MM! :)

Motivational Monday picture!

This is so true. It's not about how fast you are or how graceful you run. It's about completing your goal. About doing it no matter how long it takes or how many breaks you need to take.

There are so many people who will not run because they do not think they can do it or are afraid of what people may say/think. At least you are out there doing it. Never give up!

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W4D1 - Here I come!

It's the day after Christmas and I'm not feeling this run. I was supposed to run yesterday but in lieu of the holiday, I spent all day with my family. :)

So here I am... getting ready to go to the bike trail for Week 4, Day 1 of the Annapolis Striders 5k Program. Will post more when I return.

Edit:
I finished my run today with a little difficulty.  Today I was supposed to run 3 minutes then walk 1 minute and repeat this 5 times (with a 3 minute warm up and 3 minute cool down).  The last run, I could not finish.  I had to break it up into three 1-minute runs.  But I ran for the 15 minutes required, just had to break that last one up. 

My calves were burning and I'm not sure if it's due to breaking in my new shoes or if I'm just not used to running outside very much.  So on Wednesday, I'm going to use my old shoes and hope it feels better.  :)

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I did my Wednesday run last night instead and it went pretty well. Though I'm still breaking in my new shoes and my shins were hurting a little bit. I finished the W3,D2 run and felt pretty good afterwards. My friend JJ went to the gym with me and wanted to do other things after running. So I showed him around the gym and watched him climb a rope with knots in it... I tried but could only get up to the first knot. Lol. Then we threw a 10lb medicine ball back and forth for a bit. Did planks for 2 minutes (though I think I only lasted for 1/2 of those 2 minutes). And we tried doing pull ups on the pull up machine. He was good. He could do it without any help but I had to use the foot bar that displaces some of your weight. I found out that I can pull up about half of my weight. Need to work on that for sure. Anyways... I'm sore today. But I have to do my 3rd run of the week so I have a day of rest before Week 4 starts. Off to do a bit of last minute shopping for Christmas... then off to the gym. :)

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Ugh!

Off to the gym after work. Why is it so hard?

Being lazy is just so much easier and fun... though the results from being lazy are not too appealing (hence the muffin top and various other rolls I have).

Blah. Wish me luck!

On another note... I got my grades back for my first semester in grad school (at Towson University)... andddddddddddddddddddddddddddd..... I got 3 A's. Making my first semester a complete success and my goal of graduating with a 4.0 is still on track! If only running were this easy! Hehe!

4 . 0 baby!!!

EDIT:
I had to reschedule this run for the day after (12/22/11) due to some unforeseen issues.

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MM- no, not the candy! ... Motivational Monday!

On Monday's I'm going to try and post something that keeps me motivated... whether it be words of advice, fat pictures of myself (yuck) or skinny pictures of what I want to be, motivational posters, quotes, etc.

Today's motivation:

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I'm trying to be a good girl today!

I skipped my run yesterday b/c I had company... so I had to do it today. Today was AS-5KP Week 3, day 1. I was so unmotivated but had to remind myself that if I don't do it, no one is going to do it for me. Lol. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be but gotta keep pushing through!

Today's Stats (Nike+ app on my iPod nano):
Miles: 2.34 miles.
Time: 00:34:22
Calories: 329

I ate a good lunch too. :) Chicken Caesar Salad, a slice of Pumpernickel bread with I Can't believe it's Not Butter, and a Diet Pepsi. :)

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Motivation...

I need some!

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Just Ordered...

I was at the Annapolis mall today and stopped by the Under Armour store! :)

My roommate/bff, Sarah, has an Under Armour shirt for running and swears by it... So, I decided I need to get one since the weather is cold. They didn't have my size in store (sucks being a chub! lol). So, I just ordered my first Under Armour shirt (pink is shown but I got it in black to go with everything):

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Race Bibs so far! :)

So far, these are the race bibs (and one medal I've collected from my races in 2011...

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Signed up for first 5k of the new year! :)

Remember how I said I want to do at least one 5k a month for 2012???

Well, I signed up for my first one! It's on January 2nd... thank God it's not the 1st b/c I probably will be too hung over to run. Hey! It's New Year's... don't judge!

Here's the race info:

January 2nd, 2012 (so weird to start writing/typing 2012!)
Starts at 11:00
It's in Vienna, MD (which is like an hour and a half drive across the Bay Bridge - which sucks)
Best part about it... Wine tasting after the run! :)

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Shoes! :)

Getting new running shoes right after work. Can't wait! :)

I think it's time. Mine have been through a lot with me since March and even been full of mud (zombie race). Hopefully I will find something cool!

Off to Road Runner in Columbia now! :)

Edit:

I got these shoes below. Also, through the "Shoe Dog" process, they marked me as Neutral Plus - Size 10 and wide width (I think it was like width D or something like that).

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Annapolis Striders 5k Program

Yesterday (12/13/11) I did week 2, day 2 of the Annapolis Striders 5k Program (which I'm going to refer to as AS-5kP... easier to type).

