New Year. Same Goal.

Some people make cute lists for things they want to accomplish as the new year approaches. As long as I can remember, my new year's resolution has been to lose weight. Even when I was young, that is what I would say to myself. This is the year I change. This is the year I start to work out and eat better.

Just like millions of people do every year, they make their resolution to lose weight. They tell them self they'll go get a gym membership and workout every day and make better food choices.

That's great that people want to make a change, but they need to put forth the effort to see the results. Your not going to see changes within a week. It takes about a month for you to see some sort of change in your body.

I have been on my weight loss journey for 2 years and I have still not hit my goal weight. I have done amazing things with my body that I never in a million years thought I could ever accomplish.

I have ran numerous 5k's.

I have ran a 10k.

I did a Mud Run for the first time.

I wrote a "lame" post that got the attention of many well known bloggers including Tony.

I have had also had times where I wanted to just give up on myself. Throw in the towel and say eff it.

But I refuse to give up.

I refuse to be considered "overweight". Just because the scale shows a certain number on it does not define you. I am still considered over weight, but let me tell you I am in better shape than a lot of people who are considered "skinny".

I DON'T WANT TO BE SKINNY. I WANT TO BE HEALTHY.

So my resolution is the same that it has been for a long time. Lose weight. 

I have about 20-30 more pounds I would like to lose. When I hit my goal weight in 2012, we will talk about new goals I want to accomplish. 

Happy New year.

I knew it was coming.

Weigh-In day always makes me a little nervous. I know it's a stupid scale but it is a way to help you see the progress from the week of hard work you put out.

It started out on Christmas Eve. My local gym that I go to workout out at was only open on Christmas Eve til 1 pm and then it was closed on Christmas Day. No problem, I get in a good work out Christmas Eve and then my rest day will be Christmas Day. So I head to the gym to find that all the ellipticals are taken, all the treadmills are taken. Grrrr. So being a little mad I decided to just hop on the arc trainer for 30 minutes.

As I'm on the arc trainer I forgot that my ear phones had gotten messed up from the day before and that the music I was trying to listen to wasn't coming through my ear phones clearly. It sounded like I was under water trying to listen to the song. Not. Cool. Music is a big part of my workout, if I don't have it I get bored and I can't even imagine working out with no music. So I suck it up and keep on the arc trainer, while I listen or at least try to listen to what ever nonsense was coming out of my head phones.

Then a woman comes and sit down in one of the bikes in front of me. That was not a big deal, the big deal is that she smelled like she had literally shit her pants and rolled around in it and then worked out. It was THE worst smell possible. I sucked it up and made it off of the arc trainer with out dying of oxygen deprivation and spotted an open elliptical.

I made a bee line towards it and got on it. I was going to do 30 minutes on the elliptical. I started and was about 10 minutes in when my music just was being a little bish and decided it didn't want to work at all. I kept going and by 15 minutes I was over it and decided I could only go 20 minutes and then peace out.

This was legitimately one of the worst workouts I've had. But it was still a workout.

Then over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I grazed a lot with the food. There was a lot of good food, we did have healthy stuff like tons of veggies but I knew I had done some damage.

The result of my Weigh-In showed. I gained 2.6 pounds. Not surprised but there's nothing I can do now but keep on going.

Merry Christmas!

I had a goal of being a 190 pounds by Christmas. I didn't reach it. I am 2.2 pounds away from being 190. I have not been 190 pounds since probably my early high school years. I am not mad at myself for not reaching my goal. I am proud that I have gotten this far. I am not doing anything crazy. Just eating less and better foods and working out for an hour. It as simple as that. I am not denying myself any foods. If I want a cookie, I'll eat it. But I wont go crazy and eat like 8 cookies. Moderation is key and i'm getting better at it.

I want to wish all my followers and fellow bloggers a Merry Christmas and happy holiday. Enjoy the time with the loved ones in your life. Be grateful for everything that you have been given. Splurge a little during Christmas but in moderation. Let's get ready to show 2012 what we're all about!

A NSV.

So I've been doing pretty good about going to the gym 5-6 times a week for about an hour. This past friday, I told myself that I should run a mile for a warm up and then I was going to go HAM on the elliptical. Well, at the YMCA where I work out there are four ellipticals. Three of the four were being used. I thought to myself, please let no one come in to take the last one, which so happened to be my fav. I was on the treadmill running at about a 6.5 mph, which for me is incredible. I was not out of breath while running it. I felt good, the legs felt good. I felt awesome. So as I was running an old man came in to walk on a treadmill. He was on there while I was running. I  got done running my mile and started my cool down.

