Reconnecting With Fitness: Sometimes A Fist Pump Party Is A Necessity

She’s crazy and convinced me it’s cool to run outside when it’s 32-degrees… and yes there will be a big almond milk latte at the end!

But before I go, I have to introduce this pretty lady:

April is one of my teammates for the upcoming Palmetto70 race. I thought it would be a fun way for our team to unite by asking them to volunteer and contribute to the blog since I am talking about the Palmetto70 experience and training. We’ve known each other for quite a while now, but I love learning new things and by having my awesome ladies write out their personal running stories, I get to learn so much!

I also love that since you guys know me so well (if you’ve been reading LR for a while) that it would be fun for you to meet me “gang” as well. So without further ado, here I’m handing it over to April for the ice breaker!

While she takes the reigns today I am testing these bad boys out for a 9-10 miler…

I’ll let you know how it goes! I got these Pink Marathon ProCompression socks on sale 50% off a few weeks ago. They came in yesterday and I am so excited to give them a go after hearing so much abut them from SkinnyRunner and Monica.

“I’m A Runner… No, I’m Not… Okay, Yes I Am”

My Freshmen year in High School in Texas is when I began Cross Country (1994).  I remember thinking this is going to be soooo easy.  Well, I was proved wrong the first day of running.  It was the greatest challenge I had ever endured and fell in love with running right then and there.

My best friend and I decided to run Cross-Country together and we became each other’s biggest competitor.  We were always right behind or in front of each other, pushing to win the race as if we were the only two running.

It’s funny, during our races through high school we would shout at eachother, “I’m right behind you!!, YOU better hurry up”.  Those were some awesome memories of running and from there, I decided to run my whole high school career.

Running has always been a stress reliever for me, mind clearing, peaceful activity that I truly enjoy.

Back in Texas (where we lived before Charleston), there were not as many beautiful running areas near where we lived.

Now that we live here, the scenic running routes are endless!

I ran my first 7 miles straight with an average of 12 min/mile, I celebrated by doing a serious fist pump (Rocky style of course) when I completed that run.  Being able to complete 7 miles is a HUGE accomplishment.

Charleston – Cooper River Bridge

My husband and I moved here to Charleston in July of 2012, when we got here I decided to run the bridge and a few trails around Daniel Island.  At the time, I could barely complete a mile of straight running, I think my miles were averaging around 18 minutes each.  Now my mile average is some where between 11 and 12 and that’s running comfortably.

I never could have imagined I would be here in terms of my fitness and performance at this point in my life.  I’ve lost weight and have gained so much knowledge about living a healthy active lifestyle.

Today, I can once again call myself a “Runner” and that in itself means more to me than I could explain.

Thanks April! Because of you, I am out on the roads with a freezing temperature type of morning getting my miles in! Rock star!

What’s on your agenda this morning? 

Do you live in a fitness friendly city?

One last thing, because of request, tomorrow I’ll be doing a recap of my Pegan meals!