Back at it

Well after 20 days of medication, I am finally back at running!

It's been hard - the first few runs were TORTURE.  Pure torture.  But I made it through them and that's what matters.  I ran 2 whole miles on the treadmill last night.  You have no idea how frigging happy that makes me.  My pace is that of a turtle's but hey - I'm working on distance, not speed.  If I can make the distance, the speed will naturally come. 

Every run I feel stronger....and that makes me oh, so happy.  I would have never believed that I would miss running as much as I have in the last month but I am so glad to be back at it.

Not sure how Pam feels about it.  :)  

First Speed Bump

Just when I thought I was making some awesome progress with my running - I hate a speed bump.  Actually, I hit one head on.

Apparently at some point last week I was bit by some sort of insect.....I have no idea if it was a spider (although in my mind, it has been a furry tarantula) nor can I remember a time where I was aware of BEING bit.  But, I developed a very nasty bump on my back upper thigh that got worse over Thursday and Friday.  It felt as hard as rock and hurt pretty bad too.  I think labor has hurt more at this point but even that was barely beating this thing.  By Saturday morning, I had no choice but go to Urgent Care and let the doctor check it out.  Of course, my worst fear came true - she had to lance it.

Good news - no staph!  Bad news - nothing but blood came out of the damn thing so I now have an inch long cut on my thigh.  At least it's not hurting.  And since no infection oozed out when it was lanced, the doctor "guessed" I must have been bit by something.  

Worst news of all - no running until the cut is healed.  Which will likely take 10 to 14 days.  Until then, I can no run and get the area sweaty because that can lead to infection.  All this at a time where I was going to do two 5ks.  Not this month I guess.  I had planned on running the Turkey Trot in Hartsville on Thanksgiving morning but since I will *hopefully* just getting back to running, I've decided to opt out.  :( 

So, this is my first speed bump - probably not my last.  I was just hoping to avoid one of these for awhile. 

I feel awesome!

I've had several days of AWESOME running.  Thursday I ran for 1.4 miles on the dreadmill without stopping.  It felt GREAT.  So today, I got my happy ass up early and did TWO miles on the dreadmill.  Can I get a woot woot! 

I'm on a new running high baby.  I hope I can keep this up. 

I totally can! 

Been a while

I know it's been OVER A MONTH since my last post, but that's only because there really isn't anything new going on.  I'm still running.  Pam is still running.  We are still struggling with it.  Seems like it'll be a forever thing for us.

I do feel like our running is improving - the whole mental aspect of running is what kills me.  If there were a way I could close my eyes and just run......well, I think I'd be fantastic at it.  However, you don't see many blind people running.  I'm sure there's a reason for that.  I just can't seem to make my mind stop saying "WHAT??? You mean I have to keep running all the way down this trail?  Are you nuts?"  If I could stop that nagging voice in my head, I think I'd be winning 5ks left and right.  Or maybe not.

All I can say is - I'm keeping it up.  Sooner or later, I have to get better right.  We've marked our one year of running so if we keep making progress, we'll eventually get there.

I hope.  

Bleep!

Ok, just so you know, I curse like a sailor when I run.  I don't mean too and I know it's not very polite, but if I don't get those words out while I'm torturing myself with running, I might very well fall over dead.  No lie.

Today Pam and I did 5:1.  Which means we ran for five minutes and then walked for one minute.  We've gotten a little slack in our running lately so I thought this would be a good starting point for us.  Our goal is to run the entire way down the Rail Trail.  How far is it?  I have no idea.  I'm guessing a good 10 miles.  Or maybe just two.  Feels like a 100 to me either way. 

If you were on the Trail today you would have heard this conversation between Pam and I after about one minute and 30 seconds INTO our *first* five minute run.

Me:  Have I mentioned lately that I hate running?

Pam:  Not today.  We can totally do this though.

Me:  God I hate running.  I RREEEAALLLLY hate running.

Pam:  It's already been like three minutes right?

Me:  *looking at watch*  No, it's been one mintue and 30 seconds. 

Pam:  Damn.  Let's slow down.

Me:  I'm good with that.  I hate *bleep* running.

Pam:  We can do this!

Me:  *panting*  Yeah.

Pam:  Don't look at your watch.

Me:  Damn, we have two minutes left.

Pam:  I hate *bleep* running too.

That pretty much sums up our entire run for the day.  And although we complained and said dirty words the entire time, we had a really awesome run and burned probably two million calories.  Or 200.  Running sucks like that. 

