Seattle Half to the Seattle Full Part 2 Recap!

Seattle Marathon 2012

I love the start of a race - when all the runners are facing the same direction in anticipation of a collective mission. But compared to the half marathons I've been to, these marathon runners mean serious business. I slid in somewhere between the 4:10 pacer and the 4:40 pacer and pretended to be serious too.
They played the star spangled banner and I felt un-derserving and inspired and ready to go.  I got my armband and iphone set and pressed play so Tina Fey could talk me through the next 5 hours of my life. The first 6 miles felt great - they flew by! My toes went numb but I tied my shoes a little tighter at the I-90 turnaround and it actually helped.  Good choice on the half size bigger for the new shoes I said to myself!
I remember looking at the water in the fog and zoning out except for the excitement of seeing mile markers.  And because we double back I remember these amazing "true" marathoners flying past us pretty early on and just staring in awe.  They are made from a different mould for sure.  It was pretty cold being right off the water.  I made it down Lake Washington blvd and heard that dang Ganghim style song blaring from Seward Park.  Dare I say I was invigorated!?  The 4:10 pacer passed me around the 12th mile and I stayed with a girl with striped socks that was running her FOURTH marathon in FOUR days.  Every time I felt tired, I would read the back of her leg which said FOUR marathons in FOUR days.  And I would think, well this is nothing.
I hit 13.1 miles at 2:15. I drank my Eric's Sport Ade and felt fantastic.  I remember the beautiful trees and fog and repeating, I love you.  I guess I was talking to myself.  I kept running.  I loved seeing the water stations, it was such a symbol of progression.  I kept trying to calculate my times since I didn't load the pacing app because I didn't want my phone to die.  But mostly I enjoyed the run until.... about mile 20.
And then the hills started, and the saying "what the hell are you doing!?" started and it was suddenly a different beast.  So instead of zoning out, I had to zone in to physically, consciously, mentally make myself run.   And if I didn't my body would just start walking and sometimes just stop.  Like really just stop!  I downed my last Eric's Sport Shot for some extra encouragement and was so thankful a friend met me at 21 miles to run with me.  It was still hard and at times my body was begging me to just walk but I pushed through.  I love running over the bridge and seeing downtown Seattle, but the last and longest 2 miles are still left.  Thankfully two friends that ran the half marathon caught me right over the bridge and cheered me through as I ran down the hills toward the last quarter mile.  Knowing my boys were waiting at the top of Mercer kept me running and I was so excited to see them all.  It was sunny and beautiful and I felt bright and shiny as I crossed that finish line running hard.  I had done it, and done it well.
I'm not sure what to say about the accomplishment.  I'm proud of how I did, but its not pride I feel.  I'm happy I did it, but its not joy I feel either.  I think it must be love.
I didn't cry after the race.  I wanted to, but just didn't.  I might have been in too much pain to get tears out.  But later, while laid up on the couch I saw a quote on a commercial:
be yourself
everyone else is already taken
and thats when the tears came.  Dear self - look what we did, I love you!

Seattle Half to the Seattle Full!! Part 1

Can I say it now, I am a marathoner!?
Feels like its stretching the truth a bit.  But I did do it, I completed a marathon.
26.2 miles, yeahhhhhhhhhhh!!

1 year ago I ran the Seattle half marathon - my very first half marathon.  Afterwards I said it was the hardest thing I had ever done (besides childbirth of course!)  It was rainy, wet and cold but I really felt good about it, how I pushed my body and pushed my soul.  And so when I signed up for the full marathon just 10 short days ago, I must have thought:
I'm ready to do that again, but to the next level.  And there is no 3/4 marathon to sign up for so 26.2 miles it was.
Or I had one beer too many and got a little overconfident in my abilities.
Or I was like, its only 30 more dollars for another 13.1 miles, thats the better deal, if I'm going to fork over some money, I should get my money's worth!!
Actually, it was a nice mix of all three of those things.  But I did sign up, and then promptly stayed up all night thinking, what have I done!

I was very nervous - probably from having an only 10 day training program that consisted of
1. drinking a lot of water, including hunniwater!
2. researching how not to chaff
3. finding/testing new shoes
4. develop a way to not lose my mind, or rather lose my mind so I could finish!

But my program went well, in those ten days I:
1. drank lots of hunniwater
2. bought a $1 stick of body glide at the Expo and some underarmor running pants
3. went to fred meyer to buy a new version and a half size bigger of the exact shoe I had been wearing for the last year (the night before the race, I don't recommend - although not many blisters!)
4. downloaded Tina Fey's BossyPants and the End of the Affair read by Colin Firth onto my iphone

And for all my extensive preparations I still had some serious nervousness!  Which could be from:
1. only preparing for 10 days
2. not following the crossfitendurance.com site very closely since I ran the Edmonds Half in September
3. Never having run over 13.1 miles in my life.
4. Really, new shoes right before a race!?

