Marathon...Itch

Damn that Marathon Challenge show! First, it made me cry. The last five years I have prided myself in growing this tough layer of skin. I don't cry over bullshit anymore, and especially movies or shows. The second thing this show did is put the token fat chick in it, and let me think I have this glimmer of hope that maybe I could complete a marathon.

So, do I? Do I want to push my body?

When I began a 5K running program in June, I did it for exercise and for satisfying this vision of me being able to run a 5K. Now, well now I want more from myself. Sure, I could increase my speed, but I know that will come with time especially as the weight continues to drop. I want to run a marathon. I do, but how do I go about it? I am thinking next years marathon season. Do I have to do all different distance races first? Do I have to do a half before I commit to a full? What is the protocol here? I know I am way ahead of my capabilities here, but if I set goals I will set out to accomplish them. Without any goals, and something to look ahead to, I will let it all fall by the wayside. Could be this freakin Nyquil!

What the hell happened on Dancing With The Stars tonight? How can the best dancer be kicked off!?!!

Anna, I hope you get better soon. I totally hope this half happens for you. If not there is a bunch more, not very consoling, but there is.

Sick & Now What

I did a lot of cross training this past week. I did not sleep enough, mixed in with a few social activities. All this = one sick chick! I have not slept at all this week, getting a max of 5 hours on good nights. For some of you that is a decent amount, but for me I need, and love my 8 hours if I can get it. Last night I had that tickle feeling in my throat in combonation with congestion, and still went to a movie. I caught Dan In Real Life, in my opinion it was ehh at best. Than, I went ahead, and woke up at 4:45 AM anyhow and headed out to a 40 something degree cold, dark downtown to volunteer at the Houston Half Marathon. It was a lot of fun though, I worked the finisher shirt station. I got to watch the runners take off since we had set up our station by gun time. I saw a few of my PIM running coaches, and cheered for them. Whilst the race was going on I talked to some of the other volunteers many of them with a bunch o' marathons under their belt who gave some great advice, and told some fantastic marathon stories!! I worked the guys shirts, giving all the finishers a big great job! Except for the hottie runners, they got a Colgate smile

with a raspy voiced congratulations!! I saw Kim Hager, pick up her finisher shirt way ahead of everyone. I swear nobody else came around for a while. I am pretty sure I heard she was the first overall female finisher. Kim is amazing!! I hear she coaches a beginner tri group here in The Woodlands in the summer, just saying.
Coach Manny came to grab his shirt, with the smart ass comment, "Viv your not running?" Ha, Ha, Funny guy! I told him next year, and he said I know you will. Ah, Sweet! The Houston Striders are awesome to their volunteers. We got a catered lunch, goodies, and great door prizes. I left there knowing one thing for certain, I will be there next year running. God willing and keeping me healthy. Cycling did not go so great on Saturday. I was not feeling the 22.5 mile ride. The group encouraged me to go for it, but I just was set against it. I did the 13.5 mile ride, and it was just a perfect leisurely ride. I was just feeling lazy, and probably my body was trying to fight this cold that has been trying to get me since Thursday. My body has surrendered, and now I feel like total shit. I have a supah busy week, and a packed race/ride schedule this coming weekend!

I just put the kiddo down, so I am crashing out at 7:30PM! Goodnight...

XT Week

I spent most of this week cross training. I did 3 spin classes, a couple days of elliptical, and 4 miles on Wednesday with the group, which went suprisngly well. Thanks, Trish & Crystal for the conversation, about food nonetheless, but it got me through. Crystal is going to be out of town so that was her last run with us this PIM season. Will miss ya chickie!! Enjoy it, cause than we start this 10K training schedule .

I also did 3 miles on the treadmill today. It was gorgeous outside, but no preschool on Fridays so had to settle for the gym with the kid's club. I have my 22.5 mile club ride tomorrow morning. I am a little nervous since it has been 2 weeks since I have been on the bike.

I went to a Halloween party tonight without Shane, since he got called out to Africa. I still went as not so Little Red Riding Hood, just without my wolf....

D'Feet Breast Cancer 5K Race Report

If your not in to kiddos you may want to skip this one. It is my son's first race, a 1K & my 5K. Super exciting day!!

