Look what just magically appeared on my car… I wonder how that happened?? Was it a rogue sticker vandal? Did stickers fall from the sky allowing one sticker to land just perfectly on my window, next to my 13.1 sticker????

Or….

Was it a leap of faith??? A moment of crazy self confidence??? Was I drunk??? Did somebody drug me???

I was not planning to put this on my car for awhile. I mean, when will I “officially” be in training? When I get my “official schedule”? I was going to wait until my friend Alyssa finished her first half marathon and then put her “26.2 in training” sticker. Then I asked myself why I was waiting for her? Why not recognize my own accomplishments and recognize that right now I’m making steps to cross the marathon finish line. Hmmmm… I’m a marathoner in training. That’s kind of cool. Or am I??? Am I really a marathoner in training???

So I went right out and put it on my car. And then I stared at it… and then I took a picture… and then I looked at the picture on my computer over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again… and then I looked at it again.

Then I posted it on Facebook. Now that makes it official, right??? LOL. Nothing is official until you announce it on Facebook, right?

Hmmmm…. how can I really make this official?

Will this work???

I am officially registered for my first Marathon!!! Space Coast 2011!!!! He he he…. I’m on my way. I’m a marathoner in training. Wow!!! Now do I believe that I’m a marathoner in training? To be honest, not really. That doesn’t change reality though. It is what it is. If nothing else I can call myself a “Space Coast Marathon Registrant”. That’s cool too.

When I started my journey I wore a 4X shirt. I just put a 1X shirt on and IT FIT!!!! BOOYAH!!!!

That’s it kids. I just had to share.

One of my alltime favorite running songs is Matchbox 20 “How Far We’ve Come”. It’s not the most positive of lyrics but the chorus is catchy, namely the phrase “Let’s see how far we’ve come” sung over and over (quite literally).

The great thing about keeping a blog for over a year is the ability to look back. Flashback to one year ago… where was I? Where were you? Wow, what a change a year makes. On this day in 2010 I was mostly walking, jogging a small amount and very skeptical when my calculations showed that I walked 2 miles in 30 minutes (a 15 minute pace). I didn’t believe it because I thought that was really fast for me. Wow, have I changed! In the same month, just a few days later I arrived home from vacation and started to get very anxious about my first 5K. Now, one year later look where I’m at. The awesome thing is that I’ve seen transformation in the lives of so many people around me.

“Let’s see how far we’ve come”…

So where are we going?

I’m making great progress training in my Newtons. I will put a review of them up in about a month or so once I’ve broken them in. I’m in the training pair so this journey will be a bit long. So far I LOVE THEM. I love the little bit of extra momentum they give me. On the flip side my calves are a bit sore but that’s to be expected. I’ll work through that. I’m excited about developing those muscles.

I’m also making great progress solidifying plans for this Spring’s race schedule, as well as Fall and Winter 2012. I posted some rather lofty goals for 2011 recently. They include the completion of a half marathon, a 12 mile trail run, and a 16 mile trail run by April 2011. These are all doable since I plan to maintain my current training. The lofty part of the goals include my first marathon in November 2011 and the Goofy Ultramarathon Challenge in January 2012. Here is my current race schedule, including the marathon that I’m considering for November. I’m very excited. I’m also very blessed. My coach from Caleb’s Crusade will be running the marathon and the Goofy Challenge with me. How awesome is that! I feel very fortunate to have her in my corner.

I can’t wait to flashback one year from now on this post and see where I’m at.

• Naples 12 mile trail run – February 12, 2011
• Hooters to Hooters Half Marathon (relay) – March 6, 2011
• First Watch Half Marathon – March 13, 2011
• Croom Fool’s 16 mile trail run – April 9, 2011
• City of Cape Coral Sprint Triathlon – May 14, 2011
• Space Coast Marathon – November 27, 2011
• WDW Goofy Challenge – January 7 – 8, 2011

Oh Joe!!!! Look what I got!!!!

