from the back of the pack!

OK! The Santa Rosa Marathon. The race where I was going to beat my previous time into oblivion. The race where I planned to be at a sub-3 hour. The race where I was supposed to come out blister free. The race where I was supposed to run a lot and walk a little. (Dear Fresno Weather, thank you for ruining my desire to train, you jerk!)

So for me, the race started with a drive. My husband, dog, and I took off at 6PM on Friday night and made the trek to Santa Rosa. Hank slept the whole way and was a crazy dog the moment we stepped foot in my parents house. He ran around, drank too much water, refused to eat any food, and almost popped in the kitchen. After a 5 hour drive, all I wanted to do was sleep and the dog just wanted to play. Then he woke us up to go to the bathroom at 4AM and 6AM. Let's just say, when I finally woke up for real on Saturday morning, it felt like I only got 5 minutes of sleep.

Once everyone else in the house was awake, I headed over to the Expo to pick up my race packet. On the way, I stopped at Lucky's to buy Peanut Butter for the Redwood Empire Food Bank and my last minute, "shit I need stuff for the race" stuff. Basically I still needed Powerade, a pre race Power Bar, and a during race pack of Power Bar energy blasts. While at the store, an older gentleman in a wheelchair told me, "Hey gorgeous, want to point me in the direction of the adult diapers?" After I pointed down the aisle he proceeded to tell me, "I think I love you. Let me take you to dinner. Where do you want to go?" I didn't feel too pleased with myself because literally a second after I declined, he offered to take someone else to dinner.

With my dreams of dinner out with a nice man in adult diapers completely shattered, I headed off to the Expo at the Flamingo Hotel. Parking was a complete disaster but once I parked, I took a long walk to the lobby of the hotel. I immediately dropped off my Peanut Butter and got a nice "Run, Run" grocery bag. The girls at the booth also tried to sell me a shirt for the Santa Rosa Marathon and I was thinking, "Um... hello? I get a shirt with my race registration. Why would I buy another?" Long story, short. I did not buy another shirt.

Something that was different about this Expo than the Expo for the California Classic was that they required ID. I almost didn't think I had my ID on me but I found it and was able to get my bib and swag bag. My bib says "Full Marathon" and my heart leaps into my throat. I was seriously thinking that I paid to be in the full marathon and I tried to think of ways that I could try to get myself back down to the half marathon. Turns out, there was a huge printing error at the printing company. The half runners all got full bibs and vice versa. (There are a TON of Facebook complainers re: this subject) The chips for this race were shoe lace chips and believe me, at 6AM when I was fighting with the damn chip, I was begging for the bib style chip instead!

I had a great lunch on Saturday with my Mom at BJ's Brewery (sodium-rrific!) and an even better dinner with my grandparents, Mom, and Husband at Mary's Pizza Shack. I was also perfectly exhausted by 10PM so I was able to fall asleep really quick and woke up pretty easily at 5AM on Sunday. I've found that the earlier I wake up and eat, the easier it is for my GI tract to let loose before I run. TMI, yes. Completely necessary, absolutely. I even drank a little bit of coffee and I've decided that method is a mistake and it won't be repeated. I should have had only Powerade before the race but I've just chalked it up to experience and I'm going to move on.

I left the house at about 6:15, made the five minute drive to the free parking garage and then took the 5-10 minute walk to Juilliard Park in Downtown Santa Rosa. I was really nervous at this point because I really needed to use the bathroom... again. I waited in a really long line and realized there was absolutely NO toilet paper left in that bathroom so I ran to a group of porta potties and waited in line there. It was 6:55 when I finally sped over to the start line. I don't know if it was the chilly morning temperatures or the significant amount of waste I expelled from my body that caused my mental confusion but it seriously took me three minutes to figure out how to get to the start line. I ended up in this maze of route fencing and had to hop over one of the fences to get where I needed to be. To make matters worse, I couldn't find the pace group I planned on joining so I ended up completely at the end of start pack. It took me about 3 minutes to cross the start line (the only reason I know for sure is because my clock time and chip time are 3 minutes apart).

 

Once we all got moving, the run was chilly at first and the views were pretty. We passed a bunch of horse properties, vineyards, and fields all while running along the Santa Rosa Creek. Later on, I was grateful for the shady running area and I was so glad that the volunteers were placed near some of the complicated insets in the course. There were quite a few spots where marathon runners were doubling back when I was making my first pass through an inset and I know that I almost went the wrong way at one point.

