Day 227

I SOOO did not want to go out to the park tonight, but it is imperative that I do. I HAVE got to get back on the jogging horse before my food binges land firmly on my lower belly region.

Thankfully, Michelle was already dressed and waiting for me when I got off work, which means that I HAD to go meet her or I would be letting her down. So, I went and we did two miles. I was COLD again tonight and I had to wear gloves. My MP3 was bothering the crap out of me bumping against my jacket zipper, etc. Despite that though, we managed to increase our time by over a minute. :)

1st mile - 12:23 min
2nd mile - 23:57 min

Day 221 - 226

WOW!!!! Even with Michelle's help we went for 6 days without jogging. :( Of course, I have a REALLY good reason for it this time. :) Dec. 10th is my fiance's birthday and this week it was his 30th! So, because I am an AWESOME fiance', I decided to fly to Florida to surprise him. Instead of jogging, I spent a lot of quality time with my Sugar over the weekend. :) I had a BLAST with him and met a bunch of his friends. It is really nice to know I have a group of people already in Florida to help me ease into my soon-to-be brand new environment.

Day 220

Today Mi and I started jogging again at the park. We have decided that Mondays and Wednesdays are our days for jogging. She is much more dedicated long term than I have ever been and having her to help keep me motivated will be SUPER helpful. Today we did 2 miles. Our first lap was SLOW though - 12:45 min. It was cold though, so I don't feel too bad about our slothiness. Our second lap though was better and we finished at 25:11min.

Day 213-219

Yeah - so, I know it is an excuse, but I had a REALLY REALLY good reason for not jogging over the weekend. The weekdays before that, not so much - but... Anyways - my fiance has been overseas for six months and just landed back in Florida late Wednesday night. Despite telling me that his cell was dying and he was heading to bed, he was actually in his car driving the 12-14 trail between Jax and Hou. He showed up at my office with a dozen roses to surprise me at 9am Thursday morning. It was the MOST romantic, amazing thing anyone could have done for me. Seeing him after so long made me want to hold onto him with all I have and never let go! Needless to say, I was too busy hanging out with him to worry about jogging.

Day 212

Today I went jogging at the park with my friend Kejay. She was in town for the holiday weekend and wanted to see if she could "keep up with me". That was silly because she too is in WAY better shape than I am. Who are we kidding - most of my friends are. We went pretty slow and were lapped several times by Kejay's Dad. Yeah, that's right - her Dad did 4 miles because it was a slow day for him. Apparently, his normal Sunday run is 7 miles!! Craziness!!

Anyways - we jogged 2 miles, walked 1 mile, and then split the last mile: half walked, half jogged. I haven't done that much distance in quite some time. I felt good about it for sure!! Of course, my watch chose that day to not work, so I am not sure how long it took. Doesn't really matter though - we still did the laps. :) Plus she showed me how to do an ab exercise I can do at home that doesn't involve sit ups. I HATE sit-ups.

Day 210 - 211

Family time didn't leave much time for jogging. Well, that and the pumpkin pie :)

Day 209 - Thanksgiving Day

Today I have to admitt that I have a LOT to be thankful for this year. Not only did I find the love of my life and get engaged, but I also found a great new set of friends to hang out with around home, AND I ran my very first 5k! That is on top of the amazing family and friends I have had for years and my job. I am a VERY blessed woman. To celebrate that fact, I fully intend to stuff my face with a ton of Thanksgiving goodies! However, to earn it, Mi, my sister-in-law, and me went jogging before heading to my grandparents' house for lunch. The park we normally run in was closed, so we went to a jogging trail in the neighborhood instead. We aren't sure exactly how far we went, but our best guess is that the circle was about half a mile. We did three laps:

1st lap - 6:30min
2nd lap - 11:30 min
3rd lap - 18:41 min

203 - 208

Holy GEEZE am I a bum. :( It's kind of sad really.

Day 202

Tonight my friend Mi decided to go jogging with me at the local park. She has taken a crazy fitness class and has been doing rowing for a few months. So, she is WAY more in shape than I am. In addition to that, she recently did the same Bod Pod thing I did and she has the body fat percentage that I am striving for: 22%. I am So jealous! The good thing though is that she hasn't jogged as much as I have been, so I can actually keep up with her despite being less in shape. We only did one mile because its been awhile for both of us and it is starting to get cold. But, we did do the mile pretty well. 11:33 minutes. :)

Day 201 - Routine Revival

Tonight I couldn't talk myself out of it - I had to go jogging. I feel too bad about having not gone in ten days. So, I fought the urge to cuddle with my fur babies and a blanket while watching TV until I fall asleep. Thankfully, I won the battle. Thus began a revival of my routine. I am bit slower than I used to be, but still not too bad considering only a few short months ago I couldn't jog the distance at all regardless of speed.

1st lap - 5:36 min - j
2nd lap - 11:05 min - j
3rd lap - 16:31 min - j

After jogging I hit the gym. The standard circuit seemed to work alright. I could be deluding myself, but I honestly think that I am getting better at the whole small weights thing. :) The verticle bench press the most difficult for me at the beginning, but tonight I did alright.

Day 192 - 200

I knew ahead of time that this week was going to be ridiculous for me and that I wouldn't get the chance to work out unless I went on Thursday morning before my late day at work. I was so tired though that that definitely did not happen. I had intended on going over the weekend (Sat and Sun), but life got in the way. Wedding stuff & watching Baylor get handled by the Aggies was my day Saturday and then wedding stuff & lunch with my future in-laws took up Sunday. Monday and Tuesday life got in the way again. Monday I was a bum, Tuesday I had a late meeting and it was Glee night. So... yeah I think I gained a pound from not changing my bad eating habits and getting out of my routine. Now I feel like a bloated slug.

Day 191- Part 2

Today I was inspired and motivated more so than I have been in a long time. Plus, the weather was absolutely gorgeous and after spending hours writing out addresses on save-the-date envelopes I was ready to go back outside. So, I texted my friend M., who has started jogging recently, and we went over to the park to enjoy the sunny outdoors.

1st mile - 11:39 min - j
2nd mile - 23:13 min - j

Day 191

Today I was back in the saddle of my new routine: 1.5 miles and hitting the gym. I did pretty well, but wasn't able to use one of the leg machines because there was another guy there that just wouldn't move off of it. GRR. I am seriously considering going back to the gym this evening to do that one machine. The guy gave me pointers on how to adjust it so that I would actually be doing the excercise correctly. I will have to see if I can get it to work.

1st lap - 5:21 min
2nd lap - 10:43 min
3rd lap - 15:49 min

Day 187 - 190

This week has been busy. There are many excuses - none are very good. Oh well.

Day 186

One month ago today I jogged my first full 5k :) I have switched my routine in the past month though, so I haven't jogged a 5k since then. Tonight I decided to see if I can still do it. I can! And I did it a tiny bit faster than I used to!

1st mile - 11:09 min
2nd mile - 23:04 min
3rd mile - 34:52 min

I have decided that I really like jogging in the park (I went back again tonight). There is just a lot more interesting stuff to look at. Little league football practice, an owl that was just hanging out near a bench, and a skunk! I am glad I didn't get too close to it, but he/she was cute. :)

Day 185

Today I went to a local park with a friend. She has recently started jogging too and I wanted to show her the park. It has a nicely laid out mile route, is well lit, and very pretty. I was not having a great day though, so we walked and talked for 2 miles before jogging one. We did it in 11:10min though - which isn't bad.

Day 182 - 184

I meant to go jogging at least once over the weekend to make three times in the week, but I didn't. Friday got busier than expected and Saturday I had errands to take care of before going out for Halloween. My friends and I did walk a million city blocks Saturday night though (we went around taking pictures, did a Ghost Tour and then went dancing)so that has to count for something - right? Sunday, actual Halloween was my 1 year anniversary with my Sugar! So I spent almost 2 hours talking to him via Skype and spent the rest of the day cleaning my apartment. Productive and fun: YES - Jogging: No.

Day 181

This morning was my late arrival day so I got up at my normal time and went jogging. GO ME! 1.5 miles is getting somewhat easier with the quicker pace, but the cooler weather made breathing a bit tough. I am going to have to invest in long sleeved tops and running pants for the cool season.

1st lap - 5:19 min - j
2nd lap - 10:44 min - j
3rd lap - 15: 44 min - j

Then I hit the gym. :) GO ME again! I was able to do 25lbs on the bicep curl and 30 for the row and the shoulder machine. I had to go back to 20 lbs for the vertical bench press and the other shoulder press though. 30 reps on each and my arms were trembling. I am still not 100% sure I am doing them right. Many of them show that you are supposed to be working your back muscles also, but I really only feel it in my arms. The leg machine that curls I did 50 lbs on, but I need help figuring out how to properly adjust that one. The lifting up I can do just fine, but the backwards curl I can't seem to get into the position where I can do it and keep my back against the seat correctly. The leg press and calf lift I did 40 lbs on. I am still failing miserably at any attempts at sit-ups or crunches. Any tips on core/ab excerises I could do would be greatly appreciated. :)

Day 179 - 180

Glee night was Tuesday and last night I had errands to run after work. Also, my event ran long so I didn't get off until 7pm.

Day 178

Today I decided to get back to my training.

1st lap: 5:20 min - j
2nd lap: 10:22 min - j
3rd lap: 15:17 min - j
4th lap: 24:15 min - w

After that I went back to the gym to get back into my new weight lifting routine. I managed to increase my wieght from 20 - 30 lbs for the first two machines. I wasn't able to do that much on the shoulder press though, so I stuck with 20 lbs for that. I increased to 50 lbs for one of the leg machines and went back to 40 lbs for the second leg machine.