As I started my cool down he got off the treadmill and headed for my elliptical. You gotta be effing kidding me! All the ellipticals were taken and I didn't really want to do anything else that day. So I improvised. I stayed on the treadmill and ran for 4 more miles. I incorporated some interval running into it as well. I was on the elliptical for over an hour. But I ran the 5 miles in 57:15. Never in my life did I think I would first off run, on a treadmill and especially for over an hour. I honestly amaze myself sometimes and that is one of the best parts of being on a weight loss journey. Proving to yourself that you can accomplish something that you never thought would be possible. Anything is possible.

When I got off the treadmill I felt like a champ. And I had the sweat covering my face and drenched on my t- shirt to prove it. Get out there and amaze yourself.

190 by Christmas.

Its sunday and I just wanted to get a post in before I go tan, workout and study for finals. This week is my last week and then bring on Christmas break! Hell yeah! Since New Years will be fastly approaching, I have been thinking about what goals I want to try and accomplish this coming new year. My first goal though, is to be 190 pounds or lower by Christmas. I really feel like I will be able to accomplish it. I have been going to the gym 5 times a week and eating very well.

I also want to start taking pictures of stuff I eat just like Nathan does. I really enjoy those posts because they let me take a look at what other different foods he is eating and still losing weight. Plus I also enjoy his sarcastic humor that he puts in those blog posts. Secondly, I want to start taking pictures of myself at each weight-in like Tyler does over at 344pounds. I did that earlier in my weight loss journey but just stopped doing it for some reason. Lastly, I am going to start keeping tack of my weight loss on my blog, as do most bloggers except for me. So, there you have it. Some short term goals that I will hopefully accomplish and get to doing.

Have a great sunday and GO PACKERS!

I'm on a Roll.

For the past 2 months I have not blogged. For the past 2 months I have been trying to figure out why I haven't been losing weight consistently. I joined Weight Watcher and thought the pounds would melt off. I was wrong. I tried eating every 3 hours to keep my metabolism going. I worked out for almost 2 hours some days thinking that by burning more calories, the weight would fall off. I was wrong. None of those things worked for me. I became so frustrated and upset at myself. Why wasn't I losing weight? There was a point where I thought maybe this was my body telling me it doesn't want to lose anymore weight. But I knew that wasn't possible. It had to be something that I was doing, that wasn't clicking.

I went to Australia the second week of November. While I was there I didn't work out, ate pretty decent and walked a lot. I also laid down a lot because of the time zone changes and because I was laying on a beach catching some rays.. but I digress. The week I came back from Australia was a recovery week from me, just trying to get back on the right sleeping pattern and back to reality. I didn't work out at all that week either and something clicked in my head. Since I wasn't working out, I didn't need to eat that much and ate healthy foods. Throughout that week, I ate when I felt hungry and drank a lot of water. The next week I decided to get my bum ass back to the gym, not because I needed to but wanted to.

I decided to step on the scale and see the damage that had been done from vacation and a week of not working out. The result was 3 pounds lost since the last time I stepped on the scale. I was shocked. So here is why I told you the above previous stuff. For the past 3-4 weeks I have been on a roll. I have been going to the gym and working out 5-6 times a week. I only go for a maximum of an hour. No more 2 hr killing myself shit. The thing that I have been doing is eating right. I eat healthy option food and only eat when I'm hungry. I have noticed that I have become a lot sooner than usual and that I just stop eating and go off to do other things. I have been drinking so much water, I should probably be living in water. But I don't deprive myself of anything. I had some cookies the other night. On thanksgiving I had two pieces of pie. If I deprive myself of something I want, I will binge. I also eat lots and lots of vegetables too.

I have lost 11 pounds so far. I am on a roll. The best thing though that I heard is from one of the ladies that works at the local YMCA where I work out. She's seen me every day that I go and workout there. Today she said to me, "Wow, you're really serious about this working out stuff aren't you?'', and I replied "Oh yeah!" and then she preceded to call me a "rock star". And to be honest you guys, I feel like a rock star. I finally found a routine that I can stick to and lose the pounds. Find what routine works for you and stick to it. If it doesn't work then try something else until you can figure out what the piece to your weight loss is.

Mud Run Recap.

