Tag: running

lifestyle

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Me

Elizabeth Yuen

All week I’ve had the song “Getting to Know You” stuck in my head from “The King and I.” In honor of that wonderful song, I decided to whip up a list of ten things you might not know about me.

  1. I used to hate to run, but now I love it.
  2. When I go on runs, I mainly listen to movie soundtracks. They make me feel like an epic superhero and keep me charged through the end of the workout.
  3. I get way too attached to fictional characters in books, movies and TV shows.
  4. I am easily startled so please don’t sneak up on me!
  5. I love doing things by myself. I enjoy hanging out with other people, but there’s something nice about taking yourself to a restaurant or just spending the evening alone. Solitude is wonderful.
  6. I used to work for a pet store in college. Never again! I love animals, but having dogs bark in my ears all day long is not my dream job.
  7. Every morning, I try to wake up with a heart full of gratitude. I do this by listing at least 3 things I’m thankful for.
  8. I want to be a young adult and romance writer. I take a little time every day to work toward this goal.
  9. I used to weigh about 200 pounds in college. I’ve lost around 40 pounds and am still working toward my goal weight.
  10. I take great pride in my home and my domestic skills. I love knitting, cooking, and baking in particular. Sewing is something I’ve always had a fondness for, so my parents got me a sewing machine for Christmas. I’m super excited to try it out!

What are some things other people might not know about you? Leave a comment below!

lifestyle

How I Relax After a Long Day

Elizabeth Yuen

It’s Monday today and Mondays always hit me pretty hard. I get up at the crack of dawn, squeeze in some morning Pilates before quickly getting ready and making my way to work.

The first thing I do after work is run. I blast some epic movie tunes (Two Steps from Hell is what gets me moving), and hit the outdoors. Now that the sun sets around 5:30 pm, I only have time for about 2-3 miles. In the spring and summer, I usually get about 5-6 miles in after work.pexels-photo-247477.jpg

If it’s raining or the weather is just not good, I take myself to the YMCA and lift some weights after doing the elliptical for 20 minutes. Regardless, it’s important that I get a workout right after work to release some of that work stress and tension.

After working up a decent sweat, I go home to take a shower with the lights off. There’s something about being in a steaming hot shower with the lights dim that is just super relaxing to me.

Once I’m all dried off, I lather on some lotion and put on some comfy pajamas. Being in work clothes all day can tense the body up. Wearing familiar and comfortable clothing will help it relax.

When I’m winding down for bed, I always like to read a chapter or two of a book and listen to soothing music. Keep in mind, when I read right before I go to bed, it’s usually pexels-photo-92323.jpga self help book that can help sooth me, not a mystery/action/suspense filled novel where every chapter ends in a surprise. Books like that keep me on my toes and are usually best for reading earlier in the evening.

Lastly, I meditate right before I fall asleep. During meditation, I like to reflect and take deep breaths as I set my intentions for the next day. I don’t like to think about anything heavy or dark. I just like to keep it positive and light during my evening meditation.

How do you relax after a long day?

health

How I Became a Runner

Elizabeth Yuen

I hate running. I’ve always hated running. And I have always known that I will forever hate running. Until the day I started to love running.

Growing up, running had always been a horrible, terrible thing the gym teachers made us do every day. The grouchy old men and women would shout at us, “Don’t cut corners!” and “Run faster!” Then they’d finish it off with some push ups and sit ups on the concrete (have you done that before? It’s the worst). Thus, running became more of a punishmenthealthy-person-woman-sport.jpg and a way for me to feel like I wasn’t good at anything.

What’s even worse is that the winning kids of those mile runs liked to do “victory laps” where they would pass by the last place losers (AKA myself and a few other kids) all while looking smug about the whole thing. And after the last kid finally finished running, we all had to go to our next class sweaty, disgusting and exhausted.

It was awful.

With each passing year, and each teacher yelling the same things over and over again (“Is that all you got?” “Stop going so slow – kick it into high gear!”), I felt more and more hatred toward this stupid sport. All I wanted to do was be left alone, but adults kept yelling at me (and the other poor souls who were never good at running either) that I wasn’t doing good enough with smug peers looking at me like I was inferior.

Okay, yeah. An eleven minute mile is nothing to brag about, but that was my eleven minute mile.

For years this pent up rage toward running built up inside of me, until whenever I thought about jogging, a feel of loathing would bubble up and I’d walk away from the whole thing.

But then I stopped for moment and though to myself, “If I hate it this much, maybe I should actually try to do it.”

I was out of school. No one was yelling at me to run faster. I could just…run. In peace. By myself.

So I did.

And every day I hated it at first. It was so boring! Who actually liked to run?

Until I started to hate it a little less. I discovered that running was easier outdoors than on a treadmill..

And then I started to be okay with it. I went outside and ran gorgeous trails in the forest by myself. No one was telling me what to do or how to run. I just ran

And then I started to like it.

And then, this Christmas, when I received tons of winter running gear from my family, I knew that I loved it.

What’s your exercise of choice?

lifestyle

New Year Resolutions

Elizabeth Yuen

It’s that time of year again! Everyone’s gearing up for the new year and getting ready to tackle their goals.

For 2018, theses are mine:

  1. Run one race per month – I’m a strong believer in giving back and running races is a perfect way to do just that while staying fit! I started doing this back in August of 2017 and only skipped December since I didn’t have the proper winter running gear. Now that my family has beefed up my winter running wardrobe with some awesome Christmas gifts, I’m back in action and ready to do some good for the community by running.
  2. Run a 10K – I’ve already done a 5K before, and I want to push myself even further this year! I’m signing up for the Florence Forth 10K happening March 3rd, 2018.running-573762_1280
  3. Run a Half Marathon – Once I finish my 10K in March, I’ll be looking for something new to sink my teeth into. Running a half marathon sounds pretty good to me! So I’ll be looking to accomplish that 3 months after I finish the Florence Forth 10K. There’s a half marathon happening in June that I’m really looking forward to. Sign me up!
  4. Blog twice a week – I’ve been slacking on this goal. Sometimes life gets in the way and writing takes a back seat, but this year I’d like to make my blog a priority. So every day during my lunch break at work, I’ll be breaking out my laptop and working on my blog posts.
  5. Write a novel – I really want to finish my first book by the end of 2018. My dream is to become a writer, so it’s time to make that dream a reality. I’m going to dedicate at least one hour per evening to my writing my very first novel.

What are your goals for 2018? How do you plan on getting there? Let me know in the comment section below.