My first half marathon

Once I seen the 10 mile mark I knew that just a few steps after that would be the farthest I had ever run in my life...

  I stayed in one of the host hotels in order to get a good nights sleep and not have a bunch of driving time before the race.  I took very good care of myself for months before this race, and it showed on race day.  I sure hope I don't slack off when training for my next race.

  4:00am  Rise and shine!  I was awake and feeling good!  Running on pure excitement!  I had time so I decided to take a shower.  After my shower I got my running clothes on and headed down to the continental breakfast that started special at 4 am for the runners, which was a nice touch.  I debated getting dressed into my running clothes before heading down because I didn't want to have my sports bra on for a long time before the race.  Sometimes if I keep it on too long it will make me sore.  I decided that wasn't going to happen.  I was in my gear and ready to head down.  I was a little embarrassed that I had my bib number already on, but it's kind of a pain to pin that thing on, so I figured i'd just forget being embarrassed.

Kind of a goofy picture but it was early and I didn't have a lot of time to worry about a perfect shot.

When I got downstairs I seen a lady I had met at the pool the night before.  She was from Hawaii and here to qualify for Boston.  I should have asked her name...now I'll never know if she made it.  I ended up having a bowl of cereal.  I wanted to stay light on my meal, especially since I ate so much at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner the night before.  

This is all I brought.  Stuff on the left of the bag goes with me on the road.  And my lucky socks!!!

I decided last minute to snap a pic of the view from my window. 

Time to head out the door.  I am surprisingly calm.  I usually am a wreck by this point, but there was just a peace about the day that could have only come from God.  I got down to the buses, there were about 6 or 7 of them, checked in, and got on the bus.  It was a pleasant ride.  I sat next to a woman who was sitting alone, and the man I was talking to in line sat in front of us.  We had a great conversation the whole way there.  I learned a few new things too.  I can't tell you right off the bat what those things were.  

  Once on the island the sun was already shining it's early deep orange hue upon us.  Once I got off the bus I got in line to check my bag.  A lady whom I met on Daily Mile and had arranged to meet at the race met me in the bag check line.  I immediately liked her.  She had a warm smile and a friendly attitude.  I loved her hydration pack, she had two pockets on the straps!!!!  That is exactly what I had been needing!  

This is Me and Michelle.  We were really excited to start the race, but it was hard to find the perfect pose where the sun wasn't casting a shade. 

       The Race

The gun went off and we were running!  Not at a very fast pace at all.  We were passing by many cars waiting to get onto the island.  The reviews made it sound like this was going to be a huge problem, but it wasn't at all.  I knew I had to pic up my pace a bit if I was going to get a good time at all, because I have an idea of what my pace is, and this was NOT it.  So I began to weave in and out of people as much as I could.  Things didn't begin to thin out until about a half mile in.  As slow as my first mile started, I completed my first mile in just under 10 minutes.  

  After mile three I began counting down how many miles I had left.  They all seemed pretty easy to get to, it seemed to take a long time to get to the half way point, but once I did I was glad.  Just before that at mile 5 I decided it was time to have an energy chew.  I knew I would need at least 3 blocks for anything to take effect, so I crammed the first one in my mouth and began chewing as fast as I could, then the second one, I wanted to hold onto the third one, put my back pack on and finish chewing the other two, but could not finagle all that and keep good time, so I crammed the third one into my mouth. Oh goodness, I started to choke.  I was NOT about to let myself be distracted by choking!  I coughed and sputtered, and sipped some water, but I did not stop!  Of course I would have stopped if I really needed to...maybe...

  Around mile 4 I found a guy in a green shirt who seemed to be going at my pace, so I kept up with him for a few miles, then he fell back, and there was a girl who had been running in front of me at the same comfortable pace, so I stayed with her, I am not sure if she fell back or thrusted on, but I lost site of her too eventually.  

