2011 Year in Review

Yes, I know that I probably should have posted this before the New Year rang in, but who knows what I might have accomplished in the last few minutes of 2011!

So, here’s my list - which I’ve broken up into categories.

Running Related:

- Ran outside for the first time...in public....in running stuff. I remember being so nervous that someone would see me. What would they think seeing me running? I’m not a runner? Would they laugh at me? Would they point and stare? Actually - no one was out there for my first run. 
- Ran outside for the first time in public with other people
- Ran my first mile without stopping
- Ran my first two miles without stopping
- Ran my first three miles without stopping
- Ran my first road race (Anthem 5K)
- Ran my first 10K road race (Rodes City Run)
- Got fitted for my first pair of running shoes
- Ran my first 10 mile road race (Papa Johns)
- Met RTVers for my first group run (three times around the Cherokee Loop for me!)
- Signed up for and ran my first half marathon (Geist Half Marathon - Nobelsville, IN)
- Got to put my 13.1 sticker on the back of my car
- Experienced post-race let down 
- Ran the Barnyard Dash (10K)
- Ran the Warrior Dash (5K) - Ok, who am I kidding. I walked the Warrior Dash and tried really hard not to die.  
- Ran the Fort4Fitness Half Marathon (Ft. Wayne, IN) 
- Joined RTVers for two more group runs
- Started training for my third half marathon

Fitness/Weight Loss Related

- Started taking kettlebell classes in June
- Realized that kettlebells were going to kick my a*& and I kind of liked it
- Consistently attended class twice a week for seven months
- Have muscles in places I didn’t know muscles could exist (at least not on me)
- Finished the Advanced Kettlebell training classes
- Lost 8.1 pounds - which makes me want to CRY! At my lowest, I had lost 21 pounds, but I’ve gained quite a bit back in the past 6 months. (total weight loss so far is 73 pounds)
- Even though I’ve only lost 8.1 pounds in the past year, I have dropped 2 dress sizes
- Even though I’ve only lost 8.1 pounds in the past year, I feel the fittest and healthiest I ever have

Personal

- Participated in two musicals (music directed Hairspray and on stage for Cinderella)
- Sent my son off to the big bad world of kindergarten
- Got a new job
- Vacation on Sanibel
- Lots of travel for work

2011 was a good year for me - and for my family. Now I’m looking forward to what 2012 will bring! 

Weigh In Report

The last couple of weeks since my last confession still hasn't been great.  I've been up and down.

I was really good this past week.  I tracked everything and tried really hard to make good choices and decisions.

It showed on the scale this week as I was down 6.4 pounds this week alone.  I'm still a little over 9 pounds off of my lowest weigh in but I think I'm on the right track.

Headed into the hard part of the year with the holidays, but hoping I can continue on the right path.

I also completed the hardest workout on Tuesday at my kettlebell class.  We've had hard workouts before, but I always knew I could do what Dave asked me to do.  Tuesday I wasn't so sure.  After practicing the Turkish Get-Ups that I learned on Saturday, we were to do the following:

50 Two-Handed Swings (not a big deal)
10 Squat Thrusts (YUCK - I hate these and can't do them)
40 Two-Handed Swings
20 Squat Thrusts
30 Two-Handed Swings
30 Squat Thrusts
20 Two-Handed  Swings
40 Squat Thrusts
10 Two-Handed Swings
50 Squat Thrusts

If you can do math, that's a total of 150 Two-Handed Swings and 150 Squat Thrusts.  When we started - and I realized I was going to have to do 150 squat thrusts I wanted to cry....right there.

But, I did it.  It was hard...practically impossible.....and I'll admit to you guys that I cried when it was over.  I'm still not sure if I cried because I hurt or if I cried because I couldn't believe that I actually did it.

Fort4Fitness Half Marathon Race Report

Here's the Race Report I wrote after my last half marathon.

What a difference my second half marathon is!

The Fort4Fitness is an event in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They had a 4 mile run/walk, 10K, Half Marathon and a Kids and Senior Marathon. (for that one, kids and seniors would run/walk all summer working up to 23.2 total miles. They finished the last 1.2 miles on Friday night.) This is a race that my brother does every year (he lives in Ft. Wayne) so I decided to go do it with him.

I didn't train at all this summer for the race. Every week I'd think, "I really need to get serious about this half," and every week something would come up. My longest run since the end of May was 6.5 miles. I knew I was not in the place I wanted to be, so the big joke was that I was going to walk 13.1 miles.

