Where Have I Been!?

I happened to stumble across my own blog a few days ago and realized it has been almost TWO YEARS since I last posted. WHAT!? I can tell you exactly WHY I've been absent for so long: In June 2014, I took a job as a school librarian and BOOM, 100% of my time was devoted to serving my school and students. Then, in May of 2016, I was relieved of this position due to state budget cuts. Here I am, January 2017, with a different full time job that, at 5 o'clock each day, allows me to go home and just BE. No more spending every waking hour thinking about school and lesson plans and book lists and awards and grants and projects. Seriously, I had no idea how busy and stressed I was until I was no longer busy and stressed! And someday (when the budget crisis improves) I plan on going back to it. But for now... I love where I'm at! Especially since it allows to me focus more on fitness and writing!

So--what have I been up to gym-wise? Still at it! I've been doing CrossFit now for... almost 3 years? I've done a couple of team competitions, ran a few more 5Ks and 10Ks... But, right now, I'm actually in an arm sling. That shoulder injury from a long, long time ago? It turns out it was much MORE than just a deltoid strain. Apparently I suffered a HAGL tear. Don't ask me to get all technical and explain, cuz I have no idea. All I know is that I had a torn ligament that required surgery. And because I didn't have it fixed way back when, it caused major destabilization of my rotator cuff which also had to be fixed. I had my shoulder scoped November 30, 2016.

Before going under, the doctor told me that there was a chance that they would go in with the camera and find nothing. After years of pain (and never improving on any lift that required my shoulders), I was so afraid they would find nothing and I would just have to live with it. Good news was they found the problems and fixed them, bad news was that I would have to wear a sling for 6 weeks at which time I can start physical therapy to rehabilitate my shoulder. I'm at 5 weeks right now! My plan is to periodically update here on my progress with PT as well as getting back into CF.

There is so much more I could update here, but I'll save it since A) hardly anyone ever reads my blog anyway and B) it's really hard to type wearing a sling! Cheers!

"Run and Be Happy"

Since I started running a few years ago I've accrued several medals. Okay yes, most of them are participation medals, but still. And I've never had a designated area just for my medals. Some were hanging alongside my jewelry, some from my car's rear view mirror, and many in my office.

The other day I found a picture on Pinterest of the letters "R U N N I N G." Each letter had hooks in order to hang race medals. Cool! (Click here to see that one!) So that was my inspiration. I wanted to use the letters "R U N" for mine (because 3 letters versus 7 letters sounded like less work!) and use bigger letters. So I went to my local craft store... and they didn't have any wooden letters thick enough for the job. So I improvised and used a decorative block of wood. Then I thought, "Why not go ahead and put on quote on there?" So I did.

I painted it gray, added some brown around the edges, sanded it to made it look more rustic, used a Cricket to cut out the letters, added some rolled paper flowers, a few sparkly gems, some hooks, and voila! My very own designated place JUST for MY medals! 

The only thing left to do is round up the rest of my medals! 

Happy Running!

Another Half

Wellllllll... I completed my second half marathon! It was miserable! I thought I was going to die! Let's do it again!

A couple weeks ago, I completed the OKC Memorial half. I started training a few months before and had been doing really well. I gotten up to running 7-8 miles comfortably, so I figured I wouldn't have any problems. Then life happened (and I got lazy, too) and my training became pretty much nonexistent. I was still going to the gym doing crossfit maybe 3 times a week, but that obviously wasn't adequate half marathon training.

Three. That's how many times I ran during the month before the half, totaling a whopping  14.26 miles. Yikes! So the whole week before the Big Day, I knew I was doomed. But I figured Hey, if I can do a 6 hour, 15 mile Spartan Race, surely I can go out and do a 13.1, even if I have to walk some (uh maybe most) of it.

I drove up by myself on Saturday evening and stayed with one of the fitness coaches from my gym who was also running the half. Seriously I don't know what I would do if I didn't have people all around me always stepping up to take care of me! We woke up early Sunday morning, got ready, and went to the race. Then it started raining, and then there was some lightening, and then they made the announcement that they were going to delay the start time for 30 minutes. Everyone (thousands and thousands of us) piled into nearby parking garages so we wouldn't get rained on. We sat on the dirty concrete floor, and then the start was delayed again. And again. And again. I was beginning to hope (oops, I mean worry) that they were going to just cancel it. After two hours of weather delays, though, we finally got started! Granted I was still in the parking garage when the actual horn sounded, but I wasn't exactly "racing" anyway.

