the rundown

I've been (guiltily/lazily) Twittering much more than blogging. It's just fast and easy. Instant gratification s'il te plait. I really haven't even been reading my favorite reads. I think in reading other people's well kept blogs, I feel even more ashamed that I'm not keeping up. It's like Rebecca Bloomwood hiding her bills in a drawer rather than dealing with the reality - minus the bad credit.

The last race that I did was the Furry 5K. Since then, I've unfortunately been suffering from shin splints and have basically sidelined my racing days. I did, however, participate in my favorite race as a walker with my dad!

Woke up early, picked him up and off we went to walk the Shore Run. My dad was really nervous about it and had been "preparing" for it by walking on his treadmill before taking the doggy out for his morning walk! Isn't that too cute? Afterwards, we went to brunch! That's always the best part.

Dad's eager to do the next 5K! Swedish 5K anyone?

On another note, I'm on my fourth week of bootcamp. Mostly they consist of:
lunges
squats
push ups
tricep dips
incline push ups
crunches
push up/side plank combos
squat thrusts
mountain climbers
wall sits
run 1/2 mile

and repeat 3 to 4 times in 1 hour for a total of 2 miles

It pretty much kicks my arse during the hour but I haven't been getting sore. Must work harder!! I'm bringing my dumbells this week.

I still haven't lost any weight at all. Muscle-schmuscle! I want to see a smaller number dammit!

Miss you.

keeps going and going and going

I'm at my fifth race of the year though I'm only racing myself. Happy to report that I've beat myself every time!

This was the 5K Run that was part of the Kirkland Half Marathon. This run was one of the more difficult because there were several steep hills. I swear the first mile seemed entirely up hill.

*pant, pant*

I've been having some trouble with my old and creaky lower extremities. My arches were hurting for several days and I think I might be getting shin splints. Yikes. And the top part of my left foot has been giving me grief when I run up and down hills. I kinda think it's because my left leg is so dominate, it just hits the ground much harder than my right.

Or I'm just old and creaky.

Anyway, I have an 8K coming up this weekend. It'll be my first this year - gotta do it because I'm on the office team because it's a Nordstrom event and we do work for Nordstrom!

See you at UDub!

who/what/wear:
top - lululemon
jacket - american eagle
running tights - cw-x (They're incredible running tights and also incredibly tight! They're supposed to help support your muscles via compression so the fit is really important. All I know is that I nearly break a sweat everytime I have to pull those suckers on!)
sneaks - brooks

counterproductive

Can I just vent a little bit today?

I just have to say that sometimes my family can be really lame. I spent Saturday evening being criticized for being fat. I'll be the first to admit that I've gained weight since I had my snowboarding accident a few years ago. But do I really need to be reminded by seemingly caring relatives?

Not really.

The criticisms ranged from "Wow, you look wider than your fiance" to "When are you going to start dieting?" Oh and did I mention the part where my aunt said I couldn't have any ice cream with my cake because I need to lose weight - in front of everyone? At least I know when to censor myself - I didn't tell all of them to STFU!


I cried in the car on the way home. *sigh*

It's not like I haven't been thinking about it constantly. And it's not like I haven't been working on getting in shape. I'm sorry I'm not wafer thin like I was when I was 12. I'm not exactly happy with where I am, but I'm not sitting on my arse and doing nothing either.

For the last couple months I've been doing yoga twice a week, pilates once a week, and running once or twice a week. I just started running to and from my pilates class too.

And with encouragement from my friend Jackson, we've been waking up early Mondays-Thursday and work out/run "together". We live pretty far away from each other but every morning around 6 am we text each other to get up and get out there! Knowing that there's someone else waking up and getting her heart rate pumping really forces me to not wuss out.

At least there aren't any more family gatherings coming up. I don't know if I can stand there and smile and be respectful to my elders very much longer.

Anyway, I guess it should motivate me more or something. Or make me want to go binge.

PS: The photo is from the 5K I did a couple weeks ago. I've got one coming up this Sunday and an 8K the following Sunday. Can I get a "GOOOOOOOO LRB"??

back in form

Oh goodie. It's not me. It really was the miserableness of last week's run that held me down.

Don't get me wrong. It still rained this time, but it wasn't snowing and I didn't need to wear fleece!

I completed another 5K run (part of the Mercer Island Half Marathon) this past weekend and am quite satisfied with my time. Still not as good as I want to be, but getting there! 11:07 minute miles and I finish 30 seconds faster than the 5K I did last month.

And I guess it feels so nice to come in at 115th place in overall women's. Hahaha! Thankfully that's out of nearly 250! I'm better than more than half. Yay! 17th place in my age group. Another thing for me to work towards. Dang, when I put it that way, it sounds kinda lame.

Thank you guys for all your support! It really means a lot to me and I appreciate all the motivation!

smoochies.

the ides of march

The St. Patrick's Day Dash was m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e! Not only was I sore from too much pilates, yoga and snowboarding, but it was snowing! Hello?! Did you read my title? Ides of March? Not Ides of December. Seriously, ridic.

Thank goodness I still had my fleece in the car from the snowboarding trip. I normally only wear a light jacket and a tshirt for running but good grief was it cold!

And since I'm already griping, are my thighs really that humongous? How depressing. This was a tough 3.75 miles run for me. Definitely not my best time. I don't even want to talk about it.

I'm planning to redeem myself during the 5K run that I'm doing this Sunday. Wish me luck. Only 16 more runs on the schedule through the end of the year! Are you in?

who/what/wear:

jacket - Thakoon for Target (annoying that the hood doesn't have a drawstring so I had to tuck the edges into my ear warmer so it wouldn't fly off! only $12 though, so eff it.)
fleece - nike
tshirt - gap
mittens - jcrew
thunder thigh pants - nike
sneaks - brooks

i did it!

...cue Rocky theme song

I completed my first 5K run of the year in not-so-record time. (I can't believe the 1st woman to finish was done in 18 minutes!)

Anyway, I think I did okay - finished in 35:04 minutes. Although not very impressive, considering that I haven't been running at all it was quite a feat. I seriously thought it would take me a good 45 minutes!

Sure, I felt like stopping for a vomit break but I muddled through somehow and was a mere 30 seconds behind my short-legged cousin Mango. After picking up a bunch of post-run freebies, we headed off for a hearty breakfast - chicken fried steak with gravy on the side.. Mmmm...

who/what/wear:
pink jacket - Stella McCartney for adidas
top - lululemon
running pants - nike
running shoes - nike
neck gator - columbia