Showing posts with label 1/2 marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1/2 marathon. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Day 8: Coming Clean

LOVE those little feet. Berkley's learning the routine.
I put the paper down and she ran over immediately and put her feet on the paper.

Here we are, eight days into this journey, combined with the holiday festivities already beginning and I am T-I-R-E-D!! Today I went for it….3 miles. It sounds so good doesn’t it. I could play the Facebook card and just let it rest at that. You know that card don’t you? Everything looks perfect and like you’ve got it all together when really what it took to get that family photo or that “moment” was more like nailing Jell-O to a wall.


I’m not gonna lie, it was not very pretty today.  In fact, it was just plain ugly. My guess is that the only thing that kept me in the upright position was the jogging stroller. I walked about 90% of it and then pulled into the driveway with a run at the end.


I’m having some issues with the Map My Run app. For some reason when my phone goes into sleep mode, so does the app. Is this normal? Would love to keep track of what I’m doing but maybe this is God’s way of saying, “One step at a time my child. No need for keeping records, this isn’t a race but more like a journey. Take your time and let me continue to chisel you through this process”. Between you and me though, I’m pretty competitive (mainly with just myself) and I like to see how I can out do myself each day. Yes, I know….clink, clink, clink. I hear him hard at work in me.


The me from last week (or maybe even the me of yesterday or the me of an hour ago) would have considered today an epic failure of sorts with the run. When I separated the emotion from today’s run and looked at it from a different perspective, I realized I was my biggest enemy in this one! I was no where near equipped or prepared for my run today.


1.     I had not eaten lunch and for those that know me well, I am not a pleasant person to be around when I am HANGRY!

2.     I was running mid-day during one of the windiest days we have had compiled with a jogging stroller that acted more like a sail. I was convinced we were going to float backwards home.

3.     All 3 wheels of the jogging stroller are almost completely out of air.

4.     My feet ache with every step because the last time I bought new shoes was November 2011, just before my 1/2 marathon.

And…

5.     In an effort to combat the fact there are not enough hours in the day, I have been staying up crazy long hours in order to take a chunk out of my to-do list. Sleep is so yesterday!


I have no doubt that part of God’s work in me is to learn how to rest. I logged on to one of my favorite secret obsessions, Pinterest, and low and behold, this pin came up:

 

 
Talk about meeting me right where I am!

“So let me get this straight my child, you can’t come to me because you are too tired? You say if you read that devotional you will fall asleep? Then try this one on for size. Dive into my word. Allow me to equip you better than you have equipped yourself – not only for your run, but for life. You think that run was difficult without being equipped? Now just imagine jumping into your day without equipping yourself with me first. Wanna try it and let me know how it works for you…oh wait, isn’t that what got you here in the first place."
 
Here is one of my favs I found on the list:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 
He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:28-31

 
Kelly
xoxo

 
To read the rest of the Bible verses listed on the pin, Click Here.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Day 1: Coming Clean

pretty sure these shoes have seen better days!


That’s it, I’m coming clean.
 
I need the push…I need to hit rock bottom and bounce back from it. I need words of encouragement… tough love…or a kick in the tail. I need love…grace…and a chance to be myself. I need help and I am terrified!
 
I vaguely remember the runner I once was. If you had asked me 3 years ago to describe myself as a runner, I would have been severely winded but not from running, only laughing at the mere thought of me as a runner.
 
And although it may make my P.E. teacher husband cringe, scheduled running days in my high school P.E. class were the guaranteed days of arriving late, forgetting my clothes to dress out or bringing in a sick note. It was time to face facts, running was just not my thing.
 
It wasn’t until I became obsessed with cross fit that the idea of running even crossed my mind as a possibility. It was a lifesaver that I had an amazing running partner and special friend that was the perfect mix of accountability and great girl talk while we ran together. One race lead to another and then another until we found ourselves signing up for any race within a certain mile radius. I had the bug and I had it bad.
 
Reader’s Digest version to present day…
December 1, 2011
Surprise! My running time was getting worse rather than getting better because low and behold…I WAS PREGNANT! Never saw that one coming.

December 3, 2011
2 days after the biggest surprise of our lives, I completed my first ½ marathon and I was on top of the world!
 
December 2011 – March 2012
I ran until I was 5 months pregnant. After tripping over my new awkward shape, I knew it was time to hang up the running shoes.
 
November 2013
Time to start again!
 
So why post it here? I am in desperate need for accountability. I strapped on my shoes today for the first time. My goal was to make it 1 mile without stopping. I made it, but Lord knows that it definitely wasn’t pretty and it was a far cry from the past. The loud voices in my head of “why and what were you thinking” were louder than any pain I was experiencing in my legs and burning lungs.
 
It’s not just about the running, there are so many more layers and I hope to peel them back together to share with you what lead me to this point. I am going to be documenting the days with all the good, bad, and ugly in an attempt to keep it as real as possible. I hope it will be a reminder to me of why I do not want to return to this kind of lifestyle again.
 
 My Disclaimer: Please don’t get me wrong, I would do this all over again and wouldn’t change a thing since my ½ marathon. Yes, I stopped running, but what I got in return was a wonderful, unexpected blessing of a third child and a gift to all of us. xoxo
 
So for now….day 1….terrified is the best way I can describe my feelings. But I hope as the days pass, terrified can be scratched out and changed to something lighter, grace filled, forgiven, and new. Anyone else up for the challenge? I am always in need of a great running partner and good girl talk!
 
Kelly
xoxo