I got to the start line maybe 15 minutes later and started out with a slower-than-grandma-who-just-had-her-hip-replaced pace. Because of the rain, and the rising temperature, it was HUMID. I was literally drenched in my own sweat by mile 4. And all the people around me, oh my word! Thousands and thousands of runners, weaving in and out, elbow to elbow, tripping, jumping, sprinting, walking... it was insane and wonderful! I've never experienced anything quite like it.

Around mile 6 I knew I was in trouble. My legs were already so tired. My ankles and hips were getting stiff and painful.  I decided I would walk when I reached mile 7, but somehow I missed that mile marker and ended up getting to mile 8. That's when my run/walk combo began. Run a mile, walk a half, run a mile, walk a quarter... oh my hips were DYING. I ran the last two miles (although I'm not sure you could call it running...) and finished with a time of 2:45:39, about 30 minutes slower than my first half! But considering I wasn't exactly prepared... I am pretty proud of myself.

However, this I vow to myself: I will NEVER EVER EVER run a race without training for it EVER again. EVER. While I did survive, and I was able to run about 11 miles of it without passing out... I paid for it BIG TIME for an entire week. My right hip needed replacing, I'm sure of it. HA! And my ankles felt like there were grapefruits stuck inside them, dying to explode. And then there's my shoulder. It just seems so WRONG that running hurts all over! The night after the race, when I finally laid down in bed, I couldn't fall asleep because of the throbbing in my shoulder, of all things!

The best part about my day was probably after it was all over. LOL I went to IHOP by myself afterwards and drank coffee and ate pancakes. Then I had to drive two hours to meet my parents in order to pick up my son. We met at a convenient store and I told my dad I really really wanted a Mt. Dew and a peanut rounder. Mmmmmmmm... so he went in and came out with a paper bag that I assumed contained my goodies. After we said our goodbyes and they drove off, I opened the bag. My dad does NOT disappoint. Inside was a LITER of Mt. Dew and TWO peanut rounders. You better believe I drank the entire bottle and ate both those little suckers.

Nearly three weeks later, I feel pretty much normal again... just in time for the Super Spartan which is in TWO DAYS. What can I say? I just really like torturing myself.

March Goals

February goals went GREAT. I am so proud of myself! Here's my goal tracker sheet all filled out:

No Soda: 19 days

No cereal: 22 days

Take vitamin: 24 days

8 glasses water: 16 days

Run or workout: 22 days (and some days I did both!)

As for no soda... I can't believe I really went 19 of 28 days without it. And the days I did drink soda I usually didn't drink much. So even though I wasn't perfect on that one, I still consider it an improvement!

The no cereal bit was pretty easy because I would find other not-so-healthy bedtime snacks to replace it with. Oops. Ice cream, peanut-butter crackers, chocolate... yeah, I think those things aren't any better than sugary cereal! Now I know that it wasn't cereal I was addicted to, it was eating any kind of junk food right before bed. 

Taking my vitamin everyday was easy, and I don't think I really need to write that one down anymore. Does that mean it's now a habit!? Why yes, yes it is. 

The hardest thing to do, which was surprising, was drink 8 glasses of water each day. Why is drinking water so hard?! I can literally go all day on one glass of water. The days I actually completed that goal required me having to force myself to do it. I'd look at the clock and say, "Ugh, I should have already had 4 glasses by now," and then I'd down as much as I could. Some days I would try and drink one glass every two hours and that wasn't any easier. I guess after a lifetime of drinking Dr Pepper... this water business is just going to take time!

And then there's the running/working out. That one was way too easy! I realized that it was way harder to take days off than anything. Imagine ME waking up at 5 AM everyday ready to go throw some heavy stuff around. So. Much. FUN. Let's face it, I'm an addict! 

Now it's time to reveal my March goals. They are:

No soda.

No snacking after 8 PM (ahhh I already regret this decision lol)

8 glasses water daily

Run 4 days per week

Crossfit 4 days per week

Okay... I'm not going to lie: these weren't the original goals I came up with. Originally one of my goals was to cut out all sweets like cake, cookies, ice-cream, candy, you get the idea. Then on day 5 I realized that, for me, it was unattainable. I mean I can't even conquer the "no soda" yet... so I decided to remove that one and just do no snacks after 8 instead. 

