Motivation.

You know how I was so incredibly exited about my summer to-do list? Yeah, I regret that.

Crash and burn, my friend.

I have a tendency to get so involved in an activity without thinking it through all the way. This turned out all right for my first half-marathon, but I'm just not feeling the motivation that I should right now.

Let's start with my list. What I have accomplished: I have read wayy over the amount of fiction books I wanted to get through this summer. Currently I'm re-reading Gone With the Wind. Good choice! But that's about the only thing I've accomplished this summer. Bummer. 

That's not entirely true. I did start volleyball practice again! I'm always really nervous and stressed out at the beginning of the season, but after a week or two I remember how much I love to play. It's crazy how easy it is to forget my love of volleyball. Which leads me to my next point. With all this volleyball-in' I haven't exactly had the energy to run. Not to mention it's 100 degrees every day of the week. Stupid heat wave! So I've been feeling pretty out of the loop lately. The furthest I've run since my half was five miles, and that was about a month ago. So, I think it's time to rethink my priorities. 

After I ran my 10k and half-marathon I was so pumped up and ready for the next race. This surprised even me because, like I said before, I didn't think of myself as someone who would live from race to race. Turns out, I was right. I need some down time. I've known this for quite a while now, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I feel like I'm always failing, and as running is the one thing I thought I might be decent at, it's put me in a depressed mood. Sometimes you just have to realize enough is enough. I run because I like to be active and healthy. Now that I'm playing volleyball again, I feel like I'm going into double time. Especially with the heat, I'm just plain worn out. So, maybe I'll sign up for a 10k or maybe even a 5k. I just need to take my runs a little easier than I intended. 

Something that drives me crazy about running: I feel like every time I take a few weeks off I have to start over from scratch again. It's sooo disappointing! On the up side, you always have something to work towards. I still love to run, and plan on running for as long as my body allows me.

Oh, and about my hundred page narrative that I was writing, that hasn't happened either. 

How has your summer turned out differently than planned?

What Happens Here

After reminiscing for far too long I find myself to be in the company of family. We traveled an hour and a half down the road to say hello to my cousins - four boys who are entierly their own persons. What happens here, stays here.

Tomorrow we come home. After being gone for vacation for a month last year I had the misconception that two and a half weeks would be far too short a trip. Like I said, misconception. I am homesick. Terribly so. I can't wait to hang out on our grimy city beach lake with my friends. The ocean has no chance to better itself without companions to fill the mindless hours of sunshine. Enough mushy, heartfelt chatter.

It also doesn't help that I haven't had the chance to run during our vacation like I hoped to. I've been having trouble with my knee, so I decided to take the first week of vacation easy anyway. I stuck it out on the elyptical, which is always easier to focus on when you have a TV in front of you, and managed to get in a few hours of exercize over the first week of relaxation. It just went downhill from there. Our condo on the beach had a fee for using their gym. I find this to be totally ridiculous. did we not pay for a room? Give us someplace to exercize! Especially with all the fatty vacation food that everyone inhails. Although, a plus side to a condo is that we ate most of our meals in our room; therefore, we ate healthier than if we had been staying in a hotel. That doesn't include dessert, though!

I did finally get a treadmill before we arrived in Missouri. I ran two and a half miles before feeling like I was going to puke. Which was expected because we had just indulged in a regular cheesy, spicy, Mexican fiesta. Case in point, I'm ready to get home and run my little heart out. Wish me luck since I'm supposed to be in training again and expected to run seven miles Saturday. This might be a bad decision.

I hope your intentions to keep up a healthy lifestyle while vacationing turn out better than mine did. All well. I'm so close to home I can taste it!

A New Chapter

Blogging for my advanced placement language and composition class is officially finished with. It's been long, it's been hard, and at times, I wish I could quit, but now that it's all said and done, I wouldn't change a moment of it. Everything that I've learned in the past several months will do nothing but help me. Now and in the future. I have learned more about the existence of God in my everyday life than I ever could if I hadn't dwelled on his goodness in my blog. I have also been able to grow and see inner beauty as beautiful, and in turn, find the beautiful qualities in myself and others. Like I said, I wouldn't change a minute of it for the world.

