21 years ago...

21 years ago today I lost my daddy.... he went out jogging one night and never came back home.

21 years ago today I pretended to be asleep when he came by to say goodnight and I love you and I laid there in the dark and heard him say it, but kept quiet and watched him leave to go run, not knowing I would never get to hear his voice ever again or ever get the chance to say those words to him another time.  BIGGEST regret of my entire life thus far - in all my (almost) 30 years it happened when I was 8 (almost 9).

I truly believe he was too good for this world and that's why he was taken so young. He was only 38. He had a wife, a 1 year old, a 4 year old, and an 8 year old. He was loved by all who knew him/met him. My mom even asked people to write us letters about him (mainly I think for my brother and sister who were so young that they didn't get to know the man I knew). He was a man who would take a day of vacation from work to spend all day in the yard building a surprise swing set for his kids, he is the man who came back from a business trip with a HUGE stuffed animal puppy for his baby girl who was sick while he was away. I honestly don't think anyone could ever say anything negative about him.

He is missed, greatly, but I also know he is in a better place and I will get to see him again someday and I know he is watching over me every day. He will always have a big piece of my heart.

I miss him like crazy... and while I thought this injury may have me not ever running a marathon today reminded me that I need to do what I set out to do. I want to raise money for the American Heart Association so that other little girls get to keep their daddies around for a lot longer than I got to keep mine, so they have their daddy to walk them down the aisle, to meet their kids, and to spend more time with them.

Workout Wednesday and 60 Day Challenge

Ive been in a funk lately and even the hubs called me out on it the other night, I am just not happy with myself AT ALL. Today is exactly 60 days til I turn 30 and I am wondering to myself about the possibilities...

What if I were to eat clean 99% of the time over the next 60 days (with one cheat meal a week - I AM human)?

What if I were to drink at least 100 ounces of water a day over the next 60 days?

What if I were to workout 5 days a week over the next 60 days? I may not be able to run, but I can lift weights and spin and walk and swim!

What if I were to detox over 60 days - could I get back to where I am not disgusted with myself? Where I am not staring at my 10's in my closet that don't fit anymore? Where I can feel confident with my body when I am in a hot tub with other women?


60 days ladies... I am challenging myself to 60 days of dedication - and don't let me quit before the 60 days is up!



Yesterday I did a great upper body workout:

10 mins on spin bike - 4.5 miles

4 Sets of 12 Reps

 

Hammer Curls 15lb dumbbells

Reverse Fly 10lb dumbbells

 

Weighted Tricep Dips - 25lbs - 25 reps


Straight bar pushdown - 20lbs

PT for my knee

10 mins on spin bike - 4.5 miles

Lifting Weights

Due to my injury I will be focusing on lifting weights over the next few months- I want to be strong and toned and I am lifting heavy to get there...

Monday was upper body and I did heavier weights than I have done before to PUSH myself past my comfort zone and really get a burn... I am still having trouble washing my hair my arms are so sore. Today is lower body - I am working on another lower body workout that is ok to do with my injury, but its getting difficult. Heavy weights may not be an option for what I do with some lower body exercises, so I will just have to do more and more of them!

When lifting a lot of people talk about macros. I checked out iifym.com and found what I should be eating and MAN that's A LOT of protein - they suggest one gram per pound of body weight... I have never eaten more than around 120g of protein a day and lets just say I am not 120lbs. I am going to shoot for hitting that, but I don't know if I will get there. They also want you to eat MORE calories that I am used to seeing/eating, but they are clean calories, Mama Laughlin actually talked about this the other day. I am not going to 2000 cals but I am working on 1600-1800 calories a day of CLEAN eating... this is NOT an easy task.


We will see where it goes, but I have good feelings about it all.

Great Lower Body Workout for Knee Injuries

Yesterday was my first workout after my appointment with my sports medicine doctor about my knee. I wanted to start strengthening my leg muscles ASAP to help overcompensate for my weak knee and I was told I cant run, steps, squat, or do lunges. So I had to get creative with what I could do given the fact that squats and lunges are the go to leg exercises. No weighted exercises on a bent knee doesn't make it easy, but its not impossible either...


I did a 10 min warmup on the spin bike and got in 4.5 miles.



Then I did the following exercises 3 times through:


1. Straight leg raises: sit with your back and butt up against a wall and lift your entire leg without bending the knee - this requires your quad to do all the work- 25 each leg (this was the closest pic I could find). This sounds easy, but it is VERY difficult if you are all the way against the wall and doing it right - unless you have insane quad muscles!

 

 

 

2. Side straight leg raises: 25 each leg

3. Fire hydrants: 25 each leg

 

 

 

4. Backwards leg lifts, go from all fours to lifting the leg up - don't set the knee down in between sets, just get it back close to the ground- 25 each leg

 

 

 

5. Deadlifts with 35lbs - 25 total

 

 

 

 

6. Calf raises holding 35lbs - 25 total

 

 

Defeated

Doctor said three months no running, squats, or lunges... so no marathon.


To say I am feeling defeated is an understatement. I am probably depressed.


I was looking for inspiration online and found this on Pinterest:

I went and checked out her website and love her blog, if you haven't been by yet, you should http://olivetorun.com/


I am going to take my drugs they gave me and take this as an opportunity to:

1. Lose weight without being RUNgry

2. Build muscle - I cant to leg work with weight on my knees bent, but I can still do leg work I just have to get creative!

3. Find other forms of cardio: walking, elliptical, spin, kickboxing (just upper body on the bag), and swimming

4. Work on my core strength

5. Stretch


I may be down, but I don't have to be out. I may be depressed, but if I keep working out those endorphins have to kick in eventually.

I may not be able to get a runners high, but maybe I can discover a lifters high?

