Training

Quickly forgotten.

2012-01-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

I'm amazed at how quickly I can forget amazing truth taught to me by God. How in the world do I let the words God has spoken to me so quickly leave my mind and focus?! What a retched person I am! That I would listen and proclaim boldly what God has said and then forget so quickly.

God is so gracious to me. He spoke loudly and boldly too me just a few days ago. Yet, the past two days of my life you wouldn't know it. Then, when I realize what I've done, my solution is to put it back into my hands. "Well... this isn't working. I need to join Weight Watchers to get back on track."

How about repenting and turning my gaze back onto God?!

Extreme measures.

2012-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Once a month my community group hosts an open door dinner. It's a time to welcome anyone and everyone into a home for a tasty meal, watch the game, play some games, and/or just share some stories and laughs. I love them.

This month I decided to get crazy and bake a pecan pie inside a chocolate cake. I saw this and couldn't resist. However... mine turned out more like this...

My guess is the oven was too hot and baked the outside while leaving the cake inside completely unbaked. It looked sooo great until I turned it onto a wire rack to cool and the thing just deflated. It was sad for two reason... the yumminess that was sure to ensue and the wasting of so much money! Pecans are expensive.

Now I had less than an hour before I had to leave and nothing to take with me. Luckily I still had a pie crust and enough pecans to make another pie. But, not just any pie... a bourbon pecan pie! Yes, BOURBON! It's my new favorite. Every pecan pie from now on will include bourbon. AMAZING!

Of course, I brought back over half of it from open door dinner. So there sat an amazing pecan pie (my favorite) sitting on my kitchen table. I was determined to not eat a piece on Monday. I left the thing sitting there as I went off to work. But, low and behold, it was still there when I returned. Finally a stroke of brilliance occurred to me.

See, I live alone, which makes accountability when it comes to food a little difficult. However, this time I took a picture of the glorious pie and sent it to two friends saying "I'm only sending this to you to prove later that I did not eat any of it." Later that night they received this...

I included the ipad time just so they knew I didn't cheat and send the same picture.

This week I've learned to take extreme measures. Who cares if you have to send a picture of what you eat to a friend? If they are walking through life with you, they will be honored to get to help you and keep you accountable to what God is calling you too. Who cares if you have to shut the door to your kitchen and put up a sign...

Who cares if you have to journal every single morning telling yourself and God that "Christ will be honored in my body." Who cares if you have to put little prayer notes on your refrigerator as reminders to go to God and not food for comfort...

Who cares if you have to take extreme measures...God cares. He cares that I honor him with my body. He cares that I find my lasting and true comfort and satisfaction from Him. He cares that I am sustained by His daily bread and not literal bread. By whatever means possible, I will glorify God and Honor Christ with my body.

Evaluate.

2012-01-03T16:09:00.000-08:00

Another year has come and gone. Of course this makes me think back over the last year and evaluate what my goals were and how I stewarded my 365 days of 2011. Thanks to this handy dandy blog I can see exactly what I wanted to do...

1. Lose 111 pounds.
2. Never leave the apartment w/o doing hair, makeup, and coordinating outfit (workouts and grocery store runs do not count).
3. Make my bed every day.
4. Use mint.com to keep my budget in check.
5. Give more sacrificially.

Well...

Okay... not great, but not horrible.

1. I am far from losing 111 pounds. I did manage to lose about 40 pounds last year... for that I will rejoice. What I've learned. Weight loss has nothing to do with diet and exercise. Okay... it does, but really it has everything to do with submitting to Jesus. I could see last year how I was successful (I honestly lost the first 40 pounds in the first few months and was right on track with my goal). Something happened though. I began thinking I could do this. I began thinking I was doing this. And, I did in fact lose weight that I should be proud of, but what really happened was the power of God moved through me and empowered me to lose weight. I took my eyes off of Jesus and onto MY accomplishments which should never happen! Here's to a healthy 2012 with my eyes on Jesus and off counting points!

2. I think I actually may have done this! I can't really remember not leaving the apt without actually making myself look half way put together. I'll call this ACCOMPLISHED!

3. ACCOMPLISHED!!

4. Yea... I stopped using mint.com in March probably. I still haven't figured out how to budget well... I used to do this really well when I got paid twice a month. I know my schedule about that far out and can predict when I'll need to eat out, what parties I'll need to bring something too, and who is sick and needs a meal. How do you plan for that when it so often is unpredictable. Money has been really tight, as in the past few months I haven't been able to make ends meet. Praise Jesus we got Christmas bonuses this year because that helped me get square at the end of the year. I really need either a raise or a part-time job.

5. I have no clue. I'm not sure how to measure this. My giving has been consistant and never changed from my original upping that I did in January. And, because of my current financial state, I don't see how I can give more than I am right now. So, I guess ACCOMPLISHED!

3 out of 5 ain't bad... right?!

Day 7 and 8

2011-11-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

Get ready for a horrible picture.

I'm combining days 7 and 8 cause they are the same. Something new and what I wore...

See... it's really hard to see. But, I'm wearing my new fun cowboy boots and lovely little dress I bought. I bought the boots cause I liked them. My excuse for the dress was a wedding. Really, these days I don't need an excuse to by new cloths... I have absolutely nothing to wear. Seriously, I have 3 long sleeve shirts that are not t-shirts; however, they are plain and shouldn't be worn alone. I need new cloths. I need money to buy new cloths.

Day 6 - Childhood Memory

2011-11-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

One of my most consistent and fondest childhood memories was playing cribbage with my grandpa. Actually, I might go as far as saying all of my fondest memories as a child were either at my grandparent's house or involved them in some way. This pic is from Christmas a few years ago... I'm sure he won.

ps: I've decided it is no longer cheating to not use brand new pictures. I believe the challenge is simply to come up with different memories and/or pictures that show a glimpse into my life. I'm sure you were really concerned about me cheating. Also, I may or may not be writing a bunch of these and scheduling them to post in the future. Possibly I'm doing that ;)

Happy Wedding/Merry Christmas

2011-11-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Two of the greatest people I know recently got married. And, somehow I failed to get a single picture during the wedding. You'll have to take my word for it that she was one of the happiest and most beautiful brides ever to live.

Now, I'm broke. As in eat-bake-beans-as-a-meal broke. Which made getting wedding present a little difficult. Enter pinterest!

I believe I spent a whopping $3 on the whole gift (gift bag included). But, it's personal and handmade so I think that makes up for the cheapness. It's really simple... cut their invitation into tiny strips, curl them and stuff them into a glass ornament. One is made up of the reception invitation and the other the ceremony invitation.

Hopefully each Christmas they'll be able to take these out and remember the great day that was their wedding!

Dependence.

2011-11-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

If you've read the last few posts you'll know two things about me... I've been planning my make-believe wedding and trying to lose weight. Last night, during Community Group our worship exercise was revolutionary for me in both these areas of my life.

We did this exercise that basically had us read a section of scripture, reflect on it, and possibly share what God had shown us. We read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10. It's a familiar verse, but for the first time I saw some things. First someone pointed out the thorn being in the flesh and that flesh is referred to as sin in the bible. So, maybe this thorn was an on going sin Paul continually struggled with. Maybe he prayed and pleaded that it be removed from him... from his desires and God didn't do it. Yes, God forgave this sin. But, he didn't remove the constant temptation of it. That remained as a reminder of Paul's weakness as a man. A reminder of his dependance on God. A reminder that he is the creation and God is the creature. A reminder to boast in God and not Paul's ability to conquer sin on his own. A reminder that only God can conquer sin.

We were asked to think about what was our weakness:
What do you constantly have to depend on God for?
What brings you closer to God?
What do you plead to God to take away, yet when He doesn't you draw nearer to Him because of His presence in your struggle?

The person leading shared that a friend woke up every single day with a desire to drink. An overwhelming desire that if not relinquished to God each day, they'd be overcome by. This got me thinking about my constant sin of gluttony. How I have to relinquish this to God every single day. I can not conquer this sin on my own. Only in the hands of God do I have freedom from this sin. I realize that earlier this year that's where I found myself; in the hands of God, begging for his freedom from food. Begging Him that He be a bigger comfort and desire than food for me. He answered. He moved. He was all this for me. However, more recently, after seeing success in weight loss, I've taken this back on myself. Boasting in what I have done and not what God has done. This was no longer a weakness because I've got it. I can do it.

That's a complete lie. I can't do it. I didn't do it. God set me free yet I put myself back in captivity. A slave to food. My stomach is my god again. That's not where I'll stay. I praise Jesus for being patient and slow to anger. He's a loving father who is excited that I've come to realize this and is standing smiling with his arms opened wide as I joyously run towards him.

After some self reflection, our leader asked if anyone was bold enough to say what their weakness was. I wasn't bold enough, but someone, a guy, said singleness. This struck me. I'm used to women talking about how the struggle with singleness. You'll find a workshop at every women's retreat on singleness and contentment. We are taught over and over again to be content in our singleness. But, this was the first time I have ever heard a guy acknowledged he struggled with his singleness. Wrongly in my mind I figured any guy who was single wanted to be single. Cause, you know, all they had to do was ask a girl. We were the ones stuck waiting.

It occurred to me that guys in fact have to wait too. They have to wait on the Lord. Which, let's be honest, can be harder than waiting on a human to ask an audible question. When I think of the guy I would want to marry, I want a man who, above all else, does the will of the Lord. Who is deeply devoted to Christ and what Christ wants for his and my life. I don't want a guy who, at his desire, runs after something.

I've been too hard on guys. Judging and scuffing at them undeservedly. They don't have it easier... in fact, I kind of think that they might have the harder job.

How do these two seemingly different realization come together?

God simultaneously showed me where I was boasting in myself and in Him. While I was boasting in my success at weight loss, he was bending my will to his in my singleness. I sat there and realized this is why I am content in my singleness right now. I still desperately want to be married, but I'm resting in God's timing; boasting in Him and what He's doing in me.

I've stopped thinking about what I need to do. Stopped seeing all the faults in me of why I am single and allowed God to work. Stopped thinking He doesn't know what I need so I'll help him out by ruling out guys before they even have a moment to hear from God. I've stopped boasting in myself and started boasting in what God is doing in my life.

That is exactly where freedom in Christ resides. Boasting in my weakness for that is where Christ is strongest!

Catching Up

2011-11-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

It's official... I suck at daily challenges. I'm just not committed. In order to move this along... here are days 4 and 5.

Day 4: Favorite Color.
I love green. It's a new favorite color of mine which is good considering half of my apartment is bright green.

Day 5: Daily Routine

Trying to think of what to post for this has left me perplexed. I do very few things every single day. I don't always eat breakfast, I'm not a huge need a cup of coffee kind of girl, I don't ALWAYS put on make up, sadly, I don't even read my Bible every day. Even more sad is this...

I check twitter every. single. day. Without fail, I check it multiple times a day. It's sad. I'm ashamed. But, I love it.

Stop Pinning Crap

2011-11-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've recently become obsessed with pinterest. If you haven't yet stop... don't join... don't look! You'll instantly become addicted and it will consume several hours of each day. That might be a little over exaggeration, but only slightly.

Most recently, I've become obsessed with planning my wedding. There's just so many great ideas on there and I want to remember them in case, you know...maybe, God hoping, I do in fact get married. Thankfully, all of this obsession has not turned into a huge case of despair or self condemnation. Typically that's what happens. Growth.

Today, while on pinterest, I saw someone comment on a wedding pin and I just laughed cause it's so true.

Two steps forward; One step back

2011-10-26T09:08:00.000-07:00

I can not get out of this slump. Every month I take two steps forward and one step back. Two weeks ago I lost 3 lbs, last week another 3 lbs, this week however I gained 1.6. It's frustrating! I can't get mojo back to really kick off these pounds.

I'm no where near my goal for this year. I'm hoping to at least get half way there before the year's up... completely do able. But, only doable if I actually DO something.

What I'm gonna do this week:

- track my food and activity points (horribly got out of the habit)

- no sweets (I did this two weeks ago and lost 3lbs simply by not eating sweets)

- workout (since the last half marathon my workouts have been spotty at best)
- drink water (when I don't workout I have a really hard time getting my water drank)

Day 3: clouds

2011-10-24T13:10:00.000-07:00

There hasn't been a pretty cloud in the sky for days. Every time I think about the photo challenge and look outside, blue clear skies. So, once again... cheating.

Here's a pic from my most recent trip to Chicago. I love running along the lake and I took this in the middle of a 6 mile run. I love the single fluffy cloud.

Day 2: Tree

2011-10-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

Since I'm on a roll cheating... might as well add one more.

This is my special tree in Tower Grove park. I sit under it every time I go there to read. We're friends.

Day 1: Self Portrait

2011-10-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

I guess I should actually start doing this photo challenge. I really wanted to take all new pictures, but I haven't looked good enough to take a self portrait since I started it. Enter I semi-new pic.

It reminds me that I really need to get my eyes checked and buy these glasses.

Photo Challenge

2011-10-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

My Real Life Friend as we affectionately call each other is in the middle of a 30 Day Photo Challenge. And I'm always up for a fun challenge!

Like many things I do (insert reference to the Engage Scripture reading plan that I'm still doing from last year), I'll finish it, but it might take me a little longer than 30 days. However, unlike the Engage Scripture reading plan, I doubt it will take two years.

I Gotta Have Mo Cowbell

2011-10-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

I've got a fever! And the only prescription is Mo' Cowbell!!

It's official... I'm a sucker for a theme! And, I think that's why I've ranked the recent St. Charles Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon just below the Disney Princess Half. I mean, how could you really top Disney?!

My friends Matt and Courtney picked me up early... so early Courtney was laying in the back seat still trying to get a few last minute zzzz's in before running. We parked and got to the starting line in record time. We got out in the bitter cold, took a few pre-race pictures...

Someone remind me to not hide my fuel belt under my fleece when taking pictures.

...and got to the start line about an hour or so early. We wondered around... talked to the people at "Mo' Information" and checked a bag at "MO' bag check" The time came to enter the corral. It was a small race (just 1500 of us), but we all had a cowbell. Enter fun!

After ringing our cowbells for a few minutes, it was start time! We tossed our bells to the side and started running. My plan was to run 12 minutes; walk 1 minute. I stuck pretty close to my plan the entire race. I passed Courtney around mile 3 and got a little worried for her. In my mind I was going to be coming in after her.

The course took us from downtown old St. Charles, through the country, around New Town and back to old St. Charles to finish. The route was kind of boring, but made so much better by the ample volunteers and spectators cheering us on. There were many turns in the course and every single one had at least one volunteer cheering and directing us in the right direction.

I was doing great until New Town (mile 7 or 8). As soon as we left the subdivision and entered farm land again, my legs felt like lead. I couldn't keep going. I started talking to myself and maybe I cursed in front of a small family (sorry parents, they had to learn it eventually)!

Up till this point I knew under 3 would be difficult, but doable. Soon the miles were taking me 13 minutes to run and at mile 10 I just had to walk. Whatever idiot put two gigantic hills at mile 10 needs to be kicked in the kneecaps! I was done. I knew I could run both of them, but if I did, I would be spent and have a hard time finishing the 2 more miles. So I walked.

In the middle of the second hill, a lady passed me and absolutely made my day. She looked at me and said "I've been trying to pass you all day! And, finally I got you. I'm sure it's the hill; I really like hills, but I fully expect you to pass me when we are at the top!" I smiled and thought... you're the first person to actually admit you pace yourself to those around you and have an unspoken competition with them! Sure enough, I got to the top and started running and quickly passed her. She looked at me exhausted and said "See! I told you you'd pass me!" I never saw her again.

Soon, I was back in Old St. Charles. There was the finish line! As I got closer I saw my friend Matt, but no Courtney. As I crossed the line 5 minutes over my goal and 4 minutes from a PR, I was happy. I gave it my absolute all. It wasn't my best time, but by far not my worse.

