oh MY-lage

If you look at my monthly mileage tallies for January through August (below), you will note that August BLEW all other months out of the water!  Okay...maybe August didn't blow April "out of the water" per say, but it beat it, okay?!  Sheesh...tough crowd!

Jan: 8.5

Feb: 23.4

Mar: 30.4

Apr: 40.1

May: 37.8

June: 31.7

July: 26.65

Aug: 43.05 

Now, granted...I had a half marathon thrown in there (on August 1st, no less), but still...I'm pretty proud of myself because clearly there was a big downward trend going on there after April.  May hit and I let so many factors overwhelm me...the hip thing was still an issue, the heat was becoming a bigger problem as each day passed, my confidence was deteriorating and eventually, I just felt like a poser.  I was just positive I was trying to be something I wasn't and I had no business doing it.  At least this was what my head was telling me.

What changed?  A combination of several things with the main factor being running with a group in preparation for the full marathon.  It kinda makes me wish I had trained with a group all along.  I'm getting the coaching, encouragement, and team camaraderie that all carry such a priceless impact on my improvement each and every week.  I had gotten so used to intervalling which equated to me running just over 1/4 of a mile before walking for a minute and here I am running 4 miles without a walking break just in a matter of a couple of weeks.

You know the coolest thing?  My monthly mileage is only going to keep on increasing - between my scheduled Saturday team runs and then the weekly mileage I run on my own, I bet you I hit 600 miles for the year.  How insane is that?!

You know what else is ludacris?  I've written 20 blogs this month.  I've been quite the chatty one!

Well, cheers to a Happy September, friends!  We are all that much closer to some cooler / less humid temperatures and the holiday season!  I, for one, am all about that!  =)

crock pot mac n cheese

I almost couldn't post this blog tonight.  I had it mostly written out already...just needed to take the picture after I finished cooking my dinner before I ate it, but then something weird happened.  I lost my appetite.  No worries, my pretties...I found it again.  It left me after an incredibly humid 3 mile run I did after work and it took an hour and a half of me cooling down and then showering for me to find it again.  I knew it wouldn't leave me for good - it's kinda like old faithful.  ;)

Lately it seems I've been blogging a lot more about food.  Can you tell "summer" is almost over?  That's not to say this heat wave is EVER gonna end in Houston land, but my busy season at work should be starting to slow down and that means more time in my kitchen.  Truth be told, I got kinda fed up with myself for all that eating out or quick grabs at the grocery store.  So, I guess you should be on the lookout for more food blogs from me.   For those of you who are not into running, you are probably just thankful I'm not writing about that all the time!  ha!  =P

Over Memorial Day weekend, my friends Greggy-D and Meliska invited lots o' peeps over to their home for a get-together.  Greggy-D served up some crock pot mac n cheese.  It looked amazing.  Though his was not South Beach friendly, I had a spoonful and cherished it.

That bite of deliciousness was on my mind for a couple of days, so I decided to do some research and make a couple of substitutions to make my own crock pot mac n cheese, a South Beach friendly version.

Ingredients:

1 box of whole wheat pasta
4 cups of 2% shredded cheese
1-12 oz can of fat free evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups of skim milk
1 egg
dry mustard seed
garlic powder
salt
white pepper

Directions:

Wisk the egg.  Add in the can of evaporated milk, wisking it all together.  Add in the skim milk, still wisking.  I never measure my seasonings (I also used Adobo in place of the garlic powder and the salt), so I just add what I think to be the appropriate amount knowing that I can add more to the finished product later, if necessary.  I then wisk some more.  Next, I spray some Pam on the bottom and sides of the interior of my crock pot, pour in the uncooked pasta, then add in the cheese, and then pour the egg and milk mixture on top.  Set the crock pot to low and let it bake for 2 1/2 hours. 

For different flavors, try using different blends of cheese.  I have used a Mexi-blend and an Italian blend on different occasions depending on what protein I was serving it as a side dish with.

Tonight, it's an Italian blend and I even added Italian seasoning.  I served it (to myself - haha) with Mediterranean herb and olive oil (pre-seasoned cuz I'm a shortcut taker at times) extra lean pork loin and a side of oven roasted asparagus seasoned with rock salt and garlic.

mmmm....dessert!

We all know I'm pretty much a day late and a dollar short to jump on all bandwagons.  Sometimes this is a good thing, I suppose, as I can watch others fail if the experiment doesn't succeed.  Sometimes this is a bad thing, though, because I'm a mcwimpy and I become afraid to try "new to me" things.

Recently...um..like on Friday, we know I *finally* tried the ol' Green Monster out just to find out it's not monstrous at all.  In fact, I even had another one on Saturday after my run getting even more adventurous by adding some protein powder, extra spinach, and some flaxseed.  Who is this girl I've become???

A month or so ago, I *finally* experimented with Greek yogurt learning it's a fantastic substitution for sour cream when cooking and now WATCH OUT WORLD...I'm using it to make dessert.

My dessert has Greek yogurt as the base - a pudding of sort  and it came highly recommended by older sister Cathy.  I first tried it on Friday using chocolate pudding, but I quickly saw why Cathy told me that lemon, cheesecake, or the white chocolate sugar free instant pudding mix is best.  Cathy's recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of sugar free / fat free instant pudding mix and 1 individual serving size packet of Splenda to be added to 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt.  She eats this by itself as a snack or dessert.

I decided to kick it up a notch and make it into a parfait.  First, I sort of quadrupled the recipe since I was making the entire 16 oz tub of Oikos Greek yogurt, so initially I put in 1 tablespoon of lemon Jello brand sugar free / fat free instant pudding mix and then I put in 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute that I had in the house since I didn't have any individual packets of Splenda.  I thought it could have used a bit more flavor and sweetness - I'm kind of snobby that way, so I added 2 more teaspoons of both to the tub and I stirred VERY thoroughly.  I test-tasted it again and was very pleased with the results.

I then got out one of my amber goblets and put 1/2 cup of the lemony pudding yogurt in the bottom, followed by half a container of raspberries, followed by a dallup of fat free Cool Whip.  It was a delightful refreshing dessert, to say the least.

I'm thinking I could even add some Uncle Sam cereal to the mix to turn this into a breakfast one morning.  For those not in the know, Uncle Sam cereal is composed of toasted whole-wheat flakes with flaxseed and it has 10 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, and less than 1 gram of sugar per serving.  Each serving size it 3/4 of a cup.  I was initially introduced to this product by Lindsay from Pancakes n Pajamas.  You can buy it at Walmart, I know for sure.

Best part yet - it's all South Beach friendly - 3 of my favorite words!!!  =)

In case you are thinking that it would just be easier and/or cheaper to just use instant pudding in it's rightful form or regular flavored yogurt...well I'm sure you would be correct, but Greek yogurt offers some amazing nutritional benefits that neither milk nor regular yogurt can supply.  I'm just on a mission here to attempt to maximize my nutrition whenever possible...so it may not always be the easiest or cheapest ride, but well...nobody ever said getting healthy and staying there was going to be a cheap and easy fix!