I knew this one was going to be rough since I did not plan correctly. I thought the whole time when I registered that this race was the last weekend of October. I had increased my mileage this week as well logging 13 miles. I had been doing 9 a week so yes that is way more than a 10% increase. My gimp leg was telling me to take it easy, instead I chose to run a 5K. It was a late start time almost 9:15 AM before we took off, and the sun on coast was beating down. I was nervous about doing this one alone. Last time Rita paced me and encouraged me. It was all me this time. I started out really slow, reaching mile 1 at 13:42. I didn't want to be stuck walking at the end if I pushed too hard at the beginning. I took the iPod with me, kept it really low, stayed to the right side, and removed an ear bud to thank volunteers. When I reached the turn around point I felt better. My muscles had warmed up so I increased my speed. I knew by looking at my trusty Timex Ironman that the possibility of beating my last time was looking shady. I was giving it all I had at the last mile. My Polar was saying heart attack numbers jumping between189, 191!! I kept at it, and finally the finish line was within reach. The best part was having my Lil' Buster cheering me on at the finish line. The chip times were finally posted this past Tuesday. I did not beat my last time I was shade slower, which kinda stinks considering this course was completely flat. I am fine with it, sure it would be nice to be fast though the reality is, I am a big runner, but running nonetheless. I am working on increasing my distance since it will burn more calories for me to run longer distances. When the weight continues to drop, and I have increased my base to a decent distance than I will work on my speed.

Lil' Buster 1K race report

Shane and I set him up at the starting point, kissing him to the point that he said stop, and reminded him to walk if he had to. We went back to the sidelines, praying that he would not get trampled like a running of the bulls. LB did not want me to run with him, he said, "this was his race." LOL! He was off and running, and what seemed like forever later he was running back. I ran to him at the finish line, and it looked like he threw up on himself just a tad. His heart was about to beat off his chest. He looked spent and said, " carry me Mom." So I carried him to the water station. He hydrated, felt better, and got his medal placed around his neck. He and Daddy went to the children's party catered by Mc Donald's with tons of M&M's, activities for kids, and he was loving that, while I was doing my 5K. Later this week he walked by his medal hanging on the mantel and said, "I can't believe it Mom, I won my very first race!" I told him yes baby your a winner!

LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE 5K Report

Well, I can finally say I ran my 1st 5K! I have been working at this since June, so crossing that finish line was an awesome feeling! We set out for Austin on Friday, after a lot of traffic, and several u-turns we made it to our hotel checked in and headed to the Livestrong Village for packet pickup. The village thing was pretty cool. Trek was there and got to check out their new bikes, supah suaweet. They had a lot of cycling vendors there since the ride was the big deal this weekend. I enjoyed walking around and taking in all the goodies that come with an event. We, (meaning Shane, my husband, Rita & Vince our dearest friends, and Godparents to our Lil' Buster) than headed to a nice dinner at Carrabba's Grill. Looking back, I should have had a glass or bottle of wine because I was so excited that I barely slept Friday night. I laid in bed watching the clock, waiting for the alarm to go off at 6AM. At that time, I got up and started getting dressed. Rita, came down to our room to have some oatmeal and juice. We stuck tattoos on ourselves from the goodie bag like a couple of 10 year olds. A, few minutes later the guys were chauffeuring us to the event. We went to the porta potty, lined up, and did some stretches. Than, as we waited, I ran back to the porta potty again, lined up again, now I was ready. LOL! Lance Armstrong pulled up in a huge bus. Andy Roddick got out said some blah, blah words. Why is it when he speaks I understand nothing?!?!
Lance took to the stage and thanked everyone for coming out, and reminded Texans to vote for Prop 15 this November. The horn sounded..we were off and running!!
I took off way to fast, Rita made me talk to her to make sure I could keep at a pace that would last me 3.1 miles. I have to admit, for some reason I took it personally when people were flying past me, and prom king Dad's were almost running me over with the jogging strollers. I had to remind myself, it was nothing personal they also have worked to hard to achieve their level of running. Got over myself, and kept at it. It was such a scenic course, the sun coming up over Town Lake, downtown Austin, and the gorgeous rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country. Rita, was the best friend anyone could ask for. Even though this was her first running race, she made a point of making this all about me, cheering me on, calling me a runner, motivating me up those beautiful fucking gorgeous rolling hills!! I think, I might have threatened to kill her somewhere along mile 2, but I love you more Mon Chi Chi! I made sure I thanked all the volunteers, took all high fives, and cheers I could get. I could see we were making our way back to the Capital, and at that point the cheesy smile came all over me. We crossed the finish line. I had done it! I was overwhelmed with emotion. I hugged Rita and shed a few tears of the joy and sense of accomplishment I had attained. Then, Shane came running to me and squeezed me hard, and told me over and over how proud he was of me. I have not seen Shane so proud of me since I gave birth to our son. Shane, hates taking pictures so to see him in full paparazzi mode, not to mention rund down, confirmed his support. I looked at the video in the car on the way up to New Braunfels, which is where I realized that at the finish line Rita stood back, clapped, and let me cross that finish line first..priceless!

