nwm2012

In general I'm a pretty smart person. I'm also overly cautious and a bit of a worrier. It seems these traits extend to all areas of my life except for running. When it comes to that activity I like to throw myself at it without much thought or training but armed with lots of enthusiasm. While that method worked for me twice earlier this year, you would think I would know better than try to run a marathon, 26.2 miles, without completing a training program. You would be wrong.



Sunday morning I dragged myself out of bed at 4am and headed to Union Square to join 25,000 other people to run a shit ton. I looked surprisingly happy even though it was still dark and I was about to act on one of the stupidest decisions I have ever made.



It all started back in March when I decide after running a couple of half marathons that I was ready to go all the way. 13.1 miles seemed too easy! I was ready for marathon glory! With that I joined a running group and I stuck with it for a few months. Then four months before my scheduled marathon I dropped out of my marathon training group for a variety of reasons ranging from medical to I just didn't like it. I continued to run but definitely nothing close to the plan I was assigned and not with any kind of regularity. I lived in a bit of denial about the impending marathon and just ran whatever distance I felt like. As September came to a close I decided "eh, what the hell, let's do this marathon!"





I won't lie, this experience was equal parts amazing and awful. I felt great for about 18 miles, despite hills, misty rain, and a stranger running up and kicking me in the shin. I felt like death when I hit mile 19 and around mile 21 I actually sat down on the curb. But it all was fine again at mile 23, when I figured out that running actually felt better than walking.

When I sat down on the curb I really thought I would sit there and figure out how to direct Whitney to me so I could hop in her car and go home. I had given up. But then I took out my phone and checked my text messages and @ replies on Twitter and I was overwhelmed. The outpouring of support from everyone was so much that all of a sudden I knew I couldn't stop. It sounds so stupid but the internet believed in me and knew I could finish so I picked myself up and started moving again. Who am I to disappoint the internet?

My goal time was 6 hours which is ridiculously slow but realistic for my lack of training. I finished in 5:54:36



Thank you internet. Thank you for believing in me and pushing me across that finish line. I couldn't have done it without you. Everyone can have a turn wearing the finisher necklace as a thank you, that seems fair as I wouldn't have it without y'all.

pinkled

When I was pregnant with Pippa I decided we needed to do family/newborn pictures because we had skipped them when Truman was born. I booked a photographer, didn't tell jparks how much anything cost, and hoped the pictures would be worth it. Those pictures are awesome. I decided we would do pictures every year in the two week window between the kids' birthdays and as long as Michele was in the business of taking pictures, she would have to be the photographer. 

Due to a change in shooting location we missed that two week window this year by about two weeks, but it was worth it. I couldn't love the results more.

Jparks saw the pictures and said "Whoa, I'm ripped! When did I get so sexy! Look at my back!" Of course he did. 

I don't even care that I look like a spaz, I love this

This is so Pippa and Truman. He's hauling ass off in the distance and she's trying to catch him

This is a perfect picture of us. 

Y'all, I am the most awkward person in front of the camera but I can't wait to take pictures again next year. It's worth it. You should do it. 

weekend tripper

I went to California over the weekend for a bachelorette party. On the way there I sat next to a crazy person who sanitized the arm rest and then snapped at me "I cleaned this arm rest, it's mine!" I know this could happen on any airline but I still blame Southwest for it.


I got it in my head that I needed Toms the Thursday before I left so I bought a pair of the ballet flats. I wasn't even through the security line in Austin when the damn shoes had my feet bleeding. Upon arriving in CA I bought a pair of regular Toms and I have mixed feelings about them.

I think I'm too old for them and perhaps not hipster-y enough. But they're so comfortable that I'm starting to not care.

Friday night a small group of us went to a Brazilian meat place which is my dream come true. You flip a card and people with sword-like skewers bring you meat! I had planned to take some pictures and I started to do that but then the landslide of meat happened and I totally forgot. It wasn't until I ate a chicken heart (it was rubbery and that's what got me. I'm an anti-chewy textured foods person) and nearly died at the table that I realized I should have taken a few pictures.

That glass of sparkling wine was delicious and not rubbery at all. Also, it was not Whole30 approved.

I stayed with Whitney. Her house is cute.

Her cats will eat trail mix as well as the bag it came in.


I made Whitney take me to Trader Joe's because I really miss that store. I could have cried when we got there. I also could have used a little common sense because I bought so much stuff that Whitney had to ship a box of things to me. I do have some common sense though because I packed the cookie butter in my luggage and did this when I got home.

