13 in 2013 Recap Post

At the end of 2012 I pledged to run 13 races in 2013 with Jill Conyers and I completed it and surprised myself along the way- most of these races have recap posts tagged for each run. Its been a great year and I look forward to 14 in 2014!

Race 1: February 2: 5K Color In Motion Run  40 mins. This was my first race of 2013 and I was lucky to get to complete it with two of my best friends, full recap here: color run recap post

Race 2: Feb 7th: Tackle the Miles virtual 5k 35:30 mins.

Race 3: February 23: 5K ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run  34:06 mins. I was able to run this race with a coworker Christina - she is faster than me, but I stayed with her for the first 2 miles!  rodeo run recap

Race 4: March 9th: 10k Bayou City Classic 1:12:30 hrs. My first 10k! I was able to run this race with Christina also - always fun having a running buddy! bayou classic run recap 
Race 5: March 23rd: 5K Neon Splash Dash  5K PR!! 30:52mins Ran this one with my sister and friend Christina and stayed with her the whole race - LOVED the fact that it was a night run!! neon splash dash recap

Race 6: March 30th: 10K Crescent City Classic new 10k PR- shaved 3 mins off my last 10k time! 1:09:43hrs. Got to run this one with my cousin in Nola and my sister rode her bike and got a ton of race pics for me! crescent city classic recap

Race 7: April 7: 5K Muddy Trails Bash first trail run: 39:50 mins (and they messed up our route so it was 3.5 miles) trail run recap I was able to run this race with two coworkers- Christina and Lauren! It was Lauren's first 5k!

Race 8: May 4: 5K MD Anderson Sprint for Life 33:42 mins finished 22/47 in my age group! Ran this one with three coworkers! 5k race recap

Race 9: June 22: 5K Run or Dye Dallas didn't time it, but the hubs said around 37mins, ran walked it. It was my least favorite run of the year, but I did drink the night before - NEVER a good idea (although the night before was a blast) run or dye recap

Race 10: July 4: Stars and Stripes virtual 5K - 39:53 mins, Ran this one on my own. race recap

Race 11: July 27: Jeff and Brede's Sprint Tri
1:27:08 hrs, 9 min swim, 39 min bike, and 35 min run! Completed this race with two coworkers Jaime and Suzy. I attempted a tri last September, but they cancelled the bike portion, so this was my first FULL tri!  tri recap

Race 12: Run For Kaysen Virtual 5K, 8/30/13, 4 miles, 41:01mins. Ran this one on a treadmill, but made great time running for a little girl with heart problems.


Race 13: October 12: FIRST half marathon Jazz Half FINISHED!!!!! 2:51:59 So very proud of myself! I had thought about other races to finish the year, but why not go out on a high note!?!  half recap part #1 and half recap part #2

At the beginning of the year I celebrated running 3 miles... now at the end of the year my longest run is 15 - how a year can change you!

Christmas Preparations

 

Last Wednesday we finally got our tree - I am glad we were able to keep tradition and not miss this year, especially since we are hosting Christmas dinner for some family this year!

 

I was shocked how many good trees were still at the farm!

 

 

We even got to make two cow friends... they literally ran over from the other side of the field - I am pretty sure they thought we had food... and I wish I did because they were adorable!

 

Our annual tree pic! :)

 

The baby cow was too cute, the hubs accidentally called him pretty and he started "bucking" around and was not happy, but when I called him handsome he let me pet him! It was adorable!

 

Then when we got home we put up the downstairs decorations - I still have to get the travel tree upstairs and that's on todays agenda!

 

 

Hank visited with Santa and was mad there were no treats in his bag!

 

 

Max met Santa for the first time, then tried to eat the tree he has in his red sack... Max also climbed our real tree a few times and caused it to fall over on him one of the times... silly cats and their obsession with pine trees! We are trying cedar next year to see if that keeps them off it.

