Let's Get Dunked!

My friends at East Dallas CrossFit decided to throw a Spring Body Composition Challenge.

Challenge accepted!

The competition started Monday, March 17^th and will run for 8 weeks. There will be a pre and post-test for body composition via a mobile hydrostatic body fat testing clinic. The test will tell us several fun and possibly depressing facts:

·         Your fat and fat-free body mass, as percentages and in actual weight

·         How much fat you need to lose to achieve your desired body composition

·         How many calories you burn with and without exercising

My test was at 6:00 on Monday so I showed up ready to get dunked. I admittedly was nervous…who really wants to know how much body fat they truly have, not this girl!

Photo credit: EDCF

After answering a few questions the technician explained what I needed to do exactly….basically you just take a deep breath and lay back in the water completely submerged and then blow ALL your air out. If you have ever been baptized, it’s basically the same thing minus the prayers.

After two dunks, I received my results. Ugh, talk about brutal honesty BUT in the long run it’s going to pay off cause I’M GOING TO WIN….ok, probably not but I will put in a good girl’s scout effort!

Wish me luck!

Kris

Dash Down Greenville

As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction. An Irish blessing for you all on this lucky St. Patrick’s Day!

Dallas celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with the 5k race, a parade and a huge party on Greenville. People start lining up for the parade at the crack of dawn; some even spend the night in the parking lot….crazy!

The race started at 8:00 in front of Central Market at Lover’s and Greenville. This was such a fun race, so many costumes….green everywhere!! The only bad thing about this race was the humidity. I was sweating away all my cuteness! There was at least a good half mile of parade spectators cheering us on once we were off and running. Who doesn’t love a good cheering squad?

The course was relatively flat minus the one steep incline around mile 2, dislike! Those dang hills get me every time! I was keeping a good pace of 10:12-10:30 the first miles then started to slow down on mile 3 to an 11:14 pace. I could tell my body was tired. I had a rough week leading up to the race. I had two very sick dogs that kept me up three nights in a row, a car accident and just the normal work day stress. My body was not a happy camper. I finished the race in 33:29 (official time), I will take it though. I was really aiming for that 30 minute 5k….I will get it next time, hopefully!

My unofficial time from my GPS

I knew my friends were coming to the parade so I decided to stay till they got there. I walked through several booths set up at the site, got some free jerky…yummy! Also grabbed a beer, it was also free so yay!

Met a new friend...he didn't know where the pot of gold was!

I walked over to where the band was playing and grabbed a seat at the coziest curb next to some ladies from Fort Worth. I am not sure of the band’s name but they were actually pretty good. They played some great classic rock n’ roll plus a few top 40 hits. There was one guy who came out there towards the end of the set and showed off his mean dance skills. This guy was amazing. He could do a pop and lock like nobody’s business.

The ladies that I met from Fort Worth were so nice. They are members of the Fort Worth Running Club. I told them about my race challenge and they gave me so many great tips and advice, it was much appreciated!

I met up with my friends around 10:30 for some shenanigans and parade fun! My friends all looked so cute in their green and then there was me, sweaty and nasty from the run….whomp whomp!  

  

Selfie with Julie

  All and all it was a great run and fun times had by all.

Don't ask....just being silly!

30 more races to go!!!

Kristin

Shape Magazine

It’s official, I am in a fitness magazine….well only my picture and in the wrong city but none the less, I am in a magazine with my friends!

Back in October 2013 I ran in the Santa Fe Trail 5k with some friends from East Dallas CrossFit. Before our run we got together to take a group picture and later that day Jill posted the picture to Instagram. Fast forward to 2014…..Shape contacted Jill asking if they could use her picture in an upcoming magazine! After getting permission from the gang, Jill gave Shape the thumbs up to use the picture.

I honestly had forgotten all about it till last week when I received a text from Jill saying, “Its official, we made the magazine!” Of course I bought two copies the next day……my 15 seconds of fame J

The funny thing is that the article is about “Running USA.” They used pictures that people posted on Instagram that perhaps were hash tagged with their cities name such as #run #colorado or #runningaustin. They featured popular running trails in that particular city. Since Jill hash tagged #santafetrail they assumed it was Santa Fe, NM….they missed the fact that most of us were wearing East Dallas CrossFit t-shirts, duh! So now we are avid runner of Santa Fe, NM….

Who cares though…..we are in a magazine! WEE!!

Go buy your copy, March 2014 issue!

Kristin

Cowtown Half Marathon

Giddy up y’all! First half of 2014, DONE and DONE!

I had been looking forward to this half all year, all two months of the year. I wasn’t originally going to run this half but then my good friend Mike told me he was running so in honor of him running in his first half and in my way of supporting him, I signed up as well. Always support your friends!

The Cowtown is a weekend full of races. You have your choice of running a 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon or the ultra-marathon. If you don’t know, the ultra-marathon is 31 miles…yes 31 miles of insanity! Peeps are crazy!

