Wake Up Call

I was persuing facebook earlier today and a friend of mine posted a link to this article HERE.
She also posted a quote from the story with the link that caught my eye:

"But also that so many people deal with this, this exact and pervasive struggle at whatever size they are, whatever shape, whatever they do. That we're not good enough, with the implication that the best we have to offer to the world is an appropriately sized pair of jeans."

I thought, "Whoa. I kind of want to read this!" So I opened the article and was blown away but what this woman had to say! To summarize; the writer once weighed 300lbs and was going in for weight loss surgery. She lost 180lbs but still was not happy with her appearance because although she treated, what she thought was, the problem, she hadn't really addressed the main issue of soceital pressure to be perfect.

I don't know how many of you fellow readers are considered overweight, fat, fluffy, obese, chubby, stuffed, curvy, plus-sized, Athena, etc. (and you don't have to share) but I am. I am a size 16 and all my life I have been called all those names and more. I've struggled for years to get my weight down and become an acceptable body image- that's part of why I started this blog, it's part of why I started running to begin with.

Over the past few months with working tons of hours, training for my half marathon, and getting engaged, I've done a lot of thinking. Yes, I would LOVE to be skinny for my wedding. I would LOVE to walk down the aisle in a size 6 dress and have everyone oooh and aaah at me, but I've come to realize that that is not who I am. I am a bigger girl, it says so right in my blog name, and I'm a runner. And after reading this article, I've come to realize that I am a healthy person- I eat well, I drink mostly water, and I exercise on a regular basis. I've run 3 half marathons and countless 5k races- and I'm still a size 16.

There's another quote from this article that I love because it's the revolutionary idea that no matter what dress size you wear, you can still be a happy and healthy person. The writer says, "I want this: I want to say, don't love yourself even though you're not perfect - love yourself because you have a body and it's worth loving and it is perfect. Be healthy, which is perfect at whatever size healthy is and at whatever size happy is."

So many of us continue to struggle to lose weight- some people do it to be healthy and to save their own lives, but most of us just do it because if we become skinny, then everything gets better. Skinny is magical. Skinny is acceptable. But why? I'm not going to stop eating healthy or exercising, but I am going to transfer my (sometimes obsessive) focus from losing weight to being happy.

Because, let's face it folks, we only get one life to live- might as well make it the happiest we can.

ING Hartford Half Marathon Re-Cap

The moment you have all been waiting for: 

My FIRST Half Marathon Re-Cap!

Can you feel the excitement?!!

I have to say that I didn't plan this whole weekend out too well. I ended up having a show on Friday night (the race was Saturday morning) so I was dancing and running around a stage mere hours before I had to run. But, anyway, I managed to get to bed around 2am and woke up at 5:15am to shower and stretch/warm up before the race. My cheerleaders and I headed to Hartford for 6:30 so we could get some decent parking before the streets were shut down. The race started at 8 so I had plenty of time to relax and find friends before the run. I managed to snag a port a potty that was rather clean (probably because most people weren't at the race yet) and then waited for time to pass. I will be honest, there were TONS of butterflies in my stomach but I was also so amped up! As you may have seen, the local paper did an article on myself and why I was running and it went out the day of the race! How cool is that?!

When 8am finally rolled around, I laced up my pink sneakers (and green compression sleeves) and headed towards the back of the pack. The horn sounded the start of the race and about 8minutes later I finally got to cross the starting line. I popped in both ear buds, cranked up the music and kept my pace slow and light. My goal was to finish in 4 hours, but I was wearing a 3:30 pace bad because I felt like the extra adrenaline of the day might give me some added speed. I managed to run about 3 miles before I had to stop and walk (which is a new record for me!) but I felt good. I grabbed water when I could and continued with my pacing. The course was gorgeous, the weather was perfect and my music was rocking! Before I knew it, I was crossing the 6 mile mark at 1:37:06 (roughly a 16min/mile pace). Not too shabby! I was definitely on track for finishing in 3:30.

