training begins + I get paid to explore parks (fuck. yes.)

So training has begun. Kind of, I guess. I've been out of town for work  the entire month of April so far, so things have been hectic and exhausting. This past weekend I was in Palo Duro Canyon State Park for an event. Saturday was taken up by said event, but Sunday was our day to explore.

I woke up at the ass crack of dawn and did my first half marathon training run (about a week later than scheduled - oh well). A short two miles, but it was hard because I am fat and out of shape now. I did it on the Rojo Grande trail - a nice trail that was conveniently located within walking distance of my campsite. 

This was the trail. Be very jealous. Also - not my picture, I definitely stole this off the internet.

It had a couple of slopes that I slowed down for so I wouldn't break myself (both uphill and downhill) but it was really pleasant. I wish my park had trails that weren't filled with loose rocks and steep inclines. Oh well. My HRM's watch battery is dead so I couldn't time myself but I imagine it took about 25 minutes. The rock and dirt in much of the park is extremely red and rich in iron. By the end of the run, my shoes and socks were red, as well.

After my run, we went on a short guided hike. It was about .75 mile on the park's CCC trail. I learned a lot about Palo Duro's CCC history (which was great to compare and contrast to Davis Mountains), saw some cool plants and bugs, and enjoyed the views of the canyon. After the hike, we explored the Visitor's Center a bit & then had to head to the stables for our trail ride. It was so nice to be back on a horse. All we did was walk, though my horse decided to break into a trot a few times, but I had a great time. It is seriously beautiful in the canyon & a great way to explore is on horseback.

So clearly, after a 2 mile run, a hike, and horseback riding, we were ready for a nap. And nap we did. It didn't matter that the tent was hot as shit, we passed the fuck out for like 2 hours. We woke up rested and rejuvenated and ready for another hike.

This time we set out on the new Rock Garden trail. I don't know how new it is, but I imagine it's only a few months old. All the other trails in the park have markers at each tenth of a mile. This one had none yet. Those definitely would have been useful for us to monitor our time and daylight, but fuck it. We hiked all the way from the bottom of the damn canyon up to the fucking rim. It was pretty badass - not gonna lie. The view up there was amazing. Especially because we got there right around sunset (not amazing for the way down, though). We putzed around at the overlook for a little while then set out for the 3 mile return trip. About halfway down it got dark, but we weren't complaining. With the sun gone, the heat was gone. We used the flashlight to guide our way while simultaneously using it to find spiders (their eyes reflect the light, it's kind of creepy actually). We finally made it to the bottom around 9PM. 

So, just to remind you how badass I was on Sunday, let's recap:

• 2 mile run
• .75 mile hike
• one hour of horseback riding
• 6 mile hike

We slept like babies, even in a tent in the cold on an incline. 

I head back to FD tomorrow and then it's time to really find a routine with my training schedule. 

getting my ass back in gear.

Hi. Remember me? Nope, me either. I've been living the dream. You know, the dream that you have where work takes up your entire life and leaves you with not much room to breathe? Scratch that - let's label it a nightmare. Or, for all those employed in the recreation industry, we'll refer to it as Spring Break. I said goodbye to my weekends for the month of March and hello to ridiculous amounts of overtime. But I survived & I am coming out if it with a renewed mindset. I'm ready to get my ass back in gear (as the subject line suggests).

I am going to run my second half marathon in November. A few friends and I are going to do Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio together. I am excited and also dreading it. Excited to run another half marathon and pretend like I am a real life runner. Excited for the feeling of accomplishment. Excited to see my friends. Dreading the time and dedication training is going to require. Dreading running 13.1 miles in a row again. Dreading the post-race soreness.

But, it is a calling that I for whatever insane reason feel drawn to. Call it sadistic, self-torture, whatever you will (I mean... really - who willingly decides to run that much at once?! What is wrong with us?!) but I'm setting a goal and I will fucking achieve it. So stay out of my way, suckas.

Also - clean eating. We'll talk about this one a little later. But it needs to happen more often because I cannot live off a diet of chips and salsa any longer.

restrestrest

Monday I made it to the gym for my leg workout. I'm pretty clueless and don't know a whole hell of a lot of exercises to do, so I just did three sets each of squats, lunges, leg extensions, and I threw a few little ab things in between. I'm going to look up more exercises so I can have a better variety and longer workout. Even so, though, I am sore from what I did! After I lifted I did 10 minutes of pretty intense intervals on the stationary bike, followed by a three minute cool down.

Yesterday I was absolutely, 100% exhausted. I planned on going to the gym right after work but I left work a little early and headed home for a quick nap. Well, that quick nap turned into 15 hours. I woke up a few times here and there to go to the bathroom and let the dog in and what not, but for the most part it was a good solid sleep. I needed it, I guess. So yesterday there was no upper body strength training and no 2.5 mile run.

My back is still hurting. It is more uncomfortable today than it was yesterday. It's weird but I really think that going to the gym helps it rather than aggravates it. So I'm going to try to fit the gym in at some point today. I'm working an after hours event so we'll see when, but it's nice having a gym that's open 24 hours. I'll do full body since I missed upper body yesterday, but I think I am going to pass on the run for now. My left ankle kind of hurts, as well. I'm falling apartttttt.

WWS.

