The good, the bad, and the ugly (photos, videos, and stories from the race)

Where to begin?  I guess I can start by saying that despite six months of preparation I had not the slightest clue of what I had signed up for.  This was by far the most nitty-gritty, tough, and dirty, physically draining thing I have EVER done. 

But I did it!

 

THE GOOD

The best part of the race definitely was getting to run with my husband.  He was incredible. He ran earlier in the morning just to see how fast he could do it, and then he ran alongside me. He helped me through some of the worst parts of the race, but mostly he just encouraged me and worked alongside me.  That's what marriage is! My husband could have sped up and left me by myself, he's definitely stronger and faster than me, but instead he chose to run beside me.  He knew that I could make it through any challenge, and that if I felt I couldn't I'd simply ask for help.  He never treated me as though he were there just to help me "get through it". Nope. He just wanted to enjoy the experience with me. 

What a guy.

Muddy kisses.  You know that's got to be love.

Oh, and also, out of 3000 + people, Shawn came in 27th place. I'm so proud of him!

We also had a bunch of friends from church who were running with us.  It was fun getting to hang out with them as we eagerly awaited the race! 

Here we are before the race:

aaaaaaaannnnnndddd  after the race:

THE BAD

I quickly realized where my training had fallen short: RUNNING.  In all the strength training I had done, I guess I forgot that first and foremost the Spartan Race was, well, a RACE.  It took place in a hilly mountain terrain.  I had been doing a hill workout once a week, but what I didn't realize was that I should have been practicing endurance running on hills.  I LOVED almost every single obstacle (Except for 2, which I will tell you about in the next section THE UGLY) but I was shocked when there would be long stretches without anything but running.  The obstacles would be sort of clumped together after long stints of windy hills. 

The uphill portions were drastically steep.  When we got to the downhill portion I was excited because I thought a nice downhill jog would help pick up my energy levels. I quickly realized that as steep as the inclines were, the declines were probably steeper.  I watched beefy dudes try to power through and jog the downhill portions only to slip and slide down on their butts.  One guy wiped out pretty bad, he tripped and fell and slid on his side for about ten feet on a gravel path.  Shawn caught him and helped him up. He was taken off the course immediately as his knee was already visibly swelling. YIKES!

For all the pain that was in the actual jogging portion, the view made it worth it.  It was incredible to see all of the mountains! It also made me realize how large Calamingos Ranch is. (that was the location of the race) We wound up one hill and saw that below, a wedding was taking place! Crazy to think of the drastic difference between the two!

THE UGLY
There were approximately 25 obstacles to get through during the race.  Out of those, there were two obstacles that made me want to quit.  I contemplated it quite seriously.  They were by far the most hellish parts of the race. 

Obstacle one: THE LAKE CROSSING

My first step into the lake brought the water up to my knees.  That was enough contact for my breath to leave my body.  If I had to guess, I would say that the water was below 40 degrees.  My next two steps brought the water up to my chin.  Now, for those of you who have ever invited me to a pool party, you know that once I'm in water deeper than 4 feet, I'm pretty much useless.  I don't really know how to swim, and in that freezing water I couldn't even remember my name, let alone how to swim. 

Panic set in as I frantically tried to kick my legs.  The mesh on the tops of my shoes made it feel like water was just whizzing through my feet and my kicking wasn't doing a thing. 

I. FREAKED. OUT.

It wasn't too far of a distance to go, maybe 50 yards, but the cold, mixed with a feeling that I wouldn't be able to get out soon due to drowning made me start to panic bad.  I started saying in a frantic high pitched tone "I can't swim! I can't swim!" That turned into a noise I've never heard myself make before.  Shawn said I was starting to hyperventilate.  I was squealing and trying to catch my breath at the same time. 

Luckily, this was a challenge that my husband was well prepared for. He used to swim competitively.  He simply picked me up and pushed me across the rest of that lake.  I had never been so happy to see dry muddy land.

The next challenge was a fun one, in fact, probably my favorite, so that helped the panic I had just experienced wear off.  The challenge was to lift a cement bucket on pulley up into the air and then slowly lower it.  I know that this one was by far my best challenge!

What I did not know was that around the corner was the second worst obstacle in the race:

Obstacle two: BARBED WIRE CROSSING

I would have liked to be in the meeting where the Spartan Race creators decided to make this challenge. I think it would have gone something like this:

"Hey, you know what's too easy? Crawling under 75 yards of very low spiky Barbed wire. What can we do to make this tough??"
"Oh! I know, let's lay the barbed wire down over a terrain that is cover in tiny sharp rocks so people will have to drag themselves across spiky gravel!"
"Oh! I have another great idea! I know that they just got out of freezing water. Let's try to make sure they don't get too warm.  Let's spray them with a fire hose as they cross!"
"BRILLIANT! That way it'll also be muddy, slippery, sharp, and tough!"