OK world, if you don’t know what these shoes are, they are Newtons. And why am I so excited? Well, any company that advertises with the phrase “science in motion” is OK by me! I’ve been wanting these shoes for over 4 months. In October I talked about how badly I wanted to get into a pair. Well… I did it! I got some. It took not only courage to buy them (they will change your running style at least a bit, sometimes a lot) and it also took some extra cash because they ARE NOT CHEAP!

OK, here is a tiny bit about Newton’s for those of you that have never heard of them or don’t know what they are all about. Basically, Newton’s push the body to run in it’s more natural form (forefoot striking). Most running shoes are designed to push us to land further back on the foot. I’m not sure this is all bad (just for record, I feel like I’ve had some great running shoes in the past). I do have to say that when I went for a little run at the shoe store they felt amazing. I could feel them pushing me forward a bit. It was almost like they were helping me to move off to take the next step. Each step was pleasant.  I immediately fell in love with them.

I will post more once I’ve had a chance to run in them. One thing about them is that you have to “transition” into them. My plan is to alternate them with my old shoes over the next 2 weeks. I will literally change my shoes every mile.  Sounds like a pain, huh?  Yeah…  kind of.  They work different muscle groups than I’m used to using so I expect very sore calves.

So…  I’ll let you all know.  Sorry for the brief post.  I’ll post a review of what I think of them soon!

WOW…  I think the word “WOW” is enough for my WDW Half Marathon Recap.  That one little word adequately covers it all.

OK, I’ll give you a little more than that.  Just for record, that would have been a perfect post.  I warn you…  this may be a freakishly long post due to all that happened over the weekend of my first half marathon.  It’s OK if I lose you but you MUST AT LEAST SCROLL THROUGH THE PICTURES!!!

So…  how did it all begin?  Well…  it felt a little crazy.  The entire time before the race felt like a blur to me so I hope that I can adequately capture even 10% of it.  If I get that much then I’ll feel like I shared something good from the weekend.

The drive up was awesome.  I rode up with Josie and my awesome Auntie Lynn.  That morning I had dropped off my daughter to my mom and dad, who are also some of my biggest supporters.  I have to say, if it was not for family, none of this would be possible.  I went up with no stress and felt taken care of in so many areas.  Not many people have that and I feel so thankful.

The first thing we did when we got to the race was go to the expo to get our bib numbers.  It was really REALLY overwhelming.  Oh my goodness…  it was at the ESPN sports complex in Orlando.  Thank God it was well organized.  Disney definitely has their act together, that’s for sure.  Here’s a picture of the inside of the complex where the expo was:

I went in with the hopes of getting some compression sleeves for my calves and walked out with a new running belt to hold my gu and my MP3 player. It’s bright colors and really cool. I also got a headband that I just connected with. It says “One bad mother runner”. I don’t know… I just loved the attitude behind it and had to get it. My Aunt kept telling me I’m not bad. I know that I’m not “bad” but I know that I’m a whole lot tougher than I used to be and I know that I’m stronger in so many areas since I became a runner. That’s why I like it. Anyways… the size of the expo quickly became overwhelming for me and I made the suggestion that we leave. Next year I’ll probably spend much more time but at the moment I felt so much anxiety. I just wanted to get to the hotel room to prepare for our meeting with the team.

We spent a small amount of time in the room before we went to our dinner meeting with Caleb’s Crusade.  At the meeting I was reminded of why I joined.  It’s not just about the running.  I am in an amazing team and we all run in honor of beautiful Caleb to fight cancer, which robs us of our children and our loved ones.

Caleb, I love you.  Thank you for being one of the amazing children to help change my life.

At the meeting Dana shared the story behind a hat.  She wore it when she ran in honor of Caleb for a marathon when he was sick.  It is now tradition that it is worn by someone running in his honor.  For each race a new pin is then added to it.  Monique received the honor of wearing it for the half marathon (in honor of her son) and Jack received the honor of wearing it for the full marathon.  Just so you all are aware Jack is one amazing person.  Jack has MS and does not allow that to stop him from training and completing a marathon.  I find this quite humbling.