The "not so" Green Monster

I saw Mrs-Adventure's post about her Green Monster and it got me thinking that perhaps I should be bold, daring and a bit adventurous and mosey on into this Green Monster world myself.  Sure, sure...I could have used her recipe, but I have never used chia seeds, so I decided to not roam there yet and instead I just googled "green monster recipes"and the first hit asked this very question,  "Hi there, Are you a Green Monster first-timer?"  Why yes, yes I am.  Looked like a perfect place to stop by, and so I did and found my beginner's recipe.

Virgin Green Monster

Ingredients:

2 cups organic spinach

1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)

1 tablespoon flax (optional)

1 banana

ice

Directions:

Hi there, Are you a Green Monster first-timer? Have no fear! This recipe is fool proof. Even the biggest skeptic will love this one. Place the ingredients into the blender in the following order: 1) Flax, 2) spinach, 3) banana, 4) milk. The reason for this order is so the heavier ingredients weigh down the flax and spinach and keep it from flying up around the blender and sticking to the side. Blend everything on the highest setting for 1 minute or so. Finally, add ice and blend on the ice setting. Pour into a large, fancy glass. Sit back, gulp it down, and be prepared to have endless energy!

I opted to use skim milk (1 cup) and to add blueberries - the next recipe down in the author's list provided instructions for this additive which was to add 1/2 a cup to the blender.  I actually used frozen blueberries and nixed the ice all together.  This addition changed my Green Monster into a not so Green Monster, you see.  I'd call it a purplish gray.

I was a bit annoyed with myself because I forgot to buy flaxseed at the store yesterday, so I will definitely remember to get some today for future smoothies. 

Thoughts:  Oddly enough, I did not taste the spinach at all.  I felt incredibly full after drinking it (at 4:45am).  It carried me through a 1 mile run on the treadmill, 15 minutes on the elliptical, and 20 minutes on the bike - in other words, this morning's work out.  I was hungry at 7:45am (once I got to work and got my employees all doing their thing), so I had a bit more breakfast.  Basically, I think that was a pretty powerful shake to hold me over for a workout (decent calorie burn) and 3 hours time.  All that for 250 calories of pure good stuff. 

So...if you haven't already done so...are YOU willing to be bold and daring and try a Green Monster???  ;)

If you are already of the bold and daring variety, what's your favorite recipe???

Workout Wednesday

As I mentioned on Monday, I'm TOTALLY challenging myself to workout every single day this week - well Monday through Friday and then, of course, I'll have my group run on Saturday.

Lauren has an on-going Workout Wednesday, Get Your Sweat On blog thing going and since I actually have a workout I'm proud of, I decided to participate this week.  Maybe I'll participate every week since I'm turning over a new consistent leaf, eh?!  How do you like them apples?

Been having some patellar tendon issues in both knees (though it's worse in my right knee), so I ordered some patellar tendon support straps today.  Can't wait for them to get in as they will ultimately compress the sore area which should help reduce swelling and whatnot.  Anyway, was sort of hesitant about whether or not I should try to run at all since I had running AND bike on the schedule today.  I ultimately decided to run one mile on the treadmill and then do the bike for 45 minutes.  Well...that was what I decided to do in my head, but then the actuality was completely different.  Once I got into my groove around 3/4 of a mile, I kinda figured I could whip out another 1 1/4 mile before moving over to the bike.  I actually felt good and I don't mess with that feeling, especially when it comes to running.  I was running at a 13:02 mile pace (yes, slow...I know) for the bulk of the run until I hit the last 1/2 mile and I got wild and crazy and went for the 12:00 mile pace.  I thought it was gonna kill me - no, not my knee...my whole being, but somehow I survived.  When I got to the 2 mile mark, I slowed down the treadmill and speed-walked another 1/4 of a mile as a sort of slow down.  After that, I hopped over to the bike and had at it for 30 minutes (17 miles and some change - not sure if that's good or not).  I'm not gonna lie and tell you my knee was just peachy keen.  It was grumpy and wanted to let its discomfort be known.  I heard it and promised it a love fest with my knee keg (device pictured above I got post ACL surgery that helps ice up my knee) upon return home.

Above and beyond my gym workout, I also managed to sneak in 150 wall push-ups at work during my bathroom breaks.  ;)

So, there you have it - my Workout Wednesday!  I definitely got my sweat on and now I must go wash it away and go to bed.

Peace out!

Exercise Sneaker

I'm not speaking of shoes....

Maybe you will think me a weirdo (or as my brother says, a "weirdo with a beardo"), but since last week's Monday, I decided to do something a little wild and crazy (by my standards, which probably isn't saying much).  I decided to sneak in some form of exercise while I'm at work.  Oh yeah!

Now a couple of years ago, I bought this puppy at Walmart (after seeing the infomercial on tv one day).

It pretty much just sits in my office collecting dust now.  Occasionally I will have a visitor or one of my employees hop on it thinking it's cool, but I think the Leg Magic has lost its...um...magic for me.  I'm not completely giving up on it, though.  It shall stay where it is and maybe one day I will have some desire to have some inner thigh burn again.  Until then....

Every time I excuse myself to go to the lady's room, I do wall push-ups before I allow myself the use of the facilities.  I started off just doing 25 at a time, but now I'm up to 50.  I can feel that burn around 35, but I kinda like it.  People are probably starting to talk about how long my bathroom breaks are...  ;)

You see, I've been totally guilty of concentrating mostly on my cardio and more specifically lower-extremity type work outs - elliptical, bike, and running.  I know that I need to get into weight lifting, but it is soooo not my comfort zone .  I also know that I want to purchase a kettle bell, but I haven't done so yet mostly because I'm not sure what weight to start at (lame excuse, I know).

So, to bottom line it - at least with my work wall push-ups, I'm guaranteeing myself some sort of upper body workout every day.  I can only assume that strengthening my arms would have to benefit my running since there is a direct correlation with the whole power of the arm swing and the movement of the legs (or at least my mentor assures me of this).

So, do you think me completely nuts?  Have you ever considered sneaking in a bit of the exercise while at work?  Don't be shy, do tell!

The Challenge and a new Casserole

I've officially challenged myself to hit the gym every day this week (or at least exercise as running outside will count).  What this means is a 4:30am wake-up on the mornings I decide to do the deed .  It didn't happen this morning, though that was my intention.  Apparently my little Sunday afternoon nap combined with a late night text message hurt my whole 7 hours of planned sleeping to make the early morning rise and shine happen.  =/

No worries, though...good thing I got a do-over after work tonight.

I thought long and hard about whether or not to get some running in and decided I should.  Then I thought long and hard about my chances of a successful run AFTER work with this ridiculous heat.  I opted to run at the gym on the treadmill.  Yes, I know...I'm a treadmill whiner, but at least I did it.  2 miles later (non-stop, I might proudly add - in other words without intervalling), I then hit the elliptical for 35 minutes and called it a night.  


I plan on changing it up a bit throughout the week so I don't get bored and then I'm hoping to turn this into a habit.  It may be asking a bit much to maintain a 5 day a week habit (in addition to my Saturday long run) since life happens, but well...let's just see what happens, shall we?