What's funny is that I was talking about my monthly goals with my 8 year old (before I'd changed them). She offered me some of her chocolate bar and I said, "No sweetie I can't have that, I made a goal this month not to eat that kind of stuff." She gave me such a grown-up "yeah right" look and said, "No sweets? Hmmm, I bet that's not going very well, is it." It wasn't even a question. She knew. LOL I died laughing and said, "No.. it isn't going well at all." She was right... I hadn't been able to go a single day yet without eating some sort of candy. And that's when I decided to put that one off for another month... 

CrossFit

I know what you're thinking: everyone who does crossfit feels the need to TALK ABOUT CROSSFIT. Well, I can't lie, it's pretty true. But it's also true of people who run, workout, do yoga, or go on some kind of fad diet like Herbalife or Body by Vi. People like to talk about stuff they like. I also talk about my kids a lot :) They're kind of awesome and I kind of love them a bunch.

So anyway, where was I? Oh right... I started crossfit the first full week of February at CrossFit Ada, which means I've been doing it now for a little over 4 weeks. When our gym first became affiliated with it, I'll be honest, my initial thought was, "Great, now we're going to be overrun by those crazy people who think they're better than everyone." Before that point, I'd honestly imagined crossfit to just be a fancy term for people who "cross-train" and didn't think the movements or the workouts would be all that different from what I'd already been doing for the past 7 months. I mean come on, is it really all that hard?

My first day, I attended the early class and was the only girl there. Now if you know anything about me, you know I'm stupid competitive. I get it from my mom and her side of the family (my sisters can back me up on this, right Tonya!?). You should see us all play volleyball at a family reunion. I  know nothing about volleyball, but when it comes time for a family reunion, all of us act like we've been playing for years and will fight and argue like volleyball is our life. We end the day sun burnt, mad at each other, sand stuck in embarrassing crevices, and ready to do it all over again next year. We don't mean to be that way, it's in our blood to compete.

So the first day of crossfit, being the only girl there, the Tomlinson side of my brain kicked in and I made it a goal to keep up with the men. I put on my big girl panties and acted like I was really as strong as a 6ft, 200lb man. We did box jumps, hang cleans, some kind of weird walking push ups, and rope climbs. The push ups nearly did me in. I didn't modify, I didn't act like I was dying, but deep down all I could think was, "WHY AM I PUTTING MYSELF THROUGH THIS?!?" But I did it, and while I did not finish ahead of all the guys, I did finish right with the very last of them. Sure, he was about 30 years older than me, but whatever. I can't remember how many full rounds I did, or even how long the workout lasted, but I remember coming to 2 conclusions. 1) I wasn't dead. 2) CrossFit was out of my league.

After the first week, I really wanted to quit and just go back to what I'd been doing before. I didn't like the workouts--they were too hard and I sucked at every movement we did. I didn't understand any of the lingo "What the heck is AMRAP?" and "Why does everyone keep saying 'prescription' like it's suppose to mean something?" The first time I did "toes to bar" I felt like giving up, especially in the last round when the callouses on my hands split wide open. I barely got through each workout, and there were very few things we did that I didn't have to modify. Pull-ups: use a band. Push-ups: on my knees. Hang cleans: no weight on the bar. Squats: pathetic. OH squats: impossible.

But then, after the first week, something magical happened: I started to get better. Who would've thought all that hard work would pay off!? So then of course I started to actually look forward to going. Instead of the big fat green band on pullups, I started using the not-quite-as-fat purple band. Instead of doing push-ups on my knees, I was able to do TWENTY full push-ups on my toes before going back to my knees! If you've ever done anything in your life and gotten better at it, then you understand the feeling I had. Okay, I was still terrible at toes-to-bar (and honestly still am and hate them more than anything in this world), but I will tolerate them if I have to. And rest assured: I still run, too. My love for running will never go away! In fact I signed up for another half marathon which I am totally unprepared for, but I'll live. :)

This past week the CrossFit Games released the first "Open Workout" 14.1. No way on earth would I actually register for the games, but it was still fun to do the workout and compare myself to hundreds of thousands of other crossfitters. The workout:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
30 double-unders
55-lb. power snatches, 15 reps

I'd never done a "double-under" in my life. All it is: jumping rope, but instead of the rope going under once, it it supposed to pass under your feet twice (per single jump). Saturday morning I grabbed a jump rope and gave it a go. I didn't totally suck at it for once. I couldn't get very many in a row, but I could do a couple. So I decided to alternate my jumps: single, double, single, double, etc. This means I ended up doing the Rx of 30 double-unders, but I also had to add 30 singles which takes longer. As for the power snatches, I was originally going to just do the bar (45 lb) but then all my lady friends started adding weight. I'm competitive, remember? So if they do 55, then what choice do I have? So in the end I did the full prescribed workout (and I actually caught on to what that means!). 

