Updating My Status...

13 Miles in the Windy City...

2011-01-29T22:50:00.017-06:00

On March 7, 2010 I wrote this in my running notes, "Great run! Signed up for Chicago Half with Candace tonight!!! This is who I am now! I run!" Up until this day I had logged a total of 240 miles in 7 months and had run one half-marathon. So when Candace called me to run the Chicago half with her it just seemed natural, I felt like a runner. I haven't looked back since. Granted I have had good months and bad months, but I have kept registering for races in hot pursuit of a great month!

I realize that it's January of 2011, but I'd like to recap my 2nd half-marathon in Chicago while it's on my mind.

On September 9, 2010 I flew from Houston to Chicago and met up with Candace, her friend Kim, and her family. Over the next few days we had a blast eating, visiting neat Chicago places, riding the train, eating, shopping, walking, eating, and hanging out! We ate a lot if you didn't get my gist. We had so much fun and the city was beautiful.

Candace & Me

The famous bean sculpture

The Magnificent Mile!!!

The three of us in Millenium Park

I'm a Nike Girl!

Riding the train to and from Chi-town

Saturday afternoon we rode the train from Candace's sister's house into Chicago and checked into our hotel. We picked up our race bib and walked around the expo. I got to meet Coach Jenny Hadfield whom I had been following for months because she and her husband had started a Running Cruise that I had been researching. I came to find out she and her husband had done much more in the health and fitness industry than I knew about. I felt like I had met a star, she has been such a source of encouragement for me.

Meeting Coach Jenny Hadfield

We walked around a bit and then had dinner at Bucca di Peppo's, a famous family-style Italian restaurant. We wanted to get our pasta (carbs) in the night before the race so we would be raring to go come morning. After dinner I felt stuffed and wanted to burn a few calories so Kim and I went to the hotel pool. It was an indoor pool so all the kids' splashes, giggles, and yells amplified in the pool area. Not the ideal relaxing swim I was hoping for. I swam in place for about 20 minutes to burn off some of those carbs and also to try and make myself tired. (I always get excited the night before a big event and don't fall asleep easily.) Right before bed I got online for a bit and got an invite from the Goldins to come and run the New Orleans half-marathon in February 2011. The thought above replayed in my head, "I'm a runner now, this is what I do" and immediately said yes to another race! All of my best cheerleaders were on saying "good luck", "we're so proud of you", and "imagine us at the finish line waiting for you." These people have no idea how encouraging they are and how they inspire me to run mile after mile! Huge shout out to Mandy & Aaron Goldin, Teri Bayless, Courtney Tucker, my parents, Jason, and everyone else who has spoken life into my weary feet!

At the expo picking up our bibs

Laying out my gear the night before the race.

I used to do this in high school for my basketball games too. :)

Sunday, the 12th we got up early and hailed a taxi to the race. Future note to self, on race day arriving an hour early to the race is NEVER enough time to find your starting corral, stretch, take a potty break, stretch some more, get your iPod set, and get physically and mentally in position to run for the next 2 1/2 hours (in my case that is).

Stretching

Getting excited!!!

Ready to run!

At 7 am, the gun went off and the first few hundred people started running. We were squished behind those few hundred so we shuffled along until we hit the actual starting line where our chips would start registering our time and then we took off! I was so excited for Candace as this was her first half-marathon and because she is much faster than I am we didn't see each other again until after the race.

The first 3 miles went by fairly fast. We ran along Lake Shore drive for the next 9 miles. This was kind of brutal because it was a loop around course. We ran about 4 1/2 miles down Lake Shore drive and then ran up onto the overpass and turned back around running the next 4 1/2 miles in the opposite direction. So the first half of the race we could see the fast runners already making their way to the finish line and we were just beginning the Lake Shore trek! That'll make you feel slow! There were only a few bands playing on this course and to be honest they weren't very memorable. The fans I like best are the ones that have cool signs to distract you, the ones that yell out your name, and the ones that hang over the overpasses with huge speakers blaring fun music from "Rocky" and yelling for you!

Running and smiling for the cameras! (Note to race runners, you have to get the photographers attention...make a face, throw a fun hand gesture and they'll gravitate to your lovely face!) :)

View of water station, I'd hate to be on the clean-up team here!

Good fan signage!

My favorite fan by far!

The last half was good and I only stopped at the port-o-potty once. This race was different than my first because there were 20,000 people alongside me running the 13.1 miles instead of a half, full, and 10k combined. I was constantly surrounded by people and most of them were passing me, but some of them I passed. :) I try to pick a few steady runners and see if we end up finishing together.

The last mile was great because you could hear the music blaring from that far away and the announcer cheering in the finishers. There were also hundreds of family, friends, and fans waiting on the sidelines screaming, clapping, and taking pictures. As soon as I finished they put an awesome medal around my neck and directed me to all the bananas, chocolate chip cookies, and water that I wanted. I found Candace, her parents, and Kim and took victory pictures. Candace had finished about 30 minutes before me, she had a great PR for her record books!

