LaPorte By The Bay Half Marathon Take Three

I just realized I never wrote about my ½ marathon!  I completed my eighth half marathon on November 20^th in LaPorte, TX as part of the Texas Bridge Series running events.  Originally I was going to run all three races with my Aunt Laura, but she ended up dropping out of the last race so she could watch my cousin (her son) in a swim meet.   I was thiiiiiiis close to saying screw it and not participating but I kept chanting in my head “you never regret a workout” and “you paid $65 for this thing, get your money worth” and “I really want my two extra medals I get when I finish this race”. 

I started the race figuring I could at least walk the entire way, even if I couldn’t run that far.  It might be painful, but I knew I could finish it.  The course looped around really close to my car and I sooooooo wanted to turn that direction and head to my car quietly, but I decided to keep going.  I can do this thing!

I made friends along the course as I usually do.  Why suffer in silence for 13.1 miles when I can talk to keep myself busy?  I’m a talker, y'all!  I can’t go without talking for that long (even though a bucket list item is to go to a week-long silent retreat!).  The miles past relatively quickly and before I knew it I was on my way back over the bridge. 

My feet felt great with my new shoes and I made sure to stretch while eating my race recovery food.

The funny part is that you get a finisher’s mug that said “Beef Loving Texan” but I am plant based and don't eat meat at all anymore.  I could still use the cup but I have so many that I just gave it away to my Aunt since she couldn’t be there. 

Half Marathon #8 in the books!

Creating “Wins” Daily

Yesterday I asked the question, “How is your life different today than it was the same day last week.”  Personally, I couldn’t answer in the positive because I hadn’t made any significant changes for the better from week to week.  I came up with a personal challenge today while at lunch that will help me to meet my goals for the next year.  I figured if I get so many “wins” per week I would be that much closer to my goals.

First, we need to write our 5 year vision.  What do you want your life to look at spiritually, with your family, professionally, personal development, physical health, financial and socially/community?

Below are the areas in my life that I am going to try to “win” at daily, which in turn will help me “win” monthly and yearly.  I made some suggestions for myself on what a “win” in each category would be, but I can always add more “wins” as they happen.  Feel free to add some suggested “wins” if you can think of some. :)

Let me know if you decide to do this!  I would love a Life “Wins” Running Buddy to help me stay accountable!!  We need to give ourselves more credit for what we DO do, instead of ONLY beating ourselves up over what we don’t do.  Or letting ourselves slack over things we shouldn’t slack at.

Rules:

Multiple wins can be done per category per day. 

Each month I want to track how many “wins” I get and then try to increase it.  Maybe give myself a reward each quarter?  Like maybe XX-XX wins equal X prize for me. 

Write down your “wins” each day so you can go back and remember them on “bad days” when you need a little encouragement.

Spiritual Life

Go to church

Having a quiet time

Pray at every meal

Pray at night before I go to sleep

Invite someone to church

Pray with someone

Pray for someone

Go to a Bible study

Thank God for all the blessings as you see them

Volunteer at church or church event

Family Life

Talk to a family member

Spend time with a family member (quality time-no phone or TV!)

Professional Life

Get 5 New Leads a Day

Place 2 bookings on calendar a day

Sell $100

Have a party

Listen to the Million $ Message

Say business daily affirmations

Add someone to my team

Personal Development

Read 1 chapter of a personal development book

Listen to a training/motivational/sermon while getting dressed

Listen to a training/motivational/sermon while commuting to work/errands

Say personal daily affirmations

Read my 5 year life vision

Post a positive message on social media to inspire others

Say NO when someone tries to gossip to you

Slap my wrist when I try to gossip about someone (stop yourself before saying it)

Physical Health

Workout at Curves

Walk 1 Mile (1 “win” for each mile)

Get 10,000 steps on my fitbit

Eating a lean protein

Have a salad with an oil/vinegar dressing-no white stuff

Have a broth based soup before  a meal (or as a meal)