  Mile 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 people were passing me, but none of them looked familiar.  Some of them were marathoners, I just know it.  Out of all the miles the hardest to find was Mile 11.  As I passed mile ten I knew that once I passed it in just a few steps I will have set a new distance record for myself.  I also told myself that once I got to mile 10 I would have to take it one mile at a time.  No convincing myself that  it was only a few miles up the road.  One I found mile 11 things went a little faster.  After mile 12 I was able to see the finish, this was exciting.  

  One thing I failed to mention was the entertainment solution.  I had made a playlist of a book on CD, then inserted songs into strategic places so that close to the end I would have some great tunes to carry me over.  Well I switched to straight music at about mile 8, and I was glad I did.  I used the voice control feature, so I never had to dig into my backpack for tune changes, and my wireless headphones have forward and back controls so I could skip or repeat songs.  That worked like a charm!!!

I had .1 mile to go, and my family was nowhere in site I was searching vigorously.  

Here you can see me searching.  I am not sprinting in because I just know my family has to be here somewhere!Obviously you can tell by the photo that my husband was right there waiting for me to cross the finish line.  And that I did!  It seemed like everything slowed down to cross it because I was filled with so much emotion.  

I came around the corner to where I could meet my family and my Kurt caught me at the exact moment of pure joy.  I don't like my appearance in the photo, but that moment was filled with such joy and accomplishment that I will cherish this picture for the rest of my life.

My medal!!!

I bought the 13.1 sticker like a month before the race.  I would not put it on my car until I had completed it.  I had visions of how I wanted this day to go and it went pretty darn close to perfect.

We had so much time after the race that we decided to drive back home.  Perfect opportunity for me to take an ice bath...yes I have shorts on!

I can tell you that I have had long runs without an ice bath, and my longest run with and ice bath, and I SWEAR by them!!!  I did it right this time.  I got into a cold tub with shorts and my sweatshirt, and a cup of hot coffee.  Then I put the bag of ice in and sat for 15 minutes.  The only thing I would have done different was to put a bath pillow behind me.  I couldn't lean back because my jacket would have gotten wet.

Last but not least...my splits.  The last one isn't accurate because I was done running long before I shut the app off.  

Thank you for reading and supporting me in my running.  I am hopefully nowhere near done.  Now it's time to figure out how to run without training for a race...or maybe just keep training.

God Bless you my friends.

Dilemmas solved before the race.

  So tomorrow July 4th is the day.  This is what it all boils down to.  All the training.  Moving and shifting the schedule around so I could stay on the most important schedule.  All the sweat, pain, worry.  All the PR's triumphs and realizations comes down to tomorrow.

  I was slightly worried that I would taper off after the race and eventually stop running, but with so many inspiring runners out there who run race after race, and with how much I truly love the sport, I don't see myself quitting.

  I cannot wait to be able to come back and tell you all about how the race went, but first I want to tell you about some things I am excited about.

  My music dilemma was unfortunately not all the way solved with hanging my phone around my neck.  On the two mile test run I ended up having to stuff my phone into the center of my cleavage.  It was fine for 18 minutes, but 2+ hours may be a different story.

  I sat on my couch yesterday and sewed a pouch to the front strap of my hydration pack, when I put it on an jogged around my kitchen I could tell it wasn't going to work (too much chafing).  I cut that off and decided I was going to have to go between wearing it in my bra, and shoving it in my pack.

  Last night I was re-familiarizing myself with my over the ear headphones (which appear to be working!!!) and one of the buttons is voice control, I do not have Siri.  I found that with this VC button I can toggle between playlists!  This was what my dilemma was!  So now if while huffing and puffing I can use the VC clearly enough, I should be able to make it work.

  My next small handicap is my monthly cycle.  Yesterday I seen an ad for something called Soft cup.
Here is a picture...

I am the person who can't stand tampons, and doesn't like the mess of pads, but deals better with that then having something I can feel, and that little string is my nemesis.  This product claims to be "something for the rest of us".  I am here to tell you that YES it IS.  I looked at it's reviews, and watched the how to videos.  The best video is the clinical animated one by the company itself, because It shows how you get it to a certain point then push up on the rim and it slides into place.

