I woke up this morning knowing that I had to go and workout today. Today was another scorcher, well above 90 degrees. But, I thought about how many times have I read emails and comments from you guys saying “You kept on going through the rain, through the cold through the whatever, because you could hear my voice in Week 5 saying “Just get to it, No excuses!” When I got home from work, I said it’s just too hot outside, I’ll go to the gym. But I didn’t want to feel like a hamster running around the track in circles. So, I decided that I would drink plenty of water and brave the weather. My Big Little Sister called and invited me to her neighborhood block party, but I was getting ready to go to the park to run. Then, I had an ingenious idea. Why not walk to my Sister’s house? I jumped on Google maps really quick and saw that it was just a little over 3 and half miles and an estimated 1 hour and 8 minute walk. I can handle that. Right? Maybe? I was so excited about my adventure, I grabbed my fur baby Nyah, and hit the pavement, and told my sister to look out for us. I was probably too excited, because I forgot my Cell Phone
and had to turn back around after a few minutes to get it. By the time I walked back to my door, I was already sweating. This is a good plan right? This will make a good blog post tonight right? We headed out again, this time armed with my cell phone, a towel to catch my sweat, and my iPod 
. I took a self defense class in college that said as a lady you should never run alone with earphones in both ears, so I always have just one in, so I can pay attention to my surroundings while jamming to my podcast. There was so much to see, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
and then the Best thing. I told y’all before I live in the hood/ghetto, but all the scary looking people were scared of Nyah, so it worked out perfectly. About 10 minutes into my walk, I was thinking I’d never make it all the way there; because I’ve never walked to a real destination except my Mom’s house about 7 blocks away. Then I saw “The GOOD”, this church billboard sign that read “Run Till You Finish” with a scripture. I appreciated that little boost and knew right then that I would make it all the way. 
Then came “The BAD.” I had to walk past like 3 cemeteries. That stuff creeps me out, and it made me think about dead people. No fun. 
Then came the “The UGLY.” There was this horrible collapsed building, or what used to be to be building, it reminded me of the Haiti disaster. I kept asking myself what happened? We don’t have earthquakes, or Tsunamis that would do damage like that here in St. Louis. How does the city allow it to stay like that? Why won’t they clean it up? It was just sad really. When you’re driving past, it’s so easy to over look the details. 
Anyway, Me and Nyah, kept pushing, trying to block out the disturbing broken glass and boarded up ghetto images and focus on the main goal, my sister’s house in a good/safe neighborhood. When we were just about 10 minutes away there was a monster hill, and another cemetery. I hadn’t really put steep hills in my brave hood adventure equation. It killed me and Nyah, I was dragging all 65 pounds of her by the time we finally arrived at the block party. I looked at my Nike Tracker
, it read exactly 1 hour and 8 minutes. I was so freaking happy! I did it! And I did it in the suggested amount of time. Finally the there was “The BEST”, my cute little niece at the finish line. Her smiling face and jumbled 2 year old words made it all worthwhile.
Everyday, I check my blog stats, I can see how many people stop by, and look at what they type in the search engine that directs them to my web page. It’ s usually the same stuff like “Carli Running” or “Couch to 5K podcast” or “How do you get in shape running?” But today, Oh my goodness I got the best laugh! Somebody searched online and typed “Does Joel Osteen
wear a weave?” and found my RunningIntoShape site! That was so freaking hilarious. I love the motivational preacher Joel Osteen and I love my hair weave. But I promise, there are no posts about Joel Osteen’s hair here. His hair is always fabulous, but I seriously doubt that it’s “weave.” However, I did get a new weave on Saturday, and I love it. Check out my bathroom shot of my new hair do! I’m still laughing. By the way, I did work out today, running and the elliptical, but it’s super late, so I’ll give the details tomorrow. I just had to share my funny story. Later!
Hey Everybody. It’s so hot here in St. Louis, and I’ve been quite lazy. I felt like it was too hot to go to boot camp class on Tuesday and Thursday. It was over 90 degrees both days, and I just couldn’t imagine doing jumping jacks or running bleachers in that type of humid heat. However, instead of hitting the gym, I hit the couch and watched TV….. I know that’s all bad. I could make a ton of excuses, I was tired, and I stayed up all night with my sister, I was planning my b-day party or I worked overtime. All of which are true, but still just excuses. So, the truth is, I was just too lazy to fit it in. I thought about my blog every single day, but I didn’t really have much to say. However, when I woke up this morning, I said I will write a blog post tonight, and I will go workout. During church today, the pastor showed us pictures of his totaled car from an horrible accident where a truck hit him, and his car flipped several times, yet he says the hand of God reached down and saved his life. By the time the paramedics arrived to the scene, he was no longer strapped in the driver’s seat but somehow miraculously placed in the back seat, still with his hat on his head and glasses on his face! Judging by the pictures of the wrecked car with most of the windows broken out, it’s nothing short of a miracle, that he was able to walk away with only a minor scratch. He shouted his favorite line, “Ain’t He Alright!” It was quite eye opening, it made me think back to my car accident when I physically could not work out for weeks, and wanted to, but now I’m fully able and just too lazy. That’s not acceptable. I wanted to make sure I would work out today, so I recruited my little sister for back up. Once she was dressed and ready to go, I really didn’t have an excuse. I poked around for a while, and finally put on my tennis shoes, shorts and a tank top. My little sister likes working out in the park instead of the gym. Today was another scorcher, up in the nineties, but since she was joining me I let her pick the location. When we got there I had every intention on walking 3 miles, but I wasn’t even going to pretend to run with my podcast. We got started, and walked and talked about our future dream houses and future careers. After about a mile or so, the sun and the heat were just too unbearable. We turned around and dragged ourselves back to my car. Even when we were close enough to see the car, it still seemed far away, because it was just so darn hot. Dripping sweat, we finally climbed in the car, I guzzled a warm bottle of water like a championship boxer, letting it drip down my chin and chest without care. Mission accomplished…Well sort of. Physically, I could have kept walking my because legs weren’t hurting, but I don’t think it would’ve been safe. There was probably a weather heat advisory. But, I’m satisfied, because we definitely burned more calories than we would have sitting at home watching a movie.
