A Little Late...But I'm Ready

 

Hello??   Anyone still there?....

 

Well if you are,  thank you :)  seems Christmas came in and everything else went out.  I had all these lofty goals of what I wanted to get done on the blog, around my house, at the gym.  Instead it was a lot of family time.  So really it was great!  I may not have done everything I wanted but I spent so much time with my family and friends and who can complain about that.

 

I'm a little late to the recap party but I'm gonna do it anyway.

Christmas was great, very low key I had the family over for Christmas eve dinner then it was just the Hubs DQ and myself on Christmas day.  We watched movies played with our new toys and enjoyed each others company. 



Saturday after Christmas we drove to the California/Arizona border to pick up Ash so she could spend the week with us.  Always a long drive but so worth it we love having her she is such a sweetie and DQ just loves her.

 

We did a lot of fun things while she was here unfortunately the hubs had to work the first few days so my mom and I took the girls out and went ice staking in Old Town Temecula.

the next day we went to the trampoline park were we all jumped for two hours straight.  Even grandma.  Holy cow was I sore the next day, but still so much fun, and not to mention a great workout.

 

New Year was low key as well, we invited our friends over to just hang out, snack and play a little Cards Against Humanity (seriously the funniest and most inappropriate game ever) while the girls played Just Dance and watched movies.  None of us made it to midnight seeing as we are so old. We called it a happy new year at 10:00 and I was asleep by 11:00 such a party animal.

 

This weekend we wrapped up our break by taking Ash all the way back to AZ.  We left a day early so we could spend the weekend with our friends in Phoenix  (the husbands have been besties for like ever... seriously like high school forever)

 

They also have girls DQs age so they loved playing together and we sat around a caught up on life.  We used to go out a visit them almost monthly, but life gets busy so now we are only doing 3-4 times a year. 

Caught in the act, even though they may deny it boys take selfies too!

 

And even though I didn't work out nearly enough over the break I did get in a run with Amy (she just ran her firsk 5K non stop!!) so proud and now she is thinking of running a half...and I'm thinking if she does I may go out there and do it with her. 

 

and like I said I didn't work out or hit the gym as much as I wanted, but I wasn't a total couch potato. I went on a few hikes and runs, made it to the gym once and I also played with my awesome at home resistance band work out gear that the hubs got me.  I also found this cool fitbook at Target while doing some after Christmas shopping.

So now I am reved up and ready to go for the new year!!  Watch out.



Fridays Five…Totally Random

I am still riding on that awesome wave of losing 2 pounds this week! Instead of how I would normally give into temptation a bit and have a few "extras" here and there, I am staying the course and making better choices,  moving my ass and keeping busy (that is big for me I tend to eat cause I'm bored).

Here are some things that been keeping me busy this week.

{one}

I love my job! Where else can you "play" all day and get paid (ok not all the time but summers are lite and laid back most of the time).  We are doing a great outdoors/camping theme this week and we painted rocks so I made these beauties for my garden.  Aren't they cute!

{two}

speaking of garden this is the other side of my yard.  The palm trees were getting out of control, so I decided to take things into my own hands and clean it up! Another unconventional workout, I was sweating like a beast when I was done…turns out gardening is hard freaking work, that and having some dull ass clippers makes you really use some muscles.

{three}

I feel like I haven't seen my mom in ages so we were chatting… this was too funny and also a reminder I need to get going on training.  The Long Beach 1/2 Marathon is only 2 months away Yikes!!

{four}

This is also a boredom buster for me.  I swear my mouth just likes to move (some who that sounds naughty) whether  it's talking or eating,  so chewing gum has really been helping with the mindless snacking.

{five} 

and it is official we are really getting chickens. We are  driving up to Dare 2 Dream Farms in Lompoc next weekend to pick them out, I was going to have them delivered but we decided to make a day of it and drive up the coast, hit the farmers market in Santa Barbara and maybe lunch in Solvang. I also really wanted to show DQ a real farm this is so exciting and a little crazy.  

Linking up with That Friday Blog Hop, Friday's Favorites, and Oh Hey Friday.

OC Half Marathon ReCap

I made it and I actually feel pretty good, just really tired more from the lack of sleep than the half itself. It was an EARLY race time 6:15am and OC is a point to point, so we had to park at the finish line and be bussed to the start at 4:30AM.. Now you know when I say I'm tired I  really mean I am typing this with one eye closed and half my brain in lala land. 

So let's recap Friday real quick.  Mom, TaTa and I met up with Carrie at the expo to pick up our bib's and pick up some shot blocks (I found a new flavor I like Orange).  We walked around a bit but it was a pretty small Expo so we left and met up with Barb at the Cheesecake Factory.

This is how we carb load.

