{Semi} Wordless Wednesday: A Rainy Race
A few pictures from the very wet, very rainy Fuego 5K this past Saturday. Paul finished in 21:12 and I finished in 39:40. We were both super excited with the results especially given the circumstances!
Thanks for reading!
Catching Up…Part 1
OK, so I just wrote a post on everything that I have been up to this week and when I hit ‘Save Draft’ it freaking disappeared. This happened on Monday when I was writing up the post from the 5K. I had to start from scratch. WTF WordPress! Why??? Why when I have no free time would you keep eating my posts??? I used to type them up on a Word document and then copy paste but for reasons unknown when I do that now it copies over weird and I spend a half hour playing with the formatting. Blerg! Both options suck! Crap. I lost my momentum. Here is a very abbreviated version- I don’t have time to write it all up again. Will post more later.
Walked 6 miles on Sunday with new friend. Saw pretty flowers.
Broke treadmill at apartment complex gym. Got in less than one mile of a three-mile walk. Awesome. This is the second time this has happened. See post from Feb. 23. I don’t dare link- I may anger the WordPress gods.
I officially hate Wednesday evening Bikram classes. They are always too full. Yesterday there were 37 plus the instructor. Not more than two inches between mats. Too crowded! Going to that studio (Bikram Yoga San Antonio) only on the weekends until my Groupon is used up.
Paul fell in the shower and hurt his rib cage. Then last night he dropped eye dropper in his eye. Not a great week for him.
Can’t wait to move. Six days until we sign the lease. Did I tell you the house has a fenced in yard? Great for the doggies especially this goofball.
Maggie is laying next to, practically under, our bed while right behind her is her doggie bed. Silly dog!
Can’t wait to move out of the ghetto. They tore up our parking lot yesterday to get to a water leak. Three or four parking spots were ripped up. It’s pretty dangerous and of course no one should be walking or parking there. They needed to put up caution tape.
And of course what better way is there to secure caution tape than by wrapping it around two upside-down computer monitors and an upside-down shopping cart- everyone knows that. Where did that stuff even come from? So ridiculous.
Finished ‘Catching Fire’ yesterday and then proceeded to start ‘Mockingjay’ which is the last of the three books in the ‘Hunger Games’ trilogy. Loving my Kindle. Can’t wait to see how it ends. The first two books were great and I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn’t read the series.
Work is great. Actually doing real work now on my own. Ate in the cafeteria today. They have a sweet salad bar- it has edamame. I am in love. No more packing my lunch! Yay!
Life is good. Really happy lately. Think I might have a good weigh-in this week, maybe. We’ll see. I am ok with whatever the outcome is. I am starting to come to terms with the whole process. I feel good which is the most important thing.
Think that’s all for now.
Thanks for reading!
I’m a Winner!!!
This past Saturday I participated in the San Antonio Road Runners Women’s 5K competing as a walker. I set out that morning with only one goal in mind; to beat my best outdoor time of 51:15 for three miles. Since I would be walking 3.1 miles I adjusted my goal time to include that extra tenth of a mile so basically I was just aiming for a sub 52:54 5K time. That was it, my only goal. I was racing only against myself. When I went to pick up my packet the night before I was told that walkers can only walk; absolutely no jogging/running. They actually had refs along the race route marking down your number if you were jogging/running but were competing as a runner. They were very strict because the walkers received awards too so they wanted to make sure no one cheated. I was pretty excited when I got home after picking up the registration and looked through my stuff. I was in love with the shirt we got for the race (and it fits, bonus!) and I took my bib number as a good omen.
I was pretty excited to participate in a women’s only race and was amazed at how many people were there for the race; participants, spectators, and volunteers.
I started off the race with only one goal in mind; to beat my best time. However, once the race started I was overcome with that competitive edge and I fought hard to keep up with the front of the pack. I was doing pretty well until it started to get hilly. At that point it was difficult for me to keep up with the group and I fell behind. Sorry for the blurry picture. I took while walking to try to show you one of the hills.
Even though I fell behind the others I continued to push myself as hard as I could. When I crossed the finish line I came in almost 4 minutes ahead of my personal best time at 49:35. I was freaking ecstatic to not only exceed my goals but to walk a sub 50 minute 5K. Although I wasn’t wearing a cape I certainly felt like Superwoman. See my big cheesy grin as proof.
