Happy Holidays!!!!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I have a couple of projects I can't wait to share with you, but I just wanted to check in to see how your first week of 2012 is going. 

I'm trying to figure out how to blog on our new iPad (yay!). I downloaded The Blogsy app, but I have no idea how to use it. We'll start with trial and error.

So I set a couple goals for this year, probably the same goals I set every year. Lose weight, save money, buy a house. 

The weight loss is always the hardest. Last year I ended up with a grand total loss of 4 pounds. I felt like I had dieted the entire year and only had four measly pounds to show for it. 

I do feel better about this year, I feel like I'm going into it this time with a brand new set of tools. The diet part is always the easiest in theory, hardest to maintain. I'm starting out with tried and true Weight Watchers. I've had success in the past with counting points, as long as I count my points. I've even gone as far as pledging no drinks until I meet my monthly mini goals. No wasted points or calories for me.

My new secret weapon this year is.....the gym. Hahahaha big secret. But for reals, I started running last year and loved training for a race. I've already signed up for a 10k with my mom in June and have a half marathon in mind for next December (who else wants to go to Vegas???). Hubs and I have the personal trainer that tortures us twice a week and gives us homework for the other days. I would have seen more progress with him already if we hadn't started in the fall before I decided to eat my way through football season and the holidays.

So let's recap the weight loss plan of action: stick to diet, workout, motivate with races. 

Onto saving money, this year is looking a lot better comp wise at work, so that extra cash should be easy to sock away into out downpayment fund and our 5th Anniversary Europe Fund. Plus the diet means less eating out = money saved. Fingers crossed for a good tax return as well....

Then buy a house. Dumb iPad has an amazing RedFin app. We are constantly browsing houses and marking ones we like. This is gonna be realz if we can get goal number two in line. 

Did you make resolutions this year? Are they the same ones you make every year, but this will actually be your year??? Can I make it past the one week mark on any of mine??? Only one more day to find out the answer to that one......

I'll be back once I figure out how to upload pics on this thing. 

Happy New Year!

Hot Chocolate 15k

So I know you've been dying to hear how my race was, right?

Last Saturday I headed out to the National Harbor to run 9.3 miles with 19,999 other people. I was SUPER anxious about the crowds, getting there, getting chocolate, pretty much everything but the actual run.

The run itself was HARD. We started going down hill and I hit the first mile marker at 12 mins. Whoa, way too fast for me (I'm usually at about 13:30 - 13:45 miles). It was 5 miles out and back on a highway. It was boring and awful with all of the exhaust from the trucks and cars just one lane over. It was defeating to see the PACKS of people over a mile ahead of me when I was only two miles in. When I turned around however, it was encouraging to see all of the people I was ahead of. I kept my eye on a few people and just made it my goal to keep up with them.

The first five miles ended going uphill the way we came then back down hill for the next 3/4 miles. We ran past the finish line and went along the 5k course that had already happened that morning. Unfortunately, the downhill wouldn't last, at about 6.5 miles (right after I passed hubs cheering me along) we hit another hill, straight up.

Until this point I had stuck to my run 2 minutes walk 1 intervals. This hill was defeating. My attempt at running up it was counter productive. I just walked to the top, totally off of my intervals for the rest of the race. The final two miles were just run as far as I could, walk until I caught my breath. The final 1/4 mile was again, UPHILL. This was the steepest of the three hills too. Once I turned the corner and saw the finish line, I sprinted by hubs and friends cheering me on to finish.

What surprised me here was that I burst into tears. I was NOT expecting that at all. I wasn't dead (thank you training) and I had actually passed a LOT of people in the last mile (again, thank you training). I felt defeated though, that was the hardest run I had ever done. I had purposefully trained on what was one of the hillier parts of the trail I like, but I didn't feel prepared AT ALL for the giant hills in the race. I felt better once two ladies finished behind me saying that this was so much harder than the 10 Miler courses for the big races in DC.

When I signed up for the race, I had set a goal to finish under the slowest allowed pace time, 15 minute miles. As I had completed my longer training runs, I was coming in at closer to 13:45 - 14:00 minute miles. So before the race I had hoped to finish under a 14 minute mile pace. My official time was 2:11:50 which was a 14:09 pace. I was disappointed that just two minutes faster would have gotten me under the 14 minute goal.

This was my first big race and first race over 5k. My personal run was hard but good, the event as a whole? An absolute disaster.

The 15k was supposed to corral up at 7:45 and be off at 8 or shortly after. Our parking pass said to arrive at the National Harbor by 6:30. We were about 1/4 mile from the exit at 6:10 and then hit dead stopped traffic. At 7:35 we still weren't parked, had barely made it off the exit, so my friend and I jumped out of the car to walk to the start line. We had to walk about a mile to get to the start line and saw that the 5k was no where near starting. They were supposed to be off at 7:30.

