I Hated Running

Some Nights

2009-12-09T23:42:00.002-06:00

Some nights are definitely lonelier that others. Some nights I wonder why I moved and why I would go so far from my friends and family.

Tonight is one of those nights.

Sometimes I just want to pack it all up and move back to Wisconsin. But I know it'll never be the same as it was in college. We don't all live in the same city anymore. We aren't all in classes and working part time anymore. Most of us have graduated. We've moved on. But I wonder if I have.

I may be 1300+ miles away, but that doesn't mean I've emotionally moved on. And I have to wonder if I want to move on in that way. I know that in certain aspects, I need to. But I miss the way things were. I miss sitting around doing nothing and not having to worry about adult things. It was so much easier when I didn't have that kind of stress. A stress beyond will I get this project done? Will I make it to my class on time? Etc.

I think I'm also feeling lonely because I don't have anyone close by that I can talk with and hang out with. I have my work friends, but that's a work relationship. It's different. I think this is one reason why I'm doubting whether moving was the right choice. Because I haven't met anyone here yet. I don't have those close friendships. But it took me a while to form them in college. So it makes sense that it will take me a while to form them in Austin too.

Gah. Why can't life be simple? I guess that would take away the fun of it. But still.

Same Old Song and Dance

2009-12-04T23:03:00.002-06:00

As I read over the past 4 posts on this blog, most of them sound the same-- "wow, I haven't been writing on this thing in a while" or "I'm going to write on this more often".

Funny. That hasn't happened.

You would think I would learn a lesson and stop making promises because one part of me knows I won't keep them.

Maybe I keep making them because another part of me, knows that I want to.

But which wins? Usually the part that knows I won't. I feel like this is a metaphor for everything I do in my life. I try to be so many things, making so many promises, even though I know I can't keep them all.

I want to be so many things. I want to try so many things. But, as I learned in economics, wants are infinite, and resources are scarce.

So what' important to me? I guess I need to figure that one out.

I've been participating in an online community for young professionals for some time now. I updated my profile there to discuss my goals, both short term and long term. When I wrote those goals, I thought about them and I knew they were what I wanted. But, funny (and sad) enough, when I looked at them tonight, I had completely forgot that I wrote them there. I didn't even remember them! Talk about important goals.

The thing is, I know they're important to me. I really do. But it's the everyday stuff and stress that gets in the way. Or at least, that I LET get in the way. I know what I want. I just don't want to make it priority.

So it comes down to this: How much do I want it?

Until I want it so bad I can taste it, nothing is going to change. I am going to continue living my life in the same gerbil wheel until I decide to stop running. But what's going to make me stop running and start living with a purpose??

Until next time...

My Own Whirlwind.

2009-07-06T14:31:00.003-05:00

So I have been pretty busy the past 6 months or so. First, as I mentioned earlier, I graduated from college. I received my Bachelor's in Personal Finance and I am happy to be done with school for a while! My last semester, was busy and bittersweet. I got to spend time with my friends, but also felt like a chicken with her head cut off because I constantly had to get things done, whether for a group, or school, or work. But I made it through alive and with better grades than I thought! Ha.

But the end of the year was fun, but stressful. A group that I was in made it to the national competition in Philadelphia. I was a speaker for the presentation, so I had to develop my speech, practice and memorize it, plus plan for the trip. Since it was over finals, I had to move one of my finals to a different date. Plus, we were driving, so we needed to plan for a 15 hour journey there and back. But Philadelphia was a blast. the drive was long and tiresome, mostly because there were only two people, of the four who went, who were able to drive. So that was very tiring. But the city is beautiful. I loved it there. The competition was ok. We gave the best presentation, but we up against some really great competition, so we didn't advance. It was kind of a disappointment to drive that far and also present some really great results to not get that far, but it was a good experience. Plus, I got a lot of free stuff from the career fair.

After Philly, I finished my finals, and had my graduation. It was a long ceremony, but Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner, was our commencement speaker, so that was cool. My family came down and took me out to lunch and we took a bunch of pics all over the campus. Then, my sister stayed to help me pack. My last week was very busy. Sunday was filled with packing. Monday I had work. Tuesday I worked my last day at one of my internships. Wednesday was my last day at the other internship. It was sad to leave them because I had been with one for 3 years, knew the people and liked the place, and the other I liked the people and what I was doing. So it was hard to say goodbye. Wednesday night, I moved out of my apartment, drove back home, unpacked all my stuff and went to sleep around 2am. It was a long day. The next day I ran all over town getting things put together and finished up my errands. Plus, I had to pack! Friday I left for a three week trip to Europe with 2 friends.

The trip to Europe was awesome. I loved all the places we went and got to see and do so much. It was a wonderful experience. Tiring though, with all the walking. We flew into Dublin, stayed for a day and a night, then flew to London. We then went to Athens, Rome, Florence, Barcelona and finally Paris. I have to say that Athens was by far my favorite, followed by Barcelona. Athens is just gorgeous, with the Aegean and the temples. Rome was actually a disappointment, the city is quite dirty and the people aren't very nice. At least not to tourists. But we had a great time and I can't wait to go back and explore more.

When I got back to the states, I was exhausted. We got in Friday afternoon, and I made it back to my house around 11pm, which was about 5am Europe time. So I was exhausted!!! That weekend, I had my "Congrats on Graduating, Welcome Back to the States, and Good Luck in Texas" party with my relatives. It was very chill and fun to see them. Then, I began the packing endeavors and getting everything ready to move to Austin.

I also went down to Madison for one more night with my friends and it was great. I have really awesome friends and I am going to miss them a lot. Luckily, I know they are always there for me and only a phone call away.

We left for Austin bright and early Wednesday the 17th. We drove my Grandma's car with a giant trailer attached. The car wasn't used to so much work, so we couldn't have the air on the entire time we drove. It was awful. I was sweating and uncomfortable. Blech. It was a 24 hour drive, but we stopped Wednesday night in Oklahoma to rest. We made it to Austin Thursday afternoon, checked into the hotel and went and looked at apartments. We only saw one and I loved it. It's in a beautiful neighborhood and area of the city. Plus, it is newly renovated and has a pool, a workout gym and an access gate. We moved everything in that day. My parents left the next morning and I was by myself.

To be continued...

Coming Back At Ya!

2009-07-01T23:26:00.002-05:00

Eek. So, a lot has happened since my last post back in JANUARY! Yikes.

But, I am trying to turn over a new leaf. Again. I know, I always start out so well, then something happens and I disappear for a while. I can't say this time will be any different, however, but I'm going to try.

First things first, I know this started as a "running" blog, but I am going to be tweaking that a tad. I will still talk about working out, especially as I begin again. But now, I'm not just going to focus on that.

I've graduated college, moved to Austin, Texas, and I'm working at a new place. A lot of things are changing for me and I wanted a place to write about it. I am slowly starting to piece things together.

So, as I go through these new times in my life, I will share them here.

Here's to a new start!!

So...

2009-01-08T11:01:00.003-06:00

It's been quite a while. Almost 2 months. Wow. My bad. Finals and the end of the year kicked my ass. I was getting maybe 2-3 hours of sleep for two weeks in December. I was also eating very very very poorly, drinking too much caffeine and not really taking care of myself. It was a pretty ugly time. One I don't intend to repeat, ever.

But now that it is over, I hope to get a better grip on things in my life. However, I am having a hard time getting back in the swing of doing anything. I wake up in the morning, go to work, go home and watch tv until I go to bed. I'm still eating pretty poorly, and I'm not working out. I just can't seem to motivate myself to get to the gym, or to do a workout DVD. I've realized that I am no longer in shape. I don't like what my body looks like, at all, but I seem to lack the motivation to make any changes. It's really quite sad. Hopefully, I will start to make some changes in my life. I am meeting with a Health Educator to talk about my nutrition and exercising. She is helping me learn techniques on how to be healthy while being busy. We are taking slow steps and are working on my breakfast right now. I am learning how to eat for energy rather than just to eat. I told her the main reason I don't want to do anything is because I'm too tired and lack the energy. She told me the easiest way to combat this is to eat better in the morning and then work on eating everything for energy. It's not as easy as I thought it would be. I am trying to get the right foods every morning, but I usually just eat cereal and yogurt. I am supposed to get some form of long term carb as well, but I usually forget. I meet with her next week to talk about how I am doing with it and hopefully we'll start to work on other things.

I made some pretty poor choices this past semester. I can only hope I can correct them before its too late. I think my first goal is going to be to try and get at least 30-60 minutes of exercise in 4-5 times a week. I want my workouts to be a part of my schedule rather than something I do when I have time. I think that the info I am getting from the health educator will help with my eating skills. I know I am not the runner I used to be, but I know I can get back to that point and even go beyond it.

live, laugh, love <3

Fear is a Funny Thing

2008-11-18T23:46:00.002-06:00

So I finally got back on the horse today. I went running. It felt good. But I don't know why it took so long to do it. It's been a really long time, like I can't remember long. But I'm a little sore right now, which I expected. I only did 3 miles and I did 3 sets of 10 minutes running, 2 minutes walking. I don't really like the walking breaks because it's hard to get back into the movement of running after breaking the motion. But I guess it's better than going all out and burning out. I am trying to follow this plan to increase my 5K time. I don't have a 5K in mind, but I figured at the end of the plan, I can run one on the treadmill and see if I am any faster. Or maybe I'll find one. I just need a plan to get me motivated I guess.

But like I said, I'm not sure why it took me so long to get running again, it's not like I haven't been to the gym. I think it has something to do with me being afraid of running again. What if I'm not able to do it anymore? What if I can't build up the mileage?

I also think I wanted the perfect running conditions. I don't mean weather wise, I mean I wanted to feel good. I've been so tired lately, overstressed, overworked, I've been getting more and more headaches, and my stomach has been acting up again. So overall I haven't been feeling too great, physically. Emotionally I've been super stressed and kind of down on myself. I've had two incidents where I would just start crying for no reason. I know this isn't a good sign, but I really think that it's stress and lack of sleep causing all of this. And I think the worst part is that I can't do anything about it. I've trimmed out a lot of the extra things I do, which I've found isn't much. I have a hard time saying no and not doing things, whether it's just sitting and talking with my friends for a good hour. Or playing solitare and not quitting until winning (which is very difficult). I really need to learn to better manage my time. But then part of me really wonders if that is the issue. I think when I have so much to do, I just freak out and don't know where to start. It takes me writing a list of what I need to do in order for me to really get going. I did this on Sunday and it seemed to help. I just need to make it to winter break so I can breathe again.

Anyways, I finally got to use my Nike+ tonight. It was pretty cool. I've used it to calibrate before, but not for running. It was nice to plug my iTouch into the computer and have it log my workout onto Nike.com. I need to use it a little more to see if I really like it, but so far so good. Another thing that is pretty awesome right now, the Taylor Swift CD. I LOVE it. All the songs are really good and it really isn't your typical country album. I love her lyrics and really find them empowering and relatable. I think you should check it out. Speaking of music, I'm pretty excited because I am seeing Matt Nathanson in concert tomorrow and then seeing the Dropkick Murphys on Thursday with my dad. I'm pretty excited about both of them. It'll be a good time.

Another thing of note, from my google analytics account, I found it interesting that most people were directed to my other blog (the one about quotes) using the keywords losing hope. Good sign of the times. Hopefully, they just heard a song or read a quote and wanted to find it.

One more thing! Check out Google's Flu Trends. It's a new tool that uses the data about what people type into their search engine to show where people are looking up flu symptoms. So for example, if a lot of people in your state are researching flu symptoms, your state will show a higher likelihood of the flu going around. Pretty sweet huh?

Geez you would think with all these plugs in this post, I would be getting paid something...

Happy running : )

I Am SOOOOO Tired

2008-11-07T13:15:00.002-06:00

It's kind of ridiculous how tired I am. I don't think I have gotten a good night's sleep in over a month. I have been living on caffeine for quite some time now and I think my body is finally immune to it. I am struggling to keep my eyes open in school, at work, while doing homework, etc. I cannot wait for tonight because I am going to bed early. Plus I'm not drinking tonight so I will be able to sleep in. It's going to be awesome. You know what's even better? I'm gonna do it tomorrow night too. I'm so pumped.

Anyway, I only got in one workout this week, and I should have done at least one more. I failed to go last night and I regret it, but the only good thing is that I got a lot of reading done for Business Law. But I still should have gone. Wednesday night I went after a meeting and did 50 minutes on the elliptical. I did the hill climb and it was a great workout. It felt good. I was a little sore the next day, but not too bad.

Other than that, school is blah. Two tests next week, back to back. Good times. Not. But after that I am done til finals. I also register for my final semester of college next Tuesday. It's kind of scary, but kind of exciting too. I get to go to the Badgers hockey game tonight and am looking forward to it. Hopefully they don't suck. Badger football plays Indiana tomorrow. Hopefully they don't suck either. I don't even know what I would do if they would lose. Probably hit any football player I see in classes or walking around campus. Just sayin'.

It was a little crazy in Madison the past week. Halloween was rockin'. Counted way too many Sarah Palins and Jokers, but I expected it. My sister looked hilarious as Amy Winehouse(see pic). Then the election on Tuesday was great. If you don't know, Madison is quite the liberal city. And when Obama was elected, it was nuts. Over 3000 students marched down State Street on campus. It was kind of cool to see (and hear).

Happy running : )

Road Block

2008-10-31T14:09:00.002-06:00

Last night I went to the gym. It was my first real "free" evening in a while. And I only mean free because I didn't have any meetings, a test the next day or any other obstacle taking up my time. Sure, I have a shit-ton of reading to do and plenty of things to get caught up on, but I like to procrastinate and since I am getting sick of sitting in front of my computer losing solitare, I decided to go workout. Unfortunately, my stomach was not in agreeance with me. On my way, it said a little something to me that went "get to a bathroom quickly or you will regret it". So I listened. This little escapade was enough to keep me from running, but not enough to keep me from working out. Instead of running, I briskly walked on the treadmill on an incline. I was tempted to do a little running, but my stomach was there to warn me of the consequences. Have I mentioned how much I hate my stomach?

Anyway, got a good 45 minutes in on the treadmill. Hopefully I can get there this weekend, or take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a run outside. It is Halloween in Madison and that means CRAZINESS. Saturday night, O.A.R. will be playing on the Capital Square for Freakfest 2008. It should be a good time. My last Halloween in Madison as a college student. Tres Sad. I will be going as the Greek Goddess Athena (Strategy and Wisdom). I was going to go as Sally O'Malley (she's 50 and likes to kick, stretch and KICK), but time contraints and lack of desire to find another costume prevailed. But my favorite part about Halloween is seeing everyone else's costumes. I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot of Sarah Palin, the Joker and Joe the Plumbers/Sixpacks out there. So much for creativity. But I like to try and figure out the more complex costumes.

Happy Halloween and Happy Running : )

VOTE

2008-10-29T14:27:00.001-06:00

No matter what your political affiliation is, make sure you vote on Tuesday (November 4th). This is a pivotal election and every vote counts. As they say in the video, 537 votes decided the past election. That could be you. It's your country. VOTE.

Baby Steps

2008-10-21T21:54:00.002-05:00

Well since hitting my "low point", I continued to fall further. However, I have started to pick myself up and am taking baby steps in the right direction. All I can hope is that I don't take a couple steps forwards only to take even more steps backward. But so far, it's been going ok. Granted, it's only the end of day two, but... still.

This weekend when I was home I decided that I needed a kickstart to get me in the mood to exercise and eat healthy. So I am following an eating plan. If you'vew ever done Weight Watchers, you might have heard of the core plan. Basically, you're given a list of foods you can eat and you can eat as much as you want off that list. Plus you're given a weekly allotment of points to eat or drink whatever you want. The main foods you can't eat are carbs. And the problem I am going to have is finding food that fills me up that isn't carbs. I think protein will be a good option, but I just don't eat a lot of it, so I'll need to start eating more and finding out what all has protein in it. But I don't plan to follow this forever, I just need something to get me started.

Another thing I'm doing is trying out stickk.com. Basically you put a contract out of yourself to do something for a certain amount of time. You can have a referee but I've decided to just do it myself. But I have two contracts right now, weight loss and working out 3 times a week. I am on my second week and will have to report on Friday. I failed the first week on both. The only thing I don't like is that you can't change the contract. I know you're not really supposed to, but I guessed on my starting weight and I need to change it. Plus, I would rather report on Monday than on Friday, but oh well, I guess modifications aren't allowed.

Those are the big things I have done to get myself going. So far it's ok. I'm a little hungry and I don't find the meals or food I eat fills me up, but I think it will require a little retraining of the brain. We'll see.

I did go to the gym yesterday and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. It felt good, but my left leg was a little irritated. I don't know why, it hasn't been doing anything too strenuous lately, so it should just suck it up. I hope to go running tomorrow after my meetings but we'll see. I do have a test Friday, but I'll have all of Thursday to study.

I also have a new toy! I got a second generation iPod touch a couple weeks ago. Besides being awesome, it has the Nike+ already built in. Which means I only need a sensor for my shoe and I don't need to get the thing that plugs into the iPod. Which makes it cheaper. But I'm really excited to test it out. I finally got a pouch for the sensor this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow I can calibrate and use it. But I still need to figure out how it works, so that'll take some getting used to. Plus, I need to come up with a workout playlist because it's much more challenging to change songs than with my old MP3 player. But I LOOOOOVE it.

Happy running : )

Reaching a Low Point

2008-10-10T11:03:00.002-05:00

Yuck. That's how I feel when I look at my body in the mirror, in pictures or in anything. I have reached a point where I am just plain disgusted with how my body looks. I know it's not very healthy to feel this way, but when you have seen what your body can look like, it's hard to go back to something you don't like. Which is where I'm at. I wish I could say that I'm not working out because I don't have the time. I do, I just sit at my computer and play solitaire, or putz around doing other stuff. Yesterday was a prime example. I wanted to go for a walk outside because it was absolutely beautiful. I would've run, but it was my birthday on Wednesday and the one drink I planned on getting turned into a pretty crazy evening... But anyway, the walk turned into going to Olive Garden and eating too much stuff that is bad for me : (

But I think hitting this low point it actually good for me. Because without it, I might not have the motivation to change the way things are. My goals are to make small changes. Currently, I am working out about 1 time a week, pathetic, I know. But I am going to try and change that to 2-3 times a week until I'm comfortable with that and then work my way up to 4-5 times a week. i also want to work on increasing my mileage. Currently I am able to do about 2-3 miles at a time. I want to get my times faster and start running 5-6 miles at a time. I am planning to do this by running everytime I go to workout. Even if it's just a mile, it's something. Also, I desperately need to change my eating habits. I have kind of let myself eat whatever I want without really thinking about what I have put in my mouth. Last night was a good example. Like I said, we went to Olive Garden. I ordered the Portobello Ravioli, I was feel pretty stuffed about half way through and instead of taking it home, I continued to eat. I felt so sick and angry with myself after. Never again. I also need to start watching how much I am drinking. I need to be careful because of the empty calories I am drinking. Also, I usually don't feel good the next day which puts me in the laziest mood ever.

I just hate when I hit these points. But I'm glad I have, otherwise I wouldn't have the guts to change anything. I kind of coasted through the past couple months and am finally starting to see the results. So here's my goals for the next week:

Tonight: I am going out to dinner with my friends for my birthday, but I am planning on having the salmon dinner. However, I am going out to the bars afterward. But I am going to limit my intake so I can actually get things done tomorrow.
Saturday: I want to get a run in. It's supposed to be nice, so maybe a good 2 mile run along the lake would be nice. Get work done. Football game at night, but I don't plan to drink.
Sunday: Sleep in!!! Get a workout in, not sure what, but maybe the elliptical and a quick run on the treadmill. Get work done.
Monday: busy busy busy, meetings until 9:30pm, probably no workout
Tuesday: hopefully getting a run in, but I have a video to shoot and a test the next day
Wednesday: workout after test (run 2-3 miles, maybe lift weights)
Thursday: workout, maybe a walk outside or a run outside depending on weather
Friday: going home, maybe take my puppy on a walk

Now it's written down, so it makes it a little more official. I am only worried about handling it with everything else I have going on this week. Next week is going to be a beeotch and a half. I have an audiotape due on Monday (I have to record an 8 minute convo with someone about a topic I disagree with them on and then analyze it for how well I use my newly acquired counseling psychology skills... good times). Wednesday I have a business law exam (yay!!) and then Thursday I have a 5-7 page paper for my Imperial Russia class. Hopefully I will make it through alive.

Yikes.

Here's to change!

Happy running : )

Still Here...

2008-09-25T22:57:00.002-05:00

So I've been struggling a little on the blogging, but I swear I've just been so busy. I have school, work (2 places), plus leading 2 projects, involved in another and just trying to get all the other regular things in my life done. I'm exhausted every day. I go to bed late, wake up early and keep on going. I need a vacation already. But knock on wood because I'm still going. I'm getting my homework done early, getting things accomplished at work and working hard on my projects. But I can only hope I can keep it up.

But in the midst of all this craziness, I am still trying to workout. Today I went to the gym, did two miles running on the treadmill then did about 30 minutes speedwalking on an incline. I can tell I'm not in the same shape I used to be because that extra walking on an incline was a little difficult. But I did it. Last week I did 2 miles on Tuesday, but struggled the rest of the week. I am trying to make it a priority in my daily life, but I am finding it has been taking a backseat to everything else, sadly. I wish there was more time in a day, or that I could be more productive and not so lazy/tired when I get home at night. One of my roommates and I are supposed to be working out more together, but we aren't very good at motivating each other. I think I am going to need to be the stronger person and start pushing her to workout more, otherwise we probably won't. But I think pushing her will get me there too. I just wish she would push me too. I'm still hoping to do the 5K in October, but I'm not pushing for a new PR. I probably won't run very fast at all. I just want to be able to do it.

When I was working out today, I couldn't help but notice how I wasn't enjoying it like I used to. I wonder if it's because I haven't worked out or pushed my body like that in a while and I'm just used to being lazy? Or did it have something to do with the fact that I was running on the treadmill? Or was it because I was so tired from getting so little sleep this week? Because last week when I went for a run outside, it felt good. I was tired, but once I got past that initial mile, I felt strong again. I pushed myself up a slight incline and sprinted the last block, but today while running, I felt like it was work. It wasn't like I was challenging myself or daring myself to do it. I was just doing it, like a job you have grown comfortable with. Maybe I was just having an off day... I don't know, but I didn't like it. Maybe if I start running more regularly and start running different routes and longer miles I will start to feel the exhiliration I felt before. Maybe that's it, I am just angry at myself because I can only run a miniscule amount compared to what I was running a year ago and I'm just frustrated. I don't know. And I don't have time to really deal with this right now.

Despite all this turmoil, I feel a peace among myself I haven't felt for a long time. I don't know if I've ever felt this way before. But it feels good. I may have a million things floating around in my head and I may sometimes feel like I just want to explode into a billion tiny pieces, I feel at peace with myself. At least for right now. Talk to me in a couple weeks when first exams begin.

Until another time.

Happy running : )

Getting Really Sick of This

2008-09-10T16:38:00.005-05:00

I'm sick again. I am really really REALLY sick of being sick. This is the second time in less than a month that I have been sick. This time no nasty bacterial thing in my throat, but rather a fun and fabulous cold complete with stuffed/runny nose, scratchy throat, coughs that give me a headache and a sexy-sick voice. It's really just AWESOME. Especially during the first couple weeks of school. Especially when I planned to start my 5K training this week. Bah. I am just fed up with it. So what did I do? I emailed my doctor and pretty much said that something isn't right for me to be getting this sick this frequently. I think I have had more colds since January than I had in 2007. And the late fall/early winter is generally even worse for me. I don't know if my allergies are just awful or if my immune system has taken a vacation or what is going on. But it really puts a damper on my life.

Other than being sick, life has been pretty ok. Getting into a groove with school (I'm not behind yet!! knock on wood it stays like that for a while...) But this week marks the start of SIFE so my life should be getting busier now. I went to the past two home football games and let me just say... they are AWESOME. So much better than working. Although, it is a little cramped and the freshies don't know the cheers (for anyone who is a Badger or a Badger fan, section P does NOT row, they start the wave, and they do not make the "O" with their arms during cheering, seriously get it straight). The first game was good, we played Akron (their mascot is the "zips" which transmutates into a kangaroo in physical form...wtf?) it was kind of a blowout, so it got a little boring. And I got sunburnt on my left side of my face so I looked like two-face for a while. After the game, my roommate and I were leaving when I spotted none other than RON DAYNE! So we got our picture with him. It was pretty cool. The next game against Marshall (yes the team from We Are Marshall, sadly Matthew McConaughey was not there) was a little scary at first, but it turned out ok. It was hilarious, because as I mentioned before section P does not row (rowing is when everyone sits down and puts their hands on the person in front of them's shoulders and everybody moves back and forth, it looks cool, and some people stand up pretending to surf). But someone, probably an inexperienced freshman decided they wanted section P to row (section P used to be only upperclassmen, so none of this crap happened before). So the front have was starting to row but the people I was with yelled so loud that "P DOESN'T ROW" that everyone turned around and looked embarressed as the remaining half of P was standing up glaring at them. It was awesome. I know most of you probably don't understand, but just imagine seeing a bunch of people looking like they got caught doing something stupid like dancing around in their underwear. Yeah, it's that funny.

Anyway, school is going good, work is going good, health is pretty shitty, which has affected my working out. I don't think I'd last too long running without hacking up a lung. But tonight I am going to try biking for about 45 min to an hour. Just to get some low-impact cardio in. Tomorrow I am going to try a run, but only 2 miles and see how it goes.

On another running note, I have convinced, some not to willingly, to do the Literacy 5K Run with me. Although I don't really like running with others, I think it will get me out there and once I get the itch again, I can go on my on again. But it should be interesting because they are all hesitant to whether they can do it or not. I told them I have a plan already and not to worry, because I'm not fast. But one of my roommates likes to run fast so we are going to train each other. She is going to get me to go faster while I am going to get her to go longer. It should be interesting to see how this goes. But I'm excited because it will get me running again.

Hopefully this cold goes away fast. It's getting annoying.

