13 in 2013

Today on Facebook I came across this challenge:  13 in 2013!  The challenge is to run 13 races in 2013.  I figured I might as well do it since it fits so nicely with my blog name lol.  Even if I only do virtual 5ks I'm still doing it!! :)  Now to make my list.

Back on the horse...

So, this morning I had pretty much convinced myself that I was not going for a run.....I was tired and cold and tired.  I was really tired. Then I started thinking about a breakfast burrito......So, I thought if I want one of those I better run or else my entire day of calories is blown!!  The plan was to pick up the burrito after dropping off daughter's class pet back at school (It didn't die!!!), but I drove right by Durango Joes and thought...yea I don't NEED  a burrito.  I had to run to the store real quick and get some gloves though and ear warmy band thing because as I said I was COLD.  I also got some cottage cheese and apple cider tea. YUMMMY.

perfect for grumpy cat mug!

I also found these things:

I grabbed them because they were just $1 and I thought they might be good to keep me from snacking while working.  These suckers taste just like eggnog!!  Awesome!! I had one and I felt like I just had dessert.

When I got back home I headed out for my run immediately before I lost motivation.  I started the 5k to 10k training program.  It was 10 minutes of jogging alternating with 3 minute tempo runs.....definitely different for me.  It was hard.  I was going to try and do a virtual 10k in January, but I think that might be too soon!

Monday Morning You Sure Look Fine!

Happy Monday! (Pat yourself on the back if you got that Fleetwood Mac reference.)  I'm finally caught up on blogging.  Whew.  I have discovered something amazing.  My new favorite breakfast/dessert/snack.

Cottage cheese with cranberry sauce.

Seriously amazing stuff!  On Saturday I started really monitoring my diet.  I have 30 pounds that I need to lose and it's time to get down to business!!  I was going to start with the 3-Day Military diet, but after day 1 I wanted to eat my arm off so I switched over to counting calories. So far so good!  Weigh in is on Thursday night, so I will let you know.

I STILL have not run since the Turkey Trot. :(  I have been having some major negative self talk going on. The bottom line is that I am really embarrassed with my poor performance.  Should I let that get me down? No, of course not!  Easier said than done.  The plan is to start the 5k to 10k program tomorrow.

Last night I decided to make a running shirt out of my pie doodle.  :)

It is a performance micro-fiber shirt, but you can also change the kind of shirt it's printed on if you aren't a fan of micro-fiber.  

hohum......

So, I haven't really wanted to post today.  I am still pretty mad at myself about this morning's 5k.  I was hoping to at least run it under 40, but my time ended up being 42:26.  I could NOT run the entire thing.  There were some hills that kicked my butt.  :(  I went into it feeling pretty confident and came out of it feeling really crummy.

pre-race

lining up at the start.

Finishing...

On a positive note, the girls from my running club who also ran did much better than me!  :)  (By like 10 minutes lol)  I'm really proud of them!

After we took pictures, got water and caught our breath, we went to find our free "lunch."  (It was 10 am and I don't eat before a race, so I counted this as breakfast!!)  We thought it was going to be a BBQ lunch but it turned out to be......turkey!  (I guess that's a big duh since this was the Turkey Trot).  I didn't think to take a picture until I ate some.  

Best turkey breakfast I ever had....

The little muffin was pumpkin or carrot or spice or something, but it was delicious!  Hubby said the teeny muffin was worth the entire trip....not sure about that.  After we ate I just wanted to get out of there.  So, we headed to Goodwill to check for ugly Christmas sweaters and milk glass.  No luck on those two things but we did find an AWESOME painting (hubby disagrees) and a replacement lid for a pot that we had lost.  Hubby thinks that the lid we found is actually our lid and we accidentally gave it to Goodwill.....LOL.  There might have been a Sangria at lunchtime and some Kahlua and coffee involved in the rest of the day.....

Sangria at the Greek restaurant!

Turkey lurkey!!!

Hubby picked up our packets for the Turkey Trot tomorrow!!! According to the map in the packet there's a BRUTAL hill about midway through!!! Yikes!!

