Half Marathon

It has been a few months, and who knows if anyone even reads my blog anymore, but here it goes anyway!

 

I did it! I ran the Salt Lake City Half Marathon!

I'm going to babble some (I actually mean a lot). Forgive me.

Training sucked. Not going to lie. I hated having to work a run into my schedule. There was never a good time to run. In the mornings, I had to do it before the boys woke up, which was fine, but it also meant I had to do it on the treadmill since Spencer has to leave so early to drive to school. Well, I hate the treadmill, so that was kind of rough on my consistency. Or, I had to run during naptime, which meant I had to go all morning without showering, and then run, and shower in the middle of the day, and not get any housework/other things done during naptime. OR.... I had to run after the kids were down for bed, which cut into my relaxing/me time. Essentially, it was difficult to find the time and motivation to run. But, nonetheless, I did, because I paid that darn $75 and I was running that half marathon. I had no choice. Which is exactly why I signed up to do it in the first place, because I knew it would force me to get some exercise! Oh, ps. I ran my long runs on Saturday's when Spencer was home, so that helped, because I just can't run more than 4 miles on the treadmill.

 

This was my first race EVER. The week before,I had ran 11 miles, but I only ran 4 miles the week of my race haha. I knew I'd be okay, but that's about how my training was too (not very consistent, therefore I probably didn't train the BEST). The night before the race, I was so stinking nervous! I was just so afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. AND I knew it was supposed to rain, AND aunt flo decided to pay a visit (tmi, kinda sorry), so I just didn't know how I was going to handle all of that. I am a big whimp of the cold, so I was expecting me to just hate the entire race, and never want to race again.

 

The next morning, me, my sister Amy, and my sister-in-law, got on trax at 5:30, I believe? Can't remember exactly. Anyway, it was raining, and freezing, and windy, and miserable. The ride on trax was nice, because we were the first passengers, so we got seats, and got to get nice and warm while we rode them to SLC. At each stop, tons of runners loaded the train. It was so exciting to me to see all of these people heading to this race! I was getting really nervous at this point.

Finally, we arrived at U of U, and it was raining, and cold and windy still. Poop. My sweet sister bought me a poncho, so I was very grateful for that (thanks again Am!). We only had about 20-30 minutes til the race started.

 

We knew we didn't want to start when the actual race started (your time doesn't start until you cross the start line), because there was going to be so many people, you'd be running foot-to-heel for quite a while. So we watched the huge crowd take off instead, and that was so fun to see! Holy cow, there was so many people!! This picture, honestly does not do it justice. It was crazy! It looked like this for several minutes. We think we heard there was over 7,000 registered! That inclusdes the half and full marathon, which all of the runners started at the same time.

 

It rained the. whole. time! Some times it was just a light sprinkle, other times I was having a hard time seeing, because so much water was dripping down my face.

It was so cool to see all of these people who had trained for this race. I saw a guy at one point, who had to be at least over 300 pounds, and he was running the FULL marathon! Amazing! Good for him, right? I also saw a father running while pushing his son, who is confined to a wheelchair, and his shirt on the back said, "I Run For Bart". Little kids were running! I'm bad at age estimates, but maybe 9 or 10 years old? So cool. Old ladies and old gentlemen. I mean, it was a very diverse group, and it was honestly so inspiring to see all of these people running!

 

My sister and I stayed pretty much next to each other the entire race. We just both had the same comfortable pace, so it worked out. Shana though, is so speedy, we lost her after the first mile! We couldn't find her after the race either, to take a picture.

 

Surprisingly, I felt great pretty much the entire race. The only thing was the rain and cold. Physically and mentally, I felt awesome. I was just having so much fun, which sounds weird considering what I was doing, but I was. Plus, it went fast! I wasn't like dreading the next mile, or the next 6 miles, it just went pretty fast.

 

Spencer came up to see me finish, and I'm so glad he did. He was a great support through this. If there were days when I just really didn't want to train, he held me to it. He also helped me out with the boys, so I could get some training in. Thanks a bunch to my hunny!

So, as I was nearing the finish line, I was looking for him, and luckily I saw him right as I was passing him, or I would have felt sad that I didn't get to see him as I ran the last few yards.

I look funny, I know. Whatev.

 

We did it!! Again, it was so awesome, and if you have considered running, do it. I hated running, but now I have learned that it is something that does me a whole lot of good in so many different ways. Honestly. I feel great.

