Lady in red

First off, two posts in one day? Oh yeah, that's how I do it.

Second, you guys read about my gripe with taxes earlier, but have I ever stood on my soapbox and told you about my beef with women's running shoes?

It's really a very simple request for the makers of said running shoes... MAKE THEM LOOK COOL PLEASE!

Just because I'm a lady, does not mean that I only like pastel colors. Pastel blue, light green, and pink are not the only colors for women. In fact, when I'm out running, I would like a more "powerful" color because I plan to kick some ass... not tip toe around everyone, which is what pastel colors make me feel like.

Now, I'm not saying they don't exist, but they're almost impossible to find because your primary sporting goods stores (i.e. Dick's) only carry the pastel versions of a specific model of shoe.

The reason I bring this up is because today I went running shoe shopping. I've worn the Asics GT-2130's for some time and I really like them. I've been an Asics girl for a while but I was thinking I might branch out this time around.

I went to my local running store and tried every pair of "stability" shoe they had only to leave with no new shoes. The new version of my current shoe is now called the GT-2140 and I was not impressed. Then there's the Asics Kayano but they're heavier and I'm glad I decided against it because I've read reviews that they leave nasty blisters on a lot of people.

So, what was a running girl to do??

I went online and ordered another pair of my current shoe- the GT-2130. Since they're the "old" model, I got them for $67 which is about $35 cheaper than I had budgeted. Plus, since I bought them online, I was able to find them in a variety of colors and picked a new look for my feetsies.

Old pair:


New pair:

I'm pretty excited!!! After having new shoes on my feet today, I realize how badly I need a new pair. All of the shoes I tried on had so much more cushion!

I can't wait to get them and start breaking them in...
Kelsalynn

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Finally

They're done. Finally. It only took me two weeks to complete our taxes.

Yeah. Only two weeks.

What a crock.

The thing that's the most frustrating to me is that for all I know, I could be audited tomorrow and sued b/c I did something totally illegal and I wouldn't even know it. Taxes should be so much easier for "average" citizens like myself. In my opinion, I answered all of the questions on Turbo Tax truthfully, and I took time to research different publications on the IRS website, but those damn things are so confusing and have so many "exceptions" for every rule, does anyone truly feel confident when filing taxes?

This time of year, I'm always reminded about my overall dislike for this country's taxation process.
It shouldn't take two weeks.
I shouldn't have 49 pages of tax return including all of the stupid worksheets I have to complete.
It shouldn't cost me >$100 just so I can confirm with the government that I'm legit.
I should be more confident that I am, in fact, legit... but 49 pages of tax return... hell if I know.

But, they're done so I feel relieved. Now I will just continue living my life with hopes that I never get audited!

I hope your taxes go smoothly!

Kelsalynn

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15 and 30%

Did you see I updated my DEBT PAYOFF progressbar????


Oooh, it was so fun! I know I said I'd update it on February 1st, but I haven't sent in any other payments, and with the weekend, nothing will change before February 1st so I decided to go ahead and do it today.

Plus, the anticipation was killing me... it's definitely a motivator to see that little bar get bigger!

I am currently at 30% of my $25,000 goal, having paid off $7,520 so far and it's only the end of the first month of 2009!!! HELLS YEAH!!! I'm thinking I will crush my original goal of $25K before the end of 2009 which makes me feel incredible since I thought the $25,000 goal was a stretch... goes to show what a little focus can do!

In other news, for every day this week, I've stepped on the scale and it's returned a number of 132 or 133. That means that I've lost 15 pounds since this past summer! 15 POUNDS!!! I really only wanted to lose 10 pounds, or at least that's what I told myself but I will take 5 extra, especially since I feel like I'm doing it right and making lifestyle changes that will last forever.

Until tomorrow,
Kelsa

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Vroom

Spinning class tonight was awesome! I loved it!

The instructor was a little quirky but her music selection was superb which totally helped. Not only that, but she knew her music really well and all of our intervals and cadences were perfectly in rhythm to the song. It was great...

It wasn't a super tough workout, but I didn't try to kill myself with my second night back to exercise. Next time I'll up the intensity and resistence a tad bit more and I'm sure it will be tough.