We did it!!!

Nike+ Stats

(My app started 10 minutes early while we were still shuffling along...not cool!)

My Nike + GPS results

Stretching, popping Excedrin, and napping were next on my list and I accomplished those too. This trip and race was one I'll never forget. Can't wait to do it again and next time it will be in Louisiana!

Classic vacation pic...Feet up on the train ending a great day!

The Story of Us...

2010-07-20T21:09:00.008-05:00

It all started about 12 years ago when I attended a Freshman choir concert at the public school that I would be attending the following year. I was going to see a girlfriend of mine perform and in the middle of the production I noticed a cute, tall, dark haired boy turn beet red from something the boy(his brother) next to him had said or done. I asked the lady I was with who he was and she said, "that's Jason Sandefer." That's when it all began...

About three years later Jason began actively attending the church I was going to. He was sweet, quiet, and everyone loved him. He had a confidence about him and his Spiritual walk that made him that much more attractive to ALL the girls in the youth group. Of course I had a tiny crush on him but nothing more. We became really close friends.

During my Senior year we remained close friends as he went off to Baylor. We would chat on AOL messenger a lot. In December of 1999 I asked him if he'd come back home to go with me to our Christmas school dance called "Jingle Bell Ball" just as friends. He said yes and we had such a good time. Of course I hoped that he would show interest in me, but I wasn't really expecting anything to happen b/c our friendship was so great!

(Senior Christmas Dance)

Over the next few months we kept talking but we also started flirting. When he came home to visit his parents we hung out and started going on dates just as friends but those progressed too. I remember standing in my parents driveway one night and we began talking about the future. I didn't realize how serious we were until he said, "I always said that the next person I dated would be the one I would marry...you know that's what I'm going for with us right?" I about melted to know that he was thinking of me as his future wife.

(My Senior Prom)

(Right before going to my Operation Graduation)

(Playing racquetball at Baylor)

(Photo booth at Astroworld)

(Fishing in the rain)

(At Jason's Baylor Glee Club Concert the Winter before we got married)

(Our first youth camp together before we got married)

Over the course of our relationship we spent a lot of time on my parent's front porch swing talking and falling in love. The night after our youth pastor died he drove home early and threw rocks at my window to get my attention...I met him downstairs on the porch swing and he just held me. We were very close to Steve and it was so nice to be comforted by someone that felt the same pain. On December 24, 2001 I came home from work and he was waiting at the front porch for me. We sat on the swing and he looked so nervous...he fiddled with my hand and my "True Love Waits" ring and as he twisted it on my finger he said, "Do you love me, do you love me enough to give me this ring?" And he took it off and replaced it with the engagement ring I had picked out. I was elated!!!

(Engagement Pictures)

(At the court house picking up our marriage license)

(Luau themed wedding shower)

(Heading out to begin a new Sandefer family...)

Marathon Rewind...

2010-06-17T15:12:00.011-05:00

This is my "Marathon Rewind" post where I'll do my best to look back to a few weeks ago when I ran...really jogged, walked, huffed & puffed my first full-marathon!

Let me rewind just a tad before that...on February 28th I ran my first half marathon in Fort Worth, Texas and it was AWESOME!!! First off I trained really well for this race, I stayed on my training, running 3-8 miles almost daily and ate really well. My goal for the Half was to run it without stopping and I DID it! It felt so amazing to accomplish that. I'm not a fast runner and never have been, but I'm good at pluggin' along. In fact I was less than half way through when the "average" runners were finishing.

During the 2 months in between the Half & Full, I patted my back so hard for the good job I'd done in the Half that I sat back and enjoyed the good feelings I was having. And I sat and I sat some more and I almost backed out of the Full b/c I knew I wasn't ready. But then I started thinking that if the 400lb Biggest Loser's could complete a marathon then surely I could too even without the necessary training.

Fast forward...morning of May 1st...woke up at my parents about 5am to get ready to go...even though the race was in our hometown we ran late because the race detours were so wacky! I didn't prepare ahead with a pre-race breakfast so I settled for McD's sausage biscuit...probably not my best choice! Arrived and there were about 300 people still setting up. This was Beaumont's first race ever and things were off to a slow start. I found my virtual running friend Teri and we caught up, stretched, and synced our iPods for the race. Teri and I were something like acquaintances in high school but over the last few months we found a connection in running and finally got to know each other 10 years post high school. I found this to be an awesome perk to being a part of the running community.

Before the race started a gal asked if Jason and I wanted our pic taken together and then we took her pic as well. We started chatting and found out that she had run 8 half-marathons in the past 8 months! Wow! (Sidenote...ya know how in baseball there is a stat for everything? Well personally I find it to be a bit overkill, but when you throw stats around like 8 half-marathons in 8 months and and 142 marathons in a lifetime or running a marathon in every state...now those stats are impressive! In my humble but accurate opinion)

(This is the gal(Robyn) that ran 8 Halfs in 8 months!)

