That's So Rad!

I love getting daily emails from Groupon, Living Social and the whatnot because some days, like today, they contain a really awesome deal.

Not necessarily from a savings standpoint but from a that-is-so-freaking-cool-I-had-no-idea standpoint.

Disappointed that I missed out on the Austin Color Run (I wasn’t even close to completing the couch to 5K when it took place) and saddened that there is no San Antonio Color Run you can imagine my reaction when an email came through for the San Antonio Color Me Rad 5K.

Image from the Color Me Rad website

What? When? How did I not know about this?  I must tell my friends. I must buy this deal right now.

And that is what I did.

The Groupon offer sold out pretty quickly so I don’t think any of my friends will be joining me for this but I don’t care. I am not about to miss out on all the fun just because I’ll be alone. Nope. No way. I have seen so many pictures from people who have done these runs and they look like so much fun. I just couldn't pass this offer up.

Come December 2^nd I’ll be running through the streets of San Antonio while covered in multi-colored powder. I am so freaking excited!

And I will be sure to bring a disposable camera so I can share the pictures with you!

The Winner!

I said I would announce the winner of the “Reveal the Path” giveaway this morning but before I do I just want to take a moment to thank Mike Dion for all his help with the giveaway and of course for creating such an amazing film that truly has changed my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you Mike! If you ever need a goofy, newbie cyclist sidekick- I’m your girl.

I would also like to thank those of you who entered. I appreciate your support and hope that if you did not win you still find a way to see this incredible film.

So, without further ado, the winner is…. Jess!

Jess, I hope you and Alex enjoy this movie as much as I did. I hope it inspires some amazing adventures for you both.

“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”~ Helen Keller

Snapshots

I operate under the assumption that the people who read my blog know me. Know my story. My past. How I got to this point in my life and the hard-fought battles that brought me here.

I assume that my readers know I once tipped the scales at 286 pounds (this was just last year!) and that today I weigh somewhere around 160 pounds. I assume you know about how I have changed my relationship with food as well. I eat to live (actually eat to thrive would be a better way to describe it) instead of live to eat. I assume you also know I am a vegan and damn proud of it.

I feel like you must also know that I am new to running. New to cycling. Heck, I’m new to pretty much any activity that doesn’t involve DVR and a remote control. You know that I am no expert. You know that I can’t tell you what it feels like to finish a marathon or log 100 miles in a month or what it feels like when you bonk or hit the wall or what it feels like to ride for 100 miles or even 100K. You know that I am a novice at best. I am no expert and I am far from being a seasoned vet.

You know that I have lost weight but that this is not a weight loss blog. You know health and fitness are my main focuses right now and that I eat a plant-strong whole foods diet and don’t focus on counting calories or points or any of that stuff.  You know I would rather be moving than sitting still and that this has brought me such happiness.

You know all of this. Right?

Right?

Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.

Maybe you know some of it but not the whole story.

Or maybe you know nothing about me at all.

I saw this picture this morning on Facebook (where else, right?) and it made me think about something.  Reading a post on a blog is like looking at a photo. A snapshot frozen in time of a specific place or event. I tell you a story and you are able to experience it with me. It’s really very cool.

However, someone new to my story or this blog may not understand what it took to get me where I am today especially since this is a brand new blog and my stories about my journey and struggles are documented elsewhere. Which is kind of strange.

So what I wanted to say to you (yes, I am finally getting to my point) is that as I share with you these snapshots of my life I hope you will recognize that I am able to be here because I took that first step. Somewhere, in the depths of my soul, I was able to muster up enough courage to set off on my journey. The journey that has changed my life.

You and I, more than likely, are at different points along our paths. We may be working every day towards a similar goal but our days are different. But what I realized this morning, looking at that photo, is that even if our paths are different they both started from the same point- that first step. And that is what connects us together- our common thread.

So, maybe you don’t need to know my entire life story, or each and every one of my weird idiosyncrasies, to understand me. You know who I am because, like you, I am someone who was courageous enough to go after what I wanted all by taking that first step.

Maybe this snapshot is enough for you to understand the bigger picture.

FMM: Uniquely You

Decided to try something new today...

