I Was Named Ambassador

I was named ambassador to North Ikea.  Sorry, had to steal that joke from the latest Between Two Ferns.  Seriously, I was named a Fitfluential Ambassador!

I hope I get to wear a sash.

What does that mean exactly?  Well let me tell you…actually, I don’t completely know.  They are still processing my schtuff and I’m waiting for further info.  But in the meantime, this is from their website:

“FitFluential Ambassadors are social media influencers who work with FitFluential’s brand partners. FitFluential’s goal is to successfully connect brands in the fitness space with influential fitness enthusiasts. An ideal match is one where the FitFluential Ambassador (and their audience) matches with the brand’s target market. Our Ambassadors have a strong presence on their social media channels, high quality content with a definitive voice and a passion for fitness-related topics.”

You hear that?  I’m an influencer…So do what I say!

Seriously, I joke around a lot, but hopefully this new opportunity will help spread the good word of healthy living and fitness.  Stay tuned you pretty people.

Any advice for a new ambassador?  Should I get my passport ready?

Disney Dopey Training Week 5 & Motivation

Let’s get doped up.

My training for the Dopey Challenge (4 straight days of races- 5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2) has gone swimmingly runningly so far.  This week looked like this:

Sun – Yoga, Mon – Rest, Tues – 3 miles + weights, Wed – 6 miles, Thurs -3 miles + weights, Fri – Rest.

Here’s what’s up for this weekend:

Sat – 5 miles, Sun – 15 miles.

Yup, it’s starting to get real.  But so far I’ve stuck to the Hal Higdon plan (actually, added a few extra miles along the way):

I unofficially backtracked the plan, but it officially started 5 weeks ago.  Click the image to enlarge it.

We’ve had cooler temps this week which has been heavenly for my runs, but of course, it’s supposed to be warmer and humidity-er this weekend.  Chance of rain, so hopefully that will help cool things off a bit.  I know I have a lot of friends racing this weekend locally and in more exotic places like Chi-town.  So hopefully the weather gods are kind to them!  Best of luck people!

If you’re not racing, you’re probably doing a long run this weekend too.  You probably also will be hating your alarm clock when it goes off, like I do too.  But I’ve got some motivation for you.  A runner friend of mine sent a video to me, and I thought I’d share it below.  As someone who’s won an Emmy for writing, this makes my writing bone jealous.  I can guarantee it will get you pumped for your race or long run this weekend:

What’ve you got planned this weekend?  Did the video give you goosebumps too?  Ready to rise and shine and find your greatness?

Disney Dopey Training (Week 1 Done)

If you follow this blog, then you probably know that I’m training for the Dopey Challenge and I’m following the Hal Higdon plan for this event.  The first week came and went pretty well.  The weekday runs were pretty uneventful, then came the weekend back to back runs.  The Saturday mileage is still pretty low – Only had to run 3 miles.  Then on Sunday, the plan called for 13.

I backtracked the plan, but it officially started last week.

I met up with a couple friends at White Rock Lake in Dallas.  I like to do my long runs down there because it’s scenic, there’s facilities, and there’s lots of other active people out and about.  My friend Robert was one of the friends.  He’s been getting into running more and more lately.  I was happy for him because he said it was his first time looping the lake without stopping!  My other friend Meg was acting as our pace coach (just under 9 min miles).  She’s a great runner and probably could’ve left us in the dust, but she’s coming back from injury, and she’s nice.

Anyway, the lake is a 9 mile loop, but there’s a secret Batman detour that we took to add an extra mile.  So after those 10 miles, Rob and Meg had to go, but it only left me to run about 2.5 by myself.  I started off taking a new path for me.  There’s the main path, but off to the side at certain places there’s a mystery path that I’ve never run on…until now.  It pretty much ran parallel to the main path, but went through more wooded areas and had less people on it.  I’ll have to explore more of it in the future.

