Hint Hint, Nudge Nudge

A fellow blogger had a giveaway recently for Allied Medal Displays. I sadly did not win the giveaway but I fell in love with the displays. My race medals are randomly strewn about my house and if you asked me to round them all up it would probably take awhile for me to find them all. This is no way to treat something that symbolizes such a great accomplishment! I think these would make great presents for any serious runner/racer! While I probably won't buy one for awhile, I'm already mentally picking out a place to hang it in my house. Here are a few of my favorites:

Great option that isn't committal to any race length and still fun!

Fun!

This one is great if you are more than a runner, you can hang any medal here!

I'd love to get this one if I start competing in more triathlons!

A little humor...at one time I probably would have told you that I'd run when pigs fly!

This is probably my favorite but I'm nervous to buy it because I don't have anything to hang on the right side....yet.

How do you display your race bling? Another fellow blogger turned her race medals into Christmas tree ornaments. What do you do?

Sweating Out the Sick

This past Friday my cousin got married in the Outer Banks in NC. It was a beautiful wedding and the weather was perfect. I flew down on Thursday and came back Sunday. While I was there I tried to run every day and was successful on Friday and Saturday (Sunday I walked...more on that in a minute). Thursday was mostly travel and we barely had time to get dressed for the rehearsal dinner so no time to run.

As you may or may not know, NC at the end of May is HOT and apparently there have been some wild fires around there recently. Well I have asthma so my lungs don't play well with smoke. The smoke wasn't terrible but you could definitely smell it/see a haze at times. I managed to run 3-4 miles on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday my sinuses and lungs had pretty much had it, and I got a splinter in my toe Saturday so it was still a little painful so I chose to walk on Sunday. But as Sunday progressed what I thought was a reaction to the smoke progressed into a head cold. And by the time I got off the plane in NH I was dying.

So I got home, downed some Nyquil and slept until almost 11AM this morning. Then I sat around my house catching up on TV most of the day before deciding that I was feeling fat and lazy and needed to do something. Now I think there are varying opinions on what one should do exercisewise when sick...I'm a pretty strong believer in sweating out the sick. If you can drag your butt to the gym and get sweaty, do it! You don't have to do something high intensity or something that makes you breathe super hard. Today I chose the bike. I can breathe on the bike but I still get sweaty. By the end of the workout my sinuses were clearing up and I was feeling better about myself. I do wish I had been able to go swimming but I don't think that would have been a fabulous idea today...plus there was some old lady in the adult only swim lane and I didn't want to wait for her...

What is your opinion of exercising while sick?

Quickie

My day:

1 smoothie
2 slices of toast with PB
1 banana
1 burrito
3 cookies (my boss gave me $10 to use at the cafeteria to "stock up on cookies and ice cream" he's finally starting to understand what motivates me)
20 grapes
2 slices of pizza

FASTEST MILE I'VE EVER RUN!!! 8:30 mile, after running 2 miles, woot!

New Clothes

Last weekend I walked into Marshalls looking for 80's clothes for a party I was going to and discovered this fabulous shirt

I instantly fell in love. And it didn't hurt that it was only $10 and it's a Nike shirt! So I made it mine.  Today I was out and about and decided to stop in and see what other fun shirts they might have. Up until this point in my life I've taken pride in my ironic running shirts. My running wardrobe consists of about 10% race shirts, 50% Piggly Wiggly shirts, and 40% food related shirts with one liners such as "I love cupcakes." I realized that maybe I'm doing myself a disservice by constantly reminding myself of bad foods as I exercise. Maybe having motivating shirts will help me make progress reaching my goals. The irony is not lost though. Clearly I am not the fastest runner and it will be easy to catch me but maybe this shirt will make me run like the wind!

While I was shopping today I figured I'd try to get some new sports bras and shorts while I was out. I ended up with 3 florescent sports bras and they were a great deal, woot! I got 2 reversible adidas bras (not sure why a sports bra needs to be reversible but they are) on sale for $20 each but when I went to check out, the girl took an additional 25% off! The other was a Champion bra that was also on sale for $15! And I got a few pairs of shorts to try out this summer!

