I just can't get enough- Spring Fling 5k

Hi, my name is Cassandra and I’m addicted to racing….

I realize that I must be addicted to racing as I registered for the MWR’s Spring Fling 5k and completed it… at 37 ½ weeks pregnant... It doesn’t really seem that far-fetched considering many women remain active well through their pregnancies, some up to delivery even.  However with my first two pregnancies I wasn’t as active as I should have been, and it definitely showed, It’s how I ended up so large and horribly out of shape.  I vowed that this time I would take care of myself better (hey third time is the charm!)

Of course I was most defiantly walking this race… my running days have long been over.. my belly just got too big and it was no longer comfortable to run.  I kept my activity up however by walking and using our exercise bike so I knew walking this 5k would be a walk in the park so to speak ;)

Of course I was afraid racing was going to lose its appeal since now in Germany, far away from my best running buddies I was all alone… and racing with friends is part of what makes it so enjoyable.  But I ended up lucking out this time, my husband said he would join me on the walk, AND push the kids in the stroller… score! My kids love coming out on races, although with our third baby on the way and my daughter stretching the limits of the suggested height/weight requirements of our double jogger this just might be our last race together as a family. 

After having a week of wonderful warm spring weather of course we woke up to overcast windy and chilly weather. .. BUMMER! But hey a race was a race and I was still excited, so I loaded up the kids in the car and grabbed some snacks, drinks etc (logistically bringing kids on a race takes some careful planning!) and we were off!

We picked up our race bibs and let the kids run around the track area while we waited for it to start… several people saw me with my number pinned to my giant belly and remarked “oh you are racing??” to which I replied “not really racing just walking!” I got some approving nods, but some people still looked at me amazed like I should be at home in bed with my feet  up… but let’s be real.. I already have 2 kids my days of laying down with my feet up are few and far between anyways!

All the (slower) strollers

When it was time to line up, of course we went right to the end with all the other strollers (and holy moly there were a lot!) Might have something to do with the fact they had a prize for the first mother AND first place father pushing strollers, which I think is really great! More races should do that!

The gun went off and so did we.. I had no idea what the course was supposed to be but I knew we would be going off post… and off post we went to a beautiful forest trail I had no idea existed.  It was a very nice trail that looped back to post and even went by a playground… I’m putting that location away in the back of my mind for when I’m back to post baby running :)

In true European fashion the course was marked off in kilometer increments.. so each time we passed a sign, I would point it out to the kids, look we have walked 2k’s!! only 3 to go! It’s nice on a short race to have it marked like that, the markers are close together, and makes you feel like you are making progress better… but if I ever do a longer race here on I think I will have to ignore all the markings… it make it seems so LONG! Like my german teacher says, oh you run half marathons? 21 kilometers? Wow das ist super!! While I should be like yeah I run 21 kilometers!! The same way I say Yeah I run 13.1 miles!! It just doesn’t feel as bad ass.. it feels more like what I run that far?? That seems crazy…

I started to run out of energy and feel a little hungry once we got to the 3k mark.. but its all good I hijacked the kids cereal baggies and stuffed my face with cereal while I chugged water… it was epic… but it made me feel better, well between that and the fact a kid who had been walking with their mom slowed way down and I actually got to pass them! (hey don’t judge me for being happy I passed a kid!) we were also on our way to the finish, halfway through, and it was all downhill.. after climbing uphill for a bit it was a nice break. ..

Coming off the downhill ahh

It was a much needed break because the last push before we got back on post and to the finish was a very steep uphill… it was hard on me and I was only carrying myself… poor victor was pushing the kids… whose combined weight is over 100lbs… good thing he is strong ;)

The kids were getting antsy at this point and were ready to get out and walk on their own... so once we made it to the track to complete the last bit we let them lose… which was very entertaining… needless to say we are working on building up their stamina for the future :) and maybe next time Victoria can walk/ run with us so we can still race as a family!

Victoria crossed the finish line running, all excited and everyone was cheering for her,  she thought was really awesome… and of course Victor was jealous, he thought it was messed up she stole our thunder since she knows she was sitting in the stroller being pushed the whole way!

Overall it was a blast and I’m glad I got out there and did it! Of course its bittersweet because I have no idea when I will be able to run (or race)… as I sit here and write this my baby is overdue.. and there is a 5 mile race at the end of may… victor keeps asking me if I will do it, and as much as I am dying to scream  YES YES I will do it! The rational side of me says that with this baby in no hurry to make an appearance, I will have to sit it out… but the next race… oh its ON!

Oh what fun it is to run- Jingle Bell 5k Stuttgart, Germany

When I found out we were moving to Germany one of the first things that came across my mind was how am I going to be able to race?? And of course am I going to even want to without my running buddies?? I don’t run to place, I run for fun and having friends to go along and run with you makes it so much fun, especially since we always make a day of it with shopping  and lunch etc… I knew it just wouldn’t be the same.. BUT I quickly learned that it wasn’t going to stop me

About the third day we were here I saw a sign for a Jingle bell 5k run… and even before my sister could point and say” look they are having a 5k” I was already committed to doing it in my mind… without even thinking.. it was one of those “you know you are a runner when” moments

Even though I had already committed in my head I knew I was going to need to do some preparation… I had only run a few times when I was on “vacation” and I knew that adjusting to a new routine in a new country with a house to unpack and kids to care for were going to make getting me to run a challenge.. especially since I also happened to be roughly 16 weeks pregnant ;) I had been making attempts to stay active during my pregnancy since my midwife had not only given me the ok, but encouraged it.   I knew quite a few moms (including my missed running buddy jenny) who had run through most of their pregnancies and said it was great.  My only issue was since quitting my job for the move I had kind of been on full out vacation mode… and of course taking advantage of the fact I was finally a stay at home mom.  I figured hey now that I’m in Germany I can get on a schedule and get my run on! (hahaha omg the voices in my head are laughing so hard at how naive  that statement was) Well needless to say I havn’t run since I got here, but I have been staying active.  Almost every day I have to walk to the store to get milk, the walk is shortish but it involves a massive hill and a few smaller hills that always leave me short of breath, especially since though I’m walking, my kids are on their scooters therefore can go really fast! I figured that walk combined with the thousands of stairs I do each day (our house is compacted onto three floors and I find myself constantly going up and down stairs to the kids bedrooms the kitchen etc) I would be ok to run the 5k EVEN if I had to walk at a few points… like I said I’m not in it to win it ;)