Happy running : )

Sitting in the Swing, Not Quite Moving

2008-09-03T16:02:00.002-05:00

I wish I could say I was back in the swing of things with school starting yesterday. But I'm not. I'm close, but I'm not quite moving yet. It is the first week and I haven't had all my classes yet, but I do feel more prepared for this semester than at any point last year. Maybe this will change once I really start to get going, but right now, I think I am doing ok. I've been tired, but that's my own fault...

I worked out on Sunday and it felt good. I did 50 minutes on the elliptical and then lifted weights. Nothing really special. Tonight I'm hoping to do a little running. Once I'm done with work, my roommate and our friend plan to run to another friend's house to watch America's Next Top Model and Project Runway. We are going to run there, order some food and then once the shows are over, hopefully run back. So I'll be getting some exercise in but doing some errands as well.

I also think I will do a 5K in October, the same one I did for my birthday last year, the Literacy Network 5K. I will probably start my training plan next week. My goal isn't necessarily to PR, but to just get all my training runs in and do the race. It's been a while since I did a race. I also think I will do the Turkey Trot I did last year. It's a 5K as well, but that's where I had my best 5K time EVER. Hopefully I can spend the month and a half after the one in October working on increasing my speed. One step at a time though.

Other than that, school is going ok so far. I've got a lot of reading for my classes, but I actually don't mind the topics we are covering. I'm in a business law course which seems interesting. I'm also in a history of Russia course, which I am SUPER excited to be taking. I love history, but I didn't major in it (didn't think it was practical). But I finally have some space in my schedule to take that course. So I'm excited. Work is going good, I've cut my hours a lot for the semester, but I still think I can get a lot done. I just hope I'm not overworking myself with everything I will be doing: school, work, SIFE, working out and friends and family. Plus job hunting, planning a Europe trip and sleeping somewhere in there. It's going to be a crazy mofo of a year. But it's my last one like this. It's sad. But way exciting as well.

Happy running : )

Lazy with a Capital "I Should Really Get Off My Butt"

2008-08-26T22:53:00.002-05:00

Eek. I've been kinda lazy this past week. And by kinda, I mean a lot. I would like to justify this by saying that it's my last week of summer before school starts, but that's a lie (not the part about school starting next week, that's true) but I know that's not the reason. The reason is because I am lazy. I think that I have reached the point where laziness is the norm and working out is just that-- working. It used to be the other way. I used to feel weird not working out. Now I feel weird if I do. And let me tell you, this way of thinking sucks. I know it's wrong to think this way, so there is still hope for me (or so I'd like to think). At least I haven't completely given up on doing something other than going to work, coming home, lounging, maybe going out, reading and then going to bed. Once school starts, my body is going to get a wake up call. I'll need to start processing things and doing even more during the day. It's gonna suck. Big time. But I'm also looking forward to it. With school comes busyness, sometimes so much that I just want to retire to an island and not care about anything. But I love the busyness. I know deep down I perform my best when I am busy. I just really want to have my priorities straight going into this year. Myself, school, work, SIFE, social. I know it will be hard, especially with the two little voices, myself and my friends reminding me that "it's your senior year, have fun" but I hope that I am strong enough to remember what my priorities are and that to play hard, I need to work hard. I can have a lot of fun this year, as long as I get what I need to get done first and then be able to truly enjoy everything else. I think I can do it this time. Until then, it's the last week of summer yo! Roommate one moves in Thursday, first Badger football game Saturday, roommate two moves in Sunday and the school on Tuesday. It's going to be a craaaaaaaaaaaaazy weekend. Hells yeah.

Happy running : )

Better Than I Thought

2008-08-20T22:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I went to the gym (gasp). And I actually ran on the treadmill (don't fall over). I decided to give running a try and surprisingly, it went decently. I didn't know how long I wanted to run, I had about 45 minutes to workout, so I figured I would just go as long as I could. And I did about 35 minute running. I ran about 3 miles which isn't that great of a speed, but I was running. And I didn't have to stop to walk, or drink water or anything. I just went out and ran three miles. WHA? It's like my body just went into running mode and my mind went with it. Generally the two aren't on the same page. But it felt good. It was kind of embarressing though, I chose a treadmill in front of the MTV TV and next to the Wheel of Fortune TV. So it was awkward to turn my head and watch Wheel of Fortune and continue running in a straight line. So I mostly watched MTV. Which usually isn't that bad. But MTV is known to have some pretty crappy/corny/stupid shows. Enter "Exposed". This is what I was fortunate enough to watch for the entire time I was running. I just want to know where they get the people to do the show. I mean seriously? And do they feed them their lines because I don't know a single person who says that stuff. Basically, Exposed is a show where this one person, either boy or girl, has a friend sit in a undercover van watching the "date" take place. The date is with two other people "competing" to win another "real" date with the first person. But their mics are hooked up to some software that detects when they are lying. They find the trashiest people and make them do the stupidest stuff. I use a lot of air quotes in this post because it's all a load of crap. I cannot believe that any of it is real. It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It is one of the worst shows out there. And I'm really not too sorry if I've offended anyone who watches that show. Unless you can give me a valid reason for liking it (doubtful there is any), then I wouldn't even admit that you watch it.

But anyway, I watched it for the time period I was running. And I tried sooooo hard to keep myself from laughing outloud. I even looked around a couple times to see if anyone else was watching. As I was leaving, I could actually see some people's eyes flicking back and forth like they too were trying to hide the fact that they were watching it too. But I knew. I knew they were watching it with the same "what the f is this?" fascination.

But anyway, I was super proud of myself for running. And doing 3 miles. I want to try and run at least once more this week, it might be while I'm home and if so, I'll be doing it outside, which will be nice. I'm also going to try and get another cardio workout in this week, maybe Sunday when I get back in town from being home. I'm going to try and start with small steps, no grand plans to workout, just what I know for sure I can do. Maybe, I'll start up my 100 pushups challenge next week. I was doing so good with it until I got sick.

Oh and school starts in like a week and a half. F that. But the first football game is in 9 days. GO BADGERS!

Happy running : )

Transition

2008-08-14T13:13:00.002-05:00

Currently my entire life (well 95%) is sitting in a UHaul and a van in the parking lot of the hotel we are staying at. We have the potential to move in today, but it may not be until tomorrow. So who knows what we'll do until then. I got caught up on my google reader (900+ new items... yikes), have been doing some work from my computer and have just been lounging around watching the olympics on tv all morning. It's been pretty awesome. I should probably shower because I kind of smell.

I am feeling better though. My throat no longer hurts, my cold sore is healing nicely and my canker sore isn't making me too cantakerous (ha). Thank goodness for penicillan.

Other than that, not much to report on this front. Maybe I'll go swimming in the hotel pool tonight, or maybe I'll just lounge in the hot tub. I love hotel living.

Happy running : )

Doctor Doctor, Give Me the News!

2008-08-11T16:01:00.002-05:00

Well after feeling significantly worse this weekend (hurt to swallow ANYTHING, even my own spit, plus I had a really bad fever Friday and Saturday night complete with chills and night sweats and my cold sore had gotten worse) I finally decided to go to the urgent care office on Sunday. Luckily, it wasn't too busy so I wasn't waiting forever. But I went in, explained my symptoms and was asked if I had been in contact with anyone with strep or mono. I hadn't that I'd known of, but they did a strep test. My doctor told me he expected it to come back positive, but to his surprise, it came back negative. He said that it could still be strep, but it could also be a bacterial infection in my throat that was causing the rest of the problems. So I am now on a high dose of penicillan with high hopes to knock it out of my system. I am already feeling better and my throat doesn't hurt to swallow. I can't open my mouth very wide because of the sore in the corner of my mouth and the canker sore is still being a little beeotch by regecting everything that comes in contact with it (most notably, toothpaste, which stings like a mofo). So I am left sucking things down via straw or little bits at a time via spoon and occasionally fork. I have been living on ice cream, yogurt, water and blended coffees the past couple of days. Sometimes I'm feeling risky and I'll suck it up and eat a solid, like cereal that's been sitting in milk for a good 5 minutes or eating macaroni one noodle at a time and very carefully so as to not hit the canker sore or open my too wide. Life is great.

What's even better is that I am moving the whole end of this week. And I had everything ready to go for it. Until this morning when the world decided to take a shit on me. First, I get an email from my landlord saying that the huge items we had sold to the next tenants (a bar and a sectional) need to be taken out of the house or they will charge to have them removed. Which is RIDICULOUS!! The previous tenants left the bar for us without being charged. The bar is way to challenging/heavy/big to get out of the house. We plan to let the new guys know about the sectional and have them come and pick it up before move out. Otherwise we'll just leave it and dare them to move it out. Next, after that lovely email, I get a phone call from Uhaul. Apparently when I made my reservation over a month ago, and they told me I could have the UHaul for 3 days, they were wrong. I could only have it for 4-6 hours. Now I know most of you don't know much about Madison moving days, but being able to move into your new place in 4-6 hours is IMPOSSIBLE. You move out by 9am on the 14th and move in on the 15th. More than likely late in the day on the 15th. So there is NO WAY to move in 4-6 hours unless you are moving into a brand new place, which is highly unlikely. Needless to say, I was extremely pissed off. I called the regional office and yelled at them that this whole thing was ridiculous. I think I am more upset that they wait until two days before we move to tell us this. Luckily, my parents were able to get a UHaul from Fond du Lac, only an hour or so away. This whole thing was bullshit. I hope to never use a UHaul again. They completely take advantage of college students during this time period. The campus UHaul (which isn't the place I originally went through) was charging $150 for a 4-6 hour period. UNBELIEVABLE! That is just plain obnoxious. Like we don't pay enough in rent already. I am just so pissed off with this whole day.

Happily, work eased some of the stress and being able to yell at some of the people on the phone helped, but not a lot. I just need a vacation and unfortunately (or fortunately) I will be off work Wednesday through Friday to move. I'll be off work, but I'll be dealing with people and moving things, MY things a couple blocks away. If I didn't dislike this house so much (and some of the people) I would've just stayed and not dealt with all this bullshit.

I think I need to work out and get this stress out. Too bad I'm sick. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Positive thoughts, think positive thoughts Kelsey. Deep breaths.

Happy running : )

Falling Apart

2008-08-08T10:58:00.002-05:00

Gahh. That's how I feel. I think I'm starting to get sick. I have a sore throat and it hurts to eat or drink anything. I might just be wearing myself down. Or I'm stressed. It could be a number of things. Plus I have a canker sore that makes it look like I have a snaggle tooth (at least to me, otherwise it's pretty hidden). And I burnt my tongue earlier this week and it's still sore. I feel like I'm just falling apart.

It doesn't help that I'm super exhausted. I stayed up later last night and watched the 300 with some peeps. It's a pretty bad-ass movie. I thought the special effects were what made the movie. Tonight I want to go work out but we'll see with how my throat is feeling. I want to get to the gym tomorrow and Sunday though. I have decided that because I have been out of running for so long, the only place to start is small. My first goal is to get to the gym 3-4 days a week. My second goal is to try and run 1-2 days a week starting small and working my way up in the mileage area. The pushups challenge is still going good, I need to do Week 2 Day 2 today and then Sunday I'll do day three.

This weekend will be filled with packing and cleaning. Next Wednesday I am moving to a new apartment. I always find that when I move I finally realize how much stuff I have but probably don't need. But I take after my grandmother in the fact that I'm kind of a packrat... It's not a good trait sometimes. But with moving, hopefully I'll be able to get rid of some things. (ha)

PLUS the Olympics start tonight!!! I'm so pumped! I love the Olympics. This time I am really excited for volleyball (both beach and regular), swimming, track and field, soccer, gymnastics, etc. etc. Can't wait!! USA!

Happy running : )

Going Batty

2008-08-05T22:43:00.002-05:00

As I type I am holed up in my room. Usually this isn't a problem at quarter to 11 at night. But this time, it's a different story. Our house has a bat. It has dive bombed two of my roommates and is now flying around the second floor waiting to attack it's next victim. But that will not be me. I may have to wash the facial mask off my face and take my contacts out of my eyes because they are burning, but those things can wait. Luckily, our landlord is coming over to take care of the situation, hopefully soon. I am tiiiiired and want to go to bed. Fing bats.

On the workout/fitness/healthy lifestyle side, I am doing ok. I have been keeping a food journal the past few days with hopes of starting a habit and being able to recognize where my weaknesses are. I have been following the 100 Pushups Challenge and did my first day of the second week. For the last set you are supposed to do the maximum amount of pushups and tonight I reached a new max: 11 pushups in a row!! And this was after doing 14 pushups. I am kind of proud of myself for following this plan and actually seeing results. I think next week is the re-test to see what level you are on. I think I will be moving up from level 1 to level 2. Last week was a bad week for working out, but I was also really busy. But this week I am planning to just do it. I don't have a lot going on so I should be able to get to the gym/workout outside almost everyday. Tonight I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and tomorrow I hope to get some running and weightlifting in.

Also, despite being a college student, I think I am going to take a break from drinking for a while. I am thinking 2-3 weeks should be a good break. This doesn't mean I won't be going out, I will still go out, but I will probably be drinking water. Which I think is the best choice for me. I need to clear my system and just kind of relax. This school year is going to be extra tough on me with two jobs, leading three-plus projects, school, and sleep. I need to go into the school year focused and rested and by not drinking, I think I can get into that mindset. Also, it will be healthier for me. I know it will be tough though, because I am a college student and alcohol is quite plentiful. But it will be a good test for my willpower and self control. And I'm not abstaining forever, just for a couple weeks to clear my system.

Final note: The bat has been taken care of. RIP.

Happy running : )

Insomniac's Post

2008-07-29T00:35:00.002-05:00

I can't sleep. I am tired as shit but can't sleep. I went to bed at 10:15 and over two hours later here I am. Awake, but tired. Listening to Norah Jones and playing mindless games on my computer. I don't have any sleeping medicine otherwise I would've popped a pill a long time ago. I would read, but that just gets my mind going again. I think that's my problem. I can't quiet the voices (not those type of voices) and thoughts that are going on in my mind. I've got a lot going on this week and I am just going over everything in my head. Over and over again. It sucks, but I can't relax my mind. AHHH.

This past week/weekend was pretty good. I worked out last Wednesday and Thursday. I was going to go on Friday, but I was exhausted and instead I went for a walk with a friend. Saturday I went swimming at a local beach which was really nice. I felt cool and relaxed afterwards. Sunday I did absolutely nothing of substance minus cleaning my room. I watched P.S. I Love You in the morning (great movie, a lot different than the book, but still good, make sure you have kleenex, I balled my eyes out) and then watched Definitely, Maybe at night (another good movie, this one though, is a little happier, a great chick flick).

I am hoping to get more than just two days of working out in this week. Tomorrow I am volunteering at the Extreme Home Makeover site in Wisconsin. They are rebuilding a house that is only a short distance outside of Madison so a friend and I have decided to volunteer. The only problem is that she is coming to pick me up in about 5 hours. Which is going to suck. Big time. But hopefully I will get to nap afterwards. But then again, Ty might be so blown away by my beauty and intelligence and humor that he will ask me to stay all day... The rest of the week is pretty busy too, baseball game tomorrow night, coffee on Wednesday, day trip to go cliff diving on Saturday, plus other random events.

Today was my first day of the 100 pushups challenge. It went pretty good. It was a fairly easy day. Except my stomach muscles are still sore from an ab exercise that I did last week. Everytime I lowered as I was doing a pushup, my ab muscles hurt like a mofo. It was not a good feeling. Hopefully it goes away soon... My next day is Wednesday when I get to increase the amount of pushups. Yay. Also on tap for this week: the start of my food journal. Last time I did a food journal, I ate a lot better. Although I have a feeling that it isn't just my eating that is the major culprit, I think it is a combo of drinking (remember though.... I am a college student) and the lack of consistency of exercising. I have been wanting to cut back on my drinking for some time now, but it seems like there is always some reason to be drinking. But after this weekend, I think I will be able to cut back a lot. Not only has drinking been hurting my body, it's also hurting my wallet. It's freaking expensive. I think once I lower my drinking, my working out on the weekends can go up because I won't feel like shit from being hungover. I think the food journal will help me see how much I am actually drinking. I've also been thinking about signing up for the Worth the Weight challenge. I don't know what is stopping me besides the fear of failure. But that's a pretty big barrier. But one I've been able to get over in the past.

Alright, I think I need to go to bed. And I might actually be ready to do so. But we'll see.

Happy running : )

One Ticket for the Bandwagon

2008-07-23T15:44:00.003-05:00

Ok, so it's been a while... my bad. But I have been quite busy the past week. And I have been working out, not necessarily running, but going to the gym for some cardio. I can do more, I know this, but small steps my friends, small steps. This past weekend was just a whirlwind of doing things. Thursday night was the midnight premiere of the Dark Knight. To sum it up in two words: F'ing AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend it and you don't need to see the first one to know what is going on. It's just beyond any other movie that has been out there lately (minus Sex and the City which is on a completely different playing field for me). But see it. It is awesome. Period.

Friday I had a work meeting and then headed up to visit my friend in Minneapolis. It was a long ass car ride, but I was traveling with one of my other friends so it was good. I had a good time in Minneapolis, we had a lot we wanted to do and very little time, but it's a fun city and I really enjoyed my time there. The dance clubs are ridiculous. They are do hot that it isn't even worth it to put makeup on or do your hair because as soon as you walk in it is all shot to hell unless you are a freakin' goddess and don't have to worry about shit like that (I just noticed this post is a little heavy on the profanity, shit, sorry about that).

But we got back later on Sunday and I was exhausted. Monday didn't start out too great as I overslept. I've been busy at work which has been just awesome. I love being busy (and no, there is no sarcasm here, honestly). I really do enjoy being busy. It makes me feel like I am doing something. I really love both of my internships for separate reasons. It's going to be weird going back to school in the fall and having to cut back on hours and not going in everyday. Maybe I should just throw out the past three years and drop out.... HAHAHA not.

Ok, so now onto the main focus of this blog... running, or the lack there of. I haven't been doing much running lately. But... I have been going to the gym. In fact I went tonight and got in a good cardio session and some abs (not a lot because I had to race home for Project Runway). I want to start getting some shorter runs in more frequently during the week. Two miles here, three miles there. I think I can handle that.

I have come to the realization that I probably will not be partaking in a half marathon this fall. It was a great idea and I really really really want to do one soon, but with school, work and life in general, I cannot devote the time needed to getting ready for the race. But, I do want to build my running up again and start doing some 10Ks. I know there is the Nike Human Race coming up on August 31st that I am going to start "training" for. And I use training in quotes because I won't actually be going to a city that is holding a race. Instead I will pick a fun route and run the race by myself, against myself.

Also, I have decided to jump on the 100 Pushups Challenge bandwagon. I never saw myself as the pushup type, but what the hell, I'll give it a whirl. Plus it's something easy I can do from home before I go to bed or when I get up in the morning (hahaha, I made myself laugh on that one). I did my initial test today at the gym and found myself able to do a lousy 5 pushups. I CANNOT imagine doing another 95. Maybe over the course of 2 weeks, but not in one sitting. But we'll see. Hopefully I'll get some kick butt sculpting for my arms.

Other than that, nothing really exciting is happening in my life. I'm busy as usual and trying to do too many things at once. My current obsession (well really one that has resurfaced) is reading, a lot. I have so many books that I am starting to collect books because I don't want other people to read them. I have a list that I swear is like almost 60 books long. It's a little ridiculous. Plus, lately I have been obsessed with listening to classical music. It's really nice to listen to at work, especially with the magic and awesomeness that is Pandora. Oh and being a Wisconsinite and all, I am following the Brett Favre debacle with a passion. I'm not sure how I feel on the subject and I think that could take up an entire post of its own (to sum: Love Favre, never wanted him to retire, but he is being a little selfish in this whole thing, granted the Packers aren't being too great either, oh well, we'll see what happens).

Ok I think I've rambled enough for one evening...

Happy running : )

Sorta Success

2008-07-15T12:27:00.002-05:00

Well last Friday's run was a success in the fact that I went out and did it. But it was a sorta success because I didn't run the whole thing. I had to walk a good portion of it because of my stomach. But I've talked with the doc so hopefully that will all be sorted out soon. I did about three miles total with about 2 of them being running and the other mile walking. I was a little disappointed, but I didn't know what else I could do. But Saturday I was super proud of myself for going to the gym and doing 60 minutes on the elliptical. Now I need to get there more often during the week. Sunday's run didn't happen. I had a massive headache all day and struggled doing anything except watching TV and reading. But I did watch American Gangster and it was pretty good. A little long, but overall good. Nothing I'd watch again though.

Tonight I have a two mile run scheduled and I am going to try and get it in. I haven't been feeling that well the past two days so I'm not sure if I'll be getting out there. But it might make me feel better just to get out there so we'll see. I also have to get my friend's birthday present today and we are watching Batman Begins tonight as prep for the Dark Knight midnight premiere we are going to on Thursday.

Happy running : )

Avoidance

2008-07-11T10:46:00.002-05:00

I have been purposely avoiding my blog for the week. I have nothing to report mostly because I haven't done anything worth writing about. I have taken about a week vacation from running. Except it is going to end tonight. Whether I run one mile or the goal of 5, I am going to run tonight. This past week has been filled with convenient excuses not to run. Going out to dinner, sickness, laziness, rain, thunder, lightening, card games, going to the terrace, etc. Don't get me wrong, it was a really fun week, but I just wasn't working out.

I think I need to realize that I can get in a workout no matter how much time I have. I have weights and a stability ball in my room so I can easily get in a strength or core session before bed or when I wake up in the morning. I know that I like to run for cardio, but I think just getting something in every day is more important that not doing anything. I have been doing pretty good on my eating, minus an occasional slip with the candy bag at work (why we have it, I don't even know). But my breakfast is usually oatmeal and some strawberries and raspberries. My mid-morning snack is cherry yogurt, lunch is a turkey sandwich, pretzels/baked cheetos/reduced fat cheezits, carrots and 100 cal fudge shoppe cookies, then a mid afternoon snack is some almonds. For dinner it varies on what I eat, but I try to include some protein and a vegetable with each meal. I'm also drinking 32-64oz or more of water each day. I do drink too much alcohol, I acknowledge this and so I have been cutting back on how much I drink at a time and watching how fast I drink and what I am drinking. Now if only I can get my cardio back on track I think I will be much happier. I need to just come home from work, go work out and then come home and socialize. I stay up later now that I don't work out in the morning so I can get more things in at night. I know I can do it, it's just a matter of wanting to do it.

I really want to run this half-marathon in the fall, but I really really really need to get out and train. I need to want to train. I need to feel the desire again. I know that I want it, but I'm not sure how bad I want it over other things in my life. I need to make it a priority which is hard because I like to consider everything in my life as a priority and I know that is the wrong way to go about it.

This weekend is pretty mundane. Probably going to watch a movie tonight (I've had American Gangster and P.S. I Love You from Netflix for some time now, I should probably get on watchign them...). Tomorrow is Art Fair on the Square as well as the Farmer's Market so I'm hoping to hit that up. I also want to go to the library to get a library card, I need to stop spending money on books... Saturday night my roommates and I plan to go out for some drinks. Sunday I head home for a doctor appointment on Monday. So nothing too exciting. Running 1-5 miles tonight and 6 on Sunday. Yay!

Happy running : )

Fail

2008-07-07T13:43:00.002-05:00

I love Facebook bumper stickers. Some of my favorites are when there is a picture of someone doing something wrong, not on purpose, but they tried and it just went bad. An example you may ask, well, one of them is (and this may sound really cruel, but it's just a drawn image, not an actual picture) a baby with his head in one of the leg openings on a stroller instead of with his feet through it. And written in big red letters is the word: "FAIL".

Cut to the relevance. Take a picture of me this past weekend laying around, getting sunburned, swimming, having a campfire, going out downtown, etc. and put FAIL over all of them. While it was a really great weekend and I got to relax and see my friends, I failed in the exercise department missing both of my runs at the end of the week. My 5 mile tempo run was skipped due to Thursday being a hectic day and sleeping in and visiting my Grandma on Friday. Then my long run on Sunday was skipped due to being incredibly hung over from having a great evening on Saturday. Also on Sunday I drove back to Madison and was really tired.

I know, what other excuse do I have?? Like I said: "FAIL". And while it might sound like I am just beating myself up, I am. Because I had no reason not to do at least one of the runs. Now this week is going to be an even bigger bitch because I haven't had a long run in a long time. But this weekend I want to take it easy and get my runs in. My body needs it.

Hope you all had a FABULOUS Fourth of July!

Happy running : )

T-Shirts!

2008-07-03T15:43:00.003-05:00

So I was really pumped when I saw the topic for this week's Take it and Run Thursday over at the Runner's Lounge blog. I wanted to share this t-shirt idea back in May when I discovered it (I didn't come up with it, I saw it and thought it was hilarious!). Anyway, while doing the Komen 5K race at the end of May, I saw two guys ahead of me wearing shirts that said:

"Save Second Base"

I think that is pretty genious. I'm sure there's other people that have thought up the idea or that it wouldn't really be appropriate for an official race t-shirt, but I still think it is hilarious. Besides that, I haven't really seen a lot of fun racing t-shirts that I like. They are all a little too serious (aka boring) for me, or they are just plain uninventive. I am all about the ones that make people laugh or look at you weirdly or even those that are inspirational. Now that I think about it, I do have a t-shirt that says on the front: "Your mom..." and on the back: "Wants you to join SLP". SLP was a group I was in a while ago and I thought these t-shirts were pretty creative, they could be changed for mom who run to say (granted I'm not a mom, so I wouldn't be able to wear it, but oh well):

front: "Your mom..."

back: "Can run faster than you"

Maybe I'll leave the creativity to the people who have it.

Happy running : )

That First Mile

2008-07-02T13:03:00.002-05:00

You know what I hate: that first mile. It's a pain in the ass. It's during that time when I struggle with my clothing, my MP3 player, my breathing, my stride, pretty much everything needs to be figured out during that initial mile. Which sucks because then it makes me not want to continue after that. But after that first mile, sometimes into the second mile, my legs start to get used to running and my breathing reaches a pattern and I am in a "zone" if you want to call it that. But usually when I am doing my long runs, I wear more comfortable clothing, but for short runs and for reasons that escape me, I tend to wear the most uncomfortable clothing ever made. Why you may ask, well I don't know. The reasons escape me. All I know is that I should probably invest some money in better running shorts. But that involves money, a resource I sadly do not have a lot of.

