Update

      As you can see I'm not one to post very often. But, as an update, it has now been almost a month since I first set a goal of training to run in the Ptree road race. In the past month, I have signed up to a local gym, bought new running shoes, read some training books and have started running. I used to only be able to run for about 2-3min at any one time before I would have to stop and walk. Now I am up to about 20-25min. Still a little on the slow end because I'm running at a 4.0 speed on the treadmill so I only get to 1.5-2 miles. But I'm allowing myself to start slow so that I can build up the endurance and still protect my knees. Another thing I've been doing is stopping myself after a certain distance. The past three days I've been stopping when I reach exactly 1mile, even if I have the endurance to keep going. So today, I decided to turn off the screen and I'd listen to my body and stop when it told me to. So that got me to about 1.6miles and I had to stop because I developed a blister on my left foot and it created a stinging feeling because of all the friction. So the lesson from today's workout: Wear thicker socks. Just another one of the many things I have to go out and buy. I find myself spending more and more money just on training. But I guess it's like any other hobby you decided to take up.
       I read that it takes 28 days to develop a habit. So, my goal this month is to make working out a Habit of mine. In Jan. I was going to the gym about 2-3days in a row and then not going for 3-4days in a row. I realized that wasn't doing anything for me. So I'm trying really hard to not go one day without spending at least 30min in the gym. I'm alternating days that I run so that I allow my knees to rest. I'll be working with a trainer tomorrow after work which I'm dreading. I see them working with other ppl in the gym and they just push and push you. I'm all about motivation, but if I tell you a body part of mine hurts and I can't go on, that's not an invitation for you to tell me I'm weak and I can push through the pain. I pushed through my knee pain for 10 years and look what that did to me. Anyways on a brighter note..Its February! And that means that spring time is almost here and I can start running outside!! I HATE winter. I find that when I'm cold all I want to do is either be in a hot shower or under my covers eating yummy treats while watching a movie. But I crave to be outside when it's warm. I love the outdoors. Well that's my update. I'll probably check back in here in about 2 weeks. Till then, Have a Wonderful Life, Live Your Dreams, and Dare to Believe in Your Potential.
:-)

Bump in the Road

     I'm into the 3rd day of trying to achieve this training process. I have this habit of having to plan things I want to do. This creates a problem for others, especially when it comes to my boyfriend who loves to plan as he goes. Luckily this goal is one that I can achieve on my own and can plan as much as I want to. Unfortunately, as much as you plan ahead you can never plan for road blocks. Today's road block..my health insurance hasn't kicked in, so I won't be able to go get a knee x-ray. Luckily I was able to find some books at the library that will get me started on the correct way to increase stamina and distance w/out creating more knee problems. 
     On a different note..I'm only 24 and I'm already experiencing the "daily grind." I wake up, go to work, eat dinner, relax for a very short bit/pay bills, sleep. And it starts all over again. I need something to get me pumped about life again. It gets harder to be pumped about life when there are others constantly around me Bitching about the littlest things. I'm gonna try to also incorporate yoga into my training routine for one of the off days from running. Hopefully this will help me become more peaceful about life and become more forgiving to those who know only how to bring others down as a way to make themselves feel better. I want to be able to have someone scream and yell at me about what I've done wrong, and my response be one that stays calm. I want to try and understand where they are coming from rather than instantly go on the defense. We'll see how far I actually get with that tough. I used to be nicknamed Fireball in college. Besides bitching some girl out for allowing her friend to skip ahead in a line I had been waiting in for 12hours, I used to start my arguments with "Aw hell naw.." LoL 
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     After I wrote this last blog, I decided to start on my stretches. And I think i've found the reason for all my knee problems. I don't think it was the amount of running that I was doing, as it was how I was doing the stretches wrong. I picked up a book solely based on the right and wrong way to stretch. And the way I've been stretching has been pulling my knee muscles and causing the injury..Sad but informative. 

Beginning of a new Journey

So I haven't had a blog since the beginning of high school. And that ended with drama and friendships ending. I've never been a fan of people putting their business out for the whole world to see. It never seems to end well. But hey, we're in a new age of technology and this is the future. And who knows, I may just get some good advice back.

        I'm one of those people who has the dream and desire to do extraordinary things. Unfortunately, I could teach a class on procrastination and lack of motivation to actually follow through with a project. That's not to say I've Never finished what I start. Just more often then not, I end up stopping mid-way through. Just to name a few, here are some things I've tried starting that I failed to finish. Learning to draw, playing the piano (although I did teach myself to play FurElise. But that's as far as I got), working out on a consecutive basis, playing tennis and staying organized. So in an effort to break myself of this bad habit, I have decided that this is the year I want to finish a 10k race. While I could run/walk a 10k, I want to actually run the entire race. Now 6.2miles may not seem like a big deal to some, but allow me to explain. I used to be very active in my teens and was good about running. But around Jr./Sr. year of high school (about 6 years ago), I began to develop knee problems. According to my Doctor I have little to no cartilage in my knee, therefore my knee is basically bone against bone. This creates a grinding sound when I walk. Now you may be thinking, "well then why the hell would you try to run?" Well, I figured if Lance Armstrong can overcome his medical problems, well then I'd like to at least try to overcome mine.

                 The race I want to run: The Peachtree Road Race on July 4th. 

                 Training Time: Exactly 6 months from today

      Now  I have no equipment or even decent running shoes. So I will be spending this 1st week picking out suitable running shoes, and developing a workout routine. Planning is the easy part...so in order to hopefully keep myself motivated, I will track my progress on this blog. But we'll see, next week I'll be going to the doctors again to get a second look at my knee. I'm hoping my knee hasn't gotten worse. Its been said that one of the hardest things to accomplish in life is to defeat that little voice in your head that convinces you that you can't go any further. This is the voice I want to defeat, This is my goal, This is my Dream.