Week 6

Week: 6
Total miles run: 14 (4 miles, 4 miles, 6 miles)

Well, I'm throwing in the towel on tracking my weight loss because it just doesn't seem to be happening despite more running and no real changes in diet.  I continue to celebrate changes in how my clothes fit and am feeling good, so that satisfies the vanity aspect for me.

With a pretty mild week of training, the real highlight was the bonus work out I received Saturday evening at the wedding reception of my friends, Jason and Christi.  If there was an inter-church freestyle dancing competition, I'm pretty sure the honors would go to mine.  I was among some good company to rock the dance floor.  I've taken a lot of joy in dancing since my 2007 weight loss, since it prevented me from even venturing onto a dance floor in the past.  I may look like a spastic idiot dancing--and many of my friends can vouch for that--but I sure don't feel self-conscious anymore about it.  My conditioning  only contributed to the idiocy because, with something like 87 miles under my belt in the last 6 weeks,  I could have danced to House of Pain all night.

Week 7 is the climax of my training, with the longest run of my life in store.  I've been feeling a little tight and achy lately, but feel blessed to have had no major obstacles to my health all this time. 

Less than a month until the big race!

Psalm 149:3

Let them praise his name in the dance:

Week 5

Week: 5

Total Miles Run: 19 (5 miles, 5 miles, 9 miles)

Weight loss: Yeah, not so much

The scale is giving me numbers again that I don't like so much. But more importantly, I accomplished a 9 mile run at one of those rare sub-90 degree weather moments of the past few days (which makes it hard to believe I gained 5 lbs. over the weekend, Mr. Scale).  It was a long one, but not horrible.  There were two things in particular I gleaned from that hour and a half of physical challenge. 1) There is a lot of uncollected roadkill on the highways of Mundelein/Wauconda  2) There's nothing like a gruelingly long run to clear your mind of every little trouble and replace it with just one thought: WATER.  I think Americans should spend more time putting themselves in survival mode so they don't forget how trivial most their problems are in the light of basic needs getting met.  Needless to say, when I finally reached home, I destroyed a bottle of Gatorade and nearly destroyed the hungry cat that tried to get in between me and the fridge.

It was definitely a good week of running. It blows my mind that, with all the miles I've put in at this point, I might actually be able to label myself a runner.  I like the sound of that, and if I continue to feel this good, I imagine it's something I want to continue pursuing even after my half.  I always love new pursuits. :)


Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety. Psalm 16: 9

Week 4

Week:4

 Total miles run: 17 (4 miles, 5 miles, 8 miles)

Weight loss: -2 lbs.

This weekend I ran my first race in 19 years.  The last time I crossed a finish line it was last place in the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot at 7 years old.  Luckily, my first ever 5K this weekend was pretty low pressure.  I won't even count that 3.1 miles as part of my training because I ended up walking most of it. 

No, I haven't regressed catastrophically.  I was actually a volunteer buddy at the Girls on the Run event at Soldier Field--a program designed to promote self-confidence in young girls.  It was an early morning, a hot day, and there are about 5 teeny-bopper songs I will never listen to again as a result (sorry Carly Rae Jepsen, I'm calling you NEVER.)   I was assigned the Speedy Gonzalez of the group and was a little bit intimidated that this 11 year old was going to leave me in the dust.  She did--for about the first mile--then petered out the rest of the race, save a couple desperate sprints in between despite all my cajoling to go at an easy, maintainable pace.

It was fun to be apart of a run that I approached as a piece of cake in the grand scheme of things because of all my hard training.  I also particularly liked the moment when my runner was floored to find out I wasn't 17.

Another highlight of the training week was last night when I plowed through an 8 mile run in 90 degree temps.  Too anxious to wait until twilight to start it, I ended up running at the hottest part of the day (4 pm-ish) and only suffered a little for it.  Knowing what a mind game these long runs can be, I used the time well to do some prayer for other people and keep my mind off of me as much as possible. Had I brought water on the run, I think I could have kept going just fine. This is promising as I anticipate it can't possibly get up to 90 degrees at 6:30 AM on July 22nd even if it's the hottest day of the year (I think. Gulp).

With some more weight loss and people finally starting to notice (Thanks, Brittany!) I'm definitely starting to feel how worth while this all is if only for a confidence booster. I even ventured to the pool in the ol' bikini this week *gasp*! It takes a really confident day to do that.  More than just my vanity, God has been sending lots of gifts my way to remind me of my value and I'm grateful for that.


Psalm 17:8  Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Week 3

Week:3

 Total miles run: 12 (4 miles, 4 miles, 4 miles)

Weight loss: (Assuming -1 lbs. last week) Maintained

Okay, okay.  Maintaining weight when I'd ideally like to lose some shouldn't be something to brag about, unless your diet of the last few days included brownies, ice cream, milkshakes, marshmallows, red vines,  and M&M's.  All things considered, I'm pretty darn proud of myself.  All that catastrophic cheating is excused as I was on the Momentum spring retreat, and the biking excursion on Saturday--in which the contents of my stomach were nearly at my throat from the exertion of uphill work--probably incinerated a few hundred of those cals.  I'm also quite proud to announce that, despite a grueling black diamond biking experience, I really have no soreness (save the bike seat butt disease) and ran 4 miles easily today, which is probably a good indication of how conditioned I am already for intense physical workouts. Got to love those tangible gains.

Besides the physical workout, the retreat provided a great spiritual workout.  The topic--male and female relationships--couldn't have been better timed for where I am in life, and it was a much needed reminder about what I'm striving for in my future marriage and the time leading up to it.  I loved Pastor Jason's metaphor, which I just now realized was completely appropriate for my current pursuit.  He likened finding God's match for us to running the race continually toward Christ and one day looking to beside us to find that special someone running at pace with you.  I don't need to be taking any side trips or detours or changing pace to accommodate the One.  He should be my running buddy, helping me all the more in the race.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

 1 Thessalonians 5:11