I ran the Rock!!!

This is the picture after we all finished the marathon on Sunday. It was amazing!!!
The official results said this: We finished at 5 hours 12 minute and that averaged at a pace of 11:56. The four original women on our team are not runners, we had one fill in that is a runner. She ran a total of 11 miles (6 just for fun!). Our starter says she crossed the start line 15 minutes late so that put our real finish time under 5 hours.

I was more nervous about this day than I have been about anything in a long time. I was responsible to find everyone and pass out our stuff and then had to wait around for my time to run. In this day and age of knowing when everything is happening, having cell phones and internet it was amazing to be in a position where you would run just as soon as your runner came- and you could only have an educated guess on that time. So my nerves were on high alert all morning. Then my runner came and it was my turn and it felt great to start out.
As I warmed up in the first mile a guy passed me that had no legs! No legs [only two prothesis], and he was doing great-I thought if he can do this so can I.

I had not run a full five miles in my training and I was realistically worried about how I would do. The last mile of my leg was supposed to be the hardest with two hills called the Dolly Parton's. At one mile in I knew I could do it-I felt great. The rest of the race was exciting, challenging, and strangely relaxing. I would get goose bumps when I passed people cheering us on. Little kids on the side giving high-fives made it fun.

I ran longer than my two on and two off. It was hard to stop running sometimes because my team was counting on me and everyone around me was telling me I could do it. It was a great race, I want to do it again.
We are all hoping to do more races in the spring. I hear a 10K is coming up in February in Fort Worth-it would be great to run closer to home.
Thanks for supporting me-keep reading, I'm not quitting.

Not Running

It has just been harder these last few weeks to run in the morning and then impossible to do it any other time. I don't know what all of my excuses are but here I am nonetheless. I am 5 days away from the Rock and I have yet to run a five mile stretch. This is not where I envisioned myself when this all started-I thought I would be in much better shape and in much better mental preparation for this run and I am not. I am excited about it but more nervous that I will let down my team now that the time has come. Now, these girls are all in the same boat I am, busy with life, kids, husbands, families and engagements and we all are feeling like we are not quite up to snuff. All I want to say is praise God none of us are doing a marathon all by ourselves. Together we can do it and I'll do my best on my part.
So even though it is supposed to be bone chilling cold in the morning I am going to go run. It may be my last run before the Rock and that will just have to do.

Turkey Trot

We got up on Thanksgiving morning at 5:50 am and were at the trot by 6:25am. It was cool but we knew it would be a beautiful day. It warmed up by start time and I was in my short sleeves by the end of the race. It was thrilling to be among 10,000 runners and all the bodies moving and shuffling to get started. I loved seeing the families with children out and all the strollers and such. It was also great to pass people who were slower than me!!!! My final race time was 40.34 I was 78 out of 137 women in my age group and I was the 550th person to cross the line. I ran at 13.04 mile.
At the end of the race, when I saw the finish line I got all these goose bumps. I was so excited that I had finished my race-something that I have overcome, something to show my girls and my husband that I could do. They were in the line and cheered me as I finished. My grandmother also came and cheered and cried with us. I then sat and we only waited nine minutes when we saw my parents cross the line as well. This was a great start to Thanksgiving, we are so thankful for health and bodies to do this. It just might become a family tradition!

four mile thursday

Kevin has an MD appointment this morning and doesn't have to leave till 8. I ran four miles with the extra time I had this morning. I really think 4 miles and a 45 minute run feels better than the 30 minute run I usually do. Why is that? It was cool this morning but I warmed up quickly and the sun rise was magnificent. One week and I will be trotting with the rest of the turkeys!!! It will be a good race.
Meanwhile I came up with a few more Christmas gift ideas today on my run. yeah!

Stroller Again

Big M was in the bed with us this morning and turned off the alarm for us...what a sweety-she already knows how to snooze the alarm for us and was just helping. So I missed my jog time. I bundled up the girls and went for a jog after Kevin left. It was not a breezy day so I had a better time jogging. I did not do my full jog but I went far enough. I always think the hardest part of exercising is getting your shoes on!
My mom has decided jogging is not for her so she is going to walk the trot. Her trainer that was going with us just busted up her hamstring at a marathon this weekend so I may be trotting by myself on Thanksgiving. Kevin is very supportive-it will get me in gear for the big day in December.
Thank goodness I jogged today I guess I will try again tomorrow.