I grabbed some snacks and a celebratory beer and met Matt to cheer Courtney in! Once she got in, we decided we were starving and would risk offending people with our stinch in order to eat. Quickly we found ourselves with a meal fitting for recovering from the Mo' COWbell half marathon...

I'm extremely happy with my time. I was only 3:30 minutes off my PR, yet I finished in much better shape. I could stand, walk, and still breath afterwards. I didn't have to have Matt pull over in case I vomited and the next day I felt great! No soreness at all!

Success!

Under 3

2011-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

You may remember that my goal for the Illinois Half Marathon was to get under 3 hours. Sadly I missed that goal by 1:22. As I began training for the Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon I just knew this wasn't going to be a PR for me. I remember the moment as I stopped to walk after just a 1:30 of running, this race would be about finishing; not time. Frankly I was okay with that.

Today something changed.

In the middle of my 5 mile run I checked my phone and saw I was on 3 hour half marathon pace and wondered if I could keep it up. At mile 4 I looked again and I was about a minute behind; I dug in and sure enough at mile 5 I was at a 13.3 minute mile! At that pace I'd finish in 2:50!

I think I can do it!

Opa!

2011-09-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

It finally happened... I got food poisoning.

It's no fun. No fun at all. After enjoying Greek fest with four of my friends, I went for a 5 mile run came home ate a salad and headed out for a walk with my neighbor and good friend. As we made the last turn home, I said "my tummy hurts." That was the beginning.

The next morning after being up sick all night I texted my friends to see if anyone one of them were sick too. Sure enough, three out of five of us were sick. Opa!

I spent the whole day in bed sleeping and not eating. Wednesday was much of the same, but moved to the couch and I could do some work. It wasn't until Saturday that I could stomach normal food again.

Good news... I lost 7 pounds last week!

Moved In

2011-09-09T13:26:00.000-07:00

I've finally convinced myself I'll never have my apartment just how I want it... there will always be something little to change here and there. Shoot... that's what makes having a home fun. Right? Which means it's time to post the after pictures of my apartment I moved into a couple months ago.

The layout of my place is kind of awkward, but then again I'm kind of awkward so we belong together.

Ta Da! My bed. Yep, you walk right into the bedroom. Oh well...I love how it jumps of the purple wall. I've never been a huge fan of purple. But, my friend Krissy is and she happened to help me A TON with everything. When she suggested it, it just made sense. What you can't see is the stain glass window that has purple accents. And, shoot... it's paint $50 and an hour of work and it would be gone if I didn't like it. Thankfully, I do.

On the opposite wall is the despised faux brick wall. It was hideous! Not anymore...

Confession... the brick is still (and will remain) Kilz white. It was such a pain to paint! And, I like it white.

Through the french doors is the living room.

I absolutely love my reading corner! I bought a crazy cheap couch in order to buy this lovely, comfy chair. Not regretting that decision. On the other side of the room is my "home office."

Instead of the ugly folded table, imagine a big wood, distressed antique desk with lovely, organized accessories. A chalkboard something was necessary in my apartment and Krissy surprised me with the magnetic primer. Yes, sir, a magnetic, chalkboard stripe... perfect for fun magnets (sadly not strong enough to hold paper) and inspirational messages.

Past the bathroom where I've done absolutely nothing but paint the medicine cabinet mirror frame.

And you enter the spacious kitchen. Most of the work (albeit, not my work) went into the kitchen. Krissy's hard work with new cabinet doors was a shining success... They are great!!!

And, the reason for the bright green wall in the living room... the bright green walls in the kitchen. They're pretty much perfect.

What's left to do you ask?:

- paint bathroom

- hang pictures (separate post coming about this project)

- buy desk

- get more baskets/totes/bens for organization

- make book shelves for cookbooks

- buy a freakin kitchen trash can

- paint rest of the kitchen

- remove the stickers from the fridge

- organize all my crap in the basement

- hang my living room curtains

- fix the living room blinds (for that matter buy new blinds)

- hang new shower curtain

Wow... what they heck am I doing on the computer?!

Chicago

2011-08-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had a wedding to attend. After desperately attempting to get out of it, I was stuck, I had to go. I originally bought a plan ticket on sale, but after a series of frustrating events, I drove the 5.5 hours up to Chicago.

I decided to make the best out of my plans getting all messed up by leaving crazy early in order to get to one of my favorite Chicago-area churches. After a side trip to Enterprise at O'Hare, I walked in just in time to take a seat and enjoy their service. Man, do those people know how to worship! It was amazing to be surrounded by people excited to be worshiping God. I caught myself with tears at one point out of joy of being part of God's family.

I sat behind one of the elders who were sitting by his wife and a friend with a baby. At one point the baby needed changing. I watched, nearly in shock, as the pastor offered and went and changed the dirty diaper (the diaper of a child that's not his). After they returned the baby started fussing and he again left and calmed the baby in the back so the mother could sit and enjoy the service. I was blown away by his selflessness, care, and support for his friend. But, then again, that's how these guys are; they model for their church exactly what it means to sacrifice first and most for their families and church. They serve each other and the church humbly, sacrificially, and wisely. I'm glad I sacrificed the few hours of sleep to make it there.

After church it was off to the wedding... a Sunday afternoon wedding. Weird. In the middle of the ceremony the best man started to look a little sick. Finally someone from the back walked up just in time to get him off the stage before he passed out. The ceremony went on without a hitch. I've always heard about this happening, but never actually saw it for myself.

Not to be out done, the bride started getting sick at the reception. Somehow everyone pulled it together and accomplished every stereotypical wedding reception task there is. When the dancing finally started the dj took center stage. He made every single person (and I mean every single person) get out on the dance floor so he could teach us all the moves he made up to the song...for every song!!

My sister-in-law and I quickly made our way to the restroom somewhere in the middle of the second one. And, after hiding out during the bouquet toss, I couldn't take any more mandatory fun and quickly said my good-byes and headed to my hotel room in the city.

Monday the plan was to do anything I wanted. First order of business... run! I was suppose to do 4.5 miles, but because it's Chicago I did 6.5 unknowingly.

Right around here I convinced myself that St. Louis needed a gigantic lake as well.

Then it was off to the Art Institute. This was one that I'd always meant to go to, but I'm much better at museums by myself. I'm selfish like that and want to go at my own pace. I spent two hours meandering through each room confirming the fact that I don't get modern art and falling in love with impressionist art from Monet to Vincent Van Gogh.

No trip to Chicago is complete for me without a stop at Ikea. Sadly I learned going to Ikea about two months after moving is the optimal time. Last trip I'd been in my new place just days and had no clue what I actually needed. Not this time! I went in for just a couple of items and walked out with two gigantic bags full of goodies.

By God's grace I survived another family weekend. Today at the office I was telling my co-workers all about the trip and what happened. One of the guys nailed it on the head when he said "Oh! I've become that bitter about going to weddings too." I think I have some repenting to do.

Fresh and Healthy

2011-08-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the grocery store. As I put away everything I realized I had 4 items that did not go in the fridge or freezer... 4! To me that means I'm eating fresh, healthy food. Check out that basket...

Somehow I managed to get through the store sticking to a list and not purchasing any sugary (and/or salty) snacks. I'm rather proud of myself... especially considering the mood I was in while shopping.

Sound the Trumpet!!

2011-08-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

THAT'S RIGHT 6 POUNDS!!

It's a wonder what eating healthy and having a stocked fridge will do to you! I LOVE the e-mealz! I really only ate two of the meals, but it kept a stocked pantry for me. A guideline to follow. When I felt like making something from the e-mealz I did, but there were a couple nights were I looked and thought... I can do something else with this. Insert creativity and healthy eating! A recipe for a great weight loss week!!

Big Dreams

2011-08-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

I REALLY want to do the Chicago Marathon next year! All of it... all 26.2 miles! I've been thinking about it since I made a promise to one of my friends that we'd do a full marathon before we were 40. I forgot to calculate that she's about 9 years older than me and that we'd have to do it in 2012. Since then she got injured and her running career is in jeopardy. Can't blame her... I blame her abnormally small knee caps!

But, it planted in me a seed, a dream... could I finish a marathon?! Could I actually do the Chicago Marathon in 2012?! I'd really like to try!

Plateau

2011-08-21T18:54:00.000-07:00

Over the last two months I've hit a plateau. I've lost and gained and lost and gained the same 5-8 pounds. It's terribly frustrating; one week I'm feeling great and losing 4-5 pounds and turn right around and gain it back. I've blamed a lot of things; some legit and some not so much. Finally last night I did some googling and found this:

Expect your metabolism to slow down as you lose weight. The more weight your body is carrying, the more calories your body has to burn in order to sustain itself, even at rest. When you begin restricting your calorie intake, you'll lose weight relatively easily because your body's high caloric needs are not being met. But after you begin to shed the weight, the body has less mass to carry and thus needs fewer calories. In order to continue losing weight, you will have to restrict your caloric intake even further in order to maintain a difference between what your body needs and what you are providing.^[2]

It made sense and clicked. I had changed my exercise and dieting and lost 35 pounds. I had changed enough to lose that much weight and in order to lose more, I am going to have to adapt and change. Here's my game plan:

1. no more sweets - I've been out of control with sweets. Last night I had ice cream with a friend; Wednesday there's a game night I'm going to. I'm allowing myself to bend a little there. But, that's it.

2. meal planning - shockingly I HATE menu planning. I'm learning I'm not as big of a planner and detail person as I've fit myself into. I tried to plan a week's menu on Saturday and it made me want to crawl into the fetal position. WAAAYYY too much work...enter e-mealz.com. I got a 3 month subscription and started this week. It's easy!

3. tracking - I've slacked from tracking my food. It's coming back

4. water - drinking lots of it... three nalgenes a day.

5. running - technically I've done all my training runs so far, but they haven't been pretty. Getting back out there and hitting it hard.

With much prayer I feel like I'm on the edge of the plateau and about to fall face first back into weight lose!

Double the blessings

2011-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

As I wrap up my stories from Joplin, I've got one final one I need to tell.

While I was working at Mystery, an older (70's or so) couple walked in. They explained a volunteer team had come to their home, yet they needed more help. I talked with them for a bit asking exactly what needed to be done; if anything was salvageable, did they want to be there, etc. As they talked the wife would quickly go from anger to tears and back. We worked it out so that the super debris removal team of Journey and Life Connection folks would meet the Watson's at their home the next afternoon, after they finished at Mr. MacDonald's.

Sure enough, the next day our team met the Watson's at their home. Soon I got a call from one of The Journey team members saying they locked the keys in the car and asked if I could call AAA for them.

*Not to self: if you tell AAA that you are working in the middle of a disaster area, you get moved to the top of the list.

After calling, I grabbed some supplies (their's were locked in the car) and headed to the Watson's. I was surprised what I saw. While their home was completely destroyed, they had a walk out basement that wasn't damaged or flooded. The team was slowly getting the large appliances (furnace, a/c, deep freezer) out of the house when I walked in. I smiled at Mr. Watson and exclaimed "there is so much here you can save!" He quickly replied "NO, IT'S ALL RUINED!" I did a quick scan and pointed to a sealed barrel and said "I bet whatever's in here is still good! Do you want to open it?" He came over and said "sure, I don't even know what's in there." We opened it to find his sons old, ratty golf bag; he didn't want it and asked if I did. Of course I didn't, nor was I going to take anything of his. This became a common theme throughout the day. They both were convinced we were just there to go through their stuff and pick what we wanted.

As I looked around I knew there was no way we could just leave this couple to do all this work themselves. Even after Mr. Watson told us numerous times we could go and they could do the rest. We'd leave and talk amongst ourselves in the yard. Pretty soon Mr. Watson would come back out and say "you're still here! I could use some help getting _____ out." One of the guys would quickly go in and help him.

Before I left I pulled the three Journey team members to the side and said I thought they needed to stay. I explained that this was going to be completely different day then yesterday. The day before was all about getting dirty and getting a lot done. Today was going to be about loving the Watson's. Giving them space. Letting them process at their speed, but being there throughout the day. I told them that it was going to be long and probably frustrating, but I felt like God wanted them to be there for the Watson's. They completely agreed and hung around.

They stayed the entire rest of the day. They were able to win the trust of Mr and Mrs. Watson. As they stood in the slightly cleaner basement at the end of the day Mr. Watson looked at the volunteers and told them "Why are you are acting like I'm the only person in Joplin right now?" One of the volunteers replied "because to us, you are." He smiled and replied "Whatever blessings God has for you I pray that he doubles them."

Before leaving the Watson's everyone gathered in the basement. One of the volunteers asked Mrs. Watson one final time "What's one thing that you've not been able to find?" Through tears she said "my momma's opal necklace. I've searched and searched for it and it's not here." With that the team prayed over and for them both. Mrs. Watson opened her eyes and between her feet was her momma's opal necklace.

It's been a privilege to be apart of the work God is doing in Joplin. Every single day I had a front row seat to what God was doing through the people of Joplin and the teams that came to serve. No life was left unchanged. It's been estimated that Joplin will need 900 volunteers a day for the next 5 years! That's 1.64 million people! You can be one of those; someone that God uses to not only rebuild a city, but bring God's restoration into the lives of those in Joplin.

To volunteer with Mission Joplin check out the website here.

Team Orientation

2011-07-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

I've sat through and even giving the orientation to volunteer teams numerous times. It's always shocking to hear and say. Here's a little piece of what each team is told before heading out to provide relief in Joplin.

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Thank you for being here with us today! We greatly appreciate you all being here. Has everyone signed a waiver?

Let's talk about why you have to sign those waivers. You are getting ready to head into a very dangerous area where the possibility of you getting injured is high. You'll notices as you get into the disaster area the air gets thicker and there is a distinguished smell in the air. There is still a lot of stuff in the air; insulation, drywall, etc. You'll notice when you get out of the area your skin might itch from being exposed to it. We have a few masks if you didn't bring your own; always wear a mask when in the area.

Be very mindful of where you are stepping. We've had numerous people step on nails and get cut. One guy fell through a roof and another into a basement because they thought the structure could hold them. If you do get a cut or injured, it is imperative you get it taken care of. There has been fungi and other infectious diseases that have sent people to the hospital. If you get cut, wash and bandage it well. Make sure your tetanus shot is up to date; if you need one, there are multiple places around the city offering free shots. Please let us know if anything happens and seek medical attention if necessary.

Another huge danger is the weather. We've seen record high temps the past several days. Today, temperatures are expected to reach 100 with heat indexes of 104-106. There is no shade. You can take a tarp and construct a shelter if you'll be at job site all day. Staying hydrated is imperative! Make sure your cooler is stocked full of Gatorade and water!

Today will be a busy and hard day for you; the job is big; however, what we are most concerned about is the Gospel going forth. Be mindful the people you encounter. If you see someone alone working or standing in front of a home; approach them and ask if you might help them. A lot of people for the first time are realizing everything they've built their lives on and for is gone. We have a great opportunity to point them to the only true thing they can build their lives on... Jesus. Offer to pray with them and serve them whenever possible. When you do meet someone, get their information so a Mystery Church leader can follow up with them.

Let's pray before you head out...

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If this message hasn't scared you, consider coming and joining the hundreds who accepted the challenge and volunteered with Mission Joplin! The work is hard, exhausting and draining; yet in the midst, Jesus strengthens, encourages and uplifts you. Is he calling you to be a part of what is going on in Joplin?!

Mr. MacDonald

2011-07-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

Soon after one Journey team left Joplin, another arrived. This time a small, but mighty crew of three.

The first day of their trip they were alone, cleaning out a home of an elderly man. His insurance covered his home, but like many people would have to pay to have it demoed/cleaned. And, like we've seen many times, that expense would take a huge chunk of the money intended to get them a new home.

