The Catch Up Post: Goals, Races and Mother’s Day

Run for BostonI feel out of touch with the blog because so many things have been going on in life. As you may have read, my grandmother passed and I took it very hard. I didn’t expect to take it that hard, but I did. There were a lot of tears shed over this experience. I saw her decline every day until she passed; I basically watched her die. She’s in a better place now after living a long and amazing life. Her passing added emotional stress and sleep deprivation to my life so my overall well being kind of took a hit. I still did regular (and above normal) workouts, which helped with the stress. I tried to deal with the stress in a healthy way and I spent a lot of time traveling which meant eating on the road. I didn’t eat badly but I may have indulged in more froyo than normal. Now that the funeral has come and gone, I’m ready to get back to “normal” life.

I completely missed the goal recap and setting new goals for the month of May. Better late than never so here we go with my April goals:

1. I did get certified for become a Group Ride instructor. This was a huge deal for me because I am a newbie to spinning and I really wanted to do my best on this. This is probably the biggest accomplishment of the month for me.

2. I continued my running. For the month of April I think I ran something like 59 miles, which was down from March just a little but nothing to cry over. I ran that much without many long distance races says a lot about my commitment to running in April.

3. Willie and I both tried to become more social. We mingled more with “friends”, we stopped to have more conversations and we took the time to introduce ourselves to new people. We missed a fun social thing due to my grandmother’s passing, but that was understandable. At least we intended to go to the beach party!

4. Strength training is kind of where I failed at in April. I was very serious about getting back to this, but I still let it fall by the way side. I really just didn’t want to stay at the gym to do it so I did stuff around the house. I just wasn’t satisfied with the body weight training at home though. It was something, which has pushed me in the right direction.

5. Lastly, I missed the mark on trying a new group fitness class by ONE day. I did try a new class on May 1st. I went in expected to hate, but I had a good time in Group Groove. Groove is the BTS version of Zumba. I had a fun time and got a decent calorie burn. Plus, it was nice to change my workout up a bit. (Willie says I can’t count this as a check off my list because it was technically May.)

Goals for May 2013:

1. Continue with my strength training. I’m already doing so great at this. I did weights and strength three times last week and I woke up at 5AM this morning to attend Group Power. I am changing my workout schedule to put my weight training back in the forefront.

2. Spend more time with Willie. Things have been very chaotic since the CNN article. We do spend a great deal of quality time together, but I don’t feel like we spend enough time together doing fun things. I do want to spend more time bowling or at the beach or playing laser tag!

3. Get back to loving my body. This sounds a bit strange but I’m still not comfortable with my new self and right now I do just not love how I look. Loose skin and my lack of weight training has left me without the tone and definition I once had. I know since I’m going back to my regular schedule things will change and get better…and maybe I should lay off of the froyo.

4. Getting on Team Refuel has been something I’ve wanted for a few months now. I’ve finally gotten the chance to get on the team with my running group, but we need you to help us get there. We need votes every day. Plus, when you vote $1 goes toward the Challenged Athletes Fund.

5. I am running my first marathon in December but Willie and I have made it our mission to become St. Jude Heroes by raising $500 each. I currently have $250 and Willie has $125. I’m to my half way point and Willie still has some ways to go. Any donation amount helps to make a difference in a child’s life. St. Jude does some amazing things so if you have a few dollars to spare, we would greatly appreciate it. Find out more here!

I ran a race:

UntitledUntitledUntitled day my grandmother passed, I ran a race and I’m glad I did. I almost decided not to go, but I knew life still had to go on. I ran the Green 6.2, which is a qualifying race for the Houston Marathon in January. It was HOT and HUMID and I had other things on my mind so I didn’t qualify and I didn’t PR. The qualifying time was 51:08 and I ran it in 1:00:58. I was just glad that I finished and received my green medal! BTW: whoever decided to demolish a building at mile 5 of thee race should be tarred and feathered. The debris lingered in the air forever, which made it hard to breathe. Did I forget to mention it was HOT and HUMID? And there weren’t enough water stations?

And it was Mother’s Day:

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I’m not a mom but I know some great moms. I was really happy to be able to celebrate the day with/for them. I have a new appreciation for all the moms in the world out there. My family usually goes out for brunch but this year we did something different; we prepeared a family meal. It was great to have family time because my mom finally came home after deal with the passing of her mother. And my sister came with her family. It was just nice to be together and celebrate my mom and sister because they are GREAT mothers.

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Willie’s first long distance race: Austin 10/20

Willie’s first long distance race: Austin 10/20

I ran my first 10 mile race on April 14th! This was my first long distance run. Before this race I had only run 5K races with a finishing time around 36 or 37 minutes. A couple of days before the race, Angela bought me a new pair of running shoes, running socks, and calf compression sleeves. When I ran the previous 5Ks, I had been running in a pair of old Nike running shoes that really needed to be thrown in the trash. The new shoes were Brooks running shoes and when I first put them on I noticed…

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We have goals: April 2013

We have goals: April 2013

March was a great month for us. We met some great people and have had a chance to share our story with all you. We are blessed! Everyone has a story BUT not everyone gets the chance to share his or her story with the world. We don’t think we are special or did something that someone else hasn’t already accomplished but our situation is different because someone found this blog. One CNN article put us in the spotlight to inspire and motivate others to lose weight and move to a healthier lifestyle. With that being said, we wouldn’t be…

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Gusher 2012: My First Half Marathon

Gusher 2012: My First Half Marathon

Running was never something I thought I would do much less enjoy. I started jogging because I got bored walking on the treadmill. It was a very slow run, but I started with a walk/jog combination and after a while I noticed I was running for longer periods of time than before. (In retrospect I probably should have used that Couch to 5K program.) I desperately wanted to fun in 5K and the 2011 Turkey Trot was coming up. That was supposed to be my running debut but I chickened out on turkey day and didn’t sign up. I was…

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