Here is a link to the video   http://www.softcup.com/video-tutorials

  I had a bunch of TMI stuff written, but decided instead that I just want to say that I am so extremely happy and impressed with this product.  This product has a learning curve, just like when you learned how to deal with tampons or pads, but oh is it worth it!!!!!!  And the better you know your body, the easier it will be to use.  If you decide to try it and have any questions you can FB or email me, or just watch the tutorial, but make sure you educate yourself so that you can have success with this freeing product! There are so many perks to using this that I can't list them all, but my favorite would have to be night time :)

  So there are two dilemmas solved!  Woohoo!  

My email is mysinsareforgiven@facebook.com

Caution: running causes cute outfits to jump out of nowhere because you can NOW fit into them!

  So I have a little bit of a success story.  I am not going to lie.  The reason I ever discovered I liked running in the first place was birthed from my desire to lose excess pounds and be into that body I had soon after my second child was born. Notice I didn't say high school, because let's face it...some things just won't happen till heaven.

  Not so long ago I got on the scale and it gave me the number I have been wanting to see for about 4 years.  It's only been in the last 2 years that I got serious to do anything about it.  My weight stayed at that number for 3 whole days!  I decided I could safely say that I was there.  Though 5 more pounds might be cool, I will be happy here for a while.  Of course I still have insecurities social issues...but I am glad I have hang ups...keeps me humble.

  So the other day my kids and I were in the Good Will (some of you have heard this story) and my Daughter pulled a pair of jeans off the rack and said here mom, try these on.  I got one leg in and said "oh no...these are skinny jeans"  I was half way in, so I decided to go the rest of the way, and boy am I glad I did!!!  Skinny jeans be darned!  They fit nicely!  I have no idea if they are still in style, but if they aren't I DON'T CARE!!  Why??  Because I am making up for lost time when I couldn't wear them!  Honestly you would think I have been sleeping in them every since I got them.  Here's why I like them.

I cannot believe that is me in the mirror.   

Maybe this is not the place to express the shear excitement of my achievement, but I figure I have brought you through all the struggles and trials, that I should share the accomplishment of my physical appearance, as well as physical endurance.  I am so thankful to Jesus who goes with me on all my runs, and for the support system of my friends reading my blog, and being there for me when I am feeling blue, angry, or happy and excited!  Sheesh, it sounds like I am accepting an award, I am not going to delete though.  I am just going to say even though there is no award, there is reward.  

The photo all the way to the right is the one that catapulted my journey the one on the left was taken just a few days before.

This time frame was December 2009, only 2 months after we moved into our new house and about a month after I had completely quit smoking.  I had to take a look at my lifestyle to realize how sedentary I had become.  I wasn't moving at all.  Most of my time was being taken up by knitting.  Sure I was keeping my house clean and doing all that stuff, but for the most part I was sitting a LOT.  And eating large portions, and probably going back for seconds.  I was only about 14 pounds away from the heaviest I had ever been.  So I got a membership to the YMCA and lost 10 pounds in 4 months.  I kept it off for about a year, but fell off of working out and was eating more portions again.  But keeping the weight off and my body being the same as when I was working out were two different things.  Exercise makes a world of difference.  The word "toned" is not a figment of fitness minded peoples imagination!  

  November of 2011, we decided it was time for our family to attend the Disney Cruise we had been dreaming of for so long.  That was IT!  I had dreamed of walking along a tropical beach in a flowing summer dress and being thin, and dar gone it, it had to happen!!  I had to train myself to ignore the signal to eat "just because I had eaten at this time every other day", I had to drink lots of water, and decrease portion size.  I had take 20 minutes to eat my food so that the chemical that tells my brain I was full could kick in.  I had to wrap my food half way through the meal and save it so that If I needed it I could go back.  I had to fight with the disappointment of the numbers.  I had emotional, and weather related eating struggles.  I had binges, I had bad weeks, but I always got back on.  I also had to find what worked for me exercise wise.  You all know what I found, but after my big half marathon I am going to get into strength training as well as running, take it up a notch, get those muscles working in my favor!  I am so glad I did this.  My family is glad I did this.  I was having a conversation with my daughter the other day and she had said she didn't like it when I was crabby and I said "since I have been running, have I been crabby?"  she said "No, actually you haven't".  I love my runners high, and I hope I never stop signing up for races so I never stop running!

