My 1/2 Marathon Experience

Hello!

Well, I did it! I ran a 1/2 marathon. My very ambitious sisters began training for a full marathon late in 2011 and so by January I was inspired to train for a 1/2.  I trained through February and then just stopped for all of March (oops!).  When I was looking at races on Active.com I saw that there would be a 1/2 marathon in Clearwater (which is super close to me) and 2 weeks before race day picked up my training again.

On April 22, 2012 I got to run in the Athleta Iron Girl half marathon! I did 13.1 miles, with two massive bridges in 2 hours and 2 mintues (averaging about a 9 1/2 minute mile).  I was the 248th person to cross the finish line out of 1,400!  I think that's pretty good!

Here I am at the start of the race giving Gabe and Chloe a thumbs up :)

The whole family was up super early because the race began at 7am.  Gabe and I woke up at 4:45am to get ready, eat breakfast, and get pumped.  We woke Chloe at 5am to get her ready.  She was such a champ and didn't give us any trouble or tears. We were out the door by 5:30.  It was a good thing we left as early as we did too because it was a BIG event.

So, by the time we got parked and I peed one last time, it was 5 minutes til race time. So I ended up at the back of the pack.  Quickly after I took my place in the group the National Anthem was sung followed my "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.  If you ever listened to my ipod as a young lady in high school, you were sure to find that AC/DC was played the most.  Anyways, it was the perfect song to get the runners going and it turned my nerves into total excitement.

When the race began, I spent the first 5 miles weaving in and out of people trying to keep my own pace and not get stuck going too slow for my own liking.  To my surprise I passed the 2:15 pace timer.  I never did catch up to the 2:00 pace runner though.  These miles went fast! We ran through the streets of Clearwater and enjoyed the sites of beautfiul mansions.  I was impressed.  Specatators cheered us on throughout the whole race.  I high fived one guy who was pretty big and nearly knocked me on my butt (or bottom, if you prefer).

Then, mile 7 came....

The above picture was taken from google but it is the same bridge I had to run over on mile 7.  It is the Belleair Causeway bridge... and ouch, it was tough.  But on this particular morning, it just so happened that you could catch a glimpse of dolphins jumping around beneath the bridge.  Cool huh? My 9:10 pace was taken down to 11:00 on this thing. But I ran the whole time!  I ran because I knew what waited for me at mile 8...

You guessed it!  Girl scout cookies.  I was happy to pop a lemon cookie in my mouth and savor the flavor for a few miles (actually wishing for some water).

Mile 10 came and we were running close to the beach.  It was a breezy morning so you could feel a mist from the bay. 

Then mile 11... another bridge!  But I got through it.  At the top of the bridge it began to rain.  Heavenly Father was helping me out because I needed something to keep me going and the rain was so refreshing!

As I was approaching the finish line I saw my little family cheering me on.  I flashed my happy, running, grin, and sprinted for the end... Just to hear them announce my name as I crossed the finish.  I felt like a star!

Every finisher got a metal...

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I'll definitely do another 1/2 marathon again. And hopefully one day, a full marathon.

Here's the Proof...

My sister, Crystal, and I were texting the other day and talking about how far we've come with our weight loss in the last year.  We each had a baby in 2010, only a few months apart.  So, we've faced this battle head-on together! 

Want to see my transformation?  Here are a few pictures. 

This is a picture of me in November 2010 with my almost 3 month old baby.  I know that immediately after  having a baby, you're not going to be back to your pre-pregnancy size but you can tell that I was carrying weight that came from somewhere other than just my pregnancy.  Not to mention, I was a little overweight before I even got pregnant.  At this time, I wasn't happy with my body but I didn't have the desire to do anything about it.  I was adjusting to a whole new life!  I never knew that breastfeeding really made you HUNGRY!  And at this point in my life, McDonalds and cake seemed to make me feel better :)

Then, in April of last year (2011) a complete stranger called me a "fattie."  Remember my "Realization Check" post?  The story is all in that post.  For those of you who are interested, I haven't had a whoopie cake since then.  Anyways, after my realization check I really put my butt in gear and started working out and tried to do better with my diet.
Below is a picture of me on Easter.  I was feeling better about myself but you can see the extra weight in my face.  I don't have great pre-weight loss pictures because I avoided cameras as much as possible.