But I reminded myself
1. It's just like running two half marathons, and I've ran 3 already!
2. I will think of it as training for an ultra marathon
3. I am a badass and can do this!!!!
4. God help me!!  no really God help me.

Okay, check the next post for my marathon recap!
http://ericsfitmama.blogspot.com/2012/12/seattle-half-to-seattle-full-part-2.html

Blogging in the sauna - if I only had a hunniwater!

I'm in the sauna at the Y after getting in a quick workout. Well really I just used my workout as an excuse to hang out in the sauna. Still I did a quick Tabata on the bike (20 seconds on 10 seconds off) and then 3 rounds
21-15-9
dead lifts
pushups (it's supposed to be handstand pushups but I'm not there yet!)

And then I checked my weight 136.2!

I'm excited to report this only because I haven't been logging all my foods into myfitnesspal.com which means I have established some good habits with my eating and exercise - enough to count on those habits and still keep up this healthy lifestyle.  Like I said, I'm going to keep going, and I guess this is just my life now!! Hmmmm, feels good!

I'm enjoying this sauna writing though - will have to make this a habit. Although I should be spending this time relaxing, meditating and breathing like a yogi right?! I always try but what ends up happening is I shut my eyes, pretend like I'm relaxing while actually pondering how sweaty I'm getting or if those ladies can see my hoohah. But here, with the distraction of my beautiful iPhone, well this feels relaxing!! The only thing that would make this experience better is a delicious hunniwater!!

Yup, see how I worked our new product right into this blog post? No truly, hunni lime would be perfect right now. Naturally replenishing all my lost electrolytes, especially since blogging in the sauna has kept me in here much longer than usual!! Visit the site at hunniwater.com and like our facebook page!  Ok, well I better get out of here before I pass out, and you better pre-order your case of hunniwater so we can get this thing going. Cheers!!

my runner moms and the Edmonds Half Marathon!

I ran the Edmonds Half Marathon!

Last march I ran the Mercer Island half marathon in 2 hours and 45 minutes.  

And at the Edmonds Half?  Well, I killed it!!  

Racing 13.1 miles in under 2 hours, what!?!?

The race felt great, I attacked the hills and sprinted through the finish line.  Those Eric's sports shots gave me the encouragement I needed at just right times.  My 4 year old said I looked like I had a Mario star (you know the ones that make you all rainbow-y and flashy and nothing kills you and you can go super fast!?)  And you know what - thats how I felt!

In fact, as we embark on this new product adventure (it's called hunniwater and you can click here to support us!!) I'm inspired to give it everything I've got too! If I can cut 45 MINUTES off of my half marathon time, I can do anything!  And I'm going to implement the same strategies that got me here.  Finding what works for me and my family.  For me and my priorities.  

And I'll work on it every day, IN THE ZONE!!  Since starting my DIY crossfit and myfitnesspal I would say I've been (mostly) in the ZONE.   And it feels good.  I'd like to think the ZONE is where my actions line up with the goodness of my soul.  Which leads to... all the support that got me here, because that is a huge part of being in the goodness of my soul.  

And it will be a huge part as we embark on our next product!

It was probably just a year ago that I went on my first jog with some fantastic mom friends that have been with me through this whole journey.  I was huffing and puffing and shuffling my way through 2 miles, complaining with every step!  But I leaned on them, they didn't leave my side and they inspired and encouraged me (along with an Eric's Sport Shot!)  We raced the Seattle Half Marathon together last november and I had never pushed myself so hard.  We had a 9 mile run during training where I wanted to quit, to stop, to at least just run down the hill instead of up and have them come get me later!  But they kept pushing me cause they knew I could do it.  They knew I could do it when I didn't think I could.  They believed in me! And all that support and love that I felt helped set me on the path of knowing me, having faith in myself and getting to that goodness of my soul.

Those runs became a sort of therapy, where I get to revel in these beautiful women as we all struggle through kids, partners, friendships and self.  And in that struggle is the support we all need.  Because we are all trying to do the same things, right?  Do good by our kids, our families and our communities - all with love and happiness.

So mom running friends of mine - know you will always hold a special part of my heart for believing in me before I even did.  For always being there for a workout, for wine or for a cry! For helping me get to this place of strength and confidence and enthusiasm - with no complaints!

 For being such a blessing to my life, to the goodness of my soul.  

And for supporting and inspiring me still.

Playground DIY Crossfit

So I ran 11 miles last Saturday.  And burned over 1000 calories.  And felt like doing absolutely nothing for the next 5 days!!