Here's the entire program:

Should use the following paces and run 2-3 times a week. If using a treadmill, put on 1-2% incline.

Week	Run / Walk	Repeat	Total Run Time (mins)	Total Time (mins)	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
1	R 1:00 / W 2:00	8	8	28
2	R 1:00 / W 2:00	10	10	34
3	R 2:00 / W 2:00	6	12	30
4	R 3:00 / W 1:00	5	15	26
5	R 4:00 / W 1:00	5	20	31
6	R 5:00 / W 1:00	5	25	36
7	R 6:00 / W 1:00	4	24	35
8	R 8:00 / W 1:00	3	24	33
9	R 10:00 / W 1:00	2	25	33
10	2.4 mile paved trail run at Kinder Farm Park - Use week 9's pace or try to run continuously
11	Do a comfortable run once or twice early in the week. No running after Wednesday night

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Annapolis Striders & Reindeer Dash!

Yesterday I decided to join a running club. I need some motivation because it is so easy to just say screw it... and start after the holidays. But since Thanksgiving, I've been slacking and haven't been watching what I eat and exercising little. I had this mentality until yesterday when I got on the scale. :( I gained almost 6 pounds since Thanksgiving! WTH! So, I'm starting with my WW points again today and started exercising again last Saturday.

I did the Reindeer Dash 5k at Fort Meade. I'm not sure of my official time but my time according to my Nike+ app on my iPod Nano was 46:10. A little slower than the last run but I blame that on being sick (it's hard to breath properly) and it being 33 degrees outside. It was an awesome run though. Here are some pictures from it. :)

Sarah, me, and Katie!

Sarah, me, and Katie - fooling around at Katie's house after the race!

Sarah, JJ, Katie, and me... JJ was Papa Reindeer. Lol. We got free antlers and a red nose from the race but we already had those cute reindeer hats so only JJ wore his antlers. :)

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Future Goals

I'm vowing to you and most importantly, to myself... that for 2012, these are my goals:

• Run at least one 5k every month in 2012
• Stay on Weight Watchers until I reach 180lbs (hopefully by July)
• Be able to run an entire 5k without stopping to walk by the end of 2012
• See Ben Davis (my inspiration) again when he does his 5k tour and comes to Washington DC

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Too long...

Wow... It's truly been too long since I posted something.

Just wanted to say this blog is going to be revamped soon... It needs it. And I'm going to attempt to be a better blogger.

So, what's been going on?

Over the summer I went on a bunch of vacations and then started to really slack off on running b/c it was so darn hot (like upper 90's with like 80% humidity or something ridiculous). Idk... but I got lazy and quit running.

Well I had already signed up for the Baltimore Running Festival 5k (Oct 15th) and the Run For Your Lives Zombie obstacle race (Oct 22nd). So, that's when I started back running. Run times were approximately: 48:10 and 1:09:00 (Will post the official times later when I look them up). Let's just say that I needed to get back where I was and better.

I just went to another 5k last weekend (Columbia Metric 5k). And I improved by 5 minutes... My time was 43:03ish (will post the actual times after looking them up).

Needless to say, I'm signed up for another 5k on December 10th b/c I got the fever and the only prescription is more 5ks! Lol. I know, I'm corny. :) But that's why you love me!

I'm Back!

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Harry Potter ...

is flipping AMAZING!!! :)

I love Harry Potter beyond belief... I especially love Ronald Weasley. I'm am the future Mrs. Ron Weasley.. haha. I wish. Last night I went to see the Deathly Hallows Part 2 midnight premiere... and it was EPIC! Then instead of going to sleep, I stay up and did laundry and came to work. I am horrible about waking up on time and I had a meeting at 11 and I didn't want to be late for it. So I figured might as well go in early. It also means that I haven't slept in 30 hours. I'm a bit tired.

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Let's try this again!

Yesterday I planned on leaving work at 8:00 and heading to the gym. Well I had to finish my FY11 Accomplishments Report before leaving work. I was here until 11:30pm working on that (a 12.5 hour day at work)... so the gym didn't happen.

Tonight I will be returning to the gym (it's raining outside or I would go to the track) and getting some run-walking in. :) I'm actually kinda looking forward to it.

Since it's been a while since I've ran, I'm going to try C25K W4D1 and see how I feel. I know I can do it! And I'm going for a total of 3 miles today. Bring it!

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New flip-flops!

Ok... so we all know how much I love flip-flops... I just couldn't live without them. So I attempted to find some with support and I got 2 pairs:

Columbia Sportswear Orla Flip

Clarks Flip Hyannis

I've had them for a week now and they have been treating me really well. I wore them while down at the ocean with lots of walking and my feet didn't hurt at all. They have cushion and some arch support. Guess I have to say good bye to my cheapo-Old Navy flip flops and start supporting my feet a little more. These are great. I'm wearing the Clarks ones right now. :)

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Where have I been???

