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!

26.5 lbs today - nothing fits anymore!

I got back on the scale today - what a great feeling!

141.5 lbs!!

That means since my official start date of May 1st I have lost 26.5 lbs.  And since I weighed 172 last september I would say that's a 30lb loss since having all these babies and "letting myself go"!  That totally reminds me of my mom.  The only two pieces of advice she gave when I got married:

1. make sure you communicate

2. don't let yourself go

oh my.  And thats why all the times I tried to lose weight before did not work.  This is the only time I made the decision with my soul - and not with my mind or my memories.  And so here I am - 30 lbs lighter and with nothing to wear!!  Here are all the pants I tried on that do not fit and are off to be donated:

I want to go shopping but not quite ready - I mean I'm still losing!  But in the mean time I keep putting on dresses since that's what fits - well kinda.  I mean they hang on me but they don't have me looking good!  And the other part of me thats not looking good?  That mama pouch that I'm not sure will ever go away.  But I'm going to keep taking these Eric's Sport Shots and working out my DIY crossfit (by the way today's workout from crossfitendurance.com was: Bike 8 x 1/4M with 2:00 spin, holding splits within 2-3 seconds) and watching what I eat and we will see what happens!!  The DH keeps asking what the plans are - how skinny am I planning on getting?!  But I'm feeling good and I'm going to keep on going to whatever happy weight that takes me.  And not for him, or my mom, or anyone else - but just for me - cause I feel good!!

Thanks for sharing in the journey!!

A 25lbs lighter kind of update!

And I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, WHAT!?!

May 1st I loaded the my fitness pal app on my iPhone, entered some goals and got busy in the gym.  So we're at the end of July now and I've lost just under 25 lbs.  I'm actually down to my weight that I was before baby #1!!  Meaning I haven't weighed this in over 8 years.  Wow.
Have been asked quite a bit about how I did it, or am doing it since I'm still in process ;)
First of all, could not have done this without Eric's Sport Shots and Eric's Sport Ade.  Of course I am biased, I helped design the thing.  But with my athlete husband at the helm I think we did an amazing job of putting together essential electrolytes, natural caffeine and vitamins in a great tasting coconut water base.  These shots allowed me to run 2 half marathons and made possible the major transformation I continue to undergo!

Eric's Sport Ade Power Punch, 2-Ounce (Pack of 12)

Eric's Sport Shot Energy Drink, Lime, 2-Ounce (Pack of 6)

Second, I totally changed my workout strategies.  I started looking up crossfit WODs (Workout Of the Day) and trying them out.  My workouts never lasted more than an hour and actually the more I have done the less time they are taking.  I started slow and hesitate to even call what I do crossfit.  More like DIY crossfit.  Like I have never formally taken a crossfit class in my life.  But I have googled them profusely.  And I'm a fast learner.  And I have an athlete of a husband who knows lots of these exercises.  I'll post my workouts and the sites I use.  But I am getting stronger in all kinds of areas and feel great!

My favorite goto WOD generator

Third, I've been holding true to that fitness pal.  I log my calories.  I log my workouts.  And if at the end of the day I have 40 calories to my budget - I don't get my beer or glass of wine!  It made me search for choices that were filling and less calories.  And guess what, those foods are much healthier for you!!  I had some goto ~100 calorie treats.  Like a SB mocha light frappacino.  And maybe a couple diet cokes made their way into my consumption but only a couple.  I try to stay away from artificial sweeteners and colorings and all that nasty business.  But I must stress it wasn't hard to say no.  Not as hard as it had been before.  Like when I tried Weight Watchers and I was literally pissed off at the world for not being able to eat what I wanted.  Which brings me to my fourth...
Fourth, and maybe this should have gone first, is that I wasn't in a defensive or I hate myself kind of mood when I started this.  It was like having that conversation that you need to have but not in the middle of the argument.  It was just a random day and I thought yeah, okay lets do this!  And so thats when the Eric's shots and the crossfit workouts came in.  Because they are so encouraging!!  And so was that scale as I started checking once a week and was 2 lbs lighter each time.  A great moment was when I got under that 150lb cluncker weight thing on the scale - cause they have an old school scale at the Y that I use.  So there we go!!
My example day, i.e. today!
workout - I took DS4 up the hill in the jogging stroller and did a Tabata which is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for 8 rounds.  So my interpretation of that is running 20 seconds hard and walking 10sec.  On the treadmill I usually put it at an incline and at 9.5 and run the 20 seconds and then hop to the sides.  Like I said - more of a DIY crossfitter.  And then tonight I did 10 verticle jumps and 10 pushups for 10 rounds.  I was breathing hecka hard by round 8!!  And I earned myself a beer :) which brings me to...
nutrition - had a cup of coffee for breakfast with a banana and special K cereal with lowfat milk.  Lunch was 2 scrambled eggs with pico de gallo and light sour cream on a 100 calorie tortilla.  Around 3pm I had an Eric's Sport Shot and then tackled that Tabata.  Dinner was baked teriyaki chicken and some rice and green beans.  Well lots of green beans, sauteed in a little sesame oil.  was yum!
A day in the life, hope you'll be back for more.

The opposite of energy shot

Enjoying a nice glass of red with 2 babybels. Am trying to relax and not get too upset with the exercise regimen my 7 year old son came up with for me. As he says, he wants me to be happy and lose weight! Yay! I guess this is a great lesson in how kids are much more aware then you could ever imagine. And with that thought I vow to love myself more, compliment myself more and believe in myself more. And maybe with that Eric's Sport shot we got coming out, I'll start in on that exercise plan! I'll have to post a copy of it later. It includes jumping jacks, a 2 mile run and some eye tests. Love it.