Journey to 5k - on the road again

C'mon everyone, sing it with me "On the road again....just can't wait to get on the road again". Oh don't act like you never jammed out to a little Willie Nelson. So as I typed this out and was singing, yes I sure was singing (just like Willie Nelson too), I thought to myself that I should save this opening for after the Color Run which is in 25 days. Then I said screw it, I can use it twice. Not like anyone will remember, except maybe Ms P but she will be alright. With that being said I have to remind myself, even though I didn't quit per se:



I didn't necessarily give up but I do have a habit of not being truly dedicated. Sure I want it but I just don't have the drive and discipline to stick with a routine for long periods of time and by long periods of time I mean anything more than 1 week. The longest workout routine I've done (aside from when I used to go to the gym to see the hot trainer, ahhhhh Bingham) is Windsor Pilates. I love that video but even that is back to collecting dust. I've tried several different workout videos throughout the years including my most recent purchse of Hip Hop Abs but nothing can keep my drive and attention for more than a week. So let's just cut to the chase, yes I can hear you all telling me that I'm rambling as usual.

Once again I had every intention of going to the gym today. And then it began, fate working against me. Even though our wellness walk coordinator at work was off again today I decided I was going anyway. Even though my girl that sits behind me was the only one that went we did it. I went to change my shirt and realized that I left my gym bag at home. Went on the walk and felt so gross for the rest of work because I worked up a sweat, then again I was wearing a sweater type top. Then I get a phone call that I have to skip the gym because I need to pick up my daughter from cheer class because her ride had a yoga class to attend. It just wasn't in the stars. So instead I came home, ate a grilled cheese (remember, I don't diet) and decided that 30 minutes later I was going for a quick run. Why did I only wait 30 mintues you ask? Because it was already 8pm and it was going to be getting dark outside soon. Now I'm no fool, I know better than the run outside in the dar. That's just asking for trouble. So I convince my daughter to run with me. She was more than willing because she knows I usually end up walking more than running. So on our way out the door she tells me "How many laps are we doing? Til you get freakishly moist?" My response was basically "hush up, let's go". I laughed for a few minutes as we walked to the park because it was funny to me. Freakishly moist...she must be trying to nicely tell me that I sweat a lot. Now let's not get overly excited here. I only did slightly over a mile with a very terrible time. However, tonight wasn't so much about time but working on my breathing. I wasn't able to jog the far distance I did on my birthday but I did try. Perhaps that grilled cheese and water sloshing around in my stomach were working against me. About 3/4 around on the 2nd lap I did feel slightly as though I was going to be sick. I sucked it up and walked a bit more. This time I tried to run uphill again. Yes, this time I actually mean run. Tonight I worked on sprinting as well. Now, let's settle down I know it is very exciting to hear that I did more than a jog but it was short lived. Remember I only did slightly over a mile tonight. It was funny while we were walking the last part of the park to complete our "work out" for the night. My daughter looks to me and I take out my headphones and she tells me "Mom, were you sprinting?". I respond with "yes" and a slight giggle because I was kind of shocked myself. She then proceeds to say "I thought so, I had to sprint my heart out to keep up with you!" That warmed my heart to hear her say that. I am going to pay for it though because my legs are in some pain right now. Even after stretching. What is that thing about muscle memory? Yes I was informed about it this weekend and that is what brought on the spints. My muscles sure remembered how much they didn't like sprinting.

Now let's get to even more exciting business...




That's right! Today has completed day 31 and tomorrow will officially mark 1 month that I have been smoke free. Never thought this would ever happen in the rest of my lifetime and here it was a total fluke. I had no desire to quit, my response to people used to always be "I'm no quitter!" And look at me now. *sings like Chris Brown - look at me now....look at me now....I'm a quit-ter* Ok I know I'm lame sometimes but I crack myself up so whatever. Oh, if you haven't noticed, today I really didn't have any notable mood swings. I'm quite baffled by it all. Perhaps I just need to blog about it. During the wellness walk at work I was talking about it and how I can't figure out what sets me off and how I just want to respond to people who ask me "What did I do to piss you off?" with "YOU EXIST!" Ok don't yell at me for using punctuation more than necessary in that last sentence. It's the truth though, if you ask me stupid questions you will get stupid answers. I have been quite pleasant today though. I'm so confused but I'm sure not going to complain about it. I'd much rather have days like today than to be moody and unpredictable. GO ME! Ok I think I may have a piece of cake to celebrate now. (Since I didn't get any after my "birthday lunch" at work today).

Journey to insanity...and I don't mean the workout

OH BOY! I don't even know where to begin tonight so we'll go wtih the shorter update first.

I hadn't gone for a run/jog/walk since Wednesday. That was 5 days ago. Today is Monday. Sure I had every intention of going over the weekend but that just never happened. So today being Monday was a running day. We didn't have any rains nor did it look like it might rain. You know what that means right? Yes, it was hotter than the devil's armpit this evening. There was no wellness walk at work and I really had no desire or motivation to go around that track tonight. Believe me, I really did contemplate sitting in the car while the girls ran. If I had my ipad with me I would have been more than happy to stay in the car and read but fortunately I didn't think that deep into it so I didn't take it with me. Needless to say I went down to the track, stretched a little bit and began my walking warm up lap. Trust me, I was whining a lot inside my mind because I just didn't want to do it. After my warm up lap I stretched a little bit more. Then off I went. The girls were doing 2 miles today and I couldn't do less than them when I'm supposed to be motivating the girls that always lag behind. So I started my nifty phone application and began my 2 mile journey. Telling myself over and over running the straights, walking the curves, running the straights, walking the curves. I caught up with the usual girls lagging behind and they kept up with me for a bit then I pressed on and they walked again. I was doing great, kept my 12:30 mile for the first mile. Then it happened 2 laps later. A side stitch. Those are the worst. I ended up walking the last two laps which equaled 2.1 miles and I called it quits. Not to shabby considering I was trying to convince myself how much I really didn't want to do it. I will tell you one thing I did learn from this 2 mile trek tonight, it burns when you get sweat in your eye! It is like opening your eyes in the ocean. Oh man it was burning when I was stretching and of course I was sweating like a pig at this point. Did I mention it was over 90 degrees tonight while we were at the track and there was no cloud cover to cool it down whatsoever. To the point where at 8:45pm my car said it was 94 degrees outside.



I did feel like today I was working against myself and moving backwards instead of making progress even though I felt I ran more, aside from those last 2 laps with my side stitch. I must say though, as I was walking I suddenly got passed by a guy running with his dog. I thought of my friend and her NOT being the track rule enforcement agency and just avoiding the dogs on the track. Anyway, this dog motivated me a bit. I tried to run that next straight because if the dog could I could to. Now let me add that this was no normal dog. At first look he was a pretty all black almost mutt looking kind of dog. But after watching him for a few seconds I realized this dog was running on 3 legs. He kept up with his master for several more laps, as they lapped me again. I wanted to ask if I could take a picture for my blog but I was too pooped to go around the track again. I hope I see them at the track again.

