I have been running for three years now and actually next week will be the third anniversary of my very first 5K - runners you know the one when running gets in your blood? Yeah, that one! Well, this spring I did three half marathons in 72 days and I think I am finally ready to go for the full marathon. My goal is next April's OKC Memorial Marathon. I've done four half marathons now and will probably do a couple more this fall if I can find them in my area. Mentally I have already begun training. This means I really have to change up my diet and training schedule. I pretty well live in that mode anyway but tackling a marathon seems way out there for me and so I have to make a few adjustments. I hope to keep up this blog and share my training triumphs and woes. One thing I have noticed already is that it is difficult to work on everything all at once. When I started adding miles to prepare for half marathons, my speed suffered. It's a whole different mentality altogether. ...

I am just coming off an almost-major knee injury. It was a "break" albeit a little tiny one! A few weeks rest and wearing a brace and I was good to go! The main reason I fell (I think) was I had some new shoes (they just now crossed 50 miles - so they were real new then!) and just misjudged the height of the curb, caught my toe and slammed into the ground. It happened so fast, I did not even feel the tripping part at all. My eyes never even closed! That's how fast it happened!  I think sometimes in life we can find ourselves in troubling or painful situations just that fast as well. One small mis-step and we are emotionally, spiritually, financially or otherwise eating dirt! Just a minor calculation and we are on the ground. So when I found this scripture this morning I could really relate to it.  Proverbs 4:12 says this in the New Living Translation: if you live a life guided by wisdom, you won't limp or stumble as you run.   Now that is a true bit of wisdom isn...

So I have not run or hardly walked since I first hurt my knee. I do not wear the brace too much now when I am around the house, but if I am out and about I wear it for support. I also wear it to sleep in to keep from bending it. But the last two days I have walked through the park. (wearing the brace, of course)  It's almost exactly 1.2 miles from my door, through the Frisbee golf course with a nice walking trail and back to my door. The weather has turned cooler and I would love to be setting up some running and training schedules. But it's not happening yet! I have to start slow... I have to start somewhere. So I am trying to walk through the park every day for starters. I may try the treadmill next week and do that without the brace to see how my knee handles it.  It drives me nuts to be sidelined like this. But there has to be time for the injury to heal properly or I might not get to run again....ever! So I am trying to be very patient and walk it out slowly - every ...

I know I have been quiet for several weeks. I have been sidelined by an injury. Even though I know that injuries are part of training I wanted to be "graceful" in my time of recovery. I am not too sure I have accomplished this goal. I missed my Chicago half marathon...And probably will not even attempt to run again for about two more weeks.  The one doctor showed me the x-rays and showed me that due to a fall I had a small sliver broken off from my knee cap. The bruising was extensive and even now after 4 weeks there are tiny bruises left. The swelling isn't as bad now when I am up and around. It's getting better - but I feel dug deeper in.  Running is like my only outlet. I guess I could try to find another one - but instead I have just been eating... now when I start running again I will have to run this all off first!! ugh!!  I really cannot even say how disappointing it is to miss my goal race. It has damaged me from inside out and so I chose to ignore the g...

Well, I didn't plan on 5 miles, nor did I make 5 miles! I planned on an easy 2 or 3 really. But the morning was so beautiful and I was so excited to be out running again when I got to the corner I was supposed to turn on to head back - I went straight instead. Well, after the huge hill and about 3.5 miles my knee did its thing again... not a happy camper. I had to walk all the way home and maybe I should say "hobble"... So I had lots of time to think, and that I did. I was frustrated because I was hurting in an area I thought was okay. I gave it some time to heal after all. I wondered how many times in life we get hurt in some way and just keep trying to push it...especially in church matters. There is nothing that can hurt like those wounds we can receive from our church family. We are connected in so many ways those pains can run deeply. But how many times after being hurt in a church do we run out and try to do the same thing in another congregation...only to get hur...

I had my shoes on and was all ready to hit the pavement this morning when the aid called and said she couldn't come today as she had a family emergency. She's my relief. I am the caregiver for my son who was in a tragic accident two and a half years ago. And since she cannot come this morning I don't get to get out today at all. Actually, his accident is why I started running to begin with. After I fell in love with running I found out what a great stress reliever it has been...but I cannot run today...so what now? Running helps all the tension run out of my body somehow. I can run four or five miles and am mentally, physically and just all around refreshed! I have found running to be great at relieving stress, mentally - just pounding the pavement for an hour or so and I can solve all the world's problems! lol! So when I have a day like today I wonder if I am coming to rely too much on running for relieving stress. Is that possible? With the back injury I will prob...