I stayed on the curb near the finish for about 10 minutes or so cheering on the amazing women finishing the race. Strangers had clapped for me so I needed to do the same. Afterwards I headed over to meet up with Paul,
who had volunteered and had spent the race working the 2 mile mark water station, and to get some much-needed water. We spent some time talking with another walker, a women I started off the race walking with who ended up finished 3 minutes ahead of me, about different races and whatnot. Then the announcer let us know the final results were posted so we headed over to check them out and lo and behold I came in second place in my age group and 26th (out of 105) overall. I won! I came in second! I was getting a medal! I was freaking out! I finished the race crying tears of joy because I exceeded my expectations. When I saw I came in second I nearly died I was so overcome with joy. It was such a great moment. Definitely in the top ten.
So, if you ever think you can’t do amazing things you are only fooling yourself. I know you can. We all can. We can do anything we can dream of, we can achieve more, we can move mountains. All we need to do is take that leap of faith and not let anything stand in our way.
Thanks for reading!
What Happened to June???
Today is June 30th, can you believe it? I can’t. June went by so quickly, I can’t belive that tomorrow is July 1st. Since the past two weeks were so chaotic I wasn’t really thinking of my end of month weigh-in and then I woke up today and realized it was time for me to step on the scale and see if I met my goal of losing 10 pounds in June. I weighed in on May 31st at home, using the same scale, so I figured it would be ok to use my home scale again today. On May 31st I weighed 258.8, today I weigh 250.2. So no, I didn’t reach my 10 pound goal but I did lose 8.6 pounds which is nothing to scoff at. I have also finally reached my 10% weight loss goal, which was reaching 252 lb, and look how freaking close I am to entering the 240’s! I cannot wait to be under 250 and will be thrilled if I get there by my official WW weigh-in on Saturday but I am not holding my breath. I want to be below 250 for two reasons; one, it means I am less than 100 pounds away from my goal weight (I realize this number is still big but in my head a double-digit loss seems easier than a triple digit loss) and two, because I would be closer to 200 than 300 hundred and that just feels great knowing that my next big milestone will bring me into the 100’s. Ahhhhhhhh (me screaming), it’s such an amazing feeling!
If you follow my post regularly or if you have peeked over at my weight loss goals page you will know that aside from my first goal, 10 pounds lost in March, I have not met a single goal by my self-imposed deadlines. Am I disheartened? No. Should I lower my goals? I don’t think so. I mean, yes I know if I changed my goal from 10 lbs to 8 lbs per month I would reach it but then it wouldn’t be a challenge. I set up these goals as something to strive towards, as a motivational tool. If I lower my goals this time maybe I will take it easier at the gym or maybe I will snack more because I will feel I could ease up a little but then what’s to stop me from changing that 8 lbs down to 6 lbs pounds, and then to 4 lbs…you see what I mean, right? Personally (as everyone is different and challenges themselves differently) I would rather set goals that might be slightly unrealistic and work really hard trying to get there then set goals that I can easily achieve. I think it is because I don’t get mad or feel like a failure when I don’t reach them (for the most part) but instead am happy to have made significant progress every month and in turn will work harder next month to try to get those 10 pounds. So, long story short- I am sticking to my ten pound goal even if it might be slightly out of my reach.
Now that June is almost behind me it is time to look forward into July and I thought I would share with you some events I have going on this month. As I mentioned in Monday’s post, this Saturday I will be participating in the San Antonio Road Runners Monthly (free- woot!) Fun Run. This race is set up in four legs; a kids run, ½ mile, 1 mile and 3 mile lengths occurring sequentially so I will be able to participate in all of them (minus the kids run, obviously) and in turn will get in 4.5 miles at the event and a ribbon for completing all three events. Yay! Then in two weeks I will be walking in the SARR Women’s 5K. This should be a great event and Paul is even lined up as a volunteer which means we will both get enjoy the race. At the event they will be collecting clothing donations to be distributed to local women’s shelters as well as sneaker donations. Very awesome!
