Hi all--
Its been a long, long time since I've written on here. I lost the interest in blogging because honestly I didn't know what to write about anymore that had much meaning to myself or value to anyone else.
Since I stopped blogging life has DRASTICALLY changed. I have become a whole other person, for the better, and many life changing events have occurred which have taught me lessons, provided me with life experiences, and I have been challenged and am continued to be challenged by myself and life on a daily basis.
I have TONS and TONS of stuff to share and I will start a retrospective blogging style to catch everyone up on what has led me to where I am right now, trust me-- I promise to you that I have some very great insightful, deep, valuable content that will be extremely relate-able to many of you... life has been a rollercoaster lately, stop back frequently for updates you won't want to miss.
Health and Happiness-- XOXO
KC
Friday, December 12, 2014
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Chicago Marathon 2013
I have been over my own head in holding down my life lately, however, I am still holding it down.
I didn't look back at my last post to see if I mentioned I would be running the Chicago Marathon 2013 for a charity team, so if I didn't mention it, that was the plan. Sometimes I forget where I work and I need to write it down, so let me refresh my memory and restate that here as well,
1- Full time 3rd year DPT Student
2- Team Enterprises- Bacardi Girl
3- Hooter's of Oak Lawn- Hooter's Girl
4- Ascent Talent- Promo Modeling
5- PUSH Models
6- ATN Events- Brand Ambassador
Surprisingly and thankfully, all these jobs allow me to pick and choose the events/days that I work so I am able to balance it all out nicely [most of the time.]
In the midst of this craziness I am losing who I am, there is always something that needs to be done and if I would step back I would see that I am exhausted, depressed and stressed to the max. Besides needing to work so much so pay off the debt I have since I moved (and ran out of financial aid money) I think I work so much because I am actually pretty stinkin' lonely and bored if I'm not. It keeps me socializing with MANY individuals keeps me busy and not thinking about what I am missing in my life.
Anyway-- back to the Chicago Marathon... I have not been training because as you can imagine, I have been SO SOO busy and I'm working through some sort of knee/leg/quadricep injury right now as well. I haven't had the energy, motivation or the love for running like I had last summer and I am convincing myself that I can't run a marathon this Fall. BUTTTTT-- let me mention why I even decided to run this marathon in the first place. There is a VERY special woman, that I like to consider a modern day super hero, that goes by the name of Colleen McGrath. I'll sum the story up and just provide a link to in depth details... Colleen's mom died when she was a teenager from cancer. Colleen was diagnosed at 13 y/o with pancreatic cancer. Colleen's dad "MADE" her go to a children's oncology camp before choosing to give up chemo treatments. Colleen beat pancreatic cancer. Colleen's dad died from cancer. Colleen returned to camp as a camper then a counselor and later a dedicated employee of COSI. Colleen returned to camp during the summer of 2012 at age 27 and informed us all that she had Stage IV colon cancer. Against all odds----Colleen beat Stage IV colon cancer.
----Colleen's determination to send children to camp and provide them with the best experience of their life, which she contributes to saving her life as a teenager, is what she aimed for Team One Step (my Chicago Marathon Charity Team) to do. Colleen was not going to give up on fighting for her life and if you ask me who the strongest individual I know is, without a doubt, I can assure you she is the first name that comes out of my mouth. The last thing I had planned to do in the next year was run a marathon; however, I decided in Feb/March of 2013 that I would do it because Colleen is one inspiring individual. I knew the time would come where I would say, "I really don't want to run this marathon, I'm behind on training, and there's no way I can run this marathon." That is where I am at now. All odds are against me in successfully running this marathon; I am exhausted, I am injured, I haven't been training, my nutrition is terrible, I can't afford (literally $$) to eat and train for a marathon, I don't have the time to train, and I don't have the time to fund-raise for it. THENNNNNNN I go back to the beginning and think about why I decided to do it. I don't intend for this to come out rude if for some reason anybody takes it that way, but when I think about not doing the marathon, what stops me is that I would have to tell someone that beat the deadliest of cancers NOT ONCE, but TWICE, that "I can't do this." [in reference to running a marathon] I think that would be harder than actually running the marathon.