Ok now can someone please explain to me why I feel like this:



For over a week now I have been a super villain. I will just say that the logo would be a superman one with a "B" instead of an "S". Now in grammar you are supposed to put "an" if the next word is a vowel and "a" if the next word begins with a consentant. Now why did I just put "an 'S'"? I may need to relearn some grammar. Oh! Yes, I was talking about my mood swings. HOLY MOLY! You would not believe the way I am lately. It's absolutely ridiculous and if I say that then it must really be bad! I am on day 30 without a cigarette and while I have minimal to zero cravings my mood swings are out of control. I can't recall being this moody before day 21. Ever since for slightly over a week now I can be fine and laughing one minute then the next I'm like a raging pitbull ready to foam at the mouth. Ok, maybe that was slightly drastic but you get the point. Tonight after we left the track we went to Subway and I was ok then suddenly I was ready to jump over the counter and drop kick the lady making the sandwiches. I feel as though I am bi-polar now. Not that I know what that feels like but I could only imagine. I am up and down all day long. To the point where at work I just listen to my music and hope that noone asks me anything because I don't know what mood they are going to catch me in. It kind of scares me at some times. I am blaming this on my quitting smoking and me just being a late bloomer. I even deactivated my facebook account. In case you were wondering. What makes matters worse is that I can't even pinpoint what sets me off. I can't even answer a simple text message sometimes because I'm just that cranky that I will snap. I just feel that if I knew more about what sets me off then I could control it better. I am really understanding more and more each day how my friend would think "How can people who don't smoke be happy?" Either way, I have gone 30 days without a cigarette and I feel great otherwise. I just don't like the feeling that I am going clinically insane more and more each day.

One of these days I will get it together, but just not today.

Journey to 5k - Bart Simpson style

So I didn't run today. I know, what a let down to all my readers. Please don't be so sad that you want to go and slit your wrists because I'm such a let down. I did, however, go on the wellness walk today at work and we were closer to shaving off another minute from our time. Close, but no cigar. While I did take my gym bag to work, which included shorts and capris I might add, it just wasn't in the stars for me. I would really like to make it into the gym to see how I do with some strength training but I'm not sure when and if that will ever happen. I truly have zero discipline with this entire work out thing. I am more consistent than I've been since we stopped going to the gym at lunch a couple year ago though. My intentions after work were to wait another hour for it to cool down outside, because I'm not a fan of heat stroke, then go for a run at the park. Then I got suckered into watching the Olympic opening ceremonies. Before I knew it, it was dark outside and I'm not a fan of getting kidnapped either. Sorry people, I really do not have a death wish. At that point I was no longer motivated either. Hopefully I will make some progress tomorrow and Sunday. Wishful thinking I know.

One thing I have been consistent with is my quitting smoking. It is still very strange to me. I have now been 27 days smoke free. I guess I do have discipline in something after all. There are still some days that feel like I have smoked a cigarette. Or I will wake up with the taste of one in my mouth. Gross, I know, but at least I'm being honest with myself. I haven't noticed much with improved taste and smell but maybe that is just me. Did I mention that another friend decided to quit smoking also? I have heard stories about her quitting and being Satan but thankfully I haven't encountered that. I'm proud of her though. She was there on the 3rd day when I struggled big time and I was ready to tackle her and steal her pack of cigarettes. We're behind you girl! If I can do it, anyone can!

There, I hope you are all happy that I blogged even though I didn't do squat worth blogging.

Journey to 5k - a day late and a dollar short

So I really wanted to blog this yesterday while everything was still fresh in my mind but I didn't have internet last night and we all remember that one time I tried to blog from my phone. So instead I just waited until tonight. Now let's keep in mind that I'm blogging for yesterday not today. Today I took a rest day. Yes I know, I take a lot of those but whatever, poop happens. Ok Ok, I'll tell you why. Today I woke up late, no, like very late to where even my timeclock at work said I was late. I woke up, my phone was completely dead so I didn't hear my alarm and I have no internal body clock. So I showed up to work late and decided I needed to get some work done instead of going on the wellness walk today. Normally I don't care but it would have been literally me going for the walk 30 minutes after I got there. So no walk today. Tonight I wanted to go to the gym because I'm debating on signing up for the Dirty Dash. I really would like to do this but I feel that I would need to add some strength training to my already sketchy routine. So anyway, I wanted to go to the gym and I didn't because instead I went to buy me a birthday gift. Yes, we all remember that my birthday was on Monday. Well, only my girl who bought me my new workout gear and my nephew who sent me an edible arrangement are the only people who got me anything. NO! You are never too old for birthday gifts. So I went to go get my gift. Oh and Tuesday I didn't do anything in the evening, just the wellness walk at work. So anyway I'm doing the Truffle Shuffle because I bought me an expensive birthday gift.



Ok so yesterday was a really rough day for me. I knew it was a run day so I grab my gym bag on the way out the door for work. Went on the wellness walk (as usual) and for the 2nd day in a row we have been a minute faster than usual. I was pretty stoked about that. Did I mention that it was also the "company pot luck" for the July birthdays at work? So we all know that means I pigged out! Cupcakes, Cookies and Brownies...OH MY! I only had what I ate at lunch and then a cookie and a cupcake in the afternoon. Yes I know it's bad, no I don't care.

I received some disturbing news. Ok it was good news but I was very disturbed by it and I was quite angry for most of the day. I won't get into the personal stuff though.

So let's get to the run....ok so it's really more of a slow jog/walk. Either way I went to the track straight from work. Oh let me back track for a moment. In my gym bag I forgot to change out what I had in there and I was stuck wearing shorts. I am not comfortable wearing shorts anymore like that. I'd much rather get my legs more toned before I do that. Oh well, I had no choice. It was either that or run in my jean capri pants. So I go for my warm up lap. I had decided that I needed to use my aggression to try to improve my running. Needless to say it didn't really work. I did my warm up lap, oh that's right I already said that. Stretched, then began my laps. Being that part of my rough day was that I somehow deleted all the music and videos off my ipod I had to listen to the couple mixes I had on my phone. Thank goodness I had those. I decided to run 3.1 miles aka 5k. I was stoked after because I thought my time was faster but when I was comparing it was actually about a minute slower. I didn't run as much as I should have but I kept getting winded too fast and I don't go at a fast pace whatsoever. But I did it none the less.

I had a thought this morning as I was rushing to get ready for work that I have noticed I seem to do better when I attempt to run in the mornings versus in the evenings after work. No, I don't have any desire to wake up early to go before work. We have already established that I am not a morning person. Just an observation. Monday I ran a lot further than I ever have in one stretch but with needed to burn the extra energy after work I couldn't. Interesting. I will have to remember to test this theory out.

Yesterday marked 1 month until my first 5k. This is the Color Run which I've been told that the reviews are that it is hard to actually run this one but I want to try to run some of it at least. I better get my butt in gear!

I'm beginning to ramble now so until my next run...

OH wait, my friends blog got me excited yesterday morning too. I'm so happy she is publically admitting she "may" add the extra mile and start doing 5k. I have offered her a deal, for those that don't know, that if she goes the extra mile I will fly out and run a 5k with her. Now mind you she is in NY right now but it will be the 5k of her choice. I think this will motivate me more once she picks the 5k so I know that I really have to get serious about training.

Journey to 5k and a day of birth

Well Happy Birthday to me! Oh, don't tell me that none of you don't ever wish yourself a happy day much less a happy birthday.