Two Saturdays ago I ran a 5 mile Mud Run. It. Was. AWESOME! My mom and my aunt got some people together for a group to do the run. The mud run ran in heats, our heat was to start at 12:30. It was perfect because it was in the 60's and sunny. We wanted to wear something that made us look like a team so the idea was to wear pink. I took it to the next level- Hawaii shirt I found in my brother closet!

like my socks?

Our group for the Dirty Dog Mud Run: Pink Fire&Ice

The race had a great atmosphere, lots of people showed up just to watch people make a fool of themselves and get muddy, there was a radio station there playing music and of course lots of beer :) At any get together in Wisconsin, beer/alcohol is always there as well. When our heat started my sister and I started jogging ahead of the rest of the group because we wanted to run most of it. all through the course there were different obstacles that you had to run under, over, slide down, jump over ect. It was like boot camp minus the person yelling profanities in your face.

The first major obstacle was running up this huge hill and then getting to slide down into a mud pool. My sister and I had a disposable camera, funny thing I almost forgot how to use one of those. She wanted to have me take a picture of her coming down the slide so I took the camera and hopped on down the slide... this is what happens when you take a picture of yourself sliding down a huge hill..

Epic.

After the slide we started running with two other women that were in our group. We had a good pace going. 

We came upon our next mud pool..Guess what happened.

I rolled around in it.

Next we came upon more barriers to climb over and we had to run up this hill again, but this part of the hill was, I kid you not almost at a 90 degree angle. After more jogging we came to a station where we had to army crawl under this thing and then we had to jump over these tube like things. I'm sorry if this doesn't make any sense, but what you should know is that it was realllllly fun.

Just a random pic we decided to take.

 At the 3 mile marker they had a hydration station where you could get water and/or Beer. Which do you think I chose? If you said beer, you would be correct!

The next 2 miles went by rather fast. We rolled around in more mud and we had to crawl on our hands and knees through this muddy, hoola hoop type of obstacle. I tore up my knees on rocks. Totally worth it thought!

It hurt so good!

Just chillin in the mud.

We finished the race in just over an hour. It was the most fun I've had running 5miles. If you get a chance to do one with a group of people, DO IT! Your going to get muddy but you'll have some of the best laughs of your life. Plus, I got another FREE beer.

Id say it was a successful mud run.

So muddy.

The group :)

By the way, I've never wanted to take a shower as much as I did after this race.

Weight Watchers.

I decided to try Weight Watchers. There are a couple reason why.

1- I've seen tons of commercials for it over the past year.
2- I know a lot of people through blogging have done it and are big supporters of it (i.e. Tony )
3- Vanessa Hudgens looks ahhhhhmazing.
4- I've always wanted to try it.

So, last thursday I joined WW online. I like the website and how it has so many different sources to help you out. It is hard though trying to get used to to the points system- I'm still trying to get that down but I like how it keeps track of your points kind of like when you keep track of calories when you count them.

I also like that you can keep a blog on the community that it has. So now, not only do I have one blog but two.  It's nice that you can add people to your profile like facebook and build relationships with them. Honestly, when trying to lose weight you need all the support you can get. It's not easy and sometime it not fun.

My friend Sydney (twitter @sydneykuspa) has done weight watchers before and she seems to really like it. I told her that I was joining and her reply to me was " Weight Watchers is like a game". I like games and I like to win. So hopefully I end up playing this game called losing weight and winning against it. #twinning

Let the games begin.

Will Run for Beer, My 5 miler Recap.

I got up at the ass crack of dawn this morning to get ready for my 5 mile race in Cudahy, WI. I ate my usual pre- race breakfast of oatmeal with a spoonfull of peanut butter and drank some coffee so I could clear out my system, if you know what I mean. My sister and I were running the  race but my dad came a long to support us. We got to the park at about 7:10 am and had 50 minutes to spare. We got our race bibs, looked over the course and walked around a little bit.


As it got closer to race time more and more people were showing up and it was getting more hot and humid. My sister and I lined up to get a good spot to start. The announcer started the countdown and BOOM we were off. I wanted to find a good pace for the first mile and work off of that. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with my sister so I just told her to go. For the first 1.8 miles I ran a long side an older man that looked like he was in his 60s or 70s. We both had a good pace going.

The first water stop was at 1.8 and the weather was really getting to me already. I only took water and walked up the hill that lead into the park which is where we were going to be running. As the hill started to decline that's when I started running again. Running through the wooded trails of the park was nice because it was a lot cooler from the shade of the trees. It was also nice to look at the scenery as I ran.

