Ready, clean and garmined

Ready, clean and Garmined

So for how long have I been trying this again? For a while!, I'm going to sound like a broken record with all my dreams and wishes to become this amazing athlete and getting in the wonderful shape I want to be, it's not going to happen unless I make it happen.

About 8 weeks ago, maybe a bit more, I decided to not diet, or do this drastic change in diet, but to start looking at food in a FUEL way, either you're good or bad fuel for my engine, period!

PLANNING MEALS

The key to succeed it's to have a plan.... if I plan my meals, I can take over the world! No kidding, watch out!

What I have done and still do: 

No red meats, no mean carbs (like the ones that make me sick:pizza, white bread, tortillas, baked goods), no excessive sugars, I still have my hershey kisses at night and an occasional bite of lemon cake at work lol, I eat lots of oatmeal, cereal, kale, fish, sweet potatoes, egg whites and avocado almost every day.

Results: I have felt wonderful! Seriously great! I sleep like a baby, I'm (surprisingly) in a better mood, my skin looks better and I've managed to exercise without pain pills for almost 3 months. Oh yeah, 12lbs gone =)

So now that I might finally have this food fuel down I'll be able to move forward on my workouts, to start I got my Garmin Forerunner 920, yes, it was necessary, I just won't look bad ass if I don't have it LOL, not seriously it was totally worth it, WHY? Because I'm not training to log miles, I need to start listening to my body, my heart rate zones, my form, I want to know my body and its reactions, I want to know how far can I push and this amazing all in one watch is helping with that.

Are you ready? Because I am!!

Half's change

I started back running and taking care of myself last year, felt off the wagon and jumped back up again few months ago... I have not stopped running, yes I've been injured but I get back on it. Although I'm so hard on myself when it comes to time and miles, I compared my latest halfs and got quiet the surprise, in a matter of a year I shaved 35 to 40min out of my total. The last one I didn't walked at all but did have to do 2 pee stops =(

I have got to be stronger and for sure I've built some endurance! That makes me happy! It shows me I CAN get better, I WILL be an awesome runner!

Seeing the difference made me think the only way I get out to train it's beating my past races, seeing the times go down and miles go up! I'm all about numbers! Of course I got carried away with my goals and now I want to get qualified for Boston before my 40^th birthday (4 years should be enough to train), let's get a plan to achieve my goal!

Injured again

I went to se my PC about a month ago, I have a foot injury that is not allowing me to run as I'd like.

This is how I feel about injuries:

         

                            They fucking suck

His answer

1. You're overweight
2. You need to rest for 3 weeks
3. R.I.C.E

There's nothing that hurts me more than not being able to run, having to sit at home waiting to recover SUCKS. I have a little diary where I plan my runs according to my work schedule and when I get out of track I feel my entire world shifts, yes I know you might think it is ridiculous, but if you talk to a runner you'll see must of us feel the same.

The thing is, there's so many lazy people that just choose to not work out! Why Oh Why ME! I want to keep running to get fit and happy and then I get an injury?

My diagnosis was a Post tibial tendonitis.

Let's talk about my weight...

The day I went to see my Dr. I was at my heaviest point again! 171Lb WTF is what I told myself... seriously dude? You need to stop with the lemon loafs and the frapuccinos a Starbucks!

I have to understand the extra weight is putting unwanted pressure on my ankles and joints, I'll never be able to be the runner I want to be if I keep eating crap. Simple. I bust my ass on the pavement to destroy all that sweat with a lemon loaf.

LET'S FIND A SOLUTION:

I developed patience, took my time to recover, did some strength training and came back stronger.

Bringing my breakfast and snacks to work, avoiding any food at the store and only drinking plain coffee or unsweetened tea. I'm also cutting as I mentioned on red meats and processed flours and sugar.

I have develop a love for Kale! Yes I love kale and I used to hate it lol.

As off yesterday I was at 165lb, still 20lb to go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDoVUkjJOmb/?taken-by=mother_effing_marathoner

I feel better over all.

Who have I become? or have I always been like this and I’m just waking up

What have I done to myself…. I might have gone too far

There’s nothing that sets me more on fire than people telling me I CAN’T do something…and if you do, you sit and watch me do it!

I developed a passion for baking, I became darn good at it, I was making good money baking from home and as it created issues with my family I decided to open a bakery (WTF was I thinking?). So I joined a small gift shop and opened a spot, it went great! it quickly became small and we decided to expand.  I talked about it with my hubby and like sent by God, this beautiful property became available downtown and we jumped to purchase it. Biggest mistake ever.

