Lovin' Life!

Last weekend was kind of perfect. It started out with the Texas independence Day 5K with my two favorite guys. The start corral was lined in old-school Texan soldiers complete with musket rifles and loads of spirit. Our announcer started us off with a silly speech complete with instruction to refrain from “tripping, slapping, and biting” then announced that when we heard the musket go off it was time to rock and roll. Ready, set, *awkward pause*... *fizzle*... *epic smoke bomb*... “GO!”

Needless to say, the musket scene was rather anticlimactic.

I took it easy, planning on running with my buddy that was in town for the week, but when he waved me off on the approach of the massive hill during mile 2 I kind of unleashed the fury. It was like I suddenly had to pass as many people as possible. I came into the finishers shoot at 35:14 and it felt great. I felt like me again. I feel like I could have finished a lot faster had I stretched prior (instead of stopping midway through the first mile to work it out) and I went at my own pace rather than cruzing with my homies. The husband came in a little over 31 minutes, Josh rolled in just under 39, and I claimed a 35:15 finish. It was a hilly yet fun course and one of the most beautiful days Austin could possibly offer!

After the race I picked up Milo-dog and went up to our neighborhood dog park. It completely escaped my memory that it was “It's My Park Day” in Austin. Basically it is a day where everyone donates time and energy into the beautification of our city parks. The City of Austin dropped off fresh mulch to spread around the 2 acre dog park so I pitched in for a few hours shoveling and spreading. It was an amazing upper body workout!

It only seemed natural to bring our visitor, Josh, down to Sideshow Tattoos to get inked whilst here. Josh had an awesome idea to get a super nerdy old school Nintendo tattoo so we kind of went for it. While he was on the table I was kind of in the mood to get one myself. Now I'm the proud owner of a barn owl on my left forearm. I was inspired by an owl that tried to swoop in and take Milo-dog on one of our walks. This little creature was about ½ the size of my Shih-Tzu and had I not been there he probably would have made quite the contender for my baby-dog. I really wanted a motivational tattoo that reminded me that no matter the odds, it's better to take on a challenge bigger than myself and fail than not trying and feeling the regret. AJ did a fantastic job and it's absolutely perfect!

With great sadness, I threw Josh on a plane Sunday then head over to the gym for a rather ambitious workout considering the soreness from the shoveling the day prior. It felt good having the gym to myself and being able to play around the weight room without competition. Afterwards, I went out for a quick run and a bite to eat with a friend. Then Milo T. ShihTzu was in the mood for a little runny action, so we hit up Auditorium Shores for a speed workout (which basically is Milo sprinting, me in tow, until the best butts to smell magically appear, then stop, repeat).

I love Austin.

I'm feeling a lot of fear and apprehension about the 10 mile trail race I signed up for this upcoming weekend. But, I look forward to testing out my racing skills off-road. This is my very first all-dirt race, should be interesting!

That's all for now, have a great night :-).

I am an airplane.

Ok, yes, I'm a total dork.  But at least I'm kind of fun :-).

Hello!  Last week the lovely ChiaMomma came into Austin for a wee bit of a visit.  We had a lot of fun seeing the sights and roaming the town.  We went to the gardens, hung out at all the cool fiber artist shops, tried the infamous Round Rock Donuts, and even had time for some Indianized Collard Greens (my favorite).  The weather was perfect!  It was nice to sit out on the back patio with mis mamacita and really soak in the day.

ChiaMomma and I soaking up some rays by the bamboo trail at Zilker Botanical Gardens.

Our lovely Austin, Texas viewed from the Oriental Gardens @ Zilker.

During my hiatus from blogging I managed to get married at the Grand Rapids Marathon in Michigan.  It was a lovely experience, Marathon Don Kern sure does know how to throw one heck of a race!

Note: ChiaMomma's delight in the background.

We honeymooned in Toronto, Canada.  Our car was stolen the first night, so we didn't have the opportunity to take the dream road trip we had initially envisioned.  Oh well.  We made it home in one piece, had a lovely holiday, ran the 3M half marathon, and I got a promotion at work.

So, now what?

I'm slowly getting back into blogging because I recognize the positive impact it has on my health, training, and overall well being.  But, mostly, I miss the inspiration that comes with sharing with my fellow fun-loving enthusiasts!  So, if any of y'all are still subscribed -- what's new with you?

M.I.A. (As Usual)

It has been a while since I posted, so I figured I would throw a quick update up just in case there are still people that care.

