What has been on my mind

OK, so it's been a long time since I have posted. I'm sure that not many people read this blog, and those that do already know why it's been so long since I've posted.

BUT here goes anyway...

Tuesday, July 21st around 3pm Mountain Time Scott Minear, Ryan Vangsnes, Jeremy Vangsnes, and Dan Vangsnes were in a roll-over on I-90 right outside of Bozeman, Montana. I've never met Scott, but I've known the Vangsnes boys for about 6 or 7 years. (Wow, yeah 7 years this fall is when I first got to know the boys!) This has kind of been occupying my time, and has definitely been occupying my thoughts for the last (almost) 7 weeks.

Ryan literally walked away from the accident with some cuts and bruises. He and Scott were wearing seat belts. Scott was pinned in the car and was in critical condition in Billings for a while. He is now doing better and will hopefully heading to his home in Georgia early this coming week! (his CaringBridge site) Dan and Jeremy were sleeping in the back seat of the car and were both thrown from the car. Dan's main injuries suffered were external, Jeremy's were internal. He was unconscious from the accident and it still in a coma. He is now in Spartanburg with family and makes small improvements. (the boys' CaringBridge site)

This is just my small, abbreviated version of the events. This is a great entry from their oldest brother Travis about all of the boys' personalities, and really gave me a peace right after the accident. (Victims of Random Tragedy?)

Thankfully Dan agreed to let me come visit him in Bozeman and I could not have picked a better time to go. During my stay Dan got his neck brace off, came out of withdrawal from a very powerful medication, stopped using a walker (now uses a pretty pimpin' cane), walked with NO assistance, WAS RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL!!!, and the major wound that he has healed significantly. Since I've been there even more miracles have happened, and continue to happen everyday. That is my favorite part of the day now, calling Dan to see what brace he could remove or piece of 'equipment' he could stop using.

I realize this is a lot of information, and a lengthy excuse as to why I'm not blogging. But there will be a day where the boys will all get together and tell their story. As for now, I'm looking forward to Dan getting to South Carolina and getting to see Jeremy for the first time in a long time.

1 mile by 6:15 AM!

Morning workout was amazing! The trainer is SO encouraging and positive. And also, I burned over 550 calories before 7am. and I RAN a mile or more by 6:15. My day felt so productive, and I was way hyped up off of the workout (before I even got coffee).

Mornings, here I come. I'm going to try it a few more times, and see if it sticks! (Yeh Angela, count me in)

What does 779 mean to me?

So, I have been a little slack with working out lately. I've been even more slack with blogging. I have been working out some that I didn't write about.

Today was my first day at the gym in over a week. I just let the UNmotivation get me. BAAAD idea. It was a rough workout, but I did it. 779?? Number of calories burned in 1:20! It took almost an hour and a half, but I was able to finish everything. It was just me and 2 guys, which wasn't too bad. We did some warm ups, and then off to a timed 4BL (about .37 miles). I just thought that if I made it under 3:00 minutes I'd be good. That wasn't a very lofty goal I was able to make it under 3:00 on every lap (I think, may have cut it close on the last one). We were given 3 minutes in between laps, I was verrrry winded after #2 and #3.

My gym buddy Angela has switched to mornings for a couple of weeks while she has stuff going on at night. She loves it. She works out at 6:00am then showers and heads to work! I'm very impressed by this. I am going to go Friday and try it out. The only problem for me is that I live farther away. So we are going to try this whole showering at the gym thing. Then get ready and get coffee (I will soooo need it). Our gym isn't like most other gyms. We are very small and there is only one shower stall. So I will definitely blog about the morning workout experience. Excited to work out with super pumped trainer Bryan again!

Race for the Cure

This will be my next 5k. PLEASE run/walk with me. As a team starts to form I'll post more about fundraising, but consider running. It's a great cause and odds are that you know someone who has been affected by breast cancer.

THIS is the race site. If you're interested in joining the team that some of my friends and I are putting together, let me know.

#3

Today is the 3rd day in a row that I've gone to the gym. And today I felt like I kind of rocked it. I didn't run all of my laps, but close. And I completed the exercise and feel pretty good afterward.

I'm not sure if I have just become one of those work-out freaks or what, but I'm living it up while I am super motivated. I think I'm going to shoot for tomorrow too.

4 Days in a row? Can I do this? I think so! (also why is this super motivated week the one where Michael *hard core pro-wrestler trainer* isn't there?)

Results!

I have been working out for about 6 weeks and have official results of how my body is doing. I was very pleased to find out that I have lost inches in a lot of places and lost weight! Also, I was able to bring up the amount of my weight that is NOT fat. This means that I gained muscle AND lost weight.

I think that my results are a combination of being more conscious of what I'm eating, running, and working out regularly. It was VERY exciting to say the least. Now I just can't wait to start seeing the results a little more!

Also, today I did manmakers. I did not make a man, but there was a tired Jenn by the end of it all. We also ran in between reps. All together I did 5 laps all running. That is 1.85 miles. I'm slightly impressed with myself. Now if only I could keep that momentum and run 2 or 3 miles without stopping to lift weights in between laps.

And one last exciting thing is that my heart rate has come down a little. I think that will have a lot to do with my stamina running.

So here's to a slower heart rate, burning lots of calories, and losing inches!

Candlelight Results

I'm still no runner, But I might be one day.

My first time chip race.

Place Age Sex NAME CITY/STATE Rank Gun Time Gun Pace Chip Time Chip Pace

720 24 F JENNIFER NICHOLS SIMPSONVILLE SC 720 00:41:32 00:13:22 00:40:38 00:13:05