So, all summer I worked out really hard.  I ran almost every morning... and I got better and better with my diet.

Shortly after our family moved to Florida, my sister Crystal and her husband Steve organized a "Biggest Loser" competition.  I still had weight to lose and Gabe wanted to lose weight too.  This was the perfect opportunity to change the lifestyle of our family.  Best of all, I'd have my husband to back me up and I wouldn't feel like I was always nagging.

Here I am at the start of the competition:

The competition was 12 weeks long and just ended a week ago.  Below are the pictures I took at the end of the competition and weighing in at 128.8

I'm feeling great now!  And I don't mind my picture being taken anymore.  It's nice not feeling so self concious.  Our family has taken a tremendous turn in our eating habits and our daily activity choices.  Of course, I love my fast food... and I love my cake... I eat it too!  It's all about moderation.

I hope that I can continue the good habits I've learned.

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year!

2012 is here and writing the date is already driving me crazy because I can't seem to get it right yet.  In fact, I still write 2010.  Funny.

I looked back at my journal entry from this time last year to see how I did on my resolutions.  Unfortunately, throughout 2011 I had forgotten that I made any new years resolutions but was happy to find that I accomplished a few.  Here they are:

January 2, 2011

Goal Weight: 135lbs.

For a total loss of 41 pounds.

I'm happy to say that this is a goal I did reach! In fact, as of today I've lost a total of 48 pounds!

Eat Healthier: No fast food, no sodas.

This goal was kind of reached.  I do eat a LOT healthier.  Most of my meals consist of large salads, fruits, and I've come to really enjoy smoothies.  I've learned to LOVE bell peppers and grapes (something that was totally new in 2011).  However, I love fast food and was not able to eliminate it which I now think is okay.  I also did not give up soda.  I'm not a real heavy soda drinker so, oh well... I'm not disappointed. You can't deprive yourself, right?  It makes dieting even harder.

Exercise.

I began the new year by attending zumba with my mom, which I loved!  I wasn't able to get the weight off though.  I blamed a lot of it on nursing because I was always so hungry.  When I learned that zumba wasn't cutting it, I started running again.  Finally the weight started coming off in April and I found some motivation.  I run almost daily... do weights often... I even enjoy p90x every now and again.  I love exercise!

Pay a full tithing.

Alrighty, I have to be honest with you and most of all, myself.  We did not accomplish this goal.  It's not because we don't have a testimony of tithing or anything... because, in fact, it's the opposite.  We know how paying an honest and full tithing can bless and enrich ones life, even if the results aren't instant.  With that knowledge comes a very big sigh of disappointment over here.  When financial difficulties arise, you do what you think is best-- or easiest.  Without getting into too many personal details, we took some advice and just started paying it without worrying about it.  Let's see if we can do this consistently in 2012.

Pay off credit cards.

We are TRYING!  Boy is this a hard one.  We haven't paid them off but we have a plan that is currently in action and it seems to be working.  That's more progress than we had this time last year.

Get a $_____base in savings account.

I leave the blank because I think it's too personal to throw out it public but am happy to say we accomplished this goal.  I sometimes wonder if it should sit in the savings account though or if it would be better served helping us with the previous goal-- paying of credit cards.  For now, Gabe and I agree that it should sit where it is.

Purchase food storage every month.

I love this goal but it was not reached.  I worked on it but it became a goal that I stopped thinking about.  I'll try again in 2012.

I haven't come up with a list of New Years Resolutions for 2012 yet but I think it's time.  I'm happy to see what I did accomplish in 2011. 

2011 was an interesting and adventerous year.  I never would have guessed that we would end up living in Florida.  That's part of the adventure though.  Although we've left most of our family, we've had the opportunity to get to know a few other family members. 
Chloe has grown so much.  I can't believe where we've come from last year with her.  She talks! She walks! She has real emotion... happy, mad & even sad.  Not to say that she didn't have emotions before but they were only related to whether her belly was full or not.
Gabe and I have grown so much closer together.  I am so grateful for this.

I'm very excited to see what 2012 will bring.  I can tell it's already going to be great!