I did 3 full rounds, plus 30 double-unders and 11 power snatches. My final rep count was 166 (it was actually 176 but apparently can't add in the heat of the moment, lol, so on the board it says 166. I need to relearn math.) As far as the Cross-Fit games go, 176 is nothing. The lead woman scored 472. And thousands and thousands and thousands of submissions later, you might find 176 somewhere way down on the bottom of the leaderboard. So while yes, I'm very proud of the fact that I could do the workout, I'm nothing special. 

BUT, what is special, is having a group of people that support each other throughout the entire process. I mean, yeah, we're competing with one another, but it definitely isn't the Tomlinson family reunion kind of competition. We encourage one another, cheer, and lift each other up. We high-five and fist-bump. So while I love crossfit, what I love more is the people. Maybe we aren't supposed to get all mushy, but I can't help it. I love my fellow crossfitters. 

February Goals

Every month, I try to make some attainable goals (because my gym tells me to! lol). Sometimes I do great, sometimes I forget that I'm supposed to be tracking progress and I go off the deep end. January goals were:

No soda. (like, ever)
Take fish oil (daily)
3 servings dairy (daily)
Run 4 days per week

Re-cap:

No soda: This is basically my goal every month, and last month I think I went 20 days without soda. Woohoo! Not perfect, but it was quite an improvement.

Fish oil: I've discovered that, unlike normal people, fish oil breaks my skin out. Isn't that so backwards?? So mid-month I changed that goal to just taking vitamins daily. The only ones I could find in my house (why buy more when you know there are some expired ones somewhere!?) were prenatal vitamins. So I took them, and that goal was definitely the easiest one (and my nails look great!).

3 servings dairy: I don't know why this is so hard for me... but I never get enough dairy. I didn't do so well on this one. My poor bones needs more calcium...

Run 4 days per week: I didn't fit in 4 days of running per week, but I did manage at least 3. Close enough.

I was pretty proud of myself!

So here are my February goals:

1. No soda (sigh...)
2. Take vitamin daily.
3. Drink 8 glasses of water daily (I am guilty of being a water snob and I never drink enough)
4. No cereal (I have a serious "eat-2-heaping-bowls-of-cereal-right-before-bed" problem. Ask my husband, he'll tell ya)
5. Run OR workout 5 days a week.

So far things have gone well! I've had no soda, I've taken my vitamin everyday, I've downed 8 cups of water daily (being mindful of where the bathroom is located at all times), I've stuck to my workouts, and I've had NO cereal. Zilch. Nada. And I have to admit... not eating cereal right before bed is WAY harder than not drinking soda. I'm such an awful night time snacker. It's my weakness.

Not only did I come up with my own goals, but I talked my husband into doing it too! We have our goal tracker sheets right next to our bedroom door, and each night we check off the goals we met for the day. It's fun! Plus I'm really competitive and it gives me a rush to have more things checked off than him. I'm too competitive, seriously.

So what are your goals? Maybe you should think about writing them down and checking them off when you've met one. Start small. List one goal to work towards. Next month, maybe try two. The idea is that after you have consistently met a goal on a daily basis, it becomes a habit. Maybe instead of trying to quit something cold turkey, try cutting back. (ex. drink no more than 12 ounces soda daily, eat out no more than once a week, etc.)

Good luck!

Texas Spartan Beast

Caution: Lots of bragging ahead!
I'm sorry, I can't help myself. I am just SO proud that I really did finish this sucker. This was my last semester in school and probably the worst time possible to decide to train for a race as beastly as this one, but I managed. So let me tell ya all about it.

