viva las vegas.

Today, I signed up for my first half marathon.

This means it's official.

The Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half, to be exact.

I'm actually more excited about this than I should be, because a few of my good college friends will be running it too.

This was not my original running goal. You probably remember that one - the far-fetched marathon goal I had back in January. Then it didn't seem so far-fetched. Now it does, just a little. I've gotten past my shin splints (mostly - some days my legs still feel funny) and I can run more than a mile without breathing hard or feeling like I might fall down. I'm learning. I have goals. I'm getting better.

But really, it's like that old Beatles song (or Joe Cocker, if you prefer) says: I get by with a little help from my friends.

Think about it. Where would you be without your friends? They might not always agree with every choice you make, but they sure as hell support you when you need it most.

A friend of mine (who will be running with me in Vegas) knows that I've been trying to run. He's been running a little longer than I have, so he's actually good at it and he's offered to travel to half marathons with me.

He's a little more tech savvy than I am, and he tracks his runs using his iPhone and then he imports it into RunKeeper (which I use by the way, and I love). While I love my [smart]phone, it doesn't have the apps that an iPhone does, so I had to resort to a Garmin. Now, don't get me wrong, I love my Garmin. I love all the data it collects and it even has a heart rate monitor. However, it gets to be a little much to have my Garmin and my iPod out with me on a run. It's amazing my left arm doesn't drag behind me since it's weighted down with all this technology.

Today, I got a package in the mail, from my friend. He had been taunting me with a surprise for about a week and a half, and I had no idea what he would be sending. When I opened it, here's what I found:

Why yes, that is an iPhone with a fancy post-it note on the front.

Because he knew that I was actually serious about running, he sent me his old iPhone to use to keep track of my runs! I can use the GPS functionality and listen to podcasts he suggested that will help with pacing (and maybe even add some music from my iTunes?). The end of his note on the phone says, "look forward to seeing you in Vegas."

Where would I be without my friends? It seems like no matter where we are, geographically or in life, it's our friends and our relationships that can pull us through. Friends are there when you need them, not because they have to be, but because they know.

So what races are you planning for the rest of this year? Will you be doing any of them with your friends? Have you done a race with friends? I would love to hear about it!

let's get some... hats?

Today is my first run in almost a week. That's not a good thing, because once I go a few days without running, I lose motivation. Naps and cookies sound more appealing than running on hills. But today our office shut down early and I really had no excuse not to run, especially since I ate a mini bag of Tomato and Garden Basil potato chips at lunch...

 

 

 

These are pretty legit. (source)

I don't know if I have said here before, but I have to admit, I really don't like running outside sometimes. It's hard and there are hills and people drive by me and I imagine them to be laughing at me. I like running outside now because I have my Garmin that tells me how far I have gone and how fast, but my biggest running fear is that I will run away from my apartment and then my legs will hurt and I won't be able to get back. Anyway.

Today I was determined that I was going to run down the street further than I had before. I didn't know how my legs would feel since the last time I ran was Saturday and that was in Michigan, but I figured I'd give it a try. And it went well! I'm happy with that, and it gives me motivation to try to run tomorrow before I maybe go swim for the first time since early February.

I realized something today though. All of my outside runs so far (at least in sunny weather) have included sunglasses. Sunglasses are annoying to run in, at least for me. No matter which pair I wear (I have several), somehow the sunglasses slide down my nose and I spend the latter half of a run pushing them back onto my face. Maybe my nose is too small, but LindsAy + running + sunglasses does not equal a good time.

So today, I tried a hat. A hat! Such a simple concept. No sun in my eyes, nothing to play with during my run... why didn't I think of this before? Needless to say, my future runs will include hats.

What piece of gear is essential for your runs? Is it a watch, a certain pair of pants/shorts, your iPod? I'm curious! On the same token, what have you learned to leave behind on your runs? I also ran without music today and I really enjoyed myself.

One more thing I am realizing is important for a run: a positive attitude. Even though I wasn't necessarily feeling today's run, I decided I wasn't going to concentrate on how long I was running or how far I might have to walk (only about 30 seconds today), and I was just going to go out and run. Without a time or a distance or anything in mind.

And you know, I think that helped me enjoy it even more.

a friday the 13th confession.

Life is a journey. You know that, and I know that. We don't just magically end up in places - it might take planning, time or a the very least, a decision.

In some cases, it's a lot of decisions compounded on top of one another. Maybe the decision to go out and have a few drinks (more than once a week), or the decision to eat something from the McDonald's menu instead of cooking at home. Or the decision to sleep in and not work out, ever.

Those were just part of the decisions I made in college that were awful, terrible decisions. I really never went to the gym. Sure, I played some intermural sports (Canadian Suave for life!) but I was not active. I drank too much. I was more interested in fatty, "convenient" food. I am sure that many people who put on weight recognize this type of pattern. They might eat when they're bored (I do) or when they're lonely (food fills you up, right?) never realizing that it's slowly becoming a real issue.