Toward the end, my calves did start to feel a little "twingy." I know I use the word "twinge" a lot to describe my body's odd actions but it's really the best word. It's not always an ache, or a pain... and tonight it wasn't exactly a cramp, but it was an almost-cramp. I could feel it getting tighter than it should in an uncomfortable way so I would take that as a sign and back off slightly.

Tonight when I got home, I iced both my calves so that should help. Michael reminded me that I'm only one week from the marathon so it's normal to still feel some "twinges" especially since my calves were in so much pain that day.

It felt good to stretch against the bike at the end of class too. I can feel that I'm still recovering...

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Back in Business

The first week of marathon recovery is officially over, which means enough with the ice cream, junk food, trips to restaurants, and just general "I have an excuse to be lazy" lifestyle.

Oh, it was nice though, that's for sure. I pretty much allowed myself to eat whatever I felt like without guilt. I had ice cream twice and went out to eat multiple times over lunch with work people. I even went to In-N-Out Burger and had a burger and fries. (GASP!)

And while I may not have felt any binge-related guilt, I now realize the impact food has on our bodies... or I should say, my body. I had fun while it lasted but I'm glad it's over- my energy levels, productivity, and mood swings are much more controlled when I watch what I eat.

Today was my first day back on my Zone diet, which really just means I better manager my carbs, protein, and fat in every meal. Today was also my first workout since the marathon.

It was an easy 5K in 30:11 - 9:45/mile average which is quicker than normal for me but it felt good.

It wasn't until I was done that I noticed my left calf and foot bothering me. They were just tight, nothing major so I'll be working those out tonight with a golf ball and "the stick."

I'm going to do the spin class at the gym on Monday night, but I don't plan to go all out. It's been years since I've taken a spinning class and I remember them being tough so we'll see how it goes...

Kelsalynn

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I'm supposed to be good at this...

Taxes that is...

As an Accounting Supervisor, I should be good at taxes right?

Ugh... they are always so frustrating to me! We have all of our W-2's, so I thought I would start plugging in some numbers today...

I've been working on them for about 8 hours.

Our tax return this year is extremely complicated- the move to AZ, our home in Michigan which was a personal residence for part of the year and a rental another part of the year, we have FIVE W-2's between my husband and I, and two state returns to file.

I can't imagine how difficult taxes must be for non-accounting minded people. Is the IRS for real? Do they really think this is the best way to collet tax from people?

Argh. So annoyed.

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Looking ahead

To answer everyone's questions from my comments...

I'm not exactly sure what I will be training for next. Originally, Michael and I really wanted to do some adventure races, if you recall from my 2009 resolutions. We still want to do that, but I definitely want to do another marathon sometime. Because the weather gets so warm here in AZ, there really aren't any other marathons around us until the Fall. So we'll see... We don't really have the funds to travel anywhere to do a race but we're hoping to do that next year after all of our debt is paid off. I guess I shouldn't say "we don't have the money" because we do... we have funds, we just don't want to spend it on that right now. We're paying $2,000 per month EXTRA on my student loans so once those are paid off, hopefully we'll get a lot more travels in.

Right now, Michael and I are planning on doing the Lake Havasu Half-Marathon the first weekend of April. We want to make a weekend out of it, which I think sounds perfect. I would really like to try racing a half marathon since I've only ever done that distance during training. I hit the 13.1 mark during the PF Chang's Marathon in 2:28:00 and obviously I wasn't even pushing myself at that point so I know I can go the distance a lot faster than that.

To sum up this post, I don't know squat!

We'll see what this year brings. We've been looking so I will let you know what we find!

Kelsalynn

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Boredom

I am still just chilaxin... getting bored from not working out actually. ha!

Because I don't have any workouts to post about, let me talk finances!

I did a little math and guess what I figured out?

Since September, I've paid off $14,034.40!!!

Wahoo!

I'm getting ready to send in another payment for over $2,000 and then another $2,000+ in February!

It's kind of dumb, but I can't wait to update my "debt payoff total" on the sidebar of my blog! I'm going to update it on the 1st of each month although I may have a big payment go out at the end of the month but not hit until the 2nd of the month. That means I have to wait an entire month to update the total!

Okay, onto crunching more numbers since I have nothing else to do!!!
Kelsalynn

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Two days past...

