2010 In Review... My journey so far

So, I decided to make a video of 2010 in review and about my journey thus far. Since, I have a tendency to be a bit of a copy cat, I'll let you know that I was inspired by a video posted by Ben from Ben Does Life. 2010 was a heck of a year, and 2011 is going to be even better!

I DID IT!

Can't believe I'm posting this but I had to take a picture of the scale this morning. I DID IT! I reached and slightly surpassed my goal for the year....200 pounds are gone never to be seen again. BOOYAH! Now, off to teach my Friday morning Zumba class and a short run with K afterwards. I have been working on my year in review post, I'll post it when I get back.

Endorphins... My Drug Of Choice

T-shirt available at www.goneforarun.com

Last week was full of training, Zumba and cookies and lacking in running. This is a new week and I have a goal to reach by Friday (2 more pounds). Yesterday, was full of good intentions but my tire had another idea, I blew a tire on the way to the gym to train and run. I was fortunate enough to have some very nice gentlemen at the gym change my tire for me but training was out, I was shaken up. Thankfully, I have an awesome friend in Shannon, we took the kids to paint pottery, painted a little ourselves and it really help take my mind off the stress of the day. Then yesterday evening we went and got a little Zumba in because that's how I roll.

This morning Shannon, K and I set out for a run together, we didn't have a distance plan but we did have a plan to run 4:1 intervals. Let me just state for the record that heading out in the frigid weather has to be classified under bad ass because otherwise it might be classified as DUMB. I was wearing thermal underwear, and a million layers, because like I've said before, six years in the south have made me soft. This was also my first time trying out my new garmin watch that I got for Christmas. Can I just tell you that I may not have the super snazzy one but I am loving this thing! We set out, somehow we decided to do the whole loop around on the marked course. I started to fall back somewhere between miles 3 and 4,  but where I would normally freak out, it actually turned out to be a good thing for me. I kept telling myself something Shannon had said to me yesterday about running for no one but myself. It was really good for me mentally, because I pushed through even when I wanted to just quit and walk the rest of the way. That being said, I did walk more than I would have liked, but there's no point dwelling on that because there is nothing I can do now to change that. According to the garmin, we went 5.97 miles, I finished is in 1:33:35, not my best time but I can't complain about it either.

I rode the endorphin high from the morning the rest of the day. It just felt so good to get out there and move.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope that you are having a very Merry Christmas!

I'll leave you with the song that I love and hate all at the same time. I swear it follows me everywhere I go starting at Thanksgiving.

Quick Brag

Just wanted to post a quick little brag before I headed out to teach my Christmas Eve Zumba class. I got on the scale this morning and I saw that I am 2 pounds away from hitting 200 lost. HECK YEAH! I'm so excited I could burst. Can I get the last two pounds off before NYE? I say we give it a shot!

Back To The Grind

Alright, after a rough couple of weeks of insanity I'm back to the grind. Started yesterday morning with a 3.5 mile run with K. We were slow, so slow we had an old granny whiz past us. Then again she probably kicked it up because of the subject matter of K and I's conversation, she probably found it a bit much to have to endure. This was the first time since the Bedford Dasher that K and let me be honest with you, I just do so much better with someone there to chat with and the company in general. Only issue I had was the sinus infection I have going on cramped my style just a bit, but it wasn't completely unbearable. After we ran, I hit the gym for a training session with Amy. It was an all around awesome session, I managed to do some pretty hard core exercises that I didn't know I could do, I popped an exercise band... BAD ASS. I know it's an odd time to try and get back into the swing of things but if I don't do it now I will start procrastinating. 

I Got In Trouble Last Night...

Yup, I got in trouble last night. I got a text from a certain friend of mine who also happens to read the blog *cough Sarah cough* and I was informed that I hadn't updated the blog in nearly a week. I know, I have been an awful blogger. In my defense, I have been busy with work, a sick kid and fighting off a bug myself. Alright, I know this are wussy excuses... I'm going to step it up this week.

Anyways, this week I've been thinking about now officially being 30, and what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months. So, this is like a New Years resolution but not quite.

Running Related
1. Finish the Disney Princess Half
2. Work on my speed (I know I can run faster, I'm pretty sure that it's something mental holding me back)
3. Run the Peachtree Road Race on the 4th of July

Weight Related
1. Hit or some as close as possible to my goal weight by my 31st birthday (December 13th, 2011)

Zumba Related
1. Pick up another class
2. Grow my existing class
3. Go through Basics 2, and Zumbatomics (Zumba for kids) training.
4. Go to Convention

I'll add to the list as the year wears on.

Bedford Dasher 5K Race Report

K and I before the race. We really were not looking our best.

