Goal Post!

All my life I’ve been the type of person who wants to set goals, the type of person who has lists and lists of things to accomplish running through my head. I collect ideas, file them away, and, most of the time, either forget about them or dismiss them altogether with some unsupported, weak excuse for why it was just impossible and not really worth pursuing. I’ve wanted to be an FBI agent, a restaurateur, a pastry chef, a doctor, a nurse, a personal trainer, a professional belly dancer; I’ve wanted to ride camels amongst the pyramids and mules at the Grand Canyon, have a Guinness in Ireland, go to every single Disney park in the world, pay my respects at Graceland during Elvis week; I’ve wanted to try eating alligator and deep-fried Twinkies; and much, much more. Honestly, I could have become/done any/all of those things if I had either 1) set my mind to it or 2) not been too afraid to attempt it.

My 20s were a decade of growing. I got to know myself, and I watched myself change. I gained experiences, some of which I should regret (and sometimes I do feel like I regret them, I won't lie). But in my heart I know that those experiences, good and bad, have determined the paths I have chosen in going forward as well as what I've chosen to leave behind.

I promised myself that my 30s would be a decade of doing. I'm going to set goals and not just fantasize about accomplishing them, settling instead for the status quo. So, without further ado, my first goal that I'm going to accomplish is running in the Disney's Princess Half-Marathon, which so happens to take place on my 33rd birthday weekend in February 2011!

Running a half-marathon would be a monumental experience for me. You see, I was the chubby girl who could barely walk, much less run, the dreaded mile. Always coming in last, always getting picked last, always full of shame. It seemed like the only running I could do was be the running fat joke of gym class.

I never dreamed back then that I would be able to run a full mile much less 6 miles or even 13.1 miles or that I would even want to! But what was a weakness and a cause for humiliation 25 years ago will soon be my greatest physical achievement to date (and a great big F-U moment dedicated to all those jerks who mooed at me in gym class all those years ago!)

To train for this half-marathon, I'm going to be following a novice Half-Marathon Training Program, which is the free version available online. I'm doing my best to eat a mostly clean diet of lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains/complex carbs, and protein. Although I've already been running, I want to start from the beginning of this novice training program because I want to get used to running several days a week instead of just for kicks on the weekends.

So, yesterday, Monday July 5, I started with a 3-mile run. Tonight, I just got back from half an hour of light/moderate aerobics and half an hour of toning and stretching.

Today's Eats 

For breakfast, I had 97% Fat-Free Vans Waffles, 1 tbsp of almond butter, a banana, and a tall cup of coffee with Splenda. Perfect, sweet, breakfast!

For lunch, I had a turkey sandwich (two slices of honey multigrain bread, deli turkey, reduced-fat Sorento grated cheese, and Dijon mustard) and a box of fresh, delicious greens and Superfood Salad from my absolute fave Whole Foods salad bar, with 1 tbsp balsamic vinaigrette.

Along with some sweet summer berries for dessert!

For dinner I had a mish-mash of weekend leftovers, including my mom's amazing chicken baked with Campbells 98% Fat-Free Cream of Mushroom and brown rice, a turkey meatball, and some watermelon. I didn't take any pics because they wouldn't look all that appetizing!


Deedah