So often I wish I got to sit down and read more. I’m in a stage in my life where I’m “gogogogogo” all of the time. This is why when Monica Leonelle contacted me about reviewing her book, I hesitated. I was afraid to take on more work. Though, instead of saying no, I dove in (the fact we both have Westies might have played a part). And I am so glad I did. So, without further ado, part two of my Socialpunk series: My (spoiler free) review!

Socialpunk is set in future Chicago, in a dome area cut off from the rest of the world. Ima, our lead character, starts off as quiet and timid but quickly breaks out of her shell when it becomes necessary. She meets some interesting characters along the way who help her figure out what’s really going on in her dome, and set to help her save her friend Dash.

This is a fast paced book with lots of twists so you never know what’s going to happen next. I could hardly put it down and was left wanting more with the cliffhanger at the end of the book. This book is great for girls because there is a romance aspect, but it’s not your typical Cinderella story. Ima, while starting off shy, becomes a strong female lead. Though, our author definitely did not forget about the guys. This book is full of action packed scenes that leave you on the edge of your seat.

All in all, this was a fun read with broad appeal. I absolutely can not wait until the next installment comes out to find out what happens next!

So do you want to win a signed copy of Socialpunk? How about a Kindle Fire or an iPad 3?!

Well, javascript won’t work on wordpress.com hosted blogs, so click this link here:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NDU0NTI3OTUzNDRlNzNlMWE1MDc3YWMxNTc4NWQ4OjI=/

And it will take you right to the rafflecopter that you need to enter on!

Registration has opened for the WDW half marathon in January and I can’t wait to sign up. Most of the people I’ve mentioned doing the half during our mini-honeymoon think I’m crazy.  I think it will be fun. Tony has mentioned he might run it with me. Hopefully! It would be fun for us to do together.

I’ve joined the Yelp community. I’ve done two different reviews so far. I’m hoping to do more. I’d really like to try to go to as many Memphis-y places I can while I’m still in the city since you never know when a great opportunity might arise to move us somewhere else. Obviously I’m not looking for said opportunity right now. I need to finish school first.

Unfortunately I’ll be taking a summer course but at least it’s on-line. I much prefer on-line classes, and if I could take them all on-line I most definitely would. If only it didn’t cost practically twice as much as a classroom class.

Ah, well, tis the life of a working college student. How are you all doing?

So far I’ve put together a short list of exercises to do. Most of them can be done in my office at school if I don’t find time to do it at home. For example, my April 2^nd list looks like this:

Go to speaker

10 knee push ups

5 chair dips

20 second plank

HPRM homework

Add Formspring to R4D

For those of you who don’t know what Formspring is, it’s a place you can go to ask me questions! I’ll answer questions about whatever: Disney, running, social media, etc.

Also, with the little tax return money I had to play with, I bought the adapter for the stationary bike that used to be in my mom’s room. Now, it’s in mine! I tried it out for a 20 min. bike ride last night and I’m a fan. Now when I watch my Boy Meets World DVDs, I can feel a little less guilty.

Also, I’m pretty sure I haven’t told you… but I have a new job! AND it’s full-time and at a hotel (so in my field of study), which is so exciting. After this month, I should be caught up on all the junk that got pushed off the past few months and that is just so exciting for me. I also snatched up another part-time job as the Social Media Associate for a local catering company AND event & floral design company. It’s actually the caterer that Tony and I will be using for our wedding, but that’s another post for another day.

Well, I’m all caught up on here, I think. .

Is it fair to call it an 8 mile run when I do a switch between walking and running? What do you guys think?

I’ve been playing with my New Balance GPS watch I won from http://www.fannetasticfood.com/. I used it on my almost 2 mile run the other day and so far I’m loving it!

Ignore my messy, open purse… but I found this granola at my grocery store and it’s so good! No, probably not the best snack for me… but it’s better than eating a bag of potato chips! Also, grapes. Yum!

What are your favorite healthy snacks?

katharyngarrett.wordpress.com

Until then, here’s a photo of my dog Mac:

Starting over on anything is difficult, but I find this to be especially true for running. I wasn’t a fast runner by any means, but I could hold my own for a couple of miles. Then, I came home from Florida where I was walking, no joke, at least 10 miles a day (on or off work) and I’m just not doing that now. Not that I couldn’t… it’s just a lot different walking 10 miles through a theme park than it is through Memphis. Nothing against Memphis, we just don’t have the roller coasters to keep me motivated to keep walking.

