My best run (of this year)…

 

 

In my alternate Facebook life we were challenged to do a virtual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. I laced up, went out, and ran my 5K in a decent amount of time. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get out of my over-crowded with family and food house. It felt good to not be winded after one mile.

 

 On Saturday I was running a 5K for real, my first race since April and I actually had a time goal in mind. I had done this course before, so I knew that it was hilly and going to be a tough run. It was very, very cold (27 degrees) at the start of the race. On the first turn I rolled my ankle and was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to go on, but I did. I can honestly say that I never once thought about stopping or slowing down (except for the drink station, I always walk through those. Hal Higdon says it’s okay). When I saw the sign for 2 miles I knew I had it. I didn’t look at my watch because I was afraid that I might be going too slow to hit my goal of under 35:00. When I got to the 3 mile mark and had to run uphill for the last part of the race, I didn’t care, I felt AWESOME! I haven’t felt awesome on a run since January of 2011. I crossed the finish line in 34:53, under my time goal!

 

The other great thing about Saturday was it was the first race my husband, my son and I had all ran since March of 2011. We didn’t bring the baby because of the cold and I didn’t want to push that damn jogging stroller up those hills.

 

Yesterday on my first week of half marathon training I was running and I finally had a happy moment to hold onto, that wasn’t from 2 or 3 years ago. I cherish my good run memories and they really motivate me to keep going or go faster. I want to get back to the point of where running doesn’t feel like a chore, and I think I might be on my way!

Ah-Ha!!!! Lightbulb moment!

I tend to do a lot of self-reflecting this time of year. The month of November has so many events that are special/require. My birthday is the 3^rd, I had my first date with my husband on the 14^th, my cousin’s death was the 15^th, my wedding anniversary is the 18^th and my first divorce was final on the 27^th.  Also, there is a little holiday in there called Thanksgiving. So I tend to do a lot of “remember when” and “I can’t believe it’s been…that long”.

 While recuperating from this icky illness I have been fighting something very important dawned on me. I have been losing weight for over a year, not very much at a time but I have made decent/good food decisions for quiet sometime now. I went back and looked at my online food diaries and I have been tracking my eating habits since August of 2011. Now, not everyday and there was a span of two weeks where I didn’t write anything down. I just wish that I would have tried harder and worked out more and maybe I would have been thinner sooner, but I wasn’t ready. I really feel like I am on the verge of making this my lifestyle and not just a means to an end.

 

I am finally feeling some sort of success with my running. Yesterday I went out to do a 30 minute run, with a 5 minute warm-up walk and a 5-minute cool down. I felt so good that I started running 2 minutes into the warm-up and I didn’t stop until I saw 3.1 miles on my Garmin. I ran for 36 minutes without stopping!

 

When I get home from work and working out I have enough energy to clean up the kitchen, do some laundry, and get everything ready for the next day without feeling like I am dying from exhaustion.

 

I really feel like I have reached a positive turning point on this journey!

Another Year Older, Another Year Better (IMHO)

 

Saturday was my 37^th birthday. I am actually at a time in my life where I am not stressing about my age. My big focus is that number on the scale J. When I turned 25, I freaked out and then again at 30. Birthday #35 was fun, because I was pregnant. Last year was a mess and so this year had to better, right? The week started off badly because my mother-in-law was unable to come down for a visit, so I had to cancel my party since we had no sitter. I love my little guy, but going out to dinner with him is NOT fun. I was in a funk the majority of the week because of it. Then, some drama at work got me all upset. Finally, to finish it off-the hubby and I got into a HUGE argument on my actual birthday. Really put a damper on my party spirit. However, I put on my big girl panties and a big smile on my face and moved on. My friends decided that I still needed to have party, we would just take turns wresting the baby. We got together and had some sushi. My stepdad and little brother were able to come down as well, hubby bought me some Sperry’s and new sunglasses-so it was all good.

 

Through all of this stress, drama, and fighting I NEVER once reached for chocolate or alcohol to soothe myself. Even on my birthday I didn’t eat cake or brownies or cupcakes. I got a child’s serving of gelato and called it done. I seriously had to pat myself on the back for that one.

