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Friday, February 19, 2010

Dear Body,

We've run a long long way together, through the hard runs and the good. I have to celebrate you body! I have to praise you like I should!


A little spin on the song "Praise You" by Fat Boy Slim

PS Just hit 68 miles! I know I'm behind, but I'll be there in no time!


Thursday, February 11, 2010

New Shoes and A New Perspective

Hey everyone! Emily here. This week has been really interesting for me. I haven't actually run barely at all this week. I did my long run on Saturday (8 miles) and by Sunday I was in SUPER amount of pain. My legs, my knees, my hips, and mostly the bottoms of my feet hurt super bad. I went to Body Pump on Monday, and then I tried to run and had to get off within the first 5 minutes because I hurt so bad. I tried the eliptical, which was better and I did 15 minutes, but still had to get off. Tuesday night I went to a youth group staff meeting and the staff prayed for me. I felt SO much better that night, and I went to the chiropractor and the running store and got all geared up with new shoes and insolse. The pain was pretty bad by this morning though. I went to Body Pump and the Abs class again today instead of cycling like I normally do to keep the focus on my legs for only a little bit. It was pretty good, but still hurt. Tonight at youth group we watched a video called The Finger of God, which is a documentary all about witnessing miracle healings throughout the world. It was so cool - definitely check it out. After the film our youth were asked to get in groups and pray for each other if there were any illnesses or injuries that needed healing. I asked my group to pray for my legs. Now, just so you know I am a pretty big skeptic when it comes to stuff like this (just ask Liesl.), mostly because of the amount of people I think fake it or make it mentally happen but it doesn't really happen. But, I really and truly hoped that God would heal my legs and it would stick this time. It was so cool though; I could feel heat starting on my left thigh, and it traveled all the way down my left leg down to my toes. Then it started at the right thigh, and traveled down to just above my foot. By this time all the warmth made my legs feel, for lack of a better word, "fuzzy" and my head was spinning. I seriously felt like I was falling over. (Apparently I wasn't). I guess a floating feeling would be a better way to describe it. When it stopped I felt like I heard God say "just one more". My friend Angie felt God pulling at her to read Psalm 63, which reads:

1 O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.

2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.

4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.

7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.

8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 They who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.

10 They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God's name will praise him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

I couldn't really hear the passage, though (which is why it was good to go back and read it later). I was remembering at the gym today this girl who was driving me NUTS. When she walked in to me everything about her seemed fake. Her hair was really damaged from the amount of color treatments on it, her boobs were way larger to the proportion of her body, and her butt crack stuck out of her pants every time she did a squat. Even her makeup was perfectly done (to go to the gym??). She kept doing her own thing instead of what the instructor told us to do and it drove me crazy for the whole class. By the end though I realized, who am I to judge her? Here I am trying to think I'm all good at exercise and stuff because I have been to a few classes and run a few miles. I watched the amount of weight she had on her bar (which was A LOT), and she did stretches in the "advanced" mode all the time, wheras I couldn't even stay in the plank position for more than a few seconds on my toes and she was doing it with one and one arm in the air like it was nothing. I realized two things: 1) that she could probably beat me up, and 2) I was no better than her and needed God too, in that moment especially as I was choosing to judge someone else on her appearance. Back to youth group, I felt my foot become warm and "fuzzy" too, and there was absolutely NO PAIN whatsoever in either one of my legs. I realized that I needed a new perspective, to be careful not to judge others and to trust God that He knows what He's doing, and that He knows that girl at the gym too and loves her. Maybe through this new perspective God will continue to heal my body and make it so that I can continue to run, uninjured.

Anyways, I am rambling, and it's very late. I just felt like sharing how awesome God is!!

Emily

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

I feel like crap

Emily here.

I feel like crap.

Every muscle in my body aches, especially those from the hips down.

I'm gonna go take some ibuprofen and go to bed.

Okay, enough whining for now.

At least this means I get to go to the running store this week and see if there is something they can do :)

Monday, February 8, 2010

Who would have thought?

