Am I really that old??

Warning MOM - do not read this because you will feel even older than I do.

I have to work on sunday during the day, so I figured that I would look around for a race that would force me to get out of bed in time to finish my long run. I found a half marathon that is being held about a mile from my house so I decided to sign up. When I got my confirmation I saw this:


At first I thought that they had made a mistake and sent me the wrong number, but with further investigation (read: looking at my driver's license and doing the math) I realized they were correct. I have offically moved up an age group and am entering the last of the 30s. How can this be? I am still 22 right? I dont actually turn 35 until October, but that still doesnt make me feel better. I was telling people incorrectly all year that I am 32 until I was corrected and reminded that, in fact, I am 34 and my little brother is 32. I long for the days when I would be mad when the age groups were in bundles of 10 becuase I didnt want to actually have to click something that said 39 when I was only 30. I guess I should not complain too much because things could be worse. I could have a 4 in front of my age instead of a 3.

Almost through with hell month

April has probably been the roughest work month I have had in a long time, hence the slacking on the blog front. Other than a ton of meetings/traveling, there is nothing too much to report. Last week I was in Puerto Vallarta with our divisional team, which means late nights, heavy food, and long days. I did get a full week of sea level/beach training in, which is always fun! We made it out one night to one of the local bars where I met some new big, sweaty friends.

Yesterday was my first race finally! It is a big race and ended up selling out, so I am glad I planned ahead and signed up. The plan was to run the 3 miles to the start, run the race and then do an easy jog home. There was a last minute change to the course due to the president coming through the area, which made for a difficult run to the start. As I was coming up to the starting area I realized that there were metal detectors everywhere, so we had to go around the park and come back. This added on another mile plus to my warmup. As I have said in the past, the races here are very well organized and well run and the volunteers are great, however I did have one issue this year - heavy human traffic. I know it was due to the last minute course change, so it really couldnt have been avoided. The first mile was run on residential streets instead of the main road here, cutting the size to about half of what we normally would have, causing a huge jam. I had a few people around me stumble and fall and noone could really pick up the pace much faster than a fast walk until we hit the 1.5 K mark. After that we spread out a bit and were able to pick up the pace. I was feeling good really the entire time with no stomach issues (I drank only water at each station) or breathing problems. As soon as we hit 8K, the traffic started up again. The runners converged with the 5K walkers and there was once again a cluster that we couldnt get around. Most of the runners started having to walk unfortunately, but again I think this was due to the course change. I wasnt too worried about it since I never expect fast races in Mexico City and this was really just a tempo run in the middle of my long run for the week, but there were a few of angry people shoving their way through. After the race I ran home weaving around even more barriers that had been set up for whatever was going on. 14 miles later I was home where I parked it on the couch to watch the Hills marathon.

Sick or lack of Protein?

Yesterday I woke up more exhausted than normal even though I slept through the night (this is a rare occurance because of the two dogs and the many times I normally get up to pee in the night), but got dressed and made my way to the gym. I got on the treadmill for a 9 mile workout that I had planned. When I got to mile 5 and could barely turnover my feet, I knew it was time to call it a day. I was drained and felt like I was getting sick. Here is the picture of me after running. I have looked like this before, but normally my eyes are only this puffy after downing many shots of tequila and getting 2 hours sleep.

At work I tried to eat lunch and my body was so tired I almost threw up anything that I was swallowing, so I decided to go home and take a nap. 3 hours later and I felt ok enough to try and eat again. I decided that all of this could also mean I was low on iron, protein or anything else, so I abandoned my pescetarian diet for the evening and had some grilled chicken and a large salad. I was in bed at 9 and slept in this morning getting about 10.5 hours of sleep. I feel much better today and am going to attempt yesterday's run again this afternoon.
I am still not sure if my new diet was to blame or if it was because I was getting sick and ended up getting enough rest to ward off any problems. I felt great for about a month of the diet, so I am inclined to think it was something I was coming down with. Though if it happens again I will adjust my eating habits accordingly.
It is spring here and the jacarandas are in full bloom - this is mexico's version of the bluebonnet. They are gorgeous and streets are lined with these trees in full bloom. It makes running outside that much better.

This week is a big week in the city and security is out in full force. We have the first lady staying at the hotel where I work out of, which means that you have to pass through the same security system you do at the airport anytime you want to enter the hotel. It has made me late to several morning meetings because I normally am carrying in at least two bags a large coffee and bottle of water. This morning one guy must have remembered me because he didnt search my gym bag like he did yesterday when he got an unpleasant surprise of sweaty clothes and smelly shoes. I am hoping to catch a glimpse of Mrs Obama, but security is so tight I doubt it will actually happen. I hope everyone is having a great week!

P.S. Sorry for any spelling errors now or in the future (yes mom this is for you since I know you are mentally correcting my spelling as you read). My computer has been switched over to the spanish language and I dont know how to change it. So unless you want to read about life here in spanish, you will have to deal with the misspellings.