At about 8:30 the 5k finally started. The 15kers jumped right into the corrals to get going ASAP. 15 mins later, the leaders of the 5k were finishing. At about 45 mins almost the entire 5k had finished and we still hadn't started our race. At this point, it was 9:15 and I had been expecting to be over half way done already. I had eaten breakfast four hours earlier and hadn't brought water with me. I was starving, thirsty, and numb from the cold. We had no information about when we would start and were just standing there hoping it'd be soon. Without any warning, the crowd started moving forward to the start line. The first mile and a half, I couldn't feel my feet because they were so frozen.

At the 5 1/2 mile when we were crossing back by the start and then finish line, the course was crowded with people who had finished the 5k and were now walking back to their cars. I couldn't tell at several points if I was even on the course because I couldn't see any other runners, just people with their families walking to their cars.

The water stations were poorly manned, often having to wait for water to get poured or do it yourself. (Let's blame this for my 2 minute hold up that cost me my goal pace). Once I finished running uphill to complete the race, the post race party was even further up the hill. At this point, I could choose, walk uphill some more to get rationed hot chocolate and fondue, or walk downhill a mile and half to get back to our car. I chose downhill. Prior to the race, I was really looking forward to celebrating my finish with other runners over delicious Ghiradelli hot chocolate, by the time I was finished, I just wanted to go home.

My experience and frustration with the poorly run race was not unique. I checked the Facebook page of the race and there were hundreds of unhappy folks. RAM Racing did not issue a statement until Sunday and it was just full of excuses.

They claimed traffic was bad because of an accident, WTOP and the Washingtonian have both said there was no accident reported. They said the National Harbor had promised parking would be no problem for 5,000 cars, but they never checked passes (Which had cost an additional $10 and required carpooling), so everyone parked there. They said the 15k was so delayed because the 5k went the wrong direction on the course, which is why we had to wait for them to finish. Shouldn't the lead bike have known which way to take the runners?

The whole thing was so poorly run and from what I can tell, it was mostly from them registering at least twice as many racers as the event should have held. Runners who were at a bit of a quicker pace said the course was too narrow and they were elbow to elbow the entire time and bumping and tripping into each other. The jackets provided were too small for everyone, leading to everyone sizing up and them running out of jackets.

I left the race with an awful distaste for RAM racing and am doubtful I would do another race with them. From what I can tell, most of their events have major mishaps.

All in all, I signed up for a 15k, I trained my butt off to prepare, and finished the race pretty much as expected. If it weren't for the poorly run event, I'd be so much more positive about the whole experience. I am looking forward to my next big race. I'm looking for a 10 miler or maybe perhaps even a 1/2 marathon in late April or May...any ideas? I need something to train for and something to work towards. I wanted to do the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, but we come home from vacation the night before, so I don't want to stress myself out doing a race the next day.

I am looking forward to working on speeding up a bit and knowing what I'm getting into with the big races now.

How was your first race experience? Positive or an absolute disaster?

I just walked 500 miles, and I will walk 500 more...

So I just got this gem in my inbox this afternoon. 500 Miles since I've had my fitbit. heck yeah. I've had this little guy for 115 days, so I'm averaging about 4 1/3 miles per day. Let's step that up a bit.

I am pledging to get to 1,000 miles by February 22, 2012. This is 100 days from now and puts me at a 5 mile a day average. Very doable seeing as how I still have 19 more days before my race, which means at least 5 more days with runs over 5 miles. Then I just have to keep it up...

I also hit the 1,000,000 step mark yesterday. AMAZING.

Also, down 6 lbs since my post on 11/1.

otherwise known as #kickingassandtakingnames

We Are....

I don't even know where to start with this, but I feel like I can't stay silent. I'm sad, heartbroken, and distraught over this entire Penn State scandal. I feel betrayed by a man I've never met, but have always respected. My world has been rocked by this.

If you had asked me Saturday morning if Joe Paterno should retire, I would have said "I hope he dies pacing that field, during a game, doing what he loves and all he has ever done"

Today, I think he should step down. This is the end of his career and what his legacy will now be known for, regardless of whether he is morally innocent or guilty.

I desperately want to hear his side of the story. I want to know what he's known for the past 9 1/2 years. I want to know that his conscience is clean. But I just don't think it is. I won't say that he met his legal obligations and could then sleep well at night. If he knew something illegal/immoral happened, he should have done the follow ups and he should have been asking if this had gone to the police. If he didn't know the full extent of the 2002 incident, his era at Penn State is still over and will be tarnished forever.

It is just awful that he is the main target being persecuted in this whole thing. I'm hearing more about Coach Paterno than I have about Jerry Sandusky, and he is the one that raped those boys!