Yes.  That has to be how that conversation went, because that is what I endured.

I found myself wondering if it would be better to just cut myself on the barbed wire rather than to continue to pull myself across that sharp gravel! Once they started spraying us with fire hoses, I had to restrain myself from squeezing through the barbed wire to stand up and punch the guy spraying us.

But eventually I found the trick was to barrel roll across the gravel! It required less strength and didn't hurt my elbows and knees so much.  It did result in EPIC bruises all over my body though!


SUMMARY
All in all, I felt incredible crossing the finish line. Well, I mean, I was exhausted, but it felt great!

Here's a video of me and my husband running across the finish line.  Please notice how I get double bumped on the butt by a mean Spartan!

Here are some more fun pics from the race:

My friend Phil about to jump over the second to last challenge... Fire

We had to throw a spear and make it stick into the hay, otherwise 30 burpees! I didn't land it, but I only had to do jumping jacks on account of my bum wrist!

Yup. Didn't land it, but don't I look cool??

They had put TONS of soap on this wall!

I think what I was thinking here was this "Someone PLEASE talk me out of doing this again next year!" 

Overall, I had a blast! I felt so good about finishing it! During the race, my arm didn't hurt, but I think that was simply the adrenaline rush.  I'm feeling the reprocussions now, but all in all I'm doing alright.

That night I came home and after cleaning up I sat on the couch. As I did, I noticed I was a pale white color. My skin had completely flushed. I looked in the mirror, I looked like a ghost.  Why? Because I had never put my body through that kind of physical effort before.  I took it as a sign to go to bed. and I did! I slept for almost twelve hours!

I think that's a good tell that I really pushed myself :-)

and I'm so happy I did!

I DID IT!!

I FINISHED THE SPARTAN RACE!

It was hands down the most difficult thing I have ever done! It feels great to have completed it! I don't yet know exactly how long it took, but I do know it was just a little over an hour. And I feel: Pretty. Darn. Good. about that :-)

Pictures, video, and all the wonderful details will be trickling in over the next few days.

In the meantime, here are just a few photos!

Before Shawn Ran

After the race in my very warm comfy-clothes

Love that girl. So happy Stevie was able to come out and support!

THE RACE IS TOMORROW!!!

Okay, first things first:

If you want to come to watch the race here are the details:

I will be running at 2 PM 

SPECTATOR TICKETS

Last year there was no charge for spectators... but ... this year they have changed that.  Here are the details they sent:

 

Spectator tickets are $10 and sold on site (please bring cash, limited Credit Card services are available). Spectators receive:    
* $5 in Spartan Bucks at the merchandise tent    
* A course map    
* Access to Spartan Race Festival Ground Areas. Activities include food vendors, live music, spear throwing, raffles, and watching your friends and loved ones slip and slide through the Spartan course!

LOCATION

327 S. Latigo Canyon Road, Malibu CA 90265.

PARKING:  

Parking is $10. Spaces are limited, so please carpool!

WAHOO! I cannot wait! 

Okay, onto how I'm feeling and what-not. I AM SO EXCITED!  

This week has been a crazy emotional roller coaster, and I can easily say that that roller coaster ride has left me a bit queezy...  At the start of the week I was so anxious I was sick.  That was followed by a round of "moody-ness". (That's code for I was a total B****) Yesterday I was back to feeling well and feeling excited! Today, I'm just simply excited.  

Part of the reason I'm excited is because I have received so much encouragement from my friends! One amazing co-worker (HOLLY!) actually decorated my desk in support!

Look at this sweet sign she hung on my desk!

Fun!

 She left me protein bars wrapped in a ribbon as well as a loving little encouragement note (pictured above) saying "Heather is more than a conqueror!"

Awesome!

My wrist is feeling better, but not completely healed.  I'd say it's at about 80%. I'm going to wear my brace tomorrow as well as have my husband help me through some of the more strenuous obstacles. 

Now all I need is a good night's sleep... which might be tough to get! I had anxiety dreams last night about the race that were so bad that I woke up in the middle of the night and dry-heaved. YUCK.  Hopefully tonight I'll be feeling more calm and prepared!

I can't believe that after SIX MONTHS of training the day is finally here! 

Pictures and video will be posted on the blog as soon as I can process them.

