It seems like I cannot get it all right all at the same time. I can get my diet down and eat properly to have energy and then it seems like my sleeping patterns get all messed up! It's just crazy. There must be a way to get them both in balance at the same time!  As I am realizing how quickly my next half marathon is approaching I feel like I am under the crunch to get my training back up going strong. But sometimes it seems that just about the time I feel the positive changes in my body it wipes out on me. And I feel like it's partly due to trying to find the right balance and combination of eating and resting. I hate to sleep - but I love to eat. That's the wrong formula for running success!  I think this parallels life in a few ways too. It seems like we can really concentrate on one area - you know, the temper, our language, our finances or outlook...and when we get one of these areas refined and are moving along smoothly it's like Bam! Another area that needs s...

At the race the other night I had a very unique experience. There was a lady who seemed to be competing specifically with me. As I would get close to her she would run ahead a ways and then walk until I got close again. She kept losing a little advantage on her position each time I got close. I chose to just keep my pace as it was working for me.  I kept reminding myself that in racing I am only competing with myself so I kept it all under lock. I thought she was a little younger than me anyway so I chose to not compete but just keep running instead. Finally, I passed her for the last time and didn't really think about where she was as I got sick to my stomach because of the heat. I figured I wasn't dizzy, so I wasn't close to passing out - so I kept going. I thought that it would simply be a new experience if I threw up.. but I figured I would throw up and then finish the race!  When I got through the lady came over to where we were standing and congratulated me on a ...

Last night I ran my 15th 5K! (it was my 17th race overall) It was a wonderful experience. Although it was so hot I thought I may get to experience what it's like to throw up during a run. I got very nauseous toward the end, but I figured since I wasn't dizzy I wasn't about to pass out so I just kept on going. I thought maybe I would throw up and add it to the unique race experience list! lol! But then I didn't...almost disappointing as it would have made such a great story later... oh well.  I had a lot of emotions going into the race as I thought back about that first 5K. It's been such an invigorating, addictive journey! I started just to survive...and now I survive just to run! My legs just feel strong - I cannot really explain it any better than that - they just feel good under me. I thought of all the accomplishments that I've managed to do over this two years of racing... Of the 15 5K races I've placed 6 times. I don't think that's too bad! I...

Since I am only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night I wake up tired. Usually I go through this whole thing of how old I am and why I shouldn't run today. But yesterday as I was rehearsing my usual (miserable) excuses I happened to see a runner through my window. That's all it took. I'm so serious. I saw her head bobbing up and down as she ran along the fence and that was all it took. I put my shoes on and headed out for a nice casual run.  The trouble was that I didn't leave early enough (I only have a two hour window to get my run in). I went out too far before I turned around and headed home. So coming back I had to kick it in high gear to get back before time for my son's aid to leave! so  simple miscalculation helped me log better than 5 and a half miles in an hour!  The two things about yesterday's run are that it took almost nothing to motivate me and a miscalculation helped me log more miles for the week! How many times have we miscalculated someth...

Well I guess we'll see if this week can go off as planned! I'm looking at possibly getting in 20 miles this week. And I am looking at a time crunch because the half marathon is coming in September. I have only run 8 miles for my long run recently. I think I'll be okay though because I can bump that up to 1 pretty easily. The terrain here is kind of hilly and the race is in Chicago which is really flat. So I think that will work to my advantage at least.  I also signed up for a  night race this weekend. I haven't ever done that so it'll be nice. And it will be to commemorate my first 5K ever. It's the same Saturday that I ran my very first race two years ago. Boy I was so happy to run that 3.1 miles! And I was hooked on racing ever since. I never dreamed that about 3 miles would be my easy days! lol!  It's funny sometimes how when we are going through life and we know that our struggles are shaping us somehow, we still cannot always see how far we've ...