I'm still here!

I'm not dead.

Just chilaxin and recovering slowly.

Overall, I feel pretty good. My lower half is sore, but mostly just my calves. My hips and knees are less sore than during my training runs so I'm pleased with that.

I knew I'd be feeling my calves for days... they were soooo tight during the race I knew I would be paying for that. I can't stand on my toes to get a glass off the top shelf in the kitchen!

I went for a walk yesterday and today and took it very slowly- loosening my legs with every step. I feel better when I get done walking and if I've been sitting or lying down for a while, I'm incredibly stiff and that's the worst.

I'm leaving in a few minutes to go to the gym to sit in the jacuzzi for a while. I did that yesterday too and it was like heaven for my muscles! I've also been applying Bengay religiously and taking Tylenol... I will be happy when I no longer smell like menthol.

I'm back to work tomorrow!

Kelsalynn

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Frustrated but proud

Hey everyone! Well, the marathon is over!!! My finish time?

It depends on who you ask, actually...
According to the chip: 5:46:43
According to my Garmin: 5:42:39

I'm not sure what happened there since that's a pretty big difference. I know I hit start when I crossed the starting line and stop when I crossed the finish, so I'm not sure. Oh well...

Either way, on the surface, I didn't meet my goal time of 5:30:00.

For that fact, I'm a little disappointed but when I tell you about the race, you'll understand why I'm still proud of that time.

Here are the goods sitting on the kitchen counter:

Me punching my husband and doing some kind of dance this morning and chanting, "Are you ready? Are you pumped? You're running a marathon today..." Notice his face in this picture. He's totally just ignoring me like he normally does when I act like a dork like this.



Waiting in line for the potty... my hubby being the dork this time:



The race was really two separate halves.

The first half, I felt AMAZING! I was slightly ahead of the 5:00:00 pace team, which is where I wanted to be b/c I knew I would probably slow down toward the end, but they wouldn't. I kept looking down and my splits were DEAD ON where I wanted to be. In fact, my average pace for the first half (they had a mat at 13.1 miles) was 11:25/mile! It could not have been MORE perfect!

I felt strong. I felt confident. I was talking with people, cheering others on, and having fun!

At mile 14.8, it all changed.

Without warning, I got a cramp in my right calf. You know the kind where your toes curl up and you can't move? Yeah, that kind.

It sucked. I dropped to the ground and instantly began stretching. It took a few minutes, but finally the cramp went away. I walked to mile 15 and then decided to start jogging again.

I could feel the "almost cramp" coming. I ran/walked until the medical aid station at mile 16 and asked if they could do anything for leg cramps. They massaged them and sent me on my way.

I felt good when I left and picked up the pace again. I only made it a half a mile before the cramp came back.

Damn.

I stopped again at the aid station at mile 18, making it through mile 17 with a walk/run combo- running for as far as I could before the cramp hit, then walking to prevent it from getting worse. Of course, I would stretch here and there but that only seemed to make it worse to be honest. The med aid station at mile 18 massaged it better than the last one and used ice to work out the tightness.

I left and felt good.

Running again, here we go... let's do this... except I only made it 1/2 a mile before it hit again.

Damn.

From there, I stopped at every aid station from mile 16 to the finish. There were 6 of them! I spent approximately 4-5 minutes at each one, just having them massage my calves, give me water and salt packets, and ice.

I can honestly say that the last 10 miles of the race were the longest of my life. I was able to run about 1/4 mile before walking 1/10th of a mile and then repeating. It sucked. I slowly watched my 5:00:00 time slip by, then 5:15:00- knowing I couldn't manage the pace necessary to finish at those times. Then I saw my precious 5:30:00 slip by. It sucked.

After the aid station at mile 24 I walked off with two ice packs taped to my calves. And yes, I stopped at an aid station 2.2 miles from the finish not because I wanted to, but because I had to. I couldn't walk at some points because even walking stressed my calves so much.

Here's me just after the finish with my ice packs:


Looking good right?

So, I didn't meet my time and I didn't exaclty enjoy the last 10 miles... so what do I have to be proud of you may ask? A few things...