Tomorrow I head home after work for a weekend at home. It will be nice because I'm not going home for anything specific, just to visit. I'm looking forward to the beautiful weather this weekend (knock on wood it stays that way).

Happy running : )

Long Way to Go

2008-06-30T12:10:00.002-05:00

I did it. Last week I did all of my scheduled runs. Boo ya. And it felt good too. Yes, during my three miler on Friday I wanted to stop, but I didn't. And yesterday, during my 5 miler, I did walk a little, but I still felt good. I haven't run that much in one week in a looooong time. My body is sore today, I'm a little more tired than usual, but overall, I am very proud of myself for doing it. Now this week is going to be even more of a challenge with the holiday and the increase in mileage. Instead of two short runs and one long run, it will be one short run, a tempo run and a long run. I might cry. But yesterday when I was debating myself on whether I wanted to run my 5 miles or not, I just kept thinking that if I really want to do a half-marathon in the fall, I need to start training now because it isn't something you can fake. (At least for me).

My 5 miler was a good run, in comparison to the 3 miler on Friday. Friday I was just not having any of that running business. My legs were tired and didn't want to move, but body was blah and my mind was not in it either. I was glad I went out and did it but I just wasn't enjoying it the entire time. But yesterday was different. It was a good day to go running, not too warm, not too cold and not too sunny. The only issue was the wind. The entire 2 mile leg back to my house was into the wind. And I know that it is good resistance, but not when you just want to run. But the first couple miles were really good. I was able to run at a good pace and my legs felt good. It was only after I took a bathroom break that my legs started to feel heavy and I did have to take some short walk breaks. But I figure that these walk breaks help me compose myself to finish. Of course I would love to not have to break for a short walk but until I get to that point, I'm going to have to take them.

One thing that I have been thinking about lately is when I should sign up for the half marathon. I have debated this for a while and just don't know what to do. If I had money laying around, it wouldn't be a problem. But I don't. So, I have two options:
- One: Sign up early and use that as motivation to train.
Problem: Just because I sign up early doesn't mean that will be motivation enough to train. Then I'm out the money.
- Two: Wait until I feel like I will be ready and then sign up.
Problem: What if I don't train?

As I read that over, it seems like the problem comes down to what is going to motivate me to train. Maybe I just need to do it for myself. But that would make the most sense and I'm not all about that.

Happy running : )

You ARE a Runner

2008-06-26T11:15:00.004-05:00

This is my first time doing the Take it and Run Thursday post for Runner's Lounge.... so here goes nothing:

Task--> finish the following sentence (You are a runner...) with 13 words

"You are a runner when you realize that running is more than an exercise, it's a lifestyle."

Whew, that was 13 words exactly...

Today, I slept in a little late so I didn't get my workout (I wanted to go to the gym to use the ellipticals) in this morning, but one day at a time I suppose. Tonight we're going out for margarita's and chips and salsa (as my roommate says, it's all about the chips) at a local bar, then one more day of work and then the weekend! I'm excited because this will be the first weekend in about a month that I will be staying in Madison, no driving for me! I do have to waitress on Saturday morning, but oh well, it's money. Also, Rhythm and Booms is this weekend and I'm really excited to see it! I do have two runs scheduled for this weekend, a 3 miler Friday night and a 5 miler on Sunday, we'll see how those go.

Happy running : )

(Insert Creative Title Here)

2008-06-25T10:53:00.002-05:00

I blanked on my title for my post today. Whatev.

This morning I did a quick two mile run, except my lovely stomach decided it was going to have none of that and acted up. So instead of running the whole thing, I did intervals. I would run at a fast pace focusing on my stride length and then once my stomach acted up, I would walk for a little and then repeat. It was fine, I need to work on speed, but I didn't want it forced upon me in this manner. Stupid stomach. I wish it would just go away and leave me alone.

I even went without my MP3 player today, which I thought would be nice to enjoy the sounds of the city, but I was wrong. I missed it. But it was good to listen to my feet and make sure I wasn't scuffing along.

This past weekend was a disaster. I had my sister's grad party to get ready for and so I didn't get any running in this weekend. I could have gone for a run on Sunday, but my laziness got the best of me and I spent the day on the couch watching movies. I caught the last half of Hairspray (the recent version, aka the good version), watched Chasing Liberty (don't watch unless you can handle a lot of cheesy acting especially by Mandy Moore) and then John Tucker Must Die when I got back to Madison. It was awesome. Then Monday and Tuesday were just bad days in general. I was not feeling anything. Didn't want to work, eat, run, talk to others, etc. But today is a new day and I am feeling 90% better about everything. I think going to Barnes and Noble last night helped, as stupid as that sounds. But I have a thing for books. So I spent too much money and got a bunch of new books. My list of books to read has grown exponentially over the past year. Unfortunately, the rate I read them does not keep up with the rate at which I read them. So I have a very nice collection of books to read. I wish there was more time in a day! I think that would be a good solution to a lot of people's problems. IMO.

Tomorrow I want to get up early and head to the gym and do some cardio on the elliptical since I switched my running days this week from T/TH/Sun to W/F/Sun. Although I don't want to pay $15 to use the gym, I suppose it will get me there.

Happy running : )

PS. Read Marcy's post about losing toenails and that sounds like a blast!!!!!! NOT. I have lost toenails before (not from running long distances sadly), and while I personally think it is kind of cool (it's kind of sick that I think that way, I know), other people that look at your feet generally do not feel the same way.

Get Up Off That Thing

2008-06-23T22:04:00.001-05:00

Hold Up

2008-06-20T10:56:00.002-05:00

Warning: this post contains some emotional insight where I try to delve deep into my inner psyche to find a meaning to my life, despite few successes in the past, I continue to put myself through this introspection.

Well Wednesday was a good day, I had a good day at work and I went running afterwards. I was proud of myself and felt like I was running pretty fast too. My body was into it and felt good afterwards. I even did abs and strength after my run. But for some reason it wasn't enough. I had a tiny breakdown Wednesday evening. I don't know what happened, but I just got all emotional and started to cry. It was awful. I get this feeling that something is missing from my life. I don't know what it is, but something isn't there. I have a good life, but something is missing. This sort of feeling happened when I was a freshman in college when I went through a little bit of depression. I am starting to see similarities between that time and now and I am starting to get scared. I didn't like my freshman year. But luckily, I know how to refocus myself and get myself back on track. Also, I have people around me that support me and are there for me and I just need to seek them out. I also will need to pour myself into my working out. That is what pretty much saved me my freshman year. It helped me to feel better and more confident. It just sucks that even though I am having a good time and everything seems to be working out, I still have this mental setback.

Tonight I head back home for my sister's graduation party. I am excited to see my family and my little cousins. I even convinced my family to set up a beer pong (and soda pong) table to play on. I want to dominate my dad in beer pong. Hehe. I also have a three mile run tonight for when I get back to town and I'm hoping to get a 4 mile run in on Sunday while I'm home. This will be my first 4-miler in a long time. I think it will be good to run longer. I am getting a little sick of these dinky little two mile runs. By the time I get in the running groove it's time to stop. (and I would go longer, but that goes against the plan and I am one to never break the rules...note sarcasm).

Happy running : )

Walk This Way

2008-06-17T12:16:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I made plans with a friend/roommate (J) to go to the gym and get a workout in, but on such a beautiful night I really wanted to be outside. So I suggested a bikeride, but J's bike is broken. But seriously, do you really need the front brake? I mean it really has no major importance. But whatever. So we went on a walk instead. Normally I'm not a fan of walking for exercise. I just don't feel like I get much of a workout in. I don't sweat profusely and feel sore after. It just isn't the same as running, biking or other cardio exercises. But we did a three mile loop around the bay/lake near our house. Surprisingly it was a good walk. I didn't feel like I had worked out much, but I knew I got some exercise in and that felt good. Plus, I got to talk with J and it felt like a mini-stress reliever. And the scenery was just amazing. It was so nice out and the lake was so beautiful. An even bigger bonus were the hot shirtless college men out running. Ahhhh. What a night : )

Today I have a two mile run scheduled and because of a dentist appointment this morning, I plan to do the run tonight. I'm excited to go out running because while watching all the runner's on the paths yesterday all I could think about was how I wanted to be doing that. Plus after the dentist and a crazy psycho driver at Copps this morning, I kind of need a run to get that stress out.

Happy running : )

Game ON!

2008-06-16T11:46:00.003-05:00

What an exhausting weekend. I drove home Friday night and got back around 10pm, and then spent the rest of the night and well into the morning working on this blog layout thing. Saturday morning I woke up and got ready and then headed in the car with the family for a three hour car ride up to Chippewa Falls for my cousin's graduation party. They couldn't have asked for a better day, although it was a touch windy, overall it was beautiful. Because I didn't want to spend the day standing around and talking, I decided to play some volleyball with the high schoolers that were there. You could tell they were all either just graduated or stuck somewhere inbetween middle school and senior year. But I just wanted to play, so I put up with their nonsense. Let me just point out that I played volleyball in high school. I wasn't bad but I won't say I was a superstar either. But I enjoy the game very much and while it's nice to have a fun little game every now and then, sometimes I get really annoyed when people treat the game stupidly. We were playing guys versus girls and one of the girls was such a ball hog it drove me insane. She took the middle front position and then drifted all over the court. She didn't want to serve because "she wasn't very good" but I think it was just so she wouldn't lose her coveted spot. Whatever. Anyway, one of my favorite parts about volleyball is serving. I'm not consistent, but when I serve, it's generally pretty good. I love serving a ball that as soon as it goes over the net, it drops. I also love just pelting the ball at the opposing team. So when I went back to serve, I decided to nail it at the boys. The first serve pretty much rocked as it fell to the grass. It was an awesome feeling. However, the serving came and went through the "game", but overall it felt good to be playing volleyball, even if it wasn't really playing. Later in the party, some of the high schoolers decided to play four-square. I haven't played four square in years, probably since elementary school. But I decided to join in on the fun, which lasted for like 4 hours. It was great. A whole group of people played, ages 7 to 50+. I had so much fun competing and playing. I should have worn better shoes though because the ones I had on consisted of a 1/4 sole with no shape except flat. My feet were crying the whole evening.

One bad part about the party was what I was drinking. Although it was throughout a whole day, I had a lot of Mike's wine coolers. Which are not the healthiest for you. I threw in some exercise during the day, but I know that I shouldn't have had so many.

Also, yesterday I was supposed to get a three mile run in, which I did not. I have no excuse other than I just didn't feel like it. But tonight I am going to workout with my friend and hopefully we'll either go for a long bike ride or we'll go to the gym. But it's such a beautiful day that I am going to try and persuade her to go out biking with me. Plus the Mole it on tonight, so I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow I go to the dentist (major yuck).

Happy running : )

Makeover Wha?

2008-06-14T01:42:00.002-05:00

So I've been wanting to makeover my blog for quite some time now. I was a little sick of the mundane black and white look I had going on. But who would have thought it would be so difficult. First, I had to figure out where people were getting their really cool designs. Little did I know, all I had to do was Google: free blogger templates and voila, I had a list of places to go. But I should have realized that with more choices comes the inevitable indecisiveness that plagues me in even the simplest decisions (ex. chocolate or vanilla, which is usually why I settle for a twist, hehe). But I think that I have found something that I like. It's classy, but not too boring, it has some color, it isn't black, and it is peaceful. I wanted something that reminded me of running, and although I couldn't find anything with a path or with shoes that didn't look cartoony, I think this is a good substitute.

I kind of see it as a path where I can't quite see the end, but the sceney is nice enough along the way that I might as well continue on the journey.

Pretty enlightening for 2am in the morning.

Well, I'm home for the weekend, driving another 3 hours tomorrow for my cousin's graduation party, although she's really not my cousin, my dad is her godfather (although no one is sleeping with the fishes because of him, bad godfather reference, I know, but it is 2 in the morning). But anyway, I get to sleep in a little tomorrow and then read and relax the rest of the day. Plus I get to eat cake! Yay!

Happy running : )

Chicka Chicka YEAH

2008-06-12T11:19:00.002-05:00

Guess who woke up early this morning and went for a run? That's right- ME! Clocky went off at 6am, forcing me to get up out of bed and walk over and try and find him. He likes to hide under my coffee table in my room, so I usually swear at him before I can locate him and turn him off. However (and this is something I need to work on), I do tend to go back to bed and sit in bed for a little after I turn clocky off. Then after sitting for a little, I'll lay back down and sleep a little. Which I need to stop, but one thing at a time...

Anyway, I was successfully able to get up and go for a run this morning. And you want to know the best part?? I felt good running. For the first time, my legs were moving good and my breathing was also good. If my stomach wouldn't have acted up, I think I could have gone longer, and I haven't felt like running lately.

In fact, on Tuesday, I ran at night (because clocky failed in the morning), and as I was running, I was seriously asking myself why I was doing this to myself. Why run? And as I was running, I couldn't come up with anything. Here's what I was thinking though:
- If I am struggling this much with a measly two miles how in the hell am I going to do 13.1 miles.
- My body isn't made for running, why am I fighting it.
- This is stupid.
- My legs feel like a million pounds.
- My clothes are NOT cooperating with me today (see below)
- My old music sucks, I want an IPod.
- Why?
- Only a block left.

As you can read, my mind was doing a really great job of keeping me from enjoying ANYTHING about running. Yet, I got up this morning and put my shoes on and went out for another two miles. And all these negative thoughts were gone. I was able to enjoy the morning and think about nothing but what I was doing. It was very clarifying, and much needed.

Little Rant: I hate my running clothes. They suck. Big time. They don't stay where I tell them to, they are heavy and my shorts ride up my inner thighs. I think I waste more energy adjusting my clothing while I run than I do actually running. Whether it's rerolling my sleeves or pulling my shorts down or readjusting the band that holds my mp3 player around my stomach, I am constantly doing something else while running. It gets really annoying.

Happy running : )

Wanting to get Serious

2008-06-10T10:27:00.002-05:00

It started a little more than 2 years ago, but we met a long time ago. It was definitely not love at first sight and it has been off and on since then. Last year it was really good. Seeing each other three or four times a week and spending some quality time together. But these past couple months have been pretty rough, sometimes not even getting to see each other at all during the week. But I've reconsidered everything since school ended and I've decided that I miss the time we spent together. 30 minutes is no longer enough, I want an hour or longer for more than once or twice a week. It just isn't enough anymore. However, no matter how much I want it, I just can't seem to make it work. Parts of me just aren't that into it anymore. But I want it to get serious again, in fact I want it to be even more serious than when it first started. I want to be almost inseparable, so that even when at work, I'm constantly thinking about it.

Now as much as I wish I was talking about a boyfriend, I'm talking about what else but running. Or lack there of. I tried to do 2 miles on Saturday. A measly two miles. But unfortunately, I took my fat dog (he's not that bad, I just call him fatty to guilt my mom and sister into taking him on walks more often) and he made it a mile before dying. I was dragging him after the turn around and rather than actually kill him, I walked with him the rest of the way. But sadly, it felt good to stop running. My legs were sore and my body just wasn't feeling it. Granted, I always get like that around mile one, but usually I can just push through that and get into an equilibrium of hating and loving running at the same time. But not this time. Monty (my dog) gave me the excuse I needed to walk. To make up for my lack of running last week, I was going to run Sunday too, but when I got back into Madison (I was home for the weekend), it was DOWNPOURING. And there was no way I was headed out there for anything. So I unpacked and lounged. Great workout. Yesterday was better, minus the sleeping in part, but I did a great strength session last night while watching the Mole. My arms and legs were kind of sore last night and my arms are still a little sore today. So I think I have found some good exercises to do to build my strength. This morning was my first morning with clocky, the supposed "will-wake-Kelsey-up" alarm clock that failed this morning. I set it up on my nightstand for it to wake me up at 6 am. It went off at 6 am and I was allowed 5 minutes of snooze time. So when it went off a second time, it jumped off my nightstand and instead of running far away from my bed, it stayed right next to my bed so all I had to do was reach down and press the off button and go back to bed. Piece of shit. So tomorrow I will be placing it across the room and hopefully that will help. Doubtful, but my mom bought it for me so I have to give it more than a one day chance.

I need to start getting serious about this workout thing. I am starting to eat healthier and I am getting more consistent with my strength training, now I just need to get my cardio and running going again. I have all the tools I need and now I just need to do it. I started to wonder this morning how much time I waste in a day or week or year just thinking about doing things I want to do rather than just doing them. If I would have woke up this morning on time, I wouldn't have to run tonight and would have more time to work on some things I need to get done by this weekend. But instead I am going to take an hour out my time to go for a run, cooldown and stretch. Oh well, at least I'm going to get out there and I guess that counts for something. Hopefully, I start to realize how much I miss my "boyfriend" and things start getting serious again. I really do miss him.

Happy running : )

Just Workin' on my Fitness

2008-06-03T12:08:00.003-05:00

I'm Kelseylicious. Ha. The things I say/type to make myself laugh. But seriously. This morning was a scheduled 2 mile run. BUT, because it was just plain dreary out, I stayed inside and worked on my strength. That's right. I didn't just sleep in and not work out at all. But rather, I got out of bed (mind you I still pressed the snooze button plenty of times-- more on this later) and got my workout ball (i don't know the correct term for it) and did some of my strength exercises. It felt pretty good, but it doesn't feel like it does when I am lifting in a gym. But I think I just need to add reps and more exercises. So back to researching for more exercises to do.

Back to the snooze button issue. Because I tend to have a problem with getting up in the morning, my mom has bought me a present. I am sooooooooo excited that he will be waking me up every morning that I can't get up with my phone alone (please note excessive use of sarcasm). The premise behind this alarm clock is that you get one snooze and after that it jumps off the table it is on and starts making R2D2 type noises while it finds a place to hide. It is supposed to get you out of bed and annoy the shit out of you so you wake up. My grandma wants me to super glue the wheels in place so that way I can't just remove them (little does she know, I'd still find a way to sleep in, aka busting that Clocky to pieces). But I figure it can only help me right? Hopefully.

Tomorrow morning will be the 2 mile run. I'm also excited because tomorrow night I'm heading home for a long weekend. My sister is graduating high school! It's kind of scary that she is going to college so soon. But it will be good to be home and be able to SLEEP IN!!! I'm also getting my hair cut, I'm thinking bright pink with neon green stripes. Hehe. Just kidding. Although that'd be fierce.

Happy running : )

Busy Busy Weekend

2008-06-02T09:55:00.003-05:00

Oh snap. What a weekend. I am still exhausted from it. Friday was the Sex and the City premiere (AWESOME movie, definitely recommend it for any person who has seen the show). My roommates and some of my friends got all dressed up and went to dinner and the movie. Unfortunately, we had to go to the 10pm showing and didn't get out of there until 12:30am. So I didn't really get a lot of sleep before my 5K Saturday morning. But considering how little I had trained, I think that my time of 32:42 was pretty decent. Not my best time, but I wasn't expecting it to be. I averaged 10:33 min/mile which is pretty good for me. The best part though, is that because there were so many people competing and walking, I was number 529 out of 10,700. Which is pretty sweet. I was a little disappointed because I thought I was going to do a little better than that. I felt like I was running pretty fast for the first two miles, but then kind of tuckered out near the end. But I'm still happy I didn't stop to walk and that I was able to keep it below a 11 min/mile.

The race was really cool to participate in. I had never done a Race for the Cure before but was impressed by all the people there that were supporting someone. I have not personally had anyone in my family affected by breast cancer, however, one of my closest friend's mom has had breast cancer and just recently got out of treatment after getting it for a second time. After the race, I had to go home quickly, shower and get to work by 10:15 am. I was a little late for work and was still sweating because I didn't get to cool down all the way. One of my first tables was a group of ladies who had just done the walk part of the race and were coming in to celebrate. They were walking in honor of one of their friends who was a survivor. She was eating with them and it was pretty cool seeing them and getting to talk to them. I hope that when I am older I will have friends like that to support me if I ever need them.

Back to the busy weekend. So after the run I had to go to work, for a measly 2 hours. Then I was able to go back home and I had enough time to lay outside with my friends and just enjoy the day. But I had to return to work for the night shift at 4:45pm. Lucky me drew the closing shift and had to stay until 11pm. I made some good money and had some really cool tables. But I was not happy about closing. After that I was just too tired to do anything that I talked with my roommates for a little while before going to bed. Sunday morning, I had to work at 10:15am and was there until 4pm. But that was my last official shift waitressing. Now I am only going in when I choose to pick up a shift. I am very happy about this because then I can enjoy my summer a little more. After work, I was dead tired, but I went with the roommates to play sand volleyball and after, we came back and grilled out. I had an amazing steak and had a good time sitting around. I read outside for a little while and then went to bed early. I knew that this morning was going to be a bad morning for working out, so I planned to go for a walk and do strength, if I felt like waking up and doing it. I knew that I would be really tired, so I didn't get up. Although I did wake up and was consciously aware of my decision to sleep longer. So that's a step forward.

Now that I have one 5K down, I have started a training program for the Community First Fox Cities Half Marathon in September. I figure it is far enough away that I can train sufficiently for it. I worry that because it is far away I won't be as dedicated to training until it is too late. But I am going to throw in some 5K's and 10K's throughout the summer to keep me focused. But I'm excited to train for it. My training plan has the longest run at 10miles, which is a distance I have never acheived. In fact, my longest run was 8 miles and that was last summer when I was running a lot more than I am now. But the best part about my training program is that it is starting me out slow and with a few miles and working my way up slowly. I think that is going to be the best for me. I also am going to try and do more strength and other cardio exercises to get my whole body in shape. I'm excited to see the end results! But now I just need to get on track to get there.

Happy running : )

Bet You Can't

2008-05-29T11:05:00.003-05:00

That's what my sister said to me Monday night when I told her I was going to run early in the morning. She didn't think I could get up early and get out there. Yes, I do have some (ok a lot) of problems getting up early in the morning, especially when my bed is so warm and my room is soooo cold. But I don't need someone else telling me that I can't, or even that she would be willing to bet that I couldn't. So I was gonna show her. And I did. I woke up at 5:45 (ish) and was out the door by 6:10. I got in a good two mile run and when she called to see if I had made it out of bed yet, I was proud to say that I was already showered after going for a run. Mwhaha.

Then this morning happened. It was very similar to Tuesday, except I made the bet with myself that I couldn't get up to go for a run. And needless to say, I won. I didn't get up early. In fact, I don't remember hearing my alarm until about 6:30 when I decided to come into consciousness and realize that "shit, i didn't get up to run this morning." This realization led me to contemplate whether morning runs were really my thing or not. I came to the understanding that although it was difficult now, I need to get it sorted out and get my butt in gear in the mornings. I don't have the time to run at night like I did last year. Not only do I work until 6 or later, but it also is very sketchy in my neighborhood at dusk. Plus, last year when I ran late at night, I didn't get to bed until late and then slept in late and went to work late. I can't do that this year. Plus I figure I'm going to have to get up early the rest of my life (unless I find my dream job where I can work starting at 10 or 11am, but this is highly unlikely). And the morning air is so much cooler and cleaner. And once Wisco's humidity bitch decides to come out and play, the mornings will be that much better for running.

So I guess I just need to suck it up and get out there in the mornings. Once this 5K is over, I plan to train for a half marathon (SCARY, I KNOW!!!) and hopefully that will give me the extra kick I need. Because although I can fake it for a 5K, I can't really do the same for a half. Now I just need to find one to do and start training. Oh and get myself up in the morning. But that's just a minor detail. If I continue to stuggle, maybe I can change my ringtone/alarm to my sister saying bet you can't get up. We'll see.

Happy running : )

Life... In Short

2008-05-27T12:43:00.002-05:00

Ok, I only have a little time today, so here's a quick synopsis of my life right now:

This past weekend: Good 3 mile run on Saturday, weather was a little warm, but overall, felt good. Played about an hour of volleyball with my roommate where we peppered back and forth, not as sore as I thought I would be. Other than that, didn't really do much except work, read and hang out.

Today: Went for a two mile run this morning, was FRICKIN FREEZING and really windy. Pretty much sucked, but the run was good. My muscles are starting to remember running. Yay.

This week: Planning to do two miles on Thursday, strength on Wednesday and Friday and also taking my roommate's dog for walks both Wednesday and Friday mornings. Saturday is my first race of the summertime (Koman 5K Race for the Cure) and I'm hoping I will be ready for it, I am a little afraid of getting a bad time, but I know I can finish it. I also need to find a pink shirt to wear... And Friday a little movie called Sex and the City is coming out... we're not dressing up or anything... : )

Other than that, my week will consist of reading and working on my to do list which expanded exponentially during finals.

Happy running : )

Grrr.

2008-05-23T08:57:00.002-05:00

I knew it wasn't going to be easy. But I did kind of wish it wouldn't be difficult either. I was up at 5am this morning. I put my phone on the other side of the room on top of my running shoes. I figured it would get me going. But alas, I went and picked up my phone, took it back to bed and fell asleep. Although today was better than previous days because I was actually cognizant of what I was doing. I just lacked the motivation or the desire to get my butt out of bed and workout. In my defense, today is not a scheduled run day, but seeing as I haven't really done any strength exercises the past week, I was going to do some of those this morning.

I was thinking that all of these struggles has to deal with choices and motivation. What is motivating me to work out? Right now, I don't know if I have anything except my own personal desire to get healthy. Although in a perfect world this should be enough to get me going, in the real world, sadly it isn't. I would love to get to the point where my own desire is what gets me out of bed in the morning, but until then I need to find something else to get me going. One thing I have thought of doing is working towards a goal. Something I have been wanting for a while is an IPod. I currently use a Zen Micro and while I love my zen, it is a bitch trying to get my music from ITunes onto my ZenMicro without burning a CD, re-ripping the CD onto Windows Media Player and then putting it onto my Zen, which let me tell you is no fun time. In fact it sucks. It would just be easier to have an Ipod to put all of my music onto. Maybe to motivate myself to run more and workout more is to have a system set up so that I earn money for every mile I run and every strength session I do. It would be really great if I didn't have to use my own money and my parents or some long lost wealthy relative would foot the bill, but sucks for me. It will have to be something I work out to figure out the details. It would have to be something simple that doesn't cost me a lot of money at one time, but spreads it out over the summer.

