Before/After

I knew that when I arrived at Tasha's house, I'd be starting up exercising again. I'm a big fan of running, although I had to cut down on running in Japan, which got me out of shape.

I was super stoked to get back into running!  Tash and Dewy taught me how to make 

protein pancakes (egg, oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla, almond milk)

They are delicious! I got in the habit of waking up at 7 to eat breakfast with everyone, and then Tash and I would work out at 9.

On Mon, Wed, Fri we'd go to the gym and do weights & running, while Tue & Thurs had us running outside, P90X, or running up & down Tasha's 2 staircases 50 times. My favorite one is running outside. It's finally warm outside, and Tasha lives by river with a jogging path next to it. So pretty!

 I'd assumed that things would be difficult in the beginning, which of course was true. I felt like Jabba the Hut. I got shin splints, my face stayed beet red for a few hours, and the longest I could run without walking was 8 minutes. Did I mention Tasha regularly runs for an hour? I understood that it was all due to not running much last year, but I was still mad at myself. Back in Utah, I'd gotten to the point where I felt like a bullet when I ran, and I loved running. So even though I was frustrated and slow compared to Tasha, I just kept reminding myself that I'd gone through all of this before and succeeded. Knowing that helped me keep going.

Tash is the best workout buddy ever. At first I felt bad when we would run outside, because I'd have to stop and walk a lot. She'd stop and walk with me even though I knew she had plenty of energy to keep going. She'd also be really positive and motivating, and she'd time my runs to show me that I was improving. Timing my runs motivated me to try beating my previous time every day.  I don't think I'd have made as much progress if Tash hadn't been here! 

A few days ago, I'd worked up to running for an hour straight. I don't think I've ever run that long in my life. I was so freaking proud of myself that I sprinted for the last minute. It was a big day for me.

This is from today's workout. It was chilly, but I'm finally at the point where I enjoy it again. I still have random days where my energy doesn't feel very high, but I push through them and feel great afterwards. I'd always hated running outside til I tried it here, so I hope I can keep with it back in Utah. Tash has a busy life, so we can only run for an hour each day. So now my goal will be to keep achieving that hour mark, and hopefully start adding more speed into my run. Thank you Tash, for your motivation, and for  helping me get back into working out!