Day 171-177 RAD and Retreat

This week was CRAZY for me. Mon. - Thurs. I taught RAD after working my normal day so I didn't get home until between 9:30 - 10pm each night. I got a small amount of physical activity while teaching the techniques, but not enough to really count it as calorie burning. Friday I had to stay late by 2.5 hours for a training, then drove 2.5 hours to the camp grounds at which the Leadership Retreat I helped facilitate was being held. I was there until 3:30pm on Sunday, but with traffic I didn't get home until 6pm. Other than walking back and forth between the bunkhouse and the dining hall a few times, the only physical activity I got over the weekend was the high ropes course. I attempted the rock climbing wall (the easy one) until I got half way up and realized that the hand hold that I was looking for had fallen off the wall. So, with no easy place to go - I switched to the ladder. Once at the top, I seriously considered turning around and going back down. Instead though, I braved the tight rope walk. However, at the crow's nest between the tight rope and the log walk I almost had a total panic attack. The wind was blowing and everytime someone went down the zipline the whole structure vibrated. It took the encouragement of our students and the guy at the top putting his hand on my back and prying me off of the pole to get me to cross the log. Thankfully, the zipline was actually fun. One of our students video taped me going down the zipline. I screamed like a little girl, but I survived!

Day 170

Apparently 1.5 hours is not long enough to wait for your food to settle before jogging. I was attempting to jog 1.5 miles again tonight, but had to stop a quarter of the way through my second lap because I thought I was going to be sick. Not a good feeling. I was able to finish the lap at a decent pace after a few minutes of breathing.

1st lap - 5:16 min - j
2nd lap - 10:22 min - j

After jogging the mile, I decided to go to the gym instead of continueing to jog. I felt like I was dying. I am not sure how it is possible, but I think in only the past five days the amount of food I ate plus the lack of excersise actually set me back several months worth of progress. UGH! Anyways - I did alright at the gym. Arms at 20 lbs and legs at 40 lbs like normal. I also tried doing stomach crunches. I did 100, but I am pretty sure I am not doing them right. My back and neck are killing me, but my stomach doesn't hurt at all. I have got to find someone to teach my how to do a core workout properly.

After the gym, I thought it would be a good idea to attempt my last lap of the 1.5 miles. I promised myself that would be my minimum now that I am working on speed rather than distance. I am not going to be able to work out this upcoming week and wanted to finish at least this one.

I am glad that I did. The time in the gym gave my stomach time to fully settle and knowing that I only had one lap to do, I was able to push myself on speed more than I ever had before. It was awesome: I did my fastest lap ever!!! 4:32 min for .5 miles. This time of course won't make me a track star, but I am happy with it. :)

Day 166 - 169

Eh - I don't even remember my excuses anymore.

Day 165

I guess today is the day that I get back into the routine - or should I say, create a new routine from scratch. Since I have only done this whole combo jogging/gym thing three times, I don't really have a set routine yet. I think what I did tonight should work for a while - I hope ( a circuit with the machines after jogging for 1.5 miles). I still need to at some point incorporate the sit-ups, push-ups, and lounges thing, but that will happen some day.

1st lap - 5:18 min - j
2nd lap - 10:21 min - j
3rd lap - 15:39 min - j

Day 159 - 164

This week has been crazy - I was in a wedding for a friend out of town which took a ton of time, energy, and driving. It was worth it to be there for my sorority sister on her special day, but still ... it totally killed my excersise schedule. Anyways - I will get back to weights asap.

Day 158

Day 3 of my new quicker paced jogging and gym routine - woo hoo. Today hurt though - I am not sure why, but my best guess was the cooler weather made it more difficult to breathe. At least that's my story. In the gym - I am going slow, but steady. With all of the arm machines I am doing 30 reps with 20 lbs and with the leg machines I do 30 reps with 40 lbs. Its a start :) The legs aren't too bad except that one of the machines is not really made for someone my size and I am not sure how to adjust the chair part of it so that I can actually sit with my back against the back of the chair. Oh well - with the arms I am doing alright except that the shoulder press machine doesn't seem to be aligned properly so if I were to fully extend my arms one wouldn't actually be fully extended. I guess that is what I get for using the free gym at my complex instead of getting a membership somewhere that actually cares about the people using the equipment's safety and physical advancement.

1st lap - 5:18 min - j
2nd lap - 10:45 min - j
3rd lap - 16:01 min - j

Day 157

Today I went back to my attempting my new goal: to gain muscle mass and lose body fat. I was told last week that in order to do that I need to lift weights, calastenics, and do sprints. To give myself something to work towards I have set my sites on the Navy Physical Readiness Standards for women my age. Haha - why I think I can reach military standards, I am not sure, but we will see if it works.

I jogged 1.5 miles in a new record time for myself: 15:17 minutes.
1st lap, 5:07 min
2nd lap 10:19min
3rd lap 15:17min

After that I went to the gym in my complex and did 30 reps on each of the machines. With the arm machines I did 20 pounds and with the legs I did 40 pounds. I also did 35 sit-ups with the sit up machine and 15 very bad ones without the machine. I also did a little bit of stretching. I need to work more on the sit-ups and then eventually I need to try to tackle push-ups. My fiance suggests that I get an excersise ball - says it is a better way to do sit-ups. I will have to look into it soon. :)

Day 156

Instead of jogging today, Chrissy and I spent the day walking around at the beach and shopping. Yesterday after the Race we went to the state park to hang out with my parents. We walked a trail that is approximately 1.7 miles long. I am not sure how many miles that we walked at the beach and while shopping, but we figured that we had done enough excerise for the weekend :)

Day 155 - RACE FOR THE CURE :)

The big day is finally here! I must admit it was a bit anti-climactic, but I did achieve all three of my goals: jog the whole 3.1 miles, finish in under 40 minutes, and not be the last person in the jogger group. :) My friend Chrissy from gradschool and my coworker Johanna did it with me. We finihsed in 39.44 minutes. Yeah, I know it was cutting it close - but we were weaving through a crowd of over 30,000 people - most of them moving at a snails pace. Even in the non-competitive jogger group, a majority of people I saw were walking. It was annoying, especially the strollers and dogs I was dodging. We all agree that had we been clear to jog without the human obstacle course we could have done it faster. I could have done it faster, but I had to stop and wait for Chrissy and Johanna to catch up so that I wouldn't lose them in the crowd. Of course, I only really pulled ahead towards the end when Chrissy looked at me and said "We have 2 minutes", so I took off. Regardless of the time though I am VERY proud of myself for accomplishing my goal :) And it was even more fun because I was doing it with my friends, who were also doing their first 5ks :)


I have officially jogged a 5k!!!!!!!

Day 152 - 154

Busy and lazy - no jogging. :(

Day 151 - Record speed & 1.8% down!

So, today I got my second Bod Pod Body Scan done. I had my first done back in May and its results were the kick in the butt I needed to really get motivated. They were also the inspiration for the title of my blog "Losing 8", which refers to the 8% of body fat I would like to lose. When I first got scanned I was at 29.7% body fat which put me only .3% away from the "Execessive Fat" catagory. If I were to lose 8%, I would be on the border line betwee the "Lean" and the "Moderately Lean" catagories.
I was totally disguished with the results from the first scan. And, I must admit, I am disappointed with the results from this second scan. Over the last four months I have lost 6 pounds, which is AWESOME and what has gotten me into my favorite dress from college for the first time in 7 years. I am finally back under the 130 lbs mark!!! I was shooting for 130 - 135, but surpassed that :) However, only 4 lbs of that was fat. The other 2 lbs was "not fat body mass" which includes muscle. How is it that when I actually excersise I LOOSE muscle?! (Please don't actually try to explain that to me. I understand the science, I am just frustrated.) Because of the "not fat body mass" lost, I have only lost 1.8% body fat. :( GRRR!!!
Apparently, if I want to loose body fat specifically, I need to switch my focus from distance jogging to sprints and calestinics/weight lifting. Why does this have to be so hard?! :(

Anyways - I tried to take the various advice I was given today and went over to the larger of the gyms in my complex to "work out". I did small amounts of weight (usually 20 lbs) on all of the machines there. The choices were limited, but I did triceps, shoulder press, vertical chest press, and two leg machines. I also tortured myself on the sit-up machine. I did 30 reps on each machine. I am not sure if that is right or not, but it is a start. :) Then, instead of doing 3.1 miles slow and steady like I normally would - I decided to try and pick up my speed instead. My fiance told me that the Navy's standards for women my age is to run 1.5 miles in 16 minutes. (That is of course the maximum time accepted). For those who are in the service and keep up their physical conditioning that should not be hard, but for me - it is my new goal. :)

1st lap - 5:55 min - jq (jogged quickly)
2nd lap - 11:19 min - jq
3rd lap - 15:52 min - jq

I DID IT!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!!! It's a record for me AND a barely acceptable time for the Navy :) According to the standards chart my fiance sent me this morning, I would be deemed "Satifactory High" for that time. Only two rungs from the bottom of the pact, I will take it and revell in it :)

Of course, to truly earn my rank I would need to do 15 push-ups and 47 sit-ups in two minutes each. I will start working on that tonight. I have a feeling the push-up thing will take A WHILE.

Day 150 - My fastest mile yet!!!!!!!

Tonight I decided that until after this weekend's Race for the Cure, I will be doing only 3.1 miles at a time. No over exerting before the big day :) OH - but in the midst of my "not over exerting myself" first jog of the week, I jogged my fastest mile yet: 10:36 minutes!! YAY :)

1st lap - 6:10 min - j
2nd lap - 12:16 min - j
3rd lap - 18:31 min - j
4th lap - 24:25 min - j
5th lap - 5:45 min - j
6th lap - 10:36 min - j
.1 mile - 11:08 min - j

144 - 149

Is it possible to be a bum and busy at the same time? I think this week was an example of that. I was too bummish to jog, but too busy to sit on my butt. That plus from Wed. - Sat. my tummy hurt. Its hard to be motivate to jog when you don't feel good. :(

Day 143

Yeah, 5 miles was AWESOME! But, the hip, knee, and ankle pain the day after is NOT. I feel amazingly satisfied with myself and really old at the same time :) Tonight I attempted to continue my glory streak, but failed. :) I only managed to squeek out 1.5 miles. I must admit though that I proud of myself for at least trying.