It's almost Memorial day weekend and although for some it might mean three days of not working, for me it means waitressing two days and potentially having Monday off. We can only hope. I am just hoping that I get to enjoy the weekend a little bit. It's supposed to be beautiful here is Wisco, as far as I know.

Happy running : )

A Little Easier This Time

2008-05-21T10:17:00.003-05:00

Well, after the bump yesterday, today was a little smoother. Although I didn't wake up when I wanted to, I was able to get a two mile run in and it went a lot better than Monday's run. I think my muscles are starting to wake up and get moving again. They still have a while to go because they are weak and not used to running. But it was a beautiful morning. I am starting to warm up to morning running. It's a little chillier, but that will probably be nice once it starts getting hot and humid. It also feels clearer outside and the air seems fresher. Plus the lake that I run by is absolutely beautiful, there are ducks and jumping fish and just and awesome sense of calm. Now if only the morning commuters weren't zipping past me on the other side, I think I would be all set.

Last night I finally had a chance to look up some training plans and some strength exercises. I developed a two week plan on Runner's World's SmartCoach tool. I also looked on Runner's World for some strength exercises and found some good ones for legs but didn't really find any for the arms, so I'll have to look at some other sites or think of some on my own. I also found some good ab and core exercises that I'm excited to try out. I think tomorrow morning I'll do some of the strength exercises and try to find out which ones I like best. It'll be good when I have my exercise ball and my two dumbbells to workout with too.

I'm also starting to look for some other races to participate in this summer. I have my first one on May 31st, but after that I need something so I can continue to focus my attention on training. Depending on how I do on the 5K, I might look for a 10K to do. I would love to do the Bellin Run again this summer, but unfortunately I have a graduation party on the other side of the state that same day. So I am going to look for some other ones in the Madison area and hopefully I can find one that is in June that I can participate in. I wish I would have been on top of the ball with picking my races and training for them because this upcoming weekend is the Madison Marathon and this year they are offering a quarter of a marathon, which is a distance I could have done. If I would have had the time and discipline to train. But I guess with how school got me the end of this semester I probably wouldn't be very prepared for it. Hopefully next year... and maybe then I'll be able to do the half marathon. We'll see!

Happy running : )

Day Two... Bump in the Road

2008-05-20T09:13:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I should have known it was not going to be easy to recondition my body to get up early. And so this morning, my body showed me who was boss and slept in until 7:15am. Which also made me a little late for work. But tomorrow is another day and I have to take it as such. What's funny though is that I got more sleep last night than I did Sunday night, but I am more tired today. It's weird.

Last night I had some minor slips in my healthy eating. Damn those mini kit kats at work. But today I will be stronger and control my desire to eat them. Other than that I did pretty good with my eating. For dinner I had half a turkey sandwich, some soup and some kettle chips. Granted I did have two martinis (they were $3!), but I was out to dinner with a friend and we were chatting for a while. My eating habits start out really strong in the morning and afternoon, but once dinner and the night time hit, I start to struggle with urges to eat a lot of food. I need to work on making sure that my willpower continues throughout the day. I also need to be careful with what I am snacking on at work.

Tonight, because I didn't get a workout in this morning, I think I will go for a walk. It would be a good way to clear my head and get some exercise in. Plus I might work on some strength exercises to see which ones work best from home. I want to get a workout routine set up tonight.

Happy running : )

Welcome Back

2008-05-19T12:14:00.003-05:00

Ok, now that I am finally able to breath again I am starting up everything I have to put behind this past semester. And boy do I need to start doing things besides homework and work. I need to live a little this summer. I need to get back on track with everything that has fallen off. Near the end of the semester I was down to working out one day a week, eating like shit and basically living indoors at a library, my room or at work in a cube. It was a good time, let me tell you.

BUT, and I know I have said this before, and it's hard for me to say I mean it this time, because I know I've said that before too, but... It's time for a change. I need to take the baby steps needed to get things back in "running" order. I'm already off to a good start. I woke up this morning at the bright and early time of 5:25am and was out the door running by 5:50am. I am starting off slow and working to build my mileage back up. I ran a little more than 2 miles today and it felt good, but I know that I have a lot of work to do to bring that mileage up even more. I also did abs today, which felt good, but I still struggled. Tomorrow, I think I am going to do the same 2 mile route again, and follow with some strength training outside (I have some workouts that I am going to try). I have also been eating pretty healthy so far today. I had mini-wheats for breakfast, some yogurt for a morning snack, a glass of green tea (I'm learning to like the taste...), 24 oz. of water, and some baked cheetos. I have a lean cuisine for lunch and will have fresh green beans for a snack later. I am going out for dinner, but will try and eat healthy, I've been craving a salad for some time now, so maybe I'll get one of those.

Things that I want to accomplish this week are developing a strength training plan that doesn't involve weights. I don't mind buying resistance bands ands ropes, but the gym I go to doesn't open until 11am (6:30am after June 15th). Plus I think it will be better if I can do it outside or at home. I also need to figure out things to do besides running for cardio. I will be bringing my bike down to Madison next week and so I can do that. But I think I need to invest in some rollarblades. I would swim, but I need the gym for that (no way I will dip into Lake Monona or Mendota unless forced, too cold). I want to go for walks at night if I have time. I always love night workouts, but with the latest sketchiness of the neighborhood I live in, I don't want to be out alone too late at night.

I have also selected my first race for the spring/summer. I am going to be doing the 5K Komen Race for the Cure next Saturday (the 31st, which is the day after the Sex and the City premiere, fyi). The race is near my house and starts at 8:30am. I am looking forward to it because it is a big event in Madison, the money goes to a great cause and I can wear pink! Although I only have two weeks to train, I think it will be a good start to see where my times are and decide where I want to go from there with my races.

I think that I am being very modest about my goals right now. My number one goal is to get healthy. I was close to that point last summer, but I have taken a couple giant steps in the wrong direction. I have put on some weight and I don't feel as healthy as I want. I need some small victories to get me back to where I was and take even further to be where I want to be. My first small step will be to get my workouts back on track. I want to workout at least 5 days a week, if not more. This is very doable, especially with getting up early in the mornings to do them. Once I get the workouts back on track, I am going to work on building my strength. Even starting out I want to incorporate strength into my workouts, but I think that a focus on that will help me tone even more. After strength (or at the same time), I want to focus on my eating habits. Keeping a food journal has helped me in the past and I need to keep with it. Once I get these three things in line, hopefully I will be in a good place and can make new goals from there. Also, unlike in the past where I have merely kept these goals on my blog, I plan to print them out and put them on my desk so I can see them every day. I also want to set up a timeline so that I am checking in and making sure I am on track. My final thing to help me out, that helped me out immensely in the past was keeping a binder. In the binder I will have a calendar where I can put a sticker for each day I work out. Plus, I will keep articles/inspiration from magazines/online that I found helpful. I lied, one last thing. My last goal to help me keep on track is to blog more frequently. Hopefully after every workout, if not more. This always seems to help me, but I don't realize it until I do it.

Ok, I think that's it for now. Phew. Here's to a great summer...

Happy running : )

Defining My Goals

2008-04-12T11:09:00.003-05:00

I have goals. I have things that I want to achieve in my life. I am a very to-do list type person. I have goals for my life, for school and for my career. But one thing I've noticed my goals kind of "slack" are my health goals. I know that I want to lose some weight. I know that I want to run further and faster. I know that I want to PR in a race. But I don't really have any set goals for these aspirations. I don't know why I don't have anything set in stone for my health. But I do think that that might be a part of why I struggle to stay motivated and fit my working out and healthy living into my everyday life. Maybe I'm afraid of not being able to achieve the goals that I set up. Or maybe I don't know what a realistic goal for me is. Like I said, I know what I would ultimately like to achieve in a real general sense, but anything more specific than that I can't really say. So I think it is time for me to start defining my health goals. If I don't achieve them, I can readjust them and try again.

Weight
- Ultimate Goal: to lose 40-50 pounds by year end
- Working Goal: lose 1-2 pounds a week (about 38 weeks left in the year)
- How: I know that I need to start eating healthier. I think I can start this by keeping a food journal and really sticking with it and writing everything down. I also need to watch how much alcohol I consume. I am trying to stick to 3-4 drinks/night and trying to limit my going out nights to once a week. This might be more difficult in the summer time, but I am hoping that I can keep the going out nights to 2-3 nights. And then it will be all about self-control on how much I drink. I might keep it to one drink a night then. Regarding food, I need to start watching my portions. I have misguided ideas about what an accurate portion actually is. I read somewhere that to really learn to cutback is to serve yourself what you would normally eat and then take away a quarter of that. You do that for about a week and then take away half of what you would normally eat, that way you get used to eating less. I think that is a very easy thing to do and something I could do every day. I also think that I can start eating healthier foods. If I keep good snack foods around, I will be more apt to eat them. I am excited for our farmer's market to begin soon so I can buy fresh produce every week. I think that the food journal, alcohol limits, portion control and eating healthier snacks are very good places to start. Once I can look at my journal I can see where my weaknesses are.

Running
-Ultimate Goal: to run a marathon with an average mile time of 10:00 minutes
- Realistic Goal: ??????
- How: This is where I have troubles. I know that I want to run faster and further, but I am unsure of how to go about this. I know that increasing my long runs will help me to build my endurance, but I don't know how to increase my speed. When I use the Smart Coach tool on runnersworld.com, it tells me to do tempo runs and speedwork. I know that they are a great ways to increase my speed, but I can never run as fast as they say I should. So I don't know how to go about setting up a tempo run or a speedwork drill. I would love to run a 10 minute mile in anything I do, but don't know how to get there. I guess I know what I need to research more.

Other running/workout goals:
- I would love to compete in a triathlon, but need to work on my biking. I think my swimming could be sufficient, but I know that my biking skills need major work. Maybe one day a week can be geared towards my biking abilities and trying to boost endurance and speed. I might think about a spinning class once a week.
- I want to increase my actual days working out a week to 5 days. Right now I am at about 2-3 days a week. I need to actually schedule in my workout time into my daily schedule.
- I also want to start lifting weights again. I want a toned body and weight lifting is key. I think that 2-3 times a week is good.

I feel better that my goals are clearer, but I still feel like there is some murkiness in them which I need to figure out. But everything is related and if I start to eat healthier and lose weight, my running speed might pick up. And the endurance thing is something that can come with increased time working out and more workout sessions. Now I just have to want to put these plans into action. Which I do, so now I just have to do it.

Happy running : )

Partnering Up

2008-04-11T11:33:00.002-05:00

So I used to be the type of girl who would never want to work out with anyone, also, no one really wanted to go and work out at the same time I would, or at all. So I've always been used to going on my own time, staying as long as I want and doing the things I want to do. I enjoyed it. It was nice to be on my own. But lately, my roommates have been wanting to go workout. So I've been going with them. Sometimes it is nice because they get me to go and I have someone else that wants to do it, so I'm even more motivated to go and workout too. I also like having someone to talk to while I work out. It's kind of nice to have a buddy.

But there are some downfalls too. Because I've found that if they don't want to go, I use that as an excuse to not go myself. Also, the talking with someone keeps me from pushing myself harder. Also, I don't necessarily get to do the things I want to do for as long as I would normally do.

Overall, I think going with a partner is good. The most important part is that it is getting me to the gym and getting me to workout when I could easily just talk myself out of it. The other "downfalls" I can deal with once I get to the gym. I guess the most important part is that I am getting there. Now, if I could just talk them into wanting to go more often. Hopefully soon... or the weather needs to get better so I can take my workouts outside again. I don't know what it is, but when the weather is nice and I can run outside, I am more likely to go and workout.

But I think that is one place where I don't really want a workout buddy. I am not a social runner. I don't know why, I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't think I'm a fast runner, and I'm embarressed. It could also be that I think I can go further than my friends, but maybe they can go as far as me without even trying. Also, I don't like to talk while I run, I like to enjoy being by myself and focusing on myself. I feel like my running time is my time to myself to reflect on things and having someone else around would just hastle that. But part of me would like it if I had a running buddy so that we could keep each other accountable for our running and working out. I just don't know if any of my roommates would be that with me.

Happy running : )

PS. Today I am going to see a taping of Jeopardy!! The college championship is being taped in the Kohl Center right here in Madison, "Madtown" Wisconsin. I am sooooo pumped, I just love Jeopardy!

Dragging Myself Along

2008-04-09T16:11:00.002-05:00

I need a change. I need something new and exciting to happen in my life. But alas, that probably will not happen anytime soon, so I guess I just have to keep on trucking. School has been ok lately, work had been work and my social life has taken a turn towards the respite side, which was much needed. I have been trying to increase the days I work out in a week, and it has been getting better, slowly. This past weekend, I went out for a run on Friday and then again on Sunday. Both were four miles and the one on Friday was pretty good. I made sure to stretch after and wasn't very sore the next day at all. But I tried a new route on Sunday which was extremely hilly and it hit me pretty hard and so I had to walk for some parts. But I did the full four miles, now I just need to build up my endurance to run the whole thing.

I keep pushing back my first spring race date. I was supposed to do one this Saturday, but I just don't feel ready for it. I might have to wait until school is done to have my first race. Which would kind of suck, but I just don't think I have the time to really train for it. I just started a waitressing job in Madison, but hopefully I can get it where I only work one shift a week until school is over and then I'll work more. I just don't have time to work much more than that. Plus I have my internship and my extra curriculars. AHH I think this is why I need something new. I am stuck in a mundane rut where I wake up, go to school or go to work, come home, eat dinner and do homework or talk with my roommates (which isn't good because then I don't do homework, but I need that little break to keep myself sane after a long day). This past weekend was really nice because I didn't go out at all. I didn't even have a single drink. I was so proud of myself. Even better was that I got so much homework done, it was amazing. I got enough done that I only have to study for my test tomorrow and not have to worry about anything else. It's awesome. This weekend will probably be similar, but I think the roommates are doing a wine and sundae night on Thursday while we watch Jane Austen Book Club, so I may partake in some wine.

As much as I bemoan, I am actually happy with how busy my life is right now. It keeps me focused and keeps me working on things that need to get done because I know there isn't any other time for me to do it, so I might as well get it done when I can. The only thing I wish I had more time for would be myself. I don't get a lot of me time where I can destress or go workout or go for a walk. It's frustrating, but I guess for now, it's going to have to wait until I know that I can spare the time. BUT I have to remember that when I do have the time, I can't piss it away and not do something like work out or read. My computer tends to be my fallback and I'll surf facebook and what not instead of doing what I should be doing. But I am getting better at it, I can tell. I really feel like I am starting to get my priorities in line, I know I can do better, but I am at least doing something! Now if only I could blog a little more frequently, because this tends to keep me on top of a lot of things and I feel a certain sense of clarity when I can just release to a computer journal. It's like I can type in all my madness and see it laid out on a computer screen. I think once summer gets going, I can start blogging more often, but maybe I can get it in while school is still in session.

Goals for the weekend are to eat healthy, workout as much as possible, get homework for the week done, get to-do list to be more manageable and relax.

Happy running : )

New Attitude

2008-03-18T14:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the start of something new for me. I have been struggling with getting my running and working out in gear for quite some time now. But I think I have hit a new low for myself and have realized the only way to get out is to go up. I have a new outlook on things in my life and I have realized that everything is in my control and it is up to me to make the right decisions and no one else is responsible for what I do. I need to step up to the plate and take the swing without someone coaching me from behind. Although it is nice to have that coach, I no longer feel it is necessary. Now, my main goal is to figure out what I want.

I know that I want to feel good about my body. I am starting to feel decent about it, but lately all I can think about is how much better it could look if I started to run and work out more regularly. So, I am taking steps to achieve this goal. Yesterday I developed a new running plan for me to follow with a goal race to happen in the middle of April. I also laced up my running shoes and went out for a nice little two mile run. I have a cold so it made the running a little more difficult and luckily I bring kleenex along or my sleeve would have been gross. Or I wouldn't have been able to breathe. But the run felt good. I had a hard time focusing my mind on solving problems and clearing my head, but I think a good long run in the sun will help me. So hopefully tomorrow will bring that. I really need to have a nice long run where I can sort through some issues that have been bothering me lately. I also think that my long runs help me stay focused on other things in my life and help me stay motivated in achieiving my goals. Now if only I could consistently think this way. But I know it will take a little bit to get back on track. I am seriously committed this time. No more bullshit. I wish that came with a guarantee but it doesn't. I need to cleanse my life of all the different toxins that have been bothering me for a while. Once I get those things cleared out, I will be able to see things in a new light.

Happy running : )

Favre Forever

2008-03-04T17:09:00.003-06:00

Well it happened, today is a day to mark in history. Not because of the "Critical Tuesday" for the Democrats, but because today is the day Brett Favre has retired from football. I have never known a Packers season without Brett (I was only 4 or so when he started to play). And it will be really hard for me to watch a game without number 4 running onto the field. I am just flabbergasted that he chose this year to retire. But I respect his decision and can only hope he has a great retirement (and maybe comes back to coach or help the Pack). But I will always remain a loyal Packers fan.

"I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired," Brett Favre.

We'll miss you Brett.

Happy running : )

Sore

2008-03-04T00:04:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess when you don't run for about two weeks, you are bound to feel sore the first time back. Plus I'm sure it didn't help that I ran faster than usual and did the last lap on a pretty steep incline at a sprint. But oh well, I wanted to feel my run. Which felt amazing. I was so happy to be running. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately and so I haven't really been running, but mostly doing some cardio, if I can get the time to work out at all. So it felt really good to finally feel ok to run and get in a good workout. Granted I only ran two and a quarter miles, I am trying to start it slow so I can get back into the swing of things for the spring and summer. I really cannot wait until it is spring and I can start running outside again. It will make my life a lot better. Although with the amount of snow we got this season, I don't know how friendly the sidewalks are going to be with getting rid of the water, but we'll see, maybe it will be a splashy run.

Other than that, my life has been pretty much standard the past couple weeks, nothing really new has happened, it's just been crazy. Spring break is coming up soon and I am pretty excited. Although I will probably spend it getting caught up on homework and working on my big paper that is due at the end of the semester. But it will still be nice to go to work and go home for a little while. I need money really bad right now that I am pretty much willing to work anytime. My internship is going good, I am starting to get things checked off my to do list which is a good thing. Hopefully I'll be starting my new job soon, as soon as we hire a new intern, which will hopefully be by the end of this week. I am starting to think that I will be in Madison this summer, which I guess wouldn't be too bad, it will be nice to just be here for a summer and experience it.

I am still struggling with fitting everything into my schedule. I am working really hard to figure things out still but I don't know if I ever will completely figure it out. I wish I could fit everything into my day, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Like tomorrow, I have class, meetings and a career fair from 11am until 9pm. Hopefully I will get out of some things early and be able to go work out. I am going to try, but I also have a final project do on Thursday that I still need to put some finishing touches on before I do the final writeup.

Happy running : )

Shakin' it Up

2008-02-25T21:34:00.002-06:00

After a week of being sick (nasty flu/cold/sore throat sick too) I am getting back into the swing of things, finally. I went and worked out today for the first time in about a week. I wanted to go last week, but I was tired and just thought it would be better to get rest and sleep. But now I need to go full blow at it. And I figure the best way to get it going was to try something new. Usually I do the elliptical, the treadmill or the bike. But today I tried a different kind of elliptical, one that made my legs go up higher. My calves got a great workout and it was good to be doing something different.

I had planned on running a 5K the day before St Patty's day, but I may not be able to do it now. I think I will be visiting a friend in Iowa for the weekend and thus would not be back in enough time for the race on Sunday. I am kind of disappointed, but I think it will be good to go and visit her. One of my other friends is going to drive down from LaCrosse and we are going to drive together from Madison. I think it will be a fun way to start my spring break!!

Other than my sickness, my lack of working out, my life has been pretty busy. I have been trying to do homework, but I have struggled. I have been going to work and getting things done though. It sometimes seems like I can only excel at one part of my life at a time. It's either homework, work or working out but never all three at the same time. It would be my goal this semester to be able to do at least two at a time, maybe even three. But it will take some dedication. Which is all on me I guess.

Happy running : )

Flatlined

2008-02-13T17:23:00.002-06:00

Well, took a look at my tracking information for my three blogs and yikes. Not that I care who reads them and how many people are reading, but I do enjoy seeing that some people read my blog. But not recently apparently. That may be due to the fact that I haven't written anything for quite some time. And you know what, I consider that a problem. Because right when I stopped writing, I stopped working out. Funny how that works.

A constant theme on my blog seems to be the ideas of lack of motivation, laziness, and a general state of stress and confusion. And it isn't just my blog, it's my life. I am lazy, unmotivated, stressed because I don't do anything when I have plenty to do and confused over why I am like this. I would like to say that things have changed, I am getting more organized and on top of things in my life, but sadly, it continues to be a constant party of laziness. I can honestly say I have no idea why I am like this. This is probably the worse it has been in quite some time. But all I want to do is lounge around, surf the web for nothing important, talk with my friends and sleep. I have been sleeping a lot lately. I can't seem to get up earlier that 9am unless it is really important (like going to New York). I don't know what is my problem. But I badly want to fix it. I want to be the girl getting her homework done early, working out every day, going to work early and getting things done right away. I want to get 8 hours of sleep and feel refreshed. I want to eat healthier. I need a full life makeover. Do you think they do a show for people like me?

I know it is all about motivating myself and if I truly want to change I will. Yes, I like my life, I enjoy it very much. I have a great family, awesome friends and I have fun. But sometimes I let that fun overtake my life and don't get the stuff I need to get done done first. I know I can change, but it has become a matter of do I want to put the work into it. I think I do, but lately actions have spoken louder than words. I have time in my days to get things done, I know I do because if I added up all my time spent doing stupid things, I would realize how much free time I actually have.

But, because of the recent amounts of frustration I have been experiencing lately in everything I do, I have made a first step towards changing something in my life. When I workout, my life is in better order. I am more disciplined with everything, for the most part. So, I originally had planned to run my first race of 2008 in April, but to get myself a little more motivated to train, I have found a race for March 16th, a little over a month away. It is only a 5K, but it is just enough to get me to the gym, especially once I send the check in. But I think it will help me. I also need to make an active effort to get my work done. If that requires me to stay in on the weekends to get things done, so be it. I guess I will become a hermit. I might detach myself from some friends, but I need to refocus myself on the things that are important in my life right now, and that is getting healthy, getting work done, getting good grades and feeling happier.

I think I can do this. Small steps to big results!!

Happy running : )

Beautiful Day with a Side of Homicide

2008-01-29T23:32:00.000-06:00

Ahh... yesterday was a beautiful day. It was 45 degrees outside, a little windy, but just right to take my short 2 miler outside. I began my warmup and was more than happy to begin running just to warm my arms up. The wind was a tad chilly, but nothing was going to stop me from getting my run in, not a cold wind or even a murder.

Yes that is right. As I was running along my normal route, I came up to an area that was surrounded by police cars and had crime scene tape to block people off. I was a little confused so I continued my run but ran along the street instead of the blocked off sidewalk. At the time I didn't know what had happened so I was a little pissed that they were taking up my sidewalk on my first run outside in forever. But I kept on going and looked around and didn't really see anything that important so I continued on my way. I went to the road where I was supposed to turn which goes on a parallel street to the road where it was blocked off. I saw a couple cop cars ahead which were there to stop traffic from going through and apparently runners too. I got up to the cop car and he tells me I can't go through. I was sooooo pissed at him. But I merely shook my head and turned around wondering what on Earth I was going to do by running on the furthest side of the road from the scene and for a mere block where two cop cars could easily see me. But whatever. So I turned around and went back the way I came. I ended up adding about a half mile to my run so that was good I guess. But anyway, I still didn't have a clue what had happened until I read in the school paper the next day that someone had been murdered along my running path. Really makes me feel safe. I could only think that if I had gotten up earlier, ran my other errands a little earlier and gotten out running a little earlier, I might have been a witness or even worse. Good thing I like to sleep in!! I know murder really isn't something to joke about, but it's the fact that I was 1. so close to it, 2. could've been involved in it and 3. angry about it taking away from my run.

So it was an interesting run to say the least. Last week I finally got my 5 miler in and it felt awesome! I felt really great afterwards. I think it helped that I really wanted to run and wanted to do the miles. It's all about attitude isn't it? Today I did 75 minutes on the elliptical and instead of doing all interval work, I did 25 minutes of intervals, followed by 25 minutes of hills and then finished with 25 minutes of intervals. The hill workout felt really great and was a good change of pace with my usual intervals. I will have to add that in more often. It was a good workout too because I got to watch the Biggest Loser while working out. It really helps me stay motivated.

Well anyway, must get to my homework if I want to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

Happy running : )

Back to School, Back to School...

2008-01-23T16:06:00.001-06:00

Ahh, such a funny quote from a really funny movie, Billy Madison. But alas, it is true. I am back to school. My first day was yesterday and I am actually kind of excited for this semester. I am taking a bunch of classes that I think are going to be a lot of fun, my house is already less drama-y, and spring is coming (yes I am aware it is January, but let me be optimistic).

I have been a little slackerish on my working out though. And my healthy habits were out the window this past weekend. Let's just say my daily routine consisted of getting up at 11am or later (once it was 2pm), vegging around the house, taking a shower around 8/9 and then going out and not getting to bed until about 4:30am. Yeah.... not a healthy thing and my liver and body let me know that Monday afternoon when I made a mad dash to the bathroom. But it's all good now and I had probably some of my best times ever this past weekend (and got to witness some pretty hilarious things too, also I would like to add that I broke up a fight of some guys rolling on the floor hitting each other, I just reached in and pulled one of them out of it and made him go outside, I was so proud of myself), so to me it was all worth it. I just wish I would have worked out as well.

I was set to do a 5 mile run tonight, but because of a meeting about my trip to NEW YORK in less than two weeks, I will be rescheduling and doing it tomorrow. Now that Grey's isn't on (tear) I have Thursday nights free to workout longer before homework/going out (because I don't have class on Fridays, woohoo!!). But I still have to work on Fridays, but anyway.

This weekend will also be pulling me away, I am going on a lovely retreat with a group I am involved in. It is going to be a grand ole time (note sarcasm). But at least my roommate is going to be there, so it will be more fun then. But I will be working out Friday morning, and then Sunday afternoon and having to move my long run on Saturday to Sunday. Not a big deal, I just hope I don't talk myself out of it on Sunday.