Bringing my lunch to work (healthy, no leftovers)

Walk the dog around the block

Do 30 minutes of exercise (non-Curves)

Resist something bad to eat

Lose 1 lb

Fit into the clothing size below

Sign up for a race or other physical challenge that you would need to train for

Financial Health

Bringing my lunch to work (homemade-not leftovers)

Saving $100 each week (1 “win” for each $100)

Earn and extra $30 (and save it)

Only 1 “cheat meal” a week

Social Life/Community Life

Seeing 1 friend in person

Talking to 1 friend

Doing a bucket list item

Doing a bucket list item with 1 or more friends

Trying something new

Sending an encouraging note to someone

Make someone smile

Do a random act of kindness

Give someone a (honest) compliment

Connect with an old friend

Have a friend workout with you

Meet a new friend while working out

Send a care package

Say “yes” to something you normally would say “no” to

How Is Your Life Different From Last Week?

How is your life different from one week ago?  I’ve had this thought running through my head for the past few weeks.  I get paid on Tuesdays and I was thinking about how much I saved from one week to the next.  Or how much I SPENT from last week to the next.  Or how much I have paid towards my student loans from last week to the next. Etc. etc. etc.

THEN I got to thinking, how has my LIFE changed from one week to the next. Did you make a step forward or backward in your career?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your relationship?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your walk with God?  Did you make a step forward or backward in your fitness?

To have a good YEAR you need good MONTHS.  For good MONTHS you need to have good WEEKS.  To have good WEEKS you need to have good DAYS.  To have good DAYS you need to have good HOURS.  To have good HOURS you need good Minutes. 

Let’s take the fitness example.  My goal is to lose 30 lbs this year.  Broken down by months that is 2.5 lbs per MONTH (OK, side note…as I am breaking it down by pound/month I am thinking I’m going to UP my goal, but for this post, I will keep it since I already did the math).  Or .625  lbs per week or .089 lbs per day.  Totally Do-able.

YOU CAN START A DIET IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAG OF POTATO CHIPS.

 

He looks so sad, doesn't he?  Lay's ARE really good though

So why don’t we?  We (or at least I do) WHINE and COMPLAIN that we are overweight or that we aren’t where we want to be in life.  We scroll through Facebook or Instagram and see other’s “achieving” the goals we set out for ourselves and then feel deflated because we don’t have those things. 

Two things:  

1.  FB is someone’s highlight reel and our reality is our entire movie.  We can’t judge our circumstances by their highlight reel. 

2.  We are quick to be envious of that person but we aren’t looking at the WORK it took to get there.  Granted, some people seem like they are given things (sometimes that’s true) but for the vast majority of people, they WORKED for it.  You only see the beautiful ballerina that is so graceful, while you trip going UP the stairs (that happened to me last week-yes, going UP).  You don’t see her aching, calloused feet beneath her satin slippers.  You don’t see that sales person bust their ass to earn that trip of a lifetime, you only get to see the pictures of them taking selfies from the Eiffel Tower on said trip.

 

Sorry (not sorry) for the graphic ballerina picture.

So, what can YOU (me included) do to make your life your dream life TODAY?  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time. 

Maybe you sell something that you bought that you don’t need anymore (did you ever need that??) and set that money aside for a debt payment.  Or you make that profile on match.com to see if you can find that one fish in the sea.  Or maybe you cannot eat that rice krispie treat that you REALLY WANTED at Newk’s today at lunch and eat fruit instead.   Or go walk a mile because you don’t can’t seem to do three miles right now.  Baby steps.

 

I love this movie BTW!!

So, anyone with me to make a change TODAY and then the next day and then the next day for your business, personal life, spiritual life, financial life, etc. better for tomorrow and then a month from now, and then a year from now?  The baby steps you take will create a snowball effect on your life to make you that much closer to your dream life and your dream circumstances.