During miles 2-3 I really struggled for some reason. I think I was running at a faster pace than I usually do. There were a couple places during these miles where it was a bit hilly but nothing to crazy. I kept up with this lady through those miles but at mile 3.8 which was the water station I lost her and had to find someone else to stalk. This time i took water and gatorade. I new I needed something more than water to keep me going til the end.

I chugged them both down and started running behind another lady. I saw the mile 4 marker and thought, your in the home stretch, keep this pace and you'll be good. At about mile 4.5 My legs felt like there were sandbags attached to them. I really wanted to walk but I didn't want to stop. Then there was this little baby hill I had to go up, so i decided I would walk up that. I got over the hill and kept walking a bit when an older lady started running next to me and said, "Let's go". I know that might not seem like a big deal but let me tell you, when you feel like you cant go anymore and you just wanna walk, its so awesome to see a fellow runner cheer you on. I started jogging with her for a bit and then as we turned the corner, she had to stop and walk. I kept running becuase I new I was so close to being done.

I turned into the park and saw the straight away to the finish. There was a man in front of me but he was running the 10 mile race so he veered off while I ran through the finish. When I looked up and saw the time that I was about to finish in, it surprised me because I thought that I was way over an hour. I saw 56:58 on the timer and I couldn't believe I ran it in that amount of time.

finishing my 5 miles

After the race they had banana's, water, cookies, cake and my favorite... BEER!

Miller Lite keg <3

Will run for beer. New motto.

My sister, Megan and I Post race.

Over all, the race was a great way to start the day off. 5 miles was tougher than I thought but I would totally do it again in a heartbeat. I wish the had more 5 mile races instead of 10k's. I also think that Beer should be served after every race :p

Happy Sunday everyone! Get out and enjoy the day.

5 miler on sunday.

So, like I said in my 2nd vlog I am beginning to run again. I haven't been running a lot since my 10k in May. I've basically been on the elliptical for cardio ever since then. At first I loved the elliptical, pumping out atleast an hour on it. But then each day, it got a little more boring.


I went running on tuesday and it felt sooooooo good to run. The weather also helped me out because it was perfect running weather. Slight breeze, sunny, not humid at all. I was browsing the web when I came across a 5 mile run that isn't too far from where I live. Here is the link 5 miler. What I really liked about the course that I am going to be running is that it is good for beginners and people who are trying to get ready for a half. Plus the course is flat and I will be running through a park and along Lake Michigan in Milwaukee.

I am a little nervous though, do you think it was too soon to sign up for 5 miles? I ran 3+ the other day so two more cant hurt right? I am excited to get my running mojo back. Anyone running 5ks, 10ks, halfs or fulls anytime soon?

Vlog #2 Check it out!

Im serious, hit me up with what you guys eat Pre and Post workout or running! I want some ideas. Tweet me, Facebook me, Email me, Leave a comment or do all of them.

Vegas Recap

I got back from Las Vegas early after noon on saturday. It felt good to be finally back into my comfort zone. I'm not saying that I wasn't comfortable in Vegas but they didn't have the best food choices to choose from. Also, I thought I was going to be able to work out every morning like in Orlando last year but it cost $25 PER DAY to use the gym them had. No thanks. We did a lot of sight seeing again in Las Vegas and what's good about Vegas is that you have to walk. A lot. Which I didn't mind because I knew I was still moving instead of sitting.

We went to the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop which is famous because it is known as Pawn Stars on TV. One of my favorite shows. Here are some pics!

My purchase from the Pawn Shop

We walked around the NSCA convention and picked up a lot of new products to sample. One of the products I am excited to try is by Muscle Milk. Its oatmeal that has Muscle Milk whey powder in it. In one serving there is 30 grams of protein! I hope it tastes good.

The rest of our vacation consisted of shopping, walking, swimming/ tanning and eating fancy foods and drinking expensive wine. I did not have a problem with that. Here are some more pics to show.

My sister is about to shank me.

VIP treatment, taking a limo to the hotel.

Walking around The Strip the first day.

*Side note: I was wearing a t-shirt that said "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy" and I kid you not I got complimented and even asked to take a picture by people because they thought it was the best thing.

My sis and I.

Being Silly.

Last night in Las Vegas and headed to the NSCA Banquet.

 

My sis, Mattan and I. His dad is the President of the NSCA.

 

 

 

 

 

My dad and I. <3

 

I think by taking a lot of pictures this time around, I really am seeing what my hard work is doing. I think I look good and I feel even better. I realize I still have work to do in order to lose about 20 more pounds but I am really pleased with myself this far. I know I say this all the time, but when you are losing weight- take pictures! It will show how much your body has changed and how much you progress.