Colleen's Story
SO basically.. I am going to run the Chicago Marathon on 11 weeks of training and a prayer. lol. I wanted to post this as a constant reminder and motivator to myself and also keep you all up to date on my marathon training. I need all the support I can get as I am already about to lose my mind. I am hoping to post more frequently so you can track me as I proceed through the next 11 weeks. Hopefully things will start becoming more balanced in my life and I find my lost love for running and endurance activity again.
Best----
Kristin.
Keep up with me on Twitter @kCull4_SPT or Instagram @kcull_4
<3
I didn't look back at my last post to see if I mentioned I would be running the Chicago Marathon 2013 for a charity team, so if I didn't mention it, that was the plan. Sometimes I forget where I work and I need to write it down, so let me refresh my memory and restate that here as well,
1- Full time 3rd year DPT Student
2- Team Enterprises- Bacardi Girl
3- Hooter's of Oak Lawn- Hooter's Girl
4- Ascent Talent- Promo Modeling
5- PUSH Models
6- ATN Events- Brand Ambassador
Surprisingly and thankfully, all these jobs allow me to pick and choose the events/days that I work so I am able to balance it all out nicely [most of the time.]
In the midst of this craziness I am losing who I am, there is always something that needs to be done and if I would step back I would see that I am exhausted, depressed and stressed to the max. Besides needing to work so much so pay off the debt I have since I moved (and ran out of financial aid money) I think I work so much because I am actually pretty stinkin' lonely and bored if I'm not. It keeps me socializing with MANY individuals keeps me busy and not thinking about what I am missing in my life.
Anyway-- back to the Chicago Marathon... I have not been training because as you can imagine, I have been SO SOO busy and I'm working through some sort of knee/leg/quadricep injury right now as well. I haven't had the energy, motivation or the love for running like I had last summer and I am convincing myself that I can't run a marathon this Fall. BUTTTTT-- let me mention why I even decided to run this marathon in the first place. There is a VERY special woman, that I like to consider a modern day super hero, that goes by the name of Colleen McGrath. I'll sum the story up and just provide a link to in depth details... Colleen's mom died when she was a teenager from cancer. Colleen was diagnosed at 13 y/o with pancreatic cancer. Colleen's dad "MADE" her go to a children's oncology camp before choosing to give up chemo treatments. Colleen beat pancreatic cancer. Colleen's dad died from cancer. Colleen returned to camp as a camper then a counselor and later a dedicated employee of COSI. Colleen returned to camp during the summer of 2012 at age 27 and informed us all that she had Stage IV colon cancer. Against all odds----Colleen beat Stage IV colon cancer.
----Colleen's determination to send children to camp and provide them with the best experience of their life, which she contributes to saving her life as a teenager, is what she aimed for Team One Step (my Chicago Marathon Charity Team) to do. Colleen was not going to give up on fighting for her life and if you ask me who the strongest individual I know is, without a doubt, I can assure you she is the first name that comes out of my mouth. The last thing I had planned to do in the next year was run a marathon; however, I decided in Feb/March of 2013 that I would do it because Colleen is one inspiring individual. I knew the time would come where I would say, "I really don't want to run this marathon, I'm behind on training, and there's no way I can run this marathon." That is where I am at now. All odds are against me in successfully running this marathon; I am exhausted, I am injured, I haven't been training, my nutrition is terrible, I can't afford (literally $$) to eat and train for a marathon, I don't have the time to train, and I don't have the time to fund-raise for it. THENNNNNNN I go back to the beginning and think about why I decided to do it. I don't intend for this to come out rude if for some reason anybody takes it that way, but when I think about not doing the marathon, what stops me is that I would have to tell someone that beat the deadliest of cancers NOT ONCE, but TWICE, that "I can't do this." [in reference to running a marathon] I think that would be harder than actually running the marathon.
Colleen's Story
SO basically.. I am going to run the Chicago Marathon on 11 weeks of training and a prayer. lol. I wanted to post this as a constant reminder and motivator to myself and also keep you all up to date on my marathon training. I need all the support I can get as I am already about to lose my mind. I am hoping to post more frequently so you can track me as I proceed through the next 11 weeks. Hopefully things will start becoming more balanced in my life and I find my lost love for running and endurance activity again.Best----
Kristin.