A tornado takes everything... everything! You take for granted without even thinking about it, modern conveniences such as street signs. They are gone. Imagine trying to navigate a new city that has no street signs, no landmarks, and often no house numbers (well... where there is even a house). That's what every single team that comes does and somehow has navigated.

Going through someone's personal belongings (or what remains of them) is a weird and emotional thing. The team called Mr. MacDonald who was about 90 years old and very hard of hearing. But, they got to talk to him which meant he survived and was being taken care of. They told him they were working at his house today and if he needed anything to give them a call. And so it began...

The entire house was covered like this. Poetically the newspaper's headline reads "I know there is help." Everything was bagged (which we later learned shouldn't be) and taken to the curb. As they worked, they began imagining who this Mr. MacDonald was and is. Did he serve in the war? Are these his grandkids? I bet he was a professor! Did he hoard all this stuff? What did it look like before?

After the first day, the three of them had made a huge dent in the work. Clearing two whole rooms of debris. I've told team after team "you'll be amazed at how much work you can get done." It's true. The power of a team working together for one goal is truly powerful!

The evening of the first night a team from Life Connection in Independence, MO arrived. We decided more people is always a good thing so the next morning the two smaller teams joined forces to create one super debris removing team!

They went back to Mr. MacDonald's home to finish up and get absolutely everything out. Soon this...

Became this...

Before leaving, they gathered up all the pictures and other items they were able to salvage and called Mr. MacDonald to tell him they'd be at the church whenever he wanted to come and get them.

Later that night I got the previdge to meet him as I handed what was left of his home to him. He looked at me and just smiled in amazement. He probably told me 4-5 times "I can't believe how good of a job they did! Please tell them how great of a job they did and how much I appreciate it!"

I went back inside the church with tears in my eyes and waited for the super debris removing team to get back so I could tell them of Mr. MacDonald's joy!

Unknown servants

2011-07-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

On my second trip to Joplin, I got the privileged of working with some of my fellow Journeyers. Most of my work here is done deep behind the scenes so to get out and get dirty with these guys even if it was only for a couple of hours was awesome. Here is the first team's story...

The team of 18 Journeyers were given the huge task of demoing an entire home... by hand.

Heavy machinery is in short supply, but we've learned that with enough manpower, we can do just about as much work as a bobcat; it just takes us a little longer. There's no question the job was overwhelming. Where do you even start? How do you do this? Can we do this?

They just started working. Digging. Pushing. Hammering. Sawing. Head down. Shovels in.

Soon one wall was down and then another.

Everything had to be moved to the curb... EVERYTHING. All the debris on the floor of the house, the walls, everything. We'd shovel it all into garbage cans and drag it to the curb. Over and over again.

Once everything has been moved to the curb, Fema and Americorp would bring in huge cranes and haul off the debris. Demolition of a home can cost a homeowner a lot of money and we quickly learned that even those people who had insurance, the demolition is often not covered.

With heat indexes well into 100 degrees, resting, finding/making shade and being hydrated was extremely important. Since all the trees are gone, our team first found a broken umbrella across the street and throughout the day found broken chairs to take breaks on. By the second day, the shelter got a little more sophisticated, with a tarp and even more chairs.

As the team was breaking for lunch, one of the guys noticed a woman outside the house across the street. A couple of them walked over to talk with her and see if they could do anything for her. She wasn't able to even speak she was so emotional and overwhelmed. Her and her husband had survived the tornado and she wanted to get some cherished items out of their partially demolished home, but wasn't physically able to get into the house.

While the guys jumped into the window, the rest of the team stood by the homeowner and just talked to her, calmed her down, and continued to ask what else they could do for her. As we've seen often, she was unsure why someone they've never met would care and want to help them so much. By the time they were done, they had won the trust of the homeowner as she cried holding a framed quilt block her mother and quilted over 25 years ago and who recently passed away. The Journey team left for lunch reassuring her that they were coming right back after lunch if she needed anything at all.

By the end of the second day, the last wall was pushed down and the last load carried to the curb.

This amazing team of volunteers did hard labor, in rough conditions for a family they didn't know. They received no recognition or awards for their work. These volunteers are one of hundreds who have come and will come and selflessly give of themselves with nothing in return. Because of their work, Joplin will soon be restored and rebuilt!

Environment and Where It Went Wrong

2011-07-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

Control.

I love control.
I crave it.
Almost as much as power.

Over the last month, I've spent quite a bit of time in Joplin working some recovery mojo. It's been a great, but hard time. God's amazing and miraculous grace, mercy and love has been more evident to me during this time than any I can remember in the recent past. I can't escape hearing, seeing and feeling God's presence around me daily. Yet, it's been incredibly difficult. Difficult to see and share in people's burdens as they have no place to live, lost all their belongings, and lost all sense of security and normalcy.

But, what's probably been the most difficult for me is the lack of a controlled environment. I like order. I like making order out of chaos. I like knowing (read: having control) over when I go to bed, what and when I eat, where I'll work, who I'll talk to, what I'll watch/read, etc, etc, etc. Consequently this has happened...

OH yes! Every single team that has walked through these doors has brought boxes and boxes of cookies. I can't stop myself. I love me some double stuffed oreos and chewy chips ahoy! LOVE them! Add to that the fact that I'm eating out basically twice a day means way too much fried food and too much food in general.

I long to be back home where I can control my environment better. But then I think... That's not the solution. I need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that when I can't (and when can I ever) control my environment, I do not sin in my eating.

Oh God, bring me to repentance!

wow!

2011-07-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I drove up to Chicago with one of the best people I know... Lauren Mizel. It was a great trip filled with laughter, conversations, and surprisingly no crying (still unsure how that failed to happen). The purpose of the trip was to see U2 live at Soldier Field... mission accomplished.

We arrived during the end of the opening act, Interpool? I think they were called Interpool... I kept calling them Interlude which is just funnier.

Lauren convinced me that this concert would change my life and we needed to capture the moment I changed forever.

This is leading up to my favorite part of the show.

And... favorite part of the show. During Miss Sarajevo the ginormous screen stretched to the floor and the production level literally went through the roof. I absolutely LOVE when performers break from "their" style and sing completely different. I think it truly shows their talent and that's exactly what Bono did as he belted his way through the opera portion.

Okay... that was a lie. My favorite part was the very last song. Bono talked for quite a long time and started to tell a story how they lost someone about 25 years ago and wrote a song for him. They hadn't planned on singing the song, but after a quick conference with the band leader, they pieced it together. Another one of my most favorite things in concerts is when they break from production to be real and authentic. High production is great, but what's even greater is pure, unrehearsed talent on show for 70,000 people!

A month of recaps

2011-07-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

The past month has been absolutely crazy with a capital NUTS!!

Each paragraph here is will be a separate blog post.

I've completely stopped worrying about and even thinking about working out and eating right. Which as you can imagine has had dire consequences to my weight lose journey. Thankfully I've hovered around the same 5 pounds this month (although I haven't weighed myself in three weeks). That will all change starting tomorrow as training begins for the Mo' Cowbell Half Marathon. I'm excited for this one and WILL get under three hours!!

Currently I am back in Joplin, MO for another 10 days. I half way love being here. I love the people, love the church, and love having a front row to see God's grace, mercy and goodness in such a hard time. Yet, it's not home; I love St. Louis more! I've tried to convince people here to move to St. Louis, but they just won't :( God's grace, mercy and goodness is displayed greatly in St. Louis as well.

Speaking of St. Louis... I moved back to the city on Sunday!! I am sooo excited! I can't wait to get back to my apartment and get settled in. It doesn't feel like home yet. Nothing every really does until I've got pictures on the walls (and am there for more than a day at a time).

The day after moving in I left with one of the greatest people I know, Lauren Mizel, for the U2 concert at Soldier Field. Yet it included much talking, laughing, and surprisingly, no crying!

The day after getting back from Chicago, I'm here... back in Joplin.

Quotes from Joplin

2011-06-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm ending my first long week in Joplin. I'll be leaving tomorrow after just over a week. Hopefully one day I'll get time post real stories of real people being served by a real God. In the meantime, here are some awesome quotes either told to me or overheard while here.

"whatever blessings God has for you, I pray he doubles them" tornado survivor to relief worker
"You're acting like I'm the only person in Joplin right now." tornado survivor "To us you are!" relief worker
"What all have we used duct tape for: seal refrigerators, make shoes, fix pants, belt"
"Mom! Remember when we heard our house breaking!"
"I don't know how, but I know God will get me through this." single mother of 6
"Holy Cow. It's normal to be rocked right? I just want to hug people."

New Apartment... New Decorations

2011-06-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

My small hallway wall is going to be my motivation wall so I made this little special thing! It should do the trick!

Moving on up!

2011-06-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

I'm moving!

Back to the city which I love! Into the general neighborhood that I love!

I'm excited!

I got a great deal on an apartment in the same building as one of the best people I know. But, it needed a lot of work. Part of the deal was that I'd do the cleaning and painting, I'd pay for the paint instead of a deposit, but I'd get to pick the colors and do what I wanted. Also, I'd get a new stove (the old one was so nasty I wouldn't let anyone cook on it).

This weekend was the start of the work. A lot of work. My mom came to town, I got us a hotel in the city and we were ready to go!

My biggest regret is forgetting to take before pictures of everything. You wouldn't believe the changes we made. Here's a little sampling.

First, if you are going to embark on such an endeavor... you've got to have a great team behind you. These two ladies own MCK Design in St. Louis and are unbelievable (both in talent and character)!!! They are personal friends who I am extremely grateful and indebted too!

Let's start in the back with the kitchen... Oh! the kitchen! It's old, it WAS gross, it needed help! I found a picture in the Benjamin Moore painting catalog and surprisingly feel in love with this bright green walls with dark brown cabinets. Here's the start of how we are recreating it...

After a few minutes Krissy stated the cabinet door fronts were unacceptable and she was going to make new ones. My mouth dropped (a. because she knows how to do that and b. that she would do that for me)! Also notice the brand new (albeit cheap) stove! Who's excited to be cooking with gas again?!?!!! THIS GIRL!

Before we move on, let me take a moment and explain the disgusting level of grossness that was this apartment. Whoever lived here before me was NASTY. Everything in the kitchen was covered in a thin layer of grease and gross. The refrigerator needed some love; my friend said it needed a dumpster. My mom got burnt out on painting and set to work with some bleach and now it sparkles. The outside still needs a little love, but looking MUCH better!!

Getting the rest of the stickers off will be my "home alone with nothing to do" project.

From the kitchen there's a small hallway with the bathroom to the left. I cleaned that sucker like it's never been cleaned before (or probably ever will again). There are two closets in the hallway. This apartment has the best/most storage I've ever seen in an old home; three large closets, two smaller ones, and a decent sized pantry closest... someone's getting spoiled!! No need to go wild in the hallway... it's just beige.

This picture is horrible, but the accent wall is the same green that's in the kitchen. It's a little boring now, but will have thick chalkboard painted strip horizontal across the middle. Krissy once again surprised me and bought magnetic primer for the chalkboard stripe. When we were in Home Depot she asked if I wanted it and I said I would, but since I'm renting I don't feel like I need to spend the $$ to get it. She felt the need! And, I'm going to LOVE it!

It's hard for me to pick a favorite room; I LOVE THEM ALL! But, my bedroom might take the cake. I had no clue what to do here and just forgot about it until Krissy asked "How do you feel about purple?" And, there you have it... a purple wall in my bedroom to match the lovely stain glass windows.

On the opposite wall though there was a hideous fake brick wall. HORRIBLE I tell you... HORRIBLE!!

Nothing a lot of kilz and elbow grease couldn't fix. I started and realized how much work it was going to take, but had to run to a meeting so I told my mom to not touch it cause it sucked so bad and I would do it. When I got back my friend Lauren had over half of it done! Final result...

It's still and will remain kilz white cause I'm not even going to attempt to do a second coat of anything on it. And, you can still see a little of the brick, but I think it adds a little character and tricks you to think it's a real exposed brick wall.

That's the new place! There's still a lot to be done, but it will get there. I believe a home is a work in progress that you continually improve and add to it.

I love that three friends and my mom have helped so far in making this my home. Every time I look at that purple wall and the brick wall, I will think about and pray for my friends, Lauren and Krissy. And, every time I'm not afraid to put something in the refrigerator, I'll think and pray for my mom!

And, if you aren't doing anything on July 3, I've got a plan for you ;)

Joplin

2011-06-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a week now since I've been in Joplin. Slowly I'm beginning to think clearly and understand how I'm feeling about the whole experience.

My job equips me to respond to needs from around our Acts 29 Midwest Region and we have an amazing pastor, Steev Inge, in the heart of Joplin. Immediately we were overwhelmed by an outpouring of support and prayers for Steev's church, Mystery. Steev planted Mystery Church about 5 or 6 years ago with a desire to see gospel restoration take place through out the city, but not knowing he'd be a part of God literally rebuilding the city.

After a week and half of countless emails and phone calls back and forth, I was finally in Joplin surrounded by devastation and praying for clarity and vision for a strategic plan. God is good and faithful to His children. I left with a plan and friends who I can't wait to meet again!

A Week in Review

2011-05-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to imagine what all has happened this past week. Please excuse my personal reflection and brain dump.

Sunday evening I saw tweets from a friend in Joplin saying he safely made it home and how horrible the weather was. I soon learned an F5 tornado ripped through the town destroying about 1/3 of the city. My friend, Steev Inge, pastors Mystery Church and he'd just been to St. Louis the week before for a training we hosted.

Monday I had my normal meeting with my boss and asked what we were doing for Joplin. One of my many responsibilities includes administrating and organizing the midwest region of Acts 29, a church planting network with over 400 churches around the world. I soon found myself organizing the midwest regions' relief effort. Immediately I'm thinking through ways to mobilize our region and whole network to get Steev help and support.

Tuesday my grandpa had major surgery. Through an amazing turn of events, they found an anuerysm in is abdominal artery. If it would have ruptured, it would have killed him. I drove up for the surgery late Monday night and was at the hospital early Tuesday morning. I'd never seen my grandpa so upset and nervous. We walked into the prep room and he just started crying. My big, strong grandpa reduced to tears, scared of what might happened. The nurse walked in and gave him a sedative to calm him down. (Note to self: if you get upset tell them you don't feel so well, they give you the good stuff.) My mom, grandma and uncle spent the next three hours waiting. I spent the majority of the time on the phone and email coordinating Joplin relief. Grandpa's surgery went VERY well. They were able to put a stint in and were out an hour earlier than expected; however it to much longer than expected to get him to ICU. Hours later we were in the ICU; he was awake and hungry.

Wednesday we went back to the hospital after spending the night at grandma's. They were getting ready to move him to his normal room. He wanted to walk and they let him. He ended up walking the entire way. The doctor happened to walk by him and stopped when he saw my mom and asked if that was Ray. She said yes and then with is mouth open said, he shouldn't be able to do that! He got settled into his room and ordered lunch (nothing seems to keep his appetitate away). I ended up leaving around 2 or so and stopped at the house to work a little more. That's when I saw the weather St. Louis was having and decided it was better to stay put awhile. My grandparent's have a weather radio and it kept going off, ironically when I was on the phone working on getting relief for Mystery Church in Joplin. At one point I thought I heard sirens so I went outside to see; my grandparents live in the country where you shouldn't have such warning systems. Sure enough they were going off so I moved my car into the garage (literally just got my car back from previous hail damage) and headed to the basement. Around that time I heard my family (minus grandpa) walk in the door. We made a quick sandwich for dinner and went back to the basement. Luckily nothing really happened and I was able to get back to St. Louis late that night.