 

 

They posted pics from our field Christmas party and I looked horrible - even pregnant in one, but I like this one a lot, so I am sharing:

 

 

This weekend we went hunting - my first hunt at a high fenced place where I could have gotten a trophy buck... and it was a crappy hunting weekend, we barely saw any deer, but the hunting cabin we stayed in was really nice, and I made a new friend, meet Milo:

 

We did get to see 5 havolinas which was pretty cool:

 

 

more décor from the cabin - they have REALLY nice deer.... I only saw two in person and they were too fast/far away when I saw them.

 

 

We finally decided on a brand for our ranch, for when we get cows of our own:

 

This will be my last post until after Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all!

 

2013 Summary: New Years Resolution Check In

At the beginning of the year I had hefty goals set for myself, lets visit each one and see how I did (updates in RED)

Fitness Goals for 2013:

1. Run a half marathon- the furthest I have run to date is the 5 miler I did on Thanksgiving, that was also the last time I was running regularly... I slacked off big time in December, and its time to start all over and get back to it! I CAN DO THIS! October 12, 2013 I ran my first half marathon - to date I have run as many as 15 miles at once because not long after signing up for the half I signed up for a FULL marathon! I have two posts on my half marathon here  and here




2. Complete the MS150 without having to walk ANY!!! I did this event in 2010 and had to walk alot at the end and I sagged once because of issues with my knee due to lack of training- going to start training hard and get it all done this year... its the third weekend in April so I only have 3 months, glad I have been doing some spinnning and biking intermittently the end of last year! April 20-21, 2013 I completed the MS150 all biking - and the second day we finished in great time too because we powered through - it was an amazing experience! You can read about this experience here .






3. Hold a plank for 5 minutes. I STRUGGLE to hit 1 minute and I started Merry Planksmas and then wussed out/ came up with excuses... I will hold a plank for 5 minutes by the end of this year! This one has gotten the best of me, longest plank is a minute and a half and I am currently struggling for one minute - still need to work on this one!





Weight Loss Goals for 2013:

4. Drink more water!! I have been good about my water, but want to keep it up. I am better about drinking it when I work out at lunch.



5. Eat mindfully all the time, other than one cheat MEAL a week- when I do cheat days, it gets nasty... and I feel terrible... I learned this past weekend at deer camp that you can eat mindfully, even at the easiest place to eat like crap, you just have to have self control! Not been doing well here, but working on it. One meal at a time.


6. Fit comfortably in a size 10- not just in some 10's, but be a legit 10 all around. I am tall ( 5'10") and its really unhealthy for me to get too small- aka senior year in high school when I starved myself to fit in a size 4/6... but I can eat healthy and work out to achieve this goal. I am not where I want to be, but hopefully will be before I turn 30 in March


7. Tone Up. I really do want more muscle... I know cardio is important, but I want to get strong again too, I feel so weak right now! I haven't done well here - I was doing well for a while and then fell off the wagon around Thanksgiving and haven't been able to pump it back up - no better time than the present!




8. WIN MLFitCamp Biggest Loser competition!!! It starts this Wednesday... and I am READY!!! I didn't win, but I stayed in the competition for a good while!


9. Spend more time keeping up with friends... I am SO bad at this, especially friends that are back home in La or who have moved away... and I miss them!!! I let work take up too much of my time! I did well here and had a lot of fun times this year!


10. Find and buy property to go relax and have fun on! Had to have a couple fun ones at the end! :) We found our dream place this summer and bought it and have been working on it ever since - LOVE it!!



I am batting at 50% for 2013, which is better than it could have been. I set out to do some things and really stuck with them and had great results! I have a good feeling about 2014 and what it will bring for me. BIG things coming next year. Cant wait!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Growing up we had a Christmas family tradition that we always drove out to the Christmas tree farm and picked and cut down our own tree... I continued this tradition with the hubs and its one of my most favorite things about this time of year. Christmas doesn't set in until I get the tree! This usually happens the weekend after Thanksgiving and we get the house decorated and it really puts me in the spirit. Well this year, we have been so busy that we still don't have a tree! Tonight is the night! We are skipping out of work a bit earlier than usual because the tree farm closes at 6pm.

I cant wait!

The past three Christmas tree experiences:

2010

 

 

2011

 

 

2012

 

I am super excited and cant wait to get the tree up and decorations out of the attic... better late than never right? My MIL is coming in this year and we are hosting, so I hope its not too late and we can find a great tree again and aren't stuck with a Charlie Brown tree because its so close to Christmas!