Socks rock!!

I had a great run yesterday.  I totally DID NOT WANT to go out and do it.  It was chilly and I just wanted to be lazy and warm inside.  So, what did I do?  I asked for motivation on Facebook, and it worked!! Some days you need 15 people to yell at you to go run.  ;)  Once I got out there I was glad I did!  Then I PRd again! WOOT!

While I was running I was thinking about how much running has helped me to accept myself, flaws and all. "I need to lose weight - eff that I can run 3.1 miles!"  "I have a hard time focusing at work - eff that I can run 3.1 miles!!" And so on. LOL this is the inner dialogue that goes on while I run.  Also, I look at my shadow and think "Those curvy thighs and hips aren't fat!  They are SEXY!!"  ;)  

post-run sexiness ;)

I'm pretty sure this great run was all because of these gems: 

Virtual Races

First of all let me tell you how happy I was when I woke up and realized it was Sunday and not Monday lol. WHEW!  That was very happy making.  My second thought upon waking was about the Bama game yesterday (because hubby was watching ESPN when I woke up).  THAT WAS AN AMAZING GAME.  So stressful!!

Then I checked Facebook on my phone and saw a post from Run With Jess about Run 4 NYC.  They are doing a virtual 5k, half-marathon or marathon to raise money for the victims of Sandy.  I had never heard of virtual races until last month when I heard about the Cupcake Classic.  At first I was unsure about a virtual race, but after doing one I can tell you it gives you that little extra oomph to do a little better than you might have.  It gives motivation on what might have been just an ordinary run, and that's a good thing!  

November 4, 2012 through November 11, 2012.

Another virtual race that is coming up this month is the Carry a Thankful Heart 5k.  This was was organized by Crystal over at Pretty Little Loser.  It is November 22, 2012. That's a busy day for a lot of folks, but what better way to feel you really earned that turkey dinner!

I hope you guys have a MARVELOUS Sunday!  I am waiting for hubby to get up so we can go eat breakfast and then hit the Goodwill.  (I'm hoping for some froyo too!)

Goal met!

Love the fall colors!

This was where I started my run this morning.  I didn't really start out with any specific goals in mind.  Just knew that I wanted to run for longer than 22 minutes without walking.  It was kinda rough at first, not gonna lie, because the air was COOOLD.  It took me a good 10 minutes to get adjusted to that.  Once I hit 25 minutes I was feeling invincible lol (endorphins maybe??)  I was struggling to keep myself from dancing to the music on my iphone. At that point I think I decided it would be REALLY AMAZING if I could run the entire thing and text husband at the end that I had done it.  That's what really made me push through and run it all.  I ran 3.11 in 40:08.  I really was hoping at the end to get it done in under 40, but that's okay!  That gives me something to shoot for next time.

Anyhow, I'm super excited and proud of myself that I accomplished a goal I set for myself (running an entire 5K).  I took great pleasure in marking it DONE on my Pinterest board. LOL. :) It's the little things right?

Happy Thursday!!  Taking little man for an ice cream cone after preschool (I might have bribed him to go to school without a major hissy fit....)

I feel much less grouchy today than yesterday, although really tired today! Turning 33 really takes it out of ya...I guess.

I did my Cupcake Classic Virtual 5k last night! I ran for longer than I ever have before!  I ran for 15 minutes, walked for 5 minutes and then ran the remaining 22 minutes!!  My hip hates me today but it was worth it! I shaved a minute off my previous 5k time too!  I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel!  I'm pretty sure I will be able to run the entire Turkey Trot 5k next month! (I can't believe there are exclamation marks at the end of all of the previous sentences...I'm so annoying.)

As it turns out husband did not have to go out of town yesterday so he got to spend my birthday with me. YAY! 

Get Pinked Fools!!!!

