Welcome to October!

October is one of my favorite months.  It is crisp with fall, the leaves are well into their beautiful change, and we're gearing up for Halloween!

Lots of exciting things happening this October!  For me, I really hope October is the month of change.  There has been something in the works for a while that I haven't widely broadcasted because I needed to wait to give notice but now it is finally happening.  I am finally doing something that I've wanted to do for so long but I haven't had the courage to do it.

I am leaving Lucky Dog and going into business for myself!  It is about time I got out of a situation that has been so detrimental to my mental health and happiness.  I was just so afraid to do it.  I felt that if I wanted to train dogs I had to stay with Lucky Dog.  Maybe just fear of the unknown but it kept me in a situation that I don't have to suffer through anymore.

I have to finish my classes out there but after that, I'm done.  Amazing.

While I'm doing that I figured I'd just go ahead and change my body too.  I'm going to get my tattoo and I'm going to work out.  No really I am.  Okay so I know I say that and then it fades out because I'm rather lazy and like to be stationary, especially early in the morning.  But the girls at work and I are all on board.  Each of us is working out and eating better.  It's hard to eat well at work because there is so much fast food and crap around and it's so easy to go get for a fast lunch.  No more.  None of us are eating fast food.  In fact, all through October none of us are eating out at all.  I want to exercise more, eat right and lose some weight.  I don't really need to lose weight but I want to be healthy and fit.  I don't have to be an exercise nut, because let's face it, that won't happen.  But being healthy and fit would be wonderful.  Hiking 14ers next summer would be incredible.  So October is the month to begin.  I've already cut out soda, which was really hard.  Damn Mountain Dew Code Red for being so yummy and addictive.  But no more.  I haven't had a soda in over a month.  That's been hard but so worth it.  I still crave it but I've been strong.

So here's to October being an incredible month for me!  Yay Fall!

Exercising!

I'm spending this Sunday mostly at work.  I went for a run this morning and it kind of hurt but I managed 3.52 miles.  Ran from my house almost all the way down to Uintah St.  I am still really loving this Zombie app.  It does a good job easing you into it and making sure you're not running for too long without acknowledgement.  This week I was doing a regiment of 5 minute walk, 5 minute run, 1 minute run/1 minute walk/10 knee lifts (repeating those walking and running drills 5 times), 8 minute run, 2 minute stretching and then another 8 minute run.  For some reason today I had a stitch in my side but I worked on my breathing and ran through it.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  I was going to take today off of running but yesterday Kathleen and I went out to run and there was a 10k going on using our trail.  So I skipped yesterday and ran today instead.

Tomorrow I get to rest then I start my next running regiment.  I will be doing 5 minutes walking, 5 minutes running, 10 knee lifts/1 minute slow walk/1 minute fast walk (repeat 5 times), 1 minute walk/ 30 second run (repeat 5 times), and 15 minute run.  That's going to be fun.  I hope the story continues to be good.

I bullied Kathleen into running too because my goal is to hike a 14er.  I know she would love hiking a mountain so I bullied her into getting into shape so she can do it with me.  We'll see.  If she decides she doesn't want to then I'll be hiking this mountain alone.  I guess I can bully Geoff into hiking with me if worst comes to worst.

Went out and saw RIPD last night and it was actually pretty good.  I thought maybe it would be too much like a Men In Black throwback but it was cute on its own.  Ryan Renolds is a good looking guy let me tell you.  Then we went out for ice cream at iTopit.  It has been a while since I've been there.  That place always makes me feel like a child again, happily clutching my bowl and dazzled by all the toppings.  Good times.  

You know what sucks about Sunday?  I don't have it off.  I really should get dressed and get ready for work.  Blah.  Don't want to work at the location I am at today.  It's so whiny up there.  Oh well.  It's a paycheck right?  I should be grateful for the work.  That's what I need to keep telling myself.

Run like a zombie survivor

I needed that last post to rant in.  Not being a huge people person sometimes I just need to rant about them. But I feel better now.  Either rant or punch someone in the face.  Figure I wouldn't like jail much so no assaulting people.

Anyway, here's the real update on life.

I've started exercising.  I know I make a stab at it every so often but I'm going to make this one stick.  I am sick of being out of shape.  I haven't been truly in shape since high school when I could really kick some ass with my muscle tone.  Course I was playing sports and had the benefit of that good old teenage metabolism on my side.  Then I went to college and worked way way too much.  That's generally the theme in my life.  I work too much and don't have time or energy enough to get my ass exercising. Course I didn't really didn't gain weight or get curvy until college.

Then the next time I felt like I was in shape was in Europe.  Walking everywhere and carrying a very heavy backpack on your back will get you into shape.  Which is a good thing because otherwise I would have gained like 200 pounds in bread and cheese I'm sure.  Oh bread...  Oh cheese...  Yeah definitely would have gained a lot of weight.  Instead I was in shape.  Maybe that and the time change was what really helped me cure my insomnia and conquer my depression.

I know I want to feel better in my life and I figure that starts with feeling better in my own skin.  I want to be able to move around like I used to and FEEL good.  Exercise generally doesn't feel good to me but if you do it enough you can do a lot more cool things like climb a mountain.  Caitlin and I have a goal that we'll climb Pikes Peak at the end of this summer.  And I am running a race later this summer.  The Color Run was a lot of fun this past year but I'm determined not bungle into it and punish myself like I did last time.  It's actually going to be fun this year.

So my mistake in the past has been just going out there and running first thing.  Which sucks because my body hates me and I hate me and it's all just a massive ball of misery.  I did that because I was never able to pace myself and start slow.  I wasn't sure how.

That's where Zombie 5k comes in.  It's an app on my phone that gets you ready to run a 5K in 8 weeks.  There are several workout sessions in a week.  You can set it up to play your music so you can run but it talks to you too and each run is a mission in the zombie apocalypse.  You're a survivor and you're running from zombies.  How much fun is that?  I'm enjoying it although I only just finished the first week and haven't gotten into the "action" yet.  It has started me out slow and it gives me something to focus on rather than "man this sucks."

So I haven't yet figured out how to get it to use my GPS on my phone yet but at least I figured out the music.  I'm happy with it.  I'm over the hump of running where I do want to die and I'm sore all the time.  I can't say that I look forward to going for my daily run but at least I'm not dying on the inside at the thought of it haha.  Progress.  I don't have a goal to how much weight I want to loose or anything.  I just want to be able to FEEL good.  It'd be awesome if I could get around without feeling out of shape.  That's the goal.  I'm on my way.

Oh and I've decided that if you want to be in my zombie survival party you should have to complete Zombie 5K.  Otherwise you're on your own.