First, let's review. I signed up for this race back in June and the realized a few days later that I would have to miss my own graduation for it. I wasn't really upset about that. This is also the time I injured my deltoid muscle from playing softball. I went to physical therapy for about three months and was told I should be better. It really wasn't, but to be honest I was a little scared of what my bills were going to start looking like if I kept going. So I stopped going and trusted the doctor who said, "It'll be fine in about a week." Well guess what, it still bothers me. I learned to deal with it and I will never go to that doctor again.

I joined a gym in August because I knew I couldn't train for a 12 miles obstacle course on my own--I needed major help. I could NOT have done it without White Rock Fitness and I am so grateful for all the training I received out there and the friendships I've made along the way! My first couple of workouts were awful. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so hard and I thought, "There's no way I can do this race. No way." But then each week I could do a little more, run a little further, lift a little heaver, and even do five whole chin-ups without any assistance. Over the next few months I increased my mileage and then BAM... I got shin splints. Stupid stupid stupid. I took it easy for the next week or so. And then, 3 weeks before the race, I got my wisdom teeth out and was out for another week. My first day back at the gym our workout consisted of running a short distance and then doing one burpee, running, two burpees, running, three burpees... all the way up to twenty burpees. That totals to 257 burpees and maybe a mile or mile and a half of running. I almost died. I'd been pretty sedentary for two weeks prior and felt like I'd lost all that progress I'd made. BLEH. But with only two weeks to race day... I kinda had to suck it up.

The week of the race I was a nervous wreck. Friday one of my sisters, Tonya, and I drove down to Glen Rose, TX where we'd gotten a cheap hotel. We met up with my other sister, Shawn, who was doing the race with me. That night no one got much sleep--Shawn's little boy Evan was a little cranky and cried a lot. We woke up at 5 a.m. on Saturday to 38 degrees and the temp projected to drop from there. Really!? We got all our stuff ready. Tights, two cold gear shirts, a wind breaker, matching shoes, gloves, and a camel pack to take extra gloves and hand warmers. What we were most nervous about were the water obstacles. Cold water just didn't sound like fun.

We drove to the race site in my mother-in-law's Jeep (we were afraid to drive our vehicles because they're not 4-wheel drive!). We put on all our clothes. We picked up our race packets, put on our bib numbers, broke open a pair of hand warmers for my stupid crazy hands, and headed to the start line. We stopped to take a quick "before" photo in our emergency blankets. It was that cold! Oh, and one "graduation" photo!

Once we got to the starting area we realized we had to get over a 5 foot wall to even get to the start line. How cool!

We managed to scale it (how embarrassing it would have been to not be able to!) and just moments later were on our way (literally at the very back of the pack). The first mile or so wasn't bad at all. It was cold, yeah, but we had on several layers. We did one or two obstacles but they weren't anything special. Then we came to a water obstacle. Noooooooo, please no. Ugh, yes. The water was waste deep on me (but I'm pretty short) and I of course got my stupid gloves wet.

The rest of the race was a blur. We balanced on stuff, scaled mountainous terrain for miles and miles, carried heavy stuff up and down, did burpees, waded through freezing water, climbed ropes, flipped tires, rolled under 300 feet of barbed wire, memorized stuff (Golf-838-1287), crossed monkey bars, encouraged strangers, helped one another out, took lots of breaks to warm our hands, and high-fived a LOT. The camaraderie we experienced throughout the race was incredible. You see someone struggling and you help them--it really is human nature and this race proved it.

Here are a series of photos. Enjoy!

This was around mile 8: The spear throw. We made the guy show us how to do it first (I don't exactly have a lot of spear throwing experience). 

Cleaning off my spear tip because I thought that would make it shoot straighter? I don't know... it seemed legitimate at the time. 

Getting ready to throw that sucker! 

Here's Shawn throwing hers. It looks like it's a straight shot and that it'll stick!

But, alas, neither of our spears stuck. I'm not sure why we're laughing. Doing 30 burpees is no laughing matter. 

I think this is when I noticed my other sister, Tonya, standing nearby taking photos. I was SO HAPPY TO SEE HER. I felt like I hadn't seen her in years. I ran up and hugged her so tight, not even worrying about the fact that I was smearing mud everywhere. 

Aaaaand the burpees.

Next we ran off to go hike some more and wade through more water. And look! It's a skinny Santa Claus!

Climbing the inverted wall. 

It wasn't hard to get up... but once you get to the top it was really awkward figuring out how to get over. 

