Last Week of Half Marathon Training

Just 4 more days until my second half marathon and the hub’s first! I’m super excited about it and so proud of all his hard work with training. Having both of us training for a half marathon at the same time had it’s challenges with scheduling and kiddos, but we’ve made it work and I can’t wait to get out there together. I don’t think we’ve ran together this whole time we’ve been training, crazy huh?!?

I’ll definitely be taking it easy these next 4 days. I did my last long run yesterday and my knees are bothering me. I’ve been out of my glucosamine for about 2 weeks or so and I know my knees are missing it! It’s also unusually humid for Vegas and I don’t think that’s helping either. So, I’ll be resting, icing, and using some KT Tape on my knees until Saturday 😉

Not only am I looking forward to running the half marathon, I’m looking forward to getting away with my family for a few days and exploring Bryce Canyon together. It’ll be a much needed getaway for us. This summer has been crazy busy so far with year-round school, swimming lessons, basketball, and gymnastics, on top of working and training for the half marathon! Yup, much needed time away from Vegas and the daily grind!

Oh I almost forgot, I got a new Nathan hydration vest! I’m loving it so far. I never really loved my belt and had been considering a vest for awhile now. I ended up choosing the Nathan’s Intensity Hydration Vest for women and I just love how I have access to everything I’ll need at arms reach. I plan to write a full review after the half marathon so stay tuned 😉

Chasing Dreams I Didn’t Know I Had…..

I heard/read this saying somewhere a few weeks ago and it’s really stayed with me. I don’t even remember where I heard it or in what context, but it resonates with me in so many ways. “Chasing dreams I didn’t even know I had” is right about where I am right now. Yesterday I posted a “Transformation Tuesday” photo on Instagram as part of the monthly #grinderglamchallenge (a fun fitness based photo challenge) I participate in. You can read more about it on Leti’s blog HERE, she founded the challenge a year ago and it’s grown into an awesome community! I’m so happy for her and I don’t even know her personally. But whenever we do meet in person, I’m gonna give her a big hug 🙂

So, back to the photo. The response I got was so amazing. So many people liked it and commented about how proud they were & how happy they were for me. It was awesome and made me feel good. Thanks everyone for the support & encouragement! Here’s the photo:

Looking back at who I was then and who I am now, it’s hard to recognize the old me. I don’t even mean physically. Yes, losing 30 +/- lbs. hasn’t been easy. It was hard work with lots of ups and downs. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into! I just needed to lose weight. That was all I knew. But, in the process of trying to lose the weight and get healthy I found a passion I didn’t know I had. I signed up for races and had a blast doing them, especially obstacle course racing. Ummm…excuse me but I had no idea what obstacle course races were 2 years ago, nonetheless think that I would ever sign up for one willingly and enjoy it!! I’m giving myself challenges and goals to reach that I didn’t even know I wanted. I’m running, climbing over 8 ft. walls, crawling under barbed wire, jumping into ice cold water, and loving every minute of it.

I’m currently reading Spartan Up by Joe De Sena, the founder of Spartan Race and so much of what the book says about pushing yourself beyond what you thought you could do is so true. You will find courage you didn’t know you had, strength you thought wasn’t there because we are capable of so much more than we think. Overcoming obstacles in a race is so much like overcoming them in real life. You reach a wall, you find a way to go over it. You forget your fear of heights and you go for it. You may need some help, but you make it over the wall. You don’t let the wall beat you. These are all great metaphors for life too.

Right now, I’m dreaming of a stronger me. A me that will run a half marathon faster than the last one. A me that will conquer the Spartan Beast & Spartan Sprint in one weekend and live to tell about it. Am I scared? You better believe it. But I want that trifecta medal more than I am afraid of those obstacles. It’s that fear that drives me to be better. I can’t quit, so I need to train harder than ever before! Yeah, I’ll be tired, bruised, sore, and who knows what else, but I’ll come out more alive than ever before! Honestly, I am happy with how far I’ve come and I’m ready to push myself even harder to reach those dreams I didn’t know I had! Chasing these goal, these dreams, keeps me focused. It makes me a better person both inside and out and I like that.

So, what dreams are you chasing? I’d love to hear about them!

Happy National Running Day | 10 Reasons Why I Run (and you should too!)

