i'm going to have to pee

I ran today.  Well, Christine pulled me through a run today.  4.6 miles for me - more for her.  The student has definitely become the teacher - so proud of her! We have a running date ritual to meet at a centrally located Starbucks to drop off one car and drive to our running route. I wish we could just meet up at either her house or ours, but alas Justin and I live in Idaho Graham.  All you need to know about Graham is that you can't get there quickly and it is nowhere near Christine (waaahhhh).

So there we are in Starbs before our run and she starts reading a blog post that I have been nagging her to read; it's about a big metal chicken named Beyonce. You're intrigued I know - so here's the link.  Fair warning: you may pee your pants from laughing.  Well, and you may not but this could suggest that you have no sense of humor.

This is Beyonce.  It's almost my birthday.  Put it together...

After Christine laughed herself silly and we shared our favorite lines of the blog we looked outside and wouldn't you know it?  Rain.  In Washington.  We were as shocked as you are.  I know that I was a swimmer in the past but I, perhaps surprisingly, HATE getting wet!  Running was temporarily out of the question.  

Instead we decided to catch up.  We hadn't seen each other for approximately 14 hours at this point; goes without saying we had plenty to talk about.  At one point we look up to see our handsome Firefighter/Running Amigo Brent walk into the Starbs we were at.  So much fun!  And to think, if we had just gone running instead of reading about Beyonce and gabbing we wouldn't have seen Brent. The universe was trying to tell us something.

Once we caught a break in the rain we headed out.  I didn't have a lot of thoughts in my head during the run until about mile 3 when the only thought was STOP! YOU (huff) ARE (gasp) KILLING (gulp) ME (lack. of. oxygen.).  At this point I look over at Christine and she's just running so effortlessly with her blonde ponytail bobbing up and down.  

Dammit, I can't stop now.  

Thankfully there was a stoplight up ahead and I used it as the perfect excuse to take a quick break.  It wasn't long until I needed a full-on walk break though.  Being the great sport she is, she obliged and pretended to huff and puff along with me; it did make me feel better though.  I grinded (ground?) out the rest but noticed my breathing rhythm falling apart near the end and just decided to call it quits.  Better to end on a (debatable) high then a low, right?  I basically crawled back to our parking spot.

I grabbed my water bottle out of her car and enjoyed every wet drop as it went down my throat.  In my delirium I suggested we run the stairs at the stadium we were parked at.  

Like, really Andria?  

So we did that too.  Ha.  Me and my hair-brained ideas...

I've analyzed what I think went wrong with today's run and I'm feeling like I was dehydrated to start with and used up my reserves as the run went on.  This week I am going to work on hydrating.  

Gonna get drunk on some wa-wa.  WATCH OUT!  

I've read in several sources that 3 liters is ideal. I have a 750mL water bottle which means I need to drink 4 bottles/day.  

*Side note - I love the metric system.  Is there any reason America cannot get on board with it?  Gosh! 

Kindergartners can do this.  Hell, even I can figure it out. That's how you KNOW it's easy!

This week's goals are: 1) Drinking 3 liters of water per day, 2) 3 runs of at least 3 miles, and 3) throwing a party for the Hubs because he just became a Paramedic!! So stinkin' proud of him!   

With that I leave you with today's Irreverant and Funny Picture of the Day - 

IaFPotD for June 29, 2014:

i just want to be okay with how i look

In exactly three months I will begin nursing school at the University of Washington in Seattle (I still cannot believe I am going to be a husky. Ughh! #gocougs). That means I have three months to make a habit out of clean eating, exercising, and blogging about my journey.  My thought is that if I can make a lifestyle change now, it will be much easier while I'm in school to make smart food choices and incorporate exercise into my daily routine.  I am not going to sell myself short - I have already gotten much better with my food choices and I have found enjoyment in running again (stop laughing, I'm actually serious!).  I just need to carry this forward and keep getting better!  I was thinking of ways to stay motivated and I had this crazy thought that I would take a picture of myself and watch my progress. People do that all the time; they post their pictures on the internet for the world to see and get super positive feedback. Great plan up until the moment that I took a picture of myself.

What. THE HELL. Has happened to me?!

Please PLEASE know that I, in no way, think that I am obese or anything like that.  But for a former college athlete and a girl who used to work at the Y - there is no denying that my body has changed.  Of course I have my excuses: I'm in school while working full-time, I would rather hang out with the Hubs than spend hours at the gym, I think sugary and salty things taste good and I like foods that are not good for me.  I mean, I am human for goodness sakes.

Can't deny it.  I'm 100% an emotional eater!

So what do I do?  Ultimately I just want to be okay with my body.  I want my heart and lungs healthy.  I want my legs to be strong.  A washboard 6-pack stomach wouldn't hurt but let's not get ahead of ourselves.  I think I need to redefine success for my body.  This time last year I was moping around because I had inflamed my IT band and running wasn't even an option.  Isn't that success right there?!  Duh! Of course it is!

Okay so maybe I won't be posting this week's body photo on here but I did take two that I will use as my personal motivation going forward. Someday, when I'm really brave I'll post them. I think it's okay to remember the glory days of college swimming but I cannot keep living in the past.  I have grown up (and a little out) since then. And THAT just needs to be okay.  As long as I stop the bad behavior now and work toward better, cleaner, healthier living. After all, my body has a story.  It's been through a lot.

It's really scary and uncomfortable talking about this stuff.  I am totally a victim of the "I care what others think about me" curse.  It sucks.  I just do not think I am alone out here; I know I'm not.  There are plenty of former college athletes that have let life happen to them just as I have.  My goal is simply to share my experience and hopefully help motivate at least one person along the way.

I'm ready to be okay with how I look...

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And because we all need to laugh to stay sane, I am introducing the IRREVERENT AND FUNNY PICTURE OF THE DAY (IaFPotD).

IaFPotD for June 25, 2014: