Recent Happenings: Half Marathon Training

In other news...

I was having trouble falling asleep one night about 3 weeks ago, so naturally, I decided to sign up for a half marathon. Why, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine...I've always despised running, thinking it a pointless, mundane activity that did nothing but make me feel like I needed to throw up. I think I put "run a half marathon" on my Bucket List, just as a joke.

So for the self-professed non-runner, training for my first half marathon has commenced! I roped a friend into doing it with me, which makes it 10 times easier. We'll be running 6 miles tomorrow...yikes! A month ago, I would have never thought that was possible. Or even more surprising, that I'd ENJOY it. Weird.

It has definitely had some favorable effects on my body, which I can't say I'm upset about. A plus, for sure, but not the goal of the training. I think I've dropped about 5 pounds in the 3 weeks since I've started, my stomach is significantly flatter, and "the line" is starting to show up again. "The line" is something I haven't seen since soccer season of my senior year of high school. It runs down the outside of my thigh (better known as the outside of my quad), and ohhhh how I've missed it! I'm very glad it's made a resurgence, because I was starting to think it was lost forever in my high school years...along with the insane metabolism that allowed me to eat two dinners a night (plus dessert) and still not put weight on.

Still getting used to the fact that I've become a "runner" (although I'm not sure if I've quite earned that title yet). I'm having a bit of an identity crisis over it: how in the world have I come to love something I adamantly hated for, oh...16 years?

Recent Happenings: Online Dating

A few friends (including my former boss) all decided to sign up for eHarmony together. (Cringe!) I was so against it for the longest time...at first, it seemed like an admission of defeat. It was like saying, "Yep, it's official. I can't meet people the normal way because I'm THAT much of a loser...guess I'll resort to meeting people online." But surprisingly...it was a TON of fun and I really enjoyed it. Ok, scratch that. It was fun for about 3 weeks, then just became a hassle and an annoyance. But for those few weeks, I went on a ridiculous amount of dates, met some very cool, interesting people (had some strange experiences as well), and it really helped clarify what I'm looking for in someone. But it became more of a chore than anything...when you go on that many dates, it isn't fun anymore, it's an obligation. However, I DID meet a really great guy who I've been seeing for about a month and a half now. :) Smitten.

I (mostly) got over my embarrassment about the online dating thing - especially after seeing that 95% of the people who do it are perfectly normal, non-desperate, sociable, and generally pretty attractive...not the unemployed 35 year olds living in their moms' basements who play World of Warcraft all day with Cheetoh dust on their wifebeater-covered beer bellies that I had pictured. Thank the LORD.