Our team:

I have to be honest. In spite of how awesome the dinner was and how touching everything was, all I wanted to do was get to bed!!!! I was just ready to get out there and run. I was so nervous.

That night I was completely exhausted but could not sleep.  I just prayed all night…  I was awake before my alarm went off and was just ready to go.  I was emotional…  I felt thankful to be here.  I wanted to make so many people proud too.  Just a few I wanted to make proud were: Alicia, Michael, Mom, Dad, Auntie Lynn, Groshie, Amelia, Caleb, Rob, Monique, Josie, David, Melody, Tony, etc… etc… etc…  there were so many!

We met in the parking lot to leave with my team.  It was at this time that I realized something…  Dana, our coach spoke of the “bite me” moment in running with a team.  She said that usually this moment comes later in miles when you hit a wall.  Well, I believe that I am different.  I believe my bite me moment came not too long after we got into the cars to caravan over to the race.  It was at this point that I was just over the whole team thing.  Let me explain…  I am REALLY FREAKISHLY ANAL ABOUT DETAILS…  bathroom breaks…  getting the corral on time, etc.  I have to have every detail planned out so that I’m there on time.  The morning was complete chaos.  It was not the fault of the team.  It was just the way the race is!  There are so many people that it’s next to impossible to go in with a calm feeling.  It’s just crazy.  There were 22,000 other people trying to get to the same place we were going.  It was not until we arrived to the corral that I felt OK again.  I knew we made it and nothing would stop us at this point from going.  I felt calm…  I felt still…  then.

BOOM!!!!  I about had a heart attack when these went off right over my head:

We waited for at least an hour before our corral could proceed to the starting line. After that we took off. The plan was that I would run with my coach Dana and Monique. We completed the first mile in 12 minutes 59 seconds. Considering that’s the fastest mile I’ve ever run (EVER!) I decided to slow down. They continued going and I went alone. I was disappointed but it was OK with me. I didn’t want anything to get in my way of completing the race and that included a pace that didn’t feel OK. I also wanted to end the race completely happy and if I overdid it that would be no fun.

I ran the course to the Magic Kingdom. I ran up Main Street and as soon as I saw Cinderella’s Castle I started to cry… I WAS HERE!!! I DID IT!!! I ran around the back and then back through. How awesome that was, I don’t even know where to begin. I was definitely on a high. The course then went back out of the Magic Kingdom towards Epcot… mile 5, mile 6, mile 7… mile 10. It was at mile 10 when I decided something.

I didn’t like what I was doing. Why would anybody be crazy enough to do this? I was tired. My feet hurt… AUGH. I decided at that moment that this may have been my only half marathon. It was great but why train to feel like this at the end.

This feeling was only temporary. It was at this point that I saw a ray of sunshine peek through my negative thoughts and feelings. I saw my friend, Tony (AKA Endorphin Dude). Just so you know… Tony is an ultramarathoner who I befriended not too long ago. He is on a mission to touch people’s lives and to encourage them. His alter ego when he runs is Endorphin Dude and he strives to show people how much fun it is to work hard to be fit. I could go on and on about him, but this blog post is already getting way too long. Anyways, I was so excited to see his cape. I sprinted to catch up with him. I must have had plenty of energy left in me to finish the race because I suddenly found the energy to catch him and it was awesome. Here we are at mile 10:

I must say Thank you to Tony. He changed my attitude for the finish of the most awesome race I’ve run yet. He was key… God used him at just the right moment. I really needed the encouragement and acceptance Tony gave me at mile 10. THANK YOU!