Turkey Trot

I signed up for the Ft. Worth Turkey Trot this week. It is a little over 3 miles and early in the morning. I guess the idea is that if you run that morning you feel less guilty about eating all that pie later in the day. I am excited. It will be a good warm up before the BIG run on Dec 14th.
I am keeping up with running, not as often as I should, but I am doing it still. Four miles takes a bit longer than I can dedicate during the week, but weekends will be where I can train longer these next few weeks.

We have been going and going and going all week and I am going to take a bit of time today to do what I want. We leave in the morning for a wedding in Austin and next week I am not doing a thing!!! (yeah right!)

Little M is 6 months old

Hello there,

It is the 11th of the November, which means little M has turned 6 months old! We can not imagine our family or life without her. Yet it has been such a short time she has been with us.

This past weekend we made the trip to Amarillo for my grandmother Ione to finally meet little M. They got along great. You can see in the picture that they had a fun time getting to know each other. Little M is GG Ione's third great grandchild (She will get two more this week when my brother and his wife adopt their kids on Thursday!) Little M didn't really like being in her car seat for 6 hours on the drive to and from Amarillo but she made the best of it. Big Sister always has fun on these trips and was a trooper this time as well!

In the pictures you can see how she is growing, she is scooting around on her belly, she may be like Big M and never really crawl. And she is eating now. We love the pictures where she looks like "what is this stuff???" She enjoys eating though and it has helped her to sleep through the night more regularly. Her first tooth broke through just yesterday and the second is not far behind I am sure.

Kevin is very active with our girls in the evening and they have all been piling into the big leather chair and reading stories before bed lately. Little M loves the stories and touching the books. She is growing so fast and we are loving every minute of her. We hope that this finds you and your family well as we gear up for Thanksgiving-I just saw a woman yesterday at the store buying more chicken broth than should be allowed. Please know that you are in our prayers-may you have a Happy Thanksgiving wherever you are.

Happy Veterans Day today!

Run, Run, Run

I ran this morning. Last week, I ran once, but today feels like the start of a new routine. We were away this weekend and no time to run. It felt great to run this morning and get my body moving after being in the car for so long this weekend.
Little M is sleeping better through the night. Fall is coming and the temperature and weather are beautiful. I had a few rain drops on me this morning but the breeze in my face was exhilarating.
What a great start to the week!

Jogging Stroller

I got a jogging stroller last week from Craigs List. The first thing I have ever bought off of Craig List and I got it for a song. Really nice, brand new double stroller. Right after I got it though I came down with a killer ear infection. I have taken off this week to let my body rest and heal. Today though, I got back on the trail.
I bundled the girls up for the 50's and headed out. It totally kicked my butt. It is much harder to jog without moving your arms and fighting to push the stroller ahead of you. I lasted about 20 minutes and then walked the rest of the way. Thank God I don't have to push the stroller during the race in a few weeks!!!
We leave for Amarillo tomorrow. My 94 year old grandmother is very excited to meet her third great-grandchild. It will be a fun and memorable weekend. We will see if I get any jogging done; if not. Next Monday I'll be back out there.

Sunflowers

I teach natural childbirth. I really teach dads how to coach moms through labor and birth. They are the coaches, it is a complicated job to help a woman birth a baby naturally. My husband was my coach for both of my births, both natural. He is also my coach now. It is a beautiful snuggly Saturday and it would have been great to stay in bed, but he got me up and said he was proud of my efforts and how much running I am doing. That felt great!

I have slept for two nights straight and have realized how much energy it was costing me being up to nurse little M at night. Wahoo for babies sleeping through the night!!!

There are beautiful sunflowers along my run. They are behind an iron fence so I can run right by them, it makes me feel like they are in the zoo or something-caged. But they are so bright and cheerful, it is a nice change from the brick fence I run along most of the time.