Lining up at the starting line, Teri and her running posse were chatting and laughing, Jason was walking around taking pics, and I was standing there thinking, "What am I doing here, what have I done, I didn't train for this, for the next 5-6 hours I'm going to be running and I'm not even in shape to do it! Internal screaming followed!" The gun sounded and we all took off. We ran a small 3 mile loop and came back through the start line for the first time where all the 5k-ers were cheering us on, that was kinda cool. I ran alone most of the time, like I said before I'm a slow runner. The entire race was hot and humid, weather conditions that I hadn't been training for. Thankfully there were PLENTY of water stations chock-full with GU (love the new blackberry flavor), water, powerade, bananas, and oranges (my new favorite fruit thx to the Gusher)!

About mile 9 it became such a mental battle for me and I was already so tired. At mile 12 I saw a little girl in the distance with a Hello Kitty shirt on and I was hoping and praying that the little girl was Bethany...and it was! My parents, Bethany, and Ethan were right there yelling for me and waving their hand-made signs! Sweet-relief...exactly what I needed to get me to the half-way point! My Dad said, "Are you ok? Are you going to make it?" and I said, "I don't know". That got me thinking how badly I wanted to stop and that if I did stop no one but my family would know, but then I thought of the commitment I had made and that even if I had to walk the next 13 miles that I would finish it!

Mile 13.1...The cruelest part of the course for sure b/c it was the half-way point for me, but the finish line for all those half-marathoners! So I kept going, I ran right across that finish line where proud families were hugging their recently medaled half-marathoners, not many seemed to realize that there were a few crazies running right past the finish line on to the rest of their race.

(Me at the half-way point...see everyone around me looking past me to the half-marathoners finishing)

I ran for about a mile looking behind me every few seconds to see if I was the LAST full-marathoner because it sure felt like it. Finally "Old Guy" was in my hindsight so I was encouraged. The next 7 miles were a blur. I felt so out of it and exhausted and I walked a LOT. I probably drank too much Powerade and ate way too many oranges just to give me something to do. :) As I wrapped around the downtown course I kept an eye on "Old Guy" to gauge how fast I needed to go b/c I didn't want him to pass me.

Mile 19...a very handsome guy in khaki shorts and a Baylor shirt started running toward me...he was running so fast that I thought something was wrong. When I met up with him he was smiling and I realized nothing was wrong, he had come to rescue me! My hero! He wasn't even in his running clothes and he still ran with me the rest of the way.

Mile 20...my cute little Hello Kitty, Ethan(with a broken foot), Mom & Dad, and Teresa(SIL) were all waiting with signs and cameras. This race was so small that I was the ONLY one on the road for most of the last half so it didn't bother me to have my Mom & Dad yelling "Go Jambo, Jambolina, etc." :)

Mile 21...my best friend in the world and her daughter were waiting at the bottom of a hill with a big sign...oh how I love my friends and am so very very blessed! Lindsey joined Jason and I for the rest of the race, I was so thankful for their company. I could not have finished it without them! For the next 4 mile markers Melissa would jump in her car with the sign and park at the next mile marker to get a new position for cheering! Have I mentioned how much I love her? :)

Mile 24...kids and parents were waiting again with signs, such a boost! I was fading fast! "Old Guy" was gaining with speed.

Mile 25..."Old Guy" caught up! He said, "Please don't run just because I've caught up to you." :) Boy am I thankful he sped up (or I slowed down, not sure which one) b/c he had a cool story! This was his 142nd marathon, he runs a marathon every month (b/c that's all "Old Wife" will allow him), and he has run a marathon in every state! Very cool "Old Guy"!!! Jason especially liked his shirt..."Batman & Joker: Arch Enemies"! :)

Mile 26...almost there, I was envisioning myself sitting or laying on the pavement as soon as I stopped! At the end Lins & Jason broke off to meet up with the family and I ran the last bit alone. Home free! I was so emotional that I had done it. Even though it included a lot of walking and moaning, I had completed 26.2 miles in a single day. About 30 people were still on the sidelines waiting for their families so they graciously cheered me through the finish line. Oh sweet victory, I finally felt amazing with my family and Jason's family all there congratulating me. The medal gal draped a beautiful "Gusher" medal around my neck and I was "gushing" (haha) with pride!

And then I sat!

I looked something like what I imagine "Old Wife" looked like for the rest of the day. I sat in a bathtub half-full of ice water and I know that really helped my legs recover! I took lots of Excedrin and just soaked up the pampering I was getting from the family. At that moment I thought "I'll never do a full again", but this marathon made me realize how much I really enjoy the Half and know with the right training I can do them well and it also made me realize that with the right training a full may be in my future again someday...distant future that is!

Marathon...Dream Job...Move...Backwards Bob...

2010-06-16T17:59:00.008-05:00

(The pics are ones we had taken in March...)

Since I last wrote, which feels like ages ago, so many things have happened.

-I ran (jogged/walked) my first Full marathon in Beaumont Texas...that's a whole 'nother entry

-Got a job that I could only have dreamed of...also another entry for another day

-Moved into a smaller, more Dave Ramsey friendly home...