I also wanted to make sure that I had a food plan in place so that I wouldn't rely on eating out or quick fixes during the week.  I sort of created a meal.  I shredded chicken in the crock pot in some chicken stock.  Once it was cooled, I added a container of plain Greek yogurt for a creamy texture and added protein.  Note that when I made chicken tetrazini, I added cream of chicken soup, but I decided to forgo the soup this time around saving the calories.  I also opted to half the amount of whole wheat noodles and added in spaghetti squash.  Have you ever worked with spaghetti squash before?  Pre-South Beach, I had not.  Then, it became one of my best friends - especially pulling me through Phase 1.  I'm sure there are many different ways to bake one, but the way I do it is to poke lots of holes in it using a sharp knife.  I then put it in a 350 degree preheated oven for about 45 minutes.  After I take my spaghetti squash out of the oven, I carefully cut it in half (long way) and remove the seeds using a fork.  I then use the fork to make "spaghetti" strands and put them in a separate bowl.  Here are some pics.

I wanted to continue to pump up the veggies in my dish, so I roasted some yellow squash and zucchini squash with a bit of Olive Oil Pam and some garlic and rock salt.  I also added frozen chopped spinach.  I layered the squash and spinach in the casserole dish with the combination of  the chicken (still in the stock) with the yogurt and the spaghetti squash and my whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I then thought long and hard about neglecting the cheese, but gosh...I just couldn't do it.  Maybe one day, I'll find that kind of strength.  I just topped the whole concoction with a bit of shredded Parmesan and some Italian seasoning (though I admit fresh herbs would have been better) and behold...a fantastic meal chock full of veggies for the week.  Baked on 350 degrees until it was heated throughout and then wow!  Here's a pic of the finished product.

Have you challenged yourself this week?

the fashion show

I kinda feel silly discussing a fashion show with you when I don't have any pictures of the actual event.  It was a spontaneous fashion show of sorts...and it was the product of my mom and older sister Cathy's joint shopping extravaganza.  You see, Cathy was grieving the loss of her dog, Rocky (RIP) on Friday and my mom invited  Cathy to lunch to comfort her.  Somehow lunch lead to a shopping spree where the two of them decided to do their part to help some wardrobe dilemmas younger sister Linda and I were having relating to our Labor Day weekend get-away to Chicago.  We have a specific event we are attending - a surprise birthday party for my grandmother - and we have been struggling to find something to wear.  You know how it works.  You can find a million cute things when you don't need them and then the minute you need something...

I had actually ordered this really cute number from Macy's a week or so ago (but in pink).  I was uber excited about receiving it, only when I did...well...let's just say I looked like a circus act.  I even tried it on at work and came out of the bathroom humming a circus theme song while pretending to carry some balloons in one hand and cotton candy in the other - it was like that.  I guess it should make me feel good knowing it was a 1X and ridiculously big on me, but really it made me want to cry because that meant I would have to actually go shopping and I hate shopping.

I was told to pick-up some rotisserie chickens on my way home from work, but then I reminded them that I had to also stop at my house to feed and water my dogs.  The masses (my mom, Cathy, Jay, and Linda) were growing more and more impatient).  Turns out my dad actually beat me home, too, and I left work before him.  Ooops!  So once I got to the house, Linda quickly tried on her two dresses for me - she looked great in both of them!  Apparently I missed the one that would have made her look like a call girl (that's the nice way of wording it).  That dress is being returned.  I suppose there are some ...um... shortcomings to having a midget momma (okay, okay...she is not really a midget...er...little person, but she sure is petite) and a shorter older sister.  When they held up the dress to themselves, they thought it looked normal length.  Not so much.  Anyway, Linda didn't stay for my fashion show or for dinner because she was tired.  Whatever.  =P

We all sat down and ate rotisserie chicken, brown rice, and veggies.  It was an impromptu family dinner and I loved it!  After dinner, my sister gave me one top and a skirt to try on.  The skirt was a size too big, so I think they are going to exchange it for me.   The top was perfect....I can totally wear it to work.  Next they gave me another top.  It was not something I would pick out for myself, but it was VERY flattering and I can also wear it to work.  Then, I was handed this dress.  It looked pretty, so I eagerly went to try it on.  Understand this...most of my dresses are A-lined....fitted at the bust and then they flow out (my comfort zone).  This dress is more of a fitted dress.  I am not used to such thing.  I came out and everyone thought it looked fantastic on me and they say I have to keep it and that I have to wear it.  I also, apparently, have to get a stitch put in because it's a bit too low cut on me.  I guess it's time to step out of my comfort zone and understand that I can get away with wearing things I never would have worn before.  It's a good feeling...it's just weird.

Next, Cathy tried on the pants and shirts and skirt she found during their spree.  She's gotten to tiny - so proud of her success!

You know what the best part of the whole night was?  My mom and Cathy looking as pleased as punch with themselves for a job well done.  That was priceless!  =)

a run to be proud of *finally*

Saturday 6:30am finds me where?  Oh yeah...training with my group for the marathon.  It was, of course, humid.  Bet you know I was gonna say that, huh?!  =P  I actually had two options this morning.  I could run 5 miles or I could attend the clinic on how to transition from walker to runner and then run, though I'm not sure if it was going to be a 5 miler if I went that route, so I opted for the 5 miler sans the clinic.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about my interval method...currently I do the 4 minute run / 1 minute walk intervals, if you recall me mentioning on many different occasions.  I've been wondering if this is the right method for me.  Part of me wants to break free from it and pull a Forrest Gump and just run.  Now I know I'm not capable of any great distances, but just wonder if I'm limiting my growth/capability by sticking to the intervals.  My point in discussing this with you is that the reason I considered attending my mentor's clinic was to find out how to transition from the intervals to just simply running.  

I decided to do a little experiment.  I started running and only glanced at my Garmin every once in a while to check my pace and/or to see how far I'd gone.  My mentor has said on many occasions that it is more important to build distance over speed.  Several other peeps in my group have told me you can expect to take off as little as 30 seconds and as much as 60 seconds per mile once it gets cooler out, so I don't necessarily think it's fair to judge my time right now either since most of my races will be run during cooler temperatures.

After my first mile, I thought, okay just for for another half mile.  I then pushed myself to two miles.  Truth be told, I still had more in me to give.  I then told myself to make it to a 5K.  When I hit the 5K, I walked 0.15 of a mile, and then I ran the remaining 0.75 of a mile.  That lead me to the final timed lap.  That was kind of disastrous, but only because I slugged down over half of my bottle of Powerade Zero before running it and it was sloshing around in my stomach.  When am I going to learn that lesson?!

The point is that I learned I can run a 5K non-stop.  If I can do it in this heat and humidity (while still recovering from the attack of the cold/allergies/sinus issues), then imagine what I will be able to accomplish in the upcoming months with increased training and better weather?!  

I might actually be able to do this marathon.  My confidence is building.

What have you accomplished lately that you are proud of?

the hill from hell

for reals

I'm not even being dramatic.

I can prove it since I can already feel that you doubt my sincerity.

The hill stole my car clicker.  How's that for being hellish?  Yeah, that's what I thought.

Are you thinking I have a habit of losing my keys since it's happened once before?  Well first of all, that was when the key fell off the key ring and I couldn't start my car - I could get in it.  This time I purposely locked my key in my car and I took the clicker with me and put it in my trusty Nike shoe pocket that turned out to be not so trusty.  Well, to be fair to Nike...the hellish hill stole the clicker, so Nike never really stood a chance.

