Houston

“Defining” in the 2nd Trimester

October 11, 2011 by Marci 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, I wrote about exercise in the first trimester, which added up to slow walking and light weights at the gym when I felt good. June was actually normal, July was slowing down, and August was pretty blah. The whole month. I did the best I could with what energy I had. My body was busy forming a poppyseed into a lemon! There wasn’t a lot of leftover energy for exercise.

Around Week 14, I had an increase in energy and felt much better, just as the books say I would. I decided not to return to CrossFit because it is probably too high impact for me, and modifying everything and being the slowest in the class probably won’t make me feel all that great. I also enjoy sleeping in. But I did want to do something to get moving besides walking. I do have a gym membership, but why belong to one when you could belong to two? (Not really, I just wanted to try a studio.)

I bought a Groupon for Define Body, the same place I tried last May with a Living Social deal. This time, I get two weeks of unlimited classes. And then I’ll have to buy a pack of classes. I just started the two week period over the weekend and took three classes in four days. Define is a local barre method studio with its own technique. It is in a pretty studio, with kind instructors and good music. It is so refreshing for me to try this other type of studio. The classes are an hour and open to all skill levels. It’s about using small movements and light weights to tone specific areas in a fun way.

Back in May, I enjoyed Define, but still really liked the intensity of CrossFit more. Now, Define is just the right amount of movement and stretching for me without being too hard, too heavy, and too much impact. Immediately, my hamstrings and triceps were sore and I enjoyed that feeling. I missed working hard and feeling sore.

I modify any movements that include ab work or twisting. Although a chunk of the class is about core movements, I can modify by leaning on a ball or hanging on to a band to absorb the tension, or I just don’t do the movement. I can still do about 85% of the movements just like everyone else, and it’s been so nice to take a class and trust that the instructor will help me modify something.

My plan is to still exercise 4-5 days per week with a mix of walking and either this class or some other form of light cross training as long as I’m feeling good!

Filed Under: Exercise, Pregnancy · Tagged With: Define, Exercise, Houston, Pregnancy

Run for the Rose 5K

April 10, 2011 by Marci 6 Comments

I ran another race! And I did it speedily too!

Yesterday morning, a big team of our friends ran or walked the Run for the Rose 5K race to raise money for brain cancer and children’s cancer research. (A brief news story I wrote about the history of the race is here.) The race is named after a woman who died of brain cancer at age 27. In its 9th year, there were over 4,000 participants to raise millions for two hospital foundations.

We ran as part of a team to honor the memory of one of our friend’s father who died less than two years ago of brain cancer.

Race Recap:

To happier things, let me tell you about the race! First, I didn’t exercise much this week because I had some early morning things, so I had fresh legs (or un-trained ones, you choose). I have been running pretty slow for a while and had no expectations of anything great this morning. I started like all races with one piece of toast with a small amount of peanut butter and half a banana. It looked like this picture, but just one piece of toast.

Why this shouldn’t have been a good race: The course was kind of boring (around Reliant Stadium up and down parking lots), I don’t like running in t-shirts because I get hot, and I didn’t even wear shin sleeves or tape. It’s already summer here, no cool Springtime weather.

However, I realized when I hit the first mile marker that I was going pretty fast for me at 9:50. I had a great pace, felt good even though the t-shirt felt like running in pajamas, and kept on going. The second mile marker was 11:00 minutes later, and the 3rd was 10:19 later. I didn’t even know what I ran the last 5K race in (actually, when you have a blog, you do know these things), but I knew it wasn’t as fast as I was going. I finished 3.1 in 31:48, an average pace of 10:30! This is two minutes faster than a 5K I did last October.

Let me compare to the 4 mile race I ran one week before–47 minutes. That’s only .9 miles longer, and I ran this 5K at a pace to finish five minutes faster. That’s amazing for me!

I also took about a 20 second walk break in the 3rd mile up a ~~ramp~~ hill but then saw paparazzi so I had to start running again!

I am so thrilled with my time. I guess I need to sign up for more races before it gets too hot!

