My first Marathon! Portland 10-10-10

It’s two days after my first marathon and I’m still struggling to write about my experience. Maybe if I write about it, that chapter is closed? It’s true that I’m already excited about my next one. I’m planning on running the Portland Marathon again next year to beat my time. Now that I know for sure I can do it, it’s time to kick some butt. My official time was something like 6:03 something. Mheh…not what I was hoping for but I really didn’t go into it with a huge goal time in mind. “Just to finish and enjoy it” was my goal. So let’s go back to the days before…

Friday and Saturday, before the marathon, it really started to sink in that I was indeed going to run a marathon. I would have thought that the four months of training would have clued me in to that fact but it seems like I was living in a pretty state of denial. Saturday night, after laying everything out, I had my first “Oh crud! I don’t think I want to do this!” moment. Which was quickly replaced with, “I can’t go back home having not done this.”
Saturday morning we drove up to Portland with a quick stop at Lululemon for arm warmers. (I read AFTERwords that bare arms in rain are best because they drip dry, but I don’t care. I wasn’t too cold with them on and I was glad to have had them. And yeah, I broke the rule about wearing something I hadn’t trained in. I’m such a rebel I guess.) PS It was my first time in a Lululemon store and I wish I could have spent more time and money there. BUT, I had a bib and race packet to pick up.

We got into Portland and the traffic wasn’t pretty the closer we got to the Hilton so Hubs dropped me off and circled the block while I raced down into the depths of the Hilton to get my stuff. Such an awesome excitement in the air! I would have stayed longer except A. it was stinkin’ hot in there and B. Hubs was not going to be successful in finding a parking spot. So up into the cooler air I escaped. We drove to my Aunt V’s home in amazing time and decided that we would risk it in the morning and not use the train to get us to and from. We had a great visit with the extended family that came to see us and Aunt V made me a special spaghetti dinner. She had a good laugh when I told her they were serving the same thing at the Hilton but it was $25 a head.

I think I got maybe 5-6 hours of sleep but I knew little to no sleep would be the case and having banked 10 hours the night before, I wasn’t stressed about it like I normally am. My alarm went off at 4:50 am and I nearly jumped out of bed and into my running gear. Out of the house and on our way at 5:30 we got into downtown just as it started to rain. Really rain! Oh FUN! This is where I wished that I had brought a plastic garbage bag. We sat in the van for awhile and I finished my PB sandwich. We were able to park pretty darn close to my corral entrance so we waited, hoping the rain would subside more. It didn’t. Hubs and I hammered out last minute changes to where I’d look for him along the way. He walked me to my corral entrance and we said our goodbyes.


So very nervous! I got into line for the porta potties and should have gotten right back in line. When I came out the lines had quadrupled! I chatted with the others in my wave and one running mom helped me re-pin my bib to my leg since I wasn’t going to ditch my “throw-away” shirt just yet. Did I mention it was raining? I remember looking around at all of us huddled under whatever overhang we could find and thinking it felt funny that we were all standing in the rain on purpose getting ready to torture ourselves. The excitement and anticipation felt kind of ironic. I remember someone singing the Star Spangled Banner. There were cheers and horns…more cheers and horns, and then right when I decided to hop in the line for the potties one last time, our wave started moving. Oh well! I chatted with a guy named Skip up until we about crossed the starting line and I think I muttered to him something like, “Good luck to you I forgot to turn my Garmin on.” Or something like that. I had indeed forgotten to turn mine on so instead of starting when I crossed the line, all I got was “searching for satellite.” I started to panic a little then I pulled over to the side to wait, it didn’t connect, then I ran some more and then my Garmin started asking me questions. Was I inside? NO you stupid thing! Have I traveled over 100 miles since I last turned it on? Oh crap! It was somewhere around mile two that I think it found the satellite and started working. Lesson learned. Still raining.

">

My left foot was sloshing in my shoe and I remember thinking, Boy these blisters are going to be fun. I’d say the first 6 miles I completely forgot about my run/walk ratio….and fuel. I went out slow enough though and I caught myself running TOO slow so I sped up a little. Saw my hubs and gave him my shirt around mile 4 or so. Next time I would see him would be at mile 7. The half marathoners started running by and I felt a little sorry for them. Sorry that they couldn’t run another 13.1 miles? Lol! Mile 7 came and no hubby but I figured he just had a hard time getting there with traffic and since this was part of an out and back, I’d catch him at mile 10. I entertained myself by watching the other runners go by…watching their feet, their faces, reading the names on their bibs. I wasn’t practicing my normal run/walk ratio but thought it was ok that I was walking through all of the water stations.

