Wednesday, May 29, 2013

About How I "Hate" Running

I always forget how horrible running is when I haven't done it in a while. I just got back from a 2.5 mile run/walk that took me 40 minutes total and just felt awful the whole time. I usually try not to put much thought into what others think of me while I'm exercising in public, but today I'm sure it was obvious that I just wasn't feeling it.

I feel like running is one of those ideals. Most people I know, when they want to "start working out again" just start running like it's something easy to pick up. If they can't run for a full mile they come close to it and running a 5k without walking seems like a random afternoon workout and not a big deal like it is to me. Sometimes I feel like everyone and their mother can run faster, longer, better than me (I don't even know if what I'm doing can really be considered running). Then I try to remind myself that I'm not the only one that feels this way, and the more often I run the easier running will become. After a while I can even trick myself into thinking I "like" running.

Running has never come easily to me. Ever since I was little I despised running. My legs are short, my lungs are weak, my knees are bad, and I'm prone to shin splints. In fact, every time I've stopped running in the past has been because of either knee or shin pain. The only that has improved is the tricks I've learned to prevent these injuries for at least a longer period of time. I consider every pain and injury a learning experience. New shoes, insoles, tape, foam rolling, stretching, cross training, not pushing too hard too soon; these things have all become important for me to remember. If I'm going to run and keep my body in good working order, I have to take precautionary measures.

The most important thing to remember is: everyone's body is different. I can't compair myself and my running goals to other people. It is okay to start off slow and walk a lot to begin with. And lastly, doing something is always better than doing nothing. Just don't give up, before you can try.

-S

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Graduation!

It's been about a month since graduation, but I'm finally getting these up here. I still can't believe I'm a college graduate. It's official too since I just got my diploma in the mail last week. The day was wonderful and I'm glad I let my mom convince me to participate in the ceremony. Here's just a few of my favorite photos from before and after commencement.

 My mom and I

The Whole Family

 Obligatory portrait by the Bronco statue

 Me and the parents.

 My mom, me, and my brother

My dad, me, and my brother

Clearly we covered all our bases on these babies.

 I love my family and without them this day would have never come. They also helped make the entire weekend fun, from our dinner at Bell's Friday night, to our dinner at Beer Exchange the next night, and letting me ditch them to go out with my friends (haha). There's nothing like family.

-S.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

5 Songs I've Been Loving

Drop what you're doing and go listen to some music friends. Just follow the links and I promise it'll be a good time.

  1. Safe and Sound by Capitol City 
  2. Radio by Daisy May 
  3. Everlasting Arms by Vampire Weekend
  4. Four Simple Words by Frank Turner
  5. When We're Together by Joshua Radin
These songs and basically anything from the albums they come from. Modern Vampires of The City is so good I can't stop listening. And my friend recently got me into Daisy May Erlewine. I also have a slight obsession with Frank Turner's voice and always perfect lyrics. 

Other important notes: The Great Gatsby soundtrack is perfection as well as the Nashville soundtrack, so go check those out too.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Accident that I Wish Would Happen

So the last couple days I have been throwing around the idea of moving and just randomly searched for jobs in Chicago and in Portland, OR. I always say I'm going to do things and then I never actually do them so I haven't thought that much about the whole endeavor.

Last night I went on the Free People website and looked for jobs in Chicago. On a whim I decided to apply for what I thought was a Sales Associate type job and filled everything out, which took a while to answer all the actually pretty cool questions the company has on their applications, and hit send. Then I went back to the main page and noticed that I had actually applied for a Stylist job... whoops.

I don't really expect to ever hear back about the job seeing as I don't have much in the form of experience other than dressing myself, loving the company, and being passionate about clothes, but it's one of those things you just wish would happen anyway. I mean fashion was my first love. In Elementary school I used to get in trouble for doodling clothes all the time during class. I used to tell everyone that I was going to be a fashion designer one day and make all my own clothes. 

After high school I gained weight and really didn't have money to keep buying myself clothes; this sort of changed my style a lot and I never felt as confident about my styling choices as I did back in grade school. Over the past year, I've worked hard to try to increase my confidence in myself and in doing so have started to get back into fashion.

I guess what I'm really trying to say is that sometimes I wish life worked itself out in a way that I was actually able to get a stylist job. It just sounds like a creative outlet I could really contribute to. Sometimes what starts out as an accident makes you wish you had done it on purpose.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Stop Calling Yourself Fat

Monday I read a post that was a nice reminder that I need to be kind to myself.

Monica of Run Eat Repeat wrote a post about the need to "stop the fat talk." Calling yourself fat "doesn’t help you feel better or make the people around you think highly of you," says Monica. And it's totally true. 


Everyone at one point or another is going to feel down about their body, but it's not something we should dwell on. For a long time I went around complaining that I was fat, even during the years I can look back on now and know for sure that was not true. And then when I did gain weight after quitting dance I was even harder on myself, but it comes to a point where you have to stop all that negative talk. We have a hard enough time dealing with what society says that we don't need to add our own negative thoughts toward our bodies. 


I don't believe there is simple solution for feeling fat. Sure we can exercise, eat better, lose weight, but eventually that feeling is going to come around again and you have to be prepared to fight it off. Like Monica suggested in her post put on something that makes you feel good, do something fun with your friends, listen to something funny, or put on your favorite up beat song and dance around your room.


Be kind to yourself and be kind to your body.