The big question now is will I continue to blog without the prompting of this class? The answer is a resounding yes! I've spent two days without worrying about mandatory blogs and the need to write is itching in my fingertips. Although I won't write as frequently, I hope to continue to dive into the topics that I have already been discussing here such as beauty, Christianity, and RUNNING. So don't stop reading, because there's a whole lot more coming!

Speaking of running, and with my post being entitled "A New Chapter," I have a little bit more to share with you. Ever since I ran my half-marathon a whole three days ago I can't wait for my next race! I haven't run again yet, my legs are still a little shaky, but I'll be running a 5K for breast cancer in June. I can't wait. Until then, I will be speed training. My average mile time for the half was 11:16 and I want to be able to run a solid ten minute mile before my next half. Yes, I said NEXT. What can I say? I'm addicted to the feeling of crossing that finish line.

Also, I'd like to remind you that "No Make-up Wednesdays" have thus far been a success. Although, the more time that passes since the week of no make-up, the less enthused I am about going make-up-less. It's a work in progress. But I see another week without make-up sometime in the near future, just to remind myself of who I am, painted or not.

Live and Learn

Now that I've experienced the full effects of a half-marathon, I am taking some time to reflect on everything I did or didn't do to prepare for the big run!

I did not know what I was getting myself into. AT ALL. I had no idea of the time commitment it would take. So running was put first. After God and church and family (?) of course. But I have had no social life since I began training, so it's a good thing that summer is almost here.

I took one look at the training program and just started running. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't have the proper shoes or socks, and thought I was strong enough to do it by myself. Because of the shoe issue, I ended up with ankle pain about two months ago, which really freaked me out. I went to Running Wild, and they fit me with the perfect shoes. Voila! Pain no more. (Except a few blisters, ouch.)

Also, I got really lucky. A few of the women who help with the eighth grade running program at my middle school offered to run with me. It really helped to have them run the long distances with me and coach me through them. Plus, they have ultra cool running watches. No need to question my distance!

In the beginning, I didn't think about tracking my time or mile pace. I really wish I would have! I think if I were to start from scratch and do it again I would choose more of a run/walk program to build speed and endurance.

Just thoughts for next time. For my first half, I'm pretty proud of myself. And if you ever feel crazy enough to do a half-marathon, GO FOR IT! It will be the best, worst, most painful, exciting, exhilarating experience of your life.

Half-Marathon!

Yep. It's official. I have finally ran 13.1 miles. My time? 2:27:36 at an 11:16 pace.

I woke up this morning at 4:45, so nervous that I didn't even feel the need to hit the snooze button. My "running breakfast" always consists of yogurt (Noosa) and a banana. Try as I might, I had absolutely no appetite. So I force fed myself while I sipped a glass of water.

We arrived downtown at about a quarter after six. I stretched, and we waited in the car for fifteen minutes (it was a little chilly). I was so nervous I thought I was going to cry. My dad prayed for me and we went to the starting line. This race was really nice because it had signs for mile times to let you know where to stand in the pack. I was nearer the back. Five minutes later everyone began moving forward. Here we go!

The first mile was weird. About 0.2 into it there was an extremely narrow bridge that we had to cross. Everyone literally stood there for about three minutes, waiting for their chance to cross. I was getting antsy waiting for the crowd to thin out. The first four miles was a piece of cake. But mile five, that was a long stretch. It just seemed so ominous. So I made a friend, and before I knew it, I could see mile six. There was a water station every two miles, which I always stopped and walked at. At mile six, I ate a GU packet, Lemon Sublime, my favorite, but it kind of made my stomach upset. Too much water, I think. It went away about a mile later.

