It's Time For Me To Return...For Real This Time!

I know, I have been MIA for some time now. I have been wading in a funk for a number of months, running by myself quite often, avoiding people I know when running waddling. Why? I honestly was embarrassed for people I know to see how much I still suck at running. The thing about sucking is that it is really relative. I may not have made any great strides on the scale, I may still be slow as molasses but I am also still active and moving, which at the end of the day is still more than a lot of people can say. I guess I thought that if I hid, I wouldn't have to be accountable for how much I have been sucking.

I was in Tulsa, OK this past weekend at the Route 66 Marathon weekend. This Sunday was supposed to be the day I would no longer be a marathon virgin. As it turns out this was not going to be the weekend for me to lose my marathon virginity. I won't give you all a huge race report because I am still in the middle of a pity party that might go on for a few more days. My foot started hurting during the race, and by the time we got to mile 10, every step was like a death march, there was no running at that point just walking and SLOW walking at that. When I got to the marathon, half marathon split at mile 13, I just crossed the finish and called it at the half marathon distance. After the finish I was so happy to have finished another half marathon but so sad because I FAILED at the marathon. Don't get me wrong, I do not regret calling it at the half marathon because I am not sure I could have made it with the pain in my foot. I am being a whiney baby, pouting and generally being miserable. Looking at race pictures didn't help matters either.

Ok, so I have been having this self imposed isolation when all the while I have had a wonderful network of supportive running moms. The other runners coached my my coach, the Racing It Off team have been there but I haven't leaned on them when I've needed them, they are mostly in the Dallas area but we have a facebook group where we all connect. Locally, I've had the awesome moms from Moms Run This Town, they have been supportive but again, I avoided in the beginning them because I didn't feel like I was good enough, fast enough to hang with them. Lately though, they have been a huge source of support and love, and it has meant the world to me. In fact, Pam the founder of the organization is actually responsible for me blogging again. Her kind words, love and support showed me that it was time to return to the blogosphere.

So, there it is, I am back and on a mission to stop sucking and be more awesome! I have some big things coming up in my life, I have applied to go back to college in January, I am having lap band surgery in March and lots of other exciting things all to help me stop sucking and be more awesome.

Half Marathon# 7 Race Report - Inaugural Niagara Falls Women's Half Marathon

This race was AWESOME!!! It was one of my favorite races ever, and it was my first international half marathon to boot. The decision to run this race was made a day or two before online registration closed, and a few days before B and I headed to Toronto to visit my parents. I am so glad that I decided to go with my gut feeling and signing up for this race. Let's break it down...

Packet Pick Up

My mom, B and I drove down to Niagara Falls the day before the race and hit up the packet pick up at the Great Wolf Lodge. I thought little head would explode when she saw the resort, it broke my heart to tell B that we weren't staying there. Even with the resort being so busy, packet pickup was REALLY quick and easy. I picked up my number, checked to make sure my chip was working, got my tee and then came probably the BEST SWAG BAG EVER! It even included a bottle of wine (for the runners that are 19 years of age and older, the drinking age in the province of Ontario). Check out the swag bag contents... note the press on toe nails, I thought it was a HILARIOUS touch. Yes, this race won me over with wine and candy. What more could a girl ask for?!

Pre-Race

I took a cab from our hotel to the start/finish area because my mom and B could not be bothered to wake up early to drive me. Seriously?! Sleeping in? What's that about? On the ride over I was getting really worried because it was chilly and rainy,  I wore a tee and didn't bring anything to help keep me warm. I got there ridiculously early but thankfully there was a tent where I was able to wait and make some new friends. Guess what happened while I was in the tent? I started talking to a lady who said she liked my shirt, then we started talking and she said that she remembered seeing me at the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February (I wore the same shirt at both races).... SMALL WORLD! So, this race had some neat port-a-potties, they had quotes on the wall and flowers in the urinals, there were also products from a local lavender company as well. I went to the bathroom twice just so I could snap some pics because I didn't think to when I saw all the stuff in there. 

The rain started to subside and we headed to the "start wine", the race was relatively small which had me a little worried because I am so SLOW. As it turned out, the race was beyond supportive of everyone out there, runner, run/walkers and walkers, it was so refreshing! 

The Race

We were off, and I just settled in and decided that I wasn't going to try for a PR, just enjoy a morning run. How often do you get to run by Niagara Falls?! We ran by the falls pretty early in the race but not before running by a harpist, because it was fancy pants like that. The only down side of this race was that after you run by the Falls, there is a part of the route that just was less than scenic before we hit the beautiful town we ran through. 