The actual run occurred in the early morning hours and felt fantastic.  We averaged about a 10 minute mile - which is faster than my best half marathon time from before - much better.  Took the Eric's Sport Shot before and then the Eric's Sport Ade half through.  Some of the run was following the path of the Edmonds half marathon which I am planning to run 1 week from Sunday gah!

But for the next couple days I was pretty sore, and worn out and just did not feel like working out at all.  I remained somewhat mindful of what I was eating but couldn't even get a push up in.  In my defense, the older two boys started school this week and it was mighty hectic around here.  But I have always found a way to make time in the past.  Oh another excuse is the YMCA was closed.  And we have a giant project that we are working on (details coming soon!) Oh and I just remembered we did a crazy arse workout the day before the 11 mile run.  The Chelsea (go ahead google it!!)
But still, the more you don't work out, the more you don't want to work out!  Which is why I had to call my best workout buddy for a workout today.  Plus I knew she would be up for combining it with a park play date too!

Our workout (courtesy of a quick Google search for "toes to bar WOD") was:
wait, first Eric's SPORT SHOT to get me going!!
then
4 rounds
20 burpees
15 toes to bar
10 handstand push ups

Now my dear friend has had crossfit memberships in the past so she has showed me toes to bar but I have yet to try.  Here is what it is supposed to look like when you are amazingly strong:

And I tried to do one... or two... but then headed to modification time, knees to chest!  It still worked me crazy but I'd like to get them toes to the bar sometime!  We did these on the monkey bars at the park.  Eric gave me some pointers after - to gather strength from all the muscles in your back and your arms.   And to believe you can do it!

Photo cred to my 4 year old - pretty good yah!?

So we did 20 burpees on the grass near the playground, 15 toes to bar (really knees to chest for me) and then 10 pushups with our feet on a bench and we did this 4 times.  The kids were running around the playground or us or both and sometimes joined in on the fun.  I did bribe my 4 year old with candy and money for staying right close to my little guy so that helped.  But we got the workout in and it felt good to be back at it.  It really helps to have support, which is why I am so thankful for the great friends I have around me - but I will save that for another post!

Mt. Pilchuck with Eric's Sport Ade!!

A year ago this hike would have killed me.  Like literally killed me.  But Tuesday I hiked 5.4 miles up and back down Mt. Pilchuck!  I loved it.  We went early on a weekday so there was only one other couple on the trail.  Like leaving my house before 6am early. I went with two amazing inspiring friends. 

View on the way up.

at the lookout.  Had an Eric's Sport shot before the hike.

And a Sport Ade at the top.

It felt great although my legs were shaking all the way down.  Hiking is a whole 'nother kind of workout.  All those tiny stability kind of muscles hard at work.  But what a payout!  At least you get this amazing glorious view at the top and such a feeling of accomplishment after.  I climbed a mountain kind of accomplishment - fantastic!!  Who knows - next year Mt. Rainier?!

me and mom

What to post, what to post, what to post.
To tell you the truth, after all that celebrating about losing weight - my mom came to visit.  And she threw a little wrench into the system.  Here I was in this healthy place (both physically, emotionally and mentally) and then she comes with her Tiger mom-ness. In case you didn't know, criticism is how many asian mothers show love - and I have always felt loved!
Back to me, here I was, all healthy and active and here she came with just a couple little comments "don't worry, your stomach will get firmer over time".  I told her how I felt - how when I was weighing 170 I kept thinking about how I didn't appreciate when I was 145.  How I thought I was so chubby way back then.  And how I should have walked around in a bikini every dang day.  And so now I'm weighing that 145 and less and how even though my belly is jiggling from 4 babies I'm not worrying about it.  How I promised myself I wouldn't.  But those thoughts crept in and there I was staring at the mirror looking at my belly and hearing my mom.  And now when I'm taking a bite of food, I'm struggling a bit - like I might have just one chip and then scarf them all down in no time flat.  Thankfully 2 and a half months in that healthy place created some nice happy healthy habits for myself.  And I kept up with the fitness pal and the working out.  But it just wasn't as easy, or carefree, or thoughtless as before.  In fact it was all up in my mind and it was hard and it sucked.
So I kept talking it through and thinking about my mom, and me.
And then I looked back in that mirror and realized I am stronger than this.  Look what I have done and who I am, this mom of four beautiful boys and owner of this business and the comfort I found for myself to get me to this healthy state.
And today, while running the first couple miles of 7 with my baby in the stroller, I started thinking about that strength of my soul and realized that this is what my mom has wanted for me all along.  This strength that she has embodied through her life of challenges and successes. The strength that she inspires within me and encourages even though I don't hear it as such. And that even though it took me to love myself enough to not give a dang what she thinks - that I honor her with that strength all the same.  And so I love you mom - for all the wishes you have for me and the strength you passed on to me. Oh and yeah - for all that amazing regular mom stuff you have done for all our years too.  I see you!