Like a long-lost friend!

I got out to pound a little pavement this morning!  It has been quite a while since I’ve done that.  It was like reconnecting with a long-lost friend!   It felt great, even though I wasn’t able to run like I use to.  Just another reason for me to get back to it, by the way.  I have such a hard time finding the motivation to run on a regular basis, but when I do go for a run, I love it and I’m so glad I do it.  What is the deal?  Anyone else out there struggle with this?  I’m sure if I could make it a habit I would have no issue with this, but the problem is getting to the point where this is a habit.   All advice is welcome!

Oh, before I run off, I have to mention that tomorrow will be my first field trip with my little pre-k’er.  I know, “it’s the end of the year and this is your first field trip with her?” is what you’re thinking.  But I worked the first half of the school year, and my husband went on all of them.  This is the first trip since I’ve been back home.  And let me just tell you, I am super excited!

Running Update!

I am soo sorry!!!!!

I know I have not updated you guys in forever.  I’m really sorry about that.  Its been crazy!  My kid was sick, and I’ve been sick, and our schedule has been a bit crazy.

Anyhow, I had my first 5k on Saturday in Ruston, La.  It was super hard between the hills, the heat, and being sick.  However, I finished and didn’t come in last!  Those were my top goals!  My time was 52:12.  That def. is not good, but at least I did it.  I am back into the training.  My goal is to be able to run 3 miles by the time we leave for vacation on July 30th.  I think I can do that!  Again, the weight loss isn’t going so well.  I think I’m going to have to buff up the diet.  I really would like to lose some more weight before vacation.  Any advice is welcome btw!!

Love ya & keep on runnin’

C25K Week 4 Day 3

As you see from the title, we only got 3 days in this week.  On Wednesday M was feeling under the weather, and I honestly didn’t have the motivation at 4am to get up and go alone.  However, I did get my husband out with me that evening for a mile and a half.  He walked, I ran a little.  It was better than nothing.  Wednesday night we had some icky weather which kept us up with the dogs until after 1:00am, so by the time we got the dogs back out, in bed and asleep, it was a good 2:00am.  By this point I wasn’t feeling hot and was super tired, so Thursday was a no go.  This morning however, we started our run with prayer.  What an awesome way to start the morning!  We were able to run every bit that the program calls for!  That means we ran 1/2 mile without stopping!  I’m so proud of us!  That 1/2 mile was the 5 minute stint, which we did again at the end.  In total we ran 16 minutes – 20 minutes, which was equal to about 2 miles.  Isn’t that great!!  For the first 5 minutes of running, we started going up a hill with a slight, steady incline.  It is so tough, but I was determined to do it!  The whole way up that hill I prayed, and thanked God for many things.  With every step, I praised him!  I thanked him for family members, for having M to run with and push me, for having the ability to run, for having such support from friends and family, for having the motivation and desire to get healthy, for having the motivation to get up every morning at 4:30am….I just spent that time praising Him!  It helped me and empowered me so much!  It was nice to have my mind on something other than, “when is 5 minutes going to be up?!” for once.   Now the numbers on the scale are at a standstill again this week, but I can hear God telling me not to worry about the number.  If I become worried about numbers, like weight and size, I will become obsessed, which will result in me using unhealthy methods to get the numbers down.  I know that, and God knows that.  And I know that does not please God, and it does not lift Him up in any way.  As long as I am working hard, and getting my body healthy, that is all that matters.  I will continue to check my weight because this does give me an idea of what my body is doing, as well as some extra motivation, but I most def. can’t make this all about the numbers, and for once in my life….I’m okay with that.  I know that God will continue to reveal things to me, and motivate me, and work in and through me.

Have a blessed Memorial Day weekend!  Thanks for reading!  On to Week 5 on Monday!

C25K Week 4 Day 2

This morning’s run was slightly easier overall than yesterday’s, and we were able to run more than we had.  Now, that last 5 minute stint about killed me.  It was really tough!  Surely it will be a little easier tomorrow morning.  They are predicting rain for us here on Thursday, so I fear that we may miss a day of running this week.  This morning during our run, one of my neighbors came out for an early morning run as well.  She usually runs in the afternoons, but said with it getting so hot, she thought she might do better going in the mornings.  She told us that she just ran her first marathon in Feb. and that she is involved in a running group.  A running group sounds great, but we aren’t quite ready for something like that.  She was thrilled to see someone else out training like herself, and said we were def. doing it right.  That was nice to hear, because lets face it, sometimes we really doubt ourselves and what we are doing, esp. when it comes to running.  Sometimes I wonder if this program will really work for me and if I will ever work up to where I want to be.  So needless to say, her words were very comforting and encouraging for me.  The 5k my husband and I hope to run is in about a month.  I hope I can do it!  Then I would like to continue training to run the Mardi Gra Marathon with a friend of mine who is also training right now.  Of course I will keep everyone updated on it all.  Let’s just hope that my weight loss picks up this week!