-Took on a small fury friend for the kids, he's a cute little guinea pig with a full-body mowhawk and his name is "Backwards Bob"...my son is obsessed with Monster Trucks!

Since the Marathon my desire to run everyday has faded, or maybe I've just allowed the rest of life to dominate my time. On Sunday I begin training for the Chicago Half-Marathon with a friend of mine. She lives in Grapevine which is about 3 1/2 hours away from me so we'll be training "together" but not together. ;) I'm really excited about this because the training with a goal always gives me the motivation and consistency I need to stay on track. I'm also pumped b/c I get to fly to Chicago for the first time and it will just be a girls weekend. Holla!!!

I will do my best to be more in tuned to the blogging world and offer a glimpse into my life in hopes of inspiring others to be better and to live life on purpose.

New RoadID...

2010-03-01T23:20:00.008-06:00

"So excited...got my new FREE RoadID bracelet in the mail today!"

(Important info has been blurred to protect the innocent. :) )

Thanks to Allie at That Girl is a Running Fool, I received my FREE RoadID bracelet today. I'm so excited because it has all of my pertinent info in case I'm ever in an accident while out running AND because it's PINK! :) It also came in a really cute tin can for special storage!

I'm so easily ammused!

A Dedication to all things 13.1...

2010-02-28T16:18:00.007-06:00

(This is a look at my Nike+ stats...they are a few minutes behind the Chip stats, not sure why)

(This is a look at my Chip and Gun Stats...the Gun went off about 20 minutes before my corral was released so that time is way off!)
(This is a look at the Half-Marathon map along with my place when the female, overall, and average winners finished...very interesting...someday I'll be an AVERAGE runner :) )
(This is a look at my placement, once again it's off due to the gun times, but very interesting. I love that I picked up my pace the last 3 miles and passed 152 people!!!)

13.1 Things I learned on my first Half-Marathon...

1. Stretching is UNDERrated!!! Stretch a LOT before and after the race.

2. Fans that cheer, clap, and have big gaudy signs are AWESOME!

3. Thankful that there are other "jiggly" people who run too! (My goal was to pass them. :0) )

4. Being surrounded by 20,000 healthy and goal-oriented people is the best adrenaline rush!

5. Expo and Race snacks, t-shirts, and goodies are so cool!

6. Tissues are a must for cold runs. Therefore pockets are a must.

7. The fact that men can (and do) pee in the roadside bushes is gross, but more importantly NOT fair!!!

8. Ear warmers are wonderful for the first few miles.

9. Husbands with purple Powerade at mile 9 really love you!

10. Passing people is quite a little motivation tool while running.

11. Jackets are a nice idea in the beginning of a race, but too much later on...maybe a light longsleeve dri-fit shirt would work better for cold runs.

12. Cliff Bars are my new favorite snack bars...chocolate chip cookies are my biggest weakness and these bars taste exactly like them, but they're all organic and healthy!!! They were passing them out at the Expo...kudos to the Cliff Marketing Department!

13. Medals are super cool and a big ego booster!

13.1 Having my family at the finish line was the best part. They have seen me and helped me train for the past few months and to show them that I accomplished what I set out to is priceless to me!

(Goodie bag, traditional cotton t-shirt, New Balance Dri-fit finisher shirt, medal, magazines, keychains, food, magnets, etc)

13.1 of my favorite playlist songs...

1. Ready to Run-Dixie Chicks

2. We Will Rock You-Queen

3. Tonto Jump on it-Sugar Hill Gang

4. Party in the USA-Miley Cyrus (don't judge, it's an upbeat song!)

5. Boomin'-Tobymac

6. Ignition-Tobymac

7. Ill-M-I-Tobymac

8. I'm a Believer-Smashmouth

9. Semi Charmed Life-Third Blind Eye

10. Let's Get it Started-Black Eyed Peas

11. Boom Boom Pow-Black Eyed Peas

12. Fanatic-LeCrae

13. Rawkfist-Thousand Foot Crutch

13.1 Proud-Heather Small (theme song from Biggest Loser)

The Story of Us...

2010-02-22T15:48:00.006-06:00

The Story of Us...

About 13 years ago I was an awkward tomboy. I attended a private school, had no boyfriends, and was quite a site. I had a bowl-cut haircut (I do NOT know why), I wore knee length pin stripe shorts (again no idea), and Tazmanian Devil was my favorite "brand" to sport! About that time my family was looking for a new church to attend and we decided to visit one locally. Soon after going to this church, the youth minister's wife reached out to me and became my friend even though she was 10 years older than me. She and her husband Steve had a little girl named Lindsey and I "befriended" her. Three years later Steve was diagnosed with a brain tumor and fought it bravely for three more years. In April of 2000 (my Senior year), Steve went to spend eternity with Jesus. I remember crying harder than I ever had and bursting the blood vessels in my face b/c of it.

I graduated and moved away to start college. When I was in high school, Melissa and I were friends but there was always a certain level of friendship that we had to maintain b/c she was my leader, but as soon as I graduated our relationship immediately morphed from mentor to true friend! Over the past 10 years we have become even closer and Lindsey (now 16) has become like a sister to me.

