Buck Up Buttercup

Lately I've been on a good run (pun totally intended). I've been eating well and running well.
Not to say my runs are tough or hard but I've been able to somewhat stick to a schedule.
I love knowing that on Mon/Wed/Sat it will be me and the road. Pounding out the day/weeks frustrations and getting recharged.

Dressed and ready to take on ole man winter.

 

I've called bull shit on the time it takes me to run miles, I've called bull shit on having a crappy run or having a great run. Why you say well let's see.
#1. I run outside. I get to deal with all kinds of things that lead me to not run as fast as I like. For example stop lights, snow, ice, sleet, cold temps, hills, random people walking in the middle of the sidewalk that I have to dodge, crazy statue of liberty costume clad people (yes that is true no joke)
#2. After a long run the next run will be your recovery run and it will suck. It will be hard and it will not be fun but get through that and you'll be golden.
#3. Fuel..you need to make sure you're fueld up right or your run will suck.



Since I've let go of the "I want to run so many minutes per mile" attitude I've become a better runner. I leave it all out there. If I'm tired I walk which is not the norm anymore....but it used to be.
When I first started running it use to be more walking than running but I got better over time.
I've been running since June 2012. It takes time. It will not happen overnight. As you lose weight you become faster but you also have to kill that bitch in your head that says "you can't do this", "it's to hard", "you're not a runner", "you'll never lose the weight you want", "you have asthma", "really you think you can run a half marathon", yes she's a talker and she tells me everyday how crappy I am......NEWSFLASH...that bitch in my head is getting quieter and quieter every step I take and every mile I log. She didn't even say a word on my last run. She whispered in my ear the run before when my music shut off and told me maybe I should just go home, but I shut her down and ran 5 miles sans music anyways..

WHY!!! Because I can! I can run like a beast. I can run in snow, ice, sleet, hills, cold temps, stranger danger, dark, light, almost anything. I can I've proven it. I can run with this fluffiness that I carry. No I'm not fast but you know what I'm faster than I was a month ago. I'm stronger than I was a month ago. I don't need to stop. I can run 8 miles without stopping. When I first started I was only able to do 1 mile before I needed to stop and it may even have been less than that.


I see so many people obsessed with the mileage, obsessed with the damn number on the scale...OBSESSED with the damn numbers.. Challenge let it go. For one week do not look at the number on the scale or the running app. Focus on how you feel. Focus on your outlook. Focus on your energy levels.

This may really piss some people off but you know what it's true. While everyone must have drive and dedication to be better I think we get stuck and then we set ourselves up for failure. Like I'm going to lose 50 lbs in 5 mths. Well for me that's crazy talk because honestly it's not how my body works. For some people it will work but will that 50lbs still be off in a year or will they eat there way back there. For me it better stay off because once I reach my magic number I will stay in the magic number. I will not waste all those miles all those sacrifices to do it all over again as long as my body is with me.

Who has gotten stuck in the numbers game? I know I've been guilty but once I've let it go I've been so much happier and my runs and my weight have reflected it.
You can do this! You can start today!

Try..Try...Try..

After my 15K I was flying on runners high. I was stoked that I was still in the mood to run. Last time I ran that far for a race I lost all running love. Well truthfully I don't think I had runner's love. I think I just wanted to lsoe weight and I wanted it gone fast. Hey it worked for Jennifer Lopez, Katie Holmes to name a couple of people that trained after they had babies. Well there was one thing that was missing last time. My head wasn't in the game so to speak.
There is a quote that says

I think my mind was definately fighting my body. Until I said no more.......

Last year I was sick and tired of being fluffy...a nice word for fat!
I know it wasn't all my own doing but I needed to be more pro-active.
I took a good look at what I was doing with my life and what I was doing.
I was taking step class on Mondays and teaching it sometimes. I was teaching kettlebells on Wednesday night but I wasn't seeing results. I was being honest I couldn't spend another summer uncomfortable and I said NO MORE!!!

So let's recap I started running 3x a week and upped my mileage every week. I was getting faster and then WINTER came...Gaa.. I love having four seasons but winter is really killing me this year. Anyways, if you've read this little blog or check out my facebook status you see that I push through it. I run when it's snowing, I run when it's single digit temps, I run when it's dark, I run when most people would stay in side and stay warm. I push to run three times a week. I take no prisonors. I don't have a gym membership and I don't own a treadmill. My gym is my home and good old sidewalks and roads.

So when it is freezing rain or and ice skating rink outside I will pass on the occasion. I make a date with Jillian Michaels and get my butt handed to me, and I love it.

