LeFou, I'm afraid I've been thinking.

I have been a seriously horrible blogger. This is what happens when you write all day--your own writing suffers.

It's not like hundreds read my posts, but it still cool to think that at least a little bit of my writing is out there for the world to see. Well, actually, you can see a lot of it on Central's website. Just sayin'. :-)

I was given an interesting question to answer yesterday after I applied to a job, and it got me thinking. Doesn't seem to happen often, but I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. And the answer startled me: I don't know. I love writing. I love reading. I love history. I love nonprofit work. I love this. I love that. I love lamp.

Seriously, I think my brain was in overdrive.

There are so many possibilities (most of which I am not qualified for). And all I keep coming back to is writing. My husband keeps saying that I just have to write the next crazy teen novel and we will be set for life. I mean, that's cool and all, but that means you actually have to have an idea in mind. Soooo. There's that.

Here's what I came to in my thinking quest. I don't really know what I want to be doing 40 years from now. Maybe I will be traveling around the world (wishful thinking). Or maybe I will be a big time novelist (probably unlikely). Or maybe I will figure it out as I go. My 8 Ball says "most definitely."

10 weeks later

So I completely forgot to update in the past four weeks!

Good news: Curt and I have still been running and completing all of the exercises (even while on our honeymoon cruise last week).

Bad news: I gained six pounds on the cruise (and thankfully, dropped three in the two days following). They seriously feed you too much! ;-)

This is our final week, and to be honest, I didn't think I would make it here. And all the credit goes to my husband, because if he hadn't joined me, I would have stopped after week two. So thank you, thank you, thank you, Curt!

This week, we are supposed to run a 5k, however, our Color Run is next week. Sooo, I am going to run one this week and next week! Whoop! Thanks to the cruise weight, I have some new ambition. :-)

Honeymoon cruise update and pictures up later. Ta-ta!

Running halfway

Week five of ten weeks is complete! To be honest, I really didn't think I would make it this far, and it feels pretty good!

My calves still burn sometimes (I am still not flexible...), but it feels pretty good when I'm done with a run. Already completed a run this week, and today Curt and I will finish up another day. Here is week six:

Day one:
Walk five minutes
Run two minutes/walk two minutes for 16 minutes
Walk five minutes

Day two:
Walk five minutes
Run four minutes/walk two minutes for 18 minutes
Walk five minutes

Day three: 
Walk five minutes
Run two minutes/walk two minutes for 16 minutes
Walk five minutes

Day four:
Walk five minutes
Run 15 minutes (ahhhh!)
Walk five minutes

Curt and I leave for a mini-vacay this weekend, so we have to keep it up for the rest of the week. Let's go week six!

Another week bites the dust

Moving on to week five!

Last week was easier than I thought. When I am running, I hate every second. But when I'm done, I think about how it really wasn't that bad. I am not particularly looking forward to running, but I don't dread it as much as I used to.

The eight-minute run last week was not as bad as I thought--I ran with music, and it went by much more quickly. My focus might have been on my running pants since they were falling down the entire time (note to self: don't wear those pants while running again. Ever.), but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought.

This schedule for this week is as follows:

Day one:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes/walk 2 minutes for 15 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day two:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 60 seconds/walk 60 seconds for 15 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day three:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 3 minutes/walk 2 minutes for 15 minutes
Walk five minutes

Day four:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 10 minutes
Walk five minutes

Kick-starting week four

Week three of running is complete! Whoop, whoop!

I'm not gonna lie: I really didn't enjoy it this week. I don't know if I just was unmotivated or tired or just lazy, but I wasn't feeling it. Curt, luckily, made me run. Thanks to him, I have finished the third week in what is 10 weeks of torture. Okay, I like to exaggerate.

I am now one week closer to the Color Run, which I finally signed up for. Team Magic Crayon! In other news, Curt has found a 5k training app that makes up a zombie apocalypse thing...you have to run away from the zombies! I think he might try that while I run my workout--unsure yet, but it sounds way more exciting than me singing songs in my head while I run. So first the Color Run and then the Zombie Run!

Here is the week four breakdown:

Day one:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 90 seconds/walk 90 seconds for 18 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day two:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 2:00 minutes/walk 2:00 minutes for 16 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day three:

Walk 5 minutes
Run 3:00 minutes/walk 2:00 minutes for 15 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day four:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 8 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Yes, there is a fourth day to the workout from now on. I can barely run two minutes at a time, so wish me luck with eight!

And the verdict is...

The two week trial period is up. I said if I didn't hurt that much after two weeks, I would keep going.

And I am feeling pretty good!

