I’m a Warrior Machinist

So, what the heck is a Warrior Machinist? I have no idea, it’s something silly that I made up to sound cool and interesting. LOL. You all know I have been slacking in the fitness department; a walk at lunch here, a dance party on my Xbox Kinectthere.  My family really started to get on my case. My parents are uber concerned about my health, and my little sister started going to the gym without me. I told her that the next time she went, I was determined to go with her. I tried to be as prepared as possible. I had my hair tie, my iPod, Nike+ , my Yurbuds, my Waist Trimmer Belt and my sports bra. She picked me up when she got off her after school job and we went to the gym. I started on the elliptical machine. We pedaled for 30 minutes while watching The Big Bang Theory on TV. It’s my best friend’s favorite show. I always thought it was too weird to have a show about socially awkward nerds, but that show was hilarious. I laughed out loud several times and didn’t care who heard me. After the elliptical I moved on to the treadmill. I searched for my name under Artist on my iPod and played Week 1 of the Couch to 5K. I’ve heard it so many times that I said every word right along with my recorded voice. For that first 60 second interval run, I really pushed it at a level 5. Then my chest hurt, my head hurt, my back hurt. I decided to take it down a notch especially since I had just finished 30 minutes the elliptical. You have to push yourself, but you also have to listen to your body. In hindsight, I should have run first. But, I still completed each interval with a wog (walking and jogging) instead of a run. Then I heard BBD’s Poison and I knew I was almost at the end of the training session.  Finally, I completed the last interval “run” of Week 1. I was ready to go home, but my sister had this crazy 900 calories burn goal. So, she moved on to the step machine. I just watched her for a few minutes, I was exhausted. Then I felt silly just watching, so eventually, I got on the new Recumbent Bike. The seat was super soft and comfortable. I pedaled with my arms and legs for 19 more minutes. I forgot to turn on my Nike+ to track my distance on the treadmill, I was upset because I wanted to show you guys a pretty picture with my charted distance. But, instead you get a sweaty exhausted no makeup pic of me on the bike. I hobbled out to the car, in my tank top soaked with sweat feeling like a Warrior Machinist for conquering 3  different machines at the gym. I reminded myself that I often regret not working out, but I’ve never ever regretted a workout once I was finished.

My 1st Half Marathon Video Diary

My 1st Half-Marathon

OMG! Where do I begin? On Friday when I went to the Expo to pick up my race bib number a lady came up and started talking to me. We soon realized that we were both in Team in Training with LLS and we were both walking the half marathon. What a coincidence! We exchanged numbers and planned to hook up on race morning. Saturday evening I went to the carb-loaded inspiration dinner with all of the team members. Our team raised over $160,000 for cancer!!! Parents of first grader Hayley got up and told their story of how she went through chemo and how Team in Training helped make it so that her last chemo treatment was in March. She’s cancer free! (pic of Me and Coach Tina at the Dinner)
I went home less stressed than I felt all week and gathered up everything for race day. You guys saw the major list that I had to get ready. Once I had everything laid out I made a failed attempt to go to sleep.

You’ve heard me say over and over that I’m a night person. I paced around and finally got in the bed a little after 11 pm. I tossed and turned and tossed and turned. I was glad that the coach warned us that this was normal the day before a race. I don’t know what time I finally got to sleep.
At the inspiration dinner they said that they wanted the team to meet at 5:30 AM and walk to the starting line together so that there will be up “Sea of Purple Shirts.” I decided to be a team player and woke up a little bit before 5 AM. I forced myself to eat a muffin, as I had absolutely no appetite at that time of morning. Aside from avoiding alcohol, one of coach Tina’s final pieces of advice were to go to the bathroom before the race. Like “really go” like, number 2. I figured this would be no problem as I’m pretty regular (sorry probably too much information.) Anyway this morning my body was very confused, and had no clue how to function at 5 AM. I danced outside with Nyah I walked up and down the stairs nothing was making number two happen. I gave up and made it downtown around six o’clock, terrified that I would have to use the Porter potties. Luckily by the time I made to the host hotel my mind was awake and so was the rest of my body. Whew, thank God, porter potty avoided. I hooked up with the nice lady that I met the Expo via cell phone and we were off! Everything was groovy as I had driven the race path on Saturday after the dinner. That was until I tripped and fell over a pipe sticking up out of the street shortly before mile 2. I am “tangle-footed” as my Dad calls me, so I’ve learned not to fall on my face or my knees. I let my hands catch me, as my water bottle and new iPod went flying. Contrary to elementary school days all the other participants were genuinely concerned and helped me up. I was so worried about passing out and oddly enough falling had never occurred to me. About mile 4 I started to “feel it.” It was nearly 90 degrees already, nothing like my freezing cold training conditions for the last 4 months.

