A Family 5k Outing: Awesome fun, turned this mother's worst nightmare.

Meet the Chronics ( my Husband's friend gave us that name and it kinda stuck).



Back Row from the Left: Summer, Me, Joseph
In a row by herself: Kara
Front Row from Left: Andrew, Josiah, Ally



The Idyllic Setting

The Garden of Lights Veterans 5K is an awesome idea! The race starts in the evening and winds through Honor Heights Park, Muskogee, OK. This park is decorated to the nines with Christmas lights and manger scenes. Its absolutely beautiful! We were excited to run this as a family, including our 15 month old, Josiah, in the jogging stroller. The kids were so excited to run with us and now they want to run with us even more, which is cool. Some friends also met us there and some of them ran the course as well.

Joey was running for time. Kara was running with a friend, and Summer is old enough that I felt safe letting her set her own pace. This was mainly because I knew that I would see her a few times during the course, even if she ran faster than me. Ally, Andrew, and of course, Josiah stayed with me. This was so awesome because it allowed me to not worry about time or speed. More importantly, it allowed me to see the beauty of the lights through their eyes. Their amazement affected me in ways I can't explain. Josiah sat quietly in his stroller taking in the sights. I wish I had a mirror or something attached so I could have seen his little face. Andrew and Ally kept up a running commentary: 'Oh look at that tree. Its beautiful!' and 'That blue star is the biggest. It must be Jesus' birthstar.' and my favorite (from Andrew) 'Mom why are the tops of my legs burning?' Hehehe:-)

Sounds like the perfect family holiday outing, right? Wrong...

Where Things go South

The finish line...there it is kids. Take off! Go, Go, GO! I'm right behind you...oh wait. No I'm not because the guy standing by the finish line refuses to let me cross. What?!?!?! It went something like this:
Guy: You can't cross the finish line with a stroller.
Me: Excuse me?
Guy: It will mess up their insurance.
Me, getting peeved: I specifically asked about strollers and was told, no problem.
Guy: You can't cross the finish line with a stroller. You can leave your baby here though like this dad did.
Me: {completely shocked to look down and see a baby in a stroller that I recognized from the race. His momma is going to be ticked at his daddy}
Some Random Woman: I will watch him for you. I have four kids. I will take care of him.
Me: {a more scathing look has never crossed my face} Good for you but I will not leave my baby with strangers. Have you not read the news lately?!?! (Side note: This was the DAY AFTER the Newtown, CT tragedy. My mom emotions were still completely raw and shocked from reading the news all day the day before.)
Guy: You are not crossing the finish line with a stroller.
Me: Fine, at least take my bib number so that I finished the race.
Woman across the line: I'm not taking that.
Guy: Go ahead and take it
Woman: {Rips it out of my hand}
Me: {Losing my cool for real} Look, You can get ticked off all you want but I specifically asked about strollers and was told they were fine.
Woman: Whatever {walks away}
{This is when I realize that the finish line doesn't end there. You have to walk down a little roped off lane. AND I CAN'T SEE ALLY AND ANDREW!!!!!!! There are 1500 runners plus their families. Hundreds of people are milling around and I CAN"T SEE MY KIDS!!!! And I knew Joey was back the other way.}
Me: {Now I've lost it for realsies and I am resisting to the urge to A) Punch someone in the face or B) Run over someone with the stroller.} I have to get to my kids!!!!!! They have already crossed the line!
Guy: Too bad, you can't cross the finish line with a stroller.
Me: {Seriously considering just going across the finish line. I mean what would they do? The only thing that kept me from it was the possibility of them tackling me and Josiah being left alone.} {Oh and by now I am so angry that I am crying because I have no other outlet for my rage...plus I'm terrified about my kids...I have never lost track of one of them in a crowd before. This is literally a nightmare for me. Of Epic Proportions.} You leave me having to choose between leaving my baby with a stranger and losing my 8 and 11 year old in a huge crowd! How can you do this?!?!
Guy: You can't cross the finish line with a stroller.
Me: {turning away and ripping my phone out of my arm band to call Joey} Joey!!!{in hysterics now} They won't let me cross the finish line and Ally and Andrew have already crossed it and I CAN'T SEE THEM!!!!
Joey: Stay right there. I will get them.
{The dad who left his baby, still wasn't back. He crossed the finish line well before I got there. I can only imagine that he had just as much trouble getting back across the finish line to his baby as I had getting across it to my kids.}

