Motivation Monday: Fast Metabolism Diet Week 1

Enjoying my Phase 1 Mango Strawberry Mint Smoothie with Brewer

I've mentioned a couple of times that I was going to be trying a "diet" called The Fast Metabolism Diet soon. Well today is Day 10 for me and it's been flying by! I've decided that each Monday I'll share a weekly diary for the entire 28 days (and beyond if I do in fact do 6 weeks instead of 4 like I'm planning) in the hopes that if someone else is considering it, they can see how easy it is.

A little background info: the "diet" was created by nutritionist Haylie Pomroy and the reason I call it a "diet" quote unquote is because it's unlike any other fad diet I've heard of before. There is no counting calories and as far as portions go, the more you want to lose, the more you have to eat. Every time I tell people what I'm eating on this diet they seem surprised.

I also hate the word diet. I've never dieted before in my life... but I've never really eaten healthy before either. So as much as I want to shed a few pounds of holiday weight before Coachella, the main reason FMD was interesting to me was the hope that it would jump start healthier eating habits. For instance: Cheez-Its, sugar-free Red Bull and gummy bears should not count as a meal.

Without further adieu, here's how I survived my first week of FMD... and the caffeine withdrawals.

Day 1 - Saturday Phase 1
I'm super excited to start. I spent this past Thursday night cooking Chicken and Barley Soup for my Phase 1 lunches and did a huge grocery shopping last night in preparation. Hit a snafu this morning when my new Hamilton Beach single-serve blender started smoking while making my oatmeal and pineapple smoothie. Was too nervous to continue blending so it was less than smooth when I drank it - oh well. The soup came out great for lunch. Snacked on apples and kiwis. Made the Chicken and Broccoli Bowl for dinner and tried to double the recipe - did not go so well. Came out bland but decent. Felt great all day, about my decision to start, my preparedness and my meals.

Day 2 - Sunday Phase 1
Holy Jesus God, my head. Caffeine withdrawal has hit and it hit hard. Let me paint you a picture of an average day in my pre-FMD life: At 7am, I drink a 12oz Red Bull on the drive to work. At 8am, I settle into my desk at work with a nice cup of Earl Grey. 8:30am, second cup. Around 9am and 11am I drink a Diet Coke each. 3pm, more black tea. After work, depending on what I'm doing, I drink an 8-12oz Red Bull before I go out. Diet Cokes with dinner often follow.

My point is, you're probably not nearly as bad as me... so don't let me scare you. But I can feel my head throb with every heartbeat and I am battling some severe narcoleptic tendencies and occasional nausea. That being said, my Fat-Burning Mango Smoothie this morning was DELICIOUS. I added some strawberries and blended it with my second new Hamilton Beach single-serve blender (I had bought two so I could bring one to the office). Lunch was more Chicken and Barley Soup and dinner was leftover Chicken and Broccoli Bowl - I added balsamic vinegar this time and it tasted great. Even though I was barely functional, I capped the day off with a 2 mile walk to and from the dog park. Felt a little burpy from all the fruit, but other than that and the withdrawals, I do feel great.

Day 3 - Monday Phase 2
My first work day and I'm nervous about how this diet will work in the real world. Woke up to my slow cooker warming my finished Beef, Kale and Leek soup for my Phase 2 lunches. Doled out portions for this week and froze portions for next. Then hurried to prep my Turkey Bacon and Celery with Lime Juice and Sea Salt for breakfast so I could eat within 30 minutes of waking up. It's starting to feel like all I do is cook and prep foods - hoping that my frozen meals will mean less of this in the coming weeks. No signs of caffeine withdrawal (yet) and I feel full of energy for the day.

Around noon, my caffeine withdrawal comes back with unparalleled rage. I just finished my soup for lunch (and am already feeling a little sick of and icked out by all the meat), when it hits. I try to pound ice cold water and do some right-nostril breathing (my desperate Googling told me this would work) and nothing helps. Everything is foggy and conversations with people at work are physically painful. Someone starts talking about brownies in the breakroom and I almost cry, desperate for any morsel of caffeine the chocolate might have. I would actually maybe kill someone for a Diet Coke.

Come dinnertime, I'm skeptical about the recipe for Cinnamon and Mustard Baked Chicken but it comes out amazing. Best meal yet and the house smelled so good. Switch the Lemon and Garlic Spinach with Asparagus and used crushed garlic instead of minced... delicious. I could eat this for dinner every night.

