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 :)

Tucson 5000

In the greater Tucson area there is at LEAST one 5k each weekend, as much as I would love to do a 5k every weekend its not quite in the budget, so I have to pick and choose which races I want to do. When the Tucson 5000 came on my radar I knew immediately it was something I was going to do main reason, it was at Reid park..and Reid park is where the Tucson Zoo is! It all fell perfectly together in my head, take the kids up to Tucson run the 5k play at the park, go to the zoo, eat lunch at a yummy tucson restaurant, hit up the new costco they built right on the interstate and head home. PERFECT day for me and my kiddos. At first I was thinking this race I was going to have to fly solo my running buddy was supposed to be at drill weekend and I thought my husband was going to be on a work trip. Luckily it worked out they were both free that weekend and I somehow convinced my husband to wake up at 415 so he could come watch the kids so I could run stroller free and try to keep up with the running beast that is jenny ray.. Jenny’s cousin was up for training and was joining us, which is awesome because when it comes to running the more the merrier… and the best part she designed custom tees for us! It had our names on the front and numbers on the back… they had their kids birthdates but since I had two kids I went with the number 41 the ages of my kids. We had never thought to design t shirts for ourselves so this added some extra excitement to our race.

Of course I had just come off a vacation to the east coast and my lungs hadn’t quite adjusted back to the 4,700 ft elevation of Sierra Vista (elevation where I was in Vermont was like 750ft) and my plan was to at least stay under a 12 minute mile (seems easy for all you hard core runners but remember I’m a turtle trotter ;p) At least it was a beautiful morning, nice and sunny and was still under 70 degrees as we hiked up to the start line… Yes hiked… we saw it was getting close to race time so we started following the crowd from the park to the road… once we got to the road the crowd kept going… and going…

Well we finally reached the start and moved to the middle of the pack, and to the outside so we didn’t get tripped, there were a LOT of people out. Why wouldn’t there be? The race pamphlet boasted a pancake flat course; great for PR’s… ha we would see about that…

The gun went off, without much warning its usually “runners mark, set BANG” or at least “runners set BANG” but this one was more like “runners.. BANG” and we were off… I made sure to start slow and steady (used to be hard for me but now that’s why I start in the middle) my Garmin said about 10:30 minute mile and I knew that was a good pace for me. I stayed right with jenny and Tabitha even around the first bend despite the fact I was distracted by a barefoot runner… as in barefoot, NO shoes… on the road! I figured he had to be crazy and then I realized he was wearing a US Marine’s t shirt and realized that if he was in fact a Marine he was in fact crazy and it explained it all to me…

After the first bend I started to fall behind, mainly because there were SO many people squished together in a small running area… the threat of being DQ’d if you stepped outside the lines wasn’t keeping people in such tight running quarters.. it was the fact we were running right on 22nd St, a very busy road where cars zipped by in their own little world. I tried to keep them in my sight but its crazy how many females were running in white and or black shirts that day, they ended up blending in with everyone else. But I had my goal in mind and my Garmin to help me stay on track, I randomly glanced to it and saw I was keeping between a 1030-1045 pace, NICE I was feeling good as I chugged along I figured I couldn’t be too far behind them if I kept up that pace.

Of course after we hit the second turn I felt myself slow down a little bit but I tried to convince my legs to stay at the same pace…. I went into my own world and thought I was successful until after my Garmin chimed for the 3rd time letting me know I had hit mile 1.5, soon after it started making a nasty clanging sound… letting me know I had dropped to slower than a 12 minute mile pace… so I picked up the pace as I realized quite a few people were passing me, no worries about halfway into it and I was still feeling as good as when I started.

And that’s how it was until I reached a hill… or well incline… or mound…either way it was a noticeable UP slope in the ground… what happened to pancake flat?? My legs showed their fatigue at this point (or rather my mind let them feel it) because as soon as I moseyed my way up it they felt it, and of course my Garmin yelled at me again…luckily it was over soon enough and I focused my mind back on enjoying the run and keeping up my pace… then I realized… I forgot my IPOD!! It was in the stroller with Victor and the kids…. I think I had a HUGE frown face on but I told myself that I had made it over halfway without it I could make it the rest of the way.