My right knee was bothering me slightly in the last mile, but I have come to accept it will never go away and I better get used to short distance races.

We didn’t take too many pictures, but here are a few:

The Team Donny family.

Three pregnant girls on our team bringing up the caboose! A finish is a finish!

Also, I have a new story about Spring cleaning your kitchen for CultureMap. Check it out here.

Filed Under: Houston, Running · Tagged With: Houston, Running

Memorial Park’s Four for the Park Race Recap

April 3, 2011 by Marci 3 Comments

Finally! A race recap on the blog! The last race I ran was on December 5, 2010 in Dallas for the White Rock Half Marathon. It’s been almost four months to the day since I ran 13.1 miles, time to get back to races! My right leg is still giving me problems, but I’m getting used it. On Wednesday, I signed up for the Memorial Park four-mile run called Four For the Park. With three days until the race, obviously I wasn’t really “training” to run four miles.

The training is a large chunk of what makes racing fun, but I am truly just happy to be running. I’ve spent a lot of the last four months either not running, running with pain, or at the physical therapist’s office to work on my legs. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to run further before the IT Band pain starts, and earlier this week I had a great run outside so I decided to sign up. You can always walk, I told myself.

The great part about this race is that it’s so close to our house. Memorial Park is in the center of town, easy to get to, easy to park at, and it started at 8:30. Pretty nice, we woke up at 7 and left at 7:45. No corrals, no long walk to get to the start, just 2,500 people lining up to run. The race also benefitted the park, and we go there often to run, so why not give back and get exercise?

Breakfast was the same as all races–toast, peanut butter, banana, coffee, water. I sometimes eat cereal or yogurt or milk before normal exercise, but I just don’t think dairy sounds like a good idea before a race, especially in the heat. I laid out my clothes the night before, and also wore Zensah calf sleeves. I wore these for the first time at the half marathon, and hadn’t even tried them out before. My leg problems are probably all related to my shins, and the calf sleeves are like compression socks that kind of hold everything in and help circulation. It doesn’t hurt, it might not help, but I wore them anyway. I did not tape my knee/IT Band area or ankle, I just stuck to the sleeves for this time.

The morning was very humid and hot, and there was a short light rain before the race started. Enough to make it extra steamy outside.

The course was really nice, flat, and scenic. Big homes for the beginning through a neighborhood, and then along a major street (Memorial Drive) for the middle part, and then into the park for the last mile.

My right knee and ankle were ok during the race. My knee area, same spot as always, became tight around the three mile mark, which is typical. I kept running and never walked even though it hurt like normal. I’ve realized unless I stop for a long period of time, it probably isn’t going to get much better. Luckily, I can do everything else I enjoy, like CrossFit, walking, yoga, etc. I usually don’t run as much in the summertime anyway, except on the treadmill.

The good part is that my ankle is much better than it was about a month ago. Somehow while I was healing my knee, my right ankle started to hurt even worse than the knee, even when I would just walk. That was more frustrating than my knee because it seriously hurt to just walk.

I finished the race in about 47 minutes, and I was very happy with that. I was really just happy to be running, I was happy to finish without any walking, and I did the best I could. Home by 9:45 with a cool down walk around the neighborhood with the puppy, and the morning’s exercise and first race of the year was complete.

This is Michael. He ran twice as fast as me today and is making his second appearance on the blog. He came in 3rd in his age group and 17th overall! He also ran the Houston Marathon at a very speedy pace!

Coming in for the finish.

Another thing about the timing–I mentioned earlier this week that I calibrated my Garmin hoping it would read more accurately. During the race, it was still off by .1 per mile, which is very frustrating when you buy a watch for distance accuracy. When I finished the four miles, it said I ran 3.6. Don’t buy the Garmin FR 60. The heart rate feature is great and accurate (I think?) but the distance part is not.

My splits were probably equal at about 11:45 min/mile each. I used to be faster I think, but oh well!

What are you training for?