Other than that, nothing really important is going on. Things are going good for now, before all the craziness of homework really starts to kick in. Here's wishing me good luck.

Happy running : )

Struggling

2008-01-16T22:38:00.000-06:00

That describes my run today. It was supposed to be a 5-miler, but it ended up turning into a three miler because my calves were killing me and my body was just not into it. I think my attitude killed the entire thing. I wasn't too excited to even go running, but I did anyway and suffered through it. I'm glad I did something today and didn't just cop out of the whole thing, so point for me, I guess. I just wish it had been a better run. But tomorrow is another day and another workout I guess. We'll see what that brings I suppose. Saturday is another running day, according to my workout schedule compliments of Runner's World Smart Coach online. In fact it's my long run day, so it'll be even longer than today which will be even more interesting. But as long as I have a good attitude, it'll be a good run. Which I hope it is.

I can't believe my winter break is almost over. I don't want to start school again but I don't want to continue working and sitting at home watching Sex and the City and Dexter. I need the excitement and stress of a school semester back again. Although once I get into the swing of things (or try to), I'll be wishing for break again. Ah the turmoil of being in college. I wonder what I'll be like when I graduate and if I'll be able to cope with a regular work week. I think I might struggle, but then again, maybe I will be ok. I've been struggling with my summer decisions (yes I know, summer and it's only January). I really like my current internship but they can't provide me enough hours in the summer. So no matter what I would need to find another job. But I'm wondering if I could find another job that could provide me with full time hours doing something else. But I want the internship I have for next semester. Ah what a dilemma!! Something I will spend an entire semester trying to figure out.

Something more along the workout line, this semester will be an even bigger test for my dedication. I have a very busy schedule this semester, even busier than last semester. But I think I have a much better handle on myself this time. I think I am a little more driven. I am more focused and completely over the bullshit that consumed my life this past semester. I am done with the drama that is the house I live. I know what is important and more importantly who is important in my life. I know who I want to keep close and those I am not afraid of letting go because I know they are just clutter in my life. I am doing a little spring cleaning on my life, I've decided. Now I just need to figure out which things are clutter and which ones are worth keeping around. I think the best and worst part is that I get to figure it out myself.

Happy running : )

My Fingers are Frozen

2008-01-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

My room in my house is freezing. My fingers are struggling to type. I am trying to keep them warm by typing. But it's just too freakin' cold up here. I think something is wrong with the heat. I have it on high and it is right by my desk. But it is barely warm when I put my toes on it. And it does not heat the whole room at all. Not even close. I feel bad for my roommate who has to live without it near her feet. I think I am going to get a spaceheater. Seriously. I know how bad they are for an electricity bill, but this is ridiculous. I can't feel my fingers. They burn when I take a warm shower or wash them under hot water as they unthaw. That's not normal. And I usually don't complain about being cold, I try not too, I can deal with it, but this is beyond ridiculous. I'm surprised I can't see my breath.

Anyway. Today was the beginning of a new week. The last week of break, but still the beginning of a new week. After last week, I am looking forward to a new week. I didn't start out too hot as I slept in, but oh well. I can't work a lot right now because I just realized that I am going to be going way over my 750 hour limit and I can't do that. But oh well, I guess I'll figure it out when I need to. But after work I went and WORKED OUT. Woohoo. I didn't just go home and sit on my ass. I went to the gym, ran a good two miles and then rode the bike for about a half hour. I was going to do 45 minutes, but I decided to cut it short because my legs were a little sore. But I was proud of myself for going there. One day at a time.

Tomorrow I plan to go to work a little earlier and leave a little earlier too. That way I can get my workout in and be back in time for my shows. Tuesdays are Biggest Loser and Law and Order SVU nights. But this might be the last week for SVU because of school next week. But I think I'll continue to watch Biggest Loser, it keeps me motivated. Somewhat.

Alright, well, I'm headed to bed, going to read a little Atonement before bed. I'm just dreading the really sad stuff that I can already forsee happening. I hate that I saw some previews before reading the book. I already kind of know what is going to happen and I feel tears coming along. So maybe I'll read my Runner's Diet book instead. I want to finish that as soon as possible so I can start implementing the eating plans.

Happy running : )

No Excuses

2008-01-11T23:34:00.000-06:00

This post was going to be all about my excuses for not writing and as of recently, for not working out. It has been over a week since I last dragged my butt to the gym. I went on January 2nd and had a really great workout. I ran 5 miles and felt really good the entire time. After that day, I just continually decided against it. I even put my clothes out the night before so I would be ready when I had the car to go and work out. But not even that helped. My justification or reasoning was that I had to work at 4 and going at 1:30 was just too late. HA! It was my lazy self saying, ehh, Kelsey you could work out, or you could sit here and watch more TV. This continued until Monday. I went back to Madison this week to work. But lucky little me got sick Monday. Like head weighs a 100 pounds and you can't move sick. So I guess that was a good reason. But not for the whole week. Granted I am still a little sick, mostly a sore throat, a cough and a sometimes stuffy nose, but I can still go and do something. And why do all these "excuses" prevent me from posting? Answer: they don't. I just was lazy and didn't want to post saying that. Maybe I felt a little bit upset with myself for not working out or maybe I knew that if I posted, I would feel even guiltier for not working out. hmm.

Well anyway, a lot has happened in the past month (holy bajesus, it's been a whole month!!!, I think that deserves a double yikes!) Anyway. Finals sucked, but I made it through them ok. I ended up doing a lot better in two of my classes than I thought but ended up doing a lot worse in one of my classes than I thought. Not my best semester, but it was a very difficult one and I am glad to be done with it. I don't want this next semester to be like it AT ALL. More on that later. Christmas was good. I got a lot of books (yay!) and DVDs. It was good to see the family and just relax. It was the first Christmas break in a long time that I didn't work during the day (I still waitressed on the weekends). I was also really good about working out that week. New Years was fun too, but it went way too fast. I had a good night, no New Year's kiss, but I got one a couple nights before, so I guess it was ok ; ). Then came the week of laziness followed by another week of laziness. What's worse is that I can totally tell that I haven't worked out. I truly believe that is why I am sick. I can also tell when I wear my clothes. I don't feel as confident in them. I think the weeks "off" have given me a new perspective as to why I work out. It isn't to lose weight, it's to feel good about myself. If only I could convince my lazy self about this.

Despite being a lazy workout week, it was still a pretty busy one. I had work, where I got a promotion and a raise!! I was so excited! But I was instantly confused too. I am still unsure about what I want to do about this summer. Now I have even more motivation to stay in Madison because I am excited about this new opportunity and it would give me a chance to do something different which is really the reason I started looking elsewhere. But I also really want to go somewhere and really do something different. Also, this job cannot give me full time hours in the summer and part time hours the rest of the year due to a restriction set on the number of hours I can work in a year. So I would need to find another job no matter what. So I don't know, I have a lot to think about. Another good thing that happened this week was that I was given the opportunity to go to New York for free. I would be going to get training for a grant for a project I going to start working on with a group I am in. I am SOOOOOOO excited. I have wanted to go to New York since I first watched Sex and the City (well maybe a little before, but this definitely confirmed it). I am going in early February and am so excited! I just hope everything goes good.

So after a quick catchup in my life thus far in the New Year, I think it's time for the obligatory "what am I going to do this year" post. I am not a fan of the term resolution because I think it has a negative connotation because of the belief that most resolutions only last so long. I like to think of my goals as just that, goals or things I aspire to do. Here's just a little list of things I want to do:
1. Be confident in everything I do. Whether it is in school, at work, talking with people, wearing an outfit, etc. I want the people listening to me or observing me to think of me as a confident person.
2. Be passionate in the stuff that I do. Again, school, work, running, communicating, groups, etc. I want to be completely involved in what I do because if it's something I'm passionate about, then why waste my time.
3. Exude more self-control, aka turning off lazy Kelsey and awakening energetic/get stuff done Kelsey. I haven't seen her consistently around since high school and it's time to bring her back. I want to be able to control my actions and get what needs to get done done and then have the time leftover to relax. Basically, when I say go workout, my body won't be like, ehh, are you sure, it will jump to it and get my ass to the gym.
4. Live my life. Laugh throughout my life. Love my life.
5. Work hard, play hard. (see 1, 2, 3, 4 above for more information)

I'm not the type of person who makes it a goal to lose weight or pay off debt for a resolution because I figure if I can nail the top things above, I will be able to control those other things. Even if you lose weight, if you don't know why you did in the first place, you are just going to end up gaining the weight back again because you didn't learn anything. I figure solve the big problem first and all the other related ones will fix themselves.

So far 2008 has been a good year. I just hope that with this new mottos, I can make it one of the best years ever!

So a belated Happy New Year's to all of you. Here's to a great 2008.

Yikes

2007-12-16T00:50:00.000-06:00

It's been a while. It feels like forever, yet it was just Monday when I last wrote. I have been keeping up with my working out, I went four days in a row this week and Friday and Saturday were my days off from working out. Today (Saturday) was my day off in general. I slacked on every single one of my goals. I ate shitty, I didn't work out, I didn't study much, it was just a bad day overall, goalwise. Other than those things, it was a pretty good day. I don't feel too great, probably from all the crap I ate, but it's the price I must pay. Tomorrow will be better. I will work out, I will get a lot of studying in and I will feel energized to take on my three remaining finals. One, maybe two on Monday, one on Wednesday and if I don't take two on Monday, one on Thursday. But I'm hoping I can do two on Monday, it would make my life a lot easier.

This week will be a real test on how well I keep to my goals. It's finals week and it generally lacks structure. Hopefully I can keep on top of things. Then I go home on Wednesday and I am going to try my hardest not to fall on my face. It's almost Christmas time and the time when things are a lot easier just to relax. But I know how I feel when I work out and eat right and I know how I feel when I don't. So I just need to remember these things. Good luck to me.

Happy running : )

My Love Hate Relationship with the Treadmill

2007-12-10T22:08:00.000-06:00

I have always hated running on the treadmill. There is nothing more mundane and stupid to me than running in place while millions of other people are nearby doing the same thing. But today, I started to feel a little differently towards the treadmill. I actually was ok running on it. I think I have gotten to the point where I have accepted the fact that I will be stuck on the beast for a while and just need to get used to the slower speeds and the fewer miles. But today I was ok. I went to the gym at what I think is like the busiest time to go workout. Who would have thought 4pm would be the "it" time to be at the gym when you're in college. But anyway, I walk into the cardio room and it was packed! There were people waiting for machines in the back. I never do though. I always walk around so that way when I see an open treadmill I can grab it quickly. So that's what I did. Except the treadmill was broken. I was pissed. Luckily some girl had just gotten done on her treadmill and was leaving so I bolted over there to grab it. I started out and was going pretty good until some other girl came up to me and asked me how much time I had left. I should mention two things. One, there is only a 30 minute time limit on the machines and two, I never follow this unless forced. So I told her five minutes and stewed over the fact that I still had at least 30 minutes left. But whatever. I quickened my pace to finish out the last half mile. Then, to my surprise, instead of leaving the gym as I would usually do, I walked up to an open bike and sat down and rode it for 20 minutes (granted I think the fact that I wanted to finish watching Jeopardy and Made helped this, but still). It felt good to ride a bike too. I haven't done that for a lone time so it was a good change of pace from the elliptical and the treadmill. I need to start mixing the bike in there some days. I need to work on building my mileage up on that if I ever plan to do a triathlon.

Today was a pretty good day, I was again really tired from not getting enough sleep the night before and chances are that will happen the rest of the week. I know, I know. I need my sleep. But this week has a lot of early mornings. Maybe tomorrow though I may get to stay home in the morning. We are apparently going to get a huge ice storm tonight and tomorrow, but we'll see. I never get my hopes up about things being cancelled because it never happens then. But it's not like I have any morning classes, just something I have to be up real early for. So we'll see.

Happy running : )

Successful Week

2007-12-09T22:38:00.000-06:00

Well week one of my Decemberathon is complete. And I must say that minus one or two glitches, it was pretty successful.

My goals for December are as follows:

- Work out a minimum of 5 days a week. Check.
- Limit myself to one to two sweets a day. For the most part, check. But this weekend was a little tough.
- Drink 3-4 water bottles a day. Check.
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. No Check. I struggled with this majorly. But hopefully this week will be better.
- Post on this a minimum of 3 times a week. Check. This is my third post.
- Get my homework and studying done without procrastinating. Check.
- Enjoy my favorite time of the year : ) Check.

So I guess I've been doing good so far. I need to keep my sweet intake in check and I need to get to bed at a more reasonable hour.

This weekend was a very busy one. I got a lot done. Friday night was our holiday sweater party. I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before because I made the decision to stay up late and finish reading my book (which was really good). It was a good and bad decision. I wanted to finish the book, but I really needed my sleep. But oh well. But anyway, on Friday night I was really tired and so I think that played a factor into my night. I had every intention of not drinking that much but I did. I didn't get crazy drunk, but drunk enough. But it was a really great evening, so much fun! Then Saturday my sister came and visited and we went shopping for Christmas gifts. We then watched Superbad and went to sleep, early! Yes, that's right. Early. And then today I went shopping again with Kerri. Once she left I was really tired, but still needed to get a lot of homework to get done. I started reading and was ready to fall asleep. So I put on my workout gear, grabbed my homework and headed to the gym. I got all my homework done while cranking it out on the elliptical. I actually did 70 minutes on the machine, yikes. But it's ok, I needed after the not so great food and drinks I had this weekend.

This week is going to be interesting. It shouldn't be too busy, but I do need to start prepping for finals. I have most of my work done for this week so I can start reviewing material (although I know I won't, but I can still say that I will try). I am also really excited because on Friday my mom is coming down and we are going to go and see the Nutcracker ballet. I am super excited. Then all that stands in my way from Christmas break and no school or homework is two in class finals and two online finals. Then I will be able to read, watch movies and just relax in general. Something I have missed the past 15 weeks. Plus I will be home, I'm planning to go to Chicago and celebrate New Year's with my friends. I'm excited!

Happy running : )

Tired...

2007-12-05T23:16:00.000-06:00

Stay up late, get up early and you will be tired. I know this, yet, I still let it happen. But last night it was for good reason. I have had the movie Fight Club from Netflix for seriously a month and a half. I haven't really had time or anyone to watch it with. But finally, I wanted to watch it and get my queue on Netflix moving. So I watched it with a friend last night. We started it around 10:30. So I didn't get to bed until 2am. Then I had to catch a bus to get to work and had to wake up at 7:00am. That equals not a lot of sleep for Kelsey. But I dealt with it the best I could. I did what I could at work, and class was a huge drag. My last class was 2 and a half hours and I seriously couldn't wait to get out of there. I doodled on my notebook paper for an hour and I was still bored. I drew all different Christmas things and wrote Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Feliz Navidad in different fonts. I also practiced my cursive writing by writing out different Christmas carols. Needless to say I was bored out of my mind. But finally 7:30pm rolled around and I was set free. I went to the gym and ran a really good three miles. I didn't need to stop and was able to run pretty fast too. It was a good workout. I was pretty happy.

I am doing pretty good on my Decemberathon goals. I have worked out 3 days this week so far. I probably won't be able to workout tomorrow unless it is really late. But I will make up for it on either Saturday or Sunday. I have been drinking my three bottles of water a day. I have been limiting myself to 2 treats a day, although I have been having hot cocoa too much. But when I drink it at work, I use one regular hot cocoa packet and one sugar free one. It keeps the calories and sugar content down. This is my second post of the week and I have been trying (minus last night) to get my 7-8 hours of sleep. So far, it's been good. We'll see how this weekend goes. We are having a Ugly Sweater Holiday Party Friday night which will be interesting. Then my sister is coming down Saturday to go Christmas shopping. That will be fun. It'll be good to see her too. We always have a lot of fun together, especially shopping. So then my Saturday will be pretty chill, which is kind of what I want. I just don't feel like I'm in a very "party" mood. But I'm sure I'll get there by Friday. I need to remember that another one of my goals is to enjoy the season.

Happy running : )

Quick Update

2007-12-03T23:36:00.000-06:00

Quick little update on my mini Decemberathon:

Today started strong as I woke up, caught the 8:36 bus and went to work. Got back from school and went and worked out. I ran 4 miles on the treadmill with the last half a mile at a 9:30min/mile pace. Felt pretty good after minus a little pain in my left knee.

Went to the Badger basketball game with the free tickets the VP of my department gave me. Game was pretty good, Badgers won.

Now I am getting ready for bed so I can read my book, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. I am a huge Jane Austen fan having read Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and now Mansfield Park. I must say that although Pride and Prejudice and Emma come in a close 1st and 2nd, respectively, I LOVE the character of Fanny. I can relate to her the most out of all the characters and I cannot put this book down. It sucks that finals are so close, I need to finish the book before then. Good thing most of my homework is done and that I have about 40 minutes on a bus each day to read. Soon though, I fear that I will be staying up late just to finish it. (I'm kind of a book nerd.)

I have drank 3 bottles of water today, plus had two "sweets", a piece of my coffee cake and a frosted sugar cookie. So overall, it's been a pretty good day. Here's to many more.

Happy running : )

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

2007-12-02T00:06:00.000-06:00

When it snows, it snows. Today was a very "stay indoors, drink hot cocoa, get Christmasy and watch movies all day" kind of day. Which is pretty much what I did. I slept in, woke up, baked some coffee cake and french toast, frosted cookies, watched some movies, did my roommate's hair and just lounged. It was nice, but it's pretty much what I have been doing the past week. In general, my week can be summed up in one word: LAZY. It all started after Thanksgiving.

Last week for Thanksgiving, I ran in a 5K TurkeyTrot up in Green Bay. The day didn't start out good. I woke up late, got changed in a hurry and left the house in a rush. I was a little late getting there and didn't really get to get a full warm up in. It was really cold, but I was able to use my brand new running spandex (they're more expensive than I would have thought). When I was headed towards the starting line, I noticed something didn't feel right. That's when I realized I forgot to put a sports bra on!!!! I was wearing my regular bra, which is NOT made for running. At all. Luckily I had a sweatshirt on, so it was ok. Turns out it might have been good luck since I ran my fastest time EVER. I was going at a pretty good pace, I thought. I had to stop once to tie my shoes but I was passing people, keeping up with others and it just felt good. I still didn't think I was going to do that well, considering how poorly I had been training and how little I had been working out. But when I was sprinting through the finish line and I saw the clock read 30:10, I nearly peed my pants right there. That was the clock time too! I got my final result and it was a final time of 30:02. That is nearly one minute 15 seconds better than my time for a 5K. That's a 9:45 minute mile. I have NEVER ran a mile that fast (well except when I was like 7). I was floored. I just couldn't believe it. It felt so good. I might never train again (hahahahahaha, just kidding). I told everyone, but I don't think a lot of people truly understand how big of an accomplishment this was.

But after this big accomplishment, my life took a lazy spin. I put of working out, doing school work and basically doing anything for like a week. Finally, when I overslept for work, I realized how truly lazy I was being. I think I was in a slump and just needed to force myself to get going. So I went and worked out that day. I started slow and did about 40 minutes on the elliptical, not as long as I would have liked, but I had to get off. Unfortunately, the gym I go to has to serve the entire UW Madison population and has a 30 minute time limit (which I generally do not follow unless asked to get off). And then on Friday I put on my spandex and running gear and headed out for an afternoon run. I went about 5 miles and felt good. I made good time and picked up my speed throughout the run. Then we set up Christmas around the house and watched Hairspray. And afterwards, we made up our own musical set to Trans Siberian Orchestra Music that told the story of the birth of Jesus. It was quite hilarious and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. The best part, we were completely sober. Sometimes the best nights happen when you are the least intoxicated.

Now that it is December I have been thinking of something that I can do to make myself stay focused and committed to everything I need and want to do. I need something to help me get things done. I have decided on a semi-Decemberathon. It's a semi-Decemberathon because it may not be an everyday thing, but it is an attitude that I want to use to help me stay focused. These are my December goals:
- Work out a minimum of 5 days a week.
- Limit myself to one to two sweets a day (depending on what they are and how many calories)
- Drink 3-4 water bottles a day
- Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night
- Post on this a minimum of 3 times a week
- Get my homework and studying done without procrastinating
- Enjoy my favorite time of the year : )

I think these are all doable, it's just having them here in the open makes them easier to follow. It's like a written contract with myself. Now I just need to do these things. Seriously.

Happy running : )

Bees are Supposed to Be Gone by October

2007-11-19T22:47:00.000-06:00

But alas, I am flying around all over the place like a bee. School and work are normal staples in my life and that generally takes up plenty of my time. With whatever I have leftover, I usually go and work out. Then after that, I work on other things, such as sleeping. But only if there's time. So I ask you, how am I supposed to add things like looking for an apartment for next year and applying for internships and summer jobs? (Yes summer just ended what three months ago and I am already looking for a summer job.) I really don't know, but I am trying to make it work.

I was doing really good last week with the working out. I went three days in a row (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and haven't been back since. My run on Monday was really good. I went about 7 miles and was able to run outside. It felt really good, minus the fact that it was dark by 5:00pm, only 45 minutes into my run. But I still continued on and got a good workout in, with a couple hills in the middle. Then Tuesday I really pushed myself on the elliptical and was extremely sore on Wednesday. So I just followed my schedule and did a what-should-have-been-easy 2 mile run. Which was a complete struggle for me. Granted it was on a treadmill and I wanted to get home for the premiere of Project Runway, so I was constantly checking the mileage and the time and so I think that might have affected it slightly. But after that, it just got really busy for me.

What most of you may not realize is the housing market in Madison. This is only downtown where the landlords know how to make you feel pressured. It is so bad that there is a city ordinance that restricts the downtown landlords from signing leases until November 15th. But does this stop anyone, no. Not one bit. For example: I live in a house with 6 other girls. We live a decent life, but life with six other girls is only doable for one year, and not much more. So we have decided to break apart for my senior year. So we are not resigning our lease. We got a slip from out landlord saying that we would be having a tour on Friday the 16th. We were like ok, that isn't too bad, but then we got a knock on our door Wednesday the 14th. It was four guys, definitely freshmen, because of their scrawny nature and notebook in hands for taking down "notes" on the potential homes (it's pretty easy for them, I think they basically write "good party house" or "bad party house" and make their decision from that). But they wanted to tour the house. So we let them in and showed them around. I think the house was sold when they saw the in-house bar with a kegerator and tap ("good party house" in the notebook) and they were basically calling the landlord after seeing the basement ("friggin' sweet party house"). So they set up a lease signing time for the 15th at 9:30am. Basically the earliest they could get in. So you can see how much of a rush it is. Because heaven forbid you live in a shitty house in college. Especially when you are guys (no offense to the gents, but think of how you were in college). But as much as my friends and I try to avoid it, we always get sucked into the "must sign a lease now" frenzy. So scheduling viewings and appointments and finding actually decent places to live has taken a good part of my time the past week. But luckily, I think we have found the one we want and will probably sign a lease tomorrow (this is actually later than average, but it's the best we could do, and trust me, we were really worried about not getting the apartment).

On top of that, I have been looking for a new internship/job. So I have been perusing the online job sites provided by the school for anything. I found something for next semester and was busy working on a cover letter (not an easy task). But I got that done and now just have to wait. And continue to look for the summer. It's crazy how insane school and everything revolving around school can get. Sometimes it's a little much and I just wish I could step back and breathe. But as I've pointed out numerous times, that is where working out comes in. It allows me a hour to two hours a day where I can break away and just be. It just sucks when it becomes part of my day that needs to be fit in. I wish my life was where I could schedule it around my working out, I really do. I think I would be more apt to be more continuous and regular with it then. But instead I sometimes feel like it is just another part of my day like going to work. Yes I know sometimes I really just don't feel like working out and those days I need off, but some days I just have no excuse as to why I don't go. I think it has to do with me just wanting to relax at home after a busy day, but also that once I get home, it is very hard to pry myself away from all the temptations that are here.

I know this has been a problem that has been plaguing me the entire semester and it may seem like I am always complaining about this. I realize this. And I am trying to work past it. There was a time this semester when I was only working out one day a week and not getting my homework done at all. I have improved, I am now up to 3-4 times a week and I am getting work done early. Like this weekend, I am all caught up through next week, so I can devote my time to studying for my Finance exam. But I just wish all the pieces would come together like they did last semester. Last Spring was awesome. I worked out 5-6 times a week, was ahead in my homework and went to work and got things done. I was much more motivated. I miss that person. I just wish she would come back for more than one week or just for one thing. I am constantly searching for her and just keep coming up short.

Happy running : )

Plans Change

2007-11-08T23:06:00.000-06:00

Today I had every intention of ending my busy day at the gym, on the elliptical, and then heading home to watch Grey's. Oh how things can change. Here's how my day was supposed to go: Work until 5:30, meeting from 6-7, workout 7-7:45, Grey's 8-9 and then homework the rest of the evening (yes I do plan my days out like that). I made it through work and the meeting, but the meeting went over it's scheduled time. So I went home to watch Grey's and then I was going to go workout after. But my roommates invited me to a dance show at 8pm, so I went to that. But they got the date wrong, so instead we went to ice cream. But even though I wasn't able to watch Grey's or workout, I had a blast with my friends. It was the first time in a long time we all had fun together while not drinking or being in the house. We went to a nice little ice cream place and sat in there until they shut the music off and kicked us out. We were laughing and telling stories and just having a great night. I felt so good afterwards, it was a good thing to have happen after a rough week, friendship wise.

Yesterday I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and felt pretty good afterwards. I think I have figured out how to succeed at running on a treadmill. I need to start slow and generally increase my speed as I increase my distance. It seems to be the only way I can go long distances on the beast. While I was running I watched the show Phenomenon, which I think is just a cheap ploy to get Criss Angel on TV more. The tricks were pretty cool, but you could tell they were amateurs. One guy actually got bit by a pretty dangerous snake. And I think the prize was a mere $250K. Not enough to get me to risk my life. But those people had no problem with burning themselves or risking instantaneous death. But you know, what they do on their own time is their business. But despite it's ridiculousness, I was able to run comfortably to it. I was surprised I could even do 5 miles given the fact I hadn't run in over a week. All I have been doing lately in crosstraining on the elliptical. I know it's exercise, but I don't feel the same way afterwards. I just need to keep getting myself on the treadmill and getting myself running. I've kind of lost the addiction that I had this summer. It is helping that I am bringing my workout stuff along with me to classes so that I just stop on my way home and work out. Then it is done with and I don't have the temptations I do when I get home and have to go back out into the cold again. It works quite nicely.