By this point in time I had already grabbed a Gatorade and had finished off a GU. I did notice some slight swelling in my hands and fingers, but it wasn't anything major, so I kept going. Then, again, before I knew it, I was crossing mile 9! Where had miles 7 and 8 gone?! I checked my pace band against the timer and saw that I was nearly 30 minutes ahead of my band- CRAZINESS!! I nearly started crying when I hit mile 10 and knew that I only had a 5k left to go. Then mile 11 came and mile 12 and before I could really contemplate it, mile 13 was behind me and I was turning the corner to go into the Finisher's Lane. I had run most of mile 11 and part of 12, but I had slowed to a walk because my legs were incredibly fatigued, both hands were horribly swollen to the point where it hurt to clench them, and I had a major cramp in my left side. As I started into the Finisher's Lane, I amped myself up to start running again and bounded off... for about 5 seconds before BOTH of my calves erupted into charlie horses. Two charlie horses... at the same time.... I though I was going to collapse 100 yards from the finish. I started sobbing and slowed to a limp. I ended up stopping 4 times before I finally crossed the finish because I was trying to stretch out the cramps. It was no use though, the cramps persisted even as the medal was hung around my neck and a water bottle was handed to me.

However, despite the amount of pain that I was in, I still managed to finish my first half in 3:07:25! An hour faster than my goal time and 30 minutes faster than my "I'm going to really push myself" PR time. No wonder I couldn't hold myself upright for almost an hour afterward. I literally gave that race everything I had (and believe me, I'm still recovering from it). I have to say I'm pretty friggin proud of myself though. I refused to give up and I pushed myself beyond my limits. So my hips are stiff and my calves are sore and I completely wrenched my entire left side of my torso to the point where it hurts when I breathe? I still had fun and I can't wait to do another race! On top of it all, even though I went home and rested after I ran, I still had another performance to do that night so I was back up on stage singing and dancing away. I honestly do feel a little bit like Wonder Woman haha.

There's only one down side, I received a letter in the mail in response to the article that was written about why I was running in the half marathon. I came home from work today to find this letter in my mail box:

People can be so unintelligent and cold-hearted. I feel bad that this person missed the entire point of the article and is basing all of their information off of a photograph (which, if you saw the article, is actually a very nice shot). Oh well, I'm not letting it get me down or ruin how proud I am of myself. I accomplished something that I never in my life thought I would do and no one can take that away from me.

Officially a Half Marathoner

I finished my FIRST HALF MARATHON!!

And ..........

my official time was 3:07:25!!!

Holy crap crackers Batman!! That's almost an hour faster than I planned!

 More to come later when I can stand again.

Oh! And here is a link to the article they did on me.

Penny for Your Thoughts

Ok, I've been slightly distracted from updating (per usual), but I came across this article this morning and I wanted to post it and get some people's reactions on it:

10 Smart Ways to Burn More Calories

Crank Up Your Cardio to Blast More Fat!

-- By Jennipher Walters, Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor

We all like to get more done in less time, right? We shop from our computers to forgo waiting in lines at department stores and microwave our foods to cut down on cooking time. Some of us even take multitasking to new levels by checking our email while watching television and sipping our morning coffee. And it makes sense. After all, what do we all want more of when you get right down to it? Time. Although spending time working out is a great way to beat stress and get healthy, most of us are usually trying to squeeze in workouts during our already hectic schedules. And when you are able to get to the gym or find that 30 minutes for cardio, don't you want to make the most of every minute?

No matter what type of cardio you do, you can burn more calories in the same amount of time with just a few modifications to your current workout.

10 Ways to Crank Up Your Cardio

1. Do cardio first. Over the years, many clients have asked me, "Should I do weights or cardio first?" If you want to up your calorie burn (and who doesn't?), research shows that you should do cardio first. Published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, one study examined how many calories exercisers burned doing one of four workout combinations: running only, strength training only, running followed by strength training, and strength training followed by running. Researchers found that while all exercisers experienced a strong "after burn" (a higher rate of calories burned when at rest after exercise) for the two hours after working out, the strength-training and run-strength training groups had the highest exercise after burn of all. So what does this mean? Although it's just one study, the takeaway is that we might burn more calories after working out if we do our cardio before strength training.