And so I went, this stretch was the longest stretch it felt, I was trying to figure out where the turn was going to be when I noticed a police officer holding traffic from afar, as well as a row of runners branching to the left… YESSS I turned the corner and crossed the street and was happy to hear my Garmin chime off another half mile bringing me to the big 2. Not sure what street I was on now but I was on a running path and it was open, I felt myself picking up the pace a little bit as I could take in the sun my Garmin yelled at me occasionally but I felt ok picking up the pace. Especially when I made it my goal to pass this annoying couple that I kept playing tag with, they would run pass me, then walk, then I would pass them, etc I finally said you know what!! You walking that’s fine but you sure as heck will not end up beating me ;)

Finally I got to make the final turn back onto speedway where the race had started. This was essentially the home stretch, only turn left was back into the park where the finish line was…I think I started losing my steam as my gamin seemed to be yelling at me more frequently…. I was fighting the urge to repeatedly check my Garmin to see how far I had gone so I started playing games with myself, find an object, sign, stop light whatever and tell myself that I couldn’t check my Garmin until I reached that mark, it helped me keep up my pace and stopped me from basically starting at my Garmin. Finally my Garmin rang off the 3 mile mark as I came to what had been the start line.. I could see people turning into the park at this point and I could see people milling around that had already finished the race. I slowly started to pick up my pace, my legs were really starting to feel heavy at this point, but I wanted to finish strong (the ONE thing I am really good at is finishing strong).

I passed the walk run couple AGAIN (for the last time) and as I turned into the park the finish line seemed a LOT closer then I had remembered so I started running as fast as I could. There was a clump of about 5 runners approaching the finish and I told myself I was going to pass all of those people… I really pushed it out and I was able to pass the cluster, and I didn’t stop there, I ran as fast and hard as I could as I passed two more people and made it across the line in 35 minutes… I was so happy I was able to finish so strong but a little disappointed, 35 minutes is DEFFINETLY not a PR for me, but I was able to stay under at 12 minute mile pace which was really my goal.

My disappointment was short lived as a guy came bolting past me after he finished and cut me in the finishers corral despite the fact the volunteer yelled at him 3 times to stay in order after coming across the line… I know I came in faster and even if his number made it before mine in the list its what I knew that mattered.. BUT I’m not the kind of girl you try to cut after the finish just cause I smoked your socks the last 50 feet… I kindly jumped in front of him while holding my elbow out… I looked back smiled sweetly and said you are SUPPOSED to stay in order homey!

Jenny ran the race in under 30 minutes, at about 29:45 a definite PR for her, and I’m soo happy and proud of her (I keep telling her she is holding herself back keeping up with me!) and her cousin finished closely after her at a little after 30 minutes.

We had a blast the rest of the day, enjoying the zoo, and we had brunch at the cheesecake factory. I was able to go to Costco my favorite place in the whole world, and the best part I was able to spend the whole day with my family, a rare moment since my husband is forever on the road for work…. a day that will not soon vanish from my memory ;)

Of course here are our before and after pics ;)

Tucson Half Marathon

Going in a completely different direction in this one ;) This posting is all about my adventure running the Tucson Half marathon with the best running partner of all time….

We were paranoid we weren’t going to wake up on time… so we each set our alarms on our phone AND we set the alarm on the clock radio in our hotel room… at 4:15 on the dot we jumped up from sound sleep to the chaos and noise of 3 separate alarms going off in unison… I wish there was a camera in the room videotaping us in our immediate excitement as we hopped around the room shutting off alarms and scooping up our piles of running clothes and getting ready to head out.
Luckily we prepped as much as we could the night before… affixing our disposable running chips to our shoes, and laying out our numbers with safety pins… the two items (aside from your actual running shoes) that were absolutely necessary for the race.
Amongst the shuffle we managed to stuff our faces with peanut butter smeared on whole grain bread and a couple bananas… it is the pre race breakfast of champions you know… and we were going to own every aspect of this race!
We grabbed up our energy chews, water and drop bags and made our way to the lobby. It was already bustling with runners.. grabbing up free breakfast.. sipping on coffee and water chatting it up and acting like today was like any other day... we found our way outside to the long line of busses ready to take us to the start line.. we finally found the half marathon bus and shuffled aboard and took the first 2 empty seats we could find meanwhile laughing and joking about the army and how you never picked your seat you just shuffled to the back and filled in with a calculated organized manner.
I chatted with my seat mate while eavesdropping on several conversations as I scanned the buss to observe my fellow half marathoners… not that I was paranoid or trying to scope out the competition.. its just runners are a interesting group of people…they don’t fit one prototype.. you can’t people watch at an airport and say “oh that guy is definitely a runner”. Some of us are short, some are tall, some are thing and some of us are big boned… they have names for us… Athena’s and Clydesdales…Athena is a female runner that is over a specified weight… for the Tucson Marathon it was 160, for men (Clydesdales) they have two classes one over 180 and one over 220… they even have awards for the top three finishers in each category… it’s a way for us to still feel like we have a chance to win something.. because a 191lbs runner like myself is no match for one of those 125lb lean thin runners you see in the Olympics...
Anyway after a bit we arrived at the destination…we debussed only to find that in North Tucson aka Oro Valley the weather was a bit colder at 530 am!! Luckily they had heat lamps and we huddled with the masses absorbing body heat as long as we could… finally the clock ticked 630 and we made our way to the drop busses… we had to strip down into our running skirts (something we both thought was super cool and had to invest in for the race.. hey if you don’t look cute why do it??) and shirts and checked our bags with our excess clothing on the buss to be picked up at the finish line.