Thursday was an early, early morning meeting with our Belleville campus leaders followed by more coordination with Joplin. The day ended so very well with birthday celebrations for myself and two of my friends. Last year we started the tradition of having dinner and cake at one of our friends houses. I'm very excited this has become a tradition. I spent the evening over good food, great conversation and even better friends.

Yesterday started a little later, but was another full day of work. Ending at the same friends house celebrating their oldest graduating high school!

And, now, it's Saturday. I'm sitting in my room wondering where the week went. It's been here and gone like a flash.

I'm hoping to wrap some planning up today and take Sunday and Monday off. Next week will be exciting as I leave for Joplin Thursday. I'll stay a day and go to Kansas City for the Mumford and Sons concert Friday night. Hopefully go back to Joplin on Saturday with a group of my friends and meet with some regional churches on Sunday.

Over the next couple of months, I'll be spending a lot of time in Joplin. I'm praying for strength and perseverance for myself, but more for the people of Mystery Church. They are tired and exhausted; a handful have lost everything. I pray God will use me to bring refreshment and encouragement into their lives. God use this devastation to show us your grace and restoration that you are bringing all things new.

If you'd like to help, money is the greatest need. Please give here. On top of giving financially, give of yourself with time. Sign up here to receive email updates and watch this video.

Illinois Half Marathon

2011-05-14T07:50:00.000-07:00

Life has gotten busy. You could probably tell since my blogs have gotten fewer and fewer in between. I'm not into blogging enough to actually put this on top of my priority list. Actually, I'm not sure if it even makes the list.

Somehow I've squeezed in a half marathon. Isn't it funny how I can manage to train even in the busiest of times, but can't find the time to go for even a short run if I'm not training... priorities!

This was my fifth half...yes, my fifth! And, I did GREAT! Knocked a good 16 minutes off my best time. Sadly, I missed my goal of under 3 hours by 1 minute and 22 seconds :( I was seriously disappointed... as in had to stop myself from crying disappointed. I calmed myself by telling myself I actually did get under 3 since I stopped to use the restroom at mile 9. If I hadn't of had to do that, I would have made it in WELL under 3 hours.

It was a great race! The absolute perfect weather, perfect amount of people, flat course, etc, etc, etc. My brother and sister-in-law drove me to the start line... it was FREEZING!!!

They started the full marathon, then a 10K and finally the half. It was a tad confusing. I really should read the race packets more closely... I'm only ever concerned about my start time. Traffic was pretty bad, so my brother and sister-in-law went straight to mile 3 and waited for me there instead of making their way to the start. I kept my phone in my pocket and didn't get a single picture during the race; maybe my family did, I should ask.

I ran the first 7 miles without stopping!!! Yes, sir, that's the longest I've ever run... EVER! At one point I wondered if I could run the whole thing, but soon knocked myself back into reality. My brother and sis-in-law (SIL) saw me at mile 3, conveniently next to the Starbucks. My brother offered his scalding hot coffee, which I politely passed on.

There weren't a terrible amount of spectators which was kind of good. Great cause I had three people out watching for me so they could get around really easily and see me multiple times. Most of the race was through residential areas so people just sat in their lawn chairs on the yard to watch. Many kids out wanting a high fives!

Around mile 6.5 I saw my brother and SIL at the top of a slight hill. I still felt pretty great and the adrenaline from the longest run in my history was pushing me forward. Then came mile 8-10! The worse part (as always), but here we were in a park so there was no one around, it was boring, and I hated it.

I made it through the hell that was the prairie park and found my mom was stationed at mile 10. By this time I had my head down and was just going; never looking up. Soon there after we pasted a cemetery where they were digging a grave; this of course made me giggle inappropriately. I just kept thinking they are already getting ready for me!

We turned and there were the ROTC Navy men ringing the touchdown bell and of all miracles the Stadium!!! I had one mile left and I miscalculated that I had 15 minutes until the 3rd hour. I rounded what I thought was the last turn and there were my mom, brother and SIL! I nearly started crying as I told them I'm going to PR! Then we just kept running... running past where I thought we'd enter and then past what I thought was our second option. (have I mentioned I need to read the race packet closer). Finally we entered the stadium:

I was digging in and could care less about getting a picture.

Memorial Stadium's End Zone!!

It was soon after that I got a text from one of my friends saying "Oh Katie... 1 min. 22 secs. away... I want to kick ur timing chip's ass."

Looks like this won't be my last half marathon!

I am glorified; I will be glorified

2011-04-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Pardon the interruption of my normal rants about losing weight and training for half marathons. But, this is Holy Week.

I'm excited for this week and am expecting God to move and work in amazing ways through out this week. It's way to easy to get extremely busy with everything that has to be done this week. I work at a church and we've got plenty to do! Yet, I want to take time each day and feel the weight and emotions of Jesus' last days. To walk side-by-side with my Savior as he willingly sacrificed His life for mine.

John 12:27-28
"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.' Then a voice came from heaven: 'I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.'"

Jesus' purpose in life was to glorify God the Father. He knew that for him this meant taking on my sin and dieing on the cross. As it should, this "troubled his soul." It's beyond my understanding to even begin to imagine what this had to feel like. He was fully human and felt the anxiety of immanent death. He could feel the pain of what he was about to do. He probably, no he did, want another way, but there wasn't one. He knew in this moment that for God to fully be glorified, he must lay down his life.

Yet, in that moment, he knew this; he knew his calling, his purpose - to glorify God. Nothing, not even death was going to stop him from his holy purpose. But, here in John we see that God met him in that purpose and in that moment of pain. God spoke from heaven to His son to say He was glorified and He would be again. Even before Jesus laid down his life, God the Father was glorified. God was Glorified in the LIFE of Jesus, not just his death. God spoke to His son as a loving father would to say: you've made me proud, and you'll make me proud again.

We each have a calling and purpose with our lives. It's the exact same purpose of Jesus' - to glorify God. Because of Jesus' death, we also hear God speaking to us from heaven saying "I am glorified, I will be glorified." May I live a life that glorifies God and hear His voice of my loving Father saying I am proud of you and will be proud of you.

Whooooowhooooo!!!

2011-04-12T06:14:00.000-07:00

TODAY I'M MINUS 30 POUNDS!!!

Technically my official weigh in day isn't until Saturday, but I was sooooo dang close on Saturday so I figured I had to be there now! Now off to purchase my incentive!!

Pride

2011-04-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have a huge pride problem; no not the kind that you might think (well... I have that too).

I have a really hard time when people are proud of me. When I hear a compliment or even someone notices something good in me, there's something in me that balls up and shuts down. I don't know how to handle it; I get scared; I self-sabotage.

This year God has been so gracious to me. He has always been too gracious to me, but I have really felt His hand, guidance and strength specifically helping me to eat better and actually lose weight this year. I have struggled and sinned grievously with food all my life. It's been my comfort and rock for way too long. I run to food instead of to God. Last year I participated in a special group for those that sin w/ food and it helped with tools that I still use today, but I didn't find freedom then. This year, I felt freedom. I felt the strength of Jesus behind me, helping me.

However, these past few weeks have been exceptionally difficult. And, I finally realized what was going on. While out for drinks with a couple of co-workers, I was distant. Something was going on inside me and I'm still not sure what. But, one of my dear co-workers said how proud she was of me. She went on to explain how great it is that I have kept on running, that I look great and am wearing cute new jeans. I got weird and even more distant. I don't know how to handle it. She then asked me point blank "why do you not like it when people are proud of you?" It was a pointed and direct question. A question I needed someone to ask me. We went on with our drinks, but the question lingered in my head.

Why do I not like when people are proud of me?

I will fail them. I can't live up to their picture of me. Will they still be proud of me when I am no longer doing x, y, or z? In my head absolutely not! If what they are so proud of me dies, then their love for me leaves as well.

I can't handle the rejection of someone's love. It's easier for me to keep going through life as unloveable and unworthy. But, when someone acknowledges their love or pride for me, it thrushes me back and makes me acknowledge that I'm loved and worthy; specifically by them.

I've grown to despise people's attention for my good works. I grew up in a house with a dad who the only time I ever got attention from him was when I did something extraordinary. That attention was short lived and generally followed by a sharp and painful complaint. "Great job at the concert! I heard you miss that note in the second song. Other than that, I think you did a really good job." Apparently I have a constant voice in my head when people say how proud they are of me, I immediately add the sharp and painful complaint.

This week I've studied God's Covenants; His covenants with Noah, Moses, Abraham, and David and His new covenant with us through Jesus. God's covenant is the Gospel. I am incredibly jacked up; I sin more and worse than I know. Yet, I am more loved by God than I can dare imagine. He loved me and died such a death for my sins before I acknowledged it, when I was an enemy of His. If He loved me so much to do that, then there's no way that He is not proud of me, he loves me, he cares for me. Yet, if/when I fail, that doesn't change my worth or His love or His pride for me.

There's something amazingly refreshing and so much freedom in realizing this truth. I don't have to be afraid or despise people's attention on my good works because my ultimate worth does not come from them. It comes from a God who loves me and is proud of me unconditionally!

blasted

2011-03-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Remember how I was only 5 pounds away from my first incentive last week? That was until this week's weigh-in.

The past 3 days have been weird. It's been colder (makes my body think it's winter again and I need to prepare for hibernation). I need to go to the grocery store. It all started Wednesday night. Community group = chips and dip night. Typically that's what I have for dinner so it's not terrible. But this night I couldn't stop myself... I just kept eating and eating and eating. Then Thursday..same thing! Thursday night I ate everything in sight. Friday was the same way, but luckily I'd already ate everything and am low on $$ to go buy more.

This all lead to this mornings weigh in where I gained 2.5 pounds!!!

Are you kidding me?!

I immediately got into a funk. A "I hate my life, this sucks, why do I even try funk!" Then I changed my cloths (still in said funk), put my running shoes on and left for my 7 miler.

When I got to the park I texted my roommate saying I hated running and I didn't want to do this at all!! She wisely texted back "keep in mind sharing closets!!"

You see, last weekend she was putting her cloths away and I saw a dress that I liked. She asked if I wanted to try it on and it fit!! I've never been able to share cloths with anyone so it put me in a super good mood then!

The text helped a little, but didn't carry me through my run. It sucked... every second of it! But, I made it.

When I got back home I weighed myself again. I needed something to cheer me up... I barely had the will to go on trying to lose weight. Low and behold I had lost 2 pounds since that morning. I edited my chart (it's on the line of cheating, but made me feel a whole heck of a lot better!!).

Here's to another week!

Incentives

2011-03-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Every girl needs some sort of incentive to move mountains (ie meet goals). Well... this girls got some! I've been trying to figure out what motivates me and to be honest, I don't really know. I'm a driven person who likes to work hard just for the sake of working hard. I like being a good worker, but hard work for the sake of hard work wasn't going to cut it. I needed stuff...

For every 30 pounds I lose, I get a special little treat. And, at the end of the year upon losing all 111 pounds, I get one ginormous prize (is it really a prize when you have to purchase it yourself?)

First 30 = one of these lovelies from etsy.com ...

Grand prize!

I'm just 5lbs away from my first incentive!! Maybe next week I can get me a little something special!!

Anything and everything

2011-03-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

You know that moment when all the quick and easy tasks are crossed off your to-do list. That moment when you honker down to get the one or two hour long task completed. It's right before that moment when you search for anything and everything to do other than the aforementioned task. Anything from eating an orange to updating your blog.

Oh me; oh my... here I go!

Princess Half Marathon Race Report

2011-03-12T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here it is... the LONG over due race report from the Disney Princess Half Marathon.

Welcome to the most ridiculous race expo EVER! To be honest, there wasn't much different about this expo than any other expo I've been too, except the crowds. I'm still baffled because the races I'm normally in have three times as many runners, yet this race was more crowded than any of those. Still, we went through the normal expo stops. I bought a 13.1 sticker for my new car... in pink which I quickly replaced with a better version (thank you ebay).

Since we had a 2 am wake up call, immediately after dinner at Mama Melrose's in Hollywood Studios, we headed back to our hotel room to get some sleep.

The night before a race is always a critical one. I HAVE to neatly set out all of my race day essentials, attach the d-tag to my shoe, pin my bib to my shirt, fill my water bottles, etc, etc. I also learned this race that I need to set out my post-race essentials, such as shower needs, ice packs, towels, change of cloths, etc.

Around 7 pm we were tucked into bed... 2 am came much quicker than I anticipated. Before we could realize exactly what we were doing, we were on the bus headed to the starting line.


This is my traditional "oh shit! I'm running 13.1 miles" picture... I have one from every race!

Then came the walking and waiting! We were dropped off probably 3 miles from the starting chutes and had to be in the chutes nearly a hour and a half before our corral would start. From an event's person's perspective, I have no clue how they could have avoided this, but man was it annoying and exhausting. I'm a stanch believer in running the bare minimum... I don't want to take one extra step on race day than the necessary 13.1. We probably did closer to 17 miles this day.

Soon enough we were ready to start and boy do they know how to start a race!!

The race officially started at 5:45 am; my corral didn't start till 6:25. That just meant more fireworks. As they started each corral, we had fireworks and the fairy godmother to pump us up and get us going!

Look what princess I found!!

Finally we were off! I started the race with my friends Lara and Jamie. We ran the first mile together then Jamie went on to be her bad self and run the entire thing. I stayed back with Lara as we agreed we'd do this thing together. We'd never run together before so we had no clue of each others pace. Come to find out, I run a few minutes faster than her. I kept running ahead then stopping and walking till she caught up. Luckily, there was TONS to see and keep my occupied!

The course took us from Epcot to Magic Kingdom, through Cinderella's Castle, and back to Epcot. Everything was new and exciting. There was entertainment and we entered through the back lots of Disney so it was like a backstage pass. We entered Magic Kingdom and turned a corner and...

I was feeling GREAT!! The excitement was overwhelming! Through out the whole course there were opportunities to wait in line and have your picture taken with characters... I never stopped for that cause let's face it, I'm slow and need every second to be moving forward. But I couldn't resist here and HAD to stop. Lara moved forward and I'd quickly catch up with her.

The excitment was over and we were turning back for Epcot. We'd seen all this before, except...

Dancing firemen make everything better!

At this point the road narrowed and we were so crowded there was no way to run if you wanted to. I got angry! We started hearing people talking about pace and something about balloons and if you fall behind them they will pick you up and take you to the finish line. I wanted NOTHING to do with that. I came to run a half marathon and that's what I was going to do. At one point I turned around and saw the end of the race. Maybe a freaked out a little bit and told my friend that we needed to hurry up. You know, the friend who we promised we were going to do this thing together... yea that friend. She told me to go on... I asked a second time and she confirmed again for me to leave. Even though I felt like a huge jerk, I did. I quickly made up about 5 minutes and got safely ahead of pace.

We were on a long 3-4 mile stretch of road we'd seen before, the 85 degree sun was pelting us, and I was exhausted from working hard to pull myself ahead. I cracked at mile 9 and slowed down tremendously. By mile 11, I felt safe that I'd made the cut and was going to get to finish, so I slowed down even more and resumed picture taking!

We came in some side, employee only entrance into Epcot and circled around till our finish just outside the park (where we started).

Praising Jesus!!!

SERIOUSLY.... PRAISE JESUS!!!

I could barely move at this point and would force myself to run for short periods. But, I turned a corner and THE FINISH LINE!!!


PAIN!

FINISHED!

It's important to always be aware of cameras on the course. They take your picture and magically upload them and tag you for you to purchase crazy expensive pictures of yourself in horrible, horrible pain. I love me a great finish photo so I raised my hands, put a smile on my face and celebrated! However, I distinctly remember raising my hands higher... as in straight over my head. Whoops!

After crossing the finish line a medical person nearly blocked my exit and demanded I looked her in the eyes to check me out. I knew I was extremely dehydrated and was probably in need of medical attention; however, I pushed her aside and went to get a banana and powerade....well after one more picture!

