This past weekend, an opportunity landed in my lap to try out a type a race that I have never done before- a mud race.

What is a mud race?  It’s usually a fun run that includes obstacles of some sort.  The length of the run can vary.  The number of obstacles can vary, but there is ALWAYS mud involved at some point.

You can read my race report here, if you like.

No mind you, I had not trained for this race.  I mean, I still have my running background but I was not prepared for hoisting myself over any kind of obstacle.  My only plan was to have fun and not lose my shorts in the mud pit- mission accomplished!  I did, however, get very very very muddy.

 This was my first time to do a race of this kind, and I LOVED it.  It kind of makes me wish that I had done it sooner.  I vividly remember thinking at one point in the race- this is so much better than straight running, I get to break up the monotony of running with obstacles- yippee!!!!  It was harder in some respects, since I was using different muscles for the obstacles and then a different set for the running/hiking.

Now, I want to do more, especially given my hate disdain dislike of HOT RUNNING.

Since I am no longer a Mud Run virgin, I am anxious to find another run to do in my area and soon.  ’Tis the season for mud!

I did a quick google search on Mud Races and was surprised on the number of options out there.

• Muddy Buddy
• Spartan Race
• Tough Mudder
• The Original Mud Run
• Diva Dash
• Survivor Mud Run
• Warrior Dash

This is by no means the entire list- just a beginning. Also, I’ve heard of Zombie Runs, Urban Adventure Races, Foam Fest 5K’s.

So go ahead. Try it, you just might like it.  I did!

Tell me – what fun races have you done?!

I’m sitting here wondering what the heck I can toot my horn about about I’m drawing a blank.  Isn’t that sad?!  I’ve already *tooted* in the past about running, the building of our house and the like- what else is there?!

Well of course, there is so much more.

I want to toot about other stuff.

Like, the fact that I want to Las Vegas 1.5 weekends ago with one of my BFF’s and we had the absolute best time duh.  The best part about that trip wasn’t the obvious- sitting by the pool for hours, or wearing pretty dresses and make-up, or dancing the night away.  Vegas taught me about being me…..well, really, it just gave me a reminder that I very much needed.  It also reinforced for me how much I love my family.

Oh, oh oh.  I just thought of another one.  I’ve *upped* the weights in the weightlifting class that I take twice a week.  I still don’t squat, lunge or curl as much as some of you, BUT I am stronger.  I can especially tell how much stronger my *butt* muscles are when I am running.  Running feels even better now that I am strengthening my entire body.  SCORE!!!!

Speaking of running, the other day I ran a mile in 10:50, which again is slow for some of you but fast for me.  I was a dripping, sweaty mess (hello HOT running!) but I felt awesome awesome awesome as I pushed myself.

Lastly, I will be 40 years old next week and I am fairly certain I don’t look 40.  More than that, I feel the healthiest I have ever been in my life and the strongest mentally.  I can’t ask for much more than that, can I?

What about you? Are you ready to toot away?  Please do in the comments below!

So, I thought I had Thursday’s post to write but it turns out that I am supposed to write toot- ha ha today.  Really, I looked at our writing calender last week and fooled myself into thinking I had a post for a different day.  Silly me.

My apologies for the lateness of this tooting.

Yeah, today is THE day where we toot our horns about all the good that is going on in our life or that we are doing- whether it’s fitness, weight, healthy, or other-related.  It can be ANYTHING.

Here are mine:

1. I did a half marathon on March 31st.  Since then, I have lost my running mojo and frankly, I’ve been having some quirky twinges in my foot when I run- a new thing for me and courtesy of the hard half marathon course.  Anyhoo, I haven’t been enjoying my runs lately so I just kind of STOPPED them.  Until yesterday.  I got on the treadmill to do a warm-up and I felt great, like my old self.  I did that warm-up, then did a quick set of sprints and then went on to do a one hour Body Pump class (weight lifting)- boo yah!!!!
2. I am taking a REAL girls vacation weekend….. THIS weekend.  I am beyond excited.  I am also spending way too much time obsessing over what I should wear while we are there.  Also, why do shoes take up so much room in the suitcase? Three nights, two best friends, Vegas-bound, baby!
3. The building of our house is moving right along and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a late July move-in.

What about you?  Please come toot your horn for me- I promise to read!

Good morning, everyone!  Are you still going strong, faltering, racing to the finish?

Take a look at the ACTION plan you came up with the very first day of the challenge – have you been following it?

Analyze your goals – decide what you want to accomplish over the next 6 weeks.
Commit to a plan – how are you going to achieve your goals? Put it on the calendar!
Track your progress – Journal, journal, journal. Whether it’s on your blog or on paper.
Inspire yourself and others – Supporting other people will inspire you to do your best.
Overcome your fears – Face them head on, and realize you’re strong and can do anything.
Never give up – Enough said. Quitting is not an option.

FITNESS CHALLENGE

#kickassApril. Are you participating?  I love doing squats (see>>>strong runner legs) however, burpees can officially suck it.  Why are they so hard?! But if it doesn’t kill me, then it will only make me stronger, right?!

RUN THE ‘HOOD VIRTUAL 5K/10K LAST CHANCE DISCOUNT

We are excited to be hosting our 4th Run The ‘Hood Virtual 5K & 10K on May 28, 2012- woot woot. It’s a great way to break into running, or if you’re already a runner, a nice way to collect another race medal (because we know how runners are <—-medal hoarders)! Registered participants will score a race t-shirt, swag bag, and finishers medal.  You can find more information on our Race Central page, or simply click below to be whisked away to registration. Registration closes Friday- that means you MUST be registered by then, April 20th. Enter LASTCHANCE in the box when checking out and you will get a special discount off your registration!

LASTLY…..

Go weigh-in (if you are a weigh-er) and let us know how your weight loss is going (or not, in my case). Blog about it, comment it, give a shout out here and there.

See you on the other side!

Yes, the SARA HALL.

Photo credit: Brian Fitzsimmons

This Sara Hall (her bio- read it, in all of it’s glory).

Sara Hall is one of the nation’s elite female distance runners and runs every race with purpose. Hall won the 2012 American title at the USA Cross Country Championships and took home a gold medal at the 2011 Pan American games in the 3000-meter steeplechase. She is a stellar road race athlete and has won several prestigious races including the Drake Relays Grand Blue Mile and the US National Road Mile Championships. She finished first in the 1500-meters at the Millrose Games and is a two-time world team member for the United States at the world indoor track and field championships. The seven-time Stanford University All-American had an impressive collegiate career, finishing third in the 2003 NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship where she led her Stanford Cardinal to a team title.

Hall is married to Ryan Hall, an Olympic long distance runner and fellow Cardinal All-American. The Halls founded The Hall Steps Foundation in 2009 to raise money through their passion for running to fight poverty through better health, and continue to use their desire to help others guide them as they hit the pavement with purpose.

She is pretty.  And tiny. And su-weet.  So very nice, charming, friendly, and free with running advice.

Plus, this girl runs FAST.

O-M-G.

You can imagine that I was a tiny nervous to interview her, after wogging jogging walking running the Muscle Milk Light ZOOMA Texas Women’s Half Marathon back on March 31st.  I mean, here I come, all sweaty, stinky, and gasping for breathe.  OK, I wasn’t really gasping for breathe but I was HOT and TIRED.

We introduced ourselves and away our running conversation went.  I peppered her with a million several questions about running and she pretty much reaffirmed everything that I had read previously.

• Everyone’s gotta start somewhere.  If you aren’t ready to run right away, then start with walking and eventually add in some running segments (can we say Couch 2 5k anyone?!)
• Hydrate hydrate hydrate, especially with the good ole Texas heat.
• Get a good pair of running shoes and fitted properly.
• Pick a training plan and do it.
• Eat properly (this is the hard one for me). Also, make sure to fuel properly before a long run.
• If you want to get faster, then you have to have some faster training runs.
• Sara’s No.1 tip for a new runner is to have fun!  Enjoy the process and celebrate the journey that you’ve worked so hard for (I love this).

We talked about her family, her mom starting to run, her husband and how they juggle their training schedules.

I’m positive she shared so much more but my brain was pretty mushy by the time we chatted.

She was SO nice.

Sara is currently training  for the Summer Olympics in the 3000m steeplechase- qualifiers happen in late June.  Can you join me in sending her some major running mojo?  I think she would do an excellent job representing the United States in London!

Also, don’t forget- you still have time to register for Run the ‘Hood 2012!

1st Check-In Here

Hello all my new friends! First of all I want to say thank you all for the encouraging words of support. I’m still having great success on my journey, and it is time to give you an update with all that has happened in the past month.

First and foremost, I have hit two important goals.

1.) I have lost 32.6 lbs as of April 3rd. If you remember I started at 346lbs on January 15, 2012 and as of today I weigh 313.4lbs!!

2.)I have had great improvement with my A1c (3 month blood glucose average). In January it was at a very high 9.8. It is what started me on this journey. Well that and my doctor wanting me to go on insulin. Anyway, my last labs were on March 15 and my A1c had dropped down to 6.1. That was in only 2 months’ time, and would include one month were my average was 9.8.

