Why Hello There Sparkies!

Been a while. Figure I should check in and make a record of where I'm at. It's been a whirlwind spring! First, some pictures.

Out with the girls for a bachelorette party -



I'm loving the dress. 5 bucks at the thrift store! Seriously! ...and what a fun night. I did a 25 mile bike ride and 5k run that day - PLUS danced at least 2 hours straight at the clubs. So by my estimation, even with a healthy dose of booze that night, I was almost negative calories. Not good, but I guess better than way over?



This is a closeup of my new haircut - I haven't been this short since I was a kid. I used to hide under my hair when I was fat. Now, I love my bouncy fro of curls. I was worried it would be high maintenance, but I can just sleep on it, spray on some product, and go! It actually even looks BETTER with some sweat in it, heh. Also, I made the tie dye hoodie and necklace. I was being crafty!



This is what a PR looks like. I ran a 5k sort of unplanned (I didn't train for it, and almost didn't run it) and smashed my previous race time of 26:31 and came in at 25:10! Wooohoo! Joel also got a PR that day. We were very glad we decided to just give it a go!



This was after the Warrior Dash - it was a 3.5 mile mud run with obstacles. I usually am super serious meeting face business time during races, but I had SO MUCH FUN with this one. Anyone that can at least hobble through 3 miles of running and isn't afraid to get dirty? Check this one out. It's a blast!

So things have been going pretty darn amazingly over the last few months. Since the half marathon in Feb, I've done a 5k, a duathlon (5k run, 9 mile bike, 1 mile run), an urban dare race scavenger hunt, the warrior dash, a half marathon length walk around town, and now I'm training for triathlons! I'm targeting a sprint length one in August (1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run) and then an olympic length one in September (1 mile swim, 25 mile ride, 10k run). I'll be pretty pleased after that - I had intended to cap this year off with my first marathon but the training just seemed too daunting over the summer, so I changed course and decided to pursue tris. I've heard that an olympic length is about the same level of effort as a marathon (much less poundy poundy though), so I'm good there. I am thinking about trying to throw in a half marathon late fall as well, but going a little light on the training and really just get out and see what I can do. I don't think I'm at the point where I can just bust out 13.1 miles without training for it, but I think I could take a month or two and get back there ok. Maybe even PR!

My weight just really really doesn't want to budge from about 160. I got there in February (gained about 5 lbs training for the half) and my body just does NOT want to let go of it. I am sort of making peace with it because honestly? I have to WEAKEN myself to lose weight. I have to intentionally underfuel my workouts. And when I'm pursuing such aggressive goals athletically? It sucks. I keep trying to say I'm going to take some time off and lose the last 10 lbs to get it over with, but then I start signing up for races. My actions speak louder than words. I need to accept that this is where I am and roll with it. It's not as if being 160 lbs of powerhouse muscle (yeah with a little fat on top, but details details) is a bad thing. Could I be eating better? Sure. But I'm definitely in the realm of the 80/20 rule (80% good stuff) and while I will still ACCEPT weight loss from the scale and even coax it, it's hard to get my feathers in a ruffle about it.

Other lovely news - I just got the promotion I had been hoping on for years - lots more responsibilty, shiny new title (Producer, not associate), pay bump, in charge of a big successful talented team. I even get to hire my own associate to do my bidding! Joel also took a great new job at our company finally doing the work he wants to do after 2 years of un and under employment. It is truly a golden age of awesome work-wise!

That's about it for now. I hope to check back again before 3 more months are up. Keep rocking out there everyone!!!