Day 4 - Tuesday Phase 2
Up at the sound of my alarm and in the kitchen for more Turkey Bacon and Celery with Lime Juice and Sea Salt. Was actually looking forward to it this morning. Had tons of energy and was wide awake getting ready for work - that's a first. Couldn't resist an early weigh-in and saw that I was down 6lbs! I'm skeptical but can't believe I could be down any weight with how much I've eaten and no exercise (minus the walk). Snacks today are Sweet and Spicy Buffalo Jerky from Trader Joe's and they taste so much better than the Teriyaki Turkey Jerky I had yesterday. Main meals are both dupes and leftovers from yesterday - it's nice to not have to worry about cooking for once. Mild headaches throughout the afternoon but nothing at all like yesterday. The withdrawal is finally subsiding.

At night, friends come over and I'm only mildly bummed that I'm not participating in the beers, Mexican food and Thin Mints. Luckily, I'm stuffed from dinner so it's not too tempting.

Day 5 - Wednesday Phase 3
Hooray! I'm ready for the "easy" phase of the week. It's a welcome reprieve after Phase 2. For breakfast I have the Berry Nutty Oatmeal Smoothie (after an emergency run to the gas station for sunflower seeds... definitely not as prepared for the foods in this phase) and half a cucumber. On my way to work I stop at Sprouts to remedy that and pick up some tomatoes and olives for lunch, hummus for snacks, some living basil and sprouted grain bread. Carrying two grocery bags into work feels ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as having living basil for an office plant. Cucumber and hummus for my first snack of the day - god, I am so glad to be eating snacks I would normally choose. For lunch I have the Olive and Tomato Salad with a couple of slices of turkey thrown in and it's super yummy. For my second snack of the day I have Celery Sticks with Almond Butter... my first time trying Almond Butter. I don't know what I expected when I heard the name, but I didn't realize it was like peanut butter... only better.

After work, I have to go back to the grocery store for chicken. Really? I think this is my 5th time in a grocery store this week. Part of this is my fault for not being more prepared and writing the foods out, but partly, it's because of all the perishable items. Whatever the case, I'm so excited about tonight's dinner, I don't even mind the extra trip. I cook up the Coconut Curry Chicken and it is AMAZING. Just as amazing as it sounds. Ryan isn't doing the diet, but he definitely enjoyed this one for dinner.

Day 6 - Thursday Phase 3
My alarm goes off at 6am each day and I hardly hit snooze anymore. Usually in the mornings, I'm so drowsy it hurts to open my eyes, but the past couple of days, I've slept soundly and woken up almost instantly when my alarm goes off. I had plans to try one of the other breakfasts on the Phase 3 list but most of them involve toast - and guess what we don't have? A toaster! I want to buy one off Amazon but all the highest rated ones are Hamilton Beach and after the blender experience...

I opt for another Oatmeal Berry Smoothie and pack up raw almonds, cucumbers and hummus for snacks. For lunch I make a spinach, tomato, olive and hummus salad with turkey and balsamic vinegar. When the hummus and vinegar mix, it turns into the best balsamic vinaigrette I've ever had. After work, I head to bikram for the first time in months. The exercise for Phase 3 is yoga.. though I'm not sure if this counts. Bikram feels a lot more like cardio than relaxation, though it's relaxing to me! Dinner is leftover Coconut Curry Chicken... not that I'm complaining.

Coconut Curry Chicken 

Day 7 - Friday Phase 3
The last day of Week One! I can't believe how healthy I've eaten this week. The only thing I've drank this week is water and the only foods I've eaten were healthy, organic, home-cooked meals. I ate breakfast every day. These are life achievements! I've never, ever in my life had a week as healthy as this.

Another Oatmeal Berry Smoothie and more hummus related snacks. For lunch I make a turkey sandwich on sprouted grain bread with hummus, basil, tomatoes, and olives. A little stressed about it because it wasn't preplanned and I'm not sure if it counts - I am kind of freestyling today with whatever's left in the fridge and meets the list. At dinnertime, I cook another really tasty, SUPER easy meal and my second favorite so far: Chicken and Quinoa Risotto. Of course... it wasn't without it's own trip to the grocery store for yet more chicken. For this dish, I cooked the chicken in olive oil for a few minutes, tossed in red and yellow bell peppers and onion slices, then garlic and took it off heat. Then you mix in the hummus and basil, coating everything in this layer of flavor, then adding the quinoa (which was cooking in the rice cooker). It was so, so yummy.

