Race # 9 : Wounded Warrior 5k

My August race for my 12 in 2012 and race #9 for 2012 is the 2nd Annual Wounded Warrior 5k.

Presented by Big River Running Company (a local running store) this is the second year of the race and net proceeds benefit Wounded Warrior Project.

I've run a few races put on by Big River Running and I'm never all that impressed with their management of an event but they are the local force behind many of the races so I can't do much about it.

As for how I want to do on this race, well I don't have high hopes. I haven't run much in months and I've just gotten over a cold and I'll be stuck at work with not much time to get to the gym between now and then. I am however going to set both my A & B goal for personal record.

Goals
A: 35:xx
B: 36:00
C: 39:59

After I finish this I have to get my rear end on a training program and stick with it. I have the USAF 10k in September and I want to kick its ass! (Plus I'd like to be in the 170's)

It's the Little Things

I love to eat, but I'm not a sweets person, I love all things deep fried and carbs, O-M-G I love carbs.

I hate salads and yogurt. Vegetables just tend to go bad in my fridge. Fruits are hit and miss, sometimes I will  eat them all up in a day or two, sometimes they rot. I'll tell you what never goes bad, pizza and bread. I love pizza and bread.

When I was 200+ pounds a day of meals mostly included fast food, eating out or casseroles, my days included sitting in class 20 hours a week, sitting at a desk for 27 hours or more a week and coming home to sit and study or sit on the couch and watch tv with my boyfriend of the time. It was a poor mix. (I was going to say a recipe for fat but that seemed cheesy.)

My favorite food was always...

Look at all that cheese!

A large Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pepperoni Lovers (drool). I would normally eat 3 or 4 slices with a soda or a beer. 

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 slice (152g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 150 Calories 370
% Daily Values*
Total Fat 17g		26%
	Saturated Fat 8g	40%
	Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 45mg		15%
Sodium 1040mg		43%
Total Carbohydrate 39g		13%
	Dietary Fiber 2g	8%
	Sugars 5g
Protein 17g
Vitamin A 15% Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 25% Iron 20%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Which means I was eating between 1020 and 1360 calories, just in pizza!!! Now I have found that I actually prefer the taste of this combo...

 and  

It's delicious and the entire pizza comes in at 1030 calories. Which means that I could eat the entire thing for as many calories as I was eating in 3 slices of the Pizza Hut pizza. 

It's about making changes you can live with long term. I'm not going to eat it once if I don't like it, let alone eat it day in and day out for the rest of my life. With all the different options out there I GUARANTEE you that you can find something, anything that is better for you than the crap that helped make you fat. Little changes are better than no changes.  

I Did It My Way

I don't think I've ever posted pictures of my "before" on my blog, mostly because that wasn't the point of the blog but I'm feeling oh nostalgic.

The highest weight I'm aware that I was at was 209.

Going on a float trip!

Homemade Pizza

Smile

Then I realized how miserable I was, how tired I was all the time, how hard it was breathe. I split up with the guy I was dating/living with for other reasons and moved to my aunt's rental house. I was broke and in college and the house was a disaster and had no running water, but I couldn't afford to pay rent. I already had paid for a 1 year gym membership and so I went to the gym to shower. I decided that I was going to try to make myself a better person before I got back into a relationship. One thing I had wanted to do for years was to run a 5k.

So I did a 5k. I still can't say I've run a 5k without stopping but I can say I have successfully completed 7 5ks . 

Sprinting to the end of my second 5K

Running to the finish line of my first half marathon

Then I ran a half-marathon.

Then I ran another.

After finishing my San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon

And then another.

It's been a journey over 2 years and I've lost 27.5 pounds in that time. Maybe not the most impressive weight loss ever but it's steady and I'm maintaining it without hating it. Don't get me wrong I wish I'd been able to lose all 74 pounds I'd like to lose in a year or less but I haven't. I also haven't starved myself or killed myself at the gym. I've done it in a way that worked for me. 

An update…

It's been a while, life got in the way.

I haven't been running much. I think I've logged 3 miles since my 10k on July 4th and nope that three was not a typo. It was been triple digits nonstop in the StL this summer and I've been having trouble keeping the temps in my house below 85.

I changed gyms. My old gym had no problem charging me an extra 20 dollars and sending me to collections 2 days after my debit card was rejected because I'd lost my debit card and had to have it replaced. Since I hadn't used my membership at all I decided there'd be no love lost and I moved to a much large chain. I thought I'd like the whole small world feel of a gym that was locally owned but really they don't do much in the community nor does it feel very much like its own community. Now I'm at a much larger, more expensive and just a bit further away gym but so far I like it. It's much more focused on the community and helping its members build a healthier way of life. I've been so impressed with the staff in just a short amount of time. 


