Texas was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously, best trip ever. first trip ive ever gone on in over 6 years that i did not work at all! 3 complete days off, it was like HEAVEN!! lol now its pretty funny that the first thing i have to say about this trip is how awesome it was, because it really couldve gone completely the opposite.
i am a super planner in fitness and in life. i was going to run this race in hopes that i would beat my last time, so i wanted to be really well prepared. I trained for 14 weeks and didnt miss a single run, so i knew physically I was prepared. I brought my foam roller and p90x3 yoga and a yoga strap and resistance bands for stretching. i also brought a golfball for my feet and a massage stick. i brought my shakeology and nutribullet. I had clothes for every temperature possible. I was ready to go.
i get to the airport and they say its a full flight so would i mind checking my bag instead of carrying on, no charge. i agree. the flight ends up being delayed. problem was that i had a connecting flight in atlanta. when we got to atlanta there were 4 minutes until my next flight took off. I dont know why i even tried, but me and a group of about 10 other young people literally ran through the airport. we were running up escalators and looked completely insane, but it was a big group so people were getting out of our way, power in numbers lol. i was pretty excited i was keeping up, but i cannot lie, when we got to the gate i was dripping sweat. i was also carrying about a 20lb purse lol we mustve ran at least a mile. I tried to brush this off as a warm up for the race.
by the time we got to the gate, the plane was gone. i ended up having to stay in a hotel in atlanta for the night becuase there were no other flights to huston until morning. I was PISSED. i dont know that ive been that angry in the last YEAR. to be quite honest i was feeling a little crazy again for a little bit. the airline ended up giving me an overnight bag with a toothbrush and deoderant and a tshirt to sleep in. I got to the hotel and all i could think about was my bag. i kept telling myself "its ok, the race is not until saturday, youre going to get there in time and everything is fine". but if my bag got lost i wouldnt have my food or my stretching and warm up tools or my clothes or my sneakers and THAT would ruin my race.
I ended up going downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel and got a salad, which was crappy and bland but the only gluten free and vegan option that would fit into my eating plan they had. it definitely wasnt the shakeology i had planned on having. I was pissed, anxious, and worried about falling asleep, so i also had 3 shots of vodka. i rarely drink, and ive never drank alone before in my life, but i was hoping this would knock me out for the night.
it didnt. although my anxiety decreased significantly i was in cold sweats all night long. I never slept for more than a few minutes at a time ( i track my sleep with the Jawbone UP band) and only a grand total of two hours. I dont know if it was the anxiety, the vodka or what, but it was one of the worst nights ive had in a LONG time.
i got up and showered and headed downstairs to check out the breakfast situation before catching the 6am shuttle. i had planned on oatmeal, peanut butter, and bananas and fortunately, they had both. instant oatmeal, but it was better than the waffles or sausage.
i got outside at 6 minutes before 6am for the shuttle, and it was ALREADY GONE. can we talk about murphys law for a second? good lord!! i did end up getting to take the 630 shuttle, ran through the damn airport again, and made my flight to huston. and when i got there, my bag WAS THERE!
In huston i met Breanne. She is an internet friend of mine. We happen to be from the same hometown, she used to live in miami, shes lost about 100lbs, shes already had her skin removal, we have a shitload in common, but we had never met in person until she picked me up from the airport! she had asked me to come to run her first half marathon with her but ended up breaking 2 toes the week before the race. She unfortunately wasnt going to be doing the half, but was going to attempt the 5k.