1st lap - 6:23 min - j
2nd lap - 12:48 min - j
3rd lap - 19:16 min - j

Day 142 - FIVE miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY GEEZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just jogged FIVE miles!!!!!!!!!!!! That's right world: FIVE miles!!!!!!! With no walking :) :) It was awesome! My right knee and my hips hurt some, but other than that I felt GREAT! I didn't even get super winded until the last lap when I decided to push myself on speed and tried to run it. I managed to run about half of the lap before I had to slow down to keep from hyperventalating. Still though, my boosts of energy, which came from my excitment about the acheivement, helped me to do my fastest mile in a LONG time: 11:32 minutes :)

1st lap: 5:58 min - j
2nd lap: 12:30 min - j
3rd lap: 19:05 min - j
4th lap: 25:37 min - j
5th lap: 6:16 min - j
6th lap: 12:22 min - j
7th lap: 18:40 min - j
8th lap: 24:48 min - j
9th lap: 6:02 min - j
10 lap: 11:32 min - j

Day 140 - 141

I was a bum again these past few days. And, I TOTALLY blew my attempts at healthy eating. Friday was dinner, comedy club, and kareoke with JeJuJoMi. Saturday was shopping with Mom and an event for work.

Day 139

Today was my late day at work so I go in at 9am and leave at 7pm. Normally I prefer to jog in the evenings because I am NOT a morning person, but today I decided that I should get off my booty and get moving. So, I woke up at my normal time (7am) and jogged a 5k before going to work. That's right - a full 5k! I think taking three days off between jogs thoguh was a BAD idea. I managed to complete the jog and do so in times that aren't too far off my usual, but it HURT. I felt like I couldn't take a complete breathe (probably because my sports bra, which shrank in the wash was constricting my chest) and moving my feet was like picking up concrete blocks. It was ridiculous. I can not take off that many days anymore - it is too hard to recover.

1st lap - 6:23 min - j
2nd lap - 12:50 min - j
3rd lap - 19:12 min - j
4th lap - 25:17 min - j
5th lap - 6:15 min - j
6th lap - 12;17 min - j
.1 mile - 13:01 min - j

Days 136 - 138

UGH - Total BUM!

Lessons from the Bear Trail - A random aside

While in graduate school, I breifly attempted to take up what seems to be a favorite passed time of my fellow Bears: jogging. This has been an on again/off again goal of mine for several years prior to starting this actually successful attempt in May. Anyways - the trail around campus is about a 2 mile square and my goal was to jog the first mile and then walk/jog the second. I only jogged the whole thing once and it was SO slow it barely counts. :) I wrote this based upon my observations from my trips to the trail. I hope it makes you laugh or motivates you to keep trying :)


Lessons from the Bear Trail
(In no particular order)

1. There is no perfect shade of lipstick to go with “Hold up! I think my heart is going to explode!” So, get out there and don’t worry about your makeup!

2. Wear a hat! It serves multiple functions:

a. It helps to hide the flaws you would normally cover with make-up
b. It hides and keeps out of your face your not washed hair (Be eco-friendly people! There is no point in showering before you go jogging, because you are going to have to shower again when you get back.)
c. People can’t see your face, they think they know you, they wave – it makes the Trail a friendlier place to be.

3. The only person you are competing with is yourself – Just ignore the track stars and concentrate on not hyperventilating

4. It is a baby step process – Step One: Get your lazy butt off the couch and on the Bear Trail!

5. Be realistic! You are not going to set any world records your first lap around. Instead, set personal goals like: Jog a whole mile, or get from your door back to your door in 30 minutes. (Those are mine, but you are free to use them)

6. As the Tortoise and the Hare taught us: slow and steady wins the race. Rather than using up all of your energy right off the starting block, slow down some and your energy will last you longer.

7. Be your own cheerleader! It is vital to your success that you are on your own side. Telling yourself you can’t do it, defeats the whole purpose. Of course you can’t do it right now – if you could it wouldn’t be a goal, it would be an accomplishment! However, you CAN do it in the future if you WORK at it! If you want to reach and exceed your goals your mantra should be “Just a little bit further! You can do it! Just keep going!”

8. The best time to jog is Sunday morning: it is not too hot, all of the good Baylor students are at church, and the bad ones are still in bed – so there aren’t as many people to watch you jog.  (By morning, I mean around 11am - If you were going to get up earlier you should go to church.)

9. Celebrate even the smallest achievements! Cut yourself some slack and be proud of yourself every step of the way. It may take some time to reach your goals, but the fact that you are out there and trying is something to be excited about in and of itself!

10. Not everyone should be running around in tiny shorts and a sports bra. DO NOT feel like you have to be one of those girls to utilize the Bear Trail. It is public space and you have as much right to be there as those model wannabes, so DON’T be intimidated by them. Just wear comfortable clothes and jog your way into the sports bra and tiny shorts! (Or continue to wear clothes because you aren’t a tacky, shallow person who feels you have to flaunt your small waist: whatever works best for you.)


I hope these lessons benefit you as they have me! HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!! 

Day 135 - Part 2

Normally I love being right. Today having my suspicions confirmed is frustrating. I went up to campus and drove the path of the "5k" I jogged this morning only to discover that it was only 2.4 miles long. :( GRRR...... SO ANNOYING!!!!!!!! I paid $20 to be able to proclaim victory over my goal of jogging a full 5k. Of course donating money for a good cause is always nice too.

So, I decided to fulfill my promise to myself and jog a 5K today! It was awesome :)

1st lap - 6:10min - j
2nd lap - 12:13 min - j
3rd lap - 18:20 min - j
4th lap - 24:24 min - j
5th lap - 6:17 min - j
6th lap - 12:51 min - j
.1 mile - 13:39 min - j

So - In conclusion - I jogged 5.5 miles today! :) :)

Day 135 - My real 5k (ish)

This morning was my big day! The NOAH 5K was held on campus this morning at 7:30am. It was WAY to early for me to be awake on a weekend morning, but it did feel good to finally do something I have been working so hard for :)
As I have mentioned many times before, I am VERY slow. So slow that I was the LAST of the people in the jogging group. But again, as I have said many times before, I am not competing with other people I am competing with myself. COMPLETION is the goal - not time.

According to my watch it took me 26:28 minutes to complete the jog. That has me a little skeptical though. I have never jogged that fast before, so I am either MUCH faster when there is an easy to follow 3.1 mile trail to follow or they measured the trail wrong and were short a mile. We will see - I intend to go back to campus this evening when their full event is finished and measure the path with my car.

Day 134

I spent 6 hours today in defensive driving. It was a colassial waste of my time! I learned nothing of value and watched Dinesy movies (yes, actual Disney movies) about traffic problems. After that I talked to Jon and then had dinner with Kristen.

Day 133

The weather today was gross and hot - not abnormal in Texas, but still unpleasant. So, between that and the time crunch I had before I had to go back to work for our Welcome Back Dance, I decided it was best to do the elipical machine instead of jogging outside. I did 20 minutes total. 10 minutes of that was backwards to work my calve muscles - plus my thighs were burning. The eliptical machine is like pedaling a bicycle standing up.

1st mile: 6:48 min
2nd mile: 13:54 min
3rd mile: 20:54 min
.1 mile: 47 secs

Day 132 - 3.1 miles = 5K

Today was a good day for my jogging! YAY :) I remeasured the distance around the complex with my car so that I could be sure that the distance I have been jogging is actually .5 miles per lap. I am :) Also, in the process I figured out where the .1 mile mark is so that when I went jogging tonight I did an actual 5K!

1st lap: 6:10 min -j
2nd lap: 11:50 min - j
3rd lap: 17;44 min - j
4th lap: 23:40 min - j
5th lap: 29:35 min - j
6th lap: 5:43 min - j
.1 mile: 6:30 min - j

Day 131

I honestly don't know what was going on with me that day, but I totally passed out at 7:30pm. I got home, cleaned my bathroom, and then laid down to settle my stomach. I had no intention of taking a nap, but I didn't wake up until my parents' 4th frantic phone call jarred me from my slumber. Yeah - I know they are paranoid, but they do actually call 4 times in an hour and a half if I don't pick up the phone. Ugh - anyways, I got up long enough to eat and then went back to bed at 10:30pm. It was much needed rest :)

Day 130

The rain has not let up yet. We are getting the outskirts of the tropical storms and hurrricanes that are in the Gulf so it is gross outside. Cool, but gross. Plus because tonight is Tuesday, it is $5 movie night - so I went to see Going the Distance with a coworker. I will jog tomorrow though, even if it has to be on an eliptical machine.

Day 129

Today was my last day at the beach :( My sorority sister woke me up as she left to say goodbye and since my other friend was still asleep and the temperature was cool, I decided to go jogging. The other options were read a book on the porch or go back to sleep. Sleep was very temping, but the meal I had last night was heavy enough to make me sick (literally) so I figured that it was about time to work off some of the weekend's fun. I followed the same path I had done on Friday. It was tough because for half of the time I was running into some decently strong winds, but I managed to stick to it until the end. I even had enough drive to sprint the last two blocks back to the cabin. I can really move when I want to. :) For short distances of course. :) I forgot my watch though, so I do not have it timed. All I know is that I left a little after 9am and was back in the cabin at 10am. I am glad I went when I did - the rain started coming down shortly after I returned.

After packing everything up, I drove the path to see how far I had gone and was sad to discover that I was just shy of 3 miles: 2.9 to be exact. Oh well - I am still pretty darn proud of myself! :)

PS - I jogged in shorts and a sports bra again :)

Day 127-128

BEACH DAYS!!!!!!!!!!! Sitting, swimming, sunning..... Board games, s'mores, friends it was an AWESOME weekend!

