daily affirmation

I'm not always the most positive person about myself.

I think I'm going to try to change that this year.

I'm a child of God - He is my Creator.

He made me.

That's pretty cool, if you ask me.

I saw this video on another blog, and I love it. I think I'll start doing this in the mornings before I leave for work.

Yep - I'll dance around on my sink and everything. Check it out!!



What do you think?

Okay. Maybe I won't dance around on my sink like she did. Maybe I won't say these things out loud and get as excited about it as she did.

But I think I will try to make a point of being more positive about myself and who I am in Christ.

My daily affirmation is found in the Word. I'll start there.



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Snow day

Well, we've had our second "big" snow of our winter season already, and it's only the second week of January? Good gravy! So, because of our 7+ inches of snow, we had no work (school) today, and we'll be out tomorrow as well.

Having gone for a run on Saturday and not feeling any pain whatsoever, I was pretty excited about getting back into a training regime for my running. But, today's snow has put a road block up. Arg. I decided that I'd pull out my WiiFit game for some exercise this evening. I must say that I forgot how difficult those things can be! Woo!

So, seeing as how I'm one that needs to have a plan, I think I've come up with a semi-plan for now. I'm going to do the Cooper River Bridge Run (10k in Charleston, SC) in April. I'm hoping to train enough to get my time under an hour for the run. That gives me 3 months to train for it. I know I could run 10k right now, but I really want to improve my time and make sure it's a good race for me. I'm also planning to run an 8k in May (I think it's May...), with some 5k runs scattered here and there throughout.

As much as I hated canceling my Disney Marathon run, I also know that it was for the best because my knees really would not have been able to handle the 26 miles I would have run. So, I'm going to make the best of my pain-free knees and go from there. I'm hoping to train over this whole year towards the Disney Marathon for next year. That's my New Year's Resolution! :)

Happy running, friends!


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a new year, and some new knees!

I've been terrible with keeping up with this blog! My apologies. :)

I went running yesterday. Ran 5k. And I had no knee pain at all. None! Zip! Nada!! That's the first run since September that I didn't have knee pain afterward. I think I'm back in the game, folks! It's so much easier to go for a run when you're not afraid of killing your knees again.

So, I have a goal for myself. I was supposed to run the Disney Marathon today, but I didn't because of my knee. My goal is now to train over this year so that I can run the Disney Marathon next year. I know I can do it - I have no doubt about that. I just have to set my mind to it and just do it. I think training for a year will help me to do it slowly so that I don't have another injury.

Considering that a year ago, I was still only running about 8 minutes at a time (using the C25K plan), I think I'm doing pretty good...even if I didn't run a full marathon today. :)

What a gorgeous day, and a glorious run!

I think I'm finally back into the game, folks!! After running my half marathon in September, I have basically been out of commission when it comes to my running because of my knees. I tried resting them, but that didn't do enough to help me get back on my feet and running again.

Finally, after talking with several coworkers, I decided to bite the bullet and new running shoes. I've had my old ones for about 6 or 7 months now probably, so I was pretty overdue on some new ones. I also got a knee brace, and I talked with a coworker's husband (he's a doctor) about some exercises I can do to strengthen and help heal my knees (he told me I most likely have runner's knee). Sooo...coupled with all of those things, I think my knees are finally better!!!!...or at least on the mend. :)

I went running this morning, and it was GREAT! I ran 5.23 miles, and I felt like I could run more. I stopped mainly because I was coming to the part in my route that has tons of hills, and I don't want to overdo it with hills in fear of overworking my knees too soon. So, I went for 5.23 miles and decided to walk the rest (probably about another mile). I'll be stretching soon and will probably ice my knees a little since that's what the doctor ordered - I just wanted to post my excitement first. :)

Now to figure out a plan to get me up to a marathon distance by January! :)

I took this picture on my run today. I absolutely love how sunlight dances through the gorgeous-colored leaves during fall. Just wish pictures truly displayed this beauty!

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Paint the Moon's Giveaway

I'm entering an amaaaazing giveaway on a great blog, and I thought I would share!!