i immediately felt as comfortable with her in real life as i had on the phone, so that was good news. Shes a few years older than me but we really get along and relate well. I dont know how many times we said we reminded each other of ourselves. Shes such a realist and extremely well thought out and mature, and pretty much how I hope to be within the next few years of personal development. We talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. Very good company, major relief! lol
first stop was whole foods. I gave bre some tips of how i shop and we got clean complex carbs to load up on before the race. we went back to her place and food prepped, packed up, and hit the road to Beaumont. Bre had taken care of the hotel and it actually was really nice. everything really is bigger in texas. there was this ginormous texas flag like 5 stories high in the hotel lobby, there was also a giant waterfall. our room ended up being directly behind the waterfall. you could hear the water in our room, we considered it an room with an ocean view lol that was another great part about Bre. Shes a masshole! she is funny! and she gets my jokes! I cant tell you how weird it is when i make a new friend down here in Florida and they think everything i say is serious! lol
after we settled into the room we went to the packet pickup event. we got to see Dan and Jackie Evans from Season 5 and listen to some guest speakers. Jackie gave awesome, amazing, mom-like advice as always, and Dan performed two awesome songs hes recorded. While we were sitting there watching I couldnt help but be in love with Texas! the air smells so good! the grass was so nice! the little love bugs flying everywhere were cute- not scary like Florida bugs! lol It was really really nice. Beaumont made me kind of sad though. It was like 7pm on a Friday night when we left and we were right in the "downtown" area. It is a ghost town! but its SO cute! i dont know why its so empty, but it made me sad. I joked that when I am rich someday I am going to fix Beaumont. It deserves a second chance. the buildings are historical, many from the 1800s and i LOVE history. I liked it. Wouldnt live there, but I liked it.
We went back to the hotel and warmed up quinoa, plantains, and sweet potato for dinner. It was good. I stretched and foam rolled and we did p90x3 Yoga. Drank some sleepy time tea, put on OWN, set the alarm, and went to bed. The plans for the morning were to wake up 2 hours before the race and drink shakeology with a banana. then drink a liter of water while stretching and foam rolling. by then id need to use the bathroom and at 6 it would be time to eat oatmeal with raisins and cashews. At 6:15 we would leave, drive 15 minutes and arrive just in time for a 7am start.
I slept surprisingly well! So well in fact, then when I woke up i saw that it was light outside. light at 5am? I looked at my clock and it was 6:22!!!!!!!! BRIEF HEART ATTACK! I said "BRE, ITS 6:22!!!" and she woke up just as fast and we started moving. I mixed up some Shakeo with almond milk, banana, and oatmeal and the whole time just kept saying out loud "Its going to be a great race. Its going to be a great day" like a crazy person. But, ive been re-reading the secret and actually trying to apply it, so thats what needed to be done. I freaking love Bre because instead of looking at me like I was a nut, she did it with me. She wasn't panicking either. We were dressed and out the door within about 10 minutes and arrived at the race with about 8 minutes to spare. The 5k didnt start until 7:30 so Bre dropped me off by the race and went to park the car. I had to use the bathroom SO BAD and the line was SO LONG. I wanted to cry. But i just kept saying "its going to be a great race" and reminding myself that if i wasnt at the start when they started, youre allowed to start late, it was no big deal. I was just slightly worried because nothing was going as planned and I was trying to beat a personal record here!
There was a 6 year old girl named Lily in line in front of me, and she was very talkative. She asked me about my hair and why I wore so much black and why I had peircings. Her parents were trying to get her to leave me alone, but I kept talking to her because she was relaxing me. She was going to be running the kids 1 mile fun run that day. Thats so awesome. I hope when I have kids they run the kids runs at my races! i want baby spartans!
I FINALLY got to use a potty and rushed to the start line, Bre was waiting there and the race was about to start. we took a selfie real quick and i was on my way! i honestly cannot say that this race was as fun as my first half marathon. for one, there werent any cool bands playing at the mile markers like in Panama City lol but also, my first race, I was just trying to finishing without walking, i wasnt trying to keep a fast pace. this race, i was trying to beat my last race. On the official chipped time it said I finished in 2 hours and 37 minutes in my first race. however, on my band that was physically attached to my body, it said 2 hours and 30 minutes. I wanted to take 10 minutes off that time.