This obstacle wasn't hard either... but it was up high and the wind was crazy, making it VERY cold. 

I'm up there thinking, "What happens if I fall through one of these gaps?"

The next two pictures break my heart each time I see them. The rope. The first rope in the course wasn't bad at all--neither one of us had any problems with it. This one, however... You start out in waste deep water and the rope is SLICK. I've trained for this. I wasn't worried about this one. I waded out in the water and started up without any problems. I got to the top, reached for the bell, and was literally about 4 inches shy of being able to touch it. FOUR FREAKING INCHES. I tried inching my way up a little at a time to get to it but I just slipped further down. I stared at that stupid bell for a while trying to figure out how in the world I could close the gap. But I just slipped further down and by this point, being at the very end of the course and having already run over 14 miles, I was so tired. My hands started to tremble. My legs were shaking. I gave up. I went back down, waded out of the water, and did my 30 burpees. I felt so defeated.

Up Up Up! No problem. 

See that? SEE THAT? I'm so close. I'm just staring at it, willing my arms to be just a few inches longer, or that knot my feet were on to be just a few inches higher... ahhhh, it pains me to look at this picture... 

Let's move on before I start crying... 

Here's a picture of what our next obstacle looked like before over a thousand other Spartans had been on it. Nice and clean and probably not slick at all. This is not what it looked like by the time we got to it. 

Here we are awaiting our turn... just standing in the water because really, who needs feet anymore? They were already frozen solid anyway. 

Here we go! This one wasn't really all that bad... till you get to the top of the rope and have to figure out how to actually get over the wall. Make a jump for it? Lean into it? It was so muddy and people were slipping all over the place. 

What I love most about this picture is that people at the top helping others over it. It was so awesome.

Time to jump over the fire! By the time we got to it there really wasn't much fire left. But, to be honest, the wood looked like it was stacked so high. My legs were just soooo tired. Right before we got to it I turned to Shawn and said, "Shawn, I really don't know if I can jump over that!" lol

 Okay, so the last thing we had to do was run through the gladiator pit where people were waiting there to smack us around a bit. I confess: Shawn beat me to it and while the first gladiator was hitting her... I made a run for it. I sacrificed my sister!! I paid for it and got smacked on the next one...

You can see he's about to hit her... and there I am, barely visible in this picture, preparing to sprint passed them both... 

Well you're welcome, Shawn, I took the next blow!! 

WE DID IT! We're crossing the finish line at last!

I couldn't feel my feet, or my hands, or my left nostril. Shawn had two broken toes and bruises up and down her legs. But we did it. We later learned that the course was actually around 15 miles, NOT 10-12 like we thought it would be. Some even said it was closer to 16 miles, but I honestly have no idea. All I know is that I finished. 

So what's next on my bucket list? Well I'm already looking to do a Super Spartan (8ish miles) in May but, even bigger than that, is my April goal: The MARATHON! 

I guess before I start training for anything else I should get all healed up... :) 

500 Miles, 56 Burpees, and "I Love My Gym"

I haven't posted anything in a while but I can assure you I have NOT been slacking! In fact, my fitness routine seems so incredibly complicated it's hard for me to put it into words.

See, I joined a gym. Not just any gym, but probably the best gym known to mankind. Okay, fine, I honestly have nothing to compare it to, but I am serious when I say that I love this place and the people who work there.

About 3 months ago, a co-worker came and said her gym was giving out some free one-month memberships and wanted to know if I was interested. Well I've got this terribly frightening race coming up in December and I really, really needed to up my game, so I said yes. That was the start of making White Rock Fitness & Nutrition my workout home. After my free month was up I signed up for a year contract and, while it's expensive, it's completely worth it in my opinion. There's no way I would ever stick to it on my own. The coaches there are amazing, and I've made friends there who push me to be better every day.

What I love most about the gym is the workouts. I don't just pay a gym membership and then go in there and make up my own awkward workout (which would be very entertaining, I'm sure)--I attend a class in which the coach tells us what to do, how to do it, how much weight to use, how to modify it if needed, corrects us when we do something wrong, encourages us to push harder, recognizes our accomplishments... it's like having a personal trainer without having to pay an outrageous price based on however many sessions we do. And they're nice, so that's a double bonus!

