{Guest Post} Tamera from T Times Three

Mornin'!  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I'm getting ready to hit the open road with my daaaahling husband, so I won't ramble.  =)  Heeeeeeeeere's Tamara! 


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Hey all of you MNWL readers!  My name is Tamara and I blog over at T Times Three.  I am a newlywed to my high school sweetheart and I blog all about our life together with our three fur-babies… come stop by and say Hi!

Through reading each other’s blogs and e-mailing back and forth, Mrs. Robinson and I have bonded over our love of running.  HA, let me re-phrase that … our love-hate relationship with running!   I didn’t always hate running.  It wasn’t until my freshman year of high – school that I came to hate it so much.  I was on the JV soccer team and as part of our “warm up” we had to run 2 miles in under twenty minutes.  And if you didn’t do it under twenty minutes, you had to do it again.  I don’t think I ever made it…  And we had to run an extra mile if we lost.  Running was used as punishment, and that forever scarred me!

Until now! 

For years I’ve longingly watched runners… I want their legs, abs and their determination!

Seriously, who doesn’t want that?!

Since January I have been working slowly but surely start running.  I don’t want to run a marathon, but I have a set a 5K as a goal for myself.  3.1 miles may not sound like much, but it is a big deal for me! 

I wanted to share three little words of wisdom for any of you who may be in a similar situation…

1.      Push yourself, but not too hard! 
Running and getting in shape is hard, it is going to hurt.  Push yourself out of your comfort zone.  But don’t push yourself too hard!  I’ve found that there are some days where I just don’t want to run… so I don’t.  I run when I feel like it and don’t feel guilty if I don’t… I will never use running as punishment again!

2.      Pump yourself up with music!
I absolutely HAVE to have music while I run… a TV just doesn’t cut it.  Maybe it is all my high-school marching band days, but I just can’t help but to run faster when the beat is faster! 
Let’s take a look at what I am listening to…

Talk about embarrassing.  Yes, that is Hanson, Miley Cyrus and Ying Yang Twins… I’ll admit it! 
What are your favorite workout songs?

3.      Set attainable goals and reward yourself!

I know I am never going to run a marathon, so my attainable goal is a 5K.  Mrs. Robinson and I will be meeting and running a 5K together in October! (More on that to come soon!)  I am also planning to run/walk a 5K in April.  Closer to time I will be rewarding myself with a new running outfit to wear for the race.  Clothes serve as excellent motivation for me, haha!  Don’t reward yourself with food!

So there you have it!
 Are you a runner?  What are your little tips to help a beginner?  I would love to hear them! 

Thank you, Mrs. Robinson for helping to motivate me… we will rock our 5K in October!  And thank you for having me guest post… I’ve had a blast!