67 days until Panama City Beach, FL!! 

Couch 2 5K Week 3 Day 4

Okay, well the week is at an end, and the weekend is here!  We finished strong this morning and completed the 90 sec. jog/walk, 3 min jog/walk twice as the program calls.  This was our 2nd day to do it.  It was tough, and by the final 3 minute run, I was praying hard.  lol  It was easier than the day before though.  So not really much to report today, my weight loss has been pretty slow this week, but hopefully it will pick back up.  Thanks for following!

Okay, so I have a prayer request for everyone.  I taught at Cenla Christian Academy for about 5 months, and one of the students there, Brandon Ryland (16 years old) died early this morning.  I don’t want to give details because there are many opinions and emotions involved in what happened.  However, please pray for his mom and family, all the students and staff at CCA, and all those who were involved/present when it happened.  The news just broke my heart.  Those kids were like my own, and it is so sad to think that he will miss out on all life had to offer him.  All we can do now is rely on God to help us through, and trust that he is in a better place now.  Just the thought of what happened makes my eyes well up with tears, and my stomach turn in agony and disgust.  So many kids need you prayers.  They are having such a hard time coping with this.

Thanks!

C25K Week 3 Day 2

Okay people, great news….I have officially lost my first 10 pounds!!  I’m so thrilled!  The reason you see today as day 2 of this week, and not day 3 is because we didn’t run yesterday.  On Monday evening I started running fever and feeling really bad, and when I woke up at 4:30am on Tuesday morning, I was still feeling crummy so I was forced to miss a day.  Luckily, when I woke up a few hours later I felt better.  I was feeling bad about having to miss a day, but the program says only to run 3 days a week.  We decided at this point we need to start following the program a little more closely, so this morning we did the run for 90 sec/walk for 90 sec, then run for 3 min/walk for 3 min.   We were concerned that we wouldn’t be able to make the 3 min., but I prayed that God give me the strength, and he did.  We did the 3 minutes of running without stopping, and guess what…it wasn’t too bad at all.  That just meant we had accomplished one more thing.  And really, in terms of distance, we have run further than that 3 minutes before, we just never thought of it in terms of time.  So we will be doing that same regimen on Thursday and Friday as well.

Hope you all have a blessed day!

C25K Week 3 Day 1

Oh-my-word!!!  This morning’s run was sooo hard!  I’ve been having shin splints pretty bad; mainly due to my super flat feet.  So this morning I decided rather than running in my usual Nike Flywires, I’d give my Nike Shocks a try.  Whoa…big…HUGE mistake!!  They were so heavy on my feet.  They made my legs her 10x more than the others had been.  So needless to say, I need to go to a running a store and let them tell me which shoes I need to be wearing.  I’ve been doing a lot of research on this, and have determined that I would do best with motion stability running shoes.  However, there are about a thousand different ones to choose from out there.  It is insane!  Not to mention that I don’t have $150 to go spend on a pair of shoes at the moment.  So…until then it looks like I’ll be making due with what I have, and lets pray the pain subsides sooner, rather than later. 

On a happier note, we ran almost 1/2 mile without stopping this morming.  That is our farthest yet!  I’m betting I could have done the whole thing if it wouldn’t have been for the terrible pain I was in.  It was rough; I just wanted to cry, but I pushed on through it.  Naturally though it was a slow push.  I am very hopeful that tomorrow morning goes much better.  Even so, I have lost 9lbs so fare!  I’m so thrilled!  My goal was to be at 10lbs lost by now, but that’s okay.

We have Peach Festival 5K coming in June, and I just hope that I can do it.  I’m honestly quite worried that I won’t have lost enough weight to be where I want by then.  You see, in order for the running to really get easier for me, I need to drop some pounds….some serious pounds preferably.  I would like to be able to run most of the 5K when it comes time.  Which being my first 5K, my goals are 1. to finish, 2. to not finish last, and 3. to run it in less than 40-42 minutes.  All I can do is keep working hard and praying hard I guess.

Have a blessed day!!!!

