Tuesday Morning Bliss-- Covered in White.

Ok-- I woke up in a great mood-- excited to gear up, go out the door, and greet the day with my morning run-- then I looked outside. It had snowed all night long..... in April!!!! Yes, I live in Buffalo NY and yes it can and does happen occasionally in the spring. I also work in the TV news biz so it wasn't a complete suprise. The meterologist had warned it was coming the night before but I truly did not believe some 2 inches of the white stuff actually stuck to the ground! I thought it would all melt away overnight but that was not the case. The sidewlks were too snow covered to run and I was concerned about injury. I was set back-- but not defeated. I settled for the gym and ran 5 miles on the treadmill!

I had taken my rest day yesterday, only my second in 4 weeks. I felt horrible. Running is an addiction and a day without it is painful in my opinion-- I just hope I am not burning myself out before the end of May and the Buffalo Marathon!

Beginning the big run

I am 33 and recently made two big life altering decisions-- to get physically fit and quit smoking. I am currently holding true to both! I have tried to accomplish these two things many times before but without much success, for some reason now I am more motivated than ever! I can thank a simple exercise for that!

I was told that once I quit smoking I would eat--- a lot! Friends who had quit years before said they replaced the cigarette with a chicken wing or a slice of pizza-- I decided to do something else to fill the void--- run! I actually started running a few weeks before quitting. The running forced me to realize how much the smoking was hurting my health. Running had become increasingly difficult-- within two days of quitting I felt amazing, running faster, and with a lot more ease. I believe this was strictly mental. Its hard to believe two days without a smoke would yield such immediate physical results-- but whatever works!

I began to run everyday. The commencement process was anything but easy. I would start off walking for 2 minutes, running for 2 minutes on and off. My first week I ran two miles per day, week 2, 3 miles-- I am now in week 4 and now an ex-smoker. I am running 4 miles per day. I have lost 12 pounds and feeling great-- almost euphoric. I truly believe running is equal to a drug, it is very addicting-- thankfully, in my opinion, more so than nicotine!

I am now training for a half marathon. It will be held May 24th in Buffalo, NY-- I've learned having a goal ahead helps keep me motivated!