Filed Under: Houston, Running · Tagged With: Houston, Running

Spontaneity

March 29, 2011 by Marci 2 Comments

On Tuesday morning, I decided to do something a little different. The weather has been pretty great in the mornings before it gets hot, so I’ve been taking advantage of exercising outdoors. I went to the 2.9 mile loop around Rice University instead of the gym or the Memorial Park loop which I do frequently.

The Rice loop is one of my favorites in Houston. It’s quieter than Memorial Park, easy to find a parking spot on a side street, and I really love being in a university setting. Makes me feel smarter? The path is lined with beautiful trees, you almost forget you’re in the largest city in Texas. I also love the backdrop of gigantic hospital buildings right above the trees.

Anyway, my legs were feeling great, the temperature was warm but not hot, and around the two mile mark, I realized there was a track right inside the campus. I have been looking for a track since about December when I realized my Garmin wasn’t calibrated after it told me I ran 14.4 miles during the half marathon I ran. Wrong! Many excuses of not being able to run at all, not wanting to find a track just to run two laps, and not being in running shape were reasons I never calibrated the watch. I knew it was about .1 mile off per mile, so it’s like reading a watch and telling yourself it’s 10 minutes fast and backtracking.

To stop my normal 2.9 mile loop and get to the track was a spontaneous decision for me (and tresspassing maybe?). I’m not a spontaneous person! I ended up running around the baseball field to get to the track, which was luckily unlocked. I ran one lap to calibrate and a second to check it. Worked perfectly. I actually liked running on the track. Now I get why people use it for speed.

Then I had to finish my loop and get back to my car. I thought walking/running through campus would be quicker than going back to the perimeter, but I didn’t really know where I was going. I think I ended up going an extra .5-.75 miles more than the perimeter would have taken me, but the campus was so pretty on the inside, I could see into classroom lectures, and the weather was great.

A nice spontaneous morning run!

As you can see, there are no pictures on this post (the top is an image I found). Maybe I’ll go back one day with my camera to take some pictures. But that would be spontaneous.

Tell me one spontaneous thing you’ve done lately.

I may be signing up for a four mile race on Saturday. Haven’t done it yet!

Filed Under: Houston, Running, Thoughts · Tagged With: Houston, Running, Thoughts

A trip to the rodeo

March 10, 2011 by Marci 9 Comments

It’s Rodeo season in Houston! The month of March is for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (HLSR) here in Houston. Before I moved here, I didn’t understand how big this Rodeo is. It’s part carnival, part livestock show, part rodeo, and part entertainment from big music acts.

The HLSR draws upwards of 100,000 people on a daily basis. Daily! The Rodeo has been around since 1932 and has raised 265 million dollars for charities and scholarships since then. I’ll explain why I’m telling you this in a minute.

On Monday night, we saw Tim McGraw, who was great and easy to look at, as always. He sung 13 songs in one hour, lots of crowd pleasers.

He looked mighty fine in his tight torn jeans, big belt buckle, and slim plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up until his biceps said no more.

We are going back one or two more times for other big names like Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band, but I wanted to show you some other pictures of the livestock show and rodeo part.

The main part of the daytime events at the HLSR is the livestock show. There are competitions on things I don’t even know about, but walking through the livestock holding areas, you see rows of cattle just hanging out. They are all brought here from all over the country for the largest rodeo in the world.

There are qualifier competitions that lead to championship rounds, shows, merchandise sold, animals auctioned off, and more than I understand. (For an explanation of the animals, see this story. Really interesting!)

Then, there’s the Rodeo before the main performance act at night. There’s Barrel racing, steer wrestling, bull riding, and a few for kids like the calf scramble and muttin’ busting (where 5-year olds hang on to sheep until they fall off).

I am telling you about the livestock show and rodeo details because after a year of reading more about animals and thinking more about where our food comes from, I’m still not sure on my thoughts of rodeos, circuses, and zoos. Many food/animal activists (like vegetarians and vegans) are not fans of these types of animal displays.

On one hand, I appreciate the amount of money a rodeo as big as this one raises, the educational aspect of teaching children about animals, and the economic aspect of touring rodeos like this.