Going back to Las Vegas weighing less!

This year we are going back to Las Vegas for a vacation. I have been there 2 times before. Both of those time I was pushing at being my heaviest weight. Here are some pics to show you.

I believe those are a size 18 shorts

I think I weighed about 225 here. Not flattering at all.

First year we went. I believe I was in the 220's. 

T shirt was a men's large. Shorts were a size 18.

Now here are some pics of last years vacation in Orlando, FL. This is after I lost weight.

Getting my black on B)

Lil bro, Sis and I going to din.

Me at my lowest weight. 196.

 

Take pictures when you lose weight. You may not see a difference in the mirror but when you have pictures you can look back and see how far you've come.

I'll be in Las Vegas from July 5-9. I get to gamble for the first time! Woohooo! I'm going to come back a winner and not a loser.

First Vlog, oh snap!

Enjoy this because it took longer to do then I thought!
Here is the link to it on Youtube

I see changes.

Brother's wedding Sept of 2010

Brother's wedding June 4, 2011

 

I see changes in myself even though the scale does not show them. I just got to keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully more changes will come. Never give up.

New focus and a big thank you.

For the past 6 to 8 months I have been maintaining my weight. I have been comfortable being 198 Lbs for some time but I really want to start focusing on losing weight again. I mean, I am very happy that I have maintained for this long without going back to gaining a lot of weight. I really want to get out of the 190's. My goal weight is about 175 pounds. The reason for that is because then I will be considered "normal" in the eyes of the BMI chart. I don't want to see overweight or obese anymore. I know some of you may think that just because the BMI chart says that you shouldn't believe it. Well, I'm sick of seeing those words. I have seen them my whole life. I want to be done with that and never consider myself either obese or overweight again.

In a month my second oldest brother is getting married. Obviously, I'm a bridesmaid and I want to lose about 5-8 pounds before his wedding on June 4th. Then in October, my cousin is getting married out in Colorado and I asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding as well. I want to be in the 180's by then. I know it is possible. I have been trying to focus on working out, getting my HR up and eating better while watching portions. I think portion control is my weak spot when it comes to weight loss. It's a struggle but I just need to keep working at it.

Overall, I am very happy with what I have accomplished in over a year since starting my life changing journey. I have inspired people to start running, lose weight, eat better and just take better care of themselves. It's an honor to be apart of others LCJ and I want to continue to thank all the blogger's out there that have came into my life and inspired me to keep going. I also want to thank my many friends and family members who've encouraged me to never give up and always believe in myself. You know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Recap of my first 10k run

On saturday afternoon my mom and I set out to La Crosse, WI to run my first 10k. The 10k I was running was a relay marathon. That means that a team of 4 people run about 6.2 miles each to complete a full 26.2 marathon. I did the relay with my sister, cousin and one of my sister's friends from school. When we got up to La Crosse, we drove the course so we would know our hand off stations for the chip and where we needed to be and run to. As we drove through my section of the course I was getting excited but then I would get nervous. I had never ran more than four miles. I started to second guess myself, thinking what the hell was I doing. Then I found out that my part of the course wasn't 6.2 it was 6.8 miles long. Almost 7 miles! Damn. My cousin's leg of the race was also over 6.2 miles, she ran about 6.95 miles. That is nothing to her because she has ran much longer distances before.

I didn't get much sleep the night before because I was very anxious to just get running. I got up at around 7:30 in the morning and just made sure I had everything ready. I got my breakfast and drank my coffee to wake me up for my run. My sister started the relay at 7am. She got done running a little before 8am and she passed the chip on to my cousin. When my sister got done, my mom and her came to get me at the hotel. She was encouraging me when they got to the hotel because this was also her first 10k.

We went to meet cheer my cousin on as she was finishing her leg of the course. We met up with Amy, the other girl who was running as well because my cousin was passing the chip off to her. We were waiting outside and it was a tad bit chilly. It was cloudy, windy and about 38 degrees.

Myself, My sister Megan and Amy

 

I had about 3 layers of clothes on because it was cold just waiting outside. My eyes were watering from the chilly wind that was blowing and my nose was running. Good thing I brought a ton of kleenex and put it in my pocket.

Freezing my butt off!

We finally spotted my cousin and we went to where the next passing of the chip would be. My cousin, Addy ran 6.95 miles in under an hour. That's freaking awesome! Amy was the next runner and she was off. We hopped back in the car and went to my drop off area so I could start mentally preparing myself for the run.