This whole episode really only took a few minutes but it was the longest few minutes of my life. Ally and Andrew did exactly what we taught them. They stayed together and stayed put. Joey had them in less than a minute. I had a full scale panic attack. I don't even have panic attacks. We walked the whole way back the van, loaded everybody in. I started driving and still I was shaking. I drove all the way home (and hour and a half) and still I was in full panic attack mode. I had to take sleeping pills just so I could calm down. I still cried most of the night and had nightmares about worst case scenarios. This was, hands down, the worst experience of my parenting life. I looked everywhere, on all the information about the race, and NO WHERE did it say that strollers were not allowed. No where. Not to mention that there were other strollers, some of which had already crossed the finish line. As fun as this run was, as good as the charity is, my family and I will most definitely never run it again. Ever. I can't even type this post without getting sweaty palms and fidgeting.

~KC

 

Of Miles and Milestones...and Determination...and Uberness

 

Miles...

According to my Nike+ GPS watch, I have ran over 200 miles since June 2nd 2012! Since I started running in February of 2012, I have ran over 300 miles. And I have loved every minute if it;-)

 

Milestones...

To go right along with my 200 miles, I am very close to weighing below 200 pounds for the first time since Josiah came along. That's a big milestone for me because I have been working really hard for it!

Determination...

This weekend, Joseph and I ran the Fayetteville 5k.

It was a very hilly, tough course. I had been terrified of it for a month.
We had to run up the hill next to Razorback Stadium then back down the other side for part of the course. I've been told by many people that this could accurately be called 'Hell Hill' or 'Hill of Torture'.  For those of you who have seen the stadium before, this picture that I took from the top of the hill might help you visualize what I'm talking about...

 I was honestly less worried about going up the hill than I was about tripping and rolling DOWN the hill! I'm one of those people who can trip walking across a smooth, flat surface...I'm even considered a klutz in some circles! So this was a very real concern for me. It turns out that I didn't have to worry. I was so terrified that the hills were no where near as bad as I imagined them to be. And I was determined to run the whole course, even the hills. Maybe even especially the hills. I was determined not to let them beat me. That determination paid off because not only did I run the entire race, but I set a shiny new PR...on a difficult course! By TWO WHOLE minutes!!!

 I was pretty excited. Maybe my success stemmed from giving this guy a high five as we started the race...

Whatever the reason, I came, I ran, I rocked! And so did my awesome husband who set his own race PR by over 3 minutes;-).

 

Uberness...

Now let me tell you a little about Uberness...Awesome Uberness even! My running friend Paula (check out her blog here, dont let the name fool you - she's fast!) ran the half marathon. Our race started after hers so we were able to see her off and even give her a cheer after her first mile. After we finished the 5k, I went to where I thought the course map showed she would come running back through and Joey went to the finish line so he would be ready to take her picture as she finished. I was sitting on the steps of a fraternity house wondering where all the spectators were. I decided to look at the map again. Oh NO!!!! I'm in the wrong spot!!! I had to go back up Hell Hill and over a block to see her coming through. And I knew she would be getting to that point really soon. So I hurried, although I didn't run again, ha! I got there just in time to see her come through the aid station between mile 8 and 9. She was making great time! I cheered:-) Now it was time to wait until she came through again. I wasn't worried though because I knew her time goal and she was ahead of schedule. So I waited and cheered some other runners on. This was a really fun experience! 

 

I started to get a little worried because it was taking her longer than I thought. Then I heard this little voice in my head, 'Kacey, run the last bit with her. You have to get back somehow and she may need you'. Just as I heard that, I saw her. I snapped a couple of pictures, grabbed my water bottle and caught up to her. She told me that she had hurt her knee at mile eight. But here she was, still running at a great pace. We chatted a little as we ran. Paula is neither a wimp nor a complainer but the pain in her voice was obvious. She really was hurt. But she was going to finish and only barely miss her goal time. And she was still going to set a PR! We reached the track and I left her to her well deserved victory lap all the while thinking that this friend of mine is awesome. Her determination has inspired me in many ways. She is truly Uber and I was honored to run that bit of her race with her.