Vacationing! :)

Sorry all for disappearing! But I'm back. I went to OC (Ocean City, MD) which was amazing. Didn't do much running since it was so hot but I did get a lot of walking and swimming in. :) And a TAN! Hehe.

I am back in running mode and I'm going after work tonight. Going to do 3 miles. Let's see how fast I can get them done! Working til 8:00 or 8:30 tonight (working on my yearly accomplishments report - blah).

Shall report back to y'all later!

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What's your favorite time of the year?

I have 3 favs. Here they are in order...

• Summer Time
• Christmas
• Halloween

But all I can do is think about how great Halloween is going to be this year and I can't wait for it. The Wicked race (on my running page) has a Halloween themed website and I was just looking at it and getting so pumped up! :)

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OMG! Race Results are in!

Ok... So Finally they posted the Army 5k Race Results... and guess what?

I did BETTER than I thought I had done on race day (by almost 2 minutes).

There are 374 runners and yes there were some kids. A lot of kids beat me which felt disheartening at the time but their parents pushed them in strollers a lot of it and carried them. And let's just face it, I'm a slow runner/walker. But I surpassed my expectations on the time and I'm so flippin' excited!

Here's my results: 46:45 and Bri's results: 41:46.

Bri beat me by almost 4 minutes exactly. Get 'em! :) I'm hoping that I will catch up to her on the next one. :)

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It's working. :)

There have been lots of times in the past few weeks where I just wanted to give up... Give up because this is too hard... give up because I'm not seeing any changes on the scale... give up because I'm tired and impatient.

I know there will be plenty more of those times but I just have to push through it. I can slowly tell that I'm getting better at running. I'm a little less out of breath when I run. My recovery intervals (when I'm walking) are much shorter and I can catch my breath faster. I can run longer distances (though not a whole mile yet - it's coming). It's really hard to notice these things when you are running... but after you do it and look back you can tell that all this training is slowly but surely working. It's a good feeling.

I am in a plateau with weight loss and it has been driving me nuts for the past 2 months... but I haven't done anything to change my eating habits. I need to break through this plateau so that I can have the weight loss that goes along with my increasing fitness level. I am going to sit down this weekend and come up with a plan of action on cracking through this barrier! :)

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06/28/11 - Attempting to run on shin splints

I forgot to post this on Tuesday but here it is...

I met Sarah B at the gym today. My shins had been killing me earlier today but I thought I'd try and work through the pain. By the time I got to the gym it was just a dull throb so I figured why not try.

We got on the treadmill and started walking a few mins to warm up. We decided to only do a mile since my legs were hurting. I walked .1 miles then decided to see how far I could run. I got to .75 mile before walking and I did it at a 1% incline (to simulate running outside). I was surprised at how far I ran since it was more than my 1/2 mile straight last Thursday. :) Then I altered run/walk for the last lap of the mile and did a cool down. Then we walked around the mall (my gym is attached to a mall). So I did 1.25 miles in about 25 mins... not too shabby.

Found out later that I shouldn't run with shin splints and should let them heal all the way before attempting to run (it just makes them worse).

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Flip-flops and broken hearts!

My favorite time of year is when it's warm enough to wear flip-flops. I absolutely love them. Anytime it's over 60 degrees calls for flip-flops in my opinion. I wear them to work (I'm a coder and they don't care what I wear I've heard over the years how bad flip-flops and going barefoot could be for me but I never really cared b/c I love the freedom my feet felt in them.

I've had shin splints for about a week now and a lot of people are telling me that flip-flops could be one of the problems with it not healing so fast. Of course, I get all defensive and support flip-flops... but it made me wonder.

So for all of you flip-flop fanatics out there... here's a little info on how bad flip flops really can be. There will be broken hearts all over the place now!

I found this article called "Flip Flop Flaws" at News Week : http://www.newsweek.com/2008/06/09/flip-flop-flaws.html

Here are some important points (with my comments below each section)...

"... flip-flop wearers take shorter steps. The result is more stress on the body because you have to move more to go the same distance as people wearing other kinds of shoes. That could mean a higher risk of muscle and joint pain in the legs."

This is probably why old people can walk so much faster than me... I do take small-ish steps.

"By engaging the muscles that scrunch your toes, you are turning off the muscles that would bring your toes up." That also means that you can't lift your foot up as much when you walk—hence the characteristic flip-flop shuffle."

I'm thinking this could lead to other problems since you are working out different parts of your leg muscles. Like using your calfs or shins more than you really should?

"Being overweight and wearing ill-fitting shoes make it much more likely that you will suffer from plantar fasciitis. Thin-soled flip-flops without arch support aggravate the effects of any existing sources of strain on the legs and feet (such as too much weight or weak muscle tone)."

Great... 2 strikes against me... fat and flip-flop-lover! But this does explain a lot... If your legs are already straining or trying to recover (as in my case), flip flops are not helping the problem.

