Last weekend I finished my 21st race! I will now think of myself as an "of age" racer! lol! This was my 18th 5K and I've done two 10Ks and one half marathon! It's been quite the journey and I have learned a lot about myself and my walk with God during the process. This race was very special though because I got to run it with my sister, Tina. It was our 5th race to do together! (all 5Ks.) We both starting running because of adversity in our lives.  I started about 3 years ago while my son was in the hospital after a tragic automobile accident. I am still his caregiver as he slowly makes progress. My sister has a brain tumor. She has several brain surgeries before they finally got a shunt in correctly. We actually decided last year to make the Race for Hope (for the Oklahoma brain tumor foundation) a yearly event for us. We three sisters have done it now 3 years in a row. And we kinda branched out from there.  We had done a race in June and met a new friend and she...

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...

Yesterday I did not want to run the mile I had committed to run. I simply did not feel good. But I drug myself onto the treadmill and beat it out anyway! I still say that integrity is not integrity at all unless we have it with ourselves first. So to keep my commitment that I made to myself I crawled onto the treadmill yesterday to pound out a mile.    When I get done with my run everyday I go straight to the computer and log it. I use two places. Runners World is my official run log. I always put my time even when it sucks on that one. And if I do a couple of workouts in the day (which is very - very rare) then I make sure to include it on this log. The other one is more for social purposes and a little more fun. I use Daily Mile for this one. That is the one if I have a really poor workout and don't want anyone to know it took me an hour to get two and a half miles in I do not put it up! lol! --hey - we're allowed secrets! Runners World remains my official log and I do not...

When I committed to running one mile a day for the rest of the year, I thought it would be a cinch. Seriously! Yesterday I did a little more than 2 because I did some speed work and my mind set is geared toward getting ready for a 5K by the end of next week. Today was supposed to be an easy mile. Sheesh!  It took several minutes to convince myself that this is indeed going to be worth it; and that it will take less than 15 minutes of my precious time! lol! But I finally drug my cold butt onto the treadmill this morning and slowly took off. It took me much longer than I thought to get warmed up and going. Once I did though, I raised my base speed from 4 mph to 4.2 mph. (don't laugh I am old and coming off a major injury!)That's when I realized the whole point is to better myself as a runner. Isn't it?  If I can simply raise my base speed and keep my metabolism going it is beneficial enough. Plus I am guaranteed at least 7 miles a week! lol! I will never get that few I d...

That was the challenge issued by Runner's World magazine! They are doing this big try-to-keep-everybody-in-shape campaign during this part of the year. I thought about it for quite awhile before I signed up to do it. It's not like a contest or anything and there is no other reward than being in shape really.  But I didn't want to say I'd do something that I wasn't going to do. It may sound crazy,but we must first have integrity with ourselves before we can ever have it with others.  So I have done it for two days. I will do my mile today after I finish writing a couple of blogs this morning. I think running at least a mile every day will help me stay focused. I can only run a mile today and stay within my limits. I am still on the mend from the busted knee cap so I cannot add miles too fast. I did do a 4.4 mile long run this week. (one of the reasons I have to only run one mile today!)  I guess some people take the season off. I do not know what that means! I tr...

Yesterday ended up a lot cooler than I thought it was going to be. I didn't really want to run as I have not been running outside in the cool and haven't had a chance to get my body accustomed to it. As I was contemplating whether or not to go for my "long" run, I started sharing a story with the aid who was here to help with Chris.  I was telling her about a story I read. It was about an athlete, Fred Duling who had run a particular Thanksgiving Day race for 51 years in a row. But last year right after T-giving he had an accident in which he broke his back. He spent most of the year in hospitals and rehab units. the injury left him paralyzed from the waste down. But you know what? He is doing the race this year in his wheelchair! His daughter will be running with him to help push him up the hills. I was like - wow! What tenacity! As I was telling the story to the aid, I realized how wimpy I was being. So I went and put on my warm running clothes and headed out th...

Well I have been officially training again for about a month. I guess in light of all I've been through with the busted knee cap I am not doing too badly! I have learned a lot about my body. That's one thing I have really enjoyed about running - learning about myself. Although I basically had to start over I did not have to start at zero with nothing like when I first started running nearly 3 years ago.  I learned a lot by having some forced down time . I learned that I am in pretty good shape for 51 years old! That the world didn't in because I couldn't run (but that was challenging!), and that you can really start over - but it's not easy. One of the most difficult things is knowing my potential. Don't take that as being cocky - because my potential is still slow! lol! But I know I can run a half marathon - I've done it. However, I am having to start with 3 mile "long runs" all over again! Next week - 4... I think! I cannot risk injury.  The ...