Day 7: A Sign

"I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign.
Life is demanding, without understanding.
I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign.
No one's gonna drag you up to get into the light where you belong.
But where do you belong?"
-Ace of Base "The Sign"

If you don't know this song or this band I feel sorry for you son. I got 99 problems but 90's music ain't one.

Enough of that, this isn't throwback Thursday just yet. It is Day 7 tho. And day 7 is a sign. Now I was a bit of an over achiever on this one cuz I took pictures of 3 different signs today and they all are relevant to my run. They represent 3 things I think of when I get up in the morning with the intention to go running. Rebel: I do this as a way to get away from the ordinary things that have become the norm in my life. Goal: My goal is to run the entire way around the track. It's ultimately twice around, but at the end of the month, I'll be happy with once around. And finally, Reward: today I celebrated a whole week of running and posting by treating myself to something good so I went to Chichio Boys Fruit Market and got some apples, grapes, strawberries, and plums to enjoy. I also got a ginormous watermelon for my family and I. But buying fruit is not the reward I'm talking about. Ultimately, my reward is the feeling of satisfaction I will get once this month is completed. Even if I don't reach my goal, I know that I at least made the effort to change a part of my life I wasn't happy with. Plus there's always September to continue working towards my goal.

Tonight I present not just "a sign" but "three signs" that describe this month. Here is Rebel, Goal, and Reward.

Day 6: This means a lot to me...

So today was 105º and after all the shenanigans I got into last night, there was no way I was getting up early to go running and no way I was going to go running in the middle of the day either, I'm crazy, but not suicidal,  so tonight was another evening run. It was all a killer 100º at 8:30 when I left for my run, but at least it was windy and there was no sun out anymore. I also did 1/2 mile tonight! I was so proud of myself. Slowly but surely getting back to where I want to be. Before I stopped running, I could run 2-3 miles straight. My ultimate goal is to get back to that.

Anyway, tonight's prompt is "this means a lot to me." At this point in my life, this blog means a lot to me. It keeps me motivated knowing that I have to go running in order to post, but there is someone else who helps keep me motivated. Even tho he may not know it, his words help keep me going. Every time he says, "it's all about consistency," I take it to heart and feel like I cannot disappoint him or myself. This someone is my best friend in the whole wide world, Kris.

Yeah it's a cheesy post tonight, but I don't care. Having someone outside of your immediate family who supports you is a big necessity. Of course my family will support me, they're my family, they kinda have to. To have the support of a friend, especially my best friend, helps me get through this and motivates me to keep getting out there and running. Kris, you have no idea how much you mean to me and how much I appreciate having you in my life. You've done well, Robin. You're making Batman proud. :D

So tonight, I present to you, my best friend, who doesn't like to take pictures, but posed for one anyway for this blog. Thank you for that, and for standing so close to me even tho I was all sweaty and gross.

WOOOO! BEST FRIEND!!! :D 

Day 5: Early

So what kind of irony is it that day 5's prompt is early but my posting of it is quite late? Don't hold it against me, it's my day off, I can do what I want. And I did go for a morning run, I just didn't post til late. Oh vell. :)

Well this morning on my run, I realized 2 things: 1) I hate running even more during the day, and b) people actually go fishing at Woodlawn. It reminded me of the whole,"early bird gets the worm" shenanigans, but it can be paraphrased as, the early fisherman gets the fish. Either way, tonight's photo is of a guy fishing at Woodlawn this morning. :)

Yes this post is late and short and sweet but you know what? It's my day off, I don't give a shit. Also I may or may not have ingested some alcohol tonight, bringing my "I don't give a fuck-o-meter down to 0.

Anyway, tada!! Day 5: Early (even tho its a bit late)

Day 4: Fresh

Day four is a fresh detour from running. Oh I did my run, spent 30 minutes around the track and ran for 15 of those minutes. Go me. :)

AnyWHO, today was an important day for a group of people in a certain fandom. The 12th Doctor was announced to the world today and if you don't know what that means or the  significance of this, please stop reading and leave.

Doctor Who has become a big part of my life and I like to tell myself that I'm running to be a future companion. It's one of the little motivators that keeps me going because when you're with the Doctor, there really is a lot of running.

Since the announcement of Matt Smith's departure from the show, there has been so much speculation as to who the next Doctor would, could, and should be. Our speculations were silenced today as it was announced in a simulcast throughout the world that Peter Capaldi will be filling the roll of the 12th incarnation of the Doctor. I am excited to see what kind of Doctor he will play and absolutely cannot wait for season eight. It is going to be FANTASTIC!

So tonight I present to you, two fresh faces. The first is of me fresh out of the shower after tonight's run. Mostly to somewhat stick to my personal guidelines and keeping it relative to my run. The second is the fresh new face of Doctor Who. Look at us together, don't you think I'd make an absolutely brilliant companion?? ;D Time to keep on training!

Now let's see how early I can get up for my run tomorrow! Probably no earlier than usual, but you never know, stranger things have happened. :) See y'all mañana! :)

Day 3: Skyline

Day three is earlee! I made a rhyme, something like that doesn't happen all the time. Actually, it does. Sometimes I rhyme just cuz. ;D

Okay, enough with that!