Today I decided to wear tennis shoes to work and my compression sleeve since my right shin was still in pain this morning around 10am (and I mean it was still pretty darn sore). It's now 5:30pm and my shin doesn't hurt at all anymore. I think these people might know what they are talking about. Proper feet support makes all the difference. I will be going out hunting for sandals with proper support. :)

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Water water everywhere.. you're gonna get wet!

Water is the primal essence of all life. About 55-60% of our bodies are made up of water. You would think it is a natural instinct to replenish that water supply every day… and in some people it is. But not me. I don't know how people drink so much water everyday. After about 2 bottles (around 32 ounces), I'm done.

I know water is an extremely important part of diet and exercise. It keeps you hydrated and washes all the crap you eat out of your body.

My goal is to start drinking 72 ounces of water a day. I just bought a 24oz Tritan Bottle from Nathan Sports and I plan on drinking at least 3 of these filled with water a day.

So far today… I'm on my last bottle of water right now and I have had to pee a million times. Hopefully my bladder gets better. I know, it's TMI but whatevs! :)

Random things I learned about water today:

• Babies have the highest percentage of water in their bodies… most being born with 78%
• Adult men have about 60% water
• Women have about 55%
• Fat tissue doesn't have as much water as lean tissue… so fat people have less water in their bodies than thin people
• Water is the only natural substance that is found in all 3 states: liquid, solid, and gas.
• There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet could contain molecules that Neanderthals drank…
• In a 100-year period, a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere.

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Shin splints SUCK!

Just bought these today to help with my shin splints that I got on Friday. I've heard good things about them but who know... we shall find out! :)

Unfortunately my store only had black and white so I couldn't get pink ones (which would have been awesome)!

I'm back at work now and wearing them. Gym tonight with Sarah B! :) Let's see how these puppies work!

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Cousin-in-law's B-day party in the morning

at Cascade Lake, MD. Excited and I get to take my niece and nephew so that's even more exciting. And I think both of my sisters and my mom are coming too! :) Yay!

Gonna be fun.

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1 day 22 hours...

Until season premiere of True Blood! :) Get excited b/c this sexy viking is coming back:

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Today...

Still pumped from yesterday's run, I thought I'd go for an easy run this evening. I'm doing C25K over again since I switched to outside and I have decided I can move to week 2. So I tried W2D1. My plan was to do my run intervals and then go to Shoppers to pick up stuff for my friend's cook-out tomorrow. This is my route (I back-tracked some spots so it's kinda hard to read... but mapmyrun.com said it was 2.15 miles.



This was not very successful. I had shin splints out the wahzooo! I thought I've had them before but there is no way that my slight pain before was a shin splint. I was able to do 3 run intervals before it got too bad. It hurt so bad, I could barely walk the rest of the way to the store and then home.

1. How many times people yelled at me out of their car
2. # of excruciating shin splints I had
3. # of running intervals
4. I saw this many frogs or toads on the sidewalks
5. # of times I tripped on un-even payment. Lol.

I am taking tomorrow off then an easy-ish day on Sunday and then running at Fort Meade with JJ and Cindy on Monday (Boot camp is canceled next week)

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8/23/11 Fort Meade Run

I was dreading this run with JJ and Cindy. Halfway through the work day I got to thinking where my shoes were b/c I couldn't remember packing them. I secretly was wishing I left them at home so I wouldn't have to run... plus it was super muggy Thursday morning.

Well I got off work at 5:30 and my shoes were in the back seat of my car so I went to the parade field at the fort. For warm-up Cindy had me run a lap (each lap is a mile). I was able to run 1/2 of it before I had to make a pit stop at the bathroom (I must have the bladder of a 4 year old child). Then I ran the second half with 2 short walks in there.

Let me just say that the first half mile run was a huge accomplishment... I didn't think I could do it and I felt like stopping many times. What kept me going was Cindy talking to me and a full bladder... the porta-potties were at the half mile mark. Lol. I knew I'd feel better after I could pee... Probably TMI but whatevs.

After my mile "warm-up" she had me doing sprints for the next 2 miles. We'd do about 5 sprints each mile.

I felt so much better after this run than I did the first time. I didn't feel like I was going to pass out and I wasn't gasping for air so much. This made me so excited. I also think I ran a little faster on the sprints. I didn't think I had improved at all but afterwards I felt it.

Got me sooooo excited! :)

Then we went to DSW and I found the coolest pair of shoes they were so sparkly!

After we went to On The Border. First time I've ever been there and it was amazing! :) I got Enchiladas Suizas (sp?)... fantastic!

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Do Life Tour in Washington DC

Was AMAZING!!! I'm in love with the Davis men! :) They are a great group of people.

We walked the 5k with Pa Davis from BenDoesLife.com and Ben Davis joined us for 1/2 of it. I was so nervous and didn't know what to say to him but got some great pics. I'm going to try and figure out how to make a slide show and put it on here tomorrow.

They are such a great inspiration and I felt like a 'tween at a Bieber concert... so excited!

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OMG! Getting SUPER excited right about now!