Day 126 - Beach Jogging

Today was the first day of the long Labor Day weekend! I love having an extra off. It's actually ridiculous how much happy that one extra day makes me :)

So, in honor of the holiday, my friends are going to come down to my family's beach cabin to sit in the sun for a few days and relax. In order to beat the crowds on the Ferry line, I went down as early as I could after work and managed to drive right on. The weather was really nice when I got there (well there was a small reminent of a thunder storm that had rolled through earlier, but that just cooled things off), so I decided to take advantage of it and go for a jog. Yes - this is a FIRST: I brought excercise clothing on vacation and actually USED them! Miracles of greater proportion have happened, but still this is on the list! :)

Anyways - another miracle occured as well: I only used some of the workout gear I brought. :) Let me explain: at my university (the one I was a student at, not the one I work at), we had a jogging trail around campus. It was approxiametely 2 miles square and was used CONSTANTLY! Seriously, there were people out there at all hours of the day and night. And, most of the girls wore tiny cheerleading shorts and sports bras to prance around the trail with barely any sweat, fully done perfect make-up, and a ribbon matching the shorts in their shiny, bouncy ponytails. No - I am not exagerrating. I on the other hand, when I would go out there, would be in an oversized t-shirt, baseball cap, no make-up, and would be dying from heat stroke and lack of oxygen to the brain. Thus, it has been a secret goal of mine (sense starting to jog) to go back to that train and jog the whole thing in shorts and a sports bra. The significance of the outfit is to of course show off your athletically toned body, which I have never had. I still don't think I have the perfect body for the outfit, but I finally have the confidence :) I jogged at the beach in cheerleading shorts and a sports bra! Insignifant to most, but a personal victory for me. Though, I stayed true to my no make-up and baseball cap policy. :)

Alright - so onto my actual jogging. Because there is no defned trail and I didn't want to mess up my fancy jogging shoes, I decided not to jog on the beach itself. Instead, I started at my cabin and jogged up and down each street between it and the beach, then jogged straight up the main road back to the cabin. I am not sure how long of a jog that is distance wise, but it took me 38 minutes to do, so my guess is about 3miles.

Day 125

I don't remember why I didn't jog, I have slept sense then :)

Day 124 - 3.5 miles again!

OH YEAH! Today I kicked booty! 3.5 miles :)OH - And today I officially registered for the Race for the Cure :) My friends are amazing and donated almost instantly. Literally, I had the Komen tab on my Facebook page for less than half an hour and there were already 4 donations! AWESOME!!

1st lap - 5:54 min - j
2nd lap - 12:17 min - j
3rd lap - 18:45 min - j
4th lap - 25:18 min - j
5th lap - 6:23 min - j
6th lap - 12:40 min - j
7th lap - 18:54 min - j

Day 123

Today I gave myself a break. It was my late night at work and then I had to pick up a bridesmaid dress for a wedding I am in next month and had to get tank tops for the Race for the Cure. I am going to decorate them for my friend and I to wear for the Race. By the time I got home and had dinner it was way late and I was tired. Excuses? Maybe.

Day 122

YAY Me! I completed 3 miles again tonight! :) I am excited about this: my first attempt at a jogging a 5K is on September 12th which is only 13 days away!!! I think I may actually be ready for it :)

1st lap - 5:56 min - j
2nd lap - 12:20 min - j
3rd lap - 18:40 min - j
4th lap - 25:48 min - j
5th lap - 6:20 min - j
6th lap - 12:17 min - j

Day 121

I woke up with the best of intentions. I was going to make today the 5th day this week that I went jogging! But, I woke up late so it was already really hot and by the time the weather cooled to a non-lethal temperature it was time to go my friend's place for the Emmy's. Ugh - Dang this Texas heat.

Day 120 - Awesome Fitness Day

Today was an awesome day for me & my fitness routine :) I spent the afternoon walking with a friend around a local state park. Based on the park map we figured out that we did about 2.5 miles of hiking around the two lakes on the property. We were looking for alligators, but we only found one. It was a super cute baby one though, so it was worth it. :)
By the time I got home it was 5:30pm and I had energy left - so I decided to take care of some chores before going jogging. I am pretty proud of myself for not giving myself a pass on the jogging becuase of the walking. That is something the pre-jogging me would definetly have done :) Oh - and instead of snacking on chips while watching TV after my post-jogging shower, I had a bowl of grapes. I feel like one of those Nutrigrain Bar commercials: one good decision really can lead to another good decision. Haha :) Profound thoughts from a commerical.

1st lap - 5:54 min - j
2nd lap - 11:56 min - j
3rd lap - 18:42 min - j
4th lap - 24:48 min - j
5th lap - 6:26 min - 1/4 w, 1/4j
6th lap - 12:35 min - j

Day 119

Warning to all fellow joggers: even with a nice breeze, jogging at 3pm when it is 95 degrees outside is a BAD idea! Today is our early day at work and I decided to go at 3pm because I had just returned from running errands and wanted to get my jogging done before settling in for the evening. It sounded like a good idea at the time. I was wrong. Between the suffocating heat and the sports bra I need to throw out for having shrunk too much (it literally prevents me from taking a full breathe and HURTS), I was dizzy and weezing only half way into the first lap. I managed to muster my strength for the first 1.5 miles, but then I gave in and walked the fourth lap. While trying to regain the normal rhythem of my breathing I realized that forcing another two laps would be more detrimental than helpful. I needed water badly, so I called it a day at the 2 mile marker.

1st lap - 5:56 min - j
2nd lap - 12:01 min - j
3rd lap - 18:16 min - j
6th lap - 25:54 min - w

Day 118 - 3.5 for a 2nd time

I am actually pretty darn impressed with myself tonight! I jogged 3.5 miles again!!!!!!! And - I pushed myself really hard and was able to increase my speed too :) Woo-Hoo!! I think I am starting to actually get the swing of this whole jogging thing. YAY!!!
Oh - and I went to the doctor's office today and I found out that I have lost 3.5 pounds since I went in June!!! 3 more pounds and I will be back down to my college weight :) :) I love this whole looking hot bi-product of getting in shape!!!

1st lap - 5:50 min - j
2nd lap - 11:54 min - j
3rd lap - 17:41 min - j
4th lap - 23:40 min - j
5th lap - 5:35 min - j
6th lap - 11:05 min - j
7th lap - 18:04 min - j

(I had to correct my time on the 7th lap. Apparently my watch did not malfunction, I simply misread it in my deliriously tired state. When I went to go jogging the next day, I read it properly. Ha- I definetely need to drink more water.)

Day 116-117

Umm... I don't remember why I didn't go jogging on Tuesday, but I am pretty sure it was just because I was being lazy.

I didn't go on Wednesday because I had to take my cats to my parents' house so that I could have the exterminator come today. After dropping them off, my parents took me out for Mexican and everyone knows it is just bad form to turn down Mexican food for jogging. :) I did have chicken taco salad instead of cheese enchildas with queso - so I am happy with my healthier choice. Its a start.

Day 115

I am back on the wagon tonight, but man I am feeling the affects of yesterday's ridiculous spurge. Remind me not to do that again please. I managed to force myself through 2.5 miles and walked an addition 1.5 miles, but it was TOUGH. Half way through the first lap I was starting to get those pains in my side that feel like being stabbed with a lightening rod. I have decided that I should definitely make a more deliberate effort to drink water throughout the day prior to running. I do not know for sure that dehydration causes those pains, but either way I know water is a good idea.

1st lap - 6:22min - j
2nd lap - 12:45 min - j
3rd lap - 19:13 min - j
4th lap - 25:48 min - j
5th lap - 7:10 min - 1/2 j, 1/2w
6th lap - 13:30 min -j
7th lap - un-timed walk

Days 112-114

Fridays are one of my favorite days of the week (the other being Saturday) becuase I get off work at noon. You would think this would allow plenty of time to jog and theoretically you would be right. However between the hours of noon and 6pm it is hotter than nine blazes of Hades outside and therefore I refuse to jog. This particular Friday evening was booked as well with a work obligation and a movie with a coworker.

Saturday was cleaning day and left overs of my cold.I spent Saturday evening at my parent's house watching a movie and chit-chatting with my mom. She was starving and decided to throw her diet out for the diet as a reward for kyaking that afternoon - so we all ate more pizza than we needed. I have to admit though, Dominos is not kidding about their new and improved pizza: it really is pretty good.

Sunday was finish cleaning day followed by a whole pint of ice cream to calm myself after a rough afternoon. Although I am very satisfied with the new flavor of Bluebell (vanilla ice cream with crushed Butterfingers), I was very unsatisfied with my choice for dinner. Craving a particular dish at a local Thai resteraunt I decided that my headache would be cured by picking up a to-go order. Sadly though the resteraunt was closed and I had to settle for a local Chinese place. It was a poor substitute and the salt content left me with a headache. :(

Moral of this entry: Bad food choices + illness = no jogging.

Day 111

I had to wake up 1.5 hours early this morning for work. That combined with my lack of sleep last night (caused by my inability to breathe and my coughing) and my continued feeling of crappiness made me a generally BLAH girl today. Though I was determined to jog today for two reasons:

1st - I tried on a skirt this morning in my new size and was sad to realize that it is a bit more snug than I would like. I was therefore forced to wear my old black skirt instead.

2nd - I officially registered for my first ever attemppt at jogging a 5K! The Race for the Cure is in early October and I would like to see how well my training has truly progressed. So, I have decided to do a practice run (pun intended) on September 12 at the NOAH 5K being held on my university's campus. I am crossing my fingers that my recent success at home is a sign of my ability to succeed on that morning as well. However, I figure if for some reason I am unable to jog the whole
5K, I will know how much more I have to work in order to achieve my ultimate goal of jogging the Race for the Cure a few weeks later. We shall see. :)

With these motivations in mind, I forced myself to jog tonight. Considering the circumstances, I am very proud of myself for completing 2 miles before having to give up.