Friday night was a lowkey one for us, so luckily there wasn't too much temptation alcohol-wise, but all in all my first week went great. I stuck to the diet flawlessly, didn't cheat once and beat my caffeine withdrawal. At the end of Week 1, I feel really optimistic that I'll be able to see this thing through... as long as I get better at planning my grocery store runs. And though I only exercised 1 of the 3 days, I saw great results! I'll try to get at least a couple more workouts in next week.

FMD Week 1 Weight Loss: 7 lbs

(Un)Motivation Thursday: My Carlsbad (Not) Training Plan

The Carlsbad Marathon is 6 weeks away and I haven't been running at all.

Like at all. My last logged runs were in the first week of November. Before that it was sporadic over the course of September and October. Before that.... was 26.2 miles on June 2nd.

I think I'm in trouble.

By this point in my training for the Rock N Roll, I had logged about 200 miles. Obviously I can't pull those miles out of thin air now. Truthfully? I don't want to. It's dark by the time I get home at night and I don't feel safe running alone in the dark. And with the holiday season, it feels like there is so much to do after work and no time to do it. Running just doesn't seem to fit into the plan. Plus... it's cold out.

You know what's not cold? The Bikram studio. Which is where I've been hiding while I haven't been running. It feels necessary to go there this time of year, not only for the warmth, but for the way it slows down life for 90 minutes. As I spend more time back in the studio, I remember why I fell in love with it in the first place. I had the chance to go on Thanksgiving morning last week (above) and it was so nice to be able to start my day that way. I wish I had the flexibility in my schedule to start every day with bikram.

But back to the marathon: I had a moment of panic over the weekend and looked into switching to the half but it's too late. So I have a Plan B: I'm going to start training for LA and just pretend Carlsbad is one of my long runs for that training. Either way, I have to let go of any stress I have over it and focus on what I can achieve before then.

Am I the only one who's ever been totally unprepared for an upcoming marathon? Probably.

11/18/13 - 11/24/13 Health and Fitness Stats:

• 3-Day recovery / rest week 

11/25/13 - 12/1/13 Health and Fitness Stats:

• bikram x3

Motivation Monday: You Better Work, B....

Britney Spears's new song "Work Bitch" is a gift from the workout gods.

That is really all I have to say on this gorgeous Motivation Monday. Those headphones I'm listening to up there? They're playing "Work Bitch." Do you know what song I listened to approximately 57x on my runs this weekend? I listened to "Work Bitch." It's perfect. It's like a coach screaming at you the whole time you're working out only your coach is awesome and you know that if she can break down and shave her head and lose total control of her finances and two small children and still get her bangin' body back, then dammit, so can you. You just have to work for it. Bitch.

I feel good about my workouts this past week. I got back on the road twice in one week which is promising and both times I felt so relaxed after. It made me realize truly how much I need my runs. I was supposed to start CrossFit but conflicts caused the trainer to cancel class. That adventure starts this week. I got to bikram once and got Ryan to come with me on a 3-Day training walk as well. All of this coupled with a lot of healthy home cooking made this a successful kickoff to the marathon madness that is about to begin in a week or two.

9/16/13 - 9/22/13 Health and Fitness Stats:

• bikram x1
• ran 2 days for a total of 9 miles 
• walked 4 miles for the 3-Day

Motivation Monday: Front of the Class

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away called "This Past June," I said the following:

For the next three months, my goal is to get to [bikram yoga] class a minimum of three times each week. 

I bought a monthly unlimited membership at my Bikram studio and had nothing but the best intentions to go all summer long. But you know what they always say about making plans: "Why exercise when you can take a nap?"

Anyway. I dragged my yoga-less butt to bikram last week not once, not twice, but thrice and I'm proud of it. It felt good to be back and this is the time of year when doing bikram feels more right to me. By October there will be enough of a chill in the air that I won't feel completely insane, like I do in the summer, opting to leave a 90° house for a 105° studio. 

This week I also found a new favorite spot in the room. I typically head straight for the back wall, right in the middle of the room where I can hide and not demotivate anyone with my tendency to give up in certain postures. But this week I opted right for the front left spot and I felt stupid for not doing it sooner. You have full view of yourself from the front AND the side and in my studio, it's closest to the door which means not having to step in pools of other people's sweat on my way out. Genius!

