Motivate.

I'm going to the Canary Islands! Unfortunately, this will be my last trip while in London (I seriously underestimated just how expensive this city was), but at least it'll be a glorious one. I'm going with my friends Jordan, Mike, and Sam, and we were able to book the trip for 5 nights at a four star resort hotel for only $300 USD (flight included). Yeah, I know. We also have our own apartment at the hotel so we are just going to buy groceries and cook for ourselves. Since it's a beach trip also, our daily activities will consist of 1) laying on the beach, 2) swimming, 3) tanning, 4) more laying on the beach, 5) pool, 6) swimming, 7) tanning, 8) more laying on the beach, 9) pool, and 10) more laying on the beach. That's all free. Oh, and climbing the volcano there. So, since we won't be spending money besides the initial $300, and groceries there for the week will cost less than groceries in London for the week, I'd say we made a sound economical choice.

I am a little sad that my traveling is over though. There were still a lot of places on my list that I didn't get to see. I wanted to visit Adrienne in Sevilla, Jessica in Graz, I wanted to go to Croatia with my friends here, and maybe Prague, and I feel a little ashamed that I've been in England and never made it to Scotland or Ireland. However, I got to go to some cool, different places, and for that I am grateful. Besides, it's not like I'll never be back. I'd rather make sure I have some money to see a little bit of Italy while I am in Milan.

This trip will definitely keep me inspired to keep running though. As if I wasn't motivated enough to do these runs, knowing that I will be in a bikini in a little over a month will definitely get me out there working it.

My runs have been going really great. I'm not going every single day like originally planned; I skipped today because it was dreary and rainy outside. However, I am definitely making an effort to go every other day, if not everyday, and have only skipped a few days since I started. Plus, I've been running 4-5 miles each time, so I feel that I'm still getting a decent work-out even if I skip. I am just afraid of overwhelming myself: I know I need to go more frequently, run faster and farther, cut candy out of my daily diet (my biggest weight gain problem... sour patch kids will be the death of me), not eat so late at night, etc. etc. If you try to do everything at once though, you do it for a few days, decide it's too hard, and give up everything all together. So, if I just start with running, slowly pick up my pace or run farther each time, and once I'm in a routine with that start to work on my diet, it'll be more effective. However, I only have 41 days until the Canary Islands, and I will not settle for anything less than Heidi Klum status.

If I needed any more motivation, Jordan and I have signed up to do a 10k on May 4th! Yes, a 10k. Not even just a 5k... a 10k. That's over 6 miles. It's for the British Heart Foundation, and it's a 1k loop around Tower of London that you can do up to 10 times. We, of course, are going to do the whole 10 laps. Go big or go home, right? I have total confidence that we can handle six miles in about a month. We've already been doing about 5 mile runs, and we've been doing it for just over a week. At this rate, that race would be our warm up! It's right before our trip also, so by training for this we're also getting in shape for the Canary Islands. Smart thinking, I know.

Changing the topic, I find a lot of times here that while I am always missing everyone at home, one person will stand out for the day. There's usually not a clear reason for this, and it's generally always a family member or Steve. Yesterday, it was definitely my dad. At home, if there are three people I talk to a good amount every single day, it's my mom, my dad, and Steve. Well, I get to talk to Steve a good amount out here still because he has Skype on his phone so I can message him like we're texting. I get to talk to my mom a good amount because the time I'm usually available to talk to someone is when only she is home from work, so we'll talk almost everyday. However, I don't get to talk to my dad often. We're lucky if we can talk more than once a week, because it's always so late for me when he's home from work. While I definitely don't talk to anyone as much as I can at home, at least it's easier with my mom and Steve. I went from talking and spending some time with my dad almost everyday to talking for a little bit once a week, and that is not cool with me. I got to talk to him for an hour and a half last night though, and that made me really happy. What makes me even happier is knowing that in 24 hours, they'll be on a flight to come see me! AAAAAH! I am SO beyond excited.

Some of you may be wondering, "Hey, is Kate using this blog post as a means of procrastination from her three assignments she's trying to get done before her parents come out to visit her?" If you are wondering that, the answer is: absolutely. Yes, yes I am. But YOU are probably reading this post as a means of procrastination from doing something you should be doing also. It's just so hard to find motivation to do homework these days. I'm already trying to motivate myself to run, I don't have that much motivation to spread around.

So, a final note: if you would like to support Jordan and I in our 10k, here is our fundraising site! You can donate directly through this site, which is quicker and easier for everyone, and all proceeds go directly to the British Heart Foundation. As our team name, "Hungry Hungry Hippos," and mission statement implies, you will be helping two causes: the BHF, and giving Jordan and I motivation to get off our fat asses and work off our winter fat.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/kateandjordan