Ups and Downs with a Friend in Town

This week has been a challenge in my weight loss journey in that one of my husband's (and my!) best friends from Spokane has been in town for a visit. And we have eaten out. Every. Single. Day. The good news is that we are having a blast, and have explored some new restaurants in addition to some of our all-time faves. It's kind of cool, but I wish the food was calorie free so I could just eat and eat and eat. It's all been so good!

Karl came into Dallas on Monday, and the boys ended up going to Fuzzy's Taco. This is one of the best taco places in Dallas, in my opinion! They put cilantro and feta on their tacos and they are just plain crazy delicious. Fuzzy's also serves alcohol and is home to a Blue Moon Margarita (they take a regular ole margarita and then float a bottle of Blue Moon beer on the top). That's pretty much one of my favorite ways to drink a margarita. For supper on Monday, we had some which wich? Which is good. See what I did there? ha! I think we're becoming which wich? addicts. We've eaten there 3 times in the last two weeks.

Tuesday, I got up early and went to the track to meet some of the ladies from my running group for a tempo run. This was really my first "real" tempo run. In other words - the first that I knew what I was doing. Let me just tell you...I tore that track UP! My normal pace is somewhere between an 11 - 12 minute mile. For this tempo run, I did one lap around the track (1/4 mile or a "400" as fancy runners call it) at an average warm up pace. Then I started doing 800's. I did two laps at a 9:30 pace with two cool down/recovery laps at a 10:30 pace. Then I repeated that. Then I walked a lap with the ladies and then I slow jogged a few more laps for a total of 3 miles. I am so surprised and astounded that I kept my pace up. I've never run anything at a sub 10 pace. As I've said before, I'm slow. And this was really fast. And it was awesome! Our group has decided to now do tempo runs every other week (and do hill intervals the opposite week) to help build up speed. I'm completely down with that and hope it ends up with me being able to run a little faster.

After that I went home and we went to the pool for some fun swimming time. It was still early in the day so the pool water was a little brisk, but we all had fun and it tired out the kids. Piper came home and took a long nap. Danny as usual refused to nap. For supper we decided to try a new place one of my McKinney friends suggested: Whiskey Cake. Oh.My.God. This place was fantastic!! As the name suggests, they have whiskey. And scotch. And tequila?? Our waiter suggested that we start our meal with a "Texas Appetizer" - which is a shot of tequila. Karl and I obliged and greatly enjoyed it. Even though I'm not a huge tequila fan. We also had some food appetizers: fried green tomatoes and a meat and cheese plate. The fried green tomatoes were out of this world good. They had a nice thick batter and were fried to perfection. The sauce they were served with was also killer. The meat and cheese tray had a few different slices of meats/sausages and then 4 different kinds of cheese, a small loaf of crusty bread, some apple slices, and a slice of cantaloupe. The adults went to town on that, but really, it was Danny that surprised me by eating as much of the meat and cheese tray as he could get his hands on. He is his father's son! For supper we all ended up ordering the same thing (Derek felt silly doing this, so he changed his order and got a turkey burger). I got the BBQ Banh Mi. And I didn't think this meal could get any better than the appetizers! This sandwich was moist and spicy and everything I wanted. It was perfect. I had intended to only eat half of it, but by this point I had drank three more drinks (a Peach Pit and two Great Escapes) and when I drink I tend to eat more. So I finished it off. And then ordered cake :) The cake was good too - moist and with a crusty toffee layer. Luckily for my diet, we got one slice of cake and split it three ways. And then we rolled out of there (literally) and went on home. Oh, and did I mention that Derek and Karl both got glasses of scotch. That were $25 a glass?? It tasted like turpentine to me, but they choked it back and pretended to like it.

I was supposed to get up Wednesday morning and do hill intervals, but after a total of 4 drinks (followed up by a beer once we got home and played Castle Panic), I decided against it. Sweating out whiskey was not something I was up for! Instead I got up and determined that I would not blow my diet since my weight increased nearly two pounds from Tuesday to Wednesday. Yikes! So, I ate a small breakfast and then when we went to Torchy's Tacos for lunch, I made sure to mind what I was eating. I calculated points and everything. I was on fire! Actually it was my mouth that was on fire from their Diablo Sauce. I love that sauce!!

