So I've been thinking...

about blogging for quite some time. For some reason it scares the crap out of me. I've never been much of a writer or journal keeper, more of a spoken word (lots of them, some vulgar) type person. Then I wonder if I really want to put personal thoughts out for free consumption. Suppose it might just be my family, specifically my mom (she better!) that reads it anyway. Plus sometimes it feels like overkill with facebook, dailymile, twitter and the rest of life that goes on. Three main things have provided enough motivation to give it a try.

1. I'm training for my fourth half marathon - whoa - I typed third and had to delete. Probably because I did two in a row this spring, so its really only my third training stint. See? Digression! Anyway, somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the way through training I start to feel like quitting. So far I haven't and I won't, but this seems like a great forum for a training journal. No doubt, I will feel my arse dragging again and think it will be pretty cool to have something to reflect back on.



2. I am inspired by reading my friend and running partner, Jennifer Woldt's blog. We are fairly new friends that met via a training program for our spring half marathon. Following her blog allows me to get to know her a little differently than training side by side. And side by side we are, I was intimidated to do the 15 miler without her this past weekend. Meeting her and a few other new friends is, has been, and will continue to be an amazing part of my training journey. And to think I was scared of joining a training group!



3. Work...so while not necessarily a work related blog I was accepted into our corporate mentoring pilot earlier this spring. I submitted my application to be a mentee and was paired up with a Sr. VP, he wondered why I wasn't a mentor. Totally love and appreciated that, but wasn't sure what to expect from the program so decided to apply as a mentee. Only 8 people were chosen to participate in the program so I was and am still determined to make the most of it. Early on in the process we had to loosely determine what we both would like to get out of the program. One of my goals was to figure out my voice and start a blog before the end of the pilot. YEAH! Can now cross it off the list and keep working on the other "stuff."

That was actually pretty fun working through my thoughts. Oh yeah! The title of this thing? That's my running mantra. I can't tell you how many hills I've chugged up saying that to myself and sometimes out loud all the while picturing the little blue engine. And the profile picture? Tough Mudder finisher badge! If you are curious about Tough Mudder you can check it out here.

Now I'm off to figure out how to use this blogger application to its full potential. If you can offer any advice on that front, please hit me up in the comments!

pja