Yeah, that's a dark chocolate bar being used as a spoon. I'm a genius.

more talk about my less fat ass

It's been just over five months since I last gave you a de-fating myself update and I suppose part of the reason I haven't mentioned it is because I really haven't lost much more weight. (I'm about 3 pounds down, which is great but not really earth shattering) I have however, dropped another clothing size and am quickly rounding the corner on dropping another. This means that I'm back into single digit sizes and holy shit, I haven't been there since 2005.

I was probably in the best shape of my life in 2005, just before Hurricane Katrina. I was 25, working out with a trainer, and still had the ability to lose weight just by skipping a night of drinking and avoiding cookies for a couple of days. After Katrina I started eating everything, stopped working out, and never looked back. When we settled in Austin I went on an all gelato diet. I started baking all the time. I laughed if you suggested I visit a gym. It was truly the beginning of the end.

When we moved to California I picked up my activity level some, adding rock climbing and aerial acrobatics to the mix, I might have toned up some, but I never really slimmed down. Probably because I continued to eat all the things. I got pregnant, had Truman, and vowed to lose some weight. I hired a trainer. I worked out five days a week. I lost not a pound. I was still eating all the things.

We moved back to Austin, I got pregnant, had Pippa, and again vowed to lose weight. This time something was different. I don't know if it was because I knew we were done having kids and I finally was going to be 100% in control of my body for the rest of my life or that I had finally hit my weight high point and was just done being fat; whatever it was something in me had clicked and I was ready for change.

In the last few months I've moved away from the calorie restriction that helped me dropped the bulk of my weight and moved into a Paleo diet. I'm surprised I'm here because I was so resistant to Paleo for a very long time. I don't have a real reason for switching to it other than it seemed like a lot of people like it and I was getting bored counting calories and needed a change. In July, about 20 days after I went Paleo, jparks was diagnosed with Celiac's Disease and joined me on the Paleo bandwagon. So far we are both enjoying it.

Obviously I'm not dropping crazy weight like I was in the beginning of the year but I am slimming down. I do barre classes (ya'll, get thee to a barre class! They are challenging, always changing, and effective. jparks takes them with me sometimes and has his ass handed to him by the instructor.) and I run a lot. I've moved on to toning and building muscle now and I think this process might actually be more rewarding than the weight loss portion.

My new year's resolution this year was to never need to make another resolution to lose weight. As my weight/size stands now I feel like I could declare that resolution met.

defend New Orleans

I'm not sure if you heard or not, but the other night I was involved in a fight with some internet big shots on Twitter. This post isn't necessarily about that because yes, I realize fighting with people online is exactly as dumb as debating with an invisible person in a chair. But I do want to say that I got in trouble for calling someone a moron and saying they are insensitive without directly saying that person's name and now people are doing the exact same thing about me. I want everyone to know that I'm totally okay with this. These folks think I'm an idiot and that's their opinion, they are allowed to think of me what they want. Opinions: you're allowed to have your's and I can have mine!

That being said, I was also involved in a few fights about New Orleans. Specifically I got all hand flappy over people saying New Orleans should have never been rebuilt. I'm going to get bitchy for a second, but if you ever state that opinion I will assume you are a total fucking idiot. If I find out you live in an area that also suffers from natural disasters, chances are I'm going to be blinded with rage. I'm sorry for this. I can't help it. 

People seem to think New Orleans should have been left to rot after Katrina and everyone that lived there should have uprooted themselves and created lives in new cities. I can't even begin to understand this thought process. People should abandon their homes and buy new ones in another city? How can they afford this when they still have to pay for their destroyed homes in NOLA? Is everyone but me rich enough to say "Screw my first mortgage, I'm going to buy a new home!" 

The fact is that people can not afford to leave NOLA. People depend on that area's Gulf access, swamps, and rivers to make their livelihoods. The estimated income in 2009 (most recent that I could find) was $36,468. I mean, really. You tell me how on that income people can afford to leave their jobs and homes and set up shop somewhere else. Would they like to not worry about hurricanes? Yes, but it's not a worry they can afford to leave behind.  

The other thing is that people just don't want to leave that area. NOLA is their home, where their families are, where their history is. NOLA is their heart and soul. The love that people have for New Orleans is hard to understand unless you're from there. We are New Orleans, New Orleans is us. 

I'm sorry if I came after you on Wednesday because you said New Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt. I'm sorry that I think you're an idiot. I'm sorry that on the 7 year anniversary of the storm that changed my life forever I got a little defensive. I'm sorry that you said something like that while Issac was hitting New Orleans and I was worried about the safety of my family and friends and I attacked. 

If you want to put your money where your mouth is and pay for a family that lost their home to relocate to whatever magic, natural diaster free city you live in, then I will happily sincerely apologize to you. Until then, keep your fucking mouth shut.