Two miles in just over 33 minutes.  I'll take it.  Doing the "Turtle Trot" the entire way.  :)

Rocking running shoes!

Are these cool or what?

I am in love!

Hells yeah!

I got my new running shoes the other day!  Can't wait to try them out on the Rail Trail.  They are BLUE.  I am in love - they are sssssooo awesome!

Like I said - I may not be the best runner but damnit, I'll be cute as hell out there doing it.  :) 

I ran 3.9 miles today and I ran the whole way.  It was very slow running, but running nonetheless.  I feel like I'm slowly GETTING there.  At least I hope so!

This is the reason I love the Rail Trail!

Pam and I were able to go to the Rail Trail twice this week and I can't tell you how happy we were to get out there.  It's still hot as H-E-L-L but when we had a drop in the temperature and it stayed under 90, we couldn't pass up the opportunity.  I miss the Rail Trail sssooo much.  We had two really good, hot runs.  I can totally tell the difference between running on the dreadmill and running outside.  I think we were both amazed at how far we were able to run those two days.  It rocked!!!!

So I snapped a few pictures to show everyone just how awesome the Rail Trail is - I am so glad we found this place to run.  It gives me huge motivation!

I mean, how AWESOME are these pictures?  Run baby run!

Hells Yeah!

So, I don't want to jinx myself BUT I really feel like I may have gotten over my running plateau.  I've slowed down my pace on the "dreadmill" lately and I've noticed that I have been able to run longer and farther. I can't tell you how happy I am! 

I ran almost a whole mile without stopping on Wednesday.  I know that doesn't sound like a huge accomplishment if you're a runner but for someone like me - it's ENORMOUS!  It was on the treadmill (aka dreadmill) but hey, it's too frigging hot here to run outside.  I can't wait for cooler weather so I can run on the Rail Trail again.  I never thought a year ago that I would be able to run like this.  It's a high that I absolutely LOVE.

To treat myself for the achievements, I purchased some new running shoes.  I'll post pictures when I get them.  They are super cool.  I may not be the greatest runner, but I sure in hell look cute doing it!  :)

I call them "Motivation"



Yes, it's VERY long.  A lot longer than I thought. 



That means ME.  Hells yeah!





What a wonderful motto.....

Running Program

Ok, so I'll admit - I started my running program again.  Sort of like the Couch to 5k program - I figured if I'm going to meet my running goals, I have to really get serious about this.  (Do you want to start counting how many times you'll read me saying this?  Go ahead, I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time already.)

I'm running another 5k in October in Florence so I have from now and then to get to my goal. 

The treadmill?  Oh, I haven't really touched it since I bought it.  It's just been too frigging hot to get my fat ass out there sweating on it.   BUT - I do know most of the people that work up front at the YMCA.  See, I'm not totally lazy.  I just prefer to run on treadmills that are inside air conditioned rooms.  Call me spoiled.  

Treadmill

I broke down and bought a treadmill.  Off Craigslist of course, but still, I bought a treadmill.  My thought is that on the days I can't get to the gym or early the AM, I can go for a run on the treadmill.  It's a really good thought.  I mean it is supposed to help me build my endurance and all right?

I've been on it ONCE.

Epic fail so far.

But I bought the damn thing.  So that's a step in the right direction.  I've only had it a week so let's not lose all hope.  YET.

Lickety Split

Today Al, I, Teresa and Haylee ran the Hartsville YMCA's Lickety Split 5k race.  It was at 8am and HOT.  Have I mentioned I hate summer in SC?  If I haven't, you should know I do.  But I digress - the course was extremely, EXTREMELY hilly - which I was NOT prepared for.  I expected a hill or two, but I swear to all things mighty that there must have been 100 hills we had to run up in this race.  Ok, maybe not 100, but at least 4 to 6.  No. Frigging. Joke.

So needless to say, my time sucked.   Two minutes worse than my last race and I was aiming for 40 minutes or less.  Al and I finished in 46 minutes.  Boo.  Haylee finished in 44 and Teresa finished in 39 (she's such a show off you know?).

Guess what though?  Even though my time sucked and the course nearly killed me - I won a medal.  HELLS YEAH!!!!!!  I finished third in my age group - which I don't really know what it was, but hey whatever.  I missed them calling out my name though, I swore the man said Amy Briggs so I didn't budge.  Al and Teresa kept saying "I think he said your name" but I knew there was just no way.  So many people finished ahead of me.  Teresa won first place in our age group - which surprised nobody cause like I said, she's a show off anyways.   I only keep her around because she's encouraging....