 When we got to mile 6 most of the walkers and runners had passed us and there was a small group of us walking together. Two of the ladies dropped out. I couldn’t believe it; I was finishing this race, if I had to limp across the finish line. At about mile 7 or 8 my personal cheerleaders waved signs with my name. My Mama, my Big Little sister and Auntie’s baby girl cheered for my little walk group. My other Little sister promised the pastor she would be at church and she text me throughout the race. They gave us all a moral boost. However, around mile 9, it started to get kind of grimy. It seemed that we would never get to Mile 10. Then we ran into Coach Tina, she walked with us almost all the way to the finish line. Everytime we said something negative like my feet hurt or I don’t think I can do this, she gave us something positive to focus on. At one point we started naming body parts that didn’t hurt, like my ear or my walk buddy said her tongue LOL! Soon thereafter, the blazing sun heated my silver earring to the point that it burned my neck. Coach said it was so hot that they shut down the rest of the marathon race. My heart went out to those people that trained and weren’t allowed to finish their race. There were so many ambulances and I saw several hurt people on the ground. The heat was getting to everybody and really slowing me down.
Around Mile 11 I started to get pretty crabby. And I told the ladies I was walking with, “Nice Carli is gone and I’m warning you that I have a bad attitude.” Just like the guys that I date, I give you fair warning if I’m about to flip the switch, since that’s typically not my character. One lady cheered “way to go!” And I think I rolled my eyes at her as I envied her standing on the sidelines. My coach said I guess she didn’t get the attitude disclaimer. LOL! I kept looking at my biblical scripture temporarily tattooed on my wrist that read “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I said it about 1 million times in my head, when nothing Christ-like wanted to come out of my mouth. Finally, as we approached mile 12 “Not Forgotten” a gospel song came on that helped push me through. My feet hurt so bad, it was beyond hot, and I was exhausted, I didn’t know how I could go any further. And then almost miraculously I saw the finish line. I actually started to get a little emotional which is totally not my style. I started thinking about all of the encouraging comments on Facebook & my blog and all the people that I would inspire as Roni inspired me. I decided to suck it up because I didn’t want to do the “ugly cry” in my finish line photo, and I was wearing eye makeup. As I got close to the finish line I saw my Dad, I waved at him and decided to run it on in, I dug deep and gave it every tiny bit that I had left. I ran across the finish line pumping my fists in the air to “Eye of the Tiger” which was playing over the loudspeaker. My homeboy with the video camera was nowhere in sight. I could have strangled him. I was a little disoriented and the volunteers had to tell me to get my metal and get something to eat. I hobbled my way over to the Team in Training tent. They gave me my 13.1 mile pin and finally I sat down. I decided to put away the crabby witch and be nice to my Dad and my homeboy that were nice enough to stand in the heat until I finished nearly an hour past my projected time. It took me a while to get back to feeling quasi-normal. They drove me to my car and we all went to Red Lobster for a victory dinner. I ate as many cheddar bay biscuits as I wanted and didn’t care about WW points. I felt that that was okay since I walked for nearly 5 hours and burned over 2000 calories. Thank you family and Running into Shape supporters for believing in me. Now, since I almost fell asleep in the bath tub, I think calling it a night.

10 Miles and a New Nephew!

I slept through the first alarm on my night stand, I don’t even remember hitting the snooze button.  It was my backup alarm on my cell phone that actually woke me up.  Now I only had five minutes to get dressed and out of the door to LLS group training out at Creve Coeur Lake.  My brain simply does not function at 6:30 in the morning.  I picked up last night’s Zumba pants and Febreze air freshened them, and grabbed a Michael Jackson T-shirt out of the drawer.  I stumbled around mostly still asleep while I put on my shoes and tried to find my iPod.  By the time I had let Nyah out and was actually on my way out of the door I would’ve been almost 30 minutes late for group training.  When I opened the door a burst of chilly wind hit my bad knee and the cool misty rain slapped me on my face.  I immediately shut the door and headed back to my bedroom.  I was just a few seconds from taking my shoes off before I realized how ridiculous it would be for me to be up and ready and not training.  I really don’t have time to get sick from walking outside in the cold and rain for hours around a lake, so I decided to call the gym, secretly wishing they weren’t open yet.  “It’s a great day at the family YMCA, this is Rose, how may I assist you?!”  I reluctantly said to Rose, I guess you are open, I will head that way, and she replied cheerfully “we will be waiting for you!”  

I called my little sister for backup, I wasn’t even sure if I would get an answer.  Much to my surprise she did answer with her cheerful voice….  I’m never pleasant when people call me in the morning on a Saturday.  Maybe that’s something I should work on….  Anyway, she agreed to go with me, but she specifically said “I’m not walking 10 miles with you.”  I think she caught on from the last time she was tricked into the long training session.  I told her “you can leave me after a few miles and come back and get me.”  She agreed.  In the gym we decided to do five miles on the track together and then I did five miles on the treadmill.  By the time I sweated my way through mile six, I was regretting my decision to wear last night’s funky pants.  My mother would be so disappointed that I was too lazy to do laundry and actually Febrezed some sweat pants….  By the time I got to mile 8, I was pouring sweat.  I think the little Michael Jackson figure on my shirt was even sweating!  I stopped and stretched and convinced myself that I could make it just two more miles.  This old guy was checking me out, and left his machine and came and got on the treadmill next to me.  He was only there for a few minutes before he left.  I might have looked cute, but my sweaty funk was anything but cute.  I kept reading my Joel Osteen book and finally finally finished 10 miles.  I was so happy I would’ve done a cute Zumba dance but I hurt too much.  My little sister brought my car back in one piece and I came home and took a nap to recover before tonight’s fundraiser. 