  

Preparations!!! and a story about headphones

  So the final day is very near.  Today I will begin to put together as much of my gym bag as I can.  I have been making a list of what needs to go into this thing.  But first let me tell you about my headphones.

Story about the rain soaked headphones.

{skip to next bold type if you fear boredom or non nonrelatio/n}

  I have a pair of motorola over the ear wireless headphones, and I LOVE them.  I love them so much that one day when a down pour hit me I had a little too much faith in these things.  I tucked my phone into my backpack, but kept running with the headphones thinking they were not getting that wet.  Well I was wrong.  As I pulled up to my driveway that day the volume began to dim, and I lost them.  There was no sense in trying to revive them as I knew full well it was my stupidity that got them to where they were.  When my husband got home I told him the story.  He asked if I had tried to start them up again while they were wet, I told him I knew better than that.

These are my precious loves

  Not too long after that he had seen in the Costco coupons that there was a set of wireless headphones. These looked like they would even stand up to the rain!  Precious time went by and I finally made it to Costco and picked up the phones.  I wore them on my 10 mile run Wednesday...one week to what I have been training all this time for.   They worked perfect and had the buttons all placed in the same spot as the other phones, however these were wrap around the head in-ear phones.  So by mile 9.5 I could begin to feel the pressure on my ear, and the pain of them having been wrapped around my head for an hour and 35 minutes.

These will do the trick

  The next day I tried to put them in my ears to pair them with my iPad (which they are not compatible where as my others were!), and OUCH the pain was so much that I knew I wouldn't be able to wear them for the race.  I know part of it could be my fault, I am going to try at another point to put a smaller pair of those soft ear things over the buds.  So I got online and ordered another pair of my favorite kind (which btw are less expensive than the ones I got at Costco) WELLLLL...Amazon gave me a delivery estimation that was too late!, and there is NO way I was going to pay expedited shipping, not after all I have spent in other areas for this race!  I ordered them, then said a little prayer for them to come in time.  Later that day or the next day I can't remember, I decided to give one last go to the "ruined" headphones.  At first I turned them on, and quickly began to lose hope because the song on my phone was not coming through to my headphones.  Then I remembered that in my sorrow just a few days before that, I had told my phone to "forget this device" :(  So I turned the blue tooth "on" and waited..."enter security code" it said...so far so good.  Then all of a sudden the song was coming through!!!  I tried not to get too excited because I had to test wear them to make sure it wasn't going to short out.  I listened to those for a whole hour!  Yay!!! I am so excited!  I am going to test them on my last run before the race, and never wear them in the rain again.

  

Getting ready, mentally and physically

At this point the race is in 5 days.  I feel that I am ready.  Yesterdays run (only two days after 10 mile) was a struggle.  Even after I ate my candy, even on the downhill back home.  It really made me think twice about he Harvest days run I have planed in my head, but am waiting till after the half before I make my final decision. 

  Yesterday the girls and I went to Goodwill to find a "throwaway" jacket for when I am cold starting the race and need to ditch it in the interim.  It was a red tag day.  I can never find a cute anything in the tag color...but of course on the day that I am looking for something practically repulsive,  everything cute jumps out at me.  I found a jacket that I thought was pretty ugly at first...till I needed it today when I wanted to run in the rain.  That Jacket was nice and light and repelled the rain nicely.  Doesn't it figure.  I may not even need it at the start!  The forecast is 51 degrees F

said jacket (it even has a fold up hood)

  Since I wrote the headphone story, I went on a three mile run.  I wasn't able to test the over the ear headphones because it was raining, so I took the in-ear ones and replaced one of the little plastic spongy thingies.  They worked a lot better, however still not as nice as the originals.

