Cause I'm stronger! (and TMI)

I'm so bad at keeping this blog up to date. So I'm not sure if I'm just re-writing stuff, or if it's all brand new. I just hop over here when I get bored.

So, lately, when I do a long run, (a long run is more than 5 miles for me) I get EXTREMELY sick afterwards. I mean, not puking sick, but, the other end.. Its awful! I ran 6 the other day and spent the next 5 hours on the toilet. I even had chills. I tried Googling it, and it came up as, "Runner's Diarrhea"  Gross, right?! From what I read, it's from being dehydrated. Which I find crazy, because, if you know me, you know that I don't go anywhere without my water bottle. And I fill that baby up at least 3-4 times a day. So I haven't ran more than 4 since. Mainly because I don't want to spend he rest of my day sick.

So I'm kind of working back into it. I'll do my classes, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Last Friday I did Tabata for an hour and felt so good that I went for a 4 mile run afterwards. I got home and got sick once. Today, I did an hour of TAC class and then went and ran 2 miles. No sickness.

Obviously, I'm not just going right out and running 6 miles, but I'm thinking that maybe doing non running thing first and then run, it'll help? We'll see.

Look what we found!(this was supposed to go in my other Blog. Oh well.)

Meet, "Dexter" He is a German Shepherd. We found him on the side of the road few weeks ago! I can't believe that someone would just toss this puppy.
We picked him up on our way to get a baby shower gift from Babies R Us. It was raining, and my Husband was driving with my Mother in Law and the kiddo's in the back seat. That day, we decided to take the back way to avoid the traffic. He was just sitting next to the road, so we pulled over. My Mother in Law got out and went and knocked on the door to the house that he was sitting in front of. When the guy came out to answer, he told her that the puppy had just showed up a few weeks ago and that he's been feeding him since. The guy actually asked my Mother in Law if she wanted to keep him, and being the crazy animal lover that she is, said yes. So, with my Husband shaking his head and saying, "no, no, no" over and over again, she got back into the car with the pup.

Aaron was NOT a happy camper. But I felt like it was destiny! I had been having puppy fever,(especially German Shepherd) ever since my Father took us to watch the K9 Sheriff dogs practice when we were back home. And all the sudden, this puppy, a German Shepherd, just shows up?! FATE!

We brought him home, and I gave him a bath. I immediately checked on Craigslist and Lejeune Yardsales to see if anyone was missing this adorable little pup. Nothing. So I made an appointment at the vet to see if he was micro chipped. Turns out, he wasn't. So, we micro chipped him, and he officially became, "ours"

We're all pretty happy with him. Gunner isn't very amused, because Dex likes to nip at him all the time. But he's still just a puppy, and I know he'll grow out of it.

Here is the most recent picture of him, (taken today)

He's getting BIG! Look at his ears standing up already! The vet said he was between 10-12 weeks old, So I'm putting his Birthday at sometime in November.
I'm excited to see what kind of a dog he'll grow up to be. I'm thinking about putting him in training so he can learn to protect us. That's especially important to me with the Husbands deployment schedule. We'll see!

Befores and afters anyone?

Okay, so I've been working out on and off since 2009. What really got me started was running. Before I started running, I weighed in at 180lbs. Yep, me. I did. I had just had Benjamin, (now almost 4 years old) and was disgusted that I let myself get so out of shape.

The first time I ran, it was on the treadmill at the gym in Quantico. I ran 1 mile, and it took me 14 minutes. I didn't stop once. It's never take me that long to run a single mile. That's when I knew I had a lot of work to do.

From that moment on, I dedicated myself to lose the weight. I would run every night. Eventually working up to 3 miles with out stopping. I did my first 5k in May of 2009 and came in just under the 30 minute mark. After that, I knew I was hooked. I did several more 5k's after that, and in 2011, I got up enough courage to run a 10k. I ran the whole thing without stopping, coming in just over an hour. After that I ran an 8k, and,if you're a normal reader of my Blog, you'll know that I had an injury. I fractured my left foot while running in my Vibram Five Fingers.