I made it back into Epcot with much relief. I knew that at that point there was no way the “bus” would catch me and keep me from finishing the race. I decided at that point to pretty much walk the rest of the race too. A muscle in my leg was starting to cramp up (it typically cramps up on any race over 10 miles). I was also behind such a crowd of people that I literally could not run without plowing people over. I just enjoyed the last bit of the race and even dropped to a 16 minute mile. I didn’t like doing that but I did what I had to do… Oh well… I earned a chance to relax.

I was about ¼ mile away from the finish line when I saw a couple of the most beautiful people in the race. It was Monique and Dana!!! I had caught up to them! We were able to cross the finish line together. I was so happy. I really didn’t want to finish the race alone and I didn’t have to.

Dana is on the left, I’m in the middle and Monique is on the right of the picture. See the hat! Monique was able to add a pin to that hat! Good job Monique! I was also greeted at the finish line by an amazing friend (Josie) holding this poster. I have it hanging on my wall now above my race medals. What a great thing to be greeted by at the finish line:

A picture was also captured of me at the end. I love this picture. It is visual proof that I can complete a race like this with a smile still on my face. Further… it shows that I can do it with style. This is an awesome picture.

After the race I felt great. I received my medal and moved onto the Caleb’s Crusade tent for some group pictures.

The rest of the day was nice… TIME TO RELAX. That night Josie, my husband, Auntie Lynn and I met up with our dear friend Jean who came into town to spectate the race. We had dinner at a Japanese steak house and just enjoyed. OH IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I want to thank Jean for joining us. It was so nice to share the details of the day with her over good food.

The next morning turned out to be just as exciting as the first. Josie and I got up at 2:30 AM (yes, that’s right) to go spectate the marathon. Now, this was crazy! It was worth it though. We claimed our spot near the finish line at 4:30AM and just waited. I think people thought we were crazy. It was about 10 degrees cooler than the day before and I’ll be honest… IT WAS COLD FOR OUR SOUTHERN FLORIDA BUTTS. Wow! I drank 2 cups of coffee just so that I would have something warm in my hands. Josie also took the table cloth from the Caleb’s Crusade tent to bundle up in. We must have looked crazy to the people passing by. We certainly didn’t feel crazy when the race started and people came looking for a good spot to watch. We were able to see the first of the elite runners come in… WOW… we then waited for our team… Haley… Tommy… Bob… Jamie… Jack… they all started to come. Then 3 of my favorites… Dana, Jill, and Andrea. They were together. Dana earned her Goofy (the ultramarathon award earned by running the half marathon then the full marathon). She also managed to get every single Caleb’s Crusade runner across the finish line. I’m so proud of her.

Then Josie and I waited for Tony. Remember Endorphin Dude? He was working on his Goofy Challenge. I have to admit we were worried because he took a long time. That would not be a bad thing but had completed a 40 mile ultra marathon the week before so we were worried he was injured. Then Josie said something that brought comfort. She said he was probably just taking pictures and enjoying himself. Sure enough… a few minutes later Tony came around the bend with a huge smile and started to head towards the finish line. WHEW! He came in with spirit and style. We all did… we all finished strong.

When I got home I was surprised by a few very awesome things. My husband cooked dinner for me, my daughter colored a little book for me (with quotes of being proud, congratulations, etc), and my parents got me the most amazing flowers:

Pretty, huh?

I now know why people can become addicted to this. It is now 3 days after the race and I’m feeling a bit of “post race letdown”. I crave another race. I want to keep training. In order to do what I want to do I will also need to lose at least 50-80 lbs still. I’m down 104 to date but still have a long way to go.

My plan is to keep training and focusing on my eating. When I do these I will do a lot of training. If my body cooperates I plan to run a marathon this year. I say “IF” because there are a lot of things out of my control on something this big. SO… I have confidence that I have the determination it takes. If all goes well I may be given an ultramarathon title of “Goofy” in January 2012. We shall see… the journey will be fun.