1. Given I spent 30 minutes at med aid stations and I missed my goal time by 16 (or 12) minutes, I would have crushed my goal otherwise.

2. Going over my routine for today, I mimicked my training runs identically. I ran an 18-miler and a 20-miler before today and didn't have a problem with cramping. Then today I have a problem before hitting mile 15??? I can't pinpoint anything that I did wrong (or different) to cause this so I can't beat myself up. It was bad luck. It sucks, but it was just bad luck. The last time I had a cramp was in 8th grade during volleyball and I remember it vividly. It was painful but that was also the LAST TIME this happened. Why today? I'm not sure...

3. There were times when I could not walk, let alone run... yet I can honestly say, I never thought about quitting. Ever. I remember thinking at mile 20 (with over SIX miles LEFT!), "Oh my god, I'm going to crawl across the finish line... I'm going to look like an idiot."

But you know what, even then in my mind, I was finishing. Even as I saw my goal times slip by my grasp, I was determined to finish the race.

When I was at mile 21.2, I had exactly 5 miles left. I looked around and saw other people hitting their walls and part of me realized that I should have hit a wall miles ago. This thought was ENCOURAGING! I started to jog again and said out loud, "Watch me make this happen."

I cried when I crossed the finish because I was so proud of myself. Not just proud because I just finished my first marathon, or because I didn't have to crawl on my hands and knees in front of thousands of spectators, but proud because I overcame serious physical challenges and still made it happen. And even more proud because I never considered quitting.

Now that it's a few hours after the race, I think I'm more proud because of what I was able to accomplish than I would be if I had finished in under 5:30:00 or 5:00:00 even.

I was mentally prepared for my knees or hips to hurt today. I was ready for that and I was convinced that I was going to run through the pain- after all, it's only one day, it's only one race, and my legs are still moving. But with cramping, it's a whole different ball game. You can't move your legs. You just drop to the ground and wait it out. Besides what I did, I couldn't prepare for what happened today. When it happened, I changed my strategy to a run/walk combo and did what I had to do to finish. I didn't let it bring me down and for that, I'm extremely proud of myself.

But, I will say this... you know how I wrote earlier about how I don't know if I will do another marathon? yeah right. I feel cheated. I know I can do better and you better believe I'm going to prove it.

Bring on the marathons...







Kelsalynn
PS: Official results are not yet posted on their website so I don't know how where I placed in my age group, women overall, or total participants just yet. Once it's posted, I will update!

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Make me stop

My mind is going crazy today with the anticipation that I'm running a fricken marathon tomorrow.

Holy shit.

Again.

I'm kicking myself for every training run I skipped, every day I took off, every time I fell off the training bandwagon...

I'm looking at my training schedule the past four months and regretting the time I took off- once because I was injured (although it's hard to regret this b/c I'm not feeling any pain or twinge at all so it must have been a good thing that I took two weeks off), once because I was sick, once after my 18-miler b/c I felt like my body needed an entire week to recover...

I'm reiewing every decision and thinking to myself, "Ugh, why was I too lazy that day to just go run a few miles..."

Did I focus too much on strength training and not enough on running?

Then I tell myself to stop.

Then I start psyching myself up for tomorrow.

I remind myself that I'm going to hit a wall- everyone does. I'm probably going to feel aches and pains in my hips. I'm going to get tired.

But I'm strong. I'm tough. I'm mentally ready and I'm physically trained. I'm going to hit the wall and climb over it. I'm going to run through the aches and pains. I'm going to finish strong.

I'm strong.
I'm ready.
Let's do this.

And in five minutes, I'll be back to doubting myself.

Let's get this party overwith...

Kelsalynn

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It's here

Well, tomorrow is the big day. My first marathon. I've removed the countdown from my blog...

Holy shit.

I'm excited and nervous and scared all at the same time. I can't wait for it to be over because the anticipation is killing me!

I've decided to wear my fuel belt and a sweatshirt. It's going to be BEAUTIFUL on Sunday- about 7 degrees warmer than they were anticipating and one of the warmest years ever. However, I'm going to take one of my old sweatshirts anyway because I read that Goodwill has volunteers all along the course that pick up all of the clothing left by the runners so it goes to a good cause. It's not like someone else is picking up after me and throwing it away. If we get there at 6 am, it will be 45 degrees so while I'm waiting for it to start and we're being shuttled around, I'll have my sweatshirt on and I'm comfortable and happy with that decision.