8 hours until the Do Life Tour is in DC. Can't wait to meet Ben, Jed, and Pa!

:)

Did good today. I'm semi-restarting C25K but doing it outside to make me a stronger runner.

I did good today. Also I did 40 lunges and 40 squats. Followed by sprints up and down 2 sets of stairs. It was fun (surprisingly).

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Bwhahaha... this is what it sent when trying to post from my phone. You are supposed to be able and text in posts but apparently not... So you get the above jibberish. So funny!

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Off to the track! :)

Gonna do C25K W1D1 outside and see if I'm any better...

And I'm going to do the boot camp class routine I missed yesterday.

Lunges, squats, and push-ups, here I come!

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Get to see dreamy Ben tomorrow!

Ben Davis!!! The man who has motivated me to start getting a hold of my life and weight problem is going to be in DC tomorrow. I'm super psyched... and scared out of my mind! Hi tour is called the "Do Life" tour.

He's flippin' amazing and you should read his blog.

YAY!

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Relationships...

I don't talk about my personal life much on here but why not... :)

This may be TMI but Idk... wanted to get it out there.

Ever since I was 16 years old, I've pretty much been in a relationship except for a gap of a few months. I dated this guy Patrick from when I was 16 til I was 22. He was my first serious boyfriend and high school sweet heart. After graduation he joined the Marines and we slowly grew apart. I was mad at him for some time when we first broke up b/c it felt like he kept pushing me away and I thought he should have just broken up with me if he didn't want to be with me anymore. Eventually it became too much and I ended it. I was hurt for some time but now it's been just over 2 years later and I talk to him occasionally and everything is peachy. That was a good relationship though. We had lots of good times throughout the years and I'm glad I had such a good boyfriend and friend at the time.

After him I was single for a whopping 4 months before I started talking to this guy Josh that was a friend of my cousin's fiance. I should have known he was trouble from the start. Like a month after Patrick and I split up, I started talking to Josh through Facebook messenger and then eventually on the phone. He had to go back to NY for "family issues" which he told me about a month or 2 later that he went there to go to rehab. That should have been my first red alert. But I was so shocked at his honesty and how he was opening up to me that I thought things could work out. I figured after rehab fixes his drug and alcohol problems, he'll be 100% fine. I never really had experience with that lifestyle and those kind of people so I was pretty naive. We talked a lot over the next few months and I grew to love him before I even really met him in person. Then he finally came down to visit in August 2009. He was great... funny, sweet, cute, fun to hang around. He visited a few more times before he moved in with me in early October. Things seemed to go great.

Well he didn't have a job or anything so I was supporting him which at the time I didn't mind til he found something. But one lousy job after another came and went. He was always asking me for money to "pay his bills" like storage and insurance. We started fighting all the time but he told me that's what normal couples did. Though I didn't agree. Over the first 6 months of us dating he asked to "borrow" about $5000+ total (I added it up) for bills and whatnot. None of this ever went to his bills. His storage locker was auctioned off, his car insurance lapsed, so did his registration, etc. All of 2010 was spent in vicious cycles of him getting into drugs and me having to monitor money, valuables, the phone bill, etc. I felt like his mother and was so stressed out all the time. But I loved him so I thought it was worth all this BS. Then in Nov he took his daughter for the weekend and when he took her back to her mom's house, he fled to NY after taking the $500 I had in the bank account. The next week was hell trying to get ahold of him and he was calling me upset and scared and blah blah blah. Eventually I talked him into going to his aunt's house and getting her to help him get into rehab. He started back up rehab and I started seeing improvements. I was going to end it after his little running away adventure but I thought that maybe he could change. But I had seen it one too many times but was still blind to it. He was always getting better then going into a downward spiral of lies, deceit, drug and alcohol use. He always hid it from me but I'd find out about it after the fact. And he'd come up with extravagant stories to play off all the coincidences I would see (like missing money or him missing work...).

He was doing good in rehab until around New Years 2011... he came and visited me and we had a great weekend and it kind of rekindled my love for him... stupid me. The coming months he started cheating on me when he was back in NY and he left his rehab program 1/2 way through it. It was a horrible break up and lots of fighting and him playing mind games. Lots of drama. I damaged a lot of friendships along the way believing him over my friends... luckily I have great friends who forgave me for it all. But I don't know if I can ever forgive him for all the heartache he's put me through. I'm so over him and don't ever want to see or hear about him again. One thing I learned from this... once an addict, always an addict. I never want to date someone again like that. NEVER EVER AGAIN!

Going through this makes it hard to trust people and I'm kinda scared to start a new relationship. I want one but I don't want to be hurt again like that. So this year, I'm not going to worry about finding a boyfriend and spend the time being single and enjoying it. I'm going to work on a new me and spend lots of well needed time with the friends and family. :) If a nice guy comes along in the meantime, yay! But I'm not going to worry about finding one.

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Missed Boot Camp Yesterday...