It was a pretty uneventful race. Which is good, in my opinion. I stopped again at mile ten to eat another GU (chocolate outrage - it tastes like brownie batter!), and kept on towards the finish line. With three miles left, I was totally pumped up. There were people on every block cheering us on. It was kind of awesome. The last two miles were hard. There were a lot more hills than I expected, not very steep, just l-o-n-g, and I walked up a lot of them. When I was told three blocks until the finish line, I broke out into a spring. It felt incredible, except for the feeling like I was going to throw up. (No worries, I kept everything down).

I passed the finish line with a smile on my face and 13.1 miles stronger. Yes, I got a finishers medal. I always wondered why medals were such a big deal, now I know why!

I drank a ton of water and ate half a banana directly after the race. We waited around for a little bit before coming home. I feel like it was kind of anticlimactic. Whatever, I finished and I am so proud of myself!

Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to take a nap.

Run Strong

I officially have less than twenty four hours until my race. And you know what? I'm kind of totally freaking out about it. The past week, I've run a total of eight miles. Normally, I run around 25 to 30. I know, I know. Trust my training. I've told myself that time and time again. I'm sure every runner feels totally unprepared the day before a race. Right?

Last night was my last official day of training. I ran a mile and a half. I've had my running log duct taped to my door for about five months now, and last night I finally took it down. Bittersweet moment. It'll be nice to be able to run whatever, whenever I want to after the race. I'm going to have so much free time I won't know what to do with myself!

Throughout the week I've totally been obsessing about my eating habits. What I can or should or absolutely must not eat. I told myself no desert, but come on, I love sugar. Not possible. But I figure if I ruined that throughout the week I can at least get it right tonight. I ate spaghetti, a lot of it. But I promise, I didn't overeat. I drank a Gatorade yesterday and today and have drank a lot of water tonight. Again, not too much that I feel like I'm going to puke water all over the place.

What am I worried about? I'm worried that I'll wake up with an upset stomach. That's what happened last weekend before the 10K, and I hardly ate anything. This goes without saying that I was really hungry during the race. I'm also nervous that I'll get lost. Don't laugh, it's possible. I'm directionally challenged. But I'm trusting that their will be enough police officers and others to guide me. It's supposed to be warm tomorrow, close to ninety. This is something I absolutely cannot let myself think about. It's out of my control. Besides, the weather shouldn't be that warm between seven and ten in the morning.

Tonight, we drove down to pick up my number and race-timer-thingy (I just forgot what it's called!). My number is 445. This all feels so unreal. It's not really me doing it, you know? I feel like I'm living someone else's live for just a few moments. I mean seriously, me, running a half marathon. Yeah right. But I am going to do it and it is going to be awesome.

At this point, I just want to get started. I feel like I can't wait another moment. I'm waking up at five tomorrow morning to hydrate and fuel myself and I know that those two hours before my race are going to be excruciating!

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." -John J. Bingham

Let's do this thing!

10K

This weekend I ran my second race EVER. The first time I ran this race was when I was in eighth grade. Six miles seemed like a lot before I began training for a half-marathon, now it's just a part of my training. I know I'm supposed to be tapering this week, but this was such a great opportunity for me to get a "practice race" in before my big run. Besides, this wasn't about me, this one was about my sister, Anna. She and my mother have been training for this race since I started training for mine. I wanted to see them finish.

This race was a community race to raise money for the school districts. It was the fifth annual race, so it's pretty small, at least for a serious runner. I thought there were a ton of people there! I was going to take it easy, but then I realized that I could place in my age division and I couldn't risk not trying. After all, we all know that next weekend's race will be more about me finishing than anything else. 

I had hoped to get in six miles in under an hour. I'm beginning to think that I'm just setting myself up for failure when I time myself. I blame it on the humongous hills along the route, some of which I had to walk up. My time was 1:06:39 with an average pace of 10:43. 

My sister came in second in her age division, which is awesome! She does this with her middle school and the girls always take first, second, and third in their age group. She had a time around 1:13 along with my mother. 