Consumerism

I ran for 4 miles yesterday evening. It was the first time I have done an evening jog and I liked it. I could really feel how my body changed and was warmed up by mile 3. I can't believe it. I can't wait to set aside the time and really work for my 5 mile mark.
While on a longer run and after some frustration yesterday I had a lot of thoughts about life so here are my ramblings. I am reading a book titled "Crunchy cons" it is about a political ideology and how it affects your way of life. It has challenged me in areas of my life like shopping, eating and educating my children. What he says in the book is that life is about something more than always striving to be a 'better shopper.' We all know folks that live to shop and shop to live and are always filling their homes and cars and bodies with more and more stuff. I try to not live that way, we strive to live a simple life but still I find that we buy more stuff than we really need and we are pretty simple. Anyways, it makes me think of being Catholic and faithful to God. He is always calling us to new and deeper challenges and to grow towards Him, he is always calling us to evaluate ourselves and I love that. I love that in the past year I can see how I have changed personally. I wish that I could encourage that in all the people around me, to strive to know God more and to grow and challenge yourself. That is why my blog is entitled "Be not afraid" we can't be afraid to try new things and to fill ourselves with love and faith and family [and not just junk].

C-O-L-D

That spells Cold...and it was this morning. I thought to myself, this is crazy, go in where it is warm but after 8 minutes outside and two runs I was warm enough. I was glad I had my fleece but I was warm enough. I was up with my little M at 5:20 this morning and just didn't go back to bed once she was back to sleep, because that warm cozy bed was going to be too much.
I ran for 45 minutes this morning, saw a neighbor, my dad (who lives across the street), his cat and the recycle truck.

Last night I spoke with two women who will be running on my team in December and we are all getting excited. I am not sure that anyone is running their distance yet but we all still have time. It is nice to be in this boat together.

Back to Blogging

I have not been able to find the time to sit here and write my thoughts in the past week or so. It has been busy with my girls and keeping things going. I am also working on a final exam so my computer time, when I grab it, is occupied with work. This is fun!!!
I jogged last Saturday for 4 miles. It was quite a victory for me, after that I felt like I can really do my 5 miles in December. I ran a couple more times this week and then also ran this morning. Do you notice I interchange jog and run-just semantics, I am moving fast when I am out there (at least that is how it feels.)
This week is got colder here in Texas, which just means the mornings and evening are pretty cool and the day is just right. The stars and moon watch over me when I jog in the mornings and it has been great to wear long pants and a very light jacket to jog in. Today I slept in a bit and jogged with the rising sun, it was in the 40s and I was glad there was barely any wind. It was hard to jog today, it just feels like my body does not want to do it, but I pushed through and did 30 minutes plus.
On to the rest of the day with the family.

Wind in your face

The wind had a chill to it this morning. Running home it was in my face the whole way. It was a great feeling and reminds me of my favorite thing to do on this earth. Sail. There is nothing quite like using the wind to power a big boat and sail across the water, the wind in your hair and face. It is something invigorating to thing about while running this morning.
It was a shorter run but I got out of bed and I did it and that counts for a whole lot in my book.

Sleeping In

We slept in today, Wednesday-I am having a hard time accepting that I did not run this morning. We were all just up too much last night and totally wiped out this morning, why is it hard to accept that I am just dog-tired? I am grateful for the time we got with Kevin this morning-it is pretty unusual to have breakfast with him during the week and have him cook it. For whatever reason it was really nice to have family time in the morning today. I will have to get up tomorrow and run, I can't go two days without it. I can feel my legs are ready to get out there again.

For my girls

My parents began an extensive exercise routine about a year ago. At the time I was pregnant and could not step it up with them. But they were an inspiration to me. I suppose that is a role parents play. I know that this is the beginning for me, the start of training for one piece of a marathon. I will not be so bold as to foresee where this may take me, if I will ever run a marathon on my own or if I will forever be a runner rather than a walker. One thing is for sure, I want to inspire my children, to enjoy their bodies and marvel at what they can accomplish. In this day and age where children have forgotten imagination and the fun of play outside, I want my children to know how this feels-to come in from a run not worn out and out of breath but feeling good and alive.

On a side note it sprinkled on me a bit this morning. The smells in the morning are like the earth has been asleep and resting and everything is new today. It is going to be a great day!

Run with a friend

My mom is training for a 5 K in about a month and today we ran together. Although we do not have the same running pace we do walk the same....so we were able to chat on the two minute walking sessions. It is nice to have someone to urge you on and chat with. I notice I do better when my mind is not focused on how my body is feeling and doing. We are going again in the morning.

I think it would also be nice to train with some of the women I will be running with in December. We are spread throughout the DFW area so we may only get a few of us together at any point before we relay.

