About Me

My name is Jessica and I sometimes run.

I decided to create this blog as a way to keep myself more accountable and keep a detailed record of my running and fitness progress. I started keeping track of my workouts in a spiral notebook in the summer of 2010 when I did my first round of P90X. I found that I loved having the ability to look back through the notebook and see my progress - it became a game for me, and I pushed myself to burn more calories, get my heart rate higher, and lift heavier weights with every workout.

Then I fell off the exercise bandwagon for a while, and stopped putting anything in that notebook. I also stopped fitting in my jeans.

Then as my 24th birthday approached, I started to have a little bit of a, for lack of a better name, quarter life crisis. I decided to start running again, and with that decision came the idea of starting a running blog. I'd been reading fitness and healthy eating blogs for a while, and wanted to join in the fun. Plus, I like to talk about myself. A lot. And have an excuse to take awkward pictures of myself, preferably with at least one thumb up.

While I have fallen off the blogging bandwagon (and the exercise bandwagon) many times since I first created this blog, two of my goals for 2019 are transparency and focus. Having been in the running and fitness world for almost a decade now, I've come to realize how manicured many blogs and social media accounts are. I've fallen into the comparison trap many, many times and have longed for realness from the people that I follow and admire. My goal with this blog is to be transparent in my journey, my struggles, and my successes. I also hope that it helps keep me accountable for that whole "focus" thing... fingers crossed!

Why Running with Pixie Dust?

It wasn't always Running with Pixie Dust! When I started this blog, it was called "Running for Bikinis" because apparently I was trying to convince myself that if I went for a run three times a week, I could become Heidi Klum. Shockingly, this is not true.

Then in 2012, my life turned upside down, and I found myself leaving my home in Colorado to drive for three days and move into an apartment in Orlando, FL to start an internship in Guest Relations at Walt Disney World. At that point, I felt like I should change my blog to reflect my new life... thus, Running with Pixie Dust.

While I am no longer a Florida resident and my time working for the Mouse has ended, it will always be a part of my life. Pixie dust will always be part of me and my running journey.

Cast of Characters

My face is bound to show up on here. Sometimes running...

Sometimes doing Pure Barre...

Often with food.

Then there's my fiancé Jamie. He's the absolute best, so he'll show up a lot. This is when we were tiny babies and just started dating...

And this is us now! Planning a wedding and stuff!

There will also be so many pictures of my cat. So many. His name is Bixler, but I usually call him Doodles, and he is the best cat on the planet. He's just such a handsome man!