To brag on myself a little, I got first in the women's 15 to 19 category. This race wasn't about me finishing. Like I said before, I run six miles on an average basis with my training. This race, for me, was about knowing that I can do my half-marathon and experiencing the hyper-activity of a race before I get caught up in it next weekend.

Am I nervous for next weekend? Unimaginably so. Nerves put me in a bad mood. Always. So I'm going to have to fight that this week along with my anxiety. It's horrible for me to want it to be over. This is going to be an awesome experience! 

For training this week my program has me running three miles both Monday and Tuesday and one mile on Friday. I was told to cut down my running even more than that so I'm not sure what I'll actually be doing. I will be staying away from any food that is spicy - can't eat that before a run! And I'm going to try, TRY to stay away from anything too sweet. I want to be in the best shape possible for next week. "Trust your training." I don't know how many times I've heard that. What I really want to do right now is go out and run twelve miles. Not really, though. That sounds exhausting. 

Pray for me! I know I'll be saying this verse hundreds of times during the race. Isaiah 40:31 says, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  

Taper Time

I did it! I am in the last two weeks of my training program. It is so crazy how fast this has gone. I mean, it felt like it was never going to end when I started, but now that it's almost over I realize how fast time has flown by. Isn't that how it always is?

I ran my last ten miles yesterday. Because I had to work, I wasn't able to run in the morning like I prefer. It was really hard to get my butt in gear after working. I took a two hour "break from life" and headed out as the day started to cool off. My mother is a saint and rode her bike with me the entire ten miles. She said it's nice because it takes a lot of control to ride that slowely. Plus, mother-daughter talk time is the best! It was a really great run. Halfway through I had some strawberry bananna GU, which I think tastes amazing. Honestly, I really like that stuff. GU is an energy gel (kind of like condensed Gatorade) that replaces your glycogen, which is kind of like a long-term energy storage and is made by the liver and muscles. By the last mile of my run, my knees really began to hurt. I know that this is a side effect of running. You can't really avoid it, so I just iced my knees when I got home. Now I'm hoping for the best!

Since Saturday was my last long run, it's taper time! In order to rest up your muscles before a race, athletes take a period of time to slow down before race day. And yes, I consider myself and athlete. You have no right to challenge me until you have run a half-marathon or greater. Anyway, for a half-marathon, the recommended taper is two weeks. I will, however, be running a 10k next weekend (six miles). My mother and sister have been training for this for twelve weeks and I decided to run it with them. I wanted to get a "practice race" in before my half-marathon.

A lot of runners have a hard time with tapering. Probably because they get the feeling that they are going to gain weight or lose muscle mass before the race. Of everything I've read, you won't lose anything you've worked for in two weeks. I will have no problem taking it easy for the next few days. It will be nice to run three miles instead of six, and six instead of ten.

Of course, as I get closer to race day I think of everything that I might have done wrong during my training. When starting I had no idea what I was doing. I just began running. As I look back, I realize that I should have paced myself. Every run I've been running at an easy speed for me. I should have done fast runs, slow runs, and some runs in between. But whatever. Another thing that drove me crazy at first was when I had to skip a run because I was busy. I soon learned that in order to be a happy racer I had to give myself some leaway. We can't all be hardcore trainers. For my first race, I'd say that I've had a very successful training.

It's probably crazy to think ahead to another race before I've finished this one. But now that I've gotten this far and realized that I can do it, I can't imagine not doing a full marathon. I'm not talking about in the next six months or anything, but in five years? Yes, I can see myself crossing the finish line of a marathon five years from now. In the meantime, I'll focus on my speed. I can't imagine running for six hours!

My race is in thirteen days. That is so crazy! I don't know what I'm going to do when my race is over. I feel like I've been putting all of my energy and time into training. As much as I have enjoyed having something to work towards, I can't imagine being a die heart racer. Living from race to race does not sound like something I would enjoy.

Wish me luck! And happy training.

