I was lucky enough this Spring to have my cousin Mary and her husband Ben ask me to play on their sand volleyball team.  We play at this little volleypark that is behind a bowling alley.  I know it sounds shady, but it really is great!  This was the 3rd week we played and I must admit I am having A LOT of fun!  Our team likes to laugh and joke around during the games, but we also like to play and win.  Our silly antics seem to get under the skin of some of the other teams and it just cracks me up.  The league is so laid back that there aren't even any referees or line judges and yet some teams are taking it so seriously!  It cracks me up when people get so frustrated with us that they don't even shake our hands after the game.  We in no way are disrespectful by any means...just laughing at ourselves and having fun.  It's nice to get outside and have some fun.  Hopefully next week it won't be raining buckets like it was today! :)   

As I continue on my journey of training for a 10k I have hit a few milestones this week.
*I officially committed to actually training for the 10k and finished my first long run of 40 minutes
*I have lost a total of 60.4 lbs as of Monday! :)  Only 12.6 more to go to reach my initial goal! (We'll see if I decide to go any further)

Achieving these goals has really made me realize that I am capable of doing anything.  I have started to realize how I have so much more confidence in myself in almost every aspect of my life.  I feel like I am more social, a better teacher, and much more active.  It's weird how eating better and working out can cause such great changes...WHO KNEW!

This week I also braved some new territory on my long run.  I have decided that I now hate running on a treadmill and I was getting sick of the loop I was running at the park, so I ventured out to a neighborhood by my apt.  In order to get to this different neighborhood I had to spend quite a bit of time on a busy street, which was definitely new for me...dodging cars, no sidewalks, mud puddles...it was definitely different, but a welcome change from the mundane trail I had before.  Now I wonder, where should I run next?

On a sad note...I did see a dead turtle on my run on Sunday. :(  For those of you that didn't know turtles are my all-time favorite animal and it made me a little sad to see him there...belly up, not moving by the side of the road.  Since I was running and didn't really have anything else to think about I just kept running scenarios through my head as to how he got there and how he died.  (Was he hit by a car?  Did he just wander too far from his pond?  Was he someones pet?)

This week my long run will be 45 minutes.  I'm slightly freaking out, because this is about where I gave up the last time I was trying to train for a 10k.  I am not going to be able to give up this time though, because the race is in only about 3 1/2 weeks.  EEK!

P.S. 10 days of school left!

Ok...so here I am.  I'm actually starting this blog in the middle of my journey to lose weight and at the beginning of my journey to becoming a runner.  I currently have lost 58lbs in about 7 months and I have finished 2 5ks.  It is currently my goal to lose about 15 more pounds and to increase my mileage and eventually one day run a marathon.

Just this week I was able to run in a 5k with my brother.  This was a very special event for me.  I was happy to have some bonding time with him and we were able to encourage each other as we trained for this race.  I was so proud of him for finishing the race and I only hope he continues to run.

I also turned 27 this past weekend and have started to realize I'm getting dangerously close to the big 3-0.  I officially am making it my goal to run my marathon by the time I'm 30.  During my 26th year of life I started my journey to get in shape and I hope that 27 is one of the best years to date. 

So this is me..this is my journey.  No guarantee that it will be anything too profound, but I hope to be able to document my journey and experiences along the way.

Happy Running :)