Keep up with me on Twitter @kCull4_SPT or Instagram @kcull_4
<3
Monday, March 18, 2013
Caution--- Construction Zone! =)
Hi All!
Sorry for the mess going on with my blog right now! I am currently doing some major reconstruction to it (obviously, lol.) I'm hoping to get lots of work done on it later tonight but right now I need to maintain my focus on studying for a midterm exam I have at 2 pm today, YIKES!!
Thank you for your patience and for keeping up with me!! :) Also, feel free to let me know the things that you would be interested in reading about and I'll work to target all areas on my blog/website!
I'll post again to keep you all posted on the finished product of my blog!
Thanks Again----
Sorry for the mess going on with my blog right now! I am currently doing some major reconstruction to it (obviously, lol.) I'm hoping to get lots of work done on it later tonight but right now I need to maintain my focus on studying for a midterm exam I have at 2 pm today, YIKES!!
Thank you for your patience and for keeping up with me!! :) Also, feel free to let me know the things that you would be interested in reading about and I'll work to target all areas on my blog/website!
I'll post again to keep you all posted on the finished product of my blog!
Thanks Again----
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Personal Growth is a Beautiful Thing.
It's been a long time since I've posted in here, my apologies..like always!
Anyway, I felt like this was a really significant day for me to post. As those who use to follow my sporadic posts around this time last year know that I was going through some real tough times, depression and anxiety were at an all time high and I needed to make a change in my life because this was not how I wanted to keep living. I was stuck in the gray of depression, yet I could still see the brightness of my future that I was desperately reaching out for.
Last St. Patricks Day, the guardian angel in my life, my long time friend, Siobhan, got married. It was a tough day for me as a result of my depression but of course for Siobhan, I pulled through. She has been there for me through EVERY complication that has come up in my life and the last thing I would do is miss her wedding day because I was in such a horrible spot in my life during this time.
As I sit here today and look back at myself a year ago, I cannot help but to beam with pride and joy, and almost want to cry for myself in the progress that I have made in my own personal development. I have always been an individual with the inner strength of steel; however, occasionally I will experience what I call, situational depression. My "situational depression" always makes me a different person. Thankfully I am so head strong and have such a solid foundation of strength and wisdom, that once I slowly work my way out of the depression, I come out of it SO much stronger and motivated to achieve my dreams and pursue new goals.
Last St. Patrick's Day 2012 is history.... today, on St. Patrick's Day 2013, I have the plans in my head to MAKE my own HISTORY. I sit here as an individual that has inner happiness, balance, strength, dedication, motivation and so many things that I want to accomplish in life. I have so much on my plate that I am grateful for and I would not take back a single day of those days I spent alone and depressed. They have made me who I am today and the things that have not worked out along that way have brought me to people and places that continue to help me see the individual that I am meant to be.
To all my followers going through tough times, I understand where you are and I know where being strong can take you.... in closing and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I want to share with all of you an Irish Prayer that I found on IslandIreland.com that is symbolic of this post----
"May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer."
Thanks for reading! Feel free to keep up with me on Twitter--- @kCull4_SPT
Anyway, I felt like this was a really significant day for me to post. As those who use to follow my sporadic posts around this time last year know that I was going through some real tough times, depression and anxiety were at an all time high and I needed to make a change in my life because this was not how I wanted to keep living. I was stuck in the gray of depression, yet I could still see the brightness of my future that I was desperately reaching out for.
Last St. Patricks Day, the guardian angel in my life, my long time friend, Siobhan, got married. It was a tough day for me as a result of my depression but of course for Siobhan, I pulled through. She has been there for me through EVERY complication that has come up in my life and the last thing I would do is miss her wedding day because I was in such a horrible spot in my life during this time.
As I sit here today and look back at myself a year ago, I cannot help but to beam with pride and joy, and almost want to cry for myself in the progress that I have made in my own personal development. I have always been an individual with the inner strength of steel; however, occasionally I will experience what I call, situational depression. My "situational depression" always makes me a different person. Thankfully I am so head strong and have such a solid foundation of strength and wisdom, that once I slowly work my way out of the depression, I come out of it SO much stronger and motivated to achieve my dreams and pursue new goals.