We opened a beautiful and unique full service bakery. I had an assistant and another baker. We lasted 10 months open, I got diagnosed with Lupus and Scleroderma that IMO surfaced because the huge amount of stress I was dealing with. Thank God we were able to sell it, we closed our doors on December23rd 2014.

The results? I’m 30lbs heavier, I’m 35 but feel like 40, I stopped exercising I became unhealthy, unhappy, moody, it almost cost me my marriage. Oh and yes! I owe 10K on my CC

I could sit and cry, let the depression and the stress of my debt take over me… it happens I’m just not that person, praise the lord.

How am I getting my life back? One step at a time.

On January 1st 2015 I set a goal, to walk a mile per every day of the year for a total of 365miles, is not an unrealistic goal. It’s a single mile every day! I needed to get back my life one day at a time.

I needed to get back to being a Mom

A wife

A daughter

A sister

A friend…. 

 I achieved far more than that, and I am just getting started!

Why do I focus so much on my fitness level? You’ll wonder, is not like running is going to get her family back or the time she missed with her kids back… well it actually helps more than you would imagine.

What is running for me? 

Running is my gas.

I figured, if I can do one thing to make things better every day, then I’m on track. Every mile I walk makes me happy, the more I do it, the happier I am. Have you hear the “If Mom is happy then everyone is happy? well that’s me.

I run so I can be a better Mom, a better wife… let’s face it, I’m not 21 and believe it or not, I know I’m close to my menopause (I have family history, My mom got it at 37, my grandma at 35…), I am a very moody person and running has helped tremendously with to manage it.

Ok, so 2015 was just wonderful… we had our great moments and the not so great ones, overall it was all good! we moved to Texas, we rented our home, we made some great changes health wise. I kept running, I got injured, then I ran again, I got injured again and I ran again…

This time I didn’t let an injury rule my running, I knew as soon as I could feel better I’ll run again, and I did.

This is what I accomplished in my fitness life in 2015

I ran a total of 495.1 miles

I walked 298.5 miles

I did 2 half marathons

I did my first 20 miler

I finished my first Marathon! yes! 26 point freaking 2 miles

and to top it all, I did my first Sprint Triathlon….

Fuck yeah I did.

This has been my best to date year, but I’m going for more in 2016.

I have realized as I get older that life actually gets better since you become wiser, you are capable of anything you set your mind for, and ass my kids will say: You just have to believe in yourself.

Oh now it's scleroderma

I guess at least I have a name for this weird thing that I'm feeling. 

The pains, the aches, the numbness, soreness .... fatigue... things that make me not be me. Energetic, happy and loving me.

I have become moody, angry, the fact that I'm limited with the exercises I can do now, once I have decided to be back into the fitness routine, makes me angry.

It is not my mind that makes me sit in the couch, right now I have all the wishes and desires to go and workout, to finish that Marathon, to do an Iron girl, and then I get diagnosed with this thing.... the first thing I did was to Google Scleroderma and the pictures nearly killed me.

Will I become a monster? am I going to loose my big lips? will I ever be able to run again? my kids and husband will be embarrassed of me....will I get to look like that? 

I guess I should't be so worried now, or should I? 

I'm not one to sit and look how sick I'm going to get, I'm planning to fight back! 

Divas half April 2015

Divas half marathon

I'm back! I can run again and I proved it to myself!

I'm amazed by the things your mind talks you out of, every time I have a thought about becoming an athlete, about running a marathon or my new obsession of doing a Triathlon, my mind tries to talk me out of it!

Why do I listen? Why do I allow her to put me down? “You can't do it, you're too fat, you're too slow, you're never going to be good enough....” as my friend Joel said “Delete button with those thoughts”.

I know I can do it, when I first started Crossfit I had the same mind setting “ Oh no, I can't do that” and every time I ended up doing it.... this will be no different.

I've been running here and there since January, with my max running distance of 4 miles on very very good days! You have to start somewhere, I need a race pressure to train so we went to Galveston and it was soooo much fun! I had pain for my shin splints that seem to never go away and was really worried about it, ended up buying another pair of shoes that were different than any other pair I've had... they measured my feet and asked me to buy a size bigger than what I usually buy, that was shocking!

We ran straight till about mile 8, I had pain in the first 2 miles then it went away!

We finished in 2h 52min according to my watch, 2h56 in their clock.... I'm trying hard to remember I'm just starting again, I can not pretend to be in the 2h12min I did my previous half.

I'm giving myself a year …. it will take time, it will take sweat and tears, but I'll become the athlete I never thought I could be... you just watch me do it =)

  We did it!!

is this enough?

And that is me in 2013.... both pics on the left.... then that's me 3 weeks ago on the right.

Is that inspiration to loose it enough?