My pace was REALLY good in the beginning. I was feeling really confident when I did two miles in less than 19 minutes and my 3rd mile i did in just under 9 minutes! But then I had problem, I needed to use the bathroom. They do have portapotties at the water stations, so I had somewhere to go, but i was so pissed i had to stop. I pressed pause on my app because I did not want this to ruin my time when i wasnt even actually running during those minutes. the stopping to use the restroom proved to be a little bit of a problem because once i stop, ive lost momentum and i am thinking about stopping again. well, not stopping, but walking. I ended up having to use the bathroom three freaking times. I did end up doing some run/walking in the last 4 miles. The one benefit to the run/walk is that when youre running, youre running pretty fast because its only for a short time. I enjoyed running around texas. I was surprised at the amount of hills we ran up, but i am pretty sure they were man made. I liked seeing the oil industry live and i loved the old historic city. Theres a little strip on Crockett street that looks like an abandoned New Orleans. The little houses were cute and the people were friendly. One of the warehouses we ran past had guys passing out freezing cold bottles of water. It was fun, but I think the fact that all i could think about was beating my last time took away a little bit of the fun. I kept pace with a couple different running groups here and there and i even kept pace with a veteran who wheeled the entire 13.1 miles in a wheel chair! completely impressive and inspiring!! At mile 12 my little friend Lily was there! Definitely waiting for her mom, not me lol, but she still waived and yelled and it was awesome!
When i FINALLY crossed the finish line the Biggest Loser clock said 2 hours and 33 minutes! I was so excited!!! even with stopping so many times and run/walking I still took 4 minutes off of their clock! Then I checked my app and i almost cried!!! Had I not stopped at all my actual running time was 2 hours and 11 minutes!! SO EXCITING!!! I hope to run the Boston Marathon some day and to qualify for that ill need to run a marathon in like 3 hours and 40 minutes. So that means I have to get my half marathon down to 1 hour and 50 minutes. Its going to take a LOT of work, but i KNOW i can do that!!
Bre was waiting for me at the finish with her bruised foot! She had finished a 5k in less than 40 minutes with broken toes. Luckily the medical tent had some ice for her to help it feel better while she waited. We took some pictures and i finally got to meet Bobby from Season 15! He was at one of the mile markers and I screamed I LOVE YOU when i saw him, but i wasnt about to stop during the race lol. it was nice to meet him since i didnt get to in Miami! We took pictures with him and Vinny from season 12 and headed back to the hotel. It WAS A GREAT DAY!!
When we got back I jumped in the pool with my clothes on and soaked in the hot tub for a few. We showered and lounged in the room and it was finally time to hit the road again.
We stopped at Pappasitos for Mexican for lunch and it was seriously awesome. Great service and great food! I had a salad with avocado and beautiful veggies and two black bean tacos and it was SO flavorful. I did indulge in a whole bunch of tortilla chips and salsa, with no regrets. Bre was so awesome this trip and to top it off, she spoiled the shit out of me. When we got home we went to her favorite reflexology spot and she treated me. I have never had relexology. They start by like warming you up with a face and head massage before they get to your feet. I was totally shocked when she stuck her fingers in my ears! LOL but overall it was awesome and the light massage and stretching that went with it felt great on my muscles after the run.
That evening I finally met Bre's fiance and his son and they were just as awesome. We went by the pool at their complex and there were like 14 birthday parties going on, and i had only brought a bikini, anticipating less of a crowd. All those kids and im in a bikini, cant lie, i was NERVOUS! but no one pointed or laughed or stared. we didnt stay long, but it was another "fuck shame" victory for me!
For dinner we went to a place called "Souper Salad". it was a soup and salad buffet. I made a big but very light salad and got a cup of veggie soup, a small sweet potato, a veggie taco, and some fruit. I committed to not going back for seconds and no dessert, and i stuck to it! We went back to the house and watched Shark Tank till we passed out. I slept really well again.
The next morning it was time to say good bye and head back to Florida. i had a salad made with all the veggies at subway and sweet onion sauce instead of dressing. I was on time and so was my flight, and it was a drama free flight back to atlanta. At my layover I went to 4 differnt vendors and finally found a coffee shop with soy milk. I had my shaker cup and shakeology in my carry on so I shook it up and didnt have any temptation to eat in the airport (I used to eat at the airport every time i travel just because i could!) the best part about that was they charged me $1.87 for the soy milk. that is like the cheapest item in an airport EVER lol my next flight was on time and i got home on time. Happy to be home, but sad to have had to leave. I really liked Texas. I am SO glad that I went. I learned a lot about myself & the power of positive thinking. I beat my personal record and finished my second half marathon. I got to meet Bobby and see my other biggest loser homies. But the best part? I truly left with a new friend. I am SO grateful to have met Breanne. She is just such an honest and real person. A funny person. A generous person. A positive person. Absolutely my newest great friend and someone I intend to have in my life for a long time! Thank you again for EVERYTHING! I look forward to seeing you again and the day you get your HALF medal!! xo
i am a super planner in fitness and in life. i was going to run this race in hopes that i would beat my last time, so i wanted to be really well prepared. I trained for 14 weeks and didnt miss a single run, so i knew physically I was prepared. I brought my foam roller and p90x3 yoga and a yoga strap and resistance bands for stretching. i also brought a golfball for my feet and a massage stick. i brought my shakeology and nutribullet. I had clothes for every temperature possible. I was ready to go.
