Steph Says: Reading For Miles

You ever have one of those moments during a run where you think "If that song comes on one more time, I swear. SWEAR. I will strangle a squirrel"? No? Just me?

The BEST (sarcasm) is when it happens in the middle of a long run. I'm already pretty pissed off because I've already wogged 7 miles and still have like a bajillion to go, and then THAT SONG comes on and I rip out my earbuds and snarl in frustration while my feet just keep pounding the pavement- literally POUNDING like a herd of tired, irritated, achy elephants- and I'm just like I'M DONE. I HATE RUNNING. I hate waking up early on Saturdays. I hate the way these shoes feel on my arches. I hate the way my shirt tag is making my back itch. I hate this stupid street and the stupid crack on the sidewalk that I'm about to trip over and the stupid stupid stupid fact that I'm torturing myself just because I said I would train for XYZ race and I can't back down now!!!

The song is different every time. It's not one song in particular. It's just me, in the moment, getting violently angry because I am grumpy and hangry when I run.

But I digress.

My sister-in-law listens to audio books while she runs and when she first mentioned it, I thought she was plum crazy. There's no way I could listen to someone yap at me while I'm trying to dodge oncoming vehicles, tree branches, and small ankle-biting dogs (double the yap? No thank you).

And then Serial happened.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, we seriously can't be friends anymore. 

Serial happened, and I binge-casted like it was my JOB. Then one fateful morning, I dropped the kiddo off at school and I was supposed to go for a run, but I just wanted to stay in my car and finish that week's episode when it dawned on me...

I can stream this.
And listen to this on my phone.

While I run.

BOOM. 

Birds, meet stone.
Life forever changed.

Then Serial ended (#freeadnan) and one Saturday morning in early February, I wiggled in my earbuds and before I even took three steps THAT. SONG. STARTED. PLAYING.

SNARL.

So I though to myself, "Oh forget this. I'm finding an audio book." I checked Spotify and surprisingly, there were a ton of classics! My little English-teacher-loving heart adores the classics, but Jane Eyre for 14 miles just wasn't going to help my violent tendencies, amirite? I saw Animal Farm on the list and remembered that it was one I always managed to dodge growing up, but it had always intrigued me. 14 miles later and I'm all (spoilerish alert) "Napoleon, oh NO you DIDN'T.” And I'm done with my long run, feelin' all kinds of educated and cultured.

Thus began my new obsession with listening to audio books while I run. My pace suffers a little when I'm not listening to my peppy music, but I'm a lot more relaxed and a lot less murderous. And no one would be cool with a tired, achy, irritated, AND murderous herd of elephants. Again...amirite?

My next audio book choice was The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins and Y'ALL. IT WAS AH-FREAKIN-MAZING. Very Gone Girlish, but I actually liked the characters. As in, felt empathy toward them.Something I was truly lacking by the end of Gone Girl. 

Of course I immediately told Meg to stop her life and start reading it. And she did. And now we refer to it in daily conversation, because that's what normal people do. 

What should I listen to next?

Presently Loving- March 2015

We've decided to compile a list each month of everything we are presently loving- from new workouts, to foods, to clothes, to funny things we find on the internet, and everything in between. It'll be a little smattering of both Meg and Steph's favorite things... this month.

WE BOTH LOVE:

This show. Y'all. Our latest guilty pleasure. The Royals on E! is delightfully trashy. Equal parts comical, dramatic, and "royally" scandalous. You should watch it simply for the Queen's hilarious comments about her ehhh... "adventurous" daughter:

 http://www.eonline.com/shows/the_royals

MEG LOVES:

• This City! Especially since spring decided to make its arrival, this place has been a lively scene for all of my creative moments, and a reliable muse during my occasional bouts of writer's block. There's always something interesting going on around here, and some of my new favorite things to do lately are roaming around in the shops downtown, people watching, finding cool pieces of art to muse over, and finding comfy, offbeat coffee shops to write in. 

        

        It's also a fun place to feed the sports fanatic in me..... 