So, having no idea where to start, and no money to pay someone to tell me where to start, I went searching for answers on the internet. Doing this, I found Smart Coach via Runner’s World. With some slight adjustments (just changing the run days, and account for prior commitments, like getting married!) I have a plan set out for a half-marathon in January.

If you’re new here, you may not know I actually participated in the Disney Marathon Weekend this past January by finishing the half marathon. My motivation? The awesome Donald Duck medal I received at the end. My friend Eric, who was participating in the Disney College Program with me, talked me in to doing it and our friend Madison joined us. I didn’t participate to finish in a specific time. I did it to prove to myself I could. AND I DID! Believe me, if I can do it with practically no training (which I highly recommend you NOT do)… you can! I finished at 3:31:18. After the fun incidents that I’ve mentioned, I would proud to just be done. This time, though, I have a goal. I want to PR (not that it would be hard to do)… with a sub-3:00:00 time. The plan I’ve printed off from Smart Coach says on race day I should finish at 2:52:27… which I think will never happen. I’ll probably pee myself with excitement if I do.

You’ll also be happy to know that more pictures will be hitting the blog shortly. That way you can skim over my words and look at the photos… just like when you study!
What’s been your favorite race so far?

So my run 10 miles by September thing is gone and while I’m adding on 3ish miles to my end goal of running, I’m also adding on 3ish months to my final goal. And, I’m adding to that “Coast to Coast” to my goals. What is “Coast to Coast”? It’s doing a Disney World race and a Disneyland race in the same year. So, I have many goals… which brings me to: NaBloPoMo.

Each month BlogHer does a NaBloPoMo. And while I won’t be adhering to their prompts (I’ll probably do a short answer to them at the end of normal posts), I will be taking the opportunity to hold myself accountable more. Especially considering my once a week posting which is doing me no favors to get some readers. Not that I don’t appreciate the ones I have! Of course I do! But the more people reading… the more I’ll feel bad if I let someone down.

Most of the traffic that hits my website is about Disney. Mostly, the Disney College Program, which is totally fine. But, I would like to get out there in the healthy blogger world and add that. So, while I’m keeping Running for Disney the same… I’ll lose a little focus on the Disney part and add more focus to the running/being healthy part.

I’m making a list of 30 topics so I have something to write for each day. I will probably also try to be one of those bloggers who takes photos of her food every day. Which there’s nothing with, of course, it’s just going to be weird for me at first. I’m hoping this also helps prove myself that it doesn’t matter that I have 2 part time jobs, a full time job, and am a student… that there’s still time to exercise. And to prove to those out there who think they don’t have time… that there IS time! You just have to find it.

So, here are my April Goals:

• Cut down to 0 sodas a day. This one is one I’ve been working on. I’m actually down to 1-2 a day… which is good compared to how much I used to drink. My Disney roommates can attest to that.
• Be able to run 2 miles without stopping. I think this is doable. I was at about this towards the end of my program at Disney.
• Lose 5 lbs. I know the weight isn’t going to just melt off. That would be silly to think. But I think that this is a healthy, attainable goal for 30 days. It’s barely 1.25 lbs a week.

I doubt I’ll be able to actually run 10 miles by the time the 10-miler I want to do comes around. (Still undecided if I should sign up.) But, I would like to run as many as I can around then. And 10 is a nice round number to aspire to. I think maybe my first step will be back to the c210k? Anything to get back up to running without dying.

Goal: Drink more water

I typically drink water when I’m at work because at both jobs, there’s Pepsi and I’m a Coke girl. But, I’m trying to be a water girl. Right now I’m using Propel & Mio. I’m only sticking to the flavors I know I like because I don’t want to waste money trying other flavors if I’m going to end up chucking it out if I don’t care for it.

Goal: Tone up arms!

Shake Weight? Haha! I have no idea what to do here. Obviously I’ll need some sort of weights to do this… but I’m completely clueless.

Goal: Eat healthier

I’m pretty picky. I’ve always been that way. I’ve been slowly retrying foods I had written off as “gross” such as spinach. I’ve always eaten my food “plain”. Even at The Varsity in Atlanta I would order a “Naked” hotdog. I need to expand my horizons.

Those are my basic “let’s get healthy, fit, and slim/toned” goals. Any tips or tricks?