So I have had a guilty conscience because I "planned to not run" over my 4 day weekend. Thanks a lot! Sheesh. So I woke up this morning and thanked the man up above for another day, took a deep breath and debated laying in bed for 2 more hours. I then looked at the clock again and thought to myself that if I got out of bed, got some clothes on and didn't waste anymore time I'd still have time for a quick jog/walk before it got too hot outside. After all, I was blessed with another day and I had said the night before that my only plan was to enjoy each moment and every breath. So I throw on some shorts and a tank top and pull my hair back into a ponytail. Naturally this took me almost an hour from the time I woke up. I grab my iPod and crap....it's battery life is just about non-existent. So I turn on my laptop and connect my phone. I quickly drag over a couple of upbeat DJ mixes that I have and proceed outside. Yes, I have an android phone now (I still miss the blackberry) and NO I have never put any music on it, that's what my iPod is for...DUH!

By the time I make it outside it is 10:11am. Yes I looked at the clock to get the precise time. Don't judge me. I decide to walk the first lap to warm up. I really want to work on my endurance to be able to run further versus faster. So I walk almost the entire first lap. When I get to the corner of the park that leads uphill I decided to jog it. I really do have to get in the habit of saying jog instead of run because there is nothing "running" about it. I start and head uphill....around the corner....around the next corner and to the next. Wait, did I just really jog almost an entire lap around the park? I sure did! I about high fived myself but was in such shock that I did it. I walked the last stretch of that lap with the biggest grin on my face. Of course, the next lap I wasn't so successful but baby steps (so to speak). I again attempted to run uphill and made it just that stretch of the park. JOG! Dangit....Jog. I attempted to JOG. SO anyway I alternated here and there between my fast paced walk, well what I consider fast paced, and a slow jog. Why do I always type job and have to correct it to jog? So I went around a total of 4 laps, which if you remember according to the park sign would equal 2 miles. However my nifty phone application registered it at 1.60 miles. I ran...I mean jogged the last stretch uphill again and then decided to just end it because it was getting super hot and I really wasn't interested in getting heat stroke on my birthday. Now mind you when I say uphill I don't mean like a serious hill, it is more of a slight incline but when walking or attempting to jog it sure does feel like a hill. Now I was disappointed in my time but I was super happy about being able to "jog" further than I ever have around the park so I didn't let it bring me down too much.

Running tonight was cancelled again due to the rain and lightning we had. So I was glad that I did decide to run this morning. Otherwise my guilt conscience would have nagged at me for being a slacker.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that it has officially been 3 weeks since I last had a cigarette. I honestly didn't believe that I would make it this far. Perhaps that played a key part in my being able to run farther, maybe not. All I know is that I really need to keep it up. A few things that are definitely apparent since I've quit is that I wake up slightly easier now, I don't wake up with mucus (gross I know) to gag on, my mouth feels so much cleaner throughout the day, I am consistently concerned about my breath, I am beginning to get cranky easier. Oh yes....the crankiness is definitely setting in. Oh boy! It doesn't take much to set me off either. It took me almost all day to figure out why I was literally Super B***h because I didn't attribute it to being from me quitting smoking. I guess it really did take 3 weeks for me to get this side effect. Thank goodness my friends and family love me and understand. It's kind of odd to me that some people still didn't/don't know that I have quit smoking, much less for 3 weeks now. I do take pride in letting people know that I am offically now a quitter. I had always said that I was no quitter and why would I quit smoking. So GO ME! Well it is time for me to end my birthday on a good note and dream sweetly. ******* One last note: I did get a new "sweatband" for my birthday from my "goodest" friend. So my other good friend can get a laugh out of that one. Hopefully it will fit my head. No I didn't wear it this morning, I was waiting for tonight's JOG! haha

Journey to 5k ... let me be!

Man, y'all just won't let me win! I woke up this morning and even though I had the day off I didn't sleep in but an extra hour or two. Since it was still before 10am I got up and went for a quick run/walk. The birthday girl even went with me. So Ms. P, yes I did run, this was my one day. And if I want to plan not to run during the "birthday break" I will.

I only did slightly over 1.5 miles but it was better than nothing. In the course of the several laps around the park I saw a boxer, 3 huskies and some other kind of mutt. They just let us be...granted they were on leashes like good owners do when they walk their pets. Why did I mention the dogs I saw you ask? Well my friend always seems to have a run in of some sort or another with dogs. I'm beginning to thing she is scared of them and she only got one just to protect her.

Oh and some old man does get an honorable mention because naturally my head doesn't like to hold headbands. They always come off. So today, as usual, it popped off and I was just going to look for it on the next lap. I figure if someone picked it up before I came across it again then they needed it more than me. Anyhow, I saw it and my graceful self almost fell when trying to be slick and scoop it up without stopping my movement. As I was standing back up to continue the steady pace of a jog that I was doing this old man said something. Well, I had my headphones on and the music turned up so I just pressed on and ignored him even though I could see his mouth moving. Don't call me rude...I know that's what all of you are thinking. My daughter said later on that he asked her if she could out run me. I asked her if she told him yes and she said she just ignored him. That's my girl. I have taught her well and she knows not to talk to strangers.

Ok that is all for today, off to partake in birthday activities.

Journey to 5k - birthday break

So I'm not really interested in hearing that I shouldn't be taking a break for this many days. I really did mean to blog last night though. In the meantime let's sing...

Gimme a break...Gimme a break...break me of a piece of that



I didn't run last night. I had every intention to run but it got cancelled due to the "electrical storm" in the area. By the time I got home from work it was raining pretty good and well, the last time I ran in the rain I was trying to play soccer and ended up on crutches for a month. Sprinkling? Ok I can do that but not a good steady rain. I didn't contemplate going to the gym but instead I went to the store to buy party favors and stuff for the "cake" that my daughter wants for her birthday. She can't have just a normal cake. I should've turned on my nifty app to see how far I actually walked last night between Party City and Wal Mart. But none of that is the reason I was going to blog. It actually had to do with it being Day 18 of me being a quitter. That was how long it took my office mates to find out I was no longer smoking. I truly figured they knew but didn't care enough to say anything. The only reason it came up in conversation is because we were talking about running and I mentioned how if I could just learn how to breathe correctly I could probably run for much longer. It was said that I should probably quit smoking first. HA! My response was that I hadn't smoked in 18 days, well I was on day 18. Needless to say I'm not sure anyone noticed that I was no longer taking "smoke breaks" during the day. It's all good though, they gave me a pretty good laugh.

I did go on the "wellness walk" at work yesterday and today though. So a walk of 1.5 miles is better than nothing each day right? Tonight I didn't run because tomorrow is my daughter's birthday and well, this evening is the only time I had to go shopping for her. So I went shopping, bought cupcakes, delivered them to cheer practice. Sure I could've run when I got home at 9:30pm but I will not run in the dark by myself. Sorry, I'm not looking to become a statistic.

