Amazing Inspiration and Picture of Love

Splish Splash

Why should I run in the heat when I have the option of swimming? I had no good reason not to swim so that's what I did. Yesterday was my first official swim of the summer. It was so nice to have a change from the norm. I will say that I got a better workout yesterday than I have had in a while. I am determined that I will not get out of shape this summer even though it is usually to hot to run. Thank you to my friend Kathy for letting me use her pool. I swam laps and tread water for about an hour. Today my arms are tired, but I feel great and am looking forward to many more swims!

Bug-Spray?

Well, I went for a run this morning it was beautiful. I saw a lot of wildlife on my run and even got chased by some of it! Let me just say, horse-flies and I are not friends. Why they were swarming me and my running buddy I don't know. I got bit 3 times by those annoying little critters. I'm going armed with some heavy bug-spray next time I run. On a positive note, I am so thankful that God has blessed me with good health and the ability to run. I have learned so much through my experiences. It is a blessing that I try not to take for granted.

Downtown Dash

3 words...It Was Hot. We registered for the 10K, but it was so hot we ended up doing the 5k. When we started running it was 102 outside....that mixed with not many water stops made for a hard run. We have got to get back on track though in order to run the full marathon here in the next few months. I am looking forward to that.

At It Again

Well, everyone, we are at it again and I am so excited! My knees are feeling great and running buddy's ankles are much better as well. We will be running after dark in our race this Saturday. We are going to go for the 10K and see how it goes. I'm pretty sure we can do it! I hope you are all feeling encouraged this week and to those of you who are runners I say, "happy trails to you!".

13.1

Sunday I participated in the longest run of my life so far and under some of the worst possible conditions imaginable. I will say this, I know God hears us when we speak. I had said a few weeks ago that I would rather run in the rain than the heat any day. Well, I got my chance to run in the rain - 13.1 miles in the rain, wind, and cold. Running buddy and I made it the entire way soaking wet and freezing with no walking. I couldn't feel my legs by the end of our race and when we sprinted to the finish line I remember thinking, "I can't tell how fast I'm going...I hope I don't fall down". It was an amazing feeling to finish something as challenging as that race. I was so proud of us. It was so tempting to not run, but I'm so glad we did. Being freezing and soaked made me all the more thankful for the hot shower and Mexican food lunch afterwards. Thank you, God, for giving us the courage and strength to finish. With God all things are possible.

10K

Two o'clock in the afternoon plus the hot sun plus temperatures in the upper 80's plus not much breeze combined with thousands of people equals one interesting race day. I do send a big shout out to all the people who made the race possible. It was a great experience. When we passed the starting line the only thing i could hear was the pounding of feet on the pavement. There were so many people running that it actually sounded like rain. I have never been more thankful for lukewarm water than I was yesterday. Seeing a water station in the distance was like coming upon an oasis in the desert. Also, running yesterday gave a whole new meaning to running through sprinklers. I never really enjoyed running through sprinklers as a child, but yesterday I ran through everyone I could just to cool off. At mile 3 there was a band playing "Sweet Home Alabama" (a favorite song of mine) and that made running uphill way more fun. Around mile 4, I began questioning my sanity and what could have possessed me to run. I'm so glad I did it though! On the last stretch there was a little girl high-fiving people as they ran past and telling them great job. She was such a cutie! There are only 3 more weeks until the Half Marathon! Everyone that ran with us....there were 5 of us in all....did a great job. I'm so glad that Hiland Dairy was a sponsor of the race because there was an endless supply of chocolate milk at the end and I did partake!