Oh, and in case you forgot what I'm in for... here's a video to remind you!

SPARTAN RACE. I AM SO READY FOR YOU.

AROOOO! AROOO! 

 

Getting Close-The verdict

SPARTAN RACE COUNTDOWN

Well, there it is.... Tick, tick, ticking away....

The race is just around the corner and I am getting more and more scared!

The past few weeks have been interesting for me.  My arm is getting slightly better, but it still hurts.  It has been a daily struggle not to feel discouraged!

 I cannot even begin to write down all of the things I have been going through since I hurt myself.  This has been a very hard process.  Everyone keeps asking me, "Are you still going to do the race?"  "How many days until the race?" "Do you think you can do it?"

All right arm. Whatcha gonna do? You gonna heal up in time for this race??

I found myself satisfying my sadness with peanut butter cups and fast food.  The combination of no exercise with a sudden decline in diet created a wonderfully negative emotional bomb for me.

One night I was driving home and I had a full-on emotional breakdown.  I began to cry as I realized that I might not actually be able to compete in this race.  Another thought that I had was that even if I do compete I won't be able to do some of the obstacles, and it will definitely take me longer to get through than the time I had originally planned to finish in.

I was definitely having a pity party for myself.

The next day at work a couple girls were asking me about how my arm was and I told them the truth, that I was really struggling with it. One of the women in the conversation pulled me aside afterwards and lovingly, but firmly said this,

"Heather. I want you to really pray about this race.  Pray about whether or not this is something God wants you to be doing, because if He is trying to slow you down and you keep fighting Him, eventually He will let you go... and believe me, you do not want that. Make sure that this isn't about you, or your pride."

I was dumbfounded.  I stopped and took a moment to think.  I realized that if God Himself were standing in front of me telling me not to do this race I think I would have thrown a fit and told Him that I knew better.  That's when I realized that I had made this race into an Idol.

I took a good thing, a goal for being healthier, and made it an ultimate thing.  Originally I started this whole process as a way of loving my body, but somewhere along the line it became about 'look what I can do'. My pride has definitely kicked in, and this race was going to be all about me and my glory.

I have had many conversations since then, and I have been doing a lot of praying.  I realized that even being upset that I won't be able  to run it as fast as I had originally hoped is proof that this race has become about my pride.  Haven't I been saying all along that this isn't about how fast I run it, rather just COMPLETING the race???

Another revelation hit me.  This whole race had been my goal to help me work towards eating well too, and the second I was no longer in control of my exercise I decided to stop being dilligent in what I was eating as well. The self-medicating I was doing with food should have been a warning flag!

I have been praying about it, and I have been asking God to give me the correct perspective.  With only days to the race I need to be positive that I'm not running it for my own glory, but for His.  It is because of the love that Christ has for me that I am even capable of taking care of myself.  That should be ever-present in my mind.

Since then, my attitude has shifted.  It's been a hard lesson to work through (and I'm definitely still working through it) but I realized that ultimately, I am still so blessed. I have a minor injury on a fully functioning body.  There are so many people who don't even have that!

Also, I must keep EVERYTHING in perspective.  I was reading some old blogs on here where I was talking about how much I wasn't disciplined and how much I hated exercise.  It rocked my world to realize that part of the reason I've been so upset over the past couple of weeks is because I haven't been able to exercise... that's mind boggling to me.  I used to be upset because I needed to exercise... now I'm upset when I don't get to exercise.  PRAISE GOD FOR THE TRANSFORMATION HE HAS BEEN WORKING IN MY LIFE.

So.  Here's the verdict:

Yes.  I will be running this race.  Yes. It will be the most difficult thing I have ever done, now moreso than even before.  But I am going to take my time and remember this is a fun goal that I have been excited for for months.  This isn't about how fast I can run it, or how awesome I am at each of the obstacles, no.  This is about praising God for having blessed me with a body.  This is an act of worship to Him.  May it be to His glory alone!

Feeling Discouraged.

The race I have been training almost 6 months for is 18 days away, and in a matter of days i went from feeling pumped and prepared, to feeling like i may not be able to run at all.

When I had my little 'garage door fight' (you can read about it by clicking here) I genuinely did not expect such a huge stall in my training. To be honest, I'm a klutz and a hypochondriac. I assume that every little accident I have in a day (and I have many accidents in a day) will leave me scarred for life. When this accident happened I didn't genuinely believe I'd be in pain for more than a couple of days.  Even still, when the doctor told me I had sprained my forearm and elbow, I did not understand the full ramifications of what that meant.

