1/2 Marathon in the books

My very 1st half-marathon in the books. Woohooo!!! Coach Alex Janss posted a video on the Relentless Boot Camp fan page and asked-- Why do you run?  I specifically signed up for this race because one of my 6:30am Deep Eddy boot campers and dear friend, Michelle, is one of the head honchos for the event. After watching the marathon last year, I said I would do it and wanted to keep to my word. A year later, the event is sponsored by LIVESTRONG and my Poppie (grandpa) is battling cancer. The whole race took on a completely different meaning for me.

Around mile 9, the LIVESTRONG water stop was set up and quotes were written all along Cesar Chavez. I teared up in the middle of my run at this point. When I got up on Sunday morning, I was running in honor of my Poppie and his battle with cancer. I was running because God has blessed me with good health. I was running because I have the ability to run. I was running because I had never run that far of a distance in my entire life and wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.

After the race on Sunday, I am 100% more connected to the endurance community in Austin and relate to the triathletes, marathoners, and half-marathoners in the CrossFit Central family in a completely different capacity. I now have 3 athletes from my Trojan Challenge team signing up for the 1/2 next year (one of them this being their very 1st one), and my little sister inspired to run a 5K in April. I believe even more how well CrossFit and Relentless Boot Camps prepares athletes for these races without overuse injuries.

4 days a week training at RedBlack Gym, 1x per week track workouts, and about 4 long runs with Michelle (longest 8.5 miles besides the Tough Mudder), and I finished the race in 1hr 59mins.  I'll battle with someone who says CrossFitters can't run distance.

The last 3 miles were brutal, but I did it. Thank you to everyone who cheered for me along the way! The support was beyond appreciated. On to the next one...

Zucchini Pancakes

One of Relentless Boot Camps new up and coming coaches, Jessica Clark, tweeted about Zucchini pancakes. After reading the simple ingredients and directions I knew I wanted to try them.

All that is needed is coconut flour, eggs, zucchini, salt, and pepper. View the complete recipe HERE. I did not have enough zucchini so I also included eggplant.

WARNING: I bought a food processor on Thursday to make this recipe and had a few hiccups. There is clearly a difference between using the shredding disc vs. pulsing the food. The zucchini and eggplant were "processed" a bit too much and became runny; however, the final product still tasted great. It just did not look as fabulous as the Balanced Bites picture.

I paired my Zucchini pancakes with chicken sausage. YUMO!

I am trying the sweet potato pancakes tomorrow morning before the LIVESTRONG Austin Half Marathon. The Paleo way to "carb load."

Tough Mudder Recap

 One of 20 obstacles.

Julie & I laughing it up, freezing our butts off, and posing for the camera man.

I'm a Tough Mudder!

ClearLLLLy I thought it was a smart idea to hold hands with Julie before sprinting through electrical wires...

Obviously it took both of us down immediately with a shock, as well as, Robert.

Ouch! I'm assuming this was shock #3. NEXT.

10.5 miles of craziness with an amazing team! I would not have done it nor had as much fun without our team of Robert, Daniel, Julie, and Ben.  After this race, the LIVESTRONG Half marathon will be a cake walk on Sunday. =).