Tomorrow I will most likely not run, Saturday I will most likely not run, Sunday I will most likely be hungover and Monday is my birthday and I will most likely not run. Yes I realize that I will be paying for it when I start up again but oh well. So there you have it. Sure I could make time to do it but I, quite honestly, refuse to wake up that early. I can barely wake up on time for work and even that's questionable most days. I really think I need to become rich so I can afford one of those superstar trainer guys that will come and force me to work out. So if anyone wondered what to get me for my birthday there you have it. They would have to only get paid when I work out though. This way if I don't do anything, they don't get paid.

Oh, before I forget. My sweet friend Molly is giving me daily eye-candy in the name of motivation. Yesterday was Nelly and today was LL Cool J. Did I mention I have his book, autographed? I've had it since he did his book signing tour and I just found out today there were words in it. Sheesh. Anyway, that is now collecting dust. Wonder who tomorrow will be. Oooo La La

Journey to 5k and human combustion

Ok, before too many of you get excited thinking that it was me that combusted let's talk about how I am no where near what I am in my head. Reality is such a buzzkill sometimes. So as usual we went on the "wellness walk" at work this morning. It was hot as Africa today too. I thought I was making good time as we passed the "fast paced" walkers but in reality (yes, it's such a Debbie Downer) we were walking in the same time as we do every day. That was Let Down #1.

WOW, I just got super cranky. But that is neither here nor there so let's carry on...



So today was not a "normal" run day for me. I arranged with my "goodest friend" to go on a run tonight. We plan to carry this on every Tuesday and Thursday. So naturally I wake up then fall back asleep after hitting the snooze button. That button has got to be the devil tempting you. Anyway, that led to me not going into work as early as I had hoped so I could leave early to go run. In the end it worked out ok though since my "goodest friend" was stuck at work an hour late anyhow. As the time neared I began to dread going for this run more and more. I think it had something to do with the fact that I knew she was going to leave me in the dust, which is fine, because she is more fit right now. Either way, I changed my clothes and put on my running shoes. Which reminds me, I think I need to get a better pair. Man, I really don't like shopping. Oops, almost a tangent. So after we clock out it's time to start our trek across town. We get to the park and begin. Funny thing the beginning of the "run". Our conversation begain something like this: Me: ok let's go. Her: Ok do you want to start with a slow jog *starts jogging*. Me: Ummmm that's all I can do. *sticks out bottom lip*. HA! Ok so maybe I exaggerated a bit by saying I stuck out my bottom lip, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to. So off we went. I "slow jogged" as she put it until I got winded. I made it further than I thought I would. I apologized for holding her back because I was out of breath. We talked about how to breathe better so I could run in longer spurts. It's not that I couldn't keep running, it's that I was literally out of breath and I was NOT about to push myself hard and end up passing out or throwing up.

So I normally breathe in and out of the nose. I tried her suggestion of in through the nose and out of the mouth. That is tough! I won't even lie. I tried it while jogging again and I felt like I was breathing too shallow. As though I wasn't exhaling enough before taking in more air. This is something I will have to practice. And even though that heffa has shorter legs than me she wasn't moving them as fast as I was. I think I need to work on longer strides also. And here I thought I was doing pretty good....then I went to "work out" with her. So I get to the point again where I can jog and I'm hyped (in my head) to try it again after recovering. Off we go...and that didn't last long. I had to suddenly begin to walk. My friend kept going and around the corner before she realized I wasn't with her anymore. When she looked back I just waved for her to keep going. I wasn't winded, it's not that I couldn't run anymore. It's quite honestly that my calves felt like they were going to explode! I had mentioned earlier that my calves were already getting tight but I figured once my muscles had warmed up they would feel better. Obviously this was not the case as I seriously felt like my lower legs were going to combust. I can't even begin to explain the pain I felt. Since I had already started a lap I walked, very slowly, to finish it. When I returned back to where we began I sat down to stretch out. I was in so much pain that even squatting down felt like I would feel better by just cutting my legs off. Have you ever eaten so much that you felt as though your stomach was going to explode? (don't lie, some of you look like it) Well imagine your calves feeling that full and any slight movement would make them combust and catch fire. That is the closest thing I have to describe it.

So that picture you see posted above...It's a lie! Instead I would much rather say this to her:



I felt like such a let down tonight. Even though she says I didn't let her down (some motivator she is). She must think I'm full of horse poop now when I say that I can do it. Tonight really left me in exercise purgatory. Questioning all of life. How is it that it has been so easy (considering) for me to quit smoking than it is for me to run/walk/job? I have been 17 days without a cigarette yet I try to run/job a few yards and my legs want to explode.

Such is life, but you know what? I did a total of (slightly over) 3 miles today. So since my "goodest friend" left me with this, I will share the wealth. After all, sharing is caring. Darn her! I mean gotta love her. ;-)



What is it with me and getting cranky after certain workouts? Am I just that displeased with myself that I get pissed at the rest of the world? Please respond if you have the answer.

Journey to 5k and my commitment issues

Now before you start with any of your smart ass comments because of the title, let's come to an understanding. I am speaking of my love/hate relationship with this whole journey to 5k thing. I mean seriously, what the heck was I thinking? Did someone slip me some hallucingens? That has to be it because why else would I ever make a commitment to not one, but two 5k runs? I seriously contemplated this today in my head and realized that I really must have lost a few screws.

So as you can see (from previous entries) I have some serious commitment issues. We can all sit here and say that I just don't have motivation. We can all sit here and make up any other lame excuse ever but in reality I just have commitment issues. That is the only logical explanation I have right now. As I mentioned before, I knew that if I didn't sign up when I was motivated and had the drive within myself to do these runs that I would lose interest and push it aside. Now do I know me or do I know me?



So shall we do a quick recap of today? Warning, this will be an all-in-one recap. :-)

I woke up today questioning my crazy dream and really thinking to myself that I must have smoked in my sleep. I felt kind of yucky, as though I had a smoke then went straight to bed. Other smokers will know exactly what I'm talking about. After all, it could be possible right? Perhaps I should get rid of the almost full carton that is still sitting on top of my fridge. Anyway, off to work and on to the wellness walk. I tried to keep up the pace today as I am trying to get to a more brisk walk and improve my time on that so I can slowly begin to jog during that. In doing so I noticed the certain spots in the neighborhood where the group slows down as a whole. *High Five* to the two crazies that left us in the dust and finished the last (almost half) of the walk while running. I will be there with you one day. After work, being that it is Monday, I picked up the kids and off we went to the track. My daughter went with her Cheer group and I began my run/walk. Run the straights, walk the curves....Or attempt that anyway. I was on a roll and doing really well on time then I ran with a couple of the girls to push them to not be lazy. Then came the last half of what I wanted to run. My friends 3 year old son started to run with me and then grabbed my hand. So I walked with him until he finally let go and went with grandma. Bless his little heart for trying to run. And no, I don't run that slow silly gooses, I was going slow just for him. I didn't finish the last two laps I wanted to do because at this point it was time for us to go. Now if I can just improve my time I will be able to finish the 3.1 miles I want to start doing on Mondays. After running, I came home and after debating and a "Get off your ass" text I popped in my 20 minute pilates video and did that. I don't feel more accomplished having doing it but I know I will appreciate it when I'm sore in the morning for not having done it in a week.



So I am setting a goal for myself. Let's just wait and see if I can actually stick to it.
*Monday - run 3.1 miles (5k) and try to improve time, even if by seconds
*Wednesday - endurance running. Try to run further around the track without stopping.