After that I did some work. And then we did some house decorating. And then I went to target and bought things to redo Piper's room. I'll post some pictures soon once I get it all done. But it's super cute (and she loves it!). Following my Target trip, I went to my running group and did 5 miles in 96* heat. Oh Lord it was hot! I drank over 100 ounces of water on my run. And that was just during my run - I'd had probably another 100 ounces earlier in the day. I came home to find the boys had ordered some Papa John's pizza. But I wasn't really hungry. I think the heat had gotten to me. I ate one piece just to have something in my stomach, but wasn't inclined to eat more. And then this morning when I woke up, I had lost my 2 pounds that I gained Tuesday night.

We're going out again tonight - sans kids - so I'm sure we'll have some drinks and yummy food. I'm planning on trying to get in a run this afternoon before we go so that I can work off some of the calories I plan on taking in. I want to be able to enjoy my time with Karl and eat out and have fun, but I also really want to lose or at least maintain my weight. So this week might have ups and downs for my weight. I decided that I would relax my eating habits two nights during the trip (Tuesday and again tonight) and then watch what I'm eating the other 5 days. And to just make sure I'm still running and getting those calories burned off as much as I can.

Boredom, Running, Food, and Friends

The past week or two, I've really been struggling with boredom. I have things to do - like work, cleaning the house, minding the kiddos, going to my mom's groups, running, etc - but in my downtime, I've just been plain bored. I've found myself sitting on the couch just starring off into space and genuinely feeling bored. I haven't felt this way in a long, long time. I think part of it is that we had a few weeks where we were constantly doing something fun - family visits and two mom's groups play dates on the same day. Not a lot of downtime. Plus, I finished up a big grant about two weeks ago for work, and didn't have a lot of pressing things to do for work. I started reading 50 Shades of Grey and despite it being hailed as the best ever (and yes, it is QUITE steamy!), I just find myself not getting into it that much. So last night, I decided that I would get a new book (for my kindle) and make a list of things I'd like to get accomplished this summer. I'm still working on my list, but I did start reading the new Jennifer Weiner book. As usual, I'm hooked :) AND, on Friday I had a meeting via phone with my boss that got me motivated to write some more grants. On Sunday, Derek went and found a desk on craigslist for me. He even hooked me up with double monitors. I feel like I'm at work now when I do work. It's super nice!

My running is going good. I'm still right on track for the Tyler Rose Marathon. Although, I think my insistence that I *can* do this marathon is wavering a little. I looked at the elevation chart and read some reviews and it looks like it is a killer course. And not only is it a killer course, but signage for the run seems to be bad too. People were getting lost and cars were coming at runners. Safety is a big concern for me when I run, so I'm not sure if I want to do it or not. I would absolutely HATE to have a DNF on my record for my first marathon - or to have something happen (like get hit by a car or get incredibly lost!). I would be a little sad, to say the least. There is a 6.5 hour time limit on the marathon. I'm still going to train for the marathon, but I'm very anxious/curious to see how long it will take me to do 18-20 miles. I think when I get up to that distance, that will be my deciding factor as for if I will or will not do the October marathon. I'm worried that the hills will totally wipe me out and that I won't have enough time to finish. So, we'll see. I still want to do it, I'm just starting to be a little more realistic. I read that the second half is worse than the first half (hill wise), and that makes me a little hesitant. I am going to start training on hills this week, so maybe that'll make me a little more confident.

Today was my weigh-in for my "Lose a Marathon" weight loss challenge. I'm down a total of 4.8 pounds. Woo-hoo! It's looking like I'm losing roughly a pound a week, so I'm rethinking my original goal of a 26.2 pound weight loss and looking to lose a half marathon (13.1 pounds) as a more realistic goal. I think re-evaluating your goals is crucial to success and finishing strong. If you notice that your goal has become unrealistic - whether for weight loss or exercise or any other type of goal you have set for yourself - re-analyze your goal and change it if need be. This week, my goal is to at least maintain my weight and not gain. I have been giving myself small rewards for losing each week. This week I gave myself a new pair of running socks. For this coming week, if I maintain, I'm giving myself a new running skirt. If I lose, I'm getting a pedicure. So if you see some polished piggies - you'll know I had a loss! It's going to be a challenge because we have a friend coming into town and plan to eat out. A lot. My mini-goal for the week is to just keep writing everything down and being accountable for what I eat, and the exercise that I do.