The nerves I had for my first half were non-existent. I really wasn't worried - or stressed - or anything. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm a little freaked out that the thought of finishing 13.1 miles didn't phase me. (guess that could be another definition of being a runner)

The weather was perfect - mid-40's in the morning - and it wasn't supposed to get over 65 degrees that day. My brother checked out the weather channel when we woke up and he told me that if I could finish in 4 hours I should avoid the rain.

My parents also came over to watch us. This is a really flat course that goes through downtown Ft. Wayne, around a park/golf course and then back into downtown and finishes at their very, very, very minor league baseball stadium. My parents brought their bikes so they could meet us at different parts of the course.

The gun sounded and we were off. I was hoping to make it at least 6 miles before I would start walking. People obviously actually paid attention to the corrals they were supposed to start in as I didn't have to weave in and out of too many people at the start. There were quite a few walkers, but I think they actually started at the back of the pack.

Of course I started out faster then I really wanted to. I tried really hard to just slow down and take my time. Things were going really well until about mile 2 - I hate between mile 2 and 3 - it's always my hardest part to run. I made myself keep going as I knew it would get better after mile 3 - which of course it did.

The water/Gatorade stops were plentiful which was nice. I did walk through the water stops which I never really did before. This was also the first race I did where our names were printed on our bibs. It took me some time to get used to the water stop people calling me by name.  

About mile 5 my left butt cheek and my left hamstring started cramping up. I know this is because I didn't train, nor did I do any proper nutrition the week before. (traveling to two cities in two days for work makes it very hard to eat right) I made it to mile 8 before I knew I needed to walk. Up to this point, I was averaging about 13:30 minute miles which is actually really good for me.

I then walked for 1/4 mile and ran for a 1/2 mile. I did that until mile 11 when I then had to go to walking 1/2 mile and running 1/4 mile. My legs/butt were killing me. 

At the 11.5 mile mark the rain started (my brother was WRONG!). At first it was just a light mist - and then it got harder and harder - and then I was freezing. I really wanted to run to warm back up, but my legs just wouldn't let me. I started running again at mile 12.5 and ran the rest of the way.

I finished in 3:08:15 which was 6 minutes faster then May. After my first half, I had really wanted to finish this one in less then 3 hours. After not training, I had no expectations. I was very happy with the results.

I really liked this race. It was FLAT!!!! Everything was really well done and organized. I can see myself doing this one every year.

Hi, my name is Kim.  (Hi Kim!)  It's been 81 days since my last post.

I wish I could say it's been that long because I've been so busy being healthy.

The truth is - I fell off the wagon.

And down a hill.

Through a grove of trees.

Got bit by a squirrel.

And landed in a river.

In other words - it's been bad.

I basically didn't go to Weight Watchers for about 2 months.  And boy did it show!  I'm now up about 12 pounds from my lowest weight.  And I just want to cry.

But the weird thing is that I can't get myself back focused.  I've fallen back into some of the habits I had before Weight Watchers.

For example, I was shopping at our newly opened Trader Joe's on Friday.  As I was checking out I threw a bag of Kettle Corn in my cart.  (my family LOVES kettle corn)  I was hungry so I opened it up.  I then continued to run errands, picked Alex up from school, took him to lunch, drove to a paint your pottery place, etc.  I got home and went to take the bag into the house......and it was empty.  Yes, I ate a whole bag of Kettle Corn in one afternoon.

The good news is that I have still be running (sort of) - including finishing my second half marathon at the end of September.  I have still be going to my kettlebell class, and in fact, have just started the advanced training.

So, I'm here, confessing to all of you.  I'm not sure what I need to do to get back on track, but I'm going to keep trying.

Warrior Dash Race Report

Here's my race report from the Warrior Dash this past weekend.  I haven't posted much lately because....well....things haven't been great.  My exercise has been wonderful.  I'm still doing my kettlebell class, and I've started running again.  The food - not such a good thing.   I'll get more into that later.

Warrior Dash Indiana - 2011

When the young, fit people that I work with started talking about doing the Warrior Dash, I thought it sounded like lots of fun.  So, on a whim, I signed up to run it with them.

I mean, how hard can it be?  It’s only a 5K!!

There was a total of 10 of us from my work that were going to be leaving with the 1:30 group.  We had matching t-shirts made and we were pretty excited.