Missed it yesterday but am going to make up for it tonight when I get off work. Heading to the AACC track at like 7:15ish to run, do stairs, squats, lunges, push-ups, abs, etc. I'm gonna make those stairs my b!tch. :) I suck at those stairs but I'm taking 'em down tonight!

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Today's events...

Earlier: I ran the Army B-day 5k. I forgot my camera so there are no pics of this race :(

Now: it's time for a shower and nap.

Later: getting dressed up in 80's gear and making myself have big hair... then going to the Legwarmers concert and getting my drink on. Pictures to come. :)


Edit:

Here's some of the pics!

Sarah H. & Me in the car	The Girls: Sarah H., Katie, Me, Liz, Sarah B. & Nicole	Me & the Sarahs! :)
We found David Bowie... Labyrinth Edition	Katie & CJ	Liz is rockin' out! And I'm making a stupid face.

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Feet Burning?

My feet always hurt to the point they feel like they are burning when I run or exercise... Not sure if this is b/c I'm fat or what. I have new running shoes I got fitted for my feet and I bought a nice pair of running socks with extra padding in the bottom.

I'm just wondering if this happens to anyone else... I shall research this later. :)

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In other news...

I haven't been keeping up with Couch to 5k since so much has been going on... but I have still been working out.

Regular Work Out days

• Mondays I have Boot Camp class from 6-7 at AACC.
• Thursdays I run with JJ and Cindy at Fort Meade.
• Fridays I try and go to Xpose (but not every week).

I need to start a schedule and set weekly mileage goals so I'm more motivated to run. I still don't like running and it's so easy to push it off. When am I going to get to the point where I like it? Hopefully soon.

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First Running 5k

Today was the Army Birthday Hooah 5k. Yay! I did way better than I thought I was going to do. I did it in around 48:30ish... I'll have to wait on exact times to come out to see the exact seconds. :)

It was a struggle. I started out with my friend Bri and she's a beginner runner too. Well she's much better at running outside than I am... that's for sure. She made it about 11 mins before she had to walk I made it about 4. Haha. But I didn't walk the entire rest of it. I did run/walk intervals. I don't know how much the time was for the intervals... I was using landmarks. I'd run from one light pole to another then walk to a tree or a corner... yada yada yada. But I finished it and it was hot as crap out.

Only a few more days til the Do Life Tour and I get to see my dream man, Ben Davis. Lol. I swear I'm not a stalker but I can't just help having a big crush on him after reading his blog.

This is me after the race when I got home. You can literally see how smelly I am. Haha. Don't judge. It was hard to do those little red squiggles with the touch pad on my laptop.

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Catching up on...

Blogging & sleeping tomorrow after the race.

Then out to 80s night.

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9 Hours..

until the Army Birthday Hooah 5k Race tomorrow.

I'm both excited and scared. I did a trial 5k yesterday on the treadmill and finished in 47:35... hoping to be close to that even though running outside is harder.

Carbloaded tonight with pizza and mozzarella sticks. Definitely not the best choice of carbs but whatev ... I haven't had either in a long time. 

Wish me luck tomorrow. :)

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F-You DOMS!!!

Here's a recap of my 7 days of exercise (and today)... I've been KILLIN' IT at the gym!

Thu 6/2	Ran @ Ft. Meade with JJ and Cindy... 3 miles
Fri 6/3	Xpose Fitness Level 1 Pole class with Bri
Sat 6/4	Planet Fitness gym with my mom and to the park with my sister and nephews - 4.85 miles total
Sun 6/5	Planet Fitness with mom - 2.75 miles
Mon 6/6	Boot Camp Day 1 @ AACC in Arnold - ran, squats, lunges, PLANKS (and lots of them), ab work, etc
Tue 6/7	Went to Bri's Kickboxing class (and almost died) - more PLANKS (I swear I hate these damn things), kicking, punching, pushing that huge ass heavy punching bag (pole/bag thing with the water weight in the bottom), sit ups, burpies (I think that's what they were called), and ____insert_other_exercises_from_hell_here____...
Wed 6/8	Xpose Fitness - Level 1 Pole with my friend Trisha... I love this class. It's fun and doesn't feel like you are really working out
Thu 6/9	Thinking of taking a day of rest. And when I mean rest, I mean working from 9:30am - 8:00pm then going home to write a term paper.

I have DOMS right now... and I want to flip it the bird.

For those of you who don't know what DOMS is... it is Delayed On-set Muscle Soreness... Those sore and achey muscles you get after working out hardcore (or doing something you normally don't do). I've been aching since last Thurs after my run. But at least I know I've been working my muscles nice and good.

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Boot camp... day 1

It was both good and bad.  We did warmups and then did 2 laps around the inside of the building which sucked because of STAIRS... I hate stairs. This was right after lunges and some other leg work. My legs felt like jello. Another thing that killed me were planks. Who the hell invented these bad boys?  Felt great afterwards. Hopefully I transform into a fit body.

Off to bed... gonna be sore tomorrow. Night loves! 