So last week I wasn't able to run until Saturday. A whole week...yikes. I did do two Jillian Michaels workouts and ate within my calories. I set on Saturday to run 6 milesish..and I ended up doing 8 BOOYAHHHH!!!! Yep I pounded out 8 miles and didn't stop, well I did for the stop lights where I couldn't dodge the passing cars like a game of frogger.
I got home and felt great!

I ran my race on Monday 6 miles in!! It was rough but I still did it. It was slippery and fell once but I still did it.

And last night I pushed out 4 miles. No stopping.

Now here's the epihany moment for some of you. I needed to run. I was a crabby, bitchy pain in the ass. I try to be positive and for the last two days I was not! I was just in a funk and needed a recharge and that's what running has done for me. It's my reboot, my recharge, the place where it's all about me. I can take a moment from my job, my mommy responsiblities, my wife duties, it's my own personal all about me. It's a time I can rock out to my music and be completley free from troubles well except for the occasional walker I run past. LOL.

So anyway as I'm pounding the pavement and listening to my tunes on pops one of my favorite songs..well there're all my favorite it's my playlist damn it.
Anyway the lyrics..
       Where there is desire
       There is gonna be a flame
       Where there is a flame
       Someone's bound to get burned
        But just because it burns
        Doesn't mean you're gonna die
        You've gotta get up and try try try
        Gotta get up and try try try
        You gotta get up and try try try
Now last night those words really hit home. I just wanted to stop I wanted to quit but I kept going because my mind said so. My mind said you got this!!! My mind said you worked so hard for this! You are a rockstart!!

February is looking like a big month for me and I'm hoping that at the end of this month I will hit a huge milestone and when that happens I will share it with you.

So go on and be great. What's stopping you? What negative thought is causing you not to start your new journey?



Peace & Love
Nicole

Chocolate!!! I'm In!

This weekend I ran my first ever 15k (that's 9 miles y'all). It was the Seroogy's Chocolate Race..What's at the finish line well chocolate..I'm there!!!
I had high hopes that this race would be fun, and my time would be better since I wouldn't be stopping for stop lights or watching my ass slip around on the ice.
Well lets just say my time was better but not nearly what I had hoped it would be.
I wanted to finish in under 2 hours...yes I know that's not fast at all but let's be serious. I have still have 60lbs to lose till I'm at my happy place and it is a shit ton of work to move all this fluffiness!

So I had everything planned out. Two alarms set, what I was wearing. Nothing cute just my normal go-to's since this was really just a formality till my half marathon. Just a test to see what I need to add to my workout schedule to be awesome in May. (when I'll be doing my half marathon) ok so lots of layers since it was going to be a balmy 15 degrees out. Friday I really had no desire to eat anything. I still stuffed my face the best I could so I was fueled but my dinner left much to be desired which woke me up at 1:30am to a growling stomach that would not quit. So I got up which I normally don't do and ate some cereal because really I needed sleep and this growly pain was not going away.
Back to bed I went and I was out. Like sleeping beauty although I do not look as cute with drool coming out of my mouth.


I heard it...bzzzzzz...what the hell..Here is was 7am I had slept through two alarms and my ride aka Miss Hide-a-key was waiting in my driveway wondering why I wasn't out the door already..
OOOHHHHH SHITTT!!!! I jumped out of bed and texted her back to give me 10 min because I literally just got up. Now if you know my friend she is the worrier. She is the one that will not sleep on race night because she's worried that she won't wake up. She has to be to the start line 15 min before the actual race starts. Which doesn't work well for me since I have the bladder of a 2 year old and need to "try" to pee at least 5 min prior. No joke, well kind of a running joke. Anyways so she is freaking out and I on the other hand calmly get dressed and ready grab 3 packs of fruit snacks and my inhaler and out the door I go. My husband was very surprised how calm I was since I'm usually bitching about running late. But not today. Today was the day I was going to show this bitch running who was boss..Take no prisoners because I was in charge.

So we get to the place where we're going to run and we still have 30 min. Mind you it is a balamy 8 degrees out oh and to add more pain to this fun run it's sleeting...yeah just what I love to run in sleeting messy snow...GD it!! It's ok though because it will be fun and we're not serious uber-marathoners...people are in costumes for goodness sakes.

We warm up in one of the warming buildings. Then one last ditch effert to pee and we walk to to the start line. Heidi makes a bee line for the front while I take my time and turn on my apps and music.

