Fitness Friday: Edition I am no expert

I am one of those people who has truly always been fairly skinny. Additionally, I eat...a lot. AND, I'm still under the magical age of thirty, at which, my mother claims my metabolism will slow down, I will have at least one child and apparently my body will become my worst nightmare. Because of these things, fitness has not been front of mind for me in the past.

In order to combat the whole metabolism issue from occurring (or at least from it occurring earlier than it has to), I have begun to take steps toward being a more fit individual. Two quick things I feel like you should know: 1-I worked an incredibly active job until about a month ago (I lifted 50 lb bags of sugar multiple times a day, walked like 4000 steps a day, etc, so working out wasn't really necessary--nor did i have the energy for it) 2-To say "oh, she's skinny, she must be in good shape" is the most asinine statement EVER! Trust me when I say I get out of breath climbing a flight of stairs just like everyone else in the world.

My fitness journey has thus far included the following: in 2012, I decided I wanted to be a runner. Did you know you can't just decide that, buy fancy shoes, and deem it so? Man, I was a little bummed about that. I have run on and off for two years-run several 5Ks, quit because it would get cold, bought lots of cute clothes for running, quit again, etc. ANNND, that is about where my fitness journey has landed at the moment.

In October or so of last year, my brother and I decided we wanted to do a marathon and half marathon respectively. So, we paid the fee (because $100 motivates me much more than the desire to be fit) and started a training plan. Then we quit. Then we started. Grin. Such is life. My youngest sister and I, though, are full kilt in half-marathon training at the moment. This is the plan we are doing:

We found the plan here. 

We are on week 7. Honestly, we aren't really doing the stretch and strengthen day. Instead, we are adding a short run at race pace on that day. Here are a few things I've found so far:

1-Starting and stopping training is my worst enemy. If I "take a day off", it ends up being three and I'm huffing and puffing on mile three again

2-Rewarding myself with a new sports bra, running shorts, etc is a huge motivator when I'm not really feeling it. When it was 15 degrees, I bought some cute running leggings and went on with my life.

3- A partner is crucial for me. If Morgan weren't texting me every single day asking what time, where, when we are running, I would have quit. Seven different times.

My goal for future fitness includes P90x3, hydrating properly, adjusting my diet, continuing running daily (I want to hit 1000+ miles in 2014), tracking my progress, and so much more. Over the next several Fridays, I will be touching on each of these subjects and addressing how I am combating the enemies of fitness (laziness is huge for me). I hope that my fitness journey will encourage you in yours!