Well race day came, and my husband was being a total hater! I had been dropping hints that I wanted him to come with the kids… he could push the kids in the stroller or he could hang out and let the kids play while I race, really I wanted SOMEONE there so I didn’t feel so lonely on my first race in my new home… he had a million excuses why he shouldn’t come and even had a few for why I shouldn’t go (maybe it wasn’t hate, maybe it was concern since he knew I hadn’t run since arriving in Germany) but I was determined to get to this race and do it no matter what!! And of course when the time came I managed to get him and the kids in the car and of course we left later then I planned… because its hard to get three kids dressed and loaded in the car, especially when one of those kids is a 200lb 30 year old ;)

But of course we made it with 15 minutes to spare! I hadn’t pre-registered so I wasn’t sure what paperwork there was to fill out, or even what the parking situation was (we hadn’t been to this base yet) Since it was a fun run I just had to sign my name and viola I was registered! I took a few minutes to stretch and warm up, drink some water, and make sure I got a pre race pic!!

Pre race!! and I assure you my belly is much bigger, vic just picked a good angle ;)

I had of course forgot my garmin so I made my way to the back of the start line… I know I ALWAYS start too fast, and with being pregnant I was hoping to use my garmin as a pacer to ensure I went slow enough but hey I guess I just had to wing it!!

I'm the black blob in front of the stroller

 I"m the black blob last person, last cluster of people
after I slowed down and got my pace

Of COURSE the gun went off without any warning which startled me as I was fiddling with my ipod trying to find a good song to get me off right (ended up being black eyed peas just can’t get enough) and of course I ended up going to fast… but since I was ensuring I was listening to my body today I gradually slowed myself down and found a rhythm that worked for me and my “belly”.  The first thing I realized I needed to get used to was the temperature!! I ran in Vermont all thru the winter growing up (or well since 6^th grade when I joined the cross country team and discovered my love for running) anyways my legs felt like they had lead in them…. They were cold! I guess I need to do a better job warming up next time!! Once I was running for a bit the cold numb feeling went away and I could finally feel normal!! Also within the first half mile I came to a hill… and decided to slow to a walk.. I remember how much the hills where my dad lived kicked my tail and I was only 12 weeks at the time,, and in better shape then me now at almost 22 weeks and in worse shape… definitely didn’t want to push myself too hard ;) but even with walking the hills and jogging the flats and downhills I felt… pretty f&*king GOOD!!!! Like why the flip had I allowed myself to get so lazy???!!! I LOVED running belly or not!!

It’s a good thing I was enjoying myself… and that didn’t have my garmin to constantly look at because this course was windy… and almost like a maze at some points.. it was run down the road turn around come back up, loop the parking lot, come back down but take a left… cross the road… go down the hill… loop around, come back up… you get the idea!! Anyways if I had my garmin I think I would have just felt like I wasn’t covering any mileage especially since I was moving so slow, and since for at least ¾ of a mile the course was an uphill, so of course I was walking… ensuring I didn’t get short of breath. 

I had told victor to expect me to finish the course in 45-50 minutes since even though I didn’t know what the course was, I knew the pace I was planning on keeping… I came to the finish line in 43 minutes… which makes me thing that at the beginning of the race when they said the race was “roughly a 5k” it really meant it’s NOT a 5k but you know what… I didn’t have a garmin to tell me otherwise so I’m going to take my 43 minute 5k finish time at almost 22 weeks preggo and be ESTATIC!! :D

Running to my roots

As a member of daily mile I get the privilege of knowing how much training I’m doing… I also get the privilege of knowing how much training I’m NOT doing… its no big deal just had to get ready to pack my house and family up to move across the globe from Arizona USA to Stuggart, Germany.  It was just one thing after another get ready for the movers, fix the house, get stuff into storage, prepare to drive 3000 miles to Vermont to hang out with family until our stuff gets to Germany, actually drive cross country…ok you get the picture. 

The long and short I realized thanks to dailymile it had been a whole MONTH since my last run.. and I could feel it… in my body.. the restlessness of being lazy.. the jealously and longing I felt when I drove down the street and saw other runners bounding along without a care in the world.. deep down I hated every single one of them.  But I realized I needed to stop with the hate and get off my a$$.  I went to bed in my running clothes and set my alarm early.  I knew if I decided to oversleep my alarm I would have to venture up and face my family in my crumpled running clothes and had to explain myself it would be embarrassing… and if I decided to slip into my pj’s before going upstairs.. it was just.. well pathetic.  Luckily my psychology worked (thanks to classes paid for by my rich Uncle Sam) and I was up at what we refer to in the army as the a$$ crack of dawn… only to found myself in a pickle.. it was pitch black dark outside…my dad lives in the sticks… or the country or the middle of nowhere.. there are no sidewalks and streetlights just a windy 2 lane road that has no shoulder (ok it has a shoulder but it consists of the woods) F*&k I said to myself.. what am I going to do now?? I decided to wait out sunrise.. once I noticed faint light appearing I ventured upstairs to lace up my sneakers put my coat on and pound pavement.. then I encountered another pickle…my pants were black.. my running coat was black.. dawn was barley breaking…what I was wearing wasn’t going to work unless I wanted to end up resembling road kill in a ditch.. there is where one of the golden rules comes into play “ask and you shall receive” I mentioned my dilemma to my step mom who provided me with my brothers neon orange hunting sweat shirt.  Finally I was ready to go ..I grabbed my Garmin and my iPod and then hiked up to the top of my dad’s driveway (hike is an exaggerated term but you would understand if you have ever seen it) and I attempted to turn on my iPod only to discover yet ANOTHER pickle…the battery was completely dead :( not that it should be that big a deal but as you can tell from my previous dilemmas I’m used to running in the “suburbs” or “city” or “neighborhood” if you will.  Running is my chi, my therapy, my meditation, my escape from life.. but for me to find my zen I almost always require the assistance of my iPod.. I carefully select each song to give me a lift, or take me back to a happy memory because as much as I love running if I THINK about what I’m doing, each step my pace my breathing it quickly turns from my happy time to a chore (big reason I don’t do much speed work like most good runners). 

