Gosh, Its been awhile since I blogged and lots of things have been changing around here. I think the last time I blogged I had just finished the Baystate Marathon and had qualified for Boston, that was back in October, Geeeeesh. After I finished Baystate I wanted to make some changes in my life and one was my diet ( yes, yes, I know, but I knew I needed a change, a jumpstart if you will.)
A good friend of mine and athlete/coach started doing the Whole 30 program, which is like Paleo but a little bit more aggressive. Its a 30 day approach to eating as clean as you can and learning why you eat the way you do. Is it physical, is it mental? I literally finished the race on saturday and new that I was going to have a good few weeks recovering from my marathon with not a ton of hours of training so I embarked two days later on the Whole 30.
The Whole 30 was an awesome journey which I continue to this day. The first two weeks were difficult, I was trying to think of all different reasons to cheat ( I didn't), it didn't get manageable until about day 20 when I finally learned to cook with flavor and different spices and different recipes. I bough a cheap food processor and a slow cooker and what was most awesome was that so many people sent me recipes and were supportive on social network. I do believe that people thought I was crazy but I felt great, slept great, lost some weight ( > 10lbs) and really felt that sugar definitely was the root of all evil in my diet. Now, I didn't eat bad in general so it was shocking to me how hard it was for me when I already had eliminated bread from my diet, minimal dairy and I didn't eat a ton of processed food. Removing the wine and my occasional hot tomale treat was tough but I did it the entire month. I continue on the whole 30 but I do have my occasional wine and a few treats here and there but I'm contemplating just sticking to it completely because when I do have any sugar whats so ever I feel lousy.
I now eat to live not live to eat and I believe it is making me healthier, I certainly feel better.
The holidays were great, nothing too grand to report, same amount of craziness, same amount of sports and travel with the kids. Its exciting seeing them grow up and love sport and be an active part of their community and their schools, its really fun.
With the new year comes new changes and new adventures. I've chosen a few key races for the season, Texas 70.3 in Galveston in April so I can hang with some friends and it can be done cheaply and Challenge Atlantic City in June which is a full distance triathlon but not ironman branded. After that I'm not too sure, probably Pumpkinman ( because its great) in September and a fall marathon most likely. Also, looking forward to signing up for the Boston Marathon in September to run in April 2015, very excited to do my first Boston. I hope to throw in a sprint or two or maybe a few running races but with the kids schedules its tough. I need a lot of flexibility and my kids have to come first so my race list will always be small and signing up for anything else will certainly be last minute.
Oh, I just applied to be an ambassador for headsweats, its my first time applying for any type of sponsorship but I feel I truly love their products and probably wear them way too much. I will keep you posted if for some reason they choose me to be one of their ambassadors. How cool would that be.
Anyway, my top ten crazy things for 2013 ( Can't forget my yearly tradition)
1. Appendicitis for 6 year old january 2013, husband fly to Texas same morning, absolutely sucked
2. Kids sick for 4 months straight, in and out of hospitals and ER's from January through March, sucked.
3. Dog gets all bottom teeth pulled because of over bite.
4. Dog has seizures
5. Dog gets hit by a car ( really come on now). Mother who hit my dog still hasn't contacted me regarding the situation or apologized for it. Her son is in my 10yr olds class.
6. Can't seem to get my 10 year old to wear underwear, I think maybe he has worn it 10 times in a year. Will continue to be a mission of mine in 2014
7. Saw a car driving the wrong way on Rte 128 north, had to ride side by side to him on 128 South while talking to State Police ( day of Pumpkinman 1/2 in September). Was finally pulled over by state police without killing himself or anyone else. I'm still a bit traumatized over this one.
8. My cat makes it a nightly ritual to bring a mouse in from outside and chase it alive in our bedroom at night, I believe she does this at least 4 nights out of 7. She then proceeds to leave the half eaten bodies of the field mice all over our deck or front stairs. My dog ( Obi- dumb as a stump but cutest thing ever) continues to eat it. Really? Everyday.
9. Every time the phone rings during the school week I get a nervous twitch going definitely thinking one of my kids did something and I'm going to have to go get them at school, or apologize to another parent. Ugg.This is a continuous theme every year.
10. My sons continuous attempt of trying to build a zip line from the porch to the pool. He will eventually do it just hope he doesn't kill himself in the process.
Happy New Year and God Bless.
