rear view mirror:::: september 2012

running::::
after a slow two months, i picked it up [a little]. finished with 38 miles for the month, but more important than the numbers, i finished my first half since july. i was beyond worried that i would struggle [new meal plan, new workout plan, etc] but as Jill mentioned to me, apparently cross training suits me! 

i finished the cherokee harvest half marathon, which was number 7 of 12 in 2012. it really hit me this month (the one year anniversary of my first half marathon) how far i've come. this time last year i'd just finished my first half and who knew i'd have finished 8 total now! it really is proof that you can do what you want. i used to think running a half was crazy talk. now i've signed up for my first full [and that IS crazy talk! lol]

weight training::::
september wrapped up my 11th week of my new training plan. i am losing the weight slowly but surely. it's crazy how strong i feel though! i really wish i had one of those things to measure body fat percentage... I think it'd be very interesting to see how much that has changed. another interesting thing, i actually weighed what i do right now around april of this year [then managed to gain back the 18 pounds i'd lost plus some] but my clothes fit SO differently from how they did then. i put on a pair of capris yesterday and they literally almost fell off. it was awesome! so even though the scale might be moving a little slower than i'd like, i know i'm gaining lean muscle in the process and that's VERY important to me!

reading::::

crossed:  i am really enjoying this series but unfortunately the last book doesn't come out until november. it's a cross between the hunger games and the maze runner series. set in the future where the government has decided that we are overstimulated and it keeps us from reaching our full potential. so they get rid of so much  art, writings, etc and leave them with the 100 paintings, 100 songs, so on and so forth. they also match them with their mates and kill the citizens on their 70th birthdays. but there is an uprising and a love story involved. 

this is why you're fat: i downloaded this book while i was in tybee in june. i was out of books and i was also mad at myself for how i'd let all the weight i'd lost come right back. i quit reading it when i decided to try the fitness poynters plan. i went back and finished it when i realized that the third book in the crossed series wasn't out yet! it all made a lot of sense, but i didn't agree with everything in it. her meal plan is pretty good though. if you want it though, i'd recommend getting it in printed form vs. the digital copy. it's a book you'd need readily available and want to be able to flip through it. 

left behind & tribulation force: i am really enjoying this series. i'd started reading it a few years back [my mom had read them and recommended them] but honestly they scared me and i wasn't ready to read them. now i can't put them down but when i do it's mostly to spend more time reading the Bible. i know they're just one person's interpretation of the end of times, but i've really enjoyed them and they've helped me to become more focused on my walk with God. 

life::::

• my best friend got married last month! we traveled to ky for the beautiful ceremony which was in a vineyard. it was so wonderful to celebrate with friends that have become family over the years.
• we were able to drive up to cincinnati after the wedding and watch the reds play with brad's parents. they're in the playoffs so brad's pretty pumped. 
• i held a bridal shower at my house for another one of my friends that's getting married. it was the first thing like that i've ever hosted and i was pretty pleased with how it turned out. 
• i got to drive home and see my family and also my sweet aunt who is battling breast cancer. i always love time with the fam and it was especially great to see sherri. she's an amazing person who's fighting a battle right now. it would mean the world to me if you all would keep her in your prayers.
• brad took me to the pumpkin patch (my favorite fall activity)!

Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon 2012:::: Race Recap & Review

cherokee harvest half marathon & 5k

half mary # 8

race# 7 of 12 in 2012

time:  2:16:21 

overall:  140/185

age group: 9/13

expo:

to my knowledge, there was no expo for this race. race day packet pick up was available (always a plus in my opinion). 

race morning:

i got up early to make the drive to cherokee. this guy was super excited about my race!

more like he was super excited to get fed :)

 cherokee is about an hour outside of asheville and i'd never been there before so i wanted to make sure i'd have plenty of time to get there. i had trouble finding the start line/packet pick up area. i would have definitely appreciated some signs! parking was great, packet pick up took 5 minutes and the volunteers were super friendly and helpful. there weren't a lot of port-o-potties, but the lines weren't long, so i'd say there were plenty. 

personally this race morning was a little different. typically my race morning breakfast is a clif bar and some G2. with my new eating plan i was up in the air as to what to eat. i typically eat egg whites, a slice of ezekiel bread, and a half a banana. for race morning the only thing i changed was that i added about a teaspoon of natural PB on my bread. it seemed to work pretty well for me. i didn't have any stomach upset and i wasn't hungry immediately. 

goals:

my goals for this race were pretty broad. i really wanted to finish in under 2:30. but i wasn't going to be crushed if it didn't happen. i'd shared it with you all... august and september have been VERY LOW mileage months. 

the race:

if i could describe this race in one word... it'd be BEAUTIFUL. talk about beautiful scenery. rivers, streams, leaves, trees... beautiful! the volunteers were amazing. so helpful and friendly! as you can tell from the pictures, it was dreary and rainy during the race. those volunteers were out in the rain with us with smiles on their faces. you've gotta appreciate that! 

there were water stops every 2 miles, they gave out hammer gels around mile 8, they had water and gatorade and pretzels at some stops. great course support!

the race measured a little short on my garmin, coming in around 12.65 miles. the course was mostly flat aside from one BIG hill around mile 6 (i think). and you better believe i walked up that baby!

my race:

this race went amazingly well for me considering my low mileage. apparently all that cross training has been very effective at keeping me in shape! the first five miles went really well, and i was able to follow my usual fuel plan and took 1 shot blok every mile starting at mile 7. i didn't take any gatorade during the race [i usually do after mile 5 or so] and i feel like it affected me. i'm going to experiment with salt tabs because i felt a little crampy after the race. i also got that dehydrated feeling towards the end so i started taking 2 waters at the stops. 

swag:

we received awesome handmade medals at the finish line. 

we also got a long sleeved technical shirt that i'm loving, but it's a little big on me. brad is trying to steal it like none other. i told him absolutely not! because i was in the first 300 racers to register, I also got some extra swag:  a Nike N7 shirt, a drawstring bag, and a fleece toboggan. All extremely nice, especially for such a small race!

i am really looking forward to doing this race again next year. it was a great time, a beautiful course, and it was very well supplied. 

Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon in Pictures

I'll get to the race recap asap, but in the meantime, here are the photos from Saturday's race:  [Christopher Graphics Even Photography].

getting back to running

for the past 10 weeks my health/fitness priorities have been completely dominated by the plan that Steve [at FitnessPoynters.com] made for me. the breakdown looks something like this:

weight training x 5 days
abs x 4 days
HIIT cardio x 3 days
regular cardio x 3 days

my original plan was to run on the 'regular' cardio days, but when i dove into the plan, that quickly changed. during the first week my mind/body was  mess. the meal plan was such a radical change for me [not that the meal plan is radical, just more that it was the polar opposite of what i'd been doing] that i was worn out for the first little bit. and heaven knows i'm not running the day after leg day... or the next two days!

i've slowly added more running back in, but my longest run in months have been several 5 milers. i wasn't too concerned because my next race was in november and i figured i had plenty of time to get ready. but then i ended up getting off on a saturday that i thought i'd be working... and you know i just had to sign up for a local race... a half.

did i mention it's in two weeks?

my plan is to slowly continue to build on my base, and i WILL walk/run the half. pretty soon i'll begin marathon training and the last thing i want is to be injured because i rushed into a distance i wasn't ready for.

i am very happy to be running more again, and i'm really excited for some fall races!

tell me about your fall races!!

get over yourself!

sometimes we [or people we love] are dealt really crappy hands. i don't pretend to know or understand everything about faith but i think that sometimes you can find blessings hidden in what seems like the biggest crap storm you've ever seen. 

do these blessings make up for what's going on? probably not in your mind. not in my mind right now, not at all.  but i do trust that God has a plan. 

i can only speak for myself and this is what is resounding loud and clear in my heart... i need to live more for others than myself. and i haven't been doing that. not.at.all. i spend so much of my time thinking about myself and how things affect me, and so on and so forth. more time thinking about myself than the people i love and care about. and that's not the person i want to be. 

so i'm challenging myself and you all too...

first:::: what's important to you? who is important to you?

second:::: what are you doing about it? it can be big or small, but make sure you're doing something. don't put if off because YOU are busy. make the time. if you love somebody, tell them, show them. earnestly make it a priority everyday. 

rear view mirror:::: august 2012

running:::: 
16 miles.... oh yeah, it was that bad! but honestly, running has not been my priority the past couple of months. my priority has been in the gym and i didn't have any races coming up, so i'm okay with that. september is the month that it changes though, i'm running a half on the 29th [it'll be #7 of 12 in 2012] so it's time to get the running bug again!

i also met another amazing person at lululemon last week, mara. i'm excited to meet up with her [not only because she's so awesome] but because she has a lot of great ideas about the asheville run community. her vision for the local run community is so in line with mine and hopefully we can get something together!

weight training::::
i just finished week 8 of my training plan! it's crazy, but i actually really enjoy it [well except for ab work.. some things never change!]. i like the way clean eating makes me feel, and the workouts make me feel really powerful! who knows, maybe i'll even be able to keep up with matthew at the spartan sprint next year [yeah right!].

reading::::

the virgin suicides - on my long list of older books that i wanted to read. glad i read it but it was just okay. a little weird but i mean, what did i expect?
the beach house - pretty typical jane green, everything ties up with a neat bow at the end.
cold mountain - really good and also very cool how a lot of the book takes place near where i live.
where we belong - i was really excited for this book, but it was just okay. i really felt like she ended the story just when it got really good. maybe she'll continue it later?
matched - young adult trilogy but i kept seeing it everywhere so when i saw it at the library i scooped it up. very easy to read but it's actually an interesting story. i'm reading book 2 now.

life::::
gearing up for my favorite time of year!! love the cooler weather, the football, the pumpkin patch and apple orchard! fall is really beautiful in the mountains, if you're thinking about visiting asheville, now's the best time in my opinion!

setbacks

when i complain or have a bad day, i try really hard to keep things in perspective. i have a lot to be thankful for. but if i'm being honest, sometimes i let the little things get to me. 

this morning i had my 7 week weigh in. i know i haven't talked about it a lot, but the new plan that Steve [from Fitness Poynters] has got me on has been going really well. [ps... i do plan on doing a full evaluation/review of the plan once i've finished the 12 weeks. maybe even some before/after pics if i'm brave enough.] 

but this morning i had a 'set back'. i gained 2.5 pounds. 

and i was pissed. 

this i what i like to call the great scale debacle. to weigh or not to weigh? if i lose, it's never enough. if i gain i feel like i failed. and the failure would be easier to deal with if i'd cheated this week. but i didn't. i busted my ass in all my workouts and ate clean. beyond frustrating. 

but i ate my clean breakfast, listened to a great message about how we make the small things big, then went to workout. 

by the end of my workout, i was over it. isn't it crazy what endorphins can do? while brad was finishing up i went to sit outside to wait and think. while i was sitting there i started reading the lululemon manifesto that's printed on the bag. one part of it stuck out to me like a sore thumb. 

 

life is full of setbacks... success is determined by how you handle setbacks. BOOM.