I took some pictures while I was out shopping....

Hello pink and green sports bra!

Shorter than 3/4 pants but longer than hot pants!

Surprisingly not too short for my comfort level...

Pretty pretty pink!

Another shirt that I feel in love with, unfortunately I couldn't find it in my size :'(

So there are a lot of interesting things about this pair of shorts...

1. They are SUPER short, I felt like I was wearing underwear when I tried them on...is this normal? Do people find this to be comfortable? Maybe I'm missing out on something.

2. Apparently music comes out of your backside when you're wearing them...I don't know why a pair of shorts would advertise anything relating to headphones...I could see a shirt having a hole to string your headphone wire through or something, but shorts? I can't imagine that any mp3 player would fit anywhere in these things?

3. The sticker on the left side advertises an ICE pocket. Can I just tell you how excited I was to see this?! Running with ice in your pants to keep you cool! And then I read the rest of the sticker...ICE as in "In Case of Emergency." Ok, not what I thought, but still cool....a place to put your emergency contact info. I've been meaning to get a RoadID thing for awhile now, but if everyone put an ICE tag in pants then I wouldn't need it! The only issue is this...

The ICE tag is a little yellow tail! Not sure I'm super into this implementation of the idea...

Ok, one last thing before I end this marathon of a blog post (hehe running humor, get it?)...while I was out I saw a lot of running skirts. What do you all think about running skirts? I know people either love them or hate them. I think I'm still undecided. I grew up playing tennis so I'm no stranger to exercising in a skirt and I think they might be useful for someone like me who has issues with her shorts riding up thanks to the thunder thighs...the skirt flap hides all of that business! But at the same time, the skirt doesn't solve the actual issue at hand...I'll still have to readjust the shorts part often or I think I'd risk injury from the chub rub on a long run. I will admit, I've run in one before...my mom and I bought them when we ran the Expedition Everest Challenge at Disney a few years ago but I haven't worn mine much since. So what is your opinion on running in a skirt?

More Races

It was getting pretty late last week and I didn't get a chance to finish my race registration. But I got a chance to add a few more to the list today!

Nashua Sprint Triathlon: June 12

Applefest Half Marathon: October 1 (you get free apple crisp at the finish line!)

I also plan on registering for these races when registration is available:

Cigna/Elliot 5K: August 11

Pelham Old Homes Day 5K (where I first caught the race bug): September 17

Yay!

Pears

I can remember sitting in my dad's truck when I was little (we're talking like 6 or 7 years old here) and asking him why my thighs were so fat. At the time he told me that they just looked big because I was sitting down. But the reality is that I was blessed with the thighs of a professional baseball catcher...

I mean, look at those things, they're huge! Back in the day when I was technically obese, it was hard to determine if my thighs were big because I was fat or because that's the way I'd always be. After losing 20% of me, my body began to take shape and....

I am a pear. The thighs are here to stay! There are 4 basic body shapes (as can be seen above). We all have a shape. But I can't help but look at might thighs and butt sometimes and think of the phrase, "once beyond the lips, forever on the hips." I am still learning to accept the body I was given and I've started by trying to learn how to dress to flatters my assets and hide the wobbly bits that I am not so proud of. I have recently come to the conclusion that I am a healthy weight. If I can keep up my exercise and strive to eat healthy foods, I can slip up sometimes and I shouldn't feel guilty. I think since I started my weight loss journey I've been focusing too much on the bottom number and recently that just hasn't been working for me. Instead, I think, if anything it's had the complete opposite effect. Every time I tell myself I'm going to lose those last 10 pounds I end up gaining weight instead!

And while I am still coming to terms with who I am, I do still have 1 big problem. Sadly, as I'm sure Jason Varitek can tell you, big thighs and running don't always mix. One of my biggest issues with running originally was that:

1. I was too fat for spandex

2. I was also too fat for running shorts

So when I first started really working out I wore baggy clothes to the gym. And that was all fine and well until I decided that I was finally going to start running. Baggy and running don't mix because there is nothing that gets your pants sliding down your backside faster than a little jog. And then I had to deal with the fact that my thighs were rubbing together so much that I was afraid that they were going to light my shorts on fire. I swear, every 3 seconds I was pulling my stupid shorts down. And there is nothing that discourages a wannabe runner more than having to deal with a wardrobe malfunction in addition to the "I CAN'T BREATHE" and "MAKE THE PAIN STOP" thoughts racing through your mind.

