My Health and Fitness Journey in Photos

50 years.. 50K… What was I thinking ?

20150119_181146-1 I’ve always been one to want to step into a challenge. As my fitness journey has progressed, obviously, my challenges to myself have increased. As a runner, I was thrilled to take on my first half marathon in Nov 2011. I would do three more before I felt the call to the full marathon distance. I did my first in Nov 2013, and immediately started plotting my second, which happened Dec 2014. However, in  July 2014 I had a big milestone, my 50th birthday. While many of my friends were plotting cruises and drinking parties to celebrate I determined running a 50K seemed a “fun” way to celebrate that impressive day. So I set out looking for a race that would be done within my 50th year.

That… goes down this coming weekend. I’m excited to be heading to Ft. Worth for the Cowtown Marathon/Ultra Marathon. It’s a pretty big deal for me…. it’s my first out town race and it’s my first “ultra” run. Coming out of the marathon in December, it just seemed perfect to keep moving towards March as long as my body was trained into peak condition. I mean… just keep running a few more miles, right ?

FYI a 50K is 31.7 miles.

I’m as ready as I can be. I’ve trained.. hard. I’ve trained in all kinds of weather. I’ve run fast…and slow. I’ve learned to eat gel blocks like a champ. My longest run a week ago was 28.52 miles in about 5:14. I know my mental game will have to be strong.

The bottom line is… I’m doing this for me. I want to know I can do it. Will it be the only one I do? I’m not sure. There is something…. freaking empowering…. about distance running. And it carries over into my life… if I can run for miles and stand up under the physical and mental struggles… I can press back against those things in life that come at me.

Running has made me strong… mentally and physically.

Not only that, it builds some killer legs too haha 😛

I’m super excited to be able to share my upcoming adventures with you this weekend…. check back and stay tuned for updates…

Why Hello World

I feel like I’ve given birth today.

True, it’s been a lot easier than the delivery of a small person from your body, but it’s been a birth process none the less. It’s how I always feel when an idea finally gets launched out of my mind and into action.

Something creative is born. Future plans are made. Vision and goals are set.

In this instance, finally having the ” idea” of a blog, to actually moving forward to making it happen. Getting out of my personal world of Facebook, Instagram, and small town writing, to flinging myself into the vast world to share my version of life and all it entails.

Given that this is my first post, and you don’t know me from your third cousin twice removed, there’s a lot I can tell you. However, if I don’t tell you ….. you’ll have to keep coming back to find out… more 😉

I’ll tell you this though…. I do love life, people  the weirder  um… more interesting… the better, running, health and nutrition, being strong and fit and helping others get on their own journey of  health and fitness. Actually, nothing delights me more than seeing someone “get it” and the confidence and strength they gain as they learn to make better life choices. I love sharing my fitness journey with others so they know I can relate to where they are, that I’ve experienced the same struggles, feelings, and frustrations.

BUT….. in the sharing of that I want them to know if I can take daily steps and get where I am, they can too. I haven’t always been a running girl (you’re gonna hear lots more on this topic) nor have I always been concerned about what foods I eat or how they make me feel or the impact they have on my body. It has been a process and I’ve taken it one day at a time.

I believe in a practical, realistic approach to losing weight and getting fit. I don’t “do” diets. I believe life is to be lived and enjoyed and food is a gift. We just need to handle it in an appropriate manner. The old school way of moving more, eating better and in moderation led me to a 55 lb weight loss, as well as dropping about 5 pants sizes.

Now days I’m more interested in how my body performs for me when I run, or do strength training than I am about numbers on the scale.  I eat well because I know it fuels my body for activities I love. I don’t view exercise as something I “have” to do, but more as a gift  to my body.

And other random things…. I’m a free spirit. I’m not interested in being kept in a box where someone else defines the rules. I’m not interested in conforming to “the norm”. I love black coffee, Peanut M&M’s, reading, laughing, and unexpected treats. Pink and black are the perfect combination of colors. I love clothes and the more unique and fun, the better. I’m 6’0 tall but love to wear crazy high heels… because I can… and because I don’t care what someone might think about a tall chick wearing them. I love piercings and tattoos..no apologies there…see previous sentence.  I love finding adventures in every day life and I have an off the wall sense of humor.

Ah well…. enough of me… and you already got that in my opening blog line.

Older. Smarter. Stronger.

Come back again… and in the meantime…. welcome to my world.

Share. Let me hear from you 🙂