I was actually good, I ordered the steak medallions of their Skinnylicious  menu, so good and under 550 kcals (which naturally left room for dessert...we split two slices of cheesecake between the 5 of us so not to much damage done). We went home and relaxed after that and TaTa and Barb already started looking for another race to do.

 #runnerslife haha.

We tried to go to bed early but for some reason I could not get to sleep until after 10:30pm.

And  our 3:30am wake up call came pretty damn quick (thank god for adrenaline, right?) We rolled out of bed got dressed and headed out with out breakfast of PB toast and bananas.

I just love my girl. Look at her lovin' on her mommy!!

We got there pretty painlessly with minimal  traffic and hopped on a shuttle.  It was so well run and they had giant school busses so there were no long waits at all.   When we got to the start line we did the pre req's of the port-potty (here's a little secret *use the ones in the middle there are hardly any lines...everyone else just goes to the outside ones they see first and don't venture inward total time saver trust me). 

We lined up in our corral just as the sun was rising took a few a lot of pictures while we waited for the start.  

I am really bummed I waited this long to run the OC Half.  I chickened out last year because I had heard it was "hilly"   yes it was a bit but almost 80% of it was actually downhill, and it was so beautiful.  It went through a ton of residential neighborhoods with gigantic I could only dream of living in houses, and the people were so friendly some of them passed out water, or gummies, and a few were spraying their hoses (it was a hot race with a ton of sun towards the end).

half way done mile 6.55

the 11 mile stretch..with a small hill not cool.

Obviously TaTa  took off like a shot (she finished in 2:19) Carrie and Barb were not far behind (they both finished in 2:35ish...)  Me well this was by far my slowest half  (Mom and I finished in 3:33) could I have done better, yes for sure. I walked almost all of it to stay with mom.  She did try several times to get me to just go but I really wanted to be there with her.  I was the one who had faith in her that she could do this, and it was because of me that she signed up, so I was going to stick with her no matter what.  Around mile 8 she was having a real hard time her feet were really starting to hurt and she was worried she wasn't going to finish.  No worries we just slowed down and took it mile by mile I talked to her, joked with her, told her stories to try and keep her busy.  Next thing you know we are at mile 12.  So it was no stopping and we crossed the finish line together!! 

I am so extremely proud of everyone, but especially my mom and TaTa it was their first half and they only did it because of me and I am so grateful. I have the best family and friends ever!!

but guess what I don't think it will be their last :) 

And our celebratory meal of fish tacos and beer at Wahoo's yumm

 

And of course I'm linking up with Katie at Healthy Diva Eats cause she is fabulous! 

Weigh In Wednesday...Shove This Up My What...

 

Happy WiW  let's see how we did...

  Yes!!! 172.8 that's a loss of -2 whole pounds!! 

T-minus 3 days until the OC Half and guess what...I have a fricken cold...ugh it was bound to happen I have been really lucky and have always dodged the bullet before races even when the Hubs got really sick a few days before my first half last year (I slept on the couch for 3 days just to avoid it). 

 

So I had all these grand plans to get in a good two runs this week and maybe even hit up a Body Pump class but that is now shot to hell. All I want to do is shove tissue up my nose (oh yes I did)  and drink tea and sleep. 

Yup that's me in all my, no make-up, tissue nose glory

At least I got in a pretty decent 5 miler on Sunday

and I may try for at least a 2 miler after work today or Thursday depending on how I feel.

 

In happier news I got these beauties this weekend. 

 I'm so excited, we really needed a new washer our old one was leaking and if I did any more that 2 loads at a time the garage floor was soaking wet, so yay for dry floors.  But my favorite thing was the dishwasher, I wasn't expecting that.  I hate dishes more than anything in the world I would scrub a million toilets rather than do the dishes, so the hubs surprised me. I love going to bed with a clean sink and waking up to clean dishes in the morning.  Funny how our ideas of romantic changes as we get older haha. 

I also linked up with Liz from Fitness Blondie for

Cause she is awesome-sauce!

My Ass Button...

 I am ready to strangle my family!!

See another "deceiving" picture lol...jk we really do like each other.
I only had to yell at them 50 times(as opposed to the normal 100) during these family pics 

  Don't get me wrong I love them and all, but for the right price I would totally sell them off...

ok not really but I would so rent them to someone for an extended period no prob.

I swear there must be a button on my ass that goes off every time I sit down cause as soon as it hits the chair some one NEEDS something, or can't find it, or can I help them finish it, the list is endless.

Seriously what would the world be like if there were no mothers /wives.

A scary place with husbands and children walking around aimlessly trying to find something and never finishing anything!

**ok rant over thank you for letting me vent I feel so much better*

So shit just got real here

I officially registered for the half there is no backing out now!! Yikes I'm a little skerd...

Oh well the worst that can happen is I come in dead last, right!

eff it so what, as long as I finish.