Game Plan:

1.  Make a list of what you want your life to look like within 5 years.  Salary, relationships, financial fitness, physical fitness, etc. 

2.  Break that down by year. Then by months, days, hours, minutes, etc.  Keep in mind that you can't break it down exactly evenly.  Your snowball will take effect at some point and you will begin to see the "light at the end of the tunnel" and start to move faster towards you goal.   

3.  Start with one change at a time, otherwise you might become overwhelmed.  Example:  Don't plan on getting up at 5 am EVERY DAY, NO MATTER WHAT to workout and have a quiet time. Maybe get up 30 minutes earlier for a few weeks to do one or the other.  Then in a few weeks time, get up another 30 minutes earlier to do the other one.  Then a few weeks later add something else.  If you make it your goal to go to the gym for 3 hours a day, but you are tired (burned out) or have errands to run, you will beat yourself up for not doing the "NO MATTER WHAT" scenario in your head, which will leave you deflated and make you want to give up.  Baby Steps.

4.  Give your self a break.  

Remember, ALL OF THE WISHES AND PLAN MAKING WON'T WORK UNTIL YOU TAKE ACTION ON YOUR DREAMS.  You can WISH all you want but you have to go to WORK.

 I'm working on all of these things by the way.  Writing it all out helps me pinpoint my feelings.  I'm not preaching...unless you take it and run with it-then it's all me. LOL. :)

Wheel of Fortune Auditions

This weekend my sister and I traveled to Austin, TX (about 2.5 hours away) to try for a chance to be on the Wheel of Fortune.  I have tried out to be on two game shows in my life and they both just have happened to be within a few months of each other.  I need to make a post about the Family Feud.  Spoiler alert:  we didn’t get picked for either one! :)

How did find out about them?  My sister is a Wheel Watchers member and got an email.

Side note about the venue, First Texas Honda.  I loved this dealership, they were so welcoming to all of us.  I really enjoyed being there.

My sister and I left Houston about 8:15 am and stopped a few times along the way.  We were going to stop on the way to get food, but we decided to just wait until after we get our applications.  We got there and were able to make it inside before the line started to snake around the building.  They only give out 1,000 applications per hour and there are three times you need to stand in line. 

You fill out an application (see below) with your name and basic information.  The back of the card tells you the rules.  There were three different times and three different colors of applications.  Our application colors for this day were orange, pink, and blue (I might be wrong on the 2^nd color but that doesn’t matter).

 Edited out some personal info

How the application process works:  The first 1,000 stand in line and get the yellow applications.  About 30 minutes before they let you get out of line and go stand closer to the stage.  While the first set of tryouts are going on, the second set is lining up.  (We didn’t realize this and missed out on getting in line for the second set of auditions)  Technically you can get in line for all three auditions, but you have to make sure you can hear the announcer call your name if you are in line.  The line wraps around the outside of the building so it might be hard to hear the announcer.  By the time the first set of tryouts begin; the applications are all given away.

Each round goes the same, so make sure you get there early and get in line.  After you get your application turned in, go back immediately and get in line for the 2^nd line so you will be inside and get an application. 

How you get picked:  When you get your application filled out you can put it in the yellow box.  10 minutes before the start of the 2^nd round, all applications must be in it (per the back of the application) and they bring it to the stage.  They put all applications in a big raffle drum and pull names, 5 at a time.  The drawing is random and you are not guaranteed to get picked.  You have an 1 out of 1,000 (or 45/1000 chance since they choose about 45 people???  IDK about statistics.  LOL) shot at getting picked each round (depending on how many people are there, but just plan on all 1,000 applications being filled out).  The first time they draw for each round, they choose 10 people so 5 are in the waiting area being prepped each time.

Getting on stage:  Once you get your named drawn, your audition starts immediately.  They want you to be really loud and proud when you get picked.  (Think the Price is Right audience members that go crazy)  You go to the holding area and they give you instructions (I didn’t make this part so I can’t give you any clues).

