First 5K - Places, everyone....

I came in 185 out of 469 women! Yeehaw!! I'll take it! 


Max killed it, coming in 261 out of 421. There were a lot of fast dudes! I ran slower than Max but beat a higher percentage of women. 


What does this mean for the battle of the sexes? 


...I'll get back to you on that. 

Fridge Power!!!!!

Reasons my fridge rules (Clockwise from the yellow magnet):

#1 - The yellow clip magnet is holding up a news letter that my building publishes. One of the pics in this month's news letter is me, Max, and Lucy! I look skinny in the picture, and Max and Lucy are cute as always :)

#2 - My race # from the Run, Forrest, Run 5k. 'Nuff said.

#3 - Beneath my race # lies the poster to my play. I wrote a play, someone actually produced it, and we were a hit. I have the poster to prove it! 'Nuff said x2!

#4 - Dish towel. This towel represents how well I've soaked up my new healthy lifestyle. JUST KIDDING! It's just a freaking towel... moving on...

#5 - The blue clip magnet is holding up our Power 90 calendar. Tony Horton for president!!!!!!

#6- Also beneath the yellow clip magnet is the check list Max and I made called our "Go Go Go Go Do" list.  We are trying to install a healthy routine, and checklists that say obvious stuff like "drink water" and "do pushups" are very helpful!

So yeah. I look at our frige and I feel pride. Our fridge shows how committed to a healthy, happy life together! 

My First Race - 5K, okay!

Max, Lucy and I ran in our first 5K race on Sunday, the Run, Forrest, Run Bubba Gump 5k. It was exhilarating! Here's how it went down:

The night before, I set out all my race clothes. 

(Two bras. Nike hasn't figured out a way to cease my jiggle with just one.)

(Flash! Reflective!)

Sign in started at 7a, race at 8:30a. The cool thing was that the race was in our neighborhood, so we didn't have to wake up too early on a Sunday. I woke up at 6:30a and hopped in the shower. I hadn't shaved my legs in a couple days, and if I was going to be seen in public in my running shorts I needed to get my gams looking good!

 After I got out of the shower, I got dressed and made Max and myself each a slice of dry wheat toast. Our nerves definitely got the better of our appetites! Max couldn't even finish his slice.

As Max, Lucy and I were walking to the race, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. I had never been so excited to run in my life!

Ironically, signing in to the race was the easy part. We were all set by 7:15a. I forgot to take pictures of the race sign in booth, so use your imagination. It looked like a tent with a folding table under it. It was awesome.

The hard part about getting ready for the race was making Lucy do her 'business'.... yeah. Here's the thing about running with Lucy: she'll stick to my side or Max's side like a pro. She is great about weaving in and out of crowds. The one problem is she's basically a horse so if you don't make sure she goes #2 before the run, she will run and crap at the same time. The LAST thing we wanted was to be the people who let their dog crap on the route. Can you imagine?! Oy vey.

So Max and I walked Lucy around the block for 45 minutes damn waiting for that stubborn girl to go! I think she was aware that we were about to take part in something because normally her morning walks are about 15 minutes long. She never takes that long! It was kind of funny, looking back on it. Max and I wanted to go stretch and get warmed up, but the longer Lucy didn't go, the more frustrated we were getting. Finally, she did her dirty sinful business and we were able to get stretched and ready to go.

(Max and I just before the race started)

(I tried to get a nice picture of Max and Lucy before the race, but Pervy McHandsInHisPants ruined it!)

(Dude, you're so gonna become a meme...)

Friday Weigh In for 4/27/12

(Scary face for vulnerable blogging)

Weekly Loss: 1 lb
Total Loss: 41.2 lbs
lbs left to lose: 58.8
Miles Run this Week: 4.4
Power 90 workouts: Done 3 of 3!

Goals for next week:
Lose 1.5 lbs, Run 10 miles

Confession:

Max and I fell out of running for a couple weeks, and we're just starting to get back into the swing of things. But we had a good reason, and we were still staying active:

I wrote a play and it was just produced in New Orleans (yay!). Max also worked on the play as the composer and sound designer. This means that as soon as I finished up at my normal job (where I work in TV for 60 hours a week), Max and I would then ride our bikes 3.5 miles each way to rehearsals and performances.