I am also comfortable with my decision to wear a fuel belt. I'm not going to fill all four bottles because I won't need that many so it won't be really heavy yet I'll have the Gu that I need... this makes me feel confident that this decision is the right balance for tomorrow.

Today is just lounging around. We're heading to the expo at 1:00 and having a big spaghetti dinner tonight! And of course, I'm drinking water like it's going out of style!

If I finish running at 1:00 tomorrow, I'll probably come home and shower and relax and maybe take a nap. I'll try to post a race report tomorrow evening.

If you're curious, you can track bib # 9079 on their website- that's me!
Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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So... hmm...

I thought I had made some decisions for Sunday's marathon but now I'm not so sure.

Let's start with what I do know:
---I am going to wear a tank top and a sweatshirt to start and just toss the sweatshirt. No big deal.

---There's a water station every 1.5 miles so I'm thinking of wearing the fuel belt but not carrying all of the water bottles on it and just use it for the pouch. In the pouch I'll carry some Gus and a granola bar or something. It will be the best of both worlds- fuel pack but not super heavy.

---I also don't plan to wear my headphones. I usually just like them for the company, but I will be surrounded by people. And my sister is planning to meet me at mile 20 and run the rest of the way with me. If anything, this is the point where I would need the headphones so I think I'll be good.

I just looked at where the bands will be on the course and check this out--- below are the mile markers where a stage and a band will be located:
.5
1.1
1.7
2.7
3.8
4.8
6.3
7.2
8.6
9.8
10.7
11.7
13.2
14.1
15.1
16.4
17.7
18.9
20
21.3
22.1
23
24.2
24.7
25.1
25.7

That blows my mind.

I definitely don't think I need headphones after seeing that!

So, what am I undecided about you may ask??? It comes back to the fuel belt. Why I'm so bent out of shape about wearing this I'm not sure... actually, yes, I know why, but admitting it makes me sound totally self-centered.

This might be my only marathon that I ever run, and I don't want to be wearing a fuel belt in the pictures.

There. I said it. Now you think I'm vain right?

I originally wasn't going to wear my fuel belt because the website said there were water, sports drink, and Gu stations "throughout the course."

Well, in reading more details, there's only one Gu station- at mile 19 (disappointment after reading that right???)

I will absolutely require more Gu than that, so now I'm not sure what to do. I know that I HAVE to wear my fuel belt if I want to survive and have enough food/snacks/nutrition in order to replenish my body's needs that day so I'm going to wear the damn fuel belt, but I don't have to be happy about it!

I have to go to Wal-Mart after work for a few odds and ends and I might even look at hip packs then too. See if I can't find a cheaper one to wear for Sunday that's also not bulky, doesn't make me look like I've grown a second ass and still manages to carry some grub.

sigh

I've done a couple of "easy" runs this week and even did yoga last night. It's been nice to take it easy. I have not faltered from my diet once this week- not one piece of candy, not a coffee after my initial cup, nothing!

Kelsalynn

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Bored

I'm bored with the blog background already... I know, this seems to happen a lot, so expect to see some changes.

I am amazed and thankful for all of the helpful comments left on my last entry. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone! I haven't made any decisions yet, but the recurring theme in everyone's comments was to stick with what I've been doing during training, so that's what I plan to do in some fashion.

Thanks again PEEPS!

Kelsalynn

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Marathon thoughts needed and I was tagged!

With the marathon this coming Sunday, so many questions are running through my head. These are probaby things I should have thought about sooner, but there's not much I can do about that now.


Any thoughts/advice you want to give me on these questions is appreciated?


1. What do I wear? It's cold here in Phoenix in the morning- about 50 degrees. The race starts at 7:30 and will take me about 5 1/2 hours, so I will finish around 1:00 (??). By the time I'm done, it will probably be 70-72 degrees if the forecast stays the same. Obviously, layers, layers, layers right? Here's what I'm wondering- If I wear a hoodie, where do I put my bib number? I hear ppl say to buy a sweatshirt you can just toss... fine, but won't my bib be on that? Do I just put the bib on my shirt, which means while I'm wearing the sweatshirt at the start of the race you won't be able to see it? Is is really not a good idea to not dress warm, knowing that I will warm up once I get going? Is that dumb?