2. Try plyometrics. If you'd consider yourself an intermediate or advanced exerciser and are looking for ways to burn more calories, plyometrics are the way to go. These high-intensity, explosive exercises such as jumping and hopping, get your heart rate up quickly, which equals a higher calories-burned rate. Additionally, these athletic moments really target your fast-twitch muscles, coordination and agility, so you're training your body in an entirely new and challenging way. And challenging workouts almost always equals results—and more calories burned. Because using proper form is essential when doing these advanced high-impact moves, consider working with a personal trainer at first to learn the ropes!

3. Use your whole body. Most cardio exercises focus on the lower body (biking, walking, elliptical, stair climbing, etc.), but if you want to burn more calories, one easy tip is to incorporate your upper body. Pump those arms hard and high when running and walking, make sure to grab the elliptical with moving handles, and even consider adding a more full-body exercise to your cardio mix such as the rowing machine. The more muscles you move, the more you will burn!

4. Get intense. If you're serious about wanting to burn more calories, then it's time to up the intensity. Bump up your incline and resistance if you're on a piece of gym equipment, or walk a hillier route than usual if you usually exercise outdoors. To increase the burn, you need to get out of your cardio comfort zone. And when you do, the benefits can be big. In a study published in the Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports Medicine in 2002, researchers found that intense exercise resulted in the greatest fat burn (compared to light intensity exercise and no exercise at all) during the hours following a workout—and that fat burn continued for 11 hours.

5. Listen to fast music. If you seem to have trouble pumping yourself up for a workout, try popping in those earbuds! In a small study by the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, scientists found that when male college students pedaled stationary bicycles while listening to fast popular music, the subjects pedaled faster and elevated their heart rates more. The students even perceived their workouts to be less intense than they actually were. And when the music slowed down? The opposite happened. So find some fast music you love and get your cardio on!

6. Use proper form. Do you hold on to the handles when you run on the treadmill? Maybe you lean on the handlebars during spinning class or hunch over while walking on the Stairmaster. If you use these machines, you need to use proper form in order to burn more calories. As a general rule, keep your arms moving freely and naturally, keep your abs in, your weight centered over your hips, and your shoulders down and back. Not only does proper form keep you from getting injured, it also ups your calorie burn since your core is engaged. Bonus!

7. Speed up. The simple advice of all for upping your calorie burn? Increase your pace even if it's just a little bit. The tortoise may have won the race, but the hare burned more calories!

8. Add some intervals. By varying your intensity through different intervals (think one minute running then two minutes walking), you can actually improve your fitness more quickly than by steady state cardio, and you can burn more calories. The bonus? Time seems to fly when you add interval training!

9. Focus. We talk a lot about the importance of the mind-body connection and fitness. Although cardio isn't as Zen-like as yoga, cardio can still benefit from a strong sense of awareness. The next time you do cardio, focus on the movements and breathing while squeezing those muscles. By engaging your mind, you can actually better engage your muscles which allows you to complete the exercise more easily and still burn more calories!

10. Don't work too hard. This might sound counter-intuitive but hear me out. We all know how important rest and recovery is to any workout plan, but also think about how your workout affects the rest of your day. If you spend an hour at the gym sprinting and doing lunges, you might burn 600 calories in a short amount of time, but if that intense workout completely wipes you out for the rest of the day, the extra calorie burn might not be worth it. Be honest with yourself and definitely push yourself, but not so hard that it gets in the way of other daily activities. After all, the goal is to improve your quality of life.

Follow these tips and you will burn more fat and increase your fitness level in no time!

Source List:
Burning Calories!, from HealthNewsDigest.com
Study: Effects of music tempo upon submaximal cycling performance, from Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences
The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, Volume 25 - Issue 2