Ran a mile non-stop!

I finally jogged a mile non-stop for the first time in my life. I am so proud of myself. I love this training program (the Couch-2-5K program)! Not that jogging 20 minutes straight wasn't hard!

First I forgot my ipod and Nike+ at my apartment. So instead of going straight to the gym after work I had to go home to get them. It wasn't so bad though because I changed for the gym at home and used my nice clean bathroom before I went. Driving to the gym I had a knot in my belly. It felt like the knot that I had when I was driving to get a tattoo. Would I be able to run this mile? Would I quit like I always did? I will be so p-off at myself if I can't push myself.

When I finally got to the gym I was happy to find that it wasn't as crowded. I was able to find a decent parking spot and get a treadmill in the back. When I did my warm-up walk, I tried to pump myself up. I wanted to clear my head and think only of this 20 min jog. I stretched and then it began. I kept my pace at 3.8mph to avoid burnout.

About 3 minutes into the run, I felt like quiting. 3 MINUTES!! But my legs were tired and felt heavy. I just ignored it and hoped it would go away. I jogged 8 mins on Tuesday and I wanted to quit at just 3. Not going to happen. But the idea of doing this for another 17 mins made me want to slow down to a walk. This is what happened when I jogged a mile in sports. I would always see the entire mile I had to do instead of the step that I was doing. Then I would stop and walk until my coach yelled at me to keep jogging.

But something happened. At about 5 mins in I got my power. My legs felt lighter and I just jogged. I was even able to bring the speed up to 4.0mph. When I looked at the time again I saw the time tick away. I can do this! I focused on the song on my ipod and that fact that I could not quit.

When I was almost a mile in (about 13 minutes) my friend Mike came over to talk to me. Not now I thought! I was able to hold a brief conversation with him and lucky for me he didn't linger. I wanted to catch my mile on my camera video. I wanted to enjoy my first mile. To savor it and relish in pride.

When I hit the mile I tried to film it, but ended up not saving it. I did the mile in about 17 minutes. It was a slow mile, but I jogged the whole time. Once I hit that mile my mind went completely blank. Nothing went through my head at all. I finally finished my 20 minutes and did a cool down walk.

I felt really strange leaving the gym. I wasn't thinking of any thing. No work. No ex husband. No family stress. No money problems. Nothing. It was the strangest thing. It was like I was in shock. I felt like I couldn't possible be the one who ran 20 mins straight. I am not a runner...

I really thought when I hit that mile at the gym that I would cry and be super emotional. But the one thing that I thought was 'That wasn't so bad'. Why couldn't I do this in high school during field hockey?

All those times in field hockey when I had to be benched because my coach felt I was to out-of-shape to play. I remember when the coach pulled me aside and told me that I made the team but would not play in every game because I stopped and walked the mile we had to do everyday. I then tried to argue with the coach, saying that I even though I walked some of the mile I still did it faster then this other girl on my team. She was always the last to finish the mile. My coach said that because she jogged the entire time was the reason she would be playing more then me. Didn't seem fair to me at the time. I felt that I was a much better player but because I couldn't jog one friggen mile I was being punished.

But now I can finally say to myself that I ran a mile. I did it and will do it again. I love this running program!

This post is dedicated to Coach McGivney, for making me feel like crap all these years for not jogging a mile non-stop.

Went to Universal Studios Florida

I finally got to go to Universal Studios in Florida! Ever since I first saw shows from Nickelodeon, I wanted to go down there to be a part of it. Despite being very excited about going, there was a few issues:

1) It was extremely cold. It was cloudy and there was no sun to keep us warm. It was the coldest that FL has been in a long time.

2) I went with 2 other couples and was the odd person in the group. I felt awkward and alone 60% of the day.

But besides that, I had a pretty good time.


We went to see the new Simpson's attraction that took over the Back to the Future ride (boo). This ride was in 3D and was pretty cute. If you are a Simpson's Fan, I would highly recommend it. If you are not a Simpson's fan, you probably will not get or like this ride at all.

Because we went the first week of the year, the Christmas lights were still up! It was beautiful to see all the decorations!
If it wasn't so gosh darn cold, I would have loved to walk around Seuss Landing more. There was alot of cute little shops.

I got to see a sneak peak of the Harry Potter park. Here is the Hogwarts castle!! It was beautiful and so life-like. I can't wait to go there when its all done!

The Jurassic Park section was closed due to the cold, but I still managed to run into a dinosaur there. I should win an Oscar for my performance! I made it seem real! And yes....I really am that pale.

We did alot of great rides at Universal, but the Hulk roller coaster was my FAVORITE!! We waited almost 2 hours in line. But the worst part was that there was a cheerleaders convention going on, and there was a group of cheerleaders CHEERING in line. So let me do the math here...

Being freezing cold + waiting in line for 2 hours + twenty 16 year old cheerleaders cheering on the top of their lungs = My own personal Hell

But was the ride worth all that?? Absolutely! It had so many twists and turns going on. I loved it!
Besides all the rides and attractions there is a TON of places to shop! We had dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville! It was really awesome there. If you can get past the cheesy Jimmy Buffet songs then its worth the trip. Best drinks I have ever had. I recommend the Pink Cadillac drink if you ever go there. It was like drinking Koolaid!

Details

Universal Studios: Bigger roller coasters and better 3d attractions then Disney has, but lacks the Disney magic and customer service skills. I would defiantly love to go back here! But next time I am going with a boyfriend.

Margaritaville: Very campy and cute. The food was great and the drinks were awesome. Our waitress was fantastic!