Food Rules

My brother recently got every girl in our family Food Rules (not really sure what he is trying to tell us). When he came to visit us he informed me that he was now a pescetarian after reading the book. This coming from the boy who ate an entire meat lovers dominos pizza a day and in college existed on meat and potatoes. I finally sat down to read it while I was waiting for our plane in austin, and decided to try out what the book says for a while. It is all stuff that we all know already, but he breaks everything down into one simple statement - eat food, mostly plants, but not too much. I have been trying this for about two weeks, and it is hard! I realized that almost every day I am eating something from a box (cereal, granola, etc) and in two out of three meals I am eating chicken or steak. Not only am I still craving meat, but things are harder since Chris is not changing his eating habits at all and gets really annoyed that now he has to cook two dinners instead of one. I am really trying to eat as much fish as possible to get enough protein as I am not a tofu person. But I am very lucky to live in a place where there are plenty of cheap fresh fruit and vegetable markets so I stock up several times a week which really helps. I also found that I cant really deviate much from what I eat or I will run into trouble (IE not having a clue what I can eat that doesnt involve something coming out of a box). I think it is too early to tell if there are any changes, but I highly recommend the book, especially since you can finish it in about an hour.
After spending a total of 20 hours on the trainer last week, I am giving my bum a break and have another 60 mile run week this week. I also spent the better part of lunch yesterday signing up for some races. Here is what we have for the next few months:
4/25 - 10K in Mexico City
5/2 - Half Marathon Mexico City
5/16 - 15K Mexico City
6/13- 15k Mexico City
6/20 - Half Marathon Mexcio City
8/22 - Mexico City Half Marathon (I may end up running the full depending on how training is going)
9/12 - Chicago Half Marathon
Thanksgiving Turkey trot
12/5 - Las Vegas Half Marathon

I am still deciding on an October or November marathon (NYC maybe) to add in there as well, and will hopefully get a few chances to do some 5Ks and 10Ks in Houston. I know this schedule keeps changing but at least now I am not as much of a slacker and have actually signed up for these so I wont show up the day before to a sold out race.

Austin weekend

Once again Austin was fantastic. Every time we go there we dream about moving there. Problem is, no jobs. So we are still bound to Mexico City for the near future but will continue to hope that one day we can get there. Friday night was a little later of a night than we are normally used to, so the race Saturday was a joke. I waited until 30 minutes before the start to even get out of bed and made it to the start line just as the gun went off. So much for warming up, eating or even getting my chip. Chris decided to spend his time going to Whataburger to get a burger to soak up the night before's alcohol. It was hilly and my legs hurt from the 9 miles of 400s and 800s I had done the day before, and all I could think about was what I was going to have for lunch. After the race we headed to Hula Hut to enjoy some food outside by the lake and while we were walkin in, I saw a girl that had been marked up for a triathlon that day. I got sad for a bit since I miss them so much, but quickly got over it when I had the chips and salsa in front of me.
That night was the wedding and it went off without a hitch with both bride and groom saying I do. Here are a few pictures below. I will post more, but Chris has them and wont let me upload anything until he approves of what they look like. These were pulled from a friend's website.


Oh and possibly some really good news - On our way home from the airport on Sunday Chris saw a swimming pool! He went by yesterday and it was closed, so I am not getting my hopes up, but it would be great to sneak in at least 2 swims a week and possibly do the triathlon in august.

Hump day post

Last night while I was on the trainer I started watching the celebrity fit club that I had DVRd - don't judge. It was an especially hard workout of whose affects I still felt this morning on my run, so I really needed some mindless crap to get me through the 2 hours. And I find that watching once skinny famous* people who are now fat motivating. Watching a former baywatch chick who now couldnt fit into her red suit keeps me going during those hard-as-hell intervals. But last night I realized something - a couple of these ladies dont weigh much more than I. I realize I have more muscle and it weighs more blah blah, but the fact is, at least two would not qualify for Clydesdale status in a race. I guess this show is so low rent that these were the fattest celebs that VH1 could get to participate. I think one of them had about 10 lbs to lose during the whole show to get to her goal weight. Chris can do that after eating a taco off the street here. There are some funny moments in the show that keep me coming back for more. Like the time Bobby Brown s**t his pants. I can relate. I have come mighty close to that a few times too while doing some long runs.
We leave tomorrow to head back to Texas and eat our weight in queso. I. Cant. Wait. I also have my first run of the season. It is just a 5k and I have very low expectations since I have been sick, but it will be a good way to see where I am fitness wise. And no, we are not flying two hours just so I can run a 5K. We have a friend's wedding in Austin, and I can kill three birds with one stone - running the race, seeing Austin friends, and hitting the wedding. Plus we are staying at the Four Seasons, and I never miss an opportunity to get pampered.
Happy hump day everyone!
*I use both of these terms loosely as some of them were never fit to begin with and very few are above Z list status.

Turns out it was a Virus

So after feeling crappy for a few days, I finally felt back to 100% on Sunday and just in time to get in a 2 hour trainer ride, a good core workout and a lite jog. It was great to feel the pain of the trainer again. Today I am back at it full force on the running front and not a moment too soon because I finally have my first race this weekend in Austin. It is a short one, but I am excited to feel like I might pass out from running so hard once again. I am going to use at least one run this weekend to get my legs to remember how to turnover and go faster than they have in a while. I hope they learn quickly!
The bad news is that Chris has whatever it was that I had and has to suffer through it for the next few days. I am sure he will feel well enough by Thursday to comfort me through the 2 hour plane ride that awaits us.

This past weekend was the NYC half marathon and my brother ran a great race. He PRed by 15 mins - WAY. TO. GO. DUDE.

No, he doesnt normally wear tri gear to running races, but I couldnt find a photo from yesterday, so this just will have to do. I wish I had been there. I am sure the weather was way better than last year's barf fest that I ran. I think it was a smart move to change it from August to March. I already have it on my calendar to run next year with the little bro.