On the other hand, I don’t like watching the calf scramble where teenagers run after calfs, pull them by the tail, and wrestle them to the ground to rope them in so they can win a prize. But it’s happening, and I paid to see it as part of the entertainment. I also don’t like to think about where the cattle sleep and how they aren’t roaming free.

If you don’t go to zoos as a child, how do you learn about animals? Going on an African safari to see animals in their natural habitat isn’t quite realistic, and I wouldn’t want to shelter my children from something that everyone else gets to experience.

I obviously haven’t made up my mind on captive animals but would like to hear your thoughts, if they’re respectful.

Filed Under: Houston, Thoughts · Tagged With: Houston, Thoughts

Spectating the Houston Marathon

January 30, 2011 by Marci 9 Comments

Today I spectated my first race. Usually I am the one participating, but this time, I was reporting for CultureMap and watching for fun. Spectating is just as fun as running, but you don’t have to take a nap and a shower after! And you can walk without pain the next day.

Race results story: Rain didn’t stop the run at Houston Marathon

If you ever get a chance to watch or volunteer for a local race, it is very rewarding and inspiring. I recommend it! Watching 22,000 runners go past you really makes you want to run with them. It’s an awesome experience for the runner, and just as fun to watch too.

Last year I watched the marathoners go by outside my gym and the next day I signed up for my first 10K race. Two months after that, I started to blog. And 9 months after that, I ran my first half marathon. Watching runners is powerful. (Here’s a background to my running story.)

Here are some pictures from today:

Jeffrey is not so great at taking pics on my iPhone. He lacks a steady handedness. This is me before the race, ready to snap pics. I ended up in a rain jacket and rain boots.

My friend Allison and I waited around Mile 8 for her husband, Freddy, to run by. It was his first half marathon. Go Freddy!

A rainy and humid day in Houston, but Houstonians expect this weather sometimes.

The male winner, an Ethiopian, broke all records. Sub 4:30 minute miles is faster than I can put on makeup.

The winning woman crossing the finish line.

At the post-race press conference, three Americans discuss the race. The one on the left had a bad race (came in 6th). The middle guy came in 2nd, and the end woman came in 3rd and did better than she expected.

This is a close-up of her from Friday’s pre-race press conference. Her name is Stephanie Rothstein and she is 27 years old. She ran a sub-2:30 marathon today for her first time to come in 3rd place. Her story is interesting because she discovered she had Celiac Disease last March. Her running was not doing well and she struggled to run longer than 25 minutes. After she started changing her foods, she bounced back.

She will come back to Houston next January to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympic team.

She also has a line of granola bars called Picky Bars that are gluten and dairy free. Perhaps she’ll let me sample and blog about them? I’ll work on it.

Have you ever spectated a race of any size?

Filed Under: Houston, Running · Tagged With: Houston, Running

The birthday has ended

January 9, 2011 by Marci 5 Comments

Another year, another end to the birthday celebration. We had a great long weekend with my parents. There was a lot of cake, cupcakes, Mexican food and pizza. Then we had a little birthday house party on Saturday night. We ordered pizza and I didn’t cook anything. It was great to celebrate with so many of our Houston friends, and some babies too.

Cupcakes by Crave. Remember when I wrote about how much I love Crave? (here too) The September one was my most read post ever. Anyway, Crave cupcakes are better than the competition in town and I love to share their treats. We had vanilla, chocolate and strawberry (always my favorite flavor). The dozen we got went fast! The staff are also so kind at Crave and the treats so good that I went back on Sunday to get 6 more for a dinner party. If only they gave samples. A+ for them.

Not great pictures from my actual birthday dinner, but here’s the best one. Try to pretend it’s not blurry. We went to Eddie V’s, one of our favorite restaurants from Austin that has its second location in Houston. The food was decadent and fresh as always, but the patrons were, well, cougars. And not attractive ones. Don’t go to Eddie V’s and sit in the walkway from the bar to the bathroom on a Thursday.

Here are the birthday girls before our party.

A fully stocked bar.