Moving to Colorado when I did was one of the best things I ever did for a number of reasons. I got away from some people who were causing me stress, and met some new, better people. Yes, I missed my friends and my sisters and my family, but the people who were thorns in my side needed to go. I got away from the partying and my favorite bar in my college town. As an intern at the Olympic Training Center, there were definitely more healthy options to choose from than necessary, but it kept me (mostly) away from fast food. And since working at my current job, I have embraced a healthier lifestyle. I want to be active. I want to be a runner. I want to improve my swimming and do a triathlon.

I realize that I am not the thinnest person you will ever meet. I still have a long way to go. But it's actually embarrassing to look at photos from my last semester in college - I looked awful. I weighed a solid 30 pounds more than I do now, and it showed.

 

 

Is this even the same person???

I am not at my goal. Like I said, I have a long way to go. But I'm learning. There has to be a balance. You can enjoy dinners and drinks with friends, or ice cream or whatever, but you also can't do it everyday, and you can't indulge if you can't put in the work. Running is helping. Eating less is helping. Eating healthier is helping. And I can take slow, small steps towards where I'd like to be, knowing that it will be sustainable and I won't put the weight back on. Heaven forbid I ever look like 2008 LindsAy ever again...

Where has your journey taken you? Mine took me to a new state, a new, healthier self and a new sense of independence that I probably wouldn't have found otherwise.

It's a long road, and it's not always going to be easy, but when you determine the best path for you, you'll find the person you were meant to be all along.

Have a story about your own journey? I'd love to hear it! Leave it in the comments or link to your blog.

summer, summer, summertime.

The weather has been so beautiful here in Colorado the past few days, I can't even believe that it's still early May. As weird as it is to say, it snowed here just one week ago. It could still be cold. But I like the warm weather and sunshine. I'm sure you agree.

I had my second 5k this weekend - Take 5 in the Garden. I had heard that this was a tough race because of all the hills, and that certainly was true. My Garmin said that over 3.1 miles, there was 300 feet of climbing. In my opinion, that's a lot considering we started the race at 6,300 feet.

That's one big hill at the beginning. Those blue spikes are where I walked.

There were more than 1,000 people who participated in this race this year, and it offers a 5k and a 5 mile. I'm sure you're not surprised that the 5-milers were passing me before I could get to the finish. I'm not that fast.

This was the "small" hill at the race start. (source)

I did manage to get a PR, which is great news considering the course. My official time was 38:58.15, which is about 30 seconds faster than my last 5k, which was on a completely flat course downtown. The theme of my life this month is that I'm determined to run at sea level. I'm convinced it will be easier.

So back to summer, I am thinking about the fun things I would like to do this summer (when I have time) and there are a few things on my list of things to do:

• Go camping
• Check out the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado
• Pool party in my bathtub (serious on this - my bathtub is giant! Stay tuned for that post.)
• Practice my open water swimming up at Chatfield State Park (I've been twice in the past 2 years)
• Swim more miles than I did in 2010 (which was a measly 34.91 miles)
• Ride more miles than the 3 miles I can do comfortably by my apartment
• Successfully grow something in my container garden
• Take more pictures
• Dance parties! (see the video below...)

What are your plans for this summer? 

graduation weekend.

A few of my very good friends are graduating college this weekend (congratulations, you guys!) and it makes me think back to my own graduation.

Super goofy looking...

I graduated from Central Michigan University three years ago this weekend (technically, I just walked and got my diploma in August - long story) and its funny to think of all that has changed in the last three years. I never would have imagined that there are people who would become such good friends, and people who were friends that I have lost touch with. I never would have imagined I'd be happily living in Colorado. Or that I'd have certain goals about my fitness and my life. At least, not these particular goals.

On the eve of my graduation, I wrote a blog post in LiveJournal (a dying art!) and I thought I'd share it with you now. It's all still true. At least for me.

1. Greek life is not how it is portrayed in movies/on TV.
2. You will find your best friends in unexpected times/places.
3. Always tip. Even if you don't think you should.
4. It might be hard to find in some apartments but dishwashers are a god-send.
5. You really WILL meet someone when you aren't looking. Honestly.
6. Everyone has secrets.
7. Everyone holds themself to a different standard, but that doesn't mean yours has to change.
8. Football games are actually fun if you make it out of the tailgating lot.
9. Classes you take "for fun" usually cause the most headache.
10. Planning will only get you so far.
11. Invest in an umbrella and snow boots. Good ones.
12. Hold on to people that don't get sick of you easily, but don't cling to them.
13. No one looks good in clothes that are too small.
14. Lots of people will be much less responsible than you.
15. You can do anything if you put in enough time and effort.
16. There will always be someone waiting for you to fall.
17. True friendship outlasts silly fights and drama.
18. "Kisses aren't contracts" but that doesn't mean they can't be fun!
19. College CAN be cancelled for snow...and power outages...
20. Yeah, you probably DON'T need that last drink. Nope.

What advice do you think is most important to share? Were there things that you learned in college that still hold true for you today?

three for thursday.

A few of my favorite bloggers do "Three Things Thursday" so I thought I'd give it a shot.

1. I often wish I had started running before moving to Colorado (I moved here 3 years and 25 lbs ago) because I like to think that I have a hard time running because of the altitude. Can you use altitude as an excuse when you have lived somewhere for three years? Probably not. I'm going to anyway.