July will also begin two new things for me; tracking my measurements and Bikram Yoga. I wish I had started tracking measurements from the beginning but oh, well I can’t fix that now. I will be doing this long enough to still be able to see my progression via inches lost so it will still be a beneficial tracking method. I of course will post them on this blog as well. I mean you already know my weight what do I care if you know how big around my hips are 😉 Then on July 6th Paul and I will be trying our hands at Bikram Yoga; aka hot yoga. We purchased a 10 class pass from Groupon and will be taking two classes a week until finished. I am both nervous and excited and hopefully will find it as enjoyable as the other classes I have taken. Wish me luck!
July also brings the start of my new job (also exciting/nerve-wracking), our move into post housing (which was pushed up and may happen as early as July 15), the WNBA All-Star game which is being held here in San Antonio on July 23, the Food Truck Throw Down on July 29 and 30 at the Boardwalk on Bulverde, as well as new parks, hikes, and an endless world of possibilities that I cannot wait to share with you. Oh, and maybe even another blog giveaway so stay tuned people!
Thanks for reading!
Weight Watchers Update- Miles and Milestones
On Saturday I wrote up a post on my iPhone about my weigh-in and my training for the half marathon and thought I posted it. Well, apparently I didn’t. So today I went looking for it thinking it must have stored as a draft and it was there but only the title nothing in the body of the post. Blerg! That stinks. It was far and beyond the best thing I have ever written and I am pretty sure it would have changed your life just by reading it 😉 Ok, ok, I am kidding. It was just the normal post about my WW update which I will try to recreate for you now.
Milestones
Saturday I went to my Weight Watchers meeting and weigh-in. Last week I wasn’t as active as the week prior and although I stuck to my prescribed WW daily point allowance I ate differently (re: more crap) than I usually do. I was still hopeful that I would see a loss this week and was very happy to see a -2.0 on my card. Woo hoo! Back on track! This brings my total weight loss since joining WW up to 26.4 pounds which means that I hit my 25 pounds lost milestone. Yay! I am so excited to hit another big milestone. Sometimes it feels like it took a long time to get here but really it wasn’t long at all. It has only been three months since I joined WW and I have already lost over 25 pounds. That is pretty amazing. The best part is that it is easier than I had ever thought it would be. Following the WW program teaches you portion control and healthy (meaning getting in recommended fruits/veg, water, dairy, oils, etc) eating while trying to promote an active lifestyle. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that this plan would work and I think most healthy people follow these guidelines. WW just helps make it easier to do so by providing support through meetings and their website and helps keep you accountable knowing you will be weighing in each week. So, thank you to all of my friends who encouraged me to join. It has definitely been a step in the right direction.
286/253.6/150
Look at the pretty blue star!
The last two weeks I really didn’t set forth goals, they were more like guidelines. I did the best I could to adhere to them through the chaos and managed to lose 1.6 pounds overall which is a good thing. This shows me that even when life gets crazy I can adapt and survive it without falling off the wagon completely. This week I am back to my old routine and have planned out meals, workouts, and even some fun activities to do over the holiday weekend. Here is a glimpse of what I will be doing, and eating, this week.
Sunday: I made an early dinner/late lunch and Paul and I feasted on homemade spaghetti alle vongole (clams) with a spinach, heirloom tomato, and english cucumber salad. My morning was spent wandering the Salado Greenway North trail and then I took a Nia and a Hoopdance class at the Synergy Studio at night. I couldn’t decide which to go to so I took them both.
Monday: It is ‘burger revolution’ this week at my favorite local grocery store, Central Market. For dinner tonight we are having shrimp burgers; thai for me and lemon herb for Paul. We picked up some prepared salads (not your typical potato and macaroni salad type of stuff here at CM) one is a black-eyed pea salad with peppers, onions, jicima, and cilantro and the other is a faro vegetable salad with mint vinaigrette. After dinner I will be hitting up my favorite yoga class with Esther Vexler at the Synergy Studio.
Tuesday: Dinner will be my favorite quick, go-to meal- stir fry. I usually do shrimp stir fry but this week will be having chicken instead. After dinner is boxing and then the first of my two weekly three-mile walks.