2. Should I wear my fuel belt? Part of me thinks this is like my security blanket... I run slow, so there will be a lot of runners in front of me. What if by the time I get to the aid stations, there's not any GU left? I'm not worried about them not having water, but I will need GU. I don't have any pants that have pockets...


3. Should I wear headphones? The race does not have a rule against them. I'm already thinking that I'm not going to wear them, but I wanted to hear your thoughts. I normally do wear them when I go on my long runs, but with the crowds and the people and the music, I don't think I will be bored. Agreed?


Seriously, people, your job right now is to put these nervous questions to rest... so, answer away!


Finally, I was TAGGED by JEN! YAY! Usually I just tag myself so I was happy to be tagged finally! ha ha.


4 favorite memories of 2008:
1. Moving to AZ
2. Getting promoted
3. Running my first half marathon
4. Buying our first new-new car


4 favorite movies of 2008:
1. Dark Knight
2. Ironman
3. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
4. Harry Potter (one came out in 2008 right?)


4 favorite foods of 2008:
1. Salmon
2. Sushi
3. Stuffed peppers
4. Baskin Robbins ice cream


4 favorite places in 2008:
1. Phoenix, AZ
2. South Mountain
3. Sedona, AZ
4. Lansing, MI (I miss it!)


4 events of 2008:
1. Election Day
2. Our 3-year wedding anniversary
3. Michael's triathlon
4. New Year's Eve Block Party in Tempe


4 Things I liked in 2008:
1. Saturday mornings while Michael worked
2. My Garmin Forerunner
3. My fuel belt
4. My new size


4 reasons I'm looking forward to 2009:
1. First marathon!
2. Adventure races!
3. Hoping to visit friends this year
4. Enjoying life- no major changes!


4 people I tag:
1. Amy
2. Lexi
3. Megan
4. Teacherwoman

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Can you see the difference?

A year and a half ago, Michael and I drove through Canada to New York to attend a friend's wedding. We stopped at Niagara Falls and took a few pictures.

That's the picture you see on the left.

The picture on the right is from today.

So, given the one year lapse... can you see the difference?

Kelsalynn

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Keepin' on writin'

Writing CHECKS that is!

To my student loan!

That's right, I sent another check to my student loans today for

$575!

This is money I wasn't planning to send... but because of saving money in other categories of our budget and cutting back in others, we had some extra money! Wahoo!

I am amazed at how much more in control of my finances I have been lately. This is probably the funniest thing you've ever read if you know me at all. My good friends for years, like Amy and Lexi, are probably reading this right now and thinking, "How can she be in any more control over her numbers? Doesn't she brag about all of her spreadsheets?"

Yes, I do have various spreadsheets to manage our finances, but I feel like I have FOCUS now! I also have more DISCIPLINE now! And the most important thing? I have my HUSBAND on board too! It's an amazing thing!

Here's a great example- one of Michael's personal training clients got him "Rock Band" for PS3 for Christmas (the whole kit- guitar, drums, mic, etc). It was a total shock b/c it's not a cheap game and Michael doesn't expect anything from his clients. We were so happy... but there's one small problem... we don't have a PS3! We don't own a game console of any kind. Ha ha!

Normally, we would have told ourselves we "deserved" this $400 console and ran to buy it. Maybe we would have used some Christmas money toward the purchase, but I'm not so sure we'd even do that!

This time, we combined what Christmas money we had remaining and that came to $200. Instead of paying for the difference out of our paychecks, we told ourselves that wasn't allowed. We sold some things around the house like old DVD's, took back a few unnecessary things we didn't really want from Christmas gifts, etc. Michael even created an envelope that said "PS3 funds" and any "extra" cash we came across, went into it. Wouldn't you know it that it has over $400 already! Enough to buy the PS3 and it's only been 2 weeks!

Not only are we going to buy ourselves the PS3, we didn't use budgeted funds for it, and we cut the budget in other areas to futher pay down our debt. Happy all around!