I have been infrequently blogging on my wedding website -- www.26point2IDo.com -- however, am having a hard time really keeping up with it.  If you still care, feel free to follow me there :-).

Much love xoxo

-Chia

Blogtasticness...

I decided to pick up Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. at the library and was semi-wooed into his evil, evil logic.  Which, in reality, means I have resigned myself to blending 1/2 pound of spinach with pineapple and banana for breakfast and carrying 1.5 pounds of fresh produce with me to work.  Aside from making more deposits than a bank teller, I really have no complaints.  It's early though, I'm sure I'll find something to complain about.

Training for 1/2 marathon took a back burner to an ear infection that basically rendered the entirety of last week useless.  Attempting to run in cold damp weather with the incessant feeling like someone is trying to jam an entire skewered shish kebob in your left ear is not a pleasant experience.

Great, now I want tabbouleh.

I started taking magic pills to aid in my "quitting smoking" endeavor.  To my dismay, the first day of purple pill taking resulted in an entire evening of feeling so utterly exhausted all I want is my favorite blankie and a long nap only to find when I'm all cuddled up with the shih tzu and ready for sleep that it's apparently dancy time because I can't stand BEING.SO.STILL. for more than 5 seconds.

Longest and most painfully true sentence ever.

Why my fiance hasn't purchased roofies just to knock me the truck out is beyond me.

Good night xx

102 Days - Dually Titled: "Why do I do this to myself?"

I woke up with a slight fog to me from the evening prior's champagnepocalyse and an acute awareness of the fact that this is my last day off before returning to the office tomorrow.  The initial rush of responsibility hit me like a tidal wave.  At least I had a head start on chasing my own tail for 10 hours straight.

Being that my glasses were becoming a headache generating nuisance, I resigned myself to spending 2 hours trying to locate an optometrist that would be willing to see me either A.) today (preferred) or B.) at some reasonable hour that would permit me to work an uninterrupted day.  Fortunately, I found a place 10 minutes from the house.  Unfortunately, I was so emotionally drained from battling the insurance web site that was absolutely bombarded with traffic (I'm guessing) and their customer service was experiencing 10-15 minute hold times as indicated on the pre-recorded message that promptly disconnected my call after sitting there for 4-7 minutes already.

So, I "back-burnered" some other to-do items and figured I would throw some laundry in.  After I sorted the massive heap of laundry, come to find out there isn't enough soap for even one load.  So, I went for a run.

Apparently I fail at "making lemonade."

2.5 miles into my run I decide it's time to stop pussy footing around and signed up for the Zooma Austin 1/2 Marathon (which is in 102 days, explaining the title of this boring tale :-)) and the Statesman Capitol 10K.  I still haven't found the necessary cojones to sign up for the Skeese Triathlon.  However, I feel them forming.  Bah.

So, it's official.  I'm "in training."

I'm really thoroughly enjoying Rachel Cosgrove's book, "Female Body Breakthrough"  It's my first fitness buy of the year and I'm already planning on breaking her rules.  This is why I can't have nice things.  More on this topic later.  For now, it's nappy time.

Strength Training for Sissies: Day One, Shedding Barriers

One of the habits I'm trying to invite into this little life of mine is to start identifying barriers that keep me from my overall goal.  Barriers could be emotional/mental, physical, or some kind of tangible object that I would need to acquire in order to achieve a task.

Now, it seems so easy to just peel off the layers of denial like an orange to reveal the wondrous "barrier fruit," but sometimes the fruit is too bitter to take.  I wish I was one of those semi-perfect people that could just buy a new sportsbra and run 10 miles just because I have something to strap down the chesticles, but I'm not.  I have baggage.  I reckon you do too.

It's been really hard for me to commit to a strength training plan.  Mostly, I don't know what I'm doing 1/2 the time and so.help.me. if one more person tells me to hire a personal trainer... let's just say I've spent so much money, time, and effort to try and find a trainer that is willing to enable me to be more self sufficient in the gym, and it just doesn't happen.  I don't care how good so-in-so over at such-in-such gym is, I'm not pissing away another $200 on something a library card and a Google search bar could remedy.

But, I digress. I started to think about it yesterday, why is it that I am so afraid of the weight room?  Why does the thought of joining one of those bootcamp/stuntman class group things trigger my fight or flight response?

Well, I think I kind of know.

Growing up, I was the little girl that kind of hated gym class.  When it was time to run the mile, I was always the one lagging behind coughing and going into asthmatic fits as both of my parents smoked and I was rarely allowed to go any further than my parent's line of sight.