It happened!

2011-03-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

I completed the 2011 Disney Princess Half Marathon!!

As soon as I can figure out why my iphone isn't syncing on my computer and/or find the cord to my camera, I'll get more pictures. Also, I'll type up a whole race day report since it was by far the funnest race I have ever experienced in my entire life!!

In the mean time... enjoy!


About mile 6 - feeling GREAT!


Right before I nearly passed out on the pavement waiting for a bus!

Hip Hip HORRAY!!!

2011-02-23T15:13:00.000-08:00

Gonna be a great day to run 13.1 miles and become a princess at the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!!

Making my lists and checking them twice...

2011-02-22T10:01:00.000-08:00

It's that time of vacation prep... the list making! One for carry on; one for checking. That's right when you fly Southwest you can check a bag for free! Taking full advantage of it; however, all necessary race day supplies will be with me at all times!

5 days till the Disney Princess Half Marathon!! 2 1/2 days of work till Disney!!

new trails

2011-02-18T09:06:00.000-08:00

I love finding new trails in familiar parks. Yesterday I went out for a light run leaving around 4:30 with my only goal of finish whatever you do at dusk. Even though I love these types of runs I very seldom do them. You know the type... just run where you please for however long you please; see a path, go down it; see a set of stairs, run up them. Typically I stick to my plan to ensure I get my miles in; you know, cause I can only ever be motivated to run if I have a race I'm training for.

Yesterday I threw all of that behind me and just ran for fun; did what I pleased. Passed a huge flight of stairs and I ran up them, saw a new trail and went down it.

Ever find something so beautiful that it makes you stop dead in your tracks, admire it, and take a picture. This did it for me. I had to force myself sprint up that steep hill lingering right beside the lovely creek. As I sprinted I looked back to get one last look and what did I see...

About a dozen or so army men in full combat with guns drawn in my direction. They were moving in formation to take control of the creek I was just admiring. My first thought was "who the hell is in the park! Are we under attack?!" I ran on figuring the area they just came from was surely safe and came upon another group of fully combatted out military men. As I turned a mile or so later to head to my car there were another couple army guys who had pitched a tent in the tall grass; one reading a book the other laying on the ground with a gun ready to fire.

In other news... 8 days till the Princess Half Marathon!!!!!

Welcome back...

2011-02-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

...it's been a long time friend! I've missed you tremendously!

I can feel it!

2011-02-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

It's getting warmer! I'm soooo sick of cold, icy runs. Last week I was bound and determined to run outside. Even though Monday was an incredibly busy day, I managed to sneak in a 5.5 mile run... OUTSIDE!

It was so cold my hat literally turned to ice. Forest Park normally plows it's long path; however, after the last 5 inches they seem to have given up. I skated my way out to the long path only to find it completely covered in a sheet of ice and snow. Never to be one to give up I made my way back to the street and rain around the whole park on the street. The only REALLY scary part was crossing Hampton. Then it was off to work again...

Can't wait to run in sunny, warm Florida at the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

A Wedding of Epic Proportions!

2011-02-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

As mentioned earlier, one of my best friends got married a couple weekends ago. Following one of the most Christ centered ceremonies I've ever seen, was the funnest reception I've ever attended. Their wedding matched their personalities perfectly... Christ-centered party people!

Earlier that day I got to help set up their reception site. I'll spare you the details of how the venue double booked the space or how they still had inappropriate decorations up.


Kara's family setting up the photo booth


I LOVED the dessert table. She had friends and family bake cookies and pies.

And, just a small cake to cut. Which actually never got cut.


Jake Gehret and the Brokedown Sound... book them for your next event!


Seriously...book them!


Karaoke!

the final touch...

2011-02-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

Snow-prise! Saturday I woke up to about 5-6 inches of snow covering my car. I wasn't going to let this stop me from driving up to my parents to put the final touches on my Disney Princess Half Marathon outfit! I pulled up to my parents house to this view...

Yes, a four foot snow drift covering the entire front of my parent's house. I literally stood there for several minutes wondering how the hell to get inside! I finally made my way near the garage and around to my mom's sewing studio. I had ordered two pink running shirts that she had waiting to embroider. We looked it over and she got to work. By the time I had finished shoveling a path to the front door, she had created this...

15 days to go!

I just got a pony...

2011-02-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Okay... I really didn't get a pony, but my reaction to what I got in the mail this afternoon resembeled that of a three year old girl getting a pony for her birthday. My outfit for the Disney Princess Half Marathon is almost complete...

Cancel Reinforcements...

2011-02-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

One of my best friends got married this past weekend. They are by far one of the best couples I've ever watch go from acquaintances to dating to marriage and it was awesome to get to watch them do so. The absolute best thing about these two people is the way Christ shines through them. They are fabulous. And, she trusts me. Trusts me enough to have me do her flowers, set up the reception site, and coordinate the reception festivities. Now, if you only knew her, you would understand how huge of a deal this is. Not that she doesn't trust people, but she's well... in the details. She LOVES weddings and events and details. She LOVES schedules and lists and fun and details. After a 4 mile run (hey, a girls still go to train), I met her bridesmaids, her dad, and the bride herself at the church where they dropped off tons of flowers. We chatted, we hugged, we laughed. Then I got to work.

I always start out looking so neat and organized. Give me about 5 minutes and I can do this... to any workspace.

Two hours in and I only had 2 horrible looking bouquets done. I panicked... yes full out panicked! I texted my roommate and asked her to come immediately over; then sent a message to one of my other good friends to see if she could come early to the rehearsal. While panicking I kept working and within 5 minutes had arranged the best bouquet! Cancel reinforcements.

I know I'm extremely bias, but I really love her flowers. They were perfect. Perfect for the event, for the bride, for the occasion. Perfect. There were so many flowers left over I made a couple little arrangements for the foyer.

Then set to work on the alter. Oh! the alter... how awesome is this...

So perfectly homespun, perfectly Kara.

Baby it's slick out there!

2011-02-03T10:25:00.000-08:00

Snowpocalypse was a HUGE let down in St. Louis! Must over-hyped storm of the century. I left work early on Monday when the sleet started falling and expected to wake up to a winter wonderland Tuesday morning. Yes, there was ice. Yes, it was slick. But, where was the 1-2 feet of snow?! Since I live on a hill and my car is less than agile in winter weather, I stayed put all day Tuesday... cause you know... the snow was coming!!

All day I waited and waited. It kind of started snowing late in the evening. This was it... charge the laptop, charge the cell phone, charge the kindle! I went to bed again expecting to wake up to a winter wonderland Wednesday morning... no luck. I started seeing pictures from friends in Columbia, MO and Chicago, IL. My brother sent this one of his car...

My sister-in-law said there were drifts over her shoulders. My mom sent this pic of our farm...which doesn't look so impressive till you know that bush is well over my head and that's a solid pile of snow drifting behind it!

After spending a day getting these pictures, I sent them both the view from my front door... wondering how I was ever going to dig out of this mess...

We got two inches with drifts up to my ankle... it was a nightmare!

unexpected 10 miles

2011-01-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

After a long yet crazy, awesomely fun weekend of wedding excitement (more coming soon), I was ready to sit back, relax and watch movie after movie yesterday afternoon. I heard a little something about winter weather heading our way, but hey! it's St. Louis, there's always some kind of new weather heading our way. I didn't really pay that much attention until my friends on twitter started twittering about snowpocalypse 2.0. Once home from work I got online and witnessed for myself the mess making a bee line through St. Louis.

Because I'm less than 30 days away from the Disney Princess Half Marathon, my mind imediately went to my training schedule. Sure enough, there it was... 10 miles! Quickly navigating between my training schedule and the forecast it was clear, yesterday was the only possible day to get a 10 miler in.

Soon enough I changed cloths, ate a light lunch, took a 20 minute nap, loaded up the fuel belt and I was out the door. Amazingly enough I felt great just about the whole time! A few times I started talking down about hills and how far it was, but just as quickly as those thoughts came they left. Today I'm feeling great!

Small reminders...

2011-01-28T07:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker for a good theme. I love having stuff around me reminding me of the goal I've set for myself. And, the Disney Princess Half Marathon has done just that. My room may look like the room of a three year old girl, but man do I feel motivated to train for this race.

I'm heading to Disney with a group of about 10 (3 or which are seriously training for the half). To keep us all motivated I bought us each little tiara Christmas tree ornaments and had my mom embroider towels with a little tiara and the words "Go run your Princ-ass off" She made me another one for Christmas that says "You are running your Princ-ass off"

For Christmas my mom also got me this tiara to wear at the race. As you know, I'm not positive about wearing it in fear that I'll get angry and throw it to the ground around mile 6. Funny enough a few days after I opened this present I was babysitting for a friend and her little 3 year old daughter came bouncing down the stairs holding a box. I opened it and it was the exact same tiara! Her parents just mocked me as I explained I got the same thing for Christmas.

My roommate got me this little block decoration. I love it cause it is still appropriate to have in my room long after the race (as apposed to the pink fluffy tiara above).

Other items which remind me and push me to keep running include a tiara charm I wear as a necklace and the recent purchase of a mickey mouse glass that will land in my office.

What are you using to motivate you to keep training?

Disney Princess Half Marathon

2011-01-26T09:18:00.000-08:00

Exactly one month from today I'll be waking up in Disney World; heading out to pick up my race packet for the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!

I'm so excited! The two biggest questions (other than will I finish before the golf cart picks me up) is where will I eat and what will I wear. After spending a little too long looking up restaurants, all reservations are made. Most exciting of which is our post race celebration dinner here...

Second question: What to wear?! We've got big shoes to fill as a princess! I'm thinking I'll be somewhere between full fledged costume and regular boring running cloths. I just ordered a pink short sleeved and long sleeved running shirt (ps... on sale at Target for $5)! My mom is going to embroider this lovely on the back for me...

I'm wearing some kind of tiara, but haven't picked which one yet. You see, 13.1 miles is a really long way to run. And, I typically get cranky and angry around mile 6; I'm guessing having a metal tiara bouncing on my head will just increase my anger to full rage status. My mom got me a tiara for Christmas which will go with me, but I'm also purchasing this little guy thinking it will be a tad more comfortable.

Three!

2011-01-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yes friends... THREE. But, it's not a happy three :(

Three weeks in and I GAIN three pounds! I'm not really that surprised since this past week brought with it many, many social gatherings; pizza party Thursday, bachelorette party Friday, and a house warming party on Saturday. I'm really trying hard to not get bummed and discouraged, but I'm finding that nearly impossible.

I did manage to get to the gym A LOT. Yesterday was the big game...one of the few I actually really wanted to watch. Of course, our cable was out and with a few inches of snow coming down outside, I didn't want to venture far from home. What's a girl to do...go to the gym...

This was a genius plan until I realized how long a game is and how much working out I'd have to do. After an hour on the elliptical and an hour on the treadmill I gave up and literally just stood on the treadmill to witness for myself the end of the Bears season.

Here's to another week and a -3 next Monday!!

New Year; New Goals

2011-01-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

I keep going back and forth on whether to start up and attempt to keep up my little blog here. I've got big goals this year and kind of want a place to talk about the adventure that lies ahead! So, here goes!

I'm not a big fan of New Year Resolutions. I typically don't make them mainly because I'm crazy stubborn and HAVE to keep them when I make them. About every 5 years I end up making one or two and yes... end up actually keeping them. Here's what I started on Jan. 1:

Lose 111 pounds.
Never leave the apartment w/o doing hair, makeup, and coordinating outfit (workouts and grocery store runs do not count).
Make my bed every day.
Use mint.com to keep my budget in check.
Give more sacrificially.

What I've done so far...

Joined Weight Watchers online. There's an app for the iphone that is amazing! It makes keeping track of points soooo much easier.
Participating in a weight lose competition through February. So far, I am in third place overall! Whoop!
Training for the Disney Princess Half Marathon!
Making my bed every morning (it takes approx. 3 seconds and makes my room feel cleaned).
Continuing to use Mint.com (started in December) Been a rough couple of months financially, but have made it work probably thanks to this tool.
More than doubled my monthly giving. I figured if I wasn't having to actually budget in my giving, I wasn't giving enough. I love giving, but it's hard when you are constantly strapped for cash. I now HAVE to budget it in or I won't make ends meet at the end of the month. I HAVE to make decisions based on the fact that I want to give.

What I learned this morning...

2010-07-21T14:53:00.001-07:00

horrible storms at night does not equal storms in the morning
if it doesn't look like it will rain and weather.com says it won't, I have no excuse for skipping a long run
bootcamp kicked my princasse yesterday
half an apple is a horrible pre-run snack
there's not always a deer on schoolhouse path
Doing 6 miles on tired, sore muscles IS possible
Cracker Barrel is a great motivator for early morning long runs

Running my PrincASS off!!!

2010-07-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

It's official!!! I'm going to Disney World!! I'm super excited!! I mean, where else can you run in a tiara?!

We've got 7 girls going down to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February. This means we're getting a suite and taking a vacay!!

But, I've got to earn the privilege of running in a tiara... training!

Recently I've been incredibly tired. Not so much tired as lethargic with absolutely no energy what-so-ever. I'm getting plenty of sleep, eating well, low stress levels, etc. I'm guessing my iron levels are crazy low, so I've been trying to remember to take my iron and eating the right stuff. It will be tough, but I'm gonna have to grill up a steak... I mean... for my heath and all!! The ironic thing about low iron is all you want is a cup of coffee (or 5), but caffeine blocks the absorption of iron. Blah... I want coffee!!

This week: 15 1/2 miles and 2 bootcamps

There's a muscle there?!

2010-06-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

One thing is different this go around... bootcamp. I've built it in as my strength and stretch day. Before I'd half ass this day with a couple sit ups and push ups. That's not exactly how I'd describe bootcamp. Bootcamp is an hour long session of pure torture. We do planks, squats, lunges, sit ups, push ups, swings, mountain climbers, jumping jacks (holding a weight bar of course), etc, etc, etc.

Yesterday we did a new move... the side plank. Did you know you have muscles along the side of you?! Cason does. I do too now. Also, never challenge the trainer to do a move with you. He can do it but for longer and thus make you do it for longer as well.

Today was a short 3 mile run. One small problem, it's 97 degrees here with a heat index of 105. I made a deal with myself at 5:30 this morning: get a couple more hours of sleep and run in the a/c on a treadmill. One small problem...I hate treadmills... with a passion. They are stupid. I'm not a rationale human being at 5:30 a.m. Allow me to explain my disdain...they don't work for training. I mean, sure, you get a workout, but where (other than on a treadmill) will the ground move under you in one nice neat level grade. All you really have to do is pick up your feet and presto the ground moves!! That's not real! Not to mention you are sweating and breathing heavy a little too close to the stranger next to you. No thank you, I'll brave the heat.

Luckily, it cooled off a bit this evening and I got a run in outside, on a hilly route I was unfamiliar with and without proper hydration. I survived, not gracefully, but I survived.

Tomorrow... two miles followed by bootcamp (insert HUGE question mark here)

finishing the race I started

2010-06-21T09:33:00.001-07:00

It's been too long, but I've resurrected this old blog as I start training once again for the Lewis and Clark Half Marathon. I tried blogging my way through my last half marathon training and did so with minor success; I'm making no promises this time. But atlas, today I once again started training as I attempt (hopefully succeed at) the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon on October 3.

Since today was my first training run for this race, I thought back on my first ever training run. It was right around this time 3 years ago for this exact same race. I remember the run clearly. I just made it to Tower Grove Park which was only about 3 blocks from my apartment when I realized my uncle was just about to go into surgery. He was diagnosed with methothelioma (cancer caused by exposure to asbestos) and was undergoing an 18 hour surgery. As I ran I just cried and prayed for him. I felt strangely connected to him at that moment.