 

~KC

 

 

 

 

 

  

Trail running for the WIN!!!

Well, not literally for the win...and not really running either:-)

Joseph and I ran the Devils Den 3 mile trail run Saturday. It was a great day for it. Slightly overcast but warm and dry. I had been looking forward to this race for a few months. Why? Well, when we ran the Muskogee WaterLoop, I discovered that trail running was fun and invigorating. Its the kind of race where I don't worry about how long its taking me. I don't worry about getting a PR (personal record) because, unless you run the exact same course again, there is no precedent to beat. Each trail run is different. Some are rockier, some are more of a hike than a run. But they are all fun. Well, okay, I've only ran two of them, but they were both fun:-) Nothing makes me feel more alive than using the body that God gave me to run amongst the beauty he created.

My mind jumps all over the place when I run a trail run because it doesn't have to focus on results. Here is some of my thoughts while I was running:

Time to line up. This is going to be a blast. Music or no music? How about just one earbud, the best of both worlds. Whistle blows (yes, whistle) annnd we're off! Man, there really needs to be more places to park. I almost just hit that car! HA! Okay, here we go, there is the trail head. This is gonna be so fun!!! Wait, why are we slowing down? Oh, yeah because the trail is very narrow and we are basically in single file. That looks kinda neat. Hmmm...small scale exodus would probably look a little like this. Cool. Oh hey there's Joey. He's way up there. Up...there...crap...fear of heights...forgot about that...this should be interesting. I wish we could go a little faster. Ha, I probably won't be thinking that later. Oh good, we're speeding up...oh wait, no not so much. Hey that would be a good spot for some family pics...if we could get up here without breaking a sweat...not likely. Speeding up again, wooohooo. Ouch, my calves are starting to feel this. Its a good thing I'm stronger since I started G-Fit! Oops, watch your feet, no wait don't look down, not a good idea. Oh no, someone got hurt! "Do you guys have a phone signal?" {Yep but its going straight to voicemail, but someone is running back to get help.} "Okay. Good luck...oh hey you might want to get that shoe off. That ankle is swelling pretty fast." {No, I'm a doctor and we are just going to leave that right where its at.} "Oh good, so you know what you are doing." [And I'm a nurse and I've done this to this ankle before.] "Good then." Back to thinking: not to be rude but if you've done this before why in the world are you running a trail run with no ankle brace on? Hmmm oh well, they seem to have it handled. Hey this must be the look out someone was talking about. Picture? definitely not! That would require getting closer...debilitating fear of heights, remember? Oh, yeah, better keep going then. Pretty though. Glance back...do a double take...WHAT??? What in the world are Mr I'm a Doctor and Miss I've Done this Before doing????? Is he really going to try to piggy back her back to base camp (base camp, hehehe what is this? Vertical Limit?)??? No, wait they are coming this way. What? No go back the way we came, you are only a mile in! What are you doing? Just keep going Kacey, they so obviously know what they are doing...obviously. Okay peeps, this is fun and all but y'all are a tad too slow. Excuse me. Thanks! The leaves are so pretty. Shoot! They are covering some of the rocks...maybe not so pretty, be careful. Up, up, up....where's the rope from the Water loop? That would come in handy. Which way? Oh, there's the little sign, cool. Up, up, stumble, up. Whew finally level. Time to really run. Well that didn't last long. I love nature...what in Hades is that awful smell...Can I get around you please? Thanks! "You guys are doing great, keep it up!" Down, Down, switch back, down. Hey I recognize this. We must be back on the original trail. Sweet! OW!!!!! Hurt ankle, just keep going. Work it out. Slow down a little bit. Awww a cute older couple hiking up the trail. What a great way to spend time together. Oh that's the road, almost done. Aweso......woah! Check for cars... oh they are waiting, cool. Pavement...jog, jog, jog....what am I doing?!?!?!?! This is pavement!!!! RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNUUUUUNNNNN!!!!! Finish line here I come!

48 minutes. Not so bad! How did you do Joey? What?!?!?!?!?! 34 minutes? That's insane!!! What did you do? Jump down? Basically? Wow! I'm impressed. I need a cookie:-)

And there you have it folks. A look into my crazy mind:-)

Why I Run...