Training with Al

I've mentioned before that I don't like to run with Al.   He always proves that he didn't have many girlfriends before me.  How so you ask? 

Well, a perfect example would be our run together this morning.  We don't run together very often - usually only during races and then that only lasts a few minutes.   I woke up this morning with a sore back but decided I'd try to run anyways.  We start out walking over to the other neighborhood....me assuming my back would warm up and I'd feel better before we ran.  As soon as we started running, I knew it wasn't going to be a good run.  We ran/walked the half mile to the stop sign at the end of the road and I was already pouring buckets of sweat.  At 7am, it was cool but the sun came straight down on us so it was HOT.

Not nearly as hot as that race on the Racetrack where I think I saw a turtle melted to it.  But it was pretty close.

I started doing what I do best.  Bitching.  Complaining about my back, how hot it was, how I was the one having to stop running first, how I hate running, etc.  I do this well folks.  Pam and I have it down to an art form when we run together.  Me and Al?  Not so much.  I expected my husband to say something like:

"You're doing great!"

"You're better at running than you think."

"You look SSSOOOO hot in those tight spandex shorts."

Yes, I would have taken the last one as a compliment at this point.  All I got?  The "Al caught in headlights" look which resembles the "Deer caught in headlights" look.  He honestly didn't know what to say to my bitching and profanity.  I'm sorry, running makes me swear.  A lot. 

So there - that's how I know Al didn't have many girlfriends before me.....because if he had, he would have known that when I was going off on my rant, it was HIS job to make me feel like sucky at running.  He failed. 

But the main reason I hate running with Al - he's better at it than me.  But I'm not the one with a gross Planters Wart on my foot.  Just saying.  That's all I got. 

Feeling Good

You probably won't hear me say this often - but I'm feeling pretty good about running right now.  I've started some cross training and forcing myself (and Pam) NOT to run too much.  And I'm seeing some results which is AAAWWWWEEEESSSSSOOOMMMEEEE.  I'm working my hotness on the elipitical machine and doing some upper body work too.  I can die a happy woman if my legs *and* arms get toned. 

Know the best result of all?  My endurance!  I can run a little longer now and I totally think that kicks major ass.  I could cry that's how happy I am.  Of course, I still have a ways to go, but it's improvement.  I like improvement.  My arch enemy the treadmill has helped me build my endurance.....I don't run on it all the time, but it's a nice training tool.

So, maybe it's the head rush or all those crazy hormones running supposedly releases while you're doing it - but I'm considering doing a half marathon in November.

Say what????

Gotta have it

This is my new MUST have in my running journey.  It speaks so many truths about why I run.  :)

Building Endurance

This may sound completely stupid - but I'm using my Wii to help me build my endurance with my "running."  Now before you bash me - remember that I'm not a runner and I need all the help I can get.  :)  So does Pam.  (Can't leave my girl out you know.)

Actually, I think it might be helping.  I've been "running" in place for 10 minutes at a time using Wii Fit.  I've done this the last three nights.  Each night, my little Mii (person on the Wii) has ran farther than the day before.  The first night I could have collapsed by the time the 10 minutes passed.  Tonight on Day 3, I feel like I could have kept going.  That has me STOKED.  Maybe Pam and I have been focusing on speed when we should have been focusing on time or distance.  Or maybe we have been focusing on too many things and just need to simplify our runs.  Basically, Pam is holding me back.  Just kidding!  :)

I have two other workouts that are even longer runs that I plan on working up too.  We'll see how that goes.  Is this going to help?  I have no frigging idea.  But I figure it can't hurt right?   My goal isn't to run faster, I just want to run longer.....so maybe this will help me accomplish that goal.  The test will be when I get back out on the Rail Trail next week.  It's a lot easier running in place inside than running down a trail in the heat!  Wish me luck! 

Will I ever get "THERE?"

I don't know if I'm cut out to be a "runner."  Hell, I don't think I can honestly call myself a runner at this point.  Bottom line - I suck.  Bad. 

*sigh*  I'm going to keep trying because at this point - quitting would just really piss me off.  So, if anyone other than Teresa reads this blog - what's your best running tips for me and Pam? 