Yesterday I ran outside for the first time in a few weeks. I felt like I was running S L O W... When I got home and mapped my run I found that I had run half a mile more than I do in the same time on the treadmill! Woohoo!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

My Jaw Dropped

Today the Couch-to-5k page on Facebook that I frequent posted this:

"How many miles did you run in January? Fellow runners discuss how they started the year off with their January totals: http://bit.ly/9MUkiX"

I was excited to post my 45 some odd miles, I'm behind for the year, but I'm still training for some big miles, so I figure I'll get caught up. But, I was thinking these were all C25K people, and I'd be in good company! Boy was I ever wrong (because I was not the good company)! My jaw dropped when I started reading the mileage the people who were posting put down. Here are a few responses:

"This was a good start to 2010 for me! 166 miles." -MCMRon (This puts him right on target for his own 2010 miles this year)

"186.5 for me. 43.5 short of my goal as I missed two of my long runs." -Patrick_Runner

"Wow! Great mileages everyone! I got 127.34 and like y'all feel great and like it's a great start for 2010!" -Becky8846

"I only did 350 including the 3 marathons for January, all outside running and mostly hills. I had a small injury during Houston marathon that kept me from 450-500 miles per month. I am back on track for February." -PersianP

Wait, let's look more closely at that last one: "I only did 350 including the 3 marathons for January, all outside running and mostly hills. I had a small injury during Houston marathon that kept me from 450-500 miles per month. I am back on track for February."



I follow a few ladies who put up some amazing miles like Running 2010 in 2010 and Life After 40, but I had no idea there were so many people out there doing so many miles!!!! Whew. Who knew?


PS. As of 02/03/2010, I'm at exactly 50 miles for the year.
PPS. If you're writing a blog about running, let us know so we can come read your stuff, and cheer you on!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

January in Summary

www.mapmyrun.com is a great resource to keep track of your exercise routine. I really like it because I can put in a map of where I just ran and it tells me how long it is, keeps track of my pace, and tells me how many calories I have burned (though it doesn't take into account all of those mini oreos I just ate....) :-D Here is the summary it gives me for the month of January:


I ran/walked a total of 39 miles, which is well under where I should probably be for the month to keep up with the 1000 mile goal for the year. But, I am very glad that I successfully worked out 4-5 times a week for the whole month! And that last run on the 30th? Yeah, that was the 8 mile run. Boo-yah! So, not quite where I wanted to be but definitely on the right track :) Here's to February being an even better month!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

8.6 miles and a bloody toe

Hey everyone! Emily here. Wow, I kinda dropped off the face of the blogging world for a little bit. Sorry about that. But, I have some great news! I finished my first really long run on Saturday! Woohoo!! I ran/walked a total of 8.6 miles! I never thought I could do that!



In other good news, I got my first official running-related "injury." Thank goodness it was only a bloody toe! I was all excited because I thought it was the nail itself, but later I figured out it was a nail that was a tiny bit too long and cut the toe next to it. Still pretty cool. I feel like I can call myself a real-live runner now!

The reason I ran so long was because of the new schedule I put myself on. I finished reading The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide by Dawn Dais and it totally got me pumped for a half-marathon. I looked at the schedule in my area and the one that best fits the schedule is on Mother's Day in Fort Collins. Hmmmmm.... normally I would be spending Mother's Day sleeping in and having breakfast in bed. But no, this year it's a half marathon. What the heck am I thinking? Oh well, I'm excited.

This weekend's run was a real milestone for me in that it totally changed my attitude. The longest I had ever run before that was about 4 miles and 13.1 just seemed SO far away. Now, I feel like I could actually do it. I have watched my mile time drop from a comfortable 12+ minutes to feeling comfortable at about 9:40, which is huge for me. I've never run a mile that fast before! I do have to add a portable water pack to my own wish list though. Since it still freezes in CO until about April the city doesn't have the public water fountains open, so by the end of my run I was melting snow and drinking it. I think I read somewhere that that's really not good for you, but I was parched. Anyways, enough rambling from me. Have a great week everyone!

Monday, February 1, 2010

Road ID Coupon

$1 off. Good for the next 30 days and up to 20 uses.


Code: ThanksLiesl614976

Get yourself one here