PS..  I learned to French braid my hair today... I did LC (Lauren Conrad) bangs... see pic. :)

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I Love Groupon!

So I mentioned the other day I love Groupon... I'd like to reinforce my love for them again! :)

Today there was an amazing deal for Boot Camp Classes in Annapolis. It's normally $235 a month for them (which is outrageous) but Groupon was having a special on them for $55 for a month of unlimited classes. :) Yay! What can I say... I bought it. :)

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Great weekend

Today was good...

Went to the gym with my mom... saw lots of eye candy. :)

Today was my "rest" day from running so I took it easy on the treadmill and elliptical. Still did 2.75 miles today. (One on the treadmill and 1.75 on elliptical).

Then went swimming for a little bit.

Anyone want to do my homework? I am so over school right now. One week and one day until freedom! :)

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off to...

BED

Heading to bed... Tomorrow's agenda: flea market with mom, then the gym, then swimming and cook out. :) Followed by the crappy Sunday chores... laundry, dishes.. then cleaning the house. Fun stuff.

Toodles!

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Soundtrack...

for the day is:

Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up The Girl... I've listened to it at least 3 times today. Big heart! :)

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So sore...

OMG... My inner thighs are killing me.

I did good in the world of exercise today and not so good in the world of eating healthy.

My day:

• Elliptical - 1 mile in 11:15... why is it so much easier to pound out a mile on the elliptical at a fast pace than to run it?
• Cybex Arc Trainer - 5 mins = .20 miles
• Treadmill - 2.05 miles in about 38 minutes
• Went to Panera and got a pick 2 - tomato mozzarella panini and chicken noodle soup and a whole grain baguette and a diet coke... I tore it up!
• Walked to the park from my mom's house and ran around the field with my nephew... 1.60 miles
• Helped my mom "clean" the bowl she made Rice Krispie treats in
• Went home and showered and went to Target to get a triple barrel waver for my hair
• Ate 2 cups of penne with alfredo sauce and shrimp... followed by a Weight Watchers ice cream bar

Total miles: 4.85

My 2 favorite nephews. We had lots of fun at the park today.

Timmy (2.5 yrs old)

Owen (1 month and 2 weeks old)

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Nerding it up!

I am a book nerd... I love reading. Especially young adult books... Don't judge me!

Here is a list of books I'm currently reading (obviously not at this very second, but you get my drift!):

• Wicked by Sara Shepard
• Evernight by Claudia Gray
• The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

I love this site called GoodReads.com. I use it to find all my books and join in on discussions and reading challenges. Here's my profile, if you are interested in seeing what is on my to be read lists.

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10 days and counting...

I'm super excited... My last class finishes up in 10 days from now. June 13th, baby!

It's the end of my bachelor's degree... Time to celebrate - in a healthy way of course!

Then starting my Masters at the end of August. Gonna enjoy this summer so much!

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Notes...

• I signed up for the Army Birthday Hooah 5k on June 18th
• Going to see Ben Davis from Ben Does Life on June 22... we are all doing an unofficial 5k, part of his Do Life Tour. He's such an inspiration... Did I mention he's a total hottie too?!?!
• Signed up for Boot Camp Class at AACC on Monday nights. Start's next Monday (6/6/11) Eeeekkkk!!
• Made a regular meet-up for running with JJ and Cindy on Thursdays at the fort (Ft. Meade).
• Taking Kickboxing with Bri next Tuesday night - should be fun??

Random Note: Groupon and Living Social are 2 totally addicting sites... They are always having awesome deals that I just can't say no to. It's hard to just say no to such great deals!

• Seadog Cruise for $12
• Xpose Fitness: 6 classes for $22
• Netflix 3 movie rentals for $1 total
• Old Navy $10 for $20 giftcard - I missed this deal :(
• Let's Dish $79 for $136 value

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Pole Dancin'

It's what I do!

Lol. Taking another pole dance/exercise class at Xpose tonight with Bri & company. :) Gonna be fun.

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Challenge - 30 lbs by Halloween

Today I decided that I want to challenge myself to lose 30 lbs by Halloween this year. That is 5 months. I figure it can be done with a lot of dedication and determination. I need a smaller goal to work towards than the 80+ I wanna lose. So that is 6lbs a month... totally attainable.

On my hiatus I gained the weight I lost back... so I was up to 231 as of May 28th. It would be even more amazing to be below 200 by Halloween so I can wear some skankalicious costume and look sexy for once.

So, I challenge myself to get 'er done! Please join me in setting up a Halloween goal. :)

On a side note... Promotions were announced today and apparently I didn't make the cut this year. Only 8 people in the whole org got promoted. Made me a bit upset and I wanted to dive into the snack bar at work... but I told myself NO! Fatness happens one bad choice after another... so the only solution to being healthy is to make one right decision after another. Sounds like a stinking alcoholic going through AA... One day at a time... but their concept is so true. I will get this... I know I can do it.

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Today's words...