Yesterday's run was hard. And while I started at 6,485 feet, I started out running downhill. That's probably why my first mile was under 12 minutes (shhh, I know I'm slow), which usually doesn't happen.

Apparently I can't manage hills yet.

You can see where I died. My legs were burning (and I suppose it doesn't help that I was going uphill) but at least I went out and ran. I didn't really want to. I have a 5k this weekend in the Garden of the Gods and I think if I don't better my time from my last 5k, I'm going to blame it on the hills.

I am going back to Michigan in a few weeks (two weeks from today!) and I'm planning to run at least twice when I am there. My hometown is apparently at 791 feet, so I figure it has got to be a lot easier to run when you're 5,500 feet down. This might not be true. Please don't burst my bubble.

2. I've realized my favorite part of my job is making people happy. Not in that I-aim-to-please-at-the-risk-of-going-crazy sort of way. But I like Facebook contests because I like to give things away. And I like emails that are complimentary. And I like it when people flat out tell me that I made their day. That's fun. What's your favorite part of your job?

3. I'm worried about my plants. I'm pretending I know what I'm doing when it comes to planting seeds and growing them into a garden but I really have no idea. Last week I tried to re-pot some of my squash plants and I broke half of them. I need to be more careful with my plants. That is the moral of the story.

If you have ever done container gardening before, please comment and let me know what you did to grow things successfully. Eventually my plants are going to need to relocate to my porch (a living room is really not the place to grow a garden), but I don't know what to put them in or where to get good dirt. Nevermind that I have a pail of soil I mixed up and two bags of soil in my kitchen.

Fun fact #1: I worked in a plant research greenhouse for one summer.
Fun fact #2: Working in a plant research lab does not make me an expert on anything except watering plants and checking growing chambers. Too bad my apartment is too small for one of those. (haha.)

I guess that's three things. Happy Cinco de Mayo if you're lucky enough to have a free evening to go out and have a margarita.

trippin'.

I just wrote an email to a few friends of mine about a group trip we are trying to plan, and I called myself a compulsive trip-planner. I am partially joking, but if you know me at all, you know this is true.

I feel uncomfortable when I don't have a flight booked to somewhere. As of today, I have three tickets purchased, and I know that I will have more in the upcoming months. Though most of my travel is for work this year, I decided that I was going to set a mini-goal for myself. 12 months of trips, I call it. I want to have at least one trip planned for each month in 2011. This might have been a better goal for 2012, but it's too late now.

To me, it's exciting to see new places. I of course haven't seen much outside of the U.S. (except for a 10-day trip to Spain when I was a junior in high school), but I'm working on it. I want to see other cultures, other ways of living. There's much more to life than what you experience in your hometown, or college town. So much more.

It's not difficult to get attached to a city when you spend a little bit of time there. This is the case with Tuscaloosa, Ala. I've been to Tuscaloosa twice, but I know I'll be back next year. The city is known for opening its arms to us for national championship events (since 2007) and has been a wonderful supporter of ours when we've been in town.

The tornadoes that ripped through Tuscaloosa last week came just three weeks after we were there for our first major national championship event. Places we visited while we were there are now no longer standing. People we worked with no longer have their homes. There are many ways to help Tuscaloosa, and in time, it will rebuild. But do what you can to help.

I've also realized as I have been bit by a running bug (no, I'm not fast, and no, I'm not going to win any races any time soon), I want to run in new places. I have my second race of my summer run series this weekend (uh oh) and I am still setting my sights on longer distances, even though I know it's going to take a little bit of patience and a lot of dedication to get there.

Putting races on my calendar is a great goal, but it seems to open up doors to new opportunities I never would have imagined before. Like the Disney Princess Half Marathon, which I have decided I am doing in a tutu. Brentley has said he would join me, and then last night he threw out the idea of doing a half or a full marathon in Hawaii. Guess I better start running.

Whatever your reason is for traveling, I have a few suggestions for you:

1. Take a lot of pictures! Remember the beautiful things about the place you're visiting and share it with others.
2. Try local places. Don't go to Applebees and McDonalds. You're on a trip. You're in a place that has restaurants and bars and shops that aren't in your place of residence. Give them a try.
3. Keep your eyes open. You might see something you've never seen before, like a desert sunset or a unique creature. In Arizona this past weekend, I saw a tarantula hiding on a staircase. I was more than a little freaked out but that's not something I would ever see in my home state of Michigan.

Don't mind the dirty airplane window...

With four months down and eight to go in 2011, I am glad that I've been able to visit friends, try a Pinkitzel cupcake, see a show in Vegas and work two national championships. I've got plans to visit new cities (Boston, NYC), the Atlantic Ocean (Myrtle Beach), attend weddings, go boating, runs at sea level and trips to The Bird. I'm going to see new sights and spend time with my family and friends.

No matter what changes in my life (jobs, friends, hobbies), one thing is for sure - I'll never lose my wanderlust.

What was the best trip you've ever taken? What destinations would you like to visit someday (someone should say Colorado...)? Have you ever been to a place that has drastically changed after you visited?