I was foolish and continued to exercise and use my arm mostly as normal. As the first few days passed I noticed the pain and swelling increased.  I definitely was not heeding my doctors instructions of "Do not use your arm for anything for at least a week".  Fortunately my loving husband put his foot down and demanded I put my arm in a sling so I would be forced to stop using it.

Its hard to make slings look good, but so far I've at least had them match my outfits :-)

So, as it stands here on day 6, my arm still hurts and I have decided to not work out at all until I can get through a day without it hurting.  I'm having such a hard time not feeling discouraged and reminding myself to be patient.

Ultimately I can't just 'will' it to be better, and I have to remember that loving your body is truly about doing what is best for it every day.

So today I rest.

Damages

So, for those of you who are just tuning in, I hurt my hand/wrist on Wednesday. (check out the blog on it When Garage Doors attack: A stall in my training?)

On Thursday more of my arm hurt.  The pain and stiffness extended from my wrist to just past my elbow.  I was having a hard time using my hand for anything, so I decided to call the doctor.

Sure enough, my doctor started examining my hand and noticed a lot of tension in my arm. So, it was off to the lab for x rays!

After they took my picture I came back to my doctors office and had a mini-melt down.  I knew that if my wrist was broken I wouldn't be able to compete in the Spartan race

My nerves were on edge! I didn't know what to expect, and I played out the various scenarios in my head.

Shortly after my mini freak out my doctor came back telling me the good news:


MY ARM WAS NOT BROKEN!!

Here's the not-so-great side of this story though: I do have a sprained wrist.  However, the doctor said that after about a week I could begin slowly easing it back into use.  In the meantime, I have to wear a wrist support band (It looks like I'm ready for some intense bowling). 

I also have to ice my wrist every hour for 15 minutes, along with taking Ibuprofin.  I'm practicing some range of motion exercises too.

I'm sad because the race is about 3 weeks away and I didn't realize how much I use my wrist in almost everything I do! I couldn't jog on Thursday night because the jarring motion hurt my arm and wrist!

It's also crazy how much it affects everything.  The pain has now spread from my wrist to my shoulder. OW.

Never in my life have I had a physical goal that I've been trying to work towards.  When this accident happened I didn't realize what that would mean for my training.  It's going to be a cut back, but hopefully I can strengthen myself enough to get through it! As I said in an earlier post, it's good to be reminded that no matter how strong I try to make myself, my body is ultimately weak, vulnerable.  It's a humbling reminder to keep life balanced.  It's good to be healthy, but keep in mind that ultimately your life is not yours to control!

Queen of the HILL!

Welp. Despite the early morning injury I was still able to do my 'hill' routine after work! I did the entire routine 8 times in 48 minutes! WOWZA!  A month ago when I started this hill routine I only did 5 rounds and it took me 60 minutes. I have cut my time in half!!!

I am still concerned about my hand, specifically my wrist. It's hurting worse, and I am getting to a point where it hurts with almost any movement. I might go in for an x ray tomorrow.

Prayers would be appreciated!

When garage doors attack: a stall in my training?

Today started with a very dramatic accident. (at least I thought so....)

Previous to getting married to a man who is very concerned about being on time, I used to be late to everything. I will say that that has changed over the past two years, but I still have some bad habits that stick. One of those habits is hitting snooze on the alarm. I will snooze until I only have 10 minutes to get out of the house and of course I end up arriving 5-10 min late to work. Not good.

So today I woke up determined to be on time. I am proud to say I made it out the door at a reasonable time. However, as fate would have it, I ended up being delayed by an epic battle with my garage door that set me back 10 minutes, and possibly set back some of my Spartan training as well.....

As I went to pull out of the garage, the gate just would not open! 

Let me set the scene for you:

This is how our garage door opens. It slides horizontally. There has been 1 time in the past when the gate wouldn't open, so Shawn took the lever and inserted it into our garage controller box and cranked it open.

So, when I couldn't get out this morning I immediately got out of the car, inserted the lever, and began to manually crank the door open. I had been at it for about a minute, when suddenly, the gate started opening on it's own! This meant the lever I had inserted started rotating SUPER FAST. It bent my wrist, then the other side slapped down on the back of my hand, then it loosed itself and went flying into the air.

Immediately I hurt. I swore I had broken my thumb where the lever hurt.

I took a picture immediately afterward of my hand. It's not gross, but I know some people are squeemish, so instead of posting it here i've added a link to the photo, so you can choose whether or not you wish to see it.

http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k92/dramadye/hurthand.jpg

As the day has progressed i'm happy to say I don't believe anything is broken. In fact, it hasn't been the part of my hand that was hit that has been bothering me most. The muscles in my wrist and forearm feel extremely tense and I'm concerned I may have strained them.