1st lap: 6:02 min - j
2nd lap: 12:13 min - j
3rd lap: 18:44 min - j
4th lap: 25:10 min - j

Day 110

I feel poopy again today. I hate not being able to breathe properly and hate even more the constant pressure throbbing in my head when I can't. However, I know that I need to keep up my physical activity not only to keep in shape for the upcoming Race for the Cure, but also to maintain my ability to wear my new size and my favorite old dress. For that reason, I forced myself to go walking. Jogging would not have happened, but I managed to walk a mile before my dripping got overwhelming. Sadly though, tonight's walk reemphasized my painful slowness when jogging. I have been proudly averaging 12 minute miles, which I fully acknowledge is very slow. However, upon timing myself last night I found that walking barely faster than a stroll without being able to breathe I walked a mile in 17.38 minutes. its ridiculous how much effort and sweat I put into cutting that time down 5 minutes. Oh well - I will increase my speed eventually. Right now my focus is on distance.

Day 109

About an hour after returning from my amazing feat last night I was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to be sick. Thankfully, I was only sick once. My dad says it was probably dehydration and he is probably right. I do definitely need to drink more water before and after jogging. Unfortunately, I also went to bed with a soar throat and woke up with really bad allergies. Thus, I feel stuffy, foggy, and drippy today. I wanted to be able to jog, but it was just not possible. I could barely move once I got home and went through almost a full box of tissues throughout the course of the day. So instead of jogging, I went to sleep. Well, I tried to at least.

Day 108 - I am AMAZING!!!!!!!

FOUR miles people!!!! That's right, I jogged FOUR miles!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!!!! I started out with the intention of doing 3 miles to get back into the swing after taking the weekend off. The weather was perfect for jogging and something just felt good about being out there pounding the pavement. Rather than pushing my speed, I was SLOW and steady. I believe for this reason I was able to glide through the first two miles with relative ease. During the 4th lap I started to think to myself, "Maybe this could be my second 3.5 mile night". My legs weren't hurting, I was breathing decently normal, and was moving without having to conciously make the effort. It was nice. So, I went for it when I had the chance. I still felt really good minus some pains in my feet from landing on them weirdly (I am still trying to train myself to jog properly). Then the amazing happened: at the end of the 7th lap - I still had the energy and desire to keep going!! So - I did. I even picked up the pace on the last lap and managed to jog at almost my full speed capabilities for half of the lap. BIZARRE, but I even had the engery to run past the crossing line by a few yards before deciding it was best to go ahead and stop. It was almost 10pm and I didn't want to be out much later. OMG!!!! I am SOOOO excited!!!!

This is something I genuinely thought I would never be able to accomplish. Now I realize that the mind is much more powerful than the body and that my physical ability to accomplish such a goal was never really the problem. Instead it was my opinion that I couldn't do it or that I didn't want to do it that really held me back from being athletic earlier in life. I am 29 and just now really taking ownership of my fitness. That is sad and kind of pathetic. But now that I am I feel GREAT about it!!! Moral of the night: You CAN do anything - the only question you have to ask yourself is WILL you do it!!! For me, the answer to that question in relation to jogging is YES!! YES - I WILL jog a 5K. YES- I WILL push myself and not give up. YES - I WILL BE A JOGGER!!!!

1st lap - 6:28 min - j
2nd lap - 13:06 min - j
3rd lap - 19:49 min - j
4th lap - 26:12 min - j
5th lap - 6:06 min - j
6th lap - 13:13 min - j
7th lap - 19:12 min - j
8th lap - 25:29 min - j

Day 105 - 107

I had the best of intentions and a total lack of motivation. Friday I was supposed to spend hiking with a friend, but she didn't tell me until we had arrived at our destination (a 2 hour trip) that the "hiking" she referred to was us trapsing around a campsite checking out the facilities. Then Friday night, I had intended to dance my pounds off at a local concert. Though I did dance for about 1.5 hours, I ended up leaving the concert early. So- I don't think I can honestly claim that I did much excercise today, but I did sweat A LOT. That has to count for something right?

Saturday and Sunday I spent a lot of time cleaning my apartment. I have been told that the movement done during this process counts as low impact excercise, so I am going to go with that to make me feel better about not jogging. :)

Day 104 - 4th time Baby!

My wedding dress came in!! Sadly though when I tried it on we found errors in the construction of it (they basically screwed up when they stitched it together) so I have to send it back and hope they don't f it up again. Thankfully,I still have 10 months before the wedding to make sure that it is PERFECT. The good thing is though that when I put it on and the lady laced up the back (it is corset style) you could totally tell that I have lost a few pounds because I actually have a waist :) :) I can't wait to see myself in it for real - 10 more months of jogging & much needed better eating habits and I am definately going to look HOT on my wedding day - and not just because it is an outdoor ceremony in June. :)

Anyways - motivated by my improvement I went jogging this evening and TOTALLY ROCKED it!!!! 3 miles without walking for the 4th time!!!!!! (I am not counting the day I did 3.5 miles because that is the start of a whole different tally.)Oh - and I improved my speed just a bit too! WOO-HOO :)

1st lap - 5:56 min - j
2nd lap - 12:57 min - j
3rd lap - 17:52 min - j
4th lap - 24:00 min -j
5th lap - 6:07 min - j
6th lap - 12:01 min - j

Day 103

I had intended on getting my excersise for the day by playing volleyball as part of our work function, but enough students showed up to have full teams- so I ended up serving as the line judge. Its okay - the event was for them anyways. After the game I went to dinner with a good friend from high school who just moved into town. Too bad you can't lose weight simply by chatting - I would be super skinny :)

Day 102

I am back in the swing of things today. I didn't make it to the full 3 miles, but I got really close. And I got times that are records for me - so I suppose progress was made in at least one sense. I will take what I can get :)

1st lap - 5:41 min - j
2nd lap - 11:45 min - j
3rd lap - 17:57 min - j
4th lap - 24:32 min - j
5th lap - 7:11 min - 1/2 w, 1/2j
6th lap - 13:05 min - j

Days 98 - 101

Instead of jogging, I spent the weekend floating the river with some of my favorite people. It was AWESOME! I totally rocked my bikini now that my new routine has helped me drop a dress size. Plus when we went dancing Saturday night, I got to wear a dress I haven't worn in 7 years :) :)
I spent Monday at the funeral of my great grandfather. It was a sad day, but I got to spend it with my amazing family, so in that sense it was good. I didn't have the energy or desire to jog by the time I got home though.

Day 97

Today I lost my Pepaw. He was 102 years old and got to go home peacefully while asleep in his own house with his family. He was ready to go, but it still hurts. I decided not to take the day off like my boss offered - Pepaw would not have wanted us to stop our lives just to fuss over him.
After work I thought it would be best to try to keep my plans for healthy living as best I could so I went ahead and went jogging. My heart was not in it at all though - not even a little bit. Every step felt desperate, painful, and heavy. Its funny how the mind and heart can do that to someone's body. I felt like I was jogging through wuick sand and my lungs were going to give out. It was awful, but I managed to sludge my way through 1.5 miles of jogging and then I walked a cool down lap. I was proud of myself for getting up and going, but have never felt so horribe while jogging before - not even when I very first started.

Day 96

After the feat I accomplished yesterday I gave my body a day off :)

Day 95: I'm AMAZING :) :) :) :)

Tonight I accomplished a goal I didn't even have: I jogged 3.5 miles without walking!!!!!!!!! It is weird - I feel really good, meaning my legs don't hurt and although I was definetly breathing hard I was able to push myself and sprint the last bit of distance between the gates (I wanted to catch the gate before it closed when a car left). :) I am SOOOOO excited!!!!!! I even walked a cool down lap to make a full 4 miles!!!!!

1st lap - 6:20 min - j
2nd lap - 12:48 min - j
3rd lap - 19:10 min - j
4th lap - 25:36 min - j
5th lap - 6:11 min - j
6th lap - 12:26 min - j
7th lap - 18:00 min - j
8th lap - walked cool down

Day 93 - 94

Sunday was spent shopping with my friend Mi and picking up tamales from a bakery down in Galveston with Mom. After not eating anything all day, I spurged and ordered myself a large $10 pizza from Papa John's. Not really on my diet plan, but it was thin crust :) Don't worry though - Between my diet/excersise plans and my new budget rule of only eating out 3 times a month - this will most definitely NOT become a regular thing. I like my new size and totally intend on maintaining it. :)

Monday was the start of a new week of jogging. I know originally I pledged to jog every day. That has proven unrealistic both physically and time wise. My new goal is to go 4 - 5 times a week. Today I was joined by my friend Jo who lives in my complex. Because we went around 8pm the weather was cool enough not to feel like we were suffocating, but it was still fairly humid. My clothes feel like I dunked them in a bucket of water when I get back. GROSS!

1st lap - 6:26 min - j
2nd lap - 13:13 min - j
3rd lap - 20:07 min - j
4th lap - 8:52 min - w
5th lap - 16:10 min - j
6th lap - 23:12 min - j
7th lap - walked cool down

Day 92

After all of these years with me, my cats have still not figured out that Saturdays are for sleeping in. They woke me up at 7am to be fed and sadly I could NOT get back to sleep. So, I decided to go jogging before it got too hot.

