Couch to ATHLETE!

Sunrise over Oman I know I may, at times, make it sound like picking up a more athletic lifestyle is easy. Well I'm here to tell you it's not. This post is not meant to discourage anyone but instead acknowledge that it can be tough. At times you may run into people who think you are crazy or less than encouraging. When I run into these folks often, it can impact my mind and I may start to believe it. Recently I was telling one of my biggest supporters about my desire to attempt a half iron man at some point in the near future, just to be met with skepticism. I honestly wasn't expecting it and was a little taken back. I realize the intensity and time it takes to train for any endurance sport takes persistence and is more about the power of the mind but if there was any time to take on the challenge it would be now when I am childless and enjoying the positive benefits of my new lifestyle. When I was faced with this less than positive statement I felt like I hit wall, a ...

Doesn't that snow look delightful?  As the depths of hell, or what I might think hell feels like, descends on Columbus Ohio I have been reflecting on whether my desire to run/be an athlete is a personal treasure or torture. This morning I ran to work in the thickest humidity. I had a big bottle of water in one hand and a smaller bottle of G2 in my other hand. The water was half frozen when I departed on my journey to work, half way there it was thawed and warm. I kept pouring it over my head and saying to myself "why do I do this to myself." Most things we do in life have either positive or negative ramifications. Every once in awhile something that is good for us may feel like torture but what you get in the end is a treasure. I am always baffled when people make decisions to continue torturing themselves when they know the end result is going to hurt. It pains me to watch people continue to walk into the same wall over and over again, when they have the choice to i...

Before you begin reading, go and press the play button on the video below. It is great background music for today's post. I always get nervous when I begin to miss workouts. This weekend instead of running on Saturday, like I should have done, I was at the Dave Matthews Band Caravan Tour in Chicago. There is nothing better than sitting back or standing and dancing to the sounds of awesome music. You name it, I heard it this weekend. I got to listen to moe, Ben Folds, Umphrey's McGee, Michael Franti (a personal favorite) and OAR. I spent more time on my feet this weekend than I would have running six miles. If the coach of my running group is correct what matters is time on your feet. Well let me tell you folks, I got that time. Today I started getting that rise is blood pressure I encounter when  I realize I didn't do everything I was supposed to do. All I could think of was needing a friend to make me feel a little better. I have two of the most supportive running frie...

I have many of visions of a perfect blog post regarding dreams; stay tuned it will appear in the near future. Instead I am going to tell you about my adventures of a long unplanned weekend... The Fourth of July was approaching and I had no plans. It was killing me to think that I might lay on my couch watching TV while the world continued to rotate without my full participation (remember I am a bit dramatic). I started getting anxious and began planning berry picking, canning, cleaning, etc. I was determined to not lay around. What I got from bad planning was instead an awesome weekend with friends and great exercise. I went to my friends house on Friday night and made some plans to connect the next day to go berry picking. I did my morning run in the rain and humidity, nine miles to be exact. I met my friend at the North Market since we couldn't find a place to pick berries. The weekend exploded from there. I walked around the zoo, went to the waterfalls in Columbus, fixed m...