Back to Where it All Began and Update

This morning while my mom was making pancakes for the girls I laced up my sneaks and headed for the door. I let her know where I would be running, but her reply of, "Be careful, there are cougars out there sometimes," had me mapping out a new route in my mind! At a little after seven on a Sunday morning, my small hometown was calm and peaceful.

Outside my eyes instantly watered up, but it was not as cold as my first jog outside earlier this year. Natural sounds of birds and the river were only briefly interrupted by the rare cars whirring by with studded tires. Other than the few cars and one person walking on the other side of the road, it was just me, nature, and childhood memories - thinking of going to the creek growing up playing with friends or intertubing down it, thinking of friends as I passed their old houses, and memories of my cross country days. There is always something great about starting the day with a workout.

In general, I have been meeting up to my exercise and nutritional goals, with some days where I stray a bit on the nutrition side. I am still spending the majority of the time in the gym, but I know that getting back into a consistent exercise routine will help me out in the long run vs. waiting around for warmer weather where I would be motivated to run outside on a consistent basis. My personal training sessions are really pushing me, as well as giving me a better idea of types of exercises to do both at home and when I go to the gym on my own.

Sister #3 recommended that I get started on my training plan and just repeat the first couple of weeks for a while. Lately, I have been trying to balance out my different exercise options. I love going to zumba on Monday evenings, I am going to work out with a colleague one night a week at the gym, and I will meet with my personal trainer on another night. My goal is to exercise 4-5 times per week, so typically, I would like to get in an outdoor run on the weekends which gets me up to four. I am also trying to still make sure that I have a good balance between family, career, homework, and exercise.