This took up all of our nights and weekends for three weeks straight. We were getting home at 11 or 12 at night, and were getting to sleep around 1 or 2am. There's no way in hell Max and I could do all of that and still wake up at 6:45a to run.

So we fell out of it. But we're back now, and gearing up for the 5k this weekend. Yes, I wish we had gotten in a few more miles this week in advance of the race, but we're still doing P90 which is strengthening our legs and our cores, so that's something. Something awesome.

Next week, my goal is to lose 1.5 lbs and run 10 miles.

Drinking Water

I just learned something:

Take your weight, divide it in two.

That's how many fluid ounces of water you need to drink everyday.

Holy shnits. I need to lose some weight so I don't have to drink so much. There aren't enough Nalgenes in the world to make that happen....

Is this what people mean when they say they have a drinking problem?

Run, Val, Run!

I've become something of a runner in recent months. Or maybe something like a runner is more accurate... okay, okay (I see you giving me the side eye, Max!) I have become something of a JOGGER, because let's be honest... 6mph isn't running.

(At my heaviest last summer, with my Mama on July 4th)

It started in the summer of 2011 when I was at my all-time heaviest weight. I decided I was unhealthy, uncomfortable, and ready to change my lifestyle for good. In the past I had done the crash diet thing to lose weight, but that's not a healthy or sustainable solution.

So Max and I decided to begin a workout routine. We started by doing laps in North Hollywood park. Ah, yes- memories! Between the dust in the air (kicked up from the dirt track  by all our fellow joggers) to the smog (the park is quaintly nestled against the 170 freeway- I mean literally between two off-ramps) it was not the most luxurious place to work out our lungs. But it did the trick. We went to that park 3-5 times a week and got stronger, faster, and fitter as the summer went on. At first, I couldn't even jog for a quarter mile. Of course Max is a super human and... you know... wasn't obese... so he could run much longer and faster than I could. After a few months of sticking to it, though, I was up to running 2 miles straight, averaging about 12 or 13 minutes per mile.

Oh, side note and fun story: One time when we were crossing the street to get to the park, Tommy Lee pulled a U-turn and almost hit us! It was so cool. :-P

Cut to today:

Power 90 Day 3

OK so the first day kicked my ass. Second day kicked my ass.

Today? Day 3? Kicked my ass. BUT (and that's a big but) it was easier.

It's like my muscles are saying "Ooooh yes. We remember this. You just did this a  couple days ago. OK, well let's do it again. This time we'll be ready!"

So it still hurt like a bitch, and I was making really ugly, squinty faces the whole time, but somehow... it was easier to push myself. Muscle memory is amazing. I can already do the pushups that I couldn't accomplish on day 1!

I can not wait to do day 4. It seems like it keeps getting better and better!

Also, Tony is still funny and not annoying. Which is amazing because I hate everything and am annoyed easily.

Power 90 Day 2

OK so day 1 was the weight training. Day 2 is the cardio and abs.

First impressions:

I love the pushup/power yoga/ plank thing. It's freaking hard, but I bet when I'm stronger, fitter, and lighter it's going to be really fun to fluidly move between all of those poses.

Who knew that pumping one's arms up and down over and over while high stepping in place for a minute would be so hard? It's cool! It's like cardio... without the moving forward part!

I love the X. Such a cool idea.

I did 100 crunches, bitches!!! It wasn't bad either! I think the fact that I've done Denise Austin's Pilates DVD a few dozen times helps my technique. I know how to point my toes when I do the bicycle one! I win!!!!!!

This was 'easier' for me than the circuit day, but I was still weak, sweaty, and tired when it was done. LOVE IT!

Power 90 Day 1

First impressions:

I'm using 8 lb weights, which seems about right for me.
Tony Horton is a hoot. (There's a Dr. Seuss pun in there somewhere...)
This is gonna be hard.
I am weak.
This is gonna be fun.
This is gonna be hard.
I will be strong.

I'll share my Day 1 picture when I get to day 90. I'm soooo not looking forward to that.