Yes, I am concerned this could affect my ability to climb things during the race. I'm gonna take it easy on my wrist the next few days to see how it goes. Ultimately this isn't that big of a setback, just a reminder that no matter how strong you are you're body is still vulnerable!

Next time, I'll think first and turn the power off before I start a manual crank.... Oh if only I could strengthen my common sense!

24 days till the race!!

Twenty five

And the countdown begins!!

Only 25 more days until the race!!

The weekend is over and that means it is back to work… Working out that is!

Usually on Saturdays Shawn and I go to the park and play about 3 hours of ultimate frisbee, but this Saturday was different. We had a friends wedding to go to and it started at such a time that we weren't able to play. We didn't mind! The wedding was SO MUCH FUN!

Unfortunately I have a terrible camera, and the few photos I did take didn't turn out so hot. Nonetheless, here's a pic of me and my best friend Stevie:

And this picture of me and my handsome hubby!

The wedding was great, and both Shawn and I burned a lot of calories dancing! We danced for a looooooong time to some great music! It was a BLAST!!

But that was then, and this is now….

Monday nights I take a FIT class that my husband teaches. Last night I got a great workout in!

Tonight I will be running hopefully 2 miles when I get home. It's my goal to run 3 miles on thursday. That will be the first time I've ever done it!! Eeep!

Fortunately I have eaten very well today, so I feel my body is up for a challenge!

Enough typing, time to sweat!

ONE MONTH TO GO!!

The Spartan Race is ONE MONTH away from today!

WOW! 

In four weeks I will be crawling through mud, jumping over walls, swimming, wrestling Spartan warriors, and in general, doing the toughest physical thing I have ever done in my life.

Do I feel ready? 

Its hard to say.  I have a feeling that even after the race I still won't feel ready for it. However, I am so much stronger! If I was forced to run today, I think I could do it, and I could run it well.  Still, there are several obstacles I need to push through.  I still have never run 3 consecutive miles in my training, let alone tried running them uphill (as most of the race is uphill).  But I truly believe I will be ready on the actual race day!

Each week it's easy to see how much I'm progressing in the things I can actually do.  I work out a lot with my husband (he is an amazing trainer!) and when I first started training there was one workout that I could only get halfway through in one hour. Now, I can do that same workout in about 25 minutes!

Every Wednesday I do a special hill training workout at my office. (we have a fairly steep driveway). This is the workout:

1. Run to the bottom of our driveway
2. Run back up the steep driveway
3. 15 pushups
4. 20 lunges left leg
5. 20 lunges right leg
6. 5 burpees (OH! I have such a love hate relationship with Burpees!)
7. 30 squats

The first week I did this workout it took me 60 minutes to do this 5 times.  Just two weeks later, I could do the whole thing 8 times through in 60 minutes! AMAZING!!!!

As if that progress wasn't enough, I've decided to post some progress pictures. My weight has pretty much maintained at about the same level, but I now have muscles!

AS a reminder, this was me in March 2011before I had started any training:

And, now, here I am today:

Yes. I do have a huge grin on my face. I have it because for the first time ever in my life, I feel really content with my body. 

Now, please, do not mishear me! This has been a process. Why do I feel really content with my body? It's because every single day I am working hard to actively love  my  body.  Each day I make a choice as to whether or not I'm going to actually take care of myself by eating right and working out. I definitely fail at that a lot.  However, there is grace in the process. 

With one month to go I am increasing my training! Also, I'll be cutting alcohol and sugar out of my diet for this month... Please! Don't tempt me! :-)  I want to make sure that I feel I have prepared myself to the best of my abilities for this race.

Alrighty! Enough typing! Time to go for a run!

So... It's been a while

You may have noticed I haven't posted in a while. No good excuses for that really. However, I do have a personal message to you!

Thanks for your support! Can't wait to see how the last two months fly by!

The death of a legacy

Well. I'm sad to say I have finally had enough.

That's right.

I'm killing the salad I eat every day for lunch.

I've never enjoyed a salad so much. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I ate it every day for lunch for nearly 3 months. Maybe you remember it from a previous blog post?

However, today my taste buds couldn't take it anymore and I had to come to the conclusion that I need a change in my daily salad-ing.

I need your  help to bring to life a new salad! What do you suggest?

3- HALFWAY!!!

I cannot believe I am officially halfway to the Spartan Race!