1st lap - 6:11 min - j
2nd lap - 12:38 min - j
3rd lap - 20:20 min - w
4th lap - 6:10 min - j
5th lap - 13:58 min - w
6th lap - 20:03 min - j
7th lap - walked cool down

Day 91

Today was a FABULOUS day!!! I got off work at 12pm (like I do every Friday) and met my mom and Nonnie for lunch and a movie. After that, Mom took me shopping. She has been making fun of me because all of my clothes are too big and decided I needed some new, less baggy work clothes. I really like the brand Worthington for worok clothes and JC Penny's had a sale going on - so we went there. I hate the lay out of their store because everything is so jumbled it is borderline impossible to find anything. THankfully though, my Mom has the ability to find treasures in the trash. :) I tried on a million pairs of pants before we found the perfect pair - brown, sleek looking slacks, on sale for $20. The best part though: they are a size 4!!!! I have not worn a size 4 since undergrad which was 7 years ago!!! YAY!!!!!!! Jogging sucks MUCH less when I can physically see the results!!!!!!!! 4 has always been one of my favorite numbers and now I know why :) :) :) In addition to the pants, I got two size 4 skirts and two shirts for $100. THANKS Mom for my presents :) :) We celebrated with homemade grilled pizza with Dad. :)

Day 90

My legs are still sore and my calves are still balled up like rocks, but I decided I have to "walk it off" so I went back down to the trail. I am proud of myself for going out, but somewhat disappointed in the showing. I only jogged one mile before giving up. I think a lot of it was mental, but the cramp in my right foot didn't help either.

Jogged one mile: 12:32 minutes. Walked one cool down lap.

Day 89

I woke up this morning and almost fell out of bed - literally! When I went to stand up, my calved muscles seized up in protest of the movement and gave out. So - after hobbling around all day, I decided to forgoe to excerise for the evening. My body says "THANK YOU" for the break. :)

Day 88: I was THIS close...

Tonight I was THIS close to again accomplishing the 3 mile jog! :) I am super excited about this leap in progress! Check it out:

1st lap - 6:11 min - j
2nd lap - 12:56 min - j
3rd lap - 19:20 min - j
4th lap - 26:11 min - j
5th lap - 6:08 min - jogged 3/4, walk 1/4
6th lap - 12:30 min - j
7th - walked cool down lap

Day 87 - 3rd time's a CHARM!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!! After several weeks of total bummishness and business, I finally promised my facebook audience of over 400 friends that I would get off my couch and take my expanding booty downstairs to jog tonight. Not only did I do it, I ROCKED it!!! For the 3rd time in my life, I jogged 3 miles without any walking!!!!!! And the best part is that I feel like I am truly making progress. Obviously, I would be doing much better had I not taken almost three weeks off, but I feel good about tonight. I did the first two miles with relative ease and didn't really feel like I was close to dying until the last lap. Even then I was able to keep a pretty consistant speed and after walking a cool down lap had energy left over. :) I can't believe I am saying this, but I am starting to think I could really seriously make a hobby out of jogging. Now that it isn't so insanely hard, I feel better when I jog: less like a fat slug and more like a productive, young person. It's awesome! Plus, as best as I can remember it - this is the only athlete based goal I have had since making the drill team my freshman year in high school that I am actually confident that I can achieve :) YAY ME!!!!

Break down:

1st lap: 6:54 - j
2nd lap: 13:02 - j
3rd lap: 19:20 - j
4th lap: 25:56 - j
5th lap: 6:11 - j
6th lap: 12:17 - j

For a grand total of 38.13 minutes :) I really need to get a watch that will run over 30 minutes - Not too bad for a girl who not too long ago would have laughed hysterically at the idea of being able to jog this much or even wanting to jog this much. My goal is to trim this down to 6 minute laps for a total of 36 minutes for the whole 3 miles. That's only 2.13 minutes to loose. If I keep up with regular jogs, I can do it :)

Day 76 - 86

So again with the - these aren't really excuses, but reasons - :/

After finishing the RAD class, I went to Waco for the weekend to see my best friend's brand new first home! SO excited for her - it is SUPER cute. Once back in town, I spent two days downtown for a conference, went out for a relaxing evening with coworkers, saw RENT courtesy of my amazing friend Flo, threw a Christmas in July party at my place, and supported a friend in her musical endevours. It has been an enjoyable, but HECTIC ten days. I am sure I could have found time to squeeze in a jog, but I didn't have the motivation to do it. As my dear friend Brett says, "I am a personal embarrassment to myself because I won't run."

Day 75

Exhaustion from a lack of sleep and a grumbling stomach from all the junk/fast food I have been eating lately (totally NOT on my diet) caused me to email in sink at 4:30am this morning. Thankfully, sleeping in late and eating healthy for the first time in over a week made me feel MUCH better. I taught RAD in the evening, but managed to get in another half hearted jog before hand. Again, it was a sad, sad showing. But at least I showed - right?

Day 73 - 74

This is a RAD week. So 14 hour days = no jogging for me.

Day 72

After my bestie left I decided it was time to drag my tushy off the couch and back onto the street to jog. It was a VERY poor showing. It was HOT and my heart just was not in it. I barely managed to scuff my way through the first mile before I gave up and walked the rest. I didn't even time it it was so pathetic.

Day 62 - 71

I know I said I wouldn't make any excuses, but I have been one BUSY woman. I taught an all day self defense class with some friends (my good deed for the month)and celebrated the 4th of July with family and friends, which included dancing. So - it was not jogging, but calories were burned. :) After that I had evening appointments with photographers for the wedding and my best friend came down for the weekend. We went to the Bridal Extravaganza on Saturday and spent 5 hours hiking around the convention center while carrying a million pounds of flyers. Who would have guessed that paper could be so heavy?! So, again at least on one day I burned some calaries - probably not enough to make up for the delicious yet fattening Mexican food we had the night before, but...

Day 61

Hurricane Alex has blown in some drizzle, so instead of using that as an excuse (which I normally would) I went to the gym in my complex and used the elipticle machine. Rather than focusing solely on the distance like I do when I jog outside, I set myself a 30 minute, fat-burning routine. I love the eliptical machine! It works my arms and legs in unique ways that jogging doesn't. After jogging normally for 10 minutes, I ran backwards for 5 minutes. Plus it makes me feel good because I can go a lot further in a shorter amount of time.

1st mile - 9:30min
2nd mile - 18:20 min
3rd mile - 26:47 min

I completed the work out with a 5 minute cool down that I did backwards. I ended the session having jogged a total of 3.79 miles.

I have to admit that I am pretty darn proud of myself for getting down the gym rather than cuddling on the couch like I wanted to :)

Day 60 - HOLY GEEZE :)

I DID IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! That's right people: for the 2nd time in my whole, unathletic life - I JOGGED 3 miles!!!!!!! E even walked a bonus cool down lap for a total of 3.5 miles!
I am awesome :) :) SLOW, but AWESOME!!!!!

1st lap - 6:31 min - j
2nd lap - 12:50min - j
3rd lap - 19:19 min - j
4th lap - 25:42 min - j
5th lap - 6:20 min - j
6th lap - 12:40 min - j
7th lap - 20:46 min - w

Day 59

Today I was motivated to go jogging by my new fabulous shoes! :) Their bright baby blues beckoned to me while I was at work - sitting by the door, just waiting for me to put them on. So, after work I met up with my co-worker from my complex down by the mailboxes to go for my first jog in my official shoes. True to our purpose, we jogged 1.5 miles before we decided we needed to walk for a bit. But, to "punish" ourselves for doing so, we walked an extra lap for a total of 3.5 miles!
GO US! Here's the break down:

1st lap - 6:32 min - j.
2nd lap - 13:08 min - j
3rd lap - 19:43 min - j
4th lap - 28:36 min - w
5th lap - 6:47 min - j
6th lap - 15:22 min - w
- We didn't time the last walked cool down lap.

Day 58 - My B-Day!!!

That's right people - It's my BIRTHDAY :) :) :) In honor of the occasion I took the day off and ate two large servings of my Mom's homemade blackberry cobbler :) I don't care how much that set me back in my whole quest to lose 8 - it was worth every calorie :)
I did do something productive though: I got fancy shoes! My parents and grandparents pooled their resources and got me a new pair of jogging shoes and micro-fiber socks for as my gift. Randi, who is training for a marathon, recommended a a place in my area where they have a machine that helps to measure how I stand and they watch you walk to see what type of shoes will be best for you. Apparently the shoes I have been wearing are called stabalizing shoes, which are not right for me. The way they are built up on one side makes me land on my feet tilted instead of flat. I have high arches and put a large amount of pressure on my right heel. They recommended neutral shoes. He also said that based upon the wear and tear on my old shoes that I have been buying them a half size too small. All this to say, I got a pair that are fantastic! They are very light weight too, which I LOVE. I'm not too crazy about the color (they are baby blue), but I suppose it doesn't really matter what they look like. They feel great on my feet and will hopefully help me reach my goals. Plus, I look like crap when I jog anyways (the red-faced, wind-sucking look is not my best). :)

Day 57

Thanks to Randi's constant encouragement and Brett's check-ins, I actually got up and went jogging this morning. Yay for me! Despite Randi's advice to get up early and beat the morning heat, I slept in. So, I didn't make it downstairs until 10am. You wouldn't think it would be that bad at 10am, but it was HOT. I jog on concrete raod which literally radiates the heat upward onto whatever is in the way. This morning I happened to be in the way. Thus by the time I finished my morning jog, I looked like a suffocating lobster. With me not being able to breathe well due to the oppressive heat and having taken 2 weeks off, I didn't do as well as I had hoped. Pretty good, but not fantastic.

1st lap - 6:24 min - j
2nd lap - 13:02 min - j
3rd lap - 18:33 min - w
4th lap - 27:03 min - j
5th lap - 7:55 min - w
6th lap - 14:55 min - 1/2 w. 1/2j

Day 49 - 56

This week I was just a bum. I don't know why, but I felt completely sluggish and tired all week. This will have to change - I am not sure how, but it will. :)

Day 44 - 48

I gave myself Sunday off because I was feeling like a bum. Monday - Thursday I taught R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) Self Defense classes after work. With working 10 hour day then teaching for 3.5 after that I didn't get home until 10pm each night. Jogging was just not an option - even if I had wanted it to be.

