On August 1st, I sat down to post an entry to my personal blog and began thinking about the exercise that has become one of my favorites.

Running has been a part of my life off and on since 2008 and now I am moving forward with preparing for my first Marathon.

This is the perfect way for me to transition into my next year.

My birthday is coming up soon, I am getting ready to resume my undergraduate studies at Howard University in Washington,DC and I am writing a play which I plan to submit later next year.

I am changing my course of study to Nutrition Science and taking steps to prepare for medical studies.

That’s a whole lot, so why not train for a marathon as well?! This year has been full of a lot of ups and downs.

I’ve had to put quite a few people out of my life.

I feel a sense of relief and regret at the same time.

I regret that I had ever allowed myself to overlook the flashing red light that says, Stop! distance yourself from this situation, this person NOW!

I did not intend for this post to take such a personal turn but if I share my story, maybe someone else will find strength.

I am the child of a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

Unfortunately that pain was recycled and aimed with incredible precision at both me an my brother.

Verbal put downs, scathing criticism and at times physical abuse.

As you can imagine, self esteem was a problem.

However, I have decided to end the cycle of abuse.

I have learned the haaaaard way that engaging with someone who you love who abuses you is not beneficial to you or to them.

You are allowing yourself to be treated in a way that you do not deserve and you are enabling this person’s behavior.

That type of behavior is because of them, not you.

In all likelihood, that person is deeply dissatisfied with their own situation.

Miserable people tend to treat people miserably.

More or less satisfied people who look after their own well being, financially,emotionally,physically, etc… tend to treat other people well. So, to sum things up, yes, I know what it is to be on the receiving end of someone who has not been guided towards or had access to a constructive way to work through their own trauma. But, I moved forward from that, partially through education and employment and partially through sheer will.

I am not the only one capable of doing so.

Moving on. Via the wonder that is the world wide web, I am signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon on November 20th.

In that I am simultaneously beginning marathon training and fasting for Ramadan, I thought it would be interesting to share my experiences with The Health Blogger readers.

I am 26 years old and in moderately good shape.

I was referred to as ‘skinny face’ earlier today but I actually have a bit farther to go to be at a health weight and shed excess pounds.

I’ll set a goal here and now: 20 pounds lost by November 20th.

I refuse to be obsessed with checking a scale so I’ll get around to weighing myself whenever I do.

That may not happen until the day off. There are a few things to which I am definitely looking forward. The Rocky dance for one.

A close second is the encouragement that, I hope, will come as I make my way through the course.

I hope to finish with a time of about 6.5 hours.

I would like to share with THB that my current running pace is about 15 minutes per mile.

I am by no means a highly trained runner here.

I just decided that I am going to prepare step by step, week by week.

Last week was the beginning of my training and I was somewhere between 14-15 miles.

My first day, I did not have an adequate suhoor, pre dawn meal and by early afternoon I was lying down.

One of the few benefits of my current (temporary) unemployment. I am basing my training off of a 16 week training guide in which Monday is supposed to be XT thirty minutes.

I read that as ‘extreme’ and was not sure with that meant so I just did 3 miles, at an easy pace, some walking and some jogging.

As I’m not having three meals a day until late this month, I am not pressuring myself to run the full distance each day.

I don’t have health coverage so I cannot risk passing out.

I mean that for real.

I think XT may mean cross training.

The lake where I run has a hill in the surrounding park area that doesn’t look to intimidating and I don’t have to stray far from the running/walking/biking path.

That’s good because I don’t do the woods.

If something happened I could not tell anyone because they would all say, what in the world were you doing in the woods in the first place.

I could also do some ballet stretches, which I greatly enjoy by the way.

I’ll share the results of this next week of my training exploits on Monday. Thank you for joining me during the early part of this journey.

Kristine Scott

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A little bit about me:

Working hard now so I can work from home whenever I become a wife and a mother.

I learn on my own but I’ll be getting my freedom papers from Howard University.

After earning a Bachelors of Science in Nutritional Science I want to globetrot for the summer and go on to medical school.

I am currently training for the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

Excercise in the Kristine-eese language is doing something great for yourself every day.  Twenty minutes of two hours, doesn’t matter.

Hope you find something positive in Bold Sole Sista.

My wellness blog at somehealinroundhere.blogspot.com is a space to generate thoughts and discussions about wellness.

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’20 Simple At Your Desk Exercises For Web Workers’.

It ties in nicely with my previous two articles:

- Sitting in front of the computer for too long: The Effects (Part 1)

&

- Sitting in front of the computer for too long: The Solution (Part 2) .

Hope it’s beneficial!

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Okay people, I came across these points that may motivate many of you to start exercising. I was pondering over this subject for a while now, that is, how to motivate oneself to exercise. After having read these points and remembering the state of many unhealthy people i’ve seen, I thought I would share them with you for your benefit

Here goes:

1. Improved heart and lung function
2. Lower heart rate and blood pressure
3. Increased blood supply to muscles and improved ability to use oxygen
4. Increased HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol)
5. Decreased triglycerides
6. Reduced body fat and improved weight control
7. Improved glucose tolerance and reduced insulin resistance
8. Enhanced immune function, which means
   • Increased resistance to viral and bacterial infection
   • Increased resistance to cancer
9. Lowered blood sugar levels and reduced risk of diabetes
10. Longer life expectancy

Source: Jon Barron

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