UGH! I have started three blogs in the past couple of weeks, which I have since gone and deleted because they were no longer relevant. MEH!! Kinda sucks when you put some hard work into starting something and just don’t have the time or energy to get back to it.
Welcome to my life as of late…
I’m trying desperately to reach a bigger audience both here on my blog and on my most frequented form of social media…Instagram. Really, I am an athlete that deals, daily, with Celiac Disease…and I’m working really hard on branching out on the blog…maybe in podcast form…and on Instagram to cover some of the trials and tribulations of this.
But I need more help. So, if you could help me out a little…directing people to my blog and my Instagram (and if you aren’t following me…please…give me a little click and follow along)…I will love you forever!
Okay…so let’s do some quick catching up, shall we? What in the world have I been up to since…October 20th, when I blogged about setting and reaching goals? Well…a LOT!
First of all, the great apartment repaint, reorganize, and redecorate has commenced. The two bathrooms, the kitchen, and HALF of the living room are DONE! As far as painting goes. The decorating is taking a bit more time, because I’m totally OCD and need to measure everything I hang up to make sure it’s centered and perfect on the wall. But…progress!
I am not a fan of painting. It is tedious and tiring work…but I love the way the apartment is starting to look. After eight years of living there, the apartment definitely needed a touch-up. And being able to finally redo some of the wall hangings has been a nice change too.
For the 4th (I think this was the 4th year) year in a row, my roommate (Cathy), her sister (Amanda) and I went to the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular at Iroquois Park in Louisville, KY! We always make a night of out this, starting with dinner (we got sushi – mine was vegan), a hot beverage (usually apple cider or tea) from Highland Coffee, and then, Mr. G’s Kettle Corn while we stand in line to walk the half mile path and gaze in awe at all the amazing pumpkins. Seriously…this was AMAZING. It always is, but the theme this year was A to Z and they did a fantastic job with all the pumpkins.
On October 26, I went to the University of Louisville Comstock Hall and got to listen to the iconic Kathrine Switzer speak. She was so empowering and totally made me want to do ALL THE THINGS. I was just so wrapped up in her talk about her life and how she got into running and how the Boston Marathon incident came around and WHY this was so life changing. I was hoping there would be a photo-op afterwards, and there was. I had brought my Disney Wine & Dine bib, Bib #261, which I received in 2014, just after I met her at the NYC Marathon Expo the year I ran it. I told her the story and she was just so freakin excited. She even got a picture of the two of us with our 261 bibs on her iPhone.
She signed my bib “Karen – You are awesome and fearless.” I thought I was lucky to have met in her NYC 3 years ago…but I just got to meet her again…AND had a fun story to tell her. She might be my new running BFF. If nothing else, she is someone who has always and will always inspire me. After going to her talk, I just wanted to make SO many changes in my life…seek out things that really make me happy…
HENCE…wanting to do more with my blog and social media. So…again…if you could give a like and follow here and on Instagram…and tell your friends…let’s do this thing.
Dreams need to come true!
And I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time. And so often stuff just gets crazy and things I enjoy…like blogging, writing, cooking, eating, running, etc…sort of get pushed to the background. NOT THIS TIME!
In addition to this…I’ve been enjoying watching Louisville City FC climb the ladder to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the THIRD TIME in as many seasons as they have been around. YAY!
Granted…last week I was pretty much frozen and the boys didn’t score until after Half Time. I had been hoping to keep warm by constantly jumping out of my seat. That being said…this is always as far as we get in the finals. And I want us to go on to the championship…and WIN IT! And the weather this Saturday looks to be warmer and much more enjoyable than LAST Saturday. I even stayed up late to drink hot tea to thaw out afterwards it was that cold. But the win was worth it.
Here’s to another one…if the soccer gods shine upon us!
Halloween came and went…in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t scheduled to do a run on Tuesday, but I was heading to the gym for some strength training. I dressed as Wonder Woman. I think it inspired me to lift heavier and more. But, damn…look at my arms these days!
So, yeah…training is still happening. I’ve cut back on cardio by a lot when it comes to time at the gym, usually hopping on a machine for 10 minutes to warm up and 10 minutes to cool down…and then I do one day of arms/abs and one day of legs/core. My running has been progressing. My hips hardly twinge at me unless the weather is cold or I sit too long. So, the strength training is paying off (not just in giving me amazing muscles to flex). I am currently using a run/walk method and hope to get back to a solid run in the very near future, but this is working and, honestly, hasn’t really slowed me down all that much with the short walk breaks in between efforts. So…YAY! And, thankfully, I have found one friend who is willing to train with me this way and doesn’t complain or mind. WINNING! Long runs are much more enjoyable with someone. And someone who doesn’t mind the starts and stops in my current training method is even better. There aren’t a lot of people who are willing to train that way or want to train that way. So, I count myself lucky.
I have a few recipes that I will add to the blog this week…if not tonight/today. I’ve been having a great time experimenting in my kitchen with all the winter squash and seasonal foods that are showing up in grocery stores. I buy that stuff up like it’s going out of season. And it’s not. The season is just starting! Grocery shopping is always an adventure when I decide to get all chefy and creative in the kitchen.
That’s pretty much it for right now though. Trying to really do better for myself and I am really trying to make some waves in the Celiac and running communities. So…watch this space. Get others to watch this space. And I post DAILY on Instagram, so, for one last plug…make sure you follow me over there.
Follow along with my progress…because there will be as many ups as downs, I’m sure. But if there is one thing I have learned from all of this over the past couple of years…is that I am stronger than my situation. And I learn and grow from every obstacle. Grow with me!
The Celiathlete 