Mel is my Naomi and I am her Ruth in that if I needed her or she needed me, I would without hesitation say "Where you go, I go; and where you live, I'll live. Your people are my people, your God is my God; where you die, I'll die, and that's where I'll be buried, so help me God-not even death itself is going to come between us!" (The Message)

Wow, What a weekend...

2010-02-22T15:00:00.004-06:00

(Found this in my fortune cookie at lunch on Sunday. FYI...I do NOT believe in luck or fortune telling, but I do believe that God wants us to prosper *that could be many different things to many different people*)

This has been a whirlwind weekend for the Sandefer household!!! Started out with my best friend Mel and her daughter coming to visit for a few days which I posted about on Friday night...then I woke up on Saturday morning to a message from our realtor asking me to call her. We aren't looking for a house right now so I wasn't really sure why she was calling. Gave her a call and she wanted to give me a JOB!!! For those of you who don't know me you should know that for the past eight years I have been a waitress (shout out to Cracker Barrel), a nanny, and a stay at home Mom which have all been great jobs, but I knew that one day I'd be able to do more. I didn't finish college b/c I was madly in love with my boyfriend and we got married. For the past few months I've been racking my brain for career ideas and local colleges to check into once my youngest goes to school. Real estate came to mind, but I didn't know how possible it could be. So for now I'll be our realtor's assistant from home (data entry, phone calls, running errands), but eventually I should know enough about the business to take the tests and become a realtor!

I have felt SO validated through this opportunity and I have to give all the glory to my God! He has been teaching me things over the past 8 months that I haven't wanted to learn! When I finally submitted to what He had to say and His direction, started to obey, then He began to bless me more than I could possibly imagine! Shout out to GOD!!!

Hotheels, Size 14's, and Dear John...

2010-02-20T01:07:00.003-06:00

This weekend my closest friend in the whole wide world came to visit me with her 16 year old daughter. (I think I will share our friendship story tomorrow so stay tuned.) She came bearing bday gifts (a month early...kinda a joke between us b/c she's always at least 3 mos. late getting her gift to me) and her gift proves that we are so likeminded! She got me the 2nd season of Gilmore Girls and for Christmas last year she had gotten me the 1st season! Last year when I got into GG I told her that she and Lindsey (daughter) would like this show b/c they have a BFF Mom/Daughter relationship too...which is WAY cool! I gave Lins the first two seasons for her bday and then they got the last 5 seasons soon after...turned out I was right! They loved them and are now getting me the same gifts! Sweet!

Left the kiddos with Jason and we went to Kohl's and I got some awesome deals! I am such a bargain shopper and I LOVE that about me. I got a new "giraffe" print purse by Nine & Co. for $19, an adorable Elle top with necklace attached for $6, some HOT purple heels for $8, and some sharp blue jeans for $14 in a size 14!!! This is a big deal for me b/c for the past year I've been sporting a 16-18 and boy am I happy to have moved on. No offense 16-18, but 14 and under is really more what I'm looking for!

Then I took her to our local Cinema Grill (she'd never done this before) and we ordered burgers and Texas toothpicks (fried jalapenos & onion strips) while watching "Dear John." I had to come prepared to this movie b/c I did not want to be a balling baby so I found out exactly what was going to happen before I would see it. I'm not normally a plot spoiler for myself, but my baby brother is in the Marines and I'm just not in a good mental/emotional spot right now to watch soldiers dying and loved ones in pain. I only cried once! I was very proud of myself and it was during a sweet Dad & son moment. It was a pretty clean movie, very little language and one intimate scene that lasted too long in my opinion but showed no nudity.

Today is my rest day for running and I thoroughly enjoyed my day off! Looking forward to the fun we shall have tomorrow and I'll do my best to get in a run even with my fabulous company!

In the 60's Again...

2010-02-19T00:59:00.004-06:00

Pics Above: Last time I weighed in the upper 160's.

1) Thanksgiving '08 playing Twister with my man

2) About to zipline with my new friends from Gateway at a Women's Retreat 11/08

3) With my MIL & SIL at Joyce Meyer Conference 11/08

"In the 60's again...woohoo!!!"

I hit another milestone today! It's been well over a year since I've weighed in the 160's, granted I'm at 169 right now, but it's still in the 160's! That brings my total to 24 lbs. lost. I have been running so much to get ready for the upcoming marathons that even though the weight has slowly come off, I have been very content with that. I feel better, my clothes fit better, and I'm more confident because I'm an active Momma & wife now!