Fast forward about 8-9 months. It's September and I'm off to the race with my parents and friend to run 13.1 miles. We knew it was going to rain, but had no clue what we were in for with Hurricane Ike coming through. When we finally made it to the parking lot (10 minutes after the start of the race), there was water up to our knees. I had to make the call in tears to go home without even starting.

That evening turned out to be a gorgeous day in St. Louis. Since I was already hydrated and carbo-loaded, I decided to go for a run. I figured I'd do about 5 miles or so since it was getting dark. At about mile 3 I thought "screw it... I'm doing a half marathon today!!" So... I did. Probably not the smartest thing I've ever done, but I'm stubborn and when I set out to do something I'm gonna do it. As I finished late that night, I thought about my uncle as I had every single run that year.

The next morning I was awaken by a phone call from my cousin. My uncle lost his battle just a couple hours after I had finished running my 13.1 miles. After calling the family and making arrangements to head to Florida, I reflected on the past 8 months. Every single run I did I prayed for my uncle. I'd laugh saying, if he could, he'd be out here with me... such a lie... he'd be sitting by the pool with a whiskey soar!! In some weird poetic way, we started this race together and finished together.

The following spring I would finish not one, but two, half marathons in a week. The latter being with my aunt who raised money for cancer research by running. This fall, I'll finish my fourth half when I finally officially complete the race I started training for with my uncle Steve.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

2009-04-16T12:02:00.000-07:00

Well, Sunday is the big day! From my lack of posts you can probably assume a.) I've been crazy busy, b.) I've not been training as I should, or c.) my computer was broken for 3 weeks. If you guessed all three than you would be right.

Wow! This came much quicker than I would have ever thought. But, I think I'm as ready as I can be. Yes, I skipped some runs. And, yes, this hasn't been my focus. I will say though, after talking with a friend that I am proud of the miles I was able to get in. I mean, who would have thought I could average working 65 hours a week and still train for a half marathon and try to have a life. That's a huge accomplishment... or it will be Sunday afternoon when I'm finally finished!

We'll see how I do and if you are in St. Louis, come out and cheer!

**it happens

2009-03-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

I basically forgot I had this little piece of blog land. Sorry folks... both of you! Life has been crazy busy. I'm not sure exactly what I've been so busy doing, but I'm sure it has been interesting and fun none the less. Apparently this blog is about my training so let's start there.

Tuesday I did my "long" run. This week is pretty easy considering it is supposed to be the 10K race week. Considering I'm broke as a joke, I'm not entering any races other than the big ones. Instead, I ran around Forest Park. It was a gorgeous day! The kind that makes you think spring is here only to find it to be in the 30's the next day. But, it was beautiful!! I opened that morning which meant a get out of bed time of 3:45 a.m., followed by a trip to the office. This meant I was on my feet for 7 hours and then sat for another 3. Needless to say, my legs weren't in tip-top shape. Everything was going fine until I felt what could have been a drop of rain hit my arm. It wasn't. I look over only to find bird poop running down the top of my arm. I maneuvered my sleeve to wipe off only to get a little on my had. I spent the next 4 miles repeating the mantra "use the left hand, use the left hand." Reminding myself to not wipe the sweat away with the poop infected hand. I laugh to myself thinking how can this happen twice* in one lifetime? This run seemed longer and harder than it should. I mean it really is only about 6 miles, but I was exhausted the whole time. The next day I was really sore.

My schedule has just got me all screwed up and my legs can't handle it I guess. I took Wednesday off and yesterday went for a 5 mile run. It was good. Today I was supposed to do another 5, but I just don't think I could. I'm sore. So, I'm not going to and instead spend the evening watching movies and sleeping**. I'm glad this week was a light week and hopefully I can get back on track next week. Did I tell you I'm three weeks ahead of schedule? My plan is to continue as I am and just build the miles. That way, I hopefully won't die come marathon week.

Are you ever sore for no apparent reason??

*The other time was an unfortuneatly timed walk to the metro link for work. Again, I thought it could be rain that hit the top of my head... I was wrong. Once I got to work I spent the first 15 minutes in the bathroom trying to figure out how to wash my hair in the sink. That night at Praise and Worship, it was announced that a bird crapped on me... I loved my friends.

**another 3:45 wake up call.

life...

2009-02-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

Rhythms. Pathways. Memorization.

My church is finishing up a sermon series called Rhythms. It's been convicting to see what spiritual disciplines I lack, but redeeming to see God working and changing my heart. Bringing me closer to Himself through these pathways.

One of those said lacking disciplines for me is scripture memorization. But, I was challenged by one of the girls in my CG to memorize Romans 8. And, I'm loving it! Even though I've fallen a tad behind schedule, I finding it a clear way to really learn what God is saying. Sure I read the bible, but I often read it as if I'm reading just any other book. Once sentence after another. Yet, memorization takes time. You must look at each and every sentence. Break it down. Figure out what is being said.

Why am I going on and on about scripture memorization in a blog about training for a half marathon? Because running is an area where two worlds collide. It's a medium for God to meet me and for me to worship Him. Today was just another 50 minute cross training day, but while memorizing Romans 8:11 God struck me on my training. "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit that dwells in you."* Really reading that verse, meditating on it, and memorizing it brought me alive. Because the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead does dwell in me. That means that he who raised Christ Jesus is giving life to my mortal body! My body is alive and able because Christ's spirit, through righteousness (v. 10) breaths life into me. I'm able to go run and enjoy His beauty because His spirit dwells in me! That give me all new motivation to get out there and train. Use the body that Christ and given life too.

*confession... I had to cheat when writing the verse.

an answer the the long asked Why?

2009-02-09T12:28:00.001-08:00

I figured out today why Americans are getting fatter.

Exhibit A...

The plate on the left is my great grandma's. On the right is mine. I have a theory... if our plate sizes would decrease so would our waist lines.

Kentucky Mini-Marathon

2009-01-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

I might be stupid, but I just registered for the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon. Aside from the fact that it's crazy stupid to run 13.1 miles, this is the weekend after the Go! St. Louis half marathon. But, I think I can do it. I remember I wasn't really that sore last fall after running 13 miles so I think I can do it.

Amazingly enough I'm more excited about the Kentucky one now. I get to go and run with my aunt (actually, I don't really think she's an aunt, but a distant cousin, maybe). Either way, I'm stoked to get to run with her. And, I'll get to drive down with my good friend Betsy. She's way awesome and I don't get to spend much time with her at all. I CAN'T WAIT!

This week I've once again taken it easy. It snowed a good 7 inches this week. I did go do my 2 miles on Monday (in the sleet). It was really funny cause I thought my pony tail was smacking me in the head, but come to find out it was freezing ran. And, if you didn't know, freezing rain feels like tiny pieces of glass hitting your face. Hopefully I'll get my 5 miles in on Saturday.

Week 3 = week off

2009-01-17T08:50:00.000-08:00

confession... I haven't run AT ALL this week. Not unless you count Monday night as I ran to the printer and back (seriously, why is my work station the absolute farthest away from the printer... probably for some interval training!).

Do I feel bad about not running? Kind of. But, I've determined that this time I'm going to have to give myself a bit more grace. Let me tell you about my week and you'll understand.

Tuesday we held our Acts 29 Quarterly which I was in charge of. Which meant TONS of preparation on my part. So, I opened Monday morning (at work at 4:30 a.m.), went straight to the office, then to set up, then to a meeting at 7 p.m., back to the office until 11 p.m. Tuesday I got up around 5:30 to run some last minute errands before getting to the event. I spent the entire day at the quarterly until late afternoon and by then I had to go back and get caught up the e-mails I'd been ignoring for a week. Wednesday I was back at sbux at 6:30 a.m., came home worked on Journey stuff till it was time to go to community group. Thursday I went to the office to unload my car so they could actually have a church service on Sunday. Then I went back to sbux for the evening. Yesterday I opened again. I could have snuck in a run that afternoon, but if I didn't nap I think I would have lost my marbles. Now there's today. I opened once again. Realistically I could go for a run now, but I won't. Why? I don't really have an excuse other than I'm tired and need to do laundry and pack for Chicago.

As I look back on my week there really wasn't a time to get a run in at all. I knew this going into training and accepted it. I have to have grace for myself and realize I built in some extra time for this. So, I'm not freaking out. I'll start back up next week.

INSPIRED!!

2009-01-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

One of my friends is having a give away on her blog... She's amazing and I really want the give away.

So visit Inspired Kara and tell her how I inspired you to comment!!!!

I'll be back to blog about the running adventures...

week one... check

2009-01-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've officially finished the first week of training. Overall it wasn't bad. I'm getting back in the groove and am enjoying it thus far. I think there will be several of my friends running it with me (and by with I really mean ahead of me). The day I registered one of my co-workers commented on my facebook status that she was thinking about doing it. That night she came to work saying she registered for it. I laughed and then we proceeded to say everything we did that night was actually strength training.

I made a good decision to start training during my "vacation." I only worked at Starbucks last week so I had time to burn. Who knew that working 40 hours a week would feel like a vacation to me. Our vacation week is over so we'll see how this week goes. I've got the whole schedule down in my calendar... that's the first step.

Run on friends!
Katie

193.5 to go...

2008-12-29T21:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the generosity of a couple at my church, I am now registered for the Go! St. Louis half marathon. This means I MUST start training for it.

As you probably know from my lack of posting about running and talking about running, I haven't been running. I went out about a week ago for a 3 1/2 mile run and actually felt pretty good. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined.

Today was it... the day I officially started training. I ran 3 miles. At first I thought, only three! I can do that. I've done 13 this is nothing. But then I actually started running. I'm trying to knock a cold I got on Christmas Eve. Nothing is worse to me than trying to run while sick. I made it by walking several times. But, I made it.

I'm really excited for this race and training season. It's sad how horribly I take care of myself. But, I'm shocked at how my mindset changes when I have something to work towards. Now all of a sudden I'm thinking about what foods I'm taking in and how much water I'm drinking.

So, I've started. Only 193.5 miles to go till race day (math that really shouldn't have been done)!!

trail subscription

2008-11-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

For the past three months I've received a trial subscription to Runner's World. Go! St. Louis sold my name and address and I couldn't thank them more. They've convinced me to shell out the $20 for the two year subscription. One of my co-workers also received the subscrition and read an article about the New York City New Years' race and is now obsessed with running one. Apparently St. Louis is not offering a race of this magnitude. That's not stopping her... she e-mailed Fleet Feet, SLTC, Ghisallo Running, Big River Running, etc to ask if they'd be interested in such a race. I have a feeling I'll be running in the new year this year! She told me I was broke and alone which meant I had nothing to do over this holiday. While I do have something to do, I guess I can wear black and/or white running cloths to the Black & White Ball I was going to go to and take off from there.

one month...

2008-11-11T19:30:00.000-08:00

It's official... training starts in one month.

That means the Go! St. Louis (half) Marathon is only 22 weeks away. Which coincidentally means I've got to get my but off of the couch* and start training again. I haven't registered yet. Actually I'll start training trusting that someone will pay for my registration fees. It's on the Christmas list.

I went for a run yesterday. It was awesome! It's getting chilly now and dark ridiculously early. I could have headed out earlier and avoided the dust to dark run, but I've only been getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and really needed that nap. As the sun was setting, I got into this running trance as I listened to my breathing and feet scurrying through the fall leaves hitting the pavement. At one point I had to take my headphones out so I could enjoy the oh so brief moment of running bliss.

There comes a time in one's life when you realize you need to start taking better care of your muscles. Today that moment came as I was putting (or trying) to put on my shoes. I know... I'm 26 years old,putting on my shoes shouldn't cause major injury, but damn I got a charlie horse. I've gotten several in my day** and still don't know exactly how you're supposed to take care of these things in the moment. I get that I need to eat more bananas, but while you are cussing like a sailor and hobbling around, what exactly are you supposed to do?

This brings me to another point... I like taking risks. Like the risk I take every time I walk out the door for a run. My shoes are past the point of supportive. I need new shoes. I'm risking injury. They're on my Christmas list too. Goodnight I hope my family thinks practical this year.

Well, as you can probably tell from the randomness, I really need to get to bed...

* and by couch I mean make time to actually run. It's another job and I've already got two of those. I'm tired all the time.
** including a rather embarrassing and humorous story of having the flu and losing all control of bodily functions.

Back in the Saddle!

2008-10-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Or should I say shoes!

Today I went for a run... first one in over a week. Can I say it felt great!! I love it...

I thought of a few things while running. Running is really one of the ways I worship God. It's funny to say that considering most of the time I just black out and think of nothing. But, I think that's a form of worship (not all but part of worship).... allowing yourself to just be. Turning off your brain and letting your mind go. Other times* I stop (not literally) take a moment and experience what's around me... the fall day, beautiful weather, the city that I love, etc. So, while I was running today I pondered this and since I'm in community group mood I thought about how I could best bring this to group. You see, one of the main aspects of community groups at my church is worship. This means on Wednesday my group and I will be taking a 5 mile run together so I can demonstrate how I worship God!! Yea, that's what I think about while I run... it makes me giggle** a bit!!

Since this blog has become less and less about training, I'll go off tangent a bit more. Today I finished a little house project of mine... the b/w wall!! I really like it... check it out!

before... hodge podge of random pictures, medal, fliers, and sticker.

after... LOVE IT!!

*typically during that short period where my breathing is centered and I'm not in pain
** that is until I lose conscientiousness from not being able to breath

Another Non-Training Post

2008-10-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Considering I've gotten 6 hours of sleep the last two nights combined, I don't feel that bad about not running. But, what to post about. Another fun little home project!!!

I LOVE FALL!!!! And, my grandpa and his garden!!!!

When I went home last I collected three ears of Indian corn. I'm not exactly sure what Indian corn is good for other than decoration. But... this is what I came up with!

It kind of makes a creepy shadow from the other side...

mmmmm protein!!

2008-10-08T15:56:00.001-07:00

I didn't get that run in at the folks like I was hoping too. Time just flew by and I was much busier than I thought I was. That meant today I was back out after several days off. I feel like I'm becoming much smoother with my stride which makes me feel like I've increased my pace as well. Today was one of the most annoying runs of my life. I'm not sure if this happens every year, but the number of bugs flying into my face, mouth, nose, and eyes has doubled no quadrupled!!! It was the grosses thing ever.

Does this happen every year? Can anyone really run with their mouth closed?

Tangent

2008-10-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Who cares that the title of this blog is "in training?!" I'm not "training" for any particular race right now, which means I get the chance to blog about whatever I dang well feel like it. As inspired by Kara, I have a little house project. You see, I've been working weird hours lately (4 days on 5 days off, 3 days on, 2 days off). And, I didn't know what to do with myself. What else is a girl to do but throw crap away. After getting rid of an entire dresser worth of clothing it was time to rearrange the bedroom, a task which has never been done in this apartment. Here's how it turned out!

I moved my bed under the window (still not sure if I like it there) and moved the bench in from the living room.

My bed was orginally where the two column dresser is now. I always use those little art deals as a make shift headboard, but I think I like them there too.

Until I can have a place of my own or we move and get an office, my office must be in my bedroom. I'm planning on developing a bunch of my pictures in b/w and put them all on that board to make a b/w wall.

Okay, this isn't in my bedroom, but I bought a shoe organizer and moved these shelves to the kitchen. Now I'll never get angry about not finding the lid again!!

I'm off to Illinois for the second leg of Steve's funeral tour. Hopefully I'll at least get one run in while I'm up there.

So many races

2008-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

I love autumn for so many reasons: the sound of leaves crunching under your feet, the smell, sweater season (ie jeans and a hoody), the beautiful colors of leaves changing, not having to get up at the butt crack of dawn to get a run in, turkey trotts and pumpkin runs. Just off the top of my head I can think of 5-10 races I'd like to be a part of this fall. One of my friends is running her first 5k in a few weeks and I'd love to run with her. So, what's stopping me... $$$.

