Weigh-In Wedensday

Neither up nor down...

I stayed the same 186 and I guess that's good it's not horrible I was just hoping to lose at least a pound. Things have been a bit busy this week (I know what's new) DQ is VIP at school which meant we had to do this awesome poster over the weekend and my forgetful brain has to remember to bring things like her favorite game, a favorite item to share, and such everyday this week... Also she started soccer this week so now we need to add that into our weekly schedules and switch some things around.

DQ's first soccer practice

Monday was my first training session with SB.  It was great, she is like my own little Jillian Michaels but a little nicer (though my abs wouldn't agree right now.) We started off by taking my measurements and weighing in (which was a little embarrassing I know that sounds weird since I share my weight here for the whole interweb to see but doing it one on one in person was a little frightening) and calculating my body fat,  then we got to work. We worked on arms and abs.  Once I get used to the moves I planning to share them on here for any one interested :)

The plan is to  do two sessions a week for a month and  her over all goal for me is to get from 33.5% body fat to about 28% body fat.  I really wish I had calculated my body fat to see what my progress is so far but oh well.  I'm very excited about this because then I will be very close to being out of the overweight ranges and into the healthier range.

Weigh - In Wednesday

It's not as bad as I thought I am only up 0.2 lbs. (186.0)  it still stings a bit, but there is no one to blame but that damn red velvet cake myself.  I'm really glad that I chucked the rest of that candy I don't know how I would have faired.  As Im sure I've mentioned I'm an out of sight out of mind type of person, so once it was gone there was no temptation.

Yesterday was my birthday and wanna know what I did?? absolutely nadda,  actually that's not true I went to the gym and sweat my ass off came home and made myself a really yummy dinner of Tilapia, brown rice,  and veggies (this has been my go to dinner/lunch lately and I really love it super easy to cook,  quick and tastes great).  It was a great birthday!  The Hubs and girls asked if I wanted to go out I said no and really I didn't it was nice just to relax and do my normal routine, also Papa is going to be taking us out for my Bday on Friday and I really didn't need to go out twice lol.   Also The Hubs has been asking what I want for my birthday for a few weeks and I honestly couldn't think of anything...I know crazy right??  I told to just hold on and that he could just pay for my next race entry.  Then when I was at the gym I was talking to my old trainer and she told me they were having some really great specials on training.  So I think I'm going to change it up and let The Hubs know that I want that instead.  

Couldn't help it this is funny,

and true in some cases...

Perfectly P!NK

I got the best birthday surprise!  On Thursday I was hanging out at work waiting for CareBear so we could hit up the gym when one of our parents came in to the office and starting chatting.  Then asked if anyone liked P!NK?....

 Ummm HELLO!! this girl right here <----

I freaked I LOVE her and totally want to be her, have you seen that bod? I calmly said that my daughter (TaTa) and I love her and were pretty bummed because we had tried to get tickets for her concert  but they were sold out.  Then the heavens opened and angles started to sing he said he had two, TWO!! extra tickets OMG.  I offered to buy them but he said no....and just GAVE them to me WHAT??  Holy crap I about passed out I could not believe it.  I texted TaTa a picture and she called me freaking out it was fantastic.

So then this was Saturday in a nutshell:

Best Birthday surprise EVER!

TaTa and I on our way to LA

Gotta love hate LA traffic thank goodness we gave ourselves
2  hours to get there, even though it's only 44 miles from us.

At Staples Center

It was by far the best concert I've been to.  She is so awesome, tons of energy, and damn she is fit.  She did all kinds of ariel stunts and singing the whole time that takes talent folks (I can't even run and talk lol).  I loved it!!  Thank you, Thank you for the best birthday ever!

*(kinda bummed I didn't take more pics of "the show" but I was just enjoying it so much that I totally forgot about the camera)

Too Much Red...Velvet That is...

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and and equally good President's Day weekend... YAY for three day weekends!!

I have been busy with lots of fun things the last few days and maybe a bit over indulgent with Valentine's Day and my birthday just a few days away (Tuesday to be exact).  The Hubs and I don't really do much for the hearts and flower day but my sweet kiddos at work love to shower us with sugar.  This is just a small bit of what I got

I know can you believe it It was so hard to resist and truth be told I didn't :(   DQ and I actually spent the night at CareBears (I had a photo shoot but then that was cancelled) so we spent the night anyway and Nelle stopped by so we had a Man Haters Woman Club Meeting  great girls night.  CB and I started with a trip to the gym (which I almost walked out and forgot DQ, but I did only get just past the kid's club door then realized it) in my defense it was a different gym...hell who am I kidding it was still a total #mommyfail  

Then we had dinner and yes that yummy looking red velvet cake for dessert along with 2 whipped vodkas and strawberry fizzy water.  My plan was only to have a few bites but it was so damn good and we demolished it between the 3 of us and DQ made quick work of the strawberries so at least that was one less temptation.  I felt pretty bad about the cake especially after the great week I had last week, and the fact that I  haven't run at all this week. The crappy thing is there really was no reason to skip my runs, yes I was busy but I could have squeezed in at least a mile I was just being a lazy ass.  Also a bit of that old mentality of "I did so good last week I can slide just a bit" came creeping his ugly butt back in. 