Day 43

Today I actually did 2.5 miles! Woo - Hoo for progress!

1st lap - 6:11 min - j
2nd lap - 12:27 min - j
3rd lap - 18:52 min - j
4th lap - 24:57 min - j
5th lap - 6:07 min - 1/4 w, 3/4j
6th lap - 12:37 min - 1/4 w, 3/4j
7th lap - 20:48 min - w

Day 41 - 42

Another break :)

Day 40

Today I got back on the ball (or trail really). I must admit, I am pretty happy with today's showing. I jogged 2 miles straight through and then did another mile part walking, part jogging. Of course, my ultimate goal is to be able to repeat my success and jog all 3 miles, but this was pretty close. :)

1st lap - 6:26 min - j
2nd lap - 12:36 min - j
3rd lap - 18:57 min - j
4th lap - 24:57 min - j
5th lap - 6:20 min - 1/2 w, 1/2j
6th lap - 12:54 min - 1/4w, 3/4j

Day 38-39

I gave myself two days off. I know I said originally that I wouldn't do that, but I did. After jogging four days straight my muscles hurt.

Day 37

Today was my "get back on the horse" day. Despite the ridiculous heat, I decided that I needed to go ahead and get off my booty and go jogging before the looming rain clouds unloaded their droplets. Though not as awesome of a showing as I would have liked, I was able to force myself through the first 2 miles. After that I walked my 3rd mile. Here is the break down:

1st lap: 5:56 min - jog
2nd lap: 12:02 min - jog
3rd lap: 18:10 min - jog
4th lap: 24:24 min - jog
5th lap: 7:45 min - walk
6th lap: 15:21 min - walk

Again, I am proud of myself on my consistancy with the timing on my first two miles. Also, I am again somewhat disappointed by the barely there difference between the time it takes me to jog a mile and the time it takes to walk. Oh - well - speed isn't really my goal anyways. :)

Day 25 - 36

Eleven days: Life + Laziness = No jogging for me this past week. I could elaborate or make excuses, but that would be pointless. What is important is that I get off my expanding booty and get back out on the complex loop.

Day 24

This week is Jogging Buddy week. Today I met up with a friend from work and jogged around campus. She has started the PX90 workout plan, which sounds ridiculous. In addition to that she wants to start jogging so we agreed to meet up once a week to help keep each other accountbale.
My high school friend was late, but ended up tracking us down as we jogged. My coworker has a pedometer that showed that in total we did 3.61 miles, but I don't know how much of that was actually jogged. The jogging path we took isn't marked (we are just jogging through the parking lots and on the streets). Again, I wish I could keep better track of things, but I am glad that I went.

Day 23

Today I jogged with a friend from work who lives in my complex. She is in much better shape than I am, so she pushed me by setting the pace a little faster than I normally jog at. It was nice to have someone push me, but I wasn't able to keep up as well as I would have liked. For that reason, I we jogged a mile then alternated walking and jogging for another 2 miles. I forgot to start my stop watch because we were talking so I have no idea how long it took us. I am pretty sure it was much longer than normal though because of the gossip :)

Day 22

Today an old friend from high school joined me for a jog. I did a mile before she got there in 12:24 minutes. When she arrived we walked a lap while catching up, then finished our 2 miles by jogging the last lap. We walked another two laps after that. It was nice to catch up with her, but I am not sure I like have a jogging buddy. I am too easily distracted by chatting when I have someone there with me. At least I went though. :)

Day 21 - May 23

HOLY GEEZE!!!!!!!!!!! I did it!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually jogged a full 3 miles!!!!!! I am WAY ahead of the schedule on which I thought I would be able to achieve this goal :) I know it sounds a little silly to be so excited about something as simple as jogging three miles, but this is something I honestly did not think I owuld be able to do and never really wanted to. What's even more exciting to me is that I was able to do so while maintaining a steady pace. :)Here's the break down:

1st lap - 5:50 min
2nd lap - 12:17 min
3rd lap - 18:36 min
4th lap - 24:48 min
5th lap - 30.55 min
6th lap - 36.77 min

WOO - HOO :) YAY ME!!!!!!!

Day 20

Today the extra miles I have been doing caught up with me. Although I was able to complete my 2 miles, I was not able to jog all of it. Instead, I jogged the first three laps and then walked the last. I still finished in 26.28 minutes. Although I am not really in this for speed, it is kind of sad how little difference there is between the time it takes me to jog a lap and the time it takes to walk a lap. Oh - well. I will work on speed once I get the distance conquered :)

Day 19

Today my legs, hip, and stomach muscles hurt (from sucking in while jogging). I hobbled a little bit, but I feel good about my accomplishments! To reward myself - and keep from hurting myself - I decided to give myself a break for the day. I have already done enough miles to have made up for the first two days of the week - I figure I can just make up today's two miles later :)
Plus - I went wedding dress shopping today!!!!!!!!!!! Mexican food with my grandparents, drama with a certain wedding dress shop, total joy at the 3rd dress shop, and Mexican food with my parents for dinner. :) Overall a pretty darn good day!!!! The dress of my dreams is absolutely gorgeous and even with my current tummy pouch it makes me look amazing! I can only image how I will look when I have accomplished my goal of Losing 8! :) :) SO EXCITED!!!!

Day 18

I TOTALLY ROCK!!!!!!! I did another 4 miles today!!!!! My friend Brett, who does triathalons for fun, has been giving me advice on running techniques. So, I have been doing my best Brett impression and I think it is actually paying off. I look like an idiot with my chest puffed out, my shoulders rolled back, and doing what can only be described as fast paced mall-walking - but it works. My legs don't hurt as much as they used to because I am "landing, levering, and lifting" - or is it "landing, lifting, levering"? Either way, I am moving at a decently consistant pace and don't bounce or have a huge blister on my big toe from running on my toes. So THANKS Brett!

Here is the break down:

Jogged 1st lap - 5.55min
Jogged 2nd lap - 12.20 min
Jogged 3rd lap - 18.34 min
Jogged 4th lap - 25.23 min
Walked 5th lap - 6.58 min (rough estimate, my watch starts over at 30 mins)
Jogged 6th lap - 12:58 min
Walked 7th lap - 20:48 min
Jogged 8th lap - 27:37 min

That's right - I jogged 3 miles and walked 1 mile!!!!!!!!!!! :) :)

Day 17

Laziness and distractions can KISS IT!!!!!! Not only did I get off the couch, lace up my shoes, and hit the jogging trail, but I actually did 4 miles!!!!!!!!! That's right- 4 miles! Here is the break down of this monumental accomplishment in my athletic life (each lap is .5 miles):

Jogged 1st lap - 6.14 min
Jogged 2nd lap - 12.09 min
Walked 3rd lap - 18.58 min
Jogged 4th lap - 26.24 min
Walked 5th lap - 8 - 10 min (my watch stopped so I don't know for sure)
Jogged 6th lap - 6.18 min
Walked 7th lap - 13.54 min
Jogged 8th lap - 20.13 min

So - in total I was able to jog 2.5 miles and walk 1.5 :) YAY ME!!!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, I do watch the Disney Channel and just quoted London from the Suite Life of Zach & Cody - I am okay with it :) ).

Day 15 part II - Day 16

I must start off with an apology to myself - I have been hard on myself lately. And I have been giving myself a lot of slack on giving up on my daily workouts. What I have to do from now is recognize when things are genuinely worth not jogging for and when I am just being lazy. When ther is something legitimate going on, then it is okay to take a break and not stress about it. When I am being lazy - that is when I need to kick myself in the booty.
Anyways - all this is to say that my new begining did not begin on Day 15. Allergies and heavy lightening prevented that. Day 16's jog was prevented by a trip to my parents' house for help with engagement announcements and medical bills.
Things happen - what is important is that I try again tomorrow.

Day 10 - 15

Hi - My name is Julie and I am a liar. (Hi - Julie!) So, I told myself that I would jog or walk 2 miles everyday no matter what - and then...... life happened. I lied to myself again. :( BUT - that is okay - "Although no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending." - Roberta Brenick. This quote was put on the white board during one of the many Weight Watcher's meetings I attended while losing my 20 pounds a few years ago. It struck me as profound because it speaks to the notion that it is okay to pause, or break, or even to fail for awhile as long as you don't use those moments as excuses to give up. Rather, you simply wipe the slate clean and start over refocused and recommitted. That is what I plan to do starting TODAY! Day 16 is the start of my brand-new fitness ending :)
Day 11, May 12, 2010, was the start of the brand-new ending for my whole life. I got ENGAGED!!!!!! That's right runners, I am going to be getting married in 12 - 13 months!!!!!!!!! I have waited, cried, stressed, screamed, and longed for many years through my search for the love of my life and have been blessed to have come to the end of that journey. J. is a truly amazing man who loves me with as much passion, tenderness, and sincerity as I love him. That reciprication is what makes us both just beam.
So - now that I have a wedding dress to get into pretty soon I have an even greater motivator to get back on board with this jogging plan. Not only do I hope to lose 8% body fat, jog the Race for the Cure 5k, and rock a bikini on the beaches of Italy this summer (if I get to go visit J. during his deployment), but my new goal is to be the HOTTEST bride to ever walk down an aisle!!!!!! :) Okay so that MAY be overshooting this a bit, but still - I want to wear the dress of my dreams comfortably (something form fitting which only lays well over a flat tummy), dance without slowing down, and have the most amazing candid pictures of the best day of my life (which means not having to pose just right so that you don't see the double chin, or arm fat, or belly pouch). :)

Let's hear it for brand-new endings!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Day 9

I am starting to think that I chose a REALLY bad time to start this whole thing. I knew my boyfriend was coming home these two weeks, but completely underestimated how busy we would be while he is here. He is being shipped overseas until December, so this is really our last time together for at least 3 months (we are hoping to work it out so that I can go visit him in late August). We only have a few more days together and I am trying not to cry thinking about it.
Anyways - he is devoting a large portion of his time to being with me and spent all weekend with my family. Thus, I thought it would be nice to invite his family over for dinner last night. I get off at 6 and rushed straight home to clean and get things ready. I am not the chef of the relationship so while he did some AMAZING ribs, I did instant mashed potatoes and Jello No Bake Cheesecake. Healthy right? I am sure by now you can sense where I am going with this.... jogging did not happen AGAIN! His Dad and sister came over around 7:30pm and the dinner was ready around 8:30pm. Laughing over how my boyfriend and I met back in high school and general BSing took a few hours so they ended up not leaving until 11:30pm. With a 10 hour work day looming around the bend at 8am and a massive pile of dishes to take care of it just was not in the cards for me tonight.
I love his family and am thankful he got to spend time with them and that I got the oppoortunity to get to know them a little better. But I HATE that life always interferes with my attempts to get healthly. Not only am I battling laziness and clumsiness, I am also fighting with a super small window of time during which I am not working. 10 hour days suck. The early Fridays are nice, but still - a regular 9-5 time would be AMAZING!