2011 was supposed to be my half marathon year, and I totally blew it. I was out from June until the end of September with a big black boot. I never did get back to the doctors to see if it had healed correctly. Mainly because my Husband came home from Afghanistan at the end of September.

I started running again, I did a Warrior Dash on October 1st 2011 with my Husband in Virginia. After that, I did a 5k for Breast Cancer, and another 5k in November. After every race, it would result with a sore foot.

Anyway, I'm totally losing track of why I started this post.

I have managed to lose all of the weight that I put on with my Benjamin pregnancy. I'm at a healthy, normal weight of 129.6. I'm happy with that. I'm toned and I'm stronger. I'm happy with the way my body looks, (if i could just grow some bigger boobs!) and that's a rare thing to hear me say.

I'm so happy with my body, mainly because I have been working out every other day consistently, (EVEN over Christmas vacation) since October 29th 2011.

Here are my results  so far: (and these are just of my stomach, because I've been trying to get abs.) some of you might not even see a difference, but I can tell.

I'm sorry about not being consistent with the camera distance. The first 3, I had my husband take, the last two are obviously me in the mirror.

So the very 1st picture, I weighed in at 129.6. I weighed in EXACTLY the same in the very last picture, which was taken on Monday.

So there it is. 3 months worth.

Oh, I went back to add these.. cause you can see my "cut" (or what I like to think of as a cut) in these.

I feel like every picture fluctuates. Some I think I can see some muscle, others, I see bloating. Guess it depends on what Ive eaten?

Classes?

Do any of you take classes at the gym? I never thought Id be a class taker, but a few months ago, my runner friend, Cait talked me in to doing my first. It was a TAC (total athletic conditioning) class. And boy was it HARD!
It was the instructors last day so she really pushed us. It was basically Tabata. Which is  20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles).
Power squats were the very first exercise. I have never been so sore in my entire life! I literally had to reteach myself how to walk! I tried running 3 days after the TAC class, and I couldn't even get my legs to go the way they were supposed to!
But it was totally worth it and I LOVED the feeling of that soreness!

So ever since that first TAC class, I've been hooked. TAC is every Monday and then we take Cycle Circuit. Which is basically spinning. Getting off of the bike, doing Polymetrics on the floor and then hopping back on the bike. And on Friday, we use the gym. We do 30 minutes of cardio,(which is almost always running) and then strength training.

But now, our TAC instructor has an all Tabata class on Fridays! To say I'm excited and a bit nervous is an understatement. I'm so excited to have such an intense work out. But a bit nervous of not being able to walk 3-5 days afterwards! Haha..

Do any of you take classes? Would you rather take a class or just use the gym?

I'm here!!

Update:

So my foot is probably still in it's healing process. I say that because I know that it hasn't completely healed. I still run on it and I still exercise and when I do, it hurts. (which makes me think I reinjure it)But not enough to make me go back to the doctor. I'm so afraid that they'll stick me in another cast and all of the hard work and training I've been doing will be ruined. Yes, I know, it's stupid and I'll just end up injuring myself more. But, I'm selfish, and I don't care. :)

Hubby and I did the Warrior Dash in Virgina in October. I HATED it! Well, I hated it while I was running it, but afterwards, it was all totally worth it. In fact, it was so much fun that we've signed up for two more! I have one in August and another in September.

So I did the Warrior Dash in October and a Breast Cancer 5k the same month and a Turkey Trot in November. As of December, I've been taking classes 2-3 days a week at the gym and toning up. The closest thing to a race that I've done in December was my 5.7 miles I ran on Friday and a pace of 10 minutes a mile. I know, I know.. that's slow.. but I don't care. I enjoy my run way more at a slower pace.

Speaking of that run. It was one of the best runs I've had since I stopped running in my Vibrams. I haven't felt that much in tune with my body and my breathing in a long time. It's so nice to just go out there with no plan. Just go out there and run. Run until you feel like stopping. No watch, no music.. just you and the road. Those are the best kind.