Once someone solves the puzzle, those 5 members turn is up and it’s the next group of 5 peoples turn.  The announcer talks to each person for a few minutes and he seemed to talk longer to the people who had lots of personality.  Some people even did a trick or an act; some were funny and made everyone laugh.  I think the ones who had personality (singing, dancing, hula hooping, air guitaring, etc) were the ones who would make it to the next round. 

They would give everyone a puzzle to solve and ask the audience to SHHHHH!  Each of the 5 people were able to guess a letter and once someone solves it, everyone’s audition is over.  Everyone on stage gets some sort of Wheel of Fortune prize.  The prizes vary from t-shirts, fanny packs, collapsible bags, power packs, pics of Vanna  and Pat, cardboard wheel cutouts, light up pins, etc.  Rinse, lather, repeat.

After they called about 30-40 people (it seemed-I didn’t count) they take a break and start the next round.  BUT remember, while all this is going on, other people trying to get an audition are in line for the next set of auditions (three a day). 

2^nd chance drawing:  They take all of the applications back with them to Los Angeles (I think that’s where they said they were from) and choose a few random people to come back to audition a second time.  Not everyone who makes it on stage gets to go to the 2^nd round either.

2^nd round of auditions:  I have no idea; I haven’t been called or emailed about them.  Sorry! :)

Cruise Booked

I am sooooooo excited!!!  I just booked a cruise with my friend Clarissa in May!  I have never been on a cruise before and this has always been a bucket list item!  We booked a 7 Day Western Caribbean cruise on Royal Caribbean cruise line.  We will be going to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel during our trip.  I have already been to Roatan (my aunt has a vacation house there), but never to Belize or Cozumel.

Does anyone have any cruise tips for us?  Want to come with us (friends only please, no internet strangers!)?  Our trip cost $571 each with taxes and fees, which I think is reasonable.  We still have to pay for excursions once we dock, but everything else (like food and on ship entertainment) is included.   It works out to be about $82 per night, which is about the same if we were to pay for airfare/hotel/etc for a domestic trip.

Now on to the weight loss part of the trip.  I have gained sooooooo much weight in the past year due to various things and I need to get back on track!  As you can see on my countdown clock I created, I have 3 months (ish) left!  I figure if I can hunker down and really focus for the next 3 months, I can lose some serious weight for the trip.  My plan is to eat at home more (I’ve been doing better) and do a few cycles of the 21 Day Fix.  21 Day Fix focuses on portion control (see the below picture with the colorful boxes), 8-30 min workouts that focus on different areas (so you will only do the same workouts a few times), plus other stuff that I don't remember.

 

I have had the 21 Day Fix for a few weeks now, but I haven’t fully committed.  I am a person who needs a major goal to strive for (like a marathon) before I kick my booty in gear.  I have created a tracker for my workout area (another post to come) to have a visual reminder with.  I will tell you that my tracker involves colorful stickers, a calendar, and gold/silver sharpies.  :)

Anyone want to do the 21 Day Fix with me?  My friend Krista can hook you up with it.

26 Day of Writing

I have said before that I want to become a published author.  Whether that comes true with a picture book or a novel, it doesn't matter, I just want to write something.  Becoming published is even on my Bucket List!

I have been reading various blogs about writing and they all say that in order to become a writer, you must write! Duh!  I think they meant that you should spend the majority of your time writing, not going from website to website looking for the 'next big thing' to write about or worrying about finding an agent.  Find an agent and craft a query letter after you write your story.  All the lists you make and the mental notes you have in your head will not matter unless you have a story to tell.  Multiple stories too!  A lot of the times, agents want to see several things you have written, especially if it is just 1 picture book you are submitting (so I have heard from all my procrastinating 'research').