Last St. Patrick's Day 2012 is history.... today, on St. Patrick's Day 2013, I have the plans in my head to MAKE my own HISTORY. I sit here as an individual that has inner happiness, balance, strength, dedication, motivation and so many things that I want to accomplish in life. I have so much on my plate that I am grateful for and I would not take back a single day of those days I spent alone and depressed. They have made me who I am today and the things that have not worked out along that way have brought me to people and places that continue to help me see the individual that I am meant to be.
To all my followers going through tough times, I understand where you are and I know where being strong can take you.... in closing and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I want to share with all of you an Irish Prayer that I found on IslandIreland.com that is symbolic of this post----
"May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer."
Thanks for reading! Feel free to keep up with me on Twitter--- @kCull4_SPT
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
My Return to Blogging! :)
Hey guys!
Sorry for not blogging in so long. I simply wish I could fill all of you in on the happenings of my past 4-5 months, but it would just be way to much to write about. A few things that I want to mention due to relevance of any future posts are the following:
--- I set a goal for myself to train and run a half marathon as a part of Team One Step. However, in the earlier half of my training I suffered a hamstring strain and let me tell ya, NOT FUN. The injury occurred July 8, 2012 and I was not pain free until I started physical therapy the second week of August. This did not leave me much time to finish training, considering the half was Sept 8, and upon d/c from physical therapy, my PT cleared me to increase my mileage .25 a week, which I have obeyed! :) To this point in time I am up to 2.5 miles again (YAYYY!!!!!!! Not much, but when you are injured, you would do anything to run just that much!) So of course, not running my half that I had my heart set on was tough but I did not want/there was no possible way, I could actually run this injury without being in pain the entire time, and more than likely following up with another injury that will set me back again for future events!
I have definitely learned from that experience (of course) and now I am taking steps to make sure I maintain every aspect of my life that is relevant in allowing me to successfully complete future events. These "aspects of my life" (nutrition, strength training, mentality, stretching, listening to my body and taking injury prevention measures (ice, heat, KT Tape, compression sleeves, etc) are not just things I do for training, I say "of my life," because that's what they are... they are a part of who I am and I don't just ignore them until they need to become a priority. I learn from my mistakes and I consider my body to be fragile, I feel that (literally) one wrong move may have a negative outcome and may result in injury. Anyway, this was important to discuss because for my new blog, which, hopefully can be linked within this one, I will be focusing on Mind-Body Wellness/Training!! :) I hope to interest you by blogging about the ups,downs, lessons, and future goals I have in regards to my physical and mental training/conditioning.
-Alright, So now that I am back in training mode with no injuries (***hold my breath, knock on wood, fingers crossed***) I am about to get in "The Zone." I have registered to do the Sears Tower Stair Climb in Chicago on NOVEMBER 4th!!!! I AM SOOO excited and anxious!!! Last year I did the Aon Center "Step Up for Kids," 82 floor (?) climb. This was my first and I was very proud of myself for my completion time. See my Athlinks profile for results here: http://athlinks.com/racer/118538989 ,based upon my time for the Aon Climb, I would like to set a goal for myself to finish under 27:00 for the Sears. I love that last year was my first year finally applying my dedication for fitness to actually participating in timed events! I think I had always filled myself with the fear that I was not well enough conditioned to complete such events at a reasonable time so I never participated. Now, I feel like this is something I owe to myself, it isn't to compete against others. It's to reward myself for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle, I love to see my hard work and dedication pay off. These events make me challenge myself to work to be a better me, I love having a goal to work towards, and such races make me compete against myself. I love the quote: "I don't stop when I'm tired, I stop when I'm done," this is how I feel about workouts and it's that mentality that keeps me pushing my hardest the entire time of an event. I want to over achieve the goals that I have set out for myself, I have previously established times for my past events, and now I am adding to that list as well as having my sights set on setting new PR's!! :)
----REDEFINE YOUR IMPOSSIBLE!----