1) Do you prefer to talk or text? I prefer face to face conversations. I dislike phone conversations though. I love texting.

2) How often do you make your bed? Ummmmm….yeah. Like once a week when we change the sheets. And be we I mean Paul. I rarely make the bed.

3) What sounds do you hear right now? The Beatles on my iPhone

4) List three things that you always carry with you.  Not sure there are three things I ALWAYS carry with me but for the most part I carry my iPhone, military ID card, and my house key.

5) What are your favorite TV shows? I am a TV junky. I am trying to recover from this habit and watch less TV but I keep getting sucked in to new shoes. I just watched the first four seasons of Sons of Anarchy and the entire series of Prison Break and was addicted to both.  I also love Parks and Rec and the New Girl.

6) Is there a hobby that you’d like to devote more time to? If so, what is it? Reading. I am hoping that I can eliminate some TV viewing and replace it with reading once Paul leaves for OCS.

7) What is your favorite drink? I primarily drink water. I have green tea (or coffee on weekends) in the morning but after that it’s just water. Well, except for beer. I do drink beer. And if I had to choose my favorite beer I would probably say Dogfish Head Punkin Ale. Ask me again tomorrow, that might change.

8) Share a couple of cool facts about your family. Paul and I are both only children. Both my parents were teachers. Both his parents were in the Air Force.

9) List one thing that you will do for yourself today. Rest my legs and eat some really good food.

10) Share something that you’re thankful for today. Being alive. Loving and being loved.

Thanks Kenlie for these great questions! If you want to participate post your answers on your blog and share the link in the comments of Kenlie’s post.  

Week 11: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Last Saturday, like 9 days ago, I completed a 7 mile training run that left me feeling great about my progress in training for the half marathon. Week ten was a great week for me in regards to my training, meal planning and activity level. I was pretty pumped and optimistic week 11 would be just as awesome.

Unfortunately, just like with any aspects of life, things don’t always go as we plan.

Monday morning I headed out for an easy-pace 3 mile run; a great way to start off my day. Sadly, it was anything but easy. I didn’t make it but maybe 10 feet or so before I slid through some mud. My left leg went sliding along while my right leg came crashing down in front trying to catch my balance. I didn’t hurt anything but I definitely tweaked some muscles/joints in the process. It was kind of startling and scary and it rattled my nerves a bit but I was able to calm down and keep moving. Since the sidewalk was clearly muddy I decided to run on the road until I was in a better lit area. About 20 feet or so later I stepped on a rock and rolled my ankle. Again, no sharp pains but it definitely made me feel not quite right.

I kept running for a bit but after a mile or so I started to feel some pains in my knee and ankle. This had me worried and since I am probably one of the most overly-cautious people you might meet I decided to stop running and walk home. I am not a risk taker when it comes to my health. I have worked too hard to run through the pain and cause a worse injury to develop. My belief is if your body is telling you to stop then you better damn well stop. I learned this the hard way and I refuse to make that mistake again.

So, I headed home and gave my legs a rest. Tuesday I went to my Thai yoga therapy session where Tricia told me that she didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. No damage. No tightness. Nothing. I was hopeful that rest was all I needed and that I could safely continue on with my training schedule.

Still cautious I decided to finish off my weekday training runs on the treadmill- less risky.

Wednesday I completed my Interval B routine safely and pain-free. The routine was a five minute warm-up, 6x 1.5 min fast/2.5 recovery, 5 minute cool down. 34 minutes total. I ran/walked 2.72 miles. Since this was my first run with the longer intervals I kept my ‘fast’ pace slower and tried to split my recovery time between walking and jogging. That strategy worked well.

Thursday I was supposed to do the Hill B routine and last week I said I hoped to do so outside. I opted to do this one on the treadmill as well. I did 35 minutes of a pre-set hill interval routine. 7 hills in total, 3.5 minutes on each, ranging from 4% incline to 7% incline. In between hills I stayed on a 3% incline and walked/jogged. It was actually a harder workout than I expected but I felt good afterwards and thankfully still pain free.

