Hit and Run 5K

   Last weekend was my 5th race of the year, the brand new Hit and Run 5K!  This is another new one, something that I signed up for back in October with a bunch of friends.  This one is definitely more of a FUN obstacle course race, the obstacles are mostly large inflatable type things the include foam and water.  Have you ever seen the show Wipeout?  It was a lot like that.  Here is their promotional video - we did every obstacle you see here: 

  So of course, we all decided to have some fun with it - everyone wore superhero gear and we took a few silly pictures before the start:

   The obvious thing to say first is that the weather was GLORIOUS.  It was a little warm, since most of us were wearing cotton shirts, but in the shade it was just perfect.  This race took place at River Legacy Park in Arlington, which is actually where I had my first attempt at a running career in 1998.  I haven't been there in about 10 years, but I'm happy to report that it's still one of the nicest parks in the area.  It was a really great location, I would love to trek out there from time to time with the family just to hang out.  

  It was clear that this race was all about fun - the MC at the start line did a great job DJing some fun music and keeping everyone entertained while waiting for their wave to start.  Lots of dancing, laughing and people being silly.  There were a lot of costumes and large teams, a handful of vendors with freebies and a bag check for anyone that needed to drop something off.  The swag included a cotton tshirt, a really awesome red sweatband (for your head - see Nana in the middle of the picture above) and a temporary tattoo. The sweatband is pretty sweet and I would have worn it for the race, but it didn't match my outfit.  Ha ha!  

   We ended up starting around 10a, after waiting for a couple of waves in the start area to get going.  They were pretty good about spacing it out and we only had to wait at one obstacle.  There were 5 obstacles total - walk across pedestals, balance beam with people throwing balls at you, run across the wall whose panels open randomly...while people throw balls at you, BIG BALL jump and then a final balance beam over a pool of ice cold water...while huge balls swung around overhead.  Lot of balls in the way at this race - insert your joke here.  These are pretty much designed for EVERYONE to fail, but that was the fun of it!  I just tried to not injure myself.  I fell off of both balance beams, got smacked in the head by a panel on the red wall and don't even get me started on how the big ball jump went down.  We were all laughing so much though, it didn't even matter.  The run was great, we even did a little off road trail running during a portion of the course, and since they spaced everyone out so well, we were able to really get a good jog in.  I also took what may be my favorite race picture ever: 

  I would recommend this race to anyone, it's untimed and extremely noncompetitive - just a fun time for everyone involved.  It would be great for the kids and fun to hang out after.  

  May is a busy month for me race-wise, I have some big ones coming up, including a 2 race Spartan weekend in Austin in the middle of the month.  I'm working hard to get up to speed for that one, but I still have some things to work on.  My plan is to do these 2 races (part of my Trifecta this year!) and then to keep working so that when it comes time for Tough Mudder and Spartan Beast in the fall, I can head out to those and just KILL it.  Here's my updated schedule:

May 10, 2014 – Gladiator Rock N Run

May 17, 2014 – Spartan Super

May 18, 2014 - Spartan Sprint

May 24, 2014 - Firemen's 5K 

July 13, 2014 – Too Hot to Handle

September 6, 2014 – Superhero Scramble

October 5, 2014 – Tough Mudder

November 1, 2014 – Spartan Beast

   I am toying with the idea of throwing another half in there somewhere, but don't want to over commit since I'm really focused on Tough Mudder and the Beast.  I've already decided that I'm going to plan on the Little Rock Marathon in March for next year.  Why?  Because the medal is awesome, of course!  

Next up: Gladiator Rock N Run in 2 weeks!

It Starts with Food

Hey!  It's a post about food, NOT about a race or workout.  Let me start with a brief timeline of how I got to this current challenge:

March 2013: I was in great shape!  I was the lightest I'd been since Gage was born, getting super strong, running long and racing at least once a month.

June 2013: Missing a lot of workouts, barely running, went on vacation and stuffed my face like you wouldn't believe.

September 2013: Our whole family dynamic and schedule changed when Jason went back to work and Gage went back to school.  Stopped working out, stopped running, still had a few races scheduled.

December 2013: Did Spartan and barely survived, now about 25 lbs heavier, eating total junk every chance I got.

January 2014: Decided I couldn't keep going on like that, started working out and running again regularly - did not change my food habits.

March 2014: Realized that while the running and working out were keeping me in check, my food habits were keeping me from seeing real progress.