The best part about being in the front of the class? Accountability. In fact I noticed that I felt less tempted to lay down during some of the aforementioned postures I normally savasana during. I think that I owe it all to knowing that for once, everyone could see me. No more hiding in the back. 

So here I am, in all my sweaty, yoga-ed out bliss after class last Thursday. This shall serve as my embarrassing "Before Picture" since I am determined to bring Motivation Monday back for good and get on a serious pre-vacation exercise routine this fall. And trust me, 3 months of bikram does a body good. ;)

8/19/13 - 8/25/13 Health and Fitness Stats: 

• went to 3 bikram classes

Motivation Monday: Back to Bikram

************Don't forget!! There are only hours left in my Runner's Raffle! Enter here!************

Bikram. That word probably makes my boyfriend and friends cringe whenever they hear me say it, knowing the testimonials and lectures and overall gushing praise that follows after it. People often say that bikram is like a cult and there are plenty of parodies that make fun of Bikram yoga. Well, I'm here to tell you that there is truth to all of it. It really is as ridiculous as the parodies make it seem. And I am a proud and occasionally obsessed cult follower. 

So seriously guys. Let's talk about Bikram. 

Now that the marathon is over, I don't want to lose the momentum that I gained during my training. Weight-wise, I plateaued around Week 9/12 and at this point, running would be maintenance but nothing more. More importantly, it wouldn't do anything (much) for my core, which is the next thing I want to concentrate on. Which is why, a week after crossing the finish line, my summer of Bikram began. I finally signed up for unlimited auto-renewal membership at my studio instead of yoga-ing along sporadically with whatever Groupon and LivingSocial deals were available. 

The last time that I went to Bikram regularly (3-4x/week), I lost about 10 lbs and never felt better in my life. If you don't know what Bikram is, let me explain by telling you what it isn't: 

• It's not an ancient practice. Bikram is named after the man who created it, Bikram Choudhury, in the 1970s. 
• It's not "hot yoga" - yes, the room is heated but this is very different than going to a hot yoga class at your local studio. 
• It's not something that just anyone can teach - Bikram studios are franchises that Choudhury gives licenses to and instructors have passed intensive teacher training that he leads for two months each year in Los Angeles. 
• It's not something that requires you to be flexible or have any kind of yoga experience. Until Bikram I had never once in my life been able to bend over and touch my toes and I had never taken a proper yoga class or done a single downward dog. 
• And it's not something that only young, hot vegans and celebrities do - on any given night in my studio, the age range is from 15-75, the male to female gender ratio is 1:1, and the body type ranges from the giant Chargers players that drop in to the lithe stereotypes you've heard about. 

For the next three months, my goal is to get to class a minimum of three times each week. Just like with marathon training, my Motivation Monday posts will now consist of me confessing my successes and obstacles in this new self-imposed fitness challenge. My first two classes back last week were pretty standard for me as far as whenever I start back up again after a long sabbatical: lots of savasana and feeling nauseous. But hopefully, as I keep going, I can share with you just how much of a positive impact Bikram has on my life and my health and all of the positive things that made me fall in love with it! Have you ever tried Bikram?

6/10/13 - 6/16/13 Health and Fitness Stats: 

• went to 2 bikram classes
• lost 1 lb

My Summer To-Do List

Brewer, Banjo, and their friend Barkley during our group picnic in Balboa Park //  Ryan and I aboard The Privateer //  Common dolphins during our sunset cruise // A DIY success! Painted the pot, macrame-ed the hanger and install a ceiling hook for our Goldfish Plant // 3D tiger art made entirely out of beer bottle caps on exhibit at Gelato Vero // Post-marathon BBQ in the backyard :)

I still can't believe it's June already! It's been a beautiful, busy spring so far in San Diego and even though I've been mostly tied up in training, work, and school, we've still managed to fit in quite a bit of fun stuff: a Devendra Banhart concert, a sunset cruise around the Bay, watching all four seasons of Arrested Development (well, almost - a few episodes to go!), a couple of home improvement projects, some BBQs, some disc golf, a little dog beach, a little dog park, a picnic at Balboa and lots of froyo runs in place of bar nights. Now with the marathon out of the way and my class winding up, summer is almost here and I'm ready to make the most of it!