Between my moms groups and my running group, I really feel like I'm starting to make friends here in Dallas. I am a strong believer that it takes about 6 months after you move somewhere to really start making it feel like "home." I'm happy to say that Dallas is feeling like home. In fact, I feel like this is where I belong. The sunshine makes me happy, being with my kids makes me happy, working from home for a great company and with even great co-workers makes me happy, being close to my sister and mom makes me happy, knowing that my husband has a fulfilling job makes me happy, and so does the fact that I feel like I have people here in Dallas that I can call my friends and could count on. Life is good, and I feel like I'm able to enjoy it in ways that I wasn't able to in Spokane. Maybe it's the fact that I don't work full time and have more time at home with my kids and family. I don't know what it is, but I do know that I love it and I'm happy here!

Five Things About Me

Here's a few tidbits about me. Because I'm bored.

1. I love to read. My favorite books are: Second Glance by Jodie Piccoult, The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue, and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. My favorite authors, though, are Jodie Piccoult, Jennifer Weiner, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

2. In my professional life, I could teach CPR to 60 healthcare professionals and not bat an eye. Ask me to make small talk with those same 60 people, though, and I cringe at the thought of it! Funny how a shy person ended up with a job where you had to do public speaking on a regular basis. I even did news broadcasts about once a quarter and did a video segment for my work's video annual report. For the annual report thing, I even had a hair and make-up lady. Very posh - wish I had that everyday!!

3. When I hear a good song on the radio, I blast it. Well, when Danny and Piper aren't in the car anyway! Current faves are: Drive By by Train, Scream by Usher, and Bottoms Up by Trey Songz (this is my fave running song - makes we want to bust out dancing in the middle of my runs!).

4. I want to go to Australia someday. Really badly. Swimming with fish totally freaks me out, but I really want to go swim in the Great Barrier Reef. And see Ayers Rock. And say, "The dingoes stole my baby!"

5. I order weird drinks when I go to bars. I never know what I want, so I usually end up ordering off of the restaurant drink menu. I've ordered a drink called The Sloth before. It tasted as good as it sounds.

26.2, 26.2: I'm Dreaming of You!

I feel like lately all of my thoughts have been consumed with three little numbers (and one decimal point): 26.2.

One of the ladies in my running group is planning on doing her first marathon on October 7, the Tyler Rose Marathon in Tyler, TX. I have had my marathon training plan taped to my fridge for (no joke!) 8 months now. I have looked it over and over and over; psyching myself up for this monumental race. When the Tyler Rose Marathon came up during a run, I came home and looked over my training plan. And guess what? I have just enough time to train for this race. Like exactly enough time. I had planned on the New Year's Double (full marathon on New Year's Eve followed by a 5k on New Year's Day) being my first full marathon. But for the past week, I have been really considering the Tyler Rose Marathon as my first. I feel nervous, excited, and a little bit scared. Can I really do this?? And if I can do it, should I do it when I have already signed up for the New Year's Double? Two marathons in the span of three months. Is that crazy??

My final decision has been to wait to sign up for the race until closer to race day. Then I'll be able to see where my training has led me and if doing the full mary is really something I am capable of doing in October. I have also been considering a trip to Nashville to see my side of the family and a trip to Maryland to see Derek's mom's side of the family (who have never met our kids!) sometime in the fall, so I'm not sure how those two events will fit in with a long distance running training plan. I really don't have much wiggle room (okay, so NONE to be exact) in my training plan so I would either need to take the trips after October 7 or just make sure I am running during the trips. Oh running, who knew I would love you so much and that you would take over my life the way that you have??