Mile 10 and I’m still feeling great and starting to wonder where my hubs is but still ok with the thought that I would for sure see him around mile 19. And then there he was at mile 11.

I was so happy to see my number 1 cheerleader! He said I looked great and asked me how I felt. That’s when I realized my calves were starting to cramp. I had come 11 miles and it was easy…now cramps? So soon? Uh oh! I had some salt packets that had turned to mush but I squeezed a couple of horrible crystals into my mouth and set out for miles 12-17 which I knew would end with a huge hill. (For the record, I don’t think salt packets helped. I had hoped when I read that a runner does this at first sign of cramps and voila!...voila my a$$) I think I stopped to stretch maybe once or twice but it wasn’t helping. I found one more salt packet and put the whole thing in my mouth. Getting up the St John’s Bridge hill and crossing that darned thing was amazing. I lied to myself and told myself the hard part was over. I was now running in mileage territory that had not been crossed before by my legs. There were some blessed downhills and other than cramping calves and a feeling of exhaustion, I was pain free. Even though I was walking a lot more at this point, I was praising the fact that I was not injured. I watched my time goal of 5:30 slip further and further away but I knew I was finishing so it really didn’t matter much to me anymore. It stopped raining for me around mile something…was it 19? I don’t really remember. I saw my hubs at mile 20 and got one more hug and kiss. Much of this is blurry now. I think I’m walking now more than I’m running. I was playing little games with myself and running between lamp posts and signs, and then walking again.
Miles 23-26.2 were hard. The miles ticked off slowly and the finish line seemed to keep moving on me. I can say for sure that the last .2 seemed horrendously long. All of a sudden I rounded a corner and there it was. I think I remember hearing the music Flight of the Valkyries playing and a fat opera pig on a poster singing. I did happen to glance over and see my hubs one last time. Once over the finish line the emotions were crazy…partly crying from relief and exhaustion…it was all a blur. Blanket gets draped over me, I felt a pat on my back, I was handed a medal, I get handed a rose, a nice volunteer ties my blanket for me and puts my medal I was clutching around my neck…food, shirts, I must have looked dazed because a nice volunteer asked me if I was meeting a loved one, I think I shook my head yes, and I rounded the corner and burst into tears as soon as I saw my hubby.





He kept telling me how proud he was of me. We walked to the van which wasn’t too far away and he helped me get into some warm dry clothes. After that it was pretty smooth sailing. I got the first look at my feet which looked like what I imagine they call jungle rot. Two blood blisters, one regular blister, and legs that felt a hundred years old…not too shabby! We went back to Aunt V’s and I took a shower…more dry clothes…and then we hit the road for the outlet malls? Lol! Hubby rewarded me with a new Coach wallet for a job well done.

The car ride home was loooong and I got out and stretched every chance I could. Monday I had off and I slept most of the day. I took of Tuesday as well to catch up with everything that didn’t get done over the weekend and today I can honestly say that I have had some of those marathon blues. It’s over…what next? My body isn’t ready to hit it hard yet, but soon. I’ve never been really good at being patient. A big huge thank you to you, my spark friends, for supporting me along the way with your advice and encouraging words!! Whose going to run their first marathon next?!?!

PS Just noticed the dates are wrong on my camera but then it looks like hubs fixed them at one point. loL!

How I did with the 2011 Portland Marathon!

Shakeology - OMG!

This stuff tastes so ah-MAZING so I was a little blown away with this video. I was kind of grossed out at the thought of eating all those veggies at once, but in a shake that tastes like chocolate? Or berries? No problem!

Monday's Focus - Week 3

Monday, yesterday...did not go as planned or expected. I'm still dealing with a tweaked neck that was brought about by having two glasses of wine on Saturday night, sleeping on my stomach with my head turned, and not moving once the whole night. Owie! I have more mobility today but I'm still very sore from the massage and adjustment my hubs semi-chiropractor friend did for me last night.

In response to the great responses I got on my failed Shakeology cleanse...yeah, I'm definitely thinking it was from the lower calories. Still a little miffed how everyone that does this cleanse gets through it so fine. I'm a weenie-tot? Oh well, over it. I'm really loving the shakes in my meal plan and I'll share more interesting finds as I have more time to spend with it. In the mean time, if you click on the Shakeology link to the left....you will find lots of good stuff there.

Has it been three weeks already? Yep! Kinda pressed for time so I'll just go with the three new ones for this week.