Wednesday: Dinner is burgers again, this time it will be bruschetta turkey burgers. Basically a ground turkey patty seasoned with tomato, basil, and parmesan mixed right in. Beet salad and watermelon will be our sides. No workouts this night because I will be at the Texas League All-Star game and Home Run Derby.
Thursday: Dinner Thursday is grilled tuna steaks, couscous, and roasted cauliflower. Then off to qigong at the Synergy Studio after dinner.
Friday: Another quick dinner; pesto marinated chicken, couscous, and asparagus. After dinner is boxing, three-mile walk, and if Paul comes with me hopefully we can hit up Red Mango for some frozen yogurt afterwards.
Saturday: This is the day for my long walk according to the half marathon training however I have a walk event that morning so my plan is to participate in the event and then go for a walk after, combine them, and reach my seven miles that way. My morning will be a quick trip to WW for a weigh-in but I won’t stay for the meeting. Then I will head to McAllister Park where the San Antonio Road Runners will be holding their free, monthly Fun Run event. Of course, you can walk instead of run which is what I will be doing. There are four events; a kids run (100m), ½ mile, 1 mile, and 3 mile and they occur sequentially, not simultaneously, so that you can participate in all of the events (minus the kids run) if you feel up to it. I am going to do all three events hoping to work on my speed during the first two and then work on maintaining a consistent pace during the 3 miler. Afterwards, I will stay in the park and just walk 2.5 miles on my own which will bring the day’s total up to seven.
The rest of my weekend will be filled with walks and hiking, celebration dinners, cookouts, movies and lots of time spent with Paul and our friends. This week is shaping up to be great! I always get so excited around holiday weekends. I wish I could have been home this week as originally scheduled but those plans fell through so I am making the best of this situation. Oh, and another great thing about this week- roasted jalapeno hummus as my afternoon snack. So good!
Goals for the Week
As you can see I have already planned everything out for the week and with Paul home (and functioning after his eye surgery) there is less of a burden on me to take care of all the housework. So my goals this week will be simple;
– appreciate and enjoy my surroundings
– be more loving to my husband, friends, and family
– write more blog posts
– try to be better every day
Miles
I am training to walk a half marathon (13.1 miles) in October and of course because of this I have been doing a lot of walking lately. I had been walking usually only once a week before starting this program so it has been a change to increase that to 3-4 times a week. Not a bad change, just a change. If you follow this blog regularly then you know I walk outside, around the local San Antonio parks. However, this past Saturday my plans ended up changing last-minute and I had to do my walking indoors on a treadmill. One thing about this Texas heat is that there is only a small window of time in the morning and evening when you can walk outside without fearing death or certain collapse from heat stroke. So, off to the gym I went for my 6 mile walk. I learned two things that morning; one, I walk much faster on a treadmill than I do walking outdoors and two, I hate walking on a treadmill. Well, the walking faster wasn’t a surprise because I was walking on a flat surface in a temperature controlled room opposed to walking on varying surfaces at varying inclines with the hot sun beating down on me. However, I was somewhat surprised to find out how much I dislike walking on a treadmill. It’s not the actual walking on the treadmill that I dislike it is the boredom from the monotony of walking on a treadmill with nothing to see and do. I think I am just spoiled by all of the parks and trails around me. I have grown accustomed to walking outside and taking in the scenery and even seeing some deer and rabbits every now and again.
Yes, I am pretty sure that I am not only spoiled by all of the parks around San Antonio I am also borderline obsessed with them. Case and point- yesterday I went to Phil Hardberger Park to get in my Sunday morning walk. While staring at the trail map I noticed that there was a section of the Salado Greenway Trail (which is a paved trail running through San Antonio- perfect for walking) running along the border of the park. I was very excited to see this and took off to find it. Once on the trail I was quickly caught up in the scenery and wildlife around me and since I didn’t want to miss out on anything I just had to walk to the end of the trail in order to see it all. Man, I was glad I did because on my way back I saw two deer; one crossed in front of me on the trail and wandered back into the woods to eat and the other I saw off the trail eating and it just stayed there eating while I proceeded to take like 30 pictures of it. The deer must be getting used to all of the foot traffic because neither were skittish and stayed in their area as if I wasn’t even there. For me, there is nothing more amazing than seeing wildlife in its natural habitat. It was a wonderful experience. So much so that I ended up walking approximately five miles (I originally set out to walk 2-3 miles) because I was enjoying being outside so much. This was Sunday, the day after my 6 mile walk. It was supposed to be an easy walk but instead I ended up wandering around for almost as long/far as I had the day before on the treadmill. I say this not because it was exhausting or difficult but to show you how much I enjoy being outside. My walk on Saturday on the treadmill was dreadful; my walk on Sunday was peaceful and relaxing. I guess from now on I will try to walk outside as much as possible because it truly is far more enjoyable.