I shoved the useless electronic in my pocket sighed and figured it was for the best… I mean I was running on a road with a lot of early morning commuter traffic and I needed to be able to hear approaching cars so I could move out of their way.

I crossed the street so I could run facing traffic and fell into my rhythm.. after a whole month off I wasn’t sure how my body would react but it had been craving this run and was ready to rock.. I just let my legs do their thang and sat back to enjoy myself no ipod and all… and then I realized that running in the country is so much different.. there wasn’t an eerie quiet and the echo of my feet and they hit the ground.. I didn’t hear stressed parents yelling at their kids to stay in bed… I didn’t hear dogs barking at me for coming close to their yards, .. it was a symphony of nature.  I could hear the morning dew slide down each leaf the sing song of the birds as they awoke to great the day, the soft snaps of the twigs on the forest floor as chipmunks and rabbits walked along.  I swear the fog lifting added a crescendo to the morning and the mist fell lightly on me as I trotted down the road.  It was so peaceful, the most peace I have felt on a run (especially without music!) in a long time I made it to my turn around with 10 minute miles… granted I only went about a mile and a quarter but I hadn’t run in a month and I had a hard time keeping up that pace even when I was running on a regular basis…I had achieved euphoria aka runners high and it felt gooood!

Once I turned around to head back home I realized why my time was so fast… I was going completely downhill… and now my trip was completely uphill…. Nice… I had no other choice but to let myself get lost in the sounds of nature to help keep me distracted on my way up.. I shut my mind off and just let my senses get lost in the nature around me… I wasn’t a trying to get back into shape running mommy who was fighting for each step up a steep hill after taking a month off… I was a doe.. bounding up the hill through the forest.. my ears open for every sound searching for my breakfast while listening for animals that were higher in the food chain… sounds silly but by transforming my mind I was able to ignore the pain in my legs and the doubt in my mind…as soon as I had looked up I had wanted to quit but what good would that do me??  As Lenny Kravitz says  “Once you dig in you’ll find it coming on the other side and once you dig in you’ll find you’ll have yourself a good time”

Also as an added bonus I passed a patch of land that had goats, and their good morning call added a nice remix.  I don’t dare say what my pace was going up the hill… but it was a steady fierce climb.. and I did it… my run may have only been 2.5 miles but I felt as elated as I do after any race…I accomplished it, and remembered why I prefer the country to the city and or suburban life… despite the fact that since I left home 10 years ago I have pretty much lived in only cities and or suburbs… just proves you can take the girl out of the mountains but you can’t take the mountains out of the girl

 (mental reminder to find a different route for next time.. or better yet run all the way down to the country store and have my step mom pick me up and bring me home!!)

Local Yokel- Run Around the Park 5k

Like I have mentioned before, if there is a race in my “area” aka my small tiny town I am all over it like sticky on rice… because its soo nice to be able to “sleep” in before you have to run, because lets face it as a mom of 2 its not so easy to just “go to bed” early because of Murphy’s law… it gets me every time!

In all truths I thought about letting this race fall to the side because my husband was going to be out of town and I was going to have my kids.  As much as I love my kids and I love running at any cost let’s face it as a slower runner to begin with I become EVEN slower when adding the stroller plus 95 lbs (my daughter is a whopping 61lbs and my son is a healthy 34lbs).  For real I would rather stuff the 95lbs in a ruck sack and run over pushing it any day, when it’s on your back it’s a bit more evenly distributed.  BUT since one of my fellow running mamas said she was going to be there with her kids and her double stroller, AND she was going to have another running mom with her kid.. so really I had no reason to NOT go, there is strength in strollers!

Have I mentioned I love local races? The day of I overslept by 20 minutes… and I still had enough time to get my stuff together and in the car AND get my kids up and in the car, not like it’s really that hard… my daughter (4) gets excited to come with me so she pops up and runs right to the car, with my 1 year old I just have to change his diaper and put his sleepy butt in the carseat.. and we are off!

I show up to the packet pick up, load up my kids in the stroller and go in search of the packet pick up line.. it seemed a little off, I mean it was early, quiet and I was going around to the back ally of some random middle school I wasn’t even sure was still active… (creepy music plays in my head) for real it felt like the set up for a bad horror movie, but I figured I was being slightly melodramatic, and I pressed on, carefully scanning the area ready to gouge someone’s eyes out…

So I finally see a table and some people set up at the top of a mini hill under a tree, there were a few old(er) people wondering around and I wondered if I somehow got this confused with an event that the senior center put on... As I get closer all the people there are eyeing me with my stroller with these strange looks on their faces… it was very discomforting, you know like being the only female in a chow hall down range as you walk through the aisles trying to find a open end seat to slide into…