Body - take my multivitamin. Yep, I have one and used to faithfully take it everyday. I know the importance of taking it so why I don't is beyond me.

Mind - Spend 5 minutes a day in my closest...cull old clothes...move the seasonal clothes...help hubby with his side...etc. (The closest isn't in bad shape but it has been something that has been bugging me. I figure if I fix that, my mind will be filled up with greater things!)

Soul - pick a verse from my reading in the morning to use to combat any negative thoughts or worries later on in the day.

Do any of you have Body/Mind/Soul goals going on? I'd love if you'd share them with me!

Psychotic Much?

So I was all excited to start this Shakeology Cleanse...to see what it was all about. The cleanse was pretty low calorie, only three days, three shakes a day, two fruit snacks, a big salad and four oz of lean white meat protein. Rid your body of toxins, jumpt start a new fitness program, bust through a plateau, etc etc. I'm not knocking the cleanse although I haven't been a fan of other cleanses. The only cleanse that I've been a fan of is Lacy Lebeau's Diet Cleanse tea which is all natural senna based. And it uh, works. (Edited to add that the Shakeology cleanse is not designed so much to lose weight, but that is an attractive side effect.)

So back to the Shakeology Cleanse. Sunday is my rest day, I'm tapering...I'll give it a try! Half a day is all it took for me to say, screw the cleanse! I swear, deplete me of carbs and I'm likely to murder someone. I just do not, lemme repeat I just DO NOT get how people can go carbless. What's it called...ketosis? And that's a good thing for those on Atkins? I think it's more like kepunchyouinthethroatis. I actually growled at my husband that I was going to eat carbs and there was no way he was going to stop me. Who am I kidding though and why the heck WOULD he have even tried?! I got every green light and thumbs up possible. Such a happier camper now. Both of us. loL! So I guess I'm saying that the cleanse would be great for anyone but me. I mean, for someone not sensitive to carb depletion? I don't know...I'd be interested to hear from others that have done the cleanse. Everything I found on the web was very positive about it so either I'm the only one being honest or I'm an anomoly. ha!

My nutrition plan for the week is still going to include my Shakeology...but just one shake a day for lunch. I'm already pleased with how great it tastes and how much healthier it is for me than the muscle milk I was drinking. In a nutshell, Shakeology GREAT, Shakeology cleanse for Amee, NOT GREAT! I have it coming on home direct which means free shipping and I don't have to remember to order it. Which is cool since when my Muscle Milk would get low, and when I'd remember to order it, I would get all panicky as the tub would get low and my order hadn't arrived. Greenberry is next month since chose to alternate the flavors.

I'm excited for Monday...bring it on! Look for Monday's focus tomorrow. I will be adding on. It's hard to believe in two short weeks, I've come this far in all three areas of my life. Trippin to the beat of my own sunshine....

Click here to learn more about Shakeology!

Monday's Focus - week 2

Last week I saw so much improvement from picking one thing to focus on in each key area of my life, so I’m going to do it again this week and add three new things. The daily list making is great so I’m keeping that one as well as reading my Joyce Meyer book. The nutrition tracking went ok but I know I can impove there immensely.

So in addition to keeping the three focuses...foci? ha! from last week I’m adding:
Body- rub footies with lotion each night. (Might sound kind of silly but with all this running..I need some pampering.) Floss daily too! So two things but I’m trying to establish a bed time routine here.

Mind – 5 minutes with “the basket”. I have this basket at home that collects a mishmash of paperwork. I’m going to spend 5 minutes a day to get this basket emptied.

Soul – spend time in prayer right after I’m done reading. Again, it might sound silly to schedule it but when it hasn’t been happening consistently, this is at least making it happen.

Thank you all for such a positive response to my video! It was silly scary to make and then post but I'm happy with it if it will convince one person that I'm real, have struggles, and overcome them and kick their butt.

This morning's workout was kind of easy. I find when I can’t control my Sunday evening the way I like, and get to bed on time, that it’s better to still get up and workout but it’s ok to hit it with a little less intensity. That way my body and mind are still sticking to the plan but I am getting a little bit more rest to start off my week, continue and finish strong versus fizzling out because I pushed too hard in the beginning.

Beginning measurements and pictures will be taken tomorrow but I think I will hold them hostage for a month so there's something to compare them to. Wrapping things up. Check out my food tracker if you're interested to see what I ate today. Nothing too exciting. I kept my calories a little lower since my workout wasn't too intense. I'm really not feeling hungry today either but I'm pretty good at cycling my calories based on what my body is telling me. (My food tracker is at Sparkpeople and you can find my page.Sparkpeople Page Arighta thera (Said with my best Borat voice.)