Along the way, I made friends with an KICK ASS chick who was doing her first half marathon. At first, I thought she was going to drive me crazy the whole race because she would pass me, I would pass her, and so it went until she and I started chatting. One thing lead to another and I made a new friend with whom I still keep in touch. She and I laughed, chatted and had a pretty incredible time. Oh did I mention that one of the water stops on the way back had orange slices and Timbits?! What are Timbits you ask? Well, they are donut holes, and so very tasty... they had me at Timbits.

 

Anyways, my new friend and I motored on and made it to the finish where Bella was waiting and ran with me across the finish. That in and of itself was well worth it because when else will I get to run with her across a half marathon finish line?! With that half marathon #7 was DONE and in the books.

Check out the BLING!

Guess What Is Just Around The Corner

Marathon training! I am heading to Crazy Town yet again, and I am super stoked for marathon training to begin. I am going to BRING IT this time around, I am ready for training, I am ready to show everyone what I am made of. I am working on the weight loss, the speed, and my strength because I want to be able to give the marathon my all.

I think that watching the olympic marathon this morning didn't hurt either, it was something else. I was inspired watching those women give their all for all 26.2 miles of the race. I'll be honest, I got a little teary eyed at the end of the race, they were all incredible.

I Love/Hate Yoga

Alright, so I have decided that I love/hate yoga. I had some BAD experiences with yoga a long time ago and I have been reluctant to try it again since then. Well, I decided that it was time for me to call a truce with yoga and give it another go. I found a yoga app on my ipad and went for it, and thankfully the 20 minute program flew by quickly. I wasn't very graceful but that will come with time, and it was challenging but not so much that it would keep me from doing it again. Maybe yoga doesn't suck....

This morning consisted of teach my Friday Zumba class, an ab workout and then the aforementioned yoga, this afternoon I have to go back to the gym to get my run in. Tomorrow's run might have to be cancelled because I am going to be participating in a Zumba fundraiser benefitting the Aimee Copeland fund. I'll be one of 23 instructors who will be teaching at the event, I feel really lucky and blessed to be able to help out. http://aimeecopeland.com/fundraisers/

I'm Melting! MELTING! Oh, What A World!

Ok, so I didn't melt but I felt like I was going to melt when I was out running yesterday morning with my new friend Pam from Moms Run This Town. What?! You're a mom and haven't check out Moms Run This Town? Go, check it out, there might be a chapter in your area, if not, why not start one? OK, back to the run, we got an hour in. With the heat and then the fact that I had to team teach a Zumba class that evening, an hour in that humidity was all I could handle. I do have to say that I really appreciated having someone there to keep me accountable and even more to have someone to chat with. I would have taken myself back to the couch after dropping B off at lacrosse camp instead of running, but I had someone waiting for me. The very best thing of all was having someone who could quite easily run much, much faster slow down and "run" at my snail's pace, it meant the world to me.

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

I know, I've been MIA for a very long time. I haven't fallen down a well, disappeared into thin air or had a terrible accident while riding my unicorn. I'm just kidding, I don't have a unicorn... it's against the law.

So, life has been interesting around here and I have failed to update the blog here, but it's time to have some accountability in my life. The weight has yo-yoed and it's not healthy, I have been working hard to get the weight under control and finish out the weight loss because I really want the skin removal surgery, plus I just want to be in a place where I am working on maintaining the weight. I am still running, it hadn't been going well up until recently. I had been putting some unrealistic expectations on myself and setting myself up for disappointment. Somewhere along the way I had forgotten to celebrate what I have already accomplished. Also, and this is kind of HUGE, I am about to give up some of my Zumba classes, I am keeping two classes at one gym. This was not an easy decision to come to because I love teaching Zumba so much and I love my students but I have to take care of myself. My body needs a break and I need to focus on my weight loss which has been hard since I have been teaching so much, this is especially important because I signed up for the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa. Yup, a full marathon... I have lost my mind.

I'll be around more and if I'm not, please feel free to give me a swift kick in the butt either here, or on twitter @LucyATL or shoot me an email at runchunky@gmail.com.

Tonight, It All Clicked Again

So, I decided to head to the gym this evening to hit up Group Ride (a cycling class) and during class it all clicked again. What clicked, you ask. What clicked was the feeling that I had when I was killing it with the weight loss. I couldn't have asked for a better feeling! I have been spinning my wheels in the weight loss department for the last year, the weight goes up, it goes down and I've been unhappy. I worked too hard to screw this up, I am strong, and I know what I have to do to get the job done. Tonight, I felt like I finally got some traction, let's get this weight off and turn on 110% BEAST MODE.

LET'S GO!!!