I'm so looking forward to this weekend I'm meeting up with some friends for a day of shopping lunching and drinks (it will give my ass button a break lol).  I am planning to do my long won (walking/jog)  tomorrow so that way I have a few extra kcals banked so I won't feel too guilty.  

What are your weekend plans? 

Weigh In Wednesday... Run Baby Run

Oh Wednesday not sure if I  love or hate you let's see.....
 

Yay I'm down 2.2 lbs!! This week required lots of saying no or just having a tiny taste to my favorite foods damn teachers lounge lol.  But that means I only have to lose less than 2 lbs next week to hit my goal of being under 170 for Vegas next weekend!! Whoop Whoop

 

Well now that that's done I wanted to tell ya'll about my epic run on Sunday

I figured since I'm really committing to this Half Marathon I better get my ass moving and at least try and train as much as possible though the doctor has not given my the all clear quite yet Shhh don't tell and I haven't done a half or trained since the Long Beach Half.

I headed out early on Sunday morning. I was actually kicking myself a bit because I had thought about going on Saturday when it was all cool and overcast (my favorite type of weather to run), but didn't,  and on sunday it was quite a bit warmer and full sun.  Oh well next time I'll just move my ass and go lesson learned.

So out I went. I really had now plans except to do more that 5 miles I ended up doing 6.09.

 Longest run post surgery (only 9 weeks),  and to make it even more awesome I managed to keep a steady 14.05/mi.  

The best thing about this run was I had no real expectation going into it.  I really just wanted to stay below a 16/mi so that I could feel comfortable doing the Half and HELLO nailed it!

For one hot sec I was bummed because before surgery I had finally gotten to a 11/mi pace and that took me what felt like fooorrevverrr! But then I really thought about it,.. I was "running" 9 weeks post op.I'm doing another Half 13 weeks after having a freaking TUMOR removed...

I fucking rock!

and what did I do to celebrated this epic-ness.  Why an Iced Coffee of course.

Weigh In Wednesday - I Got a Secret

Morning friends ...   I have a secret....

But first lets do this weigh-in.

 I'm little bummed I fricken stayed the same!! 173.8
I have worked so hard this week to stay on track with my food like super on track and I walked... a lot.  The only thing I think they may have derailed me is TOM stated yesterday, but geez man can't a girl get a break.

Soon to my secret... this is  something I've been thinking about for a while and I was pretty sure  i was going to do it,  then on Sunday I finally made the decision, and this was the confirmation ....my long "walk".

hell ya a 14 min pace it's far from where I was but I will get there again
just gonna take some time.

I'm going to do another Half Marathon.... In a MONTH!!

Can I do it, probably... Should I do it, ehh. ... Am I crazy,  YES.

I was so sad that I wasn't able to do the Surf City Half because of my surgery, and that totally messed up the beach city challenge medal I was after (you have to do the 3 races consecutively). And being into instant gratification i don't want to wait another whole year!! 

So I decided to just do it.  I know I won't be able to run any most of it but I wanted to see where my "walking" pace was because you need to keep at least a 16 minute mile before I committed. Also to help keep me from hurting myself and running more than I should I asked my mom to do it with me.  

She is NOT a runner at all but that woman can walk, and walk fast also she has started her own fitness journey a few months ago and already has lost 28 pounds.... I am so PROUD of her!!   When I asked, she was totally on board and TaTa decided she would join us, but she will run with my girls Barb and Care.  I am so excited to do this with ALL my girls, but it will be especially awesome to do this with my mom....

 When I first started running my mom was always behind me 110% even when I didn't believe I would ever run a mile much less a Half Marathon or 2 and when people thought I was crazy to even try.  She always believed in me!

Me and Mom

I'm Not Alone!! Race Recap

So on to my half... A few posts ago I had mentioned that I was going to run the Long Beach Half Marathon alone and was bummed.  It really wasn't that I was running alone, I ran my first half all by my lonesome it was just the fact that B and I had trained together and found a good rhythm and it would be cool to have the extra support, and the fact that she had to pull out like 5 days before sucked big time.  So like I said I was resigned to the fact that I would be running solo.  The plan was to still stay at CareBears's and do dinner and B decided that she still wanted to come and cheer me on (I know I have great friends)...

So half jokingly we told CB that she should do it and just run as B.  Mind you she does run but only 3-4 miles a few times a week and has never run more than 5 (and that was one time).  She laughed it off then on Friday morning she came back with "WHY NOT!"   What???  "Ya why not what's the worse that  could happen, I don't finish so what at least I tried."  Well ok then!  

