Time to be honest...

 I'm going to tell you my story. Not my life story, but the story of why I'm trying to become a runner. Anybody who knows me very well knows that I'm not/never have been a runner in my entire life. There isn't anything about it that I enjoy, except for finishing my runs and feeling those endorphins come rushing in.


Now I'm going to tell you why I decided to run a half marathon (and 10k's). Everybody who runs always seems so happy. Being a runner is something that anybody can do, and it doesn't cost any money (aside from purchasing running shoes). The world is your gym. I've never really felt like I've accomplished anything outside of school, and that is why I decided to train for, and run, a half marathon. It really is something that takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Not to mention the fact that runners are in great shape!

Training for this half marathon has been one of the hardest things I've ever done. I'm about 98% sure that I started running too much, too soon, and with shoes that were too old. I would be in excruciating pain after my runs. I've had to learn to be patient. If my legs were hurting, I had to learn to take it slower and easier. It gets better though: as soon as my legs started hurting a little bit less (it was finally bearable/minimal pain) I was really excited, and then I started getting blisters from the shoes I would wear to my internship. I went out for one of my morning runs, and I had to stop less than 1/2 a mile into it. It felt like the skin on my heels was ripping apart. So, I hobbled home and got frustrated for not being able to run. It gets even better though. Then Tyler and I went to Bear Lake on a Saturday and I got FRIED! I was as red as a tomato, and completely miserable. I decided to take my Monday run off, but on Tuesday I decided that I needed to go since I had had so many setbacks because of my blisters and leg pain. My sunburn decided to blister!! Aah! Seriously? I think I took about 3 days off after that. Not only was I miserable from the burn, but I was frustrated because I thought I could do a half marathon, I was registered, I was trying to train, and I was too scared to run. I didn't want the pain and I didn't want my sunburn to blister. I made my own training schedule, but at this point, I was too far behind on it to know where I actually was. Perfect.

I just have to keep telling myself  that it's okay if I need to walk! Nobody becomes a long distance runner overnight. The best part? It really is okay to walk. Sure, I would like to be able to do these races without walking, but, I'm making progress and I'm doing a lot of distance! It's more than I was doing 2 months ago! My goal for the 10k I'm doing on Monday is to run at least the whole first 4 miles. Ultimately I'd like to try and push myself enough to run the whole thing. We'll see how it goes though. I'm sure I'll keep you posted!


Things really have been getting better lately, except for the heat outside (and in my apartment). I'm not a morning person, and it is really hard to get up. It is hard to find the motivation to run, but I do it. Everyday I think I'm crazy for signing myself up for this, but I know that after I run 13.1 miles on August 27th, I will feel incredible. That's why I'm doing it.

Our first REAL summer adventure!

Last week I had a fabulous idea! I thought that it would be fun to go up to Bear Lake on Saturday just so we could get away and enjoy the sun! Because I swear, it has only been nice weather in Logan for about two weeks now. Seriously. It turns out, it was a great idea! On Saturday morning Tyler went to a review session for his anatomy class (which was good, because he said that it helped a lot), and I cleaned the entire apartment! I sure do love having a clean apartment! Anyway, once Tyler got home we packed up our things and headed out to the lake!

Here's the breakdown what happened on Saturday...

• Tyler went to an anatomy review, Katie cleaned the apartment.
• Tyler and Katie packed things up, got into their swimsuits and went to the car.
• Ten minutes into the drive, Katie opened up the bag of BBQ Potato Chips. 
• Tyler kept driving.
• Katie watched the Logan River all the way to the lake. It is AMAZING how much water was rushing by. 
• Katie was also amazed by how high the water was. 
• Katie kept commenting on the water because she had never seen anything like it before.
• Tyler kept driving. Poor Tyler, has to listen to Katie talk. 
• Oh, Tyler talked while he was driving too.
• Finally got to Bear Lake. 
• Tried to find a free beach.
• No luck in finding a free beach, the water was SO high!
• Went into a paid beach, found a good spot.
• Enjoyed the sun
• Got annoyed at the people who decided to hang out 5 feet away from us.
• Decided to go try out the water.
• The water was FREEZING!!!
• Kept walking out into the water. It was funny how cold it was.
• Decided to get out of the water, dried off.
• Went to get some lunch at Merlin's. Delicious!
• Went back to the beach. Some of the annoying people had left.
• Decided to get back into the freezing water. This time we knew what to expect, so it wasn't as bad. Still freaking cold though.
• Played Frisbee in the water. Katie is really bad at throwing and catching a frisbee (she eventually got better at it though).
• Had random kids come watch us play Frisbee. It was really weird.
• Decided it was time to get out of the water because a bunch of other people had come out with their frisbees, and it got really crowded.
• Dried off, again. 
• Went to LaBeau's. Tyler got a Peach shake, Katie got a Chocolate Brownie shake. Delicious!
• Drove home to Logan. 
• Discovered sunburns. Yikes!
• Ate popsicles.
• Went to bed.

Sorry, that was a really long list! I didn't intend for it to be quite so lengthy. Since I punished you with that list, I will try and make up for it with some fun pictures from the lake! Enjoy!

See, I told you. The water at the lake was REALLY high! That grassy stuff was super disgusting to walk through.

 We are just so cute and in love!

The beach to the right of us looked empty. We didn't want to go down there because it wasn't very close to the car (the sand was REALLY hot) and there weren't many trees around. Bear Lake is so pretty!

Just showing off how cute we are together, again! 

I just need to say Thank You to my WONDERFUL husband for making this trip possible! He is always so good to go along with my crazy ideas! Love you Tyler!

What have you done for fun lately?