Jelly beans and M&Ms were popular. Have you tried peanut butter M&Ms?

My parents and me.

Delicious Strawberries and Cream cake from Dacapo’s Bakery in the Heights. I had never tried their cakes, but it was really, really good. Lick the icing off your fingers good.

Blowing out our candles.

Then on Sunday morning, my parents came back for a little breakfast. We made eggs for the boys and oatmeal for the girls and picked up bagels. Lily got eggs too. And licked her plate clean.

I made oatmeal for my mommy and me.

(Quaker old-fashioned oats, water, almond milk, flax meal, banana, raisins, cinnamon. Topped with coconut and Crofter’s 4 Fruit jam.)

Until next year! Hoping for a great year 27!

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dessert, Houston, Restaurants · Tagged With: Houston, Parties, Restaurants

Colors of Fall

December 21, 2010 by Marci 2 Comments

It might be snowy where you live, but in tropical Houston, TX, it sure looks like pretty Fall weather. Here are some pictures from our block. Colors of the rainbow.

We decorate with snowmen here too. They’re just not real.

A dog’s life.

Hey stop with your pictures.

Filed Under: Houston, Lily · Tagged With: Houston, Lily

Two-a-days

December 10, 2010 by Marci 2 Comments

First up, Emily had an awesome post about the marathon that the contestants on The Biggest Loser run at the end of the season. Emily has run five marathons and has a major complaint that the show portrays marathons as the ultimate example of fitness, when you can be fit and healthy without running a marathon. And they train for it all wrong. Read her post here. I love it.

Two a day yoga:

You would think that in the week post half marathon, a two-a-day would not be smart. But two yoga classes in one day sounded like a good idea.

I did one class in the early morning, and I knew it would be a gentle stretchy class and not a sweaty flowy one. And the second one was a Candlelight Yoga class at the Lululemon store at night. That one had over 100 people and we were squished in like sardines, feet in face style. I also knew that one wouldn’t be too hard to cater to every style in an open class. Both were great to stretch my muscles and gently let me move around.

I also did a Crossfit class but used lighter weights than usual. My right outer knee is a little twingy, not because of the class. Hopefully it will go away soon. I did two quarter mile laps in the class, and definitely still sore and not ready to run, not that I was expecting much more.

Upcoming goals:

I decided on the Dallas race at the beginning of December because I thought it would be a great time to do the race before the holidays, since December is a good time to take a break and rest your body. I am definitely glad the race is over and I can give my body a rest.

However, there are two half marathons on January 30, and I have my eye on signing up but I haven’t done it yet. I also haven’t tried a short run, but it’s a little too early for that.

I really want to do the Chevron Aramco Houston Half Marathon on that day, but registration is full. I also heard that it’s not a great spectator half marathon, and that was one part I really liked about Dallas.

If you hear of anyone selling their entry, I’m looking to buy!

The other one that day is in Austin, but I’d rather stay in Houston if I can get in.

I am also going to keep doing more yoga because I really think it helps with leg pains, and CrossFit to build strong muscles is important too! During the race when my feet got tired, I was thankful that other parts were still working hard, including my arms to keep swinging and my core to hold me up.

So that is my plan for the next two months, assuming a half marathon is added to the calendar.

What are your goals for the holidays?

Filed Under: Exercise, Half Marathon, Houston, Yoga · Tagged With: Crossfit, Half Marathon, Houston, Running, Thoughts, yoga

9.3 Miles!

October 31, 2010 by Marci 7 Comments

On Saturday, I had a crazy fun day. It was crazy because I ran a new personal distance record (15K/9.3 miles), and fun because the weather was great and we ate lunch outside and shopped around outside.

Let’s start at the beginning…

9.3 Miles:

I had a goal of about 9 miles for the day, and I went to a new route for me to keep things fresh. I started with breakfast of two pieces Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin toast with peanut butter, blueberries, coffee and water. A never fail win. For the run, I realized that having different routes for long runs is really helpful to not get bored. I drove to Rice University and did a little under one loop around the campus (under 3 miles), and then went into the West University neighborhoods for about 3.5 miles, and then ended up back at the Rice loop and did another 3 mile loop. It ended up around 9 miles and I kept going to make it 9.3. It was also smart to run around restaurants and not only residential so I could refill my water bottle around mile 5.

