Lifestyle Post 1

Hi friends! As my description said, I didn't want my blog to be limited to just running because most of you probably don't give a flip. And that is OK! So I wanted to share some other things about myself.

This is my family in all of our Christmas card glory. My mom, Cathy, is a real sweetheart and is famous for her chocolate chip cookies. My dad, Mark, or as I like to call him, Chief, is the most humble guy I know. He's the Chief of the fire departments in my home town of Newton, Kan. And last but not least is my little brother Matt. He's almost a foot taller than I.

We also have a dog, Harvey. And he brings us lots of laughs.

I am a Zeta Tau Alpha at Washburn University, so even when I'm not home, I have a family up here too. I could dote on them forever but I won't, not now.

This is Bobby and I at Navy Pier in Chicago on the 4th of July.

When I'm not doing school, working out, or spending time with any and all of the people listed above, I like to bake or craft or spend countless hours on Pinterest. By no means am I a health nut, but I have been recently accused of being a healthy eater. So whatever that means. 

I'm in school to hopefully eventually become a news reporter for a TV station. My high school speech teacher told me he knew this was what I'd end up doing when I was a sophomore. I laughed it off. And here I am, 5 years later, in school to do exactly that. Everyone I know is really supportive of my dreams, and sometimes I get random numbers and email addresses of people they know that are in the Journalism field. I've been able to practice reporting a couple times here at WU, especially with the Leadership Institute! 

Well hopefully you know me a little better by now. I'd love to know who is actually reading this thing. So please, leave a comment! Tell me all about yourself and what your dreams are. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Howdy

Okay so let's start this journey out with some honesty: I don't like blogging. I'm not good at it, I don't find my life interesting enough to be documented, and I'm afraid that everything starts sounding the same after awhile. But that aside, I'm happy to be sharing some of the highlights of my days with whoever reads this!

The focus of this blog is going to primarily be running and lifestyle-related posts. I've loved running for a long time as a coping mechanism and because, quite frankly, it makes me a nicer person.

This past semester (Spring 2013) I enrolled in a Marathon Training class at Washburn University (where I go to school). Every week we built up our mileage and the expectation is that eventually we would run either a half or a full marathon. I had my sights set on a half until a conversation with my father that went like this:

Dad: If you can run a half, you can run a full.

And how do you argue with that? So I set my long-term goal at a full marathon (26.2 miles). 

The class taught me a lot about running, obviously, but so much more than that! We learned about dietary and lifestyle changes to make, workouts that work, how to get the results you want, pacing, etc. And running long distances isn't for everyone, but if you have a half or a full in your crosshairs, please go for it! 

I could not have survived the long workouts if it hadn't been for my pal and ZTA sister, Bonnie McKee. We run an identical pace and have the same tendencies when it comes to running (read: We don't like to talk while we run). Bonnie witnessed me trip in the street and was always there on the early Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday mornings to be encouraging.

So on April 20th, I ran the Garmin Marathon in Olathe, Kan. I was blessed enough to have my Dad and my boyfriend there to cheer me on. Four times during the race they met me and I shed a layer of clothing to them and they gave me a Clif Bar. I'll post all about my marathon at a later date. 

Thanks y'all for reading, stay tuned to this work in progress!