I would have been a bit frosty in the 40 degree weather in my running skirt and tank top if I wasn’t so completely excited (and nervous) about the 13.1 mile trek that was fast approaching…as we shuffled over to the start line we kept pumping each other up.. “this is going to be so awesome” “I can’t believe we are about to run a half marathon” “this is crazy” etc etc…
Alas a lady comes on to the mic.. “all runners with a 5-6 minute mile pace or better come to the starting corral” as many of us giggled at the thought of running 13.1 miles at that pace we were able to move up closer to the starting corral.. since they were only regulating who started first we decided we wanted to get as close to the front as possible…2heats later we found ourselves at the start line. My heart was beating in my chest as I looked to the road in front of me… before I knew it I heard “mark” “set” “GO!!” and though I had been telling myself I need to make sure I start off at a moderate pace I felt myself shoot out of the corral… I felt amazing.. untouchable… unstoppable… until a group of girls running with a garmin stated they were running at a 10 minute pace… YIKES I knew keeping up a 10 minute mile pace for 13.1 miles was probably not a doable goal for me… so I turned to jen and asked her how she felt about the pace.. to fast I said??? She said no its fine.. if we keep this up we should be good! In my mind I was thinking oh man not sure if I can keep this pace up but knowing that a big part of running is mental I pushed it out of my head and pushed forward…as we turned on to route 77 the sun was coming up and we could see the pinks purples and browns in the desert sky bouncing off the mountains… if running wasn’t taking my breath away the sky certainly was and I used the landscape to find some sort of zen as I kept my feet moving toward the finish. The first 3 miles were a bit of a blur.. all I know is they went by fast… it seemed every 5 minutes I was hitting another mile marker and high fiving jen (we high fived each mile marker as a way to commemorate the small victories along the way) finally after mile 4 I realized I must have slowed down a bit because the mile markers seemed to be spaced out a bit more…but we kept up a good conversation as we went along, giggling at the runners that follow Jeff Galloway’s method of “running” and follow a specific run to walk ratio… I mean even if you do PR (get a personal record) you can’t say you “ran” a pr…. Right??? Who knows… we were just brainwashed by the army… and in the army running is running.. walk is not apart of the equation.. actually if you DO walk you are considered a dirt bag… and you are heckled and mocked until you start running again. This is us hamming it up at about mile 4~

Regardless we just kept going… at mile 6 we dug out our powerade gel bites to replenish the energy we had expended the last 6 miles… that is another reason why I love running… what other sports do you know of that actually ENCOURAGE eating WHILE you do it?!
Mile 7 came and went…then mile 8… we couldn’t believe how fast this run was going… it goes to show how much adrenalin can really carry you when you need it… each time we saw a person from marathonfoto we cheesed it up.. cheered as loud as we could… put our hands in the air like we just didn’t’ care…. A couple pics even captured smiles and laughs from runners behind us as we pumped ourselves up…hey you have to do what you have to do right?
I have to say Jen is one of the most motivating people I know… besides the high fives at every mile… and her high fiving every sheriff and police officer holding traffic… each time there was a spectator just standing there looking for “their” runner SHE started cheering and clapping… getting them to start cheering for the rest of us runners that were out there.. she said ha they aren’t going to just stand there and ignore the rest of us! What’s that??!! Remembering her energy along that run still makes me laugh out loud to myself even as I’m writing this… I need to make a pocket sized version of her that talks.. so every runner can have the kind of energy she inspires! Like here for example.. at mile 9~