So Saturday we all met up at Care's then went out to BJ's for some major carb loading
  Then it was off to bed early it was a 415 am wake up call.   We woke up got ready and had a decent but light breakfast of peanut butter toast.  We did grab a banana to eat along the way.  The race didn't start until 7:30 but the traffic and parking are a bitch on a regular day so we did not want to take any chances on race day.  The good thing, I was able to pre purchase parking so we had a guaranteed space and it was valet too!! Only $12 bucks heck yea.  After we parked we walked over to the starting line and watched the wheelchair racers take off, then we walked around a bit and took pictures.  It was really chilly, perfect for running but when your just standing around waiting not great.  I took the advice of a friend and stopped at the local goodwill and picked up a sweatshirt I could wear until race time then toss it. Paying only $3 I had no guilt tossing it and in the welcome packet it said that any items or clothing left behind or along the race course would be collected and given to charity win win.  

  

Here we are taking silly pictures waiting to start

We were in corral 3 I was really shooting for a finish somewhere in the 2:30's. Our plan was to stay together at least  until about mile 6 then just go with it after that, and I'm so glad we did. It also gave us some great pictures.

       On the bridge with the Queen Mary in the background 

The course was said to be flat, obviously they don't run where I do lol, the first 6 were pretty hilly and part of it was on a freeway on ramp so it curved and tilted funky which made my knee hurt a bit also I felt really tired early on but I think that was because my first 3 miles were at a 10:55 pace and that is faster than I normally run (so much adrenaline out the gate). Right  after we hit mile 6 I pulled ahead I tried looking around for Care but finally at mile 7 gave up and just did my own thing. 

Miles 8-10 were the longest miles EVER!! I just hit a wall then all this negative talk was in my head.  It went something like this..."what the hell am I doing? Why am I doing this again? I've already done it once I should have just crossed it off my list and be done with it.  That's it I'm never doing another one again eff this shit."   Ya longest miles ever (and about a 12:10-13:18 pace)!! and the shitty thing it was probably the easiest part super flat beach path along the water, but I just couldn't find my rhythm.  Finally about mile ten we headed back up to the street and I knew we where looping back to the finish. At that point I knew I only had 3 miles to go and was in a better frame of mind.  So I tried to make up some time and just go with it and just look for the finish line.

I just kept looking and finally turned a corner and saw it Thank Gawd it was downhill I saw Barbie near the finish line and just opened it up and ran like hell!!  My official time was 2:39:01 Holy Crap I shaved more that 12 minutes off my previous race.  And I stayed in the 2:30's.  After making my way through the chute I called B and was hoping to watch Care cross the finish line, but when I finally got a hold of here she told me C had already crossed!!   WHAT??  Yup about 7 minutes behind me... Holy hell.  I caouldnt believe it.  C always likes to say she is a "pretend" runner and that she can look the part but isn't a "real" runner... My answer to that is LIAR lol no pretend runner would take one for the team (as she put it) and run 13.1 miles in 2:46 with no training and on a whim.  You are a runner girl whether you like it or not! 

 

Whew sorry for such a long post but it was a cray cray day.  The rest was spent with a beer or two and some TV!   

Living on a Prayer!!

OMG I survived the weekend and I'm actually feeling pretty amazing (except for some super tight quad muscles, but I guess that's what you get when you dance all night to Bon Jovi then run a Half Marathon a day later haha.  So I don't overwhelm I'll tell you how the first part of the weekend went.

Friday was an early day I only worked 6:30 to 9:30 (and I made the hubs come with so i didn't have to double back and pick him up before heading to packet pick up.  So he got to see all my kiddos in action and of course they were on their best behavior, go figure.  So after that we stopped for breakfast then off to Long Beach for packet pick up. It was well organized and pretty painless.  I made the poor hubs walk around with me so I could get some shot blocks and body glide for race day.  I totally got some knarly scabs on my back from my bra on my last long run, so I wanted to make sure to lube up this time.  It was nice and bigger than the last expo I went to I even won a loaf of bread!! Haha can we say carb load.

Then it was off to L.A to see Jon and the guys.  We actually stayed at the Marriott which was so awesome it was literally across the quad form the Staples Center where they were playing.  

The view from our hotel.  It was a very nice hotel the only problem I had was we were already paying a pretty penny for the room, but then we had to pay $40 to valet park!!  Seriously and there was NO other option except the garage next door which was $50.  Talk about ripoff! 

Anyway we checked in then got ready and headed over to Yard House for dinner!

Yumm does Martinis count as carb loading??  

Then off to the show,  Bon Jovi was so awesome!!  They came out guns a blazing not even an opening act.  It was so fun and talk about an eclectic group of people.  The people watching was about as good as the show.  

We pretty much rocked out all night and I so sang and dance my heart out.  I just LOVE concerts, I used to go all the time but then kinda just stopped.  I think it was because I so unhappy about the way I looked and just left lazy in general, but now watch out I'm ready to party!! 

Part 2 of the never ending weekend....running edition next 😳!!