So I went to Target to try to find something for my bottom half. And it was there that I discovered something amazing. I WASN'T TOO FAT FOR SPANDEX ANYMORE! In fact, I put on a pair of spandex 3/4 length pants, and I LOOKED GOOD!

I mean, look at those legs! Those hot pants squeeze in the wobbly bits and accentuate my hot calves! The only issue I have with these fab pants is that they're pretty flipping hot to run in in the summer. So now that the spring/summer is here, does anyone have any suggestions for summer running clothes? I reattempted the whole running shorts thing the other day and found myself doing the constant reverse wedgie pull the whole time and I'm not sure I'm ready for spandex short shorts...are there any other pears out there who have found a solution to this problem?!

Gym Etiquette

****Warning: This post is a bit of a rant, stop reading now if you came here to read about happy things, you've been warned!****

A fellow blogger posted on bathroom and treadmill etiquette today and I thought I'd take a moment to chime in with my own comments on gym etiquette. This is something that has been bugging me pretty much since the day I joined my gym. I will leave the name out to protect the innocent, I mean, the gym didn't do anything wrong! I will however, say it is a part of a national chain. My gym has a special weights area labeled the 30 minute workout area. Now this isn't the only place in the gym with weights and weight machines, it is just set up to allow people on a time crunch to get in and out quickly while allowing up to 20 people to workout at the same time! I think the concept is great, and I use this area for my strength training workouts. There's even a list of "rules" for using the area, basically explaining the setup of the area and how it is intended to be used.

It's a really simple concept. There are 10 weight machines and 10 steps, you alternate between weights and whatever aerobic thing you want to do on the step. There are 2 lights at the front of the room, a green light, and a red light. The green light stays green for 1 minute, the red light stays red for 30 seconds. You do your weights or step thing when the light is green, you move between stations when the light is red. I know that it was designed so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how to use it. Yet I can't tell you how many times people have blatantly ignored the rules of the area and the other people working out in the area!

I totally understand if you want to skip the aerobic part and only do the weights (well...I guess I do...like I said, there are more of the same machines in other parts of the gym but I guess they can be busy some days) or spend extra time on a machine or workout through the red light, whatever floats your boat as long as it doesn't interfere with the people who are there to follow the rules!! Maybe I'm selfish/judgey/whatever, but I feel like it's a common courtesy! You know there are rules for the area and if you choose to not follow them, the least you could do is work around the people who are there to follow the rules! I'm not amused when you start 3 stations behind me and choose to skip the step part and catch up to me and use the machine I'm getting ready to use! Not cool people! Just cool your jets and or skip that machine and come back to it instead of ruining my workout! I know I can easily alter my workout to accommodate them, and most time I do, but it doesn't make it any less annoying and rude! And don't even get me started about the people who sit  on a machine not moving any muscle but their mouth!

Ok, so that's the end of my rant.

Races!

As I've mentioned a few times before, I love races. Since spring has sprung it's time to start running races! Another goal I set for myself this year (in addition to a full marathon) is to compete in a triathlon. A friend from high school posted that she signed up for the Army 10 miler today on Facebook so that got me motivated to start registering for some races. So here's a list of what I have coming up...

Gate City Striders Summer Trail Series June - July - a 12 week series of trail races on Monday nights. You can choose a 5k or 5 mile course. Only $5 a race to register! I'm going to run as many as I can, provided work cooperates...
Hollis Fast 5k - June 9 - a downhill 5k, maybe I'll set a new 5k PR!
Litchfield Hills Triathlon - August 21 - my Aunt owns a house on the lake that the race takes place around so I can practice in the lake I'll be racing in and I can walk to the race on the day of!
Army 10 Miler - October 9 - Maybe I'll be a hot solider ;-)
Space Coast Marathon - November 27 - the big, bad, race!