I decorate it with LSU ornaments and in LSU colors every year AND this year will be the first year we have a second tree upstairs - its fake, but its our travel tree! We have been getting ornaments on our vacations together as keepsakes and I am super excited about that tree and how it will look this year! I think we finally have enough ornaments after 3.5 years together that we can rock it this year!

 

 

Merry Christmas to all! :)

40 days

In 40 days I will be running my first... and probably last marathon.




Initially I was running for one person but now I am running for two. My daddy died 21 years ago next month and he died of a heart attack while jogging - I thought running a marathon to raise money for the American Heart Association was the best way to honor him, but over the past year and past few months my mawmaw has gotten worse and worse and I am running for her as well now. She has aortic stenosis (msp?) and its gotten to the point where she cant do anything for herself anymore - the woman who raised me and has always taken care of everyone else. I love this woman so much and want to honor her with my run also. Now I run in memory of my dad and honor of my mawmaw. I was worried last week that I wasn't training enough and wouldn't make it... but then my 15 miler happened Saturday and what got me through was thinking of them and how much raising this money means to me.



I want to do this to my shoes... I really do think this will help also!

My training hasn't been great, or enough at this point, but I will keep running and I will cross that finish line because I can, they cant run anymore, but I can run for them and I will. Even though this will be the hardest thing I ever do, I know my daddy will be with me every step of the way and my mawmaw will be waiting at home (Lord willing) to hear all about my finish.


If you feel so inclined to donate, please use the donation link in my toolbar on the right hand side of my blog!

15 mile run, hunting, and Christmas parties

My sis and I took this pic with her first deer and my girls and its by far my FAVORITE picture of that weekend. LOVES!

 

 

Wednesday night was the hubs Christmas party and we had fun but I guess didn't take pictures, it was right after work and we were in a hurry to get there... then Thurs morning I left early to head to the field to visit a few wells and then head to my field Christmas party that night - since I hadn't worked out all week Thursday when we got to the hotel I ran before I got ready for the party and got in a pretty 4 miles along the river by the hotel... it was nice to run again!!!

 

 

Then I got all dolled up and curled my hair and headed down to the party!

 

We have our party at the casino every year and so we had to take a pic by the million dollar wall... and my coworker is an Aggie so she wanted to make the Johnny football money sign....

 

this tree was in the lobby - so pretty!

 

 

Friday was my 9/80 off so I drove home and relaxed and caught up on DVR.... then Saturday I woke up early to get in my 15 mile training run... got a new PR on my half marathon!!

 

 

And almost didn't finish, but I did!!! About 3.5 miles in I wanted to quit, but I stuck it out and I am glad I did... I was texting the hubs and mom and sis and asking for prayers for the last 5 miles, but it got me through!

 

Does anyone else wear a HR monitor while running? I don't like the HUGE discrepancy in my calorie burn between my app and my HR monitor - anyone else have this issue??? Thoughts?? Comments??

 

This weekend is supposed to be my 16 miler, so here's to hoping I can swing it! Although it feels much more attainable now that I hit 15!!

 

After my run, I met some friends at the ballet and saw The Nutcracker - LOVED it! It was a lot of fun!

 

 

Saturday the hubs got this beast! He is beautiful and had a lot of meat so I cant wait to get it back from the processor!  Elk burgers is all I can think about!!!!

 

 

 

 

Holidays and Marathon Training

The holidays are a busy time for all of us, but its important to make time for fitness and healthy eating.

I have been failing miserably at the fitness part, but have been doing well considering for the eating part - lots of meals on the road and parties, but I am taking things one meal at a time and being good when I can, and if I have a meal that's bad, I dust myself off and keep going and get right back into it. In the past I would like one meal de-rail and entire day, or even week for that matter so I know I am growing and improving, and that's all I can ask for.

