Rainy Day Run

Yesterday morning I planed on waking up early to go on a run, I kept checking the time and saying to myself I can sleep in a little bit more. I finally got up put on my running clothes and played with my nephews while looking out the window periodically, watching the rain, trying to think of reasons why I shouldn’t go outside.

As I was complaining about going out in the rain my mom said to me, “what are you going to if its pouring the day of your race?!” I am grateful for my mom and I am so glad I started this blog; it is a great way for me to be held accountable. And if I really want to do this Ironman I need to stay true to my training everyday no matter the weather.

So I headed out, I was soaked within minutes. The first few minutes were tough and I tried to convince myself to cut the run short but after about a mile I was feeling fine. Half way through I took this picture:

And after this picture I started up running again and it was HELL. If you lived in a humid place before then you will know what I am talking about when I say that I was absolutely FREEZING. It is not as cold here as it is in Utah, it is a different cold, it is piercing, I don’t even know how to explain it.  Plus I was soaking wet and I felt like my clothes weighed ten pounds.

The last mile I was struggling big time, I really wanted to start walking. I put my hands on my hips and almost came to a walk when I my brother sped by in his car and honked at me. It was a nice little reminder to keep pushing it. And I made it back having hit my goal for the day. And this is how soaked my hair was:

Christmas Day Run

I don’t think that I have ever run or worked out EVER on Christmas Day. But this year I did.

We woke up early as usual and opened gifts. It was a small group of us. Just my parents and my second oldest brother, his wife and twin boys. That is small compared to having the other 4 siblings their spouses and 5 nieces/nephews. I sure did miss them.

After the gifts were open I went to change and when I came out the twins were hanging out in their diapers just as happy as can be. Now it has taken a while for them to warm up to me because they have only met me twice in their 14 months on this earth so any second I get to have them play with me and them enjoy it is precious. As I played I couldn’t help but try to convince myself not to head out on the run.

 

But I knew that if I made an excuse today I will make those excuses often. So when they went down for a nap I headed out.

It was nice to be outside running, it was beautiful and surprisingly not very cold.

I loved running downtown New Jersey. It is so different than Utah, the architecture, the feel, the weather, even the very few people that I saw outside. I learned something new about myself, I really am not a typical tourist, I could care less about seeing the sights, what I LOVE is meeting the new people at those sights. I wish that I could just travel the world and interview people. Maybe I could just run across the world and along the way stop and talk to random people to hear their life stories. 

Sub 4 Santa and The Bike

You know when you are excited to do something nice for someone and then when your time is limited you start to resent the idea? Well, I am sure many of you are way better than me but I felt that way right before my boss and I left to Walmart with an employee to help him with groceries.

I know, it is horrible. Sadly, I was selfish and thinking about how I wouldn't get home till 8 and then still have to go to the gym and ride the bike for an hour.

As I waited at work for them to get done with their things I could feel the anxiety growing in me. I tried so hard to keep it down but I was not feeling very selfless or Christlike. I knew once we got there, and as we started that I would feel different. There is something about moving forward in service even when you don't want to. Eventually, if you allow it, the spirit will take over and you will be able to put your focus in on serving someone else.

Our employee has 7 kids and lost a lot of money in real estate. He is such a good guy who has been dealt a few tough cards and with that many mouths to feed you can only imagine how much of his pay check goes to feeding them.

My boss Ryan was so great, he just started to give good ideas of meals they could cook and kept telling me and my coworker to grab more bags. And this is what we came up with:

You could just feel the gratitude from his heart as we kept putting more and more food into the cart. I kept thinking about what it would be like to watch his wife's face when he got home. It was so neat being able to be apart of this experience with him. 

I am so grateful for service and the joy it can bring into our lives and I know sometimes it isn't easy to take time away form our work, plans or goals but I know that it is worth it.

I still made it to the gym and hopped on the bike for an hour! It was not easy and I was already feeling it when I had this much time left:

The thing that annoyed me most was after when I saw a friend and he said; "Have you already worked out? You don't look like it." I had just ridden the bike for an HOUR! Now, either I could have pushed it a lot hard or I just wear a good work out well :)

The Wedding Dress

Tomorrow my little sister gets married.

I always had a feeling like she would beat me to the alter and she has. But of course I get to take some of the credit, because I set them up. I think I'll save that story for another time.

Last night after a day filled with family time and a super fun Bridal Shower my sister and our roommate drove home. We were talking about her wedding dress and my roommate asked to see mine (My wedding date was Feb, 18th of this year but we never made it).

With excitement I said "Why don't I put it on!" So I ran to my room and excitedly got it out (I fell in love with the dress years before when I was shopping for a dress during my first "engagement"). I was sadden when I couldn't zip it up all the way, I swear I am smaller than I use to be. I thought maybe if my sister would help then we would be able to get it up but there was no hope.

I still put it on and modeled it for my sis and roommate. I love that dress and can't wait to wear it one day.

The sad thing is that apparently I am bigger than I was! Granted, the dress wouldn't zip right by my shoulder blades so I just keep telling myself it's because I am getting bigger muscles.  Either way this is going to have to have be another focus. I would think if I am training for running 26.2 miles, 112 mile bike, and 2.4 mile swim then I should slim down a little right?

Now, I don't want to really go on a strick diet or become obsessed with the idea of being tiny (I spent too many years worrying about that stuff and vow not to let myself get wrapped up in that). My plan is to enjoy food but not over eat, drink a soda once in a while but not everyday, enjoy a scoop of ice cream here in there, and eat out once in a while. Who knows maybe a few ideas will come up over the next several months of how to get over some food addictions or what but for now I am just gonna make some small changes.

So the next goal for the year, to fit back into my wedding dress and hopefully wear it sometime soon after ;). How has some of your weight loss ideas worked for you?

The Starting Line

I tend to start a lot of things, and don't seem to finish much. Two broken off engagements, 6 jobs since I graduated (I did Graduate college though, I'd say thats finishing something pretty big), the countless weight loss attempts, growing my hair long, I even set daily goals for the gym but often stop with only 5 min left on a run.

I don't want to be that girl anymore. I am tired of starting things and not finishing them. With year 2013 rolling around I have decided this is going to be a year of finishing. A year where goals will be set and WILL be accomplished.

I decided to set a pretty tough goal to start, the Cozumel Ironman in December of 2013. This is where you can follow me as I take this LONG and TOUGH journey to finishing something I have had on my mind the last few years.  It is time for me to stop talking the talk and walking the walk. I figure I am giving myself enough time as well as a way to hold me accountable (the blog). Other goals will be set and accomplished, and I am sure there will be many failures along the way.

Since I have yet to finish many things what is going to be different this time around?

I don't really know, and until we reach our endgoal we don't really know. The cool thing is that we still have so much time to start over. And today I have started over.

Today I ran 5 miles in 60 min. Way slower than I would like but I just want to start building stamina right now. I haven't run 5 miles all at once in a while so I was happy I did today. And guess what I said I would run for 60 min and I did, straight through! 

And then I treated myself:

SO here is to a NEW Starting Line. We all have to start somewhere and today I started. How about you? Why not start now instead of waiting till January 2013. We miss out on a lot of time waiting for the next monday, the next month or the new year. 

Let's get to our Starting Line TODAY.