Alright, just gotta throw in another thing here because it was the last post I had blogged about back in June. My experience with the Chicago Nike Northside vs Southside 16" Softball Game. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I can honestly say I had the best 2 days ever that week, it was by far one of, if not THEE coolest opportunities that I have ever had the chance to be a part of! The first night I went up and they just had me doing my thing at GSP Boxing Gym downtown Chicago. They had recorded me doing my warm ups, stretching, hitting the bags, and several drills that are a part of the Nike+ Training Drill Pack that syncs with the Nike Lunar Hyper Workout training shoes. If you are a fan of doing at home cardio drills, I strongly recommend purchasing a pair of these shoes. I am literally DRIPPING sweat by the time I finish, which reminds me, I need to start utilizing those shoes/application again! So the next day we had the softball game, I did not expect it to be nearly as large of an event as it turned out to be! I thought it would just be a small pick up game with the two teams, some Nike team members, a couple staff members from the company that did the film production, AKA...Suite Partners, and of course A.J. Pierzynski and the Northside's coach for the day, Johnny Knox. I walk up to the field that we were playing at in Lincoln Park and I about died. Tents, cameras, trailers, workers everywhere, banners, you name it... of course quite, shy, little me did not expect an event this size and I was just like, "what did I get myself into!?" LOL! But just an overall AWESOME experience, I am sooo fortunate to meet some of the people that God places into my life. Some have more significance than others, yet they all play a role in my personal development. At this event, along with the Nike staff, I also worked with Suite Partners, as I had previously mentioned. It's so funny because I really don't know them that well but to me, each person I met that day from their company was beyond friendly, down to Earth, welcoming, fun, and just an overall pleasure to work with and be around! I felt very empowered by this experience, Nike and Suite Partners did a great job working together to carry out such a fantastic event. In these 2 days, I felt like I stepped made a major change in myself, I did things that I did not think ever possible for me, I stepped outside of my comfort zone, I felt as though a part of me just grew up and became more mature in the sense of my future aspirations. Since this experience, I feel much more empowered to make the things I dream of achieving someday into a reality. I know now that nothing is out of reach and I am capable of doing great things. Thank you for helping me to realize this, Nike! <3
Soooo I thought I would share this video with y'all now! :)
Enjoy ~~~> Nike Video!! Here's the link in case that one does not work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvxB-akT_A&feature=youtu.be
-- So now that you're a little more up to date on my life, I just want to invite you to continue following me as I begin working towards creating my new blog!
Thanks for reading guys, I really appreciate your time and interest in reading what I have to say.
<3
Kristin.
Sorry for not blogging in so long. I simply wish I could fill all of you in on the happenings of my past 4-5 months, but it would just be way to much to write about. A few things that I want to mention due to relevance of any future posts are the following:
--- I set a goal for myself to train and run a half marathon as a part of Team One Step. However, in the earlier half of my training I suffered a hamstring strain and let me tell ya, NOT FUN. The injury occurred July 8, 2012 and I was not pain free until I started physical therapy the second week of August. This did not leave me much time to finish training, considering the half was Sept 8, and upon d/c from physical therapy, my PT cleared me to increase my mileage .25 a week, which I have obeyed! :) To this point in time I am up to 2.5 miles again (YAYYY!!!!!!! Not much, but when you are injured, you would do anything to run just that much!) So of course, not running my half that I had my heart set on was tough but I did not want/there was no possible way, I could actually run this injury without being in pain the entire time, and more than likely following up with another injury that will set me back again for future events!
I have definitely learned from that experience (of course) and now I am taking steps to make sure I maintain every aspect of my life that is relevant in allowing me to successfully complete future events. These "aspects of my life" (nutrition, strength training, mentality, stretching, listening to my body and taking injury prevention measures (ice, heat, KT Tape, compression sleeves, etc) are not just things I do for training, I say "of my life," because that's what they are... they are a part of who I am and I don't just ignore them until they need to become a priority. I learn from my mistakes and I consider my body to be fragile, I feel that (literally) one wrong move may have a negative outcome and may result in injury. Anyway, this was important to discuss because for my new blog, which, hopefully can be linked within this one, I will be focusing on Mind-Body Wellness/Training!! :) I hope to interest you by blogging about the ups,downs, lessons, and future goals I have in regards to my physical and mental training/conditioning.