Positive Exercise

We all love a good exercise, at least I would hope. You know those exercises that make you feel on top of the world? You could conquer anything! Especially while training, these are the days that keep me going. Every time I overcome another mile, I know that I can do anything I put my mind to.

We have also all had those moments when we felt like we would collapse if we took another step. Everything we do is not good enough. Sometimes I get home from a six mile run and feel like I didn't push myself hard enough; I could always be faster, I could always run more. This is ridiculous. After doing something HEALTHY for your body, after making yourself STRONGER, you still feel like it wasn't enough. Truth is . . . if you pushed yourself to the max every single day all you would be doing is wearing yourself out. I had to learn this the hard way when I began training. I hadn't run for at least a year, and I stepped onto that treadmill the first day of January with the goal to run three miles. Ha. That didn't happen, which just discouraged me. Start small. Build up. Don't push yourself to the max all the time because then you'll just be worn out all the time. Six miles is a lot. I've let myself think that six miles isn't actually that far in so that I'll be able to run ten miles without thinking it's that far. If that makes any sense. I was surprised when talking to one of my friends that he was impressed that I had run six miles. Then I realized that a long run/bike/swim/etc. is anything that is long FOR YOU. 

I kind of let myself go off on a tangent. 

Where was I? Oh yes, it's ridiculous to be unhappy with yourself after you exercise. It's like praying and then regretting it. Don't belittle your accomplishments! You are amazing and strong. I often come home from a long run and find myself looking in the mirror in disgust. This is fat "thinking" and it does not belong in your head. 

I was running with eighth graders today. They're training for a 10K (six miles), which is totally awesome! I did the same program when I was in eighth grade and it taught me not only how to exercise, but how to keep up my endurance and how to be healthy. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Anyway, a couple of the kids were struggling, saying how after the race was over they never wanted to run again. Which is all good and fine. Every man for himself. You have to find exercise that fits you. But how much harder does it make it to continue something you hate if you're constantly telling yourself you hate it? 

In order to counteract this thinking, I pray during my runs. I get out there, find that I don't have the strength to push myself forward, and start praying to God. Before I know it, I've run my mileage for the day and can be proud of my ability and God's ability to work in me. I'm not going to lie to you. Running isn't my favorite thing in the world. But it is something that I'm proud of. 

As I'm writing this I'm thinking about school and how I'm always complaining about how much I hate Chemistry and Algebra II. Endurance isn't just for exercise. You use endurance in everything you do. For instance, sometimes I have writers block and have to "endure" to meet the requirements for my AP Lang class. Sometimes we have to build up our endurance for subjects such as Chemistry. I would just like to take this moment to apologize to those I've complained to this week. From now on I will absolutely "adore" Chemistry. As my sixth grade teacher always said, "Fake it till you feel it." 

To wrap it up: don't get down on yourself because you had a hard day. Don't give up because of a bad test grade or a difficult, painful run. You are more than you know! God can work miracles in you, but you have to believe in yourself and "fake it till you feel it."

Training

I officially have exactly four weeks left of my half-marathon training program. Talk about crazy! I know I've said this before, but if you would have told me six months ago that I would be running ten miles, I would have laughed in your face and then gone to sit down and eat a chocolate bar.

I had a really great run today. After talking three days off (busy, busy, busy!) I was expecting a little big of stiffness and a whole lot of complaining. I feel like I've kind of been slacking off. For instance: on Wednesday instead of running six miles I only ran four. Can you say slacker? In my defense, I had just eaten five too many doughnut holes.

Am I nervous for the race? Definitely. I'm not so much afraid that I won't be able to finish as I am afraid that I won't finish in time. I'm not the fastest runner. My average is ten minute miles. But hey, someone's got to come in last, am I right? Another thing, my parents are both supposed to be out of town that weekend, but I know I can count on my friends to be there By the way, it starts at seven in the morning. Good luck with that!

