Discouraged

It's been a longgggg time since I've written in here.  Since the last time, I've participated in the Disney Princess half marathon, the nike virtual 10k and I did the DASH 5k two weekends ago.  Disney was nothing short of a disaster.  It was hot and humid and I just plain felt crappy.  I made it 9 miles before I got picked up.  I've never felt more conflicting emotions at one time than I did at that moment.  Disappointed because I didn't finish, which was embarrassing, but relief because my body was just flat out done with that race.  I've also never felt more sore after any kind of exercise than I did after that race.  Awful.  The nike 10k was ok, but not great.  We did intervals and I was ok at first, but after a while miles again I just felt kind of blah.  Fast forward to the DASH ...I started out pretty good there.  I wasn't very far behind my sister and Cait, until at the turnaround some nasty woman plowed me over.  After that I was sore and just deflated.  It seems like every race just gets worse and worse with it's obstacles.  That being said, I think for now I'm done with long distance.  I was really excited to be a runner.  I wanted to love it, and I'm pretty disappointed that I don't.  The more I attempt it, the more it feels like torture to me.  Maybe it's because I'm so heavy.  That sounds like a cop out, but I honestly feel like I might have better success if I attempted the long distance goal after I've lost some weight.  I'd still like to do the 5ks, I do think they're fun...but, for now I'm laying distance off of the table. I'm never going to see results if I keep doing something I don't remotely like at all.  I think I need to focus on things I know I like and can do and work on improving them.  For now my goal is to improve my 5k times.  I'd like to see how fast I can get at completing them.  I think I'd also like to go back to zumba.  I really did enjoy that every week, I'm not really sure how I fell off of that wagon, but I need to get back on board with that.  I also found these two month long challenges today (squats and abs - i'll post pictures of them at the bottom in case anyone wants to give them a shot).  I just need to do SOMETHING.  I can't live my life unhappy with myself, and thats definitely where I'm at right now.  Here's to hoping the next time I post that I can post a happy update seeing improvement - wish me luck!

6.5

Today I ran 6.5 miles.  Well, ran/walked 6.5 miles.  Under 2 hours.  Best mile being in the 12's.  I'll take it.  I feel like I ran a marathon, I'm so sore.  And I'm losing my pinky toe nail on my left foot.  For someone who hates feet as much as I do, this is pretty much the worst thing ever.  Everyone keeps telling me this makes me a "real runner". I do have to say I'm pretty proud of myself.  Now I just need to spend the next few weeks getting up to 13.2.  I've got a long way to go, but I think this is a pretty good start.  Can't wait to see how I feel in the morning ::insert sarcastic tone here::.

Craziest idea yet

Call me crazy, but I'm officially signed up for the disney princess half marathon in february with Trish. I have to learn how to run 13.1 miles in 6 months.  The thought is thrilling, but terrifying at the same time!  I'll be 30 in november, and when Trish brought up the idea I thought what better way to kick of the next decade of my life than doing something I've been wanting to be able to do for a while.  The training will start tomorrow(was supposed to be tonight but today's crazy events pushed it back a day). I'm going to do the couch to 5k and then switch to the training program for a half marathon.  Hopefully being dedicated to that will prepare me for that race.  Hopefully it will also help me start shedding some of those pounds i've been wanting to lose.  And i'm pretty excited to dress up like Belle that day lol.  Wish me luck!

who's a slacker? this girl!

I TOTALLY fell off of the exercising wagon.  I mean, I didn't just take a quick vacation and get back, I completely deserted it.  I've definitely paid the price.  I'm back to once again being totally out of shape and disgusted with myself.  I went to a wedding over the weekend and the pictures....lets just say, i'm not thrilled and i'm pretty disappointed in myself once again.  I let that disappointment kind of kick my behind back in the right direction today.  I went to Zumba for the first time in weeks.  I'm totally feeling it, but I'm feeling pretty good about myself.  Now to get back on the running track.  On July 8th my friend and I are ringing in her birthday by running the color run that morning in philadelphia.  Will I or won't I be prepared?  I want to see at least some improvement, and that run is in 3 weeks, so I really need to try.  I just get so frustrated and disappointed in my lack of being in shape and I think thats what causes me to just give up.  I need to figure out a way to stay motivated.  What are some things that keep you on track?

I've been a bad blogger...and runner.  I never really quite settled back into running after I felt better from the bronchitis.  I just plain felt lazy.  I ran a few times but not enough to really see improvement.  I think this is the hardest part - truly getting started.  Zumba was a lot of the same for me.  I really wanted to do it, but I went to one class and got my behind handed to me and I started making up reasons why I couldn't go to class.  Once I finally started making myself go and not allowing anymore excuses, I really started to love it.  I'm praying running will be the same way once I finally actually get on the ball.

Hiatus

I take the time to make this new blog specifically for my running endeavors ...and then I disappear.  Why do that?  I'll tell you why.  Bronchitis.  Yep, a week before my second 5k race I popped up with a nasty case of bronchitis and the flu...at the same time!  Needless to say I was in no shape to be running, so unfortunately I had to pass on the running and just do the 3k walk that day.  It was fun to watch my friends start the race though from an overpass above the street where they were running.  I gave myself another week to recover and now I'm ready to start training again.  My friend Trish discovered a 1/2 marathon training site for disney so I think I might follow her lead and start doing that.  Any progress is good progress right?  I'm going to go for my first post-bronchitis run today some time....hopefully I'm not worse running than I was before...if that could even be possible.  This seems like a slow process, but I'm confident with signing up/running a 5k each month that I'll get to where I want to be eventually.  Wish me luck!

First 5k ...yikes

It seemed like we had so long to train and then all of a sudden it was March 30th ... the day of our first 5k race.  I was totally nervous and wasn't expecting much.  It's a good thing I didn't expect a lot because it turned out to be a bust.  I yanked my knee within the first quarter mile or so and most certainly did not make for an impressive time to say the least.  In fact, I came in dead last.  I was pretty upset about it to be honest.  I felt pretty embarrassed to be the last person in a group of like 240 people.  That means 239 people finished before me.  Thats a lot.  Then it was pointed out to me that we finished and we finished under an hour, and that should be something to be proud of.  I realized I can't expect to be running amazing times right now with the shape my body's in.  As I work harder and train myself I can only improve from here right?  So, I'm proud of myself (and trish, my running partner) for actually taking the step to even run this race.  The next race is in 2 weeks and I can't wait to see how I progress from now until then.