We partyed really hard on Saturday :)

 

On Sunday (hubby and I made up BTW) we decided to go run one of our favorite trails. I haven’t run on that path since April, so I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I am using the 10K Runner App to train for a race later this month, and I decided that I would just use that as workout. I had the baby (28 pounds) in the jogging stroller (25 pounds) and it was windy, I was not looking forward to this run at all. I started with my five minute warm-up walk and then it was time to run for 10 minutes. This neighborhood has all sorts of hills and inclines. Pushing the stroller up and down was NOT fun or easy. I got to the 3 minute walk break and slowed down. The second segment was also a 10 minute run and I headed off. I got to 10 minutes and felt fine so I went ahead and jogged through the 5 minute cool down as well. I looked at my GPS and realized that I was only a half mile from a 5K, so I just kept running. When it was all over I had complete a hilly 5K with a jogging stroller, walking for eight minutes in 41:30. I almost cried. This was the first time that I actually felt like I was getting my jogging “groove” back after almost 2 years.

 

Yesterday was my weekly Weight Watchers meeting and I went for another run. This time I had to run 20 minutes with stopping and I did it! I was doing a happy dance at the end of the run because I felt so good.

 

Today I am going to go out and run again-it’s okay to get a year older!

I got this-I think.....

Good afternoon blog world.  I am officialy one and half months into my Weight Watchers journey and 24 days into my fitness challenge. I have had one bad week and still managed to drop almost 2 pounds. What I am having so much trouble with is what we all struggle with; keeping it all together. The house, the groceries, the cooking, the working out, the laundry, the hubby and the mothering are wearing me out. On Sunday I got up at 8:30 and was in the kitchen until 1:00 that afternoon trying to prep for this week. I need this to get easier. I need to feel like I am in control and right now I don't feel that way. I desperately want to make sure my children have healthy food and snacks on the table every night. I don't want my kiddo to exist on a diet of Mac and Cheese, but some nights I just want to scramble some egg whites and eat some toast, that's it. In fact, I could do that almost every single night and not be unsatisfied. However, the hubby depends on me to fix his lunch-this is something I don't mind doing but it puts a lot of pressure on me to come up with ideas for him too. I don't usually bring my lunch because I can get a salad here at school. I am just feeling very defeated because I haven't hit the 5% mark at my meetings yet.

Small Town Musings.....

I am big fan of the TV show "Glee".  I can't sing or dance, but I LOVE music. In the show the kids who don't leave their hometowns refer to themselves as "Lima Losers". I was watching last week's episode it made me think of how I felt in high school and how all I wanted to do was leave Bryan County, Oklahoma and all it's small-mindeness in the dust. I wanted to move to the "big" city and realize my dreams. Whatever...I did leave Bryan County, but guess what? I am still living in a small-town with all its drama and doing the same exact thing I would have done at home. Am I a loser because of this? No, I don't think so. I don't think our dreams should be defined by where we actually accomplish them. My goal and dreams were to love and be loved, be successful and productive member of society. I think I am. I try to shape future generations for the better, I have a nice home, a nice car and an awesome family. I have decided that getting away from home did make me a better person, but I really didn't get that far.

Why I am a Beautiful Disaster

Why I am a beautiful disaster

Trying to condense 36 years of chaos into a small blog entry is challenging. I have had to wade through some seriously messed up things and decide what I want to share and what I need to share and what needs to be pushed to the back of my mind permanently.

November 3, 1975 I came into this world, early (for the first and LAST time I imagine) and was greeted by a reluctant mother and eager father. Fast forward 10 years, reluctant mother has custody of me and eager father is on the East Coast. Reluctant mother makes sure I know that I am totally NOT want she wanted in a daughter. I am NOT cute, NOT athletic and NOT skinny. Those three things are held over my head for my entire childhood and teen age years-any wonder I have self-esteem issues? Despite all the negativity from my mother I had a decent time in high school and I bear only a few scars from it, but don’t we all?

Skip to 1995, I am a married mother and full-time college student. I gained 80 pounds while I was pregnant and I managed to shed about 40 of it. I weigh around 170 and I wear a size 14. I do Fen-Phen, Advocare, and exercise through my college years, yet never get back into my beloved size 6s from high school. I get over it though, bigger problems are looming. Husband decides I need to be traded in for a newer, younger, but not thinner model. Marriage ends-horribly and I move from my hometown to Dallas, Texas to be closer to my work.