Run the Race

"You came to see a race today. To see someone win. It happened to be me. But I want you to do more than just watch a race. I want you to take part in it. I want to compare faith to running in a race. It's hard. It requires concentration of will, energy of soul. You experience elation when the winner breaks the tape - especially if you've got a bet on it. But how long does that last? You go home. Maybe you're dinner's burnt. Maybe you haven't got a job. So who am I to say, "Believe, have faith," in the face of life's realities? I would like to give you something more permanent, but I can only point the way. I have no formula for winning the race. Everyone runs in her own way, or his own way. And where does the power come from, to see the race to its end? From within. Jesus said, 'Behold, the Kingdom of God is within you. If with all your hearts, you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find me.' If you commit yourself to the love of Christ, then that is how you run a straight race." -Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire

Running For Jesus

Hey ya'll! It's been a long time since I've written. Maybe you didn't miss me, but I sure did miss writing. These past two weeks have been pretty hectic. I mean, I THINK I had Spring Break somewhere in there, but it kind of got lost amongst the homework, working, and training.

Speaking of training, have any of you began something on a whim, and later realized that you didn't particularly enjoy pushing yourself to the extreme in that area? Yeah, I enjoy running. But only on a good day. Which hasn't been for a while. To catch you up: Three weeks ago, I ran my first nine miles. Which was amazing. The week after, I ran ten miles. That ended up being just as amazing as nine. It's those midweek runs that kill me. You know, the "shorter," recovery runs that you go out thinking you're going to conquer the world and you come back with sweat pouring down your face along with a tear or two. Either that or you go out dreading a run and come back with endorphins pumping into your blood stream and you feel as if you could do ten things at once. That happens a lot too.

Take Saturday, for instance.

Since I'm taking the ACT next weekend, I wasn't able to run at my regular Saturday run time (eight o'clock). Instead, I took three hours out of my morning to do horrible math equations that I haven't learned yet while I listened to a teacher "dumb-down" the problems in order that we absorb everything we needed to. Back to running. After my ACT prep, my family went out to lunch. I ordered pasta. Before a run. Maybe not the smartest decision on my part. I've been having a lot of ankle pain lately, so we went to an athletics store to look at new tennis shoes for moi. I was hesitant at first because of the price, but I knew that if I was going to finish this thing I needed to not injure myself. So I bought the shoes. Which, I thought, would encourage me to run that afternoon. Until it began raining.

For those of you who have run in the rain, it really is awesome. But it's the getting started that's hard. I have a really hard time motivating myself and all I wanted on Saturday was sunshine and warmth to accompany me. But I forced myself out onto the trail anyway. In my beautiful new running shoes that were getting soaked with mist. I knew that if I was going to keep my mind occupied I needed something to do - other than run, of course. So I began singing songs. But that makes you breathless pretty quickly. Imagine: some crazy blonde, singing to herself at the top of her lungs, running like a maniac in the rain. Funny picture? Pretty much.

Running gives you a lot of time to think. I know a few runners who like to talk to God while they run. Honestly, I've had a pretty hard time connecting with the God-man lately and I knew that if I tried to pray in my head I would get sooo distracted. So I just began talking to him like I would if one of my friends had been running beside me. I recently have had a hard time knowing what to pray for. So as I was talking to Jesus, I just began thanking him for everything. My new running shoes. The rain. The fact that a teacher is willing to sit down with students and help them study for the ACT. My ability to run ten miles. Then I began praying for the people in my life; the ones who encourage me, and those who need the Lord. And I prayed for myself. For my decisions and that I will have integrity to know what He wants me to do. During this time I realized, not only that I've been negligent in my walk with God, but I'm running for the wrong reason, for myself, when who I needed to be running for was God.

Before I knew it, my run was over, but God's presence was with me. And He can "run" with you too if you ask Him.

Losing Endurance

You know what endurance is; that thing that keeps you going, even though you are ready to quit. The technical definition is the ability for a human or animal to exert itself and remain active for long periods of time. Such things as running, biking, swimming, volleyball, I'd even say homework takes endurance.

