I know I’m a little behind on some updates, so here goes:
Strength/Half-Marathon Training Update
Monday: strength training–check!
Tuesday: 3-mile tempo–check!
Wednesday: 6x400s–check!
Thursday: abs class before work
Friday: rest (so good at that!)
Saturday: 5-6 mile run (I ended up moving that to Sunday because of the weather…)
Sunday: and only got 4 miles in
The check-in for this week won’t be as pretty. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends with work and Junior League, and I haven’t been doing as well with my workouts as I’d like.
Eat In More
You haven’t seen many updates because I haven’t been cooking anything new, but I made some pulled pork last night, in the easiest way possible: I put a pork butt (haha) in the slow cooker with some water, garlic and onion and let it do its thing for four hours. I put it in at 8 and set an alarm for midnight to turn it to “warm.” I brought it for lunch with some brown rice and broccoli and just had it as a sandwich when I got home tonight. You can put the BBQ sauce and all that jazz in it to cook, which I would have done if I had a full bottle, but I’m guessing putting a little less once it’s all done has gotta be at least somewhat healthier, right?
Fashion Update
I swear on my sweet, fluffy dog that one session with a stylist will not turn me into a style blogger or even someone who regularly posts her outfits, but when I put together one I like? Well, you might see it. Yesterday: black leggings, long-sleeved purple top, black knee-high boots and black boyfriend blazer, buttoned, collar popped, sleeves rolled up. Simple, but I felt good, and I loved it.
What about you? How are you doing with strength training? Any other random updates?
When I was little and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was always the same: a writer and illustrator.
I dropped the illustrator part once I got to third grade and realized that my art skills weren’t good enough to get me into the advanced art classes, but I never faltered on my desire to be a writer when I grew up.
I wrote a Thanksgiving play in fourth grade for my family to perform. I had a TV in my room, but rather than watching TV after I finished my homework, I wrote short stories and read.
Once I got to high school, I took the minimum of math and science classes required by the fine state of New Jersey and instead bulked up on my English and foreign language classes. I took Spanish, French and Russian!
This whole foreign language thing confused my career path for a bit–did I want to be a linguist? A diplomat? Something else I could do with my foreign language skills? I looked for colleges that had strong language programs, but I ultimately chose American for its Foreign Language and Communication Media program, which basically amounted to a major in print journalism and a minor in Spanish. From the first journalism class I took with the brilliant Jane Hall, I knew I wanted to pursue writing as a career when I grew up.
I’d wanted to work for Vogue growing up, but going to American, in the heart of our nation’s capital, I fell into writing about politics and fell head over heels for it. I stayed in D.C. for three years after I graduated, and I worked for Campaigns & Elections magazine, covering the business of, well, campaigns and elections. I was writing about important developments in the political industry for political insiders–and I loved it.
In early 2008, I was depressed and ready to change my life. I left my job and moved to New Jersey and moved in with my parents for three months while I got my feet back on the ground. I’d always wanted to work for magazines, and save for a few exceptions, there’s no other place to do that than NYC, home to all the major publishing houses.
I sent my resume to any opening I could find at Hearst, Conde Nast, Meredith, you name it. A friend from D.C. set me up for a coffee with a friend of his from New York magazine, a place I would have died to work for–until this editor told me I’d be qualified for an internship.
Wait, what? I was 25 years old, and I’d written cover and feature stories for a national magazine. I’d edited a network of websites in the early primary states. (R.I.P., C&E State Network.) I had three years of solid magazine experience and a few years of good internships.
Right. At a trade magazine, he told me.
It was then that I realized that my dreams of working for a sexy, glossy magazine, a magazine that I’d find on a newsstand, might have to be edited, just a bit.
I took a job at a legal magazine, covering intellectual property law. I covered a lot of copyright issues, which, of course, involve media, and I was genuinely interested in this job–until I got laid off.
Within two weeks, I was working for another magazine at the company, covering legal technology. I was significantly less interested in this, and this is also when I decided to start to change my life.
Thumbs up for life changes.
I started losing weight, and I started this blog.
I knew when I started a blog, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to put my all into it. I’d started several blogs before this one, but my heart wasn’t in it, and I never stuck with them, but now I know that’s because I just didn’t find something that ignited a passion inside of me like health and fitness have.
I love writing for you guys, but here is another 2012 resolution of mine: to write more, and for a larger audience.
My job is tremendously fulfilling, and I love it, but I also miss being published. I’ve written for Glamour.com, WomansDay.com, and LearnVest.com, (in addition to serving on staff for Campaigns & Elections, IP Law & Business and Law Technology News, where I wrote quite a lot) and I want to add to that list in 2012. I want to continue to bring that passion for health, fitness, nutrition and running to more people.
One more thing. 2012 is also the year I finish my book proposal.
