It’s Drake Relays time!

That means … I’m really busy.

But seriously. It means streetpainting, Beautiful Bulldogs and lots of races. I’m not running in the Drake Half Marathon this year — no way am I going to top shaving off 20 minutes from my PR —  but I am going to go check out some of the fun events this week. And you should too!

Here are some of my favorite photos from Drake’s flickr galleries.

The winner of the Beautiful Bulldog Contest was Lucy Brown! (the ! is part of her  name) and she is suuuuuper adorable. And probably pretty slobbery.

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For those of you who don’t know, I recently went through kind of a rough patch.  During that time, most of my healthy lifestyle and habits went out the window.  I was eating pizza and ice cream on a semi-daily basis.  But magically, I was losing weight.

Something was up.  I don’t know what, but whatever it was finally caught up to me.

So 10 pounds that I shed during that time have crept back up on me in a very unflattering manner.  The weight I lost was mostly muscle.  Let’s just say it didn’t come back in that form.

Here’s where most of my readers (all 5 of you?) groan.  Well, you  know what? I like to look a certain way, and dammit, I know if I work at it, I can get there. I’ve been there. I worked HARD to get there.  I’ve been lazy.  I need to quit being lazy.  Despite what you may think, you don’t get this body for free.  I was damn lucky to have maintained it the past few months, but my luck is beginning to run out.

It begins today.

I’m getting my ass out of bed and working out in the morning. I’m starting with Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred.  It’s painfully hard.  Even for somebody who’s in as good of shape as me (haha, which isn’t as good as you would think actually).

I’m going to bring the DVD, my weights and mat home with me when I go for Thanksgiving.  I’ve got an elliptical at home and some of my old favorite running routes live on the gravels back there.  Turkey, do your worst.  I’m ready.

Today was day one.  I was GOING to get up and run.  But it decided to thunderstorm.  I remembered that Jillian was waiting for me in my living room.  So, I hung with her for 20 minutes.  To me, that’s not a good enough workout. So, I’m probably going to hit the gym over lunch today. And by probably, I mean I AM going to hit the gym.

Also, I’m burning P90X from my work computer and taking it home with me.  I need an ass-kicking workout. I want to be ripped again.

Here’s my inspiration …

Lolo and Jillian.  Yes, I found a picture where Jillian looks BEAUTIFUL and less like a man (I think she’s gorgeous anyway, but I’ve heard other people say otherwise).

Anyway.  I’m uncomfortable where I’m at right now and that needs to change. I’m afraid I’m going to continue packing it on like I did last year, and I don’t want to get to that point again. I saw the magic number on the scale last month. I want to see it again.  And I want it to stay there.  But I want to do it the right way, not the wrong way.

I also realize that means I’m going to have to cut out a LOT of the crap I’ve been eating lately (sorry, no more beer and Fong’s Pizza for me).  Sushi can stay (thank god).  Fortunately, I’ve fallen in love with some healthy food (arugula, tomatoes, cottage cheese, beets, etc) over the years, so I should be able to get back into the swing of things.  I just have to watch myself.  And THINK before I eat.  THINKING is the biggest part of holiday weight gain for most people, or I should say lack thereof. I’m vowing to think before I eat this year.  For real this time. Food is fuel.  I need to think like an athlete again.  Hopefully I can get strong enough to do my half marathon in April this year.  But I have to start somewhere, and it begins now.

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