Hello New Readers!

I’ve been seeing a lot of new people visiting my blog lately and I wanted to say “hello” and give new readers a short recap of what’s been going on and who I am.

First, the basics. I’m Lisa, 30 years old. I live in Portland, Oregon with my boyfriend Michael and my two kitties (Maya and Fat Kitty–not his real name, of course).

April 2009

I grew up in Seattle and when I was 19 I moved to Portland, Oregon. I’ve been here ever since.

Seattle, stock photo

Oregon is a pretty good place to live if you enjoy the outdoors. We are an hours drive from the desert, the mountains, farmlands, wine country, and 2 hours from the Oregon Coast. There are always fun outdoorsy things like hiking, biking, camping, etc.

Portland, stock photo

I also have a younger brother, Andrew. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and their cat. One of the motivating factors for my weight loss was the fact that I was going to be in my brother’s wedding. I did not want to be 250 pounds in those wedding pictures! I lost 50 pounds before his wedding.

My Fat History Page has more history on my weight gain and How I Lost 100 Pounds details how I lost the weight.

My weight loss journey took me just under two years. I lost 110 pounds and was 143 pounds at my lowest. Then I started taking Celexa. In the 10 months I took it, I managed to gain about 15 pounds! I decided in January of this year to stop taking the drugs and since February, I’ve lost almost 9 of those 15 pounds.

On May 15th, Michael and I participated in the Reach the Beach bike ride for the American Lung Association. We’d raised money for the charity and had been training for months. Many weekends were spent biking all day long–30, 40, and finally 50 miles. Michael rode 80 miles in Reach the Beach and I rode 55. Check out the recaps for the full story. It was quite the exciting adventure and I’d do again in a heartbeat!

I’ve previously mentioned that I am now training for Hood to Coast. I am really excited and nervous about the endeavor. It takes place at the end of August. Basically, each team has 12 members on it and we rent 2 vans and the vans leap-frog each other during the course. The first runner in the first van will run their FIRST leg of the course–between 4 and 8 miles, then they get back in the van and the next person (I think in Van #2) takes over and does their first leg and so on. By the end of the 200 miles, I will have run 3 separate legs of the course for about a total of 15-18 miles.

*Not My Pic

My team captain, Leslie, is a very experienced runner and she’s done Hood to Coast for 8 years. I’m confident in her abilities to lead the team. She’s given me pointers and tried to tell me what to expect. But still, I really have no idea what to expect. I know that my first leg is somewhere in Portland. My second leg will be in the middle of the night — in the middle of NOWHERE–and my last leg will be towards the end of the course. The course goes from Mt. Hood to Seaside (200 miles).

Most of my summer will be training for Hood to Coast. After that, I hope to participate in another bike ride–possibly a Century.

Another goal I have been toying with is the Las Vegas Half Marathon in December. I haven’t fully decided yet if I’m going to do it. I want to. But I’m also apprehensive about whether or not I can actually run 13 miles at once! I decided that I’d make the decision after Hood to Coast.

So that’s the recap of what’s been going on lately. Thanks for reading!