Back on the main path I had less than a mile to go when I paused my gps watch to grab some water and swag from a local radio station set up on the trail.  If they post the photos, I’ll snag em and share em on this blog.  It was cool because I got a whole swag bag for a training run, just like I would at a race.  Score!

Only problem is that I forgot to restart my watch when I started running again.  I went at least half a mile more that will never be documented.  Ha!  No matter, a little extra is good, right?  For my last stretch, I took a side road off the path.  I see bikers go up this road quite a bit, but I have only done it once…in a race.  This side excursion was very basically a big hill.  People go up it apparently to get some extra work in.  It definitely got my legs and lungs burning.  But I’m glad I did because at the top of the hill it had a great view of the Dallas skyline over the lake.

I felt pretty good during this run.  It helped having friends to chat with along the way.  But what really helped was the slightly cooler temps.  Don’t get me wrong, it was still warm.  Probably around 80’s at sunrise, but that’s much better than it’s been around here.  I felt strong at the end of the run, unlike two weeks prior when it was a battle to get my 12 done.  I’m hoping this weekend was a small taste of what’s to come!

Run Fuel = Veggie Curry

One time in Scotland visiting a friend, we were going to get something for dinner and she said, “Fancy an Indian?”  I thought that was a strange way to ask someone if they want to go to an Indian restaurant.  They may have invented English on that European island known as Great Britain, but that doesn’t mean they don’t screw it up sometimes!  Anyways, we did fancy an Indian, and it was delish.

I love Indian food, and I love how they have so many vegetarian options.  So that’s what I made last night.  I was pretty lazy about this dish, but here it is.  In a pan I threw in a bag of organic mixed veggies and sliced baby bella shrooms.  Then a can of coconut milk.  A little stock.  And a bunch of spices – curry, tumeric, garam masala, etc.  Brought it to a boil and then lowered the temp and simmered until I felt like it was done.  Steamed up some brown rice and spooned the curry over top.  Simple, easy, quick, and lazy.

I took a picture, but won’t share it here as Indian food doesn’t always look beautiful, but it sure does taste good!  And so healthy – they say it has cancer fighting capabilities.  And the brown rice will give me the carbs needed to get through today’s gym sesh and evening social run.  And I need the help because it’s still 100 degrees outside!

Speaking of hot, no, the curry was not spicy.  People think that all curry is spicy, they ain’t.  I left it mild out of respect for the others in our house that I knew would be eating it.  In my bowl however, I added a good amount of dried spicy spices.  Yup, papa likes it HOT!  Food that is, not running temps.

All for now, buh bye.

Morning Runner = Zombie

I am not a morning person at all.  Never have been.  I still don’t like it when people talk to me when I first wake up, and I usually don’t respond to them.  Jerky, I know.  But it takes me a while before my mind and body feel right. I feel like a zombie some mornings.  Which reminded me of a funny scene from one of my fave movies.  It’s the first shot in the trailer for Shaun of the Dead, where you think he’s a zombie, but he’s really just waking up:

That said, I’ve been getting up early to run for a few years now.  It’s pretty much a necessity in Texas.  It’s so fargin hot out during the day, and it’s still hot during the morning, but not quite as hot.  I’m still disgustingly sweaty after my run and have to let my clothes dry out for a day before they can go in the hamper.  BTW, one of the ways to know if you’re a runner is if you have two hampers – one for regular clothes, one for workout gear.

But running in the morning has other advantages that I do enjoy.  Most notably, you get the workout out of the way, and have the rest of the day to do whatever.  It is funny though that for me, the morning workouts always seem like they happened on another day.  Sometimes I’ll forget about them until I go up a flight of stars later on and wonder why it was more difficult than normal, “Oh yeah, my legs are tired from the run earlier.”

I do also enjoy the quiet in the mornings.  Less people up and about, so less traffic and noise.  Though now that school’s back in session, it’s less so.