I've been going now for nearly 3 months straight and haven't been bored with the workouts a single time. I've tried doing P90X sooo many times, and every single time I end up quitting about a third of the way through because I get so bored and tired of doing the same thing over and over and over again... Well at this gym the workouts change often--and they're NEVER boring! I truly love having a group of people to work out with, too. They motivate me and, whether they know it or not, they help me with my accountability!

So what prompted this post? Well besides the fact that I love my gym, I actually wanted to brag a little, too. Yesterday I ran before my workout. I've been doing this some lately but yesterday was BIG because I reached the 500 mile mark! To some people that may not seem like much, but for me, who used to HATE running and then fell in love with it about 2 years ago, 500 miles is a big deal! And really I know I've done more than that because I didn't have the Nike App for about the first 6 months of running.

Not only did I reach that awesome number, but I also accomplished a personal best during the finisher of our workout yesterday. The idea of the workout is to make as many rounds as you can. The first minute, you do 1 burpee, 1 squat jump, and 1 more burpee. Then you rest until the second minute starts. Then you do 2 burpees, 2 squat jumps, 2 more burpees. The third minute you do 3 burpees, 3 squat jumps, 3 burpees... you get the idea. The first week I made it 6 rounds. The second week I made it 6 rounds. The third week I made it 6 rounds. I was beginning to think that was my max. Yesterday: I DID SEVEN ROUNDS! That's a total of 56 burpees and 28 squat jumps! My seventh round was ugly, it really was. I had sweat dripping all over the place and I may have even drooled some. But I did it. 

Okay, that's all for now, I've got a Spartan Race to go train for! When I can walk again, that is... I'm so sore. ;)

It's Not a DIET... It's a Lifestyle Change!

I hate the word "diet" as most people seem to use it today. The real meaning of the word simply refers to the particular selection of food as it pertains to a person's health. However, most people commonly use this word to mean, "I am now restricting my food intake to lettuce and water so that I can lose 10 pounds in one week." Okay, maybe I am exaggerating just a little, but you get the idea.

Going on a "diet" is so impractical and just sets us up for failure. Some people can go on a diet and lose a ton of weight and that is GREAT, don't get me wrong. And some people can do all that AND still keep it off, which is GREAT too! But for most people I know, a "diet" is something they start and then give up on after a couple of weeks; it's temporary. But, in order to lose weight, keep it off, and stay healthy, you have to do something you can maintain permanently! Hence why I throw a fit when people ask me if I'm on a diet. Yes, I'm watching what I eat, but it's not a temporary diet--it's a permanent lifestyle!

Here is my friendly advice to those who want to get started with making a lifestyle change:

1. Educate yourself. Get the curiosity flowing! Become knowledgeable about what goes into your body. Start asking questions. Why is too much sodium a bad thing? What's the big deal about gluten? How does "losing weight" even happen!? What is a calorie? How many do I need? Etc.

2. Keep a food diary. I encourage using MyFitnessPal (it's free!), but there are other great tools out there you can use too, such as MyFoodDiary, MyPlate by Livestrong, and even WeightWatchers. A food diary will force you to face reality: you've probably been consuming way too many calories for way too long! It will also guide you in how many calories you should be consuming which varies from person to person. For example, I'm female, 25 years old, 5'4". To maintain a weight of 125 lbs I would need to consume roughly 1,600 net calories per day. If I wanted to gain weight, I would need to consume more than that; to lose, consume less. A food diary will also track sugar, sodium, protein, etc. All of these things are important.

3. Start exercising. I know, I know, I hated it too. Find something that you like to do and start doing more of it, and stop making the excuse that you don't have time. Make time! Personally I'm a runner, but I used to hate it! Read about that more here. The thing is... you can lose weight without exercise, but exercise isn't just for shedding pounds, it's for your overall health. I know it can be intimidating (trust me...) but when you conquer something you've never done before you will feel like a total beast! Don't let fear keep you from reaching your goals.