i get to the airport and they say its a full flight so would i mind checking my bag instead of carrying on, no charge. i agree. the flight ends up being delayed. problem was that i had a connecting flight in atlanta. when we got to atlanta there were 4 minutes until my next flight took off. I dont know why i even tried, but me and a group of about 10 other young people literally ran through the airport. we were running up escalators and looked completely insane, but it was a big group so people were getting out of our way, power in numbers lol. i was pretty excited i was keeping up, but i cannot lie, when we got to the gate i was dripping sweat. i was also carrying about a 20lb purse lol we mustve ran at least a mile. I tried to brush this off as a warm up for the race.
by the time we got to the gate, the plane was gone. i ended up having to stay in a hotel in atlanta for the night becuase there were no other flights to huston until morning. I was PISSED. i dont know that ive been that angry in the last YEAR. to be quite honest i was feeling a little crazy again for a little bit. the airline ended up giving me an overnight bag with a toothbrush and deoderant and a tshirt to sleep in. I got to the hotel and all i could think about was my bag. i kept telling myself "its ok, the race is not until saturday, youre going to get there in time and everything is fine". but if my bag got lost i wouldnt have my food or my stretching and warm up tools or my clothes or my sneakers and THAT would ruin my race.
I ended up going downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel and got a salad, which was crappy and bland but the only gluten free and vegan option that would fit into my eating plan they had. it definitely wasnt the shakeology i had planned on having. I was pissed, anxious, and worried about falling asleep, so i also had 3 shots of vodka. i rarely drink, and ive never drank alone before in my life, but i was hoping this would knock me out for the night.
it didnt. although my anxiety decreased significantly i was in cold sweats all night long. I never slept for more than a few minutes at a time ( i track my sleep with the Jawbone UP band) and only a grand total of two hours. I dont know if it was the anxiety, the vodka or what, but it was one of the worst nights ive had in a LONG time.
i got up and showered and headed downstairs to check out the breakfast situation before catching the 6am shuttle. i had planned on oatmeal, peanut butter, and bananas and fortunately, they had both. instant oatmeal, but it was better than the waffles or sausage.
i got outside at 6 minutes before 6am for the shuttle, and it was ALREADY GONE. can we talk about murphys law for a second? good lord!! i did end up getting to take the 630 shuttle, ran through the damn airport again, and made my flight to huston. and when i got there, my bag WAS THERE!
In huston i met Breanne. She is an internet friend of mine. We happen to be from the same hometown, she used to live in miami, shes lost about 100lbs, shes already had her skin removal, we have a shitload in common, but we had never met in person until she picked me up from the airport! she had asked me to come to run her first half marathon with her but ended up breaking 2 toes the week before the race. She unfortunately wasnt going to be doing the half, but was going to attempt the 5k.
i immediately felt as comfortable with her in real life as i had on the phone, so that was good news. Shes a few years older than me but we really get along and relate well. I dont know how many times we said we reminded each other of ourselves. Shes such a realist and extremely well thought out and mature, and pretty much how I hope to be within the next few years of personal development. We talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. Very good company, major relief! lol
first stop was whole foods. I gave bre some tips of how i shop and we got clean complex carbs to load up on before the race. we went back to her place and food prepped, packed up, and hit the road to Beaumont. Bre had taken care of the hotel and it actually was really nice. everything really is bigger in texas. there was this ginormous texas flag like 5 stories high in the hotel lobby, there was also a giant waterfall. our room ended up being directly behind the waterfall. you could hear the water in our room, we considered it an room with an ocean view lol that was another great part about Bre. Shes a masshole! she is funny! and she gets my jokes! I cant tell you how weird it is when i make a new friend down here in Florida and they think everything i say is serious! lol
after we settled into the room we went to the packet pickup event. we got to see Dan and Jackie Evans from Season 5 and listen to some guest speakers. Jackie gave awesome, amazing, mom-like advice as always, and Dan performed two awesome songs hes recorded. While we were sitting there watching I couldnt help but be in love with Texas! the air smells so good! the grass was so nice! the little love bugs flying everywhere were cute- not scary like Florida bugs! lol It was really really nice. Beaumont made me kind of sad though. It was like 7pm on a Friday night when we left and we were right in the "downtown" area. It is a ghost town! but its SO cute! i dont know why its so empty, but it made me sad. I joked that when I am rich someday I am going to fix Beaumont. It deserves a second chance. the buildings are historical, many from the 1800s and i LOVE history. I liked it. Wouldnt live there, but I liked it.
