Sunday, January 1, 2012

Starting the New Year off on the Right, yet Painful Foot...and A CHALLENGE!

Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you all enjoyed ringing in the New Year with friends or loved ones and you made your resolutions! The only question is... Are you going to stick to them this year?


We have all been there, done that. We vow to make some small changes in our habits or lives and low and behold, a couple of weeks into the year and we are back to our old ways. UGH! Well, just remember this my friends: It takes 21 DAYS to form a habit.


Maybe starting off with some small goals would be better instead of committing to doing something for a whole year. My challenge this month works in perfectly for this. But more to come on that later...




Today I started 2012 off with a bang! My lovely girlfriends Lauren, Molly, Kate, and myself participated in Charm City Run's New Years 5K! However, my day leading up to it was not entirely rainbows and butterflies...




Last night was a nightmare. I bartended at a radio station's annual New Years bash in Baltimore and was really excited about it. Until I got there...



It was the most unorganized hotel staff I had ever worked with, the attendees were completely out of control, during the party my bar was almost empty (4 times!), and we had to stay to do other people's jobs. Needless to say I was cranky by the time I walked to my car at 3am. @#$%&* !! Oh and did I mention that my foot was throbbing in pain. Stupid accessory navicular bone coming out of my foot...




I woke up later today than I wanted to but needed as much sleep as I could since I would be running the 5k, watching the Ravens game, and then heading into work tonight. On my way to Baltimore, I realized I forgot my breakfast on my kitchen island. Ok Problem #1. No worries, right? I got into Baltimore around 1:30pm. The race started at 2pm...It took me a half hour to find parking. @#$%&* !!! Oh but wait, since I was so frustrated with the whole parking situation, I left my car with my ipod inside. So no music for me during these 3+ miles.


As I was sprinting to try to find my Baltimore Tone It Up ladies (and to get my bib number!), the buzzer went off...and I wasn't anywhere close to them. Great. So I thought I would make the best of it and have a nice run by myself. Reflect on this time in my own head and think about some new and attainable goals.



Here is what I came up with:


Goal #1: Run more. I strongly dislike running long distances or on a treadmill but maybe I will learn to tolerate it if I can get my distance up without wanting to die from oxygen deprivation.


Goal #2: Do 2-3 days a week of strength training. Ladies: You will never lose weight/ tone up if you don't lift weights. Only doing cardio gets your endurance up and sure, you may lose a few pounds but your biggest results will come with strength training.


Goal #3: Get out of debt. I am oh-so-close and only have a little bit to go. Hopefully by June I will be debt free! After that, it will be saving up to move out on my own (although I have a pretty sweet set-up with my mom).

Goal #4: Do one thing I have never done once a month. This could be a new adventure, a new restaurant, etc. I am hoping to get some ideas on Groupon or Living Social and I hope to include some friends along the way.




These seem attainable right?


Anyway, back to my story...


So as I am running by myself today (without any music or my girlfriends mind you...) I quickly noticed the pain coming from my left foot. At first it wasn't too bad but quickly progressed. Apparently 10 hours is not enough rest time for this sucker to rest. Oh boy...


My breathing actually felt great to me. I didn't feel the sting in my lungs or winded at all but something was very apparent. I was in pain.




I crossed the finish line though! I didn't even bother looking at the time because I knew it was my best and I knew that my foot was a factor in it. After crossing, I collapsed quickly. Immediately ripping off my foot to find my foot was super swollen. Ugh! Thankfully, my girls waited at the finish line for me and cheered me on.


For the cherry on top of the day? On my hobble back to my car...it started raining. *Sigh*



This was my scene when I came home!

Thanks Charm City Run!



Ok now to introduce to you my New Years CHALLENGE!!




Caitlin over at Beyond Bananas and I, being FitFluential ambassadors together, wanted to do a challenge so that all of you could have a chance to say you started off 2012 right! We have decided to do alternating months. January will be mine, February will be hers, and so on. I am so excited to team up with someone for a challenge. It helps network and it keeps me accountable. Therefore, for my month of January, my challenge?





Jogging for January !!

Whats the challenge?
  • Everyday try to jog for at least 30 minutes. Don't have 30 minutes allotted together in your day? Take 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night or vice versa. Break up the minutes but just make sure you get it in!
  • Link up to my blog every MONDAY to let everyone know how your jogging is going!
  • Use the hashtag #jogforjanuary on twitter so people can find others for motivation and support!
At the end of each month, we will be hosting a giveaway so there are plenty of chances to win---but you have to make sure you are active in each month with our challenge for your chance to win! Upload pictures, videos, workout details from your phone, whatever it takes! We want to see you Jogging for January!



So there you have it folks. All in all, the beginning to my 2012 was not a horrible one. I have new goals in place, a new mindset, great supportive friends, and a new outlook on life. I am definitely ready to make this year a better one...on my own two (maybe one and a half right now) feet...










Until the next step bloggers...

2 comments:

  1. I love it! I'm in the beginning of my fitness journey and have quite a bit of weight to lose but i'll jog as much as I can.

    I hit the elliptical and did 4.5 miles in an hour today.

    But I do adore nature and look forward to getting out there and participating in your challenge in the way I can.

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  2. Great idea! I'm with you on the challenge, with one modification. To prevent injury, I'm going to run 4 days a week, and aim for 30minutes of some form of exercise all the other days. Hope that counts :)

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