-Alright, So now that I am back in training mode with no injuries (***hold my breath, knock on wood, fingers crossed***) I am about to get in "The Zone." I have registered to do the Sears Tower Stair Climb in Chicago on NOVEMBER 4th!!!! I AM SOOO excited and anxious!!! Last year I did the Aon Center "Step Up for Kids," 82 floor (?) climb. This was my first and I was very proud of myself for my completion time. See my Athlinks profile for results here: http://athlinks.com/racer/118538989 ,based upon my time for the Aon Climb, I would like to set a goal for myself to finish under 27:00 for the Sears. I love that last year was my first year finally applying my dedication for fitness to actually participating in timed events! I think I had always filled myself with the fear that I was not well enough conditioned to complete such events at a reasonable time so I never participated. Now, I feel like this is something I owe to myself, it isn't to compete against others. It's to reward myself for maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle, I love to see my hard work and dedication pay off. These events make me challenge myself to work to be a better me, I love having a goal to work towards, and such races make me compete against myself. I love the quote: "I don't stop when I'm tired, I stop when I'm done," this is how I feel about workouts and it's that mentality that keeps me pushing my hardest the entire time of an event. I want to over achieve the goals that I have set out for myself, I have previously established times for my past events, and now I am adding to that list as well as having my sights set on setting new PR's!! :)
----REDEFINE YOUR IMPOSSIBLE!----
Alright, just gotta throw in another thing here because it was the last post I had blogged about back in June. My experience with the Chicago Nike Northside vs Southside 16" Softball Game. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I can honestly say I had the best 2 days ever that week, it was by far one of, if not THEE coolest opportunities that I have ever had the chance to be a part of! The first night I went up and they just had me doing my thing at GSP Boxing Gym downtown Chicago. They had recorded me doing my warm ups, stretching, hitting the bags, and several drills that are a part of the Nike+ Training Drill Pack that syncs with the Nike Lunar Hyper Workout training shoes. If you are a fan of doing at home cardio drills, I strongly recommend purchasing a pair of these shoes. I am literally DRIPPING sweat by the time I finish, which reminds me, I need to start utilizing those shoes/application again! So the next day we had the softball game, I did not expect it to be nearly as large of an event as it turned out to be! I thought it would just be a small pick up game with the two teams, some Nike team members, a couple staff members from the company that did the film production, AKA...Suite Partners, and of course A.J. Pierzynski and the Northside's coach for the day, Johnny Knox. I walk up to the field that we were playing at in Lincoln Park and I about died. Tents, cameras, trailers, workers everywhere, banners, you name it... of course quite, shy, little me did not expect an event this size and I was just like, "what did I get myself into!?" LOL! But just an overall AWESOME experience, I am sooo fortunate to meet some of the people that God places into my life. Some have more significance than others, yet they all play a role in my personal development. At this event, along with the Nike staff, I also worked with Suite Partners, as I had previously mentioned. It's so funny because I really don't know them that well but to me, each person I met that day from their company was beyond friendly, down to Earth, welcoming, fun, and just an overall pleasure to work with and be around! I felt very empowered by this experience, Nike and Suite Partners did a great job working together to carry out such a fantastic event. In these 2 days, I felt like I stepped made a major change in myself, I did things that I did not think ever possible for me, I stepped outside of my comfort zone, I felt as though a part of me just grew up and became more mature in the sense of my future aspirations. Since this experience, I feel much more empowered to make the things I dream of achieving someday into a reality. I know now that nothing is out of reach and I am capable of doing great things. Thank you for helping me to realize this, Nike! <3
Soooo I thought I would share this video with y'all now! :)
Enjoy ~~~> Nike Video!! Here's the link in case that one does not work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IvxB-akT_A&feature=youtu.be
-- So now that you're a little more up to date on my life, I just want to invite you to continue following me as I begin working towards creating my new blog!
Thanks for reading guys, I really appreciate your time and interest in reading what I have to say.
<3
Kristin.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Hold Your Head High Beautiful.
Hey everyone!!