 

It is 2002 I am now 27 years old, divorced and have no idea what I want out of my life. I am still overweight, but honestly it is the last thing on my mind. I sign up for Yahoo! Personals and after a few disastrous dates meet this super duper normal awesome guy…five years later we get married (our relationship should be an entire blog itself). By 2007 I have ballooned up to 215 pounds (fat and happy, anyone??). One thing I should note, even when I was wearing a size 20 I ALWAYS fixed my hair, wore make-up and bought cute, trendy clothes. I used jewelry and clothes to hide my size.

I let my weight get out of control because I was too busy enjoying my new and improved life. After being in a miserable relationship for most of my formative years the happiness and love I was experiencing was such a rush.  We grew fat together because we were always going out to eat. Occasionally we would go on a health kick, but always lapsed back into our bad habits.

August 2008 was the first turning point for me. We bought a boat. That means swimsuits and water toys. I was absolutely humiliated when I was told by a wakeboarding instructor that I was “too heavy” for a woman’s board and had to buy a man’s board. December 2008 was the breaking point. Three things happened. First, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and put on medication to treat it, second my blood sugar came back as pre-diabetic, and lastly I stumbled across the season finale of “Biggest Loser” and was completely intrigued by the show. I had heard about it, but honestly thought it was making fun of fat people. So, when January rolled around I started watching it. Seeing a 400+ pound man run on the treadmill took away any excuse I had at that point but I really didn’t know where to start. Also, husband and I decided that we wanted a baby and with my health and weight a healthy pregnancy was not going to happen.



March, 2009 230 Pounds

Starting January, 2009 I began walking a little bit 2-3 times a day on my treadmill. I really wanted to be able to walk a mile in under….20:00 minutes. That is how fat and slow I was. I started counting calories and in March, 2009 I started the Medifast program. I was very successful with Medifast and I continued exercising, progressing from walking to running a little bit at a time. By October, 2009 I was down to 160 pounds and running 20 miles a week. I started training for a half marathon. In 2010 I successfully ran 2 half-marathons in 2 months finishing 2:25 and 2:26 and I was down to 150 pounds. I had lost 80 pounds in 10 months, I was so proud of myself.



May, 2010 150 pounds

 In August of 2010 I was given a wonderful job as a school librarian. I really believed that I had it all, dream job, dream husband, and on my way to a dream body. Then, something even more awesome happened-I was pregnant! I finally had everything I had ever worked for and my life was good. I dealt with the fear of gaining by watching what I ate (mostly) and running, running, running. I wish I could tell you that the story ends here and happily, but this is real life and when do we EVER get all that we want?

January 19^th, 2011 should have been a joyous occasion. The hubs and I were going to find out if our little miracle was a boy or girl. Instead, I get a call from my principal telling me that my “dream” job will be ending in May. No more school librarian, I have to go back to the classroom. I hold back my tears through my sonogram (it was a boy) and spend the next week constantly crying about my future job loss. So, I go run and run, and run some more. Unfortunately I start having dizzy spells and heart palpitations, the doctor tells me to cut back on the cardio, then she tells me to stop running and by March I can’t even walk for exercise. I can only be up and around on an as needed basis. I had managed to only gain 15 pounds through 6 months of pregnancy. Between hormones and stress and no way to manage that stress I gained 48 pounds total. I came home from the hospital weighing more than when I was admitted.



May, 2011 9 months preggo

August 2011, school starts and I weigh around 220 (again) and I honestly DO NOT care. I am still wearing maternity clothes, my hair is in a permanent ponytail, my make-up is nonexistent, my baby isn’t sleeping through the night, and my husband is having health problems. I hate having to walk past the library everyday. I try to go back on Medifast in November, and I manage to lose about 10 pounds in two months. My attitude SUCKS. I hate everything and almost everyone all the time.



Halloween, 2011 215ish

 January 2012, we start a “Biggest Loser” competition at school. I managed to lose 20 pounds from January to June, yes 6 looonnngg months and that I all I dropped. I didn’t even lose a pants size. I started running a little, but nothing much.  During the summer I kind of get motivated again, but then it got hot, then school started and here I am.



