So my latest fitness venture, "The Gym," has been going pretty well.

I've been working with my trainer twice a week, and going on my own once or twice in between.  I've also added spinning classes, which has been a new and very difficult challenge!  But one I'm definitely enjoying (while also maybe hating it just a little).

I'm still training for my half marathon in October.  For the most part, that is going well.  I did have a bit of a shin splint flare-up last week, but I've increased my stretching and invested in a foam roller.  Seems to have kept them at bay, at least so far.  It didn't surprise me too much that they flared up when they did... after a few days of not eating as well, not hydrating well, and on top of that the heat and humidity of St. Louis.  I'm just hoping I can keep them under control, because now that I'm four weeks into training I really don't want to have to take a step back!

It's been fun to kind of shift my focus just a bit with my fitness!  New challenges always keep me motivated.  As far as my workouts go, right now my main goal is just getting stronger and building muscle.  I'm not too focused on "losing weight" per se at this point.  A lot of research I've done on body building advises eating to fuel your workouts in the beginning rather than try to build muscle and lose weight at the same time.  I think I would like to dial in my diet a bit though in the next few weeks simply to make my runs easier.  I think a little less weight carried would help a great deal with strain on my legs.

Otherwise, life lately has been pretty good.  I went to St. Louis for my cousin's wedding last week.  That was so much fun!  I got to see most of my cousins and aunts and uncles, as well as my sisters (all but one) and my brother and parents.  The first couple of days were pretty low key as most people weren't in town yet and my sister had to work.  But it was nice to just have an excuse to read and relax. Work is still pretty stressful.  I've started charging occasionally, which has definitely increased the stress for me.  I even started having stress dreams about work for awhile there, which hasn't happened to me since I became a new nurse!  Not fun.

So anyway, that is life lately.  Still loving it out here in Spokane!