It hit even harder the last few days on the scale (I do still weigh myself everyday but I only "count" my Wednesdays as my weight for the week) it has been slowly creeping up so I'm not super at all confidant about this weeks weigh-in.  But on a good note, though the scale will most likely not be in my favor, I have already taken some steps to get through it.  As soon as I got home I went through and just chucked all the candy and crap straight into the trash not even saving it for a treat for DQ.  I also planned out my meals for the week keeping it simple and healthy and getting my ass moving again.

 

Weigh-In Wedensday & The DMV

I'm on cloud 9 this morning.  I weighed in at 185.8 that's a loss of 4.1lbs so awesome!  I worked really hard on on getting in my workouts and going back to the gym for a variety.  I also cut out my "extra" extra snacks.  Though I did bump up my calories on myfitnesspal from 1300 to 1400, it's not much but I always felt a bit hungry and while listening to Heather on the Half Size Me podcast one of the things she wished someone had told her is to start out with more calories then work down if you needed so you have somewhere to go if you stall.  So I figured I'd give it a shot.  I'm not sure if it is a fluke or if it is actually working, only time will tell but I've discovered for me weight loss is not an exact science. So I need to experiment a little and find what works (again for me).

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On another note I have to go to the DMV (Oh Joy) this morning to renew my drivers license.  The only good thing about that is hopefully I'll get to take a new picture :)   Also I was able to get an actual appointment so I'm hoping it won't be to long of a wait, and I'll have DQ with me.  After that I think we will be heading to Disney for some fun.

Bonding

I had a great weekend full of bonding time with my girls (the Hubs is still not a 100% so he rested up some more, I can't wait till he kicks this thing, at least he's finally on meds).

On Friday TaTa and I had a date night. I was majorly craving a burger and had a free burger waiting for me a Red Robin cause of my birthday... And who am I to turn down a free burger!  But that meant some planning as Red Robin is not the most diet friendly. So we headed to the gym first to get our sweat on, and did an hour of intense elliptical work. Yea baby I burned over 800 cals. there was my burger!  

I kicked some 19 year old butt on the elliptical!!

My Blue burger, I did lighten it up a bit my subbing
a Boca Patty and Whole Grain bun, and it was so worth the sweat!

Then after my run on Sunday morning DQ asked what we were doing, she said she wanted to "go some where?" Well I though about hitting up Disneyland but I think we are planning a mid week trip so... I figured we could go up and visit my mom.  It's only about a 40 min. drive so off we went.  It was nice, but  cold .  We went to lunch then walked over to my brothers.  DQ's "other" favorite place, seeing as he has a few of her favorite animals, horses.  Oh my goodness she was in heaven.

DQ giving Kyra some love.

And she even found the last little bit of snow from Friday.

Life After

Welp it's been just about a week since the half marathon, and things are going just peachy.  I have felt pretty good I took a good three days off from running, but I did go to Aqua on Monday & Wednesday Tuesday was laundry, dishes, homework, laundry, meal prep for the week oh and did I mention laundry god does it ever end a rest day. Then Thursday I was back at it, I did and easy 3.34 miles I had only planned on 2 but it was so nice and crisp outside,  my family is loud I was enjoying the calm and  I felt great, my legs were working and there was just a little tightness in my calf (I really need to get better on stretching before and after runs).

So I have been thinking about what I'd like to do next... Another half?  YES... right way? NO....
Erin and a few other running friends are doing the OC Half in May and I really did think about it, but...

1) It's pretty hilly
I run where I live and it's pretty flat. So I'd like to find some place a little "hilly" and work on some hill repeats and get used to the elevation changes.
 
2) I'd really like to work on being more consistent with my endurance and speed.
Some of you might think "What the heck Alma??  You've been running for like 2-3 hours  every Sunday!"  and I'd be like "I know WTF have I turned into lol!"  But what I mean is I would like to be more consistent.  I would like to actually RUN longer distances.  I normally run 2 miles or so then walk (fast) anywhere between .10-.25 of a mile.  I would really like to get to the point where I can run a full 5-6 miles and ultimately a full Half.  As for speed my average was a 12min 50sec. mile I'd like to see that get to an even 12 at this point.