When I was a kid, and even into my teenage years, when I was upset, I would run. When I was happy, I would run. When I was bored, I would run. When my best friend and I got into a fight, I would run (There was one memorable time when my best friend’s sister and I got into a fight and I climbed a tree. But that is a whole different storyJ). The point is that I ran. I loved to run for any reason and even for no reason at all. It was healing, calming, exciting all rolled into one.

Then, exactly 15 years ago today, my world fell apart. My Dad died. My Dad. I could never talk to him again. He couldn’t teach me anything again. He couldn’t make a bad joke that I would give a sympathy laugh to again. When my Mom told me, my body registered what she said before my mind did. I fell, my knees gave out and I fell to the ground before I even realized what exactly she said. There was no time for a run then. No ability for one even. We had to get home, pack and drive to Louisiana where the rest of my family was and where my dad would be buried. No time for a cleansing run. Only time to drive. Only time to build up some walls that might protect me in the days to come.

Skip to getting to the funeral home where I am expected to help my MeeMaw pick out a casket. We chose a nice blue one that I think my Dad would have liked…I guess. Time for the family only viewing. What a torturous tradition. Why do we do that? Closure? Wasn’t closure for me. In fact, it was the exact opposite. One glance, one tiny glance, at the coffin where my dad lay so still and white and the walls I had so carefully built up came crumbling down. I turned and fled. That’s the only way to describe it. I fled. I only wanted away. I didn’t care where, only away. I ran down the aisle, out the door of that horrible room and busted out of the front door as fast as I possibly could. I was gone and I was not coming back. Ever.

My sweet, strong uncle, who had just lost his only sibling, reacted too quickly. He caught me around the waist as I ran through the door. I wasn’t fast enough. He held me while I screamed at him to let me go. He held me while I screamed that my dad was dead, really dead. He held me while I cried.

His reaction was the best thing for me at the time. I was a grieving sixteen year old girl with no money or cell phone on me, in a strange town, no way to protect myself if the need arose (although had it done so, I think my unspeakable grief and anger would have gotten the job done).The only problem is that I would never get that cleansing run that I so desperately needed. I would only build up more walls. I would never actually deal with any of my feelings. Life would go on. I would watch them bury my dad, I would drive back to Arkansas, try to go back to school, to work and survive. I would get married at a ridiculously young age, give birth to my first daughter a year later. My marriage would turn extremely abusive, bit by bit. I would have 2 more daughters and I would nearly lose my life getting out of a marriage that was only a sham anyway. And still I would not get that cleansing run. I would only build more walls.

I met Joseph, we got married and had our first son. We both got our degrees and tried not to be too stressed out. I still didn’t run. Not for happiness, which I certainly felt. Not for stress, which I certainly had but the walls I built did begin to fall, piece by piece. Joseph adopted my daughters, which only made sense as he was the only father they knew and the only one who deserved them. I still didn’t run. We had our sweet Josiah, our little surprise, and he has completed our family in so many ways. And still I didn’t run

Then one day, I decided to. I had only one reason in mind: to lose weight. But when I ran something unexpected happened. I began to remember my love for it. I began to remember why I had done it in the past. What was left of the walls that I built came down. I grieved, I rejoiced, I ran.

So, why do I run? I run for stress relief. I run because I am happy. I run to work out. I run for sanity in my crazy life. I run to meet my goals. I run to improve myself. I run when I am upset. I run when I am overwhelmed. I run when I am confused. I run because I can. I run because I am alive and my Dad isn’t. I run BECAUSE. I. AM. ALIVE.

~KC

Exercise can = Spiritual...Who knew?

Wow! Things have been so crazy the last couple of weeks! Crazy! Josiah has been sick. Kara broke her nose playing basketball at lunch. Appointments, work, and the list goes on. But there are 2 things that have kept me from going crazy myself. One is the time our running group has spent at lunch preparing for the River Valley Run. The other is my G-Fit class. Without these to really take my mind off things, I may have already found a rock to crawl underJ

Last Friday at G-fit, I had an epiphany. Working out, running, just exercise in general can totally be a spiritual experience. We were doing PiYo (a combination of Pilates and Yoga) and the music that was playing was of the Gospel variety. There was just something very calming about it all. And I realized that striving to get into better shape is a righteous thing to do. We are told over and over in the scriptures that our bodies are Temples. We are told to take care of them. Some of us have, some of us haven’t. All of us could improve in some way or another. As we were working out, our trainer, Gabby, reminded us that we are all important. All of us. And we should treat each other that way. Not just our G-fit friends but people we interact with everyday. We shouldn’t judge them because we don’t know what they may have gone, or are going, through. And she was absolutely right!

