About Me

Updated 10/27/2020

It has been far too long since I updated this section.  My life has changed so much over the past 6 years.  The biggest changes are that I got married in 2017, had a baby boy at the end of 2017 and left my husband in Jan. of 2020.  Our divorce was finalized in Sept 2020.  None of this defines me, but it is part of my story.  So now my kids are 16, 14, 13, and almost 3.  This site has taken on different manifestations over the years going from 2013 when I was hoping to run 1 race a month for a year, to 2014 when my enjoyment of hiking took center and I focused on hikes throughout AZ and was doing A LOT of hiking during that time.  There have been times on here when there has been a lot of activity and then other times when there is little to none.  Most recently in 2019, I decided to start focusing on Healthy Habits in 7 different areas of my life.  I would blog generally on Sundays about the successes of my previous week and the goals for my upcoming week.  I think that was a very good way to focus on my needs and to help me become a more balanced person.  One issue I had was in a few of the habits, I did become lazy and my goals for the following week became the same goals the following month, etc and I wasn’t really moving FORWARD.  Right now, I am going to be focusing on the last 2 months of 2020.  With the craziness that has been 2020 and an election looming, I am looking to not only distract myself a bit, but also work on finding a better balance in my healthy habits again.

Updated 7/7/14

I have always enjoyed hiking and remember my first official hike to be up a trail above Lithia Park with my mom when I was a junior in high school.  It has always been a hobby I wanted to explore further and I feel like at this point I am not longer a beginner hiker.  I have fun hiking with anyone and am willing to try pretty much any trail (easy or hard).  I do my best and have amazed myself at times with what I am capable of.  I am enjoying myself so much and can’t wait to share all my hiking adventures on here with everyone and with some of you in real life.  Let me know if you are interested in going for a hike with me and I’ll see what my schedule allows.

Happy Hiking!

Changes from below:  I am now 36, my husband is now an ex (and remarried), I am exercising very regularly again.

2/2/2013

My name is Melinda.  I am 35 years old.  I have been exercising off an on for the last 8 years after having my first daughter and have lost a ton of weight, about 80 lbs.  I love to exercise and it helps me to think more clearly and have a better understanding of myself and the world around me.  My husband moved out in Oct and we are in the process of getting a divorce, so, I guess I am a single mom.  I have three beautiful children who were born in 04, 05, and 07.  Due to the divorce, my exercise routine has been put on the back burner.  I know I shouldn’t do this, but out of necessity and unknown schedules, I have needed to.  This blog is my way of keeping myself accountable, in the moment, and reaching toward my goals.  If you would like to contact me for any reason, email me at RunningMelinda at gmail dot com .  I am looking forward to meeting many new people and catching up with old friends along my journey.  I am hoping to do one race or event per month, check out my donate now page to help me achieve this goal.

I want this blog to work well for me, but also for those following me.  If you have any suggestions, feel free.  I will write General Blog updates a few times a week.  When I have exercised, I will post that under my exercise page on here, when I have a great new recipe, I will share it under food.  I will share a photo once a month of my progress and of course, of all my events.  I will write an update of each of my races, whenever I have them.  Follow me on twitter in order to get current updates of my exercise and progress.  You can also follow all of my daily eating on My Fitness Pal (the link is on the main site).