I pick up my number, and find a place to park my stroller while I pin on my number stretch and you know all that other fun pre race stuff… in the process I had about 8 people come up to me and say “do you plan on running this pushing THAT?” as they point to my stroller, and well my kids… as confirm to them that I am in fact about to run 3.1 miles pushing my two kids they give me these funny looks, and I know what some of them are thinking.. they are looking at my 4 year old daughter… she may only be 4 but if you were to see her on the street and not know how old she was you would never believe me.. because at 4 she stands at 42 inches, over half my height, and I’m 5’8”, to top it off she is thick, not fat by any stretch but she is built very solid (hence her weight of 61lbs) when she sits in the stroller she almost looks like Fred Flintstone in his car, when she has the sun shade down there is a very noticeable lump from her head sticking out over the top, and she can’t sit back squarely in her seat, she has to turn to the side to be able to lay back and “relax” every time I look down on my evening runs and see her stuffed in there like a sardine can I feel bad… she is at that awkward point in her life, she is too big for the stroller BUT too small to leave at home alone… so since I’m kind of mean spirited sometimes when people give me the “wow your kid is way too big for that stroller stop letting your kid be so lazy” I simply say, well my kids are only 1 and 4 and its run with them in the stroller or sit at home and be fat and lazy” (that of course provokes a whole different type of look..) The most “original” comment I got that morning was from a man that was roughly in his 60’s or 70’s…. he came up to me and said “hey you better not run faster than me pushing that thing!” I assured him that I was a very slow runner, and I often get passed by mommies with strollers even when I don’t have mine.. he just shrugged his shoulders and gave a humph as he walked off.. ha for real I <3 “older” people…

I wasn't on facebook I swear! ;)

Anyways FINALLY my running buddy and her friend showed up, so now that there were 2 more stroller pushing women I was no longer a leper and we made our little stroller force field to keep out all the negativity… and of course take some pics!



Stroller Brigade!



Finally it was time to line up, we went even further back off to the side of the school and I begin to wonder what type of ghetto course this was going to be since it did say it was the “run around the park” 5k and we were def not at the park.. the guy tried to explain the route, but to me when people try to verbally explain the route, it sounds way more complex and confusing then it really is so I always tune out and just hope the course is well marked…

They did the whole mark set go piece, and since we were way in the back (ok not way in the back because there wasn’t that many people there… like maybe 40-50 TOPS.. and it was nice to see two more strollers appear, one was being pushed by the dad as the mom stood next to them (smart lady!) and the other was another mama with a single.. for real there is power in strollers haha

So we took off and I made sure to take it nice and easy for once ( soo much easier when pushing almost 100lbs!) my running buddies hubby was there, and he was cheering us on and making us laugh before he took off and left us to fend for ourselves.  The first quarter mile was rough, we had to go through a nasty gravel section, and wind thru the parking lot to get to the road… at this point I had somehow managed to be in front of Kris and her friend (can’t remember her name fail)  but we had to go single file anyways since it wasn’t a closed route, we had to stick to the sidewalks.. there wasn’t’ much traffic so if you were a single runner it was easy to step off the sidewalk onto the side of Fry Blvd (our towns main street) but when you are yielding a double stroller you don’t really have that option.. which normally doesn’t matter but I ended up getting stuck behind an older gentleman (not the grumpy one I ran into earlier) at first his pace was ok, but then as I looked down at my garmin I realized he was getting slower and slower.. and I really felt like I could go past him.. but I was stuck… until we were just shy of mile one, we turned down a side street past the park (we did end up running around the parameter of the park,, and then some) so I took my chance to slowly speed up as I passed him he said I knew you were going to get me! I laughed and told him he would probably pass me again and kept going.

We turned right again and went by the pool that was at the opposite corner of the park, my kids of course both got excited and said mommy it’s the pool!!! And I had to remind them to not get too excited as we were NOT going swimming ha.  A quarter mile later I had to settle a squabble between the kids, Vicki didn’t want to hold her cup anymore and since she is already stuffed like a sausage in her seat she tried to sneak ot over to Angelo’s side of the stroller, and he was NOT having it.. he threw it back to her, and she of course threw it back to him until they both screamed and whined in frustration.. which caused me to get frustrated as I yanked back the sun (and rain shades since it was intermittently sprinkling) and said what the heck is going on!! So I snatched her cup and shoved it under the stroller.. I didn’t even really have to slow down since really I was going so slow anyways ;)

We keep going and get all the way down to the end of marten Luther, and we are right on the corner where Lowes Wal-Mart and target are.. Vicki starts talking to me telling me we have to go to “that” store the one with the race car carts (aka Lowes) and started asking me what we could buy there… I had no intentions of going to Lowes but we made up a pretend list of things we wanted to get there, and it consisted of flowers, seeds, dirt and basically everything you need to plant a garden it helped pass the time and I couldn’t’ help but thing how peaceful and awesome this race was, at this point (and I didn’t know how) I had lost Kris and the other mama, and the other people were so far ahead of me I couldn’t really see them so it felt like I was just out on a morning run with my two darling(ish) kiddos.  I also began to think that this race couldn’t be a 5k,, it seemed we were so far away from the park! I went down past the ford dealership and gas city and make a right back onto Fry and I was trying to remember my geography… wasn’t the park quite a bit down the road? I tried to jive it with what my Garmin was reading but I really thought it was a trick and this 5k had to be closer to 4 miles… but I kept going figuring it was like the twenty something time they have done this race so it had to be fairly accurate.. right??

I kept puttering along and as I got closer I could see some tiny specs turning to the right… hmm so maybe my brain had done some miss-calculations and we were closer than we thought… I kept my eye on the prize until I made it to the turn.. as I turned and kept going down I looked around and realized I was still a ways away from the school… halfway down the side street there was a marked turn to the left…. But it looked shady again.. So again I crossed my fingers and got my fingers ready for eye gouging as I made my way through this tree lined driveway ish type road and then I found myself in familiar territory, I saw my truck in the side parking lot and saw I was close to the finish.. but then it did get confusing.. mentally I wanted to continue to go strait the way I had come when I parked my car, but there was a random cone to the left that made me realize I needed to go slightly to the left before I went to the right… whatever I was almost done! Then some random chick comes up to me and says hey do you want me to take your kids from you so you can finish strong?? I know she was trying to be nice but 1) lady I don’t know you and I can’t even see the finish line, you think I’m just going to GIVE you my kids?? Um no.. and 2) I ran this whole thing “strong” pushing my stroller so what makes you think I can’t finish strong?? Plus at this point, about .8 from the finish line even if I sprinted as fast as I could go would it really make that much of a difference time wise? So anyways I nicely said no thanks I got it!! and proceeded to go back through the gravel area we went through when we started, and of course toward the finish.