Yesterday, K and I ran the Bedford Dasher 5K. This race was for a wonderful cause, The Bedford School, a school for children with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. I went into this one just to have fun, I wasn't worried about time, or anything like that. We got to the school, got registered, socialized and got ready to run. We hadn't run together in a while, so it was awesome to be able to catch up and chat. As always our talks are always interesting and sometimes a tad inappropriate but that's just how we roll. The course meandered through some neighborhoods around the school and we encountered some hills which brought up the discussion of trying to get some hill work in on some of our training runs. The hills we encounter now are wimpy little hills, nothing that will really challenge us, so we are going to try and get out there and challenge ourselves. Back to the race, they had a lot of people out there directing the participants and some were blasting some Christmas music from their cars which was fun and festive. As for the pace, it wasn't great, our last 5K was slightly faster. I really need to work on my endurance and speed, I have a lot of work ahead of me.

All in all, GOOD TIMES!

Late Night Vlogging

Here's a little vlog entry that Shannon, Sarah and I made last night. Oh gosh...

A Little About Me

RR tagged me in a "getting to know you" post. Here it goes...


1.  Who inspires you with regard to running? At the risk of sounding like a complete cheese ball, all of the running bloggers I follow. I know, it sounds cheesy but I love real people doing incredible things. 

2.  Running with music? Running without music? Depends, if I am running with someone else, then I prefer to chat. If I'm on my own, then music is essential. 

3.  Do you have any fantasy race/event that you are longing to participate in someday? I would love to do the Rock and Roll marathon in Vegas. I also want to do a sprint triathlon, no race in particular but I really would love to do that.

4.  Think back to grade school ... who was your celebrity crush? This is an easy one, I was into NKOTB and I was enamored with Joey MacIntyre.

5.  You finally meet your grade school celebrity crush .... what do you do? What do you say? I would probably squeal or be too starstruck to say anything. I would love to say that I could be all cool and say something witty but I am too much of a dork to do anything like that.

6.  We don't hear about these guys enough .... Pets! Do you have any? Names? Type? Do they sleep in your bed? Are they in the family Christmas card?? I don't currently have a pet but we are currently considering getting a new guinea pig. We had a sweet little guinea pig named Mr. Sparkles Lipgloss and he passed away over the summer. Mr. Sparkles would have been in our card if we actually ever got around to sending out Christmas cards (we're slackers). 

Today's A New Day

If you hadn't already guessed by reading Wednesday night's drunken post, I had a tough day on Wednesday. I got some bad news, my paternal grandfather passed away. I had made plans with my friends to go out on Wednesday night before I received the news, and I ended up going out. I overindulged...

Thursday, I was feeling some of the after effects of my night out. I went to groove and went between nearly crying and feeling sick. It was a tough class to get through, but I did it. I was supposed to run with K, but between not feeling great and having made a promise to Bella to take her to a Christmas program it didn't work out. I did go to Zumba in the evening and got to hang out with some of my favorite people and got some help with my playlist for the class that I had to teach. I am so grateful for an awesome friend/mentor who has helped me so much with all my Zumba stuff and has been an incredible friend.

This morning I taught my first official Zumba class. It went well, I messed up a few times but I played it off pretty well. I am going to have to work on my calling and work on not worrying about messing up. Just loosen up overall.

Today's a new day, things are going to get better.

To Sarah

I know you're looking at the blog and I've been drinking...thank you for making a shitty day a while lot better. LOVE YOU!

Just A Little Monday Blogging

When I last left you, I was heading to a zumba audition. So, I went and did my thing, I was offered the job, then on Saturday I received a call telling me that they are taking that particular class off the schedule all together. So, I had the job for a minute, or at least a few days. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so I am slightly bummed but I think that it wasn't meant to be. Then on Friday morning, I taught my first entire Zumba class. The funny thing is that I was lukewarm about that particular gym, I went in for the experience and wasn't too worried about getting the job. That actually turned out to be a great attitude because I was really relaxed when I went in and I wasn't nervous or anxious at all. Anyways, not to sound conceited but I did really well. I felt great teaching, it was a TON of fun, and the people in the class enjoyed themselves. Now, I just have to wait and hear about this particular class...

Wednesday afternoon, I went to Zumba class because I just hadn't gotten enough earlier. It was highly amusing because first of all Sarah came to class and then I wore my Zumba pants to class for the first time. Sarah was being thoroughly amusing, and had me cracking up during class. Then the pants.... oh the magical Zumba pants (they give you mad Zumba skills)... they finally fit but they are a tad snug through the hips and bum. I will blame it on the fact that they are mens pants and not because my hips and bum are quite large. Anyways, I thought I was going to split my pants a few times, they held up but the situation was pretty funny, it mad me think of something that would happen on "I Love Lucy".

Thursday, I ran with K in the morning, I was an utter and complete mess. Let me tell you that I have turned into a weather wuss. I don't know if I have mentioned this here before but I grew up in Canada, I used to be Nanook Of The North, these past six years in Georgia have made me soft. So, it was freezing on Thursday morning when we headed out for our run. The run itself was a tough one, I was miserable. I was in a bad head space that I couldn't shake, and my calves were killing me.... I was so whiney. I guess that days like that are bound to happen. At least we got 7 miles in, and I had a slightly bad ass moment. When I got home, I found some mystery blood on my toes... blood is pretty bad ass... right? Thursday evening I went to Zumba again, to get some practice in because Kareen played some of the songs on my Friday playlist and to hang out and dance it out.