My Big Little Sister’s job had a Mardi Gras themed silent and live auction fundraiser.  We got all dressed up and went to a fancy hotel in Clayton.  We were surprised to see these kids carrying around a little dog.  We later found out that his name was “Mardi Paws” and he was part of the auction.  How cute my sister said, we should bid on him.  I told her I already have a fur baby and you have a two-year-old.  She said I will bid on him first, just for fun just to get things going because he’s so cute!  We overheard other people talking about how the dog went for the thousands last year and how many people wanted him this year.  Certainly her low bid would get things going.  When the auctioneer started off, my sister raised her bid number.  He called for the next highest bid, but not one of the 300 other attendees raised their hand, he called another number, no one else raise their hand.  He went through this for about two or three minutes.  I laughed harder and harder as each second passed, and my Big Little Sister started to twitch nervously.  SOLD, to the lady in the back! 

At this point I began to laugh almost uncontrollably, I was laughing so hard that there were tears in my eyes.  They brought my sister her new baby in a laundry basket with a bag full of goodies.  I continued to laugh at her.  I said give me my nephew, I will hold him and while you go check out.  It was for charity so, there’s no turning back.  I babysat last night and most of the day today while she got a crate, a leash and everything else you need for an unexpected surprise like my nephew Mardi.  (I’m still laughing even as I type this post!) We just hope my niece isn’t allergic to him.  He’s an adorable 4 month old  pure bred Lhasa Apso.

No Scrubs Sunday

I knew that yesterday would be busy with the birthday party and movie night, so I planned my 9 mile walk for today.  How in the world was I going to get in nine whole miles?  I decided to walk to Forest Park instead of driving, to give me the extra mile boost that I needed.  I stopped at my Mom’s house along the way because I forgot my bottle of water.  My little sister gave me some encouragement and sent me and my water on my way.   As I walked down the street in my matching gear and sexy sunglasses a guy started yelling out of the passenger car window.  “Hey Miss Walker, you sholl are looking good today!”  “Can I walk with you?” …TLC’s classic song “No Scrubs” immediately came to mind. I started humming, “I don’t want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me, hanging out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride, trying to holler at me.”  I laughed and gave the guy a friendly wave but continued walking but at a faster pace. I learned years ago it’s easier just to give a quick wave to acknowledge their presence so that they don’t get angry and keep moving to let them know you’re not interested.  Mr. Scrub continued to yell out compliments, much to the entertainment of those dining outside near the U-City Loop.  After what seemed like an eternity at the stop light he yelled out his phone number digit by digit and begged me to call, I just walked faster; he had to be my Dad’s age.

Once I got to the Park I decided to be a little adventurous. I figured I would go to the Zoo. It was a good idea in theory however, everybody and their Mama decided to go to the free St. Louis Zoo since it was 70° out today.  As I got closer to the entrance, the aroma in the air changed from elephant poo to funnel cakes.  All the children and strollers slowed my brisk walking pace but it was nice to see a different scenery.  I walked through Rivers edge and snapped quick pics of the elephants the scary hyena and the cheetahs. 

After about 30 min. I was back outside of the Park on the walking trail. I decided to be even more adventurous and take the unpaved hiking trail.  There was a sign that pointed to the ancient Native American “Tree within a tree.” That sounded interesting enough, and at this point I had only completed 5 or 6 miles.  When I got to the tree within the tree, I was less than impressed.  I mean I guess it was little tree growing inside of another tree, but nothing really exciting.  But, I took a little time to stop and stretch.  When I looked ahead of me and behind me there was no one else on the wooded trail, I got a little nervous and decided that maybe I had been a little too adventurous.

 I started to get a little tired and my main goal was now to find the paved trail and start heading home.  My book on tape was keeping me company, I’m more than halfway through it.  After the 7^th mile I was really ready for this walk to be over. Finally I reached the edge of the Park and walked down the regular streets back towards my house. The sun was setting so I decided to pick up the pace and walk just a little faster, especially since I didn’t have Nyah with me for safety. When I was about three blocks from my house the Nike iPod lady told me that I had reached my goal of 9 miles.  Not bad since I had pretty much guessed the whole distance, I didn’t map out anything before I left the house.  Finally in just under three hours I was home from the long journey.  I kept an average of 18 min mile walk pace, however I really want that down to 16 before the race.  Nonetheless success!  I never thought in a million years I would be able to walk more than 9 miles on Sunday by myself.  I guess when you put your mind to it you can do anything