I was able to pick up my pace when I saw the finish, and of course finished strong.  They yelled out my time (I think it was 38 or 39 something… I would have to look thru my garmin files) Then since I realized that for once I was actually finished before the people I was running with I went to the side to wait for them so I could cheer them on… as I was back tracking the guy who was running the race came up to me and said something to the effect of “you know you did really great running with “that” thing” to which I replied “thank you” but really I was thinking f&*k yeah I did take that all you haters!!

Shortly after the guy I passed came along, and shortly after Kris and the other mama came through.. luckily she had her camera and snapped a pic of me waiting because this is one for the record books, I never finish first!!

See how big vicki is in that thing!!??

I do have to give major props to her buddy that was out there with her single stroller, she was out there with her 3 year old but she had a 4 month old at home.. yeah she was only 4 months post partum running a 5k, in my book that makes you pretty bad a$$ pushing a stroller or not!!!

So here you have it, your first running math equation..

5 kids + 3 mamas + 3 strollers + 3.1 miles=  

Moms who run ROCK!

Comming Full Circle- 4th of July 5k in Hawaii

So I previously blogged about my struggles and frustration, and how I realized either way I should be happy of how far I have come...Because even though I still have weight to lose I have (in my own mind) come full circle. 

I completed my very first sprint triathlon on July 4^th 2010.  I so wanted to mark my coming full circle by completing that very same sprint triathlon.  I was so excited, I downloaded the same plan I had used before, I registered for the race and I pumped myself up for the next 5 weeks of training..

Then I find out that my husband is taking us to Hawaii that weekend, therefore I couldn’t do the tri ( I know he is SUCH a jerk I don’t even know why I married him!!) Honestly as excited as I was to go to Hawaii, I won’t lie I was disappointed I wouldn’t be able to do the triathlon (I know my brain is wired wrong).  I decided that I couldn’t just let such an immense occasion pass by (for real as busy as I am and as crazy as my life is I just HAD to celebrate one whole year of me turning my life around).  So I set to staling active.com trying to find a local race.. I mean it WAS 4^th of July weekend, there just had to be SOMETHING in the area I could do.. I found a race at a marine corps base, but of course that intimidated me I mean I’m a slow runner, and Marines are hard core… but if that’s what it took that’s what I was going to do… of course I had to post a status about it on facebook ( if it wasn’t for the Internet I would have no friends) and a friend of mine from V-Town (aka Vermont) who’s hubby is stationed at Schofield Barracks the army base said there was a 4^th of July 5k there, and it was part of a whole family fun fest sponsored by the MWR.  Ahh now that seemed a lot less threatening, I mean I bet I wouldn’t even be in last place! The kicker was my husband said that he would RUN it with me.. now this is monumental… while he does incorporate running as a part of cardio to lose weight, he never runs races.. he WALKS races but he has refused to run pushing the stroller.  So this is awesome, not only do I get to celebrate my one year anniversary of racing, I get to do it with my family in tow… is there really anything better?

The day of the race came on our LAST vacation day in Hawaii, and honestly I wish it had been the first, because as much as I had dreamed about running along the boardwalk along the beach every day with the beautiful view of the sun and palm trees they had just stayed dreams… I didn’t get my butt out for a run at all the whole time, and I pretty much stuffed my face full of whatever yummy food I could find (hey I WAS on vacation).  So I knew beforehand I would be hurting but hey there are worse things I could do to my body.

We woke up early so we could make the drive from Waikiki beach to the Army base, it was about 30-40 minutes depending on traffic (island driving has little to be desired). I am ocd when it comes to time, and my husband is not, he is always saying oh why do you want to get there sooo early!!?? (to him arriving somewhere 30 seconds early is EARLY) But like I pointed out to him we don’t know what it is going to be like, does it really hurt to get there early and let the kids run around? (men! There is a reason they aren’t mothers!) So we get there early, so we have time to go to the bathroom, and stop at the Starbucks in the px to get some crazy overpriced water, and then go get our packets.  I was afraid my priority mail envelope with our registration hadn’t been delivered on time and I was going to have to beg and plea for them to give us race numbers without making us pay again.  But my math was right (of course I wait till the last minute to mail important things it has almost caused my license to be revolved…. Twice) they had received our entry forms and we were given our numbers and our shirts.  We were instructed to go across the road to get our timing chips from Timeline. Now this isn’t my first race with a timing chip, so I saunter over show my bib and expect my chip to be handed over just like “normal” but no there was a chip nazi (think soup nazi.. NO SOUP FOR YOU!)  He said up no until you have all four safety pins in all four holes on your number PROPERLY affixed to the FRONT of your shirt, I will KNOW you are ready to race and when I KNOW you are ready to race THEN you can have your chip… I seriously felt like I was in a dream.. who WAS this guy and why was he so over protective about his flipping timing chips?? As we pushed the stroller to the side and I proceeded to affix my number I heard him repeating himself to every other racer like me who assumed holding up the bib number was enough.  I also got to see a few people come up who only had 2 pins, he (for real) told them that until they had FOUR pins on their shirt they were NOT getting a chip, “but they only gave us 2 pins” one person replied of course the chip nazi takes no excuses, “go back and ask for 2 more he said, I will know you are ready to race….etc.  My husband being the guy he is shakes his head and says forget it I don’t need an official time I’m not dealing with this guy!  Me I obediently affix the 4 pins, thinking that I am going to take one off once I get my chip because (and I can’t tell you why) I always race with 3 pins, always have always will.  And for real Timeline you need to talk to that guy because there is NO reason to be so extra about something at a 5k FUN RUN!!