So what have I’ve been doing to achieve these results? Pretty much the same things as in my previous post. Watching what I eat, and lots of exercising. Many days of the week, I’m doing some combination of walking/swimming for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Usually it is broken into 2 to 3 sessions per day.

Now lest you think it has all been rosy, let me assure you it hasn’t. I have my days were it has been a struggle to eat right. I still lose the battle on occasion. So far I have not had a week to week gain in weight although there have been times where I was sweating it out. This week may be one of those.

I still struggle at times to get off my behind and go do something. Most of the time that happens after many hard days of exercise, and I’ve learned that I have to give my body a rest day. For example this morning, I took an hour long walk, and my lower shin has been hurting ever since. Now I’m not sure if I’m going to rest in the next day or two, but I’m definitely will not be walking this evening or tomorrow. It will be time to swim, and keep the weight off of my lower shin. I will take a rest day sometime this week, but not exactly sure when that will be. I like to play it by how my body feels.

So what is up next? If it ain’t broken don’t fix it. As long as I’m making progress doing what I’m doing I do not see a need to change anything. The one thing I may do is get my bike in riding condition and throw that into the exercise mix. My next scheduled doctors visit is May 22, and my goal weight on that visit is going to be 300lbs. I want to shock the heck out of the doctor with my progress, and I think that is a goal I can achieve.

Till next time, Adios!

Greg

I am so proud of my brother!  He is working hard to lose the weight and stay OFF of insulin.  Please give him a shout-out of support, encouragament and love- ya’ll are so good at it.

This is my first time to host Toot Your Horn Tuesday and I’m kind of excited!  See today is the day where we get to share something good that we’ve done over the past week and really, how much fun and powerful and positive and encouraging is it to focus on the good?  Am I right or am I right?

Yeah, I’m right : ).

1st Toot:  I ran a half marathon this weekend (and apparently quite a few of us ran races this weekend).  While that is awesome on its’ own right, my 2nd toot is even better.

2nd Toot:  I mentored a newbie runner to run/walk the same half marathon.  It was the first time that I had a training season not focused around me but focused around someone else and helping them achieve their goals.  It was an awesome experience and I absolutely loved it.

3rd Toot:  I picked up a few more newbie runners the morning of the race and our little group of 5 ran together on race.  We may been one of the slower groups on the course, BUT we had the most fun E-V-E-R and we were certainly happy and enthusiastic.  I cannot wait to repeat this mentor experience!

OK, now it’s your turn to share.  Go ahead now- toot your own horn in the comments below!

How’s this for last minute race registration?

I signed up to run the Capital 10K (Austin, TX) that is happening as you read this (or if you are reading later on Sunday, look- I am already done running!)…..

I registered today (Saturday….as in the day BEFORE the race, at 3pm to be exact).

How’s THAT for planning?!

The beauty of this though is that I am already trained for a half marathon, of which I am running NEXT weekend.  You keeping this all straight?

I ran this race last year and ended up being a huge disappointment to myself.  Instead of being thankful and grateful for this body that I have that has allowed me to run for 2.5 years now, I was mad at myself for not having a better race time.  In fact, reading last year’s race report makes me want to slap myself silly for even being disappointed.

I haven’t decided if I will take it nice and easy tomorrow (hello HOT running- 65 degrees and 90% humidity- yippee!) or will push myself to PR  (personal record) over last year’s time.  I have some friends that are doing the race tomorrow as well.  I can’t decide if I want to stay with them or venture out on my own.  Part of me want to fly solo, as this is my time to tune into my music and push myself. Part of me wants to stay with them and PUSH them to do their personal best, nevermind the fact that we would talk and laugh the entire time.

I don’t know.

It will be a last minute decision….kind of like the registration was- ha!!!

Anyhoo, my husband is bringing the three kiddos to meet me somewhere around Mile 5- this will only be the second time they have seen me run- and I know it will be awesome to see and hear them cheering for me.

Regardless of what I decide, I will have a great time and I’m sure I’ll have some fun experiences to share along the way.  I kind of wish I had a Sparkle Skirt to make me stand out from the 22,000+ running crowd.

Wish me luck!

PS- Speaking of races, did you know that The Sisterhood has kicked off their latest Couch to 5K program, ending with an actual 5K race? Go check it out!

PPS- We are giving away a Moving Comfort sports bra.  I LOVE Moving Comfort sports bras- I own two and I always make sure to wear one of them on race day- they keep the *girls* in place!