New PR's in running are not coming anytime soon, but maybe I can lift heavier than before, do more pushups than before, hold a plank longer than I have before.

Injury and Eating Update

I was able to get an appointment for this morning at 10am with a local sports medicine guy. I am soooo very glad they were able to get me in and I hope we can get this figured out and my knee feeling better so that I can still finish what I set out to complete: running a marathon Feb 2nd!

On an eating note, especially since I haven't been able to do long runs I have been super strict with my eating.

No carbs after lunch
Black coffee (on weekends I allow myself light non dairy cream powder)
No added sugar
No fried food
Lots of veggies
Grilled lean proteins
Little to no dressing on my salads

I did allow myself a cheat lunch Sunday, but had a protein shake for dinner to help level it out - Sunday is also the only day this year my net calories has been over 1,000/day.

I have been vigilant about keeping dinner lean and light and every day I have worked so far I have done Salata for lunch. Grilled salmon spinach salad- its divine... it feels like cheating, but its not! It helps that the hubs is on board for the new year. He wants to lose some weight himself and he even ran with me Sunday - I may have had to bribe him, but it worked! I am excited about him wanting to get healthy with me!

Marathon Training Update: Knee Injury

This weekend we took my friends two girls to the property and they both got deer, within two hours of hitting the stands too! It was very efficient!

 

 

 

 

Then we went to Fredericksburg and got to see my zebras at the high fenced ranch there!

 

 

 

Sunday was supposed to be my long run because Saturday was so busy. I started out and the hubs joined me! I was soooo excited about that it added a little pep to my step. He ran the first 1.5 miles with me... and I decided to try to run without walk intervals for the first few miles. My knee was still killing me, but I was trying to power through the pain.

 

 

I kept pushing myself to the next mile saying the pain will eventually go away if I just ignore it, but it didn't. I even started adding walk intervals to see if that would help - nothing. I felt defeated. sad. upset with myself. Why did I get injured? Why so close to the marathon? Its in less than a month!?! I only got in 6 miles. I was not happy... and I posted my thoughts on IG with a pic of my run:

 

 

and I got some incredible encouragement and feedback from you guys and I really appreciate it... I needed it. I was defeated, but you know what? Last January I hadn't even run 6 miles - its amazing how far I have come in a year that now I am sad I could ONLY run 6 miles when this time last year I was struggling to run less than that. I am sad I didn't get in my long run, but I am improving and I have to focus on that...

 

 

 

 

I have truly fallen in love with running, its really crazy for me to say that because I ALWAYS hated running... but once I started challenging myself and pushing myself and doing things I NEVER thought I would be able to do I have grown to LOVE running... it may be an acquired taste, but its my favorite now!

 

 

My hubs has had a lot of knee issues (being an offensive lineman in college he has had his share of surgeries) and he thinks I have a torn meniscus ( its always hurting me and it clicks every time I take a step up the stairs).... he said I wont make it worse running on it, but it wont get better either. I am going to see a doctor as soon as I can, but I am going to try to keep running - I know I wont get in more than that 15 miler length wise before the marathon, but I will finish that marathon if I have to crawl across the finish line. My knee can rest and heal after the race. I have been training for too long to not finish it now!

Goals for the Week and Resolution Run 5K Race

Yesterday's post was about my goals for the year, I have decided to start posting at the beginning of every week goals for that week - all that should lead me to meet my goals for the year. Since New Years started in the middle of a week, my goals for this week is a short week.

Workout Goals:

Wed Jan 1: Resolution Run 5K
Thurs Jan 2: cycling 10 mins and lower body weight workout
Frid Jan 3: cycling 10 mins and upper body weights
Sat Jan 4: 16 mile run
Sun Jan 5: REST
Mond Jan 6: 4 mile run


Meanwhile my knee is killing me, my arch is feeling better, but my knee is clicking and it hurts - I iced it twice yesterday and decided to add in some bike time (no impact on the knee) to give it a rest. Running 3 days in a row is the longest streak I have ever had and I think it was too much even though my second two days had low mileage.

I had planned to run 18 miles Dec 30th - due to arch issues that became just over 9 miles, Dec 31st I saw I was 2 miles short of hitting 900 miles in 2013, so I got those in and yesterday was my virtual 5k race, so I got it in yesterday.... my knees started bothering me after the 2 miler, but I powered through.

The girls were able to make the run with me since I did an out and back twice I just took each one half way with me. It was my best time outside pace wise that I have had in quite a while. I was pretty happy with myself!

 

 

After the run yesterday was the LSU vs Iowa game- too close a game for my taste, but still fun to watch... especially surrounded by all but one of my four babies... they weren't as into the game as I was, but they were sleepy

Happy New Year: 2014 New Year's Resolutions

Well today is the start of a new year and a new me. I am done with the yo-yoing and am doing it for good this time - no more time to joke around. I have come up with 10 goals for the new year, a lot of these tie in with my 30 before 30 list because I turn 30 in March!


1. Get to my goal weight/size. - The hubs is on board with me and I think this will really help with my success. I am VERY excited about what the new year will have for me and him and our health!


2. Complete a marathon - I NEVER though I would ever even think of doing this, but now its all I can think about!


3. Lift weights regularly - I have been focusing on running when working out lately and I think that has something to do with my injuries - I need to keep up with cross training!


4. Get involved in a local charity/ more involved at my church and give back to my community.


5. Eat clean for an entire month. Then make the clean eating lifestyle change where I mostly eat clean.


6. Drink more water.


7. Learn something new.


8. Visit a country I have never been to before.


9. Complete a cycle of T25.


10. Spend as much quality time with my loved ones as I can. More "unplugged time" off my phone.