....and sometimes, to try new things. And although I'm still on the fence about the whole Rodeo scene (blog to follow) and fireworks inside NRG Stadium (is that even safe? ehhh...no one died), Zac Brown put on one hell of a performance. First rodeo experience...Check  

• Bare Minerals' Mineralixers line! I'm constantly on the prowl for good skincare products, and Bare Minerals never disappoints, so I finally tried this one out. It's a far cry from conventional skincare, but give it a shot. If you can get used to washing your face with oil and THEN adding water (messed that up a few times), then you'll love it. I hate the way my skin feels after workouts (sweat is good for your skin..yea yea, I get it. But it feels yuck!) So I wash my face a lot post-workout and this trio is a lifesaver for cleansing the skin and replenishing the moisture you lose by washing your face. The 5-Oil Blend and Eye Balm are light and feel amazing on my skin. LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

http://www.bareescentuals.com/Discover-Mineralixirs/US74456,en_US,pd.html

• Nike Free 5.0 Trainers. Loving these! I hate the annoyance of having different shoes for different types of training, so I love the fact that these are just as good for sprint training, HIT, and long distance cardio as they are for heavy impact weight training. Hands down, my favorite training shoe! 

http://www.polyvore.com/womens_nike_free_tr_fit/thing?context_id=3990030&context_type=lookbook&id=120593013

• BOXING! I've reunited with an old friend of mine -- The ultimate antidote for a bad day and the most fun you'll ever have doing cardio. It's great for cardio work, warming up the shoulders, or getting in a high intensity kickboxing workout, especially when working with a trainer or partner using the boxing mitts for challenging moving target workouts. 

I love the versatility of it. If you're working out alone and have access to the boxing dummy or punching bag in the gym, you can grab a set of boxing gloves and find a workout that works for you, depending on what you're working that day. The one below is a great one!

And when you're on the road or can't get to the gym, there are plenty of boxing circuits that can easily be simulated with no equipment (there are tons of them online). Definitely at the top of the list for this month's favorite cardio workout!

http://www.zentofitness.com/tabata-style-boxing-workout-3-hiit-it/

STEPH LOVES:

• This season! My favorite season has always been fall. The crisp chill in the air meant scarves, sweaters, boots...you know...layers. Layers of clothes to cover up the layers of chunk. And the dark colors were so slimming (but I use that word lightly, looking back)! This is the first spring season that I am CONFIDENT in rocking these pastel colors and printed shorts and sleeveless tops. And let me tell you, it's a great feeling. Bring it on, summer.

• This 21 Day Arm Challenge from PopSugar. I have always been a fan of this site and I get their emails daily, but this one I'm sticking to because it's something I can easily do at home with the Rascal running about. I took this pic after the first workout. We shall see the difference in 21 days! 

http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/21-Day-Arm-Challenge-37016988?slide=0

P.S. I feel like such a goob when I flex. And then take pictures of said flexing. Anyone else with me on that? 

• This sweatshirt. The length! The fabric! Perfection. Honestly, it's the best sweatshirt I have ever purchased. I want one in every color. 

http://m.target.com/p/c9-champion-women-s-layering-top/-/A-16249376

• This breakfast. Along with the warmer temps comes the desire for iced coffee, fresh fruit, and...a steaming bowl of oatmeal? No thanks. Lauren Conrad in her infinite wisdom has concocted this particular recipe for Overnight Oats. I know there are dozens of variations out there, but this is the basic I keep going back to. I also add a little scoop of protein powder to make it even more filling. Some people warm it up, but I like it right out of the fridge. Then you can add whatever you want to jazz it up. Banana and peanut butter? Sure! Brown sugar and Craisins? Why not! Pumpkin pie spice and walnuts? If that floats your boat! You can't really go wrong with this stuff.  

http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2012/07/good-eats-overnight-oats/

Steph Says: Zydeco Marathon Race Recap

So in case y'all missed it, I ran a marathon.

Let me start by saying that it was one of the most difficult, heart-wrenching, painful, exhilarating experiences of my entire life. Right up there with childbirth.

Did it just get weird? Sorry. Moving on.

The morning started out perfectly, considering that earlier in the week we were looking at 100% rain. But the weather gods smiled upon us and it was a beautiful, DRY, slightly chilly morning! My run group met up at 6:30 a.m. to snap a quick picture and then headed for the bathrooms, and then the start line.

This year there were corrals with expected finish times. We snuggled in (it was a tight squeeze) behind the 5:00 finish time pacers and made our way to the starting line.

I decided to not use my phone's GPS to track my run because I didn't want it to die on me halfway through the race and cause a flip-out on my part. My phone is kind of temperamental, and when I have too many apps going, it likes to have meltdowns (similar to my almost-two year old). It was definitely different to run without hearing my average pace every mile, but it kept me more focused on surviving and less on my speed. I'm still not sure if that was a good thing or not!

I like my photobomber on the left.