Another advantage is getting to see the sunrise.  I don’t take my phone on runs, so you’ll probably never see a picture here, but I do see some pretty spectacular ones.  Especially in the park near my house that has a lake-pond.  It’s cool to see the sunrise reflecting in it.

And I do enjoy the times we get breakfast afterwards.

It’s also good to get the metabolism into gear first thing too!

Short story: One morning I was up early to run and must’ve checked in on social media cause a friend of mine who owns a bar/grill commented that she was just going to bed from working all night.  Which reminded me of a lyric from one of my fave singers, Mr. Jimmy Buffett:

“These days I get up about the time I used to go to bed.” – Coast of Carolina

It’s true.  I may not like it, but it’s happening.  And there are plenty of advantages to doing so.  But until I become a morning person, don’t talk to me right away.  I’ll just answer you with silence or grunts.

Silly Questions to People Who Workout

I think I’ve unlocked a key as to why so many people around the world are out of shape and don’t do anything about it.  I think it’s how their minds work.  Lemme splain.  Over the years I’ve noticed a theme in the same silly question I keep hearing from people who don’t workout.  Here’s some of the actual questions I’ve been asked:

1. Out to dinner with friends, I order a healthy dish.  My friend asks me, “Why are you eating that, you’re already thin.”

2. At the gym showing a newbie some of the machines and how they work.  This person looks around at everyone working out and asks me, “Why are all these people here when they’re already in shape?”

3. At a former job I had a co-worker on a Jenny Craig diet tell me this, “I cannot wait until I reach my goal weight so I can go back to eating whatever I want again.”

4. I invited a former friend to yoga, my former friend tells me, “I can’t go to yoga because I’m not flexible.”

5. Why do you do all that running, you’re already fit.”

So there it is.  I think these people think that once you get in shape, you stay there forever.  I’m being serious when I say that I really believe some people’s brains just work differently than others.  The way my brain thinks is like this: I have to work hard to stay in shape, cause if I slack off I will become out of shape.

Here’s what I tell myself when I’m in the same situations as above:

1. I eat this way so I can try to stay thin.

2. These people are in shape because they are here.

3. Healthy living is a lifestyle, not a temporary band aid.

4. I go to yoga to try and become more flexible.

5. I run because I love it and it I want to get more fitness, more endurance, more speed, more fun.

Anyways, am I alone here?  Have you heard or thought similar things?  How can we help change people’s mindsets?

Dopey Training (203 Days to Go) and Bling

Just saw that the Disney Dopey Challenge is 203 days away.  Seems like a long time, but I guess it’s really not.  Maybe it is, but I still want to start getting ready now.  Been working on getting ready the past couple months actually.  Keeping my legs tired and my body sore as much as possible.  This weekend I did a humid 8 miles with friend runners and frienemy hills.  Then it’s on to 3-4 hours of yard work.  And by yard work, believe me, it’s work.

Sunday did another 6 miles.  And that was a struggle.  A struggle because it was absolutely fabulously humid and hot!  It was disgusting.  When I finished it looked like I had jumped in a lake during the run.  I mean, my clothes were absolutely fabulously soaked.  It was disgusting.  Did I mention it was disgusting?  But I got through it.  Normally I would’ve gone to yoga after, but it was niece’s birthday day, so spent it at a community pool playing with water rug rats.- that counts as exercising, right?

Monday, back at the gym to pump up some iron…or whatever materials they use to make the heavy things in the gyms now a days.  Today, up early to run again.  It was raining, which was actually nice.  It was somewhat humid, but cloud cover is good and cool rain is good.  I rather enjoyed it.  It wasn’t pouring, but a nice steady sprinkle.  And it didn’t take me half the morning to cool my body internal temps down.  It’s always a little uncomfortable at work when I’m sweating from a morning run…even after a shower!