Anyway now that I got that out of my system we lined up by the start and got our pre race pic, don’t you just LOVE my family?? I do! (most of the time)

Notice he has no chip on his ankle... rebel!

We heard them say there was 5 minutes left until the race and there would be a briefing.  Well we stood there ready and waiting and suddenly heard booooonnnnnnggggg or however you imitate an air horn… all of us in the back jumped a foot in the air and started running looking around like where was the warning?? Of course in the scatter I saw someone hit the dust, but luckily all the people wielding strollers were able to steer clear until they got up (that could have been messy!) I start off at about 10:30 pace Victor says that’s a good pace for him with the stroller and I could go ahead, I literally laughed out loud at him, silly husband I can barely keep this pace when I don’t take a week off stuffing my face!!

I kept the pace as long as I could; I was in a crowd of running moms and dads that had strollers, it was nice, I even passed a few people which is nice because mostly I get passed… after the first half mile my body finally started noticing the heat (and HUMIDITY) of the tropical island.  Sweat was pouring out of every orifice and I was trying to make sure I kept on top of drinking water.  Of course slowly my pace slowed, and I realized that as my pace slowed, the road rose.  What the… uh I so dislike courses that are half uphill! Although really you think about it you go up, then you get the easy part.. coming down, it is much better then it being reversed but I think I still have nightmares from the canyon trail they made us run when I was in training at Ft Huachuca.. it was a brutal path that went 1.8 miles UP and 1.8 miles down, yeah you got to go down but by that point your legs were so rubbery from the climb it was hard to control them on the steep descent. I have only once ever “run until I puked” and it was on this devil trail! Although by the time I finished the run it wasn’t so much puking as it was dry heaving as slobber hung from my mouth.

Needless to say it has to be a mental thing that causes me to despise these types of runs, but I kept plugging on and of course people who had reached the halfway point and were on their way back were starting to pass me on the left (as much as I dislike half up half down I actually don’t mind out and back races go figure) and then we get to the half way point.. AND water.. YAY!!

Vic was still with me but in front of me and I told him he could go ahead of me if he wanted, he didn’t need to wait for my slow butt on his very first “official” race, but since he can be a good husband when he wants to be, he stayed with me for quite a bit longer, trying to motivate me, come on cass its downhill now! Ha yea while it was just enough of an uphill to be annoying it wasn’t quite enough of a downhill to really pickup momentum so I continued to plod along just a smidge faster than I had come up. 

REALLY most of the race was a blur, I just know I was HOT and overly sweaty, like for real I felt like I was swimming, I guess there ARE some benefits to the desert heat…

Finally I see the finish line, of course with my slow finish there wasn’t a huge crowd cheering me on, actually I think they were getting ready to start the awards, BUT that’s ok I knew there were people still behind me and the finish line was still intact so that’s what matters ;) I crossed the finish line and heard the machine from the timeline tent beep (and nobody was around, so I could have finished with no number on and it still would have had an official time) and my time was around 38 minutes… definitely not my fastest 5k (my pr is 32:30) BUT nothing can compare to how awesome coming full circle is.  Maybe it wasn’t a sprint triathlon, and maybe I wasn’t as fast as I was a few months ago but I was still out there doing it… and still LOVING it which is what really matters most..

Me and Vicki hanging loose pre kids run

Another awesome thing about that day.. they had a 1 mile kids race that my Vicki wanted to do sooo bad! I was surprised… I mean she loves to be like her mommy and she loves to play outside but honestly when it comes down to it she is lazy… like she will be playing and having fun and as soon as it’s time to pick up her toys suddenly her legs hurt and she has to sit down.. or she will want to ride her scooter to the park and once we get just far enough from the house she decides she can’t ride it anymore -_- uh regardless we had an awesome time running (walking) the mile, of course after we started she wanted to just go back but I told her she signed up for it, she started it by golly she was FINISHING IT!!! And she did (almost) dead last… just like her mama <3


Go Vicki!!!



It's not how far you have left, but how far you have come.....

For many of us on our weight loss journey it can seem never ending. You work and work at a goal and it seems no matter how hard you work, you STILL have weight to lose… but the ticket isn’t looking at how far you have left, it’s looking at how far you have come.

A year ago I finished my first triathlon…and I was only 8 months post partum (as in my baby was only 8 months old) many people thought I was crazy for even attempting it, as I was only about 4-5 months post partum when I started training. Truth be told I thought I was a little crazy too, but as you can read hereI was at my wits end… signing up for a race seemed like the best way to keep me accountable… and you know what it did.

It was hard I won’t even lie, but I made up a training plan (ok I downloaded a sprint triathlon beginner training program for free online from Hal Higdon highly recommend him). So I had a plan. It started off easy, run 20 minutes one day, bike 30 minutes another day etc, but then as the plan wore on it got harder and incorporated bricks… as in more then one workout back to back, as in 15 minutes of swimming followed by 30 minutes of running or 45 minutes of biking followed by 20 minutes of running. The theory was your body gets used to the transition between each event and really just doing each event in concession period! I can’t really say I felt like giving up at all during the training, however I can say I felt like strangling my husband….

