Holy Hills Batman!

So I love morning time and I really love morning when I can go out for a long run or bike ride and not fall over from heat exhaustion.  This morning was PERFECT weather for a long bike ride through some beautiful horse country in North Texas.  Most days I will go out on the same route, just out to the lake and then back again but this weekend I talked myself into some pretty heavy events (total of 30+ miles combined - running with obstacles) ALL in the next two weeks!  Yikes! So I thought I better step it up a bit and see how my legs hold out going a few miles farther then usual.  

With weather and scenery this beautiful, I was totally lost in the beauty around me and the sun above me that 15.92 miles later, I felt amazing and recharged!  Now, you can't see in the picture above that around mile 10 -12 I ran (biked) into the mecca of all rolling hills that required me to downshift and peddle like a ROCK STAR!  But I made it through like a champ and actually switched it back into high gear for a glute busting interval workout!  

I sort of felt like one of those elite cyclist that actually knows what they are doing out there cranking out the miles on back country road.  Felt great, liberating almost to be surrounded by beauty, fresh air, dodging only a few bugs and critters crossing the road and the wind in my face.  I'm quite certain (in the mind of a sweaty, so-so, endurance athlete) that was the best start to this day and a great way to wind down the weekend.  

Sometimes THIS is all you need to clear your mind, start fresh and be a better version of you.  Hope this post finds you all enjoying what you love this weekend!  More good times and adventures are around the corner, my friends!  I can't wait to share them all with you!

Find your peace, 

Day One ~ Diary of a Sweaty, So-So, Endurance Athlete

Well hello everyone!  Thanks so much for joining me on my journey as a Sweaty, So-So, Endurance Athlete!  Let me take a minute to introduce myself and the purpose of this blog.  I've been in the fitness industry for quite awhile now, 10 years if you are keeping track and over the years I've been involved in LOTS of "movement" activities.  I started out walking circles around my neighborhood when my kids were small, then I started running and then running some more and more and then some more!  I've participated in ONE marathon (26.2 miles is a really long way!), ran in half marathons, 10k's, 5k's, went to boot camps, ran my own boot camps, completed mud runs, walked on stage as a figure competitor and so many other events it's hard to keep track of.

So you are thinking, huh, big deal, lots of people do that what makes me so special?  Well, nothing really!  I'm just your average, sweaty, not fast but not slow, so-so endurance junkie trying to stay healthy and spread the wellness word along the way. 

Soooo, what's my purpose here?  Well let me tell you one beautiful semi-fall Saturday morning in North Texas (80's - whoop!), I was out for a long bike ride with a little running included and I started thinking, (I think clearer in the morning - even before coffee!), the little voice in my head (who speaks to me more then I care to admit) started yelling at me...

"Stacey, you really love this stuff!  You love being out in the open, just you, your thoughts, your heart racing, lungs full of fresh, country air, just you against you!  You are not fast and you are not slow but you keep going.  You keep moving no matter what hurts the next day, no matter the time that passes, you keep...on...going. THIS is what you need to write about.  THIS is what you need to share with ALL the other "not so fast but not too slow, so-so, (super awesome!) endurance athletes out there."  

That ONE single thought, that realization that this is WHAT I love has brought me here to you all today.  I will journal my experiences, my random thoughts, challenges, recipes, my up hill and down hill battles in hopes that you all can relate to my experiences and laugh right along with me.  Because when it comes down to it, my friends, life is too short to wear ugly tennis shoes!  Life is meant to be LIVED in the fresh open air, soaking up the sun, wearing awesome tennis shoes, being with those you love and laughing and loving, every...single...day.

So, I hope you all will jump on my sweaty, so-so, endurance hill climb!  It will be educational, inspiring, hysterical and most all......it will be FUN!  

Welcome aboard!