We went back to the hotel and warmed up quinoa, plantains, and sweet potato for dinner. It was good. I stretched and foam rolled and we did p90x3 Yoga. Drank some sleepy time tea, put on OWN, set the alarm, and went to bed. The plans for the morning were to wake up 2 hours before the race and drink shakeology with a banana. then drink a liter of water while stretching and foam rolling. by then id need to use the bathroom and at 6 it would be time to eat oatmeal with raisins and cashews. At 6:15 we would leave, drive 15 minutes and arrive just in time for a 7am start.
I slept surprisingly well! So well in fact, then when I woke up i saw that it was light outside. light at 5am? I looked at my clock and it was 6:22!!!!!!!! BRIEF HEART ATTACK! I said "BRE, ITS 6:22!!!" and she woke up just as fast and we started moving. I mixed up some Shakeo with almond milk, banana, and oatmeal and the whole time just kept saying out loud "Its going to be a great race. Its going to be a great day" like a crazy person. But, ive been re-reading the secret and actually trying to apply it, so thats what needed to be done. I freaking love Bre because instead of looking at me like I was a nut, she did it with me. She wasn't panicking either. We were dressed and out the door within about 10 minutes and arrived at the race with about 8 minutes to spare. The 5k didnt start until 7:30 so Bre dropped me off by the race and went to park the car. I had to use the bathroom SO BAD and the line was SO LONG. I wanted to cry. But i just kept saying "its going to be a great race" and reminding myself that if i wasnt at the start when they started, youre allowed to start late, it was no big deal. I was just slightly worried because nothing was going as planned and I was trying to beat a personal record here!
There was a 6 year old girl named Lily in line in front of me, and she was very talkative. She asked me about my hair and why I wore so much black and why I had peircings. Her parents were trying to get her to leave me alone, but I kept talking to her because she was relaxing me. She was going to be running the kids 1 mile fun run that day. Thats so awesome. I hope when I have kids they run the kids runs at my races! i want baby spartans!
I FINALLY got to use a potty and rushed to the start line, Bre was waiting there and the race was about to start. we took a selfie real quick and i was on my way! i honestly cannot say that this race was as fun as my first half marathon. for one, there werent any cool bands playing at the mile markers like in Panama City lol but also, my first race, I was just trying to finishing without walking, i wasnt trying to keep a fast pace. this race, i was trying to beat my last race. On the official chipped time it said I finished in 2 hours and 37 minutes in my first race. however, on my band that was physically attached to my body, it said 2 hours and 30 minutes. I wanted to take 10 minutes off that time.
My pace was REALLY good in the beginning. I was feeling really confident when I did two miles in less than 19 minutes and my 3rd mile i did in just under 9 minutes! But then I had problem, I needed to use the bathroom. They do have portapotties at the water stations, so I had somewhere to go, but i was so pissed i had to stop. I pressed pause on my app because I did not want this to ruin my time when i wasnt even actually running during those minutes. the stopping to use the restroom proved to be a little bit of a problem because once i stop, ive lost momentum and i am thinking about stopping again. well, not stopping, but walking. I ended up having to use the bathroom three freaking times. I did end up doing some run/walking in the last 4 miles. The one benefit to the run/walk is that when youre running, youre running pretty fast because its only for a short time. I enjoyed running around texas. I was surprised at the amount of hills we ran up, but i am pretty sure they were man made. I liked seeing the oil industry live and i loved the old historic city. Theres a little strip on Crockett street that looks like an abandoned New Orleans. The little houses were cute and the people were friendly. One of the warehouses we ran past had guys passing out freezing cold bottles of water. It was fun, but I think the fact that all i could think about was beating my last time took away a little bit of the fun. I kept pace with a couple different running groups here and there and i even kept pace with a veteran who wheeled the entire 13.1 miles in a wheel chair! completely impressive and inspiring!! At mile 12 my little friend Lily was there! Definitely waiting for her mom, not me lol, but she still waived and yelled and it was awesome!