We started a new training program for 5ks today.  We'll see how it goes - of course today was an "easy" day in the program.  Tomorrow will be the real test.  We'll need all the help we can get. 

Maybe I'll just invent shoes that run for me.  That's a good idea right?

Operation Rack Rescue

Today Al and I ran another 5k.  My girl Pam was sick (or she had better be!) so she missed it.  Teresa and Haylee joined us on this one though.  I actually posted a better time than the last race!  I finished in 44:26....oh yeah, oh yeah.  14:29 average per mile.  Can I get a BOOYAH!!!!  I am stoked!  It was so frigging HOT that I'm actually surprised that I beat my first time.  Cloud nine, baby.  However, Haylee and I finished DEAD LAST as far as runners went.  I don't care though - someone has to finish last and I *finished.*  Finishing = Winning.

My baby and me before the race.  I know this is mean, but his time was actually about a minute worse than the first race.  *evil grin*



Teresa, Haylee and Me before the race.  

Post race!  I was so glad for it to be OVER.  Doesn't Al look so cute in this picture?  Did I mention that he LEFT me early on in the race?  I think he's feeling guilty about it now though....or he will by the time I'm done with him.  :) 

So, of course I still hate running.  I still feel like I'm just no good at it.  I have no endurance whatsoever.  I'm working on it though.  You would think it would be totally cool to be running on the Track too Tough to Tame (which I feel is a pretty accurate name at this point) but when it's 9am and 200 degrees on the race track, it's not so awesome anymore.  Just saying. 

Why Run?

A friend asked me the other day why I ran since I hate it so much.  I gave the typical, "Oh, for my health" answer but honestly, that's just not it.

Don't get me wrong - health is the ultimate reason I run.  When I was *cough* younger, I worked out religiously.  And I was in decent shape - not GREAT, but decent shape.  I liked the way I looked, I was confident, and my self esteem was off the charts.  Then life got in the way - aka two kids named Olivia and Cooper - and suddenly working out ceased to exist.  I'm finally at a place where I want and need to work out again.  It's tough.  Very tough.  But it's getting easier every week.  Especially now that I'm seeing results - weight is coming off and the shape I USED to have is slowly somewhat coming back.  Can I get a BooYah?  BOOYAH!!!

Seriously though - the #1 reason I continue running even though I hate it.....is because of my Mom.  She's had two back surgeries since this summer.  It's been tough on her.  I complain all the time about how hard running is and she quietly says "I just wish I could walk" - WOW.   Here I am taking for granted the ability to run, when my Mom struggles on a daily basis with something as simple as walking.  Her back is slowly getting better, but she still has her bad days.  That's what I think about on the Rail Trail.....and that's what gets me back out there the next day.   

Do I enjoy pain?

So we survived our first 5k earlier in the month.  But since we all survived, we decided to try to kill ourselves again.  We're smart.  Smart, smart people.  Who love running until we almost collapse and *still* come in towards the end of the race.  :)

We're doing another one on April 9th - it's at the Darlington Race Track and to be honest, I'm getting pretty excited about it.  For one, I know for a fact I won't die running a 5k so that's a HUGE bonus and also, the race itself is to raise money for breast cancer research and how can I NOT participate?  And the race has a catchy name "Operation Rack Rescue" - LOVE IT. 

Then we're running in another 5k in May - The Race for Taylor over in Florence.  Another race for a good cause that I'm pretty excited about.   If that weren't enough, I just found another 5k in Hartsville in June that I think Al and I will do (I'm going to try to talk Pam into this one too but since it's in June, she may resist) although it's probably going to give both of us a heat stroke.  Hopefully someone will drag me across the finish line so I can at least say I finished.  :)  

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I am beginning to find enjoyment in running.......until I'm actually running/sweating/wheezing and then, I hate it.  Still.

Finding Dinosaurs

Pam and I come across a ton of wild life on the Rail Trail.  Nothing prepared us for what we saw earlier this week.  (Nice hook huh?)

I wish I had a picture of the skeleton that we came across - but I don't.  No Boo-ing please.  I meant (Pam was too embarrassed for me to stop during the run) to take a picture on the way back but either someone kindly threw it in the woods or some old man's dog had a really tasty/nasty pre-dinner treat.  I can't tell you what it was - either a small dog or rather fat cat, but whatever it was, it was deader than a door nail and sure in hell didn't walk back into the woods.

Cause if it did, I probably would be rather well at running now and wouldn't hate it as much.  Know what I mean?