So I still need to register for at least 1 half to train for the full and I want to try to find a few 5 and 10k's to keep me motivated and there is a sprint tri close in June close to my house that I might register for to remember what it's like to compete in a tri! But it's getting late and I already spent more than a week's paycheck online today (I bought an iPad too...but more on the later).

Every time I go running I think about new blog topics I can write about. I just need to find time to write everything up. More soon, I promise!

Followers!

Work has been crazy busy this week and pretty much all I've had time to do is wake up, shower, go to work, go to the gym, and go to bed. Somehow I fit eating in there...most days. So I've neglected the blog, sorry! But imagine my excitement when I logged in to update my blog today and saw that I have 4 followers! Yay! I have people who are interested in enough in reading my blog that they are following me! And I even had someone in Alaska find my blog! So, to my followers, thank you, and I'll try to be better with the updates. Much <3

I am a runner

One of my favorite things about running is that you can actually feel yourself making progress. In a lot of sports you play against an opponent or on a team. You work hard to improve and you might but your overall performance is also dependent on your opponent. In running you are your own opponent. It's you vs the clock.

When I started running my mantra was, "go the speed that allows you to keep going." It was almost impossible for me to get past 5.7 mph on the treadmill without feeling like my stomach was going to explode and I was going to have a heart attack. But I kept at it. Sure, I ran a few "fast" races but mostly because I couldn't pace myself and I got caught up in the excitement of the race at the beginning and then it was a struggle to get to the finish line. I ran my first half marathon and my goal was to run it averaging a 10:40 min mile or about 5.6mph. And I did it! And I continued to run at this pace.

Throughout the winter I stuck close to the gym, alternating running and weight training all the while maintaining around a 5.7 mph pace on the treadmill. Most days at the gym I did a quick weight circuit and then ran 2-3 miles. I didn't really have a goal so I didn't run more than I really had to but I wanted to stay in shape and the lady at the gym said if I did weights before cardio I'd burn more calories in my cardio workout.

Then spring rolled around and I got out on the roads and my GPS watch told me that I was running closer to a 10 min mile (6mph). Wow, exciting! Back at the gym I bumped up the speed to 5.8 then 5.9 and then 6.0 and I could handle it! I wasn't dying! At some point during the winter I got harder, better, faster, stronger (let's see who gets that reference...) and I didn't even realize it! I ran a 10k in April and wouldn't you know it, I averaged a 9:34 pace! I had run a 10k last year and averaged 9:44 pace but with a mile left I felt like I was going to keel over and die at any moment. At my most recent 10k I had energy to spare to sprint uphill across the finish line at the end!

Since that race there has been no stopping me! Today at the gym I averaged under a 9:30 mile! The other day at the park I ran a sub 9 min mile! Every day I run I push myself to go faster and farther. I can feel the progress I've been making. I no longer feel like dying with every step that I take. I no longer need to rely on my iPod 100% of the time to mask the sound of myself gasping for air! I am a RUNNER!

Hello World (again)

So I decided to start this blog last week but after throwing up a few posts I got nervous about actually telling people about it. I wrote about some stuff that is a little personal and I wasn't sure I wanted my friends and family to read it. I know, I shouldn't put anything on the internet I don't want people to read but there is something safe about having a relatively anonymous blog. And the truth is that there isn't anything embarrassing or potentially harmful if this thing is ever associated with my name but for some reason I'm still nervous to share this thing with people I know. With the encouragement of a fellow runner I've decided to post a link to this thing on my Facebook wall (I did post it to my info tab on my profile page but we all know no one ever looks at anything but people's walls and photos these days so it was pretty much the same thing as telling no one).

So here goes. Read away, feel free to comment but please don't be mean!

Hydration

I really got into running last fall. Since I was new to running I never really ran far or strayed too far away from my house. I normally stayed out for about 30 minutes. There was never a need to worry about hydration because the weather was cool and a 30 minute run was short enough to be fine with drinking some water before I left and then again when I came back. And if I got thirsty while I was out I could always turn around go home for a quick glass of water.