This weekend should be good. I am looking for another productive weekend of getting my homework done. Tomorrow night I am going to the Badger Hockey game and sitting in my dad's company's box. Which means free food and free alcohol! Woohoo. Plus I am meeting my dad at a bar before hand which means free food and free alcohol! Not that I'll be drinking much, I have to work at 7:30am on Saturday for the final Badger home football game. After that I will probably pass out and sleep and then get up and do homework. I plan to be in bed early, sleep in Sunday and do homework all Sunday. It is going to be a fabulous weekend. If I come out of it feeling as good about the week as I did this past weekend, it will be excellent.

Plus, I'll be running and working out, so it should be even better!!

Happy running : )

Productive and Re-energizing Weekend

2007-11-04T23:25:00.000-06:00

What I needed going into this weekend was time and little distractions. That is exactly what I got. Although the beginning of the weekend started a little shaky with drinking too much at a party, I made it through the rest of the weekend smoothly. The Badgers may have lost (seriously Bielema, what were you thinking with the second punt fake??!!), but the Packers won. I got all of my homework done for the week so all I have to focus on is my Accounting test on Wednesday and my take home Risk Management test due next Wednesday (which is going to be a pain, I finished 5 out of the 12 parts and still have over 200 questions to finish, YUCK!). But I feel so good about this weekend. I feel refreshed, I took a three hour nap on Saturday followed by gaining an hour back this morning.

I didn't work out at all on Friday. Saturday I realized a nap was more important for my health. But later that night one of my roommates brought her Wii over to play with. We eventually played the boxing game and because there were six of us, decided to do a tournament. I started the first match against one of my roommates boyfriends. Before I continue I should probably say that there were only 3 girls including myself and that I have never played with a Wii before and I kind of suck at all video games. Except Wii boxing. In this game I kicked ass. I beat everyone, some of them twice. One of other roommate's boyfriends is highly competitive and I beat him twice!!! Haha sucker! The second time I played him, I knocked him out in one round, it was pretty much awesome. And it completely made my night. Another benefit is that I didn't feel bad about not working out on Saturday because Wii boxing is an intense workout. I haven't been this sore in my shoulders, biceps and upper back in a long time. Plus I was sweating profusely. I also played 8 games. But it was so worth it to be the Wii boxing champ.

Today I got more stuff done after my mom woke me up at 10am thinking it was 11am. But it was all good. I eventually went to the gym for a elliptical session. I need to start changing my resistance because it is getting too easy for me. I did 60 minutes and it felt good. It was a huge stress reliever. I did some abs afterwards.

Overall it was a very good weekend. I feel good about the upcoming week and can only hope the rest of my weekends are as productive as this one. Knock on wood.

Happy running : )

Another note: my condolences go out to the Shay family and all those that knew him. What happened is extremely sad and I can only hope that they are doing ok considering what has happened.

It's Halloween

2007-10-31T11:13:00.000-06:00

Time to eat candy, guilt free!!! Haha, I wish. I will probably snack on a few mini snickers or mini twixes, but that's about it for me. I have decided that I am going to lose 10 pounds by year end and it starts today. I know I can do it, it's just a matter of my mind and body connecting and working as one unit. My mind tends to trick my body into doing things I generally don't want it to do and vice-versa. Like last night, I really wanted to run again and do another 3-4 miles, but my body was not having any of that. I forced it through a measly one mile run and then lifted weights, but in that battle my body won. But I think if I watch what I eat and drink and keep up the working out, I can be successful.

Tonight I am taking a break from working out (unless I get out of class early or feel like going to the gym around 10pm). My roommates and I are having a Halloween celebration tonight. We are ordering pizzas, having some desserts, and watching Disturbia. I'm not really that great with scary/thriller movies, but I really want to see this movie so I'll grab my pillow and hold it over my face and watch the movie.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. As bad as this is going to sound, my roommate might be going home for one night. Which means I can pretty much do what I want in the room. I can watch TV, get work done and just generally relax. Sharing a room is fun and I love it, but sometimes I just wish I had my own room that I could go to when I need a break from people. I think it will be good if she is gone for a little this weekend. I have a lot to get caught up on and hopefully I can get it done. We'll see though.

Found this on Half-Fast's blog today, here is my monster name:

Get Your Monster Name

Pretty sweet. I love me some kittens.

Happy running : )

One, Two, Three, Favre

2007-10-29T22:38:00.000-06:00

Brett Favre. In Wisconsin, he is pretty much the shit. I don't think many people can disagree when people say he is one of the best quarterbacks/athletes ever. And if they do, they're probably Vikings or Bears fans and are jealous. Why all this talk about Favre? Well tonight he was motivating me to run. I went to the gym here for a treadmill run, and as you know, I dislike these very much. But I knew the Packers were playing and picked a treadmill close to the TV with the game on. I tuned my radio to the game and set the treadmill on a doable speed and just ran. I felt really good running and it really helped that I had something to keep me going. It was a little rough whenever a commercial came on, but I just turned to another show, something on TLC with a family with way too many kids. But then I went back to the game. And what a good game it was. I only watched the first half on the treadmill because I had to get back to the house for our weekly tradition of watching the Hills (good episode too).

It was probably pretty funny watching me run while watching the game. I am a true Packers fan and a huge football fan as well, so I get pretty into the games when I watch them (I don't watch them all because I think that I am a bad luck charm sometimes). But when Brett through his first touchdown (a huge throw down the field to Jones) I got so excited that I picked up my speed and ran into the barrier of the treadmill. I quickly recovered and silently cheered on the inside. But my body didn't expect such a shock and it took me a little to calm myself and get back in step with my speed. But it was extremely hard not to yell out loud whenever something happened. But I wasn't the only one, I looked around and other people were cheering too so I didn't feel like that big of a loser.

I ended up running about 4 miles tonight, I know I could have done more, but I am trying to watch my time and get things accomplished. Although I went home and watched a show and then sat around talking about the weekend happenings (Halloween in Madison, it gets kind of crazy). So here I am, showered and ready for bed and I didn't get any homework done tonight. Oh well. I worked out, that counts for something.

Last week was a good week though. I ended up working out 4 out of 7 days, which I know I can improve upon, but going from 1 out of 7 to 4 out of 7 is pretty good for me. This week I am shooting for a minimum of 5 out of 7. Last week I ran on Monday, did cardio and weights on Tuesday, ran on Wednesday (and abs), and only lifted on Thursday. This past weekend was pretty challenging to get a workout in. It was homecoming and Halloween. I went shopping all day Friday with my sister who was visiting, then went to the homecoming parade (where I got a lot of free stuff, it rocked), then we got ready for the night. I worked 8 hours Saturday for the game, came home took a nap and then got ready for another night. Saturday was amazing. I had so much fun. I went as Britney Spears from her most recent music video. We went to State Street, saw Lifehouse perform, and had fun looking at all the costumes. It was probably the best Halloween I've had at Madison. Then Sunday was spent cleaning and putting pictures up and just generally doing nothing. And I mean that, I didn't do any homework because I lacked motivation to do it. But I'll get it done eventually.

Happy running : )

Waking My Lazy Ass Up

2007-10-23T23:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, you read that right. I have woken my lazy ass up. It decided to take a week off of doing anything and needed a complete shock to get it going again. It all started last week with my wonderful 7 miler. The weather was beautiful, the run was good, I got to break in the new running shoes and it felt good to be out on the pavement. However, after the run, my inner thigh was really hurting me. I could barely walk and so I had to limp where ever I went. I went to bed hoping it would be better in the morning (most of my "injuries" tend to disappear overnight), but unfortunately, I woke up in pain again. But I pushed through it and by the end of the day I was fine. But my body and mind decided to go in complete shutdown mode and not just for the customary 1-2 days, but rather for an entire week. It wasn't that I didn't have time or that it was too cold or too windy or raining, or that I was injured, it was that I just didn't want to. My body was saying no and so was my mind. They convinced me that it was ok to not go running, or even go to the SERF. They even managed to convince me to ignore my homework and push that to the side. You may ask what I did instead. But I can honestly tell you I did nothing. I would go to work, go to class and come home and socialize, work on other random things, such as getting ready for my birthday party, or watch TV. I also did a lot of internet surfing, but avoided reading running blogs because I felt guilty and also it would remind me that I needed to get out and run.

By Friday I was starting to feel extremely tired and I was crabby. Then Saturday was my birthday party, which I had a lot of fun and everything turned out just fine, but I got into a fight with my roommate. It was our first real fight (we have plenty of pseudo fights that are just us being sarcastic to each other) and I didn't take it very well. I was crabby and started to cry. Then I continued crying because some of my close friends didn't show up at the party, and eventually I was just crying because it felt good to let the tears out. I felt like shit on Sunday and continued to not do anything. I lounged around all day and the only homework I got done was the reading of one chapter for my accounting class. I was so proud of myself, I watched some TV as a reward. Then Sunday night I had a chat with my roommate and we got everything settled, but again I cried (seriously, what was wrong with my tear ducts?!). But we settled everything and I think we are fine now.

Even after that I continued to feel like shit. My stomach has been bothering me a lot lately, more so than usual. I have been tired a lot lately, even when I get 8 hours of sleep. Sunday I got 9 hours of sleep and then took a two hour nap later in the day and was still tired. Monday morning and throughout the day was a big bag of yuckiness. I felt tired, listless and didn't want to do anything except lay in bed and watch TV. I talked with my mom and she suggested that maybe I had mono, although after a quick internet search I was unable to self-diagnose. With mono pushed aside I was forced to face the obvious. As I was laying a mound of blankets with my warm pajamas and a sweatshirt warming me and trying to fall asleep unsuccessfully, I realized what must be done. I needed to get my ass going again.

My body, after telling me to avoid working out and doing any homework was telling me that I shouldn't have listened for so long. I immediately got out of bed, grabbed my finance book and headed downstairs. I made some dinner while I read a chapter. Then I came back upstairs read some more, and talked with my mom again. She said exactly what I needed to hear: that I should just go for a walk or do something outside. I had planned to go to the gym to run on the treadmill, but I think that was a reason I was putting it off. After chatting with my mom, I realized I needed to run outside. I needed to feel the colder air in my lungs and engulfing my body. So I put on my other pair of running spandex and headed outside. I was forced to find a new route thanks to the sun setting earlier now, so I had to stay on the well-lite campus. I was running at a pretty good pace throughout the entire thing but decided to take it back a little earlier. I ended up doing 3 miles instead of the 4 my route had called for. But it felt good nonetheless. I felt awake afterwards. I was able to get my homework done and stay focused. I got my daily to-do list accomplished for the first time in a long time.

This morning I went in to work and after my routine web surfing, got down to business and got what I needed to get done, done. I was so proud of myself for actually getting stuff done instead of picking at something for 3 and a half hours until I was able to go home. I went home, watched some Law and Order (I know, but I had like a half hour before class and needed something to do, and I was cold, I know more excuses). I went to class, then after my last class went straight to the gym and did 45 on the elliptical. After my cardio, I went into the weight room and lifted for about a half an hour. I did light weights because I didn't want to be too sore tomorrow (well really today). But it felt good. I have loss some of my muscle strength, but plan to build it up again. I have developed a plan I think I can finally stick to. I just have to watch out for certain potholes that will derail my progress and I have to foresee them and maneuver appropriately to avoid the most damage possible.

Ways I plan to stay motivated:
- Updating blog more frequently (instead of once a week, I would like to increase this to 3 times a week)
- Reading fitness magazines and finding articles/quotes I find inspiring and keeping them in a binder or taped to my wall
- Reading others' blogs to get inspiration/motivation

Keeping myself motivated is going to be especially hard in the upcoming months. This is generally the time of the year when I tend to lose my workout habits (as you can already see has been happening). I think it has to do with the colder weather making me lazier and wanting nothing more than wrapping in a blanket watching movies and TV (seriously, they should not allow school in the winter I think, especially in Wisconsin). I also think it has to do with the holidays and the stress of them. I tend to get really stressed out during these next few months, but I just need to remember that I beat stress best by working out. To help me keep on track, I am signing up for a Turkey Day run. It's a 5K and one in which I plan on having some fun. It's time for a "fun" run. Plus it will keep me in check for the day and it will get me ready to endure a long day of shopping on Black Friday, one of my favorite days of the year : )

To help keep me motivated, please let me know how you keep yourself motivated during fall/winter/holiday season. I really could use some help to make sure I don't fall off the workout/running bandwagon. I've worked really hard to get on it that I don't want to have to try and get back on again. Thanks for keeping me inspired.

Happy running : )

What a difference 4 days has made

2007-10-11T19:54:00.000-05:00

The sun was beating down through the clouds, it was humid 85 degrees and the runners had their tank tops and short shorts on and were warming up. Now while this is the norm in summer, it generally isn't in early October. Generally by this time in October, Wisconsin is starting to see colder temperatures and people can comfortably run around in their long sleeves and shorts. But this was not the case for my 5K last Sunday. It was a beautiful day and I was a little hesitant about how well I was going to do. I hadn't been training a lot these past couple weeks and knew that it would be a struggle. But I signed up nonetheless. And I went. So half the battle was done. I warmed up and went to the starting crowd. I started out strong and continued my pace for the entire race. I did pick it up after the half way turnaround but near the end with about a half a mile left I started to feel the fatigue. I had been running way too fast throughout the early part of the race that I was starting to lose my speed. But just as I was starting to lose it, I spotted my roommate and her sister by their church cheering me on. I got this sudden burst of energy and continued it all the way to the end. I was passing people left and right the whole way into the finish. I ended up with a time of 31:33, averaging about a 10:10 per mile. Not too shabby for not training too hard. I wish I would have trained harder, I think I could have gone faster. But what made me feel the best was the fact that from the half way turn around, I started to continuously pass people. I was going faster and they were slowing down. And then my friends gave me the energy to make it to the finish fast. It was a good race. I was happy and content after. What a great way for me to celebrate my 21st birthday.

Fast forward to tonight. I believe the high temperature today was just around 55 degrees. When I left for my run tonight it was about 40 degrees. Over a 40 degree drop in just 4 days. Wisconsin weather has reared its ugly head. So I pulled on the spandex (see picture) and long sleeve shirts and headed out. I was only planning on a two mile run and ended up going about two and a half. I was going pretty fast throughout the whole run and it felt pretty good. The cold air only affected me in the first couple minutes but once my body was used to it, I was able to pick it up again. I was running a little faster than how I ran for my 5K. I think I want to try and pick up my paces on my runs. I really want to increase my speeds and times for my runs. I think this can help me and help make my runs more enjoyable. (not that they aren't already fun, it's just it gets boring running at the same speed all the time). I really want to start to challenge myself in my runs. And I think my increasing my speeds and doing more speed and tempo work will be helpful. I have always shied away from this type of training because I've been too afraid of failing and having to stop and walk or that it would never be worth it and I would always be slow. But I have learned that sometimes doing the hardest thing is what makes everything worth it. It makes you proud when you succeed and I'm sure the best people out there in anything didn't get there by simply doing the bare minimum. Now I just have to start committing more days to my running instead on Thursdays and occasional weekends. But that's half the battle.

Happy running : )

A Perfect Summer Evening.... In October?!

2007-10-05T19:08:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Wisconsin, where the Packers rule and weather changes almost as frequently as Samantha Jones changes men. (Look up the show Sex and the City to find out who Sam Jones is). Just the end of September I figured summer was over as the freezing air started to make its way in. But alas, the past two days have been really nice. It was over 80 yesterday and today and will probably continue until early next week. It was so nice that I was able to take my run happily outside. I left a little late so I didn't get to enjoy the pretty sunset and fall colors that much, but I did get to enjoy what will probably be my last "summer" run for quite a while. But it was a good run. A very good run.

Again my battery died on my MP3 player so I was without music for most of my run, but it was ok. It was good to hear the sounds of the night and also it was kind of dark and it is getting kind of dangerous in Madison at night, which is why I need to be more careful about leaving later in the evening. But oh well, I'm safe as of now. But anyway, I got off to a good start, I started slow to get into the groove and then about a mile in, I picked up the pace and continued it until I had about a half a mile left. I slowed up and then picked it up until I was sprinting home. I felt so good afterwards, I was a little out of breath, but caught it quickly.

I was surprised that I hadn't lost everything. I always have that fear that stopping running for even a week would cause my body to forget everything that it had been doing over the weeks. But I was happy to see that it had only affected me a little. But one thing I still can't quite understand is why I can run just fine outside, I can do 7 or 8 miles, but indoors I struggle to even do three. I just don't understand. But I guess I have to look at my indoor running as something else I need to build up.

This weekend should be interesting. I have a 5K race on Sunday and then going out to dinner with my friends to celebrate my BIRTHDAY!! Yes on Monday I turn the big 21!!!! I will finally be able to legally drink and go to bars (not that I do that illegally now or anything, hehe). I'm pretty excited, but it just kind of stinks that I also have an accounting exam on my birthday, and that I have to work. But my parents are coming down on Monday to take me to dinner and then I am hitting up the bars. For those of you who don't know Madison very well you don't realize how awesome the bar scene is here (at least I hope it is). But nevertheless it should be an interesting weekend. Also, in other news, my roommates and I have, hopefully, decided on a Halloween costume. We are all going to be the different stages/music videos of Britney Spears. It's going to rock. Me being a brunette, am going as Britney from her newest video for Gimme More. No I will not be wearing skanky panties or a belly revealing top, despite Britney not being in the best physical shape, I am far from her, sadly. But it will still be funny to see us all in our Britney get ups.

Well happy running to all : )

Decisions

2007-10-03T23:46:00.000-05:00

Life is all about decisions. We wake up every morning and are hit with different decisions as soon as we open our eyes. My first decision of every day is whether or not I want to get up or if I want to stay in bed for the extra 30 minutes of sleep (sometimes it's more like an extra hour and a half, but whatever). And after this seemingly unimportant decision, I must make a million more by the end of the day. And each one has the power to take my day in a different direction. If I choose to wear something I am not completely happy with I will end up being self conscious in it and pick at it until I take it off at the end of the day. All of these decisions impact my life in some way or another.

After a rough couple of weeks this semester, I am starting to see, more than ever, my decisions and choices are a reflection of what I value and find important. Sometimes even the simplest of decisions, such as what I want to wear for the day, can be a reflection of the type of person I am. Lately I have been making some decisions that are very uncharacteristic of myself. And now that I am seeing these decisions being made I am able to see that they aren't me and that I need to make some drastic changes before it's too late and they become a habit. For example, I have always been a person who has done something on time and always shown up no matter what. But lately I have been calling in sick to work a lot using my stomach as an excuse (it does bother me, but enough where I should stay home from work). I don't know if it's because I'm bored or just lazy, but I don't want to go into work. Now, I am starting to get a little behind there but even when I'm there I don't want to do anything. I think it's because I am just tired of working there and doing what I am doing. But it's a decision I have to make, I can either slack off and not put 100% into my work there or I can suck it up and make the most out of the experience. I need to decide for myself what decision would be reflective of who I really am.

I need to really look at what I find important and figure out if the decisions I am making in regards to them are reflective of who I am as a person and are reflective of who I want other people to see me as.

Things that are important to me:
- Family
- Friends
- My health/well being (physical, mental and spiritual)
- School

Decisions that I have made in the past that have not been the "best":
- Not talking to my family for long periods of time (because I was "too busy")
- Not taking time out of my day to make room for friends
- Taking too much time out of my day to make room for friends
- Not staying in good contact with long distant friends
- Deciding it was too late, too cold, too far or that I was too tired yadda yadda yadda to workout
- Not drinking enough water
- Stressing out over unimportant things
- Not getting enough sleep
- Not taking time out for "me" time
- Putting off school work to procrastinate
- Not focusing on school work when actually doing it
- Wasting time

All of these decisions have made it harder for me to break the bad habits I have started to form. I know I can't change all at once, but I need to start somewhere. I have started to get back on track with my school work and next up is my physical health. I can't let myself talk myself out of a run. Or going to the gym. I just need to do it. It's how it is with every other bad decision here. When faced with them again, I need to look at the potential consequences of the decision. I need to think long term and short term. I just need to do it.

There are two magazine clipping I have on my bulletin board in front of my desk. One reads, "If you went running when you first started thinking about it, you'd be back by now." The other one reads, "You choose whether to give up at the first obstacle of give it your all, to speak up or stay silent, to change what you don't like or let it change you. With every word, every step you take, you define who you are- and create your future." These quotes pertain to every part of my life and my new plan is to try and think of each of these quotes whenever I make a decision or feel like I am slipping into one of my bad habits.

On a running note, I went to the gym yesterday for a treadmill workout (which I have found that I very strongly dislike). But it was a good workout. I did a solid two miles on it while increasing my speed with each lap. Then I did ten minutes of hill intervals with a faster than normal speed. I did one minute sprint up a 3.0 incline and then walked for a minute. The last minute was a full on sprint up the hill. I felt good afterwards. I even did ab work!!

Happy running : )

Getting Into the Swing of Things

2007-09-24T11:20:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally did it. I worked out. Three days in a row. Mark this in the calendar. Last Wednesday, I went to the campus gym and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. Then on Thursday I went on a 6.5 mile run. I was happy with it because I ran at a consistent pace and actually picked it up on the last 2 miles. It felt good. I think my body likes night running more than morning running. Which has it's advantages and disadvantages. The one thing I don't like is that I don't have a lot of time at night and especially when it starts to get darker earlier, it makes running at night a lot more difficult and unsafe. Luckily I stick to busier roads, but it still gets kind of creepy late at night in a bigger city. But I'm one of those young adults who thinks she is invincible. Then on Friday, I went to the gym again and did 55 minutes on the elliptical. I am also one of those people that enjoys both cross training and running. As much as I love running, I love a good elliptical or rowing workout too.

I think I am starting to get things in order too (knock on wood). I am getting caught up on my homework, I have a schedule for homework, working out and anything else I need to do on a weekly basis and I think I can stick to it. Yesterday though was a little difficult to get stuff done and not because I didn't want to. Our Internet went down and I ended up talking with the company for an hour trying to get things figured out. It was a little frustrating. And by a little, I mean a lot.

I am finding that I can stick to getting things done if I have the willpower to get them done. I know it sounds like a simple idea, but it's a much more complicated thing to do something rather than just think about it. I am starting to see what is important to me and I am starting to prioritize. Like tonight, I know what I have to get done, but I also know that I am very tired on account of not getting a lot of sleep. So my goal for tonight will be to get to bed early and catch up on my sleep. I know how important that is for me to feel good. Tomorrow, I am going to try and get to the gym and do my run indoors, unless I can get outside before it gets too dark. I know that is my goal for the night and will make that a priority. Today is the first day in a long time where I feel calm and at peace with where I am in everything in my life. Sure, I wish I could run more often or get more homework done in a day, but I know that I will ultimately get done what needs to get done. To me right now the two most important things are having fun and enjoying my life and also to be healthy and feel good. I think if I live my life this semester by these two ideas, I will be successful. Because feeling good isn't just about body health, it is about mental health and being stressed. When I get things done, I do not stress as much and can relax.

Happy running : )

Going Absolutely Crazy

2007-09-18T23:34:00.000-05:00

My life has been a whirlwind the past week.

Have I gone running? No.
Have I worked out? No.
Have I stayed on top of my homework? No.
Have I had fun? Yes. But I was worried about everything else while having fun, so no.

If I could sum up the past week in one word it would have to be unproductive. I have been so busy doing nothing really at all that I haven't done anything important. I know all I seem to be talking about is how I've been stressed and have had so much to do and vowing that I was going to get it all done on time and stop all this procrastinating. Which I have to say HA! I am so good at fooling myself into thinking that I will actually finally break that procrastination mode I've always been in. What am I thinking? Did I seriously think I would force myself to do homework when my friends wanted to do something else?? Seriously?

For example, last Saturday. I had to work early in the morning and got home from the game around 3:00pm. My roommates had a cookout in the morning and were continuing to eat when I got home. I went upstairs put lounge clothes on with the full intention of grabbing something to eat downstairs and coming back up to get started on my homework. Ha. Before I knew it I was dancing to Journey in the living room, taking a shot of Southern Comfort and playing beer pong. Then at 6:00pm when I was officially intoxicated, I was like well I guess there goes homework for the evening. The upside to this story is that I did have a lot of fun with everyone and went to bed early to get up early and do homework all of Sunday (which I actually did, 11am to midnight was nothing but homework- one small step for me).

I'm done with making vows to myself. I know what I need to get done and will pay for it if I don't get it done. I just need to get myself together and start taking advantage of all of my free time, especially that time when no one is around or when I am away from the house. I also cut my classes down to really focus on the difficult ones, because my 5 classes was starting to feel like 7 with the amount of work I was doing. So now I'm in 4, but it's more like 6 with the amount of reading I am doing for two of them. So I guess all I'm going to say is I am going to take it one day at a time, get done what I need to get done and start trying to buckle down.

Other than all of this, I am going crazy and I know why, because I haven't for one reason or another, gone running or worked out at all this past week. I feel so lazy and listless. I feel like I haven't been out there in forever and that my legs and body is already starting to lose definition and endurance. It's a little upsetting. BUT tomorrow I intend (knock on wood) to go to the gym instead of going for a run. I've switched up my running plan so that my runs are a little shorter, so that way I can fit them in, plus I've switched my long run date from Wednesday, because clearly that wasn't working (see previous post), to Thursdays after my 2:30pm class. I think that will be more doable. I have no meetings on Thursdays so all I have to worry about is Grey's at 8pm and making sure I am ready for my one discussion on Friday. I am going to test it out this week and next to see how it goes.

I would love to be able to run longer, but until I get in the swing of things I think I'm going to have to keep my long runs at 7miles max for now. Once I get going and get caught up on my homework, and once my race is over, I will start thinking about adding longer runs into my routine, because I do want to start working on training for a pretend half marathon that I am going to run on New Years Eve (or some day around then, still haven't decided yet). I say pretend because it will only have one competitor (me), one winner (me), and a route designed by the fabulous me. I think it would be fun to make it a goal to run a pretend half marathon for the New Year. Then my actual "New Year's Resolution" (and I put it in quotes for a reason) will be to train for an actual half marathon.

But first I need to get my life better organized. Until then, this is speculation.