But you know what's weird?  Now I kind of get those nerdy people that like to find bones.......so in my mind I'm pretending we found a miniature dinosaur.  BooYah Baby BooYah.

6 days

Six days with no posts.  Want to know why?

I hate running. 

I told you a few posts ago to remember that!  Come on people!!!  Actually, I just haven't had anything to post about.  The past week has been kind of hard - running wise since the 5k so I've been a little bummed.  Pam and I had a decent run/walk today but there's just days where I feel we are making no progress.  So frustrating peeps!

And on top of all that - I tried to "stop cussing while I run" which lasted all of 10 seconds.  I'm sorry.....if I'm going to run, I'm going to have a potty mouth.  Pam can't say a thing because girlfriend only lasted 3 seconds in the "no cussing" contest.

I need a running role model bad.  So does Pam.

Quotes that express my feelings

I've found some quotes on running that I think pretty much sum up how I feel about running.  Here they are:

"The only reason I would take up jogging is so that I could hear heavy breathing again."
- Erma Bombeck

"I don't think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups."
- Rita Rudner

No one ever drowned in sweat. – Unknown

Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don’t think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made.
Patti Sue Plumer

Running is real and relatively simple — but it ain’t easy.
Mark Will-Weber

(this one is my favorite)

Race Day!

Today was THE day.  Race Day....Mine, Pam's and Al's very first 5k.  And you know what?  WE ROCKED!!!!  The course was way tougher than any of us thought, we weren't expecting to be running through fields and uneven grass, but we did it.  Pam and I made it (unofficially, according to my iPod) in 46 minutes and 07 seconds.  Which is about a 14 (and some seconds) minute mile.....and that ain't shabby folks.  Especially for three people who've never really ran before!  Have I mentioned WE ROCKED? 

Al finished 3rd in his age group - he was pretty stoked that he placed in his first race.  I told him he needed to get a shirt made that said "I place when I race" - I think it's catchy don't you? 

 Me and Al before the race started.

 Me and Pam before the race.  We were pumped up!



The last two pictures were post race....and we were TIRED.  And Hot.  And sweaty.  And achy.  But we felt like we were on top of the world. 

I can tell you one thing - I still hate running.  More so more than ever.  But now I *know* I can do these things called 5k's and right now (it may be the adrenaline hasn't worn off yet) I feel awesome. 

Solo ain't my thing

I learned a hard lesson in running tonight.  Mandy ain't no solo runner baby.  My girl Pam couldn't run today so I decided to hit the Y and run on the treadmill.

Before my run, I had images of myself pounding away on the treadmill sweating (in a sexy, hot way of course) and getting skinner by the second.  Of course that *didn't* happen.  I sweated, but I probably looked anything but hot and sexy and I don't think I'm any skinner now than I was before I ran.  Boo.

I need motivation - I need someone running beside me to help me push through when I'm ready to stop....which is about 15 seconds into running.  For reals. 

Have I mentioned that my first 5k is only days away?  Oh yeah, I'm totally prepared.  *sigh*

One week

In exactly ONE week, Al, Pam and I will be running our very first 5k.  I don't know how they feel about it, but I could seriously throw up.

Yet, I'm very excited at the same time.  

Run, Turtle, Run!

Sometimes on the Rail Trail, Pam and I come across wildlife.  We've seen a deer, a snake (which Pam jumped higher than both my kids on a trampoline can over it), a coyote (or fox, or really large/fat cat - with rabies whatever it was), bunnies, squirrels out the wazoo, and now this cute little turtle. 

I feel like this turtle on the Rail Trail.  He probably runs faster than I do too. 

I don't run with my man!

I love my husband....HONESTLY.  But I absolutely HATE the fact that he can run better than I can. 

Why you ask?

Well, for starters, running was MY thing that I decided to start doing back in September with Pam.  Al was going to the gym several times a week and was loosing weight like mad.  I decided I had to bump up my game (which consisted of nothing) or else my man might leave my fat arse.  I decided to start running.  Pam and I even made goals to reach.  Well then all of sudden Al comes home from the gym and says,

"Oh, I ran today at the gym.  How far do you usually go?  Hmm...I ran for a mile straight.  Yeap, today was the first time I have EVER, EVER ran.  Did you hear me?  I've never ran before and I can already run better than you!"  *evil laugh*

I punished myself farther by going to the gym with him a few days later and running with him.  He blew me out the frigging water.  I could have signed divorce papers ON THE SPOT.  Until today folks (or folk if only one person is actually following this blog), I haven't been back to the gym with him to run.  He can still outrun me. 

