Thursday, August 22, 2013

Down To The Wire!

I woke up this morning only to realize in 2 days I will be driving to my death. Yes, that's right I'm talking about the Warrior Dash!! 2 days? How did that happen? It's here so fast and I am now beginning to mentally freak out  prepare!A co-worker, who actually introduced me to the race this year, informed me that the beginning is a big...huge...monstrous hill! I hate hills and I did no hill running in preparation. But on a happy note....

Source
Yup. I sort of had a melt down over my time/not being prepared/failing at running on Weds. night but I realized something. I AM IN CONTROL! I can push myself as far as I want. It's all a mental game and on Saturday I will be the master of my mind.


 
So, my goals for Saturday are as followed:
 
 
1. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!
 
2. Get across the finish line.
 
 
That's it. Since this will be my 1st Warrior Dash I have no idea what to expect. I don't want to place a time limit on myself when I don't know what the course is going to be like. So I am going to go and have fun and not be so hard on myself. It's supposed to be an exciting race and I want to be apart of that.
 
Next big plans for me after the Warrior Dash? Well I have to get a new pair of running shoes. I pronate so badly and it is causing pain during and after every run now. I'm not doing high-mileage either, averaging about 2.5 miles a run. I was planning a 10K at the beginning of September but I will hold off on that until I can get the perfect pair of shoes for me. I do plan on running 2 more 5K fun runs, both Zombie runs in October. I'll just designate this the year of fun runs. Next year, I plan on running a few 10K, working on my mileage over winter so I can be in top-prime running shape by next summer. That's way too much planning ahead. I have no idea what God has in store for me or what the next few months will bring, all I know is I want to run until it's impossible to do it anymore. I want to run for those who can't and for those who won't ever get to.
 
So today when you go for your run, think about this. And push yourself a little harder. You would be amazed at how much further you can go when you push yourself beyond your comfort zone.
 
 Question: Have you ever done a Warrior Dash? What should I expect?
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Today I Am Thankful

If any of you are like me, you get so caught up in the negative of life. At the end of the day, I seem to pick out the worst situations that happened throughout the day instead of the positive. So today I woke up and my first thought was how thankful I am. Then I started thinking about all the things I am thankful for and I decided I would share them with you. Maybe you could return the favor and tell me some of the things you are thankful for in your life!

Today I am thankful for:
The fact that I woke up this morning. I know somewhere out there, someone didn't get that option and I am so thankful to be able to get another chance, another day.


For all the pain and suffering I have been through. When I hear people say things like "God doesn't give you anything you can't handle" or "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldier," I am proud of my struggles. I have survived my heart being ripped out in the worst way possible, and I overcome it with more hope than I have ever had. This year has been one of the roughest yet. Unlucky # 13 for me I guess. But through it all my faith has held strong and even though I don't know the reason behind it all, God has a bigger plan for me than I have for myself.
 

For anyone who has lost a child, please check out the resources at www.sayinggoodbye.com
 
 
I am thankful for the ability to run. I have went on two amazing runs this weeks and I am falling back in love with it. I ran my best times of the year and it felt so good to push myself. I have been off for a few weeks, for no particular reason I just haven't had the desire to lace up my shoes. Monday I just felt the urge to get outside and run. Around 8 PM, it cools off enough here to feel perfect for running. I threw on my shoes, put my headphones in and took off. For the 1st time ever, I ran the first .61 miles with no walking breaks. This is an amazing accomplishment for me and I was so happy. I finished the first mile in 11.something minutes and was on top of the world. Last year, I was running 8 minute miles but this year, I haven't been able to do better than 13-14 minutes. I ran a little over 2.5 miles and finished in 29 minutes. I was out of breath, exhausted and exhilarated. It reminded me of my very first run, where I fell in love with it. I took Tuesday off but laced up last night for a "short" run. This time, I ran the whole block without walking and then I hear "Mile 1: 9.37 minutes." I almost started jumping there on the sidewalk. I finished up with 2.15 miles in 24 minutes. My split time wasn't the best because I ran the 1st mile too fast. I need to settle in a 10-minute/mile pace and get comfortable there but I'm excited to do that!! Who's ready for their run tonight? I know I am!!
 
Some other things I am thankful for today:
 
  •  The fact that a full tank of gas lasted me exactly 2 weeks. :)
  •  New love.
  •  Payday is tomorrow.
  •  Thursday is actually my favorite day of the week (the weekends not included!)
  •  A new haircut tomorrow. It's going to be a surprise...maybe even to myself.
  •  Being productive. I finally made my dentist appointment today...even though I'm already dreading it.
I hope everyone that reads this can see the positive in today!

Question of the day: Tell me what you are thankful for today!?