Half Mary

A couple of days ago I signed up for my third half marathon. This may sound like I'm an experienced runner, but I'm not. The first one I ran/walked with Team in Training. It was a fantastic experience and probably would never have done a half marathon without them. I walked a second one and experienced blisters like you've never seen and it was miserable. So, enter apprehension. I REALLY want to run the entire thing. I'm in full on Couch to 5K training mode to prepare myself to actually try to run the whole thing. I'm excited about this because one of my best friends is doing her very first half marathon with me. Another friend (a more experienced runner who claims she won't be faster than us) is also joining us. We decided to to the Rock'n'Roll. It is the first year one has been held in St. Louis, so I'm excited to have a little musical motiviation each mile.

Hopefully, stating my intentions on this blog will motivate me to keep up my training. Look forward to many more posts about running and how I'm doing. I think that is the only way I may make it through this!

New Year, New Me

As I'm sure most bloggers are doing I'm evaluating the last year of my life and making resolutions for the new year. I've decided to not reflect on the past and look to the future.

Here are my resolutions for 2011:

1. Truly embrace the 29 Gifts movement and spend my January focusing on others and not myself. I read 29 Gifts quite a while ago and attempted to try it and failed. My aim is to blog everyday about each of the gifts I give so that I hold myself accountable and share what I'm doing with others to inspire them.

2. Get healthy. I refuse to say lose weight. I truly hope that getting healthy means that I lose weight (at least 40 lbs), but I really want to make sure that I'm focusing on the right thing here. I went to the chiropractor about 3 months ago and have promptly NOT followed most of his advice for me. I'm going to resolve to follow the Page Diet and get myself together. Finally.

3. Run at least one more half-marathon. And by run, I actually mean run one and not walk most of it. I'm looking at either the Go! STL (April-which means I better get my buns out there and run!!!) or the Rock'n'Roll in October (better but means I have to run in the dreaded hot summer months).

4. Get into school and start my MLS degree!

5. Volunteer more. I love to volunteer, but have found my lack of time, motivation, or a cause that is near and dear to me keeping me from doing it more often. So, I vow to find time, motivation, and a cause and get busy.

I feel like all of these resolutions are definitely doable.

Cheers to the New Year and keeping resolutions!

These Shoes Are Made For Walking

So, I completed my second half marathon yesterday.

When I signed up for this race (Lewis and Clark Half-Marathon), I was all about training for a second one. I had such a good experience with the first that I was sure I could recreate it on my own without having to raise a bunch of money. WRONG! I've been so tired I couldn't manage to get myself up and run in the mornings.

Knowing this I went into the race with the intentions of running as much as I could and then walking the rest. Easy, right?! Wrong again! I started out strong and made it to the end of the first two miles in spite of an uneasy stomach (which led to an unscheduled bathroom stop on the way to meet my ride). Things went downhill from there. I got a side cramp, I was still worried about eating/drinking for fear of the stomach rearing its ugly head, I was too much in my head and started to doubt I could do it...

Let's just say that I finished. The last two miles felt like I was walking 15 miles and I was near tears for the last 4 miles but I made it. I am so happy that I finished in spite of myself and managed to only come in about 11 minutes over my previous time.

The problem is that I'm super sore...like way more sore than the last one in which I JOGGED a lot of it. And to top it all off, I have two enormous blood blisters on the inside edges of my heels. We're talking quarter sized. And they hurt. So wearing shoes feels like I'm dying. I'm trying not to get up at all if I can help it.

Moral of the story: TRAIN for a race and make sure to break in your running shoes before the race so you know exactly where to put moleskin.

Oh, and if you are wondering if I'd do this again...yes, I'm crazy and I'd do another...but I think I'll wait until next year.

aaaaahhhhh, FREAK OUT!

So, it just hit me that I've signed up to do 3 races in 3 weekends in October. A half the first weekend in October, a 5K the next weekend, and a 10K the following weekend. Now, if I had continued to run consistently after my last half then this would be no big deal. But reality is tapping me on the shoulder to remind me that I've BARELY run since then. I've run some long runs on the weekends, but not much during the week. I have no stinking clue how I'm going to do this. Ok, I lied, I do know what my plan is going to be:
1. Drink lots of water (starting now) so that I'll be good and hydrated for race days.
2. Eat as cleanly as possible so that I don't have a bunch of yuck fueling my body.
3. Get my rear in gear and start running in the mornings.
4. Prayer, and lots of it!
5. Focus on one race at a time and not run for a time. Basically, don't die and be able to walk across the finish line.

