If you knew me in college, you knew that I hardly ever stepped foot in the gym. When I did, my workouts usually consisted of 30 min on the elliptical, usually at low intensity so I could talk to my friend on the machine next to me. I still remember the first time I ran a full mile on the treadmill without stopping to walk. I was almost 22, a senior in college, and in my opinion it's really sad that it took me so long. I guess the pizza and beer diet I adopted wasn't very conducive to running. It sure was for packing on an extra 10-15 pounds though!
When I graduated and moved back to Ohio, I realized how unhappy I was with how I looked. No longer did I have my best friends/sorority sisters to say "you look fine, have another beer" and keep me distracted from making healthy choices. We lived it up those last few months because we knew I'd be moving away and it would never be the same. So I came home, chubby and sad to be without my sisters, and finally decided to make a change. I joined Weight Watchers for a few months and dropped the first 5. With funds limited, I gave up the WW for a gym membership and eventually a trainer. There went another 5 lbs. The trainer focused on building muscle only, and though I liked how ripped my arms and shoulders looked, something was missing. Stopped seeing the trainer, still did some mild cardio, and took a lot of group classes.
Then in November, I got the crazy idea that changed my life. I was out to dinner with some girlfriends to welcome home a friend from Cinci for the weekend. She's always been fit, as a UC rower and former dancer. She started talking about the half-marathon she was either planning to run or had just ran (can't remember anymore). And that was it, suddenly I thought maybe I could do that too. Once the seed was planted, it grew and grew and became all I could think about. I went home and googled half-marathons and discovered the lovely CLE Marathon/Half was 6 months away, and calling my name. I didn't end up actually registering until January, but I started running immediately. 2-3 miles max to begin with, and slowly worked my way up using a training plan until I was at 10+ miles before the race.
Finishing my first half was one of the best things I have ever done. I felt so much pride in myself that I accomplished something I worked so hard and so long for. I didn't ever want to stop feeling that.
Now, real life has gotten in the way. With two jobs, 4 grad school classes, and 7 hours spent working in the counseling center every week, there isn't much time to run and train the way I'd like to. I ran my second half 2 1/2 weeks ago, and although I beat my first time by 40 seconds, I struggled. The Columbus Half is in 3 1/2 weeks, and I've had high hopes of beating my PR, but with the way my schedule is, I don't know how realistic that is.
So I'll be using this to talk about life, record my workouts and discuss how I'm feeling leading up to Columbus and beyond. Hoping for some motivation and accountability from knowing what I do (or don't do) is public knowledge for anyone to see. Hello if anyone is actually reading this!
Happy Running!
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