Visit http://paintthemoon.net/blog/2010/10/the-incredible-giveaway-photoshop-actions-photography-resources/ to see what "The Incredible Giveaway" is all about!!! Paint the Moon offers many "Actions" and "Textures" you can use in Photoshop to edit pictures. I love her products and can't wait to start using them!!!!

Since I’ve been gone….

Well, it has been way too long since I have updated my running blog, and I must say – I haven’t been doing too terribly great with my running training.  I am running a full marathon in a little over 2 months, and I’m not ready for it one bit.  I put together a training schedule that will start on Monday.  I can’t wait to get going with the new schedule – I just can’t get myself to run until then for some reason.  bah.

Since I updated last, I ran my half marathon (Sept. 18, 2010 – 16.1 miles)!!  This was two days before my 25 birthday, and I think it was a fun fun way to ring in my 1/4 century year.  The race went well.  Mom, my cousin Cindy, and I went to Ashville, NC, and stayed Friday night so that I could run on Saturday.  It was a bit rough because of the monstrous hills all over Ashville, but I had fun!!  I walked up the hills, ran the rest of the course, and finished in about 2hr 34min.  Not too bad for walking a lot of it!!  :)

After half marathon – still smiling for some strange reason! ;)

Since my last update, I also ran in the annual 5k for Breast Cancer.  This was a pretty touching race as many of the people ran with loved ones’ names on their backs – either in memory of or in celebration of.  The ones that read, “I’m running in memory of my mom.” or the like completely broke my heart.

After the Breast Cancer race - I ran in memory of Mrs. Rita. 

Mrs. Rita was my Sunday School teacher for many years (high school and college), and she was also a youth worker all through my high school years.  She was always full of wisdom, laughs, and was an amazing prayer warrior.  

I can tell you the 9 Fruits of the Spirit because of a challenge Mrs. Rita gave us one year in Sunday School – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And even now, when I get hungry late at night, I always remember her bit of wisdom that she shared many nights on youth trips:  If you get hungry late at night, you need to just go to bed.

Mrs. Rita didn’t let her cancer deter her from believing God’s word.  She knew full well that God would heal her, and although He didn’t heal her in the way we wanted, she is now completely healed and cancer free!  Woo!!

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As I said, I’m running a full marathon in January.  It will be the annual Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida, and I can’t wait!!!  Throughout my training, I have been raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It hasn’t been easy.  Out of the $2,900 that I have to raise before my race, I’ve raised a little over $1,000 of it.  Quite a bit left to raise!!  Please take a moment to visit my fundraising website - http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw11/ejustice – so that you can read my running story and possibly donate towards my run as well!!

Through your donation, you’ll be helping the LLS supply money for researchers working to cure blood cancers, provide encouraging services to blood cancer patients, and educate the public about these diseases.  I can’t raise the $2,900 without you!!

 

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running is a psychological sport

Well, first, I wanted to post the link to my LLS fund raising website. Please take a look and consider a donation! Even just $20 would go a long way in helping to find a cure and support blood cancer patients!!

http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw11/ejustice

Okay, now back to the psychological side of running. I've been quickly increasing my mileage to cram for my half marathon that's just two weekends away from this coming weekend (EEK!!). Today, I did 6mi, and it went pretty well - except for the part that took me into the woods for a quick potty stop. I know, I'm crazy and ridiculous, but there's no way I could have kept going! lol

Anyhoo, back to my point. The route that I run is roughly about 3mi, so increasing my mileage is a bit tough sometimes whenever I have to run it twice. My mind focuses on the fact that I have 5 more hills to run, or I have 3 more streets to turn down. I get distracted away from my running and start thinking about how far is left based on the route. So, to help with this, I've started running new roads in the neighborhood that I run in. This helps so much, and I'm finding myself flying through my runs (mentally - they still take the same amount of time lol) without having to remind myself to focus on my running. It's crazy how much running down a new run makes me feel like my run is going faster than if I had gone the original route. Whatever works though!! :D

Don't forget to check out my LLS fund raising website - http://pages.teamintraining.org/nc/wdw11/ejustice - to find out why I'm training for the Disney Marathon! You can also donate directly on the website! Super simple! :D

Happy running, friends.

From my latest 5k race - Rock N Run in Charlotte, NC.

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