Never give up

To win the weight loss challenge I have stuck to a strict diet, and spent a lot of time running. This week being the last week of the competition I have been going to the gym every day. Monday I ran a 5k in 30 min with the treadmill set on the Hills setting followed by 30 minutes on the exercise bike set on hills setting. Tuesday was pretty much the same routine but I ran a little faster and longer. Today I was on pace to run another 30min 5k but my legs were a little tired so after ten minutes I stopped running on the tread and did ten minutes on the rowing machine (great cardio that isn't hard on the legs.) Then I went back to the treadmill and did another mile, this time in 7:35. After that I did the exercise bike for 45minutes.

To show for all of my work I've lost exactly 1 pound since Monday. I think I need a new playlist to run to.

I am still optimistic and hope to win the challenge. I'm not even sure what I win, but winning is always fun. Secondly even if I don't win I've still lost almost all of the weight I put on while in the states. Thirdly, even more than winning and losing a bunch of weight... I look forward to eating pizza again :)

Growing up, was our mailman black?

I'm back. I would like to apologize to all of my fans that have been waiting for me to update. I will give you all a brief summary of this past summer.

Hurt my back. Stopped exercising. Slowly started gaining weight. Went back to the states. Spent 3 and a half months visiting churches, my friends, family, and favorite restaurant. Gained 30 pounds while in the states. Swam a little.

That pretty much sums it up. But I'm writing to let you all know that I've gotten back on the horse. I've joined a weight loss challenge. I've lost around 15 pounds since being back in Germany. I've been running (usually on the elliptical machine cause the treadmill hurts my back) I've been trying to get back into running. I've run a 5k a couple of times, and today I decided (I have know idea why) that I should run a 10k. The first 5 were the worst. Somehow even though it was a tough 5k I made it in exactly 30 minutes. The Second 5 were explain-ably easy. I actually ran the second 5 faster than the first and with more resistance on the machine. I have two theories as to why this is.

Theory 1. We consistently tell ourselves that we can't and getting over that wall makes all the difference. Maybe if we allowed ourselves to dream and stopped saying we can't we would realize our possibilities our endless

Theory 2. For the first 5k I listened to Feist. The second 5 I listened to dirty gangsta rap. This theory opens up a whole can of worms that I don't know if I'm prepared to deal with. It brings about questions like "What is it about black people music that inspires me?" and "Growing up, was our mailman black?"

Anyways I ran my first 10k today and it was less than an hour. 55 minutes and 42 seconds