Friday morning was the audition that I killed. Oh, I just can't get over it. Even if I didn't get the job, I am really grateful for the experience and it was such a Zumba high. I have to say that I really LOVED teaching, and I can't wait to do it again. After that I went to a surprise party for Shannon, but I managed to sort of wreck the surprise because I was running late. I was running to the house as Sarah and Shannon were turning onto the street... leave it to me. That evening before Groove, I finally got a training session in. It was a ton of fun even if I had to take it easy on the upper body stuff because my arm still isn't 100% better. We had a hard workout, a lot of catching up and a even a little therapy for good measure. Then, I had to stay for Groove because two hours at the gym just wasn't enough for this guy.... naw, I just love Groove.

Today was some running on the track with Amy as well as a training session. It was cold, that's all I have to say about that. BRRRR. I am a weather wuss.

Mostly Awesome

So, I had a mostly awesome weekend. I had a lot of quality family time, did some work, worked on my playlist for my auditions. I say it was mostly awesome because on Friday, Bella and I were playing and she fell on my arm and bent it backwards in an odd way. It hurt like a mother, but I was sure that I would feel better by Saturday. Come Saturday, the arm was actually feeling worse and I started to worry just a bit but I wasn't rushing to the doctor just yet. I ran with K on Saturday and had to tuck my arm in because it was uncomfortable running, then that evening in Groove it just killed. I did end up going to the doctor on Monday, and as it turns out it's just a contusion, nothing to write home about, just enough to hurt and make me uncomfortable. Good times....

Saturday was solely dedicated to the family, no gym or anything. We started the day with a trip to the tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree. That was quite the adventure, we haven't had a real tree and I had never been to cut one down. There were some GORGEOUS trees but sadly we live in an apartment and a 10 foot tree just wasn't going to work. So, we scoured the farm for the perfect tree, and we found what we thought was the most fabulous tree only to find that there was a lady literally guarding the tree waiting on her husband to come and cut it down, that was a bit too hard core for me. Finally we found the tree for us, and I made a joke with Patrick that we were going to have a Griswold moment. Little did I know that we actually would when we got the tree home. So we were just beyond proud of our tree and we got it home and set it in the stand. That in and of itself was hilarious because the tree just wasn't going to cooperate to stand straight. Then when we took the netting off, it became very apparent that we did not account for how wide the tree was. The tree takes up a lot of our tiny living room.... that's just so very us. That afternoon, we took Bella to the movies to see Tangled. What a great movie, it was too cute.

She was sizing up the situation and "helping" Patrick.

She wanted to haul the tree herself, it didn't work out so well for her.

They put her to work and had her help bale the tree.

All this work can make a girl hungry, and the best snack is obviously a marshmallow.

Looking fly after the movie...

On Sunday, I started the day out properly with an awesome run with K in the morning. We got 4 miles in and we were faster than we have ever been. I just love running with K and running on Sunday morning was wonderful. The paths were pretty empty so we didn't have to have our show downs with the Mommy Mafia. Have I mentioned that they are super scary and will run you down with those strollers, those ladies will cut a b*tch. Don't get me wrong, I'm a mom and I love that they are out and being active but the mafia on the golf cart paths are something else. Anyways, I tried out a new app for the phone to track our progress called Cardio Trainer, it was too cool. It showed us our pace per mile, mapped it out, and it saved it online as well. The app will have to do until I can afford to buy myself the garmin I've had my eyes on. Then, because I love my dance fitness classes, I went to Groove it out on Sunday evening.

Monday, I had to skip training with Amy so I could go get my arm looked at. Then I had to reschedule this morning's session because I have a Zumba audition this morning...eeek. I did go to Zumba on Monday night, and there was something about the class that night that reminded me why I love Zumba and why I want to teach it. It was something else, because I was starting to feel less than enamored with Zumba until Monday night. Then, yesterday K and I ran on the treadmill because there was bad weather and some tornado warnings and as much as we love being bad ass and running outside in the rain, we weren't down with chancing it. I probably would not have gotten the miles in on the treadmill had K not been there with me, I have the hardest time on the treadmill because I get bored fairly quickly and I get a tad obsessed with the numbers on the display. Then in the evening, I went to Zumba and got to teach a song. I managed to teach the song but I had a few issues, I did not look up at the people in the class enough, and I was so worried about messing up that I did not let my personality show through. I just have to relax and stop worrying so much about messing up. After class, Kareen (my friend and Zumba mentor) sat with me and we worked on my playlist for my audition on Friday and worked out some stuff for the one today too. She had some great advice and was a HUGE help.

That's it for now, I'm off to get ready for my audition today!