I had my second marathon training session at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning.  Once again, I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when I only had a little over 4 hours of sleep AND I woke up feeling gunky courtesy of allergy issues AND the humidity was thick in the air.  We were scheduled for 4 miles and it wasn't going to be a simple 4 miles as in run the course at the park...instead it was all kinds of cRaZy which meant I was sure I was going to get lost.  Thankfully, the peeps in my group are quite considerate despite the runners being significantly faster than me and they made sure I knew where I was going.  We basically ended up in a church parking lot and there is a hill there and we had to run up and down the hill 5 times.  I don't do hills - like EVER - and when I do, they make me grumpy.  I did them and then I was grumpy.  Upon completion of THE HILL work, the half marathoners went back the way they came while the marathoners had to then run around the parking lot and then go back the way we came.  Once we finished the rest of our route, we had to do one timed mile.  I didn't have as quick of a timed mile as last week, but I didn't expect to considering I was having some breathing issues (courtesy of the allergies and the humidity).

Once I returned to our table to get my drink, I went to go get my clicker out of my shoe pocket because I had to get a check out of my car to pay the Bearkat Bash ladies for the 5K we will be doing on September 11th.  Come sign up with me!!!  Anyway, imagine my horror to discover the clicker wasn't there!  I panicked and freaked out, but one of the ladies that was at the picnic table said she thought one of our coaches had found one and shouted out his name as he was walking over to the bleachers where the rest of our group was.  He shouted back that it was over by the cooler on the table and voila - there it was!  I have never been so glad to see my little clicker, y'all.

I knew it was the hill - I knew it stole my clicker!  I got confirmation later, but I just want it known that I knew.

Then I walked over to the rest of the group that was having a lecture on "body in motion" by one of our coaches, my mentor.  It was there that I found out one of the girls, Rachel, had actually found my clicker.  She's awesome!  It was on the hill.  See, I did know.  Imagine if I had to go back and retrace my steps?!  She also gave me a book recommendation called The Glass Castle.  It's a memoir.  I ordered it on Amazon.com, but haven't read it yet since I'm currently reading The Other Bolyn Girl and Marathoning for Mortals.

Lesson Learned:  Secure my clicker via a more reliable means - I'm thinking zippered pocket or my SPIbelt.

Have you ever lost your key or clicker during a run?  Are you reading a good book?

you win some, you lose some...you pay for some

Well, I didn't win the "lottery".  I started getting tweets from some tweeps on Sunday afternoon who I knew had signed up for the lottery for the Houston Chevron Marathon wanting to know if I, too, had received an emailed receipt.  I knew it wasn't a good sign that I hadn't...I had that sinking sensation.  Everyone told me to keep the faith...keep the hope, but I already knew. 

It was confirmed later that evening when I noticed my status was "not selected" on the website and then I tweeted the Houston Chevron Marathon to find out if that was their final answer and it was, in deed.  Consequently, I got the official email Monday morning.

The funny thing is that I had picked my back-up marathon (Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras) not really thinking I would need to actually use it.  The thought never really occured to me that I wouldn't get picked.  I just picked the back-up because it seemed like the thing to do and researching races is...well...kinda fun (yes, I'm a dork). 

I felt defeated, at first. It would have been amazing to do my first marathon with home court advantage which meant automatic family and friend support and the ability to crawl into my own bed and die afterwards.  These were not the cards I was dealt, however, and so it was not meant to be...OR WAS IT?

I am sure you notice I blog a lot about one of my best friends, Melissa (sometimes I call her Meliska).  She is the main reason I decided to start my so called running adventure.  She is also the one who strongly encouraged me to blog.  Through blogging, I have made some friends - wonderful ladies who though I've never met face-to-face, I feel like I've known them for years.  They inspire me and I admire them.  That was also one of the things that made not being selected for Houston so difficult - two of my blogger friends (Allie and That Pink Girl) were selected.  Another thing that made not getting selected so difficult for me was that another friend of mine, a different Melissa who will be embarking on her first marathon, as well, was selected.  We had both decided on the same back-up marathon, so it really hurt my feelings knowing I would have to run our back-up marathon all by myself.  To be honest, it caused me great distress.

I tried to flip it for the positive.  The Rock 'n' Roll Mardi Gras gave me two more weeks to prepare and one more hour to run it.  This wasn't enough to lift me up knowing that the likelihood of having friends and family present to support me as I set forth to do the most physically and mentally challenging event of my life is slim to none.  Well, Laura, a college friend, Facebooked me several times about not giving up and writing the Chevron Marathon with my story asking for them to consider an exception (this got me thinking).  Then, Allie, one of my Blogger buddies emailed me telling me not to give up and to consider the "Heroes" option for guaranteed registration (this had me taking action).  I went onto the Chevron Marathon website to the Run for a Reason page and found out that for a $350 donation to a charity of my choice (of many listed on the site) plus the registration fee, I could get a guaranteed slot into the marathon.  I went to talk to my dad and he asked me if it would mean more to me to know that I could definitely finish in the allotted time frame (RnR Mardi Gras) or to have the family and friend support (Houston).  I told him I sincerely felt that the family and friend support could see me through the 6 hour time limit.  My dad then said that he and my mom would donate $350 to NAM (Northwest Assistance Ministries - this is the charity that the running group I'm training with supports) for me as long as I promise him I will raise some funds on my own to also donate to NAM.  Deal!  I went on-line and I am now officially a "Hero" registrant for the Houston Chevron Marathon.

Initially I wondered if I went against "what was meant to be" by bypassing the system, but then I figured the people who encouraged me to find a way were placed in my life for a reason and the "Hero" option was also employed for a reason.  I think a person can drive themselves nuts thinking/rethinking every action/reaction.  Bottom line is that I am bound and determined to run my first marathon in the early part of 2011 and it needs to be with the physical presence of my family and friends.  I know what it felt like for me to round a corner and see my aunt and cousins while I was in Chicago running my half - it was so encouraging - enough to bring a smile to my face and tears in my eyes because I felt loved.  I'm gonna need that - especially for 26.2 miles (eeek)!  Besides...who would be there to give me my Powerade Zero in New Orleans???

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

For Meliska's baby shower, I made some spinach artichoke dip.  I made a lot of spinach artichoke dip, actually, and it was almost all gone.  Apparently, it was a big hit and I was pretty bold and daring to serve it considering I fooled around with a new recipe.  I thought it might be yummy to incorporate the dip into a meal.

Here's the recipe for the dip:

2 tubs of chive whipped cream cheese
1 individual serving size of plain Greek yogurt
1 can of artichoke hearts - diced up
1 "family size" bag of chopped spinach
1 small lemon (juiced)
2-3 TBSP of basil pesto (I used Classico brand)
7 oz of Italian cheese mix (I used a Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Fontina blend)
Salt & Pepper to taste

You put it in the oven on 350 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes and serve it with tortilla chips or crackers.