So sorry for going M.I.A. on my blog, hopefully I'll be able to gain some of you back! **fingers crossed!**
Hmm, soo what have I been up to this past month? For starters, I've had a huge writers block! I have been on a little mental vacation and have not really had really insightful things to write about. I've been very lethargic and have had a bit of brain fog and can't just put thoughts together in my head or organize all my priorities. This would then result in what would be a very meaningless blog posts, so be thankful I have not been writing! : P
I am so so so so happy and anxious to inform you all that I have been directly focusing on my fitness and nutrition lately though! This is the type of material that I have a passion for, along with my physical therapy degree as well, of course! What I'm getting at is that I have been focusing on these things for myself and for others also, why is this important to mention now you might ask? Well let me tell ya!
For a little over the past month I've been tossing around the idea of doing the Chicago Half Marathon and 5k on September 9, 2012!!! I officially decided to do it in May and now I am in the middle of a 14 week training and nutrition plan!!! YAYY!!!!! I am SOO excited to do this, the Children's Oncology Services Inc., One Step at a Time Camp that I volunteer for has a running team that will be participating in this event and I have decided to join their team in hopes of raising money for COSI, http://www.onestepcamp.org/ <-----CHECK IT OUT, this camp has had half of my heart for the past 4 years!!!! <3
Not only have I decided to run the Half Marathon but I have also been participating in a 1x/wk women's kickboxing class that will soon be 2x/wk starting in July!! This kickboxing class is down right intense! This isn't your YMCA or Rec. Center kickboxing, this is full out taped wrists, boxing gloves, bags, pads, tire flipping, bag hanging, plyometrics, combo throwing, kicking, etc for 1.5 pure muscle burning and sweat dripping hours! I love it, I'm dedicated to it and have the desire to get myself in the best shape possible! I love doing things like this because it is a challenge and I love making myself work hard and knowing that I won't quit until my workout is over!
My next big announcement is that through Twitter, @kCull_4, I participated in their #Northside vs #Southside Challenge last week to be eligible for a chance to play in a 16" softball game on 6-21 in Chicago where I will be coached by either Ryan Dempster or A.J. Pierzynski! Nike informed me on Wednesday that I was chosen and that I will be a player in that game.... can't watch to play for the #Southside, thanks ahead of time Coach Pierzynski!!! <3 WOOOO!!!! I'm sooo excited, I'm tellin' ya'll, the Nike Fuel Band is where it's at!!!!! Nike really scored some points in my book with this one!!! :)
Soooo OF COURSE all of these things make me soo proud of myself but the reason that it does really make me that much happier is because I look back at where I was with my life this exact time 3 months ago and I was a completely different person. Things were at a very low point, and thankfully I was able to pull myself through it with the support of others and look at me now. I would like to share some things that make me proud of my progress and make me realize and appreciate the opportunities that I have been blessed with....
friend:
So sorry for going M.I.A. on my blog, hopefully I'll be able to gain some of you back! **fingers crossed!**
Hmm, soo what have I been up to this past month? For starters, I've had a huge writers block! I have been on a little mental vacation and have not really had really insightful things to write about. I've been very lethargic and have had a bit of brain fog and can't just put thoughts together in my head or organize all my priorities. This would then result in what would be a very meaningless blog posts, so be thankful I have not been writing! : P
I am so so so so happy and anxious to inform you all that I have been directly focusing on my fitness and nutrition lately though! This is the type of material that I have a passion for, along with my physical therapy degree as well, of course! What I'm getting at is that I have been focusing on these things for myself and for others also, why is this important to mention now you might ask? Well let me tell ya!
For a little over the past month I've been tossing around the idea of doing the Chicago Half Marathon and 5k on September 9, 2012!!! I officially decided to do it in May and now I am in the middle of a 14 week training and nutrition plan!!! YAYY!!!!! I am SOO excited to do this, the Children's Oncology Services Inc., One Step at a Time Camp that I volunteer for has a running team that will be participating in this event and I have decided to join their team in hopes of raising money for COSI, http://www.onestepcamp.org/ <-----CHECK IT OUT, this camp has had half of my heart for the past 4 years!!!! <3
Not only have I decided to run the Half Marathon but I have also been participating in a 1x/wk women's kickboxing class that will soon be 2x/wk starting in July!! This kickboxing class is down right intense! This isn't your YMCA or Rec. Center kickboxing, this is full out taped wrists, boxing gloves, bags, pads, tire flipping, bag hanging, plyometrics, combo throwing, kicking, etc for 1.5 pure muscle burning and sweat dripping hours! I love it, I'm dedicated to it and have the desire to get myself in the best shape possible! I love doing things like this because it is a challenge and I love making myself work hard and knowing that I won't quit until my workout is over!