Then winter rolled around. I live in the northeast and I have asthma so running in the cold just wasn't going to happen. So I moved indoors to the dreaded treadmill. I avoided it as long as I could, I had a few experiences on the treadmill with my personal trainer in college and hated every single time I was on the thing. But a friend convinced them it wasn't so bad because I was having trouble with my pacing in races and the treadmill forces you to stick to the same pace. The other awesome thing about the treadmill is that it has 2 magical cup holders so you can bring lots of liquids with you! And even if you run out, the water fountain is just a few steps away.

Then spring rolled around. And my aunt ran a marathon in March. The whole time she ran I checked the race website to track her status. It was exciting to keep up with her as she was going. I got nervous when she missed a check in point (I can only assume that the pouring rain she had to run through affected the electronics of the tracking system), and excited when she hit another check in marker. It was then that I decided I was going to run a full marathon.

My first step was to get back into half marathon training. As I've mentioned before, I run best when I have a goal, a race to train for. So I signed up for a half marathon in Virginia. It turns out I won't be running that race (note to self, only sign up for races within driving distance on the race day or close to family in the future...) but I started training anyway. As the weather got nicer, I started running outside more. I really enjoy running the long distances outside because I hate looking down at my distance on the treadmill and not making as much progress as I thought!

So now I have an issue. How do I stay hydrated? As I see it, I have a few options:


1. Run close enough to home for quick stops. This would mean running in circles of maybe a 0.75 mile loop because I live in a condo sandwiched between 2 busy roads so that kind of limits where I can run and not get run over.


2. Map out a loop goes past the houses of several friends and all them all before hand to make sure they'll be home or can leave me a bottle of water in the mailbox. This could work...I'll have to investigate.


3. Bring it with me. Waaah! This is heavy! I could wear a hydration belt. I asked for, and received one of these for Christmas but once I put it on I felt kinda goofy and I was 10 pounds lighter when I got it so now it's kinda tight...could be an option later this year when I'm running like a mad woman. I tried carrying a bottle the other day but I got annoyed with that...

4. Hide water along the route beforehand and hope no one messes with it before I get back to it. I feel weird doing this...who knows what could happen to my water not to mention what people might think if they see me hiding/retrieving it.

Last year when I was training for my first half I made the mistake of going for a long run and getting lost without a hydration plan in place. I did have a credit card with me but the only place I could find to buy something had a $5 min purchase to use a credit card. So, naturally I picked the lightest weight thing I could find to get my total up to $5, lottery tickets! But apparently you can't buy lottery tickets with a credit card, who knew? So yeah, that turned into a super awkward 10 minute break which ruined my tempo. That was my last outdoor long run...

So, question to the world out there, what do you do for hydration on long runs?

Runner's High

Yesterday I worked 16 hours, went home and slept for 3 hours and went back to work at 6AM today. Clearly I missed the gym yesterday and today I was so exhausted at work but my "I just want carbs" dinner binge last night (which continued into breakfast, whoops!) meant I needed to at least something at the gym today. So I dragged myself over there and did the 30 minute weights circuit because I haven't lifted in awhile. After that, my goal was to run 3 miles on the treadmill and call it a day. Well after 0.5 miles I wasn't feeling the run and I convinced myself that if I could make it 1 mile I could go home. Then at 1 mile I decided I needed to go at least 1.5 miles, 15 minutes, so I'd have a total of at least 45 minutes at the gym.

And then at 1.3 miles it hit, that glorious state of euphoria that I had only heard about but never experienced until recently, the runner's high.

According to Wikipedia the definition of a runner's high is, "A publicized effect of endorphin production is the so-called "runner's high", which is said to occur when strenuous exercise takes a person over a threshold that activates endorphin production." Until recently I had only heard of the runner's high but never really experienced it. I think it's because I wasn't running fast enough or far enough. I wasn't getting my heart racing fast enough to get the endorphins pumping. Sure I was working up a good sweat and all and I'm sure my heart was working hard, but that runner's high was still elusive until I hit the 10 min mile mark consistently and going more than 3 miles in 1 run.