I've spent the past few day in bed with a pretty nasty bug. Sunday night the boyfriend and I managed to find time to hang out together for the first time in a week and we took advantage of it. We went and saw a movie, then went for a long drive through the middle of nowhere (he and I both do this by ourselves, late night drives in the middle of nowhere with the radio a bit to loud, so we decided to hop in his mustang and head out for a drive.) We came back to my place and I made a quick dinner and we watched some doctor who but my throat started to feel sore, then I started to cough, so he went home, he had classes the next evening anyway and it was almost 6 am anyway. After he left I just went ahead and took a dose of NyQuil and went to sleep since I knew what was coming anyway. By the next day I had the sinus congestion and fever to go with the sore throat and cough. I've been battling it with OTC medications and have been lucky that it hasn't bothered my asthma like it usually tends to. Of course this would all happen on my 5 day stretch off of work and now that I'm feeling better I'm scheduled to go back to work tonight.

I also bought a shiny brand new SUV a couple weeks ago also.

As for my 12 in 2012 goal I signed up for a 5k in August. I'll post more about that later though.

I wanted this post to be a catch up on what has happen and not what i have planned, that's for later. ;)

Besides I have to get to sleep so I can go to work tonight. :(

Race # 8 : O'Fallon Firecracker 10K Race Recap

I ran the O'Fallon Firecracker 10k on the morning of July 4th. It was my slowest, hottest, most miserable 10K. I've only run 2 10Ks but they the distance is beginning to become my least favorite. I'm hoping the US Air Force 10K can change my mind but I'm truly considering dumping the 10K distance next year and focusing on my marathon, half-marathon and 5K distances.

Pre Race
I had worked until 0230 the day of the race and came home to grab some sleep. I managed to get a little more sleep then I wanted and ended up getting to the race site later than I had planned. I had preregistered for the race but needed to pick up my bib and my shirt. The lines were horrible and the computers went down. Someone ended up asking everyone who had preregistered to give their name and he wrote our name and bib number down and would put it in the computer later. Because of all of this I missed the national anthem and the official start of the race.

Starting Line
Missing the official start wasn't a problem since they funneled 291 runners through very small start. I jumped in towards the back and was fine. My chip shows that my start time was 7:09:41, my phone said the temperature was already 89 degrees and sunny as all get out.

The Course
For a race in its 28th year of running and a race in Missouri in July, I expected a lot more. The course was not scenic at all and had 0 spectators. The town didn't even seem to care about the race or be on board, many people ignored signs, course volunteers and even local police to drive through the race and practically over several racers who were forced to jump onto the sidewalk. There were 3 water stations and they only had water and the cups were tiny, maybe 2 ounces of water. I did make a friend during the race and chatted with him for a little while until he left me in his dust, I caught back up with him right before the one redeeming point of the race. The local fire/ems station had set up a sprinkler for us to run through it was fantastic.

Finish Line
Maybe I was delirious from lack of water and electrolytes but the finish line seemed very hard to find and in retrospect placed in a crappy spot. We finished in a ball park on July the 4th, could I have gotten something more themed than the generic finish line blow up, that was set up near the concession stand? I walked across the ballpark to the "finishers only area" which was overwhelmed with people who had obviously not just finished a 5k or 10k and got a bottle of water. There was the obligatory free beer which I did not have since I felt I was near heat stroke any way. The post race food provided was an interesting choice, there was a vendor giving out chips and salsa from Chipotle, a vendor with philly cheese steaks and 5 hour energy. I grabbed my bottle water and managed to find the one vendor giving out something that wouldn't make me vomit and proceeded to eat 3 oranges that the very nice manager of the local shop n save cut up for me. He even offered me a bag to take a few more with me but I declined and grabbed a Popsicle before thanking him and leaving. As for the vendors set up in the "expo" area, there wasn't a whole lot to interest me but I did end up spending almost 15 minutes talking to a vendor for solar panels. Odd choice for a running event but something I had been researching for when I purchase a house. Both gentlemen had business cards with addresses in Colorado but where incredibly knowledgeable about the Missouri area.

I ended up with a finish time of 1:31:23 but I didn't die, I ran my second of 4 10Ks for the year and what happened after I left the race more than made up for the race. My Garmin details are below.

O'Fallon Firecracker 10K by BethanyBRN at Garmin Connect - Details