The good news is I have a wedding the first weekend of November so perhaps I'll be skinny, er, in better shape than I am now.

Summer, where have you gone?

I had every intention of spending this summer doing many things. One of those was to get my booty back into running full time and lose the rest of the weight I need to in order to reach my goal weight. Another was to faithfully blog about my summer. So far, I'm 0 for 2.

Since my computer at home is almost dead and I find it hard to blog on iPhone, I will attempt to be more faithful in my blogging. Also, I'm dedicating myself to running. I started my half marathon training on the 4th of July so that I can run the Lewis and Clark Half in October. My nemesis in this training will be the humidity. I may need oxygen but I will complete my training!

Some things I have managed to do this summer include reading almost all of the books on my list for the Truman Committee, hang out with some great friends, and work. Oh, wait, work was not something I was looking forward to accomplishing.

It seems like summer should be in full swing and I'm already looking at the start of the new school year! Crazy! The best part of my summer is almost here....my trip to DC and Philly! I get to spend time with Erin, Jered, and Baby Jude in DC and then hang with my brother and Cara in Philly for the weekend. I'm super excited to see everyone and explore some new cities. Hopefully, I'll be able to take some photos to share.

More later!

Help Me Help Others

This was definitely not the blog entry I was planning to post next, but it is definitely fitting.

I have officially decided to run a half marathon! I've joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to run the Go! St. Louis Half Marathon. I'm either crazy or really motivated and at this point I'm not sure which one it truly is!

I suppose this all started a few years ago when I was inspired to start running from a friend I worked with. She is awesome and has run the Chicago marathon twice! I had no intention of ever running a marathon or even a half, but wanted to get moving. Last year around this time I was convinced I was going to run the very race I'm training for now. Unfortunately, my grandpa got sick and I lost focus after he passed away. Not succeeding has been haunting me all year. I decided this year that I needed to actually do it for a few reasons:
1. I wanted to finish what I started.
2. The race is two days after my 30th birthday (what better way to end my 20s and start my 30s!).
3. Last year, when I was training, I mentioned to my grandpa my goal. He laughed because he didn't think I'd do it. In a way, I'm doing this for him as much as for myself.
4. I want to focus more on helping others and this is a great way to help myself and bring help to others-all through exercising!!


Part of training with TNT is raising money for LLS. They require that you raise a certain amount of money for their organization and in turn give you resources and a training schedule to succeed. For my race, I must raise $1700. That is a lot of money in a short amount of time! If I don't raise the appropriate amount, I will be forced to forfeit running in the race. I really don't want to let myself down or the people at the LLS who are counting on this money. If you'd like to donate to my cause please follow this link to make an online donation:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/gat/stlouish10/azakrzewsk

I'm nervous about the training because the race is April 11(!) but I'm super nervous about raising the funds. I'm trusting that God will provide, but also begging everyone I know just in case!

Gotta run (literally!)!

What was I thinking?! and Viva La Block!

First of all, I have to mention that I saw NKOTB in all of their retro glory again last night. Basically a few tweaks of their first tour but the addition of Popsicle made my friend Sara's night! I will post pics whenever I get home. Again I screamed like I was 9 again and danced around with a bunch of my friends. It was awesome. The night was made complete by the drive by of Waffle House to see all of the silly 20 and 30 something women hoping that the boys (I mean, men) would be dropping by. It was literally a crowded House. Oh, and Donnie or D Dub as you are now called, please stop making the smarmy comments about getting with little girls moms and us having boobs now. It is creeping us out. As Ashley put it, our 9 year old selves are here not our 28 or 29 year old selves. We're too young to hear this kind of talk. Thanks-love you!


My friend Kristin called the other day to schedule a dinner and mentioned that she is running the All-Star 5K for the All-Star game coming up in a week or so. She told me I should run it with her and what does my dumb self do? I signed up. Keep in mind that I only started running again this week and am only up to about a mile without stopping. I'm really only in it for the t-shirt. Oh, and to top it all off, I'm going to go see Kathy Griffin the night before. I love that broad. And, yep, I'm a glutton for punishment.