Dang, this running thing is expensive. You would imagine it would be a fairly cheap sport considering all you REALLY need is a pair of running shoes. But, each race cost anywhere between $15-$25... Yes, the proceeds generally go to a very worthwhile cause, so I should feel bad about giving them my money. I guess I'm feeling cheated out of a good race season because I don't even have the money to pay my bills right now. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I'm lacking about $200 this month to make ends meet. So, there I'll be standing on the sidelines cheering everyone on. Yes, I'll have fun, but deep down, I want to stinkin get my "free" t-shirt!

I have managed the last few days to get the motivation to "take one step out the door." My friend and meet for breakfast the other day and we both lamented about how we know what we need to do, but just can't figure out the first step (haha.. oh! irony). Of course I knew exactly what SHE needed to do, but failed to see what I could possibly do. Praise God she's awesome cause she just looked back at me and said "well take a step out the door!!" Stupid logic! The three runs I've done this week have been fairly short, but I feel like my pace is increasing. Since I never keep track, I just have to go on a feeling. Never the less, I'm once again running in circles and feeling great! If only I could run in circles to receive a free t-shirt!

Not Running

2008-09-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Oh the good life!

It's been about a week or so since my last long run and I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Actually that's a lie. I haven't done shit and I feel like it. Without a set schedule I don't know what to do with myself. I'm really a lazy person and am fine with sitting on the couch all day. Except for the fact that I hate myself after doing so.

To get myself off the hook a little bit, the past week has been crazy hectic. My uncle died the day after my non-half marathon. I wasn't that close to him, but I've become really close to his daughter. I was really upset when he died. You see, on one of my very first runs last year I ran because he was having his surgery (the 15 hour one). I ran that day because I knew he would give anything to be out running. In all honesty he probably wouldn't and he probably thought I was crazy to attempt such a thing. Either way, I ran because of him. In fact, he's been on my heart and mind most of my runs while training. I haven't told many people (until now), but he died just a few hours after I finished my "half marathon." For some reason that really got to me; the fact that when I was in pain and outside hoping to be done soon he was in bed in pain and hoping to be done soon.

My mom and I drove down for the Florida services.* We stopped half way in Atlanta and stayed with her brother. I decided to get up real early in the morning and go for a run because I couldn't make myself get in a car and sit for another 8 hours without some sort of physical exercise. Man! Atlanta has a good hill workout. The next morning I awoke in someone's vacation home and did some laps in the pool. That's a workout I'd like to repeat often. I didn't realize how much of a full-body work out swimming was. Once I got home I went for a walk and today I went for another one.

So, what do I do... I really need to be running, but can't get myself out the door.

* we are in the middle of what I call "Steve's funeral tour." They are holding another service(s) next week in Illinois and possibly Indiana as well.

Oh! What a day!!

2008-09-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

The day I almost rain a half marathon in a hurricane!

Saturday as I carbo-loaded, I watched Ike descend into Missouri. Understanding that the race would be a wet one, I prepared myself to run in the rain (an activity I actually enjoy). My parents had arrived to cheer me. We ate and went to bed ready to awake at O-dark-thirty.

My friend arrived right on time and we headed out. When we left the city it was hardly raining at all, but a cheerleader called and reported the worse.... heavy rain! That wasn't going to get in my way of completing my first half marathon. It wasn't long until we were stopped on the interstate to exit while Ike unleashed on us. We slowly made our way to the exit and watched in fear not knowing what to expect. Soon it was 6:45 and we were still stuck in traffic. That didn't matter considering we weren't sure at this point whether there would even be a race. By the time we made it to the parking lot it was flooded. At points the water was 1-2 feet deep. The rain came down harder and the wind picked up. Finally, I made the call and sadly said it wasn't safe for me to be out there. I cried out of frustration having trained so hard for something and be so close to success. We began home and saw the idiots who decided to start at about mile 1. Runners who looked as if they had trained for the whole thing were having trouble even walking in this storm.
As we slowly made our way back to the city we saw 40 being shut down and water over the interstate at several points. We were going to go out for breakfast, but figured it was better to only have to get out of the car once instead of three times. My friend left and we went inside to cook a breakfast when I saw the huge puddle of water in my kitchen. The window above my door was leaking water so badly it was basically raining in the kitchen. Time to call the landlord, clean the mess, and continue with breakfast.

Soon my parents left and I took my nap. Later that night I figured I was already loaded with carbs and highly hydrated so I'd go for a run. As I began I figured I'd run to my sbux and back making it a 8 mile run. On my way I threw my middle finger to Ike and said F you, I'm running a half marathon today!!

I was really concerned with daylight so I ended up running a lot more in the beginning then I should have. I left and headed straight down Tower Grove Ave feeling amazing. Even as I turned into Forest Park without stopping to walk, I felt great. Made my way down to Skinker taking a short break and dreading the sun going down. After taking quick potty break and I began running for my life... possibly literally as I ran through a pretty sketchy neighborhood to get home. And I ditched the headphones in order to hear everything around me. I didn't stop until I got to Rosa, a street I deemed safe enough to walk in. But, it was so stinkin dark and I was so tired that I walked a bunch in the middle of the street. Finally, I made it home! 13.05 miles later! I know, I know, I skipped .05 miles, but who cares... it counts in my books!!

At Long Last

2008-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting until I got to tell some people about the Nike Human Race in person. Nothing spoils a good story more than "yea, I read your blog." Here we are, a couple weeks later and at the dawn of the half marathon.

The trip to Chicago actually begins the night before when I went to a party instead of going home to pack and get some rest. Needless to say, I got about an hour and a half of sleep before boarding my train at 4:30 a.m. I originally thought my train left at 6:30 a.m. My mom thought the same thing when she bought her ticket. She got on half way to Chicago at the station near her home. She awoke to find a text message telling her I'd safely arrived on the train and we were pulling out of St. Louis. She quickly gathered her suitcase and headed to the station to pay another $26 in order to board my train. My brother also got a rude awakening when we arrived two hours ahead of "schedule."

The race was an evening race which meant we had the whole day to waste in Chicago. Unfortunately, I couldn't walk around much. We killed some time playing guitar hero and taking pictures...
My mom surprised me by making "Team Katie" shirts!!

The time finally came to meet up with my friend and dawn the way to tight shirt. Everyone (all 14,000 of us) had to wear the race shirt which had our bib number on it. We took a cab to Soldier Field. The field was open so we went in to take a look after taking some more pictures!

Before long it was time to head to the start line. Chicago had the largest race of the day which was exciting to be a part of. We dropped my mom, brother, and future sister-in-law off and took our mark. It only took about 7 minutes to cross the start line after the gun fired. While we were waiting I realized that even if we finished last in Chicago, surely someone in the world would be slower than me.

As soon as we crossed the start we began running south towards McCormick place where we entered their tunnel and experienced a dj and a laser show. We continued south onto Lake Shore Drive. The entire time we were passed by fitter, faster runners. I had to stop myself from turning around in fear that there wouldn't be anyone back there. Finally my friend told me to see who was behind us. To my amazement there were as many people behind us as infront of us. Soon we it the 5K mark where I exclaimed "this is the farthest I've ever run during a race!!!" I kept going and turned north up a much too small bike path.

The sight was spectacular. We had the lake on our right with a bunch of sailboats out, the sun setting to our left, and the entire Chicago skyline ahead of us. It gave me chills to see what we were a part of. Without knowing it I hit the 5 mile mark and was shocked to realize I hadn't stopped running yet. When the realization came over me I immediately started running faster. My friend looked at me and said "you know you're going faster right?" All I could utter was "I know, this is the farthest I've EVER run!! I'm pumped." That sprint of energy soon left as we got slowed by two ambulances on the very small course. It took my friend to get me back on course.

Since there were so many people in the start shoot, my family couldn't see me start. I wanted to make sure they could see me finish (honestly, I wanted a picture)! I borrowed my friends cell phone and called them as we made one of the last turns. My mom couldn't hear me and was watching as they put someone into an ambulance. I gave up on trying to call and simply texted. Mind you, I wasn't going to stop running. I was bound and determined to run the entire 10K.

The finish line was in sight, but I couldn't find my family. Finally I see them just to the left. They didn't see me so I started yelling for them. And, got my picture!!!

After finishing we were handed our finishers award and went into the mass of people to get our free stuff and the chip removed. This area was extremely disorganized and we just wanted out. We met backup with the family for some more pictures.

My brother asked if I wanted a shot of tequilla. I answered no, but a beer sounds really good. Before heading to dinner to get that celebratory beer, I showered at the hotel and ice myself.

This was by far the most exciting, best race I've ever been a part of. It prepared me and boasted my confidence for the half marathon coming up on Sunday. I also learned a few things:

1. I'm getting a disposable camera for the half.
2. Gu is amazing!
3. Always order the race type shirts a size up.
4. Running in Chicago is awe inspiring!
5. I can run 6.2 miles without stopping.

Come back to read and see the results from the half!

God bless co-workers

2008-08-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

One of my co-workers yesterday came in and said she had two things for me. The first was a box of tea (really, come on! we get those for free!). She needed me to give it to a regular who bought her gelato the other day and refused the free tea. Yea, people actually bring us stuff. Then she reaches into her purse and pulls out a little piece of paper. It's a gift certificate for a free massage after the half marathon!!!!

Such leisures are a rare (scratch that, absent) treat for me. Hopefully I'll be able to get an appointment for the day after. I don't know of a better motivation to run 13.1 miles than a massage. Okay, chocolate works too!

old, new, borrowed, blue

2008-08-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

No, I'm not getting married :( I did do something new today.

I rode my bike to work! This was a task that I've been planning on doing for some time; however, always found an excuse. Not today... okay, actually today too, but since I left my phone at home, I returned during an hour break to retrieve the phone and ride back. It wasn't that bad! I'm learning that physical activity isn't as bad as I always think it's going to be. I was concerned about one hill. You see, it's rather steep and the right lane, which I tend to gravitate too when riding on a busy street, becomes a turn only lane. Meaning, if you want to go straight you have to ride in the middle of the road and you're going up hill which means my speed is somewhat slower than a snail. Never fail... I took the sidewalk. Considering I'm going slower than a walker, I figured this was okay. Of course, there was a cop present when I attempted this maneuver. Luckily the cop was as stupid about bike/road rules as I am and just let me ride on my merry way.

It only took me 30 minutes to get to work. Driving takes me 20... I think I'll bike more often (ie tomorrow).

* Title explained... Old: my bike and/or back pack (used as a trunk) New: the fact that I biked to work Borrowed: technically my bike is borrowed. it's my brothers, he doesn't know I have it nor will he miss it. Blue: the clear, bright sky.... lame, I know, but I'm tired from biking to work.

I didn't die!

2008-08-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about my past couple of days.

Wednesday I had to do 5 miles. Mind you, this is a very doable mileage and I should be able to run the whole thing considering I've ran 4.5 without stopping. However, logic doesn't always work in running. Consider the fact that I got up at 5 a.m. to walk with my friend, but went straight back inside to take a 3 hour nap before running the 5 miles. Yea, I felt that good.

I've been wanting for some time to find Tilles Park and even tempted too one day, but got lost. This time I checked the map twice and picked a more direct route. Before I even left I wanted to turn back. How can this be you might ask? Just start training for a half marathon and you'll understand. You'd also understand the you go out even if you don't feel like it. So, I head out. Unfortunately this route goes right past a police station. I say unfortunately because officers kept driving past and all I could think about was, "if I fell down they could take me back home." Come to find out, they would have! No, I didn't actually try it, but I asked Timmy the cop who's one of our regulars. He confirmed next time all I need to do is lay down and someone would eventually call them.

Thursday I had to do 60 minutes of cross training. I had no clue what to do. 60 minutes is a really long time. Since I don't have a gym membership, my options are very limited. After talking with a co-worker who is studying to become a trainer, I reluctantly chose to ride my bike. Weird enough I actually enjoyed riding my bike. There's something very fun about working extremely hard to get up a hill and being able to just sit back and chill on the way down. When is started raining though my tune changed. Riding a bike in the rain is miserable.

Today I ran 9 miles!! I've mentioned before I'm really trying to monitor what I eat and see how it affects my running. Spaghetti didn't work so well for me, but chips and salsa seemed to work well! Okay, maybe it was the Gu, but I did feel pretty good the whole time. This time I ran from my place to grand and around the east half of Tower Grove and towards Forest Park. This lead me to the very east portion of Forest Park and up to Maryland Plaza. This was perfectly planned so I could stop at my Sbux to empty my bladder and fill my water bottle. One of my favorite regulars was outside and as I headed home I stopped to talk a bit with her. It was funny to hear her say "but, don't you live"

This was the first time I'd experienced the miracle that is Gu. Most runners are familiar with this gel like substance. I tried the tri-berry and vanilla. About 45 minute into it I took my first and was hurting pretty bad. I'm not sure if it was actually the GU or mental, but I was able to make it to my sbux where I took a bit of a break just enough time to fill the water bottle, use the restroom and down some water. A few block from there I down the second and it helped, but didn't make it "easy" but doable.

Now after stretching and showering, I'm in front of the tv icing my poor knees and ankle proud of myself for finishing such a long run.

avoidance

2008-08-18T07:13:00.001-07:00

This is me... avoiding a 5 mile run I need to do today. Don't worry, I've already pushed back my 9 mile run till this weekend. Considering I think I'm still recovering from the 8 I did this weekend, I figured I should take it easy. That's right, a 5 mile run is now "taking it easy." When did this happen...

I got up this morning to walk with Lara like normal on a Monday, Wednesday, and possibly Friday morning. Since my stomach was already showing signs of feed me, I decided to head in after our walk for a quick bite. That was 3 hours ago...

Alright... here I go... I promise...

this sucks!

update: I just completed the blasted 5 mile run in record time... and I'm not talking about speed. Somewhere along the lines my feet were replaced by two large anvils. Midway through I got ridiculously hungry which was odd since I'm really trying to monitor what I eat and how it affects my body. Apparently spaghetti the night before and an english muffin with a banana is not my super food. Next time I'll try a cupcake... that should work much better!!!

Ouch!

2008-08-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I completed an 8 mile run! Oh yes... that's 8 count them 8 miles!! Some days I don't drive that far. As you can imagine this task terrified me... once again, I should have thought about this prior to registering for a half marathon. I believe I've mentioned this before, but I heart google maps. I've got all my running route neatly organized on there and it's so great to look them up and see where I've been and where I should go. For the 8 mile run I combined two of my routes which meant a.) I knew where I was going and b.) I wouldn't get lost. (apparently I getting really good at getting lost on runs).

For this monumental task I did 12 minute runs 2 minute walks in order to not die. This worked fairly well (okay, extremely well considering I didn't die). Afterwards I felt pretty good until I sat down. Seating down wasn't the problem... it was the getting back up. Life vertical isn't much fun after such distances. But, eventually you get used to the vertical way again.

Since when you start training all you can think about is training, I started reading this book: The Non-Runners Marathon Guide for Women.... GET IT!! It's such an amazing book. Be it, I haven't really learned that much from it, it's simply awesome to see I'm not alone... this sucks. She's hilarious and I often laugh out loud while reading in public (which, for me, is the sign of a good book). The author (Dawn Dais) is a "normal" person before decided to run a marathon. The book is about her experience going from the recliner to finishing a marathon. I'd recommend going and buying this book (or borrow it from a friend, like I did!).

slow....

