Miles of Motivation: 6-7

The gym was worse than Black Friday shopping tonight. It was busy. Stressful. So many sweating people, desperately looking for an open machine.

 I'm ready for it to slow down any day now...but, until then - I will continue to walk around for 10 minutes looking for an open treadmill. I will continue to be harassed by a tiny Asian woman who watched me run until my "sign-up" time was over.

But more importantly, I will continue to run my miles of motivation!!

Tonight, I did miles 6 and 7 for two beautiful ladies who not only share the same name, but the same initials!!!

Mile 6 was for Jen Royer. When I think of our friendship, these two words pop into my head: MSN Chat. Seriously, I lived on MSN Chat in middle and high school. Jen and I would talk ALL of the time on MSN Chat. Mostly about boys. Other times about losing weight. A few other times about mean girls. But mainly, about boys. I would do anything to dig up some of our old conversations...they would make good material for my book one day for sure. Jen never failed to make me laugh or smile, not matter what kind of mood I was in! :)

Recently, Jen started working out, eating healthier meals and watching her portions. She is now down 20 lbs!!!!! How amazing!!! She wants to lose 40 more lbs. I'm so stinking proud of her- she looks fantastic and she is well on her way to reaching her goals! Keep it up, Jen!!! Never stop believing in yourself!

Mile 7 was for Jen Regnier. I went to Ball State with Jen- we shared the same major (Public Relations)! In fact, I think we were both at Orientation Day at Ball State together. What a small world...Even though we are the same age, she graduated a year ahead of me because I changed my major 43 times. Sorry I wanted want to save the world and felt I had way too many options to do so! :)

Anyway, I digress.

Jen is an AMAZING runner. She can literally run a FULL marathon in about the same time that I run a half marathon. She is an inspiration to so many other runners. When I first started running, Jen gave me really great advice,"Just take it one mile at a time. Don't think about how much you have to run in total, just focus on every step. Every mile." I love it. I remind myself of this conversation EVERY single long run I have during my training.

Jen is currently training for the Boston Marathon, which you must qualifier for in order to run! Jen, you will ROCK at the Boston Marathon! I'll be cheering you on all the way from Indy.

A Boston Qualifier! :)
What an accomplishment, Jen!

So, Jen & Jen - thank you very much for being so inspirational to me and those around you. Whether it's weight loss or running, you remind me to take it one lb / mile at a time. The best and healthy way for me to meet my goals and grow.

Update: 88 people have now liked my status! 81 more miles to go!!

Much love,

Ashley