I was really happy at mile 8-9ish when they had oranges, bananas, and extra GU. I swear it was my saving grace and gave me the extra boost I needed to finish the race. At about 6 miles, I realized that I burned through my Energy Blasts and I was so pissed off at myself. I prefer the Energy Blasts to GU because I prefer chewing but ended up having GU at the rests of the stations. My camelbak proved to be helpful yet again because I definitely needed the extra hydration along the way. I even decided to use it as my ipod holder last minute because I realized that most people were hooked to music even though the race rules highly advised not being plugged in to headphones. It was a good choice because I was alone most of the race and needed the company of my music.

Run wise, I felt like I could have done better. I could have run a little bit more and I could have paced better in the beginning. I ran until the 3 mile mark, then did 1/2 mile jog-walk intervals for 5 miles or so, and then I dropped down to 1/4 jog-walk intervals. My heart rate was just not as consistent as usual and it made me suffer a little bit. I didn't fatigue as early this time around and I actually remember the whole race this time around. I didn't once get the feeling of dread because I had a certain number of miles left and at one point I started chanting to myself, "You can do it. Almost there. Just here to beat yourself." It helped a lot because my final three miles weren't horrible. I felt a blister on the bottom, side of my left foot for the last 5 miles but it didn't hurt as much as the back of the ankle blisters I got in Fresno. My $15 pair of socks really DID help. :)

Race wise, I loved this race and will definitely consider doing it again. The crowd was supportive, the other runners were amazing, and the volunteers were awesome. I swear, I want to be around this group of runners every time I run. I don't know what was different between Santa Rosa and Fresno but there was definitely a difference. There was more camaraderie between the runners in Santa Rosa. Marathon runners who were doubling back were actually encouraging us back of the pack half runners to "finish strong"and telling us that we were "so close". It was really cool. I even got a high five from a Modesto Marathoner after I crossed the finish who kept telling me all through the race, "You're gonna smoke 'em!" I mean... how cool is that guy?

I was lapped at Mile 10 by the first place Marathon finisher and that was at about 2 hours and 13 minutes. He ended up finishing at 2 hours and 40 minutes (whoa, dude!) and I finished my half marathon about 20 minutes after that. Just BARELY over the 3 hour mark. At first, I was really bummed because my goal was 2:45 or less. Doing the math, I ended up cutting over a minute per mile off my last half marathon time so you know, I done good. And I even got to meet my family at the finish line. My Husband, our dog, and my Mom were all there to see me finish and it was pretty cool. The pictures below are courtesy of my Mom.

Next race is November 4th and it is in Clovis! I guess my new goal for Clovis is to be at 2:45 or less... I can do it. Almost there. Just going to beat myself.

Quickly, before I need to recap...

Well... a lot has been happening in the real life sphere lately so I may as well just do one big update!

For me, the most exciting thing is that I won Employee of the Month for the Month of June. So for the entire month of July, I got a nice parking spot and I got to pass my picture on the way to the breakroom/bathroom. To get noticed for my hard work is definitely something that I appreciated.

The next thing is that I sold my horse.... finally. About 4 years ago, I made the tough decision that she and I were no longer a good match. I was just about to graduate from college, I had no where suitable to keep her in my new town, and I basically just wanted to take a break from horse ownership. Well, I was lucky when I found a trainer who was willing to make a deal with me. She basically leased her from me as a lesson horse but I still had to pay for board and in turn she would sell the horse. The whole situation (without going into too much detail) has been a ridiculous mess. Lots of arguments with my husband, lots of hemming and hawing over what to do, and even some moments where I considered taking her back. Now she is finally sold and we are having problems with the check clearing the bank. It's been frustrating but one day, very soon, the horse will be officially sold and moved. And I will have a little more money in my savings account.

Over the last month, my run training as gone from a lot of miles a week to next to nothing. The hot weather (three weeks straight of 100+ degrees) just killed my desire to do anything. It was basically a training disaster because once I did get back on the treadmill and out on the road, I felt like a complete newbie again. With the Santa Rosa Half Marathon being this past weekend, I was really stressed that I would do worse time wise in this race than I did in my first. Now, finishing is winning and the accomplishment of finishing means more to me than my times in my races but I just wanted to blow my previous time out of the water. Oh well! I have the Two Cities Half coming up in November and it will be cooler between now and then so...there!

:) Race Recap coming up!

Gahhhh!

I have had three horrible runs in a row. I feel so unprepared for Santa Rosa next month!

Updating.. no creativity for a title

I've been avoiding my bloggerness like the plague for the last few weeks but I have updates now! In work news, I am the June Employee of the Month! It has provided a much needed boost to my work morale. I still need to take my picture for the wall but I am tempted to submit this picture instead...

This will never happen but it's worth a try!