Thank you for your support and encouragement in this process. August has been a tough month and I really need more accountability as I move on from here. Since I am now 3 months away from the race I am beefing up my training. I'll try and blog about that soon.

Wonder what the Spartan Race will be like? Wonder no more! I have created a video that perfectly breaks down everything I will be going through at the race!

Oh I would walk five hundred miles... or maybe just 3 and a half..

Hey! So this is cool!

Yesterday we had a health fair at my company and lots of vendors were giving away neat stuff. In one of my goodie bags I got a pedometer!

Today I tracked how many steps I take. In my work day alone I walked 3 and a half miles!

My work day was particularly busy, but how cool is that! No idle desk sitting for me! I'm a girl on the go!


As far as the kidney infection front is going I'm feeling better. I'm still not 100% though. I worked out for the first time in a week today and I couldn't do much more than 20 minutes without hurting internally. I'm just going to have to ease myself back in.


TOMORROW! There will be a more in depth blog! I just wanted to share this neat-o fact with ya'll!

TMI?

BOOOO. I have a kidney infection GROSS. 

Sorry. I probably should have warned you before dropping that bit of knowledge.  This blog is titled TMI? (Which stands for Too Much Information) because it contains TMI.

There. Now you've been warned. Continue if you must.

During my 2 weeks of vacation I drank large amounts of coffee in the morning,  had a beer every night, and had very little water inbetween.  Also, I didn't take bathroom breaks when I should have. (because seriously, who wants to stop hanging out at the glorious beach to walk back 2 blocks to your house to go pee?) All of this resulted in a caffeine and alcohol cocktail brewing in my bladder.  Again. TMI?

 This past week it came on slowly.  My lower sides started to ache, and by Tuesday of this week I hurt A LOT.  I finally went to a doctor Wednesday who was sure I had an infection that had spread to my kidneys. Fun, right? 

So, why am I sharing this with you? Because my doctor also told me to "Take it easy. Take a week or so off of exercising to give your body rest". So, I'm down for this week.  In addition, I can only drink water or cranberry juice. NO CAFFEINE. I know right?? How's a girl supposed to survive???

Now I find myself frustrated for feeling lazy, and sad because I don't feel good.  An old coping technique has kicked in that might throw me off of my training... I cope by eating junk food.

Yesterday I ate 6 cupcakes and a piece of cake. I KNOW RIGHT? I need help! I need accountability!

I made this cake as a prop for a filming shoot we were doing yesterday. I ate so much frosting while making it! GROSS!

So, I'm trying to be okay with taking it easy.  In the midst of that, I need to actually take care of myself and not drown myself in junk.  Easier said than done right now.

On the bright side, during my vacation I gained 5 pounds. When I weighed in on Thursday I was back to my pre-vacation weight! Wahoo for a one week turnaround of 5 pounds! Now let's just see if I can keep it off in the midst of this crazy binge!

All this to say. If you see me eating something that you think I shouldn't be.... don't be afraid to talk to me about it. Of course, if you want to be dramatic you can always smack it out of my hands..... But I can't promise my husband won't retaliate. :-)

Keeping Score

As a child I never participated in any sports, I never enjoyed gym class, and when I did participate in any sporty games I was too self-conscious about my bad performance to care about the game.  Therefore, sports analogies were always L-O-S-T on me.  However, I recently had a huge realization that was a great analogy for my fitness mentality.

My husband and I have been gone on two weeks of (glorious!) vacation. Here's a few pics:

A little bright for us...

During those two weeks I allowed myself to truly relax, and that included a complete relaxing of my diet and exercise routine.  However, I didn't feel too bad about it.  It's healthy to allow yourself breaks.  Nonetheless, I did gain some weight.  (5 pounds) I expected to lose it pretty quick as I got back into the routine of healthy eating and exercise. To my dismay though, I have found that having the knowledge that I have gained a little weight has made me more prone to eating unhealthy, or deciding not to exercise.  It's been something that was on the back of my mind, and then yesterday I felt I got a huge understanding on what's going on.

Because I have been getting in better shape I recently started to join in on a weekly ultimate frisbee game my husband plays in every week.  Don't let the title fool you, this is no elementary school toss-the-frisbee game.  No. Every Saturday 20 muscly, intensely fast, guys get together and don't stop sprinting for almost 4 hours.  The game is sort of like basketball and there are a lot of turnovers and LOOOOOOTTTTTTTSSSS of running.