Here is a little breakdown of how I plan to get to this point. Thank you again to my family and friends that have believed in me up to this point. Thank you for your support in so many ways. A special thank you to Rob and Monique who allowed me to join the team to run for Caleb and a special thank you to David and Melody who had a beautiful girl that inspired me to start all of this. It was less than a year ago that I was pondering run/walking my first 5K. I just completed a half marathon. After this, anything is possible.

Well my dear friends I have 8 days until I run my first half marathon.

8 days??? That includes one more long run (if I can call 5 miles long at this point!) and a handful of short runs next week.

WHOA… yes, this is a Keanu Reaves kind of WHOA:

As I recall the last time something related to a “Keanu Reaves whoa” was posted on my blog was the day that I realized I wore a tank top running and was not afraid…. wow… how I’ve changed from the girl who was afraid to even walk around the block! I am not sure if you all know this or not but it was about this time last year that I walked a full 5K distance and was stoked to have been able to walk it in 59 minutes. I’m now 8 days from running a half marathon. OK, double Keanu Reaves moment.

Honestly I am very calm and confident that the finish line will be easy to get to.

NOT!!!!!


I’m so freaking nervous. If I could run the race right now I would just to get rid of the jitters. LOL… I can’t wait for this race!!!! So far the forecast is looking favorable. I pray for decent weather. I’m also so excited to have a few online buddies running the race so I’ll get to meet them. A few of them I only know through facebook and I cannot wait to meet them. I’m also looking forward to meeting Tony, the Endorphine Dude. I must say that he’s one of many friends I’ve made along the way that have made this journey so worth it! He has an awesome spirit, the kind of spirit that makes me proud to be a runner. He’s a marathon maniac (literally) and he is one of many along the way that has inspired me to keep going. I’m proud to say that 2011 will probably be my marathon year. I’ve moved past the “I don’t know if my body will handle this” funk to the “I am going to give it a shot, what the hell” phase. I will not officially post my 2011 goals until after the race but I’m working on them and I’ll tell you that at the moment they include a full marathon in the Fall and The WDW Goofy Challenge… yes… THE GOOFY! In case you don’t know what that is, it is the Walt Disney Marathon weekends ultra challenge. You complete the Goofy Challenge by running the half marathon on Saturday and then the full marathon on Sunday. I won’t commit to making this an official goal until I’m done with my half marathon. I have a lot to still think about… and about 80 pounds left to lose. I want to be closer to goal weight before I commence to beating the hell out of my body through marathon training.

Speaking of weight loss… it’s now time for my work’s weight loss challenge. It’s the annual 911 Fitness Challenge. It’s 3 months long and I need it SO BAD. My eating has been so far off it’s awful. I’ve binged, I’ve eaten garbage. I’m just all over the place. I’m relieved that the challenge is here. I feel like it’s the “clean slate” kind of re-start that I need. I weigh in on Saturday, January 1st. I cannot wait. I’m also so proud to have my aunt Linda on my team again this year, along our own online rock start Josie.

So, as you can see a lot of good things are going on. How are things in your world??? Have you had any WHOA moments lately???

I was thinking about it today and it really came clear to me.  Josie and I were talking about the amount of weight we’ve lost since we started training for the half marathon.  I’m running it for Amelia and Caleb but in the end I’m also running it for me.  I want to lose more weight.  I have lost so much so far but the journey is far from over.  I’ve been a bit disappointed that since I started seriously training the weight hasn’t just fallen off.  I mean it should right? I’ve put in the work, right?  Well…  yes and no.

I really pondered it a lot today.  I mean, I’ve done great but the weight loss has drastically slowed since I hit that 100 pound loss.  Well, it’s simple.  REALITY slapped me in the face. 


I see the truth of it.  It’s not the running.  It’s really not.  The running could literally be the “icing on the cake” though.  I think under the excess weight I’m still carrying are some hard, tough muscles just begging to come out.  And they will… if I eat better.  I’m using all the extra calorie burning to justify just eating way too much at times.  That’s just not going to work.