URgh! Blog design

So I was just playing around and "they" said it was simple but I still managed to mess up "simple". SO...no worries, I will fix this. Just not now. Walking away from the computer. Enjoy! lol!

14.67 mile run this morning

That's the farthest I've ever run! As soon as I crossed 13.1 miles a huge smile broke out on my face as I have not run this far before. A feeling of major accomplishment and even relief...especially on the heels of an injury fear.
I'll recap the last couple of weeks...I had been having some left knee troubles but the pain would disappear once I stopped running downhill, or if I moved to the middle of the road. Last Monday I ran hill repeats and then on Thursday, went out for a 45 min run and at about 20 minutes, I had to turn around and walk back. I experienced sharp sharp pain in my knee that would not go away unless I walked...and even then I could feel it aching. Thursday night I watched my left quad go through what looked like a seizure as my muscles would not stop twitching. I took a complete rest day on Friday and wrestled with emotions all day.
The thought of having an injury and not being able to run my marathon...I had a wave of relief complete with a wave of despair. Relief because I was starting to doubt myself and of course despair since I've put so much time and effort into my training. Granted, I'm approaching this from a beginner's level so my mileage isn't as high as a more seasoned runner. So last night I rolled out my legs really well (which I had NOT been doing, stretching yes, foam rolling, no) and I iced my left knee. (Woke up with my bedroom smelling like green beans since I used a frozen pack, now thawed. Nummers!) This morning I rolled out my legs again and set out rather warily. I was telling myself that I was going to be fine, the rolling would help, and it was good I rested yesterday. That's what I was telling myself but I'm not exactly sure I was buying it.
Anyway, from the title of my blog, you know that all went well. I had an amazing run with a pace of 12:14 which included all of my walking and my warmup and cooldown. The first 7 miles were sub 11 and the last hovered just under 12 and a little above. It rained off and on which was a nice blessing except for the cattle truck that passed me when I got up on the highway and kicked up an extra cattely smelling mist. blech! Oops but let me backtrack back to my knee again...around mile 2? that's when it usually hits...the knee pain came and I thought, "Here we go. This will decide." A little bit further and the pain went away. That's when the first smile crossed my face and I knew I would make it through the rest of the run. Now to keep pressing forward while keeping a watchful eye on my knee and taking good care of it.
Speaking of taking care...I need to go ice and elevate. I hope everyone has a great rest of their weekend!! Much success to you all!

Back to School, Back to Life

I was listening to a great coach call this morning and Carl Daikler, the CEO of Beachbody, said something that particularly smacked me upside the head. In regards to all of the back to school hubbub and sales going on, he asked how many adults out there needed a "back to life" sale. We're all so intent on making sure our kids are going back prepared with the right clothes, the right pink erasers, and the right amount of #2 pencils We expect them to learn, to pay attention, and to reach for their dreams. Well, we are all in school right now and it's the school of life. We all have potential and it's time to look at those dreams we put on hold, or those careers we thought we could never do...that lifestyle that we thought was beyond our reach. Personally, I have had a lot of things happen in my life that weren't planned or expected and I've allowed a lot of those circumstances to alter my dreams. I have lost sight of previous goals and desires due to thinking that, "Oh, I'm too old" or "Oh, I don't have enough money/time to do that" or ...the list goes on and they are just excuses...yes that's what they really are..excuses. I've let my circumstances turn me into a victim. But I am not a victim. I'm strong and I have overcome many obstacles. So take that excuses. You are dead to me. HA!

It seems I'm just running away with this now. My point is, we all have amazing potential. It's never the time to shelve our dreams. And I KNOW! I shelved mine when I went off to college and got a degree that I didn't really care for, when I got married the first time, when I had babies, when my husband's job came first...More than just shelving my dreams, I stuck them in a box and buried them. The potential that we all have is so amazing but a lot of us seem to just be walking around in a mind numbing daze. We're asleep at the school of life, head on the desk with that little pile of drool forming. (The one that you wipe up with your sleeve and hope the cute guy didn't see two rows over and one desk back. Not to mention the sleeve cuff that is imprinted into the side of your face. )

Back to my point...This kind of potential can be applied to soooo many different areas of life whether it's fitness, or health, going back to "real" school, changing careers, etc. The sky really is the limit! What circumstance(s) in your life have you allowed to push your dreams back further on to the shelf? I think it's high time we grab that step stool, pull those dreams down, dust them off and set them out on the coffee table and make them a top priority.