Here are my stats:

Mile 1--11:26
Mile 2--11:36
Mile 3--11:46
Mile 4--12:24 (traffic crossing streets)
Mile 5--12:01
Mile 6--12:24 (water stop, more traffic)
Mile 7--11:56
Mile 8--11:47
Mile 9--11:45
Mile 9-.3--03:32
 Summary,01:50:42, 978 calories burned, average heart rate: 84

Where did my heart go?

Now here is the strange part–my average heart rate was 84, and it dipped as low as 55. I thought my heart was slowly stopping while running my distance record! When I ran 8.6 miles, it was 153 beats per minute (bpm), and when I ran 8 miles, it was 157 bpm. I noticed the heart rate around Mile 2.5, and started to worry about why my heart rate was dropping and if the monitor was picking up an accurate reading. It never rose about 110 the whole time. I’ll have to see what happens next time, but it was the lowest I have ever seen it during any workout, even my boring spinning class.

Other than that, it was a great run with an average pace of 11:53/mile. It is definitely slower than I have hoped I would be, but I really just want to increase the distance steadily, not hurt my legs, and have a good steady pace the whole time. I took 3 shot bloks with me and had one at miles 5.5, 7, 8.5 and drank about 40 ounces of water and then more when I finished.

Ready for the big times:

After 3 long runs into distances I haven’t attempted before, I definitely feel prepared for increasing distance, proper ways for me to fuel while running, I know better about how much water I need, and I definitely feel more ready for December 5. I am planning one more longer run at 10.5 miles, and then two weeks shorter at 9 and 7 maybe, and then the race.

(after the run, but Jeffrey for the life of him cannot take a steady picture with iPhone. 4 tries)

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Lunch at Tiny Boxwoods:

When I got home, I was really shocked that I ran 9.3 miles. I really can’t believe that I am increasing my distances week after week with little hip pains but no really painful shin pains. I have never been able to do this before! It really amazes me and I’m still crossing my fingers that nothing comes up.

Anyway, after plugging in my Garmin to see how I did and letting my puppy lick sweat off of my face, it was time for lunch! Post run lunch is the best part of a long run. We went to Tiny Boxwoods for a great outdoor lunch of people watching and delicious food. It’s a favorite of ours.

Tiny Boxwoods is the cafe that is part of a gardening store called Thompson Hanson. It is a small space with great outdoor space on a beautifully manicured lawn. I had the Beet It Burger with fruit and we shared a Banana Nutella Scone. It was amaazzing.

Just look at the pictures:

The patio at Tiny Boxwoods

View of the gardening shop

Most amazing Banana Nutella Scone. Crispy outside, chewy and soft inside. Bits of banana like Banana bread. So delicious.

The Beet It Burger with beets, black beans, oats, and I don’t know what else! Served with jalapenos (yuck), pickles and lettuce. Wanted more lettuce or added tomatoes, thought the burger was perfect, bun was good, sauce was spicy. Jalapenos not necessary! And berries are seasonal. In the summer they serve watermelon.

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Happy Halloween:

Then it was time to watch The Rangers (a win!), and The Longhorns (stinkers this year!), and go to a Halloween party.

We went as Night and Day. It was a handmade Halloween this year. See Jeffrey’s sleepshade and pillow? I liked that part.

And on that note, the day ended and it was exhausting!

Filed Under: Exercise, Half Marathon, Houston, Lunch, Restaurants, Running, Vegetarian · Tagged With: Half Marathon, Houston, Restaurants, Running, vegetables

“Defining” in the 2nd Trimester

Run for the Rose 5K

Race Recap:

Memorial Park’s Four for the Park Race Recap

Spontaneity

A trip to the rodeo

Spectating the Houston Marathon

The birthday has ended

Colors of Fall