Breakfast was nice and warm when I got home this morning. Thanks honey!

Treadmill Test

I ran on the treadmill today-I don't like running on the treadmill-BUT I have found that it is a good way to test how far I am going and how long I am running. I mean I have a rough idea when I am on the street but today I have numbers to show... I ran 2.67 miles in 40 minutes. Then I felt like I might just possibly fall over. I ran for 40 minutes and I have to pat myself on the back-I am doing a great job and I am doing it and it is not killing me. I have a tendency to always look forward at what I have to accomplish so it is nice to take a moment and just see how far I have come. Yeah for Me!!!

I will be up tomorrow morning, Saturday to run. It is really great to run on Saturdays because I come home to a hot breakfast....that is a big reason to hop out of the bed!!!
See you manana!

Back on the street

I hit the pavement again today after a week long (unintentionally) break from running. We went on vacation last week to San Antonio. Babies don't sleep good in hotels and I realized neither do moms. I was exhausted most mornings we were away and wanted to enjoy what time I had with my family. It has taken me a couple days of being home to feel like I can do this again. It took a lot of encouragement from Kevin-why is that? Why can't I just get up and run and feel good about running for 30 minutes plus rather than stay on the negative and looking at how much further I have to go?
It was cool this morning and I wore a light jacket. The sun coming up was beautiful and now that I am finished I can't wait to get in the habit again of my morning runs. I will hit the street tomorrow.

Longer Run

I just finished a run-to Jimmy Buffett music. I ran longer today than normal, once around the subdivision (i still have not measure how far that is) and then a 1.8 mile out of the subdivision and down to the doughnut shop. No, I did not get any doughnuts. My right knee hurt a bit at the beginning but once I got warmed up everything felt fine. Tomorrow morning we leave for vacation. I am packing my running shoes but know it will be much harder to get out of the bed when everyone else is snuggled in.
Bon Voyage

A rambling Mind

It is never easy to get out of bed this early to run. But once I am out it seems like it is getting easier to get into my groove. I ran a bit slower today but it felt good to be out there and running with the morning sun still not up.
We leave for a vacation on Wednesday and my mind was rambling with all the things I need to do in the next two days to get us ready to get out of here.
I listened to some of my husbands playlist today while I ran and it was refreshing to hear some new tunes...maybe I will re work my own playlist as well. And rename it to RUN!
Now to make my work lists for they day.

Red in the face

My parents saw me after a workout earlier this week. I was terribly red in the face and they both worried (being two nurses). That got me to thinking today. I have not been red in the face during a workout in about 1o years-back during my tennis days in highschool.

These thoughts give me encouragement today. I wanted to run longer than my normal 30 minutes and my body just said STOP. It felt discouraging to stop running during my usual time to cool down. But maybe each day I can do a little more and get there.

I am still thinking of a jolling stroller but honestly worry about pushing 50 pounds in front of me while I am training. Getting to swing my arms etc. will it be more difficult?

fighting to train

I did not run this morning. I was up twice last night with little M and exhausted. I think I am fighting off a cold-allergies make it difficult to keep these colds at bay. I have had two colds in the past 6 weeks. I will run tomorrow morning, Saturday, and I won't have to get up so early to do it since my husband will be home. On to my motherly and house duties for the day.

Training

I just got back from my run for this morning. I ran for two minutes and walked for two minutes for the entire 30 minute run. I am seeing how I am making strides this week and it feels good. I can feel my muscles are working harder and I am sore- it feels good.

I spoke with my marathon runner sister-in-law last night. She encouraged me to not use qualifiers, if you are running-then you are running and that is darn good. She told me how she trains and said it has worked for her for so long that is what she continues to do even at 18 weeks pregnant. I figured I would try it.

On to the rest of my day!

Running

I began running almost four weeks ago. Let me change that-I have begun walking/running. I alternate throughout my workouts. "Why?" you may ask. I have decided to run with a team of close friends in a relay marathon. After having my second baby just 4 months ago I am ready to do something for myself. This is a great challenge and good for my body.

I want to thank all the women who have inspired me.
Stephanie O'Brien, for all the marathons she has run over the years.
Nicole Scott, for being a mom and staying in shape.
Christa Yanez, for running a triathalon at four months post partum (you are my hero!)