INSERT: Whole30 Challenge  http://whole30.com/

  For a few months (December - March), I had been on a roller coaster of trying to turn my eating habits around all at one time, FOREVER, and then falling off of the wagon 1-2 weeks in.  I truly believe for me that eating is an inside job and that until I was ready to really change, it just wasn't going to happen.  This really helped me when I wanted to beat myself up about failing AGAIN.  I've always had to approach these things from a place of acceptance and not from a place of TRYING TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN THE WAY THAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO.  So 26 days ago, I decided I was ready to start feeling better - not necessarily lose weight, look better, etc - I just wanted to feel better.  I was doing a lot of unconscious eating, which for me just leads to more shame.
  What really appealed to me about this challenge is that I only have to commit to 30 days.  It wasn't forever, it wasn't that I would NEVER get to have a cupcake for the rest of my life, I just had to do it for 30 days.  The basic plan is no added sugar, no dairy, no grains, no white potatoes, no alcohol (easy), no legumes, no carrageenan, no sulfites, no MSG and no paleofied desserts.  Now, to make this REALLY fun, I decided to quit caffeine as well.  The goal of this plan was to kick my physical cravings and mental obsession to the curb by eliminating those things from my diet.  After the 30 days, they encourage that you add back one thing at a time so that you can really see how different food items affect you physically.
  I will tell you that week 1 sucked.  Big time.  Week 2, better physically, but bananas mentally.  By the 3rd week, I could really tell a difference in my energy level and mood and now, on day 26, I can tell you that I feel great!  I've been able to make this work pretty easily and have found so many amazing recipes (even Jason will tell you how great the cooking has been) that it feels like this is way more sustainable than I once thought.  I've noticed a difference in my running (my speed is picking up) and my workouts (my recovery time is insanely fast).  I feel more productive in my day, I'm more engaged in my life and what's going on around me, I even keep up with chores more.
  With 4 days left, I will tell you that I am looking forward to a sweet treat next weekend - I already know what I want - but I'm definitely going to continue to eat like this 85-90% of the time.  My goal will be to add some grains back on heavier run weeks, but keep it to things like quinoa or brown rice.  I am going to allow myself a fun meal or treat once a week or so and for special occasions.  I have made a list of a few things that I have really missed and it will be fun to portion those things out over the weeks.  I am really looking forward to my favorite saag paneer at India Garden in a couple of weeks.
  I think the most surprising thing has been how just this small amount of time has changed my palate and my cravings.  I am trying new vegetables and WANTING them on a regular basis.  I have hated avocado my entire life, but I have to tell you that I have discovered in this little adventure that it's really good!  I am having fun making new things and finding fun new snack ideas.  There are things that I was eating or drinking every day that I thought would totally ruin my life if I had to quit them for any length of time, but it turns out, they weren't that big of a deal.  It's been pretty awesome to enjoy food again and not just unconsciously shove it in my mouth without even tasting it.
  So that's the current health adventure I've been on and I can report that the results have been outstanding.  I know some of you will ask, so I will also say that I've lost about 16 pounds.  I lost the first 10 really fast and it's been a pretty steady 1-2 lbs/week since then.  Of course, I've been running and working out the entire time, so a lot of that contributes.   I've tried to track my calories, not for weight loss, but just because I was afraid that with changing my eating habits, I wouldn't get ENOUGH.  I use a website that's pretty simple and free - www.myfitnesspal.com.

Here are some of our favorite recipes so far:

http://cookeatpaleo.com/paleo-avocado-tuna-salad/ - I don’t like raw onions, so I subbed in diced green apple and added a little cayenne pepper.  This is currently my favorite lunch/snack.

http://paleomg.com/clean-it-up-mondays-turkey-and-spinach-stuffed-sweet-potatoes/ - This is delicious and it could definitely be made the night before and the assembled/heated up the next day.

http://www.tgipaleo.com/2014/01/04/no-mayo-avocado-slaw-paleo-raw-vegan/ - The dressing for this is so unbelievable.  I only used half on the actual slaw and then used the extra for veggie dipping the rest of the week.

http://nomnompaleo.com/post/19886925277/sweet-potato-hash-with-fried-eggs - This is my very favorite “easy” dinner or breakfast.  I add in turkey breakfast sausage – I cook the sausage, take it out and then fry up the hash in the sausage grease. 

http://comfybelly.com/2014/01/mexican-chicken-soup-quick-easy/#more-16401 – This chicken soup is AMAZING and EASY.  If you are into avocado or sour cream (if you are eating dairy), you can toss a little of either in your bowl and Jason loves it that way.  This is also a great leftover for a couple of days. 

http://everydaypaleo.com/one-pot-chicken-drumsticks-and-a-release-week-recap/ - This is another super simple, easy chicken recipe.  I usually buy the BIG thing of chicken legs then I cook half with this recipe and roast half at the same time in the oven for lunches.

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/12/paleo-veggie-beef-chili/ - This chili is really easy and really filling. 

http://www.steamykitchen.com/31325-paleo-cauliflower-bacon-fried-rice-video-recipe.html - Ok, this one is a little weird, but I promise you, it’s oh so good.  It’s a fried rice recipe, but you use grated cauliflower instead of rice.  She gives a basic rundown and then gives options for different stages of cooking.  I add in shrimp, 1 scrambled egg and frozen peas and carrots to my version.  I use the coconut aminos instead of soy sauce as well.  This also heats up great for leftovers.  Maybe it’s the bacon, but it’s just ridiculous how good it tastes. 

So there you go - feeling good on the inside, which has helped me catch up with how I was doing on the outside.  

Next up will be a race review/recap of the Hit N Run 5K next Saturday!

Women Rock Half Marathon

Race #4 for 2014 is in the books!  It's been a little over a week since this race, so I'm hoping my memory doesn't fail me!