October, 2012 190 pounds

 September/October 2012 I am finally ready to shed the baby weight and get back on the fitness track. I am dealing with the reality that I may never be a librarian again, but it’s okay. I have a job that pays me enough to live my life, gives me time with my family, and gives me time to devote to diet and exercise. I had to start thinking about what is good about my life and there are a whole lot of great things. I had to start caring about my appearance again. I bought some bigger clothes (to get out of the maternity clothes) and I make an effort to fix my hair and make-up. I had to drop the “I lost 80 pounds in 10 months, so this should be easy attitude”.  I joined Weight Watchers in order to help me relearn to eat better. I am slowly starting to run again. I want to lose 60 pounds by October 2013 and I want to run a half-marathon in March, 2012. I WILL do it.

Monday, Monday....

I am ever so thankful that I took the time to read Mama Laughlin and join the ML Fit Campers. It provides me with daily inspiration and support that I desperately need right now. I am little leary about starting my 31 days with Jillian challenge this evening, but I WILL do it.

The Weight Watchers thing is going surprisingly well, at the moment. I had a really bad time emotionally on Friday. The weather messed up my plans and I didn't have anything ready for dinner. I called the hubs and begged him to let me order pizza. "It's only 500 calories for 2 slices..." was my mantra. In the end I went home and cooked fish planks (which ironically he ate 4 pieces which equaled 500 calories, the pizza would have tasted a whole lot better), corn, and broccoli. I ate it and tried to be happy. Around 10:00 that night all I wanted was a brownie or a cake to stuff in my face, ugly words thrown at the husband, and a few tears later I ate one of WW 2 points bars-crisis averted.

I didn't work out Friday or Saturday. So yesterday I laced up the shoes, put the baby in the stroller and went out. Did I mention that my baby weighs 28 pounds and the stroller weighs 20??? I haven't tried to run with the stroller in a while. KICKED MY BUTT  the entire, felt completely slow and defeated. I only did 2.25 mile in 36:00 minutes, but it was movement and I felt better because of it.

I weigh in tonight at WW and I am hoping to see a drop. I have seen a drop on my scale at home, but that is in the morning, with an empty stomach and bladder. I drink at least a gallon of water a day at work.

Random Rant of the Week

For the most part I avoid tabloids in all forms (print, online, TV, etc..) because honestly at this point in my life I have enough going on without keeping up with  Kardashians or the Jersey Shore group. However, this week's cover of "Star" just really set me off. It is another issue of "let's bash the celebrities' bodies' because our lives suck so bad". They are being ugly to Kim Kardashian and Jessica Simpson who are too fat, but in the same breath critizing Kate Hudson, Jennifer Connelly, and LeAnn Rimes for being too skinny and working out too much. It makes me unbelievably sad that all women (regardless of their status) feel pressured to be thin, but too thin isn't good and too heavy is a cardinal sin. Why can't the media just leave everyone the hell alone???? I would come closer to purchasing their terrible rag if they had an entertaining story about Jessica Simpson and her adorbable new baby girl or Kate Hudson's new movie. Why must tabloids always be negative? Everyone on the planet knows that Jessica Simpson has body issues (given to her by the freaking media), that Kate Hudson has always been thin, and that Kim Kardashian ass is always going to be large. I honestly wish people would stop buying and watching tabloids until the report on something worthwhile.

Mama Laughlin and Fit Camp made me do it!!!

Okay, so thanks to my wonderful inspirational friend in "real" life, Megan  turning me on to the awesomeness that is Mama Laughlin . I am now committing myself to blogging about my weight, fitness, and whatever other randomness I want to talk about. I only have 1 follower at the moment (which is absolutely fine) but hopefully I can get other readers.


I don't necessarily want to reblog about my weight loss journey and fitness, but in a nutshell here it is:

March 2009-weighed 230, started Medifast couldn't walk a mile in 20:00
December 2009-weigh 155 training to run half marathon
January and February 2010-ran 2 half marathons (in under 2:25) weighed 152
March 2010-weighed 150, landed dream librarian job.
June 2010-weighed 155, started training for a marathon
November 2010-weighed 160, found out I was pregnant.
January 2011-weighed 178, was told that I would no longer be able to a librarian :(
February 2011-weighed 189, had to stop the majority of exercising due to pregnancy complications
March-June 2011-depressed with no outlet for my stress I turned to food and gained all the way up to 221 on the day I delivered.
June 2011-came home from the hospital weighing more than I went in. 225.

Spent the last year and a half not really committed, but managaing to lose 30 pounds. I hover around 191-195 at any given time.