As I was playing the score was constantly being announced.  As the game got intense I started to notice that when my team was winning I was encouraged. My defense was stronger and I felt the need to play my best so that we would win.  (albeit, my best is still not the greatest, but I'm learning) However, when we were down I suddenly could feel how tired my body was. In those moments I didn't want to push myself harder. It felt like I wasn't going to win anyways, so why not give into defeat?

When I walked off the field a thought struck me: Why does the score affect the way I play?

Now let me break it down onto a level that might hit home a bit more.  Why do I let what the scale says affect the way I treat my body?

If you grew up in America, and especially if your a girl who grew up in America, then you're all too familiar with the power of the numbers on a scale.  'Weighing in' is almost always traumatic. Every girl has an ideal number in their brain, and the sad thing is most of the time we truly believe we can't be happy unless we are at that number.  That's just like the game.  We all want to win when we play the game, we all want the score to be in our favor, but the second that it's not we are devistated.

Why do we allow the score to have such power over our lives?  Going back to the game analogy, if every player on my team had not known who was winning, and instead had played their very best the game might have even ended differently! 

So. In case you're just as lost in sports analogies as I can be I'll break it down into this:

No matter what you weigh in at each week, you should still live every day to your best.  

If you are daily striving to take the best care of your body, I guarantee it will be a game changer that leads to a definite win.

Progress....

Okay. Before I get to the nitty gritty, please remember I am doing this training for my health. This has never been about my body, or losing weight.  I have made HUGE progress in strength! A few blogs ago I posted about being able to do pull ups for the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE!! Also, last Friday night, I was taking a class Shawn was teaching that had 3 16 year old boys in it.  They have endless amounts of energy, but I still finished the workout when they didn't. That's HUGE for me!

Nonetheless, I promised as part of my accountability in this, to post progress pictures every month. So here we go.

Here are photos from Last month

THIS MONTH

 

Another view....

LAST MONTH

 

This month

Mostly, my body is just getting stronger.  And that's cool to see.

I'm also down almost 5 more lbs from last month, which is exciting! I'm at a total of 16 pounds of weight loss since my start on May 19th.


I'm excited about progress!

Shawn and I are leaving tomorrow at 7 AM for VACATION!!! WAHOOO! I'm going to be spending a week on the beach with my hubby and the rest of his family. It's gonna be great! I'm gonna allow myself one splurge item of food a day. Whether that's something sweet, or a rich meal I don't know, but it's vacation, and I want to enjoy that.  I'm still gonna try to keep up the exercise though! Hopefully I won't go overboard... HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE :-)

See ya'll in a few weeks, with pics from the trip.

4

Two months of training have flown by!

4 months from today (November 19th) I will be running the Spartan Race with my hubby and a gaggle of friends!

Want to be part of it??? Message me and I'll give you a discount code for the race! Don't actually feel up to the challenge? Then come watch! You get to stand where the start and finish line meet and you can watch me jump over fire at the start and then be attacked by a Spartan warrior at the finish!

4 to go!

Ps progress pics coming soon!

the FIRST... of many

For the FIRST TIME IN MY WHOLE LIFE I can do something that I couldn't before. Want to see?

Watch:

Also, please disregard the sweat stains. I had just finished an hour workout with Shawn when we filmed this!

2 Years ago today....

Today is a special day.  I'm going to take a second to stop blogging about my physical health to talk about my heart's health.

Shawn Richardson is the man I love. I am so happy I get to be his wife. God truly is good.

Two years ago today, he asked me a very important question.  I couldn't be happier that I said yes.

For your viewing pleasure:

Om Nom Nom

In case you are wondering, "Om Nom Nom" is an onomatopoeic word. Sure it's a made up word, but it's the sound you make whenever you eat food like you're the cookie monster. 

Today I'm going to talk about the things I Om Nom Nom every day (aka, the things I eat every day).  I haven't been on a specific diet, but I have been trying to eat healthier.  Here's the big key that helps everything:

SCHEDULE

I try to eat 6 smallish meals a day, and one thing that I believe has accelerated my metabolism is the repetition I utilize every day.  Here's my routine:

8 AM- Breakfast

10 AM- Snack

12 PM- Lunch

2 PM- Snack

4 PM- very light snack (usually this hits about an 1 hour before I work out

7 PM- Dinner

Following this schedule has helped so much. Another thing that has greatly helped is this little nugget of knowledge:

CHANCES ARE I'M NOT GOING TO ACCIDENTALLY EAT WELL

I always try to think ahead.  I try to pre make meals at the start of the week.  Of course, I don't always have time to do that, so I also buy things that are easily put together.  If worse comes to worse, and I don't have any opportunity to make a healthy lunch, or dinner, I always swing by Trader Joes and buy one of their pre-made salads.  I'm in and out in 5 minutes.  Planning is essential.  However, it's also important that you don't become all-consumed with planning, at which point you have crossed the line into obsession. 