So the race begins and my friend Leigh Ann sticks with me through most of the first 6 miles- through the Saint Streets, downtown, UL's campus, Girard Park, and the Oil Center. I was averaging a little over an 11 minute mile according to Leigh Ann when I hit the dreaded hills of Bendel Gardens, but I was still feeling really good at that point. The spectators and signs along the course REALLY helped with that! One house along the route had a fun jump in the front yard and a live band playing in the garage! I couldn't pull out my phone fast enough to take a picture, so you'll just have to trust me that it was perfectly hilarious and highly motivational.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Almost to mile 9, heading back to the Oil Center, I saw my mom waiting for me! I was so happy to see her face! She gave me the little rah-rah that I needed and I continued on towards downtown. Somewhere on Congress Street, around mile 12, the 5:00 pacers caught up to me and passed me up. I tried to keep up, but I still had over halfway to go and I didn't want to waste too much energy too soon. I tried to keep them in my sights, though. (What a precious idea that was.)

The worst part of the Zydeco is that it's a double loop marathon. So when you turn the corner onto the final stretch, there's the finish line ahead of you to the right, and there's a small sign that says "second loop" with an arrow pointing left.

Ugh.

I could see the time by the finish line, and it said 2:39. Since it took 7 minutes to cross the start line, that put me at a 2:32 half finish time... Only two minutes slower than my time at the Cajun Country Half in December! That is a pretty big accomplishment for me, considering that I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I could have. Again with the conserving energy and all that. Onward!

I took the left fork and gritted my teeth for round two. I remember doing a mental check of how I was feeling, and all of my usual aches and pains from my training were nowhere to be found. I now realize that it was because something new and different and ten times more painful was waiting for me!

Somewhere around mile 16-17, my IT band just decided it was done. DONE. I had never before, not even once, had trouble with my IT band. In fact, I didn't know where the damn thing even was. But it made itself known to me somewhere in the Oil Center by tightening up like a stretched-to-the-limit rubber band. At that point, it became very difficult to run, let alone walk, without a limp.

This sucker.

Great.

So I'm limping along and all of a sudden, everyone who passes me starts talking to me. 

"Are you okay?"

"We're almost there!"

"Dig deep!"

And my favorite- 

"Is this your first marathon?"

I mean did I have a sign on my back that said "IT'S MY FIRST MARATHON, PLEASE HAVE PITY ON MY SOUL"?!?!? At least all of the conversation took my mind off the pain! I met Ted from Virginia who was running his 71st marathon and Edward from El Paso who had run an Ultramarathon the day before. We were all struggling together in this little pack through Bendel and back into the Oil Center. 

Somewhere along Coolidge I hear a car engine behind me, and lo and behold, it's the sweeper car. The "sag wagon," if you will. I whip around to my new buddy Ted and said, "There is NO WAY we are the last two people." To which he replies, "Oh yea, honey, we are about to achieve celebrity status."

Well, this celeb sped up a teensy bit and, once out of Ted's immediate vicinity, started bawling. Every doubt I've ever doubted starts running (ha) through my head. You're too fat for this. What made you think you could run a marathon? You're not going to finish. All that training was for nothing. But somehow I managed to snap out of it. Probably because I heard Ted holler at me that he sprints the last mile, so unless I wanted to be dead last, I had better get to steppin'.

I took the advice of those 47 chatty people who passed me up and I dug deep. I limp-ran my way to the final stretch down Congress and I see Leigh Ann running upstream toward me- that doll had stuck around to see me finish and she was coming to cheer me on through the last quarter mile.

And there it was- the finish line. I saw The Hubs on my left and started to tear up because I was so happy to see his grinning mug. As soon as I ran across that finish line, I was overcome with emotion.

I did it.

This girl, who couldn't even run down the straight part of the high school track, who weighed 275 pounds less than two years ago, who used to avoid aerobic activity like it was my job, completed 26.2 miles on my own two feet in less than six hours. I might not have accomplished my goal of doing it in close to 5 hours, but still... I freakin' did it.

My girls who cheered me on!

My official time

Once I could finally gather my thoughts and emotions, and walk with less of a limp, The Hubs and I went on a little day date to Grub Burger Bar for a much-needed and well-deserved feast. I got this milkshake called the Kitchen Sink... it did not disappoint. I love the combo of sweet and salty and this one has chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, peanut butter, coffee grounds (what?), potato chips, and pretzels. Ohhhhhh yum. 

And I ate every last bite.

Because I ran a marathon.

Steph Says: I Have No Words.

In eight hours, I will be crossing the starting line of my very first full marathon. I'm a little overwhelmed and for once, at a loss for words. So I've got some pictures to talk for me!

Today was the race expo and packet pickup.

Ahhhhh!

Decisions, decisions.

Some of the fabulous ladies in my running group!

 Then, it was time for the carb expo/food festival.

I heart carbs.

Red Skin Potato Pie @ Mellow Mushroom

Get in mah belly!

Rascal Mae getting in on the action.

And y'all thought I was kidding. 

So I'm full and happy and ready (I hope) for tomorrow.