I'm trying not to think too much about it, but lately my knees and toes have been hurting a bit. The knees starting to "talk back" to me a few weeks ago when I upped my weekly mileage from 20 to 35 in order to train for the full marathon. So after each run I ice them with my Biggest Loser promotion ice packs only from your local Walgreens! Haha I actually love that I'm such a sucker for sales even if the promo acting sucks! The toes "talking back" are another story. Last weekend I went to the Nike Outlet to get some new shoes and the ones I got felt good in the store, but after I ran a 7 mile trek in them I realized they were not the shoes for me! My feet especially my toes were throbbing the entire 7 miles and I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't have my phone to call Jason to pick me up so I just ran faster and harder praying that the harder I ran the more numb my toes would go...and thankfully it worked. Ever since that run my left toes feel bruised or something. I iced them tonight and tomorrow is my rest day so I'm really hoping they heal quickly. I want my first half to be a huge success for me. If you look at my pace you'll know that success is not winning the race, but actually finishing it. My goal is to run (glorified jogging at 11 min/mile) the entire 13.1 miles.

13.1 things...

2010-02-17T19:16:00.004-06:00

(Photo from last year's Cowtown 10k)

"Got my Bib # in for the Cowtown, I'll be#7718...Woohoo!!!"

Only 10 days away from running the Cowtown Half-Marathon. Here is a list of 13.1 things that I'm looking forward to about running 13.1 miles.

1. Running the same race, but longer distance, a year after my first race in FW.

2. Making the men in my life proud...my husband, brother, and Daddy

3. "Free" Energy gels at mile 9

4. Having 13.1 miles of "alone" time in my head.

5. The adrenaline rush of race day

6. Receiving a Finisher's Medal

7. Running in my new Nike+ Pegasus Shoes

8. The energy of the racers and crowd

9. Having the endurance to run 13.1 miles

10. Running in one Nike+ Dri-Fit sports bra instead of two sports bras.

11. "Free" Race day t-shirt (hope to have a quilt made someday of all my races)

12. Being closer to my goal weight...23lbs. down...40lbs. to go...

13. My family waiting for me at the finish line.

13.1 Completing the Half-Marathon (hopefully first of many)

Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready...Ready to Run...

2010-02-17T00:31:00.007-06:00

Pictures Above: Last year I ran with my good pals from Adidas. Since then I have run over 400 miles and have lost 23lbs. Finally I have some new friends from Nike and I'm super excited that they're pink! :)

"So ready and excited for our getaway next week: Stop at Baylor (pics on our swing), Visit with friends/family, First Half-Marathon/Cowtown (where I began my running journey a year ago with my brother...sweet), Family Pictures..."

I'm not a huge Dixie Chicks fan, but I love the song "Ready to Run." My first thought is of Julia Roberts running away from marital bliss in the movie "Runaway Bride" but lately it has become one of my go to songs for physically running. I was recently talking to my Dad about what running has come to mean to me and I realized (while talking outloud) that running is somewhat of a Spiritual experience for me. No, I haven't gone New Age...when I run, everything else stops. I have nothing to do except think and that gives me time to pray and reflect. When I run, I'm reminded of how grateful I am for my God, my family, and my life! Some of my closest times with God have been as a result of my times on the treadmill. Running also gives me that boost of confidence that says "I am woman, hear me roar"...or more like "I'm a full-time Mom who still finds time to take care of herself" which I think all Moms should do and said Moms should get lots of rubber cookies for! :)

My post today is pretty explanatory. Next week I'm running my first half-marathon in Fort Worth which I'm really excited about. I've been training for the past few months and the most I have run has been an 11 miler. I think the adrenaline of the day and the energy of the other racers and staff will push me those last 2 miles that I've never done. I'm also excited because my husband and kids will be at the finish line. A few years ago when my mind started to wander through goals and aspirations that I'd like to accomplish, one of those goals was to be a race runner so that my kids would not only see me constantly training, but would also see me achieving goals that I set for myself. I want to represent a healthy lifestyle. I can't wait to see their proud faces at the goal line!

Yet another reason to run the Cowtown in Fort Worth, 3 hours from my current home, is for the sentimental reasons. Last year when we lived only 20 minutes from FW a group of girls from my church Bible Study and my "little" brother (on leave from Marine Boot Camp graduation) all ran the Cowtown 10k. I had NOT trained for this run so I walked...a lot, but when I got to the finish line I was beaming with pride...my first race...check! I think it would be nice to run the Cowtown every year as a reminder of where I've been and where I'm going. :)

Absolutely, positively, 100%...

2009-12-16T21:48:00.002-06:00

"Ran 3 miles on 12/16 at 8:47 PM with a pace of 10'42"/mi"

Last Wednesday I presented myself with a challenge to run 200 miles in the next 80 days and within two days I had run 14 miles. I was off to a great start! And then I skipped a day, and that day turned into two, and those days turned into three, and so on and so on. Now a week later I got back on the treadmill heavier than I was a week ago because of all the dang cakeballs that I consumed in the process of preparing for Christmas parties. This leads to my title...I absolutely, positively, 100% HATE yo-yo dieting! I just want to get with the program and be consistent!!!

At least I got back on the treadmill tonight and now I'm down 17 miles. 183 miles to go...

All I Want For Christmas...

2009-12-10T23:12:00.006-06:00

Bethany had a project at school to write down three things she wanted for Christmas...