3)Weight-Loss
Though I have not done "bad" on the weight loss front I really thought I would be further along by now (I kinda stayed stagnate for the last few months).  I know that I am much more fit, and my body can do things I never thought possible....but the darn weight is coming off soooo slowly.  During my training I kinda put weight loss on the back burner, it was always there and I did eat healthy but I was solely focused on training and running.  Everything else wasit seemed was on hold.  I'd really like to get back and focus on weight-loss and becoming more rounded and I guess, balanced. It also doesn't hurt that summer is coming and I really want to look good for our river trip in May.

Last But NOT Least!!!

4) Family
I'd like to spend a bit more time with the FamBam.  Don't get me wrong I actually don't have Mommy Guilt.  I love my gym time and my running time.  It's me time and I need that, deserve that!  It makes me a happier mommy, wife, person.  But the pretty strict schedule I did for my half marathon training and the fact that I stayed late and/or overnight at work/CareBears house to get all my mileage in was hard.  I was away from the Hubs 2 nights a week and when I was home I was prepping meals, lunches, overnight bags for the days I would be gone.  And not to mention my house it was a wreck Yes I have a teenager that was home but we all know how much they really do. but on a positive note it's not like she missed me lol... 

So all in all this is why I'm not going to do another Half right away, (but I will be doing a few "fun runs" and a 10k or two).  Though I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to do another by the end of the year seeing as how Erin and I have agreed to do the Diva 1/2 in December :)

Wednesday Weigh-In

Good Morning.  How's everyone doing today?   Here not to bad, still feeling pretty good nothing has tightened up on me (yet) and my knees are starting to loosen up with the help of some Advil.

Today's weight is 189.9 so up almost 1 pound but I'm happy about that.  I was worried I would be up a lot more and actually was on Monday.  I attribute it to all the carb loading and shit ton of water I drank prior to the race.  Also the extra salt from the Gu Brew is probably working it's self out.

So I'm making sure to drink a ton of water and am doing really well on the eating.  I've cut those "extra" snacks like I said I would.  I did skip my run yesterday just to give my self an extra rest day, but will be back to it on Thursday, also I will hit up the gym tonight for another Aqua class.


This is what I did instead of running yesterday :)

Celebrating DQ's 100th Day of Kindergarten

Then we relaxed in the spa with Daddy for a while

Pancake Day!!

It National Pancake day, say what???

So I guess that means it's pancakes for dinner tonight YUM!   And go figure I made Pancakes for lunch yesterday, not just any old pancakes but healthy, 2ish  ingredient pancakes and they were delish.

I had seen them on Angela's blog Honey, I shrunk the Mom and tried them, so good. Her recipe was just the two ingredients a mashed up banana and an egg but I doctored mine up a bit because,  well why not :)  Here's what I did:

2ish Ingredient Healthy Pancakes

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1 ripe mashed up banana

1 whole egg

dash of vanilla

dash of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

Mix all ingredients well with fork until most lumps are gone, spray skillet with Pam, pour silver dollar sized pancakes into warm pan and cook until it holds well enough to flip ( it was a bit tricky) then cook until done.

*myfitnesspal calculated it to be 194 calories for the whole thing (about 3-4 small)

 

As you can see mine didn't turn out very pretty but what it lacked in beauty it made up for in taste!  They were really yummy and will be a staple for me now :)! maybe with some berries and cool whip??

How are you celebrating Pancake Day??

Surf City Recap (This is a Long One Folks)

I Did It!!!  And I didn't die....not even close...

 

 

All I can say is WOW! forgive me I'm sure I will totally over use the exclamation marks and the word awesome. But this was the coolest thing I thing I have ever done (besides give birth and get married of course well sort of ).

 

Anyway I spent most of Saturday relaxing and doing laundry oh joy  and trying not to syke myself out about the race the next day.  I actually slept really well, the hubs is still sick but told me to take the bed because I have worked really hard and needed to get my rest for the race, aww so sweet. And a Great BIG Thank You to Grammie C and Bob for keeping the Drama Queen for the weekend it was one less thing I had to figure out.  They are the best and I love them sooo much!

 

 I woke up early on Sunday to give myself enough time to eat (my usual an English muffin with PB and a banana) and let nature happen no runner trots for this girl. This was the outfit I had laid out isn't the shirt such a pretty color.

 

 My Mom picked me up at about 5:45am the race was in Huntington Beach about 45mins from me and we wanted to have enough time with traffic down there, which was crazy! It was pretty bad so mom had to drop me off then go find parking on her own, which was good and gave me time to hit up the port-o-johns.  Damn those lines were looong, but at least they moved fast.  I was also able to meet up with my friend Heather we have been texting and pumping each other up for the race and weren't sure if we were going to be able to find each other.  It was great we waited together for the start.  They let you go in waves so it didn't get congested.  Heather is much faster than me but we decided to stay together until the start then split and it worked great I wasn't as nervous having a friend there to chat with.

