Zombie 5K Run

Zombie 5k Run

For me, finding the time to be consistent with my running (and exercising in general) is well, difficult.  When I'm not dedicating 40+ hours a week to my job as a social worker I find myself wanting to just have fun.  I can be found having dinner with friends, drinks with friends, shopping with friends, movies with friends, IKEA trips with friends, crocheting with friends, partying with friends, beaching with friends, gossiping with friends, and for good measure, just spending time with my friends.  

Social butterfly?  You don't say.

Obviously, I'm happiest when I'm spending time with my pals.  So it only makes sense to incorporate any activities of the exercise variety...with friends.  Now I've had the occasional gym buddies who bail at the last minute.  As good as their intentions may have been they just simply weren't interested in working out regularly.  Or I've had friends who are avidly interested in shaking their groove things in Zumba classes and while I will dabble in Zumba here and there...it really isn't MY thing.

So there I am, an extroverted people person without any consistent and super local workout buddy.  Enter one of my best friends, Lisa (Hi Lisa!).  We both discovered around the same time how much we loved running.  A mutual adoration for being outside and for social contact made us quick running buddies.  We enjoyed evening jog after jog together all through the summer of 2012 while preparing for The Color Run 5k.  Both being inexperienced runners, we were able to share in the small but exciting victories of "I ran 0.4 miles further than last time!" and "I finished that mile in 32 seconds less than before!"

Those seemingly trivial moments proved to be monumental for me as I shed 20 pounds over the summer.  Our first 5k came and went and suddenly with the decreasing daylight and lack of a formal 5k run to look forward to...so did our almost daily running routine.

Throughout this past fall and winter I've managed to maintain my 20 pound weight loss with weekly half-assed workouts of Just Dance and brief walks.  While happy that I've finally managed to keep off a significant amount of weight for more than a month, I can't help but be a little bummed that my precious momentum has dissipated.

The Solution?  Getting chased by zombies, of course.

If signing up for a fun themed 5k helped me out once, it should do the trick again.  I'm back on the treadmill (and on nice days back outside) running my butt off to get ready to escape the zombie apocalypse.  I'm extra motivated due to the fact that I'm terrified of the feeling of being chased and I'm about as brave as a baby when it comes to zombies and anything remotely scary.  So this could result in me running the fastest in my life or cowering in a fetal position on a path in FDR Park.  0_o

I'm feeling great and also excited to weigh myself soon, especially since I've been transitioning my normal emptycarb-sugar-salt-aholic vegetarian diet to a more whole food and minimally processed vegan regimen.  Updates are sure to follow and I hope to see lots of friends and family at the upcoming Zombie 5k in Philadelphia.  Visit The Zombie Run's website for more details or to find a race near you.