My next big announcement is that through Twitter, @kCull_4, I participated in their #Northside vs #Southside Challenge last week to be eligible for a chance to play in a 16" softball game on 6-21 in Chicago where I will be coached by either Ryan Dempster or A.J. Pierzynski! Nike informed me on Wednesday that I was chosen and that I will be a player in that game.... can't watch to play for the #Southside, thanks ahead of time Coach Pierzynski!!! <3 WOOOO!!!! I'm sooo excited, I'm tellin' ya'll, the Nike Fuel Band is where it's at!!!!! Nike really scored some points in my book with this one!!! :)
Soooo OF COURSE all of these things make me soo proud of myself but the reason that it does really make me that much happier is because I look back at where I was with my life this exact time 3 months ago and I was a completely different person. Things were at a very low point, and thankfully I was able to pull myself through it with the support of others and look at me now. I would like to share some things that make me proud of my progress and make me realize and appreciate the opportunities that I have been blessed with....
friend:
- how are you
- ive seen better days, how about yourself?
friend:
- who cares about me whats wrong!?
ME:
- it doesnt really matter
friend:
- okay just trying to help!
- Im sorry
ME:
- its kay
- theres really nothing to help with
friend:
- understandable
- hows everything else
ME
- honestly, it all sucks
- im quite the debbie downer, i wish i could tell you something im really happy about right now but i really cant..
- maybe the fact that i started working out again makes me kinda happy?
Why is this so important to share with you all? Because this is a direct conversation I had with a friend on March 19th, I love the part where I say "The fact that I started working out again makes me kinda happy?" I believe staying busy, active and focusing my negative energy in a different place helps me to establish the important things in my life and to maintain a sense of balance with my mental and emotional well-being! Looking at this makes me proud, yet it breaks my heart. This person is not who I am and I hate seeing myself at those low points. Over the course of time, I've been able to realize with the help of my psychiatrist, that my lows are abnormally low. This is where I lead into my depressed moods. I have been prescribed a medication, Celexa, that will help regulate that and my anxiety as well (hence the reason for my brain fog and lethargy!) So far I'm not noticing a huge change myself (I just want to stop feeling tired all the time) but my boss did mention to me that she loves seeing me so happy and that I seem so light and stress free now, perhaps because I'm on summer vacation as well too? But I am happy to say that I can not even remember the last time I needed to take a Xanax!!!! That is really great, I had no problem whatsoever coming off of it, but I was on a low dose so I DO NOT recommend anyone else do the same without your doctors guidance!
I want to close on this quote and advice that I received from a teacher during that same low point, I hope it is able to touch you as much as it did for me.
"You feel however you do, and that's OK. As long as you are safe, then that is all that matters. You are getting the help you need, so I am glad for that. It is really difficult to ask for help, so you have one of the hardest parts out of the way."
---cut other info out, then my teacher closed with this......---
***"I have been where you are. It gets better. Really."***
----And then I lost it. It's just so comforting to have someone who understands what your going through be there to tell you it will be okay. You might choose not to listen and believe them because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but you just need to keep your head up and keep walking. It is there, whatever hard time you are currently facing is only temporary. It hurts bad, I know and its unfair that anyone should hurt the way you do, but please listen and trust me when I tell you to take it as a learning experience. You will grow from this and learn things about yourself. You will be able to take those learning experiences and use the knowledge that you've gained to in turn help others. I have faith in you and I know that it is just a rough patch, please realize that you can help yourself. Asking for others to help is not a weakness either, I am not ashamed to admit that I see a psychiatrist to help regulate what is going on with me, I'm not embarrassed to admit I take an anti-depressant/anxiety medicine. These are not weaknesses, this is me showing that I am strong enough to realize when I need additional help to take care of my well-being. Please don't be afraid to do the same if you feel you need to.
Love and Gratitude---
KC<3
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