1. Pink Leapster video game

2. Pink hairdryer

3. Pink tweezers

She is ALL girl and I LOVE it!

Here's the "thing"...

2009-12-10T22:55:00.010-06:00

"Ran 3 mi on 12/10/2009 at 9:30 PM with a pace of 10'58" mi"

This evening we drove down to Lone Star College in Tomball to see Chelsea's nurses pinning. This allows her to officially practice nursing, but she'll continue to pursue her RN degree in the near future. I've only known Chelsea a few months and I am so thankful for her already. She is such a Godly and driven woman that I know will be a constant encouragement in my life.

Being at the college made me think about my educational journey and how I know that I'm not done. I have a slew of things that I'd like to pursue one day: interior design, sign language interpreting, business ownership, baking, photography, and real estate. A few years ago I decided to pause my career choices and focus on raising a family so I've been pondering over what my "thing" should be for now until the kids are both in school and I have the resources to go back to school. Obviously my ministry in the community and our Real Life Family Church is at the top of my priority "thing" list, but I need a "thing" for me to also focus on to keep me motivated and energized. So if you've been reading this blog from it's beginning then you can probably figure out that my "thing" is going to be running. I love the feeling that I get when I'm on the treadmill. I can drown out all the stresses of the day and just think about bettering myself.

The Challenge Begins...

2009-12-10T12:23:00.005-06:00

(Our first family picture taken in January 2008)

It has been over a month since my last update and almost a month between my running. When I had the Human Race 10k to look forward to, I pushed myself to make that goal. When the race was over I had no goals so apparently I need a goal to keep me running.

Commence Goal...in exactly 80 days I will run the Cowtown 10k in Fort Worth with Candace and on the same day I will be taking family pictures by the fabulous Amy Pennington! My goal is to run 200 miles in those 80 days and therefore lose 20 additional poundage. I want to feel and look amazing in our family pictures and 80 days seems like a reasonable goal to help that happen! I am very much motivated by competition so if any of my readers (all 2 of you) would like to join me in this challenge, I would absolutely love it! I'm tracking my runs on Nike+ of course, but we can compare runs the old fashioned way via email. Haha, it makes me laugh that email is now old fashioned stacked up against Twitter, Facebook, and Nike+.

Strawberry Shortcake is the Winner...

2009-10-24T22:42:00.004-05:00

"Getting ready for Tyler's party tonight...the kids have been ready for hours, they're so excited and are already in costume!"

Our neighbor Tyler invited us to his Halloween party so Bethany dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake for the second year in a row (b/c she loves the painted on freckles) and Ethan insisted on being a baseball player. The kids were so cute and they had such a great time. Bethany even won the best costume award and they both came home with tons of candy! We have been very blessed with such great neighbors, I am so thankful for them!

Nike+ Human Race Day...

2009-10-24T22:31:00.006-05:00

"Ran 6.23 mi on 10/24/2009 at 7:09 AM with a pace of 10'44"/mi"

Today was race day. We woke up at 5am to get ready and head to the Woodlands where we met about 200 other Nike+ Human Race runners at 7 in the morning. The race began and my iPod was out of sync so it didn't start for a few hundred meters and then once I got it working I realized that I had no music on it! After all of that chaos I ran and I didn't stop the entire run. People passed me the whole run, but I didn't care because my goal was to not walk at all. I finished with a time of 66 minutes which has been my average. I was hoping to get in under 60 minutes, but that will have to be the goal for another day. Candace has asked me to run the Cowtown 10k with her in February so that is when I'll try again!

I did it!!!

Hope...

2009-10-20T23:39:00.003-05:00

"Ran 6.21 miles on 10/20/2009 with a pace of 10'59"/mile"

After watching the Biggest Loser tonight I had to get on the treadmill. I have been eating too many cookies & hotdogs over the last few days that I needed a good activity boost! Ran my last practice 10k before the Nike Human Race this Saturday. I'm really looking forward to running this race with Jason. I'm so proud of our goals and where we're "running" with them. :)

100 Miles...

2009-10-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

"Ran 3.01 miles on 10/15/2009 with a pace of 11'47"/mile"

"Just finished my 100th mile in 34 days!"

On September 10, 2009 if you had told me that 35 days later I would have just finished running 100 miles, I would have said "You're crazy." On that day prior to my beginning, I'm pretty sure that cookies, Taco Bell, and chips were party of my regular diet! I still have those things but not often and in very limited moderation. This is a huge milestone for me because I have always loved running but have never made it a consistent habit. 100 miles in 34 days means that on average I have run about 3 miles a day. I skipped most weekends and have run a 10k (6.2 miles) at least once a week...that looks like the beginning of a consistent habit to me. :)

3 More Miles...

2009-10-14T15:53:00.001-05:00

"Ran 3.01 miles on 10/14/2009 with a pace of 10'28"/mile"

Only 3 miles away from running 100 miles with Nike+!"

Ship the Nikes to Me...