Heather and I waiting to start.

I started strong and just kept moving one foot in front of the other. I did stop once at mile 3 to pee I probably could have kept going but I didn't want to get near the end and be totally uncomfortable or pee my pants.  I also had to stop for a few seconds at mile 10 to stretch out my left calf.  I could feel it tighten up a lot and didn't want to get a full blown cramp, and that helped.  It was a great race they have "beach" style bands playing all along the course  and tons of spectators some even passing out M&M's and Fig Newtons for a sugar boost and some really cute signs. The weather was beautiful (actually it was beatiful if I was watching the race lol I prefer it colder and overcast) the sun was out the waves were pounding the beach.  It truly was a classic California day. There were all sorts of people big, small, fit, fluffy, young and old it was such an inspiration, some walked, some ran, some even rolled (the wheelchair racers).

This was about mile 6, look at all those people.

I snapped this mid run at mile 10 while I put on some Power music
to get me through the last 3 miles.

Those last 3 miles were tough I could feel my energy going and had to slow down and walk a bit more than I wanted but I told myself slow and steady I will get there, and that the last mile I would run all of it. And I did It was a slow run but I did that whole last one and when I saw the finish line I just sprinted that last .10 it took everything I had left.  As soon as I crossed that finish line the tears just came.  I could not believed I had actually done it!!  A few feet in front (behind the gate)  was my mom and my two friends CareBear and Nell they were cheering like crazy and the tears came again it was just so emotional I can;t even find the words for it. But is was the best feeling I have ever had.

After grabbing some water and a banana I asked if they had seen Erin come through yet and they hadn't.  We had figured since she was doing the full and started almost 2 hrs. before me we would finish close to the same time.  So I stayed in the chutes near the medals and about 15 minutes later Erin comes flying in YAY!!! We did it!  We gave each other the biggest hugs and both cried (I was such a baby) it was AWESOME!!!

I LOVE this picture we are so happy and still standing.
Notice I'm wearing my "magic" shoes, I'll tell you about it soon.

Then we headed out to meet up with our cheering section which also included Erin's husband and parents.  We were planning on hitting up the beer garden but it was packed and I was starving so we ended up going to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and this was lunch.  A tostada salad and a Corona yumm I only ate about half of my lunch but drank down that beer.  I am so not a beer person I prefer wine and/or fruity girl drinks but that beer tasted so damn good.

 

 



A pic of me and my awesome cheering squad.

So my official time was 2:52:28 YAY I was under my 3hour goal and don't forget that included one potty stop and a stretch stop.  My Garmin said 2:48:24 because it pauses when I stop, so my actual moving time was really great and I averaged a 12:50 mile. Can I get a WOOT WooT!!

 

As I sit here and type this (on and off all day) Erin and I have been texting each other, we weren't sure how we would feel today so we both took the day off but we both feel great. I have a little soreness in my knees but that's nothing new.  I actually felt so good that I cleaned my poor neglected house and even went to the gym with TaTa for Aqua Aerobics.  In our texts we were both very happy that it was over but also quite sad,   then Erin asked me the question....Will you do another???

 

Know what I said...

 

 

HELL YA!!

Sh*t Just Got Real

I can't believe it's finally here!!

Tomorrow is the Surf City Half Marathon, and to tell you the truth I'm so excited, scared, happy, nervous, proud, and any other emotion you can think of.  Four months ago when I signed up for this I was very unsure if I was gonna be able to do it...to be completely honest I'm still unsure (really I'm not trying to be self deprecating I'm just being truly honest here) but what I do know is that I am prepared and that is all I can be.  I have worked hard, trained hard and even given up time with my family to get to this point (that has been the hardest part and I am working on a post about that so stay tuned).  It has been stressful and fulfilling all at the same time so no matter what happens I know I have tried my best...and holy crap I ran 73.5 miles this month alone!


Here I am Thursday on my last training run it was bitter sweet and I came to the realization that shit just got real!!     This is it.

Wearing my very cute new shirt for Sunday to make sure
it "felt right" I LOVE the color and it has cute flattering runching up the front.

Erin and I hit up the Expo on Friday to pick up our bibs and stuff, it was pretty cool we walked around a bit (I was actually surprised at how small the expo was for how big the race is going to be, at least 20,000 strong) anyway it was well organized and we breezed through it in no time.  Then Erin was a gem and drove the course so I could get a visual and mentally prepare.  It is definitely more "hilly" than where I run but nothing to major I hope, and the last four miles are on a decline so that is way good.

Tomorrow this will be reality and much more sweaty!