4. Set small goals. It's good to have a big "end" goal (i.e. lose x-number of pounds), but also set small goals, too. For example: "Today I'm not going to eat any dessert." "This week, I'm not going to eat fast food." "This month I'm going to [insert chosen exercise here] 3 days a week." When you've reached a goal, reward yourself, but NOT WITH FOOD! Get a pedicure, your hair done, or, if you're like me, buy a new book ;)

5. Start cooking. It's so much easier and faster to eat out, and sometimes it can even be cheaper (a burger for a dollar, really McDonalds?), but trust me, you'll appreciate your food more if you've prepared it yourself! Look up recipes and try new things--you might even like something you thought you would hate! Personally I've always thought Brussels sprouts would be gross, and they've turned out to be my favorite thing! Don't judge a book by its cover :)

6. Find a buddy. If you can find a person who wants to join you in your journey, fantastic! Having a partner allows you to keep each other accountable. I personally don't have a fitness buddy (sad day!); I watch what I eat by myself, I go to the gym by myself, I run by myself... but I try to connect with people who share my interests, even if we don't necessarily do things together. Some of the people I work with love to run, too, and when we get to talking about races and training... it's hard to get any work done! The biggest thing it does, though, is keeps me motivated.

7. Don't even buy the junk! I've learned that if there is an open bag of chips in my kitchen, I will eat them. If there is cake-mix in the pantry, I will bake cupcakes, and I will eat them. Because of this I try not to buy that stuff at all. This can be hard, especially when your husband (significant other, parents, kids, etc.) eats all that stuff. If you must have junk food in the house, at least put it somewhere you don't see every time you enter the kitchen. Personally I've started using the, "Oh no, I forgot to buy the chips again!" excuse. It's okay to fake some memory loss--I do it all the time.

8. Plan your response. What I mean by this is that you need to prepare what you're going to say the next time someone offers you a donut, asks you why you ordered the nasty low-calorie meal, or refers to your lunch as rabbit food, etc. What are you going to say the next time someone asks, "Are you on a diet?" (Besides punch them in the face, of course). People ask me this all the time and usually follow it with, "You're already small, it won't kill you to eat a little more." I usually respond by saying something like, "I have a race coming up," or "It will tear my stomach up," or "I'm allergic." Sometimes it's a lie but it makes my life easier!

9. Think ahead. Try to plan your meals in advance. If you're going out to eat, look up the menu online and figure out what you're going to order before you get there.

10. Don't quit. I know this is easier said than done but, trust me, it gets easier! Your body will eventually crave nutrient-rich foods. Sometimes I seriously just want to eat vegetables. Me, the girl who used to eat chips for breakfast and a fried chili cheese burrito for dinner, eating vegetables!? No way! But it happens! I seriously believe that the more you learn about your own body and the food you put into it, the more likely you are to make better choices.

"Everything you put into your body is either contributing to your health, or taking away from it."

Fireball Classic 10K

A few weeks ago I signed up for the Fireball Classic 10K and then didn't even attempt running more than 4 miles up until the race. Here lately I've had this "I can wing it" attitude. 6.2 miles? No biggie.

At the starting line we were told that this 10K just so happens to be the hardest one in the state of Oklahoma--ruroh. They fired the gun (a real shotgun that would have made me pee my pants had I not been warned) and off we went. I literally started out in the very back of the pack--I didn't want to get caught up in the crowd and run faster than what I was prepared for. 

I still started out too fast, dang those over achieving 10K-ers! The first 3 or so miles really weren't that bad at all--it was pretty flat. But miles 4 and 5 are the hilliest part of the course. Lucky for me I had already run those monster hills before (during last year's half marathon training) so I wasn't too caught off guard. I ran my 5th mile 2 minutes and 41 seconds slower than my 6th mile-HA. 

My final time was 1:02:44, which means I did NOT reach my goal (YET) of running a 10K in under an hour. I did, however, set a new PR! Woohoo! Although my "wing it" attitude paid off pretty well, I don't plan on continuing the trend. I really really need to start preparing myself for the Spartan Beast! I must brag on this race a little--it was one of my best experiences. They had plenty of water stations, the course was well marked, and there were even people out in their front yards playing music and/or handing out water! And the stuff I got in my race packet was pretty awesome, too. Although the barbeque sauce seemed somewhat random, that stuff turned out to be pretty darn amazing! 

My 10K was sponsored by:

http://scissortailengineering.com

In other news, my shoulder is STILL NOT functioning at 100%. It is sooooo annoying. It is much better, though, but I still can't throw a ball overhand OR do push ups, which means I can't do a full burpee yet, either. Wahhhhhhhhh :'( Physical therapy seems to be going really well. Yesterday he increased my reps and my weights. It feels good to be doing something, but it's such a low intensity that I doubt I'm building much muscle at all.