Thanks for reading!
Friday Night Frenzy!
Wow! What a week. It has been a whirlwind so far and next week looks like it will be the same. I feel like I have been a bad blogger this week- it is really weird not to write every day. I mean I know what I write isn’t necessarily deep and moving stuff but it is cathartic to spend some time each day reviewing my life and my thoughts and not being able to do that this week has made a noticeable impact on my mental wellbeing. I am glad to be able to take some time tonight and write to you if for no other reason than to catch you up on what’s been going on here. Well, at least the highlights.
Sunday I went shopping with my friend SF for a nice, lightweight, summery outfit to wear to Paul’s graduation. SF works at a retail store that sells plus-sized clothes for women, one of the few I typically shop at, which came in handy when I was trying to pick out outfits and needed different sizes/colors and whatnot. Normally I go shopping with Paul, he is always honest, knows my style (plain), and is very patient. It was interesting to shop with someone else for a change, especially someone who has a better sense of style than I do. Unfortunately, things did not go to well at the store. There just wasn’t anything I really liked or felt comfortable in. For me comfort is key because if I am uncomfortable with what I am wearing I will be fidgety and self-conscious the entire time it is on and that’s no fun. What’s worse was I was not thrilled with how the clothes were fitting. 30 pounds lost and I was still not wearing smaller sizes. My size for tops was big in the chest area (I think my boobs are the only place I lost weight) but still tight around my stomach. Pants were tight at the waist but droopy in the butt and it looked like I pooped myself- not really that flattering of a look believe it or not. After a good hour or so looking I gave up and resigned myself to just wearing something I already had and left SF and the store.
As I headed home I became sad because I really wanted to buy something new, I wanted Paul to see my progress and think I looked nice, but also because I felt like what’s the point. I mean it’s been over 3 and a half months of me busting my ass every day and I was still the same size- how depressing. So, I decided to check out Target because it was on my way home. They carry a limited selection of plus-size clothes in store and I thought it was worth a shot. At Target I was able to find clothes that fit me better but they were too casual for a graduation ceremony. So off I went, still feeling somewhat hopeless. I should point out here that after both stores I called Paul who helped me feel less like crap about the clothes, or lack thereof, situation. Thanks Paul! As I was heading home I thought about something another WW member had said the day before, about how she shopped at Dillard’s so I decided to head over to the mall. I don’t typically shop at department stores. Heck, I had no idea that they even carried plus sizes until earlier this year so I thought I would check it out. Third time’s a charm, right?