Now to make a meal of it, I lightened it up a bit and downsized it by halving the recipe (except the artichokes) and using 2% cheese.  You can use the light chive cream cheese, but I have found that the whipped is easier to work with.  You can also use reduced fat sour cream or low fat mayo in place of the Greek yogurt, but I like the nutritional benefits provided by Greek yogurt.

Okay, so first I rinsed and trimmed my chicken.  Then I seasoned them up with some rock salt and garlic powder and put them in my trusty Pampered Chef dish.

Next I added the thawed out and squeezed dry chopped spinach (I'm sure you could use fresh if you like).  I seasoned the spinach with some lemon juice and some more rock salt and garlic powder.

In a separate container, I had mixed together the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, pesto, diced up artichoke hearts, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  I folded in the Italian cheese, then put this mixture on top of the spinach.

I then baked the casserole dish on 350 degrees for 55 minutes.

(excuse the lack of flash in this pic)

Delicious!

South Beach Phase 1ers - serve it over baked spaghetti squash or with a side salad.

South Beach Phase 2ers - serve it over whole wheat pasta or with a side of brown rice.

Experimented with any new recipes lately??

Dum-Dum

The other day I tweeted something along the lines of "so many dum-dums...so little patience" just to discover that I'm one of the dum-dums.  That's NOT a cool feeling, by the way.

I complained on Saturday on Facebook that my knees were both terribly achy after my run.  I mean they harrassed me through the night.  This is so unlike them - well both of them AT THE SAME TIME.  Usually only one is grumpy at a time if one of them so chooses to have a temper tantrum.  I appreciate their consideration regarding this, by the way, since two of them having a fit is no joke.

One of my employees asked me how my running was going this week and I told him not very well at all.  I only got 2 1/4 miles in on Monday and none since because my left knee just won't return to normal despite my TLC.  We've had long talks, Epsom salt bubble baths, ice dates, and some really great encounters with Bio-Freeze, but still "he" wants to act a fool.  My employee suggested to me that I start taking glucosamine. 

Um...the light bulb kinda started glowing.  Since I returned from Chicago after running my half marathon, I have completely forgotten to take my daily dose of glucosamine.  I wonder if this has anything to do with it.  I have been taking it daily without fail for the past few months - I'm convinced this was one of the things that helped my hip, actually.  What in the world came over me that all the sudden I stopped my routine?!?!  Here I was blaming this ridiculous humidity for my knee issue and it's probably not the humidity's fault.  It looks like I have nothing or no one to blame but myself. 

Lesson learned:  My knees must have glucosamine!  Don't deny them their rights!

Yep, I'm a dum-dum.

uh oh A/C

Normally when I go to work, I set my A/C at 80 degrees.  I must not have been paying attention on Tuesday morning, as I accidentally set it at 81 degrees - my poor puppies! 

Normally when I get home from work, I reset my A/C to 76 or 77 degrees.  A couple of hours later, I lower it to 74 - it's final resting place until I go to work when it gets put back up to 80 degrees.  I must have been HOT when I got home from work on Tuesday night, as I moved it straight to 74.

An hour later, I noticed the thermostat was still reading 81 degrees.  Uh oh - this can't be good.  I turned the unit off, waited a minute or so, then turned it back on.  It was running, but just not blowing cool air.  I waited an hour to see if it would cool the house down and nope...still 81.  UGH!  I turned the unit off, went outside with my trusty flashlight in hand to the breaker box and flipped the A/C breaker in hopes this would give it the jump start it needed to function properly.  No such luck. 

I got a work call around 9:00pm.  Called my dad afterwards to discuss it and to whine about my A/C.  He said I could come over, but honestly...it's obnoxious to pack a bag and deal with the two dogs at that time of night, so I told him if it didn't fix itself, the invasion would happen the next night.  He said he considered himself warned. 

When I went to bed around 9:30pm (with the hopes of getting up at 4:30am to work out), I just turned the whole thing off because what was the point of running up the electricity bill for nothing?  I put Bio-Freeze on my one knee that is still bothering me (which also had a cooling effect on my body - yay) and then I filled up the ice bag I use for my sore muscles after my runs and headed to bed hoping that would cool me off while I slept (or tried to sleep).

I twisted and turned for a bit...wasn't sure if it was a direct result of the heat or because I had just started reading The Other Boleyn Girl and didn't want to put it down, so I picked my book back up (that had been discarded after my bubble bath) and read a few more chapters.  I then tried to sleep again.  I twisted and turned for a bit - thoroughly annoying my beasts - and then I finally fell asleep. 

At 12:30am, I woke up to the dogs panting...or maybe I was panting...or maybe we were all panting.  Regardless, I figured we all needed water STAT, so I got us all out of bed and we headed towards the kitchen.  On my way, I thought to turn back on the A/C, setting it at 77 degrees.  Boy am I glad I did.  When I woke up an hour later to go to the bathroom, I was delighted to discover that the house was now reading at 77 degrees.  Oh thank God!!!  I lowered it to 74 degrees, gave my little pups loving pats on their cute little heads, and we all went back to bed.  I woke up at 4am because my knee was bothering me - yeah...it was basically a restless night, so I put some more Bio-Freeze on it and then decided it was probably not a good idea given my lack of sleep and my bad-attitude knee to hit the gym, so I reset my alarm for 5:55am and went back to bed.

When I left for work on Wednesday morning, I double checked to make sure I turned the unit up to 80 degrees.

When I came home, the house was reading 81.  I hoped this wasn't a sign of things to come.  I turned the unit down to 77 and waited.  About 40 minutes later I checked and it was at 80 degrees.  Oh brother.  I mean I guess that's improvement, but not much.  I turned the whole thing off for an hour, though I guess more out of frustration than anything else because when I think about it now I probably just did it more harm than good forcing it to work even harder when I did put it back on.  An hour later, it read 84 degrees - YIKES!  I switched it back on setting it only to 78 and hoped it would work it's magic.  An hour later it read 79 - it was working.  I turned it down to 74.  Before I went to bed it was reading 77.  When I woke up, it read 74.  My honest opinion is that it is just too hot outside for my poor little unit to properly cool this house.  I mean even when I was coming home from work last after 6pm, my car was reading 100 degrees and that was AFTER it had been operating for quite some time (as in that wasn't its resting in the sun temperature).

Please can we get a nice cool front through here or please can it just rain and release some of this humidity from the air?  It's been awful!  I feel so terrible for anyone that has an outdoor labor job - my employees included - I just don't know how they do it!

I'm a Stalker!

or rather I could be one...you know...if stalking was considered cool.

or rather...I'm an excellent/efficient user of my resources.

or rather...I wonder how Nancy Drew solved all those mysteries without the use of modern technology...

So yeah...onto what inspired this post.

Yesterday a hot guy walked into the office.  He was tall...very very tall and very good looking.  I couldn't see whether or not he had a wedding ring and brother-in-law/assistant Jay was of no use to me in this department CLEARLY (older sister Cathy will need to coach him on this).  Although, let's face it, even if he didn't have a wedding ring it's not like I would have all the sudden grown some guts and done anything about it.  haha!  Anyway, the guy was a sales person and started giving his spiel.  Jay politely told him our standard line that everything is handled in our headquarters, but then I piped in that we currently use their company for our copy machine.  He looked behind Jay at our copy machine and saw his company's sticker posted proudly upon the machine and recovered quickly with the "oh yes you do, so really I just stopped by to see how everything was going..."  It was cute and we all laughed.  He left his little flyer with his contact information in case we needed him and went on his merry way.  When he left, Jay said, "he was tall."  I added, "and hot."  Then Jay noticed the guy's name and wondered whether or not he was related to a famous gymnast.  So...alas...that began my stalking...er...researching.