If you are out there and you haven't reached that high yet fear not, you will get there. The more you run, the stronger you'll get, and the faster you'll go! Not even a year ago I couldn't go above 5.7mph on the treadmill without getting stomach cramps and wanting to die But today I powered through 3 miles at 6.0mph and the last mile I ran 6.5mph for half a mile and finished off at 7.0mph! Less than a year ago I would have never made it that far! Sometimes I might not see the progress on the scale and I get frustrated because I'm trying to exercise more but I don't see the difference when I look in the mirror (more on this later) but I know I'm making progress when I go to the gym and I can run half a mile at 7.0mph after running 3.5 miles already!


Well that's my update for today. I'm dead tired from the lack of sleep so it's shower and bed time. Keep running!

Racing

After the race results from my very first 5k were posted online I had a goal. I wanted to run faster and maybe farther! Growing up in FL, I had volunteered many times at the Walt Disney Marathon and I knew I was going to be home for Christmas so I set my goal to be the Walt Disney half marathon. I convinced my mother and aunt to run it with me and I started my training.

I found a training plan online and instantly decided that I couldn't deviate from the plan or I'd be a total failure on half marathon weekend. But some times it was hard to get my butt to the gym. Enter racing! My training plan had me running a race every 3 weeks or so, races that got progressively longer. Every race was exciting and I yearned to master the art of racing, pacing myself in the beginning so I wouldn't tire out halfway through but pushing hard enough throughout the race to get a good time and not end wishing I had run harder.

In the end, it's the race that keeps me running. Always striving to be better than before, go farther than the last race, be faster than a month ago. I've found that if I don't have a race that I'm training for it is very difficult for me to get out and train.

Which brings us to today. I've run the half marathon and since then I've run a few shorter races trying to work on my speed but I'm striving for more. And that is why I'm setting a goal for myself to run the big race before I turn 27. 26(.2) miles while I'm 26 seems fitting. My eyes are set on the Space Coast Marathon. I ran the Space Coast half last year, it was my first half marathon, so it seems fitting that I return there for the big day. I know at the beginning of this post I said that my goal was the Disney Half Marathon, and I did run that (sort of...getting food poisoning the week before a half marathon doesn't leave much energy for running!). But it was good that I ran the other race, because now I can say I've run a half marathon and not just walked one!

The truth is that I got nervous about running a half marathon so I planned a backup, it was meant more for a "training" half marathon to see what it felt like to run that far in a race. It was Thanksgiving weekend so I would already be home and they offered pace runners so I thought it would be a great opportunity to start and finish a race at the same pace and learn what that felt like. But it was such a beautiful run that I really wanted to go back this year but I wanted more of a challenge. So I've enlisted my family to run with me (they will all be running the half and cheering me on at the end!) and that's the family Thanksgiving goal. We're going to be in great shape for the holidays!

So this begins my training for the big day...well tomorrow...today was a rest day :-P but I did run 9.5 miles yesterday and biked 10 because I was that excited!

Motivation

I've never been a runner. In middle school when we had to do the 1 mile running test I'd always be super slow and skip a lap when the PE teacher wasn't looking and lie about my total time! I'd do anything to NOT run!

I mentioned in my last post that I got a personal trainer in college. On my very first day we sat down and discussed what kinds of exercising I liked so we could focus on the positives and skip the stuff I hated. I told her I'd do anything but run. Well, she didn't really like the answer and while she probably had me run less than most of the rest of her clients, she most certainly made me run! And I hated every second of it.

Then I went home for a few weeks between college and starting my new job. While I was home I tried to keep up with my exercising but my parents didn't belong to a gym and didn't have much gym equipment so I went out for a few walks with my parents. My mom tried to get me to run and passed on this advice from a coworker who introduced her to running, "don't focus on the speed, go whatever speed you need to go to go the distance."