After the race, I was pretty dang sore. Walking down stairs was a killer. My knees felt like they might just pop off or something. They hurt. I was still in awe/shock that I actually did it, and better than I thought I would, too, btw. Under 2.5 hours. I was planning on running it in 2.5 or longer. I'm slow, don't judge. Which brings me to my next point: I am going to run another one this fall or late summer. My goal is to run it under 2 hours. I'm not sure which one I'm going to do yet, I'll let you know ;) My sister is probably going to run it with me again, too, so I'm excited about that! Anyway, yay for running and meeting goals. What a high.

Not Complaining But...

It is Friday night. We have the house to ourselves, the baby is asleep, and Spence is doing homework. I'm grateful he is so dedicated and all, but he said that he would be finished over an hour ago. Not sure how much longer it will be from now. I'm getting bored of facebook and pinterest, and blogs. I just want to enjoy my Friday night with my hubby, a great movie and junk food.

On another note, I can fit into jeans that I haven't been able to fit into since high school. Not only fit, but fit comfortably. Goodness gracious I don't know what I'd do without Zumba. {Now I'm probably just going to ramble}... If you have not found a workout that you LOVE. I mean something that you HAVE to do because you look forward to it, and if you didn't do it you would hate yourself because you missed out on a great time AND a great work out. If you have not found that, try Zumba. I have found mine and it is Zumba as I implied.

Okay.

See ya.

Weight Loss-T!

First and foremost: I am not an expert at taking before and after pictures. As I'm not completely in the same postition for the before's and after's...

During my pregnancy I gained 27 pounds.

After I arrived home from the hospital from giving birth to Gavin, I had only lost 3 lbs.

What? Somehow it didn't make sense since a 7 lb baby was out of me along with all of his fluid.

Anyway by the time we had reached 6 weeks after Gavin's birthday, I was only 3 lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight, and I hadn't done any exercising.

This is what I did to lose the weight I did:

Zumba Fitness 2x per week 1 hr. each

Didn't eat past 7 pm

Didn't snack

Cut portion sizes

Refrained from adding extra/no salt/butter to my foods

Refused sweets that I didn't "need" there are, in fact, times that I do indeed need my sweets.

That's it!

 I didn't want to change a lot about my lifestyle, because quite frankly I have tried it before, then I give up eating healthy along with exercising regularly. And I, no I'm not an expert, don't feel like my diet is too awful.

Plus! Zumba is super fun, and makes exercising exciting.

I am now 8 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight.

I lost it in 4 months. Slow, but successful.

I'm still not quite to where I want to be exactly, so I'm going to step up my exercising a little bit.

Before's and After's:

Off topic - Notice my hair roots in my before pictures and then the after pictures. Nope! I haven't gotten my hair done for almost 5 months now! Yikes! Also, in my after pictures, I had just gotten back from Zumba thus my greasy hair and red face. I know you'll love the pink socks.

Hehe

Fitness Update

If you are wondering how the fitness part of my life is going, it's going okay... I've been faithful to going to Zumba. If the scale reads right, I am 8 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight. Woo hoo! It's starting to really show, and I feel really good! Hopefully I can lose 10 more and then I will be at my goal! I've got to do it by Christmas. It will probably be harder to lose these last 10 pounds. Anyway I am proud that I've stuck to it, and I feel really good about myself!

What Was I Thinking

Last week, I said I was going to try and work out 1 hr 45 mins per day.
Seriously? I think I must've been sleep deprived or something, because there was no way in heck I was going to do that. And guess what, I didn't. Surprise, surprise. I did run though! 2 miles per day. So that was better. I only went to Zumba once last week, because it had been cancelled the other days due to fall break.
I set my goals too high, but at least I still worked out, and I even added a little something.... I haven't had sugar/sweets for 8 days! That is amazing. I have maybe gone 2 days in a row without it in my whole life minues this past week. I can't believe I have gone this long, and I haven't died yet. Pa-retty ca-razy.

Goal this week: Zumba 3 times and run 6 miles + no candy/sweets.

A Few Things..

1- I did pretty good last week. 3 hours of working out via Zumba. I know I said I was going to do 4 hours, but I didn't. No excuse. I'm still doing better (not great) with my eating habits. I bought some new groceries to have healthy meals. Today, I worked out for about 45 mins, and will go to 1 hr of Zumba tonight, and then tomorrow morning as well. I plan to work out for about 1 hr and 45 mins each day this week. There ya go! That is my goal.

2- Gavin is smiling SO much now. It is so fun! Practically all I have to do is talk, and he smiles. It's so great. He will also get the "chills" a lot, and it's sooo funny. He coos and squeals all the time. His personality is really starting to show as well. He is a silly boy.