And that folks is why Pam and I run so well together.  Pam might only be a few years older than me *wink* but she doesn't try to outdo me.  We balance each other out and push each other when we need too.  There's a reason I don't run with my man -  Now you know.

Sign of weakness

Yesterday Pam and I did six plus miles in about two hours.  The first three of those miles, we did mostly running and little walking.  You can say we took a breather for the last three miles.  Ha ha!  Our goal wasn't to do six miles, that just happened because the weather was so nice and we just kept going - our goal was to time ourselves on how long it took us to do 3.2 miles (5k distance).

We finished a 5k distance in under an hour.  WOOT!!!  That's a HUGE, no SUPER HUGE accomplishment for two non-runners.  And we pushed ourselves.  We ran longer than we really *wanted* too and walked much, much less.  If it wasn't for my stupid bruised foot, we probably could have done better.  But Pam doesn't want to do this 5k alone, so she took it easy on my behalf.  She's a pal. 

While I ran my foot was fine, but once we started the three mile walk, all Hades broke loose.  It wasn't too bad, so I worked through it but right at the end I honestly didn't think I would make it off the rail trail.  Here's our conversation:

Me:  Damn Pam, I don't think I can make it.  Can we stop for a second?

Pam:  We're going to get stuck in the woods at dark if we don't hurry.

Me:  Crap, I didn't realize how late it was getting.  *Hobbling*  Let's go.

Pam:  Oh god you're limping.

Me:  My frigging foot hurts Pam!

Pam:  Don't limp.

Me:  Kiss it.  *Hobbling faster*

Pam:  The wild animals will know you're easy prey if you limp.

Me:  *blank stare*  Oh dear lord, let's get out of here.

Pam:  I'm just looking out for you.

Me:  Yeah right, I heard "if you get attacked, I'm totally leaving your ass" in your voice, I'm not stupid.

Pam:  I wouldn't leave you Mandy!

Me:  I know what I heard.

Needless to say, we got out the woods before dark, but just barely.  By the time we got out though, I was just about dragging my leg.  I'm not sure what I did, but my foot feels much better today.  Go figure.  I'm sure it was karma.



I'm not new to blogging, but I'm new to jogging!

I get talked into just about anything.  Trust me, I do - here I am starting a "running" blog thanks to my girl, Pam (who is also my partner in pain....ew, running) because she thinks we can "become instant millionaires" if we tell people about our "journey" to become runners.  Oh and becoming healthy people....because Pam and I are like the healthiest people in the world.

Yeah.

Yet here I am.  But I think Pam's on to something because we do have some pretty hilarious conversations as we're running (ok, slow jogging) and sweating like pigs.  When we started this back in September, we never, I mean NEVER, thought we'd still be jogging (I'll stop giving you the impression I'm running) in February.  Oh yeah, we rock.  For reals.  But let's get one thing straight - something you must NEVER, EVER forget.  I frigging HATE running.  I hated it when I started and I still hate it now.  Hence the name of this blog.  I love the results I'm seeing (I'm down almost 20 pounds already) but I hate what I have to do to get there.  Isn't that how everyone feels though?  YES, unless you're one of these health nuts and then well, you have other issues that need to be resolved because no one should love running like that. 

Ok fine, maybe I'm bi-polar or maybe I just like punishing myself - but I do find myself enjoying running/jogging/going towards the light more and more every day.  I doubt I'll ever LOVE it though - that's a pretty strong word.  Unless I drop 100 pounds and become one of those skinny bitches with her skin tight clothes on/full make up/makes it look super easy girls that I absolutely hope gain 250 pounds if they ever get knocked up.  I'm about to dry heave and Ms.IOnlyWeigh80Pounds zooms by us. Every single day - do these women not get sick?  Geez!  At least I have my girl Pam struggling with me.  I would totally look like an idiot if it weren't for her.  Two people huffing for breath and giving other people the impression we're have spontaneous/synchronized asthma attacks makes it all better. 

Right? 

I think so too - so anyways, I'll blog my little heart out as we continue on "our little journey."  We are signed up for our first 5k run/walk in about 3 weeks.  I'm still not sure what I am thinking.  I'm pissed I don't qualify for gastric by-pass...no running required baby!  :)