Inspired

Greetings, again. I hope everyone reading this is doing well. I have been doing fantastic! I’ve been super busy with school, work, MMA and my most recent accomplishment, completing my first 5k!

The days and hours leading up to race day were filled with much anxiety and excitement. As, I assume, most training schedules go, you do not run the full distance until the actual day of the race. This alone scared me to death! I had been training for six weeks to build my body and endurance up to be able to run just over 3 miles. Training constantly made me very proud of myself, but I still did not know if I was going to be able to run the full distance come March 13th.

Race day started bright and early on Saturday. My nerves going crazy, I jumped out of bed, put on my fancy race attire, ate a good pre-race breakfast and was out the door. My friend, Amanda, was along for support…I definitely needed the numerous “calm down” talks she gave me on the way!…and I, of course, needed my own, personal paparazzi!

After the bagpipes (yes, they were pretty much awesome) and the gunshot, we were off. Setting my pace came pretty naturally, and I was able to keep it the whole time. The halfway mark was noted by an aid station with water…much needed! During the last half, my body was finally getting the hang of it….autopilot and listening to some good tunes until the finish. The race was held at LP Field, where the Titans play, and the finish line was on the 50 yard line….so cool! As I was rounding in the stadium, and about to come out onto the field, I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. I can now see why people at the end of races are crying! That feeling of accomplishment cannot be fully described by words. Just remembering at week 1 of training, I could barely run 2 minutes without getting tired…and I just ran 3.1 miles! Not to mention, I was very proud of my time: 34:51!!

After having so much fun with this race, I have decided to sign up for another 5k in April. Now that I know I can run that distance, I'm going to be working on my time.

Hope this true story was as inspirational for you after reading it as it was for me after writing it...

Cheers!

PS - here are some pics for your viewing pleasure...

Change

I've been sitting here for a while, trying to get out the words that will somehow explain the jumbled mess floating around in my head. They don't even have to be elegantly pieced together to sound poetic. I just want something coherent, but that has seemed near impossible tonight. It quite possibly could be all the school work that has consumed my day...3 textbook chapters, a thirteen page Harvard Business Review article, another 6 page article and an attempt to write a fictitious business memo to a company about how I know the best ways to run their operations...geez, that even sounds worse typed out! No wonder my mind is mush.

For the past...I don't how long...I have felt I am at a stand still. Yes, I do have a job, a nice place to live and the privilege to further my education. I live in a pretty cool town and I have the most amazing family and friends. And we cannot forget Weasley...even if you do not like cats, Weasley would be the one to change your mind...he is absolutely wonderful. But, I feel like something needs a change. To clarify, I do not think my family and friends, or Weasley, need to change - they're about as close to perfect as human beings, and cats, can be. I just feel like something in my life needs a bit of a tweak.

I have always believed that if you want something, you just have to make it happen...speaking rationally here, people. I mean, you can't just sit on your butt and expect things to be given to you. Life is not meant to be easy, but people who work for what they want are rewarded beyond their imagination. Even though I know I want to make some changes, I get nervous...that's probably my biggest set back. I am in a comfort zone that I am terrified to get out of, even though I feel I am not quite where I want to, or should, be.

I have started doing things that, in my opinion, should curb the uneasy feelings. As mentioned before, I've started MMA, which I absolutely love! It is not a joke, that kind of workout and discipline does wonders for stress and your overall well-being. So, Lindsay deserves a "Job Well Done!" on her first attempt. In addition to MMA, I will soon be furthering my physical abilities with training for and running a 5k, which I have also mentioned in a previous post. My first day of training is supposed to be tomorrow, but the 5-7 inches of snow outside right now may put a damper on my plans. Starting back to grad school this month has really encouraged me, and has helped get me in a better mindset. Check mark on attempt number, eh, 3.

These are all great, but the biggest attempt I have yet to make cannot be discussed...yet. It sucks, I know...I want to scream it from the rooftops. Although, 2 things: 1-this here World Wide Web can, yes ladies and gents, be seen by the world, and 2-I really, really don't want to jinx myself! It is, by far, the thing that, not could, but will change my life...it could put a hiccup in things, in which I will have to redirect my path, or it could be the greatest thing I have ever done. No matter what, though, I will be stronger and will have learned so much about myself from doing it. For those of you who know, I thank you for your support. Sad as it may be, you are behind me and that means the world (well, even more than that) to me.

Until I can divulge further...

Cheers.