Finally we hit the 10 mile marker… at this point you only have a 5k left… so it’s all downhill from there right?? Well the whole course was down hill… until we got to the 12th mile.. after we hit the 11th mile marker we turned a corner…. to a HUGE hill… well maybe it wasn’t that huge… but after 11 miles of running it LOOKED huge… so I put my head down… dug deep… expanded my stride and fought to stay right behind jen as she turned up her turbo… finally we made it phew…and then my ipod died DAMN!!! Why didn’t I charge it??? I was thinking to myself how evil it was to throw a hill in so late in the race especially with no ipod to keep you going when I started hearing a deep drum beat.. BOOM…. BOOM… BOOMBOOMBOOM… I looked up and at the base of yet ANOTHER steep hill was a huge group of drummers with the biggest set of congas I have ever seen!!! They were playing what seemed to be a type of Native American Tribal music… it had a strong beat… and had a peaceful yet empowering rhythm… I put my head down yet again… dug down deep in my soul yet again… lengthened my stride (yet again) and pushed it to the top of the hill
Phew we turned another corner after that one… I was noticeably looking for the mile 12 marker after that… I was ready for the race to be over… those hills really gave me a run for my money…luckily soon after we hit the mile 12 marker… that was the happiest I was to see a mile marker the whole race… I knew that with only 1.1 miles left I could conquer this thing.. I could already feel the soreness in my legs.. but I kept going… a girl with a pink sweatshirt passed us yet again…(we had been playing tag) I thought to myself uh I hate that stupid pink sweatshirt!! I’m so sick of seeing it!! Yet I couldn’t seem to find it in myself to turn up the volume and finish strong.. I knew I COULD but because of a mental mind block I have unless I came to the 13 mile marker OR could see the finish I wasn’t going to be able to punch it… Jen started feeling it… I told her do it.. punch it get to that damn finish line…I’ll be there soon! Lol as she started to take off I could see the huge crowd of people… and the cones started getting narrower…another girl I had been playing tag with me passed me.. and Jen started to get further and further away from me and I decided F-It… those bi*&hes were going DOWN!!! I found some sort of heart left in my chest and started picking up the pace… the two girls were neck and neck in the narrow shoulder so I yelled “MIDDLE” and leapt thru the tiny space there was between them… I yelled my apology as I know darting thru the middle isn’t proper running etiquette.. BUT there was no room and I wasn’t about to be DQ’d for stepping outside the cones!! Someone yelled “finish is around the bend!!” so I cranked it up even more.. I was pumping my arms so fast I must have looked like a cartoon.. you know when the roadrunner’s legs start twirling in a circle while its body just kind of stands still.. that’s what I felt like…but I didn’t care… arm momentum leg momentum I didn’t care I was going to get to that finish line!! I looked up and the clock said 2:21… then shock set in… and my legs went even faster… and I managed to cross the finish line just behind jen… I almost fell over as a kid handed me my finishing medal.. I think I might have even had tears in my eye…Jen and I said forget the fricken high five and hugged the sh!t out of each other as the silly marathonfoto people kept saying “over here over here!!! Marathon photo!!” hey couldn’t’ you see we were having a moment???!!!! We took our finishing photo and wandered around to the food tent.. I think the way I felt after crossing the line is the poster feeling for runners high… I was in a complete and utter daze.. everything was hazy and I felt like I was floating...(runners high might be interrelated to moderate to severe dehydration but that is just speculation) We somehow made it to the bus and back to our hotel… after we showered and got dressed we somehow managed to find a red lobster where we relished in our victory while sipping mimosas and chowing down!
We both decided that a half marathon really wasn’t that bad… and decided we were without a doubt going to start training for the full Tucson marathon next year….

fat girl intro....

I woke up one day and realized everyone around me was blogging… wtf is a “blogger”?? I’m from Vermont… we don’t “blog”.. we bog!! Apparently the two things aren’t related…
anyhow I am in the middle of a new adventure, one toward being “fit” once again. I figured why not document it? Maybe someone can learn from it.. maybe they can get some laughs out of my adventures.. who know… besides I see blogs on EVERYTHING, nobody wants to go to the library and read books anymore.. they want to go on a computer and read “blogs”…
I am 27 years old… but don’t tell anybody that in reality I have been 30 for the past 3 years.. I have two wonderful children who have caused quite a ruckus to my figure, well a combination of them, getting “older” and getting lazier.. example..High school weight 120-130 US Army Weight 150-155 Civilian weight 160-165 max pregnancy weight with baby 1~ 225 post baby #1 weight 180 max pregnancy weight with baby number 2 ~245 (woah) post baby weight 227 (ouch)
Hmmm could I live with topping the charts at over 200lbs?? yes I could.. after all I couldn’t’ have a regular exercise routine and juggle school, kids, my husband and my job??!! Could I?? I managed as best I could on maternity leave, I tried to take advantage of the time I was spending with my children while making it to zumba class once or twice a week and group power (weight training) class once or twice a week… I tried to stick with weight watchers but counting points and being accountable was so hard with trying to feed an infant that wanted to nurse constantly and trying to entertain a 3 year old that was literally bouncing off the walls from being stuck inside with a mother tethered to her newborn brother.. after all it will just fall off right?? Isn’t that what everyone says? Even though the weight from my first didn’t just fall off it would be easier this time… somehow I had to believe that in my mind to keep myself from going crazy. I stayed happily in denial with Cleopatra until it was time to go back to work… I barley had a weeks’ worth of business casual clothes that fit me.. no worries I love to shop I’ll zip right over to my favorite store Ross and pick up a couple things for cheap… what was supposed to be a fun shopping trip for a few new items quickly turned into a terrifying experience….