I set two goals for myself;

1. Run the entire course

2. Try to finish under 40 minutes

Goal 1

accomplished

Goal 2

Bib 3288 / 39:06 (12:35)

Great tee I saw on a runner....

Feeling like somebody is pushing you from behind, and than realizing it’s you. That is running

1 DAY TILL LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE 5K

I ran 3 miles twice this week, and did 22.5 ride on Saturday, first ride in a misty rain. I can not believe I have accomplished the goal I have been aiming for since June. I have to tell you I almost shed a tear, but instead I had a big cheesy grin and gave Rita a huge sweaty hug! I have my first race Saturday, and I am looking forward to it. I guess that explains while I am still awake, I am a lil' excited. If I finish the race without a walk break I will be ecstatic, but if I have to walk, there is no shame in that. I might have to let the tears flow once I get that first 5K under my belt, as Tammy would say. I am gonna get sappy here, but I want to let you know how much support I have felt from all my WeWa pals and fellow bloggers, friends and family. All of you that check my blog regularly, those thumbs up keep me going. Just took a Valium about 30 minutes ago to chill out and now I am that drunk chic who says I love you like a thousand times. I will stop here and be back after the race....

LIVESTRONG CHALLENGE 5K Training Week 14

Ugh! Sorry, it has been a bit since my last update. My laptop is broken and the thought of sitting at the desktop makes me nauseous. I got back from running clinic tonight and we did a 2 mile run with no walk breaks. It was challenging but great! We also got our half way through the program medal tonight. It was not much, but It looks like a gold medal to me!

It was a big accomplishment for me because 6 years ago when I joined this same running clinic, I quit 3 weeks in to it. I was thinner than too. I guess I did not have that driven desire I have this time around. I finally got to use the Polar HRM I got this week with birthday money from my parents. My birthday is not till Tuesday, wasn't there a band called that in the 80's?! I will take early gifts, no worries..LOL! Thanks Mami & Papi. I bought it on Monday, but Shane has been sick all week with the stomach flu. I have been playing nurse all week, and have not exercised at all since the 3 miler on Sunday with Mon Chi Chi!!

I also had a fall on my bike on Saturdays ride.
This is just some of the nasty bruises. They are on both legs and left hip with a huge knot too. I did not clip out on time getting to the light. The President of the cycling club was riding with us so we had to foot down at every stop :-0 I guess my nerves were shot by the time we made it to this busy intersection at FM 2978 & Woodlands Parkway. I had a hard time keeping up with the group this weekend, but I toughed it out. The nice thing about, Coach Joe, President of the club riding with us is that his biking knowledge is endless, and he enjoys sharing it. He informed me that my chain was on the outer loop so I have been pedaling in my highest 7 gears. Doh! More work for me. I switched it to the middle ring and what a difference. I pedal and go faster with a lot less effort. I did bounce a bit more on the lower gears causing such a soreness on my butt! I thought I was done with the sore ass, and TMI my sore pubic bones....OUCH! I didn't even know I had bones there. LOL! I can't wait to wear the HRM on my ride this Saturday. Point of the fall story is that I was sore to no end the last couple of days. Here are some scary stats for yous guys(Goodfellas style) from tonight's run. I included the warm up and cool down in the calculations.

Total Time: 38:06

2 Miles: 25:28

In Zone: 14:15

Avg HR: 162

Max HR: 185

Cals Burned: 442

I am really nervous for next week we will do 3 miles straight, bye bye walk breaks! This week we move up to 30 minutes running straight than we step to do the 3 miler next Wednesday. I figure rest Thursday & Friday for the 5K on Saturday. I know I am a 2 day rester kinda chic! I am gonna be such a sack of nerves next week. Must remember to get plenty o' rest so I don't get sick.

((knocking on wood))