I still get a little sore after I run--and during the run my calves burn like crazy, but it is getting better. I lost about two pounds during the week, so that's a nice plus, as well! Curt and I are going to keep going (hopefully the full ten weeks). This is the work out schedule this week:

Day one:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 60 seconds/walk 60 seconds  for 15 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day two:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 90 seconds/walk 90 seconds for 18 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

Day three:
Walk 5 minutes
Run 2:00 minutes/walk 2:00 minutes for 16 minutes
Walk 5 minutes

After this week, the longer distance running starts and the training plan increases to four days per week. I am going to savor this week because it will be the last easy week!

Until next week, lovelies! :-)

Starting off on the right foot

Well I was slacking on the week one update by a couple days, and I had a few minutes to spare to type this up.

Week one of 5k training=complete! It wasn't too difficult, which was a nice perk of the 10 week program that I picked. I even got my husband joining me which really has helped keep me motivated.

I finished day one of running this week, so I have two more days of running. They will go something like this:

Warm up: Brisk walk 5 minutes
Alternate running and walking for 90 seconds for 18 minutes
Cool down: slow walk 5 minutes

At the end of the first three days, I was feeling sore. My calves (thankfully not my knees) were really feeling it. I have tried to lengthen my running stride, and that has helped a bit. Otherwise, Curt and I stretch before and after a run as well as roll out any sore muscles. Pretty much and ice bath was in order--and I just love ice baths.

Always fun to get in and out of. Now if only I had those abs...

Two more days this week! Whoop! Till next time, friends!

Here's a phrase I never thought I would say

Here's the deal: I suck at exercising.

This has been on my mind a lot lately with a wedding, having to fit into a dress (which actually might have been a little small--yay, me!), and that I am no longer in any kind of organized sport. I am so out of shape, it's ridiculous...I'm losing weight, but I'm losing muscle, not fat. It's not exactly healthy, and I have been thinking about what to do with my situation.

I hate running. Like H-A-T-E, HATE. It hurts my knees, my back, and every other joint imaginable (and I'm only 23...sad). However, I keep seeing Facebook posts (best. peer. pressure. ever.) about how people are training for 5k's and marathons. And some of these people were bigger than me when they started. So I think to myself, "I could do that, right?" And then I think back to how much I hate running, and I laugh that I even considered it.

I love the elliptical. I could be on that for an hour and feel really good about myself. But here's the thing: it gets boring. I can't do the elliptical for an hour every day. So mixing things up is the way to go, but then I get lazy and don't get out my Zumba discs at home because that wine glass and couch look so much more inviting.

So here is what I have decided (drum roll, please!): I am going to train for a 5k (that's the phrase, if you were wondering)! Crazy! Especially since I was just like, "I hate running." My motivation will be this blog. Even though not many people read this, it will at least keep me semi-accountable. I may not actually finish, but I am going to give it a go for at least two weeks. And if after that time period my tendinitis, hips, and back are still driving me crazy, I will take that as a sign to rest and stick with a little more low impact workouts.

There are just over 10 weeks until the 5k Color Run in Des Moines. I found a 10 week plan which I will start next week (as long as it doesn't snow or become unbearably cold  because I have no treadmill to use!). I am getting a running watch and maybe new running shoes because mine are horrible.

Now, just don't make fun of me if you see me running on the side of the road--I will either be huffing and puffing or running wildly because anyone who knows me knows I run like a total girl.

Yeah...I'm definitely not Rachel.

My first week of training:

Day 1-3: Brisk five-minute warm-up walk.
Begin with 60 seconds of running followed by 60 seconds of walking for 15 minutes.
Walk slowly for 5 minutes.
Total time = 25 minutes.

Off days will be spent in rest, at the pool with a light swimming session, or light weight training. One day off completely for rest.

Total run/walk time for the week = 75 minutes

I will let you know how it goes. Good luck to me...and my knees.

The new Mrs. Toppin

Again, I fail on the blogging front. The only way I justify this is that no one actually reads my blog and I just write random things for fun. I don't know if that's true (well, based on my page views, it probably is a correct assumption), but I do know that I am still a horrible blogger and really need to get back on the writing path.

I do have a semi-good excuse since I was planning my wedding the past 14 months! And as of Saturday, I am officially a Toppin! Whoop!

I have been 'congratulated' out! Thanks everyone for the well wishes and for helping Curt and I celebrate our marriage. We truly appreciate all the help, every kind word, and every present we have gotten over the last few months. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Celebratory champagne and limo ride!

Battling Google

After a loooong battle with the Google server, I have finally cracked my way back into my account. Not before I had to switch admin roles to a different account and recreate my profile, but it's done!

I have pretty much been locked out of my account because I couldn't remember the temp address that I used to get into the account (not to mention that the address was shut down not too long ago). However, I am now back up and running, so here's to a successful 2013 blog--because it couldn't get any worse than the blogging job that I did in 2012!