Day of the Race

Because most of the people that I work with are young and single (or without kids), 6 of them (plus a pregnant co-worker) were going up together and spending the night on Saturday.  One person and his wife was going up Saturday morning with their young son, and one co-worker and her partner were also driving up on Saturday but they had been on vacation the whole week before.  So, that meant that I was traveling by myself.  I wasn’t exactly happy about it as it was a good 3 - 3 ½ hour drive from my house one way.

I left the house at 8:15 and started the drive.  I made sure that everything I had on I was willing to throw away.  I also had towels, a sheet, a couple of large garbage bags, a change of clothes and baby wipes!

I had a very uneventful drive to Crawfordsville (which is in the middle of nowhere, by the way).  It actually was kind of nice to listen to the music I wanted to and not the Disney or Hannah Montanna channel on Pandora.  

I talked to my co-workers just as I was coming into the town and found out they were about 30 minutes behind me.  I told them I’d check everything out and then give them a call.

Followed the traffic and signs back to the marina.  I was seriously waiting for the banjos to start playing!  Pulled into the parking lot and realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.  There were TONS of cars, tents, a big inflatable warrior helmet, beer tents, food tents, port-a-potties and the start and finish line for the race.  

It did cost $10 to park which I thought was kind of a crock (but something I was aware of beforehand).  I thought the volunteers did a good job of moving the cars into the parking lot and getting everyone parked pretty quickly.

I grabbed my ID and waiver form (did you know that I had to initial that I understood that I would be running through water that hadn’t been tested for chemicals or diseases as well as that there may be wild animals and insects on the course!) and headed to the packet pick up.  There was no line and I got my race bib, timing chip, t-shirt and warrior helmet.  I headed back to the car to drop everything off and went back to wait for my co-workers.

There was absolutely NO cell service so I had no way to contact anyone and let them know where I was or to find out where they were.  I stood out, in the sun, for about an hour.  You know it’s bad when you are sweating even before starting the race.

Eventually everyone showed up, got registered, hit the potties and had our pictures taken.

It was then time to line up for the run.  Our strategy was to just get to the obstacle and then everyone would wait for the whole group and do the obstacle together.  This turned out to be a very good strategy for me.

Race Time

The count down started and we were off (underneath a bunch of fire).  Although I totally understood that this was going to be a trail race with obstacles, I don’t think I truly understood what that meant.

The “trail” (and I use that term VERY lightly) was insane.  I’ve never even hiked on trails like this before, let alone trying to run!  I took off way too fast as I was just trying not to get run over.  I was so afraid that I was going to fall, or sprain something.

We came to the first water crossing.  I was walking through the water, hit a tree stump and down I went!  My sunglasses (prescription) went flying off of my head.  My first instinct was to grab for my glasses (which I did - and caught).  A guy behind me took my hesitation to get back up to mean that I was hurt.  He stopped his running and helped me up.  I have no idea who that guy was - but I want to thank him!  I wasn’t hurt at all - just soaked from head to foot and I wasn’t even ¼ of a mile into the race.

I kept running until I came to big hills.  At this point, everything is kind of blur.  I was having a really hard time catching my breath.  I think it was a combination of going out way too fast, the rough terrain, and the hills.....oh dear my the hills!!!!

The first major obstacle was a wall that went straight up.  There was a “ladder” type thing to get up the wall, then a pretty tall top part to get yourself over, then a couple of slats on the other side then large pieces of plywood to slide down.

Our team decided to go boy-girl-boy-girl so that we could help each other.  Climbing up the wall wasn’t too bad.  But this is when my fear reflex took over.  I have a HUGE fear of heights and I also have a horrible sense of balance - I’m always afraid I’m going to fall.  I got one leg over the top part, but I wasn’t tall enough to have one foot on either side.  So, I had one leg over the top of the wall just hanging there and my other foot on the other side on one of the slats.  I needed to just push myself over and put my dangling foot on the slat on the other side.

Instead....I froze.  Seriously - shaking and so scared!!!  Luckily one of my co-workers as hanging at the top with me and another one was right behind me.  One held my arm and the other gave my rear a push and over I went.  I crawled down the two slats hung on with my arms and let go!!!  I did it!!!!  My first big obstacle!!!!!

On we went - but I didn’t run for any of the rest of the race.  I realized pretty quickly that I was not prepared to run in that type of terrain.  Plus, I knew that I needed to save ALL of my strength and stamina for the obstacles.

I won’t bore you with tales of all of the obstacles - let’s just say they were insane!!!!!!!

(Rappelling up and down hills, crawling over cargo nets, crawling under a tarp, running though a river, crawling over wrecked boats, climbing up and down a cargo net, etc.)