Oh, and one more thing that charges my day

FIBER

The more fiber I eat the more full I feel. My day is chuck full of foods that fill me up for hours.  I honestly have to remember to eat every couple of hours because most of the time I'm not feeling hungry.

So, want to know what I eat every day? Here are the principles I apply every day:

Breakfast: Something high in fiber and protein (this will help you feel full longer)
Snack: Fruit, because a piece of fruit gives you sugar energy (to help a morning slump)
Lunch: Again, something high in fiber and protein.  I like to add as many veggies as I can into this mix, as I never get enough. Mostly my salads are 95% greens and 3% protein, 1%dairy 1% dressing.
Snack: High fiber high protein. (TJ's has snack sized trail mix. They're only 200 calories and are a great source of lasting energy. I also recommend edamame, or these crunchy green beans that TJ's sells)
Dinner: 1/3 protein 1/3 veggie 1/3 fruit (to make you feel like you got dessert)

Because repetition is easy, I tend to eat the same thing every day for a week. (I vary my dinner daily though) That way, when I pack my lunch bag each day, there's no guessing. 

Want a taste?

I tracked everything I ate for one day.

Here's what it looked like:

BREAKFAST 8 AM

I LOVE this oatmeal from Trader Joes.  It has flax seed and plant sterols (plant sterols are good for your heart <3 ) It is super filling, and all it requires is a little hot water. I grab a cup of hot water as I walk in to work each day and eat it at my desk while I catch up on emails.  It tastes delicious and is a great way to ease into the work day!

SNACK 10 AM 

I eat an apple every day! High in fiber and not too filling to spoil my lunch.

LUNCH 12PM

OH MY GOODNESS! This salad is a newer creation for me and it is AWESOME!

Here's the recipe (not all measurements are exact, mostly I just eye the salad and decide what else I would like):

3 Cups Spinach
Pomegranite seeds
2 Sliced strawberries
A few blackberries
Garbanzo beans
Feta cheese
1/4 cup almond slivers

The dressing is homemade, and is perfect for this salad.  Want the recipe? (these are exact measurements. I made the whole batch at once. You only need just a little dressing on the salad as the flavor is strong and a little goes a looooong way)

1/4 Cup balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup Honey
1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Vanilla extract

SOOOO GOOD! Enjoy that one!

SNACK 2 PM 

 

Aw Nuts! Trader Joes has these amazing prepackaged nut mixes. This is one pack. Clearly, there's a lot of food in one pack! These are great for portion control.... and.... they make for some fun afternoon creativity! Who says you can't play with your food? Look what I made:

Creepy? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely.

SNACK 4 PM

GOD BLESS TRADER JOES! These are yummy! They're just dried green beans with a little sweet salt on them. It's like eating a potato chip! They're high in fiber and have some protein to them as well!

DINNER 7 PM 


Now, this one varies a lot.  I'll show you some of my recent dinners that were DELISH!

Salmon with sauteed spinach, cherry tomatoes, and basil mashed potatoes... . OM NOM NOM indeed!

So, let me tell you what you're looking at:

A lean turkey burger with sauteed spinach, and mushroom mixed in with the patty.  In the center of the patty was a small ball of blue cheese, and I put a little blue cheese on top.  Then, I wrapped it in a piece of lettuce and put a dab of spicy mustard on it.

Next was the asparagus, which I boiled in lemon water (with a little olive oil and salt) then sprinkled with a touch of salt, oil, and lemon pepper when it was all done.

Om nom nom! It was soooo good!

Once a week, on the same night every week, Shawn and I visit the best Sushi place in the VALLEY! We're there every week and the waiters and sushi chefs know us! They've started telling us about their personal lives! It's awesome.

Want to check it out? It's Tokyo Ice in Encino. WOWZA they're good.

Shawn and I will share a JJ's roll (which is spicy tuna on top of a bed of tempura rice) with a jalapeno on top (I have to take the jalapeno off... too spicy for me) and a Dragon Roll which is basically a california roll with Eel and Avacado!

This place has the BEST dragon roll! Seriously. Check it out.


So, now you know what my daily digest looks like.  It's fun to eat healthy when you start to look for creative ways to do it! Prior to starting the Spartan Six, I was constantly nauseous. Not so since I started eating well.  I like it, and so does my body!

So, EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT PEOPLE! OM NOM NOM!!