• Great
• Fun
• Fast
• Quads

Today I was supposed to go to the Fort Meade Parade Field to run with my friend JJ and his mom Cindy. This morning I really didn't want to. I felt sore from my first day back running yesterday. And since I just worked out yesterday, I was feeling like I deserved a day off. But then I started thinking... Weight loss is all about one choice at a time. And I started to think of some goals I'd like to make. That made up my mind. I decided to go with JJ and Cindy, even though I knew it was going to be really hard (they are great runners). But you know what... I had a lot of fun. Though this chubby girl can't keep up (b/c boy do they run fast), she sure did have a good time.

We did a little over 3 miles of run and walk intervals. My run seemed like their swift walk which was a little discouraging until I remembered that "hey, at least I'm doing it". I may complain a lot while doing it... but eventually I'll get better and learn to like it. At the end, I laid my fat butt in the grass and caught my breath. Then we did some lunges and squats. My leg fronts... what are they called? I had to Google it... Quads. Haha! That's sad I didn't know what they were called.

I just wanna say - Thanks JJ and Cindy for pushing me... see ya same time next week. :)

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Where the hell have I been?

So I haven't been on in a while for two reasons... one, I've been a little busy and two, I've been slacking with my running. I know, I know... shame on me. And really I wish that I didn't slack. I just got a little overwhelmed but I'm back on track. Here are some photos of what I've been up to. :)

May has been a very busy month... Here's what I did on top of work and school work. A few pics below.

• May 7-8: Made T-shirts with Crystal and Bri for our 5k walk-it challenge, wrote 2 papers, did 2 programming assignments, and studied for a PHP final
   
• May 14: My graduation Ceremony in Baltimore followed by Cheesecake Factory and a 4lb gain
   
• May 21st: DC 101 Chili Cookoff, which is a really awesome concert that lasts all day. I got sun poisoning this day and hurt so bad for like a week afterwards
   
• May 22nd: 5k Walk-It Challenge... Turned out to be a 10k walk... Here's why: They had us park past the turn-around point, so to get to the starting line you had to walk 1/2 of the 5k there. Then we did the 5k (to the turn-around point and back), and then we had to walk 1/2 of the 5k back to get to the car... so it was definitely a 10k. Then we went to Georgetown in DC and visited the famous Georgetown Cupcakes.
   
• May 27-30: Camping at Big Bear Lake in West Virginia with my cousin (Crystal) and her fiance (Dave) and his family.

I went on hiatus for almost 2 weeks in running. Yesterday I decided to start week 4 of C25K over again though I struggled with the last 5 minute run (had to break it up). I'm back in the game!

May was a month of fun!
May 14, 2011 University of Phoenix graduation - Amanda (my sister) and me	May 21, 2011 - DC 101 Chili Cookoff Concert - Awesomeness - JJ, some random guy's head, me, and Sarah H.
May 21, 2011 - Weight Watchers 5k Walk-It Challenge... we walked 10k instead.  Me, Crystal, and Bri	Memorial Day Weekend - Camping with my cousin, Crystal, at Big Bear Lake, WV... This is me and her at the water park there
June 2, 2011 Got my Do Life shirt today! Yay!

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Update

Last weekend I did a 5k walk.. and got so burnt. Been busy this week and heading to go camping. When I get back on Tuesday, I'll update ya on everything.  :)

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Fear

There is a 4 letter F word that I truly despise... yep, you guessed it, FEAR!

Fear is a burden fat people carry. We fear so many things and situations. Fear has kept me back for so long... from meeting new people, going places, and doing new things. Fear has kept me in my safe little bubble where my life just passes me by. But not anymore!

Today I took a class at Xpose at Arundel Mills with my friend Bri and her friends. It's a pole dancing exercise class.  It was so much fun. Fear almost stopped me from going. Some one didn't come and I believe fear got ahold of her. My fear was for meeting new people, for looking stupid, for being the biggest girl in class, for not being able to do it... the list could go on. But instead of letting that fear sink its razor sharp claws in me, I pushed it aside and decided who cares if I mess up. Who cares if I'm the biggest girl. I just want to try something different and have fun... and guess what??? I DID! I HAD A BLAST!

So the scoreboard for today is... Dana - 1.. Fear - 0. It is a good day.

Off to bed.. DC 101 Chili Cookoff tomorrow, all day. :) Going to be an awesome concert.

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Baby, I'm back! :)

I was so scared to run again... It's been since Thursday and I had a hard time finishing C25K W4D1 then... Today I did W4D2 and just decreased my speed on the runs and did it no problem.  I normally run at 5.0 or 5.5 (if I'm running shorter distances) but today I ran at 4.6 and was able to actually complete it.  I even ran for an additional set (3 min run, 2 min walk, 5 min run, 5 min walk). 

Yay!  I'm excited again about running.  W4D3... I'm coming for you! :)

This was me when I got home from working out... you totally can't see all the sweat but let me just say... there was a lot, especially on my arms.  Is it weird my arms sweat the most?  Lol.  Idk. 

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