My ever-growing summer to-do list is in addition to my overall 2013 goals, most of which are still in progress. These are the things that have come up throughout the first half of the year or that are summer-specific.

1. Bedroom remodel! Time to settle on a shade of turquoise and start painting! Bedroom remodel post here!
2. Spend a lot more time in the hammock. 
3. Ride bikes down to the bay and have a bonfire picnic. 
4. Run at least 1 half marathon (any suggestions in SoCal?).
5. Raise $1500 of my $2300 3-Day fundraising goal. 
6. Cook 1-2 new dinners each week. 
7. Bikram my butt off until I've lost 8lbs.
8. Go camping at San Onofre with the dogs.
9. Day trip to San Clemente. 
10. Get the @SanBriego follower count up to 1,000! Done! Broke 1,000 on 7/18/2013!!

What are your plans for the summer?

Motivation Monday: Running My First Marathon

I did it! Three months of training all came to an awesome end yesterday as I completed my first marathon. I can't believe it's over. Since it might be my first and only full marathon, I want to remember every detail. Get ready for a marathon of a recap!

Last week was terrible. I mean, the stress of race day was overwhelming. I really did not feel prepared AT ALL and when I ran what was supposed to be one of my last 3 runs, a 5-miler on Tuesday night, my body felt TERRIBLE. Particularly my quads. The next day they both hurt, but my left quad felt like it was ready to snap. I made the call then to skip my last two runs and go back to bikram instead.When the bikram class seemed to hurt more than help, I started getting really nervous about getting injured or pulling something before or during the race. Then, I started to think back about all the running and cross-training I should have done during these past 3 months. I had 2 18 milers and 3 20 milers in my training plan and of those 5 long runs, I only did 1 of each. I started to get even more panicky as the week went on.

But the expo Friday night helped calm my fears a bit. Getting into the expo and feeling the excitement and seeing the crowd, I realized that no matter what happened, this was going to be a great experience. The expo encouraged this realization in a couple of ways. One, there were so many people from out of town visiting my city to run. It made me proud of San Diego and I thought back to my first visits here and how exciting that was. It doesn't take much for me to get a renewed sense of appreciation for this amazing city.

The second thing that the expo did was put the size of the race into a visual reality. Aside from the Disneyland Half, this has to be the largest race I've ever been a part of. After the Foxy Trail Half last month, which only had about 200 runners, I was so grateful for the sheer volume of runners: there were 9,000 marathoners registered (though it looks like only 6500 finished). I'm not fast by any means (my planned pace was 11-12 minute miles) and since my only goal was to finish, I really didn't want a repeat of Foxy where it was a bunch of speed demons and then me crawling across the finish. Luckily, the Rock N Roll was nothing like that. There wasn't a single pretentious marathoner in the bunch, or at least, in my bunch. It was just a bunch of runners looking to have a fun race in America's Finest City!

The night before the race, I was too nervous to eat. I forced down two slices of pizza and somehow managed to fall asleep around 9:30pm. Surprisingly, I slept well and woke up to my first alarm at 4am ready to go. I took a shower to wake up, got dressed, drank some Nuun, ate a Clif bar, pinned my bib on and headed out the door. It was so dark out but the second I walked out of my driveway and onto the street, I was met with about 50 people setting up a water station right in front of our house! It was really happening!

                 
I called my dad on the east coast and talked to him while I walked the mile up to Balboa Park where the starting line and racing village were. It was nice to be able to walk to a race and not worry about traffic or parking or getting there on time. In the park, I saw more people than I have ever seen in Balboa. 30,000 total runners were registered for the half and the full marathons, and there were tons of volunteers. I was also surprised to find water and breakfast tents with bagels and bananas for the runners. I've never had that at a starting line before.

I had about an hour to go before the marathon began, so I checked my gear bag, grabbed a banana and headed to the grass to eat and stretch. When they started calling marathoners to the corrals 45 minutes later, I think I walked over like I was walking to my death: I must have looked terrified. I moved into the second to last corral and stood there full of emotions. When they did a moment of silence for Boston and then sang the National Anthem, I lost it. I felt like such a dork when I started to cry, but thankfully I wasn't the only one. Soon enough my corral was at the starting line and we were off. I made the decision then not to listen to music or use my Nike+ because I was worried about my phone battery making it to the end of the race. Going rogue without GPS was probably one of the best decisions I made about the race.