Day 8

If intentions equalled fitness gains and weight loss, I would be an award-winning athelete and bikini model! My boyfriend is fairly health consicous and enjoys physical activity much more than I do. So he got up and jogged 3 or so miles yesterday morning and did so again this morning. It was my plan to go with him this morning. I was super excited - MAJOR VICTORY - it is 3 miles from our campsite to the front gate and another 3 miles back. If I conquered that feat I would have completely redeemed myself for my lapses over this past week. But, in true Julie style - when he got up to go I asked "Do you want me to come with you?" instead of saying "I would like to come too, wait up for a sec." When his response was "Don't worry about it Hun, go back to sleep", I rolled over and curled back up. Honestly! Its not like he owns the trails - I could have gone with or without his permission and we could have done different trails if he wanted to jog alone. Its not like I would have actually kept up with him anyways. But NO - that would be doing what I NEED to do and not what I WANT to be doing - and who does that without a kick in the butt? On top of not jogging, we ate more today than any human needs for a week! So rather than registering a MAJOR VICTORY, I have to admit a MAJOR FAILURE. I have got to get myself in check - NOW!

Day 7

Thankfully I was able to find a pretty nice ankle brace yesterday when we stopped at Target for some weekend supplies, so I was able to participate in the family walk this morning. We are out at a beautiful state park which doubles as a wildlife perserve for alligators. The trails are gorgeous, but the alligators lining the banks of the lake we walked around can be a little bit intimidating. Even more scary to me though was the Copperhead snake my Dad almost stepped on. It was camoflauged so well that he just didn't see it. Mom did and did the "Soccer Mom seatbelt" move to keep my boyfriend from placing a giant foot on its back. I DESPISE snakes! They totally freak me out! So, while I was shaking off the willies, my boyfriend calmly shooed it to the side of the path with a stick. UGH! Anyways, despite the reptiles we managed to complete the 2 mile trail without any injuries.
YAY! I am back on track! I mean, it was not really training for a 5K excersise, but it was two miles! Plus, later that afternoon my boyfriend and I went back out to the trails and walked about half of it while fishing. That extra mile makes me feel slightly better about not jogging yesterday. After that though, I had to stop and put my foot up for a while. Fortunately, my ankle was not hurt too badly, so other than being sore and the brace cutting into my foot - I was able to walk with relative ease. :)

Day 6

Today is Friday. I get off at noon and the thought was that I would go jogging when I got off and would have time to shower and such before my boyfriend got back into town. When he got back we were going to go out to the state park and hang out with my parents for the weekend. The park we were going to has a lot of walking, jogging trails so I figured I would spend most of the afternoon walking off the calories I had consumed while laying on my booty last night.
However, as if my natural laziness isn't enough of an obsticle, my natural clumsiness has decided to surface and add to the challange. This morning while walking to my car I chatted with a friend who lives in the complex who was out walking her dog. As I steppe off the curb I hit the downward slope of the speedbump at just the right angle and rolled my ankle. I am sure it was pretty funny from her perspective to see me walking and then just disappear behind the car parked there. I mean I sprawled out - my stuff everywhere and my ankle instantly swollen to twice the size of the other. And, lucky for me - it was my already bad ankle. Needless to say, there was no two mile hike in my near future. Thus, for today the only excersice I got was hobbling down 3 flights of stairs to pack the car. GRRRR..... seriously!

Day 5

I am so predictably good at justifying not doing what I said I would for myself. So, yeah - I failed to get off the couch this evening. My boyfriend had to go drop off his dog with a friend so I had the evening to myself. Instead of going jogging I ran errands that I need to run. That combined with me getting off work late meant I did not get home until 9pm. My complex is safe and well-lit enough for me to have gone out at that point, but I was tired and lazy. I told myself that I would just make up for it while camping this weekend and that made it alright for me to curl up and watch TV. Well - at least it was alright enough for me to accept that reasoning. So, here's hoping tomorrow will be a better, more productive day. Fingers crossed!

Day 4

My boyfriend came home yesterday! He is stationed in Florida and has two weeks with me before being shipped overseas for 6 months. Thankfully he is going to a beautiful location in Western Europe and not a war zone, but I am still going to miss him fiercely. With that said, I want to spend every second I can with him!
He came in at 6:30am and 30 minutes later I had to start getting ready for work. After a LONG, well deserved nap (he drove all night) he brought me flowers at work :) Yesterday evening though after I got off we went over to his friend's house for dinner and to drop off two of his dogs. He has three total, but this couple are keeping the most hyper of the three because they have a big back yard and kids to run with them. It was a long evening with a mess of a child (one of the ones they were babysitting) and helping in the kitchen (just enough to not feel useless because F is a great cook and doesn't really need the help). We didn't even sit to eat until almost 11pm. I have to admit though the fajitas and homemade pico did hit the Cinco de Mayo spot right in the nic of time!
Needless to say, I failed to go jogging :( I can believe that I failed to keep it up consistently because I have always failed to fully follow through on all previous fitness goals (except losing 20 lbs a few years back with Weight Watchers). What I can't believe is that I failed so soon in the process. I was really hoping that I would make a full week at least and did threaten to go when we got home around 12:30am (don't ask). Instead though I snuggled in and went to bed.
Sugar (my boyfriend) is going out of town today to drop off the third dog with another friend, so tonight I will be able to go. Today is my late day at work, so it will actually be cool when I go out which is a good thing. My goal though is to do 4 miles in order to make up for not going yesterday. I think that will absolve me of some of the disappointment in myself and maintain the overall desired exercise level. Cross your fingers for me! These are the breaks in my stride that typically lead to justifications, procrasination, and ulitmately the dismissal of the goal entirely. This time WILL be different. Even though I only have one "follower" I know that I have several supporters. I will NOT let them or ME down!

Day 3

UGH! Today I tortured myself for the sake of increased motivation and got a Body Composition test done. According to the Bod Pod, I am 29.7% fat. 40 pounds of me is all FAT! This is both gross and sad. Over the past few months, I have actually lost 4 pounds and am still at this level! :( At this percentage, I am considered to be "Moderately Lean", but am only 1% away from "Excessive Fat". In order to get down to the high end of the "Lean" level I have to loose 8% body fat! Looks like this whole "get in shape" thing is going to be harder than I thought.

Today I jogged 1.75 miles and walked .25 mile in 25 minutes and 20 seconds. Seems like 25 is my magic minute.

Day 2

Getting motivated today was a little more difficult than yesterday. Isn't that always the way? I am so gung-ho the first few days and then life happens, laziness sets in, and the goal is rationalized away. I have decided that this time has to be different. Instead of just posting a list on the mirror or doing that whole "self talk" stuff, I have gone public. Part of why Weight Watchers worked for me is because I had to weigh in once a week in front of someone to whom I was accountable to. Plus, the longer it took to get to my goal weight the more it cost me. Money is not a part of the equation this time, but things more important are: my health, self esteem, and ability to go shopping for clothes without getting depressed. So - I beat the battle with the couch and conquered Day 2!

I jogged ALL 2 miles! It took me 25 minutes and 4 seconds. Then the over-achiever in me lead me to walk another .5 mile for cool down. That lap took me 7 minutes and 14 seconds. I am SUPER proud of myself for completing my task for the day. Something tells me though, that eventually I will need to work on speed since my walking time is only a little over a minute longer than my jogging.

Day 1

May 2: Today I have decided to get off my booty and get in shape. I have never been athletic and hit the peak of my sports career when I was voted "Most Outstanding High Kicker" on my high school drill team my junior year. Without getting too specific, that was a LONG time ago. (11 years if you must know.) As a dancer, I built up enough stanima for a half time performance - which is only about 5 minutes worth. So, over the years my metabolism has dropped, my food intake has increased, and my activity level has become snail-like. Hence why a few years ago I tipped the scale at a not-so-cute number. Weight Watchers and my first forray into post-HS exercise helped me lose 20 pounds. Since then, I have done some yo-yoing on the scale and am finally back to my goal weight. This time, I intend to not only stay at my goal weight, but to also take my goals a step further and become the athelete I never knew I wanted to be.
With that said, it has officially become my goal to jog and/or walk 2 miles EVERY day. Ultimately, I want to work my way up to being able to jog the entire Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure 5K on October 2nd. Thus, I need help from my accountability partners (all of you who care enough to follow this and my awesome friend Chrissy).
I am not really going for speed, but I do time myself to help track my consistency. The report from Day 1 is:

I jogged 1 mile in 11 minutes and 51 seconds, then jog/walked a second mile for a total time of 25 minutes 10 seconds.