I could go on FOREVER about all the challenges I faced while training but I know they are the same as every other woman around. i.e. husband puts his exercise before yours, husband travels is never home (single mom), kids are sick need tlc, just plain sick and tired and want to sleep, no energy after 8 hours at a mind numbing job, just to come home to a messy house and a family to feed, a infant who refused to sleep through the night no matter how many tricks or old wives tales you tried, ok get the point? Like I said it wasn’t easy…

The thing I had going for me was I was determined…. Sometimes I didn’t get out to ride my bike until 9pm, but I did anyways.. And I used the anger and frustration over whatever it was that prevented me from getting out there 2 hours earlier as originally planned. All the weight I carried on my shoulders lifted in the water and dissipated with each stroke, and each time my foot landed another piece of frustration caused by idiotic government semantics was pounded into the pavement. I also had to get a little creative to avoid any logistical nightmares, for example, if my brick consisted of a bike ride and run it was too easy, I ride my bike in my neighborhood, drop it in my driveway then continue running.. if my brick consisted of swimming and running, I would bring my gear to work then slip off to the gym right next to my building and get my laps in then throw some clothes on and go to the track right outside the door to the gym and get some more laps in… I even biked to the gym swam laps then biked home.. whatever it took I got (most) of my workouts in as planned. To deal with the mommy guilt I put Vicki in the bike trailer, tugged her to the park and let her play, if Angelo took a random nap early in the evening I would ask my brother in law to watch him for a bit while I got in my workout. The funny thing was I didn’t feel as much guilt the more I got into my workouts.. mainly because I felt so much better in general. I had energy again, I wasn’t moving in slow motion just trying to get by each day until I could crawl into my bed.. I was… living. The time I spent with my kids had more quality to it, even if some of my workouts took time away. I was happier.. they must have been happier (you know what they say if MOM isn’t happy… well nobody is!) and really I no longer felt like a prisoner in my life, really that is worth priceless.

What also really helped is all the motivation and support I received from everyone.. because let’s face it, it’s the digital age, I kept track of all my workouts via facebook. Each “like” on a status update, and every “whooo hoo” or “wow that is awesome” gave me the motivation each time I had to lace up my sneakers or snap on my running cap. Of course there was other motivation, i.e. When I put these pants on in a rush to work (these are my magic pants.. no matter what clean laundry heap they are in they NEVER wrinkle!) and I get irritated because something just doesn’t feel right… I look down and duh its because they are too big and the crotch was twisted to the side… my frustration at life in general became elation… and I’m pretty sure I gave even more to my workout that day, and of course these pants are so big on me now, I almost can't wear them anymore... which is bittersweet,,, like I said these are my magic pants ;)

I did miss some workouts, either because I was just too to the bone tired, or one of the kids was sick, or you know… whatever… but bottom line I was proud of how well I had stuck to my plan and I actually felt (sort of) prepared for my race.

Race day came and went (I should do a race report on that huh??) and I felt like a million bucks… I was like yeah b!t*h I owned you!! Even though I think really it owned me… and after that (and a few pieces of chocolate cake for recovery) I was hooked on racing, and it kept me on track. I followed the sprint tri with a 10k, several 5k’s, an 8 miler and then two half marathons. 2010 was really MY year, a year to bust outside the box, break free of whatever oppressive chains society (and my family) tried to put on me...

Of course a full year (and some change) later I am still not where I want to be… I have 20-25lbs left to lose, I seem to struggle more now with fitting in workouts then I did then it’s almost like once 2011 rolled in I had high hopes but the momentum that propelled me through the previous year had lost steam… I was real frustrated with where I was until I realized DUH MAYBE my training had slowed down a bit, MAYBE I didn't log as many miles each week as I used to, and MAYBE I wasn’t following my current training as well as I was before but I still WAS I run 3 miles in an evening pushing the jogger like its nothing (ha well not nothing) and a year ago I could barley do that… I can do “real” pushups again… I can do pull ups (assisted) with less assistance then I used to need, I can lift heavier and hey… I am down almost 60 POUNDS!!! That is my 4 year old daughter… who I struggle to pick up now because she is so big.. I used to have that HANGING off my body from the time I rolled out of bed until the time I rolled back in… Everywhere I went (and every time I exercised) I had that on me…

I realized that the 20-25lbs I still have left to lose really isn’t THAT much in the grand scheme of things and the 10k that I feel undertrained for(that started this sudden pit of despair)…. I will be ready for you!

The moral of the story is, don’t make mountains out of mole hills, and before you let yourself get too frustrated over how far you have to go, look behind you and see how far you have come.  You might realize you don't really have that much further to go.  Use the comfort in that to help give you strength for the finish. <3

One is the loneliest number- Meet me downtown 5k

I knew from the minute the I looked at the brochure that came in the mail that I was going to do this race… sure its only a 5k (that is put on every year), sure its at 7pm in Tucson in June so it will be hawter then…(insert inappropriate witty phrase here) but this year it is different… this year this 5k is a part of a newly constructed 3 race event called the Gabe Zimmerman triple crown…

For those that don’t recognize the name, Gabe Zimmerman was an aide for Rep Gabrielle Giffords and he was fatally shot along with 5 others in the tragic shooting that occurred on January 8, 2011. The running community may not be relatively small, however it is very closely knit and Gabe Zimmerman wasn’t just a runner, he was a advocate for health and wellness. He and his family (also runners) were members of the Southern Arizona Roadrunners, a nonprofit club that hosts many races each year. When tragedies happen communities bind together and find ways to ensure the tragedy does not happen in vein, and then the Triple Crown is born.

On the day of the race we of course loaded up as a family and trekked up to Tucson for some fun. We of course had dinner at el Coqui…a Puerto Rican restaurant in Tucson that has some really good food, only issue with that is of course I over ate they had some new things on their menu… including Paella which is a seafood rice dish that I love so much I once spent $80 on ingredients and 6 hours in the kitchen just to find out my made up Hispanic cooking skills don’t carry over to this particular dish. I kept telling myself I would only eat half the plate and save the rest for later… but once it came I just couldn’t stop myself and before I knew it this huge plate of delicious food disappeared before my eyes. I remember thinking well at least I got me some carbs (as I watched my stomach slowly start to expand with bloat). No worries, I mean I have yet to set any records or win any age group prizes, and I knew I hadn’t suddenly changed in to some lean mean Kenyan machine.