  Todays run started out to be kind of difficult as well, but by the turnaround I was doing much better.  Hopefully tomorrow I can do a little speed work.   HA!  How's that for runners lingo?  You like that?  Speedwork, I have figured out is when you try to make better time!

  I have this master list of what to bring with me to the hotel, and it all has to fit into my gym bag.  Oh and BTW, the host hotel was full, so I made reservations with the hotel up the street.  Come to find out in one of my emails (not sure how I missed it!) that MY hotel is offering a discount too.  So I am hoping they can give me the lower rate, what ever that works out to be.

Here is my list so far;
Sports clothing
Change of street clothes
Deodorant/body spray (plan on hanging around for festivities)
Cell Phone (this should be a given, but I am not sure I will be having my brain with me)
Head Phones
5 hour energy.  I am avoiding coffee so I don't have to visit the port a potty during the race.
Bottled water for the night in the hotel
water back pack
ibuprophin
tums (you never know)

Entertainment dilema

 If you have been following my blog you are aware of my "where to put my phone while I run this" circumstance.  Well last night when I was thinking before I went to sleep I had an idea.  What if I take my whistle lanyard and somehow hung my iPone case from it around my neck? 

 This is my result

It looks like it would bounce around and drive me crazy right?  Well only if I let it.  Today on my 3 mile, I tucked this into my shirt and it barely bounced at all.  And the case is meant to repeal sweat, so my phone should be fully protected!  And if it does become bothersome I can always throw it in my back pack.  

  So slowly but surely I am becoming prepared.  I have a few more questions to answer, like which shuttle to take?, What to eat for breakfast?, and will I even sleep?  I hope I remember everything.  

my first 10 mile ever! (in my life)

Whenever I get home from a run, the first thing I want to do is sit down and tell you all about it!  But that would not be the nicest thing I did to myself.  When I got home this morning I was stuck between grabbing the gear that I ditched, stretching, taking an ice bath, or getting my stomach some chocolate milk.

  I decided I better go grab my gear.  On the way home from my run, I told myself "you are not going to talk the babysitters ear off about your run, no matter how interested she looks".  I mean it, this young lady looks like she cares and is interested in what I am saying.  She comes from good parents, good manners she has, because I know there is no way in the world she cares!  She even listens AFTER I pay her ;)  So after I sent her away I hopped in the minivan and picked up my water pack I ditched on the road leading to my house, then out one more mile to pick up my jacket that I had originally ditched 2 miles in, but on the second return, grabbed it and dragged it a little closer and more easily accessible.  I didn't want to be pulling over on a 50 mile an hour country road to grab a jacket.

  The details

I left my drive way sometime after 7 am.  I had my back pack with water, safety pinned to that I had my pack of jelly beans.  It is hard to figure out where to put everything because I don't like removing my back pack and having to put it back on.  But I do however think it is better than having something strapped around my waist possibly pressing on my bladder.  I set my GPS, turned on RunCast and set out.  I threw my phone into the back pack, but the part where I put it was pressing on the water bag and therefore cutting off the flow of water through the drinking tube.  I was almost a half mile when I realized this, and decided it was time for my audiobook anyway.  So I took off the pack, switched over to book, placed my phone in another pocket and I was good for a while.  I was pretty chilled in the shade, and my hands were still cold so I kept my jacket on for about 2 miles.  When I shed it, I lied it over the post to someones mailbox.  If I am right it was the mailbox to the sweet older woman I had seen a few days prior, I knew she wouldn't mind.  I won't take you through every mile, but I will tell you that in my avoidance to retrace the hills right before my driveway, led me to create a variated route to get the miles in.  I didn't want to go to far from home, and in the grand scheme of things I was never more than 2.5 miles away.  