I know, I know! I could probably come up with another reason why I run everyday for at least a month before I'd think of another month's worth! But this week, I found another "why I run" spot in my life.  First of all, last week was crazy for a lot of reasons. But one of them was on Tuesday night when a hail storm smashed in my little garden. I know, it's really not that big of a deal to most people, but it was to me okay! In the scheme of things it really is minor. But when you are already living on emotional overload even the smallest things can catapult you into depression. And that's exactly what happened on Wednesday morning when I decided to trade my run in for a quick yard and garden clean up.  While a few of my plants survived (mostly the non-edible ones!), most were beat to a pulp by the hail. They were just blooming too. I had been so excited about finally seeing blooms and very small fruit start to appear. And now they are mangled and leafless. ...

I am so serious on this one! This morning when I took off up the road with no where in particular to go - my legs felt so good under me. I can actually feel the muscles now. Sometimes I try to imagine just how it is that they work together like such a well oiled machine. And sometimes I concentrate on trying to really feel that fraction of a second that both feet are off the ground at the same time!  As I am learning my limits and pushing them properly at the same time, I really do feel stronger. I thought about that this morning while I knocked out 3 miles at about an 11 min pace. That's not too fast for others, but I've come a long ways. 2 Corinthians 10:12 says that it is not wise to measure ourselves by others. I do think we should measure ourselves to His measure - none of us are all that great if we do that! Who can match His stride?!?  But I can measure myself up against where I came from. I have only been running a little more than two years and I've come a long...

While I am pushing my body to get ready for the big half marathon coming up this fall, I am also having to learn my limits..did I mention how I hate that? When I have a 20 mile week it seems my body gives out. I'm sure that it is due to the fact that I only have one adrenal gland...I don't know how - but I am pretty sure it's related. So I had a 20 mile week, then last week I pushed it hard (in the heat) Monday and Tuesday. That kind of forced me to take Wednesday off. I really wanted to try to get 20 miles in four days. It didn't work - I found my limit.  Now I could have pushed myself a little harder got some miles on Wednesday and more on Thursday. I had to get groceries and stuff in that time frame on Friday so I needed to get all my miles on M-Th. But my steam ran out. This used to really frustrate me. But as I am learning that a slow week doesn't mean it's over, and it doesn't mean a failure - I'm getting to where I'm okay with giving it my b...

Yesterday's run was very different for me. I've been pushing myself pretty hard and this half-a-century old body has been complaining a whole lot. It always does that when I work up to running about 20 miles a week. Next week, I'm shooting for 20 again (or more) but it will all be easy miles. I am not even going to think about pushing it. Why? Because of yesterday's run. I really wanted to get a run in just to log some miles. So I decided to just run easy for about 45 minutes. I figured that should be between 3-4 miles (I was right) and a good enough workout to keep everything moving and give me some log miles. I decided to just go easy and enjoy the run again. I have been working real hard...and you know what? I loved it! It was one of the best runs I've done. I may adopt this practice of just running because it's fun again! I ran a little less than a 12 minute mile. So my base time has improved and that's been one of my goals. But sometimes I am workin...

Runners know what an important role the diet plays in fueling the run. For me, it really is the pasta dinner the night before. You kind of have to experiment with a few things to find out what works for your body. And we all know how rough finding out what the no-no's are! That can mess up a really good run! (lol- runners know what I am talking about!) But I don't think that what we eat is the guts of the matter. What really fuels the run is found when you top that huge hill that was just taken in stride, or you shave a few seconds off a PR, or you get that medal in your age group at a race...all summed up in one word: success. That's really the "stuff" behind why we continue. Think about how discouraging it would be to run at the same pace every single day and never be able to get any faster ever - or if the same hill kicks you in the butt every day and you never conquer it...discouraging to say the least. I think this is true in many aspects of our live...

I have decided this one 5 mile route is my favorite. I get some pretty level running in before I turn to go up one of the biggest hills you'll find here in Norman, OK! Then at the top of the hill I swing through a neighborhood and over past a real pretty little pond to a street named, "Horizon View." I am not sure why it's named that as you cannot see a horizon from there at all! But then I double back and it's a nice morning run. The hill and I have something personal going on! I always look at it from the corner and point to myself and say, "I'm taking you down today!" as I head toward it! (Sometimes on the weekends I swear I can hear it calling out a challenge for me! lol!) Monday when I got to that hill, I was caught up in my thoughts and it came so easy it even surprised me. I realized I had taken the hill and never broke stride and my legs felt so good under me! But that success came at a cost. It's taken 2 years of training to get to ...