I will talk about a couple more.

We came to another wooden wall.  If I had to guess, I would say that this one was at least 14 feet tall.  (I may be exaggerating, but I don’t think so)  Again, this one went straight up.  There were slats on the plywood but they were only wide enough to brace your foot - not wide enough to get a hand grip or use it like a ladder.  There were ropes hanging for you to use to pull yourself up.

Most of my co-workers had already finished this obstacle.  Again, one of my co-workers was waiting for me at the top.  I put my foot up, grabbed the rope and immediately realized that this was not going to work.

I didn’t have enough upper body strength to keep me up against the wall, so my body fell back and my arms were completely straight.  This also meant that I couldn’t pull myself up the wall.  I tried about 10 times and just couldn’t do it.  I told my co-workers that it wasn’t going to happen and I was just going to skip it.

They weren’t going to let me.  :)  So, a couple of them came back over to me and decided how to help.  I had one person on each side of me and as I got myself in position, they held me against the wall.  That gave me just what I needed to move up to the next foot hold.  They keep climbing with me helping me stay close to the wall.  The guy that was waiting for me at the top was still there talking me through the whole thing.  Luckily it was just a ladder coming down the other side.

I did it - and I can’t even begin to tell you how that felt.  In fact, just typing this up I have tears in my eyes!  I’ve never felt so bad-ass as I did right then and there.  And I’ve never felt so grateful for my co-workers.  

We continued on - a few more obstacles including jumping over fire!!!

Then I got to the last one - the mud pit.  This was about 3 feet of sticky nasty mud that I had to crawl through.  And I had to crawl because there was barbed wire over the top of the pit.  The best way to get through it was to lay on my stomach keep my feet up off the bottom and propel myself with my hands.  It was NASTY.

As I crossed the finish line I got my medal and some water.  We then posed for after pictures and then headed to the “Warrior Wash” to get cleaned off.  Think about the nastiest, muddiest pond you have ever seen and that’s what we got to go into.  It smelled like pig mud - but it was better then what we were covered with.

I then headed back the car, changed my clothes in the middle of the field (oh yes I did!) and then we went back for food/drink.

I headed for home at about 4:30 - and because of a DQ detour, a stop at Wal-Mart because my driver’s side windshield wiper decided to fall apart, and dealing with a shut down 64 because of the storm that blew through, I didn’t make it home until about 8:30.

I have bruises, scrapes, puncture wounds, contusions and other gross medical stuff I don’t understand.  I’ve counted at least 10 places where my body is beaten up.  I’m sure more will be making themselves known over the next few days.

My Thoughts

If I would have know then what I know now, I don’t know if I would have ever done this race.  It was 10X harder then I thought it would be.  

That said, I did finish it - and I did every single obstacle.  I do feel like a warrior.  I do feel empowered - and strong - and for the first time in my life - I feel like an athlete.  (I still had a hard time typing that sentence)

I did something on Saturday that couldn’t have dreamed about doing a year ago - 6 months ago - and really - 2 months ago.  The kettlebell class I’ve taken for the past 2 months is the only reason why I was able to do this.

I finished in 1:05:36 - 5,951 out of 6.726.  (Yeah!  I wasn’t last!!!)

Just for reference - the guy who won finished the course in 21:51:35 - Seriously - I don’t know how that was humanly possible

Week ?? Weigh In

It's been a few weeks since I weighed in and reported so I'm not sure what week this really is.

Change this week:  -1.0
Total Loss:  84 pounds
Weight Loss Percentage :  28.49%

It's official - I won't hit my mini-goal of under 200 by Labor Day.  That's ok - it's been a rough summer but I'm slowly going in the right direction.

Who Are You Walking With?

The other day I was on my way to my kettlebell class.  On the radio they were talking about this new personality test that is just one question and is supposed to tell you what kind of person you are.

You are supposed to answer this question with the very first thing that pops into your head.

Are you ready?

You are walking through the woods.  Who is with you?

Most people answered with things like a boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, child, parents, dog, etc.  One person said they were walking with Bear Grylls.  And although I think he's yummy, I'm not sure what kind of woods they thought they were walking through.

Are you ready for my answer?

Myself

At first I thought I must be some sort of self-centered socio-path.

But then it hit me.  It makes perfect sense.  For the first time in a long time (if not ever) I am being selfish - selfish of my food choices, of the time I'm putting aside for exercise.  I'm putting me first.

And I'm ok with that.