  Mile 8ish.  I was going to take a pic of the scenery before me, but the camera was on the mode where it takes a pic of me, so I decided hey, why not?  I am actually running here, how's that for iPhone stability?

This is what I was trying to get a picture of originally.

So after I went all the way to the end of this road, which wasn't really far at all, I made my turn around and thought I would have reached mile 9 way before I did.  Oh man.  I contemplated going back down that road again, but didn't.  Hind site says I should have.  I was seeking a road, ANY road I could turn down before I got to my road!  I found one.  It was a hill.  GRRRR  so up this hill I travel, looking forward to the way down.  Got down the hill, and STILL no 9 mile call out!  So I backtracked up the road.  FINALLY I hear it.  So I turn around and head home still not knowing for sure if it is a mile to the house, even though I have run this road and heard "1mile" about 15 times now when I hit that one mile mark on the way out from my house, but do you think I could remember where it was?  No, so I took my chances, and would you believe?,  I wasn't that far off at all.  

Yay!!! it's my road!

At this point I should have had about a half mile to go.  I took my phone out of my pack, and tossed...well tried to hide it in the bushes (it's expensive!)  And picked up my pace so I could make those imp hills!  I muscled up and pulled into my drive way right at 10 miles!  How crazy is that???

Home now

After grabbing some chocolate milk then my gear from the sides of the road, I headed up for my ice bath.  It was actually just cold water, no ice.  And to tell you the truth I was freezing before I ever got in.  I contemplated wearing my sweatshirt in there but decided not to.  Nope.  I put the water to leg level and got in with my birthday suit.  Yes there was some squealing going on.  Then I read on some other girls blog how to properly take an ice bath.  Hmmm, I wish I would have read that BEFORE taking mine.  She not only wore jacket, she wore her shorts...DUH!  Well, I guess that's all for now as I have stuff I still gotta do, sore knees and all.  (it's a good sore).

My last two runs, and inspiration for the half marathon

   I have had so many things rolling around in my head that I have wanted to share.  I have been making little notes on my iPhone when I have the chance, but I usually don't because the times I think of the best stuff to write are on runs, or in the shower.  I don't take my phone into the shower believe it or not, and on runs, the last thing I am trying to pull up is notepad.

  The last post I made was about my nine mile run.  I cannot believe it is only a few days until ten miles.  I am in much deliberation about treadmill vs. road for this.  The weather is supposed to be phenomenal, and if I get out there soon enough, I know I would be able to do it without the heat.  I am also debating on driving into the nearest flatter city and scoping out a place to run around there.  I have two days to do it, so I better get started!

  I have also been desiring to add more activity to my daily routines.  I do however want to wait until after the half marathon so my body can adjust and I can see how it reacts to more exercise.  When the half marathon is over, I think for the following week, I will be doing a lot of swimming.  I have never been a great swimmer, but just being active in the pool will give me a workout and be easy on my joints.

  I recently learned through RunCast (a podcast about running) that after long runs I should ice my legs.  That can even include running cold water over them.  I have done this twice now, and at first my skin isn't a fan, but after the first two seconds it actually feels good!  Then I was listening to the two Gomers run a marathon, and they talked about ice baths and how they never would have thought to do that, they would have thought to use warm water.  I was thinking to myself "me too!".

  Recently my friend Erin sent me an awesome encouragement.  She told me about her first half marathon, and how the last few miles were great because she was running on the fact that she was running the farthest she had ever gone!  My experience will hopefully be very similar, as I am doing Hal Higdon's novice/1 training and the last long run before the race is ten miles.  He even says don't worry about being able to complete the last 3.1 if you never ran it before, because inspiration will carry you to the finish line.  Which brings me to something  I have mentioned before because I wasn't quite sure about this.  But one thing I have learned from running is that it IS possible to inspire yourself.  I always thought I should depend on others to inspire me.  This is a pretty amazing revelation if I do say so myself.  I think we can inspire ourselves on lots of levels!  Not just running.  Any accomplishment that takes hard work and discipline deserves to be rewarded with inspiration...if that makes any sense.