So, stop googling 'the art of writing' and start actually writing! You have been saying for years that writing is your dream, but what have you done to make that dream into a  reality???????  BTW, I am telling this to myself just as much as to anyone who finds themselves reading this post.

Got writers block?  Let's do this challenge for the month of June (or whenever you read this).  Write down all the letters from A-Z on a piece of paper, each of them on their own line.  Pick a letter, find a topic that starts with that letter and write a story about it, or maybe an idea that starts with that letter.  WRITE THE STORY!  Once it is done (or an outline of it if it is a novel), you can write the topic next to the corresponding letter.  For instance, say that C is about Cats or T is about Timezones, etc.

Note:  These are NOT some of my topics, but feel free to use them. ;)
A
B
C-Cat
D
E
F
G
H
I--Igloos in Iceland
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T-Timezones
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Overwhelmed?  Don't be!  Take each letter, one day at a time.  Eat that elephant! By the end of the month, you will either have 26 short stories or novel outlines to expand from.  Or perhaps your short stories can be picture books.  I think it might be hard to write a novel in a day (LOL), so plot outlines would work too.  Adjust this challenge to your situation.

Be creative and think outside the box.  Writing about Igloos in Iceland that are afraid of global warming and what they are doing about it, told from the igloos point of view?  Weird?  Yes!  It's outside the box.

At the end of this, your stories might be crazy and you might only like a few of them, but at least you wrote 26 stories and/or novel outlines.

Have FUN and tell me how it goes!  I am taking this challenge myself, so I will be in the trenches with you. :)

New Year, New You Challenge

There is 90 days left until the Driving Jacks 5K in April (well, there was when I thought of this!) and I want to be prepared for it.  No, I am not running in it, I am running it...planning it that is.  I was looking at the 2012 pictures and I was not a fan of how I looked, so this year I want to look healthier.  Part of my look from 2012 was based on no sleep, but that is beside the point.

I created a 90 Day New Year, New You Challenge between me and my friend Terrie.  Terrie and her mom are both running in the 5K, so they wanted to get in shape for it too.  I created a three month calendar for us to workout to. It really is just a calendar made in word that I added two little black dresses and the header too. Super easy to make.

Once you work out, you get a sticker or smiley face added.  Each sticker equals $1 and at the end of the month you get to total up your money and spend it on whatever you want.  Hopefully new clothes since you will be skinny!  Of course healthy eating will go along with this challenge, but I wanted to focus on movement.  I didn't want everyone to have to track calories and stuff, so I didn't include that in the challenge.  Plus, I am not shilling any magic product to make you lose weight, I just want to move myself and I do better with friends keeping me accountable.

"Rules" to get a gold star/smiley face/checkmark/sticker:

1.  A workout must be at least 1 mile or more (walking or running).  If you are a beginner, 1 mile is good, if you are not, challenge yourself and you decide what counts as a gold star-but be consistent with it

2.  OR a 45 minute workout in weights or cardio

3.  OR a 1 exercise DVD (at least 30-45 minutes)

I invited some FB friends to join us too and YOU are welcome to join as well.  I am going to try to send out weekly updates on my progress and motivation via email, but like evidenced in the past, I tend to slack off on my challenge updates.  

So, join us!  I would be happy to include you in the weekly emails.  Email me and I will add you random internet stranger. :)

p.s.  I plan on doing a few workouts from my pinterest board to knock out some of my 32 before 32 (which I haven't even started yet!  Yikes!).

Iroman May

Back in March I was reading another blog, HealthyTippingPoint.com and she was completing "Ironman March," which is where you do an entire Ironman, not in one day like a real Ironman, but over the course of a month.  I thought about doing the challenge in April, but with my trip I couldn't since I was going to be gone for half the month, instead I am doing it in May!!

I will have from May 1st through May 31st to swim 1.2 miles, bike 112 miles, and run 26.2 miles.  I will count spinning classes as bike mileage, and running on the treadmill and elliptical as running mileage.

Who's with me?