I spent the 4th with my family at a Collins Lake campsite. It was amazing and exactly the refresher I've needed. We water skied, swam, ate, swam some more, and rented a paddle board and kayak for six hours. The paddle board was AWESOME! Talk about a full body work out! I rowed the paddle board from the rental beach area to the beach in front of our campsite. Then when I got close I made my first attempt at standing. (Thank you, BOSU ball for helping me with my balance!) I was able to stand right away but balancing AND rowing... whew... that was tough! I fell off quite a few times but it was so worth it. It was even worth the shoulder and back soreness the next day. Don't worry, I was still able to brush my hair and put it in a ponytail.

Water skiing was great also. I've been skiing on doubles since I was 11 or 12 but I haven't done it in a few years. I got up pretty easily so I decided to ditch a ski and ski on a single. I've had successful single ski trips a couple of times before, so I figured it would be easier than it was. Let's just say I cleared my sinuses with lake water. I had some good attempts but just got too tired to continue. Oh well, there's always next time!

My husband wasn't able to come on the camping trip because he was getting pigs for his FFA students. Literally 5 minutes after returning from my trip, we headed to the farm for some quality pig time. The pigs are pretty cute when they are younger and they are still curious enough to wonder what I am ("are YOU my mom?!). My cell phone almost got eaten but I did make it off the farm with some cute pictures. As much as I want to hate the pigs for taking my precious little Brian time, it's hard when they are so freakin' cute.

Obviously not a pig :)

For the camping trip, my Aunt brought along her copies of The Fifty Shades of Grey (Books 1 and 2) and I unwittingly started reading them. I finished both books in two days and went on to finish the third before I had to go back to work. When I read books, I become an obsessive reading addict. It's normal for me and this experience was no different. It wasn't until I was done with the series that I realized how much I despised the books. Yes, I devoured them but they made me so  mad. 1) Not many people have that much sex. 2) When hearing about my friends and their "first times", the word orgasm has never been mentioned. 3) Someone who is scared of their boyfriend/husband needs to leave said boyfriend/husband. 4) Fan Fiction writers should not be allowed to do what E.L. James did (see more below) because it is wrong.

During the reading experience, we did a little photo shoot

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Fan Fictions and I've even written a couple. There are a lot of talented writers who write fan fics and who spend a lot of time in the FF world before diving into their own writing projects. Some of the Twilight Fan Fictions are better than the original novels. Now, if you didn't know, E.L. James made a killing selling a trilogy that started out as an Alternative Universe Fan Fiction (AU FF) for the Twilight series. The AU FF was called Master of the Universe. The similarities between the FF and the published series are... astronomically high. (If you don't believe me, check here.) It's kind of ridiculous and sort of embarrassing that she was allowed to publish these books. I don't have a protective bone in my body when it comes to the Twilight series, I just think that this kind of messes things up for FF writers who are remaining "honest". And I guess that is the end of my rant.

Now I have a confession and something I want to get off my chest. It's personal but it needs to be done! It's the main reason I was staying away from blog writing. I actually spent a good portion of June writing blog posts for a Mom/Pregnancy/Trying to Conceive website. No, I'm not pregnant. Am I aspiring to be at some point soon? Sure, that was the point of the blog posts. Despite the chance of compensation, I decided that it wasn't for me. I really enjoyed writing the posts, the responses they received, and the fact that I was helping a hoard of people. What I didn't like was that it made me obsessive and I ended up heartbroken. I got so invested in what I was writing/what I was feeling that I just forgot that sometimes these things end in disappointment. I didn't want to be disappointed. It was tough but I'm glad I stepped away from the project. I feel much, much better. (P.S. I'd prefer if anyone who knows my husband personally not mention this to him. I've had a hard enough time trying to convince him we are "ready" and outside intervention is not going to help my cause... at all! :) thanks!)

<a href="http://www.someecards.com/bff-cards/ice-cream-relationships-dating-bff-funny-ecard"><img src="http://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/filestorage/ice-cream-relationships-dating-nbc-bff-ecards-someecards.png" alt="someecards.com - I'll always be there to listen to your problems as long as an obscene amount of ice cream is involved" /></a>

If found, pick up and drag across the finish line.

Slow and steady.

See Above for my newest running tools. Aside from my new socks & shoes, I downloaded iSmoothRun on my iPhone and I bought a Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor. Now, the HRM doesn't sync to my phone which is a major bummer BUT it does sync automatically to the treadmills at the gym which was unexpected and very cool. My treadmill runs have been much more successful than my road runs and I need to figure out how to get it more balanced. Obviously half marathons are run outside and on the road, not on a treadmill.


I feel like the treadmill is my friend in some ways and my foe in others. I stay really well hydrated when I'm on the treadmill and my speed is much more consistent. I've set my iSmoothRun to give me nutrition and hydration reminders so that helps me a lot when I'm off the treadmill but it's a lot harder because I have to find a place on my body to carry water and food. When I'm off the treadmill, I feel like my warm ups are more consistent and my legs aren't as stiff and sore mid run. But on the treadmill, my feet say cooler. Today on my run, my feet were on fire by the third mile. The rest of my body felt fine but my feet were just burning up. It wasn't even super hot here today so I'm really frustrated.