The number 26.2 is also in my thoughts in regard to weightloss. About 3 weeks ago, I joined the Run With Jess Marathon Weight Loss Challenge (the challenge is officially closed to new members; yes, I'm a bad blogger and didn't post it to my blog for all of you to see and sign up for!). The challenge is basically a group weight loss effort to lose the equivalent of a full marathon (ie, lose 26.2 pounds) during a 13 week time frame. For sending in your weekly weight, you are eligible for prizes. I started this the week before our San Antonio vacation. I lost the first week, then gained during vacation, and then lost last week so I'm down 2.6 pounds total for the three weeks we have been doing the challenge. If I actually reach the goal of losing a marathon, I will be at the weight I was before I got preggers with Miss Piper. Even if I lost a half marathon (13.1 pounds), I would be ecstatic. For that matter, any weight I lose makes me happy. 

I'm doing weight watchers (on my own  - not going to meetings so that I can save money. I'm technically still a Lifetime Member, so I just need to get back to a weight within two pounds of my goal weight - 159 - so that I can go back to meetings for free) to eat healthy and have been setting weekly mini goals for myself (drink x amount of water, eat 5 servings of fruit and veggies a day, positive self talk, etc) to challenge myself a little more. I know weight watchers works (I lost 60 pounds with it back in 2005 and kept it off for about a year before work and grad school got the best of me and I stopped going to weight watchers meetings). I just need to follow it so that I can lose. The Marathon Challenge time frame is tight though, so I'm not sure if I'll actually lose 26.2 pounds. 15 - 20 sounds more reasonable to me. Still....26.2 would be nice!

So I've been thinking of 26.2 constantly and eating right and exercising and basically telling myself that there is no room for error in this one. I need to be - and stay - strong. Through family and friend visits. Through moms night's out. Through play dates. Through rain, heat, humidity, and any other weather related challenges Texas throws my way. Through my own self-doubt. I've said it before, but running - and weight loss - is primarily a mental game. I just need to push through the next 10 weeks...and then I can start training for the New Year's Double :) 

Caffeine and My Run

Today I did a 9 mile run. I felt fantastic - even kept up (or could at least still see them!) with my running group's 11 minute pace - until mile 6. And then I hit a wall. A big ole brick wall where I had to stop running. I begrudgingly walked. And walked. And walked some more. I walked for a whole mile. The whole time, I was contemplating why I had hit my wall. Here are some things I came up with.

1. I haven't been keeping a regular running schedule. Because of our move, my lack of a gym, our week long family visit/vacation, and my hesitation of outdoor running (until recently that is!), I haven't really been running consistently at all. I did an 8 mile run a few weeks ago, but that was the first long run I had done since my half marathon on Memorial Day. I am now feeling more confident about running outside, so it's just a matter of getting out there and doing it.

2. It was hot. It wasn't as hot as it has been, but it was still probably in the 80's during my run. Once you add in the humidity, it got downright sauna-ish out there. Being so hot, I had started sweating before I even got out of my car. By the time I was three miles in though, I had stopped sweating. Which is never good. Your body uses sweat to cool off, so when you stop sweating, the logical thought would be that you start overheating. And overheat I did! I was really dehydrated. I had bought a hand-held water bottle that holds 20 oz of water earlier this week, and then I also bought some Nuun. I had drank about 40 oz of water and then one 20 ounce bottle with a Nuun tablet (which, are you supposed to take the whole tablet, or break it up? I'm new to Nuun). Still, it wasn't quite enough for me I guess.

3. I had switched up my nutrition. And this, my friends, is where the caffeine comes into play. I have been using Clif Chocolate Cherry Double Shot gels for my running nutrition. They taste fantastic, and they have the equivalent of two cups of coffee in them. But, I thought that the caffeine and the chocolate taste in the heat my have adverse affects on my stomach, so I went to the GU Vanilla Bean gels. I took one at mile 3, and expected it to kick in at least by mile 4. But it didn't. I was dragging. So at mile 6 when I felt like I just couldn't go on, I took my Clif Chocolate Cherry Double Shot gel. And bam! At mile 7, I felt renewed energy. It was really miraculous. When I got home, I started researching the effects of caffeine on running and found that there is new(ish) research showing that caffeine is actually beneficial to long distance athletes. They used a lot of fancy words, but the gist of it is this: caffeine helps your muscles recuperate faster. This might be why, after my last half marathon when I took a 5 hour energy, I felt great for the rest of the day. So my new theory is this: until I actually physically get sick from my fave gels, I'm just going to keep using them. Messing with your nutrition really messes with your run!