The race itself was GREAT. For one thing, we couldn't have had better weather. It was overcast and a cool 60° degrees the whole time. I have never been so thankful for June Gloom. The first 9 miles were all roads I've run before while training which was great. We started out in Hillcrest where we had some hilarious spectators dancing and cheering for us. Then we moved through downtown and Petco Park into Little Italy where we passed the 10k mark. The tunnel on India Street was decked out in lights and was one of the coolest parts of the race, both literally and figuratively. As we got closer to my house, I was so excited to see Ryan. I was also surprised by my friend and neighbor Anjali and her pup Bauer who came out to cheer as well! Ryan had a sign for me painted on the back of the truck and after a quick, sweaty hug, I was back on the road. I passed by our house a little earlier than when I'd planned on it, which meant that I was running 10 minutes miles - not too fast to worry, but worth taking note.

The next few miles took us through Old Town and up Morena Blvd over to Mission Bay. One of my favorite water stations was the faux Margaritaville set up around Mile 10. Heading into the Bay was a relief, because I've trained and raced there and love running by the water. I crossed the half marathon mark there at 2:29:55 and made a quick bathroom stop once I saw a Porto Potty with no lines. Then I raced on to Mile 15 where I  told myself I could finally walk. I should mention now that my race plan was to run straight through to Mile 15, walk to 16, run to 20, walk to 21, and then see how to handle the last five miles once I got there. A random spectator with pizza handed me a slice at the start of my walk through Mile 15 and it was definitely a highlight of the race.

With pizza in hand I walked through Bay Park to Mile 16 then starting running again on my way back up Morena Blvd into Fashion Valley. I got to Mile 19, right in front of the mall and before the 2 miles on the 163 Freeway and my body suddenly quit. I jogged over to the Medical tent, downed some Advil and sat and stretched on the grass for at least 5 minutes, probably more. When I finally stood back up, I knew that I was walking the two miles to Mile 21. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who felt this way. Almost every single person around me stopped running when we got on the freeway and it was obvious why. The 2 mile stretch didn't have any spectators, was uneven, and uphill. It was a good time to walk. Not for the juggling marathoner though: one runner ran by me juggling three balls high in the air as he completed the marathon!

I started right on the exit off of the 163 and about 200 feet later, my friend Maria came out to run with me! I could have cried I was so happy to see her. Maria ran a marathon in China over the Great Wall and has run the Rock N Roll San Diego before. She also happens to be one of the best people I know. Running with her made me realize how much I miss having someone to run with. I haven't really had that since Cross Country in high school and I think it totally changes things for me. My two miles running with her gave me a second wind as I headed from Hillcrest to North Park and suddenly I was flying. When she left, I finally put on some music and the obvious choice was Ke$ha's Warrior album. I've trained with that for about 90% of my runs and it completely re-energized me. I took off and started running 9-10 minute miles for the last 3.5 miles of the course. Coming down towards the finish line, I was so full of emotion and excitement.

I was pretty shell-shocked as I wandered aimlessly through the finish line area. Jamba Juice was there with smoothies, so I downed two of those and picked up my bag at Gear Check while on the phone with Ryan trying to find each other. We met up and took a cab back home where I immediately hopped in the shower while he cooked me some food. Did I mention I have the best boyfriend in the world? 

I also have the best friends in the world for that matter. A couple of hours after the race, our friends came over for a post-marathon celebration and BBQ bearing champagne and beer and hugs and some gorgeous flowers from my friend Bonnie. I shocked myself by being far more mobile and not at all as sore as I expected to be, when it hit me all at once: I actually trained enough! All of the blogs and articles I read that promised me I had trained more than I felt like I did were right for once. So, we had a great day of drinking and talking and eating and of course, making drunk Vines of our late night dance parties and group sing-a-longs to 90s music videos on YouTube. Best. Friends. In the World. 

All things considered, I am a pretty lucky girl. Lucky to have my health and be able to run a full marathon. Lucky to live in this gorgeous city and have perfect training and racing weather. Lucky to have the support system that I do. I know that hard work and choices are what yields achievements like this, but whenever I sit back and think about it, so much of it feels like luck to me. And for that, I am endlessly grateful. I could not have asked for a more perfect marathon experience!

5/27/13 - 6/2/13 Health and Fitness Stats: 

• ran 2 days for a total of 31.2 miles 
• went to 1 bikram class
• ran 94 miles in the month of May
• completed my first marathon with an official time of 5:37:58