But other than frustration about my feet, my heart rate monitor helps me so much. I can run for longer, my body feels better, and my splits are more consistent. I'm running a lot slower than I want to be running but I'm able run for 60 minutes straight (approx. 5 miles). And to think, back in January I was struggling to run 60 seconds straight. I always say that I appreciate and celebrate small victories but this isn't small to me, it is HUGE.

There is something else that is huge and I think it is worth mentioning. Obviously, this blog started as my weight loss journey and I've done a few blogs where I've talked about how I view myself. Well, I'm doing it again and it's because I would like to share the picture below that I have titled, "The Journey of a Shirt".

The Journey of a Shirt

My Aunt Brenda gave me this shirt for my 21st Birthday (far left picture is the day of receipt). Four months prior to my 21st Birthday, I did Weight Watchers and I recently found my diet journal from that time. For being a college student, I ate really well but had some serious body image issues. When I started the diet log, I weighed 150 pounds and my goal was to lose 10 pounds. By the time I hit my birthday, I had lost 13 pounds. (Don't worry, my trip to Vegas and my new found ability to legally purchase alcohol added at least six pounds back onto my body.) Something I remember about this time of my life was that I looked back at my pictures from my Vegas trip and I was really upset with how I looked. I thought I was huge and I was really unhappy. All I could think was, "I just lost a ton of weight and I still look heavy." I look at the pictures now and think about how stupid I was to berate myself.

Many washes and wears later, I was still squeezing into this shirt. In 2009, almost two years to the day (middle picture), I wore this shirt for an "engagement" photo. This was the picture that made me realize how out of control things had gotten for me. I was so upset when I saw this picture that I cried. I was even more upset when my then fiance decided to display this photo on his work computer screen. To say I was mortified is an understatement.

A lot can change in three years (far right picture) and it has changed. The shirt has officially come out of retirement and surprisingly, I felt better in it today than I did on the first day I wore it. This is mostly because I feel so much more comfortable in my own skin. I mean, I went outside of my house wearing stretchy, spandexy running pants today and felt really good about it. I got honked at by a truck driver and my mind instantly thought, "yep, these pants work for me" rather than thinking, "shit... I must really look like an idiot." I walked into Target and picked up a size MEDIUM dress from the Juniors Department and it FIT and I felt GOOD in it. (And I bought it, if you wanted to know!) And you want to know something? I weigh 25 pounds more today than I did on my 21st Birthday. I'm just smarter, wiser, healthier, and happier than I was back then. Is it age or the fact that I've overcome obstacles that I never imagined I could overcome? It's probably a mixture of both.

I've overcome my fear of the scale, my fear of the gym, and the preconceived notion that I'd never be able to run more than five steps without fainting. I've even managed to come up with a balance between reading and exercising (gasp!). Who would have thought? :)

Dirt and Water doesn't just make mud

 I started my garden around the time of my birthday, so right at the beginning of April. I've already enjoyed the fruits of my labor in the form of strawberries, basil, cilantro, and tomatoes but I still have lots of things growing and developing (and in some cases growing and dying). In the garden box above, starting from the plant furthest away, I have watermelon, lemon and regular cucumbers, and crookneck squash. My watermelon plant has taken over and is finally producing watermelons, five to be exact. One of the melons has grown from the size of the tip of my pinky to being larger than my hand in about a week.

 

My cucumber plants are producing mainly blooms right now but I'm hopeful that they will produce (I have one lemon cucumber that is the size of a ping pong ball). My squash plant has 10+ squashes on it and I am so excited! The leaves are a really dark green and the plant is really healthy. Squash seems to be my strong suit as I had a lot of luck with them last year as well.

In my next garden box, I have all the plants that grow UP, not OUT. The Roma and Cherry Tomatoes are growing like crazy. The Heirloom plant that I have is almost 4' tall and has finally spit out some actual tomatoes. Again, the magic number is 5. My basil and cilantro plants have already flowered (boo!) and my sweet pepper and green bean plants are not doing well. Both are flowering but not going beyond that and producing anything. Most of my corn stalks (the plants on the right hand side and closest to you in the pic below) are now taller than me. They've already produced tassels and one of them has started an ear of corn!

This year I separated my strawberries from the rest of the garden and they are actually doing really well. They aren't big strawberries but they are really, really good. I'm already thinking about what I can plant in the fall and what I want to plant next year. It's so exciting, I can hardly stand it! I really want carrots, garlic, onions, and sweet potatoes.