Ok, I can run at a snails pace for maybe a mile before I get sick of hearing myself pant and am just bored because I can't talk to the person I'm running with! Over the next few years I tried to force myself to run but never made it more than a mile or two at a time. I'd always try to pick another machine at the gym to work on and avoid the treadmill at all costs. Then a friend of mine signed up for a half marathon and I ran next to her one day on the treadmill as she was training and I thought "I can do this." That lasted about 2 days before I was back to the hating running thing.

Then it happened. One day last September my friend e-mailed me asking for a donation for a cause she was running for that weekend. I wasn't busy that weekend so I decided that my donation would be in the form of paying the entry fee to participate in the 5k race. My first 5k race! My goal was simply to finish. I ran 3 miles on a treadmill the weekend before at a slow pace, stopping for a quick walk in the middle so I knew I could probably do it. It wasn't a huge race and I had a few friends running. After the gun went off I settled in behind my friends who I knew were faster. My goal was to keep them at least in sight throughout the whole race but to run the entire way. I started off waaay to fast and was dying at the end but I finished!

Yoyo

I grew up being the chubby kid in school. I wasn't totally unatheletic, I danced when I was little and moved into swimming and then in middle school switched to tennis as my sport of choice. My poor parents walked the line of trying to subtly push me to eat better and exercise more without coming out and saying I was fat.

In college it didn't get any better. I moved away to a school so far away that the only way to come home was to fly. I was in a new climate, in a new culture, and trying to decide what I wanted to do when I grew up. I gained the freshmen 15 and never even tried to lose it. I probably went to the gym a total of maybe 10 times my freshmen year in college. And it didn't get any better sophomore, middler (I went to a 5 year school), and junior year. I'd go through spurts of super stressful times when I'd turn to the gym for a little while or forget to eat 3 meals a day (I know, I know, not healthy at all!) and I'd lose some weight. But overall I gained a lot of weight in college.

Then I went home for Christmas senior year of college and I had to special order new pants from the internet because I didn't fit into the sizes most stores stocked. It was at this point that I had an awakening. I WAS FAT.

I went back to college with a mission. My last semester didn't look too terrible in terms of my workload so I signed up for Jillian Michael's online training for a few weeks. But it just wasn't working for me. I needed to find something (or someone) who would motivate me to stay on track. So I signed up for a personal trainer at my school's gym. It was a great deal for a personal trainer but I was a student making no money so it was a tough decision to pay for it (my parents wouldn't even help! Which in the end was probably a good decision because I was determined to get every penny's worth!). 

My personal trainer taught me so much about how to eat right and exercise, and even how to use the scary weight machines! In the end I lost 20 pounds over the 10 weeks I had a trainer and another 10 throughout the rest of the year. I started a job, got a boyfriend, started a Master's degree program and lost track of the day to day gym and never had time to prepare my own food! Since then I've yo-yoed back and forth over another 10 pound range but never getting back over the net -30 mark! 

Fast forward 2.5 years. Going to the gym is a chore, I still hate cooking for myself and rarely do, and I'm just not very happy with anything in my life. Work was hard, my school work was overwhelming and the condo I bought was not really a home. I just had no motivation because it felt like everything I did in my life just ended up in a total failure. At this point I was heavily relying on my anti stress eating (when I get stressed I don't eat crap, I just forget to eat most of the time, and once again, I know it's bad!) to lose weight. I tried getting another personal trainer but she just wasn't as effective and didn't really seem to care like my first trainer did (I still talk to my 1st personal trainer, that's how much she cared about me as a client!). 

I needed to find a new motivation to keep my health in check....

Hello

Hello blogging world! I'll start off with a quick background about me. I'm a 26 year old full time engineer who just finished a rigorous "part time" master's degree program. As my program was beginning to wind down last fall I found myself with some free time and I started running. Now that I'm completely finished I have more free time that I could ever imagine and I've decided to devote my free time to training for a marathon before I turn 27.

So there it is! I hope to keep up with my progress in this blog. I have a few friends who blog about their running so I figured I'd try it. Hopefully I'll get some followers that will provide me with a little extra motivation to keep up with my running on days I'm having a hard time staying motivated. More to come soon!