2009-10-13T21:19:00.004-05:00

"Ran 6.22 miles on 10/13/2009 at 7:07 pm with a pace of 11'01"/mile"

"Just finished qualifying for a challenge to win a pair of Nikes. PLEASE pray that I win them, b/c my shoe are very tired and old. :) "

It amazes me how easily distracted I am by The Biggest Loser. For the past two weeks I have run a 10k without stopping because I am so wrapped up in watching other people workout. It motivates me so much to see people bigger than me busting their butts harder than I do. By running the 10k tonight I also qualified myself for a Nike challenge to win a new pair of Nikes. I really need new shoes! I have run a lot of unaccounted miles over the past year and 94 miles in the past month so my cute Adidas shoes are TIRED! The Nike+ shoes would also be so great because it has a built in area for the Nike+ sensor instead of tucking it under my shoelaces with the chance of it falling out and failing to track my run. I am getting more and more excited about the Human Race 10k in 12 days and I am actually going to be prepared for this one! Oh and I also won a Human Race t-shirt from Petey Crowder b/c five more of my friends signed up to be part of his team! Woohoo!

Biggest Loser weighs in...

2009-10-13T12:58:00.007-05:00

"Can't wait for BL tonight!!!"

Biggest Loser has been such a source of inspiration for me. I could definitely do without all the teenage drama, but the ability that the contestants have to change in just months motivates me. I know it's cheesy and trite but when I watch people that are 300-400 lbs working their butts off (literally) then I say "If they can do it, then I can do it."

In the 70's Again...

2009-10-13T11:28:00.004-05:00

"Finally broke into the 70's...it's been 10 months!"

January of this year was the last time I weighed in the 170's and today when I stepped on my enemy of a scale it said 178!!! Exactly one month ago I started running and started at my highest weight of 193. I wanted it to come off much quicker, but am thankful for the days that I chose the 100 calorie popcorn over the chocolate chip cookies with M&M's. Eating healthier and smaller portions have been my weight-loss plan...oh and running of course!

13 Days...

2009-10-12T23:20:00.008-05:00

"Ran 3.01 mi on 10/12/2009 at 9:29 PM with a pace of 10'45"/mi"

Only 13 Days until the Nike+ Human Race 10k in The Woodlands and I'm trying to complete a challenge to win a new pair of Nike+ enabled shoes. This should explain the insanity of my running 8 miles a day! :)

Trudging along...

2009-10-12T18:49:00.000-05:00

"Ran 5.01 mi on 10/12/2009 at 5:37 PM with a pace of 11'45"/mi"

Had a sluggish run due to all the cookies, donuts, and Mexican food that I've stuffed into my body the past three days. Oh how I love Mexican food. Thanks to Mandy & Valerie I had a double dose of chips and really good salsa this weekend. And we all know Mexican food is solely defined by the salsa that the restaurant serves. Why wasn't I paying more attention at last weeks Biggest Loser episode when they all went to a fancy schmancy Mexican restaurant and as soon as the chips were brought out, the beautiful trainers with rock hard bodies sent them back to the kitchen. Dang my lack of will-power. :(

Meet Petey...

2009-10-12T15:29:00.000-05:00

"Petey's story is so cool!"

On September 11, 2009 I moved my eye sore of a treadmill from the garage to my office where I could run "comfortably" and be able to watch my kids (and my favorite tv shows) while shedding some poundage. To date I have run 78 miles and have lost 13 lbs. Along the way I found myself clicking on every possible link at www.nikerunning.nike.com/nikeplus/. I registered for the Nike+ Human Race 10k on October 24th and was directed to find a Human Race Ambassador to connect with to stay motivated and encouraged. Here is where I met Petey. Petey has a story similar to mine. He is a Christ-follower and works in a large church in the Dallas area and he lost 50 lbs soley by running. I immediately connected with him and thought if he can lose that weight by running then I can lose that weight, which is about how much I need to lose.

Check out his story and get your running shoes on!

Organizing my life...

2009-10-12T15:18:00.002-05:00

"Just condensed 100 photo albums to 14...something must be wrong with me since I seem to need organization in every area of my life even FB!"

Lately I have become aware of my obsession with organization. From my kids closets to my kitchen cabinets to my clothes hung in order of relevance and style and finally to my Facebook. At first this may sound a bit crazy and unnecessary, but after years of "training" in this area I have come to see it as my gifting. Recently I volunteered to organize our church's upcoming "Trunk or Treat" event in lieu of Halloween. I have enjoyed it so much that I have found a higher purpose in my crazy manic organizing and have turned it into benefiting more than just my simple self. This has been a very liberating discovery for me.

The picture posted is an example of my gifting to Bethany's closet. :)

In the beginning...

2009-10-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

In the beginning Facebook was just a forum to connect me with long lost friends and family and the more time I spent on the site, I realized that I was actually allowing it to be a picture into my life for all to see. The more status updates I posted the more I realized that if I compiled all of my day to day updates then it would look more like a journal and take a lot less time than the "pie in the sky" idea of lengthy writing I aspired to daily.

This is when the idea of journaling my updates began.