Well, my back is still kind of achy, but I made my way to the gym after work yesterday anyways. I'm just taking Excedrin to take the edge off. Yesterday was just a running day so I did a total of 30 minutes on the treadmill. I did my scheduled two miles in 20:34. Averaged at a 10:16 min/mile pace or something like that. Not too shabby. The whole run was a sort of Fartlek style run, I just went up or down with the speed as I saw fit.

I am registering for another 10K that is in October. It's at Sea World. I need to have more runs in my future to keep me up, running, motivated, and accountable. I'm probably going to look for some other races going on between now and then, as well.

Here's the plan for this week:

• Sunday - two mile run
• Monday - legs
• Tuesday - upper body, run 2.5 miles
• Wednesday - legs (might not happen, working late that night..)
• Thursday - upper body (if Wednesday doesn't happen, full body)
• Friday - Zumba
• Saturday - Body Pump

i'm back!

After too long of a hiatus from exercise and all things healthy, I'm getting back into the game for real. I joined a gym and I've been eating (mostly) well. Let's talk fitness first.

So I bought that Groupon for the pilates studio and I went to their Zumba Toning class. I liked it, but it wasn't as great as normal zumba at Studio Vida. Buuuuut I will definitely return to check out other classes and instructors. Especially because I have those discounted passes. Friday mornings will be Zumba, Saturday mornings are going to be Body Pump. I've never done Body Pump so I'm pretty excited to check it out.

I also joined Freedom Fitness here in town. My pal goes there, too, and the price is right - only ten dollars a month. I've been with her a few times and she's taught me some new strength training stuff. Once I learn my way around the weight room, I'm going to start going in the mornings before work. Mondays and Wednesdays I'm focusing on legs, Tuesdays and Thursdays are upper body days. I'll probably throw in one or two runs on those days, as well.

Speaking of running, I ran for the first time since Beach to Bay on Monday. I went to the gym with my mom while I was home and after I lifted I hopped on the treadmill and waited for her to finish. I decided to just run and see what happened. I kept it nice and easy, around 11 min/mile, and I was surprised to find out that I felt pretty great! I wasn't huffing and puffing like I thought I would be. I ran for twenty minutes, a little less than two miles. Not terrible for the first time back. Then I decided to be real crazy and doubled up my workout for the day by going to zumba in the evening. I had to get my Mario fix. HRM told me I burned 735 calories in the hour. Chyeaaaah! So Monday was intense - lifting, run, zumba.

Tuesday I woke up early and went to the gym with momma again. Focused on arms and did rows, curls, kick backs, etc. My arms are so weak, it's pathetic. I've gotta work towards changing that. I headed back to CC and got another semi-workout by unpacking and putting together my new room. Hey, I worked up a sweat so it counts!

Okay, so that's the fitness front. I'm feeling pretty confident and excited about keeping it up. So now for food. I've been loosely following the 'paleo' diet, which essentially is you eating like a caveman. Meat, fruits, vegetables, nuts. I'm not being ridiculously strict with it, but I feel pretty good so far cutting out almost all of my dairy and grains. The dairy needed to go anyways, I think I'm slightly lactose intolerant. And I don't eat a hell of a lot of grains anyways. But... you're not supposed to eat beans. Beans are going to be hard to let go so I'm sure I'll still eat them every now and then. I'm not going to even give it a second thought.

Okaaaay, so that's my plan. Build muscles, eat real food. And I'll leave this with this week's WWS:

• Sunday - swam, some lifting at home
• Monday - legs, ran 20 minutes on treadmill, Zumba
• Tuesday - upper body
• Wednesday - legs (maybe... having dinner at the house tonight and might not have time)
• Thursday - upper body (full body if legs don't happen tonight), run two miles
• Friday - Zumba
• Saturday - Body Pump

weekly workout schedule (WWS)!

Every Sunday I'm going to plan my runs and workouts for the week. Here's what I've got for this week:

• Sunday - 2 miles
• Monday - 3.5 miles
• Tuesday - 2.5 miles
• Wednesday - 7MM week 2
• Thursday - 4 miles
• Friday - diving
• Saturday - diving

Yep, should be a good week.

I'm still not feeling 100% but I'm doing my three mile run today, anyways. I feel much better than I did the previous two days. I've been getting enough sleep and eating really, really well and it's making me think... why don't I do this all the time?! I'm going to spend the rest of the month focusing on eating good, delicious, healthy foods and getting enough sleep and treating my body nicely. I think it's especially critical, now that I'm getting into the most intense part of my half marathon training. It's the last six weeks, the last thing I need is to be tired and improperly fueled.

Also, lately I've been thinking I want to shed some of these pounds. I didn't start running with that intention, it was mostly to feel better and test myself with a goal that seemed impossible but I knew was achievable (yet challenging). I know now, just over halfway through training, that I am capable of much more than I ever gave myself credit for. Now that I'm there mentally, I'd like to make things easier physically by losing some of my fluff. My tentative goal is to lose 15-20 pounds over the course of the next 'X' amount of time. Definitely by next year, but that's giving myself a lot of leeway.

The notion of losing weight isn't so much for vanity. I'm content with the way I look and I know that I'm strong and fit because, well fuck, I don't know a whole lot of people that run more than two miles. Mostly I just want to treat my body better and feed it with quality foods and incorporate exercise into my daily life, not just for training purposes. I know that I will feel better mentally and physically, and when you feel good the world is just a brighter place.