It's the Final(ish) Countdown

It's FRIDAY!!! I'm looking at my calendar and am a bit surprised at how fast these last couple weeks have flown by. My poor apartment was neglected until last night when I forced myself to pick up and make it look like a somewhat normal person lived there. How is it possible for it to get messy when I'm never home? I somehow manage to figure it out. 

I'll be working on a few good recipes to share (no shit-muffins, I swear), so be sure to stay tuned in the coming week. In the meantime, goals I've set and races I've been training for are fast approaching:

Warrior Dash - Tomorrow 
Tough Mudder - 29 days
Half Marathon - 43 days

EEEK those races used to seem so far away and now they're like..1, 29 and 43 days away! WARNING: math GENIUS over here. I am super pumped for Warrior Dash. Maybe it's because I sort of know what to expect, having done it last year? Or because I'm running it with one of my BFF's again? Or because I've actually done physical activities, unlike last years' race where I hadn't ran in about a hundred years and wanted to die? Who knows, but I'm ready to eat mud and cuss and drink a beer. Hopefully it'll give me some more fuel for my Tough Mudder fire.

That one is still making me a bit nervous. While I've been running and working out, I feel like the running has been >greater than< strength training, sooo if I'm struggling, I'm secretly hoping a hottie with a body will be helping me up and over some of the walls, through the mud and under the barbed wire. Amber and I have a sweet tank top we're planning on wearing to represent the good ole Hoosier State in Missouri, which is obviously the most important part of this race. Outfits.

And then there's the halfie. I didn't really think I'd ever run one in my lifetime, because, quite frankly, I hated running. My hatred is a bit less now, and I ran 8 miles on Wednesday, the furthest I've gone in my LIFE (and yes, I'm going to say that every week when I tag another mile onto that run). My body is still recovering from Wednesday, so I took it easy last night, with the exception of kickass kickball, and am only training my drinking skills tonight so I can be ready to roll tomorrow morning for the dash. But the training's been going well, and you know what? Methinks I'm going to be OK in this race. A big part of surviving will be running it with my gal pal Dori, who's been killing her training and is my motivation for this race! She's always impressed me with her ability to move her legs in a way that propels her forward for extended periods of time. Her GPS skills? Maybe not so much. I remember she ran 13 miles when we were in Colorado for Robin's (my Warrior Dash BFF) wedding and got a bit lost. A few hours and a car ride later, all was well and she was back with us. I think we'll plan on just following the crowd in Milwaukee this time. I just hope I can keep up with her!

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm beyond ready to enjoy the weekend. Til next time!

Crises Are the New Cool

What. Am. I. Doing? I’m stealing the term “Quarter-Life Crisis” from my good pal Dori, because when she mentioned that she was going through one, a light bulb went off. That’s what’s happening to me, too.

I can no longer say I’m in my early 20s. I just (barely, people) passed the 25th mile-marker. That’s not an issue for me. My age hasn’t ever really bothered me. But it’s what’s happened in my 26th year on Earth that’s gotten me to this point. After some life-altering happenings (albeit freaking blessings) in the blur of a month called April, I took a slap to the face and ran with it and have since chosen a new outlook on life.

The word “crisis” is often associated with something negative or undesirable...

Shit. Life #9 - DONE.

But, in reality, it doesn’t necessarily mean impending doom. The origin of the word “crisis” literally means to decide. So, what choices have I made recently during my time of “deciding”?

Well, I'm being selfish and doing what I want. So far, it's been a blast. I've got a new apartment that I'm DIY-ing the shit out of and staying beyond busy with work, friends and family. Then I decided to throw getting fit and healthy again back in the mix. For the record, I wasn't terribly un-healthy...I'm a retired collegiate athlete...I just took my retirement a bit more literally than I should have.

 

I had joined some intramural teams with friends - a little softball, dodgeball, kickball, and sand volleyball at various times throughout the last 2 years - which was keeping me active a day or so a week. I'd start Insanity or P90X and get a few weeks in (OK, sometimes only a few days in) before something more important anything else would come up and I'd go that route instead. It was so easy to skip a workout. Sure, I'd feel guilty...for like, 5 seconds. Then it was back to something more fun. I had joined a gym, but dropped my membership after not going...it was too crowded after work...too far away...blah freaking blah.

It wasn't until April 2013 rolled around that I was forced to really take a look at my life and what I want out of it. And I realized I missed being fit. Healthy. Energetic. I knew that getting there would require some pain-in-my-ass (literally and figuratively), fights with myself and conquering my lack of self-control when it comes to delicious food and drinks. In order to look forward to working out and incorporating those sessions as habits, I knew I'd have to go through the period of forcing myself to do it when it was the last thing I wanted to do.

So, I started running. I know, college athlete = amazing runner, right? WRONG. I played volleyball. It was all about quick, explosive movements, sprints, plyometrics and strength training. Our running never exceeded more than 1 mile. Up until that point in my life, 2 (two, dos, zwei) 5Ks were the most I'd ever run in my LIFE, and that was back in 2011 and 2012. I thought I climbed Mount f*****g Everest after those.

True story.

But I kept doing it. Half mile here, half mile there, then 2 miles. That was my wall. I'd crap out and call it a day. I needed something to push me. A goal with a hard date. So I signed up for The Color Run 5K that's actually this upcoming weekend (so pumped!). But that wasn't good enough. I needed more of a challenge. So I signed up for Warrior Dash again (I did it last year - one of my 2-in-my-lifetime 5Ks). Last year's Dash was a blast - however, I was so out of shape, all I could think about was not dying. Having the goal of actually completing it with some dignity was a step up. That's August 17. So we're good, right? Wrong. Let's push ourselves a bit, Mags, come ON. 

I saw my good friend, old roommate, old teammate and mommy of a 4-year-old recently. It had been a while since we'd seen each other, as she lives a few hours away. Amber's always been fit and healthy, but when I saw her, good Lord the girl was ripped! I was so impressed. She recently took a new job, running the gym/wellness program for a big company in Southern Indiana. She leads classes, does personal training, answers questions, the whole shebang. I've told her once and I'll tell her again that she was a big part of my motivation to get my ass in gear. I had no excuses. She's a busy mom, for crying out loud! So she and I decided it would be "fun" to sign up for what's dubbed "the toughest event on the planet" - Tough Mudder. I have heard stories to give me nightmares about this event. So naturally, I'm all in. Payment was sent with no refunds allowed. 

Whew! Some good stuff and awesome challenges to look forward to, for sure. But then Dori (my fellow quarter-life crisis pal), who's always been an avid runner, threw out the idea of a half marathon...in September...two weeks after Tough Mudder. The logical, smaller portion of attitude in me said, "HELL NO". But the larger, impulse-driven, why-the-hell-not attitude in me said, "Why the hell not?!". Logic - 0 Impulse - 1. Payment sent. 

I plan to center the majority of this blog around training and prepping via exercise and nutrition for the hellacious events ahead of me. But let's be honest...I'm not a fitness expert. I'm not a nutrition expert, and I still love to have a good time with my friends (good time = beer, vodka, terr(delicious)ible food and lots of laughs). But I'm willing to give it a try, and we'll see if we can find a happy medium.

Yay for my first blog post, and thanks for the endless support of my family and friends whom I'm forcing to read this.