So there are a lot of reasons that I might have hit my wall. But the good news is, I was able to work through it and finish my run. I even shopped around Walmart for an hour afterwards and then took the kiddos for a half hour swim afterwards. Then, I spent the rest of the day on the couch :) And ate which wich for supper and loved it! I had a buffalo chicken salad. It was yummy!

Playing at the Cemetery??

Today has been one of those days. I woke up to two crying kids who were fighting over what TV show to watch (yes, we start our day with a healthy dose of recreational screen time; yes, I feel guilty about it). Then the cat peed on the bathroom rug so I had to wash that. Some friends were heading out to a park so I scrambled and got the kids ready and into the car so that they could hopefully run off some energy.

Once in the car, my GPS couldn't find the park that my friends were at. After searching google maps, I found a park about 10 -15 minutes away. So I headed out to the park. As I got closer, though, all I saw was a cemetery. I kept looking for a playground or just an open field, but all I saw were tombstones. And then it dawned on me. Ridgeview Memorial Park was not a playground. It was a cemetery! Oh my!

Luckily the cemetery was near Whole Foods, so I stopped in there so the trip was not completely wasted. I found an awesome deal when I first walked in: buy a package of sliced brisket ($12.99) and a package of chopped brisket ($6.99) and get a jar of cherry lemonade juice, prepared potato salad, buttermilk hamburger buns, and a 28oz container of cut up watermelon free. The free items amounted to about $15/$16, so I spent about $20 and got $15 in free product. I like it! And, now I have a yummy 4th of July meal ready to go for tomorrow. The deal is good for a couple of days only, so if that sounds delicious - you better get to Whole Foods pronto!

We dropped our food off at home and then went to our community's little playground area. The kids had the run of the place and had a blast going up and down slides, climbing up ladders, and swinging on the swings. Have I mentioned that I love our new community? It's just so nice! Last night Derek and I took the kids to the pool and played for a bit before supper. It was just a nice way to keep the kids busy and entertained while at the same time wearing them out so that they'd sleep better. Maybe they didn't sleep enough though, based on their attitudes this morning!

The community pool and splash pad

The kiddos playing at the community park

I'm trying to save money and sell some items to make some money, so I have listed a few things on craigslist to sell. I have been talking with a lady on craigslist about selling our pack n play. She lives in Fort Worth and wanted me to drive out there (which is WAY far away). I knocked $5 off the price and she is driving out here to get it. Selling things on craigslist is always a little scary for me. You never know who is going to show up at your door. With the way my day has been going, I wouldn't be surprised if she was an axe murderer. Everyone say a prayer that she is a nice lady who buys the pack n play and then leaves with no drama or craziness!

The Patriot Half Marathon

You might have guessed it, but I'm a little behind on my race recaps. I have still been running my one (or more) races a month, but I just haven't sat down and written all of it down. I'm trying to catch up with the races now that our move and vacation are over, so just bare with me - I'll be flooding the blog with race recaps. 

The Patriot Half Marathon took place on Memorial Day 2012 and was my third ever half marathon. All I can say is, I love this distance! The half marathon distance is the furthest I have ever run; I wonder if I will like the full marathon distance as much? 

This race in particular was H-O-T! Luckily there was some cloud cover so that it wasn't too incredibly unbearable, but it was pretty toasty. And there were hills. And I had to run up them - it felt like in both directions (it was a keyhole course I believe). The course started at the high school football stadium. Which was seriously nice because there was lots of room for vendors, parking, and my absolute favorite: REAL bathrooms and not port a potties. Oh how I loathe port a potties! 

