God is Great!

Yesterday I was running my last run before Saturday's race. I had decided to run through downtown and then up and over the swinging bridge and back. The round trip was just 3 miles. All the while I was running along the water, I was watching just enjoying the beautiful day and the gorgeous view. There wasn't much in the way of wildlife to see, but the day was breath taking.

On my return trip, I was feeling like I was out of steam. Going up the bridge at the end of my run was exhausting me. I sent up an arrow prayer asking for God to show me that I had the strength and endurance to persevere. Just after I prayed, I looked down into the water beside me. There was a solitary dolphin! She swam beside me, just barely going under the water so I could still see her from topside. She swam beside me for the entire UP of the bridge. For the length of my training, I have felt a bit silly asking for God to help me run three simple miles, but when I saw his immediate answer to my prayer, I felt overwhelmed with emotion and so encouraged! After I made it to the top of the bridge, I looked down, and my Heavenly dolphin was gone. I couldn't find her. It was a truly awesome moment!

Oh, and yeah, I did run my entire 3 miles, knowing God had my back!

LOOOOOVE THIS!!

This is my new favorite quote:

"Girl, you are not old until you go from a 36B to a 40 Long!"

Oh, I am sooo on my way to being old!!

Running like the wind blows!

I feel like Forrest Gump when he figured out how to run. (Not the heh, heh, heh!" "Your momma sure cares about your schooling, boy.") The running Forrest... I ran 2.5 miles on Monday and it was great. As Forrest said, "After that point, wherever I was going, I was running!" I'm not really running everywhere, but I feel like I could!

On to run 2.75 miles tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers!!

February's Over Already???

We had a great February. Our big highlights were a visit with Bryan's cousin, Kelly, when she was in Savannah, as well as a visit to Cadey's dance class. The school only has observation days twice a year (yeah, don't get me started on that!!) so we went and watched Cadey do ballet and tap. It was a lot of fun!

Enjoy the photos!

Up, down, and up again...

This week was a challenging one for my 5K training. Monday's run was okay. Felt like someone sitting on my chest, but I completed the "assigned" workout. Wednesday didn't go as well. I was supposed to run 10 minutes, walk 5, and then run an additional 10 minutes. I wasn't able to do it. AUUUGGGHHH!!! I ran for 10 minutes feeling like I was dying. Then I walked the 5 minutes and started running again. By 7 minutes, I was near dead. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were burning, I was coughing, my shoulders were extremely tense and I was VERY discouraged. So I stopped and walked. I walked for 3 minutes, and then ran for another couple of minutes. I was very discouraged and disappointed.
I think there were several reasons I was unsuccessful run on Wednesday. First, I thought it would be no problem to run less than 10 minute miles. However, I had had nothing to time my pace. So, my friend Beth loaned me her Garmin Forerunner (if you've got an extra $300 to burn on a tech gizmo, this one is it!!). The Forerunner tracks your heart rate, pace, miles run, and has a timer. So, I made sure that my pace was under 10 minutes. I think that was the major factor. I was running too fast.
So, after talking to my "coach" and number one cheerleader (Thanks, Laura!!) she advised me to slow down to a 10:30 to 10:45 pace. I tried it today and did great. I am back on track with my program. I ran 2.2 miles without stopping. But, the greatest news is that it was easy, fun, and enjoyable. Those are three things I couldn't claim previously. I dare say that I found the "zone" as I wasn't worried about time, how far I'd gone, or what hurt most. I didn't even fiddle around with my iPod during the run.
Needless to say, I'm on a running high today.
Keep me in your prayers for Monday. I am scheduled to run 2.5 miles without stopping. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...