Saturday was a big day! We were running the race we had been training for. Our 5kers worked so hard. Some of the literally went from couch to 5k! Paula, Joey and I were running the 10k and each of us had a goal we wanted to crush. And we did it! We all did it! Our 5kers ran the best ever and finished so strong. Paula crushed her goal. Joey beat his goal and won 3^rd place in his age division. And I am so proud of them all! I am equally proud of myself, and I think its okay to admit thatJ I beat my time goal but I also did not walk at all!!! It was my first race that I ran the whole way. What makes that even better is that there were lots of hills. One of them I had been having a mental battle with for a week. I would not let it beat me. And guess what? It didn’t! I even had a moment at the top of the hill when I wanted to do the whole ‘Rocky Dance at the Top of the Steps’ thing. But I had miles to go and a goal to meet so I refrainedJ The cool thing was that at mile 2, just before the monster hill, there was sign with a verse on it. ‘I can do all things through Christ.’ That really lifted my heart and reminded me that I can beat this hill. I can do it! I won’t lie, I said a little prayer going up it, lol. And I made it! Then I felt so strong, like I could just keep going, so I did. And there were two more times that I saw verse signs and both came just as I was beginning to feel weak.

There was a part of the course that I had been looking forward to. It was a downhill section through the woods. When I ran it for practice, I felt exhilarated at that point. It comes at a great time in the race because after all the uphill, you need something that makes you feel fast. I kid you not, when I started down it, I let out a ‘woohooo’ and a giggle! Audible and everything. People probably thought I was insane but my heart was full of joy. And I was having a blast! All I could think about was that our 5kers would have been done by then and that Joey and Paula were getting close to the finish line and I felt strong and capable. I felt like we were all blessed to be able to do this and to love to do it. Definitely blessed!

~KC

 

Kacey's Theories of Relativity

Relativity as it pertains to Time:

When you are working out by yourself, time passes soooo slowly. When you are working out with a group, time passes a bit more quickly. When you are watching your kids grow up, time doesn’t pass so much as it fast-forwards…X 10.

Relativity as it pertains to Beauty:

That girl that is dressed to the nines, hair fixed, nails manicured? She is beautiful. That same girl at the park, hair up in a ponytail, comfy clothes on, is more beautiful than you thought because of the love she shines while pushing her baby in a swing.

Relativity as it pertains to Cold:

Winter in Arkansas has its cold days. Spend a winter in Alaska and all of a sudden Arkansas feels downright tropical.  Spend a day in one of the meeting rooms at Golden Living and all of a sudden Alaska feels downright tropical.

Relativity as it pertains to Giving it Your All:

Beginning of a work out, run to half court and back (down-and-backs) giving It your all: no problem run full out, touch the line, run full out. Do that 10 times. End of an hour long workout: 4 down-and-backs, giving it your all: limp as quickly as you can to half court, barely touch the line without falling over, stumble back to the baseline. Legs trembling like jello the whole time.

Relativity as it Pertains to Fitness Levels:

The girl next to you is kicking butt in the workout. Sweating hard, pushing herself and really going at it. The girl next to her doesn’t seem to be doing as much as she is, but then Girl B has 100 pounds on Girl A. Girl B is here to make some drastic changes in her life to improve her health. She too, is sweating hard, pushing herself and really going at it. It may not seem like she is doing as much as Girl A but she is. Her level of effort is just as high and she is rocking it!

The point of this post:

So many things are relative, but we find ourselves comparing ourselves to others anyway. The point of a workout regimen is not to become as fit as the trainer, or as the girl next to you, or as the stranger you see running in the park. The point of a workout regimen is for YOU to improve YOUR fitness level. Do not make the mistake of comparing your beginning to someone else’s middle or end!