Family pic. My sis, cousin and myself.

 

We got to my drop off area and we were waiting in the car, trying to keep warm. An hour pasted and we spotted Amy coming to the end of her leg. I was starting to get butterflies in my stomach. I was actually going to run 6.8 miles! I started jumping around like crazy and was getting my ipod set onto 10K mode. Amy got to me and I whipped off the anklet that the chip was on, strapped it on my leg and was off.

Here we go!

I starting running and for the first mile kept up with this lady. She was going at a pace that was a little faster for me but I kept up. I think my first mile was about 8 something and I just told myself to keep running no matter what. The first 3 miles wasn't too bad. They had water stations about every 2 miles and they offered water or gatorade. I was nervous to take the gatorade at first because I thought it would give me side cramps. I decided to try it and it really gave me a boost until the next water station.

At mile 4 I was feeling pretty good but all of a sudden my left quad started feeling tight. I thought to myself please don't cramp up quad. Just work with me. It would feel tight on and off but for the rest of the race I new I couldn't go to fast without doing something to it. I stayed at the pace I was at and it felt good. I started to get a runner's high, my feet just keep moving and my legs felt good.

Into mile 4

My sister, mom and cousin stopped at a corner to cheer me on and to take a pic. It was nice to get cheered on. That's one thing I noticed about this 10k. So many people cheer you on. Runner's passing you cheer you on, neighbors outside are clapping for you and telling you that you can do it. People at the water stations are wishing you good luck. It's a good feeling especially when you feel like you can go anymore, someone says to you to keep going and that pushes you onto the next mile.

The last 3 miles were around the neighborhood of the UW-La Crosse, WI campus. It was nice to look at the houses and scenery while jamming out to my awesome playlist I made. I hit the 6 mile marker and was so happy. My baby toe on my right foot was starting to hurt. I actually though it might be bleeding but I kept on running. As I got closure to the finish line, the rest of the team came out to meet me and run into the finish line together. I thought I didn't have anything left but I ended up sprinting through the finish.

Running through that finish line, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Just two years ago if you were to ask me if I would every run for fun or do a 5k or a 10k, I would have laughed in your face and said no. I am learning that it is ok to push yourself when you think your body can't do it. I am believing more and more in myself and my ability to run. Not only did I run 6.2 miles, I ran farther. My unofficial time was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Our total team time was under 4 hours. That was great for our team.

My legs felt like jello and I ripped my shoe off to see if my baby toe was gone. Luckily for me it was still there with a major blister on it. I chugged a bottle of water and went to get some food. They had so much food their because it was donated by a local food store. Everything I ate tasted sooo good!

Team Body by Nitka... Notice I am holding a brat.

Overall, this race proved to me that I can run farther than 3.1 miles. I can run almost 7 miles and who knows how far I may go next... 13.1? I believe I am going to run another 10k in the summer at a little shindig called Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI. Google it and maybe I'll run it with you ;) It was great to run this race with friends and family also. You don't always have to run by yourself. Find someone to do a race with and have fun while doing it. If you don't think you can run, trust me you can. I hated running and now I'm running more in my life than I ever have.

Getting in the zone for my first 10k..YIKES!

On Sunday, May 1st I will be running my very first 10k. I am excited and yet very nervous. I have been training for it but not as well as I wanted to. I got to a point in training where I just got sick of running. Now that it is race week, I 'm having all these voices run through my head. "You should of done this and that". "What if I can't make it all 6 miles". "What if my ipod doesn't have enough battery?" What if I have to walk?" I don't know why I'm thinking of all these little things but I try to keep reminding myself that this is my first 10k and that all I want to do is finish.

This race is actually a marathon relay that I am doing with 3 others. We will each run about 6.2 miles. I was chosen to be the one who crosses the finish line and I think that will be so awesome. I have ran in numerous 5k's over the past year and I am getting that same feeling I got when I ran my very first 5k. I would love to hear comments and advice from you guys about my 10k. How do you calm yourself down and get pre-racing gitters out? I could use some encouragement, so don't be shy.

La Crosse, WI Fitness Festival

The link above is where you can get more information about the marathon relay that I am running.

Oh, and by the way- I cannot wait to put one of these bad boy's on my car next to my 5k sticker

A Journey Through Pictures.

 

 

Let go of the past and go for the future. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you imagined. - Henry David Thoreau 

Change is possible...I've got the pictures to prove it.