I am currently on Weight Watchers, and I am really liking that plan so far. I weighed in at 195 on Monday, hopefully I will lose.

I have walked/jogged at least 2 miles every day (except today).

I am bad about posting/taking pictures. I don't like to be photographed or spend the time uploading them.

Cooler weather!!!!!

It is September and that means three things for me: back to work, cooler work out weather, and FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!

Finally made room in the budget to get some new running shoes (Saucony Ride and they are sooo comfy!) and now I am trying to get back on track. I am want to run the 3M Half Marathon in January, so I had better get after it!

I joined Weight Watchers on Monday. The new program is great because you can eat all the fruit (unless it is juice or in syrup) that you want without it counting towards your daily point values. I am hoping that this will reset my palate and eating choices.

The Olympics

I have not ran in a week and a half or eaten what I should for the last two weeks. I blame myself and my addiction to all things Olympics. I seriously LOVE watching the Olympics. I can't help it. I have been this way since the LA games. My husband told me to just DVR and watch them later. We are already 5 hours behind London and I am staying off Twitter and Facebook to just avoid finding out what happened before it airs. Hopefully when the closing ceremonies are over I will feel like going out again in the evening for a jog.

I am soooooooooooooooooooooo dreading school starting. I am lazy. I don't like getting up early. I am having serious doubts about my ability to juggle work, home, and exercise. I have been very good this summer with fixing dinner almost every single night and cleaning up the kitchen each night as well. Once school starts I won't have the luxury of leaving the baby at the sitter while I do my housework and cleaning. Ugh.

Where I am fitness-wise

Last night my wonderful husband decided we needed to meet up with a group of local runners for a social run..at 6:30 P.M....in 100 degree heat....good idea, right??? Not really. We didn't have anyone to watch the baby, so we took him with us. Usually when the sun is bright I just walk with the stroller backwards to keep the kiddo happy. I didn't this time and about a half mile into it, he was DONE, well done and very red (it faded and thank goodness I applied liberal amounts of sun block on him). We ended up at playing in the fountain until the other runners came back to the pub.

My current level of running fitness is only about a 13:00 -13:30 pace for 2-2.5 miles. I don't even think I can run a 5K right now. This evening it kept looking like it was going to storm, so I didn't go out. I am really regretting that now : (

The "before" picture

I can't believe I am about to put a picture of me in a bikini on the internet for people to see; but it must done. Sorry for any retina damage or nightmares that might result from viewing this picture.

There I am, July 2012 at 192 pounds.

Pictures of me...

This was me in June 2011







December 2011, 200ish





June 2012 (190ish)

Wanting to be an "after"

annnnnnnnnndddd once again I am blog failure or I guess the word would be blogfure. I think I posted last time in January. Not much has changed. I was doing really good with my exercise and diet-then summer happened, then the intense heat happend, and then laziness happened. So, here I am trying to find a balance between being a mom, wife, teacher, proper nutrition and exercise. I am not registering for any more races, because I don't have the money to fail. I am running/walking a little bit more. My diet is my big hurdle; I really believe that if I can get the eating under control then the exercise will come naturally.

I finally updated my profile picture, because that is how I look now. The pink jacket/running medal picture was taken in February of 2010 and I do NOT even resemble that person. Today I weigh 190 something (I didn't weigh in this morning because I am trying to break the habit of daily weigh-ins) and I took a picture of myself in a bikini. I don't want to frighten anyone yet,  but I am going to upload it and post it.

In a few months I am hoping that I can post a better "after" picture and by this time next year I will look like the woman in the pink jacket again.

Ugh...

Well, once again I have failed to blog regularly or for that matter, run regularly. What can I say? Life happens. I didn't run the 5K on January 22nd, but I am still planning on running a half marathon in May. I have been walking twice a week for the last two weeks, but I know that really isn't helping anything. Here's to restarting again.!

My Running Playlist

Okay-if you know me at all there is one thing I love: MUSIC!!! I love all kinds of music (except country for the most part) and there is never silence in my car or house. The radio is always playing and I will switch stations constantly to hear something I like. When I started running I used my iPod on every single run-even the half marathon that I ran in the rain. I started training for a marathon and we weren't allowed to use music. I loved my coach, but I missed my music. Now even when I take the baby in the stroller I have the iPod going so we can both jam out. There are a few songs that are on every playlist I have and I must listen to them when I exercise. Here are some of my favorites:

"Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga-this is my most played song on iTunes. I LOVE LOVE this song-no matter how many times I hear it. My rule of running is that when this song comes on, I must run for the entire song.

