Ummm....I suck!

I have been the worst blogger and blogger buddy, as of late! My apologies! I've gotten a little off track in some areas and am trying to get back on. Some bullet points and new goals to follow....

• I started a second job for the holiday season(i've done it every year minus one for the past 5 years). So, now my exercise schedule has another competitor. Although I put my health first. Somedays it's really hard to work in a workout. I'm still trying to figure out the balance.
• I am no longer in contact with my mother, which is hard, but she is sucking the life out of me with her lies. So, i'm moving forward in my life and letting go of the drama. I should have done this a long time ago, but I feel bad hurting her feelings, but my unconditional love has been drowned out by the lies and i'm exhausted. 
• Eating is still pretty good. It's the running that i've gotten off track with. I will start my 10k training program over again on Monday. I will start my half marathon training in January! 
• I AM GOING TO RUN THE "SLC HALF MARATHON" and i'm so excited to do so!! I believe it is April 10th. 

Back to running....
I am THE SLOWEST runner. I know that I have to get back to it and really push myself after 2 weeks of next to NO exercise. I am excited to start the speed work. I know it will be a challenge, but I know that I can do it. I'll be alternating between tempo runs and sprints on Wednesday's for the next 6 weeks. I'm really hoping to get my speed to 10:00 miles or less. Right now i'm at about 11:45.

Goals for this week:
1. Weigh Sunday.
2. Continue eating healthy.
3. Run everyday of my 10k training schedule.
4. Smile and be happy!!

I hope everyone is doing well. I promise to be a better bloggy buddy!

The Dust is Settling...

Thanks for the kind words! I really appreciate it. I know that there will be good days and bad days, but "life goes on" says my "big" little brother! I'm not going to let them get me down.

I was running a 5k yesterday and kept thinking about it, when I realized that I need to focus on me and MY life. I feel like a wreck this week, but I shouldn't. It's okay to be sad, but miserable...Not Okay with me! Love has been so supportive these past 3 days. When I cry, he just holds me. He listens when I talk about it. He gives me his honest opinion. He is my rock!! I can already feel how this is changing our relationship for the better. We are both the same way, we only want to get married one time....preferably to each other. That's why we don't push the whole marriage thing. We're letting it take its course. I know that it will be a long road and it will be hard, but I am strong and I always survive....ALWAYS!

Onto cooler things...eating this weekend was not perfect, but not horrible. My worst choices were: wine(2 bottles), the cheesecake, and the late night chips, salsa and queso. Then again, it was all done in moderation(except the wine...yikes)! I am not weighing myself though so I can't say I have a gain or a loss. I can say...I am STILL A 6! Haha! ***TMI is coming up in the next sentence*** I only skipped running on Sunday though(I was hungover), but I threw up just about everything in my body that I had eaten in 2 days....it made me feel so much better!!

Like I said, I ran a 5k last night and I felt so good. My time was long, but I haven't done neighborhoods or HILLS yet. So, i'll be working on speed and such for the next few weeks and then I will dive into 10k or maybe i'll just start 10k training today!

Does anybody have any tips for working on speed?

2.25 Miles...

Yesterday was the big day, the day I had to run 2 and a quarter miles, nonstop!! It's the longest distance i've had to run non stop in years and damn, it felt GOOD!!

There were many points when I felt like I HAD TO STOP, but I pushed through and just slowed down a bit. I am still doing a horrible job on my times, but i'm going at my own pace. My mile is like 13 or 14 minutes, because i'm a slow runner, but they'll get better in time. I hope to be running a 9 minute mile within the next 2 months time. I start out quick and strong, but then burn myself out quick. I have 2 more run/walks and then it's ALL RUNNING after that. That's when I'm going to work on my pace. Right now, i'm doing run/walks so that's probably the reason my time is super slow.

I got a new iPod Nano yesterday. The whole time i've been doing my training, i've done it without any type of music. It was all just thoughts in my head. Maybe having music will help me focus more on the music than how my body feels and I can pick up the pace a little. I have some Kings of Leon, Alicia Keyes, KT Tunstall, Britney Spears, and many other groups who just get my heart pumping and my feet movin!! I'm excited for my run today. Also, "Loves" pointed out that i'm probably super sore because I don't stretch out nearly enough and he is SO RIGHT! I always stretch before and after, but only for a minute or two! I upped my stretch time to 4 minutes each yesterday and NO SORENESS today! Woohoo!!

I feel really good today, so I hope that I continue with this momentum! I weigh in on Wednesday morning and I really hope I have a loss. The .2 pounds last week bummed me out, but i've fixed a couple of the things I saw me doing poorly and hopefully I see the reward on the scale :)