First of all let me just say that I am extremely embarrassed to put up a WELLNESS post in December. Embarrassed because it's my second wellness post and I bet you are wondering what have I been doing since that post in January? Have I been stuffing my face thIS whole year? What happened to Wellness updates.? Goodness!! Quite embarassing. Ok! I will jump right to it. I have been going to the gym at least three times a week. Stuffing my face is not an option. I have the metabolism of a tortoise and one loving glance at a cupcake results to a 20lbs gain. Boom! On my midsection, where else? So regular gym dates are a must. Even when I moved to New York, the first thing I did was find a gym. I take my physical well -being very seriously. I never cancel my gym date unless I have to. It has become a habit, like brushing my teeth. Boy did it take time to get where I am today!

I was a little bit under the weather last week and I still showed up for my gym date. I put in a 40 min cardio session on the treadmill. I felt so much better walking out of the gym than I felt going in. Working out will do that to your body. Endorphins have some healing powers as well. Lately, the treadmill has been my buddy. It's one machine I avoided like the bubonic plague. Nowadays, I walk in and all the treadmills seem to be winking at me, vying for my attention. Truth of the matter is this I used to hate running. Abhor! Detest! Are there any other synonyms? I had designated my cardio to only ten minutes on the elliptical, or walking really fast, if necessary. Most of the times the necessary never occurred. That's why we have cars right? I was the girl in highschool who participated in majority of the clubs. Clubs that would to get out of school and socialise with other beings, namely boys. I frowned upon anything that had the word ball in it. Basketball, netball, volleyball, all that running and sweating? I was better yelling and cheering on the side-lines. I was in an all girls boarding school. The last thing I ever wanted was to sweat. Ew..!

Of course, my teenage metabolism is not what it is today. Age catches up and the pounds do too. After moving to the states, I started to going to the gym just to "maintain". I don't know why I used that word. Maintain. It sounds so bizarre. I never maintained a damn thing. The only thing that got maintained was the weight in addition to more pounds. I have a weakness for sweat things. If it has glucose, fructose or sucrose we are in business baby!! Bring it on!! Icecream and cookies tops the charts on my list. They have never been dethroned. I would have a scoop or two almost every day, sometimes more than two scoops. Have you ever had Talenti? Boy? You will finish a tub in one seating. It's soooo good. Try the Pistachio! Ok! see what I mean. Talking about it gets me all.... ugh* Sneaky little ice cream! All in all, I gained weight and with that comes the feeling of being tired and uninspired. Meaning more eating and more unhealthy foods and more ice cream.
Then my mum was had kidney failure in 2011. There's nothing that sets off an alarm than someone you love being in pain and or going through surgery. It's a wake-up call. I am extremely happy to say that my sister Flo donated her kidney to mummy dearest and it was 100% match. Mummy is doing quite well. :)
I resolved to getting serious about the fitness regimen. Eat better and treat my body right. Almost a year later, my friend Sheila asked me if I would like to run a half marathon. I had never run more than a mile miles prior to that so I decided to challenge myself. How hard would it be? Piece of cake I should imagine, I mean I am already Kenyan, that should already work in my favor. Yes? Ummm no. Doesn't work that way. A half marathon is 13.1 miles. It would entail a lot of running, a lot of sacrifice and tons of determination. I started the training. Lots of runnings and learning about what to wear. Especially shoes. They are very important if you are putting in milage. Friday nights were no longer spent imbibing in lethal doses of alcohol or camaraderie with the crew but with a nice book and getting my shut eye early to be up at 5am for my long saturday morning runs. Talk about a complete turn around.

Two weeks before the the half marathon, we got word that my dad had gotten a stroke. I was told about it on a Friday evening. Apparently he was doing well, responding to doctors and so forth. He got another stroke sunday morning. He passed away minutes later. When I was told the news, I was in utter disbelief. I had just spoken to my dad that wednesday and in a blink of an eye, he was gone! Life!!

My first half marathon was scheduled the following Saturday. That week became one of the toughest weeks of my life. I had even thought of not participating in the half- marathon but I decided it would be best to see all the hard work put in come to fruition. I dedicated my run to my father and I remember crossing that finish line with tears in my eyes. For you dad!!

It was the beginning of everything.

I have close to four half marathons under my belt now. I do my runs for charity. When the group of ladies and I started training for that first half-marathon, we wanted to do it for a cause. A cause makes all the sacrifice worth it and to top it up, someone else will gain from it. That is how Hopeforfistula.org came to be.

This past November, I remember watching the runners dash past me during the recent New York City Marathon, the crowd was cheering, the runners though fatigued would smile with every step, others high-fiving the spectators. It's a beautiful thing to watch. It made me miss all the action. From someone who truly hated running to running half- marathons. I plan to run a full marathon soon. The last run I did was sometime last year in August. The Charm City Charles Street 12 mile run in Maryland. The jumper I am wearing on this post is a reward for finishing the race.
For 2016, my first half marathon is in March. When I told my friends I was running a half marathon, they always meet my statement with exclamations of, " I thought you hate running. " After every run I always say that that's my last marathon, then when I start training again, I am met with exclamations. What can I say, I got bitten by the bug.

I am beyond excited because it will give me something to do this winter plus it's a destination run so I get to tour a new place and participate in a run. Score!
I plan to give you weekly updates on how my training is coming along, tips and tricks I have learnt, and hopefully get you to start running as well. Even if it's a mile. I am currently 13 weeks out from my marathon in March. I haven't done one this year so am back on training mode and hopefully muscle memory will kick in. Running has become some sort of therapy for me. I clear my head with every step I take and I get a kick from the endorphins. I mentioned on some outfit posts that I am on a vegetarian diet and I feel amazing guys plus my energy is on a trillion. This time around I have to get super creative with my meals.

One thing I have learnt through my training regimen is not to be too hard on myself. I used do that alot. I pushed myself extremely hard and when things didn't go the way I have planned, I got frustrated with myself. I am learning to enjoy every little accomplishment be it an extra rep, a new pace. It's about staying in the moment and if I can't accomplish an extra mile today, it's ok. I have tomorrow to make it happen.

How's that for catching up? What are you guys up to?

Thanks for stopping by...

PS: I am almost -15lbs that I wanted to get rid of earlier this year!! YAY!!! (Read previous post) I wanted some Beats by Dre as a mini reward but Talenti sounds so good!!

Printed Tights - JC Penny

Pink Tank - Under Armour

Stripped Top - Charles Street 12 gift

Shoes: Nike 5.0