So it goes on and on.  But I’m feeling good so far.  Feeling strong.  Still early, I know.  But building slowly and smartly is key to avoiding injury.  I looked up the Galloway training plan for the Dopey and it’s for peeps who’ve already been running regularly for 6 months, but it starts it’s week 1 the first week of July.  So this being June, I’m already ahead of the game and the mileage that his plan starts with.  Good I think.

Anyway, I had a thought.  I googled images for the Dopey Challenge and this one of Dopey the Dwarf came up:

Dopey in the sky with diamonds.

I think it’s appropriate for these race.  Here’s because:  I know it was a factor for me, so I know it was a factor for others –  The Bling!  In previous posts I’ve mentioned that when we complete this 4 days of racing, we get 6 medals.  And 6 Disney medals at that.  They don’t mess around with their medals.  And so I know some of us were thinking about all that bling and had diamonds in our eyes like Dopey.

Maybe that should’ve been a warning.  Maybe the race directors thing that being blinded by bling is a bad thing and are throwing us an underhanded dis by calling us Dopey for blindly going for it.  Maybe they secretly think this 4 days of increasing race distances will punish us for our greed.  But I don’t think so.  First off, Disney has never been accused of being anything but greedy itself…just look at the race entry fee for crying out loud!  But I’m not hatin’.  I love all things Disney, always have.  So I’m looking at it like we are getting the bling as a proper reward for completing the tough tough challenge.

203 days until we’re officially Dopey (and Blingy)!

Running: Back on (the) Track!

So I’m driving home the other day and I pass a middle school track where I sometimes go to do track workouts (coincidentally enough).  But this day, I had already done my workouts, so no need to stop.  But then I noticed a friend of mine flying down the straight-a-way.  His name is Bob Smeby, he’s fast.  Here’s his Athlinks page.  Notice all the first place finishes.  He’s in his mid 50’s but still runs around a 6 minute mile.  Like I said, he’s fast…probably because he practices getting faster by doing track workouts.  Funny how that works – put in the time and effort, get the results.

The next day I messaged him to say I saw him on the track, and he invited me to run with him next time out.  I agreed.  I hadn’t been on the track since the fall, but I do enjoy it.  Training for long races like marathons can involve some loooong slow runs.  That’s why I like doing track workouts – it’s a chance to go a short distance, and go it fastly!  Plus, I was a 4 year letter winner in high school track.  So obviously, it’s something I’ve always enjoyed.

Smokin’ fools in the 400 in high school.

If you’re a runner and  you don’t do track workouts, you’re missing out.  They usually involve going almost all out for a determined distance, then “recovering” with a short jog.  Repeat.  Are they hard?  Yes, yes they are.  But they really can help increase your per mile pace. Not only that, but doing that sort of explosive burst interval work is the number one way to burn fat.  And who doesn’t want to burn fat?  Besides Manny Yarbrough, that is.

Smokin’ fools at a recent track workout. *Thanks Runner Girl Chels for the pic!

But then the day arrived for my first track workout in months.  I realized that I’m going to be running alone with a really fast person.  I didn’t want to be the only one puking on the infield, so I invited some other peeps.  Granted I didn’t give them much notice, but nobody else was able to make it.  My one friend even said, “Are you CRAZY?!?!  You’re doing a track workout with Smeby?!?!”

But it was all good.  We did a mile or so warm up, then Bob changed into his spikes…yes, he brought spikes!  We did 10 x 200 with a 200 jog in between.  If he hadn’t been there, I would’ve quit after 8…or 6.  Another advantage to running with others – accountability!  And our pace was pretty good too!  Bob had me start a little ahead of him and told me not to let him catch me.  He spent the whole workout trying to chase me down and I spent it trying to hold him off.  We both got a great workout.

Next time out, we hope to have some more peeps out there for a mid week fat burn/speed increase.  I don’t know what our workout will be, but it doesn’t matter cause I know it will be hard, but fun!

Holla if you want to come run in circles sometime!