I am so happy that I did because not only did they carry plus size clothes, they carried nice plus size clothes that fit me beautifully. I was wearing a size 20 pants, down from a 24 and a 2X top, down from a 3X, so yay for smaller sizes. I found a bunch of tops, pants, and dresses that all fit well and I loved and I even stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried on some funky prints because of the designer who made the clothes. I mean Michael Kors knows his stuff, I trust he wouldn’t want to make fat people look ridiculous and he most certainly did not. The clothes not only fit me but they made me feel good in them both inside and out. I was comfortable with the size, not too restrictive, and the feel of the clothes was so soft on my skin I just wanted to wear them home. Now I can definitely understand why people buy expensive clothes. They were so worth it. Yes, it was a big splurge for me and yes, I probably could have bought 3 times as much for the same amount of money at a different store but why should I? I deserve to feel good about myself and if Michael Kors can do that then that is what I am buying. I ended up leaving with two tops and a pair of pants but I know I will be back every now and again to buy something nice for myself. Next time I will bring a coupon 😉
I had mentioned last week about how I bought a Groupon for the Synergy Studio and had taken a yoga and Nia class with it. Well, the pass I bought was for eight classes and although I had fallen in love with the place right off the bat I decided this week I would use some of it towards trying out new classes. Sunday after shopping was Zumba which was so much fun. I have no sense of rhythm and I cannot dance but I like the class nonetheless. I am not sure how this happens but I always seem to be in the front row at these classes which makes me nervous at first but luckily for me the instructors and students at Synergy are so kind and wonderful that I don’t feel like a complete idiot when I end up randomly spinning around until I can figure out what is going on. Needless to say, I liked this class so much I plan on doing it again this Sunday. This time I will wear different shoes though. I tried to wear my new ones to break them in and they ended up hurting me most of the class L
Monday I was back in the Gentle Yoga class which was a great way to stretch out and relax from my weekend. Starting the week off with yoga put my week and my body in alignment and allowed me to continue pushing through with a sense of calm and ease throughout some of the chaos. Tuesday I was at the boxing studio for class and then met up with SF for a three-mile walk afterwards. Since I have decided to walk a half-marathon in October I needed to start training for it because it is not something you would just do, or at least not something I could just do, without preparing for. So now I walk 2 times a week, usually after my boxing classes, and then a long walk on Saturdays. You will notice this pattern popping up in future posts so I thought I would explain where all these walks came from. Boxing was great and exhausting as always and I am trying to adapt to walking in the extreme Texas heat. It has been in the 90’s at night when I walk- freaking hot. At least it is not humid yet, that would be too much to handle.
Wednesday I was back at the Synergy Studio for Hoopdance! Originally I was going to take the earlier Nia class but something came up that needed to be addressed immediately after work so I had to adapt my plans. The key to success, or at least for me, is that you need to be rigid when it comes to planning and follow-through as well as be flexible so when your plans go to shit it doesn’t ruin your day and you can still meet your goals/expectations. So there you have it folks, the key to success is to be a flexible, rigid person 😉 But I digress. Back to hoopdance! Hoopdance is basically hula-hooping to music. The class was pretty full and there were three of us new to hoopdance so the others just started right in while we received a tutorial on how to hoop. FYI- beginners use bigger hoops and I was given the biggest hula hoop in all of mankind to start off with. It was ginormous. I had never seen a hula hoop that big and it took some time to adjust to it. Basically the concept is the bigger the hoop the slower you rotate so it took me a while to get that timing down. It felt like I was hooping in slow mo. Very strange at first and then once I got the hang of it, it was exhilarating. It’s just you and a hoop and all of your cares and thoughts dissipate. It’s great. The instructor and some of the people in the class were amazing, they were doing all kinds of crazy tricks and fancy moves- it was awesome. My new goal is to get to that point. It is a great workout and even better I had fun doing it which is the most important part. I was so into it that I even gave myself a big ole bruise on my side- it was a really big hula hoop J I will definitely be coming back to this class again and I recommend you try it out sometime. If not a class then at least by a hoop and do it at home.
Thursday, after I returned home from Paul’s graduation, was another new class at the Synergy Studio- qigong. The best way for me to describe the class is by including an excerpt of the description from their website.
“Qigong: Qi is the body’s life force energy which is responsible for our vitality. Gong means skill, work or foundation.
Qigong (sometimes written as Chi Kung) then is the practice of accumulating and cultivating vital life force energy (qi) in the body. This is achieved through the coordination of physical exercises, meditation and visualization, and breathing exercises. Qigong developed into a systematic healing art that integrates body, mind and spirit and is a main branch of traditional Chinese medicine. The effects of qigong practice include prevention and healing of disease, relief from stress, improved physical strength, improved mental focus, improved sexual function, spiritual enrichment and a slowing of the aging process.”
I loved this class. As you can see, I pretty much love every class I have taken there. I love the mix of classes that are relaxing, meditative, healing with others that are fun, exhilarating and child-like. This class, like yoga, is definitely something I want to incorporate into my weekly routine because it is good for my body and my soul. No, I didn’t burn any calories and no, my heart rate wasn’t elevated but that isn’t always the only point. This journey for me is about health and wellness and classes like qigong play a big role in me being able to get to that point. I am very excited to learn more about this practice and will hopefully make it a regular part of my life.