That may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but I almost had to sacrifice my Monday run due to another obligation. It was okay, but it only gives me 4 days in a row to run and some weeks I need an off day in the middle. My goal of course is to work up to running all 5 days - with a little biking thrown in. I have several goals right now - but I can do them all at the same time basically, so it's not too overwhelming. The heat has got to be beaten, miles have to increase, and I need to lose at least another 10 pounds. Since none of these are mutually exclusive I should be able to work out a plan! Sometimes we give up too soon on projects or plans because it gets too complicated. That can make us feel like none of them is do-able! I am finding that if I hang in there and don't change the goals just because of a complication I can figure out a way to accomplish almost anything! Here's an example. When I am running I get all sorts of ideas. I write stuff in my head f...

I have officially lost 5 pounds over the last week. It certainly took a lot of willpower to make the necessary dietary changes. Plus by body is sore from the extra activity. Some would say that willpower comes easily. I think something else gives strength to willpower... discomfort. As long as we are comfortable where we are we will not feel like we need to make any changes. All too often we become comfortable with our discomfort rather than making the choice to change we embrace it as the norm and do nothing about it. But discomfort is what gives us the drive to change. I was thinking about the baby eagle and how when it is time for them to grow up she removes all the "fluff" from the nest. This causes the bird great discomfort - enough for them to find another place to stay. Would it make any sense if the little bird went out and built a nest without the cushions so they could have one "just like mom's because it was so uncomfortable ? lol! Of course not! We ...

Okay so yesterday was supposed to be my long run. It had been over a month since I'd run over 5 miles or so. To help myself be successful in my endeavors I set two goals. Running two hours was my minimum, I would not accept less than that of myself. The second goal was I really wanted to do 10 miles. It didn't have to be in the two hours of course... I met several obstacles that I was not expecting. For one it was already in the upper 80's and I really wasn't prepared or conditioned for that! I did wear my camelbak as I always do on my long runs. And after about 5 miles just about every joint in my body was reminding me of two things a) how old I am and b) how difficult it was to run! And my poor toes! I've lost one toenail and have two more apparently getting ready to go through the same process...And by the time I got home I was nursing two good sized blisters... how'd that make me feel? Elated!! It is sort of like a rite of passage for a runner! So I made...

If you keep up with any of my other blogs (not that I expect you do ... but if you do... ) you know I have changed my eating somewhat. Yeah, I just didn't feel well and the other day I stepped on the scale to see that I had gained an additional 5 pounds! So I called a halt to my eating habits and dove in! I've stated before that sometimes everything revolves around running when you are a runner. And my dietary changes are no different. So I cut back and even though I am still heavier than I want to be I've already lost that last 5 pounds! Yeah me! I wondered as I hit the trail yesterday if I would be able to tell any difference yet. And honestly with such a cut in my daily calorie intake I wondered if I'd have the steam to make two laps...I did! Actually, I think I really felt better. Just 5 pounds made a difference. I can't wait to lose this other 10 - that's my goal anyway. 5 pounds doesn't seem like a lot. But think about the last time you bought a la...

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The first time I rode up to check out the trail I decided to ride it first. That way I could check out the terrain and length to see if I wanted to try to run it or not. As I started a runner was coming my way so I asked him a couple of questions regarding the trail, like how long it is and if it's difficult to follow or not. He assured me that it was laid out simply and that it was about a mile and a half. But there was one T where if you navigate correctly you go around the "lake" (it's barely a pond in my book...). Then he made this statement Just stay on this path and you'll be fine.  I thanked him and rode on. About a third of the way in, I came to a T in the path. I could continue going straight or turn sharply to the right. I thought about what the young man had said stay on this path. Well, "this path" seemed like I should go straight to me! But I soon found I had been looped around some little neighborhood just before the path met the blackto...