My marathon training has been non existent, had one short 3 mile run last week and nothing yet this week. Today is the hubs work Christmas party after work so I am going to try to get in a workout before/after it, but today may be a wash. Tomorrow is my field work Christmas party (4 hours away) and I am going to try again tomorrow but who knows. Friday is my 9/80 off and the hubs is going to be gone all weekend so I plan on getting in a 15 miler either Friday or Saturday and KILLING it. Its not going to be easy, but it needs to be done! I have 53 days til my marathon! 53!!!!


I need the following runs each week coming up to be able to survive this thing:
5 miles and 15 miles this week
4, 7, and 18 miles
5, 8, and 16 miles
8, 5, and 20 miles
5, 8, and 15 miles
5, 8, and 9 miles
3, 5, and 8 miles
3 and 3 miles


FEB 2nd- MARATHON!


I know I have a lot going on, but I need to get these runs in - so its no more excuses time!

Workout Wednesday: T25 Challenge

Monday I started a 10 week challenge with Karri @ Babe Before Baby where I will be doing T25 in addition to my marathon training.

I have 110 days left in my 20's and I want to maximize that time to get in the best shape I can before I hit my 30s! My goal is to drop 20lbs, but more than a number on a scale I want to be toned and healthy. I am hoping adding in a workout that's quick (25 minutes 5 days a week) and keeping up with my training will help with that. PLUS running a marathon around 20lbs lighter would make it easier... so that's the goal!

My workout plan for the week:
Monday- 3 mile run and T25
Tuesday- T25
Wednesday - 4 mile run and T25
Thursday- T25
Friday- 15 mile run
Saturday- REST
Sunday- T25

I had a migraine Monday after work so I am going to have to get in that T25 another night this week.

T25 is no joke yall - its 25 minutes of non stop work. Last night I did the first disk - cardio, its running, jumping rope, mountain climbers, jump squats, and jump lunges- no breaks, 25 minutes of GO GO GO! I did it and for a first time doing it I was pretty happy with how I was able to keep up.

I also got in my before pictures and measurements last night... and I did NOT like what I saw. Its time for a change and I am hoping this along with carb cycling is JUST what I need.

Thanksgiving Update

We spent Thanksgiving in New Orleans with my family... and as always it was a blast, this year was even more exciting because my cousin Laura announced that she is pregnant!!!! We are very excited for the start of another generation of cousins in our family... every year we take a cousins picture:

 

Just the guys:

 

 

A silly pic, I was supposed to be doing the L in the "B Im From Louisiana" song, but it looks like a gun:

And a girls pic:

 

 

 

I slaved over a hot stove for an hour heating these up - the twice baked potatoes were amazing - and I resisted the mac and cheese because I ate so much potatoes.... 

we sent a few holiday snap chats:

 

and then had some serious time to reflect on the year... 

 

me and my love!

 

 

 

my mawmaw, I suspect that will be her last thanksgiving... it makes me sad, but I am glad she was able to celebrate this one with us!

 

 

Since I carbo loaded Thursday at lunch, and my cousin had a planned 17 mile training run that evening, I decided I should run since I had a running buddy AND my new 13.1 Brady Bands headband to display (they are having a sale today you should go check them out - I LOVE LOVE their bands!). I was on schedule for a 12 miler last week, so that's what I did - I know my app only says 11.6, but my cousin and I ran the same path and his map my run said 12 - I am going with that! He then went on to run another 5 - I died in an ice bath... it was 36 degrees! I have never run in that cold of weather before, but getting to run around City Park was beautiful! It was hard and I wanted to quit a few times, but I powered through... and rewarded myself with more potatoes that night! :)

Friday was the LSU Arkansas game, which was a much better game than I was hoping for, but we won and had a good time, so that's whats important!

Saturday we drove the trailer up to the property so it would be ready to go for my sisters visit this coming weekend after her finals... we also refilled all the feeders and did some work on the property and I drove the trailer for the first time ever! It was scary at first, but all highway so not bad!

Sunday night was our first Christmas party of the year and I learned how to East Coast Swing!!! They had two dance instructors and after eating I decided I should move a bit to burn some calories... it was pretty fun!

We had a busy few days, but it was fun! Tomorrow I plan to talk about my new challenge and plans for the 111 days left til I turn 30!!!!