I remember doing our exercises in the gymnasium and all the surrounding kids were mocking me because I didn't have L.A. Gears or Reeboks on like all the other little girls, I was wearing cheapie canvas Ked-knockoffs because that's all my parents could afford (even though there was never a night dad didn't have 12 of his favorite 12oz buddies to hang out with... or, God forbid, Canadian Club).

Try doing a jumping jack in those on a hardwood gym floor.... or try playing basketball or volleyball.  It hurts.  It really really hurts.

When I got to High School, it took some begging (if by some, I mean hours and hours) but I gained approval from my parents to join cheerleading.  I worked really hard to make the football season's JV team, and was the first freshman ever to get upgraded to the varsity squad by the time basketball season came along.  I would run, exercise, lift weights as a social outlet, but I was never one to go do these things on my own.

That, my friends, was the pinnacle of my athletic career before I woke up one morning and decided to sign up for a 1/2 marathon 3 years ago.

Now, what does this have to do with strength training?

Basically, I am channeling my inner 3rd grader that is scared to death that someone is going to laugh at me for doing something wrong then succumbing to the 5th grader complaining that "this one makes my thighs rub together" and just tie that all together with the 7th grader in my head looking at the reflection of the 3rd grader and 5th grader pushing through the last set of axe chops on the cable cross machine... and that poopiefaced 7th grader seems to think I'm too soft to make any difference (she was an emo bitch back then too).

Wow.  That was kind of a mouthful.  Bitter much?

There is a whole lotta self doubt and anxiety in this 5'9" power horse, and it's my barrier.  I need to remember....

• No one is looking at you.  You are not a unique and grotesque snowflake.  No one cares that you just fell off the Bosu ball trying those crazy inverted barbell rows you saw in that book.  Even if they do giggle, you probably should too.  That shizz's funny.
• If you don't know if you're doing it right, ask.  Gym people are nice people.  If uncertain whether you're hyper-extending your back extension, chances are someone is near by to say "ya dude, you're good."  If you are so lucky as to run into a jerky-face, shake it off.  Life is too short to worry about everyone else.  Speaking of which...
• Worrying about what others think is an unnecessary expenditure of energy.  Save all that heart pounding and shortness of breath for when real chafing can occur and you can start feeling like a real athlete (sans anti-fungal cream, por favor).

What kind of barriers do you face?  What kind of motivational chanty-actions do you use to overcome these challenges?

The Token "New Year Resolution" Post

Accountability is a huge reason I started blogging again.  Once upon a time I had quite the vast readership of folks that were amazingly faster than I.    It was a great motivation to see the progress being made in everyone else's running careers and it was almost embarrassing when I didn't have any cool new PR's or random injury that outdid Steve in a Speedo on one level or another.

So, here I am.  Waiting for something to chafe enough to be blog worthy.

Which brings me to Resolution Numero Uno:  Blog.  Pretty simplestuffs, right?

Secondly, I aspire to achieve 2011 miles in 2011 via a combination of running, biking, hiking, walking, and elliptical training.  That's roughly 5.5 miles per day which isn't much more than what I'm already doing now.  I'm currently taking bets on when I complete this goal and/or pass out from exhaustion (neither of which are mutually exclusive).

Looking back at 2010 I realize there are few to no pictures of the fiance and I.  It seems like we strategically plan all of our going outs around the unlikelihood of a camera being present.  Being that we're getting married this year, I'm sure that's all about to end... however, I would like to take and be in more pictures that do not involve random snack crackers hanging out of my nose.


Speaking of hardcore wedding action, it's pretty humbling how a life changing event makes one realize how truly devoted to the idea of eloping poor one is.  So, with 2011 comes a whole new lust for financial planning.  Not only do we have a wedding to pay for, but I would really like to eventually buy a house and stop this whole cycle of renting.  I hate our apartment.  There.  I said it.  I mostly hate people, specifically my neighbors and the property management firm, and would like to have some sense of solitude restored in my chaotic life.

Another resolution I would like to make this year is to do more things FOR ME.  Spa days, classes, new clothes, try something that scares me a little, you get the drift.... I spent a lot of 2010 unemployed and quite poor and felt an obligation to not do anything out of the ordinary until I found gainful employment.  Well, now that I have a pretty rad job that I love... I still tend to stick to "ordinary" stuffs as to not disrupt the natural order of my alcoholism life.

I put the I in prortes... see:  priorities.  I'm magical.

I guess the only other resolution I have for 2011 is to start actually doing strength training.  I have lacked in this department for YEARS and it's about time I start making it a priority in my life.