I was asked today why I don't blog when I don't have anything to report. Basically because I don't want to let myself down by saying that I didn't do anything worth blogging for. Sad right? After all, I'm the only person that can let myself down.

Hope everyone else is doing great with their training.

ps. Theme song of the day was Johnny Gill - Rub You The Right Way (haha Thanks for making my day today Ms Parker)

Journey to 5k and 2 weeks & counting

Let me just start of by saying:



I couldn't have picked a better way to begin this entry. I have absolutely had 100% zero motivation the past week. Let's have a brief recap: Monday - cheer run cancelled (I ran 5k for timing on my own) Tuesday - not a darn thing Wednesday - ran about 1 3/4 miles at track. Ok walked. I didn't run very much for it to even count because I was just flat out lazy. Thursday - not a darn thing Friday - not a darn thing Saturday - ok let's start with yesterday

Saturday...So Friday evening I think it was that I received a text message from my nephew asking why I haven't updated the blog. Well the only way I could respond was by saying because I haven't done anything for me to update it. HA! So this leads us to Saturday. Yes I meant to update yesterday but you know what...I was busy so just deal with it.

So Saturday I slept in a bit and after waking up I decided I was going to go for a quick run. When I say quick I literally mean quick because it was 11am and already hot outside. So to the park I go. I set my nifty phone application back to miles and to running. I wanted to find the actual distance I run vs. the distance that is marked by a sign. Apparently not running literally around (on the outskirts) of the park cuts you down by almost 2/10 of a mile. Very crazy! This explains why I felt like I did a million laps on Monday when I was trying to time my 5k. It's a bunch of BS if you ask me. Guess I will have to just add to my laps because the hell if I'm running next to a chainlink fence for a part of it. For those that have seen me at my best know that is not a good combination. So anyway, I do my several laps, slightly over a mile, and come home to stretch out my warm muscles really good. Needless to say I'm sweaty like a fat kid running after the ice cream truck in Las Vegas, NV during the month of July wearing a sauna suit. Yes, that bad. I rinse my face with cool water, dry off then proceed to stretch. Drip drip drip...no that isn't a leaky faucet but my sweat. Gross right? So my son gets home from his practice and this is how our conversation went: Him- ewww what is that? Me - Sweat! Him: It looks like water. Me - Ok then give me a hug. I proceed to chase after him throughout the house to collect this hug. Remember the saying a few entries ago? Sweat is just your fat crying. Yeah well one of my fat cells must've died because the others were crying like it was a funeral. Someone remind me again to not try to run during the middle of the day. I need to keep it to early morning or late evening. Ok so late evening because we all know I'm not getting up early, much less to run. So there JJ, I ran, I blogged...happy now? :-)

Saturday also marked day 14! Now it wasn't technically 2 weeks because I technically quit on a Sunday but it was also the 1st of July. Strange how things like that work. Regardless day 15 is now coming to a close and I can absolutely say that I have been smoke-free for 2 weeks now. *confetti explosion* What's even better is that I realized that I am not being a replacement quitter. Normally people apparently replace with food, but I haven't truly changed anything as far as that goes. Actually I snack less at work which is a good thing. I also did well last night at a birthday party. I thought I would struggle again like on day 3 but I did pretty well. If it wasn't such a smug action I would seriously pat myself on the back. I was able to sit there, have a glass of wine, great conversation and be ok while others chain smoked. It didn't bother me and I really didn't crave one.

Ok sidenote, for those that don't understand the *confetti explosion* reference you are missing out. Just google the Jordan Knight (yes from NKOTB) Old Navy ad or search it on youtube. You can thank me later.

So who would have ever thought that I would have quit smoking and lasted 2 weeks? This is coming from the person that would always say "why would I want to quit?" Now if I could just keep up the habit of working out (running) while I keep up the habit of not smoking. That would be wonderful!



Let's not talk about my pilates video that I was keeping up with. Yes, that is back on the shelf collecting dust. Perhaps I will pull it back out again sooner rather than later. I really do enjoy doing that video but I lost the motivation for that. Yes, this is why I need someone to make sure I do things because I will become so lazy. I foresee lots of exclamation marks in my future for that.

Journey to 5k - Test Day (also day 9)

So after being sick at the end of last week and over the weekend I was really slacking on doing any sort of physical activity. Don't let me do that again please. I started today with the wellness walk at work. Yes, another lovely 1.5 miles in the blistering sun, ok ok it wasn't that hot today. Actually it was quite nice. We were slightly slower than we usually are but we went dammit! That is all that matters at this point. I'm not sure that I want to start jogging this route as I get better because we go so early in the day and that would result in me having to smell myself for the rest of the work day. Um, no thank you.

So let's discuss how I gracefully made my knee hurt this weekend. Thinking I was cute looking in the mirror before heading out to a birthday party I somehow managed to put extra pressure on my knee and it began to hurt. It was fine as long as I wasn't walking, especially in heels. That was on Saturday. Come Sunday (yesterday) it wasn't bothering me at all, granted I wasn't doing anything either. If I walked it was more of a nuisance than anything but not very painful. Then came today. Again it wasn't painful but it bothered me if I walked. After the wellness walk at work it was bothering me some more. Being that I sit at a desk all day it really wasn't that big of a deal except for the fact that my bladder acted like it didn't want to hold anything so I was going to the bathroom what felt like every 15 minutes. STAY HYDRATED right? HA! Well let's carry on to my last activitiy tonight. Ok so it wans't my last because I did feed my face after.

How about we start with the great idea I had to make this a test day to get some times to compare at a later date. Sure, I already have my mile pace of 12:30 and I know how far around the track I can run as of right now but obviously that wasn't enough for me. What is it with me and numbers? I deal with numbers all day at work...yeah anyway, noone cares about that. Anyhow I decided that since it was raining outside that it would be FUN, yes I said fun, to run in the rain. So off we go... I'm on my way to run/walk to get my time for 5k. WAIT...WHAT?! Yes, my genius self decided to time myself to see how long it would take me to run 5k. Not the mile like I had been, not just work on running for longer amounts of time but 5k aka 3.1 miles. Now you remember I just told you that I jacked my knee up right? Yes, see how smart I am? It's so scary sometimes, it really is. So the park I was running at, that's right I didn't run the track today, is listed as .5 miles.