Saturday was the big health expo and packet pick-up as well as a 5k and a 10k races. Right before I left, my friend Lindsey called and wanted to know if I was interested in tacos, duh, like I would ever NOT be interested in tacos! I told her yes, if she went to the expo with me. Naturally she said yes ;-) We made a pit stop at Torchy’s Tacos for some breakfast and a little girl talk.  

I was really pumped about this expo but was totally disappointed once I arrived. It was small, chaotic and just dull. We didn’t hang around long. We pretty much grabbed my packet and looked through a couple of booths before heading out. Whomp Whomp!

The alarm went off at 4:00am and if you know me, you know that I do NOT like getting up early! I eventually talked myself out of bed and into the shower. I knew the shower would wake me up some and it did. I made my pre-race breakfast, lowfat waffle with peanut butter and bananas.  I was pumped and ready!!  I felt like Rocky entering the boxing ring….. “Eye of the Tiger” playing….let’s do this!  

Pre-race selfie

I am so thankful that Paige took me to the race because there was some major traffic once we got into Fort Worth. I got out at a light and walked the rest of the way while Paige parked. Once I arrived in my corral I was able to stretch and gather my thoughts. The excitement had started to fade and the nerves had settled in. My body was also tired so I was trying to move as much as I could to get some energy.

Traditional bib picture

After 22 minutes, I was off! I felt strong, a little tired but strong. I started off great but at about mile 5 my feet started to kill me! Why you ask….oh I was stupid and wore my new shoes, yup you read that right. I decided last minute to swap shoes. Dumbest idea EVER! I had to stop and adjust my laces so that my toes wouldn’t fall off. Luckily this didn’t hurt my time too much. I was doing really well despite the pain in my feet.

At the starting line

I really enjoyed the course for the most part. I didn’t care about running through the Stock Yards because the street was all brick and uneven, dislike. Coming into mile 11 my time was 2:18:29, I was pretty pleased and I knew I could beat my previous time but then low and behold, a bleepin hill! Once I got up over the hill, there was another one. I was done after that. I gave it my all and those hills took it all from me. I found myself stopping and walking a bit which I haven’t done since November. I was SO mad and disappointed.

I finished as strong as I could. I gave the last half a mile everything I had left which wasn’t much. My time was 3:03:03. After I crossed the finish line I made my way to the runners food tent where I found ICE CREAM. Y’all my love for tacos will never outweigh my love for ice cream. I clearly have food issues! Best ice cream ever!

While I was running, Paige was busy making new friends. Paige can make friends anywhere! Good thing though because her new friend told her about Rodeo Burger which was amazeballs! It was so good!! I had the Nanny Goat which had goat cheese on it and anything with goat cheese on it is destined to be good! The best part of lunch was my cold beer with my dear friend who got up early, drove me to Fort Worth and waited 3 hours for me to finish. Talk about a good friend! She also sent me the sweetest text later that day that really tugged on the old heart strings. Truly blessed to call her a friend!

Later that evening while lying on the couch in pain I received the best text from Mike who sent me a quote that made my day! He knew I was disappointed with my time and performance so maybe that is why he sent it but none the less, it made my day! By the way, Mike did an awesome job for his first half. I think he finish with a time of 2:20:00, amazing! I was SO proud of him, he's my hero!

Although I didn’t have the best time or performance I am proud that I finished. I am proud that I am sticking with my goals and knocking these races out.

8 races down, 31 to go!

XOXOXO,

Kris

Heart & Sole 5k

Has anyone realized that it’s March? Geez, 2014 is flying by!! I am so behind on posts. I got caught up in la la land that I failed to maintain my commitment to my blog! Well my friends, I am back!

Let’s travel back in time to Valentines/Presidents Day weekend. My mom came to Dallas to spend the weekend with me and it was much needed. Every so often a girl just needs her mom plus she was bringing me a Valentine’s Day treat soooo….. yay!

Saturday we got up bright and early so that I could participate in the Heart & Sole 5k. The race was at White Rock Lake and started at Winfrey Point. It was a great morning for a race. The sun was out, I was on cloud 9 and I was ready to run. The course started out downhill and like always, I started out faster than I should. I will say though, I did maintain much of that mile 1 pace throughout the course. YAY! This was pretty much an out and back course, super easy except for running back up that hill to cross the finish line, ugh hills!

I finished the race in 34:59. Definitely slower than normal but that’s alright, can’t run a perfect race every time. My speed is definitely picking up and I am able to maintain a faster pace throughout the first two miles. I know I will meet that 29 minute 5k time this year, I feel it in my old bones!!

After the race, I took my mom to Good 2 Go Tacos. She has to be part of the tradition yo (I am still working on my street slang, sounds good right?) We gobbled up some goodness before heading back to my house to clean up for a day of movies and shopping.

Get in my belly!

Sunday we spent the day resting and cleaning my house. I am telling you, the best mom EVER! 

With my beautiful mom before the race

All and all it was a great weekend spent with my mom and another race in the books!

32 more to go! 

Kris