It's the whole idea that just because we have the money, doesn't mean we can afford something. Or just because we have the cash, doesn't mean we have to spend it!

On the health side of my life, I'm starting to feel better, but not 100% yet. Yesterday after a full day of work and then dishes , grocery shopping, and laundry afterwards, I was starting to feel pretty weak. I could tell I still needed to take it easy. I have some housework to do today, but I'm going to spread it out throughout the day. I'm hoping that with one more day of taking it easy and I'll be back to new.

One week until the marathon!!! Let the taper begin!

Kelsalynn

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5 days

This is one of the longest periods I've gone without blogging- 5 full days!

What's up?

Well, this chica had the worst case of the flu that I've ever experienced. It was the most disgusting few days of my life.

But I'm feeling better today finally. I am about to eat breakfast so wish me luck... I'm hoping to keep it down. If so, it will be the first meal in a few days.

Kelsalynn

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Two weeks and counting

With only two weeks until the big race, I headed to the gym to get in a good workout.

I did a crossfit endurance workout to start then followed that up with a crossfit workout.

CFE called for 3- 2 mile time trials. After 2 miles, take a 5 minute break, but then get going again for another 2 mile time trial, repeat. It was harder than I expected- partially because I was on a treadmill, which is boring (it's rainy here in AZ today), but partly because I was really pushing myself to run faster than my normal comfort zone pace.

I told myself I had to have negative splits...

I ended up running the first mile at 6.7 mph or an 8:57/mile pace and the second at 6.8 mph or 8:49/mile pace.

Total for round 1 = 17:46.
So far so good. I appreciated the 5-minute break though, even if it was only 2 miles I had just run.

I kept the same 6.8 mph or 8:49/mile pace for mile 3, but bumped it up to 6.9 or 8:42/mile for mile 4.

Total for round 2 = 17:31.
I contemplated quitting after round 2, only because I was bored. Yes, I was tired, but running on the treadmill sucks. But, I'm not quitter, so I told myself to get it over with as quick as possible...that was my motivation.

I kept the same 6.9 mph (from mile 4) for mile 5 but really tried to give it my all during the final and sixth mile. I did the first 1/2 mile at 7.0 mph or an 8:34/mile pace, did 1/4 mile at 7.4 mph or 8:06/mile, and then sprinted the last 1/4 mile at 8.0 mph or a 7:30/mile pace! Mentally, that last 1/4 mile was the last .2 miles of the marathon in a couple of weeks. I was tired, but I told myself I had to finish strong.
Total for round 3 = 16:54.
Average pace for all six miles = 8:42/mile.

After that, I ate a banana, drank some water, and stretched. Once I stopped sweating profusely I did CrossFit, which was maxing out on deadlifts.

You do 5 rounds, 3 rep max.
Last time I did this my weights were = 65, 85, 105, 125, 135

Tonight they were = 95, 105, 115, 135, 145

So I increased my weight by 10 pounds. Not bad after running 6 miles in record time! The hardest part, actually, was just holding onto the bar once it go up to 145 pounds. My poor fingers just can't hold onto that much weight. My legs, now, they can hang, but my fingers, not so much.

I guess that's it. Probably boring to read about, sorry!

Michael's sister moves in in three days!

Kelsalynn

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Countdown

In exactly 2 weeks, I will be running in the PF Chang's marathon.

Holy crap.

That freaks me out a little bit.

Actually, at this time in two weeks (1 PM), I will hopefully be crossing the finish line.

My goal time is 5 hours 30 minutes. I may be able to do it faster, but I'm afraid that if I set a goal faster than that, I will start off too fast. That's not what I want ... I don't care what my time is, to be honest, I just want to finish without wanting to die.

Yup, that's my goal. Finish without contemplating suicide somewhere around mile 22. Cross your fingers!

Kelsalynn

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Interesting Interest

Tracking my debt balances has been quite the eye opening experience.

I've always known how much student loan debt I had, but like I said, I always considered it normal. I always thought we were lucky or smarter than most because we didn't have any credit card debt.

I still consider ourselves lucky because my student loan debt is at very low interest rates, as opposed to a lot of people's credit card debt.

Tracking our balances, though, has made me realize how much of my monthly payment goes toward interest versus principal. It's disgusting.