There are now about 20 boys/men that have come forward as victims in the awful and horrific mess. 20 boys whose lives will never be the same because they were exposed to a predator who set up a foundation to supposedly help them. This man preyed on these helpless boys, giving them gifts and opportunities that they would never have gotten without him, but they paid the price of abuse and molestation for it. It is absolutely disgusting that this man put them in these situations. He should be the one persecuted for these crimes. He should be the one under the microscope in all of this.

Where was McQueary in the days/weeks/months/years after he saw what he saw in the locker room? Did he tell JoePa all the details? Why isn't he being called on for moral obligations?

People are calling for the cancellation of the rest of the Penn State season. This would punish players that had no idea and were in elementary school when this happened. This would hurt their chances of having a professional career. Boys that had never met Sandusky, boys that had no idea this man was lurking in their shadows. This would punish the other coaches that knew nothing of the situation, and I believe there were some.

Now is not the time for the Penn State community to turn their backs on their Alma Mater. Now is the time for us to come together and show that Penn State is so much bigger and so much better than this.

As posted on Facebook:

“We are…….sad. We are…….grieving with the families and the victims. We are……broken hearted. We are……trying to make sense of things. We are……confused. We are…..over 94,000 students strong. We are…..ranked among the top 15 public universities. We are…..the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. We are…..over... 8,500 top ranked faculty. We are…..hard working student athletes in many sporting events with NO connection to former events. We are….more than university officials and athletic department members. We are….more than this scandal. We are Penn State, and we have always been more than just a football team.”

 I will be wearing my Penn State Football shirt proudly for the rest of this season and as long as I can still scream out "WE ARE"

Bad News Bears

Just weighed myself.

IT WAS AWFUL.

I've gained. A lot. In a week. WHAT THE HECK

I'm only four pounds down from January 1st. I want to cry.

There are 60 days before 2012. And a goal without a deadline is nothing but a dream, right?

So here it goes.

I'm going to lose 27 pounds in 60 days. This gets me to a nice round number and a respectable 31 lbs in one year.

My race is about half way. So that's 14 lbs down by December 3rd.

And if this was twitter, I'd end with #letsdothis

training to finish, probably won't win

So I've been following my happy little schedule. Mostly. I get at least the run workouts in and maybe a couple others throughout the week. Training is going well, I'm very happy with my endurance progress. I never set out to be a speedy racer, but just wanted to set out to finish. In this first month of training I've gone from a 15 min pace (which is the minimum to not get kicked off the course on race day) to a comfortable 13:35 pace. This weekend is a 6 mile run, if I maintain my 2:1 run/walk splits, I'll be happy. If I finish at a 13:35 - 13:45 pace, I'll call it a roaring success.

Hubs and I joined the Y so I'd have access to a pool for the cross train days. When we signed up we got a complementary session with a trainer. The poor guy that had to put up with each of us for our free half hour kicked both of our respective butts. We both hurt so good after that first workout with him, we signed up for 12 joint sessions with him. WHAT?!?! So now we're paying someone to hurt us. That just doesn't seem right.

We do one 30 min session of strength training and one 30 min session of cardio. Tonight was our first cardio session. The Arc Trainers he wanted were taken, so to the treadmills we went. He set the incline at an uncomfortable height then set the speed at 6 mph. In case you aren't good at math, 6 mph is a hecka lot faster than my 13:35 pace. It's actually a dead sprint. So off we went, one minute sprint, one minute rest. I eventually whined my way down to 5.7 mph, still a dead sprint in case you were keeping track. It was awful and I hated him. Unfortunately he didn't get the memo that I don't plan on WINNING this race but just looking to finish, bonus points for not being last.

I'll be so happy this weekend when I can go at my slow and steady wins the race pace even though it'll be for 3 times as long as our workout today.

What do you do to prepare for a race?

What the WHAT?!?

Seriously folks, I've messed up big time. I signed up to run this 15K! That's 9.3 MILES for those non metric folks out there.

The most I've EVER gone (not run, just gone) is 5 miles. How am I going to practically double that?

I blame my sister. I was talking a big game and saying how I was going to run a half marathon next year, blah blah blah. And she sent me a link to this race and said "Why don't you sign up for this 15k?"

I googled "15k training programs" and the first one I saw was 10 weeks. I had 9 1/2 until the race, so kinda fit perfectly. Darn it, looks like I gotta sign up. This is the plan I'll be following: super amazing plan to get me across the finish line.

So I signed up and started running. It starts slow, just two miles at a time. I was already doing 3-4 a couple times a week. So 2? No problem. Now I'm at the end of week 2 of training and have to run three miles tomorrow morning. At race pace, we'll see how this goes. When I think about the race distance, I'm terrified, so I'm sticking to the schedule like it's my job.

We'll see how this goes. I didn't intend for this to become a running (I'm not a runner) or weight loss blog, but that's what's going on in my life right now, so you may be seeing a log about that coming up.

Sorry I've been MIA for so long, hopefully this is my big return!