Happy running : )

Anti Wednesday Mornings

2007-09-13T11:47:00.000-05:00

Apparently my body has a thing against Wednesday morning runs. Last week was ridiculously hot and this week I felt really sick. I wanted to throw up but couldn't. I had to take walk breaks
and cut the run short. The run didn't start well considering how much I really didn't want to run that morning. I wanted to go back and lay in bed and maybe work on some homework. I was close to convincing myself to go run after my last class at 7:30, but I knew I would somehow talk myself out of that one too. So I sucked it up and went out. The whole time I was telling myself to just go four miles and not do eight. For some reason I didn't want to go the full distance today. But I kept going past my 4 mile turnaround. But I didn't get to eight either.

I felt like my throat was tight and I had to breath really heavy. I think I was having a mini panic attack while I was running. I've been so worried about house drama for a while now and Tuesday night/Wednesday morning was especially bad. I live in a house with 6 other girls (yes, I know, and because I know you are wondering, we have two bathrooms and haven't had a problem with those yet). The girls in my house get along good for the most part, we have our usual talk behind someone's back moments, but really who doesn't? But there is one girl in our house who we can absolutely NOT stand. We signed the lease before we actually knew her, our mistake and we are paying. But anyway, her, me and another one of our roommates turn 21 within a week and a half of each other. We had originally planned to have a joint birthday party to celebrate. We picked a day and time and I was feeling ok about it. Until Tuesday night when I received a facebook invitation to it. What's wrong with this you might ask, well nothing except I wasn't involved with it and didn't know we were going to do it. And that wasn't the only thing. One thing we decided on was making lists of people to keep the party smaller (fines in Madison can be a little bit of a bitch, like a big $10,000 pain in the ass) so needless to say we want something that will not be too big. But after the facebook invite and seeing that two people had already invited 80 people and I haven't been able to invite any, I freaked out. I was mad and felt betrayed. So that night I didn't sleep well and the following morning didn't run well. After my dismal run I came home and got the full story from one of the other roommates. Turns out the invite was only supposed to go to one of the girls friends and not the other girls (it's a little more complicated, but why bore you). But even so because of how much drama was going on with it already, I decided to have my own party. The other girls decided to have their own too and so now there are three parties. It will keep things smaller and more intimate, which is what I wanted anyway. The girl who we don't really like got really upset over this though and I'm surprised she didn't start crying or injure me while I was sleeping. (Kidding, but seriously...)

But unfortunately this was all decided after my run. But I've kind of convinced myself I do not like morning runs anymore. This is going to be difficult especially when it gets dark out faster and I have class until 7:30pm. I might need to invest in a running vest to stay visible. But we'll see what happens when it happens. I hate treadmills, but I know it's eventually going to come down to that.

Also, I am in the market for new running shoes. Any suggestions? I really like my adidas ones right now and have always been a fan of adidas, but I need something that will be comfortable and help cushion my steps. So I need to start looking. I've had my pair I have now for over a year now, probably not a good idea to have them much longer.

This weekend starts the three home football games in a row. Which means this weekend, I will have to arise at the lovely hour of 6am to get to the stadium by 7am. (I work at the stadium, I'm not pregaming). Next week, Wisconsin plays Iowa at 7pm on ABC. It should be a good game, but it means I won't get home until 11:30pm/midnight. NOT FUN!

Ok enough rambling. Happy running : )

Low Battery

2007-09-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

This is what my MP3 player had to say to me about a mile into my run. I was enjoying some nice upbeat music by Timbaland, Green Day, the Killers and music from Hairspray when all of a sudden, it just stops. I look down and see that unfortunate message: Low Battery. I was upset. I hate running without music. I don't feel like I go very fast because my music gives me a beat and something else to focus on. And especially after the dismal run that I had last Wednesday, I was worried about another bad run. I needed a good one considering how easy it is to skip runs when you are in college. (There's always something else to do.) But I still went out tonight and was having a fabulous run until the low battery.

However... I ended up having a really good run. It was fabulous. I felt good and was running really good. Without my music I could hear my breathing and focus on getting into a pattern with it. I could also hear how much I scuff my feet on the ground. I was able to hear that and correct myself. I also got to just run. Nothing in my head, just clarity. I could sort through some things and just feel good. I was able to really think about how my body was feeling. I started to pick up my pace half way through the run and felt good. I continued with that pace and my body was feeling good (minus my stomach, but because it is almost a consistent pain during running, I just try to ignore it as best I can, although it was particularly bad tonight, but oh well). I ended up with about 10:15 min/mile pace. I was pretty happy with that. And maybe I need to start running without my music more often.

In other news, I am already behind in school. Two of my classes which are once a week for two and a half hours each and taught by the same teacher. This teacher is ridiculous. He works as a financial planner and seems to think that his students have nothing else to do except read for his class. We were assigned so much reading before the class even started. I began my first day behind. It has been really hard to catch up. Granted, I haven't been the most determined studier either, but it's hard when your roommates don't seem to have any homework or do anything but sit around and watch tv. I'm just afraid that I will get so far behind that I will start to struggle everywhere- work, school and running. That's what happened last fall when I started to struggle with keeping up with everything that something had to suffer and it was me running and working out. Granted last year I had a lot more going on- boyfriend, school, work, committee chair- so it was hard to cut things out. I hope it doesn't happen this year. I need to find the strength in myself to push myself to get my work done. Work hard, play hard. That was my motto for the past spring semester and it seemed to work pretty well. I really want to do well this semester. I have always struggled with my fall semesters. Spring has always been good to me (knock on wood). I consider myself a good student, but something about fall just gets me. My goal is to break that streak this year, but it isn't looking good and I'm only a week in. So tomorrow, I was supposed to go into work, but I think I am going to stay home and get caught up with everything. I really need to focus though and not waste my time. I need just push myself to get down and dirty with my homework. I know I can do it.

Today was also the Madison Ironman Triathlon. I didn't really get to watch it because it wasn't going past my house like it did last year. But I caught a little bit of the running part. I was just amazed watching the runners. They had just been swimming and biking for a numerous amount of miles and were still keeping a really great pace on their running. I was inspired. I hope that someday I will be able to compete in a triathlon of that caliber. I know it requires a lot of training and determination and most importantly time and patience, both of which I cannot give right now. Maybe that will be something for my early 20's once I am graduated and settled into something that resembles a career.

Alright I need to go to bed and stop rambling.

Happy running : )

At least I went out

2007-09-05T11:28:00.000-05:00

Morning recap-

Bad Decisions:
- Running in 90 degree weather with humidity so thick you can see it
- Forgetting to put sunblock on
- Not bringing a water bottle along
- Wearing a t-shirt
- Not eating breakfast

Good Decisions:
- Not forcing myself to run the entire 5 miles
- Getting exercise

Wednesday's are my day off from work in the morning. So I plan my long runs for that time before class at 2:30pm. I stayed up a little late last night but I knew I was only doing 5 miles so I knew I could sleep in a little. I ended up getting out there around 10:15am and was feeling ok for the first mile and a half. But then around 2 miles I was sweating pretty insanely and decided to walk a little and stretch out my calves. I was proud of myself for listening to my body and slowing down. I walked a little more, then ran for a while, then needed to walk again. I followed this pattern all the way back to the house. When I got back I downed three huge glasses of water in 5 minutes (that's how it felt, but it was more like 10 minutes). I didn't feel good and wanted to puke. Luckily that was temporary because I am feeling a little better right now. I am proud of myself for not talking myself out of going out for a run, but I know I should have waited until this evening when it was a little cooler or gotten up earlier and ran in the early morning. Well, at least I know for next time.

On another note, this weekend is the Madison Ironman Triathlon. I was reminded of this as I was running (well walking at this point) when a van pulled over and asked me how to get to the place to check in. I was happy to help and wished the gentleman good luck. The women he was traveling with asked me if I was competing and I had to laugh at her and say no, not quite there yet. I would love to be able to compete but the is something I can see myself doing much further into the future, once I have a better bike at least. Right now I am quite content with running and the occasional race.

To all those running this weekend in Madison or elsewhere, good luck.

Happy running : )

Getting Ready

2007-09-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

Well summer is almost over. School starts on Tuesday and already I have tons of homework that I don't want to do. Whatever happened to the days of not having actual homework until a week after school started. Boy do I miss those days. But I am excited about the classes I am taking this semester. I will be learning about using taxes to your advantage, determining risk for your household, using investments, and other fun stuff about money management. I love my major because of the practical value in it. I get to learn about managing and using your money in wise ways instead of spending it frivolously. Now if I could practice that all the time...

Yesterday was the first Badger home football game. Gameday was beautiful. 78 degrees and sunny. Happily, I was in the air conditioning for the game. But work was not easy, it was extremely busy considering it was a 2:30pm game and everyone should have eaten. Plus there are so many new people and me being a veteran had to help everyone out. But overall it went very smoothly for me and I ended up making some very nice tips. Plus Michigan lost haha!!

Like I said on Friday, I was supposed to go for a 5 mile run, but instead I decided to go on a bike ride. I ended up following a route I use for running, but just extending it. It was a very hilly route and my bike is very crappy. I decided on that ride that I need a new bike. If only I had the money. But alas. The ride was good otherwise, I need to greatly improve my bike riding if I ever want to do a triathlon. Today I went on a 3 mile run and boy was it freaking hot. I was sweating so bad. Luckily I wore a tank top so it wasn't too bad. I was going to wait until later to go running, but I knew I would probably talk myself out of it later so I laced 'em up and hit the pavement. I was in a good groove, but it took me a little while to get in it.

Next week is going to be interesting. I start school and will be working on setting up a routine for working out, homework, work and school. Luckily I have only three easier runs scheduled for the week, and I hope to get most of my school work done today and tomorrow.

Happy Labor Day and happy running : )

Alive and Running

2007-08-31T11:59:00.001-05:00

Another busy week. But things are finally starting to settle down. Once school starts I will be on a more regular schedule with my running and blogging. But I am still running, not as much as my training asks for, but I am trying to get in as much as I can for now.

Last week was not a good week for running. I was tired and my calves were so tight it was difficult to get into the "running zone". On my 7 mile long run last week I had to stop and stretch twice during the run because I couldn't stand the pain in my legs.

Then this past weekend, I went to my godfather's cabin in northern Wisconsin and went on a run Saturday morning. I got to run along the water and in a wooded area but couldn't enjoy it because of my legs. I was really disappointed with myself on that run. But it was a good weekend otherwise. I did nothing except relax, have fun, go boating, lay in the sun, swim, sit around the campfire and read. It was exactly what I needed before school started.

This week was my 8 mile long run. I was excited to do it because last time I tried an 8 mile run I ended up a mile short. So this time I was determined to get it. I was worried about how my calves were going to act but still decided to go. I started out strong and maintained a good pace throughout the entire run. I was so happy. I made it the whole 8 miles and felt strong and in the groove. It was good to be rewarded with a good run after two bad ones.

This upcoming weekend is the first home football game. If you've never been to Madison on a gameday Saturday you don't know what you are missing. The game starts at 2:30pm but people begin pregaming Friday night and continue until Sunday morning. The band wakes the neighborhood around Camp Randall up around 7:00am with a earsplitting version of "On Wisconsin". Then once the game starts the stadium is alive with cheers, mostly from the student section. Everyone has so much school spirit it's ridiculous. Granted I don't get to sit in the student section (I work in the suites waitressing for the big names) but I still enjoy the game just as much. Game days are so much fun and I'm excited for a new season.

Then next Tuesday is the first day of classes. I both excited and sad that summer is over. I don't even know where my summer went. Sometimes I feel like all I did was work and work. But I know I did more than that it's just hard to remember what I all did. I guess that's the problem when you don't do much to remember.

Today I am supposed to do a 5 mile run, but I might trade it for a bike ride. But we'll see how I'm feeling later in the afternoon.

Happy running : )

Therapy

2007-08-21T13:03:00.000-05:00

Wow. What a week it has been. I am officially moved into my house down in Madison and have taken the week off to get things packed and to get my body back to normal. Last week Tuesday I had a scope done of my colon and esophagus. Everything went well except I was really hungry the day before because all I had all day was water and Popsicles. But I finally found out what is wrong with me. It turns out what my family doctor thought I had was not accurate. The doctor who performed my scope said that I have a little bit of stomach reflux, but my main problem is irritable bowel syndrome, which is basically that my colon/stomach area has a little (although sometimes not that little at all) temper tantrum when I eat something it doesn't like. I go and talk to my doctor on Friday to determine how to cope with this in the future. It's nice to finally know what is going on with my stomach. But know I just need to figure out how to go about dealing with it.

Because of that I didn't run at all last Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday I gave blood and had to pack so I didn't have time to run. Thursday through Saturday were spent unpacking, reorganizing, and shopping so running wasn't really an option. Plus it rained nonstop. But finally yesterday, after a really bad day and a bunch of tears, I decided to get back out there and run. And boy did it feel amazing. It was only a two mile run but it was exactly what I needed. I started out walking really fast and continued to go fast throughout my run. I believe I did about a 9:30 mile/minute pace- which is ridiculously fast for me. But it felt good. I was tired after and my muscles were a little sore, but overall my body was thanking me for taking it out for a run. And the best part was I felt amazing afterwords. My mind was clearer, I was able to think of things a little better and was able to analyze what had happened over the day and come up with a solution to my problems. Running is my therapy and it was good to have it back in my life. The stress of the last week has showed me how much running helps to alleviate this stress and bring things back into perspective.

Thanks to Amanda for checking in on me to make sure college hasn't interfered with my running as I had worried. I am learning how much I need to get out there and run no matter what.

Happy running : )

Good, hot, sweaty run

2007-08-12T23:55:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the Otto Grunski 10K Runski. Creative title for a fairly mundane run. Not that I specifically have anything against the city of Menasha, WI, it's just really boring when you run through it. It could be a lot better, the city is surrounded by two lakes, one being the largest in Wisconsin (granted it smells like nastiness all summer long thanks to the massive algae blooms that infest the water, making it resemble pea soup- I'm not exaggerating either). We could have ran along some paths by the water or near some better scenery in the Nature Preserve in the town, but instead we run past trailer parks and teeny homes with nothing to look at. But despite all this and the nasty heat that engulfed the city, it was a pretty good run for me. I was going fast and pushing myself to maintain speed. My stomach didn't bother me. I was near the back of the pack but was passing people near the end and I finished with a very respectable time for myself, running at about a 10:31 pace. Not too shabby I though to myself.

Because I knew it was going to be hot, I decided to run in a tank top, something I very very rarely do. I like my cotton t-shirts and how they get all heavy during a run. But I knew that I would want a tank top in the heat. I also am a huge believer in superstitions and tend to follow routines pretty strictly. In previous races I have worn pretty much the same outfit, my pink running shorts, my blue superman like t-shirt and my trusty adidas running shoes. But for this race, I changed it up. It was weird and I keep thinking about how much worse I was going to do because I wasn't in the running clothes I had worn for all previous races. But I did fine. I was even more comfortable. But it was still sweaty. I was soaked (granted about the 3 mile mark someone I knew was manning the hose outside his house and he decided to follow me with it as i ran past until my whole right side was dripping, haha funny, but it felt good too).

Other than the race, my weekend has been kind of uneventful, mostly working and packing and shopping and watching Sex and the City. Good weekend nonetheless. This week is going to be really hectic for me. Monday I cannot eat any solid foods and not because I choose to, but because I can't. My doctor has decided to do a scope of my esophagus and my colon to see if there is anything in there that blood tests cannot indicate. So Tuesday I go in for an endoscopy. And tomorrow I have to take a lovely medicine to "flush" my system. So tonight to show up my stomach for causing me so many problems, I had a chicken dinner from work and a blizzard form Dairy Queen. My mom even told me that my stomach wasn't going to appreciate these food choices, and granted she was right and I am in pain right now, I told her that my stomach was making me mad so I decided to make it mad. Too bad it has to hurt me more. But I hope they will find something because I am getting sick of this. On top of all this, I am moving this week. I am moving into a house with my friends. I am scared, nervous, excited, happy and sad about it. I hope it will be fun and that everything works out. But I am sad to leave my family, but excited to do so as well. I am going to try and get some running in, but we'll see how everything goes with my stomach and my move.

Happy running : )

The Hardest Time of the Year

2007-08-09T11:33:00.001-05:00

For keeping on track.

One week from today I move into my house in Madison. I will be starting school soon and with school comes homework, studying, friends, going out on weekends, work, blah blah blah. All these things take up time too. Last year around this time I struggled with keeping my workouts and staying committed to eating good and being healthy. My goal this year is to not let all the hustle and bustle of school get in the way of my running. I also want to try and work out more often than just my 3-4 days of running a week. I want to go to a Core class and start lifting weights again. If I can get into a routine, I will be able to stay with it throughout the tough times. I just need to make it a priority, like going to class. I think it will be easier this year because I have a better grasp on my priorities for myself. I'm also planning to run some fall races to keep my training going. So hopefully with some dedication and motivation I can keep this running thing going longer than I made it last year. Something feels different this year though, I think I am more committed and would be more devastated if I stopped. I have come so far and to lose it all would just plain suck. So the goal is to not lose it.

Got my last major summer run this Saturday and my goal for getting in all my training runs this week was defeated last night when my tired body voted against the run. But, I did spend most of the day walking around outside as I took my cousins to the Zoo. It was a lot of fun, but very tiring, both physically and mentally. They are non-stop sometimes. They were never happy, always wanting to do something else or take pictures with my camera. It was a little annoying. So I know I got some exercise in so I don't feel quite as bad. Tonight though I must get out there and do my scheduled 5 miler no matter what. I don't want to go into the race on Saturday with only a 3 mile run under my belt for the week. I need a little more to get my muscles going. So I hope tonight's run is good. My stomach has been a little iffy today so we'll see.

Happy running : )

Fun Run

2007-08-06T14:45:00.000-05:00

I never thought I would use these words in the same sentence. But I did and I mean it. Friday's are my busy days. I work 7 hours tellering and then 4 hours waitressing so my feet are usually killing me by the end of the day. But this past Friday I got out of waitressing early, went home and put on my running clothes and went out for a nice run. I didn't plan out ahead of time where I wanted to go, I just went. And it felt good not having a specific amount of mileage I needed to reach or a certain pace to follow, I just went out to run.

My sister followed on her bike and we went a completely different way than usual. It got dark kind of fast and the road we were on was not made for late night running. The cars had their brights on and were traveling about 50 mph, with no sidewalk. I wasn't ready to end the run, but for safety reasons and the fact that my knees were telling me enough was enough, we decided to head back. We ended up going about 4 miles in about 43 minutes. So not bad. It was a good run because of how my body felt while running. I was running strong from the beginning and continued the pace throughout the whole run. It was a good way to end a blah week.

This weekend was my parents' surprise wedding anniversary party that my sister and I put together. Everything went really well, except that my parents were a little late getting there, but other than that it was all good. I was proud of myself for not drinking either. I never decided before hand if I was going to or not, but I decided against it. My stomach was happy the next day because of that decision. My parents had a great time and were very surprised. Which was the ultimate goal. We didn't leave the bar until 1:45am and I was in bed by 2:00am. Then my dad woke me up at 10am the next day and I couldn't get back to sleep. I was NOT happy. I was tired all day and at work later that day I was a little crabby. But we watched the Godfather during the day which also made me a little tired. My dad told me it was a 2 hour movie. In his book 2 hours must mean 3 hours. Ha. But it was a good movie. Entourage later in the night also helped cheer me up. Overall good weekend and my blah feeling is gone, so YAY!

I have my final summer race this weekend, the Otto Grunski 10K Runski. My training for this race has been a little weak considering how many runs I have been missing, especially on the weekends, but I know I can still do it, I just don't know how well I do. Hopefully I can beat my time from the last run. But we'll see. My goal is to get in all my training runs for this week.

Happy running : )

No grasp on distance

2007-08-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

You would think that after running for how long I have, I would be able to figure out distances and take a pretty good educated guess as to how far a certain distance is. Well, you would think wouldn't you? But alas. No. I can not guess on distances. Case in point, I was running my long run on Tuesday night and I was supposed to go 8 miles. My first time running that far. I was pretty pumped to be doing it and the run started good. My stomach started to hurt about 2 miles in, but not as bad so I continued to go steady. I had planned out my route before hand and was looking for a specific road for my turn around. I was going and I had felt like I had run pretty far and still not seen the road, so I turned around and headed back thinking I had gone too far. Oh how wrong I was. I got back and remapped my route. Turns out I hadn't gone far enough. I had turned around a couple blocks early and was about .8 miles short of my goal. I was a little upset and I know I could have made the 8 miles that day. I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time I get to run 8 miles. Then I will know.

Other than that, there really hasn't been much going on. I haven't had much desire to write here this past week. I haven't really had much desire to do anything except lounge around. I watched 12 episodes of Sex and the City on Monday and Tuesday nights and I've run and not done much else. I just feel tired and blah. I really just want to sleep and sleep and sleep and never have to get up. I don't know why I'm feeling this way, but I just am. I need to snap out of it though. I just don't know how to do it. I'm also really bored and sick of my internship. I have nothing to do there and I am extremely bored with it. It isn't what I want to do and I am starting to realize it. I just hate going there, want to leave right away and don't do anything while I'm there. I get my responsibilities taken care of within an hour and they have nothing else for me to do. I have asked, they have given me something but it takes me like an hour to complete and then I am bored again. The long term project I have to work on I don't want to work on because I hate editing. I am in charge of taking these stories that the youth board have written and editing them to put them online and I just HATE it. But I need to get them going and finish them. I also need more to do. I'm also sick of my second job. I hate working 8-5 and tellering. I am just sick of everything in my life right now and I need a vacation from it. A real vacation. Not just me taking off and sitting at home, but me getting in my car or a plane and flying somewhere. But alas, I have no spare money so it looks like this vacation idea is a no go. Oh well. School starts soon and that will be a nice break I suppose. But then I will just end up getting sick of that. AHhh.

What a depressing post. Minus the running, except the whole distance thing. Oh well.

Happy running : )

Night Owl

2007-07-26T10:44:00.000-05:00

Tuesday was my long run, 7 miles, and it felt good to be back out there after taking the weekend off. I almost didn't go because I didn't finish Harry Potter until 8:15pm and then had to call and discuss the past 800 pages with a friend. But around 8:50 when the sun was just about to set I took off on my run. It was still 80 some degrees when I started out and I was sweating pretty hardcore before I even began running. But something felt different. I felt like nothing could stop me as I was running. I just started and the first mile went surprisingly smooth. I was going at a pretty good pace, one which I thought I could make it the whole way. I picked it up a little at parts, but overall it was pretty consistent. Not as fast as I have run previous 5 milers, but I had an extra 2 miles to cover so I slowed down a little bit.

The remaining five miles went good, except for the last one when the realization that I didn't eat dinner or a big lunch kicked in. I was hungry and felt kind of lightheaded. I made it home ok, but I definitely sat down for a while with a slight dizzying feeling in my head. I drank a lot of water and ate some noodles, but felt really good. I got to process the Harry Potter book and what had happened but also got to just clear my mind and enjoy the peace and quiet. Overall a very good run.

Yesterday I went to Noah's Ark with my sister and her friend and got to enjoy the beautiful weather and swim for a little too. I went on a couple rides but spent the afternoon lounging by the wave pool, sometimes taking a dip, and just reading my magazine and new book (yes I like to read a lot, and with school out, I can partake in this passion [and catch up] a little more). I got a little sun burnt despite putting sunblock on twice. But it felt good to be in the water and lounge by a pool.

Happy running : )

I can talk myself in and out of anything

2007-07-23T14:39:00.001-05:00

So about my run yesterday... totally didn't happen. And why is this Kelsey? you might ask. Yes I know I said I was going to run 5 miles on Sunday to make up for missing my run on Saturday. But you know what, I simply did not feel like running. I stayed up until 3am Sunday morning and had a huge headache from sleeping on the floor (I have bad allergies), so I was tired and didn't feel my best. Plus I had a 700 some page book calling my name, very loudly in fact.

But it wasn't loud enough to stifle the need for a nap. I fell asleep around 5:00 with intentions of waking up around 6:15, HA! I woke up at 7 and kind of reluctantly too. But I did it and began reading. I did pretty good and almost 300 pages into it. It is good so far. I kind of hesitated reading because I didn't want it to be over. Once I finish the book there will be nothing more that I don't know and that kind of makes me sad. But I'm too much into it now to just up and quit.

Kind of like my running. Despite not running this weekend and facing a minor motivation setback, I am too far into my running to let something like this stop me. So I'm going to look at it as taking a personal weekend off from running.

On another note, this weekend I went and visited my friends in LaCrosse. One of them has an apartment there and so I went to visit. It was good to see them, but a summer away from drinking has lowered my tolerance significantly, which I see as a very good thing. This year I want to try and limit my drinking because of the extra calories and how it makes me feel the next day (never a hangover, but I always feel sluggish and tired, and it makes my stomach hurt). This weekend I had only two drinks, a tom collins and a captain and coke. Let me tell you, a tom collins is not made for drinking games and a captain and coke does not taste good after a tom collins. This might be why I only had two drinks, because they were not what I was looking to drink at all. Yuck. If only I liked beer, it would be a little easier. But alas.

I am going to try and work out tonight, no running, but cross training, but we'll see because one of my friends is in town tonight and we might go to dinner, but who knows. I might try to sneak a workout in. Plus I have a date with my current boyfriend and his friends later tonight. My current boyfriend is very good looking and has a bit of a magic in his eyes, you could say. His friends are awesome too! hehe ; )

Happy running : )

Tired...

2007-07-21T08:15:00.000-05:00

Today is the day. The day the final Harry Potter book comes out. I was in line around 10:30pm and got my book at 12:45am, not bad considering my number was 623 and they started with 100. I was able to get in bed by 1:45 am and was up at 7:15 for work at 7:45am. So I'm a little tired today, just a little (please note sarcasm). But the most disappointing part of it is that I cannot start reading until tomorrow afternoon. I have to ignore all the Harry Potter mania on the computer this morning and avoid talking with anyone who was lucky enough to read the book last night. I would have just stayed up all night, read the book and went to work, but I am going to visit a friend in LaCrosse today and need my sleep. So alas, I had to force myself to put the book down and go to sleep. I am very excited to go to LaCrosse and visit my friends, but part of me just wants to read my book and finish it. Oh well. I've waited this long, what's one more day.