  Two runs ago was a 5 mile, I was having such a tough go at it.  I didn't achieve my regular "feel good" moment at the first half mile mark like I usually do.  I was feeling very tired for some reason.  I think it's because I had mixed up my schedule, and didn't give myself enough of a rest period between the 9 mile, and that run.  Just as I was beginning to pity myself, I looked up and seen a deer in the distance.  It was the first time seeing one on a run.  Oh don't get me wrong I have seen plenty of deer in my day, but something about being on a run makes it sweeter, more special.  Kind of like me and the deer were on level playing field.  Strange?  I know, but it's just the way I felt.  I love nature, and animals, and all that foo foo stuff, but I am No fanatic about it.  You won't catch me hiking a mountain to spend the night at the top, or standing in the rain on a boat to watch some whales, nor will you ever see me anywhere near a garden unless I am watering it for a friend on vacation.  Running, cleaning the house, taking care of my family, and cooking dinner are about the hardest things I do.  I love my modern conveniences.  (rabbit trail...sorry).  So I kept on running and at the half way point ate some of those energy jelly beans I bought, I was feeling much better.  I ran it in and at the last hill I had already completed my 5 miles so I was able to walk the last hill to my driveway.  I was a little discouraged that the run was difficult, but my new friend Zoran reminded me that the harder runs make us appreciate the good runs, and as I am sure I have mentioned before in the past that most of my runs are pleasant and a few difficult ones are to be expected.

  I am getting as prepared as much as I can for this half marathon in a week and a half.  I have a good dinner, nights sleep, and breakfast all planned out.  But I can only plan so much.  I am trying not to dwell to hard on the fact that I will be having my monthly visitor at this time.  According to my schedule I am due to start on the second, which if I do this would be desirable as I would be on the third day by the time of the race.  If it starts a little earlier I would be elated...but I haven't been having such luck lately.  I have so far had my monthly visitor for my First race, Disney Cruise, outdoor school, and now as scheduled the half marathon.  It's like I had free passes all those other years of my life when I got to do all sorts of stuff and never been on it.  Oh well, I guess it's time.  If you are a praying person, please pray for me to start a little early.  Thank you.

  Todays run was very good.  I purposely woke early this morning so that I would be able to get my scheduled run early.  I was quite dismayed that is was raining pretty good.  It's one thing to start in dry weather then get caught in the rain, and another thing to start in a downpour and be miserable for the whole thing.  So I figured I would be waiting till like 3 in the afternoon, but not so!  The sun began to break out around 8:30 so I strapped on my running gear and headed out for a beautiful 5 mile run!  I had a shot blok just before my half way point and that tasted really good!  It's like a little guilt free treat!  I felt the energy kick in around 3.7 miles and was on fire!  I finished strong as my 5 miles ended before the two hills on the way to my driveway, but I ran them anyway, and ran the last hill at a full sprint (not sure how fast that was because I was kind of tired, it was all I could muster anyway :))

  Well that will be all for this blog edition.  The family is getting ready to watch the latest episode of Good Luck Charlie, and I am excited to join them!  Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog.



  

Todays run 9 miles

  Wow!  I am continually amazing myself with this running thing.  I feel I am still new to the sport.  Maybe I will feel seasoned when I have gone through all four seasons, when I have no races to train for, but still keep on going.  Who knows, and I guess who really cares, all I know is that right here, right now, I feel strong.

  I know this is a gift from God.  He told me so.  During prayer/praise and worship one day I just kept hearing the words in my head "Yes, I have blessed your running, you have my blessing to keep doing it".  I believe that is why I can go as far and as long as I do.  I believe He is the One who gives me that extra push.  I used to take a drug called Cymbalta, it is an antidepressant, but for me it was for anti anxiety.  When we moved to our new home almost three years ago, I had just refilled my prescription, then lost the bottle of pills.  No where to be found, I searched the old house, the new house, and every box we opened.  It would have cost me $350 to fill that out of pocket.  So a slow slightly painful process it was to come off that medication I had been on for about 4 years.