So in my mind that is actually pretty decent at math I calculated that I would need to go a little more than 6 laps. If .5x2=1 and 1x3=3, well you catch my drift. So off I go, 1 lap down...2 laps down...3 laps down...I stopped counting because I have this really cool application on my phone that does all that for me. What felt like 20 laps later I looked to see how much farther I had to go and what my time was looking like and see that I still have like 3 laps. Now how is that possible when I've already counted 3 laps and run at least 2 more? Now mind you I don't exactly run the entire perimeter but when I cut corners it's not that huge of a distance to make that big of a deal. So I run then walk, run then walk. My length of running is getting shorter and shorter but I'm still trying to push along. Down to my last 2 laps and my knee was really hurting. I told myself I only had 2 more laps and I could do this. Just push through it since I was making great time. BIG MISTAKE! Boy am I paying for it right now. I will ice it later on since I'm fine as long as I'm not putting any sort of weight or pressure on it. No comments about the weight part. I'm pretty sure that is what the problem is. My knee can't handle the amount of weight on it as it is, but to add the pressure of walking and running long distances doesn't help either.
Now I know you are all anticpating my results from tonights genius "test" run. Well, here you go: *pats self on back*

Now I didn't think I would be able to do this within an hour so I'm quite impressed with myself. Now I can really start to train and work on running for longer spurts of time. I don't know why I keep saying running, I'm not really running but jogging per se. So after this run I must've sweat off at least 5lbs. I will weigh myself tomorrow to see but I won't reveal that. C'mon, everyone knows not to ask a woman her weight. It's just not nice. Anyway, remember I talked about that saying that sweat is the fat crying? Well I will tell you...I was one hot sweaty mess. The picture doesn't even show the amount of sweat that was dripping off me so I'm just not going to share it here. Whatever, don't call me a tease.

Now as far as Day 9 went, it went really well. I did have the feeling (it wasn't truly a craving) to have one this morning before work but I just rolled my eyes at myself and shook my head. I think as long as I'm not around chain smokers then I should be good. GO ME! 9 days! Who would've ever thought? It sure as hell wasn't me that's for sure.

Now for those that weren't motivated today, just shut up and go walk/run already! Yes I'm quite grouchy right now so before I close the lid to my can I will ask you, Isn't working out supposed to help you feel better or put you in a better mood? Ok now one last time before I call it a night... *FIST PUMPS* I ran 5k in 40 minutes.

1 week and counting

Being that I was sick, I haven't worked out or ran (except to the bathroom) in the least bit. I really do miss it. I truly wanted to not push it while being sick because I need my health to be great while I really begin to train for the upcoming runs. Tomorrow is my last day of medication and tomorrow is a run day and they are supposed to have firefighters there to help the girls with conditioning. I hope they are good looking firefighters! I'm hoping to get back into the routine tonight. We shall see how that goes. It has been too many days since I've done anything and I need to fix that! Now on to the real reason I am actually posting today. It has been 1 week since I've been smoke-free! *throws confetti* Today is day 8 and I must admit that I actually feel great. I was a bit unsure of last night since I was having some wine at a birthday party but since there were no other smokers at the party I wasn't tempted and I only had a slight craving. I am quite proud of myself for this accomplishment. The biggest changes I have noticed in this one week are: *I wake up easier *No more coughing up phlem *Not as tired throughout the day *My mouth feels cleaner throughout the day *I feel younger Now this is only after 1 week and I'm sure these aren't typical throughout people who quit smoking but I do feel a difference. I can't say that this is for good that I have quit but I can say that I did it without planning to do it and I feel that this is why it has been easier to stick with it this first week. I have quit before (mainly when I was pregnant with my children) but I also restarted again as well. I would love to maintain a smoke-free life but I am taking this one day at a time. If I can maintain a smoke-free lifestyle until these runs I feel that I will improve my times and be able to continue to stay smoke-free. However, in the meantime I will continue to concentrate on my working out and running first and foremost. Let's everyone celebrate with a piece of chocolate cake. ps. Funniest thing about it all is that my daughter used to hound me about quitting and to always quit on my birthday and that's what she wanted for her birthday blah blah blah. Here we are 1 week of not smoking and I don't think she's even noticed. Little brat!

Sick and Tired.... (day 5)

I have sat here with this blank canvas awaiting me to create another masterpiece of a blog for about an hour now. So let's just get to it so I can take my butt to bed! I am sick and tired! No, literally! As you know (from reading and staying up to day with my journey to 5k) that I felt sick this past Sunday and that is what brought on my addition to this journey of not smoking. Again, it's not like I planned it or decided that July 1 was a nice wholesome number/day to quit smoking. Yeah yeah, back to the topic at hand. So Sunday I woke up with a sore throat and just felt ill the entire day. That passed and come Monday when it was time for the run I thought I was slick by trying to "sweat it out". Then came today... All was well as I woke up a bit sluggish but I blame that to my late night movie and staying awake watching tv until 2am. I get to work and everything is still great. Go on our mile and a half wellness walk (24 mins and some odd seconds). Then it all began. I started feeling sleepy, you know with a bad case of the yawns. As I started feeling more and more "woosy" my throat began to hurt. I immediately knew I was coming down with something and low and behold when I looked in the mirror I saw a couple tiny white patches on my tonsil. On to my Dr. appointment where he told the intern lady that he felt I needed antibiotics but gave me the choice to have a prescription or not. He then told me it wasn't Strep...yet, but tonsilitis. Yes, I can't make this up, he did actually tell me YET! So I get my meds, come home (boss said not to go back to work since we aren't sure if it's contagious or not) and read the instructions for my z-pak. It clearly states:



Well seeing as how I run at either an outdoor track or park and the wellness walks at work are around the residential neighborhood behind the office, this really puts a damper on my 5k training. I've actually upset about this because I truly am motivated to train, it is just a matter of me getting off my butt to actually get out there and do it. I even had a cute picture that I will have to save for another date now. And let's not add the side effects of the medication, that's a whole different kind of running. Moving on... Today did make my other "journey" Day 5! I feel great aside from the fact that I don't have strep yet and, ok I'll just leave it at that. I can't say that I've truly had any cravings since day 3 and I believe that was a unique situation. Being that I don't party very often hopefully I won't be in that situation often enough for it to put a serious damper on this whole sudden no smoking thing. Has anyone else noticed that my blogs have become more about not smoking than training for the 5k? I think that means I need to start training harder, once I'm feeling better and off this medication. Until then I hope that everyone else stays motivated and continues on their journey to kick some 5k ass! *fist pumps*

I had a dream... (Beginning Day 5)

So I have dreams on a regular basis and I generally tend to remember them on a regular basis, however, it is rare that they seem so real I feel as though they truly happened. I had to come and post real quick about my dream before I woke up today.

I was getting into my car and as soon as I started the car I rolled down my window and lit a cigarette. I took a couple puffs and then looked at my passenger (who was faceless because I have no idea who it was) and immediately threw the cigarette out of the window and proceeded to cuss like I know how. I was in total disbelief and was disappointed with myself. I couldn't believe that I had lit a cigarette and in my car to top it off.

Now let me explain a few things that make this dream even more weird (yes I actually typed weirder but thought about it and didn't want to hear it from my grammar ocd friends), at least in my mind. I bought a new car a few months ago and I didn't smoke in it. Ok twice I did and one time I was so stressed and pissed off at the world that I needed to calm myself down while sitting in concert traffic before I got some serious road rage. So basically aside from that and one other time that I refuse to explain I never smoked in the new car. Next, if I were to slip like that why would I waste the cigarette to have a guilty conscience over a couple of puffs? That's like taking a hit of weed and not inhaling, it's still going to get in your system dumbshit.

So I really think that I had this dream because I was thinking about my blog from last night and how I knew it was full of errors from trying to update from my crazy touch screen phone that hates me. It seemed so real though.