I started with her, but could not find any information regarding whether or not she had a brother.  I then, on a whim, googled him.  He did, after all, have a unique name.  What to my wondering eyes should appear, but a whole bunch of statistics on him - I learned his birth date (a year younger than me), his height (6'8, by the way), his weight, the fact that he had played basketball for the University of Houston Cougars and then he even played European Professional basketball for a while.  Wow! 

So, yeah...I'm a stalker, but only when it comes to researching people via the internet.  I never go on stakeouts or anything quite so dramatic as that! 

Come on, admit it - have you ever cyber-stalked someone??? 

Most Humid Day EVER!

Don't think me a nit-wit, but while listening to the news the other morning, I discovered that when your favorite bearer of bad news (read:  weather reporter) is discussing the horrid heat index, they are talking about the heat IN THE SHADE.  Jiminy Cricket...when Casey Curry is talking 112 degrees IN THE SHADE, what must it be like in the sun?!

Oh how I long for the fall which is more like normal people summer.  Then how I will long for the winter which is more like normal people fall.  Relief, I cry!  Relief!  Why oh why did I decide to take up an outdoor activity?  Oh I know what you are thinking...I could run on the treadmill...NO, I really can't.  I mean not for any great distance.  It's okay for up to 3 miles and then after that it truly is dreadful and it's also misleading to my body because pounding pavement is a harder workout and I'd rather do the harder workout since there will be no rubbery moving belt on the marathon course.

In Chicago, my aunt, uncle, and cousins belong to a gym with an indoor track.  I understand that the winters ARE brutal and that is why indoor tracks are necessary.  Houston gym's should take note that the summers ARE brutal and that indoor tracks would be much appreciated.  What a huge selling point!

Okay, so onto my first marathon training session...I loved it!  Well not all of it.  It was THE MOST HUMID DAY EVER!  I'm not kidding.  I've run in humidity - many, many a humid mornings and this was definitely THE MOST HUMID DAY EVER!  It was hard to breathe out there, y'all!  Yeah, yeah...enough of my whining.  We met at the park bench at 6:30am.  I was proud of me because I got there early - purposely so that I could visit with peeps.  Everyone is so nice - I love that!  Apparently, they are changing things up this year which really doesn't mean much to me since this is my first year training with them.  We are going to run our mileage, then our last mile is timed - I don't think it will be timed every week, but rather intermittently so that we can get an idea of improvement.  Every week, however, we will be logging our weekly mileage onto a clipboard - we are being tracked.  This is cool, though, cuz it's another factor of accountability.

Today we were scheduled for 3 miles, so we did 1 full lap at the park - 1.25 miles and then 3/5 of a second lap - 0.75 miles for a total of 2 before we did our timed final mile.  I clocked my last mile at 12:50.  Not bad for me...keep in mind, I'm slow.  My mentor is our main coach and he jogged with us the first lap and provided those of us who need his coaching/mentoring with tips.  He told me to ease up (I was going too fast initially and my Garmin agreed) and to concentrate on a shorter stride and to use my arms more.  During the last mile, I specifically paid attention to the arm part and I really did notice a difference.

My goal is to run 9 miles throughout the week before next Saturday's 4 miler.  I would also like to do some elliptical and bike work at the gym 3 mornings.  What exercise goals do you have for the week?

might Kim return to Klein?

Yes, she just might (well more like she will)...BUT more on that in just a sec...


So I cut up tons o' veggies to bring to work with me for the week when I get the munchies.  I tried to commission my mom to cut up veggies for me (I'm convinced veggies taste best when she cuts them up) and then I tried to commission my dad to be a pack mule if my commissioning of my mom worked, but somehow apparently I'm not a good commissioner (which really sucks, by the way).  Oh well...  =P

Oh and just cuz I think it's hilarious, I have to share this with you.  I'm really thinking the coaching team for my marathon training is a bit over ambitious.  I got an email the other day that was a "heads up" of sorts regarding a 5K they are strongly encouraging us all to sign up for which just so happens to be sponsored by my high school alma mater, Klein High.  This irony, is not lost on me, by the way...I mean I HATED running the mile in P.E. class - it was like the worst kind of punishment EVER and here I am going to pay money to run 3 miles.  My oh my how life has changed.  Anyway, so the cRaZy part is that the race is on Saturday, September 11th beginning at 7:30am, but my running group is scheduled to run 7 miles that day.  So....the email actually stated that it would be interesting to see how we handle racing a 5K after having run 7 miles earlier.  Dudes....how much earlier?  I mean I am SLOW, so 7 miles is gonna take me over an hour and a half and we have to make it over to the high school in enough time for the race, so what time do we have to start running the 7 and what kind of shape am I going to be in to run the 5K?  I can guarantee there will be no PR for this race!!!  BUT alas....I'm always up for a challenge and I've already started commissioning (oh wait....there is that word again...maybe I'm not so horrible at it after all) some friends to join me, so BRING IT Klein High!

If anyone else is interested in partaking in this 5K, here is the website:  http://bearkatbash.com/.  It's $25 and is a timed event with a t-shirt and after-party to boot.  Who knew Klein put on such an event?!  I surely did not. 

I hope I have time to change from my 7-miler stinky running attire to fresh running attire for the 5K.  I'm just sayin'...the crowds will thank me.

it's GOAL time...

you know...instead of SHOW time...

So, I've been thinking that I really need to shave at least 24 minutes (and 39 seconds) from my half marathon time for the next one coming up on October 24th.

How do I plan on doing that?  Well...let's see...I have a plan, of course!

First of all, I want to shed 15 lbs before my race - I feel this is TOTALLY achievable since I have 11 1/2 weeks to do it AND killah willpower AND mega motivation AND some mad skillz.  I can do this through diet and exercise.  I will be sticking with my South Beach roots all the while watching the ol' portion sizes and making sure I'm eating plenty of veggies.  As for the exercise, I will be doing a blend of running and cross training - hoping to focus on cross training in the morning and incorporate running in the evenings 3 times per week (in addition to my long run on Saturdays).

Secondly, I now have the benefit of belonging to a running group.  I really feel like this is going to give me the the support, group comraderie, and accountability that was lacking in my solo runs.  I'm turbo excited about this.

Third, I will have home-town advantage this time around.

Fourth, I will have experience behind my belt.

Finally, I am going to properly stretch before and after each activity EVERY TIME no matter what!

Having a goal is key - it keeps you on your toes mentally and physically!  What kinds of goals have you set recently and more importantly, how will you reward yourself when you reach them?