2008-08-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

"The one thing that makes me doubt God's existence is how painfully slow my sanctification process is." John Piper

As I ran my 4.5 miles today (and yes, I ran the whole thing...whooop whoop!!!!), this quote kept coming to my mind. It's frustrating to me how painfully slow progress is. The progress of sanctification yes, but also getting into "half-marathon shape," healing from past pains, etc, etc. Everything just seems to take soooo long. In this microwave, fast food, high-speed internet, DVR world I live in, it's hard to take life (and the process of life) slowly. I want to shed those 20 pounds overnight, be healed yesterday, see Jesus NOW! But, no, I'm left to hunger and thirst, to make it through long runs and bad commercials.

One of my wise friends says how she enjoys the training more than race day. WHAT! That's hard for me to fathom. I want the large crowds cheering me on, the gun shot start, and a finish line with, of course, a medal. But, at last, I'm left with early morning runs by myself, although I often recreate the large crowds and finish line in my head (whoops, did I share to much and now look crazy?!).

But, what if true joy isn't in the success of crossing a finish line?
What if true joy is found in the training?

While the finish line is sweet, the hard journey to get there is sweeter, whether it's a race or the long process of life.

ps... grandpa I love you!

2008-08-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Food... a glorious reason for and result of training

I'm not sure if it's because I'm running more or because it's summer time, but I'm obsessed with fruits and vegetables right now. Growing up I took this for granted, but now that I'm 2 hours away from my grandpa's glorious 5 acre garden I treasure each vegetable. Please allow me to divert from the normal training log to give you a glimpse into my food diary.

Here's a small sample of the care package sent to me by grandpa. It's a small sample because I've been cooking and eating for about a week now. Sadly that's the only cob of corn left.

Inspired by Kara, here's a few things I've cooked the past few days.

My grandma is amazing. She makes so many crazy yummy things. One day I want to be as good as she is... why not start now. I tried to conquer her freezer slaw receipt. Every summer she makes this vinegar based slaw and freezes it to eat through out the year. It's always a favorite of mine.

the line up:
one very large head of cabbage
6 carrots
2 green peppers
2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup of water
2 teaspoon whole mustard seed
2 teaspoon celery seed
4 cups sugar

chop cabbage, carrots and peppers together. Mix with salt and let stand for an hour. Squeeze out extra moisture. Meantime...

Combine and boil for 1 minute: vinegar, water, mustard seed, and celery seed. Cool to luke warm and drain mustard seed out. Pour over cabbage mixture.

Divide into freezing containers, date and freeze for enjoyment later. Can be enjoyed for up to a year!

I've also enjoyed these little creations...

Overachiever!!

2008-08-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

Instead of my scheduled 3 mile or cross training, today I did 7 miles!!! I'm pretty proud of myself! I was dreading the thought of doing 7 miles; guess I should have considered that before registering for a half marathon.

Today I explored the Compton Heights neighborhood. Beautiful!!!! I think it's almost prettier than Flora Dr. After running through there and getting lost (seriously, why aren't St. Louis blocks square?!!) I ran through my familiar garden district and back into the park. At this point I'd run out of water and needed a refill. Realizing I'd already ran nearly 4 miles, I figured I might as well keep going and get my long run in today. I headed down MMMMMMMoorgan Ford to Utah then down to McDonald and up Roger. When I got to my place I wanted to make sure I'd actually done the 7 miles. WHAT!! 5.67!!!! Back out I went to finish her up.

Praise God for people who water their lawns! Now, I realize this is a huge waste of our natural resources, but dang it, it's hot outside! I realized today that yes, I will cross the street to run through a sprinkler and no, I don't care if hot runner guy is watching!!!!

HELP... I'm bored!

2008-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not cool... so I need your help!

Self admitting, I'm not cool, hip, or trendy. I don't wear the latest fashions. My hair is blah. And, while I want to have the best test in music, I don't.

So, I need your help. No, I'm not getting a makeover; however, if you'd like to fork out the cash I'd be willing to participate. But, my mp3 player does need a make over. Give me suggestions for good running music. Something to keep me going... my tastes in music are wide so hit me with everything.

Wetty Wetts

2008-07-25T18:15:00.001-07:00

Today I made a rookie mistake. As I laced up my shoes, I felt a little urge to go to the bathroom. If you don't know already, you should always listen to that little urge. Oh no! Not me... I have the bladder of a champion! I can make it! So, I head out the door. It was probably a mile or so into the run before the wave hit me again. I look around briefly and see no relief insight. Hunker down... walk a bit... you can do it!! After realizing walking was only going to take me longer to get to a bathroom I start running again. It dawns on me... I'll be running past a friend's place! Maybe he'll miraculously be outside. Nope... no sign of him. After awhile I start chanting the don't wet yourself mantra. I have to stop and walk awhile longer. The chanting turned to cursing when I realize I missed a bathroom break about mile back. Less than a mile to go... I'm gonna make it!!! Praise God, I made it back although, the other scenario would have made for a better blog entry.

New Day!

2008-07-14T21:21:00.000-07:00

I'm amazed at what my body can do.

Not that I'm all of a sudden some kind of Olympic marathoner, but my body amazed me today. I set my alarm for 6 a.m. hoping to get my run in before it got really hot outside. Instead of bouncing out of bed, I hit snooze till 8 (okay 8:30). Finally, I headed out the door, hating that I was going for a run.

I didn't want to be out of bed, let alone in running shoes. But, there I was walking towards my start line thinking to myself how I just wanted to walk the whole thing. As I walked, I thought about why I was so tired. Was it from a lack of sleep, possibly. The fact that today would be the 7th day in a row without a day off, maybe. Could it be from eating like crap? sure. Maybe I have low iron again. Whatever the reason... I was exhausted. So, I let myself walk a bit further than normal and finally forced myself to start running.

Wouldn't you know it! Running felt so much better than walking. It made me feel energized, alive, mobile. It shook the sleep out of my eyes (and promptly replaced it with sweat). It was a new day and I was accomplishing a goal. This run I was dreading turned out to be a run where I actually added fartleks.... amazing!

Exploration...one mile at a time

2008-07-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

I find it pathetic how little I know about my neighborhood. Until last week, I had never seen any streets south of Connecticut (my block). To fix this, I've decided to explore my neighborhood: one mile at a time.

If you didn't know already, Google maps is amazing! I've created a bunch of running routes in my maps for all my runs. Each run explores a new little nugget of my neighborhood.

Today's 3.5 mile run featured the Southwest Garden District. I ran from my place, north on Tower Grove Ave (a street I take everyday to work, but still saw new things while running), then east on Shaw, wound my way unto Maury and back to Tower Grove Park. I learned several things today:

1. I need to fill my prescription for a new inhaler. It's not that I'm wheezing, but towards the end I began to not be able to breath (minor detail). It's almost a choking feeling... umm.
2. I'm extremely bored with Tower Grove Park. The part of my run in the park was the hardest. I'm not sure if that's because it was the end or because there's no excitement. For some reason, I think it's because I'm bored and know what's coming.
3. Fruits and veggies do make a difference. I haven't been able to afford to go to the grocery store in awhile, which means I've consumed a lot of Mrs. Dash Pasta and Pantry Creations. I can tell a huge difference while running.
4. My foot hurts... real bad! I've developed this stabbing pain in my right foot. It starts where my arch meets my heel and heads straight up the right side of my ankle. Any thoughts on what this could be?

In other news, I've been tagged! Just like my friend who tagged me, it's also my first tagging experience.... here goes nothing!

1. Write the title to your own memoir using 6 words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who tagged you.
4. Tag 5 more blogs. And, in my case, 2.

No Stop Lights; No Looking Back
Katie recalls how she began her life in a small town and how she's come to live her life without fear.

Tag... you're it!
Kate
Betsy

cheater...

2008-07-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

Today I cheated for the first time. Please know, I'm extremely stubborn and don't give up easily, but this morning I couldn't help it. I awoke to walk with Lara and then go for a 3 mile run myself. I awoke, changed clothes, and headed out to greet Lara with a smile and a yawn. We walked for about 30 minutes or so before I saw her off to work. Now was the time for my training!

As I began walking to my "start" line, I knew something was off. I was more tired then normal at 6 a.m. Not so much tired as fatigued. I decided to be easy on myself and start at the top of the hill to give myself a nice break at first. Fine... did that. Soon I'm fatigued again and so I walk a bit. Get up the gusto to run up one of the hills and walk again. This continued for the first 2 miles. And, I just couldn't go any further. So I cheated! I'm guessing Lara and I walked at least a mile together before I started my run so I'm using that and saying I still got my mileage in. Call me a cheater if you will.

My legs are really tight and kind of sore today. I should probably do a really good stretch, but man it hurts. Yesterday I ran a 4 miler and probably pushed myself a bit too hard. But, I saw my 2 mile mark and looked down at my watch and realized I could do a 10 minute mile so I sprinted to the mark to get it in. It was then that I realized I had stopped to walk at least once so really, I didn't do it in 10 minutes. So sad... I didn't finish my 4 mile run until 9 p.m. last night then got up at 5 a.m. this morning to run again. I'm thinking I didn't give my body enough time to rest. Whoops... lesson learned.

Pride...

2008-06-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Week one is officially completed!!

It's kind of been a long week, but so has the last year. Last weekend was the Race for the Cure here in St. Louis. This was my second year "running" it. With over 60,000 people on the race course, it's really kind of hard to actually run. But, it's still my favorite race. There's something about seeing the pink survivor shirts and the "celebration of/memory of" bibs that just gives me goosebumps and makes me want to cry.

I've registered for another race... the nike human race in Chicago on August 31! I have mixed fillings about it actually. This will be my first race that I've done by myself. And, my brother, who lives in Chicago, informed me that I'll have to get a hotel room since their place is so small! Yes, I agree, that's ridiculous!!! I believe I've conned my mom into going up with me, but unless she goes, I probably won't end up going up. I just can't afford a hotel room in Chicago; let alone a hotel room in Chicago on a holiday weekend. Plus, I have to pick up my race packet the weekend before... unless I can get someone to do that I won't be participating anyways. Although, the race ends up being placed just about perfectly in my training schedule. Oh! I want to do it so badly... there's supposed to be some 15,000 people entered in Chicago. That day there are 24 other races of the same distance going on around the world.

In other running news, I GOT NEW SHOES!!! I've finally been fitted for running shoes and took them for a spin tonight. So far, so good! It was good to find out the shoes I was wearing weren't completely bad for me, but they recommended a different pair. Tonight I ran 3 miles! I stopped once to tie my shoe (doesn't count) and two other times (yet, for very short periods of time). To purchase said shoes I had to dip into my emergency funds, but figured I'd rather spend $100 on the shoes than another $1,000 on an emergency room visit. I'm calling it preventative emergency. I've also figured out darkness is a great motivator to run faster. I got up around 4:30 this morning to open and once I got off, I absolutely had to take a nap. By the time I woke up, I had to choose between running and going to church. Even though I'm going to church tomorrow night, after the Saturday night service a group of us go out to dinner or the like. I really need to be around people right now so I opted to forgo running by myself and head out to be with other humans. My stubbornness got a hold of me and I refused to not complete a training day. I headed out around 8:30 or so. Since it was getting darker and it's pride fest in my park, I ran my route backwards. By the time I made it to the final turn, I had to turn my music off because I was freaked out. I think it pace increased by a good 2 minutes though!

Gotta Run!
Katie

Late to Bed; Early to Rise

2008-06-18T05:43:00.001-07:00

I just came back from a pretty good run. Today I ran 2 miles... without stopping! There were several points that I wanted to stop for a bit, but I kept telling myself it was only 2 miles; you can do it. That strategy worked today, but I'm think it's not going to work on race day. It's only 13.1 miles... nope, that makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and cry.

My exuberance was short lived though. First, let me say this, weight lose is not my goal in running my half marathon, but I figured it was bound to happen and wanted to keep track. So, Wednesday is my day to track such successes or, as today proved, failures. I gained 5 lbs this week!!!!! Seriously... how does that happen?!?! It's true, I don't eat perfectly and I did have a cupcake and possibly a couple pastries at work this week. But, I'm doing the whole weight watchers thing and I've had additional points for all of that stuff. Needless to say, I'm pretty bummed about it and trying not to let it get me down because I just stinkin' ran 2 miles!!!!

Getting past it...

Like I said in an earlier post, one of my friends (Lara) and I get up earlier and walk together when we can. It's great motivation to know she's waiting outside my door at 5:30 a.m. Especially when I'm closing every night and couldn't drag my butt out of bed without her there.

We've now come to realize we'll see the same people in the park and look forward to our casual greetings. A few weeks ago we were walking along and heard this stomping behind us. It kept getting closer and closer until finally they passed us... it was the most adorable little boy running, with all the joy in the world, next to his dad. The little boy yelled "good morning!" when he was still probably 5 feet behind us (adorable!!). As they passed, his dad also greeted us and they scampered (mainly the little child) off on their run. Last week the dad (who's always in spandex) ran past us again, but without child. We continued disappointed because of course in our heads he's an amazing father who loves his child and the little boy is eagerly waiting to go for a run with dad every morning. As we walked along today we began wondering where spandex man was and if he'd mended his relationship with his son. About that time we see him off in the distance running in his spandex glory being out paced by his little boy!! Way to go kid!

Small Victories

2008-06-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

As I continue my quest to finish the half marathon, I've come to realize it's full of small victories. Even with my slightly type A and extremely stubborn personality, I'm surprised at how much satisfaction I get from crossing of a completed training day on my training calendar. There have been several days were I really didn't want to do that day's activities, but I finished each one and joyfully crossed it off.

Today marked another small victory. I finished my 2.5 mile run without stopping! And, shaved about a minute of my time. Funny enough, the thing that kept me going when I wanted to stop was this stupid blog. I knew as soon as I made it I could come home and rejoice in my victory.

Tomorrow I get to get up early to go for a walk with my friend. She's doing a walking program through google... walk for good. We've both found that we're more likely to actually get our butts out of bed to go if we know the other person is counting on us. Selfishly I also love it because it's a time I get to hang out with a friend...

People are watching...

2008-06-04T16:44:00.001-07:00

I realize people watch me when I run (Betsy), but it's hot here and running cloths are tight! I bought some new running cloths the other day and I'm just not comfortable in them. They are a little tight; I'm used to the old baggy t-shirt and capri's. My whole run I was looking around to see which angle people were coming from and adjusting my clothing depending. Because of that, I had a horrible run. I was self conscience and awkwardly aware of my boobs, stomach, thighs, sweat, and the hot runners coming up from behind. At one point my chant (yea I sometimes chant to myself) went from "don't fall, don't fall, don't fall" to "keep hot runner guy away, keep hot runner guy away, keep hot runner guy away!"

Today I ran my two miles. I stopped briefly twice; not sure why. I'm really trying to not get down on myself when I stop because my goal isn't to run the whole half marathon but to finish. I'll be okay if I stop to walk a bit during the half as long as I cross the finish line and get my medal (the real reason to do this).

Rest day?

2008-06-03T20:32:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm sticking to my training schedule, I still feel like I'm not really in training. Sunday was my "rest" day. I didn't get that much of a rest considering I opened at Sbux where you get a nice workout standing on your feet while making latte after latte. Later that afternoon I went to the Cardinal game where I took the stairs to the Metro and to my seat. Whew... stairs sure work different muscles than running!

Yesterday was my stretch and strength day. I forgot about it till I was at work. I'll admit using a 5 lb bullet of coffee did cross my mind. Never the less I got home from work and went through my routine.

Today I had a 30 minute cross. All I've done on those so far is walk which I don't feel like it's helping me. I'd love to go for a bike ride or swim or something, but I don't have a bike and can't afford a gym membership. So, I walk.

My knee has been hurting a bit. Yea! the one I sprang a few months ago which sent me to the ER. I've been really good about icing it when I get off work or finished with a run. Also, I purchased some glucosamine today too. Hopefully I won't end up back in the ER! Other than that I've been feeling really good.

Tomorrow's a 2 mile and strength. I think I have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to do it too.