We get there, Vic drops me off right in the middle of down town as they had many roads closed off for the race. That is when the loneliness hit me… no awesome running buddy to keep me pumped up, nobody to bs with killing time as you work out the pre race jitters… nothing.. just me… I get my packet and realize I’m really toast… I’m in down town Tucson where am I going to put my race packet and t shirt? Oh well I decide to worry about that later as I make my way to the port o john line… and I wait a good 15 minutes despite the fact there had to be at least 10 there in a row… there were TONS of people everywhere! I have done some pretty big races (ok well ONE) but that was the Tucson Half marathon you expect a lot of people to be there… this was just a 5k…where did all these people come from??

I marveled at this while I waited my turn did my business and then proceeded to stretch and warm up. Of course my stomach felt so heavy, like instead of devouring a delectable meal I had instead devoured a detestable 5lb brick. Luckily from around the corner emerged some familiar looking people (my family) I played around with the kiddos to kill the remaining time.

Finally it was time to line up… I usually start at the front and go back until I find runners that look to be a similar ability as me… this time I stopped once I found a good mix of women in their 50’s, and healthy looking 20 and 30 year olds (by healthy I mean… non stick like running bodies but more rounded bit of a belly healthy) and figured I found my niche. I couldn’t’ help but notice the one woman in front of me who was in her 60’s (age on the bib!) she was so cute!! She was decked out in purple and black running gear complete with headband and she had a garmin on her wrist… she was a cute stylish granny I just wanted to put her in my pocket and add her to my collection of grandmothers. Creepy?? Never!

Anyways the director of Southern Arizona Roadrunners gets on the mike and starts thanking everyone for being here, and even tears up when mentioning the Triple crown and how touched he is at the flooding of people signing up for the event. We had a very sad moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives. Then luckily he lightened the mood with a statement reminding him and the rest of us that really this was about being a live, and living life ( I really wish I could remember exactly what he said because it was a great sediment) and then finally the starting gun went off.

Of course I started off WAAYYYY to fast…but I was caught up in the energy of the crowd, and let me say the energy at this race was so different then any other race I have ever done, maybe I just got too sappy with the pre race dedication.. either way I glanced down at my garmin and I am fairly certain it said I was doing a 8:20 mm pace… which is like a 6mm pace for me.. wayyy to fast!! But I was feeling good, the weight in my stomach had disappeared and I didn’t even feel winded… of course my common sense should have taken over and slowed me down but like I said I was just feeling the energy, and it carried me at roughly this pace for a mile… after my garmin rang up the 1 mile mark, my body started slowing down I decided to chill out and enjoy the scenery. Down town Tucson is so beautiful, and of course everyone came out of their houses to cheer us on (and spray us with water hoses!) Outside of one Mexican restaurant there was a mariachi band which prompted me to yell out WEEPPAAAAA in my head and gave me another burst of energy, that I was sure to not waste this time!

But the oversized dinner finally started talking to me, and my stomach started cramping and I got slower and slower.. but the funny thing was despite my slowing down and my garmin reading me at a 12mm pace there were still TONS of people around me, normally I’m alone in races, there are people slower than me but I never seem to end up in a pack of runners this time it was like no matter how slow I got I was still surrounded by people, it was actually comforting, I didn’t feel bad about my pace, I didn’t feel compelled to try to fight my body for quicker steps to catch up to anybody or finish before they closed up the race… it was so invigorating!

Finally my garmin rang off 2 miles, which I thought would never happen because I think my pace had dropped even slower. Now I could tell I was circling back to the starting point.. and the crowd of people watching started to thicken up again, I recognized the Tucson Convention center, and remembered all the monster truck shows we had been to… which helped me find some more comfort from my burbling stomach. I kept telling myself to stop looking at my garmin because I had reached that point where I was really disliking myself for over indulging in dinner.. I kept burping it up (but it still tasted delicious!!) and my pace slowed even more. I tried to keep my head up, relax my shoulders and keep going, but it was hard.

Thankfully there was yet another nice lady out with her hose and a nice lady who had her own personal table and paper cups giving out water to the runners, I could have kissed her! I really needed to wet my whistle and my mini hand held water bottle had run out of water. The few sips of cold water refreshed me and I felt strong(ish) again.

Then came the mental battle… I could see this HUGE building that I knew was right at the finish line… it was super tall and had blacked out glass…I thought to myself that it couldn’t be right, I still had .65 more to go and it seemed like the building was RIGHT there! But it was one of those… so close yet so far moments,, because as I tried to go a little faster since I was sort of in the home stretch, the building didn’t seem to get any closer. I cursed that dumb big building but for some reason I couldn’t get it out of my sights… finally my garmin rang of 3 miles and I knew with only .1 miles left I could try to open my stride and finish strong… which I kind of did, I really don’t think I speed up much faster than a 10:30mm but I was still passing people which is always nice… then I saw the cute purple and black granny in front of me, and as cute as she was I just HAD to pass her, hey it’s a pride thing!! So luckily I found some more energy from somewhere, and I managed to just barley shoot past her and a couple of younger kids and I stumbled into the finishing corral with some burning lungs and an angry belly.

I handed in the tab from my race bib and stumbled around attempting to find vic and the kids… luckily in my haze I remembered there was a park across the road he said he would take the kids to. Of course Vic teased me on my slow pace, I could barely laugh as I struggled to carry Angelo and walk to the car…

I later looked up the results of the race because I was curious to know just how many people were there… I kept scrolling down my screen until it would scroll no more.. and my eyes popped out of my head as I saw there was a total of 1723 finishers in this 5k. No wonder I was surrounded by people no matter how slow I went! 1700 people stretched out over 3.1 miles… ha must have been a site to see from a top!

I didn’t get any race photos this time, pre run or post run thanks to me having a broken cell phone and Vic’s cell phone battery dying… but it’s ok I have plenty of mental images in my mind and that’s what really matters ;)

And I can tell you that if and when I do another night race I will be picking and chosing my pre race dinner a LOT more carefully :)