My new lucky number.

Let's go.

Steph Says: Getting By With a Little Help From My Friends

If you've been reading this blog or if you've known me for a hot minute, you know my whole "always been fat, lost some weight, got pregnant, ate everything, got fat again, now getting fit and healthy" story. If not, welcome to the circus. Join us. We're all crazy here.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how I've gotten to this place where I'm finally happy with my body. I never thought I'd be here, you see.  Am I still focused on improving?  Yes. Do I want to feel leaner and look even better in my clothes? Hell yes. But when I look in the mirror these days, my first thought is no longer "Ugh." It's "Girrrrrrl check YOU out!" I mean, which would you prefer? It had been "ugh" for two decades. It was about time for some self-love. It was about time to see my reflection in a store window and think "Not bad!" instead of "Get thee to a gym!"

So how did I finally get here?

I made a conscious decision to surround myself with 1) people who want to see me succeed and 2) influences that make me want to improve. Those two factors gave me the strength I needed to get started, and has continued to give me the focus I need to keep moving forward.

I would not be here without the support of The Hubs, first and foremost. This guy lets me go to the gym and go on my runs and work out in the garage with him. He puts up with my healthy eating kicks (and goes on kicks of his own). He loved me when I was at my absolute worst, and he loves me through this wild ride I've been on for the past year. He's my better half and I just adore him. 

Don't mess with a man, his fro-yo, and his Finding Nemo sticker. #dadlife

I would not be here without the support of my mom. She rocks, y'all. She is the most wonderful person I know. She has such a big heart and she has taken such good care of me through the years. Now she is Super Nana to my little Rascal Mae AND she's lost a bunch of weight herself over the last two years! I think chasing the kiddo around has helped with that. She and The Hubs are my support system when it comes to my "me time." Without them, I wouldn't have time to go run or work out. So those two deserve some major credit in my weight loss success.

This is an old pic, but I LOVE it. My hair was ON POINT. 

I would not be here without the support of MEGGERS. My blog partner in crime. My swole sista. We have bonded over so many things, it's hard to remember where it all began. We dealt with some pretty ridiculous stuff by drowning our sorrows in donuts, queso, and margaritas. Somewhere around midterms last year, we decided that enough was enough and we traded in our lunches of leftover basketball banquet brisket (yes, that's a thing) for tilapia and broccoli. Everyone LOVED when we'd heat that up in the teachers' lounge microwave. 

Doesn't mean we don't ever commiserate over queso...but now it's a special occasion when she comes to visit, and not a Thursday just because.

Crap...now I'm hungry for queso.

I would not be here without the support of my runners. Amy, who convinced me to run my first Cajun Cup and first half marathon. She got sidelined by plantar fasciitis before the half, which makes me so sad. I miss running with her. Erin, who got me involved with Team RWB. I'm so ready to be done with marathon training so I can start running short distances on Thursday nights with her again! And Mary Clare, my sweet girl, my little sister from another mister. She's ten years younger than me, but I swear she's ten years wiser. This little chicky inspires me to be happy with myself and to ENJOY the ride instead of just using it as a means to and end. Plus, my hilarious group of Saturday morning girls. They actually make waking up at 5 a.m. an enjoyable experience!

I would not be here without the support of  my gym peeps who I see for RPM on Monday nights. They make the 45 minutes of pedaling nowhere slightly less agonizing... Mostly because we're killing ourselves laughing. I'm just gonna clap my hands and say "Whooooooo!" They'll understand.

And I would not be here without those healthy influences. Honestly, one of the biggest contributors to my success is social media. Say wha? Social media has come so far; in particular, the 'Gram (that's how I refer to Instagram in my head). Thank God I am an adult and I don't have to deal with the cattiness I experienced growing up... And I'm sincerely hoping I'll never have to... 

One of the things I love most about the people I've found on Instagram is that they are so positive.  They're not about competing, they're about building each other up. They're sharing struggles, overcoming obstacles, and celebrating successes. 

So here I am. I've reached a point on this journey where I truly feel like I'm worth so much. I'm not just getting by and settling for "this is a good as it gets." NO!!! No more feeling inferior. No more making excuses! I am a boss.  And bosses do not cancel meetings with their most important client. Or however that saying goes.

I hope that you have the support you need to go out there and do exactly what you want/need to do while being exactly who you want to be.  And if you don't have that support,  go out and FIND IT. Instagram, blogs, social media- it's all right there literally at your fingertips.  But don't forget the power of real, true, genuine friendships with people who have your back, your front, and your sides...especially your best side.
And if all else fails, I'm here for you, sista. Get out there and do something awesome today.

Follow us on the 'Gram @presentlyfree!