I’ve never been athletic. I’ve never enjoyed sports. I didn’t like exercising. I’ve been overweight for a long time. I wanted to be skinny but I didn’t want to work hard for it. Sweat?!!? UH, No Thank You!! And then, one day it clicked. Nothing was going to change, nothing was going to get better with my self esteem, my body image, my mind, until I got out there and did something about it. And so, I started running. Wait up, I didn’t start running, I started speed walking, then I moved up to an awkward trot. It was difficult to run. I felt heavy, my legs felt like they had lead weights on them, my asthmatic lungs felt like they were on fire. The air was thick. Running sucked. But soon it started to feel easier. Not easy, but easier. The more I ran, the easier it got, the less it sucked. The more I ran, the more I loved it. I started to miss it on days I didn’t run. What kind of freak have I become? I guess, I’m a running freak. Don’t get me wrong, running still isn’t easy. I don’t think it ever will be easy and I’m ok with that. Some days it’s hard to get out there and run, but I do it anyways. Here’s why:

I run because I love how I feel after I’m done.
I run because it makes me feel strong.
I run because it’s a great way to lose weight.
I run to clear my head.
I run because it’s good for my heart.
I run to reach my goals.
I run to tune out the world around me.
I run because I want to be a good example to my children.
I run in the hopes of inspiring others.
I run because I can!

BONUS: I run because I love the cute running shorts 😉

Why do you run? Are you running today for #nationalrunningday? You don’t have to be fast (I sure am not) You just have to want it. Get out there and give it your all. You may surprise yourself and end up loving it!

Badass Dash | Race 9 of 14 for 2014

I’m officially signed up fro 12 races through September and I’m sure I’ll find 2 more to sign up for before the end of the year. I am kinda surprised at how fast it’s going and how easily it’s been finding races! Thank goodness for living social & groupon deals! LOL

Our Pre-Race Selfie :) — Our Pre-Race Selfie 🙂

The Badass Dash is a 7K obstacle course race with about 30 obstacles throughout the course. My hubby and I signed up through a great Living Social deal and although I had already ran the race last year with my sister, he hadn’t ran it, so I figured it’d be fun to run it together. We also met up with some other running group friends when we got there. Also, some Camp Rhino peeps who’d already ran elite heat decided to run it again for fun with us, now they’re badass!! Having them run with us was a blast and helped push us through the tough parts! The course had a ton of stairs, some water and mud obstacles, tunnel crawl, over and under hurdles, cargo nets and walls to climb. Compared to last year’s race, I think the obstacles were a bit more challenging, so that was a tun of fun! There were no race bibs, but they did provide you with a timing chip at packet pickup along with a tech race shirt. The end of the race had the regular post-race goodies – bananas, orange slices, water, and a sports drink. Oh and let’s not forget the beer! LOL 🙂

Yup, I ended up a little muddy and a few battle scars! But, that's part of the fun! — Yup, I ended up a little muddy and a few battle scars! But, that’s part of the fun!

Have you done any obstacle course races? Do you love or hate them? I’d love to hear from you! xo

Wild Land Fire Awareness 5K Trail Run | Race 8 of 14

This race was organized by a local racing company here in Las Vegas, Desert Sky Adventures and hosted by Bureau of Land Management out in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. They offered both a 5K and a Half Marathon distance through some awesome trails! I absolutely love Red Rock Canyon. It’s a quick drive from my house and we love to go there for hikes with the kiddos and I’ve recently enjoyed running some of the trails, so running a race there was really a treat! It was put together nicely and it had that small race atmosphere I like.

For a FREE race, I cannot complain one bit. They sent out 2 emails before the race with all the race details on parking, water aid stations, etc. so communication was clear. I didn’t make it to Packet Pickup the day before but my friend who picked up our packets had no issues. We got a free tech tshirt, race bib, and some Smokey the Bear goodies in a drawstring bag 🙂 The morning of the race, everything went along smoothly. They were taking donations for families of firefighters who lost their lives while fighting wildland fires and had some pretty buff firefighters doing pushups when they received donations 😉 After the race, they had a table with bananas, oranges, muffins, water and gatorade. We also got a nice dog tag style metal at the finish. Yup, definitely a great local race!

Another great thing about this race was the sense of community. There were lots of runner friends from the running groups I’m a part of and it felt nice to have that camaraderie among the other runners. I’m not much of a social butterfly and well, I can be a bit awkward in social situations, so it’s nice to have a group of friendly like-minded people who don’t make me feel like an outsider! Thanks so much for that 🙂

I didn’t get much sleep the night before, I was on my feet all day photographing a wedding, I had a headache, and just felt BLAH!! Needless to say, it wasn’t my best race. I felt sluggish and tired. My legs felt like lead and I just couldn’t focus or find my groove. I was just happy I finished strong. When I signed up, I was sure I’d PR from my last 5K trail run, the Xterra Trail Race. I didn’t. I should’ve. I was disappointed. I ran with my husband and he did amazing! He PRed by over 7 minutes! He’d been working hard and it really paid off! I was so happy for him, but I just couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of failure I had. Then of course, I felt guilty for being selfish and not being more excited for him. But, I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man as my husband because he never gloated about his success and did everything he could to make me feel better. And I did eventually feel better. He gave me the space I needed to make peace with it and even made me a yummy post-race breakfast! Thanks babe! I love you!! Oh and I’m sure the TOMS shoe warehouse shopping & happy hour with girlfriends helped too 🙂