This was the inaugural race here in Dallas - this group runs this race out of Minnesota, I believe - and running a first time race is always fun because the excitement is always pretty infectious.  I'm going to start with the reason why I signed up for this one: SWAG.  When Theresa told me about it, I wasn't sold because it was pretty pricey for a half marathon, but then I checked out the goodies.  The coolest thing was instead of a shirt, we got really badass jackets.  There's always a risk that the quality won't be great, but luckily they really were awesome.  They are like any nice running jacket I would buy retail, complete with thumb holes, full neck coverage and hot pink piping, of course. Here is a picture showing the front of the jacket on the left and the back on the right.  Pretty sweet.

Of course, this race is marketing as a race FOR women, so the entire thing was set up to appeal to us girl runners, so there were a lot of fun touches outside of the jacket.  Of course EVERYTHING was pink, but one of my favorite touches that I've never seen is when we got to the race venue, they had set up tables in the restrooms with pink tablecloths, flower arrangements and baskets with goodies that might be helpful (bobby pins, hair ties, facial wipes, etc.)  They even hung baggies of items in the outside porta-potties.  I thought that it was a really cute touch.  The merch and race flags, etc. were so amazing and of really nice quality - I was impressed with the setup.

This race had a really late start, when compared to what I'm used to for start times.  The race was scheduled to start at 9am, but a couple of days before, it got pushed to 9:15a.  Day of race?  We started the half marathon at 9:30a, which in the nice (hot) weather we were having that morning, ended up making the race a little sticky toward the end.  This race took place at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie, which was fun since it was a new location to check out.  There were 2 other large events going on in the same little compound that day, one at Verizon Theater and then the LARGE DFW Swap Meet in the parking lot next to us.  That was fun to run by a couple of times to check out what everyone was selling out there.  Even with these large events, parking was a breeze (and FREE) and we never had trouble with traffic or people getting in the mix.

There was a 5K, 10K and a Half Marathon option for this race.  The half marathon route was 2 loops of a 6-ish mile route.  We all started on the field in QuikTrip Park and then we ran one main back road on the way out, then hit a trail through a more wooded area (which I didn't know existed!) back to Beltline and the main entrance of the ballpark.  We passed the ballpark to head out on our second loop and we spent a little more time on the main road for that one.  Even though the loop changed a little on the second go around, they volunteers had already updated the signs and moved the turnaround, so there was never any question as to where we were supposed to go.  It was pretty warm, but there were a couple of water stops - 3 total on each loop - along with porta-potties and gel at the halfway mark.  There were 2-3 minor hills, but other than that, pretty flat course.  I remember one hill was a little intimidating, but once we were up - no problem.  Overall, the course was great.  I've only done a repeat race once and that was a 3 mile loop that I had to do 5 times.  I prefer the longer loop for less repeats, for sure.  The second loop took us back through the entrance of the ballpark, we ran the entire outfield and then finished on the other side.  Once we finished, there were more treats waiting for us:

Champagne or 7-Up in a commemorative glass AND a beautiful silver necklace with a ruby 

Super cute men that were there SOLELY for us to ogle and take pictures with

Yep, they marketed to the ladies and delivered the goods in a big way.  We really had a great time, the race was organized fantastically and we felt like we walked away with a great experience.  I do want to comment on one more thing about this race:  the volunteers and energy were INCREDIBLE.  When we first started the race, everyone was SO excited, there was cheering and hooting - something you just don't get at every race.  It felt like my first half again, I was excited and having fun.  I realized that after running so many races, I may have a little race cynicism and this was the kind of race that knocked the doldrums off.  It was impossible to have a bad time or get upset.  The volunteers were so amazing as well as some pretty great spectators.  One group of women came out and just handed out popsicles - and they stayed there the entire race.  There were DJs at the water stops playing fun music to keep things lively and they had groups of very energetic high school kids handing out the water and gatorade.  There were people cheering and yelling for us at each turning point, the police officers were super friendly and overall the energy was just awesome.  Grand Prairie gets 2 big thumbs up for putting on such a great showing of people.

Next up is the Hit N Run 5K next Saturday - it's a fun little obstacle course 5K that looks like that Wipeout show on TV.  Here's my current schedule:

2014 Races

January 11, 2014 – Bold in the Cold 15K - DONE

February 2, 2014 – Too Cold to Hold - DONE

February 8, 2014 – Hot Chocolate 15K - DONE

March 29, 2014 – Women Rock ½ Marathon - DONE

April 19, 2014 – Hit and Run 5K

May 10, 2014 – Gladiator Rock N Run

May 17, 2014 – Spartan Super

May 18, 2014 - Spartan Sprint

July 13, 2014 – Too Hot to Handle

September 6, 2014 - Superhero Scramble

October 5, 2014 – Tough Mudder

November 1, 2014 – Spartan Beast (TEXAS TRIFECTA!)

I'm talking to some girls at work about training for Dallas this year, so that may be my last race in December. I'm definitely planning on Little Rock in March.  I want that BIG MEDAL!

Stay tuned for more fun. 

PS - I did not check this for typos, so please ignore run on sentences, grammatical and/or spelling errors.