The Inagural Post and About Me

     So, this is my first attempt at a blog.  I never really thought there was anything exciting enough about my life to write a blog.  I don't know that I am any more exciting now, but I do have a lot to talk about.  Since nobody in my home life is terribly interested in things related to running, writing, and reading, I thought someone out there in cyberspace might be interested in what I have to say, so here I am.  I would like to start off with a little bit of background on me.  Feel free to skip the next few paragraphs if that doesn't sound very interesting to you.

     First, my running life.  I started running in May 2010.  At first it was all about losing weight.  I was considered obese, by a lot.  So in March of 2010 I joined a gym for the first time in my life.  I started going everyday, and I mean everyday.  After a few weeks I still hadn't lost any weight.  It was very frustrating, but one benefit to joining the gym when I did was getting a free consultation with a personal trainer, so I decided to get my free consultation.  I ended up signing up to do 3 sessions with the trainer and my boyfriend.  My boyfriend and I both started seeing results.  The reason I wasn't losing weight was because I was eating too much, obviously.  But for some reason that wasn't obvious to me. 

     After the first 3 sessions with the trainer went so well, we decided to get 6 more sessions.  A learned so much valuable information from her starting with how to eat healthier, how to take advantage of all the equipment at the gym, and most importantly that running is one of the best forms of cardio.  Once I realized that I would get the most calorie bang for my buck by running I immediately tried to do that.  Let me tell you something, Running is Hard!!!  Who knew?  So I wasn't going to be able to hop on a treadmill and run 3 miles yet.  I started looking around to see how other people got to the point where they could run more than 30 seconds without keeling over.  That's when I found the Couch to 5K program.  It takes about 9 weeks to complete and at the end you are supposed to be able to run a 5K, which is 3.1 miles for anyone keeping track.  I followed the program dilligently and at the end I could run for 30 minutes without stopping to walk.  But when I ran for 30 minutes it was more like 2.5 miles and not so much 3.1.  That was fine by me though because I was hooked on running and I have been doing it ever since. 

     In October of 2010 I ran a half marathon, which is 13.1 miles, and it was amazing.  I was really slow, and in the last third of people to finish, my time was around 2 hours and 25 minutes, but I finished and I didn't walk at all.  I am pretty sure my life changed forever the moment I crossed that finish line.  I was so proud of myself for probably the first time ever.  So here I am 60 pounds lighter, not considered skinny by any means, but I am healthy by most standards, very fit, and I have a newfound confidence that has led me to succeeding in many other aspects of my life.  Now I run 5 days a week all in training for the many races I plan to do this year starting with the "Shamrock Scramble 5K" on 3/19/11.  I have gotten a little bit faster since the half marathon, but not much, and I'm okay with that.

     So, let's move on to writing.  I have always loved reading, and I have always wanted to be a writer.  As a kid when people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up I would always answer that I want to write books.  As I got older that dream started to fade to the background as I realized that it's not as simple as just writing a book and calling yourself a writer.  It is exponentially more complicated than that.  Or at least I thought.  With the release of one of the best devices I have ever owned, the Kindle, came the beginning of self publishing.  Self publishing has actually always been around, but limited to those who could afford all of the many costs.  Now it really is simple.  Just write a book and publish it. That's almost all there is to it and there is very little cost associated with publishing ebooks.  So I decided that I am going to make an attempt at the thing I always dreamed of doing.  I am writing my first novel, hopefully the first of many.  I am so excited about the possibility of my dream actually coming true.

     I am still mostly in the planning stages for my book.  I have a few differenct ideas and am not sure which one I want to start with first.  I have a few paragraphs written about each idea, and hope to make a decision soon about which one I will write first.  The idea of writing a novel is slightly terrifying for me because I am a tiny bit of a perfectionist and I worry that my writing isn't exactly perfect.  I will write a paragraph and then go over it several times, but then I am never satisfied and I end up tossing it and starting over.  It will definitely take some time for me to get comfortable with the idea of writing first and editing later, but that is what I will need to do. 

     So there you have it, a little bit of history on me.  I hope to post about 3 times as week to talk about my running journey, my writing journey, and my life journey.  For a little bit of fun I also hope to include other information about all things running and writing like Book Reviews and Spotlights, Author Spotlights, and information related to running.  If any of this sounds interesting to you please come back again soon.

P.S. Sorry for the ridiculously long first post.  I didn't want to leave anything out.  Future posts will not be quite this long, and not quite so "look at me, look at me".