Back to Basics

For the past 7 weeks, I haven't lost any weight.  I *totally* haven't deserved to lose any, mind you.  With the exception of this past week, I didn't gain any either, so I'm pretty proud of that.  I figure I will be an expert at maintenance when I get there.  =D  So what happened in general?  Stress happened.  I stuck to my diet plan - following The South Beach diet - BUT I have definitely eaten more than my fair share of calories.  I also have relied mostly on eating out as opposed to preparing my own food because of my additional work hours and lack of energy once I am home.  So what happened this past week...well I was CARBO-LOADING for one.  haha!  Secondly, I was tremendously stressed with work and with the upcoming race, so comforting myself with food - albeit South Beach acceptably, but not in the right quantities and not the right mix (in other words not enough veggies and definitely too many carbs).  Finally...my body is strongly objecting to my half marathon.  I went for my massage yesterday, and Sarah (super massage therapist and awesome friend) reported that my legs are VERY inflamed right now - this means some water retention is going on, folks. 

So, post massage last night, I went to the grocery store and bought cucumbers, celery, a package of colored peppers, bananas, blueberries, a bag of baby spinach, grape tomatoes, avocados, 96% lean beef, greek yogurt, my Kroger brand Carb Master yogurt, and some mini Baby Bell light cheese.

During my lunch break, I will hit up Walmart for the rest of my grocery needs.

Oh, I read an article recently that discussed the importance of eating your water (versus just drinking it).  That's why veggies are so important!!!  They have tons of water in them (source here) - specifically cucumbers and tomatoes (both 97% water) and zucchini (95% water). 

Here is my meal plan for today:

Breakfast
Kroger Brand Carb Master yogurt
banana
Bobo's Oat Bar

Lunch
reduced sodium Deli-Select turkey
low carb pita
hummus
celery
cucumbers
mini Baby Bell cheese

Dinner
taco salad
    taco meat
    baby spinach
    avocado
    grape tomatoes
    black beans
    black olives
    reduced fat mexi-blend cheese
    greek yogurt
    salsa

Dessert
    blueberries

I will add back in exercise as soon as my body isn't sore...starting off with lower impact cardio like the exercise bike and the elliptical.  Full Marathon training begins on Saturday with a 3-mile run.  What's 3 miles?!  ;)

How's your eating going?  Do you write down what you eat or wing it?  Do you follow a specific diet plan? 

Kim Versus the Half Marathon: Chicago Rock 'n' Roll

It's been a long time since I've been able to give a race report.  How sad is that?!  April 10th was my last race - The Tomball Bunny Run (5K).  Looks like my next race will be my next Half Marathon, the Houston Half on October 24th.  I really look forward to seeing how much I can impove in these next 11 weeks! 

So, I'm trying to figure out where to begin.  I guess it's only right to just discuss the whole weekend.  I flew to Chicago with my 2 double cousins, Danielle and Nicole.  They were flying home and I was flying in for the race.  We had hoped some kind person would switch seats with me so I could sit next to them.  Such a person did exist, but sadly for me it meant a wet seat.  We weren't sure what made the seat wet, but thankfully Continental peeps were on it and I got a new seat cushion stat!  Once we landed, We met up with Bobbi Jo (a friend of mine who instigated this whole Half Marathon shenanigan) though she, too, lives in Houston, had made alternate flight arrangements.  My aunt and uncle then picked us all up from the airport and took us back to their house.  We socialized for a bit and then went to bed.  I took some Nyquil because I already felt a bit gunky and wanted to kill the gunky dead.  Around midnight, I got a work call.  I don't do well on medication and midnight work calls (especially when they are not emergencies), so I'm pretty sure I yelled at my employee and hung up on him.  I did end up getting 8 hours of sleep which was good because I had only slept 5 hours the night before.  =/  My aunt, cousins, Bobbi Jo, and I then went down town to meet up with my grandmother and the old folks for breakfast.  Apparently my grandma has a weekly breakfast gathering at a local deli and we were all invited to go.  The kids, which consisted of Danielle, Nicole, cousin Courtney, Bobbi Jo, and I got banished to our own table.  We were HUNGRY and ordered ridiculous quanitites of food.  I had an egg white pizza omelet (pictured above).  It didn't come with any meat in it and I needed my protein, yo, so I ordered a side of turkey sausage.  Then I realized it didn't come with any carbs and I was totally in need of CARBO LOADING, so I ordered a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese.  Yes, I was a little piggy.  Since the minute we got there, Bobbi Jo was eyeing these giant cupcakes that were spinning around in a glass display case.  My grandmother insisted on buying desert for my cousins and BJ before we left for the road (I declined because I didn't want to jack up my stomach).  I threw in a couple of wheat bagels for BJ and I for the next morning, however. 

After breakfast, we headed over to my grandma's condo to get our bags situated and then my aunt gave BJ, Danielle, Nicole, and I a ride to McCormick Place which is where the Expo was being held.  It was a bit intimidating because the place was HUGE.  We went up some escalators, found our corral numbers, got our bibs, then went and got our shirts - I was surprised to see they were really nice shirts versus t-shirts, and then we got a bag to put it all in.  After that, we went to the merchandise area where you could purchase race paraphernalia.  Meliska had suggested to me buying a pin so that I would have a pin for each race, so I did.  Then we moved onto the actual Expo.  I was hoping to find Bondi Bands (and I did - yay).  I bought 3 of them.  One that had lime green in it to match my race day top - not that it even mattered because I wear a visor, so it really didn't even show, but I KNEW.  Then I bought two other ones with cutes sayings.  I had hoped to buy a pace bracelet, but I didn't see them there.  We did get all kinds of samples -  my favorite was the Titan bar - a low sugar protein bar that tasted delicious!  After the Expo, we grabbed a cab back to the condo to relax until dinner time.

My grandmother took us to dinner at Petterino's.  They provided us with a bread basket - normally I would not partake, but I was CARBO LOADING, so I had a couple of pretzel rolls and some flat bread backed with parmesan cheese.  I ordered a Fritzel small salad to start with - boston lettuce, hearts of palm, avocado, tomato, lorenzo dressing (yum)!  For my meal, I ordered - Pappardelle Bolognese - hearty meat sauce, parmesan.  It's been over a year since I've had non whole wheat pasta.  It was quite delicious.  My grandma offered us dessert, but we all declined and headed back to the apartment.  BJ and I had planned on going to bed at 9pm.  We actually laid down at 9:15.  I tossed and turned for an hour or so...around 10:30 older sister Cathy text me "good luck"...around 10:45, my mom text me with "good luck" and that she was "gonna get me" (inside joke).  They assumed I would have my ringer off.  I was up anyway, but more concerned about BJ.  Then I turned my ringer off.  I still tossed and turned for quite a while and eventually fell asleep.  My alarm went off at 4am.  I'm guessing I had about 4 hours of sleep.  Oh joy.

BJ and I got up and got dressed.  My grandmother insisted on making me eggs, so I let her.  Then BJ and I ate our bagels.  I had brought Justin's almond butter to spread on mine.  We headed out the door a little after 5:20, I think, and grabbed a cab to get as close to the start line as possible.  We found our corrals, grabbed some bananas, ate them, then headed to the port-a-potties, then got into our respective corrals and awaited the start of the race.