I look at others and wonder- *How do they do it all*?

Then, I look at myself and wonder- *How do I do it all*?

• I’m a wife.
• I’m a mother.
• I’m a runner, training someone else for our next half marathon.
• I am a writer for Shrinking Jeans and now, Shrinking Kitchen.
• I’m building a house from the ground up. I had absolutely NO idea how much work this involved and really, at times, it’s a full-time job in of itself.
• I have a husband who works out of town a lot.
• I am a Pampered Chef Consultant.
• I have to taxi, clean, cook, errand run, discipline, love, teach, manage the social calender and everything in between. 

The answer is- I don’t do it all.

Not by a long shot.  I do the best that I can, leaving lots of room for improvement.  I’m not the most organized but I try to be.  I’m not the most timely but I try to be (ie- why am I writing this post at 1am in the morning?!). I’m not the best mother, wife, runner but I try to be.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately uh-oh.  I can only do what I can do in a 24 hour period.  I have to prioritize my *to-do* list each and every day.  Some things will get done.  Some things will not get done. I have bad days where I just can’t seem to get anything done.  I have good days where I seem to get a lot done.

And some days, I just have to let it all go and be flexible with whatever craziness happens to be going on.

As I get older, I am realizing that this is OK.  I do not have to do everything for everyone.  I do not have to be super-mom, super-wife, super-runner.

I just have to be me, and that is enough.

I exercise quite a bit and have been since The Sisterhood challenged me to my first 5K  in 2009.  The only reason I took that challenge back then is because of the peer pressure- I thought, if all these non-runners can take up running for the next 8 weeks, then so can I.  If I absolutely hate it at the end, then I can move on to something else.

Except I didn’t hate it that came later.

I am now addicted to exercise and especially running.  My body CRAVES it.  My soul NEEDS it.  My spirit REJOICES with it.

Am I making you throw up yet?

So yeah, I workout/exercise/run/lift weights/yoga/Zumba/spin/swim and everything in between.

However, I find myself getting into a routine with the workouts, especially when I am in the midst of a half marathon training plan (my next half marathon is on March 31st).  I run 3 times a week, do strength training 1-2 times a week, and do a 101-5 min yoga routine whenever my body becomes too achey and stiff.  Routine is great- it keeps me going, I know what to expect on any given day and interestingly enough, because I know the routine so well, it gives me flexibility to change around workout days whenever the need arises.

BUT, I have stumbled upon something equally important- CHANGE UP YOUR ROUTINE ONCE IN A WHILE.

You see, a few months ago, I decided to add a Body Pump strength training class into my running mix (specifically, a weightlifting class at the YMCA).  In the beginning, I thought I might die from how the class made my muscles feel weak.  I kept going back to that class week after week after week and I felt myself grow stronger.  I noticed it most during my runs, oddly enough.  I felt strong and powerful.  My legs rarely hurt from running anymore, or it takes me at least until 8 miles to feel any kind of soreness and I attribute this to the Body Pump class I have been taking.

I never would have known this if I had quit back in the beginning, if I hadn’t decided to try something new, if I hadn’t changed up my workout routine.

Guess what?  Body Pump no longer makes me sore.  Sure, I can lift more weight and it still tires my muscles out, but I don’t get sore from the class.  one.  single.  bit.

Sounds like it’s time to change it up again, doesn’t it?

In the last few weeks, I have done two different strength workouts that are NOT my beloved Body Pump class.

I did CrossFit three times I thought I might die from this 16 minute workout.  Seriously.   I hurt in places that I didn’t even know I could hurt.  It was the shortest workout I have ever done that resulted in some serious soreness!  CrossFit deserves an entire post unto itself.  I was quite skeptical prior to the class.  I thought- how hard can 16 minutes be?  Um yeah, it kicked my boo-tay and I loved it.

I also did a combination speedwork treadmill workout in conjunction with some strength training (a workout I found in the book Run Like a Mother- I adore this book, go buy it now!).  Basically, I did a warm-up run on the treadmill, then alternated running FAST for 1/4 mile, then doing a set of strength/core exercises, repeat.  It is hours later since I did this workout and my entire body hurts, in a good way.

I have been reminded once again how important it is to change up the routine, to give my muscles new life and a new way to grow themselves, to get around the dreaded plateau.

Now, I challenge YOU to change it up.  If you’ve been doing the same workout daily or on a weekly basis, change something up within that routine.  If you aren’t working out at all, then change up that routine and do *something*.  Your body will thank you, and so will your spirit and soul.

Hit me up in the comments- tell me how you are going to *change it up*.  Don’t make me call you out!