Ultra Lauren: Valley Crest Half Marathon

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Valley Crest Half Marathon

Exercise: 5am strength and cardio circuit- 50 mins

Immediately after exiting the Hollywood Half Marathon expo I called Music Man and told him I was never running a big race again. I was so fed up with huge, crowded disorganized races. So he was pretty surprised when I told him I signed up for the Valley Crest half Marathon yesterday. It's a popular race but not a big one, so it doesn't count ;)

The best part is that it's super close to my house. I do my hill repeats on the trail head! It's where I hiked 3 days before giving birth.

And it's where Music Man mountain bikes daily.

The race has a decent start time of 8am which I am truly looking forward to. That way the fam can drop me off and see me finish. This wasn't really possible at the Hollywood Half.

I'm really looking forward to more trail running too. I've spent the last few years really pounding the pavement and can't wait to get back out into nature.

I'll do my first training run Saturday but it will be short because I'm running a 5k on Sunday with a few friends. I don't plan on PRing, but it should be a good time.

Hope you're having a great week.

2 comments:

HeatherApril 12, 2012 at 4:12 PM
Are you doing the CATS 5k? My MOMS group is doing it and I will be there. I won't be running it though because my group is walking it and I wanted to stay with them :).
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LaurenApril 12, 2012 at 4:15 PM
A few of our MOMS members are doing it too. I think most of us are running/ jogging. We'll see you there!
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Former Fat Girl

I've been overweight since I was about 8. I've lost weight but always gained it back, and then some. This cycle has repeated itself many times through my life. I've tried plenty of weight loss programs and fad diets and they all worked...for a while.

I think it was around 2003 when I hit my highest weight of 261 pounds. I remember seeing that number and being disgusted. It was a wake up call. So I started walking. And walking.

Later that year I started dating a boy who was training to run a marathon. I expressed interest and he told me I was too fat and out of shape to even consider running a marathon. From that point it was on. I started running little by little.

The LA marathon was my first and it took me almost 8 hours to complete. I was 241 pounds at the time. I was proud of my accomplishments but still felt I had so far to go. One day, while walking with my mom she suggested I try Lindora.

Less than a year after starting Lindora I was down to 164 pounds and within a healthy weight range for my height. But Lindora is a fairly expensive program and since I had reached a healthy weight, I just quit. And one thing leads to another and the weight starts to creep back on.

Luckily, this time it didn't all creep back because I continued to run. 4 marathons in 2 years.

Fast forward to 2009. I had gained back almost half the weight I lost then I got pregnant. Although I walked every day during my pregnancy I still managed to gain almost 40 pounds. The day before I had my son I had reached a very round 250.

And I saw this perfect little face and realized my health no longer affected only me. At 8 weeks post partum I began running again and 2 months after that I was down to my pre pregnancy weight. I continued to exercise and by January 2011 was down another 20 pounds.

In February I started weight training and tracked my calories (similar to the Weight Watchers point system.) And the weight really came off. By the beginning of May I was down to a healthy weight.

Today my weight is around 150 pounds give or take a few depending on hormones and cake cravings. But I don't eat much cake, and when I do I don't give myself a hard time I just continue to eat healthier. And I continue to run.

I run because it keeps me healthy. I run because it gives me a constant goal. I run because I love it.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Valley Crest Half Marathon

2 comments: