Why Blog. Why Ten Thirty-One. Why Run.

One would think that running is as easy as putting on a pair of shoes and heading out on the open road. If it were that simple perhaps I would have started running years ago. But, frankly, it's not.

Living in Florida, one has to deal with the elements that are involved in Florida weather. For instance, humidity. Humidity is not your friend. It's not nice either. My hair doesn't like it. My lungs don't like it. My skin doesn't like it. My clothes don't like it. Along with the humidity, you have the heat. I hate sweating. And in Florida it's always hot. Don't be fooled either by those people who tell you that the "winters are nice in Florida" because they're not. Those people are snowbirds and come down here from Michigan, Ohio and Illinois so of course it's going to be nice for them. For people like me who live through it year by year, hot is hot. Then there are the bugs, wind, blinding sun, hot asphalt, idiotic drivers and dusty vacant lots. So, throw those factors all into a blender and mix it around and you have a pretty shitty environment to go running in which is why I would have rather sat on my couch and watched it all from the comfort of my air conditioned home.

Then I went to the doctor and he fucked up my plan to be a couch potato. Back in March he told me that though I've done good in my weight loss over the years, if I didn't lose another 25-30lbs I'd be at risk for a whole boatload of medical issues. He handed me some reading material for a diet that seemed relatively easy to follow and then said that horrible E word: EXERCISE.

I decided I was going to set a goal and go from there. My goal was to run a 5k. So, I set out to do it. I spent time on the internet figuring out how to go from couch potato to 5k and bought some snazzy Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11th edition tennis shoes and off to the gym I went. I found treadmill running helps me keep track of my time and pace and I don't have to deal with the Florida weather. Plus, the treadmills at my gym have fans that I can angle just right so they blow on my face while I trot along.

Since starting this 5k training, I have been able to go from not being able to run one minute straight to being able to run .75 miles without stopping. That's great coming from someone who spent the last ten years being a SAHM and not doing much in the way of exercising.

So, I decided to start a blog about the ups and downs of dieting, running, weight loss and my journey to reach that 100lbs weight loss mark.

The title of my blog - Ten Thirty-One- in a ten code we use in my line of work that means "in pursuit" or in law enforcement terms "oh fuck the bad guy is running." So, whenever I go for my runs I always chuckled to myself and say, "Bridget is ten thirty-one."