On a running note, I ran a short 2 mile run on Thursday and it went really good. I ran about a 10:10 pace and my legs were only a little sore throughout. But I really pushed myself so I knew they were going to be sore. My dog didn't run along very well tonight though. There were way too many dogs out there and he was way too distracted. I am missing my run today, but I will make it up tomorrow. I was supposed to do 5 miles today and 3 tomorrow, so I think I will do a 5 mile run tomorrow and scratch the 3 miler tomorrow. I am not happy, but I don't know what else to do. I wish I could squeeze my run in today, but I can't without leaving too late.

Other than this, nothing too exciting is happening right now. And once I start Harry Potter I will be incommunicado until finished.

Happy running and a good weekend to all : )

Running away with my thoughts

2007-07-18T11:18:00.000-05:00

After a somewhat busy day at work (I can't really call my work busy because I rarely do anything that important, mostly because I'm only an intern and they don't really have anything for me to do), my run was what I needed to unwind. I have been kind of busy with everything in my life lately such as: getting things ready to move out/move in, planning my parents' surprise wedding anniversary party, dealing with money issues, etc. that I have had thoughts and ideas flying through my mind at a pretty rapid pace. I haven't really had time to process any of these and yesterday my mind was pretty filled. But during my run, everything just cleared out and I was able to focus on my running and nothing else. Rarely does this happen unless I am running. I think that is part of the reason I enjoy running/working out so much, it helps me stay less stressed and keeps me sane. But not only do I just clear away all the clutter, I organize other things that I have been neglecting because I haven't had much time to think about them. Last night I just cleared my mind and thought about my running, my breathing and how my body felt (which by the way was sore, I can't stand sitting for long periods of time like I did yesterday at work). After the run my knees were a little sore, but that was about it.

The one thing that I couldn't shake from my mind was my stomach. I have been having a lot of problems with it lately. I have been having stomach problems for over a year now, and have been on many different medicines to try and help it. My doctors seem to think it is acid reflux, but I have a hard time thinking that that is what it is. I was finally put on a medicine that worked the best. It was never perfect, but it was liveable. Now, this medicine is no longer working. I am watching what I eat to make sure my stomach isn't set off, because when it does I can't even stand up straight I'm in so much pain. I usually just curl up in a ball and what the 2+ hours for the pain to pass. Needless to say, this is not fun. One of the worse parts though is that my stomach acts up a lot when I am running. Sometimes I'll get a mile in and my stomach will be in a lot of pain. I usually push through it and it settles a little, but the pain is always there. It is starting to become a major factor in my running. On good days, I experience mild pain. But this only happens on my shorter runs or when I run without eating anything. Because of all this, I am going to see my doctor today. Hopefully I can get something figured out that doesn't just involve medicines. Considering how many I have tried already, I doubt another one is going to help much.

Happy running : )

Fast is a relative term, apparently

2007-07-16T13:01:00.000-05:00

So I'm completely eating my words after Friday's post. But, I still deep down think I ran pretty fast for myself. But like I said, fast is a relative term, one that is determined by you alone. It has the same definition trend like big or small. These terms all have significance to the person using them. Anyway, Saturday was the Bret Younger 10K run. I was feeling pretty good after my run Thursday night and knew I could push myself just as hard for the race. The race was pretty small, maybe 200-250 runners, and lacking in the technology department, so no chips etc (more on this later). I lined up near the beginning, behind the "serious" runners, but how was I supposed to know that everyone in my hometown is fast. When the gun went off, I swear it felt like it was a dead on sprint from there. Seriously. In the races I have run in, I've never been at the front of the pack and sure, I've been passed but not by what seemed like everybody in the race. It was kind of a huge shot to the self esteem and it was only the first mile. Which I swear I ran at about a 9:30 minute pace, which is ridiculous. (and if I was getting passed by so many people, that's just how fast everyone was going right away). If you look closely at the picture, I am the runner near the right with pink shorts and a white t-shirt, this is obviously before I was passed my the masses of people behind me.

But after the first mile, I got into a comfortable pace, one I knew I could keep up. I decided to not worry about the other people running and just run my race. Which was a smart idea for me. About a mile and half in, this one gentlemen caught up and ran with me for a while. Him and I talked about running and I found out he had run in plenty of marathons, but because he was too old, he stuck to smalled races. He told me his favorite was the LA Marathon because of the Gallery. He also gave me a compliment and told me my form was good. We also talked about how fast the run was and that we would catch some runners later in the race. He was planning to finish a little before me, so I decided to pace myself with him, which worked until about the last mile when he bolted off. I was running at a pretty good pace throughout the whole race, but I still wasn't passing many people. It was kind of disheartening (i think this is the word I'm looking for). Near the end, I started to catch up on some people and pass them, then as I was turning the corner into the final stretch, I saw my sister and began to speed up. I was so close to being done. When I crossed the finish line the clock read 4:00:00. I was confused, but my sister told me the clock had broken and they were trying to fix it. She said that as I passed her, the clock read 1:03:59 and that was about 25 feet from the finish. So I'm taking my time as somewhere in the 1:04 category, which averages to be about a 10:20 pace. Which is very fast for me. I wish we would have had chips to keep the time, because the paper the next day had my time as 1:05:58, which I find hard to believe, but oh well. It's there fault for not having chips and my fault for not running with a watch, ever.

The best part though was beating my time from the Bellin Run. No matter what time I use, I still beat my time. And that feels good. Now, I want to increase my speed so that I can get even faster for the next race (which is less than a month away, YIKES!). But I have my new running plan all set to go and it looks like it is going to be the most challenging of them all. So I have to keep my head straight and my body healthy. This race, despite the technicalities and the speed, was a good one, kind of hot, but it was an easy course and people were extremely nice there. It wasn't a competitive race, it was just a fun family race.

Picture is from: http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=galleryindex

Life in the "Fast" Lane

2007-07-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

Oh haha, how I wish I could actually say I was fast, especially in comparison to many other runners, but... for me, my run last night was fast. I never thought I would be running that fast for that long, but I pushed myself and when I thought I was going to have to slow up I told myself to suck it up and keep going. I ran for 5 miles last night averaging 10:15 a mile. Considering I normally run at about an 11 minute pace, I thought that was pretty sweet. Although I did have a bad stomach for most of it, but hopefully next Wednesday when I go to the doctor, I can get that figured out. But nonetheless, it was a good run and a great comparison to Monday's disaster. Now hopefully I can carry that on for tomorrow's 10K. I figure I can run that fast again, but we'll see how the legs feel and the body feels on race day.

During last nights run I struggled a little through the first mile. I kept thinking to myself why am I pretending and trying to do this. I HATE the first mile of every run. It takes me that long to get into a groove with my running and my breathing. But it takes me about a mile to get into the right mind too. But it's that first mile that tests me the most. It would be so easy for me to just quit during that mile, but for some reason I keep going. And most times (99%) I'm glad I do. Because I feel so incredibly good after running that it makes it worth it. I just sometimes hope that my mind would start to feel good as soon I start.

I was talking with one of my friends because she is coming home this weekend from where she lives at school during my lunch hour today and we were planning what we wanted to do while she was in town. She knows I have taken up running, but when I told her I was running a 10K this weekend she seemed surprised. She was even more surprised when I told her about my goal to run a half marathon next year. She even brought up my old joke of bragging about being a marathon runner. (Her and another one of my friends were in track and ran a lot. So my other friend and I, both not runners at the time, always joked about how her and I were marathon runners and that we would run like 30 miles just as a warm up, needless to say, it was quite hilarious). She also remembered how I used to say running was not a sport. She can't believe how much I've changed. Somedays, neither can I.

I'm starting to think about some running goals for this fall and have found a 10K in Madison in the fall, and I am still looking for a winter half marathon. But with how the search has been going, I am thinking I might have to wait until late spring to do a half marathon. So I may need to think of another goal to work towards, I'm thinking I may run to a location. I would pretend to be actually running to a location by adding up the miles. I was going to go around the world, but alas that is almost 25000 miles. I don't think I can do that. So I am looking for something a little more realistic. Maybe to New York, or LA, who knows. I need to figure out when I want to accomplish this goal by too, that will help me decide.

Anyway, happy running.

Blah Run, Bad News

2007-07-10T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I planned to do 6 miles running. My sister is in town with me so she was going to follow on her Rollerblades. Unfortunately, her roller blades were broken when she put them on so she decided to walk along. This was not a good idea. She had no idea where to go and I worried about her getting lost on the route. I ended up stopping a lot and pointing out directions. Then once I ran off by myself and she continued behind me, I started to not feel good. This continued for the rest of the run. I caught back up with and passed my sister. But the last mile of the route is kind of complicated, so I ended up walking with her back. She wasn't doing to good. That was the most she's ever walked and the humidity only added to the problem. So I only ended up running 5 miles for the night, but I wasn't happy with myself. I took some stops to wait for her and then I had my stomach problems kick in. It just was a blah run. Here's hoping this next one on Wednesday/Thursday is better.

On other news, I just found out that the triathlon I planned to do on the 22nd is closed for registration. I'm a little upset with this news, but I am also a little relieved. But only because I haven't been training very well for it. I haven't biked in forever and I don't remember when I last swam laps. I guess it's a sign, or at least I hope it is. But I know I want to do one. But maybe after I get my running a little faster and start biking more consistently. Maybe I can shoot for the High Cliff Triathlon next summer. I think that would definitely give me enough time : )

Despite not having a triathlon to look forward to anymore, I do have a race this Saturday. I am hoping it goes good. I still don't know what kind of time goal I am shooting for. I know I want to beat my previous time, but I don't want to shoot too low either. I guess I need to think about it a little more. I've also been looking into races to do this winter/early spring. The only thing I've found that looks promising (although I have only looked in Florida) is the Florida Marathon. But we'll see what else I can find.

I am SOOO bored at work today. I am sad that this post is coming to an end because then I will have nothing more to do. And I have to be here until 4:30pm. YUCK! I'm even catching up on my long term stuff I'm so bored.

On a better note, I am seeing Harry Potter tonight (technically tomorrow at 12:04 am.) I am super excited. Although I will be horribly tired for work tomorrow, and it doesn't help not having anything to do. Oh well.

Happy running : )

Sweet Vacation

2007-07-06T08:40:00.000-05:00

So this past week I have been on vacation and it has been wonderful. I haven't done much and I didn't really travel anywhere except to my roommate's hometown for her birthday party, but nonetheless, it has been relaxing. Last weekend I went to my friend's birthday party. Before I went down there I woke myself up and went on a run. I was so proud of myself considering I hate getting up early if I don't have to. But I did 5 miles before my trip and it was good to get it over with. I got to go jet skiing, lay on the beach, play volleyball (best part of the day too), and walk down by Lake Michigan. It was good to see all my friends again and be able to enjoy my weekend without having to worry about working. Then this week I slept in, lounged around and didn't do anything. It was sooo nice. I am usually always going-going-going so it was nice to slow down and relax. The 4th was also wonderful. I went out to my Grandma's house on the lake and went tubing on the water and had a campfire and watched the fireworks around the lake.

But I did run. I didn't let my lazy self completely take over. On the 4th I went for a 7 mile run by my Grandma's house. My sister followed on her bike and my younger cousins found us along the way. We probably looked pretty funny as the four of us travelled down the road, me running in front and three bikers following behind. Oh well. I ran in the middle of the day and it was HOT. I forgot to put on sunscreen (bad Kelsey, I know) and so I got some lovely sunburn on my shoulders. But as soon as I got back I applied SPF 50 on my face and arms. Despite the heat, the run felt good. Although after the run, my calves and Achilles tendon were much more sore than usual, I tried to stretch, but it didn't seem to help. But they got better as the day went on. I was supposed to run last night, but I figured a day off in between runs might be a good thing, so I will postpone that run until tomorrow or tonight, but I also have a 5 mile run scheduled for Saturday, but I might postpone that until late Sunday night because we are expecting the heat this weekend- record highs, close to 95/100 degrees on Sunday. YUCK!

Only one week until my next 10K. I'm excited, but still a little nervous. But my goal is to finish the race without walking and hopefully beat my previous time. Also, I have decided/pondered the idea of training for a half-marathon for the winter/early spring. I think this will keep me going on my running plans and help me stay focused and not stop running like I did last fall. Now I just have to find a race to train for, maybe one in a state in the south/west where winters aren't that cold!! It'd be a nice vacation too : ) Any suggestions???

Anyway, have a good weekend and happy running. PS- STAY COOL!

PPS- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix comes out in 4 DAYS!!!!!
PPPS- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out in 14 DAYS!!!!

WHO'S PUMPED????!!!

Oh the HUMIDITY!

2007-06-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

Ha. As I was running Tuesday night, I came up with that fantastic title. It made me laugh as I was running... 7 MILES!! I cannot believe I ran that many miles! If my old soccer coach could see me now! But it wasn't an easy 7 miles. Although I didn't start my run until 8:15pm, the temperature was still a mean 80 degrees F but the lovely Wisconsin humidity made it feel much worse. I was drenched by the time I was done. But humidity doesn't just make me sweat, it makes me rethink everything. About 3 miles in I was seriously considering walking the rest of the way back. It was hard to breathe, I wasn't feeling good and I just wanted to stop. But I remembered the Comrades article and how if they can run 55 miles in the African heat, I can run a measly 7 miles in the Wisconsin humidity. So I kept pushing myself telling myself, just make it another mile and then you can walk. Eventually I knew I could make it the entire way so I kept going. Granted, I was dying for a bottle of water the entire way and running alongside a lake did nothing to help me (I finished a 32oz water bottle in seriously 5 minutes when I got back). But I made it. And although my time wasn't that great, I did it and now I can improve.

I also have to say that reading other people's running blogs keeps me motivated and inspires me to keep on running and to work towards higher goals. But it also helps me in other aspects as I read stories about people who are similar to me and are doing the same things but in different places. It is helping me keep going in my running adventures. Thanks : )

On a side note, I am starting to notice my body changing. Although I may not be losing weight (which I am highly frustrated with) I am noticing my skin is tighter, especially around my stomach and arms, plus my legs look leaner and my body in general is looking leaner. Now why I'm not losing weight is the question. But oh well, as long as there is the perception of me looking healthier, I'll take it. I noticed this last night when I was trying to decide which swimsuit to wear jet skiing this weekend for my roommate's birthday. My one swimsuit was fitting very nicely and I was very happy. Yay!

Happy running all.

For lack of a better title

2007-06-26T14:45:00.000-05:00

Sunday night I drove into Madison for my half week of work here. But to make sure that I ran when I got here I came down in my workout clothes. Once I got here, I put my stuff in my room and flew out the door. The sun was setting nicely and it was just the right temperature for running. I set out for a 5.5 mile workout. I walked for about .5 miles and ran the rest of the way. While I was running I noticed something in my motions and my breathing and how I felt. I finally felt like I was in "a groove" with my running. My strides were getting a little longer and I was breathing steady and constant and overall I felt like everything was going like it should. It felt good. The only bad part was the nasty algae smell and the bugs flying everywhich way on and into my face while I ran by the lake. Yuck. The walkers must have thought I was crazy with my noseblowing and kleenex. Oh well. Now I just look down and plow through that part.

I've also realized how much I love running at night versus the morning. The air and the atmosphere are different. Last summer I would wake up early and go running, but even when I ran at 6:00am, the air was so heavy with humidity, running was a lot more difficult. But at night it's lighter and although I know it isn't cleaner, it feels cleaner. Plus the stars are a nice bonus.

Last night I went to the gym and rode the bike for 45 minutes. It was ok, except I hated not being outside, I guess that's the problem with not having your bike in both cities you live in. But as I was biking, I was able to read my Runner's World magazine and I read a fascinating article about the Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa. The race is 55 miles long and goes over 5 nasty hills that according to the author, make Heartbreak hill of the Boston marathon look dainty. I was intrigued as I read about the author's struggle during the race and also of the many people that compete in the race (it has over 12,000 runners participate). I was also amazed at some of the runners in the race. The whole race amazes me, every aspect is fascinating. The traditions surrounding the race alone are bewildering. Reading the author's story inspired me, somewhat, to think about my goals as a runner. It also showed me how one race can become a defining moment for a person. Although I know I would never be able to finish that race in the time period alloted (12 hours, no more), I think it would be interesting to go and watch it. I would love to be in the type of shape that it would require to finish it, but I don't think that is the most important part. I think that you have to have the mental strength to compete in it and then the physical abilities fall second. Check out the article if you ever get a chance: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-239-281--11867-0,00.html.

Relief

2007-06-22T12:33:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, I went to the dermatologist. I was suspicious of a spot on my shoulder (which went away) but then became paranoid about every single freckle and mole on my body. The only way to ease this paranoia was to see a dermatologist and confirm my fears. Since I was 16, I had gone tanning. I enjoyed the stress free atmosphere of a tanning bed and I thought being tan made me prettier and look skinnier. So I kept with tanning throughout high school, only really going in the fall, spring and some of summer. Whenever I would lay outside, I would refuse to wear sunscreen and just wanted my skin to be pretty. I am naturally freckly but I never really worried about the effects of tanning until the end of April. Since then I have stopped tanning, I wear sunscreen outside and I am finding other ways to be "tan". Anyway, I went to the dermatologist and had only one mole removed (I thought there was going to be many more). Luckily, the mole came back benign. When I heard the results, I felt this immense wave of relief go through my body. I felt like something had been lifted off my shoulders. But even though I am "in the clear" for right now, I am still taking my skin and its health seriously. I will continue to wear sunscreen, I plan to sell my remaining minutes at the tanning salon to someone else and I am going to be sure to get to the derm at least once a year to get a skin check. Although this doesn't have any direct relation to running, it does if you run in the sun, at all. All it takes is 10 minutes for the sun to exert any danger to your skin. And everyone, no matter what race, skin color gender has to be careful of the sun.

WEAR SUNSCREEN!!

Be sure to reapply. I have read too many articles on people who have had skin cancer, or died from skin cancer. The stats that I read last were that 1 in 3 people will get skin cancer in their lifetime. Another stat is that skin cancer is almost completely curable when caught early enough, so be sure to get your skin checked once a year. It could save your life. Now I will step off my soapbox.

Now onto something a little brighter. Last night I went on a short two mile run. It was so nice to get out there. The air was cooler, no humidity and it was even a little chillier than usual. But it was perfect for running. I started out walking at a pretty brisk pace and when I started to run, I was for some reason running really fast (well, fast for me). But I didn't feel the need to slow down or decrease my pace, I decided to continue with it and see how far I could go before I had to slow down. I ended up making it the whole way and not having to slow down. It felt good to be running that fast, although I know I have a long way before I will be able to do that for a long distance. I ended up doing the 2.3 mile route in 27 minutes with about 7 minutes (.3 miles) walking and doing the 2 miles in 20 minutes, or about 10 minutes a mile. I was SOOO happy with that.

Hopefully my weekend full of work goes good. I need to make a lot of money and I need to stop spending my money otherwise I will not have any left for school this year. I need to stop shopping and spending. Last night I spent close to $200 on clothing (granted I did need some of it). But I need to STOP!! I need to begin a budget and follow it. But I have tried it before, but I think this time I can do it for real.

Anyway happy running to all this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow is cooler during the day so I can get a run in mid afternoon, but we'll see.

Busy Busy Busy

2007-06-21T10:02:00.000-05:00

This past week has just flown by, and so has my summer. I can't believe it's almost July. About two more months until I move into my house for the upcoming school year. It feels like forever since I have written an entry, but it's mostly because not much has been going on. Last weekend I worked all weekend at both of my jobs, but got to enjoy a Saturday night at home having a campfire and talking with my family. It was a good night. Sunday I was happy to work and even felt good enough afterward to run 5 miles. I made good time (around 50-55 minutes) and my sister followed in her bike. She is really enjoying me being home because I motivate her to get out there and exercise. Monday I was going to bike, but my family and I had to attend a funeral. Then Tuesday I took my sister, her friends and my friends to Six Flags Great America and rode roller coasters all day. I was pretty proud of myself because I didn't eat unhealthy despite being tempted by deep fried stuff all day. The only thing I really splurged on was a bag of cotton candy I split with a friend. On the way home I was so tired that I couldn't make it back to Madison for work the next day. I ended up staying in a hotel in Fond Du Lac and then waking up early to drive to Madison. Although I hated spending $90 for a hotel stay, I figure it was worth it if it saved me a car accident or even my life.

Tonight I am scheduled to run 2 miles, but I might bump it up to three because I missed my 6 mile run on Tuesday (although I felt like I walked that much that day). But I'm excited for my run tonight, I haven't been out in a while and I am looking forward to it. On another note, I need to step up my healthy living goal. I am slacking on my eating habits, not paying attention to my health and not working out/getting exercise everyday. I am not managing my time very well, as I am wasting time watching TV when I could be reading, or working out or working on my to-do list. My sister is starting to watch herself and work out more and I think she will help keep me going. I know I can do it, it's just actually doing it. I don't like to use the word diet because to me that implies a temporary change. I am merely trying to change my eating habits by watching what I put in my mouth and how much I put in there. I also need to start going to the gym to lift weights. I think this will help my strength and my speed. I would really love to get down to a 10 minute mile again. That is my goal for my last 10K in August. I know it will take a lot of work, but I think if I have that race to look forward to I can motivate myself enough to do it. I also need to start watching what I'm eating again to make sure that what I put in is healthy and keeps me energized. I need to re energize my healthy lifestyle again. I also need to continue to post here more continuously because this really helps me to stay motivated. Thanks!!

Happy running to all : )

Genetics is a funny thing

2007-06-14T10:29:00.000-05:00

Tuesdays are my long run days. So after work I suited up and went out for my 6 mile run. Everything was going good until about 4 miles in and my knee started to hurt really unbelievably bad. My dad has always had bad knees. He used to be a football player in college and blew his knee out there. Then he began running and the doctor basically told him that if he continued to run he would have no more cartilage left in his knees. So he took up biking. Then just last year, he has one of his knees replaced and he's only 49. Needless to say, bad knees runs in the family. I have always had some problems with my knees while running, but nothing was ever permanent, it usually went away after a while. But Tuesday night was a different story. My left knee hurt so bad that I had to run on the grass for a while. Once it started to feel better I would switch back to the sidewalk, but then it would hurt again and I would move onto the grass again. I continued this for a while until the knee felt better. My knee is a funny thing. It didn't hurt right after the run, it didn't hurt the next day, but it will probably hurt when I run tonight.

I've been running consistently for about 6 months now (although this is my second go around, because I officially started last year in January) and I am struggling to see any benefits. I feel better and healthier and more in shape, but I don't see my body getting more defined and I don't think I have lost much weight. I know I need to start lifting weights again, but with gas prices so high and the gym I go to about 15 minutes away, it is difficult to start again. I would like to start lifting again or doing something to get more muscle definition, but I had been lifting for about 6 months without seeing anything significant. I know things like this take time, but seriously, I would like to see something soon. But on the other hand, as long as I know that I am healthier, I will be happy because when I feel good and feel healthy, I know that it doesn't much matter what I look like. Although it helps. Oh well, there's my little rant for the day.

Happy running.

I DID IT!!

2007-06-11T12:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I took part in my first 10K race in Green Bay, WI. There were 12,908 participants total making the race the 6th largest 10K in the nation. It was really awesome seeing how many people there were. They introduced all the star runners, most from Kenya, two of which one the race. The woman who won is the fastest road runner in the world and the guy who won has won several of the Bellin Run races before. I didn't get to see them start but I did walk past them as I was going to check in. That was pretty cool.

But I started the race at a good pace, finishing the first (and what seemed like the longest) mile in about 11 minutes. After the first mile was done I picked up the pace a little and continued to run at a solid pace that was a little under 11 minutes. Because my goal was to simply finish the race without having to stop and walk, I wasn't as concerned about my time. But along the route there were so many supporters. Some had their hoses out, or squirt guns and they were cheering everyone on. It was awesome seeing the support those people had for the runners who weren't at the start. It felt good.

Even though I wasn't running for a specific time, my goal was to finish somewhere under 1 hour 12 minutes. My final time ended up being 1 hour 7 minutes and 31 seconds. I was SOOO happy with it. I wasn't too happy with my 5K split (34 minutes) because I know that I could have done that faster, but I was trying to pace myself so I could make it the other half. But anyway, it was a good way to start out and now I have something to beat for the next race (which I start training for tomorrow).

I wasn't that sore after the race at all, I felt good, I blame it on the runner's high. I ended up taking a nap in the afternoon before going to work, but it felt good to get a little refreshed before working 7 hours.

Overall the race went good. It felt good to be in the midst with all those athletes and people who were like me and just running to run it. It felt good to pass people and see/feel how my training had paid off. My body was ready for the race and it felt good.

Now onto the next 10K, only a little over a month away!! Can't wait : )

Happy running.

My Dog Hated Me

2007-06-08T09:46:00.000-05:00

Last night was an interesting night for running. It was hot, humid and extremely windy (45-50mph gusts). But I was determined to get out there and do a quick little 2 mile run. I took my dog along and my sister came on her bike. The run went good, I ran at about an 11 minute mile pace and the wind wasn't too bad, it was tough, but good practice. But after the run I was just all sweaty and disgusting. I hate humid temps. My dog hates them too. It took him a good two hours to stop panting. I felt kind of bad for him, but he was so excited to go out that I couldn't say no. It was kind of hilarious too, around the mile and a half mark, he kind of gave up, looked to my sister on her bike and looked like he was trying to say "save me from this please". I laughed and told him to catch up.

My first 10K is tomorrow and I am a little nervous. My goal is to go through the race without stopping to walk. I have done 6 miles before, but never in a race atmosphere. I tend to pick up my pace in a race. But I will just have to work to pace myself. I heard on the radio today that they have over 11,000 participants preregistered. That's A LOT of people. No matter how I do or what my time is, I am mostly looking forward to the experience and seeing all the people there. They were talking how there are going to be some Kenyans and other world class runners at this event too. And they are planning on running about a 4 and a half minute mile. That's crazy. I couldn't even imagine ever being able to run that fast. It takes me 4 minutes to do a half mile. But it will be interesting to see them run, even if it is just at the start line as I glimpse ahead to the first group to go and see them take off.

To anyone else running this weekend, GOOD LUCK!!