So today I close at work so that means 

no running at sunset.  I actually got up somewhat early (9:30ish) and lugged myself to the park to go for a run around the track. It certainly was a different view and a nice change of scenery. Instead of bats all over the place it was dragonflies. I could actually see what construction was going on. I also had a wonderful view of the downtown skyline,  which leads to today's photo prompt.

 I am fortunate enough to run at Woodlawn Lake, which is right outside of downtown and from a certain point on the trail, you get a beautiful view of the downtown skyline. I love my state and my hometown, but I really wish today could've been a photo of the beautiful Austin skyline. That is my dream city. But I'll be taking photos there soon hopefully, so I guess today I can settle for San Antonio. :)

So yesterday, my cousin and sister posted an image up on Pinterest that perfectly describes my running experience. So I've decided to share this here.

Day 2: Incomplete

Day two is completed! Coincidentally, today's photo prompt is "incomplete." Around Woodlawn, there is some construction going on and on the track, it looks like CPS got around to marking off some parts they intended to work on, got bored, and left without cleaning up their mess. So I present to you, day two! Incomplete.

Obviously, this test was too boring to complete. 

On a different note, tonight's run featured music by Janis Joplin. During her song "Cry Baby," I felt her heart and soul pouring out of the song and even tho the song has nothing to do with running, I was highly motivated by the line, "So come on! Come on! Come on! Come on and CRYYYY BABY!" It made me feel like I was getting the support to keep running even tho I felt like stopping and returning to walking. I was able to complete 2 miles total and ran about 1/4 of that. Not where I used to be and not where I want to be, but I'm just getting back into this whole running thing. I'll get there, slowly but surely!! :D

I close tomorrow night at work, that means I've got to get up early and do my run and photo, should be fun actually running while the sun is out! 

Day 1: Something Beginning With N....

It's day uno of my Run-A-Day Photo Challenge! Like I said, I didn't know which 30-day photo challenge I was going to do. I had two choices in front of me: the Capture Your 365 or the ever popular FMS Photo A Day. In the end, I decided to go with the FMS photo challenge. No special reason, just went with it. My friend over in Oceanside, CA is doing the FMS Challenge as well so it'll be fun to see what we each post.

Besides,  look how pretty the list looks! :D

Anyway, day uno is "Something Beginning With N." Well, today was definitely full of words that start with "N" to say the least. No, Nauseous, Nervous, Negligent, Nuts, Not in the mood, and finally, Nightfall.

No, alarms, I refuse to wake up and go to work. I don't care if it's 7:15 and I have to be at work at 8, I don't wanna get out out of bed. What? Dallas you have to go outside? No, hold it. You can't? Okay I'm up. Maybe I can go back to bed for just 5 minutes after I let her out. No, not happening.

Nauseous. I work outside. I need water to make it through my day. Today was one of those days where I didn't drink enough water. That and the fact I was bouncing from one location to another, and wondering how I'm going to make it through a run today contributed to my nauseousness.

Nervous. Today's high temp was 103º. Quite literally a record setter for today. Not nearly as hot as that one Saturday when we hit 108º but it's not too far off. I hate the heat so much. I don't know how I've worked outside for 5 years without spontaniously combusting. Sp of course I was getting nervous thinking about having to run out in the heat. I don't have a gym membership yet so it had to be outside today.

Negligent. My food choice today was not very ideal. An iced caramel mocha from McDonald's for breakfast, Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and chinese for dinner... not the best foods to eat when you're about to start a new running regimen. I'll work on that, I swear.

Nuts is what I'd have to be to go and run outside today. I'm nuts to think I am able to do this for an entire month. I'm nuts to be sitting here on the sofa and not getting this over with. I'm nuts for making up excuses and whining when I could be winning. (Yes, I said winning, get over it.)

Not in the mood. I'm not in the mood to go running. Its getting later and later. The sun's about to go down and by the time I get myself moving, it'll be dark. No point, not in the mood. Wait, it's almost night? THAT'S PERFECT!!!

And finally,

Nightfall. My favorite part of any 24 hour period. It's cooler, the sky is absolutely beautiful (it's Texas, of course it is,) and is there any better time to go for a run? So I make my way down to Woodlawn Lake and am pleasently surprised at the plethora of people there. Families, couples, people with their dogs, cholas, cholos, people by themselves (like me!), and some lovely eye candy. ;) I love nightfall. This is my "something that begins with N."

This is where I like to run. I know I said Woodlawn Lake, but there is a man-made lake here and I love being around water, so why wouldn't I love to run around water? It's an entire mile around the lake and I am proud to say that I ran 2/10 of that mile, according to the markers they have. As I was running, I thought to myself, "I've actually missed this. I can do this, it's not so bad." I forgot how relaxing it can be, and for someone who hasn't run in a LONG WHILE, I was proud if that 2/10 of a mile I ran. Hopefully by the end of the month I can run the entire mile and then some. First things first tho, gotta get started somewhere. 

I look forward to what surprises this month has in store for me and what kind of challenges I'll face during this challenge. Bring it on, Run-A-Day Photo Challenge, I'm ready for you!! :D