3- Ya know how I mentioned that we're living in Spencer's parent's basement? And ya know how we weren't sure if we should look for another apt, or stay here until the super affordable apt is available? Well we've finally figured it out. First, I want to mention how my emotions were during my first year of college. CONFUSING okay? One minute I felt one way about one guy, and the next minute, I felt completely different. That is what this whole living situation reminds me of. One minute, living in here for four or so more months seems like it's probably what's best. I wouldn't have to work, we really like the ward, yaddy yadda. The next minute I'm thinking in some ways, it would be easier to just have our own apt. Spencer wouldn't be driving so much, we'd have our own space, using our own furniture, feeling like we're independent yaddy yadda. If we were to get an apt, I'd have to work. I've had a few job offers, and everytime I find out more about the job, or as soon as I'm offered the job, I back out. Or as soon as I find an apt that would work for us, I can never commit. It's been frustrating, because I've known that I want us to have our own apt, feel as independent as we possibly can, and use our own stuff. But I just can't come to terms with the fact that if I got a job I would have to spend a significant amount of time away from Gavin everyday. What I'm getting to, is I already have a job! I'm a stay at home wife and mother! Good grief Kelli! So many mothers wish they had the opportunity to stay home, and here I am looking for another job that would take me away from my full-time job that I love so incredibly much. Yesterday, this realization just HIT me. I know that it had crossed my mind or whatever, but never did I fully comprehend it like I did yesterday. Living here, having no money isn't going to last forever. Just a few months (at least the "living here" part. The "having no money" will last for at least a few more years). I can do it. I want to do it, because I'll be able to be the one to raise my child. I'm so blessed, and I know Heavenly Father wanted me to realize that yesterday.

If I haven't made myself clear: We are staying here til around March. It's an ideal situation, because I'll be able to actively fulfill my calling in life. I have always known that being a mother and wife is all that I've wanted to do. When the apt up north becomes available, our rent (utilities included) will be close to the same amount we're spending a month on gas currently. Which is close to half of what most apartments cost. Grantid, the apt is only a one bedroom, but is still significantly cheaper than most one bedroom apts.  So I wouldn't have to work up there either. Again, still ideal as far as priorities go...

Update #2

Yep! I went to two hours of zumba last week. Almost three. I say almost because I was planning on going a third time, but decided against it so I could get things ready for Gavin's blessing. Anyway! I'm really doing this and I'm so glad! This week I plan to go to four hours of zumba. Starting tonight!

How's your progress?!

Update #1

A week has passed, and I don't feel any skinnier, healthier, or more fit.

BUT! I did do better at cutting back on my snacking and sugar. I still enjoyed myself (and life for that matter), and had some snacks and treats throughout the week. You can believe it, when I say I could have/would have eaten a lot more had I not posted about my goal on this here blog.

That's not to say that there weren't times I should have resisted the temptation, and I didn't. I am saying though, that there were more times I resisted the temptation than not. !Yaaahooo!

Progress has been made.

I actually wasn't planning on exercising, but I did! once... I ran. I don't know how far. Walking was included in the run (a lot of walking), but nonetheless, I ran. After my throat-killer/lung-burning run, I walked like the floor was hot everywhere I went, because my shins were just a tad sore. They are almost better now, and it's been almost a week. Shy-sa. I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

Welp. I do say that I am excited for this next week :)

Goal: Keep up on the cutting back of snacking and sugar + 2 days of 1 hour exercise each.

Six Weeks.

I had my 6 week appt this week.
You know what that means???  (get your mind out of the gutter! ;)

  

I Can Exercise!!!

If you know me, then you know I commit to some exercise routine, but have a hard time sticking to it.

If you don't know me, well you might learn that soon enough.

I want to start exercising, and eating healthy.
I'm posting this, because I want you all to join me!

If we can all help each other stick to achieving our goals, then I think our chances of doing so, will be much higher.

If you are like me, you want to feel good about your body, and you want your body to feel good. Eh?

But, it is hard to do all the time, and to remember that you want it really bad.
I justify a lot when it comes to eating junk, or not exercising.

That's why I need your help!

So, I plan to post on here weekly, how my week has gone concerning exercise and eating habits. Good and bad.

I don't want to be posting bad news all of the time, so I think that will help my drive some :)

And PLEASE leave advice, or a story to relate, or tell me that I need to kick my butt into gear! Anything will help. And please, please feel free to join! We can all post about it on our blog, and leave comments and support for one another :)

I have a goal weight. I am going to give myself a reasonable amount of time. So, I want to reach that goal by Christmas. I will probably start to have physical goals along the way as well.

Whaddya say?

To start, I'm just going to cut back on my snacking, and my sugar. :)