One last thing...I'm not suggesting that you will be able to take that dream and just run with it and tomorrow you'll be sitting pretty in your new career or fancy car, but take those dreams and write them down. Now you gotcha some goals! What are some small steps you can take towards achieving those goals?

Me? Well one of my goals now has me set for running a marathon in October. And I'm on track to becoming a fitness instructor in October. What's after that for me? Maybe become a certified personal trainer? I know for certain that I will be making a comfy enough living to have the freedom I desire to spend with my family. Please share with me. What are your goals?

Burly Monkey Ratio=BMR?

When people ask me how to lose weight, 99% of the time I ask them if they know how many calories they are eating a day. The other 1% of the time I typically ask them if they have a chocolate glazed donut in their back pocket to donate to a good cause. Losing weight is an energy equation. Google it...I did not make that up. Calories in vs calories out. Like putting gas in your vehicle or balancing your checkbook. How much can you spend and how far can you drive?

When people see me eating or ask me why I'm so calorie conscious they normally ask if I'm on a diet or why do I want to lose more weight. It's true that I want to lose weight. About 20 more pounds. Back in 2008, before I got married, was laid off, moved to Klamath Falls, started looking for work, (we're in 2009 now) got a new job, adjusted to my new life (I'm obviously married by now), gained 20-30 pounds shhhhhh!!, ok so back in 2008 I was in the best shape I had ever been in. I weighed 154 and my body fat was at a decent 19%. 154 for a girl that's 5'10" is pretty darn good. Pretty DARN good. I was counting calories back then too.

Fast forward to today, and I'll get off my ramble....if you are eating too many calories, you will gain weight. If you aren't eating enough calories, you will gain weight or at least hold steady and not lose. If you're not eating enough, your body thinks a famine is coming along and adjusts your metabolism accordingly. As you get older, your body slows your metabolism down so you can add more fat and keep yourself toasty and alive in your cave since you can't go out and gather as many berries or spear as many antelopes as you used to.

I'm desperately trying to get back to my whole point here. Unless you are tracking your calories, you will not know if you are eating enough or if you are eating too much. Two things coming atcha that if you don't get anything else from this post, get these:

1. Track your calories. Use a free website, a notebook, an app on your phone whatever works for you. I like Sparkpeople, it's free and easy and their is a mobile feature. Set a goal to track everything you are eating for two weeks and then evaluate from there.

2. Find out what your BMR is, your Burly Monk...I mean, your Basal Metabolic Rate. There's a whole 'nother post coming about that. This is the calculator I always use http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

You need to know how many calories your body burns if you just laid in a coma all day. We'll go from there later. Have a great weekend!

I'm doing it right now. What is it you ask? I'm spinning around in circles, (figuratively of course since I'm actually sitting down)trying to figure out what to say, where to start, and all that jazz. IT is perfectionism. I am going to conquer this character flaw someday...scratch that, I AM conquering this character flaw, today as a matter of fact! I'm tired of wasting time. I've allowed too many todays to go by because I was waiting for the weather to be right, the day of the week to be right, the season of life to be right...I can keep going, but I'll spare you just this once. My challenge to you through this blog is that you will stop waiting for someday. Don't wait until Monday! We all like to do that. Don't wait until school starts, until the holidays are over, until January 1st, until your vacation comes and goes...stop waiting! Today is the perfect time to start and it's quickly going to turn into yesterday. Quite simply, you are wasting time!

I look back to the periods of my life where I was wasting time and I wasn't really even conscious at the time. I was just making it by, one day at a time. Goals for the future? "Just get me through this day, this week, this season." That's what I was thinking. Then one day, the wind must have been blowing in a different direction, and I stopped myself and asked "Why not now?" I had been having a conversation with myself "Self, one day, you're gunna lose the weight. One day you're going to see if you can be that girl with the six pack abs, who's curves are from muscles and well, ya just wouldn't want to mess with her. That girl!" And then this little voice inside of me said, "Why not now? What are you waiting for? What have you got to lose?" I have no clue what I was waiting for. Perfectionism had gotten the best of me. It still tries to win from time to time and it is a work in progress. So I invite you to join me. Join me on my journey of losing weight, getting healthy, conquering fears, getting insanely ripped and in the best shape of your life. So you should have started when you were a teen, or in your 20s, or 30s, or 40's ...keep going? What in the world are you waiting for?! Let's go kick it's butt!