Dr. Suess’s thoughts on comparing yourself to others:

‘Today You are You,
That is truer than true.
There is no one alive
Who is Youer than You.'

~KC

5 am Torture? Yes, Please...What have I Done?!?!?!

So I did a really crazy thing today but I think its going to be fun...kinda. I put my Insanity Challenge on hold and signed up for a 5am M-F boot camp class!!! Its called G-Fit and its a little intimidating but I went to orientation this evening and I liked it! Of course, the working out hasn't started yet so we will see how it goes tomorrow:-) But I liked the sound of it. The trainers were fun and outgoing and encouraging. All of which is important. And since I really believe that Fit > Skinny, this fits right in with my overall plan. I should lose weight and inches, but I should also see a defnite improvement in my fitness level. So I'm excited! And, you may be thinking that 5am is crazy but I have to do stuff like this on 'my own time'. I can't take too much time away from family. So this works perfectly because family will be sleeping:-) That's why running on my lunch break works out, because its my time. Its a bit of a sacrifice because I like to sleep and it is stinking COLD out there! But let the adventure begin because I want to be a G-Fit SURVIVOR!!!!!!

Baby Steps and {un}Sweet Success

So what's the story, Morning Glory?

These past few days I have had some triumphant moments. Sunday I baked cupcakes to bring to church for some one's birthday. I did not eat the left over batter (spare me the salmonella poisoning lecture, but I usually do;-), nor did I eat any of the icing. To top that off, there was one cupcake that wouldn't fit in the container. I cradled that sweet little cupcake in my hands as I brought it to my husband asking what to do with it, lol! My usual solution is simple: eat it, duh. But I didn't. Instead, I let each of the kids have a cupcake before church.

Moving on to Monday. I started out the day with a flat tire that I had to change. No big deal really, except my jack wasn't working right (or more likely, I wasn't using it right) and it took me a while to get it changed. By the time I was done, I was hot and sweaty and dirty and late for work, My normal reaction to that? Find the nearest junk food and eat it. And that was my reaction...except I didn't. I thought about it and then made the conscious choice to not let my stresses dictate my diet.

And now on to Tuesday and the grand re-opening in our Dining Center at Golden Living. To celebrate the new additions they were giving away free cake (read FREE CAKE!!!). But I had just gotten finished running and I have specific goals for this week so I skipped the cake, I SKIPPED FREE CAKE!!! It looked pretty yummy too:-) I did, late in the day get the funnel cake they were having at snack time. Before you say WHAT?! read this: It was barely a sixth (if that because was also pretty thin) of the size you get at a fair and I felt bad about deciding to get it. So I didn't even eat all of it. All in all, I have had a successful few days.

Add those good choices to my running and Insanity workouts, and I am seeing pounds, inches, and most importantly, fat come right off.

So baby steps and {un}sweet success...


~KC

A Little Motivation

So I finished week 1 of Insanity and it wasn't so bad...what I could do of it, lol. Oh who am I kidding, even what I could do of it had me dripping sweat and wishing I was back in my warm comfy bed! It is a great way to start the morning though and keeps me going through the day. Andrew and I had karate class last night, too, and Sensei Seahorn really put us through the paces. It was awesome fun!

So I said something about motivation in the title of this post. Welllllll, I have two topics that I want to type about that I think will motivate everyone.

The first one is our Couch 2 5k group (C25k) at work. We finished up week 5 last Thursday. At the beginning of this venture, Paula and I had a hard time convincing our group that they could, in fact, do it. It is a bit scary when you look at the plan if you haven't ran in a while, this is true. The first week we had to run 90 seconds, then walk 90 seconds, then repeat about 8 times. Doesn't sound like too much, but to a first timer, that is daunting. Each week the amount of running goes up. On Thursday of last week, the plan called for 20 solid minutes of running! And our group killed it!!!! They really rocked! Not only did they finish but they had a decent pace the whole time! What a sense of pride and accomplishment. So the motivation? Well, did you read the paragraph? LOL! It CAN be done. It really can be. It may seem like it can't but just keep going and you will find yourself capable of way more than you thought possible.