Saturday was supposed to be the day for my long run but we got an insane amount of rain Friday night and 2”-8” were on the forecast for Saturday so I was not about to run out in that mess. See, we don’t get much rain here so when we do, especially when it’s bad, there is usually flooding. The trail I was supposed to run on floods super easily so I knew that come Sunday it would be a bad idea to run out there. As I was trying to figure out where I was going to run my 8 miles at my friend texted to see if I wanted to hang out Sunday maybe even workout together. I told her about my run and she said she would join me. She wasn’t up for 8 miles but she would be up for 3 so I had the great idea of running from my house to our meeting spot (5 miles exactly) meet her and then run three together. Bam! 8 mile run planned. I was excited; especially since I have never actually ran with someone before. I was looking forward to the company.

So yesterday morning I head out from my house down to our meeting spot. I saw my Sunday morning bike group twice which was cool. They were actually cheering for me as they passed me. I was feeling good. Legs were great. My body felt great. I was maintaining a really comfortable pace just trying to take it easy and really enjoy the run.

I got to the meeting spot and was early. I was feeling great so I decided to squeeze in another mile and as I headed back my friend had arrived and walked down to join me. So there I was, 6 miles into my run and heading out for another three and it felt really good.

Halfway into our three mile run my friend asked if we could go a bit further so our plans to run for three miles turned into running four. At that point I didn’t think an extra mile would make a difference and it didn’t.

And as we approached our starting point I was struck by the fact that I had just finished my first double digit run. In total, I ran for 10.37 miles. Yahoo! I had broken into what had become the great unknown- double digit mileage. It felt so damn good. I was on cloud nine the rest of the day.

Week eleven started off a bit rocky but ended on a high note. My running mileage for the week was just shy of 18 miles. Ice bath yesterday definitely helped because I woke up today feeling great. The legs were a bit tired but no pain or soreness. I did decide to take the morning off to rest. Even though my legs felt great yesterday I was still quite exhausted from the run. 4 am was a little too early for me to wake up today.

But if you remember, getting in my training runs wasn’t my only goal for the week.

Last week my goals were:

Complete all four training runs- Yes, for the most part. Monday’s run was cut short but I’m still going to count it

At least 5 homemade dinners and all breakfasts/lunches during the week also homemade/not takeout- Almost a yes, I only made 4 dinners and all breakfasts/lunches except one were from home. Pretty close

Cross training- Yes, bike ride, Thai yoga and some core workouts

Daily core workouts- Nope, I think I went 3 for 7 with this one. Definitely room for improvement here.

All in all I would say week 11 was a solid C. It was a mix of good not quite so good. But I am still happy with how it all played out.

Week Twelve Goals

-Complete all of my training runs:

·         4 mile easy run, Interval B routine, Tempo B  routine (five miles at fast pace) and a 9 mile long run

-At least 5 homemade dinners and all breakfasts/lunches during the week also homemade/not takeout

-Yoga! I won’t be able to ride at all this week and my running mileage is going to break 20 in total so I want to get in some yoga to help stretch me out

-Complete core routine 4 times; straight-arm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises, forearm plank, one minute crunches on balance ball, one minute leg raises

I can’t believe that my first half marathon is now less then 6 weeks away. Crazy!

Any advice? Anything you think I should add or remove from my training plan?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway- deadline is midnight Friday!

“A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard.”~ Bruce Lee

Blog Giveaway: Reveal the Path

I was lucky enough to catch a screening of “Reveal the Path” at one of our local Alamo Drafthouse theaters back in June. Lucky because this movie has helped to change/shape my life since.

By looking at the cover of the DVD you might assume that this film is about cycling.

You would be somewhat correct. Yes, there are bikes but this film is not about cycling per se.

I like to tell people that it’s not a cycling film, it is a film about life that just happens to take place on a bike.

A more eloquent description can be found on the films website:

“Reveal the Path is a genre-defying adventure film that contemplates what it means to live an inspired life using the bicycle as a mechanism to explore, dream and discover.” 26Sep2012.<http://revealthepath.com/about/>

An inspired life- that is exactly what this film will push you towards.

You don’t have to be a cyclist to enjoy this movie. The only thing you need to be is open to the idea of adventure, finding your path and living an inspired life.

Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Well for one of my lucky readers inspiration will be yours. The winner will receive an autographed copy of Reveal the Path. Mike Dion, the Producer/Director (and one of the stars of the film), has autographed a Blu-Ray and DVD combo pack to be given away to one of my readers. How awesome is that?

Side note: Mike is one of the coolest people I have ever met. I am honored that he spoke to me directly in working to set up this giveaway. Very awesome! Thanks Mike!

So let’s get to the good stuff; the entry details.

There are seven easy ways to enter this contest; one required and six optional entries. Yes, you heard that right- I am giving you a total of 7 ways to enter so make sure you take advantage of that.

Mandatory Entry

1)      Watch the Reveal the Path trailer or visit the website and leave me a comment below telling me why you would like to win. This one is mandatory.

Optional Entries

2)      Follow @RevealThePath on Twitter and leave me a comment below telling me you’ve done so.

3)      Like Reveal the Path on Facebook and leave me a comment below telling me you’ve done so.

4)      Tweet something about this contest including a link to this post and mention @Run_Ride_Repeat and @RevealThePath. Leave me a comment below with the URL to your tweet

5)      Subscribe to Run. Ride. Repeat and leave me a comment telling me you’ve done so.

6)      Like Run. Ride. Repeat on Facebook and leave me a comment telling me you’ve done so.

7)      Follow @Run_Ride_Repeat on Twitter and leave me a comment below telling me you’ve done so.

Please leave a comment for each individual entry

Just to be clear there are seven ways to enter but you can only do each one once. Don’t leave me 50 comments as to why you would want to win. I will only count one of them.

Enter anytime between now and midnight CST Friday, October 5^th, 2012. I will use a random number generator to select a winner and announce it here on my blog on that same day. Contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents and deployed military as well. Please note that if you are selected as the winner you will need to send me your address (I will contact you directly) so I can ship you the movie. And I must also note that I did not receive any compensation for hosting this giveaway.

I am so excited to share this film with you; it is one of my favorites. I hope you are excited as well and help me spread the word.

Mike Dion, myself, and Paul after the Reveal the Path screening 

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~Andre Gide

10 Running-Related Questions

The awesome ladies over at Another Mother Runner came up with some really fun running related questions and so I thought I would share my answers with you. I don’t know about you but I love posts like this. So much fun to write and read!

1.       Best run ever- hands down the best run ever was the day I ran one mile straight without stopping. That was the day I realized that anything was possible. That was the day I realized I could actually become a runner.

2.       Three words that describe my running: barefoot, empowering, humbling

3.       My go-to running outfit is: I am still a newb so I don’t really have a set go-to running outfit yet. BUT when I am out running it is in compression carpis/shorts, a tech tee or tank (cotton is rotten!), compression sleeves if I plan on being out more than an hour, and a hat or headband.

4.       Quirky habit while running: you know how I said that the No Meat Athlete tells you to visualize ‘dinosaur arms holding butterflies’ in regards to your arm movements. Well, I got the whole T-Rex arm thing down and my right hand is great at the grasping a butterfly part. My left hand, however, is in fight mode. I tend to make a fist when I run. I am sure I am a goofy sight to see.

5.       Morning, midday, evening: morning, morning, morning! It has to be morning. I have run in the afternoons/evenings and it was very difficult. I really prefer to run on a nearly empty stomach.

6.       I won’t run outside when it’s: in the 100’s. I ran an 8K one evening and it was 99 when we started. I felt like I was going to die. It was the most miserable running experience to date. If I ever live somewhere that has snow and wintry conditions I am pretty sure I wouldn’t run in that either.

7.       Worst injury—and how I got over it: KNOCK ON FREAKING WOOD- nothing to date since I started running but you should check out this post about my life before minimalist/forefoot running.

8.       I felt most like a badass runner when: I sat in an ice bath for 20 minutes after my first 9 mile run. Honestly, I am not sure anything is more badass than subjecting yourself to pure torture all in the name of recovery. I think the foam rolling peeps out there would agree.

9.       Next race is: I have three races on the calendar before my half in November; 2 5Ks and a 15K

10.   Potential running goals for 2013: marathon, trail run, and lots of fun events like a mud run, color run and maybe even a warrior dash or Spartan challenge.