When i FINALLY crossed the finish line the Biggest Loser clock said 2 hours and 33 minutes! I was so excited!!! even with stopping so many times and run/walking I still took 4 minutes off of their clock! Then I checked my app and i almost cried!!! Had I not stopped at all my actual running time was 2 hours and 11 minutes!! SO EXCITING!!! I hope to run the Boston Marathon some day and to qualify for that ill need to run a marathon in like 3 hours and 40 minutes. So that means I have to get my half marathon down to 1 hour and 50 minutes. Its going to take a LOT of work, but i KNOW i can do that!!
Bre was waiting for me at the finish with her bruised foot! She had finished a 5k in less than 40 minutes with broken toes. Luckily the medical tent had some ice for her to help it feel better while she waited. We took some pictures and i finally got to meet Bobby from Season 15! He was at one of the mile markers and I screamed I LOVE YOU when i saw him, but i wasnt about to stop during the race lol. it was nice to meet him since i didnt get to in Miami! We took pictures with him and Vinny from season 12 and headed back to the hotel. It WAS A GREAT DAY!!
When we got back I jumped in the pool with my clothes on and soaked in the hot tub for a few. We showered and lounged in the room and it was finally time to hit the road again.
We stopped at Pappasitos for Mexican for lunch and it was seriously awesome. Great service and great food! I had a salad with avocado and beautiful veggies and two black bean tacos and it was SO flavorful. I did indulge in a whole bunch of tortilla chips and salsa, with no regrets. Bre was so awesome this trip and to top it off, she spoiled the shit out of me. When we got home we went to her favorite reflexology spot and she treated me. I have never had relexology. They start by like warming you up with a face and head massage before they get to your feet. I was totally shocked when she stuck her fingers in my ears! LOL but overall it was awesome and the light massage and stretching that went with it felt great on my muscles after the run.
That evening I finally met Bre's fiance and his son and they were just as awesome. We went by the pool at their complex and there were like 14 birthday parties going on, and i had only brought a bikini, anticipating less of a crowd. All those kids and im in a bikini, cant lie, i was NERVOUS! but no one pointed or laughed or stared. we didnt stay long, but it was another "fuck shame" victory for me!
For dinner we went to a place called "Souper Salad". it was a soup and salad buffet. I made a big but very light salad and got a cup of veggie soup, a small sweet potato, a veggie taco, and some fruit. I committed to not going back for seconds and no dessert, and i stuck to it! We went back to the house and watched Shark Tank till we passed out. I slept really well again.
The next morning it was time to say good bye and head back to Florida. i had a salad made with all the veggies at subway and sweet onion sauce instead of dressing. I was on time and so was my flight, and it was a drama free flight back to atlanta. At my layover I went to 4 differnt vendors and finally found a coffee shop with soy milk. I had my shaker cup and shakeology in my carry on so I shook it up and didnt have any temptation to eat in the airport (I used to eat at the airport every time i travel just because i could!) the best part about that was they charged me $1.87 for the soy milk. that is like the cheapest item in an airport EVER lol my next flight was on time and i got home on time. Happy to be home, but sad to have had to leave. I really liked Texas. I am SO glad that I went. I learned a lot about myself & the power of positive thinking. I beat my personal record and finished my second half marathon. I got to meet Bobby and see my other biggest loser homies. But the best part? I truly left with a new friend. I am SO grateful to have met Breanne. She is just such an honest and real person. A funny person. A generous person. A positive person. Absolutely my newest great friend and someone I intend to have in my life for a long time! Thank you again for EVERYTHING! I look forward to seeing you again and the day you get your HALF medal!! xo