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.