Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Paint the Moon's Giveaway
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!!!!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
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!!
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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Monday, August 30, 2010
running is a psychological sport
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.
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
Welcome back ... and some exciting news!
I went for a 4.75mi run today, and it was great...but my Nike+ didn't log it for some reason. I'm so sad about this!!! Yes, I know that I went running, but I want my Nike+ to know too so that it can put it in the challenges I joined and towards my next distance level on the website. Sad times.
On another note - I'm about to start another great adventure!! :D I received a flier in the mail about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's training program called Team In Training (TNT). In a nutshell, they train you to participate in some sort of event (half or full marathon, triathlon, bike race, etc.) in exchange for you raising money for the society (with which they fund blood cancer research, aid to blood cancer patients, and many other things).
I went to an informational meeting last night about it, and I am SO extremely pumped!!! I've decided to train for the Walt Disney World Full Marathon, which is the first full weekend of January. We'll run our full marathon that Sunday, and it will take us through the park. We'll apparently be approaching the finish line with the Disney characters!! I can't wait - it sounds like such a great time!!
As part of the TNT program, our training team will meet on Tuesday nights to discuss the mechanics of running - running form, gear, and fueling yourself for runs. We'll then meet early Saturday mornings to increase our mileage. They'll also give us a schedule to follow on the in between days with runs and cross training days in there. Such a great chance for encouragement and some one-on-one training!! I cannot wait! I've always wanted to at least talk with a running coach, and this opportunity will have me working with one twice a week! WOO!!
One of the neat things about this program is that it definitely puts a purpose behind your running. I won't be running to just finish the race or prove something to myself and my body, I'll be running to help blood cancer research and cures. Our team will be partnered with a blood cancer patient, and we'll build a friendship with this person as we learn about their disease, treatment, and struggles they face. For myself, I'll have my uncle in mind. Although he did not suffer from a blood cancer, he did have a form of cancer that quickly took his life. Watching him (and my aunt & cousin) go through his treatments and life-altering procedures completely changed my own life and my perspective on life. I can't imagine how it is to be the person going through it. For these people, I will run.
As I said in the first part of this novel, the TNT program trains us to run in exchange for fund raising moneys. So, as a participant in this program, I will work towards a fund raising goal of $3,500. 75% of this money will go directly towards blood cancer research/patient outreach, and the remaining 25% will be used to fund my flight tickets, hotel stay, event registration, and some of my meals. I do not have my fund raising website set up yet (it will be done for me by the TNT people), but once I do, I will post the link here...so be checking back to find out how you can help send me to Disney and help find a cure for blood cancers!!
Okay - so, I do believe that I am done with my novel. I've been wanting to post about this new adventure that I'll be embarking on, but I didn't want to do so until after the informational meeting. :) Let me know what you think!! And don't forget to check back for more progress reports. I do believe I'm back in the great game of running.
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Sunday, July 4, 2010
meh
Hopefully tomorrow will be the day.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
6 miles - woo!! (W1D3 done)
Of course, since it was getting dark outside, the little critters were all starting to come out for the evening. I ran into countless bugs, had one up my nose and one in my mouth at some point. I jumped a few feet in the air twice when I ran across some frogs hopping across the road. But, the best part of my run (not those those things were necessarily good...just memorable!) was at the beginning. When I headed out, the sky was a GORGEOUS pink color as the sun was setting. If you know anything about me, you'd know that I love love pink, and this pink was of no exception! It was even better since God created that hue right there in the sky...never again to be created or seen. I tried taking a picture of it while I was running, but it didn't quite turn out....since I was running, of course. lol
Okay. I'm done rambling!! All in all, aside from the bugs and frogs, I had a marvelous run tonight!! I did 6mi in about 1hr 2min. And, I'm now officially done with Week1 of my half-marathon training.
Maybe I'm getting closer to being a Road Runner. *meep meep!*
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Half Training W1D2
Ugg. I gave up after mile 4. It was so extremely hot, even at just 10:00, that I couldn't go any further. I even stopped my Nike+ workout, walked towards my car some, and decided that I was ridiculous and just needed to finish the 5mi workout I had planned. So, I started my Nike+ on a 1mi workout, went about a tenth of the mile, and stopped running again. I felt like a complete failure, but I just couldn't do it. It was so extremely hot.
Moral of the story? I mean, I have to learn something from this, right? I'll definitely be out of the house and running by 9:00 from now on. I can't handle running in that extreme heat!
Tomorrow and Friday are both rest days, but Saturday holds my long run. This week's long run is 6mi. I'll be heading out for that around 8:30 or 9:00 hopefully. I'll let you know how that goes.
Happy running!
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