I felt calm, kinda, but anxious.  I said a few prayers.  The air was warmer and more humid than the forecasters had predicted, but less than Houston so I can't really complain.  They had the first 24 corrals go about 2 minutes apart from one another and then they let the last 5 corrals go all together at once.  I just remember thinking there were people everywhere.  It was sort of intimidating.  I did some weaving in and out, but tried to watch my speed.  It was very hard to do this at first because we were sent through some tunnels and that kills your Garmin.  Then we got sent over a bridge that had these crazy steele plated circles as the running terrain - it was just kind of awkward to run on them.  BJ ran the Chicago full marathon last October and said they had actually carpeted the area.  I think that would have been better.  Later in the race ,around mile 3, I actually had to sort of side step a dead rat that was crushed into one of those steele plated circles when we had to run over yet another bridge like that.  The race promised bands every mile or so and totally delivered.  Most of the time, I couldn't even hear my iPod.  Most of the bands were rock 'n' roll, which was, of course, very fitting, but there were a couple of jazz bands and I also heard an Irish band.  Somehow, I must have taken the road less traveled (the far lanes, the zig-zagging lanes) and I ended up off the mile marks by about 0.4 of a mile around mile 5.  This was kind of obnoxious - already knowing I had run further than necessary.

Meliska had told me to write Kim with a sharpie on my arms.  I had my cousin Danielle do this for me and some people would shout out my name as I came running by.   This was pretty awesome!  There were also spectators that would give you high 5s and that just kinda made your moment, too!  The day before, I had made plans with my aunt and cousins to meet me at a specific intersection near mile 4 - we were purposely avoiding water stations to avoid crowds.  It worked out perfectly.  They brought my Powerade Zero!  Yay!  and my aunt even had it in a cup for me - so sweet!  It was an awesome feeling to have a cheering section!!!  We had next thought for them to go to Mile 7 or 8 depending on what worked for them. 

Around Mile 2, I had to go to the bathroom, but I told myself NO.  I saw some bathrooms around mile 3, but there was a really long line, so I kept on keeping on.  Just short of mile 6, I couldn't keep going any longer, so I stopped.  It took me 6 1/2 minutes to get through the line and use the bathroom.  Talk about frustration.  When I got back into the mix again, I hit a hill.  Chicago claimed to be flat.  BJ assured me it was flat after we finished.  I understand it is a flat city just like Houston, but flat is my subdivision.  Overpasses and what have you are hills to me.  It seemed there were several of these and I didn't like them.  So, anyway...after the bathroom frustration/fiasco, I got hit with the hill and then my left calf decided to go all charlie horse on me in a bad way.  I did my interval thing until I hit mile 7 (which by now was really 7.62 according to my calculations) and then I had to walk - or at least try to walk off the charlie horse pain.  I walked fast, though...sometimes I walked faster than I was running before - ha!  I was swinging my arms like it was nobody's business.  I saw my aunt and cousins after mile 8, but before mile 9, so I started running towards them despite the cramping.  They had my Powerade Zero and I was hoping the sodium would help.  I drank 3 small cups full and started running.  I ran for about 3 minutes and the cramping continued, so I power-walked my way throughout most of the rest of the race with increased frustration.  I NEVER EVER have encountered charlie horse issues while running.  I NEVER EVER have problems with my left leg.  Any running related issues are always with my right side and right leg.  WEIRD!  After mile 12, I caught up with Bobbi Jo, who it turns out had gotten very sick and needed medic assistance around mile 11.  She was walking to the finish line because she was bound and determined to finish NO MATTER WHAT - what a fighter, she is! 

Okay, so I made the last turn for the race and just started running.  I saw my cousin Courtney, but not my aunt or Danielle and Nicole.  I thought this was odd, but I just kept running for the finish line.  Right before I crossed, I saw my aunt and D & N.  Then as I crossed, I heard the announcer announce something like "There's Kim, she's lost 105 lbs and just finished her first half marathon."  I was like...huh?  What?  I was confused and I was like...well actually it's 106 lbs (haha) and then I wasn't sure if she was really talking about me cuz how would the announcer know that?!  Anyway, a volunteer handed me a water bottle and another one handed me an iced towel and then the annoucer chickadee was announcing for me to come back over to her for an "interview" of sorts, so I made my way back to her (without having even had a sip of my water) and she asked me how I started my journey that lead me to doing my very first half marathon.  It was awesome, I have to say.  I downed some water, then on my way to go talk to my aunt and cousins a woman stopped me to congratulate me and tell me that she has lost 150 lbs. so far, so we bonded and then a couple other people congratulated me.  Then I went over to the gate where my aunt and cousins were standing (this is when I found out they were the ones who shared my story with the announcer - apparently she was looking for stories about the racers from the spectators and my cousin flagged her down), they took my pic (right here) and text it to my parents and siblings and then I saw BJ coming along.  BJ and I went and got our medals, grabbed a popsicle and Lara bar respectively, and made our way to the designated meet up place.  Five for Fighting was playing (YAY!), and we sprawled out on the grass.  Charlie Horse attack #137 came along and I was in soooo much pain.  My aunt was telling me to flex my foot, only it wasn't registering and finally I realized what she wanted me to do and did it and it worked.  Then she wanted us to get out of the sun figuring we needed some shade (smart thinking), so we somehow got up and made our way to a shaded area.  We chilled for a bit and then when I went to get up again, I got a horrible cramp in my left thigh.  Have you ever had a thigh cramp?  OMG - it was horrible!  I just kinda walked that one out and we made our way to a cab.  While walking, I could feel two of my toe nails (one on each feet) depart.  Nice.  So then we cabbed it back to the condo.  I took the best shower of my life, changed into my Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Shirt and proudly put my medal on and then we left BJ with my grandma because she was taking a train out to see her dad and then my aunt and cousins and I went back towards my aunt's house, stopped for lunch - a last hoorah before I go back onto my strict South Beachy thing - and then chilled before my flight home.

Last thoughts - Chicago Rock 'n' Roll rocked my world!  First of all - the water and Cytomax stations were amazing - quite often lined up on both sides of the road.  There were a few misting stations, too.  One time, I even got a wet sponge - let me tell you how wonderful that felt!  The bands were great, the volunteers were fantastic cheerleaders, and it was just very well organized!  Oh and the medals are HEAVY!  BUT, I'm not complaining - I love mine!  I'm wearing it all week! =D

My initial reaction to my performance was disappointment.  I had a strong first 5+ miles until the whole bathroom incident and then the charlie horses.  I hated walking as much as I did, but then I think...I finished a half marathon and I did so UNDER the time limit.  For the record...my Garmin calculated it at 13.83 miles.  I really need to learn how to go the road more traveled in these things so that I'm not going any further than necessary.  I am super excited for my next one in October because I will have been training with my running group and it will be so interesting to see how that pays off.  I have also had a really hard time with training these past few months, so it's down to some serious business here!  I am going to kick some half marathon butt in October, y'all!  Oh and in case you were wondering how the Bondi band worked out - it was freakin' amazing - totally kept the sweat out of my eyes - YAY!

So, here are the stats:

Time:  3:24:39
Finished 17933 out of 18555 (still beat 622 people and 62 of those were women in my age group)

Finishing Song:  Flo Rida's "Low"

Burned 1963 calories.

Now I'm stiff and sore...getting a massage today (yay)! 

Anyway...how was your weekend?