As for whats next, I REALLY want to add a half marathon to my list of races. I've been saying this since 2009 and every year something prevents me from doing one. 2011 was supposed to be that year. 7 miles was the farthest I had ever ran in my life. I ran the 10k and the next step was the half.. and then I broke my foot. So hopefully, 2012 will be the year I can cross, "Run a half marathon" off of my to do list..

Like I've mentioned above. I have two Warrior Dashes with a possible 3rd in the works lined up so far. I'm  hoping to be able to add a few 5k's, 8k's and 10k's in the mix as well. But also, I'd really like to focus on cross training and building up different muscles while training for these runs..

That's that.

Out of commission

So as most of you may know, I am out of commission. I haven't ran since my 8k on June 11th. I fractured my foot and have been in an air cast for the past 9 weeks.

August 31st, I go back in to see if it's healed. If it isn't, they're going to do a CT Scan to find out exactly why it's still broken and not healing. The fracture is just down from my second toe on the top of my foot. At the last appointment, my doctor said that it is healing.. so this is a good sign.

I think I fractured it by trying to run too fast in my Vibrams. I started running with my neighbor, Cait and shes faster than me. She wanted to do a 9 minute mile. (Which I could do in regular sneakers) So to practice for the 8k (Race the Waves) that we signed up for, we ran a 9 minute mile. I just think I over did it with that run because after that, I couldn't run for 3 days. The 8k was that Saturday and I was determined to run it. Well, I did and, like I said before, haven't ran since.

Not being able to run is KILLING me. I feel like running is a huge part of me. I can feel it in my bones. I ache for it when I see someone run by. I get jealous of other runners. It's awful.

But I did sign Aaron and I up for the Warrior Dash. It's October 1st and it's in Virginia. Here is the site: Warrior Dash My Mom and Dad just did it in New York and had the time of their lives. My Mother even got 1st place for her age group!  So I'm praying to be healed by then. Hopefully I wont need physical therapy..

As for now, I'm stuck in this baby:

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of myself in the  thing. That's my cousin, Erin on the right. .

I'll update after the 31st! Wish me luck! :)

Race the Waves 8k

This morning I did my first 8k. I guess it's kind of a step backwards from a 10k, but now I have one of each under my belt.

This race took place in Emerald Isle, Nc. I got up at 6:15, ate a bagel put on my flip flops and was out the door. Packet pick up was from 6:45-7:30 and the race started at 8:00.  I was really rushing to get there because I didn't realize that it was almost 40 minutes away. Whoops. So I get there, put my Vibrams on, go get my packet, and put on my bib. I met up with my friend, Cait and her Husband, Kyle. We stood around for what seemed like forever in the blistering sun. It was only 75 degrees, but the humidity was 85%. FUN!

The race started and I made sure I was the last to cross over the start line. I hate getting tangled up in all of that adrenaline when the gun goes off, so I normally hang back to ensure I can stay at a good pace.

This race was an out and back, (which I HATE) The first 2 miles were HOT. I'm not going to lie. I sweat like a mo fo! There was absolutely no wind or breeze.. just your breath and the humidity. The way back was so much better. I caught the breeze off the ocean and it felt so good. This route was actually hillier than my normal running route! Which really surprises me considering it's right by the ocean. But I welcomed a little challenge. I mean, these hills are nothing like what I used to do in Virginia and nothing like I've done in NY, but I've become so used to running on flat, that these "hills" were a nice little change.

Anyway, I finished in 50 minutes and some change. Which is okay with me. Thats a 10 minute a mile pace and thats what I normally do. Eventually Id like to step up my pace, but I'm not going to worry about. As long as I run the whole thing, no walking, and I finish, I'm happy. I have never walked a single race I've been in and I wont start now just because I decide to pick up my pace and tire myself out. Ya know?

I'm still looking to find the official time, but so far, nothings up. Oh, and I finished 3rd for my age group! Got a nice little medal and even stood on a podium! Lol..

Next up is the Firecracker 4 in Saratoga, Ny on July 4th! That is, unless I find something else down here and my foot heals before then! :)