If I want to lose weight I need to  change my eating…  if I want to be fit I need to KEEP RUNNING.  I know that’s just a plain, simple concept but to me it seemed so profound.

My eating is nowhere as bad as it was a year and a half ago.  I’ve changed so much.  But boy oh boy I’m hardly a poster child for eating as I should.  I can’t justify beating myself up over it but I do need to improve.

I’m going to stop using the running as an excuse to eat more.  That’s where I’m getting tripped up…  the weekend after my long runs are just food fests for me.  From now on I need to eat what I NEED TO EAT to fuel my body but the mentality of eating extra because “I burned so much” has GOT TO GO! So that’s it.  It’s just that simple.

I have a great opportunity coming up.  It is less than a month until the annual 911 Fitness Challenge.  This is a fitness challenge offered every year through my work.  Last year I came in 9th place (out of about 250 people) and my team came in 3rd place (I’m not sure how many teams there were).  This is a great opportunity to kick it into high gear and finish off what I started.  I’m on a team with Josie, and my Aunt again which will make it even better.  I’m psyched!!!  Last year our team was “Extreme Makeover: Bootie Edition”.  This year I don’t know what we’ll be.  I’m hoping for “Dropping Like Flies” but there may be another cool name out there.  Do you have a good idea for a weight loss team name?  If so please share.

I wanted to check in real quick since last week I committed to going back to goal tracking. I did this because not only is it a good thing, but I wanted to make sure that everything was in place for my longest run yet.  I wanted to do well… I wanted to feel good when I was done.  I didn’t want physical factors (like poor diet or lack of water) to bog me down.  Well, I am pleased to say that I was 100% on target with all goals.  Here’s a recap:
 

1. I will drink at least 1 gallon of water each day before 5PM (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday) – SUCCESS
2. I will drink at least 1.5 gallons of water Thursday and Friday before 4PM (note: this is for my long run. I am cutting the water short early to avoid unnecessary trips to the rest room during my long run) – SUCCESS. 
3. I will log all food intake this week and the numbers fall in line how they should on myfitnesspal.com’s recommendations for me (i.e., fat in line, calories in line, etc…) – SUCCESS.  Another good thing happened.  I have now lost 104 pounds, with a change of about 1.5 pounds this week.  Tracking food really helps me (note to self: Remember this and keep doing it!!!)
4. I will complete and log all weekday miles this week (Sunday slow run, Monday slow run, Wednesday race day pace bridge run) – SUCCESS
5. I will rest on Thursday, no running. – SUCCESS
 
 

Well…  so how did my run go?  Well, I would love to say that I did everything right and my run was perfect but sometimes things just come up in life out of the blue and they trip us up (quite literally).  The first half of my run went great but guess what I encountered to trip me up???
 

NO JUST KIDDING!!!! Being tripped up by this would have been a little less embarrassing than what actually tripped me up. This is what tripped me. It got caught in both of my feet as I was running and BOOM, DOWN I WENT!!!! LOL!!!!  It’s a plastic tie, something that’s used to bind a stack of newspapers, or a box of copy paper.  
 

And this is what happened as a result of this:

 












To say that I was disappointed to not be able to finish my 11 mile is an understatement. I was down right pissed!!!! I cleared about 6 miles. I am glad though that in spite of how nasty it looks I have no pain in the knee beyond just the surface (WHEW!!!) I even went out for a quick run yesterday to test it and all was A-OK! It felt great.
 

So that’s that. We are supposed to drop in miles coming this Saturday but I don’t know about me. I still want to do 11 and I have to speak with my coach.
 

As for this week, I will be repeating my goals from last week. Even if my coach doesn’t agree to give me another shot at 11 for this week the goals are still very good, healthy goals. I intend to keep them throughout the rest of training until I cross the finish line.
 

So that’s about it. Oh… one quick note, one of my blogging buddies completed his first marathon yesterday and I’m super proud. Great job Brandon!!! I’m sure you rocked it.