It's very frustrating how much I pay each month for nothing!

For January, my monthly payment was $409.54 and of that, $192.80 went to interest or 47%!

Isn't that crazy?

It makes me want to pay them all of so much faster because I am sick of paying for nothing...

I challenge each of you this New Year to take a hard look at your finances and see how much you're paying someone else when you could be paying yourself instead.

Kelsalynn

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I can't feel my arms...

Between yesterday and today's workouts, I can't feel my arms. Man, I am pretty beat right now, but at the same time, proud of what I managed to accomplish.

I've done a lot of comparisons between my abilities now versus 6-10 months ago.

Where to start?

Let's start w/ my measurements...
I know just by my clothes that I've lost a number of inches. It's been very easy for me to tell without busting out the measuring tape but I thought I would do it just for curiosity's sake.

These measurements are a comparison from March to today:
Neck: lost 1/2 inch
Chest: lost 2 inches (Michael's not so pleased w/ this one... although he did say I'm perkier!)
Shoulders: lost 1.5 inches

So far, the above is obvious to me because all of my shirts fit differently and I'm now wearing a size Small on top versus Medium.

Waist: lost 1/2 inch
I've always had a pretty skinny waste, so this is less important for me...

The cool part-
Hips: lost 2.75 inches
Thigh: right and left each lost 1.25 inches- EACH, or 2.5 inches combined!
My hips and thighs are where I've noticed the biggest difference for sure. My pants practically fall off me and I'm wearing a size 4 or 6 versus an 8 or 10. I'm wearing my belts on the tightest loop possible and still hiking up my drawers. Now, don't get me wrong, I'll always have a big booty, but I'm pumped about the changes!

Okay, so that's the appearance side of things... but I'm noticing changes in my performance too.

CrossFit has a workout called "Murph." It was one of the first CrossFit workouts I did on August 25th, just over 4 months ago.
"Murph" is a 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups (level 16 assistance), 200 push-ups, 300 squats, and then a 1 mile run at the end. On 8/25, my time for this was 50:43 and I did 50 of the 200 push-ups on a bar b/c I couldn't do anymore modified ones.

This time around, I totally killed it. I did all of the push-ups modified, but did not have to do any on the bar. My time??? 37:41!

I did the same workout but took 16 minutes off my time! HELL YEAH! It's an awesome workout so give it a try!!

I also did another workout tonight called "Fight Gone Bad."

Three rounds of the following exercises for 1 minute each:
Wall balls (holding 11 lb ball)
Sumo deadlift to a high pull (holding a bar- 45 pounds)
Box jumps
Push Press (holding 45 lb bar)
Row
Rest

Here's what my totals looked like for each round:
WB: 30, 31, 25
SDL: 11, 11, 12
BJ: 30, 30, 31
PP: 10, 9, 10
Row(calories burned in 1 minute): 7, 7, 8

TOTAL SCORE ( 1 pt for each rep/calorie) = 262

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn

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Knocking it down

I'm starting the year off right...

I sent a check to my student loans today (no mail today, so technically tomorrow) for

$1,575!
Our budget for January is actually better than usual because of the money we're getting from Michael's sister for rent and our car. It's lower than normal even considering we have $500 budgeted for plane tickets back to Michigan, which we need to buy soon. I hope we can find two round-trip tickets for under $500... If you have any secrets on buying cheap plane tickets, please share them with me! =)

We want to fly back home in February...it's not exactly the best time to be in Michigan- lots of snow, freezing cold temps, etc. But, our tenants are moving out mid-February and we need to "flip" the house to get ready for the new tenants- i.e. clean, do some general repairs, inspect the place for damage.

It appears we do have tenants that will be moving in on March 1st! I'm so relieved. We collect $1,100 per month from tenants when we're able to rent our Michigan home, so not having this income would really hurt badly. We're going to have them sign a lease agreement this month now that the holidays are over so once it's all finalized, I'll be happier. Right now, without an agreement, anything could happen and they could change their mind. Not what I want obviously.

We have 6 days before Michael's sister moves in... and his parents just left today after visiting for 11 days. I love family, I do, but man, 11 days is a long time to host guests.

CHEERS TO 2009!
Kelsalynn

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