And we're off....I keep thinking to myself..keep your pace...keep your pace. Because I hate running with others but it's imperative that I push towards a goal hence the races. So the first mile not so bad until we make it into the abby that is all up hill covered in snow oh and did I mention that this is also a 5k run at once. Which you know what that means. I not only have to dodge other runners but I also have to dodge the old ladies walking and kids and dogs and strollers...it makes me yearn for the bigger races that are more organized but it's ok I deal with it. Still running uphill because I am not going to stop. I finally stop at mile 4 to catch my breath. Still going uphill. Like the hills in this race are unending. I think the only time I went downhill was at the very end. Now when a race says it's a little hilly, I envision little hills not one big race of all uphill.. Mthr Efer...it's ok though because I got this! I can do it. It's what I did those 10 miles for. It's what I train for every week. This should be a cakewalk..at mile 5 I start to see these runners running toward me here comes the big loop. Well not just yet as these are the SUPER runners that are crazy fast. They run past me looking like santa claus because of the snow/sleet that has dretched us all in white. Eyelashes, hair everything. We look like the geratric group that works out at the gym.

I'm not feeling so bad but low and behold yet another hill. Ok enough with the dang hills already. I see my girl Heidi run up and give her a hug tell her she's doing great and I keep going.
Once I see mile 7 I grab a drink of water that turns out to be slushy and does not quench my thirst. Really...oh well chalk it up to freezing temps.
The last mile seems to take forever and low and behold what do I see but a group of walkers that propbably started at the begining and because I stick to the back are now going to finish with me. Like hell I say..I bust out every bit of strength I have left in me. I see Heidi waving for me up ahead and I run like a crazy person oh and crying like a girl at a chick flick because I'm so proud of myself............................I see the clock and I'm going to reach my goal of finishing this race in under 2 hrs..whooohooo....

What can I say about this race. It taught me that I can do anything I set my mind to, that running in the cold has made me a stronger runner, that fuel is super important to my times, that I am strong, that I am a runner, and that waking up at 1:30 in the morning to have that bowl of ceral probably saved me alittle. Because running 9 miles on a basically empty stomach sucks.

Be inspired peeps. If I can do this anyone can! I am not sleek and toned yet but I never give up. Last time I ran a half marathon I basically gave up all running after that. It broke me! I never wanted to run again and then the fever caught and I was hooked, and this time I might just stay around awhile because I can see the differences. I can see that training is helping and that eating "good" food makes me happier. I can see that running is my drug/therapy. I can see the good things that come from it! I may not be fast and I may not ever be fast but that's ok because at least I'm doing it! I'm proving that if you put your mind to something and want it bad enough it is possible.

Yes I'm a big dork but really what are you suppose to do when a camera guy randomly appears out of the woods..

Look at all that white hair...

 

 

'Cause Sometimes It's Just Fun To Be Bad

So last week was a rough one. Living in the midwest we are suspetible to cold cold cold as hell temps. (I really never understand the phrase cold as hell because really isn't hell suppose to warm) I digress..so sorry.....squirel.
We had some wonderful -15 before windchill. That shit is cold and I'm not about to go out and run in that. Hells to the no. So just watched what I ate like a good girl all week.
The hubs and I had a date night planned for Saturday so I knew that could be my only cheat for the week. I even forgo'ed the Friday night McDonalds run that my hubby was craving. Yea!! Happy Dance over here. If you saw my New Years Goals one of those goals was to not eat Fast Food.
Holla!! This girl did not give in to temptaion!!

So Saturday comes and no run because hubs was working so I would have to wait till Sunday.
We go out for a nice dinner at Longhorns. Which by the way I used to really love and the meal was ehh...it was just ok. I did indulge in the texas tonins...yummy...and only ate half my steak. Good girl in da house.
Then we headed out for a night on the town for my bro's birthday.
Ok..So 1 drink...yummy...2 drinks...yummy...and the list goes on....until headed home..nope didn't drive..I am a firm believer in NO drunk driving..which I might not have felt till I sit down, but I obeyed the laws and didn't get behind the wheel.
Fast forward to me puking my guts out college girl style.. Oh ma god..not good at all.

No this is not me but you get the idea

 

So in true Nicole fashion I figured I would be fine on Sunday...nooo way...

I can say with all honestly I've never ever had a hangover in my life. Like solid truth.

I could hang with the boys, drink like nobodys business..Not to toot my own horn but so you get the picture. Shots, beer, hard liquor sure..I've been sick before and woke up and was totally fine. No hangover ever! I would sometimes even go to workout after a night of drinking. But can I say that ever since I've become healthier I choose not to drink. I just dont want my runs suffereing. Well hell hath no fury like a mom out on the town!! Balls. I sat around all day Sunday to ease the party that was going on in my head. Yuck...

Monday was a new day. I was feeling like gold and I was going to get that damn run in. I have a race on Saturday. My first 15K!!! Yeah...

 

These people are crazy..ha ha...and I'll be there with the crazy crazies!!!

So I pounded the pavement 6 miles in...booyah!!!

It was super cold but it was awesome!!! I'll be excited when the snow and ice melt so I can see how well my running has come along...