I Choose.
At first I’ve got that “can I do it/am I ready” mentality. It’s not like I was ever “ready” for my first 5k. It was something I trained my body for. I combined my cardio workouts with Yoga and mixed it up. It wasn’t that I had some trainer telling me how to train, but I was able to read blogs like Chic Runner and Le Petite Athlete and get ideas of how they prepared their own bodies for a race (or maybe a marathon). It wasn’t that I had something concrete to go off of. It was looking at various blogs as the ones I’ve mentioned here, and taking it from there.
Therefore… with what time I’ve got, I have decided to participate in yet another 5k. It just over two weeks away and my goal for this training is simple. To increase my miles by adding one additional mile each workout. On average, I log about 1mi per workout, sometimes it’s a bit more, it varies, but really… I need to “practice” logging a easy 2mi. Today I was able to walk 2mi without any difficulty. However, I must state that for the Turkey Trot I have the option of running or walking. I’m doing a combination of both.
I choose what I do, and this is my choice to run.
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The Running Diaries.
To be honest, I’ve never been a fitness junkie or someone who enjoyed working out. I guess the thing of it really is, that I hadn’t yet discovered a workout that felt good on the outside and the inside. I stuck to the regular routines of simply the treadmill and the occasional group class at my once then gym that I no longer am a member of. But regardless, I hadn’t found my thing. I’ve tried classes like Spinning, Zumba (I love to dance), Bikram Yoga (too challenging for me), and whatever program I read in “SELF” magazine. No matter what it was of the moment, I never stuck to it. However, I still practice Yoga, but not of the Bikram kind, but I practice Vinyasa at home with a wonderful DVD I purchased awhile back.
However, I must proudly announce, that I have taken up running. Running to me, in the beginning of the whole “maybe I should try running” seemed like an impossible task. I’ve never ran or tried to run for anything. In high school I played Volleyball and Tennis. Some of our group workouts included running and oh did I hate that! Because I wasn’t as a fast as my peers. Ironically enough, I still would focus on the “go faster” mentality to only learn and fully realize, that running as fast as I can, for myself as a beginner, is not a good idea. There are have been a few times where I’ve tired myself out to the point of where the workout itself becomes too much, and I stop instantly without even giving it a second try.
Hence, I’ve decided to start a blog segment called The Running Diaries. Throughout The Running Diaries, I’ll document my experiences through trying to become a runner, which may include tweets during my runs, or maybe photos! of my journey. To mix it up, and to add a bit of challenge to it, I’ve created a The Running Diaries on dailymile for beginner runners to challenge themselves, to see which participant of the group can run the most distance.
The Running Diaries for me is more about a personal challenge. I’ve been struggling a lot lately to try and even run 1mi. But today, I accomplished that task. Yes, I had to alternate between bursts of running followed by walking. You may not consider that “running”, but I do. At least I didn’t throw in the towel and say forget it!
Last but not forgotten I want give thanks to fellow runner bloggers who have inspired me to continue in this crazy, yet exciting journey of becoming a runner: Chic Runner and Le Petite Athlete. I love reading about their own personal journey through running, but also health and fitness. There are so many days (for example today) where I just didn’t care enough to run, but I decided to skim a few past entries and thought “just go, don’t look back” and I went. I was able to complete something that I’ve never been able to do before. If you’re a beginner runner and just like me, struggle to run 1mi, I suggest you start your own The Running Diaries blog series within your own blog. You just might surprise yourself when your reflect on what you’ve been able to accomplish even when you thought you couldn’t.
I choose what I do, and this is my choice to run.
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Changes.
Recently, on September 27, 2009 I completed my first 5K. It was an amazing experience. I never thought I’d actually be able to walk 3.11 miles in one swoop (however, my lovely Nike+ companion logged exactly 3.93 miles). It was great. I had my boyfriend of nearly two and a half years by my side doing it with me. There were times that I wanted to give up, throw in the towel and move on. But I had to complete it for me. Just to prove to myself that I can do anything, even in times of doubt. These are the life changes that are so eye opening.. and there’s more.