Tonight was pretty much the same routine as Tuesday; boxing and a three-mile walk, except that tonight Paul joined me for both. It was great to have him come to boxing, which of course he is really good at, and I really enjoyed the company on my walk. Of course we had to go to Red Mango afterwards for some frozen yogurt to help combat the 55 minutes we spent walking in the heat. It was 103 when we finished up. Damn it was hot! I am pretty sure I sweated off ten pounds!
Afterward I was thinking that this must be awkward for him- to come home and have to adjust to my schedule which is more jam-packed with classes and walks and other randomness but also for him to leave the routine he adjusted to for the month he was away. For both of us, it always takes some time to get used to our ‘normal’ married life again after a long time apart. Even though it was only a month it was long enough for both of us to adapt to a new schedule and routine. Yesterday, on the way home from Ft. Hood, I was rattling through all of my plans and everything I had going on I made a comment about going to a class that night. I said that even though it was his first night home I still wanted to go to a class. It was important to me to not skip workouts. I said that I was sorry but that he wasn’t my number one priority, that I was my number one priority and he said good, that’s the way it should be. I told him he was a close second and he replied again; good, that’s the way it should be 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Gorilla Challenge and Weight Watchers Weekly Update
OMG! I am so exhausted I can barely muster the strength to type this. There is a good chance I may fall asleep before I finish. The Gorilla Challenge was insane and completely wore me out. Not to mention it was super hot and humid today in San Antonio. But I’ll get to that in a minute. First, weigh-in update. Sadly, I gained this week. I went up .8 pounds. I think that brings my total lost on WW to 14.8 – boo that 😦 I was sad at first but have moved on. I will tell you about meeting (at a new location) and the advice I got at a later time. For now I want to briefly tell you about the Gorilla Challenge.
Nope, we didn’t win. Actually we didn’t even finish. At 2:45pm, 15 minutes before the race ended, we had three more clues to make it to and take pictures at and we were about 2 miles from the finish. There was no way we could make it. After walking all over San Antonio for over 3 hours I was exhausted. I had blisters on my feet, my knees hurt, my hips were starting to hurt and I was chaffing in unmentionable areas. Did I mention it was really freaking hot outside??? So at that point we called it quits. I couldn’t make it 2 miles to the finish so we walked to the car and headed for some FOOD. We were starving! So hungry that we didn’t care how bad we smelled or disgusting we looked we needed to eat.
Now I am home and showered and icing my knees/feet. I wanted to share with you some pictures of us at different points in the race. Some are regular poses in front of somewhere/something and others we had to do different poses for. You can tell in the last picture we are not holding up very well. I hope to tell you more about the event and the clues but for today you will have to be ok with just pictures.
Thanks for reading!
I am so excited….
You have no idea how excited I am for this weekend. I have been eagerly awaiting two events taking place this weekend; the Gorilla Challenge and the Weight Watchers Walk-It Challenge. Tonight I get to start off the weekend with friends and a San Antonio Missions baseball game. The only downside of this weekend is the fact that prior to my walk Sunday I will be dropping Paul off on post so he can leave for training. I am really going to miss him over the next month. I am excited that we get to spend tonight and tomorrow doing some really fun stuff- meaning the baseball game and scavenger hunt, get your mind out of the gutter. 😉
For those of you who do not know what the Gorilla Challenge is here is an explanation from their website.
“Gorilla Challenge is an “Amazing Race” style event where you and your team race to solve clues around the city, taking pictures along the way hoping you either get the grand prize or at least mini prizes at the clue locations, and having loads of fun.
You’re given a card filled with clues pointing in different directions within a 3 to 5 mile radius. Once you get to a location, you’ll find an additional slip with instructions on what to do next with your camera. It could be anything ranging from taking a simple picture with the object, singing for someone, putting together a mini-puzzle, or just making funny faces.
You’ll have as much time as you need to get to 10 out of the 12 clues, with a couple of clues containing tickets to redeem for an iPod, Amazon Gift Certificate, and other gift certificates to local restaurants and retailers.