My Half Marathon Bucket List

This past July I came up with my fitness bucket list. Basically, it’s got everything from running a half marathon to doing a pull up! I’ve made some progress and you can see my 6 month update HERE. I’m starting to enjoy running more and more and with my 14 in 2014 race challenge, I think I’m hooked! I keep seeing and hearing of all these fun races I’d love to do so I figured I should keep a list and what better place to keep it than on my blog 🙂

So, here are the top 5 half marathons (in no particular order) that I hope to do in the coming years:

Napa to Sonoma Half – Running and wine, need I say more?!?
Disney Princess Half Marathon – Disney puts on quite a few races throughout the year and they are all very popular. I chose the Princess Half because it’s in Florida and I’m dying to take the kids back to Walt Disney World and because the race is all within the WDW property, as opposed to Disneyland, where parts are ran through the city of Anaheim.
Nike Women’s Half Marathon – They have a race in Washington DC and San Francisco, but I think I’d prefer San Francisco, just because it’s on the west coast and thereby more feasible for me to travel there. Plus, you get an awesome Tiffany & Co. necklace at the finish!
Surf City Half Marathon – I love Southern California and I think it’d be great to run along 13.1 miles of the Pacific Coast Highway!
The Kaua’i Half Marathon – It’s been voted one of the top races to travel for! Maybe you won’t even notice the distance or humidity among the beautiful scenery 😉

BONUS RACES:

Ragnar Relay – This is just one of those races that sounds like it could be a lot of fun to do with a group of friends and would really push you!
Paris to Versailles 16K – I just love Paris and being able to run here would be a dream!!

I’d love to hear what races are on your bucket list! Or what amazing races you’ve ran so far!

Race for the Cure 5K | Race 7 of 14 in 2014

Woohoo!! I am halfway through my goal of 14 races in 2014! I originally wasn’t planning on doing the Race for the Cure again this year, but when my sister called asking if I’d be interested in joining her work team and that they were paying for the registration fee I couldn’t pass up a free race! Being a big race with such a worthy cause, you know it was packed! The volunteers directing traffic and such did a great job and it wasn’t too difficult to get around. There were lots vendors passing out lots of free swag and samples and it really had the feel of a festival rather than a race.

The race itself went great! There were plenty of water stations throughout the course and it wasn’t too crowded once we moved past the starting line a bit. I ran the race with my sister in memory of our aunt and her mother-in-law who have passed away due to breast cancer and for our other aunts who have battled and survived breast cancer as well.

To learn more about the Komen Foundation and to find a Race for the Cure in your area, click HERE!

Tough Mudder Las Vegas 2014 | Team Tough Cookies 2.0

In 2013, Tough Mudder changed my life! You can read more about it HERE. This year, I was excited to give it another go. I was especially excited to become a Legionnaire. Basically, as past Tough Mudders, Legionnaires go on a different loop and finish line than first time Mudders and we can opt out of Electroshock Therapy at the end. Yup, not getting electrocuted at the end sounded awesome to me!

Tough Mudder was in Lake Las Vegas this year, so we didn’t have to drive 2.5 hrs to the event, it was just a quick 30 min. drive. Another plus! Saturday’s weather was windy and chilly, so I was glad we were signed up on Sunday because the weather couldn’t have been better! However, there were only 4 waves on Sunday and we went on the last wave. This made for a pretty sparse spectator and participant course. Yet there was no lack of camaraderie from our fellow Mudders throughout the course and at the obstacles!

This spirit of camaraderie could not have been more evident to me during my drama on Walk the Plank. I was feeling nervous when I first saw photos of other events where rather than one long platform to jump off of, there were now individual rows with planks that led out into the water for you to jump off. Just typing about it now, my palms are sweaty!! My plan was to just walk up and jump. Yea, that didn’t happen. The rows were close enough were Jason and I could hold hands, but I just couldn’t physically extend my arm away from my body, so I told Jason we’d count to 3 and jump. He jumped. I didn’t. Our other team members jumped and Jason came back up to the platform to help me out. I just couldn’t get myself to jump but the crowds on the ground and behind me in the platform weren’t going to let me off that easy. I mean, that’s what Tough Mudder is about, right? Overcoming your fears. Well, it took about 30 minutes, a U.S. Marine, 3 coaches from Camp Rhino, the volunteers, and basically everyone there chanting and encouraging me to overcome my fear. And even then I had to ask the volunteer to push me. I’m glad he did. I would have been very disappointed in myself if I’d turned around & climbed back down. Plus, I knew I didn’t want to let all those people down. They were there for me. They didn’t have to be there. But they were. They cheered me on, encouraged me to face my fear and jump, but never once made me feel bad for being scared. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Again, Tough Mudder changed my life. Again Tough Mudder showed me that I can do anything I set my mind to, even if I require a little push. I was not the strongest person there, I wasn’t the fastest, but I was there, I gave it my all, and I had a blast doing it! And, I got my green 2X Tough Mudder headband 🙂

