Beyond running.

Way back when, before I started running, I decided that my fitness goal for my wedding (since every bride has one!) is to have impeccable posture. At the time, I had 18 months to learn how to stand up straight without my shoulders hunching.

Exhibit A: Wearing a too-big strapless gown in my cousin's wedding.

This is an extreme case. The dress I was wearing didn't fit me properly, so my elbows were locked to my sides for the entire ceremony to hold it up. But regardless, this picture to me is the epitome of bad posture. My shoulders are hunched, my back is curved, my neck is sticking out. Bad, bad, bad. I do not want to look like a stunted flamingo on my wedding day.

I asked our friend N (the one who recommended Born To Run and In Defense of Food and really was a major catalyst for this entire life change) what I could do to improve my posture. He suggested pull ups. I scoffed and said that I could not do pull ups.

Fastforward four months. My recent running goal was to be able to run more than a mile. Now that I have achieved that, I have set my sights on other sorts of fitness. I had put my wedding fitness goal on hold for a while as I was building my running endurance, because running itself was actually improving my posture and I got a little bit sidetracked by how awesome running made me feel. I am not going to stop running, by any stretch of the imagination, but its time that I work in some other things to make my entire body strong and fit.

Like pull ups.

I find pull ups to be the epitome of badass. I find it ridiculously attractive when guys can do them, and ridiculously badass when girls can do them. Being able to lift up your entire body weight like that is pretty freaking cool. I know that it won't be easy, but that is what I've got my eyes set on. My brother flat out told me not to bother, since there are plenty of girls at the Air Force Academy who can't do a single pull up, but I know I can do it. I also like proving him wrong when it comes to my fitness. I discovered the excellent page on Nerd Fitness about how to learn how to do a pull up if you can't do any and I feel confident that eventually I will get there. I discovered last week that I can in fact do chin ups. Ridiculous! Scrawny toothpicks-for-arms me.

All that being said, today J and I started a new workout regimen. Nerd Fitness (which is one of my new favorite websites) has a detailed "Beginner Body Weight Circuit." Essentially, it consists of:
- 20 body weight squats
- 10 push ups
- 20 walking lunges
- 20 dumbbell rows
- plank
- 30 jumping jacks

Then repeat the circuit three times.

I really didn't think I would be able to do it three times, but I did. I used my six pound dive pocket for the dumbbell rows, which was not enough weight, and I did the pushups on my knees. My body was pretty wrecked afterwards, which actually felt pretty nice. J and I are trying to start a schedule of running, circuit workout, day off. Eventually we will fill the day off with something else, but for now, that body weight circuit workout is kicking our butt. Once I improve enough to be lifting 25 lb dumbbells on the rows, I'm going to start doing negatives or inverted rows. Then, someday, pull ups.