I went to the bathroom about 30 minutes before the start, and headed down next to the start line to watch the start of the 1 mile kids fun run. They announced that the half marathon would be starting in two minutes. And I immediately had to pee again. I didn't think that there would be time to go back up to the stadium and back to the starting line before the actual start of the race, so I just held it. Running 13.1 miles while having to pee sucked big time. I really should have just gone, but, I REALLY hate port a potties and my pace was AWESOME so I didn't want to stop and use the port a potties they had set up along the race course. I think next race, I really need to wait until the last minute to use the bathroom and not go so early. Anyway, that's enough about my having to pee :) 

Like I mentioned earlier, I had an awesome pace. For me anyways. I kept about an 11 - 12:30 minute mile pace for the race. My last half marathon's average pace was 13:15. This time, I didn't even dip into the 13 minute mile pace once. How cool is that?? As I also mentioned, it was pretty darn hot. I'm talking in the 80's around the start of the race. Or at least close to. Plus humidity. For the half marathon, they had 15 water stations. I took water at each station just because I was worried about dehydration due to the high temps. They also provided towels dipped in water to wash your face off or put on the back of your neck. That made a huge difference in my body's core temperature. They were supposed to have gels at mile 7, but I didn't see any of those. Luckily, I had crammed about 4 gels in my SPIbelt and was able to just use my own gels for the race. 

Another cool feature was pace groups. They had a nice range of pace groups as well. I started out with the 2 hour pace group (knowing that I would not be able to keep up), and was passed by the 2:30 pace group. But guess what? I was NOT passed by the 2:45 group. My goal was to finish this race around 2:45. I did 2:38:55. How AWESOME is that???? This is yet another PR for me and I could not be happier. I'm already signed up for my next half marthon - The Hottest Half in August. The heat will definitely be a challenge at this race and I am trying to mentally and physically prepare for it by running outside more and more. Actually completely since I no longer have a gym membership. For that race, I'm hoping to be around 2:35 for a race completion. I'm thinking the heat (and my general lack of running the last three weeks) will affect my time, but we'll see. I love racing! In fact, I already signed up for the 2013 Patriot Half Marathon for next Memorial Day. I hope next year I can totally rock that race and manage a much better time. Each race shows a slight improvement. Can't wait to see how far I've come next year!! 

Toddlers, Vacation, and Back to Reality

It has been a whirl-wind past week. My brother, aunt, two cousins, mom, and step-dad all came to Dallas for a little visit/vacation. They all got in, we went and saw Brave in 3D. We actually bought regular tickets and got all of our popcorn, pop, and candy, went into the line to get into the theater and realized we bought online tickets for another theater. Oh snap! The good people at Cinemark were totally awesome though and let us stay for the next showing of the movie - which happened to be in 3D. They didn't even make us pay the difference. Isn't that nice of them?? The movie itself was okay. A little on the scary side for my little ones, but they still seemed to enjoy it.

The next morning we got up and went to San Antonio. We visited Schlitterbahn, Sea World, the Riverwalk, and celebrated my little baby girls second birthday with a party in San Antonio. We did all of this, too, in 103+ degree weather. It was H-O-T! But it was so much fun!! (I plan on doing some individual posts about each outing we did....I just need to catch up on my running posts too!) After all of that fun, we came back to Dallas and went to the American Girl Store for tea. Piper LOVED this. They gave her a little high chair for her Bitty Baby. She thought that was pretty amazing. She was pretty cute. To even out all that girliness, we went to a Texas Rangers game on Friday night. The game went surprisingly quick and the kids did awesome.  We stayed for fireworks after the game, and things kind of fell apart then, but overall the kids did good. Everyone left this morning which has made our house seem pretty quiet. It's alarming how LOUD four kids can be!!

And then...my beautiful little girl turned two today. How is my baby two already?? She is the best little girl and now she is officially a toddler. And soon she'll be as big as her brother. I seriously miss having her be in the baby phase, but at the same time, I am loving how she is finding her personality and voicing her opinions and showing just how bossy she is. She is turning into a beautiful little ladybug.

Now that we have had a family visit, a vacation, and a birthday, it's back to reality for us tomorrow. We've had so much going on recently to make our lives hectic (ie, big move, family, vacay, etc). I can't wait for things to feel normal again!!!