Why am I doing this? Good question... I'm not sure, but I am.

The first blog. Sad to say, I am procrastinating a run by figuring out how to design my blog and make it fun. I need to get off my butt, grab Captain (one of my dogs) and get in atleast 3 miles today. But, the wind is gross, the air is cold, and the lake looks grey. Blah... who wants to run in those conditions?! Not me, but I will....

A bit more, before I change and brave the cold air of Luna Pier. I have been debating about a  blog about my/our races, my/our weight lost journey, etc. for some time now. But, it seemed so personal, so public, so "out-there." And then I read BenDoesLife.com. If you want to talk about motivating - read it, read it now, read it daily, and do life. So ...here we go.

For me, I have lost nearly 45 pds, since I graduated high school. College, especially my swim coach and the swim team, changed my life (but I did not know that then). But, if I go into  that all now, I will never run today. Let's just say - being overweight in middle school and high school is not a good time. Let me also say, I was lucky enough to have some of the bestfriends in MS/HS a girl could ever ask for, so for about 90% of my time there, I absolutely loved every minute.

College, changed my life. And since college to now, I have tried to figure out a healthy lifestyle. Do I really need to eat healthy? Do I really need to go the gym? Do I really need to lift weights? Yes, yes, and yes. I am one of those people, that if I look at cake, it goes straight to my ass (actually my chin, but ass sounds so much better). It runs in my family. For years I cursed God for it. But, I now look at it as this: it is what it is, it is part of my life, and I am better person for being as disciplined as I am, because of it (well most days, I can view it like this and other days, I still curse God for it and then eat a pizza).

 In the last two years, I think I finally found what works for me and what doesn't. Before my wedding, I was at my lowest weight of my adult life (I mean, I am talking since 7th grade and on!). Since then, I gained 20 back last winter, went nuts last spring, lost about 15, gained 5 this fall, lost that, and am now trying to shake the last 5, before I try for 50 more before my 30th birthday in June. If I don't make it by June, that is okay. But I am going to maintain a healthy lifestyle and live. I love my life and the healthier I become, the more I love it. That's enough for this piece for now... I need to run sometime today.

Side note --I am not comfortable sharing my weight numbers yet. As it is, I loath the scale. But, perhaps as I continue to blog with the world to see, I will one day post. For now, that's between me and my WW scale (yes, I do WW and yes, I know all the points to food).

More to come on my past..in a later blog.

*Second Side note - Troy, my husband, has lost over 80 pounds since we first met. Pictures to follow. He went from a cute football player, to hot frattastic (my word, don't hate on it) tri-athlete. I will talk alot about Troy in this blog. Yes, because he is a cool husband. But more so, because he is the only other person that really gets this journey I have gone on (will always be on) and he makes me run 10 miles, when I would rather slice my wrists. I kid, I kid.

I promised the "before pic" .. here it is. This is of us, our first summer dating (I don't even recognize Troy in this picture):

And then this is of us, in November '10, during our trip to TX to run the half. I still have a ways to go, but I will make it. :) Troy, looks fabulous. (I realize it is blurry... but it works).

But, to keep it short, here are some things I can promise you from this blog:

Misspelled words (sorry mom!)
Grammatical errors (again, sorry mom!)
Honesty
Humor
A lot of sarcasm
Pictures
Captain and Bailey stories (if you don't own a dog, get one. If you don't like dogs, then I don't like you)
Tales of Troy
Family
A real, honest look at this journey I am on
Blogs about running, swimming, biking, lifting weights, and eating healthy
Blogs about not working out, feeling guilty, and eating crappy food
Blogs about running races as "the chunky girl"
Blogs about Bloody Marys... I love me some Bloody Marys (I drink one after ever race I do!)
Swear words (I swear up a storm when I run... especially past 8 miles. Ask Troy).
Funny stories
Lame stories
Random stories
Random quotes
Questions
Goals
And my life

As my title says... 70.3 ... this ones for me.

Stay tuned ...

(Going out for a run ... even Captain doesn't want to go today)