  I was struggling, and even went back to the doctor to get a smaller dosage.  That didn't last long because by this point I was well aware of the process of breaking from the medication, and was reluctant to go through it again.  Then I tried an OTC thing I got from Costco.  That seemed to make me crabbier.  When it is a beautiful sunny day, and all is right with the world I am okay, but that is rarely how it is.  When I run, and I finish running, I feel so empowered, especially if it is a new distance.  I have always looked at runners as strong people with a goal I could never reach.  Why had I told myself that, when I hadn't ever tried it?  I had no idea there was a distance runner inside of me.  How long has she been there?  Would this have worked for me as a teen?  How about mid 20's?  Early 30's?  I have no idea, but I do know that my ability to move across the pavement, or conveyer belt at a reasonable speed is definitely a gift.  The beginning of what fueled running was the desire to lose weight, but the fuel for distance was the desire to achieve.  Some of what helped me in the beginning (the hardest part) was the trial I was facing.  I cannot go into it, but I remember it well.  Leaving work being so upset, on the verge of tears, but then hopping on that treadmill, running my sweat out, then getting off, and not having a care in the world.  I am not saying running takes the place of medication for everyone, but for me, I feel that is my medication.  My gift of serenity.  Running really helps with the dark rainy cold days.  (today is one of those days, and it's almost July!)

  Todays run was pretty good.  I always get nervous on long run days.  The earlier I can get it done the better as I will work myself up into quite the frenzy.  Then once I am there doing it, no more stress, no more nervous, just right there where I know I should be.  While we were out on Fathers day week end, I stopped by my favorite running store. Fit Right NW and picked up some energy chews, and jelly beans.

This is what they look like.

This morning I tried the black cherry Shot Bloks chews, and I am here to tell you, THE CHEWS HAVE IT!!!  Thank you to my friend Retha for the suggestion.  Those things were so easy to chew, and tasted a whole lot better.  I ate one block half way 4.5, then another at about 5.5, I cannot remember if I had a third, I don't think so, but by mile 8 I was able to bump it up to 7.0 mph, so they must have done something.  Previously I was taking a Zot candy, which was working great, but they take a long time to dissolve, and sucking on hard candy can be daunting while trying to breath, and drink water.  

  Trying to lose weight and run is proving to be harder than I though, but you can read about my qualms when I update that page (I want to throw in the towel, but the blog has kind of made me accountable :))  

  This morning my favorite running pants were in the wash, so I wore my running skirt, and nike breathable short sleeve top, I even got a compliment!  This outfit really is cute and makes me feel feminine.  NO I don NOT wear my workout clothes as daily wear, not that I would want to after that sweat fest.  Sometimes I secretly wish I could though...shhh.

  I met a new friend on Daily Mile, she is a runner in my area, and started in Decmeber just like me.  She also just did her first half marathon last week end. She likes to zone out to her music while she runs, but is interested in trying to run with a buddy, she also trained with Hal Higdon, just like I am!  How crazy that we found each other, AND she is a believer!  I am excited to get to know her, and possibly run together.

  My friend Retha will be coming down and doing the Portland Marathon in October, and has invited me to join her.  I am still not sure about this one, as I am a little chicken of the 26.2, but am strongly considering it, and am holding out on any decision until I see how I feel after this half.  

  Speaking of this half, it is getting closer and becoming more real.  I reserved a room at a hotel near where the shuttle is going to pick us up, and made arrangements for my family to meet me after the race, or at the finish.  I am also rolling around ideas in my head that involve OSF for dinner :)

 This was fathers day in Petco, I love my family.

The snake I saw on my last outdoor run.  Kurt told me it was a rattle snake, I got scared, then he grinned that devious grin...he got me!