Run the White Rock Lake Loop

So I normally don’t blog about my workouts.  I workout nearly every day and sometimes twice a day.  If I were to write about each one, I’m sure I’d bore a lot of people.  But this particular workout, a lot of karazy stuff happened.

On Saturday I decided to do a lap around White Rock Lake.  I think every Dallas runner should do this loop at some point their lives.  It’s roughly 9 miles around and it is pretty scenic with views of the Dallas skyline, trees, kayaks, sailboats, picnicers, wildlife, tamelife, and other runners/bikers.  This time though, there were lots of surprise and cornfusing sights.  I’ll run them down in order of how I saw them.

1.)  Right when I was pulling in to park, Logan Sherman came flying down the trail.  We hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks and so he was kind enough to stop and chat with me for a minute before offering some encouragement and the taking off in a blaze to finish his 20 mile run (he’s getting ready for the Boston Marathon).

2.)  On the run, I passed a Goth lady with bright red hair in a wedding dress with her military uniformed husband taking their wedding photos.  Good for them.

3.)  One lonely pelican floating near the shore.

4.)  An ornery looking snapping turtle just off the trail giving me the stink eye as I ran past him and/or her.

5.)  A group of pro football looking dudes (some wearing NFL jerseys) taking photos of two horses they had tied to a tree by the lake.  Still trying to figure that one out.

6.)  Every fisherperson I passed seemed to be smoking cigs.  Is that a thing?  Do fishing and smoking go together like Spam and eggs?  PS. I’ve never eaten Spam and eggs, but I’m told it’s a thing.

7.)  A truck shaped like a giant shoe.

8.)  After I finished, I was stretching and noticed a lady hiding behind a tree with a camera.  I figured she was a private detective and hoped she wasn’t looking for me.

9.)  Then I saw a marriage proposal…it was accepted.

10.)  The lady hiding behind the tree was taking photos of the proposal.  Mystery solved.

So there you go.  Not you’re typical workout.  But I was glad to see it all ’cause it kept my mind entertained.  Oh, and sorry I don’t have any photos of this schtuff, but I refuse to workout with my phone…gotta keep phocused.  You’ll have to take my word for it.  But it is all true!  I can draw you sketches if you like.

Anyway, give the White Rock Lake loop a chance if you get a chance.  It’s a good trail, and you never know what you’ll see!

Peace out internet!

 

Dallas Cup 5K #blog

This is the race that made me want to race…again.  For the past year I had been focusing on longer distances like full and half marathons.  My goal with those was to try to run fast, yes, but mostly to be in an upright position at the finish line.  After 3 halfs and 1 full in four months, I was ready for a break.  So I took one.  But then a month or two later, I ran the Dallas Cup 5K.

I ran it for a few reasons:  1) Some friends were. 2) It was close to my house.  3) It benefited a soccer organization (me heart soccer).  4) I don’t remember what 4) was.

But after months of mostly cruising along in my races, I was in for a shorter faster distance.  And there was a guy running who I find kind of creepy and I wanted to beat him.  And some of my elite friends (one of whom is going for the 2016 Olympics) were running, and that kind of inspired me.  And there were a TON of kids running.  OK, I don’t know how much they all really weighed, but there was a bunch, let’s say.  And the thing about kids, they don’t like to lose.  They take off like meatloaf out of hell at the start.  Can’t keep it up, so they walk.  But as soon as they hear your footsteps behind them they take off on a sprint….until they stop and walk.  Repeat.  I want to trip those little cuties.

But anywhoodle, all that inspiration made me push it.  I did not bad for not having done a lick of speed work.  22:28, 7th in age group.

I should have been holding up seven fingers.

With that little bit of limited success on limited training, the competitive bug re-bit me.  Since then I’ve been really getting into running.  I won’t ever be as fast as I was in high school.  And I won’t be elite.  But I can compete in my age group (and with creepy people from other age groups).  So it’s good to have that fire.

Peace out homeys!