Today was the Get Pinked 5k.  I was having MAJOR, MAJOR anxiety about it.  It was my first solo 5k and I was terrified for some reason.  I didn't sleep well at all last night!  I woke up at 3 a.m. and thought "Oh no it's time to get up and I don't want to gooooooo." Then I checked my phone and realized I had 3 more hours of sleeps. WHEW.  Then I just kind of tossed and turned until 6 a.m.  I took my sweet time getting ready (I even put on make up lol). Hubby said:  "Who wears makeup for a race?!?!"  lol  People who are procrastinating do!  I finally forced myself out the door and drove to the race venue.  After I went in and got my packet I felt HEAPS better.  I was proud of myself for showing up. lol.  I pinned my bib on and got back in the car for a bit.

I watched people walking in and out and texted with a friend who majorly calmed my nerves.  (Thank you Roni!!!)  I finally got out of the car and went and lined up.

I'm a few rows back checking my armband lol.  The people in the front were doing a 5 mile run!  They rock!     I think I started a little too fast, so I had to start taking it back a few notches.  My goal was to run 10 minutes, walk 5 minutes, run 10 minutes etc.  In the midst of my first 10 minute running stretch someone honked at me and I looked up to see my hubby and kids parked across the street waving at me.  That was the best feeling EVER!!  I know I smiled so big!  That was probably my favorite part of the race.  I was able to run for 10 minutes and then I started walking and at the 5 minute mark of walking I wasn't ready to run again lol.  I ended up walking for about 10 minutes because the route went up into the hills which were sandy and rocky and I didn't want to twist my ankle.  Once we hit pavement again I ran for another 10 minutes, walked for 5 and then ran the last 8 minutes or so.  I finished with a time of 43 minutes (gotta check the official time when the post it).  As I ran through the finish line a friend of mine I haven't seen in at least a year was standing there and she gave me a big hug!  THAT was awesome! Her husband ran the 5 miler and he won 1st place!!  Anyhow I grabbed a Gatorade and a Cliff bar and sat down to process what had just happened.  

I'm pretty proud of myself!  I wanted to at least finish in 45 minutes so I did that!  I am way  more proud of this 5k than the Dirty Dash because I feel like I really did my best on this one!  I'm contemplating running the Turkey Trot 5k in November!  Woohoo!

13.1 in 2013!!!

Today while taking a shower (all the awesome ideas happen in the shower!!) I decided I am going to run a half-marathon in 2013!  So appropriate! 13.1 in 2013!!

At the beginning of this year I promised myself that I would spend this year working on me (inside and out).  As it turns out building self confidence is harder than it seems!  I cannot remember a time when I had a healthy self-esteem level.  I decided to start a blog to help me keep track of my progress, etc. 

I am a 32-year-old, work-from-home mom of two children (an 8 year old and a 4 year old).  I have a wonderful husband who puts up with all my craziness, two kitties (<3) and 3 dogs.  As I said, I have never had great self confidence, but working from home has really taken a toll on the little confidence I did have.  First of all, with sitting at a desk for eight hours a day I gained some pounds!  We won't  talk about how many...  Also, when you work from home it's very easy to isolate yourself and never leave the house.  That's a bad thing, and that is what I have done over the last 2 years of working at home. 

In January and February I did some crash dieting, no bueno!! Around May I realized that I really needed to work on myself on the inside too.  Hubby had just run the Warrior Dash, and I was so jealous that I couldn't do it with him.  So, I started one of the couch to 5K programs.  I really enjoyed it and got up to running 7 minutes at a time (on the treadmill) when I hurt my ankle.  I had to take a month off to let it heal and then we went on vacation, yadda, yadda, yadda, and that puts me where I am now.  It's October and I still cannot run a full 5K!! 

Hubby and I did the Dirty Dash in September, and I realized just how much work I need to do!  I was so slow!  Also, I felt like I didn't let myself enjoy it as much as I should have because of anxiety about my slowness, my lack of self confidence, etc....BUT the one thing that I have realized is that running really works wonders for your self esteem!  After I finish a run I feel a little bit better about myself, and looking at pictures of myself from the Dirty Dash makes me realize I'm not quite the GIANT COW I feel like I am. :)

I figure with a year to train that I should be able to get to where I want to be for a half!  We shall see!