Big shout out to my sister for taking all these awesome photos and her hubby for coming along and cheering us on throughout the course! Love you guys 🙂

Have you ran a Tough Mudder event? I’d love to know what you thought about it or any other event that you felt changed you! xo

Gearing up for Tough Mudder Las Vegas | Tough Cookies 2.0

Here I go again…getting that same nervous, anxious energy I felt before the Spartan Super earlier this month. This time, I’m gearing up for my second Tough Mudder event coming up on Sunday! If you are new to the blog, you may not know how Tough Mudder changed my life, but it really did. I won’t bore those how already know the story, but you can read my thoughts on Tough Mudder HERE and HERE!

I've been having a real hard time practicing this obstacle at Camp Rhino. Not sure what my problem is,but I know it's all in my head. I start running towards the ramp and then stop myself halfway. It's really annoying! I did it before, I can do it again and this photo proves it! I will get up Everest again. — I’ve been having a real hard time practicing this obstacle at Camp Rhino. Not sure what my problem is,but I know it’s all in my head. I start running towards the ramp and then stop myself halfway. It’s really annoying! I did it before, I can do it again and this photo proves it! I will get up Everest again.

I’m excited to be taking on my second Tough Mudder with 2 really good friends of ours! Last year, our friend Veronica couldn’t do it since she’d just had a baby a month before, but we convinced her hubby, Ernie, to join our team. This year, Veronica is joining team Tough Cookies and the 4 of us are ready to take on the 10+ mile course full of crazy obstacles that will really test our stamina and mental grit! We’ve been training at Camp Rhino and it’s been very helpful to give the obstacles a try. We’ve been calling our training sessions “double dates”! Yea, that’s how we roll! I encourage you to find an obstacle training gym/facility in your own city and if you’re from Vegas, you gotta check out Camp Rhino!

New obstacle - Fire in Your Hole. Like Wet N Wild, but with fire &muddy water at the bottom! — New obstacle – Fire in Your Hole. Like Wet N Wild, but with fire &muddy water at the bottom!

I’m so happy we don’t have a 2.5 hour drive this year to get to the event, since it’s being held at Lake Las Vegas, just 30 minutes away. I’m also anxious to try out the brand new Legionnaire Loop, which is only open to repeat Mudders and has some pretty challenging & fun looking obstacles. My sister will be coming along is the official Tough Cookies photographer and her hubby will be a spectator too! This is the first time he’s gone to any one of our crazy obstacle races, so it’s gonna be a real treat for him & hey, maybe he’ll even join us for the next one (Javier, are you reading this?!)

It’s really going to be fun having them encouraging us along the course! I just hope they’re nice to us for the Family Feud obstacle 😉

Getting knocked down by spectators during the Family Feud obstacle. This actually looks like fun!

Let’s do this!! Hoorah!!

Let the Training Begin | Bryce Canyon Half Marathon

This is the week. Week 1 of 12 weeks of half marathon training. There will be lots and lots of running in my future. I’m excited to try Hal Higdon’s Intermediate Half Marathon Training Schedule. I used his Novice Schedule for the Rock N Roll Half Marathon (my first half) and I think it went well. The training was totally do-able and hey, I finished the race, right? I decided on the intermediate schedule because I really want to work on my speed. I’d like to be a faster runner. I don’t have grandiose ideas of finishing in 1:30 or anything! My first half marathon this past November was with a time of 2:34. I wanted to finish in 2:30, but I was totally fine with my time. This year, I’d like to reach that 2:30 time or even beat it! I feel confident that I can do this mostly because the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon is mostly a downhill race 😉

What’s extra special about the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon & it’s training is that I’ll be running it alongside the hubs! Although he’s done some 10Ks, 5Ks, and of Tough Mudder with me, this will be his first half marathon! I couldn’t be more excited for him and for our upcoming 12 weeks of training. Logistically speaking, we won’t be training “together” but we’ll be able to push each other and hold ourselves accountable. Plus, there’s always that little bit of love & competitiveness that really pushes us to be the best we can and give it our al!

What’s your favorite half marathon training program? Have you ever ran a race with your spouse? Did you love it or hate it?