Of course, the endurance that I'm talking about right now has to do with running. I am officially seven weeks into my half-marathon training program, and it gets harder every day. I feel like I'm taking one step forward, two steps back. For example, I ran four miles today and I felt like I wasn't going to be able to make it. Last weekend, I ran eight pretty-easy miles. Maybe it's just the heat?

There's nothing I hate worse than feeling like I can't do something. It's just so depressing to realize that you're not strong enough. My "running verse," Isaiah 40:31, says this: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

If I follow God and trust Him with all my heart, I can do anything, as long as it's His Will. That's supposed to make me feel better, and it does, but I'm not sure how much I can keep up my "endurance." Help me out here? Any cross-country, track, marathon runners know what I'm doing wrong? 

My Pet Peeves of RUNNING

As I was running the other day, I began to list all the things that annoyed me while I ran. Here's my list of the things that drive me crazy:

1. When you begin running and realize you forgot to stretch, so you stop in the middle of the trail and almost get hit by a biker.
2. Your foot falls asleep while you're trying to finish your eight miles.
3. A bug flies up your nose and you suddenly can't breathe.
4. When a bug flies in your eye and you suddenly can't see.
5. All the bicyclists try to ride by you as close and fast as they can and you pee yourself a little.
6. You can run eight miles but you can't sprint to the car without breathing like a racehorse.
7. You're so proud of how far you ran and all of your friends just stand there, unimpressed, as you tell them how you can't believe you did it.
8. The city doesn't open the trail restrooms until May. When they do finally open up the bathrooms to the public, they forget to leave toilet paper.
9. Your friend who has never run in his life asks to run with you and is better at it than you are.
10. You trip on a crack in the sidewalk and practically fly up into the air, flail your arms, and fall headfirst into a bush.
11. The homeless man on the trail begins to follow you.
12. All of the baby geese hatch and the mothers suddenly decide that they need to viciously attack you as you run by.
13. You run past a dog and it jumps up and tries to attack you. You pee yourself a little. Again.
14. You think it's going to be warm, so you wear shorts. It begins to snow.
15. You think it's going to be cold, so you wear sweat pants. The sun is melting you.
16. Your shoelace comes untied. Five times. You double knot it. It comes untiled again.
17. You can feel a blister beginning to form during the first mile of your run.
18. When you forget to bring some form of time keeper and you're late to dinner.
19. You accidently run a mile further than you're supposed to; therefore, you run an extra two miles.
20. You stand on the street corner for five minutes because the "walk" sign doesn't change.

But really, running isn't so bad. I am in the sixth week of my training program (for my half-marathon), and I've never felt better. For all the things that drive me crazy, the feeling of accomplishment after I run is what keeps me going.

Despite everything I just told you, this is what you need to know: exercise is healthy. Get out there and do something good for your body. Whether that be running, walking, or playing a competitive game of sand volleyball, get outdoors. Have a beautiful day!

Beauty Redefined

I recently found this blog (recently, as in today) called Beauty Redefined. It is written by two sisters (twins), Lindsay and Lexie, who are working on their PhDs in Communication and studying representations of female bodies in popular media. Their mission statement is to take back beauty for girls and women everywhere through continuing the discussion about body image, women's potential and media influence. Lindsay and Lexie also hope to help women everywhere rethink their ideas of beautiful and healthy that are shown in the media. Women who are confident in they way they look and feel take better care of themselves.

Their latest blog post is what caught my attention: "Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History. Let's Misbehave!" They got this title from a quote by Laurel Thatcher who won the Pulitzer Prize for her work about 19th century women who weren't considered "extraordinary" by historians because they were well-behaved. While Laurel's advice to miss-behave doesn't sound like a necessarily good idea, it makes sense. Name one woman in history who did exactly as she was told. Name a woman who followed the rules and didn't step outside her comfort zone. Name a woman in history who didn't stand up for what she believed in.

You can't.