Ok, let's all get back to our normal daily activites so I can log off my work computer before I get in trouble for being on a non-work affiliated website. Here's to a great day *fist pumps* ps. *fist pumps* is my new motivation that I have taken over from "Daisy". Now if you don't know about Daisy then you need to go and read my girls blog too. I told y'all about that. Now just shut up and do it. Besides, after enduring my blog you deserve some humor! www.msparker411.blogspot.com

Journey to Slackerville...

***HOLY GUACAMOLE! I should've just deleted and re-wrote this post because editing this into a readable/understandable format was tough! Someone remind me to never post from my phone again.***



Welcome to Slackerville! Population 1.

What is there to say when the title speaks for itself? I have added another tally on the board for slacking. How sad is it that I've slacked just about as equally as I've "worked out"? I really need someone to take my lighter and hold it under my tail to keep me going. I can make the excuse that it was the 4th of July but I literally just slacked off. My only true saving grace is the wellness walks at work. Thank goodness for those. Hopefully I can make it the rest of the week and actually get some more running in. I have under 2 months until my first 5k ever and at this point I still can't even run 1 full lap nonstop. I better get serious about this. Time to pack up and move out of Slackerville!

On a positive note, I'm all the way through day 4 without smoking. Its strange though, I woke up today feeling as if I smoked like a train last night. Not quite as bad as Sunday when I began this smoke-free journey but still enough to notice. Perhaps it was the smoke from the fireworks or the 2nd hand smoke. I had only a few cravings today but nothing like last night. I feel pretty good overall but I'm waiting for some sort of mood swings to kick in. I'm eventually going to run out of ways to keep myself busy so I hope the cravings pass sooner than later. One thing I do find strange is I don't have the problem that is most publicized in quitting smoking. You know, the hand to mouth or something having to be in the mouth need. I'm really OK with that part of it, its just the actual craving of it. I still carry an unfinished pack in my purse. Now before you ask, I've made this into a mind over matter challenge. If i have the access to it but choose not to then it's less of a challenge for me. Whereas, if I get rid of it then its become a challenge and I'm more suseptible to seeking whatever it is that can't have. Smart right?

OK this concludes day 4. Since I'm updating from my stupid touchscreen phone I will edit the errors of spelling and grammar from a computer in the morning.

Journey to 5k - Day 3 (Happy 4th of July)

Well I'm not really sure where to begin so let's just say that Day 3 was definitely an interesting one. It all began with me waking up at 6:30am. Not the usual wake up where I hit the snooze 10 times then just sleep another hour before actually rolling out of bed. I woke up, wide awake and ready to start my day. I was so confused with myself that I sat there for 30 minutes staring at the clock in disbelief before actually leaving the bed. For those that don't know me, I love my sleep and waking up is usually the hardest part of my day and I don't do mornings very well.

On to work and our daily wellness walk. We go outside to the front of our office building to meet up for our morning walk. My lovely friend (I've still yet to come up with a fun nickname for her in my blog) and I start our "Runtastic" application on our phones to calculate our time and distance. Remember, I set the goal of a 15 minute mile walk. We've yet to get a "real" calculation of the distance of our walk because my app (android) and her app (iPhone) measure the distance differently. Her's gives us a longer distance. We'll say it's around 1 and 1/10 miles and we have been walking around 17 minutes for that. So there was my tangent taking you all around the story before actually getting to my point...get used to it. We start our apps and I pause mine because we were still waiting for others to join us. She can't find a pause button she we begin our walk without waiting for the others. About half a mile into our walk we're doing good at 7 minutes and something seconds and this is where the road splits. We usually take the first street to continue around the block but since we left the others behind and we were making great time (I believe we may have actually met the goal) another friend (who is "training" with us for the upcoming 5k) decides to ask if we want to take the long route. Quick decision made and off to the end of the street we go. Did I mention it was very humid from the rain the night before? It was a nice temperature but the humidity in a normally dry heat area is enough to throw anybody off. So adding an extra half mile to our walk, the humidity and our fast pace were enough to seriously turn me into Sweaty Betty. Seriously I was roasting more than a pig at a luau. When we get back to the office I was looking foward the air that is usually on and freezing me out but no. No a/c, add in the sun shining through my window and yes, it literally took me an hour to cool down. Let me share my facebook post from after our walk yesterday as well as said picture referenced.


I really dislike sweating. Naturally its warm & humid outside so these heffas decided to add an extra half mile to our morning walk. :-/ I saw something that said sweat is your fat crying. Well if that's the case my fat must be ready to slit its wrists.




Now as you know from reading my previous post (Journey to 5k - Day 2), just nod and agree if you jerks haven't read it yet, that my Journey to 5k actually should be on day 9 (if you count from the day I began running - ok, ok trying to run. Well Day 3 by this point of the day had been going great. Then came lunch time. Around 1pm I began to get the urge to take a break and head outside. Since the first two days went so well I have no idea what I was thinking that it was going to be the same for the rest of the days. So I clock out for lunch. Yes, substitute with food. Don't judge me. Anyway, later in the afternoon I began to get a craving again so I tried to distract myself by talking about working out. Being that it was July 3rd and we are off work July 4th but work again July 5th we decided to have a barbeque at a friends house and do some fireworks for the kids. I knew this was going to be a tough night but we'll get to that later. So I knew that it was my long pilates video night because it was Tuesday and I wouldn't get around to doing it because I was going to a barbeque, duh, we just went over that. So I message my still unfunnamed friend asking if she wanted to go for a quick run after work. Who was I kidding? But I was motivated at the time, you see where this is going right? Needless to say I didn't end up doing my video or running. I did, however, drink wine and eat.

Random thought - I have noticed that I get motivated when I talk about the upcoming 5k runs that I'm registered for. Weird, but I strangely get it.

I knew in advance that this evening was going to be a true challenge for me. When you add in the factors, I was basically setting myself up for failure. Food, Friends (that smoke), Fireworks, Alcohol. I did great for about the first hour. Then as the conversations went on, the food was on the grill, the wine was poured my cravings began. I stayed strong at this point. We talked about my sudden unplanned quitting, how I had a carton on top of my fridge waiting for me, the running being my motivation. We also talked about in younger days how a couple of the guys would play football while smoking on the sideline and still running touchdowns on others and so on. After we ate dinner and had another glass of wine my cravings began to get stronger. While doing the fireworks is when it really hit me. I tried to keep myself busy lighting sparklers for the littles, helping the 2 year old with her sparkler and keeping her on my hip while watching the fountains. When the wind became stronger and we all headed back inside I wanted a cigarette so bad I could taste it. While heading to the backyard again so the others could smoke I was literally salivating. I could also feel it in my throat. As strange as it sounds, imagine craving your favorite food/drink/dessert so much that you could taste it. Sitting there fighting the temptation to grab my friends pack from the table and light up I grabbed my phone and sent a couple texts. Thank you to those that were texting me non-stop keeping my hands busy so I wouldn't give in and light up. Y'all are the best for that! Yes, even the one that challenged me when I tried to convince us both that only having one wasn't bad. BRAT! But like she said, I'm stubborn. I can't believe I even mentioned that maybe I should quit drinking also. YIKES! I would probably end up on America's Most Wanted. As the texts slowed, my mouth rambled. If I could make it through the night, the temptation and the conversation we had at the end of the night without lighting up then I think I can seriously accomplish this. I seriously struggled numerous times but I stayed strong even when I didn't think I could. The funniest quote of the night was when a friend was talking about a time she previoulsy had quit and was so unhappy. "How can people who don't smoke ever be happy?" I was laughing so hard when she said this but I totally "got" it.

