Intro

I am starting this blog to post about my fitness quest and workouts as a way to track my results, encourage myself and maybe even encourage others to get out there and follow their fitness goals.  This is also a little bit of an online journal for me as I find writing about what's on my mind often easier than talking sometimes... and to boot, it's cheaper than therapy.  While not everyone is into blogging, I am choosing to see the positives.  If you want to read my posts, that's up to you... this is really for myself. 

A little about me... I am 31 and 1/2 years old when I am starting this blog (yikes).   I have been married for 5 years to my husband Taylor and have a beautiful 3 year old little girl, Lia.  For the past few years I have been a casual runner; running when I can here and there and doing the occasional 5 k race here and there.  We live in beautiful Colorado where we are fortunate to have over 300 sunny days a year, something I love to take advantage of on my runs.   I do love my treadmill though... 6 years and still working...

This past year has been very rough for myself healthwise.  I have battled an extreme amount of anxiety and health problems and physical injuries.  I think the starting point was an awful round of Pneumonia I had last year and then months of continuous sinus infections and an overall feeling of not being healthy.  All of this stood out as I had recently lost 30 lbs through eating healthy and working out and I couldn't figure out why I didn't "feel" great.  After months of searching for answers, it was something as simple as needing my gallbladder out due to gallstones.  What would seem like a simple procedure, turned into an absolute nightmare including a subsequent bile leak, emergency surgery followed up by an ERCP with biliary stent placement and 6 day hospital stay.   My doctor during this tiime made everything so much harder on me emotionally and I felt like I would just crack.  People who have never dealt with anxiety do not seem to understand it or the impact it can have on one's life.  It's embarassing to talk about but I feel I have to get it out there.  There were several times when I truly feared I may not make it out of that hospital.  Imagine the impact of all that on my anxiety... yikes!!  Just writing about this upsets me as it was just overwhelming all together.  I am really looking forward to putting it all behind me.  Prior to all this recent stuff, I have battled with anxiety and previously battled with depression in my twenties.  I am currently weaning off of Zoloft which I started in March before the gallbladder diagnosis.  These last few weeks have been tough and I have been feeling extra down.  Increasing my exercise seems to be the healthiest way to cope and overcome it's effects.  To say my life has been easy would be lying, but ultimately it is all worth it and I do know how blessed I am to be here. 

While I am on the road to recovery, my body is still feeling the pains of healing and I am trying to take each day one at a time and continue my quest to return to a healthy state of body and mind. 
When everything in my life seems chaotic and out of control, the one thing I have control over are my runs.  When I was 18 I was hit by a boat propeller and easily could have lost my leg.  Everday that I get out to run, I feel so thankful I have both legs and am able to do something as simple as run. 
In addition to running, I am focusing on cross training as well including the elliptical machine (scored one for $95 on Craig's list), hot yoga, Zumba, barre class and light weight lifting. 

I do not have an end goal weight, clothes size, body type or muscle mass in mind, just want to feel and look fit and healthy.  I think I am down about getting older so I am determined to look and feel the best I ever have. 

I should note, I LOVE to eat... so being able to eat what I want in moderation and not worry about if I can fit into my jeans the next day is a bonus motivator for me.

We would love to expand our family in the next year or so and I want to be in the best shape possible when I get pregnant in order to have an active, healthy pregnancy.  While I may have to cut back on certain exercises during that time, I plan to do all the exercise I safely can during those 9 months.  I did not work out much at all when I was pregnant with Lia and ultimately I did not enjoy my pregnancy that much.  I am hoping this time around will be much more enjoyable. 

So, that's my background, and a glimpse into myself and why I am choosing to start this blog.... here we go. 

Right now my current goal is to increase my endurance and length of my runs... I would love to be able to say that 4 miles was my short run of the week.