The Beginning of a New Love

Hello and welcome to my new blog! :D I created this blog for a few reasons 1) to keep track of my running 2) for some support from other runners since i dont really have any running friends and 3) motivation as I am training for my first half marathon in September (as you can see in the right sidebar) First things first, I would like to introduce myself:

INTRODUCTION

My name is Zaneta. It's pronounced like Zuh-net (like a basketball net)-uh... a lot of people say it like Zuh-neet-uh or other random, totally wrong, not even close ways to say my name. I am a 23 year old Christian gal who is working on finishing up my internship to complete my Bachelors degree in Organizational Communications. I plan to go back in the spring to a different college to complete my Sign Language Interpreting degree. I am still living at home while going to school because my parents are awesome and let me live there (here) for free so they are saving me a TON of money! Living in my house currently are my mom and dad, me and my twin (fraternal girl who is younger than me), my brother, and a sister. I have a wonderful boyfriend of 3 1/2 years and am so blessed that God allowed us to meet! I fall more and more in love everyday and yes, marriage is in the future, but no engagement ring yet! I enjoy reading, knitting and crocheting (I have a knitting/crocheting/life blog HERE), obviously running ;), working out, and food lol...Well, now that you kind of know me (without knowing too much) I will proceed to tell you about my running background... since that is the main reason for this blog. ;)

RUNNING BACKGROUND

I have always been active growing up... it started with soccer and gymnastics and 1 year of tee ball in elementary school. I then decided that gymnastics was fun and all, but a little too girly for me so i started playing basketball. I played basketball 4th-10th grade and then played for 4 years in college and also played softball for 4 years in college. My 4 years of track in high school consisted of high jump, 200, 400, 4x400, and sometimes the occasional long jump. Well, enter my 5th year of college after the sports eligibility ran out... I was taking the max amount of credit hours you were allowed to take and driving 40 minutes away for half of my classes, working 2 part-time jobs, and working an internship... life was so stressful and busy that I stopped exercising completely (and no, to me, walking the stairs to get to class does not count as exercise) I really missed it and knew I would probably feel better if I got back into shape so I decided to start running again in April. I've always heard about these 5k races and wanted to run one so I just started making myself run 3 miles... it wasn't very fun at the beginning. I remember wanting to stop and walk or just stop completely, but i kept at it and ran my first 5k on April 24, 2010! Since then I have kept running and have ran a total of 5 or 6 5k races! :D

THE DREAM

Well, I wanted to push myself because I have grown very fond (in love with maybe?) of running. The feeling of accomplishment, the sun and heat (or rain and snow) beating down on your body, the energy and refreshness (a word?) it gives you, the blisters that pop up on your toes, the peaceful alone time you get to yourself to think, pray, or listen to music, the insatiable feeling of hunger that training leaves you with... ok, yeah, its a love/hate relationship lol... BUT it's GREAT!! So... earlier this month I decided I wanted to run a half marathon and actually have a training plan. I signed up for the Women's Magazine Half Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee on September 25th! lol... 2 months to train... am I CRAZY or DETERMINED? haha... you can decide ;) So, myself and my parents are going to make this trip (about a 6 1/2 hour road trip) a mini vacation. Orignially my boyfriend was going to go too... but he has class on saturday this quarter and wont be able to join us. It shall be fun. The training has been fun so far and I am really noticing some progress.


So this blog is going to help keep me motivated and focused on my training for my first ever half marathon! I am so excited! I hope to meet more runners and gain insight from you all into this wonderful world of running (and blogging)! :D