So all in all, no workout (aside from wellness walk across the Saraha), no cigarette, great friends, food, fireworks and wine. I think it evens out pretty well and I can say that overall it was a great day. Now let me get off my rump roast and get some sort of workout done.

Journey to 5k....Day 2

Now you may be thinking right off the bat "how can this be day 2?" I will get to that in just a moment. If you haven't read my long, boring introduction to this then go read it please. No but's....GO READ IT!

Ok now Day 2. I will save that for a little later. Today, being a Monday, is a run day. So naturally I went on the mile long wellness walk at work and was quite disappointed with our time. We were slower than usual. I mean seriously, 17:24 for a mile? I know we can do better than that. So I decided it was my Monday Motivation that made my say out loud "Let's make a goad of walking it in 15 minutes". I mean who am I kidding?

Later on in the day I got a text from Crazy Coach, as I shall refer to her from here on out, asking if I was going running with them tonight. Of course I knew if I said anything but yes I would receive a phone call taking me on a guilt trip. So I responded yes. Gotta love her staying on my butt to keep me running and motivated though. Along with all my other friends that will never let me live it down if I quit. Thanks girls...and guys.

I decided to pace my mile again, using my new runtastic application on my phone that my wonderful, still nameless, friend told me about. If you are going to run or already do, I suggest this application. I love it so much I even bought it and I rarely buy stuff like that. It will help me keep track of my progress and will even cheer me on if I allow it too.



Yes, I ran in 90 degree weather. Might I add that I believe my time would've been slightly better but the wind was working against me for half of the track as well. Naturally it decided to rain as we were driving away. Crazy mother nature.

Now are you still wondering what Day 2 is all about? Clearly this should be labeled Day 7. Well Saturday night I went and hung out at my girls house for her daughter's birthday. Being a smoker, gasp yes I am a smoker, I think that I smoked way too much the night before because Sunday I woke up feeling like poop and that later turned into a sore throat and the onset of an ear infection. So After sleeping in and taking my daughter to cheernastics I didn't really think about going outside for a smoke like I normally do. Then I came home, ate dinner, worked out, went to bed. Now there is today, Day 2. Today was my 2nd day without a cigarette at all. Yes you may now pick your body up off of the floor as I'm sure many of those that know me will be there laid out after reading my previous statement. I stayed fairly busy at work (accepting compliments and working) so I went on the wellness walk and straight back to work. Even after having my late lunch I wasn't craving one enough to break my 24 hour success. I ate dinner then did my short workout this evening and didn't have a craving still. I'm quite shocked myself. I did have a slight craving for one shortly thereafter but I went outside and enjoyed the rain instead. Now let's just see how long this will last. I have been a smoker since my late teens and have only truly quit when I was pregnant with my children, except for when I lived overseas in Turkey. It made me sick to smoke then but out of spite, after moving to Italy I started up again. Here I am 9 years later and quitting? All because I had a sore throat. Now let's remember that I didn't care even when I had strep throat last year. I still smoked away. Wish me luck on this 2nd part of my journey.

*pats self on back*

Running with scissors....last two words not necessary

So after sitting here debating about blogging and going over a title I have finally decided to write about what shall be called from here on out Journey to 5k. Yes who would have ever thought I would want to and be willing to run a 5k? Anyone who knows me knows that I despise running. Sure every now and again I will get a wild hair up my butt and run but that usually ends the same day. So let me tell you how it all began. (let me add that we have a mile long wellness walk that we try to go on daily at work monday-friday)

My daughter is about to begin her All-Star cheer practices. Now before you question what does cheer have to do with this, be patient as if you have read my stories before you know that I like to go around in circles before getting to my point. Anyway...During one of her cheernastics classes her All-Star cheer coaches were telling me how they were going to incorporate running with the summer conditioning practices. I immediately informed them that they are on their own with that one. (I used to condition with the team every now and again last summer) After thinking about it for a couple days I decided I would give it a try, especially since a few of the girls on the team will be on the school cheer team that I coach.

So let's fast foward to last Monday. I am at work, staying busy of course, when I get a phone call from my daughter's coach. She is calling me to ask me if I am going running with them that night. Yes, she very successfully guilt tripped me into running with them. Sure I was planning on going but I was still unsure on if I was actually going to run/walk or just watch them. So I went and after going a few laps around the track, I believe it was 5 to be exact, I realized that I felt good. So naturally I had so much motivation and energy after the run/walk (now mind you I still can't run a full lap non-stop) that I came home and popped in my dust covered old winsor pilates video and did the 20 minute workout.

The next day, Tuesday June 26th, I was still super motivated and started telling my friends and coworkers how I had completed 1 1/4 miles the night before. I was so proud of myself and felt they should be proud of me too. The talk of an upcoming 5k came about. It is called Hot Chocolate Run (15k/5k) and is held in numerous cities throughout the nation. Now you tell me who in their right mind would not be willing to run for chocolate? I rest my case. So I got excited and was ready to register right then and there but I need to have my pace per mile first to register. Then my lovely friend who shall remain nameless for now, added The Color Run into the conversation. After looking this up I was a slightly up in the air about it. Now once the talk of this went onto Facebook a few more decided they would try to run and go along on this journey for their own wants/needs. The Color Run offers a team registration so the obvious thing to do is create a team and pay less for registration...DUH! This evening I did the longer pilates workout. Yes, this video is almost 10 years old...don't judge me.

Wednesday, June 27th was the 2nd run day. By this point I was already starting to lose motivation. I knew if I didn't register then and there I would lose all and any motivation that I had and would just blow off any sort of workout or upcoming 5k, fun or not. So I registered for and set up the team for The Color Run 5k. Look it up if you're like me and had never heard of it. (www.thecolorrun.com) It is a run that benefits Ronald McDonald House Charities and is held again in numerous cities throughout the nation. Who wouldn't want to run and finish colored like you were the main target in a paintball field? Yes, I even coaxed my kids into running this one with me. Anyway it was the 2nd run day and the day that I would pace my mile for the chocolate run registration and set my goals on what to improve. I timed it at 12:31 which I was quite shocked that I could even run/walk one mile in that time. I was thinking it would be more along the lines of 20 minutes. Nice surprise right? Of course I came home and did my 20 minute pilates workout. I had decided at this point that my run nights would be paired with the short video workout and the off nights I would do the longer workout.

Then came Thursday. And Friday. And Saturday. Needless to say I lost motivation and didn't do anything on these days aside from the Wellness Walk at work Thursday and Friday. But come Sunday I remembered that I needed to register for the Chocolate Run (I just missed the early bird registration too dang it). So I turn on my laptop, go bakc and forth with myself on it and said screw it, I got this! and registered. I knew I had to do something so very late I did my longer workout and called it a night. Next entry will be starting from today.

I think I may just update weekly instead of daily. Now if you want to read a funny running blog check out my girl Ms. Parker's blog. WWW.MsParker411.blogspot.com I can't compete with her stories but I love reading them and you should too!