New Years Eve in Busch Gardens, Tampa

For New Years Eve this year, Nonna suggested that we all go to Busch Gardens.

I was a little hesitant thinking that it was going to be packed and that it would do little to entertain my Chloe.  I've always thought of Busch Gardens as a place that only had roller coasters and ridiculous games that no one can win.  Don't get me wrong... I'm a lover of roller coasters and I recall a time in my life where I tried winning one of those games until my wallet was empty but that didn't seem suitable for a 1 year old. 

Little did I know, it's great for people of ALL ages!  We had a blast.  We were there by 9:30 and stayed until 5pm and didn't get to everything we wanted to.  The morning and early afternoon were surprisingly clear of people too! Probably because everyone was sleeping in so that they could stay awake until midnight.

Our first stop in Busch Gardens was a Christmas show on ice.  It was live music and everything.  We sat in the second row and even got to feel the snow coming off the stage.  It was pretty cool!

Nonna and Bill were amazing.  They helped us out with Chloe while we rode a few rollercoasters.  For Christmas we got Chloe one of those monkey backpack/leashes.  We tried it out for the first time at Busch Gardens.  Chloe ran in circles while Nonna trailed behind her holding onto her tail.  It was adorable!

Busch Gardens has a lot of animals!  I honestly think we got better views of these animals than of the ones we saw at Lowry Park.  You can even go on a safari and get up close with the animals and feed the giraffes (if you pay extra, of course).  And if you're at least 5 years old you can feed the wallabees.

Chloe rode on a carousel for the first time too.  Her daddy took her and she enjoyed it...  Not as much as her cousin Emma though, if I recall correctly.  I thought that the carousel went way too fast because I couldn't catch one good picture!  The one below is honestly the best one I got and the little girl in front drives me nuts!  But, what do you do?  Oh well.

The landscaping was gorgeous and we were especially relieved to find a flower garden that gave us an excuse to stop and rest for a bit.  We definitely used the stop as a photo opportunity.

We got home and put Chloe down pretty quickly after because she didn't nap while we were out.  She didn't want to miss a second of the fun.  Little does she know that we'll probably be heading back sooner than she thinks.  Gabe and I planned on staying up til midnight then opening our sparkling cider and giving a toast to the new year but at 11:57 I was sending dirty looks to the clock.  So midnight rang, I gave my sweet husband a kiss and fell into dreamland.  It was a great New Years eve.

If you read Chloe's blog, these posts (Christmas-New Years) will soon show up there as well.  I will change them a little to address her reactions and such... maybe even add a few more pictures.  I just thought I'd let you know though so that you don't end up reading the same posts over and over again.

Happy New Year all!  Hope it's a good one!

A Visit to the Zoo-- Lowry Park in Tampa

Hello All!

Still busy here but Gabe has had some time off of work this last week and we've enjoyed the quality time spent together.  We visited Tampa's Lowry Park zoo on Friday.  We had heard wonderful things about it and the rumors are true... it is fun!

Although Lowry Park had some rides and an awesome petting zoo for kids, I'd have to say that Albuquerque's zoo is more impressive.  Albuquerque's zoo is also less expensive (so, for my sisters and friends in ABQ who have seen my many posts on free, fun events and attractions in FL... you have me beat here).

Here we go... Chloe and I coordinated our outfits and went on our way to visit the zoo.  Chloe gives off a diva vibe that I could only dream of having ;)

We saw the penguins first and learned so much about them.  If you haven't seen a penguin, they really are just as cute as you imagine them to be.

After the penguins we went over to the "petting zoo."  I'm not sure that it was actually called a petting zoo but it had chickens, horses to ride, llamas to pet... lots of cool kid friendly stuff.  Our favorite part was being able to feed the birds.  It's super neat-- you sprinkle bird seed on your palm and just hold your hand up in the air until a bird sits on your hand and enjoys its feast.  I'm pretty sure it was the first time I've held a bird since I was a young girl.  I was nervous but, like Chloe, quickly got over it.  We all loved it!

After our visit with the birds, it was time for the goats to get some of our love and attention.  I was surprised when Chloe ran up to the goats and was ready to have fun.  There are a lot of dogs around our apartment complex and she refuses to pet them.  Apparently goats are less frightening.

What a daddy's girl...