C25K End of Week 1

I have officially completed week 1 of the couch to 5k program.  Woo Hoo!  I worked out 5 days (Monday thru Friday), and when I weighed after my run this morning I weighed 3lbs less.  How awesome is that!  As thrilled as I am with what I have accomplished this week, I have so far to go I find myself doubting whether or not I can do it.  This morning’s workout was certainly one of those times.  See, on Thursday I began to experience shin splints.  This morning they were killing me after only 3/4 mile in.  I couldn’t help but think that I couldn’t do it, that I couldn’t walk anymore, much less run.  And if I couldn’t do it, I would just fall behind and be unable to really become a runner, and then I wouldn’t lose the weight, which would mean I would never see myself having a body again, rather than the blob I am.  All of these negative thoughts were pouring out.  I immediately felt God telling me to keep going, and shut off that little devil on my shoulder.  So I did.  I began recalling bible verses in which God encourages us to keep going, even when things are really hard, and how when the flesh is made weak, the spirit is make stronger.  God flooded my mind with positive and encouraging words.  I realized that this morning, God wanted to see what I was made of.  He wanted to see if I would rely on him and push through the pain, and just finish what I had set out to do at 5am.  And guess what….I did!  I’m sore again today, and my legs hurt, but that’s okay with me.  I know it will get better eventually.  At the end of our run, I mentioned how today was the first day this week that I actually struggled to get up. (Which is a big deal for me because I’m not a morning person at all!)  That struggle to get out of bed is what first told me that I would struggle today.  And boy did I!  Turns out though, my sister and stepmom felt the same way this morning.  It was hard for them too, but we all pushed through it together and finished.  Now our mom kinda showed us up (lol), but I’m so proud of her.  She ran more today (as in running without stopping) then she has so far…and she is in her 40’s.  Props to her!  I am so proud of her for that!  Especially when I think that I’m 23 and struggling just to run because of my weight, yet here she is running like a pro.  What a wonderful example she sets for us!

We’ve planned on doing this running Monday through Friday each week, and taking off on the weekend.  That sounded great, but now I’m tempted to do it myself on weekends too.  I mean lets be honest, I need more work than they do, so doing the extra workouts might would help me to improve so that I can keep up with their pace and progress.  I just  am worried that I won’t be able to push myself as hard as when we all do it together.  We will see I guess.  I know my body needs rest, but I really want to be disciplined in this.  Maybe I’ll see if the hubby is willing to do some running.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed on that one.  

I’d like to just give a quick shout out to all the moms out there….I hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend, you deserve it.   Happy Mother’s Day!

Journey to become a runner

Here in good ole Louisiana we had some rain last night, and early this morning.  Therefore, we did not get to go for our morning run.  I wasn’t exactly devastated by that considering I’m sick and very, very sore today.  It was nice to get to sleep in late this morning, but I knew I needed to get out and run.  I put my daughter in the stroller, all bundled up (seeing as how it was like 59 degrees here this morning), and took off.  It didn’t take long for me to feel the burn.  Needless to say, I didn’t do so hot.  I only made a mile, which resulted in me running about half of it total.  I was pretty disappointed, but realized it is very important for me to stay positive.  I mean it is only day 2 on this journey.  Later in the day I decided to do a little indoor walking workout to help supplement what I had lost this morning.  That seemed to help give me a little boost, and like my husband said, what I did was better than doing nothing.  That is so true!  I never thought about it like that before, but even the shortest, low intensity workout is always better than no workout.  I continue to pray that the Lord give me strength, knowledge, self-control, determination, and power to do this.  Although most days I want to cry when I look in the mirror, I know God gave me these struggles for a reason.  I know that if I draw near to him, rely on him, and just hang in there, I will make it through. 

I think it is important you know that I have lost weight before.  In high school I lost 35 pounds in just a few months.  So I know it can be done.  Of course it was much easier then; I was playing sports, had no real responsibilities, and healthy meals prepared for me daily.  Today it is a little more difficult with a family of my own, a busy schedule, and a lot me weight to shed this go around.  Some days I am very positive and it is easy to workout and eat right, and some days I really struggle.  Some days I just want to give in and say I’ll be fat and just learn to love who I am, just the way I am.  Then it’s like God says “Whoa!” and I realize that is so silly and weak.  I am not healthy, and this truely has nothing to do with me.  This journey is about getting healthy for my family and for my future health, as well as being a worthy temple for the presence of the Lord to dwell within.  Yes, this is hard.  It is very hard.  But I’m reminded that anything worth having/achieving in life does not come easily.  It’s like being a Christian; it is so hard to give up our old ways and relinquish control to God, and once we do follow him, it is even harder to live out the day to day struggles.  Even as Christians, we are only human and deal with the same temptations and problems as everyone else.  Every day we have to choose to say yes to God.  We have to choose to give up wordly things and do what honors God.  We have to choose to carry on our relationship with him.  We have to choose to sacrifice things for Him.  We have to choose what kind of life and what kind of example we will be for others.  It is all about choices, and the right choices don’t mean they’re easy choices.