Once you’ve picked up your 10 clues, you head back to the start location to win the finishing prize, redeem a ticket, or get a nice pat on the back and enjoy the live entertainment and food and beverage specials!
Gorilla Challenge is open to persons of all ages, with the exception of Goa’uld, members of the Dark Side, Borg’s, and Zombies. Jedi Knights are welcome.”
It sounds awesome, doesn’t it? I had never heard of it until I saw a registration discount offered through Living Social and as soon as I read about it I knew I had to do it. So tomorrow Paul and I will set out to dominate the San Antonio Gorilla Challenge and take home the first place prize- $300!
Sunday is the annual Weight Watchers Walk-It Challenge and since there wasn’t an official race schedule in San Antonio different WW centers organized their own events. My meeting location is actually doing their 5K tomorrow, which I cannot make because of the GC, walking 6 laps of the Rolling Oaks Mall. Fortunately for me another location has organized their 5K for Sunday. Actually it is a 5K and 10K and is open to anyone. My friend SM willingly agreed to participate in the event with me and we both are going to be walking a 10K. Wish us luck!
Stay tuned for pictures and updates! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!
Sunday 5K and Doggy Play Dates
On Sunday I headed out bright and early for what seems to be becoming a weekly ritual for me – walking a 5K around the Tobin trail. This time I went alone and the peace and quiet did wonders for me- totally recharged my batteries. I was a little concerned when I first got there as there were two shady characters mulling around the trail entrance. I think they were probably not shady characters but that early in the morning it is just strange to see people out there not in workout clothes so of course I was a little paranoid. To make matters worse, I walked almost a mile before I saw another person on the trail. That whole mile was spent with me constantly looking over my shoulder- there was no way an attacker was going to catch me off guard.
I didn’t take too many pictures along the way because there wasn’t much new to photograph from the previous trips. I did, however, see this unusual flower/plant and wanted to show you as it is something I had never seen before. The flower itself is a bit unusual in its shape but what I really found different were its leaves. They were hard and pointy and reminded me of a cactus. It was very unusual but very pretty, too.
After my trip to the park it was time to take our babies (our dogs) to their favorite place, the dog park. Paul and I arranged to meet our friends T&K, their baby M, and their German Sheppard Lexa at the dog park. The weather this weekend was perfect for a dog park outing as it wasn’t nearly as hot as it was last weekend. All three girls (doggies) seemed to have a great time and when we got home they all took a very long nap.
- They were so excited to play that they ran off before I could get a good picture
Paul and I have been so caught up in our own lives lately so it is important for us not to forget about our dogs and making sure they are getting enough exercise and play time. It is easy sometimes to forget this as they don’t speak up and tell you what they need and if your dogs are at all like mine then they don’t mind just lounging around the house most of the time. Paul and I try to be responsible pet owners and take the best care of our dogs as we can but I do not claim we are perfect, but we try. It is nice to see big smiles like this to remind you how much they enjoy being outside playing, too.
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for reading!
My WWWP5k
Today I participated in the worldwide Word Press 5K challenge. Thanks to one of my readers who tipped me off on this event, I was able to be one of many bloggers out there walking/running today. I enlisted the help of my husband to take photos along the way. He also wore his GPS watch to keep track of our distance, pace and time. I was wearing my heart rate/calorie tracking watch and didn’t really want to be wearing two. I am only telling you this so you know the watch pics are of his (hairy) arm, not mine.
We started out at the Ira Lee entrance of the trail, which is kind of the midway point, walked the mile and a half to the trail end and turned around and walked back. We were about a quarter of a mile short of a 5K after our round trip so we kept walking until we reached the 3.1 mile mark.
We tried to take pictures at some of the mile markers but since, as I said previously, we started in the middle of the trailway and walked in a loop I hit a each marker twice. Sorry if it is confusing as to whether I am coming or going.
I really enjoyed spending this morning with my husband and taking in the scenery. We even found ourself in a face off with an opossum. Luckily, a cycler came up behind the opossum, startled him and he ran away!
I am very glad I found out about this event! It was a fun way to spend my exercise hour. Hopefully I can help inspire some of you to go out there and try a 5k- if I can do it, anyone can do it! Thanks for reading!
thirtyfourandfabulous 
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