Oh, I'm sorry, what was that? You thought I'd given up? Oh, honey. Guess again.

Well hello, hello, hello to my old and dear devoted readers and friends. I know, it's been about 3 weeks since you've heard anything from me. You're probably clicking your tongue in your mouth thinking, "golly darn, what a shame. That poor girl gave up on her goals." (Well, maybe you're not thinking golly darn. But you know what I mean.) Well, my friends, it's been a tough road this semester, but no--I have not, and I will not give up.

Last semester I got the incredible privilege of being able to focus on my health and fitness without the stress of a job and paying bills. My awesome dad supported me through that 5 month journey in which I lost 25 pounds, which was AWESOME. Most of ya'll know all this... I ran my first 5k, which was a big deal, and I gained a lot of emotional and mental health through my own physical fitness journey.

This semester things aren't as stress-free. I'm actually working now, and that takes up a lot of time that I'd love to devote to working out. Thankfully, I got a job at a gym, and I've recently started going in early to work out before my shift starts.

I'll be honest, it's been a rough start to the semester. And even more honestly, I'd mentally and emotionally given up on ever being in better shape than the sluggish 205 pound girl I've been seeing in the mirror. But I'd still been lazily going for jogs and eating fairly conscientiously--well, ok, the food part not so much. Fried food was and will always be my Achilles's heel. But...

God has blessed me with a friend named Megan Arnold, and she has stepped up as a voice of encouragement and inspiration in my life is a way that I cannot even fathom. Last semester she and I got together to swim some.. she is actually the one who taught me how to swim! And this semester, as of just last week actually, we have become inseparable fitness buddies... a trend I TRULY hope stays up.

We ran on Thursday a sloppy 2 miles. I was sloppy, she left me in her dust... which was good for me, because as she ran, this is what I saw:
 

to megan's credit: i told her to do something cool and fitnessy for the picture. she isn't by nature as cheesy as i am to do this unprovoked. ha:) LOVEYOU GIRL

She was wearing this shirt, entirely unintentionally, and I had to stare at it as the distance grew between us and I felt like, dang.... I suck. I felt so weak and miserable, and my legs were screaming at me. Two weeks before that I'd ran a comfortable 4 miles! What gives! Amazing how hard it is to build up to a place of strength and fitness and how easy it is to lose it all. But we pushed through, and the next day ran an improved 4.1 mile hilly jog.

On Saturday she accompanied me to Trader Joe's and kroger and helped me plan out my week of food, with meals that were low calorie, healthy, fresh, simple, easy to pack, tasty, and affordable. I went home and washed and packaged veggies and fruits and nuts and stuff for easy snacking and eating later this week.

I tell you what, this woman blows me away. We ran 3.1 miles yesterday, and tonight we met at Ramsey and swam. I ended up swimming vigorously for 50 minutes! Then I did some ab work, which Megan and I have also been trying to add to the end of our runs. She is such an inspiration.

And in fact. Today as I was swimming (and yesterday as we ran), I felt so energized, so much back in health, that I recalled that Triathlon I'd wanted to do that I told ya'll about in my last post and I was like, I can't NOT do it... I was plagued with desire to just push my limits, test my boundaries, and DO IT.

So...
I came home....
And I signed up.
In 11 days, I am doing my first triathlon.
 Yeah. :)
I'm kinda beaming like crazy and I'm so super nervous and excited to announce that. You can read more about it below. :)
If you want to help me out at all, hit me up and we'll go work out together. ORRRRR--
I NEED A BIKE. If you have a bike that you aren't using, or can get by without for the next two weeks, I would be unendingly grateful if you let me borrow it. Street bike or mountain bike, I just need something that I can get some road time on and do the race on. Let me know PLEASE if you have one, or know someone who can help me out.


So get excited! We're all in this together. Ya'll literally are my support system. If Megan hadn't been a little intentional with her time the past week, this may not have happened. Here we go, on to the next bigger and better and more spectacular adventure! :D