"Sound of Madness" by Shine Down-ever had a bad day? This song is a great shouting, pulse-pounding rocks song to get your adrenaline pumping.

"Jai Ho" by A.R. Rahman-the feature song from the "Slumdog Millionaire" soundtrack. When I listen to this song, I remember how uplifting the movie is and it helps me get through my run.

"Enter Sandman" by Metallica-another great rage running song

"Tik Tok" and "Your Love is My Drug" by Ke$ha-when I first started running in 2009, these songs were so catchy and upbeat. On mile 10 of my first half-marathon (when I wanted to stop) these songs helped get through to the finish.

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem-one of my favorite motivating songs.

"Renegade" by Styx-oh mama....do I really need to say anything more?

"Then He Kissed Me" by The Crystals-short, sweet, and easy to bounce along.

Some more without my commentary:

"Thrash Unreal" by Against Me
"You Shook Me" by AC/DC
"Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith
"The Dogs Day are Over" and "Shake It Out" by Florence and the Machine
"Raise Your Glass" and "Just Like a Pill" by Pink
"Poker Face" by Lady Gaga

My new favorite song is "We Are Young" by Fun.

Basically music helps me forget the pain and gives me my "pace" when I forget my watch. I

All about this blog-redo...

I started this blog last January in an effort to document staying fit during my pregnancy. Well, that was an abyssmal failure to say the least. I don't just mean the blog, but staying fit during pregnancy. I was good for about five months, then I lost my wonderful library job and was put on restricted activity for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was unable to run or enjoy any of the "forbidden" outlets while pregnant and stressed so I ate and ate anything I wanted for the last three months. My bad behavior and job loss (thanks again Rick Perry for slashing education funds in Texas) resulted in a total gain of 40 pounds while pregnant. I couldn't believe I gained half of what I had worked so hard to lose. To add insult to injury I lost nothing, yep that's right zero pounds while in the hospital, and have only managed to shed about 15 pounds in the last seven months. I am tettering on that edge of not being able to shop in the regular sizes and I gave up trying to squeeze myself into my 12s and bought some 16s just to be on the safe side.

As far as the exercising has gone-it hasn't gone anywhere. I signed up to run a 10K in October with almost no training and managed to pull out a 1:33 which shocked pretty much everybody, myself included. My goal was anything under 2 hours. I signed up to run a half-marathon in November, didn't do that one at all. I have been beating myself up over that, and I have now decided to move on. I have been walking pretty consistently prior to Christmas break and managed to walk about 4 times (at least 2 miles each time) during the holidays. Last night was the first time I made a concentrated effort to run with a plan.

I want to run a 5K in 19 days in under 45:00. My plan is to walk 1/4 mile, jog 1/4 mile for 2 miles, then walk the last 1.1 for 1 week and gradually bump up to walk/run for the entire 3.1 miles. My first training run went okay, but it was soooo cold I cut it short by about 1/3 mile.

Right now my main obstacle is time. Once I get off work, pick up the baby, and get home I only have about 2 hours before it is time to put him to bed. It is hard for me to give up my playtime with him. The other part is that there is laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, more laundry, more cleaning and the occassional cooking that takes my time away as well.

Today I went and ran without the baby at the track. It was very windy and hard to run because the boys' soccer team was practicing on the football field and I was afraid I was going to get hit in the head with a ball. I only ran a total .75 miles, but did 2 miles total. I am really sore in my back and my chest. I hope to go at least 3 miles tomorrow, but I doubt I will be running too much.

New Year, New Life, Newness....

I have a love/hate relationship with resolutions. I love to make them and hate it when I break them. I resolved to run/walk at least 5 times a week building up to a half-marathon in May.

I waited until about 5:30 this evening to go and run. Not smart, with an almost seven month-old it was too cold. I managed to get in two mile in 30:29 with 1/2 of that jogged very slowly and then I let the baby go in and warm up. I went ahead and walked/jogged another mile, but only jogged about 1/4 of the last.

It felt good to get out and actually try to run. My short term resolution is walk/jog a 5K on January 22nd in under 45:00. After that, we will see.