We especially loved the wallabee walkabout.

You can't see one here, but Chloe was looking at a Manatee which is Florida's state animal.  They're an interesting lookin' mammal but pretty cool.

We didn't get to ride the train or feed the giraffes.  For those of you who know this inside joke-- I couldn't ride the giraffes either.

We saw a lot of animals though.  We saw tigers, elephants, rhinos, bats...and much more.

By the end of the day, Chloe was pooped!

It was a great day!

Christmas with the Smith's

It's been awhile since my last post... but with good reason.  December is always a busy month but it seems like this year imparticular, it was even busier than usual.

I will only update a little at a time since it took forever just to upload these pictures... we'll begin with Christmas.

Merry Christmas!  I hope you're Christmas brought as much peace to you and your family as it did to ours.  Although we weren't physically surrounded by a mass of family, we felt the same power and love all the way from Florida.  Most of all we felt the love of an all-knowing Heavenly Father and a very gracious Savior

So, let's begin... Our Christmas tradition.... Every year since Gabe and I have been married, we've bought a new ornament for each of us (notice the monkeys on the left).  This year I made pajama pants for us to wear (notice the monkey pants on the right).  Best of all, they matched our ornaments.  I thought it was pretty darn cute and hope to add this to our "tradition."  We open our ornaments and pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve this year was so nice and relaxing!  We went to Nonna and Bill's and enjoyed a beautiful ham dinner.  The food was great, the company was great... all in all, it was great! My Aunt Kristi and Uncle Terry also attended.  We've enjoyed getting to know this part of our family.  They're so fun and they definitely gave us a night full of laughter.

After dinner, we went and looked at Christmas lights.  This is where we got most of our laughs as we tried to describe to Nonna what the lights were shaped as.  She didn't see it most of the time.  It was a night that I will never forget.

We set up the camera up on a timer and tried to get a group picture.  The flash was so bright that we all look surprised.  So funny!

And after seeing the lights, we went back to Nonna's for a wonderful TRIFLE dessert.  There was a lot of debate on "trifle" vs. "truffle."  It is, indeed, a trifle :).

Nonna was so proud of herself... as she should have been.  It was delicious.  She was the Betty Crocker of Christmas Eve dinner.

I'm so glad Chloe knows her Great Grandma.  Chloe gives her hugs and kisses pretty freely now.  It's precious!

The next morning, on Christmas Day, Chloe was so tired that she slept in.  And we let her.  Not only had she been up late but she was starting to show signs of a cold.  She needed the rest.  Gabe and I were so excited though.  So we came out and took a peek of what Santa brought...

Cookies left for Santa

Cookies after Santa's visit

Then, FINALLY, Chloe woke up.  She was pleasantly surprised to find the bear chair, Minnie Mouse, sunglasses, and purse that Santa had left.

As we started handing her gifts to open, she was a little hesitant.  For weeks she had been told, "No! You can't open the presents yet.  No, no, no!"  Then suddenly, we were throwing gifts at her.  As soon as she realized it was okay, there was no stopping her!

Gabe and I got beautiful gifts as well.  Christmas is so fun!

Here's a family picture in our matching pj's.

Then, although we were very late and knew we wouldn't make our Sacrament meeting, we dressed up in our Sunday clothes.  We were so sad to miss our Church service.  Christ is the center of our lives.  He is our strength and our salvation.  His birth was essential in the great plan of happiness.  If we had made it to Church, the day would have been perfect.  But we captured some beautiful moments as a family.

After taking pictures, I started working on breakfast.  Nonna and Bill were joining us at about 11:30 for a brunch and to do gifts.  I made strawberry waffles (Gabe's side of the family does strawberry waffles on Christmas morning as a tradition-- we've continued the tradition).  I also made eggs, hashbrowns, bacon... the works.  We stuffed ourselves... again. 

So, we decided to go for a walk along the beach.  It was a very warm day.  Warm enough to get in the water.  We weren't prepared for that though.  Chloe ended up in her diaper and soaking wet.  She loved it!

It was a wonderful Christmas!  I can't wait to see where we'll be this time next year.  Maybe back in NM???  We'll see :)

(Just to let you know, I wrote this post very quickly and I know there are a lot of typos... sorry)