Here's to memories of childhood, free t-shirts, and celebrity trash talking!

Wait..what was the title of my last post?!

Well, school's back in session. Summer school that is. After a fun week with my friend Amy in Chicago that involved WAY too much shopping (like such a thing exists!), I'm back at work. The nice part is I'm finished by 12:30 so I still have all afternoon to do nothing-which is what a good summer vaca should entail. I'll try to remember to take a picture of all my loot from Chicago and post it along with the incredible view from our hotel room. (Please read the part about hotel sarcastically-view was terrible!)

In order to get off this weight that keeps creeping back on, I am planning to hit the gym this afternoon to go for a run. I haven't run since the GOTR 5K about a month ago! It is amazing to me how life gets in the way of great intentions. Wish me luck that I don't die on the treadmill this afternoon!

Weekend Update

For all of you wondering what happened at my school...in one word-nothing. We are no closer to unmasking the dirty thieves. I've cleaned up my office and everything is back to normal-or as back to normal as it can minus about 180 computers. We hear we may be getting replacements within a couple of weeks.

My weekend was a short one! I managed to fall asleep before 9 on Friday night. I was mildly embarrassed that that is what came of my Friday night, but quickly popped out the contacts, brushed my teeth, and hopped into bed. I must have been exhausted because I slept until 8 the next morning. Unheard of for me!

Saturday brought a decent weight loss at WW and my first workout in training for a half-marathon. That is right. I've decided to train to run a half-marathon. It is a pretty hefty goal considering I've never even run a 5K and get short of breath running outside, but nevertheless I'm going to try-or die trying. My friend Sarah has embarked on this journey with me. Today officially kicks off training. I'll try to update more on our progress. I'm interval training so tonight is 30 minutes of intervals-bringing me to about 3 miles.

Saturday evening I went triviaing(yep, just made up a word) with Laura and Amy. I knew nothing but enjoyed acting like I may possibly know the answer to any questions. Amy and I giggled the entire way home about the mispronunciation of the word morgue and the misspelling of hamburgers (ham bergers).

Sunday I went to church, lunch with mom and grandma, and was snubbed at Imo's by a jerk. Sara and I went to see Bride Wars (cute although not as funny as I wanted it to be) and then I had dinner with Terry. We discussed how much it sucks trying to date. Glad to know I'm not the only one!

More updates later!

One of those days...

Ever had one of those days that just starts off so bad you want to get back in bed and start all over again? I had one yesterday.

It started off innocently enough Tuesday night. I was attempting to get ahead of my cleaning and dust and pick up the living room so I wasn't rushing around like a maniac this weekend cleaning (you know, so I could go see Twilight without any guilt). I'm not sure why, but I dusted off the thermostat and in doing so accidentally turned down the heat to 50 degrees!!!! Needless to say, I awoke Wednesday FREEZING!! It was 55 degrees in my house when I woke up. Luckily I had added another blanket to my bed the night before so it was only when I got out of bed that I froze. Ceramic tile + no socks= unpleasantness.

So, grumbling about the cold I head for the shower. I had just purchased some new shampoo and was hoping that was going to make me feel better. Nope. I purchased a second bottle of conditioner instead. So, not only was I cold, but I also had no shampoo to wash my hair. Luckily I had an old bottle of Philosophy shampoo/body wash and was forced to use it.

I'm happy to report that the day got better and I even ended with a great run at the gym. I broke my best personal time for 3 miles! It is only a matter of time before I'm running well enough for a 5K!

I feel yucky...

Joi, I'm attempting to blog more for you!

I am totally sick right now. I have a full blown cold which I believe has now made itself into a sinus infection. I feel so gross and have zero time to be sick. I don't get really sick very often, but it stinks!

Let's see...this week I have to work the Book Fair which leaves this week (thank goodness!), have to read at a family event (which should be interesting considering I have a stuffy "man voice" right now), and my 10 year high school reunion. Ugh.

We managed to hire a new pastor today at church so that job is finally over. I almost cried when Pastor Lori came in so excited to hear we hired her!

Finally, congrats to Alison for finishing her first 5K. I have been meaning to do my own 5K for probably over a year now, but haven't managed to do it yet. Hopefully this spring having my Girls on the Run group will get me to commit and do it already.