The second topic is body fat percentage versus weight. A few years ago, I saw a snippet of some program on TV that really stuck with me. A woman was about to start a program to lose weight. Her sister was worried about her and wanted her to drop some pounds. Before she started this, the instructor measured her BF% by having her submersed in water (the most accurate way to do this). Just for kicks he also measured her sister. Turns out that her thin sister's BF% was nearly as high as hers. Her sister didn't understand the concept of Fit > Skinny! Of course we want to be thin to some degree, but we really need to make sure our BF% is where it should be.

Just to give you an idea of this, here is my weigh in last week vs this morning:
218.8 lbs x 45.8% BF (don't judge too harshly please:-) = 100.21 lbs of BF (gross!!!)
217.0 lbs x 45.1% BF = 97.86 lbs of BF

So while it looks like I only lost 1.8 lbs (which isn't too bad for a week anyway) I actually lost 2.34 lbs of BF! So why the difference? I gained some lean muscle mass! And that will help me burn more calories. The loss of body fat is the more important number for sure!

Are you motivated yet?
~KC

Insane? Maybe...

This weekend I succumbed to the Zombie Apocalypse! ROFL:-) The Thriller at Tenkiller 5k was a blast...and not just a blast of frigid air. We had to employ evasive maneuvers to get away from the zombies. My freind, Paula, said she even had to do some 360s to get around them. Lol, maybe I should have tried those because she was a survivor:-) I made it to the last mile with all my flags but I was Zombie bait after that. It was cold, it even sleeted on us! But I felt alive...even though I wasnt, ha! I can't wait to do it again next year.

If that isn't insane enough, I started the Insanity Challenge this morning. For those of you who don't know, it is similar to P90x, but different. The fit test was all I had to do this morning. I will post the results along with the next fit test I have to do, but lets just say that I have a looooooong way to go. That's why I am doing it though and I am up for the challenge!

Andrew and I also finally got back to karate class last night for the first time in nearly 3 weeks. It felt really good to get back to it. AND we started learning our first Kata. That may not sound all that exciting, but believe me, it was:-)

Things are going well. I run at lunch with a C25k group 3 days a week. It helps me work on my speed. That's the only time I have to run lately though since it is so dark in the morning and there are no street lights on our training route at home. That's okay though.

I am ready for the day! Bring it:-)

~KC

Getting in Gear!

Today while waiting on a work process to run, I read a cool blog (thanks Pinterest) about a young woman who decided it was time to get herself in shape...and then she did! It was really inspiring in its simplicity. Decide to lose weight, make simple changes in your habits, and voila, lose weight. So is it really that simple? Yes...and no. It will be hard to stick to it, but determination is key. My biggest problem is chocolate. Surprise!! I love chocolate in almost any form. My meals are not so bad. I love chicken in a variety of ways. I do have to force myself to eat breakfast because I am not a breakfast person...unless its pancakes and, well, that is counter-productive. So if I can somehow control the sugar cravings, then I am all good. That is one reason I started this blog. So that my family and friends know exactly what I want to do and can help me stay accountable to myself, and motivate me, and inspire me. I know a LOT of people who are inspiring for many reasons:-)

So far this may sound like I am focused on weight loss only. That is actually not true. I am focused on becoming fit, getting in shape, etc. To do that, however, I do need to lose weight, a lot of weight. I made a really great start (40+ pounds thanks to Metabolic Research Center!) on losing it but then I got pregnant with my sweet little Josiah. So I'm not back to square one, but I did lose some ground...mainly because of chocolate...and ice cream...and french fries:-)

In February 2012, I made a (re)discovery. I found that I love to run. I remember that I loved to run when I was in high school, but somehow through the years I forgot that fact. I really want to improve my running - run faster, for longer- but I have gotten to a point where I can't improve anymore until I begin to get control of my weight.  

I also love karate! My son Andrew and I attend classes together. Its really fun and a great way to be active and bond with Andrew. To be better at this, though, I need to lose weight and work on my flexibility.

Do you sense a common theme here? Fit is definitely greater than skinny, but overweight (I will not say the 'O' word. Its not denial, I just don't like the word) sucks. Literally, it sucks the life right out of a person. So my weight loss goal will not be measured only in pounds lost, but in fitness attained, in improvement in my chosen activities. That will be the true determination of my success.

Wish me luck:-)