Going back to college for Early Childhood Education has been amazing. It’s crazy, just crazy, to think that the second time around for a college experience that I’d feel alive in what I’m studying. Sure, studying Graphic Design at Mount Ida College was great, I loved the ability to be so creative, but after I graduated my dreams of being an artist weren’t in the near future. I tried out a few different roles in the same industry (Retail), but never felt like I belonged. I was able to use my creativity when I styled clients at J. Crew, brought out the inner beauty of young women (and sometimes men!) with Origins, and the final departure with a once then ever so booming mineral makeup company. I did the whole Retail thing for a total of five years, but again when things changed – including the economy, I was laid off.
The experience brought on new opportunities and experiences. For example, deciding it was the perfect time to go back to college where my studies would help me grow my new founded career to new heights. Could I have imagined that just in January I’d be laid off, and embark on something completely different by taking a role as an Assistant Teacher with a very, very small day care? No. Could I have imagined that it this point, exactly, that I would have ever dreamed of a huge promotion with a new company be offered to me that I can say, confidentially, I can leave my employer in the dust? No. But it’s true.
The hardest part of it, honestly, is leaving the kids. And the connections behind. I’m delivering the so-called news to my employer this afternoon, and I know it will come as a shock because I play the part of Happy Cristina at all times, sometimes overly happy, but it’s part of the gig. Was I ever happy? No. Sometimes I’d have three shots of espresso in my Starbucks that gives me an extra jolt, but it’s fake. But what isn’t fake is my connection and desire to work with these young children. I’m not ready at this point to break the news to my other coworkers, except one parent who is also a coworker of mine, who’s son is in my classroom and I’ve been taking care of him since March. It won’t be easy. Because these kids, as young as they are, depend on their Miss Cristina being there.
It’s the being there that will be tough. The absence of me will be tough. But that’s life. People come, people go, but not all of them are truly missed. I’ve thought over and over again of how to tell my coworker with her son in my classroom. Every morning she brings her son to me so she can have a smooth drop-off, and go to her classroom to teach her kids. On the flip side, I can’t take the whole thing personal because I chose this decision to leave, and my current employer can not provide me the opportunity and the package of my soon-to-be employer.
I’m finished. Get ready darlings, it’s a new beginning. Well deserved.
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First 5K Challenge.
One of my fitness goals is to RUN! a 5K. Yes, that’s correct a 5K. Even though this seems like a daunting and challenging task, I am determined to get there. I’ve been told in the past that I can’t run because of my feet, but I’m proving them all wrong. With that said, I’ve decided to take on the task of competing my first 3K this September for a local charity (although, it’s still a 3K but I may do a run/walk if I can’t prep my body enough). I’m excited to train my body for this, and on average I can walk 1-mile in just 15-minutes!
I’m getting there, and making progress with each workout.
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Pure.
Therefore, I’m very concerned with the amount of pesticides in my food. As a preference, I prefer to eat organic foods rather than conventional. Somewhere, on some TV show, I heard that even though you wash the produce that is conventional (as in non-organic) the pesticide still remains on the food, except it’s now in the food. This scares me. I explained my fear to my ever loving boyfriend (were both into fitness and eating healthy), and he agrees. It’s so challenging, almost frustrating at times, to know what is truly organic and what isn’t. Just because something says “organic” doesn’t mean that it is. For safe measure, if I see the USDA organic seal, I trust that the product is organic. However, really… how do you know?
Because of this, I trust that the food I buy at a speciality store like Whole Foods is pure, natural and free of pesticides. True, not all foods there are free of the pesticides, but trust only goes so far. This is something I am going to research. If there are greater benefits of eating simply organic rather than conventional, why not make the switch?
Organic is a matter of preference, and it’s what I prefer.
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