Norwegian Cruise Day 5… by now, I have visited the infamous Harry Potter world, snorkeled in a sea full of living creatures, taken approximately 5,000 pictures and will now embark on another adventure: the Aqua Adventure Water Park at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.  O.M.G.

The first time I saw this resort, I was watching the movie “Island in the Sun”… yeah, the Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen movie.  I remember thinking how cool it would be to go there.  And today, I’m going.  I plan on wearing a very not-revealing bathing suit (um, do you know what happens when you go down a water slide in a string bikini? I do…it’s not pleasant) and shooting down water slides like it’s my job.  There is even a slide that goes through a shark tank.  I hope I don’t freak out but I’ll give you a full recap as soon as I’m home.

If today is the day you need motivation to run, then I have the perfect guest post for you.  Jennifer from blue-eyed belle wrote a post about her journey through the Couch to 5K plan.  Although she has hit a few bumps along the road, I know she can complete it and will run her first 5K race as soon as she can.  If she didn’t live in a different part of the country, I’d totally run it with her.  Thanks for posting, Jennifer!

Hi y’all! I am Jennifer from Blue-Eyed Belle. I blog about things that make me happy like music, the little things, and anything else you can think of. I knew I had to jump on this opportunity when I saw that Marie was looking for guest bloggers.

As you all know, Marie just completed her first 5K race a couple weeks ago. I can honestly tell you that she has been some serious motivation for me. She found me on Twitter through Christine because I asked about doing Couch to 5K. Marie told me that she was doing the program also. It was awesome to have people I don’t even know rooting for me and I felt great about myself.

However, life happens. Due to some tornadoes {I live in the South} and some little pains in my shins, I stopped running for about three weeks. It’s not that I didn’t want to get back into the program because I did. But honestly sometimes it’s easier to come home after a day of work, make some dinner, and just sit on the couch. So I thought, “Self, what if you wake up early in the morning and go running?” I really might have laughed out loud when that thought crossed my mind. I do good to get myself out of bed to shower in enough time in the morning. I finally told myself {and my running buddy, E}, “I am getting back into this program tonight whether I want to or not.” So, I did. And it felt great. Then two days later, the weather was perfect and I went on a 2-hour walk. And guess what? My shins {and everything else} hurt again. Now it’s been 2 weeks since I last did the program. SERIOUSLY?!

I’m not here to make excuses. What I am here to say is that we all have different levels of motivation, especially when it comes to working out. We tell ourselves that we can take a night off and then we never pick it back up. But then, there are those people that come home from work, change into their running gear, run 2 or 3 miles, then come home and make dinner.

It’s time to do a motivation check! Do I want to be healthier and feel better at 24 than I do at 23? Yes! Did I resolve to exercise regularly and lose weight this year? Yes!

When it comes down to it, we are our own motivation. When I am running I’m not thinking that it will make me more loved or richer {because it won’t}, but it does make me happier and it’s a nice ego booster. So, run {or workout} for yourself because you promised yourself you would and because you want to.

What motivates you to exercise?

Thanks for having me, Marie! I hope you’re having a great time on your cruise!